Mei had a smile when Naruto appeared before her. She had been waiting for him since the Kage summit. She was happy with how things concluded, she wanted to do nothing but hold him to say that things would be alright and they could have the future they wanted. Everything looked possible now. There had been the fear of people hunting him because of the things that Naruto had done, but the majority of the Kages had spoken, things looked like they were going to turn up nicely. She shook her head, things were going well. There would be no troubles. Konoha, Suna and Kiri would be behind him. They would not allow anything bad to happen to him.
The Godaime Mizukage walked towards Naruto and greeted him with a large smile before holding out both her hands. Naruto had a curious look on his face but she merely embraced him tightly. She didn't let go. She held him tightly for a couple of moments before breaking away. She stared at him with a smile.
"I could use to be welcomed with such greeting," Naruto said with a smile. It was all a bit unfamiliar to him but Naruto didn't hate it. He liked it. It was enjoyable. It was the human contact that he had missed dearly when he had been just a child running loose in the streets of the Hidden Leaf.
"That is if you live here," Mei said before dragging the blond to the sitting room. She sat him on a sofa and faced him, smiling brightly. "Where is your home now? You are not thinking of returning to Konoha are you?" It would be disappointing if he thought that. She wouldn't have those moments she wanted. Things would not be as beautiful as she had hoped.
Naruto shook his head. "I don't think the people there would welcome me. Besides that, I wasn't thinking of returning to the village. I like my life as it is now. I can be anywhere I want without anything tying me down," he said.
Mei stared for a couple of moments before speaking. "What do you say about coming here?"
Naruto looked thoughtful. "I haven't given it much thought. But I will think about it. It would change a couple of things," he said. It would really change how things really work but he could give it a thought. He had been thinking a home in Amegakure with Konan. He was going to be working closely with her. He wanted to avoid having those close contacts with Great Nations because it would complicate things.
"I know but just think about it," Mei said. "So things have gone smoothly. It went better than I had anticipated. You will probably have problems with Iwagakure and the Raikage isn't going to forget anything. But you have us by your back and if things work out well, things could get even better."
It was just truly amazing how things changed because Naruto had been thinking that he would have to play dead and erase his existence from this world for things to calm down when it became apparent that there were plans to kill him but he was here, he didn't have to 'die.' Things looked hopeful for the future and he couldn't complain. It wasn't what he had in mind, but if he could work out things like this and still achieve his dreams, why would he complain?
"I will have to try something with the Raikage," Naruto said before nodding his head. "I will go to Kumogakure and try to talk to him. It isn't likely to change anything but at least if I can stand before him without him lunging at me, it would be progress." He also needed to see how Yugito was doing after everything that happened.
"Is it wise going to him after just after everything that has happened?"
"I don't know but that is what I have decided to do," Naruto said a bit firmly. "If I just stay away, it isn't going to change anything either. I need to at least try something. I'm not concerned about being hated. So, the man can hate me but I don't want him doing something that drags the Elemental Nations into war. If something like that happens, Bijuus will become targets once more and that would put me at the heart of things."
Mei nodded quietly: it was his choice; it was his dream. "What about Iwagakure and Onoki? He seems intent on seeing you die."
Naruto smiled. "I have something working on that and it should work out soon," he said.
He wondered if he should say something about Kurotsuchi. Perhaps he was fooling around a bit too much with her but he certainly didn't love her. He had his reasons for going after her heart. Perhaps he was getting cold and calculative. But this was the path that he has chosen, wasn't it?
"What?" Mei asked in a curious tone, her head tilted to the side. She was watching Naruto carefully.
"For my business to work out without border challenges I had to have the consent of Daimyos. But of course they too must get their cut since I am going to monopolize things, but they still get their cut. I sold some dreams, riches and success to the Feudal Lords, and then Onoki tried to crush it. The Earth Lord won't be pleased with it. Onoki shouldn't even be a Kage and so he is probably going to make some demands to Onoki for him to leave his role as Tsuchikage," Naruto said.
Mei stared at the blond. She then shook her head. "He might not listen. A Daimyo doesn't have the power to remove a Kage," she said. "Perhaps that is just we do things here, but Feudal Lords only wield political power and can only give pressure."
Naruto shrugged. "That pressure is what can work in this situation," the blond said. "I have been making unhanded moves on his granddaughter. When she becomes Tsuchikage, things should work out smoothly."
Mei narrowed her eyes dangerously. "What do you mean unhanded moves?" She asked without emotion.
Naruto smile, it was a very small smile. "I'm thinking I should marry her," he said. When the Mizukage glared at him, he raised both his hands. "It is something that I have been working on since I first went to Iwagakure. Why do you think I continued to visit the village without doing anything? I encountered her couple of times and never did anything. I have been working on this. I realized that to be able to draw an understanding with her, I had to get into her heart. If she has no deeper feeling for me, it is easy for her to dismiss me without blinking. But if she does, she thinks deeply about any issue before making any decision. No doubt, she will prioritize Iwagakure, but this gives me a chance to get along with Iwa. And I can unite Four Great Nations. Isn't that wonderful?"
For a moment, Mei felt like those dreams she had been having would be crushed. She shook her head. He was still here, this changed nothing. "Tell me this changes nothing?"
