So, here's the second chapter to this series. In response to "Soledge1": No, Older Naruto will not have any romantic encounters with anyone, Uchiha or not. Younger Naruto may have one, I haven't decided yet.
Naruto POV
I feel like I'm too efficient…" Naruto said, sitting in the chair. He had his legs propped on the desk. He'd been Hokage for over a week, and the village was doing well. They'd caught and detained Kumo and Iwa ninja, who had been trying to monopolize on the weakened state of Konoha. Naruto was signing papers, calling for trade with the Wave country, and preparing for a Kage summit due in only 2 weeks.
"What do you mean?" The Sandaime asked.
"I've got nothing to do. My clones take care of the delivery and the paperwork. They talk to the people, they're always out there, and I'm here, without anything to do…"
"You do know that most of the Kage's wish they had your kind of free time? Right?"
"Yeah…" He stood up, "I guess I should be grateful…But I feel like I'm not doing the job…"
"Maybe you could go back home, and be a father while you still can. Your clones obviously can handle the work." Naruto nodded.
"Maybe…" He paced around the room for a while. The Sandaime just watched him, not really sure what was going on inside Naruto's head. "Yeah...I guess I am doing the job, just not me personally. I can be a dad."
The door burst open, and a tall man ran in. Behind him, Ms Sankyo was panting. "I'm sorry, Hokage-Sama, but he refused to listen to me!"
"Sensei! You didn't tell me you were choosing another successor! ANd I've never heard of this Naruto! Who is he?!" He stopped when he realized that said Naruto was in the room with him. "Are you Naruto?" He nodded. "Where're you from?"
Naruto stared for a moment, before making a subtle hand sign, sending the ANBU away again. "It's fine Ms. Sankyo. Now please, excuse us. I have much to discuss with Jiraiya."
"Yes, Hokage-Sama." She closed the door, behind her. And the silent seals activated, sealing the room away from the outside.
"Alright. Jiji, could you explain this one. It took long enough to convince you, and I don't wanna go through it again." Jiraiya looked between them, trying to understand whatever they were talking about.
"Very well...Jiraiya, this is Naruto Otsutsuki, previously called Naruto Uzumaki, the son of Minato Namikaze, and Kushina Uzumaki. He is from a future in which Obito Uchiha starts the Fourth Ninja War, and brings Madara back to life. He traps everyone inside a Genjutsu called The Infinite Tsukuyomi. Naruto has come back in time, to try and change the future." The Sandaime said. Jiraiya stared for a moment.
"That's...not possible, Sensei. There is no Jutsu for going into the past."
"Alright. Fine. You are Jiraiya the Toad Sage, a self proclaimed Mega-Pervert, and author of the "Icha-Icha" series. Your first book was called "A Gutsy Ninja" and Minato named me after the main character of the book. You trained at Mount Myoboku to get sage mode, but you never mastered it, and only have an imperfect version. Naruto Uzumaki has the Kyuubi sealed inside of him, and it's an Eight Trigrams seal. The same as mine." Naruto pulled off his shirt, showing the seal emblazoned on his belly. "You use most of your time to peek on women, and manage Konoha's spy network."
"Wha…?" He moved closer to examine the seal. "Well that is the seal…"
"You are also Naruto's Godfather, but since I am his technical father, you don't really have a say."
"What he means by that is…" The Sandaime cut in before Jiraiya could retort. "Young Naruto will grow to be an identical copy of this Naruto, and it would be odd to explain that, so Young Naruto is living in Minato's house, along with this Naruto."
Jiraiya stood straight. You could see that his mind was working overtime to process the information. He sank down into a bench on the side of the room. "...so, even if it's all true...how'd you get back here?"
"...When I realized that my friends were never coming back, I invented the Jutsu. I just wanted to bring them back. You died. Jiji died. Everybody I loved was gone...And now I'm here." He said pointedly.
"...I died?" Naruto nodded.
"To the leader of Akatsuki...Nagato, your old student." Jiraiya's eyes widened in recognition. "But now you're alive, and I won't let you die again!" He pounded his fist into the desk.
