Godly vs legendary power

by Ojay1307

They say legends never die, but that's bullshit. The reason why they are legends is because they died. They might have made a name for themselves through skill, intelligence and power, but they were only human and succumbed to humans call of death. Naruto Uzumaki, doesn't wish to be a Legend, he wanted to become a god, because legends die, but gods do not, and he will become one.

6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hello readers, welcome back. So Naruto killed Yagura and the war had been won, however i must say that things aren't exactly as they seem, so take note of that. There will be brief action here and more dialogue.

I am thinking of adding one or two more women to the pairing making a total of 4, and while i already have the extra women in mind, i would like more of your thoughts on the matter. In this chapter i will hint on the identity of one of them, and as for the other, well considering a certain person's review and request i think i already have the person in mind as you will see later in the chapter.

Naruto is quite literally OP already, but i won't let him show too much so as not to make the battles cliche and less interesting. Besides, who doesn't like a good fight?

As for who taught Naruto Sage mode, i did hint at it last chapter and for those who thought correctly its not this OC "Ally" of mine, though he did have a great part to play, but it isn't him. Its Kurama..

Kurama has been around for a long time and is the Child of the most powerful Sage, so yeah he knows about Senjutsu as even in Canon he did hint about Naruto using its power while accessing his own simultaneously.. Besides if Kurama could create something like the ultimate Baryon Mode in the manga by merging with Naruto's energy, then Sage mode is just child's play

So let's get to it..

There will be an interesting scene with the new pairing added for y'all in this chapter at the end.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto..

Chapter 6: Moving forward (Cool off phase)

Being a hero was good and a few years ago our favorite blonde would have been ecstatic about such a prospect, but now, it was just a nuisance..

Ignorant people praising him here and there, young and old looking up to him as a form of inspiration. He was none of that neither did he care about any of these people or their problems.

He didn't come here to save them, he didn't come here to save their country, he came here to make his mark in history and most importantly, to put fear and worry in the hearts of the other villages. Both their shinobi and especially their leaders..

Naruto was sure word of his exploits had long since left the Mist even with just his destruction of the Gulag alone. Now however probably the entire world knew of his power and that he wasn't afraid to use it..

Good...

Kumogakure and the Hidden Rock Would probably be the ones to react most negatively to this and that was exactly what he wanted, but he doubted they would do anything for now at least with him still under the leaf. He still had to be sure nonetheless as he will be making an infiltration, though briefly into both villages in the not too distant future. He was no longer gonna be trusting his so called "Ally" anymore to do the job in that regard.

Of course many would see this as the Leaf showing their supremacy in the scale of power by sending out one of their youngest shinobi to single handedly secure victory for a foreign country, which by proxy would give them the upper hand In the diplomatic department..

The leaf would surely take credit for this and he wouldn't mind one bit as it would be to his advantage since none of the Kages would be able to come at him directly without risking war with the leaf, not over one of their best shinobi and Jinchuriki.. The latter had yet to be revealed to the world especially about his lineage and ancestry, but after this his status as a jinchuriki would be most likely be revealed soon enough. If not the by the leaf, then a certain Uchiha could just to spite him, considering he had fucked up his plans with the mist and potentially the Akatsuki.

Perhaps a confrontation with their leader was also imminent as well.

That would be a battle of gods that would only end one way...

In his favor...

That didn't mean he was gonna be too reckless or complacent. Greater shinobi had fallen because of this...

Konoha for all its history was lacking in powerful assets over the last generation especially with the Uchiha clan being massacred by one of their own who was now rogue and the beloved 4th Hokage dead, so they needed someone like him to fill in the blanks..

He didn't need them, they needed him and now more than ever they would do everything possible to be on his good side as they wouldn't be able to take having another of their most powerful go rogue.. Not a chance..

It would be a big blow to their pride and what was left of their prestige..

Or they could just try keeping him on a short leash.. Like that will work..

Of course the elders may still have doubts about his intentions, but for the sake of prosperity they would need to have him on their side, and that was where he would crush them because for all their paranoia, they were too trusting, when it benefited them of course..

However that time hadn't arrived, at least for now..

Besides with Tsunade at the helm of things, no one would dare go against him, at least without due cause..

All was good for the blonde as he was hero in the eyes of the people of the mist, a romantic prospect for their new Kage or so she thought, and boy wonder for the Hidden leaf...

What could go wrong?

"When it comes to you humans, shit always tends to hit the fan.. It's in your species pathetic nature"

"Well thank Kami then that your host is no longer human, and besides your kind isn't exactly perfect" replied Naruto in his ever calm expression

"You say it like it's a good thing" replied the fox, ignoring the latter and taking note of the former statement. The boys ascension past humanity was getting more profound each day, and while that was okay it did have some possible negative outcomes if the boy didn't have the right mindset...

At least he wasn't weak..

"Is it not?"

"Hmmmm"

Not surprised at the casual response Naruto continued his walk through the forest, basking in the peace and serenity of the nature around him as he was finally able to be alone, far away from the disturbance and responsibility of being a hero.. To think nature could be so calm even after the blonde had used its power for destruction..

That was shinobi for you as even something as basic as a pencil could be used to kill armed men by the most skilled of shinobi.

---

Somewhere in another universe, a certain so called boegyman killer sneezed on his would be assassins in a bar no less.

Then using the effect of his sneeze as a distraction, he took the said pencil in his hand and used it to kill them. Stabbing one in the ear and drilling it into him and then stabbing the other in the eye with the said pencil.

Nobody had better be talking about him or they were next in line to die..

---

Back with Naruto: (Reader can you figure out who i was referring to just now)

The kunai was an example as it was originally a gardening tool, now it was known as a weapon of mass destruction especially to the Hidden rock by the 4th Hokage during the 3rd world war.

To think a Kunai ended the 3rd war and served as a great source of fear to an entire Great village!

Ridiculous right? But not impossible...

So much for being the son of the said individual and not be even remotely interested in the technique. Mind you Naruto was very much interested in Jikukan Ninjutsu application, but such was beyond just the Flying Thunder god technique as it only focused on instant speed and teleportation of objects.

Space time ninjutsu was more than that, especially with a said Uchiha in the picture, perhaps to some extent even Kakashi if his source of information was accurate.

His source was never wrong, maybe not fully transparent but never wrong, and if he was right then Kakashi did have a part to play in all this and he wouldn't even know it..

Even despite knowing over a thousand jutsu, the silver haired man was pretty blind..

That was for another time...

Naruto and his so called team were still in the land of water even a week after the war had ended, which according to him was too long.

All was done, mission was accomplished, they didn't have to stay around for pleasantries. But of course diplomacy requires it as the mission wasn't only to end the war, but to gain another Ally.. The mist did have resources that could benefit the leaf as well as bloodline users and the leaf was willing to aid the mist with manpower if needed.. A win win, that's if a certain cripple didn't have a say..

One that upon his return will definitely make a move on him, and of course, fail.

Perhaps getting sasuke ready early enough to kill the man was required more than ever, of course when he had dealt with Itachi first as that was his former teammates priority. Or so it was as you never really know with Shinobi.

Gaining the mist as an ally wouldn't have been a problem but of course he had to be involved as Mei being the New Kage didn't want any negotiation except he was directly involved, much to the amusement of Kakashi and hidden irritation of a certain purple head Anbu captain..

Of course it was hidden well, but not well enough for his keen senses..

Perhaps the seeds he was sowing would bear fruit even faster than he expected, just as he had done with a certain busty Kumo kunoichi.

The old man Hokage wasn't the only one who could manipulate people, but that was a thought for another time..

Mei however was having none of it as she practically dragged him around whenever she had the chance, asking him questions about himself and constantly flirting with him, even one time almost kissing him..

Fine he did her a solid by handing her and the rebellion back control by defeating Yagura and most of his shinobi, but he didn't want anything from her.. At least not that kind of attention..

He had already gotten a significant part of what he came for when he took out Yagura..

There were still bigger plans in mind, but they could wait till later, with or without her in the picture..

He respected the woman, he really did, but she was becoming a nuisance. Hopefully when it mattered she wouldn't be a one to him as It wouldn't end well for her.. Especially if his "First lady" as he called her found out about this.

Yeah he could picture her leaking a deadly aura knowing that some mature bitch was playing around with her man, though of course she would never say it out loud considering her very "Cool" attitude, but with him words were never needed.

She had still yet to accept him as her man, but that was because he hadn't pushed for it.

It might be arrogant of him, but if he wanted to he could have already explored the space in between her sexy legs and have her fully addicted to his "Size" and "power". But he still wanted to wait a little longer before that even if he knew she wouldn't reject him in that regard.

Her emotions were all to easy to read, something that irritated her immensely.

He would need to pay her a visit very soon and to have a "Talk" with her about the possibility of her having "others" in her ranks.

That wasn't a conversation he was looking forward to, but it had to be done..

It would be a shame if she didn't agree though as he was gonna go on with his plans in that regard, with or without her. It was cold, but Naruto wasn't gonna rule everything by being nice. Maybe a little just, yes, but not nice..

"You are cold bastard you know. But i gotta hand it to you, in the potential mate department your choices are proving reasonable, for a human that is"

The boy had changed, immensely in fact, and one off the best aspects of his change was in his decision making. It was a good thing for the fox as he wouldn't have to keep watching his host continue to do some stupid things and make more embarrassing decisions.

He was still reckless though, but more thoughtful and prepared even while being reckless.

It was both irritating and entertaining as well.

"Its an aspect i can't avoid, and you know that well enough. I would even say its the most important as when i do reach my goal i will need logical and reasonable minds to keep me in check. Both the ones that are similar to mine and differ as well, that way i won't just be going down one path and not seeing the benefits of the other. Its a logical decision with a lot of merits if the right minds are in place around me and who better than romantic prospects huh?"

Of course he wasn't gonna fall in love or any of that nonsense, but he would ensure that whichever woman was by his side wouldn't feel unloved or lonely. Even he wasn't that selfish..

"Or you are just a pervert who just wanna get laid by multiple hot and sexy women whenever he feels like it. To think you didn't want to have this conversation last time with the parasite"

"My personal life is my own and always will be, not yours and definitely not his. As for the pervert part i could have just taken the bait with that nuisance and distraction, Mei, maybe even seducing her to have sex with me whenever i feel like it. You know well enough that i can do it, but i didn't, did i now?" remarked the blonde in a slightly rebuking tone.

He might be many things, but not a pervert.. Sex was just a biological need that needed to be satisfied, but that didn't mean he was gonna do it with just any woman who was willing to spread her legs for him..

He wasn't exactly for having multiple women, but it was necessary for both personal and logical reasons, especially for the latter. Or so he told himself..

"So you say. Only you would call a woman like the New Mizukage a nuisance and distraction.. Seriously kit, you really need to get laid, something i am sure your so called "first lady" wouldn't mind satisfying. She is like putty in your hands whenever you are around her despite her cold and cool exterior. Once again, i gotta hand it you, for someone who isn't so much for romance you seem to be getting under the skin of very powerful women indeed. Just keep it to yourself as i am sure that fucking parasite will wanna use this to manipulate you just as he has been trying to" the fox warned.

Taking note of the warning and ignoring the rest, he continued his walk in silence, because all he wanted at that point was to relax..

Thoughts of all what was talked about can be pondered on later as there was still time.. Not to much of it, but it was still available...

That was until he finally felt it..

A set of chakra signatures had been hovering around the mist for a while now, but he didn't pay much attention to it as it didn't seem like much.. He had another chakra signature that he kept his senses on, one that hadn't been felt ever since he defeated Yagura..

Just the thought of that person made his partner's chakra Spike aggressively.. It was all too understandable..

Now with this new chakra signature that was scattered across the atmosphere, at that moment they were all combined into one source, and this source felt very familiar.. Too familiar even..

"Got you" he thought and then he disappeared..

---

Konan expected quite a lot really when she came here and so far, she wasn't disappointed..

She may not have met up with the uchiha yet, but witnessing this young blonde do what he did and make so much progress in a short period of time was interesting..

You wouldn't even know he was a Jinchuriki because he didn't use any of the bijuu's power within him. Not once, and to think he had the most powerful one..

Pain may have to be concerned about this boy and perhaps make a move sooner..

She did wonder how the masked man would react to this, because this boy was playing in his territory and disrupting his plans..

Would there be a confrontation between the two?

Before she could think further, she felt a spike a of chakra and instantly her world went black.. When she opened her eyes she found herself in a sewer of sorts, with the atmosphere being blood red and the floor being colored water...

