You know...I actually like this story, I don't know what but there is something nice about it. I hope you guys like it too...YOU BETTER LIKE IT! Haha but seriously people, tell me what you think, good...bad? Are you drawn in or not? Questions, questions, help me answer them.

And just to let people know, I will try to update this story on the thirteenth of every month.

I don't want to waste time so without further ado...

oh and this chapter is short. So Yeah...

MindPlay

Puppets, dozens of them... a hundred or so garbed in tattered, splintered cloaks. Nothing made of wood or metal in this aftermath went un-smashed, Sakura made sure of it. It was a bit unsettling to see though, how much these counterfeit human dolls actually looked—at least in death—like humans. Had they been real, Sakura might not have been able to even look at this aftermath. It was on par to watching a post massacre scene, minus the blood and foul odor of death.

She lay on her back, while—she hadn't realized until now—Chiyo knelt over her body. The poison had a very quick effect, her legs had gone almost completely numb, she was tired, more exhausted than she should have been. It was painful, very painful, but the only thing she could do to cope with it was grit her teeth and endure.

But when Chiyo placed her warm glowing hands over her shaky chest, it all became better. The warmth had spread throughout. "Relax," Chiyo said pushing her back down when she tried to sit up.

But how could she? Not after she realized just exactly what Chiyo was doing! It was akin to killing herself! "But," Sakura protested.

"I said relax," Chiyo commanded before hacking a terrible cough, "I do this because I want to."

Sakura sighed and glanced over at Sasori's dead body, the twin blades of his 'parents' jammed straight through his 'heart'. It was sad; it almost looked to her as if they were embracing him. Their eyes were closed shut in a lovely fashion in contrast to Sasori's dead stare. That was the grandson who Chiyo had lived for and now it seemed appropriate to let her throw herself away. Sasori was dead so Chiyo no longer felt the need to live

If what Sasori said was true then she would see the bastard who lured Sasuke away real soon. They would be meeting Orochimaru on Tenchi Bridge.

But now was not the time to ponder such troublesome things. As the last of the pins and needles in her legs dissipated, she forced herself up, letting Chiyo know that she was well enough to walk. She hugged her knees and thought about the events that had passed in the last few hours, Gaara, the Akatsuki, Naruto and that girl…

There was something that Konoha wasn't explaining.

Somewhere hidden in a little corner of the cave, Sakura could have sworn she heard the faint sound of a clone 'poofing' away but she shook it off, it was probably nothing.
XXXXX

Naruto winced harshly, an image of Sakura and that old lady on a cave floor littered with hundreds of crushed puppets bloomed vividly in his mind. And next to them, the red-haired Akatsuki member, Sasori, knelt in between two puppets impaling him with their blades.

It took a moment to shake it off but he finally brought his attention to the two in front of him.

Yugito stared cautiously at Naruto, but even more so at Gaara. Her anxiety began to build when neither of them said a word. She awkwardly tried to start, but Gaara silenced her before she even began with a glare from one of his almond shaped eyes. Talk about authority, he certainly had all the bearings of a Kage, that aura of his alone was enough to make her submissive, on an even higher level than Naruto could. Yet, even with his presence being as strong as it was, Naruto still seemed to have the upper hand in the ordeal.

While at the same time angry, Gaara's expression was flecked with a blotch of confusion. Truth be told, he had not the slightest clue of what the hell was going on, and when she thought about it… neither did she. Yugito arched her eyebrows in a frown as something connected; it was about time she got the full story. She turned her gaze at Naruto, crossing her arms as if to say 'we're waiting'.

Naruto gave one sigh before speaking. "I've got some explaining to do, don't I?" They did not respond; he expected that much at least. But was it supposed to be this effective? Should he have felt this nervous about it?

"Like I told you before I…want….I want to get back at my village." He said. Gaara got angrier, it made Naruto smile, that's what he liked to see, the good old Gaara.

"So that's all that this is about, revenge, is it really that petty?" Gaara's sand rushed up all the way to Naruto's neck, lifting him a few feet. Naruto coughed and struggled to breathe as the granular weapon tightened around his neck. Yugito instinctively took a few steps back.

"No!" Naruto yelled back. He wheezed for breath once more. "Not just for me, but for you too! Don't you see Gaara? We are simply weapons, guarded and stored for use whenever necessary… How do you even think I got here man? They wanted to use me, just like they tried to use you! But you're a Kage now man, a fucking Kage! You knew I was alive… you knew! Why didn't you try to look for me, why didn't you save me, tell me why I shouldn't want to get back at the leaf!"

Gaara then seemed to be suddenly calm, he closed his eyes and his sand immediately released its grip on Naruto, bringing him softly to his feet where Gaara rested a hand on his shoulder. He looked at him with a steely gaze.

"Naruto," Gaara began. "I thought of you every single day, but I couldn't look for you, I wasn't allowed to."

Naruto then grit his teeth and he locked eyes with Gaara. "Aren't you angry about that, angry about how even someone with your kind of power, still can't a thing about what happens to us jinchuuriki? Come on, just give me a chance, I'll explain everything to you, I'm not the bad guy, they are. We're the victims." He then brought his gaze to Yugito, thinning his gaze, and nodded his head. "What about you, Yugito, what do you think of all this? Am I worth it?"

Now both Gaara and Naruto looked at her, their steely gazes like cold metal against her skin. Finally after a loud sigh, she folded her arms and said, "Look, all I want is to know two things: what exactly do you want from us… and what exactly did your village do to you?"
XXXXXXX

Yugito ran down the muddy route back toward the Cloud village with an almost expressionless look on her face. That's just what she looked like when she thinking, stagnant and unemotional. But this time, the blank expression seemed to be the result of something else. Just what type of people were the Leaf higher-ups? What Naruto told her wasn't too outrageous, but the speed and reasoning behind it frustrated her nonetheless. One moment he was relaxing at home, and the next he was leaving the village with a bounty on his head, and why?

All because he refused to comply and become a weapon. He wanted to preserve what little humanity his village gave him. But for jinchuuriki like them, that was a crime.

And now that she thought about it, she had at one point been treated like Naruto, she had felt the sting of the village eyes, but the nonetheless her out come was much different. She felt like she needed to reassess the legitimacy of her own village, maybe Cloud village higher-ups were like this too. Maybe all higher-ups where like this. So then were was the legitimacy? Where had it gone? Were there any honest men in the ninja world?

She paused and doubted it.

