A/N: I've heard your cries of want, and I have delivered to you this chapter. However, I realize that some of you are probably going to be reading this chapter and thinking, "WTF? This reads a little differently than the last chapter. What happened?" All that I ask is that you read this all the way to ending Author's Notes I've written. Hopefully, that will answer any questions, and I do hope you enjoy this chapter still.
I would also like it to be noted that I am NOT a Hinata-hater; Hinata is a favorite character of mine. It's just that I honestly don't believe that the girl would take very well to having her future dreams stolen from her by a rival.
Naruto awoke with a small start, his mind trying to readjust from the events of the other day. Where am I? Oh yeah, that's right. Still in the hospital room. Have to admit, though. That had to have been one of the craziest dreams I've ever experienced. I mean, seriously, what are the odds that Sakura would marry me? Pffft, yeah right. That girl has her head so far up that bastard Uchiha's ass, she can look out his mouth when he speaks. And me being the heir of the Yondaime? That's ridicu-
A small mewl of sleepy displeasure sounded to his side, and Naruto glanced down and nearly jumped out of the bed, barely holding in the startled yell.
There, in all her snoozing glory, was Sakura Haruno, or should he say, Sakura Uzumaki-Namikaze.
His new wife.
He stared at her wide-eyed with disbelief for a few minutes, his mouth opening and closing but no words coming out, until he eventually just turned his head back towards the ceiling and stared at it, his body completely still now. How the hell had any of this happened? One minute, he tries to kill himself, and the next thing he knows, he's now married to a girl that he had always wished for but could never have. It was almost like one of those bad romance novels where the hero tries to show his love for the heroine but fails spectacularly and gets driven to despair before attempting suicide, only for the heroine to conveniently remember that deep down she's always had a burning passion for him and saves him from that same despair before the two of them finally get together and have dirty, animalistic sex.
Yep, exactly like a romance novel, except without the animalistic sex, which is a shame because that's the best part, too.
This thought saddened him a little, and even though he couldn't see them, he knew his eyes were reflecting the deadness within his own heart. He knew that Sakura didn't love him. She only did this because she wanted to try and keep him alive. Yet, at the same time, her words last night rang through his ears.
"I swear to you...I will do everything in my power to make you happy..."
Despite his suspicions, he actually dared to put his hope into her words. For so long, he had wanted this, wanted someone who would care at least a little about him, yet now that it had happened, he found himself unable to believe it.
He looked at Sakura again, this time drinking in her image with his greedy eyes, trying to commit it all to memory in case this all proved to be a dream after all. Her slim body had pressed up against him tightly, though not so tight that it was uncomfortable, and her shoulder-length hair had fanned out a little on the bed, forming a small pink halo around her head. She had a small smile on her face, one that showed she was comfortable, while her right hand was laying lightly on his chest. Truly, she was now the goddess he had always viewed her as, and he hoped that at the very least Kami would allow this memory to stay with him forever.
No doubting sensing that he was up, Sakura's eyelids fluttered open, allowing her to groggily take in the room around her, before slowly turning her head to look at him. The smile stayed on her face as she leaned towards him and whispered, "Good morning, husband," before kissing him lightly on the lips. She then rested her head on his chest, her hand idly twirling on it while listening to his steady heartbeat. It felt soothing to her, the rhythmic beating pulsing in her ear, and she was tempted to tap her fingers gently in sync with it.
Suddenly, there was a small knock on the door, and Sakura groaned lightly before calling out, "Who is it?"
The door opened, allowing Neko's head to pop in and say, "Sakura-san, Hokage-dono would like to speak with you in her office. It's about the Council meeting today."
Sakura groaned a little more before lightly nodding her head and answering, "Fine. Let her know I'll be there as soon as I shower and change."
Neko nodded and closed the door behind her.
Yawning a little as she sat up and rubbing her eyes, she asked Naruto, "Do you want me to grab you some food from the cafeteria? It might be a while before the nurses bring you breakfast."
Naruto shook his head and closed his eyes. "No. That's okay. I'm not all that hungry yet."
Sakura smirked and swooped towards him to kiss him fully on the lips again before giggling at his shocked expression. Poor boy. He just doesn't know how to take me finally kissing him. She then got onto her feet and grabbed the carry bag, heading towards the bathroom and locking the door behind her.
She looked closely into the mirror for a few seconds, checking her skin for any spots or blotches, before turning on the shower. After getting the temperature to how she wanted, she stripped out of her sleepwear and stepped under the water. She let it beat onto her skin for a little bit, her mind still trying to process everything in the last twenty-four hours.
She was glad she was able to help Naruto with this. He would now be able to have his chance at happiness. It was worrisome about how the village was going to take to him being the Namikaze heir, though. Just because he attempted suicide in the middle of the village square wasn't going to be what brought everyone to their senses, and all that would really change is everyone trying to kiss up to Naruto now that Sasuke was gone.
Oh Kami. Sasuke...
She froze soaping herself as her heart clenched with an almost terrible pain. Sure, she was willing to help Naruto keep his happiness, but the extent of her actions had only hit her fully now as she thought of the traitorous nin. She suddenly found it difficult to breathe, and she leaned against the shower wall while trying to wait for the emotional pain to stop.
Why, Sasuke? I gave you everything except my own virginity, and I think even that wouldn't have been enough for you, would it? I loved you so much. I just wanted to see you smile with happiness for once, for you to let go of the death of your clan, but no matter how hard we tried, you were always like ice to us. I wanted to help you so badly, but you only saw me as weak, inconsequential, not worthy of your time. Why, Sasuke? Why didn't you let any of us in?
Why did you have to leave?
Tears falling freely down her cheeks, Sakura dropped to her knees and sobbed quietly, as her heart wrenched in her chest.
The Fire Daimyo peeked out of his carriage window as they crested a large hill. Down below, he could see Konoha, the shinobi village that was supposed to be one of the best within all the Elemental Nations. Granted, all Daimyos believed their village to be the best - except for the Wind Daimyo, though personally, he wondered if there was something mentally wrong with that man; what kind of idiot hinders their own shinobi forces, one of the three main branches of his country's army? The difference here was that the Fire Daimyo knew his was one of the top two, if not number one. Konoha had survived three shinobi wars and a rather large-scale invasion, and the village had always stood intact. In fact, it was because of the ninja being so successful in those wars that the Daimyo's family had received several annexes to Hi no Kuni.
Still, the major word in all of this was "supposed". The Daimyo had been aware that some things had been slipping since the end of the Third Shinobi War, but he had never realized that things had gotten this bad. Sarutobi had assured him that things were going smoothly, but it seems that his definition of "smooth" didn't match the Daimyo's.
Honestly, what was the man thinking, hiding the boy's heritage? Iwa wouldn't have been stupid enough to waste resources to go after one little boy, and besides, Minato's actions in the last war were just that – acts of war. It's not like when the fighting ended, he decided to take out a personal vendetta against all Iwa shinobi, and they know it. They accepted it as it was and just moved on, though if they came across Minato out in the open, they probably would have tried their hands and killed him if they could. No, I don't know Sarutobi's reasoning for this, but he was either becoming too senile, had some sort of ulterior motive in all this, or made an honest error in judgment that he later came to regret. I'm just afraid to know which is true.
Leaning his head out the window, his commander silently riding up alongside the carriage to see what was wrong, the Daimyo said, "See if you can coax a little more speed out. The meeting starts at ten, so I intend to be there at nine."
The commander nodded his head and rode forward, barking out orders to pick up the pace, and the Daimyo leaned back into his chair, thinking, Minato, Kushina, you once put your faith in me and helped me however you could. Let me return the favor by helping your son.
She didn't know how long she had been laying there in the shower. The water was still on and still hot, but she had fallen to the floor some time ago in her grief and didn't bother getting up. Had it only been seconds? Minutes? It couldn't have been long. The ANBU would have dragged her off to Tsunade if it was. But every second felt like an hour. A minute, an eternity. The pain just felt too much to her, as she felt a part of herself shatter further and further.
Knowing she only had a little bit of time left, she forced herself back onto her feet and finished her cleansing rituals before finally turning off the water. She quickly dried herself and slipped on her clothes. She then turned to the mirror and looked herself over. Her eyes were a little puffy and red from the crying, but thankfully she had some make-up in her bag that could help cover that up.
I can't let Naruto see me like this. If he knows I've been crying about Sasuke, he'll think I'll never change no matter what I do. Best to try and cover it up.
Is that really going to solve the problem? This isn't something that's just skin deep, you know.
Sakura jumped and yelped, before looking around the room quickly to make sure she was alone. Kyuubi-dono?
Right in one. I'm amazed you didn't react more strongly. Then again, having a separate personality inside your head must make that easier to adjust.
Sakura rolled her eyes a little and went back to her make-up. No offense, Kyuubi-dono, but is there a point in this? I need to hurry.
Would have probably had more time if you hadn't wasted it mourning the defection of a traitor. Look, I get it, all right? You're young and you've suffered a pretty severe case of heartbreak – more severe than many other your age at least. But hiding this is not going to help anyone, especially not the kit. If he suspects that you're hiding something, his trust in you-
Will be shattered, and I'll be starting again at square zero, now married to a man who probably wouldn't be able to stand being in the same room with me. I get it. Look, let me deal with my own problems with Sasuke, and you worry about keeping an eye on our boy. Telling him about any of this is going to do more harm than good right now. I'll be fine, I promise.
Silence, and then a sigh. Fine, do as you wish, but remember our deal. Hurt the kit, and you will suffer. Don't forget that.
Sakura lowered her head before discretely nodding. I know.
Looking back into the mirror, she appeared satisfied with her work before putting on a smile, thinking to herself, If I worry him, then he'll fret. He is still Naruto after all, no matter what mood he's in.
That, he is.
Sakura turned and opened the door to enter the room, where she then placed the bag near the room's entrance and walked over to her husband. He appeared to be dozing slightly but had roused when he heard her leave the bathroom.
She approached his bedside and leaned down to gently place her lips on his. When she looked back into his eyes, she raised a hand and gently stroked his whiskers, eliciting a purr. She suppressed her giggle, opting for a small widening in her smile, and said lowly, "I'll hopefully be back for lunch. If I don't make it back in time, I'll ask Tsunade if she can have some ANBU bring some ramen for you. Okay?"
He nodded slightly, and Sakura was elated to see the smallest of smiles tugging at his lips. Happy she might be making progress, she gave him another quick kiss and promptly left the room.
Outside, she turned and nodded to Neko, who laid a hand on her shoulder and said, "Tsunade-dono requests you come the quickest way possible, so I'll be taking you via shunshin. Are you ready?"
Sakura nodded, and a poof of smoke later, they were gone.
When Sakura reappeared a couple seconds later, she arrived to the sight of Tsunade sitting at her desk, going through various papers that would no doubt help Naruto attain his birthright.
Neko saluted and said, "Hokage-dono, I have brought Sakura-san as requested."
Tsunade glanced up from her shuffling and nodded her head. "Good, Neko. Return to your post."
Another salute and then,"Ma'am!", the ANBU shunshined away, leaving the two women in the room. As Tsunade continued her shuffling, Sakura chose to take a seat in front of the desk and let the older woman make the first move. She still wasn't feeling all that right since the shower, and she didn't want to screw anything up by blurting something unnecessary out. Kami only knows she had enough anxiety as it was.
Tsunade seemed to have found everything in order, because she sighed contentedly and leaned back into her chair, regarding the girl before her. She smiled a little and said, "An ANBU I had set to watch the road from the capital just sent me a missive. The Daimyo has decided to arrive early, possibly to help throw the Council off-guard. If they try to meet without requesting his presence, then it will be considered an insult to his name and could lead to their executions, and he'll meet with them when he's good and ready. Not even the Council is stupid enough to try the patience of the Fire Daimyo. We could even go so far as to have them sitting on their heels for weeks regarding this, though that would give them a chance to build their case against Naruto as well."
Sakura returned the smile and asked, "So what do we do now, Tsunade-dono?"
"For now, we wait. The Fire Daimyo will be approaching the town gates within twenty minutes. I'll then leave to go and meet with him to bring him back to my office. While the Council scrambles in a panic to try and piece together their shoddy evidence, Jiraiya and I will present the Daimyo with our findings as well as introduce you to him as Naruto's wife. He'll listen to our stories before calling to convene the meeting. The Council may try to bluster their way into coaxing the Daimyo to their point of view, but it won't get far."
"What do you need me to do?"
"The timing of this is crucial for you, Sakura. When I counter their claims to have Naruto removed from the ranks by saying that he is the dual heir of two well-respected shinobi clans, they will try and go for the 'puppet heir' route and say that it's impossible for Naruto to be Minato's and Kushina's child. At that moment, you must call for the independent party to perform the blood tests to determine his heritage. If the Council is allowed to build up enough steam, it will be hard to shut them down and get anything done, and the moment they discover the existence of these documents, you can bet they will do everything they can to destroy them if they get the chance."
Sakura nodded, and Tsunade stood and walked around her desk. Gesturing for the girl to stand, she looked at her with a critical eye, before smiling broadly and winking at her. "You know, you are eerily similar to my own size back when I was your age. I happen to have a kimono I never got around to using way back when, and we have just enough time to see if it fits."
Placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, the two shunshined away.
"Does anyone have any idea what's going on?"
Ino's question was met with negatives from everyone else from the now Konoha Eleven, formerly Twelve, that were currently not in the hospital or currently indisposed with personal problems. They didn't know why everyone had been called to the Hokage Tower, or why the Council members were currently running around the village in a panic like they were about to die. Judging by their reactions, you would have thought that Orochimaru had launched another attack or the Kyuubi had returned. Whatever it was, it was coming to this village, and fast. All the ninja had been gathered, but it was noticeable that the rest of Team Seven was strangely absent.
To be honest, Ino hadn't seen either Sakura or Naruto since before Sasuke defected, and no matter where she looked, it was as if the two of them had vanished from the face of the planet. Still, she tried to not pry too much, since she figured the two of them were probably hurting from their teammate's betrayal. Kami only knows how she herself would feel if either Chouji or Shikamaru had decided the betray their village.
Speaking of Shikamaru, he had been rather quiet since his meeting in the Hokage's office. He just couldn't get that image of Naruto out of his head, sitting there in the rain and laughing like a lunatic. As if his first high-rank mission hadn't ended badly enough with almost all of his team nearly dead, he now had to deal with driving one of his squad members to insanity by making him fight his own best friend. He later found himself standing amongst the crowd in bone-chilling shock as he watched the other boy try to kill himself and be saved by the very thing he was hated for. He found out afterward he was the only one in his age group who had watched the altercation, though he didn't doubt that there were a few younger children in the crowd who were going to be scarred for life. However, despite wanting all this to change for the better, he knew that this wouldn't have happened any other way. Sooner or later, Naruto would have broken down, that much was certain; it was only a question of when it would happen.
The rest were completely silent, confused by what was going on but not having any real clue of what just happened within the last 48 hours. Hinata was twiddling her fingers a little as she glanced around, no doubt looking for her crush and hoping this didn't have anything to do with him. Shino, as always, was stoically silent, not letting any emotion show as he patiently waited for whatever to come. Tenten was also patiently silent, though her twiddling with a kunai in her hands showed her nervousness, while Lee seemed to be bracing himself for another battle. Both had been on edge since Neji had been brought back to the village near death, though thankfully the worst was over for him and was recovering nicely in the hospital with the others.
Suddenly, a carriage bearing the Fire Daimyo's banner strolled into the plaza, several samurai surrounding it while looking for all threats (Tenten had hastily tucked the kunai away before they saw it). It came to a stop outside the entrance of the Tower, and the Council was rushing towards it, nearly tripping over themselves in their haste, though they dared not get too close for fear of being seen as too forward with their lord.
A footman hopped down from the driver's seat and placed a small step in front of the door as it opened. There stood Katsuro Ayugai, the twelfth Fire Daimyo since Hi no Kuni's founding many years ago, gazing around the village with what seemed to be slightly narrowed eyes.
Some people gulped quietly. Whatever was going on, the Daimyo was not pleased.
The man finally stepped down onto the carpet laid before him, and before he said anything, a small gust of wind and leaves blew a few feet in front of him, revealing two people.
Tsunade had opted to put on her full Hokage regalia. The closed robes she wore were new, made especially for her upon her appointment to Hokage, and they were somewhat similar to the Sandaime's, though they were a little more form-fitting than his. The diamond-shaped hat sat proudly on her head, and her eyes were bright as she smirked a little towards the Fire Daimyo.
It was other person that blew some people's breath away. The kimono Tsunade had picked for Sakura, found in a box in Tsunade's old home with stasis seals to keep it in the best condition despite all the time that passed, was a red base with pink blossom petals traveling from the bottom hem towards her shoulders as if they had been caught in a breeze, tied together with a dark blue butterfly obi sash with red cord. The sleeves were a little long, but not long enough to signify Sakura as a young woman with no attachments, and her hands were clasped in front of her, right hand over left.* She only had a little make-up on, just enough to enhance her natural beauty, and her shoulder-length hair had been pulled up into a short ponytail, held up by two hairpins crossed together with pearls on their ends. She was stunningly beautiful, and the girl held her head up high as she gazed at the Daimyo.
Ino couldn't hold her jaw up, and she knew that a few others around her were mimicking or close to mimicking her as they stared at the girl. Is that really Sakura? What's she doing with the Hokage? Why's she dressed up like some nobleman's wife? Oh my Kami! Don't tell me that in her sorrow of losing Sasuke, she's now offering herself to-
Wherever Ino's thoughts were going were interrupted as Tsunade and Sakura walked up to the man, and Tsunade bowed to him, saying, "My lord, you honor our village with your presence. I wish to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come here."
The man smiled broadly, and he waved a hand towards her in an almost flippant manner, saying, "Think nothing of it, Tsunade. I actually would have been quite offended if you hadn't informed me of this meeting. I must check up on my Hokage and see how she is doing, after all." He then turned his eyes to Sakura. "And who might you be, my dear? An apprentice of Tsunade's?"
Sakura glanced at Tsunade and asked something with her eyes, to which Tsunade subtly shook her head, her own eyes saying, Not yet. Sakura nodded in return and smiled respectfully at Katsuro.
The whole exchange had taken place within one second.
Sakura bowed deeply to the man and replied, "My lord, my name is Sakura. As to my status, that is one of the minor things Tsunade wishes to discuss with you. For now, I would say I'm on a probationary period of medical apprenticeship."
Tsunade smugly smiled as she glanced back quickly. Good girl. Only say enough to keep him interested.
Katsuro laughed a little and said, "Well then. This is something I must hear. Shall we retire to your office, Tsunade?"
The woman bowed again before gesturing towards the Tower. "Of course, my lord. If it would please you to follow me?"
Before the three could get very far towards the building, one of the council members stepped forward cautiously and almost whimpered out, "B-But, my lord, what of the meeting?"
They stopped, and Katsuro's eyes turned ice-cold as he stared at the impudent man. "Then you can save me time having to find you and go seat yourselves inside the room with some of my samurai. They will insure that you don't communicate with each other or anyone else until I'm ready to see you."
The man paled a little, and Danzo palmed his face quickly, thinking, Idiot!, while the clan heads just glared at the council member for wasting their time to sit in a room. Before they could start heading for the door, though, the Fire Daimyo said as he started for the Tower again, "Oh, and if any of you do try to communicate, it will be seen as treason, and you'll be executed."
This time, the rest of the Council joined in the murderous glares, and the man wet himself in response.
As both Sakura and Tsunade giggled silently at the sight, they followed Katsuro into the building. The Council followed them a few seconds later.
Ino and the rest of the Genin could only stare at the doors, all of them thinking the same thing.
What the hell is going on?
As the three people seated themselves in the Hokage's office, Tsunade looked to Shizune, standing near the door, and said, "Shizune, be a dear and bring us some tea, please. When you've brought it, make sure we are not disturbed by anyone, not even for emergencies."
Shizune nodded her head and left to do her tasks, and Katsuro leaned back into his chair. "Alright, Tsunade. Jiraiya told me a little of what's going on, but now I need the full story. First off, is this Naruto Uzumaki really Minato's and Kushina's son?"
Tsunade pulled out a scroll and summoned the required papers before handing him Naruto's birth certificate. "Yes. All of Konoha had been caught up in the confusion of the Kyuubi attack, but Minato made sure to give Jiraiya all the appropriate paperwork before rushing out to join the battle."
"Both Minato's and Kushina's blood were applied to the seals on this?"
"As per Konoha medical laws. We also have vials of their blood sealed in a secret location to ensure the validity of any future claims."
The Daimyo raised his hand. "No need to bring those out. Minato and I were very good friends in both our business and personal lives back when he was alive. When Kushina was pregnant, he gave me a scroll containing their blood samples as well. I think he was planning for a scenario where this might happen and their vials had become compromised."
Tsunade raised her eyebrow and crossed her hands in front of her. "I trust you brought them with you?"
He pulled a scroll out of his robes, grinning a little. "Of course."
Tsunade nodded. "Good. If the independent party in this already has vials of their blood, then the Council can't claim we provided faulty samples."
Katsuro gave a confused frown. "Have things really gotten that bad?"
Tsunade sighed and leaned back into her chair while rubbing her forehead. "They're not just bad, my lord. They're at the absolute worst right now. By the time Sensei retook the Hokage position, the Council had given themselves too much power to rule and made him into more of a figurehead. I honestly think he wanted to keep Naruto's condition as a jinchuuriki a secret from the public like with Kushina," Sakura's eyes widened at this information, but Tsunade didn't notice and pressed on, "but the Council wanted a scapegoat for everything and leaked his status to the public. Sensei tried to stem the tide by making it illegal to speak of Naruto being Kyuubi's jailor, but the damage had already been done."
The window opened, and Jiraiya quickly stepped into the room and took up the conversation. "What's even worse about it is that I think Sensei really wanted to tell everyone just who Naruto was, but no one at the time would have believed him since they already had their misconceptions firmly in place." He bowed to the man quickly. "I apologize for being late. The Toads demanded that I fill them in with the situation with Naruto after I mentioned it to them yesterday."
Katsuro nodded slowly in understanding before asking, "And how did they take the news?"
Jiraiya sighed and shook his head. "Not well, my lord. Not well at all. In fact, they're furious with Konoha right now. Minato and Kushina were held with the highest regard amongst them, and to hear that their son was abused has a few of the more hot-headed ones gearing up for war. Gamabunta had always wondered why the kid hadn't summoned him before and had thought at first he was simply being a disrespectful brat, but now he's about ready to drown this village in oil before lighting it ablaze. I only just barely managed to talk them down from it by saying you were looking into it and would demand justice, but if things don't go as they wish today, then everyone here had better be prepared to fight for their lives."
He waved his hand nonchalantly and sighed as he sat down. "Still, we'll get to that bridge soon enough. In any case, Konoha wouldn't have granted Naruto his inheritance because they would have been in denial, thinking there's no way Minato would seal Kyuubi into his own son. Evidently, saviors don't seal malicious beasts into their children's bellies. I think that the Council only gave Naruto the name 'Uzumaki' was more out of spite for the 'Uzu Whore' they saw Kushina as. Not too many people were really happy when Minato chose to marry her instead of a 'proper' - or in other words, Konoha - girl. Giving the person they hated her name seemed to be a colossal joke to them and gave them a chance to spit on her memory as well." He laughed derisively. "Too bad their little joke is going to bite them back in the worst ways imaginable."
The Daimyo smirked and nodded his head. "Indeed." He then turned to the silent Sakura and said, "And what of you, Sakura-chan? What is your role in all of this?"
Sakura shifted her gaze to Tsunade quickly, who nodded her head, before looking fully at the man and answering, "Katsuro-sama, I am Naruto's teammate on Team Seven and a friend of his, and now I am his legal wife."
Katsuro raised an eybrow at her but said nothing, allowing the girl to bow to him and continue. "My full name now is Sakura Uzumaki-Namikaze, formerly Haruno."
The Daimyo leaned back into his chair, his eyebrow never changing it's position, as he continued to stare at the girl. "Really? And for how long have the two of you been married?"
Sakura bowed her head a little in respect. "Only for a few days, my lord."
"I see." He turned to the two Sannin. "Tsunade-san, Jiraiya-san, why don't the two of you go and check on that tea? It seems Shizune-san has gone missing with it, and I wish to quickly discuss something with Sakura here in private before we go any further."
The two of them looked at each other with worried glances, but they nodded their heads anyway and walked out of the door, Tsunade giving Sakura's shoulder a comforting squeeze as she passed. When the door clicked shut, the Daimyo turned back to the now-nervous girl and said gently, "What is really going on here, Sakura-san?"
Sakura's gaze snapped back up to him, and she stammered out, "M-My lord?"
