Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Days Off and The Council!

It has been one month since the battle on the bridge. The bridge was finally complete, and the Land of Waves was now connected to the Land of Fire. Even though it took one month, Tazuna had finished the bridge ahead of schedule thanks to Naruto's clones and the villagers not being scared of Gato anymore. In the past month, a lot has happened to the Land of Waves and its people thanks to the shinobis of the Leaf Village. Naruto and his sensei had used their wood release to help rebuild the houses in the village. In some cases, they completely broke down some houses and rebuilt them new. Naruto made more fruit-bearing trees grow in the surrounding area to provide some food for the people along with help some of the men fish and hunt for meat. He had also handed all the money he took from Gato's mansion along with some of the valuable items he gathered over to the villager so they can rebuild their lives. The lives of the people in the Land of Waves were starting to return to the way it was before Gato showed up and in their eyes, it was all thanks to Naruto.

Naruto was probably the busiest person in the entire Wave country over the past month. When he was not helping the villagers rebuild their lives, he was busy getting Senju Enterprise underway. He had originally planned to ask Tazuna to oversee things for him here in the Wave Country, but the old man refused, claiming he has no expertise in the business. He instead pointed Naruto in the direction of his daughter who apparently is a natural when it comes to business affairs. Apparently, Tsunami is the one who manages the finances for Tazuna's construction business while the old man simply builds stuff. It took some convincing, but Naruto managed to get to agree to work for him after he told her that the Land of Waves would get 30% of the profit from transactions done there.

In the past month, Naruto and Tsunami had gone through all of Gato's documents and records in order to figure out where all of his hubs were for trading and who his suppliers were. The first thing they did was send out messages to all the hubs that the company was now under new ownership. They made it clear to all the hubs that employees previously employed by Gato were welcome to stay on so long as they accepted to work for the new owner. Those that do not wish to recognize the change in ownership should consider themselves unemployed. Gato had shipping hubs in a lot of minor countries and hidden villages along with having hubs in both the Village Hidden in the Mist and the Village Hidden in the Clouds. The majority of the hubs and suppliers responded back to Naruto and Tsunami agreeing to stay on while the hub in the Cloud Village and a few other minor countries did not respond. Naruto told Tsunami to cast them aside and consider them not part of the company. The second thing they did was cut ties with a few suppliers who supplied Gato with his illegal goods like drugs. After a few weeks of getting everyone in line, Senju Enterprises began operations much to Naruto's delight.

Currently, Naruto and his sensei along with Team 7 back on the soils of the Land of Fire in front of the entrance of the now completed bridge. There was a large crowd in front of them. All the villagers had come to see them off and to thank them once more. Tazuna and his family were all standing in the front of the crowd smiling at the group of Leaf Shinobis.

"We could have never finished the bridge with you," Tazuna said with a grateful smile on his face. "You all have gone above and beyond for us. Words cannot express how profoundly grateful we are to you all," he said while his daughter and the villagers behind him all nod their heads in agreement.

"Do be careful!" Tsunami said with a warm smile on her face while holding a clipboard with some papers in her hands.

"Thank you for your kind hospitality this past month," Kakashi said with a one-eyed smile.

"Think nothing of it," Tazuna said while waving his hands. "You all are always welcome here any time you wish," he added with a smile causing a few of the villagers to shout in agreement.

"Now, now, don't go getting all mushy on us," Naruto said with a warm smile. "We'll come to visit again," he added.

"You promise you will?" Inari said as he began to cry slightly causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow at him. Shaking his head slightly Naruto walked up and bopped the little body on his head with his fist.

"I have a business to run here. Of course, I'm coming back," Naruto as he hit the boy on the head.

"Ow! You big meanie!" Inari yelled as tears streamed out of his eyes causing everyone to chuckle. Naruto shoot his head before he turned to the Tsunami and spoke.

"Take care of things here," he said with a smile. "I'll be in touch regularly," he added causing her to smile and nod.

"You got it...boss," he said causing him to chuckle before turning to the old man.

"Try not to be a pain in the ass for Tsunami and the rest of the village," Naruto said in a teasing tone causing Tazuna's eyebrow to twitch while the villagers burst out laughing.

"Why you damn brat!" Tazuna yelled while shaking his fist in the air.

"Naruto, time to hit the road," Yamato called out from behind Naruto causing the blonde to nod his head before waving goodbye to everyone. The group of Leaf shinobis then began walking away from the bridge and villagers.

"It is all thanks to that boy that we were able to finish the bridge," Tazuna said as they all watch the group walking away. "It is thanks to him the Wave country is back to its former glory," he added with a proud look on his face.

"And with his company being here the country to prosper even more than it did before," Tsunami added causing everyone to nod. "With this bride and his company, the Land of Wave has an incredibly bright future," she added with a smile.

"Speaking of the bridge, what are you going to name it now that it is completed, Tazuna," one of the villagers asked. Tazuna did not even take a second to think about it before he responded.

"The Great Naruto Bridge," he proclaimed proudly as he stared at the fading images of the group walking away.

"That's a wonderful name," Tsunami said while the others shouted a chorus of agreement.

*With Naruto*

The group of shinobis was currently walking through the forest of the Land of Fire on their way back to the Leaf Village. Kakashi and Yamato were at the rear of the group watching all of their students while Sasuke and Sakura were at the front of the pack leaving Naruto and Sai in the middle. From the moment they left the bridge, Sakura began pestering Sasuke about going on a date with her much to the annoyance of the Uchiha and everyone else in the group. Naruto honestly did not understand why the girl was so obsessed with the Uchiha. The boy clearly had no interest in her, yet she continues to pursue him. Not wanting to listen to the pink-haired girl making a fool of herself, he decided to turn to the two jonin senseis behind them and ask a question.

"Can we pick up the pace, sensei?" he asked as he looked back with a pleading expression on his face. Getting the general idea as to why the blonde wanted to pick up the pace the two jonin chuckled together before Kakashi spoke.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" the one-eyed jonin asked in a teasing manner. "Not enjoying the peaceful atmosphere?" he asked causing Yamato to chuckle.

