Chapter 45: Before the War

AN: Hey guys, another chapter! Although we don't get Izaya in this chapter you get to see a bit of what the others were up to. Also, a bit of how Haku can achieve Heavenly Sage Mode is delved into as well. Izaya will turn up next chapter. As always, thanks for reading!

P.S. Reminder, if you see: 888 that means a change of scene.

Chapter 45

A warm breeze passed through the forest as the leaves and grass swayed in the wind. The sun had already begun to set when a dense cluster of bushes began to rustle revealing a disheveled figure who dragged a dead body along behind him. "Ugh. How long has it been since Izaya used this marker of his? The bushes and grass have grown out of control in this area." Sasuke grumbled to himself as he pulled Danzo's dead body out of the thick and entangled bushes. Sasuke bit his thumb and let some blood leak out before forming the hand signs of Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram and said, "Summoning Jutsu!" A giant white cloud of smoke appeared and dissipated revealing a giant brown Hawk called Garuda. It gave a loud and proud screech before folding in its wings and bending down allowing Sasuke to jump on its back with Danzo's corpse. Not a moment later Garuda spread its wings and flew into the air towards Konoha.

Sasuke looked down from above as he saw the lush green color of the trees below. The blue cool rivers flowing throughout the land. The cool breeze high in the air and the gentle and warm feeling that the orange, yellow, and red colored sun painted in the sky. His expression softened as he took everything in before him as one thought crossed his mind, so this is the Land of Fire. This is the territory of the Hidden Leaf. This is all a part of what big brother Itachi sacrificed his life for.

It wasn't long until the village came into view. The signature image of the Hokage stone faces on the cliffside and the rapidly progressing reconstruction of the village's buildings after Pain's attack. After Garuda circled above in the air around the semi-constructed Hokage's building it landed on the flat rooftop. He picked up Danzo and went to Hiruzen's quarters.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Sasuke walked through the well lit hallway that gave off a glow of warmth. He would of felt comfortable walking down the hallway if it wasn't filled with the strong scent of tobacco everywhere. The second he opened the door to Hiruzen's room he heard him say, "Sasuke." Sasuke closed the door behind him as he carried Danzo's lifeless corpse over his shoulder and saw Hiruzen's eyes widened in shock. Without caring for much else Sasuke dropped Danzo's body on the floor with a plop and said, "Danzo's finally dead."

Hiruzen let out a long sigh as he closed his eyes lamenting Danzo's fate. Even if he had agreed that Danzo should be found and turned into Konoha dead or alive, he had, after all, grew up with Danzo when they were young. No matter how dark and extreme Danzo's actions were, he still lamented Danzo's death in the end. Hiruzen opened his eyes and replied, "I see. Did Izaya return with you?" Sasuke shook his head and responded, "Izaya had something he needed to do so he sent me ahead. He told me that if I was ready to transplant Itachi's eyes then to speak to you."

Hiruzen remained silent for a minute as he took in what Sasuke said and also took in the sight of Danzo's lifeless corpse once more before saying, "Yes. Please allow me to take care of Danzo's body first. I will then proceed to help you with transplanting Itachi's eyes. I've heard from Izaya already about the matter."

Sasuke nodded. "Fine."

Just as Sasuke was about to head out the door, he paused. "I've already learnt the entire truth from Itachi. But...Just once more, I need to hear it from someone else. Is it true...Everything about Itachi? The coup d'etat? The massacre? Danzo's order? My life being spared?"

Hiruzen stared at Sasuke's back for a moment in silence before nodding his head and said with sorrow, "Yes. It is true."

"I see..." Sasuke said as he took a moment to commit to memory Hiruzen's affirmation of the truth before disappearing from Hiruzen's office.

888

Naruto walked through the Konoha cemetery as he stopped before Jiraiya's memorialized grave. He bent down and placed a bouquet of flowers next to it as he stood there in silence for a while before speaking. "Jiraiya-sensei… I'm not too sure what I'm supposed to do now, but I won't stop searching for the answers. Old toad Fugasaka said that you left everything to me. That you entrusted me with the things you weren't able to accomplish in this life. He said that you believed in me. I trained hard and learnt how to use Sage Mode. Fugasaka said I was better at it than you since I don't look like a frog after." Naruto smiled as he recalled the things Fugasaka told him and recalled the face of his loving master.

