[Return to Konoha — The Report]
The walls of the Hidden Leaf rose tall in the afternoon light — a sight both familiar and grounding.
Team 7 and Team 10 crossed the gates in measured formation — weary from travel..
But rest would have to wait.
A summons came swiftly.
To the Hokage Tower. To the Council.
Word of what had happened in the Land of Waves had preceded them.
[Inside the Hokage Tower — Council Assembly]
The Council chamber stood full — a rare session.
On one side — the Shinobi Council: jonin, elders, advisors.
On the other — the Civilian Council: merchants, nobles, influential clans.
At the head — Hiruzen Sarutobi, Third Hokage.Beside him — Homura, Koharu… and Danzo, his gaze sharp as ever.
The teams stood in orderly rows — Kakashi and Asuma behind them.
Naruto was near the center — charcoal cloak trailing dust, blue eyes steady.
The Hokage began.
"You have returned. The mission was completed beyond expectation. But one matter requires direct explanation."
He looked toward Naruto.
"Uzumaki Naruto — step forward."
Naruto stepped forward — calm, posture straight.
"You infiltrated Gatō's compound without direct order — rescued twelve civilians — and eliminated Gatō himself."
Hiruzen's gaze deepened.
"Additionally… you retrieved and donated five million ryō to the Land of Waves. Explain your reasoning."
A murmur rose among the Civilian Council.
One elder merchant stood — voice clipped.
"The sum you could have been claimed for yourself. Why give it to outsiders?"
Others nodded — eyes narrowing.
Naruto tilted his head — a faint smirk tugging at one corner of his mouth.
"Well," he said lightly, "seeing as I don't exactly have a bank account here, to hold that such big amount of money…"
He shrugged.
"…and leaving it to rot in a dead man's vault seemed like a waste. The village needed it more. So I left it where it could help."
The room went still.
A few shinobi councilor's lips twitched faintly — the kind of expression seasoned warriors gave when amused but unwilling to openly show it in a Council chamber.
But Naruto wasn't finished.
His gaze grew steadier — voice gaining weight.
"As for why I went alone — because there was no time. When we first arrived, the villagers were already terrified — beaten down." "Those women have been taken to break the spirit of villagers. They could've been sold… or worse, waiting for orders meant abandoning them."
Danzo's voice cut in — sharp. "And if you had failed?"
Naruto met the elder's gaze. "Then I would have failed protecting them. Not the mission."
Another beat of silence.
He looked straight at Hiruzen.
"Some things… you just can't wait on. I got the chance to help. I did it."
A brief, charged silence.
Hiruzen's eyes warmed. He leaned forward — voice clear — addressing the whole chamber now.
"And that… is a true shinobi's heart." "Compassion, courage — the will to act toward righteousness" "Such values are what make this village strong.
Danzo's mouth pressed thin — but he remained silent. Homura nodded faintly. Koharu smiled ever so slightly.
[Council Assembly — Evening]
The Council chambers had finally emptied.
Mission debriefed — originally classified as C-rank, but reclassified as A-rank after assessment of Zabuza Momochi's involvement.Payment collected, accordingly — with A-rank bounty granted following confirmation of Gatō's death.
Naruto didn't linger for congratulations. He slipped out quietly, feet moving on instinct toward home.
The weight of the day pressed behind his eyes.
[Naruto's Apartment]
The lock clicked behind him.
Naruto tossed his mission pay — two A-rank payouts — onto the table without a second glance.
It should've meant something.
But after what he'd seen — what he'd fought through — money felt pale and hollow.
A life couldn't be measured in ryo.
[Shower — Steam Rising]
The small bathroom filled with steam as hot water poured down.
Naruto leaned into it, hands braced on the tile.
For a moment, he let the heat sink through skin and bone.
But his mind spun — refusing to still.
Gatō's fat, smirking face.
The chains. The bruises on the women's arms. The fear he'd smelled in every hallway of that cursed compound.
"How many more like him are out there?"