Katsuro smiled a little before continuing, "You may not have intended to, but you show a slight hesitancy when you mentioned your new last name – and it wasn't because of unfamilarity. Naruto-san did agree to this of his own free will, did he not?"
"Yes, Katsuro-sama."
"Then what is bothering you right now? You have this small aura of guilt around you, and it is affecting your actions."
Sakura turned her head, unable to look at him fully in the eye.
Katsuro continued gently, "There was another boy, wasn't there?"
She nodded, albeit hesitantly.
"Who?"
She took a deep breath, trying to control herself, before she answered, "Sasuke Uchiha. He was our third teammate on Team Seven."
"Ahh, yes. The last Uchiha of Konoha. Some of the more sycophantic ninja praised the boy for his skills, recommending that he one day become one of my Guardian ninja. Tell me, did you love him?"
Sakura was about to nod again, but she froze for a second before answering, "I did, or at least I thought I did."
Katsuro's eyebrow raised again. "Oh? Tell me."
Sakura shook her head in confusion. "I...I don't know anymore. Back when we were children, I always dreamed of one day being his wife. For years, I tried to better myself, tried to get him to notice me, but..."
Katsuro nodded sympathetically. "Nothing ever changed. He could never move on, could he?"
Sakura shook her head again. "No, he couldn't."
"And yet despite all this - despite the fact that he ignored you and no doubt belittled you, despite the fact that he even went so far as to turn traitor for his own ambitions – you still have feelings for him, don't you?"
"Yes- no- I don't know!" Sakura grabbed her head and hunched over, her eyes wide and fearful. "I just don't know anymore! I don't know what to feel, what to say, what to do! I just want to make things better! I want Naruto to be whole again! I want to bring Sasuke back! I want my team back together! I want my life to stop spinning out of my control and let me fix it for once!"
Katsuro let the girl be for a little bit, allowing her to suck in a few raspy breaths to stop herself from breaking down. When she finally seemed like she was under control, he then gently asked, "And Naruto? You've been having strange feelings for him as well, haven't you? Feelings that are confusing you?"
Sakura just nodded a little, her hands slowly loosening their grip.
Katsuro nodded again and sat there in silence. After a few minutes, he sighed and said, "Then I cannot allow this to go on."
Sakura's head shot up, and she stared at the man in shock.
"I cannot willingly walk into that meeting room," Katsuro continued, "And watch you do this without resolving your own issues. In the end, it would all be meaningless."
Sakura nodded and stared at the ring on her finger in sadness. "Then what can I do?"
Katsuro leaned forward and rested a hand gently onto her shoulder, making her look at him again. "One broken person cannot fix another, Sakura-chan. In order for you to help Naruto, you must be willing to move on from your past self. Go to him. Tell him all that is really bothering you. If you find yourself unable to go on before or after you do so, then say the word and I can quietly dissolve the marriage between you two. No one would have to know about it, since you haven't told anyone, and the two of you could go on with your lives as you see fit. If you still continue on this path, then at least you can do it with your head held high and no regrets holding you down"
Sakura gazed her ring – the ring that held her promise to Naruto as his wife – and thought, Can I really do this? Am I really willing to go on like this, and put the both of us through this? What about Naruto? What about his feelings? Could I really just let him know, and wind up crushing him as a result?
She then heard her inner self gently ask, MAYBE. BUT DON'T YOU THINK HE AT LEAST DESERVES THE CHANCE TO KNOW? PEOPLE HAVE LIED TO HIM ALL HIS LIFE. DON'T YOU THINK THAT FOR ONCE, HE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR THE TRUTH?
Sakura smiled gently and nodded her head a little before rising to her feet. She bowed deeply to the man and said, "My lord, please excuse me. I must...tend to something." When he smiled and nodded in response, Sakura turned and said, "Neko!"
Said ANBU shunshined into the room, and Sakura asked, "Will you please take me to my husband? There's something...I need to resolve before I go to the meeting."
Neko nodded her head and gently laid a hand on the girl's shoulder before shunshining the two of them away.
It was at this moment, Tsunade and Jiraiya walked back into the room, Shizune in tow with the tea, and Tsunade asked, "What happened to Sakura? Where did she go?"
Katsuro simply smiled again and motioned for Shizune to bring the tea. "She went to go find her answers."
The two of them appeared right outside Naruto's room, and Sakura steadied herself with a deep breath before turning to the ANBU. "Can you please allow us to talk alone?"
Neko nodded her head and disappeared, and Sakura gently knocked on the door and opened it. She was treated to the sight of Naruto laying on his side, a scroll in one hand and his head resting in the other, and he looked up as she came in.
His eyes traveled a little over her body, taking in the sight of her, and she smiled a little before turning slowly from side to side to give him a better look. "Do you like the kimono Tsunade-dono gave me? I was worried I wouldn't fit in it."
Naruto blushed a little and turned his head while clearing his throat. "Yeah, um, sure, it...it looks lovely on you."
She giggled slightly, but it didn't last long before her face fell a little. She bowed her head and said, "Naruto...I need to speak with you regarding...well, everything, I guess."
Confused, Naruto sat up and motioned for her to take a seat on the side of the bed, which she did before staring at her hands. Her back was turned to him, and he wondered what was wrong with her, before she said, "Naruto...am I really doing the right thing? Is shackling you to me really going to help you find happiness again? Am I even capable of showing you that happiness?"
Naruto became even more confused but allowed her to continue. Sakura raised her head and stared off into space as she continued, "I'm so confused, Naruto. I have...had always loved Sasuke. Even after he betrayed us, I still would have given my heart to him. I would have followed him in becoming a missing nin if it meant he would return these feelings. Yet, when I saw you give in to your despair, something inside of me broke."
Naruto's eyes were starting to lose their light, as he felt those feelings of betrayal creep up on him. Suddenly, he felt like a fool for believing that she was going to change, but then again, did he really expect her to just switch feelings like that?
Before he could say anything, though, Sakura shook her head. "No. That's a lie. I'm not confused. I'm afraid. I'm afraid that all of my feelings for everyone are just myself trying to fix everything around me and make it all into my perfect little world. When I had my crush on Sasuke, I wanted to fix him and make him smile for me with love and kindness. I wanted to be the light in his world of darkness, to be the thing that he would love and adore above all else. But then, when I saw you finally give in to your grief and pain, it was suddenly you I wanted to fix. It was you I wanted to see happy. It was your smile I wanted to fill. It was your darkness I wanted to light. The two of you had become these little birds with broken wings, and I wanted to take care of you so that I could see you fly."
She lifted her legs from the ground and hugged them close to her, tears welling at the corners of her eyes as she lowered her head onto her knees. "I'm afraid that everything will just be a lie, and that one day I'll wake up and find that I actually never truly cared. I'm afraid that, after everything I've done, I'll just find myself alone. I'm afraid that I'll just hurt everyone, no matter how much help I give, and I'll just make everything worse."
Naruto sat there in silence for a few minutes. It's not as if she was really rejecting him. After all, he knew she didn't really love him like she did Sasuke. But to go this far just so that she would see him happy? That didn't make sense in the slightest, rebound crush or not.
Sakura just sat there, her head down, as she waited for him to tell her to call it off. After all, who would want to stay married to someone who might not care for him no matter how much time passes? She was surprised, though, when she heard him shuffle closer to her side, and she lifted her head in confusion to see him sitting right beside her, his empty eyes staring at the wall.
He was silent for a moment before saying, "Back when we were at the Academy, I had always known you were different. You were one of the few kids in class who wasn't outright mean to me, who was willing to help me get better. Whenever I had questions about the theory or something, you were one of the few people who would give me a straight answer - unless somehow Sasuke was involved, which you would then either ignore me or punch me for irritating you."
Sakura blushed in embarrassment, but she allowed the boy to continue on. "As the years went by, I kept on trying, despite everyone telling me to give up, because I wanted to show you that your help wasn't wasted. Despite the fact that the teachers always sabotaged me and tried to see me fail, as well as the fact that I was never the smartest of the group, I always tried to work my hardest so that one day I could walk up to you and prove to you that I was worth the help you gave. When we made it onto a team, I was happy because it meant I could finally show you how all the hard work paid off, and maybe, just maybe, you would turn your gaze to me for once. Of course, Sasuke was still the center of your world, but you still were willing to help me succeed even when others didn't care."
Sakura smiled a little now but still remained silent, and Naruto then fell back onto his back, staring now at the ceiling while Sakura laid down next to him. "You're afraid that your feelings are all fake, but I think that's bull. When you made me look into your eyes the other day, I saw something deep down inside of you that intrigued me enough to take your offer of marriage."
Sakura leaned onto her left arm as she trailed her right hand over his heart and asked quietly, "What did you see?"
He turned his eyes to her and cupped her cheek with his hand. "That you really care about me. You actually care enough about me that you're willing to face the discrimination and hatred of being my wife, no matter how high our titles will be, and that kind of caring actually matters to me more than anything in the world. Sure, you don't love me like you do Sasuke, but-"
Whatever else he was going to say was cut off as Sakura couldn't hold back any longer and pressed her lips to his. A few tears poured out of her eyes, but she ignored them, as she felt her body be filled with a warmth she had never felt before.
She kissed a little bit more, gently nibbling on his lower lip, before pulling back and giving him a watery smile. "You're wrong, Naruto. You are so wrong."
He looked at her with confusion, and she giggled a little at the sight before continuing, "You gave me all of the love inside of you, so much of it that it left you empty inside and hurt you in the end, but now I finally feel that love inside of me, pulsing, beating like a second heart. You gave all that love to me and me alone, and now it's time I gave some of my love back to you."
"But...Sasuke-"
She silenced him with a finger to the lips and smiled again. "Forget Sasuke. He had plenty of chances to show me what really mattered, and he failed from day one."
She grabbed his hand and pressed it to her chest where her heart was (making the poor boy blush at the contact with her young breast) before pressing her own to his and leaning in to whisper, "From this point on, it's only you and me."
As soon as she said these words, as she let go of the feelings she had spoon-fed herself all these years, she kissed him on the lips once more and felt her hurting heart begin to mend.
Maybe those feelings for Sasuke had been fake all along, or maybe they just lost their power as time went on, but Sakura knew this was different. As she continued to kiss Naruto, squealing a little in delight as he began to return as much as she gave, she felt the shackles on her chained heart begin to fall, allowing herself to finally feel what it meant to be someone important, to be someone special. She didn't know why, but Naruto always seemed to be able to show her that, and she actually yearned for it again and again, until she realized now that those feelings for Sasuke were getting pushed further and further away from her until they were merely reflex with no feeling.
She wanted, oh so terribly wanted just to be important to someone, even if it was just one person – a trait she noticed was similar to Naruto. She had never felt that with Sasuke, but she knew that Naruto would give that to her in spades – when he was ready to. She still had to earn his trust, but at least now she knew that it would be more than worth it in the end.
Both of their bodies kept getting hotter and hotter until it was almost uncomfortable, but they never broke the kiss. If they had, then they would have realized that the heat was from Kyuubi's chakra completely enveloping them for a few minutes before receding, filling their body with it. For what purpose, only Kyuubi knew, and she wasn't about ready to break this up.
Naruto wrapped his arms around her slim body and pressed her close, before he then flipped over and pinned her under him, to which she mewled in happiness at his aggressiveness. He continued his wonderful ministrations on her lips before pulling back, and she gazed up at him before cupping his face with her hands and gasping in happy shock.
Deep within Naruto's eyes, she noticed a small spark of his true self shine out, and she wanted to cry with happiness at the fact that he was finally letting her peek into his heart.
It seemed Naruto, though, had other plans, as he lowered himself to her and kissed her on the lips before slowly moving to her cheek, then her jawline, and finally her earlobe. Sakura couldn't hold in the groan of delight as he gently kissed the area where her jaw and ear met, and she shuddered a little in lust as he moved down her neck, continually planting kisses along the way, before arriving at her collarbone. He trailed along the raised skin for a little bit before shifting his path towards her shoulder and back up her neck.
Tsunade's teacup fell to her desk as she watched the crystal ball with her jaw dropped and an ever-increasing blush spreading quickly across her whole body that would have put Hinata to shame. The Fire Daimyo had contented himself by gazing at some the artwork in the office, though his face held a satisfied smile. Jiraiya was alternating between staring at the orb and preventing his hand from reaching the notebook in his pocket, muttering as he did so, "Must...resist...urge...to...write! Must...not...perve...on...godson's...love life!" He then raised his head towards the ceiling and screamed out, "WHY, KAMI?! WHYYYYYYYYYY?!"
Sakura wasn't sure how much longer she was going to resist before finally saying 'Screw the law!' and take him here and now, but she was saved when he finally reached her lips again and planted a long yet loving kiss. When he finally pulled away from her and gazed down at her shuddering form, Sakura had to force herself to breathe and calm down, her face quite red from blushing, before she turned her gaze to her husband and smirked. "Oh Kami, I wish we were fourteen right now."
Naruto chuckled a little before leaning down and planting a quick kiss on her lips before replying, "You think you have it bad? I've been trying to keep my lust for you under control since we were ten."
Sakura growled playfully and smacked his shoulder. "Pervert."
"Takes one to know one, dear."
She giggled in response before gently nudging him. "Up. I need to check my make-up."
Naruto grinned and started to lean down again. "You look fine."
"I could look like a messed-up clown right now, and you'd probably still think I was beautiful. Up."
Naruto sighed dramatically but got up from her, allowing Sakura to check the mirror. Her mascara had run a little and the hair pins had been shifted a tiny bit to loosen the ponytail, but those were just a couple quick fixes. Aside from that, she still looked immaculate.
When she was done, she smiled widely as she approached the boy before gently kissing him again. She then said, "Now, I'm heading back to Tsunade-dono's office. If you behave, then I'll bring Ichiraku's again." An evil smirk played across her lips as she leaned towards his ear and whispered, "If you're really good, I might just let you get me out of this kimono and eat it off me."
It was amazing how no blood landed on the girl whatsoever, considering A) how close the two of them were, and B) how Naruto's nose had become a geyser powerful enough to sending him flying from where they stood onto his back on the bed. He stared at the ceiling with widened eyes yet again, while both Sakura and Kyuubi laughed.
Sakura approached him and coyly said, "Oh my, Naruto-kun. Your nose is always bleeding when you're around me. Are you sure you're okay?"
Naruto threw a playful glare at her and growled through his hand, "Damn vixen..."
Sakura laughed again and leaned in to peck his cheek before turning to the door and saying as she exited the room, "I'm serious, though. Get some rest and eat some breakfast. I think you might need the energy today."
She closed the door and sighed happily. As she turned towards the hall, Neko appeared in front of her and asked, "Sakura-dono, are you ready to head back?"
Sakura nodded her head, and the two of them vanished once again into a shunshin.
As Sakura reappeared in the room, she noticed Tsunade had a blush currently on her face, while Jiraiya was strangely enough holding his hand back from his pocket while muttering about it was so unfair. Quickly putting two and two together, she smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Enjoy the show, everyone? Sorry it couldn't have been more, but, you know, those damn age restrictions."
Tsunade just blushed harder, while Jiraiya was now rocking back and forth, frantically saying, "Iamnotapedophile! Iamnotapedophile! Iamnotapedophile! Breasts! Big breasts! Gorgeous breasts! Tsunade's breasts!" He then visibly relaxed and sighed happily. "Ahhh, everything's now right in the world..."
A hard punch from said woman and one pervert halfway into the wall later, Tsunade managed to shake off her blush and smile gently at the girl. "I trust the two of you have come to an understanding now?"
Sakura nodded and happily chirped out, "Yep yep!"
Tsunade nodded her head, and Katsuro stood and walked to the girl, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Good. I never had a doubt in my mind you two would make this work."
Sakura nodded her head, and the Daimyo walked towards the door. "Now then, I believe we have kept the Council waiting long enough. Shall we go?"
Everyone nodded and left the room, though not before Jiraiya was extracted from the wall.
Naruto laid on the bed where Sakura had left him, still staring up at the ceiling in bewilderment. A week ago, he would have laughed bitterly at the thought of any of this happening, but it was happening, and it was happening now. If Sakura wasn't falling for him now, then damn, would that girl be able to kiss when she did!
Thinking about Sakura and what she was doing now made him scowl. He knew from his past dealings that it was going to take every bit of effort for the Council to accept things as they were happening. At least on the civilian side, it would. The shinobi side would be a little more accepting of it, as they were more neutral towards him than anything else, but it's not as if they would raise a finger to help him and Sakura should they need it.
No, this was going to require him to perform more drastic measures.
Standing up from the bed, he growled out, "ANBU!"
Six figures appeared in the room, and Neko approached him, asking, "You require something, Naruto-san?"
"Would you be able to get some quick measurements of me for a formal kimono to be purchased post-haste?"
The six nin glanced at each other before Hebi answered, "We could."
He raised a hand towards them. "Get me that kimono, and quickly! I've got a Council meeting to crash."
One ANBU cocked his head to the side in confusion. "If you don't mind me asking, Naruto-san, why?"
Naruto's smile could almost be considered to be feral as he replied, "The Fox is now screaming at me to protect my mate from that pack of wolves, and I'm currently inclined to agree with her."
Sakura was standing outside the doors to the meeting room, her breathing surprisingly even and calm. How interesting how things get put into perspective when you either do or don't know the outcome of what's to happen. Naruto listening to her confessions terrified her because she didn't know how he would react. Meeting with the Council, however? She was half-expecting to sleep through it until Tsunade woke her up for her part, since it was pretty obvious that the Council would act as they had planned. Besides, the thought of going back to that hospital room and showing her husband just how well she could kiss was actually keeping her calm, though it was getting hard to hide the lecherous grin on her face.
Since when did I become such a pervert? Is it the fact that I'm finally able to have the chance to be perverted that's making me do this? Is my inner persona finally taking control of me? Have I been a pervert all along? Oh, who the hell cares! Let's get this damn thing over with so I can go back and show my husband just how special he is to me!
She just barely refrained from letting out a perverted giggle that would have made Jiraiya proud as an image flashed into her mind, and she turned to the other three with a wide smile on her face. "Shall we get started then?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the girl's excited manner but smirked and nodded her head anyway, and the four stepped through the door.
"Naruto-san?"
An ANBU flashed into the room with a package in hand and held it out to the boy. "Your kimono, as requested. I took the liberty of having the Hokage pay for it in your stead to speed things along."
Naruto nodded his head in thanks before gently taking the box and laying its contents onto the bed. A blood-red base kimono with black flames at the hems and a black sash with a black michiyuki** that displayed a dark red Uzu whirpool on the back laid next to them. Naruto smiled mirthlessly. How fitting for my mood, and also enough to strike a little fear into the hearts of those fools...
Not caring that he might have an audience, he shrugged out of his hospital gown and slipped the ensemble on, tying the belt on with a certain amount of skill that the ANBU didn't expect from someone who never wore formal clothing. He stepped over to the mirror and smirked at the image he saw. No doubt the Council was going to throw a fit when they saw him try and appear respectable, and that's just what he wanted. The fools would be so focused on the fact that he dared intrude on their meetings and act like he was meant to be there, they would forget about the Daimyo and Tsunade pushing forward their own agendas – a win in Naruto's book.
He slipped on the sandals that came in the package and turned to the ANBU. "Now, if you would be so kind as to shunshin me to the Council room? Preferably in the shadows of the room. I want to first watch how this plays out without my interference, so I don't want anyone alerted to me just yet."
Hebi nodded and grabbed his shoulder before vanishing with the boy.
As the four of them entered the room, Tsunade took the Hokage's seat in the center podium while Jiraiya stood to her side and Katsuro went to the side of the room. There was a raised podium that overlooked the room that was specifically reserved for the Fire Daimyo whenever he visited, allowing him to see every person present. Sakura stood in the center of the room, her entire posture regal and almost prideful for one so young. Some people glanced at one another, wondering if somehow the girl was on trial for something they weren't aware of.
Once the Daimyo was seated, he said loudly, "Now that we are finally all here," (a few people glanced angrily that the councilman responsible for being there so long but kept silent) "we can begin the discussion for why we are here."
One council member from the civilian side stood and cleared her throat. "Honored Daimyo, we have called this meeting to demand that Hokage Tsunade Senju permanently remove Naruto Uzumaki from the shinobi ranks."
"Oh? On what grounds?"
"Within the last twenty-four hours of Uzumaki returning from his failed mission to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha, he suffered a mental breakdown in the middle of the village and attempted to kill himself."
Tsunade interrupted the woman. "And on what grounds does that accusation warrant his permanent removal from the Shinobi ranks? He needs time off and counseling, yes, and possibly even some psyche evaluations, but all shinobi require this after a while. Attempted suicide warrants him being suspended from the ranks, not expelled. He would only be expelled if he had succeeded in killing anyone else."
Another member shot up and pointed his finger at Tsunade. "Aha! But that's the real problem, isn't it? That boy did nearly kill us all when he-" The man stopped and glanced at Sakura, who was smirking at the man's discomfort. He cleared his throat and quickly gestured to her. "Tsunade-san, would you be so kind as to send your apprentice out for this?"
Sakura's eyebrow rose as she said, "Oh? And why would Tsunade-dono need to do that, oh honored council member? Surely whatever you were going to say wouldn't be so bad that someone of my generation can't hear it."
The man glared at her as he spluttered with his words, and Sakura grinned evilly. "What's the matter? Kyuubi got your tongue?"
The civilians all turned to stare at her with pale faces, while Tsunade was barely able to hide her snickers before saying, "As you can see, Sakura is aware of Naruto's condition as a Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi, as she should be due to her...relationship with him. In any case, what did Naruto do that nearly destroyed Konoha?"
The man waved his hand around frantically and yelled, "Well, isn't it obvious?! He tried to let out the Kyuubi from its-"
"Her," Sakura muttered while nonchalantly examining her nails. She held up one hand and gasped loudly. "Oh my! I think one of nails is chipped!"
"From its cage," the man nearly screamed, his face turning purple at the girl's lack of respect. "He was out of his mind and was trying to destroy the village in some sort of baseless, petty revenge! Clearly, he needs to be removed for the greater safety of everyone else around him, possibly put into a mental asylum while we find a new host for Kyuubi!"
The Council suddenly shivered as they felt the temperature in the room drop below zero when the girl exuded a deadly aura. When people began to look at her again, the closed-eyed smile she had on her face promised death for the next person to say what she didn't want to hear, despite the sickly sweet tone she spoke with. "Well then, I guess it's good that none of you can do that, can you?"
The man seemed to recover a bit of himself enough to sneer at her. "What are you mean, girl? We are the esteemed Council of Konoha, and it is well within our rights-"
"But that's where you are wrong, oh wise and wonderful council member." The sweet voice was actually beginning to scare some people, which the Daimyo smirked at as he listened. "You are clearly overstepping your boundaries, as the Konoha Charter states that the Council may only deal with matters regarding the civilian population and must defer to the Hokage regarding all matters regarding both shinobi and clan matters." Her eyes narrowly opened as she focused her glare. "Any attempts to usurp this position either through so-called 'legal' channels or illegal means is considered treason and punishable by execution."
In the shadows of the room, Naruto raised an eyebrow at his new wife. Well, this is a side of her I've never seen before. This cruel and calculating part of her must have been repressed, only for her to reveal it when her enemies' backs are turned. He then grinned ferally again. And I like it!
Tsunade smiled smugly as she gazed down at the girl before her. If Naruto isn't interested in being Hokage anymore, then I'll see if I can get Sakura to do it after some training. This girl could make these guys shit themselves on a daily basis if she so wanted! Aloud, her tone of voice matched Sakura's as she coolly stared down the rest of the room. "Indeed. Interfering in Naruto Uzumaki's career and lifestyle would be a serious breach of jurisdiction, and I could have you all hanged for treason against two clans of Konoha for unjustly confining him."
One could almost hear the small neck cracks as the Council looked back at Tsunade with shocked faces. They stared at her, as if they couldn't believe what they had just heard, and Inoichi dug into his ear with his pinky to clear out some sort of imaginary blockage. "Excuse me, I must be going deaf. Did I just hear you correctly when you said that Uzumaki was the heir of two clans?"
Tsunade looked thoughtful for a second before gently pounding her closed hand into her palm with a surprised look. "Oh! Excuse me. I was mistaken."
The entire room sighed in relief, as the implications of that statement would have been really bad to reveal with the Daimyo there.
Tsunade let them relax a little before smiling maliciously and gleefully pulling out another piece of paper. "I forget that he's also the potential heir of a third clan – my own!"
Everyone froze, and quite a few of them did indeed shit their pants then and there as they then realized just how deep in it they now were.