It was a like some kinda sewer.. A genjustu maybe..

"You are good at masking your chakra with that paper technique of yours, and I have to say it's very remarkable" a familiar voice said behind her..

She knew who it was..

Turning around she laid her eyes on the person in question who was none other than the blonde enigma himself..

"Where are we?" she asked stoically..

"In my mind"

Her response, nothing..

"Okay it's a genjutsu of sorts one that doesn't require me to be in your direct line of vision to cast. It would do us no good to be seen together by a certain someone who i believe is still around"

An effective illusion without being in her field of vision.. Only Uchihas with the sharingan could do that or high level masters of the art..

Naruto had used an adaptation of the 2nd Hokage's World of darkness technique and mixed with with a bit of the kyubbi's chakra, making an illusion similar to that of his mindscape. Of course without the actual Kyubbi in the picture. That wouldn't be much of a good idea, not because he was afraid for the woman but he just waned to keep that aspect private...

No one needed to know about his relationship with the kyubbi even if they knew he was a jinchuriki..

Being a Jinchuriki, he wasn't supposed to be able to perform such high level genjutsu or any genjutsu for that matter.. She couldn't even feel her chakra or anything really which would make it hard for her to break out of it..

The question was how did he cast it?

That wasn't important..

"What do want?" she asked bluntly as it seemed he had her at his Mercy since she couldn't do anything for now..

"To talk"

"About what?"

"Anything really. Anything you can tell me I am willing to listen. There's time"

She narrowed her eyes slightly.. 'What was he playing at?'

"I have nothing to say to you"

"That's what you said last time and as far as i remember we did have quite the conversation, if you weren't trying to kill me that is"

The last time they encountered, Naruto had tried his hand at sneaking into the Hidden rain and ended up being caught by the woman in question. Expectedly, she tried to capture him and later on kill him..

It didn't work so well as he was still alive and she was also as not only had he soundly defeated her, he had her at his mercy but didn't kill her. Instead they talked, with him doing most of it and she being passive but still responded..

All in all, Naruto saw her as a potential ally, dare he say companion as the woman was special, really special, considering her chakra origins.

"So you noticed it. Perhaps you aren't so dense afterall" said the fox offhandedly

"Regardless i still don't have anything to say to you"

"You just did" he replied cheekily, but calmly.

She wasn't amused..

"Have you told your leader about our last encounter?"

Silence..

He just smiled a little.. It was good that he didn't need her to talk before he could get his answers. He could feel her emotions after all, and right now she was a little afraid, but more of conflicted..

He could work with that..

"So you haven't huh, why? Are you having doubts"

Konan's heart skipped at that.. But of course it didn't show, however he knew he had hit home..

"If you aren't gonna do anything to me, you might as well just let me go"

"I could, but where's the fun in that.. Its feels good to have someone at your mercy don't you think"

The cockiness in his tone made her spike in slight anger and irritation.. She was a powerful shinobi damn it, he didn't need look down on her..

"You are really trying to get a rise out of me aren't you? It won't work"

"Perhaps not today, or tomorrow or next week, but eventually my dear paper friend, i will get to you" he said with confidence

"My loyalties are with my leader and that will never change"

"I am not so sure about that because if it were you would have told your leader about me and our encounter"

"What makes you think i didn't?"

"Believe me, i know. Besides i have a special ability to see through people even down to their depths and for what i can say about you, your loyalty will only last alongside your moral beliefs. The moment those 2 clash, you begin to doubt yourself just like you are doing now"

"You don't anything about me" she replied with narrowed eyes.

"I don't but i do know enough seeing as we are sibling students, or sort of in a sense"

Sibling students? What did he mean by that?

He was in front of her...

She didn't even see him move.. Perhaps it was the genjutsu as she still couldn't move..

Moving his face way too close to hers, he stared into her violet eyes, his breath blowing on her face as their noses nearly touched..

She tried not to be fazed by this as he didn't seem so with his ever calm expression on his face.. It was uncomfortable however for the older woman..

"So beautiful and yet, so lost" he said softly and then moved to her ear "We will meet again Konan, but know this, you can only deceive yourself for so long before you eventually breakdown. I tried it and failed but at least i got back up stronger, many have tried, failed and never recovered and it would be a shame if you ended up as one of them.. You need to discover yourself and figure out what you really want before its too late because you can only live by someone else's ideals for so long, in the end, you will only end up regretting not living by your own.. Wake up while you still can, and when yo do, come to me, i will be waiting." With that said, the world went black again and when she opened her eyes, she was alone and in the real world..

Falling to her knees, she began to cough, sucking in heavy breaths as she tried composing herself.. It seemed being in such an illusion was having an effect on her as her body seemed to be reacting on its own.. Or so she thought..

Getting herself together she stood up and prepared to leave this place, however she halted for a bit..

Twice now he had her at his mercy and didn't kill her. Now he spoke to her almost like as if he could actually read her thoughts, because as much as she would like to deny it, he was spot on about a lot of things.

She had doubts and had been having them for a long time now, not just about herself, but about everything. Pain, the Akatsuki, Madara, capturing the bijjuu's, everything.

She kept it all to herself, bottled up and suppressed, but this boy found a way to bring out such feelings and they had only met twice. It was unnerving..

The boy was good, perhaps even better than Madara at manipulation, because the truth was he was manipulating her, and it was working..

For the first in a long while, Konan didn't know what to do.. She could report all this to Nagato, but a great part of her felt she shouldn't. Why? She didn't know..

It was too early to make any hasty decisions. For now she would watch things play out and fulfill her role in the Akatsuki, however the blonde had definitely caught her attention, even more so than she was willing to give, and it wasn't just for his power.. It was more than that..

With that in mind, her body dispersed into pieces of paper, scattering across the land once more..

"Who would have thought the Kid had it in him.. Four women already in the palm of his hand, with 3 being potential mates and still many more to go.. Things are definitely gonna be interesting, don't you think?" Said the Fox amusingly to his new but familiar companion, deep in the blonde's mindscape..

"We'll see" replied the companion

The boy was definitely something indeed..

---

A few days later:

Things had been quiet recently as the people of the mist were less focused on celebrations and more on rebuilding..

His status as a hero had already been established and negotiations were making progress with Mei being completely open to being an ally of the leaf, though further discussions would have to be made at a much later date and when things were settled down in the Mist..

All was good..

It was their last day here as his team made their move towards leaving, much to the disappointment of a few people with most being his fan club and fan girls...

The former was understandable, but the latter was disgusting.. Thank kami he was leaving, at least Mei had some class when it came to flirting with him, but these girls, well you get the idea..

Let's see the so called fan girls come at him if he hadn't restored his appearance back to its original form, blonde hair with some white streaks, a normal colored body, with a now all black shinobi garb and addition of mask and a hood if needed. His sword was also available but it was kept in storage as it needed time to recharge to its best state after his usage of a very destructive jutsu last time.

According to Mei, there was something different about the blonde, not his clothing but his aura and a little of his personality as he was much more confident, maybe a little more arrogant as well. Though the latter was justifiable with his terrifying power..

What was his response.

Nothing!

What a surprise that was huh!

After saying good-byes of which it was more of his teammates doing that and he just standing aloof minding his business, they made their move towards the gate.. It was surprising how much the others had relations with foreign shinobi, especially with Sakura and Tenzo..

The pink haired girl had made her mark in the medical department and with the children, but he shouldn't be surprised as she was a skilled medic and a friendly one at that.. Good for her..

At least she wasn't moping over Sasuke or being nosy about his life..

Tenzo also seemed to pack a lot of friends considering his useful usage of wood release to build houses for the people and toys for the children..

To think what people regarded as the world's most powerful and sought after bloodline would be used for something so domestic..

Perhaps he needed to remind them of it's true power, but on a much grandeur scale..

That would be something..

"You are like a battle craved junkie you know"

"So says the so called embodiment of hatred and despair"

"That's different" a small snicker in the blonde's mind by a certain companion said otherwise, but the Fox ignored it

"Of course it is" replied Naruto mentally with obvious sarcasm

"Whatever. Just take it easy, it would be an annoyance to be living inside a blonde replica of Madara Uchiha"

A blonde Uzumaki with a Senju spirit acting like the most crazy Uchiha.. Not a good combination..

"He was human, I am not, at least for the most part"

"But you are not god, not even close, just as you are not too far off from being like the dead Uchiha. Just saying, be careful and take some time off"

Naruto would have responded to that, but chose not to as his partner did have a point..

He may have left most of the physical part of his humanity aside, but he was still human and humans were flawed, he was flawed, Madara Uchiha with all his power was flawed, too flawed even..

Well hopefully the end would justify the means..

Besides he needed to let things cool off.

Now however he had do deal with an old pain in his ass, one that he had been expecting to encounter again, but hoped to avoid, at least for them man's sake as he didn't have any problem..

"Sure you don't"

"Lord Jiraiya" greeted Neko respectfully with a bow as they approached the gates of the mist.. Just as the Intel suggested he was already waiting for them..

They were supposed to rendezvous earlier before the end of the war, but of course a certain blonde haired powerhouse had just end things quicker than expected..

Now the Toad sage had no action to get in on as well as Intel to acquire..

"Lord Jiraiya, it's good to see you" greeted also Kakashi..

"Ha well it's good all of you are out in one piece, though I would have loved to get in on some action but oh well, it's all good. We won Right!" the man remarked casually as his eyes briefly went to his supposed student.

'Well he's awfully quiet. Normally the old Naruto would have been boasting or bashful, but he's just standing there saying nothing. Interesting!' the old man thought.

"Any news from lady Tsunade as regards where to next?" asked Neko in her Anbu mode. Anything to get out of this place would be okay with her as the attention was somewhat choking..

She was used to living in the shadows, not out in the open like this..

"None for now except your return to the leaf immediately. You all have done enough already"

Sakura upon hearing this was filled with pride. She may not know the man personally, but being praised by someone of his Calibre was definitely a boost.. Besides she too wanted to return home..

Naruto just stood in silence

"I trust no problems arose Tenzo?" Jiraiya inquired from the dog masked Anbu, which surprised him..

He swiftly glanced a Naruto to see his reaction, but once again there was none..

"None Lord Jiraiya" replied the wood release user, though with some hesitance at being asked such out loud..

Was the sage trying to expose his secret mission, and most importantly did the blonde know about it?

Well that would be hard to tell considering he couldn't get a read off him.

"Well then I think it's best we get a move on as we all deserve a break, some more than others, but regardless a return home would be good for us all. So lord Jiraiya we leave on your mark, just say the word" spoke Kakashi for everyone respectfully..

Or at least he thought everyone..

"Actually you guys go on ahead, Naruto and I would catch up with you"

Everyone turned to the blonde to see his reaction, but as usual, nothing..

Figures!

"Don't take too long" remarked Neko, briefly looking at the blonde before they all made their move..

It was just Jiraiya and Naruto remaining..

Silence!

"How have you been?" Naruto surprisingly spoke first.

"Huh" replied Jiraiya confused.

"I asked how you have been.. Isn't that the customary thing to do?"

Getting over his confused and slightly speechless state at the blonde breaking the silence, the man replied... "Uhhh, great I suppose. A few things here and there, but all good. You?"

"You already know the answer to that"

The man was a master spy, of course he knew what had happened.

"Regardless I still wanna hear from you as you are still my student after all and I care for you"

"Your student huh. Okay well all has been good. Dead people here and there, blowing up shit and winning a war, none thanks to you of course" was all Naruto had to say, going back to his stoic expression and stance

It sounded like he was angry, but he wasn't, just felt like rambling a little so as to make his former sensei feel concerned and hurt..

It was working..

It wasn't like the man expected much from the blonde, though the last part did sting a little... A few years back Naruto would have been babbling all sorts of things by now, pesturing him with questions and more training requests.

The kid had changed.. Too much even.

"You have made a name for yourself you know. A Kage level shinobi is your rank now in the bingo books.. A lot of eyes are on you kid, too many even and this early for that matter.. I hope you know what that means"

Naruto had to Chuckle at that which surprised Jiraiya even more.

A kage level shinobi huh!

It was laughable, but that was by the side.

"Most of your exploits are seen as rumors, as hardly anyone saw your fight with Yagura. It shouldn't surprise you and besides what do you care about petty humans and their ranking method? You are hardly human anymore, isn't that what you are claiming?"

Naruto didn't respond to that.

"Don't you think it's too late for you show worry for me, because as you already know I don't need you or anyone to be concerned. I can most definitely take care of myself" he inquired from the older man

"It's not about that Naruto"

"Then what is it about then?"

