With Konoha on the edge of war, Naruto was sent to aid an ally in a different fight, and went missing in battle. His friends are sent to find him, but what they didn't expect was to find him deaf, mute, and silent as the grave.

Printed Words

"Talking"

"Thoughts"

The Loudest Silence

Prologue

Tsunade looked down with distain at the envelope on her desk.

Another damn war.

It was a minor thing…between two tiny clans that hardly had more than a few select ninja to their name. But of course, the Sasaki clan, originating from Konoha, asked for their mother village, to whom they claimed undying loyalty, for their assistance.

Normally, this wouldn't have been such an issue. The problem that now faced Tsunade was that Konoha was on the verge of a war itself.

At the end of the Fourth Shinobi War, things between the Hidden Village of the Leaf and the Hidden Village of the Rock were not pleasant. Carless things were said between the two villages' ninja, and despite working flawlessly together to take down the menace of Akatsuki, relations had not improved.

Tsunade was playing a political dance with the Third Tsuchikage, a push here, a compromise there. It was her job to cater to the people's wishes as well as their needs. And what the people wanted was not what they needed.

Tension was high, and the threat of another war, so soon after the end of the last one, was literally on the horizon. There was a strong possibility that there would be a surprise attack on Konoha, officially starting the war, which was why she couldn't spare groups of ninjas on some petty feud between two clans nearly forgotten by the ninja world.

But then again, the Sasaki clan had given essential aid in the both the Third and Fourth Shinobi war to Konoha. They had made large sacrifices that in the end were only harmful to their clan, and she knew that it was wrong of her to ignore their plea for help the one time they had ever asked for it.

Her hands were tied in both directions, and she couldn't figure out a good solution.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of orange, accompanied with the crunching noises of an apple being eaten.

"Naruto, I told you to use the damn door!" she snapped, not even bothering to look up at the young blond haired man. "And I swear, gaki, if you drop even a tiny bit of that apple on these papers, I'll hit you so hard, you'll be eating your ramen through a straw!"

Brilliantly blue eyes crinkled slightly with the broad smile stretching up the corners of his mouth. He knew better than to take her words seriously.

"Jeez, ya old hag, what's got you're adult diapers in a bunch?" he jeered as he sat down unconcernedly on the corner of the Hokage's desk.

"Don't call me old, you little brat!" she said, shoving him off the desk so he wouldn't see the small smile on her face.

"Ah! You're so mean to me, Baa-chan!" Naruto said dramatically as he picked himself off the floor, dusting off his pants as part of the show. Both ninja knew he had let himself be pushed to the floor. He wasn't the next candidate for Hokage for nothing.

"What did you want, anyways?" Tsunade humored him, secretly glad for the excuse to take her mind off the Sasaki clan's problem.

"Eh…nothing really in particular…" he said nonchalantly, flicking a piece of imaginary dirt from his nails. "Just thought I'd pop in, see how you were…what kind of stuff you where up to…"

"Naruto, I'm not planning a surprise coronation to induct you as Hokage," Tsunade said flatly, knowing the meaning behind his words all too well.

"Aw come on, Baa-chan! You know I'm ready for it!" he said, unable to hide the slight whine in his voice.

Tsunade turned her head away from him, pretending to search for something important so she wouldn't have to look at him. Yes. She knew that he was well ready for the job. How could he not be? He was the reason the Fourth Shinobi War had ended as quickly as it had. The blond jinchuriki had fought the man who claimed to be Uchiha Madara single handedly, bringing an end to the Akatsuki and the one who wished to enslave the entire world for his warped idea of "peace."

Naruto had become known as the hero of the shinobi world. Young children could be heard in the street, calling out that one day they'd be a strong ninja just like their "Naruto Nii-sama!" The older generations who had once glared at the boy with cold eyes and distain in their hearts now looked at him with admiration, guilt, and respect for the child who had grown, loving the village and it's people despite their scorn. He had succeeded in what everyone thought was impossible, he'd brought the youngest Uchiha back to his right state of mind, and back to the village. His reputation had surpassed even the Yondaime's, and Tsunade was certain that there was none who could beat him in battle, especially if any of Naruto's special ones were on the line.

In truth, Naruto was already the Rokudaime Hokage. There were no other contenders for the job, and the whiskered male already did half of the work for the Godaime, claiming that he wanted to "train" for the day when the coveted hat was his. The only thing left was for Tsunade to officially give up her title of Hokage, and pass it to Naruto.