"...How were we connected?"
"You were my Sensei, and my dad. I traveled with you for two and a half years away from this village, which hated me for the fox inside…" He glanced down at his stomach. "Shut it."
"Huh?"
"It's just the Kyuubi. He likes to pipe in from time to time." He saw the look on Jiraiya's face. "Don't worry. After you died, I took his chakra away from him, and then during the war we became friends."
"What?" Naruto sighed. This would take awhile.
By the end of the hour, Jiraiya was up to date on his alibi, and about the circumstances.
"Okay, so this group I heard about is going to cause us big problems later, and they're called Akatsuki. You're from the worst possible future, and you're here to fix it, with your Sage of Six-Paths powers. Right?"
"Yup! That's about it." Naruto said.
"Huh...well, I'm going to go and do some...Research, bye!" He vaulted out the window. Naruto watched him disappear.
"Well, I think he took that relatively well...but I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up drunkenly falling into a hot spring tomorrow morning…" The Sandaime said. "Just go home, Naruto. I'll deal with this for now. See your son." He pushed Naruto out of the office, where the ANBU were waiting. He nodded, and they entered the room, hiding in their respective corners.
Naruto walked by his clones, all of them greeting the original in passing. Several of them were wondering the streets, stopping to talk with civilians who approached them.
"Um...excuse me?" Naruto turned. She was vaguely recognizable, "Are you available for a moment?"
"Um, yes? And you are?"
"Sakiyo Uchiha…just follow me." She began to walk away. Naruto suspected that something was up. He also saw a bit of Sasuke in her, but all Uchiha were related, so that made sense.
"Where are we going?"
"Umm...just to some friends…" Naruto knew that she didn't have his best intentions in mind. She'd probably identified him as the original because his chakra signature was slightly stronger than his clones. The Uchiha were probably pissed that one of them wasn't chosen to be Hokage, and were planning to dispatch him. Well, Naruto would just go and detain them himself.
"How much longer?" She flinched.
"Only a couple of minutes…" He nodded. He concentrated for a moment, and the the orange eyeliner appeared. He could sense a group of 8 or 9 people ahead. They'd chosen the inside of a decommissioned building. "Just in here. My friends have some questions for you."
"Mm-hmm." Naruto deactivated Sage Mode. "Should I be expecting anything?"
"Yeah! You're death!" Some of had encircled around him. The girl vanished into the group. "It's time the Uchiha had some power!"
"So you thought that nine of you would be able to take down a Hokage. Sure." He was laughing on the inside. "I don't even need my Kekkei Genkai."
"How dare you! The Uchiha are the strongest! The Sharingan prevails over all other Kekkei Genkai!" Some drew swords from their sides. Naruto laughed.
"I've had experience against The Sharingan, and I can tell you, it's not that powerful compared to the Mangekyo or the Rinnegan…" Some began to falter. 'Kurama, just the normal cloak. Let's scare them.'
'You got it.' A red cloak began to over take Naruto's body. 1 tail erupted from his back. The group began to shake. They remembered that feeling, that feeling of terror.
"H-He's the fox! The Kyuubi was reborn!" They scattered.
"Ne ne. You thought you could get away with attacking the Hokage?" "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" They were surrounded by clones, and the fear was starting to get to them Some of them curled into balls, holding themselves. One stabbed himself with his sword, and some of them began to cry. "Wow...Maybe we went a little too hard Kurama…" The cloak bubbled away.
'That was short…'
"I know…" The clones moved forwards, hoisting each attacker onto their feet, confiscating their hiate. "You are all under arrest for the unlawful attack on the Hokage. I sentence each of you to life in prison." Naruto gritted his teeth. "And that's being merciful." The attack brought up memories of his childhood, back when he'd been attacked by the Uchiha. 'I won't let it happen to me again. I'll protect him, and he'll be happy. I promise that.'
