Hope

Naruto stared through the window that Jiraiya once loved to sit on whenever he was in the office of the Hokage. Twice the perverted sensei of his had been approached to take this mantle of Hokage and twice he rejected it. Jiraiya had always felt that he was not worthy of many things because of his failures in the past. Perhaps because he had failed so much, he had decided to take things far in going to Amegakure even though he had been warned against going. Yet, that was the past that occurred, and Naruto could not change it. He could have brought him back to life, but he did not. It was not in him to disturb a man who chose his own fate.

Things could have been different though. He could have been different but this was the path that he chose. But because he chose this path, he was here. He had trained so much and prepared to kill shinobi, to be called a murderer. Naruto was still prepared for it all. But he had chosen to give this world a chance. Perhaps it was for the sake of his conscious. If he had gone straight into the battle formation he had chosen, it may have killed him from the inside.

He turned toward his left; Tsunade was trying her best not to stare at him. How quickly things change in this world. Perhaps if he had not left this village, he would have been closer to his dream of becoming Hokage. He had the power to challenge his father for the honors of being Konoha's greatest Kage. Perhaps in another world. This shinobi world had chosen for him, a different path than he had once dreamt. Naivety had been the cause at that age, but he understood how the world operated now.

"Maybe in a year or two, I would have been finally walking on my dream of becoming Hokage," he said in a faraway tone.

"It is still possible," Shikamaru, staring at Naruto's back.

The blond eyed the Nara before looking outside once more. The Nara was not the only other person in the room, Kakashi was also present. "Perhaps," Naruto said. "But I have no interest in working on that path. Perhaps it does represent a greater possibility for my path given the position I am in. My dream could work…"

"But?" Tsunade stared at him. "I don't see why you can't come back. You were here, helping the village. The civilians know that. In our time of need, you were here to help us… Ai is no longer even thinking about killing you. Things are safe now. Why can't you dream again?"

"I am dreaming; it is just not a dream you'd like. To be honest, I have no regrets over my choice to leave Konoha and I don't intend on returning. I am content with how things are…" There was just no way he was going to return to this village. He had already set up things for his return. He didn't care if things failed, he would be waiting. He would return to this world and become a demon that people would fear. He had given them a chance, if they don't use it, there would be death in the shinobi world.

"And yet you are here. You were here in the time of need." Kakashi said.

"Don't misunderstand my intentions. I'm afraid that the years have not left me without some scars and changes. I am not the same person I was back then. I don't care about a lot of things. Things could be burnt in this village and I would not have felt anything, but I did come here because the person who was behind the chaos is my target," Naruto explained lightly.

"If that was the case, you could have just looked for what you were looking for without offering help," Shikamaru said. "Maybe you are right, you don't care anymore. But I don't think your actions that night were simply because you were just looking for a certain person. You cannot forget the good memories you shared in this village, that this was once your home."

Naruto eyed Shikamaru once more; he smiled. "You have always been smarter, Shikamaru. I hope for your sake and the sake of this shinobi world, you use that mind of yours to achieve greater things," he said. "I'm afraid not all memories have been pleasant. There are unpleasant memories that make me angry at times. My childhood was rather unpleasant, just thinking about it really makes it even more worth the effort to leave this village.

"But I have not come here to talk about any possible return. It is not going to happen. If things don't go as planned, you may come to hate me; the shinobi world will come to hate me. But for now, things are stable. I still have all the Bijuus and they will not be used as weapons. Well, hopefully, nobody thinks of hunting them down anyway. If one starts, everyone will follow and it will be chaos. For now, danger has been averted."

"You must be pleased with yourself," Tsunade said with a stare.

"Not at all," Naruto said with a slight shake of his head. "This is really just the beginning. Depending on how things go from now here, there will be more of me in the near future," he said with a sad smile.

Shikamaru frowned seeing that smile. He had a bad feeling about things. Naruto had worked hard to free the Bijuus, but his main goal was never to simply free the Bijuus. He had spoken about peace and greater cooperation with the Great Nations as well as the small nations. What did he even mean that they may come to hate him? Things looked like they could not go wrong as things stood, but what if something went wrong and the shinobi world got tangled in chaos, how would Naruto react to it?

How was he even planning on achieving his grand dream? There was nothing stopping him from returning to Konoha now. The other Kages seemed share something with him. Onoki was the one who had serious doubts, but that was just him and with developments in Iwa, things could change for the better. Yet, Naruto seemed to be taking actions with the future in mind. What was he planning?

