I do not own Naruto, if I did Tsunade would not be crying about how she doesn't have any chakra left while keeping her henge active.

Talk now – normal talk
What now – normal thoughts
Speak – biju, higher being talk
Listen – biju, higher being thoughts

Chapter 5 : Plans set in stone

When Naruto woke up in his old room with Sayaka near his bedside he couldn't help but let out a yell of pure joy, he quickly jumped towards Sayaka attempting to envelope her in a hug. Sayaka warmly smiled and hugged him tightly.

"I'm glad your back Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded not breaking the hug.

"We both are."

Naruto turned around seeing a smiling Yukimura leaning against the door, while Sayaka still held onto to him tightly, Yukimura came closer and ruffled his hair.

"Glad your back."

"It's good to be back. I don't like it out there" his face took a scowl "the people look at me with those cold eyes and their glares seems constant no matter where I go."

"It's alright now Naruto-kun." Sayaka kissed him on the top of his head.

Yukimura let out a sigh "Sadly it will take a long time to change that."

Naruto nodded and smiled as Sayaka began to play with his hair. "I know, it's just" he paused for a moment and shifted uncomfortably "everything feels so dark and depressing out there."

Yukimura bit his lip "We'll see what we can do to help you make some friends."

"Do you think I'll be able?" he asked looking at both Yukimura and Sayaka individually.

"Of course, Naruto-kun" Sayaka gently squeezed his shoulder with her free hand.

"Sayaka's right, it will be a bit difficult to find a real friend, but not impossible."

Naruto nodded.

"Now I heard someone's goal is freedom?" Yukimura asked in an amused tone of voice.

"Yeah" Naruto chuckled and tried to rub the back of his head with his hand only to be stopped by Sayaka who was still playing with his hair.

Yukimura smiled "The question is what kind of freedom you desire"

Naruto quickly cut in. "Of the chains that hold me down"

"Oh?" Yukimura had an amused look on his face "Philosophical aren't we."

Naruto laughed and this time was able to scratch the back of his head. "I want to be free of Konoha and the label they've branded me with."

Yukimura nodded. "It will be difficult in the long run; most of the villagers will be against you and others that will discover what you hold."

Naruto quickly responded. "Nothing worth having is easy to obtain."

Sayaka hugged him again. "I think someone's reading is paying off."

Naruto laughed a bit before he stopped remembering his new situation. "I can't even read any books in that place the Hokage gave me, I missed this place and the library here is huge."

Yukimura coughed awkwardly. Best you don't know how large it is, I'll keep the smut section locked, no matter how much Sayaka may insist otherwise.

Sayaka snarled "Don't get me started on that place; it is a dump, and giving you an apartment on the top floor? The old man must be insane." The last words held more anger in them.

"It has potential" Yukimura countered "eventually when the other people move out we could expand, and make the place bigger, of course it will take a while and we will need to be careful about how we go about it."

"Why would they move out?" Naruto asked before a flicker of realization passed over his eyes. "Oh because I live there" he finished in a depressed tone.

"Ignore them Naruto-kun. Eventually you will have your own place to call home."

"It's just" Naruto stooped unsure of how to continue "that I like this place, when you leave will this realm be destroyed?" he asked looking at Yukimura who grimaced.

"Yes, I can sustain it for a while, but in the end it will be destroyed."

"There is some good news Naruto-kun."

"There is?" he asked in a hopeful tone.

"Yes, while Yukimura still doesn't have all of his memories back, there are bits and pieces that suggest that there are other continents out there, we could try to send you there when he's back to full power, or at the very least help make your journey there a lot easier."

"That would be great." New hope seemed to blossom in him now.

"I thought about taking you to a different world than this one when we leave, but sadly there are far too many complications to it."

"Is traveling that difficult?" Naruto had been curious about the subject.

"It's difficult to establish a connection to a different world, traveling there also has its own issues, but the problems are represented by the differences for life on those worlds."

"Don't humans exist there as well, if you came from one of those worlds?" he enquired.

Yukimura nodded. "That's just it, in my world there was a substance in the atmosphere and that was absorbed into the peoples bodies, because of that we gained a few more organs and it was what allowed some of us to gain and use special abilities, similar to how shinobi have chakra, the only reason I could still use my own ability after leaving my world was because I had stored quit a bit of it during my lifetime and the different magic arts I discovered during my trips."

Naruto nodded absorbing what Yukimura said until he heard the last two words and his eyes bulged. "Magic exists?"

Both Yukimura and Sayaka smiled. "In my world and in other worlds yes, what did you think we used around here and when I found out who was in the room with you back in Konoha?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders "Um, god powers?"

Yukimura chuckled "God powers are magic on a far larger scale, think of it as comparing a puddle to an ocean, oh you can use the water in the puddle to do something, but it pales in comparison to a tsunami that an ocean can unleash."

"Can I ever use magic?"

"Yes."

Naruto's eyes widened "Really? That sounds great" his face took on an inquisitive look "Why don't you teach me then, is there some sort of problem?"

Yukimura nodded "There are a few problems that could pose a risk."

Sayaka gently led Naruto back on the bed and went next to Yukimura before answering his question "First it would be that as a future ninja you must learn to use chakra, the teachings related to chakra encourages people to train both their body and their mind, sadly with magic some have a tendency to only train their minds over their bodies."

Naruto nodded. I suppose it makes sense, but there's probably something more. "And the other reasons?" he asked looking at the two who were giving each other strange looks.

Yukimura in the end was the one who answered. "If magic hasn't been used in a very long time, and you start using it, there is a chance that you could get unwanted attention from some of the supernatural creatures still out there, worst case you end up waking one up if you use magic near its place of slumber."

Naruto bit his lip "That doesn't sound good at all."

Yukimura waved his hand in a dismissive manner "Don't worry about it for now, on the bright side we have been working on some chakra control exercises for you to use."

"Really?" Naruto's eyebrows furrowed "But won't it arouse suspicion if I'm seen practicing them."

"Don't worry about that Naruto-kun, it is something we have taken into account, these exercises are rather simple while still being very effective and involve more meditation and focus then anything else, once your guards are recalled we will be able to teach you the more advanced ones, hopefully by then we can create other new ones as well." Sayaka placed a finger to her chin and smiled "A few techniques can actually be done while in bed and pretending to be asleep, to help shrug of suspicion."

