Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. However, the original characters and plot of this fic belong to me.

Author Notes: Man, it has been a while. Firstly, my apologies. I know people don't like to wait so long and i didn't want to make you guys wait. My internet got messed up in December for two weeks and when i got it back, i just got lazy and put off this chapter. It didn't help that i want to write the sequel to Hands of Destiny and have ideas for another story bugging me. But, i don't plan on leaving this story and will finish it. This time, it's the last run and i plan on going all the way to the end. I know there's a lot of people who have been reviewing this story and want to see the conclusion, so i don't want to disappoint you. Once again, sorry and let the show continue!

Chapter 35: History And Opportunity

Naruto yawned, his blanket half strewn across the floor. The birds outside his window chirped uncontrollably, assuring that he wouldn't fall asleep again. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, his arms dangling from his thighs. Feeling light-headed, he was still mentally worn out from his session with Ryutaro the day prior.

Slowly ascending to his feet, he walked into the washing room. He didn't waste any time freshening up. After several minutes, he emerged looking brighter. He discarded his clothes, changing into more suitable attire for the current hot weather. Donning a pair of shorts, he threw an orange shirt over his shoulder before walking out to the hallway. He had already lighted a cigarette while making his way to the kitchen. The sound of the water running and dishes clattering caught his attention. Turning into the doorway, he found he wasn't the only one awake.

Sakura was busy preparing herself breakfast, searching through the cupboards swiftly; familiar with the placement of items. The smell of the smoke instantly entered her nose, causing her to shift her head in the direction of Naruto. Sighing, she turned back to her work, "Do you always smoke in the morning?"

"Yeah, it helps me unwind. There's ramen in the cupboard to your left. It'll make a nice breakfast, don't you think?" Naruto walked towards the table, sitting down on one of the chairs and becoming comfortable. "Are you the only one who wakes up early?" He asked, blowing a ring of smoke from his mouth, "That's strange since you're all shinobi."

"I doubt they're still asleep." Sakura finished preparing the ramen, "They probably don't want to eat anything yet and I saw Jiraiya-sama leaving earlier."

"Ero-sennin?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

Sakura placed the two bowls of ramen on the table, "It's funny that you call him that."

"I don't understand." Naruto had a blank expression, "Why's it funny?"

"You're just like him." Sakura glanced at the blonde, "Or have you forgotten?"

Naruto tapped the table, confused as to what the woman was implying. The signs of his brain attempting to make sense of things was printed across his countenance.

"You really are dense; I'm talking about Iwa you idiot!" Sakura exclaimed.

"That was an accident." Naruto started to eat his ramen, after placing his cigarette to a side, "We've been over this before."

"It didn't stop you from looking though, did it?" Sakura was curious to see the man's response.

Naruto had noodles sticking out from his mouth, quickly swallowing them before answering, "You have a nice body; I was surprised."

Sakura was stunned at the blunt answer, beginning to feel as if he could be undressing her mentally. Moments later, she realised the full extent of what he had said, "What do you mean surprised?"

"Huh? I don't mean it like that." Naruto stopped speaking, a revelation descending upon him, "If I remember correctly, you saw me naked too." He grinned, "What did you think?"

Sakura's hand instinctively tightened into a fist, an action which didn't go unnoticed.

"I'm kidding." Naruto laughed tensely, "I should really watch myself around you; I can tell you're going to hurt me one of these days."

"Why do you act like that?" Sakura turned her attention to her food, "Were you like this with Yuka?"

Naruto froze upon mention of the deceased woman's name, his grip tightening around the chopsticks in his hand. "Who told you about her?"

"Sakumo-san talked of her once. She was your girlfriend right? Was this how you acted towards her, even before you knew her?" Sakura ate her ramen after concluding.

Naruto wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, leaving his ramen. He was embroiled in his thoughts, the minutes seamlessly passing him by. He put on his orange shirt and picked up his cigarette, "Have you seen this village yet?"

Sakura had finished eating, looking up at the retired shinobi, "No, I haven't."

"Come with me, I'll show you around." Naruto stood up, pushing the chair under the table.

"We're supposed to train though." Sakura said. "What about that?"

"I need to let my mind rest; I wasn't going to train today." Naruto replied.

"Shall I ask the others to come along? They haven't been around either." Sakura rose to her feet.

"Just you and me." Naruto looked at the kunoichi, "It'll be fun."

XXXXXXXXXX

Jiraiya observed the waves crashing into the beach, standing atop one of the several buildings. The weather was calm, neither hot nor cold. It was daunting that he had already seen two wars during his life and was now possibly going to witness a third. No matter how much he wished it, a life of peace without conflict and turmoil truly seemed like a far off dream. Shaking his head, he tried to derail his train of thought. He continued looking upon the horizon, amazed by the beauty, "Almost as great as Konoha."

