AN: Story ends tomorrow!
Now, for the chapter...
The Ever-Changing World
There were some who wondered about the sudden decrease in crime, following what was the onset of a tyranny.
Some said it wouldn't last. And they were proved wrong over time.
The reasons for it really were not so complicated. And to Naruto, it seemed obvious.
There were plenty of reasons for people to commit crimes.
Most of them went together.
(Of course, there were plenty of other reasons for people to commit crimes.)
When the need - crime out of necessity - was high and the consequences were high, with lower chances of getting caught, there would still be crime.
When the need was low and the consequences low, people would commit crimes anyway, although to a lesser degree. Higher consequences would somewhat mitigate it.
When the need was high, what was needed — more than high consequences, because if the alternative was just as bad as the sentence, it would be a moot point anyway — was a higher chance of getting caught.
When the need was low — a crime with no tangible benefit — and the probability of getting caught was high… even moderate consequences were enough, usually.
In short, you needed a low incentive to commit a crime, a high chance of getting caught, and consequences that outweighed the benefits of the crime itself.
A more equal society, where basic needs were met for everybody; one led by a seemingly omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent force… would do just that.
Two months later — and a bit more time for the group, who spent some time in Shade's Realm.
The Emperor's Decree
by Sasaki Haruko
THE CALL FOR UNITY
by Ohara Toshiko
Peace, At Last?
by Kayo Juba
Uzumaki Naruto's Promise
by Hatanaka Seiichi
Umigakure's Great Festival
by Sunda Bunko
Should Umi Be Held Responsible For Konoha's Actions?
by Takata Shou
UZUMAKI
by Taniguchi Naoko
A Public Apology For Our Previous Publications
by Matsuda Kentaro
It Seems Excessive… but That Doesn't Mean It Didn't Happen!
BORN AGAIN: ME, MY FRIENDS… AND THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN THE WORLD
"A no[…] nonsense tale of[…] true hell[…] and redemption[…]"
- Quote by Hyūga Hanabi
(NEW EDITION: Exclusive Comics Inside!)
(Now Advertising Laws-Compliant!)
(An Umishinbun Bestseller)
by Uchiha Toru
War, Peace
by Uzumaki Naruto
January 5th, Year 0 of the Unification.
"He shall enter, the Supreme Commander and Emperor, clad in white…"
Footsteps echoed in the hallway.
The tension in the air rose.
"He who pierces the Heavens and shapes the Earth."
The great doors opened.
A powerful chakra spread through the room, roaring like a flame.
"The Son of the Dawn. He Who Is Wreathed in Light. The Shōgun himself…"
A chakra that only became more powerful with time.
The Five Kage bowed. So did the Twenty Ministers.
"Uzumaki Naru—"
"Please stop, Toru." Naruto sighed, sitting facing the rest of them. "This isn't your little wrestling ring."
"But of course, my Lord." Toru bowed, very low.
A vein throbbed on Naruto's forehead. His reputation did most of the heavy lifting, these days, and Toru had a bit too much fun with it, it seemed.
And with most of the world suddenly trying to get on his good side, he had more than enough people who sucked up to him. Gods, and the media, too.
If Naruto had known how much trouble the Rinnegan would be…
Nah, he would still have done the same thing, undoubtedly.
"…You can all stop bowing." He said to the Kage, instead of throwing Toru out of the window.
"Of course, my Lord." Sugimoto Kotone — speaking for the region of Hiwagoe, that was composed of what once was part Fire, part Earth land — began. "But we were told by Uchiha-sama that his Lordship was a very… formal sort of man, now. It would only be proper for us to bow until you tell us to stop, wouldn't it…?" She said, hesitantly.
Naruto heard a chuckle and he glared at Mei. He was pretty sure she and Yugito were mocking him openly. Itachi definitely was, as well, though he was more subtle about it — he was more passive aggressive than most people thought. The new Tsuchikage, looking a little lost, just followed. Chigusa… was probably just afraid of him, after what had happened to Ōnoki.
"…That's fine. Stop, now." Nobody reacted. "…You may rise."
They sat up again.
"Thank you for coming to this weekly meeting. Any trouble worth mentioning?" Naruto asked them.
The village of Ame had been a bit trickier than most of the world, but they had seen the light; they had seemed all too willing to trade a god for another one, Naruto thought.
"Some of the former Daimyō are becoming pretty vocal—"
"I'll pay them a visit." Naruto sighed. A few clones would.
The man shut up, looking worried. Naruto groaned and continued. "I'm not going to kill anyone."
Another Minister began, a bit more hesitantly. "Then no… There's just the matter of choosing the place where the World Meets will—"
"Very well." Naruto nodded. "It shall be a vote among you — article 83, you know the drill. If you don't reach a ninety percent quorum… Vote again. I'll take a look then."
"…I — Uh… — Very well, Uzumaki-sama."
"Great! Glad that's covered." Naruto clapped. "Meeting's over, then."
"Uzumaki-sama—"
"So long."
Naruto's clone dispelled, and the astral projection ended. No memories were transmitted back to either of the clones in charge of managing them.
All of the Kage and Ministers were sent back home.
Toru's clone shrugged and dispelled as well.
"Had a fun little meeting?" Sakura jeered, covered in sweat.
"Nothing important happened, I assume." Naruto shrugged. "The clone didn't send any memories back."
"I don't care either way." She let out. "Don't you have something better to take care of…?"