"You said you didn't come here to talk about a possible return…" Shikamaru said.

Naruto nodded. "Maybe you already know about it but over the past years I have been working around the Feudal Lords of the small countries, and I have also managed to strike a connection with the Lords of the Great Nations. That has been mainly because of my interests in the Uzumaki Company. I see no need to change its name anyway. Now that there will not be fights, the greater plan of the company will finally come to life. With what I have negotiated with the Feudal Lords of the small countries, the company controls the trade borders. That simply means nothing moves through the borders of any country to any other nation without us knowing because all Great Five Nations are bordered by the small countries.

"That is not all, but the trains we have been building in the Wave will finally start moving. We will connect all countries and change transportation methods in this world. The Feudal Lords saw an opportunity in this venture and decided to agree with it. We will manage trade borders, working with different merchants, collecting taxes for countries while running our transportation company. This world is not perfect, we expect dangers. For trains moving within the Fire Country, we would like to have at least five shinobi in each for safety purposes. There will also be train stations around the country, shinobi have to protect them, and the people within them. My agreement with the Fire Lord was that Leaf shinobi would be requested for such missions."

It would be good business for the Leaf. Shinobi would no longer depend on fighting to earn their money, but guarding the trains, the people on the trains, they would be able to make a living. Not only that, but with methods of transportation easier, even civilians who normally don't travel because of fear would not be able to travel. Tsunade could understand why the Feudal Lords would agree to this. For their countries, it made sense. "Are the Feudal Lords getting a cut?"

"Taxes," Naruto said.

"Trade and Transportation, why does it look like you will have monopoly over those things. You will also heavily influence things beyond what a merchant would normally be able to do. With the trains, you could hold the shinobi world at ransom and controlling trade borders means you decide what goes in where and when. You could starve a nation by ensuring that nothing gets in…" Shikamaru said.

"I sense a far sinister motive here," Tsunade said.

Naruto just smiled. "I came to let you know that this will be happening. And if there is going to be problem, we can solve it now before my people come here to sign paperwork and work with people from this village to build rail tracks, and stations."

"We have already agreed to having the trains built here and working in this village," Tsunade said. "But it is the hidden motives in your company that makes me feel uneasy. You are planning something. You are also not mentioning that you control the Emperor's Palace. Intel from that place is always spot on. You control information, you control people, and you know how people will react and when people will react. You control things from the shadows."

"Information is available to anyone who requests if for a price," Naruto simply said. "Of course we have arrangements with those who don't want information about them to be released. We withhold that information, for a price."

"I see where the money to build all these that you want to build will be coming from," Shikamaru said.

Naruto did not respond to Shikamaru's statement. "It appears that there won't be any problems. We look forward to working with you people. But I must leave. I have to make arrangements as this with other nations before we begin working." He said turning away from the window. "If you don't mind, I would like to pass my sentiments before departing."

"Can I walk you out…" Shikamaru was already on his feet as he spoke.

Naruto did not offer a response to the Nara. He just walked out of the office with the black haired following him from behind. "What can I do for you, Shikamaru?"

"I didn't say anything in there because I didn't want to worry them. Although Hokage-sama suspects something is up, I think it is much worse than she thinks," the Nara said. "I also don't think you have any plans to use the company and its influence to run things from the shadows. You won't be running it after all, isn't it? You create a structure and have someone run it. I assume it is more or less the same with the emperor's palace. You created it, placed a good structure and a system that works in place. And you step away from it.

"Your goal is peace. This could help with stabilizing the borders between the countries. With the trains connecting the nations, there is a chance for greater cooperation between the nations. When something goes wrong, who hears it first? You control transport, you will hear everything happening, you control trade, and you will hear everything. All information will be centralized at the emperor's palace. If Konoha is planning on something 'bad' you are the first to hear about it and you will be able to do something about it, with your influence. Your trains will be running through our streets and you could have a chance to halt food supplies from getting in the village.

"If that was all it was, there would be no reason for you not to come back here. In fact, if you came back here, and became Hokage, your influence would even be greater. But influence isn't what you want. Being a Kage would restrict your movements, and actions. I think that is why you won't even be leading the company. You said if things don't go as planned, we could end up hating you. What I have said so far is what you plan. But if something goes wrong, like nation's feud and the company is unable to prevent it. If things go as far as to the point where the company is even threatened, you will step in. if the company is threatened, because of its influence, whoever threatens it will face many enemies. If it is one of the great five nations, there could be war."

