Six days before the end. Five Kage Summit. Land of Iron.
"Well. Do you mind terribly if I sit down?" Naruto smiled politely. "Sorry for crashing the meeting, Mifune-san."
Nobody answered, which he took as assent. Naruto sat down on Mifune's desk, facing the Kage. The women around him made sure there was no angle he could be attacked from.
"As I said. I am Uzumaki Naruto and I will speak for the group. With me are Hyuga Hanabi, Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, Mitarashi Anko and Uzumaki Karin."
Silence stretched.
"Now if you would be kind enough to introduce yourselves as well…? Not you, Mei, Yugito."
None of the remaining Kage seemed to have any intention of doing so.
"I'll do the introductions, then." Mei spoke. Yugito definitely wasn't about to. If looks could kill…
Mei stood up. "The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki of Both Scales."
Naruto nodded politely at the diminutive old man who gave him a furious glare in answer. As he had imagined.
"I did not kill your granddaughter, nor did I give the order." Naruto cut right to the chase.
"Your word is worth nothing!" Ōnoki spat. "One of your men did it."
It was not a man.
"One of my ninja did, yes." Naruto admitted. "Now… Let's not pretend that the dozen assassins you sent after me, after us, dressed as Konoha shinobi, were any better."
"Lies!" Ōnoki slammed his palm on the table.
"For real?" Naruto chuckled darkly. "Did you forget we can read corpses' minds…? Ishida Kameko. Sakai Yuka. Anzai Hitoshi. Do I need to go on?"
Ōnoki stifled a frustrated noise. Nara Shikaku gave Ōnoki a long look, as though the old man was responsible for the whole mess.
It wasn't like Konoha hadn't done the exact same thing, trying to pin the blame on Suna. But Naruto kept that for a time it would be needed.
"I'm more than willing to move past it, Tsuchikage." Naruto said.
"Move past it?!" The man stood up, slamming both hands on the table. "You're talking about my granddaughter! Who could well have become my successor!"
"Yes." Naruto said softly. "I am sorry for your loss. But you're not the only one who has lost people to other countries' ninja, whose very leaders stand in this room."
"I refuse! And I refuse to listen—" He roared.
"Oh?" Naruto lifted an eyebrow, no hint of amusement on his face.
The Kage froze.
"Were you under the illusion this was a negotiation?" Naruto tilted his head.
The air rippled with power again, and the smell of ozone became stronger.
"Either you join up… or you get replaced by someone more amenable to peace." Naruto said.
"…Is this a threat?!" Ōnoki spat.
"I'm asking you to—" Mifune began, but he was ignored entirely.
"Of course not. It is the way things are going to be." Naruto smiled.
The pressure in the air became unbearable, and most of it was focused on the Tsuchikage, who paled noticeably.
Naruto smiled blandly.
"Don't worry too much." Naruto said easily. "Even if it comes to that, we won't change your traditions. Iwa will remain Iwa."
A better Iwa, though.
"You dare—"
Naruto looked at him.
Naruto knew just how much the man was scared of Uchiha Madara.
Naruto's body langage changed, falling in patterns that had been more familiar, once. He sat, looking imperious.
It wasn't too hard to channel that man, and remind him that there were people who stood above him.
Ōnoki shut up, unconsciously reminded of one specific meeting.
Naruto probably would have the Tsuchikage killed later, still. The man was likely good for Iwa itself, but that was the only thing he cared about, this much was obvious. Bad for the world, then, if left unchecked.
"The Seventh Hokage, Nara—" Mei continued.
"Hokage-Elect." The man corrected. Naruto knew him, of course. He was sending him an unreadable look.
"The Hokage-Elect, Nara Shikaku." Mei introduced.
"Hello Shikaku. I think we might have met, back when I lived among the Sarutobi."
"We did." The man said curtly.
"Pleasure's mine." Naruto finished.
Mei barely hid a chuckle.
"The Fifth Kazekage, Isa Chigusa."
The woman tried her best to look intimidating, but Naruto could almost see her fear. These eyes really made things much easier. No wonder Nagato got… carried away.
"Greetings." He offered. "Well, let's talk, then."
"I think this will be a simple matter." Uzumaki Naruto continued. "You want to kill Nagato, and I want the same thing."
"If you are as strong as you portray yourself to be, why don't you just take care of things yourself?" Chigusa spat. Naruto stared at her. She looked away.
"Ah. But there's one problem." Naruto smiled. "Nagato is stronger than me." He admitted easily.
"Then why should we even bother listening to your damnable words?!" Ōnoki finally exploded.
