Chapter 24 - Aftermath

Konoha had proved once again why it was considered the strongest of the elemental nations. Konoha was pitted against two other villages one them being one of the top five and yet Konoha came victorious. However in war, no victory is without sacrifice and as such Konoha lost a few shinobis whose names would forever be engraved in the memorial stone.

Naruto was slowly regaining consciousness and opened his eyes only to be blinded and brought his hand to cover them. He slowly adjusted to the light and looked up to see a white ceiling. He took the scent of the place and it smelled like disinfectant.

"Great…I'm in the hospital" Naruto mumbled to himself and tried to rise but felt a weight in his chest. He looked down and saw a mop of dark blue hair that belonged to Hinata, she was curled against him with her head on his chest drooling. It was a funny sight to see.

He chuckled and softly shook Hinata trying to awake her. She began to stir and opened those white eyes that Naruto loved so much. She rubbed them to shake off her sleepiness and took her surroundings to find Naruto's deep blue eyes staring at her.

"Comfortable?" Naruto asked with an amused smile.

"Very much thank you" Hinata replied and tried to bury her face closer to his chest.

"How long have you been here?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't want to sleep alone at the house so… I infiltrated the hospital after hours so I could cuddle with you" Hinata said slightly blushing and Naruto chuckled.

"How is everyone doing?" Naruto asked sitting up and stretching his arms.

"Everyone we know is fine but the village did suffer its casualties." Hinata explained looking down.

"I understand" Naruto said. He gently grabbed her chin making her lock eyes with her "Cheer up" Naruto said and slightly kissed her on lips. The quick kiss became a hot make out session with Naruto leaning against the wall and Hinata straddling him and holding him by his neck.

"Oh yeah…this is golden. Ryuu tries to cheer up his lover by kissing her deeply, his hands feeling her soft skin. Moments later his hands start roaming down eliciting a small moan of bliss from Hiromi" Jiraya said out loud as he was scribbling furiously on his notepad.

"This kid will be even better than his father" Jiraya continued on writing as a small trick of blood fell from his nose.

"What are you doing Jiraya-sama?" Jiraya looked up to see Hinata with a very sweet smile on her face. Jiraya paled at that particular smile and he could swear he saw a visage of the shinigami behind her.

"Have mercy…" Jiraya said pleading.

"Not today Jiraya-sama…not today" Hinata said before her byakugan flared. "Secret Technique – One Thousand Years Of Pain" Hinata said and empowering her fingers with chakra she slammed them right in Jiraya's butt sending him flying into Naruto's room and crashing into the wall.

Naruto was wondering what this commotion was until he saw his pervert of a godfather flying into his room. Jiraya crashed into the wall and fell to the ground crying anime tears with his ass smoking.

Hinata approached the pervert who recoiled in fear as she approached. She quickly found out his notebook and threw at the air and burned it to ashes with a small Katon jutsu. This particular Katon jutsu was taught to her by Kurenai who burned every Icha Icha she found.

"NNNNNOOOOOOO" Jiraya yelled crying as he watched his precious work turned to ashes.

Naruto just chuckled at the antics of his godfather who was now getting back to his feet while nursing his precious butt.

"How are you doing gaki?" Jiraya asked.

"I'm good. I just had chakra exhaustion, I'm good as new" Naruto replied.

"Good good" Jiraya replied as he saw the ashes of his notebook fly off the window and sunk his head.

Naruto looked around and when he didn't see it he decided to ask Jiraya. "Ero-sennin" Naruto said gaining a thick mark from Jiraya "have you seen my fan?" Naruto asked.

"Uhm, I have it right here" Jiraya said and took out a scroll from his back and unsealed his fan. Jiraya picked it up and Naruto raised an eyebrow. Jiraya saw the surprised face on Naruto and asked what was wrong.

"I'm just surprised you can lift the weapon so easily, you do realize that that thing eats a lot of chakra" Naruto said and Jiraya sensed his chakra to noticed almost twenty percent missing.

"This thing just ate a fifth of my chakra just by picking it up. How can you use it?" Jiraya asked confused as he placed the fan near his bed.

"That fan was created by the Rikudo Sennin and only a descendent from him can use his weapons without the massive chakra drain" Naruto explained and Jiraya nodded. "There are only two people left on this world that can use these weapons…me and my grandmother" Naruto said.

"Speaking of which Sarutobi-sensei told me to take you both to his office when you woke up" Jiraya said and Naruto nodded.

