Chapter 1: Say What?

A silver haired figured walked in a stone hallway as torches illuminated the path as best they could. A smile was on his face as he carried a tray that had some food, drinks, and medicine. He was going to find his master and deliver his breakfast. Two guards opened the chamber doors allowing the figure to walk in. He dropped the tray when he saw something that didn't seem natural. His master, the most powerful and most intelligent person he ever knew was smiling.

Normally that was a good thing, except when dealing with Orochimaru the Snake Sannin. And the greatest known traitor since Uchiha Madara. The man never smiled, especially when sleeping. It was a peaceful smile, one that seemed to make the man look younger. Kabuto quickly shook his mind of such thoughts before rushing to his master's side. The two guards had run into Orochimaru's private chambers thanks to the noise only to also be caught off guard by how the man was smiling. It was too unnatural to fit the dangerous and emotionless man.

" Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto said as he knelled next to his master while studying how the long haired man looked.

Kabuto quickly got to work on checking the Sannin for any sign of life. Two minutes later he returned Orochimaru's hand to the man's side.

" Recall every Shinobi back to the village... Orochimaru-sama is dead." Kabuto said making the eyes of the men to grow.

" What are we going to do now? Without Orochimaru-sama..." One of the men said.

" There's no reason to worry... Orochimaru-sama prepared in case such a thing was to happen." Kabuto said before hearing footsteps.

" For what to happen?" A young and arrogant voice said as he walked into the room.

" Orochimaru-sama is dead. He had a heart attack during his sleep." Kabuto said making the eyes of the young man to look at the traitorous Sannin with disbelief.

" What about my training?" Sasuke asked.

" Train yourself. Orochimaru-sama has given you more than an idea of what you need to improve and how to do it." Kabuto said with a tone that showed he didn't respect the young man before him.

" What did you say?" Sasuke growled only to have Kabuto slam him to the wall while choking his neck with one hand.

" I never liked you Sasuke. The only reason I didn't kill you before was because of the fact that Orochimaru-sama needed you. Whether you stay or go doesn't matter to me. Right now I have more important things to do." Kabuto said as he threw Sasuke to the side.

' I guess the rumors are true, that Kabuto is around the level of skill as Kakashi.' Sasuke thought as he glared at Kabuto's back. ' He's too dangerous for me to take on alone.'

" Where are you going Kabuto-san?" The second guard asked.

" Like I said earlier Orochimaru-sama saw this happening, he already has plans in case he died. Plans I am going to make sure they are followed." Kabuto said before leaving the room and those in it shocked.

" Plans, what plans? The guy is dead, his sick ambitious are finished." Sasuke said before losing sight of the silver haired medic.

+-*/\*-+

" This is it." One Uzumaki Naruto said as he waited with his teammates near a bridge. They watched as his temporary team leader went to meet with the spy within Orochimaru's rank. His long time crush stood to his left as the ink using Sasuke wannabe was to Sakura's left.

" Drop the act Konoha nin." Kabuto said as he lowered the hood of his cloak and shocked the ninja from Konoha. " The real Sasori wouldn't have waited this long while knowing he had the skills to kill me."

" Kabuto." Naruto growled as he suddenly appeared next to Yamato with speeds none of the ninja thought he had.

" It's good to see you again Naruto-kun." Kabuto said with a smile making the Konoha team uncomfortable.

" You got a lot of guts to be saying that to me. After you bastards took Sasuke and for trying to kill me." Naruto said making Kabuto keep up his smile.

" The only reason I had to kill you was because Orochimaru-sama told me to. He feared what you would one day become." Kabuto said making the Konoha nin to look at him with disbelief. " And I had nothing to do with Sasuke leaving your village. Nor was it the village of Sound that told Sasuke to ram those two Chidori through your chest much less snap your neck in such a vicious manner." Kabuto said making the Konoha nin to look at Naruto with shock.

" Is that true?" Sakura asked since she hadn't bothered learning about his injuries, after all he had failed to bring back her beloved Uchiha traitor. That was more than enough reason for her not to care about the golden blond.

" Don't try to deny it Naruto-kun, I watched the battle and I was the one that healed you enough so that Konoha could take you back home." Kabuto said making Naruto look at him with disbelief. " You're a very important person Naruto-kun. More than Konoha or Sasuke could ever imagine." The man said with a smile and what Naruto figured was pride. Which he found weird coming from a person that was an enemy.

" Why are you saying this to my Genin?" Yamato said making Kabuto look at Naruto.

" You're still a Genin?" Kabuto said with some light venom.

" I never got promoted during the Chuunin exams because of Orochimaru's attack." Naruto said with some shame.

