The tension in the air was palpable, nobody daring to make a noise above the slight crackle of the campfire. An attempt might have been made to rescue their captive comrade, but there was something about the quiet intensity with which Naruto stood there, blade never wavering from Killer Bee's neck, that stopped them in their tracks. Instead they all just waited there, silently, for the half hour it took for the messenger hawk to make it back to Kumogakure.
While the wait for the message to arrive was tortuously slow, the response was rather more… abrupt.
Naruto was the first to notice, suddenly taking a step back and dragging Killer Bee upright, still with the humming blade inches from the bigger man's neck. The Kumo shinobi acted predictably, each taking a step forward with their weapons drawn in anticipation of action. They needn't have bothered though as a moment later a hulking mass, disguised poorly as a bolt of lightning, crashed into the clearing with the subtlety of…
Well, the subtlety of the Raikage.
"NAMIKAZE!"
Standing in a small crater of his own making, the enormous bull of a man that was the fourth Raikage glared at the much smaller and decidedly calmer Konoha-nin with all the murderous intent a man of his size could muster. That was to say, a lot.
"Raikage-dono," Naruto greeted with a small incline of his head, as if he wasn't holding the man's brother at sword-point.
The level greeting only seemed to infuriate the man further. He was only held in check by the mental maths of whether he thought himself fast enough to reach Naruto and cave-in the redhead's skull before the smaller man could slit his brother's throat. Ai was a prideful man, but he wasn't, as some were lead to believe by his brash tendencies, an idiot.
He seemed to take a moment to forcefully reign his emotions in, locking them behind a stern façade all good leaders were forced to acquire at some point. When he was done, he was no longer humming with the restrained energy of his signature lightning armour and instead stood at his full, impressive height with his arms crossed. The only remaining sign of his displeasure was the slight throb of a vein on his forehead.
Naruto hadn't moved an inch, almost reverting back to his days as an ANBU captain with the extreme control he exerted on his expression. The Raikage was truly an impressive man, no so much in his stature – although he was definitely the largest man Naruto had ever seen – but with his presence. Even Killer Bee, sheathed in the noxious Chakra of his full eight-tails mode, did quite measure up.
Naruto almost wanted to laugh at the fact that, against all odds, he didn't find himself in the least bit intimidated. Here he was standing in front of the man whose speed was even acknowledged by his father, and had only decades to become stronger, and he only found himself excited; giddy even.
"So," the man ground out through gritted teeth. "I heard you had something you wanted to talk about."
Naruto nodded. "A proposition if you would, to minimize casualties from this unnecessary war."
"I'm listening," Ai said, although the glance down at his still unconscious brother added the unspoken: 'Because I have little choice.'
"Me and you, one fight, right here."
From the way the Raikage's eyebrow quirked Naruto could tell he'd caught the man's interest.
"I win, Kumo retreats back to their borders behind Shimo no Kuni, immediately, no question, no stalling. Any Konoha prisoners taken will be returned, unharmed and a reconciliation payment will be made for each man killed since you started this invasion." Naruto had rehearsed the offer in his head a hundred times while he was waiting for the man to show up. He had been expecting a number of outcomes; indignant cries, outrage, being laughed off as a lunatic.
What he hadn't expected was the grin that suddenly overtook the Raikage's features. It wasn't a pleasant expression. "And if I were to take you up on this… challenge. What would happen when I win?"
Naruto could hear the careful wording there that boasted the man's confidence and had to bite down a snarky retort. Things Anko would say were not on the list of 'appropriate diplomatic responses,' no matter how cathartic it might have been.
"Kumo would keep any territories they've claimed up until now, we would return all Kumo prisoners currently in our possession, including the same reconciliation payment for casualties I'm demanding." Already he could hear the phantom yells of the clan head in his ears for what he was saying; there would be hell to pay for this even if he won. "And… I would guarantee no retaliatory action from Konoha for five years." That was particularly painful to say and was sure to catch him a lot of flak when he got home; hell, if he got home. After threatening the Raikage's brother the man may not be in the most charitable mood.
Obviously, the terms were at least enough to make the bulky man think about it, although Naruto was rather banking on the man's reputation of making executive decisions without a great deal of input from his advisors. It would mostly determine if he could pull off this lunacy he was loosely calling a 'plan'.
