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Chapter 10: The Summit

Naruto awoke in a white room. He looked around and noticed that he was alone. Instead of jumping out of bed like he used to he sent a small amount of chakra into every part of his body, feeling it out. He noticed that most of his wounds had healed, and all that was left was a few bruises. His chakra network was also strained, probably from the white Rasengan, which he had yet to name. He sat up and hung his feet off the bed. So far so good. He leaned out and put his feet on the floor. Slowly but surely he added weight until he was sure his legs could hold him. Then he stood, and walked to door. He moaned as his tired body fought to lie back down. Ever since he had sealed the Nine-Tails, he had lost some of his fast healing, unless he used the contract chakra.

Naruto opened the door and stepped out into the hall. The room was deserted save for a single Lake ANBU who had apparently been guarding his door. The ANBU was surprised to see him up, and stepped over to help him when Naruto nearly fell.

"Take me to my friends," said Naruto.

"Yes, sir."

They walked in silence toward the Mizuumikage's mansion. Once inside her office, they found a chair for Naruto, and began to discuss the happenings of what had been three days ago. Naruto had become a legend in the village over this time. No one could believe that this outsider had managed to defeat the strongest kages this village had ever seen. Kari then spoke about leaving for the summit. Shikamaru mentioned that it would take a week and a half to get to the summit from here, and they would need to leave tomorrow. Naruto agreed and they all left to prepare for the journey. Shikamaru and Tai left with Naruto.

"Naruto, Tai told me that you used the Nine-Tails."

"Yeah. I didn't have a choice. I had to face three kages, and I was out of chakra."

"Naruto, you need to be more careful. Even Sage Mode would have been better."

"What did you expect me to do? Stand there and get beat up so I could beat them up? I would have died before I got the chance."

"Naruto, I know, but you could have at least taken a team. Remember, it's a secret that you sealed the Nine-Tails away. If people start seeing you use its chakra, they'll start coming after you just like Akatsuki, and that's more of a pain than I care to deal with."

"Shikamaru, no one's going to come after me."

"Naruto, I wouldn't be so sure. Akatsuki was dumb enough before."

"Whatever, but I still think that we're safe since I only have a contract with the fox now."

"I think that your safe, too, but still, using the Nine-Tails' power could make enemies."

"Alright! I'll be more careful, but I don't see the big deal. I haven't accessed the true strength of the contract yet. To be honest, I don't want to. I guess I could create some Shadow clones that I could summon back to give me some Sage chakra."

"You do that," said Shikamaru, walking down the hall to his own room. Naruto went into his own, and Tai to his.

The group, along with Kari and her escort, made their way to the Leaf Alliance Summit. Naruto was particularly impatient, wanting to show off his new rank to Gaara. Shikamaru had been right. It took exactly a week and a half to get to the summit.

The other kages had all arrived and were preparing for the meeting to start. When it finally did, there was chaos across the room.

"They would dare to build an army against me?" cried Onoki.

"Building an army against you means they bring one against all of us!" cried A. "We must stomp out this rebellion!"

"I agree," said Tsunade, although no one heard her.

"ENOUGH!" cried Naruto. He was tired of all of the noise and wanted everyone to calm down.

"Thank you, Seventh Hokage," said Gaara.

"What is it?" said A.

"We need to discuss how we are to fight back. If they attack, we need to be ready to defend ourselves," said Tsunade.

"I agree, but what can we do?" asked A.

"Alliance ninjas from the Village Hidden in the Mountains, the Alliance base, can go to back up the western villages. The Leaf and Sand will work together against our enemies, for now."

Everyone agreed and began discussing tactics. Shikamaru was a major asset for this part, seeing as he was the most brilliant among them. After discussing tactics for eight hours, everyone retired to their quarters. Naruto lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. He thought about the Nine-Tails. He had sealed it away, but he still had the contract, giving him immense power. He knew that A would want him to meet with Bee. Bee was incredible. He had risen to the rank directly below Raikage, captain of the ANBU, and was actually stronger than A. Bee was to be the next Raikage, and A would want Naruto to make sure that there were no problems with the Eight-Tails. Naruto had offered to seal the beast away, but Bee had refused. Bee still had the Eight-Tails to this day, and even though he had control, it was still dangerous. Naruto finally dozed off, and when Shikamaru came to speak with him, Naruto was snoring loudly. Naruto never was one for politics. Shikamaru sat down smiling, reminiscing about their first mission together.

Hey ya'll. This was chapter 10. I know there was a lot of talking here, but I plan on making things more exciting. Until then, please read and review. I plan on having chapter 15 up in the next two weeks, meaning that voting for Naruto's relationship will end. See ya!