It would seem that this chapter is terribly late in it's posting and I'm reminded once again that sending things to ncpfan at the last minute is rather foolhardy and inconsiderate. Luckily he managed to make time to look over the latest chapter.

The good news, in that case, is that you don't have to wait as long for the next chapter.

Well, so long as I get into the habit of writing chapters earlier in the week, of course. The next chapter is probably going to be just as last-minute as all the others.

So, thanks goes to ncpfan for his help with the chapter and my apologies go out to all those disappointed by the previous lack of update- A good lot of you seem to come off as being rather addicted to the story in your reviews.

On the note of the chapter, however, I must warn you that you'll likely be rather disappointed. While it is focuses on Naruto [In fact, the entire chapter is Naruto] it doesn't really do much. I'd say it does nothing, but worldbuilding is something. I hadn't intended for the chapter to turn out this way but what started as an introduction to a chapter that would clear up Naruto's thoughts and cover his meeting with the Daimyo became, well, this.

Hopefully you do not find it too dreadfully boring and though I find it unfortunate the chapter turned out this way it did allow me to address the Shinobi world at large which gets it out of the way. I have no doubt that a lot of the chapter will seem rather ramble-like but that is to be expected because it is, after all, someone's thoughts.

On a final note to all readers, please do not accept at face value any of the thoughts characters might have throughout the story. I've noticed a lot of people just going with whatever is expressed and while I am trying to work my style to employ less subtleties I do try to tailor thoughts, actions, and conjecture to each individual character. Every person in the story has led different lives, sees the world in a different way, and does not share the advantage of viewing the entire story as we do.

All that said, raise the curtains!

Another bump in the road rocked the transport but it wasn't anything its lone occupant hadn't grown accustomed to. At first they had found it to be a rather odd feeling, being thrown about constantly on the ruined roads of a suspiciously poor country but as time passed and the roads increased in both quality and wear they had come quite used to the odd feeling of weightlessness that so often accompanied the bumps that grew to be less and less frequent.

Of course, this did not stop the various bumps from constantly interrupting his thoughts and trying to anticipate the next did more harm than good, for it was impossible for him to predict the road and all its many small imperfections when he had never before laid eyes on it. And, while it may have been tempting to draw away the blinds of the carriage's single window and simply watch the world roll by it was ill advised.

The less people could see of him the better chance he had of getting to his destination alive.

Not that he knew of anyone specific currently out for his life, but it was always better to be safe, something his guards understood quite clearly. It's why they had begged him to refrain, after all.

As much as he'd like to ignore them for the sake of ending the sheer boredom that plagued him, he knew they were right and if keeping himself in the shadows helped ease their worries even a fraction he would gladly never again see the light of day.

Heh, the shadows.

It was almost funny how often his thoughts drifted along this exact path.

Then again, perhaps not.

The Wolves were his pride and joy, a family that he had made for himself that would never turn on him. He loved his pack, wanted nothing but the best for them, but in order to do that he had to split his focus- dangerously so.

The Wolves were pretty self-sufficient even now, any distraction on his part would have a negligible effect on their wellbeing, something he was certain Sai would be able to more than make up for, or, something he would have been, had the Wolves been as stable as he'd like.

It wasn't like they were in danger of falling part but rather quite the opposite, they were still growing and rapidly at that. One might even beg the thought that they were growing too fast for their own good and while he wasn't completely sure of the truth of that statement, he was sure that it was growing too fast for him.

Despite having left most of it in the hands of Mai and Sai in preparation of his Shinobi career with Konohagakure no Sato he was still heavily involved then and with his career taking such a drastic setback- though perhaps also an incredible boon, if not for him than for the Wolves but likely for them both- he had only been able to throw himself further into the welfare of his pack.

Now, however, he received mostly vague reports and the occasional detail that needed his final say. Even being in the country he had just taken over he received little more than status reports while the inside workings were taken care of by Sai and a slowly growing administrative staff, half of which would probably find themselves reassigned to help him- though mostly Inuzuka Hana- as Nami no Kuni was governed.

