Edit 9-30-21: For those of you still reading, thank you. There's a poll up on my profile regarding this fic so please take a look.

Naruto Uzumaki

Uzushiogakure - 10:18PM

As Naruto and what remained of Uzushio's southern and western forces traversed through ruined buildings, he couldn't help the bitter feelings of resentment and anger that bubbled forth. Some of the buildings he had visited earlier in the day were nothing but rubble now. He was sure all the other Shinobi of Uzushio felt the same way. This Village was their home, and it was becoming a graveyard.

Their fight against Kirigakures' army had left hundreds dead and wounded. Supposedly, they had gotten the easier of the two armies. While Kirigakure's military was considerably smaller than Kumo's, they also had three times the number of bloodline users. Not that it mattered, after the death of the Hurricane of Kiri, most of the Kiri's Shinobi retreated.

With one of the two invaders out of the picture, they could begin focusing all their efforts against Kumo. Thanks to the various seals throughout all of Uzushio, they knew that Kumogakure had managed to get at least six thousand of their soldiers into the Village itself. Thousands of Kumo's Ninja met their demise on the beaches, thanks to the countless regular traps and Fuinjutsu traps.

Still, six thousand trained Ninja outnumbered his forces at least seven to one. Even with his clan and the Terumi's help, what remained of Uzushio's soldiers could be overrun. Most Hidden Villages that were Uzushiogakures' size would've fallen within minutes, thankfully Uzushio wasn't like any other minor Hidden Village. There was a reason it was called the Village of Longevity. All of the retired Shinobi had donned their armor once more to defend their home. Though even with the bolster to their forces, Kumo had the outnumbered five to one now.

The Uzukage had led half of their forces, including all of the Crimson Tide against Kumo. That had been hours ago, and they hadn't gotten any word from them since. With all the alert seals in the area destroyed, most likely due to the heavy fighting. He didn't know if Kenshin's forces had met their end or had managed to repel the invaders.

Due to the lack of a response from the Uzukage or any other High ranking Shinobi, he had to assume the worst.

With the Uzukage missing, he and what little Jonin remained were leading the remainder of Uzushio's forces to push out the invaders or die trying. With the civilians and Non-combatants safely in their bunkers, repelling the invaders was of the utmost priority. Then securing their homeland and tending to their wounded would be the next.

It still baffled him how they made it past their whirlpools.

Their whirlpools alone should've deterred any force of this magnitude. Never in Uzushio's history had an army made landfall. It wasn't a widely known fact, but the whirlpools weren't a natural occurrence. They were seals on the ocean floor created by the Uzumaki clan when they first founded Uzushiogakure.

The whirlpool's surrounding Uzushio had a 'key' engineered into their seal. Whenever the key was input, the whirlpool's would become dormant, allowing safe travel over them. If the whirlpool's sensor sensed a presence approaching it, and a key wasn't. The eddies would become more violent. The goal was to keep uninvited individuals away, but if they persisted forwards; There would be no way anyone could make it through. He saw the twisted ships and mangled bodies of the people who had tried.

Naruto shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts. He needed to focus on the coming battles. He had no clue what they were walking in on. The unknowns of battle never ceased to fill him with unease. Hence why he was leading from the front. If there is a trap, he and the Vortex Guard could hold the line long enough for the retreat or a counter-attack.

Looking over towards where he sensed two redheads, he let out a sigh. The two of them had proven to be quite the thorn in his side. He loved them to death, but with the two of them being here, he couldn't focus on the battles to come at all. Even after assigning three members of his unit to protect them, he still felt anxious about their presence.

While the two of them were both seasoned Ninja, having fought in the First Shinobi War, and having years of experience on him. None of it changed the fact he didn't want them in the middle of another war. Perhaps the two of them found it annoying, a boy who was fifteen years almost sixteen, telling you not to fight because he didn't want you to. He couldn't help it. They were his family, his sole reason for going on, and they meant everything to him.

Akane was a mother of two beautiful daughters. One war had already taken her husband and their fathers, leaving her alone to raise the two of them. She had raised the two of them as best as possible, and she'd done a fantastic job. She even took him under her wing, and he wasn't even her child. That alone spoke volumes of her. But she was so devoted to her family that she didn't dare to seek out another person to fill the void her deceased husband had left. When he looked into those beautiful indigo orbs, he saw the pain. Despite having family around you, your brain always found a way to make you feel all alone. She deserved to be happy.

