Naruto had fallen unconscious when he had just returned to his seat. He fell right there and lost consciousness. Only after Sakura found him and helped him did he get up.
He was shocked, the whole arena was nearly destroyed by now and loud noises was coming from the surroundings.
"W-What happened here?" He asked.
"Sunagakure attacked us. Let's go, Naruto. Everyone is evacuating the village." Sakura nudged him.
Naruto didn't panic like her. He just looked left and right. He took a sigh of relief when he saw no dead bodies under the rubble. "Why is it so noisy here?"
"That... I don't know, but there is a giant wood statue outside turning everything to dust. The village is going to get destroyed, Naruto. Quick, let's go." She helped him to his feet and ran away.
However, after going a distance she saw that Naruto was not running. "NARUTO! What are you doing? Run fast."
Naruto however was in a daze. In reality, he was talking to Kurama. "Are you sure? You can feel your other half around here?"
"Yes, kid. And if I am right, then your father must be here somewhere too." Kurama blurted, shocking him.
"HOW? You said he died long ago. How can he be alive?" Naruto asked hastily.
Kurama honestly didn't know the answer. "I don't know, kid. I'm not god to know about things I haven't seen. The best thing you can do is carefully go where my senses are telling."
"And where do your senses tell you to go?" He asked.
"UP!" Kurama blurted.
Naruto nodded and turned to Sakura, "You go, Sakura, I am staying."
"WHY? What will you even do here? Don't be stupid, Naruto. You will die here." She pleaded.
He ignored her and jumped towards the roof. Sakura looked at him for a minute and then decided to leave. They weren't that close as a team yet anyway. She wasn't ready to die for him.
Naruto jumped towards the terrace and climbed the broken walls and pillars. His mind was empty actually, as he had never really thought he'd get to meet his father again.
Soon, he arrived at the top and saw a tall blonde man arguing with the 3rd Hokage. He could only see the back of the man but he had a feeling that what Kurama said was true.
However, at the same time, Kurama inside Naruto was going crazy, as he saw Shiroken.
...
On the Terrace,
"Oh, things are about to become interesting," Shiroken muttered.
"DAD?" Naruto arrived out of nowhere.
Minato looked back, his eyes became soft and all the anger disappeared from his face. He dashed towards his son, "NARUTO!"
*HUG* Minato just picked Naruto in the air and hugged him. Being able to physically hold his son was the best thing he could ever ask for. "YES... I'm your dad, Naruto."
Naruto, who was usually very hyperactive went slump in Minato's arms. His mind was blank but his heart beat very fast. All his life till now, he looked at many kids, walking with their parents, sitting on their shoulders. He saw them buying ice-cream for their kids, or playing with them. He was very envious of everything that those kids had in their life.
When Jiraiya showed him the photo of his parents once, he truly felt despair. Until then, he didn't even know what his parents looked like so he had no idea what to imagine them as. But, when he knew what they looked like, all kinds of what-ifs came into his mind. His dreams now had the faces of his mum and dad.
So, meeting and hearing Minato's voice was a big deal for him. And hence, some tears starting to fall were natural.
"YOU'RE MY DAD? REALLY?" Naruto was still in disbelief, his muffled words were not very loud as his head was now pressed on Minato's shoulders.
"Yes, I am, Naruto. It's good to see you're fine and healthy. Your mother must be proud of you in the afterlife." He patted his back.
He was new to being a father. He did think about what he would do if he saw Naruto, but all that planning went down the drain. So he just embraced him silently.
"Life must have been hard," Minato whispered. These words made Naruto cry even more. All his pent up frustration and sadness was coming out today.
Shiroken looked at them and silently walked to Hiruzen. "You see that boy crying? You caused many of those tears…"
Hiruzen's eyes flickered. He didn't even have any words to defend himself after arguing with Minato just now. No matter what he said, 'for protecting Naruto', 'for protecting the village' or anything else. None of these arguments could explain letting a child face all that sadness. Especially the child of the heroes who saved the village.
"What are you going to do with the village now?" Hiruzen asked him.
Shiroken shrugged, "I don't know. I was angry at Konoha for sure, however, it was just blind rage. But, I guess revenge doesn't always taste sweet. That bastard, Hashirama, did say some reasonable things. To tell you the truth, before I came here today, I didn't even plan on doing anything to the village. It was that snake-man who summoned Hashirama, which angered me.
"Now, I have no real wish. I still hate Konoha, but not its people. If you folks make a better Konoha, that is not as selfish and self-serving as before, maybe I will forgive you completely. Until then, I am neither your friend nor your enemy. You can do business with the Dama Country but never become our allies.
"Oh, about the destruction of the village. I didn't do it, as most people can see, it's Hashirama and Tobirama. And whether the whole village is destroyed or just half of it, that depends on their ability." He honestly replied.
It was true, Shiroken finally had his revenge. He had destroyed Hashirama's image, and he also destroyed a good part of the village. But, even then, he didn't feel that the hole in his heart was complete again. He still feels empty. Maybe because he still had to find and gather all the tailed beasts.
Whatever it was, he had no idea. Though he did feel good to see Kurama and also letting Naruto meet Minato.
~What should I do now? I can't just leave Kurama again to be locked now. If I take out the Yin part from Minato, I will have to take out the Yang part too, so that Kurama can be whole again. Enslaving him back in Naruto would be stupid. *Sigh* I guess Kurama is coming home earlier than planned.~ He sighed to himself.
"Lord Dama, why do this? What do you get by destroying the village and the people's homes?" Hiruzen asked.
Shiroken looked at the village, "Well, It may be hard to answer. Let's just say I didn't like the village. Too many bad memories related to it. You should be happy, now you can rebuild it and I won't have a reason to be angered."
"You punished those that had no relation to what Hashirama did. That's what this is." Hiruzen criticised him.
Shiroken sharply faced him, "Really? what about you? You were alive in Hashirama's generation. Can you put your hand on your heart and wholeheartedly say that Konoha never harmed another village or people? Can you assure me that you are not evil? As I expected, you can't.
"To change some things, you first need to break them apart. Besides, it was your own student who plotted against the village. He killed Sunagakure's Kazekage for this plan of his. And I will be taking him with me to at least make the people of Sunagakure satisfied with his punishment."
"WHY? Why care about Sunagakure?" Hiruzen asked.
~So the news hasn't reached them?~ He realised.
To keep the explanation short, he just showed him a document. It simply stated that the Dama Country owned Sunagakure. It had Sunagakure's seal stamp on it too.
"You... YOU OWN SUNAGAKURE?!" Hiruzen exclaimed in shock.
Shiroken folded his arms and nodded, "Correct, but also incorrect. I have jurisdiction over them for the food I provide. The day they pay me for all that food, I'll leave."
Hiruzen quickly rebuked, "But that's... Never going to happen."
Shiroken laughed, "HAHA, THAT'S THEIR PROBLEM THEN."
He left the shocked Hiruzen and walked towards Orochimaru to cuff him. Orochimaru as soon as saw this, got up and used summoning Jutsu.
*BOOOM*
A giant cloud of smoke appeared. *Rwaaaa...* And from the smoke a loud angry shriek came.
"WHY HAVE YOU SUMMONED ME? Have you gathered all the sacrifices?"
Orochimaru nervously shouted, "QUICK, TAKE ME WITH YOU. I WILL GET 1000 SACRIFICES FOR YOU."
"Hmm? Why? Who scared you so much? Let me se..."
(⊙_⊙;)
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THERE IS STONE, THERE IS MONKE!
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Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*
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