Warning: I do not own RWBY, that belongs to Oum & Rooster Teeth. Nor Naruto that is shonen and his creator.
"It is so good to see Tsunade. It is nice to see family, especially in these ... trying times" Naruto greeted the blonde women behind him. He turned around to see not only her but another women. This woman was younger and had black hair while wearing a traditional kimono ... as well as holding a pig.
Taking a closer look at the sannin he was perplexed at how youthful she looked. It looked like she was still in her late twenties, by all accounts she should have wrinkles and look much older then she supposed to be. Unless ... either the sannin had some kind of secret medical jutsu that restored her youth, or it was some kind of Illusion.
"Hmph, and you Naruto Uzumaki eh? Your a lot shorter than I expected" she commented.
Naruto shrugged his shoulders "Looks can be deceiving. But that is not why you are here, I doubt it is for a family reunion of some sort?"
"A little bit but you are right. I am here for the title you thought you could take right under my hat" she replied "You may have got the daimyo to support you somehow, but that doesn't mean I am taking that down standing."
"Oh? So you are going against the orders of a daimyo then, careful now, that could be consider a treason there" tsunade snorted at the response.
"Please, we both know he gave me the ability to take back my title" she scoffed "So what are you waiting for, get out from there and meet me in front yard. We'll settle this the old fashion way."
xxx
"Lady Tsunade, is this really necessary? To attack a child of all things, he still young ma'am" Shizune was disappointed in the her master choice.
"He isn't a kid shizune, he's already faced off Orochimaru and took care of a bijuu by himself supposedly. He isn't a kid anymore shizune, if he is as strong as sensei really says he is then I ain't holding back" she warned
"Lady Tsunade!"
"Calm down, I'm not going to kill the kid. Just knock out or scare him a bit" Tsunade quickly answered "I'm not pulling anything out to serious, that includes summons." That seemed to calm her student a bit. The blonde rubbed her head, sure she may have never knew much about the kid ... but he was family abit distant. But she will not lose her last family member, not this time dammit.
The two did not need to wait for too long as naruto stepped out to meet them. She quickly laid down the rules, first one to get knocked out or admits defeat losses and the winner gets to be head of the senju clan. It was a simple bet, but one that the sannin knew she would win.
"I'll give you once chance to call it, I rather not fight kin and this clan doesn't having any replacements for the either of us" she warned him "I'd rather not fight my own clan member."
"Then I deny it. I too have no joy in what I must do, but for everyone this must be done" he extended his cane as he watched the sannin narrow her eyes "If you do not come at me with the intent to kill you will never beat me."
"Pft, please. I'll only need one hand to beat you" she raised her. Then struck the ground with one finger. The ground shuddered as large crackers raced towards him.
Before they hit naruto's eyes glowed as the ground closed up and whatever force was stopped. He vanished and reappeared above the sannin and striked at her. She blocked and move away as naruto continue to attack her. She slammed the back of her feet as a gap formed, she then attacked him as naruto dodged out of the way.
Each strike leaving a small crater in its place. Tsunade was surprised to see naruto hold against him and when of her punch got close she saw his skin glow near her fist. It then exploded and pushed her hand further away. "Was that chakra!? How could someone so young manipulate chakra so finally and do it in combat? To be able to pinpoint release all that stored energy and throw any attacks away, what a deadly skill."
She grabbed a piece of debri and crushed the stone into a pebbles. Clutching them she threw them straight at naruto as his eyes glowed. Rock jetted out and block the attack. Jumping up the tip of his cane glowed as a bolt of lighting came at her, she jumped out of the way as it kept coming towards her. She slammed her feet down and used a large slab to block the attack.
Right as a sharp pain exploded on her side. She turned to see naruto before being throw away.
"Tch, alright kid, you certainly got more spunk then I thought" she spat on the ground "But you're nowhere near my level." Her body vanished as naruto entire back exploded and causing the clone dispel.
"And you should not underestimate others" Ozma warned. A torrent of flame came after her as she drew back her fist, the flame died away as a burst of air exploded from tsunade's fist and blew it all away. She charged at the boy and attacked, Ozma grimaced as he was forced to use more of his semblance to see her strikes.