Mayumi was very similar to him in the aspect that they were both orphans of the Uzumaki clan. They both found out at a young age they excelled in the Ninja Arts and dived headfirst into the Shinobi career. Though unlike him, she didn't have a woman like Akane to help raise him or a friend now turned fiance like Kushina that was there for him. When he met her, she was all alone, but she was quite the slave driver. After being with her for two years, he saw past her cold facade into her more human side. She was a sweet woman, who had thankfully, opened up to him and his family.

The two of them had become very important to him, to the same extent Kushina had. He loved them more than family. It didn't help that the two of them were goddesses. And family meant everything to him, a value instilled into every Uzumaki. The fear of losing any of them drove him to do absurd things to make sure he wouldn't.

If any of them felt half as strongly as he did about them, he worried for himself when or if they found out what his fear had driven him to do.

The painful experimental procedures he had undergone, under the vigilant watch of Satomi Uzumaki, had nearly driven him mad. Even thinking about the surgeries had brought back painful memories. At the time, his blood had felt as it was liquid fire as it coursed through his body. The next procedure was even worse as every single nerve ending in his body suddenly felt like they were being shocked. His bones felt like they were breaking during the operation, and his muscles felt like hundreds of needles were being thrown haphazardly into them.

Many of his fellow draftees had opted not to undergo any of the procedures. Not that he could blame them. Throughout the entire operation, he thought he was going to die. After her initial success with him, Satomi had gone back to the drawing board and made her procedures less intrusive. So the other eleven members of the Vortex Guard underwent similar procedures to him but a much lesser degree.

After a month's rest, he was finally able to see the results of Satomi's tinkering. He'd always thought he was fit and had quite the impressive reaction time. After his first training session, he felt quite a notable difference in nearly everything. Now he was able to react to things significantly faster, and he felt considerably stronger. After that hellish torture, he was glad there were improvements, though it took nearly a month to get used to them all.

The two female Uzumaki's must've felt his lingering gaze as they both turned and looked directly at him. As he stared through his visor at the two beautiful women that Kami had put into his life. He couldn't help but wonder if either of them would think he was crazy for going to the lengths he did. Regardless of how they felt, they'd get his protection, whether they wanted it or not.

Naruto's gaze snapped forwards when he sensed a group of chakra signatures nearby. He along, with the rest of the sensors, raised their hands, halting the army. Two of the chakra signatures were very familiar to him. One was the Uzukage, and the other one belonged to Mei Terumi, Kushina's friend.

From the speed the two of them were moving at, Naruto deduced that at least one of them was injured. He hoped it wasn't Kenshin. If it was Mei, Kenshin could easily fight off a group of that size, unless they were all Jonin and ANBU.

He didn't even bother saying anything as he channeled chakra to his legs and rushed forwards. Akane had nearly lost her mother. She wouldn't lose her father, and Kushina wouldn't lose her best friend.

When the Uzukage and Terumi came into vision, Naruto narrowed his eyes at the state of the Uzushios' leader. The older man was leaning on the Terumi as she assisted him in walking. From where he was, Naruto could see that Kenshin had multiple broken bones and fractures all over his body. Whoever Kenshin had fought must've driven him to his absolute limits.

Mei didn't look like she was fairing any better either. Just one look at how she was breathing, and he could tell that she'd broken a couple of ribs. Though, the flirty auburn-haired girl was as feisty as she was flirty as she sent a devastating lava attack at one of the nearby enemy shinobi.

He'd never used the Jutsu before, but he wasn't going to make it in time as a group of five began closing in on Mei. With three tri-pronged kunai in hand, Naruto threw them in the surrounding area of Mei and Kenshin, making sure not to hit them.

He'd never gotten the chance to use it in combat since it was his most recent creation. Hell, he hadn't even named the damn thing. Given the current situation, using it now was better than never using it.

With a hand gripped firmly on the hilt of his katana, Naruto shut his eyes as he focused on the markers attached to the flying kunai's. Despite the vision through the marks being somewhat blurred, he could still make out what was happening. As soon as he saw the enemy shinobis a couple of feet away from Mei, he teleported to the mark.

When Naruto reappeared, he slashed his katana downwards, where the first of the hostile shinobi was supposed to be. Though much to his surprise and confusion, he missed the person by a foot or so. The masked person he meant to decapitate didn't idle at all as they immediately engaged him with a flurry of strikes from a katana of their own.