Whatever, it was too much to handle right now. Naruto had already won her over to his side anyway, even if his 'great plan' was a bust, she was looking to stir up a little anarchy anyway. Whatever the outcome, she was on board.
XXXXXXXXX

Tsunade walked into Kakashi's room with Sakura at her side, the girl had healed pretty well thanks to Chiyo. However the same couldn't be said for Kakashi; repeated use of the Mangekyou Sharingan must have put a tremendous amount of physical strain on the body, but even she couldn't figure out a direct way to relieve the user of that strain.

Rest was the best option.

"Guess I overdid it huh?" Kakashi said rubbing the back of his head, an old habit of his: she always wondered where he had picked it up. He smiled weakly at her.

"Yeah you did, you've gotta' really work on controlling that new eye of yours, I don't want to see you in here after every mission." Tsunade said.

This time Kakashi gave her a small chuckle, and then the tone of things took a more serious turn. He steeled his gaze, propping himself, clad in his flimsy hospital gown, upright.

The door to the room opened and Shikamaru walked in holding a folder, a small ink stamp on it said 'classified'.

"Kakashi-sensei, give me the news, Sakura already told us about your encounter with..."he paused. "You know," he said awkwardly. Kakashi only nodded knowingly. "Now are you sure that… Naruto was with who you say he was with?"

He plucked out a photo from the folder and tossed it to Kakashi. After a moment of inspection Kakashi looked up. "Yeah, this is most definitely her; Nii Yugito was definitely with Naruto."

"Then this is extremely serious," Tsunade interjected. "This Naruto kid must be planning something big; if it involves another jinchuuriki then it has to be. But wait, Nii Yugito was reported as missing not too long ago, Kakashi did she seem to be involved with Naruto against her will?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Actually, it was the exact opposite; she seemed to be enjoying herself, a bit too much in fact." For a moment Kakashi paused and then asked, "So what are you going to do?"

Before Tsunade could say a word the door swung open violently again and Sarutobi Hiruzen walked in with a peppered expression on his face. "This is what we'll do!" He announced. "We will revive the search for Uzumaki Naruto and bring him back here as an S-class criminal, dead or alive."

Kakashi's eye went wide, "S-sarutobi-sama-…." He began to say, but Sakura interrupted him.

"Wh-what, b-but-"

"Sakura!" Tsunade barked, before turning to the former Hokage. "I agree, but… are you sure about that last part, I've heard about your connection to that boy."

Sarutobi seemed conflicted for a moment and then replied slowly. "As sure as I'll ever be. And don't you worry about the search, I have someone for that; I would suggest that you focus on finding the Kazekage." He looked over at Sakura and Kakashi. "Are you two sure that you did not see him leave?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Unfortunately I didn't, after Gaara's transformation; I immediately left to pursue a fleeing Akatsuki member. I can't say whether or not Gaara left with Naruto."

"And I was…uh… still unconscious at the time so I...didn't…really… see anything either." Sakura said, nervously pressing her fingers together. "The only one who would have seen anything was Lady Chiyo and she…" Sakura trailed off.

Sarutobi sighed deeply. "Fine," he said, turning around and heading towards the door. "Kakashi get some rest. Let's go Tsunade; we've got a lot to discuss."

"Oh wait!" Shikamaru exclaimed. "What are we gonna do about Nii Yugito?"

"We can't do anything." Tsunade replied. "Alert Kumo about this, they will have to decide what happens to her."

"Hai," Shikamaru responded. Tsunade then nodded and left the room behind the former third Hokage. After the door closed, the room became instantly still. The buzz of the incandescent ceiling lights were the only thing that could be heard.

Kakashi then sighed like a depressed child, breaking the silence. He eased himself back down, under his covers; although the entire time his sheets covered just enough of his face to mimic the effect that his mask had.

"Where did I go wrong?" he asked into the air.
XXXXXXXXXX

As soon as Naruto set foot into the lands bordering Gunraku he immediately knew that something was wrong. Call it the fox's intuition but he had a serious hunch that now wasn't the time to go back home, moreover, he felt that an abrupt about-face was necessary if he wanted to complete The Plan. That meant no rest stops, no breaks, only forward motion; progress.

For now he would have to say goodbye to his little home in Gunraku.

He, Yugito, and Gaara had split up after they escaped from the Akatsuki hideout. He needed to be extra careful from now on and obey his newly installed number one rule: never stray from The Plan! He had already witnessed what straying could do with his little stunt at the hideout. He should never have even gone to rescue Gaara. With the effects of his seal, which triggered an excess of adrenaline and testosterone in Gaara's body, Gaara should have been more willing to use his beast's chakra and escape on his own. But of course Naruto just had to ensure that Gaara escaped.

But now because of his foolishness, Konoha not only knew that he was active but they also knew who his accomplice was. Yugito would definitely face some adversity in the future and the future seemed closer than ever.

Naruto slapped his face and pulled his hood down lower over his face. He was heading in the opposite direction of Gunraku now, towards Kusagakure. He had some personal business to attend to at Tenchi Bridge. And maybe if he was lucky, he would get to meet his old buddy.

That emo bastard.
XXXXXXXXXX

Jiraiya walked into his former sensei's office with a deep scowl on his face. There next to the Sandaime Tsunade sat with her arm thrown over the back of his brown leather sofa, her other hand guided a curved saucer filled to the brim with clear sake toward her lips. She quaffed the liquor down and gave him a look. "Well?" she asked, arching her eyebrow like a mother waiting for a child's explanation.

Jiraiya sighed and shook his head. "No luck, the kid's not home; I waited for as long as possible and he didn't show at all. Either he's taking an extended vacation or he knows that we're looking for him."

Sarutobi was standing by the open window leaking a plume of bitter smelling smoke from his pipe. "I see" he responded.

"Damn," Tsunade exclaimed, "two weeks and this kid still hasn't come home yet? How can one child disappear under the radar so efficiently?"

"You've taught him very well, Jiraiya." Sarutobi said solemnly.

Jiraiya simply sighed and plopped down next to Tsunade; he arched his back and whipped his head up to look at the ceiling. "Wish I could say that I'm proud of the kid."

Tsunade snapped her fingers, and a tall ANBU with plain brown hair walked out of the shadowed corner in the office and dropped to one knee. "Hai, Hokage-sama!" he said.

"I am assigning you as the temporary leader of Team Kakashi. You will serve as Kakashi Hatake's replacement under the codename: Yamato; now please remove you mask." He obeyed her instructions and revealed his face; the blank countenance of almost all ANBU was drilled deeply into his expression. She could tell just by looking at him, he was a seasoned leader. She continued, "Team Kakashi will operate as a three-man cell; the third teammate will be from the ROOT division, are you aware?"

Yamato nodded, "I am aware." He replied.

"Then you are to meet with your team and immediately head for Tenchi Bridge."