Jiraya called a nurse over so she could do a quick check up on Naruto and allowing him to leave.

"He's completely back to normal, you can go" the nurse said and Naruto jumped off the bed. He quickly got dressed, picked his fan and placed it on his back and they all left towards the hokage tower.

"Naruto" Jiraya called and Naruto focused in attention on him. "Can't you hirashin us to the tower?" Jiraya asked and Naruto sweat dropped. His father's S-rank space time technique that he used to decimate a battalion was reduced to transportation.

"I can but I won't. I want to stretch my legs" Naruto said and Jiraya pouted.

They were calmly walking through the streets without a care in the world. Naruto got so caught up in his thoughts he didn't noticed the road ahead of him and crashed into a civilian knocking him to the ground and making Naruto recoil a bit.

When the civilian noticed who he crashed into quickly rose up and bowed to Naruto before he could even apologize.

"My apologies Uchiha-sama" the civilian said and everyone raised an eyebrow.

"Uchiha…sama?" Naruto asked and the civilian flinched.

"Hai" the civilian replied slightly fearful.

"Figures" Naruto thought.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, for now anyway, and you don't have to bow to me. I hold no grudge against any of you" Naruto said and the civilian sighed in relief. He didn't want to piss of the grandson of Uchiha Madara himself, even more after what he heard Naruto did during the invasion.

"Thank you Naruto-san" the civilian said and left.

"That was interesting" Jiraya said and Hinata nodded.

"Indeed, maybe they will stop shouting demon everywhere I go. That's always a plus" Naruto said and looked at the others civilians walking in the streets but the looks Naruto used to receive weren't there anymore. In the beginning they held hatred, after he showed them the Kyuubi they held fear but now they seem to hold respect and…admiration.

## Hokage Tower ##

They all arrived at the hokage tower and went through the doors to see the old hokage giggling like a mad man with blood trickling from his nose while he had a few kage bushins working on his paperwork.

The hokage giggled once more and Naruto sweat dropped only to see Hinata disappear in a blur and snatching the hokage's book and destroying it with the same Katon jutsu.

"Are all men perverts?" Hinata asked out loud and got a sigh from the hokage.

"How are you feeling Naruto-kun?" the hokage asked. Naruto outdid himself against the kages. It isn't every day we see a fourteen year old boy hold his own against kage level shinobis.

"I'm good as new" Naruto replied.

"Now let's get into business" the hokage said as his clones dispelled and he took his seat behind his desk.

"Oh by the jiji" Naruto said getting the hokage's attention "did you take the scroll I had with me because I had Gaara and his team sealed in there" Naruto said.

"Yes don't worry they are all in lockdown pending negotiations with the sand" the hokage explained.

"And what is the sand saying?" Jiraya asked.

"It's up to the council now since the kazekage died in the invasion and they took a very heavy blow. They came at us with a full battalion of almost one thousand shinobis and they can't risk war against us so they will comply with our demands" the hokage explained.

"What did you ask?" Naruto asked.

"Financial compensation for the damage dealt to the village and we are keeping Gaara as another jinchuuriki and their team should they choose to stay as well" the hokage said and Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I now you may not like it but the bijuus dictate the power shifts in the villages. Until now we only had the kyuubi, now we have two if Gaara decides to turn friendly to our side" the hokage said.

Naruto brought his hand to his chin in thought and replied "He might, he holds no love for his village as he was treated like me."

"Good" the hokage replied. Now they would stand like Kumo and Iwa both having two bijuus. The leaf never prided themselves on making weapons of jinchuurikis and proved it many times. They won three world wars by having extremely skilled shinobis and not relying on jinchuurikis to do their work.

"But before that we should fix Gaara's seal" Naruto said and Jiraya rose an eyebrow in confusion.

"After I placed my demonic suppression seal on Gaara I noticed some irregularities. The seal that holds Shukaku was designed for inmate objects, it's nothing more than an advanced storage seal that is why Gaara is so unstable. It is probably also affecting Shukaku" Naruto explained and Jiraya nodded.

"We will take care of that later but now I have other concerns" the hokage explained before taking out a file a handing it to Naruto to read.

"What's this?" Naruto asked as he picked the file and started reading it.

"The report on how good Uchiha Sasuke did during the invasion based on shinobi's saw and Kakashi himself" the hokage explained.