Steel met steel as sparks flew as the blades clashed against each other. Naruto barraged the man with a series of attacks as he unsheathed his second crimson katana and began channeling lightning chakra through the both of them. Every time Naruto struck at the man's blade, the sheer force he put behind it chipped at the man's katana until soon nothing remained of it.

The immaculate steel of Uzushiogakure's smiths tore through the man's armor into his soft flesh as blood sprayed freely from his wounds. For some reason, he couldn't comprehend. He felt the urge to look at the man's face, a decision he soon came to regret.

As Naruto removed the mask of the Ninja, he saw the person's lifeless face. Only it was the face of a Ninja he had killed a year ago staring back at him, the pale lips on the dead face twisted into a demented smile as it appeared to look him right in the eyes. Soon the body collapsed onto the ground as Naruto continued to stare at it.

The group of Ninja chasing the Uzukage and Mei tucked tail and ran as he looked up and realized that Uzushio's army had caught up to him. A brigade of medical Nin were tending to Mei and Kenshin.

But none of that occurred to Naruto as he stared at the body lying at his feet. All he could hear was his heart beating rapidly in his chest as he crouched down to get a better look at their face again. This person couldn't be the same person he killed before. As he looked at the visage of the deceased man, he didn't know what to feel anymore.

Where the man's face once was, was replaced by a black visage. Naruto couldn't make out their eyes, their nose, or any other part of their face. Despite being a person he just killed, it helped that he could no longer see their face.

There were already hundreds of faces burnt into his memory. Their voices were always in the back of his mind tormenting him, but now they were gone. It was as if he was omitting their faces unconsciously. It was easier to kill something that wasn't human.

Naruto felt like an empty void as if an essential part of his humanity had left him. Every time he had killed someone, a part of his soul had left him, and now that familiar sting was gone. He had finally become a monster. What kind of person was okay with killing people?

"Naruto?" Mayumi said, shaking his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts as he stared up into her worried green gems that were her eyes.

There was a cute blush on Mayumi's face as he kept staring into her green jewels. Under her gaze, those feelings disappeared. It was as if she had washed them away. From her presence alone, it felt like a bright light was shined upon him, fishing him back from that deep dark place he was just in.

Naruto couldn't stop himself when he jumped up and wrapped his strong arms around her. Mayumi let out a cute squeak as he hugged her tightly, though she returned the hug with equal ferocity.

"Ummm, Naruto-kun. Not that I'm not happy to hug you or anything, but maybe we could do this sometime after all this?" Mayumi whispered with a smile as she poked the visor on his helmet. "Everyone's looking at us right now," she said with a full-blown blush as she tried to hide her face from everyone.

Yeah, everyone was looking at both of them, including the Uzukage, who was glaring at him. Well, fuck.

"Tou-sama!?" yelled Akane, who had just broken through the crowd of Medics and other Shinobi as she rushed to be by her father's side.

The look in the aged Uzumakis' eyes told him that there was going to be a conversation later.

"What happened to you?" Akane asked as she frantically looked over the wounded man.

"Akane," began the old man as he rubbed his temple with his hand. "What're you doing here? I told Naruto to make sure you'd be in the bunker with Kushina," said Kenshin with a frustrated tone.

"Well... I was on my way to get you. Kaa-chan always said you'd work yourself to death when you get a chance to," Akane said with a smile as tears streamed down her face. "It's like what she said was true."

"I-is she alright?" asked Kenshin fear evident on his face as he began to get up despite his wounds.

"All the medics said she'd be fine," Akane answered as she gently helped move Kenshin back onto the ground with the help of medics.

Tearing his gaze away from the father and daughter, Naruto stared up into the dark cloudy sky above. Drops of rain hit his visor and cascaded down onto the soiled ground below. Every single person he killed had someone important to them, and he had taken them away from their families.

They all had families just like him. He needed to remember that. He needed to remember their faces and take responsibility that he took them away. Burying his feelings wouldn't clear his conscience from killing them.

From here out, he'd fight to come home. He was finally strong enough to protect the ones he loved. Now he just had to keep them safe. He loved his family more than life itself.

He was full of fear. But when he thought about them, all he felt was the urge to protect them. He was scared of the demons' that haunted him at night. But if it's his family, he'd face those demons and win no matter the cost. Even if is he was going to be damned to hell for eternity. He'd continue fighting.

