Fifth Hokage Lady Tsunade

Amid the yellow sand.

Two groups stood facing each other.

Though they clearly held the numerical advantage, Temari and Kankuro were scared out of their wits.

Gaara might also be a monster, but the guy across from them was clearly one too—and the kind of freakish monster who could pin Gaara to the ground and beat him senseless.

"Did something happen?" Seeing that his persuasion had been ineffective, Gaara said nothing more. Actions were far more convincing than powerless words.

Remembering the promise he had once made, Gaara's gaze hardened. He had chosen his own boss; no matter how difficult things became, he had to bear it.

If for no other reason, he owed him his life.

"You really have changed."

Seeing the Asura slowly fade from the depths of his eyes, Naruto could not help sighing.

Listening to the two speak so familiarly, Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances, both baffled. What had happened to the world? Just a month ago, they had been enemies fighting to the death. How could they suddenly sit together and chat so peacefully?

Naruto plopped down on a rock and smiled. "I just wanted to come see you. I left Konoha, and for the time being, I have nothing to do."

"Did you leave Konoha to pursue your ideals?" Gaara asked.

"I wouldn't call it an ideal. I just couldn't stay in Konoha anymore, so I decided to look around."

"Left Konoha? What do you mean by that?" As she listened, Temari suddenly found the situation increasingly confusing. Konoha's Jinchuriki had fled Konoha—what was that supposed to mean?

"Miss Temari, you really don't need to be so nervous." Naruto held out his empty hands, showing the two that he meant no harm. "Last time, we were enemies only because we stood on different sides. I was a Konoha ninja, and you were invaders."

"Now, I'm no longer a Konoha ninja. We have no direct conflict of interest, so why would I fight you?"

"Besides, I'm Gaara's friend. You wouldn't welcome a guest who came all this way with weapons, would you?"

After giving it some thought, the two felt that he had a point. They nodded slightly and put away their weapons.

"You two seem to be getting along well." Seeing the dark circles beneath Gaara's eyes had faded somewhat, Naruto nodded. The sooner Gaara and Shukaku reached an understanding, the better it would be for everyone.

"We've talked a lot during this time," Gaara said with a nod.

Perhaps because the change had come so suddenly that even he had not fully processed it, he still spoke much as he had before—saying as little as possible.

Naruto rubbed his chin. Chakra could reflect a person's current state quite clearly. When they had parted last time, Gaara's chakra had always given him a restless, violent feeling.

The violence was likely Gaara's instinctive response to the oppressive environment around him. The restlessness, meanwhile, came from being the One-Tails Jinchuriki—he had gone without sleep for long periods to prevent Shukaku from taking over his consciousness at night, when the seal weakened.

But now, it was different. Gaara's chakra felt warmer and brighter, almost like sunlight. The change was so drastic that Naruto had trouble adjusting to it, yet it was undeniably Gaara's chakra.

Though Temari grew more confused the more she listened to their cryptic conversation, she had still learned something. The reason her hot-tempered little brother had turned over a new leaf was entirely because of this guy.

While she felt deeply relieved, she could not help feeling a little defeated as well.

She had worked so hard to influence Gaara's way of thinking, yet more than ten years of effort could not compare to a few minutes from someone else. Thinking about it made her feel like a complete failure...

"By the way, have you been to Rōran?" Naruto asked.

Rōran was his next destination. He wanted to know whether the Rōran in this world was truly the same as the one in his memories.

"It sounds familiar..." Kankuro pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

"A lost civilization, the Lost Tower. They say Rōran was once brilliantly prosperous during the Second Great Ninja War." Temari spoke at length. Clearly, girls had a better feel for this kind of history and culture.

"What are you going there for?"

"Didn't I say? I have nowhere to go, so I'm looking around," Naruto said, shaking his head slightly.

"Since you're a ninja too, if you pick up the pace, you can get there tomorrow." Temari did not suspect anything. As long as this guy had no designs on Sunagakure, she did not care what he wanted to do.

"There's no need to hurry. I'll take it slow."

Naruto stood and dusted off his backside. He had paid for this trip, after all. No one else got to decide how he traveled this road.

Konoha.

Hokage Office.

The newly appointed Fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju, looked helplessly at the mountain of documents piled before her.

"So what exactly have those old fossils been doing all this time?"

Hearing the resentment in her voice, Shikaku Nara, serving as the Hokage's assistant, looked out the window and pretended not to hear.

Only Tsunade could say such things. She was the granddaughter of the First and Second Hokage, had served as a commander during the Second Great Ninja War and the Third Shinobi World War, and had driven the development of the Medical Ninja system.

Whether in terms of identity, achievements, or her current position, Tsunade could ignore Konoha's Three Elders.

He could not.

His small frame could not withstand the attention of those three.

"These documents can be handled slowly." Shikaku Nara pointed at the stack of documents nearly as tall as he was, then took one file from the top of a shorter pile beside it. "This matter is the most urgent one at present. It must be dealt with as soon as possible."

Tsunade opened it casually. After reading it, she gritted her pearly teeth. "Those old bastards have one foot in the grave, yet they're still causing trouble everywhere."

On the desk lay every piece of information about Naruto, from his birth up until his defection.

Even things Naruto himself might have forgotten had not been left out.

Back then, she had chosen to leave Konoha not only because of her hemophobia, but also partly because she had grown sick of the little schemes of those old fossils.

They always claimed it was for Konoha, yet everything they did was more baffling than the last.

"Jiraiya! Get your ass in here!"

The angrier she thought about it, the more Tsunade could not hold back. She roared at the old bastard leaning against the window.

The sudden shout made Jiraiya flinch.

"You're handling this matter! You have no choice! Otherwise, you can be the damn Hokage!"

"Calm down. I'll handle it, I'll handle it," Jiraiya said with a placating grin.

"Mm..." Shikaku Nara covered his face.

Though he truly did not want to admit it, their Fifth Hokage seemed somewhat disgusted with her own position.

Based on what he had seen and heard over the past two days, Lady Tsunade seemed to have agreed to become the Fifth Hokage only because Lord Jiraiya had tricked her into it.

"By the way, didn't Naruto Uzumaki also sign a Summoning Jutsu contract with Mount Myōboku?" Tsunade asked.

Summoning Jutsu was mutual. Humans could summon summon beasts, and summon beasts could summon humans.

"...He terminated the contract unilaterally." After a long silence, Jiraiya sighed softly.

Tsunade tapped the desk lightly with a fair finger painted with pink nail polish and asked no further questions.

Did she not know what kind of situation her grand-disciple had faced in Konoha? Did she not know what Konoha's old fossils were like?

After wandering around all these years without even being willing to return for a look, who could he blame?

In her view, Jiraiya had to bear part of the responsibility for the kid's defection.

Grandma Mito had been all right. Her status was special, and being a Jinchuriki had not caused her too much harm. But Kushina had become a Jinchuriki as a young girl—had Tsunade not seen what kind of treatment she received?

Expecting an ignorant young child to withstand that inhuman discrimination?

It was utter nonsense!

Why did those old bastards not become Jinchuriki themselves?

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I had a lot going on today, so I'm posting first and revising later.