"There is nothing peaceful about this atmosphere," Naruto replied with a groan causing the two jonins to chuckle.

"Alright then, let's pick it up," Kakashi said loudly to get everyone's attention. The two jonins and four genins then jumped up onto the trees of the forest and began tree hopping towards the village at a decent pace. They could not push as much as Naruto would have like due to the other genins not being able to keep up.

*Next Day*

It took the group an entire day to reach the Leaf village having to stop and take breaks periodically because of Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke had done a better job keeping up, but Sakura seriously lacked stamina. Seeing that the girl would have collapsed if they chose to keep going through the night, Kakashi and Yamato decided that they should stop and rest for the night before resuming their journey at sunrise. That is exactly what they did and now they were all standing in front of the village gates.

"Home sweet home," Naruto said with a grin on his face as he stared through the gates and into the village. The group then began making their way to the guard station at the gates to check-in.

"Team 7 and 11 returning from C-rank missions," Kakashi said as he arrived at the two chunins assigned at the guard station.

"Ah, Kakashi and Yamato," one of the guards said. "Welcome back," they greeted as they make a note of their return in the logs.

"Hey Izumo, hey Kotetsu," Naruto greeted with a smile causing the two chunins to smile at him.

"Naruto!" the duo shouted happily getting the attention of a few villagers and causing Naruto to chuckle.

"Anything interesting happened while we were away?" he asked causing the two guards to shake their heads.

"No, it's been pretty boring," Izumo said in a bored tone as he slouched forward.

"A few of the villagers were complaining that you weren't around as much," Kotetsu said while Izumo nodded.

"Apparently Team 11 was greatly missed by the villagers," Izumo added causing a look of jealousy to appear on the faces of Sasuke and Sakura while Sai just had a creepy smile on his face. Naruto chuckled slightly with a bashful look on his face causing his sensei to take on an amused look while looking at his student.

"By the way Kakashi," Kotetsu said in a serious voice while looking at the silver-haired jonin. "Lord Hokage said to report to him as soon as your teams returned," he informed causing the join to nod before turning to the two teams.

"Let's go report to the Hokage," he said earning a nod from all of the genins. The group then began walking through the village on their way to the Hokage's office. As they walked through the village, villagers would stop and greet Sasuke and Naruto with warm smiles on their faces. Sasuke would just ignore all of them while he kept a cold look on his face. Naruto, on the other hand, smiled warmly with every villager that greeted him while kindly greeting a few of them back. As the teams reached the door to the Hokage's office, Kakashi stepped forward and knocked before waiting a few seconds.

"Enter!" a familiar voice commanded causing the join to open the door and the two teams walked into the room to find the age-old Hokage sitting behind his desk smoking his pipe with two large piles of papers on either side of his desk.

"Team 7 and Team 11 reporting back from their C-rank missions," Kakashi said as he and Yamato stood forward while Naruto than the other genins stood behind them.

"Welcome back," The third Hokage said warmly as stared at the group with a relieved look on his face as he saw that they had all returned unharmed before a stern look appeared on his face as he turned his attention to Kakashi. "Yamato, why don't you report on your mission first," he added never taking his eyes off the silver-haired jonin letting everyone know that the Hokage was not too pleased with Kakashi at the moment.

"Right!" Yamato said before he began giving the details of his and Naruto's mission to eliminate the bandits near Tanzaku Quarters. The Hokage and Team 7 were incredibly impressed with Naruto and his sensei after hearing the mission report. The Hokage was even more impressed with the way Naruto conducted himself on the mission not freezing up after his first kill. Most shinobi would need a few minutes to gather themselves after conducting the act, but he was pleased to hear Naruto concluded the mission and then he dealt with his emotions afterward. Overall, the Hokage was extremely pleased.

"Great job you two," the Hokage complimented causing Naruto to smile. "We also received reports from Tanzaku Quarters of travelers no longer being harassed by bandits, so job well done," he said with a smile before reaching into his desk and pull out two storage scrolls and handed them to Yamato and Naruto. "Here is your payment for the mission," he said as Naruto and Yamato stepped forwards and called their respected scrolls.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage," the two said simultaneously with a bow as they accepted the scrolls causing the old man to smile at them before he turned to Kakashi with a serious look on his face.

"Now you, Kakashi!" The third Hokage commanded raising his voice slightly. Kakashi chuckled nervously before he began to recount the details of their mission starting with their encounter with the Demon Brothers and his first fight with Zabuza to the battle on the bridge. To say that the third Hokage was surprised to hear Naruto was one to deal the final blow to Zabuza would be an understatement. However, when he found out Naruto killed about fifty thugs that worked for Gato in an instant he was even more shocked. As shocked as he was, however, he was equally impressed. Kakashi then detailed the aftermath of the fight and the rebuilding of the Wave Country. It made the Hokage smile when he heard of Yamato and Naruto's efforts to help the people of the Wave country. The kindness that Naruto showed reminded the third Hokage of his sensei, the First Hokage.

"He is a lot like you, Lord Hashirama," the old man thought with a fond smile on his face as he took a puff of his pipe.

"That was some excellent work from you all," he said as he looked at the newly minted genin. "This mission will go down in the official records as an A-rank mission, however, you all will only receive a C-rank mission payment due to the client only paying for such," he informed causing everyone to nod their heads in understanding. "I believe both teams earned some time off to relax," he added causing everyone to smile. "Team 7 you will get all of today and tomorrow off while Team 11 will get all of today and the next two days off due to you completing back-to-back missions," the Hokage said causing everyone to nod their heads once again.

"Thank you, Lord Third!" the genin all said with a bow causing the old man to chuckle.

"Okay, all of you are dismissed," he said as he waved them off. "Except you, Kakashi," he added sternly as the jonin was about to leave. Yamato and all of the genin then exited the Hokage's office. As the doors close behind them, they could hear the Hokage yelling at Kakashi. Shaking his head at the plight his friend was in, he turned his student and spoke as Team 7 went their separate ways.

