Chapter 6: Confrontations and Confirm

Sarutobi Hiruzen was not a man who was given to lean on superstitions, but today he had a gut feeling that this was just going to be a bad day all the way around. It had started off wonderfully, with his adoptive grandson stopping by with his betrothed, having paperwork in hand from the hospital showing that the chakra influx from Miyuki had indeed taken and she was now confirmed as having the Seigi no Namida instead of the Sharingan. Upon receiving the paperwork, The Hokage had signed off on the paperwork needed to pull her out of the Academy for three months so that she could be tutored extensively in her new bloodline abilities and get her chakra control up to par so that she could continue on into the next year and graduate. He chuckled aloud as he recalled how prettily she had blushed after he complimented her on her new jade green eyes.

The day had continued to go well as he had had a meeting with Nara Shikaku, the ANBU Commander, the village elders and the clan heads to discuss who he was going to be grooming to take over his job as the Godaime Hokage. Uchiha Itachi was stunned speechless after he had gone over the pros and cons of each candidate and had announced that he was the one who was selected to be his successor as a kage.

Then he had to listen to his advisors argue with him over his choice and he had had to finally silence them with a heavy dose of KI, which almost caused Homura to have a heart attack. That had been the start of his bad day, which seemed to steadily deteriorate and go downhill from there.

Next were the many demands by the civilians on the council to force brides on Sōjin Ikari, as they had finally gotten wind of a new Kekkei Genkai that had been discovered. Apparently Danzo had managed to disabuse them of any notion that they had any right to demand anything of any of the clans. This meant that sometime soon Danzo would use this to somehow gain the upper hand in some future dealings.

The last thing that had occurred was the arrival of a messenger toad, who had delivered a message from Namikaze Minato, who stated that they would be arriving on the day of graduation in three months so that their daughters could take the exams and be reunited with their brother. The worst part of it was that they had arrogantly stated that they would accept no less than to have the three siblings put on the same Genin team.

That last bit had damn near made him blow his top, and he debated the best way to handle the eventual confrontation. "Boar, I need you to go and summon the following people for a meeting here in my office in an hour: Hatake Kakashi, Uzuki Yuugao, Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Setsuki, and Sōjin Ikari."

He patiently waited for the ANBU to leave, and then created three Kage Bunshin to assist in sorting through the paperwork and settled in to knock out every Kage's worst nightmare and most worrisome foe. Lighting his pipe and taking a relaxing couple of puffs, he then dug into the pile of papers and began trying to make the best call that he could.

Before he knew it, an hour had somehow flown by and he heard someone knocking at the door. Situating himself behind his desk, he dispelled the clones and sighed as he took in the information from them. Flipping through a few remaining pieces of work that he had yet to get through, he told whoever was on the other side of the door to enter.

Looking up, Hiruzen smiled as he watched Ikari enter arm in arm with Setsuki, followed by Yuugao, Kakashi and finally Itachi. He watched as they gathered round his desk and motioned for them to take a seat. Rubbing his fingers against his temples, the old man sighed and looked around the office once more at every one who had gathered there. Focusing on Ikari, frowned ever so slightly before speaking, "Do you have any ideas as to how you are going to handle the plans that your former family has in place for you?"

Groaning aloud and resting his head on the back of the futon where he and Suki-chan had taken seat at, he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I take it that just ignoring them won't cut it, huh?"

Chuckling as he shook his head, Sarutobi looked at the younger man fondly before responding. "You are correct in your assessment, and speaking of assessments, I still haven't heard a full report of your encounter with the two remaining loyal Sennin and the Namikaze when I sent you on the mission to Kiri. Care to enlighten us Yuugao? What about you Kakashi?"

With a couple of frustrated groans, the two eldest ANBU looked at each other for a moment, sighed and then nodded. Kakashi leaned forward and put his head down for a moment, then looked up at the Hokage. "I will tell you this much right now, if we hadn't needed to leave when we did to catch up to Itachi and Ikari, there would be no need for any contingency plans for anything but a tombstone and a grave."

Flashback Starts

After a couple of days following false leads, they had finally tracked the Namikaze family to the ruins of Uzushio. They had quickly followed Pakkun, one of Kakashi's summons, as he led them to what looked to be a recently rebuilt house. Hearing the laughter and merriment coming from inside, the two ANBU looked at each other and scowled, despising them for having abandoned their own flesh and blood. Slipping their masks on, they approached the house while Kakashi flared his chakra twice to signal their approach.

Standing in front of the building, they waited until the door opened and they saw Namikaze Uzumaki Kushina answer. Both of them bowed in greeting, while Yuugao allowed Kakashi to take the lead in speaking as she was almost overcome with rage at seeing her former sensei standing there in front of her with a smile on her face. "Namikaze-sama, we have come with a message from the Hokage for Jiraiya-sama. Is he here as this message is most urgent?"

Nodding, she stepped aside from doorway allowed them inside. Motioning to them to follow her, she led them inside to the dining area. Moving over to sit beside her husband, Kushina got her husband's attention and motioned to the ANBU. Looking over at the two ANBU, Minato's face lit up with recognition as he saw the Dog mask on the one that did nothing to hide his gravity-defying silver hair. "Kakashi-kun, how have you been? It's been forever since we've spoken and I assume that Sarutobi let you in on the plan since you don't seem surprised to see me alive."

Shaking his head in response, Kakashi inwardly seethed. How could they abandon their own son and live what appeared to be a fairly good life, showering love and affection on each other and his sisters, and leave their son and brother to think that he was alone and an orphan? In a cold emotionless tone he replied. "It would have been better if you hadn't faked your death for many people, Namikaze-sama, me being the least of them. If there's nothing else you wish to discuss, we are on a time-sensitive mission, and need to deliver this scroll to Jiraiya-sama in person."

Frowning slightly at the tone of his voice, he nodded and stood. Turning so that he could head to the study, he moved so that he could look at his old student and motion for him to follow. Yuugao was right on his heels as left, abruptly turning her back on Kushina, and was unable to see the look of shock on her face at being dismissed and ignored like she was.

