-CRITICAL AUTHOR'S NOTE-

I'm sorry this one took so long! Admittedly, I have a new project going on that's a bit time-consuming! I'm also a youtuber now! You can find me on there under the same udername, EnvoyofKairos. My first set of videos thus far are Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night playthrough, but I have a lot more content coming, with a wide variety! Some D&D, some speed-paints (including art of the characters of this very fic, both for costume changes and original characters!), some animated anecdotes, and much more! So please, pop over there, throw me some subs, comments, and likes, and if you wanna help me have more time to work on that and this, I have a Patre*n you can check out linked in the description of every video, along with my twitter and discord server! I hope to see some of you over there!

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Chapter 22

The Breeze Turns Westward

The northern gate out of Konoha is a familiar sight by now, and oddly enough even on the way out with it wide open. Missions out of the village in this direction are common, with the vast gap between there and the border, and farmers in need of assistance. In comparison, the mission they're about to undertake is sure to be long and arduous for one reason or another, but the company is good.

"So Shika, I wanna pick your brain on this trap's potential loopholes real quick." He pulls a scroll out of his left top jacket pocket and rolls it about three feet in before finding the model he wants.

"Wait, did you use a prototype of this one in the academy to prank that one substitute with the red hair? That you turned blue?"

"Yep!" He grins ear to ear. "But this one's made with various poisons and noxious materials sure to fuck up every sense that relies on your face."

Chouji shudders. "Naruto, how can you be so evil?"

"I'm a shinobi." He shrugs. "I'm not paid to be nice to my enemies."

"As true as that is, Naruto…" Kakashi peeks back from the front of the troop. "You should avoid causing psychological damage to your allies when testing your traps."

Naruto pouts. "What's the fun in that? Besides, I test them on people who short-changed and overpriced me, and even Hokage-jiji agrees with that."

Asuma snorts, blowing a bit of smoke from his nose. "Yeah, he would." He chuckles and takes another deep drag. "Mmm… Ya know, since we're stopping by Kusa, I might have to pick up a few good cigars before we head home."

"Damn, good idea." Zabuza blurts through his bandages. He's remaining shirtless for now, a bit unused to the warmer climate of the fire nation, let alone the jungle they're about to be skimming past. "Not much of a smoker, but they know how to make some good shit. In my anbu days, I used to collect some of the confiscated imports for myself, and those cigars were some of the best."

Sakura huffs. "Hey, Asuma-sensei at least has a good reason to get away with smoking. The Sarutobi clan has a strong resistance to smoke inhalation and jutsu built around taking advantage of it. You on the other hand are just killing your lungs."

"Oh, that's nothing." Haku interjects. "Compared to how much he kills his liver, anyway. I'm sure you've heard the stereotype that Kiri shinobi drink too much. I consider him some pretty convincing evidence."

"And my stories make up another filing cabinet full of evidence." Zabuza chuckles to himself. "Ah, and to think I'll be back with em soon. Probably Elite Jonin now, though. I'm too high-profile for anbu now."

Kakashi sighs and hangs his head. "The downside of such greatness."

Asuma raises an eyebrow at them both. Why are former anbu always so full of themselves?

"Ya know…" Sasuke cuts in. "I've been considering the anbu track myself…"

Kakashi nods. "You and Naruto would both be very well equipped for that route should you choose it. Personally, I think the background is a bit unappealing to Naruto and he'll just get annoyed with it, no matter how good he is."

"Yeah, probably." Naruto puts his arms behind his head. "Hey Ino, doesn't a lot of your clan get recruited for anbu?"

She shrugs. "I mean… there's a higher concentration of us than most clans, but we mostly get into interrogation, which overlaps with anbu a lot too. Usually for anbu squads sent to capture people in enemy territory and interrogate them on the spot. Can be kinda hard to smuggle some targets out of their home countries so the best option is just to do it where they're found. My clan's jutsu does wonders for it." She tilts her head back and hums thoughtfully. "Actually, my new one would be especially godsent if I can master it."

"A new jutsu for your clan?" Sakura turns to face Ino. "That's ambitious. How big of a game-changer will it be?"

Ino develops a mischievous smile. "Oh, it's going to be beautiful. I'm as proud of this one as Naruto is of his Tora Trap."

