For the Greater Good Chapter 7
Mei was leading Naruto and the Konoha shinobi down a maze of hallways coming across many shinobi from Kiri that were loyal to the cause of the rebels and didn't want to see any more of their countrymen be needlessly killed because their leader had lost his mind. Some of them were heavily injured though, but they looked like a dedicated group of shinobi and were not deterred, however they would need a very good plan to get them past the week. When they reached the command center of their operation Naruto was needless to say, surprised. The room was massive and filled with dozens of Kiri ninja all centered around maps calling out strategies and giving progress reports on supplies they had secured, revenue they had brought in or sabotage missions they had completed.
The rebels looked organized and Naruto was feeling more optimistic about the future of Kirigakure. Now he needed to see what he was working with to come up with a strategy to get this done, in the Akatsuki he was the brains of the organization along with Madara and Obito, and they had gone pretty far with only a little less than a dozen powerful shinobi to bring the world to its knees.
"Ok what are we working with, how many men do you have?" Asked Naruto getting ready to set his mind to work. Hoping that the situation was better than he expected.
"Currently we have 400 shinobi strong, but injured and recuperating at least 200 but they can't fight yet and we don't have very capable medic ninja to fully heal them. We also now have two of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, along with extremely proficient water release users, we have most of the hunter ninja division loyal to us and we have me, I can use Lava Release and Boil Release, good for taking out large groups but I can also handle myself in single combat."
"Alright, luckily I'm a somewhat advanced medic, I also have advanced jutsu so I'll try and get to heal as many of your ninja as I can, if I can get them all we'll have roughly 600 shinobi on our side yes? How many are against us, as in allied with the Mizukage."
"At most 2000, but many of them are just afraid of Yagura's power, if we slay him most will flock to our side. And the rest hopefully afraid of being outnumbered will cease fighting as well." Said Mei knowing how fearsome Yagura's full power was, it took extreme courage or no other choices to go against him.
"Tell me about the terrain, defenses?" Naruto now knew what he had to work with, now he wanted to know what he was going to be up against. He could probably blow his way past any walls or get across vast rivers but he wanted to fight Yagura off his own turf.
"Well, the village is surrounded by mountains from several different sides, large amounts of vegetation cover the structures of our village, and as the name suggests the mist hides it very well except when you're inside the village where things clear up. It lies on a large plateau with river intersections here, here, and here." Mei said pointing out several different icons on the large map on the table, on it was an outline of Kirigakure and the countryside. "In the center of the village is where the Mizukage resides, he rarely leaves this building, so I don't know how we are going to get to him without having to push through half the village, and all the shinobi that are going to be blocking our way."
"Simple, we lure him out of his hiding hole." Said Naruto with something already in mind, he knew who's control Yagura was under, he knew what that man wanted.
"And how do you expect to do that?" Asked Mei confused.
"He wants you dead, believe me you are quiet a nuisance to his plans so if he knows where you are he's going to put everything he has into wiping you from the face of the earth, he may or may not come himself so let's make it irresistible for him to show his face." Said Naruto, wondering if using his sister as bait was immoral.
"And how do we plan on doing that?" Wondered Mei, what Yagura wanted besides her own death.
"Well we show him you, and we will show him something else that he wants, something that he needs in fact and will not pass up the opportunity to get so easily." Explained Naruto making up his mind.
"And what would that be?"
"The Jinchuriki for the Nine Tailed Fox demon."
"What!? You hold the Nine Tails within you!?" Asked Mei extremely surprised.
"No, my sister does, she holds the fox and Yagura knows this." Naruto explained not wanting to give too much away.
"How does Yagura know that?"
"Because Yagura isn't really Yagura, at least the one that you think he is, his mind is being controlled by somebody, he is the one that is behind the bloodline genocide." Again Naruto tried to hide as many facts as he could.
"How do you know this, I wasn't informed of this until a few months ago by my bodyguard Ao, and he only knows that because he sensed it with a Byakugan, whoever is doing this to him must be extremely strong to put someone as powerful as Yagura under his genjutsu. Do you know who he is?" Mei was getting very suspicious of how Naruto knew as much as he did.
"No." Naruto lied, he couldn't have people find out about the Akatsuki controlling the Mizukage so early.
