Chapter 12: The Emperor's Dream

Flashback

Hiruzen stared at the danger sign at Naruto's door. There was indeed danger inside. Not in the way the villagers thought. No, there was something much dangerous than what anyone could begin to imagine. Naruto was not the Kyubi – he had never been. But Hiruzen had come to learn – Naruto possessed a dangerous mind; the passion and dedication of a mad lustful demon. He could compare Naruto's passion towards the Uzumaki with Orochimaru's obsession over immortality. Perhaps Naruto's will was greater. He indeed possessed the patience to wait for years even when nothing looked like it was happening.

It had just been over two years since they went to Uzushio – the greatest blunder of his life. But Naruto had looked so innocent and he had asked earnestly. Hiruzen had not thought that things would change. He had not thought he would come to the realization that there were members of the Uzumaki clan who were still alive. Itachi had said he came across one of them.

The Hokage sighed deeply before opening the door. He did not knock this time. He just stepped into the apartment. It was dark. But he knew, while other kids were sleeping, this person was not. It was just as he expected; when he opened the door to Naruto's room, he found those blue eyes staring at him from the window, body motionless. He almost froze at that look. For a moment, he had thought it had looked so cold that it sent a chill down his spine.

"We need to talk, Naruto," Hiruzen said to Naruto in a serious tone.

The blond turned away from the Sandaime Hokage and faced the outside. The moon was at full force. Perhaps it was a time that called for this kind of engagement. "Preferably, I would have wished for things to never come to this point, old man," the blond said in a quiet tone.

"So, did I, Naruto."

"But when I lied to you about the space/time ninjutsu, I knew I had messed. It was a stupid mistake on my part; A massive blunder that I should have just avoided by telling you the truth. But I had known that you possess a mind that I feared. Still, it would have been much better to tell you the truth than be caught lying," Naruto said in a flat tone but there was anger and frustration over his inability to sell the act to the Third.

"I have also lied to you, Naruto," Hiruzen admitted. "Perhaps I underestimated your ability to ready between the lines. But I had never actually thought that the Uzumaki would still be around. Honestly, if I had known, I wouldn't have taken you to Uzu."

"No doubt," Naruto said with a nod. "What do you want to talk to me about, old man?"

"The Uzumaki and if you have connections with them… No, at this point, it is likely that you have a connection with them. There might have also been something in the Whirlpools that I did not see. Your clan is good with fuinjutsu; it would not surprise me that they would create barriers that would even fool a doujutsu. You are probably learning that jutsu to be able to travel between here and them," Hiruzen said. "Do you hate Konoha? What are you planning with them, Naruto?"

"I'd hoped that we would never have this conversation until I was ready, but it does appear that there is no avoiding it. However, if I agree to talk to you, you cannot talk to anyone, write to anyone or even leave notes about anything regarding me and the Uzumaki."

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"We are going to keep things just between us," Naruto said.

"If it doesn't happen like that?"

"Konoha has not loved me. I do not care for it. I do not love it. My father may have sacrificed himself for this village, but it doesn't mean a damn to me. They have tormented me, day and night. They have accused me of being evil, the child of a demon and blamed me for what happened in the village. I will not forget that. I will not just get up and work for this village when I must bring my own clan from the shadows and into greatness."

Hiruzen had never heard Naruto speak like that. He was concerned, worried. "Naruto, you have to understand that they are just angry…"

Naruto cut off the Sandaime before he could finish talking. "Don't take those excuses with me, Sandaime. I respect you; don't make me lose that respect by telling me irrational things. They are angry and sad? You can understand it, right? But you don't condone their behavior. Then it is very simple, old man. If you can apply those same standards to them, you can apply them to me. I have every reason to be angry with them," he then smiled bitterly. "What have I done to deserve this, old man?"

Hiruzen could not say. After all, there was nothing that Naruto had done. He was just born into the family of Minato. "Nothing, Naruto; you have not done anything wrong. And I am sorry for what has happened. I told you about your clan because I wanted to give you an identity."

"And I have found it," Naruto said in a quiet tone. "My words to you will not change; nothing of this will be told anyone. And you have my word, and as thank you for what you have done for me, although I will never forget what this village has done to me, I will not attack it. Not unless it decides to attack me."

"You are threatening the Hidden Leaf, Naruto. I don't think even you have the arrogance to assume that you can do any harm to this village!" The killing intent was massive. Naruto nearly thought of jumping out of the window.

'Frightening,' Naruto thought. He then smiled, head tilted to the side. He then placed his right hand on his belly, "I've learned enough about this village to understand that you're the only one aside from Jiraiya who is familiar with fuinjutsu. But the Sannin is not in the village. If I feel that living is no longer worth it," he snapped his fingers; a bit of the Kyubi's chakra was released, causing Hiruzen to freeze. "The Kyubi can have another feast. I know you are not going to try to have me re-educated because of what I have spoken. I know you are a genius, and I cannot match that."

"Openly saying that," Hiruzen said with a bit of his killing intent dozing out. "The Uzumaki are indeed alive, and probably watching. They are probably in this village. I understand you well enough to know that you wouldn't say that to me unless you were sure you could get out. Besides, space/time ninjutsu affords you that mobility." He then paused, shaking his head. "What do you want to do with the Uzumaki clan, Naruto?"

"I just want to raise my clan from the dead and make it become great again – that is all I wish," Naruto said in a firm tone. "I do not have war with anyone."

"And those responsible for the fall of the clan?"

"I would have more reasons to hate Konoha than those who were responsible for the destruction of the clan, old man," Naruto said in a flat tone. "I can't trust your promise and you can't trust my words; but we can trust the majestic work of fuinjutsu, can we not?"

End of Flashback

Konoha

An airship belonging to Uzushiogakure; this represented aerial threats from the Whirlpools. This was dangerous news. It was going to get nations like Kumo and Iwagakure panicking. People were going to die. The shinobi world was staring at chaos as things stand and the Uzumaki were fuelling it. There was no need to show it off like this unless they wanted people to see it. They wanted the shinobi world to start talking and thinking about their new toy. They were pushing villages into a panic mode. Anyone would feel threatened by this power. How could they guard against aerial threats? This was nothing like what the Sky Nation had done. This was doom.

