Author Note

Hi there.

Yeah, I vanished and for a good while. Truth be told, I tried coming back many times, but writing two paragraphs was simply too much to me at the time. Excuses…. yes, I could have conjured many of them right now. It would not be any different from any writer that suffered from writer's block. I won't bother telling you about it, because quoting Shikamaru, it would be too troublesome for me to write them and too troublesome for you guys to read it. A couple weeks ago, I found myself getting some of drive back, hence this attempt in a short chapter to get the juices flowing.

Hopefully it will be enough to start over and perhaps attempt to finish my stories.

Here is the next chapter, albeit a short one.

Chapter 25 – Naruto's Plan

It's been two days since Jiraiya's rescue mission from the Akatsuki Leader.

After the toads used reverse summoning, they appeared in Konoha with a greatly beaten and heavily bleeding Jiraiya. Shizune and her staff were drafted immediately to try and save the perverted sannin's live. Normally, Tsunade would be the one to do it, but she did not trust that her fear would hamper her teammate's chances of being amongst the living. Instead, she went to the hospital to supervise the procedure while hearing the toads' report of what happened in Amegakure. It troubled her that someone was able to do this kind of damage to a shinobi of Jiraiya's caliber. Not many could go toe to toe with the pervert, when he was serious. And this so called Pein not only parried Jiraiya, but almost killed him if it weren't for Naruto's timely intervention. In the end, the surgery was a success as Shizune managed to stop the internal bleeding and heal the damaged organs.

It was too soon to tell if the damage to his organs affected the chakra pathways, but at least he was saved.

The rescue team already sent word that they managed to complete the mission without suffering harm and arrived safely in Konoha. Tsunade would have to wait tomorrow to talk to the pervert about Pein. Naruto explained that he had some intel acquired with his sharingan, so they could better analyze the leader's abilities and perhaps find a weakness to exploit. Being the best spy in the entire elemental nations and an S-ranked shinobi, Jiraiya possessed great knowledge of the shinobi arts. Not to mention that Naruto's evolved sharingan was able to gather important data regarding the enemy's chakra and how he uses it. No doubt, Konoha will now be better prepared against their enemy.

===With Naruto===

After the team arrived in the village, they quickly reported to the Hokage, before leaving for the night. Naruto received word of Jiraiya's condition and that he was to report when Jiraiya woke up so that they could together analyze the Akatsuki leader's abilities and weaknesses. Once he left the Hokage's office, he went home to rest for the night. Aside from studying the enemy with his sharingan, he managed to acquire a great load of important information from the Root Anbu that attempted to follow him, before they left to Amegakure. The Agent had a good mental defense, but nothing that the Eternal Mangenkyou Sharingan could not break.

Once that happened, the agent's mind became a free reign for Naruto to play with.

Granted that the agent did not know about what happened with the Uchiha Clan, being at the same age as Naruto, the sharingan user did find out about Root's more recent practices. To the mental conditioning of their agents to multiple assassinations in different regions of the elemental nations and even unorthodox dealings with criminals, including one S-ranked missing-nin from Konoha and one of the Sannin. The information safely stored in his mind, Naruto wondered if he should bother telling the Hokage about it. For all he knew, the woman would give him the same answer as before, or even, in the worst case scenario, demand further proof that Naruto's word of what happened.

One would believe that the mere mention of an elder of the village helping Orochimaru from the shadows, with test subjects and even sensitive Konoha information. But, her decision would not change, he reasoned.

Moving against Danzou openly would storm a civil war inside the village and she did not want that on her ledger.

===With Jiraiya===

After the surgery, Jiraiya was moved inside the same room that Naruto occupied after Itachi's sharingan implant surgery. Tsunade thought about leaving him inside the hospital, but Naruto advised her against it for reasons yet unidentified. She saw no reason to object, however, seeing as Shizune would be the one supervising the pervert's recovery. Also, she could think of no better place to talk about high priority subjects, such as Akatsuki's leader and his skills. In her mind, Naruto had this in mind upon suggesting the location, though she could not know for sure. Kakashi did share with her some important changes in behavior from Naruto after he received Itachi's sharingan.

Right now, there were three people in the room aside from Jiraiya, who would wake up any time soon. Meanwhile, Naruto, Tsunade and Shizune were busy waiting for Jiraiya to wake up.

Whereas before, his body was a mess of blood and bruises, now he looked more presentable or as presentable as someone missing an arm. When the pervert opened his eyes, he at first thought that he was dead. The lights wherever he was not much bright, which confused him a bit, until he remembered that Naruto managed to save him before Nagato killed him. Blinking a couple times, he saw that he was in the same room as Naruto was. And he was not alone either.

