CHAPTER 26

Naruto's hideout

Naruto stared at a map in front of him. He did not just want to be in power in Konoha only, he wanted to be the source in all the elemental nations. He wanted Kages to come to him looking for business, looking for assistance. That is why he had set up Otogakure. The village was key to everything, but even if it was lost, which was nigh impossible, he could still create something again. Possibilities were endless as long as he lived. He wanted the name of Uchiha Naruto to be known everywhere, his name had to be law. He would create something, and floant his power to make the Kages and leaders of villages come to him in all their humbleness. If that happened, he could have all the quitness he could need. He could get rid of anything that was the enemy and then he could relax.

Koyuki, the princess of the land of Snow was going to be in Otogakure in a few days. She would meet Karin and Guren, but he had made sure to have them mention his name since she already knew him. It would make the regotiations easy. The Land of Snow was more advanced in technology than any other village. He wanted that technology to be in Otogakure, and they are the only land to use trains, he needed their manufactures'. He wanted to create a rail way that would be all over the the Land of Fire, coming from Oto. It would make Otogakure reachable to anyone and in a short period of time. One would be lazy to visit the village, but they would surely go there once the train was built.

Having sent Karin to Otogakure was certainly going to work on his favor. It would trully. The girl worked with Orochimaru and new her way around a laborotory. She had a scietific mind. With what he was thinking now, he could have her training stopped so she could focus on the project he wants her to do. He would make sure she got the funds she needed to build her lab. She would head a division which dealt with technology, and research. The girl also knew a lot about the human body, she would be useful in that erea in terms of experiments. The experiements would be different from the ones she did with Orochimaru though. Another matter, would be a research facility. It would be helpful if he had such facility that would contain all known information about everything within the Elemental Nations. He would have to find the location of such a facility though, since it is bound to be huge.

He looked again the blue print of Otogakure. There was still a large space that was not occupied in the west side of the village when looking from the gates. It was not far from the Crystal Palace, it was just a few blocks away. He wanted to build something big there. But it would not be as esquisite as the Crystal Palace. Nevertheless, it would probably be the largest building in Otogakure. He wanted to build the building for various things. The first floor would be a hall, were meetings will be held. Since he plans to have all Kages under this thump and dancing on his palm, he would have them hold meetings in such a place. The Land of Iron would no longer be needed to hold Kage meetings, but Otogakure will host such meetings. This floor will also have a large kitchen.

The second floor will be a library, a large libary. The library will be in different sections. There will be the shinobi section, and village history section - this section will hold all the history of all villages. He had all that knowledge at his disposal. The library will also include a lot of things that will be probably useless to him. It was not that he would even use the library given that he already knew everthing he had to know. But he to sell the act, it would be made.

The third floor will be a place to relax. Karin and Guren could figure out what to have in that room. He was not going to figure out what women needed to relax. His mind could not process such things. So the space for this floor, he would leave for the women to handle. They would be the ones supervising everything, and draw draw out a clear plan for the building. He was just drawing out the general idea and plan for everything. It was different for the Crystal Palace since it would be his home. But this was just for those who would be dancing to his music.

The fourth and fifth floor would be for accomodation for the delegates from other villages. This was for Guren and Karin to plan how the rooms would be and their designs. Or perhaps they could hire someone who had a better vision and creativeness of such things. He was best at fighting and manipulating jutsus. But he found out that if he gave it time, he could actually do this kind of things. Perhaps it was something that was inside of him before he met Madara. Perhaps mind was not so focused on dancing with Nagato, murdering Obito and becoming Hokage afterall.

But if he could have all these done, he could then rest. Perhaps he could smile for his mother after all these. There had to be somewhere he was going, and he had that place. His mind was set on it. There was nothing or anyone that would stop him. All that tried to get in his way would be removed.

In that mind of his grandfather and all his love for fight of death, he still wished to rest in peace in a world of no conflicts, in a world were dreams come true. He understood the story of his grandfather from his childhood to his death. Madara himself had not told him anything. He was just given brief details. But Black Zetsu was more than willing to share everything with him. Even the most evil men do want peace. Wouldn't he want a world were Karin, and Yugao could live safely?

Naruto shook his head at such thoughts. He had been having them lately. And he was not enjoying them.

Zetsu then walked towards him, ''You seem to be thinking a lot,'' he commented looking straight at the blond. Naruto looked at him for a moment before taking a seat as he had been standing when looking over the maps and blue prints in front of him.

''It seems I have,'' Naruto acknowledged. ''My mind is a little blury at the moment. I can't focus too much on anything. There are a lot of thoughts singing and dancing within my head,'' Madara never trained him like how Danzou trained his ROOT Anbu. But he was trained to keep better control over his emotions and thoughts.

''Perhaps you should take some time to relax,'' Zetsu suggested. Regardless of how you look at it. Naruto was still human. His body could feel pain like any other human. ''You have been working hard since you met with your grandfather. Ever since you started training seriously, you never got to rest. You also spent three years training, and only resting when your body could no longer move on. You also had a Bijuu esxtracted from your body and almost died; you have been working hard ever since training, absoring all the knowledge you can. And recently, you had died.''

Naruto was silent for a few moments before finally speaking, ''Pathetic; we humans are such fragile creatures. My body can resist and absorb any preasure, but yet my mind does not operate at the same level. It is a pity that it cannot be perfected like the body.''

''So you are just going to continue working with your mind not perfectly focusing on objetctives,'' he made sure to add the word perfect just to make Naruto understand the situation. He knew well enough if there some was something made now and it was not perfectly because the blond was not too focused, once focused he would have it made again so it could be perfect. He did not want to deal with it.

''Yes,'' Naruto responded. ''But I will head to Kirigakure first. Before I retrun to Konoha the songs will have already quited down,'' he paused as he was about to change the subject. ''What do you have for me?''

''The princess wants to you see. She was informed of your part before she decided to go to Otogakure,'' Zetsu explained. Naruto had not been told of the last part. It had 'slipped' his mind when had talked to the blond about it before.

''Koyuki?'' Zetsu nodded his head slightly. ''Why does she want to see me? Guren can hold the talks just fine without me.''

''She did not say, but I think it is personal. Your name was known everywhere and you did go on a mission your Team 7 that saved her life and returned her to her village,'' Zetsu explained lightly.

''No, I have other things to do,'' Naruto replied. He had no personal business with the woman. The mission was a mission, nothing more. It was not like he had gone there to be a hero or something.

