Chapter 21

Gaara stared at the Sandaime Tsuchikage with a cold glare that made the two men walking beside him shift uncomfortably. The old man was walking towards the large wooden shelter that had been set up by Yamato. Temari had told him what had happened in Iwagakure – she had told him that Kurotsuchi abused her upon learning that she may hold value to the Emperor. This man had dared kidnap his sister when he had not been provoked. Some Kages had no moral compass. No, should he even pass that judgment on just Kages? The shinobi world was not a world ruled by good moral standards. Shinobi did everything to win. Onoki was still a product of this world but it did not excuse his actions – not even a little.

Every man did what he wanted. Onoki was not forced by anyone. He was old enough to determine what was wrong and what was right and in this case, he had chosen the wrong route. A pity the shinobi who had been involved in the attack were probably all dead. Gaara would have had them sent to Sunagakure to pay for their actions. Of course, there was still the man who gave the order.

"This is some hostile welcome to the summit, Kazekage," Onoki said in a lazy tone.

Was he concerned about Sunagakure? Not even the least. Unless backed by Konoha, the village would not do anything against his village – it simply did not have the military muscles to carry out an attack. Admittedly, given the current situation he too could not afford to be at war with them. Uzushio – no, the Emperor was proving to be a stumbling block that he could not move as easily as he had thought. He would not have even bothered coming here had he been winning. Iwa had suffered massive casualties – but so did Kumogakure. The risk carried by these other people was that they could enter the battlefield, with the losses he has suffered, it would be most unpleasant.

"It is not as if you don't deserve it." Gaara said in a measured tone. He was controlling his anger perfectly. He did consider that if he hadn't become good, his first reaction to seeing the Tsuchikage would have been to instinctively attack him.

"I guess not," Onoki said with a shrug. "But you should not complain. My plan ended up in failure after the Emperor took action."

"Whether you have failed or not does not change the fact that you attacked my sister."

"It does not but nothing can be done. At the end of the day, you got your sister and I lost my granddaughter. Of course, you will be held accountable if I don't get her."

There was nothing of her. She had not been completely erased. But there was nothing of her from the site she had been fighting Naruto. Roshi had been certain Naruto fled from the battle before he could finish her off – but she was still no where to be seen. There was the chance that the Emperor took her. But Roshi could not confirm this. One second her body was there and the next it was gone.

"You can go to the Emperor about that."

"You're quick to throw him under the bus."

"It is the truth, isn't it? He is the one who attacked your village. I am not simply throwing him out in the open. I just want you to know that we have yet to do anything against for what you did to us."

"I don't think you are in any position to do anything," Onoki said with a shrug. "But by your statement, I can conclude that you didn't take my granddaughter. I had been thinking perhaps you did. Then it must either be Konoha or Uzushio."

"Isn't ironic?"

Onoki glared. He was now worried and saying someone would have to pay for Kurotsuchi but he was still not going to easily accept anything in regards to his actions against Temari. This world was treacherous. What goes around doesn't always come back around – but this time, the trick he had tried to play on Suna had been pushed back at his door. It was a bitter pill to swallow and he hated that he didn't have such a good position to be able make demands.

"We will talk at the summit, Kazekage. We have had a long journey," Onoki said. "We want to rest a bit. We have been at war, and it has been rather brutal," he finished with a deep frown.

"I have heard and I cannot enjoy it." Gaara said in an honest tone. "Despite what I think of you, your men do not deserve to be caught up in an unnecessary war where they are just going to lose their lives."

Onoki stared at the large shelter, ignoring Gaara. There were five more rooms surrounding it, each with a symbol of a great nation. This was in the middle of nowhere. Konoha had obviously prepared this just for the summit. It was indeed true that Konoha had a Mokuton user. They could not have done this so quickly without the use of ninjutsu.

He motioned for his guards to follow him as he walked towards the room prepared for Iwagakure. The meeting would be held later during the day, he could afford to rest his mind and for a moment, not worry about an attack from the Emperor.

The Island

Naruto was standing behind Karin – who was sitting behind her desk inside her study. Both his hands were inside of her T-shirt, fondling her breasts. She was not big, but he did not hate it. He has enjoyed the comforts of all sizes of breasts. The bigger rack did seem to stimulate the sexual urges a bit more but with Karin, it did not matter. She was perfect just the way she was – even though she acted like a man at times, she was fine. She was his wife after all.

He leaned over and started kissing her on the right side of her neck.

Karin had her eyes closed, enjoying the chills that were sent through her spine. She wasn't fond of the idea of leaving her experiments to go play politics but this was one part of her relationship with Naruto that she did not hate. Despite how cold and ruthless he was, her body always shivered with excitement whenever he caressed her. He was always gentle and knew how to please her.

"Did you come here for this? I thought you had Temari to keep you company."

"She left, came back and then left again. But there is no one who quite pleases me as much as you do."

"If I pleased you that much, you wouldn't run off to sleep with other women."

"Must we all always bring that?"

"Well, you are an unfaithful husband, why must we not talk about it? I doubt you have even stopped with your tendencies anyway. You say that Sannin did not influence you but you certainly picked up his love for women."

"Maybe," Naruto said. His tongue slit out of his mouth and he ran it across her neck, slowly and then on her check. "But you know I have been behaving since we officially married. I had my fun. But admittedly, it did leave me with a bit of an appetite, but it is an appetite only you can fully satisfy."

"I'm sure Temari will not be happy hearing that."

Naruto retreated slightly, but still kept his hands on Karin's breasts. She lifted her face to look at him. He smiled. "You wouldn't tell, would you? But even if you did, I'd deny it."

"You are rather good at that. I'm sure you've also denied responsibility for women who came to you with little blond bastards."

