Hello everyone! This chapter is super long! Over 7k words! I'm warning you guys. Another thing, it's my Birthday! Yup! Turned the big 20! I've been on here since I was 13, that's eight whole years of dedicated writing, and thanks to that my weakest subject turned into my strongest!

Thank you for all the attention over the years! I can't wait to write you guys more content! For now, though, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

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We were quick to walk into familiar territory, just inside the Land of Fire. Sasuke had taken the lead, and from morning to dusk, we didn't stop to rest as the risks for that were insanely high. We didn't run into anyone, thankfully, and we were staying off the main roads to stealthily make our way back home.

I couldn't believe that he showed up in our room... how long was he there, how long did he watch? I had no idea when he even entered the room, and he managed to sneak past Itachi's superhuman senses on top of that.

Again...he got super close to me and with little effort.

I don't feel safe anymore.

I can't breathe with all of this going on, and on top of that, I'm traveling with two rogues who the world wants dead for different reasons. One's back from the dead, and the other just got put on the most wanted list across all regions. I'm officially beginning to think that I'm insane at this point. I was even present when Danzo was killed, someone everyone believed to be innocent for the most part. He was a long-time asset to our village, and the fact I was there when these two killed him...

Damn, it's going to get messy when we get there.

"You doing okay?" Sasuke asked, eyes darting to Itachi, whose posture had gotten better the more the sun went down.

"Better, thank you for asking," Itachi answered with a thankful gaze.

"And you, Naruto? How are you doing?" Sasuke looked at me.

I gave him a weak grin. "As good as all possible, I guess."

"Hn." Sasuke hummed to himself and continued forward.

I looked at the back of his head before looking ahead of us, frowning despite trying to keep up an optimistic mood. I just couldn't after what happened earlier today. Madara uprooted my life entirely, I deserve to know why he did it and why it was me specifically. It could be as simple as being the Hokage's son, and that was probably the case, but I wonder if he remembers me.

I wonder why I even think this is relevant to the current circumstances.

I should just shove it behind me like everything else and focus on something I'm mostly good at, which is saving people. Mostly, because my biggest failure is walking about four feet ahead of me.

Maybe this will work out, albeit messy. Tsunade trusts my judgment, and I trust my gut in this situation.

"You are making an array of expressions." Itachi hummed beside me, his eyes showing amusement.

"Just thinking." I quickly wave a dismissive hand.

"Thinking about a lot of things. You do realize that you can come to me about anything. What's bothering you?" Itachi asked.

I grew defensive and narrowed my eyes at him. "Who says I'm bothered?"

"I can smell it radiating off of you." Itachi nudged me.

Damnit, I hate that sometimes.

"It's nothing important. Let's just focus on what's about to go down, yeah?" I tried my best to deflect his attention. However, his eyes went from amused to upset, a look I hated seeing.

"Naruto... everything about what you think and feel is important. Speak." Itachi demanded softly, his tone sending a chill up my spine.

"It's a combination of everything, I suppose." I shrugged a shoulder and looked away, feeling awkward that Sasuke was listening in on the conversation. "I haven't had room to breathe since coming back home from my two-year training with Jiraiya. I mean, the moment I came home, Gaara was kidnapped and killed by the Akatsuki. They disgraced his corpse, and I nearly attacked Kakashi after losing my cool. After finding out the Akatsuki I pummeled to literal death, it was just a clone made of clay.

"After that, I was deemed too dangerous to be left alone because of the Nine tails, so Yamato was assigned to keep me on a leash. Then, the business with an Orochimaru informant and running into Sasuke." I spoke up, watching as he slowed to our pace, listening in and watching me. "I had lost my cool again and blacked out in a moment of rage and ended up hurting Sakura despite not remembering anything that had happened. I quite literally terraformed the entire terrain around us, and I can't even remember doing it.

"Then the Akatsuki came into the land of fire... and killed Asuma Sensei, someone who showed me how to apply wind style to weapons to help me train for my strongest move. The Third Hokage's son. After that, Kakashi helped my friends get revenge, but they would have died had I not shown up at the last second to fight off Kakuzu. And... then..." I trailed off, wincing and grabbing my arm as the emotional devastation hit me.

"And then what?" Itachi asked, gently planting a hand on my shoulder, rubbing it softly as we walked slowly as it grew dark out.

