Naruto Shippuden: Peace No More
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A/N: here is the new chapter,fixed this time. People made me aware of the fact that I put Tsunade in this, but I want to tell you all that I'm sorry, and I got my stories mixed up. I also fixed Chakra in this, and made sure Sasuke is going to be capitalized from now on. Sorry for screwing up. Please forgive me.
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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything involved with it. Just this fanfic. None of the characters though...except Genkou.
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Chapter 10: The Summit
Naruto had a lot on his plate right now... Sakura died, and he was still trying to make sure her close friends were Ok with her death. He had a very quiet, powerful nine-tails fox inside of him. Since getting the fox back, he had not heard one sound from it.
That, and the threat of war loomed over his head. He had no idea what was happening, but the peace he had made for people all over was being ripped away from them. He couldn't face the villagers anymore because he could almost feel the hopes of the villagers, and he knew they would be crushed.
"Honey." Temari said, walking into the room. Naruto looked up, and smiled slightly, feeling suddenly like he was letting her down too. "i know this is hard... it seams like it has been one thing after another... but everything will be fine. Do you want me to come with to the summit meeting?"
"No... you have to be here with Harumi..." Naruto whispered. Suddenly, he felt worse. Harumi was going to be growing up in a world with war. He thought he had fixed all that, but now, he couldn't be sure...
"That's Ok... you should take Sasuke and Kakashi. Maybe Neji and Sasuke."
"Alright..."
Temari suddenly got the feeling that he wasn't listening. She couldn't be mad, because he had worked hard for world peace, and now it was probably gone. She walked to him, and sat on the desk, facing him. She had to do something to cheer him up.
"Want to have sex?" she asked.
"No..."
"Ok... well, how about we get married?"
"What?"
"Look at it like this. When you get back from the summit, if we go to war, than it will be a moment of happiness for the villagers before the war. If there is no war, than it will be part of the celebration. I know you have more to think about than marriage, so I will take care of it. We love each other, and we have a child. I know it's not romantic, but it might be what the people will need."
"Go ahead and plan it. Ask around to see what others think about a wedding..."
"Okay. Ill leave you to work."
Temari walked from the room quietly, and shut the door. Shizune was to her right, looking at Temari with slight concern.
"Did you tell him?" Shizune asked.
"No... he wasn't in the right place to be happy about it... I'll give it time..."
XXX-at the village gates, later-XXX
Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji stood at the threshold of the opened village gates. Temari and Harumi were there to see them off, along with Hinata to say good bye to her cousin, and Ino and Karin, with Sasuke's kids.
"We will be back soon. Wish us luck." Naruto said, kissing Temari and his daughter good bye. Sasuke hugged his son, and kissed his daughter on her forehead as she slept.
"Promise you will come back, daddy!" Itachi said, trying so hard not to cry, yet tears still fell from his eyes. Sasuke smiled, and bent down so he was eye to eye with his son.
"This is a peaceful meeting, but I promise I will come back, Itachi. Ok?"
Sasuke's response seemed to help his son, and Itachi nodded. Sasuke smiled, and hugged his son again, before they finally turned to go.
The three left, wishing they were going any other place then the Kage summit. Jumping to the trees, they took off as fast as possible. Neji and Sasuke both saw the letter, being told to keep it secret until it was sure they were going to war. Neji didn't know the full story about the mission to rescue Harumi, but he was sure it had something to do with it. Having never actually met Genkou himself, he could still connect some dots to make it apparent to him that Genkou was behind it. Sasuke and Naruto silently shared the same view, and hoped there wasn't going to be any unnecessary violence because of it.
"Tell me... what happened on that mission... really..." Neji asked suddenly. Naruto and Sasuke both turned their heads to look at him, and Naruto lead them to a small path on the ground where they could speak. Naruto turned toward Neji and sighed once they were in the clearing.
"What I'm going to show you... it's probably what this summons is all about..."