Naruto just smiled before capturing her lips. They were always smooth. There was nothing rotten inside of her mouth. The tongues playfully tagged for a couple of moments before Naruto pulled away.

"Better stop before I get a little too excited," he said straightening up.

Karin frowned.

"You bastard; you just came here to get me excited that then leave me like that."

Naruto smiled happily. "I am your husband, I should leave you excited."

"When I return home, I'm also going to do the same to you and then keep you locked up with chakra chains so that you don't go anywhere to be satisfied." Karin said firmly.

"Vengeful woman…" Naruto said with a shake of his head. He shifted his body closer and sat on the desk, by Karin's right side, facing her. "I should have chosen to marry a more suitable woman."

"Chosen?" Karin laughed. "You did not choose me. The Uzumaki chose for you. There was no one else born in the same year as you aside from me. Of course, you would have married someone older if you were given the option."

"Someone older would not give me such a hard time. They have experience in all parts of life and know what is expected of them. I like the maturity part of their brain. You young ones are just full of energy, and puffed up with so many emotions that confuses you – it can be frustrating at times."

"Are you saying I am frustrating?"

Naruto smiled. "Did I?" He asked rhetorically. "We are going to meet the other Kages later on. It should be fun. Once we have done that, we will see how things go. But Naori has informed me that Kumogakure has started retreating. We should be ending this bloody sequence soon."

Karin frowned; it only meant one thing – she would be returning to Uzu far sooner than she liked. She enjoyed Naruto's presence but she hated playing politics. She loved doing her experiments. She had agreed to marry him even when she knew what would be expected of her. The clan had stolen her away from Orochimaru and then put her in this situation. But they had decided to offer her to the Emperor – the elders did at times treat Naruto like an outsider. She was the sacrifice given to him. They loved Yoshino. If things had gone their way, they would have made him Emperor but there wouldn't have been an empire without Naruto in the first place.

"So, you came for me."

"I came to warn you to start preparing things. Next time I come here, it will be to fetch you if you have not returned," Naruto responded. "You really don't look pleased."

"I'm really not."

"Why?"

"I don't want to play politics. It is just not me. I thought I could do it but now that I am facing it, I don't really think I can do it."

"You still don't have a choice." Naruto said with an expressionless look.

"You treat me worse than your subordinates," Karin accused with a glare. "You allow them to do as they please but you never give me any freedom. I must always tip toe around the fine margins you set for me."

Naruto raised an eye brow in surprise.

"Should you accuse me of such? I do give my subordinates some leeway but whenever I call them for duty, they must always be ready to serve. But you have been locked up here in the last couple of years because of your choice. I didn't choose for you. I gave you the freedom," Naruto said. "But if you want, I can relieve you of some duties and have Haku perform them. Of course, I would still need you to avail yourself whenever you are wanted."

"You'd reconsider?"

Naruto smiled and leaned in. He cupped her chin and stared at those reddish eyes.

"Ah, it seems I am interrupting something," Kabuto announced with a smile as he walked into the study holding a stack of papers.

Naruto lost his smile and straightened up. He watched Kabuto from the corner of his eyes. Once the former Oto Nin settled on a chair in front of the desk and placed the papers atop of it, he responded.

"You have a bad timing," he said calmly. "How far goes your research?"

"I had made some success with Orochimaru-sama. What I have needed to do is how your body would react to the cells. If to say, we are only implanting them on a portion of your body, there might be consequences of the part changing 'form.' But if we are changing genetics, to infuse the cells with yours to make you a true Mokuton user, there are higher risks of death."

"We wouldn't want me dying, would we?"

"No."

"Are you using me as a test subject to see if you can alter a person's DNA without completely changing their appearances? You and Orochimaru collected many samples of various shinobi in an effort to create the perfect warrior who could be powerful and immortal."

Kabuto pushed up his glasses. "You know about that," he sounded surprised.

"Of course I do," Naruto said with a wave of his right hand. "Why would I let you come here in the first place? You are not truly afraid of being killed by me. You just took the most logical option. With me, you hide from those who'd want to kill you and still continue to do your research. I even have prisoners you can use for your experiments."

"I didn't think you'd willingly offer me people."

"Some of them are murderers and rapists. They are just waiting to die. I should have killed them but left them alive to use as tests subjects for my prison. Then?"

"I would not lie to say I did not consider that," Kabuto said.

Naruto shook his head. "Just make sure you are safe. I'll give you what you need…" he stood up. "You heard me, Karin. Be ready when I return."

"I get it," Karin grumbled.

"Before you leave," Kabuto said. "You want to control the elemental Nations, isn't it? The purpose of this war was to give you a pretext to enter these nations without fostering a declaration of war from the other nations. It also means you move without the need to invade them and have that history. You want to create a sustainable rule in which the Uzumaki will influence what happens in the shinobi world for future generations."

"That is quite interesting," Naruto said in thought.

Kabuto smiled. "You are not going to deny it." He said.

"Is there a reason to do so?"

"I guess not," Kabuto responded. "Are you not interested in the existence that is Zetsu? He is not human. Was he a human before? What gave his birth?"

"From what we know, he calls himself the will of Madara but that is questionable," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "I am interested. Find out what you can. We don't want his existence to continue."

"Of course," Kabuto nodded and watched Naruto walk away from the study. After he was certain the emperor was gone, he faced Karin and smiled. She was less hostile than the emperor. Perhaps it was because they shared a common interest.

"You thinking of something funny?" Karin asked with a stare.

"The mark I was given was surely made so that I don't do anything. I don't even want test what would happen if I do anything wrong."

"I can tell you."

"I'm listening."

"Your body will be incinerated."

"That is an unpleasant thought," Kabuto admitted. "Shall we get to it?"