Invasion Report:

Name: Uchiha Sasuke

Team Affiliation: Team 7 under Hatake Kakashi

Rank: Gennin

Team Assigned: Nara Shikamaru and Haruno Sakura

Description: Sasuke displayed high level of skill and responsibility by taking charge of a gennin team and provided crucial assistance in the civilian's evacuation as well defeating multiple chunnin level shinobis from both Sand and Sound.

Recommendation: Promotion to Chunnin.

"Ok now what?" Naruto asked slightly confused as to why the hokage would show him this.

"I want yours and Hinata's opinion on this" the hokage explained.

"Why us?" Naruto asked.

"You are friends with him and know him better than anyone" the hokage said.

"Friends is a very strong word" Naruto said sighing before pulling his thoughts together. "I have no doubt that Sasuke is strong enough for chunnin, it's just his attitude that endangers this. If he does get promoted his ego will sky rocket and he might conflict if someone of the same rank is chosen as leader." Naruto reasoned.

"In the other hand not promoting him will just enrage him even more as he will think that the village his holding him back and with Orochimaru's offering of power he might be a flight risk" Naruto finished his explanation.

"What about you Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked.

"I agree with you, he's too focused on revenge and both choices have drawbacks. However promoting him and placing him with a strong leader will solve these problems" Hinata replied and the hokage nodded in comprehension and would take this later on with the council.

"I will take it into consideration. Now onto the next manner and this relates to you Naruto" the hokage said and Naruto focused on him.

"I'm too old for this job. I should have stayed retired but when your father died I was forced to take back the hat" the hokage said sighing. "This invasion was proof of that. I'm no longer strong enough to lead this village and as such I chose a successor" the hokage explained.

"Are you giving the hat to the pervert?" Naruto asked off handily and got a smack on the head from Jiraya.

"I'm not a pervert...i'm a super pervert" Jiraya said.

(Cough) The hokage forced a chough the silence the bickering duo. "I would have asked him but he would have refused" the hokage said and Jiraya nodded as it was true. His spy network was of too much importance to the village and besides he wasn't the type of man to be strapped behind a desk eight hours a day.

"Now this brings the main reason I asked Jiraya to bring you in" the hokage said but before he continued Naruto interrupted him.

"You are making me Hokage?" Naruto asked with disbelieving look.

"Not yet i'm afraid" the hokage replied chuckling. "The reason I called you here is because Jiraya wants you to accompany him into searching for my replacement Senju Tsunade" the hokage finished with an amused smirk on his old face.

"Really?" Naruto beamed thinking of going to search for the last piece of family he has, even if she doesn't know about him.

"Yes although she might be a bit reluctant into coming back to the village" the hokage said sighing. She hasn't been able to cope with her loses and she throws herself into drinking and gambling.

"Don't worry I'll bring her back to the village. That's a promise and I never go back in my word" Naruto said.

"Now this brings us to final topic of this meeting" the hokage said and Naruto sighed. They had already been here for quite a while and it seemed it wasn't going to end any time soon.

"After this i'm calling a council meeting to give the promotions. You will be promoted to chunnin which gives you the right to have a council seat as the head of the Senju, Uzumaki and Namikaze clans" the hokage said and Naruto nodded.

"So have you decided on your name and if you will take the seat right now" the hokage asked.

Naruto once again was lost in thoughts. The Uzumaki name has been with him since his birth but it's too far away and apparently he's the last of the Uzumaki along with Tsunade. He would like to honor the Namikaze name of his father but that never belonged to any clan and he wouldn't want to forget the Senju Clan. The Uchiha name was out of the question and as such the choice was only between Senju and Namikaze.

It was a tough choice in the end. Naruto would be leaving one name to die and as such he decided that he should not let the name of the founders of Konoha to be forgotten in history.

"I'll take the Senju name. From now on I'm Senju Naruto" Naruto said the hokage smiled, it was good choice as it were any other but Sarutobi liked that he chose the founder's clan name.

"Are you taking the seat now?" the hokage asked.

"Uhm" Naruto mused in thought. "I don't know there is going to be lot o noise because of this" Naruto said.

"Yes but they can't deny you your heritage" the hokage explained.

"I'll take it. Now let's go make some noise" Naruto said smirking at the thought of all those yelling civilians. The hokage just sweat dropped.

The hokage flared his chakra and an ANBU dropped from the ceiling and knelled in front of him waiting orders.

"Summon the council and call Uchiha Sasuke and Nara Shikamaru" the hokage said.

"HAI" the ANBU replied and disappeared in smoke.

"Let's go face the music SENJU Naruto" the hokage said chuckling and they all left the office and went towards the council room.

