Another day off from office work; that was Yugito's day so far. She wasn't doing anything, she didn't have a mission. Samui wasn't inside the village; that meant she was all alone. Bee was present, probably busy burning chakra with his brother, Ai, the Yondaime Raikage. She wasn't that much obsessed with training and becoming strong to be as obsessed as A was. The man had weights inside his office, and never took a day off in his training regimes. No wonder he had no personal life, aside from the one he had with his younger brother.

Yugito was walking alone, in the busy streets of the market district, strolling aimlessly. She had no purpose for leaving her apartment, no purpose for taking a walk. She just thought that perhaps there would be something for her to do outside. She could have joined Bee and Ai, but she didn't feel like it, she wanted to do something. For a woman, she wasn't as much invested in training as much as those two, and besides, she had her own needs. She had also done more than enough training; from as long as she could remember, she'd been forced to do hardcore training, but now she had a choice; if she didn't, she wouldn't.

Still, being a Jinchuriki meant that someone always had an eye on her, someone was always taking notes in everything that she did. It annoyed her to no end that some people just couldn't leave her; they thought her movements needed to be watched simply because she was a Jinchuriki, nothing less nothing more. The fact that she fought for the village was no matter, the fact that she was loyal to Kumo wasn't seen through those ignorant eyes. But it was alright.

Even though she was within busy streets, it was as if she was all alone, if she could close her ears and eyes, she could listen to the sound of her mind quite well, the chattering and murmurs beside her could die easily. At least no one was afraid or disgusted to walk in the same path as hers. Still, she was at ease with the walk.

The sight of bright blond hair caught her attention, making her eyes snap ahead; as much as she could tell, there was no one with as much bright hair as him. Smiling brightly, Yugito increased her pace as she pushed forward to see if it was him. Her feet carried her without troubles as she walked past a few people, while nothing peeled off her eyes from the blond hair she was seeing. It only took a few tireless minutes for her to finally reach the person.

''Naruto..?'' She wasn't exactly sure it was him. But she still couldn't hold back all her excitement at the thought it might be him. He'd truly done a number on her by disappearing for a long time, after he told her he would return soon. Not even a letter was sent to her, not even a hello came her way. The man could fricken teleport to anywhere he wanted!

Slowly, Naruto turned around to face the woman, a warmth smile planted across his face, ''Hello, Yugito,'' he said in a light tone. Truly, he was happy to see the blonde woman. Why wouldn't he? She was a fellow Jinchuriki, and the time he spent with her during his visit had been quite pleasant. Of course, he was a little different back then, but he was still Naruto.

Yugito smiled a little brightly, never minding the people beside her, ''it is you,'' she said, looking at straight at his gaze. ''What is the president of the most powerful organization doing in a place like this, all by himself?'' Naruto wasn't exactly just a normal person. Given his position, it was unnatural to see him at a place like this, all alone. And he wasn't exactly anonymous, many people knew of him already.

''The priest at the fire temple said if I took a stroll in this street, I would meet up with a beautiful woman. I came here to confirm if his prophetic powers were actually real,'' Naruto said, his smile kept in place. Yugito actually blinked before shaking her head.

''How I wish that were true,'' she mumbled before getting far closer to him. Naruto made no reaction to confirm whether he heard her or not. ''Come on, let's go somewhere... a little more private.'' Yugito took the blond by the hand and body flickered both to a secluded training ground.

''You know, Yugito,'' Naruto started looking around the training ground; it was the same ground she'd brought him to the last time he was in this village, and when was that? ''When you said somewhere a bit private, I thought you meant somewhere really really private.''

Yugito responded by punching him on the shoulder. ''What happened to you? No, never mind that, where have you been all these months? I have been waiting for you after you left like you going to return soon,'' she was standing just beside him, standing on the same rock he stood on.

''I have been really busy,'' Naruto said. ''But that is no excuse. Regardless, I am here today, and I just came to see you since it has been some time since we last spoke.''

''So I heard,'' Yugito said, in response to him being busy. ''I'm surprised that you'd take your time off from running the UN and building a village to come here. Building a village must really take a lot and you always have to be there to supervise things just to ensure that nothing goes wrong.''

Naruto took a sit on the rock before responding, ''Getting free time is rather difficult since I have to see that projects approved by the UN's committee are running and making progress, I also have to deal with Uzu, and things with Konoha - That really puts a lot on me, and robs me of any chance of any personal time.''

The UN's Executive committee had sat down along with other committees to discuss how things would be done over the next year, and the years to come. The meetings were held in Uzu over the past weeks, and that meant that he didn't have the chance to leave clones behind to do his dirty work for him. Using clones wasn't really advisable to him anymore as the work overload was putting a good strain on his mind. Shizune had suggested he stop using them, and take some time off to allow his mind to rest.

Aside from the meetings with the UN's committees, he had a great deal of time invested in the academy he'd started in Uzu. The academy building had been build and finished, thanks to the crazy work of his army of clones. By the time it was completed, he'd already found a number of students who would be taught in the academy and other people to help him in the matter as he couldn't do all things by himself.

More work meant he'd neglected Miyuki, which caused a strain on their relationship. She had no problems in discussing business with him, but when it came to other matters, it was a dead no. Since he wasn't really experienced with the matters of relationships, Naruto had just allowed the thing to run its cause hoping that she would eventually come around. He blamed Itachi for making him focus on work alone and neglect to honor his responsibilities to the Daimyo. A pity the Uchiha was dead.

''It seems you've been busy, as you should be,'' Yugito said. For a leader, he had to be busy to show that he was indeed working. If things were to go smoothly in this founding phases, he had to pull all stops to make sure everything worked perfectly. ''Enough about work, how have you been holding up?''

''Aside from the work overload, I've been well, really.'' A few spats with his tenant over some life-changing decisions were nothing to mention. The Kyuubi was only concerned about its well-being which extended to him, so it was only given the Bijuu be concerned when he did reckless things. ''How have you been?''

''Bored,'' that word summed it up. ''Aside from a few missions there and there, I don't have much to do. With the Akatsuki gone, there isn't much threatening for a Jinchuriki.''

''You should give me a hand then. I have plenty of work to spare in Uzu, and other lands,'' really, in the fire country, Ame, Wind, Kiri and Snow, there was work for him to be done. Even though he'd set up an organizational structure, there were still much work for him to do, and another problem was that he couldn't find the right people to fill in the posts needed to be filled on a day to day bases.

''You know, that would actually be nice. I can get to see you as much as I would like,'' Yugito said with a small smile.