"I just-" the man paused.. and sighed. "I just don't want you to be reckless and get hurt because power isn't everything and even with yours, you can't beat everyone"

The man did have a point and Naruto had a solution for that because In reality he wasn't alone. He never was..

It did take a while for him to realize that but he did, hence the reason behind his power because deny it all he wants, his becoming this powerful was because he had allies who gave him the tools and resources to get stronger..

However, that didn't mean he couldn't stand alone. In fact at this point he needed to stand alone at least for he most part.. He needed attention to be on him because he wasn't the bigger picture, no, he was just a very important piece of it and he needed to blind the leaders alongside his enemies from seeing the bigger picture.

In the end all would be revealed..

"Your words are noted Jiraiya. Not needed, but noted" was all he had to say..

Jiraiya had to sigh again.. At least the kid wasn't flat out rejecting his advice..

"Perhaps on our way back we can tag along, talk and catch up, just like old times huh. What do you say?" the white haired man suggested with a smile

"With all due respect, I think I would prefer to be alone and return in silence"

That response made the sage lose his smile as all traces of humor were now gone, replaced with suspicion..

It was funny how people tended to change in an instant, especially Shinobi..

"You have anything to hide?"

"We are shinobi, we all have things to hide" the blonde replied stoically effectively ending the conversation..

With the conversation over he walked away from the older man to join the others. He knew he had just given the man reason to be suspicious of him, but he didn't Care.. Even with his spy network it would take entire lifetimes for the man to find anything incriminating about him.

He had his "Ally" with all his clones and pieces to thank for that..

Watching his former pupil leave, Jiraiya sighed tiredly as he knew things were about to get even more hectic especially on their return to the leaf..

The person he just spoke with was unrecognizable, and even worse not knowing where his loyalties lie as he couldn't get a read off the blonde and that was saying something... It worried him..

Naruto was already powerful, frightening so if what he heard was accurate. But how much had he really changed, that was the question that plagued the Toad sage's mind..

But regardless of how hectic it would be, he would have to find out.. Maybe even reveal a few secrets to Naruto about his origins to get him to open up and assert his loyalty to the leaf, that's if it didn't backfire..

He sighed again..

Hopefully things would work out for good..

---

Back in konoha:

No place like home is what they say, and truly there was none.. It was good to be back for most of the team after a few months of battle and stress in a foreign country.

After debriefing the Hokage, they all dispersed to their various locations, whether to relax, train, or hang around friends. Although a few of them were held back individually to chat with Tsunade and Jiraiya by her side, these being Neko, Kakashi and expectedly, Naruto..

The latter being the main focus, though he was asked to excuse the room considering a few elders and clan leaders were called for a meeting.

A meeting about him, his exploits and how it affected the leaf he supposed.

It was just as expected.

He sensed a few tensions from the room, but none too heavy except from the very palpable darkness leaking off Danzo.

The man was like a quenched candle amongst lit ones, completely devoted to the shadows, basking in it even.

But his end was near, very near.

Seeing as almost everyone came out of the room which signified the meeting was over, he was called in by Shizune.

Walking past her he could feel her trepidation and curiosity concerning his drastic change and probably his power if what she must have heard was correct.

The woman was innocent in all of this and he wouldn't mind having her in his ranks so she would be spared from whatever bloodshed there was to come.

She was a pure soul, or as pure as they come.

"So you wanna add another older woman to your harem huh! You are killing me kit, you are killing me" teased the fox

"And you say I am the pervert" rebuked the blonde mentally.

Entering into the room, he could feel some tension as Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi and even Neko were all present.

The only surprise was the Nara head who was seated in a thoughtful pose, but he didn't show it. He had to be much more careful with his words the man around..

Of course Shizune was excluded, much the woman's appreciation.

He could feel she wasn't comfortable with the tension or his intimidating aura.

"Have a seat Naruto" Tsunade suggested calmly. But the look in her eyes was far from calm.

She was also uncomfortable with all this, but it needed to be done.

He had to smile mentally at that. She wasn't even aware of his plans for her in the future.

A much distant future after he had conquered all..

Taking a seat, he looked directly into the eyes of all the occupants of the room, even Neko despite her mask on.

She averted her eyes slightly from his when they met, showing her slight discomfort.

Another progress being made..

They would have their talk after this, if she didn't try killing him first.

"Its not like you don't deserve it"

"So, you have a made a name for yourself it seems" were the words from the busty Hokage as she tried boring holes into his skull with her stare.

"I did enough, but yes you could say that" he replied cooly, not in the least bit bothered by all the eyes on him

"More like destroyed enough if i am to be honest. Do you even know the extent of the stunt you pulled with your Almighty show of power. Do you?" Questioned Jiraiya dramatically.

Naruto however was having none of it. "You asked me to do a job, i did a job. Yes i admit it was on a destructive scale but isn't that what you wanted, to actually have an idea what i am capable of?" he asked while looking at Tsunade since she was the one that gave the other.

"It doesn't matter Naruto what you were told to do because orders are one thing, but doing it your way is another and you most certainly did things your way considering how little orders you followed from your superiors" remarked Kakashi in a bit of chastising tone considering how much disrespect he showed a few times especially to Neko.

"Is this true Naruto, that you disobeyed your team captain and Sensei to do things your way?" Inquired Tsunade firmly.

She wasn't upset with him, but just wanted to see how he responds under the pressure and great opposition, even from people who are supposed to be his teammates.

Naruto on the other hand knew, but already had a response in place. A slightly controversial one, but necessary.

He was a shinobi, and regardless of what his orders were, when facing life and death, you had to do what you had to do. No exceptions.

"With all due respect, i did disobey her not because i saw myself better or above, but because it was necessary" he paused to glance at Neko who had her eyes narrowed at him under her mask.

"Do explain yourself Naruto" inquired Shikaku with a thoughtful look.

The gears in his head were already turning as regards figuring out the young enigma before him. He looked normal and composed to him, but with shinobi things were never as it seemed. It was always what you didn't see that mattered...

Turning to the man to look him in the eyes, he began. "If i had followed her orders then we would still be in the mist, the war not having ended and maybe even worse that the war be lost. Its no slight to her leadership but in a manipulated war like that, conventional methods wouldn't have worked especially with an Uchiha beehind it"

Mentioning the existence of the Uchiha behind such a war may not have been necessary, but it didn't affect any of his plans in the grand scale of things and he needed a big fish to derail these people off his back, this being such. Of course this would only lead to more questions.

"How did you know about that?' ASked Jiraiya with surprise and suspicion. He was a spy master and he had gotten word of such being the case, but it was mostly a rumor.

Everyone else aside from the 2 sages were confused... An uchiha? Was it Itachi?

"The same you did. Rumors and confirmation from Yagura himself when as he died. It seems only death could break him out of it" Naruto replied.

"So you spoke to him then?" Inquired Shikaku, his surprise about an Uchiha in play put aside for now.

"Yes. Briefly, but yes and he confirmed it to me, saying it was a masked man with red hypnotic eyes. Only the Sharingan can be described as such"

"That doesn't fully explain how you knew about it, because rumors or not it still doesn't add up. What else do you know huh!" Ranted and Demanded the Toad sage.

"Jiraiya enough! We can figure that out later, what is important is this new player in the game behind the scenes if he is really an Uchiha. The real question should be, who is this person and how is he linked to us" countered Tsunade. Hearing such information was concerning and while she was curious as to what else Naruto knew, she was more focused on this new revelation

If it was true that is... If it was well then, what else was there to know and how bad were they?

"What's the guarantee that Yagura wasn't lying to you?" Asked kakashi in an unsually serious voice. If it was true, his intincts told him that it wasn't Itachi or Sasuke.

That bothered him even more than he could understand.

"He was a dying man. Its rare for such people to lie in such state, he also seemed angry even for falling to manipulation and causing a war between his people"

"That still doesn't explain how-

"Jiraiya!" half yelled Tsuande with a narrowed stare at him. She was still angry at him for not finding Naruto after he disappeared and even more now that she knew he heard rumors of an Uchiha manipulating Yagura.

They definitely had a lot to talk about.

He didn't like it, but he would hold his tongue for now seeing as an angry Tsunade wasn't one to challenge.

Naruto however was pleased. He had successfully steered the conversation away from them challenging him about his decision making and refusal to follow orders. He briefly glanced at Neko as she stood there in silence, curious and confused on all that she was hearing. She didn't envy the Hoakge right now because this was definitely a situation for her leader to ponder on.

Turning back to look at Naruto, Tsunade was perplexed and conflicted.

On one hand this was the foolish boy who brought her back to the village and now here he was having ended a war, killed a kage and now seemed to know more than she did, possibly even more than Jiraiya did and she still didn't know anything about his 3 years away. Many people outside the council and a few others still believed that Naruto was with Jiraiya tis whole time before returning and that was all because of her influence to protect him.

He wasn't making it easy for her at all... The council were making it even harder with the old fool Danzo fueling their distrust and uncertainty towards Naruto and now they had a potential unknown Uchiha on the loose.

That was 3 uchihas now...

That aside, could she trust the surprisingly and potentially even more powerful young man before her, or should she put him a much shorter leash like her shinobi instincts and Danzo are telling her to.

Decisions, decisions...

"Shikaku, your thoughts" she inquired from the Nara head who surprisingly wasn't dozing off or yelling something along the lines of troublesome.

His attention must definitely have been piqued... Most times in Nara history, that wasn't a good thing.

Good or bad she needed his counsel.

Looking at Naruto and hearing all he had said, Shikaku picked up on 4 things.

One, the boy knew a whole lot more than he was giving out which wasn't a bad thing, but it depended on what he knew and wasn't telling them.

Two, he was powerful and calculating, the former being proved as a result of his exploits in the mist and the latter seeing as he added the information of the Uchiha when defending himself which by proxy led to the conversation taking a different turn. The timing of his return, his all of a sudden being sent to the mist by Tsunade, now him giving out information about what he knew and what Yagura told him him even if he didn't have to.

Coincidence, he thought not. However he would need to be sure make more findings before speaking with the Hokage about that.

The woman was very protective of the boy and the last thing he wanted was for her to think he was accusing the boy without good reason or proof.

Third, the boy's loyalties were currently unknown. Ending the war in the mist wasn't about helping the leaf in the man's opinion seeing as the boy was unconcerned even though he tried making it look like he was concerned and did it all for the leaf.

No, the boy had a different agenda, one that he wasn't sure would be good for the village seeing as they treated him before now. In those calm blue eyes of the boy, Shikaku saw a brewing ominous darkness, one while understandable considering what the boy had been through, but needed to be checked properly.

Once again he needed proof.

Fourth and finally, his resemblance to the 4th Hokage was too uncanny not to be noticed now that he had matured and if what he suspected was true, shikaku believed that it was possible the boy already knew the truth if all 3 former theories were accurate.

Which would bring about a fifth point.

That Naruto Uzumaki, possibly Namikaze was becoming another Madara Uchiha and would be the greatest threat the elemental nations had ever seen. The son of an Uzumaki and the leaf's greatest hero as well as Jinchuriki of the 9 tails, who had disappeared for 3 years only to return and immediately start becoming a legend of his own.

The boy was a completely unknown variable and in a shogi game he would refer to him as the last piece of the puzzle, one that could win the game for either the good side or the bad side. His intincts were leaning towards the bad side if all was true.

It was just all speculation for now, however he did have a solution in mind for the moment

"As for the Uchiha situation we need more intel in order to know how to proceed, however we shouldn't be complacent as regards this or the activities of other villages now more than ever" the last part was referring to the rumors of a terrorist organization hunting bijuus, as well as how the other hidden villages will react to news of having another powerful konoha shinobi in their ranks.

The leaf was already regarded as arguably the strongest, now news of Naruto's exploits may take that claim up a notch and cause the others to become itchy seeing as they are falling behind.

"I suggest you incorporate him into the Anbu and see how he responds to it. That way he stays under your direct wing and can still function as a shinobi of the leaf, an anonymous but powerful one even more so now that all eyes are on him" finished the man as he looked at the blonde boy in question.

He was as calm as ever.

"What are you saying Shikaku! Tsunade you can't possibly-

Started the toad sage until he was cut off again by the busty Hokage.

"Leave us. NOW!" she ordered

Seeing as they were dismissed, Kakashi with a thoughtful expression, Neko with a confused and surprised one at the suggestion, Shikaku with his mind also thoughtful but calm and Jiraiya with an incredulous one all began to leave one after the other. Jiraiya leaving last with an unpleased facial expression and a narrowed look at the blonde before leaving.