''I have not finished explaing,'' Zetsu smiled. Oh, he was going to enjoy the look on Naruto's face when he says the next words. ''The Princess has no other family relatives and the title as ruler of the land of Snow is handed down to family. Her family has been the one to rule the land ever since its founding. She does not have any family now who she can pass on her hat.''

''What are you getting at, Zetsu?'' Naruto questioned with narrowed eyes. He was having an idea of where this was going.

''Her council has been pressuing her to marry so she could have a child who she can pass her hat to. They have been arranging dates with several profilic political figures with for her. But she has rejected all men saying she does not like them,'' Zetsu smile again. This is gone be good, he thought. ''You have power and are known. You are not just a military figure, but you can play politics aswell. It is not no longer a secret that the near extinct Uchiha clan is looking to be restored. I think she wants to make a marriege proposal,'' he continued smiling as he watched the blond in front of him.

Naruto merely stared at Zetsu with an expressionless look on her face. He grew silent for several moments before muttering something, ''Madara never had to deal with this crap,'' he said. ''Her request has been denied.'' He did note that Zetsu was enjoying this. But he did not comment on it. He would rather focus on something.

''She will be informed when she gets to Otogakure.''

''What more do you have?''

''There are some unwanted people in Otogakure - they are business man. They do illegal business in the shadows and cover it up with legal business. I have identified three very rich men. They have settled in well with their families there,'' Zetsu reported. He had yet to tell Guren about this. She may be leading Otogakure now but she did not have the final say in everything.

''Have them terminated. If such people were to fill in my land, I will be having an uncontrollable land soon. Such people are arrogant and love power too much. If not removed soon, they will start making annoying noises and bring misbehaving children at my door step,'' Naruto responded calmly. He was not going to have people who would only be annoyances in his land. And he hated illegal businesses.

''What of their families and businesses?'' now Zetsu certainly did not care about their families, but their business would be useful.

''Before terminating them, make them hand over their legal businesses to our ghost compony. Guren will think of what to do about the families. Have her send shinobi to dispose of all the ilegal business. With the boss gone, the chain of control will collapse and things will go haywire.''

Zetsu nodded. ''If we were just to leave it like that, they would break apart and become many and polute more lands. Some who are loyal will also trouble Oto as they come to investigate the matter. But to avoid more polution and annoyances, we flush them,'' he added in understanding of Naruto's thinking.

''Have it done soon,'' Naruto said. He had no problems in taking the business of a man who lived off by watching other people suffer. He felt no shame in taking their business and making use for it to Otogakure. The ghost compony worked for this matter. He always made sure no evidince was left and no one could trace everything back to him. ''Has my new gear been prepared?''

Zetsu nodded slightly. ''Do you want it now?''

''No. I will take it when I leave,'' Naruto replied standing up. ''I have to spend the next few days training. And I also have to do the finishing touches on the Hiraishin.'' He picked up a scroll and handed it to Zetsu.

''What is it?''

''New developments for Oto. Hand it to Guren and have her start everything as soon as possible. Like the previous projects, I want these ones done to perfection,'' he then disappeared into the darkness of the hideout to do his needed training.

Three days later (Konohagakure)

Sasuke sat alone in the Uchiha compound trying to wrap around his mind about the fact that his clan would have been standing; he would still be having his parents and brother if it had not been for Konoha. But at the same time his family had attempted a coupe d'état. The village would have been plagued into chaos if that had not gone along. This village was co-founded by his forefather, Uchiha Madara. He could not abandon it, but he failed to comprehend why all this could happen. Was it worth killing everyone, even the innocent people just so there would be no rebellion? He certainly did not think so. The world was a lot more screwed up than he had thought. He had thought he had seen everything with Kakashi, but he thought wrong. Konoha had more dark secrets than he would like.

What he did not fully understand, was why Naruto would simply sit and not do anything against the village. The same was also for his beloved brother, who even in his death still wanted Konoha to be safe. Itachi and Naruto were two complete different people. But for both of them when it came to Konoha, they did not lay a hand on it. Despite everything, they wanted to see it standing. Why was it like that? The village had forced his brother to massacre his entire clan. Naruto had been abused in his childhood because of his former Jinchuriki status. This village was rotten, despite the blond saying otherwise, the Yondaime was his father, could they did not even respect the son of the man who sacrificed his life for their lives? He had not even heard a single person saying he was sorry to Naruto for the way they had treated him when he was a kid. They pretended like nothing ever happened. They pretended like they never used to hate him.

It was all something he could not understand. How could they be like that? Well he could understand why Naruto dislikes them. They were two-faced hypocrites. And they used to worship him for being the last Uchiha. He loathed all the attention they used to give him. They could be even smiling to Naruto because of fear. He was not weak like in the days they used to show their hatred towards him. Naruto was much more powerful, and not only was he a Namikaze, he was also an Uchiha. They knew if they smiled at him they would have a hero. They would have someone powerful to protect them. They all saw him at the chunin exams, they all heard what he did in Kiri, if they show him hatred, he could turn on them and massacre them all.

Fear, it was indeed a beast.

He had no doubt that the blond was aware of this. He knew that Naruto was aware of their thoughts. It was why he never bothered to interact with them. They had no standing place. They were only loyal to he who was powerful, to he who could protect their pathetic excuse for lives.

There was also, 'If you do something against Konoha I will kill you', those were Naruto's words. He knew clearly that the blond did not make idle threats. It was also rare to hear him make threats. And here he had been threatened. He was positive that the blond was one to keep his word. The blond was also stronger than him, but yet he felt no fear of him. He could do whatever he wanted and still not fear the blond. There was also something that was holding him back from doing anything rash. It was inside of him, like a little voice telling him to calm down.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he saw the door open. It had to be Yugao or Kakashi. No one would come in here and simply walk in without knocking other than those two. Ah, it was Uzuki Yugao, looking lively as always.

''Hello, Sasuke,'' she greeted with a small smile as she walked towards him.

Sasuke forced a smile; somehow he had been finding it difficult to smile since coming back to the village. ''Hi, Yugao-san,'' he responded as polite as he could be. It was this time that he wished he could not fake things like Naruto could. If the blond had no smile, he would not force it.

''Is Naruto in?'' she questioned still standing. Since she heard the Uchiha had returned from a successful mission to stop the Akatsuki, she had decided to come here. He had left with her blond love interest; she thought they would have returned together.