"It changes nothing," Naruto said in a firm tone. "Perhaps I am getting cold and maybe not fair to Kurotsuchi, but I have to do what I must to change this world. It isn't like I am going to make her miserable anyway."
"Can we pass off this as nothing more than a political marriage?"
"It will be that," Naruto said. "You don't want people thinking that the new Kage has fallen in love with someone who killed hundreds of Iwa's shinobi. No, you don't want that or she becomes questioned as well. It will be a political marriage that will be sponsored by the Earth Daimyo in an attempt to forge better ties to avoid a needless war that will only cause pain and bloodshed. If you can't accept that, then there is something wrong with you."
"This is going to be a really dangerous situation," Mei said. "She isn't planning on killing you, is she? If she gets married to you, she can just wake up in the middle of the night and stab you with a kunai or just give you food that is poisoned."
Naruto looked amused. "I don't think that things would go that far, Mei. Don't think like that either. There is something that I didn't say, but I am still a Jinchuriki. So, poison works slowly. It can kill me, but it works slowly and I will have enough time to rush to Tsunade for her to heal me. If she stabs me, the Kyubi will try to heal me."
Mei tilted her head to the side. "But you said you released the Kyubi…"
"I was planning on release it but it said it was willing to have half of its power remain in me just in case. I won't be using it unless things change. And I won't mention it to anyone. I have released just half of it and the other half remains in me. We don't know what kind of troubles lie ahead for us tomorrow, and I don't want to be caught napping," Naruto explained lightly.
Once more Mei shook her head. "Is there anything else I should know?"
"I actually have a girlfriend…"
Mei stared at Naruto with a smile. "You seem rather famous with women," she said.
"It's not like that. She was my first girlfriend. We were just playing around at first but then things changed you know. I had just told her we should lie low for a little while because things looked dangerous. I didn't want her to be catching the fire. I'm not as careless as to have someone get in trouble for my sins."
"Would that have been the time you came around my place looking miserable?" Mei asked.
Naruto smiled nervously. "I don't recall," he said.
"You are not convincing," Mei said in a flat tone. "Try again, Naruto and be careful with what you say because I might decide to boil you."
"It was around that time yes," Naruto said.
"So what was I? Were you also planning to use the same tricks you were using with Kurotsuchi on me? Has this been all just a game because you needed someone to support you before going back to your girlfriend?"
Naruto stared, trying to see if the Mizukage was serious. Had it been a couple of year ago, he would have been panicking but he was at least experienced with women and he believed that he knew the Mizukage a bit. "Maybe things will be difficult but I think we can pull it off. Our dream isn't going to end."
"I'm still not happy about this," Mei said.
Iwagakure
The bad news didn't look like they were going to end soon. Onoki had returned to the village quite displeased with how the Kage Summit had gone. He hadn't received anything; he hadn't gained anything. But it was apparent that he had earned new enemies within the Great Nations and that was only displeasing. Nothing had gone according to plan and Iwagakure was in a delicate situation that he hadn't foreseen. Perhaps he had been a little reckless in his movements but even the other Kages agreed with him that Naruto was a danger to the Great Nations. However, they didn't appear to be willing to do anything to him or against him. It wasn't what he expected but he was certain that those people had some relationships with the blond; that meant that getting to Naruto would be difficult without inviting the wrath of the other three.
They wouldn't do anything now, but if he did something, they were going to do something and Onoki hated how things had become. He sighed, at least there was no one threatening war with the Hidden Stone. The situation could still be balanced out. He just had to move carefully. He was going to retire soon anyway. But it does seem that he has left his granddaughter with a massive task that would perhaps be a little difficult for her to do. He was still here nevertheless – if she needed his support, he would give it to her.
"You look like you have swallowed something bitter…" Kurotsuchi said as she walked into the office.
Her little treacherous moment with Naruto seemed to flicker between her thoughts when she showed up before her grandfather. Go dammit, she felt guilty that she had been comfortably kissing a man her village viewed as an enemy. Kurotsuchi hated herself for it but she could not deny that the feeling had been good. She felt like she was betraying the anger and contempt her grandfather felt for Naruto. But was it wrong for her to want something? Besides, she had her reasons. It was good for the village but her grandfather didn't want anything to do with that person. It was certainly going to be difficult doing anything with him while her grandfather still breathed.
Well, at least he was still alive. Naruto had said that he would not do anything. If she could save his life, wasn't that something else? If she could make sure that Naruto wasn't around the Hidden Stone with evil intentions, wasn't that a great service to her village? Her feelings aside, the service to her village stood above all things. If Kurotsuchi could secure her village's future, then she would not complain. This guilt, sickness in her, it was nothing – it would go away eventually.
Onoki looked up at Kurotsuchi with a frown. "I have indeed swallowed something bitter," he said.
"The result of the Kage summit," Kurotsuchi said without question. "Well, I had more or less expected things to go in that way with both Konoha and the Hidden Sand. The Mist was surprise but it shouldn't be something that shocks us." Perhaps the Mizukage was the person Naruto had offered himself to. He had said he offered his future to someone. She hadn't come around to ask about that. It hadn't even come to her mind. She had been busy enjoying the sinful pleasures.
