The lost soul..

Jiraiya licked his dry lips as Naruto snapped his eyes to meet him. Jiraiya could see them glowing faintly beneath the hood, flashing from blue to faint purple as the gold bracers on his wrist hissed and glowed with the seals as they struggled to hold back the chakra within him. The blond visibly reined in his temper before he continued. "I want an explanation Jiraiya."

The toad hermit sighed, half in relief that the blond had calmed down and half to prepare himself for the upcoming explanation.

He searched in his Kabuki robes and removed an old brown book, the pages worn with age. "This is sensei's diary. He explained here, that; When your father sealed the demon into you, he also sealed it into Akina, or more specifically, your twin sister…"

He paused as he saw Naruto's shoulder tense and a small growl reached his ears. "He obviously needed to explain how Arashi defeated the Kyuubi. Many in the council were seasoned shinobi, all familiar with the legends of the Bijuu. They would never believe that any jutsu used by just one man other than a sealing technique could have stopped him. However, since he knew that there was a very real possibility that they would not follow Arashi's last wish, he decided, that since you were the first born, as well as the one who held the majority of Kyuubi's power and also the one that most had seen, that he would present you as the sole container for the demon. When he realized that they would indeed ignore Arashi's last wish he sent her away with two of his most trusted ninja, programmed a new identity and date of birth five days after the Kyuubi attack, along with a new social security, birth records, everything. He made sure that absolutely no one but himself and the two ninja he assigned as her parents would ever know about her being the second container. Her adopted parents trained her, she graduated at nine, as you saw in the profile, and was placed on the reserve list since no team could take her in without throwing the balance off. She attempted her first chuunin exam just six months before you, Hinata and Sasuke took yours and apparently made it to the finals. She was going to pass but Sarutobi pulled it back at the last minute, not wanting her to have to take on chuunin level missions before she was absolutely ready. Her sensei didn't nominate her for the next chuunin exam so she did not take it with you and your team. Well…you already know the rest." He finished

A heavy silence filled the room and the toad sage could practically hear the cogs in Naruto's mind clicking into place.

Finally, he saw the blond straighten and school his features, obscured by the mask as they were. Though Jiraiya could still see the seals on his wristbands glowing faintly, indicating that he was still very much angry.

The toad hermit stared straight into Naruto's eyes. "What will you do?" He asked somewhat nervously.

"This changes nothing. She dies." He spoke simply as he walked around the toad hermit and began leaving the office.

"You…would kill her? Even now after you know who she truly is?" The toad hermit questioned waver in his voice as he hesitated.

Naruto paused before he passed through the door and looked back over his shoulder at the white haired ninja. "Jiraiya…" He spoke slowly. "I have not come this far by bowing down to the whims of conscience…I suggest you get used to that." He said before he turned and walked out of the office, the wooden door closing shut behind him.

Sunagakure: Council chamber.

The council chamber of Sunagakure could only be described by one word at this moment:

Chaos.

Various yells and shouts of nearly two hundred councilmen created an orchestra just right for a migraine and sore throat.

As expected, news of Kiri's apparent conquest had caught everyone off guard and most in Suna's shinobi council had been thrown into panic. There was a division between three. Attack, an alliance, and neutrality...

Many in the council who favored to take down Konoha's Jinchuriki immediately, made valid points. That they could defeat him now while he was still within military, economic and their tactically sound field was the main and most important point.

Of course things were never that simple., that course of action was very risky. If they did attack now, after their recent loss in the short Oto/Suna/Konoha war, then there was a definite, almost certain chance that they would loose if Iwa or Kumo did not attack with them.

Privately, Gaara himself was hesitant to attack the Konoha jinchuriki.

He had spared his life after all…there was a debt between them.

And he had little doubt as to who would loose in that fight as well.

Konoha's Demon was simply beyond his skill right now.

The other option, an alliance, was foolish, because then Naruto would take advantage of that alliance and request their assistance in his wars, thus weakening them and in the long run, if he defeated Kumo and Iwa, would be able to seize Suna as well. And if he was beaten by Kumo and Iwa, Suna would be on the loosing side.

A loose loose situation no matter what.

The final option, neutrality, was meant to wait and see if both Kumo and Iwa attacked Konoha, that way, with Suna's involvement the leaf would loose for certain.

While this might seem the safest course, this plan also held a great risk…if he was able to conquer either Kumo or Iwa like he conquered Kiri, practically from one day to the next,…then Suna would have no choice other than to surrender.

