~~~Naruto : New Beginnings~~~

~~~Konohagakure no sato~~~

The lone female Sannin brushed past the busy streets of the village at a calm serene pace. Her hand pulled up and involuntarily brushed a mop of silky blonde hair by the side of her waist. Her eyes traveled down, only to sadden and lose their shine when she saw the boy by her side clutching her blouse in his tiny fists and trying to hide himself as much as he could.

He had receded back into the shell she had cracked before and she couldn't help but curse the ones responsible for it.

The only difference in the boy was that he trusted her with all his being, it made her heart swell with warmth and a protective streak washed over her which caused her to glare murderously at the pairs of eyes narrowing in on the boy by her side for recognition.

"Kaa-chan?" a soft quiet voice spoke from her side, making her eyes travel down and look at the baby blue eyes blinking innocently back at her.

"Where are we going?" he asked in the same hushed whisper which made her smile and pet his head gently, that she could see he loved if the closing of his eyes and his adorable nuzzling into the touch were any indications.

"We are going to complete all of the paperwork to make you officially my son, we wouldn't want anyone saying you're not mine right?" she asked, playfully flicking his nose to get a soft giggle and nod from the boy who walked by her side with a slight hop to his feet.

"Arigato." he whispered quietly, and she merely smiled and kept on walking ahead to the destination at hand.

~~~Hokage Tower...

Tsunade's heels clicking were the only voice in the usually silent hallways while she made her way to the office where the village leader presided in.

"Tsunade-sama…" the receptionist nodded respectfully getting a curt nod in return from the woman. Though the woman's eyes narrowed in on the boy hiding behind her making her bristle in anger.

"What are you doing hiding behind Tsunade-sama like that?" she hissed venomously, only to cause the boy to hide himself further behind his mother so as to not aggravate her any further.

"You have some nerve to try and come in here. ANBU…" the receptionist called out, a masked man coming out the shadows and looking on as to why he had been summoned from his guard post.

"Take that 'thing' out of here before he makes this place even more dirty with his mere presence…" she hissed, pointing to the small mop of blonde hair behind Tsunade and the ANBU's eyes widened upon remembering the scene from yesterday and Tsunade's eyes that had suddenly turned cold.

"I'll go, I'm sorry…" the boy whispered, his eyes shimmering with tears of fright. He had tried to tell his mother they won't let him in, but she wouldn't listen and now he had gotten her in trouble too. It made him feel all the more worse.

"You're not going anywhere Naruto." came the firm reply of Tsunade who pulled him behind her while he clutched the back of her kimono shirt tightly with a timid nod.

The ANBU gulped seeing Tsunade's eyes turning downright murderous along with the soft cracking of knuckles that reached his ears.

"Tsunade-sama you shouldn't…" the receptionist couldn't say anymore since her mouth was covered by the ANBU's hand who smiled nervously behind his mask and was sweating for his life now, along with the stupid woman who couldn't keep her trap shut for a minute.

"The Hokage will see you now Tsunade-sama, please go in." he ushered her towards the door, closing it when she walked in but not without leveling another deadly glance back at the woman who had now become nervous seeing the malice in the Senju clan head's eyes.

The ANBU let the secretary go and breathed a sigh of relief before retreating back into the shadows, while patting himself on the back for a job well done. He wasn't quite keen on another cleaning job like he had done a few days back in the aftermath of the Sannin's wrath.

"Ah Tsunade-chan, I was actually waiting for you to come…" spoke a warm and grandfatherly voice from the middle of the room causing Naruto to peek out and see an old man with a pipe settled upon his lips.

He recognized him, he had seen him a couple of times from the alleys when he went hunting for food. He always walked around with a funny hat over his head with some strange scribbling done upon him. But he knew better than to approach him seeing how much the people around him were looking at him in awe and respect. It scared him to think what he could do if he might have offended the man.