"Admirable," Naruto said. "You are there but not quite there. We don't necessarily collect information to use it for our advantage. The structure we have is based on rules, that cannot be broken, with the help of Fuinjutsu of course. If we heard that you were planning something, we would not necessarily do something about it. We would not even warn the other party because it is not our function. We would not even leak the information. We would lose business if we did that.

"You are correct to say that I don't run the emperor's palace. I created laws that govern things. The company, I created the structure and put someone in charge of it. I will be disappearing from this world for a little while longer playing the role of an observer. Maybe I will play dead. I want to see, what will happen when Naruto is dead? Will my company operate; will the Great Five hold themselves and not go after Bijuus?" He paused for a moment before gave Shikamaru a look. "You are not going to tell, are you? If you are, I can help you forget and put trigger so that you know when things are bad, that we had this conversation."

"I would rather you not…"

Naruto's smile dropped. "I think it would be better that way," he said. "Don't worry, if things go right, it won't matter. But if they go wrong, you will remember this; maybe serve as a reminder to me that I am not crazy."

Minutes Later

Ino stared, unmoving, at the person who was walking towards her. She had been calling for him in her heart. She wanted to see him so dearly. She had missed his embrace, his firm, yet warm hands. She had missed everything about him. She wanted to run towards him, jump on him and hug him until the feelings she felt inside of her died. She was even suppressing the smile she had on her lips. It threatened to break out though. But she chained it inside, twisting her lips upside down and blocking any happiness from showing in her face. She folded her hands across her bust, and continued to stare.

"So, you finally decided that I am now worth seeing," Ino said, her tone stern, eyes trying hard not to blink.

Naruto just smiled. The night he came here, he hadn't seen her. He could have. He should have. He had even spoken to Kakashi. But he had not seen her. He had avoided her at all costs. That aside, it was not like he could act as he would in private, not when there were other people around. Their relationship had been secret. It still was. Well, there was nothing happening now because he had taken a pause.

"Don't be like that, Ino. You know the situation was bad that night and I was busy looking for someone or something," Naruto explained in a light tone. She was standing by the door of her house, leaning against the door frame. "No one home, right?"

"No," she shook her head. "You say that but you still had time to move around and those were just clones. You could have just said hello."

"Now, now, I am here, aren't I?" Naruto said, holding out both his hands. He was inviting her for a hug, but she did not budge. He was certain even if tried to kiss her, she wouldn't move. What a troublesome situation.

"Then?" Ino asked with a raised eye brow.

"I came to see you, dear."

"I am dear now," Ino responded in a flat tone. "I was not when you decided to leave me and run wild even when I had said that I would willing to walk with you."

She had said that. Love was something else, wasn't it? Naruto shook his head. "How long are you to keep this up?" He did know her well enough to read her moods. She was playing tough now and he had decided to indulge her but it did have to end, didn't it?

"Until I am satisfied," Ino said.

Naruto sighed and placed his right hand on her shoulder. Just like that, they were gone in the blink of an eye.

Ino felt a cold breeze washing over her. She looked around and saw that they were surrounded by vast amount of waters. It looked like they were right at the belly of the sea. The surface she stood on was steel, and the thing was not a ship. It was something else. She eyed Naruto who laid down on the flat surface, resting his head on his hands.

"This is where I hide," Naruto started in a calm tone. "This thing is a relic of the Sky nation. I had it improved to suit my needs. I keep it here to be away from the shinobi world. This is where I will also be spending most of my time for the foreseeable future."

"I don't like those words…" Ino said before sitting beside the Uzumaki. "Where does that leave us?"

Naruto smiled. "You are not going to leave that, are you? I could ask you to come live with me but I don't want to be the reason your parents lose their daughter. I grew up without parents, it would not be right for me to take you away from your family."

"A girl has to grow…"

"Even daddy's little girl?" Naruto asked with an amused look on his face.

Ino hit him on the side of his chest. "Forgive me for loving my father! But you know, I can't help it. I am their only child…" she said with a small smile. "My mother would be sad."

"I can imagine," Naruto said. "I will have to teach you a jutsu you'll use to come to me. I don't plan on going to Konoha again. I want to avoid shinobi as much as possible because I will be playing dead."

Ino stared at him with a questioning look. "Why? And I am not going to spend my time in this place. I want to go on dates, watch a movie, visit the hot springs."