Neji nodded, and prepared for Naruto to reach to his pocket, and pull out some found artifact from another village, or even a scroll containing secret information. Instead, Naruto closed his eyes. Naruto entered his mind, and looked up. Above him was the foxes Chakra in a ball, ready for Naruto to take. Looking to his left, he saw the foxes cage. Inside the cage, the fox didn't even seem to care that Naruto was there. The fox stared into space as Naruto reached up, and pulled the Chakra to himself.
Neji's eyes showed the instant shock as Naruto entered the fox Chakra mode, and he even stepped back. To Neji, everything made sense. If this Genkou person hated Naruto and Sasuke enough, than it was obvious that he had taken this information to other villages. If Neji were in Genkou's shoes, he would have went straight for the lightning village, as the Raikage had the strongest relationship with the Jinchuuriki out of all the other Kage's. He also was horribly affected by the death of their Jinchuuriki, and the sudden knowledge that killer Bee died for nothing would probably strike the wrong nerves. The entire thing made sense now.
"Damn. I see... then it's that Genkou person behind this..."
Sasuke nodded in agreement with Neji's statement, and was the next to speak.
"That's what I thought the moment I saw the letter. You and I both know what we would have done in his place, so it is looking like he has used this information against us..."
Naruto looked at the two with confusion all over his face. He had been so worried about the threat, he never even tried to figure out why, only how to deal with it. Sasuke looked at him, and sighed.
"It's like this... Genkou found out about the nine tails, and the tailed beasts were supposed to be all dead. With the knowledge that they now will exist again, what do you think he would do with that? He would take the information and spread it to all the Kages he could. My guess it, the Raikage is the one that is started this threat after hearing the information..." Neji informed, watching Naruto as the realization hit him. It was quiet for a moment before Naruto could speak.
"You are probably right. You're brilliant, Neji. I hope that it's not what this is all about..."
"If it is, they could pin a lot on you without actually needing proof. They could accuse you of keeping the fox, and not telling anybody about it. The villages never needed to look for secrets before now, because of the peace. But the fox makes things a lot different..."
Naruto was quiet for a while before he spoke again, worrying both Sasuke and Neji.
"What if we took the fox and killed it?"
"Wouldn't work..." Sasuke stated, "the other tailed beasts would still come back, and we would be weakened from not having a Hokage. The easiest thing would be to find the beasts, and combine them like the Akatsuki did before. Maybe we could even find a way for the containers to survive, like you did. It cant just be some freak thing, there has to be a reason that you survived."
"Right," Neji remarked. "but let's search for the answer after we deal with the current threat. There is no way we can do anything about the beasts return now that this has started..."
"Ok... lets get going..."
The three ninja took off once again, and were speeding toward the summit as fast as they could.
XXX-back at the village-XXX
Itachi started crying the moment Sasuke was out of sight. Harumi looked to her mother with sadness all over her face, and went to Itachi's side.
"It's Ok. He promised he would come back. Uncle Sasuke is strong." Harumi said, patting Itachi on the back. The older people there stood, smiling as Harumi did her best to calm her friend down. Itachi continued to cry, and Harumi hugged him, trying her best not to cry out of confusion of what to do, and being purely overwhelmed by the situation. Temari saw her daughter's face, and decided to step in.
"Hey, guys, how about we go get some food, and play. I don't think Ino or Karin would mind of you wanted to stay the night, Itachi."
Itachi looked to Ino and Karin in time to see them giving a thankful look to Temari, and turning back to Itachi, both nodding happily. The two of them had no idea what to do with a child, so this took a lot off their plate. They hated just pushing Itachi to Temari, even though Temari suggested it, but it was a huge relief. Now if they could only think of what to do with the baby...
"Come on," Temari insisted, happily. She stood, and turned to walk away. Both Harumi and Itachi left, hand in hand. Karin, Hinata and Ino squealed with happiness at the sight of the two holding hands, and fought to "awwww" with all their might. Ino looked to her arms at the baby she held, because the child began to fuss. No smell, so it must have been hungry.
