Title : A Ridiculous Idea
Chapter 1
DISCLAIMER : I do not own Naruto, its franchise or anything related to it. All recognisable characters, situations and premises are copyright of Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump and Viz Media.
SPECIFIC DISCLAIMER : This fanfiction is a sequel to The Other Talk and its sequel The Other Other Talk. Both are fanfictions written by KuriQuinn and thus her intellectual property. I have taken permission from her to write and publish a sequel to them. Therefore I will try my best to stick to events and interpretations of characters according to her Legacy of Fire universe in which The Other Talk is set. The keyword here being "try".
Author Note : Thank you KuriQuinn for the permission. This is my second attempt at fanfiction. Also I am not KuriQuinn, so the writing style will be different. Please bear with me. English is not my native tongue. The variant of English used here is Indian. I have also used my own headcanons , so it might not be an exact sequel but whatever. As long as you enjoy it, it does not matter.
"Well, that's about it then."
Naruto ends his announcement, cringing and desperately hoping to escape before the embarrassment and awkwardness begin.
The vast conference hall in the Hokage's office building has been upgraded with the latest technology but Naruto admittedly prefers his office where he assigns missions to his subordinates. This time however he finds himself sitting on the short side of the glass longtable that is housed in the conference hall, currently hosting the assembly of the entirety of the Leaf's clans' leaders and other important shinobi and people in a meeting called at a short notice.
Shikamaru and Shizune stand stiffly on his right and left respectively, their body language clearly screaming constipated discomfort and baffled chagrin. They are the Hokage's Advisor and Assistant but still, the matter was just so personal.
Kakashi's masked amusement at the reactions of the rest of the Konoha Council is pretty lighthearted but still inappropriately visible. Tsunade looks as though she is trying to solve a particularly complex mathematical equation. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu are clearly outraged and horrified. Naruto's dislike of the two Elders does not blind him to the fact that they are very competent, know the nooks and cranny of the village and above all, want to keep the village safe despite the questionable methods and its consequences. So they were allowed to stay on the Council albeit with much reduced influence and power. Besides, they are in their mid-nineties and Naruto sincerely hopes that they drop dead any day now. The two former Hokages form the other half of the Council, in order to balance it out as a whole and guide Naruto whenever needed. Though mostly they just indulged in alcohol, vacations, gambling and reading porn these days.
Down the table, the Uchiha couple exude an aura of stubborn irritability. Despite having drunk himself hoarse exactly two and a half hours after the attempted murder of his own student, Sasuke is sober enough, his murderous aura now mellowed down considerably despite the lack of sleep and the fact it's nine-thirty in the morning. The grumpy expression on his face leaves an impression of a punished schoolboy. Sakura sends him a warning glare which clearly tells him to toe the line. She is angry enough in her own right without having to deal her husband's idiosyncrasies.
Hinata manages to hover near her father and sister, concern and embarrassment seeping through at their increasing baffled expressions. Her exasperation at her son and his girlfriend's actions was slowly ebbing away and concern for what was to come was clearly taking front seat.
The Hyuga have been the strongest in the village and thus its pre-eminence in clan rankings is unquestionable. But to have his family and clan have a front seat in this mess was just too much. Hiashi Hyuga had ensured that his grandson would be well-behaved while growing up. Thus his dawning incredulity makes sense. A cheeky grin, however, slowly breaks out on Hanabi's face which is soon followed by a delighted and amused roar of laughter.
As the third member of the third generation of the Legendary Sannin, Mitsuki is almost always with his two teammates. This time however, despite their absence, Mitsuki smiles away in serene happiness. Beside him, Konohamaru nurses his broken jaw in discomfort. The Hokage-successor-designate was refused treatment by every medic of the village, all of whom were terrified of Sakura. Mitsuki had only partially healed him, preferring not to bypass his mentor but also not to leave his Jounin instructor in pain. Ever since Sakura took him under her wings at witnessing his prowess in medical ninjutsu, Mitsuki had developed an even worse sense of sadistic pleasure, in Konohamaru's opinion.
Across the room, Inojin, Shikadai and Chocho look utterly unsurprised and bored while Udon and Moegi look on in disbelief.
Naruto looks down at the back of the table. Ino, Sai, Choji, Shino, Iruka, Temari...the other clans' leaders...who is not there?
He flinches at the sight of them. Each and every one of them is frozen in shock.
Ino is the first to find her voice.
"What?!"
Sai grabs hold of his wife's arm as she stands up in disbelief, obviously unaware of the action.
Sakura sighs audibly while Shikamaru flinches in embarrassment.
"Yes. The newly minted Uzumaki clan leader, Uzumaki Boruto, and the Uchiha clan leader, Uchiha Sarada, have eloped together."
Naruto hopes not to repeat the statement again. The more he says it, the more the reality of the present situation and past events dawns upon him.
Konoha is doomed, he thinks meekly.
