Chapter 6: The world starts turning

Xinjiang

It had been 2 weeks since he had received word of the attack in Lū dào and three days since he had returned after retaking the islands with the 'invaders'.

They had put up a decent fight but the Imperial soldiers had overwhelmed them with sheer numbers. 75 or so up against 2000, they stood no chance.

When they first arrived they couldn't see any battleships or any patrol boats, no fleet that would warrant two thousand soldiers and fifty three imperial battlecruisers to travel to the westernmost province of the Empire.

All they could see was five insignificant wooden boats that had been beached on the shore not far from the main village. Scouts had reported that no villagers had been seen outside of the village so all Lord Huang could assume was they had been captured and moved somewhere.

They gunned down the boats like it was child's play. Then the landing boats were sent in carrying the first wave of soldiers.

Lord Huang became puzzled almost as soon as the assault began, these invaders mustn't have been expecting any kind of counter attack as there was nothing standing in his way as his men stormed the beach, surrounded the village and neutralised the enemy in less than an hour.

After everything had settled, the Imperial commanders had counted ten of the invaders left with only twelve casualties in there side. They had also notified Lord Huang of the apparent leader, the dark skinned man who was seen yelling orders as he decapitated a soldiers before being brought down by a few spears to the back and legs and sword stoke to the arm.

Many of the invaders died in the assault but ten lucky survivors had managed to make it through.

Now Lord Huang and his forces had returned to Xinjiang, where the Emperor was waiting for them rather eagerly with the 10th legion.

Under normal circumstances there would have been absolutely no reason for the Emperor himself to make the long journey to Xinjiang as well as to bring an entire legion for the sake of ten foreign invaders.

But these were not normal circumstances. These ten who were once a hundred had managed to capture almost every person living in Lū dào in less than 3 days. That in itself was unusual but the fact that these soldiers could walk on water, breath fire and shoot lightning all the while having no known origin or affiliation with any organisation that lord Huang knew of.

Wherever they came from, whoever they were, one thing was certain… they were not going back.

Lord Huang's residence

The victorious lord had almost immediately headed home as soon as he stepped off his ship. Soon he was at his home in a large spacious living room where the Emperor was patiently waiting.

"Your majesty" Huang bowed low

"Lord Huang" Naruto greeted back with a simple nod

"Can the servants get you anything to drink?" asked Huang as both men sat down.

"No thank you. If you don't mind I'd like to get on with your report" the Emperor said sternly

"Of course your majesty" the Lord of Xinjiang replied as he remembered the events of th attack.

"When we first arrived off the coast of Lū dào we couldn't see any kind of enemy fleet or any other vessels, there were no fishing boats from the villagers or anything like that so I assumed that the islands inhabitants had been captured. When we came to the main island our scouts spotted what appeared to be five wooden sailboats beached upon the shoreline. From there we could also see some people on the beach but there were no banners or flags to indicate who they were. We shot down the boats and stormed the beach, within an hour we had recaptured the villagers and eliminated the invaders. They tried to retaliate and most were killed but we managed to capture a number of them including the leader."

"What of Lord Chen?"

Lord Huang simply lowered his head this. "According to the villagers, once they found him he...was tortured… and killed"

Naruto closed his eyes at this, he thought something like this had happened. This wasn't the first time a friend of his had died nor was it the first time a friend had died violently. He was used to this kind of loss.

"We couldn't find any kind of flag on their ships or a banner to determine the invaders allegiance, but we were able to find this…" Lord Huang said as he reached into his armour and pulled something "...all the invaders wore this on their foreheads"

When Naruto saw what Huang held in his hand he felt his heart sink. The Emperor's eyes widened in shock and his mouth opened as if to speak but no words came out.

In Lord Huang's hand was a torn and burnt piece of cloth with a small metal plate on it. Carved into the metal was a symbol that Naruto recognised and had hoped he would never see in his life. It was the symbol for the village hidden in the clouds.

Moments passed as Naruto stood there in shock. Lord Huang simply waited for the Emperors response.

"The leader… you said you captured him" said Naruto with an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

"Yes your majesty, I had him moved into the city jail when we arrived."

"Ok then… that will be all" the Emperor said as he made his way out the door.

In all his years Lord Huang had never met a man as strong and honourable as Naruto Uzumaki, he was a great warrior and an even greater leader, the man had a unique quality about him that seemed to draw others to his side. Yet at the simply sight of a this metal headband Lord Huang saw his Emperor frozen in shock, as if someone had told him the world was going to end.

'Who are these people? What does Naruto have to do with them?' Thought the puzzled lord as he made his way to his private quarters to change out of his armour.

The streets of Xinjiang

As Naruto made his way to the cities jail his mind was running a million miles an hour. So many questions filled his mind.

How did they get here?

Why where they here?

Had they found him?

What did Kumo want with him?

"Calm down Naruto..." Kurama said from within the seal "...panicking about it won't help you"

Hearing this the blonde stopped for a brief moment, took a deep breath and felt his heartbeat slow down dramatically.

'Thanks Kurama' Naruto replied mentally as he resumed walking at a much more relaxed pace.