There was simply too much for one person to ever hope to handle alone and only a fool would attempt it.

A fool- or Danzou.

Of course, Danzou had several advantages that he himself did not have the luxury of. For one, Danzou, despite operating globally, operated at a much small scale. It was testament to the man's skill that he could do as much as he did with such a small organization. Well, small wasn't the best was to describe Root, but it certainly wasn't very large. For lack of a better description it was a decent size, in fact, one might say it was the perfect size for Danzou's uses.

That wasn't to say Danzou wouldn't have liked to have many more operatives but the way he went about it- the fact that he had to have things a certain way and wouldn't accept them otherwise- meant he lost out on a lot of potential operatives. He was actually quite pleased about that, for if Danzou didn't require all of his forces to be perfectly conditioned- something that failed more often than not, as not everybody was able to be conditioned or could function afterwards- he wouldn't have his own little army.

For that alone he should really send the man a gift, maybe a nice bottle of wine.

On second thought, the man might be a bit too paranoid for something like that, which would just be a waste of good wine. Maybe something like a pen- no, too easy to hide explosive notes in, the man wouldn't risk it without thorough examination and even then would probably discard it.

He might not have any enemies but Danzou no doubt did.

He'd have to put that idea on the backburner, Danzou was not the kind of person who would be easy to shop for. Randomly browsing markets had a better chance of producing something than him thinking ever would, for the more he thought about thinks the easier it was to find ways that the gift might be harmful.

If he didn't stop soon he'd find himself as paranoid as the old hawk. Not that paranoia was a bad thing, especially in this profession, but he really didn't feel like being as paranoid as the leader of Root, at least not this early in his life. While many could argue that paranoia would allow him to live to an age he deemed it appropriate to be paranoid he would much rather enjoy those years, thank you very much.

Now, where was he? Ah, yes.

Back to Danzou's advantages. Besides having fewer people than he did, each operation was, naturally, smaller. He couldn't risk his operatives and he was unable to send backup if something went wrong in most cases. To that end things needed to be simple and straightforward lest he risk a major complication laying ruin to all his plans.

Because Danzou really didn't do small plans, it was just a matter of many small, short-term missions that could easily be adjusted to account for unseen developments in the long run. It was that method the man owed most of his success to and he doubted the retired veteran would be changing such an effective system anytime soon.

On that note was another big advantage, Danzou's retired state. While he still served as an advisor (though unofficial) and had a seat on the council (For what he didn't actually know. Maybe it was a clan seat but it was more likely for some other reason, perhaps granted for his services, his experiences, or even by the imperial fire court for some reason he wasn't privy to.) Danzou still had a lot of time on his hands to spare for the meticulous micromanaging and mission analysis he did to ensure his organization continued to run smoothly.

And while the work may have been tedious it worked wonders for the efficiency of Root and allowed him insight to his ongoing operations that not many other leaders could hope to claim.

It was rather impressive, actually.

Not something he was all that interested in himself, but still impressive.

No, while he'd like to be more involved- in fact, he really would have preferred working alongside his Wolves in the field- he didn't need to be that involved. A nice middle ground was preferable.

Unfortunately, he had more to worry about than Danzou did, too, namely the two additional groups that he was trying to move about to his advantage.

The Hyuuga at the moment were unaware of his influence but they were also something he had to be very careful dealing with. His inaction was both because he didn't need to use them at the moment and because he had to be so damn careful about even the slightest way he and his Wolves might interact with them.

Unless he was the object of it, he was never dealing with another cult again.

Ever.

The loyalty and devotion was good, but it was just too much damn trouble to be worth it. Had Hinata not been leading them- and had he not been the one who indirectly put her there- he wouldn't have touched it.

Or, rather, he would have touched it being inexperienced as he was and then promptly washed his hands of the matter.

