Naruto looked at the massive expanse of land tiredly. The route to the meeting point for the Leaf contingent and the Sand contingent resided in the Land of Rivers, a barrier country between the Lands of Fire and Wind. Nothing too interesting lay within the land of Rivers besides several fishing villages and port towns for trade. It was also a country that had been ravaged by the Great Five Nations during the many battles of the Great Ninja Wars.
The group was small, like Tsunade mentioned during the council meeting where the transition of power was formalized, Tsunade the now Fifth Hokage was being accompanied by two guards. Naruto Uzumaki and Kakashi Hatake.
Rare as it was for a sitting Kage to leave their lands and people, it was usually only for the most important of occasions such as a ceasefire for war. In this case, it was to avoid an all-out war and for reparations for the attack on the Village Hidden in the Leaves and the loss of civilian life.
"What can we expect from this?" Naruto asked out of the blue. "Are they really going to give us anything for their actions? I can see them trying to say that Orochimaru was the real perpetrator of the attack."
Kakashi hummed, "They will need to provide something of value as they know that their military might have taken a massive hit with the death of the Fourth Kazekage. While Pakura is a renowned S-Class Ninja she is the only one left that is still in her prime."
Naruto had never heard of Pakura and only hummed.
"They have metals unique to their lands," Tsunade said from in front of them.
"Metal?" Naruto asked in a bored tone.
Kakashi blinked in surprise then nodded, "Oh, that's right." He said gravely as he looked into the distance.
Tsunade turned back to Naruto, "Don't underestimate the rarity of the metals harvested in the northern corners of the Land of Wind. Unique from anywhere else in the world. The metal known as shining iron that is then refined into Ivory Steel is the most coveted ore in the world."
Naruto frowned, "Don't tell me it's for some noble in the capital who wanted some fancy jewelry." He said with a snort.
"No." Tsunade answered firmly, "They only want moon gems from the south. Ivory Steel is something I want for the village."
"Oh, why?"
"Well, they can be made into blades that are known for incredible sharpness and chakra affinity. Their rarity makes it nearly impossible to get one unless you are granted Elite Jōnin status as a Sand Ninja. Even then they are more ceremonial due to an event in the First Great Ninja War." Explained Tsunade.
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Which was?"
"Well," Started Kakashi hesitantly, "My father stole one from a defeated enemy."
Naruto tilted his head in thought for only a moment before his eyes shot open. He knew of the legendary White Fang of the Leaf, Sakumo Hatake, known for his white chakra saber and its unique capabilities.
"Wait! You mean to tell me that the Sand Village has had access to White Chakra Sabers this whole time? I've only ever heard of the one used by us!"
"Well…" Kakashi hummed.
Tsunade snorted, "They use them but there aren't many ninjas as prolific as Sakumo Hatake. I've requested enough metal for five blades. Hopefully, in time we will produce ninjas capable of bringing out their potential once again."
Naruto blinked, that was a great move. It would give the Leaf highly coveted weapons and endear the Hokage to her forces who would chomp at the chance to wield a legendary weapon made famous by one of the most deadly ninjas ever produced by their country.
"I've also requested a look at Gaara of the Desert."
Naruto snapped his eyes towards Tsunade.
"I want to look at his seal as a show of good faith. I have experience with Sealing Jutsu and notes from Jiraiya. I'd also like for you to speak with him for obvious reasons." Tsunade shot a look towards Naruto then his stomach where a seal he was trying to forget about lay then back forward.
"Got it." Naruto grunted out with a frown.
Flashback: Just after the Transfer of Power Council Meeting…
Naruto stood in front of the recently appointed Fifth Hokage Tsunade Senju who was staring at him quite intently. Kakashi, who was summoned shortly after the meeting, was leaning against the wall behind him while Jiraiya was sitting against the window behind Tsunde. Hiruzen was in a chair off to the side of the Hokage desk picking at his pipe.
"What do you need, old lady?" Naruto asked with a frown. "Didn't we just get out of a meeting, why do we need another one?"