Hiruzen rose an eyebrow when he saw a mop of sunshine blonde hair peek out from Tsunade's back, only for his eyes to go wide in recognition. He hadn't seen hair like those in anyone other than two people. The first had been dead for over five years while the second…

"Naruto-kun…" he spoke up in a trance like voice laced with nostalgia and dipped in regret when he saw the boy looking at him calculatively for a moment before he had averted his eyes and was standing behind Tsunade as his shield. It pained his heart to see the boy's guarded eyes and his frightened posture.

"Please take a seat." he called out warmly making Tsunade step up and pull out a chair for herself. She sat, raising an eyebrow at Hiruzen's gaze by her side only to follow his eyes to her side to see Naruto standing there dumbly not knowing what to do.

"Naruto sit here baby…" she brushed his cheek with her fingers, getting a small nod from the boy who looked up in a glance at Hiruzen for a moment.

In that moment, Hiruzen felt as if someone had placed a block of lead upon his shoulders. The boy didn't seat so as to not offend him or his mother, as if the seat was a privilege he wasn't privy to and he needed proper permission to sit.

"Please, have a seat my boy…" he spoke gently, a strained smile forcing it's way upon his lips now that the burden he had been trying to hide from was straight in front of his eyes.

The blonde boy sat on the chair with a small hop, putting his palms upon his knees and only looking at his lap and nothing else. Hiruzen only took in his appearance with his ever curious eyes, the boy looked so much like his father it wasn't even funny. A little of Kushina's traits were in him with the little rounded curves in his narrow cheekbones, but it was clear as a day he took after his father more than her in appearances.

"Hello…" the boy spoke quietly, much to the surprise of Hiruzen who blinked and realized he had been staring at him for a while while he was squirming nervously under his piercing gaze. Naruto gulped down a nervous choke, his eyes darting to the upper right corner of the room, then sharply at the spot beneath the Third Hokage's portrait to his side and finally a little to his back before he was looking down on his lap like before.

Hiruzen was shocked to the core, but he hid it within himself. No one else had notice that little action the boy had done. But he had, and he knew what it meant.

"The boy is a natural born sensor, it is only natural after all Kushina was gifted in that regard too…" he surmised, now narrowing his eyes himself that his guard team hadn't realized their location had been compromised. By a mere five year old boy no less.

He could see the boy was nervous from their presence, no doubt seeing them as a threat if his tightened muscles and nervous eyes were any indication in his stiffened seating posture.

"ANBU…" he barked out, only to blink when he heard the crash of a chair and Naruto had bolted off his chair and straight for the door. A pair of arms wrapped around the boy's waist and pulled him back onto a soft lap before he could go any further than a couple of steps.

"Hey now, it's alright…" Tsunade cooed the scared boy who relaxed and rested his head upon her shoulder with a soft sigh. She kissed his head, nuzzling her nose upon his whiskers to make him let out a ticklish giggle but not pushing her away in the slightest.

The ANBU team couldn't help but be shocked at the boy's honed instincts. He had moved before they had even realized they had to move and was off for the exit. All of them kneeled in front of their Kage whose eyes turned solemn upon seeing and realizing the meaning behind those honed instincts.

Had he been a trained shinobi, he had no doubt his guard detail would be dead or wounded right now. But the boy had merely darted away to make way for a secure place for himself.

"Leave us alone…" he stated coldly, the ANBU stiffening before vanishing into thin air to make the room have only three of it's visitors now.

"I apologize if they scared you child, it wasn't my intent for that…" he spoke warmly, feeling like he was walking on glass shards around the boy who nodded shyly when Tsunade placed butterfly kisses on his ears, much to his embarrassment and joy.

"It's okay, I'm sorry about the chair." the boy mumbled quietly, now settling upon his mother's embrace quite comfortably who had him wrapped like a furry little blanket of joy in her strong arms.