"Jiraiya found a lead into the Akatsuki's leadership, a place called the Hidden Rain. He left... because he believed it was where the leader of the Akatsuki was and went to investigate since it was supposedly difficult to get there. It was around here when you two fought, and Sasuke killed you. It was at this time... while I was in that forest, where we bumped into each other, that..." I choked on my words, but I forced myself to speak despite my lower lip beginning to tremble.

"It was... the first time I saw Madara, and when we came back... I was brought to the Hokage tower. Everyone was so grim, I hadn't realized what had happened until I was in the th-the room with the old toad and granny-" my voice suddenly cracked, and I coughed and beat my fist against my chest. "J-Jiraiya had died fighting against Pain. And soon after this, I had to train and get stronger... but when I came back, the leaf was reduced to a crater, and there across the crater, Pain stood. Heh, he flattened the place looking for me. Because again, Jinchuriki." I motioned to my gut, shaking my head as a smile crept up my face.

"He completely overpowered me and turned me into a pin cushion. Hinata almost died because I was still too weak! And because she got cut down in front of me, I lost myself to my rage and blacked out again... becoming what the village has always seen me as a monster. I never wanted to disappear so badly until then. It was so painful that I wanted the nine tails to just kill me... I wanted to give in to the pain and let go of reason so badly it burned the longer I waited.

"It consumed me like fire to a dead tree... it was so overwhelming. But my dad stopped me before I nearly broke the seal. Just one rip away from freedom... just one step away from relief. He infused his chakra into the seal as a last resort in case something like that happened. I hurt him... I yelled and cried, but after everything was said and done, I only felt worse under the weight of everyone expecting me to be the one to solve all their problems! Then Danzo kept me from doing anything! Beat me when I refused! Allowed Sasuke to be put on the highest wanted list in the nation and tortured me for what felt like years before he died...!"

"We got revenge for you... and for the Uchiha family." Sasuke reassured me, planting a hand on my other shoulder and squeezing it.

"Hehehe, it's not even the worst thing... funnily enough, it's Madara who's bugging me the most. Madara Madara Madara! He keeps getting close. He keeps getting near me and nearly getting me. In the forest, he toyed with me and played with us like we were fucking nothing, acting childish! He found me in the land of Iron, and held a blade to my gut just to talk! And then again in the bedroom when Itachi and I were spending time together so he could feed and get his strength back!

"Everything keeps happening one after the other without giving me a chance to catch my breath! It's suffocating and smothering my ability to cope. I keep having to bottle it and bury everything so I can face the next round of complete bullshit! It's driving me crazy! I don't know what to do anymore other than to just keep fucking going like an enslaved zombie! Because so far it's what my life has been... nothing... but a punching bag for the world to use whenever the smallest thing occurs. Because EVERYTHING is ALWAYS MY FUCKING RESPONSIBILITY. BECAUSE IT'S ALL IM GOOD FOR!" I snarled as rage boiled through my body, giving me a rush of unwanted power. "AND I CAN'T EVEN GET MAD ABOUT IT OR THIS HAPPENS!" I yelled angrily, a burst of chakra exploding around me and knocking both Itachi and Sasuke to their knees, shaking the nearby trees as everything I saw turned red.

"EVERYONE EXPECTS ME TO GET OVER EVERYTHING IMMEDIATELY! AND THE ONLY PERSON WHO DOESN'T IS YOU!" I screamed at Itachi, who flinched and turned his ear away from me a little. "SOMEONE WHO'S KNOWN ME LESS THAN EVERYONE ELSE!"

I finished then, panting heavily and staring at Itachi with the entirety of my emotions spilling out of me, hugging my body in a blanket of burning and bubbling red Chakra. I could feel it burning away my skin slowly, peeling and eating away at my physical body while my emotions ate my mentality away. My tears couldn't even produce properly as they were absorbed by the red hot film as well.

"That's what's on my mind, Itachi. That's what bothers me." I finished my rant in a weak voice, sounding similar to a croaking frog if you ask me.

The anger I felt didn't leave me, and the burning around my body persisted as we stared each other down. He looked at me heavily thinking, physically standing up as he thought to himself. I barely cared about what he was going to say regardless of what I wanted, as my anger began to cloud my rational mind, trying to devour it, as the nine tails loved to do.