"On what authority are you making, or enforcing these terms?" The Raikage asked after a drawn-out period of reflection. "That limp-wrist Sarutobi doesn't seem the type to broker terms so clean-cut."
Ignoring the slight to his leader, he had the feeling he'd have the chance to get his own back pretty soon, Naruto drew himself up to his full height, hoping he looked somewhat impressive. "As Naruto Namikaze, Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato."
There was another long moment as the full weight of his words sank into the clearing, including somewhat to Naruto himself. He knew what he said to the Shinobi when he'd first gotten here, but this was the first time he really meant it. He was the Hokage.
Or he would be, if he survived this stunt.
"And what's stopping me from reneging the moment you take that sword away from my idiot brother's neck?" The Raikage asked in a surprisingly diplomatic tone, considering the fact that a moment ago he had looked ready to personally bulldoze the surrounding forest and damn the consequences.
"Well, I'm not going to bandy around words like honour, we're shinobi." Naruto shot back, feeling a little easier now that his claim seemed to have been accepted. "But I've heard, at least, that you're a man who respects individual power. That's all I'm doing here, wagering my power against yours. Simple as that."
Ai just grunted, still looking vaguely amused. "Some classic mano-a-mano stuff?" He inhaled deeply, glancing around his assembled men, none of whom seemed like they had a clue what to do in this situation. It wasn't unprecedented in Kumo to have such challenges, although never with somebody from a different nation, or for stakes quite so high. "I suppose I can get behind that. Although why should I accept? Even if I win I could potentially get much more from this invasion if I press on; your village is weak right now, stretched thin."
A hard look entered the redhead's eye. "Because Konoha, no matter how weakened, will burn you for every inch of land you take." He surprised everyone when the flow of Chakra to his blade suddenly cut out, smoothly sheathing it in a fluid motion. "And you're a Kage." He motioned for one of the Kumo-nin to take Killer Bee away and, after a hesitant look at his leader, the man complied. "Which means you care about every soldier under your command."
Naruto knew this was the critical juncture; in normal politics he had essentially committed suicide by throwing away his leverage. But this was Shinobi politics, and he wasn't exactly talking to a normal diplomat. There was the tensest and longest pause yet before finally, and with a great deal of internal relief, the Raikage grinned.
"Deal."
They had moved to a much more open space in the forest, closer to the border with Shimo so that a light dusting of snow covered the ground while hoarfrost crept up the trees. It might have been rather picturesque if Naruto wasn't about to go toe to toe with a man who could take his head off by flexing his bicep too hard. They stood at opposite ends of the field, surrounded by Kumo-nin in the trees; not to contain the fight, or even as insurance for Naruto running, they just didn't want to miss the spectacle.
"I fought your old man once, you know?" Ai started conversationally. Apparently, the prospect of a good fight had lightened his mood enough to ignore the fact Naruto had held his brother hostage.
"I know, I've read his journal. You and Bee, the lethal tag-team."
The Raikage seemed pleased with that as he shucked his white robe, looking rather like a boxer, grandstanding for the audience as he cracked his neck with an audible pop.
"Well that's good, with you here I get to prove that I'm more than enough on my own. I hope you're as slippery as your old man…"
There was no warning, no signal to announce the match had begun, once second – although second may have been stretching it – Ai was in front of him, the next a crackling, lightning-coated fist was inches from Naruto's face. The resulting explosion as the clone detonated was tremendous but when the smoke cleared the Raikage simply stood there grinning, not even singed.
"…or this will be over too quickly."
His only answer was Naruto dropping down behind him, looking unworried by the man's tremendous speed. "You done? I thought we were fighting."
Before the Raikage could even answer Naruto was right there in front of him, hands planted on the ground as he levered himself up in to a vicious axe-kick that snapped Ai's head back. He wasn't done though, avoiding the bigger man's right hook by dropping to the ground and trying to sweep his feet out. The man's legs were like steel posts though and barely budged, forcing Naruto to flip back as the ground he had been occupying was cratered by Ai's fist. They took a moment to collect themselves, each weighing the other up.
"Been a long time since somebody tried to take me on in Taijutsu."