"Hai."
XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura watched Yamato from the dense underbrush; or rather she watched his imitation of Sasori's puppet Hiruko. She had to give it to him; Yamato wasn't an ANBU captain for nothing. That was quite possibly the best imitation that she'd ever seen, including the voice.

Silently crouching next to her was her new pale-faced partner, Sai. She didn't know what to think of him, other than he looked way too much like Sasuke. He was sort of an enigma, hard for her to read, his face was always expressionless so she never really knew what he was thinking. He wasn't an ANBU for nothing either, his methods of surveillance were… unique, to say the least. He was a great artist, she would say that.

As Yamato slowly stalked onto the bridge, a man in a grayish purple cloak revealed himself, seemingly sliding into view. He walked to the middle of the bridge and stood, looking at the vista as if to admire the view.

The wind blew rather ominously. As Yamato approached him, the man pulled back his hood and said, "It's good to see you again…Sasori-sama. It's been five years hasn't it?"

Sakura got a good look at the man's face and gasped. To her surprise it was none other and Yakushi Kabuto! Yamato wasted no time with idle chit-chat and cut straight to the chase. "Were you followed?" he asked.

"No, we're fine." Kabuto responded. "We don't have much time; I'm risking my life by just being here."

"Tell, me what you know about Orochimaru's hideouts, and Uchiha Sasuke." Yamato said in his gruff voice.

Kabuto then began relaying whatever he knew to Yamato; the wind had picked up so Sakura couldn't really hear them that well. Several minutes went by and it seemed as if Kabuto had finished speaking because he held out his hand toward Yamato.

Sakura tensed, she could feel it, Yamato was about to make a decision any moment now. His long sleeve lurched and Yamato aimed a kunai out at Kabuto's neck, however, as the cold metal neared its target the wind stood still and a tall pale man with long black hair appeared behind Kabuto. A snake coiled itself around the man's body, as if it was his companion.

Sakura's heart then went still; she could feel herself start to sweat. Orochimaru, he was here…

"This sounds like an interesting conversation, mind if I join in?" Orochimaru asked with an unquestionably sinister smile. His snake's tongue tasted the air for a moment and locked eyes with Yamato and hissed loudly. Yamato had jumped out of his disguise right before it was smashed into a rain of wood chips and fabric by the snake's rock hard skull.

Orochimaru laughed very slowly. "Well seems like we have a rat in our midst." Then he did the most unbelievable thing ever, he made eye contact with Sakura and sneered. She gulped down the bile that formed in her throat and steeled herself; without a second thought she jumped out of the underbrush and took a position next to Yamato; Shortly after Sai followed as well.

Kabuto then smiled and adjusted his glasses which made Yamato frown. The ANBU stood fully erect and said, "I don't get it, I thought you were under Sasori's jutsu."

Kabuto threw his shoulders back with a kind of lackadaisical swagger, as if he was speaking to a little kid. "Orochimaru-sama broke that jutsu, years ago, over time I simply realized that following Orochimaru-sama was the right thing to do and chose to remain by his side." He then locked eyes with Sakura and adjusted his glasses accordingly. "Where's that little blond boy, last I remember he was on your team right?" Sakura tensed what an affect the mere mention of his Naruto's essence had on her. The mention of the smallest of his many traits sent a chill down her spine; froze her up and sealed her lips. Like a leaf chilled over with the early winter morning frost, still and lifeless before the world. Had he said anymore she feared that she would wilt away, or fall limp like the dead. Naruto was gone, even worse, he had gone bad.

Orochimaru let out a rough laugh and rested his hand on Kabuto's shoulder, "Come now Kabuto, are you blind? Can't you see that he is among them?" Kabuto turned around, but Orochimaru clamped down on to his head and spun it back around, he pointed with his long pale slender finger. "Look past this lot" Orochimaru said. Kabuto did as he was told and narrowed his eyes, immediately the persistent troop of leaf underlings blurred out of focus and the blond tuft of hair meters behind them became clear. Lo and behold, the runt was here! Naruto, the demon boy, was leaning on the railing of the bridge with a devilish smile. the others spun around, Sakura the quickest, and locked their gazes on their blond escapee. Sakura gasped and took a step back. He was here again, not again, why again? Why was he here, now of all times? "Who is that?" Yamato said, exchanging glances between both sides of the bridge, wary to not let either enemy out of his sight.

"N-naruto..." Sakura muttered. Yamato immediately recognized the name, as would all men at his level. He was required to memorize the every name in the bingo book; it was a shame that Uzumaki Naruto got his name in there at such an early age. He was a bit unsure of what to do at the moment; although with Orochimaru being the more dangerous threat, he was have to focus on him first. Yamato shifted slightly over in Orochimaru's direction.

"You don't have to be wary of me" Naruto said. "I'm not here to pose a problem to Leaf, I want"—he locked eyes with Orochimaru—"him." Naruto began walking and then soon broke out into a sprint, his rapid footsteps pounded against the wooden bridge. He flicked both wrists and out came two gleaming thin blades from his sleeves. "Where's Sasuke?" Naruto yelled.

Kabuto chuckled and leaned forward into a lazy sprint as well. Yamato and Sai took their positions—Sai facing Naruto and Yamato facing Kabuto. Sakura was the only one who stood frozen, although Orochimaru hadn't moved either. As the gap between him and his obstacle shrank, Naruto poured chakra into his legs gave a mighty leap into the air. For a moment he gazed down at his pale-faced enemy and for a moment he grimaced. The boy looked almost exactly like Sasuke, which of course caused him to grind his teeth. Was he supposed to be some type of replacement? Bullshit, that's what this all was. A shinobi defects from his home village and like that the village is able to produce a sub-par doppelganger replacement. Konoha had probably already replaced him as well, but then again who could mimic the power of a nine-tailed demon fox? Answer: no one could.

He was the only sui-generis Nin in Leaf. Even the Hokage could be reproduced, like they had many times.

He heard the venomous hiss of Orochimaru's snake just in time to stab the body of his blade all the way through its head and rip it out with a grunt. He landed squarely several meters in front of Orochimaru.

His long age-dried hair danced wildly as he threw his head back in laughter. "So I see you've grown boy"—he noticed the slash through the headband tied on Naruto's arm and his gazed relaxed—"and a great deal wiser."

Kabuto stopped short on his charge and spun around, "Lord Orochimaru-sama!" he yelled and charged Naruto again with glowing palms. Behind Kabuto, black outlined white eagles pursued, as well as a strip of serpentine wood from Yamato's palm.

