Three days later, the visiting nobles began their departure from the village. The Chunin Exams had certainly given them quite the shock.
"I understand now!"
Before leaving, Nagato, acting in his capacity as the Daimyo of the Land of Rain, suddenly addressed Naruto.
"Without destruction there is no construction, it's important to break the past to establish new future. I must completely shatter the Shinobi World and reshuffle the deck. Only then can the barriers between people be removed. Only then can true peace be welcomed."
Nagato muttered the philosophy to himself at first, his voice gradually rising in fervor. He then bowed deeply to Naruto. "Grandpa, I have learnt alot."
Naruto nodded along on the outside while on inside he was confused, 'Actually, that wasn't what I wanted to teach you at all. Though, I suppose that works too.'
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Within the month, news of Danzo's ascension as the Fifth Hokage of Konoha had spread throughout the Shinobi World, carried swiftly by interested parties. The Kage of the Five Great Nations all received the intelligence.
However, what they found truly inconceivable was a second report: Sunagakure had betrayed the alliance and attacked Konoha.
Yet, strangely, both Konohagakure and Sunagakure completely denied the conflict. Instead, they unanimously pinned the blame on Otogakure, claiming it was an Otogakure conspiracy designed to frame the Suna. For this transgression, the Land of Rice Paddies paid a painful price, and Otogakure was effectively erased from the Shinobi World.
Now, the relationship between Suna and Konoha couldn't be better.
And how could it not be? Both ninja villages had essentially become forces belonging to the same person.
The other three major villages clamored to investigate, but unfortunately, Konoha initiated a total lockdown, forbidding all unauthorized entry or exit. This left the spies of the other Great Nations, desperate for the 'truth,' completely at their wits' end.
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Somewhere deep in the Konoha Forest.
"Hahaha!"
A string of bright laughter echoed through the trees. Who else could this energetic girl with mint-green hair be but the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Fu?
"Fu, don't you plan on returning to Takigakure?" Naruto asked.
The moment Gaara and Fu had reverted to their human forms, they had been whisked away by Naruto's Shadow Clones. During the chaos, Naruto had spread his clones across the entirety of Konoha, wherever the Anbu were stationed, a clone was there too.
"The village is so boring! I have to follow this rule and that rule," Fu complained airily. "It's much more fun here. There's Big Tanuki, Big Cat, and Big Fox!"
Compared to Shukaku, who was still brooding over being controlled by Sharingan Genjutsu, Fu and Chomei were remarkably unbothered. Chomei had a naturally good temperament, and Fu was simply happy to have made new friends.
Matatabi, Kurama, and Naruto, she considered them all companions.
As for Shukaku? Let him sulk if he wants, it wasn't like he could beat Sasuke anyway.
Jinchuriki were unwelcome existences in any village unless they could perfectly suppress their Tailed Beast. If they lost control even once, or if a predecessor had gone berserk, the current Jinchuriki would become an object of hatred for the villagers.
That was why Fu held such a deep obsession with making friends. The people of Takigakure didn't treat her as a friend, but as a weapon. Only Shibuki treated her slightly better, but even that had its limits. Because he knew her fate, as Takigakure was a relatively small village at any moment she would be asked to sacrifice her life for her village.
"The name is Kurama," Kurama shouted noisily over the Tailed Beast psychic channel.
Shukaku started yammering, "Big Fox, Big Fox!"
Watching the drama unfold, Shukaku frantically provoked Kurama.
"Dumb Tanuki, do you want to fight?"
"Come on then! Who's afraid of you?"
The two were born enemies, arguing the moment they made contact.
"Count me in," Naruto suggested.
"Me, me, me! Count me in too!" Kid Goku, who hadn't shown his face in a while, chimed in excitedly.
"Not fighting!", Both Shukaku and Kurama said together.
The two tailed beasts immediately turning their heads away. When it came to the absolute rule of not fighting Naruto or Kid Goku, Shukaku and Kurama stood on a united front.
Shukaku hadn't been convinced initially, until Naruto beat him up inside the seal space under the pretense of "exchanging feelings".
"What about you, Gaara? Are you not planning to go back to Sunagakure either?" Naruto turned to the redhead.
After a period of interaction and 'friendly' exchange, Gaara's mental state had finally stabilized. Shukaku had promised Naruto that he would no longer fight Gaara for control of the body. If the Tanuki went back on his word, he knew he would be strung up and thrashed by the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Gaara shook his head and spoke slowly. "It's not bad here."
Since waking up, Gaara had gradually come to understand his identity, a Jinchuriki, host to the One-Tail Shukaku, one of the legendary nine Tailed Beasts. There were only nine people like him in the entire Shinobi World (now eight). Because Shukaku in his twisted sense of humor was previously pretending to be Gaara's mother.
And here, counting Naruto, there were three Jinchuriki and four Tailed Beasts. At the very least, he wasn't lonely, nor was he treated as an alien. Jinchuriki might not always become friends, but only a Jinchuriki could truly understand another.
Sunagakure's attitude toward Gaara was far worse than Fu's situation. He wasn't just a weapon, he was viewed as an unstable, dangerous bomb that could detonate at any moment. In his entire village, the only people who might care about him were Baki and Temari, and perhaps Kankuro, if one were generous.
What a Jinchuriki wants is actually very simple.
A loving home, a village where they aren't ostracized, and an environment where they aren't treated as a monster.
Unfortunately, Jinchuriki exist to be weapons of war. Unless the Shinobi World is at peace, such things remain nothing more than extravagant hopes.
"Wherever Gaara-kun goes, Fu goes too," Fu declared, draping her arm carelessly around Gaara's neck.
Gaara's expression showed a hint of resistance, yet he made no move to reject her closeness. It wasn't so much that he disliked it, but rather that he wasn't used to it.
Strangely, the sand that usually reacted violently to anything approaching Gaara did not stop Fu at all, acting as if she didn't exist.
Gaara's Sand Control did not come from Shukaku, but from his mother, Karura, whose will continued to protect him even after death. It wasn't that Shukaku accepted Fu, it was that Gaara's mother accepted her.
Naruto smirked, his tone carrying a hidden meaning. "You really like Gaara, don't you, Fu?"
"Mm!" Fu patted her chest, declaring in an exaggerated tone, "I like Gaara-kun the most!"
Fu's feelings toward Gaara were unique. From the moment she saw him, she felt he was special, as if he possessed a unique temperament that drew her in. Even rarer was the fact that Gaara didn't push her away, he seemed to sense something special about her, too.
This attraction was definitely not the typical resonance between Jinchuriki that Naruto spoke of.
"Staying by his side feels... very reassuring."
'Reassuring...'
Gaara repeated the word silently in his heart, a faint blush dusting his cheeks for the first time. It was the first time in his life he had heard anyone say they felt safe by his side.
Naruto looked at Gaara, then at Fu, revealing a knowing, matchmaker's grin.
'I am definitely shipping them. I will support their marriage in future.'
"Fu, Gaara, I established an organization," Naruto said, extending an olive branch. "Do you want to consider joining us?"
Naruto held no ill will toward Jinchuriki, on the contrary, thanks to Kurama, he felt quite close to them. As for Yugito, his hostility had been purely because she was a Kumo-nin, Naruto had simply been venting anger on behalf of his mother, his future wife, and his brother-in-law.
If anyone was to blame, it was the Kumogakure for being too much of a bully.
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(A/N: For those who hasn't read Boruto, Gaara still isn't married in it. And sadly it seems he has given up on it as well. Because his last relationship ended with her trying to kill him. That's just too sad...)
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