Naruto placed kisses along her neck, murmuring some sweet things that made her want to blush up to her roots.
"Better things…? Like taking care of the woman I love…?"
"Don't get cheesy on me, now." She said, averting her eyes. "…Me too."
"Oh, shut up, Shykura." Naruto grinned. He was sliding down, going lower and lower…
"Make me — Oh!"
Hanabi woke up sandwiched between Karin and Ino.
It was a nice day outside, and it was already getting pretty late, for her standards.
She buried her face in Karin's chest, who pulled her closer, sleepily. She smelled like home. And sex, too.
Later, I'll get out. Later…
Uchiha Sasuke woke up to one of the twins crying.
He stood up for the third time today, blearily. Hinata could get some sleep instead tonight. Or was it morning…?
It was little Jiraiya again. Of course.
Uchiha Itachi woke up at dawn, of course.
He went through his morning stretches efficiently, and did not bother to eat — for he was fasting, which induced autophagy.
He drank a cup of green tea, staring at the rising sun, looking entirely at peace. This was the one guilty pleasure he allowed himself, this morning.
At seven sharp, he was at the Tower, trying to make sense of Uzumaki Naruto's latest decisions. Sometimes, it felt as though he was just sending more work his way, because…? Because Naruto thought Itachi was the best suited for the job…?
…Because he could?
Uchiha Toru slept from midnight to noon in Akemi's bed, while she was at work. Because he could.
So did Anko, in her own bed. In the morning, she felt a bit sick.
Probably too much sleep.
January 9th, Year 0 of the Unification.
"I can't fucking stand you!" Yugito snarled. Once more, she was angry at him, and his drastic measures. "You're nothing but a power-hungry—"
"Hungry…? Am I?" Naruto tilted his head.
"Did I stutter?!"
"For… what, exactly? Don't I already have all the power in the world..? What more could I want for?"
She was wild about the eyes.
"Do you think you can just order us all around, like this?! Do you think—"
"…Can't I?" Naruto pretended to think.
Temper ablaze, lips parted, she did something stupid. Her hand flashed, trying to slap him. Naruto caught it easily, chuckling. Had he twisted, she would have been sent flying.
"Come on, now. I thought you resented my violent methods…?"
"I do!" She hissed.
He smiled, and relaxed his hold on her hand.
Her anger made her glow. Why was he standing so close to her…? She felt his breath flutter against her nose, as he looked down to gaze into her eyes.
"I…" She began, her breath hitching. "I really can't—…"
"Can't what..?" He asked quietly.
She crushed her lips against his. To shut him up. Or to prove her point, maybe.
Naruto's left hand summoned Wind, and the files on the desk fell to the floor. Yugito didn't complain, for once. Matatabi let out a long-suffering sigh and left the room.
"…Revolting."
January 12th, Year 0 of the Unification.
"So…" Naruto began, addressing Hanabi. "You mean to tell me that you can actually use Hiraishin…?"
"Of course."
"…Can you teach me?"
"Teach you…? Sure." She blinked. "I saw your memories, you seem to be doing it mostly right."
"Mostly." He said dryly.
"I mean, yeah, there was this whole temporal displacement thing, which is never a problem with the Gates, since they only allow movement through space. There was a bit of a… hurry, too. The time you used it. So lack of precision is probably the biggest reason for it."
"I know." He sighed. "I even considered using Hiraishin on Nagato, sending both of us sometime else, but… it was impossible to predict when that would land us… or if anybody would be able to deal with him in the future."
Hanabi nodded. She had known.
"…I assume that the accidents also happened partly because of your… nature." Hanabi said.
"Nature?"
"Well, even back then, your soul was that of an—"
"Don't say it." Naruto interrupted.
"I wasn't about to say anything." Hanabi laughed freely, only looking away when he glared at her. "…That of someone who has lived for a long while. I assume that because of it, and the general confusion it brought… You fumbled, when it came to defining the instantaneous part, even when you didn't have the full set of memories."
"I see." Naruto mused. It made more sense than this being only about chakra control… or control in general.
"It could be fixable, though. Look through my soul, and maybe it will help you get a clearer picture of what it's supposed to feel like."
They joined hands, and he did so.
"Now… Try it again." Hanabi nodded.
Naruto stared off in the distance.
"Naruto…?"
"…I'm still not doing it." Naruto finally said.
She jumped on his back. Arms wrapped around his neck, from behind him. "Aww. Scared, are you?"
"I'm not willing to leap two years into the future. I considered using it to escape Uzushio, but…"
(He had known that the results might prove to be even worse than just dying, depending on how it went. Considering his mental state at the time, he had decided not to risk it.)
"That's my old man. Very risk-averse, as you should be. You're not so young anymore…"
"Fuck off, Hanabi." He grumbled good-naturedly.
Clones were made for this sort of thing, really.
(He knew very well, and he expected to get a few more memories… coming from the clones who had displaced themselves through time doing the exact same thing, a long while ago.)
January 13th, Year 0 of the Unification.
"Guys! Girls!" Toru shouted, jumping over the balcony of the others' shared house — there was no way he'd live here. "They're here!"
"…What's here?" Naruto asked, blinking. Ino, comfortably nestled in his lap, opened an eye lazily.
"The Bingo Books!" He retorted, pressing the precious book against his chest.
Sakura slowly smiled. She stared at Ino, who didn't even look her way… and at Hanabi, who just stared back. Sakura's fist tightened and she put her pipe away.