He then continued, "I met Nagato. He said that he wanted to create the peace that you wanted for the world. However, I just couldn't come to accept his version of peace. I couldn't forgive him for what he did. To you, to Gaara, or the village. But you know, after hearing about his own life and how he lived...I think I can understand him too. Just like how I understood the loneliness that Sasuke and Gaara felt. I think I can understand some of Nagato's pain. Even if I can't forgive him for what he's done, I also can't bring myself to truly hate him. I thought I would hate him no matter what, but I know now that hating someone and not forgiving them are different. So even if I don't forgive him, I don't think I hate him. I just wished that I could have been able to help him get through all the pain and suffering he had to go through earlier. In the end, I couldn't stop Nagato. I didn't have an answer for him at all for how I would help bring peace to the world of shinobi. It was actually Izaya who did everything.

Izaya was able to stop Nagato. He was able to help Nagato face his pain and come to terms with what happened in his past. Izaya says that he doesn't think world peace exists. But he also said that he thinks finding world peace is a journey and that even if there isn't an answer for what world peace is, that doesn't mean that we should stop searching. After everything that happened, I haven't had a chance to properly thank Izaya. Sensei, in the past you would always talk to me about your search for peace and the hatred that has plagued the world of shinobi. I never understood what you meant, and with you by my side I never thought that I would one day have to face these difficult topics by myself. I was confused because you suddenly left my life and all the hard problems of the world came knocking on my doorstep at the same time. I was frustrated and angry and sad and...I wasn't sure if I would know how to keep moving forward.

I faced Nagato and he confronted me on these hard problems of the world that I never even had the time to think about nor did I ever think I'd have to think so hard about them before. Then Izaya came along and I think I finally understand. I finally had the time to think about everything that you taught me Sensei. I've also had the time to come to terms with everything Nagato went through and why he chose the path he did. And I've also finally had the time to let everything that Izaya said sink into my mind. Jiraiya-sensei, since you and Nagato have entrusted me with your wills then I will do my best to search for the answer to peace. I don't know why Izaya didn't tell anyone that it was him who convinced Nagato to revive all the villagers and I can't believe I missed the best opportunity to tell everyone. I was still too stressed about the situation I think, but I will never forget that Izaya was the one who not only helped Nagato, but he helped save the villagers and helped guide me. I'll come visit again in the future Jiraiya-sensei. I will never give up and I will never go back on my word. That is my ninja way!" Naruto bowed deeply to Jiraiya's grave before walking off as the sun had completely set at this moment.

Poof!

Naruto suddenly disappeared at this moment in a puff of white smoke as he was reversed summoned to Mount Myoboku. "Eh? Why am I here?" Naruto questioned aloud.

"Hahaha, because I reversed summoned you." Fugasaka replied.

"Toad gramps, did you need something from me?" Naruto asked.

"Hm...Well, not me but the Great Toad Elder. He said it is time to give you the Fourth Hokage's sealing formula key for the Nine Tails seal and that he would like to speak to you. After that I'll send you back." Fugasaka said.

"Oh? Alright, lead the way."

888

Tsunade sat in the semi-reconstructed Hokage's office as Nara Shikaku, Shizune, the elders Koharu and Homura, and Kakashi sat around a table waiting to begin the Fourth Great Ninja War pre-preparation emergency meeting.

Tsunade clicked her tongue as she taped on the table and said, "Tsk. Where the heck is old man Sarutobi?"

Koharu had a pensive look on her face before responding, "Now now, there must be a good reason why he's late."

Creak.

At that moment the door to the meeting room opened revealing Hiruzen who walked in with an apologetic look on his face. Tsunade glared at him and said, "Old man, what were you doing? This is an emergency meeting about the Fourth Great Ninja War!"

Hiruzen chuckled awkwardly. "Hahaha, well you know. My legs don't move as fast as they used to."

Tsunade glanced at Kakashi as she also recalled that Kakashi liked to give weird and random excuses for when he was late. Kakashi felt a drop of sweat drip down his forehead as he thought, isn't Lord Third the one who was late, why is she glancing over at me?