"Alright, that's enough kids." All eyes fall upon Kakashi. "We've gotten a good enough distance from the village and we have to high-tail it to the border of Sōsō no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni. We need to get there in four days, so we've really got to book it. We'll be running until nightfall, be sure to use chakra to replenish your physical stamina to keep up the pace. When we're done, you six are sure to be sore, but it'll be perfect time for some of you to apply your medical training. Choji will be on cooking duty tonight. Sasuke will hunt for our meal and Naruto will set traps to guard the camp with Shikamaru's strategic placement. Ino will gather whatever edible herbs, fruits, and vegetables she can find in the surrounding woods and jungle. Any objections?"

Yoko yips from her place in Naruto's hood.

"Yes Yoko, you have a position too. You and a few of my hounds will be on night watch, since you clearly prefer sleeping all day anyway. Yes, Urushi will be one of them."

Ino grumbles at Yoko's wagging tail. "Seriously? Even Yoko's got a boyfriend?"

Naruto slowly raises his Jinchuuriki Link seal up under his headband. "Looks like this'll be an interesting two weeks."

"Undoubtedly. Question is, will you be informing Shikamaru or Choji of your status as my jinchuuriki? You three have quite a history at the academy."

"Good question. I'll figure that out by the time we set up camp tonight." With discussion over, everyone breaks into a run, shinobi speed carrying them far across Ka no Kuni to the northwest.

The northwest of the nation is surprisingly barren, but for good reasons most would say. For one, it's leading into the open plains of Kusa no Kuni, so there's a lot of very fertile farmland, but not much to see, so lacking in tourism and commerce. Then there's also the vast migration away from this area during the last war, trying to avoid proximity with Tsuchi no Kuni. As a result, the trek for the day is largely uneventful, ending in setting camp about halfway to the border and dividing for their tasks. As they do, Kakashi leaves a clone at the camp while the real one leads Zabuza away. "So…" The assassins cracks his neck. "What's the deal?"

Kakashi slowly turns and unseals an old anbu-issued tanto. "I may respect the Hokage beyond words, but he was out of line saying I was never good with a blade. If my student is picking the art up, I'll do my damnedest to get back my old skills and keep ahead of him. So…" He unseals another and tosses it to him. 'Let's keep this fair and use the same kind of blade. Stop short of actual injury, since we're on a mission. Otherwise, go nuts."

Zabuza takes a moment to swings the tanto about and get a feel for it. "Wow… haven't held one of these in years. Brings back some pretty good memories." He slowly develops a fanged grin. "Alright, I'm game. Let's see if you've got half of what this takes!"

Off in the other direction, Naruto takes a moment to pull Shikamaru aside. "Hey, uh, Shika… got a question for you. It may sound kinda vague, but if ya know what I'm talking about, you should have an answer anyway."

"Really?" He looks up from his notebook map of their traps. "Not like you to be vague. You're about as direct as it gets when you're not pranking someone."

Naruto grumbles for a moment and crosses his arms. "… Hinata already figured out something big about me… so have you?"

He falls silent for a few moments, but slowly straightens his back and looks to the sky. "Yeah… yeah, I did. Wasn't hard to put together. Too much evidence, if ya just know where to look. And that seal you were wearing earlier tells me you've been in contact with it, too."

"Him, not it. And yeah, the Kyuubi's not exactly chatty, but he's helpful when he's not pissed off or just being lazy."

Shika nods and puts his notes away. "So why've you been talking to him?"

"Hmmm…" Naruto debates on how much to say as his brow furls. "… There's a lot the public and even the fox doesn't know about that night. A lot more complicated than anyone knows, and there's no black or white anywhere in that mess. All shades of gray that just look brighter or darker from whatever your perspective is."

Shika groans and scratches his head. "Damnit… this is S-rank stuff, isn't it?"

"Yep. Only talk about it to me, my team, your dad, and the Hokage. Hinata too, since she got in the loop same as you." Naruto starts to calm down, knowing just how trustworthy Shikamaru is with his secret if he's not spoken of it yet. "What about your team?"