"That is the reason you came here with those papers. I must admit, you and Orochimaru truly did some sick experiments. But I cannot go against the knowledge gained."

Fire Country

Mei was sitting just in front of the small room she had been given, staring at the empty space ahead of her. She could feel the tension in the atmosphere. It was certainly not going to be a civil summit. She was meeting the other Kages for the first time but she would have preferred to meet them under finer conditions than these. She had an issue with both Iwa and Kumo for threatening her village with war if they did not attack Uzu. Mei hadn't even thought twice about it before burning the letter. There were some battles you did not fight. Uzu had done nothing against them, even though they had helped in their destruction during the second shinobi world war. She would not ruin everything by becoming a traitor.

Naruto was one person she didn't want to become her enemy. With everything he has done, you'd think twice about making him angry.

Her eyes caught the sight of two Sannins walking towards her; the Godaime Hokage and the Toad Sage. Seeing them, she had no doubt on what they wanted to talk about with her. She still smiled nevertheless. Although she wanted to be allies with the Hidden Leaf, she was not going to say anything she was not supposed to say.

"Mizukage-dono," Tsunade greeted cordially before sitting on the Mizukage's left side. Jiraiya remained on his feet, standing in front of the two with a watchful eye.

"Hokage-sama," Mei responded quietly and turned to face Jiraiya. "Jiraiya…" she said.

"Mei-sama," the Toad Sage responded with a nervous smile. He quickly brushed it off when Tsunade looked at him questionably. "We came here to talk about Naruto."

"I assumed as much," Mei said. "He is just Naruto to you… to everyone else, he is the Emperor. Well, you watched him grow, you saw different sides of him as a child."

"Naruto is a former shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. I spent about three years travelling, training him and in all these years he never revealed the true level of his strength. He never let slip of anything. I can't say he ever denied being part of the revived Uzumaki clan but he always found a way to answer without answering the question. In the years I spent with him these are things I learned about him; he loved his clan, he was smart, strong and never answered questions personally in his present state of mind. He liked talking objectively and I never knew he was a Fuinjutsu master only when we were concluding our training."

"Basically, he kept his thoughts to himself and never revealed anything he didn't want to reveal…" Mei said.

"You understand why we are a little suspicious about his actions." Tsunade said.

"Everyone is suspicious," Mei said. Even she questioned his motives. She had experienced staring at him – he was unreadable. His mind always looked like it was blank of any thoughts. "What do you want to know from me?"

"We want to know about your relationship with him and the Uzumaki…"

"I don't have that much of a relationship with him to even talk about it. I don't generally talk to him but with other people. There was a proposal of a marriage but that is something we are just looking at. The Uzumaki? I have no relationship with the Uzumaki."

"But you are still not allies just trading partners."

"Yes… I have held out on that until after the war."

"Why?"

"Because I want to see what their intentions are. You might be thinking because I have been around them lately something has been happening but most conversations were not even about Kiri. But about the Water Country. Our Daimyo has been on a war path with both Uzushio and the Wave Country. We have been working together to try to solve the issue without bloodshed."

"That is surprising considering that he has been spilling blood everywhere," Tsunade said.

"Not every situation can be solved by simply killing people. He is fighting a war here. In a war, you have to fight and that is what he is doing," Mei said with a slight shake of her head.

Of course, from what Haku had said, Naruto would have chosen force already. But the fact he was willing to change things to be more diplomatic spoke volumes about his character. Haku had said that he was being used as a filter to Naruto's sometimes extreme methods that also reassured her a bit.

"Naruto was not unreasonable." Jiraiya was confident in this. "He thinks logically. I'm sure there is a reason he is fighting the war in such a manner. He always did enjoy the good battle. In any case, Konoha would like to form a relationship with Kiri. We also wanted to know your position on the Emperor."

"I have no problems forming a relationship with Konoha but this is not the appropriate time."

"I think it is," Tsunade said firmly. "He is going to appear and there will be questions in which we want to pick sides with him or not. We wanted to see which side you would pick."

"The side that is right," Mei said sternly. "I will not make my decision because of pressure. I will decide what is best for my village and something that I can live with. Nobody is going to influence me to decide anything. This is why I have even played a game of wait and see with Uzushio. No, the Uzumaki Empire. What you don't understand is that there is a difference between the Uzumaki Empire and Uzushio."

It was something that Naruto really doesn't explain but you could only understand it once you grew closer. Naruto was basically the Empire. Nadeshiko, the Wave were part of the Empire, including Uzu.

"We have grown to learn this but it does not change that Naruto sits at the top."

"It does not," Mei said. "I will only discuss an alliance with Konoha on a proper time. I am also not willing to share the finer details about the Emperor. If he wants you to know everything, he will let you know. I cannot act against the trust they have put in me."

Konoha

Shikaku's mask became a bit serious as Yugao walked into the office without her Anbu mask. She was not here as an Anbu but on the personal capacity the Sandaime had chosen.

"I'm glad you made time," Shikaku said.

"You made it sound as if it was serious."

Shikaku nodded – it was indeed serious. What had the Sandaime Hokage done to him? This was a dangerous task that he was assigned. Even so, the old man must have really trusted Naruto to believe that once things were set for him, he would not betray their agreement. Perhaps the two had shared a much deeper and mutual relationship. The old man had kept most of this thoughts regarding Naruto to himself.

"It is," the Nara said. "The Emperor was here… I'm sure you spoke to him."

"I did," Yugao said. "He gave me everything and talked about your son and his thoughts about the agreement with Konoha. He did not sound particularly pleased about the proposed marriage."

"He was not pleased about being strong armed into making such decisions. He also made sure to let me know that if Konoha went against him, there would be severe consequences. Naruto is powerful and if he came here with plans to destroy this village, we would not escape unscathed."