Naruto dragged all the people out of the alleyway. People noticed, and were staring at him and his clones. He put his fingers in his mouth, whistling as loud as possible. A few seconds later, one of the patrol squads appeared in front of him. "Yes Hokage-Sama?" The Eagle masked leader asked.
"Take them to the holding cells. They're charged with attacking the Hokage." The clones brought the group forward."
"They attacked him?"
"Are they insane? He can fly!"
Naruto could hear the people murmuring around them. "Got it?"
"Yes Hokage-Sama." The group took the cuffs from their belts.
"No! He's the fox! He is-" An ANBU chopped the back of his neck, and the man went silent.
"You have no right to speak. You attacked our Hokage. You are sentenced to a holding cell for the time, and your hearing will be held at a date yet to be determined. Now, be law abiding citizens and come along quietly." Each of Naruto's attackers were cuffed, and they were taken away in a line, surrounded by a crowd.
"Um...Hokage-Sama?" Naruto looked down. There was a little boy tugging on his pant leg. "Where are those guys going?"
"Oh!" A woman, presumably his mother, pulled him away quickly. "I'm sorry! He's only four!" She was shaking.
"No, it's fine. He can be curious." Naruto squatted down to the boys level. "You wanted to know where they're going, right?" The boy nodded. "Well...In Konoha, there are rules that you have to follow, just like home." Naruto began. "And those guys," he pointed in their direction. "They broke those rules, and-"
"They're getting a timeout?"
"Yeah! A timeout! But it's a lot longer than at home, because the village is bigger than home, right?" The boy nodded.
"So I shouldn't break the rules, or I'll getta timeout too?"
"That's right! You're really smart!" He ruffled the boys hair. "So don't break the rules, okay?"
"Okay!" The boy grinned. Naruto chuckled, standing up.
"You've got a very smart kid, miss. I hope he stays that way."
"T-Thank you, Hokage-Sama!" She looked down at her son. "Say thank you, Igari."
"Thank you!" Naruto nodded.
"Just stay happy." Naruto turned away, slowly walking towards home. The crowd began to fade as people realized that the show was over. "Yeah...stay happy...that's all I want…"
The gate swung open for him, and he stepped onto his estate. "Now it's time to make that happen." He opened the door to his home. Inuko was sitting on the couch, holding Naruto in his blanket.
"Hello, Naruto-Sama. You are home early."
"Yup. My clones got it." He opened the fridge. "It's kinda empty…and I want ice cream:"
"I will go." Naruto jumped. Inuko was right beside him. He was starting to find her a little creepy, with the expressionless face and voice, and her odd movement.
"You sure?" He breathed. "I was just gonna send a clone."
"You should be with your son if you are able to be here. I will go."
"Alright...let me write you a list." He grabbed a paper and pen.
Noodles
Miso Broth
Vegetables
Pork
Beef
Eggs
Bread
Ice cream
Instant Ramen
"I think that's it…" Naruto handed her the slip of paper. She tucked it into her pocket.
"I will be back." She left.
"Huf...creepy." He moved over to the couch, where Naruto was laying. "At least you're here."
"Ah!"
"Sure, sure...Ah, whatever that means in baby language."
'You know, Kitsune are great parents, let me speak to him.'
"Yeah no. Don't need to scare week old me. Maybe when he's older."
'You're no fun…'
"Choo!" Naruto looked down. His hand was covered in snot.
"Oh wow…" He picked up Naruto with one hand, holding the snot covered one far away. He moved into the bathroom, carefully turning on the sink, and very, very diligently washing his hands. "That was disgusting…"
"Ahahah!"
"Are you laughing at me?! I'll have you know, as Hokage, I can banish you from the village."
'You know he doesn't understand you…'
"It's fun Kurama, though I'm not sure you know what that means…"
'Rude.' Naruto scoffed, turning off the water, and returning to the living room.
"You know...I think Naruto needs to learn a bit about how to be a ninja." Very carefully, Naruto walked up the wall, and stood on the ceiling, carefully making sure Little Naruto didn't end up upside down. Now, Naruto had his hands over his head, holding Little Naruto below him. "Hello." Baby Naruto looked up at him, staring. He began to wiggle around, trying to dislodge his hands from the blanket. "That's not happening. You're only a week old, you can't really use those muscles yet." He walked back down the wall. "But I'll teach you. I'll make you strong."