"Eeeeh… Ino, I wouldn't trust with it yet. Chouji could keep it secret and be just fine, but as he is now he might overreact and it'll probably stress him out. Leave him in the dark for a few months at least, and we'll tell him some other time."

Naruto nods and slowly turns to head back to camp. "Yeah, I thought so. I know Chouji wouldn't see me any differently, especially if Sasuke and Sakura didn't, but he'd probably be a bit of an anxious mess for a while if I told him now."

"Exactly." Shikamaru walks in tandem, shoving his hands in his pockets. ".. Also.. how smart is the fox, if you're actually talking to him?"

"Oh, he's actually really looking forward to having a chat with you if I can make a version of this seal that doesn't put a bit of his chakra into the recipient's head. I'm fine with it, but it'd burn like hell for you."

Shikamaru cringes. "Yeah, not dealing with that." He waves the issue off as he strolls back to camp. "Another time, then."

Naruto watches with an almost tearful smile as Shika leaves. One more person who knows and isn't afraid… maybe he really can have the future he dreams of.

Camping that night and the following nights is largely uneventful. Choji's cooking is amazing, Ino's herbal additions are wonderful and leaves her truly stunned by Choji's cooking talent. Most nights, Urushi and Yoko are still chatting in the early morning hours when they pack up and get moving. During the day, they ramble about combat strategy and a few ways they can assist one another with training. Sakura spends a surprising amount of time going through katas and working on perfecting her Krav Maga. Naruto decides to assist with his bo staff, at which point Choji agrees to pitch in with helping Naruto work out using a staff to take advantage of a target's weight. Sasuke gives Shikamaru a few pointers with fire jutsu, resulting in Ino stepping over for directions with lightning in return for genjutsu tips. Sakura and Ino are no longer at each other's throats, much to Sasuke's surprise, but he does notice Ino is a bit despondent- despite her attempts to hide it- when Sakura gets close to him. Yoko spends most of the day napping, save for occasionally biting Naruto's ear when he gets too loud or says something particularly stupid.

On the afternoon of the fourth day, they arrive to the border of Jungle and Earth. Off to the south-east they see dense jungle sprawling across jagged mountains. To the northwest, they see towering dry crags with sparse space between. The border they stand on is a vast expanse of grassland, fertile and dark soil ripe for planting. Up ahead in these plains is a small gathering in the open field. A relatively safe move, as all parties would have to move a considerable distance to approach and surely be seen. Kakashi's party is spotted from a kilometer off and Kakashi sent up a red flare to ensure they knew a Konoha part was approaching peacefully. Seeing the flare, a small group of nobles hiding out a short distance into the jungle emerge and approach the Iwa contingency in the field for negotiations.

The noble party from Sōsō no Kuni wears deep violet robes, a rare color, but found more commonly in their nation thanks to rare flowers and creatures in the oceans to the north of them. Kakashi recognizes the head negotiator as Councilman Nakamoto, a surprisingly stoic man even in the presence of shinobi. An excellent choice for negotiations with Iwa. On the Iwa side, Kakashi spots the Jonin heading the mission and instantly curses to himself. Asuma follows suit a moment later as he realizes what kind of clash is about to go down.

Iwata Kitsuchi, son of the Third Tsuchikage, Iwata Onoki. His wide stature and equally broad nose stands out all too easily, and his stony stare is everlasting. He spots Asuma at a distance and his brow furls instantly. "Ah. So that's Hiruzen's game. And Kakashi too-" His eyes narrow on Naruto. "… Son of a…"

The Konoha troop slows to a stop and takes a moment to assess Kitsuchi's students. One of them is a tall young girl with short black hair and a cheerful disposition, sticking quite close to her sensei. There's nothing too remarkable about her at a glance, but Kakashi recognizes the Iwata family sigil patched onto her shoulder. Then there's a young man slightly taller than the already lanky Iwata heiress with peppered gray hair, a blade-like nose, and eyes matching the faded green of this field beneath today's cloudy skies. He wears his headband on full bandana and seems to have procured a samurai shoulder plate on his right side, while the left remains sleeveless. He shifts into a defensive stance as soon as the Konoha squad approaches, drawing half a katana from a full sheath on his left hip. The last Iwa genin is quite a bit shorter, petite even. She's a pale girl lacking any hair, a small, pointed, nose, and amber eyes. She keeps the hood of her black and blue hoodie up with her headband around her neck, a pair of goggles on her forehead, and metal bracers. When she raises her hands into an open-palmed defensive style, her gloves are clearly palmless.