"Amazing, for being so young but to able to hold off my sensei this long. Maybe sensei was right when she said you weren't any normal genin" shizune looked at awe, never had she saw her master get serious with anyone. Being a S-rank shinobi meant very few would want to pick a fight with you, that went double when they realized she was one of the legendary sannin.
But this boy was having none of that and he was showing it. All of his skills were beyond that of any shinobi at his age, was he the next golden child of konoha? As she watched the battle she noticed that Naruto was starting to slow down or his eyes would flare in flame, like the rumors spoke of. Suddenly easier strikes were harder to dodge ... he was getting tired.
But then that all changed.
Naruto suddenly spoke in ... something? Whatever it was went above her, save that whatever he was saying sound angelic and musical to her ears.
Then Tsunade-sensei stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes they were—
"Lady Tsunade! Naruto, please stop my sensei can't fight anymore her hemophobia is acting!" Shizune cried out, Tonton cried out in shock too as naruto eyed them. "She surrenders, you win just end the match" she was about to run to her shaking sensei when her body forze, a small aura of purple covering her.
"A healer with hemophobia, what an odd combination" Naruto whispered. His cane erupted in flames as Shizune cried out in horror, he walked to the shivering women as she eyed him with fear.
And he swung
Jiraiya grabbed the cane as he smirked at the blonde
"Careful they're naruto, you could really hurt someone with that strike" said the sannin as naruto lowered the blade "So I'm going to have to ask you to not potentially kill my teammate, regardless of her phobia."
"You know I would not do that, and yet you risk your hand to protect her" said Ozma. Taking his cane out of the man's grip he unsheathed it as he released Shizune. Walking up to Tsunade he knelt to her level. Looking at her his eyes went down, right to her necklace he could feel his magic resonating with the stone.
He tore the necklace away as the women feebly tired to take it back.
"N-No ... You c-can't take ... that" Tsunade shuddered, reaching out for the stone.
"You may have it back when you beat me" Ozma spoke, walking away he ignored the looks given to him and back into the clan household.
xxx
"... You didn't need to risk your hand their Jiraiya. He wouldn't have killed me" spoke Tsunade. Her teammate merely grinned as he rubbed his head, right before hissing out in pain and putting it down. Shaking her head she grabbed his hand.
The burn mark glowed before it vanished within seconds.
"Hey your my teammate, I can't leave like that ... especially with your hemophobia acting up" the sannin spoke.
"And not to somehow woe me over?"
"Well, it is a possibility ..."
"Idiot" Tsunade lightly punched the man on the shoulder as they chuckled, it was nice to finally meet up again.
...
...
...
"I'm sorry about naruto" the man began "I should have warned you about him or done something. I understand that you may not like him after that"
"That's an understatement" she twirled her drink "I heard a lot of rumors about him, but none of him being a right ass. Don't give me that look, you saw as everyone else did."
"He still is my godson" Jiraiya argued, before sighing "but enough about naruto for now. We need you Tsunade, things have been slowly getting bad for us. The election, my own godson's chances are growing by the day."
"Explain"
"It's been a month since Orochimaru attacked the daimyo declared the election, in that short timespan my godson has turned his shadow clone jutsu into a PR machine. Since the attack he went fast, bringing his shadow clones and his other abilities to get people out of rubble, helping them find a medic, or repairing buildings with the flick of a wrist. Even people who hated him now gave him respect, if grudging" The man said.
"Hard to hate the kid after suna's jinchuriki went all out. Not even the Kyuubi's attack was this horrible, at least with the fox it barely touched the village and the losses back then were few. But not this, sand pouring everywhere as hundreds of sand clones ripped civilians and shinobi in half or worse. We lost a lot of people this time and everyone felt the maddening chakra of shukaku, we have quite a few still recovering from it—"
"—And seeing the blonde brat coming in a destroying the beast, hard to hate him after that" Tsunade finished.