Naruto smirked slightly. "How often do I get the chance to really get into gear?"
"Well kid, if all you have is speed, this is going to be a short trip to the ground for you."
"We'll see."
And like that the two finished their internal strategies and vanished in twin flickers. For the Shinobi in the trees it was like watching some kind of light show, with streaks of red and blue crashing into one another all across the clearing, sometimes appearing to be in two places at once. Most were just amazed that any one man could match the speed of their Kage, apparently without any kind of technique.
From the perspective of the fighters though it was a very different story, and Ai's grin as he easily batted away another of Naruto's blows proved why. In this contest of speed there was no question who was superior. Naruto was fast, prodigiously fast… in fact he may have even been faster than his father, but he was human, and no matter how hard he trained his body there were limits a human just couldn't surpass.
With his lighting armour activated the Raikage had three distinct advantages, the augmentation provided by the technique, the protection it offered from Naruto's hits and the fact that it completely negated the man's own nervous system. His reflexes might as well have been instantaneous and it was taking every ounce of training, year working himself to the bone to squeeze out another step, a faster reaction, for Naruto to keep up.
It was a very good thing then that Naruto wasn't solely dependent on his body then.
Ai wore a victorious smirk as he brought his elbow down in a crushing blow that should have knocked the Namikaze silly, only to pass through a red flash where his opponent was supposed to be. He recovered too late to avoid the three clones, each holding a swirling orb, that caught him in place. An agonizing squeal rent the air as pure chakra ground against the protective raiton cloak. The Raikage could easily shift the distribution of the armour to protect some areas more than others, it was the founding principle of the Lariat. However, that left him wide open when the real Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him, riding off a hiraishin tag he had placed on his own clone, and smashed him right in the face with a bright white orb three times the size of the others.
"Big Ball Rasengan!" This time the technique drilled right through the lighting armour, catching the Raikage right in the cheek and immediately launching the giant of a man halfway across the clearing, his body digging a shallow trench on the ground.
Naruto stayed light on his toes though, not really expecting the attack to put the bigger man down. He was proven right when Ai staggered out of the trench, his lighting armour fluctuating around him before he shook his head to clear it. Immediately the crackling electricity snapped into place and the man stood as if he hadn't been hit at all, lightly working his jaw.
"Good hit, I'll have to remember that one."
"Clearly not good enough." Naruto shot back, not really surprised but still somewhat disappointed it couldn't be that easy. "Well, I think I'm done going easy on you."
"Couldn't have said it better myself kid." Ai was really beginning to enjoy this fight. The still air was suddenly permeated with the dull thuds of kunai finding their places all across the field, kunai Ai knew all too well. "I was wondering if I'd ever see this technique again; I assure you…" Like a bolt of lightning he crossed the distance between the two in an instant, already smirking as his eyes caught the kunai slip into the air next to him. 'Too much like his damn father.' He was already expecting it when Naruto suddenly flashed away to a different marker, but he was still focused on the one flipping through the air next to him almost in slow motion. "…I learn from my past." He twisted his body in less time than it took most to blink, kicking the kunai so hard that it embedded hilt-first into a nearby tree.
When Naruto reappeared, Rasengan in hand, he was disoriented, not appearing where he expected and was barely prepared for the sudden elbow descending on him from above.
"Guillotine Drop!"
Few of the watching Shinobi could even follow what happened, amongst the various flashes of the speed-monsters' fight. For a second, as the dust settled, they thought their Raikage had won and were about to cheer. But when the smoke cleared it became obvious Naruto wasn't out for the count yet, although he was cradling his arm slightly, wincing at his own brashness.
It had all happened in a fraction of a second as Naruto had realized his mistake, bring his Rasengan up to take the brunt of the devastating blow. He had underestimated the sheer impact of that much Raiton Chakra focused into a single point, losing control of his technique and blasting both of them back as the Chakra vortex destabilized. He had managed to roll to a somewhat graceful stop but there was a decided twinge in his elbow now from trying to take that attack head on. Clearly, he wasn't going to be winning any battles of strength here; time to start fighting with his head.
Ai on the other hand merely seemed disgruntled that his attack hadn't caved in the redhead's chest. "Those are some reflexes."
