"Huh? Wha? Sha-Sharingan?!" spluttered Sasuke in shock as Kisame stared at him open-mouthed while Itachi's eyes widened the slightest.

Naruto smirked. "Hoshigaki-san," he addressed, "I see you will be satisfied to see three sets of Sharingan today."

Kisame looked at him blankly. "You are not of Uchiha blood, though?" he stated plainly.

"Who said I wasn't?" asked Naruto, grinning. "Anyway, do you want me to fight you so I can force you to go away or will you leave on your will?"

Before they could answer, Sasuke cut them off: "This is my fight, Naruto!"

Naruto sighed, threw a senbon at one of Sasuke's neck points and he fell ndown in a temporary sleep.

Itachi closed his eyes and deactivated his Sharingan. "Let's go, Kisame. We shall come back another day. For now, let's go," he said as he flickered away, Kisame following after him.

Naruto sighed as he saw he was alone with Sasuke at his feet right outside of his house. What would the elders of the Konoha council say if they saw this? Although Naruto wasn't being abused by the villagers anymore as they didn't recognise him, the shinobi did and they would go to any lengths to fabricate an excuse for him to be exiled from Konoha.

Picking up Sasuke and sealing him in a scroll, Naruto flickered to the hospital once more.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It had been three days after Sasuke had been admitted to the hospital. Although his physical damage wasn't serious, he had to stay until the doctors considered whether or not his mental health was stable enough.

By then, Naruto had been getting on with other things. Konoha needed a new Hokage, and the candidate was Tsunade.

Jiraiya had picked up her location with his spy network and together with Naruto, they set off to find her.

It had been a day of travelling and they stopped at a restaurant for dinner. Jiraiya was busy writing down research material while Naruto was reading as they waited for their food but it was hard to do so when so many girls were drooling and whispering about him.

Jiraiya noticed and he smirked. "You want to know why all these women are blushing? It's because of me, the Great and Gallant Toad Sage Jiraiya! All the women are fawning over my beauty!"

Naruto looked up from his book and sweatdropped, but said nothing.

After they had finished the food, they were about to leave until they heard a commotion in the casino part of the restaurant.

"Puh! You give me money!" slurred a lady loudly.

The man she was talking to shook his head and placed his wallet back into his pocket. The lady saw this and her eyes filled with rage. Using her bare hands, she flipped over the whole table and all the cards, chips and coins rolled off.

The man stared at her in fear and quickly gave her some notes out of his wallet then ran fearfully out of the restaurant.

The lady laughed drunkenly while her companion stood there, nervous of the damage fees that would inevitably pay.

Jiraiya's eyes widened with recognition as he saw the lady: it was Tsunade!

He ran over to Tsunade and was about to greet her but Naruto beat her to it.

"Good evening, Tsunade-sama. I see you are fond of gambling," said Naruto smoothly.

Tsunade looked down at Naruto, her eyes half-lidded and droopy because of the sake.

"Whaddya want, brat?" she slurred, taking a sip of her sake.

The lady beside her paled and the pig she was holding started squealing.

"Tsunade-sama! We should go before we cause any more trouble!" the lady said.

"Shuddup Shizune. You quiet down TonTon. Lemme stay. I wanna hear what the brat has to say," said Tsunade as the lady known as Shizune tried calming down her pig.

Before Naruto could say anything, Jiraiya had cut in.

"Tsunade!" he screamed, pointing at her.

"Wha?! Jiraiya?!" she said, looking at him incredulously.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tsunade, Shizune (with TonTon in her hands), Naruto and Jiraiya was sitting down at a table and looking awkwardly at each other. Jiraiya decided to strike up a conversation.

"So...how's life out of Konoha been, Tsunade?"

Naruto sighed. "Let's get straight to the point," he said impatiently. "Tsunade-sama, Konoha had required that you come back to be the Fifth Hokage. You know what happened to the Third, right?"

"Orochimaru did it, right? I heard about it...he told me directly," said Tsunade.

Naruto sighed once more. "I assume he came, to ask you to fix his arms?"

Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise. "H-How did you know?" she stuttered.