"Well, let's see it." Sakura declared, magnanimously.
Toru threw the book on the table.
"I thought I told the Kage to cut it out with this Bingo Book shit." Naruto mused, frowning.
"They stopped." Toru nodded. "It's a very informal thing."
"…That you perhaps… requested from them?" Karin asked, finally bothering to join in.
Toru looked away.
"…Does it matter?" He asked. "That makes it a very unique edition."
"Guess not." Naruto shrugged. "…Why do you even care about these things…?"
"You clearly don't get it." Sakura cut him off. "Go ahead, Toru. And no lies!"
"Yes, yes. First, Ino! Congrats, nothing changed!" Toru exclaimed.
"Oh no…" Ino rolled her eyes. "What should I do…? How terrible…"
"Silence, wench." Sakura cut her off. Ino stiffened.
"What did you just say…?" She asked sweetly.
"Karin. Suna got you a nickname." Toru continued, unimpeded.
"…Huh?" She blinked.
"After Sasori. Iron Fist Karin." Toru read. "S-rank still, of course. And some people there are fascinated. They hated Sasori in Suna."
"Ah." Karin blushed. Did Suna have mind readers, again…? Things were changing pretty fast, she mused.
"Anko. Nothing changed. Then again, she hadn't fought a lot since then. Sakura…" Toru finally said.
He let the tension rise. Sakura's eyes shone with interest, and she moved closer, eagerly.
"…Nothing changed."
"What?!" She exploded. "It hasn't been updated, then!"
"Sorry, I don't make the books." Toru jeered. "But they do call you 'Sharingan Sakura' in Suna, now. So it has been updated."
"This is bullshit! Let me see it, there must be a mistake!"
There was none.
"This can't be right." She shook her head. "No matter… No matter. It's only a book, anyway."
"Sore loser." Toru quipped. "As expected. Now as for me…"
He blinked.
"What…?" He muttered. "No fucking way."
Sakura read what the page said gleefully.
"Congratulations… you made it, Toru. S-rank… Uchiha Toru… 'Emperor's Assistant Toru.'"
"…Who wrote this…?" Toru asked. "Who wrote this page?!"
"Konoha." Sakura finished, and it was the final nail in the coffin for Toru.
"ITACHI!" Toru roared. "How dare he…?!"
"Told you." Naruto piped in. "Itachi can hold a grudge… forever. He truly is Sasuke's brother."
Hanabi snorted.
"And you! You think you can laugh?!" Toru asked.
He flipped through the pages.
"Hanabi…" Toru frowned. "No… This can't be right, either."
With the Byakugan, she could read from over his shoulder, without even moving.
"Hyūga Hanabi. 'Hanabi of the Flash.' Age: 20. Rank: Jōnin. Classification: SS-Rank…? Nice. They got rid of that stupid name, too."
Toru exploded.
"Double S?! How can this be…?! Just because you used that stupid Hiraishin thing once…?"
"Iwa hates the jutsu… Konoha remembers it. And it was at a strategic moment." Hanabi nodded politely. "You would know all about it since you were here for the meeting, mister assistant."
"What does his page even say, huh?!" Sakura jumped on the book, seeing that Toru was about to rip it apart.
Naruto chuckled, ignoring them in favor of massaging Ino's head. She sighed in pleasure.
"Uzumaki Naruto. Plenty of names, here… Faded Thunder, Godkiller, Stormbringer… Immortal Empero—"
"Shame there are so many." Naruto mused. "None of them will stick, then. And I liked the Vanishing Blade one."
"It's alright, dear." Ino said solemnly. "Everybody knows who you are."
"…Classification: SSS-Rank." Sakura finished.
She and Toru shared a look.
They agreed on something, for once, and the book burned.
January 14th, Year 0 of the Unification.
It was possible that Karin didn't realize how cute she could be, Naruto mused.
She was pacing around the room, barefoot, looking twitchy… and mumbling to herself.
"…You know it's just a business meeting, right?" He asked her.
"Easy for you to say." Karin mumbled. "I hate public speaking — unless it's for fun."
"Want me to give you a tip?"
Karin grinned. He laughed too.
"No, not this kind."
"Eh. I'll take it anyway." She shrugged.
"It's fine to mess up." He said easily. "Nobody will notice. And even if they do, they won't care."
"…Wait. Is this how you plan your speeches…?" She asked dubiously.
"…Plan…?" Naruto frowned. "They are just speeches. I know the general topic, so I can improvise the rest."
Karin palmed her face.
"Oh gods, Mei was right, then." She grunted.
"Mei likes gossiping too much." Naruto frowned. "What kind of person writes their speeches in advance anyway…?"
Karin stared at him.
"Whatever." He chuckled. "That was my tip, anyway."
"…Thanks." She said, a bit dryly.
"Ah come on." Naruto laughed. "Don't be like that. You have a plan, you believe in what you're going to say… If you're nervous, just remember the people are going to be even more nervous, with you around!"
She chuckled.
"…Alright. Alright."
"Believe it— Fuck. Not this again." Naruto shook his head. He smiled. "You'll do great."
"Aw…" She grinned happily. "Love you too."
January 15th, Year 0 of the Unification.
Toru could swear he saw a half-naked Raikage escape from his friends' shared house, looking exhausted.
Ino bade her goodbye from the balcony, not wearing much more. Naruto, wearing even less, saw Toru and winked at him.
