Chapter 35 A New Age
Fire and smoke clogged the sky as a nearby creek ran red with blood, the sounds of screams could be heard over the sound of clashing steel. Standing in the middle of the field his dark boots covered with blood as bright red blood dripped off the broken kunai was Naruto Namikaze. He just stood there breathing heavily as his eyes turned toward away from the stream which was running thick with blood and body parts which no longer belonged to their owners. Toward a towering wall of fire which dominated the horizon as ghostly images of people did battle all around him. Then suddenly with one burst of speed the fire moved forward engulfing everyone in the flames.
The next thing Naruto saw was the top of the tent as he opened his eyes in a cold sweat as he sat up before looking to his right where Ino and Sakura lied side by side their dreams un haunted by nightmares. He ran his hand down his face trying to whip away some of the sweat but it didn't seem to stop as his hand rubbed against the small stubs of hair coming out of his face. Slowly he slipped on a pair of shorts before stepping outside as the warm late summer air clashed against the cold sweat. He stretched a bit before grabbing his hip pouch which was resting on the ground outside the tent beside his shoes. On the other side of the entrees was Ino's and Sakura's shoes and packs since they couldn't fit everything into their tent. Quickly Naruto sat down on a small chair as he slipped on his shoes before heading into the shrinking tent city.
"Morning sir." greeted a former Sand ninja as Naruto nodded his head confirming that he heard the greeting as he kept walking past the guard following the well-worn grass path, he was still half asleep as stepped off the grass and onto the hard cobblestone street. The bright street lines shinning down on him from above. For a moment Naruto simply blinked as he looked around at the stone buildings which surrounding him. Directly in front of him visible in the distance was the government building where his office as Kage was located. The entire city was set up in a wagon wheel design with the government building at its center with the main market and other government buildings around it. There would be a circler wall with secondary wall coming out from that wall so that from above it would match a circle with a plus sign coming out from it.
"Truly is amazing isn't it." stated a voice causing Naruto to jump pulling a kunai from his pouch. He lowered it only to see Choji standing there with his hands in his pocket.
"God, damn it Choji almost shit myself." cursed Naruto as he put his kunai away.
"I am sorry." apologized Choji as he moved toward Naruto before he started moving down the street "But as I was saying it is truly amazing what people can do in only six months."
"There is still a lot to do." answered Naruto as he started to walk down the street with Choji. "The Bridge across the straights is still at least a year away from being completed and then we have to work on all the other major projects left in this village alone. The outer Aldhard wall being top on the list here and then we have all the other defensives we are going to make."
"True but there are only less than a hundred people out of over 16 thousand still living in tents, business are open and the first year crop is above even my high expectations." stated Choji as the two of them walked past a bakery the smell of baking bread filled the air, other people were out setting out different items as they prepared for an event which was only two days away "It is a time for people to throw a party before winter comes. It is time to formally found this village."
"I know." said Naruto knowing that while they had done so much it wasn't without cost. Everyone had been working none stop for six months and everyone needed a rest before winter came. "I still is hard for me to think of winter taking place in June."
"Difference between being in the Northern hemisphere and the Southern hemisphere." stated Choji "While we were taking dips in that cool ocean water in the bay they were freezing their asses off up North and now it is our turn to freeze while they jump in the lakes."
"I guess." confirmed Naruto "But I for one never jumped in the bay."
"We all know that, you have been working none stop for six months and I don't even know how you convinced Ino not claim the first house once it was built." Stated Choji "Ino always hated camping and you a still in that tent six months after we got here."
"It wasn't easily." confirmed Naruto "But the last group of houses should be done either today or tomorrow and then I am going to let Ino-chan and Sakura-chan argue about how they want to lay it out."
"You don't really have a say do you?" laughed Choji
"I have one room just for myself the rest I am leaving to them." Explained Naruto before laughing as he remembered some of the conversations they had in the tent "As Ino puts it I would paint every room orange, can't really say she is much better she wants a lot of purple and a lot of Sakura wants red. Finally we all agreed."
Choji couldn't help but laugh.
"Well I never asked why are you even up in the first place, I mean I am going in to get some baked goods for when I am in the fields getting the harvest in but why are you up at 4:30 in the morning?" asked Choji as Naruto looked down.
"Just a nightmare." admitted Naruto
"A nightmare, can't really say I blame you for having those you have been in every major battle of the last war it would give anyone nightmares." reported Choji "Which battle was it can I ask? Pain, Madara or some other one."
"That's the thing it wasn't any of those." admitted Naruto "Jiraiya once told me that sometimes your dreams can foretell your future, I hope this wasn't the case."
"Well I always dream about having ice cream fall from the sky and the rivers run brown with chocolate syrup but I don't think that is going to happen any time soon." Laughed Choji as Naruto shock his head "So don't weigh too much on dreams and go back and sleep with those two beautiful women. You have a long day tomorrow moving in."
"I will." Said Naruto as he turned around and headed back toward the tents.