Figureheads like Sai worked fine, especially because the Wolves already knew who was really in charge, but cult leaders were a bit much. That was to say nothing about the situation his little goddess was currently in. The cult without the clan or the clan without the cult would have been enough trouble but no, they couldn't stay separated, could they? Of course not, he had to deal with both of them being so backwardly intertwined that one wrong move could very well spark the fourth Shinobi world war.

That, admittedly, was a bit out there, but if ever confronted about it he would likely claim to be channeling his inner Danzou. Had one been to Kumokagure no Sato one would probably say both of them channeled an inner Omoi – though thankfully neither took it quite as far as that young swordsman often did.

Something that would make those who knew said swordsman both very grateful and not a small bit jealous.

Fortunately, it was unlikely that the groups, separated as they were, would ever cross paths. At a personal level, at least. There was still plenty of animosity between the two villages existing in an uneasy peace and while they could possibly cross paths the chances of them even speaking to one another in any way other than taunts, insults, and perhaps a few threat was astronomically low.

If Omoi's teammate Samui was present that list would undoubtedly grow to include flirting, innuendo, and rather crass sexual comments about her breast size.

If their friend Yugito was there one could expect a lot of double entendre.

In either case, it was almost guaranteed to be quickly followed by screams of pain and pitiful male whimpering-

And perhaps the end of a few bloodlines.

So, inner Omoi aside, if he wasn't careful when dealing with the cult and the clan from which it spawned he could very well bring about war on a global scale, likely within as little as a few weeks.

With the problems between the main and branch families that had existed for as long as anyone could remember and the clan's current status as the largest and most powerful (Manpower wise, at least, as the Senju and Uzumaki still trumped them in political standing despite the current state of the two once great clans) meant that were a civil war to break out it would leave Konoha vulnerable.

If that wasn't enough alone to entice old foes to strike at the village that had oh so recently lost the famed Uchiha clan the fact that any conflict within the Hyuuga clan would prompt the village to attempt to interfere. And, while they might succeed in stopping the branch family- or perhaps take the chance to remove the main family so as to hold greater control over the clan- it was just as likely that Konoha itself would be dragged into civil war.

He winced slightly at the thought. Though he had avoided it, his earlier actions against the Yamanaka almost sparked a civil war and had the chance to do so again when Kushina had used his self-exile as reason to go against the clan of Mindwalkers. Had some of the clans stood against her he had no doubt that things would have quickly turned to violence. It wouldn't have mattered in the end and he wouldn't be trying to avoid it now- the fourth Shinobi war would have already been sparked.

They might have been fighting in it right now, in fact, but more likely it would already be over and the victors would simply be fighting amongst themselves for the biggest scraps of what had once been the first hidden village.

He loved Konoha, it was his home, but he wasn't so blind as to see how weak they were becoming. Standards were slipping, the number of people joining the Shinobi forces was declining (likely the reason standards were slipping), people were becoming fat, lazy, and complacent, and, while he was an incredible leader and Shinobi, Sarutobi Hiruzen was far past his prime and it showed.

Painfully so.

He still respected the man for what he had done and what he went through, but the man shouldn't be leading them right now, peace time or not.

Iwa was always looking to rip out their throats with shinobi known for stubbornness almost on par with the nearly extinct Uzumaki clan and the drive to keep going regardless of the conditions. Even when the Yondaime Hokage was cutting through them like a hurricane through ricepaper they refused to stop and charged until the last man fell.

It was, brave, incredibly stupid, but, most of all, dangerous. Very dangerous. One had to respect an enemy who wouldn't falter even in impossible odds, who would throw away their life for the sake of their country and for the smallest chance of cutting down their foe.

It wasn't very Ninja-like but there weren't that many these days that were. They were warriors, like most modern Shinobi, but were more akin to bandits than Samurai. No, that was a bad comparison, they had the energy and wildness of bandits, but they were more dangerous than that and comparing them to such common trash was an insult to their skill and tenacity.