"If only that was the case" Jiraiya shook his head "Like I said, naruto was critical for reconstruction, and where he first built up his loyal base of followers. After the election announcement he went into overdrive, setting up rallies and answer the people's questions, that kind of stuff. With his clones he could hold as many rallies as he wanted and used the perceived inaction of sensei to grow his base. And on top of that the kid began his little paycheck plan."
"Paycheck plan?" She snorted "What, did he pay every shinobi their salary or something?"
...
"No ..."
"Yep, since the attack everything has been under lock down and only missions available were given to jonin or ANBU, until recently. Till then the kid was somehow giving every chunin and genin a check, now it wasn't a lot mind you but it was enough just to make through the week if barely. But for them, seeing someone who gave them a real check so they could make their dues every month, even sensei had to act quickly."
"Where in the world did the kid get that much money, he must've spent hundreds of thousands just to give all money, hell it could have been more!?" Tsunade gasped.
"I got nothing yet ... but only a theory and only one. Been looking back at the kids records, looks like my godson decided to continue a mission that was originally a C-rank that was moved up to B-rank, then to A-rank. Looking at the reports it stated that Gato, and yes I mean the tycoon gato, was killed during the mission, when kakashi raided his manor he found a majority of the money gone" Jiraiya explained.
"You think the kid took it all, shit that does sound a plausible idea and if we take the rumors about his abilities too ..." The female sannin groaned as she rubbed her forehead "Great, so we have a kid with more money than most people combined, a growing base of followers, and damn stubborn drive to be hokage, just great."
"Oh? We?" asked the male sannin.
...
"Yeah, we" She nodded.
The toad sage smiled as he gave a silent thanks to the women. Tsunade just shook her head as she patted the large man on the back, they were a team and team 17 wasn't going down alone. "So what's the plan then Jiraiya?"
"Right now? Nothing. For naruto is going to dinner with the Inuzuka"
xxx Inuzuka Compound xxx
"Suit?"
"Check"
"Hair?"
"Good as it can be"
"Cane?"
"Polished"
Naruto sighed as he looked at the fretting Sakura and somewhat worried Sasuke. "Please, I will be fine you two. All this fretting will only make you two get grey hairs, and this is from someone who had them" he said in an amused tone. The two eyed his suit, which closely resembled what he wore when he was still Ozpin.
"Yeah well sorry if we're worried, this is the first major clan that has invited us and we really can't afford any setbacks at this time" sakura huffed "How can you be so calm with all of this, considering the situation you placed us in?"
"Comes with being an immortal" he answered "I have already done my research of the inuzuka clan and I've previously dealt with similar groups. This will be an ease". His waving of the issue only seemed to make his teammates more worried, the immortal scoffed. What? Did they really have no faith in him, how rude.
"Besides, I understand the situation we are in. But like I said before, this the only option we have at the moment. I have already revealed more of my abilities then I prefer, had I not done so we would have ANBU and the Hokage breathing down our necks. And the election, trust me when I say I understand what will happen if we lost."
Sasuke and Sakura saw a flicker of green flames on the edges of his eyes.
"We're going to win, and we are going to cheat hard"
Before anyone else could say anything else the sound barking became louder as they saw two front guards turned to their direction. "Lord Naruto! We've been expecting you. Please, come and enter the feast is about to begin soon."
"Do show the way" the guards opened the front gates as they entered in. The first thing they noticed was that it was big, even sasuke was a bit surprised, it was even bigger than his clan compound. Then again, thinking it over the uchiha saw the reason why, dogs did like open spaces.
The group looked around and saw few guards around the place. On the outside the clan looked more traditional in it's design, but the closer they got they noticed the quick changed in building design. While his teammates were interested Ozma could not help but be reminded of the coastal villages from the ancient days that dotted Solitas.
Well that was before Mantle took over and then a few centuries later Atlas turned them into military bases. Shame, he really like the smoked cod they made, oh their was the one little town with the cute spear wif— His train of thought was interrupted when Sasuke jab him in the rib.
He realized they were in front of the main hall, this building was far larger than any of the other ones. Outside of it's design the building was a deep brown and red color that blended in seamlessly. One of the guards saw the looks and smiled "Many are surprised when they see the great hall. This hall was created during the earlier days of our clan, made from a rare wood from the land of frost. Don't look surprised, this place was designed to be moved to different places and is pretty durable."