''Yeh, it would be good having a fellow Jinchuriki and blond around to see matters of this world,'' Naruto added, ''The Yondaime Raikage has to agree upon that though. I don't think he will agree to send out one of his best shinobi out to work for someone else that easily.''

Yugito frowned, ''that is mostly likely going to be the case, but we won't know for sure until we try,'' she said, just to give herself some hope.

''Speak of the devil,'' Naruto said, and after a few seconds, the Raikage crashed into one of the rumbles around the place. Yes, he literally crashed down, yet looked so perfectly fine. Grand intense? Perhaps.

''I was told that a blond Uzumaki had sneaked into my village and I rushed to find him when I realized that he owed me a sparring match,'' A started, walking towards the two blonds. He did have his concerns on the security if Naruto was able to enter his village undetected and only be discovered because he hadn't bothered hiding himself.

''You sneaked in?'' Yugito asked, starring into the eyes of Naruto. The thought never came to her mind when she saw him in the streets. How could he, and why would he even go that far?

Naruto smiled nervously, scratching the back of his head, ''well, I wanted to see you first. If I had gone through the gates, the guards would have forced me to see The Raikage first, given all that has been happening around me.'' He was an important figure, not just a Jonin of Konoha. With his presence, the leader of a village had to be brought. They wouldn't allow him to stroll around when he was busy rebuilding a village, not when he could poach their shinobi and civilians.

Yugito shook her head, but she was actually smiling inwardly. ''Not to sound ungrateful for the thought, but that is just crazy. You could've been caught by Anbu and put in a cell for infiltrating the village. With everything going around you, it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume that you would be here for Intel.''

''I thought of it, but I was confident I wouldn't get caught. Besides, you wouldn't assume that of me, would you, Yugito?'' The blonde merely shook her head in response. She wouldn't have thought of it, but she would be suspicious given the way he is acting. It was totally different from the way he was when he came here back then: A mask maybe?

''Not that I'm not happy that you'd do that just to see 'my' Yugito,'' A said emphasizing the word. ''I would've liked it if you came through proper channels. But aside from that, this has given me a chance to review my security.''

Naruto nodded, ''I can tell you how I was able to enter the village and how to prevent it from happening again,'' the blond said, a bit serious. Of course this raised brows from the two with him.

''Doing that would give you an inner knowledge on how we do things here,'' A stated, no accusation being thrown - He was just stating a fact. ''You could possibly use that to your advantage.''

''Yes,'' Naruto didn't deny it. ''But, you've dealt with my father, and I'm not so different from him, in the heart I mean. The difference is that I'm not willing to wear my heart on my sleeves after everything I experienced.''

A was silent for a few moments. He sighed and looked firmly at Naruto. ''How about it then? I don't have all day. Why don't we get this over with quickly so you can tell me about this UN.'' Though, he would only be interested if the blond proves himself to be a worthy opponent.

Naruto looked at Yugito, ''I'll take you out on a date later on,'' he said, smiling before looking at A again. ''I did promise to fight you once I returned again, and see who is faster. Officially, you hold the record for being the fastest man in the Elemental nations. I cannot speak of the Hiraishin because it was originally crafted by the Nidaime Hokage.''

''Show me then, if you can hold your own like your father!''

Naruto took off his robes and handed them to Yugito before flashing to a clear ground. Both A and Yugito noticed a change in him; there happy look he had on him had disappeared, replaced by a look of indifference. Another mask, Yugito thought. The look was just like when he first came here, and when he spoke, there was just nothing in his voice, just complete impassiveness.

''I can do better than the Yondaime Hokage, Raikage-sama,'' Naruto said, taking a stance. ''Come, and I will show you what I mean by that.''

A couldn't deny it - his own eyes and senses clearly told him the truth. Naruto was indeed a completely different person when he faced in a battle, even though this is just a sparring match. Though, he wasn't going to take things lightly. He had a reputation to uphold and if he wanted to successfully test Naruto's strength, he would have to be serious. But still, the look on the blonds' face clearly told him he wasn't going to fool around either. Yugito had also noticed the change in his expression, he realized.

Swallowing, A took his own stance, prepared himself for a battle, which would undoubtfully be decided by speed. They wanted to see who was the fasted between them after all. He didn't start by activating his lightning cloak, not without studying the movements of his opponent. Even though Naruto was completely unreadable, he would have to move soon, and there would be a pattern in which he follows, of which he would take advantage off.

Being invited to come, A bust towards Naruto in the fastest speed he could manage without his cloak. The speed was no less than high-Jonin, and he was quick to reach the waiting blond, who didn't move a muscle until the last moment. A's upper body was leaned forward a bit, in the same position he took after taking off, his right punch cut through air, rushing towards the face of his opponent. Naruto avoided the punch by jumping back a little. Once his feet landed on the ground firmly, he again, closed the distance between him and A, right foot raised high for a high kick.

The Yondaime Raikage simply caught the kick with his left hand, he did so quite easily. He proceeded to pull Naruto towards him by his foot, and aimed a right punch at the blond's chest. Naruto crossed both his hands in front of his chest to create a defense so that A didn't punch his chest as he was positive the punch would be heavy enough to put him through pain. The punch connected with both his hands, without breaking through the defense.

A put Naruto off balance by pushing the right foot, which was still above ground, towards his left, making the blond twist a bit. He didn't waste a second before twisting anti-clockwise, returning with a high kick that connected with the off-balance Naruto's temple. The kick had enough force in it to propel the blond into the air.

He was quick to recover, though. A few flips in the air, and he was down on the ground on both his feet. A's heavy left foot crashed down just in front of him without a moment of notice. With so much energy stored up in the left leg for proper balance, the Yondaime Raikage swung his right foot straight at Naruto on the waist level, but the blond reacted quickly by swiftly lunging down. Naruto felt a considerable amount of wind blew by him as A's kick missed him. The kick had been thrown like a missile, like the man wanted to break him with just a single hit.

Never giving the air much thought, Naruto used his current position to great effect. The Yondaime Raikage only had on foot on the ground, and since he had lunged down, both his hands were close to it. He grabbed the left foot with as much force as he could and pulled it up, throwing the Raikage off-balance as his right foot was still above ground. The pull Naruto did was just like a leg-sweep and caused the Raikage to bend back as he would inevitably crash down on his back if Naruto doesn't attack.