Naruto paid attention to neither enemy, his rock hard gaze carved onto his face. A massive shadow enveloped the sides of the bridge as two tidal waves of Naruto jumped onto the bridge and into the fray. Right before Kabuto reached him he was engulfed as well, hacking and slashing away with his hands at any and every clone that charged him.

"Now that that's taken care of, where's Sasuke?" Naruto said once more.

Orochimaru palmed his chin once more, this certainly was interesting. "For what reason would you want to see my Sasuke?" Naruto spat at his feet, the comment enraged him, obviously.

"Don't talk like you own him."

"Oh but I do, he sold himself to me after all."

"You're starting to piss me off." His blood began to boil and so did his chakra. Orochimaru noticed the bubbly redness beginning to envelop Naruto's body. In the background more and more of Naruto's clones began to grasp at their necks and explode into smoke. "Sasuke's not your toy." Naruto seethed behind clenched teeth. Protruding canines and a ghastly expression, a rabid animal dying from its own thirst for blood. The boy wanted it—a battle—he craved it badly and clawed at it hungrily. The best thing to do would be to give the boy what he wanted, right? When an orphan stuck his hand out to be fed, the only sensible thing to do was to feed him right?

So be it Naruto; for you, only the best, sustenance, and everlasting nourishment! Naruto's calves thudded against the surface; his hidden blades sank back in while his claw came out. The bubbly red chakra enveloped his arm entirely…

Naruto ripped his claws across Orochimaru's face, carrying him through the wood of the bridge—through the ground—and then into the dense foliage of the bordering trees. Immediately what was left of Naruto's clones erupted into violent plumes of smoke, leaving a cloud the size of an enlarged Akimichi in their wake.

Three tails loosely formed themselves at Naruto's rear, vulpine ears sprouted like blossoming flowers—all at once. Out of the smoke, a pink blur flew into the air high above Naruto and clenched her fist.

"Narutoo-", Sakura stopped short of her battle cry one she got a look at her former teammate. He arm wobbled with a certain hot flash of fear. The bloodthirsty child would have none of this; one burning glare from those glowing coal eyes sent Sakura's body flailing back toward the opposite end of the bridge. Fortunately Yamato made it in time to catch her before she cracked her skull open. In Yamato's arms she cracked her lid open a bit, getting one faint look at Naruto—they made eye contact—before closing it completely. Naruto… had changed, he was an enemy. Naruto stood still for some seconds, seemingly too overwhelmed by his own copious amount of chakra, when Orochimaru came staggering out of the trees and back onto the bridge, part of his face peeling off with an under-layer of someone else's skin showing.

"I'd be much more interested in testing how strong my Sasuke-kun has grown… by pitting him against you, don't you think Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru questioned.

The bubbly cloak then got a lot thicker and redder in color; and it looked almost as if the cloak was boiling. As the wind kicked up more and more chakra leaked out of Naruto's body, adding a sickening crimson to his aura. The bloodthirsty child crouched low, the chakra got stronger.

For a moment, Orochimaru locked eyes with Naruto—he saw the submerged lair in which the Kyuubi resided, and looked the beast itself in the eye; and it roared, terribly. A crater imprint appeared where Naruto stood and the bridge shook violently with the chakra influenced wind, popping sections of its railing out randomly. That's when someone decided to move, Kabuto, still behind Naruto charged.

Naruto turned around and released a mighty roar that sent Kabuto flying back and at the same time completely destroyed the section of the bridge Naruto was standing on. Orochimaru quickly jumped off the bridge and ran into the forest, like a loyal dog Naruto followed.

About five minutes later, the entire team was slapped by the force of a terrifyingly demonic shockwave.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX

This letter didn't make any sense at all, perhaps it was forged, a clever trap in disguise, or something of the like. News of the Kazekage's return to his village was spreading like wildfire, and equally as much, news of Kumo's jinchuuriki, Nii Yugito as well. Strange really, they both just seemed to pop up at times too near to each other to be coincidence. After going missing, or being kidnapped, people did not just pop up. And yet… these two jinchuuriki did. The letter in Tsunade's hand swung loosely in between her thumb and forefinger.

She held it out in front of her like a rotten banana peel. "Is this a joke?" she asked Shikamaru's exceedingly morbid expression. He looked sick to his stomach; his shinobi instinct was bugging him too. Here in Konoha, they followed their guts, something was up and Gaara, or perhaps this Naruto kid was at the center of it. Perhaps Yugito? No, from Sakura's report, Yugito seemed to be the passive one out of the pack; was that it? Was Naruto the alpha-male in this picture? Overshadowing even the Kazekage himself? That is if Gaara was involved in this at all; if he was then it was highly unlikely.
Shikamaru grunted before scratching his head. "Yeah," he grunted, "a Suna messenger handed this over to us this morning. It sounds little fishy, but it's got the Kazekage's official seal on it, Gaara wrote this."
Tsunade placed the letter flat on her desk and scanned it once over again, very, very skeptically. The reality was right in front of her alright…

-'To the Five Great Shinobi Nations'—Tsunade read some more, skimmed it actually—'it is evident to me'—she read more and even though she'd already read this once before, her eyes still widened in disbelief—'that and alliance of beasts is in order.' Tsunade pounded at her desk like she always did whenever she read something she didn't like, and it always cracked the same way. The same vein protruded from her forehead, like it always did, and the same side of her lip raised with her anger…like it always did. Did Gaara understand what this meant? This was perhaps one of the most radical letters in shinobi history!

"An alliance… of j-jinchuuriki…" Tsunade stammered.

Shikamaru's eyes went wide. "What?" he asked loudly, sitting up straight in his chair. Tsunade didn't answer at first; she simply stared past Shikamaru blankly. After a few awkward seconds she finally answered.
"He wants every nation that has, or had a jinchuuriki to meet with him to discuss…an alliance, a fucking alliance of tailed beasts! He wants to link us through-"she stopped for a moment eying the photo of Naruto that was still on her desk; she picked it up. "-people like him." She finished.
XXXXXXXXXX

Once Naruto had roared until his primal desire for dominance was satisfied, he sunk low on all fours, deeply gazing, or so it seemed, at Orochimaru. With the azure blue of his eyes gone, Orochimaru could not tell whether or not those seemingly bottomless, snowy white eye holes were looking at or past him. They had so much primal depth to them!

Naruto was truly a magnificent, no—correction—Kyuubi was the magnificent one here. Taming such a belligerent child like Naruto-kun, a great feat, but Kyuubi's gargantuan presence surely aided, especially when Naruto's own weakness forced him to submit and accept the fox's power.