## Council Room ##

It took about half an hour before all the clan heads could come. They were all seated in the traditional place. The hokage, Jiraya, Naruto and Hinata walked through the double doors and saw that the council was already assembled.

The hokage sat down and noticed the room. To his left were the clan heads, there was a empty seat closest to him followed by Inuzuka Tsume head of Inuzuka Clan, Hyuuga Hiashi head of the Hyuuga Clan, Aburame Shibi head of the Aburame Clan, Nara Shikaku head of the Nara Clan, Yamanaka Inoichi head of the Yamanaka Clan and finally Akimichi Choza head of the Akimichi Clan.

To his right there were his advisors, Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu. Next to them was the civilian side of the council, it consisted of the most important civilians in the village that ran the most shops and provided food, clothes and other materials and services for shinobi use.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto…grandson of the legendary Uchiha Madara" Sasuke remembered those words as he watched Naruto walk into the room. His long hair and the fan on his back made Sasuke seethe his teeth as he was permanently reminded of his utterly defeat.

"The council is in session" the hokage said before looking at the gennins in front of him. "We are here today to award promotions to these extraordinary gennin for their skill and work during the invasion" the hokage started.

"Nara Shikamaru step forward" the hokage called out and Shikamaru stepped forward as requested.

"For great planning during your match and work during the invasion we promote you to Chunnin congratulations and keep up the good work" the hokage said and threw him a flak jacket.

"Troublesome" Shikamaru said before putting his jacket on and stepping back.

"Hyuuga Hinata" the hokage called out and Hinata stepped forward.

"For great skill in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu and for remaining calm at the face of stronger opponents we promote you to Chunnin congratulations" the hokage said with a smile.

"Thank you Hokage-sama" Hinata replied.

"Uchiha Sasuke" the hokage called out and he stepped forward with his traditional cocky smirk.

"You are a special case. After many deliberations and taking into account the work you did during the invasion you are promoted to Chunnin" at this Sasuke's smirk got even wider. "BUT any sign of insubordination or failure in conduct and you are stripped of the rank understood?" the hokage said in a serious voice leaking a bit of KI.

"Of course Hokage-sama" Sasuke replied still with his smile.

"And finally" the hokage said shifting his attention towards Naruto. "For great skill in defeating not only Shukaku but for providing great assistance during the invasion in defeating the Kazekage and providing assistance to me against Orochimaru I award the rank of Elite Chunnin to SENJU Naruto" the hokage said and a immense silence followed. Everyone was still wondering if they heard their hokage correctly.

"WHAT?" Sasuke yelled out and pretty much resumed the thoughts of everyone in the room.

"How can he be a Senju?" Sasuke said spitting the Senju name. "He has the Sharingan" Naruto stated.

"Everything I said is true. Naruto is the last remaining Senju in the village" the hokage explained and surprisingly enough no one yelled or said anything and they just stared at the hokage waiting for an explanation.

"You all know that Senju Tsunade had a daughter right?" The hokage asked and the clan heads nodded.

"Yes but she died" Hiashi stated in a calm tone. That Naruto was becoming more surprising by the moment.

"Her death was faked by me to protect her from the CRA" the hokage said and they all gasped, to think the hokage would go to such lengths to protect someone from CRA.

"Her death was faked and Uzumaki Kushina was born" the hokage said and Shukaku eyes widened in realization.

"Troublesome" he said without thinking making the hokage focus on him.

"Trust a Nara to figure the rest" the hokage thought.

"Would you like to do the honors?" the hokage asked.

"Troublesome" Shukaku said before pulling his thoughts together. "You all remembered that red haired loud mouth right?" Shukaku asked and everyone nodded. After all Konoha's Red Death wasn't easily forgotten.

"We all know who she was always around right?" Shukaku asked almost rhetorically.

"Yes that hussy was always around Minato-kun" the pink banshee said. The moment she said hussy Naruto's chakra spiked to the level that everyone gulped in a dry throat due to his presence alone. However he didn't release any KI and as such the civilian were all oblivious to that.

"If Naruto is a member of the Senju Clan the only possible outcome would be if he's Kushina's son and looking at him…blonde hair, blue eyes I'm confident assuming that Minato was the father" Shukaku said and everyone eyes widened.

"Who's Minato?" Sasuke asked who was oblivious.

"You wanted to know who my father was right?" Naruto asked to Sasuke who nodded.