"It will only be for two or three years. And if things go right, you get to show me off to your friends and introduce me to your parents as your boyfriend."

Ino rested her head on Naruto's upper body and place her hands on his chest. She tried listening for his heartbeat. Naruto had his left hand wrap around her before putting on a smile on his lips. "I really do think I love you," he said.

"You only say that now?" Ino asked. "But I don't hate hearing those words. I am happy you do because I do too…"

There was silence that lasted for a couple of minutes before Naruto broke it. "It seems appropriate. And if you want to go on dates, we will go. But nobody has to know it is me. You asked why I had to play dead; well it is because I am a dreamer. I have always been a dreamer. When we were still children, I used to dream of being Hokage. My dreams are always high up…"

"I may have mocked you then and called you an idiot but had you stayed, you could have become Hokage." Ino said confidently. "What is your dream, now, Naruto? You said something about peace."

"Yes, peace with costs. Perhaps what I really desire is chaos and destruction," Naruto said with a sad smile. "I might end up bringing that to this world."

"Is that why you wanted me to stay away from you?"

"Yes," Naruto said. "I have lost a bit of my kindness and my heart has become slightly cold. If I set forth for destruction, it will occur. Many people will die. I will be doing it for peace but the world will not know that. I will be just a mad man. Of course there is a chance that things don't go to that path. If wars don't happen, I will be happy."

"And if they happen?"

"Disappointed but what I do will depend on certain factors. I want peace, but I am not naïve enough to think that people cannot have conflicts. People are not the same and because we fundamentally differ means that ideas will clash. But that should not always result in war. Arguments can come, but the spilling of blood must not be a normal thing. I want a world that does not think the only way to solve problems is through war. I don't want a world where people only think about their villages and give a helping hand to others without expecting something in return."

"Let us hope your dream comes to life. I don't want to be separated from you."


Emperor's Palace

The experiment of this place certainly worked. When there are rules that need to be followed, shinobi will follow them, as long as there are consequences for discarding those rules. To teach men the moral conscious seemed something like one would need to do through genjutsu. Normal means could not work. Men did not appear to do right because of moral conscious but because of fear of consequences that follows when you don't do what is right. If Naruto had not come to learn this, he would have driven a more naïve agenda that would have resulted in epic failure. The methods now accounted for the kind of world they were living in.

In due time, the shinobi world would need rules that would have consequences should one break them. People could do wrong and get away with it. Iwa could try to invade another nation and get away with it because other nations would not care too much to get involved in anything that would not benefit them. Others with a conscious would just be too afraid to do anything because they do not have the power – they know if they say something, they will get destroyed.

Naruto was at least content that things were working well now.

"And yet you don't seem overly happy," Kurama said as Naruto walked through the passages of the Emperor's Palace.

The blond stopped by a metal door and knocked. Someone peeked through a small hole in the door and then opened to let him in. He greeted the man quietly before looking at the men and women sitting on stools by the counter, some sitting on comfortable sofas while drinking. The VIP club. Whatever was said in here stayed in here. Husbands could cheat on their wives with neighbors. And nobody would know. The palace employed people to ensure that secrets were kept. There were even seals put on people to ensure they could not say things that were not supposed to say.

As he walked in the sides, heading towards another setting, Naruto responded to Kurama. "Perhaps I am a little disappointed that I do not get to go loose. I think a mad part of me is hoping that this plan fails."

"I thought you were completely sold on the idea of happiness sold to you by that woman," the Bijuu said.

Naruto shrugged. "Maybe a little. Her words to me made me alter so much of my plans. Regardless, this is the right thing to do. Whether I am fully happy with it should not matter. I must not be selfish."

"I thought you've always been a little selfish," Kurama said.

"Well, I am forcing my ideals on people," Naruto said. "Let us just see how things end up with the structure that I have developed. It is truly filling me with lust now that I have the shinobi world in my grasp."

"Just don't go mad with power."

"I am going away because of it. I already have much physical strength. Political and economical strength will add to it and changing this world will become very possible…"

He entered a round chamber with a small bar on the right side from the entrance. There were single sofas set around a small round table. There were six of them, and two people occupied two sofas. It was the Earth and Fire Lords.

Naruto greeted them with respect before settling down. "I hope you have not been waiting too long for me," he said.