"Hime…Naruto…?"

"Glad to see you're finally awake Jiraiya. I believe you know where we are right now." Jiraiya nodded, though he wondered why. "First matter of business is…I told you damn pervert that it was too dangerous to go in alone, but you didn't listen did you!?" When Tsunade started talking, she was all business, but now nothing but pulsing veins appeared on her face and threatening fists, surprising the others present, including the nervous looking Jiraiya. "If it wasn't for Naruto and his team, you would have been killed and quite stupidly so, I might add." Her worry for his safety soon became clear to everyone aside from Naruto, who was clueless of what was going on. Jiraiya, on the other hand, lowered his head in shame, but for other reasons.

"I'm sorry hime…I'm really am." Tsunade was still mad, but allowed him to continue. "I came to learn that the very enemy that we're up against is none other than the ones I helped train in Amegakure back when we faced Salamander no Hanzou." Tsunade was the one who had the most visible reaction, seeing as she remembered those three kids that they found on that fateful day. She was surprised to see that Naruto had yet to show a visible reaction, though. "Every intel I had on them came out as them being killed somehow, so I simply stopped looking for their whereabouts. In a way, I was the one responsible for Akatsuki's creation."

Tsunade snorted a little at the notion, though she already learned similar thoughts from their sensei because of Orochimaru.

"That's bullshit Jiraiya…like you very well explained it to me back then, all you did was teach those three the means to defend themselves, not teach them to become S-ranked shinobi and bent on capturing jinchuuriki. Obviously, something happened to them after you left." Jiraiya's eyes still lacked focus, though. "What we need to do now Jiraiya is gather all the possible information about him and whoever is helping him and try to find weakness to exploit." Jiraiya was a sannin in the end and flipping to professional made was as simple as breathing. He thus gave the entire report from how he managed to infiltrate Amegakure to how was the fight both against Konan first and Pein later.

"I had to use my full strength and still he managed to get the upper hand. Though I managed to find one important aspect of his skills, I was already too weak to escape and like you said, if it was not for Naruto here, I would be amongst the clouds right now." Tsunade perked up at the news of a possible weakness as Jiraiya concluded. "They were six bodies in total; all of them had the Rinnegan. There are no blind spots as each cover the other's angles. I do refer them as bodies, since neither of them are Nagato, the real one wielding the Rinnegan. The real Nagato was at a different location presumably controlling them somehow."

Both Tsunade and Shizune were left thinking, as Naruto started his own insight on the matter.

"As you all know, the sharingan allows me to in a way see chakra, giving it color in order to distinguish it by its composition and source. As I observed him, I could see chakra reaching the metallic pins on each of the bodies' faces. Therefore, if what Jiraiya-sama says it's true, then indeed this Nagato is sending his chakra throughout the fields to the bodies from a distance. I can attest that his chakra is quite potent and its chakra capacity is quite vast, compared to my own without the Kyuubi that is."

"If he is controlling the bodies from a distance with his chakra, then he must choose a higher location like a mountain or a tower." Shizune concluded, earning a nod from Tsunade.

"Yes, Amegakure is filled with tall buildings, so it's perfect for him to hide in one while he controls the bodies."

"We managed to cover some ground as to his abilities and perhaps weaknesses to exploit. Now, Naruto you can tell us as to the reason you requested for Jiraiya to be treated here instead of the hospital?"

Everyone present's focus now rested on Naruto as he stood with his arms crossed, with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Tsunade-sama, unfortunately what I have to report is only to yours and Jiraiya-sama's ears alone." Aside from those Naruto mentioned, Shizune and the Hokage's personal Anbu team was present. Shizune being the Hokage's personal assistant became her personal confidant in all matters regarding the village. Hence why both Jiraiya and Tsunade were surprised and quite angry, in Tsunade's case, at Naruto's implicit accusation. Of course, Shizune also felt it, but she would adhere to her master's wishes.

"What are you saying brat, that Shizune can't be trusted? Is that it?" Jiraiya's health was slowly recovering, but so far, he could not handle the pressure of Tsunade's killing intent.

Naruto, however, remained unaffected. His intention was entirely different from what the Hokage was implying.

"It's not distrust Tsunade-sama, but simply for her protection." Briefly activating the Mangenkyou Sharingan, he immediately captured the Hokage in a genjutsu with the nature of the information.