"Ah!"
"What does that mean?!"
Inuko came back later, bringing everything inside. She began to put them in the refrigerator, and Naruto set Baby Naruto down to help her.
"How was Naruto, Hokage-Sama?" Inuko asked, putting the eggs in the shelf.
"Other than the sneeze, it was fine." He put the broth in the pantry. "Everything go well?"
"Yes." Clipped. Naruto was beginning to notice a trend. She was hiding her emotions. He was sure of it. Probably part of her training for working for such high class families. He would have to make sure.
"Can you tell me what your training was like?" He asked casually. She stiffened.
"It was...fine."
"No no. What did they teach you?"
"...they taught me how to speak, act, hold myself…"
"And?" He prompted.
"...they taught how to mask emotions…"
"Why?"
"I'm not sure sir."
"Then why do you hide your emotions?"
"Because that is what I was taught.
"Well I think it's dumb. You're human, just like everybody else, and you have feelings too. I won't stop you from feeling them, and you shouldn't either." She was silent for a moment.
"Yes Naruto-Sama." She said, finishing their conversation. Naruto sighed. At least he got the message across.
Later that night, Naruto was woken up to the sound of Naruto's cries again. Groaning, he stuffed his head under the pillows. 'Every. Single. Night!'
'Hey. He's hungry, and when it was you, you cried even more. At least you get fed immediately now. You were so loud, and trust me, I was angry in there.'
'Actually...what're we gonna do about the other you?'
'Well...it's just half of me, and I guess we'll just have to force him to get along. But we can worry about that when little you actually starts to use his chakra. You have at least six, seven years.'
'I still can't believe I'm back here.'
'Neither can I.'
Naruto fell into a cycle, get up, eat Inuko's cooking (who was finally smiling sometimes), go to the office, spawn a couple hundred clones, finish the small amount of paperwork, talk with Jiji, then go back home and spend the rest of the day with Baby Naruto. Today though, was his first council meeting as Hokage, meaning that he had to manage it. It was about where the money from dead citizens. The citizens didn't have a family to give the money to, so currently, the money was in limbo.
"Alright. Settle down." Naruto commanded. The council finished filing in, and they separated into their side. Naruto sat before them, with The Sandaime on his left on Jiraiya leaning against the wall on his right. "This meeting is about where money from departed citizens will go, correct?"
"Yes Hokage-Sama."
"What are the arguments?" One of the civilians stood.
"The civilian council believes that the money should go to funding the reconstruction of key buildings in Konoha, and any left over should be held for the future." Then Inoichi stood.
"The Shinobi council believes that the money should be used to fund the ninja academy, and renovate the orphanage." They both sat back down.
"Okay…" Selecting at random, he gestured for a civilian to stand. "Why do you believe the money should go to your cause?"
"We believe that Konoha must come back from this attack as soon as possible, and return to its former glory, as to deter attacks from other villages. Restoring the bank, storage houses, and official offices will be beneficial to Konoha."
"And you, Hiashi?" Hiashi stood.
"We believe that because of the major blow our Shinobi forces have taken, we need to buff our reserves. Too many high class ninja are taking low class missions, and after the attack, we are not receiving a sufficient amount of wish to produce more ninja faster, as too reassure our neighbors that we are as strong as we were before. We need more missions to come in, and we can only entice people if we have the numbers. We wish to make it easier for ninja to graduate currently, so that we will have enough low level ninja for the low ranking missions. We also wish to renovate the orphanage. They do not have the space to support the sudden influx of new children. There is a decommissioned building next door, and we wish to give them the money to buy it and use it as new space. We also wish to raise the salary of the staff of the orphanage. It will bring more applications to them, and they are currently low on staff." He sat down. Naruto ran over the options in his head.
"Do you need help?" Jiji asked him.
