Namikaze Naruto- The Unpredictable Shinobi

Chapter 55: Iwagakure

Iwagakure was a stony village. Literally. Every building was made of Earth and stone. The shinobi were rigid as if in war. The civilians were livelier. The Sandaime Tsuchikage, Ohnoki, had been the Kage since the time of Sarutobi Hiruzen and was still the Kage, like him. He was also the pupil of his Shodai and Nidaime Kages. However, he was too stubborn to pick a Yondaime. 

The duo tried to stay in everyone's good books till they met the Tsuchikage. They had met his granddaughter. Kurotsuchi and her friend Akatsuchi were an interesting pair. Akatsuchi was a giant of man and the helping hand of the short old Tsuchikage. He had a cheerful personality and positive attitude. Kurotsuchi was a hot tempered but talented girl, with short black hair reaching her shoulders and equally black eyes. She had initially disliked the blonde, but after a few encounters, they became acquaintances before becoming friends.

Kurotsuchi had been taught indirectly, like other shinobi of her age, to despise Konoha, especially the Yellow Flash. But Naruto's conversations led her to rethink, causing her peers to do the same. Eventually, Kurotsuchi made Naruto meet her grandfather, who was not at all impressed by the blonde shinobi. Kurotsuchi reassured her guest that the old geezer was a war veteran with back aches that was too senile to be impressed. Ohnoki had been outraged at that accusation but ended up with a back ache anyway. 

After a short conversation, Ohnoki found himself meeting Naruto often and discussing many things with her, mostly diplomacy and politics.

Ohnoki was pleasantly surprised and happy to have met someone who understood where his logic and decisions came from. Naruto had comprehended his thinking and tried to correct him in topics that have undergone change, from fashion to shinobi training, as gently as possible without angering the old man. Then came the topic of hating a certain Namikaze.

"You know, Naruto?" Ohnoki had said one day, "I love my village and have gone through three great wars and many minor ones. I feel that as long as I'm alive, it is my duty to protect Iwa. That is the Will of Stone Shodai Tsuchikage had talked about. When Namikaze had killed so many of my people, my children, the people were devastated. But none of them more so than I. I hate him. Every time I think of hating him, there is a bitter feeling in me, making me hate him more." Ohnoki looked down, his hand trembling in rage.

They sat in silence for a while before Naruto spoke.

"Tsuchikage-sama, please do as I say for now. Just forget about Namikaze or Konoha. Forget about the village, for now." Tsuchikage raised a stubborn brow but relented after a while. "Now, imagine this situation. Kiri has declared a war all of a sudden. Or maybe not. But there was war for many years, so long a time that no one exactly remembered what strife in a meeting had caused it. Then, one day, on a border that was crucial for Iwagakure, you had to send only around 10 shinobi due to lack of manpower that had been sent to other places. You have sent your son Kitsuchi-san to that border since you had faith in his skills.

The enemy, knowing how important the border is for your village, have gathered in large numbers to subdue any troop patrolling the area. Then what would your shinobi do? Use every jutsu in their arsenal to kill and stop as many shinobi as possible. Kitsuchi-san has great skill and was capable of taking down hundreds of shinobi with his Doton techniques. He would return home a hero. What would Kiri think? What should Kiri think?"

"Well, the Mist shinobi should see that we only did what we could protect our village, our home, our people." 

"What if Kiri thought of vengeance for killing hundreds of their shinobi?"

"I would think they are foolish for not understanding, but..." Ohnoki fell deep in thought. Naruto looked at him in anticipation. She knew he had realised what she was trying to convey, but didn't know how he would react. He was taking too long. It had been 10 minutes, but it seemed much longer than that.