"I try," Naruto acknowledged casually rolling his shoulder until it clicked, the moment he did he suddenly vanished, making the Raikage immediately tense, eyes restlessly searching the various kunai he could see to try and catch where his wily opponent would emerge next. Moments later Naruto appeared at the other end of the field, but it might as well have been right next to the Raikage for the time it took the man to close the distance between them.
He was so expecting another sudden disappearance, eyes already scanning for the most likely exit-point, that he was caught off-guard when his lariat actually made contact with something. Not for long though as the clone he'd struck quickly popped. However, this was like no clone Ai had ever seen before. Instead of smoke, or even an explosion, there was a strange sucking noise. Ai felt the pressure in his ears change ever so slightly and that was all the warning he got before an invisible pulse of… something suddenly blasted him back.
He flipped in the air and landed on his feet, not much worse off, but the same couldn't be said for his lighting armour. All along his front, where he had been facing the clone, the crackling electricity was thinned to just a finger's width across his body. That was all he needed to know what had happened.
"A wind clone, smart." He growled, glancing around the clearing warily.
"Vacuum clone, actually," Naruto corrected, flashing to a branch. "You might have been able to outrun wind and I didn't want to waste the trick."
"Well consider it wasted," The Raikage said, the lighting armour quickly fixing itself, even thickening slightly in anticipation of any similar tricks.
Naruto's only response was a cheeky smirk as four more of him suddenly flashed into being around the bulky man. That was all the warning he allowed the Raikage before the melee was back on. Suddenly Naruto was everywhere in Ai's vision, putting his numbers to good use as he kept in close to the lighting-shrouded Kage. Kicks harmlessly bounced off the man's charged skin and Naruto was pretty sure he'd sooner break his fist that actually damage the man with a punch. But Ai was so swarmed that he could barely keep up, every time he'd come close to hitting the irritating redhead he, or his clone, would simply flash to a nearby kunai and quickly re-join the perfectly co-ordinated dance of arms and legs.
Eventually Ai grew tired of the dogpile, pausing at the centre of the melee as he was battered on all sides by mostly-ineffective kicks. With a roar of exertion, he suddenly amped up the voltage of his lightning armour, having it explode around him like a crackling blue bomb. The four clones were immediately destroyed, filling the air with the sudden gasp of compressed air as huge chunks were ripped out of the Raikage's technique.
The real Naruto was sent careening back across the field, crashing roughly into a tree and spinning to an awkward stop on the ground. He picked himself up a moment later but was forced to clutch at his side, that had been a nasty hit and he was fairly certain something was bruised, if not broken. Ai wasn't looking much better though, his armour fluctuating erratically around his body as it tried to compensate for the sudden influx of fuuton Chakra.
Naruto grinned when he saw this, suddenly dropping down into a three-point stance before the Raikage could recover and flashing forward. Ai would have stopped his mad charge if four of the nearby Hirashin kunai didn't suddenly reveal themselves as henged clones. They jumped in and grabbed the man's arms and legs long enough for Naruto to deliver a firm palm-strike to the larger man's chest. The clones were immediately destroyed, ripped apart by the enraged Raikage, but they had done their job and Naruto successfully jumped back, wincing as he felt something shift in his chest.
"That lightning armour of yours was really irritating you know." The redhead held up a ram seal and the Raikage was forced to a stop mid-charge, much to the shock of the watching Kumo-nin. Five Hiraishin markers, one on his chest and four more on his wrists and ankles, suddenly unfurled from where Naruto had finally managed to touch him without the lightning armour getting in the way.
"Namikaze style: Five point seal." It was a significantly less-efficient form of the seal he had used on the resurrected Shodai Hokage, but he had shoved a lot more Chakra into it. Even now the Raikage was struggling against his invisible bonds, the seals glowing warningly. Naruto only needed a moment though.
He brought his palm up, the familiar shape of the Rasengan swirling to life above his hand. Before it was finished forming though, he placed his other hand on top, a look of intense concentration forming on his features as a horrific screech filled the air. Slowly, the rotating sphere of Chakra turned white, four blade-like projection emerging from the sides like some ridiculous shuriken. The redhead's hand visibly shook under the sheer effort and focus the technique took. When it was finished, the completed Rasengan hummed at a pitch so high it was almost inaudible.