"You know, I hear that baby's are supposed to have breast milk to insure their healthy growth. So who among us it going to become her wet nurse..." Ino asked. Both her and Karin looked at each others breasts, then both looked at Hinata, who "eeped" at their looks, which seemed to target her breasts as being perfect for the role. Karin and Ino already felt lacking, and didn't care to see if the rumor that breast feeding made breasts smaller. If Sakura were alive, she could have told them if it was true or not, but she wasn't.
"Here you go! Now go talk to Shizune about a wet nurse jutsu. I'm sure she might even know it!" Karin said, patting Ino on the back to hand over the baby. Ino walked over and forfeited the child into Hinata's care, and stepped back. Hinata took the child that was forced onto her, and the two girls walked away. Hinata looked to the black haired girl in her arms, and sighed. She had no idea what to do, but was expected to know. She turned, with a baby in her arms, and headed to go find the medical leader
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"So they left you with her, huh?" Shizune asked, getting up from her chair to look at the baby. "i can teach you the jutsu if you want to be her wet nurse. Otherwise, you should take her to the Konoha hospital. Somebody there will be happy to help out with Sakura's child."
"N-no... I want to help, and I don't want anybody m-mad at me because I d-didn't do anything..."
"You shouldn't feel pressured into this. It may seem weird now, but you will be helping this little girl here grow. It's a big deal. You should be proud, if you choose to do it."
"I do."
"Well then. Ill show you the hand seals. When you do them, you are going to feel a lot of... pressure... but it's Ok. Then, ill help get you comfortable with the baby, and then you can leave if you want, or you are welcome to stay and we can talk."
Shizune ran through the hand seals, and explained what needed to be done with the Chakra. Hinata did what she was told, experienced what she was told she would, and was aided in feeding the child. Though Hinata felt very strange with a baby that wasn't hers at her breast, she was helping out. That was what counted to her.
"You are doing great Hinata. Do you want to talk for a while, or would you rather go?"
"I'll stay for a while. Do you know how to properly put a diaper on a baby?"
"You know nothing involving mothering, do you?"
"No..."
"I'll show you later. Is there anything you want to talk about before I show you?"
"Um," Hinata said, thinking of what to talk about. There were some things she didn't want to bring up, but it was still nice that the retired Hokage wanted to talk to her.
"Have you seen Harumi?" Shizune asked, starting the discussion. Hinata quickly nodded, and spoke.
"I have. She is quite adorable. Do you agree?"
"I do. Though that idiot, Naruto, hasn't brought her by nearly as much as I would have wished. I did get to see her one of the first days she came here. I usually have to go to the Hokage's office to see her. That bastard forgets I helped make him who he is!" Tsunade yelled in rage. Hinata couldn't help but laugh a little. The entire situation was funny as well. Hinata herself breast feeding a child that wasn't hers. Tsunade talking with her like they had been friends forever.
"I have only seen her a handful of times myself."
"So we both have only seen the little fox princess less than we wanted... now, onto what I wanted to talk to you about. How... have you been doing since Temari and Naruto are very officially a couple. I know that you used to love him..."
This was one conversation she had hoped not to have. Ever. Shizune continued to watch her, which meant she wanted an answer.
"At...first... I didn't know what to think... then, I was mad... mad at myself really. I had all the chances in the world, and I never took any of them. Now, I feel a lot better... not completely better, but I do feel better..."
"I see... and, what are your feelings toward Temari?"
"I'm jealous... very jealous. For every reason you can think of, and some you can't..."
"Ok... but you are peaceful with her, right? I mean, she may be the next lady Hokage."
"Again... at first... I wasn't... I was a reason Temari found out about Karin and Ino sleeping with Naruto... now, I regret doing it... but at the time, I was jealous..."
"It's Ok. I understand jealousy. Maybe better than you think. You might now know it, but the last man I loved constantly ignored my advances, always slept with other women, and died before I felt I could tell him..."
