Becoming President

Disclaimer: This work is not intended to offend anyone. Naruto and the United States of America do not belong to me. Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Shueisha, while the United States of America is the property of its citizens.

Finally its done it was a slog to write.

Civilian

Mark Krasiński downed another can of beer, emptying it as if it were water. His Polish ancestors would be proud to see him carrying on their people's traditions with alcoholism. Mark, however, absolutely despised what he was doing; he had sworn to himself years ago, upon getting engaged with his wife, to quit drinking beer. That promise was shattered the day his wife and son were laid to rest.

The pain was too much for him to handle; the family he had dreamed of was ripped away from him uncaringly. He could still hear the laughter of his wife; he could still see the image of her holding their newborn son so tightly as if it were the most precious thing in the world. His beautiful family was now on the other side with the Lord. Every day, he considered joining them, and every day he saw his wife's disappointed face when he even dared to think about ending it all.

The can of beer in his hand was crushed; sorrow and anger filled his heart. Sorrow for the loss of his family, and anger at the man who had done this to them. He was young, barely twenty years old, and he remembered the man pulling a gun on him and his family, demanding money just to buy Tranqs and fucking Heroin!

He hated that man; the urge to hunt him down and kill him in the most painful way possible always plagued his mind. He didn't care if it would land him in prison. Justice for his wife and son was the least he could do for them. If he couldn't bring himself to end it all, then the man who was responsible for all his suffering should die!

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of clapping from the TV he let on.

"... Please welcome, War hero, Billionaire Veteran, Senator Nathaniel Russel!" The crowd was stirred. A blond man wearing a formal suit with an orange tie entered the podium, waving to the crowd with a smile plastered on his face.

Mark recognized the man immediately; almost everyone in the country recognized him. He had seen the man in action and he was truly impressed. Mark once served in the United States Army, joining the Ranger Battalion. He was offered to join the more respected forces, but he rejected those offers because he knew the sacrifices that would entail if he joined. At that time, his wife had just given birth to their son, and he had no plans to be away from them, either temporarily or permanently.

He had worked with Nathaniel Russel when he was still a ranger, serving under him; he hadn't yet been selected to be Delta, but everyone knew it was only a matter of time before he was shipped off to a black site and trained there.

Mark could describe the man with multiple words: efficient, cunning, and extremely charismatic. While he respected Nathaniel Russel as a soldier. As a politician, however, there wasn't a single ounce of respect he had for him.

Mark doesn't consider himself a particularly politically active person. He doesn't care much for what those people in their fancy chairs are doing. In the past, Mark only saw them as background noise; it's his wife who is so passionate about the political scene in America, that he sometimes listens to her ranting about it, even though he doesn't understand a single shred of what she is saying.

They're all the same. He concluded that a long time ago. There's not a single ounce of truth spouted from their mouths, only lies, campaign promises, and more. Using the people's idealism, hopes, and dreams to rise to attain power, in his mind, there is nothing more diabolical than turning those innocent ideas to further their own goals. Republican or Democrat, what's the fucking difference? It's because of them this country has gone to shit. It's because of them my family is dead.

Democrats, in their haste to give someone a second chance, always talk about recovery, medication, and combating the use of drugs more humanely. But in their zeal to implement a law eager to copy those "advanced" pretentious Europeans who could afford to prosper because of the sacrifice of American men and women; they forget that they have to invest in infrastructure to support those laws. And look what happened now; addicts who should be in drug rehab are roaming the streets, walking around like zombies. In a way, it's a classic move by the Democratic Party. The theory is sound, but the execution is always lackluster.

The Republican Party isn't any better; they have always fashioned themselves as the realistic and practical option, but they are too timid to make any significant changes. Sure, they like to show the bravado of being the tough guy in the block, not afraid to say anything, and proving they are manlier than the "woke" and "soy boys." Hypocrites all of them; they are no different from the type of people they insulted. Their policies are always based on fear; fear of change, fear of anything. Clouded by fear, they always block new ideas and social innovations. Blocked by fear, they always disproportionately respond to any threat. Perhaps that's why their ideal candidate is a strong macho man; they want someone to protect them.