"You almost look like you are telling me that I should have expected it," Onoki said staring at his granddaughter.
"Well, what did you expect? I am not going to question your choices, grandfather and I will not do anything as to disagree with what you do. You are the Tsuchikage of this village and regardless of what I think; I believe that you always do what is best for this village. You have always served Iwagakure with everything."
"Sometimes we end up trapping ourselves in bad situations because we are trying to protect what we love. Good intentions can result in bad choices and actions. You must never forget that, Kurotsuchi," Onoki said in a stern tone. "It does appear that we have chewed more than we can handle. I'd always thought that the Kages would work together to get rid of Naruto. But even though the Raikage would rather have Naruto die, he appears to think that it would be pointless to get into war with someone like him when he hasn't even threatened any of us with destruction. Perhaps he will be busy working on a secret plan to get rid of Naruto but this isn't what I expected."
"Sunagakure had willingly allowed Naruto to do what he wanted and before, he had saved the Kazekage from the Akatsuki. I had expected them to back him because regardless of how you look at it, he is their ally. Despite leaving Konoha, he has still been going into the village. If he hadn't done anything against them, the village was no doubt going to try to protect him," Kurotsuchi said. Those had been her thoughts before the Kage summit. "But isn't all that bad," she managed a small smile when she said that.
"What makes you say that?"
"Konoha and Sunagakure will not try to attack us and as things stand, we can always work around the issue to make sure that we at least have healthy relationships with the villages." They had a connection with Naruto and she could use that to her advantage. Besides, it was likely that even Kirigakure had joined their alliance.
Onoki frowned; He couldn't think of making that happen without bowing to pressure and offering apologies as well as compensation. He had yet to say anything to the Wave and he wasn't planning on saying anything in response to their demands. He wouldn't do anything for now. He had to deal with the immediate threat. "I wond-"
A shinobi walked into the office in a hurry and bowed his head before addressing the Sandaime Tsuchikage. "Tsuchikage-sama, the Feudal Lord is here," the man said.
Onoki nearly stood up. This was a visit he had not been expecting. At a time like this, the Feudal Lord was necessary, but in war, they were nothing. Iwagakure wasn't at war. He had to consider things. As things were, the Daimyo was a powerful person and that bothered him. "Show him the way," he said with a deep frown.
There was silence for a couple of minutes until the Earth Daimyo walked into the office in all his majesty. Kurotsuchi greeted the old man respectfully and he responded in kind before turning his fierce gaze towards Onoki. The Sandaime Tsuchikage retuned the look before speaking. "I wasn't expecting to see you."
"Agent matters brought me to this village," the Daimyo said calmly.
"What matters?"
"Your recent actions, of course," the Daimyo said in a matter of fact. "You had your shinobi charge into the Wave. I was honestly baffled when I heard the report and yet glad when I heard they were destroyed. Make no mistake, I want this country to prosper but you actions are not helping things. Naruto came to us with a proposal that has been agreed upon by the other Feudal Lords. It will benefit this country wonderfully and yet you wanted to destroy that. I wonder if you still have any vision for tomorrow, Onoki – Because if you could see tomorrow, you would have never sent your shinobi to the Wave. You would have just let things be."
Onoki's frown deepened hearing those words. "Why are you here?"
"You are not responding to my concerns or even if you are going to do anything regarding the Wave. You were in the wrong, are you not going to even admit that?"
"I will not respond to anything until I learn what you want."
The Daimyo shook his head. "You have really become stubborn that it is now sad, Onoki. What ever happened to you? Is it age perhaps?" The man asked calmly. "I am here to talk to this village's council and I came to let you know that I will be withdrawing the support of the Earth Country from this village until you retire and allow someone who isn't cynical take over the village. Whether this village takes damage over the situation depends on you. If you quit smoothly, there will be no damage, if you don't, there will be trouble. With current events, I am sure you need the support you can get."
Onoki glared heatedly at the Daimyo. "Who put you up to this?"
"No one," the Daimyo said as he stood up. "You have your choice, Onoki. I am only thinking about the future of this village and my country. Reflect on your actions and you will realize that you are no longer fit to lead this village. You are simply forcing things that shouldn't be forced and eventually, it will burst." He slowly walked away after saying those words.
Kurotsuchi was almost certain that Naruto had something to do with this. But she didn't want to think about it. If her grandfather was quitting, she would happily take over him and she would do everything she could to protect this village – there was no question there. But it depended on what her grandfather was willing to do. "What now?" She asked curiously.
"What do you think?" Onoki glared at his granddaughter.
Amegakure no Sato
The Hidden Rain, the village in which his beloved sensei had met his end. It was in this land that he had come with the goal of destroying the Akatsuki and getting his vengeance. He wasn't the type to be thinking about revenge. But to be honest with himself, his anger had truly driven him to this village at a time he would have not come. He would have waited a bit while killing other members of the Akatsuki but because Jiraiya had been killed while in this village, he had been forced to come here. It hadn't been the wrong choice to come here, he had ended up gaining something valuable – the Rinnegan and he had a powerful ally in the name of Konan. She was Amegakure's angel – the god had decided to leave the village to look for other things in the afterlife.
