It had been two days since Naruto and Kisame raided the bases and gathered whatever loot they could. Naruto used his clones to count everything and separate it into sealed scrolls.
"Why are we gathering so much money?" Kisame asked curiously. They were sitting at a small shack that sold dango and tea. "Planning to become a billionaire?"
"I'm surprised you're asking me now after two days," Naruto said, chewing on a dango he had sneakily taken from Kisame's plate since his own was already finished. "But it's more like a plan… Pein said we needed people. Like an alliance, you could say. He and I planned to help smaller villages." He set the empty stick back on the plate. "No one cares about smaller villages, you know? If we help them, we'll gain a lot of neighborly goodwill. They'll look up to us… we'll be their heroes."
"That's not a bad idea." Kisame nodded, understanding the plan. It was true—no major hidden village ever bothered solving the problems of smaller ones unless it benefited them. "We solve their problems, no matter how small… we earn their trust and they join us. More support for Akatsuki."
"Yup!" Naruto grinned.
In the future, when Naruto became the Seventh Hokage, he would send teams to smaller villages to help them, no matter how big or small the problems were. That was how he built his reputation and gained popularity. By helping those forgotten places, Konoha came to be seen as heroes—kind and dependable.
Naruto still remembered the day when the council had told him he was wasting resources on those villages because they had nothing to offer in return. That was the last day the council ever went against him. He wasn't like Tsunade or Kakashi.
The reason Tsunade couldn't help smaller villages was because of Danzo's interference, and as for Kakashi—it was funding and council restrictions. Naruto had put an end to all of that.
He was going to use those same tricks here in the present, to climb his way to the top. Shikamaru might have been the one best at politics, but that didn't mean Naruto couldn't play the game too.
"Hey, Kisame," Naruto said, curiosity tugging at him. "Why did you join Akatsuki?"
"Mmh? I have my reasons."
"Still, humor me."
"What's there to humor?" Kisame grinned. "I like fighting."
Naruto snorted. "I call that bullshit."
"What? It's true!" Kisame grabbed his tea and took a sip. "Why? You don't believe me?"
"The brat's right, you shark-head! No way you joined some cult just for battle!"
Both Kisame and Naruto turned at the voice. There stood Zabuza, in bandages and looking battered, while Haku—without his mask—stood beside him, holding his massive sword.
"We meet again, meathead," Zabuza sneered.
Kisame's eyes widened slightly before he chuckled—and then started laughing.
Zabuza's eye twitched. "Why are you laughing?!"
"Y-You! Hahaha!" Kisame clutched his stomach.
"YOU WANNA DIE, SHARK-HEAD?!"
Naruto sweat-dropped. Was Kisame broken or something? Still, he smiled politely at Zabuza and Haku.
"Hello there! My name is Naruto Uzumaki," he introduced himself. "Honestly, I thought you wouldn't come—"
"Cut to the chase! Where's my money?!" Zabuza scowled.
"Have a seat first."
"Shut it, blondie! Oi, Kisame! What the hell do you want?!"
"Heh, you do realize I have Samehada with me?" Kisame pointed lazily at the sword resting against the wall. "I can cut you into pieces and feed you to my sharks… or I can drain every last drop of chakra from you. Which one sounds better? Either way, you're still getting cut and fed to my sharks."
"Shove that—!"
"Zabuza-sama!" Haku stopped him, placing a hand on his arm. "Please, let's hear them out…" He really didn't like Zabuza's cursing sometimes, and right now, he was more worried about his health than his temper.
Zabuza grumbled. "Fine, fine…"
Kisame tilted his head, eyeing Haku. The kid looked way too feminine, but Kisame could still tell he was a boy. Still, he couldn't resist messing with Zabuza.
"Heh, I didn't know you were into young girls…"
Naruto spat out his tea and nearly choked.
Haku just blinked.
Zabuza hurled his crutch at Kisame, who honestly hadn't expected that and got smacked right in the face.
"YOU FUCKING KNOW HE'S A BOY, YOU BASTARD!" Zabuza barked, then immediately turned to Haku. "You! Make sure you stay by my side! He's a sicko!"
Naruto wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, lips twitching. "Right now, you sound like one, Momo-chan."
Kisame wheezed, clutching his stomach despite the pain in his face. "M-Momo-chan!!"
