The Five Kage Summit
Snow fell in thick heavy curtains on the small caravan. The heavy green or black cloaks the travelers wore made for dark shadows in the otherwise pristine white of the trail, only the vague form of the trees standing to either side of the trail served as any indication of direction in the snowstorm. Still the small band continued on, three figures standing in the center, a group of six on each rear flank, and one more group of six guarding the point position.
With a burst of speed so rapid that even a highly trained eye would not have caught the motion, another figure, this one wearing a porcelain mask, appeared just in front of the guards and then strode past them to kneel in front of the middle of the three. "Hokage-sama," the masked man said with respectful urgency, "potential ambush up ahead. Eagle counted at least a hundred—"
"Keep on straight ahead," the Hokage said with an even voice. "Those ahead intend us no ill will. Let's not do anything to give them reason to change their feelings about that."
"Hai!" the masked ANBU acknowledged and was just as quickly back to the front of the formation.
A couple hundred yards ahead, the escort came to a sudden halt as a figure appeared from out of the snow, followed by a hundred more. The figures were heavily armored in white samurai armor, their eyes glowing beneath ornate helmets. For a moment, the gathered ninja tensed, ready to leap into action at the first sign of treachery, but a glance at the calm demeanor of their leader and they relaxed once again.
One samurai stepped forward, between the two groups. "Hokage-sama," the man formally intoned. "Lord Mifune extends his greetings to you and your escorts."
The leader, clothed in white robes edged in orange flames and wearing an oversized ceremonial hat with the character for fire written in bright red upon the front gave a polite nod. "Thank you, captain. I hope Lord Mifune does not mind if my escort makes a temporary camp here while I and my personal guard attend the conference. It is a long trip from the Land of Fire."
"That will be fine, Hokage-sama," the samurai captain answered.
"Yamato," the leader of the Leaf Village shinobi commanded.
"Hai!" came the immediate reply as one of the ANBU broke off from the rest of the group to stand in an open part of the snowy field. His hands flashed through a series of signs before slamming into the frozen ground as he called out: "Mokuton: Shichūka no Jutsu!"
Instantly, a surge of raw, growing wood rose up out of the earth, white powdery snow falling away as the impossibly fast growing trees shaped themselves into a moderate sized structure, a barracks large enough to comfortably house the twenty ninja serving as an honor guard to the village leader. In moments, where there had been nothing but empty woods and snowy fields, now there was a small fort.
The samurai captain was momentarily stunned by the display of wood style ninjutsu, a style thought lost with the death of the First Hokage. He quickly recovered, however, and gave a bow, his extended arm indicating the direction the village leader was to take. The samurai behind him parted ranks to make room for the visiting dignitary.
The white robed ninja with the large ceremonial hat strode confidently forward, the two ninja beside him following along in his wake. Naurto Uzumaki, Sixth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, grinned beneath his hat. He couldn't help himself. His day had finally come, to be acknowledged not only by everyone in Konoha, but soon by the leaders of all the other villages in the Elemental Nations.
He glanced to his left momentarily and then his right to see the two kunoichi he had chosen to be his personal guard for this meeting. These two were not the strongest ninja in his forces, he had left his former sensei and several of the other strongest ninja of the Leaf village behind to protect it while he was gone. He could trust them to make sure the village would be safe. But while his two female guards were not the strongest fighters he could have taken, they were not ceremonial choices.
The pink haired lady ninja on his left, Sakura Haruno, was his long time teammate, a medic-nin who was in line to inherit the title of most skilled healer in the Elemental Nations in a few years. With her knowledge of poisons and healing touch, if some subtle attempt on his life were made, she'd be the ideal one to save him. More than that, she had seen him as he had grown into the man he was now, and unlike many others, wasn't afraid to smack him upside the head if he started acting like an idiot. Not afraid to do that at all.
On the other side, Hinata Hyuga was of a very different temperament when it came to protecting her village leader. She loved Naruto. She would never hit him or berate him. And she most certainly would not allow anyone to do him any actual harm. She had already proven herself willing to lay down her life for him, and that was long before he had gotten the hat (and the title) of the Hokage. With her Byakugan able to see through nearly any possible threat and the ability to deflect long range attacks, she was well suited to protecting her Naruto-kun.
