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The Blessed Realm	By : susanna Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 1746 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Naruto, his friends and the world he lives in don't belong to me but to Masashi Kishimoto. I write this story only for my pleasure and I don't make any money with it.

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Chapter One Hundred Twenty: Questions
The lecture had ended, and the person who had introduced the speaker got up again and asked the audience to bring forth their questions. Both Sasuke and Naruto were overwhelmed by the lecture at first and had to sort out their thoughts before they could speak up. Not even their discussions with the young people at the riverside had prepared them to the woman's way of thinking about politics.
They listened to the questions asked by other people. Most of them were asked by old people who thought that the woman was not critical enough when it came to Konoha. They said that Konoha had already shown its true character when it attacked Amegakure, meaning that the ninja world should be wary now and do everything to contain it and not let it start a war again. The woman indeed held Danzou responsible for the attack against Amegakure (which after all had started the Second Ninja World War), but came to different conclusions:
“Danzou knows that Konoha doesn't stand a chance in another war,” she said. “He won't attack anyone as long as he does not feel threatened. And even if he attacks one of the other villages he won't be able to start another Ninja World War. He'll be beaten soon, maybe after some initial success. Konoha is too weak to win another war.”
When he had understood the rules of the discussion Sasuke began to enjoy it: Obviously he was surrounded by people who considered Danzou evil and a danger to world peace. With time, however, his feelings grew more ambivalent: People's resentments had its origins in a time when his clan had been an integral part of Konoha, and in all likelihood they had supported the wars just as anyone else.
For Naruto the situation was more difficult. In his opinion the woman was far too critical of Konoha, and even more he was hurt by the fact that most people in the audience spoke of Konoha, not of Danzou, as if the whole village and not its current Hokage alone was responsible for the threat against them, or for the Second Ninja World War. It took him some time to summon the courage to ask a question of his own:
“You said that the other villages captured their own bijuu,” he said. “But in fact it was the Shodai Hokage who tamed them all and distributed them to the other villages to make sure that they were all of the same strength, and to establish peace. He loved peace, as did all his successors, with the exception of Danzou.”
The woman looked as if he had said something really weird, and it took her some seconds to come up with a reply.
“Where did you hear that?” she asked.
“I heard it from Jiraiya.”
“The Jiraiya who wrote Icha-Icha?”
“Yes.”
“Was he not from Konoha himself?”
“He was a ninja of Konoha,” Naruto replied. “Writing Icha-Icha was something he only did for fun when his tasks as a ninja left him time for it.”
The woman swallowed, and obviously she chose her words very carefully when she spoke again:
“Look, Jiraiya was a great author, and maybe also a great ninja, but he wasn't a historian. Also being from Konoha himself doesn't make him a reliable source. Of course generously giving away the bijuu makes the Shodai Hokage appear in a better light than gambling away Konoha's position as the only village with a bijuu of its own. But if you think about it you'll understand that giving away the bijuu does not make sense.”
“He wanted to achieve peace,” Naruto said. “He gave away the bijuu to gain the other villages' trust by seeing that they were all of equal strength.”
“You don't give away horrible weapons in order to create trust,” the woman said. “And concerning the equilibrium of power you are alluding to: It's not something that's created intentionally. It comes into existence as each country strives to draw equal with its opponents. Some theories claim that such an equilibrium provides for stability and peace, but it's always a fragile equilibrium and if it fails, as it happened a couple of times in the history of the ninja countries, you get a horrible war.
But that's from the point of view of an outside observer. From the point of view of a powerful country – and the Shodai Hokage was in office at a time when Konoha was at the height of its power - the world is safest when it remains the strongest country of all, and every other country, or even all other countries combined, are too weak to attack it. Giving away the bijuu helped the other countries gain military strength, to a point that they were strong enough to attack Konoha. It does not make sense. Helping other countries economically would have made sense, however: it would have gained their trust without compromising Konoha's safety.”
The woman stopped talking. She looked at Naruto, hoping for a sign of understanding and approval, but Naruto was still busy processing her words. He was not content at all with what he had heard, and also he felt humiliated. He sought for words to defend his position, but the person who was doing the moderation had already asked for the next question. Anyway the discussion ended soon, and people were preparing to leave.
“If you want you can continue this discussion in a lesd formal atmosphere,” the moderator said, and then gave the name and address of a restaurant in the vicinity. Most people left, however, and only a few remained, assembling around the speaker and waiting for her to leave too. Most of them gave the impression of knowing her personally, or at least of being from the university, and Sasuke felt insecure whether the invitation included him and Naruto too, but when he asked he was told that it was all fine if they joined the group too. Naruto felt insecure even whether he wanted to join at all.
“This woman is an expert on Konoha,” Sasuke said. “We need to ask her for more information.”
Slowly the group set in motion, some a few steps ahead, some lingering behind. Sasuke and Naruto kept to each other, as they did not know anyone else. But already on their way to the restaurant the woman approached Naruto.
“So you knew Jiraiya in person...,” she said. “I really envy you for this. I would have loved to meet him.”
“I was his student,” Naruto answered.
“Did he give creative writing classes? You know, I am a great fan of Icha-Icha. What are you going to write?”
“He taught me ninja arts.”
“Oh.” The woman was silent, and Naruto enjoyed his small triumph.
“So you are from Konoha too, I guess.”
“We are.”
The woman didn't answer,but she remained at Naruto's side, apparently lost in thoughts, and when they arrived at the restaurant she invited Naruto to sit opposite her. Sasuke took the place next to Naruto.
“I should have guessed that you are from Konoha,” she said. “I should have been more sensitive.”
“It's okay.”
