Naruto Uzumaki's real purpose for coming to the Waterfall Village was the Seven-Tails, Chomei.
After a few leaps, the young Hokage returned to the side of the Seven-Tails jinchuriki, Fū. He looked down at the wheat-skinned girl, noting her somewhat revealing clothes before his gaze hesitantly fell to her abdomen.
Inside the sealing space, the Nine-Tails's mouth twitched. "Hey, Naruto, what are you spacing out for?" he growled. "Hurry up and absorb the Seven-Tails' chakra!"
"Yeah..."
The young Hokage nodded. Averting his eyes from Fū's lower body, he reached out to place his hand on her stomach. But before his palm could touch her cool skin, a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.
The Seven-Tails jinchuriki had woken up.
A blush spread across the girl's face. She glanced at the boy in the Hokage's robe and said shyly, "Thank you for saving me... A-are you trying to take off my pants?"
"...Sorry, not in the slightest!"
Naruto's face darkened. Why is she blushing?! He really hadn't wanted Fū to wake up just yet. Now that she was awake, he'd have to restrain her again.
Naruto quickly brought his fingers together, looked at Fū's face, and shouted, "Wood Style: Tree Binding!"
Seven or eight vines shot out to entangle her, but in the next moment, Fū's figure vanished.
A pair of insect-like wings had sprouted from her shoulders, flapping to carry her into the sky as she nimbly dodged the attack. Fū's expression turned cold. She looked down at Naruto and said, "Are you an enemy too? I thought you were going to be my friend..."
The girl had loved making friends since she was little. She had even tried to befriend the rogue ninja from her own village. It seemed Fū hoped everyone in the world could be her friend. It was a bit naive.
The young Hokage frowned. Looking up at the girl in the air, he said, "No, I'm here to help you."
"Then stand right there and don't move." Fū held out a hand to stop him, flapping her wings to fly toward the Waterfall Village. "I'm going to check on the village first!"
"Eight Gates Seal!"
Two golden chains erupted from Naruto's body, piercing into Fū and dragging her down from the sky. She was completely powerless to resist. Even if the Seven-Tails tried to give her chakra, the golden chains of the Uzumaki clan's innate sealing jutsu would intercept it, perfectly countering her as a jinchuriki.
A nervous look appeared on her face. Staring at the boy below, she asked with fear, "What are you trying to do?"
"..."
Naruto didn't answer. He stretched out his hand, placed it on her abdomen, and whispered, "Sealing Jutsu: Devour! Come out... Chomei!"
"Stop it!"
Fū thrashed, punching and kicking at Naruto's body with all her might, but she had no strength and couldn't stop him. As the Sealing Jutsu activated, a massive amount of Tailed Beast chakra gushed from her body.
It was the chakra of the Seven-Tails, Chomei.
Perhaps because he had done this once before, Naruto's actions were practiced. The Seven-Tails' chakra flowed like a gentle stream into his palm. He carefully split Chomei into two parts, leaving a fist-sized portion inside Fū's body while taking the colossal remainder into his own sealing space.
Having lost most of the Seven-Tails' power, Fū was greatly weakened, as if she had just overcome a major illness. She fell limply into Naruto's arms.
The young Hokage ignored the Tailed Beast battle now raging inside his body—the Nine-Tails would surely win anyway. He helped the girl up and asked softly, "Hey, are you okay?"
"Chomei... became so small..." Fū lifted her head, barely opening her eyes. She didn't answer his question, instead whispering, "Why did you take its chakra? It didn't do anything wrong..."
"..."
The young Hokage was silent for a moment before slowly saying, "Because I need its power. Because the ninja world needs its power."
"A Konoha ninja... is different from what I imagined..."
"What did you imagine a Konoha ninja to be like?"
"Lord Shibuki said that Konoha ninjas love peace and will always help their friends. Although they have great power, they don't bully the weak..." Fū's expression was complicated. The young Hokage before her had completely shattered her image of Konoha ninjas.