The leader of Uzu didn't let up because he immediately got into position and reinforced his right foot with chakra before kicking A on his back. The contact with the man's back created a sound that made Yugito wince from where she stood watching the battle. It really had to have hurt. But A showed no signs of being in pain. What didn't allow the Raikage to got into the air was that when Naruto kicked him, he had his right hand held up, ready to catch him. The hand caught the man's foot before slamming him down the ground with so much force that his body got buried down the ground.

As Naruto leaned downwards to grab the foot he'd let go, A's foot suddenly sprung out from the ground catching Naruto on the face, making him move back a little. What followed then was a punch he didn't see straight on the gut. The punch didn't make a sound, nor did it move him, but it turned his intestines upside down, burning him with enough pain to make him freeze for a moment, and a moment was all the Raikage needed to make his move: he followed his assault by punching Naruto straight on his chest before delivering a spinning kick that landed on his forehead, sending him airborne.

''I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from a Taijutsu expert like yourself. With your experience, landing a meaningful hit would...'' the blond trailed off when A's lightning cloak bust into life, and without even a warning, the Raikage's form materialized behind him. Even though he was quick to twist around, he was only met with a brutal kick that connected with his face. This time, he was sent sailing like a bullet, into the piles of rocks that surrounded the clear ground.

After hitting a few rocks, Naruto finally hit the last one he wasn't able to break as the momentum had worn off. He closed his left eye, watching the Raikage impassively. ''No mercy, I see. Even if this is just a sparring match,'' he said standing up. He held out a single hand seal as winds began to gather around him. ''Even I can play that game, but I won't play fair.''

After those words left his mouth, he disappeared in a twisting motion. The movement had been so fast that Yugito had to narrow her eyes to get a look at things better. If A had thought that Naruto would appear somewhere close to him, he was wrong, the blond appeared a distance away from him. He also noted that Naruto's eyes had gained a much more glowing glint, more ocean blue eyes - That made him assume that he had activated his own armor.

A blurred out of slight in a blistering lunge straight at Naruto. No more than a second later, he was right in front of the blond, both feet putting an amount of pressure on the ground bellow him. In a quick bust of movement and the Raikage twisted around, with enough speed that Naruto felt the wind moving with him. A returned with a high right footed kick that was aimed at Naruto's temple. Naruto held out his left hand, re-enforced with wind, and blocked the kick. That proved to do nothing, as he was still sent flying by the power of the kick, but it did no harm because of his armor.

As soon as Naruto hit the ground, A came in flying towards him with a dropkick. The blond jumped backwards slightly to avoid the dangerous move. A demolished the ground Naruto once stood, lifting up some debris. But the Raikage was again fast to react to his miss. Using his feet to force enough power, he jumped slightly at Naruto, catching the left foot of the blond. He then proceeded to smash the blond down the ground with as much force as he could.

A jumped into the air, attempting another drop kick on the blond who still laid on the ground. Naruto responded by flicked both his index fingers, straight at A, releasing wind bullets. The bullets hit the Raikage with a bang; one hit him straight on his forehead, and another hit under his right foot. The force of the bullets repelled the Raikage away from Naruto, giving him enough time to recover and prepare his next move.

By the time A was on the ground, Naruto was kneeling. ''Hmm?'' the Raikage felt something bellow him and quickly sped off when an explosion rocked through the ground bellow him. He was able to escape unscathed. Not giving Naruto a chance to attack, A quickly flashed behind Naruto.

He was in for a surprise when he found Naruto's right palm facing him, while the blond still remained looking the other away. ''Go away,'' Naruto muttered. It wasn't the name of the jutsu, just something he felt like saying. He had merely released a quick bust of wind that hit the Raikage's entire body, forcing him backwards.

''I thought this was going to be a battle of speed and Taijutsu.'' A said.

''You're not exactly using pure Taijutsu yourself,'' Naruto responded with a shrug of his shoulder.

''Fair enough,'' A said. He could guess that the blond wasn't using any other technique because he knew that he would have to be fast as him to catch him. For a lightning user, the current element Naruto was using was the best. And as it appeared, the blond had good mastery over it.

Naruto stretched out his right hand, ''Wind Cutter!'' After those words left his lips, he twisted clockwise in a sudden and fast movement that would have caught any other opponent by surprise. Although A couldn't see the jutsu, he could see its effects; it affected a wide range because of the spin Naruto had done, and seemed fast. On instinct, the Raikage jumped into the air to avoid any surprise.

His eyes quickly snapped up when Naruto suddenly flashed just above him. He should've have predicted it; the move was almost predictable. Both Naruto's hands slammed onto his head, with so much force that the Raikage was sent crashing down the ground into a loud boom.

''Wind Hammer,'' Naruto added a follow up to the previous attack. The hammer crushed down on the downed Raikage. This caused another boom, propelling A further down the ground.

Knowing the Raikage was still kicking effectively, Naruto rushed down where the Raikage laid. He was surprised when the Raikage suddenly bust forth from the ground, meeting him halfway. It was only the fact that he had fought a lot with Itachi and learned to predict moves that he was able to narrowingly dodge a bullet of a punch from the Raikage. His right hand had formed a small Rasengan purely on instinct. As A's right fist passed through his felt cheek, hitting him with some lightning currents, Naruto crashed his Rasengan on the Raikage's gut, with gravity on his side, since he was moving downwards, the Raikage was sent crashing back into the hole he had left in a haste.

Before he even landed on the ground, Naruto had already thrown three kunais with explosive tags right beside the crater. He didn't wait for anything before allowing them to go boom, in a beautiful work of fireworks that made rise to red flames.

A shot out of the flames with nothing but small bruises. Once he recovered his breath, he rushed at Naruto before jumping up. He attempted a high flying kick, which Naruto dodged by jumping away from its path. The Raikage crashed into the ground before flashing towards Naruto again. He appeared a Bit high, right foot raised high, and attempted a backheel. Naruto blocked it effectively, before flashing away from the man.

Once he landed on the ground, A was at him again: the left foot was swung at his head, this time, Naruto caught the foot with both his hands and didn't let go. A attempted twisting, but Naruto allowed the man to twist without allowing him to escape. After a few seconds, he pushed the foot away, putting the man off balance. What surprised A was when he could no longer move his left foot. It felt like it was glued to the ground.

''What the...?!''

''Don't worry,'' Naruto started, ''because of that lightning around you, the seal won't be able to last long, but a few seconds is all I need,'' by the time he finished speaking, A saw wind rotating around Naruto's fist like a driller. At that velocity, it was bound to bypass his cloak.