Toru didn't ask anything. He just turned tail and went back home.
At this point, he was too afraid that Naruto would invite him to join in. Sure, Naruto and his fiancées had never shown any interest in men, but Toru considered himself pretty attractive, and he didn't want to give Naruto any ideas about his nice little ass. Better the Raikage's.
Because this just wasn't a risk he was willing to take.
January 20th, Year 0 of the Unification.
The first Chakra Academies were set up.
The schooling system was designed to allow people to learn things both chakra-related… and unrelated, whether they signed up for the full course, or only specific classes.
The end goal, of course, was to encourage people to learn about both, in order to avoid glaring holes in their knowledge. The sort that Naruto himself had found in his own, once Orochimaru had made it a point to demonstrate that he knew… basically nothing about the world, early on.
Schooling would be accessible to anyone, for free, of course.
What was the point of having all that power if he couldn't do anything useful with it?
Dividing the world in Twenty united regions with shared resources had just been the start.
He still listened to what his many advisers had to say, mostly because he wasn't willing to destroy the world's economy entirely.
…For now, at least.
January 23rd, Year 0 of the Unification. Konoha.
Naruto and Ino were in Konoha for the day. For business, initially.
Which was how they found themselves eating yakiniku.
With her former team.
Shikamaru and Chōji were understandably feeling awkward about the whole thing. Naruto realized, kinda late, that they had invited him along mostly out of politeness.
Well, too late for that.
Two of them were tense. Not Chōji, not really, mostly because he had realized that Naruto would finish eating whatever was on the griddle. It wasn't something that happened often, but Chōji had met his match.
Shikamaru couldn't help but note that Naruto was being given a lot of deference. He was treated… almost like royalty, really. He had trouble remembering much about how things were when Naruto had still been part of the Sarutobi clan… but there was no comparison here.
Naruto didn't particularly seem to enjoy it, but didn't refuse when the owner came and waived off their bill. Shikamaru could remember the young Sarutobi, back when he was a bit of… well a loner. And he could see some shades of it, still.
And that was without mentioning how nervous some people seemed to be around him.
Not only for the things he had done, and the Konoha shinobi he had killed. Rather, it was mostly because of the glimpses of the absurd power he held. Something that he had gotten decent at keeping in check, but that came through, still.
The whole thing was ridiculous, and not only because of Asuma's painful efforts at trying to break the awkwardness.
Here was a man in the finest clothes money could buy, — or something he had created, perhaps — carrying the same power as the Sage… stealing Chōji's meat.
Shikamaru snorted.
Ino gave him a curious look. Ino had changed… so much, too. How long had it been, really…? Three years, tops?
She had always been the most consistent in her training, — not that it was saying much, considering he and Chōji were… not that consistent — sure… But she seemed to be head and shoulders above them, right now. That included Asuma, of course. Or the three of them together, it seemed.
Oh well.
Ino was still the same bossy witch, anyway.
He would need to get used to the fact she could actually boss him around, now.
"We'll see you there, then." Ino smiled at her former team, once they went their own way.
"Sure." Asuma chuckled.
They bade each other goodbye.
"Thanks for coming." Ino told Naruto, as they walked the streets of their childhood.
He just smiled. "It wasn't too bad, overall. They were terrified, though."
"Of course not." She punched his arm lightly. "Why would they be scared of you?"
Naruto just gave her a dry look. "I can't possibly imagine."
"You're about as scary as a… what's a big fluffy animal…?" Ino frowned.
"Perhaps this is more true in Umi." Naruto chuckled.
"Well, no matter." Ino smiled at him, wrapping her arms around his. "I know you guys were never that close, but they're my friends, so…"
"I don't mind them, really."
"That's what you said about Ami, back then, remember? You hated Ami."
"Her laugh sounded like cheap chalk on an even cheaper blackboard, it was nothing personal." Naruto retorted, very seriously.
"Uh huh, I'm sure." Ino thought. "Wanna walk around a bit? I heard that Nobuko — that shrew — was teaching at the Academy, now."
Naruto did remember her. And how… dickish she could be.
"…Are you trying to show me off…?" Naruto snorted.
"No…?" Ino looked at him, batting her eyelashes. "Maybe…?"
"Well… if you insist."
"You're the best." She grinned.
"Of course."
February 1st, Year 0 of the Unification. Umi.
"Make it larger." Hanabi said.
"Don't listen to her, longer makes more sense." Sakura countered.
"You're sure putting it here is a good idea…?" Karin asked.
"Make it float!" Toru said.
"Will you guys shut up…?" Naruto grunted.
Toru and he really had used the Creation of All Things too liberally, if they believed creating more islands to be such a frivolous task.
He made it green and lush and spacious, and still they complained.
"Toru is right." Ino nodded. "A floating island is a great idea."
Naruto let out a long-suffering sigh. He raised his hands to the skies, remembering how Nagato had done it.
The island lifted out of the waves and rose to the skies slowly, smoothly.
The ascent continued, unimpeded. And then, it hung in the heavens.
Naruto breathed out.
"How's that for a godly feat?" He asked Toru.
"…I'm sure Nagato would have done it faster."
"I'm sure you can do better." Naruto retorted.
"Now, I didn't say that." Toru chuckled.
They stared at it.
"…Isn't this kinda pointless?" Hanabi finally asked.
"Dangerous, for non-chakra users, too." Karin nodded.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Naruto growled.