Orochimaru examined them with a dissector's eye, from the tip of his blood red vulpine ear-tips to each of his four blood red tail-tips. The boy was an exact likeness of the Kyuubi, akin to an illegitimate spawn of some sort, or perhaps a newly emerging manifestation of the fox's chakra. Whatever it was, it was fascinating! Orochimaru had to smile, there was no lid for the geyser screaming to burst. Naruto…is…the Kyuubi! He had to announce it, the boy had finally been possessed!

Deeply enveloped in his sickening chakra, Naruto did something that wiped the smile right off of Orochimaru's face. He laughed…

His voice warped by the Kyuubi's influence, with a few sickening cracks and squelches of muscle and bone Naruto fully erected himself upon two feet like a normal, civilized human being. He cracked his neck twice, each of his four tails twitched rhythmically as he did so. Orochimaru's eyes widened, his mouth agape, he clenched his fist so that the already pale skin shifted to an even whiter complexion. Then his face, blank like that of a fish's, slowly curled into another maniac grin. It seemed that his calculations were incorrect. Naruto-kun, what an impressive creature he was. He was not of the fox, but it was such that the fox was of him!

Naruto slowly raised his hand, his killer intent surged and immediately Orochimaru jumped back onto all fours. His cheeks bulged violently, threatening to burst with bile, and instead of bile an ocean of small to medium sized snakes erupted from his mouth. Naruto inhaled deeply as the green-scaled vermin closed in on him, and from his mouth he released a roar from the fiery depths of his chest so powerful that the ground along with Orochimaru's snakes was ripped away, peeling off the ground like old tape. It was then that Naruto raised his hand again and slammed it powerfully into the ground, and seconds later a red behemoth's claw exploded from underneath Orochimaru. The old snake was just slippery enough to evade, forcing Naruto's claw to pursue. All along the body of the battlefield Orochimaru ran with Naruto's claw right behind him. Orochimaru then dug his heels into the ground and fired his body at Naruto like an arrow. He opened his mouth impossibly wide and from his throat produced a gleaming blade.

Once again Naruto laughed, his four tails curled around to the front of his flowing red body and inches before Orochimaru's blade pierced him, Naruto caught Orochimaru's projectile body as easily as a seasoned Jonin would pluck a genin's kunai out of the air. Each of his four tails spread Orochimaru's arms and legs apart. With his demon's voice and Orochimaru's blade inches from his heart Naruto bared his many fangs. "I'll tear you apart!" he growled. Naruto's tails began to pull and like a trigger was pulled, Orochimaru's blade shot, hitting Naruto square in the heart, pushing him back several meters.

Orochimaru landed soundly on all fours, prying his mouth open, another pair of hands literally prying his mouth open and out came another Orochimaru, slick like a newborn baby. There one exception, however, this Orochimaru had no legs; instead the long singular lower body of a snake was there in its place. Like a snake chasing its prey, Orochimaru slithered along the ground at an inhuman pace, closing the distance between Naruto and himself within seconds. His braced his fist and injected his deadly venom, a devastating punch that landed squarely on Naruto's jaw, sending Naruto's body parallel to the ground.

Was that enough to stop him though? Surely it was not. Out of Naruto's side, near his ribcage, a bubbling mass lurched and soon a second Naruto, clad in crimson skin and fangs, sprouted, and with one mighty swipe of his massive claw, tore Orochimaru completely in half. Orochimaru's upper half—airborne—flailed wildly in the air and for a moment Naruto thought him dead. But that bastard never went down easily did he? You could completely mutilate his body, destroy him even! Every single time, he came back kicking, awful little disease wasn't he? This battle was no different, Orochimaru was still Orochimaru, and Orochimaru always came back no matter what.

Orochimaru's airborne top half as well as his grounded bottom half both erupted with a torrent of snakes which linked together like wires and pulled both halves back together. Now repaired, Orochimaru slithered away to put some distance between the two.

The newly produced Naruto lost its form and retracted back into the original's body. "ENOUGH!" Naruto roared. His body then erupted, as if he were being pelted by hundreds of kunai, expelling hundreds of little light and dark balls of chakra. And as quickly as they were expelled the balls of chakra were retracted back to Naruto, lumping together in a violent mass of condensed foul chakra. As the balls of chakra condensed, they roughly formed a the shape of a sphere which morphed in color from dark purple to ink black and was steadily growing smaller.

Orochimaru jumped back about three dozen or so meters, and slammed his hands into the ground. From them sprouted a web of seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Sanju Rashomon!" Orochimaru yelled. Out of the ground, three gargantuan demonic gates with different Oni countenances erupted from the ground in front of Orochimaru.

On the other side of the gate, Naruto held his claw out and the potent ball of dark chakra gently floated down allowing Naruto to cradle it like Adam would his Apple of Eden. For a moment it held a peaceful glow even under the chaos of Naruto's stare. That peace was then extinguished as Naruto violently rammed the sphere of chakra into his mouth, devouring it whole, and for a moment its faint glow could be seen within his abdomen, pulsating. Moments later, Naruto's entire body inflated itself and the ground around him deepened into a crater.

The wind blew softly like the calm before the storm and out of Naruto's mouth trickled a small trail of smoke. The worst had yet to come, the real beast was not Naruto; beasts only destroyed and ravaged, it was all they knew. What was about to happen... was bestial. It was Naruto, this was a gift all wrapped up by the Kyuubi itself.

Naruto reared his head back and discharged the chakra violently, tearing away the ground as if it were made of fragile glass. Orochimaru waited anxiously, listening to the growing hum of Naruto's monstrosity of an attack. He could feel what was about to happen; he could already see that his three gates would be no match for what was about to happen; he could clearly point out where the metal would bend, how the trees would bow in fear, how the wind would correct itself and run in the direction that Naruto's chakra willed it.

The hum grew louder...

It would be instantaneous.

Louder still...

And it would be wonderful...

As the hum of violent chakra became deafening to the ear Orochimaru smiled wildly, lolling out his tongue. "Naruto...you truly are magnificent!" He said.

And then all that Orochimaru predicted came true. A blast of otherworldly proportions ripped his defenses to shreds.

XXXXXXXXXX

Bee was gullible to an extent… but sadly his brother wasn't. And not only was the brute uncannily perceptive he was also…well… a brute.

"You expect me to believe that?" The Raikage said impatiently, his fingers crackling with electricity. His eyes moved up and down quickly as he sized her up. What a timid little thing she was, at least in his presence. Nii Yugito: age fifteen going on sixteen, bleach blonde hair, delinquent… and the best vessel for the Nibi no Nekomata that Kumo has ever seen. Valuable, indispensable… untouchable, except she didn't even know that. Most Jinchuuriki didn't. The Raikage's harsh eye smoothed over to Bee who was behind Yugito, gently resting his hands on her shoulders.

