a promotion?

Kaito and Naruto were together, looking at Gaara who was sitting. Naruto approached slowly and began to use his talk-no-jutsu.

"I know how you feel, Gaara. I'm like you, hated by everyone around me, treated with fear and disgust. But we must not let this darkness consume us because we are better than that."

While Naruto spoke, Gaara remained silent and seated, his expression unchanged, making it hard to discern his thoughts.

Naruto continued his speech for a few more minutes, while Kaito had already created an ice throne to sit on, knowing this conversation would take time.

Not long after, Naruto had to stop his speech as Temari and Kankuro appeared behind Gaara. Kaito and Naruto had noticed them approaching from a distance and were prepared for any unforeseen events.

"Gaara, are you okay?" Temari asked, looking at him.

Gaara nodded and stood up, still a bit tired and with various injuries, but he had recovered enough to at least stand.

Kankuro was ready to attack at any sign of hostility from Kaito and Naruto.

"Gaara, Temari, we have to go now," Kankuro called, and both nodded in agreement.

Kankuro picked up Gaara and placed his hand on his shoulders. Temari also prepared to leave, glancing at Kaito and Naruto, who observed the scene unfolding before them.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The three quickly departed, fearing they might be stopped, but once again, nothing happened.

"Haha, it seems they're shy, Naruto," Kaito smiled, commenting to Naruto.

"True, they appear quickly and disappear even faster," Naruto agreed while looking in the direction they had gone.

Kaito and Naruto began walking back to Konoha, conversing along the way.

"Hey, Naruto, how did you learn the frog summoning jutsu?" Kaito asked curiously.

"Oh, the old Hokage forced me to train with that pervert I told you about, and I learned it in a few days," Naruto replied, scratching his head.

'Jiraiya, one of the three legendary sannin, but a terrible teacher and an even worse godfather. He knew about Naruto, Minato, and Kushina's son, yet he ignored him, allowing him to become a target of hatred. Along with Hiruzen, who did nothing to stop the hatred against Naruto. I don't know who can be worse,' Kaito thought as he looked at Naruto smiling.

Kaito draped his arm over Naruto's shoulder and said, "Naruto, you know you're my friend, but I consider you like a brother. You can always count on me."

Naruto was taken by surprise with these words, not understanding why Kaito would say something like that out of the blue.

"I feel the same, Kaito. You're like a brother to me. I'm grateful to have met you that day while we were fighting in the academy," Naruto replied after a few seconds of delay.

Kaito released Naruto after tousling his hair, like an older brother teasing a younger one.

Naruto fixed his hair and continued walking alongside Kaito.

At that moment, they finally encountered Shikamaru, Sakura, and Sasuke.

Shikamaru and Sakura were fine, but Sasuke had some injuries that Sakura had treated and bandaged.

"You finally showed up. That fight was loud; we saw it from afar. But it took you a while to get here, and we encountered other ninjas before finding Sasuke injured in a tree," Shikamaru said slowly.

"Alright, do you know who did this to Sasuke?" Sakura asked, to which Naruto promptly responded.

"It was Gaara, that guy who manipulates sand. However, he had a strange and powerful form, so Sasuke couldn't overcome him. I stepped in and moved the fight away from Sasuke's location."

Shikamaru and Sakura were shocked to learn that Sasuke couldn't defeat him, as they remembered that not long before, Gaara had to flee to avoid being defeated.

Naruto explained the entire situation while Sasuke was still unconscious.

The five of them talked as they began to return to the village, realizing the damage that had occurred even from a distance. One of the walls was destroyed, and several trees were toppled; it was chaos.

Sasuke woke up slowly, and as he did, he clenched his fist, looking at Naruto. His mind was a mess, and he quickly jumped off Shikamaru's back, who sighed in relief for not having to carry that weight anymore.

'Damn, I'm so weak. I lost to the guy who lost to Naruto. No, no, I need strength. I need to become stronger to kill him and avenge my family.' Sasuke thought as he placed his hand between his eyes, which now had three tomoe spinning. However, his Sharingan deactivated due to a lack of chakra. Sasuke noticed some changes but ignored them, focusing only on getting stronger.

Thirty minutes passed, and everyone finally returned to Konoha, which was now damaged to a certain extent.

...

Some time before, amidst the battle between Hiruzen and Orochimaru, another fight was about to unfold in a different location.

Kazeji Residence

Hana was preparing dinner when she began to sense movements around her house. Though she had been away from the battlefield for some time, her senses remained sharp.

