Two days before the invasion:
Sarutobi and Danzo sat across from each other glaring intently due to the other's plan. When Shikaku had suggested that Sarutobi use him as a decoy he'd been more than reluctant. And now discussing it with him was even worse of an idea.
"I will not sacrifice myself or my men without some guarantees from you, Sarutobi," said Danzo as he placed his teacup back down.
"And I told you, I cannot give you those guarantees. I can't let you run free through the clans to grab up infants and small children for you to train and claim they died during the invasion. I've given you free run of the orphanages already and yet I know you've gotten your hands on at least a few clan children you should not have. I am also giving you the access to Sasuke risking the wrath of his brother if he ever found out," argued Sarutobi.
"And found out I have," said a man materializing from the shadows of the room.
Sarutobi frowned. "Good evening Itachi-kun. I was not expecting you for a few more weeks. I'm guessing Orochimaru has something to do with this early visit."
"You would be correct," said Itachi, he pulled up a chair and sat down.
The room was tense as the three men sat sipping their tea.
"So, which of you will be explaining why my brother has become Root's latest pawn?" demanded Itachi.
Sarutobi sighed, "I'll be back in a few minutes."
Itachi and Danzo both casually watch Sarutobi leave while they both remained silent as the grave, only the occasional clack of their teacups on the tabletop disrupting it.
It was a long ten minutes before Sarutobi returned carrying a file folder then handing it to Itachi to peruse while he sat and resumed drinking his tea.
Itachi's face betrayed a lot of emotion as he read the file. "I see. Then this is my doing?"
"Itachi-kun, you couldn't have possibly known the possible side effects of that genjutsu. This was an unforeseen consequence and one that we both have to live with. Keep in mind too, the damage was more a result of the fact that Sasuke was so young than anything else," said Sarutobi.
"I made my brother into a sociopath due to my own ignorance of a genjutsu I'd never used before," said Itachi. "And to make matters worse, it would seem Orochimaru has some plan for my brother in which he intended to use me against you to make him available."
"To what end?" asked Danzo.
Itachi sighed. It was clear he was reluctant to answer. "As you are aware, I am a member of Akatsuki, a few years ago so was Orochimaru. A few years ago when Orochimaru was a member, he was obsessed with researching perverse and very unusual jutsu. When his research was complete, or at least I think it was complete, he attempted to take me over."
"What do you mean take you over?" asked Sarutobi uncomfortably.
"I believed he intended to abandon his own body and enforce his will... maybe his soul over my own such that my body would become his body," explained Itachi. "I successfully drove him off and managed to cut off his hand. Now, I believe it is his intention to take over my brother's body instead."
Sarutobi and Danzo shared a look.
"What are you not telling me?" asked Itachi.
"We believe Orochimaru intends to invade the village in two days time. We also believe he intends to assassinate me," said Sarutobi, "and also that the kazekage is involved."
"I see," said Itachi. "What are your plans then?"
"Danzo will be standing in for me while I manage our forces to ambush the invaders," said Sarutobi.
"The kazekage is already dead," said Itachi. "He was killed three days ago on his way to Konohagakure. His face was removed but it was definitely him."
"So Orochimaru intends to pose as the kazekage," said Danzo with a frown.
"I will stand in for Hokage-sama. It will allow me to send a very clear message to Orochimaru," said Itachi calmly, but the other two could clearly sense the vindictiveness in his statement.
"And how do we explain that to any civilians that see you?" asked Sarutobi. "Will that not risk exposing you to Sasuke?"
"I'm not technically here now," said Itachi. "A technique I learned while with Akatsuki. This body will stand in and die in the confusion. No one will ever know I was there. I'll make sure of it."
"So be it," said Sarutobi. He then looked at Danzo. "I do believe this ends our negotiation."
BREAK
Three days had passed since the attempted invasion. Sarutobi was weary by this point. Three days of almost no sleep at his age was trying on his health.
"I have another council meeting," said Sarutobi as he looked at the clock. "Are you almost done?"