Jiraiya shook his head at his lack of respect and smirked while the Third chuckled from his place. It was quite a change from his public backing of her in the meeting.
Tsuande ignored it and moved on, "Because there is something that you and these three have been ignoring or have yet to inform me of the current plan."
Four sets of eyes landed on her with varying degrees of confusion.
She sighed, "What are we currently planning to do with the Nine Tails?"
Naruto grunted and turned away, while the Third sighed tiredly. Having already had this conversation during the Chūnin exams.
"Naruto isn't really interested in removing the seal placed on him by Orochimaru." He explained.
Naruto snorted, "Why would I? I'm hundreds of times stronger without that damn fox. Like it or not, keeping it separate from me is actually quite helpful."
"It's an asset." Jiraiya piped in with a frown.
Naruto glared in his direction, "One I couldn't hope to control. I don't know if I made it clear but the Six Eyes let me understand chakra better than all of you and that thing is beyond human control. It's pure chaotic inhuman chakra."
"Killer Bee of the Eight Tails did it." Kakashi added lightly.
Tsunade's eyes glinted, "He has been in control of his tailed beast for well over twenty years if not more. If he can do it I'm confident you can as well."
Naruto frowned, "What would I even gain? I'm confident that I'm more than strong now and continue to grow stronger every day. Why should I rely on some beast to enhance me? Who could be so terrible that I of all people need that kind of help?"
He locked eyes with the Third, "Do you think that with a being of pure malice and chaos? Let's ignore that it's incomplete with only its yang half right now. Would it be an actual asset? That I would be able to operate as anything more than a mindless beast on a battlefield? Tell me of one high-level Ninja that wouldn't know how to handle such an adversary?"
Naruto took a deep breath as he started pacing, "Let's just talk about the ones I've faced already. Orochimaru is so slippery that I think he'd poke and prod a mindless beast before running away. Kisame would enjoy the fight as he stole all of its chakra for himself turning it into a battle of attrition that he would eventually win. Itachi has the Mangekyou Sharingan."
Naruto pointed at himself, "I beat Orochimaru at every confrontation so far. After a few back and forths I tore Kisame apart. Itachi was a genuine threat but that was only for our first fight, if we were to meet tomorrow I'd kill him."
Feeling as if he made his point, Naruto sat into the chair in front of Tsunade with a sigh.
The three elder Ninja had a silent conversation with a few glances before Kakashi walked forward.
"The Nine Tails is a part of you Naruto." He said while placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder, well he tried to if it weren't for Infinity, he pulled away with a sigh. "As much as you may not like it. Sensei placed the Nine-Tails with you to not only protect you and the village from its rampage but to give you the power to protect yourself."
Tsunade looked at Kakashi with a tilted head. "Protect him?"
Kakashi nodded, "Well, yes. That's what I worked out at least."
"You think Minato didn't lose control that night, that it was the intervention of an outside party that caused the Nine Tails rampage," Jiraiya asked with a frown.
"He must have, or he would have tried to return it to Kushina."
Jiraiya rubbed his chin, "It makes sense. While beyond the point of saving for most. Kushina was a Uzumaki with a tremendous life force, even for that clan. There likely wasn't a zero percent chance of saving her if he returned the Nine-Tails to her quickly."
"So you're saying that he couldn't or decided an infant was the better choice?" Tsunade asked the two in an unsure tone.
Kakashi shrugged, "I don't know, all I can say is that Senei wouldn't make Naruto a Jinchūriki unless he truly believed he had to."
"I have to agree." Hiruzen added, "I never believed that Minato would lose control of the Nine-Tails while Kushina was giving birth. He was absent at the start of the Nine Tails rampage, protected the Hokage Monument then disappeared again. It's most curious."