Kitsuchi raises and arm and gestures his students and daughter to stand down, and a moment later, the Konoha troop steps up. Asuma waves and puts his cigarette out for the meeting. "Kitsuchi, I see you're doing well. How's your father?"

He grumbles. "About the same as when we last spoke. Still doesn't know when to quit. Shoulda given me the hat years ago so he can finally rest, but you know how stubborn he is."

Kakashi groans a bit. "Oh, don't we. Still, it's good to know he's in good health. At his age, that's a rarity."

"Same could be said of the Hokage. No signs of him retiring either?"

Naruto snorts. "That old man's still too strong to consider it." He arches his back. "I'm still sore from that last spar, and he didn't even swing at me once, I did it all to myself trying to hit him while he stood still."

The taller Iwa kunoichi snorts and bursts into laughter. "Seriously? No way in hell kage would waste time training a genin brat like you."

"Kurostuchi, be silent." Her father's tone shuts her up instantly. She's really not used to hearing him be so demanding with her, even as a sensei. Kitsuchi then looks back to Naruto, noticing the staff he's leaning on. "Learning Monkey style, I see."

Naruto peeks to Kakashi, but his sensei does nothing to silence him, so he shrugs and nods. "Yep. According to him, I'm kind of a natural."

Kitsuchi crosses his arms and hums. "That so? Well, good to see it's not a dying form." He peeks over to Asuma. "Shame, what happened to your brother. I know you suspected us for a while, but unlike the last Raikage, we don't quite care for kidnapping, especially high-profile targets."

Asuma sighs and rubs the back of his neck. "Well… thanks. But enough of us. Wanna introduce your team?"

Kitsuchi nods and turns his head back to his students. "Well, this little miss here is of course my daughter and heiress to the Iwata clan, Kurotsuchi."

She gives them a half-hearted and clearly facetious bow. "Could have introduced myself, dad."

The young man with the blade crosses his arms. "Matsumoto Tetsuma."

The darkly-dressed girl speaks almost inaudibly. "Akiyama Hibiki."

Naruto pauses, finding something off about the other two, but he shrugs it off. "Name's Uzumaki Naruto." He catches the tensing of Kitsuchi's jaw at the mention of his surname. "Future Hokage and wrecker of all shit." Yoko yaps and grumbles from his hood before curling up to sleep more. "And she's Yoko."

Hibiki's eyes home in on him. "Uzumaki? I had believed your clan was exterminated during the last war."

Naruto flinches and turns away. "Yeah, most of em. My mom was already living in Konoha at the time."

Kitsuchi scratches his chin. "Kushina, eh? Good woman. Dangerous. May have been an enemy, but I respected her. I heard she'd died when the Kyuubi attacked, though. I'm sorry for your loss."

Naruto shrugs faintly, trying to ignore the stares he's getting from his uninformed old classmates. Shikamaru seems to have suspected it, but Choji and Ino on the other hand are struggling to stay professional and keep the shock off their faces. "Yeah, well... I never really knew her."

"Hmm.." Kitsuchi sighs. "A shame. Well, how about the rest of you? I've got some guesses for most of you, but…"

Sasuke huffs. "I'm sure you're right about me. Uchiha Sasuke, surviving heir of the Uchiha clan."

Kitsuchi raises one finger.

"Haruo Sakura." She bows a bit, showing proper respect to the son of a kage.

"Nara Shikamaru." Shika rubs the back of his neck as he watches Kitsuchi raise a second finger. As he suspected, counting his successful guesses. The man knows Konoha's heirs and big names all too well.

"Akamichi Choji." He reaches into his bag and pulls out a fresh bag of chips. "Any of you guys want some?" The Akamichi clan may be obsessive about their food, but that also means they consider offering it to be quite a meaningful token of appreciation and a peace offering.

Kurotsuchi stares for a moment, but shrugs and holds her hand out for the bag. "Sure, I don't see why not. You guys get better potatoes anyway, I'm sure the chips are a big improvement."