Tsunade now understood why Princess Koyuki had gone to Uzushio. She now knew that her village had participated in the building of that thing. She had been used. Uzushio had been in lockdown because they were hiding things. She should have demanded more information. She laughed bitterly thinking that if Danzo had been alive, he would have been laughing at her. He would have been telling her that she should have listened to him to avoid this situation. But who would have thought that things would turn out like this?

The Godaime Hokage stared at the message from the Hidden Sand once more. She had read it and handed it to Jiraiya to read it before he returned it. Everything was clear, yet she was failing to accept it. Her former teammate had been silent since reading the message.

Tsunade glanced at him for a moment before staring at the message once more. She was hoping it would change; that maybe she had been reading it wrong. The message did not change. The words were clear but it was difficult to accept.

"I should have known," Jiraiya finally spoke, his tone was filled with anger and bitterness and his eyes were sharp, hiding the pain and relief he felt.

"How could you have known?" Tsunade asked in a quiet tone, eyes staring at the Toad Sage.

"The signs were there," Jiraiya shook his head. "I was just naïve. I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to see what suited me because I was afraid."

"Is there something I am missing?" Tsunade demanded in a hardened tone. "Is there something that happened during the training trip that could have set off the alarms that you didn't tell me?"

Jiraiya was silent for a couple of moments before shaking his head. "No," he said. "There was nothing that could have set off the alarms. Naruto behaved."

"Then what I am I missing?" Tsunade asked with frustrations leaking into her voice. "He didn't appear like he had any connections. And even if he had connections, there was nothing that gave it away. We were all fooled. He fooled all of us!"

The Godaime Hokage slammed her fist on the desk, cracking it. She was pissed off; she was angry. Why? She had received a message from Gaara saying that Naruto was very much alive. The damn brat she had cried for; the blond she had buried was alive. He has been alive these past two years, hiding and enjoying himself in the comforts of Uzushio and plotting the Uzumakis agenda while they cried at his death. It made Tsunade angry. What had she done to deserve this? He had fooled her. Tricked her and now appears in the side-lines with another village.

Naruto was Uzushio's emperor. The man they had been searching for in the last couple of years had been in front of them. Naruto had been playing them this entire time. He had been Uzu's emperor while playing a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf.

"Yeah, he got us," Jiraiya said in a bitter tone. And he had helped the blond train. No, there was still a lot more about Naruto's skills that he didn't know.

"But what did you mean by saying you should have seen it?"

"After our visit to Amegakure, Naruto did mention that the best way to disappear without people searching for you, was to play dead. He had meant those words. He played the same trick. We had his body. We saw him dead. We could not have looked for him. We could have suspected the reasons for his death, but there was no denying that was indeed dead. We weren't going to look for him. He planned this. He wanted this. Haku was also returned from the dead, so the Uzumaki have this ability."

The slug princess frowned deeply. "We couldn't even do much to his body because of the seals," she said.

Jiraiya nodded. "I think those were also in place to keep the Kyubi from leaving. The seal would have weakened…" he shook his head. "The seal was already weak because Naruto was using the Kyubi's chakra. The more he uses it, the weaker it becomes. He must have known this and put measures to avoid it leaving knowing that he would return. He also didn't want us to study his body."

"Why still go such length?!"

Jiraiya shook his head. "I'm not sure hime," he said with a sad smile. It wasn't a pleasant experience. He had mourned the blond after all. But now he was back and hadn't even bothered to see them or tell them himself – he just flew above them. "But I think he didn't want us looking for him."

"I can't understand that," Tsunade said with a shake of her head. But even if she did not want to understand, what was it going to change? "But now that he is showing himself, does it mean that he is done with whatever he was doing?"

Jiraiya nodded – this was without question. Naruto was done with his preparations and was ready to face the world. He could have kept hidden for a little while longer. But he made his appearance now with Uzu's new toy. "It worries me," he said in a serious tone.

"It would be stupid not to worry," Tsunade said a bit harshly. "What do you think he is up to?"

"I can't tell. There is something that Naruto did well during our time together; hiding his thoughts. He never showed me his desires. He always hid everything behind the mask of indifference and speaking objectively and rationally in each subject," Jiraiya said with a deep frown. "That should have been a warning but sometimes we talked and laughed. I just thought, there was no way there was something dark behind that mask."

"Is there now?"

"We don't know," Jiraiya said with a slight shake of his head. "It is likely that Konoha is safe, but one thing is certain; Uzushio has been preparing for war for years now. I think the same can be said for Amegakure. Last time I checked, it had been heavily militarized and its shinobi were of high calibre."

That was by no means pleasant news. But she has always known that Uzu was busy with something. She just never thought that it would be this big. "So, there is no doubt now that Uzu and Amegakure are connected."

"Yes," Jiraiya said. The Sannin then laughed bitterly. He laughed like a mad man. "You should have seen him in the presence of both Nagato and Konan. In my presence, he didn't speak to either nor did he even look at them. He just wore his mask of indifference. Even when we spoke, he didn't even slip. I guess Fukasaku was right in how he expressed his concerns."

Tsunade stared at her friend with concern. "What did he say?"

"Said something like this village could be filled explosions and people would be screaming in despair and Naruto would still have sweet dreams," Jiraiya said. "I thought he was exaggerating then and I didn't think much of it. But I should have seen it. Unless he chose it, Naruto hardly reacts to anything. Minato could appear in front of him say he's been alive these years and he wouldn't as much as blink."

"Aren't exaggerating, Jiraiya?"

"Hime," Jiraiya put on a stern look. "How did Naruto become Uzu's emperor? How was he even able to move about without anyone knowing?"

Tsunade frowned deeply. This was something she could not answer. No one in this village could answer. And yet, it had happened right under their nose. "What do you think? Do you think sensei knew?"

"Unlikely," Jiraiya said. "If sensei knew, he would have made sure that we knew about it. Sensei loved Konoha more than anything. If he felt that Naruto could leave the village, he would have tried something."

"Then how did it happen?"

"We will have to ask Naruto," Jiraiya said.

"If he decides to come here and answer questions. With how he is, he might not even answer questions," the Godaime said. "Do you think he wants war?"