The guards opened the door as they were greeted by a rush of warm air, the sound of dogs and people talking. The great hall was a single room building with dozens of tables stretching from end to end with a smaller table in the far back where they could see the clan head and her family waiting. Each table was filled to the brim with various clan members and their animal companions, plates of fruit and various nuts littered that tables as kids were playing with the dogs, adults talking of the latest rumor and elders reminiscing the old days.
But all of it ceased when the burst of chakra came out of the clan head. The women motioned to the trio as everyone widen in surprise.
"Naruto Senju, your on time and here I thought your pretty little ass was going to be late" the clan head spoke.
"What can I say, I enjoy being punctual" he answered back.
"Come, sit with us. You and your team are our guest of honor" The women motioned them as they found them seated next the clan head "Names Tsume, Tsume Inuzuka. Head of this pack."
"A pleasure to meet you Tsume" he spoke "Now before we go any further I have to ask, where are the drinks?" The clan head merely jerked her wrist as a serving girl poured them some ale. Before they could take a sip Naruto grabbed the full pitcher. "I asked for a drink, not a sip"
And drank straight from the jug, ignoring the horrified look on his teammates faces. In less than a minute let out a small burp as he slammed the pitcher down. "... That was ... rather weak "
...
...
...
Who knew who let out the first snicker but it became infectious as the whole clan smirked, smilied, or gave a light boost. Tsume herself looked amused as she slapped him on the back. "Not bad kid, didn't thought you'll do that but not bad. Bring in the real cups and the meats!"
Sakura gasped as a massive tanker of frothy ale was slammed in front of her. Sasuke only grimaced. Naruto was already drinking right away. From the doors dozens of other clan members rolled in, trays and sheets of bread holding slabs of rich meat came in. Steaks, pork chops, sausages, rich stews filled large chunk of meat/vegetables, fried tempura, baked breads, sweats and cookies of all manners came into the hall as many cheer and moved stuff for more room.
On finally the drinks, massive caskets the size of four men combined rolled in as med, ale, and sweat/sour wine entered into people's cups.
The real feast had just begun
"Take as much as you like, this is feast to the hero of the hour ... apologies thou. Had we more time this feast would have lasted for days and not this night" Tsume said as his teammates looked so shocked at the declaration . She snorted at the sight "Don't look so shocked, we Inuzuka make sure that those that protect the pack are rewarded well."
"Your people are ... different, a lot more than I expected" said sasuke as he eyed his drink. Taking a sip the boy widen before coughing and grabbing a smaller glass of wine. His eyes flashed annoyance when Kiba snickered at him.
"We Inuzuka take pride in our culture and we're quite stubborn at protecting it"
"Indeed, I heard that your clan doesn't even worship the shinto gods as the majority of Konoha" Naruto added.
"You don't?" Sakura looked perplexed. She knew that they were people who worshiped other gods, the only religions she knew of where either shinto or buddhism, but she never really thought one of the major clans would be one of them. Then again, she never saw Kiba or his family ever come to the local temple, hell she saw Hinata and her family then she did a inuzuka.
"Indeed, we don't believe in that hierarchal nonsense others like to spout, to us there are no gods only spirits and they are everywhere. From the wood that makes this building, to the rivers, grasslands, and mountains that make konoha there are spirits for each one. Our clan worships these spirits or at least the ones that matter the most to us" Tsume explained.
"That's rather interesting" sakura admitted that she never heard of such a belief.
"Wouldn't be surprised, it's origin comes from the land of frost where our clan comes from ... even there it is declining belief" said Tsume. "Still, I'm quite surprised that you knew that, very few care about our history to research it. So what else do you know of our clan?"
"Well, I know that your clan still was among the last of the konoha clans to adopt the standard hand signs used today. In fact your clan still uses its own special hand signs for your clan jutsu's as well as among other jutsus" The standard hand signs used by almost every shinobi originated from the various temples that studied the more spiritual aspects of chakra during the early days of the warring states.