A couple minutes later the three of them entered what had to have been the library and study. The first thing that they noticed was the Gama Sennin sitting there trying to decipher the seal work behind an exploding tag, and as they got close enough, the two ANBU smiled as they realized just who had created that modified seal tag. That was shortly followed by laughter when Jiraiya looked at Minato and said that he couldn't figure out just how the creator of the seal had modified it.

Yuugao was chuckling and was the one who responded to the Toad Sage in a humorous tone of voice. "There's a reason for that Jiraiya-san, and that is because the creator of the modified seal tag created a security seal that was incorporated into each and every design and that seal only allows those whom he has authorized to analyze and inspect the seals to see the actual modifications."

At this point both Minato and Jiraiya stood there with looks of extreme shock on their faces, and Kakashi lost it at this point, collapsing to the floor with laughter. "Why are you so shocked, Jiraiya-san, Namikaze-san?" was Yuugao's question while she smirked at the two. "Can you fault the creator of such seals for protecting his work and investments?"

With looks frustration on their faces, they both shook their heads. Minato sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "The intricacy of such a security seal almost screams out Uzumaki seal master, and yet here I am stumped by this and all the other seals security and I am married to and was trained by one of the youngest Uzumaki seal adepts in history. It's quite annoying as well as frustrating."

Shrugging their shoulders at his comment, Kakashi turned to Jiraiya and handed him the sealed scroll. "Inside are Hokage-sama's orders for you. We were instructed to receive your verbal acknowledgement of them and whether or not you will comply."

Chuckling to himself in a slightly perverse manner as he could only imagine that Sarutobi-sensei wanted him to get to work on the next in his Icha Icha series, he soon stopped and had a look of shock on his face. Turning to Kakashi and Yuugao, he spoke and his voice was thick with anger when he did so. "You can't be serious! I have an important job here training my two god-daughters and Sensei knows this! Threatening me with revocation of my Sennin travel rights and listing me as a missing-nin? What the hell is going on back home?"

Clearing his throat so as not to laugh at his situation, Kakashi was grim when he replied. "You answer to the Hokage, just like any other shinobi, do you not Jiraiya-san? He expects much of you, as you are a very powerful ninja. If you had bothered to read the entire scroll you would realize that you have been forsaking your DUTIES as Konoha's spymaster and it could have ended much worse for us than it did. To be quite honest, the fact that you are sitting here trying to steal secrets from a fellow Konoha shinobi and teaching two brats instead of fulfilling your duty is rather appalling."

Jiraiya and Minato sat there like someone had just slapped them with a freshly caught trout. Both of them got angry at this point in time, and the former Hokage got involved with the discussion at this point. "In case you have forgotten Kakashi-kun Sarutobi agreed with this plan of action so that our children would be taught everything that they needed to defend themselves. So why are you being so petty as to deny my daughters the training that they need to be able to utilize the chakra that is within them?"

Yuugao chuckled sadly at that comment and shook her head slowly. "Know this Namikaze-sama; we aren't the ones being petty. YOUR responsibility was to care for ALL of your children, not just those two spoiled rotten brats you refer to as your daughters. All I can remember of the two sensei who trained Kakashi and I is that they were firm in their belief that playing favorites was unacceptable when teaching young ones to reach their potential, and here you are being hypocrites of the worst kind. You ABANDONED your own flesh and blood, your heir, to be alone, thinking that he is an orphan and having NO ONE to give him the loving care and tutelage that you give your daughters. Enough of that nonsense though," here she turned back to Jiraiya.

"Are you going to comply with Hokage-sama's orders, or are you going to fail at accomplishing your duties as the spymaster of Konoha just as badly as you and Tsunade have failed Naruto at being his godparents?" The latter part of her question was spoken in a sneering manner, with as much venom as she could insert into her words. She did get the reaction she was looking for, as he looked absolutely gobsmacked at her wording.

All he could do was nod as he was at a loss for words. Nodding sharply at his acknowledgement of his orders, the two ANBU turned to Minato and Kushina, who had just walked into the room with their daughters and Tsunade in tow. Kakashi's voice was like ice as he spoke this time, and his words cut their intended recipients to the core. "Minato-san, Kushina-san, we consider the both of you dead to us, as you have betrayed the very teachings that you instilled in us. We do not consider you family, as the both of you are not the people we thought and believed you to be. All we desire from you is that you no longer be familiar with us in speaking to us, as you have lost that privilege. With that said, we bid you farewell."

They then shunshined away, as far as they could go, before rapidly moving towards their rendezvous point to link up with their ride and make their way to the rest of their team and continue on with the mission.

Flashback Ends

Leaning back in his chair, Hiruzen sighed as he smoked his pipe. Rubbing his temples with his fingertips, he processed everything that he had heard before responding. "It sounds like they didn't bother taking anything to heart really with the exception of Jiraiya taking my threats seriously. I must apologize once again for the lack of spine that I showed in not fighting them more stridently in actually enacting this plan, Ikari-kun."

Shaking his head the younger man smiled gently at the Hokage. "No apology is needed from you Oji-san. Your heart was in the right place, and you should never apologize for other's mistakes. I will admit that I don't really have any concrete ideas or plans made for when our eventual confrontation will happen, and I know that it isn't a case of if, but when that we need to be concerned about. In all honesty what I feel would be the best approach at this point in time, would be to have Itachi step up and take your place as Hokage before this coming graduation from the Academy, as well as me stepping up my training a notch or two to make the cut to Jonin before then as well."

Turning to Itachi, he placed his chin in his free hand in thought for a moment. "Itachi, I think it would help solidify your place as the Godaime Hokage if you released Koharu and Homura as the advisors to the Hokage and asked Oji-san and either Aburame Shibi or Hyuuga Hiashi to be your advisors. What are your thoughts so far on my ideas Oji-san?"