"We'll meet at our regular training ground after two days at 6 am sharp," he commanded causing Naruto to nod in understanding. "Enjoy your days off," he said before holding up a half ram seal and disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto then held up a half ram seal of his own and disappeared from the Hokage's building in a swirl of cherry blossom leaves. He reappeared in front of the gates of the Senju compound in a similar fashion to which he disappeared. Unlocking the security seal on the gate, he walked into the compound to see it was just the way he left it. Locking the gates behind him he made his way to the main house and packed away his stuff. He placed his dirty clothes in the laundry basket before he made his way to the kitchen to see what he had to eat. Opening the fridge, he saw that a lot of the stuff that was there had gone bad causing him to sigh.

"I'm going to have to do some grocery shopping," he said as he closed the fridge and shook his head. He then walked to the hidden door leading to the vault and unlocked it for walking down the flight of stairs and unlocking the second door and walking into the vault filled with priceless scrolls and weapons. At the corner of the vault was a desk. Naruto walked up to the desk ad slicked his wrist unsealing the documents he got from Gato onto the desk. He then organized them the way he wanted before exiting the vault and resealing it as he left. Naruto then made his way to his bedroom where he stripped off all of his clothes and wrapped himself in a towel before making his way to the private hot spring located behind the main house.

**Under the Leaf Village**

Deep under the Leaf village a frail old man with a cane in his left hand and bandages wrapped around the right side of his head completely coving his right eye was standing in front of a young shinobi who was kneeling in front of him. If Naruto were here, he would recognize this shinobi as Sai from Team 7.

"I have something to report on Naruto Senju, Lord Danzo," Sai said as he looked to the old man now identified as Danzo with an impassive look on his face.

"Are the rumors true?" Danzo asked as he stared down at his subordinate.

"Yes, he possesses the wood release bloodline of the First Hokage," Sai said in an emotionless tone. "I witnessed it with my own eyes," he added causing the old man to nod.

"How proficient is he in using it?" Danzo asked the boy.

"He appears to be extremely proficient in using it," he said causing the old man to grip his cane tightly hearing the reply. It was not the reply for which he was hoping. He was hoping Sai would tell him that the blonde was not that proficient with his bloodline which would all him to offer to help the boy learn to use his bloodline and in turn bring the boy over to his side but that was not the case. "He appears to be more proficient with it than his sensei," Sai added causing Danzo to grit his teeth before he responded.

"That is to be expected," he said as he grits his teeth in frustration. "He is the real deal while his sensei is just a copy," he added before letting out a small sigh. "Now the boy has access to the Senju clan's extensive library along with all of the First Hokage's jutsu scrolls. His proficiency from here on will only get better," he said with frustration ever so present in his voice.

"What are your orders, Lord Danzo?" Sai asked emotionlessly as he bowed his head.

"Leave the Senju to me," Danzo said to his subordinate. "The third Hokage's teachings were probably ingrained into him since he was a baby by his grandmother," he said with a scowl. "He may be beyond our grasp, but the Uchiha isn't," he added.

"Sasuke Uchiha has awakened his Sharigan," Sai reported causing Danzo to nod in satisfaction.

"Good, he is coming along nicely," Danzo said while nodding. "I should approach him soon," he said.

"Continue with your mission and continue to gather information on the Senju," Danzo ordered while looking down at Sai. "We must know the extent of his abilities in case he needs to be eliminated," he added.

"As you wish, Lord Danzo," Sai said with a bow.

"Dismissed!" Danzo said as he stamped his cane on the ground causing Sai to vanish in a puff of smoke.

"Damn you Hiruzen!" Danzo thought to himself as he stared out into the darkness. "First you are hiding the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and now you hid a Senju who possesses the first Hokage's bloodline from me!" Danzo thought angrily. In his mind, the third Hokage was playing him for a fool. "That boy would have made the perfect weapon for the village," he thought while shaking his head and walking away.

"I will have my day, Hiruzen. I will have my day," he said as he walked away into the darkness.

**With Naruto**

Dressed in long black pants and a white t-shirt with the Senju clan's symbol on the back, Naruto put on his sandals and began making his way out of the house. After all the food in the fridge had gone bad, he decided he was going to eat out. Exiting the compound and locking the gates, Naruto began strolling down the street. The sun had already set, and the stars were out. The street was illuminated by streetlights and the hidden Leaf's nightlife was in full swing. As he was walking, few people would recognize him and greet him to which he returned their greetings. After walking for about fifteen minutes, Naruto came to a halt in front of a ramen shop with the 'Ichiraku Ramen' written on the front.

"Ramen!" Naruto thought as he smiled and licked his lips before entering the ramen stand.

"Welcome!" the old ramen chef said from behind the counter with a warm smile. "What can I get for you?" he asked as Naruto sat down on one of the stools.

"One large bowl of miso ramen!" Naruto said in an excited tone to the ramen chef.

"One large miso ramen coming right up!" the ramen chef said before he turned and looked further into the shop. "Ayame! One Large bowl of miso ramen!" he shouted to someone in the back.

"Coming right up, dad!" a girl shouted back. Two minutes later a large bowl of steaming hot ramen was in front of Naruto.

"Thanks for the food!" Naruto shouted before he dug into his food. The moment the taste of ramen hit his pallet his eyes went wide. Swallowing the mouthful of noodles, he turned to the ramen chef and his daughter and spoke with stars in his eyes. "This is the best ramen I have ever eaten!" he said with a jubilant look on his face.

"Haha! Glad you like it, young man," the old man said with a warm smile while his daughter nodded.

"I'll have another bowl please," Naruto said while his mouth was filled with noodles. Chuckling at the blonde's enthusiasm, the ramen chef began preparing another bowl.

At the end of it all, Naruto ate five bowls of ramen before finally stopping himself. His grandmother would probably kill him if she found out he ate any more. Paying the ramen chef who he learned was named Teuchi, he began making his way back home. Upon arriving back in the compound, Naruto went down to the basement where the library was located. Upon unlocking the seals and he entered the large library which he previously had his clones read everything that was in there but there was still some stuff that bothered him. Making ten shadow clones Naruto turned to them and gave out orders.