Jiraiya stood up suddenly. "So there is someone out there that was capable of breaking through top secret barriers, overpowering Minato, escaping with Kushina, ripping the beast from her, setting it on The Leaf, then fighting Minato once again. Now bear in mind this is most likely the most motivated Minato I could possibly imagine due to the situation. Yet still managed to fight him long enough that Minato felt compelled to seal the Nine Tails within Naruto instead of Kushina. Who the hell could do that?"
"I couldn't say," Kakashi said slowly. "I don't know many that could fight Sensei in the first place."
Naruto started to tune out the back-and-forth speculation as he turned inward. If his father was as deadly as his reputation suggested, Naruto would assume that there was some embellishment due to time and idolization, then the enemy in the dark was someone beyond Itachi and Orochimaru for sure. He'd need to think about it more, but controlling a Tailed Beast isn't something that can be learned by just anyone, there are only seal masters and bloodlines capable of it.
If he was going to be prepared for the future enemy, not to mention whoever was bossing around powerhouses like Itachi and Kisame in the Akatsuki. Then he'd need more intel.
As much as it physically pained him to admit he wasn't going to get any real answers from speculation. As far as he was aware there was only one entity that knew the truth and he doubted it would happily divulge that information.
If he was really honest it wouldn't hurt to at the very least make contact with the Nine Tails in this case. He was sure that he could forcefully stop the slow trickle of chakra after the seal was removed if he had to. That being said he really didn't want to have to open himself up to the beast. Every problem in his life till now could be traced back to the fox. Even not being able to use his bloodline till he was sealed showed that the fox was nothing more than a hindrance.
Though communicating with and relying on something were two entirely different things. He could open the seal up to at the very least speak with the beast and react from there based on its responses. But he wasn't going to follow the lead of these four. If he's gonna do it, he'd do it his way.
"Fine," Naruto said, suddenly interrupting the discussion. "I'll open up the seal."
Jiraiya perked up but Naruto quickly shot him a look, "I'm not going to use its power. I don't need it, you old perv. I just want to know what it knows. If there really is someone out there capable of all of that I'd very much like to know." Naruto's eyes suddenly began to glow and the weight of his chakra escaped his control for a moment, "I would very much like to kill whoever it is as well."
"Well, that's all well and good, Naruto. But I can't have you escorting me to a diplomatic meeting with a wild card like that." Tsunade said with a frown, "I just wanted to know the game plan. We will proceed with the removal of the hindering seal when we return from our mission."
"Fine with me." Agreed Naruto.
Hiruzen stood with a groan, "When the time comes I will assist you as best I can." He offered with a smile that Naruto returned.
"You're too stubborn," Jiraiya moaned, "Fine. It's a start. When we're back we can start looking into connecting with the Nine Tails. Naruto in the meantime I want you to focus on honing your connection to your chakra. You instinctively know, but I want you to have an intimate connection with your chakra purposefully."
Naruto had no idea what that meant.
Back on the road to the Land of Rivers, Present Time.
Naruto clenched his fist at the reminder of opening up to talk to the Nine Tails, he wasn't thrilled, but it really was his only move to learn more about that night.
"Listen up," Tsunade ordered as she came to a stop. "The meeting point isn't much further ahead. We shouldn't expect a warm welcome. Naruto, I want you to not speak." Naruto moved to speak, "No! You are the least diplomatic person here!" She turned to Kakashi, "Your reputation precedes you, so your presence is enough especially if that old lady is there."
Kakashi tilted his head at the mention of an old lady but didn't comment. Naruto huffed and turned away.
"I'll do the talking. Let's just hope nothing crazy happens." Mentioned Tsunade with an impatient sigh as the meeting point came into view.
LINE BREAK
Nearly two kilometers away from the meeting point of the Sand and Leaf. A small group of individuals gathered to plan their next move.
The group consisted of three people all male. The first was a younger man in his late teens. He wasn't that impressive physically but he made up for it with his chakra, dense and vast.
The second was a much older man, pushing his sixties, with a formal set of robes and a katana at his side. He was meditating in the corner of the room at the moment.
