Nindō: Dominion

"The original should seriously learn some kind of teleportation ability like the Flying Raijin …" Naruto's shadow clone mumbled to himself in a tired tone. "I don't know about that monster, but I'm certainly fucking tired and wish to sleep by this point. Even my joints are aching," He was still in the same room as before, meditating and conserving as much of his strength while keeping himself conscious enough not to get dispelled automatically, but it was already taking a toll on him.

He looked at Temari, who had spent essentially the entire day in bed, asleep, except for a small window where a female Anbu had come in to take care of her and help her with some things, "I'll need to wake her up once it's time to talk to this Maki …"

A knock on the door pulled Naruto out of his musings, "Come on in, Sai."

The pale-skinned Anbu commander entered the room and naturally glanced over at Temari's figure before turning to Naruto. "It's time. The rebellion leader should be arriving here with her entourage any time now."

"They are willing to come to our base?" Naruto raised a brow. "She's confident, I'll give her that."

"People are used to changing their tunes when the name of the Seventh Hokage is mentioned. Especially when said Hokage is inside the village without a single person having that information," Sai said.

"That's good to know," Naruto smiled. "I'll wake Temari up, send someone to fetch me when she arrives. Timely. We don't need to keep her waiting for a meaningless show of power, okay, Sai?"

"I understand." The man nodded before leaving.

Naruto's clone stood up before looking at Temari, "It's time to wake up now," He came up to her and placed his palm on her abdomen as it glowed with the golden light of Yin-Yang Release, rejuvenating her spiritual and physical state as best as he could.

The woman's eyes naturally opened as she showed a confused expression, mumbling something unintelligible under her breath. "What's going on?" She asked with a weak voice.

"We are about to get into a meeting with the leader of the rebellion. I would like for you to be present because of your relationship with her. And since you are going to be taking over soon, I feel that you should be present during the talk."

"Your logic is sound," She nodded, glancing down due to feeling some pressure on her abdomen, "But I can't even stay awake without you doing … that." She pointed at the glow of Naruto's jutsu.

"I just used it to jolt you awake," He said, removing his palm from her belly. "You can stay conscious at least for a few hours now."

"Yeah, but I can barely even raise my arm right now. Let alone stand on my own feet," She said.

"It's going to be fine," Naruto said. "If everything works out well, I might just be able to convince her that there's no need for her to go against us. Since you are familiar with her, she might feel somewhat comforted."

"Fine …" Temari groaned, having difficulty sitting up, "Can you help me up …" She said as Naruto put his hand on her lower back and held her hand to support her up. She took a deep breath, "At least I feel like I have more energy than yesterday."

"Come on, try to get out of bed," Naruto supported her as she turned and swung her legs from the side of the bed before barely standing up while leaning on him.

"Fuck … If I didn't have to deal with Maki and her rebellion, I would've slept for a week straight," She said while clenching her teeth as Naruto held her by the waist and helped her wrap her arm around his shoulder.

"Can you stand stably with my support?" He asked her as she nodded, taking multiple deep breaths. "Good." A knock was followed by Naruto's words. "We should go, she's probably already waiting for us."

…

Naruto and Temari sat facing a stern-faced woman in a small room in the safe house that the Anbu were using.

"So?" Maki spoke up. "What did the Hokage wish to talk to me about? After making such a long trip here, you must have something of significant importance."

"Commander of Suna's Anbu," Naruto smiled warmly. "I hear from Temari that you two have a certain relationship?"

"Please, just address me by name, Hokage-sama," The woman spoke, her stern expression everpresent as she didn't even look at Temari, who was barely sitting upright. "As for any relationship I may have had with Miss Temari, I believe I have forsaken it after the events that have taken place in Suna."

"That is for you to decide, Maki," Naruto said. "I initially came here to curb the rebellious force and establish Temari as the interim Kazekage until Gaara regains consciousness, but if you and Temari can come to an understanding, then the situation will drastically change."

"Why don't you, Hokage-sama?" The woman spoke. "You are correct. I do not have the entire village behind me, and it won't be too challenging for you to suppress my forces to further your means. So why aren't you doing exactly that?"

"Because it would set a bad example in the world. It would tell the other nations that the Hokage is willing to act willy-nilly and interfere in the politics of other nations," Naruto said. "The civil and political unrest that will be a direct consequence of my actions is something I would prefer to avoid."

"Maki," Temari spoke, making the stern expression on the woman's face momentarily falter. "May I ask you why you did what you did?"

