AN: some of you are probably wondering why I mentioned Tsunade in the last chapter and not Shizune, the answer is simple. Tsunade is old enough to have a council seat, while Shizune isn't, but that doesn't mean that she's not going to be in the story at all.

"Bijuu Speaking"

'Bijuu Thinking'

"Human Speaking"

'Human Thinking'

Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the plot line and any OCs I decide to introduce. Naruto and all characters from there are owned by the man who wrote the original articles produced for shonen magazines.

Chapter Two: The Meetings and Incident

We see a three year old Naruto walking down the street with his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, with a bright smile on his face. His short spiky blonde hair is all over the place, even though his mother did everything she could to get it to lay down flat. Today is the day that he meets all the other kids from the other clans in Konoha. He's really excited about it, but is trying his hardest to reign in that enthusiasm so that he doesn't make his mom look bad in front of the other parents.

After a few more minutes of walking, the come to the central park of Konoha where all the clans bring their children to play, it's Naruto's first time here, as it is for the rest of the children. His mother takes him over to the swing, as they are the first to arrive, sits him in it and begins to push him gently as they wait for the others to arrive.

The first to show up is Mikoto Uchiha, who Naruto knows from her visits to see his mother from time to time over the past couple of years. Next to her is a little boy who looks constipated and like someone glued a ducks ass to his head and painted it black. This boy is none other than Sasuke Uchiha, who hasn't quite got the stick as far up his ass as his father would like it to be.

The next to arrive is Tsume Inuzuka, who Naruto knows from going to the vet clinic with the puppy he got from one of their litters of hounds that could be taught to track or domesticated depending on the owner. With her is a boy with spiky brown hair who bears the red fang marks on his cheeks that all of the family does, This boy is Kiba Inuzuka, and while he doesn't smell like he sleeps in the pound, you still don't want to be downwind of him.

The next people to arrive are the wives of the Ino-Skika-Cho trio with their children, a platinum blonde haired girl, a boy with slightly long hair too short to be tied up right now, and a chubby boy with short brown hair. These children are Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akamichii, with his ever present bag of chips. Shikamaru looks like he's trying to sleep while walking and Ino is looking annoyed at the two boys.

The next person to arrive is the mother of one Shino Aburame, who Naruto has actually met once or twice and finds the boy nice, if a bit weird and quiet. He has no problem with him having bugs inside of him as his parents have already told him of his guest as well. Yes Naruto does know of Kurama, but doesn't know his name, nor has he met him as of yet. His mother told him that will happen once they start his training in a few more years.

The one they think to be the last arrival of this little party is Hitomi Hyuuga and her daughter Hinata, who is a few months younger than all the others, with Shikamaru being the oldest by a month over Sasuke. Hinata is trying to hide behind her mothers leg, but Hitomi is holding her gently yet firmly at her sidewhile watching Kushina push Naruto in the swing.

Seeing that everyone is here now, Kushina stops the swing and takes Naruto out and walks over to the sand pit which is where it seems every one is heading. When they get there she lets go of his hand and he looks to her getting a nod. With a smile and a nod back to his mother, Naruto first walks over to the two girls to introduce himself, "Hewwo, I'm Nawuto Uzumaki, beweive it." He says this while holding his hand out to the two girls to take, while his excitement kicks in and his r's and l's turn into w's.

The parents all giggle at this, and Narutos face goes a bit pink while he scratches his head with his free hand and he takes a deep breath," Let me do that again. Hello, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, it's nice to meet you." The hand he extended before is taken up by Ino, who introduces herself, then taken by Hinata, who saw that Naruto was nervous and excited and introduces herself without any stuttering after copying Naruto by taking a deep breath.

The boys then walk over and Naruto turns to them, "Yo, I'm Naruto Uzumaki," he says to them in a casual manner while extending his hand again. Shino comes up first saying in his monotone, "We already met, but I'm shino Aburame," then takes his hand and shakes. The other boys follow with Kiba next, then Shikamaru and Choji next to each other, and finally Sasuke last. As he's walking away Naruto says something about pulling the stick out of his butt causing the girls to giggle, the boys to laugh besides Shino who cracks as smile, and Sasuke to stiffen, before he walks away and starts to dig in the sand some, while the others start to build a wall.