It wasn't raining like last time and the streets were busy with people of all kinds. This time around, you could see children walking around. Perhaps things had changed for the better. Certainly, without Nagato or the Akatsuki's ideals, this village was seeing peace. There was no need for it to continuously rain because of enemies. It was seeing more life and the people could enjoy the view of the other side. Konan had said that the once crying village had finally stopped crying. Perhaps he was enjoying the peace here. As long as the troubles of the Great Five Nations didn't come here, this village would be at peace – there would be no trouble.
Naruto was happy knowing that. Perhaps when he does finally meet Nagato in the other life, the man wasn't going to look at him funny for failing to bring peace. Well, what was happening here wasn't the result of his actions. It was certainly something that Nagato and Konan had built. Naruto did hope that things would eventually turn up in the elemental nations.
Naruto looked through the streets for a couple of more minutes before heading towards the tallest tower. He found Konan sitting by the balcony, overlooking the streets. Naruto joined her and they settled in comfortable silence. "The atmosphere is certainly different, isn't it?" He finally asked.
Konan nodded. This was indeed something Yahiko would have really liked seeing. She hoped that he was smiling if he could see just how this village has turned around. She did worry though. With the trains coming into this place, there was a chance of more enemies coming here. She didn't want that. The village would be open because of the trains and the people of Amegakure would see the sight of other villages. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. With the Akatsuki, it had been important to keep things hidden away because they had many enemies.
"But this atmosphere can still change if there is war amongst the great nations," Konan said. She had seen it before and she was likely going to see it again – she hoped not. But when these nations fight, the smaller villages were the ones who suffered from collateral damages. Their lands were used as battlegrounds and it was their people who suffered.
Naruto could not disagree with that – he had already seen it from Nagato. "Hopefully nothing bad will happen," he said.
"How did things go with the Kage Summit?"
Naruto smiled. "Better," he said. "I won't have a problem of being hunted by the great nations. That eases up some tensions and ensures that I don't do anything that brings chaos." He said.
Konan turned towards him with a raised eye brow. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, if things could not have settled with me being here, I would have been forced to wear the mask of the devil and that means really becoming 'evil.' It would have been war with just one man. But at least you wouldn't have been caught in the crossfire. The Great Nations would have had more trouble trying to protect themselves from me," he said.
Konan shook her head. She really didn't want to know what he would have been doing but obviously, it would have been something dangerous. He certainly had the power and now he had the power of all Bijuus, who could stop him with all that power? "If things worked out, what happened?"
"Kirigakure, Konoha and the Sand have entered into an alliance. I also have great relationships with the three nations. If things work out, they become a powerful force that would only take Kumo and Iwagakure challenging to break it. It is unlikely anyway. I have been setting up things on my part, so we should soon be working hard to take this world towards the path of peace," Naruto said.
"What of the other two?" Konan asked.
"The Feudal Lord of the Earth country should be putting pressure on Onoki to resign from his position as Tsuchikage. Things in some parts have worsened because of him," Naruto said with a slight shake of his head. "If Onoki is removed from the picture, then we have Iwagakure. Well, I had been thinking of just killing him but the result would have been a negative for me," he said.
"Am I missing something?"
Naruto nodded with a smile. "I have been working on Onoki's granddaughter. When Onoki resigns, she becomes Yondaime Tsuchikage. I already have a relationship with her, so sooner or later, she will also join the alliance with the other three. I just hope I don't do something that screws it up anyway."
"What would you do?"
"Something to her grandfather," Naruto said. "I wanted them to pay for what they tried to do in the Wave Country. But it does appear that they are not going to admit anything soon. Well, as long as there was no harm done, I can't complain much. Besides, if I work things right with Kurotsuchi, she would admit that her grandfather was wrong."
"If she doesn't?"
"It doesn't matter," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "As long as she is able to get into an understanding with me and we have close ties, I can't complain much. The issue is trying to forge an understanding. We can't always agree on everything but I hope that we will at least be able to agree on some fundamental issues. If we cannot agree, there is no point on continuing with things because they won't achieve anything."
"Then I look forward to the future," Konan said.
"As do I, dear," Naruto said in a serious tone. "But it does appear that Zetsu will become a problem. I don't know where to find him but I think I have a way to handle him. Nevertheless, given the situation, he has avoided confronting me head on in battle. I think there is a reason for that."
"He was never the one for fighting even in the Akatsuki. His main duty was gathering Intelligence and he was rather good at it," Konan said. "What is he planning to do?"
"Obito's dream, most probably. It might not even be Obito's dream but Zetsu's. When he spoke to me, I didn't consider him troubling, but he did mention that he wanted the Rinnegan. He wants the doujutsu and the Bijuus to revive the Jubi. There is a bigger goal after that, but I won't let something like that happen."
"In terms of power, he isn't that much of a threat," Konan said. "But I assume he is working by manipulating things."
Naruto nodded. "I think so," he said. "If he appears before me, I will handle him. But in the meantime, he has threatened the Great Nations with a fight. They refused to listen to him when he made some demands. I am more concerned with what he plans on doing but I will keep watch to ensure that nothing goes out of control."
"If there is anything needed, I am here," Konan said.