''No; we went our separate ways after dropping Yugito - the Jinchuriki we rescued. He said he had something do to before returning,'' Sasuke paused as he watched Yugao's slightly disappointed look.

''Did he say when he will return?'' Her disappointment was also clear in her tone.

Sasuke shook his head, no. ''I don't know when he will return. He seemed preoccupied with something. And after everything, I think he wants to clear his thoughts,'' he explained in thought. He was not sure, but it was a guess. The blond did not look quite himself.

''Oh,'' that seemed to make her smile, somewhat. ''I will be gone then. Have a good day.'' she then turned around to look at leave the house. She stopped though as she remembered something. ''Your friends are outside looking for you.''

''Friends?''

Yugao nodded. ''Your peers; they must have heard you came back alive and well after encountering the Akatsuki,'' she explained before leaving the house, slowly.

Sasuke stood up as he went towards the door. ''Well, I guess I can use the distraction,'' the said to himself as he went to see his peers. No doubt they wanted to see him so that they could do somewhere and laugh. Perhaps the distraction would help him forget about his thoughts for some time. But he knew he could not run away from them forever. After this, he would speak to Kakashi about it. Kakashi could offer some help. He was the only one he knew who could offer him support and trust, aside from Naruto.

Kirigakure

A week after Naruto finished his training; he had Zetsu summon him within Kiri. He had spent time doing four different trainings; a few shadow clones did the finishing touches on the Hiraishin. He had been able to finish working on it and make use of it. Of course, his use of the space/time jutsu was not as good as Minato. He had also been doing advanced chakra control excises with a number of clones. A number of clones were putting into practical what he had been learning over the past three years in medical ninjutsu. He was no good in it, like a medical ninja. But he had learned a few basics.

Madara had studied Hashirama's medical ninjutsu. The man was a god in terms of medical ninjutsu. It was another point that Madara had to admit that Hashirama was also superior to him in the regard. It was also not different from him. He could only learn the basics, and apply them. Despite wishing to surpass everyone in all arrears, medical Ninjutsu seemed to be beyond him. But he did not necessarily need it since he would always make sure that he was not wounded carelessly. His disease had troubled him because he was not very level best in the medical department. Well, it did not matter anyway.

He had also spent time training, physically, to regain all his mobility. Over the past weeks he had not been able to move freely because of the annoying problem he had, but now he could move freely and even fight in taijutsu battles at a greater level than he could when he was a genin. He had worked his body day and night without rest. He had only rested a day, before coming here, but it was not enough. He would rest while he is back in Konoha.

Once getting inside the village, he had walked peacefully towards the Mizukage tower. He was not hiding himself or his presence to anyone. He did not do such things. People were able to recognize him though, but when they did, he took the rooftops to avoid annoying noises. The ANBU had also taken notice of him, but they kept their distance. It was probably because they knew who he was. Although it was annoying that they kept following him, he did nothing, nor even look at their direction.

Finally arriving at the Mizukage tower, he used the entrance to enter the tower. No one would think that he was there to assassinate the Mizukage given that everyone had seen him. But that did not stop the ANBU from watching his every move. He walked within the tower, without getting lost until he reached the receptionist. He looked at the woman, ''Is Mei in?''

The woman looked at him with a blank look, ''Mei?'' he studied his features before looking away for a moment. She looked at him again, this time smiling though. ''You mean Mizukage-sama...'' Naruto did not respond. ''She is in. Let me go and see if she can see you now.''

''There is no need for that,'' Naruto responded walking towards Mei's office leaving the receptionist to shrug her shoulders.

Mei's office

Naruto opened the door without even knocking, he found the woman taking a nap with her head rested on the desk. 'Her ANBU must have not told her I was coming, probably to surprise her,' Naruto thought as he stood leaned against the door frame and folded his hands across his chest. ''This is a lovely surprise,'' he said calmly, enough to startle the Mizukage.

Mei woke up abruptly as she heard the voice. Her eyes became wide slightly as she saw who it was. ''Naruto...'' she studied him from head to toe. He wore a new attire; he was wearing a dark red cloak, it had high collars, and it reached underneath his knees. Under the cloak, he wore black pants, like always and a black shirt which was visible because his cloak was not fully zipped from the front. He also wore black gloves and black shinobi boots, as always. He did not have his Gunbai strapped behind him or any weapon that she could see. He was also not wearing his headband; she noticed he was not wearing it even in Konoha. The new looked fitted him quite nicely. In front of her was her fiancé not the man who always wore armor everywhere.

She smiled at him - a pure genuine happy smile. She stood up and walked towards him. Without even thinking anything, she engulfed him in a warm hug. Naruto did not respond at first. But with a sigh, he wrapped his arms around her. She did not let him go, she just hugged him with a content smile on her face. Odd, Naruto did not feel like pushing her away. He felt something, like when his mother hugged him, but it was different, yet there was the same warmth.

Finally Mei let him go and pulled him in before shutting the door. ''Naruto, how good to see you again. After our last talk, I did not think that you would come here so soon,'' her tone sounded a bit bitter at the last words, yet she was smiling happily, a genuine smile. She ushered him to sit down.

''I did not think I would come here soon,'' Naruto admitted honestly. ''But things change and I thought it would be best if I dropped by,'' he then offered Mei a small genuine smile. The smile only made Mei smile even happier than she had been.

''Your change of wardrobe is applaudable. I did not think you would leave your comfort zone,'' Mei said changing the subject. He had admitted that his armor made him comfortable. It was something that she found curious. The armor was made to protect, then if he was not wearing it he would feel naked. It was outrageous that the blond would feel something like that.

''This is just something I chose to wear. I felt the need for the change,'' Naruto explained in a rare smooth tone. This was something original. He was not wearing something that someone used to wear.

''It looks good on you, more than your previous attire,'' Mei commented while still smiling. ''So what brought the change?'' she asked returning to their earlier conversation.

Naruto looked straight into her eyes. When he had been in the afterlife, he was alone, like he had been before he met Madara. There was no one there with him in the afterlife. The experience as he had told Zetsu was empty. It seemed as if it was his life, it was empty. That brought much thought to him. He did not want his life to be empty. If he had not been revived and met with his mother again, what was it worthwhile that he could tell her that he had achieved? If he had met his grandfather, what was it that he could tell the man? He had yet to kill Obito; he had yet to become Hokage.

Anything useful that he had done now was only Otogakue. But for all his worth and power, it was not enough.