Bee wasn't most jinchuuriki—his eye went back to Yugito—and neither was she. Kumo could probably boast that they had the two strongest Jinchuuriki in the world… if that was even worth some praise.

"I'll ask again… do you expect me to believe that?" He asked.

Yugito slowly looked up before looking back down at her thighs. "H-hai…" she muttered pathetically. "I-I needed time alone so I left the village without telling anyone. W-what's the problem, Bee does it all the time."

"EXACTLY!" Yugito flinched, "Bee does, all the time! But you… you never leave the village, you never just get up and leave! For someone who spent fifteen years of her life locked up in her own little playpen, leaving the village just doesn't make sense at all."—he brought his face close to hers and lowered his voice—"it isn't like you."

Yugito said nothing in response. At that moment she berated herself for being such a loner.

"Fine then…Bee will you tell me? That is only…if you know anything."

Bee stayed silent for a moment, tapping his upper lip. "Hmmm…" he said and Naruto's face came to mind.
"Oh yeah there was this…uh…" Naruto's face faded. "...this…guy? I think? Oh oh, here we go; I know…I saw…I saw… um…what the fuck? I-I don't remember it… but I was definitely there with… with…" Bee crossed his arms trying hard to remember.

Inwardly Yugito smiled, Bee may have been the weirdest person she'd ever met, but he certainly was one of the most trustworthy.

The Raikage sighed. "So even you won't tell me Bee? I see…" he slowly got out of his chair walked toward the door, upon opening it he looked back. "When you two are ready to cut the crap and tell me the truth then come see me; now if you'll excuse me I have a meeting to attend." And with those final words, The Raikage slammed the door close, his heavy footsteps fading dully.

As soon as they were alone Yugito spun around in her chair to countenance held the cheer of a child. "Great job Bee! I'm sure he doesn't believe you but it at least bought us some time to think of something."—she patted him on the arm—"I actually didn't think you had it in you to lie to your brother."

Bee stopped her right there with a quick glance. "I-I was planning on telling him everything but the stuff about that Naruto kid… and then as soon as I tried remembering it…I-I forgot it…everything." Bee said looking at his clenched fist. "I couldn't remember a single thing, but now… I do."

XXXXXXXXXX

The smoke cleared and as predicted... everything was gone. Orochimaru found himself upright, head in the dirt; his legs twitched. After he dug himself out he spat some blood and smiled at the aftermath. He was right, his defenses were no match for Naruto's attack, he'd actually overestimated his technique, believing that it would be able to withstand Naruto's blast. Well the damage was much worse, there wasn't anything left of his gates to be found! In the smoky distance he could see Naruto standing upright once again; the little Kyuubi spawn kept looking at the back of his claw. His guard was down? Or perhaps the boy thought him dead? Nevertheless...

The aged Sannin shakily fell to all fours with a sort of injured grace and like an arrow released from a bow his neck shout out. And out of his mouth the blade of his Kusanagi shot out like an even faster arrow released from a crossbow and pierced Naruto square in his heart, but it was clear that his blade was not strong enough to break any skin. The blade simply carried Naruto's body back until it crashed into the cliffs encasing Tenchi Bridge.

"Orochimaru-sama!" His head snapped at the sound of Kabuto's faithful voice; he found the boy sliding his way down the bowl of the crater toward him. Once he was withing proximity, clutching his ribs, Kabuto said, "L-lord Orochimaru-sama, we must leave at once."

Orochimaru waited for his blade to fully retract and then stared at Kabuto seriously for a moment, and then resigned to agreement. "Very well," he said stagnantly.

XXXXXXXXXX

Back at the cliffs of Tenchi Bridge, Yamato, and Sakura found themselves staring into a giant pother of dust and falling rocks where Naruto's red body had crashed. Apparently Sai, that little snake, had abandoned the team in pursuit of Orochimaru, perhaps his real objective from the start. Danzo's followers were never to be trusted and this was proof of it. One thing was made clear to Yamato at this point.

He realized why he was placed on this team, why he was chosen to replace Kakashi. Not because of his skill, or his cunning, nor his status. But because of what he could do that no other could. The current and previous Hokages most likely predicted that this Naruto child would show his face soon, and it was most likely due to the presence of his former teammates. Sakura was probably the attraction here; is files said that the boy was passionately infatuated with the girl ever since their times as meager Genin.

Yamato cast a quick glance at Sakura before taking some steps forward. He tightly gripped his wrist and held his palm out. "Let's see if that fire still burns Naruto..." he muttered.

The grand thing about him was that... well what he could do was...

It wasn't something that could be easily explained, only demonstrated. His palm glowed blue with the kanji for sit, seemingly branded into his skin. "Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu - Ka-" Yamato began to say but stopped when he noticed the smoke clearing. "W-wha-.." he stammered.

Standing there was Naruto looking just as he had when he first arrived. Despite a few tears to his clothing he was completely normal! No claws, no fangs, nothing at all. In fact, his nonchalance made it seem as if he'd just finished sparring a genin.

"Ow, that hurt." Naruto said while rubbing his neck. "Gotta Kill that bastard next ti-"

"Don't move!" He heard someone say. Slowly he turned his head to look at the one who spoke. He gave a small smirk when he saw Sakura shrinking behind a brown-haired and rather plain looking man. "Uzumaki Naruto, under the Hokage's official orders I hereby place you under arrest!"

"Really?" Naruto asked, sounding bored. His bland expression faded when a entanglement of tree roots burst up from the ground and bound his arms and legs together, leaving him to flop on the ground like a fish.

"Yes, really." Yamato answered back, he then looked at Sakura. "Sakura, let's go." He then looked back at Naruto.. "We'll be back for you later, so stay put." Yamato turned to walk away, Sakura trailing behind him, she kept shooting him these scared glances every now and then.

"Sakura, can we talk?" Naruto asked, and immediately Sakura turned around, her eyes wide with a odd mixture of sadness and anxiety. She looked hopelessly desperate. At least he thought so. Naruto tilted over until he was able to look Sakura right in her eye, "Please?" He pleaded.

The plain looking man stepped in front of her and the wooden binds tightened to point of that Naruto actually felt pain. "Hey...ow... lighten up man! Look, look... I can help you guys."

"That's much too dangerous for me to even consider Uzumaki."

Naruto then sighed. "So you're just gonna leave me alone, that's also dangerous you know?" As an answer, Yamato made a ram seal and in seconds an exact copy of the man was standing over Naruto, hovering with a serious expression plastered on his face. Naruto grimaced, partially because of his rough binding and turned his head away. "And I thought I would get to see Sasuke, oh well." he muttered softly.