"Sir, you just had a heart attack. You cannot keep going at this pace," said a medic.
"I don't have a choice right now," said Sarutobi, he pulled his shirt back on and picked up his robes. "Besides, you said it was a minor heart attack."
"Just, take it easy," said the medic with a shake of his head.
"I'll rest when I'm dead. Now, off with you," said Sarutobi as he finished dressing himself. He was currently in an ante-chamber off the council room that had been turned into a temporary office and medical room for himself so that he did not have to exert himself so much and more importantly it kept him out of the hospital.
Sarutobi entered the council chambers to a number of murmurs.
"Six council meetings in three days. Two of them with the civilian assholes," complained Tsume, the frown on her face couldn't be missed.. "And here I thought we won in this conflict."
"Politics," sighed Shikaku. "So troublesome."
"Thank you all from coming yet again," said Sarutobi as he took his seat. There were a number of greetings and nods from the assembled members. "Shikaku, please begin."
Shikaku groaned as he stood. "The wall has completed repairs now and most of the rubble from the giant snake and Jiraiya-sama has been removed. We were fortunate that Tazuna Construction Company was still in town and available to contract immediately. We have at least a dozen D-rank missions to repaint the wall so our genin will be busy for the next few months. We are set to reopen D-rank request to civilians starting tomorrow morning. C-rank and B-rank missions will continue to be suspended for the next two to three weeks while we focus on repairing the damage to our infrastructure."
"Do we have the final death toll?" asked Hiashi. The Hyuuga clan had suffered a few losses in the invasion but not nearly as many as some clans. Due to their boycott ensuring all able Hyuuga shinobi were present and defending the clan.
"Forty-two chuunin, fifteen jounin, and eighteen genin," reported Shikaku.
"And enemy losses?" asked Danzo.
"We have recovered two hundred thirty-six enemy shinobi bodies. One hundred two of which came just from the arena. Of that we believe there were sixty-nine jounin, ninety-eight chuunin, and sixty-nine genin. These are of course estimates based on the collated after-action reports. We took thirteen prisoners, one of which is not expected to survive the evening and two others that will probably not survive the week."
"Any of them worth anything?"
"We capture the kazekage's children and their jounin sensei though that man will never be a shinobi again so I would not expect much value for him," answered Inoichi.
"We captured their jinchuuriki?" asked Danzo. This was the first it was confirmed. "When will we begin extracting the demon and placing him in a new host?"
"We won't," answered Sarutobi. "We will return the kazekage's children as part of the peace settlement. Shodaime-sama wanted them to have a bijuu to keep peace and we will do the same now. If we weren't to return them the we can expect a long and drawn out war and do not think for a second that Kumogakure and Iwagakure would not capitalize on us going to full out war with our only ally among the big five. So no, we will not extracting the bijuu and yes, we will return it to Sunagakure for a fair price."
Danzo frowned. "You're being too soft. With two jinchuuriki we could crush—"
"Enough," said Sarutobi. "Shikaku, move on with your report."
"Do we know how many of the invaders were from Sunagakure and how many were from Otogakure?" asked Hiashi.
"From what we gathered from the prisoners, Sunagakure's force was only about one hundred shinobi and they retreated at the first sign of ambush. From the headbands we've gathered they lost fifty-two shinobi including the eight we took prisoner. Otogakure made up the majority of the invaders. From what we've pieced together less than ten escaped. The rest died or were captured and are now with Ibiki and Anko. The good news about that though is that the majority of the Otogakure shinobi were nukenin. We'll actually profit from this invasion even after the cost of repairs."
Several cheers erupted from that bit of news.
"Hah, can I please be the one to tell the civilian council to shove their money up their greedy asses?" barked Tsume with a feral grin. There had to be a silver lining in all this disaster and that was it right there.
"Calm yourself Tsume-chan," said Sarutobi, a spark of amusement in his voice. "Please continue Shikaku."