Naruto let loose of the unforgiving ''Wind Punch,'' straight into A's gut. The impact of the punch with his gut had created a shockwave that demolished the ground under him, but miraculously, only moved him a little. The next punch didn't produce a miracle, it pummeled his chest without mercy, shooting him backwards. Naruto wasn't done, he appeared above him, left foot covered in the same jutsu as his right hand. A was a brave man, but he closed his eyes when the kick crashed into his chest.

A bullet crashed down the ground a loud boom, lifting amounts of debris. It didn't take a minute for A to return to his feet. ''Bastard,'' he growled.

''I told you I wouldn't play fair,'' Naruto shrugged off his shoulders. ''Besides, in terms of physical prowess, you're superior to me. I can't win a battle of power with you, and you're a match for me in terms of stamina. Restricting your movements is a way to level the ground.'' Though, using wind armor supplemented his strength. However, at this level, it wasn't enough.

''Tsk,'' A growled, before snapping his snack, and stretching a few muscles. ''Your little trick wore off in a second, after the first punch. So,'' he dashed towards the blond.

Naruto dodged a punch from A by crouching down the ground. Remembering what the blond did last time, A jumped up to avoid being caught by the blond on either of his feet. While the Raikage was still above ground, he decided to attack again, moving for a chop while the blond was still crouched down. Naruto responded by raising both his hands up, to avoid being hit by a technique that seemed powerful, if the speed of the Raikage was an indication.

When A's right chop connected with Naruto's hands, it caused the blond to bend further, and forced both his feet to dig deep into the ground. Naruto realized that even if it wasn't a punch, the attack still carried much weight. If that had hit him, it would have left him nursing his wounds. As he tried moving his hands, he realized that he may have blocked the attack, but it did a number on his body. His inability to move for a moment was enough for A to touch down the ground, before kicking him straight on the face, sending him airborne.

The Raikage didn't allow him to hit the ground as he appeared under him before both his hands grabbed him just above his waist. A proceeded to slam him down the ground, head first. The amount of force by the attack resulted in his head digging deep into the ground while his feet remained up. A then took Naruto's foot, pulling him out of the hole; he twisted around for a few moments before lunging the blond towards the direction Yugito stood.

The Jinchuriki was even tempted to catch her fellow blond, but refrained from doing so. By now, some Anbu were watching the battle, while some few High Ranked shinobi were also observing from far. The best choice was just to stand still and watch everything.

Naruto surprised Yugito by doing several flips in midair before landing on a rock on both his feet. His landing was graceful like he hadn't been just lunged into the air by A. She was surprised further when he did his twisting thing to disappear; the rock he was standing on was completely shredded into small pieces.

A met Naruto half way and both their punches connected between them, causing the ground to demolish under them under the weight of both punches. When Naruto was certain that he was going to lose the battle, he raised his left hand, flicking the index finger, he shot an invisible wind bullet that hit A straight on the forehead, making him stumble backwards a little. Naruto took advantage of the situation, by closing the distance between him and the Raikage. The moment his right palm landed on A's chest, the Raikage threw in a heavy punch, that would have knocked him out, but Naruto raised a wind shield to block it.

''Shit,'' A cursed when a mark started to appear on his chest. The only reason Naruto was able to penetrate through his lightning was because wind was stronger when facing with lightning. What made it worse was that Naruto's control over the element was really, really good, if he were to be honest with himself.

Naruto didn't allow his hand to leave A's chest because he knew the moment he cut the flow of chakra with the cursed seal, the lightning coursing through Ai would burn it out. A clone puffed into existence behind the blond and went behind the Raikage. It touched the man before Naruto spoke, creating some distance between them. ''I don't think that I will be able to use the same seal against you twice, so I have to use this opportunity wisely.'' He held out his right hand, and his blade appeared in a puff of smoke.

''This is a different seal,'' A corrected, even though Naruto was the one applying the seals. By the effects of both seals, he could tell they were different. The first one increased the weight on his foot by a large amount, and this one restrained all his movements, even his lightning cloak wasn't sparkling as it should.

Naruto nodded. ''The same seal cannot work twice because of that lightning,'' he stated. ''Now then...''

But before he could even move to cut the Raikage, lightning bust out from the man, even managing to dispel his clone. Before Naruto even knew what was happening, A had appeared in front of him. A hard punch that made him spit out blood crushed into his chest without any restrains. His chest felt like it had been hit by a sledge hammer, and if it wasn't for his wind cloak, it would have broken his ribs. A followed these by a knee to the gut, making Naruto bend forward a bit.

The Raikage wasn't showing any mercy, he grabbed Naruto by his face, lifting him above ground, before brutally slamming him down the ground, causing a crater where the blond crashed. A followed this by attempting to stomp on the blond with his right foot. Naruto countered this by raising his left hand, forming a wind barrier above him, while his right was outstretched wide. A's foot only managed to force Naruto further into the ground.

Showing no concern, the Raikage wanted to break through the barrier with a quick punch, but an invisible force hit him on the face, making him stumble back a little. This gave Naruto enough time to escape the sight of them. The blond winced, wiping the blond off his lips. 'if I get hit like that again, I'm not gone be good,' he thought.

The blond held both his hands together before going through hand seals. Once done, he tilted his head a little to the side as gusts of winds began to pick up around him. This was the true might of his wind cloak. But because of the low levels of wind around here, it forced him to use his own chakra to generate wind, and that consumed a lot of chakra as well as stamina. While he could battle with A with speed at this level: he'd tested the full speed of the wind cloak to be slightly faster than the Hiraishin. However, when used in Sage Mode, it was another story: he was a destructive force of nature in that state.

The wind armor could protect him effectively from A's attacks. But he still needed something to fight off against the man's physical power, which increased with the use of his lightning cloak. he wasn't sure that the attacking power his wind cloak gave him would be enough, but this was a good testing ground.

His clone was done with gathering natural energy but since it was limited, he had to be decisive on the moment he wishes to use it. The good thing was that using natural energy replenishes his spent up chakra.

''This will be over soon,'' A stated, walking slowly towards Naruto. He then completely vanished out of sight. ''Lariat!'' Although the technique had the potential of killing the blond, A had the confidence in the fact that Naruto was a Jinchuriki, so he would be able to survive. He was greatly surprised though, when Naruto escaped from his technique with barely a wound. No, shocked was the right word.