"How many more places where no one is strong enough to fight back?"
His teeth clenched.
"And if no one stops them…?"
A memory surfaced — not from anyone close.Not from Iruka — whose trust he no longer leaned on since learning the truth of the Kyuubi.
But from an old, faded scroll he had received — a gift from the Daimyō.
The Words of Hashirama Senju — The First Hokage:
"A shinobi's power exists not to dominate, but to protect."
"Peace is not a prize to be taken — it is a garden that must be tended. Again and again."
"There will always be those who crave control, wealth, fear. We must stand as the wall between them and the innocent — even when no one sees it, even when the cost is great."
Naruto breathed deep — let the words settle in his chest.
But that wasn't all.
The scroll had included a passage from Tobirama Senju, Hashirama's brother — the one who had built systems and laws to anchor those ideals into reality.
"Justice is not found in empty words."
"When ideals alone fail, structure and discipline must carry them forward."
"A true shinobi acts — and accepts the burden of that choice."
Naruto exhaled slowly.
"Hashirama dreamed. Tobirama made sure it worked."
"If they hadn't — men like Gatō would've owned the world."
The thought struck him like iron.
Not all battles were fought with jutsu and swords.Some were fought by deciding — here, now — what path you would stand on.Even if you stood alone.
"If no one will stop the next Gatō — I will."
"If peace is a garden — then I'll fight to clear the weeds."
Not because some scroll told him to.
Not because anyone ordered it.
Because he had seen what happened when no one did.
[Later — Balcony Under Stars]
Wrapped in a fresh shirt and loose pants, Naruto sat cross-legged on his narrow balcony.
The stars overhead were cold and distant.
But in the spaces between them — in the darkness — he felt something stir.
Not fear.
Resolve.
"Hashirama dreamed it. Tobirama acted on it."
"I'll walk the same road — my way."
"And if this village doubts me — if they call me Kyuubi or outcast — so be it."
"I'll fight for the ones no one else sees."
In the quiet night, Naruto's eyes shone with something steel-bright.
He would be ready.
[Meanwhile — Somewhere in an Akatsuki Safehouse]
The stone chamber was dim — scrolls, bounty posters, and old ledgers scattered across a cracked table.
Kakuzu sat hunched over the bounty board, clawed fingers flipping through the latest updates.
Let's see... Raiga — claimed. Hmph... That brat's doing my work.
A rustle of parchment.
"Gatō… bounty confirmed. Claimed by… Uzumaki Naruto."
There was a beat of silence.
Then — a slow, grinding sound.Kakuzu's head tilted ever so slightly.
"…That brat again?"
He leaned back — long sigh escaping through his mask.
From the shadows, Hidan wandered in — bored expression on his face.
"Oi, Kakuzu, what's with the face? Lose another bounty?"
Kakuzu's fingers twitched. "Not 'lost.' Stolen."
Hidan blinked. "Stolen? By who? The priest?"
"No. A genin from Konoha."
A beat.Hidan burst out laughing.
"BAHAHAHA— you're telling me some snot-nosed kid's outpacing you on the board? You're getting slow, old man!"
Kakuzu's eyes gleamed dangerously.
"I'm not slow. He's annoyingly… efficient."
He pulled out a fresh bounty ledger — flipping to a blank page.
"Fine. If the brat wants to play merchant, let's add him to the list."
Hidan grinned wider.
"What, you're gonna collect on Naruto now too? He's barely past genin!"
"Exactly — the price will only rise. And this time…" Kakuzu's voice dropped lower, threads flexing ominously, "…I'll be faster."
Hidan threw his hands up, laughing all the way out the door.
"Whatever you say, gramps — good luck keeping up with the kids these days!"
Left alone again, Kakuzu stared at Naruto's name on the ledger.A single mutter escaped him.
"Tch… first Raiga, now Gatō. What's next — he outbids me on real estate?"
The stone chamber echoed faintly with the sound of parchment snapping shut.