"I don't know but I know he has been preparing for it. Amegakure has been preparing for it. They don't have to do anything. Iwa or Kumogakure will do everything for them," Jiraiya said.

But this just meant that there was going to be trouble. They had also been preparing for war and perhaps Uzu could have been preparing because it knew it was going to be attacked. But some actions seem to be just blatant provocations techniques meant to steer things towards a certain direction. Certainly, if Uzushio had bothered engaging Iwagakure, it might not have had to fear for itself. But now it does seem that the village wanted for those villages to attack. Naruto wasn't stupid but did he think that Uzushio could stand the power of a Great Nation? Jiraiya thought it was a ridiculous thought but he was talking about Naruto – he wasn't going to close the chapter on a miracle.

"If it is so, we must talk to him as soon as we can," Tsunade said. "We have also been preparing and his appearance will get both the enemy to blink. They are going to act soon and we want to know how Uzu will react."

"It's obvious," Jiraiya said. "They are going to defend themselves. They will return the violence. I don't know how it will go but Uzu will certainly respond in kind to any threat. We should stay away from that path when we can."

Tsunade nodded. If there was the option that she could avoid a war, she would take it. "Well, Gaara does say that they are still friends."

"It is understandable with Sunagakure… but what I know is that the Whirlpools has a problem with what was done in the past and Konoha may be at fault. Naruto asked me questions… why was it that even though Uzushio and Konoha were more than allies, the Uzumaki didn't seek shelter here? Why didn't Konoha even do anything?" Jiraiya frowned, thinking. "Rationally speaking, you'll ask those questions. But I think for Naruto, it was personal because this was his clan."

Tsunade was silent for a couple of moments. She wanted to believe that Naruto had no problem with them. She wanted to believe that Konoha would not go to war with Uzushio. "Regardless, the situation is troubling. How strong is Naruto, really?"

"You saw him playing with his 'friends'," Jiraiya said. "Naruto is powerful. I can't tell how powerful because he never revealed everything unless it was convenient."

Tsunade nodded. At least there was still Sasuke. Regardless of her thoughts about his personality, he was Konoha's most treasured asset as things stand. "How did things even come to this point though? How did Naruto play the emperor under your nose? I know you said we'd have to ask him, but this is still something that makes me curious and frustrates me."

"Same here," Jiraiya said with a nod of his head. He was silent for a couple of moments before speaking. "It obviously started when sensei told him about the Uzumaki. It looks more likely now that when sensei disappeared with Naruto, they'd gone to Uzushio. We don't know what they found there. But knowing sensei, he did go with someone else he trusted."

"And what if the person is dead?" Tsunade said a bit hopelessly.

Before Jiraiya could respond, Sasuke appeared in the room via lightning shunshin. "Is it true?"

Tsunade stared at the Uchiha for a long moment before nodding her head. "It is true," she said. "Naruto has returned from the dead and has returned as Uzushio's emperor."

Sasuke frowned deeply. "It would have been much safer if he stayed dead," he said.

"You don't like him very much, do you?"

"Of course not," Sasuke was quick to say. He turned towards Jiraiya and spoke. "You should know already that my brother had some moments with Naruto. What you don't know is that Itachi was there when Naruto and the Sandaime Hokage went to Uzushio. He told me that they didn't find anything – it was just ruins. But it was possible that Naruto found some Uzumaki there."

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

Sasuke shrugged. "It didn't matter because he was dead," he said in a cold tone. "What are we going to do?"

"We are going to defend the Hidden Leaf."

Training Ground 44

Kakashi looked up to a tree and saw Yugao sitting alone. He eye smiled and waved his right hand towards the woman. "Yoh," he greeted calmly.

"Senpai," Yugao smiled. "I was surprised when I received your message. You never call me out like this, is there something wrong?"

"Can you stop calling me senpai?" Kakashi asked. "I'm no longer your captain. I'm just Kakashi now."

Yugao shook her head. "You'll always be a senpai to me…"

Kakashi sighed. It was the same with Yamato. He just couldn't get away from it no matter how hard he tried. He glanced at Yugao with a serious look and spoke in a stern tone. "I was with Tsunade-sama and she showed me a message from Sunagakure. I think you already know about it."

Yugao stared down at the Jonin for a long moment before asking. "Yes," she said. "Is that why you called me?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I want to know about your relationship with Naruto."

"I don't have a relationship with him."

Kakashi shook his head. "I don't know what the Third did with Naruto. He didn't trust Naruto with other people. But I am almost certain that you knew certain things."

Yugao smiled. "Yes," she said. "But I cannot say them. What I can tell you is that Naruto is not a threat to Konoha. He has never been a threat and never will be."

Kakashi stared at Yugao curiously; she had said something that he hadn't expected – the idea that she could not say anything regarding Naruto. But her message was quite clear. Kakashi had always known though. He had always known that Naruto would never attack Konoha. If he had those thoughts, he wouldn't have stayed in Konoha for this long. There had been a reason he stayed. He was certainly afforded free movement by being in this village.

"Then did you know he was alive?" Kakashi asked.

"I cannot answer that," Yugao said. "My role was never to know many secrets but simply to ensure certain things unfolded the way the Sandaime would like and for the benefit of the Hidden Leaf – this is the will of the Third."

"Nothing really mattered except for what is good for Konoha, isn't?" Kakashi asked calmly. "It still surprises me that the Third would allow Naruto to leave the Hidden Leaf."

"What if he realized that he couldn't stop it from happening because of the choice that he made and decided to just do damage control? Talking to other people and leaving traces of things mean ruining all his plans." She then paused, shaking her head. "Well, it was not like he could talk about it even if he wanted to."

Uzushiogakure

Nagato appeared in the throne room along with Konan – they were in the form of holographic images. He looked around for a moment before turning his eyes towards Naruto. This wasn't the first time he was appearing in the throne room before Naruto. For how long has he known the blond Uzumaki? Yoshino introduced them and since then, they have shared some conversations. This was still the person who drove the birth of the Uzumaki Empire and tasked Yoshino into gathering the others were still alive.