She continued preparing dinner as if nothing was happening, using her ice powers to form imperceptible snowflakes to sense the ninjas' movements as they brushed against her power.

'There are a total of 6 ninjas, 1 jounin, and 5 chunin. Do they consider me so insignificant?' Hana thought, feeling a bit hurt.

One of the ninjas stealthily entered the house and walked slowly toward Hana, attempting to immobilize her quickly and silently.

The ninja approached the kitchen slowly and saw Hana with her back turned, a favorable position for his attack. Seizing the chance, the ninja leaped towards her with extreme speed.

Sigh!

'I thought the jounin would attack me first, but it seems he's very cautious,' Hana spoke slowly, startling the ninja in the midst of his attack.

Hana quickly turned around, and a plate was thrown from her hand, hitting the ninja's head squarely.

The ninja and the plate fell in different directions due to the impact. The ninja had been defeated with a single blow.

"Quite a surprise that you held up so well. I guess I made a good choice when I bought these plates," Hana remarked while stooping to pick up the intact plate, expressing genuine admiration.

Taking advantage of this opening, the other four ninjas advanced, attacking from all sides.

Hana smiled upon realizing this; she had been paying attention to them the entire time.

She threw her plate again at another ninja, who successfully dodged the attack. However, Hana was not in the mood for games. In the next moment, a freezing wave emanated from her body, freezing everyone around.

The frozen ninjas fell directly to the ground, shattering into countless pieces.

The jounin who had been lurking decided to retreat at the sight of this, but in the next moment, all the broken ice pieces containing various body parts were hurled in his direction.

The jounin successfully dodged the attacks, but the projectiles returned, attacking him again.

He then formed some seals and launched a fireball in hopes of melting those ice pieces.

The fireball engulfed the ice chunks, and the jounin sighed in relief. He turned to face Hana, who was at the window watching him.

He thought about attacking, but in the next moment, he sensed something wrong and tried to jump. However, it was too late; his feet froze rapidly while the ice shards he thought had melted advanced towards him, piercing his back in several places.

Hana walked slowly to stand in front of the jounin, now on the verge of death, with his body slowly freezing.

"Who sent you here? Is there anyone else besides you?" Hana tried to gather information, but the ninja refused to say a word.

She no longer cared about extracting information, and the jounin was frozen to death.

Hana walked back to her house and continued preparing dinner, while a frozen sculpture was outside within her view.

...

Back to the present, in the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen was now sitting in his chair while some medical ninjas investigated his condition but found nothing abnormal. The Hokage's body seemed fine.

"We found nothing; everything seems normal, Hokage-sama," one of the ninjas said, and the others agreed.

"Alright, you're dismissed," Hiruzen said, and the medical ninjas left the room.

Haruki appeared soon after the medics left.

"Hiruzen, all enemy ninjas have been defeated, and now all that remains is the aftermath. How is your situation?" Haruki asked as soon as he arrived.

"Hmm, the village will have to undergo many changes. There was a lot of bloodshed and destruction. We can't let this happen again. We need to bring back our best medical ninja. With her, we could have avoided many casualties. Your vacation is over," Hiruzen spoke firmly.

Haruki was surprised but quickly agreed. "Alright, we need to bring Tsunade back, but I think it will be difficult for her to return."

"I have the right people for this mission. You can leave it to me," Hiruzen responded.

Cough! Cough! Cough!

At that moment, a strong cough overcame the Hokage, causing him to spit blood. Haruki quickly approached his side.

"Hokage, you don't look well at all. The medics found nothing?" Haruki asked.

Hiruzen wiped his mouth slowly after stopping his coughing fit. "No need to worry about me, Haruki. It's just the ailment of old age. As soon as Tsunade returns, I can retire," he said, relaxing a bit.

"Alright, Haruki, your son is powerful. He's not far from becoming a jounin in terms of strength. Maybe lacking in experience, but it won't take long for him to reach that level. What do you think about giving him the title of Special Jounin like yours?" Hiruzen asked, surprising Haruki.

"I think we should progress slowly. I know him, and I know he doesn't care about titles. But I believe he would appreciate the level of freedom he would have for missions outside the village to gain the necessary experience. Still, it's something I'll have to discuss with him," Haruki replied after some thought.

"Alright, you ask him later and let me know. I'll start restoring order to this village," Hiruzen said authoritatively, dismissing Haruki.