"Naruto, why did you think all of that wasn't important?" Itachi questioned me, his eyes sadly gazing at me.

"Because no one ever cares." I hissed back in a growl.

"I care," Itachi mumbled.

"You haven't been around for it all. I know you care but everyone who was with me during everything brushes it off like it doesn't bother me. The only one who cared about me properly died fighting Pain." I slashed my hand to the side, staring at the ground to avoid looking at someone.

Due to the fact, I wanted to seriously hurt someone right then.

"So, you have more than one form other than this one? Other than the single-tailed film?" Sasuke's voice spoke quietly behind me.

"Yes, there are. And I'm not the same person when the second tail grows. By the time the third one forms I begin to forget, and by the time the fourth one emerges I remember nothing. It's he who controls my actions then. I'm barely leashing my anger at the moment, Sasuke, so don't push me, or ask me questions like that." I growled at him without really meaning to.

"Right, sorry for asking, but thank you for telling me." Sasuke hummed and moved into my field of vision.

"Mhm." I huffed, hugging my arms together and holding my elbows as I tried my best to calm down.

I leaned up against a tree to have my back against something and ignored the sound of the bark burning away upon touching it. Itachi moved next to me, but I shot him a glare when he went to grab my shoulder.

"This chakra burns people who try to touch me. I wouldn't hug me right now." I warned him, watching as his hand hesitantly retracted to his side.

"Can I hug you anyway? Would it hurt you?" Itachi almost seemed to pout at the information I gave him.

"..." I looked away from him a shrugged. "No, I'll be fine."

"That's all I wanted to hear." Itachi smiled with his eyes before wrapping an arm around me.

A cold sensation burst around the skin where he touched, and his hand heated up a bit, but surprisingly the smell of burning flesh didn't hit me, and I looked at the hand on my shoulder to find it completely fine and surrounded by something faint purple glow.

"It doesn't hurt?" I asked in awe, staring at the hand a little longer, seeing no changes.

"You can never hurt me, Naruto." Itachi grinned and shook me a little.

"Wow, I think I might vomit." Sasuke cringed at us with a scrunched nose.

"Hn, go ahead then. It won't stop me from cuddling your friend, Sasuke." Itachi purred and wrapped me up in a tight hug, making my face heat up, and the film of red over my body slowly retract. "See, the power of love is strong~!" He giggled.

"Bleugh!" Sasuke gagged and covered his mouth, stumbling away from us as Itachi cackled.

I cracked a faint smile at the lighthearted interaction, feeling a little better than I had been since the day started. And instead of letting the past events haunt my emotions, I allowed myself to bask in the feeling of this warming moment that would probably become a fond memory for the future me to look back on in bad times.

I closed my eyes and tightened my arms around him, enjoying the cool sensation of his ice-like skin against mine, letting his soothing cold temperature freeze my negativity and allow my joy to poke through. It was oddly calming.

"I love your warmth." Itachi's voice whispered to me gently. "It's extremely inviting. My skin's probably bothering you though."

"Not at all. Despite you being so cold it's a warm feeling. I enjoy hugging you." I responded to him, moving my head up to rest my chin against his chest with a broad smile. "It always makes me feel better, ya know?"

"Hn, yes it does." He smirked at me and pecked my forehead before letting me go. "Are you prepared to face everyone with us traveling with you?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But, I think that barging into the place is a bit of a bad first impression considering what happened with us recently. So maybe we can send a crow of yours as a messenger to Tsunade? I'll write the message." I offered, shrugging a shoulder. "It just sounds smarter."

"That's because your right." Itachi nodded his head, looking proudly at me for a moment. "Well, we are about two hours away from there, want to send it now?"

"Yes. It will give us both time to meet up." I nodded quickly.

I sat down with my back against the tree and pulled out a small scroll and my ink set. I grabbed my small brush and began to write out the message I wanted Tsunade to read.

' Dear Granny,

I'm okay. I'm sure everyone was worried when I vanished with my friend Shi, and I can assure you that I'm well. I'm on my way home, but some things have happened while I've been away for a couple of days. It's not safe to say what happened through writing, and something this complicated can only be talked about in person. We'll be thirty minutes out of the village to the south. You can either come alone or be accompanied by Kakashi and Yamato if you need to.

Naruto Uzumaki.'