He really needed to have a talk with his former teammate and perhaps talk to Shikaku as well to know what the man was thinking. The suggestion didn't sit right with him, but the man never gave any advice unless it had some good merit.

Everyone having left it was just Tsunade with a stoic expression and Naruto with a calm one.

They were having a stare down...

Eventually, it was Tsuande who caved in and asked. "What do you think?"

"I think you should do what's best for the village as any good leader should"

"I am talking about the village, i am talking about you. Do you think its best i make you join Anbu?"

Naruto response was a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. He could care less about that, though it would change things for him.

"NARUTO!" she yelled at him

She wanted him to take this seriously and not be nonchalant. She wanted him to talk to her, to open and he knew that.

It was unnecessary however, appreciated, but not needed. He would only end up lying if he started talking to her in attempt to be "Honest".

"Honest!. Che.." was the kyubbi's derogatory remark. Its host could never be honest with the blonde woman, at least until when it was needed which wouldn't be until the very end. The end of everything and the beginning of another...

A beginning the fox was hardly comfortable with seeing as its "Father" was against it as well.

"What do you want me to say?.. That i am bothered or that i care!.. Well i don't, the only thing that links me to this village is you... You are my family and my only connection to the leaf. You are the reason i came back in the first place and the moment you are no longer tied to this place, i will follow you. Its not because of hatred because i don't hate them, i just want to be free and live according to my own principles and beliefs. Not tied to a system that decides for everyone"

Most of what he said was true, though the part about her being his link and all was bogus... He cared for Tsuande but not to that level that he would stand by her. He was just stalling for the time being using such words, keeping her on his side until he was ready to cut his ties completely.

It was cruel to play with someone like that, but such was the life of a shinobi.

She too was trying to manipulate him as well by tasking Neko to possibly seduce him if needed. Well he was the one seducing her and if he wanted, he could also seduce Tsunade herself but that would be weird on so many levels..

No, he had something else in mind.

All in all Tsunade was the one tied to the village because of him not the other way around, though it seemed her resolve to protect the leaf was conflicting with her resolve to protect him...

Silence!

Tsuande for the first time since he returned was at her most surprised.. He seemed and sounded sincere enough about him not hating the village and being here only because of her.. She had her doubts but this was Naruto, he was like a son to her and she had grown to love him as such..

She sighed..

"You shouldn't allow yourself to be tied to someone Naruto even if its me. You said it yourself, you should follow your own path not one that mirrors mine or anyone else's. Its a nice gesture and i appreciate you telling me this but i think its best you join the Anbu for now under Neko's command. It may not be convenient for you seeing as being Anbu may restrict your freedom, but its only for sometime until i get the council more on your side and the news of your exploits die down. Still, i must say, you did a good job with the mission"

She wasn't comfortable with her decision, but it seemed the best way to protect him. Besides it was a great opportunity for Neko to fulfill her secret mission, perhaps even up the ante.

She just hoped it would be a success...

"Very well" he answered with compliance.. This changed things a little but he would adapt..

"Take sometime off. You start in a few days from now and i expect better things from you in your time being part of the Zoo"

"The Zoo?" he inquired with curiousity.

She smiled a little at that. So it seems he doesn't know everything after all.

"You will figure it out" she said with a small smirk.. His time in the "Zoo" as the 3rd hokage famously called it would definitely be interesting..

At least with him in the shadows and not giving her headaches she could focus on other things, the most important being the Akatsuki and this Uchiha..

Seeing as she wasn't saying anymore he stood up and began leave, only for her to call unto him again.. "Naruto"

He paused to turn around.

"I am proud of you and-" she hesitated a little to get her resolve in order.

She needed to let him know this. "I love you my boy" she finished with a soft smile..

"Hmmmmmmmm"

"Not a word" Naruto warned the Fox mentally.. Even his "First lady" never used such words with him, in fact it was the 1st time ever someone told him they loved him...

It made him feel, strange, but he pushed that aside... He couldn't afford to love with the path ahead, that didn't mean he couldn't feel it a little and mostly fake it...

He was a master of empathy after all..

He sighed...

"Thank you, Aunt Tsunade" he finished and then, he walked out, leaving Tsunade on a much happier note...

There was progress...

"Get me Jiraiya" she ordered to no one in particular but she knew her order was heard and would be followed..

The movement of chakra signatures she sensed from the rooftop proved that..

Back to business it was...

---

Lower parts of Konoha:

"What do you want us to do Lord Danzo about the Boy?" asked a masked shinobi emotionlessly as he knelt down before his master

The half blind man in question, just remained silent with his uncovered eye closed in emotionless concentration while shrowded in darkness.

The Yami Shinobi of Konoha was in a thoughtful state considering the recent ongoings, especially with the Kyubbi brat. He should have captured the boy long ago, because now it would be very difficult.

"Send a few of our new recruits to test his strength. Observe from a distance, but avoid confrontation" the man replied calmly

"Should they attempt capture if possible?"

"If possible yes, but if they fail then do not engage"

"Do you think they will fail?"

"Its not your job to ask questions but to do as instructed. If they fail make sure no evidence tracks back to me. Understood!"

"Hai Lord Danzo" the shinobi replied still without any emotion, or so he thought as deep down inside there was a curious mind waiting to be unlocked, hence the peculiar jutsu he uses.

(Reader can you guess who this is?)

"Dismissed"

Without another word, he disappeared back into the shadows, leaving the old man in silence.

Danzo knew that he was playing a dangerous game because if the Blonde was smarter than he thought, he may come after him with this hence not wanting anything coming back to him for the boy to bring to the Hokage..

She might be hot headed but she was not easy to manipulate. Any opportunity she had to take him and his organization down would be taken by her especially if it involved the blonde brat.

Good thing he had an escape plan and trump card just in case there was a confrontation.

One way or another, he would have the Kyubbi and the leaf under his control.

The darkness would overshadow the light..

---

Training grounds:

It was good to relax... Thought Naruto as he let a calming breath after holding it for so long in meditation..

It had been a stressful few weeks ever since his return and now it would only become more so since he was drafted to be part of the Anbu black ops..

Its not like it was much of a problem or that he couldn't handle it, but his movements will be limited by this and his ties to the village had been made even stronger, at least according to Tsunade, because in truth he never had any ties to Konoha, not even his surprising parental origins tied him to the village and as for what he told her about being here because of her, that was bullshit...

Nothing tied him to the leaf, not her, not any fond memories and definitely not his dead parents. He lacked the affection of a family when he was younger and was still alive and well, so he had no need for such anymore so even while knowing who his parents were, he wasn't concerned because they were dead.

The dead had no ties to the living and he being alive had no ties to the dead even if they were his parents. At least they died protecting him, that was a plus..

To think every other person knew who his parents were and kept it from him, even the Kyubbi who was responsible for their deaths also knew neither was he remorseful for killing them. Naruto didn't blame any of them nor was he was angry.

Everyone did what they thought was best, even if what they thought best was actually far from it. Whether they reveal it to him or not he wasn't concerned because it meant little to him.

The dead had no business with the living and vice versa unless a certain kinjutsu was put in play..

In Tsunade's mind she was doing him a favor, because as an Anbu he would only report to her, not the people, the elders, the council and so on. However, favor or not, he had his own agenda and though this might change things, he would adapt, though he did have to give credit for her showing genuine concern for him as it was a little touching. Just a little...

She wasn't about to let him be a poster boy for the leaf or another scapegoat like Itachi and Orochimaru in the worst case scenario. She wouldn't be able to handle it...

If she only knew what he had in store for her...

Of course she couldn't protect him forever especially now since he was infamous all over and it was only a matter of time before his status as a Jinchuriki be revealed, both to the outside world and his fellow young shinobi classmates.

None of this bothered him. In fact it only made things easier because not only would he be kept from public view once becoming Anbu, his revealed jinchuriki status may serve as what was needed to push the younger generation away from him in fear, severing all bonds with them and making it easier for him to make his exit..

Of course things could backfire as such revelation might make them even more sympathetic towards him knowing that he was carrying such a burden, but their sympathy wouldn't be able reach him since he will be out of the public eye, so yeah there wasn't much of problem there and he might even be able to gain allies...

He didn't really need much of allies these days as he had enough, even in places you wouldn't expect, but he had enough of them. Though he wasn't closed off to gaining more even if it was weaklings like the younger generation. He was once weak too, pathetically so, but that was the benefit of youth especially in peaceful times like as it gave one enough time to become strong.

The only enemy of the younger generation was complacency, and Naruto detested that, so if anyone of his former classmates intended to become an ally, then they better be ready to groomed to death as there was absolutely no room for complacency. Not at all..

He just had to wait and see how things played out in that regard..

As for the limitation aspect of being Anbu, well that's what clones were for..

The shadows of Anbu black ops would be his friend in this situation as it would allow him push for a lot of things from the shadows with less suspicion, while waiting for the right moment to come into the light again..

He had time, not a whole lot of it but still some time, he had resources even more than he needed, he had enough strength and now he was given the perfect tool to push his plans faster..

All was good for the blonde indeed, hence his decision to relax for a bit with meditation, clearing his mind in preparation of what was to come. And boy were there a whole lot of things to come..

Having taken in another breathe of fresh air while siting in his meditative pose, he exhaled again as his muscles relaxed and his aura taking in peaceful energy..

Yeah it was good to relax indeed.

Unfortunately not many shinobi understood that concept as all they wanted was to be strong with only few of them being able to attain reasonable strength in the end, so what was the essence really...

Strength takes time but lack of proper management of time will not make it easier for someone to gain the strength they desire. A shinobi needed to know when to pick battles, when to train, and when to relax...

Strength was a lot, but only with a composed mind can one use such strength well enough, thereby gaining even more of it in form of mental strength and strong will.. These were supposed to be the fundamentals of Chakra usage from its origins, but it had been perverted over time, which was the reason why we had shinobi in the first place...

The origins of chakra had nothing to do with shinobi at all..

However, regardless of how polluted the teachings had become, having inner peace was very much needed, even for someone like him. It was quite hypocritical of him, but his case was different as he wouldn't be a shinobi for very long. No, he had a much bigger aim than just being a powerful shinobi.

"A stupid aim if you ask me, but not impossible"

"You seeing a potential possibility of my aim being achieved is good enough for me and also shows that you aren't just a stupid beast as most people see you as" the blonde replied mentally as he continued his meditation.

"Don't get too cocky kit" the fox warned with a growl especially at the jab that was made at it. "Just because i see a possibility doesn't mean it still isn't stupid and besides, you have come a long way from being just a pathetic ningen like the others so its interesting to watch you go about things the way you do. However still i say your idea is stupid, but at least it isn't boring for the most part"

"Good to know that my actions are for your amusement" the blonde replied dryly. However before he could make another mental statement he had to acknowledge the presence in front of him by opening his eyes to look at the said person.

Standing before him was Neko, but this time it was without her Anbu garb, just plain dark shinobi clothing and her trusty sword in her hand as she stood there rigidly..

He had to admit, seeing her like this was way better as she looked even more beautiful with her unique purple hair color, just like the female Akatsuki member he had a chat with not too long ago..

Two uniquely beautiful and strong women with conflicting thoughts and emotions. They both had so much to offer as well as untapped potential, but they were being held back by the conflict within them, something that Naruto wanted to rectify, because if there was one set of people he liked the most, it was these kind of people since they were easy to manipulate especially with his advantage of sensing emotions to an incredible degree.

Wasn't he the lucky one...

Not at this point though seeing as the woman in question moved towards him at great speed, raising her sword with an intent to cut him and made a swipe at his neck..

He didn't even move..

So much for being civil...

Stopping just as her sharp blade made contact with the skin of his neck, Yugao just stood there holding her sword to his throat as she eyes him closely while he remained seated in his meditative pose..

He just continued to look straight ahead calmly, not once turning to her or even being bothered by the fact that she could have decapitated him.

She was trying her best to get a reaction out of him, pushing the blade further into his skin, nicking it a little with its sharp edge as it drew a small amount of blood..

He still didn't move or look at her..

"Is there supposed to be a point to this?" he asked calmly

She just stared at him, unblinking with the blade still pressed against his neck..

Turning his face to look at her this time, he asked again. "What's the point of doing this?"

This time she blinked and then narrowed her eyes. "There is no point"

"So why place a blade on my neck?"