Homura stood and smiled shakily at the woman, nervously dabbing his head with a handkerchief. "N-Now, Tsunade-chan-"
"Tsunade-dono," Sakura corrected with smugness.
Homura glanced at the girl and cleared his throat. "Tsunade-dono, you can't just go around making accusations like those without some sort of proof."
Tsunade smirked and held up Naruto's birth certificate, and everyone turned ghost-white when they saw displayed prominently on the page 'Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki'.
Homura's eyes widened considerably, and he fell into his seat nearly babbling. Koharu decided to speak in his place and nervously say, "Oh come now, Hokage-dono. Surely those are forged? I mean, we would have known if Minato-san had a child."
Sakura rolled her eyes and said nonchalantly, "Oh? And I guess seeing Kushina-dono walking around like a beach ball had been shoved under her dress was all just an illusion?"
Another nameless council member growled out, "Oh please. As if the Uzu whore would have kept her legs closed to anyone else-"
The temperature dropped even lower this time, and Sakura snarled out, "I would keep that tongue of yours in check, commoner, lest you find it ripped out of your mouth! I will not have you slander the name of a loyal Konoha nin who died for this shithole!"
Tsume raised an eyebrow at the girl and said, "And why would you care about this, Sakura Haruno? By what claim do you have to make this accusation?"
Sakura smirked and raised her ring finger up as if it were her middle, making the woman's eyes go wide as Sakura smugly stated, "That's Namikaze-Uzumaki to you, Inuzuka-san. As of three days ago, I have become Naruto-kun's lawfully wedded wife."
The entire room exploded into an uproar, many people taking sides to exclaim that there was no way the marriage was true, that Naruto must have used some form of demon magic to make her become his wife, or that the girl was trying to 'bewitch the honored heir' (Naruto had to suppress a snort when he heard that) in giving her all his money and power. It took several minutes for order to be restored, and when it finally was, several people were giving the girl either withering or bewildered looks.
Sakura just took it all in stride and said, "If you think that I am lying, then very well." She turned to Katsuro and bowed deeply. "Daimyo-sama, I wish to request a boon of thee."
The older form of speech impressed the man of how serious the girl was taking this, as it was the formal way for one lower than him to speak to him in an official manner, and imperiously nodded to her. "And what dost thou ask of us, Namikaze-dono? What request dost thou wish us to grant?"
"My lord, these people in this room are trying to slight my husband and his heritage, as you have clearly seen. I wish to request those under thou's command to perform a blood test to confirm once and for all the validity of his parentage and the faithfulness of his mother, my predecessor matriarch of the clan."
Several people paled at her words, but Sakura kept her head bowed to the man as he made an act of thinking deeply before nodding again. "Very well, Namikaze-dono. Of this, we shall grant thee." He looked to those in the room and, noticing some of their looks, he raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Dost our decree upset many of you? Speak then. Tell us why this should not be."
Inoichi looked to the other clan heads and, seeing their agreement, nodded his head and stood to address the lord. "Daimyo-sama, if thou dost permit it, I wish to direct one question to the young woman and demand that she speak truthfully to me."
Tsunade's own eyes widened for the first time since the meeting began, and she started to sweat nervously under her hat. Drat! Please, Kami! If this is meant to help Naruto, please don't let him ask anything that may compromise their marriage!
Katsuro thought deeply about it, but he realized that it was a reasonable request. Technically, he wanted to see what would happen to this young couple as time passed on, and if he so wished it, he could see this marriage continue under his decree without the Council's approval – not that it mattered since they couldn't repeal the marriage legally anyway. Besides, it would give him a good measure of just how much of a cool head this girl would be able to keep under pressure. So he nodded his head. "Speak."
Inoichi nodded and turned his head to the girl. It was actually a little unnerving to see one so young stand there unflinchingly and stare him down from where she stood, and she was on lower ground than him. Inoichi had to at least give her credit for that. Most other girls her age would now be a trembling mess of terrified nerves.
Clearing his throat, he then said, "Sakura-san, I only ask this of you: why should any of us trust you in regards to being Uzumaki's wife? The claims of his heir status withholding for the moment, there is really nothing in this marriage that should have appealed to you to make this choice. So why should I or any one else on this Council believe that you have his best interests at heart, when up until his defection, you only sought the affections of the traitor, Sasuke Uchiha?"
Damn it, Tsunade thought morosely. Come on, Sakura. Just keep a calm head and you'll be fine.
It's not like the girl needed the encouragement, though, as Sakura just put on a wry smile and shook her head. "It really doesn't surprise me anymore when someone questions the validity of my actions. I guess I only have myself to blame for that."
She raised her gaze to the Yamanaka and crossed her arms under her chest comfortably. "You want to know why I chose Naruto over Sasuke? Fine. It is because I need him." That got some people's dander up, but she merely raised a hand and waved them to silence once more. "That's not what I meant. When I say I need him, it is not as a potential husband or a path to fame and glory. No, I need him simply for him and him alone.
"Fine, yes. I once had a crush on the Uchiha, and I would be lying if I said that there were no more feelings for him still within me. Yet despite those feelings, I found myself wanting something more, something better."
She started to pace a little, looking each member confidently in the eye as she continued. "Imagine yourself in my shoes. You join the ninja academy to become something different than what your parents had already achieved, and you happen to come across a young handsome boy who was considered a prodigy. You at first admire him and his skills, but you also want him to notice you and think that you are worth his time as an equal on the field, so you dive into your studies and training. Then, that same boy experiences a horrid tragedy, and suddenly, you don't just admire him; you want to be with him, become the new center of his life as he tries to pick up the pieces.
"You train even more earnestly than before, fighting tooth and nail against several others who think the same way you do, all the while hoping that this cold boy will somehow deem you worthy of his affections. Finally, the day comes when you see if whether or not your hard work has paid off, and you become delighted to discover that this prodigy is now on your team because you sacrificed friendships, family time, and all of your free moments to get there. But it's okay, because he will surely see what you've done and accept you, right?
"Wrong. The prodigy doesn't like you in the slightest. In fact, he sees you as a hindrance to his overall goals of avenging his family, because evidently the dead cry out to him every passing moment of the day for him to get stronger and kill their murderer. So he practically crushes your dreams and hopes without a care in the world, and you try to piece everything back together and hope that maybe next time, you'll get through to him."
Shikaku sighed a little and turned his gaze onto the girl. "Sakura-san, I mean no offense, as this is an interesting tale, but is there a point to all of this?"
Sakura raised a chiding finger to the lazy man and admonished, "Hush, Nara-san. You asked for my point of view, and I am trying to make you understand it."
She turned back to the room and resumed her pacing. "Now, while all of this is going on, there's also another boy hanging around who's a bit of goofball and a pariah. He's hyperactive, oblivious, not all that intelligent regarding certain things, a loudmouth, and a braggart. But he tries his hardest and gives his all to make his dreams come true. You laugh at his dreams, thinking them impossible, but you offer him a helping hand every now and again just so he doesn't think everyone won't take him seriously. He has a crush on you, which you find annoying at first but then later begin to accept it as it is and even think it's kind of sweet despite being a little irritating at times. You help him all throughout the Academy and are surprised to find out that not only has he passed, but he's now also on your team.
"Time passes, and your team has started to develop a certain trend. You try your hardest to get closer to the prodigy, only for him to keep rebuffing you and making you feel worthless, while the pariah showers you with lavish attention and praise that outwardly you are afraid to accept and wind up throwing it back into his face, while inwardly you desperately cling to it like water in a desert and quietly thank him for his wonderful words. The prodigy would leave you behind at first chance if he could, while the pariah would search to the ends of the world to make sure you are okay. The prodigy could care less if you lived or died so long as it doesn't impede his progress, while the pariah will throw himself in the middle of an enemy attack that he has no chance of winning to protect you with his very life. This kind of devotion shocks you, because you wonder just what you've done to deserve it, but you find that you want more of it.
"Suddenly, you wake up one day and start going through the motions of wooing the prodigy, just so the pariah will then come and pick your spirits back up. You suddenly care about what the pariah thinks more than the prodigy, and this confuses you a little but at the same time excites you. It's new. It's fresh. It's everything you ever wanted and so much more, and it's even slightly taboo, makes even more exciting for you. You're a little scared about where this might go, but you're also happy enough with the love and attention you receive that you find you just don't give a damn any more."
She stood again in the middle of the room and gave them all a level stare. "I'll admit, it took me a while to realize the feelings that were building up inside me, but when Naruto was finally ready to show me what was really inside his own heart, I made my choice. Sure, I could have kept on pursuing the Uchiha until the end of time, but there is no love or warmth left in him; while Naruto was willing to show me that I was more than special to him and actually wanted me for who I was, not what I was willing to do. A life of being essentially a baby factory for new Uchiha, or a life of happiness and caring? Not all that hard to see which path I would choose."
The rest of the room just sat there in shocked silence. How does someone refute that? They had no way of telling if the girl was lying or not, but the utter conviction with which she spoke said volumes about just how serious she was. Besides, it really wasn't that hard of a choice. Some girls rushed into marriage without thinking of the consequences, and if Sakura had gotten her way back when Sasuke was still in the village, she really would have become nothing more than what she just said – a baby factory who is only paid attention to when receiving the Uchiha's seed and when she gave birth to the children. Still, there was no way they were just going to let some civilian girl get access to the Namikaze and Uzumaki fortunes and jutsu libraries without them trying to get their own girls in place as well.
Sakura noticed the calculating looks in the Council's eyes, and she smirked while narrowing her own. "Do you think me a simpleton?"
They all gave her a confused look, and she rolled her eyes. "Please. I see your minds working rapidly on how to use this to your advantage. It's hard to believe you are even politicians, you're all so transparent. So, I might as well cut out your legs from under you."
The evil smirk returned, and the room chilled yet again, making others wonder if she had some form of latent bloodline limit. Her words actually felt like they were freezing their souls.
"As I am Naruto's wife, and he has married me before he turned fifteen, then this Council may not interfere in any way, as per the Konoha Charter. In other words, if any of you think that you can try and force my Naruto to have any more wives aside from me, you're going to find those poor girls gutted on your doorstep like a fish at market."
Several people shouted with rage again, but it was Homura who stood up and yelled, "Now you see here, girl. You think you can just walk in here and dictate to us the terms of this marriage-"
Her glare leveled at him, and her predatory smile nearly made Homura have a heart attack. "No, you see here. You were willing to overlook the laws just so you can get what you wanted, but it's now time you paid your dues. You had the chance to make Naruto into something great and have him 'owe' you something for your help, but you chose not to. Now, you will have to sit back and watch as I do what should have been done years ago and give Naruto the happiness he deserves. And if you don't like it, well, I have no problem of making your lives a living hell for a very long time."
Homura snorted and crossed his arms in defiance. "Ha! I've seen your records, girl. You don't have any power to back those claims up."
Sakura's smile never left her face as she slowly took out her pins and shook out her hair. She then crooned out, "Oh, Homura..."
Quicker than anyone could see, her hand flashed out, and Homura screamed as he felt one of the pins pierce his left eye. As he flailed about, screaming like a baby for someone to help him, he felt the other shoot into his calf and send him toppling over the table onto the floor. He thrashed around before a foot slammed into his shoulder, making him look up into the hate-filled smile of the green-eyed devil herself.
"It's Sakura-dono to you, common scum. I may have been a civilian, but my new station elevates me higher than you so-called Elders, and I'll carve the respect out of your flesh if you don't give it willingly. Remember your place!"
She turned her gaze to the civilian side, and many saw death reflected back in it. "That goes to the rest of you as well. The civilians of this village should remember that they are here at the sufferance of the Hokage and the Daimyo. This place is a military dictatorship, headed by the Hokage with the clan heads as her commanders. If you don't like that fact, get out."
Her gaze then traveled to the clan heads, and even the battle-hardened, tough-as-nails-bitch-who-takes-shit-from-no-one Tsume Inuzuka gulped at the look in this young woman's eyes. "And if the clans don't like serving with those who they hate, then feel free to take your clans and go. I just hope you have fun with the kill-on-sight orders that we'll send to every Daimyo and Kage out there to remove 'traitors' from the shinobi world, because I'll certainly enjoy watching your mangled corpses be dragged in and hung from the Hokage Monument as a message to those who would go against the Hokage and the Fire Daimyo!"
You could hear a pin hit the floor loudly, the room was so quiet. Everyone just stared at this young girl who had effectively just ripped the rug out from under them and reminded them just who was in charge – a blonde woman wearing the Kage hat and now this pink-haired young lady with fire in her very soul.
The silence was broken when Koharu shot to her feet and screamed out, "KILL HER!"
Before anyone could blink, several tendrils of red chakra shot from the shadows and enveloped the two Elders and those in the civilian council who shot to their feet to assault the girl. It burned at their skin, melting it away to reveal muscle, sinew, and bone. They all screamed until their throats bled, and then they screamed some more until their vocal chords were turned to goo. The fluids that were once their various body parts and organs all oozed to the floor into a large congealed, steaming mess, and the bones of the once-council members collapsed into a heap.
Once again, the room was sent into stunned silence, and a low voice then said, "No. I think this has gone on long enough."
They turned to the shadowy corner of the room as footsteps were heard. Out of the darkness, walked Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki in all his splendor, his blank eyes almost lazily taking in the carnage that he'd just unleashed while little wisps of Kyuubi's chakra danced around his fingers.
Sakura brightened at the sight of him but restrained herself from launching towards him. After all, they still had a part to play, and her showing extremely lavish attention upon him would probably work against them.
Naruto glanced around the room once more, making sure that no one else had any objections to what he'd just done. Out of all the people there, aside from Tsunade, Jiraiya and Sakura, the only other person to be perfectly calm about this was Danzo Shimura. Naruto had never trusted the old man, as he was a war hawk of the old guard, a man who believed that only by crushing your opposition could you have peace. Since Naruto had trusted Sarutobi, then naturally he had distrusted the man who was currently looking at him with calculating eyes. With a hollow voice, he then said, "I guess that this leaves only you, Danzo. Everyone else here has clearly made their opinions known regarding what my heritage is; what of yours?"
The old man sat there in contemplation for a little bit before his aged voice said, "When you were brought back from the sealing, I had privately told Sarutobi that mentioning your status as a Jinchuuriki would be a foolish mistake. Many people in this village are not capable of understanding the intricacies of the sealing art. In fact, many people in the world as a whole are not. I knew, however, that your power should have been put to use for the good of the village, but Sarutobi was not thinking straight and had certain delusions that the people would respect the power and word of the Hokage and allow you to have a normal childhood."
He waved his hand in a dismissal. "Of course, he ignored my warnings and made the mistake of leading the council meeting that day with your status and not mentioning your potential heritage until it was too late. In that one foolish move, he all but defanged you and left you without a way to either know or understand either the power of Kyuubi or the extent of your own abilities. I didn't really care if you were pushed through the standard Konoha shinobi system or if he had given you to me as part of my ROOT forces; all that mattered to me was to put another valuable weapon into our arsenal to use against those who threaten this nation. Had you been trained properly like I had wanted in the first place, you would have probably been the only thing we really needed to beat back Orochimaru. Combined with the rest of our forces, we actually could have had the chance to annihilate the traitor once and for all."
Naruto cocked an eyebrow at the man. "And you think that giving me my heritage would have helped me there?"
"Of course. The Hiraishin may have been a created technique rather than a bloodline, but your father Minato was both intelligent and cunning enough to make sure the entire seal array of the original technique only worked for him, his kin, and their spouses. So even if the village did get its hands on the scrolls that contained it, it would have been useless to us at the time, and reverse-engineering it would have taken decades as not all of the notes were in one place. Add in to the fact that Kushina was a descendant of the head branch of the Uzumaki clan, where their prodigious sealing abilities were within their very blood alongside their longevity and stamina, you would have been an almost unstoppable force. Even just having you in place to effectively neuter our enemies would have prevented anyone from ever questioning the power of this nation for decades, maybe even centuries if your future progeny became as strong as you."
Sakura blushed a little at the word "progeny", gleefully thinking, Oh, I can't wait to until I'm fourteen to...test that stamina. Even better, the children we have from all that "testing" will practically be shinobi elites with enough time and training! A little bit of drool came out of her mouth at the thought, and she quickly wiped it away, though thankfully no one noticed.
Naruto stared at the man for a little bit, wondering if what he said was really true, but then again, what did he really have to lose? Worse came to worse, he'd just kill the war hawk himself.
He turned to the Daimyo and said, "If no one else has any other objections, let's get this blood test started."
Katsuro nodded and pulled out the scroll containing the blood. "Within this scroll are the blood vials gifted to us personally by Minato and Kushina Namikaze." He handed the scroll to a nearby samurai, who unsealed it's contents and gently placed the vials onto the table.
He then motioned to Tsunade. "Hokage-dono, if you would bring both Minato and Kushina's marriage certificate and Naruto's birth certificate?"
Tsunade jumped from her chair and laid both documents before him before stepping back to observe.
Katsuro turned to his scribe, an elderly man holding an odd writing desk, and motioned to the papers. "Scribe, please verify the age and DNA signatures of the seals."
The man nodded and opened his desk to reveal an odd type of scanner that utilized various seals along the inner edges, and Naruto found himself staring at each seal with interest and curiosity. The scribe placed the marriage license inside, closing the lid and activating a seal in the bottom corner before reaching for the vials of blood. Pouring a drop of each one into a small metal hole near the top, he then waited for the machine to finish its job. When a paper came out of the slot, he grabbed it and intoned, "Analysis of the license displays that the blood on the seals of the parchment match the ones within the vials, both verified to be the blood of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Namikaze-Uzumaki as per previous genetic entries within Konoha's records. The seal was set on August 14th, fourteen years ago."
Katsuro nodded his head and motioned for the man to continue. When the elderly man repeated the process of the birth certificate, he turned to Naruto and extended a small needle. "Namikaze-san, if you would be so kind as to provide a couple drops of blood?"
Naruto nodded and took the proffered needle, pricking his finger and holding it over the opening to allow the drops in. As he sucked the excess blood off, the man closed the scanner again and waited for the slip of paper once more.
Sakura sidled up to him and gently grabbed his free hand. She gave it a small squeeze, trying to be reassuring, though she knew that it would be positive. Oh Kami, please let it be positive. I don't think Naruto would be able to stand being put on the spot like this, only for it all to blow up in his face.
The scanner gave a small ding and spat out another paper. As the scribe grabbed it, he glanced at the slip, and the smallest of smirks appeared on his face, unnerving Sakura and causing her to squeeze harder on the boy's hand. Please, Kami! Don't let it be wrong!
The scribe then, with no small amount of satisfaction, said, "Analysis of the birth certificate are as follows..."
Everyone held their breath and leaned in. Everything rode on this moment.
The scribe let them hang for a little bit, the sight of the young girl holding her husband warming his heart a little, before finishing with smugness.
"Let it be known to this august body and our esteemed Daimyo of Hi no Kuni that, according the blood seals set on October 10th twelve years ago, this young man, Naruto Uzumaki, is indeed the legal child of Minato Namikaze and his wife, Kushina Namikaze-Uzumaki, and is therefore the legal head of both the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans."
Tsunade sighed with relief while Jiraiya let out a whoop of joy, but the most wonderful reactions came from Naruto, whose eyes brightened all the more and allowed a hopeful smile upon his face, and Sakura, who squealed happily and pulled her husband into a tight hug before gently but firmly kissing him on the lips. When Naruto's arms snaked around her and held her even closer, she felt a few tears slip out from her eyes as she broke the kiss and nuzzled his cheek with her own.
Kasturo looked at the elderly man out of the corner of his eye and smiled. "You do realize that you could have just told everyone the results without the drama."
The scribe simply smirked again and packed his tools into bag. "True, but where's the fun in simply saying such wonderful news outright..."
He glanced at the Council and sneered. "...when you can make those responsible sweat for a little before revealing their crimes."
As what remained of the Council sat there in complete shock, it finally dawned in their minds just how much trouble they now were in. Some, like Tsume, realized that they had made the mistake of hating the boy purely due to jealousy of his mother and would now never receive his respect; others, such as Inoichi, realized that the foolishness of believing the child was the demon had just now cost him a possible alliance through marriage to their daughters; while finally the last few, such as Shibi and Hiashi, knew that their inaction regarding the whole matter had been just as bad as outright hating Naruto, since it would have seemed that they couldn't even be bothered to care either way about a boy that could have worked with them.
Katsuro nodded his head imperiously and smiled more gently at the couple before him. But then his face became neutral again, and he turned to the female Hokage. "Tsunade-san, due to the indiscretions of this council in their attempts to ignore the laws of this village that have been in place since this village's founding, we, Katsuro Ayugai, head of House Ayugai and Twelfth Daimyo of Hi no Kuni, hereby dissolve this Council permanently and give all power back to the Hokage. We also make the demand of you to restructure the bylaws of this village so such power may never be consolidated in such a manner ever again. Do you understand?"
Tsunade bowed deeply to the man, which hid her smirk of victory, and replied, "Yes, my lord. I shall make it so."
Katsuro nodded. "Then we hereby declare this meeting finished." He then smiled at her and said in a more friendly manner, "Now, I could use some more tea. Shall we retire to your office? I also wish to congratulate the happy couple on their marriage."
As the group of five left the room, the Council members looked to each other before despondently heading back to their homes.
As soon as everyone was ushered in and the door was closed, Tsunade let a happy squeal and scooped up the newly-made dual clan head into her arms. She swung him around, holding his head close to her chest, all the while yelling at the top of her lungs, "WE DID IT! WE DID IT! WE FINALLY DID IT!" Naruto just stared blankly ahead, as if it were normal that Tsunade currently had his head buried in her cleavage, and Jiraiya practically cried his eyes out at the sight, muttering, "Damn it, gaki! Men have spent their entire lives wishing to have their heads between those fantastic breasts, and you don't even bat an eyelash! It's just not fair!"
Sakura smirked at the man's comments as Tsunade punched Jiraiya into the wall again, before taking her husband's head and saying, "That's because those aren't the breasts he's interested in." She pressed his face into her small bosom, wrapping her arms around his head, and she grinned at the others as the boy blushed tomato-red. "See?"
Her face soon matched his, though, when Naruto smirked and began rubbing his face against them, muttering loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Mmmmm, they're so soft."
The others laughed at the display, and Sakura eventually chuckled while Naruto gave a small grin. They then took their seats, Sakura opting to pull Naruto over to the sofa at the side of the room and gently put his head in her lap. As she began to stroke his hair and whiskers, Naruto just smiled and got comfortable, purring lowly for his wife.
Tsunade smirked at the sight, but chose to not comment on it. Instead, she said, "I have to admit, Sakura. The move you pulled was fantastic. Within those few seconds, you basically forced the highest-standing people in the village to accept you as one of the top dogs. I think even Tsume was scared of you."
Sakura chuckled darkly and narrowed her eyes. "Good. At least now they'll take my threats more seriously rather than pass them off as a child's rantings." She looked at the woman's raised eyebrow and shook her head. "I meant my words, Tsunade-dono. If those former Council members still think they can phase me out by sending girls after my husband, I can and will gut those girls and leave their corpses on their parents' doorstep as a message. I am the clan's new matriarch, and I will protect my husband and lord from their claws."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Even if it were Hinata or Ino?"
Sakura just stared levelly at the woman. "It depends on just how far they try to go to usurp my authority. If they backed down, I'll be more than willing to send them away with a harsh slap on the wrist and a warning to never try it again, though I doubt Hinata would listen."
Naruto, though his eyes were closed as he enjoyed his wife's ministrations, raised an eyebrow at that. "And why not?"
Sakura gazed back down at him, and she chuckled a little before saying in a playful tone, "My poor, clueless husband. Dearest little Hinata Hyuuga has had the biggest crush on you since we were eight, and she's so deep in it that no doubt the moment she finds out about our marriage, she'll probably try to kill me in retaliation for taking 'her Naruto-kun' from her."
Hiashi looked at the meek yet demure girl that was his eldest daughter before him. He had known for the longest time about her crush on Naruto – hell, probably the only one who didn't know was Naruto himself – but he chose to let the girl have her fantasies, so long as she didn't try to act on them without his approval. Still, if she had approached him for permission to try and date him, he probably would have given it to her simply because he wouldn't have cared either way about his 'failure' of a daughter. After all, he didn't care either way about the fate of the Uzumaki boy to begin with, so why should he care if the two got together?
He internally sighed at the thought. If Hiashi hadn't ignored the boy and at least attempted to get him his inheritance or take him under Hiashi's wing, Hiashi could have then used that to bolster Hinata's confidence and maybe even secure her a husband that probably would have showered her with love and support. Now, he had to break the news that the newly-made dual clan head was off limits to his daughter and any other Hyuuga girl that got the stupid idea to pursue him.