Still, this would be an act of war…it was not something for a Kage to choose on his own.

The young Kazekage sighed…this was a horrible situation. The whole nation was at this point, on the very edge of a power struggle that could escalate into the largest war this world had ever witnessed.

And all because of one Jinchuriki.

Kirigakure: Training ground 22

Guan entered the training field and found Ginchiko. Her back was to him as she practiced her Kata with her blade. Bandages were still wrapped around her, and small stains of red could be seen on them, as well as her heavy breathing. All indications that she should not be out of the hospital. He walked behind her, intent on ceasing her training before she injured herself further.

She suddenly spun around sword already swinging. But he had been expecting it, having seen the Kata many times over. So he calmly brought up his arm, which held a small metal arm bracer which he used to block her blade with a loud resounding -Clang- of steel against steel

She gasped, and the unexpected resistance nearly knocked the blade right out of her grip. "Gu-Guan? What in the-"

"I believe…" He interrupted calmly as he lowered his arm. "That you were not due for your release from the medical ward for at least another week."

She scoffed, as she fixed her grip on the sword again. "I cant stay there I'll lose my mind. Now if you…What the hell happened to your eye?" She asked, only now noticing the new patch covering the wound.

He raised his hand and absently rubbed the spot around his eye. "Two talented girls…I was careless and they were stronger than I anticipated."

She looked at him incredulously for a moment before she spoke. "Its not like you to underestimate anyone." She then shrugged before she turned to leave again.

"Ginchiko." Guan called her retreating form. "Have you decided on your allegiance in this war?"

"Have you?"

She questioned a little harshly.

There was a pause that Guan did not bother to break, waiting for her to eventually fill the silence.

"Are you really going to stay with him?"

Guan nodded. "Yes…" He spoke solemnly yet fiercely.

She took a deep breath as she looked up to the sky. "Then I suppose…I'm with him too then." She then turned and smirked at him. "After all, someone has to make sure you don't loose your last eye." She taunted before walking off.

Guan smirked before he made his leave in the opposite direction.

And as he made his way through the village, that they had been fighting for so fiercely, he could not help but recall his brother.

'Hidetada, my brother. Though I may have failed you in life, I swear I will do everything within my power to fulfill your dream in your stead."

Mika growled as she lazily tossed kunai, hitting the bulls eye repeatedly with a hard 'Thunk' sound as she pulled the kunai back with a wire.

'Unite the land…that's no good, then I cant kill anymore…'

-Thunk-

'If he unites the land, then the chaos will end…'

-Thunk-

'And if the chaos ends…'

-Thunk-

'Then my fun ends…'

-Thunk-

'And we cant have that now can we?'

Sunagakure: Market district.

Inuzuka Kiba promptly spit out the contents in his mouth, which consisted of a fried eel, rice, and some green peppers all over one Nara Shikamaru as he rounded on the Suna Kunoichi sitting next to him. "WHAT? ARE YOU SERIOUS!"

Temari nodded, ignoring Shikamaru's indignant sputtering as he wiped all the crap that had landed on him. "Yeah, supposedly, that guy's already conquered Kiri. Gaara's meeting right now with the council to decide on what course of action we should take.

"ISN'T IT OBVIOUS!" He yelled standing up catching the attention of the other patrons. "YOU NEED TO GO AND KICK HIS ASS NOW THAT HE'S WEAK!"

"Kiba!" Shikamaru cut in sternly. "There are a lot of risks with that plan. If we were to attack now, then Iwa, who is also a rival of Suna would simply wait it out for us to destroy eachother and then would take both territories with little resistance. If we were to wait for Kumo or Iwa to make a move, then we also risk being consumed in the power vacuum that would occur upon Konoha's defeat, and, because of Suna's recent defeat during the chuunin exam, we barely have the numbers to take on a fully functional village like Kumo and Iwa…Attacking him at all could lead to Suna's downfall, and even though I want that guy dead as much as you I'm not willing to destroy Suna in order to get it."

Kiba and Temari both stared at Shikamaru, one in anger yet acceptance that he was correct, the other in slight amazement. He had analyzed the situation and had explained some risks that even she and Gaara hadn't thought of.

Temari sighed before she stood. "Look, as of right now this is top secret, no one under jounin knows about it, I just told you out of courtesy. Tell your friends but make sure they don't tell anyone else. As of now, Suna could be moving to war very very soon.