Hiruzen took his seat at this moment and said, "Alright. All joking aside I had a matter that needed attending to. Sasuke has returned and brought back Danzo's body." Everyone in the room was momentarily shocked before they recovered.

"Danzo is dead then?" Koharu and Homura said in disbelief and sorrow.

"Yes." Hiruzen replied in lament. Shikaku, Kakashi, and Tsunade all had a look of indifference as she simply said, "I see."

Shikaku and Kakashi didn't really care about Danzo's death all that much. While they understood that Danzo did the things he did to protect the Leaf in his own way, albeit with an extreme manner, even still, there was a line that had to be drawn that shouldn't be crossed and Danzo had crossed that line hence their lack of remorse for him. It was only Koharu, Homura, and Hiruzen who felt some sorrow for Danzo's passing as they grew up with him.

Tsunade noticed that the room was split between those who lamented Danzo's fate and those who didn't care much so she attempted to shift the topic away as she coughed and said, "Ahem. Izaya left with Sasuke. Did he return as well?"

Hiruzen snapped out of his thoughts on Danzo and replied, "No. Sasuke said that Izaya had something to do and so he has yet to return."

"What?! What could he possibly need to be doing right now? Ugh...And we're about to go to war as well. What bad timing." Tsunade said as she let out a long sigh before continuing on, "Well, at least Sasuke is back. That is good."

Hiruzen rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Well, he is indeed back, but he won't be able to help out until his eyes have adjusted."

Once again Tsunade was flustered. "What?! What do you mean by that Sarutobi-sensei?"

Hiruzen took out his pipe and smoked it quick. "Now now, calm down. This pertains to a secret of the Sharingan. Once one awakens the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan and uses that power it will begin to cause their eyes to deteriorate and go blind. To avoid this problem one can transplant the eyes of a close relative to avoid this side effect and gain something known as the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. It is a Mangekyo Sharingan that will not lose its sight. I helped Sasuke transplant Itachi's eyes. It will take awhile for his eyes to evolve and adjust, therefore, Sasuke won't be able to help us in the war. At least not at the very beginning. It'd be better for him to awaken the Eternal Mangekyo earlier and during the beginning of the war than to wait for his eyes to turn for the worse later during the war. I left a note on his bedside table for when he does awaken with details."

Tsunade just let out another sigh and clicked her tongue. "Tsk. Not just Izaya but Sasuke as well... Both of their battle power is invaluable to Konoha. Truly bad timing. Very well, it can't be helped. Then let us get on with the preliminary meeting. First, we need to find Naruto and send him off to the designated hiding location that was discussed during the Kage Summit. We'll send Aoba, Guy, and Yamato as his guards and tell him that he's going on an S-rank mission. Shizune, you'll be in charge of telling them."

"Yes." Shizune replied.

Tsunade then continued, "After we send Naruto off I'll inform the village about the beginning of the Fourth Great Ninja War. We'll need a list of all capable and available shinobi in this village as well as stocking up and keeping an inventory on food and ninja tools."

Hiruzen nodded in agreement. "Mn. Your plan is sound."

"Mn." Koharu, Homura, Kakashi, Shikaku, and Shizune also nodded in agreement.

"Oh, one more thing." Tsunade said.

"What is it?" Hiruzen asked.

"The break down of the Allied Shinobi Forces will be the Commando Division led by Kankuro of Sunagakure, Logistics Support and Medical Division led by Shizune, The Intelligence Division led by Inoichi whom I will inform later. The Sensor Division led by Ao of Kirigakure. The First Division for mid range combat led by Darui of Kumogakure, the Second Division for short range combat led by Kitsuchi of Iwagakure, the Third Division led by Kakashi for short to mid range combat, the Fourth Division for long range combat led by Gaara who is also the regimental commander, and finally the Fifth Division which is a special battle division." Tsunade turned to face Hiruzen at this moment and said, "Sarutobi-sensei, Mifune will be leading as captain for the Fifth Division. Its aim is to provide support to the other divisions. At first I thought that you might want to lead as the Third Division captain but also thought that with your skills and expertise you may want to be a part of the Fifth Division's special battle. You would then be able to go and provide support to whichever division is in need. I wanted your opinion on this."