Waving his hand to open the floor to the others in the room, Hiruzen calmly re-lit his pipe and puffed away at it for the moment as he watched and listened to the others. Yuugao simply smiled and nodded as she thought that Ikari's plan was quite sound, even if it was simply in its infancy as far as plans went. Itachi nodded and was deep in thought himself thinking this through from every possible angle.

Kakashi rubbed his chin for a moment before taking the time to speak. "I agree with Ikari that it would be advisable to start gearing up to having Itachi become the Godaime. I also agree with Sarutobi-sama as one of his advisors, I would suggest approaching Hyuuga Hiashi in person to extend the invitation to fill this position as it might be a good way to start building bridges to overcome the animosity between your two clans."

Nodding in response to Kakashi's idea, the Hokage gripped his pipe in one hand, puffing away at it for a moment longer before removing it and speaking out. "Agreed Kakashi, I feel that this might be just what is needed to overcome decades of building animosity and anger between the two clans. What I would like right now is for the three of you to give me an honest assessment of Ikari-kun's skills and how they compare with what the Bingo Book has to say about him."

Three Months Later

Setsuki and Ikari were having lunch at Ichiraku's in celebration of her advancement to her cousin Sasuke's class and her early graduation due to a test that she had taken earlier that day. It seemed that the three months that she had spent in training in the basics of her new bloodline had more than prepared her for life as a kunoichi, and she had obliterated the tests that they had had for her in taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. Not to mention her very high written scores as well in history and strategy.

The two that ran the stand were currently having a lull in business and had taken up chatting with their favorite customer and were discussing his test for Jonin that was occurring this afternoon. At the moment, Ayame was asking questions about what the test would consist of. "So it's basically two different sections of testing, one part to actually test your abilities in the different areas, and then another which is more of a practical exam where you put your abilities to work in a simulated mission, right?"

Chewing the food in his mouth and swallowing, Ikari nodded. "That's pretty much it in a nutshell Onēchan. There will be four different areas that they will test me in, and each one will be against a different individual who is skilled in that particular area. Those areas will be kenjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu, and the second part of the test will put me up against those four, possibly more, working together against me in a simulated mission to see how well I can put together my abilities and also utilize my other skills, such as stealth and information gathering."

Nodding as he understood exactly what the younger man was talking about, being a retired Jonin himself, Teuchi smiled at him. "I feel that you will do just fine, and that the next time we see you that you will be a Jonin. That is my gut feeling as far as the test is concerned at any rate."

Smiling warmly at the young man that she had always seen as her little brother, Ayame nodded. "I agree, and it just goes to show that hard work pays off in the long run. You have come so far, and I for one couldn't be prouder of my Otōto."

Grinning at his blushing face, Setsuki gave him a quick hug and smiled even wider as his cheeks grew even redder. "I have to agree with both of them, Ikari-koi. You will do just fine, and I am sure that you will pass and get promoted."

Thanking everyone there profusely, Ikari finished off the last of the broth in his bowl, and stood before holding out his hand to his intended and assisting her in rising from her stool. "Arigato for the food and for your support, Onēchan, Teuchi-ojisan, and I am confident that I will do well, I just hope that it's enough to pass."

Waving to them, the young couple walked off together, arm in arm. They talked about anything and everything under the sun, from his experiences during the civil war to her and how they could best handle her training since she would be going back into the Academy. Eventually they came up with a workable schedule that would have her training with him four nights a week, each night focusing in a different area.

One of the things that he had learned about Suki-chan is that she truly excelled in ninjutsu and genjutsu, and that those were her two favorite arts out of the four main ones that they were taught as ninja. Just as his were ninjutsu and kenjutsu, and he explained why he enjoyed them so much.

They had lost track of the time as they approached the ANBU training grounds, and before they knew it they had arrived at their destination. Once the couple had made it to the training ground where the test was to be held, they met up with Yūhi Kurenai and Hayate Gekkō who were sitting off to one side discussing various odd topics. Walking up to them, the two young people greeted the two Jonin and took a seat. "Ohayo Yūhi-san, Hayate-san, just curious but are the two of you ready for a good workout today?"

Smiling at them as they both chuckled, it was Hayate who answered him. "Hai, I for one look forward to seeing just how far you have come with your swordsman abilities, Ikari-san." Turning to look at the smirking face of Konoha's genjutsu mistress, he got a nod from her as well. "I hear that you are looking to take on a Genin team this year, Yūhi-san, is that true?"

The kunoichi smiled and nodded excitedly. "Yes I am, and I must say that I'm looking forward to teaching the next generation. Will you be putting your name forward to become a Jonin-sensei if you make the cut today?"

Shaking his head and frowning slightly, Ikari sighed aloud. "Not at this time, especially since I will have just become a Jonin. I don't think that the timing is right, especially since most of the people that will be graduating are my age and I feel that this would be problematic at best. I feel like there are only a very few that I could actually teach and be able to get through to them."

Clapping as he heard just what had been said, Sarutobi Hiruzen was impressed with the words of wisdom and maturity he had just heard from this young man. "I'm impressed with your sound reasoning, Ikari-kun, and I must say that it is unfortunate that your insight is spot on at least with this group of Academy students."

Here he took a moment to smile at the young couple, and he then sighed and got serious. "As soon as Kakashi and Gai get here we will begin the testing, starting with Kurenai-san in genjutsu, then will be Gekkō-san in kenjutsu, followed by taijutsu with taijutsu and ending with Kakashi-kun in ninjutsu. There will be a ten minute break in between each of the exams, and I will go ahead and give you the mission scroll for your final exam."

Getting a nod from the young clan heir, he smiled at him once more and then tossed a scroll at him. Catching and unrolling it, his countenance grew thoughtful as he realized that there was more to this mission than he had at first believed. Furling the scroll up once more, Ikari then approached the Hokage and whispered in his ear for a moment. Getting a look of shock from the old man at him figuring out the true goal of the simulated mission, Hiruzen quickly reigned in his emotions once more, and looked at the young ANBU in front of him as he nodded at him once and watched him as he stepped back once more.