"Isn't it obvious" she fired back immediately

"Thought you said there was no point"

"Doesn't mean there isn't a reason"

Tilting his head a little, he stared her in the eyes for a moment and then responded. "You are angry"

"No shit" she replied with a heated glare.

"Why is that?" he asked despite having a good idea of the answer

"You know why"

"No, i don't know why, i can only assume why, not conclude and you placing a sword to my neck will not help solve anything unless of course you actually want to kill me, then be my guest" he finished calmly while maintaining eye contact with the purple haired woman.

He did know why she was doing this, but that didn't mean he couldn't play a little. Perhaps he was getting to used to playing games these days..

He could see the uncertainty in those beautiful eyes and could feel her uncertainty just as well, not knowing whether to trust him or not. On one hand he was a jerk, a very dicey jerk with a great deal of mystery behind him, and on the other he was the person who saved her from death all those years ago even when he didn't have to. He also went bas far as ensure she recovered properly before leaving and since then she had been looking forward to seeing him again.

Of course if she had known it was the blonde at the time, then perhaps it would have been a whole different story.

After a brief moment of locking eyes, Yugao removed her sword from his neck and walked a few feet away from him, taking a casual sword stance while waiting for him to get up.

"Stand up" she ordered

Seeing her stance he already knew what she was gonna say next, but he obliged nonetheless and stood up.

So much for peace and quiet..

"Take your sword out"

He raised an eyebrow at that, but instead of responding like a normal person, he decided to give a little tease.. An unconventional one..

"What sword are you referring to?" he asked with a straight face. The fox within him had a sweat drop at that.

Its blonde host was crazy weird..

Yugao was a little confused by that and it took just a few seconds for her to realize what he actually meant.

She was disgusted and surprised that he would even suggest that..

"What sword do you think i am referring to?" she inquired back, unamused. If he wanted her to lose her composure, then he will be disappointed. But still it felt outta character for him to suggest something like that.

He continued to surprise her as perhaps he wasn't so uptight as she thought..

Seeing as she didn't take the bait or get a little flustered, he answered her plainly this time. "My sword is kept in reservation for now until further notice. If you wanna fight me then you have to fight me like this, unarmed"

The part about his sword was partially true as it was sealed away for it to properly recharge, especially with the new energy he absorbed with it, but it wasn't just because of that, it was also because he didn't like using it for meaningless fights.

Whatever fight she was looking for at that moment was meaningless to him...

"You promised me a spar did you not. Are you not gonna honor your word or is that another aspect of you that is lacking?" she asked with an obvious jab at his principles

Once again, he wasn't bothered..

"I promised you a spar, i didn't say i would use a sword and like i said, its in reservation for now. So you either spar with me as i am, or get nothing. You choose and do so quickly so i can get back to my meditation"

Studying for any deceit and seeing none, she decided to oblige and with some slight annoyance at his dismissive tone. If he wanted to fight her unarmed, then it was his funeral.

Oh how much she wanted some payback for all the trouble and headaches he caused her during their time in the mist.

And for deceiving her about who he was. More like kept it a secret, but it was still deceit..

That wasn't the only reason though as a part of her wanted to see how far he would go when fighting her, because according to what she heard about his supposed "spar" with his classmates, he was brutal.

Would he treat her the same or did he truly have a special interest in her as he stated back in the mist.. He did give her the impression of special interest, but she wanted to get an actual feel off him and his intentions.

Sometimes the best way to know a shinobi was in combat..

"No ninjutsu, just pure combat skill" She ordered, but all she got as a response was a cold stare and silence.

Surprisingly it wasn't as irritating as before. Perhaps she was getting used to it his behavior, though it still didn't make it any less irritating at times.

Swiping her sword and taking a better stance she was about to go on the offensive until with speeds too fast for her to follow, he summoned a kunai out of nowhere, threw it her with even faster speeds that she could only see it just as it was about to pierce her skull.

At that moment her life flashed before her eyes as the weapon was about to end it slow motion, leaving her helpless since her reaction couldn't keep up with it.

CATCH! a hand from behind her grabbed the kunai by its hilt just as it was about to hit her, and then held it to her throat.

"Are you satisfied now?" asked Naruto with a strange low tone voice as he whispered into her ear. His cool breath blowing unto it.

It sent surprising shivers down her spine..

She could feel his chest pressed against her back, a little too firmly, one hand holding the kunai to her jugular and the other secured around her waist in dare she say an intimate embrace.

This was way to close for her liking.

Looking ahead of her, she noticed that Naruto was no longer in front of her, signifying that the one behind her wasn't a clone.. Did he replace himself with an already created clone, or was that just raw speed?

Where did the kunai even come from?

"How" was all she could muster helplessly as the way he held her made it a little difficult to launch a counter, especially with how close the kunai was to her throat.

Besides, if this was raw speed then there was no way she could surprise him with her own speed. The difference between them had just been made clear and it made her very disappointed.

To think a kid could best her like this and with ease!

"The same way i was able to keep up with Yagura even in his jinchuriki form. And no, it isn't teleportation or clone replacement, its raw speed" he answered for her honestly.. Its not like she could use any of this against him, in fact he just made it abundantly clear that he was leagues above her and most people in speed.

Raw speed, what the hell?" she pondered as only a mad person could move that fast and without any augmentation. He could be lying to her, but she didn't sense any deceit in his words.

"I thought you said i was to fight you as you were"

"Yes i did but i didn't say i was gonna be unarmed. You of all people should know better and expect the unexpected" even with how he said this there was no arrogance in his voice, he was just simply reminding her of basic shinobi principles. Though it was a little embarrassing since he was supposed to be under her command when he joins the Anbu..

Naruto had taken a lot of measures to ensure that even if he somehow became crippled, he would never be rendered harmless or weak, hence he had a plethora of tricks up his sleeve with a lot of weapons storage seals on his body, even his clothes as well as being the ultimate weapon himself with his great speed and prowess.

Ending a battle before it began was the best way to go about things, but for that you had to be faster and smarter than your opponent just as he had done here. Those bloody Uchihas were truly blessed with their Sharingan because with enough control over the dojutsu, this problem could be solved easily hence why they were feared.

He didn't have their conventional Dojutsu but he definitely had his hard trained speed and reflexes with or without Natural energy..

A potential subordinate outclassing his superior with ease...

She sighed in disappointment at her helplessness.

"Why the sigh? You shouldn't be disappointed with this as you had probably never faced a shinobi as fast as i am. See this as a lesson, not a disappointment. Fortunately it was just a spar so no harm done"

So now he was trying to patronize her while also giving her corrective tips... Great!

"Are you gonna let me go now. You have made your point" she asked somewhat eagerly seeing as she wanted to get away from him. The proximity between them was quite uncomfortable.

So much for having a spar...

Pressing himself further into her, he whispered into her ear again. "Not until you ask the question on your mind"

Feeling him press further into her and whisper with that strange voice, she almost caved into his touch despite having a sharp object against her neck. Almost...

"What makes you think i have a question in mind?"

"I just do" he replied like it was the obvious thing.

"That isn't much of an answer"

"Well its what you are gonna get, and if you want me to let you go then ask me what you have in mind, unless you want to continue to remain in my embrace like this" he finished with another tease and that strange low tone suggestive voice again.

He was really getting under her skin..

Unknown to her, Naruto really did know things since he could sense people's feelings, even the ones they didn't know they had. It was a useful tool for manipulation, one that he was all too wiling to use. Heck he could even manipulate anyone he wanted, no matter who or how old so far he knew what emotions to press upon.

Right now, the woman was in a heightened physical state, more like sexual if her increased heartrate and erratic breathing was anything to go by. But of course she did her best to fight it..

She will eventually there soon enough.. But for now, he was gonna just satisfy himself with teasing her.

"You are a bad boy kit. You are a very bad boy indeed"

"Why didn't you tell me who you were when we first talked?" she asked softly, her defiant emotion taking a complete 180 into that of slight vulnerability and a little submission.

This question had been on her mind since their last talk and now she really wanted to know his reasons.

"It didn't matter at the time just like it doesn't matter now. Who i was then is not who i am now. My past is irrelevant so why would i make it relevant by telling you who i was?"

Yugao felt a pang of hurt at his words seeing as she was part of his past, but her more logical aspect wondered why he eventually ended up letting her know who he was later on if his past wasn't relevant. He could have just left things as they were and kept her in the dark.

It didn't make sense..

"So why did you leave that hint about your identity the last time we spoke?"

Naruto had a slightly thoughtful expression at that and then replied. "I don't know, it just happened i guess" he answered with surprising honesty that even the kyubbi almost believed him. Almost..

Uncertainty! That wasn't something you could associate with the blonde, at least not anymore for the most part.

"I don't believe you" she replied suspiciously even with how sincere he sounded.

After a brief pause, he replied. "That's disappointing". With that said he released her from his grip as well as removed the kunai from her throat, giving her the freedom and space she so desperately wanted to get.

She felt her muscles relax and her breathing even out now that she was away from him. To think he was having this much effect on her.

However the truth was abundantly clear. The past was past and now this person was not the one she knew as her savior, so regardless of whatever he says or does she just couldn't trust him...

Not turning to him she spoke, but this time with more composure. "You are to report to Anbu headquarters in a few days, so from now on you are to refer to me as Senpai. Am i clear?" This was her Anbu captain mode, though it was with quite the effort seeing as she was turned away from him.

Perhaps she had made a mistake coming to him as herself..

"I am afraid that won't be possible"

Still not turning to him, she asked firmly still in her anbu voice. "Why not?"

"My past may not be relevant anymore, but you are still relevant to me, back then and even more so now. So yeah i can't see you as my senpai because i want something more. If you will let me that is"

Was she hearing right?

"Besides i think it would be best you and i actually have a good relationship so as to make your mission with the Hokage a legit success don't you think"

Her body went cold at that... Did he know?

"What mission?" she asked calmly in attempt to play cool.

"The one where the 3rd Hokage ordered you to get close to me as a child and the current mission given to you by Tsunade to keep me attached to the village by forging friendly and possibly romantic ties with me. Yeah i know all about that"

Who could have possibly told him about this? This was a tightly kept mission that only existed between her and the Hokage's in question, so how?

All she could do was stand there in silence, not even daring to face him. She couldn't deny it because he definitely didn't sound like someone who would believe that, so she just settled for silence.

"Look at me" she heard a voice directly behind her. When did he get so close again?

Feeling her body act on its own accord, Yugao turned around to look at him, peering up at his taller frame to look into his eyes, those hypnotic ocean blue eyes. Expecting to see disgust or judgement all she saw in his expression was mothing, absolutely nothing and that was even worse since she didn't know what he thought of her now.

When did she even start caring about what he thought about her? First being uncomfortable around him, hating him, then being more uncomfortable, then feeling conflicted and vulnerable around which in turn made her even more uncomfortable and now shame.

All these feelings were all too confusing..

Unknown to her once again, Naruto was aware of all of them.

This woman might be a respected Anbu squad leader, but just like his "First lady" she was just a woman like every other who in the face of a true Alpha couldn't help but submit.

It might be old fashioned, but it was definitely still true as he was living proof despite being much younger than most of the women he had been dealing with. Recently Mei, konan and now her, all powerful women who he could weaken just by understanding them, using the right words and a right actions.

Becoming bolder, he placed his hand under her chin, raising her head up a little and spoke with conviction.

She didn't reject this, in fact she found herself leaning slightly more into his touch. It was like she was leaning into a manlier form of her dead lover Hayate, who while alive despite his weaker frame always took charge whenever they were together.

His death took its toll on her as she used her work and duties as a distraction, almost getting herself killed in the process several times until HE came along. She didn't know who he really was then, but despite her better judgement she found herself intrigued by who he was now, even more than she should.

Yugao didn't know it then, but she was already falling for the blonde's manipulation all because of the crucial fact of him knowing all about her feelings. It was an unfair advantage, but life itself wasn't fair..

One moment she wanted to kill him and the next she was leaning into his touch. If her friends saw her like this or her subordinates in the Anbu they would die of shock at seeing the Ice Kenjutsu queen like this.

"You were simply following orders and even though you were not comfortable with them you followed them all the same due to your loyalty. I get that, but wouldn't you like to actually have a real relationship with me and not just follow orders because as crazy as it sounds, i wouldn't mind having such relationship with you, that's if once again you would let me. Believe it or not i do find you intriguing, both then and now" he finished with a sincere tone that shocked even himself, but ignored that deciding to focus on what he was doing at the moment.