"I know," Naruto responded with a smile. "And I will call you when I do need you. Well, with the trains having started picking up routes, I will need you. This is the harder part of things and we will have to tread carefully or things will blow up."
Konohagakure
The Great Nations were certainly comfortable with their power. But of course, Naruto had disturbed that power balance because of his power. Zetsu had no concern for this. He didn't care about it. He just wanted Naruto to be brought to him. He didn't have the power to do it by himself but the Hidden Villages could do it for him. If they didn't want to do it, Zetsu could force them to do it. He would not allow the dream to be reunited with his mother to be stopped by a mere brat who has not lived for more than thirty years. Naruto was not Madara. He could not be compared to Madara but yet the Uzumaki was the greatest threat he was facing now.
He had managed to work out things even when Hagoromo was still alive. But now all plans had been brought to a halt when Naruto decided to grow a spine. It had been disappointing. But Zetsu would not give up. He had a long life ahead of him. He also had to worry about Sasuke. Both those two would die. Naruto was indeed going to die. If he could not force things, then he could bide his time. He was patient. And things were much simpler now with Naruto having gathered all the Bijuus. If Naruto died, Zetsu could still work. He could still work even in a simpler role.
And he could use Naruto's body as a catalyst. The blond may not have Uchiha genes but he was still Uzumaki. He still had enough chakra and possessed the Rinnegan. Perhaps he even used it effectively because he was a Jinchuriki of the Kyubi.
But before Zetsu does disappear; he was going to give these people a present. It was Konoha that mattered the most. This village - Naruto's former home. He may have abandoned it but it was still the village that could have the loudest reaction to the blonde's existence. Whatever he did, these people were going to blame him. They were going to hate him for the rest of his life. He was to blame. It was his fault that such things were going to happen in this village.
Village Gates
Izumo was honestly surprised seeing Sasuke and Kakashi walk into the village. It shouldn't be happening; the Uchiha had yet to even return to the village. He was still someone who had abandoned Konoha. There were rumors that he was here when the hospital was blown up but he was still not within the village. Had Kakashi gone out to fetch the Uchiha? Sakura would be the one dancing at this return of the Uchiha. Still, he hadn't been told anything about the Uchiha's return or of Kakashi's mission to get the Uchiha to return. By the looks of things, he had returned willingly.
"This isn't a genjutsu, right?" Kotetsu said to his partner at the village gates.
Izumo shook his head. "This is definitely reality," he said in a measured tone. "Strange things occur. But I'm sure it is going to be a party tonight," he said while smiling. The villagers would be happy to know their beloved last Uchiha had returned. The thought didn't make him smile, but what could he say about it? He was just a gate guard, a mere Chunin.
"It would be feast with Naruto around," Kotetsu said with a smile, just thinking about the old days the blond used to roam through the streets of the Hidden Leaf. Those beautiful days he saw Anbu chasing after Naruto and Iruka yelling things to the blond – those good old days.
"A pity he isn't around," Izumo said with a frown on his lips. "If Sasuke has returned, do you think he too will return?"
Naruto's return? It was unlikely but with everything that has been happening around the Elemental Nations you could never know what was going to happen. It didn't look like the blond was going to return any time soon though. But at least he was not an enemy of Konoha. "I don't know," Kotetsu said.
"Kakashi," Izumo started with a smile. "I didn't know you'd gone out," he said.
"Left midnight," Kakashi responded lazily as he walked towards Izumo, eye smiling. "Had information about this one," he said added.
"I'm sure Tsunade-sama is waiting for you," Kotetsu said, standing just closer to the Jonin.
Kakashi nodded; he was just inches away from Izumo. In the blink of an eye, a kunai was on his hand. Izumo just looked curiously but before he could ask what was happening, the kunai was plunged into the side of his neck, stabbing deeply that he started bleeding heavily. With eyes wide, he tried to stop the bleeding while gasping for air.
"What the hell is happening?" Kotetsu asked, while jumping backwards.
His eyes only widened in shock when Kakashi placed an explosive tag on Izumo's forehead. It didn't take a minute before the tag exploded into flames, along with Izumo. This could not be Kakashi right? No, this person did feel like the Jonin. But there was still no way the Jonin would just mercilessly kill one of Konoha's shinobi like that. Yet, it was happening. Before he could flee, Kotetsu felt a hand on his shoulder. He nearly jumped when he saw Kakashi, standing behind him.
"Yoh," the Jonin greeted despite the situation. "That is an imposter," he said in a stern tone.
Kakashi had a deep frown on his lips. An imposter yes, but he could only tell because he knew he was the real person. The problem was that no one could tell the difference because the chakra signature felt the same. Even he could not tell the difference. Who could do something like this? This was an attack on the Hidden Leaf. This could not simply be a clone. "I don't know who you are but you are not going to get out of this alive," the Jonin said in a firm tone, while his right hand sparkled with electricity.
Before he could even move, there was an explosion of lightning behind the fake. Sasuke twisted around swiftly while swinging his sword. The blade cut through the fake from the right shoulder, closer to the neck, going downwards. The slash cut cleanly, cutting the fake in half. As he did so, the fake turned into a white form, the form of Kakashi being undone.