They were the angels who had flown down to him while he was in that dark crevice. They had given him the will to move forwards. For them, he'd continue moving forwards; until the very end.

"Hey!" Mayumi said, knocking on his helmet. "The Uzukage wants to talk to you."

Naruto nodded as he ran over to the Uzukage and Akane as Mayumi trailed after him.

"You look like you've seen better days, Jiji," Naruto greeted as he went down on a knee beside Akane.

"Tell me about it," grumbled Kenshin as he looked at him. "Take your helmet off. I want to see your face as we talk," ordered Uzushiogakure's leader.

Naruto quickly followed the order as he took the helmet off, the cold air was refreshing, but the smell of the battlefield wasn't.

"Hmm, the look you have in your eyes is better than the last time we talked," said Kenshin with the nod of his head, then the older man's visage morphed into a serious look. "Naruto Uzumaki, Jonin of Uzushiogakure. I grant you the Maelstrom. Upon my death, you will take your place as the Third Uzukage of Uzushiogakure." Kenshin declared as he held out a katana in its sheath.

Naruto froze as he stared at the katana offered to him. He couldn't decline it. Kenshin had chosen him as his heir, even knowing that he had plenty of issues that he had to overcome. But that also meant the man saw something in him. Something that he thought would be beneficial to the Village in the long run. He couldn't let the man down.

With shaky hands, Naruto accepted the katana. As he gripped the hilt of the katana, strange feelings had suddenly flooded his senses. Happiness, pride, love, and longing were what he mainly felt. But as abrupt as the feelings had come, did they leave.

Kenshin was watching him the entire time as he tried to keep a calm facade on. Those emotions had felt so powerful as if a dam had been broken, unleashing a flood. Sealing one of the katanas on his back, he secured the Maelstrom and turned to look back at the Uzumaki Patriarch.

"Good, with that out of the way. Before I leave, there are some more things I must tell you." Kenshin said as he grabbed him and pulled him closer. "Naruto, the Second Raikage, is here. He's the one who did this," whispered Kenshin.

Akane let out a gasp as he backed away from Kenshin. Uzushiogakure had already fought off one Kage level Ninja. It had taken the combined effort of Hoshiko and the Elemental Five to take down the Hurricane of Kiri and his guard.

He could already feel the doubt building up in him. If Kenshin had lost against this man, what good was he going to do? Kenshin made his experience look like a rookie with the number of years that man had under his belt.

Kenshin must've seen the look in his eyes because he grabbed his arm roughly, causing Naruto to look at the man once more.

"Hold onto what makes you strong and never let go," Kenshin said, looking him right in the eyes.

Naruto turned and looked towards Akane and Mayumi. Both were on opposite sides of him, having roughly the same expression, one of fear. That fear had no place in those indigo and green eyes. Grabbing onto Akane's left and Mayumi's right hand, he gave them both a firm squeeze.

Their hands latched onto his like a lifeline as they squeezed him tightly. He could only imagine what was going through their minds. With Kenshin declaring him the Uzukage, it meant that Naruto had become the strongest Shinobi in Uzushio. He'd be the one to fight the Raikage.

There wasn't any running from this. Naruto would have to face this challenge head-on. Looking back and forth between Akane and Mayumi, that same urge to protect them came back full strength. He'd fight back against Uzushiogakure's fate. It wasn't just for Akane, Mayumi, Misaki, and Kushina. If he was to be the Uzukage, he needed to look out for the rest of his Village.

But his family would always be his primary source of strength like Kenshin said he'd hold onto them. Unknowingly Naruto began leaking his chakra through his hands into both Mayumi's and Akane's. He was surprised when both Akane's and Mayumi's grips on his hand's tightened as they both looked at him. The fear in their eyes gone, replaced with awe and love?

Kenshin cleared his throat, gaining their attention. "About the Raikage, he encases himself in lightning that acts as armor, and he's fast, maybe faster than you," Kenshin said with narrowed eyes. "He tore through the crimson tide like they were a batch of fresh Genin. If you could stall him, along with his army, I have a kinjutsu that could save Uzushio. But I need time."

"We'll buy you all the time we need Old man, but first. If I'm going to fight the Raikage, I need to work on this," Naruto said, holding up his tri-pronged kunai.

Two members of the Vortex Guard, who had been standing nearby, walked up to the four of them.

"We've got incoming, five minutes out and closing. There's tons of em," came the muffled voice of his long-range sensor.