The last was a well-built man, his ninja attire was form-fitting and showed off his thick muscles. He was slightly scared on his arms and neck. Curiously his presence lacked any and all chakra, as if he was suppressing it to the point that it was invisible.
"The target is entering the building." Said the well-built man, "If we can cause a large enough distraction then we will have an easy time of it." He turned to the young man, "Hiro, I want you to set explosives around the building, on my signal ignite all of them." Then he turned to the old man, "Isho, when the bombs go off I want you to kill whoever you can in the chaos then move towards either Kakashi Hataki or Baki, they have the highest bounties besides Naruto Uzumaki."
Isho opened one eye, "Are you confident in killing Naruto Uzumaki, Genzo? The intel around Infinity made it seem impossible. Such a thing isn't overcome lightly"
Genzo grinned his eyes glowing with power and malice, "I'm confident that I will enjoy myself and get rich in the process. Hiro now!" He shouted.
Hiro shot off at the command, having stuck around to hear Isho's question and Genzo's answer. They would only have a small window to attack as the conversations started. Afterward, their guards were sure to go back up.
Genzo smiled, he in his ten-year career as a bounty hunter had never failed. He's killed many shinobi and samurai, from younger rookies up to experienced Jonin and he was excited to make his biggest payday ever on the young brat with the Six Eyes.
His hand fell into his tool pouch and pulled out a long Katana. It was etched with seals, and at the end of the handle dangled a talisman. It was a sacred blade of the Uzumaki, bought off the black market for around thirty million.
He was sure that he and Naruto Uzumaki would be having fun soon.
The Leaf and Sand Contingent made their way into the meeting hall of the massive hall located in an abandoned fortress. While nobles needed gaudy luxuries to entertain them as they sat around and talked, Ninja needed a large room to fit everyone in a neutral zone.
On the Sand side were three people. Baki of the Sands, premier Jonin, and renowned A-Class ninja. Naruto would put Baki as the Asuma or Kakashi of the Sand Village. Next to him were two women, an old woman that Tsunade snorted at when their eyes met while the old woman huffed. Next to her was a much younger woman who had orange and green hair. Her torso was covered in bandages and she wore a loose open kimono over her shoulders.
Naruto heard that she didn't often leave the village after a failed assassination attempt years ago. The elders of the village didn't want to risk losing her and her bloodline.
"The old bat is Lady Chiyo, a renowned puppet master." Whispered Tsunade, "The younger woman is Pakura."
Naruto took in the two women, neither of them had all that impressive chakra signatures. Chiyo's charka flowed much slower than he'd seen most Ninja but it likely came with the impressive chakra control from decades of puppetry. Pakura's chakra gave off the impression of heat, like the haze in the air from a hot summer's day. Overall he would say that while impressive by the average he didn't think either of them were all that threatening, to him at least.
Gara sauntered in from the rear looking blankly around the room before offering a small nearly imperceptible nod to Naruto who smirked back.
The seven Ninjas gathered around a large table and took their seats. Naruto sat to Tsunade's right while Kakashi took the left, neither of the males looked all that interested or seemed to really be paying attention. While Tsunade was staring intently at the four Sand Ninjas in front of them.
"Thank you all for making the trip. Let us begin." Started Tsunade. "I and the Leaf are fully ready to commit to a ceasefire and re-engage in our mutually beneficial inter-country friendship should the Sand provide the materials requested as recompense for the attack."
Naruto had to give it to the old woman, she certainly didn't waste time on pleasantries. Not that it would be genuine. Leave it to the nobles who liked their honeyed words and lies and politics. Ninjas weren't the type to engage in negotiations that held slippery words and half-truths for matters like this, they would just kill each other if they felt they needed to.
Or at least that was Naruto's thought. He did not need to lie, he was strong.
Instead of the elder of the Sands Chiyo, it was Pakura who spoke up.
