Chapter 65 - I am Naruto Uzumaki.

[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]

Third Person POV

The Land of Water.

...

...

Naruto looked at the ceiling, thinking in a peculiar way, as if he had not done something as simple as this for a long time. Since the Uchiha Massacre, he had been solely focused on training, always striving to become stronger and concentrating on what this world had to offer.

But now, he found himself in the midst of a rebel camp, contemplating whether or not to fight in the war... something he honestly didn't expect, perhaps because it was repetitive, it had taken him by surprise.

''Should I fight with them... this is a chance to kill that man, but it doesn't seem that simple either,'' Naruto thought, still focused on the text in the tent.

It was still morning, while the camp seemed to be buzzing again with people going about their chores. While feeling all this from the outside, he also sensed a presence heading specifically towards his tent, which somewhat surprised him, sensing that the woman Mei was approaching the place alone.

"Hello, Utakata..." Mei approached and saw Utakata eating with his companion, as he nodded to Mei. "May I speak with Light?" she asked.

"I'm here," Naruto came out of his tent in a cloak, before Utakata could respond to her.

"You could join me for a walk, I would like to walk around the camp," she said with a rather strange invitation for a chat.

Akame approached, looking at the woman strangely, while Naruto raised his hand, despite the odd invitation, he could feel that she had no malice, just wanted to have a calm conversation. "I'll talk to her, wait for me here," Naruto said and began walking ahead of Mei, as she followed him without saying anything.

They continued walking through the camp, while people looked at Naruto with suspicion, in contrast to Mei, who always received a bow from the commander of the place.

They kept silent for a while, walking side by side through the camp, while Naruto observed it with curious eyes, not just using his observation haki to look at the place.

"Mei-Sama!!" At one point, they were passing through an area when a group of children appeared, shouting for Mei, as the woman gave a small smile to the boys.

"..." Naruto remained silent as she was surrounded by the children, walking around her.

"Mei-Sama!! Are you going to defeat the evil men of the Mizukage?!" a girl spoke.

"When can I be of use? I will help defeat all those who are destroying the country!" a boy spoke.

"Mei-Sama! One day I want to be like you!" another girl spoke as she joyfully tugged at her clothes.

Mei carefully crouched down, touching one of the children's gourds gently. "I know you all want to help, but wait a little and let the adults fight to protect you... When you grow up, you'll live in a safe and beautiful village, and become great shinobi..." she spoke, leaving the children with a gleam of joy in their eyes before walking away. Naruto noticed how the children were not in the best conditions, at least some, who were still malnourished, others in dirty clothes, but still, they played amidst the war scene, running and shouting in a group, pretending to be ninjas to the other side of the camp.

"They are survivors from their clans..." Mei started as Naruto still peeked at the boys running away.

"How many children do you have here?" Naruto asked.

"300 children, although most don't come from major clans that are being hunted, many villages have suffered from the madness of our Kage and we are sheltering them, not just children, but even teenagers, those we are training in some way to help us in the fight," she spoke as they passed by a place where there was an empty lot with a bunch of people Naruto's age or older, training.

"I see..." Naruto looked at the training and his gaze returned to the fog that surrounded them among the mountains. "Is this place... really safe for you?" Naruto asked and Mei nodded.

"Not entirely, but it's better than the last one. We've been here for over two years and, despite some ambushes on our agents outside, we are still holding this place," she said, but Naruto could see that she didn't have much confidence in her tone.

They continued walking, and Naruto decided to take the initiative in the conversation because he wanted to know more about this place and even why this country had come to this. "Why has your village come to this? And don't tell me your Kage is being controlled by a sharingan, because as far as I know, the bloody mist was created by the previous Kage," Naruto said after doing some more research on the situation.

"..." Mei sighed and nodded. "It was indeed the Third Mizukage who created the bloody mist. Believing that the strongest ninjas would emerge from the killing among their own peers, we have many who left the village because of this and are not even willing to return, thinking that even though it's bad now, we might return to the treatment of the Third Mizukage..." she explained as Naruto stayed silent, waiting for her to continue.

"I can even understand their side, and the Mizukage has become even worse, he not only continued with the killings but also made it worse, as he began to hunt all the Kekkei Genkai clans... Saying that the village is like this thanks to them after the third great ninja war," she said.

"Shouldn't the members with Kekkei Genkai be the most valuable among all the soldiers? Isn't this like putting a noose around Kiri's neck compared to other nations? What if there is a fourth great ninja war? Wouldn't you be at a disadvantage?" Naruto pointed out the obvious.