Due to the 60-year alliance between their villages, almost every Waterfall ninja had a good impression of their Konoha allies. When faced with the invasion, Shibuki had said that only Konoha could save them, which was why he had rushed there directly for help.
Naruto frowned, patting her back gently. "In the future, you will meet many Konoha ninjas just like the ones you imagine."
In the past, I used to be that kind of ninja too, he thought. But I learned that mere passion can't save the world. Only by placing all ninjas under one system can there be peace.
After the Waterfall Village is dismantled, Fū, as the Seven-Tails jinchuriki, would have to move to Konoha. There, she would meet many enthusiastic Konoha ninjas—the ones she had imagined.
-----
Back inside the Waterfall Village, Naruto returned to the high platform. He handed the weakened Fū to Tenten and turned to the assembled villagers.
"I'm sorry," he began, his voice deep and serious. "I have to tell you all some bad news. The Akatsuki has its eyes on the Land of Waterfalls."
"...Wh-what?"
"Lord Hokage, what does that mean?"
"Does this mean our village has proven its innocence? Can the alliance be maintained?"
"Will Konoha help us defend our home?"
The villagers below immediately erupted in an uproar. Sasuke Uchiha covered his ears and shouted, "Hey, everyone be quiet!"
The scene fell silent. A ninja who could so easily kill Suien still commanded enough authority to intimidate them.
Naruto looked at the crowd and continued, "The Akatsuki is an evil organization. Once they set a target, they stop at nothing. By the time I reached the back mountain, every Waterfall ninja there, besides Fū, had been killed. The Rain ninjas who invaded with Suien were just scouts. In the future, even more powerful enemies will come. The Waterfall Village will be destroyed."
He didn't need to explain further. Anyone who asked Fū would hear the same story. The mysterious masked man had mercilessly killed the imprisoned Waterfall ninjas, deliberately letting Fū witness it all.
"To protect everyone's safety," the young Hokage swept his gaze over the crowd, "I will arrange for Konoha ninjas to escort the ordinary people to settle in the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Fire. The Waterfall Village's leaders and its ninjas will join Konoha and accept our training..."
"Are you telling us to flee?"
"This is clearly Konoha trying to annex our village!"
Any ninja with half a brain could see Konoha's ambition. The crowd erupted again.
"But this is the only way to ensure our safety!" another ninja retorted. "We don't have enough power to resist an evil organization that's even stronger than the Rain Village!"
The scene immediately became noisy again as the villagers split into two factions. One side argued for staying to shed their last drop of blood for their home, while the other advocated for following Konoha's arrangement to prioritize their lives.
"Shut up!" Sasuke glanced at Naruto, a flicker of red in his eyes. He spoke coldly to the crowd, "Do any of you still have a choice in this matter?"
On the stage, the young Hokage's brow was furrowed, his expression troubled. "For everyone's safety, we have reasons we have to do this."
It was a classic good cop, bad cop routine. A threat of force from one, persuasion from the other. This Fifth Hokage was clearly determined to annex his ally before the Akatsuki could destroy them.
How could there be such a hateful ally?
-----
Bonus:
Sasuke: You're getting more and more spiteful, you know that?
Naruto: Haha, thanks! I get shy when people compliment me.
Sasuke: Compliment you? I said you've become disgusting!
Naruto: Huh? What's that supposed to mean?
Sasuke: Have you been spending too much time with the Second Hokage or something? You're starting to talk and act as shamelessly as he does.
Naruto: Do you Uchiha guys really hate the Second Hokage that much?
Sasuke: Aside from Shisui's family? Pretty much everyone does. The clan used to hold meetings just to complain about him.
Naruto: ...Damn. Well, when you have a bunch of kids someday, make sure they don't badmouth me at your clan meetings.
Sasuke: Like they'll need to? You'll give them enough material on your own.