The small entourage quickly passed through the remaining distance to the large, grey fortress of the samurai nation. The Land of Iron did not have a ninja force to speak of, but what it lacked in shinobi it made up ten times over in the number of samurai. On the way into the hidden fortress, Naruto could have sworn he passed as many samurai as there were ninja in the entire Leaf village at any one time. Lord Mifune was clearly sending a message.
"Welcome, Hokage-domo," a highly decorated samurai said with a bow. "You are the last to arrive. The others are awaiting you inside the conference room."
Naruto grinned to himself. He had achieved a dream even greater than the one he had taken for himself as a young child. He was the Hokage, yes, but he had more than the mere acknowledgment of his village, he had friendship, love, and trust beyond anything he had ever thought truly possible. And now, all he had left to do to fulfill all of his dreams was to surpass all of his predecessors and bring peace to the world. Should be easy enough. How tough could the leaders of the other villages be?
"Alright, we can start!" Naruto loudly announced as he walked in. "The Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves is—"
"YOU'RE LATE!" four figures in similar ceremonial robes and hats all cried out simultaneously pointing an accusing finger at the Hokage.
Naruto put up his hands in protest. "Hey, hold on now…"
The Tsuchikage stood up, his appearance obscured by the large hat and mask worn over the front part of his face. "And don't you dare say a black cat crossed your path and you were forced to take the long way!"
Naruto gaped.
"And you had better not claim to have stopped to help a little old lady, so help me," the Raikage, wearing the distinctive symbol for lightning in yellow on his robes added.
The Kazekage nodded as the leader of the Leaf village looked on in disbelief. "And we won't buy it if you say you were asked to dance by a pretty girl along the way, and even if we did, that would be lame."
Lastly, the Mizukage had his say. "And getting lost is no excuse for the Kage of a shinobi village, even if it's along the road of life."
Naruto was flabbergasted, as was Sakura beside him. How had they known? None of those things had happened, of course, but those were the exact excuses their former sensei, Kakashi Hatake had used when he was habitually late. Naruto was going to have to have a word with village security. If these guys could know this, what other secrets could their spies have discovered?
"Well," Lord Mifune prompted, "is there an actual reason for the tardiness of your arrival, Lord Hokage?"
Naruto shook his head. "Well, seeing as I was just formally installed as the village leader two days ago," Naruto held up one finger, "we were ambushed by an S-ranked criminal and his small army of missing nin on the way," he put up a second finger, "and the fact that we spent the last day making up time while ploughing through a massive blizzard," Naruto put up a third finger, "I'd say I'm doing pretty well not keeping the rest of you longer."
The leaders of the other villages all eyed each other before all agreeing. "Yeah, well, that sounds fair enough." They all took their seats at roughly the same time.
At this, Lord Mifune, the moderator of the meeting, stood. "Welcome to the Five Kage Summit. I thank all of you for coming at my request, despite my not being one of the shinobi leaders…"
Naruto nodded his head towards the leader of the Land of Iron. "No worries, Moustache-guy, we all know you're pretty tough, and you're a better neighbor than these guys."
There was some grumbling from that comment, but not much the other leaders could really argue about. It was true that the Land of Iron had never betrayed an alliance or treaty with any of them, something none of the other villages could claim. Lord Mifune frowned slightly at the overly-familiar nickname, but shrugged his shoulders. It could have been worse, he guessed.
"I've called you all together because we are now at a crossroads. The five great nations have all recently undergone severe shakeups in power. All five you seated here are new Kage, appointed village leaders over the last two years, Lord Hokage most recent among them." Naruto looked around at his fellow leaders, seeing that they all seemed young, despite not being able to see their faces under their hats. "Never have the great nations all undergone such a radical transfer of power as what we have seen these last few years, and never have the sitting Kage all been less than twenty years of age."