Naruto seeing this walks over to Sasuke, "You need to relax some man, but you're not all that bad. Come back over with the rest of us and lets build a castle together." Sighing henods and follows Naruto back over to the others where they work on building a castle and chatting with one another till lunch time when everyone needs to go hom cause some delegates from some where are coming into the village in the afternoon for something.

As everyone is leaving, Naruto is bowing to each pair, or in the case of the trio, all six, including their parents, before they each go their seperate ways. Naruto and Kushina start toward their home, which is the Namikaze compound, although no one ever sees them go in and out of it, in part due to the seals around it and in part do to their caution till Naruto is at least of Academy age.

When they arrive, they find Minato there, finishing the making of lunch, which is sandwiches today. He looks up with a smile, "So how was the play date today?" he asks as Kushina and Naruto take their seats.

Kushina just giggles with a smile while Naruto looks at his dad with a really serious face and says, "It was fine tou-san. Other than the fact that Sasuke needs to pull that stick out of his butt before it goes in too far." Hearing that caused Minato to almost choke on his food from laughter and Kushinas giggles to get turn into laughter.

After calming down and with a straight face Minato looks at his son, "While that may be true of most of the Uchiha, and maybe even a few Hyuuga too, it's not very nice to come out and say it like that son."

He gets a nod from Naruto, who then takes on a thinking pose with his eyes kinda scrunched and his thumb running across his lips while his chin is resting on a closed fist while he looks to his mother then back to his father before speaking again. "You've said that before, but you and kaa-chan have both told me that I should mention the things I don't like so that they can see them themselves and maybe fix them," he says while looking at his father still.

Minato scratches the back of his head with a nervous smile on his face as he answers, "That's true son, but I was talking about your food and clothing while visiting with your mother or shopping. You really shouldn't say things like that to people, they might consider you rude."

Naruto just frowns at that while nodding, but then says, "I'd rather speak the truth and be rude, than mince words and tell half truths any day of the week." As he was saying that Minato looks to Kushina over Naruto's head as if that say, see, he acts just like you as Kushina can be seen nodding her head at Naruto's words.

A serious look crosses Minatos face again as he looks at Kushina, " I hate to ask this of you Kushi-chan, but can you come to that meeting today with the Kumo Ambasador? We can leave Naruto with Inu or Neko while we're there, since those two know who we and him are to one another."

Kushina frowns and starts to nod, but then shakes her head, "I'll come to the meeting, but I won't be leaving him with anyone. I know I can trust those two, but I don't trust the other party mentioned not to try something if he gives those two the slip like he has once or twice the past month."

Minato gives a nod as a thoughtful look crosses his face, "You might be right about that. Better to have him with us than giving his big brother and sister figure the slip." He gets a nod from Kushina and they all finish their lunch before heading to the Hokages office to prepare there and the council chamber to greet the Kumo Party.

...Line break...

It was later in the afternoon and Naruto had woke up from a nap on the couch in the Hokage's office and was now being led to the council chambers with his mother, a place he hasn't been since the night of his birth. When they get inside Naruto sees several people that he knows, the parents of the children he met today key among them, along with some of the higher ranking village officials he's met while in his fathers office. He also sees some strange men and a woman there. Two of the men could be overlooked in any setting if it weren'r for their clothing. While kind of plain looking, it was made from rich materials, marking them as merchants or some one from the civilian council of Kumo. The woman had bright blonde hair and deeply tanned skin that would make her stand out in any crowd, as this was her natural skin tone and hair color. The last man though, he was imposing, standing at six and a half feet tall with a medium tan and dark blonde almost brown hair. He was wearing a Kumo headband in a bandana style covering his head with piercing blue eyes, their standard white flak vest with only one shoulder strap, brown pants and brown sandals. They all bowed to the Hokage when he stood at the head of the table, then waited to see who would begin speaking of the Konoha groups.

The first to say anything was Minato, "As Hokage, I would like to welcome to Konoha. Before we settle into business, why don't we all take a seat, then you all can start with what you're here for, then we will have a question and answer bit before hammering out any final details if we can come to an accord today." Everyone, including the Kumo delegates nodded at this since it seemed like a good course of action as they all took a seat.