"Here." I chimed as I rolled up the scroll, holding it out for him to take.

"I'll seal it for you." Itachi smiled and held it up to himself, sealing it and shrinking its size.

I watched as he summoned a crow, who looked at me before accepting the scroll from Itachi and flying off quickly. We all watched it fly off before standing and beginning our way to where I said we'd be.

Mid-walk, Sasuke moved beside me and gave me a nudge. I glanced over at him, still feeling sour towards him, but he only gave me a calm and semi-apologetic stare. I raised an eyebrow at him, silently asking him why he was looking at me like that. He only responded by staring at me longer, boldly watching me, and expecting something out of me.

It's probably related to my tangent earlier.

"Stop that." I eventually huffed at him.

"Stop what?" Sasuke hummed.

"Staring at me like that. You're being weird." I puffed my cheeks a little.

"Well, my bad." He shrugged, not looking away. "I'm just thinking."

"Well think in a different direction," I grumbled. "You're weirding me out, and I'm not exactly happy with you."

"You seem different," Sasuke spoke up suddenly, breaking my mood and making me go blank for a moment before raising an eyebrow at him.

"Different how?" I tilted my head a little in genuine confusion.

"I don't know. It's something about your eyes, you just seem different than when we encountered you at the hideout before I killed Orochimaru." Sasuke explained and pointed at my face before going back to staring.

"Well stop staring. You made your thoughts known so make them unknown and look at someone else besides me. I don't feel comfortable with a Sharingan user staring me down for an extended time." I frowned heavily and looked to Itachi, as memories of him making me fall victim to his genjutsu surfaced.

"Sorry." Sasuke and Itachi both winced a little and both averted their gazes immediately, looking guilty.

Well damn.

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms, unhappy with the silence now. I don't know why I was suddenly upset, but the staring destroyed my good mood with little effort required. With this sourness introduced I began to think about what I could say.

I didn't directly kill Danzo, but my intent to kill him was present. I hadn't wanted to kill anyone that badly since Pain, which wasn't long ago I guess but still. It unsettled me a little. And with that, I'm traveling with an ex-Akatsuki, who killed an entire clan of people, albeit under orders, I'm with Sasuke, who is an S-ranked criminal, and we have the temporary Hokage's dead body sealed up in a scroll.

"Uhg." I hissed, rubbing my face angrily. "Be lucky I give a damn about you both," I grumbled aloud, stressing over what the hell I'm going to be saying to Tsunade. "This situation fucking sucks."

"Yes, it does." Itachi agreed. "But this option is the least complicated and it's the best way to go about bringing us back without making you look bad. I did pull you away and transport us in a hurry. You were a victim of circumstance, I'm sure Kakashi at least can understand that much."

"Maybe." I huffed, wincing as the pain in my chest grew a little. "We just have to wait and see now, nothing else we can do at the moment besides playing it by ear."

"Exactly." Sasuke yawned into his hand, keeping an eye on our surroundings still.

Why does my life have to be like this? I want a world of peace so badly, but there isn't an answer that I know of to achieve this. Everyone is teaming up against a common enemy who's attacked all of us in the past two years. We are going to be fighting side by side, but we all have pasts that will haunt us. War... war against each other that ended on sour but mutual terms. Victories and losses.

"Religion, ideology, resources, land, spite, love or just because. No matter how pathetic the reason is, it's enough to start a war. "

Relationships between villages were destroyed in a couple of years. Others were created out of the joining of power or destroyed due to the fear of that power. War was a complicated matter and a very messy situation. No war was ever clean, and there are always unfair losses on each side I'm sure. I've never been in a war but it sounds awful. My generation was born into a time of peace, whereas the ones before us were all born in times of war.

Hate...

..

..

That was the main issue here... hatred.

If I killed an enemy, someone who opposed the leaf, then all of my friends would thank me for protecting everyone. But to the enemy, their family and friends will see it as an act of hate towards their village and comrades. They would want revenge, just like I wanted when I found the Akatsuki sitting on Gaara's dead body, and when Pain killed Jiraiya.

Sasuke wanted revenge on Itachi and got that revenge. He found out it was Danzo, and wanted him dead too. To get there, he made enemies with his home and all of those who got in his way. Now they want revenge on him, and if he were killed I'd want to act too.