"What do you propose?"

"We don't force him into marriage but say that one of his children will have to marry someone from a clan in this village. The Hyuga clan is the most powerful clan at the moment. We would need to talk to them about it. I'm sure if we do things this way, we will make things workable."

"If things go south at the summit?"

"They won't," Shikaku said with confidence. "But we must still take measures to defend ourselves in case things go wrong. That means studying more about his abilities and of those around him. But we must do this secretly because if he finds out, he will not be pleased."

"I don't know about getting involved in that. He has held his end of the bargain and went out his way to avoid battling Konoha. Not for a second do I doubt that he feels contempt for this village, but he has never been driven by anger. If Konoha gives him a reason, he will act on it."

Naruto had made it absolutely clear that he didn't give a cent about Konoha but it was his word they could bank on.

"I'm worried about the future. We don't know what will happen tomorrow and how the next Kage will handle things. We won't all be alive. And even if our future leaders do wrong, we still cannot say it is right for the Leaf to be destroyed – we must always protect it."

Being Anbu, it had never been about right or wrong – it was always about protecting the Leaf and following orders. Ideals did not matter.

"What do you want me to do?"

Summit Location

The table was small, the Kages sat a bit closer to each other with their guards standing behind them. The room was large with only a single window for some light. There were no other shinobi present. No one would even think about attacking here, not when it was the most powerful in action. Well, at least they were the most powerful shinobi – but there was now the Emperor. Tsunade still believed that the Five Kages held more power than the Emperor. It would test the balance of things if Naruto held enough power to challenge them all. Everyone would feel threatened and they would tread carefully knowing the Emperor was watching.

The Godaime Hokage glanced at the quiet Gaara who was sitting on her right hand, Ai bit further; The Mizukage sat on her left side, Onoki just across her. This meeting would be basically the other three against the two who were at war with Uzushio.

"As the ones who called the meeting, Konoha will take charge, do any of you have any problems?" Tsunade asked in a Hokage tone.

"Let us just get this over with. We are at war and the Emperor can attack while we are sitting here," Ai said with impatience.

"The Emperor assured us he would not attack during the summit," Gaara said. He could at least trust that Naruto would not go back on his word unless these two do something that would provoke an attack. Besides, he was going to come here.

"I can't trust him." Ai was quick to say.

"I assume the last attacks were done knowing this. Did he also do them to give us more reasons to attend the meeting?" Onoki demanded with narrowed eyes. "Were you even aware of this?"

Ai glared hearing the question as if it had never occurred to him. He slammed his fist on the table and leaked a bit of his killing intent. His glare was directed at the Godaime Hokage.

"You would not be working with the Emperor would you?" He demanded. "If you are, there is not even a reason we should continue with this."

He had lost many shinobi and he would never forgive those who worked with the Emperor. He would be willing to attack the other Kages even in the summit if they proved to be conspiring with that man.

"Don't be so rash," Tsunade said in a dismissive tone. "Instead of accusing us of anything, you should think about thanking us for giving you a time to breathe. You were not performing well in the war. And the Emperor would not have given you time to recover before launching another devastating attack."

It did not please her saying this but it had to be said – they needed to be reminded that while they had come here with their chests puffed, they were losing horribly in a war they had started. They had certainly underestimated Naruto. And they were paying dearly for it.

"We don't need to be reminded," Onoki said. "But you are still not answering my question."

"I knew he would attack but I was not working with him. We are not even allies. The only reason I even knew about it was because he informed me after coming to let me know he would recover my sister, whom you had taken by force," Gaara said with, staring at the Tsuchikage.

"Your actions are part of the reason we are here." Tsunade said. "We don't want to drag our villages into a needless war. But we will be forced to defend ourselves if you two going to provoke us. There has to be consequences for your actions, Tsuchikage."

Onoki frowned deeply. "What do you want from me?" He demanded harshly and in anger. "My granddaughter is missing, possibly dead. And she was the one who led the attack."

"I feel for your loss. Losing a family member is difficult but you had no problems in giving the order that resulted in me nearly losing a family member. Your granddaughter tortured my sister. I cannot forget that. You must pay for what you did."

"If I refuse? What are you going to do? Suna does not have the might to do anything against Iwagakure. I don't even think Konoha would be willing to get into a war with us. Last time we fought, we were winning until Minato appeared. You no longer have that."

Mei shook her head; this kind of attitude was the reason the Great Five always fought. Onoki was not even willing to admit that he had done wrong. There would be nothing to talk about if he could not admit his error. If things did not change, they would not gain anything other than threats and war declarations.

"We thought about things and knew you would give such a response," Tsunade said with a shake of her head – there was clear disappointment in her tone. "Will you not admit that what you did was wrong? Suna was not enemy and yet you gave the order."

Onoki was silent for a couple of moments. "I did what I thought was best for my village." He simply said. "Talking about this issue is not going to change anything. Kumo once did something against in the Leaf and it never admitted to do any wrong, even when everyone knew they were wrong."

"Don't turn this on me," Ai said with a sharp look towards the Tsuchikage.

"I am just pointing out that things happen."

"The Sandaime Hokage had seen too much at that point and the Leaf had just suffered massively from the Kyubi rampage. He took a decision that was best for the survival of the village," Tsunade said firmly. "But it does not mean that Kumo was not wrong. Wounds from the Third war were still fresh, we had also lost Minato. If we had gone to war with Kumo at that point, you would have joined and Konoha would not have survived. We are just not going to bring it now because it is not the reason we are here."

"Are you really not willing to admit that you were wrong?" Mei asked, finally speaking. Her tone was gentle, quiet.

"I've already said what I did was best for my village."