Quite honestly, he wasn't afraid to admit that he was, in fact, terrified of Sakura Namikaze-Uzumaki and what she could do. Had the girl been hiding her skills all this time, possibly to pander to the Uchiha and not scare him off with the fact that his potential wife was stronger than he was? Or did her union with her new husband bring out some form of hidden inner strength the girl had been unaware of before? Whatever the case may be, Hiashi wasn't about to lose either of his daughters because they chose to antagonize the young woman. And I think she was serious about that one threat about gutting other girls. Kami only knows the tirade Ayaka would have for me in the afterlife if I didn't try and prevent our eldest's death.
Several images of whips, chains, and leather flashed through his mind, and Hiashi had to stop the shudder of fearful remembrance that ran through him.
Mentally shaking it off, he braced himself and looked down at his sitting daughter. "Hinata, I have some news that you will want to hear from today's Council meeting, so please listen closely."
Hinata nodded her head, a confused look in her eyes, and Hiashi continued. "It seems that the Council made a severe error in judgment many years ago regarding Naruto Uzumaki. I'd rather not go into exact detail, but the end result was that Naruto-san was in fact denied his rightful heritage. As of today, he has regained that same heritage and has now become the dual clan head of the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans, making him Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki."
Hinata's face brightened, filling her young body with hope and happiness to almost painful levels. As a slow yet undeniably joyful smile crept on her face, she thought, Naruto-kun is now a clan head! This means that neither Father or the Hyuuga Elders can possibly see him as an unworthy suitor. In fact, he is more than worthy now! Finally, Naruto-kun and I will be together forever! The smile kept growing more and more as images of their wedding and future home life, complete with little blond-haired children with Byakugan eyes, kept flashing through her head. It will need to be a summer wedding, and I think we should hold it in the southside meeting hall here in the compound. Kurenai-sensei, of course, will be the maid of honor, and maybe Tenten-san and Ino-san as bridesmaids. I guess I should allow Sakura to come, since she is Naruto-kun's teammate and has been a little nice to him, as well as their sensei, though I must forbid Kakashi from bringing his dirty books anywhere near my wedding. Oh, there's so much to plan! I must find Naruto-kun soon and make sure I let him know I wish to be with him!
Before Hinata could rush to her feet to go and see her beloved Naruto, though, Hiashi decided to intervene. "Unfortunately, the reason I am telling you this is not so you can try to convince him to take you as his wife, but rather to tell you to avoid that course of action indefinitely."
Hinata's face changed to a crushed yet confused look, and Hiashi internally sighed. Why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret this? He then continued. "The reason for this is because Naruto-san had to get married in order to undercut the Council's movements, and now his new wife has not only said that she will not accept the CRA proposal at this point in time, if ever, she has also made it abundantly clear that any girl who tries to usurp her position will be...killed as a warning to others. I will not lie, Hinata, the young woman terrifies me. She horribly maimed Elder Homura to get a point across when he disrespected her, and I have no doubt that she will make good on her threats."
Hinata felt a cold pit of fear and fury form into her stomach, as suddenly her worst fears came to mind, and she grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes before saying clearly, "Father? Who is Naruto-kun's new wife?"
Hiashi could see the fires of the Underworld burn in his daughter's gaze, but after seeing Sakura's ice-cold display, he would rather face this. "Sakura Namikaze-Uzumaki, formerly Haruno."
The shriek of pure and utter rage disturbed everyone in the compound, sending birds in the trees flying hastily away, and for once in her life, Hanabi was now actually afraid of her older sister.
A loud scream in the nearby distance caused everyone to jump a little, but Sakura just chuckled mirthlessly and continued to stroke her husband's hair. "I'm guessing Hiashi-san has now told Hinata of our new status."
Naruto chuckled a little as well, though he shivered at the thought of seeing the girl now. Need to make sure I'm never alone with her or her sensei. No doubt Kurenai will take Hinata's side in all this and try to capture me for her. Probably would even demand a turn of her own after Hinata rapes me.
Sakura felt his shudder of fear, but she laughed happily before cooing out, "Oh, is my poor, little Naruto-kun afraid? Don't worry, your wife will protect you from the scary women."
Naruto blushed at being so easily read and grumbled a little, making Sakura laugh again.
Tsunade chuckled, though she worried in her mind about what might happen if the little Hyuuga went after Sakura. Got to make sure to keep them separated. I'll see if I can get an ANBU detail to protect Sakura from any future assassination attempts. Not to also mention the stink that Hyuuga elders will raise over the death of the clan head's eldest daugher.
Aloud, she asked, "And what of Ino?"
Sakura shook her head sadly. "My relationship with Ino is...complicated. Back when Ino discovered my crush on Sasuke, she used it as another means to bring me out of my shell but also become my rival in love in the process. So, her reaction could go either way. She could be happy for me, or she might try to sneak into my good graces to be allowed into the marriage as part of the CRA, only to either then take over my position or be content with what she's received. Hell, she might even become insanely jealous and try to steal Naruto-kun away from me and keep him all to herself."
Naruto snorted. "Yeah, like that wouldn't take a extremely long time for her to accomplish. At least back in the Academy, you were willing to help me out. Ino, on the other hand, wouldn't have given me the time of day unless my name was 'Sasuke Uchiha' or to berate me for my antics. As of now, not only would she have to admit that her attitude towards me was wrong, but she'd also have to spend quite a while showing me that I could trust her."
Inoichi had finally arrived home, and he had no sooner spent two minutes in the doorstep before his wife Izumi came rushing to him. Confused at her worried expression, he asked, "Dear, what's wrong? Has something happened?"
Izumi quickly kissed her husband before shaking her head in confusion. "I-I don't know, Inoichi. Ino just came home about twenty minutes ago, and she's been in her room ever since. What's so odd is that the look on her face...Inoichi, she's looked like she's seen the Shinigami himself. She's got this dazed look on her face, and she barely responded when I called to her. Did something happen at the Council meeting today? I heard rumors that the Daimyo himself came to the proceedings."
Inoichi just stared into space for a little bit, his mind trying to take in everything his wife was saying. Could Ino have known what was happening? No, she wouldn't have been able to keep quiet about it if she had. I don't think she's seen Sakura for the last few days, so there's no way. But still...
Shaking himself out of it, he looked back at his wife and said in a serious tone, "I'll go talk to her about it right now."
"Inoichi-kun, what's going on?"
Looking at his wife for a few seconds, he gave a heavy sigh and said morosely, "Essentially, Konoha's just shot a kunai into its foot regarding...certain people."
Izumi nodded and left for the kitchen to prepare lunch while her husband went upstairs. Approaching Ino's door, he really hoped that the girl hadn't done something drastic. He didn't need any more bad news right now.
He knocked softly on the door. "Ino? Are you in there, Hime?"
Silence for a few seconds, until a soft voice said, "It's unlocked, Daddy."
Cautiously opening the door, Inoichi was treated to the sight of his only child sitting on her bed, her legs drawn up to her chest and her face buried into her knees while her whole body was shuddering with small sniffles. His heart broke a little, seeing his normally exuberant and happy little girl like this, but he didn't want to rush to any conclusions.
Gently, he sat himself right next to her and leaned his elbows onto his knees while facing her. "What's wrong, Hime? What has you so sad?"
Ino lifted her head a little, her eyes now red and splotchy, and she sniffed back some tears. "It's just...I saw Sakura today outside the Tower today with the Hokage and the Fire Daimyo. She was all dressed up, and I can't help but wonder if maybe..."
He sat in silence for a little bit to see if she would continue before gently prodding, "If maybe?"
Ino had to blink back more tears as she turned her head to look straight at her father. "Daddy, remember how Sakura and I used to fight all the time about who would get to date Sasuke Uchiha?"
Inoichi had to refrain from rolling his eyes at the statement. Of course he remembered; it's been going on for nearly four years continuously day after day until as of three days ago when the boy defected! Still, he buried that thought and nodded. "Yes, dearest. Of course I remember."
Ino's lips twitched a bit, as if the same thought had occurred to her as well, but it didn't last long before vanishing. "The fact is, I'm the one who kind of pressured her into chasing after him."
Inoichi now just looked confused. "Pressured, sweetie? That's kind of a strong word, don't you think?"
Ino slowly nodded her head and stared at her knees for a little bit. "Yeah, I guess it is. But the fact still remains that I'm the one who got her to try and chase after him with me."
She drew her knees closer as she now stared at the wall. "Back when we were first friends, Sakura used to be such a crybaby and always retreated into her little shell whenever she was picked on. I wanted to help her with that, and I eventually succeeded, at least partially. As time went on, she came more and more out of that shell and began to blossom like a flower, though she was always quick to go back in whenever things got too stressful for her."
Inoichi nodded his head and crossed his legs on the bed, getting himself a little more comfortable as his daughter kept going. "Eventually, the Uchiha Massacre happened, and suddenly there were talks of Sasuke needing future wives to help repopulate the clan. I had always possessed a little bit of a crush on him before, but after that, I decided it was time to secure my future and get the man of my dreams. Yet, I was still worried for Sakura, who always more admired him from a distance rather than crushed on him. I was afraid that if I went to pursue Sasuke, she would feel abandoned and go back to her shell. So I began dropping little hints to her, like how Sasuke was so cool or how he was so powerful or how any woman would be the queen bee of the village if they became his wife. I guess my words had taken plant, because after a short time, Sakura declared herself as the prime candidate for Sasuke's wife. At first, I was happy, because now she wouldn't be left behind. But then, as time went on, I began to feel more and more frustrated with her as she kept on maintaining her position as the number one girl.
"I realized that I had created my own worst enemy for Sasuke's affections. In fact, it was worse than that, because Sakura began to build her entire shinobi existence around Sasuke. She groomed herself to be the perfect Uchiha bride and trained herself as best a first-generation civilian candidate-kunoichi could. So, when she finally was put onto Sasuke's team, I pretty much contented myself with the hope that she wouldn't get far, though I still began canvasing for other potentials."
Ino's head came to rest on her knees again as she whimpered out, "Daddy, I'm so scared, because I think that I broke her in my attempt to fix her problems. Sakura built her entire existence around the Uchiha and their team, and when Naruto and Sasuke began fighting with each other over everything, she would get so frightened that she would lose one of them, she would begin to have panic attacks. Some of the nights when she came over after we made up, I had to calm her down a lot and get her to relax just so she wouldn't begin stressing and fretting over what to do to fix it. And now, with Sasuke gone and wherever Naruto is, with no one to comfort her, Sakura's offering herself to some noble lord so she doesn't have to feel any more pains of loneliness. She needs something to latch onto, Dad. That much I can tell, but I just never thought she would be hurt that much just because of a false crush that (hic) I (hic) started!" She then pulled tightly against herself as fresh wails began racking her body.
Inoichi smiled a little, though his daughter couldn't see. I see. When she saw Sakura earlier in the day, she misunderstood and thought the girl was giving up on her dreams. She is somewhat right, though. Sakura probably would have suffered a mental breakdown of her own at this point if she didn't have Naruto to latch onto. Based on what Ino's told me, it's even possible the girl realized at a subconscious level that her feelings for the Uchiha weren't actually real and had already begun looking to other candidates before choosing her now-husband as the best choice.
This time, he allowed a little chuckle to escape, causing his distraught little girl to raise her head in confusion, and Inoichi pulled her closer to him in a hug. As he gently rubbed her back, he said, "Shhh, it's alright, Hime. Everything's not as bad as it seems. I promise, nothing's going to happen to Sakura. You didn't break her. Shhh. Calm down, calm down."
She pulled back from him a little and hiccuped out, "B-But (hic) why was (hic) she dressed like that? She (hic) she doesn't even own a-anything (hic) that ex-(hic)-travegant, and that k-kimono was something made for (hic) ladies of the Daimyo's court!"
He kissed her forehead and held her head to his chest in another hug. "Since she arrived with Tsunade-dono, that kimono Sakura was wearing was probably a gift from her in order to impress the Daimyo." He placed a finger onto her lips to stop her from saying any more. "And the reason she had to impress the Daimyo is not because she was planning on selling herself to some noble. Relax, dear. You keep winding yourself up, and all that's doing is stressing you out. Now take a deep breath and calm down, and I'll explain to you what happened." He then muttered under his breath, "Though I don't know how much better this will be."
Ino sat back, drew in several shaky breaths, and grabbed a tissue to blow her nose before nodding for her father to continue.
Inoichi tried to think of a more delicate way to handle this but finally sighed as he decided just to jump into the heart of the matter. "Hime, Sakura did get married, but it wasn't to a nobleman. Evidently, three nights ago, Naruto had convinced Sakura that they were meant for each other and asked for Sakura's hand. She said yes."
Ino's eyes widened in shock, unable to believe that her friend would actually choose to marry the class clown of her own free will. It just didn't seem possible, yet her own father's eyes were claiming it to be truth.
Inoichi pressed on. "Details are sketchy, but rumors in the Hokage Tower are going around that the two of them were seen leaving the Hokage's office together the night Sasuke defected. Since she was the one who reported him the next morning, I am assuming that Sakura ran into Sasuke on her way home to pick up her things and followed him to the gate to stop him from leaving. I don't know if Sasuke knew of the marriage or not, but he chose to knock Sakura out and leave her on a bench rather than outright kill her to prevent discovery, so it's possible it was meant to be a last act of kindness to his teammates. She then begged Naruto to bring Sasuke back, not because of she still loved him, but because she wanted one of her few friends to be there in her new life."
He pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed it as the beginnings of a migraine formed. "According to the reports, Naruto had caught up with Sasuke and fought him to a standstill before suffering a mental breakdown of massive proportions. Apparently, Naruto was trying to convince Sasuke to return, but he just wound up revealing his own hopelessness and pain. In the end, Sasuke got away with a full platoon of Sound jounin after knocking Naruto unconscious."
Ino nodded and blew her nose again before saying, "Yeah, Shikamaru told me the mission had ended in failure. But there's more, isn't there? There's more to this, and Sakura's involved somehow."
The migraine got worse, but Inoichi managed to show a rueful smile. "Never could hide anything from you, Hime. Yes, there's more to this story. Yesterday morning, Naruto had been taken to the hospital with the rest of the team members to receive treatment, but he was released two hours later after being bandaged up. Sakura evidently went to look for him and found him in a park, where he began to show extreme signs of schizophrenic depression, yelling and screaming at the forming crowd."
Inochi hung his head, as he really began to feel the burden of his past actions bearing down on him, and he nearly couldn't bring himself to tell his daughter the next part. "Naruto then fled to the village center and tried to commit suicide by stabbing himself in the stomach four times, in full view of his new wife as well as the villagers present in the area."
Ino gasped in horror and clasped a hand over her mouth. It was no wonder now why Sakura hadn't been seen for the last few days! No doubt she had been holed up in her home, waiting for her husband to come back safely, only to constantly be by his side after he attempted to take his life. Oh my Kami! This is even worse than I thought! If Naruto did that in front of her, then she's probably teetering dangerously close to the edge!
Inoichi wasn't done yet, though. "I don't now exactly what happened between then and when you saw Sakura and Tsunade-dono greet the Daimyo, but somehow she found out about Naruto's true heritage as the dual head of the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans, which had been wrongfully kept secret from him by the Council. Since discovering this, she's been on a rampage, putting the Council in its place while threatening horrible things to anyone who even dares to come close to her husband now. Somehow, she even managed to get the Daimyo involved, and he was so angry by the Council's actions that it's now been disbanded – permanently."
Ino could only stare in shock, so Inoichi gently grabbed her by the shoulders and all but pleaded, "Ino, I need you to listen closely, okay? Sakura has taken a very hard stance against any girl who tries to get Naruto to take them as another wife - I believe the exact words were 'gut them like a fish at market' – so I want you to promise me that you will not approach the couple with any intentions such as those. I don't know if Sakura would try and avoid hurting her best friend too badly, but in her current state, I think she's capable of a great many things. Please, Ino. I can't lose my baby girl, so please promise me this."
As Ino nodded her head, she could only think, Sakura, what's going on? What's happening to you? And why is Dad now so terrified of what you'll do? She looked lost for a few seconds before firming her resolve. Something's up. I just know it. But, in order for me to do anything, I'm going to need to canvas the field, find out who knows what about this entire thing. Maybe even direct it a little, make sure that people don't get the wrong idea. It is Naruto after all, and people in the village just seem to hate him or anyone closely associated with him on principal for some strange reason. So, in other words, damage control. Need to try and make it seem like this might have been waiting to happen for a while. After all, if Sakura chose this, then there must be something she saw in him to do this.
After Inoichi hugged his daughter again and slipped out the door, Ino got up from the bed quickly, rushing to her personal bathroom to clean up before heading out. Don't worry, Sakura. I've got your back. We may have not been friends for a few years, but I've always watched out for you, no matter what.
And Kami help the soul who tries to prevent that.
Katsuro placed his nearly empty teacup onto the saucer, frowning sadly at this information. "Truly, it would be sad to see a newly-reborn friendship be destroyed over such things, but that is an unfortunate truth of the world. Humans want what they don't have, and if they can't get it, then they assume it better that no one does." He then smiled and stated in a happier tone, "Still, we can hope for the best and see if she'll be understanding."
Sakura nodded her head, her own countenance brightened by this possibility. "Oh yes. Even if she isn't, she'll still be of use to us. Tsunade-dono, have you made the proper leaks and suggestions to the staff?"
Tsunade was quite smug at this comment, calmly sipping her tea as if she didn't have a care in the world – or at least any cares she deemed important. "What do you take me for, Sakura-chan? Some kind of amateur? I've already had Jiraiya plant some of the information where the Tower workers could find it before we left for the Council meeting, and while we were in there, Shizune has been making sure to encourage those facts here and there. No doubt the Council tried to probe them for intel right after leaving the room, before anyone realized that they were council members no more. If our assumptions are true, which I know they are, then right now, the Council has found out everything we want them to know and will be spreading those rumors to the clans."
Sakura giggled, and Naruto seemed to pick up on what she was thinking when he grinned a little and tapped his wife's nose, making her blush. "Why, you mischievous, little vixen. You wanted Ino to find out like this. Once she gets a hold of this info, whether or not she actually likes it, she'll start using her legendary gossiping skills and begin spreading the rumors to the rest of the girls, who will then tell it to their parents and other friends. Whether or not Ino embellishes the info, the seeds will still have been planted enough to make people want to see if it's true. Then all Tsunade-baa-chan has to do is simply say so, and if the Hokage makes an official decree that it's true, then civilian and ninja alike will have to believe it."
Katsuro, who had been taking a drink while Naruto explained, snorted, nearly causing tea to shoot out of his nose, and laughed after he cleared his airpipes. "My Kami, girl. Watching you do this is almost terrifying to me. With a little training, you could be doing circles around my entire court without them realizing it, possibly even myself as well."
Sakura's blush deepened at the high praise, but she managed to stutter out, "T-Thank you, my lord."
Tsunade waved a chiding finger at the man, grinning still. "Hey, that's not fair, my lord. I need her here to help me make the lives of the remaining villagers a living hell. After all, the Council may have paid some of its dues for disregarding the laws, but no one's debts are going to be paid in full until I say so." She then began to cackle madly, thinking of all the things to do and say to anyone who tried to get into Naruto's good graces through her. Strangely enough, more than one instance all involved a sea bass, a banjo, three gallons of barbecue sauce, and dental floss.
For the sake of the reader, it's probably best to never mention how these items could be used together, and just move on.
Naruto's eyes cracked open towards the woman, and he raised an eyebrow before turning his gaze back to his wife. "I think Baa-chan's lost it now. The strain of the job was too much for her poor mind."
"Hey, brat! Watch your mouth!"
Sakura giggled again and gently placed her index finger on his lips. "Hush, you. Let Tsunade-dono have her fun with the poor wretches. It might actually be a better alternative to her compulsive gambling."
Naruto grinned again. "And her drinking?"
"Lost cause there, dear."
Tsunade pouted and looked away, resting her chin on her fist and grumbling, "Everybody's a critic."
Everybody laughed at the woman's behavior, and Naruto raised a hand to stroke his wife's cheek and say in a more serious tone, "You do realize we need to run by your parents' house and pick up anything you need, right?"
Sakura's eyes widened at this, and she leaned back and groaned. "Great. Like that won't turn out to be a disaster. Dad's one of those people who never approved of you just based on principal, and Mom would probably fall into a dead faint when she finds out her only child's been married for the last few days without her knowing."
Jiraiya, having managed to extract himself from the wall during this whole ordeal, frowned before nodding his head. "Well, it's nearly lunchtime, so here's what we can do. If Sakura could take us there, Naruto and I can quickly seal everything away she needs within a matter of minutes. Hopefully, that will prevent us from having to stay too long. Might even be a bonus if no one's there when we arrive. After that, we'll get some take-out and bring it here to eat."
Sakura thought carefully before nodding her head. "If we leave now, we'll miss my parents. Dad left a couple days ago on a business trip, but he'll be home by two this afternoon at the earliest. Mom, on the other hand, will probably be in the park since she doesn't want to be alone in an empty house all the time."
The three of them walked at a brisk pace through the village, not stopping to look at anyone even though everyone was certainly looking at them with shocked curiosity. Not only were two children being accompanied by Jiraiya the legendary Toad Sannin, the children themselves looked like some kind of nobility. If one looked closer, they would have been even more shocked to realize that these two were Kyuubi jinchuuriki and his pink-haired teammate. Sakura actually looked like a woman of the Daimyo's court, her kimono setting off everything beautiful about her in a radiance that was almost blinding, while Naruto's blank expression could be passed for boredom, as if he honestly expected to be walking through the village in an expensive outfit while ignoring the stares of the common folk. Many people were hoping that he would suddenly turn to them all and start laughing about how it was all a prank, mainly because a lot of those same people had seen him try to commit suicide yesterday and were now unnerved by the look of apathy splayed across his features.
Sakura glanced at a few people out of the corner of her eyes, taking in their expressions, and she couldn't help but feel a little smug. But when she turned her gaze to her husband, she also felt worried. Naruto's eyes may have seemed blank, but she noticed an anger buried deep under the blandness. The people's reactions must have been bringing back some unpleasant memories for him, and she hoped he could last until they got to Ichiraku's.
She shifted closer to him and gently took his hand into hers. He glanced at her and saw her worried expression, and his eyes became warmer as he said under his breath, "It's alright, Sakura. I'm fine for now. I just want to get this over with so I don't have to see them staring."
Liar, she thought. You want to scream and rage at them. Not one person looks sad at your actions yesterday, and you're furious. However, she just nodded her head and smiled in return. Soon, they stood before her old home, and she tentatively opened the door and softly called out for her parents. When no answer came back, she smiled and turned back to the men. "No one's home right now, so let's hurry. I'd rather avoid a confrontation with them for now."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. "You do realize they're going to find out the truth sooner or later, right?"
Sakura rolled her eyes and walked down the doorstep, getting behind her husband before pushing him towards the door. "I know, but I want to get my stuff without them raising a stink about me leaving. Dad's actually narrow-minded enough that he might try to destroy my things before I leave."
Naruto relented and allowed his wife to guide him into her former home. After he passed the threshold, he glanced around. It was fairly standard, the living room decorated with white carpet and furniture while the walls were sky-blue – very calming colors meant to draw a person into a deeper state of relaxation. A few pictures hung on the walls, mostly containing family members, though one or two looked to be landscapes. It was only a hunch, but Naruto had the feeling that Sakura's father probably prided himself on being perfectly 'normal', though his reasons for such were totally unknown to anyone except himself.
Not that 'normal' was exactly a concept that could possibly exist, as everyone's definition of the word varied from person to person and was always subject to change. And if normal wasn't something that was either universally accepted or set, then it couldn't follow it's own definition, henceforth making 'normal' into 'abnormal.' Actually, the only thing 'normal' in the universe was abnormality, as something being different from another was universal in the grand scheme of things, and trying to make everything fit into a certain mold was not only impractical in the long run, it was impossible. In fact-
Naruto shook his head slightly and followed his wife up the stairs. When did he become a philosopher? Maybe he was hungry...
Sakura led them down the hall, and she slowly opened the door to her room and glanced at everything, mentally assessing what was valuable to her and what could be left behind. It seemed to be for nothing, though, as Jiraiya caught the look in the girl's eyes and smirked as he pulled out a scroll with storage seals. "Don't worry about leaving anything behind, Sakura. I've already prepared some sealing scrolls for such a thing, so just neatly pile what you want sealed into place. I'll handle the rest from there."
Sakura nodded and quickly emptied out her drawers of all her clothing, placing it all onto one seal, before moving to her rather impressive oaken bookcase. Quickly glancing through the titles, she just decided to just take the entire bookcase itself. It was technically hers after all, a gift her parents had bought for her on her tenth birthday, and she loved its look and familiarity. It was just something that was distinctly her.