Grinning up at the older man, Ikari knew that he had this in the bag. True, he had initially been quite concerned with what the simulated mission might entail, but he had never truly been concerned with the matches. It wasn't as if he had to kill his opponents or even defeat them, since it was merely a way for his skills to be tested and see how well he utilized them and just how diverse they were along with seeing how well he had mastered his elemental skills.

It was about that time that his last two opponents arrived and he stretched a bit as he knew that this was going to be a drawn out process. As soon as he was done with his stretches, Ikari approached his intended and gave her a chaste kiss after assisting her in standing, and then ushered her over to where his Oji-san was standing to observe the testing. After that, he smiled at Kurenai and let the fun begin.

Three Hours Later

Sitting down with a thump, he gave thumbs up to his Aniki as he wiped the sweat from his brow and slugged some water down. As he sat there thinking about the test and how it had gone, the young man felt cool fingertips dig into his neck and shoulders, starting to work the knots out of his muscles in his shoulders and neck. Tilting his head back so he could see just who it was, he looked into the jade green eyes of his betrothed and he smiled his thankfulness up at her. It was at that point that he returned to his thoughts as he laid his chin against his chest.

The spar against Kurenai had been rather rewarding, even if it hadn't taken long to win. All he had had to do was keep dispelling her genjutsu and he had finally beaten her with a new genjutsu that would become a clan only jutsu: Sōjin Hijutsu: Mugen Sakushi: Shinzō no Negai. It was a rather taxing but brilliant creation that cast a genjutsu that was extremely difficult to break simply because of the fact that it created an illusion based on the target's deepest, most heartfelt desire's. The level of complexity caused it to be chakra intensive because on top of its primary effect, there was also a subtle secondary effect to this particular genjutsu and that was the fact that it would slowly drain the target of their chakra until they either broke out of it or they fell unconscious.

Then there had been the match between himself and Hayate-san, which had proven to be one of the most exhilarating kenjutsu spars he had had since going up against Ringo Ameyuri herself. He had proven this when he managed to end both of their spars today in a draw, which had been most impressive in everyone's eyes. The fact that he had had to hold back since most of his more capable moves were almost always lethal or led to limb loss only served to raise his stature in Hayate's eyes as well as the Hokage, simply because of the fact that not only was he skilled but also showed excellent judgment as he knew when to limit himself.

The longest and most difficult spar had been against Gai-sensei, and they had had to set limits on their match so that one or both of them hadn't ended up in the hospital. The limits had been rather simple to set and they had decided that there would be no techniques such as Ikari adding his elemental chakra to his attacks, while Gai would not utilize the Gates or his own special techniques. It had been long and brutal, but the end result was that Ikari had had to yield to Gai, more because he was much younger and in-experienced, and that was enough to give Maito Gai the win.

The final match up had been between himself and Kakashi and they had ended up going three rounds that had been draining in the extreme. The first round had gone to Kakashi, who had managed to entrap him in a Suiton jutsu, Suiton: Suiro no jutsu. The second round had gone to Ikari who had distracted him with a couple of his clones who managed to slow him down by using ice senbon to throw at him and hit his pressure points. Once they had slowed him down just enough that he could catch him, Ikari then used an icy version of the jutsu that his sensei had caught him with, Hyouton: Hyourou no Jutsu.

The third round they had gotten down to it with a vengeance, throwing almost everything they had at each other. They had both gone through multiple bunshin, thrown multiple dragons of each and every element that they could, hell they'd even thrown some of their own original jutsu at each other, including Kakashi's Raiton: Rairō and Raiton: Inazuma Hokaku Hashira, as well as Ikari's Hyouton: Kōri no Sen Ton Hari, Shakuton: Shakunetsu no Satsujin Hari, and Hyouton: Hakuryū Fubuki. In the end they had come to a draw with Ikari holding ice kunai to Kakashi's throat and Kakashi holding his Raikiri aimed at his heart.

Now sitting down and taking a breather, Ikari let his mind focus on the task at hand while his body recovered and relaxed under the loving ministrations of his intended. The task at hand was to infiltrate the Hokage Tower and get into the Hall of Records, and then upgrade the security. Once that was done he had to get out without being detected and report back here.

He continued to run his plan through a few more times while sitting there enjoying the tender yet firm touch of Suki-chan. Once he felt that he had worked out most of the kinks, he turned his head and laid a chaste kiss on his lover's lips, and then stood, bringing her up with him. Turning around, Ikari embraced her and then turned towards the Hokage. "I'm ready, and I will return when the mission is complete."

Going through a mental checklist and physically checking as he did so, Ikari inventoried what he had on him, both in pouches as well as seals. Five soldier pills, twenty kunai, twenty shuriken, four windmill shuriken, fifty feet of ninja wire, ten explosive poison tags (sleep), ten chakra seal tags, fifty sheets of chakra paper, and a brush with five re-sealable vials of chakra ink. Once he had verified everything, he slipped his mask out of a seal on his left wrist, and put on his black leather fingerless gloves and his ANBU mask. Bowing once to the Hokage, he used a wind shunshin and disappeared.

Seconds later he re-appeared in the bathroom that was on the same floor as the records room, and he checked his surroundings. Once Ikari was certain that there wasn't anyone there, he utilized his Henge, which for him was more of an actual transformation technique due to the influence of the Kitsune inside of him. Once he was in his new form, that of a gecko/chameleon hybrid, he rapidly clambered inside the ventilation shaft and made a run for the target room.

Having managed to get there without consequence due to the fact that there weren't any seals or traps inside the vents, he popped into the room, and changed back to his normal form. Activating a camouflage technique that cut off his scent, cloaked his chakra as well as himself from physical identification, Ikari took stock of his surroundings.

There were five distinct chakra signatures nearby, four near the entrance that had to have been ANBU, seeing as how their chakra signatures were damn near undetectable, and a fifth one that was somewhere else inside. The fifth one was a major concern because there wasn't supposed to be anyone inside at the moment. That would be his first target then, and so he made his approach.