"For the exact same reason." Naruto chuckled. "Because I'm stronger than you."
A vein looked fit to burst on the old man's forehead.
"And mostly because I want peace. The egalitarian sort, not the… Nagato sort."
Silence stretched through the room.
"And I don't mean changing things up just for shinobi. Why… In the age of chakra and seals… Do people who can't use chakra have to work until they can't anymore, just so they don't starve and freeze to death in winter…? At this point, any scarcity left is intentionally created."
He raised one hand casually.
"The Great Villages and the strong Nations, as they are now, only live off the back of the weaker ones. Smaller villages starve — that is, if they're not destroyed altogether — for the Great Five's sake. This growth-focused system, that requires constant expansion… and constant fighting, is not sustainable."
Naruto continued.
"The Nations spend trillions of ryō on war. Each year. It's time to move on. The money and energy now devoted to war will be turned to more worthy causes. Technological advances. Ending hunger, poverty and disease. We have the means to bring forward a golden age of peace. The sort of peace our ancestors didn't even dare to conceive."
"Peace…?" Ōnoki muttered. "Peace?! Under you? This would be a peace based on fear!"
"Unlike what he have now, of course." Naruto tilted his head. "I do not deny that power will be needed at first. To maintain order. But it won't be anything quite as bad as the current state of the world."
More silence.
"Besides, I am no Nagato."
"This makes no difference. Fear is—" Shikaku began.
"I would prefer you call it respect." Naruto humored. "But sure, you can call it fear. That's the only thing you seem to understand, anyway."
"…You aim to make slaves of the Villages." Chigusa said quietly.
"No. Every village would be equal to the others."
"Bullshit!"
"You're just being rude, now. Troops would be regulated for every village. Missions would be spread evenly through the land. The borders will be divided again, as well. If not done with altogether. Wind — and Suna by proxy — won't have to suffer for its location, if that's what you're worried about, Chigusa."
He paused.
"Many of the conflicts are geopolitical or socioeconomic in nature. If for example, as happened before… Wind gives more missions to Konoha than Suna, the village will struggle. With less resource disparity, we won't have that problem. We will move toward an age of knowledge and equality."
"Equality, huh… But you would stand above the rest, wouldn't you?" Chigusa asked, her voice tightly controlled.
"No." Naruto smiled dryly. "But some people might need a bogeyman around while the world adapts, won't they? I can provide that."
"You want a world where no one can challenge you." Shikaku shook his head.
Naruto waved his hand, dismissing the thought.
"We're almost there yet, aren't we?" He said, maybe a bit too mockingly.
Ino told him to shut up through thought. Naruto could hear her strain with the other jutsu she was weaving. The others were here in case things turned particularly ugly. Not Ino.
I get you don't need subtlety, but there's no need to be quite so blunt about it.
Sure, sure.
"My goal is not to rule the world from the shadows." Naruto sighed.
"What is it, then? To do it... overtly, perhaps?" Yugito asked sardonically, speaking for the first time in a while. Her eyes were fixed on his.
He chuckled. "Not exactly, no. Well, you know already. I want peace… and for us to be left to our own devices."
"Your actions do not match your words." Ōnoki raged.
"Omelet… eggs. Besides, you can't expect a guy to always be consistent." Naruto smiled blandly. "I'm trying to make amends, too."
A long silence.
"…Amends…? Recently, you attacked Uchiha Sasuke. You crippled Uchiha Shisui." Nara Shikaku gritted out. "You killed dozens of our men."
"And I regret doing it, but they attacked me first, if we're being technical about it." Naruto said.
His tone left no room for interpretation.
"You gave them no choice but to!"
"I did. Now… I can't do anything about your men, but about Uchiha Shisui… If that's the only thing you're worried about…"
Naruto paused.
"I will heal him."
Once he figured out how.
"…You can't heal this sort of injury!" The man seemed truly angry. He could keep his calm pretty well, though.
"I can."
Or rather, in the future he would be able to.
"Why should I trust anything you say?! You killed the previous Hokage."
"It was Danzo." Naruto said by way of explanation. Someone chuckled. "He is the type of man that I will continue to kill if needed. You can tell your elders."
Shikaku's fist tightened around the table.
"They're dead." He spat.
"Are they…?"
"They disappeared mysteriously a few days ago." The look Shikaku gave him told him exactly who he believed to be responsible.
"Oh."
Naruto frowned. He honestly couldn't remember much of the last day before facing Indra. Did he…? They were the Third's teammates, still.
Well, they were the kind of people he needed gone, so he probably had done it.
"Well then. No matter. We're all ninja anyway. They were ready to die, I assume."