Kakashi moved in speed and stabbed his Chidori right through the chest of 'Sasuke.' There was no bleeding, just another clone that lost its form when Kakashi stabbed it. The Jonin frowned deeply. Even with the Sasuke clone, he could not tell it was not him just by looking at him.
"It's good to see you, Sasuke," Kakashi said with an eye smile. "Mind explaining to me what is happening here?"
Sasuke's team landed behind him. It didn't even take long for a squad of Anbu to surround them but Sasuke didn't even look concerned. "They call themselves White Zetsu Clones… from Orochimaru's information, they have the ability to steal your chakra and use it for themselves. You can't tell the difference because they do possess your chakra. There are probably more of them in the village and you can't tell them apart from the real ones…" Karin explained lightly.
"We came here to deal with it and we thought that Black Zetsu would make an appearance," Sasuke responded calmly.
"You have been looking for him?" Kakashi was surprised. "Are you certain that there are more of them in the village, walking around as they did here?"
"Not quite, but it is a big possibility and you cannot disregard it," Sasuke responded calmly. "And the information we received was legit."
Kakashi took a grim look on his face. There was no big attack occurring now, but if there were more of those looking like the originals and feeling like the originals, it was going to be chaos. If word got out, people would start doubting each other and many would start killing each other – even the real people would be killed. It was a cruel situation. And there didn't appear to be any way to deal with it or escape it.
The Anbu stepped in before Kakashi could say anything. "You'll have to come with us to see the Hokage, Uchiha," one of them said in a hardened tone.
"There is no need for hostility," Kakashi eased in with a wave of his right hand. "I will go with them. I'm sure Sasuke won't be difficult. He does appear to have information we could use… right, Sasuke?" the Jonin gave the Uchiha a stare.
Sasuke returned the stare before nodding.
Hokage Office
Tsunade was not a happy person, not after hearing what Kakashi had to say. "That bastard!" She cursed loudly. "This is because we refused to hand over, Naruto isn't it?"
Kakashi nodded his head. There was no other reason that Zetsu would do something like this. This was because he wanted to force the shinobi nations to bring Naruto to him so that he could achieve whatever it was that he wanted to achieve. There was also a double meaning in the attack; Naruto was going to be blamed for this threat that poses on for the Leaf.
"No doubt," Kakashi said with a nod.
Tsunade seethed silently for a couple of moments. How did this even happen without her knowing about it? This was a dangerous situation and they really had to have a handle over it before there was chaos in the village. If she could not solve things, there was a chance that there was going to be bloodshed in the village. She turned towards Sasuke. "What else do you know?" She demanded. She didn't care that the Uchiha had suddenly just decided to show up in the village. She was most concerned about the safety of the village and the villagers.
"Nothing much," Sasuke said. "We just received a tip from one of Naruto's people who spotted the underground movement."
"Underground?" Tsunade asked with a frown on her lips.
Sasuke shrugged. "I didn't ask the details… they just told me that Black Zetsu was on the move," he said.
Tsunade stared for a long minute before speaking. "We can't allow the village to be on lockdown and we can't take civilians into safety places because one of those clones might be within them and that would be disastrous. If we make too much movement, they will notice," she said. "The villagers will notice."
"What will be done then?"
"The Anbu will be watching over the village, all of them and we will have the Inuzuka move around to try to sniff them out. But no one has to be killed. If you see two people of the same, we apprehend them both before we discover which the real is and which is fake."
"It will be too late by then," a clone of Zetsu suddenly said after appearing from the ceiling. "By the end of the day, this whole village will know the situation. Word has already started to spread and people will be distrustful of everyone. People will be killing each other. It will-"
A burst of lightning hit the clone before it could finish speaking. The lightning came from Sasuke who didn't appear too pleased to see the clone.
Later that night
The streets were burning, the Anbu were flying all over the village along with shinobi to try to gather the situation. From the Hokage Monument, you could see the pillars of smoke, the screams, the cries – it was like a slaughter house. It was a mighty fall of the Great Hidden Leaf village. Who could have thought that this village would be brought to this state? They had waited for midnight before attacking. A cowardly attack that was done to great effect. Naruto could sense the fear within the village, and yet despite the situation, there was no rush for him to jump into the fray to try to work out the situation. He had already worked out what was happening and could work out things.
But, these were the people who tormented him. This was happening to a village that had made him miserable. Naruto did not have that hatred that he would feel the need to see them suffer, but he still did not feel like helping them. Yet he did know, Zetsu had done this because of his actions. He would be blamed. Naruto told himself, even if he does end up giving a helping hand, it would not be because he wanted to protect Konoha – he just wanted to stop Zetsu. Perhaps that evil tree was even around and they would manage to hang it and burn it alive.
He shook his head; his thoughts were becoming darker. Perhaps this was the true side of a person who was willing to commit mass murders. No, he was still willing to do it if things did not work out as planned. If someone manages to ruin all things, Naruto could still walk that bloody path. It would be painful, but he was still willing to walk it. He was willing to do anything for his dream.
Shaking his head, Naruto jumped down towards the village. The air that hit him was cold, but the village was in flames. Naruto landed gracefully and walked for a couple of moments before coming to a halt in the middle of the streets. He could sense multiple chakra signatures moving around. The dread. The fear. The murderous killing intent. Well, this village was infamous for the latter – at least in his world.