Iwa and its children were like barbarians, tribes of warriors who just kept going, caring not for their own wounds so long as their foes sated the thirst of the earth upon which they fell and their rotting corpses fed the murder of crows that watched battlefields with the glassy eyes of death.

Iwa was not an enemy to make light of, even after all these years and all the treaties that had been set in place to avoid further conflict on the scale of the previous Shinobi world wars. There was no doubt that those same treaties were only cared about in Iwa if one of their foes stopped following it, something that did nothing that provided them with a chance to be less secretive and go further with what they were already doing without fear of the finger being pointed their way.

Iwa kept their weapons sharp, even in times of peace, and they were always itching to reclaim pride for the sake of their own warriors lost on the field of battle against Namikaze Minato.

Not that he could really blame them.

Kumo was, in ways, similar to Iwa. Like those hidden in the stones, they were always ready for war. Unlike them, they could succeed. Iwa would send generation after generation at the gate of their foes and manage only to paint the land around the village red. Every generation would be fiercer, more ferocious, and more willing to lay down their lives for the chance to avenge their fallen fathers.

Eventually the gate would break and they would tear through the enemy village like a horde of ravenous beasts.

Kumo would march up to a gate.

There would not be a gate standing for them to leave through.

Thoughts of Iwa brought the word 'savagery' to mind, but Kumo was undoubtedly professional. Unlike the vast armies of Iwa theirs was smaller, but each Shinobi was trained to a level far above their Iwa counterparts.

Kumo was a military, and it lived for war.

It didn't care if it was fighting for one, preparing for one, or recovering from one. Kumo was war, it ate, breathed, and slept war and when the trumpets sounded they were the first hounds to bound from the gate of their village and tear through their foes.

There was a sense of precision with Kumo, the idea that no movement was wasted, and it was only to be expected from a village that favored the sword almost as much as the infamous bloody mist.

Iwa would keep trying until they succeeded, Kumo wouldn't try until victory was assured.

Between the two it was difficult to determine the greatest threat for both were dangerous foes to face on the field of battle.

Of course, should they be facing one it was inevitable that the other would soon join in. It was not surprising, long had Konoha been considered the greatest even when the other two possessed far more might than Konoha couldn't currently hope to scrape together. The chance to topple the first hidden village and establish themselves atop the new food chain was not one easily passed up and the knowledge that were one of the other villages to gain the majority of Konoha then it was likely they would be able to conquer the others.

For what Konoha lacked in manpower it had a surplus of resources, always had, and that was a fact never lost on the other villages. Hashirama had chosen the location of Konoha wisely and the village had benefited from it ever since. The other villages, while defendable, were too out of the way and had such tight security that they couldn't benefit from trade, leaving them to rely solely upon what they could produce themselves.

Those same defensible positions meant it wasn't much.

Only Kirigakure avoided such an unfortunate situation by having easy access to the ocean allowing for limited shipping and plentiful seafood. In fact, his new country had once traded quite a bit with Kirigakure but ever since the bloodline purges had started the village had closed itself off from the world. It was likely the reason Nami no Kuni was in a bad enough situation for Gato to take over, the loss of such a source of trade would have wreaked havoc upon their economy.

Speaking of Kiri, Konoha was rather lucky that they were too busy with their own problems to try anything though there still remained the constant threat that Kiri's troubles might spread past the borders of Mizu no Kuni and drag the rest of the world into their mess.

It was, perhaps, the reason other conflict had been avoided. Kiri was closer to both Iwa and Kumo than Konoha- something often used by those villages to justify having forces that far exceeded what the treaties allowed- and neither wanted to be caught fighting a war on two fronts.

Then again, the tension Kiri's issues caused alone might spark a war, a war that could very well end before Kiri opened again to the world around it. That would certainly be interesting, he could only imagine the confusion one would feel learning they had somehow missed a shinobi world war.

Kirigakure was well known for its insatiable thirst for blood. They didn't care if they were slaughtering outsiders or their neighbors, they just wanted to spill blood. Somewhere between Iwa's savagery and Kumo's military precision, had Kiri not been closed off to the world fighting itself they would undoubtedly be the biggest threat for any of the villages to face.