After Jiraiya sealed up that last of her possessions, she gave one last look over the almost barren room before nodding. "Okay, that's everything. We should-"
They heard a door open and close, and Sakura's eyes widened as she heard her mother's excited chatter drift up from downstairs. "Oh, it's wonderful you could come home early, dear! I'm sure Sakura's been missing you these last few days. Oh! Speaking of which- Sakura! Are you home? Your father- Huh? Whose shoes are these?"
Her breath hitched in her throat as she thought, Oh, please no! Kami, why did they have to come home early? Maybe we could all sneak- But she then felt her resolve firm up and took a couple deep breaths. No, Naruto was right before. I'll have to face them sometime. Might as well get it over with.
Summoning the rest of her courage, she called back, "Give me a minute, Mom! We'll be down in a sec!"
Turning to Jiraiya, she noticed he had put the scroll into his pocket, where no one would notice it, and she nodded in approval before turning to Naruto. "You don't have to face them with me if you don't want to. I'm sure Jiraiya-san can make a clone to shunshin you-"
Naruto stopped her with a shake of his head. "No. Best they find out everything now. It's not like they can do anything at this point."
Sakura nodded her head, and she almost timidly headed towards the stairs, Jiraiya right behind her with Naruto following him.
When she got to the bottom of the stairs, her parents were already seated in the living room. Her father, Takeo, was a tall, imperious-looking man with short brown hair and vivid green eyes, while her mother, Sayuri, had pink hair framing her beautiful face and blue eyes that were showing some confusion. Her mother's reaction was expected, as Sakura knew Sayuri had the tendency to become overly-emotional regarding certain things, but Sakura almost shied back at her father's calculating look, as if he was assessing something about her. It was probably the expensive kimono she was currently wearing, but Sakura somehow knew it was deeper than that.
It was almost like he was currently deciding just how useful she would be to him.
Sakura repressed a shudder and put on a smile. "Father, how...unexpected of you to be home so early. I honestly thought you wouldn't be back until tomorrow."
The man returned his daughter's smile with a small one of his own, replying, "Well, it's just that-" He then seemed to notice Jiraiya standing behind his daughter, and his eyes widened a little bit. "J-Jiraiya-sama! It is an honor for one such as yourself to be in my house, but may I ask why you are here?"
Jiraiya's gaze was cool and uninviting, and he said, "Me? I'm just here to keep the peace and make sure something...untoward doesn't happen to the children."
Sayuri cocked her head to the side. "Children? Who else is here with Sakura?"
It was then that Jiraiya stepped to one side and revealed Naruto standing right behind his frame. At first, neither adult seemed to recognize who he was until they saw the whisker marks on his cheeks, causing Sayuri to pale slightly and Takeo to turn red with anger.
He shot to his feet and pointed a finger at the boy. "YOU! You damn demon, how dare you sully my home with your presence?!"
Naruto snorted in response and shook his head. "Believe me, Haruno-san, I wouldn't have ever stepped foot inside your twisted little version of reality if Sakura-chan hadn't requested it of me. Quite honestly, your obsessive need to be viewed as normal scares me, and I would recommend that you seek mental help from the Yamanaka clan before something rather...unfortunate happens."
Takeo picked up a nearby picture frame and threw it at the boy's head, who nonchalantly caught the frame without flinching, and he pointed to the door, screaming, "Out! OUT, Demon child! Never darken my doorway ever again! And if you ever do, I'll make sure you regret it!" He then whirled upon Sakura. "And you! YOU are going to tell just why you invited this...this...thing into my home, and then-"
In a flash, Naruto was now in front of Sakura, pushing her behind him protectively while his eyes turned to red slits and Kyuubi's power crackled at his fingertips. "Don't you ever dare raise your voice to her, you common pig! Come near Sakura-chan at all, and I swear your body will become unrecognizable in every sense of the word!"
Takeo then smugly smiled and crossed his arms, turning his nose up at the boy. "Ha! As if you could legally get away with it! Once I set the Council after you-"
The picture frame slammed into the side of his face, sending the middle-aged man sprawling onto the floor, and Naruto was on him literally in a flash, his foot on the man's head. Naruto's feral smile was enhanced greatly by the darkened whiskers and crimson eyes, and a dark chuckle escaped his lips. "The former Council cannot do a damn thing, as they no longer exist as a recognized body of Konoha. Even if they still did, they couldn't do anything anyway, because you just threatened the wellbeing of a clan head's wife – my wife!"
Both adults froze at those words, and Sakura sighed a little at her husband's forward nature. Well, they were going to find out. Now comes the painful part.
Sayuri kept glancing between the boy who was know her son-in-law and her only daughter, clearly confused and shocked beyond belief. She pointed to Sakura and said, "B-But...wait! You mean to tell me that you've been gone for three days because-"
Sakura flipped her bangs a little and crossed her arms across her chest. "Yes, Mother. Naruto-kun proposed to me before he left on his mission, and we finalized the paperwork the night the Uchiha left. As of now, I am legally – and willingly – Naruto-kun's wife."
Takeo growled from the floor and managed to level a glare at her. "Like HELL you are! We are going down to the Tower to reverse this travesty, and then-"
Whatever else he was going to spout was cut off by his cry of pain when Naruto pressed harder with his foot. The grin was gone, but that didn't mean Kyuubi's chakra had receded. Malice and rage still filled the boy's voice as he growled, "I currently have the power and ability to smash your head like a grape all over your nice white carpet. Do you really think it is smart to piss off the person who currently has you by the balls?"
Takeo paled a little, as his small mind finally comprehended the situation he was in, and Sakura decided to step in before her idiot father got himself killed. "As I am a ninja of Konoha, I am considered a legal adult according to village law. That means I can marry who ever I damn well please, and nothing you say or do can reverse that. You may be my parents, but you are no longer the rulers of my destiny." She glanced at Naruto and waved him off. "You might as well get off him, Koi. He's not ever going to change his mind about this."
Naruto growled in his throat but did as his wife asked, flashing to her side with his arms crossed. Takeo sat up and began popping his neck back into place before glaring at his daughter again. "You idiot girl. Do you have any idea of what you've done to this family through your actions? To me?" At his daughter's uncaring expression, he snarled and slammed his fist into the carpet, though all that did was make him look like a petulant child who had been denied something. "My last trip didn't consist of just my regular business deals. I have been meeting with a man who was willing to become a partner and help me expand my connections, but there was a price to this. His son is around your age, and he had happened to see my picture of you one day and fell in love with you. When I left two days ago, it was because I needed to finalize the details of your marriage. So-"
Sakura's eyes had been widening with pure fury, unbeknown to the clueless man before her, and by this point, she snapped. In a flash similar to Naruto's, she had appeared before the man and punched him square in the face. The force actually knocked a few teeth out and sent the man flying into the wall, cracking it. But Sakura wasn't done. She then grabbed him by his shirt and, with a roar, threw him out the living room window and into the street before nimbly jumping out of it like a tiger, not even tearing her kimono in the slightest.
She walked up to the man groaning on the ground, and she grabbed him by the shirt again with one hand and raised him to her eye-level, her free hand clenching and unclenching into a tight fist. "You BASTARD! How dare you act as if you control me? As if you are the god of my existence? You dare try to make me marry some boy I don't even know and actually expect me to be happy about it? I'LL KILL YOU!"
Her fist raised, ready to strike, but she felt a hand gently enclose her wrist, holding it in place. She turned her gaze to the hand and followed the arm to see the sad face of her mother. Sayuri gently shook her head and said, "Please, Sakura. You've already proven your point, and you're right, your father can't do anything to you about this. Please. Put your hand down."
Seeing her mother's eyes fill with pain and regret, Sakura slowly nodded and lowered her hand while dropping her father into a heap on the ground.
Then the man made the mistake of opening his mouth and saying, "Y-You're too l-l-late. P-Paperw-w-work has already been filed, and you're n-now the w-w-wife of Genji Fukuyama. He'll b-be here tomorrow to c-collect you."
Sakura froze for a second before a sneer appeared on her lips, and she grabbed him by the front of his shirt. She then held up three fingers to his face. "Three things. One, since we already established that I'm a legal adult citizen of this country, you would need my signature on the contract to make it legal – which I wouldn't give even if a knife were held to my neck. Two, if this little piss-ant even lays a single finger on me, I'll disembowel him and make him eat his own intestines, and I'll make sure he does it with a smile on his face. Finally, three..."
The sneer turned into a malicious grin, and she shook the man a little to agitate his current wounds. "Since the paperwork for my marriage to Naruto-kun was filed and recorded three days ago, before you even met your business partner, then what you've just done isn't even legal. So..."
She swung around and threw him back through the hole, screaming, "HAVE FUN BEING SOMEONE'S ASS-PUPPET IN JAIL, YOU BASTARD!"
She heard his body colliding with some of the furniture and smiled smugly when his groans came from across the house. Hopefully, his body smashed through a few walls as well. Too bad that with his spine possibly broken, he won't feel any of his late-night lovers enter him. Still, at least the knowledge of him being violated will be enough to keep him awake for years to come. She giggled evilly at the thought of him waking up in the middle of the night in a padded room screaming, "Please, sir, let me have another!"
Now, if any of the readers are currently fearful of Mrs. Namikaze-Uzumaki's behavior, let it be known that even the author is now terrified of pissing this girl off, but that is neither here nor there as this isn't one of those types of stories where the fourth wall is broken. So, moving on...
Sakura then remembered her mother standing there, and she turned to the woman with a defiant look in her eyes. "Mother, I-"
Sayuri placed a gentle hand on her daughter's lips and smiled. "Dearest child of mine, you don't have to say a thing. If this is what will finally allow you to find happiness, then I approve." At Sakura's confused expression, she giggled and shook her head. "Oh Sakura, you may have even fooled yourself, but you can never hide anything from a mother's eyes. I have known all along that you've been hurting over that nasty little Uchiha boy, but I also felt that it was up to you to discover it. I personally don't care who you choose to marry or when you choose to do it. All that matters to me is that you are happy."
Sakura's eyes began to get a little misty, and she soon found herself enshrouded in her mother's warm arms. She returned the hug firmly, standing there for a few seconds so that she could revel in her mother's love.
Sayuri looked up to see Naruto exit the threshold of the house and approach them silently, the stoic expression still on his face, though his eyes were a little warmer. She smiled at him and said in a low voice, "You'll protect her for me now, won't you?"
Naruto nodded his head, his voice level as he replied, "Yes. I promise."
This answer got him a hug from his new mother-in-law, and, though he was unsure how to react at first, he nevertheless found his arms slowly encircling her thin frame and holding her close. They stood like this for around a half-minute, before Sayuri gave him one final squeeze and pulled away. She then turned back to Sakura and reached behind her neck to unclasp the necklace she was wearing before holding it out to her daughter. "Here. Take it."
The jewelry in question was simple yet elegant, which certainly fit Sakura's grandmother's tastes when she first owned it. It was just a simple pure-gold link chain, and on the end of it was a large-ended flawless diamond that thinned out near the gold holding-piece. While it may have looked simple, it had been her grandmother's pride and joy when she was alive, as she had always claimed that beauty didn't need to be overdone and proved those words whenever she stepped out of the house. Her mother up until this point had refused to ever let it out of her sight, but Sakura had always dreamed of one day being able to wear it.
Sakura stared at the piece and then at her mother, her hands shakily reaching to take it. Sayuri smiled a little more and motioned for Sakura to turn around. "Let me put it on you. I want to see how it looks."
Sakura did so, lifting her hair a little to give her mother a better view, and Sayuri snapped the piece into place and gently spun her around. She tapped her finger onto her chin a little before reaching down and loosening the top of the kimono a small bit, contrasting the jewel with Sakura's lightly tanned skin.
Satisfied, Sayuri patted down her daughter's bangs out of her face and put her hands on her hips, satisfied with her work. She gazed at her pride and joy, her body filling with pride towards the young woman standing before her. And to think, she once tried to make her daughter turn away from this path. Good thing Sakura could be as stubborn as a mule at times, or else right now she would be betrothed to a boy who was probably a pampered little merchant prince.
Tears began to form in the corners of Sayuri's eyes, and she leaned down to kiss Sakura on the forehead. When she straightened again, she smiled sadly and gestured down the street. "You'd both best go. If I don't let you go now, I'll probably never bring myself to later."
Sakura's eyes teared up as well as she nodded and turned to Naruto. "Koi...let's go. Tsunade-dono and Katsuro-sama are still waiting for us."
Naruto nodded in return, and Jiraiya placed his hands on both of them before the three vanished.
Sayuri took one last look at where her growing daughter had stood, and a small tear trailed it's way down her smiling cheek. "Take care, my dearest, for your journey has only begun, and it's a long road ahead of you..."
With that, she then turned and went to wait in the house for the awaited ANBU to arrest her husband.
Still, they'll be alright. I can feel it. A small smile crept onto Sayuri's lips, and she closed the door behind her.
Sakura and Naruto appeared in Tsunade's office once more, and the two occupants looked up from where they were conversing. Sakura seemed oddly subdued, all her attention on the necklace that was currently on her neck, and Naruto seemed like he was torn between a faint happiness and rage at the one who would threaten his mate. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at Jiraiya, but the Toad Sannin just shook his head, saying silently, Not now.
Katsuro was also looking at the children with interest, and he noticed the tension that floated over them. Coming to a decision, he turned back to Tsunade. "Tsunade, there seems to be a lack of space for us to eat here. How about we both go secure one of the meeting rooms while Jiraiya finishes bringing us our food? I'm sure the children are tired right now, so they can stay here in your office to catch their breath real quick before we send for them for lunch."
Realizing what the man was implying, Tsunade nodded in agreement and rose from her desk. "There should be a room right down the hall with plenty of space. Naruto, Sakura, you both do look a little tired, so stay here and rest a bit. We'll come and get you when the food's arrived."
The two barely nodded, and the adults left the room. Naruto sat down next to Sakura, his mind still on the confrontation that happened not even three minutes ago. How dare that bastard just use her like that?! He prides himself on being normal, but the last I checked, selling your daughter for better business connections is anything but that! I swear, if he doesn't get what's coming to him-
Kit, how about you shut up and actually focus on the present for once! If you haven't noticed, your mate isn't looking her brightest right now! Now, shut up and fix it!
Naruto snapped out of his reverie and finally took a notice at his wife. While she did look composed and regal, Sakura's shoulders had a small dejected slump to them, and her eyes seemed so far away right now. Naruto was confused, as he didn't expect her to have taken things this hard. If anything, she would be happy that she was no longer under that oppressive man's rule and that her mother was now safe. And why was she staring so closely at that pendant?
Gently encircling her with an arm, he said in a kind voice, "Hey, Sakura-chan, what's wrong? What's currently floating around in that wonderful mind of yours?"
Sakura jumped slightly, but she managed to plaster on a fake smile and cheerfully say, "Nothing, Koi! Nothing's wrong!"
Naruto raised an eyebrow at her expression, which then wilted away as she muttered, "It's not fooling anyone, is it?"
The eyebrow tilted a little more, as if to say, You really thought it would?
Sakura sighed and turned her gaze back to her pendant. "It...it's just that everything's really been crashing into me today. My doubts about my feelings, trying to let go of Sasuke, and now this – it all just feels like I'm caught in a whirlpool, threatening to drown me as I struggle to grab onto something to stop my sinking. Even worse, I just know that there's more about to happen, and it's starting to suffocate me a little. I just want some peace and quiet for once. No Councils or parents or villagers – just absolute silence with enough time for me to rest."
Naruto leaned his head onto hers, his gaze traveling onto the pendant as well. "Why stare at it so much? What's so important about that necklace that it's bothering you greatly?"
Sakura smiled a little, though it was twinged with sadness. "When I was little, I always loved this necklace. It was one of the last few links that I had to my grandmother. I had always wanted to wear it one day and show it off to Ino and the others, to prove that sometimes it's the simple things that can be the most beautiful – like me."
Sakura shook her head and laughed a little. "Of course, my mother never let me. She was always afraid that I would one day lose it at the playground or get it stolen by some bully, and she always forbade me from ever removing it from the house. I would always try and plead or cry or cajole her into letting me wear it for once, and I guess one day, she just couldn't take it any more and made a deal with me. She told me that the day I became a woman, a person who had responsibility and caring for others, she would judge me worthy to give me this necklace and entrust me with my grandmother's legacy."
A few small tears came down the girl's cheeks, though the smile never left. "I guess it's just hit me that she also meant when she gave me this necklace, it was also time for her to say goodbye to the little girl she loved so much and let me out from under her wing."
She choked back a sob and clutched a hand to her mouth as more tears came down in a small river. Naruto suddenly found himself at a loss for what to do. He had never had parents, so he couldn't really relate that well to what Sakura was feeling. But then, he did understand pain and loss, so he had kind of an idea of where she was coming from. He thought about what he was going to say for a little bit, before a sudden insight gave him the words.
He lightly smacked her on the back of her head and leaned back into the couch with his arms crossed behind his own head. "Ahh, stop acting so silly, Sakura-chan. You know, for the smartest girl of our generation, you really do have some odd ideas."
She turned and frowned at his words, a little hurt that he was acting kind of callous to her feelings, but he just kept on. "I mean, okay, yeah sure, it's kind of a big deal with the necklace, because it means that your mom acknowledges you as a woman, as an equal. But I think that all this talk of saying goodbye and whatnot is just stupid. I mean, come on. When have you ever stopped being that little girl? You're still you, and that's never going to change. Sure, you're married now, and that is a step into womanhood, but I don't think that you're ever going to stop being that little girl that she loves so much. It just means that she also acknowledges to you that your choices are completely your own now, and that she will still be there for you whenever you need her most."
As realization dawned on her, Naruto smirked and raised his finger as he drove it home. "I don't think that necklace is 'goodbye' like you say, my wife. It's a reminder to you that someone who loves you is standing behind you all the way, and she doesn't want you to forget her."
The tears kept pouring, but now Sakura's smile had grown larger, the happiness now filling her making her launch at her husband. As they both landed on the couch seats, kissing passionately, Naruto heard faintly in his mind, Nice, Kit. I never pictured you as the romantic-philosopher type, but it seems to fit you well.
It was after a couple minutes of this make-out session, and Sakura had sat up, did the two of them realize that the girl was now straddling her prone husband's lap, making her very aware of...certain things.
Oh Kami, is that what I think it is? I'm feeling it right now, but I almost can't believe it! I mean...the size of it...it's...I just...Kami, it's enormous! And this is when he's twelve?! Oh Kami, thank you for helping me find this wonderful man!
She turned tomato-red at her thoughts, but the playful smile on her face never left – and neither did Naruto's. They just stared into each other's eyes, carefully assessing what the other was thinking and no doubt trying to see who could embarrass who first.
Naruto just crossed his arms behind his head again and gave a small thrust with his hips, causing the girl to yelp with surprise at the seemingly-involuntary movement. But then she smiled again and groaned lightly while lightly tracing back and forth with her hips, making the boy blush a little deeper as certain...aspects of her anatomy teased his.
It was at this moment that they heard the door open, and the two looked over to see Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi, and even Katsuro staring at them with wide-eyed, open-mouthed shock. The two groups stared at each other for a few seconds, the adults trying to comprehend what they saw while the children tried to think of something to say.
Suddenly, the two newly-weds smirked, and Sakura turned her head back to the adults and said in a sultry voice, "Well? Do you want in on this or not?"
Tsunade turned beat-red and slammed the door closed, screaming from the other side, "PLEASE EXCUSE US!"
Naruto and Sakura looked back at each other and burst out laughing when it became too hard to hold it in, Sakura collapsing onto her husband's chest while he hugged her. They continued laughing for a little bit until they ran out of breath, and they laid there, letting out small giggles every now and again. Finally, Sakura swung her legs around and walked over to the window, using the reflection in it to check her make-up. "You know, you'd honestly think that with all the crying I've been doing today, my make-up would be a lot more runny, but it honestly looks like it just needs a small touch-up. Wherever Tsunade-dono got this stuff, it certainly does it's job well."
Naruto chuckled and sat up, popping his neck out a little as he leaned into the back-rest. "Please, as if the people are going to question seeing your make-up a little messed up. After all, it's been a big day for all of us here, and most of it's been emotionally taxing overall."
Finding a compact in Tsunade's drawer, she opened it while waving a chiding finger in Naruto's general direction. "Ah, ah, ah, dear. We must still present a strong face for the public, or else they are going to walk all over us. If they see my face like this, then they will see a weakness to exploit, thinking maybe I was forced into this or you are abusive to me or some other garbage. No, best they never see us falter."
Naruto smirked and stealthily walked up behind her, gently wrapping his arms around her slim waist and resting his head in the crook of her neck against her own. "They would think that, wouldn't they? Of course, we could use that to our advantage, you running off to some of the other women for a sympathetic ear about how I'm so unresponsive to your attempts to make me happy, but I think in the end that would probably create more problems than it's worth."
Giggling slightly, Sakura reach up and tapped his forehead while still checking the compact. "I always knew you had an analytical mind. You just needed to put it to better use than pranking the villagers."
Chuckling, he whispered into her ear, "Ah, but isn't this the grandest prank of all? Having the entire village discover the pariah they hated so is actually the son of their greatest hero? That they can't even get into his good graces by giving him a multitude of their beautiful daughters as his wives because he chose to get married to a single strong, gorgeous young woman? A woman who refuses to be pushed to the side by some ignorant, uppity villagers? A young beauty whose fiery nature against her enemies makes me want to do dirty yet pleasurable things to her?"
Sakura blushed deeply at the heaping praise, and she groaned a little as Naruto's hands rubbed her stomach slightly. The grin never left her face, though. "Keep that up, husband, and we may soon be doing what Tsunade already thinks we're doing."
Naruto growled playfully and quickly bent her backwards until she was looking up at him on her back on the Hokage's desk. He leaned down to her ear and whispered, "I wouldn't mind."
She giggled before he captured her lips with his again, and she writhed a little as his hands began to rub her sides, running up and down her young body. Deciding to take it up a notch, Sakura then lifted up one of her legs and gently rubbed Naruto's own with it, showing quite a bit of creamy, soft skin and making the young man growl with lust.
Maybe Kami had decided to screw with her, because Tsunade chose this moment to open the door again and begin to say, "Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan, lunch has arri-"
Again, the adults were now staring into the room with shock, and while she didn't show it, Sakura was beginning to get a little irritated. Oh come on! If we're not supposed to have sex, then why the hell are we always left alone?! I may have been able to resist all the earlier times, but I've got limits!
CHAAA! DAMNIT, KAMI! I WANT MY NARU-KUN TO PLOW ME LIKE A FARMER AT HARVEST! STOP MESSING WITH US!
Blushing slightly at her inner persona's perverted desires, she nevertheless found herself agreeing with her and gave an light upside-down glare at the intruders.
Naruto, on the other hand, just looked at them blankly for a few seconds before grinning and saying in a husky voice, "Seriously, either get in on this or get out. Just make up your damn minds so that I can send my wife into a pleasure-induced coma."
Sakura stared back at her husband, and a wide-eyed, ever-widening smile plastered onto her face. Tsunade, in the meantime, blushed tomato-red from head to toe and screamed as she slammed the door again, "L-LUNCH IS READY!"
The two looked at each other and began laughing once more.
It was a rather subdued group who sat down to eat, the adults still in shock at the children's continued messing with their minds. Poor Tsunade was trying to figure out if she wanted to ascertain if her desk needed to be replaced or to just burn it right away and scatter the ashes before drinking herself into a stupor, while Katsuro, slightly embarrassed that he'd intruded on such a private moment, was nevertheless amused that his trip had become so entertaining. Jiraiya, of course, had to restrain himself from writing in his notebook while actually crying to Kami, "So much potential for my research, and I can't even use it! Why, Kami?! Why must there be lines that even I won't cross?!" Oddly enough (or maybe not), Kakashi and Shizune had disappeared halfway to the room, off to who knows where.
Naruto and Sakura just had satisfied smirks on their faces as they dished up and commenced eating. Dirty perverts. What did they think was going to happen? The two glanced at each other and had to stifle their laughter again.
Finally, Tsunade sighed and glared at the two. "I hope you're happy with yourselves. Until today, my daily shocks usually consisted of finding out whether or not I still had sake in my desk and just how much paperwork I had to deal with. Now, I have to worry if I'm going to find you two doing it on my desk every time I open the door."
Neither looked at the woman, but Naruto's smirk widened slightly before saying, "What? It's just dirty, sweaty animal sex. It's nothing you haven't known about in your years of being a medic. Besides, someone has to christen that desk."