Naruto smiled and nodded before he remembered something Yukimura had told him the day he arrived to his apartment. "You mentioned that there were seals in my new home?"

Yukimura's face took a serious expression "Yes, there was an Anbu hiding in the shadows, there are also some seals on the walls of the room and upon most of your cloths."

"What?!" he yelled "Then the old man really did set me up!"

Yukimura nodded and took a seat near the bed. "Yes, yes he did" Yukimura rubbed his chin "at first I thought that there was a chance that the seals were just tracking seals, that however changed when I detected someone watching you and a few of the seals flared. I believe they are a combination of tracking seals and monitoring ones that use some sort of device that allows the Hokage to literally watch what you're doing."

Anger swelled up inside of him. "That, that…." Naruto let out a breath and calmed himself down "so what do we do about it?"

Yukimura smiled. "Plans within plans Naruto, once we find out to what the seals are tied to we can use them to our advantage."

Naruto nodded quickly thinking about their conversation before he furrowed his eyebrows once more remembering a something from it. "You never mentioned the other problems with leaving this world."

"Ah, yes," Yukimura rubbed the back of his head "it is rather complicated, to explain the exact mechanics of traveling to another world would take a very long time, heck just getting past what protection the other world may or may not have to keep others out is a tricky matter. One thing is that we would need to find a world, where you can actually live and would be able to have children one day."

"Is such a world rare?" The differences can't be that big.

"As mentioned before, my home world had a substance that allowed us to use magic, now if your body has chakra in it and produces it and the air itself in the other world if filled with this substance that seeps into your body and changes it, what do you think would happen if you went there."

Naruto's eye bulged again. "I could die, or suffer immensely because of it! The two types of energy may end up clashing together inside of me."

Yukimura sighed and nodded with face marred with sadness. "Unfortunately yes, there's no telling what may happen in such a world."

A quick though struck him and he asked in a frightened tone "But what about the magic in this world, if you said I can use it, then it's different somehow right?"

"Don't be afraid Naruto-kun, people here have the potential to use magic by unlocking it from within, here there is no substance in the atmosphere that is the cause of it."

Naruto let out a relieved breath. "So I wouldn't be able to visit worlds like that then."

"You could visit, but even that would have it's own risks, the other issues, are that your body may be a bit to different from the other people, they could have some more red blood cells in comparison to you, at a genetic level, you could be different then them. Heck in some worlds the air itself is different, and it would result in you having difficulty in simply breathing; children in those worlds would also be out of the question."

"Is it that bad out there?" he asked, things looked painted to form a rather depressing picture.

Yukimura had a thoughtful look on his face. "Not necessarily bad, just different."

Sayaka gently squeezed his shoulder and smiled. "Naruto-kun, there are countless worlds out there, and it would take years to search through them and even then some would require us to travel there for closer inspection, it's why training you to survive here has become a greater priority then before."

Naruto sighed "All right, I understand."

"Don't be sad Naruto-kun;" Sayaka smile seemed so warm to him "there is still hope for that, faint as it may be."

Naruto nodded "Yeah, I thought that this could still happen."

Yukimura let out a sigh "We'll do what we can, but you must keep in mind that you may end up living in this world for the rest of your life."

"Alright." He let out a resigned sigh of his own.

"It doesn't mean that you'll have to live in Konoha for the rest of your life, just for a time, we'll search for a way for you to leave this continent and go to another one." He looked towards Naruto and smiled. "But in the mean time you'll have to make some sort of life for yourself in Konoha. Remember home is where the heart is."

Naruto nodded.

Yukimura padded Naruto on the head. "Cheer up even with its problems this world isn't that bad, from I remember there aren't any dark gods here, no one trying to turn the world into a charnel or needing skulls for a skull throne."

Naruto's eye bulged again and he retreated further onto the bed. "There was that kind of world?"

"You're scaring him." Sayaka hissed, she quickly moved and enveloped him in a protective embrace.

Yukimura looked to regret uttering those words and waved his hands in a reassuring manner. "There was, but I took care of those gods, so calm down and don't worry."

"You're sure they're dead for good?" after getting a nod from Yukimura he calmed down. "Ok, I'll try to get some people on my side to make life easier; I don't think I'll be able to make friends anytime soon."

"Yes, you will Naruto-kun it'll just take a while longer." Sayaka tightened her embrace.

"She's right" Sayaka gave Yukimura a look that screamed We already knew that "don't doubt it for even a second." Yukimura smiled "How about we go sledding again and then talk about your plans and training afterwards?"

Naruto nodded "Ok, that'd be nice, how long can I stay here this time?"

"Not as long as before and the time will vary as well. Now you should change clothes and get ready Naruto"

"Hai"

Sayaka released Naruto from he embrace and he quickly got down of the bed, both Yukimura and Sayaka quickly left the room as Naruto began to search through his drawer for different clothes.

As soon as the door closed to Naruto's room, Sayaka turned towards Yukimura. "So what do you think?"

Yukimura had a thoughtful look on his face "We can make things work." He responded in a firm tone of voice.

Sayaka nodded "Indeed, the road is just as hard as we imagined, he will need strong allies for the wars." Sayaka could all but see the gears turning in Yukimura's head.

"There were a few faces I noticed in the first vision of the future; the later ones have also revealed quite a few others."

"Yes, there were a few interesting ones, having him become friends with them and gently pushing their training ahead, could gain him some stronger allies for the eventual conflicts."

The thoughtful look never left Yukimura's face. "Especially if we add to it as well."

"You want us to reveal ourselves?" she asked in a surprised tone of voice.

"Not necessarily. If he mentions how he was accesses to some of the Kyuubi's memories and has gained knowledge of some fighting styles and techniques that he can teach them, it wouldn't directly involve meeting us."

Sayaka nodded. "But it would lend credence to his teachings" she brought her hand to her chin in a thoughtful manner "well, that's one way to go about doing things, and it does have some advantages."

"True, there was one person I think he would be able to approach early on and get her on his side; it would require our intervention to aid her before she is lost."