Kakashi spoke up at this moment and said, "Lord Fifth, wouldn't it be best to let Lord Third be the captain of the Third Division? Lord Third should have a position befitting of his title as a Hokage."

Tsunade just looked at Kakashi for a second before laughing. "Hahaha! Kakashi, you can't escape having some real responsibility forever. You have the skills, intelligence, and the right moral personality. You could be Hokage one day yourself."

"Eh? Please don't joke like that Lord Fifth. I'm not really the Hokage type." Kakashi replied.

Hiruzen chimed in at this moment with a cheerful laughter. "Hahaha! Kakashi, I agree with Tsunade. You may not realize it but if something were to ever happen to Tsunade or myself the one whom we always thought would replace us first was you."

Kakashi remained silent as he simply accepted what Tsunade and Hiruzen said, but a thought crossed his mind and he replied, "What about...Izaya?"

After Kakashi spoke the room turned completely silent as everyone had actually started to deeply contemplate the notion of Izaya as a Hokage. Koharu and Homura were the first to break the silence as they said, "Izaya? Isn't he still much too young? Also, he is currently absent during this time of great need. He would at least need to achieve some sort of merits before he could even be considered a candidate for Hokage."

Tsunade chimed in next as she said, "Considering age, Gaara is about the same age as Izaya and he was able to become the Kazekage. Even though he is extremely young he has been managing his village extremely well. Not only that but despite his young age he has a Kage level battle power. I have no doubt about Izaya's battle power being at the Kage level. He was even able to assist us in utilizing the Four Red Yang Barrier technique to help protect the village against Pain. In fact, as far as merits go, even though he isn't here right now he has indeed earned enough of a reputation amongst the shinobi of Konoha to be recognized as extremely capable. He played a significant role in minimizing the damage to the Leaf during Orochimaru's attack. He saved Lord Third from Orochimaru's entrapment. He completed extremely difficult Anbu missions for the Leaf. He recovered Itachi's body and brought back Sasuke to the village. He helped devise the strategy to corner and defeat Pain. He joined with Naruto to help convince Pain to revive the villagers that were killed during the attack. He helped speed up the process of rebuilding the foundations for Konoha after Pain's attack with his Wood Style. And now he was successful in hunting down Danzo with Sasuke preventing a potentially huge scandal and underlying problem for the Leaf. Especially since now we are about to go to war."

Hiruzen nodded. "Mn...I agree with you assessment. Izaya has indeed achieved many great feats for the village. Whether or not he will be able to become a Hokage will be left to the future. However, it does not hurt to always have multiple capable candidates for the position of Hokage. Kakashi should remain as the captain of the Third Division. This will allow him to gain even more recognition in the world of shinobi and create stronger bonds with other villages. Even though Izaya is not here with us currently I have no doubt that he will join us as soon as he hears word of the Fourth Great Ninja War. As for me, with my skills and experience in battle I will join the Fifth Division's special battle unit. It will allow me more flexibility to aid those which need it most."

With Hiruzen's comment bringing the topic back to the war everyone pushed the topic of Hokage candidates to the back of their minds and refocused on what was currently important. Tsunade nodded at Hiruzen's logic about leaving Kakashi as the Third Division captain and having Hiruzen himself join the Fifth Division. She then proceeded to say, "Is there no way we can somehow contact and inform Izaya of what has happened?"

A silence befell the room once more before Kakashi said, "I think we just have to wait for him to return from whatever he left to do. Hopefully it shouldn't take that long."

"Haaaaa…...He should of left us with a way to contact him. What bad timing." Tsunade said with a long sigh. Everyone left the office as they finished up the meeting whilst Tsunade sat in her chair staring at the beautiful luminescent moon that lit up the sky in a calming aura.