"Five of you go over there and read those scrolls about my great-great-grandfather's wood release once more," he ordered to the first five clones before he turned to the second set. "You five go find some books on advanced nature transformation techniques," he said causing the clones to all nod and began moving their respected sections. The original Naruto then began walking through the library getting a good look at everything for himself. When he got to the very end of the library, he saw a painting was hanging on the wall.

"This is an odd place for a painting," He thought to himself as he examined the painting. It was a painting of a raging whirlpool. Naruto had to admit, it was well painted. It was probably in the library a long time, but the colors were still vibrant and vivid. Looking closely at the painting he could see some ruins written into the image causing his eyebrows to raise.

"Well, this is interesting," he said to himself. Reaching out and placing his palm on the painting, he channeled chakra into it causing a sealing array to become visible. Examining it he could see that it was a similar security seal to the one that was on the hidden door to the vault. Evaluating his hypothesis, he bit his thumb and smeared some blood over the seal before pulsing his chakra in a specific pattern. A second after that a larger sealing formula appeared before a wooden door revealed itself. Opening the door and causing the lights to turn on automatically, Naruto saw an empty chamber with a stone slab in the center of the chamber. Narrowing his eyes and stepping into the room, Naruto could see sealing ruins and kanji were written all along the floor, walls, and ceiling. All of them seem to originate from or leading to the stone slab in the middle. Examining everything while moving closer to the stone, Naruto could not help but be impressed by everything.

"This is some advanced stuff," He thought while looking around. He understood some of what he was looking at but there was still a lot that he did not fully understand. His knowledge of sealing jutsus he got from his godfather Jiraiya who was a competent seals master but was still very lacking, especially when compared to the Fourth Hokage and the Uzumaki clan.

"From what I can make out this seems to be the master sealing matrix for the security seals around the compound," Naruto noted as he examined the seals further. It was an intricate and complex security seal made up of a combination of other seals that each serve a different function when it comes to the overall defense of the compound. There were blood seals to recognize Senju blood, but there was a separate seal spliced into the blood seal to allow none Senju clan members to enter the compound by having their blood recorded into the seal. There were a few barrier seals linked to the blood seal that prevented anyone not part of the blood records from entering the compound. Not the mention the numerous lethal traps linked to each barrier seal designed to trigger if anyone tries to breach the compound or one of the barriers.

"Man, the Uzumaki clan sure were something," Naruto thought as he continued to examine the seals. "No doubt this was set by Grandma Mito," he thought as he remembered hearing stories about the woman from his grandmother growing up. Hashirama Senju may have been feared as the God of Shinobi, but his wife was a force to be reckoned with, especially with it came to fuinjutsu. Smiling slightly to himself, Naruto bit his thumb once more and smeared blood across the sealing formula before placing his right palm over it and pulsing his chakra in a specific pattern. After finishing with the last pulse, the seals in the entire chamber lit up illuminating the room even brighter. After two seconds of glowing, Naruto felt a stinging pain from his right palm which was resting on the stone causing him to wince slightly. The pain did not last long, after five seconds it went away causing Naruto to remove his palm from the stone and look at it. When he looked down at the inside of his palm, he saw a smaller version of the sealing matrix in his palm causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Well, this is new," he said to himself as he stared at the small seal in his palm. As he was staring at it, the seal began to fade away as though it was being absorbed into his skin. After the seal vanished from his palm his eyes widen in slight shock. "This is..." he trailed off as he felt control over the security seal around the entire compound. "...master control of the security seal!" he said with a smile as he realized that he no longer had to lock and lock the seals on the gate every time he left the compound. Now all he needs to do was lock it and he should be able to exit and enter without any risk. Smiling to himself Naruto exited the chamber and resealed the door before making his way out of the library leaving his lines in the to continue their research. He then made his way to his bedroom in order to get some sleep.

**Next Day**

It was around seven in the morning; the sun was already up in the sky above the Hidden Leaf Village. Standing in the kitchen of the main house of the Senju compound was Naruto dressed in long black cargo pants and a black long-sleeved muscle t-shirt that clung to his body showing off his well-toned muscles. He was drinking a cup of coffee staring out into the backyard planning his day and mulling over the information the clones gathered in the library last night. Thanks to him having two days off, he figured he should get some training done along with cleaning up the compound a bit. Finishing his coffee, Naruto exited the main house and stood in the main courtyard of the compound. Snapping his fingers, he caused a single shadow clone to appear in front of him.

"I need you to go buy groceries and restock the kitchen," he said as he reached into his pocket and tossed his frog-shaped wallet to the clone.

"You got it, boss!" the clone said as it caught the wallet before disappearing in a swirl of cherry blossom leaves. Naruto then made the clone hand seal before he spoke.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted causing a large puff of smoke to appear in front of him. When the smoke cleared, 50 identical copies of Naruto were all standing there staring at the original. Flicking his wrist Naruto activated the storage steal on his wrist unsealing a medium-sized storage scroll. He then tossed the scroll into the air before holding up a half ram seal causing a puff of smoke to surround the scroll before fifty smaller scrolls rained down from the sky into the hands of each of the clones.

"Inside each of those scrolls are brushes with ink and sealing papers," he said impassively as he watched every clone caught a scroll. "I want you all to practice some of the sealing techniques the other clones learned from the library," he commanded before pointing to one of the empty houses in the compound and spoke again. "Use one of those houses to work if you want," he added.

"Sure thing, boss!" the 50 clones said simultaneously before making their way to unoccupied houses. As that set of clones went out to do their jobs, Naruto once again held up the clone hand seal before shouting once more.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he yelled as he put a bit more chakra into this one. There was a large puff of smoke in front of Naruto, far larger than the one previously. As the cloud of smoke disappeared, a large group of about 150 clones stood in front of the original Naruto.

"I want you all to clean up the compound!" Naruto said loudly to the clones. "Cut the grass, trim the hedges, uproot all of those dead flowers around the trees, and trim the trees!" he ordered causing the group clones to groan.