"Oh?" she asked intrigued, the number of people wasn't that high, realization quickly struck her and she nodded "Well she does have potential; we will need to watch carefully for when the incident occurs."

"Yes" Yukimura smiled "now let's have some fun."

Six torches lit the otherwise dark room, four in each corner of the room and another two near an old fashioned wooden desk were a person sat behind, upon the desk several scrolls, a map and a shogi board with the a few pieces moved could be seen. Five people stood in a kneeling position, each person wore black shinobi clothing with a black cloak, forehand and shin protectors and were armed with a tip-less tantō. Every person had featureless white masks on their faces.

Behind the desk sat a person who appeared to be a frail, old man, he had black shaggy hair, and his right eye was bandaged. The man had an x-shaped scar on his chin, he wore a white shirt, with a black robe over the top of it covering from his feet, to just over his right shoulder.

The man picked up a scroll of the desk, "Agent 33" one of the persons kneeling on the floor arose and took the scroll he was handed, the person, who had short spiky black hair, nodded and went back to his position. The mission would require the use of certain styles of executions in order to create the impression that the bandit gang problems near the border with the lower countries were far worse than they actually were.

The man picked up another scroll "Agent 41" a different person, a woman with short black hair arose and took the scroll she was handed. This mission would require the squad to set off several attacks within the country in order to influence several people on the continuous need for shinobi protection.

"Agent 45" the exchange was as fast as before, a girl with brown hair arose and took the scroll this time. The squad would travel to different places in the lower countries and would use many small acts of violence and terror to cause social unrest, then that unrest would blossom into war and people would begin to kill each, if the conditions weren't right they would further help things along. A few of the agents would slip in and pretend to be civilians during the eventual demonstrations that would occur and attack the soldiers used to contain them to give a reason for the soldiers to crack down on them, while others would slip in amongst the soldiers and retaliate at the first chance, or if need be, start the violence themselves.

"Agent 92", The Land of Sea still had problems with some rebels and one of the men in power planned to destroy a medical clinic and blame the rebels; using the attack as a justification for further violence against the rebels. Considering the geography of the country with its islands and the nature of some of the trade it does it isn't surprising that conflict would arise.

"Agent 134" a man arose and quickly picked the scroll before kneeling back down, one of his greatest plans, setting up one of these to trigger increased tensions between The Land of Earth and The Land of Valleys, Wind and Stone. The Land of Valleys was still tied to the Land of Earth in many ways, even with its so called independence. The plan was to have an assassin kill an important pro-independence political figure during an independence rally, thus turning him into a martyr for the independence movement, while at the same time having agitators in the crowds incite violence and riots, in order to push the land further toward favoring independence and thus toward conflict. His men would leave clues behind that shinobi were involved, with the uneasy relationships between Iwa, Suna and hidden boulder village, it would create even more tension between the three.

"What are you?" The man intoned; his voice firm.

All of the people chanted in a monotonous voice. "The unseen ones who support the great tree of Konoha from the depths of the earth."

No emotion passed over the man's face. "Who are you?"

"Root, we have no name. We have no feelings. We have no past. We have no future. There is only the mission."

"Dismissed"

Once the room was empty Danzo looked over the map of the continent, he never doubted what he did, and he knew it was the right thing, even those in power knew it. He would send his agents to cause strife in other countries to ensure that they kept fighting each other and seek to hire Konoha, he would commit acts of terrorism and sabotage against Fire Country for the betterment of Konoha, to secure more contracts and keep things sharp in the country, everything he ever did was for the betterment of Konoha.

A brief memory flashed through his mind, of a man dressed in blue samurai like armor with spiky grey hair. One way to weaken two factions is to assassinate one of their important figures while under the guise of the other faction, then let the two fight it out, while you wait and observe the situation play out, when an opportunity presents itself from this situation you would simply have to take it. The two sides would decrease their own manpower, and open themselves up for an attack, new territory could be gained far more easily, either way the two sides would be weakened.

He grunted as he returned his view towards the map. A shame that many have forgotten the Nidaime's wise words. Danzo's lone eye turned towards Suna, Iwa and the smaller countries that stood between them and Konoha.

Two years ago Suna after a scandal with Iwa over the loss of a promising jounin of theirs, had in secret attempted to pit Konoha against Iwa, they had to intervene to aid Konoha and snatch up land only after Konoha had spilled its blood in weakening Iwa. Something that he couldn't allow to occur, Konoha would have lost more then it would have gained, a few brief moves on his part ended their ploy and managed to set them back, a few clues left behind ensured that the Hokage would be more wary towards Suna.

Danzo's eye moved towards Ame. A pity that the deal with Hanzo did not materialize, Konoha could have had a true Hokage. At the very least things on that front are locked in a struggle that will keep Ame out of the political arena for the future.

He shifted his gaze towards Konoha. More and more elements are coming together to form the perfect storm for my ascension to the title of Hokage. Orochimaru will play his part and help eliminate Hiruzen, perhaps he may yet manage to wound Orochimaru badly enough for me to finish the latter of, either way when he attacks the village a few of my agents will ensure that more damage is dealt to show the full impact Hiruzen's philosophy has brought to the village, the destruction of some of the Hokage faces on the mountain will aid in raising outrage against the attackers and the leadership that allowed such a thing to occur.

The tension with both the Uchiha and Kurama clans is steadily growing; all it needs is someone to stroke the fires to ensure it continues and inevitably adds another black mark on Hiruzen's record. The Kurama clan may yet see things my way and aid in me in my bid for the title of Hokage. Perhaps I may yet be able to recruit a few Uchiha's as well into my army with the tension.

Danzo leaned back into his chair; he would soon start to recruit children for his army from Konoha's clans, one Yamanaka with great potential had already been recruited thanks to his aid inside of the clan. A few agents of his would search the nearby towns for children with potential, while only a handful would search in the lower countries. As Danzo got up from the chair he cast his gaze towards the shogi board.

Already the pieces are in play, Orochimaru, my agents, tension in Konoha, they are all creating the perfect storm for my ascension to my rightful place, one were I will guide Konoha as its Hokage and unify the shinobi nations under one banner, thus ending the possibility of any future war between the shinobi nations and bringing peace and stability to the land.