A few hours later the sun was high in sky as the fire Daimyo moved though one of large gardens in one of his multiple mansions spread out across fire country. He was dressed in one of his favorite robes, the red silk one with golden flames on the arms and chest.
"So any word from the young Hokage about the demons?" inquired the Fire Daimyo as the narrowed faced old man fanned himself inhaling the sweet smell of the carefully tended garden flowers. "Have they found them yet?"
"No grandfather." reported the 19 year old man who was next in line to rule the land of fire, like his grandfather and dead father the young man had a narrow face with a long nose and close together dark eyes. Like his grandfather he was dressed in silk robes however his was a deep royal blue with a floral pattern in silver
"Really I would have expected them to have found them by now." stated the Daimyo
"They haven't found them yet however they did have a heavier than normal snow fall in the Land of Earth this winter." explained the grandson "I couldn't even make it up to the annual winter poker tournament the roads where covered by a thick blanket of snow and with ice under it."
"What does snow have to do with the search?" inquired the Daimyo
"It makes it hard to move across open country I assume." answered the grandson "Personally the demons are likely frozen together in some unknown valley."
"Agreed but we still have to find them to set the other daimyo's at ease. Now lets us turn our attention to what matter in the affairs of state." reported the Daimyo as he sat down on a stone bench before looking at a small pound full of Koi fish. "There is a meeting of world leaders coming up and it is our turn to pick a location for the meeting."
"How about along the coast near tea country there are tons of beach resort towns to choice from." Offered up the grandson before laughing "Warm beaches, gambling and of course lots of gentlemen clubs around for enjoyment."
The Daimyo simply laughed at his grandson before shaking his head.
"All that is true and if this was just a meeting of the great Daimyo's of the five nations it would be prefect however this isn't our yearly gathering see this is the once in a decade meeting of all the daimyo and all the leaders in the world." Reported the Fire Daimyo as the younger man eyes widened. "So we have to take into consideration the fact we will have at least four female leaders there. So maybe the amounts of gentlemen's clubs in an area shouldn't be the deciding issue."
"Four…I only know of two Kages who are female." Stated the grandson
"Did you forget that the head of the land of Demons is the Priestess Shion and that the new Daimyo of the land of Granite is a female." reported the Fire Daimyo as the grandson rolled his eyes at the idea of a female daimyo. "I agree with you, however it isn't like that nation could get much worse off."
"True grandfather." laughed the grandson as the fire Daimyo began to stand up gripping a cane as he stood up.
"Therefore we have to take into consideration the best possible location the lower daimyo's to meet and you only have four years to find a location and inform the other Daimyos." Reported the Daimyo
"Me, Grandfather?" inquired the Fire Daimyo's grandson.
"Yes, I will not be around forever you need to start taking over some duties." explained the Fire Daimyo "So go out and start doing research to find a suitable place, but remember it has to be reachable for everyone including those poor nations in the south. If you really want to impress the other Daimyo's pick a place outside the Land of Fire, show them that you know the world."
"Thank you grandfather I will begin my search right away." confirmed the grandson with a smile knowing that he had four years to find the place for their meeting, which meant he had time to sample each candidate resort personally.
Far to the South in the Land of Granite Shikamaru Nara stood looking over a blue print of the massive suspension bridge which currently being built over the gap between the main land and the island. Two massive holes where being dug out on either side of the straight, these holes went straight down and would in time be filled with pure Aldhard. The Aldhard would be the base which supported the Aldhard steel beams which would form the two towers required to hold up the suspension bridge.
"Do you like what you see?" inquired an old but well-built man walked up to the young man who was studying the designs which would link the two newly built villages together.
"Well I wouldn't expect anything better than from the designer of the great Naruto Bridge in the land of Waves." confirmed Shikamaru as the master bridge builder Tazune lowered his head. "What?"
"I got a letter from my daughter Tsunami who is back home." Reported Tazune "And while I didn't tell her about who her son and I was working for down here she informed me that the Daimyo of the Land of Waves changed the name of the bridge so it is the Great Wave bridge."
"Don't want the 5th longest bridge in the world named after a demon do they." grumbled Shikamaru
"Well if you want to you can name this one the Great Naruto Bridge?" offered up Tazune as he looked down at the blueprint of his master piece in bridge design. The bridge before him was two times the width of any of his other bridges and was a two level bridge which would allow for foot travel on top with trains moving on the second. "This bridge is worth more then its weight in gold since we are using Aldhard everywhere we can, I can't wait until the day word gets around that I built the first Aldhard bridge in the world."
"Well you will have to wait a while because we can't tell anyone outside this nation know what is going on down here." explained Shikamaru as Tazune shrugged.
"No matter, it will take at least another year to finish this bridge here." Reported Tazune
Miles away Sakura Haruno sat in the hot springs located in at the top of one of the multiple hills which ran around the valley. She leaned back a bit as she let her longer hair soak in the warm touch the water, she had followed Ino's advice had grown out her hair so now it touched the back of her neck. The warm waters washed away all the frustrations from the fact that their new house wasn't finished, she was sick and tired of living in a God damn tent while everyone else had houses. She understood why Naruto wanted to wait until everyone else held a roof over their heads before moving into a new place of their own, he was the leader of the village and it wouldn't look good to be living in as nice of house as they will have while people live in tents but she loved his nobility but sleeping on grass for six months pissed her off none the less.