"So what are you going to do with them?" The tailed beast asked

'...I don't know'

"They attacked your land, your people and you don't know? They killed Chen, they herded your people like cattle. You know what you should do Naruto."

'I'd rather find out why they did what they did before I do anything drastic'

"Your the Emperor Naruto, the Emperor cannot show weakness"

'I'm the Emperor and that mean I'll do what I want!' Naruto said rather irritated in his mind. Kurama didn't respond instead returning to the depths of Naruto's mind

Despite their history, when Naruto first arrived on the other side of the world the Kyuubi began to regularly talk with the Blonde. At first it was merely for survival, helping Naruto survive this new land so the nine tails would survive as well.

Then when Naruto began his conquest in order to bring peace to an ever warring land the tailed beast began to see the young Uzumaki in a new light. Soon the two became partners, the kyuubi would lend Naruto his power whenever necessary whilst the Blonde began to listen to the ancient being for advice.

Through it all the two bonded through the stress of war and eventually they became friends with Naruto opening the seal allowing Kurama full access to his senses and even allowed him to come out of the seal whenever needed. Despite this the Fox was still had a bloodthirsty nature and would usually push Naruto to the more violent choice.

Some things never change.

Xinjiang prison

In a dimly light room surrounded by stone walls with a large metal door sat Durai. His appearance looked rather bad with his clothes torn and his hair in a mess.

His face was covered in burn marks that were beginning to heel and his body was covered in wounds with his legs wrapped in bandages left arm in a makeshift sling.

He sat against the wall with large metal chains wrapped around his waist and torso, his Kage were also chained together while his arms were chained at the forearm to the wall.

His eyes were closed as he held his head back thinking on how he had ended up in here.

'They came so quickly… we had no way of knowing… we shouldn't have kept the boats so close together… where the hell did they come from…'

His body ached from his injuries, despite being a prisoner the soldiers had patched him up well enough to keep him alive.

'Probably going to interrogate me… torture me…find out why we came…'

The door to the room swung open as a guard allowed a man in long orange robes into the cell. Durai didn't open his eyes trying to maintain his composure 'Kumo shinobi don't show fear' he thought to himself.

"What does Kumogakure want with the islands of Lū dào?" Said the man

At the mention of Kumo, Durai opened his eyes to look on the man in front of him.

His eyes widened further as he saw the person if front of him. The man whom had caused a war, who had been missing for eight years and whom had been searched for by all the great powers in the elemental nations.

Durai saw the long blonde spiky hair, the whisker marks on each cheek and the deep blue eyes that glared down on him from the six foot tall man

"Naruto… Uzumaki"

Naruto didn't respond to this, he had expected him to know his name so this came as no shock.

"What does Kumogakure want with the islands of Lū dào?" Naruto asked again

Durai was quiet for a moment before he spoke "so this is where you've been" he said

"So you were looking for me?" The Blonde asked again

Durai simply looked at the man again, then closed his eyes as he chuckled softly.

Naruto became a little irritated at this "What's so funny?"

Durai looked at the ground with a soft smile on his face "Do you have any idea how long the shinobi world has been looking for you? how many people died looking for you?"

Naruto remained quiet

"To think that all this time you were on the other side of the world while the Akatsuki rounded up all the other Jinchuuriki while you were here hiding from the world" Durai shook his head at this

As soon as Durai finished he felt an overwhelming pressure weighing down his whole body, he struggled to breath as his eyes widened upon seeing the blonde man in front of him enveloped in a white glow that covered his body.

Moments passed as the pressure faded and Durai was able to catch his breath

"That... *breath*... wasn't chakra ...*breath*" the dark skinned Jounin said between heavy breaths.

"No it wasn't, it's called Chi, the people over here use it instead of Chakra" the Blonde sad as he stepped forward and rolled up the long sleeves over his right arm.

"I'm going to ask one more time, why are you here?"

"I should ask you the same thing..." Durai replied

"...the last jinchuuriki in the known world, I think the alliance would like me to bring you back"

"You know you can keep avoiding the questions all you want, eventually I'll find out what I want to know" the Emperor said as kneeled down to make eye contact with the Jounin.

Durai meet the Emperor's gaze "you can hide all you want, eventually you will be found and the shinobi world will take back the Kyuubi to where it belongs you fucking traitor!"

Naruto said nothing to the Kumo Nin, he simply raised his hands and placed his right hand over Durai's forehead.

'Kurama… do whatever you want just don't leave him brain dead'

Inside the seal the Fox grinned evilly as he felt himself being pulled from the seal.

In the outside world Durai saw how the Blondes eyes became blood red with slitted pupils, his finger nails grew into claws and his whisker marks became much darker and more pronounced. Then as soon as it happened Naruto's appearance returned to normal.

"I'll be back soon when your ready to talk" Naruto said as he walked out of the cell and shut the door.

'What was that about' Durai thought to himself

"A Jutsu he came up with to allow me to fuck with other people's minds" Kurama said from inside Durais mind

"What?...who was that?" Durai said allowed as he began to panic at hearing another voice in his head.