''Shocking isn't it?'' Naruto's expression was still impassive as he rhetorically questioned. ''I will explain what happened to you: my armor may be able to repel your attacks, but the more it takes a hit, there more it weakens. Because I don't want it to weaken, I avoid getting hit directly. Yes, you did hit me just now, my control over wind isn't just good, it is perfect. Wind plays in important role on how fast you travel. A larger object meets more wind resistance meaning it can't travel fast. Even though you're fast, and simply body flicker close to me, there s something within a close proximity.

The wind around me in this distance is much stronger, and just like when you drop something into a bucket of water, the top water reflects. The same is for me, when you reach this special distance; my senses are alert while your speed is decreased. Naturally, you can't feel it because of your speed. But, when looking at things in slow-motion, you will be able to notice it. In other words, time slows down enough for me to react, without you realizing it.'' Naruto paused for a moment before asking. ''Would you like to test this theory?''

A's response was jumping into the air, his descend was down at Naruto, with his right punch positioned for a hard punch. He was moving fast enough to actually feel the wind hitting his face. His eyes looked carefully at Naruto who was just standing still, looking up at him. His fist reached striking distance with the blonds' temple, but in a quick, fluid movement, the blond moved to the right a little, making his punch miss, and it went straight to the ground; it had missed by mere inches.

While A's punch was still on the ground, Naruto twisted around clockwise. His back heel crashed into A's face, sending the Raikage airborne. But the man was quick to recover as he did several flips, and landed on the ground before taking off like a bullet. He closed the distance with the blond, appearing in front of him. He went for a super punch, the knockout punch. But Naruto tilted his head in the last moments, watching it pass on the left side of his head.

''Hmmm?'' A looked down. Again, Naruto smashed a Rasengan into his gut. It wasn't a big one, but a small one. Probably afraid to do more harm to him. A released a snort at the thought as he was sent backwards by the force of the Rasengan. Upon his recovery, A landed on the ground, and watched the blond carefully.

''You're able to dodge my attacks, but not because you're faster than me. You're only able to slow me down,'' A stated. Naruto had proved to be faster than him, he'd only proved that he could slow him down, and be able to dodge his attacks, and not just that, but be able to counter attack. ''Considering that you're not making any big moves, I can assume that with that special zone in place, you can't really attack.''

Naruto nodded. ''It is good for defense and counter attacking, which is why I would never use it against an opponent slower than me. However, my speed is quite something...'' he didn't finish his words because he suddenly did the twisted, A only reacted on instinct when Naruto appeared in front of him: his right hand made like a claw, moving downwards for a slash across his chest, A managed to lean back to avoid it.

Naruto's right hand crashed into the ground, while his right foot was moved quickly for a high kick straight at A. The Raikage blocked it by folding both his hands across his chest to avoid being hit. The kick only managed to push him back a little. With his hand still on the ground, Naruto did what he had wanted to do, ''Prison of the wind God,'' he muttered, before standing up quickly while A was still recovering. ''Activate,'' he snapped his fingers before landing on the ground.

''See, I can move that fast,'' the blond stated.

''That is nothing,'' but before he could move, he noticed something which made him stretch out his right hand to inspect. There was an invisible wall, and it was all around him, covering all sides. ''What is this?''

''My little cell,'' Naruto responded casually. ''In the next few minutes, you will run out of oxygen as there is none in there, and your lightning cloak will die out.''

Though A didn't believe it at first, he found that to be exactly true. It didn't take long before he could find some difficulty in breathing. He couldn't bring in any oxygen in, and he could feel that it was draining him. He attempted punching the walls, but it felt like he was hitting a steel cold wall. The thing didn't budge. Using more energy to breakout didn't do him any good, after a few punches; he was on his knees, lightning cloak gone, and becoming paler by the second.

Naruto snapped his fingers, allowing the Raikage to breathe with the disappearance of his jutsu. A took a long breath before standing up, ''activate your cloak so we can end this,'' he did as told, but before he could even think, Naruto was already in front of him. He was shocked. In fact, he hadn't even taken his eyes off the blond, and yet he'd disappeared from his sight. He did note the strange markings on his eyes, but had to brace himself when a hammer took out all the air inside his lungs.

A Sage mode Naruto pummeled the Raikage straight on the chest with a Sage, and wind enhanced punch. Wind alone was able to break through the defenses of the man. And as a result, A coughed a mouthful of blood before being sent plummeting away into the rocks on the other side. The man crushed several rocks in his wake, while his body refused to take any command. The momentum stopped a distance away from Naruto, and the man found it difficult to comprehend what had just happened.

''Natural chakra,'' Naruto said, standing behind the fallen Raikage, whose lightning cloak was still burning; A noticed that the blond now looked normal. ''When in Sage mode only, my punches rival those of Tsunade. They can be stronger than hers. In this case, I was also using wind, which you can remember what one of its punches felt like. A combination of my own strength, Senjutsu, and Wind, makes Tsunade's strength nothing before me.''

There were bits of information that were revealed, but A was quick to shove them at the back of his head. His punches weren't exactly as powerful as Tsunade's but he made up for that by his speed. He guessed he could concede defeat now. ''Give me a hand,'' he said to Naruto after deactivating his cloak.

Iwagakure

Onoki sighed deeply, frowning: he'd just had another of those spats with his granddaughter. She was deeply into the idea of murdering Naruto for what he did. He wanted pay back, and would get it eventually. But there would be no gain for working things out in a hurry. Naruto had allies, and if they moved against him at any time soon, they would have those allies to deal with and Onoki was sure he couldn't deal with them all. It would be the end of Iwagakure if he played any stupid games.

In all his best capabilities and power, he was trying to make Kurotsuchi see the bigger picture. But the woman didn't want to understand. Perhaps her already existing hatred of the blond because of Minato's actions during the Third War made things difficult, and the recent actions by Naruto himself didn't make things any easy him either as the people were demanding blood. But so far, he was holding them back and wanted the same to be for Kurotsuchi. He wanted for her to at least understand him as she was his most likely successor. He didn't want a brat who allowed her emotions to get the better of her. He wanted a rational and logical adult to take over him.

Because Kurotsuchi didn't want to grow up, even till this day, he had to remain Tsuchikage despite his very advance age. Other villages already had fifth Kages, and fourth, but he was still holding on as the only Sandaime Kage living. Because of his situation, he couldn't retire. Besides, what would he do if he retired?

He'd thought that he would have Kumogakure as an ally in the fight as Naruto seemed to be allied with Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Konohagakure, he didn't bother adding the smaller villages but how could he forget Amegakure? Naruto's own village was nothing. It didn't have a military power. Naruto seemed to have clawed his way into the smiles of the Raikage, and their Jinchuriki. In fact, if the latest report was true, the blond regularly trained in the village with both Kumo's Jinchuriki.