"No Jiji. I've made my decision." He raised his voice. "The money will go to the academy and the orphanage." He explained himself before the civilians could retort. "If we bring missions back to Konoha, we will have the money to restore the key buildings later. Konoha can manage without those buildings for a while. The Shinobi council will receive the money, and it will go to their cause."
"Thank you, Hokage-Sama."
"If that is all, this meeting is adjourned. You are dismissed." Slowly, the room was drained.
"I don't see why I had to be here." Jiraiya said. "You were fine."
"Yeah, but as my appointed advisor, you should be here, Ero-Sennin." He growled.
"I hate that name…"
"Yeah, but you deserve it, ya pervert." Naruto grinned in triumph. "How'd I do Jiji?"
"Very well. You were a true Kage."
"I learned from the best." Jiji smiled. "That's it then...wow this job is easy."
"No other Hokage has the liberty of having hundreds of clones on call. So don't think it was always this way."
"Yeah yeah...I guess I'll go home again." Naruto left the room, going home again. Thinking about it, today wasn't that different from the others.
'Maybe if you didn't make your clones do all the work, you'd actually have something to do.
'I guess...but I want to be there for Naruto. When he's older and the village doesn't need so much done.' Naruto said in his mind, since he was still around people.
'Just a suggestion…' Kurama yawned. 'It's boring in here, could I get out?'
'Sure, just be careful.' During the time in which Naruto was making the Jutsu, they'd found a way for Kurama to do things on his own. If Naruto made a clone, and then transferred Kurama into control of that clone, he could put the entirety of Kurama's consciousness into that clone, the same way his father had. Of course, Naruto had to keep a small portion of it, or else he'd die, but that amount was so small, that the real Kurama essentially had a body of his own. When that clone expired, Kurama flowed back into Naruto just like the clone did.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Putting their fists together, Kurama was transferred to the clone. He flexed his fingers.
"Ahh...That feels good." Kurama ran into the forest, probably going on a hunt or something.
"Just be careful!"
"Okay Mom!" He disappeared into the trees. Naruto watched him go, before continuing home. Kurama knew what he was doing.
'The Kage Summit is the day after tomorrow. This should just be a meeting about relationships between the villages. I need to establish an alliance with Suna, and deter Iwa from taking advantage of our weakened state...At least Jiji will be there with me. I gotta make sure that Inuko and Naruto will be alright. Maybe I'll leave a clone…but Inuko knows what she's doing...'
The next morning, Naruto didn't wake up to the sound of Naruto crying. He didn't wake up until noon. He had been dreaming about a world filled with Ramen, and almost cried when he woke up. He looked at the clock.
1
2
3
"Shit!" He quickly got dressed, messing up the buttons the first time, so he had to redo them. He ran out the room, rushing by Inuko and Naruto, skipping breakfast. He hopped to the tower, vaulted up the stairs, and burst into the room.
"Hi...Sorry...I'm late…" He panted. "I'm...here now…"
"It's fine, Naruto. We don't need to leave for another hour or so." The Sandaime laughed. "Don't be so stressed."
"Oh…" Naruto sat behind the desk. "Is this all the paperwork?" There was only a five page stack in front of him.
"I believe so. You've done so much that you're ahead of the work...I wish that had happened to me when I had the hat." Jiji pouted. Naruto read through the papers. He signed 4 of them, setting aside the second one. He read over it.
Request to detain and interrogate people calling the new Hokage "The Kyuubi Reborn"
-Danzo
"..."
"What is it?" Jiji read over his shoulder. "Of course Danzo wants to take the extreme measures. Do not sign it."
"But why would he even think I'd sign this?"
"He hopes that you wouldn't see it. He expects there to be much more paperwork than there is today. I know he's gotten laws by me that way."
"...I want to speak with him after we come back." He thumbed the intercom. "Ms. Sankyo, schedule an appointment with Danzo for the day I return. Notify him immediately." He sat back in his chair. "I really hate him...I wonder if he's already gathered the eyes."