Shikaku remained silent for a moment as he surveyed those assembled. "Troublesome," he sighed. "This next part needs priority one clearance. Anyone not authorized please step out."
Several people frowned but stood and left the room anyway including Chouza, Tsume, and Hiashi as they were not part of the command structure of the village.
Once they all left Shikaku activated a seal matrix for the room sealing off all exits and entrances.
"So, I wanted to talk to all of you before we bring this up with the council. Word has already begun to spread about the kyuubi fighting Shukaku outside village limits. What and how much do we want known? We have to say something before the rumors get out of control."
The remaining council members all frowned.
"The boy did his job. He should be congratulated. Word of this should be spread far and wide as a warning to our enemies and allies alike," said Danzo.
"I agree he should be congratulated, but he should also be reprimanded for such reckless endangerment of the village," said Homura. Koharu nodded in complete agreement.
"You want to punish him for doing his job as a jinchuuriki?" asked Shikaku in mild disbelief.
"What about telling the truth?" asked Sarutobi. He knew they would be pressed by the civilians no matter what happened at this point.
"You might not have a choice anymore," said Inoichi. He let out a long breath he'd been unconsciously holding while he processed his thoughts. "I think it may be time for some truths to come to light about him. More specifically, about his heritage. He's proven he's capable of protecting himself, especially after that showing."
"He will be leaving in a few days with Jiraiya-kun on a mission that I assigned before the invasion even took place. I'll have Jiraiya tell him while they travel and we can announce it to the village," said Sarutobi. "I do not believe Naruto-kun will be too happy with me when he returns and knows about his parents."
"And as for his manifesting a full kyuubi transformation?" asked Homura. It was clear he was unhappy with this decision.
"He was in full and complete control. He only resorted to that to counter Sunagakure's jinchuuriki," said Sarutobi without even the slightest hesitation.
"If that is the course we will be taking then we'd best inform the rest of the council of our decision," said Shikaku. "The only other question I have is about the chuunin promotions. Do you want to go over that today?"
"No, we'll discuss that at the end of the week. Let's just get this meeting over with."
BREAK
Naruto flopped onto his bed completely exhausted. Between clean-up missions, training with Kakashi, training with Jiraiya, and training with SIPA he really hadn't had any down time except to sleep a few hours and then get back to it.
The new scared and angry looks from the civilians didn't help, but the nods of respect and pride he got from the other shinobi was a nice balance to all of it. Naruto was proud that he'd protected his village. He was proud of Kurama for stepping up to help him when he really needed it.
Then it occurred to him he hadn't thanked Kurama yet. So, as tired as he was he decided to pay the fox a visit to do just that. Naruto had to stop himself from falling asleep several times while he tried to meditate to pay the grouch a visit.
When Naruto opened his eyes in the familiar steam tunnel he began his trek to find his almost-friend.
"And what do you want now, Naruto?" asked Kurama, he was laying on his stomach with his paws crossed in front of him and his head resting upon them.
"Nothin'," said Naruto with a yawn of his own. Kurama did look really comfortable there. "I've been so busy that I didn't remember to come thank you."
"Thank me? You would thank me?"
"Well yeah," said Naruto tiredly, he was unable to hold back a yawn and a stretch. "You helped me keep my village safe and to stop your little brother. I really appreciate it. So, Rikudo Kurama, thank you. Thank you very much!" Naruto finished with a respectful bow.
Kurama meanwhile wasn't sure how to react. He'd never been thanked before. No one had ever taken the time. Granted, he was sure there wasn't much he'd ever done to be thanked for before unless he counted the chakra his first two containers stole from him.
"Um, you're welcome... I guess."
Naruto smiled brightly at Kurama, then his curiosity got the better of him. "Is your fur soft? It looks really soft. I bet it's comfy, huh?"
Kurama quirked an eyebrow. The boy was acting strange and then he noticed how tired the boy looked.
"I want me some of that," Naruto said, he was now swaying on his feet as he walked forward right into the cage. Then he stumbled about to fall on his face.