888

However, at this instant Kimimaro was having anything but a calm night. "Ugh…" He groaned and frowned as he felt his entire body heat up and cool down repeatedly causing him to feel a pulsing like sensation throb all over him. What's happening to my body? He thought to himself as he continued to shift uncomfortably in his bed. He had passed down the basic Taijutsu foundations to Hanabi before he left with Tsunade and Kakashi for the Five Kage Summit. When he returned he trained as he normally did and helped guide Hanabi through some Taijutsu. She had improved rapidly and even showed him the special fighting style of the Hyuga Clan. He had attempted to try it and even let Hanabi strike his Tenketsu points in his body so he could experience first hand the ability of the technique. After having his Tenketsu points sealed he continued training using his Taijutsu and attempted to use the Nine Dragons Breathing method to see if it would work in unsealing his Tenketsu points.

He had been able to develop the Nine Dragons Breathing method up to the 7th breath so far and when he circulated the technique after having his Tenketsu points sealed he felt as if there was some sort of hidden reservoir of power deep within his body. With his Tenketsu points sealed the Nine Dragons Breathing method had stimulated the hidden reservoir of power deep within him instead of unsealing the Tenketsu points. He felt an extreme burst of energy and power in that moment than he normally did when he used the Nine Dragons Breathing method in the past. He felt off after using the Nine Dragons Breathing method while his Tenketsu's were sealed so he had ended his training with Hanabi early and went home. He even stopped by the hospital to see if anything was wrong but his results came back as normal. Now, however, for some reason his body continued its cycle of overly heating and rapidly cooling down and he was starting to feel a sharp piercing pain in his head. His body ached. His bones ached. When even his bones ached he knew something was definitely wrong.

Thump!

Kimimaro widened his eyes as they had a bloodshot look in them. He felt incredible pain at this moment and opened his mouth to let out a scream, but no sound came out. He wanted to head to Lord Fifth to see if she could diagnose him but he couldn't even voluntarily move a finger. He could only squirm in pain and agony. He didn't know when but at some point he ended up losing consciousness.

Chirp Chirp Chirp!

"Hah!" Kimimaro shouted as he sat up in his bed, panting heavily. He looked out the window to see some small birds chirping away as the sun streamed through into his room. He looked down at his hands to find nothing amiss. He turned and got off his bed to look in the mirror but still, he seemed perfectly normal. Kimimaro flexed his muscles and stretched and moved around but everything felt fine. In fact he felt better than fine. He was confused because he was absolutely sure that he was in complete pain and agony just last night. "Genjutsu?" He whispered to himself before shaking his head and said, "No. Impossible. There's very few people in Konoha who'd be able to pull a Genjutsu like that on me without me being able to break out and those people who could wouldn't do it. There'd also be no benefit for them to attack me like that and I'm certain it wasn't Genjutsu. But what was it then?" He could only shake his head and put it to the back of his mind for now. As he walked out the door, unbeknownst to him or anyone else, a dark colored bone stuck in the corner of the room slowly eroded away into nothing but ash and dust in the air leaving no evidence that it was ever there save for the small puncture left in the wall.

888

FWOOOOSH!

Large amounts of wind began to gather in the upper atmosphere as a whirlpool began to form on a large lake. Deep below the depths of that lake well hidden from the touch of humanity was an incredibly large Palace. The Ryuga-Jo Palace. Within the Palace hall was Haku as he sat perfectly still, focusing with all of his might as he attempted to enter Heavenly Sage Mode.

"He's still got a long way to go." Dako commented on the side in his cute little voice as he stared at Haku's 200th attempt at trying to become a Heavenly Sage.

Mazu gave a sideways glance at Dako saying, "Tsk. You're one to talk. How long did it take you again to finally learn Heavenly Sage Mode? Oh, and even though you can use Heavenly Sage Mode now, just how proficient at it are you hmmm?"

"Hmpf. I was just saying. No need to get so defensive for the kid." Dako replied.

Nade ignored Dako and commented, "I'm impressed. This is only his 200th attempt yet he can already create a pseudo Heavenly tribulation to appear. He's progressing quite well. Better than I had thought he would."

At this moment Mazu, Nade, and Dako widened their eyes in shock as they felt the descent of Heavenly Energy, however, it lasted for less than a fraction of a second before disappearing along with the pseudo Heavenly tribulation generated from Haku. Even though Haku failed in the end Mazu, Nade, and Dako still had their eyes wide open in shock because they truly felt the descent of Heavenly Energy. Haku collapsed on his back and lay on the cool Palace floor as he panted heavily in complete exhaustion. It was also at this moment, deep within the core of the Ryuga-Jo Palace, a giant blue golden colored dragon that was coiled around itself opened up one of its eyes illuminating the room with bright silver light. This was the true ruler and master of the Ryuga-Jo Palace, the Heavenly Ocean Sage Owatatsumi. The direction it was looking towards was at a young male lying on the floor of the Ryuga-Jo Palace hall panting and sweating with complete exhaustion.