"I don't think so. He has no bandages."
"Just you wait...I'll get you…"
"Hokage-Sama, the entourage is prepared for your departure." Ms. Sankyo said over the intercom.
"Let's go." The Godaime and The Sandaime descended the stairs. The only Kage Summit that Naruto knew of had ended up as a war, so he had no idea what to expect.
"Ready, Hokage-Sama?" An ANBU asked. He nodded. "Then we'll leave now."
Naruto and The Sandaime traveled to the main gate. A big group of ANBU were there. Obviously, Konoha wasn't about to lose another Hokage. In silence, they departed. Naruto felt bad about leaving the village so soon after returning, but this wasn't something he could skip. Kage Summit's were some of the most important diplomatic envoys a village could partake in, and with the weak state of Konoha, he had to make sure this went well. Naruto could feel the pressure on his shoulders.
They made good time, traveling slow enough that Jiji could keep up without losing Stamina(which wasn't that slow because of the extra boost Naruto had given him), and as ninja, they knew the terrain very well, so they avoided areas of conjunction, and arrived only 3 hours after their departure. Naruto caught a glimpse of other Kage. The old Raikage he knew, that old man,the young kid, and Gaara's father.
"We've arrived. Hokage-Sama, we will bring you to your lodgings." The lead ANBU said. Naruto followed his group deep into the heart of the mountain. He passed several checkpoints maned, by ninja that had arrived weeks earlier. "When you are not speaking to others, please stay here as often as possible."
"Yes…" He wasn't liking the way the ANBU sounded. As if this place became a war zone when it wasn't a diplomatic meeting. Speaking of which, he had noticed some ninja sent out were missing, and some others had bloodstains on their clothes.
Naruto and The Sandaime settled into the room. It was fairly sizable, but completely grey and bland. "This is so boring…"
"I know. But The Kage Summit rooms are built for safety, not beauty. It is better this way." Jiji flinched, as if remembering something scarring. Naruto decided not to pry. Jiji had been alive through multiple Ninja War, and would definitely have seen lots of deaths.
Naruto looked at the clock. 4:09. The diplomacy meetings would start tomorrow morning, and last for three days, before they all went back to their respective villages. Might as well prepare his points.
'I need an alliance with Suna, we can trade, since they live in the desert, and probably can't grow things like we can. I need to show my power to Iwa, don't need them to attack. Kumo! Need to make the Raikage stop kidnapping bloodline users. And Kiri...don't really know. And I don't think I can convince them to stop the bloodline purges.
'Do remember that the Mizukage is Yagura, and the Jinchuuriki of Isobu, the Three Tails? We can connect, and stop him from being manipulated by Obito. It's early enough. Obito hasn't taken hold yet.'
"You're right Kurama! That little kid!"
'He's older than you…'
'Even now?'
'A year or something…'
"That doesn't matter! I've just gotta fix it!"
The Kage Summit couldn't come fast enough. Naruto was up all night, pacing, going through his head. Jiji had fallen asleep, too tired to pace with Naruto. By dawn, Naruto was still pacing around the room.
'It won't be that bad!'
'You know how bad relations are between Iwa and Konoha! It could happen!'
'You beat Madara, and Kaguya! Iwa doesn't stand a chance!'
"Hokage-Sama? The diplomacy meetings will start now."
"Yes, thank you." Naruto stopped pacing.
"Ready?" Jiji asked, getting up from his sleep.
"Yeah...I think so…" They walked in silence down the corridor, towards the meeting room. Naruto took notice of the bloodstains on the wall, and the chunks of flesh on the floor. It did become a battle ground.
They walked into the room, where three of the four other Kage were seated, with advisors, and guards behind them. Naruto sat in silence, waiting for the old man to show up.
"Oooh...my back!" The old man limped from his corridor, flanked by his own, much younger group. All the Kage watched as he slowly pulled himself into his own chair. Naruto could hear how his back kept cracking, and, judging from the looks the other Kage had on their faces, so could they.
"Let's start!" Yaguru shouted. He really did sound like a kid.