"I'm sorry... but thank you for understanding..."
"Your welcome. I know you weren't very close to Sakura, but would you mind stretching the offering of peace toward Temari? She lost the first friend since moving out here that she had."
"Yes Shizune. I will. I know Naruto is out of my reach now, and... I'm willing to be nice..."
"Thank you... and remember. If you love Naruto, and he is with Temari, than you should be able to be happy as long as he is."
"Yes, Shizune."
XXX-at the summit-XXX
Naruto and his entourage landed at the foot of the summit, and stared at the building. It felt like staring the threat against their lives in the face. To Naruto it felt like the threat against the peace he created was a physical manifestation in the building itself. Neji just hated the look of the building, and could tell things were going to happen in the next hour or so.
As the trio walked into the building, they were greeted by the guards that were employed there. After that, the three walked into the meeting room, and saw the other Kages had already arrived. Gaara instantly stood, and walked to Naruto. Following Gaara to greet him were Kankuro, and Matsuri.
Other people in the room were the current Tsuchikage: Kurotsuchi, and her two guards Akatsuchi, and Ittan. With Mei was with Chōjūrō, and her other body guard, Ao. Looking to A, Naruto saw an angry glare from him. Behind A was Darui, and... Genkou.
Rage flared up suddenly within Naruto. The sudden realization of what Neji said earlier, that it was true, sent Naruto over the edge. He began to tremble as his rage seemed to continue to build, with no end in sight. Just as he was about to start moving to attack, he felt two hands on his shoulders. Behind him, Neji and Sasuke both placed their hands on Naruto to calm him down, and hold him back if need be. Sasuke looked calm enough, for someone who was seeing one of the people responsible for his wife's death. Neji looked at Genkou, and could hardly believe what he was seeing.
"No body ever told me he looks like Sasuke..." Neji whispered. The look on his face was one of quiet fury.
"We will talk about it later." Sasuke answered.
By Mei, they could see Ao looking quickly from Neji to Mei with a look of terror on his face. Mei looked up to Neji, and smiled.
"Depending on how this goes, you may be down an eye..." Mei said, seeming to be checking out Neji.
"Let's get this done with!" A yelled at the people who seemed to be goofing around.
Everyone in the room got quiet, and Naruto and Gaara took their seats. Sasuke and Neji stood behind Naruto, as tradition stated, and the meeting began.
"You are accused of holding onto the nine-tailed fox while all of our Jinchuuriki died. Not only have you promised us false peace, as the tailed beasts will now return, but you have also lied to us. What do you have to say to this?" A questioned.
"I didn't have the fox... to be honest, the only reason I have the fox was because the fox hid a part of himself in my daughter... I only survived the extraction on the fox... well, I don't know how I survived. All I know is it hurt like hell, and I thought I was going to die..."
Genkou whispered something to A, and A seemed to become more angry. Maybe Genkou planned this kind of answer. All Naruto knew was, he was pissed about Genkou being there.
"You expect us to believe that answer?" A roared.
"Just so I know, who is exactly on our side in this right now?" Sasuke asked. As expected, Gaara raised his hand. Looking around, they also noticed Mei's hand up. That was it. It seemed to be three on two. It seemed like good odds, but both people against them had very strong armies.
"You have used the fox mode, and we can prove it." A yelled again. It seemed it was a public argument between Naruto and A more than a war debate with the Kages. "Genkou... show them what you saw when they attacked you..."
"Attacked him! He attacked our village, and stole my daughter!" Naruto yelled, now showing his anger.
"One of his men killed my wife..." Sasuke included.