Kurama couldn't reason why he did it. If asked he would probably make some excuse about not wanting to take advantage of a defenseless little rat or some such. Kurama caught the falling Naruto in his tails. "You are a strange one," he mumbled, lifting Naruto up he placed the boy in the middle of his back then went back to sleep himself.
"You should kill him now," said another voice outside the cage.
Kurama simply ignored the voice and went to sleep.
BREAK
Naruto woke the next morning feeling more well-rested than ever before. "Man I slept great," he said through a yawn and deep stretch. He rolled off his bed and started the short walk to the bathroom for his morning business. Having a new apartment was strange to him. He'd lived in his little place so long that it was home but now it was gone and this was home, not that he minded the change too much. Having hot water every morning was a huge improvement. The best improvement by far though was the huge ass bed he now had in his room.
Business finished, Naruto walked from his room to the great room and kitchen.
"Oi, gaki," said the ever familiar and rude voice of Jiraiya. "Where the hell is the normal food? All you've got is instant ramen."
"That is normal food," said Naruto as he opened his fridge and took one of the SIPA shakes. He'd really gotten used to drinking them daily at this point. Every week he'd go and pick up a week's worth of food from them with the agreement to be tested when and as they saw fit. "You want something else go get it. What the hell are you doing here anyway?"
Jiraiya laughed at the kid opening the fridge and steeling one of Naruto's shakes. "Mm, strawberry-banana. This ain't bad," he said as he sucked down the breakfast shake much to Naruto's ire.
"I only have so many of those things and you still haven't answered my question."
Jiraiya continued to ignore Naruto as he sat down on a comfy-looking chair by the couch.
Naruto glared at the man for taking his favorite chair. He then sat on the couch and continued to drink his shake in silence with the pervert. "You're not here to peak on Karin-chan are you?"
"Nah, she's too young for me. Give her a few years to mature and maybe I will but for now she's flat as board, has zero curves and no cushion for the pushin'," answered Jiraiya.
"So what are you doing here again?" asked Naruto, still annoyed by Jiraiya's lewd comment.
Jiraiya ignored him again.
A knock on the door interrupted Naruto's glaring at Jiraiya. He set down his drink and walked to the door to answer.
"Morning Naruto-kun," greeted Karin with a tired smile.
"Morning," said Naruto. "What's up?"
Karin shrugged as she trudged to the fridge and took one of Naruto's shakes.
"Not you too," complained Naruto. Waking up had been amazing and now this. What could have possibly gone wrong with his luck in the last ten minutes?
Karin ignored him as she fell onto the couch, laying on her stomach and drinking the shake through a straw. She mumbled something around her straw that no one understood.
"What?" asked Naruto. "Never mind, why are you both here?"
Karin held up a note.
"Come to Naruto's when you wake up or I'll tell him about the..." The note was suddenly yanked away and Karin turned bright red.
"That wasn't bad kid," said Jiraiya, putting down the empty shake glass.
Naruto glared.
"Now, as to why I'm here and why I left that note for Karin. We three are going on a mission together. We'll be gone for a while so pack accordingly."
"Where are we going?" asked Naruto. Suspicious of the lecher as he was he did trust him not to screw him over... not completely anyway.
"Uzushiogakure, or what's left of it anyway," answered Jiraiya.
Karin perked up instantly at that news. "Why are we going there?"
"Those chains you two use have made it extremely important that we scour that place for anything and everything we can find on the Uzumaki clan. Then we're going to sink the island so no one else can ever get their hands on whatever you find," answered Jiraiya.
"Why do we have to destroy it?" asked Naruto, rather put out by the news.
"Gaki, I know you don't like hearing about that but your clan had a lot more secrets than any of us ever realized. Those chains of yours are, and I quote, 'a miracle of chakra'. The way your brains work is surreal. I am a seal master, you know this, and yet the way you understand seals makes me look like a wannabe chump even if you don't know as much as I do now, it won't be long before you do and more."
"What's that got to do with anything?" asked Naruto in annoyance.