As Durai looked around the room he began to see the world twist and blur into strange shapes, his skin began to crawl and his whole body went stiff. Finally when his vision returned to normal all Durai could see was a black void with nothing but a large rabbit giving him a very strange look.

"Ooooh this is going to be fun, tell me do you like bunnies?"

For the next hour Kurama forced Durai into watching the most horrific scenes the Fox could think of. The Jounin saw chains Wrap around him and felt as if he would be squeezed to death, he saw rats eat away at his hands and feet, felt his skin boil and burn when he was dropped in a boiling cauldron. He felt himself being violated over and over again by a horse sized rabbit.

"Hehehe I love doing this" the Fox said as he manipulated the Kumo ninjas senses to create the illusions.

All Durai could do was scream.

Konohagakure

In a large two story house not far from the village wall, inside his lounge room surrounded by picture and relics of a long career sat a man who had fought through three ninja wars, train some of the greatest shinobi in history and written one the most popular adult book series in the world.

This man was Jiraiya of the Sannin

He was wearing a simple gray dressing gown and his long white hair fell behind him over the chair he was sitting in. His back was slouched and his face had wrinkles around his eyes.

During the Fourth shinobi war Jiraiya had fought on the front lines, he served as the Alliances field commander and had fought and defeated the Akatsuki leader Pain. He was credited as being one of the most important figures in ending the war and was hailed as a hero in most of the world.

During the war the sannin had suffered many injuries, his body was covered in scars including one that ran down the side of his neck. He even nearly lost an arm during his fight with Pain but Tsunade managed to reattach it.

During the war the Toad sage had fought to not only defend his home but also to try and fix one of his greatest mistakes, something that had weighed heavily on his mind for years.

His godson Naruto Uzumaki

Now he was an old man retired from duty and reserved himself to the quiet life of an author inside his home.

When the boy ran away Jiraiya had at first thought nothing of it but a childish phase over the loss of a teammate. When he summoned the Toad sages Ma and Pa to reverse summon the boy his concerns grew when he learned that it didn't work yet still he didn't get too worked up. When he summoned the Toads summoning contract and saw that the boys name had been ripped out and destroyed his heart sank, the realisation dawned on him that the boy had truly abandoned the leaf.

Maybe if he had come into his life sooner

Maybe if he had been a better teacher

Maybe if he had taken the boy as a newborn like he should have

Maybe if had been a real godfather like the boy needed him to be

Maybe Naruto wouldn't have ran away, maybe he could have been Hokage by now and Jiraiya would have been able to finally have one thing in his life to be proud of.

Now here he was, a shadow of his former self, with nothing left but a broken body and a broken heart hidden from the world inside his home, writing the stories of his life so that others may learn from his mistakes.

A knock on the front door raised the mans attention from his work as he stood up and slowly walked to answer the door.

When he eventually opened it he greeted the person he meet.

"Hello Tsunade" Jiraiya said as a small smile graced his face.

"Hey Jiraiya" Tsunade said as she smiled back and entered his home.

Soon the two sat opposite each other around a small coffee table each on a blue couch in a room surrounded by bookshelves.

The two sat in comfortable silence, as if they were going through a routine.

"What can I do for you Hime" Jiraiya asked as he folded his hands over his chest

"Nothing… I just came to see how you were doing" Tsunade replied with a smile on her face.

"Well something is up cause you never come by when nothing's wrong" the toad sage raised his eyebrow and gave a questioning look

Tsunade chuckled lightly "Well now that you mention it there was something I was going to ask you"

"What it it?" Jiraiya asked

"I'm sure you've heard of the Yoshimaru incident from one of your contacts..."

Jiraiya simply nodded at this, despite being retired he still kept in contact with his many spies around the elemental nations as a way to keep himself informed.

"...well the Raikage has called for a Five Kage summit out of the blue, Yoshimaru has something to do with it but I'm not sure in what way" the Hokage continued

"And what do you want me to do? I'm not as strong as I used to be Tsunade so I hope you don't expect me to take him on."

The Hokage looked him in the eye "I sent Shikamaru on a diplomatic mission in order to probe deeper into the issue and from what he has heard it seems that tensions are high in the alliance… I need you to come with me to the summit, I'm gonna need your advice in how to deal with the other Kage if I'm going to maintain the peace we both fought hard to create"

Jiraiya simply laid back in his seat as he closed his eyes in thought "the Raikage tries to colonise a few islands at the edge of the world and when he finds out someone's already living there he starts pointing the finger" he said rather plainly

"Pretty much" Tsunade agreed

He paused for a moment thinking on the situation "you want me to help make peace between five paranoid Kages so we can all continue pretending to be friends"

"Petty much" Tsunade said, Jiraiya was never one to beat around the bush and in his retirement had only grown to be more direct and painfully pointing out the obvious

"Fine I'll do it as a favour" the toad sannin said. "I've been bored lately anyway"

Being cooped up inside his home with nothing but sad memories and unfinished stories had left Jiraiya craving some excitement.

Who knows maybe he could find some inspiration for his next book.