"Some people would think it's greater."

Jiraiya turned around to find Hideaki smiling at him. "To each his own."

"Certainly." Hideaki walked closer to the hermit, joining him in watching the sea. "This scene of tranquillity, it only lasts so long. Much like a flower, there will come a time when it's beautiful but soon after, it'll wither away."

"It's a shame." Jiraiya said.

"It's human nature from what it seems. There will always be those who attempt to cause conflicts, who try to justify their actions and the deaths of people by what they're fighting for or trying to achieve." Hideaki looked towards the novelist, "What do you think of this?"

Jiraiya had a despondent smile across his face, "In war, no one is innocent. We simply try to defend our actions in order to lighten the burden."

"On the battlefield, you fight with your comrades. If one of them dies, it affects you but what about the people you are fighting against. A person who may fall to your weapon will also have family and friends who will grieve his death. This is the tragedy of war." Hideaki clasped his hands, "For as long as the Confederation has existed, there has been mayhem on this land. Peace would come, and fade just as quickly. In the past it was easier to oversee quarrels and try to resolve them, but now things are different."

"What changed?" Jiraiya asked, eager to learn more.

"The shinobi villages came into existence. Tens of people embroiled in conflicts turned into thousands. As you should be able to understand, trying to resolve an issue on such a large scale becomes a problem. This century has seen many great wars, all of which have made me come to a realisation."

Jiraiya faced the older man, "Realisation?"

"In order to move forward, you need the strength of many. This is why I have asked for Konoha's help in this war. I truly hope this will be the last one this world witnesses." Hideaki took off his hat, "If we can gather those who wish for peace, it can be attained."

"An idealist?" Jiraiya smiled, "Kind of like a few people I've known in my time."

Hideaki scratched his head before wearing his hat again, "Follow me." Without a second thought, the man leaped from the building to the ground below. Jiraiya didn't waste any time and quickly caught up with him. However, their journey was a short one as they stopped at the beach.

"That was sudden." Jiraiya said.

Hideaki turned his back to the toad hermit, "What I'm going to show you now will surprise you. It's time I told you the full truth of what we've done." Forming a few hand seals, the ground rumbled as something exploded from within.

Rising far above the ground, and emanating a sinister aura, was a statue bound in chains. The horrifying nature of its appearance shocked Jiraiya, "What…?"

Hideaki closed his eyes, "The Lord of the Underworld; a remnant of the first ever war to plague this land."

XXXXXXXXXX

The duo came to a halt, instantly feeling that the current situation held an air of misfortune. The wind blew a few leaves into the lake while the frogs croaked. Kakashi scanned the environment, "Hm, this is weird."

"There's no one here." Sasuke said, walking forward into the training area.

"Maybe we should wait." Kakashi replied before making his way to a tree and leaning against it, "I'm sure Naruto will show up eventually."

A rustling of leaves could be heard, after which the figure of Sakumo appeared. The legendary shinobi was also surprised to see only two people present. Clearing his throat, he put up his hand, "Yo!"

Sasuke inwardly compared the greeting to that of his own former teacher. Realising it was a matter of patience, the Uchiha sat down where he was standing. Placing his weapon across his lap, he began to wait.

"Oh, it's kind of grim here." Sakumo folded his arms, "What do you all say to us having a spar before the rest get here?" Kakashi continued reading his book whilst Sasuke had a nonchalant expression. "Hey, I'm sure we can learn a few things from each other."

Sasuke's ears tingled, remembering something which had greatly annoyed him in the past. Addressing the elder Hatake, he voiced his enquiry, "In Konoha, I couldn't detect the four shinobi who escorted Hajin. When Naruto was taken captive, I remember him saying that no shinobi can completely conceal their presence and there was a unique way to distinguish their original chakra."

"I know what you're talking about; I could teach you that." He glanced at Kakashi, "Do you want to join?"

Kakashi directed his attention to his father for the first time, clearly mulling over the invite. Moments later, his book was snapped shut and placed inside his vest. "Okay."

Sakumo laughed, "Maybe later, both of you could teach me a thing or two. It's been a while since I've really trained myself."

XXXXXXXXXX

The soft laugh travelled through the air, carried to the edge of the quiet street. Naruto grinned upon seeing the woman happy, "That was one of the times he took it easy on me. There was once when he was thinking of leaving me stranded in Lightning Country."

"How did you remain a shinobi without a sense of direction? Even your helper seems to have liked taking advantage of that." Sakura said, greatly amused.

"Heh, Genkei wasn't ever serious about that. He'd always leave clues as to how I could find my way back but…" Naruto chuckled embarrassedly.

"You still couldn't?" Sakura wrapped her arms around her ribs, suppressing her laughter, "You're so thick."