"Can't we hire someone to do this?" one brave clone asked causing Naruto's eyebrow to twitch slightly before he turned to the clone and snapped his finger causing the clone to disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Anyone else got any complaints?" he asked while eyeing each clone.

"Nope!" one replied.

"None from me," another said while holding up its hands.

"I like doing hard labor," another said amusing Naruto.

"Me too!" chimed in another clone.

"Alright enough!" Naruto shouted silencing all of them. "Get to work!" he commanded causing the clones to scatter. Sighing to himself while shaking his head, Naruto placed his hands in his pocket and began walking in the direction of the private training ground inside the compound. Similar to when he first visited the training ground on his first day in the village, Naruto was taken in the beautiful sights of the compound as he walked through it. Upon arrival at the large training ground, the blonde made his way to the center of the training ground before once again holding up the clone hand seal.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted as he channeled way more chakra into the technique than before. The was a large puff of smoke that covered the entire training ground. When the cloud of smoke vanished, the entire training ground was filled with identical copies of Naruto. There had to be over 2000 shadow clones in the training ground all standing there looking at the original Naruto standing in the center.

"Listen up!" Naruto shouted loudly getting all of the clones' attention. "I want you all to create a wooden pillar in front of you!" he shouted causing the clones to do as they were told. It did not take five seconds before the entire training ground was filled with over 2000 wooden pillars about ten feet tall and two feet wide. "Our main goal over these next two days is to increase our affinity to both water and earth chakra natures!" he shouted as he walked between a few clones and pillars. "By the end of these two days, our control over the water and earth chakra natures should be equal to or greater than our control over the wind nature! Are we clear!?" he shouted/asked.

"Yes, boss!" 2000 clones shouted back causing Naruto to smile.

"Alright then," he said with a smirk. "Half of you focus on water, while the other half focus on earth," he said as he made his way to one of the corners of the training ground. Each of the clones then placed their hands on their respected wooden pillar and began using their chakra to either try and soak the entire wood pillar or turn the pillar to dirt. As the clones were working and Naruto was weaving through each of them, they all suddenly stopped as the memory from one of the clones cleaning the compound registered in their heads.

** A Few moments earlier**

In front of the gates of the Senju Compound, a single shinobi wearing an animal-style porcelain mask that resembled an eagle landed in front of the open gates and tried to walk into the compound. As he was about to enter the compound, the Anbu operative walked right into what would appear to be an invisible wall.

"What the!?" the eagle masked Anbu said/asked in confusion before walking back up and reaching out with his hand touching the invisible barrier. "A barrier of some kind," he noted in fascination.

"Something I can help you with?" came a voice from the other side of the barrier knocking the Anbu out of his thought.

"Lord Senju!" the Anbu said in surprise as he saw Naruto standing in front of him on the other side of the barrier holding some withered-up flowers in his hands. "Lord Hokage has summoned the council. Your presence is requested," the Anbu informed causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow.

"Well, I am just a shadow clone," the 'Naruto' in front of the Anbu said surprising the man. "I'll let the boss know though," he said before dispelling himself and dropping all of the dried-up flowers before the eagle Anbu could say anything else.

**With Naruto Present Time**

After receiving the clone's memory, Naruto sighed to himself as he turned to the large group of shadow clones in the training ground and saw all of them looking at him.

"You all continue with what you are doing. I'll go to the council meeting," he said causing all of them to nod their head and returned to their training. Naruto then held up a half ram seal and disappeared in a swirl of cherry blossom leaves only to appear at the front gates in a similar fashion surprising the Anbu operative. "Where is the council chamber?" he asked as he appeared. Without missing a beat, the Anbu agent replied.

"It is located in the basement of the building which the Hokage's office is," the eagle masked Anbu replied. "The session starts in ten minutes," he added before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Naruto utilized the body flicker technique once more to vanish from in front of the compound to in front of the building where the Hokage's office was in. Putting an impassive expression on his face, Naruto entered the building only giving a slight nod to people who greeted him along the way. As he entered the building he stood in the main lobby and looked around trying to find a stairway or something that leads to the basement. As he was standing in the lobby looking around, the same eagle masked Anbu agent landed on the ground beside him.

"Lord Senju," the Anbu said from beside Naruto. "This way please," he said before he started walking towards a door located to the eastern side of the lobby. Following the Anbu agent, they walked through the door and down a flight of stairs into the basement of the building. The eagle masked Anbu then lead Naruto in front of two large beautifully designed double doors and spoke. "This is the council chambers," he said in an impassive voice. "Everyone is already inside," he added.

"Thank you, Eagle," Naruto said as he turned to the two double doors. The Anbu agent nodded before disappearing from beside Naruto. Taking a deep breath, Naruto pushed open both doors and stepped into the council chambers. As he stepped into the chambers, he saw there were three long conference tables arranged in a 'U' shape with two of them laying vertical on either side of the chamber while one laid horizontal at the head of the other two. There was a sizeable gap between the two vertical tables where someone who is called before the council would stand. Seated at the table on the left were the shinobi council most of whom were clan heads like Naruto, while on the table to the right sat the members of the civilian council. They were mostly rich merchants and business owners in the Leaf village. Sitting at the horizontal table which connected the other two by himself was the Hokage. He was sitting in the center of the table in a large throne-like chair with a large red banner hanging from the wall directly behind him with the kanji for 'FIRE' written on it. Behind the Hokage sitting on either side of him were his two advisors who also happen to be his former teammates. They were sitting in front of two smaller desks not that far from the Hokage.

"Welcome, Naruto!" the Hokage greeted warmly while making his pipe knocking the blonde out of his examination.

"I hope I'm not late," Naruto said after seeing he was clearly the last to arrive.

"Not at all, my boy," the Hokage said with a wave of his hand. "You still have a few minutes to spare," he added causing Naruto to nod his head before he started walking towards the shinobi side of the council surprising the civilians along with the clan heads. The third Hokage just looked out with an amused expression on his face not saying anything. As Naruto walked around the table, he observed everyone and everything and made mental notes in his head. The first thing he noticed was that behind the headrest of every chair was the crest for which clan they belonged to. Along with having their clan's crest engraved into the wood of their seat, they each had a metal nameplate directly in front of them on the desk with their names on it.