"Yeah," Choji shrugs. "But you guys have the better pork. I'd call that a win in your favor."

Ino rolls her eyes a bit. "I'm Yamanaka Ino." And Kitsuchi grins as he raises a fourth finger. "Wow, you really knew us ahead of time." She leans down and throws a sideways smirk at Sakura. "I think you're the only one here he had no interest in."

"Just cuz I'm not from a prominent clan doesn't mean I can't kick your ass, Ino."

Hibiki snaps her fingers and points at Sakura despite still having a completely blank face. "I like this one."

Haku rolls her eyes. "I'm Momochi Haku, Zabuza's adopted daughter."

Kitsuchi raises an eyebrow at the browless assassin. "Really? Didn't figure you were the type."

"Well, not that pleasantries are dealt with…" Councilman Nakamoto cuts in. "I would like to get this treaty and land trade organized in short order. I have a three separate offers for you from my lord, all of which we believe to be quite fair."

Kitsuchi nods. "Certainly. Just a moment, sir." He looks to Kakashi. "I'm sure you know these handsigns, you know this won't be an attack. Just better than standing out in the middle of a fie-"

He's cut short by Naruto pulling a set of folding lawn chairs from a seal and setting them out, setting them up with a few clones before kicking back in his own. The chairs are wood and cloth rather than metal, and he seems to have had his name and Uzumaki clan symbol embroidered on one like a director's chair. "Ok, now we're good. You guys are free to use em, just make sure I get em back before we go."

"Naruto." Kakashi crosses his arms. "What did I tell you about packing unessential resources?"

"You said 'don't let them weigh you down or get in the way', hence using seals. Damn, I love seals."

Kitsuchi barks with laughter as he drops into a seat and it creaks under his weight. "Now that's the Uzumaki spirit alive and well! Thanks for the save, kid. A lot better than my rock seats woulda been." He leans back and waves to the councilman. "Well, let's get on with this, then. What's your offers?"

Nakamoto takes his seat, though shifting uncomfortably as he's clearly not used to something so pedestrian from his seat of wealth and power, before reaching into his sleeves and removing a scroll to read from. "Let us see… First offer is of course a large sum of money, same as quoted before. Second would be a land trade. We grant you some border property ripe for farming, and you provide an equivalent amount of border property with considerable ore deposits for us to mine. Third would be not a land trade, but instead cheaper imports and exports to one another so we may send you the food you require, and we receive the ores we require. All three come with a peace treaty both with our nation and Takigakure."

Shikamaru raises an eyebrow at that set. This catches Kitsuchi's attention. "What's on your mind, kid?"

Shika stares for a moment, but shrugs and leans forward to answer. "It's all a fair deal, but it's quite clear that the treaty is the clincher for their side. Huge benefit, especially when dealing with one of the five strongest nations and villages. Taki may be strong, considerably so, and incredibly well hidden, but your forces raw scale could very well search the whole jungle in a war and find them regardless. But, you don't dare do such a thing when they're allies with us. A peace treaty simplifies everything and lets you both preserve resources while your home nations reap the rewards. No downsides for anyone, just a bit more of an upside for them- but you people are the ones needing food, so flexibility in this negotiation is lacking on your end. Personally, I see no reason to avoid taking any of these offers, it simply depends on which you fine most advantageous. Do you need the speed of the export deal, or the long-term but potent sustenance of owning the land? Do you have more mines than you know what to do with and give away, or is the purchase more efficient for you?"

Naruto nods and crosses his arms. "All grand points, but you also gotta consider the risk of a land trade being too slow to get off the ground, especially since these were once a huge war zone and there's gotta be kunai, shuriken, and unmarked graves all over the place. Now, if you can organize to clean it up together and turn it into something effective for both parties, that'd leave you both with a lot more useful land." Naruto looks around a bit. "Who knows how long it'd take to clean these fields up and prep them for farming?"

Tetsuma peeks about for a moment and presses his bare hand to the ground. "Hmmm… Yeah, he's right. There's a lot of metal scattered about here, all old tools."

Kitsuchi nods and huffs. "Good catch, kid. But why help our side of the argument?"