Had it not been for these people, Nagato would have still been under the control of that man who walked like Madara and spoke like Uchiha Madara – but he was not. Obito had been just a man on a cruel mission that could enslave the entire world – that was his peace, his redemption – it was ridiculous. Where was the peace in putting all humans in a genjutsu? At that point, there would be no one who was alive – the entire human population would have been left without a conscious.

But he had been freed from that illusion and he was now after something that could earn him his peace. It would come through some troubles, but it would come. The Uzumaki desired nothing more than this and establishing their dynasty.

"Have you already gone out?" Nagato asked Naruto in a calm tone.

Naruto nodded his head and his eyes turned towards Konan – he smiled pleasantly. "Lady Angel, it is always a pleasure to see you."

Konan shook her head at this greeting – it was more of the same thing he did whenever she was before him. Perhaps a little worse when he was in Amegakure. She preferred it that way. She had nothing against the emperor – he was honest. At least to those he considered his friends. They were more than that, weren't there? Yes, they were family. "You still seem well, Naruto," she ended up saying.

"There is nothing to complain about when you are at home," Naruto said.

"It was your choice to be away from home," Konan reminded him in a stern tone.

Everyone seems to like reminding him that what he has done till this far has been his own doing. He was now certain that if he ended up being killed, these people would simply shrug and say it is his fault. He shook his head and then went on to serious matters. "Has Zetsu made an appearance?"

Nagato shook his head. "Not since we took care of Obito – he has not."

Naruto frowned. This was really worrying because there was a player he could not predict and yet had to worry about. In terms of physical prowess, there was nothing much to fear about Zetsu but since he completely disappeared after Obito was ambushed and torn apart, Naruto had been worried that he might be up to something – he didn't want anything disturbing the best laid plans. He could allow some things to surprise him but when it came to this side; he could not allow any problems to arise.

"Tracking him down isn't bearing any fruits either," Naruto said. He stared into the empty space ahead and then shook his head. "I have stopped the search for him. If he wants to appear, he will appear and we will be ready for him. For now, we have other things to worry about."

Nagato nodded. "Will Kumogakure and Iwa stop their battles to focus on us?"

Naruto was quite certain that they would do so. They wouldn't have to do anything to encourage the nations to put their troubles aside and focus on a common enemy. "Yes… I have already taken the airship out in the open. We just have to wait and see how they react to this. If the reaction isn't good enough, we will consider doing other things. But all things considered, this should have been enough to set them off."

"Then it is war," Nagato said in a firm tone.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, it indeed war and a war we shall win. Of course, we have to ensure that the other players don't get involved in this war. We don't want to end up having to fight all the Great Nations. If we did that, there would be many deaths in the shinobi world…"

"These deaths would only give birth to pain, hatred; if things go that point, we won't be safe," Nagato said. "We won't achieve anything. Hatred is what gives birth to wars and meaningless conflicts between shinobi. If we can work things out, we should be in a position to be a power that will be able to stop future wars from happening," Nagato said in a firm tone.

"At the same time, we must work be careful not to grow too strong to make even allies nervous," Konan said. "If we are too powerful, the cycle will just repeat itself."

"That would be unfortunate and I would have failed in my role as the emperor of Uzushiogakure," Naruto paused for a moment, thinking. "Because the war will be designed by us, we will not reveal everything about our powers. If things remain this way, you will fight Iwagakure along with Konan… without your shinobi getting involved and I will handle Kumogakure – this should keep some of your weapons hidden."

"We can deal with Iwa," Nagato said. "What about the future?"

"We will handle that in a careful manner," Naruto said. "I will go to Kirigakure to try to win them over to our side. Suna seems to be won. As long as we don't throw in the first stone, we should be fine with other nations. Besides, we will only be defending ourselves." Naruto said those words with a wide smile on his lips.

Nagato merely shook his head.

"We must still not be too idealistic as Jiraiya is…" Konan warned.

"Of course," Naruto said with a nod of his head. "People will always fight; there will always be conflicts. As long as we live and remain unique, we will disagree. The problem now is that there is no one to 'manage' the conflicts. This is why there are always wars and Great Nations do as they please. But we shall show them that there is a consequence to an action and evil will be punished."

The Following Day

Guren watched with an amused look as Haku checked Naruto properly to ensure that he was dressed like the emperor. The Ice user truly cared for the blond – there was not a doubt. At some point, she did think that he perhaps cared more for him than other Uzumakis in the village did. Then again, even though he was Uzumaki, Naruto was still somewhat of an 'outsider' since he hadn't been born in this village and he was still not Uzumaki by full-blood. No one could still argue with him though – he hadn't been put as emperor by anyone as far as Yoshino has said – he made himself emperor.

"I don't think the people who look after him will be too pleased with you," Guren said to Haku with the amused look on her face.

Haku shrugged. "I just have to make sure," he said.

"But he seems capable of handling himself just fine," Guren said. The emperor was not a messy person – his hair was something he didn't seem to care for though. There were days it would be so wild you'd think he had been fighting with a civilian girl.

"I know but I can't help it," Haku said. "Besides, we are going to an important meeting with the Mizukage. We have to look our part." His eyes turned towards the hair and he frowned. No matter what he did, Naruto would not allow him or anyone to dictate how his hair must look like.

"Would you like to take over?" Naruto asked Guren with a smile on his lips. "I wouldn't mind if it was you."

Guren stared at Naruto for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't want to get killed by Karin," she said calmly.

Naruto laughed. "She wouldn't go that far," he said.

"You don't know her," Guren said with a shake of her head. "I have seen that woman when she is angry."

Naruto shrugged. "That is nothing… but I did hear that my mother was also like that in her days," he said calmly. "Do you think the Mizukage will like me?"

Guren blinked. She was quite certain that Naruto wasn't going to Kirigakure to get the Mizukage to like him in the way he seemed to suggest. She shook her head – he was thinking something personal. "One day, we are going to get into trouble because of such things," she said.

"I wouldn't put the empire over risk by something like that," Naruto said. He checked himself for a moment before nodding his head. "Let us go, our ship is ready for us." He said as they started to move away from the throne room, heading out. There was silence until they reached the streets.