"You are really a manipulative bastard you know that. Sometimes i wonder if it was best you awakening the power to read people as good as you do" remarked the Fox mentally. It didn't care much about how its host used the ability, but he was a little concerned about him becoming to carried away and beginning to abuse it like he was doing now.

Just like its host the Kyubbi could sense emotions to an incredible degree and the purple haired woman in question seemed to be a pure soul, a troubled one but still pure enough for a human. She didn't deserve to be a victim of its host antics, but once again the fox didn't care, it just didn't want its host to become another Madara.

But there was still hope though because even with how much Naruto had changed, there was still some good in the boy and just he had previously said, any woman he gets involved with will never feel unloved or lack. He may manipulate them, yes, use them, yes, but they will never lack his affection or at least the aspect of the affection that he was willing to give.

And one thing was sure, if Naruto gave you his word, then he would abide by at. However his word wasn't always as transparent.

Back to the situation at hand, Yugao had half the mind to pull away and tell him to fuck off, but seeing the sincerity in his eyes and hearing it in his tone made her rethink that.

Perhaps she was wrong about Naruto Uzumaki, for the most part..

She was never comfortable with the mission, so how bad would it be if she actually had a real relationship, possibly romantic with the blonde enigma who despite cold and annoying, reminded her a little of Hayate.

They were both men of action with the blonde even more so, but she had to be careful because with Hayate she could read him well enough, but with Naruto she couldn't and that frustrated her a little as well as also made her a little attracted to him..

However she needed to be sure about his feelings if he did have any to begin with because the last thing she wanted was to be manipulated by some kid. The fact that he knew about her mission gave him the upper hand, so what was the guarantee that he didn't have an agenda of his own by dare she say, manipulate her?

It may be cruel of her to think such, but they were shinobi, cruelty and deceit was part of their job description.

Getting a hold of herself, she removed herself from his touch and began walking away in silence. But just before she left, she gave some parting words, but this time looking directly at him.

"We will see how things go, but firstly, don't be late for your initiation" With that said she flickered away in a flurry of leaves.

She had a lot to think about.

Naruto just stood there, basking in the peace of silence once again and reviewing all that he had said to the woman.

She was an interesting one to say the least and as much as having her by his side would be nice, he still had to give her the opportunity to choose for herself. He was obviously manipulating her, but he still wanted her to come to him of her own accord at the end of the day and so he would wait and see for now.

His time in Anbu would definitely be an interesting one with her around..

"Admit it, you like her"

"Perhaps"

"Hmmmmmm"

"What!"

"There might still be hope for you yet" the fox said cryptically. At least this wasn't just pure manipulation for the fun of it or to prove a point

The blonde would have responded to that if not for the nuisances he had to deal with at the moment.

He had been waiting for them.

Catching one of the leaves in his hand, he stared at it for a little before speaking out to nobody in particular.

"Men are like leaves, the moment you understand people and know what makes them tick you can blow them with the right winds in any direction you want, whether its for good or bad. But the fact is, knowing the hearts of men and having the power to back it up are 2 important keys for a world changer. That's exactly what your master has done, knowing what makes you tick, fine tuning it to his own agenda and blowing you with his dark winds to your untimely demise"

Letting go of the leaf he finished. "Its unfortunate"

Immediately he said that, a group of white masked men appeared in front of him, all with an intent to do him harm for their so called "master". One might mistake them for the regular Anbu, but the their emotions were far too conditioned to be labeled as such. If they had any emotions to begin with.

Unfortunately for them, their target was someone as ruthless as him and he had no qualms spilling their blood even as leaf shinobi.

He had been expecting Danzo to do something since his return and the moment they were within a mile of him he knew that they were coming as their lack of emotions distinguished them easily. He was just glad that they didn't show up while he was talking with Yugao, even worse with them harming her.

He may not care for her as much now, but he did have plans for the woman so if anyone messed with her while he deemed her useful then they were indirectly messing with him. However it seemed they had enough decency not to attack when she was with him as they had surrounded him not long after she had arrived.

That means they must have heard his conversation and seen everything and for that they had to die.

He wasn't about to give Danzo any ammunition to use against him.

"You haven't even claimed her and you are being so protective. Perhaps you really do like her huh"

Perhaps the little crush he had on her then wasn't so much one now huh...

"Uzumaki Naruto. You are to come with us" one of them said with his hands already on his tanto, ready to attack upon the blonde's resistance. He wasn't the only one as all the 23 men with him were of the same mindset.

Pity!

Looking up into the night skies, he inhaled and then exhaled. Contrary to most belief at this point he didn't enjoy killing people, but as a shinobi killing was necessary and with his current path even more so. Blood surely had to be spilled and these men were about to be on the receiving end..

They were just pawns..

He brought his face down to look at them with eyes completely devoid of emotion. He might have showed some emotion not too long ago, but he was definitely not gonna do so now.

"How about No" was his stoic response..

"Then we will take you by force" replied another emotionlessly

If not for his composure Naruto would have laughed already at that proclamation. Their chakra reserves were from high genin to low jounin level so what the fuck were they talking about?

Readying themselves, a few of them threw shurikens at him at mid level speeds, but with his kunai in hand he deflected them all with ease. However it wasn't an attack, it was meant as a distraction.

He saw through it.

Coming at him from all sides, 2 from behind, 2 from the front, 2 each from both sides and 2 from above, all coming at him with their tantos ready to strike. It seemed they meant business if they were coming at him like this, but numbers in quantity against absolute quality was nothing.

When they were close enough, Naruto decided to apply a particular jutsu he had kept in his arsenal for special occasions. He didn't need to as it seemed like overkill, but there was no one here to tell the story so why not.

Clasping his hands together he called upon his technique. "Wood style, Wood body tree spikes"

Out of his body sprung forth several spikes of wood, impaling all of his attackers at once and instantly as they were not able to dodge due to its sudden nature and their proximity

It was quite gruesome as a great deal of blood was splattered across the grounds with their bodies skewed open on the wooden spikes.

"Now this is entertainment" said the Kyubbi with a little excitement at seeing its host finally use the damn jutsu even on a small scale.. He didn't particularly like it considering it was the 1st Hokage used to capture him, but it was quite spectacle witnessing its usage especially when not against him.

Fucking finally..

The remaining 14 shinobi could only look on in fear, not because of their comrades death's, but because of the blonde's usage of the legendary wood style.

It was unexpected.

"Well then" they heard a chilling voice behind them as the blonde in front was revealed to be just a wooden clone with spikes protruding from his body.

The thoughts of how he got behind them so fast and with the surprising usage of Wood release made them stand still in fear.

Perhaps Danzo hadn't really done a good as a job he thought if his shinobi were leaking fear like this.

"Why don't we get acquainted" he finished with his chilled voice as he leaked a concentrated aura of KI.

He was toying with them.

"DIE" one of them yelled as he lunged at the blonde. It seemed the person in question had gotten over his fear, but chose recklessness as a solution..

What a joke!

"Wood Style, Wood springs of Death" he called out as several Wooden springs protruded from his body, stabbing, skewing, impaling and constricted the remaining 14 as they all died quickly and gruesomly, with none fast or skilled enough to escape his technique.

That night, the training ground was littered with bloodied bodies and evidence of a forbidden jutsu not seen in decades.

Thankfully, there was no one around to see this..

Except one..

"I have to report this to Lord Danzo" thought the masked man at what he had just witnessed. Seeing the blonde being affectionate with that woman was one thing, but THIS, this was something else.

So the blonde boy had a love interest it seemed and could use Wood style. Such info was golden especially at the hands of his lord. He was curious about these new developments, but before he could think on that he had a mission to fulfill.

"First i need to destroy the bodies before i-" the masked shinobi in the trees was cut off as he felt the cold steel of metal around his neck as well as a dark presence holding it.

It was Naruto..

How did he-

"Don't bother asking yourself about what has happened or how i found you. Rather you should be more concerned about what is to happen with you now. Because-" he paused for effect, leaking more of his deadly aura into the air as the man stood still in fear. No, not man, a boy similar to him in age and he was paralysed in fear.

This one seemed different from the rest he just slaughtered.

None of his bodily functions were working at the moment as the boy was left wondering how he was caught and how the blonde got behind him without him noticing..

He didn't even sense him, nor should he have been found because he had the best chakra suppression technique in Ne Anbu. Now he was turned to statue as he remained unmoving and helpless.

Is this what real fear caused? Was this the end?

So much for being emotionless..

"You are mine" finished Naruto darkly as the man's vision was engulfed in red..

Danzo would pay for this, oh he would pay.

---

Days later (Kumogakure):

The village deep into the cold mountains was a fortress on its own and despite how cold it was the inhabitants were pretty much used to it, just as the people of Suna were also used to the heat as well.

Kumo ninjas were very proud of their village and while they were seen as second to the Leaf they were very strong in their own right as they had 2 jinchuriki's who were fully in control of their bijuu, Darui of the black lightning and their very powerful Raikage who was the undisputed fastest man alive.

So yeah they had quite the bragging rights indeed and while Konoha had exceptional ninjas, their level of discipline and military strength was above that of the tree huggers as they were famously called. konoha ninjas had been lacking in discipline ever since the 2nd Hokage, Tobirama senju died and that's where Kumo prevailed over the leaf, at least on paper.

The only reason why they hadn't challenged the leaf was because of the treaty their predecessors had signed after the 3rd war for neutrality across the nations, using the Chunin exams as means to test their strengths as well as dominance.

One could say it was peaceful times, but as shinobi peace was never an option forever because a village may seem to back you up today and then the next they crush you. That was the reality and Kumo had no intention of being at the receiving end of the stick especially with news about a terrorist organization acquiring Jinchuriki and rumors of a leaf shinobi ending the war in the mist, single handedly..

Whether it was a rumor or actual news, complacency wasn't acceptable for the Raikage and he expected the same from his forces, hence their constant training and strengthening of the troops from the lowest rank to the highest.

The winds of peace were fading and the stormy clouds of war were on the Horizon..

However, sometimes it was from within one had to be careful of the most because unknown to many and the world in general, the most powerful woman in the entire elemental nations was within their ranks and while she wasn't an enemy of Kumo, she was not exactly an ally either. But for the time being, she was one of them just as she had been all her life until she met BOTH OF THEM..

The first opened her eyes to the reality of life and her origins, but the 2nd one was her life and the only family she had, or at least most of it since she had yet to fully accept him yet, for cautious... reasons. He was already powerful, so letting him know just how much he meant to her would only serve to give him the advantage and make his already large head burst with arrogance..

She may not have told him, but he already knew with that ability of his, but regardless she wasn't gonna give him all of herself just yet until she was sure of his intentions towards her, especially if he was gonna bring more women into the equation.

She may be passive about a lot of things but she wasn't naive to believe that she would be the only one, hence her being dubbed "First lady". With the title he would hold in the not too distant future, it would be expected of him to have multiple woman in order to keep the peace, but it would mostly be because he had to repopulate his almost extinct clan and she had no intention of being the one to do all of that.

She wasn't a baby coughing machine, though she wouldn't mind giving him a child..

She loved "Her king", even more than she should considering they were family, but even with his promise of making her his queen she needed to be sure of his feelings towards her in a romantic sense before he would bring in any more to join her.

She wanted more than just a king or powerful man, she wanted a true lover, someone she could share all of herself with without fear or worries of betrayal because with her younger brother gone, she had no one left except him.

Atsui's death was a real blow for her and it was due to the recklessness of her fellow kumo shinobi that he died getting caught in a booby trap. It opened her eyes to the reality of the shinobi world. It was bloody, cruel, unforgiving and that was the way it was gonna be for generations to come unless someone did something to change the system. More fathers, brothers, clans, mothers, sons and daughters will be lost if nothing was done to effect the necessary change and she didn't want those of the future generations to experience such losses.

The current generation however may have to suffer first though...

Knowing her true origins as well as seeing her true potential, she believed that she be an instrumental player in changing the shinobi world and with the necessary tools at her disposal as well as her tremendous increase in strength, it was very possible especially now when most villages were at their weakest.

The current generation was lacking in potency and strength compared to previous ones and so there was little opposition except for perhaps the Kages. Even with the village heads strength they were still not as impressive as previous ones or as battle hardened, and so anyone who had similar power to that of Madara Uchiha or Hashirama senju could definitely cause great imbalance and chaos. She may not be as powerful as these 2, yet..., but she was definitely not too far behind, both with raw power and with influence if she decided to use them.

What made it even sweeter was that her status was completely anonymous so was Her King at the moment, but soon all would be revealed. However the element of surprise for now was to their advantage..