Tsunade pulled out a scroll from her pocket, pushing it forward to the Hokage who took it with a nod wanting to see the reason for her visit himself. He clicked the scroll open, scanning it's contents before his eyes went wide when he unsealed the forms sealed inside the scroll with a shocked look.

"Tsunade these…" he whispered, not believing what they were and she merely nodded.

"They just need your seal of approval. Get them approved." she spoke pointedly, making him let out a tired sigh from his lips.

"It isn't that easy Tsunade, the council won't let the jinchuriki be handed out to anyone without a fight. I should know, I tried myself all those years back…" he reasoned with her only for her eyes to narrow in on the spineless monkey in front of her.

"These are approved as soon as you stamp them, they can only overturn them with a proper reason which you should let me handle or if the Fire Daimyo interferes himself in the matter upon seeing it's importance. That, I have already seen to that it won't happen." she spoke firmly, surprising him quite a lot. So, she had already had this sorted out with the Fire Capital then? With his vote of approval it gave her two of the three majority votes she needed. The council stood practically useless with just being able to call a useless meeting of bickering they would no doubt call for.

But what had she done to convince the Fire Daimyo so quickly to her terms, he didn't know. But it wasn't in his nature to look up a gift in a horse's mouth.

"So will you be staying to take care of him now…" he trailed off seeing a shake of her head which confused him even more.

"No we'll be leaving as soon as the complete documents are handed to me along with the things that belong to him…" she squeezed the boy a little for emphasis making Hiruzen's eyes turn wide in shock. He nearly dropped his pipe there, but held himself firm.

"Tsunade…" his voice turned gravely serious as he puffed out a small cloud of smoke to make her see reason she was not quite seeing yet. "…adoption is one thing, but the village won't allow you take him with you." he spoke in a suggestive tone whose meaning wasn't lost to the blonde mother.

The boy was a weapon that belonged to the village, and they would no doubt pull out all stops to keep him there to keep their stance strong even if they hated him. He was a resource to them in a time of desperate need and the clan heads would make sure he won't be separated from the village quite that easily.

But she hadn't racked out her mind for nothing.

"You leave that to me. Just sign those papers and get all the things piled up. I'll be taking them with me before I leave…" she spoke, putting the boy onto his feet and making her way out with him leaving a baffled Hiruzen behind.

"Oh…" she spoke suddenly with a half opened door and looked back with a coy smile gracing her lips when she threw him a scroll with the Official seal of the Royal House of Fire country donned upon it once more causing Hiruzen to almost have a heart attack seeing the thing his palms.

"Some guests are coming for a visit in a couple of days, you might want to get a nice hotel room ready or something…" she spoke, barely containing a chuckle and let an incredulous Sarutobi behind who finally slumped in defeat and slammed his forehead upon his table.

His kunoichi never ceased to stop giving him headaches, this time was no different.

"Kaa-chan?" the quiet whisper made her stop and crouch down to see the boy's nervous eyes while he fiddled with his feet cutely.

"Those papers were for my adoption right?" he asked her, getting a nod from the woman who couldn't quite see what had gotten into him so suddenly.

"You said you would leave after he got them signed…" he whispered, tears prickling the corner of his eyes while he held back a sob. Still not meeting her eyes, now she understood what had made him so scared.

"Will you leave?" he finally asked, clenching his eyes shut when she nodded and bit his lip.

"Yes, after all us three have to go and start a new life outside ne? Just Shizune, me and you…" she poked her finger onto his chest, making his eyes snap open and a couple of tears rolled down his cheeks.

She wanted to take him?

Take him away?

To an unknown place?

Where no one knew him and he didn't know anything about said place?

He took a hesitant step back, making Tsunade raise an eyebrow. Her eyes widened when he took another and ran off by her side with thick tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Naruto…" she shouted, chasing after the nimble blonde who turned into an alley and starting hopping up and down by the things scattered in there expertly.