So no, he does not trust Nathaniel Russel, even if he is one of his brothers in arms. He would never support him. He is one of them now; the one partly responsible for the death of his family. Shame, shame, he liked the man. It's painful to see him sell his soul to the devil for more power. For what? Why would he do this? Men have fallen for something less in the past, he knew that too well, but to see him of all people choose the life of a politician, a life of conceit and full of lies.

He shook his head, grabbed the remote from his desk, and was about to shut the TV, but stopped for a moment as the host asked a good question. A question that he would also like to ask Nathaniel Russel.

"So Nathaniel Russel. Why?" the host asked the blond-haired man. "Why did you want to be a politician? For a man of your caliber like I said, a billionaire genius there's a much better thing for you to do than sit in a room full of old people. That's what confuses me, why?

"That's a great question, John. Like all politicians, I want to change this country for the better…"

"No, no give us the truth. If you want to change this country there are millions of different things you could do as a politician, while being one of those things is famous for not being efficient in changing this country. Money is certainly not your concern; you never accepted any campaign donations, while power; to put it frankly you are more powerful as a billionaire than a senator in this country, and now you put a shackle in your neck, voluntarily, mind you, letting the public and government agency to check your assets. So let me rephrase my question: Why does a man of your caliber willingly degrade you both in the matter of influence and power?"

The crowd was murmuring among themselves, while people waited for the blond-haired man to answer his question. Meanwhile, Mark – Mark was enraptured by the TV screen, also waiting for his former CO to answer the question in his heart.

"You want to know the reason… John? The reason why I sacrificed so much? The reason why I want to be a politician?" Nathaniel chuckled. "It's simple, oh very simple. When you are at the level of power I have achieved, you can see anything this country has to offer. While there is good, there is also malice." He stood up from his seat to address the crowd.

"When you have this much power, your view of the world changes," he said, his voice trembling as he spoke. "My hand is already bloodied from years of combat. I still remember those days; the shouts of dying men, the lament of a wife, and children lying on the ground with their heads chopped off. I still remember those days vividly." He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then opened them with eyes full of determination. "How do you think I felt returning from experiencing the most horrific aspects of humanity to see the state of this country? The country I served for, the country I killed for, the country where my friends died for. Now downtrodden, bickering against one another, DISUNITED!" The echoes of his scream pulled everyone to him.

Passion, ambition, sincerity. These were the qualities that Mark saw in those determined eyes. He spoke of his heart, and there was no deceit. His CO had never changed, he remained the same. Always the same brave man he fought beside, always the same man he would die for. On that day, Mark's heart was swayed. On that day…

"I will change this country." It was not a promise, it was a statement. "Follow my hands and you will see a new dawn for our great nation. Follow my hand and we shall achieve that dream we all have."

An extremist is born.

Wow, Naruto is getting better at lying

Also, this is cringe.

Naruto Uzumaki

I tapped my feet on the white floor of the exit terminal, waiting impatiently for my companion to get his baggage in the baggage reclaim area. I am cranky; the flight from Detroit to Vegas was not a pleasant experience. It's windy out here… we'll, Vegas airspace but you get the idea we've been put on hold to land because of the disagreeable weather making my plan for the day for the day to have some recuperation time regrettably cut short. Add to the fact that even after arriving and stepping down from the plane, and dealing with the TSA I thought it would be smooth sailing from here but nope. My partner forgot a bag, now he has to run for the whole ten minutes before the cab I ordered arrives. 'Dumb ass.'' I couldn't help shaking my head, having a headache for the whole situation.

"Uhm, Naru, sir," came a fearful voice. "Why are we here? I know it's Vegas and all but I know you're not the type who likes to gamble." I turned toward a familiar reporter, James Veritas. Carrying his stuff and wearing a very tacky red shirt and brown pants. He has been following my lead for the past year. I've become some sort of mentor for the young man. I could've disassociated with him when the scandal at the Dakotas was resolved but I couldn't because he is too valuable. I'm not talking about his mind because God he could be so dimwitted at times, blunt to no end, and lacked anything resembling subtlety. That's not why I chose him, however, there's a quality that is more valuable to me than those things. He is sincere, in his work as a journalist and tries to find the truth. No wonder he was stuck in some local TV station when I met him. There's no use for the big Corpo news channel for men like him.