The Kumo ninja took a drink of water before speaking, "I was sent here by the Raikage to see if we couldn't come to terms over all this nonsense that's been going on between our two countries the last couple of years. The two gentleman were sent, if we could come to agreeable terms on both sides, to start a commerce agreement between out two villages. Finally the lady here was sent for one of two reasons if we come to an agreement. One of the reasons is to offer a political marraige to any clan of Konoha, while a daughter from said clan would be sent to Kumo to double that tie. The other reason is, if no clan is willing to have her married to one of their sons, is to offer the same thing to the Hokage himself. If the second comes about, what Kumo would like to do is offer training to any children that comes from that pairing, and if the parents and younger child are willing, they will go to Kumo and start a family there while the elder child will stay here and start a family." He takes another drink of water to show that he has stopped speaking and is waiting for the question and answer section to begin.

Danzo, being who he is, is the first to speak once the man sets his glass down again, "When you say this nonsense between our two countries, you mean us driving you back across the boarders every time you cross into our country with no official reason to be here." The Kumo ninja scowls at Danzo when he says this, while the other two men and the woman nod.

One of the men answers this question, "I do believe that is what he's talking about yes. Most of those times you have sent them back across the boarders they were actually on diplomatic missions that they couldn't show proof of, hence the reason we asked for this meeting today. I come from Kumogakaure, while my counterpart and brother next to me hails from the Capitol of the Land of Lightning. We both hold a place among the councils in each place, he the merchant council and I the civilian."

At this Minato nods before speaking himself, "It would seem both sides have stopped diplomatic missions to each country then. I've been trying to send someone to both the Capitol and Kumo for the last year to get this meeting underway myself. Otherwise you probably would have been turned away at the boarders again and we would still be at a stalemate on getting messages to each respective Kage or Daimyo."

The other man chuckles at this, "Such is the world of ninja. When an assassin is sent on a diplomatic mission, he usually has another job he has to do as well. I can assure you, none of us have come here with any side jobs in mind, and if one of us has, then they will be dealt with accordingly if they are found out." While he was speaking jovially at the start, his voice and face as well turned cold as he looked at the other three people in the party. His brother and the woman nodded, while the Kumo ninja still had the scowl on his face from Danzo's earlier question.

Minato, the clan heads and the civilians all nodded while Naruto, who was hidden with a jutsu frowned at the mans words. He wanted to say something to his father or mother, but new better than to interrupt durring any kind of meeting. He also knew better than to take get the attention of the anbu who were in the room right now as well, since it would take their eyes and ears away from their duty.

Minato takes a drink of water then clears his throat, "I don't know about anyone else, but I already have my eyes set on someone. As far as the arranged marraige with me, I can't accept, however, if my future wife agrees to it, as well as any children we may have and the Kage at the time agrees, we can talk about a wedding between our children then. Clan wise however, I can't speak for them, if anyone of the clans wants to enter into that agreement after all the details are hammered out, then they will approach the young lady with any terms and conditions." The young woman nodded to this, as did all the clan heads and the rest of the ambasadors from Kumo and Lightning Country.

The meeting went on for several more hours and all the details were hammered out to everyones liking. The merchants agreed with all the terms and the prices for the buying and selling of wares for both the Capitol and village, as did the civilian council. An older Uchiha was picked to be the man for the political marraige, although all parties agreed there should be a waiting period so that all involved with the marraige could get to know each other. The Kumo ninja was told that as long as they showed something at the boarder that they could come on diplomatic missions, which he agreed to and said he would inform the Raikage and he would allow the same courtesy. It was agreed that it should be a gold lightning bolt for Konoha to cross into Kumo and a gold leaf for Kumo to travel to Konoha.

While all this was taking place in the council chambers, the Hyuuga were having Hinata's birthday celebration in their compound. While she was sad none of her new friends were there, she was happy that she found a way, thanks to Naruto, to calm herself and be able to speak without stuttering for most of the celebration.

...Line Break...

It was around midnight now and something woke Naruto from the dream he was having. He didn't know what it was, but he felt like something was wrong some where. He climbed out of bed, put on his slippers and went downstairs in his frog pyjama pants and shirt. The closer he got to the door, the worse the feeling got. Not wanting to get in trouble, but not wanting to wake his parents and get in even more trouble, he slipped outside and went the direction his feeling was telling him to go. When he got to where the feeling was the strongest, he noticed it was outside the Hyuuga compounds south facing wall.

He looked up at the tree near there and saw a shadow moving that looked like it was carrying something. He dashed over to the tree and got to where he would be hid when the shadow came over the wall. When it finally did, he saw that it was a tall man with broad shoulders carrying a bag that was moving a little bit. Upon seeing this he took a breath, which gave his position away. The shadow tossed something his way and he slinked further behind the tree causing it to whistle past him in a flash of silver.

