"I did say the Uzumakis were legendary, didn't I?" Tsunade said with a small smile. "The first wave of 50,000 enemy ninjas was wiped out by the Uzumakis with their skills and abilities, but they were already exhausted by the time when the additional army was sent. So they lost the battle. Even though the Uzumaki were destroyed in this battle, only 1000 enemy ninja were left alive after the battle. My sensei heard about the attack after it started, so he deployed troops to help the Uzumaki. It took 3 days for Leaf Ninjas to arrive Land of Whirlpools to help the Uzumaki. But by then Uzumakis were already destroyed, and some surviving members went into hiding, scattered all over the elemental nations." She finished explaining.
She was surprised to see Naruto deep in thought while staring at the picture of Ashina Uzumaki. She expected him to be angry at Hiruzen or angry at the Cloud village. But she didn't expect him to be calmly thinking. His face was set like he was thinking about what to say next.
"So the Cloud Village only went along with the plan, because they were misinformed about the cause of their Raikage's death..? That means they really do want the peace talks to happen and be allies with Leaf, don't they?" Naruto summarized still staring at the picture. Tsunade was surprised cause she didn't expect Naruto to actually be able to think from the perspective of Cloud.
Well, he's not wrong. She thought to herself, because she knew that Cloud was misled by the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers.
"Yeah, Cloud also wanted the peace, because even the Cloud village has experienced the pain caused by the wars." Tsunade replied. She then remembered her old friend and teammate's words to her, "Your uncle Jiraiya used to say that, 'Knowing what it feels to be in pain, is exactly why we try to be kind to others.' Cloud and Leaf wanted to end the bloodshed, because they know the pain caused by wars."
"But you said Cloud village realized that they were misled by the rogue ninja right..? So why didn't they try to make peace again?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"They did send a diplomat to sign the peace treaty 2 years ago, but it was all a plot to kidnap someone from the Leaf." Tsunade said remembering the Hyuga affair.
"What...? Why would they do that..?" Naruto shouted.
"In order to protect something that's precious, wars are waged. As long as there is Love in this world, there will always be Hate." Tsunade said reciting her own experiences.
"But how does Love cause hatred..? Protecting something precious to someone is always correct...! Right mom..?" Naruto's innocent mind can't comprehend what his mom was saying.
"Yes Naru... its correct..." Tsunade replied. But before Naruto can say something she continued again, "But when we were trying to protect our loved ones in Leaf village, we ended up taking away someone else's loved ones in Cloud village. And this caused hatred in the hearts of those who lost their loved ones."
"So... As long as there is Love in this world, there will always be Hate...?" Naruto questioned his mother repeating her earlier words.
Tsunade nodded and said, "And some people will take advantage of that hatred. As long as we have this Ninja System, this monster known as Hate will live. It will give birth to even more hatred. Cloud, Stone and Mist may have destroyed Land of Whirlpools. But if you look deeper, then you could say that this disordered shinobi world created hatred in the hearts of those villages and killed all the Uzumakis."
Naruto turned his face back to the album, "Disordered shinobi world..?" he muttered in deep thought, while gently touching the picture of Ashina.
"To be a ninja, you must confront Hatred. And every one of us must battle against that hatred." Tsunade said to her still thoughtful son. She expected him to shout like a stubborn child, but he surprised her by actually understanding each and every word of her.
"Being a ninja is to battle this cycle of hatred, each and every day for the rest of our lives."
The mother and son duo turned towards the source of the voice and found Jiraiya leaning on the wall right next to their window.
Naruto slowly got out of his mother's lap and stood facing the two Sannin and held the picture of Ashina Uzumaki to his heart and said, "Well then... When I become a Ninja... I'm going to break that cycle of Hatred one day. If there is truly such a thing as peace in this world, then somehow I'm going to find it. And I will never stop looking."
Tsunade gasped as she stood up and put her hands on her mouth and Jiraiya almost slipped and fell on the floor when they both heard Naruto's words. They both thought they saw a visage of smiling Minato over Naruto for a second.
Jiraiya was the first to recover from his surprise as he came up to Naruto and kneeled infront of him and put his hands on the boy's shoulders and said, "Even I can tell that hatred is spreading. I wanted to do something about it... but I don't know what. I believe... that someday the day will come when people will truly understand one another. If I can't find the answer, it will be up to you to do it..!"
"I will find the answer... Believe it...!" Naruto shouted rising his fist in the air, which made Tsunade and Jiraiya to smile.
"What did I miss?" Shizune asked quizzically when she entered with a tray full of breakfast for everyone and saw Tsunade and Jiraiya smiling proudly at Naruto.
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(Few Moments Later...)
"Alright Naruto why don't you go out and play with Shizune...?" said Jiraiya. Shizune caught on to what he was implying and took Naruto outside, leaving Tsunade and Jiraiya alone.
"What is it...?" Tsunade asked getting right to the point.
"Naruto is growing up. I saw him getting sad whenever a father was mentioned in the stories you read for him. Soon he would ask questions about his father." Jiraiya replied.
"I know..." Tsunade said feeling upset.
"When you feel the time is right, inform him about his parents. He has every right to know." Jiraiya advised and handed her a picture of Kushina and Minato.
"I will...." She said and accepted the picture.
As this was going on, no one was able to notice a very certain bird flying away from the branch of a large tree, from which one can observe the Senju House.
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Author's Notes:
This was my first ever fan fiction. Please rate the story and leave your valuable opinions in reviews. Next chapter will be coming soon, Dattebayo.
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Rise of The Phoenix Sage
FanfictionWhat if Naruto was taken away from Leaf village and was raised by Tsunade as her own son..? What will happen when he meets another blonde in Sand..? What will happen to the Shinobi world when The Child of Prophecy, finds something that was not even...