The cold night wind could be heard as it howled outside, the inside of the cave was warmed by numerous fires, with sheets and other materials used to create rooms for the people, small cracks in the walls were used to air the place and ensure the people did not die from the smoke.

Beige sheets tied around together with three wooded pillars formed the main entrance to a particularly large room, on the inside an old fashioned rug with dark red and yellow colors could be found on the floor, two large metal pans with fire in them were placed on either side of the room. Along the torches were placed to help illuminate the place, near the walls chests of various sizes could be found, towards the end of the room was a large oak table with books, scrolls and maps placed upon it.

Near the table stood an elderly man, even with his advanced age the man was well toned, he stood at moderate six feet, had a light skin tone, a rectangular face, the man had short white hair, a few patches of an earthly brown could still be seen from his youth. His straight hair revealed a lean, gloomy expression, heavy gray eyes that looked to have seen horrors born of the darkest pits were set sunken within their sockets, a beard charmingly complimented his nose and mouth and left a beautiful memory of his past.

The way the man held himself still spoke of a martial prowess that was not to be underestimated, he seemed to radiate authority and his presence demanded respect. The man wore an opened dark brown battle robe, light brown shirt and pants, black boots and a black undershirt that could be seen from his color, a dark blue sword sheath was barely visible on his right side.

"Enter" he sounded as if it carried the weight of the world.

The beige sheets were parted as an elder woman with curly grey hair and grey bandages that covered her lower face from the nose down dressed in a black kimono and an undistinguishable middle aged man dressed in a dark green battle kimono entered the room. They both stopped in front of the man and bowed slightly; the man looked at the two and made a small sign for them to rise.

"Report."

The middle aged man brought out from a pocket of his clothes several small scrolls tied together by a thin red string and handed them to the elderly man. "Our agents have managed to get closer to their objectives, in a few years they will be in the positions we need them to help distribute our gift" the man had a small crooked smile "the infighting amongst their nobles allows us better cover to move behind from, it is fortunate that they seem more interested in fighting each then doing their jobs, as long as one appears meek and submissive our agents jobs are secure."

The elderly man simply nodded. "The doctor?"

"Has agreed to join us, once we are certain of his loyalty we will allow him to look over our creation and see how he can help to improve it" the man's crooked smile only grew larger "already it is quite the nasty piece of work."

"Acceptable." he handed the middle aged man a scroll from the desk. "Have our people begin searching for the sannin Orochimaru, with his betrayal of Konoha he may yet become a valuable pawn in the future."

The other two people scowled but said nothing their leader had a plan and would not pursue such a course of action without thinking it through, the middle aged man took the scroll bowed and left the room.

The aged man turned towards the woman that gave him a small scroll from one of her sleeves, the woman spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Their training is going well and the others are in good shape considering their age and our ...conditions."

The elder man's thin lips formed a small barely noticeable smile. Even with everything that has occurred our people remain strong.

"I have found a child with potential for that role."

The man's flat eyebrows rose in surprise. The child must have potential for her to approach the subject. He nodded.

"Hidero." The woman called out.

A small young boy entered, he looked frail, was bald and wore rags stitched together, the boy quickly bowed to the elderly man.

"Do you know what you shall become if you survive?"

"A weapon of vengeance for my people."

He looked into the boy's eyes; he could see steel in them. The man through a weapon from his robes at the ground in front of the boy; it was an extremely long kunai that lacked a ring at the end.

"What is that?"

The boy's eyes widened as he looked at the weapon "Our traditional weapon, a part of our heritage."

"You will forsake that weapon if you continue, as will you forsake your heritage."

"I will do whatever is needed for my people's revenge."

The man simply looked at boy for a moment longer, in other times the boy could have become a true leader for our people, during the initiation ritual the boy would be immersed in an oily bath and would be covered from head to toe in black and red tattoos. If he survived long enough, new agonizing tattoos would be applied to him to show his success and complete dedication to his cause. He cast one final glance at the boy. "Have him go through the trial."

Both of the two bowed and exited the room.

The man went and sat down behind the table, looking over it, even with the others that have been wronged like us and have joined us, we don't have the strength needed to win in an all out fight, the only choice is one last great battle to the death, to wound our enemies as much as we can and have our wounds lead to their death. He picked up a book from the table that was bound in leather of various types and had three metal clasps and a small blue bookmark that could be seen within it.

The spine and corners of the book were of strange black leather, while the rest of it had a brown color that was faded in a few places, often he could make out strange shadowy faces in agony gazing upwards at him upon its cover.

The man touched the book's cover, it wasn't like any leather he had ever felt in his life, it felt all but human to the touch. He slowly opened the book again, it had given him nightmares the likes of which he believed only the horrors of war could match, even so it potentially held the key to his peoples revenge, he needed to find the temple mentioned in the book, he needed to find the scroll mentioned in it. The book had come into his possession by accident; after his people found a trading caravan that was under attack they aided them under the guise of simple mercenaries.

The merchants were so glad for their aid that they gave them what little they could spare, it was one of the merchants that gave his people the book, it had come into his possession from a deceased distant relative and the man had been unable to sell it but mentioned that it should have value as it appeared rather ancient, the man valued his life more and was willing to part with it as a sign of gratitude for his people's intervention. The merchant didn't know how right he had been about the book it was written in an old language, his people had given him the book once they returned and he had been curious of what the book held and began to translate it.

The act had taken a great deal of time but the book had caught his attention and aroused his curiosity, as time went by and he made progress with the translation he realized just how old the book truly was, something from the lost ages.

His people had found a few of the shrines mentioned in it and one of the temples, but it had been mostly destroyed, if he could find the others he knew the scroll that would deliver their vengeance would be there. As the man began working on translating the book, he made a promise to himself to burn the book before the final battle; it was too dangerous to allow falling in other hands.

Three people stood looking over documents in a dimly lit stone room, the first of them was Eiji Adachi, he had dark piercing eyes and a clean-shaven, baby-faced visage, his dark hair was worn casually unkempt, falling over his eyes. He looked to be the very picture of an attractive, sophisticated man in the prime of life; he wore a blue, full length military issue coat and slacks with black dress shoes. "This is how we're going to proceed." he tapped one of the documents on the table.