It just took her about 7 years to get to this point... HIM, less than 3 years and He had already surpassed her despite being her junior. But rather than be jealous it only made her all the more attracted to him, though she was a little concerned about his ideals and life perspective.

To him, power was everything, but to her, family and love were most of everything with power included. She already had enough power, what she needed was family and love, real love not a promised one especially with the possibility of there being others that would love him.

They had yet to have this conversation yet, but she was expecting him to come to her and have the talk at some point, and for his own good it had better be before he got involved with anyone else..

Their subordinates may fear and revere him but she didn't one bit and she wasn't afraid to let him know that. Painfully if need be..

He was stronger, way stronger but that didn't mean she couldn't keep him in line when he began to misbehave. That's what she was here for.

Samui to most people was just an above average kumo kunoichi. A jounin with quite the skills in kenjutsu and swift release despite her slightly heavy size, but she was a top notch shinobi and very respected amongst her peers for being the "Ice queen" due to her cool and cold exterior.

They were in for a surprise when the time came to reveal who she was and where she hailed from, because her Swift release ability and very striking blonde hair definitely had its origins from somewhere. While she wasn't the only blonde in kumo, she was the most unique one due to her "Special" chakra as her best friend Yugito would call it when she sensed it in her jinchuriki form.

If she only knew...

The number people who knew who she really was were extremely few with only one person in the official version of the elemental nations. Yes, there was an unofficial version because there was another nation hidden under the radar and had been so for years now, increasing in strength and numbers, flourishing in prosperity and gaining more influence in the official version of the 5 great nations, without anyone but themselves knowing who they really were and how much their influence stretched.

A nation and a people which she had equal rights to rule alongside her King when the time came, but for now such had to remain a possibility until the right moment when it will become a reality.

With her King's recent actions, it seemed that day was not too far away..

It was all thanks to their "Ally", one who she trusted well enough at the beginning but not as much anymore because no one just comes to give you power without having a reason for it. In their Ally's case it most definitely wasn't a transparent one considering the person had been alive for longer than most people, generations even from before we had shinobi.

There was a lot they didn't know about their Ally and that itself warranted caution seeing as he was able to transform them so quickly and build their empire from scratch in a very short amount of time, secretly..

She had very special chakra and body, her King had the most special chakra and destiny of all, so yeah it would only make sense to be suspicious considering this person knew all about them as well as even planned their lives out before meeting them.

In the end, their lives and destiny were their own and no one, not even this person would decide for them. No one...

The time of legends and manipulations from the shadows had almost passed... If their "Ally" proved Untrustworthy then he too would pass along with it. Plans were already in place if things came to that as one could never be too trusting with those from the shadows.

In the day your shadow may follow you, but when night comes it disappears leaving you all alone.

The light was still on now, but when the darkness will come is when the shit gets real.

Right now the busty and short haired blonde just left the company of her friends and team to be alone in one of their training grounds in order to meditate.

It was hard keeping her Real chakra in check considering how potent it was at this point, but she managed it with enough meditation, giving herself as much inner peace as possible...

How badly she wanted to let loose and stop pretending..

She was still fond of Kumo and had some precious people like Yugito, Karui, Omoi, Shee and Darui, but she was getting tired of playing the deception game.

If she had to use a blood clone one more time then she was gonna let whoever dare suggest such have it. Using her blood to create another version of herself felt sickening even if it was only once she did it when she went away with her "Ally" to train.

For 6 years, the person everyone thought was her was just a perfect bloody replica, living her life for her until she returned, and then she had to destroy and injest its blood in order to gain its memories and all the sensations of living as her for the last 6 years.

It was disgusting as she then realized why it was seen as a forbidden jutsu in the first place. She was never gonna do it again nor did she want to deceive her comrades any longer. Deceit just wasn't in her nature..

Samui just wanted to be free, but it was only a matter of time, hence her reinforcement of her mind and surpressed chakra by continuous meditation.

"You are as beautiful as ever especially when you are this calm and one with the world. I pity the fool who makes such a gentle flame like you angry" said an all too familiar voice coming out from the trees.

So he finally came" she thought grimly.

Well, he was gonna get it..

Then she disappeared in a burst of speed, fading out of existence, reappearing behind the owner of the voice, performing a surprise attack with her sword to catch the person off guard, but the person in question was just as fast, dodging her as she appeared instantly and leaping away to create some distance.

Good thing no one was around to see them.

Jumping from the trees, the hooded figure appeared on the grounds having just dodged an attempted decapitating swipe from the blonde woman's sword.

Her body flicker speed wasn't much of a surprise since he was used to it, but he was surprised that she had actually tried to kill him.

Fine she knew he could evade her but still...

Last time he checked he hadn't done anything to anger her, at least he thought so. One could never really know with women.

To think she would be happy to see him...

Was she on her period or something?

Leaping from the trees, the blonde woman covered the distance between them as she made several attempts to cut this person in half not once being deterred by her attacks being evaded or lack of retaliation.

She might not be able to hit him, but she wasn't gonna make this easy, not after this long.

Swipe and swipe again and again, Samui had no intention of letting up as she only increased her speed even more, attacking with more precision despite her aggressive state.

One would expect someone who was angry to fight recklessly but she had long since abandoned such a notion as her face took on a more focused Expression, using her anger as fuel to become even more precise..

She really wasn't playing.

If anyone stumbled upon the training ground, all they would see were speedy blurs moving around as both Individuals were just too fast for most shinobi to follow. One blonde and the other a dark one since the person was wearing a dark hooded cloak.

This wasn't even a real fight as only one person was attacking. If it was a real fight then only someone like Itachi with his Sharingan mastery, the Raikage and perhaps the Uchiha from the shadows could follow their speed because the both of them were speed monsters.

Even with her large chest size and slightly chubby body, Samui was every sense of the word "Swift" even more than she had shown to her comrades. Her mastery of the body flicker was off the charts as she could appear and reappear from short to medium range distances without any hand signs, boosting her limbs with short bursts of special chakra to Increase her mobility and reaction time to the point that she could even keep up with the Raikage himself at his best in a real battle.

It was all thanks for her lineage, very unique chakra and it's heightened flow through her body. She wasn't even using her Trump card yet and that itself was scary because any swifter than this and well...

A certain former dead blonde kage would be proud..

Samui's true abilities however were still to be kept under wraps no matter what especially her association with this hooded person she was currently trying to dissect, much to the person's amusement.

Seeing as she wasn't gonna get any hits, Samui paused her assault and took things up a notch by engulfing her sword in lightning, shaping it with her chakra into a medium length lightning whip as she wanted to catch this person even with the distance he was creating between them. It was risky going this far since someone could be watching, but at that point she didn't care.

Her opponent may not attack but that didn't mean she wasn't going to even if it meant using some her deadlier reserved arsenal of jutsus.

Once again a certain broody Uchiha wouldn't like seeing his technique about used by someone else effectively, especially by a woman of all people.

Yeah, the broody prick was sexist. Good thing he hadn't met someone like her yet, she wouldn't waste time beating it out of him.

If he only knew that the woman in question has long since Mastered lightning before he even knew he had an affinity for it. The uchiha still had a long way to go with whatever power he had at this point because this woman was way ahead of him in the lightning department.

However before she could finish her technique, her hand was grabbed by the wrist by her opponent, effectively cutting off her chakra flow and then she was twisted around as she found herself firmly pressed against the chest of her assailant, the sword in her hand being placed against her neck with her hand still holding unto it and grabbed by the person.

It was a sharp switch of dominance, one that had a been a reoccurrence each these two met. Although in previous cases it was more of a spar than her actually trying to kill him.

She wasn't the only one with Impressive speed.

The position left her slightly defenseless with the sword placed against her neck, but to some people such a sight might look a little too intimate considering how tight her body was pressed to the man's own with one hand firmly around her waist, holding her a little too closely.

It was intimate but efficient seeing as the blonde woman was locked in the embrace with difficulty escaping. She could escape but that would require her to use more of her arsenal and that would end up attracting attention from chakra sensors within the village.

Discretion was of utmost importance at this point.

"Tired yet" the person whispered into her ear softly not even bothered by the way he was holding the woman. His boss did hold unto another woman in a similar way not too long ago.

"Not quite" she replied cooly as he felt something pointy below his waist.

Looking down he saw another short blade in her other hand pointed at his crotch a little to closely.

A stalemate then...

"You never cease to surprise me. Lets call this round even then" the person whispered with no malice whatsoever as he slowly released her hand that held the blade against her neck, taking his hand and placing it Under her giant bust with seeming intent to caress them.

This only made her press the blade on the other hand closer to his manhood.

"Don't you dare" she warned coldly. They weren't at that point yet to allow him touch her assets and besides he had some explaining to do.

She couldn't see his face but she felt him smirking in amusement underneath his hood at her reaction.

Was he teasing her?

Removing his hand from under her bust, hemoved and placed it on her sword pointed hand and began to move it away from his crotch, slowly..

He could sense she was angry and he didn't want to test the limits of that anger even as a Clone. She wasn't even supposed to know he was a clone because that wouldn't end well. Not that he was scared or anything.

Deciding she had enough Samui just removed herself from his touch, sheathed her swords and stood a few feet away from him. Folding her hands under her impressive bust with an emotionless stare at the hooded man, she just stood there in silence.

Then, she started tapping her feet, expectantly..

It was a signal to start talking..

So her tantrum was over then?

Removing the hood to reveal his blonde hair, it was none other than Naruto himself, completely shrouded in a dark cloak, his face glowing in the night and his eyes as blue as ever, perhaps with a certain glint of fondness seeing as he was before his so called "First lady".

Standing before her with an amused expression on his face, Naruto had a quick look at her from top to bottom and what he was seeing was impressive.

Large bust that were difficult to conceal, firm and curvy hips, her exposed smooth legs which was just barely covered by her short shinobi garb, her firm and beautiful face as well as her beautiful eyes. Samui was a close epitome of perfection for Naruto as not only was she powerful with her poise, class and brains, she was also very beautiful and,... Sexy as fuck...

Yep, she was a good choice indeed and perhaps he might take Kurama's advice at "Getting laid" sooner than expected. She may be quite conservative about sex, but Naruto knew that she wanted him even before they went separate ways a year ago.

Looking at her playing the "Hard to get" card was just to funny for the young blonde, but laughing would be uncharacteristic for him at this point, so he settled on a soft smile, his amusement plain as ever in his eyes.

If he was cold and stoic with others then with this women, he had no reason to be. She knew him before he became who he was today and so he had no secrets with her, or at least not much of secrets.. However she had none from him as he knew everything about her.

"You think this is amusing" she stated with a venomous hiss as her eyes narrowed further.

Did he want her to attack him again?

It only made Naruto more amused.

Woman were ironic creatures, they show you a facade of "I don't care", or "I can't stand you", but deep down inside, they really miss you and just want to cuddle with you.

She really missed him, he could feel it and she knew he could all the reason why she was annoyed and tried faking this anger of hers.

Casually making a chair out of wood style, Naruto sat in it comfortably and stretched his hands towards the busty Kunoichi with a beckon.

"Come" he half requested, half ordered, expectantly..

He would be surprised if she refused him.

He liked her when she was fiesty only to mellow soon after Into his arms, as usual.

She did raise an eyebrow at his casual usage of the First Hokage's bloodline, but she shrugged it off.

So his body could handle it now?" she thought briefly.

Last time she checked he almost turned himself into a friggin tree when he used the forbidden technique.

It was quite hilarious and scary at the same time. she actually thought he was gonna die that day and the thought of her losing him made her realize how important he was to her then. But Naruto was a stubborn bastard who tended to be reckless in his thirst for more power, something that their Ally had indulged a little too much up to this point.

Of course she couldn't act on her feelings then since he was still very young.

He was still young now, much younger than she was as she was 24 and he was just over 16, but hey age was just a number right?

Even while being the older one, Samui was very much in love with him and was willing to do Anything for him if he asked. She had not yet confessed it to him because she didn't have to since he always knew what she was feeling and sometimes, thinking.

It was irritating a lot of times and other times, refreshing since she had someone who should make herself completely vulnerable to without fear or worry of judgement.

To most men, Samui was a sexy piece of ass and boobs, but to him he actually understood her, all of her, though with a bit of a tease every now and then, something she actually enjoyed as it proved he was not fully a heartless bastard and still had a human feelings like attraction and playfulness.

It was a lot of power to let someone have over her, but she didn't mind it being him. However she was still a little cautious as to her approach, hence she reminding him at times that she wasn't to messed with just as she had just done.