That's why I tried to help in any way I could. I realized he would never prosper entering traditional media, men like him are not supposed to be controlled by an overload of directors. That's why I suggested to him that make a YouTube channel with some shoutouts here and there and collaborations from the previous YouTube channels we worked with to expose Oasis. We have ourselves a large sizable channel in the number of millions of views. Not to mention my frequent "interviews" that always paint me in a good light and we have ourselves one of the biggest independent news channels on the internet. Not bad for something that was only built one year ago.

Walking toward the exit of the airport terminal I signaled James to follow me, With clumsy haste James followed me dragging the wheeled suitcase.

I waved my index finger and clicked my tongue multiple times. "That's where you are wrong James. I'm great at gambling, I'm so great that I haven't lost my entire life." I boasted. It's true, ever since Granny Tsuande brought me/introduced me to gambling I've never lost. Slot machine after slot machine, poker table after poker table my money always stacks higher and higher so much so that I'm banned from entering any gambling den in Konoha.

"Does Ms. Rebecca know you like to gamble money?" He asked innocently and my face paled.

I accidentally gave him blackmail material fuccc–

I grunted trying to sound confident, "Of course she does." James stretched his lips and squinted his eyes.

"Your Secret is safe with me, Mr. Naru." He makes a motion to zip his mouth.

I released a sigh of relief, "Thank you–James." This kid could be dependable at times.

"Anytime, sir. So would you explain to me why you suddenly "asked" me to go to Vegas? We're not here to have some fun, do we?"

"Unfortunately, you're right James We're here to work," I replied.

"So what's the first destination, sir?" he asked.

"The nearest four-season hotel I've arranged a meeting with some snobby rich people so we could attend their orgy parties. " I said bluntly, not even trying to make his landing to process the information softly. "The usual."

"I'm guessing that they're pretty important for your plan to…"

Any minute now

"... Aren't your hands already tied up with the feds and other organizations…"

Yep,

And

1

2

3

"...did you just say orgy?"

There we go!!! That was faster than usual.

"I love those!!!" he said with a grin, almost making me trip my legs.

"What?!" I looked at him incredulously. "Y-you've been in one?" James Veritas a dork, the most romantically inept man I've ever met has been in an orgy??!!!

"Yeah me and 5 girls in a room. What's wrong?" he titled his head innocently.

"Perhaps I have misjudged you." Seems like there is something I haven't learned about him, I thought I'd known him well enough like an open book yet seems like my assumption was wrong.

"Wait, why are you invited to an orgy?" James put his hand in his mouth letting out a sharp gasp."Are you cheating with another…

" NO!!" I answered decisively. "I would rather die than cheat on her." My voice leaked killing intent. Making James straighten up his body. "We're only going to meet them, not partake in their degenerate behavior." James winced he knew full well of my views on that kind of action. The only difference between men and animals is restraint if you can't restrain your lust and other base emotions. If you can't even control your own emotions you are nothing better than an animal.

"What's wrong with them having their fun sir? In my book, if they want to do it, that's on them as long it doesn't disturb anyone." He shrugged his shoulders. "All of them do this voluntarily after all."

"If it were the case I wouldn't have such a vendetta against them. " I shook my head." Tell me James, what do you think would happen if a man or a woman were constantly being bombarded by all kinds of pleasures the world has to offer?"

"Uhm, they become the happiest man alive?" comes his answer.

"Wrong. They become numb to the pleasures the world has to offer over time they want more. Alcohol turned into drugs. Sex with a single woman or even multiple would not satisfy their lust. Seeking for something lower and lower to fill their basic emotions. When sex with another adult becomes numb, what do you think they would seek?"