"Fuuton: Rasengan," he whispered, fearful that even speaking too loudly could interfere with the incredibly delicate balance of the all-too unstable technique. He had seen what happened when that occurred and it had nearly cost him an arm. By now the Raikage was beginning to strain the limits of his seal but it was too late, in a flash Naruto was in front of him, suddenly releasing the dangerous technique with an apologetic smile. Ai literally had less than a fraction of a second to pour everything he could into his lightning armour before Naruto vanished in a red flash, shortly followed by the rest of the world.
All the watching shinobi saw was an enormous dome of white Chakra, grinding and screeching away at the land like a compressed hurricane. Even Naruto, from his perch on a nearby tree was in slight awe of his technique's devastation. He was loath to use it most of the time; one, because of the time it took him to set up; and two, because he wasn't quite sure if anything could survive it. It was a testament to the Raikage's strength that he felt cornered enough to be forced to use one of his trump cards. Hell, he had only recently learned how to use it without seriously injuring himself in the process; he wasn't sure if it would even be possible without the Hiraishin to instantaneously get him to safety.
It wasn't like he could throw the damn thing.
It took a few moments for the swirling vortex to finally die down, a few more for the resulting dust to settle. Everyone watching was astonished by the size of the crater, a perfect bowl in the ground marked with concentric grooves. It was as though some cosmic drill had attempted to crack the world and given-up half way. Even more incredible though was the single figure, just barely managing a low crouch, right at the very centre of the destruction.
"Kami man, what does it take to put you down?" Naruto asked, flashing onto the edge of the crater and looking down at the Raikage with genuine respect. Ai had clearly seen better days, his pants were torn to shreds, one of his enormous bronze arm-guards looked like it had been mauled by a tiger and the other was missing entirely. Likewise, cuts and scratches littered the man's body, giving him the appearance of some macabre voodoo doll. However, he was still standing, if only barely, and just about clinging onto consciousness as he managed to level a glare at the redhead, legs trembling.
"More… more than some light breeze… kid."
Naruto couldn't help but smile, tremendously impressed with the man's sheer willpower not to simply collapse where he stood. He worked his way down the crater carefully, wary for some kind of trick or deception. It was unnecessary, Ai was truly on his last legs, and contrary to his taunt, a strong breeze may well have knocked the man over. Naruto was almost disappointed; the fight had really gotten his blood pumping and he likely had the broken ribs to show for it.
When he finally reached the bigger man, although their eyes were level now thanks to the way Ai was crouching, an unspoken conversation seemed to take place in a split second. Finally, Naruto nodded and raised his hand.
"Good fight."
Ai barely managed an acknowledging grunt before Naruto flooded his fist with Chakra and brought it round in a devastating right straight that had the Raikage out before he hit the ground. The dull thud of his body finally hitting the ground marked a long stretch of silence before a shadow fell over Naruto's form. When he looked up he saw the Kumo shinobi that had been watching crowding around the lip of the crater, clearly uncertain of what to do now. A foreign shinobi had just knocked out their leader, in what was essentially a duel for the fate of a war no less; what were you supposed to do in that situation?
Naruto just sighed, ultimately it wasn't his problem, but all the same he felt a little bad for putting them in such an uncomfortable position. They were sure to get a chewing out when they got back to Kumogakure; not that he was in for a smooth welcome home either. He straightened up, wincing as he felt something scrape uncomfortably in his side; no hiding it either, that was going to need medical attention.
He suddenly flashed up behind the ring of Kumo-nin, surprising a few and getting them to draw their weapons out of instinct. He ignored the swords and kunai and instead motioned down to their unconscious leader. "When he wakes up tell him…" He looked around at the slightly-nervous faces and sighed, "…someone tell him that I expect him to honour the deal. If not, I'll be back for round two."
Somebody must have been feeling confident as from the back of the crowd somebody shouted, "Can I book my seat in advance?"
Naruto grinned at the remark, reminded of something Anko would say, gave a small incline of his head and vanished in a flash of red. The only evidence that he was even there were the three-pronged kunai whose sealing tags were already beginning to burn away.