“I guess you grew up with what people in Konoha told you about Konoha's history,” she said. “I guess that people in Konoha teach the history of Konoha in a way that makes Konoha appear in a positive light, just as people here are still influenced by their memories of the Second Ninja World War which led to the destruction of Music Town, to its demilitarization and ultimately to its rise to the position of richest town on the continent. People remember their pain and their humiliation: for them, Konoha is the enemy, and they tell stories that make it appear in a negative light. The historical truth, however, is more complicated.”
“People haven't taught me much about the history of Konoha,” Naruto said. “That's why I enjoyed your lecture: I learnt a lot that I didn't know before. However, I am pretty certain that all the former Hokages longed for peace more than for anything else. Danzou is the only exception.”
“Well, everyone wants peace,” the woman said. “And we need to judge the Shodai Hokage and his successors according to the standards of their own time. The Shodai Hokage was born into a world where fighting was considered normal and a man's most honourable activity, and when it was taken for granted that people only cared for themselves. Protecting his people was what was expected from the head of a clan at the time, and coming to an agreement with the Uchiha was quite an achievement and also a digression from contemporary ideology that needs to be acknowledged. Attempting to enlarge his daimyou's territory when this seemed possible was considered an ordinary act of loyalty at the time, and refusing to do this an immoral neglect of duty. Senju Hashirama was certainly a competent Hokage, organizing the foundation of Konoha and establishing it as the most powerful of all the ninja villages, and you can be proud of him.”
Naruto was not certain whether he felt proud.
“What about Minato?” he asked. “He truly worked for peace, didn't he?”
“That was a different time. Everyone hoped for peace when the Third Ninja World War had ended. We should be careful condemning Danzou too: from his own point of view he does what's necessary to protect Konoha. It's just that his way of thinking has its origins in the time before the Second Ninja World War and hasn't changed much since then. Increasing Konoha's military power is the only way to ensure its safety he can conceive of.”
Naruto was still doubtful, and he distrusted the woman. “So Minato thought differently,” he said.
“He understood that some minimal trust had to be established, and that secret assassinations and unilateral actions undermined this trust. Konoha had to become a reliable partner for peace treaties and needed to respect international law if it wanted to maintain its place in the ninja community. For this he needed to take action against Danzou, who had undermined that trust, and thus he disbanded Root.”
Sasuke touched Naruto's elbow. “He should have taken further measures,” he said. “Not just disbanding Root, but putting Danzou to trial and making public Root's activities. He would have spared us a lot of trouble.”
“I am not sure whether this would have been possible,” the woman said “Danzou had quite a lot of support in the population. Making public Root's crimes would not necessarily have led to its condemnation. It's far more likely that people would have turned against Minato putting a ninja of your own village to trial for crimes committed against ninja from other villages is unheard of, and even today few people would accept it. Even disbanding Root and explaining to people that its activities had undermined Konoha's safety was a courageous move. Maybe if he had lived longer, so that the population of Konoha had a chance to see that his approach to peace worked while Danzou's approach had caused a war and brought great suffering to them, Minato would have been able to further reduce Danzou's power. The kyuubi's attack came quite convenient to Danzou.”
Again Naruto shivered from the woman's cold rationality.
“I need to know more about Minato,” he said. “I need to know whether he truly worked for peace. It's important to me: I am Minato's son.”
“Are you? I did not know that he had any children.”
“My parentage needed to be hidden from everyone, or my life would have been in constant danger.”
“That makes sense,” the woman said. She leant back and looked at him. “Now I know where I've seen your picture. It's on the back cover of the Gutsy Ninja, and Danzou mentioned you in his last speech to the people of Konoha. So you're the kyuubi's jinchuuriki.”
“Yes.”
“He mentioned that you're staying in Music Town. I didn't expect you in my lecture, however.” She paused to think, then she continued:
“So Minato was not only pressured into sacrificing himself, but also into sealing the kyuubi into his own child.
“My father was not pressured into sacrificing himself. He did it voluntarily. He was the Hokage, so it was his duty to sacrifice himself.”
The woman shook her head. “There would have been ways to fight off the kyuubi without sacrificing himself. They might have been riskier for his people, but they did not include Minato's certain death. But people said that the kyuubi's attack was Minato's fault, as he had refused to create a new jinchuuriki, and that therefore it was his job to fight it. That traditionally the Hokage has to sacrifice himself when the village is in danger was just a secondary argument.”
Naruto looked at her, trying to rearrange his ideas. The woman looked back, musing.
“The kyuubi's attack really came convenient to Danzou,” she said. “It did not only help him get rid of a powerful rival but it also allowed for a new jinchuuriki at a time when no family would have been ready to offer their own child, not even those who were in favour of having a new jichuuriki.”
“It couldn't be helped,” Naruto said. “It's the only way to contain the kyuubi.”
Again the woman shook her head. “You don't need to contain the kyuubi. You can fight it off. The problem is that then it may come back.”
“So having a jinchuuriki is safer”
“Yes, at least on first sight. On the other hand even within a jinchuuriki the kyuubi may break loose at any time, and then it's already within the village and much more dangerous.”
“Not with me,” Naruto replied. “I am able to keep it in check.”
“I'm sorry,” the woman said. “I should have held in mind that the situation is different for the person who is directly affected. I hope you are successful in containing the kyuubi. Nonetheless there would have been other ways.”
“Maybe my father didn't know about them.”
“Maybe. We know little about the deliberations of Konoha's politicians at the time, or about the discussions they had among themselves, as documents in the archive of the Hokage Tower are made accessible to historians only after thirty years. What's certain, however, is that Danzou profited a lot from the kyuubi's attack.”

A/N: Thanks again for your reviews and your plusses! You can find my answers at http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/14965-blessed-realm/ .It is now possible to access the thread without registration at the forums.
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