"This is the reason why you are at war with the Emperor. You two cannot solve anything without going to war. You think power gives you the right to do whatever you please. You just now threw your muscles. Both you and The Raikage threatened me unless I joined your cause. You always want to use force to get what you want because you value power above all things."

Mei had held back from making an alliance with the Emperor because she had still been concerned about his true objectives but just hearing these two talk just made her realize that Uzu indeed had no choice but to go to war. Both the Raikage and Tsuchikage would not have stood for it. Morals did not work in this world. It was all about power and protecting ones village.

Tsunade raised an eye brow hearing this from Fifth Mizukage. It was honestly surprising to hear her speak so calmly despite that the two villages had tried to bully her into supporting them into war. This just added to the sins of these two. They have certainly fallen. But this has always been the way shinobi do things, hasn't it? The Leaf has in the past done many injustice to secure its position and borders. Perhaps pointing fingers was not really the one thing she could do.

"You really want all of us to return to those bloody days? Have you not had enough of wars? You should know better than anyone, Tsuchikage. There is nothing but pain in war. You have already lost many shinobi and you will still lose many more if you continue like this. Those shinobi at home will only blame you."

"We have all done unspeakable things. Konoha certainly should not be the one to try to hold the moral high ground," Onoki said.

"That is true," Tsunade would not deny this. "We cannot change our past but that is precisely the reason we have refused to talk about past issues. The Kumo issue was in the past. We are talking about things you did now. And I will not allow you to use the past against us."

Ai slammed his fist on the table. "We should really be talking about the Emperor. He is too powerful and a danger to the balance past Kages fought to protect. What makes you think he isn't going to turn on you?"

"We should really work together to fight against him." Onoki added. "He is after something. He works with the criminal organization, the Akatsuki and we have noted that he has taken the Sound country. That man plans to destabilize things in this world. He calls himself Emperor, soon he will call himself Emperor of the Elemental Nations."

Working on their fears, eh? Tsunade found it laughable. Maybe if it was months ago, she would have agreed to the idea of dealing with Naruto like that – but not anymore.

"The Akatsuki? That is ironic coming from you, Onoki."

"I will admit that my past actions have not always been good. I made a blunder in this case. We have also underestimated the abilities of the Emperor and we are paying for it," Onoki was truly loath to admit this – he spoke in a bitter tone.

"I will agree that the Emperor is indeed too powerful but whether he is an enemy or not is something that we will decide for ourselves. If he is planning to expand, we will put a stop to it," Tsunade said in a hardened tone. "The war is yours and we will not fight it. We have no reason to do so. But since you have shown contempt for us, we will not permit you to go through the borders of our country. If your shinobi try to cross through, they will be attacked."

"You'd risk war with us?"

"Yes… if you invade the Fire Country, you are the ones challenging us. We are not taking sides, we just don't want you crossing through the borders."

"We have also agreed with the Hokage that shinobi from Iwa will not be permitted into both the Wind and Fire Country until you see the error of your ways. Both Wind and Fire Lords will put pressure on your Feudal Lord to put some restraint in you. If he refuses, the Earth will lose the business of all the small nations that border it. Apparently, they all don't like Iwa for its lack of respect for their borders. One worrying fact seems to be that they appear to have made an alliance with the Uzumaki Empire." Gaara added calmly.

Onoki frowned deeply. Even if he survived the war, Iwa would surely suffer economically. Once the war was over, the Feudal Lord held more power. He had not thought these two would take such an extreme measure.

"I would not be against sending my forces to assist the Leaf in protecting its borders." Mei added.

"Ridiculous!" Ai exclaimed in anger. "None of you are willing to help in this war. If you stand against us, we will fight you. What you are doing is simply protecting the Emperor, we cannot excuse that."

"I think I have proven beyond doubt that I do not need any protection," a cold voice of the Emperor rang as he entered the meeting place.

The guards of both Onoki and Ai took their positions but the others did not react but just watched. Sasuke had his Sharingan activated, watching. If Naruto showed a moment of weakness or a simple opening, he was going to take it and ensure the blond was dead. He heard the blond was planning to expand. He no doubt wanted to dominate the Elemental Nations – he wanted to change things. Sasuke could not trust Naruto's intentions.

Ai activated his lightning cloak while Onoki took to the air, holding his hands together, ready to launch an attack.

"Calm down you two!" Tsunade shouted while on her feet. She didn't want things going far. They could not fight here. "We did not come here to fight and you were informed he would appear."

The Godaime then glared at Naruto for his timing. With how good he was with stealth, he may have been watching since the beginning. Well, it didn't look like things were going anywhere anyway. But their measure against Onoki would hit him hard. Iwa was going to suffer and he would be forced to act. Konoha would not be affected badly by this measure. It just meant that Leaf shinobi would be constantly fighting with Iwa.

"This is an opportunity for us to get rid of a man who has killed many of our shinobi," Onoki had nothing but hate for the Emperor.

"If you are going to fight, just know that we will be willing to fight you." Gaara said in a stern tone.

"Brother," Bee said to his brother. Even he knew that the situation was dangerous. There were three Kages, one of them a Jinchuriki and a Sannin. The other was an Uchiha, and he felt powerful. He was not the Emperor but he was not normal either.

"What?"

"If we fight here, we won't win," Bee said.

Ai stared at Naruto before deactivating his cloak and then settled down, yet he kept his glare upon the blond. Onoki followed his example and calm returned into the room.

Naruto – who had an amused look slowly reached the Kages before rounding them, hands crossed behind. He stood by the window and looked outside.

"You should really do well to hide your killing intent, Sasuke. I have killed many people, so I can tell when someone really wants to murder me," the Emperor spoke in a measured tone. "I can understand with the Tsuchikage; I have been picking apart his shinobi after all."