How he loathed talking about emotions...why? Because it reminding him of his emotionally damaging past. He had never worked on that with Madara.

''Just a few experiences,'' finally he responded to Mei's question. While he was still looking straight at her, his eyes changed from the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, to the normal Sharingan, before coming crystal blue. ''My original eyes were blue.''

Mei then realized that each time she saw him, it had always been his Sharingan, not the normal eyes. She also noticed that he used past tense in reference to his eyes. ''Were?''

''Yes, but I'd rather not get into that.''

Mei became silent for a moment. Naruto had just shown her a part of him that she did not know. His tone was not as blank as it had always been. This was something huge especially coming from him. He had shown her his original eyes. The crystal blue eyes he was born with. Mei felt her heart race slightly. This was not a dream but a reality. After seemingly blowing her off a few weeks ago, he had travelled here and was now speaking to her. She felt happy.

''Why don't we go to my house and talk there?'' She would have to cancel her meetings for the day. She and her fiancé needed to talk.

Mei's house

The Mizukage had gotten rid of all the ANBU that were stationed in her house for some privacy. She did not want anyone close as she talked to the blond. She had not even taken a walk with him to her home. Instead, she used Shunshin to teleport here without anyone making a fuss. She settled down on her couch and looked at the blond beside her carefully, ''Can I get you something to drink?'' It seemed the most logical question she could ask first.

Naruto shook his head, ''No,'' he said before leaning back on the sofa. ''You have done quite a good job with the restoration of the village. I had not thought that you would have succeeded this much with little resources,'' he commented over the state of the village. He had kept an eye on the village's progress as it was in his interest.

Mei smiled. ''You believed that I could do this much...'' she said her voice dripping with sarcasm. ''It has not been easy, but when the people you are willing to work with you in your goal, much can be achieved. And I have been determined to get this village going again.''

''When people work together in unity, they become strong, and can achieve much more together. Nothing can be impossible to achieve,'' he paused for a moment. Mei looked at him strangely. ''One of the ideals of the Senju,'' he clarified. It was not his motto, but he did see the logic in it and saw that it was beneficial.

''That ideal is true. I mean, look at what this village has done because it is united,'' Mei said agreeing with the belief of the Senju clan. Without being united, they could have much problems between them. However, when united, they would always work together because they had the same goal - seeing their village restored to its former glory.

''I can see that,'' Naruto said calmly. He could see that with unity, this village had achieved much. He could not deny that unity had worked well for them. It also decreased the level of disturbances and rebels in a nation. There was something of that sort in Otogakure.

''But what I have been doing here is nothing much compared to what you did in Otogakure. The village was just made of a number of hideouts used for experimentation and cells for holding people. But you have turned it into a proper village. Anyone who sees it, will love to be allied with it knowing that there will be good economical benefits,'' Mei stated with a small smile on her face. Otogakure was truly blooming into becoming something. There was some chance that it could become the richest place in the Elemental Nations.

''As much as I like good things, I cannot take all the credit for the work being done in Otogakure. Guren has done much to see what Oto is today. I merely gave her the direction and the connections, she had to see that everything was well placed,'' Naruto explained. He just gave the woman people to connect with, money and plans for projects. She had to see that the projects were running perfectly.

''I am not saying she does not deserve some credit. I am just saying, Otogakure is your vision,'' she then paused for a moment. ''But with the village blooming like this, don't you think other villages will start to move towards to conquer it for their own? Otogakure does not have that much of shinobi and without you it can be conquered easily,'' major villages tended to be like this when a small village began to rise. They did not waste time to try to take it as their own. Smaller villages were quick though to act these days because they quickly align themselves with another major village for protection. But Otogakure was only connected with Kirigakure, and the village was not in any position to offer military support.

''It may look like Otogakure cannot protect itself, but that is not the entire truth,'' Naruto stated drawing a look from Mei. ''The only shinobi you can see in Otogakure are only a few, but there are a number of them that are not within the village. Orochimaru's hideouts are spread across the entire Elemental Nations. Over the hideouts, I have spread over 500 men who have been in training since the new Otogakure began to form.''

''Over 500; where did you get them?''

''The Sound Country had a number of shinobi. They might not be many to fight over one of the Great Five Hidden Villages, but the training they have been going through will make them strong enough to repel any nuisances. I favor quality rather than quantity,'' Naruto explained briefly. He had made sure that this was done in secret because if other villages were to know about this, they would surely be trouble he did not want to deal with. That also reminds him to have the shinobi district increased. The millions Ryo he would get from the crooked businessmen would surely help. If the pockets dried up, the projects would stop. But he had ensured that money was not an issue by swooping businesses that made millions, sometimes close to billions without paying a cent.

''But it is still not enough,'' even if they were to be of high quality, large numbers would always overwhelm smaller numbers. But there was still the blond to go through. She doubted he would stand still and watch his village being taken by someone.

''What I have is enough,'' Naruto said. He still had his summons. The Kyuubi alone could level an entire platoon of shinobi within minutes. He knew for sure that the beast would happily do that.

Mei nodded. ''So that is what those apartment blocks in the north side of the village are for. I was wondering why they there.''

''I had them built so that when the elite return to the village, they can have homes,'' Naruto stated. He sighed shaking his head. ''Iwagakure has already made a move on Otogakure. I keep sending corpses back to that fool; I think sooner or later that fool Ohnoki will have his shinobi match over there, even when he knows that Oto has an alliance with Kiri. He has no doubt that Kiri won't be able to help them.''

''What will you do if he makes a violent move towards Oto? You can't protect it without exposing that you are behind it,'' Mei questioned. If Naruto suddenly appeared to protect Otogakure, people would assume he is behind it. Other than that, it might course some problems with Konoha.

''My involvement with Oto is no longer an issue. The village has come out of its first stage and I think some already suspect it. But if Ohnoki attempts to conquer Oto, I shall have him fear Uchiha Naruto,'' there was no doubt that the Sandaime Tsuchikage would come to fear the blond from his tone. Even Mei had no doubt about that. The question, though, was what would he do to make the Tsuchikage fear him?

There was some silence before Mei decided to switch the subject. She looked at Naruto inventively, ''I am happy to see that you came here, Naruto. But what is it really that you came here for?''

Naruto raised an eye brow at her question. She sounded slightly serious. ''I did not think that I would need a reason to see my fiancé. Isn't that what you insisted on before you left Konoha?''