At first it was used by monks to help control over one's own chakra. The Uchiha were the ones that adopted and modified it for combat usage and the Senju copied quickly it. After the first shinobi war many villages switched over to the standard style and the many various methods used to control chakra was lost to time.
Naruto's explanation made the clan head widen her eyes. That she did not expect to hear from him apparently "Hm, you look surprised Tsume. I think a fly may end up in your mouth."
"Tch, cheeky brat. Well you certainly did your homework. Kiba, off the table" The boy looked ready to argue before the women growled out, the boy seemed to resign before sneaking off the adult tables. "~sigh~ That boy is going to be the end of me. Out of all my children he had to be the one the inherent the wolf's blood."
"And your one to talk mom?" Hana teased. "Don't mind what mom said. All that means is my little brother is a big hothead, nothing a few smacks to the head won't fix. You should have seen him after the chunin exams he was sulking and mumbling all about because he lost in less then a second." The women giggled as they heard exclamations coming from Kiba.
"So, what do you wish to talk about Tsume?" asked Naruto, taking a bite into his steak.
"You know what I want to talk about, I been hearing a lot about your policies from my kids and clansmen. So tell me Naruto Senju, what are you going to do about Suna, I think you heard of the news?" Naruto placed down his steak piece.
Yes, the suna issue. Since the attacks there wasn't a person that didn't know of the attempted invasion and the backlash had done nothing for the sand village. For a daimyo to hear that his own village not only went against his back but also nearly started the fourth shinobi war was not good news; On top of it the wind daimyo's relationship with his village was tenuous at best.
Hearing this broke all of that. The last thing they heard was that the daimyo was besieging suna and had declared the village no longer the representative of the wind nation shinobi forces. That alone sent shock waves, to be stripped of a great superpower spoke just how bad the invasion was for them. Already there were various smaller regional villages petitioning to be the new village of the wind nation and have sent shinobi to prove so.
The various superpowers merely watched for now, waiting to see how it will go. Even stipped of it's title did not deter the now rouge village. From what they knew the village was still holding out and will for many months, the people of suna were hardy/tough people, they would endure the siege.
"Ah yes, the suna incident. What do you wish to ask?"
"What the hell are you going to do? I've heard that the hokage is looking to negotiate with the daimyo, something about relocating the one tails or even keeping it" said Tsume.
"Ah, Well Tsume if you must know my plan it is quite simple. Well let suna live" said Naruto. He ignored the sharp chakra burst. "Let me explain, while I admit what suna did was unforgivable and punishment must be given I rather have an enemy we can see then a new one who we are ignorant."
Tsume calmed down and nodded. "Keeping Suna major power is still needed, destroying the village and replacing it with a new one will only bring unrest and make the area unstable. And since we share borders with the nation you can understand why we want to avoid this at all cost."
"And how will you punish them? I see the wisdom of keeping suna but we can't let them go unpunished my clan would never stand by that. A strike to the back means a strike to the face" she growled.
"Why Tsume, suna has already given us the keys to controlling them" he laughed "Their debt, the only reason suna even agreed to this madness was the promise of a better financial future. The pockets of the masses resonate more with a village then anything else, since the third war suna has only been slowly losing more money then gaining. Suna has been borrowing a lot since then"
He had used his magic to find old financial records about Suna. Konoha had known the village was borrowing more and more to pay for their military, even with the aid of the fourth kazekage's gold release only slowed the debt. By the time of the chunin exam suna's own debt was four times more than their GDP.
"We buy their debt, a lot of it and some other concessions. but importantly their debt. Suna is a government runned by money, they are beholden to that simple statement. Buy their debt and the mere idea of rising their threat would mean a total economic collapse; But we are an understanding people and are willing to offer some more financial aid, loans ... "
The Inuzuka matriarch's grin was large as her daughter mimicked her. "HAH, I see so making them our bitch eh? I like that, now that's the type of punishment I can stand. Make one village our second hand as well as make Iwa shit itself the same time, smart thinking their senju."
"Thank you, but that is not all you wanted to hear Tsume?"