Tsunade frowned hearing those words. She had thought she handled this issue with Sasuke's thoughts towards Naruto. She truly hoped that the Uchiha did not do something stupid like attack the Emperor because she did not want that. There were chances of Naruto declaring war on them if Sasuke went that far.

"Showing your back to us, you have grown rather confident in your abilities," Ai said with anger.

"I am watching you. My senses work perfectly. Besides, I am not here for a battle. We decided to pause just for this summit. I am here to talk to see if we can end things without any more bloodshed. I must be honest, this is starting to weigh me down. I cannot continue to stomach this slaughter." Naruto said.

"And I thought you were enjoying yourself," Onoki said with bitter sarcasm.

Naruto eyed the Tsuchikage through the corner of his eyes and then responded. "Just because I grow weary of it doesn't mean that I cannot continue with it. I would have no problem slaughtering all your men in both camps if that is what it takes to end this conflict."

"That kind of language doesn't really help, Naruto," Tsunade warned.

"I'm afraid I must speak in terms they can understand," the blond said. "This is a formal setting, I would rather you not call me so casually, Hokage-sama. Perhaps when we are in a private setting, I can accept that."

Tsunade did not respond to this.

"If you came to talk and look for a way to end this, you must be ready to die then. We will only accept your death and the return of my granddaughter." Onoki said.

"And Yugito," Ai added. "We can leave Uzushio alone for the time being. It is likely that the village has no power to threaten us aside from you."

"Laughable," the Emperor said. "You started this war and are losing it, yet you demand my head. Perhaps it would make your people happy, but it will not happen. I did not take Kurotsuchi, Tsuchikage. I beat her and left her to die. If she isn't around, then it is a worrying matter. Yugito will not be returned. We end this war by you surrendering to me and giving your lives as sacrifices."

"That is not going to happen!"

"We are still Kages and will not give our lives to anyone. You have already killed many of our shinobi!" Ai added forcefully. He seemed ready to explode.

"You started a war; and we have not forgotten that you invaded our village before and nearly led us to extinction because of your insecurities. You wanted to lead us to ruin once more. We simply cannot let this go. We are not sure if you will not even try to do this again."

"We will not allow them," Tsunade was quick to say. "The Kages can make an agreement to say if the other attacks one of us for no reason at all, we will defend the other. We could extend this agreement towards Uzushio."

"There will never be peace in my village as long as he is alive. He has killed far too many for us to simply let things go."

Naruto shook his head – he had expected them to he stubborn but it was still disappointing seeing at happen. These two were just prime examples of what was wrong in this world. The main issue was that they had declared war on them and then tried to destroy them simply because they viewed them as a threat. They were now angry because he had killed their shinobi. What did they expect of him? Were they thinking that he would just roll over and allow them to butcher the clan he forced to come out of hiding? It was war. People died. They had just gone into it thinking they would win and now they were trying to push their Kage muscles to see him dead even though he had been provoked.

Naruto had never cared about the balance and peace. He'd always been concerned about his clan – it was his greatest love. For it, he had donned the mask of the Emperor and went on a slaughter. He would not simply die to make bloody idiots comfortable. Just because they were Kages, it did not mean they were right. The leading powers were truly arrogant.

Naruto turned around and faced the Kages – his eyes were sharp, the atmosphere around him a little menacing. There was deathly silence when he did this and when he spoke, no one seemed to breathe.

"You people are disappointing. You should be on your knees begging for mercy. You have done us wrong and you refuse to accept this. The core issue here is not that I slaughtered your shinobi, it is that you declared war on us when we had done nothing to you. You wanted to repeat history but this time, we were prepared. We have stopped you and you think that now you can demand my death? Ridiculous. You are insane to even think of such. You are losing your war. Admit that. Beg for mercy and I will give it. Your status as Kages mean nothing to me."

Naruto calmed down after saying those words and then turned away once more.

"I lost my cool a little there," he said in a light tone.

A full minute went by in silence until Onoki spoke.

"If we had not attacked, you would have done it for the past actions. We did what we did for our safety. But I am still willing to declare an end to things without your death. Of course, I would still need the other Kages to agree with me that if we are attacked upon making the agreement, you must defend us. This should be an agreement supported by the Feudal Lords as well." Onoki suggested.

"You'd still be letting him continue to live." Ai said.

"That is a sound idea," Mei said in thought. "But it still does not address the fundamental issue here."

"Which us?" Onoki asked.

"The fact that you cannot even see it makes it difficult for me to say I will defend you," Mei responded a bit sharply. "Kumo and Iwa waged war on Uzushio. Kiri, Konoha and Suna all agree that you were wrong. But you are not willing to admit this. You want to justify this by saying you lost your shinobi. What did you expect when you went to war? Did you not consider that it could happen? You would not have complained if you laid siege in the Wave and killed innocent people before destroying Uzu once more."

"Do not speak to me like a child, Mizukage!" Onoki responded with a slight glare.

"But she is right." Gaara stressed.

Tsunade agreed.

"This war should have never occurred in the first place. If you can admit that, we would be willing to help you end it. But we will not support the death of the Emperor. We are not saying we are on his side. You don't need to die. If the Emperor is good in his intentions, he should be satisfied that you have learned your lessons and should be willing to work with you towards reconciliation and we would be there to oversee this."

"There will be no reconciliation until he is dead." Ai said. "He is a major threat!"

Tsunade could not have said it any better and Ai could not have given a better response.

"There is nothing else to talk about then. We will continue with our war," Naruto said as he turned around. He started walking towards the exit.

"Wait," Ai shouted, while on his feet. "We don't want to lose any more shinobi. Let us settle this amongst ourselves as leaders."