"What are we going to call it?" Sakura asked.
Naruto grinned again.
"Thunder Isl—" He began.
"No, please." Ino implored. "Enough with that!"
"Are we going to build something pretty on it?" Karin wondered.
"We still have Nagato's city plans." Sakura shrugged.
"…They're Uzushio's." Karin corrected.
"They're Yoisen's." Naruto corrected.
Ino groaned. "Why must you bring everything back to her…?"
"Didn't she literally make the plans..?" Toru asked.
"Oh, who cares!" Ino threw her hands up in the air. "I'll teach myself to build a whole city from scratch if I have to! I'm already half-way there, anyway!"
"Ino, I believe you have enough projects as—"
"Thank you for your support, Hanabi, but it's personal, now."
February 9th, Year 0 of the Unification.
"I… see." Yugito finally said.
Naruto had shown her his memories. All of them.
Yugito wasn't sure when they actually began to talk to each other, but well… He could be decent company, on top of being pretty nice to look at. And, well, the rest.
"You know… before all this…" Naruto began. "Well, that was a while ago, when I was a child — in this life, I mean. I didn't believe in souls. I thought that we were no better than fleas… flies — not that we are. That life and death were all there was. That everything was meaningless. I saw Hell. And yet… I'm here again. Doing the same thing over and over again." Naruto chuckled. "I may not look the same as Indra… Madara and any of those in between — once I was a woman, too — but I'm still here. I may have died this time, too… But it's not exactly the same."
Yugito stared at him. It was… rare for him to speak this honestly. Pillow talk had happened, once, but even then…
She hesitated.
"You're afraid that you're born to repeat the cycle, then…?"
Naruto chuckled. "I was, before, yes. Not now, not really, because we can… manage. I'm more curious about… the principle. But even now, I don't know what the future will bring. And at this point, I don't think too many people have seen the things I've seen — without meaning to brag."
"You've come to terms with it, then?" She asked quietly.
"I guess." Naruto said evenly. "I kinda had to. Otherwise I'd end up doing it over again, thinking… knowing that I'm wrong. I was…"
"Horrible?" She said, smiling slightly.
"Worse." He chuckled. "Way worse. And facing my sins was too painful. I was… afraid. I just wanted the pain to stop, really."
"I know." Yugito simply said. "I've seen it."
"I still wonder about why, though, sometimes. Not the anchoring stuff, since that's on me — or Indra, depending on how you see it. But reincarnation in general. Why do some people live again, while others meet their departed loved ones…?"
"I don't think the answer is going to be that complicated." Yugito said.
Naruto's eyes were soft.
"What do you think, Yugito?"
"It's just what I think, but… Maybe it's so that they can have a second chance, too. So that they can do things right."
"Ah." Naruto said quietly, looking at Yugito with something that looked far too much like wonder, something much too warm, for her to feel comfortable. "That was… my answer, too."
Later on, when he left, he opened his arms to her.
Yugito still wasn't sure why she accepted the embrace, but… it wasn't half-bad either, really.
Felt pretty homey, even.
She'd be looking forward to the next one.
February 12th, Year 0 of the Unification.
For the first time she can remember, Uzumaki Yoisen was truly free.
And she had no idea what to make of it.
Long ago, she had lived for her family. The family that had become a true clan over the years, and flourished with her help.
Then she had lived for Indra, and then his descendants; watching from the shadows, all to fulfill an order given a millenia ago, now.
And suddenly, there was… nothing.
Just herself, and a promise to meet again, from a man who was and was not similar to who he had been at the start of his own journey.
Yoisen had thought that freedom would be… well, freeing. It wasn't. Or at least, not in the way she had thought it would be.
Yoisen was ready to die, at this point, of course. Had been for a while, really. But… she didn't feel like it.
She was too curious.
The world was at peace, strangely enough.
She had remained a distant observer for so long. Maybe it was time to truly try her hand at living again.
So she would find new goals, set some that were worth living for. And she would find herself again.
And once she felt like a true person again, she would meet up with Uzumaki Naruto.
To tell the truth, she was very curious about his intentions for the world.
And even though a long, long, long time had passed… She could see a lot of the Uzumaki of old in him and his partner.
Of her sister's descendants, one line was already gone. There was no reason for the Uzumaki clan to die out as well, like the Senju had.
This, on its own, would already be enough for her to stay around a little while longer.
And well… There was a lot to be said about Umi's city planning.
Efficient, certainly, but whoever had done the job definitely lacked taste. Certainly that snake man; he had seemed like the too pragmatic sort.
It had gotten prettier recently, though. Which was encouraging.
Hopefully there would be some people who had enough common sense to listen to her. If people were still willing to learn… she was more than willing to teach.
February 15th, Year 0 of the Unification.
Some of the trees in the Uchiha clan compound were so enormous that there were people who said that they hadn't been planted by Senju Hashirama, but by the Sage himself.
Their branches were thick and strong, and considering they hadn't been set on fire yet, despite well… being in the Uchiha compound… Meant that either people respected them that much. Or that there was something special about them.
Or maybe Senju Hashirama knew Uchiha Madara and his pyromaniac clan a bit too well.
But Sasuke didn't come here with his two sons to wax poetry about trees.
He did find himself with a newfound appreciation for them, though. Sometimes, it felt as though it was shared… as strange as that sounded.
The tree he was currently sitting under had seemed… smaller when he first came, weeks ago — and he came to sit under this one pretty often, now. And it had felt less… sturdy. Little flowers were blooming on it now, too.