A tall and lean man, that had a thin chinstrap of scruffy beard and his jovially spiky hair ending in a characteristic forelock as well as the rectangular spectacles framed in front of his hazel eyes smiled and scratched his scruffy beard. "Well I have the doctors for it so it's no problem on that front, with time we should be able to either get the staff on our side or place our own people inside. You sure you don't have any second thoughts?"

Eiji didn't flinch. "I'm sure of it, we proceed with the plan."

"Well alright! Then I hope you can lay the charm on her because a lot of this depends on you getting between the bed sheets with the girl."

"You just handle your part of the plan I will handle mine."

"Alright, alright, if you need any tips on charming the lady you know where to find me."

Eiji gritted his teeth. "Get out."

The man left the room giving the third person a warm and cheeky smile.

Eiji took the documents and then through them into the fireplace. "You don't agree with my choices Anzu?"

The last person of three was Anzu Mazaki; she had brown shoulder-length hair that was sectioned into two layers, consisting of a darker shade of brown inner layer, with the outer layer of a lighter shade. She was a woman in her early twenties with a moderately muscular and curvaceous build.

"I do not agree with your decision of helping that religious sect, our country doesn't need them, I cannot personally trust them."

"I will keep them in check, and they have their uses, for now at least." As Eiji was preparing to throw another document into the fire he stopped and took a closer look at it, the document contained a picture of his daimyo's family. The man, Masashige Kagawa, had buried his second wife not long ago and had been in a depression ever since, the man only had three daughters left after Yone drowned at sea, young Chiyuki had married into the Nagao family, a cursed bloodline, and been effectively cut of from the line of succession.

That only left two women, Ruma with her green, well groomed hair that was always pulled back and revealed a furrowed, gloomy face, round blue eyes, set buried within their sockets that did little to betray the intelligence behind them, several moles were spread neatly around her small nose. The woman was smart, too smart for his plans; that left Enko as the only viable target, he quickly tossed the picture in the fire.

Eiji knew that what he was planning was treason but it was also the only way for his country to become great, for it to take its rightful place in the world, to make Tea a super power, but for that he and his group needed to get to power first. He was aware of his rather modest background; his great grandfather had been a farmer while his grandfather and father had both been professional soldiers for their country who only later took up farming after leaving the army, even with these facts the nobles still considered him a farmer, a mud born.

Eiji tightened his fist, the plan was to marry one of the daimyo's daughters to help acquire a better political and social position, and his military career would help as would his good looks and charisma. Once married he and the others would drive his new wife made then gently help to cure her and make her into either the perfect wife or remove her from the picture, Taido Kida was already laying the necessary foundation in finding and placing the right people to aid in their plan, a ploy worthy of the theatre, faking the murder of her doctor, servants and husband.

But there were plenty of obstacles in his way to power, he need to seduce and marry Enko, the daimyo needed to be removed from scene, get some of nobles behind him, well a few are willing, and I already have spies in other families. Then there was Ruma to consider, her ideas of how the country should be ruled were preposterous to many, not to him though, he liked them but he would never declare them in public like she had, her staunch beliefs and independent attitude had made her an outcast, while not know to the public it had also cut her from the line of succession, none of the nobles wanted to support her and no one with any sort of political position wanted to marry her.

The greatest threat to his plan would be Norogumi Seki, an old friend of the previous daimyo and the guardian of the daimyo's young half-sister, it's a miracle that the old man managed to get a woman pregnant, he all but through the country into chaos when it was announced nine years ago, at least he died with a smile on his face.

Norogumi, one of their greatest generals if not the greatest, he could all but see the man in front of him, white hair with parts hazel, short cut slightly revealed a round, anguished face. Wide blue eyes set tightly within their sockets, smooth skin that complimented his cheekbones and left a fascinating memory of his luck in battles. A sword slash left a mark stretching from the top of the left cheek, first running towards thin lips and ending under her right eye from a battle fought in defense of their country.

There was something enticing about the man, perhaps it was a feeling of arrogance or perhaps it's simply a feeling of comfort. But nonetheless, people tended to stand straight around the man and thank him for his service; some hoped that he would one day be their leader. The man still had an incredible physique for his age, fifty-five years and still going strong, he had been recruited as a young boy by the previous daimyo and spent much of his life in the army; even with his strict attitude the nobles liked him. He will be my greatest challenge to overcome.

Once in power was when the second part of the plan began, to expand the country and begin to conquer other lands, the Land of Noddles, the Land of Waves would be a start. Benisu Island was a trade island between his country and the Lands of Wind and Fire, while no side had control over it, it was an important trade point and any side trying to gain control of it would have to fight with the other two.

Nagi Island and O'uzu would fall with enough pressure, his main three targets were the part of the Land of Fire near his country; the second target would be the Land of Sea, the other great trade country that also traded with the countries across the ocean; the last target would be parts of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers to help feed his people and sustain future conquests.

Tea country's fleet was already amongst the best, but its army was another matter, while the army had fought others and come out on top it couldn't yet mach the other larger countries, so he and his people had already begun to help improve it, luckily for him other likeminded people existed and had been increasing the army.

The problem was that they still didn't have any shinobi of their own, the previous daimyos were against the creation of a ninja village in their country, their reasons were understandable for the most part. The first kages had divided the known world after the creation of the ninja villages and held considerable power in their countries, while starting a ninja village had its own dangers it also had plenty of advantages.

Sadly he would need ninjas for his plans, mercenaries and missing nin could easily switch sides but as long as the money was good they would stay loyal for the most part. He would need people loyal to his country, men and women who wouldn't be afraid to give their lives for it. Slowly he would aid in creating a ninja corps in his country to help in the future wars, with the situation in Kiri slowly deteriorating there was potential to recruit shinobi from there, other missing nins would also be approached with caution.

The other part would be to search for clans to swear fealty to his country, surprisingly it looks like a clan from Konoha of places may yet join my country, and they do have such potential. The new religious sect that he had aided in establishing themselves in the country was his ace in the hole; most people didn't know was that they also had their own special abilities similar to that of shinobi and would aid him in his ambitions.