"So you finally decided to come here," Sasuke said narrowed eyes, walking towards him from behind.
Naruto glanced at the Uchiha for a moment before staring into the dark sky. He smiled. "Black Zetsu is quite the sadist. To plan for such an attack when the moon is hidden," he shook his head.
"You aren't doing anything to help and this is your fault," Sasuke said in a cold tone. "This is happening because you chose to take the Bijuus…"
Naruto glanced at Sasuke before slowly turning around. He tilted his head to the side and then held out his right hand. Sasuke was suddenly pulled towards the palm of his right hand before being grabbed by the throat.
"I can sense you," Naruto said. "Your unhidden dark emotions towards me. Besides, I know Sasuke pretty well…" he said while crushing the clones throat and absorbing the chakra. Once done, he dropped the dry clone to the ground and turned towards the building on his right.
He disappeared in the blink of an eye and landed atop of the building. He stood in front of the real Sasuke with an expressionless mask on his face. "Were you waiting for me to be killed before making a move?"
Sasuke shrugged. "I wasn't even sure if you were the original," he responded indifferently. "But I would not have complained if you fell for it…"
Naruto just shook his head. Sasuke was dead serious in his words. Well, it was not like there was any love lost between then. Naruto didn't care what Sasuke was doing – if the Uchiha stood in his way, he would be killed. Naruto was just most concerned about doing his things. Yet, it was perhaps a surprise to see the Uchiha in this village. He was here, fighting. Itachi would no doubt be proud. What would the Sandaime even say seeing the village in this state? Or his sensei? Jiraiya would have summoned the Toads and do everything possible to get things in order. He would not have been standing here with indifference as he was.
"This is a rather cruel situation," Naruto said, turning away from Sasuke. He glanced at the streets once more.
Sasuke was not going to be the one to point out Naruto's indifference to the situation despite calling it cruel. He too had some indifference. "If it was cruel, you wouldn't even be just standing here."
Naruto shrugged. "I don't particularly care for the villagers of this village," he then smiled bitterly. "Not so much of the peace I preach. Then again, I have not claimed to be peaceful myself. If I did, I must have been sarcastic about it."
"You should leave if you did not come here to help, Naruto," Sasuke said. "But I figure if people know more about it, they'd only grow to hate more of you. I'm sure you don't want that… with what you are planning at least."
Naruto shrugged. "Konoha is not the center of the world, so I can do what I want even when this village loathes my existence," the blond said carelessly. "But I guess I should help out. It will do well for my name in the other villages who look up to me." He said smiling. "Taju Kage Bunshin on Jutsu."
A thousand of Kage Bunshins appeared in a puff of smoke. The power of the Kyubi was not visible but you could see it in the eyes of the clones that they were using the Kyubi's chakra. "You know what to do," he said to the clones.
"Yes Sir!" They all disappeared into different directions.
Naruto said nothing further to Sasuke. He just put his hands inside his pockets and then jumped to the next building. He watched things for a minute before vanishing out of sight. When he appeared atop of the Hokage Tower, he found Tsunade surrounded by a squad of Anbu, a pillar of chakra visible around her body. It was an impressive amount of chakra, he mused. And she was using it to help with the healing process by Katsuyu to be able to limit causalities.
The Anbu did not move – they kept at their guard. But it was clear. One wrong move and they would pounce. Naruto just rounded them and stopped at the edge. He looked down at the streets with an expressionless mask.
This was what happened in this world of shinobi. The person responsible for this was not human. Zetsu did not even qualify to be called a person. That tree wanted chaos and destruction. People were suffering. They were only going to learn to hate in their pain. No, Naruto shook his head. These people already know hatred. He had experienced it first-hand. But the mood could still change. Yes, things could change. In a couple of days, things would be back to normal. Those crying for their loved ones would cry and learn to live with the loss. Life continued even after those around you die.
"It should be over soon," Naruto said to Tsunade in a quiet tone.
Tsunade did not miss the lack of emotion in Naruto's tone. But she was still glad that he had not ignored them. She was happy that he had come in the time of need. Despite everything, he was still her Naruto. "But the loss will have been felt."
"In such a situation, you can only limit the damage. Because we are men, we have limits. Even when we want to protect everything, we do end up coming short." Naruto said in a measured tone. "What brings death to a shinobi is the attempt to protect everything and everyone."
"Not everyone can live with the knowledge that they cannot protect everything they value," Tsunade responded. "If people accepted those thoughts, some people would choose to stop caring for certain things and only carry the load they can protect."
"Sometimes you fail to even protect your own life," Naruto said.
Tsunade frowned deeply; those who had been Jiraiya's worries regrets. He had failed to protect Minato. He had failed to protect the Sandaime and he had failed to stop Naruto from leaving Konoha. She had failed on her part but she had blamed Konoha for it. "When did you become so realistic?"
"When I grew," Naruto said. "And looking at this situation makes you realize certain things. Perhaps the kind of world Jiraiya desired cannot be achieved. We cannot all understand each other. There will always be conflicts but it is how we react and solve them that must change."