He was ready for it, and Tsunade knew it. But a part of her, the part that secretly swelled with pride every time her successor called her his Baa-chan, that part was reluctant to do it. Because as soon as she did, that little boy she had bet could never learn the rasengan would be all grown up, and she couldn't bring herself to let go.

"You're barely eighteen!" she scowled, as she rummaged through the file cabinet. "You should enjoy being young while you can. This job sucks the life right out of you, trust me I know!"

"Aw…you just want to keep the hat!" Naruto pouted, tossing the apple core over his shoulder and into the trash bin with out even glancing backwards.

"Since you're so eager, why don't you take a look at this and tell me what you think," she said, shutting the file cabinet and motioning to the letter from the Sasaki clan on her desk.

Naruto picked up the letter, a curious gleam in his eye, and Tsunade could practically see the wheels turning in the blond covered head as his eyes scanned the paper, dissecting the information.

"The Sasaki clan…so they've finally gone to war against the Fujiwara clan, have they?" he wondered aloud. "I can see your problem," he said, a frown marring the tanned skin. Naruto went around the desk and plopped into a chair, lifting his feet onto the desk as he scratched absently at the back of his head.

"You can't very well send out squads…we need everyone here while the tension's so high. But then again, ignoring the Sasaki clan would be wrong…not to mention it would leave their loyalty up for grabs for the other villages, and Konoha really doesn't need any more enemies at the moment," Naruto paused, raising his eyes to Tsunade who nodded, confirming the information.

"Hm," Naruto leaned back in the chair, calculating eyes trained on the ceiling. Suddenly the legs of his chair fell back to the ground with a thud as Naruto put his feet back on the ground. "Right!" he said triumphantly, his face glowing with the same look as a child with a master prank in mind. "Just send me!"

Tsunade looked at him for a moment…blinked…and–

"You can't be serious, gaki!" she snorted, looking at him as though he had gone mad.

"Oh, but I am!" he said gleefully, pushing out of the chair to come back around to the Hokage's side. "Listen, you can't send out a squad, sending only one would look like we didn't really care. Then again, sending out two or three squads would attract too much attention, and we'd be stupid if we assumed the Tsuchikage didn't have spies around…it just might be the thing he's been waiting for to launch an attack. If you send me by myself, I can sneak around any Iwa nin, and get to the Sasaki clan in a snap! I'm strong enough to aid the battle, and if the Fujiwara know I'm there, they probably won't be as inclined to continue the war anyway! Who knows? It might even improve the relation between Konoha and Sasaki, sending the future Rokudaime definitely isn't something to complain about!"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she thought through the plan, and though she hated to admit it, it really did make quite a lot of sense. What Naruto had said about his presence being enough to deter the Fujiwara clan wasn't his being arrogant, it was a solid fact. People were reluctant to go at odds with Konoha because they had seen first hand the power of the Hidden Leaf's own jinchuriki. And it wasn't something to laugh at.

But even so…sending him in alone? Sure, the brat could make enough kage bushin to form an army of his own, but she still had a gut wrenching fear in the pit of her stomach that made her reluctant to send the boy off so unprotected.

"Naruto, I can't send you alone into a battle!" Tsunade growled softly, more to herself than to the blond standing with confidence in front of her.

"Tsunade Baa-chan, it's the only choice you've got!" Naruto said seriously, and the pitiful truth of the situation was, Tsunade knew he was right.

The Sannin-turned-Hokage sat back with a sigh into her chair, carefully looking over the boy who had continually done the impossible, including worming his way into her dead heart.

"Come on…have faith in me!" he pleaded, his clear blue eyes boring into hers, and Tsunade's resolve broke.

"Fine," she grumbled unhappily as that brilliant smile stretched across his face again. "But I swear, you'd better be careful, gaki!"

"Don't even sweat it!" Naruto cheered, pumping a fist into the air. "I'll leave now, and be back in Konoha before you know it, datebayo!"

Tsunade watched with worried eyes as the remarkable young man leapt through the window. For a moment, she allowed herself to get lost in the memories of the first time they'd met, and small smile lifted the corners of her tired face. Maybe…when the gaki got back…she'd finally be ready to give him his ultimate dream.

But as the sun began to set in the sky, and she was unable to tear her gaze away from the point he had disappeared, Tsunade couldn't help the nauseous feeling in her gut that told her she had just made a big mistake.

Thanks for reading! If I get at least 5 reviews, I'll update by Wednesday!

lol sorry I'm a review whore ^-^

(btw I accept flames...but that doesn't mean I'll always take them lying down!)