Amidst the yellow sands.
Two groups of people stood facing each other. Despite having the numerical advantage, Temari and Kankuro felt a wave of panic in their hearts. Gaara might be a monster, but the fellow opposite them was clearly also a monster—and the kind of abnormal monster who could pin Gaara to the ground and thrash him.
"Did something happen?" Seeing that his attempts at persuasion were ineffective, Gaara didn't say much more. Actions were far more persuasive than feeble words. Recalling the promise he had once made, Gaara's gaze firmed. He had chosen his leader; no matter how great the difficulties, he had to bear them. Even if for no other reason, he owed this person his life.
"You've really changed." Gazing at the Shura-like aura that was gradually dissipating from the depths of Gaara's eyes, Naruto couldn't help but remark with deep feeling.
Listening to the two converse so familiarly, Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances, both feeling bewildered. What on earth had happened to this world? Just a month ago, they had been enemies locked in a life-or-death struggle; how could they suddenly be sitting together and chatting amicably now?
Naruto plopped down on a nearby rock and said with a smile, "I just wanted to come and see you. I've left Konoha and have nothing to do for the time being."
"Leaving Konoha… was it to realize your ideals?" Gaara asked.
"Can't really call them ideals. I just couldn't stay in Konoha any longer, so I'm just wandering around."
"Left Konoha? What do you mean by that?" Listening to this, Temari suddenly found the situation becoming increasingly perplexing. Konoha's jinchuriki had fled Konoha? What was this all about?
"Miss Temari, you really don't need to be so tense." Naruto held out his empty hands, showing the two of them he was harmless. "Last time, we were adversaries simply because our stances were different. I was a Konoha ninja, and you were invaders."
"Now, I am no longer a Konoha ninja. There's no direct conflict of interest, so why would I fight you? Besides, I'm Gaara's friend. You wouldn't intend to greet a guest who has come from afar with weapons, would you?"
The two siblings thought about it and felt that what he said seemed to have some merit. They nodded slightly and, together, put away their weapons.
"You two seem to be getting along quite well." Noticing Gaara's dark eye circles had faded somewhat, Naruto nodded slightly. Gaara and Shukaku reaching an understanding sooner rather than later was beneficial for everyone.
"I've talked with him a lot during this time," Gaara nodded. Perhaps because the change had been somewhat sudden, even he himself hadn't fully processed it; his manner of speaking was still much the same as before—as brief as possible.
Naruto rubbed his chin. Chakra could effectively reflect a person's current state. The last time they parted, Gaara's chakra had always given him a feeling of anxiety and ferocity. The ferocity was likely Gaara's instinctive response to the oppressive environment; the anxiety stemmed from being the One-Tail's jinchuriki, avoiding sleep for long periods to prevent Shukaku from seizing control of his consciousness when the seal weakened at night. But now it was different. Gaara's chakra now exuded more of a gentle, sunny feeling. Although the magnitude of the change was so great that even he found it a bit hard to adjust to, it was, undeniably, Gaara's chakra.
Though Temari was growing increasingly confused by their cryptic conversation, she wasn't entirely without her takeaways. The reason her irritable little brother had been able to mend his ways was entirely due to this fellow. While she felt deeply gratified, she also couldn't help but feel a sense of failure. She herself had tried so hard to influence Gaara's thinking, but over a decade of effort couldn't compare to a few minutes from someone else. The thought itself was quite disheartening…
"By the way, have you guys ever been to Rouran?" Naruto asked. Rouran was his next destination. He really wanted to know if the Rouran of this world was the same as the Rouran in his memories.
"It sounds vaguely familiar…" Kankuro pondered for a moment, then still shook his head.
"A lost civilization, the Lost Tower. It's said that during the Second Great Ninja War, Rouran also had a period of brilliance," Temari chimed in eloquently. Evidently, girls had more of a feel for this kind of historical and literary subject. "What are you going there for?"
"Didn't I say? I have nowhere to go, just looking around," Naruto said, shaking his head slightly.
"Since you're also a ninja, if you travel quickly, you can reach it by tomorrow," Temari said, not suspecting him of anything. As long as this fellow harbored no untoward designs on Sunagakure, she didn't care what he wanted to do.
"No need to be in such a hurry. I'll take it slow." Naruto stood up and patted the dust off his backside. He had paid good money for this; how he traveled this leg of the journey was not for others to decide.
Konoha Village. Hokage Tower.
The newly instated Fifth Hokage, Senju Tsunade, looked helplessly at the mountain of documents piled up before her.
"So, what exactly have those old undying fools been doing all this time?"
Hearing her voice, thick with resentment, Nara Shikaku, serving as the Hokage's Assistant, shifted his gaze out the window, pretending not to have heard. These were words that only Tsunade—granddaughter of the First and Second Hokages, a commander in the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars, and the driving force behind the medical ninja system—could say. Tsunade, whether by status, merit, or her current position, could afford to disregard Konoha's three elders. He, however, could not. His small frame couldn't withstand being on those three's bad side.
"These documents can be dealt with slowly." Nara Shikaku pointed to the pile of papers that was nearly as tall as he was, then took a document from the top of an even smaller stack nearby. "This matter is currently the most urgent and must be handled as soon as possible."
Tsunade casually opened it. After reading it, she clenched her silver teeth. "Those old bastards! They've got one foot in the grave already, and they're still stirring up trouble everywhere!"
On the desk lay Naruto's complete file, detailing everything from his birth to his defection. It was so comprehensive that it even included some things Naruto himself might have forgotten. Part of the reason she had chosen to leave Konoha all those years ago, aside from her hemophobia, was her exasperation with these old fools' petty tricks. They constantly claimed it was for Konoha's sake, yet their actions grew more baffling by the day.
"Jiraiya! Get your ass in here!" The more Tsunade thought about it, the angrier she became, and she directly roared at the old scoundrel leaning against the window. The sudden shout made Jiraiya jump.
"You handle this! There's no room for discussion! Otherwise, you can be the damn Hokage!"
"Calm down, calm down. I'll take care of it, I'll take care of it," Jiraiya said placatingly, forcing a smile.
"Ngh…" Nara Shikaku covered his face. Though he was very reluctant to admit it, their Fifth Hokage seemed to rather disdain her own position. Based on what he had seen and heard these past two days, Princess Tsunade had only agreed to become the Fifth Hokage because Lord Jiraiya had somehow conned her into it.
"By the way, didn't Uzumaki Naruto also sign the Mount Myoboku summoning contract?" Tsunade asked. The Summoning Technique was a two-way street; humans could summon beasts, and summoning beasts could also summon humans.
"…He unilaterally terminated that contract." After a long silence, Jiraiya sighed faintly.
Tsunade gently tapped the desktop with her fair fingers, adorned with pink nail polish, and didn't ask anything further. Her own grand-disciple's situation in Konoha, the Konoha elders' situation—did she not know? After gallivanting around for so many years without even deigning to come back for a look, who was there to blame? In her view, Jiraiya had to bear a portion of the responsibility for the little one's defection. Grandma Mito had been fine; her special status and position meant that being a jinchuriki hadn't affected her too adversely. But Kushina, that little girl—she had seen what kind of situation Kushina had been in after becoming a jinchuriki. To expect a young, ignorant child to withstand that kind of inhuman discrimination? Simply outrageous! Why didn't those old bastards become jinchuriki themselves?