"Don't act ignorant," The woman spoke. "My sensei, she was like a sister to me. Rasa was the reason that she's no longer with us. Even the current Kazekage has done nothing to change the system, choosing to continue the same regime as before with no change at all."

"Is it that bad?" Naruto asked. "I do not know about the internal politics of Suna, but merely in the past decade, not only has the ninja population of the village flourished, but its infrastructure has also been upgraded massively. That's not even mentioning Land of Wind's daimyo increasing the budget for the village's development by nine times."

"Your spies were able to get the information about the village's budget increment, but they didn't tell you how it came to be, did they?" The woman said with a sharp tone. "In recent years, the skirmishes against Iwa-nin over the smallest of resources have only intensified. Both villages actively suppress their news, but lives are still lost. And the ones that are lost are from the Anbu. My people. In the previous year alone, I have lost a total of thirty of my competent shinobi to the minor skirmishes against Iwa. Don't you dare tell me about the prosperity of the village! It is built upon the blood of hundreds of Suna shinobi. I will not stand it anymore. I will step in and finish things once and for all."

"I understand that you are furious about the situation," Naruto nodded. "I can also see that your conviction is more about protecting the lives of your people than dethroning the current regime. Am I correct?"

"No," She shook her head. "I will not allow anyone with the blood of Rasa to sit in power if I have anything to say about it. I will be the one to enact the necessary changes once the regime changes."

"What about my nephew?" Temari asked, interjecting.

"What?" Maki frowned.

"You said you will not allow anyone with my father's blood to sit on the seat of Kazekage. Understood. What about Shinki, Gaara's adoptive son? Will you steal his right from him as well?" Temari said, shutting the woman up.

"He is a mere child who cannot possibly understand or be embroiled in the politics of the village. By the time he grows up, he will be welcome to challenge my position and force me to abdicate. After I establish my plans for the village and show everyone that things can indeed be better."

"I don't like the way you're talking," Temari growled. "As if my brother's already dead. Do you really think that once Gaara wakes up, he will allow you to sit in peace?"

"He will because I will give him sufficient reason to sit in peace. Once the Fifth Kazekage returns to Suna, he will be given a pension fund and will be respectfully asked to officially sign his retirement from the position."

Temari was about to blow her top without having any real energy behind her, so Naruto tapped her knee to tell her to shut up.

"Let me consider an ideal scenario," Naruto said. "Let's say that you have the support of the elders and do become the sixth Kazekage. Then what? How do you plan to deal with the skirmishes against Iwa-nin that are the root cause of your problems? Are you going to give up on your hatred? Are you going to convince them to do the same? What is your plan?"

"My first order of business will be to negotiate a ceasefire with them. Drawing a clear line when it comes to the border resources that are the sources of their skirmishes."

"And what if the Tsuchikage, or even the Daimyo of the Land of Earth, decides that they want something exorbitant? What if her retainers, who are all people with deep-seated hatred against Suna, convince her to tacitly agree to their repeated encroachment upon the Land of Wind? Will you stand down and allow them to continue their encroachment? I will tell you right to your face that you do not have the strength to be a Kage. Without Gaara's deterrent and now Shukaku's loss, Suna is like a sitting duck in any sort of negotiation scenario against Iwa. Do you have any plans for that?"

"… I," Maki didn't have any words to Naruto's almost overwhelming questioning. The man's natural charisma made her feel as if she was obligated to give him a satisfactory answer — something that she didn't have. "I don't know …"

"I understand your plight, Maki. I truly do," Naruto said. "But you have to understand that you becoming the leader might seem fruitful in the short term, but you cannot last. However, you aren't all out of options. Since your issue is the heavy loss of your elites in the skirmishes against Suna, Konoha will form a partnership with Suna to provide you with our medics, which can greatly reduce your casualty rates. That is what you lack, and Konoha will support you with it. What do you say?"

The woman felt her entire world collapsing around her as she heard the simple words from the mouth of the Hokage. The plans that she had spent years coming up with, biding her time for the right moment, all came tumbling down with a simple reality check from Naruto. "And what is your condition?" She asked with a defeated voice, unsure of what she was supposed to do.

"Temari will be serving as the interim Kazekage until Gaara is healed and back to top shape. As for Shinki, he is to continue his training to become the Sixth Kazekage. As for you, you can take up an advisory role beside her or continue your position in the Anbu," Naruto declared. "As for your late sensei … She is already hailed as the hero of Suna. And after the incident of her reanimation during the war, you know that she is at peace with it."

***

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