"My father was Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage and... Uchiha Madara's son" Naruto said and everyone jaw hit the ground. Who would in their sanity believe that Madara's son would become hokage?

"It's ironic…the son of the greatest traitor became our biggest hero" Naruto stated out loud.

"And the funny part of all this is that Madara hated the Senju and his son ended up marrying one" Shukaku said and everyone chuckled.

"So that means that you are the great grandson of Senju Hashirama the Shodaime Hokage, great grandnephew of Senju Tobirama the Nidaime Hokage, grandson of Uchiha Madara and son of Namikaze Minato the Yondaime Hokage" Tsume said whistling, that was one powerful lineage right there.

"And you people treated him like garbage" Tsume growled at the civilian side who held their heads down in shame.

"But that's not all" the hokage said gathering their attention to him. "I'm resigning and as such I've chosen my successor" the hokage said and many were shocked by this blunt statement.

"After this meeting Jiraya along with Naruto will be retrieving Senju Tsunade, Naruto's grandmother, for the position of Godaime Hokage" the hokage said and people were happy with his choice. Tsunade was considered a princess in the village and was a Sannin with the power of a Kage so she was a fine choice.

"A very strong lineage indeed" Hiashi commented but everyone could heard the tone which was said. "A fine choice, perhaps my teachings weren't a total loss" Hiashi thought discretely looking at Hinata. Even if they were low in numbers the Senju clan was still one of the most powerful and renowned clan in the entire world.

"ENOUGH" Sasuke yelled making everyone jump from the sudden sound spike. "You are an affront to the Uchiha Clan. You flaunt that fan and have the sharingan and yet you choose to honor the Senju name" Sasuke said. "You are a disgrace and unworthy of such weapon" Sasuke spat.

"You want MY fan now?" Naruto asked.

"Yes I demand you hand that fan as it belongs to an elite Uchiha like me" Sasuke said and Naruto laughed and Sasuke got a tick mark on his face.

"You don't even know how irony packed that statement is" Naruto said and Sasuke got confused and was getting angrier by the moment.

"I will explain everything so just listen" Naruto stated. "Sasuke can you tell me what are the levels of the Sharingan?" Naruto asked prodding around a bit wondering if he knew about the mangekyo.

The hokage sent Naruto a look that clearly said "Do you think it's wise?" but Naruto nodded. It would become knowledge at any point in time so he just wanted to get this over with so he didn't have anything more to worry about.

"Three levels, from one to three tomoes in each eye" Sasuke simply said but Naruto sent a knowing look.

"Fine there is a fourth level called Mangekyo Sharingan but can only be obtained by killing your best friend" Sasuke blurted out without wanting making Naruto raise an eyebrow. Naruto knew of that because Kurama told him about it but how could Sasuke now?

"How do you know how to achieve it?" Naruto asked narrowing his eyes.

"Itachi told me to come after him when I had the same eyes as him" Sasuke replied and Naruto seemed to accept the answer.

"Now let me tell you all something that as long been forgotten" Naruto said and everyone focused on him.

"We all know the legend of Rikudo Sennin right?" Naruto asked and every nodded. They were all shinobis and as such they all knew the tales of their father.

"Rikudo Sennin was a shinobi of unparallel power, he was even considered to be a god. During his life he had two sons, his older son, inherited the sage's eyes and found the Uchiha Clan and the younger brother inherited the sage's body and founded the Senju Clan" Naruto said and everyone raised an eyebrow at the statement.

"How do you all this Naruto-san?" Shibi asked.

"Let's just say that the furball is an endless pit of information" Naruto explained and his stomach growled at the furball nickname.

"Moving on. When his life was ending he had to choose who would carry on his work and as such he chose the younger brother, the Senju leader. However this didn't sit well with the Uchiha brother who thought that being the first born deserved to be the one to lead the world to peace through strength." Naruto said and everyone was focused on his explanation, the silence was disturbing.

"As such the older brother challenged the younger one to a battle for the title but lost. Angry with this loss he decided to exterminate the Senju before it even began but he would need more power to do that. He decided to perform a 'blood ritual' to transform normal person into Uchihas capable of using the Sharingan" Naruto explained and everyone's widened. The benefits of such ritual were unparallel and could easily bring Konoha to heights never before reached.

"The Uchihas 'created' by the blood ritual were half-blood while the ones that came from the older brother's line were called elite or pure blood. Everyone understand?" Naruto asked and everyone nodded.

