'To my friends the Hidden Leaf, no, scratch that, the Hidden Villages...that's a good start, don't you think?'

"They're temporary allies, not friends." 

'Ah, well, Kurama. They may as well be our friends now.'

Sasuke POV~

A letter arrived three days after the mission to the lake.

It was found right outside the gates of Konoha by the patrol. Nobody knew how it got there, nobody saw or sensed anything out of the ordinary. It was just a letter, addressed vaguely to the Hidden Villages.

Many of the shinobi were shocked that someone had managed to get right up to the front gate without being detected, only to disappear again without a single trace.

Somehow, even before the Hokage called us to her office to discuss it, we knew exactly who sent it.

The room was crowded when I got there, much to my discomfort. Sitting at the desk in the Hokage's office was Tsunade, Shizune standing beside her with the pig in her arms. Beside them were the Konoha elders, Danzo not included. In front of the desk were Shikamaru, Kakashi, Yamato, and even Sai. Sakura and I were the last to arrive.

"Good. Everyone's here." Tsunade reached across her desk, and only then did I notice the letter in her hands, envelop already opened. 

"I'm sure all of you already have a pretty good guess of who sent this."

We all nodded. Tsunade reached into the envelop and pulled out the folded paper.

"I won't read this aloud right now, but you will get a chance to read it later. Basically, Naruto is asking us for assistance."

Assistance?

...

Assistance?

Tsunade continued, "Apparently, he's gotten into a fight with the Akatsuki. We already know they are after the Bijuu, but Naruto has made it clear in this letter that there is more to it than that. He hasn't made it clear exactly what, but according to him we are underestimating the damage the Akatsuki could cause." her voice darkened, causing a visible drop in the mood, "We would be fools to take this lightly, considering that Naruto has spent the past three years avoiding us meticulously and it only took a couple brushes with this organization to make him drop everything and ask for help. Considering how we were perceiving the Akatsuki before, and how Naruto claimed we were underestimating them, it seems we have a much bigger mess on our hands than we thought."

Her words, and the threat her tone conveyed, caused the temperature in the room to drop. The two elders, watching quietly (which was unusual of them, considering what I've seen of them when Naruto is brought up) finally spoke up.

"It is in our best interests to heed this warning, considering how even the Kyuubi Jinchuriki had trouble despite the power he has access to." the woman said, shooting a glance at Tsunade. Tsunade leveled her with an even stare, and she went on, "Despite suspicions of possible trickery, it is quite reasonable to assume that this is a genuine plea for an alliance."

"Which is something we will not ignore." Tsunade finished. The two elders looked at her helplessly, and I would've smirked if I had lesser hold over my expressions. It was about time she put them in their place.

"So, what are we going to do about it?" Shikamaru asked. His posture was slouched, and I would call him disinterested if I hadn't known him almost all my life. I pretended to be self-absorbed and uncaring of what others did, and he pretended to completely disregard and ignore everything. 

I can see right through him, just as he could see right through me that one time.

"We will do as he asks." Tsunade leaned back with her arms folded, "We'll assist him."

"How?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes slightly.

"In the letter, he's provided what information he's gathered that we have not yet gained. It seems that his position in hiding has proved very useful in the case of gathering details." Tsunade sighed, her forehead creased. I was only just noticing the tension that lined her shoulders. "He's saying that one of their members, a man with an orange mask, was present during the Kyuubi attack 16 years ago. The Kyuubi confirmed it. The man in the mask was the one who controlled the Nine-Tails and forced him to attack the village...and was also the one to cause the deaths of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and his wife and previous Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, Kushina Uzumaki. Naruto's parents."

The room was unsettled before, but now the tension could be cut with a knife. An unnatural silence fell over the gathered individuals in the office as they processed what they were hearing.

"Naruto's...parents?" Sakura murmured. If I were in a different situation, or paying more attention to her at the moment, I might have felt a stab of resentment at the pitiful look on her face, of the regret that oh no I'd been bullying the son of the Yondaime all this time. I didn't have it in me right now, though.

To be honest, I could see why he didn't say anything. That wasn't even my main concern now.

The guy in the orange mask. Someone who forced the Kyuubi to attack the village...

Now that was an issue.

Who could it be? I couldn't think of an identity. But I was already prepared to kill the guy. 

Tsunade lowered her eyes, her hair shadowing her face and hiding her expression. "This meeting was just to let you know of some information. Kakashi, stay behind. The rest of you are dismissed until further notice."

I spared a glance at my sensei as we all filed out of the room. Kakashi's posture indicated nothing out of the ordinary, but he could be impossible to read when he wanted to.