It's an endless cycle, one that can't be broken, because conflict will always be a thing.

"How can you say that you'll never change? Can you continue believing in yourself forever? Can you guarantee it? Can you have such faith in yourself?" Pain asked calmly as his form towered over me, standing on the pole he had stabbed my hands together with.

My resolve for resisting the temptation of revenge was shaken because of his very actions... and I nearly turned into the embodiment of what I wanted to overcome and stop when he nearly killed Hinata in front of me. I would have if my dad hadn't stopped me, and that alone made me question myself.

Everyone viewed me as a monster, I thought that maybe saving everyone would work toward fixing that, but everyone still looked at me the same. That distrust and anger for past events that the masked man caused. Iruka still has pained eyes around me, a look he forces down for my sake, but one he can't hide from me. Because of this I still don't know how to gain everyone's trust, I don't know how to make their looks of pain go away.

"So, Naruto... how would you confront this hatred to create peace?"

Even if we won, we'd probably go back to hating each other in the end. Something done wrong or someone failing to protect somebody else. So with everything piling up, how does a world fueled by hate change? How do I change the minds of people like the Rikage, who only view life's purpose as nothing more than a power struggle?

How do I change rogues' minds? How do I change Madara's mission to bring about peace with violence?

What the hell do I do?

"We are getting close, let's wait here for them to arrive," Sasuke spoke up, snapping me out of my thoughts. "It shouldn't take them long."

"We need to lay low, I hear foot traffic close by," Itachi spoke quietly to us, moving us into the trees canopy above.

I looked down at the dirt road that was barely visible through the tree line. I felt my heart race as I looked over at Sasuke, memories of him leaving... memories of us fighting... everything surfacing in my heart. Sakura crying and begging me to bring him home, the betrayal I felt when the only one who understood me, left and didn't want anything to do with me.

My truest friend... gone.

I never thought it would be this easy... bringing him back home with me. Yet here he was, willing to follow me and his brother back here. I bit my teeth together, trying my hardest not to cry at the emotions that suddenly welled up. I couldn't help the weak smile that dawned on my face, my hands trembling at my sides as we waited.

"You okay?" Itachi whispered gently to me, wrapping his arms around my middle.

"Y-Yeah." I choked out, steeling my resolve as I leaned into Itachi's cold touch. "I'm okay. Are you okay?"

"I'll be okay if they don't try to kill my little brother on sight." Itachi's eyes winced with nervousness as I looked at him.

"I'll make sure they don't." I gave him a confident nod.

"NARUTO!?" Sakura's voice shouted from somewhere nearby, making all of us flinch in surprise.

"Naruto!" Kakashi's voice followed.

"Naruto!" Tsunade's voice followed soon after.

"Go on ahead, motion us over when you are ready." Sasuke looked at me with a determined face.

"Right." I felt my nervousness melt away in the face of my determination and jumped off the canopy and darted for the road.

I braced my arms and broke through a thicket of shrubs to get to it. I yanked a vine off of my arm and looked over to my left only to have Sakura run up and tackle me to the ground hard, making me wheeze as the air was knocked out of my lungs.

"Thank God! Kakashi and Yamato said Shi abducted you! You were gone and they were ordered to return once Tsunade found out!" Sakura cried loudly against my shoulder. "We thought something bad had happened!"

"Uhhk!" I wheezed as her arms crushed around me tightly.

"I think you're killing him." Sai's voice chimed in with humor lacing it, immediately irritating me for no reason.

"Sorry!" Sakura laughed happily and let me go, yanking me onto my feet in a jarring way.

"Naruto, what happened?" Kakashi asked me in a serious tone, his eye narrowed in suspiciousness.

I frowned at the look he gave me. "Well, it's complicated... uh, first of all, Shi didn't abduct me, he sensed Sasuke close by where Danzo was and panicked. He dragged me aside to ask me if it was Sasuke's chakra signature, and I said yes and he telephoned us within the vicinity of him. We pursued Sasuke after hearing about what he did at the summit and ran into him mid-battle with Danzo." I explained to them, watching as their faces darkened immediately.

"Danzo's dead, so you both failed to detain him?" Tsunade asked then, folding her arms with a serious look.

"H-How do you-!" My eyes popped open wider until Sai waved me down.