"The pure blood line was my grandfather's line, going through Minato into me. I assume that my grandfather is dead from a letter I have from him so I'm the last of the pure blood Uchihas making Sasuke a half blood" Naruto explained and Sasuke seethed, he didn't want to be a half-blood created by some ritual.

"And what's the difference between the pure-blood and half-blood?" Shukaku asked curiously.

"The key difference lies in the activation of the fourth and final stage of the sharingan. In pure blood Uchihas the final level is achieved like any others through training and life and death situations, like mine" Naruto said and closed his eyes. He opened and showed them the normal sharingan but then the sharingan started to slowly spin until it became his mangekyou.

"This is my mangekyou I achieved when that civilian sent two jonins to kill me. I've got to thank you for that" Naruto said smirking with his EMS glowing in all its glory. Everyone was drawn to his eyes, his blood red eyes that seemed to give off power beyond anything ever imagined. The true power of the sharingan, the power of Uchiha Madara.

"He just became much more dangerous" Hiashi thought as he watched his mangekyou glow.

"But there is one more key difference" Naruto said and broke everyone trance just from looking at his eyes "If a half blood Uchiha awakens his mangekyou, the more they use it the more the eyes get sealed until there is nothing more than darkness" Naruto said and everyone's eyes widened. So that's the price for power for the half blood.

"That's why I said you didn't know how irony packed that statement was. You called yourself an 'elite' Uchiha but in the end you are nothing more than a copy" Naruto explained as he deactivated his eyes and waited for the explosion. "That came out a little harsher than I wanted" Naruto thought in retrospect.

"How dare you mock me?" Sasuke said to him spiting every word. "Is there any proof you can give?" Sasuke asked.

"Just one...my fan." Naruto said and removed it from his back. "This fan was created by Rikudou Sennin and as such only a true descendant can wield it without massive chakra consumption." Naruto explained.

"Hinata-chan can you check Sasuke chakra levels?" Naruto asked. If he gave the fan to Sasuke and he didn't have enough chakra he would hit the ground dead like a sack of potatoes.

"He's around jonin level" Hinata said and Naruto nodded.

"You want to prove that you a pure blood?" Naruto asked Sasuke who nodded. "Then pick my fan without fainting" Naruto said and offered the fan to Sasuke. The moment Sasuke just touched the fan he collapsed to the ground on his knees taking deep breaths.

"Is that enough proof?" Naruto asked as he replaced the fan on his back. "There are only two people in the whole world that can use the fan, me and my grandmother Senju Tsunade" Naruto explained and everyone was still processing everything they heard until now.

"It doesn't mean that you can't be strong Sasuke it only means that the next level of eyes isn't worth the cost" Naruto explained. He knew that this explanation would piss Sasuke even more but he had to find out sometime.

"I'll make my own choices Senju" Sasuke said and left the council room without even asking for permission and slammed the door shut.

"It was inevitable" the hokage said.

"I have a question" Danzo said and Naruto shifted his attention towards him "Do you know how to do this blood ritual?" Danzo innocently asked.

"No but even if I did I wouldn't reveal it" Naruto said and Danzo scoffed. "I hold no hate for them but the half blood Uchihas shouldn't have been created in the first place" Naruto explained.

"That's a bit harsh coming from you" Inoichi said.

"True but you knew the Uchihas and their hunger for power. If they all knew how to achieve the next level what do you think they would do?" Naruto rhetorically asked. "I think Itachi wiping them out was a blessing in disguise" Naruto said.

"You have no idea how right you are" the hokage thought to himself as did his personal councilors.

"Well this was a very strange day of revelations" Homura said.

"Yes is there anything else you want to discuss" the hokage asked and the pink banshee raised her hand.

"Yes hokage-sama. Since Naruto-sama is now the sole heir to a clan, the CRA applies to him" the pink banshee stated and Naruto's eye twitched.

"I have a question. You didn't know about me until now so why didn't Sasuke go into CRA?" Naruto asked trying to outmaneuver them as he already knew this was coming.

"We didn't want to pressure him as he might run away" the pink banshee explained.

"Well then apply the same principle to me. If you force me into CRA I will leave the village and the Senju, Uzumaki, Namikaze and Pure blood Uchiha line ends with me" Naruto stated out loud and clear and Jiraya scoffed. He didn't know why his godson wouldn't want a harem but he was just like Minato an idealist.

"Hinata is the only one for me" Naruto said and Hinata turned bright red.

"Kids...with Naruto-kun" Hinata thought before fainting. Naruto quickly rushed to her and caught just before she hit the deck.