Tsunade growled, what had gotten into him? She hadn't done anything unusual to him, she couldn't understand his thoughts for the life of her. But this time, he was going no where.

She pumped up her muscles with chakra, instantly getting the boost to close up the distance between them and pull him to a stop by wrapping him up in a bear hug.

He tried to pry her off half heartedly, crying all the while to cause her shirt to get damp from his wails. She whispered soothing whispers into his ears, hushing the boy up to tell him it was alright. A few moments later his struggles ceased and he lay defeated in her arms.

"What's the matter baby?" she asked softly, her voice containing nothing but concern and warmth in it. He wanted to usher in that warmth, but it made him scared as much as he didn't want to.

"I don't want to go anywhere…" he sobbed out quietly, much to her surprise but she said nothing. Letting him get it all out. "…I like it here, please I don't want to go anywhere." she couldn't help but smile at his obvious lie. No one could like such a hell forsaken place that treated you like the plague everywhere you went, especially after what they had done to him. He cried in her neck, hugging her for dear life while his heart wailed in agony.

"It scares me Kaa-chan…" he finally spoke out in a cry, making her realize what it was all about. Instantly her hug covered him up completely, and she laid down a kiss on his ear and hushed him up quickly.

"You don't trust me completely, do you Naruto?" she asked gently, getting no answer to her question and she smiled. It was a foolish thought to think he wold just blindly follow her out of the village he had been in since his birth.

As much as Naruto didn't like it's people, he knew the village like the back of his own hand. He knew each and every place here and at least as long as no one saw him he was left alone.

But he didn't know any place other than this. The mere thought of what awaited for him out there scared him to no end.

"We are going to a place where no one will hate you baby…" she explained in a soft motherly tone, making his sobs die down into soft sniffles while he gave his rapt attention. She wiped off those puffy wet cheeks and nose with a handkerchief, only to smile at his vulnerable and innocent eyes looking at her curiously.

"Everyone will respect you there, we'll have lost of fun…" she whispered making a small smile light up his adorable lips. "…you'll study, have a little training and we'll have lots of alone time to do what we want. You've liked it with me the past week right?" she got a shy nod in return and pulled his face into her neck while his tiny arms snaked around her neck to cuddle up in her arms.

"Then imagine every day much more fun than ever before." she whispered, brushing his hair to feel him snuggle his face in her neck while taking a tickling soft sniff upon her neck.

"I'm still scared…" he whispered back making her sigh in defeat. An idea popped in her neck and she gave him a gentle squeeze.

"Alright tell you what?" she felt him perk up in her arms and continued on without further ado. "We'll take you there after we get the papers signed, if you like it there the there's no problem. But if you don't we can come back here in a week. How's that sound?" she asked the boy who thought for a moment before giving a small hesitant nod.

He trusted her that much that she wouldn't hurt him or leave him alone, it was the new place he had a problem with.

"Okay." he whispered quietly, much to her joy. This was something she was willing to gamble upon since she would never even let him think of this accursed place again is she had any say about it.

"Naruto?" she asked him in a soft voice getting a soft hum from him. "…don't ever run away from me again alright? I get worried when you do that…" she cradled his head when she felt him nod in her neck.

"You wanna play a little before we head on home?" she asked, getting an instant nod from the boy causing her to giggle at his sudden change in mood. She cupped his cheek in her palm and brushed his whiskers with her thumb. A sad smile was etched over her lips while she watched him treasure her touch as if it were the most precious thing to him in the world. These were the moments she realized how much he had been craved of all these basic things, especially affection and she had a long way before she truly got him all to her.

"Let's go." she took his hand in her own, no matter how arduous the path maybe, she was prepared to face it all for his sake.

He was her son now after all…