Naruto eye-rolled. "Deductive reasoning," he said as if that explained it all. "Anyway, what's your answer, are you going to become Hokage or not?"

"Impossible! I refuse!" said Tsunade resolutely.

"Pft," scoffed Naruto. "Thought so..."

"Hey brat, don't talk to me like that. You're no better!" taunted Tsunade.

"Well at least I don't run away from things like a coward!" he countered.

"To risk your life for the village then lose, that's a fool's doing! My grandfather and his brother only wanted to protect the village to subdue war. The Fourth Hokage was a strong shinobi but he died instantly. What's even the point of becoming the Hokage if you're still essentially nothing?! Hokage is a bother. No one but a fool would be one."

"Don't insult the Yondaime. A fool may be a Hokage but scum is for people who are pathetic cowards, like you," said Naruto plainly.

Tsunade growled in rage. "What did you just say, brat?! Let's take this outside."

Naruto smirked. "Picking a fight with me, heh? If I win, you will come back to Konoha and become the Hokage, alright?"

"Sure, brat. And I'll even give you this necklace," replied Tsunade.

"Lady Tsunade! Even the necklace. It's—"

"Shaddup Shizune! I can beat the brat with just one finger."

Naruto smirked. "You'll regret saying that."

Tsunade scoffed. "Bring it on, brat."

Naruto stood there on the spot and before Tsunade could react, Naruto had teleported behind her and placed senbon to her neck.

"Wha?! Hirashin?! When?! Where's the kunai?! How?!" stuttered Tsunade in shock.

Naruto just smirked. "You shouldn't underestimate me, Tsunade-sama. It seems like you will be Konoha's new Hokage and you owe me a necklace"

"Argh, brat, one more try," growled Tsunade. "If you win against me in a game of cards and you manage to convince me on why I should become the Hokage, I will do so. If I win...you give me all the valuables you have."

"B-But Tsunade-sama! You can't!" interjected Shizune.

Tsunade glared at her. Shizune said nothing.

Naruto smirked. "Bring it on, dattebayo!" he exclaimed, grinning.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tsunade stared at Naruto in astonishment. That brat was not be underestimated. Not only had he defeated her in a battle, but also gambling.

"Alright, alright, I'll come back with you to be Hokage," sighed Tsunade. "Why are you so desperate for me to be a Hokage though?"

"Tsunade, you do not want to come back to Konoha as you do not want to face your past. Think about it. Isn't that cowardly of you? As a superb medic-nin yourself, isn't it superficial that you're scared of blood? Your loved ones die for a greater cause yet your denying the fact that they did. Don't you realise that this made their sacrifices in vain? It's selfish."

When Tsunade had heard Naruto, realisation and guilt dawned on her. All these years she had thought that Dan and Nawaki had run away from their problems, however, all along, she was the one who was running away, not them.

"So...whaddya say, Tsunade? Hokage?" proposed Jiraiya.

Tsunade nodded her head firmly. "Hokage. And Naruto, thank you. Thank you for making me see light."

Naruto threw her a smirk. "No problem. Now let's go back to Konoha tomorrow."

Tsunade grinned and Shizune smiled gently at her. It was time to go back to there home. Even TonTon agreed and she squealed. Jiraiya chuckled.

The next day, Tsunade and Shizune were busy packing up their things. Luckily for Jiraiya and Naruto, they knew fuinjutsu so they were able to seal all their belongings efficiently in a scroll.

They were halfway to Konoha...then...Orochimaru...

"Heh, Tsssunade. I sssee you have accepted the role of Hokage. Replacing the old man, and rejecting my offer?"

Tsunade scoffed. "Me healing your arms so you won't lay hands on the village and that I could see...them one last time..."

"Tssssuande, you know I am capable of doing it," said Orochimaru.

Naruto eye-rolled. "We all know what your capabilities of keeping a promise, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru's smirk morphed into a scowl. "Naruto, I thought ssso. Ever the person to ruin my plansss. I would have come to you so you could heal my armsss but I guessss you were always the one for morals. Too bad...you could have been the perfect vessssel and be granted of desirable power and luxury."