"The Sand extends our sincerest apologies for the events of the Invasion." Her words were smooth and she gave a slight bow to Tsunade. She pulled out a scroll, "The requested materials are sealed within. I would like to propose a recalibration of the mission distribution between our lands…"
Naruto sighed and tuned the rest of the conversation out. It sounded like a lot of honeyed words to explain that the Leaf was taking nearly sixty percent of the Sand's missions due to the nobles' faith in their village plummeting.
Old Man Third briefed him that he was expecting the Sand to come to them in the coming years due to their economic issues as a result. Naruto didn't really care that much, it seemed that the Fourth Kazekage ruled with an iron fist and didn't deliver results that promoted faith in his Lord.
Essentially it was their own damn fault.
"I suppose the exchange is acceptable." Pakura agreed with a bow.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "Suppose? I'm doing this in the interest of peace. Not because I believe we owe it to your village. The fall in faith from your capital was due to your Kage's actions, not ours."
"And he is rotting in the desert." to Naruto's shock it was Gaara that interjected to the surprise of the other sand Ninja. "Our village suffered due to my imbalance and the Fourth's lack of forethought regarding his actions. We will recover our strength and image if given the opportunity."
Tsunade turned to Gaara, "You feel you've recovered from a low powered if not broken seal?" She asked.
"Yes, the elders have since strengthened my seal and I've managed to recover much of my mind as a result."
"Naruto?" Tsunade asked, turning to him.
With a sigh, he hooked a finger around his glasses and peered into Gaara with his Six Eyes. The Sand Ninja felt the hairs on the back of the necks stand up at the sight of the bloodline.
"Yeah, would you look at that, Gaara! You managed to calm that Chakra of yours, I'd say you could be a competent ninja now." Naruto said with a grin. "Honestly, if you are fully in control of yourself I'd say you're stronger than the old woman over there and your sensei!"
Tsunade's head snapped to him with a glare, "Naruto!" She snapped.
Kakashi just looked upwards to hide his exasperation knowing that he was going to get an ear full for Naruto's actions. He was technically still his sensei and Naruto's actions reflected on him…despite Naruto being uncontrollable now.
Chiyo snorted in a rather undignified manner, "Ah the young spitfire of the Leaf I've heard so much about. Son of the Fourth and wielder of a new Ocular Jutsu. I'm sure your arrogance will lead you to an early grave like all the cock bloodline wielders." She snarked back.
"Lady Chiyo!" Snapped a shocked Pakura.
Baki, who was going ignored by the room, looked at the ceiling in exhaustion, he was hoping that the completely expected breakdown of peaceful talks wouldn't get him killed.
Naruto was about to retort, but Gaara interrupted, "Naruto Uzumaki, I have to thank you." He said getting the room to turn to him in surprise. None more so than Naruto who didn't recall doing anything for the redhead.
"Thanks to the Fourth I was stuck being an attack dog for my village, unable to live. I would have destroyed myself in the attack if you hadn't stopped me. I've since been able to reconnect with my siblings and become the Ninja I should have been." Continued Gaara with a monotone voice though his eyes had a slight warmth to them, "I will endeavor to make sure that The Sand Village is a capable part of our mutual friendship. Should the Leaf need assistance I will offer my help."
No one knew what to say to that. Pakura could only rub her face tiredly, she had lost any and all control over her side of this and wanted just to go home. Chiyo looked like she wanted to throttle the boy and Baki had checked out already.
Tsunade smiled at the boy, "The Leaf will do the same. I'm not ignorant of Orochimaru's manipulations. As you held up your end of the ceasefire the Leaf will continue this allyship."
As the leaders of the two villages continued to talk about the Alliance, Naruto felt something at the edge of his senses. He didn't know what it was but he was suddenly on edge.
Naruto threw his glasses away, shot between the group, and held up a single-handed Ram seal. Both sides of the table shouted in shock at his actions but he ignored them and flared out his Infinity to encompass all of them. It wasn't a moment too soon when the entire room erupted in a ball of flames.
He was sure that it was something other than pure explosive notes. It must be some sort of bomb or S-Rank jutsu as Naruto could feel the force behind the explosion.