" You might not have the complete mentality for a Chuunin but you had more than enough skill to be a combat Chuunin. After all how many Genin our Chuunin are out there that could summon A Legendary Boss Summon and defeat a rampaging Bijuu. Other than you none." Kabuto said making Naruto and Sakura took look at him with disbelief.

" Hell, you surviving agaisnt Itachi, Kisame and besting me on the same week was more than enough to show you were at Chuunin level. They might never give you a squad to lead but you would have done fantastic in real missions. Konoha should have promoted you before you left with Jiraiya." Kabuto said making Naruto's eyes to grow. A sinister smile grew on Kabuto as he prepared to give Naruto more information that would shock him.

" Just being the full time apprentice of Jiraiya-sama would have been more than enough to make you a Jounin. And that fancy little trick you learn with THAT KUNAI, guarantees you the ranking of S-class in the Bingo Books. Congratulations Naruto you are now in a league few could ever reach. You're also the first Jinchuuriki to do it without relying on your tenant." Kabuto said making the Konoha nin look at Naruto as he took a step back in disbelief.

" How do you know about that?" Naruto asked as he reached into the left side of his pants. The Konoha nin were shocked to see a Kunai pouch appear after a Genjutsu broke apart.

" Orochimaru had his men keep an eye on you for two reasons. One I liked and the other I didn't." Kabuto said as Naruto waited to see what the man had to say before he rained down certain death on the medic. Something both knew he could do with a blink of an eye.

" Reason one, which is the one I don't like, is because Sasuke needs you. He won't be able to obtain the Mangekyo Sharingan without killing you." Kabuto said making horror fill Sakura's face as she imagined her crush killing her blond friend. "Orochimaru knew this which is why he made sure to keep an eye on you and to help throw off Akatsuki." Kabuto said making the Konoha nin look at Kabuto with disbelief.

" Reason two, which is the reason why I'm here, is because Otogakure needs you." The silver haired medic said making the Konoha nin prepare for battle. Kabuto brought out a packet and threw it at Naruto's feet. It opened and made the Konoha nin jump back.

" I already told you Naruto-kun, you are very important, I won't ever try to kill you. That I swear." Kabuto said making Naruto look at him. The two locked eyes, the Sapphire spheres trying to find any sign of lying but never finding it.

" Go on, take it. I guarantee it will blow your mind away." Kabuto said making Naruto look at the packet.

" Don't do it Naruto. Lets just take him down and get the information that we need." Yamato ordered.

" Grab the packet and you'll get more than what you are looking for, and without the violence." Kabuto said making Naruto look at him.

" Listen to me Uzumaki, I'm ordering you to move to the rear." Yamato said making Naruto stop.

" Trust me Naruto-kun, just read the papers and free yourself of the mask you wear." Kabuto said making Naruto and the Konoha nin look at him.

" Mask?" Sakura asked.

" A very good mask if I do say so myself. Not even I think I could have created a better fake personality." Kabuto said making the Konoha nin look from Kabuto to Naruto.

" You think I didn't notice?" Kabuto said as Naruto glared at him. " I'm a master level spy, Naruto-kun. Only Jiraiya-sama, Orochimaru-sama and Sasori-sama would have been able to get past my eyes. It took a while but I saw it. I saw who you really are. I saw the man, the fighter and the genius hidden behind the face of a fool." Kabuto said making the Konoha nin look between the sound traitor and Jinchuuriki with shock.

" You hid behind the illusion of a clown to live in peace while in Konoha. I wasn't the only one to see past it. Orochimaru-sama saw it, and he found it amusing." Kabuto said making Naruto growl.

" Read the packet Naruto. In it are the tools to end the war between Konoha and Oto." Kabuto said with all the seriousness of the world instantly shocking the Konoha nin. The man turned his back on the group making them confused.

" Go on, I won't even keep my guard up." Kabuto said making Naruto calm down. He walked towards the papers while Yamato ordered him to stop. Naruto ignored it since he could see that what Kabuto was doing had to be important.

" What does it say?" Sakura asked after Naruto flipped through the pages.

" Is this some kind of sick joke?" Naruto asked making Kabuto turn his head.

" I wouldn't joke about this. Orochimaru-sama is dead. His body died during his sleep preventing anyone from being able to help him. An unforeseen side effect from his false immortality jutsu." Kabuto said making the Konoha nin look at him with disbelief. Naruto on the other hand went back to reading the documents.

" Take your time and go over it Naruto-kun. You can even allow Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama to review it. But the only way you can learn the truth is by following it's directions." Kabuto said as he started to walk away.

" What did he give you?" Yamato asked.

" That is information that is only to be seen by Sannin and the Hokage. You are neither of the two so mind you own business." Kabuto said with a smirk making Yamato glare at him.