Mei did not know if he was being sarcastic or not. She could not tell by the look on his face. He was the one to have told her to put things on hold because of his reasons. She had been bumped out it, but here he was now, calling her his fiancé. What was really going on here? ''Are you really Naruto?''

Her question only seemed to amuse the blond.

''So you are Naruto,'' she paused for a moment waiting to see if he would say something. But nothing came out of his mind. ''What changed? You treated me like crap last time we spoke. And you were an uncaring, coldhearted bastard,'' he spoke honestly. Naruto though, felt no offense in those words. She almost cursed him when he just shrugged.

''It has been brought to my attention lately,'' he did not seem to be concerned about it though. Well, he never did seem concerned about anything.

''That is because it is true. I should have told you that before I left. The person who told you that must know you better to know that even if he/she spoke those words, you would not be offended by them,'' Mei stated calmly, while looking straight at the blond.

''Why do you Terumi Mei, take interest in a cold hearted person like me who cares for little and does not treat you with care? I don't even return any of the affection you give to me, I hardly respond to any emotions. I am curious, as to why you like me,'' Naruto stated in a calm reserved tone, laced with a bit of curiosity. He watched her, from head to toe, his eyes analyzing her everything action. All he got from her was honesty.

Mei smiled at him. ''I questioned myself once in a while. But in the rarest of moments when I saw you smile outside of the battlefield, I knew that deep inside you are a good person. I can tell that not every part of your heart is filled with darkness. You have power, but you don't use it for evil intensions. When you came here for the first time, I could not say this because I could never really understand you. But now I know that something unseen draws me to you. You had problems in the past the left an emotional scar, you try to suppress your emotions, because it is this emotions that gave you pain when you were younger. If you had been as you are now when you were younger, you would have never experienced pain - this is why you hate dealing with emotions.

I would imagine that in your past, you had much pain, and if not dealt with, it will take much for you to recover. You not as cold hearted as you think you are, but one thing is for, you are selfish and only look after your interests. You also dislike making emotional attachments because that would make you deal with emotions. Tell me Naruto, what do you think when a man rapes and abuses women?''

''Evil men and death,'' Naruto responded shortly.

''See, you know what is right and wrong. You would kill anyone who makes anyone suffer because you know what pain is. What I am trying to say is that, despite all your flaws and questionable choices, you are still a good person. With the right people beside you, you can do much for this corrupt world we live in. And there is also the fact that you are handsome young man,'' she winked at him in the last part.

Naruto shook his head, ruffling his hair for a few moments before looking back at Mei. He gave her a small smile. ''You have made a good analysis of my personality and actions,'' that was all he could say after all those words Mei had said.

''After our last talk, I was quite infuriated and embarrassed really. I sold myself to you like a whore and you rejected me. I sort of felt cheap. When I got back here, I questioned why I even like you. And so I spent days thinking and making notes on everything about you - your past, actions, words and character. It was then that I came to this conclusion,'' she sounded proud of her accomplishment. She was not going to hide the fact that he had treated her like dirt.

''I don't know if I never noticed or just did not care you felt that way. But perhaps my lack experience in dealing with such situations is at fault,'' he seemed thoughtful as he spoke.

''You are definitely an interesting person Naruto. After all that I have said to you, you can still look that way,'' Mei stated smiling warmly.

''If I reacted differently, I wouldn't be Uchiha Naruto, now would I?''

His response actually caused Mei to giggle. Possibly for the first time because the blond was always in a business mode speech each time he spoke to her. ''Nah, you certainly would not be Uchiha Naruto. But I guess that is what makes you unique.''

''You say wanted to be loved and experience love when we were in Konoha,'' Mei nodded her head in agreement. ''When I was younger, I used to have such thoughts. I was just an orphan, thinking that my parents dumped me, I was lonely. Such things caused me to long for affection because I did not have any of it.''

''And now?''

Naruto merely gave Mei a small smile before he took out a small box from his cloak. He handed it to Mei who took it with slightly shaking hands. When opened it and found...

A ring...

It was beautiful. ''I find it hard to believe that you would get something like this. Or even have time to buy this. Where did you even get it?'' Mei asked while her eyes were staring at the ring.

''A friend of mine brought it to my attention that I needed to get you this. I honestly don't feel that such a thing is needed. But when I was in Kumo, someone pointed it out to me that I ought to even if I see no significance on it. She was the one who bought it.''

Mei noted that he said she. But despite all his words, she still loved it. ''So you did not get one yourself...'' a realization dawned on her.

''I am a shinobi.'' was the reply Mei got from Naruto.

''So you would rather be armored with a Gunbai, swords, and kunais rather than wear a ring,'' she said earning a nod from Naruto. Mei shook her head at this. Nothing much mattered anyway - As long as he got it for her. She moved closer to him before staring into his eyes while her forehead rubbed against his. She then kissed him softly for a few moments before stopping to smile at him. ''I have always wanted to do this, so please don't reject me, again,'' she whispered softly.

Mei then sat on Naruto as she again kissed him. As per her plea, Naruto did not reject her.

Later that day

It had already gotten late, but Naruto was still at Mei's house. They were sitting around a dining table, eating. It was a meal Mei had prepared for both of them. The woman was eating with a broad smile on her face. Naruto's expression had returned to being slightly impassive. He ate slowly without even looking at the happy woman across the table; she seemed to be in her own world. It was the first time she had ever cooked for the blond and the first time she ate dinner with him. It was quite enjoyable. She then looked him after she had finished eating, ''When are you going to leave?'' In all truth, she did not want him to leave sooner. She wanted to spend the night sleeping beside her fiancé.

''After I finish eating,'' Naruto replied simply looking at his food. Despite not looking at Mei, she could feel her frown at his response, but that did not make him look at her. He just continued eating.

''Why can't you spend the night here? I would appreciate the company,'' she was staring him. Naruto then looked at her before responding.

''I have to travel the whole night.''

''You can't find anyone any boat at this time of the day. How will you travel all night?'' the boat or a ship was the only way to leave Kiri since the village was in the middle of the sea. And a distance away from the other shinobi villages. If the blond had wanted to leave, he should have made arrangements during day.

''I have already made arrangements,'' Naruto responded making Mei's frown deepen. Her smile was all but gone.

''Can't you postpone and leave tomorrow morning? I had thought you would spend the night here,'' Mei said with her deepened frown not disappearing. After all, he was just going to leave her? He had not spent more than a day here, and was ready to leave?

''I had not expected things to turn the way they did. But even though things went the way they went, my plans will not change,'' Naruto said pushing his plate away from him as he had finished eating.