Quietly he made his way along the rows of files and boxes to find the unknown signature. A couple minutes later, he had found the person, and took a moment to check out his surroundings. There were no accomplices, and from the mutterings of the individual, they were looking for any and all information on the newest addition to the clan listing.

Once he had an initial plan setup, he quickly moved into range, and a quick neck chop later the man was knocked out. Slapping a seal tag on the back of the person's neck, he activated it, and then pulled out a sheet of chakra paper and his brush. As fast as was humanly possible, Ikari brush-stroked a storage seal that would keep a human being in stasis on the paper, and then laying it one the man's chest, activated it. The young ANBU then rolled it up, annotated what records the unknown person was looking at, and then popped the scroll into a pouch and put away the files that had been pulled out. Exiting the area, he took stock of what existed here and came to the realization that the easiest method of defending this place from intrusion would be to use a couple of seals that he himself had come up with.

The first was a chakra draining seal that was linked to a barrier seal. The barrier seal was designed to allow only clean air through the barrier once it was activated, and the linked chakra-drain seal was designed to keep the barrier active as long as there was chakra in the area. It was genius in many ways simply because of the fact that there was always chakra flowing through the air, as well as the fact that once he had linked the barrier seals to the master seals he was going to give the Hokage, the master seal would provide the bulk of the power needed to keep the barriers active. The wonderful thing about the master seal was that the Hokage would only need to feed it chakra once a week to keep them up at minimum level.

Next was a new type of security seal that would be incorporated into the doorways that would allow people to be keyed into them through the master security seal. The only people who would be allowed into the rooms without triggering a silent alarm would be the people keyed into it prior to entering the room. What this meant was that only the Hokage and Ikari would be able to key people into them by design. There was a way for each new Hokage and seal master to be keyed into them, but he was keeping that knowledge on a need to know basis only.

With that said and done, he created ten shadow clones and divided them up into pairs. Four of the pairs got assigned to setup the seals over the vents and doorways, while the other two were sent to subdue the two guards on the inside of the room. After waiting about ten minutes, Ikari stiffened as the clones that were sent to take out the guards dispelled themselves, leaving him the knowledge of how they did so.

Making his way to the only available way to gain entry now, he bent down after reaching the two guards and pressed a couple of pressure points that would allow him to keep them unconscious for twenty minutes, and then got to work putting the seals around the door frame. Once he had them active, he made one final clone whose sole purpose was to dispel itself allowing the other clones to know that it was time to dispel once they were finished.

Five minutes later the last of the kage bunshin dispelled, which was signal to leave. Moving back along the same route that he had come in, he activated the last of the seals that remained inactive, and made his way back to the bathroom he had appeared in. Once there, he utilized the natural camouflage ability of the chameleon to blend in with his surroundings while he checked to see if the coast was clear. After ensuring that there wasn't anyone around, he assumed his normal form, and left in a blaze of fire.

Showing up in the same spot he'd left from almost an hour earlier, Ikari looked around and spotted everyone that he was looking for standing around in a semi-circle chatting in a non-assuming manner. Walking up to the group he quickly took a knee before the Hokage and bowed his head. "Mission accomplished Hokage-sama, your orders?"

Taking a look over at Kakashi, who was keeping track of the time, Sarutobi was stunned that he had accomplished the simulated mission in just under an hour, which was a new record. Ikari had completely blown the test out of the water and doubly so with the simulated mission. "Well done Ikari-kun, well done indeed. You have not only passed, but you have set an entirely new standard for future participants in testing for and receiving the rank of Jonin. Were there any difficulties?"

Shaking his head, Ikari smirked under his mask. "No, but there was someone unauthorized in the room when I got there, so I subdued them and sealed them inside this scroll," it was at this point that he reached inside his pouch and produced the rolled up sheet of chakra paper and handed to the Hokage. "I'm certain that Anko-san and Ibiki-san will have a field day finding out just what he thought he was doing trying to find out information on my clan and their bloodline abilities."

Swearing aloud at that, Hiruzen handed off the scroll to Kakashi and nodded his head. After watching him disappear in a swirl of leaves, the Hokage turned back to the young man kneeling in front of him. "Stand my young friend; you will receive an annotation in your records and the appropriate pay for an A-ranked mission for your efforts in catching this spy. Now then, debrief all of us on your maneuvers and in manner you managed to secure the records so that we can avoid this in the future."

Following his instructions, Ikari spent the next ten minutes going over his method of entry and what he had done to secure the room. Handing over the three master seals, he explained their nature and the way that they worked, one to show the status of the vents and for charging the barrier, another for the doorways inside the room, and finally the last one for the main door, which included a method of completely blocking off access altogether.

Gaping at the skill in fuinjutsu that this revealed him to be in possession of, the elderly man could only shake his head while chuckling. "You have once again completely gone beyond what was expected of you, young man. For this portion of your test I will allot to you an S-rank mission for your record and for your pay, as I am certain that these seals are worth it."

Motioning over towards his napping betrothed, Sarutobi smiled and chuckled as he spoke. "Go ahead and spend the rest of the day with her, and enjoy it. We will make everything official in a few days once Itachi has been sworn in as the Godaime, so that we can make everything ready for their return."

Smirking once more as he removed his mask, Ikari nodded as he turned to walk to where his sleeping beauty laid. Picking her up bridal style, he turned back to the Hokage and waved. "Hai, Oji-san, and thank you for everything," then he disappeared leaving behind ice crystals as evidence of his shunshin.

Three Months Later, The day before Graduation

Sighing aloud in his office, the Godaime Hokage stretched and cracked his neck. It had most definitely been the most hectic three months of his life, ever since he had become the Hokage. Homura and Koharu had not relinquished their positions easily, and it had taken a direct command from him to get them to stand down. Shimura Danzo had been quite easier to deal with, as Itachi had simply told him that as long as Danzo didn't go against him in any way, shape or form, then he would be allowed to keep his ROOT active. The elderly shinobi was also given strict instructions to give an accurate headcount of his forces, and was to run any new personnel through him before beginning their training.

