I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters from the Manga or Anime.

A Price for Peace

Chapter 53: Tense Arrivals

"Ya need to focus Naruto-chan," Fukusaku spoke up from his position atop a large stone rock. The same stone rock that several clones of the blond were currently trying to turn to rubble with Doton manipulation.

"I am focusing," another Naruto called out from a few feet away, this one the original. Naruto was running through several hand seals in an attempt to master a suiton jutsu, and failing miserably.

"Tha jutsu shouldn't be this difficult for ya Naruto-chan. Ya did finish the second stage of Suiton manipulation did ya not," Fukusaku replied. The small toad leapt from the bolder crossing the field in a single bound before landing atop the blond summoners shoulders.

Naruto sighed racing through the required hand seals again before spitting out a small ball of water that splashed harmlessly against a large tree. "Yeah I did, but this is my first real jutsu I have attempted that isn't Fuuton. Maybe I should try a different Jutsu, one that doesn't require using water from my own body, I'll just end up dehydrating myself."

"No givin' up," Fukusaku answered quickly, waving his cane threateningly above the blond's head. "Ya wanted ta learn more Toad Style Jutsu didn't cha? And tha toads Suiton techniques are second ta none."

Admittedly Naruto had indeed asked to learn more toad style Ninjutsu, but he already had a rather impressive arsenal of wind based techniques and now Suiton was the next element that he had completed the basic training to use. But he had not anticipated Fukusaku to start teaching him such a high ranking offensive technique right off the bat. In the past he had seen Suiton used more defensively, used to block other techniques or trap opponents rather than in an offensive manner. This actually appealed to the jinchuuriki, as his primary Fuuton affinity was somewhat lacking in that department.

"I didn't want to give, up just thought it might be easier if I have more water around, even using my bodies water I still have to create it," the blond explained if a little frustrated by yet another failure.

"If ya can complete this jutsu, t'en any of the Suiton jutsu ya 'ave in ya parents scrolls should be easy," Fukusaku lectured.

It was sound reasoning, like how mastering the Rasengan improved his shape manipulation needed to master other jutsu. Granted he had needed a clone to assist him for a long time, but he could now easily produce his fathers jutsu with ease. "Still wouldn't it be more practical to learn an easier jutsu that I could use in a fight now rather than one I need to perfect over time once my manipulation of water gets better?"

"Ya 'ave clones working on adding Suiton to ya Rasengan don' cha?" the small toad asked, already knowing the answer.

Naruto nodded in response, "Well yeah,"

"Then ya will 'ave a Suiton jutsu ya can use, now get back to work an' focus this time."

It had been early morning when Naruto had made his way to his private training field, he had intended for a short training session with his sensei, but as usual they had lost track of time and now the sun was high it must have been closing in on noon. So it was of little surprise when Karin arrived at the edge of the clearing to grab him for lunch. What was a surprise however was her choice of clothing. Karin landed in a luxurious blood red kimono with a gold leaf pattern a few shades darker than her hair, that was most unusually tied up in an intricate bun, with just a few strands left to frame her face.

Instantly upon her arrival Naruto made a mistake in his jutsu and rather than a ball of compressed water, the water for the jutsu trickled out of his mouth as if he was drinking and forgot how to swallow. "Wow Karin-chan... amazing!" he gushed once he got over his initial shock.

Karin for her part almost broke out into a fit of laughter "Unfortunately I cannot say the same for you Naruto-kun" she giggled looking at his dishevelled and now wet training gear.

The blond looked down and saw what she was talking about and gave an embarrassed laugh, rubbing the back of his neck while thinking of some sort of excuse. "I guess I was just training too hard and didn't notice,"

"I'm sure," she replied with a dead pan before her features hardened.

"Um... did I do something wrong Karin-chan? I didn't miss a date or anything did I? Because I promise I'll make it up to you," He said, a slight hint of worry in his voice at the somewhat angered features on the redhead.

