Just a pendant…
Inside the sealing space, the Nine-Tails stared at the pendant, itching to crush it with its claw. Unfortunately, it was a gift from Tsunade to Naruto.
Naruto tucked the pendant away, but his eyes landed on the wine bottle on the table. The young Hokage couldn't help but frown. "Granny Tsunade, you should really drink less!"
"..."
The blonde Sannin was stunned for a moment before a smile broke across her face. "Alright, brat! This bottle was to celebrate your return. I haven't even touched it yet!"
What's there to celebrate?
Naruto shook his head and plopped down in the Hokage's chair. His eyes fell on a scroll on the desk. "What's this?"
"Danzo's list of crimes," Tsunade said, placing a hand on the desk. She didn't seem to care that her cleavage was on full display as she tapped her fingers on the scroll. "Although the two Hokage advisors demanded that everyone present keep it a secret, your Jonin instructor believes the future of Konoha is more important than the reputation of the old guard."
Compared to burying the village's dark secrets, the information itself was far more important—especially the part about Itachi Uchiha being a Konoha spy.
Kakashi was concerned because his prized student, Sasuke Uchiha, was fixated on killing his own brother. He worried about the inevitable fratricide, which would be a great loss for Konoha no matter who survived.
The whole situation was a tangled mess, and the silver-haired Jonin felt ill-equipped to handle it. So, he simply gave the intel extracted from Danzo's mind directly to Tsunade and Jiraiya.
"Hmm?" Naruto skimmed the scroll. "So, it turns out Itachi was a spy sent to the outside by the Third Hokage?"
"Yeah… and it's a huge problem," Tsunade said with a frown, clearly troubled by the situation.
"Don't worry." The young Hokage shook his head and clasped his hands on the desk. "Let Itachi handle things with his brother himself."
When he had recovered his memories, Naruto had already advised Itachi and given him a seed of Yang Power. With Itachi's intelligence, he should be able to handle Sasuke. During the last Akatsuki ambush, he had even met with Itachi again and tasked him with dealing with Orochimaru.
"..."
Tsunade suddenly leaned forward, studying the boy's calm expression. "Brat, why do I get the feeling you knew about this a long time ago?"
"Ahem… Itachi told me himself," Naruto coughed, lowering his head. He didn't dare look at the smooth skin Tsunade was showing off. The woman's figure really didn't match her age at all.
Seeing Tsunade's thoughtful expression, Naruto hastily grabbed the Scroll of Seals from the office and started to leave. "Um, I'll be going now."
"Wait, where are you going?"
"To find Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke!"
"Then what are you taking the Scroll of Seals for?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow, looking at the thick scroll in his hand. "Are there any jutsu left in the Scroll of Seals for you to learn?"
This kid is always developing his own jutsu, anyway, she thought. And they're more powerful than the forbidden jutsu in the scroll. Does he really need to learn anything from it?
"No, I want Sasuke to learn the Flying Raijin Jutsu," Naruto replied casually and vanished from the Hokage's office.
This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. The Flying Raijin Jutsu was incredibly useful for combat, support, and even transmitting information. Naruto knew Sasuke's future well—he knew he would eventually gain the space-time dōjutsu, Amenotejikara. With that in mind, learning the Flying Raijin Jutsu shouldn't be too hard for him, right?
-----
Konoha's Back Hills
Kakashi threw a single shuriken and quickly formed the hand seals. "Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" In mid-air, the lone shuriken multiplied into a dense cloud of dozens.
On the other side, Sasuke Uchiha sneered. Thin needles of lightning shot from his hand, striking every single shuriken out of the air. It was his own creation: Chidori Senbon.
"Well done," Kakashi praised him, slowly pulling up his mask to cover his Sharingan.
The official ANBU notice hadn't been delivered yet, so Kakashi was helping Sasuke practice his newly developed Chidori techniques—and secretly copying them on the side. He was a fan of Jiraiya's work, after all.
Suddenly, they heard a round of applause. Kakashi looked up and saw the young Hokage approaching in his official robes. The corner of his eye twitched. "Naruto, you're back?"
"Yeah, just got back!" Naruto landed beside Sasuke and patted his shoulder. "Sasuke, developing a new jutsu?"
He wasn't greeted by an old teammate's hello, but by the sharp edge of a sword. Sasuke swung his blade wildly, forcing Naruto back. "You bastard," he said coldly. "You have the nerve to show your face!"
"Hey, hey, what's going on?"
"You bastard!"
The two exchanged a few blows in an instant. But Sasuke had been practicing for too long and was low on chakra. After a short clash, he was defeated.
Still, Sasuke wouldn't admit defeat. He glared at the blonde boy. "Naruto, you bastard, do you even remember you're the Hokage?"
Naruto ignored him and looked up at Kakashi. "What's his problem?"
The silver-haired Jonin spread his hands helplessly. "You left the village without permission, so your ANBU protection detail was held accountable. It just so happened to be Sasuke's first mission with them, so he failed his assessment."
"Ha?" The surprise on Naruto's face instantly turned into delight.
"You bastard, what's with that expression!" Sasuke snapped.
"Don't be like that!" Naruto suppressed a smile. "I didn't expect you to be a victim too… If you can't join the ANBU, you can join the Hokage Guard..."
"I'm not protecting a bastard like you!"
"But the ANBU is a department directly under the Hokage's command…"
"Shut up!"
After Team 7 had disbanded, they hadn't seen each other for a while. After they finished arguing, Naruto got down to business. He reached back and tossed the Scroll of Seals onto the ground. "Sasuke, want to learn the Flying Raijin Jutsu?"
Sasuke looked up, his face filled with surprise. "The Flying Raijin Jutsu?"
Because Konoha had been promoting the connection between the Fourth and Fifth Hokage, Sasuke knew a little about it. Naruto's father, Minato Namikaze, had become the feared "Yellow Flash" of the ninja world by mastering the Flying Raijin Jutsu.
Kakashi's face also showed shock, but it quickly returned to calm. He glanced at Naruto and said softly, "Sasuke isn't suitable to learn this jutsu right now…"
No one understood the power of the Flying Raijin Jutsu better than Kakashi. He now knew the truth: Itachi was a spy for Konoha. He doubted that Sasuke, still misguided by his thirst for revenge, would show his brother any mercy.
For weeks, Kakashi had been trying to figure out how to subtly let Sasuke know the truth, but he was afraid his student would have a complete emotional breakdown. Whether it was the Uchiha's attempted coup or Itachi slaughtering his clan for Konoha, neither truth would be easy for Sasuke to accept.
"But Sasuke is the most suitable person to learn it," Naruto insisted.
"Why do you want me to learn the Flying Raijin?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes.
"..."
Naruto scratched his head and grinned. "I'm thinking of disbanding the Hokage Guard, so I'll need someone to run errands and deliver messages for me in the future..."
"You bastard!"
-----
Bonus:
Sasuke: Kakashi-sensei, I'm going to kill Naruto.
Kakashi: Don't be rash. Naruto is the Hokage. You'll become a rogue ninja.
Sasuke: Do you really think this smart-mouthed Hokage can run Konoha?
Kakashi: Honestly? Probably not… but you still can't kill him!
Sasuke: Then what do you suggest?
Kakashi: We're ninja… so we endure it.
Sasuke: I can't endure it!
Naruto: Great price on Flying Raijin lessons!
Sasuke: Fine. I can endure it.