"Take him to Konoha," Yamato instructed.

Naruto scoffed, "A clone won't be able to hold me for long, no matter how strong you are." He said. That statement, no matter how convincing he sounded, was a bluff. In fact a clone would be enough to hold him, more than enough actually, a small child would be able to take him down. He played it off well but he was exhausted almost to the point of collapsing. Truthfully, he'd just went all out, four-tails was in fact his limit, any further and he might have actually lost his mind to the fox.

Yamato laughed, "I'll take my chances," he said before nodding his head briefly at his clone who then loomed over him even more closely, raising his foot and with a sharp twist of wood, turning his foot into a large block of wood.

"Oh fu-" was all Naruto could say before the plain faced ANBU sent his wooden bludgeon rushing at his face.

XXXXXXXXXX

When Naruto woke up he was surrounded by looked around, and everything for as far as he could see, was white. He wondered exactly where he was, and then wondered whether or not he was dreaming, he'd heard of limbo before, perhaps this was the place? He yelled 'hello' into the open space only to hear his voice yell back at him ten times over. That was one hell of an echo.

"Hello" he then heard, but this time it was not his own voice saying hello but another's. It sounded like a small child's actually. "Down here." He heard and when he looked down he jumped back. Standing before him was a small orange fox, this one only had one tail and when it spoke its voice echoed as well. When it said 'here' it came out as 'here...here...here...' with each echo lowering in volume. Naruto squatted to inspect the the little fox, he knew this was potentially dangerous but what the hell. He gave it a little pat on the head.

Then the oddest thing happened, as he touched it, he felt its soft fur for only a moment and then nothing but air, or whatever it was that floated around down here in potential-limbo. The fox was gone! "What the-" Naruto began.

"Are you coming...coming...coming?" The little fox asked from behind him. Naruto immediately turned around, falling on his bottom in the process. The little thing was standing near a flight a stairs that sank into the ground, at the bottom of which was only darkness. The fox giggled, "C'mon...c'mon...c'mon!" It said trotting down into the darkness.

"Wait that wasn't there before...hey wait where are you-" But the little fox was gone. Strangely, there was something that made Naruto want to follow, something about that little fox, something good. Despite its clear origins, Naruto had the strangest inkling about the fox, it meant good. He could sense nothing but good will from it, yet, within that dark pit... he felt nothing but ominous hostility. Naruto stood erect; that mattered not, the little fox had some light in it. And he'd be damned if he let it get swallowed up by that overwhelming darkness, no, he'd hold onto that light. It would be his guide, and he its protector.

Naruto dashed down the black stairwell after the fox. Down he went, and the deeper and deeper he went the stronger the ominous feelings got. Something was down here and Naruto already knew what. By the time he'd gotten to the bottom he'd spotted the little fox trotting down a hallway that seemed as long horizontally as the stairs were vertically.

He called out to the fox and immediately noticed that his echo had ceased. "That's odd" Naruto thought to himself before continuing on. There were many things about this place that Naruto thought to be odd. The entire hallway was moist, the ceiling was covered in an entanglement of pipes that seem to grow out like wild vines, it was uncomfortably warm and there was this awfully sour smell that never ceased its assault on his nose! Limbo really sucked. But there was one thing that was the oddest above everything else. Naruto only noticed it after about half an hour of running. He had been going full sprint this entire time, yet...he wasn't tired. A clear indicator that this was not the normal world. The normal world didn't have these impossibly long tunnels, nor these foul smells, or little talking foxes.

Speaking of foxes, Naruto almost tripped over it when the one he was following came to an abrupt stop. "We're here," it said. Naruto stepped out into a giant hall with a cell with bars that stretched all the way up to the ceiling. The twisted metal pipes he'd seen before grew in abundance here, they were everywhere. It was then that Naruto closed his eyes, shaking his head for not realizing that he'd been here before. Actually he'd been here a few times, once right before he fought Sasuke in the Valley of End, a few times when training with Jiraiya, and just briefly before his fight with Orochimaru. It occurred at varying times like after extended periods of using the Kyuubi's chakra or sometimes just randomly . And honestly he hated it, not because it was a clear indicator that he was still not in full control of the Kyuubi, but because of the frequency at which it occurred. It crept up on him at the worst of times, it was like a sickness that he couldn't cure himself of. Or perhaps it was the Kyuubi itself haunting him, like an eternal specter, constantly looming over his shoulder? Maybe these happenings were warnings, that one day he really would loose control and become that demon that everyone thought him to be.

The mere thought sent chills up Naruto's back. He could remember the frequent nights when he would wake up screaming in cold sweat, his chest heaving, his heart thumping like a jackhammer. And every night that it did occur, he could feel something growing, an apparent truth that he could no longer deny.

Behind the gates two giant eyes and a fanged mouth to match snapped open and released a roar that reached deep down into the pit of his being. He could no longer deny it...the Kyuubi was beginning to affect him.

The roar grew louder still, until he was forced to close his eyes from the wind.

Naruto's body jolted as he snapped his eyes open, gasping for breath while at the same time attempting to sit upright. All the symptoms were there, he face was moist and clammy, his chest felt heavy, and his throat felt so sore that swallowing came with some difficulty; he had been screaming in his sleep again. It had happened again...and it was getting worse. Despite how confident a facade he put on about his control of the Kyuubi, the truth was that Naruto had his limits too; at his current level his limit was four tails.

He could never, ever, tell anyone about this, not even those who he trusted the most, his pride wouldn't allow it.

Naruto observed that he was in a dim cavernous cell, behind him the long metal bars broke the pattern of uniform brown. The cell had only a door, one way in one way out, simple, tacit. Using the granite wall, or perhaps some other material, as he support, Naruto sat upright. His hands were bound behind his back, his legs yet remained free of each other, yet still, he found two paper seals wrapped both his ankles and a small ball of iron attached to his left ankle.

Like a dog they had him bound, like a dog, or a tool? Yes much more fitting of his situation. Just as Naruto was ready to let his mind fall back to slumber he heard the thick metal bars release a large groan as they were cranked upward. A sharp whistle pierced into and around his cell, his ears twitched with irritation until he could stand it no longer and took a step outside into a brightly lit yard, well he couldn't really call it a yard because it was still inside. Of course shinobi criminals could never be let outside, the things that they could do.

Naruto breathed out a chuckle, Konoha was prepared for every situation weren't they?

XXXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade sat next to her former sensei as he rubbed his temples slowly. She shook her ever present sake saucer a bit before taking a swig. She savored the slow burn it gave as it ran down her throat, warm sake always went down smoothly. After releasing a satisfied sigh Tsunade contemplated giving the rest of her saucer to her sensei. He looked like he needed it, so she poked him and when he looked up, stuck the clear liquid close to his nose, hoping that the scent would gain his approval of the drink.

For a moment he stared at it and then shook his head. "I'm much too old for that." He said slowly pushing the saucer back toward Tsunade. It seemed like he'd been saying that a lot these days. He was much too old for everything, too old for alcohol, too old for this, too old for that; it was all the same.

"So, what will become of the boy?" Tsunade asked, before taking down the rest of her liquor. "Won't you go and see him?"

"No, I have nothing to say to him. Naruto has made his choice, I simply thought that he would have chosen the right one. As he is now, Danzo can have him. I approve of your plan."

Despite his words Sarutobi wanted nothing more than to go and see Naruto, just the thought of seeing the boy once more, just once more time... it was overwhelming. He knew not of what might have happened if he actually did get to see Naruto. Dozens and dozens of time he would play the scene out in his head. In one scene he embraced Naruto with tears in his eyes and then in another he brought a strong backhand and struck the boy on his cheek.

He truly did not know what he would do.

"So he really means that much too you?" Tsunade asked.'

"Yes, he does." Sarutobi replied. Tsunade then stood abruptly from her seat, and walked quickly toward the door. "W-where are you going?"

Just as she was about to close the door, Tsunade gave him a serious expression. "Going to speak to the little runt that has my sensei so worried."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was led out of his cell by two guards, both were Anbu. One looked pretty normal but the other, the one he couldn't help but wonder about, he kept his eyes on. This Anbu walked with a certain sway, mature and seductive, the gait of a women well seasoned. Her long purple hair still had not dried from age, so she seemed young enough, but her body, it spoke with a language far before her. She knew the world, at least the majority of it, all of its finer qualities at best. Death, pain, sorrow... betrayal...loyalty., She'd seen and experienced it all.

Naruto had never bee so awestruck before in his life, what a woman she was! And no, he wasn't checking her out, despite him having good enough reason to, he simply was enthralled to be in contact with her presence. She didn't have the bearings of any Hokage, gosh no, but she held her own well enough. He probably would never see a woman finer than this.

"Um miss, Anbu-lady...uh hello?" She offered Naruto no answer, most likely because she was under orders to not speak to him, or she just didn't want to speak to him. It was most likely the latter, actually could have been both. After a few minutes of walking they arrived at a lower level of the prison, or so Naruto assumed, judging by how much grittier everything around had become. The walls got dirtier, the floors came with less luster; Naruto was positive that they were underground. But for what?

Two huge doors swung out into a brightly lit room, a single incandescent bulb acting as the light source. A damn bright one too, the sudden change in light had Naruto seeing little reds and purples all over the place. There was a single table and two chairs directly under the hanging light bulb. Then his two Anbu escorts took positions on either side of the doors he'd come in through; one way in, one way out he supposed.

All the clarifying factors around him pointed toward one possible outcome and Naruto didn't like it one bit, in fact it made his lips and face twist into a grimace. It had all become obvious now, they were going to interrogate him, something he'd expected from the start. The remaining question was who? Who was to be the lucky interrogator that tamed the beast and made it divulge its innermost demons? His mind shifted to many potential faces; Kakashi, the old man, maybe even Iruka.

Naruto took his seat on one side of the table, there he shook his head. No not even Konoha was that stupid, all these people had some type of emotional connection to him, it had to be someone he never really knew or, and this seemed to be the most probable outcome, someone he'd never even met.

Maybe that battle-hardened hawk he'd seen during the Chunin exams, what was his name. Ibiki...

Perhaps him? Yes, it had to be. However, Naruto was surprised to see that when those double doors opened again it was not Ibiki that walked in but a rather well endowed woman with bright blonde hair. A few moments ago Naruto had seen the most tantalizing woman in his life and just now... the moment repeated itself, except this time it came tenfold with a rather embarrassing discharge. When Naruto scrambled to cover his slightly dripping nose he realized that his hands were still bound, so he opted for his shoulder, rubbing as best as he could.

Who was this woman? When she sat down, her ample bosom disobeyed and moved in the opposite direction only to reluctantly bounce back down. What he'd gone through before with the Anbu woman was the appreciation of a female maturity. But now this was completely different. This lady was just plain hot!

"Hey," she barked, "I'm up here!" Naruto immediately redirected his eyes. And as quickly as he'd looked up, he'd looked back down, not out of the desire to ogle her rather the out of the fear of her eyes. She had big brown orbs that, akin to the sway of the Anbu woman, spoke in a language much too aged for them. She looked to be a bit older than Kakashi yet she held the eyes of one as experienced as his sensei, Jiraiya.

"My name is Tsunade, I am the current Hokage."She said in a stern voice. That truly woke Naruto up, his head snapped back up, his lips trembling a bit.

"W-what, the old man he's..." Naruto began, afraid to complete the sentence out of fear of its validity.

Cool relief washed over him when Tsunade said, "Still alive." She eyed him over once more, eliciting the hairs on the back of his neck to stand at attention. "So you still do hold some connection to this village after all, that's good to know."

"Wha-..." But Tsunade continued before he could finish.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I've heard quite a lot about you, especially in these past weeks."

Naruto swallowed whatever meaningless words he was about to say and begun his sentence anew; he felt the tension drop. He was back to normal. "And what of it, will you have me kept in prison for life?" He asked calmly.

"Actually," she said this while nonchalantly placing he chin in her palm, "I may just have you killed for it. You defect from your village, then years later assault a Kage and then somehow you show up at the scene of his captivity and only after the arrival of your presence, that same Kage loses control of his Bijuu, and you're listed as the reason why yet another Jinchuuriki went missing, keep it up and it capital punishment may be right around the corner."

"Okay, I get it, you don't have to keep going."

"But I can, I hope you understand that." Tsunade replied.

Naruto sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Alright, I'm a slimy little bastard, I'm lowly, you ask the questions, you hold all the cards, I understand."

Tsunade then smiled, "Good, now I have someone I'd like you to meet."

The doors opened once again and a severely bandaged man walked through. "Ah we meet at last, Uzumaki Naruto. You can call me... Danzo."

Okay, so I'm done. I just wanted to focus this chapter a bit more on the inner workings of our pal Naruto, you know let the readers into his mind. And he doesn't like it, so keep in mind, I could be killed for what I have just revealed! The only way to prevent my death is to give Naruto a large amount of PM's, or reviews, whichever. Now hurry before he goes four tails on me!