"The seal I have that prevents me from speaking about the Anbu's secrets and all that Danzo does was released," Sai spoke up and pointed to his mouth using his thumb.

"What about Sasuke Uchiha?" Kakashi stood straighter then, his eye still narrowed with concern towards me.

I winced and looked to the side. "Well, when we confronted Danzo, his agenda was to kill Sasuke and steal his eyes for his own and add it to his collection. And then.. they fought him? I'm not sure, I don't know all that happened past then. Danzo, see, had a weird seal around his arm. The one in the sling?" I looked at Tsunade directly then. "It was completely coated in Sharingan."

Everyone went pale and jolted aside from Sai, who winced and nodded in confirmation to Tsunade when she glanced at him in a silent question.

"I fell victim to a genjustu that resembled Itachi's and forced me to live years inside of an illusion..i-its something I won't l-l-l... damnit." I hissed and punched my arm hard to snap my brain out of freaking out. "Now, I ask all of you not to freak out... but... you need to hear their side of things before you criminalize both of them." I spoke seriously then, standing straighter as they immediately went on guard.

"Them?" Sakura looked a little paler, her visibly breathing faster.

"Naruto what did you-" Tsunade began but I held a hand up.

"Come out!" I hollered over my shoulder.

There was a rustle before a snap of a branch could be heard. Everyone tensed as breaking through the treeline first was Itachi, still covering his face with his straw hat and face mask. But everyone immediately went battle ready the moment Sasuke leaped into the view of the others.

"SASUKE!?" Sakura gasped, her eyes bugging out of her head.

"Drop your weapons immediately." Tsunade went into a defensive stance, looking at me angrily now. "Naruto what is the meaning of this!?"

"I've brought Sasuke home... who came here willingly," I spoke calmly, holding my hands up as I watched Sasuke's sword slide across the ground towards them, and two weapon pouches were thrown at them from behind me. "You need to listen to them."

"Danzo is the reason the entire Uchiha clan is dead," Sasuke spoke up, walking over to my side and holding a scroll toward me, which I took from him and laid out on the ground, searing Sai and Kakashi pull out their blades.

Itachi walked to my side and pulled his hat off, followed by his mask, making everyone freeze in what looked like terror. I frowned heavily, but unsealed the scroll and watched as Danzo's corpse came into view, his arm's eyes glistening as the moonlight hit them.

"Wait... but... I thought you-"

"We're dead." Itachi finished Tsunade's sentence. "That itself is a long story I won't get into. It's a relevant topic but we can get to that later. Danzo ordered me to kill my clan, Lord Hokage, to prevent a war between the Uchiha and the rest of the leaf." Itachi knelt, holding his hands in his lap, palms up to show he meant no harm. "My clan was plotting to turn over the government and were planning a cope. Lord Third and Danzo were trying everything to prevent a war within the village, but as time passed all other options were thrown out the window, and Danzo convinced the Third Hokage to kill off the clan for the safety of the village's future."

"That wasn't all," Sasuke sat down by Itachi, bowing his head and staring at the ground. "Danzo's lust for power was also driving his decisions, as you can see on his arm and body. He had Hashirama's cells merged into his body with the help of Orochimaru. Since both were interested in the Sharingan and obtaining its power. Danzo killed our kind for power and wanted more, and with this slaughter, he had free pickings to the strongest eyes in my clan."

"Danzo was after the strongest Sharingan, and due to this he drove my best friend to suicide, Shisui Uchiha. With this knowledge, I was given, I had no other choice, or my brother would have been caught up in a war he had no business being in. My home would have been destroyed from the inside out... and everyone would have lost everything." Itachi frowned heavily, keeping his eyes closed. "I was loyal to the leaf, and with Danzo's order, I carried it out with the help of Madara Uchiha, who came to me while I began killing, and helped lessen the burden and the number of people to kill. It was because of this that I joined the Akatsuki, to play the role of a rogue. I didn't kill a single leaf shinobi during the entirety of my stay with the Akatsuki, and I kept them from attacking the leaf until I died and Pain came. I'm sorry about that."

"... how are you alive?" Tsunade asked then, her eyes staring him down with shock.