"She hasn't fainted in years" Naruto said chuckling. "So are we clear about the CRA?" Naruto asked with a serious voice.

"But you can't refuse its law" the pink banshee tried to explained but she couldn't but feel a bit scared of him.

"I took down a bijuu alone. I suppose it's civilians like you that are going to force me?" Naruto rhetorically asked, he didn't want to flaunt his power but in this case he was forced. The pink banshee flinched at his tone and said nothing more, she was trying to set him up with Sakura but it appears it's too late.

The shinobi side never really appreciated the CRA especially the females, just the thought of being turned into a baby factory made them want to puke.

"Anything else?" Naruto asked but everyone remained silent.

"The meeting is adjourned" the hokage said and everyone started leaving except Jiraya, Naruto and the fainted Hinata who was regaining conscious.

"That was a very interesting meeting" the hokage explained.

"Yes and they didn't want to kill me this time" Naruto said chuckling. "Although Sasuke didn't seem happy" Naruto said.

"Can't really blame him" Jiraya said. "Are you ready to head out?" Jiraya asked.

"Two things. Can Hinata go with us? And I would like to visit Gaara before" Naruto said and both Jiraya and the hokage nodded.

"Here" the hokage gave him a paper to allow him to visit Gaara. "Meet with Jiraya and Hinata at the north gate in two hours then" the hokage said and everyone left the room.

## IT Department ##

Naruto made this way towards the Interrogation and Torture division. The IT division was located near the hokage tower so it was only a couple of minutes on foot.

He entered the building and suddenly a kunai came out of nowhere and grazed his cheek drawing a bit of blood. Naruto turned around no see Anko trying to lick his blood but apparently the wound was already closed.

"What kind of greeting is this?" Naruto asked shaking his head.

"You are no fun" Anko pouted. "So what are you doing where mister Uchiha?" Anko asked and Naruto sighed.

"My name is Senju Naruto and i'm here to see Gaara" Naruto explained and Anko's eyes widened to the Senju name. "HERE" Naruto said and delivered her the hokage's permission to visit the inmates.

"After you Senju-sama" Anko said licking her lips and bowing deeply.

"Crazy snake lady" Naruto muttered in thought.

Naruto made his way down the stairs and came into a heavy metallic door with an ANBU stationed outside. Naruto quickly showed him his permission and was allowed inside where the holding cells were.

This section didn't have many cells when compared to Konoha's prison because the IT department was only temporary. Naruto arrived to the last cell and looked inside. In there were Baki, Temari and Kankuro all wearing chakra seals and restricting clothes, Gaara however was chained to the middle of the room with a kanji circle around him.

"Come to gloat?" Temari asked. Her voice broken and weak.

"Not my style" Naruto replied. She didn't understand how a fourteen year old defeated not only her sensei who was a jonin but also her brother. "In fact I came to talk to Gaara and explain a few things" Naruto said and Gaara looked up locking eyes with Naruto.

"How is the seal?" Naruto asked.

"How are you so strong?" Gaara asked instead of replying Naruto's original question.

ENTER NARUTO OST1 - Sadness and Sorrow

"The pain of being alone...is really terrible right?" Naruto asked and Gaara's eyes widened.

"I don't know why but I understand your feelings so well that it hurts me" Naruto said and everyone was silent. "But I have precious people now... and I would never allow anyone to hurt them" Naruto said.

"Why do that for strangers?" Gaara asked with shaky voice.

"Because they took away my solitude and loneliness" Naruto said. "They saved me from my hell and because of that they are precious to me and I would do anything for them" Naruto explained.

"Love... is that why is strong?" Gaara mused in thought.

"Hinata-chan, Hokage-jiji, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei and more... " Naruto said smiling.

"I don't have anyone like that, you were lucky" Gaara said sadly.

"You just have to look around... and not very far" Naruto said pointing towards his brothers and sensei. "When I placed the barrier, they jumped in even knowing that you might lose control and kill them as well" Naruto explained.

"Really?" Gaara shakily asked.

"Of course Gaara we are your brothers, we would anything for you" Kankuro said patting him in the back.

"Thank you" Gaara said smiling for the first time in a long time.

END NARUTO OST1 - Sadness and Sorrow

"Before we begin again I need to tell you that..." Naruto bit his lips but continued "I was the one that killed your father" Naruto said. Killing someone's else father is hardly a good thing when starting a friendship.