"Wait, after all of this I know so little about you, how are you so skilled, enough to beat my most experienced and skilled bodyguard, and you know medical jutsu, and something that beyond me so few people know like the fact that Yagura is being controlled? Who are you?"
"I'm the son of the Yondaime Hokage and the Red Death. Currently one of the most powerful shinobi of my village, but I still only hold the rank of Genin." Naruto said with a smile.
"You are the son of the Yondaime?" Surprised by this answer, she had heard this boy had killed 13 Kumo jonin at the age of six.
"Indeed I am."
"Why are you here, I would suspect someone of your stature to be under lock and key protected by an Anbu at all times." Mei responded surprised that he was in a war zone.
"Let's just say I'm that strong."
"Well I'm glad that you're here to help us." Mei said, she was getting more and more attracted to Naruto as she learned what he was made of, he was strong, but from what she could tell he didn't want to be known as the son of the Yondaime and piggyback on his father's fame or his mothers.
Naruto wanted to get back to the offensive so he quickly told her what he wanted to do, he was going to have one of their shinobi go to Yagura and pretend to beg for mercy, to convince him further he would tell Yagura where the entire rebellion was stationed, a location that they would ambush, to make sure that Yagura came the shinobi would explain that he overheard that the son of the Yondaime and his daughter the container of the Nine Tails, along with the revered Hatake Kakashi and the last Uchiha was with them. Hopefully this would be enough to make Yagura come himself.
"Well it sounds kind of simple actually, this plan of yours, I'll get a shinobi I trust on it immediately, I just hope that it works."
"Yeah me too."
…..
Naruto along with the rest of Team 7 and Mei, most of the Kiri resistance was behind a peak overlooking the field below them, this was where the battle would go down, large enough for them to go wild and be comfortable in the space provided. Naruto beforehand had gone to all the shinobi that were injured and healed them with the medical jutsus that he had learned from Tsunade's scroll, bringing the full battle strength that they could muster. Now Naruto was on par with Tsunade and getting to the point where he could heal himself or others without handseals and more efficiently than anyone else could. Naruto was now garbed in the battle armor that he loved, it was the traditional armor that he wore in the Fourth Shinobi War, what he had fought with so many times before, similar to Madara's own set of armor.
"Well Mei shall we go kill him?" Naruto suggested jokingly, this was what they had been planning for meticulously for a few days now and here it was time to execute their plan, Naruto and Mei against the Three Tails container Yagura.
"Lets." Mei and Naruto jumped down to come face to face with Yagura leading a mass sized swarm of Kiri shinobi under his command. Yagura was a small person, he had a head of messy, light-grey hair, pink pupiless eyes and what seems to be a stitch-like scar running from under his left eye, all the way down his cheek, on his back he carried a staff-like pole weapon with uneven sized hooks with a green flower on the larger end. Even if his appearance looked less than menacing, his power was immense.
"Shall we dance Mizukage Yagura?"
"What did you just say?" Responded Yagura thinking that he only ever heard one other person refer to fighting as dancing.
"You know what I said." Naruto responded with a wink, and then he rushed forward throwing out shuriken to meet the small man, Mei stood her ground while Naruto was distracting the Mizukage and began to form a water dragon hopefully finishing this fight fast before he unleashed everything he could on them.
Yagura pulled out his staff and swung it horizontally at the shuriken flying towards him and deflected them all. Yagura then slashed it at Naruto and turned it around vertically for another slash but Naruto dodged both strikes. Naruto unsealed his gunbai and tried to smack Yagura with it but he jumped back and grabbed the edge of it with his hand and pulled it towards him. Naruto realizing this was a perfect opportunity to impale him with his fist began to charge his fist with chakra and punched forward sending Yagura flying backwards landing at the foot of the Kiri swarm, Yagura jumped upwards and seeing the water dragon of Mei's he began to create his own water dragon, shooting it at Mei's which was on its way toward him, the explosion sent a massive shockwave in all directions and Naruto turned intangible to not be affected, Mei and Yagura however were vaulted backwards.
Naruto took this chance to rush Yagura and came down on him with his gunbai, he extended the hidden blade in the gunbai and thrusted downwards stabbing into nothing but a water clone, surprised Naruto didn't expect to be blindsided by a kick to the face that launched him so hard that where he landed became a crater, Mei went to aid him making hand signs and launched a massive flow of lava at Yagura which he countered with powerful wave of water, blasting together to make steam, but not all of it was countered, some of the lava still landed on Yagura making him scream out in agony.