Naruto held his hands behind his head, "We did some big things though; rescue a princess, liberate a village, stop a civil war." Naruto smiled, all of a sudden realising how much the short periods in his life full of happiness shone like a beacon, compared to the long durations of grief, "It's been interesting."

Sakura halted at the edge of the quiet street, gazing upon the view that had now revealed itself to her. Walking towards the railings which snaked around the perimeter, she noticed they were several hundred feet above the ground. The sight in front of her revealed all of the Confederation, leaving nothing to the imagination. The sparkling sea in the distance only added to the majestic like beauty. Magnificent white birds flew overhead, squawking as they seemingly played with each other.

Naruto jumped on top of the thick barrier, balancing himself, "And this is the end of the tour." He rubbed his nose, turning his head to gaze as far as he was capable of, "It's the best place in this village. It really lets you see everything and realise how many people actually live here."

Sakura nodded in agreement, "It's amazing."

"When I was still in Konoha, I used to go to the top of the Hokage Mountain often." Sakura's attention was directed at the man as he spoke of his past, "I would stand there just like this…watching over the village." He spread out his arms, welcoming the light wind that enveloped him, "One day, I will become Hokage! I will be the one to protect you!"

Sakura was stunned to hear the blonde, remaining quiet whilst hearing his words.

Naruto dropped his arms to his side, "I didn't realise the full extent of those words. To protect someone…isn't an easy task. And when you place the responsibility upon yourself to do so, failure of that task is hard to accept." He raised his hand to the sky, "But now, it's not just Konoha or the Confederation…it's the world. I want to protect everyone from losing something precious to them. Even if I have to suffer, it'll be worth it as long as I stop the pain of others."

Sakura questioned what suffering he was speaking in regards to. What was Naruto's plan exactly? For some reason, she felt that the answer to that would be disheartening. It dawned on her that she wasn't exactly sure about the end of this journey and what it would entail for the people involved. She only knew of the task they needed to accomplish. "This failure that you're talking about, it's about the people you lost isn't it?"

Naruto jumped to the ground, "Failure is hard but if you learn from it, you can only grow stronger. There's only so much a person can fail before he succeeds."

"What kind of person was Yuka?" Sakura asked.

Naruto turned around, starting to walk, "She was special." Taking out a cigarette, he put it in his mouth, "I have somewhere to go; will you be alright going home from here?"

"Sure." She quickly continued before Naruto left completely, "Thanks for the date, it was great seeing the village."

Naruto lit his cigarette, 'Date?' He blew out smoke from his mouth,'Yeah, I guess it was.'

XXXXXXXXXX

Jiraiya's eyes were wide with shock, his feet glued to the ground, "W-what is this?"

Hideaki clasped his hands, "Do you remember the story I told you of the Tengu?" Upon receiving a slight nod from Jiraiya, the old man resumed, "Along with their weapons, they brought with them creatures with devastating powers. Those monsters are what we have come to call Bijuu."

"So, the Bijuu are not from this world?" Jiraiya couldn't remove his eyes from the colossal statue a few feet away from him.

"This thing you see before you is what our ancestors created to trap the Bijuu. It's an amazing and formidable creation, but it still had its weaknesses." Hideaki sighed, "Weaknesses which we didn't see, and those that led to the creation of Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki?" Jiraiya faced his comrade, "Tell me more."

"This statue has immense power and was capable of holding the Bijuu trapped within for centuries. None of us ever questioned whether it would weaken." Hideaki closed his eyes, "But it did, and one night when the moon was seemingly the colour of blood, the explosion of power from this statue unleashed the Bijuu into the world once again. I believe you should know of this era, the time just before Konoha was created and the people of this world began to war over the power of these beasts."

"So, that explains their sudden appearance." Jiraiya had a grim face, "Their power was new to everyone, and naturally everyone wanted to see if they could tame it." He looked towards the leader of the Confederation, "But that doesn't explain the formation of Akatsuki."

"That incident was the prelude of what was to come. I was a young boy at that time, and when I grew up to become the leader here, I wanted the Bijuu once again gathered. But the task proved difficult and I was incapable of having it accomplished fully." Hideaki sighed, "Ironically the Bijuu causing problems was the Kyuubi, and the person I assigned the task to bring it back was the one who would inevitably come to create the organisation which would be known as Akatsuki. He was the one I placed the future hopes of the Confederation on, the one I wanted to take over for myself when I stepped down…he was my son."

"Your son betrayed you?" Jiraiya seemed to be gathering a better understanding of what had occurred.

"Do you remember what you asked me?" Hideaki smiled, "What if one of your own was to try and disrupt the peace you attempt to uphold? I taught him of how to summon this statue, and soon he became greedy for power. With his talent, he found a way to block myself from performing a summoning and used the statue for his own means."

Jiraiya remembered the end of Akatsuki, "When I went to the battlefield, all I found was a body. Naruto was missing. I figure you had a hand in that."