''What is it that you have to do that is enough to make you leave your fiancé in the cold?''

''I have a meeting with the Fire Daimyo tomorrow morning.''

''Fire Lord? Tomorrow? But you can't make it in time at this time? There is no boat than can get you to the Fire Country and you will have to travel after that,'' Mei said; now her frown had disappeared. She could understand now why he could not miss the meeting. The Fire Daimyo was an important person, if one had set up a meeting with him, you had to show up or things would not go right. But then again, this was Uchiha Naruto.

''I told you I have already plans. It will not take me more than a minute to reach the Wave Country,'' he responded while he stood up.

''How will you do that?'' Mei looked at him questionably. Unless he was the Yondaime, she could not believe that.

Naruto took out a three-pronged Kunai, he then gave it to her. ''You know what it is. If there is anything call me,'' he then sighed turning away from her. His gloves were somewhere in the sitting room; he needed them before he left. ''Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day. Fire Daimyo tomorrow morning then I have to be at Konoha before noon. Not to mention that I will travel all night,'' he said to himself as Mei followed him from behind with the three-pronged kunai firmly in her hands.

''You know when you came here; I thought you were going to stay for a few days. But I guess It can't be helped,'' she breathed a sigh. ''Well, thanks for coming here; it really did help clear my mind off a few things.''

Naruto nodded as he searched for his gloves. When he found them he turned to the Godaime Mizukage. ''Don't call me because you are bored because if you do, next time you do it I will ignore you,'' he then disappeared in a yellow flash.

Mei did not know if he was joking or being serious. But he certainly did not seem to be joking, yet again, if he was joking, he would have kept it calm like he was not. She hated the fact that she could not read or get a clear meaning over some of his words. Well, it did not matter anyway. They got their relationship started. That was all she wanted. Soon, he would visit her more and spend the night.

Mei smiled as she went to bed. Tonight, she would certainly have a good sleep full of blissful dreams.

The following day (Konoha)

Naruto needed rest, he had been depriving his body of it recently. When he does sleep tonight, he would certainly not wake up soon. He needed much rest. The trip to the Daimyo's place had been rather dull. He did not waste time to teleport back to Konoha. He had returned while it was still morning. He had spent the day in the Uchiha compound, despite not going anywhere; his presence had been made aware. Tsunade has sent for him, but he had taken his sweet time to get to her. When he went to her office, he did not find the woman, he only found her assistant.

''Where is Tsunade?'' he asked the woman who was sitting behind the Hokage's desk doing the paperwork Tsunade was supposed to be doing. Naruto did not care much about it.

Shizune smiled nervously looking at Naruto. She did notice his new attire; it was less intimidating than his previous one. She did not how to respond to the question because of the reasons why Tsunade was not in. But she could clearly see that the blond was waiting for an answer. She could not lie, the Sharingan could tell if she was lying or not. ''She went out to get a drink since she knew you would take your time to get here,'' the reason the Godaime had even went out was because she had stashed away all of her sake that was within the office.

Before Naruto could respond, Jiraiya appeared. He looked at Naruto, ''She is quite upset today, you should be careful with that you say,'' the man seemed to wince at his own words. Naruto noticed that he was bandaged from his right shoulder. He did not bother to question what had happened though.

''Upset is an understatement,'' Shizune stated leaning against the comfortable chair of the Godaime. Sometimes she felt too comfortable while sitting on this chair. Perhaps it was because she sometimes ran the village on her own while Tsunade is drooling somewhere in her personal residence after drinking too much.

Naruto was not too much interested in what was going on. But before anything more could be said, the door to the office was send crashing through Naruto's face. The blond dodged it easily. When he looked at the door, he saw the Godaime Hokage glaring at him murderously. He had never seen the woman quite infuriated before. Tsunade was mad, not she was furious, scratch that, she was beyond furious. She was tired of Naruto.

Seeing that Tsunade had not calmed down a bit, Jiraiya spoke, ''You are on your own Naruto,'' he said before disappearing from the office by the window. Naruto barely heard him. But he could also see that Shizune also wanted to leave, she just could not because a furiously looking Tsunade was blocking her path.

In the blink on an eye Tsunade was right in front of Naruto, with her first glowing with chakra. She pummeled the blond in the chest with a left hook and sent him crashing towards the wall of the office. Shizune quickly ran away and none of the ANBU did anything to stop her. Doing something like that would certainly be hazardous. No wonder Jiraiya had left.

The punch had not been that powerful, but it hurt like crap. Tsunade was not done though. She lunged into the blond with her right hand in motion to strike. Naruto knew that it would not be healthy for him if he received the hit. He would probably spend much time in the hospital if he got hit again. The power if this one was definitely far stronger than the previous punch. His Mangekyou Sharingan was activated just as Tsunade pummeled him. The punch drove him through the wall and sent him flying a few blocks away. What was left was a large hole in the office of the Hokage. People tended to runaway whenever a wall went down in the Hokage tower.

Naruto crashed into a building a few blocks away. His cloak was ruined slightly due to his crash. He recovered quickly though and jumped down the ground. He winced as he did. ''I was lucky I was able to activate my Susano'o in time. If I had not, that punch would have shattered my rib cage. It got dangerous though, when her punch crushed my Susano'o. I guess her strength is indeed legendary,'' Naruto stated to himself as he dusted himself up. The villagers just watched him silently.

He then realized that he was bleeding from his mouth. It was nothing though, so he wiped the blood off, and smiled slightly. ''That did hurt,'' he disappeared in a swirl of flames.

He appeared within the office of the Hokage and found the woman sitting down, clearly ignoring the hole in her office. He could see that she had calmed down a little. Jiraiya then returned to the office, but stayed away from Tsunade.

''Naruto-kun,'' he narrowed his eyes from behind. ''Are you hurt?'' Shizune asked politely. She wanted to heal him if he was hurt. She knew that those punches did not do anyone any good. It seemed a stupid question to ask after seeing him being punched through the wall. But this was Uchiha Naruto who was punched.

''I can help myself,'' Naruto said taking a seat. Shizune nodded and went away. Naruto unzipped his cloak from his chest down to his waist and tore his shirt. This exposed his well toned chest. The blond did not care of the Hokage was staring at him, or if he could feel some eyes boring into his chest from the shadows.

His hand then glowed green and placed it on his chest, surprising both Jiraiya and Tsunade. The former was the one to speak though. ''You can use medical ninjutsu?''