(Kakashi and Shizune, having just shunshined into the room as he said this, looked at each other for a second before Kakashi took Shizune's arm and shunshined out again. This went unnoticed by everybody there.)
Tsunade just pushed her plate away and banged her head on the table. "That's it. You've now killed my appetite for the rest of my life." Katsuro just laughed, while Jiraiya assumed a fetal position.
After they lapsed into silence again, there was nothing except for the sounds of eating, everybody perfectly content with the peace and quiet after everything happening today. Tsunade having re-found her appetite and starting to eat again, looked up from her plate and said, "So where do we go from here, you two?"
Naruto laid his chopsticks on the side of his plate and leaned back into his chair, his right hand stroking his chin in thought. "Did my parent's own any property? I've heard strange rumors of the Namikaze compound going missing the night of Kyuubi's attack, but I never bothered to find out if there was any truth to that."
Jiraiya, regaining his sanity as his hunger overwhelmed his perverted instincts, chuckled at this. "Actually, this is one time where the crazy rumors are somewhat true. Minato didn't want any scavengers, well-wishers, or other irritating aspects of the populace trying to find where your parents lived when they was alive, so he managed to create this rather complex seal array with Kushina's help that created a sort of pocket dimension that hid all the lands that the compound was supposed to be located on, creating several doorways around Konoha that lead to it that only open for someone whose blood is keyed in. Even then, you have know where the entrances are and what to look for in order to gain entry, though once you do, you'll always see it whenever you near the area. Like I said, really complex stuff. I don't think even the two of them could have recreated it without going back step by step, and Minato was a seals master higher than myself."
Sakura looked thoughtful as she glanced up from her food to the pervert. "Does that mean you have been able to get into the house since ten years ago?"
Jiraiya laughed this time. "That's actually the best part! Minato was most afraid that someone he trusted would try and steal from his future family as much as anybody actually finding it. He once confided in me that he altered the seals in such a ways that if both he and Kushina died, then the seals would wipe out all the blood keyed in except for their own and block anyone from finding their way in. The only way to get in now would be for someone who possesses their blood to open the doorway and realign the blood seals to their own genetic make-up. I know where several of the doorways are, but I can't see them anymore, which means my own blood has been purged from the array as well."
Sakura stared at the man with wide eyes, and Naruto didn't seem far away from that either. She tilted her head and said in a small voice, "A-And all of these prodigious sealing abilities are supposedly within Naruto's Uzumaki blood and not just years of training?"
Jiraiya turned back to his food, nonchalantly shrugging. "Yeah, as far as I know. Minato was a prodigy in his own right, but I don't know if that would be inherited or just a personal quirk."
Sakura just turned her head away and stared ahead. Forget shinobi elites! If half of this is to be believed, then our children are going to be shinobi gods! A small grin made its way onto her face, and she internally squealed. I'm just lucky I'm the one to fall truthfully in love with him first! If Naruto had ever been a pampered little prince like Sasuke was, I never would have gotten this chance! Hell, I doubt we ever would have met, let alone me becoming one of his teammates! OH, THANK YOU, GREAT KAMI-DONO!
Sakura happily returned to her food, while Tsunade leaned back into her own chair and looked at the ceiling for a few minutes, gathering what thoughts she could, before being interrupted by Shizune shunshining into the room and rushing over to her. "Tsunade-dono, we might have a problem!"
"Shizune! Where have you been? You missed lunch," Tsunade said, surprised she hadn't noticed her apprentice's absence.
Shizune shook her head and motioned towards the door. "No time for that! ANBU has sighted a large crowd beginning to form outside the Tower, and while they haven't turned violent or even angry, they wish for you to make a proclamation-"
"Regarding Naruto's status and marriage, no doubt," Tsunade sighed. She rubbed her forehead and turned to the two genin. "Hope you're both ready for this, because I doubt this will end well."
Naruto just nodded his head, his blank facial expression covering a small amount of fury, while Sakura's entire stance took a cold, dignified look as she stiffly replied, "Of course, Tsunade-dono. Let's find out what the ignorant masses feel about this."
It was a confused crowd that had assembled outside the Tower that afternoon. Some were wondering if whether or not the civilian side of the Council had actually been released for the day, as only the shinobi side had left the building earlier. Others had been hearing rumors regarding the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and his team, some claiming that the boy had been ensconced into a mental asylum after leaving the psych ward of the hospital while others thought that he was being held in the Tower for attempting to kill both of his teammates. There was even a rumor going around that Naruto Uzumaki was actually the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki and had married his teammate, Sakura Haruno, three or four days ago. Some whispered that it couldn't be true, but others whispered back that the Council had been caught doing some dirty dealing regarding clan matters, namely Naruto's, and the Fire Daimyo had found out. Whatever the case may have been, the people felt that they needed the Hokage to answer these questions once and for all.
Ino felt rather proud of herself as she stood amongst the crowd with her parents. She had managed to direct the flow of information pretty well, she thought, finding some girls in the crowded streets where others could hear while privately pulling a few off to the side and expressing concerns about Sasuke's mental stability and whether or not the Council was telling the whole truth regarding the Uchiha clan. She didn't even know where that last part had come up, but she considered anything that would discredit the bastard Uchiha within the village to be a bonus. She even spun it as if Sasuke had been taking advantage of Sakura's love and abusing her, driving her to run to the comfort of Naruto's arms, who protected her from Sasuke physically harming or, even worse, actually raping the poor girl.
Hah! Serves you right for taking advantage of our kindness, traitor! To actually think that so many of us had a crush on you! Now, if you ever manage to come back without being executed, then good luck finding a girl who's willing to even become your wife!
She had to refrain from cackling out loud, as the person she wanted to hear it wasn't even present, and besides, the last thing she needed to do was begin to worry her family any more. Kami only knows her father would drag her in for a psych eval if he suspected her losing it in the slightest - and that would just get awkward, having your own dad trying to decide if you're sane or not. Nevertheless, she looked around the area real quick. As expected, several of the girls she met had been huddled into small groups passing the word on, and the adults around them glanced in their direction while subtly getting closer to listen.
Ino had to suppress a smirk at the sight and flipped her hair out of her face as she looked back towards the Tower. You know, I amaze even myself. Maybe I can ask Daddy later about some sort of branch at T&I where they do information control. Kami only knows I'd become one of the best at it.
Suddenly, the villagers hushed as the Hokage stepped out onto the balcony.
Tsunade gazed down imperiously at the crowd before her, still garbed in her full Hokage regalia. It really shouldn't have surprised her that these people would need her to hold their hands and explain something to them like a bunch of five year-olds what should have been known years before. If this was the attitude that this village had regarding things, then maybe Orochimaru would have been doing her grandfather's memory a favor. Hashirama would be rolling in his grave if he ever saw what his dream had degenerated to. He probably already was.
She kept them in silence for a little while, relishing their discomfort when they fidgeted in nervousness. In fact, her analogy of five year-olds was pretty spot-on, as many looked like they had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Of course, they were just expecting a small scolding and a warning to not do that again, and that the last Senju would then smile and mother on them like a supposedly good parent.
Too bad Tsunade wasn't feeling all that motherly right now, and the scolding they were expecting was more like a swift kick in the crotch.
Finally, the woman spoke, "Yes. I am aware of what your questions are, about whether or not the rumors are true. About whether or not the Yondaime Hokage actually left behind an heir and why no one was ever told. To be honest, I fail to see why any of that is your damn business. Haven't you monsters done enough? Yes, I said monsters, and I am perfectly justified in saying so. You are all monsters just as much as the Kyuubi is."
The crowd was shocked into silence, but Tsunade just plowed on, her countenance darkening with every word. "Actually, I'm wrong. You're all worse than monsters. You all received some sort of satisfaction in seeing a downtrodden boy struggle to survive in a place that hated him, and it always filled you with glee whenever you had the chance to add to his burden. Was this what my family had sacrificed for? What my sensei had sacrificed for? What two of my closest friends had sacrificed for? How many more people will you demand these sacrifices from? Hmph. Maybe it should have been your own souls that Shinigami took as payment instead of theirs. At least then, I would sleep better at night knowing that you are receiving justice for your crimes."
She raised her hands, her voice taking on a powerful edge as she glared down at the square before her. "You have all come to ask if it was true! You all must know if whether or not you actually did the right thing in abusing a small child! You all must find out if Kyuubi had ever possessed him! Why must you know? Because you all now think that if it is true, then you must rush to offer your hasty apologies and pathetic pleas for forgiveness, bending over backwards like you did for that traitor Sasuke Uchiha while never once believing that you had done something wrong! FOOLS! You are over a decade too late for that! You had your chance to make things right! You had a chance to remember your own humanity! Now it is time for you to reap what you have sown! GROVEL, KONOHA! GROVEL AND WAIL WITH DESPAIR FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! BEG THE GODS TO GIVE YOU A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE THIS RIGHT, BECAUSE I SWEAR, BY THOSE SAME GODS AS MY WITNESS, YOU WILL NEVER RECEIVE THAT CHANCE FROM ME!"
Panting silently, she nevertheless felt satisfied when she saw some of the people blanch at her words. It seemed that some were starting to connect the dots, dots that before had been ignored out of convenience, and soon, all of them would follow. Now it was time to deliver the hammer blow.
She swept her hand back towards the balcony. "You wanted your answers!? FINE! Here they are! By the word of myself, Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage of the village of Konoha, and that of our esteemed Fire Daimyo, Katsuro Ayugai-sama, I hereby declare Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki as the heir of Minato Namikaze and his wife Kushina Namikaze-Uzumaki, and I also proclaim Sakura Namikaze-Uzumaki nee Haruno as his lawfully wedded wife!"
Naruto stepped out of the shadows of the door, his cold eyes gazing down on the people before him, and Sakura trailed not too far behind him, her own eyes haughty and uncaring of the rabble.
It started as a dull roar, but it soon gained volume and depth. Within seconds, the entirety of Konoha was screaming, taunting, jeering, or booing the boy before them, unable to accept that one so hated was actually so vital. Some yelled that Yondaime would have never used his son as a sacrifice. Others screamed that Kushina was a whore who sired another man's bastard child and passed him off as their beloved Yondaime's. There were threats, laughter, and even pleas for it to not be true. It just couldn't be true...
Naruto simply crossed his arms and watched this madhouse continue for a little bit before lowering his head and covering his eyes with the shadows of his bangs. This caused the crowd to pick up the pace and yell even louder, and they thought they were succeeding when they saw his shoulders shake. Their glee was short-lived, though, when the crazed smile from the other day appeared on his lips, and he flung back his head and laughed, quieting the crowd almost instantly with shivers down their spines. The laugh was still empty, but the broken feeling had now been partially replaced with a viciousness and contempt they had never seen before.
When he was finished, Naruto spread his arms, screaming out, "Yes! YES! Boo! Yell! Taunt! Let your hatred show the world of the creatures you are! After all, how is this any different than any other day of my goddamn existence!? Far be it that any of you actually be happy that something in my life went right for once! No, all of you thrive on the pain and suffering of others! Without it, you would be forced to see that you're not top shit in this village, or any village for that matter! Almost each and every single one of you can die right now, and the world will keep turning, never caring that the lives of maggots have been exterminated! So you made a scapegoat for your troubles – ME! You all made me the focus of your problems!"
He flashed in front of a merchant, who stumbled back and fell at the sight. It was almost like the Hiraishin, only black and seeming to possess something similar to shadow-like smoke trailing through the air. What was even weirder was that Naruto seemed to be doing it subconsciously and not with any handseals.
He sneered at the man on the ground and crossed his arms. "Business isn't doing well? Why, then it must be because the Kyuubi child sullied my store with his dirty presence! To retaliate, I'll sell him only food that is either nearly expired or already rotting at three times the normal price! That will surely punish him and please the gods!"
He flashed in front of a woman who owned a clothing store and flipped her the bird. "Want to make sure no one can lose track of the demon child? Let's then sell him clothes that are not only such a bright color, a blind man can see them in the dark, but are also made of third-rate material that gets charged double of the first-rate and will need to be replaced constantly! That will prevent him from sneaking around, and put a dent in his wallet to boot!"
He then flashed in front of Hiashi, startling the man enough to widen his eyes and take a small but noticeable step back. Naruto grinned ferally and cooed out, "Awww, a child in my clan isn't really doing that well with their clan techniques. I know! Let's grab the jinchuuriki off the streets and tie him to a training post for some practical work! After all, he heals from nearly everything short of death, and it delights me to see him get what's coming to him while listening to his pleas to stop hurting him! Besides, he doesn't really feel anything, does he?"
Another flash, and Naruto now stood on the rooftops, the feral grin gone and replaced with cold fury. "If this is what it means to be a human being, then I'm glad you all called me a monster! I now think it actually puts me into a higher bracket than you damn hypocrites!"
Sakura just silently stood there, a satisfied smile on her face, but Tsunade decided to approach her and quietly ask, "Sakura? Don't you think you should go and calm him down?"
"No, Tsunade-dono," the girl replied back with a small shake of her head. "This needs to happen. Naruto-kun can't continue to heal if he holds in all his anger at them. He'll probably never forgive them, as would be his right, but at least now he can try to forget and move on."
The woman still looked concerned, but Sakura kept on smiling. "Don't worry so much, Tsunade. If things get a little out of hand, I'll step in. Of all people, he'll still listen to me no matter how angry he gets."
The crowd watched in morbid yet terrified fascination. Suddenly, those horrible acts that seemed like such a good idea felt as if they were clawing at their souls. Every word was true, even the inane inner reasonings that they came up with to get away with abusing the boy. How were they supposed to know that Kyuubi and the boy were separate beings? But then they remembered Sarutobi passionately trying to appeal to the crowds, all but begging them to remember that very fact, and they realized they were screwed. They had ignored the writing on the wall that their acts would come back to bite them, and now they couldn't think of a way to fix this.
One particular merchant, whom Naruto remembered as being one of those to organize the mobs on his home, cleared his throat nervously and shakily stepped forward from the crowd. "B-But, Namikaze-sama, if we had know-"
A loud snarl and a ball of energy colliding on the ground in front of the man later, Naruto screamed down, "How DARE you! How DARE you try to weasel your way out of this, after all the shit you tried to pull! You think I give a damn of what you're feeling now!? No! I don't! I don't give a fucking rat's diseased ass what any of you sycophantic maggots are thinking or feeling!"
Another flash, and he was now in the middle of the square, circling around and gesturing to all of them. "How many of you tried to ease my pain? How many of you tried to comfort a crying child who had been hurt by everybody around him? How many of you tried to help me succeed in my so-called dream of protecting the village? How many? HOW FUCKING MANY!?" Before any could answer, he raised a hand for all to see, showing four fingers. "Before I graduated, there were only four people who helped me without any form of underlying intent."
The hand closed into a fist before the index and middle fingers rose. "There were the Ichiraku's, who actually allowed me into their stand and fed me, even giving me some free food whenever I felt too down. Not once did they ever judge me for what I was, and they never blamed me for their lack of better business. If they had just driven me off like the rest of you had, no doubt they would have been more than successful than just having one little stand on the road. But, no. They didn't do that. They took that hit in their funds, a hit that could have paid for top of the line cookware and ingredients, to help one child, and they did it all with a smile on their face, as if they really didn't care what others thought. Because of that kindness, I will forever hold them close to me in my heart."
Both the people in question had been standing towards the back of the crowd, as they weren't able to pull away from their stand quickly enough to get a place near the front. But they still heard Naruto's words clearly, and it touched them in different ways.
Teuchi simply crossed his arms and nodded his head, a grin on his face as he watched his favorite customer rip into the idiot masses. As if I really cared all that much about making big bucks, kid. All that I ever wanted was to make ramen – the best ramen in the world – and to see the smiles on people's faces as they ate my masterpieces. Seeing that look of delight on your face was more than enough for me to get by, because it showed me that I was doing the right thing.
Ayame, on the other hand, had to bite her tongue a little to prevent herself from sobbing out loud, but her watery smile showed just how much the boy's words meant to her. I never could have abandoned you, Naruto, even if Dad might have. You were like a little brother to me, so cute and innocent, always coming into the stand to tell me of your latest adventures. Even after you became a ninja, you still always found time to come and talk. I just wanted you to remember that you did have a friend who loves you.
Naruto's ring finger joined the other two. "Then there was Iruka-sensei, the only teacher in the Academy who actually gave a damn about me trying my best and not sabotaging every single little thing I did, like giving me weighted shuriken and kunai so that I wouldn't be able to throw them properly or giving me tests with jonin-level questions on them."
("THEY DID WHAT!?" Tsunade bellowed from the balcony, and several teachers in the crowd began sweating and praying to Kami that she wouldn't search the records.)
"He always tried so hard to see me succeed, even when it cost him several promotions in the ninja forces and within the Academy itself. He could have been the Headmaster of that school or an ANBU if he wanted, and all he had to do was ignore my progress and fail me like so many others. But unlike the rest of the piss-ants of that joke of a school, he couldn't bring himself to intentionally fail me – and he had more of a reason to hate me for what I held than anyone else."
Iruka scratched his head in bashful acceptance from the praise of the boy standing there. While it was true he could have taken those positions if he wanted, the fact was that Iruka wanted to teach more than anything else. He didn't want to deal with the politics and under-handed dealing that went with those higher-up positions, though if he had known it could have helped stop the abuse of one of his students, he would have grabbed it in a heartbeat. He was a teacher first and foremost, and all he had wanted to see every student he had – whether they were prodigy or 'dead-last' – succeed in a world that might kill them. Sure, the Kyuubi killed his parents, but Iruka also knew that if Naruto had become Kyuubi, then why did he stop himself from destroying the village? After all, the Kyuubi was more powerful than any other being on this world, more dangerous than even the most elite of ninja forces, and she would stop at nothing to exact her revenge no matter what form she took.
When he thought of revenge, his face formed into a scowl, but he quickly wiped it off before any one noticed. Kyuubi mentioned that the Uchiha clan had tried to control her, turn her into a weapon. What if her rampage was actually meant to destroy Konoha – like the entire thing had been planned from the start? There had been rumors going around before the Massacre that the clan wasn't happy with how things were being ran in the village, and Fugaku was constantly butting heads with Sandaime-sama over everything.
His eyes widened a little as a thought came to him. Holy shit, what if Fugaku or some other Uchiha did organize it all?! What if they set the Kyuubi on the village with the sole intent of taking out our elites like Minato-sama and Kushina-dono, and then Fugaku intended for one of the Uchiha or even himself to mop up the rest and set himself up as the next Hokage? Maybe that was why Itachi killed them! Sarutobi found out and had Itachi kill them all because they were committing treason, and Itachi wouldn't have raised suspicion since he was from the clan yet was clearly the most powerful out of all of them! Holy shit! HOLY SHIT! If any of this is actually true, then this means all the village's troubles regarding Kyuubi could be laid at the feet of a clan of traitors that we've been trying to desperately revive!
He glanced around a little and took a deep breath. No, no. Got to calm down. Don't have any proof right now, but I soon will. After all, Naruto's right. I could have been an ANBU if I had wanted. I just need to do a little digging in the right places, and then I can bring this up with Hokage-dono. She'll probably want to know.
Iruka straightened himself and put the smile back onto his face. One way or another, it's clear that not even the Kyuubi can have everything laid at her feet. I think it's time some of the village's dirty little secrets start coming to the light. And even if I can't reveal everything that this village has done in the name of 'peace', no worries. I'm a patient man. After all, that's why I'm a teacher.
With that, the teacher let out a chuckle and listened to Naruto continue on.
Finally, Naruto raised his pinky finger. "And then, there's Sakura – my teammate and newly-made wife. Did you know that even when she had the crush on the Uchiha back when we were still in the Academy, she still found the time and willingness to help me succeed? Sure, she found it a little irritating that I kept on asking her for dates or complimenting her every second of the day, but she looked past that and helped me to understand. How many of your 'wonderful' daughters did that? None of them, that's how many! It didn't matter if they were civilian or clan members – they all vilified or ignored me, no matter what I did! Sakura, though, was different. She may not have loved me at the time, but she still made the attempts to keep me in line and focused on the tasks before me. That's more caring than the rest of the village girls combined, and I always loved her dearly for it. And after we became genin? She actually began to focus more and more on helping me, because she still wanted me to succeed. Maybe she just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't die right in front of her, or maybe she actually believed that I had the power to become the next Hokage. I don't know, and quite honestly, I don't care what her reasoning was. The fact of the matter was that she was willing to care." He then snorted and yelled, "Unlike the rest of you! I think that if I hadn't become a clan head, then every single one of you would not only prevent your own children from trying to get to know me, you would probably hurt her because of me, putting out her eyes and cutting out her tongue before making her a cripple! Why? BECAUSE YOU ASSWIPES ENJOY TAKING AWAY EVERYTHING THAT HAS MEANING TO ME!"
Everyone jumped back as he bellowed, and their eyes widened a little as Kyuubi's chakra lightly surrounded him. He didn't appear to notice, though, and kept yelling. "You would have hurt her because you found it 'fun'! Because it would have hurt me! Because it would have crushed my spirit at having to watch the one that I love be so helpless and miserable! And you know what?! Yeah, it would have hurt me! It would have hurt so much, my pain would have been unbearable! But then, I just would have gotten angry! I would have hated each and every single one of you so much, that one day, I would have snapped and just released all of Kyuubi's power onto your pathetic village – SIMPLY BECAUSE I WANTED TO! AND YOU KNOW WHAT?! I. STILL. DO! I WANT TO SEE EACH AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU ASSHOLES COWER BEFORE ME WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT YOU CREATED THE MONSTER STANDING BEFORE YOU, JUST BEFORE I WRING YOUR DAMN NECKS AND MELT YOUR BONES FROM THE INSIDE-OUT!"
They were certainly cowering now, as the Kyuubi's chakra slowly but surely kept getting darker and more potent. As they stared in fear at the pissed-off boy before them, rage and sorrow both exuding from his body like a sieve, they all thought as one, By Kami, what have we done?
Sakura was blushing at the high praise her husband was saying about her. True, she was still more focused on Sasuke in the beginning than she was on Naruto, but that had changed over time. After all, that little story she told the Council wasn't just some crackpot story she made up on the fly to protect herself; it was all one-hundred percent true. She had cared for Naruto for a while now, though she was always afraid to reveal those feelings since a more selfish and vain part of her didn't want the Uchiha to think she was giving up on him. But now she was feeling as if all the weight on her shoulders had left, and she could be free from what once restrained her, namely the Uchiha and her supposed feelings for him.
Still, she did feel a small amount of fear enter into her when her husband mentioned the village's reaction. They probably would have done that to her if they had tried getting married without Naruto's headship in place. Hell, they would have made a day of it, tying Naruto to a post and forcing him to watch as they did those things to her. She honestly didn't know if they would have raped her or not – after all, who would have wanted to have sex with the 'demon's whore'? - but she wouldn't have put it past them if they did.
In any case, it's not like any of that matters now. Now that these idiots had discovered Naruto's heritage, they'll be bending over backwards to try and please him like they did Sasuke. She felt her lips tighten at the thought. While she didn't have to worry about Naruto giving in to all that and becoming an arrogant jerk, it did bother her that now neither of them would be able to leave their home without people rushing to them in the streets and attempting to give them gifts or offering services for free or some other such bullshit. Thank Kami for henge, at least.
She looked back down to her husband and frowned slightly when he began to exude Kyuubi's chakra. Better go and calm him down now. The frown turned into a malicious smile. Or maybe I can join in on the fun...
Never let it be said that the villagers were really the smartest bunch of people around. Actually, there was some question of not really helping out with the village's welfare and relying solely on the shinobi bred ignorance amongst them like a plague. It certainly seemed true in this case, as one of the civilians, a female weapons merchant, stepped forward while clearing her throat nervously and saying, "B-But, Namikaze-sama, we DO want to make things right with you, and that's why we wish to offer you our daughters as your wives. The Namikaze Clan needs to be-"
A high laugh sounded, and Sakura flashed next to Naruto, a narrow-eyed smirk on her face. He gave a confused look at her, but she just raised a hand without looking at him and started to rub his whiskered cheek. She didn't want to soothe him to the point of purring, but she did at least need to get him to stop drawing on Kyuubi's chakra before he did something that would be regrettable.
Her actions had the desired effect, and the shroud around him dropped before she lowered her hand. Her gaze never left the woman, though. "I find it funny that you only mention the Namikaze Clan and not the Uzumaki as well. After all, they were a prestigious clan in their own right – so prestigious that it was actually a privilege for Hashirama Senju to be granted Mito Uzumaki as his wife after Konoha had been founded. In fact, the swirl on the Leaf headband is in honor of that clan. So why is it that everyone only focuses on the Namikaze and not the Uzumaki?" She made a play of thinking, placing a finger on her chin as she lazily looked around, before raising said finger in exclamation. "Oh! I know!"