Now that he was hurting, the Mizukage began to go into his Tailed state, a red chakra cloaking started emanating from his body. He let out a massive roar and the thousands of shinobi that were looking that their battle began to take a few steps back. Naruto knew the games were over and rushed to Mei's side and summoned his susanoo which saved them from the first rush attack of Yagura's, but still pushed them back from the amount of force behind the attack. Naruto had his susanoo pull out his sword and slash at Yagura but it hit the ground creating a shockwave and crater but Yagura was nowhere in sight. Hearing a roar from above they looked up to see a red blur falling from the sky and a black dot in its mouth, Naruto knew this was the tailed beast bomb and grabbed Mei turning both of them intangible making his susanoo drop. Yagura was waiting for the explosion to diminish and see a bloody mess but instead he saw two figures still standing there, Mei and Naruto.
Dashing before Naruto could put up his susanoo again Yagura rushed, to avoid it Naruto and Mei separated, going for the weakest link Yagura jumped after Mei who attacked with a corrosive mist that engulfed Yagura but was not having an effect on the pure chakra skin that Yagura was engulfed in, Mei had no defense and jumped back with Yagura following out of the acidic mist. Trying to draw Yagura's attention from Mei, Naruto ran and smashed down Yagura with a fist just in time to let Mei keep retreating.
Naruto kept throwing a barrage of fists at Yagura each one pounding him further into the ground until Yagura snapped out of the beating that he was being given and surged his chakra to blow Naruto off of him, his anger increasing he jumped at Naruto grabbing him by his shoulders and smashed him down, a tailed beast ball forming in his mouth, Naruto used a Shinra Tensei to blow Yagura away from him and turned intangible to stop the Beast ball that he disrupted from exploding in his face, it hit Yagura however but in his state was only moderately affected.
Mei took this chance to spray lava at him from behind but he spun around, evaded, and rushed after her not looking to fail this time and shot out a long arm at the beautiful women which hit her sending Mei tumbling backwards. Naruto who was trying to think of a way to finish off Yagura finally decided what he was going to do, but it would require a lot of luck and hopefully a good day for an old acquaintance of his. To use this plan Naruto would need to weaken Yagura a bit however. Deciding to put a massive attack into action Naruto flew through hand seals and a small black orb was created in the middle of his hands that were forming a triangular shape, Naruto threw that small ball up and a large gravitational pull was dragging Yagura and the earth surrounding them towards the small ball now growing in size.
For a few seconds the growing ball was gaining a larger gravitational pull that Yagura was struggling against and he finally succumbed to, being dragged through the sky towards the ball and smashed into it. Mei regaining her bearings rejoined Naruto who was concentrating on keeping the forming mass together, Yagura was not about to go down and went full Beast mode, a turtle like creature with a spiky shell erupted from the mass above the earth and launched itself at the pair, Mei was about to jump but didn't when Naruto blew it away with another Shinra Tensei and dashed after it putting one handed seals into play and blew a wall of fire at the beast pushing it further back.
Naruto keep pushing forward with his fire attack when the beast flipped over onto its feet and launched chakra infused balls of water that collided with the fire creating a steam that Naruto couldn't see through, and quicker than he could have thought possible for such a big creature it dashed passed him one of its horns on its way to impaling Mei who didn't have enough time to react. Naruto had to save her, without her things could change too much to the point this whole plan was more harmful than helpful.
Naruto moved to her as fast as he could but couldn't make it without taking her place so he collided with her and pushed her out of the way, the horn meant for Mei impaled him instead, it had gone through his armor and smashed him into the floor. As a last resort Naruto used on of his ocular jutsu and summoned his susanoo, pushing the tailed beast off of him, Naruto now had a beaten appearance, a hole in his chest, his armor shattered and shirt ripped revealing some muscle, blood dripping from his mouth.