Should all three of those countries join forces there was no doubt Konoha would be utterly annihilated and their sole ally, Suna, wouldn't be any help. In a terrible financial situation and with limited manpower because there weren't enough missions for the path of the Shinobi to be a widely viable career Suna was barely considered a greater village.

Only the sheer size of Kaze no Kuni and the wealth amassed by their daimyo from the various desert mines granted them such status.

Considering how their Daimyo had a tendency to go to Konoha for his needs, where Shinobi could be better trained and a surplus of jobs meant cheaper rates, Suna was just as likely to go against them as offer any aid.

On that note, he wasn't really sure why they still had an alliance. Unless it was a precaution brought about solely by proximity he really couldn't see how Konoha benefited from it. They already had a tense peace with the rest of the world and Suna certainly wasn't friendly, their Shinobi being rather hostile for supposed allies- not that they could be blamed with their current situation.- so unless Konoha was planning on offering aid- which really should have been done long ago to promote stronger bonds and give them a reliable ally- he really didn't see the point.

Then again, it wasn't his place to, either. He was neither the Hokage nor the advisors he trusted with his plans. For whatever reason they were still allied with Suna, good or ill, he would just have to accept it and keep going about his own business.

Business that, naturally, included being ready in case Suna did turn against them. Not much they could do against the village itself- the desert sands provided ample defense- but just having an additional army that could go against them should prove devastating. The fact that by moving northwards he could use his troops to pincer any Suna army between his Wolves and the Shinobi of Konohagakure was just an added benefit of having the majority of them stationed just outside of Hi no Kuni.

Here he is, thinking about all these other villages constantly preparing for war and it's the exact same thing he's currently doing with his new country. The Shinobi world, it would seem, existed only for war.

It wasn't much of a surprise.

But once again he was letting his thoughts get away from him.

The Wolves were growing to be too large for him to take direct, everyday control over them, the cult in the midst of the Hyuuga clan was just one of the delicate situations that could spark another world war, and he had even more on his plate to deal with.

Fortunately the only other group- at this moment, and hopefully for a while yet- was the Inuzuka clan of Konohagakure.

Thank the gods for the Inuzuka.

Unlike the other two groups he was not in control of the Inuzuka and they were one hundred percent self-sufficient. He could not contact them in the next year and they would be just fine because they had been fine before he approached them. They were a clan of Konoha, one with a low but solid position that wasn't about to change without a lot of work-

Or a little help.

That is, of course, where he and the Wolves came in. They provided the Inuzuka with support and in return the Inuzuka would look out for their better interests in Konoha. With the heiress now working alongside the Wolves in a position that allowed her almost complete control of a profitable country and a way to easily support her clan with said profits he didn't have to worry about the Inuzuka turning against him anytime soon.

He did, however, have to keep an eye on the information they sent him and provide responses quickly enough for them to act on. At the moment there wasn't much he needed them to do- and having them benefiting from the partnership was sure to please them- but unlike the Hyuuga where it was dangerous to move he simply had no immediate need of the Inuzuka.

Some of their number were in Nami no Kuni as the heiress prepared to run the country (Publically, of course. He had no doubt he'd need to do most of the work to keep things going smoothly in the background.) and those still in Konoha were already aware of their new partners.

He could probably station some Wolves in their compound fir security or even to train some of their members but he would hold off on that for now.

He certainly wouldn't be averse to having a few Wolves with Ninken, however, or even just regular trained dogs. That would be infinitely beneficial. Actually, the sooner they started that the better, he would have to send word to Mai to see if she couldn't arrange something.

Picking up the notebook that had been left open on the seat next to him he quickly scratched down the idea so he wouldn't forget. Forgetting was unlikely, of course, especially when the thought would probably be running through his head until something else came along to replace it- and there wasn't all that much going on around him to serve as a distraction- but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

It was for that very reason he hadn't brought any of the files from Gato's mansion along to go over during the trip. Three days in he had started to wonder if it wouldn't have been worth the risk in the end.

