Gato was obviously trying something brand-new.
He didn't follow canon. He didn't build a private army. He played democracy.
Naruto exhaled in relief. He was now 80% sure Gato hadn't read the original story.
Not disrespecting the guy, but democracy wouldn't work here. In Wave Country, raw force was king.
"Man's probably from Korea…" Naruto thought. "Didn't expect foreigners to transmigrate here too."
Yeah. That's a lot to process.
"Can I get some food?" Naruto asked, deciding to cash in on the moment.
"Of course," Scarface said, reaching into the bag—
"Wait," Naruto interrupted. "My family of seven all want to support Mr. Gato too. Can I get seven shares?"
Team 7 + Kakashi + Tazuna's family of three. All loyal citizens of President Gato.
Scarface froze. "Uh… well…"
Was this kid bug-abusing the system?
Naruto said patiently, "Think about it. If they pass by later, you'll have to give them food anyway. Might as well hand it all to me now and I'll spread the good word at home."
Scarface scratched his head. It felt like a scam, but he couldn't argue it.
After Naruto sweet-talked him for a bit, Scarface handed over seven full shares.
Naruto was delighted.
This is Talk-no-Jutsu! (tactical lean-back.jpg)
He stuffed everything into one big sack—rice, vegetables, fruit, grains. Surprisingly varied.
"Did Gato… accidentally do a good deed?" Naruto murmured as he pushed through the crowd.
Because supporting Gato got you food, more and more people crowded toward the mercenaries.
They knew Gato was brutal—didn't matter. Starving meant death.
Hungry fishermen shoved each other, their thin bodies rubbing and colliding. Sweat and fish stench mixed together. The cramped street grew hotter, like a steaming pot.
Behind him he could still hear the mercenaries shouting, "Advisors, attention! Salute Chief Gato! Loyalty! Loyalty!"
Naruto glanced back, overwhelmed by a ridiculous sense of surrealism.
…
Night fell. Deep in a forest near the border.
Kakashi finished teaching, then left the three to practice tree-climbing.
"Even if this feels childish, we can't lower our guard," Sakura said seriously after hearing Naruto's report. No complacency.
She added, "Could be a trap—like that first 'master' in Castle Sol from Elden Ring. Not much damage, but if he touches you once, he teleports behind you and you die in one hit."
After discussing, they still decided to move the family.
Worth noting: Sakura successfully talked Inari around. Her talk-no-jutsu was no weaker than Naruto's.
"What are you guys talking about?" Sasuke wandered over after a round of climbing. He was sure Naruto and Sakura were excluding him.
"Nothing. Sakura's just sharing tree-climbing tips," Naruto said casually.
As in canon—only better—Sakura mastered it first, reaching the top quickly.
"So… could you tell me?" Sasuke asked awkwardly.
Naruto decided to tease him. "Sakura says she'll tell you if you become her boyfriend."
"What?!" Sasuke's eyes went wide. Naruto can listen for free, I have to sell myself?!
Sakura shot Naruto a look. "Ignore him. I'll tell you the trick."
"Wow, getting all fancy," Naruto lied with a straight face. "You totally said that earlier. I mean, Sasuke's face card is solid. Not even a little tempted?"
"My hometown has lots of handsome guys," Sakura replied.
"Aren't they all girls?" Naruto quipped.
"…Plenty of straight handsome guys too. Yeah, I had a lot of people chasing me back then."
"So you're not into 2D guys?"
Sakura glanced at Sasuke. "After he stabbed Karin, he started going a bit off the rails. I'm not brave enough to like someone like that."
Sasuke nearly choked. "Who's Karin?! When did I kill anyone?!"
And why are they roasting him to his face every time? Couldn't they at least trash-talk him behind his back?!
Sakura turned to him. "But if you stay like this… won't you kill people sooner or later?"
Sasuke froze.
She continued, "Your dream is revenge, right? Even if you don't hurt anyone on the way, you'll still kill someone in the end."
Sasuke bristled. "He has to die. If I don't kill him, the Uchiha can't rest!"
"Walking the revenge road guarantees you'll hurt innocents," Naruto cut in.
"Your target wiped your clan, right? That means he's strong. To kill him, you'll keep practicing killing. Won't that mean hurting innocents?"
Sasuke froze again.
"And after you kill him, what then? Your whole life goal is gone," Sakura added.
Sasuke gritted out, "I'll restore my clan!"
"Then stop obsessing over killing," Sakura said. "Restoring your clan needs politics and networks. You can't avoid Konoha. Instead of thinking how to kill, think how to earn the Hokage's support."
She stared him down. "Do you think the Hokage will openly support you committing murder?"
Sasuke fell silent.
He'd never thought about any of this. Honestly, Sasuke's life had always been puppet strings—first Itachi, then Obito, then even his "own path" got blocked by Six Paths Naruto. In the end he wandered alone for "atonement," forever isolated, supposedly "protecting the village."
Tragic.
Naruto sensed the mood sinking. He patted Sasuke's shoulder. "It's okay, Sasuke. Whatever you want to do, I've got your back."
He looked at Sakura and blinked twice. "Right, sis?"
Sakura paused, then nodded.
What she didn't say was: what if Sasuke gets possessed someday too?
She explained tree-climbing mechanics again. Naruto and Sasuke went back to training.
Sakura headed to the bridge to post the stop-work notice and warn the workers.
…
That night, in a small seaside cabin.
"Thanks to the food Naruto brought, we can eat well tonight," Tazuna's daughter said, serving dinner.
Team 7 devoured everything. Kakashi and the woman ate slowly. Only Tazuna and Inari looked subdued.
"Maybe there'll be more tomorrow," Naruto said with a mouthful of ham.
"They'll hand out more food tomorrow?" Sasuke asked.
"They're not doing propaganda for just one day. Sasuke, you go tomorrow, say you've got nine people at home who all worship President Gato, cry a bit, squeeze out more freebies."
Sakura was speechless. So you're really going to strip Wave Country of every last bamboo shoot, huh…
"Also," Naruto said, turning to Sakura, "there's one more thing we need to talk about…"
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