Naruto hoped this would not kill the beast but put him down for a while, his susanoo grew two more arms bringing the total to four, and put them into two hands signs. Closing his eyes Naruto concentrated while the others who were watching this giant battle saw a meteorite penetrate the sky and fall towards Yagura. To not get himself killed in the process or Mei, he grabbed onto her and teleported both of them to his personal dimension were he kept a lot of things, his dimension wasn't just a void with random rectangular shapes. Instead it was a large plain field for him to train in with a large house in the middle, this house held many things.
But back to the fight, Naruto waited for a couple of seconds before he took them both back to the battlefield, where there was once a large field now was a massive crater where a near death Yagura was gasping for air. Now going to complete his plan Naruto began a jutsu that he had seen his grandfather use years earlier and summoned the Shinigami.
"I need your help sealing the three tails inside of me!" Naruto gasped out, the hole in his chest was bleeding heavily.
"Why should I help you?"
"Because we are both in this together, and we both want this world to be saved, I can't die here."
The Shinigami knowing that the child was right decided to do this and grabbed onto the almost dead Yagura and an almost dead Naruto, both of his hands went through their chests but the Shinigami was transporting the Three Tails into Naruto, sealing it within him, hoping that combined with Naruto's own healing abilities it would heal him or it would all have been a waste. Yagura on the other hand was dead, taking such a heavy attack and having his Biju ripped out of him, he couldn't take anymore and died.
Naruto was exhausted too, he must have been more affected by the wound in his chest than he thought and fell to his knees and then face planted on the floor.
Around Naruto's beaten body rushed his sister Naoko and his friend Sasuke, their teacher Kakashi, and Mei along with the shinobi loyal to her or now loyal to her with the death of Yagura.
"Will he be alright!?" Asked Naoko worriedly, her bother looked to be in bad shape.
"I think so, you've seen him take worse, remember that one time Sasuke accidentally put a Chidori in his chest." And at that Sasuke frowned, at that point he was so scared of losing his one friend, he was afraid that their family would hate him and he would be isolated for killing the son of the Hokage, fortunately with some healing powers that somehow allowed Naruto to grow back a lung, he did not die and Naruto forgave Sasuke a while after he woke up.
But now he had a giant hole in his chest put there by a tailed beast's horn, none of them knew what he was capable of and were wondering if he had a limit, because the powers that he showed during the battle were godlike, he had summoned a meteorite from the heavens, summoned an ultimate defense, taken down Yagura the Mizukage and container of a tailed beast, perhaps this was as far as he could go.
Mei however would not let him die, he had done so much for her, he had bled for her and took a blow that would quite have possibly killed her, she would repay him somehow she vowed it, but right now they needed to keep him alive.
"I need a medic!" Screamed out Mei, she was holding his head on her lap, she saw blood everywhere but what was most interesting was that the wound seemed to be piecing itself together, the big hole was now getting smaller, and quickly.
"I think he's going to be okay." Said Mei, looking relieved.
"Good." Whispered Kakashi, Naruto was like family to him, a little brother that he could teach cool things to, and his father, he looked up to him as his own father, he was the man who trained him to be who he was today, he couldn't fail Minato, and if his son died on his watch in an unsanctioned mission, shit would hit the fan
"Come on let's bring him back to our infirmary, a medic might be able to help him more."
"Yeah let's go." Kakashi grabbed Naruto and carried him bridal style back to their camp.
Before Mei left however she moved to address all the shinobi that were present, "Shinobi of Kirigakure, we have been plagued by a pointless war, instigated by our once beloved Mizukage, but I am here to tell you that Yagura was not Yagura anymore, the one we looked to for protection has been dead, the fractured mind of his former self resided within, now we are free from his tyranny. I beg you, join me, join us, and help us rebuild Kirigakure to the glory that we once held, where we were respected as one of the strongest five elemental villages. Let me lead you to our future, and never look back on this dark chapter of our history!"
That simple speech was met with thunderous applause from all the Kiri shinobi, Mei stood above them as they all cheered her on. "Kneel before our Mizukage!" Shouted out one shinobi and he kneeled, the rest soon followed.
"Rise my loyal shinobi, it is time to embrace our future!" Mei shouted out and they headed back to their home, to Kirigakure.
Kakashi however was on the way to the rebellion base getting treatment for Naruto, he was almost healed but had not yet woken up, his body repairing itself like that was taking quite a toll., but it seemed that his life was out of danger for the time being.