"You were supposed to be back in the village almost two hours ago!" she answered harshly. "That Uchiha Lady is almost at the village and you are looking like you live on the streets, or at least sleep in them."

Naruto paled, he had forgotten all about the fact that Gouhara would be arriving for their parlay today. "Oh Kami, Fukusaku-sensei I need to go!" he spoke with renewed urgency.

"No worries my boy, we will continue work on your elemental manipulation next time." the small aged toad replied before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Sorry Karin-chan I forgot, lets head back home so I can get ready." he half begged. In almost an instant he was gone stopping for only a second to give Karin a quick kiss before taking off in a blur.

"You better hurry, If you're not ready in time Tsunade will send you out on patrols for the next month! We shouldn't both be punished just because you can't keep track of the time!" Karin called after him.

Despite being a fair way away Naruto still heard her, "She never gets sent out of the village anyway. Baa-chan never punishes Karin-chan, I don't know what she's complaining about," he chuckled.

'I believe she considers you being away from her as punishment.' came the voice of Shukaku in his head.

'Yes Naruto has found a loyal and devoted mate, despite my initial misgivings I can actually say that I approve of the vixen. But I do hope his Kit's do not cause us as much of a headache as Tou-sama's, although being full blooded Uzumaki kit's I don't doubt they will,' Kurama added.

"Can we not talk about that stuff please, Karin-chan isn't pregnant, we haven't even talked about ch...children," Naruto said loudly a little embarrassed at the thought, that isn't to say he disliked the idea, he always wanted a family growing up, so starting his own wasn't the worst idea as far as he was concerned. With that said, he didn't want to be raising his children while being hunted by the Uchiha clan.

'That is true, but with how much you tw-' Naruto didn't need to hear the end of that sentence, and abruptly shut the link down to save his own embarrassment.

"I don't need to hear that, right now," he said blushing at what the Bijuu had implied.

The blond decided it was best to stay clear of Tsunade until he was dressed and ready to meet with Gouhara, so he entered his room via a large window and quickly made his way to the bathroom for a shower. Upon exiting the shower he found a change of clothes laid out for him, a formal Kimono with the same leaf design except in orange that adorned Karin's own outfit lay on the bed, the major difference save being designed for a man, was that instead of a dark red the kimono was black.

'Would it have been too much to ask to get the colours reversed?' he thought while pulling on the dress robes.

'Probably. I doubt the Senju woman would accept your normal choice of attire for such an event,' Kurama answered.

'Yeah I get it, nobody likes Orange, I still don't see why, I mean orange is awesome,' the blond replied in thought.

He had just finished getting dressed when a loud knocking shook the door. "Oi Gaki it's time, get your ass out here," the voice of the slug sannin permeated the room.

"I'm coming you old bat, no need to break the door down," he called back, opening the door out into the large hallway. Tsunade herself wore a similarly designed robe, only in green with a sky blue leaf pattern.

"Well look at you, seems even you can look presentable if you try," she said with a smirk mussing his spiky hair earning a pout from the younger blond. "Quite handsome indeed," she added quickly fixing his collar.

Naurto huffed and quckly ran his hands through his hair in the off chance that his perpetually unruly hair was somehow affected. "So any reason we're all looking like colour coded copies?"

"Just a uniform, it's best if we seem professional, in my experience meetings always go better if you dress the part," Tsunade explained leading the way down the stairs to the foyer where Karin was waiting with Shougo who's kimono was royal blue with a red design.

"Scouts reported in just a few moments ago," Shougo said with a practised bow, the years of servitude under Gouhara and other members of his family assuring that he was highly formal. "They will be at the gates in around thirty minutes."

"In that case, a leisurely walk through the village then," Tsunade said with a smile.

"Sure why not," Naruto readily. Like always when they were out in the city, they were greeted happily, in the past few months the lives of those that lived in the city had improved drastically, in part due to allowing any who wanted it, free passage back to the empire, but also just by removing the gangs, he also had many of the potential shinobi students run what Konoha used to call D ranked missions to improve parts of the city, as such large areas went from run down and depressing to completely refurbished.