The people in the streets welcomed them with open eyes. Guren soaked it all, feeling good about herself. It wasn't often that she got to walk around like this with the emperor of the nation. There was nothing better than this moment. Naruto was sure loved by his people. Then again, he had seen the nation rise to this state and the people enjoyed the empire's riches. He didn't care for much but seeing the empire grow into a powerful force that could be compared to the Great Nations and he had set himself apart by calling himself the emperor.

After they reached the village gates, Naruto teleported the group towards the harbour; they found ships waiting in line for their next journeys. There was a small ship that was painted in crimson, the emperor's small ship. Guren looked around for a moment before boarding the ship. Naruto settled on a large chair and the captain of the ship docked.

"I thought Yoshino would see us," Guren said with a slight shake of her head.

Had it been in Otogakure, she would certainly worry and be suspicious of certain characters. Everyone looked suspicious in this place. Sometimes she could even question Yoshino's loyalty to the emperor. He was the one who brought her here but the past years with the emperor had made her feel that she owed everything to him – her loyalty was not anyone but to the emperor.

"He is busy with other things," Naruto said in a carless manner. He then released a long breath, a frown on his lips.

"Is there something wrong?" Haku asked.

"The old fools that I picked up and convinced to start the village once more are not growing some spine because the village has grown. Well, Yoshino had been theirs but I didn't expect someone to openly say that he should be the emperor instead of me," Naruto shook his head. "They could have just done that when I was away…"

Haku was surprised upon hearing this. "I didn't think there were such politics in with the empire's court," he said. Everything had always looked normal and fine. Naruto after all has been able to do as he pleases without any restrictions. Then again, he was the emperor; they couldn't do anything to stop him.

"You are with people, of course thoughts will always differ," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "People see things differently."

"You don't need people who will disagree with you in your court," Guren said in a firm tone. "Orochimaru would have gotten rid of such people and I would have done the same. There is no telling what they will do behind your back."

"If you do such things, you only lead by fear," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "You need people to cooperate with you to create something that will last. I don't need to have people fearing me. I allow people to express their thoughts. I am not naïve. Of course, anything treasonous will be handled. But there is just the case of someone disagreeing with you. I can't kill people for that but I still expect them to follow my orders."

Guren shook her head. "Well, you have us to watch your back," she said with a smile.

"Yes," Naruto said.

"What did Yoshino say about this?" Haku asked curiously. Yoshino was many things but he was not a backstabbing bastard. He would not betray Naruto – and he was certain that Naruto knew this.

"We both laughed and asked the man if he was trying to lighten the mood," Naruto said with a smile. "Of course, he said he wasn't and we both were disappointed but we did not reproach him for it."

"Why would anyone want to remove you anyway?" Guren asked.

"I am not a full blooded Uzumaki like them," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "If it was up to me to revive the Uzumaki clan, the only thing that would be revived would be the name but the blood would eventually die out. Well, if I don't try it with another Uzumaki."

Guren looked curious. Naruto certainly had the pull to make everyone bend to his will. But he doesn't do that. The people in Uzushio didn't fear him. They were not afraid of pissing him off. Of course, they were always conscious of his thoughts, especially when it involved Uzu. Naruto ruled differently from Orochimaru. Perhaps Naruto's way was the reason there was actually harmony in their village. There was competition, but nothing as dangerous as people thinking about killing each other.

"Why do you permit this?"

"He thinks it is more fun that way," Haku said with a shake of his head. "He doesn't want people who will just nod their heads when he gives instructions. He wants people who are alive."

"But it's more fun that way, why does it give you a problem?" Guren asked Naruto with a raised brow.

"It doesn't," Naruto said with a slight shake of his head. "It just annoys me when it comes at the wrong time. Some people fail to read the mood at times."

"This is how you made things, you shouldn't complain. Besides, you can always change things any time you want; you are the emperor," Haku said, staring at Naruto without blinking.

Naruto shrugged. "We'll see," he said.

Kirigakure

Despite everything, Mei smiled seeing the emperor of Uzushiogakure. He was truly a handsome young man. She hadn't been expecting to see someone like this. When they said the emperor, she expected to see a greasy old bastard with red hair but she was seeing a handsome young man with long wild hair. He had a charming smile on his lips. But the appearance was very familiar. She could not forget the image of Konoha's shinobi who died about two years ago. Even so, the Godaime Mizukage put on a smile and greeted the blond warmly.

"Your Majesty," she greeted respectfully with a slight bow of her head. He held out her right hand, wanting to shake it.

"Mizukage-sama," Naruto returned the respect and looked at the hand for a moment. "I usually keep the hand shaking with men." He said calmly.

Mei raised an eye brow for a moment, trying to figure out his words. By his smile, she figured what he meant and smiled slyly. "What do you usually do?"

"To strong women, I prefer to be embraced by them," he said but took Mei's hand. The touch was warm and gentle. "But let me keep my hands to myself, for now at least."

"I wouldn't have minded either way," Mei said with a smile.

"I can see that," Naruto said before turning to Haku. "You didn't tell me that I would enjoy my conversation with the Mizukage, Haku." He said with a stare.

"I considered it but I figured you'd get overly excited if we told you," Haku said with a shrug. "There are serious matters to be discussed…" he stressed those words.

Naruto shook his head. "You and Naoki need to get punished," he said. "But this is a good surprise. Perhaps we might get along. Or maybe not…"

"I hope we get along," Mei said; she was smiling but there was a serious undertone in her voice.

"Likewise, Mizukage-dono," Naruto said calmly. "Shall we? I'm afraid we have a long journey ahead of us and we will be quite busy over the next weeks."

"I'm certain of that," Mei said in a serious tone. If he had chosen to make his appearance known, then he was certainly going to be busy with the interests of other villages. "Please follow me."

Naruto silently followed Mizukage in silence. As they walked, his ever curious eyes glanced over the village, amazed that it had managed to rebuild and repair itself like this. He wasn't talking about the buildings, but the peace that seemed to flow within the atmosphere. It was certainly something interesting and it spoke volumes about the kind of leadership the Mizukage had over this once great nation.

When they arrived at the tower, Mei had the guards stay outside the office because she wanted to talk alone. Guren and Haku didn't object. It was only Mei's guard who had objections but it was quickly handled.