~~~A couple of weeks later…

~~~Hokage Tower

~~~Council Chambers

The council had been assembled after being called out suddenly from their homes for a sudden meeting. The clan heads had been worried sick that a sudden invasion or threat of war was onto them, but upon seeing the civilians there too they had breathed out a sigh in relief. It seemed the matter wasn't of that stature right now, but whatever it was, it was important.

The large doors to the chambers were opened, and all of them were surprised to see a new figure instead of their Hokage walking in. But their eyes widened and each of them stood up in shock when they realized who it was that had come to grace them with his presence.

"My my no need to be so formal. Please do take your seats…" The Daimyo of Fire Country waved his fan to their chairs and sat down with all of them following his lead in respect.

"Daimyo-sama?" Koharu politely called out from her chair making the richest man across the elemental nations raise an eyebrow at the woman's sudden voice.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of your sudden visit, if I may be so inclined to ask?" she tried to be as polite as she could with a smile that a grandmother would grace her children with. But as stupid as the Daimyo may look to anyone else, he was no fool when it came to these fake facades.

"Ah we have an interesting matter that was brought to my attention, I couldn't help but come to overlook and quite possibly get it approved myself." he spoke honestly yet cryptically at the same time. Koharu's smile slipped before she held it firm and sat down with a polite nod. The man didn't wish to answer or entertain her right now, that much she could see as his eyes rested upon the empty chair of the Hokage and the door in front of him to the entrance to the chambers.

"We apologize for the lateness of our Hokage…" a civilian member tried to cheese up to the Daimyo only for him to gain a narrowing of eyes from said man that made him shut up halfway through his words.

"It is quite alright, I am a patient man. Let's enjoy our comfortable time ne?" he asked playfully, smiling in amusement at the squirming civilians who were nervous with his mere presence while the clan heads, nervous as they were themselves held themselves firm and sat patiently.

Finally, after ten minutes the doors to the chambers opened yet again making the Daimyo's closed eyes snap open calmly to gaze at the five figures walking in. The two guards escorting the Hokage merely disappeared into the shadows a second before the man reached for his seat. But it was the person by his side that surprised everyone.

No one had expected Tsunade to attend a council meeting after nearly a decade of having the Senju clan's seat sit empty in these chambers.

But the small form by her side made each civilian council member narrow their eyes in on the blonde boy beside her. Each of them had heard about his closeness to the Senju clan head but this was going too far.

"You filth, how dare you enter these sacred chambers and taint it with your disgusting presence…" a fat civilian shouted. The Daimyo glanced sharply at the man and then to his own personal samurai bodyguards who nodded and one of them left his back silently.

The Fire Daimyo saw the little one's eyes look up startled before he saw them turn nervous and the boy tried to hide himself behind Tsunade.

"I'm with her." he spoke in a quiet whisper, which was heard by each of them with the echoing room making it a bit louder yet still a hushed whisper that was audible to everyone.

"..." the councilman was about to continue but his words died down when a chakra laced sword was placed upon his neck and they all looked on startled hearing a humorless laugh.

"My my such foul words in the presence of a little child. Have you no shame?" his ever playful voice asked the man, who didn't dare to try and speak lest he cut up his own neck from the little space between him and the weapon aimed for his life. The Daimyo waved a hand dismissively causing the sword to retreat when the man rubbed his neck and spoke in a polite tone so as to not aggravate the happy man anymore.

"My lord, you do not realize what that thing is…" he tried to speak but stopped when the man raised a hand to shush him up.

"I know him quite alright. He is the very reason I'm here after all…" the man spoke in his ever playful tone, causing all eyes in the room bar Hiruzen and Tsunade go saucer wide.

He stood up, causing them all to try and do the same before he motioned for them to remain seated with his hand and walked gracefully around the table. Each pair of eyes followed his ever step while he made his way straight in front of Tsunade.

He crouched down to come eye level with the boy, who was looking at the funny man with a fan atop his head curiously.

"My aren't you a precious looking thing?" he asked playfully, making Naruto look down in embarrassment from his words. He wasn't a boy who had heard many compliments in his life, not straight from the heart and not containing snide intent underneath them so it made him a bit shy from his words.

"I came a long way to see you back from the Fire Capital, wouldn't you be willing to grace me with some sort of a gift?" he asked jokingly, his voice ever the playful one. Everyone caught his meaning behind those words, it was laughable that he of all people would be willing to accept a gift from someone, to think he would outright ask him for it.

All save for one.

CLINK…CLINK…CLINK…

"That's all that I have for now…" the boy spoke softly, emptying the little change he always kept in his pockets in the man's outstretched hand. The Daimyo couldn't help but look on in surprise at the little ryo coins placed upon his palm. Naruto thought it wasn't enough for him so he spoke up again.

"I'm sorry, it's all that I have. I spent the rest of my savings on a ball…" he mumbled honestly, making the man close his hand and eyes with a genuine smile crossing his lips.

