7th Hokage Uzumaki Naruto was seated calmly on the floor, taking a deep breath. He had done this before, once a year in fact, but it never seemed to get easier. Before him was a large scroll nearly half the size of his living room floor with several markings on what appeared to be a map of Konoha. There was a small seal on each household and a larger one at the center where Naruto was supposed to place his arm. He flexed his foreign arm a bit, more used to the Hashirama cells but not quite enough to let go of the bandages. As soon as he exhaled, he closed his eyes and was transported to Kurama.
Kurama stared at Naruto with sympathetic eyes, understanding the burden Naruto was about to endure.
"You're pretty stubborn to have to keep doing this every year, you know."
Naruto laughed nervously. "You're going to lecture me about being stubborn, Kurama?"
"This technique wears you out. You remember the last time you overdid it?" Naruto became serious once more. He knew that his partner was genuinely concerned.
"Don't worry, Kurama. I won't overdo it this time. I am both the Hokage and a father now. I'll be careful."
Kurama nodded at this. Once Naruto was committed, there was nothing that was going to stop him from doing what he wanted to do. Naruto ended the communication and opened his eyes. Right as he was about to place his hand on the seal, he got a call, more specifically a telepathic connection. One he identified immediately.
"Ino, is something wrong? Are we under attack? I don't sense any threat but-"
"Sakura wants to talk to you." Naruto was stunned and remained silent.
"Naruto, I know it's that time of the year where you do the technique. After what happened the last time, I'm not taking any risks. Link my chakra and I'll access my Byakugou seal."
"There is no need to do that. I'll make sure to-"
"I'm not confident that you'll do that, Naruto. I know how much the village means to you and because of that, you'll probably do it again."
"Is it that hard to trust me, Sakura-chan?"
"You went into a coma for a few weeks, you idiot! Besides. I have saved up enough years of chakra to match yours for this technique. You don't have to do this alone. Please."
"I don't know, Sakura. This seal was modified to take a lot of chakra. I can't risk your life over this."
"I asked Ino to make sure everyone stops you if you plan to do it alone. You can confirm with your sensory power if you don't believe me."
Naruto accessed his Chakra Mode and felt the presence of plenty of Jounin as close as they could get to his household. Sakura was not joking.
"We all care about you, Naruto, just as you care for this village. I have the chakra load and I'm confident it's enough to meet the seal requirements. Link my chakra."
"Alright, Sakura-chan. I'll do that." Naruto entered Sage Mode and using the seal, searched for Sakura's chakra signal on the map. drew a finger towards her signature and it beeped in blue. He traced a blue line of chakra to the main seal and heard Sakura slightly wimper on the other side.
"Naruto...I didn't think it would be this great a load. How are you able to handle this by yourself without even starting the technique."
"I knew it. I'm taking your chakra off the seal."
"No. I never said I can't do it. Once I access the Byakugou seal, it will be lighter. I'm ready when you are." Ino ended the connection, feeling a great burden to continue from the Yamanaka headquarters. Naruto did the signs required for the seal to awaken.
"Sempou: Kuchiyose: Chakura Dai Kaifuku (Sage Art: Summoning: Great Chakra Restoration)"
The seal roared to life and Naruto began to feel chakra drain from his system. Kurama was moulding chakra to keep up with the drainage. Ever since the end of the war, the Shinobi World slowly came to realize that the Infinite Tsukuyomi came with permanent defects. The impure way Kaguya took chakra from the shinobi radically destroyed the chakra network of all who were caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, affecting both the way they would mould chakra, leading to a radical depletion of chakra levels over the years. At first, the world was convinced that it was a problem that could never be fixed. However, on searching for answers outside of Konoha, Sasuke came across a village with a small population that used a revised Uzumaki seal that could restart the networks, making them able to access their original chakra levels. However, it was a small scale seal and could only be able to keep the chakra networks active for 6 months and the seal could only be used by someone who had a great chakra pool to begin with thus in theory, only the Uzumaki could be able to use it.
Sasuke brought the information back to Konoha and discussed with Naruto on a way to make the seal a large-scale one that could keep people going for at least a year. However, these revisions made the seal so powerful that the only reliable way to use it was to have absurd levels of chakra and there was only one type of candidate with that much recovery; a Jinchuuriki. 6th Hokage Hatake Kakashi immediately called for a Five Kage meeting to discuss with the rest and this did not go over well.
"Are you saying that we now have to go back to the past ways of sealing those things in our people if we are to stand a chance as villages?" A was furious. He was on the path to transitioning power to Darui but he still felt the need to represent that meeting as the Raikage.
"You're one to talk. You already have a Jinchuuriki in your village. What happens to the rest of us then?" Ohnoki stomped his foot in anger. He too was ready to hang his coat to Kurotsutchi but asked to at least be in this last meeting.
"I imagine we solve nothing by petty squabbles. As a former Jinchuuriki, I'd like to at least hear what Konoha has to say." Gaara's voice, though slightly subdued was clearly firm enough to get everyone to stop talking. Mei hid a snicker but Chojuro saw it.