Naruto settled gracefully in front of Mei's desk and stared at the Mizukage – who was staring at him with curiosity while studying every inch of his face.

"So you have finally decided to meet me after all these years," Mei said to Naruto. "I'd given up hope in ever meeting you."

"All in good time," Naruto said calmly.

"Wasn't that you were still busy playing a shinobi of Konoha?" Mei asked with suspicion, her eyes never left him – it appeared that she didn't want to miss anything that might slip from his mask.

"There was that but if it was a good time to meet you, I would have done so," Naruto said with a slight shake of his head. "Playing shinobi was quite fun though."

"I can't imagine." Mei said.

Naruto shrugged and didn't bother trying to explain anything to the Mizukage. "I will get straight to it; Uzushio would like to form an alliance with Kirigakure. We have already ironed out trade deals and I think we should move to the next level."

Mei stared at Naruto with an expressionless mask before folding her hands across her chest. "Why?"

"Why not?"

The Mizukage blinked. She certainly didn't expect him to give that kind of response. "Uzushio's situation is unique and we don't know your goal. While it would be great to have an ally, Kirigakure will not associate itself with just anyone."

"Oh?" Naruto smiled. He wasn't the least deterred. It wasn't nothing less of what he expected from this person.

"What are Uzu's intentions?"

"Nothing bad," Naruto said with a wave of his right hand. "Uzushio only desires to grow into a powerful nation. And for that, we do need allies. Of course, there will be enemies and regardless of whom the enemy is, they will be crushed."

Mei frowned slightly. "You say that you don't have any bad intentions, but it looks like there will be war."

"It does look that way," Naruto said with a nod. "And Uzu will defend itself and its allies. We will not allow history to repeat itself."

"I'm sure you don't want that. Not anyone would want that," Mei said with a slight shake of her head. "But I believe that you could have stopped this situation if you wanted to do it. You could have done things differently but you did not. What do you think about war, Emperor?"

Naruto tilted his head to the side and stared at the Mizukage for a couple of moments. He decided to give a simple response. "War is bad – really bad." He was amused at his own response.

Mei merely stared at him. "Can you take this a little seriously," she said in a firm tone. No doubt, from how amused he looked, she was certain that he was fooling around. Was this just a joke to him? She was talking about something that could claim the lives of many people and he was looking at her with an amused expression on his face. Did he not care about the state of the world at all?

"You ask an interesting question," Naruto said calmly. "I have not seen war; I have not experienced it. But you have. You understand war better than me. People have different views on war, but no one can disagree that it brings nothing more than pain and hatred. You are asking me this question because you want to know if I would willingly throw the first stone to start a war, isn't it?"

"I don't think you have to go that far," Mei said with a stare. "You already know that the situation is tense and you just have to do certain things and the others will react. Perhaps it will be over the top but nothing you didn't calculate. I could be wrong of course, but that is what I think in this situation. I believe that Uzushio's actions so far have been calculated and with the intensions to start something."

Naruto smiled. "We are not that devious, Mei-san… it is fine if I call you that, right?" The Mizukage nodded her head. "A person's thoughts about war are irrelevant, in most cases anyway. Whether you understand the pain of war or not will not stop you from moving towards it. Shinobi are the kind of people who often struggle to grasp difference between right and wrong. Shinobi villages often stray on the path of what is morally right but will only do what is right when there are consequences for doing the wrong thing – perhaps this comes with the human nature.

"In any case, Uzushio is a peace loving nation. And we will not attack any nation. Anyone who has a problem with what we have been doing needs to be mentally checked for paranoia. We have not threatened anyone; we have not done anything against anyone. Those who feel threatened have major problems and we cannot help with that. We will not apologize for growing our village. No one questions the Great Nations when they grow their military strength and we will not apologize. We will not apologize for being alive, Mei-san. And we will defend our home, from anyone or anything."

Those words; they came in a chilling tone. Mei frowned hearing them. She was certain now, if Uzushiogakure really had the strength, it would not show mercy to anyone who attempts to do anything to it. But she didn't want to get in the crossfire of things. "Kiri supplied the ships during Uzu's destruction, are we going to talk about that?"

"This village has just seen a civil war, you are a peaceful nation and what happened in the past has happened. You were not there when things happened – if you were there, we would have a major problem. But it is a fact that this village did offer its assistance in our destruction. But we still won't hold it against this village. We don't want to destroy the peace you have created here, we don't want to be a nation that destroys peace – this is why we are trying to form an alliance with you. Strategically, we benefit from an alliance – we are all surrounded by the sea after all and we rule over them."

It would be best not to make enemies of an unknown quantity. Uzushio was dangerous – there was no doubt about that. Mei didn't want to make enemies with the nation. Well, they have been able to work around things in the past couple of years even though there was nothing formalized in terms of an alliance because she had refused to sign anything unless she saw the emperor. "There was an agreement that I had discussed with Haku and then with Yoshino, we can just add a few things on it."

"You could have signed that agreement with Yoshino… he is the leader of Uzushiogakure and would be well within his rights to make a trade agreement." Naruto said. "My agreement with you will be on behalf of the Uzumaki Empire and that will include certain villages. The information is confidential, and we hope it keeps that way."

Mei frowned. "Well, no wonder you are called the Emperor," she said. "Which villages?"

"You have Amegakure, the Wave and Nadeshiko. The latter is a great friend of ours and we have a good relationship. We don't rule over it – it is just a strategic partner. And very soon, we shall add another."

An Hour Later

Mei was staring at the empty space ahead of her – Naruto had just left. She had realized; she was dealing with people who certainly knew what they were doing. Uzushio was indeed dangerous. Naruto wasn't some stupid man who was after power. He was a person with a clear idea of what he wanted to achieve and Mei was afraid of it. He had seemed honest with her though. Yet, she wondered if the agreement she signed with him would be held up. So far, they had worked well in the informal trade deal. So far, they hadn't given her any reason to think they couldn't be trusted, but you could never know when it came to shinobi nations. People could stab you in the back while smiling pleasantly.

When Ao walked into the office, Mei stared at the man for a long minute before speaking. "It appears that we must prepare for war," she said to the man.

Ao frowned. "With Uzu?"