Kakashi now not worried about his charge told Sasuke and Naoko to stay with him, he needed to speak with Mei, that she needed to come to Konoha to get the Hokage and the council to formally agree to their alliance. Kakashi found her at the gates of Kirigakure staring on out at her home.
"Lady Mei, we need to get going back to Konoha, Naruto seems to be healing but he still hasn't woken up so we are taking him back just as a precaution. I would also like you to come back as well, as the newly appointed Mizukage negotiations over this alliance should begin with you, since Naruto is a shinobi of Konoha and the son of the Hokage, our council will have no choice but to meet with you to discuss whether our village will come to an alliance with yours." Kakashi explained.
"Very well, let's get going." Replied Mei, happy that her village had a brighter future ahead of it, and hopefully this alliance will be a step in that direction.
…..
The civilian council and the shinobi council were gathered together on two sides of the large council chambers, at the head of the chamber was the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, sitting in the center of the chamber was the new Mizukage of Kirigakure, Mei Terumi.
"In the report from my student Kakashi, my son offered a trade and military alliance with Kirigakure, he defeated the former Mizukage Yagura, a container for a biju, with you fighting alongside him. Now I am inclined to accept this offer with you, one can never have too many alliances, but I ask of you, what do you want from us?" Making sure Mei had good intentions.
"Just what you expect from us in return, if a village were ever to attack us you would come to our aid and in turn if a village ever attacked you we would fight by your side. We also request trade routes be opened up between our two villages as we are very diverse in terrain and culture, exchange of goods could be a good way to increase both of our economies." Mei was hoping to get more aid and benefits later on.
"I can't help but agree." Minato was sure she wanted more but he would hold his tongue.
Many of the shinobi also agreed, as well as the civilian council. However the war hawk Danzo Shimura would not have it. "How do we know that you will not betray us, even if that was not a factor, your village just had a civil war, you are weak, and it would be too long before you could provide the same military strength that we have at our disposal. I do not advise we take this alliance Minato."
"Well unfortunately Danzo I and most of the rest of the council agree." Of course the war hawk would not keep quiet.
"We do not however." Stated Homaru and Koharu, "We agree with Danzo, this alliance seems to be rushed into, we do not have a bond of trust and there are no benefits for us allying with them after the chaos that their village is in."
"With all due respect elder council members, our village is not in chaos but is united, I promise this council that Kirigakure will not need Konoha to carry it upon it's shoulders, we can handle ourselves for now until you are willing to provide us with aid when we can provide the same."
"Very well Mizukage but we still do not know if we can trust you, we must cement our alliance beyond simple agreements." Warned Homaru, they had learned that words on a piece of paper were not the best ways to keep agreements upheld.
"And how do you suggest we cement our alliance?" Asked Mei wondering what the village elders had in mind.
"Lord Hokage what about marriage?" Koharu suggested.
"WHAT!? But I'm already married." Minato screamed out, Koharu would be dead if Kushina was in the room.
"Not to you Lord Hokage, but you're son, if what Kakashi said is true, your son is extremely strong, he was able to take down the Mizukage, and displayed an immense amount of skill and abilities, he is able to use the susanoo, and devastating techniques that we do not even know, I mean how was he able to summon a meteor from the sky to smash the Tailed form of Yagura, not to mention that he is from the lineage of two of the most powerful shinobi in all of history, he has the lineage and the strength, we must admit that when he gets older and if he can maintain or get stronger, he is certainly a candidate for the title of Hokage after your tenure Minato." While this was beign said Danzo was wondering if he could get his hands on Naruto, the village would indeed be supreme with a figure like Naruto by his side, he had seen the ruthlessness in the boy's heart, if only he could unleash it fully.
"So your saying you want me to marry Naruto, a possible Hokage candidate for your village in the future to make this alliance happen?" Mei tried to clarify, not minding the idea.
"Indeed, he has already gained the favor of many of our village's clans, he has saved the heir to the Hyuga, he is friends with the last Uchiha, he is powerful, and he has the support of many influential people in Konoha. It certainly is a possibility."
"Very well." Mei confirmed wondering how Naruto would take it.
"Wait a second, how old are you even?" Minato was wondering the age difference between his son and his future wife.
"I'm twenty one." Mei said getting angry, she hated when people brought up her age.