"Oh," was the only thing James could let out. A troubled and disgusted face was forming in his face.

"Yeah oh," this isn't even a well-maintained secret. Everyone knew. 'If only that man wasn't hanged in his cell, we could've exposed this behavior a long time ago.'

(A/N: You know who I'm talking about. Jp)

"So what's my job here? I'm guessing it's about exposing them?" James asked for clarification.

"No. It is neither the time to do so and we dodn't have a sufficient amount of influence to expose them. If I could, they would be behind in jail right now or at the very least losing their career. Instead, we're here only to maintain a connection with them piling as much blackmail as possible so at one point we could bury all of them in the middle of bumfuck nowhere." A shame such a shame. I've been tempted in the past to just carry my gun toward Vegas and shoot those motherfucker. At last cold rationality won out. I need them to control this country. At least until I'm powerful enough without them. It would reduce the keys for power but I doubt anyone would miss those bastards. Yet Rebecca's words rang true in my mind always reminding me of a line that should never be crossed.

This is not Konoha, this is not a place where hard power could solve problems like back at home my true home. And ye I missed the old days of me just beating the shit out of people until they find the error of their ways; it worked with Sasuke and if that bastard managed to be convinced by my fist what would you think would happen when those pansies meet their fair taste of a near-death experience. Wouldn't that be amazing? At last, things are not that simple.

While my mind was reminiscing about the olden times a pink car stopped in front of me. The driver is hanging his out of the window wearing an Adidas tracksuit and gold chain on his neck. The smell of the car oozed saw with a mixture of cigarettes, vodka, and strong parfumes.

"Taxi?" came a heavily accented voice.

'Yep welcome to Vegas.'

James Veritas

James Veritas is tired, his mentor Nathaniel Russel, or Naru for short just randomly called on him in the middle of the night to pack his bag and go to Vegas. Now, James is loyal to no end to him but this is too far what kind of an idiot would follow that order. Well apparently, him, he doesn't know what abject him to do so was it loyalty a sense of debt to the man that had taken James under his wing whatever it is it's now in the past the present if here and it telling him always that he's now trying blackmail secret high society club so they could one day dismantle it from the inside, so no pressure there.

Mr. Naru had instructed him to wear a high-formal suit and bring his gun also. It's nothing special, just your normal Glock 18 to protect himself Mr. Naru had trained him on how to use It and some basic tactics on how to employ it. Yet somehow James had a gut feeling that What his Mentor thought was basic was not basic for the average military Joe. He shuddered remembering the brutal training he undertook. The memories of them were enough to make him vomit.

James was nervous about this assignment, this was the first time he would be on the field with Mr. Naru. Usually, he would run support for Mr. Naru supporting his campaign silently and subtlety that taught by him, he always liked to complain that James was easy to read not realizing that he was only easy to read because he is the Nathaniel fucking Russel terrorist cell quake hearing his name and intelligent agencies would piss their pants if they were in his warpath. Mr. Naru had taught him everything about subtlety and the art of spying as it is required to be a journalist And James is good at it. You didn't become the largest news YouTube channel with only luck. James was good when it came to those things but this? He is out of his depth, he could only hope the training Mr. Naru put him into was a hot enough crucible for him to make it alive.

James shook those pessimistic thoughts, he could do this he is the protege of America's greatest living figure maybe even the world he would not let him down because he was having a panic attack.

Wearing his suit and gear which consisted of 3 mags and a pistol and its holster, he settled outside of his room to be greeted by Mr. Naru wearing a blue-formal suit with his signature orange tie and fox on his chest.

"You're ready?" Mr. Naru crossed his arm and Jamed only replied with a nod. "Good let's go. We have work to do." James followed him silently.

Determination filled his gut, he was ready to prove that could finally do something to change this country, he could finally prove to Mr. Naru that the trust he put place on him was not misplaced. He promised himself and he would see that to the end.

James marched off with Naruto, confidence in his posture and was surrounded by an air of purpose. Oh, how those noble things would be torn down to pieces for what lies ahead is one of the darkest sides of human existence that both of them would see.