Mei shook her head. She doubted Uzushio would want to go to war with them. It had to deal with Kumogakure and Iwagakure on the other side and those two villages were super powers. Perhaps this was why they were trying to form an alliance. But Naruto hadn't requested that she give him aide in terms of military. "I don't know but this world is heading into war and we must be ready for anything."

With Naruto

Naruto settled down gracefully and looked into heavens for a long minute before closing his eyes. He opened them and glanced towards Haku. "The Mizukage is certainly a person of personality."

"Did you expect her to be a pushover?" Haku asked with a raised brow.

Naruto shook his head. "It wouldn't have been fun if we could push her around. She is a Kage who has experienced many things, so there is that."

"But things will work out, right?" Haku said with a stare. He didn't think that trouble with Kirigakure would do them any favors. No, they could not afford it. It would only put them in a corner because now they would have to defend in all angles and that would stretch their resources.

Naruto nodded. "They will…" He said. "Whether she likes our method or not, we can still have a working relationship that is beneficial to both sides. We don't have a problem with them and they don't generally have a problem with us but they suspect us of certain things. Either way, there will be no problems."

Haku smiled. "That is at least a relief," he said a bit happily. "I hope it stays this way and our enemies will only be Kumo and Iwagakure."

"I doubt a clash in the sea will work out for them. But I do hope things remain civil." Naruto said. "I would like to make it personal but I am currently limited to where I sleep."

"Is that the only thing you think?" Guren asked with a stare.

"Of course not," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "I just think that it is sometimes important to have those lasting relationships that will stay strong even in the next generations. Blood ties are much more important and perhaps it could be useful for domination." He paused for a moment before speaking once more. "You must get Yoshino to teach you politics."

"Why?"

"Because very soon, you will be promoted into a role that requires you to play politics. You will not be within Uzushiogakure forever," Naruto said.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Naruto merely smiled but did not respond to the question.

Iwagakure

Onoki couldn't help but loudly curse at the recent report he had just received. He didn't need to deal with this now, not when Kumogakure was just around the corner and waiting for a moment he lost it before attacking. On the surface, it looked like Iwa and the Cloud had managed to find some common ground, but it was not the case. Their shinobi were not fighting because they knew if something like that happened, there would actually fight it out and in a situation where three other Great Nations were not fighting, it was unfavorable. It only worked out when all of them were fighting.

Onoki was conscious of the fact that a war with Kumo would only give Konoha the advantage and the Cloud was very much aware of this. They had avoided war because of this. If not for the Uzumaki, they would have certainly tried everything to make sure that Konoha got dragged into the war. Onoki would not have minded pulling the strings to attract this danger. But he had been cautious because he honestly didn't want to fight Kumo – it would do Iwa no good unless he was thinking of plundering the village in the aftermath.

He glanced up when the person he had called walked into the office. "Why the hurry to call me?" Kurotsuchi said to her grandfather. "For a moment, I'd thought you were dying…"

Onoki frowned. Couldn't she read the mood? Or maybe she could and she was saying this because of the mood. "I still have many years within me."

"Apparently," Kurotsuchi grunted before sitting in front of Onoki's office desk. "What's wrong? Kumo has not made a move, has it?"

That would be troubling. Kumo was a heavy weight nation. It had the shinobi population. It had the Jinchurikis to fight and its Raikage was a beast. Iwa would not come out of the war unscathed and if Uzu turns out to be the enemy, there would be danger; A massive danger for their very survival. There was still Konoha to consider and her grandfather had already pissed off the village with his remarks.

Onoki shook his head. "At least for now we can forget about war with Kumogakure because we have a common enemy," he said with a small smile; it was a relief and something he had been looking for.

"Which enemy?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"Uzushiogakure," Onoki said.

Kurotsuchi was silent for a couple of seconds before finally speaking. "They have been silent over the past years. I have been checking their movements with an open eye. Have they finally moved?"

Onoki nodded his head. He had a frown on his lips as he responded. "They have shown something that could be a problem. A couple of days ago, an airship was seen flying over the Fire Country and landed in Sunagakure. It was belonging to the Whirlpools."

Kurotsuchi matched her grandfather's frown. "Aerial attacks… so that is what they have been building. What else have they been hiding? Did this thing show any capabilities?"

"It doesn't have to do anything. They just have to show that they have it and we will all jump. We are all thinking now, at any moment, they could just fly over us and drop bombs. That would devastate the village and we wouldn't even be able to do anything to stop them in time."

There was also the fact that they didn't even know how many airships the village had. Perhaps this had been done intentionally. Uzushio wanted them to see its creations. It wanted them to move to its tune. Onoki hated it. He hated the person who was behind such moves. The village was playing a game with them. It didn't have to launch a strike. No, it knew they were wary of its revival and the moment they felt it was indeed a threat, they would do something. It felt like they were being baited into a trap.

Onoki had underestimated the Whirlpools. This coming war, it was crafted by them. They just didn't want to be the one to throw the first tone. He should have moved when he heard they had revived. Now they had weapons and he didn't know how many. He didn't even know of their military strength.

"We have to do something about them then," Kurotsuchi said in a firm tone. "Whether they attack us or not doesn't matter, this is just risky."

Onoki laughed. It was a bitter laugh. He amused himself thinking that Uzushio had been expecting something like that. Snakes. He was dealing with crafty people. "I assume that is what Uzushio wants," he said.

Kurotsuchi looked confused – she didn't understand those words. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that Uzushio planned this but it doesn't matter anyway. If it is war the village wants, it is war it shall get," Onoki said in a firm tone. "Its emperor turns out to be someone you know."

"Who?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

Kurotsuchi stared. That person? That indifferent blond Jinchuriki who got her drunk and attempted to play her friend before dying when she wanted to meet him? Wait, he was dead. "Isn't Naruto Uzumaki dead?"

"It turns out that he is very much alive," Onoki said. "He stood before me and said he had no connections with Uzu. He even looked indifferent when I spoke about destroying it. But he was its emperor. I should have suspected something was off and turned him into dust!"