"While you're doing that, Taicho. We'll fight them till the bitter end." said the second Vortex Guard member.

"You won't have to. When you see two fireballs launched into the sky, initiate a full retreat." Naruto said as the two ran off to relay the information and get Uzushio's army into position.

He wasn't going to sacrifice any more lives than he needed to.

"Let's get you out of here, old man. I'll send you to Kushina." He said, reaching over to teleport Kenshin and Mei away.

"Good luck," Kenshin said before he vanished in a red flash.

With Kenshin safe and the orders sent out. Naruto summoned a shadow clone who got behind him and began taking off the chest piece to his armor.

"Let us help with that," Mayumi said as she and Akane moved over to assist his clone.

With how close the two of them were, he couldn't help but look at them. Even with all the grime on their uniforms, they were as gorgeous as ever. Knowing that this might be the last time he spoke to them, he decided against hold anything back.

"I know you two are furious and that this isn't the time. But you two look stunning," Naruto said with a smile as he looked up at the two gorgeous Uzumaki women who had just removed his chest piece. "I'm glad that we got to spend as much time together as we did."

"Don't you dare start talking like that now, Naruto. We're all going to make it through this." Mayumi said with tears streaming down her face. Her hands were clutching at his shirt. "Then, after all of this is over... we're going to retire and live in the same home. We'll be one big happy family."

A life like that sounded fantastic, but he knew better than that. They all did. Battles were unpredictable. Anything could happen to the strongest of people.

The sounds of the battle nearby roared throughout the area as explosions shook the ground. His clone was doing his best to work on his seal as the ground shook.

"We're going to help you fight the Raikage, whether you like it or not," Akane said as she locked eyes with him.

"No,"

"How're you going to stop us? You should know by now that it's dumb to try and stop an Uzumaki woman from doing something she wants to." Akane said with a smile, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him to her. That caused the clone to let out an uncharacteristic shout of anger.

"I could always just teleport you to Kushina," He said in an irritated tone. And here he thought was overprotective.

That obviously wasn't the right response as Akane just pulled him closer until they were face to face.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, if you do that, and something happened to you? I don't care where your soul ends up. I'll find you and kill you again," Akane said in a low dangerous tone. It was scary enough that it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Fine... only under the condition you two only intervene should anything happen to me." relented Naruto as his clone popped into a puff of smoke.

The two stubborn Uzumaki women nodded in response as he stood up. That was going to be the best he got out of them.

"So, what's your plan? And why'd you order them to retreat when you gave them the signal?" asked Mayumi as she put his chest piece back on.

Pulling out one of his tri-pronged kunai, he stared down at the space-time formula on the grip of the kunai. Today was the first day he'd ever used the damn thing, and it wasn't even working as he meant for it too then. And now he was fixing to take it into a major battle.

"I'm going to use this to decimate their army and fight the Raikage when he shows his face. Unless the man is faster than an instant teleportation technique, I think we have a chance," he said as he shut his eyes.

Naruto focused on the marker that was under the Uzukage's tower, looking through the mark. He had much more clarity than before. Naruto could see Kushina Uzumaki, who was currently tending to people's wounds. While she was saving lives, he was about to take possibly thousands of them to protect them.

With his armor back in place and his sealing formula situated, Naruto began running towards the battleground, followed by Akane and Mayumi.

When they arrived, they stood upon a pile of debris. From there, Naruto bore witness to the legendary battle. In his four years as a Shinobi, he'd never seen an engagement of this magnitude. Thousands of Ninja clashed against each other as Jutsu's fired off from either side collided into groups of people. It was hell.

Be sure to clone these as you throw them in there," he said as he handed Mayumi and Akane two tri-pronged kunai each.

Receiving a nod from the two, he molded the chakra in his stomach and fired two fireballs into the sky far above the battle. The result was nearly instant. Many of the Shinobi on their side began falling back as the rearguard protected their retreat.

"Now!" He shouted as Akane and Mayumi threw the kunai towards the battlefield.

Four markers turned into hundreds as they landed throughout the battleground. Taking a deep breath, Naruto unsheathed the Maelstrom. The hilt of the katana matched his hand perfectly like it was for him. Then he teleported into the fray of battle.