After that battle with the Raikage weeks ago, it seemed that the two had become 'good' friends' but A was still not part of the UN or its alliance. He was just someone who got along with the president and founder of the organization. Well, that was at least some good news as the man could still be swayed because he hadn't actually joined anything but just kept close ties with the blond. It was more because of what the blond gave to the Raikage anyway. If anyone could look at it differently, one would be inclined to believe that A was using the blond, but it wasn't the case.

''Thinking so deep is not good for someone your age, Onoki,'' a voice he could remember snapped him out of his thoughts. Onoki looked up and saw the man who had revealed himself as Shinji standing just away from the entrance with an Uchiha beside him. He cursed the Uchiha just by looking at him. While the Uchiha remained stoic at the door, Shinji walked up to him.

''What do you want?'' Onoki demanded in a low but firm tone. His gut wasn't telling himself anything good by this unexpected visit. But then again, this man never came here when expected. He always showed up on unusual times.

''Nothing much from you,'' Shinji stated. ''You have refused my offer to join me, and I've been patient long enough. I can no longer wait for you to decide, so I will decide for you. My parade is about to begin, and this will be the start of it.''

Onoki narrowed his eyes, ''what are you talking about?'' by now, he was on his feet. A troubling fact that bothered him was that he couldn't feel any of his Anbu in the corners of the office. ''Are you by any chance attemp-'' he wasn't allowed to finish as Shinji suddenly appeared in front of him, with so much speed that his old eyes could barely follow. ''What ar-'' those words dried up in his throat when he felt something cold driving through his chest. He looked down and saw that a blade had stabbed him from behind. ''Uchiha,'' Onoki growled as it was the Uchiha who had stabbed him. He didn't speak further as he was thrown towards the wall rather forcibly while he started leaking large amounts of blood.

''I thought you said you didn't want to do it?'' Shinji casually asked Sasuke while Onoki was busy fighting for his life at the corner of the office. Onoki by now was certain that there was no one to help him. He was going to die a pathetic death, stabbed in the back by the cursed Uchiha.

''You were taking too long,'' Sasuke shrugged.

Shinji didn't say anything to that. He snapped his fingers, and the Tsuchikage tower was obliterated within seconds, causing great panic within the Village. He didn't immediately leave along with Sasuke; he stayed for a moment just for the people to see him. While shinobi surrounded him, he looked up into the heavens, and raised both his hands, ''I have killed your Kage, and soon, I will return and subdue this village.'' He had to conquer other lands first, and build upon the great empire of the Bijuu King.

A few weeks later, Konoha

It was already a new year, the 18th year since the Kyuubi rampage. Tsunade had been Hokage for almost a quarter of those years, and as the days continue to pile up, she was regretting ever being tricked into taking this opportunity to lead the village her grandfather left behind. Things just got messy by the day, and more problems always liked to show up at her door. It was becoming frustrating that she couldn't even begin to rest with everything that has been happening around within the elemental Nations.

Tsunade looked at her former teammate, who was sitting at the window, looking outside the office. He'd just returned from a week long mission he was doing with Naruto and that bastard Kakashi. They'd been destroying many of Orochimaru's bases, but the snake himself continued to evade them all. She didn't know about the latest results though.

''And the long face?'' She suspected that it was because of another disappointment as the Snake could disappear whenever he wanted to. Orochimaru didn't have any allies they could think off either. So locating him was difficult. At least they destroyed his hideouts, and stopped more abominations from happening.

''No matter what I see in those hideouts, and how many times I see it, I can never become used to it,'' the disgust in whatever he saw was clearly evident in his expression. Jiraiya was sick because of the things that Orochimaru did to other humans. ''I do wonder what I was thinking when I chased after him...'' Orochimaru was no longer human. There was no human who could do things that even the Kyuubi agreed to be disgusting and beyond its taste.

''More inhuman experiments?''

''Yes,'' Jiraiya nodded. ''We are getting close to destroying all of them though. So far, Naruto has located 35 around the Elemental Nations, and we have so far destroyed 21. We will destroy the rest in the coming weeks.''

Silently sorting out some thoughts, Tsunade spoke, ''I guess it is only a matter of time before you finally catch Orochimaru.'' Between the three of them, they wouldn't allow the snake to escape. They would kill him and remove his abomination for an existence from the face of the world. The Sandaime Hokage should have done so long ago, but he was too soft on his beloved student.

How had he even begun to love such a person anyway? Tsunade thought even if the Sandaime could see what his student was doing, he wouldn't hate him, but he would be greatly disappointed and blame himself for not realizing it sooner that Orochimaru was evil. The only right the Third did by Orochimaru was by denying him the mantle of Hokage. If he had given him the power, more horrors would have certainly occurred.

''We will catch him soon enough. We were really close on catching a few days ago, but he managed to escape,'' Jiraiya frowned at the memory. Naruto's visits to the lightning country weren't just for his 'friendship' with the Raikage; he was also doing a search on Orochimaru. The hideout they'd found in the lightning country was a big one, and contained much valuable information. If they'd known they were going to find him there, they would have killed him. ''But we managed to get valuable information from the hideouts.''

Tsunade nodded, ''were you able to see the Sharingan?''

Jiraiya's frown deepened at the question. On the first day of their search, Naruto had revealed to him that Orochimaru had the Sharingan and most likely possessed chakra from all 9 bijuus like Juubi, whose name is Shinji. Of course Jiraiya had been shocked when Naruto revealed this information; more shocked was Tsunade when he told her. The Godaime was skeptical though. But he had confirmed it with his own eyes. ''Yes,'' just a glimpse of it though. ''Naruto does not appear to be worried by it though. He simply says he knows the Sharingan in and out whenever I ask why he isn't worried.''

''The little brat has become high all mighty these days,'' Tsunade snorted at the thought that Naruto could handle things by himself with Orochimaru.

''He's just simply reverted to the way he was when he came back from his training,'' Jiraiya said. ''But that is because he is dealing with some emotional problems right now, and he is the leader of his village. The UN still gives him plenty of work as its operations have started without the required number of forces, which means he has to do more work himself,'' the police force was the main body that has started operating within the Fire country and along the borders. Kakashi led the forces, but the lack of qualified shinobi forced Naruto to have his clones on many occasions.