He tossed more documents in the fire, before throwing the last two documents he looked at them and gritted his teeth, his country still had various government officials at assorted levels conspiring with pirates while at the same time they had nobles trying to ruin other nobles in the name of politics and screwing over their subjects out of greed.

He was happy that at least the situation in the Land of Fire was similar, after meeting Kenijirou he was convinced that the man was insane and would lead the country to ruin, mostly likely a civil war was just around the corner and that would be the perfect time to strike at them, he would gain land from them while slowly supplying the warring sides with gold to prolong the conflict.

A small six year old girl lay on her futon dressed in a white kimono; her skin was slightly red and sore all over, as she had been scrubbed viciously for her to be properly cleansed after her latest deed. The girl rose and climbed onto a chair near the window of her room overlooking the gardens of her home; she looked out and could see the sun setting in the distance, the gentle golden glow over the horizon signaled the night's rapid approach.

She loved the autumn, when the leaves were tinted in yellow and burning red; together with the sun they formed a golden ocean with red patches whose beauty was unequaled. When the winds blew the leaves always looked to be dancing with each other, brown, red and gold all seemed drawn together for a dance, uncaring of their stature, before just as quickly it began it soon ended and they returned to their places. Throwing the leaves that had fallen on the ground made it look like it was raining with colors for her.

The girl looked at her own reflection in the window gently touching her own face, she was quite pretty, or so people had told her, a sharp inverted triangle face, thin lips, long thin eyebrows, onyx black hair that reached her lower back and two bangs that framed the sides of her face, pale white skin, a sign of my higher blood, of purity, and spring green eyes, the best of both my parents.

A knock drew her attention towards the door. "Enter."

A tall elderly woman with visible wrinkles on her face opened the door; she was carrying a white cup, the woman bowed slightly. "Good evening lady Kaguya." the woman greeted.

Kaguya smiled. "Good evening Urano-san." Urano Nishida had been with her family long before her birth and had been a constant in her own life.

Urano gently placed the cup on the night stand before bowing again and leaving, it didn't escape Kaguya's notice that the woman was wearing white gloves.

Kaguya made her way towards her night stand, the cup was porcelain and had designs of white pigeons sitting on the branches of a blooming sakura tree, she gently picked up the cup and returned to the chair by the window taking care not to spill the drink. She drank a bit of the warm milk as she let her gaze wander outside again, her thoughts were preoccupied with other matters.

All the people around her treated her more like a divinity then anything else, she was barely allowed to leave her home, the palace felt more like a prison to her, the only few times she left her home was for small occasions, to visit family members or friends of her parents. Walking through the large gardens around her home were one of the greatest joys of her life.

She knew her parents were of some importance, just how much she didn't know, she had over heard some of her parent's friends talking about marriages for her, she wasn't even sure what it meant. Kaguya sighed and placed the cup near the window.

Everybody treated her so differently; there were so many rules she had to follow so many things she wasn't allowed to do. She wasn't allowed to touch the ground with her bare feet anymore, she wasn't allowed to play with some of the other children she had seen around the house as they were below her, and they would dirty her with their unwashed hands. She longed to play in the dirt and mud, the run through the gardens barefoot, the play with the other children she would see on the streets, she longed for freedom.

Kaguya took the cup and made her way towards the night stand placing it upon there then quickly changed into her sleep attire, the silk sheets had a silky feeling that was cool to the touch and felt smooth from the moment she lay down upon them, her pillows had only feathers from gooses, no chicken feathers, those were for commoners.

Kaguya smiled, she had at least one secret, she had managed to become friends with a young stable boy, his father tended the horses and was teaching him as well to one day do the same. They had played in secret before and had done the same today, Kazutoshi had quickly fled when they heard one of her caretakers approach, sadly she had been found in the stables amongst the hay and dust, the mocking laughter of her relatives and the cleansing bath she received had all been worth it, just those brief moments of fun made the rest seem so much brighter, she hoped she could see Kazutoshi again soon.

Naruto moved from side to side on his new bed failing to fall asleep, it was different now, the bed, the room, the place, there were still days until he could return to his realm home. Trying to fall asleep, he searched for a memory of either Sayaka or Yukimura telling him a bed time story, like a lighting strike the memory struck him, Naruto closed his eyes recalling the memory.

He laid snuggled with his blanket with Sayaka near his bead. "Could you please tell me a full story this time?"

Sayaka took on a thinking pose as she tapped her chin before finally smiling. "Well since it was your birthday, I suppose I can do that. And I have just the story for this occasions it's called The bear fooled by the fox."

Sayaka cleared her throat before leaning into her chair. "As that the story goes there was once a clever fox, like all foxes" she winked at him at this part and he giggled" the fox had searched the whole night for food and had found nothing. When day arrived, the fox neared the edge of a road and went to rest in a bush, thinking about what to do to find food."

"Sitting with its snout on its forwards paws the smell of fish reached its nose, then lifting its head out of the bush and looking around the road it spotted a wagon pulled by two bulls. Good! The fox thought. Here comes the food I've been waiting for. Once out of the bush it quickly reached the middle of the road where it began to play dead."

"When the wagon neared the fox, the farmer manning the bulls spotted the fox and thinking it was truly dead stopped the wagon and neared it. Looking at the body in bewilderment he said to himself. Now how did this fox die here?! What a beautiful scarf I can make for my wife from this fox's fur! Saying that he grabbed the fox by the head and dragged it towards the wagon where he threw it atop the fish before starting back on his trip."

"The farmer walked alongside his bulls and spurred them to walk faster, so he could get home quickly and take the fox's fur. Unknown to him even as the bulls started walking again the fox had begun to push the fish out of the wagon with its paws. The farmer spurred the bulls, the wagon jolted and the fish fell from it. After the sneaky fox threw out a great amount of fish on the road, it jumped out of the cart, and with great haste began to gather the fish on the road. Once gathered it in a pile, it took it to its lair to eat as it was still very hungry. As soon at it began eating, a bear showed up as well."

"Well hello dear friend, look what great pile of fish you have, give me a few as well as I haven't eaten one in long time and want to remember the taste."

"Why don't you keep your tongue in your mouth old friend; I didn't work this much for someone else to eat it all. If you really want to eat, go and dip your tail in a lake, like me, and you'll have fish to eat."