Naruto had told her that he wasn't her enemy. Had he lied to her? Kurotsuchi cursed. That bastard probably wanted to manipulate her and she had almost begged him to stay and talk to her. "I guess I can use that invitation now. He was saying he wants to be my friend. I can try to invite him."

"And then you must kill him." Onoki said in a stern tone. "If he agrees to it. It must be somewhere away from Uzu and you must get close to him. Once you do, you know what to do."

"He likes to drinking, I will offer him something and then wait for him," Kurotsuchi said with a grin on her lips. "I will write the letter and send it to him. I know the perfect place to meet him. I don't think he will disagree."

"If he disagrees, you are not going anywhere near Uzu. We can't trust them and I can't let you fall into enemy hands," Onoki said firmly. "Can you handle him?"

"They said he was strong, but I will handle him grandfather."

"When you do, we can think of invading Uzu and we need to do it with Kumogakure. We can't afford to send men to Uzu while Kumo lurks. The moment we do that, they attack us," Onoki said.

Uzushiogakure

Naruto was sitting on his throne, his back leaning against it, eyes narrowed sharply with power and authority radiating within them. He was staring at a group of forty Uzumaki jonins who were kneeling before the king, led by Yoshino. Naoki and Naori were flanking both his sides.

"Lift your heads," Naruto commanded in a stern tone. "Yoshino, tell me, what was the state of this place when I first came here?"

"We were living in constant fear of another invasion and we had hidden ourselves from the outside world. We did not want to reveal ourselves to the world because we were afraid. Yes, before you came here, the Uzumaki were a fearful people."

"Let that not leave you until you die, Yoshino. That doesn't exclude all of you. Remember where you were before I came to this village. Remember and never forget!" Naruto paused for a moment to allow the words to sink in. "Tell me, Yoshino, who was it that encouraged you to start things from scratch and create this village?"

"It was you, your Majesty."

"Who was it that laid the first stone for the empire to be built?"

"It was you, your Majesty."

"Who was it that gave you a mission to look for the other Uzumaki who were scattered across the Elemental Nations?"

"It was you, Your Majesty."

"Who is your Emperor?"

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Good," Naruto nodded. "Then you will remember what I said. You will remember that I promised to make Uzushiogakure a great nation. You will remember that I said the Uzumaki Empire will become great – greater than the Great Five Nations. We are heading there. But before we become the greatest, we must fight. We must go to war. You said you would follow me to pits of hell in the pursuit of greatness and I expect nothing less.

"I will tolerate failure but I will not tolerate cowards and incompetence. The Emperor will not tolerate men who run from battle. My men fear nothing. They fear no man and they shall be victorious because I will lead them into victory. We are not going to be destroyed. But we will win. We will become winners. We will become a great nation."

"We believe that your Majesty," Yoshino said confidently. "This is why we fight for you. This is why we follow you."

"Good. Good!" Naruto said with a nod of his head. "We are going to war soon. Just this group will be enough. Yes, this group of 43 will defeat a Great Nation. Those who attack us will know our power; the great nations will learn to fear Uzumaki. The odds might look like they will be against us but we will be victorious. I will lead you into victory. Be ready Uzumaki, the next time I summon you here, we will be heading to a battlefield."

"We will be ready, your Majesty!" The fifty saluted before disappearing from the throne room in the blink of an eye.

Once they were gone, Naruto smiled. "Acting like the emperor is taxing," he said calmly.

"I thought you were getting a kick out of it," Naoki said to Naruto. "You're usually playful but isn't this the real side of the emperor. If you joke around too much, people won't respect you."

Naruto shook his head. "You lack a better understanding of respect, Naoki. If you are serious all the time and people have to hurry to their knees each time they see you, it is no longer just a sense of respect that they feel when they see you but fear. I won't lead my people by fear. They must follow me because they want to follow me. Puppets controlled by fear will not work out for me."

"As you say your Majesty."

Naruto's eyes turned towards Yoshino for a moment. The man was already on his feet, looking at them with an expressionless mask on his face. "Your Majesty, will this work out? How certain are you that Konohagakure will not try to interfere with the battles? If they start fearing us, they too will take part and we can't handle that."

"Didn't I tell you?" Naruto asked calmly.

"Tell me what?" Yoshino said.

"I know that it was Danzo who sent people to try to assassinate the Raikage. If Konoha tries to interfere, they will be warned not to do anything or this information will reach both Iwa and Kumogakure. I am quite certain that both villages would quickly settle their petty disagreements and march over to the Leaf," Naruto said calmly.

"That represents a problem though," Naori said. "If Iwa and Kumogakure stop fighting, they will be able to send a bigger army towards us. Nagato would certainly be able to handle that, but it won't be without loss. We want to ensure that we suffer minimal loss in this war, and if things change, our strategy has to change."

"Then we make sure that Konoha doesn't do anything stupid because we can't afford anything troublesome." Naruto said in a stern tone. "But if we are pushed, we will be forced to use the airship. But that represents major losses that will leave our nation as being known for massacres in the battlefield. We don't want to do anything that destroys our 'good' image…"

"You are playing a gamble," Naoki said with a slight shake of his head.

"But with how things have become so far, nothing will change in the situation between Kumo and Iwa. We have already blown the trumpet, they will make their moves soon," Yoshino said. "Konoha is a just a factor that we can't ignore."

"When the time comes, I will go to them," Naruto said calmly. "How are things in the Sound? We must start moving things speedily now that war is upon us."

"We have developed everything that needs to be developed with Otogakure and we have placed a worthy Feudal Lord. Otogakure remains closed and information is guarded but it has become a real village instead of just a web of hideouts. We have destroyed everything that has Orochimaru's name in it."

"We must start thinking about changing the name of the village. We cannot possibly use the name that Orochimaru used," Naruto said in a thoughtful tone.

"We will work out something," Yoshino said with a nod. "When do we begin the expansion? Are we going to start now or afterwards?"

"Afterwards," Naruto said. "It will be a whole lot easy to do it after everything. Right now, we'd have many questions and even our allies will start second guessing us. We can't afford that now. It is much easier to move around when people trust you. When you are not trusted, things become a little dangerous."

"I thought that was the kind of situation you like."

"Not when it concerns the Empire's future. There are times for one to enjoy a little bit of fun and a time to be serious."