The first-person Naruto came upon was sitting at the very last seat at the table. It was someone he was somewhat similar with and that was the Jonin sensei of Team 10, Asuma Sarutobi. Due to his father being Hokage he had to take up the seat on the council. Naruto smiled slightly and nodded in the direction of the Jonin sensei of team 10 to which he responded with a nod of his own.

The immediate seat to the left of Asuma sat the only female member of the shinobi council, Tsume Inuzuka. She was the head of the Inuzuka clan. The Inuzuka Clan were most famous for their use of ninja hounds as fighting companions and are easily identified by the distinctive red fang markings on their cheeks. Similar to how he greeted Asuma, Naruto gave a slight nod in the direction of the woman to which she grinned back at him.

Sitting next to Tsume was the head of the Aburame Clan, Shibi Aburame. The Aburame clan was all famous for having insects residing inside of their bodies. The thing that Naruto found absolutely fascinating about the Aburame clan was the variety of ways the clan has found to utilize the insects in combat. The insects can be poisonous, used as trackers, they can consume your enemy's chakra, or even infest your enemy's body to kill them. The versatility of the insects was absolutely fascinating to Naruto. Naruto gave him a slight nod just like he did the others as he continued walking to his seat.

The person sitting next to Shibi was the head of the Yamanaka clan, Inoichi Yamanaka. Along with being the head of the Yamanaka clan, he was also the head of the Analysis Team in the village's Intelligence Division as well as one-third of the famous Ino-Shika-Cho formation. Naruto had heard that his family had a flower shop in the village.

"Maybe I should check out their shop to find some flowers to plan around the compound," he thought as he nodded and walked by the man.

The next person he came across was another member of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation. It was the head of the Akimichi Clan, Choza Akimichi. The Akimichi clan were famous for using techniques that revolve around the manipulation of their body weight and size through the use of Yang Release. Naruto had heard from his grandmother that it was an absolute taboo to call a member of the Akimichi clan fat. According to her, it is considered a death sentence. Similar to other clan heads he walked past, Naruto nodded and smiled at the man to which he returned the gesture.

Sitting next to Choza was a man who simply judging from his appearance alone, Naruto could tell who he was and which clan he was the head of. That man was Hiashi Hyuga, the current head of the Hyuga Clan. There was no mistaking the appearance of a member of the Hyuga clan. They all had long black hair and pale white eyes along with always having an arrogant conceited look on their faces. The Hyuga clan members were similar to the Uchiha, they all thought they were better than the rest because of their eyes. Looking at the man Naruto could see the head of the Hyuga clan looked back at him with an impassive look on his face before he simply closed his eyes and turned away as if Naruto were not worth his time. The blonde-haired Senju simply kept an impassive look on his face and walked past the chair of the arrogant man without even bothering to acknowledging him.

To the left of Hiashi was a man laying head down on the table with his eyes closed as though he was sleeping which caused Naruto to raise an eyebrow. That man was none other than the final member of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation Shikaku Nara, the head of the Nara clan and the Jonin commander of the Hidden Leaf Village. His position as the Jonin Commander was why he was seated this far up the table. Sensing Naruto was walking past him, Shikaku opened one of his eyes and stared at the blonde for a few seconds before closing it back and muttering under his breath.

"Troublesome," he muttered causing Naruto to chuckle slightly as he walked past.

Next to Shikaku was an empty chair with the symbol of the Uchiha clan on the back. There was no sitting head of the clan due to the fact that the only living members of the clan were Sasuke and his brother Itachi, and only one of them was still loyal to the Leaf. Sasuke did not have the advantage that Naruto had by having his grandmother appoint him acting head of the clan. Before the massacre, the person next in line for the position of clan head was Itachi, but he was now a missing ninja and Sasuke is forced to wait until he becomes a chunin. Sigh to himself while shaking his head, Naruto walked past the empty chair to the next seat which was the seat of the Senju Clan. As he got there, however, he narrowed his eyes dangerously as he stared at a frail old man with bandages covering the right side of his face sitting in the seat.

"Excuse me, but I do believe you are in my seat," Naruto said in a cold voice as he stared down at the old man. "Unless there is another Senju in the village I am unaware of," he added. The room was dead silent, no one uttered a word. They all simply watch on to see how the situation would play out.

"I am the proxy in the council for the Senju clan," the old man replied proudly.

"I don't recall my grandmother mentioning anything about her appointing a proxy to vote on behalf of the clan," Naruto stated as he continued to stare at the man who had yet to even look in his direction.

"Tobirama Senju was my teacher and besides, the council is no place for a brat like you," the man said in a slightly irritated tone.

"I could care less as to who your teacher was," Naruto stated in a cold voice as he was starting to get angry. "You do not have Senju blood flowing through your veins, so you hold no authority to vote on behalf of the Senju Clan!" he told the old man. "So, I am going to have to ask you to vacate the seat," he said in an unfriendly tone.

"And if I refuse to get up?" the old man asked as he turned and looked at Naruto with one eye causing the blonde to narrow his eyes before he spoke in a threatening tone.

"Then I'll just have to use force," Naruto said lowly before releasing the might of his chakra. Dense chakra exploded from Naruto causing the ground beneath his feet to break under the pressure and the cracks to form on the four walls of the council chambers. The chakra was so dense that it became visible in a green outline around Naruto causing everyone's eyes in the room to be as wide as dinner plates. The shockwave from Naruto releasing his chakra knocked all the civilians off their chairs while causing the clan heads to sweat slightly. Shikaku Nara was now wide-awake staring at Naruto was a shocked expression on his face which was mirrored by all the other clan heads. Even the Hokage was surprised by Naruto's power. He had known the blonde was powerful, but he had no idea he was already this powerful.