'Kurama...can you contact Isobu from here?'
'I can try…'
"First of all...I heard that the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked Konoha a few weeks ago, killing their Yondaime. Is this true, Godaime?" Gaara's father asked.
"...yes. My cousin sacrificed himself to defeat the beast.' Short and curt. Don't open yourself up to intimidation.'
"So he's dead?"
"Yes."
"And you are his replacement?"
"Yes."
"Don't you think that maybe Konoha might've attacked the Kyuubi first?" Yagura asked.
"...perhaps. However, The Kyuubi appeared in the center of the village, with no warning do we assume that someone summoned it. But we are not here to discuss the Kyuubi, we are here to create or destroy ties between the Great Villages.
"Yes!" The Raikage shouted. "Konoha, I'd like to interest you in a trade! I offer you Moonstone, a very valuable mineral from my nation!"
"In exchange?"
"Bloodlines."
"Raikage, you are speaking of human trafficking, which I refuse to partake in. You also refused to demilitarize in a time of peace, which has provoked the other villages. You are in no position to ask Konoha for anything."
"Tch." He looked away. Naruto could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The Raikage stood, crackling with electricity. Naruto could sense the other Kage watching in interest. They wanted to know how the new Hokage stood based on the power scale.
'If that's what they want…' The flaming cloak crawled up Naruto, who was undeterred by The Raikage's Intent. When you faced basically god, you weren't really intimidated by anything.
The other Kage were watching the new Hokage, trying to find a weakness. He was obviously versed in battle, and answered with as few words as possible.
'...Isobu…' Yagura heard. 'It's me, Kurama. And you too, Yagura.' While showing no outward emotion, Yagura entered his mind. Inside, the seal holding the three-tails was still standing, but a fox roughly the size of a building was staring at it.
'What are you doing here?' The Sanbi asked. 'Where did you come from?'
'The new Hokage. He's my Jinchuuriki!'
"What?!" The two beast turned to Yagura, who was just staring up at them.
'He's a Jinchuuriki like you.' Kurama said.
Naruto glared at the Raikage, who's intent slowly faded away, and he eventually sat down. Naruto's own cloak disappeared, and he sat too. "Kazekage." Gaara's father looked at him.
"I would like to interest you in a trade deal. I'm aware that your village is created entirely out of sandstone. I wish that you trade sandstone with Konoha, and we will supply you with crops and water."
"...That seems unbalanced, Hokage. Surely, you seek for something else."
"No. We need good stone in our rebuilding efforts, and the sandstone you have is very sturdy. It would do well in our infrastructure."
"Very well. I accept. We will sign afterwards."
After that, the Kage Summit devolved into posturing and intimidation. The only consolation that Naruto got was that Gaara's father had signed the agreement, and the trade would start the day after The Summit. Kurama had said that Yagura had gotten the message, and he caught him staring a few times, but other than that, he wasn't approached.
The second day wasn't any better. He had to endure hours of arguing between Iwa and Kumo, directly after hearing that the lead ANBU had been killed in battle during the night. It was a good thing that Kage Summit's only happened every 17 years. Really stupid number, but…
On the third day, after all the diplomacy, he was approached by Yagura. It was in the room, just after all the other Kage had left.
"So...you're a Jinchuuriki too." Naruto nodded. "Well, it's nice to know that another Jinchuuriki was able to become Kage. But how did you survive so old?"
"I'm the last living descendant of The Sage of Six-Paths. If I couldn't survive, no one could."
"Yeah…Well, congrats." He turned away.
"I'm guessing that wasn't all was it." Naruto called.
"Yeah...I was thinking, since Jinchuuriki should stick with Jinchuuriki, maybe Konoha and Kiri should form an alliance."
"Yeah...I get the sense that tension are gonna rise again. Having an ally would help."
"I'll send you the papers." He disappeared down his corridor.
'At least some good things happened at the Summit.'
"Let's just get back to Konoha, Kurama."