Lord Mifune paused to let his words sink in. "At this moment, our lands are at peace, but a very fragile peace. Each of your feudal lords seeks to expand their economic power, while each of your hidden villages will seek to show itself grander and stronger than the others to gain the influence that comes with being the most powerful shinobi force."
Naruto could not deny that. While he wasn't eager to start a war with anyone, he was very much interested in making Konoha great. He planned for it to be his legacy to surpass all others and bring the Village Hidden in the Leaves to a place of importance greater than ever before. And he could guess the other villages wouldn't be too eager to let him do so.
"So, I have brought you all here in the hopes that you can all understand each other, that perhaps this will lead to mutual respect and prolong the peace that has come at such a high cost. So, first, I will introduce each of you, and then give you all a chance to discuss amongst yourselves how to best get along and not drag this world into another war. First…" Mifune gestured to the leader of Iwa, the Village Hidden in the Stones and began to introduce the assembled leaders one by one.
"The Unbreakable Golem, Fourth Tsuchikage, successor of Onoki the Fence Sitter, who retired last year due to old age." The stone shadow stood, and gave a short nod to all the present leaders, but gave a hard look to Naruto from behind the stone mask that covered the top of his face. Beside him stood his personal guard, Kitsuchi, an Iwa jounin of note for his strength and skill. Naruto frowned slightly when he realized he did not recognize the second guard. Any ninja chosen as a guard for a Kage was someone to be taken note of.
"Oturan Sharkskinner, Eighth Swordsman of the Mist, Fifth Mizukage." The ninja wearing the character for "water" on his hat stood and took a bow with a flourish, revealing the long blades strapped to his back. Naruto had yet to have any dealings with the leader of the Village Hidden in the Mist, but he felt a stab of anger masked behind the quick gaze that darted his way. It felt personal. Beside the Mizukage stood a tall woman long with lava red flowing hair and a gruff looking man with a patch over one of his eyes. Naruto was pleased that he recognized the dangerous kunoichi, Mei Terumi, and the exceptionally competent Ao, a skilled sensor.
Next around the table was the new Raikage, only made leader within a month of Naruto's own selection. "Fifth Raikage, ahem," Lord Mifune looked over at the contingent from the Land of Lightning with a look as if to ask 'Do you really want me to say this?' only to get a nod in confirmation. "Ahem, the Fifth Raikage, The Greatest All-Time, Undisputed, Undefeated, Greatest Shinobi of the World, four time Kumomania Champion, Bijuu Beater and Ramen Eater, the World's Strongest Ninja, the Super Fly That Never Dies, Ex—Calibur."
The Raikage, oddly enough wearing a lucha libre mask, threw one hand into the air at that introduction, as if waiting for applause. Beside him, Kirai Bee got to his feet, "Take a look at the Fifth Raikage, Yo! Strongest ninja alive, that ain't no jive, Cause this be the one who got it done; Took down me and my Bro, so that you know—it just goes to show, Ex-Cal's the real deal, datte-bayo!"
"Yay-yeah!" echoed the newly installed Raikage, right next to the previous one and his brother. It was definitely saying something that the new leader of the Village Hidden in the Clouds had not only defeated both the former leader and his "tag team" partner, but had taken them both as his personal guard into this summit. That didn't stop Ay from rolling his eyes, but the fact that no "Iron Claw" was forthcoming to silence the over-the-top antics spoke volumes.
Lord Mifune nodded as the Kumo representatives sat and moved onto Suna. "Fifth Kazekage, Suna's Sealmasater, Ikamuzu of the Orange Sand." The leader of the Village Hidden in the Sand stood and inclined his head towards the others in the room. Naruto easily recognized the red-haired shinobi standing as the Kazekage's guard, Gaara of the Desert. He would never forget the bloodthirsty jinchiriki, despite word that the jounin from Suna had gotten his murderous tendencies under control. The blond kunoichi next to him was also familiar, Temari of the Desert.
"And last, in order of arrival, introduction, and in selection as a new Kage, Naruto Uzumaki, the Toad Sage of the Leaf."
Before Naruto had a chance to stand, however, a cold voice cut across the meeting.