" In fact, I'll like to hire your team for a mission. Escort those documents to Tsunade-sama. And Naruto-kun." Kabuto said making the blond look at him.

" Here is your payment." Kabuto said before suddenly raising his cloaked arm to Naruto. A brown snake shot out of it and flew towards Naruto. Naruto lifted his arm to block and was shocked to see the snake coil around it. Kabuto laughed as the Konoha nin tried to attack him only for him to vanish with with a simple body flicker.

" What the hell?" Naruto yelled as the snake finished coiling around his right arm. The Konoha nin watched with disbelief as the snake melted with Naruto's arm before leaving a majestic tattoo of a snake with an orange gem in it's mouth. Naruto closed his eyes and grabbed his head with pain as information flowed into his brain.

" Naruto." Sakura said with pain.

" It's okay." Naruto said a few moments later when he didn't start rampaging or dying.

" He gave me Orochimaru's sword... the Kusanagi no Tsurugi." Naruto said as the Konoha nin filled with disbelief. It only grew as the blade shout out of Naruto's hand. It was a master quality blade that looked like it belonged on a trophy case and not in battle. The handle looked like the snake that had wrapped around Naruto.

The golden blond gave it a few swings before opening his palm and making the blade turn into a snake before it returned into his flesh.

" I figured that would have hurt more." Naruto said as he saw no sign of having the blade shoot out of his arm, not even a single drop of blood or flesh. The golden blond quickly turned and closed the packet of documents he had before heading to Konoha.

" What about Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

" Informing Baa-chan that Orochimaru is dead is far more important than a single traitor." Naruto said making Sakura look at him with disbelief and then rage.

" He's right. With the Kusanagi in Naruto's hands gives us the ultimate proof that Orochimaru is dead. We need to hurry back to the village and give those documents to Tsunade-sama." Yamato stated as he ran after the blond. He knew about the legendary bond between Orochimaru and his sentient blade.

' And I need to tell her about the problems Naruto has with following orders.' Yamato thought as Sai wondered how angry Danzo was going to get once he learned Orochimaru was dead.

During the entire trip to Konoha Sakura was expressing and showing her rage at Naruto for breaking their promise. She would have attacked him if the Kusanagi hadn't suddenly shout out of Naruto's arm, twisted while the handle was a snake and launched the blade from it's mouth at the pinkette. If it wasn't for Tsunade's training Sakura would have died. She made sure to not attack Naruto as long as he had that sentient blade in him.

They soon came upon the gates and Naruto left a clone to sign in and tell the guards why he was in a hurry. Sakura was left behind since she didn't have a clone like the rest of her team.

" Naruto-kun wait." Shizune said as Naruto plowed into the room. The golden blond ignored the village elders and tossed the packet of documents on Tsunade's desk.

" It's from Orochimaru." Naruto said making Tsunade's eyes to grow.

" It's safe, I've gone over the documents and checked the blood seals. There is no danger in those." Naruto said making Tsunade nod her head as Naruto's team entered the room. The elder stood in silence since they were able to ignore Naruto's rudeness since he brought something so important.

" He can't be serious." Tsunade said as she looked at Naruto and saw him lift up his left arm and expose the flesh. Tsunade's eyes grew as she saw the Tattoo of Kusanagi.

" He's dead. That old, back stabbing, slithering, cold blooded son of a bitch is dead." Naruto said making the elders look at him with disbelief. Not just from the shock of his news but about the rude words he used that was never associated with him.

" Tsunade-hime. We got an emergency." Jiraiya said as he entered the room.

" All of Orochimaru's Shinobi have returned to their village, something big is going down since they abandoned a lot of missions." Jiraiya said making Tsunade pass a letter to Jiraiya.

" What is this?" Jiraiya asked. He got a bit worried when Tsunade turned her head and waited for him to read it.

" Its from Orochimaru... this doesn't sound like him... its sounds like..." Jiraiya said making tears fall from Tsunade's eyes.

" The Orochimaru we used to know before his parents died." Tsunade said as she held a letter of her own. There was some dry tear marks and it smelled like Sake.

" Apparently Kabuto had him write them one day when he was drunk. The same with his will, it was only done for a what if scenario." Tsunade said making the room look at her.

" What if he died of natural causes." Tsunade said making the eyes of the people in the room to grow. " There's even one for Sarutobi-sensei." Tsunade said as she showed it to the room.

" Naruto." Tsunade said with a serious face.

" Do you understand what Orochimaru wants you to do?" Tsunade asked as she got a look she had only glimpsed in Naruto. The golden blond was completely serious and looked like he was going to go to war. It made him become even more of a Yondaime clone than before.

" I understand what he wants... Orochimaru wants me to take over Sound and it's Shinobi village." The nine tailed Jinchuuriki said making the room fill with disbelief.