"This one has some potential." Owatatsumi said to himself with a deep, powerful, and commanding voice before closing his eyes once more and returning to sleep with no one the wiser.

After Haku caught his breath he sat back up and saw the three palace guardians staring at him with their eyes wide in complete and utter shock. Haku remained silent as he waited for them to recover from their shock, but even after waiting for several minutes they didn't change their facial expression at all so he tilted his head to the side in confusion and awkwardly said, "D-Did I do something wrong?"

Finally after Haku spoke the three guardians returned to their normal looking selves albeit with a bit of a complicated look in their eyes. Mazu cleared his throat and said, "No no, not at all. In fact you did something completely right."

"I did?" Haku replied suspiciously.

"Yes yes. The reason why we're so shocked is because just now we actually felt you become attuned to the energy of the Heavens. It was short so perhaps you didn't notice but we did." Dako replied.

"Eh? I did?" Haku said again but this time more excitedly. He had been trying to absorb the energy of the Heavens according to the methods taught to him by Mazu, Dako, and Nade, but he hadn't succeeded at all in his past 200 attempts. At least until now it seems. Absorbing Heavenly energy was incredibly difficult compared to absorbing the natural energy of the world. To absorb natural energy one needs to be completely still and be able to sense the natural energy in the world, absorb it, and balance it with their physical and spiritual energy. Too much natural energy could cause Haku to turn into a stone Koi fish. To little and he wouldn't be able to activate Sage Mode. Of course Haku had already mastered this technique hence the tattoos that mark his face when he activates Sage Mode as proof.

According to Mazu, once he completely masters Heavenly Sage Mode the two Koi fish tattoo mark on his forehead in regular Sage Mode will transform into one and become a dragon. But to absorb Heavenly Energy not only did he need to remain completely still, he had to first absorb the natural energy of the world, then he had to balance that energy with his physical and spiritual energy. After that he had to assimilate his physical, spiritual, and natural energy into one. This would allow him to incorporate the uniqueness of his own chakra signature into the natural energy he absorbed from the world. He then had to summon a Heavenly tribulation which would baptize him in Heavenly energy. To do that he had to empty his mind of all thoughts and distractions and focus solely on the three energies within him that had been assimilated as one. It is because the natural energy of the world is formed from the energy of the Heavens that natural energy has a unique imprint of Heavenly energy at its origin. When this imprint of Heavenly energy that is contained inside natural energy is mixed with a unique chakra signature of an individual and assimilated into one, it will call forth a Heavenly tribulation which is essentially Heavenly Energy, and baptize the person who mixed their three energies together in an attempt to purify those energies back into natural energy.

It is at that moment that one would be able to sense the Heavenly Energy around them and take advantage of this tribulation of Heavenly Energy and absorb it into themselves. Instead of being destroyed and turning into pure natural energy by the tribulation, one would instead absorb as much Heavenly energy as they could, temporarily turning the natural, spiritual, and physical energy inside of them into that of Heavenly energy. Once all the other energies inside are temporarily turned into Heavenly Energy the tribulation will cease to fall. One would then successfully have entered Heavenly Sage Mode. One of the great perks of Heavenly Sage Mode is that once someone uses up all the Heavenly Energy inside of them and releases Heavenly Sage Mode all the energy they gathered inside of them that wasn't originally Heavenly Energy remains such as physical, spiritual, and natural energy. This means that once Heavenly Sage Mode wears out one can still remain in Sage Mode until Sage Mode wears out. Still, even though Haku learnt the theory and the method from the three guardians he continued to struggle with assimilating all three energies within him into one and calling forth the Heavenly tribulation, but he was elated to hear the three guardians confirm that he was making great progress and even managed to call forth a Heavenly tribulation, even if it was only for an incredibly short time.