"This us or them?" Naruto asked the shell-shocked group, well he directed it to Tsunade who looked up at him in shock then turned to the Sand Ninja who were equally as shocked, "Ah so someone else, got it."
As the flames died out Naruto pulled Infinity back into himself and relaxed, he was a bit annoyed that he had to push his jutsu to that extent to protect everyone. Infinity covering that much gave him a bit of a headache so he'd need to tone it back for a few seconds. It was a serious pain in the neck.
Though he was glad he did it, he didn't think it would be good for the Village if the group from the Sand died while meeting them in a secluded place under the guise of peace talks. The war would certainly continue.
Naruto turned around to Tsunade, "I guess someone–" He stopped talking to cough up a glob of blood and looked down at an ornate-looking katana.
"Naruto!" Shouted Tsunade and Kakashi as a person emerged from behind Naruto holding the long katana sticking through his chest.
Naruto turned to look into the man's eye, "Smart getting me right after that, I didn't even see you." He said while his eyes flared with power.
The man grinned, "Yeah, lots of juicy intel about those eyes hit the black market. Lots of interest parties want you dead and I want that payday."
Before Kakashi or Tsunade could move to help, two more people blurred into the room, a young man and an older one. From the opposite side of the room a dozens of ninjas rushed into the room and went to overwhelm the Sand and Leaf ninjas.
The man behind Naruto yanked out the sword and grabbed him by the back of the head before throwing him through the wall out of the room.
Kakashi wanted to help but the older man, dressed in formal robes, stood in his way wielding an aged Katana. "Kakashi Hatake, you will be facing me. Isho of the false moon."
Tsunade smashed her fist into one of the many ninjas only for it to burst into flame burning her hand. Another jumped onto her and exploded, however from the smoke a smoldering chair remained showing a substitution.
The young man flashed through several seals in a blur before a dozen more clones sprung into existence and rushed after the Sand and Leaf Ninja.
Tsunade grabbed the real one by the throat, "Ah, I recognize you. Hiro of the hidden flame. You're worth quite a lot." She clenched her fist to snap his neck but Hiro suddenly erupted into a ball of white hot flames causing Tsunade to scream out in pain.
Another Hiro emerged from the back of the room, "As a master of clones and deception, did you think I didn't know how to make a clone look like the real one? Do you think I'm the real one? Do you think I'm even in this part of the castle?" All this was asked with a malicious grin on his face as Tsunade silently healed her arm and side of the burns.
"Let's play Tsunade of the Sannin!" He shouted before his body exploded, filling the room with white hot flames.
END CHAPTER
So sorry about the wait but if you didn't see the note in the last chapter my laptop, my faithful laptop, my magnificent Macbook Pro finally decided to lose its luster, and the "N" and Spacebar started to die on me. If you've ever tried to write, much less a Naruto story you'd know that will frustrate the hell out of you and I had a tough time writing this because of it. Anywho I got myself sorted and here we are.
I hope you liked the chapter, a bit short but with everything going on I think it's good enough for a two-parter for this arc. The next chapter will start with where our magnificent Jiraiya is and how he's getting on with Squad Alpha in SOund Country and finish this small arc up.
Thank you everyone for all the praise of this work. It truly is appreciated and makes me want to write it more! I'm not asking for more, just saying that it's nice to hear that people like it, this is a hobby for me and it's pretty cool that people like it!
So there has been a bit of time since Naruto fought Itachi and he's been training with his team in the meantime so some stuff has developed some people are saying I forgot about Naruto for the sake of Gojo and well kinda that's the point of this story idiots. That being said he's made progress to shore up some defenses and will make that known. Kakashi is also looking a lot more fun in this coming fight. ?
The attacking trio are of course OCs but they aren't all that important, just a showcase that the Naruto world is vast and there aren't only like 2 heavy hitters at the moment. Naruto will eventually stand as the Honored One but not yet, he's had the Six Eyes for like 4 months at this point.
Give me some thoughts and reviews, till next time!