"PREPARE TO DIE, YOU BRAT!! YOU TOO, BLUE BASTARD!!"
"Z-Zabuza-sama!!"
Later, Naruto and Haku sat side by side, quietly eating dango and drinking tea while watching Kisame and Zabuza wrestle in the mud like children.
"They look like civilians fighting over spilled sake," Naruto muttered, amused.
"How did you know us?" Haku asked softly, eyes still on his mentor. "How much do you know?"
Naruto chewed on a dango stick and looked at him. "I can see the future."
"…Huh?" Haku tilted his head slightly. "…I see." To Naruto's surprise, he accepted it without question. "Do you have precious people, Naruto-san?"
Naruto froze halfway to reaching for another dango. Precious people? Did he? He grabbed the skewer anyway and answered.
"I have a lot of them… I wanna protect them. They're my reason for being here. Everything I'm doing—it's for them." His gaze softened as he stared at the dango in his hand. "You care about Zabuza a lot, don't you? He's your precious person."
Haku nodded. "Yes, he is. I am his tool."
Naruto closed his eyes. He remembered this exact conversation from the past. "Haku… I know you follow Zabuza. And I also know the truth—you hate fighting. You hate violence, but you do it for him. What if I told you I could stop Zabuza and change his mind? You wouldn't have to run anymore. You and him… could have a home."
"What… what do you mean, Naruto-san?"
"I mean exactly what I said. I plan to bring both of you with me to Ame. I'm going to change the world, Haku. But to do that… I need you and Zabuza's help."
"It sounds… impossible."
"I can make it happen," Naruto said with quiet conviction. "So, what do you say?"
"I… do what Zabuza-sama decides."
Naruto smiled. "You really care about him, huh? He's like a father figure to you, isn't he?"
Haku flushed faintly and nodded. "He's the reason I'm alive. He gave me purpose. I became his tool."
"I know all about it, Haku…" Naruto murmured.
—————
"S-Say no more, kid… Haku… I am sorry…"
"I-It's okay—"
"No it's not!"
Naruto calmly took a sip of his tea and exhaled. This was it—Talk no Jutsu.
A forbidden technique. Banned in the future. Classified as SSS-Rank.
Sasuke fell to it.
Obito fell to it.
Nagato, even Kaguya's will itself… all had been bent by its power.
Naruto never asked for this ability. He didn't even know it was a thing until Shikamaru and Kurama told him: "Your words are too damn dangerous, Naruto. People just… follow you."
Even Kakashi, calm and calculating as always, once admitted, "Naruto, you're more dangerous with words than jutsu."
And what did Kakashi do when he became Sixth Hokage? He banned it. Flat out.
Jealous much?
Kisame, meanwhile, was shaken to his very core.
What had he just witnessed?
The brat hadn't moved a muscle—no hand signs, no chakra flaring. Just words.
And yet Kisame swore he heard music. A sorrowful tune, strings echoing in the back of his skull like some heavenly funeral song. His chest ached. His throat tightened. For one horrifying moment, Kisame's shark eyes stung.
What the hell is this?!
Genjutsu? Could it be? No… there was no chakra. No illusions. Just… words.
Kisame muttered under his breath: "Holy Kami… mercy…"
Zabuza had cracked. His gravelly voice shook. "Haku… I… I always cared for you. You're like a son to me…"
Haku's tears fell freely, his face soft and childlike again. "Zabuza-sama…!"
Zabuza's chest heaved. "I'm a monster… dragging you into this life. You never liked killing. You wanted peace. And yet you followed me, let yourself be my tool… You should've had a life of your own."
"No! You are not a monster, Zabuza-sama!"
"Don't—don't call me that, Haku. Just… my name. Please."
The two embraced, their shack filled with the raw weight of years unspoken.
Kisame couldn't take it anymore. His face twisted, utterly uncomfortable. He quietly snatched up the plate of dango Naruto had set near him, tiptoed out of the shack like a guilty thief, and plopped himself down outside.
Sitting cross-legged, eating the dango, he stared blankly into the distance.
"…What the fuck just happened?" he muttered between bites.
And Naruto? He just sat there in the dim shack, sipping tea, patient as a monk. Acting as therapist, mediator, and SSS-rank manipulator all in one.