"Your 9 years older than him!" Minato was now thinking this was a bad idea.
"I know." Mei said getting angrier and angrier with each comment.
"So he is your future husband, congratulations,." Homaru stated wanting to get this over with.
"I hear he is participating in the chunnin exams this year?" Mei asked hoping to be there to cheer Naruto on.
"Indeed he is, speaking of that we need to train him to show off his skills and display him to the rest of the villages and daimyos." Koharu wanted to show off the boy's skills and the superiority of their village.
"May I come see him?" Mei asked, maybe Kirigakure could also participate in the exams.
"Of course." Minato said.
"Besides he is going to need multiple brides when he becomes part of the Clan Restoration Act along with Sasuke to revive the Uzumaki, Senju, and the Uchiha." Koharu said giving a stern look towards Minato who just glanced away. Minato was wondering how he was going to tell his son that he needed to build two clans and take multiple wives
"Very well this meeting is adjourned I am looking forward to the fruits of our alliance Mizukage Mei Terumi." Minato began to walk toward Mei with a smile.
"As am I Hokage Minato Namikaze." Mei walked toward the Hokage with a smile too.
And with that the two Kages walking toward each other shook hands finalizing that they were now partners in war and in peace.
….
Naruto was walking out of the hospital, he had awoken a few hours ago after having a long talk with the Three Tails, that giant turtle had berated him and insulted him but Naruto told him who was boss, and that he would reunite him with his brethren with his help, that he would save the world and he was the one that the Sage of the Six Paths foretold of. After that statement, the Sanbi had a calculating look to his face and decided to help the kid, if what his father said was true, and his father always told the truth, this child would save the world.
Naruto was walking down the street when he saw a guy with a black suit on holding up the grandson of the Sandaime, somebody that he was somewhat close to, Konohamaru. Next to him was a pretty girl that couldn't have been more than a few years older than him. Focusing he decided that they were here for the chunnin exams that would begin in a few days, not wanting to let them go without a welcome, he went into action.
"Please let me go, please." Konohamaru was begging this man that was holding him up by the neck. But instead one of his friends had come to his rescue, Naruto was behind the kid with the black suit and paint on his face with a kunai to the guy's throat another to the girls, he now saw that she was caring a large war fan and both of them had a headband with the Sunagakure symbol on it.
"Put the grandson of the Sandaime down now." Said Naruto emotionless, the command left no room for argument.
Kankuro not wanting to let this guy punk him, didn't let the kid he was holding go. "I bet you don't have the guts to-" He couldn't finish as the kunai was dug a little deeper enough to draw blood.
A rock came from a tree close by hitting Kankuro on the hand and made him drop Konohamaru, Kankuro looked to where the rock came from and saw a raven haired boy sitting down on a branch. "Why you little-" Again he was interrupted by a punch to his stomach coming from Naruto that dropped him to his knees.
"Come on out Mr. One Tail." Naruto sensed the container for Shukaku, Gaara on the same tree as Sasuke. What Naruto called Gaara surprised Kankuro and Temari, how did he know that Gaara held the one tail?
"Who are you?" Questioned Gaara also wanting to know what his siblings were thinking.
"Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, son of the Yondaime Hokage, I suppose you are the son of the Kazekage, and so these must be your brother and sister, the Sand Siblings I presume." Naruto stated.
"Indeed they are, Kankuro and Temari, I am Gaara, it is a pleasure to meet you Naruto."
"The pleasure is mine Gaara, but let me warn you, if you let loose that psychotic raccoon you hold within you, I'm going to take it from you and kill you."
Sasuke and Konohamaru were wondering what Naruto was talking about, Temari and Kankuro however were freaking out on the inside, the son of the Yondaime knew that their brother was a jinchuriki, him telling his father that sand had its tailed beast in Konoha could ruin everything.
"I presume you are going to be taking part in the chunnin exams then along with us?" Asked Gaara, interested in fighting the kid.
"Indeed I am." Answered Naruto.
"Well it's going to be interesting when we meet."
"I'm sure it will, I'm looking forward to it."
"Kankuro, Temari, let's go." Gaara turned to leave, his siblings following with him.
"Wait." Naruto interjected quickly.
"Yes?" Questioned Gaara.
"Temari was it?"
"Yes."
"Would you like to grab some lunch with me?"