Sarutobi Hiruzen was easily the most respected man in Konoha. He had proven his mettle time and again whether it be a ninja battle or a political one. He had fought in and survived three ninja wars and despite the losses and people he knowingly sent to death he still soldiered on. His feats were known far and wide throughout the elemental nations. The village he led loved him as they all saw him as someone they could go to in their time of need whether they were civilian or ninja.

There are two sides to every coin though. The years had hardened him, the burden of the village had driven him, and war had taught him. He already had plans at the ready if things should escalate to an actual war. The Hokage would have to protect the village so he would be cold and put fresh genin on the front line if he needed to. The enemy would be tireless so he would be relentless, and send his ninja to attack any and all their weaknesses. The Hokage was unwavering so he had to be ruthless to everyone that got in his way. It was all for the good of the village, but it always took its toll on him.

Sarutobi sat in his chair smoking his pipe in the silence as these thoughts whirled through his head. He could only describe the sensation he felt right now as exhausted, so very exhausted. He couldn't keep this up much longer, he knew this. Age was not only taking its toll on his body but his mind too. For the last year he had been reacting slower to things, missing details, or even outright forgetting something.

'Yes,' he thought solemnly, 'I can no longer carry Konoha anymore. Someone else will have to take up the mantle of Hokage after this invasion.'

Jiraiya chose that time to enter his office through the window while Naruto simultaneously entered through the door. In the span of a heartbeat the Hokage's face went stony as he gestured for Naruto to take a seat. He cut to the chase right away.

"Despite the fact that the sand is allying with us they still will be outnumbered 10 to 1 outside our walls. They've always focused on quality over quantity, but the sound nin are the opposite." Sarutobi said as he pointed to specific locations on the map. "Luckily they are divided as the sound nin just don't trust the sand and vice versa, so our Anbu and you won't have to worry about friendly fire as much. Assuming a summoning circle survives our attempts to sabotage it; you and the Anbu are to deal with the summons, otherwise work in tandem with the sand forces and eliminate any sound that try to breach our walls from outside."

Naruto nodded at the plan, it was straightforward and simple but affective.

Sarutobi continued once he had Naruto's attention again. "Gaara will also be out there with you and the Anbu on his own. You are to give him a wide berth and watch him closely. He can't be aloud to fight in the village if he tries to enter stop him by whatever means necessary."

Naruto once again gave a nod as he picked up on the underlying meaning.

"Good, now, as I was saying…"

Xxxxx

Naruto exited the Hokage's office with a clear purpose in mind. He had his role to play in the upcoming battle. All that was left was to prepare. The key targets were Orochimaru, Danzo and Gaara/Ichibi should he go out of control.

Jiraiya had been busy investigating Orochimaru's activities. He had been in wind country following up on the claim of the dead Kazekage. With some digging he and his sources in Suna managed to find the location of the Kazekage's personal training ground. It would have been Orochimaru's best shot at killing the Kazekage. Sure enough Jiraiya had found the man's corpse. It would prove to be a costly mistake for Orochimaru. He may have been a genius, but he had fallen prey to arrogance and hadn't even destroyed the body, it was a lucky break. When the battle for Konoha started the sand ninja would be aligned with the leaf instead of the sound thanks to that.

Gaara was an issue however. He simply lived for the thrill of the kill and was liable to go berserk with bloodlust.

"Naruto!" Came a shout not more than three inches from his ear.

Naruto looked up slightly alarmed by the voice. Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai all watched him with curiosity and a bit of amusement. Naruto mentally slapped himself for being so distracted as to not notice them.

"Finally got your head out of the clouds?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and looked to an adjacent wall, an action he realized he hadn't done since he was kid.

"So, why so serious?"

'I think it's better if Hokage-sama tells you.'

With that Naruto exited to the stairs and out of sight while never giving Kakashi a chance to stop him.

"What was that about?" Asuma asked as he inhaled deeply from a cigarette.

Kakashi hesitated to answer, "I don't know but I think were about to find out." As they walked in he saw the Hokage and Jiraiya waiting with a grim atmosphere around them. A bit of dread washed over Kakashi as he closed the door behind him.

Xxxxx

Night life in the village was as active as ever, even more so now with the coming finals of the chunin exams. The air was crisp and warm with a clear night sky. Vendors shouted and competed for the attention of nearby customers and talked with silver tongues to sell their wares.

Naruto watched lazily from a rooftop as a ninja from Kumo argued vehemently over the price of piece of body armor. Naruto knew he was killing time right now. He knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight, and he wasn't up for going through trouble of training at night.

Then someone he didn't expect to see came walking down the street. The boy had crimson red hair, heavy dark circles under his eyes, and the kanji for love tattooed on his forehead. Madness boiled just beneath the surface with no small thanks to the Ichibi sealed in him. Everyone made a wide berth for him. Even regular civilians could feel raw killing intent coming off him. Gaara walked calmly down the street with his brother Kankuro and his sister Temari behind him. Both looked nervous as they followed him from a distance.