"HOLD!" It was the Tsuchikage. "I'm afraid, Lord Mifune, that I cannot allow this summit to continue so long as that imposter is sitting there in that seat." The Tsuchikage pointed an accusing finger at Naruto.
"Lord Tsuchikage, what do you mean?" Lord Mifune asked.
"Just what I said. That man cannot be who he claims to be," the Tsuchikage virtually growled. "You have usurped that position long enough!"
Naruto was completely taken aback. "Now look here, you've got no right to act like I can't be Hokage. You're just as young as me—"
The Tsuikage stood up and took a threatening step forward. "This has nothing to do with age, and everything to do with the fact that you are NOT who you say you are."
To Naruto's further surprise, the Mizukage jumped in. "Lord Tsuchikage is absolutely right. This man is an imposter!"
Lord Mifune looked hard at Naruto. "Is this true? Are you not Naruto Uzumaki?"
"Of course I am, believe it!" Naruto shouted back.
Now the Mizukage seemed to be in a rage. "How dare you steal my line!"
"What do you mean, 'your line'?" Naruto asked incredulously.
"I mean," and with that the Mizukage swept off his hat to reveal golden blond hair and bold blue eyes that were an exact match to…."That I'M NARUTO UZUMAKI."
Of all the people in the room, it seemed the only one more shocked by that proclamation than Naruto was Mei Terumi. "Oturan? Is what you are saying true?"
"That's not…no, you're both imposters!" the Tsuchikage yelled, pulling off his hat and mask. "Because I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"
Same wild yellow hair. Same whisker marks.
A solid bang rang throughout the meeting as the table in front of the Raikage was suddenly smashed into bits. And the floor. The contigent from Kumo was lucky they didn't fall through hole that the leader of the Village Hidden in the Clouds had just made. For a moment, there was a slightly chagrined expression in the man's eyes. But just for a moment.
With menacing theatricality, the Kage wearing the character for "electricity" swept the room with an accusing finger. "I don't know what kind bullcrap shenanigans you monkeybutt outfits think you are pulling, and I don't know how," he growled out, "but it ends now. Whoever you fools are, you just made a big, big mistake. The last you'll ever make. Nobody takes anything from me, and especially not my first identity." The Raikage put his hands to his head and ripped the latex lucha libre mask straight off of his face, revealing…"Ex was my latest mask, you see, but my first was the REAL, NARUTO UZUMAKI!"
"Yay-yeah!" Bee echoed with a series of fist pumps in the air.
The room was stunned. There was a minute of shocked silence as everyone was watching everyone else.
"Eh, might as well," the Kazekage said with a shrug. "Gaara, you mind?"
The red head shrugged as well. "Nah, go on ahead."
"Lord Kazekage?" Mifune asked, "You have something you wish to say?"
"Take a wild guess," the leader of the Village Hidden in the Sand said as he pulled off the hat and the veils that had hidden most of his face from the assembled ninja. "Yeah, me too. I'm Naruto Uzumaki." And he looked the part, but with an expression that looked bored with things rather than any sort of shock or surprise.
"This is impossible!" Akutchi of Iwa protested. "I've watched Tsuchikage-sama virtually since the day he arrived in Iwa!"
"Oh please, I've been watching Naruto-kun since we were five. I know exactly who Naruto is," Hinata snapped at the Iwa ninja. "And I'll prove it. Byakugan!"
The All-Seeing Eye. It showed every tenketsu point in the body, showed the chakra flowing from one point to the other. And no two chakra systems were ever exactly like. It was like a fingerprint. Or a snowflake. Or a masterpiece of art. And nobody knew the chakra system of Naruto Uzumaki better than Hinata Hyuga.
What she was seeing couldn't be possible. They were all Naruto. There were some differences in their out chakra systems, differences that could be explained by using diverse training methods and having used chakra differently, but the core of the network, the part leading into the soul, was all the same. There could be no doubt. There were five, beautiful, awesome, amazing Narutos. Five. Narutos.
Hinata fainted.
"Baka!" Sakura said, hitting her Hokage over the head, "What did you do?"
You Decide