"Konoha and Uzushio were very close allies. The first was married to an Uzumaki. Your mother was an Uzumaki. Both were very loyal to this village and yet we knew nothing about how your brains work or how your chakra chains work. Do you have any idea how unbelievable it is that we knew nothing about your clan's abilities besides that you're traditionally good at seals and live long lives?"
"They kept it secret? But why?" asked Karin. She was just as annoyed as Naruto but more confused.
"They kept it secret to keep it hidden. To keep it in the clan and to make sure it would always stay within the clan. I know you're new to the whole clan thing Naruto but this is important. You need to protect your clan's secrets and it is your clan now."
"So we're going to get the information so I can protect it? But won't we have to give whatever we find to the village?"
"Nope," said Jiraiya simply. "Clan rights protect whatever you find. I'm going to help you put a clan vault seal in your office and whatever we find will go right into that vault and only you and Karin will be able to get to it. We're also going to pay a visit to your clan shrine near the village and clean it out then make it look as though it was never there."
"Are you trying to erase my clan's presence?" asked Naruto, confused still as to why it had to be destroyed.
"Yes and no," said Jiraiya. "Your clan had way too many secrets, for now we want you to hide it all until you know how much you want to share or keep secret. For now, only a handful of people know as much of what we've discovered about your bloodline as we do. We need to make sure no one else finds out until you're ready for them to know. If we don't protect these secrets, your clan might end up killed off before you have a chance to repopulate."
Naruto and Karin both blushed at the mention of repopulating but at least they understood now.
"Anyway, let's get to it. You two go pack, I'll start making some storage scrolls for what we need."
BREAK
Gaara's arm hurt. It was so strange for him to feel pain. It was kind of a relief in a way. Somehow it seemed to connect him more to those around him. His sister seemed to be doting on him a little even. Kankuro was cautious but mostly he mumbled to himself about how easily he lost and how he'd get even with the 'tree-hugging bastards'.
The stump of Gaara's left wrist was covered in bandages. As cleanly as the hand was cut of it still left exposed bone. The Konohagakure iryonin had to perform an additional surgery to cut the arm further back and then closing the flesh over the bone.
"Temari," called Gaara getting his sister attention.
"What do you need Gaara?" she asked, walking over and sitting on the stool next to his hospital bed. They were actually being treated very well for prisoners or hostages or whatever they technically were now.
"Do you think a person becomes stronger when they are protecting someone?"
Temari remained quiet thinking on his question. "I think so... maybe. It's difficult to answer. There are few I would want to protect and I guess I've never really been forced to protect one of those people. You and Kankuro are both strong on your own, I don't think either of you really need me to protect you."
"But you did try to protect me during the invasion, right?"
"I did," said Temari, remembering her fight with the Aburame. "I fought so hard to get away from that Aburame boy so I could come help you but he was so much better than me. The whole time he was trying to protect the boy you fought by keeping me away. So, I guess if goes both ways. It's not an easy question."
"I think... I think I'd like to try protecting you and Kankuro for a change," said Gaara. Then he focused on his left arm. "I'll never forget their strength. And now I'll make it my own."
BREAK
For the first time in a long time Sasuke felt uncomfortable walking in the root base. For the last several days, Kabuto's words had been playing over and over again in his head.
Uchiha's coup.
Ask Danzo about the Uchiha's coup.
Ask Danzo about the Uchiha's coup that got them all killed.
Ask Danzo about the Uchiha's coup that got them all killed... Well, all of them but you.
All of them but you.
"Why not me?" asked Sasuke to no one in particular, not that he expected anyone to answer.
Sasuke finally reached the door to Danzo's office and knocked once.
"Enter," came Danzo's voice from the other side of the door.
Sasuke entered and dropped to a knee. "Danzo-sama."
"Rise Uchiha-san," said Danzo setting aside his paperwork. "I was told you wished to speak with me?"
"Yes Danzo-sama," answered Sasuke. He'd gotten used to the structure of this place. This dark place where he'd felt more comfortable and more at home that he had in years.