"Kabuto's experimental Resurrection Justu. It was a success, one he thankfully doesn't know about." Itachi answered immediately. "It turned me into a monster who eats nothing but blood. Someone who can't be in the sun for very long. It was an experiment with plenty of flaws, but I've managed to stay myself when I get the nutrients I need. I'm sorry Lord Hokage... for my actions... for the offenses I've committed against the leaf... but I was only doing what I was ordered to do. Sasuke was a victim of this order... he isn't to blame for how he turned out, and I take full responsibility for him and his actions, so punish me for them, don't kill my little brother... please." He finished, bowing his head against the dirt.

"Lord Tsunade, please hear their words," I begged, getting on my knees as well. "You allowed me to bring Sasuke back to the village, and I've seized that opportunity while also uncovering many things. I've kept my promises... I've done all I've been asked to do and I've only ever done what I've done for the sake of our village. Sasuke is a victim of hatred... and Itachi is a victim of war. Please show mercy. I don't want to create another Pain." I bowed my head to the dirt as well, shaking as dread filled me. "They surrender," I lifted my head to see her staring at Danzo's body down in complete shock.

Kakashi, as well as Sai, are staring at the arm and the crushed eye socket. Sakura, however, was staring Sasuke down with pained sadness. She bit her teeth together and watched Tsunade for any kind of reaction. Tsunade blinked very slowly as she thought and processed the information we Gabe to her.

Her eyes lifted to Itachi, and then to Sasuke. Her eyes slowly moved to me and stayed there. I didn't look away from her gaze and stared her down with a begging expression. She looked away from me and back to Danzo before giving a heavy sigh.

"Sasuke, Itachi, both of you stand." Tsunade finally spoke after a very heavy pause.

Both of them did, Itachi kept his head bowed in respect, keeping his eyes closed, but Sasuke stood straight and looked at Tsunade with a serious expression.

"Sasuke... I have to arrest you for the crime of attacking a Kage summit. You will be directly responsible for apologizing to the Rikage when he arrives, I'll send word for him to come." Tsunade gave a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry too, for the pain this man has caused... all of you." Her eyes glanced over to me. "Itachi, I'm going to temporarily detain you too until I know for certain that what you both say is the truth. I'm going to be bringing all three of you to the interrogation squad. It's not that I don't believe you three, but it's a lot of information that needs to be verified."

"We completely understand and accept this, Lord Fifth." Itachi inclined his head, before looking at me with a smile. "See? Don't stress so much Naruto." He hummed and gave me a nudge. "We weren't killed."

"..." I shrugged to him, still thinking my stress was very warranted in this instance.

Kakashi moved up to us, as did Sai, and gently took their arms and bound them together. I helped by grabbing a length of cloth and tying it over Itachi's eyes, knowing he could see well without it. Sasuke was covered as well, and Tsunade led us forwards. I was walking beside her and slightly back, staying quiet as we approached the city limits.

"We are going into the cliff face," Tsunade spoke up.

"Okay." I nodded sheepishly, hugging my arms close to myself, feeling oddly anxious to be coming back here.

"Are you alright Naruto? You look angry." Tsunade whispered to me, making me frown a little.

"I don't feel angry," I spoke in honesty.

"It's your eyes, they're the eyes of someone very angry at something or someone. If you need to vent or talk to me about what happened while you were away we can speak privately. Especially if Danzo trapped you in an illusion." She whispered and looked over our shoulder and at the scroll, Sai was carrying.

The scroll containing Danzo's body.

I bit my teeth together in a spiteful rage that bubbled up at the thought and sound of his name being spoken aloud. Something that surprisingly stirred a deep part of me. I gripped my arms tighter as false memories of that illusion surfaced. Everyone I cared for was dead by my brainwashed hands.

"Nnn." I winced and squeezed my eyes shut, shivering at the grotesque memories of bloodied bodies.

A fear that could soon come to pass with s war knocking on the horizon.

Her hand gently rubbed my back, soothing a wave of nausea that came over me. A weird feeling of anger and hate crawled up from a closed-up part of my mind. I blinked my eyes open and shrugged.

"I don't want to talk about it," I mumbled to her. "It's... uncomfortable to think about."

"It won't go away if you keep it bottled up, Naruto." Tsunade reminded me.

"She has a point you know," Itachi spoke up from not too far behind, making my face flush as I felt a spotlight strike my chest.

"..." I winced again and shook my head. "It's no one's business but my own. Your interrogation people will find out about it soon enough. I'll leave it at that." I sourly stated.