"We will fight you and we shall accept the result. I will order my shinobi to retreat and maybe we can talk about peace there after. We would not seek the destruction of Uzushio and the others would take action if we went against this. You would also not attack our villages if we lost. We would need the Kages to back us in case you decide to attack us regardless." Onoki added.

"We can do that," Tsunade said. "What do you say, Emperor?"

"When do we fight?"

"We will send a message."

"I will be waiting," Naruto stepped out of the room after saying those words.

"At least we were able to get somewhere." Tsunade said with a smile. "But our judgment on Iwa for its actions towards Suna remains even if you lose against the Emperor."

"It doesn't affect me in any way," Ai said as he stood up. "Tsuchikage, we will need to talk about how we handle him. We cannot afford to lose this battle."

"Of course." Onoki joined Ai in leaving. This was the perfect chance to kill the Emperor with the other Kages staying out of it.

Gaara shook his head after they left.

"I have a feeling this is just what the Emperor wanted. I doubt he would have accepted anything less than what he demanded," he said.

"I feel the same," Tsunade said.

"But at least they all got what they wanted. No doubt they want to kill him," Mei added. "We made some progress. There should be another meeting after the war to talk about a way forward. There should be greater cooperation amongst the Kages."

"Let us start with us. We have an understanding and can work with each other. I have been working with the Kazekage for some time. There is trust amongst us. His word means something. I would not be against having that kind of relationship with you."

"But the problem now is Uzu's expansion. We simply can't let it continue." Jiraiya spoke for the first time.

"We will discuss this but I must agree with you," Gaara said. "We focused on the right side of things, if one of us does err, we should apply the same standards, including Emperor."

"I have no intentions of giving him a free pass." Tsunade said.

"It will be difficult for him because all eyes will be on him mainly due to his power." Mei said. "But I agree with the Kazekage; we must apply the same standards to everyone. We cannot overlook certain things."

"This is truly different from how things were done in the past. The concept of 'right' was defined by the winner. Everyone always has reasons. We can justify anything. Perhaps, this world will see some change," Tsunade said with a slight shake of her head. "Maybe his introduction isn't a bad thing – as long as he does not stray to the path of evil."

"It isn't as if he isn't incapable of evil," Sasuke commented. "I'm sure he isn't far off… I'm going to speak to him." The Uchiha disappeared.

"Jiraiya, keep watch before he attacks the Emperor. We don't want to make things worse. If they fight and Naruto is stronger, he will kill Sasuke. We still need him for Konoha."

"Of course, hime…" The Toad Sage made a clone and it disappeared. He still did need to stay with Tsunade in case something happened.

With Onoki

The Sandaime Tsuchikage let loose of a long tired breath. He stopped walking under a tree and watched his guards lean against the tree trunk.

Well, things had taken a turn that he had not expected. The pressure from Konoha would certainly make things difficult for him and Iwa. But on the good side of things, they'd managed to make a deal that would save many of his shinobi. He just had to make sure that they lived to see another day. It was honestly going to be a difficult task fighting the Emperor but they had to pull through. He nevertheless did need to consider that he may die in battle. If he was going to die, he would need to at least make sure that the Emperor was crippled.

His eyes turned to the Raikage. He was not pleased that the man was not facing the heat from other three nations. And he had received a report that the man had started retreating before they even came here. He hadn't even bothered telling him about it. Their alliance was indeed patched up. But they still needed each other. Neither thought they could win without the other. In this case, there was no underestimating the power of the Emperor.

"You could have told me you were going to have your forces retreat. If we had not reached a deal, my shinobi would have been the ones to be attacked," Onoki complained with a stare.

The Raikage stopped just a foot away from Onoki and shrugged indifferently.

"You could have made the same choice. I did what I thought was best for Kumo. But it hardly matters now anyway, we must speak about how we battle the Emperor."

Of course Ai was going to dismiss his concerns. "I have already lost one of the Jinchuriki but I will summon the last one to be with us in battle. We have to go all out or else we won't win this."

"My brother will join me. I have also lost a Jinchuriki to the Emperor." Ai said. "I hope you don't hold out on me and let us face him alone."

"I wouldn't go that far," Onoki said with a shake of his head. "You know this is also what he wanted. If we don't seriously work together, he will get his wish and I don't think he is just going to leave our villages alone. We need to put everything to ensure he dies. Uzushio itself doesn't appear to be a threat. If they had the power, they would have been to the battlefield already."

"We will test that," Ai said. "There is still the issue of Amegakure. That Rinnegan wielder is just as powerful as the Emperor."

"It appears that there is more than one," Onoki said with a frown. "It is still in Amegakure. We will need to make a plan for it once the Emperor is dead."

"But we should recover first. If we make any reckless movements, we will be going to an all-out war with the other three Great Nations. With the casualties we have already suffered, it will not be good for both our villages."

"Agreed."

With Naruto

Naruto was sitting on the limb of a tree, swinging both his feet slowly as he counted the seconds. He was sure Sasuke would come for him. He had no problems with the Uchiha and actually wanted to see the rebirth of the Uchiha clan. But Sasuke's attitude towards him would make things difficult for him. He clearly held murderous intentions towards him. If this did not change, he would end up dying. It would be a pity.

When the Uchiha appeared below him in a lightning buzz, he narrowed his eyes below and then spoke.

"You still refuse to grow, Sasuke. I thought perhaps sending Itachi after you would help you grow a bit. But your hatred has truly battered you. You make your intentions so obvious. If I was someone else, I would kill you because you obviously will try to stab me in the back if you see an opportunity."

"It would not be a bad thing to this world if you died." Sasuke said. "Do you actually think you can kill me simply? The power of the Kyubi does not make you invisible."

"I would not need the Kyubi to beat you unless you had the perfect Susano. Admittedly, that is a power I would rather not face," Naruto said.