"We know that's not true, Orochimaru. Vessels are your tool to gain immortality," stated Naruto icily.

"Heh, ever so perceptive. Let'ssss go, Kabuto. We will fight in the future," said Orochimaru plainly.

"How strong is that brat for Orochimaru to retreat without a fight?!" thought Tsunade.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After their encounter with Orochimaru, it had only made Tsunade more determined to be the Fifth Hokage so she could protect Konoha.

Jiraiya smiled at Naruto's abilities to change people. That was one powerhouse kid.

After returning home from his mission, Naruto finally knew who Hiruzen had made chunin just before his death: Nara Shikamaru. Out of all the participants, he was the only one who got promoted even though he forfeited his match.

Naruto sighed as he knew why Hiruzen didn't promote him even though he was, in every right, he was beyond the chunin level.

Because Sasuke was not promoted, Naruto had to stay genin to still be on the same team as him. After all, Naruto's mission of protecting Sasuke hadn't finished. At least he didn't have to keep up such an immature and tiring mask anymore.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Naruto started walking towards the hospital. Sakura had told him that she was visiting Sasuke today so he thought it would be good to visit as well.

He stood outside of Sasuke's room and saw Sakura attempting to speak to him but Sasuke just ignored her. Finally, Naruto went in.

"Hi Sakura! Hi Sasuke!" he greeted, smiling.

Sasuke glared at him.

"What's wrong, Sasuke? Why are you staring at me like that?" asked Naruto suspiciously.

Sasuke glared at him even harder. "Fight me, Naruto! NOW!"

Sakura stared at him in horror. "Wh-What are you talking about, Sasuke-kun? You can't just fight Naruto. Besides, you haven't healed y—"

"SHUT UP!" screamed Sasuke.

Naruto sighed. "Sakura's right, you know. You haven't fully healed yet. Do realise that I was the one who healed you. We can have a spar once you're healed."

Sasuke growled. "FIGHT, NOW!"

Naruto sighed once more. In a flash, he pinned Sasuke down on the hospital bed.

"LET. ME. GO."

Naruto eye-rolled. "Stay until you know how to talk sense, Sasuke. You're too arrogant," reprimanded Naruto and then he flickered away, leaving Sasuke to seethe about Naruto's abilities.

It wasn't fair. He had trained every day non-stop from morning to night when he wasn't occupied with missions yet why was Naruto still stronger than him?

After Sakura had left, it was already nighttime. Sasuke decided to go outside and walk around.

He heard the rustling of leaves and his ears pricked up, fully alert. Then four shinobi came hurtling out of the darkness and started attacking him. Sasuke was strong but he wasn't in good shape and he had a huge disadvantage: it was four to one.

Eventually, Sasuke was defeated.

"Come with us! Orochimaru-sama will give you strength!" stated the only female shinobi.

Sasuke's eyes widened. Was this the answer?

"If it is power you seek, come to Orochimaru. He will give you unbelievable power. Come here tomorrow night, if you accept. There really is only one option."

And the four shinobi disappeared, leaving Sasuke there to think about what they had said. It only took a few minutes before he made his decision.

Sasuke rushed home and started packing. He seethed as he thought about everyone stronger than him. Naruto, Lee, Gaara, Kakashi and...Itachi...

To be able to avenge his clan and fulfil his true purpose of living, he had to gain power and Orochimaru was someone who could help him accomplish all of that...he was not going to miss this opportunity.

Tomorrow night came.

Sasuke was about to head out to the village gate but someone was blocking his way...Sakura.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hey-reader chans! Back again with another update...and left you on a cliffhanger, hehe. Update schedules are a bit more regular now. I don't think I'll be updating until next week. I have to finish my finance assignment :( but who knows, I might squeeze in an update.

Thank you for all the support and all the reads so far! If you have any story ideas or suggestions, please message me. Remember, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, please!

Sasuke is going to be a rebel now. Is he going to successfully leave the village though? Who knows what author-chan is thinking, hehe? Read the next few chapters to find out more! Bye!