The person who had received the biggest shock of all was Hiashi, however. When he was told that he had been selected alongside Hiruzen to be his advisors, his ever-present calm was shattered for approximately ten seconds before he could recover. When he later asked the new Hokage why he had been chosen, Itachi had stopped what he was doing, looked him in the eyes and told him, "I believe that it is long past time that our two clans stopped their pointless and wasteful feud over who has the superior dojutsu, and came to terms that each was powerful in its own right and work together as Leaf Shinobi should."

That statement alone had won over the majority of the Council, both civilian and Shinobi, to support the young man in his endeavors to build upon the legacy that each of his forebears had left to him.

He was dreading the moment in time when his predecessor showed up, and he knew that it was simply a matter of waiting, as he had received a messenger toad that had let him know that the Namikazes and the Sen'nin were arriving today. Itachi knew that this was going to be one of the most stressful days he had ever had, because of the fact that they didn't know that there was a new Hokage, and the long overdue showdown between Ikari and his former family.

It was for this reason that he had had Ikari notified so that he wasn't blindsided like they had wanted him to be. They had thought that if they showed up and surprised him that he would just fall into the family dynamic and it would be like they had never been gone. Smirking slightly in anticipation of the utter chaos that the young man was about to leave in his wake, the young Hokage chuckled to himself.

Getting back to work, he had gone through about half of the profiles of the graduating Genin when there was a knock at the door. Without looking up from the notes he was taking, he merely spoke in a monotone, "Enter."

He continued taking notes for a minute as he heard seven distinct sets of footsteps approach the desk and heard a throat clear. Looking up, he maintained the calm, detached look on his face as he motioned for them to have a seat. "I can imagine that you are surprised that I am sitting here and not Hiruzen-san. Considering the fact that you were rather rude in your written response to his last missive, it was decided that we not contact you unless it were urgent, and no, him retiring for the second, and hopefully last, time was not considered urgent or life-threatening."

Focusing in on the two Sen'nin for the moment, Itachi spoke up with a certain amount of thoughtfulness apparent in his voice. "Senju Tsunade, I would like to ask you to take on a new assignment. It will be up to you to accept or decline, but I would hope that you would be willing to accept it. I have been cleaning house and discovered a surplus of funds that I would like to put at your disposal for a medic program. You will have free reign to teach medics and research medicine as well as be in charge of the hospital. We have the funds and the people who are interested, but we need you to head the program. Will you accept?"

Shocked into silence for a moment, Tsunade was almost willing to believe that she was merely dreaming until she felt Shizune's hand grip her shoulder. Turning to look at her apprentice, she couldn't help but smile at the hopeful look on her face. Looking back at the Godaime, she nodded once. "I accept, and depending on how screwed up everything is, I should have a timeline for you sometime in the next two weeks."

Closing his eyes for a moment in thought, Itachi opened them once more and nodded. "That is better than what I had hoped for. Now for you Jiraiya-san," and his piercing gaze fell on the old pervert. "I have to say that I hope that we can expect up to date reports and that they'll be on time, yes?"

It was as the Gama Sen'nin was about to open his mouth and retort that Hiruzen and Hiashi made their presence known. Sarutobi leveled a glare at his former student and folded his arms in front of him, all the while puffing away at his pipe. "I had hoped to have come in here and find that I was wrong about you Jiraiya, and I find myself disappointed."

The two of them took up station to either side of Itachi, and anyone who was there at that point in time could see that it was a rather imposing sight. Sighing loudly, Jiraiya nodded his head. "Hai Hokage-sama and I do apologize for my prior conduct."

Nodding his head once more, Itachi turned to the Yondaime and his wife. "The two of you are something else altogether. I don't hold your daughters at fault, and that is as it should be as no one should ever hold the child responsible for the sins of the father. I assume you would like to see your 'son' now, am I right?"

Cautiously nodding their heads, Itachi snapped his fingers and an ANBU appeared off to one side. "Tell him to come here immediately please." Getting a nod in response, Dragon bowed and vanished in a swirl of leaves. The next five minutes crawled by agonizingly slow for everyone but Itachi, Hiashi, and Hiruzen. The Sandaime and Godaime Hokage both closed their eyes, while Hiashi simply stared coldly at the adults who were seated across from him.

The sound of the door opening and then shutting behind them was almost unnoticeable even in the silence of the room. Everyone turned around and watched as a dark-haired youth arrived, his face impassive, his eyes unreadable. Ikari had gone all out, and was wearing black steel toe boots, dark navy ANBU-style pants, and a sleeveless mesh undershirt with a dark blue-green turtleneck over it. He had his hitai-ate tied around his left bicep and a black Jonin vest that had his clan symbol stitched into the material over his left shoulder blade, and that completed his outfit.

Approaching the desk, he bowed to each of the three men in front of them. "Hokage-sama, Hiashi-sama, Hiruzen-sama, you summoned me?"

Subtly smirking at the young man in front of him, Itachi nodded. "Yes, it would seem that the family you thought long dead wasn't quite so dead after all. Your parents, sisters, and god-parents all wished to see you."

Smiling widely since his former family couldn't see him, Ikari winked at them, letting them know that he had caught on. Wiping his face of any emotion, he turned so that he could look each of them in the eye. "There was a time I would have been proud to be called Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto. Once I would have been honored beyond belief to have called the Gama Sen'nin and the Namekuji Sen'nin my godparents." His eyes were piercing in their icy gaze as he looked at each of the four adults in the eye.

It was rather telling that Kushina was the first to really recognize him, seeing as his facial structure hadn't been altered and he still had the whisker marks, even if they were a touch darker. "Sochi..."

Growling low in his throat, he cut her off. "NO! You lost the right to call me your son when you ABANDONED me all on account of some crackpot scheme that those two jackasses came up with!" He pointed to Minato and Jiraiya as he spoke. "As far as I am concerned no true mother or father would ever willingly abandon their child, leaving them to the mercy of a village full of idiots!"