"What are you planning Naruto? I know you want something. You planned for this. If they had not attacked, you would have provoked them to attack you."

Naruto looked behind him, sensing Jiraiya's chakra signature. The Sannin; he hadn't said anything then. But then again, it hadn't his moment to say anything. The platform was reserved for the Kages.

"How good is your vision now? Can you even see clearly?" Naruto asked while looking down at the Uchiha.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. I know overuse of the Mangekyo Sharingan causes blindness. You will eventually go blind." He then jumped from the tree and landed in front of Sasuke with a smile. "Ah, you can still see."

"Did you take my brother's body?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I would be nice if I had it, don't you think?" Naruto asked with a smile.

Sasuke unsheathed his sword and lunged at Naruto, swinging his sword in a downward slash. The blond did not move an inch. Jiraiya flashed between them, knees bent slightly, right hand held up, the left facing Naruto with its palm open. He caught Sasuke's wrist with his right hand.

"Stop it, Sasuke."

The Uchiha glared for a moment before pulling away.

"Good timing, Jiraiya," Naruto said with a smile. "I must depart. There was some troubling information I received from Onoki that needs intervention."

"What information?"

"The disappearance of Kurotsuchi. I was certain I had left her for dead but her disappearance posses questions about who may have taken her."

"If it was not you, who could have done it?"

"I'm not the bad guy here," Naruto responded. "Regardless, I will see to it that I find out…" he waved his right hand and then disappeared along gusts of winds.

Sound

Naruto stood by a large boulder, overlooking the many rice fields that surrounded the large green watery area. None of the other lands within the Uzumaki Empire had such land that could be used for farming. The Wave's main point of business was indeed trade but it worked well with its port. It would certainly challenge the Port City in the Fire Nation within the near future. He would have to make sure more farms were prepared for agricultural purposes. Those with land saw the value in it. Economic benefit simply did not come from shinobi missions only. The Sound was not going to be structured to depend on shinobi for its economy. It was not to say it would not have shinobi – it would be waste of Guren's power to make her lead a civilian nation.

The Empire did not have the military prowess to challenge the Great Nations without him but he would build his military strength. It was now time to develop this nation. Amegakure and Nadeshiko provided some fighting power but Sound would have to develop as well while.

"Naori," Naruto said as he felt the presence of the man.

"Your Majesty," Naori responded as his form appeared behind the Emperor. "Should we prepare in case Iwa decide to pass by this land on their way back?"

"It does not hurt us to make precautionary measures," Naruto said. "Do it. I'm rather concerned by Kurotsuchi's disappearance. We need to find her and fast. She absolutely loathes me and if she meets the wrong people, she will prove to be a major problem in the future if she returns."

"You think Zetsu might be behind it?"

"A possibility we cannot overlook."

"I will send the men to look for her. It is strange that she could just disappear. If she is still alive, she will eventually return to this world and she will not be able to hide."

"Hopefully without any nasty surprises," the Emperor responded in a thoughtful tone. "What do you think about Miyuki? Yoshino's woman?"

"She is a strange woman. She was not like that from the beginning, not unless she was faking it. We know all Uzumaki and their personalities but she is somehow. We cannot get a read on her and she has displayed a rather curious mind. Yoshino doesn't seem to mind it nevertheless." Naori smiled. "She maybe a little twisted. I would not want to be alone with her. But that is the reason she matches Yoshino."

"She worries me," Naruto admitted. "I don't plan on talking to Yoshino about this but keep an eye on her."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"Go attend your duties. I will see Guren and then return home. There should be no more battles until the Raikage and Tsuchikage send us their message to meet for one last battle. But keep your eyes open. Those treacherous people might just shock us with something nasty."

"Hai."

And then he was gone.

Sound Capital

Wooden houses lined up one after the other, surrounding the tall tower within the heart of the capital – the tower overlooked all other buildings and unlike most buildings, it was made with a mixture of three materials: Wood, sand and metal. There was a large wall that surrounded the capital, with one main entrance. In the future, it would be dividend in five parts: shinobi district, market, civilian district, the mixed zone and the compounds district. The mixed district welcomed you from the main entrance. Naruto put on a disguise and walked through the busy streets in a slow pace as he viewed how things were within. He could see more people coming here. Sound, Amegakure, and the Wave would all be connected by the trains. It would be easy for people to travel to each nation and for goods to move.

Upon arriving the tower, Naruto stared at it thinking about Pain's tower. After a couple of a moments, he crossed his hands behind and then entered the building. There were guards who stopped him but he revealed himself and they apologized before offering to escort him. He permitted it and walked with them in silence. Guren was at the top of the building. Her office was large; the wall on the left from the entrance had a shelf which contained scrolls only. The shelf on the right wall contained books. There were three chairs in front of her desk. Behind her, there was a large sliding door, opening the view to a balcony.

"Your Majesty," Guren was on her feet as she welcomed him.

Naruto smiled and walked over to her but he then surrounded her and walked out towards the balcony. There was a quiet chill. He jumped on the small wall and settled graciously before closing his eyes. Yes, he could get used to this.

"You have a lovely view here," the Emperor said before getting off. He walked back into the office and motioned for Guren to sit. He stood behind her and placed both his hands on her shoulders. "Marriage plans?"

"I have been a little too busy."

"Not good enough."

"I'm not really interested in marriage."

"Ah, that is the reason. But I need your bloodline to continue, as I do with Haku." He then leaned over her right ear. "If you are not having any luck, I would not mind taking the reins. If one of my children became a bloodline wielder, it would be good for the Empire and the future."

Guren tensed.

Naruto smiled. "Ah, I'm harassing you," he said in a light tone. He moved away from Guren and then walked back outside. "Status report."