I shook that out of my head and walked forward, organizing the new information in my mind.

I had a lot to think about.

Tsunade POV~

I was rattled by the appearance of the letter, and even more so by the contents. 

I'd told them everything about the masked man, except for one thing:

The swirly portal.

Naruto called it a swirly portal, but I've seen Kakashi's Mangekyou.

When I brought this up, Kakashi looked thoroughly shook.

Of course, neither one of us spoke of it too much. No assumptions. Not until we saw it ourselves.

I dismissed Kakashi, who disappeared immediately (much faster than usual. I was beginning to doubt my decision to tell him). When he was gone, I reread the last line of the letter over and over again.

I'm sorry, for those who wish to see me again. I don't intend on returning or even meeting face to face. An exchange of letters and information at the location I listed below is the closest you'll come to meeting me.

Please refrain from trying to ambush me. I will know.

Below that he gave the location of a clearing, between two trading villages not too far from Konoha. It wasn't the kind of place that got a lot of ninja activity, despite being so close to a ninja village, but the clearing was easily reached. If too many shinobi appeared there and hung around, it would get suspicious. Naruto chose well.

Shizune was off discussing something with the elders. The ANBU were off on their missions. The jounin and their brats weren't around.

I was completely alone in my office.

The paper in my hand wrinkled as I clutched it tighter, tears dripping out of my eyes. I cried, sobbing into my arms.

"Fucking hell..." I managed to mumble. "Naruto. Why the hell did I get involved with this incredible kid?"

I sat there, in the privacy of my office, weeping my eyes out. 

The world went on.

But none of us were the same.

This gaki.

He really was something.

Naruto POV~

'Letter is sent. Time to get the fuck out of here.'

I was surprised at how easy it was to sneak up on Konoha. I didn't enter, knowing the invisible barrier would detect me, but just the fact that I was able to walk right up to it and leave a note and leave without anyone noticing was interesting. All it took was some chakra suppression and to avoid the guards. 

"Baka. We've spent years learning to hide your tracks. And not everyone has sensory abilities that allows them to keep track of the patrols effortlessly."

'I know, I know.'

A couple days later, in the clearing where I gave the location in the letter, a Konoha shinobi appeared. As for me, I just happened to be in one of the nearby villages when that happened. I ate my ramen lazily, disguised as a normal merchant in honor of my successful Suna infiltration, as I kept track of the ninja. He hung around the clearing for a few minutes, and from the feel of his chakra he seemed to be ANBU level or above. He seemed familiar, in the sense that his chakra had a different feel than most chakra natures.

"It's the wood style user from the lake." Kurama chimed in, sensing my confusion.

I furrowed my brow slightly. 'Of course they send him. As if I'll get caught that easily.'

"He's still there. If he was planning on just sending a letter, he would've been gone by now."

I sighed. They underestimated what lengths I'd go to avoid them. I'd even said in the letter that I will know if they attempted to ambush me.

"Hm. He's coming into the village. Probably hoping to catch you."

'He won't.'

The man had been relatively good at masking his chakra, but he didn't understand that no matter what he did Kurama and I knew exactly where he was. He came into the same shop I was in, which didn't surprise me since this was the only restaurant in the small village, and sat in a small window seat in the corner. He didn't seem to know I was here, and from the way he suppressed his chakra, he was probably hoping to catch me when I arrived.

I wanted to slap myself, then slap all of Konoha. I literally told them it wouldn't work.

'Hehe. I'm gonna mess with him.'

"I'd love to see that. The baka has no idea you two are in the same room."

I paid for the ramen, on Kurama's insistence (still don't know what's up with that) and stood to leave. I walked out of the shop and to the back, away from the windows and out of the shinobi's view. I could see out of the corner of my eye how his gaze flickered toward me. I've captured his interest.

'They're just going to keep sending people to try and get me if I don't teach them a lesson. Let's see if he's willing to cause a ruckus in the middle of a village.'

Kurama just chuckled, low and mischievous.

I went around the store and towards the clearing. He should be able to see me from the window.

I stopped in front of a tree, looking curiously at the letter pinned there.

The shinobi shifted, no doubt ready to move. 

Then I just scratched my head and walked away. The wood-style user was suspicious, but he had no evidence that I was me (heh) and stayed put. I could've just been a curious civilian wondering where the strange letter came from.

I made my way to the back of the store again, then, in a flash of chakra, ran forward and grabbed the letter from the tree. I sensed the shinobi jump out of his chair, but by the time he did that I was gone.

When he went back to the clearing, all he would see was a note that read: 

I told you, it's no use ambushing me.