Their timing was impeccable, as the gates opened allowing Naruto and the greeting party to arrive the large wagon containing Gouhara appeared at the far end of the large fields that surrounded the city. "Well she certainly didn't rough it on the way here," Tsunade mused while admiring the intricate caravan pulled by a couple of large horses.

"Wouldn't it have been faster to run? I mean she is a shinobi after all," Naruto queried.

"It's not a question of speed, Gouhara wouldn't lower herself to stay in any of the villages, or camp in the wilderness, that carriage is more like a small luxurious apartment," Shougo explained a slight hint of disgust in his voice.

Naruto easily recognised Tetsu driving the carriage but the man seemed to completely ignore him, sending a deadly glare at the Uchiha traitor before opening the door of the carriage. "Gouhara-hime, we have arrived," he spoke while taking a knee and bowing.

Slowly Gouhara exited the caravan, she wore a flowing white dress with red edges that showed a considerable amount of cleavage, at he centre of her back a Uchiha clan fan sat proudly inside a large red circle.

"This place has changes a bit since I was here last." she thought out loud until her eyes locked onto Naruto. "Oh my Naruto-kun, look how handsome you are, I hardly recognised you out of the rags you wore when we first met," she practically gushed and shocked everyone there enveloping the young blond in a hug, placing his head in her cleavage.

The others in the welcoming party were highly on edge, not just because of the Uchiha's overly warm greeting. Tsunade was on edge because she had heard of the albino woman's impressive control of wind and was ready to jump in should the need arise Shougo was in a similar state, Karin on the other hand was ready to attack Gouhara for her actions, only Tsunade's warning hand on her shoulder stopped her.

Naruto who had the decency to blush at the predicament rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he struggled to find the right words. "Thanks, you're a lot prettier now you're not trying to kill me," he chuckled trying to return the complement which did not improve Karin's mood at all.

"Yes such ugly business that was," she admitted casually. "But we all must do our duty, that is why we are here is it not?"

Naruto nodded in agreement. "I suppose so, but really either than being left alone we don't want anything."

"Let's save the formal talks for later Naruto-kun, for now how about you show me around, and introduce me to your..." Gouhara then took in the other members of the welcoming party, Shougo she almost immediately dismissed. But the two woman caused her pause, Tsunade was clearly a beautiful woman who looked to be around her own age, but the red head was heading in the same direction, she still had a fair bit of growing to do and once she had matured a little more Gouhara could see she would rival any woman for beauty. "Associates," she decided.

"Oh yeah, this is Tsunade-Baachan and Karin-chan!" he beamed in response ignoring the annoyed scowl on the Senju's face.

"You're his grandmother?" Gouhara asked clearly stunned by the revelation, 'Impossible, this woman couldn't be older than thirty,'

"No, the Gaki is just disrespectful. I'll be sure to punish him later," Tsunade replied offering a hand to the Uchiha princess.

Gouhara raised an eyebrow, intrigued by her meaning."You seem confident in your abilities, Naruto-kun is from my experience a highly formidable opponent."

"Pfft," Tsunade scoffed. "I could beat the little shit with a single finger." she knew that was not true, at least not anymore, this was a calculated move to sew misinformation at their total strength. "While Naruto is ultimately the figure head of our fledgling nation, I am the one that is actually in charge."

"Is that so?" the albino questioned gazing at Naruto for confirmation.

"Well I don't know about one finger, if you ask me we're even. But yeah Baa-chan knows way more than I do about how to run a village, so at least for now she's our real leader." the blond admitted a little begrudgingly.

Gouhara still didn't know what to think, if what they were saying was true then this woman was as strong as if not stronger than the blond who had made sport of her and Joli. "I'll take that into consideration during negotiations then. I hope it would not be rude of me to ask for a demonstration at some point during my trip?"

"If there is time I don't see why not," Tsunade replied, a small smirk gracing her lips. 'Just according to plan,'

"And this young lady is Karin yes," Gouhara asked her attention now directed towards the red head. "You were with Naruto-kun during the placement trials were you not?"