When he looked up, the shadow was standing over him and the blue eyes he saw earlier in the meeting were starring a hole in him. Taking a deep breath he looked up at the man with a smile while scratching the back of his head, "Sorry mister, I couldn't sleep and was gonna do some tree climbing to get rid of this extra energy." After saying this he actually turns to start climbing the tree and the man grabs him causing his voice to raise,"Geez Mister, if you didn't want me climbing your tree all you had to do was say go home, not yank me down like that."

At the end of his speach the man goes to strike him but is struck twice in his arms from behind causing him to loose all feeling in them. As the sack is slipping from his hand he turns and gets struck in both legs causing him to fall down face first. When he does Naruto see Hiashi Hyuuga standing there a fierce gaze on his face till it softens when he sees Naruto. "What are you doing out so late Naruto, you should be home asleep."

Naruto nods at this, "I was sleeping, but something woke me up. I can't tell you what it was, but there was this feeling telling me that something was going to happen. I came outside and started walking, following this feeling and I ended up here where I saw that guy come over the wall with a sack on his shoulder. I don't know what's in it, but it was moving so we might want to look in it.

Hearing this Hiashi seems surprised at first, but then nods. He and Naruto walk over to the sack, untie it and look inside to find a trussed but still sleeping Hinata. Hiashi gently unties her then lifts her into his arms. He reaches down for Narutos hand which Naruto gives him knowing that while Hiashi might look mean, he's a gentle person with children, especially those of his family and friends. He was a witness to Minato and Kushinas secret wedding along with a few other clan heads, which will remain secret right now.

Carrying Hinata and leading Naruto he walks to the gate where he tells a guard to go find Minato, and another to find Kushina, which is actually a shadow clone, then goes inside to await everyones inside, he sends another pair off to get the man, he disabled and bring him back to the house so the Hokage can see what's going on and here the story from Naruto himself.

The guards come back in with the man tied up, shortly followed by Minato who spots Naruto sitting next to a sleeping Hinata watching what was going on. Last to arrive, but the most worried was Kushina cause Naruto wasn't in his room, when she sees him, a look of relief flashes across her face before it turns to a blank look, which he knows means she's angry and he takes a deep breath getting ready for her speach.

Before she can get started though, Hiashi looks to her, then Minato, and finally to Naruto. "I have to thank you Naruto, if you hadn't been trying to climb that tree near my house to get rid of that extra energy that woke you up, I may never have found my daughter."

A sharp look criss both Minato and Kushinas faces, and she beats him to talking, "What is he talking about Naruto?" Her eyes bore into the boy, warning him not to lie cause he's already in trouble, while Minato just watches his son closely.

Naruto takes another breath before speaking, "I woke up with a strange feeling. Don't ask me what caused it cause I can't tell you. I went downstairs and the feeling got worse. I wanted to wake you all up, but knew I would get in trouble for doing so, so I followed my feeling. I just started walking and ended up by the south wall of Hiashi-samas' compound. I looked up and saw a shadow coming toward the wall so I hid to where he wouldn't see me as soon as he came over the wall. Once he did, I noticed a sack on his back that seemed to be moving a little, which caused me to take a breath. As soon as I did that, I moved further behing the tree to hide better but saw something flash in the moonlight. I then looked up and came up with a story about climbing trees to waste energy and started to climb the tree. When I did he grabbed me and yanked me down causing me to get loud, which alerted Hiashi-sama. He used that taijutsu of theirs I've seen Hitomi-sama use when you talk her into sparring to numb his arms, then legs. After that Hiashi asked me why I was out and I told him the same thing I told you all. That's the man right over there, his eyes look like the ones from that tall man in the meeting earlier." He says while pointing to where the man is.

Minato walks over and pulls the mask off the mans face, Naruto was right, it is the man from the meeting earlier. He shakes his head, knowing this can cause some serious back lash, and hoping that the man from the Capitol actually meant what he said earlier. He calls for two anbu to take the man to a holding cell in T&I. He then turns to Hiashi, "I want you, Hitomi, Hizashi and your children to come to my office tomorrow at ten to meet with me, Kushina, Naruto, and the other three delegates from Kumo." He gets a nod to this, then Kushina picks up Naruto and they all head home to sleep.