"I see…" he spoke seriously, his chest swelling with a hint of pride upon feeling the innocence and pure honest selflessness behind that little act.

"You have me much more than I could have hoped for child…" he spoke warmly, stretching his free hand to pat the boy's head who merely shied away and peeked behind his mother cutely while looking down.

"He isn't comfortable with people touching him too much Daimyo-sama…" Tsunade spoke up in his defense and the man nodded in understanding.

"I understand Tsunade-chan, you struck gold this time I must say. Pure gold I say…" he chuckled loudly, his laugh full of humor this time, and she smiled at the joyful man while he walked back still clutching those coins in his hand tightly.

Never before had someone had a nerve to do such a thing in his presence, but to him these coins meant a lot. He wasn't one for material things, he could but them all with a mere blink of his eyes. The intent behind the selfless act made him cherish the present in his palm all the more than before.

"Let's get on with the matters at hand shall we, I request the civilian half to kindly leave us alone for the shinobi affairs that are about to be discussed." the feudal lord spoke dismissively, snapping his fan shut as if they were mere annoyances for his time. He rose an eyebrow when he saw they were all looking at him as if he were an alien of sorts and he looked on curiously at Hiruzen.

"My Hiruzen, if memory serves me right the sensitive matters are for shinobi only. This is a military village after all, isn't it" the man asked, getting a tired nod from Hiruzen who palmed his face with a tired sigh.

He had forgotten the last time the man had come had been only for Minato's funeral and to let out funds for the reparations of the village after the Kyuubi disaster and wasn't quite aware how much influence these swindlers had swindled off of him.

But enough as enough.

"Leave." he spoke coldly, quite surprising the whole council at the change in his tone from his usually warm to the one the clan heads had heard in times of war. They couldn't help but be a bit nostalgic, but the civilian side left knowing the elders would fill them in later on with whatever that went here in their absence and didn't want to make a scene in front of the Feudal Lord himself.

"Now that that is over with, let's get the issue of this adoption of Tsunade-chan over with." he got straight to the point, once more getting some alien looks from all the occupants of the room as if he had gone senile. He rose an eyebrow and realized they hadn't been made aware of it so he decided to humor the people himself.

"The adoption for our little one to one Tsunade Senju…" was all he could say before Homura had slammed his palms upon the table and both the Daimyo and Hokage sighed. This was going to take a while certainly.

"Hiruzen what blasphemy is this? You know as well as we do that thing cannot be adopted. I though it was clear the last time you and Danzo called for the vote on this matter." Danzo nodded in agreement, remembering his own voice in that meeting. It was no news to anyone he had wanted the boy for himself, and he was still figuring out whatever had happened to the last attempt he had made a few weeks back but this was certainly news to him.

"Why can he not be adopted elder councilman?" the Daimyo asked making the old coot smirk smugly while pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Because he's not a human." he said as if it were a world known fact surprising the feudal lord who looked on at the boy's slumped form hiding even more in his mother's shadow with a little knit of his eyebrows. It wasn't anything new to the blonde boy, he had been called many things before. For a while, he had even doubted that he wasn't human himself. But his mother told him he was, she must be telling the truth.

"Well he looks pretty human to me…" the man mumbled pointedly making Homura bristle angrily before Danzo stepped in.

"He's a jinchuriki my lord, as such he cannot be adopted for a balance of power." he spoke with logic in his voice and the man nodded gratefully at some words that finally made some sense to him.

"Jinchuriki or not, he's a child. I say we put in a vote in the matter. What say you esteemed council of Konoha?" he asked, getting a nod from them all.

"All say 'Hai'…" he raised his hand and was surprised when only Danzo, Hiruzen and Tsunade raised their hands.

"Well that was surprising, but we have the Hokage and myself in favor…" he was cut off by Danzo, he was getting a bit peeved by these annoying disturbances.

"That would need the signs of the entire Imperial Court along with your…" the crippled coot trailed off when the Daimyo unrolled a scroll upon the table with all the 57 signatures of the Imperial court in agreement.