"Proceed."
"You have seen my report of my actions during the invasion?" asked Sasuke already knowing the answer.
Danzo nodded.
"I left something off," said Sasuke knowing that it would probably make the man very angry.
"Tell me," said Danzo, his voice emotionless.
"After I dealt with the Otogakure shinobi a presence made himself known to me. Yakushi Kabuto."
"And what did he want?"
"He said he was there to talk. That he had an offer for me."
"What was this offer?"
"Orochimaru wants me to join him. He'll give me the power to kill my brother in exchange for my willing service," said Sasuke. He was still bitter that he knew he couldn't face Kabuto in combat.
"Did he tell you what this willing service was?"
"No, I asked but he refused," said Sasuke.
"I will tell you then," said Danzo. "He wants your body. We have learned he has the ability to abandon his current body to claim another as his own like a parasite."
Sasuke considered that. Would he willingly give up his body in exchange for Itachi's life? If he did give his body to Orochimaru would he even get to feel the satisfaction of killing Itachi? Would he feel anything at all? Some of that sounded promising but would that be enough to satisfy the darkness in him? No, it wouldn't be enough, none of it would be. It would piss him off more if couldn't have the satisfaction of killing Itachi himself.
"I will not let someone else have the satisfaction of killing Itachi. He will die by my hand or I will die by his," said Sasuke, a sense of finality in his voice.
"Good, what else did he say?" asked Danzo.
Here Sasuke actually hesitated if only for a moment because he didn't want to know the answer. "I was told I should asked you about the Uchiha's coup that got them all killed... except me."
"Orochimaru plays with fire," said Danzo with a small snort of laughter that was out of character for him. "Your clan elders wanted more power, it was their hope that Itachi would step up to become hokage after the yondaime, he had the potential to do it too. Then the kyuubi attack came. The beast was controlled that night by an Uchiha, we don't know who and might never know. It didn't really matter to the ignorant villagers. They persecuted your clan for it and instead of trying to fix relations your clan made themselves outsiders in the village they helped to found. Your elders were planning a coup and Itachi told us about it."
"Itachi killed them on orders?" Sasuke hissed, his rage evident in his eyes and the tightening of muscles and joints.
"Calm yourself," said Danzo coldly. "Listen to everything, then judge. You know better."
Sasuke took a few deep breaths to calm himself as ordered. "Sorry, please continue."
"ANBU was to go in and kill the leaders of the coup only and only in the event that negotiations completely broke down. Itachi did not have faith that the village could stop the coup. He believed your clan was beyond saving. As such he destroyed your entire clan without ever consulting the hokage."
"Then why did he leave me? Why did he do this to me?"
"I think he intends for you to kill each other and end the clan once and for all. The hokage thinks he did it because despite how twisted he is, on some level he still cares for you. What we do know is that the genjutsu he used on you had never been used on one so young as you which is why the injury was so much more severe. We doubt he knew what he was doing when he did that but that is neither here nor there. You'll have to decide for yourself I suppose."
"Why tell me the this? Wouldn't a lie serve you better?"
"Who says I just told you the truth? It's a matter of trust. No doubt if you went to Orochimaru he'd tell you another version to align you with his cause to destroy Konohagakure. Maybe Itachi would tell you yet another version also but to enrage you or toy with you. The world is filled with lies and deceit young Uchiha. You must learn to see underneath the underneath for yourself. I will ask you this though. Who has helped you with your goal in spite of your crimes? Who is pushing you and driving you to accomplish your goals? Who has given you, not promised, but given you all the darkness you could ever want or need? Think on what I've told you and decide for yourself young Uchiha. If you decide you can put your trust in the village, in me, then come back tomorrow and accept your promotion to chuunin and ANBU selection."
Sasuke nodded to the man and turned and left. He knew that Danzo was manipulating him but that was his way. Sasuke just needed to focus on seeing underneath the underneath as Danzo told him to do. It was in that moment Sasuke found his answers to Danzo's questions.