"What does that have to do with what you have done or what is happening here?" Tsunade demanded in a hardened tone.
What did that have to with what he has done since he left Konoha? Specifically? Nothing. But the general idea was peace and Naruto wanted peace. There was no peace in what was happening in this village. It was just chaos. The lack of a moral fiber. It was the case with all shinobi, wasn't it? "I'm just looking at things, and I am thinking, where is the peace? Is it really even possible to achieve peace? What is peace anyway?"
"You spent time with Jiraiya and abandoned everything saying you wanted peace, shouldn't you have al the answers?" Tsunade asked in a bitter tone, her focus no longer on her distribution of chakra but on the person standing in front of her.
Naruto glanced at the Godaime Hokage for a moment; she was angry. She was bitter. He looked back at the streets and understood. Nothing ever worked according to plan in this world but it did not mean you had to give up on those dreams you have. The nature of men was a problem but people could be educated to live differently. One just had to find a way to go about things. Naruto was going to change things. He was going to change the shinobi world. And he would not die trying. He would die once he has changed this cursed world.
"I have not lived as many years as you have but I have understood that you never stop learning. You never stop growing. There is always something to refine, something new to learn." Naruto said in a slow tone. "I am learning things even today. But I was not wrong in leaving this village. This chaos only reinforces my desire."
"Congratulations on finding something to motivate you," Tsunade said sarcastically.
Once more, Naruto glanced at the blonde Hokage before shaking his head. "Once I have ascertained that there is no more danger, my clones will disappear."
"Are you leaving?"
Naruto did not respond to the question; he just disappeared from view. A couple of seconds later, he was hopping through the buildings. It took a minute but he finally reached his former home. The place he'd spent so many miserable nights alone. The Sandaime had been cruel in hiding his parents from him. No one had the right to rob a child the legacy of his parents. But it had happened. And it was the past. This cold place was his past. For now, he had yet to gain a new home except for the ship located in the ocean where he did not want men to reach.
Naruto walked towards his sofa. It was dusty. The furniture was worn out. He did not mind though. He simply sat down and closed his eyes.
"Passing sentiments?" Kurama asked Naruto.
Naruto did not offer an immediate response. He allowed himself to be absorbed in his thoughts before finally responding. "Perhaps," he said quietly. "It is disappointing that Black Zetsu has not appeared."
"He probably knows you are not going to let him leave as you did last time around," Kurama said. "You have been preparing for it."
"A lot of people will be preparing for his death now," Naruto said. "I doubt Konoha was the only village attacked…" he paused. "We will see the damage once we get to the Emperor's Palace."
The Following Morning
There was a bit of calmness around the village, but you could see the anger, the pain within then villagers – they were still reeling over what happened the night before. It was understandable but Naruto had not much concern over it. Perhaps it was because of his mixed feelings when it came to the Hidden Leaf. He shook his head; his feelings were not mixed. He was certain. But it was at least good the most danger had been stopped. Black Zetsu would have won. He would have succeeded in bringing instability around the village and perhaps to other nations. Naruto Uzumaki was still a problem. He did not need another problem.
After watching the streets for a couple of moments, Naruto disappeared off to the grave site and stood before where Jiraiya was buried – his idealistic sensei. There was so much happening in this world, in his life, but Naruto could not deny that this man had been a big part of his life. There were so many things that went wrong for him, although he had his faults, Jiraiya had still taught him some valuable life lessons and he would not forget them.
Naruto stood there motionlessly for about 25 minutes before being joined by Kakashi. He was at least glad it was not Sasuke who had come here. No, he didn't sense the Uchiha's presence. It was likely that he had disappeared last night after discovering that Black Zetsu would not make an appearance. He had come here for this reason as well, but he had been disappointed.
"I'd always thought something was wrong with you when you spent time here," Naruto said to the Jonin in a quiet tone. "Perhaps some come here for regrets – as you do. But there are times you just want to reminisce the good old days one spent with the dead."
"You can't forget the past," Kakashi responded after a couple of moments of silence.
"But you can't let it stop you from moving on with your life. Too much time we spend thinking about the past that our minds are still living in the past while our bodies move automatically presently," Naruto stated in a measured tone.
Kakashi glanced at Naruto for a moment before speaking. "You are no longer the same as you were back then. Perhaps my regret is that I could not offer you anything in growth."
"We don't always succeed in everything," Naruto said calmly. "I wonder where my failures will be. I have come to realize that as much as we'd like, we can't do everything we can in the way we want. There will be some failures…" he shook his head and asked. "Tsunade looking for me?"
Kakashi nodded. "I still didn't think that you'd come here though. But your presence here still helped us greatly. Things would not have worked out accordingly had you not been here. Konoha thanks you for it."
Naruto just shrugged. He'd not come here for this. He had not come here to save Konoha. The mission had been to stop Zetsu and to see if he could find the plant and kill him. He'd ended up in failure. He had not succeeded. Zetsu was still out there. He was still breathing. The situation was not solved.
End of chapter
I had difficulty in putting this one together. There were times I wrote some scenes and deleted them again because I just could not fit them into what I wanted. In any case, i hope the chapter wasn't a bore.
The Omnipresent Sage