The Seventh Swordsman

Deceiver

(Kirigakure)

Mei Terumi watched the entirety of their village arrive at the gates to watch the return of their triumphant army led by the greatest Mizukage of their nation. Even as they walked through the entrance with a thunderous applause from their citizens, Naruto lead the victorious army with his usual calm and composure while humbly acknowledging the respects he was shown by the villagers with a few waves of his hand.

Behind him came his infamous Generals and Admiral, formerly the Seven Ninja Swordsmen who were met with equal cheering...an act which made them all swell with pride.

Even she, the hated Jinchuuriki at one point was met with rave cheering not only as the Mizukage's wife but as an important warrior of this nation. It gave her peace and showed just how much had changed in her life in a very short span.

But it was not the time alone that had changed...

She remained the ever silent and dutiful wife even during the ceremony that came after where her husband honored all their war dead, awarded medals and golden crowns for bravery to many veterans, gave a thankful speech to all his men and honored his promise of freeing the families of their martyrs from ever paying taxes again...an oath he had given to those dead men and women of Kirigakure who sacrificed themselves in his battles.

It was late evening by the time they finished their duties and were now heading back to their home where their children would be waiting.

Even then she was silent as she looked at the enigma of a man walking beside her.

There was no doubt in her mind about his prowess as a shinobi and a Kage, she had never seen such a charismatic and brilliant commander like him in the shinobi world...a fact acknowledged by even other Kage's after his heroic victories.

He was loved by the people of Land of Water, even the former of Land of Lightning and the other territories they had seized. Under him many things had changed in this world, for the better...

Even in their marriage, he had always treated her with respect and compassion. He loved their children dearly...

If someone looked in her life from the outside, it would seem perfect. Many even told her so...and yet it wasn't.

Far from it.

For she had started to notice the changes within her husband recently, not to mention the disturbing rumors she had heard about an affair that he had with that Uzumaki mercenary during their campaign against Kumogakure, thankfully the woman had went away herself after achieving that goal thereby quelling any further rumors.

Naruto however had made no effort to crush them in the first place, choosing to let them run its course and die in time. A strategy which worked for everyone else, just not his wife who was dismayed by his actions.

Mei knew theirs had been a political union, to benefit their standing and future. But she had seen a brief flicker in him, that somewhere deep down he felt something for her and in time it could transform into something eternal.

A childish dream of a naive young girl...

For she knew now that his heart would always belong to his first wife, Ino. He very rarely mentioned about her in Mei's presence, but whenever he had she had seen the sheer joy and life in his eyes...a feeling he lacked very much in their interactions.

There had always been a distance between them, but also trust and understanding.

Something which was also slipping away rapidly as he was keeping things from her, making secret trips and had kept a truth as grave as the existence of the Otsutsuki from her. Now that the Six Tails had explained just what threat they represented, it was fair to say she was not at all happy with his recent behavior.