Disclaimer:
Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 310: Peace
"Did you have any interesting missions while I was gone?" Naruto asked before slurping some ramen noodles. "Oh, I missed these."
Ino, who was sitting right next to him, gave him a glare. "Did you miss Ichiraku's ramen more than me?"
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto!" Ayame exclaimed with a frown on her face. "The correct answer was a quick 'Of course not!'..."
"Hey, there is nothing wrong with a man missing his favorite food," Teuchi added.
"I'm just saying it because you never said that you missed me after begin gone for an entire year. But you did miss the ramen, apparently." Ino huffed.
"Of course, I missed you. And Hinata." Although the truth was that his mind was fully occupied while cultivating, he didn't have much chance to miss anything.
"Really?" Ino asked.
"Tomorrow, I'll show you how much I've missed you," Naruto added.
Ino's cheeks became slightly red. The next morning, they were finally going on their little vacation. They were going to a remote town to enjoy their hot springs. Just thinking about it was getting her hot and bothered… It's been an entire year since she got something from him.
Hinata had agreed to leave her father in charge of the clan for the incoming week, and Tsunade had gladly given her some time off.
"Naruto, not here." Ino composed herself. Given her current position, she couldn't be seen doing anything inappropriate.
Teuchi chuckled. "Ah… to be young again."
Ayame rolled her eyes. "Please, you say that now, but always complain when I go out on a date."
"That's different! You are my daughter." Teuchi said.
"Anyways…" Naruto turned to look at Ino. "You haven't answered my first question. Anything interesting happen?"
"Plenty of things," Ino responded. "But you asked me about missions. I'm not doing missions outside Konoha anymore. I am currently working full-time as Lady Tsunade's assistant."
"Isn't that Shizune's job?" he asked.
"It was, but she has officially retired from that position. Now she only works part-time at the hospital."
"How so? Did she get injured or something?"
"No. She got pregnant and married. In that order," Ino said with a grin.
"Shizune got married? With who?"
Ino had an expression of amusement. "Don't you want to take a guess?... Okay, fine. She is married to Itachi Uchiha."
"Itachi?... Seriously? How did that happen?" He had only seen Itachi a few times, but he seemed as uninterested in romance as his little brother.
"Shizune was in charge of Itachi's rehabilitation. The two of them grew very close in a very short amount of time. I mean, most of the village still hated Itachi, and Shizune was one of the few people who talked to him on a regular basis. She took care of him and they fell in love… Don't you think it's romantic?"
"It's very romantic!" Ayame said. "And Itachi is super hot… Damn, Shizune! She is so lucky!"
"Mmm… Itachi is going to need more than one woman if he's expected to restore the Uchiha clan. He has a long road ahead of him," Naruto commented.
This earned an accusatory glance from the other two women.
"What?" Naruto asked.
"Anyways… as I was saying, I haven't done any dangerous missions in a long time. And neither has Hinata. Shortly after taking over the role as the leader of the Hyuga Clan, it became evident that she was pregnant, so she was forbidden from leaving the village anyway."
"Has there been no movement from Akatsuki? They should still have a few members left," Naruto asked. One of his clones had gone to that hideout a year ago, but it was already empty, and it looked like it had been abandoned for a while.
"I'm afraid not. And not just Akatsuki… Things have been very quiet after the war. The Rock Village elected Onoki's granddaughter as the next Tsuchikage, but they have not attempted to communicate with us in any way. The Elders believe that they are worried about triggering a reaction from us… or more like, from you," Ino explained.
"I already told the Raikage that I have no interest in going around destroying villages for no reason," Naruto said.
"Maybe that's why the Cloud requested a peace treaty with us. We received an envoy just one month after you left. They even brought us some offerings, like gold, silver, and some rare materials for crafting ninja weapons," Ino said.
"Did Konoha accept?"
Ino shrugged. "I was not part of the meeting, so I don't know exactly what was said, but yes...in the end, it was accepted. We had no reason not to. The Cloud had already lost most of its military power. It is going to take them several generations to recoup the losses they suffered. The same goes for the Rock Village."
"Looks like we may have a long period of peace after this," Naruto commented.
"That's what everyone is thinking," Ayame said. "That's also why so many civilians want to move here. Normally, ninja villages are not the first choice for civilians to live in, since they can be very dangerous. But people are noticing how calm things have become. Konoha has been striving a lot for the past year. We have many new businesses, and we have been getting many new clients."
"It's not just the Cloud either. The Wind Village also requested to renew our alliance treaty, something that they had been pushing aside for a while. And many minor villages are wanting to get on our good graces," Ino commented.
"They are afraid. That won't last forever." Naruto knew this very well, as he had seen it many times before. This is the kind of peace that Pain had been wanting to achieve, but that won't endure for long periods of time. Eventually, people will forget what their parents and grandparents were so afraid of, and war will ensue again.
"It may not last forever. But a period of peace will always be a good thing. Don't ever doubt that," Teuchi added.
Naruto could not argue with the man. "Another bowl." So he just asked for more food.
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