"As someone who had to watch Naruto fight for the peace we have now, I cannot believe that we had to consider this as an option in the first place. But frankly, there aren't that many options to keep us and the future generations going. I am ashamed that we even have to talk about this but everyone here knows well that we cannot just rely on Naruto for everything." Everyone was silent but it was clear that they agreed with Kakashi.
"That Naruto boy just keeps on being our hero. How is it that the people who are supposed to secure the future he got for us cannot even find a way to do so without being in his debt again?" Mei lamented.
"That's just the kind of person Naruto is. We can spend time feeling sorry about ourselves or we can honor his vision by sacrificing and putting our lives on the line like he did," Gaara replied, simply. "I choose to be the One Tail Jinchuuriki again."
Temari shot up and gave Gaara a glare. "Are you even thinking straight? Do you not remember what being the Jinchuuriki was like, that you nearly died because of Shukaku?"
"Naruto has already fought for peace, Temari. The Akatsuki is no longer a threat. Besides, Naruto found a way to fully befriend Kurama, the deadliest of the nine. If he can be a complete Jinchuuriki, so can I. Sunagakure comes before my life and that will never change."
"That's very cute, young boy," Ohnoki said, "but I am currently not in the position to take a Tailed Beast and I don't know who would do so in my village. So what happens to us?"
"I will be the Jinchuuriki of the Two Tails," Mei said, simply.
"Mei-sama. Surely, you realize the risk you put on yourself. You are not as young as you used to be," Ao replied and Mei's eye twitched.
"I choose to take that as a compliment. I will not be the Mizukage forever and I know I have plenty of years ahead of me. This will be the way I choose to repent of the history of my village. When you find a better candidate for either Matatabi or Isobu, I will find peace. Besides, if I won't marry anyone, this would be the second best partner to have."
Ohnoki was not sure what to say since he was the last village left and everyone was looking at him. Kurotsutchi cleared her throat.
"I will be Five Tails Jinchuuriki. I believe it will be more likely to befriend than the Four Tails," she said, her eyes defiantly looking at the room as a cold sweat run through her cheek.
"Are you mad?" Ohnoki spit.
"What kind of Tsutchikage would I be if I wasn't willing to take risks? After years of being seen as fence sitters, do you not think for once we should be known for taking a stance for the future of shinobi?"
"We already did that in the war," Ohnoki said, weakly.
"This is my decision to make. I want our future to be better than our past." Kakashi nodded and Gaara gave his look of affirmation as well.
"So it has been decided. I imagine this was not an easy decision to make and the road ahead will not be easy. I will have Naruto personally speak to the Tailed Beasts and we will hope things will go smoothly." The meeting ended and following that was months of sealing and all new Jinchuuriki were placed under Naruto for training. Bee was recommended first but he flat out refused.
"My old flow isn't gonna work, yo. Let the man of peace bring the beat. Imma spend my time on ma rhymes, mark time 'til they're super fine with the Beasts, oh yeah!" Mei, Gaara and Kurotsutchi were able to fully meld with their Tailed Beasts, becoming full Jinchuuriki. Sasuke, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Tsunade and the new Scientific Division was done with the modified seal and Naruto used it to recharge the Jinchuuriki. From that point onwards, every year, Naruto and the rest would use power of Tailed Beasts to recharge their own villages. So at the same day, at the same time, Bee, Mei, Gaara and Kurotsuchi had their own maps and they activated their own seals.
"Kuchiyose: Chakura Dai Kaifuku (Summoning: Great Chakra Restoration)"
Though she activated her seal, Sakura felt the toll and was surprised that even at half capacity, the seal took a lot from her. Naruto was a very strong shinobi to be able to do this on his own every year, as was every Jinchuuriki that sacrificed themselves for the same. As she gradually felt weaker, she realized Naruto was getting ready to overdo it like last time and immediately instructed Ino to send a message to Hinata. Hinata rushed from Ichiraku Ramen, forgetting to pay and ran straight home. Teuchi understood as did his employees. It was that time of the year. Time for Naruto to be a hero again, as he always was.
Hinata entered the house, sped past her own son, much to Boruto's shock but the moment he began to feel a surge of power in his system, he understood. She opened the door, threw the paper bag with the bowls and hugged Naruto's back. Naruto was stuck in a trance, thinking about whether he could have fixed everything if he fought the war faster, if he realized the solution to the problem faster, if he was fast enough. As these thoughts consumed him, he was doing the very thing he claimed he would not and in a moment sensed his wife's chakra and ripped his hand off the seal, deactivating it. Her hug felt very warm.
"You've done enough, today. You can rest, darling."
"Hinata, I almost did it again. I'm sorry."
"We all depend on you too much, Naruto. I hope you sometimes can see that we appreciate it." Hinata kissed Naruto on the forehead as Boruto entered the room. He closed the door loud enough for his parents to hear.
"Get a room, people."
Hinata gave a wide smile and Boruto felt uncomfortable. "Welcome back, Boruto."
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