''What emotional problems?'' She already knew of his work overload. Shizune had treated him once after he'd collapsed due to exhaustion, but she didn't know he had any emotional problems.

''You know that Naruto started seeing Miyuki some months ago, right?'' Tsunade nodded. ''Well, after the Un started off, as well as rebuilding Uzu, he didn't have time for her, and she didn't like clones. Things got bad, and Naruto went to Yugito, and Mei. Friendship with the two woman blossomed, and eventually, Naruto ended up sleeping with both of them. About a month ago, he patched things up with Miyuki; He admitted having slept with the women to Miyuki and she kicked him out. The poor boy has been struggling to deal with it, he even feels bad as he feels that he betrayed her.''

''So he can control his emotions rather well, but doesn't actually know how to deal with them,'' Tsunade said. ''Why don't you help him?''

''He won't allow me. I actually heard this from Kakashi,'' Kakashi was also a dead end as even he failed to handle his own emotions. ''Bottling everything up is killing him, so to avoid it showing, he puts on a blank mask, always.''

''Should we send his friends?''

Jiraiya thought of it for a moment before nodding. ''That is actually a good idea, Hime.'' The toad sage said smiling. ''I will go gather them,'' he was gone after that, not even giving her a chance to say anything.

Tsunade merely shook her head, smiling sadly. Her relationship with Naruto may be strained, but she still cared for him, and wouldn't miss an opportunity to help him like this. Jiraiya gave his bests efforts also. He even worked for the police force, just so Naruto could be free. The sannin was a member of the disciplinary committee, it wasn't right for him to do that kind of work, but he did it anyway, just for Naruto's sake.

Both tried, she was sure Minato and Kushina would recognize their efforts.

But Naruto's dream looked like it was going to kill him. Peace seemed far away with the chaos Sasuke and Juubi were causing. The world was becoming unstable, and Naruto, the UN was failing to maintain the balance. Tsunade could laugh and say she knew this was going to fail. But she wouldn't. Not when members of the UNA still helped each other in the time of need.

Wave country

Despite the cheery sound and smell of the sea, Naruto's head was ringing with other things inside his head. He was at the harbor, having just finalized a deal for shipments that needed to reach Uzu within a week. The thought of returning to his beloved home made his head ache. He had some fun moments inside Uzu, but the work was killing him. He hadn't thought things would become like this. The need for more helpers was an important job he had to handle. He'd already put on a request to his allies as well as to A. Kumogakure boasted a large population, and what he needed now wasn't exactly shinobi, but civilians who knew administration.

In many times he'd been forced to get on his knees and work with others. Well, on the bright side of things, he led by example. And since he frequently works with the employees of the UN, they build a good trust between the president and the underlings. They grew to have an understanding of the way things worked. And for this reason, Naruto could still smile at the end of the day.

Shinji and Sasuke may be giving him the pains, but their days would come soon. With them around, the stability that had formed after the Third War was vanishing slowly. Shinji's empire wasn't doing any good to the shinobi world. It was putting many on edge, making fights boil over, making things...

Naruto stopped, a bit annoyed that this person had been watching him for a good hour now, but hasn't even made an attempt to reach him. But she has gotten a lot closer now. ''Come, Kurotsuchi. Have a seat with me,'' he was sitting at the edge of a structure that was above the sea, with his feet playing in the water.

The black head woman, now leader of Iwagakure walked up to him, ''I hate you,'' she started. ''I can't even believe that I am sitting next to you like this. If someone had suggested it while my grandfather was still alive, I would have killed them.''

''But now because of your position you understand how things work. How long have you been in this country, two weeks? What do you want?''

It took some doing, clench fists, grinding teeth, and silently curses but she finally said it. ''Your help,'' he said in a whisper.

''That must have taken a lot of beating to your pride to say that,'' Naruto stated stoically, looking straight at the endless water ahead of him.

''Don't mistake me,'' Kurotsuchi growled. ''I loath your very existence, but I've tried everywhere I could, and got no help. A won't even recognize me as a leader, I can't go to Konoha. You're the so called helper of those in need, right? That is what you created this UN for.'' Everyone she talked to kept telling her to speak to him as he would be able to help her, but it had taken her two months for her to make that decision, and a lot of drinking.

''Sasuke and Shinji are your problem,'' Naruto said. ''Well, you have come to the right person. I will help you, but on one condition.''

''What?''

''Never mind,'' Naruto waved his right hand dismissively. ''What exactly do you want? Shinji and Sasuke are enemies of mine, and I will one day fight the death fight with them. So you can say that right now, we aren't enemies because we have two mutual enemies.''

''You're still my enemy, just not a threat right now,'' she had to handle those two first. Well, she couldn't do it on her own. They'd embarrassed her the day Shinji returned to subdue Iwagakure. They'd overpowered her and killed many of her man. She'd been powerless, but he could do something. Sasuke was his former teammate, and had encountered Shinji before.

''Whatever helps you sleep at night,'' Naruto said standing up. ''Come, let us go to Uzu, so we can discuss the terms of my help...''

A day later, Amegakure

Konan thanked Nagato for teaching her the rain sensing jutsu. If it wasn't for it, she would have never taken notice of the snake that had infiltrated the village. She didn't bother to leave her tower when she realized that he was coming directly at her - Which was something that Naruto had predicted. She stayed in her office and waited for the snake to arrive.

''Hello, Konan-san,'' Orochimaru greeted with a small grin.

''Orochimaru,'' Konan said, leaning further back to her chair. A thought came to her and she spoke it. ''Life is unpredictable, isn't it? Years ago, you wanted to kill me, Nagato and Yahiko. A few years later, you were taking orders from Nagato as a member of the Akatsuki, and now here we are.''

Orochimaru didn't lose his grin, ''a few unexpected things happen. But I never actually joined Akatsuki for anything but to survive, and gain a bit of information about the organization.''

''Yes, you relied on us for survival for that short time you were with us. You ran off to the kids you nearly killed years ago to hide from Konoha and Danzo,'' Konan stressed every word. ''But that doesn't matter anyway. What do you want?''

''Naruto-kun has been causing me problems,'' Orochimaru said, walking further closer to Konan, but he stopped just away from her desk. ''I just came to send a message since he got closer last time.''

''I see,'' Konan said standing up. ''Well, Naruto's not here, but you know that. However...'' she trailed off. As the ceiling above Orochimaru opened, spitting thousands of pieces of paper. Orochimaru was quick to activate the Sharingan. His eyes narrowed when he realized that they were paper bombs. Konan held out her right hand, the walls of the office began to peel off, revealing them to be made of more papers. Thousands, of paper bombs began to float around the office.