He really didn't even need to wonder about that- he already knew that such a risk would never be worth it, but at least it would have been something to do. Idly he wondered if there had been any books in Gato's mansion- it was likely- and he cursed himself for not grabbing a few for the road.

While the journey had given him plenty of time to think about his Wolves a distraction really would have been nice.

There were only so many times you could think about the current situation of the various groups you were involved with before you started to worry about what could go wrong. Thinking about what might go wrong was exactly what he should be trying to avoid on his way to visit a Daimyo.

Because even though he didn't show it and his Wolves wouldn't notice he was beyond nervous.

This wasn't a man he could immediately have assassinated or could blackmail. Threats wouldn't work, the legal system wouldn't help against its own ultimate authority, and the Samurai armies of the greater lords were nothing to scoff at.

If he didn't get this right he risked losing Wave when the other villages inevitably sent their own forces to take control. They wouldn't be public about it, of course, probably using a third party to take over and run everything, but the fact was that group would have the support of the village or even rival lord that was after it, something he couldn't claim to have yet.

And while he knew any Daimyo would jump at the chance to benefit from Nami no Kuni in a way that other countries couldn't protest there would always be that lingering doubt. All that they needed for everything to go wrong was one distant relative of the Yamanaka holding sway over the court or one distrustful advisor keeping the Daimyo from committing. Something as simple as the greater lord having a head cold and not wanting to deal with them would be enough to cause a fair bit of trouble for his Wolves.

They could go to another lord, of course, but word spread fast and chances were good that if one lord rejected them the next would out of sheer principle. The lot of them were competitive bastards and if one said the arrangement wasn't good enough for them than no greater lord worth his pride would accept them and be seen as having lower standards than there fellows.

This really was a one-shot kind of chance because otherwise they'd be on their own against everyone who wanted a piece of Nami no Kuni and its superior trade location.

That's not to say they were completely banking on having the support of a greater lord, he had thought of other ways to secure his position just in case something went wrong. It certainly wasn't preferred and would be nowhere as simple but they were still options viable enough to go for should the greater lord have no interest in Nami no Kuni.

The greater lord, however, was, as mentioned earlier, the best option.

There was sure to be more than one country frowning at his backup of hostilely taking control of the lesser countries until the land he controlled rivaled that of the greater lords and he could stand up to them. No, that was definitely something he'd try to avoid-

Unless they managed to get the support of a greater lord like he planned. In that case he could move onto expanding wave with minimal worry and every country would both further secure his benefactor's support and make the other great countries more hesitant to go against them.

A win-win partnership, it was just a matter of convincing the greater lord of such.

Sighing, he leaned back fully against the seat and let his head fall back. He carriage was comfortable enough for small trips but the way it was set up made it rather difficult to sleep through the journey, even if the roads cooperated.

The lord would go for it, he knew the man would. Not stupid but also not very cautious the greater lord was a rather cheerful- if vain- man who would be delighted in the chance of expanding his influence if only to stick it to his peers.

He just needed to relax and everything would work out.

It was easier said than done, however, and the thoughts of possible failure continued to swim through his head prompting countless scenarios he might have to soon face. His own plans he pitted against each one and came out in a position he could work with but that did nothing to put him at ease, what was he missing if he felt everything was covered?

Two weeks of worrying about this meeting and the future of the Wolves- his children- were taking their toll on him. He lost his family once, he wouldn't lose them again. If that meant he had to give them the entire world to keep them safe he would work until the day his body gave to see that they would last until the end of time, a legacy that would see him living forever.

For even if the Wolves far into the future lost his identity he would always exist as the creator and so long as the Wolves were known until the end of time he would never again be forgotten.

If this stress was only a taste of the price he would pay in the end he would happily bear the burden.

But one of Mai's massages would be more than welcome.

Kukuku, didn't have to insert any pagebreaks into this one. See you all next week.