Karin had suppressed her earlier rage and was able to maintain her calm. "That's right, I was there. I didn't really appreciate the attempt on our lives though."

For her part Gouhara laughed. "No I can't imagine you would. But whilst it wasn't considered a normal rout that I took, it would have been considered kind in comparison to the alternative."

Karin was less than convinced however "That being?" she asked sceptically.

"Well Naruto-kun, clearly caused a stir in this very city not all that long before the trials. Our families policy on those who can wield chakra not under the empires control is to scorch the earth they walk on and leave no trace. So far more people would have died if that were the case,"

Naruto had overheard this and decided to but in. "Well in my defence I was only defending myself and Karin-chan, as for the soldiers I had to kill..." his expression hardened, while not wanting to come off as aggressive he needed to make sure the warning was heard. "I'll stop anyone who tries to harm my precious people,"

"Precious people huh," Gouhara repeated absentmindedly. "Tell me Naruto-kun, how does one become precious to you?"

The flirting overtones were not missed by Karin but they certainly were by the blond. "Well..." Naruto had to pause, this was not an easy question to answer, most of the people in his life that he considered precious didn't really do anything in particular to earn such a position. "It's kind of hard to explain, they're just those that I couldn't bare to see anything bad happen too."

"That is probably a foreign concept to most members of our family Naruto," Shougo interrupted before Gouhara could reply.

"I can understand the concept, don't consider me a fool Shougo," Gouhara snapped angrily at her fellow Uchiha.

"Then do you have someone you would do anything to protect?" Naruto asked suddenly thinking that he was sounding a lot like the person who had asked him that same question all those years ago.

"I'm afraid at the moment I do not Naruto-kun, perhaps I will find someone one day," she admitted while carefully studying the blond.

It was a foreign concept for the blond, here was a lady who had a massive family yet she saw none of them as precious to her. "That must make you quite lonely,"

"I have never really thought about it..." Gouhara admitted seemingly in deep thought.

"Regardless, shall we move this conversation to another area? I see no need to keep talking out here in the open," Tsunade spoke up.

"Yes, let's go, I would also like to see what changes you have made to this city," Gouhara agreed.

As the gate opened Gouhara spied several former members of the empire who had defected with Shougo. As they walked through the streets she also noticed they were being followed by four others that she had not seen before. "I must ask Naruto-kun, are you training the civilians here to use chakra?"

"Ah well the academy is mostly being taken care of by Karin-chan, I just run some training for the more advanced students," Naruto replied, he was quite proud of the new budding shinobi.

"For students of less than a year the four that are following us are quite impressive, though they could hide their chakra a little better," the Uchiha lectured, she felt no guilt in offering some advice, In her opinion a bunch of civilians could never account to all that much in comparison to the chosen clans of the empire, they wouldn't ever amount to much so a few pointers could do no harm.

"Yeah, I was never all that great at that, my master taught me some techniques but they're a little too advanced for fresh graduates." Naruto admitted, his more advanced chakra control had come from his training with the Toads in the art of Senjutsu, not something that could be taught to a fresh academy graduate.

"They simply require better chakra control, I'll make sure they receive more training on the topic," Tsunade spoke up actually in agreement with Gouhara's assessment of the early graduates.

"Well they did ask for help with learning some medical Ninjutsu so you need to have good chakra control for that. I bet they will be able to hide their chakra from anyone in no time at all," the blond Uzumaki added proudly.

"You know Iryo-ninjutsu?" Gouhara seemed almost impressed. "Is that how you are able to recover from injury so quickly? She pressed eager to know if Naruto's almost instant regeneration was something that could be learned,

Naruto shook his head, almost laughing at the thought of him having enough chakra control to compare to Tsunade's mitotic regeneration. "Me? nah, I'm terrible at that stuff. My advanced healing is more along the lines of something I was born with, even if I wouldn't call it a kekei-genkai."