"..." Tsunade gave a heavy sigh my way before nodding and dropping the conversation, however, her eyes found my neck and she blinked slowly. "Uh, dear, did Itachi bite you?"

"Yes, he did. Twice. I let him, he's not human. He needs blood to survive and I gave him mine since I smell and taste better than normal people do." I shrugged as a bubble of warmth filled me then, making me smile. "It's because I'm a Jinchuriki, nothing special," I mumbled and raised a hand to cover the scars.

"Oh, right." She coughed into her hand and looked forwards again, before nudging me. "I'm happy you're okay. We were about to go looking for you."

"I'm here." I nodded, my lower lip beginning to tremble, me biting my inner lip so hard it bled to try and keep it from doing so.

Itachi grunted softly behind me, but I paid him no mind as I walked next to Tsunade, who seemed to be happy standing where she was.

"Rightfully so. We missed you Naruto. I'm glad you're safe." She giggled lightly.

"Granny?" I whispered, my eyes brimming with tears.

"Hm?" She hummed, looking over my way finally and frowning in concern.

"I'm s-so glad... that you woke up." I choked out, feeling a dam of emotions break. "I-It almost... it almost got so bad." I hissed before yanking her into a very tight hug, making her grunt in surprise. "There is so much I need to tell you." I buried my face in her shoulder, keeping her close as her arms came around my back. "So much happened... so much I didn't get to say before Pain attacked. I-I don't blame you for it... for any of it! Everyone is safe! No one died and I saved everyone... including Pain before he died. Jiraiya should be able to rest in peace... because Nagato died a good man!"

"Sh, it's okay." Tsunade sighed softly, rubbing my back as everyone stopped and watched the conversation, something I couldn't care any less about. "I forgave you the moment things went down Naruto, I was never mad at you for what you said."

"Sorry for crying." I shakily sighed, the tears refusing to stop."I-I guess it finally came out of me."

"Hnhnhn, don't apologize to me for getting emotional. You've done so much for so many, you deserve a good cry." Tsunade chuckled softly before pulling back, cupping my face with a motherly expression. "You're okay. Breathe Naruto."

I nodded and shakily took in the air, slowing my racing heart as warmth bloomed everywhere, making me feel much better than a few moments ago. The small twinge of rage dies down to almost nothing. A speck in the corner of my heart I could live with ignoring for now. I wiped my face free of tears that stopped flowing on their own. With a better mood, we continued into the city limits, making sure to go the back way to avoid the bulk of people and to avoid unnecessary unease.

We skirted the village limits, circling the territory with the cover of night to give us a better chance of remaining unseen. We made it closer and closer to the cliff.

"It's been a while... since I've been here," Sasuke spoke up softly. "I look forward to seeing it."

"There isn't much left to see," Itachi answered him. "It's a crater now, thanks to pain of course. The majority of the villagers set up camp on the opposite side of the crater from us, and are living there. A good chunk of the ninja is going about cleaning everything though. It's where I ran into Naruto."

"Hn." Sasuke hummed, sated by the small answer it seemed.

"Our rebuilding efforts are already getting to a hopeful point. We have multiple allies coming in to aid us in the rebuilding. With Yamato returning from your little adventure to the Land of Iron, he will be able to build many skeletons of houses." Tsunade smiled to herself, folding her arms in pride. "And now that I'm awake, I can focus on governing the construction, and do some heavy lifting while planning strategies for the upcoming war."

"About that, what do I do in this situation?" I piped up.

"Let's focus on that and more after we get this information verified. Now, the interrogation squad shouldn't be too rough on you lot if you relax and are telling the truth. If you fight back, we will try anything and everything to scan your brains." Tsunade spoke seriously as she led us toward the Hidden entrance into the cliff.

"Understandable." Itachi gave a nod, relaxed and smiling. "I'm honestly happy to be back home after so long. I have a question though, regarding the Uchiha property."

"Yes, all will be rebuilt and a section of Konoha will be dedicated to the Uchiha clan, as it was before. Memorialized and livable." Tsunade answered.

"Good, good." Itachi hummed happily. "That's all I needed to know."

I smiled to myself as I walked alongside my friends into the cliffs, just happy to be home.

And happy to prove Danzo wrong about Sasuke.