"Please teach me old friend, as I don't know how to catch fish. The fox smiled then and said. My dear old friend! Don't you know that need will take you to where there's no will and will teach you what you don't even think is possible? Listen friend, you want to eat fish? Go tonight at the lake at the edge of the forest, dip your tail in the water and stay still without moving until the next day, then pull as hard as you can towards the shore and you'll pull out a great deal of fish, maybe just as much as I pulled out."

"The bear saying nothing else ran with great speed to the lake from the edge of the forest and dipped his tail inside. That night a cold wind blew, so much that the tongue would freeze in the mouth and the ash from beneath the fire. The water from the lake froze and caught the bear's tail tight in its grip. After a while, the bear, being unable to take the pain from his tail and the cold pulled at once with all his might, and the poor bear, instead of pulling out fish found that he was without a tail!"

"He started howling and jumping around from the pain, angry at the fox for deceiving him, he went to kill it in a fight straight away. But our clever fox knew how to avoid the bear's wrath, it left its burrow and hid in the trunk of a tree nearby, and once it caught sight of the bear's tail it started yelling. Come now old friend! Did the fish eat your tail, or where you to greedy and wanted no fish to remain in the lake?"

"The bear hearing that he was being mocked was even more enraged and charged quickly at the tree, but with the mouth of the opening being tight, the bear could not fit inside. Then he searched for a branch with a hook, and began poking with it through the trunk to pull the fox out. But when it caught the fox's leg, it shouted. Pull you bastard, I don't care, because you're pulling on the tree. Then when the branch caught the tree it yelled. Ouch old friend! Don't pull or you'll break my leg! The bear tried but it was all for nothing, sweat ran down his fur, but he couldn't pull the fox from the tree trunk. And that's how the bear was fooled by the fox."

"So the fox won in the end!"

Sayaka nodded. "Yes cleverness won out in the end."

"Was it a boy or a girl?"

"Such things do not matter Naruto-kun, what's important is what you have up here" she gently tapped his head, "and not what you have between your legs."

"Um why didn't the fox share his fish?"

"It's alright to share your food with others Naruto-kun, however when that other person refuses to work for their meal and want to simply eat from others, well that's less then acceptable. Would you like it if after working hard someone who had refused to do so came to you and wanted to eat your food?"

"No way!"

"And there you go, now I do believe its time someone went to sleep."

Goro Inogashira sighed as he looked over the building plans scattered on the table again, it was madness what he was helping to build, he knew such as thing should never exist. He shook his head as he ran his finger through his long white beard, the amounts of money however kept his mouth shut and opinions to himself. Goro knew that he would never sleep another peaceful night in his life knowing what was being built here, what was being done in this place of madness, his only consolation was that his family would be taken care of because of his sacrifice, once this project was done he would take his family and leave for the country, Goro would send them away sooner if his client showed more signs of madness, he would travel as far away as he could for he knew that if his employer ever became daimyo the country would fall apart.

The place of decadence that had been created here was bad enough making even some of the more unhinged individuals blush and stammer, but the plans for the expansion of the place sent chills down his spine. Slave pens were being built underneath and existing castle, dark cells to hold the hold the slaves with a small channel running through it where the guards would pour water and food down the channel and the slaves would scoop at them with their hands as it passed, being force to daub it into their mouths like pigs. In his dreams, he could see the people elbowing each other, pushing the weaker ones out of the way.

Already he had heard talk of slave auctions, he had to stop himself from throwing up, there was talk of buying young children, of inspecting slaves like common horses. Goro had heard whispers of how his client wanted to send troops to fetch young good looking children and other people for the place.

From what he had heard there was a man who was helping to smuggle drugs in the country from the Land of Sea, and anything else that was needed, and with the man's service to his client a protection from Konona shinobi came with it as well. The drugs would be both consumed by the future clients and used on the slave to help break them, a few were said to put people to sleep and would be used to capture future slaves.

Goro washed his face with cold water, slapping himself a few times, his hands were trembling but he pushed through it calmed himself down before returning to look at the plans again, his client wanted to create a great pleasure district, to let the nobles of the region indulge in whatever perverse desire they had, the one that existed was far too small and tame for the man's taste.

Friezes and statues would be placed through out the district depicting the most lewd and vile acts, while others would decorate the fronts of every establishment. His client insisted that the place have iron cages hung above the doors of the establishments with which were slaves either flagellated one another or performed acts of coitus that he desired.

His client's dream was that strolling from one house to the other house would be the flower of high society, all dressed as they saw fit, the man dreamed of naked silver-masked courtesans would run around the place. Already there were covered palanquins in the district carried by slaves that helped transport those who wished to keep their identities secret.

Goro knew he had done the right thing when he had sent his family to one of the green zones of the country, the troops would travel there to fetch slaves they wouldn't dare such a thing, not yet anyway. He knew he needed to keep his daughter as well hidden as he could before he left the country; he would take his family to the Land of Iron that would be the only safe place for his family.

Why must the daimyo's have such an insane son, worse one whose chances of getting the throne are slowly rising with the passage of time?

A short man with a square face, long light brow hair, with small eyebrows that looked to have been each shaved at a half point and brown business suit, with a beige shirt and a purple tie looked through the documents on his desk with one hand, while sipping wine with the other, the smell of cigars permeated the air in the small room.

Ah, life is good, and with me helping one of the fire daimyo's sons it's only going to get better.

His shipping company's profits had soured once again this year, almost no one knew of the nature of his cargo and those who did kept their mouths shut, whether it was thanks to a bribe or the threat of sword through the gut.

The man scowled. Look's like the rebels are acting up again in the Land of Sea, the drug shipments better not take a blow if the know what's good for them. He rubbed his chin. If the catch them I can get a good price for the lot, slave's are still an expensive merchandise, and lucky for me slavery is making a comeback.

The man got up from his chair and walked to the window removing the curtains and opening the window. The view of the docks was splendid from his office, he could see countless ships there loading and unloading cargo, carriages moved about the place and seagulls flew over everything. Every since he was a small boy growing up on a mud infested pig farm on a small hill overlooking a harbor he had liked looking at the ships. For him they all looked like money, everything about the docks reeked of money to him. He had sworn to climb his way of the mud hole he had been born in, the youngest of seven brothers, the smallest of them all, the so called runt of the litter, the one no one believed capable doing anything much less of what he talked about.