"There that take cares of that, with this the council's vote is pointless. So now the only matter is for who it is that would adopt him…" once more his eye twitched when he was cut off by Danzo.

"I must I may be allowed to train the boy. A jinchuriki can be the essential power needed to show everyone the might of the Fire Nation. I will turn him completely loyal to Konoha…" he was cut off by the Daimyo.

"What about the well being of the boy?" he asked curiously, waving his fan for a bit of air in the hot room.

"He shall be in pristine physical condition I assure you. It would be too much of a waste to let such a resource go to waste…" he spoke stoically, making the Daimyo frown.

"Such greed…" he spoke in a dismissive tone when Danzo decided to lure the man in with his manipulative reasoning but Hiruzen stepped in.

"The paperwork has already been signed and approved by me personally. Tsunade wants to adopt the boy, only you say is needed my lord…" he spoke and the Daimyo smiled coyly.

"Permission granted. Now that this is over let's have some lunch…" he closed the matter and all jaws dropped around the council tables in unison when he slammed his ring upon the unfurled scroll for his personal seal and threw it to Hiruzen who rolled it up and put it in his sleeve with a smile.

Heh, he had still got it…

"You planned this from the start didn't you Sandaime?" Shikaku asked, seeing the completely smooth maneuver by his leader who merely smirked and got up to leave.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Shikaku, the council may be dismissed." he spoke while walking out with a smugly smiling Tsunade in tow with her official son by her side.

Sometimes no words were better to slap in those old goats.

"Oh we have no idea indeed…" the Daimyo chuckled, walking out with his guards leaving a completely baffled and stuped council behind him.

Danzo seethed in pure unadulterated fury at being outmaneuvered so slickly, only now did he see where his last plan had gone down and what it was that Hiruzen…no Tsunade had played at. The cane in his hand shook in the pressure he held it with.

She had used her Senju name to the fullest, that sly vixen had gotten the boy he had kept his eyes on for years in a matter of weeks. So many of his plans were crumbling apart…

But he would have the war even if Hiruzen had this battle, that much was a promise he made to himself.

"I must get back to the Fire Capital now…" the Daimyo suddenly spoke, surprising Hiruzen and Tsunade a lot.

"But you must have lunch…" Tsunade's plead was cut off with a laugh again.

"Oh we will have lunch, we shall have a nice lunch indeed. I'll have it prepared at my residence. I'll see you and the young man at the Fire Capital soon. The Senju compounds there are dying for some life in them again after so many years of isolation…" he chuckled out, leaving with a playful wave along with his guards by his side when he entered the small carriage parked out front of the Hokage Tower and his four carriers picked it up to leave for the capital.

"Well played Tsunade, it felt good having played a political card at them after so many years…" Hiruzen chuckled making her smile herself. She heard a small sniff only to see Naruto's quivering shoulders. She crouched down and raised his chin up to see him almost about to cry heavily.

"I'm not crying, I'm happy…" he mumbled cutely, she merely pulled his cheek upon her shoulder when he let loose and cried tears of joy that she was officially his mother and the start of his new life.

"No more tears now Naru-chan, I promise you. This is the last time you cry so let out all that you want now…" she whispered gently, cradling the sobbing boy gently while Hiruzen felt a bit of the the guilt and weight upon his shoulders to life off.

But he still had a lot to make up for, and Kami knew he might not ever make up for it all. But he had to try and make things right as much as he possibly could.

Author's notes : There is the next chapter. Hope you all liked it, nothing quite dark about it. The pairings I'm still undecided about so I cannot say as of yet who it might possibly be. A million ideas run through my head and I'm still up for some suggestions. Though Koyuki with a little twist is sounding like a rare pairing, that hasn't been done much. Even Izumi with a crazy and bloodthirsty possessive side or Kurenai with a gentle yet firm side seem plausible to me right now. So let's see where I go with it and please do leave your views on my writing in reviews if you do wish for further updates. I know I'm not a much well known author or a pretty nice one at that but I do try my best with what I have. So thank you all for your time in reading it.