She flashed in front of the woman, their faces almost touching, and the merchant screamed a little before falling onto her back, now staring up at the girl with terrified eyes. Sakura didn't seem to notice the woman's discomfort and continued on with a cold smile on her beautiful face, "The fact of the matter is that you all hated Kushina Uzumaki, no matter how much she did for this village. It wasn't fair that a foreigner, even if she was directly related to the Shodaime's wife, had come into this village and surpassed nearly every kunoichi there was. Konoha was the best, and they didn't need some little uppity 'Uzu whore' coming in and showing them all up. It was even worse when she went and used her little 'tricks' on the beloved Yondaime to 'make' him fall in love with her, preventing any of you bitches from coming in and staking a claim."
Sakura flashed again, reappearing on top of a roof and sneering down at all of them. "HA! You're all nothing more than gold-diggers and opportunists. You go and sidle up to the one who looks like he will become powerful in the future, hoping that when he comes into power, he will remember your pathetic, empty words of kindness and flattery and reward you for the gifts you have given. After all, look at the Uchiha clan. When they were alive, you all pandered to them because they were this village's police force, but when the Massacre happened, you kissed Sasuke's ass on a daily basis, showering him with love and attention that you all were too stupid to notice he didn't want. You all directed your daughters towards him, hoping that the Uchiha fortunes would be sent a little more your way. You all are disgusting."
There was an outcry at her words, but by now it was half-hearted and nervous as too many people were shifting glances between the Namikazes and the Hokage while wondering just how things got this bad. But one voice cut through the rest of the drivel, saying in a harsh yet clearly female voice, "And who are you to judge, Sakura Haruno?"
Heads turned towards the voice, and the crowd parted to reveal Hinata Hyuuga strolling up towards the square with determination in her step and fire in her indigo-white eyes. She had changed out of her usual attire, now wearing a pair of navy short-shorts and a form-fitting white T-shirt underneath her opened beige jacket. This change brought on quite a few raised eyebrows and shocked mutterings, as the eldest Hyuuga girl had always seemed so proper and modest with her fashions, but she ignored everyone in favor of glaring up at the pink-haired harpy who had dared to steal what was hers.
Hinata crossed her arms under her ample bust and sneered back at the girl on the rooftops. "After all, you were no different, pandering to the Uchiha and continuously getting him to notice you, while abusing Naruto-kun." She failed to notice the small shiver that went through the boy's body when she said that, her supposed familiarity with him making Naruto glance to the side to see if Kurenai was sneaking up on him, and just continued, "You were the one who hit him all the time, not us. You were the one who continually put him down, yelled at him, screamed for him to focus and stop goofing off-"
This statement raised Naruto's dander, and he looked at her with a cold gaze. "So? You fail to acknowledge the fact that Iruka also did some of those things, even smacking me across the head whenever I got too out of control. You fail to acknowledge that Sakura still talked to me normally, actually choosing to help me with things rather than just tell me to piss off and stop bothering them or ignore me all together. Unlike the rest of you, she never told me to go die in some ditch so they, and I quote, 'wouldn't have to hear my obnoxious voice that sounds like a bomb of screeching chalkboards or see my brutish, ignorant presence darken this world any longer.'"
Ami, who had been the one to say that, flinched along with a few of the girls who had heard her and agreed when she did so.
"In fact, Hyuuga-san, I wonder how you think that you have the moral authority in all of this, when you and I have barely even said twenty words to each other before the Chuunin Exams."
She bristled a little at both his formality with her – why won't he say Hinata-chan like he did before the Chuunin Finals?! – and his ignorance of her feelings before putting her hand over her heart and forcefully saying, "I was the only one who cheered you on! I was the only one to remember your birthday and not the day Kyuubi came to destroy this village! I was the only one who saw past what you held and saw the boy who needed someone to love him! I was the only one who actually believed in you and your dreams!"
A chilling laugh filled the air, but there was no humor in it – only bitterness. Naruto looked back at the girl, and a cold scowl played onto his lips. "And that all actually makes you worse than the rest! If any of that was really true, then you would have cheered directly at me no matter who heard! You would have actually approached me and cheerfully said, 'Happy Birthday,' on the day everyone hated me especially! You would have came to me when I needed someone to love me instead of just watching me from behind a goddamn tree ten yards away! Instead, you chose to hide behind your insecurities and silently watch me from afar, putting me onto some kind of fucking pedestal and looking up to me whenever life got too tough for you. After all, since my life was continuously harder than yours by a wide margin, then your own problems didn't seem that bad in comparison."
Hinata was shocked that he rebuffed her so quickly, but Naruto just snorted and turned away from her, flashing back to the balcony where the Hokage stood. Sakura, however, gazed sadly at the girl and jumped down to the ground. When she was about twenty feet away, she said, "Hinata, the fact of the matter is that if you had actually made a move to show Naruto your feelings, I would have helped you. I would have been happy that you were finally ready to show what you held in your heart, and I would have done everything I could to bring the two of you closer together. Would my actions have been selfish? Sure. I was still going after Sasuke's affections after all, and I would have wanted Naruto not bothering me any more for dates. Given time, I would have seen the love you two shared and been remorseful that I hadn't caught him quicker. Hell, as shallow and vain as I was, I probably would have tried to steal him from you. But you chose not to. You chose to never let your feelings be known because you either didn't think you were worthy of them or you were afraid of what others would have thought. And now, it's all too late. I chose to step up and help the boy that I loved, however little I may have shown it to him in the past. I chose to make what I thought was a sacrifice on my part, only to discover that I have never felt more free or alive than ever before. You could have been where I'm standing right now, but the difference between you and me is that I wanted Naruto to be happy, no matter what cost would have been asked of me, while you wanted Naruto to come riding in on some white horse and save you like some fairy tale."
Hinata's head lowered, hiding her eyes in the shadows of her bangs. Each and every one of Sakura's words pounded into her, mocking her despite how true they were. All the 'woulds' and 'coulds' of her statement merely reminded the timid girl of the what-if scenarios that would have seen her attain her dream of becoming Naruto's wife.
But that was all they were now. What-ifs. Her dream had been taken from her because she wasn't strong or brave enough to seize it, and this little bitch before her actually had the audacity to look sad that she had won out against the Hyuuga princess.
Suddenly, Hinata shot forward, traveling the twenty feet in the blink of an eye, her Byakugan flaring and her fingers poised for a Jyuuken strike to the head. "I'LL KILL YOU, YOU DAMN BITCH!"
Sakura's eyes widened a little, surprised and a little scared, as she was watched the fingers come closer to her forehead.
But then, something clicked into place inside her.
Hinata's fingers hit air where Sakura's head once was, while said girl had shifted to the side, evading the strike, before striking back with an uppercut kick that hit Hinata in the jaw.
The Hyuuga girl flew back a couple feet but went with the force of the hit to land onto her hands and flip back onto her feet in one smooth motion. She slid back into her Jyuuken stance, but even she was stunned that Sakura had managed to move that fast. It didn't matter, though, and Hinata snarled before shooting forward again. She attacked furiously, throwing Jyuuken strikes towards several vital areas of the body, hoping that she would hit at least one of them, but Sakura seemed to shift and dance away from her strikes, a surprised look still sitting on her face that was starting to piss Hinata off even more.
Sakura didn't really know what was going on, but to her, it seemed like Hinata's attacks were moving slower, allowing the pink-haired girl enough time to shift her body away from the strikes. She knew that this was impossible, since Sakura had only been around mid-level in taijutsu while Hinata had scored in the top five back at the Academy. By all accounts, that strike to her brain should have connected and either killed her or made her a vegetable, but Sakura had been able to see it coming in that one moment. As the rest of Hinata's attacks came more furiously, Sakura still found herself able to evade all of them without problem.
There!
It may have only been visible around two seconds in real time, but an opening had all but been telegraphed to the pink-haired girl, allowing Sakura to strike Hinata in the diaphragm with her fist. The bluenette's eyes widened in both shock and pain as her body was sent flying again, this time the full twenty feet to where she once stood. She collided with the ground and shakily propping herself up onto her arm, coughing while feeling her ribs. Nothing was broken, but it still hurt like hell and made it a little difficult to breathe properly.
Sakura was looking at her fist with amazement. In fact, everyone was, and Naruto muttered, "What the hell? I know Sakura is strong, but she has never been that fast before. Hinata should have at least grazed her temple with that strike and sent Sakura into a coma."
"Perhaps I can answer that question."
A red mist floated out of the boy's stomach and settled itself onto the railing, forming into Kyuubi's human form as she sat on the metal while sipping a glass of red wine with her ruby lips. She gazed down at the scene before her and smirked as she took another sip. "I must admit, she is taking to the changes quicker than I thought.Then again, it's so easy to do that when there is no preexisting genetic material that could interfere with such things.Hate to imagine what would happen if she were actually one of the clan daughters."
Naruto raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Kyuubi, what's going on? What have you done?"
Kyuubi feigned surprise and looked at Naruto with a shocked face. "Why, Kit? You mean you haven't figured it out yet? I mean, making it something like second nature was my intent, but to actually think you haven't noticed yourself moving faster than any other person you've seen?"
She dropped the face and cackled. "The truth is, Kit, your father was more of a genius than even that old warhawk gave him credit for. It was true that Minato linked his Hiraishin technique to the bloodline of his family through the use of specialized blood seals, but it went so much deeper than that. The Hiraishin he used during the Third War was still incomplete, no matter how effective it was. After all, throwing those special little kunai all over the place makes it a pain to retrieve them all the time when there are hundreds out there, and it's even worse when they are lost due to some reason or another and have to be remade from scratch. So after the war had ended, he devoted his time into studying a way evolve this even further. Granted, he still didn't get very far before his death, but the point of this is that he actually managed to take every single seal that was used in its creation and, through the usage of blood seals, inject the entire thing into his body and bond with it on a molecular level.
"Can't you imagine it, Kit," Kyuubi said as she leaned back a little and gestured towards the sky, "imagine what it would feel like to travel halfway across the Elemental Nations in mere minutes rather than days? Be anywhere in the Land of Fire within seconds when most ninja would take hours? That was your father's dream, Naruto. To create an entirely original bloodline that could enable it's users to be anywhere at any time." She then snorted and said before taking another sip, "Well, that and marrying your mother, but that one's a moot point anyway since he succeeded in that."
Naruto rolled his eyes as he gestured, Get on with it.
Kyuubi just waved her hand in a flippant manner and said, "Hold your horses, Kit. I'm getting there. Anyway, he had done all of this before you were conceived in your mother's womb, so he had effectively passed this seal array into your very genetic structure. When you damaged the seal the other day, I took the liberty of beginning to make some changes in you. When I said you had the potential to surpass the Uchiha and Orochimaru combined, I meant it because it can be found within your own blood and not just within your determination to be better.
"Of course, you still wouldn't have been able to use it even if you unlocked it, as the human brain and eyes aren't able to work that fast to compensate for the increased speed – the opposite of the Sharingan, where the body must be trained to react to the signals it's receiving. However, you're lucky that you also have me inside you."
Tsunade raised an eybrow and tilted her head as she crossed her arms. "Why? Are you claiming that you gave him the Sharingan?"
Kyuubi just drank more of her wine. "In a way, yes."
"WHAT?!" Tsunade screamed.
Kyuubi rolled her eyes this time. "I said in a way. When the Jyuubi had been sealed into the Sage of Six Paths eons ago, he knew that when he died, it would be released back into the world. So he split the Jyuubi up into nine separate pieces within him, which are now entities known as Bijuu. He then had two sons after this, and one of them had a predecessor to the Sharingan and other eye-based doujutsu. In any case, before he died, he gave a bit of his power to each of us, allowing us to retain our sanity and memories of him and everything he had taught us. So, in other words, he gave a bit of his unique chakra and genetic structure to each of us.
"When I changed the kit's body around and began to unlock his potential, I knew I had to solve that little issue regarding his eyes. I couldn't give him the Sharingan exactly, as that particular strain of doujutsu was created after years upon years of selective breeding. However, the Sage's eyes were similar in that they allowed him to process information at a faster rate. So, I took the genetic structure I had been given and copied it onto Naruto's. It actually helped that the Uzumaki clan are in fact direct descendants from the Sage through his younger son."
Eye widened all around, and Naruto was starting to sweat while wondering just how much further the gods might take this. Trying to make up from past indiscretions was one things, but this was starting to get a little ridiculous!
Kyuubi gestured towards Tsunade. "Hokage, if you would give Naruto your compact."
The woman did so, and Kyuubi then said, "Now, Naruto, start pumping chakra into your eyes."
Naruto sensed the chakra within himself and pushed it towards his eyes, and he was rewarded with an almost blinding pain beating into his skull. He reached up and massaged his temples a little, trying to ease the stabbing in the back of his eyes, but it did nothing to help. Eventually, the pain ebbed away, but when he opened his eyes, however, he was rewarded to the sight of a pair of slitted crimson orbs staring back. He also noticed that the nails on the hand holding the compact had turned sharper and longer.
He glanced back at Kyuubi, but she just smirked and finished her wine. "As of this point, you need to activate those in order for you to truly utilize your body's potential, but you will also find that short distances don't really hinder you in any way whether or not you actually have the eyes activated – as both you and your mate have clearly demonstrated. As you can also see by your hands, I have made a few other smaller changes as well."
Sakura then looked up at the woman and called out, "But, Kyuubi-dono, why am I able to do these things if I'm not related to the Yondaime?"
Kyuubi focused her attention back onto the girl, and her smile was now mischievous rather than malicious. "Because that little seal I put on you the night of your marriage wasn't just a mark to keep you in line should you anger me or hurt the kit. I also use it to reward you whenever you please me. When you chose finally let go of your feelings for the Uchiha and devote yourself to your new husband, you showed to me that you are willing to change yourself for the better and open up to the love that you were given. As a reward, I changed your own body through the seal, using my chakra to force it. Genetically, you are still you, but now you also contain the same gifts as your husband."
Sakura could barely contain her glee at the news, as now she wouldn't be left behind as a ninja and could back up her husband when they took missions again. Quickly, she pumped a little chakra into her eyes, ignoring the pain until it was done. When she opened them, she turned to a store window and saw herself with slitted crimson eyes in the reflection. She grinned maliciously as she turned back towards the crowd, flexing her now-clawed hand a little.
It was at this point that Hinata had managed to get back to her feet, her hand no longer clutching her abdomen but rather clenching angrily. The Byakugan would have allowed my children to use that power better than hers ever could, and the claws are perfect for Jyuuken. Damn it! That should be me!
Kyuubi grinned a little and cooed out, "Do you enjoy my little gifts to you?"
A few of the Academy girls stood by Hinata's side, all of them coming to the same silent agreement – Sakura Haruno must DIE!
As the four girls began to close the distance towards the Namikaze matriarch, Sakura just grinned and rove her hands over her body a little, saying, "Oh, yes, Kyuubi-dono! Mama likes! Mama likes A LOT!"
A blink of an eye later, she had flashed in the middle of the group and sent them all flying in different directions with a roundhouse kick. Grinning still, she jumped towards a building and back-flipped off of the wall, landing behind the airborne Hyuuga and kicking her square in the back. Hinata gasped in pain as she was sent flying towards a store window, her momentary allies already down for the count, but she then felt a hand grasp her ankle and stop her flight before being swung around and sent into the ground.
Lying in the newly-formed crater, Hinata, her body now broken to the point where she could barely move under her own strength, managed to open her eyes and gaze up at the smug look on Sakura's face. "It didn't have to be like this, Hinata. Had you proven yourself to me of the resolve of your feelings over time, I could have been persuaded to let Naruto take you on as his second wife, but your angry, selfish actions have only shown to me that you are not willing to share with anyone. You think yourself the only one for Naruto, and it drives you insane whenever a girl gets too close to him. I even bet that you went absolutely nuts the day you discovered that I, his crush, had been placed on his team, even though I didn't reciprocate the feelings at the time. But now, neither you nor any other girl in this village have any hope of ever getting with Naruto now, as you all just killed the last chance you had of endearing yourself to him." The young woman turned away, walking towards the Hokage Tower. "Enjoy the hospital; you're not leaving it for a loooong time."
Sakura flashed and reappeared next to her husband, who then growled and entrapped her in his arms, pressing his lips hungrily to her own. When he let go a few seconds later, she looked a little dazed but clearly happy with her husband's aggressive yet loving passions.
He then gazed down upon the shocked village. "I once swore that I would protect this village, and I always keep my word. If not, I'd be no better than all of you. But that does not mean I'm now going to use my abilities to do high ranking missions so that this little speck of dirt can look good to the rest of the world."
He pulled out his headband and gazed at it for a second, running his finger across the engraving. "When this village is threatened directly by outside forces, I'll intervene and put the threat down, but as for the rest..."
He tossed the headband to the ground below, the metal making an oddly loud THUD against the overall silence, before turning away and heading back into the Tower. "Fight your own damn battles."
All the people stood there in wide-eyed shock, and Tsunade gestured for one of the ANBU to retrieve the headband before addressing everyone, "Since you now have your answers, go about the rest of your day, and make sure to stay away from the Naruto-san and Sakura-san. You've all done enough damage to last three lifetimes."
She then turned and followed the children into her office, leaving the people to wonder, What will happen to us now?
As Naruto settled himself into one of the chairs, Sakura stood at his side before leaning down and stroking his cheek lightly. "Feel better now, Koi?"
"Much," Naruto sighed out. "If I had ever said any of that before this, they would have either ignored me or called me ungrateful before trying to lynch me. Between having the village ignore me or being horrified at their own actions towards one they should have respected, I'd rather take the horror and just ignore the ass-kissing that's about to happen." He glanced over to Tsunade. "Would it be alright if we went to my parents' compound now? I'd rather go and have some peace and quiet as we settle in."
Tsunade glanced at the clock and smiled as she nodded. "Of course. Go and take a few days off. We'll discuss any other matters when you're more rested."
Naruto nodded silently in thanks, and Jiraiya shunshined into the room, a wide grin on his face. "Went around the village during the announcements, and I found one of the entrances not too far from here. The doorway still wouldn't open for me, but I did manage to find the seal that enables access. If we leave now, we'll be able to get in before anyone passes by that direction. Maybe we'll even get lucky and see if Minato left behind anything about creating new doorways so we can put one here in the office."
The two nodded silently again and took Jiraiya's hands, and he shunshined them away. Tsunade smiled again before turning back to the patiently waiting Daimyo. "Now, Katsuro-sama, since you are already here, shall we discuss a few things I had been meaning to send to you?"
The three reappeared in an alleyway, and Jiraiya raised a finger to his lips for silence. He walked down towards the opening and poked his head out to glance around, but his prediction was correct. Nobody had come by yet. He then turned around and headed for the far wall, scanning each of the bricks in place, before reaching out towards one in particular that was off to the right and down to Jiraiya's hip level and pulling it from the wall.
He turned and held the brick out for them to see a small tri-kunai drawing etched onto it, unnoticeable to anyone unless they knew what they were looking for, and then he motioned towards the hole for them to look at. Inside was a small seal array, just barely the size of Naruto's first two fingers. It was actually rather impressive, as ninja had a tendency to look for genjutsu to hide such things, and even scanning the wall would prove to be ineffective since no one had any idea what exactly they were looking for.
Sometimes, it's the simple things that are the most effective.
"Alright, Naruto," Jiraiya cut in. "What you need to do is bite one of your fingers and smear the blood onto the array. Sakura, you and I will each put a hand on Naruto's shoulders and pump a very small amount of chakra into him as he does so. It will allow us to have temporary access through the gateway until we can get to the keystone seal and add our own blood to it."
Sakura nodded, and the both of them placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto then bit his index finger and reached into the hole to smear the blood onto the array as Jiraiya said. The seal glowed when it made contact, and both Naruto and Sakura jumped back when a darkened archway formed out of the stone. It was rather indescribable – just a darkened man-sized hole that seemed to go on and on despite logic claiming it should have opened into the alley on the other side.
Both looked to the gray-haired man, but the old pervert just grinned and waved them on in. As they did so, the gateway closed behind them, and a light shone at the end nearby. They all kept on walking, and Naruto and Sakura had to blink rapidly as they stepped back out into the bright sun.
What they saw took their breath away.
They were currently standing in a small amphitheater on an island in the middle of the ocean, multiple doorways like the one they had just exited standing in rows all around. Most were broken and in rubble, which probably meant that those gateways were no more. Naruto really hoped that his father did manage to leave behind some notes on how to create those, or else he and Sakura ran the risk of being stranded on this island if all the gates were destroyed.
Their gazes followed the walkway that led to the mansion, and it was unlike any mansion that could be found in Konoha. It was a gorgeous three-story building that what appeared to be large gardens on the second floor roof-top balconies, complete with palm trees and tropical flowers. The front lawn was a little overgrown but would look perfect once cleaned up, and off the third floor was a small outcropping that allowed an artificial waterfall to run down somewhere off the back of the building. Behind the mansion proper sat several clan-style houses, all connected by a covered wooden pathway, making the entire place into a sort of pseudo-compound for an entire clan.
Naruto looked to Jiraiya, wordless pointing at the paradise before him, and the man smiled in response. "Like I said, the seal array that your parents used wouldn't have been able to be replicated unless they managed to go back step by painful step to figure out every single little thing they did to create it. But this island, this was not what they had originally intended. What your father had wanted was to just create a small pocket dimension of space around the land the compound was to be located on to hide it all from view and deny entry to unwanted guests. In other words, if someone was about to cross the line where the space began, they would instantly pass across it and wind up on the opposite end without even realizing it.
"However, something must have happened during the creation of the seal, because when your parents activated it, the seal didn't move any of the land but the two of them instead. The way Minato explained it to me later, they had woken up to find themselves on this island without any clue of where they were or how to get back. It was actually through sheer luck that Kushina noticed a small discrepancy in the array notes that acted as a sort of wormhole, allowing for these gates to be created, or else they both would have died here.
"Anyway, once the gateway was created, and the two of them had returned to Konoha, Minato thought that this was an even better idea than his original one, because he suspected that this entire island is not even located on our world but in an actual pocket dimension that had taken shape into this or even an entire dimension different from our own. So long as one gateway still exists, this place will become a safe haven for anyone who stays here. So Minato created several, one directly into the house that he and Kushina "formally" stayed at so as to keep the appearance that the two of them never left the village. However, since that place was destroyed in the Kyuubi attack, that particular gateway was lost along with several others, while some just were destroyed unknowingly by civilians looking to expand the village."
Sakura was having some trouble believing this, as this was actually becoming too impossible, even for a person as well-renowned as the Yondaime. Seals may be able to do extraordinary things, but actually creating an entire miniature dimension purely by accident? So she asked, "Jiraiya-san, what exactly is your proof in all of this? I mean, sure, maybe Minato-sama did manage to create a pocket of space to place his land away from prying eyes and ears, but what exactly makes you think that this is a new dimension entirely?"
Jiraiya's smirk got wider, and he pointed up towards the sky. "Because since when does our world have two moons, and when did they get so large?"
Both teenage heads snapped towards where he was pointing, and both jaws dropped as far as they could go. Indeed, two moons sat there faintly in the blue sky, one slightly larger than the other, though both looked to be rather close to the world's orbit. Sakura looked to the left and she gasped, causing Naruto's gaze to follow hers and see what looked like part of a ring that surrounded the planet at an angle.
They kept gazing into the sky, and Naruto whispered loud enough to hear, "But I don't understand. If this was supposed to be a safe haven, then why didn't I stay here? I would have actually been protected. I could have been truly happy, not having to worry about those idiots finding where I lived. I could have finally had safety and peace."
Jiraiya grimaced and sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "That's one of those questions I always wondered about Sensei and his decisions, and to be honest, I'm kind of afraid what his answer would have been. All of his actions and reasons don't add up in the end, and I can't help but think that he wanted you to be dependent on him so that he would gain your loyalty and trust. Maybe he made some honest mistakes, or maybe he really did have malicious intentions. He had never stepped foot onto this compound after all, so maybe he just didn't know that this place existed. I guess that's just something that will have to go unanswered, and it's probably for the best we don't really know. The Old Man went through enough in his life. He doesn't need to be questioned on his integrity in death and leave us with shattered memories. It's all in the past now. Can't do anything about it except remember him as fondly as we can."
He then smiled gently and got close to place his hands on their shoulders. "Come on," he said. "If you think the outside is nice, then you'll love the interior."
The doors opened, allowing some more light from the outside to brighten the somewhat darkened house, and two pairs of tentative feet shuffled in, their owners taking in everything they saw around them. The entrance hall was large, with a dual staircase at the very end covered in dark red carpet that contrasted nicely with the gold-trimmed, white walls and split into two at the second floor before reforming together at the third.