As Minato started to scowl and open his mouth, Ikari cut him off. "Yes, I said a village full of ignorant, blind idiots! They couldn't see that I was the scroll and that I wasn't the kunai; all they saw was the kunai! The entire reason that I'm not a clone of you, thank Kami above, is due to the fact that Miyuki, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, was barely able to save my life eight years ago because of the massive amount of injuries and multitude of poisons that the villagers and more than a few shinobi used on me! If it weren't for her flooding my system with her chakra, altering my DNA so that I don't have any connection to you by blood or genetically in any way, I wouldn't be standing here."

Watching as Tsunade and Kushina each held one of his sisters as the four of them were in tears, he scowled as he watched Jiraiya and Minato look at each other and nod before turning to the Sandaime. "You're just going to sit there and allow the Kyuubi to pervert and corrupt our son like this?"

Slowly stepping forward and raising his KI to impressive levels as he did so, Sarutobi glared hatefully at the two morons sitting in front of him. "There has been no corruption of your former son, as both Kakashi and I were able to talk with her face to face in his mindscape." The two younger men sat there slack-jawed in amazement at this comment, and spluttered as they tried to come up with a coherent rebuttal.

Motioning to Ikari, he received a subtle nod as the young Jonin raised his shirt and molded some chakra, allowing everyone there to see that the seal was still very much intact. "Miyuki was the only one who was there for me when I wondered what I had done wrong. She was the only one who was there to comfort me when I was beaten, stabbed, or poisoned. It was due to her guidance that I was able to survive the entire year that I was forced to live on the streets after I was kicked out of the orphanage at four. FOUR YEARS OLD and I was forced to live off of what I could find in the GARBAGE!"

Taking a deep breath to calm down after tearing his former parents a new one; he turned his burning emerald gaze towards his supposed godparents. "The two of you aren't any better in my books. I can only imagine what it might have been like having at least the two of you there to care for me, teach me, and care for me. I would have turned into an alcoholic who gambles away all her money or possibly a raving pervert who peeps because the only action he can get is to pay for it."

Snorting, he turned to look at Natsuko and Natsumi. "The two of you, I find that I'm rather apathetic towards. On the one hand, I am almost certain that you two have been told about the fact that you have an older brother as far back as you can remember, am I right?"

Receiving two shaky nods, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You know what? I've got nothing for you. No happiness or sadness, no love or hatred, nada, zip, zilch, zero." It was at this point he turned to look at Minato.

"So Minato-teme, how about you enlighten as to what great and wonderful things you have to offer me that would make up for you not having been there ever for me when I truly needed you?" While he was waiting for an answer he leaned back against the desk and looked from Minato to Kushina and back again.

Sighing and rubbing a hand across his forehead, he leaned back in his seat. "The Hiraishin no Jutsu, for one, then there's the Rasengan, the Toad contract, even a marriage contract. Medic training with Tsunade, kenjutsu and fuinjutsu from Kushina, and training in how to utilize Kyuubi's…"

"Miyuki, that's her name, not Kyuubi. I'd greatly appreciate it if you wouldn't disrespect the only mother figure that I've ever known. Not that I really think you care about my feelings, especially since the proof is sitting in front of me for the first time in thirteen years."

Gritting his teeth, Minato cleared his throat and continued. "Well he would train you in how to utilize her chakra. So what do you say?"

Turning his head to look at the three men behind him for a moment to smirk, he schooled his face once more and looked at the people he should have been able to call family. "First off, let me guess, I'm supposed to be on a Genin team with them?" as he pointed to the twins. Getting nods of affirmation, he started off by chuckling, which soon turned into full-blown laughter.

Calming himself quickly, he smirked as he stared the former Hokage in the eyes. "You're not going to get that unless I happen to become their Jonin sensei, which quite frankly isn't happening because I just made Jonin four months ago. I could care less about your Hiraishin for two reasons: first I don't have your blood running in my veins anymore, and secondly even if I did I have the wrong elemental affinities for it to work for me. As for the Rasengan, I have that one beat with my own form of chakra shaping jutsu. I even added my own elemental chakra to it, which I know from what I've heard that you still haven't completed."

At this point he merely held up his hand and allowed his chakra to form in his palm slowly swirling chaotically before it formed into a spear that had multiple blades of wind circling around the head of it. Releasing the chakra it faded and swirled into the air, and the whole time Ikari was standing there smirking internally at the shocked and jealous looks on their faces. "Then there's the whole issue with the Toads and the marriage contract, so let's get the latter taken care of first. There isn't anyone in existence by the name of Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto any longer, as he perished the tenth of October eight years ago. The person who I am, was born from his ashes and my name is Sōjin Ikari, betrothed of Uchiha Setsuki, and clan head of Clan Sōjin. That contract isn't even worth the paper it was written on."

Here he paused for a moment, and took in the gaze of everyone there. Almost everyone there was saddened by this announcement, but there was disbelief on Kushina's and Minato's faces. "Do you have anything that is sealed with a blood seal that only one that is related by blood would be able to unseal?"

Receiving a slow nod, Ikari slowly put forth a hand, and extended it palm up. "Allow me to demonstrate just how worthless that contract is." Accepting the sealed scroll, he examined the seal in detail before nodding his head. Ignoring the hurt looks at him thinking that they would be as deceitful as to attempt to pull the wool over his eyes, he bit his thumb, and then applied the blood to the seal. They waited for a good thirty seconds and there was no reaction whatsoever. Satisfied with his test, Ikari wiped the blood from off the scroll and handed it back.

Turning to Jiraiya, he frowned minutely before speaking. "As I understand it, the whole point in me being accepted by the Gama Clan would be to eventually learn about Senjutsu and how to utilize Sen'nin Mōdo, correct?"

Jiraiya sat there gaping for a minute before nodding his head. "There's that and there's also a prophecy which…"

Waving his hand in dismissal, Ikari's frown deepened. "Irrelevant. As it so happens, I seriously doubt that my current summon contracts would allow me a third." While he spoke he rolled up his shirt sleeves and bit his thumbs. Wiping the blood on the tattoos and channeling enough chakra for a one tailed fox through both of them, there were two puffs of smoke that appeared, concealing Ikari for a moment. Once the smoke cleared, there was a pure black eagle about a foot and a half in height on his right shoulder and a golden one tailed fox sitting on its haunches just to his left.