All the Kage left directly afterwards, each wanting to avoid more bloodshed. Naruto took his entire entourage with him, a group of 50 or so ninja, from the 200 that had come. They'd lost numbers, especially to Iwa and Kumo.
After 3 hours of travel, Naruto saw the gates of Konoha ahead of him. They were ushered through, Konoha needed their Hokage back as fast as possible. Naruto entered the office, staring at a mountain of paperwork.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" They went through the papers, trying to differentiate between good and bad. Some reports were also present. Apparently, The had apprehended an Iwa spy, who had been impersonating a merchant. Naruto called for ransom from Iwa. He sent out the first shipment of crop to Suna, and told the gate guards to expect Kiri diplomats to come soon. He just wanted to get back to Naruto.
"Done!" He pulled on his cloak, trying to leave as fast as possible. Jiji had retired for the day. They both had to endure the Kage Summit, and it had taken its toll. "Just gotta get home!"
"Hokage-Sama, Danzo is here for his meeting." The intercom said.
"Damn. Curse my past self's rational decision making skills.' Naruto sighed. "Send him in." He commanded. He went through his drawer, pulling out the paper he'd found. Danzo came into the room, his hand still normal, and not bandaged.
"You asked for me, Hokage?"
"Yes Danzo. He pushed the paper forward. "I understand that you wish to enforce patriotic pride, but to detain and interrogate people who dislike me is extreme. It is a given that people will not always like the Kage, and the recent attack will spur radical ideas. I'm sure you understand that." Naruto stated. He waited for Danzo to speak.
"Hokage. You must understand that these rumours will spread. You will lose credibility as Hokage, and the people will refuse to follow you. We will have mutiny on our hands. We have to squash any rumours against you."
"...you may be correct. However, interrogation and detainment are very serious actions, for very serious crimes. Let me propose that you take your group ROOT, and-yes The Sandaime and I know of your group-and bring them for questioning. We do not need the public to fear us."
"...Yes Hokage-Sama." He stood. "Is that all?"
"Yes."
"Then I bid you adieu." He left. Naruto looked down at his hands. The sun was setting behind him. He couldn't stop Danzo. Danzo was a genius. He'd been working in the shadows for years, building his influence, taking power for himself. If he incarcerated Danzo, their would be a huge power vacuum that Naruto wouldn't be able to fill in time. And while Danzo wasn't the best choice, he was better than other people. At least he had knowledge and ability.
'It's hopeless…I can't get rid of him.' Naruto had to accept it. Danzo had too much power. He couldn't just fire Danzo, and fix it. He had to slowly take back the power, so that losing Danzo wouldn't destroy Konoha's economy. It was a battle of wits. Naruto had to trick Danzo into giving up power, while Danzo would continually attempt to take more. "I can't believe that Jiji and dad had to deal with this…" He stood up from behind the desk.
He locked up the office, passing Ms. Sankyo on his way out. The sky was a deep red, and the purple was inching across the sky. The streets of Konoha were empty. Naruto ran towards the Hokage Mountain. He stared at the sky, sitting atop his father's face. "I wanna see you guys again…" His mom and dad weren't in him anymore. The chakra they'd implanted in him had been used. They were dead, and he wasn't about to use Edo Tensei on them, and subject them to something like that. He couldn't go back to get them either. He'd tried, but he could only go to when he'd been alive. He felt alone. Again.
...we're still here…
"What?" He looked around. "Who?"
...We saw it all...we love you…
"Mom!" Naruto began to cry. He recognized the voice. 'Where are you?!"
...with you...we will always love you…
Her voice began to fade away. "No! MOM!"
...we will always be there...and you have Naruto...you aren't alone…
"MOM!" Naruto was on his feet, trying to reach her voice.
…
"MOM!"
…
"Mom...ma…" He stood there, staring at the sky. "No...she's right...don't wallow in self pity...I have little me...I can be happy through him...And he will be happy!" His voice cracked. 'I just wish I was happy.'
Remember, Naruto is still only 18. He's still young. Just because he acts mature, doesn't mean he isn't still childish.