On the floor, Orochimaru stood, blue markings began to form, as well as above the ceiling. The door was shut, so were the windows, no escape. Orochimaru looked at Konan, half of her body had already been turned into paper, as well as her face.

''The seal on the floor and ceiling are works of Naruto. The one on the floor has millions of my paper bombs stored up, and Naruto says he added some that have the Sharingan's flames stored up. The one on the ceiling contains natural lightning. It was added just in case.'' Konan explained.

''This is quite the suicide trap you have here,'' he wouldn't admit it, but even he wouldn't have thought of something so deadly. He was even impressed that this was created with the thought that he would one day walk in here.

''This isn't a suicide trap,'' Konan correct, making Orochimaru frown. ''One more thing, there are three chakra barriers surrounding this office. They are set to contain the explosion from destroying parts of Ame. Naruto says he tested them by having them withstand tailed beast bombs.''

''Do you think this is enough to kill me?''

''Honestly, I don't know,'' Konan said. ''However, even if you do survive, in what shape do you think you will be after the explosion? The amount of force alone created by the explosion because of the contained space will be enough to crush your body. Should you survive, I will be waiting, so will Naruto.'' It wouldn't take him a minute to get here if she summoned him.

A week later, Wind capital

Flowers in his hands, and casual attire, check. Naruto wore a smile as he walked into Miyuki's home. He'd received a letter from her, saying she wanted to talk to him. He'd quickly left everything to get here as he thought there was another chance for reconciliation.

The blond walked through the rooms but didn't find her anyway. The last place he decided to visit was her study. The moment he opened the door, everything became in illusion. His body froze along with his blood: Sasuke and Shinji were inside the office. That alone brought him great amount of fear, not for himself, for Miyuki. What were they doing in here? He couldn't see her, but he could see her hair as the chair was turned the other side.

His mind was already working overtime to feel the stench of blood. He didn't even want to think of something happening to her.

''How pathetic for a shinobi to be involved with a civilian. You should know that in your position, you put these kind of people at risk since they can't protect themselves,'' Shinji stated, spinning the chair. ''Now observe: this happened because of your choice. She was killed because you failed to protect her, you chose peace over her. If you hadn't forsaken her for your stupid dream, nothing like this would've happened. You killed her!''

On the chair, the beautiful Daimyo sat, head tilting the left side, hair in place, eyes close. Fresh blood leaking off her mouth, and a cut on her neck, leaking more blood. Naruto's face twisted as the world turned upside down. Yes, this happened because he failed to protect her. Worse, this happened while she was still mad at him for betraying her trust. He wasn't able to properly apologize.

Shinji didn't mind the fact that the air became heavy, possibly due to Naruto's anger. No, it was literally heavy. ''Pathetic, wallow in self pity and blame yourself as you should. Feel miserable like other people, experience the hatred, and after everything, tell me if you can still smile and say you can understand me, and that we can live together peacefully.'' Shinji looked at Sasuke. ''Don't kill him, I want to watch him suffer,'' he then disappeared.

''Don't worry, she didn't experience any pain at all,'' Sasuke said grinning. ''Though I did pierce through her heart,'' he stated, revealing the hidden mark of where he'd pierced her with a Chidori.

''Why?'' the cursed Uchiha had nearly killed him with that Jutsu, and now he had done this to Miyuki. The more he thought of it, the more his face twisted into a nasty way, and his leaking chakra didn't give off a happy feeling.

Sasuke merely laughed. ''Because I felt like it,'' he said casually.

The desk in front of Naruto shattered, while multiple cracks appeared around where the blond stood. Some potent chakra had forced this and if it wasn't for the fact that he'd been exposed to Juubi's vile chakra, Sasuke would've been on his knees now.

Naruto blurred towards Sasuke in the blink of an eye, catching Sasuke by his throat with his right hand. But the Uchiha disappeared. Illusion. Naruto wasn't impressed, or even surprised. His look just remained twisted while chakra was clearly visible around his body. When Sasuke appeared behind the blond, he found the left palm of the blond waiting for him. ''Your hand in genjutsu is quite pathetic. You need to be better than Itachi to actually put me under an illusion.''

Sasuke would have responded if it wasn't for what his eyes were seeing. There were many thin and clearly sharp spears glaring at him; all wind. How Naruto had formed them under such a short time was a miracle to him. Those things didn't look any less dangerous to his life.

''There are actually hundreds of them,'' Naruto stated, still not facing the Uchiha, his tone was just stone cold. It actually made Sasuke feel some cold shivers down his spine. ''This is one of my inventions, wind style execution. Those spears can pierce through anything. It takes them less than a second to reach their target, regardless of distance. I've tested them with Itachi's Susano'o, and nothing less than a complete thing will result in your body cut into pieces. Still, because of their numbers, speed and size, they can still penetrate through the defenses of the complete Susano'o.

The main question though is, little Sasuke, can you activate your complete Susano'o before these things reach you? Do you even have a complete Susano'o? If you have it, some of those spears will perhaps pierce through your eyes, gut, knees, heart, family jewels, forehead, or all these places.'' Naruto formed a fist, twisting his head to get a look at Sasuke. The Uchiha took notice of those ripple pattern eyes, ''so, Uchiha, how many do you think will hit you?''

End of chapter

Well eh, everything in this chapter was unexpected. There were a lot of time skips if you noticed. Took me some time to think over how I could proceed with the story after the last few chapters. While I was busy planning, I realize that I couldn't really move this story in the way I wanted and writing something was really difficult.

The title of this story is peace seeker, the story is supposed to show a mc who is seeking peace. It doesn't say anything about actually finding peace. What I wanted to write was Naruto's journey as one who seeks peace: this includes all the troubles, challenges, and joyous moments he faces in the journey. The end would've been left as a cliffhanger.

Till this point, I have written a lot of stuff, but never actually gave the emotional draining stuff that I had promised in the beginning of the story. This chapter acts as a reminder to Naruto that in the path of peace, he will lose things he cares for, there will be things that will make him question his choices. I'd promised to give that, and said the story would possibly reach about 400k in words, but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.

I wanted to end in this chapter, just to get for you to see how Naruto will deal with all that happened in this chapter, and how he decides to move, and whether he will decide to live for the peace that cost him dearly, I will add two more chapters. Yes, the next two chapters will see the end of this story.

The omnipresent Sage