"Yes, you're right..." Mei admitted. "That's when we suspected that the Mizukage was being controlled and started an investigation, even trying to form a large combat group... but it wasn't very successful, and we had to leave the village at that time, many of my comrades died in those days and it was then that we created the resistance, with several clans already being destroyed, while we saved some of them," she spoke with a somber tone.

"Let me guess... You couldn't gather enough people because many of them agreed with your Kage's ideas, seeing users of Kekkei Genkai as plagues, but mostly driven by envy and greed both for their abilities and to find someone to blame for the country's situation..." Naruto spoke, recalling the time in Konoha, when the villagers tried to target them, even later finding out they were used to hurt him in a political game against his father, people still acted on their own, jealous and envious of the Fourth Hokage himself, and the only way to vent their frustrations was to beat up the handicapped son of Minato Namikaze.

"Yes... you know our situation better than I imagined..." Mei gave Naruto a small smile.

They continued passing through the camp while people continued greeting, Naruto felt the gaze of that man who tried to attack him as soon as he arrived at the camp, while the man did not seem very happy with Light's presence there.

"He's that Light!"

"Commander Mei will finally talk to him..."

"Can he help us in the war?"

"He's a foreigner, what does he know about Kiri, what does this country have to do with him?"

People continued to talk, looking at Mei and Light walking, some pointing at Light with admiration, others saw him as a plague, an unwanted foreigner... Naruto ignored them all and kept walking, despite hearing everything.

Mei and Naruto finally arrived at the main tent while the guards let them pass, Naruto was a bit surprised not to find that man with the strange eye and eyepatch.

Mei went to her desk before turning to Naruto with one green eye showing while the other was still hidden by her bangs. "I want to talk to you about our situation," she said, as Naruto already anticipated this.

"..." He said nothing, waiting for her to continue.

"As you know, we are not in a very good situation, if this place is found and the Mizukage attacks us with full force... many will die," she began.

"That's why, even though it's Utakata's condition... I want to hire your services for this nation," she said while pursing her lips. It was almost humiliating to ask for help from a foreign mercenary, but what choice did they have? First, the condition of the jinchuuriki wanted Light, and second, Light was strong enough to leave this camp devastated enough for a Mizukage troop to finish off the rest as soon as they heard the explosion in the region due to the actions of those stubborn old men Mei had to deal with every day.

She was also aware of his interest against that sharingan according to Ao, so she hoped he could help in the end.

"Before I give my answer..." Naruto said, having thought a lot about what he saw and the situation. "You know I'm not from this country, do you still want me here?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Yes, even though you are a foreigner, we don't have much choice either," she admitted, while Naruto nodded at her sincerity.

"You know, I have a team member who possesses the sharingan, you still want me here, because anyone who threatens them, I intend to kill," Naruto spoke firmly. He revealed this, but he knew he could trust that woman with it, with just them hearing.

Mei's eyes widened at that, not expecting to hear something like that. She knew that having someone with Sharingan there could raise suspicions for those who suspected the Mizukage was being controlled by these eyes, but she nodded to Naruto. "Even though I am still surprised by this, I will ensure that no one tries anything."

Naruto nodded, "That's good, but if you really want me to join you, I want to act independently, don't put me under orders from those old men, I'll do missions that no one here does, but I will always act independently and choose my own team." Naruto gave his response with this condition, after all, he had always acted this way, it was not going to change now.

"I can accept that as long as you do not harm the resistance or the future Kirigakure we are trying to build," she spoke, and he nodded in agreement.

"Lastly, what will we gain from this?" Naruto wanted to know, although he was expecting just money, and even though he was genuinely interested in saving this country, he still needed money to survive.

"Money, a lot of money... depending on your contribution to our cause... and also I offer citizenship in this country with your own lands, but it will depend on how you fare until the end of this fight," she spoke as Naruto raised an eyebrow to that, it was not a bad thing, on the contrary, he was currently a nomad, without the guild, he would have to travel to another country, but now with this proposal... perhaps he would finally start putting his plan into action and could start in this country before moving on to the other elemental nations...

"I will accept that," Naruto finally gave his answer as Mei gave him a half-smile.

But Naruto did not finish as his hand moved to his mask. "I believe this will no longer be necessary..." Naruto spoke, removing his mask as Mei looked at him surprised. "Let me introduce myself... I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Lady Mei," Naruto spoke while facing the surprised woman with his expected blue eyes and yellow hair, finally revealing his appearance to the world beyond those who already knew him, he would no longer act behind a mask.

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