When Naruto reappeared, he was right in front of a Kunoichi. Her eyes were wide and filled with fear. Without any hesitation, he beheaded her. Blood sprayed freely from her corpse, watering the ground with her blood. Her squad didn't even realize she was dead until it was too late for them.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a Ninja throw multiple kunai with explosive tags attached to them. Just before they went off, he teleported away as the explosions kicked up even more debris and dust. Unknowingly they helped him even more if they couldn't react to him before. Now that they couldn't see very well, they had all but doomed themselves.

Luckily for him, he was a sensor.

Sensing a rather large group of Ninja huddled together nearby a couple of his kunai. With the Maelstrom in hand, he teleported right into the middle of them. The poor shinobi by his marker didn't even have time to react as he picked up the kunai and plunged it into his throat.

His space-time jutsu carried him throughout the battlefield as he fought with ease as he fought and slashed his way through his foes. Whether he was snapping their necks, breaking their bones, or slicing them into pieces with his katana. Anything and everything that he touched, he marked, allowing him to teleport throughout the area should the need arise.

Considering there was a high probability that he was going to fight the Raikage, he wanted to plan as far ahead as possible. With that in mind, he made sure to reduce the amount of chakra he was using to conserve it. Despite being an Uzumaki with massive reserves, he wanted to make sure he had more than enough to fight that man.

Channeling some lightning chakra through the Maelstrom, he sent an arc of lightning towards a group of three, cutting them all in half. As some of the dust faded, he sensed and saw the remaining group of shinobi and kunoichi that survived his onslaught.

They were all looking at him as they surrounded him, their eyes filled with nothing but complete and utter disdain as they looked at him.

"Demon!"

"You're a monster!"

"You Uzumaki's are devils!"

Underneath his helmet, Naruto sneered at all of them. They were the ones invading his Village, his home, yet they called him a demon? They were slaughtering members of the Terumi clan and his clan in droves. Yet he was the monster when he raised his weapons to defend them?

Did they just want him to lay down his weapons and die like a good little devil?

"KILL THE DEM-"

Naruto didn't even let the man finish his sentence before cutting the man in half. The looks of hatred all turned into one of fear as they all quivered before him. He didn't want to kill them, but he swore an oath to defend his Village, and if he wanted to come home to his family, he'd have to win.

Before he could begin the slaughter, he sensed a lone, powerful chakra signature, blitzing straight towards him. Then there was a fist, encased in lightning chakra aimed right at his face. Teleporting away just before it could hit him, Naruto looked at the man who nearly ended his life.

The man was taller than most, dark-skinned, had black hair, and one disgusting beard. Add to the fact that all of the man's hair was standing on edge because lightning was surrounding him. He was quite sore on his eyes. But there was no mistaking that this man was the Raikage.

The dark-skinned mans' eyes landed on him as the two of them made eye contact. Then the man rushed towards him once more. In the next literal second, the man was in front of him again. He barely managed to block the high-speed attack with the help of his vambraces.

The punch that connected with his armor sent a small shockwave throughout the battleground as he skidded back from the sheer force of the blow.

"Not only did you block my attack, but you saw it coming too. Interesting," said the man in a gruff voice as he looked at Naruto with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Any fighting that was still occurring in the area had stopped as both forces began watching the battle.

"You're the second person on this damned Island that's managed to do both," the man snarled out, glaring at Naruto.

"You Uzumaki Devils are too dangerous to leave alive. You're helping Konoha in all these wars as they throw the Nations into pandemonium. Without you to help them, there will finally be peace." said the Raikage as his soldiers cheered him on.

"Don't you dare speak to me of peace," Naruto responded through gritted teeth.

This man spoke of peace, the same man who had most likely ordered the genocide of his clan.

"You came here to my Village, killed my people, and you dare to speak of peace?!" shouted Naruto, his blood was boiling with fury.

He'd never felt this way before in his life. It felt as if a raging inferno was burning inside him as he glared at the man. There wasn't any point in holding back anymore. The person he was waiting to fight stood in front of him.

If he beat this man, Uzushio survived. Kumo's forces would likely retreat, or he would destroy them too. Then everyone, including his family, could live safely. He just had to beat him.

"I hope you find your peace in the afterlife," Naruto said as enormous waves of his crimson chakra surged forth, flooding the battlefield.

Then he charged straight towards the man at breakneck speeds.

Mayumi Uzumaki

Uzushiogakure - Present time

From the moment she had first met Naruto, she knew he was special. She wasn't a sensor type ninja, and she knew that everyone's chakra was unique. But his was completely different than anything she had felt.