Naruto shrugs. "Simple. No need to be enemies right now, or give each other reasons to be." He slumps back in his chair and sways like a drunk to spend just a bit of pent-up energy. "As much I'd love to prank this whole party to oblivion and back, letting a mistake like that go unspoken is needlessly cruel and stupid, even for me."

Zabuza's jaw drops behind his bandages. "Holy shit, the brat's actually got a grasp on politics."

Naruto snorts. "You have no idea how many headaches I've given myself by putting clones in the library for this."

Kitsuchi chuckles, but trails off as his eyes dart off to both sides. Kakashi sighs and reaches for his headband. Kitsuchi instantly gives him a curt nod, taking that as confirmation that Konoha has nothing to do with the sudden vibrations they're feeling.

Kurotsuchi runs through a set of handsigns ending on Hebi, before driving her hand into the ground and twisting it at the moment a horde of twelve anbu leap from the earth. "Doton: Chikyū o Tsukamu!" (Earth Style: Gripping Earth!) The ground seals back up around the legs of several of them, one caught only by the ankle and sent faceplanting, but seven of them breach the ground too quickly and bee-line towards Kitsuchi. Kitsuchi sinks into the ground faster than they had emerged as one swings a tanto towards his throat, only to be replaced by a Naruto clone emerging with the same jutsu and opening his jacket to reveal twelve exploding tags as he belts out a head-flailing war cry. By then everyone else had spread out while Asuma, Zabuza, Haku, and Shikamaru surrounded Nakamoto to guard him. This left everyone but the hapless assassins within range of the blast. Two of the dozen were eliminated instantly. The one whose legs got caught at their knees is promptly flattened by Choji's Nikudan Sensha, followed by a swift knee to guts by the real Naruto. The one whose ankle was caught gets themselves free quickly enough to attempt to counter a punch by Kurotsuchi, but she produces a stone gauntlet and punches the tanto in half before backhanding the man unconscious. Another attempts to cut her down from behind, but a Naruto clone pops up and grabs him by the ankles, allowing Kurotsuchi to turn around and fire her stone gauntlet right into their chest and surely snap a good deal of ribs. Two attempt to cleave into Tetsuma, but he catches their blades and they bend on contact with his hands, which are suddenly black as iron. He grips the blades and rips them from their handles, shapeshifting them to be thinner and longer before stabbing the men with their own weapons.

Shikamaru notices none of them are paying attention to the troop guarding Nakamoto, so he takes advantage of that to snag one. A quick extension of his shadow captures one and keeps them out of the fight and ripe for interrogation afterwards. Ino meanwhile opens a canteen on her hip and uses a minor water jutsu to splash it about much farther than it would normally spread, before a quick three handsigns lets her pulse a small amount of lightning through it all to stun the three anbu she managed to dampen. This locks them up just enough to let Choji roll over two more. Hibiki approaches the last with a low rush and rises to put her hand to his chest. A quick flash of chakra and an explosion similar to a low-grade tag goes off in her hand, blasting the Anbu back to be clotheslined by the blunt side of Kubikirihoucho. Zabuza knows better than to get blood on a client by using the other side. The last one attempts to hit Kitsuchi where he resurfaces, but the genjutsu fades the moment he strikes, and leaves him wide open for Sasuke to draw his wakizashi and cleave them across the spine. He tries to move for just a moment, but another quick thrust to the back of their head finishes the job.

Kakashi hums as he watches the last one fall and looks to Kitsuchi as he rises from the ground, horizontal to vertical and stiff as a board the whole way up. "I'd say the kids handled that well."

Kitsuchi nods and ruffles his daughter's hair. "But, that also means these supposed anbu were also bottom-of-the-barrel sacrificial pawns. I know that's not how Konoha runs things with their anbu. Not the official ones, anyway."

Kakashi nods as he steps up to the one Shikamaru captures, who Ino has now managed to completely disarm and tie up. "Kiri wouldn't be doing this, they just got a new leader and they're still not the most stable, and looking to be allies with us. These anbu were going out of their way to target you and your team, but if it were Kumo, they'd likely be indiscriminate and target us both, but A's been quiet since he took over and been much more passive than his father."

Asuma hums. "So, we thinking this is Root, then?"