Well, it was probably nothing.
The scent of oak, mahogany and cedarwood filled Sasuke's nose as he tried to sing a few melodies his wife usually sang to the Terrible Twins at night.
It wasn't working.
Though, to be fair, Itachi or their mother were much better at this than he was, so it wasn't a twin problem.
It wouldn't prevent Sasuke from trying, though.
For all the qualities his father had, he could be a bit… distant. And that was the polite way of saying it.
Sasuke swore to try his best to avoid doing the same.
And he was still better with kids than Shisui. He pitied Anko, for the kind of things she would have to deal with in the near future.
Well…
At least Naruto didn't have kids.
Just picturing that guy around babies made Sasuke nervous. And he would probably have forty of them, calling it the Emperor's prerogative, or something.
'Typical of Indra, really.' He thought, almost fondly.
Sasuke blinked.
February 16th, Year 0 of the Unification.
Yugito was lying down under the sun, humming, along with Matatabi.
These lazy moments were more and more common, and she was glad for it. Naruto and the others had shared the Rinnegan with her, because why wouldn't we…?. There was no more Path for her to access fully, but the simple chakra absorption linked to the Preta Path and Shadow Clones… meant that she suddenly had a lot more free time.
Well, she was never going to use this as… frivolously as the others, but it sure came in handy.
Naruto was still a bit of an ass at times, of course. But not nearly as bad as she had thought he would be by now. He was kind of gorgeous, too.
She wouldn't say it out loud, but she actually enjoyed his company. And was looking forward to seeing him and the others, even.
She seldom felt lonely now.
And as for boredom… There were days she missed being sure none of them would drop by her office with a harebrained plan. Just some days, though.
And as for Matatabi…
Matatabi, for all that she said about hating water, certainly was not in any rush to leave for the mountains.
Matatabi, who was looking at her strangely.
Matatabi took a sniff. The nekomata blinked.
"What is it…?" Yugito asked.
Matatabi took another sniff at her, looking horrified.
"…Oh, by my Father's name."
"…What?"
"Congratulations — is what I believe you humans still say."
"I'm pregnant." Was the first thing Yugito said when she reached the debauchery's den. They were playing cards.
Or had been, rather. One table had been upended.
Inside, she cursed their names; she cursed Uzumaki Naruto. She cursed herself for having started to believe he was someone she actually could see herself—
This was obviously a sex cult.
"Congrats!" Naruto cheered. "Who's the poor man?"
Karin laughed helplessly. Hanabi just hid her face, shoulders shaking as well.
Toru just shook his head, with pinched lips. He could not say he was entirely surprised, though. More that it hadn't happened earlier.
There was a long silence.
"…What did you just ask?!" Yugito blinked incredulously. "Who do you think?"
"…Me?" Naruto asked, dumbfounded.
Karin made a strangled noise at seeing his face. Toru patted her back, as tears of laughter began running down her face.
"You did something when you got Matatabi out. What did you remove…?!" Yugito pointed fingers.
"Well, everything related to the seal, of course." Naruto shrugged. "I didn't really look too deeply into it."
"Everything …See?! See?!"
"You weaved a contraceptive seal in Matatabi's seal, okay, but…? Only there…? Nowhere else…?" Naruto asked disbelievingly. "But… why?"
"Great job… Dadruto." Sakura patted one of his shoulders.
"You outdid yourself." Ino complimented.
"You girls can shut it." He began. "And why are you so…"
"Not angry…?" Ino's eyebrows raised. "I mean… fuck around and find out. Apparently, babies come from sex… or so I've heard. I can't blame this one on you more than I can on me. Not after… Well, last time, for one."
Toru looked away. Yugito carefully avoided meeting Ino's eyes, too.
"…It's just a baby." Karin shrugged.
She got weird looks for it.
"It's a bit worse, it's Naruto's…" Toru muttered. "We don't need more pocket sociopaths running around."
"Hey now." Naruto frowned. "He will be tall. Or she will be."
"You're lucky we're in no rush to have kids, though." Ino said, mockingly patting Naruto's other shoulder. "Because this would have been a drama fest, otherwise."
"You want kids…?" Naruto asked. Only now did he realize he had never really broached the topic with them.
"Not now… In twenty… fifty years or so, who knows, though…?" Ino shrugged.
"My grandfather and his brother were twins, and so were my father and his brother. Oh, Hinata had twins, too." Hanabi supplied helpfully.
"…So?" Naruto asked, looking a bit hesitant.
"Just saying." She laughed.
"Let's… get back to the topic, maybe?" Toru tried, seeing Yugito's expression at the usual mess.
"What are we going to do about it?" Yugito asked again, eyes hard. "…I always wanted a family, so I'm keeping—"
"I know, I know." Naruto just said. "Wait. When you say we… you mean you and I or the whole group…?"
"You and — Whatever!" She raged. "Does it matter?"
"Well… Sort of. We'll be leaving to travel through the world, pretty soon." Sakura said. "You can join us."
"…No thanks." Yugito said. "Wait! Don't change topics!"
Sakura shrugged. "Well, you can join us whenever you want, I guess. No rush. There will be plenty of our clones around, otherwise. I don't think you're going to notice any difference. It's not like they're going to dispel by accident, now."
Naruto finally nodded. A very slight smile spread on his lips.
"I will keep one of mine with you — if you want me to be around."