Shikaku scoffed.
Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "The truth is, if you had the power to murder the four other Kage in this room, — and me, especially — most of you would do so without blinking."
No one bothered to answer.
"We have this power." Naruto said with a flat smile. "And yet I choose to believe there is more value in all of you being alive."
The pressure in the air intensified.
"Do no mistake this for naivety."
Pinched lips and the smell of fear in the air.
Naruto breathed out, and the pressure receded.
"Now…" Naruto continued, in lighter tones. "We are an alliance of four villages. Two of them, Great Villages."
Wisely, they didn't make any remark about Kumo's current state.
All the same, none of the other Kage seemed to like where he was going.
"We just need one more to tip the scales entirely. Who wants to join up?" He smiled.
The silence was uncomfortable.
"Is it your intention to put the world under your banner…?" Nara Shikaku asked.
Naruto sighed. It really sounded easier… and so tempting to just force their hands, honestly. How many S-rank ninja would be left in the world if he did so…?
Not many, he would venture. They had killed most of them, it seemed.
"I thought I made this clear already. Our intention is to put the world under one banner. Not necessarily mine. One last thing about that, before we go on."
Naruto continued.
"For as long as most shinobi missions continue to be combat-focused, we're going to have trouble. We will phase that out slowly. Earth jutsu can be used to build housing, infrastructure. Water can be used together with it for farming, water redirection." He looked at one Kage in particular. "Fire, Wind and Lightning can be used for energy production, crafting, transportation. Sealing has so many possible uses for everything that I won't even get into it now. Medical jutsu should have been widespread for decades. That's the kind of thing that is easily done in an unified world."
There was one of the remaining three Kage who seemed to have more interest in the proposition than the others. As they had expected.
Still, the blame games began again. Naruto didn't bother to listen.
Are you managing, Ino? Sakura asked.
Fine, just peachy. She retorted.
"That's enough!" Mifune — who Naruto realized was still in the room — cut in. "The meeting will resume once all of you quiet down."
They didn't really listen.
Naruto shrugged, and waited.
"There are three jinchuuriki left." Yugito said, over the noise. "And I am one of them."
"So what?" Ōnoki spat.
"Your lack of action — all of you — has made Akatsuki's job easy." She said. "I know what you're about to say. That includes my predecessor — once he was put under Akatsuki's thrall! An excuse you don't have!"
That shut them up.
"And what did you expect us to do?" Ōnoki asked. The Dodai/Uzumaki affair still rankled him.
That Naruto had cleaned up his mess by getting rid of both twins even more so.
"The same as what we did!" Yugito slammed her fist on the table, flames erupting. "No Kumo ninja ever joined Akatsuki! Unlike any other Great Village!"
"Kirigakure was colluding with it!" Chigusa spat.
"Yagura was controlled by Akatasuki. Masaaki was a puppet, that much is true. We fixed the issue!" Mei intervened.
The accusations started flying.
"Iwa employed Akatsuki's service!"
"So did Suna!"
"Konoha stood by and did nothing!"
I fucking hate them. Naruto sighed.
Wanna hear a joke about politicians? Sakura laughed.
…Perhaps later.
"Quiet down, please!" Mifune intervened.
"As far as I'm concerned, Umi's the only village which did something about the problem." Naruto shrugged. He ignored Sakura's silent chuckling.
"Oh, but of course…" The Tsuchikage grumbled.
"Konoha had Akatsuki moles hidden in their ranks. So did Kumo. Kiri. Suna. And so did your village, Tsuchikage." Naruto pointed out. "The only one that didn't… is Umi."
"There is no way to prove something like this."
Naruto almost rolled his eyes.
"Yes, there is. They wouldn't pass our barriers. Honestly, you could be under Uchiha Obito's grasp."
They didn't seem to be, though, according to his eyes. At least, not anymore, if they had been.
The name didn't seem to ring any bells for some of the people here.
Shikaku began to explain.
"…and Sasori of the Red Sand, too." Naruto finished. "You saw him around Konoha recently, I'm pretty sure."
Chigusa's ears perked up. Her face turned hard.
"So he is still alive?"
"Definitely. And stirring trouble."
She growled. "Sasori is our problem."
"You've been doing a pretty lousy job at managing it, then." Naruto laughed.
She growled.
"Join our alliance, and we'll capture him for you." He shrugged. "Besides, we know Suna — and Wind — lacks arable land. We'll fix that."
That seemed to make her pause. The Tsuchikage growled.