Naruto grunted as Sakura tightened the bandages around his chest with perhaps a little more force than was strictly necessary. That was the sight Hiruzen walked into as he entered the small, sequestered hospital room reserved for such discrete examinations.
"If you're here to chew me out Hokage-sama, I'm afraid my-" He winced as Sakura patted him on the side none-too-gently, "my cute little student already beat you too it."
"And rightly so." Sakura complained, the glare she had worn since Naruto had flashed into the hospital unannounced never leaving her face for a moment. "Really; you have two broken ribs, severe bruising along your spine, electrical burns of all things… not to mention the damage to the Chakra pathways in your hands! And the worst part is you won't tell me what the hell did this to you!"
Hiruzen just smiled at the scene fondly, reminded of his own student's gruff bed-side manner. "If you could just give us a moment Sakura-kun?"
The pink-haired med-nin looked between the two men and huffed irritably, quickly walking towards the door. "That's Sakura-sensei to you Hokage-sama, Yakushi-shishou made it official yesterday."
"Congratulations," the elderly Hokage replied congenially, only receiving an eye-roll in response as the young med-nin stalked out. He chuckled lightly as he turned back to Naruto. "My, she reminds me more and more of Tsunade with every passing day, and they've never even met."
"Should we say a prayer for perverts everywhere?" Naruto offered, shifting experimentally. She might not have been happy with him but he couldn't deny Sakura's skill, she had really come a long way from the fawning little girl he had tied to a training post years ago.
"Perhaps later," Hiruzen agreed, still with that congenial smile that quickly had a stifling silence fill the room.
"I know what you're going to say," Naruto said quietly, unable to fully meet the Hokage's eye. "It was a reckless, dangerous, stupid, ill-thought out plan that could have backfired spectacularly. I was listening to my emotions instead of my head, and I put hundreds of lives in danger."
Hiruzen merely raised his eyebrow. "Yes, you did all of those things." He sighed, walking across the room to sink gratefully into a plush chair. This was one of those days the man truly showed his age, looking for all the world like the elderly man he felt like, instead of the feared multiple war veteran. "But the important question is, would you do it again?"
Their eyes met and this time Naruto found the strength to keep his gaze level; he had once been told he had the kind of eyes that could look right through a man. Hiruzen had the kind of eyes that stripped everything away and laid you out bare, every miniscule detail out in the open. They were eyes that took steel to lie to; steel that Naruto, exhausted, emotionally spent, injured, just didn't have in him.
"Yes, I would."
He wasn't expecting the smile.
"Good." Hiruzen's smile only grew when he saw the redhead's confusion. "Naruto, how many lives do you think I weigh on a daily basis? How many decisions I make every day that could send good men and women to their deaths? What you did today, while brash – and I would have preferred you come to me beforehand – saved hundreds, if not thousands of potential lives."
Just as a flicker of hope welled in the young man's eyes Hiruzen quickly went about quashing it. "I'm not saying it was the correct choice, or even a particularly good one. That's a dangerous opinion to have of yourself." He sighed, once again falling back in his chair. "The point I'm trying to make Naruto is that as Hokage you will be forced to make a lot of difficult decisions, Kami knows I have. It's whether you can live with those decisions that will define the kind of leader you become."
He stood, motioning to the door. "Now come along, I still need to give you a proper dressing down for acting like a rebellious teenager; but first, we need to run damage control. I can see to it that this appears to have been an authorised mission, nobody can know you acted ubiquitously on this." He groaned lightly. "The paperwork… no, actually, you can handle the paperwork." His smile returned, vindictive this time. "Consider it training, for your new job."
Naruto winced at the implication, already dreading those stacks of paper he'd have to wade through to fix his brash actions.
Hiruzen paused in the doorway, as if remembering something. "But, I suppose this can wait until the morning, as I understand it you have quite the cause for celebration."
The redhead's eyebrow quirked. "How did you know?" Anko had only told him only… three hours ago – damn if that didn't feel like days ago.
The old Hokage simply tapped the side of his nose. "An old man needs his secrets." He shooed the prospective Hokage away, allowing the redhead to go with his consent and earning a smile in return. "And Naruto…" He caught the younger man about to hop out the window "…congratulations."
Naruto simply grinned; he didn't have to be told that.