She closed her eyes placing a towel over the eyes before resting her head on one of the smooth rocks by the edge of the steaming pool. As she let the stress washed away, suddenly the sound of splashing water caused her to lift the towel off her eyes. She gazed across the pool only to spot a woman with long bluish raven hair and deep white eyes. She sat on the pool with the water up to her neck, she seemed to be looking around for something.
"If you're looking for a wash towel I have a spare." offered Sakura as Hinata's head snapped up as she noticed Sakura on the far side of what she thought to be an empty spring.
"Thanks." said Hinata as Sakura threw the towel across the hot spring which she caught with one hand.
"I thought you would be in the hospital?" inquired Hinata
"Shizune and Rin are covering today and tomorrow." reported Sakura as she leaned back placing the towel over her eyes as the warm water dripped over her face. "We were supposed to move into our new home today but damn it the metal roof we got from the Land of Bronze came with the wrong type of screws so they can't put them on. Tenten is making us some new ones but still it takes time."
"Sorry about that." said Hinata as she ran the towel over her arm whipping away the dirt. "When they built my house they mixed up the wiring and had to rewire the entire house."
"I know I shouldn't complain considering the teams building the homes have been working none stop for six months but there are limits on how long a person can stand sleeping on the ground every night." Reported Sakura "So instead of moving into a new house today I am here relaxing."
"I understand." Confirmed Hinata "I have spent the past four days locked away in different offices putting the final touches on all the new laws and legal protocols."
"I know, Ino has been asking me to give her headache medicines from all the reading she has done." Laughed Sakura, Hinata quickly joined her "Hopefully everyone will get more time once we finish the village."
"Yes." confirmed Hinata as the two women sat in the water for a while just thinking.
"I should thank you." blurted Sakura out of the blue as Hinata looked across the steaming water at Sakura who was lying in neck high water. "You could have been knocking on my door for six months complaining about the fact that while Ino and you have had dinners together you haven't had a chance to win over Naruto-kun or myself. We promised you a fair chance and we haven't done that."
"I have been cutting everyone a break since we have all been busy but I was hoping that during the founding ceremony in two days." explained Hinata as Sakura nodded her head.
"Well I am going to do something to fix that right now." offered up Sakura
"What?" inquired Hinata
"Did you ever play the question game at a sleepover?" asked Sakura
"Is that the one when someone asks a question and then everyone has to answer it, then the next person asks a question?" inquired Hinata as Sakura nodded her head. "So you want to play that here?"
"Why not?" asked Sakura "You ask me anything and then I answer it, then you do and then I ask you a question. You up for that?"
"Alright I'll play your game." confirmed Hinata
"Your first." offered Sakura as Hinata leaned forward a bit.
"Why do you love Naruto?" inquired Hinata
"If you had asked 12 year old me why I loved Naruto-kun, I would have said how could anyone love that baka." reported Sakura "However looking back at those moments we spent together it is those baka moments that make me smile. He is almost like joy given human form and just being around him makes me feel safe and warm."
"I love him for all the same reasons however one thing is stands above them all as a reason why I love him, we are the same." Reported Hinata as Sakura looked into the eyes of the ex Hyuga heiress. "See neither one of us really had a family."
"You come from one of the largest families in the Leaf village?" inquired Sakura
"But like Naruto I grew up with no one who really loved me." explained Hinata "After my mother died my father became cold and distance and Hanabi was always like that. It wasn't until I joined my team that I had anything like a real family."
"Just like Naruto." stated Sakura sadly as she tried not to remember that some of the emotional scars which Naruto had was caused by her.
"From the outside looking in it may have looked I had a family but in reality I was an orphan." explained Hinata "I love him because I know that we have gone through the same thing."
"I admit I never thought about how your family treated you." admitted Sakura "See you seemed to have everything, you where next in line to the most powerful clan in the Leaf, you always had the best cloths and at every village festival you had golden necklaces and diamond rings."
"Power and gold is nothing without a loving family around you." explained Hinata as Sakura nodded her head as her watch she had placed behind her on a nearby rock beeped.
"Well looks like I will not get a chance to ask you a question." reported Sakura as she stood up grabbing a towel before wrapping herself in it "Tenten should have those roofing screws made so maybe we can sleep inside tonight."
"Well it was nice talking to you." said Hinata as Sakura began to move out of the hot springs only to stop as she stood in a dripping wet towel.
"If you're wondering what to do with your hair in two days at the founding ceremony, Naruto-kun likes long hair." offered Sakura as Hinata blinked.
"I was wondering why you were growing your hair out." laughed Hinata as the two women smiled at each other. "Thanks, I will."
Well I hope you liked this chapter, I updated early because I am going to be away from my computer over the next few days unable to update. Now I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and I ask that you keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.