As they walked the streets seemed to clear, at least at first. The sight of a member of the royal family had spooked the civilian population, but as time went on a few of the more brave citizens had begun following almost gawking at the rather civil conversation going on between two supposed enemies. The path towards the central mansion wove through areas of the city that had been greatly restored since Naruto's coup, they were eager to show off what they had accomplished in such a short period of time.

While Gouhara was unable to really able to compare as she so rarely would set foot anywhere near the city Tetsu had been in the city when Naruto had first shown up and the differences were night and day. The streets while once dirty and lined with broken windows and rubbish were now clean, trees and flowers had been planted to brighten the mood, the store fronts had been repaired and were far more welcoming, none more so than a bar on tn the corner of one of the main access streets. This had been a hot bed of crime controlled by one of the larger city gangs that had been kicked out along with those that wished to return to the empire, the windows that had once been boarded up now were open the bar filled with happy cheers and singing.

Gouhara was stunned, she had never seen people act in such a way, where was their discipline she had never been allowed to experience such a thing. "They seem... happy," she mused.

"Yes, this place certainly has changed since I was here last," Tetsu admitted stiffly.

"Well it's amazing what can happen when you treat people with some respect," Shougo answered with a smirk knowing it would get under his old master's skin.

"Respect it earned, not given freely," Gouhara replied as calmly as she could, although in truth she was still engrossed by the sight of the friendly happy scene of the bar, civilians singing songs, playing music. Even in the capital, most of the establishments she had seen or been to were far more serious.

"Respect in the empire is wealth or family. The system is broken so the so called earning of respect is impossible without breaking the law and treating others with contempt and indifference. You're looking at the results of freedom after one hundred years of oppression." Shougo spoke knowing where Gouhara's eyes were lingering.

The albino princesses eyebrow twitched in annoyance she didn't like being lectured, and certainly not by her former guard. "Even if I did agree, it is personal strength that matters most to the empire, ruthless aggression is encouraged, that is why I am a leader, and you are nothing but a servant, even in your new role."

"I'd rather be a servant with freedom than a slave to our families twisted rules." Shougo smirked, happy to see that he touched a nerve. He knew Gouhara had been fighting against their families traditions and her perceived weakness since she had been born, and despite all of her talent and unique skills she was still under the emperors thumb.

"That's enough. Gouhara is here as our guest," Tsunade said with authority, although she allowed a small smile to cross her features. "Perhaps we can take a closer look at some of the night life in the village later," she suggested. Naruto was tempted to point out that Tsunade just wanted an excuse to get drunk but considering the circumstances decided against it.

Gouhara smiled and gave a curt nod in response. "Yes I would like that I think, there is no need to make these meeting entirely formal."

They continued to move through the village every so often stopping for Naruto or Tsunade to point out some changes they had made to the working of the city that either made it more safe or efficient. The only area's they avoided were areas that could be seen as targets should the empire attack. The hospital for one. Being a new village they didn't really have any anbu or TandI departments but there was a makeshift prison for those that broke the law, however often they would be given a choice to simply return to the empire or the time in holding. Eventually though they arrived at eh large central mansion, the gates swung open and they were met with currently horse sized form of Shukaku.

"Welcome back Naruto-sama," the Tanuki spoke while wagging it's sandy tail.

Gouhara of course recognised the creature but remembered it being several times it's current size. 'He can control that giant beast that appeared at the trials... he was also able to summon that giant golden fox as well, I wonder if it is around here too?'

Tetsu on the other hand was a little more startled leaning into Shougo in surprise. "What is that thing?"

"That's Shukaku the sand spirit... I don't really know that much about it, but apparently there are eight more somewhere, It doesn't really like me much though," Shougo answered honestly. He himself didn't know why but the sand creature was always very wary around Shougo and he had yet to see the reemergence of the fox Kurama.

"My what a facinating creature..." Gouhara mused once she moved passed her initial shock. "Another one of your summons Naruto-kun?" she queried.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head not really sure how to answer that question. "Not really, although I could probably summon Shukaku if I wanted, he's more like a friend."