''It is just what every trained shinobi ought to do. I am rather pathetic at it. But isn't it for every shinobi to have the basic medical ninjutsu skills?'' Naruto responded with a shrug. While surprising the sannin that he could admit that he was pathetic at something, and by his calm tone.

Regardless, Jiraiya nodded. ''But Shinobi these days no longer take it seriously. They would rather learn elemental ninjutsu than medical. They don't know how useful it is even if it is just basic,'' the Toad Sage found himself agreeing with the blond about this matter.

''Isn't that the ignorance of this generation? They would rather carry a knife than a shield. They focus most on attack than defense. May shinobi don't even have a jutsu that is only for defense,'' Naruto stated as he continued working on his chest.

''I have come across many of that kind. But the fault sometimes lies on the senseis. They don't give proper advice to their students. Our academy school is also flawed. The students are mostly taught useless things that will not help them in real life battle,'' really, most senseis did not teach their students the proper ways of shinobi. It was why this generation was weaker to the previous generation. There was also the issue of determination in ones training - which many of today lacked.

''That reminds me of Kakashi. That man is not fit for training ninja's. Perhaps if it were for motivation, he would certainly have been given an award for that. Well he did do a good change with Sasuke and has changed. I may be wrong.'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''Perhaps, Jiraiya, you should retire and train the younger generation. Despite my lack of respect of your title as sannin, I do no doubt your skill.''

It was until now that Jiraiya realized that he was talking to Naruto. When talking to the blond, you had to expect such comments to come. ''Why should I retire?'' he questioned glaring at the blond.

''You are old and are past your prime. You have no children, no apprentice. There is no one to pass your ''legacy''. What you had to offer was Minato, but he is dead. When you die, what will be your legacy? If I were you, I would be training someone to pass on to my will. You have lived past two wars, any day now, you could just drop dead. And the only one who will cry for you is her,'' by this time Naruto had finished working on his chest. He then zipped his cloak, ignoring his torn shirt. ''Now, then, Tsunade, can we get on to why you decided to relieve your anger on me.''

Tsunade had been listening to the two talk silently. It was like for the first time they talked silently without Jiraiya glaring at Naruto or Naruto throwing insults at the sannin. Well it started that way before Naruto became Naruto. Her anger had disappeared, but no completely as she listened to the points they made. They really did make good points, and the blond said some important things. But there was one she would have to talk with Jiraiya about before the end of the day. Naruto's speech seemed to be different, but he was still blunt as always.

But before anything, she had to ask something she noticed. ''Were you using the conversation with Jiraiya as something to keep you busy or as a distraction while you finished healing yourself,'' she had noticed that the moment the blond finished healing himself, he immediately turned to her.

''Yes,'' he did not deny it. It was all truth. He needed to heal himself first before getting to the main reason he had even bothered to come into this office. This response did not make the toad sage feel any better.

Tsunade nodded, before taking a sip of sake she had poured for herself while the two were talking. ''I thought you would retaliate,'' there were dangers to assaulting a Hokage, but she was sure Naruto did not care about that. And Konoha could did need the blond. Without him, there would be no Kyuubi. The Bijuu was another source of their power; they could not afford to lose it.

''No, I could have dodged your first punch,'' with the Hiraishin. ''But I wanted to see how it would hurt. What did not except was for you to try another round. I must say, your legendary strength is no fuss at all. Even I could not have escaped that punch in one piece without Susano'o,'' he had made sure not state that he could use the Hiraishin. It would only make much noise now.

''I should have hit you harder,'' Tsunade said with a slight glare. But she did not notice he was not being sarcastic her legendary strength. ''If I had done that, I would have gotten you at my mercy and take you to the hospital where I would make sure you stay in bed for at least a month under my supervision,'' she had a dark smile about her as she spoke. She would give him 'medicine' that ensure he could not move. Perhaps up until that time he would learn to behave.

Naruto ignored all her words and changed the topic. ''You assaulted a clan head. Do you know what crime you have committed, Tsunade?'' he said in a slightly serious tone that caught the Hokage off-guard, but before she could say anything, Naruto spoke again. ''Despite my question catching you off-guard, you were going to retort, and say something like; 'You deserved it'. You have no respect for stupid laws that only tie you down. That is what I wanted to see from you.''

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. She knew there could be a political fallout for assaulting a clan head. The clan heads were the second in power within the village. ''What are you saying, Naruto? Are you saying that you insulted the Fire Lord on purpose?'' Yes, he had insulted the Fire Lord and basically called him a useless old pipe that should just drop dead. She had received the report from the capital a few hours ago. The fire lord was not pleased. He had even threatened to cut off Konoha's budget - which would bring disastrous effects to Konoha's economy. She could not have something like that happening.

''No,'' Naruto responded with a shake of his head. ''What I expected is for you to react the way you did. I expected you to lose it. You lack emotional control, Tsunade. When ticked off, you cannot control your emotions, hence the broken wall. You even assaulted a clan head because you cannot keep your emotions under control. It is quite unbefitting for a Hokage. In your current state of mind you cannot make decisions that will be beneficial to the village. All you can do is do things fueled and clouded by your short fuse,'' at this moment it became cold with Tsunade's eyes glaring at Naruto dangerously and her Killer intent rising up to high levels. But Naruto did not stop. ''This is not the first time you lose your emotional control and do stupid things. You became emotional and abandoned the village. This is not the first time you have broken walls, wasting valuable resources. You are even drunk right now. Tell me; in that state can you make good decisions? I can argue that you are not fit to be Hokage and make a really good case, with the village lea-''

Tsunade snapped. The desk broke in half and the Hokage was in front of the blond. The pummeled him to the wall again. But this time Naruto activated his Susano'o as he did not want to be hit again. She broke his small manifestation of the Susano'o again before he crashed into the wall, creating large cracks. Tsunade rushed at him and grabbed him by his cloak lifting him up. She stared into his eyes angrily. ''You cold manipulative bastard! Did you do all this just to get my seat?!'' she growled at him. By this time, the Hokage Tower was flooded with ANBU. They were everywhere.

Naruto, though, remained calm as if a single mistake and the woman could not snap his neck. ''You are making a foolish mistake because of your anger Tsunade. You know very well that staring into the Sharingan is not good for you,'' the moment those words left his mouth, his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan spun slightly and the Hokage became dizzy, before she let go of him and fell down with a thud. He did not bother to try to catch her. It was her fault that she could not control her emotions. Well, he did provoke her on purpose knowing she would snap.