"He killed my men as I tried to rebuild our clan's hide out..." Genkou snapped, trying to make it seem like he was the victim, and a true Uchiha. "besides, do you have any proof that we attacked your village? Did you tell the other Kages when I supposedly attacked? Did you do anything?" Genkou asked. He made the hand seal to transform, and changed into Naruto in the tailed-beast mode. Everyone in the room gasped. Naruto had realized that he had never sent a letter to the other Kages, and was kicking himself because of it. He didn't even notify anyone after they had kidnapped his daughter. Gaara was sitting, not caring what was being shown right now. He was too focused on Genkou having kidnapped his niece, and Naruto not telling him. He was also angry that Naruto had been so careless. Though he didn't have to tell other villages, he was still angry that Naruto hadn't at least told him. Naruto was Naruto however, and it was easy to forgive. Mei knew she was going to stick with Naruto and Gaara. She knew enough about Naruto to know that if Naruto said someone did terrible things, the person did them. Naruto wasn't the kind of person this Genkou was making them out to be. If the other two Kages wanted to be on a side where they just wanted to fight Naruto from some personal vendetta, then she would help Naruto make them see their error.
"Here is the question. Are you actually planning on going to war against him, all because of what Genkou says? Gaara and I both know Naruto. Gaara can personally vouch for that Naruto is not the kind of person this Genkou person seems to be making him out to be." Mei asked.
"Genkou has given me all the proof I need. I will make sure he is made to answer for his lies." A responded.
"And are you going to go against him as well, Tsuchikage?"
"My village has always disliked the leaf village. I see no reason not to continue that. The way I see it, Genkou is presenting facts that actually seem to mean something. Naruto is just making up excuses to me."
"Then... it seems like the fifth shinobi war will happen..." Gaara murmured. Naruto broke out in a cold sweat. Everything he had once fought for was gone in this very moment.
"Then... in two weeks, expect an official declaration of war..." A said, and stood. He was done seeing their faces. As Genkou followed him out, he looked back to Sasuke and Naruto, and smiled. He had won. The Raikage would have called war there, but since the peace that Bee had died for started, he let his military forces slip a little. One week would get him a lot of his strength back, and anything after that would only be a bonus.
The Tsuchikage left with her bodyguards as well. Naruto sat in his seat, with his head held in his hands. His mind was racing about what the villagers would think. What the villagers from mist and sand villages would think. He put their Kages in very difficult places.
"Why didn't you tell me..." Gaara whispered as he walked to Naruto. Naruto looked up, and saw anger in Gaara's eyes. "that my niece was kidnapped. That these things were happening to you?"
"Gaara... I'm... sorry..."
"Some day, you will make it up to Kankuro and I, but for now, we have enough to worry about." Gaara started walking away, but turned to look at Naruto one last time before he left. "i do forgive you, however. Protect my sister and niece, Naruto..."
"Yeah..."
Gaara had left. Naruto saw no reason to stay at this point. Looking at Mei, he nodded in thanks for her help, and left. Ao looked at Mei.
"You didn't tell the Hyūga?" he asked, the sound of being thankfulness too obvious in his voice.
"You are still needed. After the war, if you are still alive, than I will tell them. I don't do it because I dislike you, but because I wish to show them I mean to keep the peace. If Naruto has the fox again, for whatever reason, then her would be a very powerful, very destructive, opponent." Mei answered. Ao nodded in understanding.
Outside, Naruto stood as he still faced the face all he worked for was gone. Sasuke and Neji watched him for a moment before saying anything. The two realized what this meant for him. It did a lot of damage to their Hokage, and the fact that he now had to fight a war meant the pain would continue.
"I'm sorry that it came to this, Naruto..." Sasuke murmured.
"Agreed. But the village will understand. You couldn't control everything, after all.
"Yeah... can we... just get going...?" Naruto asked quietly.
"Yeah..." Sasuke murmured. Together, the group left, knowing war was coming.
A/N: here is the chapter that finalizes the plot. Hope you all enjoyed it, and hope to see some reviews. Again, sorry about the stuff I messed up in it. I fixed it all I think, and now it should be worth the read. I'm putting up a poll, so after you finish reading this, go and vote on it!
~lord-maiku!