The action alone forced the Anbu team to attack Naruto, before Tsunade screamed for everyone to stop. At this point, Itsuko's sword was mere inches from Naruto's jugular. Despite the Anbu mask, Naruto could clearly see his girlfriend's eyes. Their relationship has reached a level where both had declared their love for one another. Despite it all, Itsuko was foremost an Anbu and a member of the Hokage's personal protection squad. If someone chose to deliberately attack or even harm the Hokage in any way, no matter who he was, it was the Anbu's mission to assess the threat and deal with it using as much force as necessary. Naruto understood that, hence he was not surprised to see that his girlfriend would kill him if it meant the Hokage's protection.

For sure, he will have one nasty relationship discussion when this ordeal is finished.

"Shizune, please go to the office and attend to the mission reports. Anbu team are to leave as well." Shizune and the Anbu team nodded, before leaving. Shizune did send a displeased look at Naruto.

Once everyone left and Naruto could not sense anyone, he cleared his throat.

"As you know, Hokage-sama, I started my report describing the mission after we left the village, but I left out a very important event that happened before we left the village. During our travel throughout the village rooftops towards the village gates, I was able to sense a well-hidden presence following our team or rather following me. Using a shadow clone, I was able to locate, capture and use a genjutsu on him. He was using an Anbu mask, it was not a typical one, and surely Hokage-sama would not send an Anbu to follow me around." Tsunade and Jiraiya now understood the need for secrecy both from the Anbu present and from Shizune. Tsunade still felt the need to punch the boy for his actions.

"Alright brat, you got my attention. Though I believe we had already discussed that touching Danzou or even implicating him would have dire consequences."

"Yes, we did, though I would like to point out that this Root member I captured was present with us at the Forest of Death, probably mixed within your Anbu detail." Tsunade immediately became angry at that, while Jiraiya remained oblivious. "Aside from sensing his familiar chakra back then and with the MS genjutsu, I was able to find out quite a lot about Danzou's dirty dealings. Even if you still find it hard to move against him Tsunade-sama, I can safely state that he is developing an interest against me. And considering what I have learned from Itachi, I can venture a guess as to why." Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at the blond jounin with keen interest, though Tsunade knew the boy told just enough for her to start asking questions.

"Alright spill it, I don't enjoy this merry-go-round of yours. What is it that Itachi told you about Danzou?"

Naruto stared at her for a while, before once again capturing both of them in the same genjutsu. Only this time, Naruto had shown them the same story that Itachi had shown him, taking them both back to the time of the Uchiha Massacre. To Itachi's meetings with Shisui, to Itachi's meetings with the council and even Danzou's secret plots to help take the Uchiha Clan down. Jiraiya looked at the film before him with a great level of doubt, considering that he knew his old sensei and Sarutobi would not have allowed this to happen, especially not with Danzou on the picture. Tsunade, however, was a different story. Every Hokage has access to the previous Kage's journals so as to know what exactly transpired in the village. She remembered Hiruzen's entry on the night of the Uchiha Clan massacre. Her sensei was baffled at how poorly this situation was handled and constantly questioned why it all escalated so quickly.

"Unfortunately so, that is only the tip of the iceberg of atrocities that Shimura Danzou has committed throughout his life. All in the name of keeping Konoha safe, Danzou kept this form of warfare. Running opposition against the Sandaime Hokage's talks; causing tensions between villages…you name it." The images kept appearing in front of the two Sannin and Tsunade's temper kept rising, until veins started popping. When a specific image appeared, this time both Tsunade and Jiraiya became angry. This specific Root operative supervising a meeting between Shimura Danzou with Konoha's most despicable criminal and responsible for the Sandaime's death, Orochimaru. The discussion revolved around Orochimaru's plans for invading Konoha and killing the Sandaime.

That was the last straw in Tsunade's book, before Naruto ended the genjutsu.

"Damn that snake…to believe that Danzou has been aiding him this entire time…sensei should have dealt with him a long time ago." Jiraiya's words were corroborated by Tsunade with an unconscious nod.

"Still, despite everything we had just heard, as Hokage I can't risk the safety of the village." Naruto looked at the woman speak without showing any sort of emotion, it was quite unnerving to the ones present inside the room. "Danzou has his hands very deep within Konoha and inside the clans. Sensei tried everything he could to anticipate the man's movements, but to no avail. Danzou even has someone inside the Daimyou's Castle, in case you are unaware. Naruto, I understand that you have acquired both Sasuke and Itachi's eyes and thus perhaps their memories and their anguish because of the clan's fate, but without undeniable proof of this, I just cannot move against him. Perhaps, this operative you captured could be let's say persuaded into telling the truth, but…" Naruto sighed at the memory of what happened to the Root operative seconds after he extracted the information.

