Chapter 71: Negotiations

Arc: Kirigakure's Civil War

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto, please support the original work.

"What do you mean by—?" Mei couldn't finish her sentence as before she could, Naruto took out a scroll. The ever-so-alert Ao and Chojuro tried to attack Naruto, but Mei's glare stopped them. She was still cautious around Naruto, but she was a little hopeful.

"I mean, Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage, is still breathing, and well… hmm, maybe not the last part, but he's still breathing," Naruto rubbed his head.

"Mei-sama, please—"

"Ao, shut up. Or I'll kill you," Mei smiled as she looked at Ao. Ao gulped and didn't say anything else but narrow his eyes at Naruto.

Mei pondered Naruto's words for a moment before a conclusion formed inside her head as she spoke, "What do you want, Uzumaki-san?" Mei asked with a smile. Ao and Chojuro looked at her, a bit disbelieving. Mei spoke politely to Mei, meaning that she didn't view him in a bad way anymore.

At least, not for now.

"What I want is simple," Naruto said and outstretched his hands as if to embrace everyone in the tent.

"I want…"

"You can't have Kirigakure," Mei intervened. Hearing her words, Naruto's eyes twitched as he lowered his hands. "That's not what I… whatever," Naruto shook his head. Every time he explained his grand project, he'd always outstretched his arms as if to embrace the world.

He didn't know when he started it, but the habit stuck to him.

'Maybe it gives off a bad vibe,' Naruto sweatdropped.

"I want an alliance," Naruto said and waited for Mei to intervene. She didn't.

"Hmm, let me elaborate. I want Yagura, or more precisely, the three-tails jinchuriki, to be my ally," Naruto said as his arms tried to lift themselves, but he forced them back down.

"I am creating a 'sanctuary' for all outcasts who wish peace like me… Well, let me change that. I want to create a sanctuary for all my loved ones, and for the loved ones of my allies," Naruto said.

"I want them to be safe, no matter what happens out in the ninja world. And I want the tailed beast to be their guardian. From the start, tailed beasts were supposed to be guardians of the world until they weren't," Naruto said and waited for Mei to devour his speech.

It took Mei three seconds to come up with a response.

"Why should ally with you 'sanctuary?' What's in it for us?" Mei narrowed her eyes.

"You get to have me and the one-tails jinchuriki as your allies. Furthermore, I'm gathering all the Uzumaki back, and you'll have them as an ally," Naruto said.

"That's not very attractive, don't you think?" Mei raised her brow.

"How come? You can have me as your ally. Did the legacy of the Uzumaki go by your head when you were born?" Naruto couldn't help but ask. "Or do you not know my heritage?"

"I know about the Uzumaki… and I'm pretty sure you're Lord Fourth Hokage's son. But still, it doesn't convince me to become your ally," Mei said.

"You really don't understand, huh?" Naruto's fingers twitched. For a while now, he'd been itching to erase Kirigakure from the shinobi world.

He only held back because of his deal with Zabuza and because of Hinata.

"I'm a Fuinjutsu Expert, soon to be a Fuinjutsu Master. I'm also the nine-tails jinchuriki, the Nine Tails. The strongest bijuu, even stronger than if all the other eight tailed-beasts team up together," Naruto said in a monotone voice, but Mei's impassive face told him that it wouldn't be easy.

"So what? You're a Fuinjutsu Expert, but you're not a Fuinjutsu Master yet. You're not guaranteed to become one. Also, how do you know that the nine-tails is stronger than all tailed-beasts combined?" Mei rebutted.

After going back and forth without either side reaching a middle point, Naruto rolled his eyes.

"I'm a perfect jinchuriki, and a Fuinjutsu Master is unrivaled unless all five Kage teams up. Tailed beasts are useless, they're especially advantaged against them."

". . ."

"I don't believe you," Mei said after a long silence.

The world hadn't seen the might of Fuinjutsu Masters for more than a century. Mostly because the Uzumaki didn't like going out of their island.

They didn't even participate in wars, and in the warring states era… well, they barely made any presence there.

They were on an island, stranded with their own kin.

Naruto paused, trying to find a way to convince the doubtful Mizukage.

"Do you see Kirigakure?" Naruto asked. Hinata looked at him, knowing what would happen next but not wishing for it to come true.

"Of course," Mei said and placed her hand at her waist.

"Do you know Explosive Scrolls?"

"…Yes?"

"Do you know how destructive they are?"

"Yes," Mei was getting annoyed by now and before Naruto could continue, she stopped him and said, "Quit asking questions and get to the point."

"Okay. What would happen if thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Explosive Scrolls were to go off in Kirigakure at once?"

For the second time in the discussion, silence ensued.

After calming down the angry Mei, Ao, and Chojuro, Naruto resumed the negotiation for an alliance.

"Now that you know about the power of seals, I'll ask you again. Do you want to form an alliance with me?" Naruto asked.

Hearing the question, Mei didn't agree immediately and lowered her head. A moment later, she raised her head to look at Naruto with a steely gaze.

"Let me think first. May I?" She asked, a bit curtly.

"Sure," but Naruto didn't mind her attitude. Between the two of them, he was definitely the rude one, so he didn't have any room to complain.

The next day, Naruto and Hinata returned to Mei's tent. Mei was already sitting on a luxurious chair, and another chair of the same type was provided for Naruto. Ao and Chojuro were standing behind Mei, and Hinata was about to do the same when Naruto gave her his seat.

Hinata looked at Naruto, trying to dissuade the other but Naruto pushed her into the chair gently. Then, he took out a scroll and tossed it to the ground.

"Fuinjutsu: Unseal."

GRRRR…

The ground trembled for a few seconds as a chair rose from the ground. The chair was made from rocks, but it was polished and didn't look any inferior compared to Mei's chair and Hinata's chair.

Mei watched all of it happen, though she didn't complain. She liked gentlemen, so she was pleased by Naruto's actions… though Ao may beg to differ.

"First things first," Mei started. "I want Lord Fourth Mizukage to be freed," Mei stated.

"Sure," Naruto nodded. "Now, before you give out more demands, I want to say something first. I forgot to say this yesterday because of… a lack of appropriate timing," Naruto cleared his throat before continuing.

"But Madara Uchiha is at play here. He is suspected to be the one controlling the Fourth Mizukage in the shadows, and he was also the one who released the kyuubi into konoha, resulting in the Fourth Hokage's death," Naruto said and paused. After seeing that Mei didn't have anything to say, Naruto continue.

"I want to create this alliance not just because I want the three-tails jinchuriki to be on my side, but also because I want to deal with Madara should the opportunity arise. I'm sure you can't defeat Madara, and I stand no chance against him as well," Naruto concluded.

After Naruto finished talking, Mei nodded her head as she spoke. "Yes, you are correct that we can't deal with Madara. This was why I agreed to talk to you before our focus shifted to other areas."

Truth be told, their negotiation yesterday could've continued had Naruto not flexed his fuinjutsu in front of Mei. Naruto recognized his mistake and decided to never do it again.

He felt that it was a waste of time to have another negotiation when everything could've been dealt with earlier.

"Now, our only demand is that you give back the Fourth Mizukage and that we can decline any unreasonable requests made by you," Mei said and allowed Naruto to take the stage.

"Fair enough. Aside from having the three tails' jinchuriki partake in protecting my sanctuary project, I don't have any requests. If the alliance is made, both sides must help each other when needed and both sides can have cooperative trading…"

When the talks of politics began, Naruto's mind turned into formal mode as Hinata felt herself dozing off.

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