"His chakra is so dense!" the clan heads all thought as they were slightly struggling under the pressure Naruto was exserting. The Hokage, his two advisors, and the old man currently sitting in the Senju Clan's seat all had different thoughts, however.

"It's like Lord Hashirama's chakra," they all thought as the strong dense chakra reminded them of the First Hokage. While everyone was having their own thoughts, Naruto continued to stare at the old man before taking one step in his direction. As his foot made that one step even more chakra exploded out from Naruto surprising everyone once more. The old man widens his eye slightly before a tremendous amount of pain struck his right arm which was hidden away in his robe.

"AHHHH!" the old man screamed while clutching his right arm causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow in confusion for a split second. Before anyone could question what was happening to the old man, two Anbu agents wearing coats dropped down behind Naruto with their swords drawn and stabbed it through Naruto's chest causing all the clan heads to spring to their feet along with the Hokage.

Looking down at his chest and seeing two short swords sticking out of him, Naruto kept an impassive look on his face before slowly turning his head to the side and staring at his two attackers with a cold expression on his face.

"It takes more than that to kill me," he said calmly surprising the two Anbu members. Before they could react, Naruto spun around and grabbed both of their heads in each of his hands. With a tight grip on both of their heads, Naruto slammed both of their head into the wall behind them with such force it shook the entire building and crushed the two Anbu's head in the process to the point where blood and brain matter splattered on the wall killing them. The two now headless corpses dropped to the ground before Naruto removed his bloodied hand from the wall and turned back around to face everyone. He then reaches up behind him with both hands and grabbed the two swords which were still stuck in his chest and pulled them out before dropping them beside the two corpses. Everyone's eyes widen at how nonchalant Naruto was about what should be a fatal wound. Through the rips in his shirt, everyone could see the wounds healing themselves at a rapid pace surprising them even more.

"I am not going to tell you to get up again, old man," Naruto said dangerously as he began walking in the direction of the old man with his chakra still flaring. The old man stared at Naruto with one eye while clutching his right hand in pain.

"I did not think he was this powerful!" The old man thought as he tries to battle through the pain.

"Danzo, Naruto was appointed acting head of the Senju Clan by Tsunade until she returns!" the Hokage said deciding to speak up before things get more out of hand. At first, he had thought this would all be very amusing to see how Naruto handles Danzo, but he never imagined it would turn out like this. Growling to himself the old man now named Danzo got up and walked over in the direction of the two elders. "And you and I are going to have words about that little organization that you were supposed to disband!" the Hokage added strongly. Naruto then got his chakra under control and the once unimaginable pressure vanished from the room causing everyone to relax. As his chakra was back under control, Naruto noticed the pain in Danzo's right arm seem to vanish as well.

"Interesting," he thought as he stared at the now pain-free old man before making him over and sitting down at the council table in the seat for the Senju Clan.

"Anbu! Get rid of those bodies!" the Hokage ordered before sitting back down as two Anbu agents dropped down and took the bodies away. Everyone in the council soon retook their seats and stared at Naruto in awe.

"How are you not dead!?" One civilian council member blurted out the question that was on everyone's mind.

"According to my grandmother, her grandfather possessed a considerable regenerative ability that rivaled if not surpass those of jinchurikis," he said as he looked at the two rips in his shirts. "I seem to also have this ability," he added with a grin surprising the Hokage and his advisors along with everyone else inside the council. "Aw man, I really liked this shirt," Naruto complained as he rubbed his fingers across the two rips.

"Hahaha! I like this kid!" Tsume suddenly said while laughing. "He's going to make these meetings fun!" she added causing Naruto to grin and give her two thumbs up before replying.

"Hahaha! You can count on me!" he said with a wide grin.

"Troublesome!" Shikaku said before laying his head back down on the desk.

"Let's get this meeting started," The Hokage said with a sigh before taking a long drag from his pipe and blew out a large billow of smoke before he reached into his robe and pulled out a small storage scroll, and tossed it up into the air before activating the storage seal causing a puff of smoke to surround the scroll before a set of papers fell down in front of each council members. Everyone then sat at attention with a serious look on their faces as they looked through the papers, except for Shikaku who still had his head on the desk.

"You are the one who summoned the council, Lord Hokage," the head of the Civilian council said. The head of the civilian side of the council was a woman named Mebuki Haruno. Along with being the head of the civilian council, she is Sakura's mother. She got to her position on the council due to her and her husband owning a few buildings in the commercial district which they rent out to business owners. "What was the reason for today's summons?" she asked respectfully.

"Well, in about five months' time the Chunin Exams will be held here in the Hidden Leaf Village," the Third Hokage informed causing the civilian side of the council to perk up a bit. "So, we need to start making preparations," he added.

"The Chunin Exams are always great for business," a merchant from the civilian side said while the other nodded in agreement.

"Have you decided who the head proctors are going to be?" Inoichi asked as he turned and looked at the Hokage.

"No, not as yet," the old man said before turning his attention to Shikaku. "Shikaku and I will meet later and decide on that," he said causing the Nara clan head to groan. "Inoichi, start making preparations in the barrier and sensory division to handle the heavy influx of people," the Hokage said as he turned to the Yamanaka clan's head.

"Yes, Lord Third!" the blonde-haired man replied with a nod.

"Is the arena in order?" Choza asked as he read the papers.

"Some minor repairs need to be made to some seats and rails but nothing major," one of the Hokage's advisors said from behind the Hokage.

"What is the maximum capacity of spectators the arena can hold?" Naruto suddenly asked while reading the papers.

"25,000," replied the old woman sitting behind the Hokage. "Why?" she asked.

"You are going to need more seats," Naruto stated puzzling everyone.

"Why is that Lord Senju?" a civilian asked causing Naruto to look up from the papers.

"Well, this year the last Uchiha will be competing, a lot of people are going to come to see that," he said causing everyone to nod understanding his logic. "But also, by that time, the news would have reached all the other villages if it has not already of a Senju possessing the First Hokage's bloodline appeared in the Leaf Village and will be competing in this year's Chunin Exams," he added with a smirk. "People are going to come from far and wide to see that," he said with a chuckle causing everyone to realize why he suggested the need for more seats.