"We have just been talking amongst ourselves about the future," the Fire Lord said calmly. "I must not stay too long. The people at the palace will start asking too many questions that I would rather not indulge."

"People are curious by nature," Naruto said with a slight wave of his right hand. "But please let us talk business. I also have somewhere I must visit before the day ends."

"We have been talking about this and it came to our attention that you've had the small nations build their own trains and then sell them to you," The Earth Lord started in a calm tone. "What of the trains that will be running through our countries?"

Feudal Lords were truly greedy. It was all about power and control with them. But it was because they were like that it was much easy to negotiate with them. "That agreement was because I wanted them to gain something with the trains. I had to show them that they could benefit by doing things my way. You already know of the benefits, do you still need more?"

"We just want a share," they both said.

"I'm afraid I cannot offer you the same deal as I did with the small nations. I have already agreed to pay you 25% in taxes every month for the profits we make on train fares. This technology comes from the Springs; they want their share. The company must also make its own share. However, I am willing to allow you to each make 25% of the trains we will be making in your respective countries. That sounds fair, no?"

"Fair enough," the Fire Lord said. "Have you spoken to Konoha?"

"Yes," Naruto said. "We are in agreement. Things should work well." He turned toward the Earth Daimyo. "On your side?"

"As agreed, I made the pressure and Onoki has agreed to step away from his position as Tsuchikage," the man said.

Naruto smiled upon hearing that. "Then all systems should be ready to go. Guren will be meeting with you to sign further agreements as head of the company. I have spoken to the Lords of the smaller nations, and they want a non-aggression pact with all Great Nations. Their concern is that when Great Nations fight, it is their countries that become battle grounds. Agreements have always been torn apart, so they also want me to act as a guardian to this agreement. If any nation breaks it, I must deliver the agreed consequence upon the aggressor."

"Do we get the same deal?"

"Of course, I am that fair of a person. I am not allied to any nation, so I am expected to act impartial and if you can prove I am acting otherwise, you are not obligated to follow any agreement I have made with you. I have been thinking that we make a court of Feudal Lords that will be the 'judge' of the agreements we have and will sign. If someone breaks something, all the Lords will sit and discuss about it before making a decision."

"What are the others saying?"

"I have yet to speak with them but I have made arrangements to do so. But as I have said, the Lords of the small nations would like for this to happen," Naruto said.

"We will gather the others and speak to them about it before making a decision. I do not want anyone interfering in how I run my country."

"The intention is never that," Naruto said firmly. "This structure only applies to our shared interests and to the hope of a more civilized and diplomatic method of handling our conflicts."


"It is weird seeing you there while also talking to you inside of me," Naruto said to the Kyubi. He was standing in the middle of all Nine Bijuus, eyes firmly on the one with nine tails.

He was standing before all of them for the last time, he hoped. He had given them their freedom even though some of them did not want it, he had forced for the better working of his desired world. Things could work out for the best and no child would ever be made a Jinchuriki. If he could achieve this, then Naruto would be satisfied with his life. Yet, despite it all, he would be the only Jinchuriki to live until he decides to end his silent life of being an observer. His clone would still be around though. It would exist for all eternity until it came across an opponent who could destroy it.

Perhaps he could introduce the Feudal Lords to his clone, mask it and tell them that it was his subordinate. It had taken time to finally make it and saying clone was a little misleading. They shared a DNA but were not similar in thoughts. He had put in the chakra of different Bijuus, his and natural energy into the clone to avoid the chakra signature being similar to his. For now, the clone would act as a guardian to the company and to Guren.

"Get used to it," Kurama said.

Naruto just shook his head and looked around to all the other Bijuus. "I know some of you are not happy with me or how I have handled things. But it is my desire that there be no more Jinchurikis and that you are not used as weapons. Perhaps at some age, people will try to hunt you. I am not naïve to think that it is only Hidden Villages who will be after your power. But there are evil people out there who also desire to have your power and will no doubt try to have you. But I will stop them. I will not let anyone have you.

"I have some of your chakra, all of you, so I maintain a connection with all of you. I am now going to send you into different locations, away from humans. Hopefully, you will enjoy your freedom and live in your own peace."

"I will be happy, as long as I am in the desert but if any human comes after me for my power, I will kill them," Shukaku said.

"You can do as you like. I have not freed you to control you. But of course, any unprovoked attack will be resisted," Naruto said that in a hardened tone.