"I don't expect an answer today." Naruto simply said. "Now… As for what Nagato is planning… That's a bit unclear. He wants the Beasts, and I assume he still wants to use them as dissuasion tools, but I can't guarantee it."
He might be going for Madara's Moon's Eye Plan, but it didn't really feel like it.
"All I can say is that he won't manage to gather all of the Beasts, so that's a moot point. The Seven-Tails is hidden away."
And he'd double down on that, until nobody, not even the people from Umi could find Fu.
Mifune intervened.
"What this summit is meant to accomplish is to plan the destruction of the terrorist threat Uzumaki Nagato and his Akatsuki poses." He shot Naruto a warning look. "That we allow you to stay here at all is contingent on that."
Naruto almost smiled. They hadn't allowed anything. And they couldn't manage without him, which they might or might not want to acknowledge.
"That's why we came here, yes."
Mifune continued. "It is a threat that has already proved to be too much for a single village to handle, several times over. We, the Land of Iron, shall remain neutral in whatever you decide. But three countries working together might not be enough either. The Umi-Kiri-Kumo alliance might not suffice, either."
Naruto acknowledged the point with a nod.
"Iwa and Suna did not manage!" Mifune continued. "And Konoha stands alone, now. Only the Five Nations — and Umi — working together have a chance!"
"We won't ally with Konoha, nor Umi." The Tsuchikage spat.
"Neither will Konoha." Shikaku shook his head. He was probably trying to get more out of the deal. Or he really believed in Konoha standing alone, who knew.
"What does Suna have to say about this?" Naruto asked, amused.
Chigusa glared at him. But she said nothing.
"It is a global threat, after all." Naruto smiled. "Why don't we just see how this alliance goes?"
"It will be needed." Mifune nodded shortly. Naruto could tell the man really didn't like the fact that they had intruded upon the meeting.
Mifune also knew all of them would be needed.
"Kumo stands for it." Yugito declared. She didn't seem to like the idea, either. But she could be reasoned with.
"So does Kiri." Mei continued.
"Umi's in, of course." Naruto nodded.
The silence was thick.
"The Land of Iron shall provide men, as well." Mifune nodded.
The Tsuchikage's teeth were clenched hard and his face was turning purple. Naruto barely hid a smile.
"…Suna agrees to join the alliance. At least temporarily. To get rid of Nagato." Chigusa finally said, with dark eyes. She would not give her opinion too early.
Just like that, the balance was broken.
Ōnoki growled.
Nara Shikaku sighed.
"For the time being, so shall Konoha, too."
Naruto did his best not to look at the Tsuchikage.
"Well?" Mifune asked.
"Iwa refuses." He gritted out.
"Suit yourself." Naruto shrugged. Truth be told, he didn't have much use for Ōnoki and his village. His ninjutsu was incredible, true, but if half the things he had heard about Nagato were true… It wouldn't matter. Not that he had planned to take the man with him in the first place. Watching your back against somebody like Nagato was bad news.
"Today will be remembered as the day Ōnoki finally chose a side." Naruto finished. "The wrong one."
"You — YOU" Ōnoki's chakra started to escape his control.
"It is only a temporary measure, Tsuchikage-sama." Mifune urged. "The world is at stake!"
Another long silence, only broken by the sound of Ōnoki's teeth gritting.
"…Iwa accepts the temporary alliance. To kill Nagato." He finally managed.
Naruto smiled a victorious smile.
"Now then. Who shall lead the forces?" Mifune asked.
Nobody jumped at the opportunity.
Nara Shikaku would have made a good choice. Naruto wasn't about to vote for him though, and the man had no real allies in the room, as of now. Besides, he was only operating in a temporary position, and everyone knew it.
Mei started speaking, and he knew in which direction the wind was about to blow. From her disgruntled face, so did Yugito.
"There's only one village that has taken measures to fight Akatsuki and that can ensure that its leader is under no one's influence."
"No!" The Tsuchikage slammed his fist on the table. "I refuse-"
"I believe it's going to take a man who possesses the same eyes as the one we're fighting." Mei finished. "And he is the one who will lead the fight against Nagato himself. Uzumaki Naruto can be everywhere at the same time."
Naruto hid a smile.
"He is way too young." Shikaku retorted. "He doesn't have the experience needed to lead."
This would have been true, normally.
Not now, though. Not anymore. He had more experience leading than anybody here.
"Then you can help me, all of you." Naruto looked him in the eye. "We have the same goal, for the time being. I don't intend on telling you how to handle smaller conflicts in the coming fights. Handle the Lands' defense. I will tell you how I intend to do this, exactly."
Nara Shikaku paused to consider it. Ōnoki's rage was rising.