"Correct, I've heard of your other polices and I have to say I am impressed. When I first heard of your little election I thought you were crazy. But the more I heard and seen you act ... well let's say I am willing to listen in more on what you have to offer."
Naruto smiled and began speaking of his other initiatives, ranging from the a complete restructuring on the academy to clan rights to more mundane acts such as public plumbing. The Inuzuka head and heir listened as the feast went by, people drinking and singing as he saw his teammates slowly joining the drunken party around them.
He smirked when he saw Kiba falling down dead drunk as Sakura laughed out with the rest of the adults, who knew sakura had a bigger tolerance then kiba. The more you know. Still, as the time went on he noticed the rest of the clan either falling asleep or less drunk clan members grabbing the kids to their rooms. As it reached late at night the feast had died down a few people who weren't unconscious.
Himself, Tsume, and a few older folks.
...
...
...
"Well, I think I should head out for now. It is getting late and I rather not explain my teammate why she is grabbing another man's balls" said Ozma as he stretched his arms.
"Yeah, better make sure my other clan mates don't drown in their own vomit" Tsume agreed.
"Still, thank you for at least listening to my ideas. I do not know if your clan will vote for me, but I do hope do a new day is approaching and I would like the fangs of konoha at my side" said Ozma. His eyes glowed with magic as he lifted up his teammates "Do take care now Tsume" waving the women goodbye.
As the doors to the main hall closed the matriarch snorted, shaking her head as her canine companion came to her "You know, I really wonder what konoha will be like under him ... maybe that is just who we need in these times." Shaking her head she and elders grabbed the drunken clan members.
All the while no one noticed the slight flare of green in her eyes.
xxx Next Week xxx
Sarutobi looked on with a grim face.
Naruto looked on with pride, his chest puffed out.
Crowds of people watched from below as Tsume Inuzuka stepped onto the podium. Shinobi watched with either grimm looks or hopeful ones. Behind the women were her children and the rest of the Inuzuka clan.
"People of Konoha! For decades the Inuzuka has stood loyal in the face of Konoha's enemies. Since the day my ancestors signed a peace treaty with the Harashima Senju we have fought by your side, not as comrades but as packmates. We have served for over four hokages and protected this village. However, in recent years something has changed.
Since the invasion of the suna and oto we have asked one question. Why has the third hokage allowed this to happen! For years we have stood by his side, but in recent years we have been forced to look back on his past deeds. To easy is it to boost of his achievements, but far harder to admit his faults.
His sins are quite vast and their have been slights and crimes the inuzuka have suffered under his rule, ones in the past we were willing to endure but must ask if it was the wise idea. The greatest of them lie within two, the allowance of letting Orochimaru go and the reveal of Naruto Senju's status as a jinchuriki.
We all have heard of his willingness to show a traitor mercy. Our clan knows of bytreal, knowing when a loyal son turns back on everything we stand for. But that does not mean we show mercy! When our sons and daughters go mad and turn rouge we do not shed tears, no we steady ourselves and end that person's life, only then do we grieve. But Sarutobi did not, instead he allowed the greatest traitor of konoha to go free and now the pack must suffer the folly of one.
That is not something our clan can forgive. He should have killed the man when he had the chance and now all of konoha suffers for it." Behind her many clan members nodded as they glared the kage. Tsume continued one.
"But that is not his only sin. His second greatest blunder was when he revealed the status of Naruto Senju. I understand the pain of knowing that the kyuubi was still alive after it tore many of our loved ones away from us and that it was trapped within a innocent child. It is easy to hate the boy, to lay all our pain on him, I do not claim my clan was any better but now I hope we all know the folly of it!
Gaara Sabaku was an eye opener, it showed just how fucked up we were and what would happen if the kid did not have people he cared about. We could have ended up with a monster of our own, one made by our hands and the blame solely on us! And I certainly don't care who wants to blame who because in the end we all fucked up, but no more than the hokage. Konoha was part of the pack, he was the alpha of the pack ... and his actions nearly costed us our lives once more.
In light of these and many past transgressions I have come to a decision. On this day, let it be known that the Inuzuka clan formally places their support to Naruto Senju. All hail to the future Godaimine!"