He then created a eight clones and they each jumped on one to eight. Only Kurama remained. Afterwards, the Bijuus disappeared. "That ends this chapter," the blond said to the other half. "Do you think the Sage would approve?"

"I don't know but this is better than sealing all Bijuus in Chibaku Tensei and sending them to orbit the moon, is it not?"

Naruto smiled. "That was just a thought of a more sinister plot on my part," the blond said. "Are you satisfied with your location?"

"Yes," Kurama said.

Naruto nodded and turned away from the Bijuu. He did not say anything but just started walking away. He walked for a long distance before finally reaching the land of Uzushiogakure, his beloved, yet ruined ancestral home. This was a place he could have lived. Or maybe not. But had the village not been destroyed, he would have been sent back home to his grandparents, to avoid the hatred in Konoha and then maybe he would have grown up being loved.

Iwagakure

Kurotsuchi threw herself to her bed after another long and tiring day. With her grandfather transferring power to her, she has been forced to carry out some duties she normally would not. She had yet to become Yondaime Tsuchikage but it was no longer a matter of if but when it would officially be made. There were still things to do but the work was too much. There was too much to handle. And her grandfather had held onto the position for many years. She could not imagine it. It would be too much for her. Or perhaps things would change in due time.

He was still not pleased that he was being forced to resign though. He still wandered into the office and she had to send him away. He should be resting, having led this village through wars and difficult times.

Kurotsuchi looked to her window when she sensed a chakra signature. She frowned when she saw the person. Considering what happened last time he was here, she was not going to invite him to come in. She stared at her bed for a long minute while ignoring Naruto's presence. After a couple of moments, she got up and stared at the window once more – he was still there, waiting patiently for her. She sighed and walked towards him. She got out through window without saying anything and jumped over to the roof.

She had felt like a little girl as she got out through the window. It was like when your parents didn't want you to go out and you were forced to sneak out because you really wanted to go out and have fun with friends.

The outside was a little dark. It was night. She glanced at Naruto as he sat beside her, looking up. "You must be happy that you got your wish…." She said.

"It is good to see you too, Kurotsuchi," Naruto said with a smile on his lips. "You have been unwell, apparently. But I have no reasons to complain about my life. All seems to be going well."

Kurotsuchi glared at him before releasing a long breath when he only smiled in response to her glare. "I have had too much to do with my new responsibilities. I guess I can thank you for this," he said.

"Fresh leaders are stepping into the picture, I wonder what kind of world you will lead… Your predecessors went to war. I wonder if you will one day march out for war or if you will one day lead forces to an invasion," Naruto said without responding to Kuro.

"Are you purposefully ignoring everything I say?"

"Maybe," Naruto said with a small smile. "It is to be expected that you would have much to do. You have yet to settle in your new position but once you settle, you will be fine. You don't need to thank me, I have not done anything. But you must agree with me that change was needed, right?"

Kurotsuchi would deny that. Her grandfather had ruled for far too long. Of course, some of the thinking she had been doing had come because of Naruto. He had been slowly poisoning her against the old man. She would have never questioned his decisions. He always did what was best for this village – she knew that better than her father. But Naruto had come in, pointing at the flaws in her grandfather's thinking. Well, it was no matter now, she was going to lead this village now and to the best of her ability.

"Maybe, and this is a dream come true for me," Kuro said with a small smile. "I still don't like that he was forced out though."

Naruto shrugged. "It was for the best. Accept it and lead this village into prosperity without crushing another," he said in a firm tone.

"Because you are going to be there to stop things from happening, aren't you?" Kuro said. She had a feeling he would. He had already said he would be protecting his allies, the small countries.

"Of course," Naruto said. "But I will not be appearing in the scenes as much as I have been over the next couple of months. I will disappear to the background and maybe completely to give people a breathing chance."

"Why would you want to disappear?"

"Because people still fear my power. It is possible that some people won't be calm as long as I maintain the front page. If I can disappear for a little while, even when I mysteriously appear from somewhere, it won't be problem. Some people would have cooled down on their fears of me," Naruto explained lightly before smiling. "What? You don't want me to disappear? You gonna miss me?"

Kurotsuchi scoffed. "Don't fool yourself," she said in a flat tone. "Though things won't be the same without your frustrating appearances."

"I can still secretly see you…"

"I don't want that," Kuro said quickly. "I love my village and will do everything to protect it. Though I figure, villages won't be making the same moves they used to do in the past without getting past you. But I wonder how you plan on doing that if you are planning on disappearing."