She'd never felt anything like it throughout her entire career as a Kunoichi. While she had sensed it before, Narutos' chakra made her feel warm, like she was relaxing in the meadow on a refreshing, sunny day. But when he had taken her hand, the warmth of his chakra intensified. It had made her feel safe and secure that no matter what happened, she'd be alright.

Then there was the unnatural pull she felt. As if something was pushing her towards Naruto. Akane had felt the same thing when she had asked her a minute ago. All the suppressed feelings for Naruto came whirling back.

Even though he was years younger than her, she had fallen in love with him. He was good looking, smart, and loving. All the qualities that most of the unmarried men on Uzushio didn't have. Add to the fact that he cared for her deeply.

It was such a shame that Kushina had gotten her hands on him first. She'd been depressed as all hell when she had found out he already had that special someone. But after seeing the two of them when they had reunited after three years. She knew that she couldn't possibly step between the two of them. Kami had created those two for each other.

Not that she minded sharing, it wasn't the most uncommon thing in the world for a man to have multiple wives. Especially if they had a bloodline, which, unfortunately, Naruto may or may not have, but he was immensely powerful. She just didn't know how to broach the subject.

If she was honest with herself, she was just afraid too. She didn't want to destroy the relationship they had together. Just having someone like Naruto care for her as he did; was something she never wanted to lose.

But right now, the feelings of safety and security that Naruto had left her were starting to fade as she watched Naruto and the Raikage fight. The man had years of experience on Naruto. Though Naruto had scary potential, and the Uzukage had seen it just as she had.

Naruto was an enigma to everyone. Despite having the Uzumaki surname, some had questioned his legitimacy. While they knew who his father was, his mother was an entirely different story. There weren't any records of her anywhere, and they couldn't ask Naruto's father due to his unfortunate death. All they had was the documents left with little Naruto when they found him outside the public orphanage.

If both parents had died, and the child was an Uzumaki or Terumi. The clans would've taken the child in to grow up under the care of the clans' orphanage. It was almost like someone was trying to hide him.

But all of that was an afterthought as she watched the battle before her eyes. The speed at which the two were fighting was mind-blowing, as her trained eyes struggled to keep up. As if they weren't moving fast enough, Naruto was incorporating his newest jutsu as he teleported around the Raikage to avoid some of the mans' attacks.

If Naruto hadn't cemented his mark upon the world as a Legendary Shinobi before, he had now. At the mere age of fifteen, he had already wiped out thousands of men and women. And now, he was battling the Second Raikage, one of the strongest Kage if the rumors were true.

"We should go help him," Akane said beside her as she fidgeted with her hands.

"What good would we do if we stepped in? I mean, look at the two of them. They're on an entirely different level." she whispered back to her older best friend.

As much as it hurt her pride as a Kunoichi, she accepted the fact that she might be more of a liability in this fight to Naruto. Her favorite student had surpassed her long ago. She clenched her fists in anger as she watched Naruto and the Raikage fight.

She knew Naruto was giving this fight everything he had, but the Raikage was a Kage of one of the Five Great Nations for a reason. As Kenshin had told them, the lightning that hovered around the Raikage was acting like armor and absorbing most of Naruto's attacks. Everything except for Naruto's katana, the Raikage was doing his damndest to avoid that blade.

Seeing the crimson lightning that coated the blade, she'd do her best to avoid it too.

Though, something strange was happening with Kumogakure's Shinobi. Shouts were erupting from the army as they began to get into position. As if something or someone was coming.

That's when she saw them. Uzushio's army hadn't retreated like Naruto had told them to. The Vortex Guard was leading the charge as hundreds of Jutsus' from either side were launched at each other.

"Now's our best chance to help him," whispered Akane as she unleashed her chakra chains from her lower back.

Mayumi just let out a sigh as Akane looked at her. There really wasn't stopping an Uzumaki when they had made their mind up about something.

End

Authors Note

Once again, I'm sorry for the long waits between updates. Work has been a bitch. Currently I'm about two thousand words into the rough draft for the next update for this story and I'm also working on an update for my other one as well.

Before I forget. Supernaturalsex recently started a discord, basically an app on your phone or computer where people can talk in the chat. If you want to join to talk just head to Supernaturalsex's profile and the invite will be there.

Also, I appreciate every single follow and favorite. But reviews mean alot so please leave one, if you can. If you can't I understand.

I hope you're all staying safe and I hope you enjoyed the update.