"He is right," Shikaku said in a lethargic tone as he raised his head up. "The fact that the last two male heirs to the founding clans of the village are going to be competing plus the fact that both heirs passing two incredibly strong bloodlines with one of them not being seen by the world for a few decades now. People are going to want to see these legendary powers with their own eyes," he said in a serious voice as he leaned back in his chair. "Not to mention the villages that are going to show up in order to see if either two is a possible threat to them," he added causing everyone to become even more serious. "Either way the entire situation is troublesome," he said with a yawn causing everyone to sweat drop.

"Sounds exciting!" Naruto said with an excited look on his face causing the Hokage to chuckle and shake his head.

"Even if we decide to increase the spectator capacity of the arena, will it be done in time for the exams?" Tsume asked a valid question causing everyone to ponder upon it.

"I would say so," Naruto said with a thoughtful expression on his face. "If we hire the bridge builder Tazuna from the Land of Waves he could possibly, do it," he suggested.

"In five months' time?" Shibi asked in a skeptical tone.

"Yeah, I mean he built an impressive bridge connecting the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire in about three to four months," Naruto said while nodding. "This should be easier than a bridge," he added with a chuckle. "Plus, he should give us a discount after he saved his country and whatnot," Naruto said while looking at the Hokage.

"Saved his country?" Hiashi asked speaking for the first time.

"Long story short, A C-rank mission turned into an A-rank mission due to the involvement of a few missing ninjas. We killed the missing ninjas and the guy who hired said ninjas freeing the Land of Waves from oppression," Naruto summarized causing everyone's mouth to hang open.

"How does a C-rank mission become an A-rank mission?" Choza asked with a bewildered expression on his face. "What kind of twisted luck if that?" he asked causing the Hokage to chuckle while Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Which reminds me," Naruto said as he narrowed his eyes and turned to the Third Hokage. "We are going to need an explanation as to why Team 7 was given a C-rank mission in the first place only after being genin for one week," he said causing the shinobi council to narrow their eyes while a few civilian council members began to squirm slightly.

"An investigation is currently being conducted," The Hokage informed. "Once it is completed another council session will be held to go over the results," he said causing Naruto to nod along with the shinobi council. "Now, are there any objections to the upgrades to the stadium?" he asked as he looked around. No one voiced any concerns, so the Hokage made a note on his set of papers.

"If we are going to have the new spectator stands built, I can add some barrier seals around the arena that way the spectators are not affected by anything going on during a match," Naruto said surprising the shinobi once more.

"You know how to make seals?" Hiashi asked with a surprised look on his face to which Naruto simply nodded.

"I guess you could say I am a seal's master," he said trying to be modest.

"That is a great idea Naruto," the Hokage said with a smile. "Spectator's safety was always an issue we had to worry about. If you can make these barriers around the stadium to protect them then that would be appreciated," he said as he stared at the blonde. Danzo who was standing behind the two advisors clenched his cane in his left hand and narrowed his eyes at Naruto.

"He is too young to be this powerful already," The old war hawk thought to himself as he stared at Naruto. "In the brief time he has been in the council he is already winning over the favor of the shinobi council and even some of the civilians!" he thought angrily. "He must be eliminated before he becomes more powerful or gains more influence," he thought as he began to scheme in his head.

Unaware of the thoughts of the old war hawk, the rest of the council meeting continued discussing the plans and budget for the upcoming chunin exams. Naruto had suggested a lot of ideas to the council, a lot of which both sides liked and found interesting. For his first council meeting, Naruto was doing an excellent job of gaining influence with both sides of the council. The Third Hokage had to admit, he was quite impressed. After two hours of planning everything out, the council session finally came to an end.

"Okay, that is it for this session!" The Hokage said calling the session to a halt. "You're all dismissed...except for you Danzo!" he said causing everyone to look off behind him at the old man who had been standing the entire time. As everyone was exiting the chamber, they could all hear the Hokage yelled the Danzo. "I thought I told you to disband that little organization 6 years ago!" they all heard the Hokage yell as they exited the chamber before the door shut behind them.

"Six years ago?" Naruto thought to himself thinking back to what notable events happened six years ago. His grandmother had talked about Danzo and his organization, the Root. Even though they engaged in some shady dealings the Hokage still kept them around. It would have to be something big that happened six years ago that would push the Third Hokage to force Danzo to disband his organization. 'The only notable event that happened six years ago was the Uchiha Massacre," he thought with a puzzled expression on his face as he walked up the stairs back to the main lobby. "Did Danzo play a part in the Uchiha Massacre?" he asked himself before shaking the thoughts from his head as he realize he reach the main lobby. Holding up the half ram seal, Naruto disappeared from the lobby in a swirl of cherry blossom leaves and reappearing back in the private training grounds of the Senju Compound. When he arrived, he saw his clones were all still hard at work training. Summoning his own wooden pillar, he joined in the training with them.

**Two Days Later**

After two days off, Naruto was currently standing in the training ground 11 waiting for his sensei so they could get back to work. His two days of training had been extremely productive. He had managed to increase his affinity to both Water and Earth chakra natures. His knowledge in seals had increased as well after his clones had practiced quite a bit over the past two days. Even though he had not used the two days to exactly rest, he was feeling incredibly refreshed.

"You look ready to go," came the voice of Yamato from behind Naruto surprising the blonde. He was so engrossed in thought that he had not sensed the man appearing in the training ground.

"You bet!" Naruto said as he gave his sensei a thumbs up.

"Well then, let's go get a mission to start the day," Yamato said before the two of them disappeared from the training in their own unique version of the body flicker technique.

**Chapter End**

Author's Note: I don't know how I feel about this chapter. It doesn't feel like my usual writing style, it feels worse actually. I don't know if you feel that too when you are reading it or if I am just overreacting after being gone this long. Either way, I hope you enjoy it.

I would also like your thoughts on whether or not I should kill the Third Hokage during the Invasion Arc. Leave your thoughts in the comments. Thank You!