"I have something in mind," Naruto said. "But a certain part of me was planning on just letting things be. Admittedly, that is a part of me that wishes for things to fail. That aside, I want to believe that people will behave. If they don't, that is when I will be forced to step into action."

Kurotsuchi stared at him through the corner of her eyes as she spoke. "It's hard to believe that I once saw you as the enemy that must be destroyed. Here I am with you. But I must still wonder if you really have good intentions."

"Good intentions can even lead to bad actions," Naruto said those words in a hardened tone. "But just watch. So far I have not betrayed anything I have said to you, have I?"

"It could be that you want me to lower my guard," Kurotsuchi said.

"There is that chance," Naruto seemed to agree with Kuro's thoughts. If he were to turn evil and seek destruction, would things change? People like Shikamaru would probably know, Mei and Ino would stick with him, but what about this one? Kurotsuchi would be disappointed. If she learns to trust him and he turns on her, would she ever trust anyone? He would have deceived her, not only her but the Raikage as well. If those two were filled with anger, even in his death, they would turn on those who supported him. He had to be careful from now on.

He could not ignore things as he said to Shikamaru. Besides, if he does ignore things, he would be breaking his promises to the people who trusted him to protect them. He had to make this work or fail trying, and then he could wear the other mask. He was still not going to take the lead in the Uzumaki Company.

"But my commitment is never to betray your trust unless I go crazy. I was honest with you, and I shall continue to do so."

"If that is the case, admit that you it was you who had the Daimyo pressure my grandfather into retiring," Kurotsuchi said.

"I have a business arrangement with the Feudal Lord. I did not force him. I expressed my concerns and we were in agreement that to enter the new world we are heading into, a change was needed. But you also agree with that. You may not want to admit it, but that is the truth," Naruto said.

Kurotsuchi refused to respond to this. But asked one more question. "What is your goal with the Uzumaki Company?"

"I just want to create a barrier that will stop people from acting irrationally. When there are no severe consequences for an action, people will do anything. The case to point being how your grandfather did things. He had no problem invading another nation because he knew no one would do anything and Iwa would not suffer for it. But that was wrong. Borders have to be respected and we will try to bring the respect to these borders that have been trampled upon. You might have the military force to launch an invasion but if there is a barrier that stops you from moving your forces, you have no other choice but to seek alternative means to handle things."

"That is some ambition, but how are you going to stop an army?"

"Do you forget who you are talking to?" Naruto asked with a small smile on his lips. He was not a normal person and he was an army on his own.

Kurotsuchi frowned, "That is just going to make things difficult," she said. "Well, as long as you don't get in the way of things, I won't complain."

"Just so long as you don't violate other country's border, I won't complain either," Naruto said. "It is my desire that you work well with other Kages. Your grandfather was not able to do this in his time as Tsuchikage, but hopefully, the new generation will be able to foster good relations."

"You are really bent on having good relationships, aren't you? But you do know that not everyone will get along."

"Naturally, that is part of being alive. But just because we don't agree on certain things doesn't mean we must kill each other," Naruto said before getting up. "I just came to check up on you. It is not my intention to keep making appearances before leaders…" he said with a small smile. "But hopefully when we meet again, you will not have returned to where you were before we started our discussions."

"And if I have?"

"We will see how I re-educate you. If I can't, there are other methods to make things okay."

"Did you just threaten me?" Kurotsuchi asked in a stern tone, narrowed eyes. "Because if you are, there will be consequences for that. I do not take threats very lightly."

"Who knows?" Naruto said, smiling. "But if you plan on flaring your chakra just to alert people, I will tell everyone your little secret."

"What secret?"

"That you are having an affair with me."

"I'm not! You just forced yourself onto me that day. I should have killed you then!"

Naruto just laughed. "You seemed to like it though." When Kuro glared at him, just waved his right hand. "I will see you and I wish you success."


Kirigakure

"We have come a long way, have we not, Kurama?" Naruto said as he walked through the streets of the Hidden Mist, heading towards Mei's house. He could safely walk, it was night. The people already knew him, he was not sneaking around as he would in the Hidden Stone.

"We have," Kurama admitted. "I came from wanting to kill you to choosing to assist you in your goal. I had my reasons at first, but I along the way, things changed."

"Well, it has been a number of years since we left Konoha. I grew from being a teenage child into an adult." Naruto responded calmly. "Things have worked better than expected. Yet, though we want peace, it does appear that we must be willing to use other measures to make things fall in line. You truly cannot expect all people to fall in line."