...Line Break...

The next morning at precisely ten o'clock, there was a knock on the door to which Minato said enter to. The first people through the door were the Kumo group all with frowns on their faces at having been called to the Hokages office. Following them where all the Hyuugas Minato asked to come to his office to day. Bringing up the rear of the little procession was his son and wife. Before his desk was enough chairs to seat all the adults, but the children would have to sit in their laps. Minato pointed to the chairs and everyone sat, Hitomi taking Hinato in her lap, Kushina took Naruto, and Hizashi took Neji.

After everyone was seated, Minato spoke, looking at the brother from the Capitol, "I hope your words from yesterday weren't spoken in haste or as a jest my friend. We had an incident last night that could cause our agreement to go up in smoke if they were."

The mans frown deepens as he looks around the room again, "I take it that's why we were asked here and why the ninja that was with us is not here," he states rather than asks, getting a nod from Minato.

Another knock is heard before two anbu escort the Kumo ninja inside wearing chakra cuffs and seals. Seeing this the merchant from Kumo shakes his head and the lady mutters something under her breath while the frowns turn to scowls as they stare the man down. Minato clears his throat to get everyones attention again, "Normally, I would execute this man for trying to steal away a village secret, which is the Hyuuga Bloodline in this case. This time though, I'm gonna let the victims parents and uncle decide his punishment, after you here the story of what happened last night that led to his capture." He gets nods all around.

Hiashi tells how he went for a walk around the complex before going to sleep and heard a shout outside the south wall about if you wanted me not to climb your tree all you had to do was ask. Knowing the voice of the boy that said that, he opened the secret gate to see a man standing over a child while carrying something. He saw the man draw back to strike the child so he acted and disbaled his arms, when the man turned and dropped the sack he then disabled his legs causing him to fall to the ground. He and the child checked the sack to find his daughter in it. He untied her and took both chidren inside, called for the childs mother and the Hokage.

After Hiashi finishes, Naruto is told to tell what happened. He takes a deep breath and repeats everything he told his father, mother and Hiashi last night. The adults that heard him tell this already noticed he told them almost word for word what he told them last night. After all the stories are told, one of the anbu produces a kunai that was found at the scene with a nick in it like it hit a tree or rock or something. Every one looks at it closely and notices it's not forged like a Konoha kunai which give credit to Naruto's "something silver" he saw flash by him. Seeing this and hearing all the evidence against him, the Kumo people have no choice but to see that it's true.

Minato looks to the Hyuugas, "What would you ask for his punishment to be?" Hearing this the adults all talk it over for a while before coming to an agreement.

Hiashi speaks up once again, "Since he was caught in a timely manner, and no major harm has come to any one outside of some stress and being disable, which healed a few hours after it happened, we don't call for his death. What we do ask for though is that he be removed from the ninja ranks of Kumo and an investigation be done to find out who ordered the kidnapping of my daughter. Not pointing any fingers here, but this wouldn't be the first time Kumo has tried to steal someone from Konoha for their bloodline." His last statement gets a growl from Kushina and a nod from Minato.

Hearing the punishment that has been set forth the Kumo ninja smirks thinking he's going to get away scot free, however, the man from the Capitol stops that, "Speaking with the athority Daimyo-sama gave me as the leader of this expedition, I will see to it that it's carried out." He turns to the man and strips off his forehead protector, "I hear by strip you of your ninja status. Futhermore, I sentence you to be imprisoned here in Konoha till the day of your death for trying to continue the fighting that this mission was supposed to stop." He turn and gives a nod to Minato, "If it's alright with you Hokage-sama, my brother and I should be returning as quickly as possible. Might we ask for an escort to the boarder at least where we can then be handed over to Kumo ninja to escort us back to our respective homes. Once I reach the Capitol I will inform the Daimyo of this fools actions and have an investigation started to see who ordered him to do what he attempted."

He gets a nod, in return, he, his brother, and the lady bow to him before leaving. The former Kumo ninja is taken to prison instead of T&I now and the Hyuugas thank everyone involved at the bloodless solution before leaving as well. Kushina gives Minato a hug and kiss, Naruto gives him a hug, and they too leave to let him get back to business as usual. He sets up a team and sends them to the two brothers who will be leaving, while the lady will be going to live in the Uchiha compound now with her fiance, while his sister will be travelling back to Kumo with the brothers when they leave.