"That's not possible. Danzou has placed some kind of juinjutsu on the operative's tongue. It prevents them from openly talking anything that would incriminate Danzou, unless of course you are able to get the Yamanaka Clan to scan his mind."

Tsunade snorted at that notion. The Yamanaka Clan was one of the clans that Danzou controlled. Or Inoichi, the clan head, is afraid of him, the outcome was the same either way.

Naruto, on the other hand, never expected the Hokage to deal with Danzou directly. Doing so would open a can of worms the size of the Hokage mountain.

"Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama, while it's true that with the eye transplants, I ended up acquiring some of Sasuke and Itachi's mannerisms, in the end I'm Uzumaki Naruto. While Itachi would have worked from the shadows, Sasuke would openly attack the guy hoping for revenge. That being said, I have come up with a plan to eradicate his existence and still keep the backlash from affecting Konoha in the process." Both Tsunade and Jiraiya narrowed their eyes while Naruto explained to them what he came up with. By the time he finished explaining, Tsunade could not help but shiver at the amount of risk they would be running if she allowed this to happen. Jiraiya, for some reason, kept smirking the entire time Naruto talked about this plan of his. Contrary to Tsunade, whose hands were tied, being Hokage, he did not have such qualms. Also, the plan involved his spy network.

===Later at Naruto's house===

No sooner had Naruto stepped foot inside his apartment, he had sensed an unfathomable amount of killing intent headed his way. Less than a second later, he was forced to parry Itsuko's ninjato with a kunai. Their eyes met and Naruto could feel her anger directed at him. Itsuko's attacks just did not rely on strength however, but in agility. As her first preemptive strike failed, she increased her speed and assaulted her boyfriend from multiple venues, all of them blocked by Naruto's kunai. The truth of the manner was that her movements were guided by blind anger, so Naruto was not having any issue with anticipating her movements. When they sparred in kenjutsu, it was much harder because as an Anbu, Itsuko learned how to block emotions while attacking, making her unpredictable.

Right now, however, it was simply a matter of venting her own frustrations at the man she thought she had given her heart to.

The same man who decided to move against the Hokage and force her to kill him if necessary. Naruto did not have to activate the sharingan to see tears falling from her eyes as she moved, attempting to strike him. At first, he supposed that she would be better off venting her frustrations on him before he explained his actions. However, he could plainly see that his course of action needed to change. As soon as Itsuko's right foot landed next inside his guard, Naruto swang his own sword to remove her own from her hand. One cursed aspect of the sharingan is that it copies everything, including the memories you wished you never had. He could see clearly just how she was looking at him right now and it pained him greatly. Said memory will be forever in his brain.

"I'm sorry for what I did…of what I forced you to do…" The sound of the slap on his face perhaps hurt even more than seeing her eyes. "Guess I deserved that…listen…"

"I was ready to kill you…" Naruto stopped talking when he heard her sob. Her body was trembling in fear. "I was ready to kill my heart in a second, just to fulfil my mission. "My body simply moved without me realizing it, I was about to kill you…to kill the man I love more than anything". Naruto rarely used his sharingan for its supreme capacity in genjutsu. He had a different style than Itachi, but more like Sasuke. Unfortunately, so, Itsuko was too shocked at what happened to have a clear mind right now. His tomes started spinning, just like Kakashi's, forcing her mind to shut down for the night. Itsuko was just too tired to fight back. After she fell asleep, Naruto gently placed her on their bed, hoping beyond hope, that he did not scar her with his actions.

Hopefully, by tomorrow, he could prepare some breakfast for them and then tell her his reasons for his actions.

Without much to do now, Naruto allowed himself to relax, while pondering on the next course of events. If his plan was to work, then only those in it needed to know. No matter how much he trusted his girlfriend, his surrogate brother and sister as well as his teammates; the fewer who knew about it the better. He even debated handling everything on his own for a while, but that would be stupid. Killing Danzou himself without first discussing with the Hokage would do nothing but turn him into a criminal. He would have no proof other than Itachi`s memories. And for that to be used, Naruto would have to ask the Yamanaka Clan`s help and according to Tsunade, Danzou had Inoichi Yamanaka, the clan head under his control. Inoichi would thank the heavens that Danzou was dealt with, but Naruto had doubts that the clan head would openly help.

Author Note

Ok, that was the amount of material I had already written, so it is my attempt at a comeback. Please tell me what you think about it. With this, I hope to recover the drive to finish this story, as well as the other one – Nidaime no Sairin.