Back in the day Naruto would have been just at afraid as them if not more so. He had watched him literally crush his opponents with his mastery of sand. Everyone thought that the tailed beasts and their containers were monsters. Gaara showed them just how right they could be. However, Gaara was just the ultimate extreme of one side of the spectrum.

Kakashi approached Naruto from behind, purposely letting his steps be heard so he wouldn't startle the boy. Naruto didn't turn to look at Kakashi; he just lifted his head slightly to acknowledge his presence.

"How long have you known about the Kyuubi?

Naruto was surprised; it wasn't the question he had been expecting after all. 'Years,' he replied after a moment. It was vague and true enough to not be a lie.

"Back at Wave country I thought I sensed the fox's chakra for a second, but I chalked that up to a self preservation mechanism. Now I find out from the Hokage that you will be fighting summons, and possibly the Ichibi, using the fox's chakra. I won't ask how you know of the fox, but I will ask why you accepted the mission?"

'If not me then who,' a deep red aura began to bubble out of Naruto, 'I have this power in me. It may be evil but I can use at least this much without my judgment being affected.'

When Naruto stopped speaking he stood completely enveloped in the red chakra with a single tail swaying back and forth behind him. Slit-like irises with red corneas stared at Kakashi who was dumbstruck.

Naruto himself felt slightly uncomfortable with the aura around him being so malevolent. His mind after years of training could effortlessly suppress this much of the Kyuubi's influence. Unfortunately, he could feel his body, though in no danger, wasn't up to par for higher levels of its powers.

It took Kakashi awhile to gather himself as he finally processed what he was witnessing. Naruto was completely shrouded in the foxes cloak and he couldn't sense even a jump in Naruto's killer intent.

"When? How could you have mastered this much of the Kyuubi's power already?"

Naruto had to bite back a smirk at how confused Kakashi was. Even now it was hard to surprise the man. 'The Kyuubi is the prisoner and I'm the warden. I take what I want. I've mastered control of this much; hopefully it's all I'll need.'

Kakashi quickly regained his cool and shook his head. Wondering why he even bothers to get surprised anymore when it comes to this boy.

"I don't suppose I can convince you to back out of this?" he asked even though he already knew the answer.

'No, besides, even if I wanted to back out now it's too late.' Naruto replied before casting his gaze down toward the street. Kakashi followed it until his eyes landed on Gaara who was staring back at them with an empty gaze.

"The Kazekage used his own son as a container," he said as it dawned on him.

The rumors said that the Ichibi container was almost completely out of control in Suna, but he hadn't known it had been the Kazekage's own child.

Xxxxx

Naruto lay on the ground limply and disoriented with his eyes open and moving lazily. His ears were ringing violently as his vision swam. The smoke and dirt swirling around him blocked his vision and blocked any coherent thought that might form in his mind. His body began to respond before his mind caught up. First his hand shakily rose, but even an inch demanded a great deal of effort.

His first thought finally formed, 'Heavy.'

Once again he tried to move with even more effort actually lifting his self off the ground a little. He felt his energy being sapped away even faster. He collapsed back to the ground. The smoke was beginning to thin but he still couldn't make out what was hidden beyond it.

A second thought formed, 'Where am I?' He was making progress.

The ringing in his ears was slowly giving way to muffled noises and high pitched clings. His vision was starting to focus once again and the figures beyond the smoke looked like they were moving in slow motion. Soon the dust settled revealing it had hidden so mercifully.

Naruto had his third thought, 'Hell.'

Xxxxx

(Side story)

Hana and Tsume sat at Ichiraku's eating as they waited for Ayame to get off, who was cleaning in the back.

As the two wild looking women grew more and more bored a way to pass the time was needed. Suddenly it struck Hana as she set her eyes' on Ayame's father. A wicked grin crossed her face as she struck a conversation. Ichiraku looked up as he felt a slight shiver down his spine.

"You know, Mr. Ichiraku, you have such a beautiful and energetic daughter. I can tell she also is very thorough with everything she does. My mom and I hung out with her last night and we really enjoyed it." She said with a smirk.

"Well, my little Ayame-chan takes after her mother in looks, thank Kami." He replied as he patted his belly with a laugh as the two women chuckled along with him. "As for being thorough, I've drilled it into her that if you're going to do something, then do it right."

Tsume and Hana nodded with perverted smiles plastered on their faces.

"What did you two do with my daughter last night anyways?" Ichiraku asked.

The two women looked at each other for a second and the back at Ichiraku with shit eating grins.

"Smell my fingers," they both said.

Xxxxx

A/N: I don't really have an excuse for why it took so long. I rewrote this chapter at least a dozen time. Decent random facts aren't really coming to me so send me some if you think of good one.

Random Facts:

Temari was going commando

Unfortunately so was Kankuro

The Hokage's drinking buddy is Ibiki because they both love to mind fuck people.

Kurenai already has the newest Icha Icha also.