"Good" Gaara said and Naruto faulted for moment before regaining his senses.

"Good?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Yes he turned me into a weapon and then tried to kill me on several occasions by sending assassins. Besides he was never a father to anyone of us" Gaara explained and Naruto sighed in relief.

"Now I have good news and bad news" Naruto said and the sand team focused on them.

"The demands we made towards the sand were financial reimbursement and... the Ichibi" Naruto said and everyone's eyes widened. "Which means that you, Gaara, won't be allowed to leave the village" Naruto said and Gaara remained silent.

"However you might be able to join our ranks and be a jinchuuriki like me" Naruto explained and Gaara nodded. He never really enjoyed his time in the sand so maybe Konoha would be a nice change of pace.

"What about us?" Temari asked. She didn't know what they were planning from them and it could be execution.

"As an offer of good faith towards the sand we are offering you a choice. You can remain here in the leaf as shinobis or you can return to your home village" Naruto explained and they started thinking.

"We stay with our little brother" Temari and Kankuro and Naruto chuckled and turned to Baki who remained silent through this whole meeting.

"I-I ...can't remain here...I have people there" Baki shakily said and Naruto nodded.

"I understand" Naruto said and got up. "I'm going now to get the fifth Hokage since the old man is retiring. When I come back I will take you all to ramen, my treat" Naruto said.

"Ramen?" Gaara asked. They apparently didn't have those types of food in there.

"Ramen is food for the gods, you will love it. See you in a few days" Naruto said and left the IT department heading towards the gate where Jiraya and Hinata were waiting.

"Naruto...you are a strange person" Gaara thought.

## Sand Village Council Room ##

It has been a couple of days since the failed invasion and the scarce survivors of the invading force arrived at Suna to inform them of a terrible mistake and ever worse failure. News that the Kazekage was killed in combat forced the council to be summoned and the demands from the leaf answered.

Of the one thousand shinobis they sent only a couple dozens survived to tell the tale, it was a massacre to the sand shinobi too lose so much and gain nothing in return. The sand never stood a chance, even with Oto and Gaara's power combined they were utterly defeated.

The Suna council was composed of twelve members, now only ten since the kazekage was dead and Baki the jonin commander was missing in action or dead.

"What a mess" Dai said. Dai was one of the youngest members of the council, he was a chunnin who got recently promoted and was the head of intelligence in the Sand.

"What do we do now?" Aki asked. Aki was a middle aged the man. He was a retired chunnin from the shinobi life and chose a simple civilian life with his wife and kids.

"I say we fight" Kimi said. Kimi was one of the few civilians in the council. She was the leader of the civilian council that ran all of the stores in the village.

"We CAN'T fight. We lost a fifth of our shinobis to that invasion. That attack was a leap of faith and wild card. We are severely weakened right now and we probably wouldn't be able to hold an attack should the leaf go to war with us" Aki explained.

"According to the reports their jinchuuriki was able to defeat Gaara and kill the kazekage along with two hundred of our own with a single jutsu." Yura and everyone's eyes widened. What could they do against such overwhelming force.

"We can't do anything else but to surrender to their terms" Yura said sighing, their village took a very hard blow and it would take years to recover.

"We can't surrender to them" Kimi said.

"We broke the peace treaty, we invaded and lost. We have no choice but to surrender the money and the Ichibi to them" Yura said.

"They want our bijuu, that's unacceptable" Aki said.

"Would you prefer war?" Yura rhetorically asked.

"We can win, we will have the home field advantage" Dai explained.

"And their jinchuuriki uses the same jutsu and obliterates the village. Konoha isn't considered the strongest of the five for no apparent reason. They won all the three world wars and this invasion was proof their strength hasn't diminished" Yura explained.

"I told you many times the alliances make you dependant and weak. I never thought of seeing this village fall to such degree" Chiyo said. Chiyo was one of the elders of the sand and the one that performed the sealing on Gaara.

"How much money are they asking?" Kimi asked.

"For property damage and lives lost they ask for 50 billion" Yura said.

"That will almost destroy our economy, we must renegotiate with them" Kimi said.

"These terms are non-negotiable. We should never have placed our faith on Orochimaru of all people" Yura said shaking his head.

"So what's left of this village. Without help we will probably no longer be considered a shinobi village among the great five" Dai said.

"We must make new alliances" Aki explained and a few nodded. A new alliance would cement their growth so they can stand back up and prevent any attacks.

"Yes...send word for Tsuchikage" Yura said.