"Isn't this kind of co-operation just a farce?" asked the girl again, and this time Nagato saw a glimpse of a similar hatred which Naruto had once held in his young heart for Kumogakure when he had been of the same age.
It was why he was not angered by the harsh words of this foreign student exchange participant. The very reason they started this program was to ensure the next generation could not be held back too much by the past and forge their own destiny.
Make their own choices instead of senselessly dying in wars started by their ancestors.
"I don't know. But I can see that no human has ever taken another person's life in battle again, that all the resources being used for War before are now being diverted to the upliftment of all humanity. That children like you get a chance to study and enjoy life in peace today, have a future of your choice, and not pick up arms to die in never ending battles. I had already died once by the time I was your age and the only reason all of us from different nations can sit together and talk like this is because...people died to get us here. And I don't just mean my brother but everyone from all sides"
"We owe the dead to honor that peace even if it's fake to you"
His words struck the young girl hard and she looked away with some guilt making Nagato sigh and look at all the children kindly.
"Naruto was not perfect. He had his faults and made many mistakes, something which he openly accepted and even apologized for quite a few times"
"It was his mistakes that made him realize what was wrong in the way our generation thought and acted. The pain he suffered in life made him determined to never let anyone else experience that again. He tried to do it peacefully but was forced into war, but he never cowered or ran from that heavy burden. That kind of warrior cannot be created or purchased, they are born into this life, blessed with a higher sense of purpose and the understanding of what their fate may be on that path" explained Nagato patiently,
"But why did they call him Naruto-The Great? Some say he was a god" asked a young boy from Kirigakure, and one look in his eyes showed he admired the fallen hero.
"He was a god, or the closest to one we've ever known. Before him there were warring nations ruled by self centered feudal nobility, and after him a new world. A place not filled with senseless wars, one which is open to all no matter where you come form" said Kushina Uzumaki proudly, who had been silent for all this time but couldn't stop herself from answering that question.
She looked at the girl from the former Land of Earth and a few others who harbored mixed feelings about the man she loved.
"Conqueror and tyrant some call him...but no such man ever gave back so much. He could have stayed in Kirigakure, raised his family and died a celebrated man perhaps...but the world would not be what it is today if he had. All his life he fought for freedom and in turn gave us our own. Not a day goes by when I don't feel his presence in my life or the selfish regret where I want nothing more but to trade this peace to get him back" explained Kushina sadly,
That confession and the pain within her voice was enough to earn sympathetic looks from those children who held mixed feelings for Naruto's legacy.
"What if this peace fails in time? Wouldn't that make his sacrifice meaningless and a failure?" asked another child curiously,
"Maybe, but even so his failure would still tower over other lesser men's successes. The glory and memory of humanity shall always remember men like him with great vision and the strength to accomplish those dreams. He tried and showed us that peace is possible, how we sustain it is upto us now" answered Nagato,
YOU ARE READING
The Seventh Swordsman
Fanfiction"My sword is yours in victory and defeat", Naruto remembered pledging those words to the Second Mizukage as he became one of the feared Seven. He swore to defend Kiri, to protect its people and serve its Kage until his dying breath. But he also made...
Epilogue
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