Gouhara began circling Shukaku examining the bijuu closely but never reaching out to touch the sand based Tanuki. "Well summons or not, a creature like this one is certainly interesting, it seemed untamed and wild during the trials though, or was that all planned?"

"No not planned, he just sort of showed up there because that's where I was when he reformed. He was a little disorientated at the time." the blond Uzumaki answered.

'Unparalleled strength, powerful summons and now these chakra based creatures that show him loyalty, what an impressive young man you are Naruto-kun.' The princess thought with a sly smile. "Amazing, then the giant fox that you summoned to combat this Shukaku... is a similar creature I take it."

Naruto hesitated, he didn't really want to bring the Bijuu up, they all had a rather rough past when it came to members of the Uchiha clan. "Yeah, his name is Kurama,"

Gouhara nodded and once more turned back to study the Bijuu. "I see, and do you enjoy working with Naruto-kun, Shukaku?"

"Naruto-sama is a friend to all of the nine and fathers successor. It is my pleasure to help him in any way that I can." the tanuki answered flatly, not really interested in talking to the Uchiha,

'Nine... does that mean there are nine of these creatures that Naruto can summon... with power like that even the combined might of the empire would struggle to deal with him... oh this will be perfect, first I make Naruto-kun mine, then I'll place myself as the empress with a loyal group of nine guard dogs to do our bidding.' Gouhara licked her lips at the very thought.

"Shukaku, has anyone approached the city walls since we have been gone?" Tsunade asked hesitantly. She was still unsure of Naruto's willingness to let the Bijuu roam the city freely, but his abilities were more than useful.

"No Tsunade-dono, the only people to approach the city all day have been the Uchiha and her partner." Shukaku replied.

"Good, I am glad you kept your word and didn't try to sneak anyone into the city,.. it would not have ended well for them," the busty Senju smirked, thanking the Bijuu before walking on. "Allow me to show you to your rooms for the duration of your stay, they may not be as luxurious as you are accustomed, but they are the best we can offer."

While Tsunade and Shougo left with the two from the empire, Naruto and Karin remained behind with Shukaku. "What do you think?" the blond asked as he watched the other leave.

"Her chakra is dark, but not twisted in the way that Sasuke's was before the war. But I do think she is planning something," Karin replied honestly.

Naruto nodded, he was thinking the same thing. "And Tetsu?"

"Similar to what I sensed while he was in the village. He's not a bad person," Karin answered.

"True, he simply places his duty to the empire above all else. He's not all that different from Kakashi-sensei. The real question will be what would happen if there is a choice between a comrade and a mission," Naruto reasoned.

"Right, those who abandon their friends are worse than trash, just like you tell all the students," Karin giggled before her features hardened. "I don't think these meetings will go all that well. We will end up in a war with the empire."

"I know, but just because we will be enemies, doesn't mean we can't be friends for now," the blond answered knowing it would be difficult to get out of any confrontation with the empire. "We just need to be ready when the time comes."

END CHAPTER!

Happy new year everyone, hope you all have a great 2019. I'm still alivie and writing, even if it is slowly... Hell I have even been contemplating writing a new story, probably for Fairy Tail... again mostly because of how messed up it became with plot holes, Deus Ex Machina, and lack of meaningful character development especially towards the end of it's main series run. That said I have nothing set in stone right now just a vague idea of a premise that could easily be used in almost any series.

I know most of you would like me to focus more on finishing what I already have, and I'm trying. This fic is probably a long way off but Nightfall is closer, delay has been more along the lines of finding the will to do it, lol. But in truth I write when I have a flash of inspiration, if I don't the story and chapters will be very dull or seem forced and nobody wants that.

Gouhara might seem a little off character this chapter, it has been done on purpose, I'm not changing her so don't worry about that.

Anyway let me know what you would like to see. Can't promise I'll use any of it, but listening to ideas can't hurt.