"Of cour—" Yugito began, before clearing her throat. "Sure. Better for the baby to have his… father around."
"I'll leave you your space, still." Naruto nodded. "Don't worry about the job too much—"
"The job…?" Yugito muttered incredulously.
"Yeah, that whole Raikage thing. We'll help you—" Karin smiled.
"I don't think I want you guys to—"
"With whatever you need… And the same thing goes for Anko as well, as you may already know. It's also a good time to see if there's anything we can do to make pregnancy less… shitty in general. Great!" Karin finished.
"O…kay?"
"We'll be around for the kid." Toru confirmed, something wistful passing through his eye.
He turned to look at Naruto, despite not needing to.
'Great job, Harem-Lord. It was bound to happen.' Toru thought.
'…Fuck off, Toru.' Naruto chuckled.
'Getting a jinchūriki pregnant…? Really?! You have to try actively for this to happen.'
'Former jinchūriki. Besides, it's a family tradition. You wouldn't get it.'
Yugito was glaring at them both, probably guessing what they were talking about. Naruto stared back.
"The child — Our child, I guess, then — won't grow up alone, far from it." Naruto said. "That's a promise. And again, please feel free to come with us… leave a clone behind, that's more than enough. I know you're pretty bored. Using the Gates is safe… and we're not planning on doing anything dangerous, really."
That was what Shadow Clones were for, really.
"That's—" Yugito hesitated. She let out a long exhale. "You sure?"
"Of course." He grinned, and the rest of the group voiced their assent. "Didn't I tell you that neither of us would have to keep running away…? It goes for this, too."
Yugito sniffled, looking a bit touched, despite herself. "Yeah. Okay. I'll think about it. …Thanks."
"…Wanna marry us, while you're at it?" Karin asked casually. Naruto rolled his eyes.
"No." Yugito laughed.
"Too permanent for you…? Unlike a… soul-bond?"
"Karin, please…" Naruto sighed.
February 17th, Year 0 of the Unification. Konoha.
Naruto had hesitated about doing this. But the whole thing with Yugito had made him reconsider.
He still felt like an intruder, when he was in Konoha. It had felt like home once, and so had the Sarutobi compound. Not so much now.
But there were a few things to say.
"Hello, Konohamaru."
"Na-Naruto…?" The teenager gaped.
"Sorry I didn't come here earlier. There were lots of — Man, you really need to work on your punching technique." Naruto caught his attack easily. "When I was your age, I was already an A-rank ninja — Maybe S-rank, hard to remember."
"You're the worst fucking cousin in the world!" The teenager growled. "How could you—"
"Worse than Sora…?" Naruto frowned.
"By far! Unless he pretended to die thrice, and decided to destroy Konoha, maybe."
"…Did he?"
"No!" Konohamaru roared.
"…You wound me, little monkey. To think I crafted a fancy little staff as a gift to you."
Konohamaru breathed out, still looking angry. "…You can start making amends by showing me."
"Biwako. We have to talk." Naruto called.
"…I didn't expect you to come." The old woman said, a touch of nervousness in her tone. It was no wonder either, considering he might well be a stranger to her, now. One that had a decent reason to feel a bit pissed at her. One that was the strongest man in the world, in every way.
One that had very possibly killed most of her late husband's former teammates. A pretty complicated affair, really, even by shinobi standards.
"I'll get right to the point."
"That's… very much like you." She said.
"You've done a lot to help me, in the end. You made sure I learned all that I could, fed me, and helped me, even though it was for your own reasons. For this, I thank you. This was invaluable."
Biwako blinked.
"You and Hiruzen are also shitty parents, and probably left most of your children with various issues. And you also taught me how to be selfish, and rely on myself too much. I thank you for that too."
Biwako said nothing. It felt honest, more than angry.
"Now… I don't really care about maintaining any sort of relationship with you. This is goodbye. But…"
She hadn't expected anything else, apparently.
"Here's yours." Naruto finally said.
Naruto held out an envelope to her, before leaving to find Konohamaru again.
He paused at the door.
"…I didn't give anyone cancer, by the way. Not yet, at least."
Umigakure.
Shisui slammed his hand down, hard enough to shake the table.
"This is bullshit!" He roared.
"Nah, this is Daifugo." Toru said.
Itachi just sighed, and gave an amused Sasuke a long-suffering look.
"I know what the game is called!" Shisui shouted. "But you're cheating, Toru! You've been taking my cards while I wasn't looking!"
"Of course not." Toru snorted. "How could I even do that…? Your Sharingan has been on since we began. How is that not cheating?"
"It's not — I'm just making sure that you don't —" Shisui began.
"That's a fallacy." Itachi simply said. "Please refrain from using them while I'm here."
"Toru is not cheating." Sasuke nodded. "That's more Sakura's style."
"Thank you cousin, five hundred ryō shall be deposited into an account of your choice." Toru said gratefully.
"Toru would definitely cheat." Akemi said simply. Toru glared at her. "What…? It doesn't take being a ninja to figure that one out."
"I only touched your pieces last time because they kept falling off." Toru said. "Because you're a sore loser."
"Oh yeah? Well, you're a… sore winner." She retorted.
"Sure beats never winning at all." He crowed.
"You were trying to sabotage me!" She raged. "Because I was winning!"
"I would never!" Toru shook his head, offended. "Sakura would, not me!"
"She does cheat a lot." Sasuke admitted.