"You and the Raikage are nothing but underlings." The Tsuchikage spat, glaring at Mei.
Before Mei — or worse, Yugito — said something that would just make the man more angry, Naruto intervened.
Afraid beat angry.
"Ōnoki." Naruto began, in Madara's slow, drawling tones. "Perhaps you remember a certain day, sixty-nine years ago? There's no Mū, no Hashirama to play nice, this time."
Uchiha Madara really was an arrogant, dramatic man… but it was working.
Ōnoki froze.
"This time, there is an alliance worth upholding. Accept it or… make room for someone else."
"You — How?!" Ōnoki asked, and there was the unmistakable touch of fear into his eyes.
Naruto simply widened his eyes, pooling chakra there in answer. Let the man make of that what he wanted.
"It would take a monster…" Ōnoki muttered, before slinking back into his seat, pale.
The others watched the interaction with various degrees of incomprehension. Nara Shikaku frowned.
"I…" Yugito began. It seemed to cost her a lot. "I agree with the Mizukage. Uzumaki Naruto will be our best option here. My personal opinion of him doesn't really matter."
How sweet of you. Naruto said to her, dismissing the insult.
Don't you dare—
There was a long pause.
"…I believe Uzumaki… is a decent choice, overall — If what the Mizukage says is true. A direct, global line of communication might prove to be vital." The Kazekage said between her teeth. "And he might well be the only man alive who could match another Rinnegan wielder."
Suna wouldn't have to waste any more troops in an useless assault against Nagato, this way. And she had a reason to want to be on his good side.
Mifune nodded. "Then… Regardless of the obvious breach of protocol…"
He glared at Naruto who just stared back. Mifune looked away.
"Restricting this meeting to just the Five Great Villages is a mistake I intend to fix. Not just for Umi's sake."
Mifune did his best to ignore him.
"A majority vote has been reached. Uzumaki Naruto is to become the leader of the armed shinobi forces."
Naruto stood up and bowed lightly to them.
"I thank you for your trust."
Someone scoffed.
Most of them seemed pretty unhappy with the state of things.
Naruto considered winking at Ōnoki, but it seemed that the man was already at his limit. Killing the Tsuchikage on his first day on the job would be a bad look, too.
There would be further meetings, of course, but a pause was declared.
The Kage split for the time being.
When nobody was looking, Naruto left a clone behind and he and the rest of the Umi ninja disappeared.
The fact that he saw through his clone's eyes was a bit disorienting, but pretty handy, right now.
Umi.
"Haaaaah…" Naruto let out the most relieved sigh of his life.
That had been pretty unpleasant. He was terrible at politics, no matter in which life. And the way he had overexerted himself... Constantly applying pressure on the other Kage to project the appearance of overwhelming strength had been exhausting.
Naruto felt a migraine building. He definitely wasn't very practiced at using the Rinnegan. He was pretty sure Nagato didn't have to try this hard.
"That… went well." Anko smiled. "Good performance out there. Worthy of Sensei himself."
"Nah, no way." Naruto snorted. "He would have found a way to convince them that they actually wanted him to take the lead. I could only force their hand."
Which meant that he would likely have to do a lot of things in the shadows, if… once they managed to beat Nagato. Nobody liked being forced into subservience. And that was how they saw the whole thing.
But there was a silver lining to this. The Kazekage, Chigusa's interest in the alliance. It was no wonder, either.
Considering this was likely how Iwa had gotten them to ally with them. The Land of Wind didn't have much in the way of arable land. Combine this with Konoha poaching missions away from them… and it was no wonder the smallest, weakest of the Five was ready to risk war with one of the strongest.
If they could have the promise of equal repartition of land and missions… Well, there was not that much reason for them to stay allied with Iwa, was there?
Ino was a bit rattled. It was no wonder, as seeing Shikaku had likely been a very unwanted blast from the past. And she was exhausted, too. Because she had been dampening and enhancing most of the people in the room's emotions, in order to make them more agreeable.
She hadn't done so with Shikaku or Chōza, or the Yamanaka she was distantly related to. Not out of sentimentality, but because they might have caught on, being familiar enough with her late father. She released a tired sigh.
Naruto wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to him. She looked surprised, but sent him a fond look. Had he been that bad these last few weeks…?
Yes. Yes, he had been. And worse, even.
He would have to make it up to her. To Karin. Well, to all of them.
Naruto pulled Karin to him with his other arm. She let out a surprised, delighted noise and came closer, wrapping herself around him.
"Thank you, everyone." Naruto smiled tiredly. "That's a first step."