When he took a step away from the blonde Hokage, Jiraiya was in front of him with a number of ANBU having their swords drawn at him. ''Is this a coupe d'état?'' the Sannin questioned him with a seriously expression on his face and his tone mirroring his expression. His right hand seemed ready to form a Rasengan.

Naruto looked merely amused by this. ''Sadly no,'' he responded. But it did not ease the tension in the office. ''Although it would have been interesting if it were one.''

''What did you do to Tsunade?''

''Genjutsu; you can snap her out of it anytime. I merely did it to calm her down,'' Naruto responded, ignoring the fact there were more than 10 swords pointed at him.

An ANBU walked closer to Tsunade to confirm what he had said. ''I can confirm that it is a Genjutsu. She seems to be having sweet dreams judging by her smile,'' the ANBU reported in a monotone voice looking at Jiraiya, the higher ranked shinobi.

Jiraiya walked towards Tsunade and picked her up. He put her on her seat before turning his attention to the other blond. ''Answer her question!''

''No, I am not after her seat,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''Jiraiya, do not think that 10 ANBU can stop me from doing what I want. I know there are a lot of them here. But you should know better. That being said, when someone has their weapon pointed at me, I tend to become excited. And when I am excited, someone dies.''

''You may be powerful, Uchiha. But you must not be at your right mind to think that you can defeat us all,'' a Tiger masked ANBU stated confidently. They were the elite of the shinobi in Konoha. He had worked with Itachi, who had the Mangekyou, but not even he was this arrogant.

Contrary to the ANBU's words, Jiraiya had no doubt that the blond could escape from the situation he was in. But he had answered the question. He did not think that the blond would do things in such a manner if he wanted Tsunade's position. Before he could tell the ANBU to stand down, another spoke.

''Uchiha are very arrogant. Because of their eyes, they think they are above everyone else. Fame is certainly getting in your head, boy,'' Boar stated making sure not to look into the blonds' eyes.

''Not in my right mind? Arrogant? A boy?'' Naruto smiled. It was not a happy smile. ''Foolish children,'' then a bust of chakra from the blond sent all the ANBU away from him. The chakra was so high and dense that the walls in the office began to crack due to the pressure, but most of all, the floor where the blond was standing was left with heavy cracks. The bust of chakra was felt by everyone and made the ANBU tense the amount of chakra the blond could release in just seconds.

Jiraiya was quick to defuse the situation. ''Naruto, don't do anything rash. Raising your chakra that high will only put the village in panic,'' the sannin stated, he too pushed back by the chakra the blond had released.

''And I was getting excited,'' Naruto said shaking his head. He stopped his chakra lowering the tense atmosphere and putting the ANBU at ease. The ANBU did not get closer to him but he narrowed his eyes at them. ''Do you still think the Uchiha clan head is an arrogant boy who is not right on his mind?''

It was then the ANBU were made to realize that Naruto was not just a shinobi; He was the head of the Uchiha clan. He was in a group of those who were in power under the Hokage within the village. They had just insulted a clan head. ''N-no!''

Naruto paid them no mind anymore. He looked at Jiraiya. ''It is about time to wake up Tsunade so we can get back to this meeting,'' he stated calmly ignoring all that was around him.

The sannin nodded and went on to disrupt Tsunade's chakra. But she did not wake up. He tried again, but nothing happened. This only brought back the tense atmosphere in the office. The sannin looked at Naruto with a worried look on his face. ''Why can't she wake up?''

Naruto stroked his chin in a careless manner. ''I must have used a powerful Genjutsu that affects her mind only. Only Tsunade can break out of it, but it is really difficult because the longer stays in the Genjutsu, the more her mind becomes convinced it is reality. Unless that she will stay like that,'' he did not seem to be worried about it. This only forced the ANBU to get ready into action again because as it seems the blond as put the Hokage in an unfavorable condition.

''How can you stay calm like that? Are you saying that the Genjutsu can't be broken?!'' Jiraiya yelled; his worried growing by the second.

''Overreacting will not solve anything,'' Naruto said. ''I can break her out of it,'' he said holding a ram seal. Nothing seemed to happen for a few moments before Tsunade finally stirred. ''If I do this next time I won't break her out of it. You will have to get a Yamanaka to get inside her mind to convince her that she is in a Genjutsu.''

Seeing that Tsunade was coming back to life, Jiraiya motioned for the ANBU to leave. If Naruto wanted to kill Tsunade he would done it in another way. So he had nothing to be worried about. After the ANBU had left the sannin sat down as Naruto did the same. ''For a second I thought you were going to kill Tsunade,'' he shook his head. ''Wasn't there any other way to calm her down?''

''Shouldn't you be asking your shoulder that question?''

Jiraiya looked at his shoulder and winced the memory when Tsunade snapped at him. He had been trying to calm her down. But he should have known better that nothing works. ''I know that all Uchiha are good with Genjutsu, but I did not think you used Genjutsu. You seem to be the type to render you opponent immobile by cutting his/her legs than putting them on Genjutsu.''

''I only use Genjutsu when I want to torture someone. It is not really torture, though.'' Naruto replied simply.

''How do you call it torture when she was smiling,'' Jiraiya asked with a raised eye brow. The blond Hokage did not have the signs of someone who was being tortured. She seemed happy.

''Time; Tsunade has already spent more than two months, inside her dreams. Experience; what she experienced in the illusion was her greatest desire. Conclusion; Tsunade spent more than two months living her dream life. When she wakes up, she will find out it was all but an illusion.''

Jiraiya glared at Naruto. ''Why would you do something like that?''

''Because I can and I wanted her to know what was real. Tsunade is trapped up in her past and lacks emotional control. Her greatest desire is around those dead. She needs to look past that and look ahead. How can she focus on what is real if her greatest desire is with the dead? You are the same her, you are too focused on your failures and past that you can't look ahead. You are just being a sannin before your miserable life ends. Tsunade is just being the Godaime Hokage, trying to protect her grandfather's legacy. Protect, protect. Nothing changes. Konoha will always be Konoha unless you and the Senju woman start having real dreams, rather than wishing for things you can't have, grieving about your failures. You are so proud of being Sannin but you have nothing to show for it. At least the Senju woman has trained some pupils in her likeness. But you, because Minato is dead, and you failed me, you can't look forwards,'' Naruto shook his head. ''How disappointing"