"So does Toru!" Shisui roared.
"Oh yeah?!"
Chakra crackled through the air. Toru glared at Shisui. Shisui glared back.
Akemi rolled her eyes.
Toru whispered something that sounded suspiciously like usiha sisui. Shisui sputtered.
"I never had a lisp — Let's finish this game." Shisui spat. He then spread his arms. Threateningly. "Then, once we start again… you will suffer a humiliating defeat in front of the one you love."
"Bold words, for someone who's currently the Grand Pauper!" Toru cackled.
"Toru!" Shisui roared.
"Shisui!" Toru roared back.
"It's your turn to play, Shisui." Itachi said evenly. What a waste of his day off.
Truth was… Toru was definitely cheating. Itachi knew it, too. But if Shisui couldn't figure out how… that was on him.
Besides, Itachi was a ninja. A good one. He was cheating as well.
And he had taught Toru the basics of it, long ago.
February 19th, Year 0 of the Unification.
The group went back to improve the intent-based barriers.
Their clones kept an eye over the world for the time being, but this was a temporary measure.
There were plenty more things that they could do with barriers. And more efficiently, too.
Emotions and intent were linked directly, so the general idea was to set systems in place, all across the world, over time.
Something to locate clusters of specific negative emotions, emotions far out of the normal range. Having people monitor them… In order to do something to address the problem — directing the people in question to get the help they needed, for one.
It would prevent a lot of problems over time.
And it sure beat removing dangerous people from society in a more permanent fashion. Better to aim at fixing the root cause.
Well… once they managed to get the whole thing running how they wanted it to.
March 21st, Year 0 of the Unification.
Yamanaka Noriko sniffled.
If asked about it, she would say that seeing her only — lovely, smart, gifted — daughter marry that… that hoodlum was simply too terrible a shock, and she couldn't hold the tears in.
But that would not be the actual reason.
…Well.
Not all of it, at least.
Ino looked radiant. Noriko could almost forget about the fact that Ino was also marrying three other people.
Almost.
The ceremony was relatively small, with only friends and relatives present on the strange, beautiful... floating island.
Which still meant that many former members of the Hyūga clan were here, most of them from what had once been the branch house, Noriko knew. Their foreheads were bare, and despite the complete breach in tradition - maybe because of it -, they were cheering loudly for their unofficial leader.
Hyūga Hinata was here as well, along with her husband, Uchiha Sasuke. Their two children were nowhere to be seen.
Ah, no. Nevermind, they were here, in the back of the room. In the arms of Sasuke's older brother… and pretty quiet. How the Hokage could manage to keep them this way, she didn't know.
Rumor had it Hyūga Hiashi himself had been invited, mostly as a provocation, but she didn't see him around. The man was lucky enough to not have disappeared, along with so many people, when Uzumaki Naruto had seized power.
Ino hadn't really bothered inviting anyone from their former clan, aside from a cousin or two that she liked. Shikamaru and Chōji were here, though, along with Sarutobi Asuma and Konohamaru. They looked a bit out of place, honestly, but Toru was doing his best to make them feel at ease.
Sarutobi Biwako was here with them as well, shaking her head. There was something wistful in her eyes, too. Noriko could only guess.
Uchiha Shisui, next to a slightly pregnant Anko… was not at ease. He definitely had been roped into coming here.
There were the three sailors whose name she couldn't remember, too. Cheering and waiting for the celebration part, she assumed. Rowdy bunch.
Noriko saw Sakura's parents, looking like they didn't know what to think about the whole thing. They cheered hesitantly, though. She understood the feeling pretty well.
The Mizukage was here as well, giving the Hokage, who was currently tending to the two babies, a lingering look. Uchiha Itachi looked back, his curiosity piqued.
The Raikage watched the ceremony, looking vaguely exasperated… and somewhat amused, too. Then again, maybe it was just her face.
For a second, Noriko thought she saw a white-haired woman, smiling. But there was nothing to it.
The dozens of others were people that Noriko knew were friends of the newly married… group? What did you even call this?
People that Noriko didn't really know herself, anyway.
Noriko sighed.
Maybe Inoichi had been right. Ino was an overly romantic goof.
…At least that hoodlum could clean up decently well. Not anything like Inoichi, of course, but not too bad.
Whatever. Ino's new wives were beautiful, of course.
The wedding was considered very unusual, and Hinata could see exactly why.
Hanabi had left her village and her clan… and joined this… strange bunch of revolutionaries. Now she was getting married to… Uzumaki Naruto and three women.
She had stolen most of the Branch house away, too. Father was… angry.
Hinata couldn't be prouder.
Hanabi was happy, so Hinata was happy for her, too.
Next to her, Sasuke only let out a long-suffering sigh. Hinata let out a noise that might have been a snort.
The wedding celebration lasted well after midnight.
"Thank you all for coming!" Uzumaki Naruto called. "My… wives and I won't be around for a little while, so if there's anything, please address our clones. You won't notice a difference, anyway."
And the clones would filter through the information for them, as well.
As far as all five of them were concerned, it was more than time for them to take a vacation.
The last few months had been a period of adjustment. Settling things, planning for the future, more worldly matters… Wrapping up projects.
The five of them decided they would travel across the world for a while, see how things were, what could be improved…
And take a damn breather.
Toru would join them in a while, he had said.
Once you all get this honeymoon thing out of your system. He had said.
"Well… See ya." Naruto left with his wives.