The old man and the others laughed when I couldn't push the plow right, how my arms were to skinny to work on the farm, how I was weak…

He removed a large cigar from his breast pocket smelling it before lighting it. Well I showed them all. He loved money from a young age, he knew it was the key to escaping the pig farm, his father had been an idiot, the memories of the long hours of work put in and then selling everything for a few coins to those fat merchants who would barter to the last nickle had plagued his dreams. After seeing that scene he knew there was a better way to make a living, and easier way, he become obsessed with making deals to get the most money out of everything.

It had been a long a climb up the ladder to get to where he was with it's own perils, he had run away from home when a merchant had offered to hire him as his servant boy after he had managed to swindle the man out of a few coins down by the docks. A smile crossed the man's face when he remembered his teacher, the man had taught him much in their time together. How to barter like a true merchant, how to negotiate with pirates, how to find the right kind of ship captain that was willing to smuggle a little something extra for the right price, the kind of grease need to get the wheals going, some wanted a bit of money, others wanted something else, a paid trip to a whore house, some wine, a few drugs, a small child here and there.

He chuckled the look on his teacher's face when he had managed to buy his men and turn them against the man had been priceless, he had taken his teacher's business in one swoop and sent the old man down to the bottom of the ocean with some nice new shoes. His dear old teacher had bleed like a pig when the men stabbed him and he bleed like so many wounds, it reminded him of a wild boar he along with his father and brother had killed when young, his old teacher ended up in the ocean with rocks tied to his feet at the end.

And then I was the one putting the screws on my old man, ah seeing the looks on my family's faces when I the saw me at the docks with wearing a suit is something I'll never forget. The pleasure of fucking the wives of my dear brothers while they slaved away at work was just such a nice touch, it sadly ruined a few marriages when they found out, but it was no skin of my back.

The idiots thought they could kill me after that, good old Hachiro always liked the pigs, well he didn't seem to like them that much when I feed him to them. That dumb as a rock Eishi thought he could get past my men and beat me up like when he were children, he laughed, oh poor stupid bastard, I had my men work on him, beating the crap out the big lump for a week before I allowed him to die. And snickering Shunji who always had a joke to make whenever I got scowled, I managed to get a good price when I sold him into slavery, after cutting out his tongue of course.

As much as he liked how life was going for him he wanted more, the taxes in the Land of Tea were getting harder to evade, the Land of Noddles was to poor for his taste and even with his friends in fire country he couldn't do much there, no what he needed was a place of his own. The man walked towards a map of the Elemental Nations looking it over as he had done before, there were quite a few options before him.

Benisu Island is out of the question, as great as that place is with the trade and deals happening there. The place has far to many factions that are well entrenched, to drive them out is impossible with making wasting everything I have, his eyes shifted across the map to the destroyed Land of Blaze, it's ripe for the taking but needs to much money poured into it, even back when people were there it didn't have a lot of trade going on.

The man's eyes moved across the map again, Nagi Island and O'uzu Island both looked like good places, they were far away from the mainland with some trade happening there, but sadly their sour relationships with the Land of Tea meant that trade between the two was all but inexistent and with Tea being a trade power that wouldn't do.

He had considered at one point taking one of the islands of the Land of Sea, but realized how stupid that would have been, with all the business and strife going on there. More and more it looked like the last place, the Land of Waves would be his choice, it had ports, was removed from the mainland, even if not by much, it was close to the Land of Fire and his friends in the country could help turn a blind eye to what he would do in Wave. He needed to start strangling trade there to soften up the place for the eventual take over, with how things were going with the daimyo's son maybe he could even get some leaf nin to help out, it would make it easier to smuggle the drugs and slave into fire country.

Yes, this may just be the right choice after all; I'll still keep on eye on Benisu Island and see if a last ditch effort can't be made there. He chuckled again. Gato Kenpachi, daimyo of the Land of Waves just rolls of the tongue.

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Old A.N:

Chapter 5 – last edit on 4.04.2014 posted on 4 04 2014. Next chapter, next month.

A bit of a shorter chapter this time, the chapter had a lot more parts with Naruto and one with his Anbu guard but the parts with Naruto got too big and were moved to the next chapter that will focus on Naruto almost exclusively. I wrote a scene with Naruto's Anbu guard since chapter 3 and still haven't gotten around to placing it in a chapter.

It always bugged me how in Naruto/Fairy Tail crossovers very few people bring this point up. If Naruto produces chakra from within his body and the mages have magic because they absorbed it from the atmosphere, those two things should clash like hell and end up messing him up on the inside, don't get me started on any potential children. I still like those crossovers; they just require a bit more suspension of disbelief then normal.

Not sure why ROOT agents had their midriff exposed like that, it seemed stupid, so that got cut here. Apparently ROOT members wore the standard cloak and mask of the Konohagakure ANBU, and yet they didn't don't have an actual standardized uniform like the others. I'm asking why not? It doesn't seem to make that much sense to me, you tell them to kill their emotions, yet allow them to customize their armor and give them masks similar to the regular Anbu, which if the two sides meet would know that the other is a fake.

Can any one tell me that Danzo wouldn't think of something like what I wrote, it would keep Konoha's coffers nice and full and its shinobi employed, peace time sounds great but for the army that means a lot of less work, and considering that Konoha, from what we know, lives off missions (it isn't mentioned whether the daimyo helps fund the place) if Danzo wanted to keep Konoha strong and employed he would need to create conflict for it, at least to a degree. Destroying a national monument sounds extreme but it could rally people to a cause and get them angry at the leadership that allowed it to happen. If the Statue of Liberty got blown up how would people react?

It got dark there at the end didn't it? The two parts after Kaguya were added recently. I decided to add a bit more to the guy's back's story seeing as how that isn't done all that often.

I highly recommend the Gotrek and Felix series.

The story is called Ursul pacalit de vulpe de Ion Creanga, or The Bear fooled by the Fox. I translated it so don't be to surprised by the bad quality.