Shikamaru's eyes narrow. "Root? Not a village I've ever heard of, and I've studied the whole map."

Zabuza snorts. "Cuz it's not a village, kid. In your village, it's hidden in plain sight. In other villages, they're the boogeyman Konoha's extremists raised."

Asuma groans and tilts his head back. "Damnit, dad's gonna be on the war path for this one."

Kitsuchi cringes. "Yeah, I wouldn't wanna be in Hiruzen's way when the monkey's actually pissed off. I've heard more than enough stories of wanton drunken destruction from my old man to know yours is gonna raise hell." He sighs. "Well, we still need to deal with this treaty, and you have a traitor to interrogate. So how we splittin this?"

Kakashi hums as he looks among his crew, but Asuma cuts in first. "My squad will handle the Root agent, the rest of you can deal with the negotiations. Ino, you ready?"

Ino almost squeals. "Finally, I get to test these jutsu on the field!" She pouts. "I've had almost no work on them for weeks cuz daddy says I'm not ready to use them on anyone his department's officially interrogating!"

Naruto shudders at the thought. "I know she knows I've got a thousand secrets, and I have never been happier that you can boot people out of my head at will."

"I could also let her in and just control what she has access to so she only sees your most embarrassing secrets instead of the big ones."

"Oh fuck no!"

"Hey kid."

"Huh?" Naruto snaps out of it and turns to face Kurotsuchi.

She's looking the blonde over with a critical eye, taking in details others seem to just forget or ignore. The blue eyes, bright blonde hair, sealing talents, apparent age, it all lines up too well. She makes sure to speak quietly. "My dad recognized you instantly. He hasn't said it, but I see what he's getting at. The others with you don't know, do they?"

Naruto's eyes widen for a moment, and he checks his peripherals. A quit bit of reassurance from the Kyuubi convinces him it's safe to speak. "Kakashi and Asuma do, the rest haven't been told. But I think Shikamaru already figured it out."

She nods and huffs, hanging her tilted head. "Damnit, this is gonna get complicated. The Hokage wouldn't have sent you on this unless he wanted us to know."

"Pretty much." Naruto shrugs. "He's playing a fast and dangerous game. Never seen him so bold before. But I know he wouldn't unless he knew it was most likely going to turn out well for everyone."

"Ever the optimist, huh? Well, my dad and I will be sure to pass the message." She looks to the rest of the team gathered, with Sasuke peeking over and watching from the corner of his eye. Shikamaru seems impassive, but he's clearly paying attention too while the rest discuss the trade deal and interrogation. "Allying with Kiri, restoring the Seven Swordsmen, the Hokage's son is back and training a new InoShikaCho, and now their best jonin is training the Uchiha heir and sone of the 4th. He's playing with his cards face-up knowing nobody can possibly have a strong enough hand to beat him. Either stand down and let the monkey have the pot so he can share the wealth as he sees fit, or keep playing and lose everything."

"That's the jist of it, yeah. Bold move, might piss some big names off, but his goal is peace. Lines up pretty well with the exams coming up, and if he's successful, we might be looking at a union between all four nations, or at least two of them in a stalemate against our three and knowing not to start shit."

"We've been at a stalemate for years. Personally, it'd be nice to see a change of pace, and war isn't exactly my style either. I love some action, but I want people to deserve it, not just be protecting their countries for people with big egos." She grins over at him. "So from one future Kage to another, let's hope this plan works and you and I will be having a lot of meetings someday. The way you're acting, I doubt they'd be boring ones, so I look forward to that."

Naruto stares in shock for just a few moments before grinning ear-to-ear and reaching out for a fistbump, which she gladly returns as they watch her father propose raising a politically neutral meeting place in this field for future discussions between all nearby nations.
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A. N.: Yeah, I have some original characters in here now. I'm gonna have a lot of fun with Tetsuma and Hibiki, and I'm sure you guys already see the inspiration behind them! Some filler stuff is just too good to not use, ya know? Particularly kekkei genkai. That, and Kurotsuchi needs a full team for what you all know is coming. The exams are gonnna be very fun this time around.

So, for now, I hope you all love the chapter, check out my youtube channel, pop into my discord, and celebrate that we successfully voted that racist cheeto-dusted fuckstick out of office!