Konoha: Market district

"I luve yu guysh" Came the slurred voice of the female member of the sound four. She was currently dead drunk and hanging off the arm of one of her teammates, namely the bone user Kimimaro, who could apparently handle his Sake much better than she could.

The five were currently sitting in a little ramen stand named Ichiraku ramen.

Meanwhile, Jirobu and Kidomaru were staring at this…unbelievable sight in almost slack jawed fascination.

"Hey Kidomaru…"

"Yeah Jirobu?"

A slight pause which was broken by Tayuya giggling like a little school girl.

"I…what am I seeing?

"I don't know Jirobu…I just don't know."

Sakon blinked several times as he stared at the bottle of sake as if it was a new form of poison…or a miracle cure. "Damn, this shit must be good." He muttered before he began chugging it down like his life depended on it.

Kimimaro eyed the girl clinging to him and shrugged. "They do say sake makes one act strange."

Tayuya giggled and suddenly appeared between two severely freaked out Jirobu and Kidomaru as she placed her arms around them. "Yu guysh are the besht team mathes any kuni…kumo…ninja girl could ask for." She slurred as she smiled up at them, not noticing, or perhaps simply oblivious to the terror ridden expressions on their faces.

She giggled and looked over out of the stand. She looked but then pointed and happily squealed. "Look, it's the creepy guy with the mask…"

The other four occupants craned their heads back in order to see who she was pointing at. When they did they each paled to some degree and turned back around very fast. Jirobu, Kidomaru and Sakon went as far to hide behind the menu while Kimimaru settled for simply sipping his sake.

Ichiraku walked out from the back room, wanting to see what all the commotion was about. What he found was one drunk Kunoichi, a somewhat nervous looking Kimimaro and three very nervous looking idiots hiding behind one menu sheet.

He then looked out and found the source of their nervousness. It was a cloaked individual wearing a metal face mask. Ichiraku couldn't see his face but he didn't have to.

The slight sag of shoulders, heavy steps with no destination, resolutely staring ahead and nowhere else and the invisible weight he appeared to be carrying on his back told him that this was a person with a lot on his mind.

So without further ado he spoke. "HEY BUDDY!" He yelled making Naruto and the (currently coherent) members of the sound four…err five, swivel their heads to look at him.

With the attention of his target firmly set on him he waved him over. "You look like you got problems…a good bowl of ramen will do ya some good."

"I do not believe that will be necessary…" Naruto replied before he began walking away again.

"Come on!" Ichiraku called again. "First one's on me eh? You look like someone who has not had ramen in a long while. It'll do ya some good." He grinned.

Naruto paused in his stride and looked to the sky. How long had it been since he had ramen? Had he ever had it…he couldn't remember…

Ichiraku couldn't help but smile as the cloaked individual turned towards the shop.

The entire sound team just wanted to melt into the wall and floor at the moment. It was a healthy respect they had for this individual, as well as a good amount of fear since he single-handedly wiped out the Hyuuga clan. Orochimaru had often said that the Hyuuga clan was the only thing in Konoha that was any real threat to him. To defeat more than half of them on your own was nothing short of monstrous.

So they were obviously less than pleased when Tayuya giggled, giving away their position as Naruto entered the stand. He looked to them, his blue eyes faintly shining beneath his hood as they reflected the light that got to them.

He gave them a nod before he continued his walk to one of the stools and sat down.

It was soon after that Naruto found a full and steaming bowl of ramen infront of him.

He silently lowered his hood and began removing his face mask.

The sound five watched with almost baited breath, even Tayuya seemed to have sobered up, they had never really seen his face, only a brief glimpse of his blond hair when they had been waiting on the roof of the council room for the planned overthrow of said council.

Finally he removed his mask and set it down on the bar. While Tayuya had to stop herself from outwardly gaping at his features her comrades could only notice one thing.

He's younger than all of us…'

He snapped his chopsticks and took a bite. He swallowed and then looked at the grinning Ichiraku.

"This…" He spoke slowly. "Is very good."

Ichiraku only chuckled in response.

Naruto's small moment of peace was broken however as a chuunin entered the stand. "Naruto-sama! A messenger has arrived from the north west garrison. He says it is urgent.

Naruto nodded before he stood and put his mask back on. He placed some money on the counter but was stopped by the chef. "Hey I said the first ones on the house. Tell you what, take a rain check and come by next time, they'll be a bowl here waiting for ya."

Naruto slowly nodded and placed his money back in his pocket before he followed the chuunin back to the Hokage tower.