"We have always been prepared to do it all," Kurama said. "But now you can finally sit and relax. Perhaps even enjoy your miserable life. You were willing to die in misery anyway."

Naruto smiled. Yes, before then, he had been willing to walk a dangerous path, to do things that would not give him the peace of mind. He has killed people without even flinching. He had been preparing himself for genocide. But perhaps meeting Mei changed things. He had ran from the things he was connected to and just went straight into the embrace of another. It was no bad, nevertheless. Naruto had no regrets. He didn't regret meeting Mei. She had given him a chance of happiness, a chance to finally enjoy a life that has always been filled with pain and misery.

"If we fail in this way, will I survive cutting off my connections with these people? Will they even survive?" Naruto asked quietly. "I know they'll want to stick with me, but can I bring myself to invite the hatred that I could experience in their lives? I have been miserable; I don't want these people to suffer."

"If you didn't want them to suffer, you should have waited for the plan to succeed. Besides, isn't it ironic coming from you?"

Naruto laughed. "Well I was promised happiness, and I ran towards it. You know my heart has always been looking for an opportunity to take a different method that would save my sanity. This has saved things from becoming dangerous.

"Ironic? Yes. I am a hypocrite for saying such things when I plan to make others suffer by killing their loved ones. I guess I am at a fundamental level the same with everyone else. I will not turn a blind eye to those close to me but when others are suffering the same pain, I pretend not to care. Isn't this what I taught Guren not to do and then continuously preached to Kurotsuchi until she finally stood?"

"As long as nobody knows…"

"Yes, it would have been treacherous had we been exposed. I truly hope that it does not happen," Naruto said in thought.

He stopped his conversation with the Kyubi once entering Mei's house. He went straight to the living room and found the Godaime Mizukage in a blue night gown, lying on a couch with a book over her chest. He smiled, she appeared asleep. It must have been a long day for her as well. Everyone was busy at work these days. He rounded her, and stopped by the side of her head, he just stared at her until she opened her eyes.

"And I was waiting for you to wake me up with a kiss," Mei said with a disappointed look on her face.

"If I had known, I would have tried harder to sneak up on you," Naruto said before snatching the book on the Mizukage's chest. He went over to sit on the other side, across her. "Romance?"

"I love romance… you know I did say that I imagine getting married one day," Mei said as she sat up straight on the couch.

Marriage? Had he ever thought of it when he was younger? No, his miserable self had been too worried about trying to make friends to even think about that. He could not even get himself someone to love his sorry Jinchuriki behind. And he had loved Sakura. That girl who had hopelessly loved Sasuke, and quite possibly still did. Naruto was glad that he had stopped caring. It has been over 8 years anyway.

"That is something else… I never imagined what it would be like… but when the time is right, we can get married," Naruto said with a smile on his lips.

Mei did not hide her excitement. But she then stopped and frowned. "What will your girlfriend say about it?" She asked with narrowed eyes. He had admitted that he had a girl back in Konoha. She had yet to meet the girl. And she really wanted to see her.

"I have not spoken to her about it but I imagine she will be quite displeased…" Naruto said in thought. Knowing Ino, she was going to tell him that if he was going to marry, she would be first because their relationship came first.

Mei sighed tiredly. "Let us not go there. It will ruin the day," she said. "How did things go on your part?"

"All things are set. I have spoken to the Feudal Lords about a change in things and the agreements. They still need to discuss things amongst themselves but I expect everything to be in order soon enough. Kurotsuchi is taking over Iwagakure and Tsunade is planning to hang her gloves. I don't know when the Raikage will give up on power but it doesn't matter at this point. I have also given Guren the go ahead to begin everything. I have just about wrapped everything else."

Mei smiled. "Can we plan about the future without holding back? No one is going to be chasing after you. And please don't tell me that you want to wait and see if this will hold because it will hold, as long as you enforce the agreements and stay impartial while giving the Daimyos their desired 'control' over things. If you keep thinking things will fail, when a little thing goes wrong, you'll be quick to point out that you were waiting for it. And you might even turn a blind eye just to be proved right. Just have a little bit of faith in people, will you?"

End

For now, I will mark this as complete, but I have left an opening for either a chaotic part or something peaceful. If it is peaceful, I will not add anything because that isn't the point of this story.

The Omnipresent Sage