"Not me, it was someone else; the man who took Naruto from Konoha." Hideaki stared upon the statue, "I was the one who personally assassinated the Tsuchikage to end the conflict between Konoha and Iwa. When I was returning through the land, I saw a baby crying amongst bodies of those who had passed away in battle. I took him in as one of my own, and gave him a name; Yuudai."

"The great hero…it's a nice name." Jiraiya said.

"Indeed, I had failed with my own child. He grew up to fight against the ideals we struggled to keep alive. Maybe that's why I chose such a name for the orphan of war that I took under my care…maybe it was hope that I wouldn't fail twice."

"He was the one who saved Naruto…I think I understand why that boy is so troubled now. Yuudai didn't walk away from that battle alive, did he?" Jiraiya thought of the blonde man.

"He sacrificed his own life. Even when I told him he wouldn't stand a chance or that he would survive, he still walked towards what would be his final battle." Hideaki shook his head, "He did become a great hero. I arrived only to see a broken Naruto clutching the dead corpse of the man I had come to see as my own son. The scream that I heard that day sent chills down my spine, even now I can't forget it."

Jiraiya remembered the scream he had heard before making his way into the city of Akatsuki, "That was…"

"This is the tragedy of war, and conflict. One event leads to another and only causes more suffering." Hideaki formed a few hand seals, before the statue fell back into the ground and out of sight, "No matter what it takes, I must prevent the next one. This is why I have asked for your help, to stop the cycle from continuing." Hideaki turned around and walked away, leaving a surprised Jiraiya to his thoughts.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade dwelled on her thoughts, the idea of leading her village to war to stop conflict and possibly cause her people to suffer, or to remain in the shadows and let the Confederation handle the clash. She clutched the necklace around her neck, "What would you have done?"

"Eh, these guys are training here?" Naruto said, walking along the top of the waterfall. He stared towards the ground where Kakashi, Sakumo and Sasuke were engrossed in a three way battle. "I guess I should've told them I wasn't coming."

Tsunade looked towards the man, "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing, I was just walking." The night sky was filled with stars as Naruto took a seat next to the busty woman, "You're the Hokage…"

"And?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

Naruto grinned, pointing to himself, "I wanted to be one too; being Hokage was my dream."

Tsunade froze when she heard the all too familiar words; why was that smile so troubling? Why was her heart beating faster all of a sudden?

"It must be pretty cool; I'm kind of jealous." Naruto said, holding his hands behind his head.

"It's not that easy." Tsunade responded, "It can be overwhelming."

"Heroes never receive easy tasks. That's what makes them who they are, their ability to do what others can't." Naruto said, "Sometimes, you have to do things which are necessary in order to give your people what they really want."

"I'm no hero." Tsunade said, "Far from it."

"Nonsense, Konoha loves you. Whatever decision you make, they'll support you because you were there for them in the past." Naruto rubbed his nose, "That kind of trust can't be broken so easily."

"Maybe you should've been Hokage…" Tsunade smiled.

Naruto stood up, flexing his muscles, "Heh, I am quite strong."

"It's not that. The things you say, they make a lot of sense." Tsunade slowly rose to her feet.

"Everyone wants peace, and we all have to make sacrifices for it." Naruto stared at the bright moon in the sky, "Just like the Hokages of the past."

"You've been given a big mission…" Tsunade's jacket flew back with the wind, "…do you think you can do it?"

"I have to try my best, just like everyone else is going to try their best." Naruto scratched his head, "When I was young, the stories of the Hokages were great to listen to. The Shodai created Konoha. The Nidaime and the Sandaime helped build the village and make it greater. And the Yondaime died protecting that village. All of them were amazing because they had a reason to fight…I do too. Maybe my story can have a good ending too." Naruto was surprised to find Tsunade placing a necklace around his neck, "What…?"

"The Shodai wanted peace above everything else, that necklace carries his wishes. And right now, you're the one who carries everyone else's wishes." Tsunade smiled at the man.

Naruto nodded, "Thank you."

"Hey Naruto; there you are! Why didn't you come to train? I'm disappointed in you!" Sakumo shouted.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, staring towards the shinobi who was quite a distance away, "What do you mean disappointed?"

"You left us alone!" Sakumo screamed.

Naruto yelled back, "I didn't tell you train until night! Stop blaming me for everything old man!"

"What do you mean old?!" Sakumo bellowed.

Kakashi and Sasuke were puzzled at the exchange while Tsunade laughed next to Naruto. It had been a long time since she had felt like this, and it was inspirational. She sighed, staring at the man beside her, a feeling of faith rushing inside her. For some reason, speaking with him made her feel like there was a chance for them all.

Author Notes: Hopefully, you all enjoyed it. I'm back to a regular schedule so expect a new update soon. Peace.