The eagle spoke first after looking around and determining if there was any danger. "Greetings Ikari-sama, I am Jinsoku, what do you require of us?"

Calmly squatting so that he could reach both of his summons, the young clan head simply smiled at them and nodded his head in greeting to Jinsoku. "Greetings to you Jinsoku-kun and to you as well Yuri-chan. The only purpose was to show the Gama and Namekuji Sen'nin that they were not the only ones with a summoning contract, and what better way to believe then to see?"

They both nodded and Yuri looked up at him for a moment, tilting her head to one side as she did so. "Shinibana-sama sends her regards, and has asked that you meet with her soon so that she and the Elders can test you to see when you will be ready to start your Senjutsu training."

Gently scratching her ears, he smiled and nodded his head. "Tell her that I will summon her tomorrow after the Academy graduation, as that will be when I will allow Suki-chan to sign the contract." Reaching into a pouch on his vest, he pulled out a storage scroll and summoned a little chakra forth, channeling it into two different areas. Pulling out a fish from one, he gave it to Jinsoku, who thanked him, took it and left.

Holding out his other hand to Yuri, she sniffed at it and then yipped in pleasure. "Heart of a boar, Ikari-sama you treat us all too well!" Hiruzen chuckled aloud as everyone there watched the young Kitsune devour the treat and lick his hand clean. She then bowed and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Turning as he stood once more, Ikari leveled his gaze at Jiraiya who sat back in his seat, shoulders slumped and his head in his hands.

Deciding that he had tormented the two Sen'nin enough for now, he turned his gaze back to Minato, who was now looking decidedly ill at the continuing revelations. "Where were we now? Oh yes, kenjutsu, fuinjutsu, and learning how to utilize Miyuki's chakra. As far as kenjutsu goes, I was taught by Uzuki Yuugao, as well as one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū, Ringo Ameyuri. Then if you want to talk about fuinjutsu, I do believe that I am on par with the two of you, I might have even surpassed you considering that was one of my modified exploding tags that you two twits were trying to deconstruct and find out my secrets."

It was here that he paused and chuckled aloud as he saw the three fuinjutsu users sit back in their seats absolutely floored as they saw that there was nothing that they could do to get him back, and it was all their fault. "As far as I'm concerned the best teacher I could have to utilize Miyuki's chakra is her daughter Shinibana-sama, the current Boss of the Kitsune clan. So there is nothing really that any of you have that I can be or want to learn from any of you. To be frank with you, the only two that I might even want to get to know are Natsumi and Natsuko at this point."

Glaring and raising his KI to beyond Kage levels, he stared down the four adults sitting across from him. "Any attempt at coercion, anyone that is precious to me is hurt due to your machinations, hell any attempts to mess with the seal or attempts to place a seal on me that isn't already there and isn't approved by the Hokage as well as the Shinobi Council and I will bring the wrath of hell to your very doorstep. Once I would have been forgiving and kind but that time has long since passed, and I will NOT forget what you have shown me for the last thirteen years: that you are hypocrites of the worst kind, and I wouldn't trust you even if you told me that water is wet!"

Turning to the Hokage and his advisors, Ikari bowed and apologized for his behavior and conduct. Itachi simply gave a small smile, "its fine Ikari-kun, as I would say that you had more than ample provocation and needed the chance to vent." Gratefully nodding, he smiled at his Oji-san and at Hiashi-sama, and then left the office in a swirl of leaves and fire that left the leaves ablaze as they turned to ash.

Hiruzen was the first to react after he left. "As far as I'm concerned you have all reaped what you have sown. I told you that your plan was foolish and stupid, not to mention criminal. I should have taken a firmer stand against your foolhardy plan, as it is there is little I can do now but tell you that you will never succeed as he is a Jonin at thirteen, a Clan Head who has brought an entirely new bloodline to Konoha, and there isn't a damn thing you can offer him that will do a thing to change his mind about you."

Nodding in agreement, Itachi gestured for an ANBU to show up. "Take the two girls to the Academy for their Genin test please Boar." He got a nod and the ANBU put a hand on each of their shoulders and disappeared. Itachi then turned his attention to the remaining people in the room.

Setting his hands together in front of him, he sighed and frowned slightly as he finished the meeting. "I will warn you now, that there are many among the ninja of this village who will not greet you with the same smiles and warmth that you knew before. Many of the clans were able to figure out who his parents were, and when they find out that you are still alive…don't expect any warm welcomes. My kaa-san in particular will have a desire to take you to task over your failings as a mother, Kushina-san. One last thing I should mention so that you don't get hung up on trying to go on missions with him as they will fail. Ikari is ANBU, and he is by far one of the best. I have a feeling that he will eventually take on an apprentice rather than have to deal with three fresh from the Academy Genin, I hope he will at any rate."

Waving off Hiruzen and Hiashi with a wan smile, he ushered everyone from his office with one final warning. "I would be mindful in particular of what you say to Kakashi, Yuugao, Gai, and me because we were his sensei for quite some time, and we worked together as a team on many occasions. You could've been involved and been proud of his accomplishments if you hadn't thrown him away like so much trash."

Sōjin Hijutsu: Mugen Sakushi: Shinzō no Negai – Sōjin Secret Art: Infinite Illusion: Heart's Desire

Suiton: Suiro no jutsu – Water Release: Water Prison Technique

Hyouton: Hyourou no Jutsu – Ice Release: Ice Prison Technique

Raiton: Rairō – Lightning Release: Lightning Wolves

Raiton: Inazuma Hokaku Hashira – Lightning Capture Pillars

Hyouton: Kōri no Sen Ton Hari – Ice Release: Thousand Flying Needles of Ice

Shakuton: Shakunetsu no Satsujin Hari – Scorch Release: Scorching Murder Needles

Hyouton: Hakuryū Fubuki – White Dragon Blizzard