Stupid blonde idiot, leaving her for a year all alone with no contact and only to appear like that after so long with a cocky attitude like nothing ever happened.. And with his annoying smirk and casual antics.

Against her better judgement, Samui found herself walking towards him and when she got to his seated form, she swatted his stretched hands aside and without shame, sat in his lap to lay her head on his chest like a little girl wanting comfort.

With her head his chest she could hear his heartbeat, signifying that he was alive and still human, at least mostly human.

She sighed in content as she closed her eyes to relax into his touch, radiating herself in the peace of his aura which was ironic as most people felt tension when around him.

With her, his aura always seemed to change proving that she had just as much of an effect on him as he did on her.

Fuck meditation, she had her inner peace right here even if he was sometimes the cause of her lack of it..

"I missed you" she whispered softly without even looking at him as she rose her hand and started to caress his face with her long nails gently, her form still comfortably seated in his lap.

A lot of men would consider themselves lucky for having such a woman in their arms, but Naruto was pretty casual about it, amused even at the fact that he was even casual about in the first place.

Perhaps she did have more of an effect on him than he thought, just like Yugao was beginning to have on him.

Yep, woman were very ironic indeed, both in particular despite being from different villages. One moment they wanna kill you and the next they are putty in your hands. At least in this case he knew she wasn't faking it like most other women do so they can get something from you.

If she wanted anything from him all she had to do was ask..

That didn't mean he was gonna just give her anything she asked for though.

With Yugao however, even he wasn't sure of what he was doing with her for the most part. He may say his attention towards her was a logical one, but he would be lying.

He really needed to get his head straight, such uncertainty was considered weakness and he was having none of it.

He had his pride after all.

"I thought as much" was his confident reply, though to her it sounded arrogant.

She pinched his face in retaliation.

He didn't react to it, as usual...

He was awfully quiet and quite affectionate considering his often stoic nature. Something was up..

"What is it this time?" she asked in her relaxed state.

Such a sight was something that most people would die of shock from, even more so seeing Naruto allowing someone this close into his personal space and so affectionately. He was even caressing her hair damn it.

Though for a certain pervy sage, it would definitely be good material

A sexy ass cold woman with a great body being tamed by an even colder young man as he dominates her. Yeah that would definitely be quite the material, if he lived to write about it..

But seriously, Naruto was a lucky bastard as the only reason he hadn't "Mated" or gotten laid as the kyubbi would call it with the woman was because he wasn't ready even though he felt that she was to an extent.

Her lust for him was more reserved and less obvious like that of Mei. The Auburn haired woman was definitely not his type even with her status and power, not at all.

He preferred the quiet ones... They usually were the most deadly and the most "Satisfying".

"What makes you think there is something?" he asked peering down at her form in his lap.

"You only ever come to me when there is something you need, especially after this long with you being this affectionate. So tell me what it is already" she finished with a slight edge to her tone. A not so relaxed edge..

"Can't i just visit the most important woman in my life because i missed her so dearly so?" he asked in a mock hurt tone, once again an uncharacteristic thing of him, signifying to her that something was definitely up.

She also could read him..

"You will have better luck conquering the world than convincing me of that. So talk already" she finished with a slight growl, impatiently. She was relaxed, not dead.

Naruto had a little quirk of his lips at that. She knew him all too well..

Did he actually miss her?

Well, in a sense yes.

Was she the most important woman in his life?

For now, yes.

He may have promised her being his queen, but things change when it comes to matters of the heart, if he would still have any when he fulfills his plans..

"You are right. There is something, 2 things in fact" he said with some seriousness in his tone as he stopped his caress of her hair.

Feeling his change in tone, she opened eyes but still remained rested on his chest, waiting for him to spill the beans.

"Firstly i will need you to check on things with our Ally and see what he has been doing ever since we left him to take care of our people" He paused briefly to see and feel her reaction.

Nothing so far.

Then he continued. "My recent meeting with pieces of himself has me a little concerned about his intentions and i am not sure we should leave our people unattended to any longer with him at the helm of things. Hence why i need you to go back and check"

Knowing that the Original had access to his memories without permission was something Naruto didn't like at all. What more was their Ally up to?

Even more so, what did he really know at this point as well as what he was hiding?

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt Samui's emotions.

She was unconcerned.. Amused even.

He shook his head at that. Samui was less trusting from the moment he met her and despite having been with their Ally longer she was smart enough to be wary of him and his intentions, because in the shinobi world nothing was ever too good to be truen especially with someone from the shadows. Up to her she would have preferred to be over there with their people, monitoring and ruling the empire while he continued with things on his end rather than leave it to a stranger. But Naruto thought better of it and preferred to have her as his personal spy in Kumo, especially over their jinchuriki.

Until now that is...

She didn't even need to say anything as he already knew what she would say at this point.

"I told you so" were her unspoken words

He shook his head again.

"Aren't you gonna say anything?"

"You already know what i am thinking. So what's the point?"

"But still-

He was silenced by her finger on his lips as her form in his lap was raised with her looking directly into his eyes. He might be trying to act casual but he did seem a little concerned about what was happening back at home.

Their real home..

"I have no problems going back to check on things as its something i have been looking forward to since. So don't worry, i will do what needs to be done to keep our people safe and our empire" she said in assurance. She had been waiting for this moment since and while she was mildly concerned about going back, she did put into consideration his slight worry about their Ally.

Whatever meeting they had definitely shook the younger blonde a little if he was coming to her so suddenly. Regardless it was good he was taking the situation of their empire much more seriously and not wanting to leave it in someone else's hands.

"The only question is, how will you monitor things here in Kumo with me gone?" she asked curiously.

Having removed her finger from his lips, she placed her head back on his chest comfortably, waiting for him to reply. Her sudden disappearance would definitely be noticed as she had no intention of using another blood clone. It was out of the question.

"You are the fastest woman alive, you'll figure something out" he replied cheekily, his serious demeanor briefly changed at the moment.

Samui wanted to smack him for that.

Leave it to him to give her an assignment all of a sudden and leave her to figure it out. It would have been easier if he just taught her the shadow clone technique, but unfortunately she couldn't use it because while her Unique chakra flow promoted heightened acceleration, it wasn't much for being multiplied.

In other words she couldn't split her chakra like he could.

Ignoring that, she decided to give him information of her own. "Yugito will be on the move soon. The Raikage assigned her to track and eliminate you considering how much of a threat you have proven yourself to be recently"

Naruto was completely unfazed by such info. He was expecting something like that and even looked forward to it.

"Did he now?"

"Must i repeat myself"

He felt it, it was faint but it was there. The woman in his arms was worried, not for him but for the 2 tails Jinchuriki. From the way she mentioned her name it seems they were friends even.

"Is that all there is to it?" he asked as he wanted to be sure that was the case.

This time she reopened her eyes again.

"I am worried about her" she confessed

Naruto saw that as ironic. She was worried about his would be assassin, not him. Its either she was confident in his ability or just didn't care.

"What's the problem?" he inquired further

"The Akatsuki. She might encounter them"

Naruto kept silent in thought. Such an encounter was definitely a possibility and even more so the outcome if she was worried.

The woman would most likely lose even with full control of her bijuu. Hell most jinchuriki would lose to the Akatsuki except for the 8 tails and himself.

It wasn't much of his concern except for the bijuu within the jinchuriki being captured, but if Samui was worried then perhaps he had to do something for her friend to help if things went south upon encountering the Akatsuki.

It wasn't his M.O, but this was a friend of his would be queen. Samui was hardly the friendly type and if someone was considered close enough to be her friend then perhaps they would be useful to him.

He was reasonable, not nice.

"I will see what i can do" he tried assuring her. It wasn't a promise though seeing as he was now limited in movement with his incorporation into Anbu. If anyone was a master of being in several places at once then it was him.

Even with her silence, her emotions said it all.

'Thank you'

She shouldn't thank him yet.

"What about the 2nd thing?" she reminded him and instantly she felt him become a rigid and serious again.

What was it this time?

"I met someone" was all he said and instantly her body became just as rigid as his... Sitting up again instantly which did make her chest bounce a little, she looked him in the eye with a deep frown, her eyes cold as ice with hardly any emotion in them.

This was the would be Queen of his empire at her best, the only person in the world who could have much of an effect on him and stare him down.

"Who" her voice was even colder as the air became frosty chilled, ice beginning to form in the surroundings the longer she held his stare.

"The purple haired Anbu in told you about having a crush on. We went on a mission together in the mist and i revealed to her that it was me who saved her years ago and we, talked later on" he finished calmly, not once looking away from her as he pushed his chakra into the air so as to counter hers.

He didn't want her to attract any attention.

"You didn't tell me about saving her"

"It was unimportant at the time"

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"What matters is that i am telling you now and i think she is someone i can bring on our side as an ally. She is conflicted and somewhat broken which makes her easy to manipulate" he tried to sound logical, but she wasn't buying it.

"Do you like her?"

Silence!

He wasn't expecting that.

"Not as much as you" if he was gonna be honest that didn't mean he couldn't add some butter into it. Hopefully he doesn't get eaten...

It took a while for her to respond, but after a tense moment, she spoke calmly. Too calmly even... "Do what you have to do, but before you decide anything i want to meet her"

The last part was reasonable. She was obviously upset, but at least she wasn't being dramatic. He could work with that...

"Done" he replied quickly.

Then she did something he wasn't expecting.

Now straddling him, she placed her hands gently on his face and with the way she was positioned on top of him he had quite a glimpse of her impressive bust through her bindings. However he couldn't think on that as his lips were smashed against hers in a very wet lip lock, her breasts pressed firmly against his chest as he sat there allowing to molest him.

He certainly wasn't complaining.

Samui was kissing him... No, she was marking her territory by reminding him of what he would miss out if he were to chose any other person, because even though she knew she would share him, she would be his one and true only Queen. One that would definitely be able to please him like no other with bountiful assets.

Kurama would be proud.

Not wanting to let this chance pass, Naruto moved his hands to her ass and started to caress its softness through her clothing while she continued making out with him.

She didn't refuse him, in fact she was moaning with every touch and every squeeze of her supple flesh. However enough was enough for now before she loses herself completely.

Pulling away from him, Samui with her hands still on his face stared deeply into his eyes for a moment as they both caught their breaths.

He looked composed as ever, but even he couldn't hide his lust from her especially with his hands on her rear not so innocently.

She hadn't lost her touch yet.

Getting off from her position, she began to walk away from him, her hips swaying from side to side a little too dramatically as her rear jiggled with each movement.

She wasn't looking at him, but she knew his eyes were feasted on her ass, and she was right. Naruto's eyes were locked firmly on her behind without any shame whatsoever.

She had a nice ass, one that he would be getting a lot of soon enough. As emotionless as he tried to be, he wasn't gonna deny his biological need for sex. That didn't mean he would allow such need control him.

Pausing in her movement, she spoke again without looking at him. "I will leave as soon as possible to check on things back home however i do expect that you keep an eye on my friend and keep her safe when you do come across her"

He didn't respond to her, but she knew he heard her.

She decided to finish things on a memorable note. "Do let your original know that he should come himself the next time he wants to talk to me"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly at that. So she knew, when did she-

SPARK! Faster than he was expecting, the clone found itself with the wooden chair it sat on split in half by a lightning spear created by the blonde woman who was now behind him, her form in front of him fading away.

Damn She got him" the clone thought as it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Clone or not, the original would definitely be pleased by her progress in strength and sharpness... It seemed he wasn't the only one who elevating in the power department.

If one crazy powerful blonde was bad, then 2 with an empire of their own was on a totally different level.

The world hadn't seen nothing yet..

---

A/N: Apologies for chapter length, i just wanted to give you guys as much content as possible and as well as better explanations for each scene. Imagining a content is different from writing it and so its important to immerse each scene in background content so the emotion feels real and y'all can get a clearer mental picture of such scenes, hence the longer content.

Yep, Samui is the actual first pairing and way before hand. The idea wasn't initially planned, but hey its still early in the story so yeah i can still incorporate it. Expect many more surprises as the story goes on.

The romantic interests are to serve as checks to Naruto's cold nature. Aside from repopulating his clan, he needs people who can keep in check and prevent him from becoming consumed by power and that's what Samui is to him at this point. The rest will follow suite as well though with slightly different roles to play.

Next chapter will be out soon, do check out my recently completed Naruto x Hela story. Its 4 chapters, but i did my best with it and so far its gaining some popularity. Give me your thoughts over there when you check it out.

Bye.