Sakura took off her formal sandals and tabi socks before putting a foot onto the carpet, and she barely suppressed a delighted groan at the soft feel of it. Of course, any rug would have felt wonderful after spending the day in those shoes, but the soft, plushy fabric on her feet made it feel all the more better. She let out a giggle and grabbed Naruto's hand, leading him towards the stairs to begin exploring.
The mansion truly was amazing to behold. During their search, both children found one massive library, complete with study; a modernized kitchen that only needed to have the appliances replaced due to several years of no cleaning along with a fully-stocked pantry and cellar (with stasis seals keeping the food fresh even after all this time, which Naruto breathed a sigh of relief at); an indoor training dojo for both weapon and martial arts training; a sunroom; a recreation room that contained a pool table, poker table, and large flat screen TV with a moderate selection of movies; a indoor pool that actually went underneath a piece of thick glass and out into the back courtyard; and no less then six fully furnished bedrooms. Both children were shocked to discover was a small pool on the rooftop, where the waterfall originated from and spilled down into the pool on the ground floor. There were even parlor rooms on each of the floors! Not that there would be many guests coming around the compound for quite a while, but the sheer idea of one, let alone three, of these rooms just screamed that Minato and Kushina had gone all out in creating this place.
However, it was the master bedroom on the third floor where things came to a grinding halt. The room was gorgeous, clearly decorated by a newly-wedded couple who were intending to be spending a long amount of time within it and wanted to be comfortable in more ways than one while doing so. The carpet was white here, with crème walls and drapes to create a more summer-like mood, the bathroom was made with light-colored marble tops to try to match it, and the wooden furniture was light brown. The bed, garbed in similar colors, sat in the back of the room in the middle, with reverse-polarity windows to let in the sunlight but not let the rays burn those still sleeping.
And it was there that the two of them found three letters, two of them addressed to Naruto while the last, strangely enough, was for "Naruto's future wife."
When Naruto saw these envelopes, his eyes widened and he became quite still, his behavior similar to that of a Nara dear caught in a headlight. His breathing began to turn short and rapid, his mind reeling from this forgotten memento from a past he never had the chance to know. Sakura, noticing her husband's odd change of behavior, quickly reached up and began to calm him like always by stroking his whisker-marks, immensely grateful that she had such a surefire way of keeping his head straight. It seemed to work, but Naruto still wouldn't move from that spot, continuing to stare at the parchments on the bedding. Guess it's not some sort of magic cure-all for calming him down. I really should have expected that. Oh well. As long as it keeps him from lashing out at everything, then it's still a win in my book.
Sakura reached her neck up and pecked Naruto on the lips, and when he looked at her, she smiled and ran her hand across his cheek before moving towards the bed. Picking up the two labeled for him, she couldn't help but notice that each one was written in a different way, one elegant and light while the other, still elegant in a similar yet distinctively different way while seeming to have been penned with a heavier hand. I'm guessing that the first was written by his mother while the other by his father. I wonder what final words they have for him?
She slowly walked over and held out the two for him. At first, he seemed hesitant to take them, but then she asked, "Dearest, wouldn't it be better to know now than to always be wondering?"
Still hesitant, he nevertheless reached slowly for the letters and wandered over to the bed while staring at them.
Sakura smiled a little and quietly left the room, softly closing the door behind her to give her husband some privacy.
Naruto just stared at the letters. He really didn't want to read them, because he feared his parents' last words would be those of hatred and contempt. Yet at the same time, there was that small boy inside of him who still wanted to know who they were. Sure, he knew now of their identities, but he couldn't ask for anyone's opinions of them since he was certain they would be biased. Everyone would sit there and extoll his father's virtues and sacrifices while either claiming his mother was a whore who seduced him for power and prestige or saying she was a powerful ninja in her own right. He didn't care about the Yondaime and the Bloody Habanero, the ninjas of Konoha – he wanted to know Minato and Kushina, the people.
And now, that chance was gone, save for these two letters.
I have to know. I have to know whether or not Mom and Dad were sorry for what they had done or if they hated me because of it...
Grabbing his father's letter first, he shakily ripped open the envelope and unfolded the letter inside. As he read the letter, he could almost hear his father's voice, like some sort of memory deep inside had finally floated to the surface.
To my son, Naruto,
As I sit here, writing this letter, I am filled with grief at what I'm about to do. There's so much I wanted to say, so much to show you, but I find that I have only the barest of moments to even do this. Even as I write this, Kyuubi bears down upon our village, controlled by a masked man who seeks only power, and the shinobi under my command fight valiantly to hold it back. From here, I can tell that it is working, but I know that we will not be able to deter it from its course. The only way is to do so is to reseal the beast with the Shinigami's seal. I know that it will cost me my very soul, but I am not afraid of the price asked of me. It is the price demanded of you that I weep for.
I know you must hate me right now, putting such a creature into you while so young, and I would not blame you for it. Right now, I hate myself for this, even if it is the only thing to be done. Despite that I sincerely hope that the village will treat you well despite what you carry, even I know that to be a fool's dream. No doubt the majority of them will hate you and wish you dead, and those in power will no doubt try to use you for their own ends. Yes, even Sarutobi, who will no doubt be reinstated when I die. He may be trying to work for the good of all, including you, but he is not afraid of using people as he sees fit. He'll probably send Jiraiya out to re-stabilize the spy network he set up while Tsunade will be driven to the brink of despair, leaving you solely under his care. Still, I know that he is a good man deep down, so I know that he will try his hardest to help you. I hope your mother survives this whole ordeal and is able to raise you without me, but I know her own odds of survival are stack against her as well. We barely had enough time to create one Kage Bunshin apiece just to write these.
I hope that you never give up, Naruto. I hope that no matter how hard things get, you will always have a smile on your face and see the light in the darkness. I also hope that you will forgive me for what I have done to you, for I have placed the village above my own flesh and blood. I pray to the Gods that I have made the right decisions and that whatever pain and suffering you endure will be worth it to you in the end.
Minato Namikaze,
Yondaime Hokage of Konoha,
Konoha's Yellow Flash,
and the greatest title of all - your father
Naruto set the letter down, his face set in a scowl though he was also blinking back the wetness in his eyes. You're right, Dad. I do hate you, or at least I hate what you have done to me. How dare you act as if it was my duty to protect this little mudhole! You wanted to have faith in the villagers because it would have eased your guilty conscience about leaving me alone in a world that demonized me! I don't see a hero; I see a coward who hid behind false beliefs to reassure his ego!
His countenance cracked a little, and he winced as he tried to stop his eyes from watering more. And yet...yet I can't help but forgive you. I hate your actions. I hate your reasons. But I can't hate your feelings. I can't hate you yourself because I know you would have tried anything else if given the chance.
Sniffing a little, he laid the letter to the side and pulled over his mother's. Her dainty handwriting on the envelope flowed gently to his eyes, and he unfolded the letter and began to read, her own voice coming to him soft and encouraging.
My darling Naruto,
If you are reading this, then I am dead, succeeding in helping your father seal away the Kyuubi into you. I tried to reason with him, Naruto. I tried to get him to reseal it back into me or to let me use the Shiki Fuin instead, but the man can be such a damn idealist at times. I think he desperately wants to believe that there is still some good in this village, even if he knows that this is a lie.
Yes, I know of what they whisper behind my back, what every clan wife says when she drops her smile for me after I have gone. Mikoto Uchiha, Yoshino Nara, Izumi Yamanaka, Tsume Inuzuka, so many others – not one of them truly feels that they are my closest friends. It truly saddens me that they feel this way - especially Mikoto, as I thought that, at the very least, she would never betray me. Was the blood that I spilled for their sake not enough? Is this village truly so hopeless that they cannot find it within themselves to be happy and supporting of others for once?
If anything, my son, believe that I know what you are going through. This probably has never been told to you, but you are not the first Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. You are actually the third, and my successor Jinchuuriki. I'm so sorry that this had to happen, my darling. If it weren't for that nin who interfered with Kyuubi's resealing, I would still be alive, raising you alongside your father, and Kyuubi would have been inside of me until I was well into my years, surrounded by my grandchildren and maybe even great-grandchildren.
Still, I have some advice for you, my dear child. During my time as Kyuubi's jinchuuriki, I have noticed that the beast is willing to aid its host, so long as the host meets its requirements. Unfortunately, I could not be given its aid as the seal that was used on me totally shut off all its influence. I could speak to it, but it could not give me any chakra or take control of my body – another thing I am angry at your father for, as he intends to allow you access to its chakra so that you can become a stronger nin for this village, yet he doesn't realize that it opens you to attack. Kyuubi can be vindictive when it chooses to be, so do not anger it. Instead, try to understand it, to come to an agreement so that it might aid you better. Who knows? Maybe even one day, it will tell you its name – something that has not ever happened to either myself or my own predecessor, Mito Uzumaki.
Above all else, my Naruto, remember that I do love you, no matter what choices you will have to make. Even if you find yourself betrayed by the village and forced to become a missing nin, you will still always have my dearest love for you. You are my son. I have carried you in my body, and every day of it was a gift to me as I felt you grow. I have no doubts that you will make me proud, whether you are the child prodigy or the village pariah.
Take care, oh child mine. Spread your wings and fly as high as you can.
Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze,
Your mother
Tears fell freely down Naruto's face, and he released the letter as he curled up into a small ball, trying to hold back the sobs that shook his body. Why, Old Man? Why didn't you ever tell me? I had the right to know, dammit! At least maybe then, I wouldn't have felt so goddamned ALONE! At least then, I could have had something to connect my parents to me!
Pulling his legs up to his chest, he just sat on the bed and tried to hold his heart together inside. Please, Kami, why me?
Sakura had retreated to the second floor balcony, basking a little in the warm sun while trying to give her husband some grieving distance. She didn't want to wander too far, though. Who knows just how much Kyuubi would be able to restrain him before Sakura could calm him down? She looked at the letter in her hands and had to wonder what the deceased woman would tell Sakura after her death. Hopefully, it wasn't something like, "Watch out for your husband, because he might kill you in a demonic rage," or "I pity you so much for having to marry a demon-child." If any of that were the case, then Sakura was going to need to destroy this letter as quickly as she could without Naruto seeing it. Having his own mother possibly say kind and loving words in one letter while going behind his back to conspire with his wife would shatter him, and he then probably would try to kill her, whether or not he believed that she had betrayed him.
Shaking her head to get rid of these thoughts and causing her now-loosened hair to sway a little, Sakura gently used her thumb to tear open the sealed end of the envelope and pulled out the letter. As she unfolded it, she felt amazed and slightly intimidated as she gazed upon the flowery script. Maybe I can ask Jiraiya if he would be willing to teach me seals as well. Not only would it be useful, but the calligraphy practice would make my handwriting be more neat and fluid for any official documents I may have to write.
Smiling lightly to herself, she began to read.
To the woman that my son will eventually marry,
I wish I could write this letter with a better idea of how my son would be. Actually, I wish I didn't have to write this letter and just tell you in person, but unfortunately, this is the best that I will have to do. I know you have questions right now, as, no doubt, not even my own son knows the full story regarding everything in his life. I will try the best that I can, though.
I sincerely hope that you are already aware of my son's status as the Jinchuuriki – the living sacrifice – of the Kyuubi. If not, then I beg of you to not hold that against him, as it was not his choice to be turned into this. His father, damn him, wanted to use this as an opportunity to give his son more power, no matter how much I pleaded with him not to. What you haven't been told, most likely, is that my son was not the first to be so but rather the third. I was the second Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, and my predecessor was Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju. According to Mito, Kyuubi had been summoned by Madara Uchiha in a battle against Hashirama after betraying the village. When Hashirama had managed to seize control of the beast, it was Mito who volunteered to become its first Jinchuuriki. Nobody knew of her status, and Hashirama was content to leave it that way so Mito would be able to live out the rest of her days in relative peace.
Fast forward many years later, and now Mito is old and nearing her deathbed. Kyuubi cannot be released back into the world, so Konoha sends a request to my old home village, Uzushiogakure, for another Uzumaki to take her place. As I was a part of the main branch of the Uzumaki family and was the youngest, I was volunteered. This decision was probably what saved my life, as Uzu was destroyed in an unknown attack within two years after my leaving. The beast was then transferred into me, and Mito died a few days later. I then enrolled in the Academy, alongside others who I thought were my closest friends, and it was there that I met Minato. At first, I thought he was an idiot, as he was the dead-last of the class and not all that bright, but after he saved my life when Kumo tried to kidnap me, I found myself drawn to him with curiosity. That curiosity turned to friendship, and then that friendship turned to love. Despite his faults, I cannot help but love the man with all my being, and that is probably why I am hating myself so much right now for choosing my husband's foolish ideals over my son's happiness and well-being.
I'm sure that you have probably figured out by now that Kyuubi's attack wasn't just some random rampage, and you would be right. The night of my son's birth, Minato and I had taken some others, Hiruzen Sarutobi as one of them, and retreated to what we thought was a secret area. It was supposed to be a place where the Kyuubi could be resealed inside me after the birthing without the villagers knowing, provided it managed to get loose. But my so-called best friend, Mikoto Uchiha, has now betrayed me, telling the location I had given to her in confidence to a masked man who wishes to possess Kyuubi. He interfered with the sealing, holding my baby boy captive just so Minato would be forced to allow the creature to be free. The very fact that this man also had the Sharingan eye only proves to me more that the Uchiha had a hand in all of this. If there is one thing that I would ask of my son, it is that he remind that foul traitor of the former friend she chose to abandon, before he puts out those precious eyes she loves so much!
So now you know, dear girl. Now you know the full story behind the beast within my child. I pray that you can still look past all of this bloody history and see my child for who he is. Whether he has turned to evil or has followed the path of good, I cannot say. All that I ask you to remember is that the choices he has made and will make are his own. Kyuubi, despite giving him all of its chakra, cannot work around the seal to influence Naruto deeply – unless the seal has either been destroyed or tampered with, which is highly unlikely but still possible.
I only ask, no, I beg this of you. Love my child. Love him with all of your being, just as I did for my husband, and I swear to you that you will not regret it in the end. Consider it a woman's dying plea to any girl who will listen. I cannot be there for him, but I know that you will be able to show him the affection and kindness that he so desperately needs right now. As the clan matriarch to her successor, I beg that you do this for me.
Please, keep Naruto happy, for I know that he will walk the edge between happiness and despair more than once in his life.
Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze
Clan Matriarch of the Namikaze
Last Survivor of Uzu
Naruto's Mother
Sakura laid the letter down and gazed off into the horizon. She felt rather proud that this woman would put so much faith into her, despite the fact that they had never met. But maybe, deep down, Kushina had already known that Naruto would find his soul mate, and she believed wholeheartedly that this woman would try her best as the new matriarch.
I don't know if you're watching this, Kushina-dono, but I really hope you are. I know that I'm probably not worthy of your son's affections after all that I have done to him, but please continue to show me that faith. I swore to your son that I would make this right again, that I would show him happiness and love, and I refuse to go back on my word. I will not become like one of those ignorant villagers who hated you and Naruto simply for being different. I will become a successor matriarch that you will be proud to see, right to my dying breath. So please, rest easy now, and wait for us in the afterlife. For we will have so much to share.
A small breeze picked up, lightly fluttering her pink hair, and Sakura brushed a few strands of her bangs out of her face. She smiled as the warm air caressed her skin, and she let out a content sigh. Looking back to the letter, she folded it back up and put it into her sash. I'll find a place to put this later. Right now-
Kitling! Kyuubi's terrified voice screamed into her head. You need to get to your mate now! I think he's starting to waver!
Sakura's eyes widened considerably, and she started sprinting into the house and up the stairs, all the while thinking frantically, No! Nonononono! Please, Sweetie, don't leave me! Don't give up now!
Bursting through the doors, she found him curled up on the bed, his shoulders shaking as he tried to stifle his sobs, and she rushed over to his side, gently pulling his head to her chest and entrapping him in her embrace.
She ran a hand through his hair as she whispered, "Naruto, it's okay. We're all alone here. No one will see. Please. Don't bottle everything up inside. I just can't stand to see you hurting so..."
Naruto froze at her gentle command, but soon his shoulders began to shake a little more heavily, his tears pouring a little faster, and he heard himself let out one of the sobs in his chest.
Sakura showed a small, sad smile before saying, "Please. Let yourself let go. You don't have to be alone anymore. You don't have to shoulder your pain and sadness where no one can see it. Please, let me help you share the weight."
Naruto still tried to fight it, but having someone he cared for saying this to him after so long of wanting to hear it broke down what few barriers he had left. Finally, he let out one choked sob, then another and another, until finally he cried and lowly screamed into his wife's chest as all his fears, insecurities and pains started to finally come to light.
Sakura just held him close and laid the both of them onto their sides on the bed, still running a hand through his hair while humming soothingly for the distraught boy.
Jiraiya looked at the scene before him through the crack in the doorway with sadness, and he quietly shut the door before heading downstairs towards the gateways. Better go and grab them some dinner. It looks like they might be a little while.
It was getting rather late, Tsunade realized, as the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. How long had she been here in the office? The Daimyo had returned to the capital about an hour ago, leaving behind some minor issues he would like resolved, and Tsunade had then busied herself in looking over the bylaws regarding the Council and making the necessary corrections. Today had been one surprise after another, so it really wasn't much of a wonder that it had all passed so quickly.
She heard Jiraiya enter through the window, and she allowed a small smile onto her face, though she didn't look at him. "Can't you ever act like a normal person and use the door for once?"
He chuckled a little and gently rested his hands on her shoulders from behind. "I've never been normal, Hime. You should know that by now."
She chuckled as well and moaned slightly as his hands massaged her shoulders before moving to her upper back. Several tension knots began to loosen a little, and Tsunade let the man continue his ministrations. Super pervert that he may be, Jiraiya certainly knew how to give a wonderful massage, and Tsunade wasn't about ready to make him stop after such a long day. She felt the grin on her face drop, however, as a certain thought came to mind. "How are the kids holding up?"
Jiraiya sighed a little as his hands moved towards her spinal area. "Naruto found the letters from his parents, and he started to break down again." Tsunade's eyes widened, and she turned her head towards the man, only to be cut off from saying anything. "Don't worry. Sakura got to him in time. Seems that little deal with Kyuubi worked. When I left, she was cuddling him as he cried. Pretty hard too, I might add." He pressed harder on a rather stiff knot. "Still, to be blunt, we all fucked up pretty bad, Hime. It'll take months for him to listen to any one aside from Sakura, let alone agree with them. He's beginning to doubt if whether or not Sensei ever cared for him, and I for one can't blame him. From Naruto's viewpoint, Sarutobi didn't do the most he could, no matter what he may have claimed. Iruka helped somewhat, so the boy doesn't hold anything against him, but that's a matter of 'too little, too late.' He tried to set things right, but it was at a point when Naruto's career couldn't really be affected much. The Ichirakus, yeah, he trusts them, but he also can't expect them to be able to solve his problems."
His hands stopped, wavering over her shoulders as he tried to decide if he really wanted to say this. It seemed reason must have won out, because he shook his head and rested his hands on her in what could be considered a comforting manner. "And then there's us."
Tsunade groaned and leaned forward, resting her head in her hands, as Jiraiya squeezed her shoulders before saying, "I know you want to make it seem like you have been helping him all along, Hime. After all, I want the same thing, but we need to face facts here. Naruto isn't going to trust either of us that much because up til now, neither of us have really made any steps into bettering his situation despite the fact of knowing just how bad he had it. Sure, I'm the more obvious choice, since I did blatantly ignore him and shunt him off to the side for my research and spy network. But don't forget, you still all but pissed on his dreams when he first met you before trying to sucker him into a bet you thought he would lose. Then, when he finally manages to prove you wrong, you have practically all but forgotten him unless there's a specific mission in mind you wanted him to do. To him, I'm the teacher who refuses to give him the time of day while you have become the leader who sees him as only a tool to be used. Out of everyone in this village, he's now only going to really trust Sakura with his very heart and soul, all just because she cared for him when they were children."
Tsunade choked back a sob and ran her hands over her eyes to prevent the tears from flowing. "How, Jiraiya? The kid's pissed off as it is. How am I going to rectify my own mistakes when he's always going to be looking at me with suspicion?"
Jiraiya gently smiled and lifted her from the chair to her feet. He guided her into a hug, which for once he didn't act pervy about, and Tsunade buried herself in the embrace. As Jiraiya stroked her head, he murmured, "One step at a time, Hime. Naruto may be angry at us now, but he'll eventually come to realize just how much he means to us as a person and not a shinobi. I don't now when that will happen, but he'll open up in time - and we'll be standing there, our arms wide open and ready to accept him. Just give him some space."
Tsunade smiled as she leaned into Jiraiya's chest a little more, and they stayed like that for a few minutes longer, the sun setting in the background and bathing them in orange light. She then chuckled a little before lifting her head and giving him a light glare and a raised eyebrow. "So how much longer before the perverted side of you comes back out to play? Because if I feel your hands go for my ass, I'll put you in the hospital alongside Hinata Hyuuga."
Rather than get scared at her threat, Jiraiya let out a boisterous laugh and wrapped his arms tighter around her waist. He kissed the diamond on her forehead and leaned his own against it. "For now, Hime, I'm just happy to have you in my arms."
She let out a giggle and rubbed her nose against his own. "Awww, you really can be romantic when you want to be. In fact, if you gave up that dirty little book series and actually wrote something serious, I bet every woman in the Elemental Nations would come flocking to you in droves."
Jiraiya laughed again, but his gaze started to look far away, and Tsunade looked at him in confused manner as he muttered, "A romance...yeah, it could work. After all, I have some of the best material at the tips of my fingers."
Tsunade cocked her head to the side and let out a small, "Hmm?" but Jiraiya just chuckled again and gently bumped his head against hers before releasing her. "Just thinking out loud, Hime. Any way, it's been a long day for all of us. Go home and get some sleep. I'm going to go get the kids some food before turning in myself. I'm sure by now, Naruto's winding down if he hasn't already done so, and all that crying's made him hungry."
Tsunade's expression turned softer as she nodded, and Jiraiya shunshined away.
It must have been a good hour before Naruto finally calmed down, but Sakura didn't mind. The bed was soft, and it had been a long day. She would have been tempted to take a nap before finding some dinner, but her husband needed her right now. His arms were wrapped around her waist in a desperate grip, as if he were afraid that if he let her go, she would vanish from his eyes; while his head was still leaning against her small chest, her heartbeat apparently helping to settle him down. He looked so fragile right now, and Sakura had to wait until he was coherent again before she could do anything to ease his pain.
Naruto laid there a little, almost too tired to move, but he eventually managed to push himself into a sitting position and stare blankly ahead. Sakura pushed herself up as well, readjusting her kimono a little, and waited in silence for her husband to speak first.
She was awarded for her efforts, when a couple minutes later, Naruto finally said, "I hate them all, Sakura."
She sadly nodded in agreement. "Yes. I know. And you would be justified in doing so."
He slumped a little and held his head in his hands tiredly. "Why did it have to be me? Why did my father have to think that this was a good idea? Why did he think that sacrificing both himself and Mom would have been the best idea? Why couldn't the villagers have just accepted for once that they aren't always right?"
Sakura shifted a little closer and slowly rubbed his arm. "I don't know, Koi. Who knows why? But you know both Minato-sama and Kushina-dono loved you, even in their last moments."
Naruto sighed sadly a little and nodded his head before leaning it against hers. "I know. Doesn't really make me feel any better about them being gone, though."
Sakura's mouth twinged into a small smile. "Again, you would be justified in that."
Her hand gently laced into his and squeezed it. He turned his head to her, and they both leaned in for a long kiss. She threw her arms around his neck, making him respond by wrapping his own around her waist again and drawing her tighter. She felt his tongue ask for access into her mouth, and she opened her lips in reply, moaning lightly as his tongue pressed against hers and explored her luscious mouth. He then somehow managed to lift her up and set her facing him on his lap, and she wrapped her silky legs around his waist to draw him closer.
It may have only been around two minutes, but it was pure bliss for them before they pulled apart and stared into each other's eyes. Naruto then leaned in towards her neck and nipped it a little, making Sakura squeal and hold him tighter.
There was a knock on the door, and Sakura turned her head, still smiling, to say, "Yes, Jiraiya?"
The famed super-pervert poked his head in, and he suppressed a grin at the sight. "Just wanted to let the two of you know that dinner's downstairs in the kitchen for you. I'm heading out, and I'll stop by to check in on you guys tomorrow afternoon."
Sakura nodded her head. "Thanks, Jiraiya. We'll see you then."
He closed the door behind himself, and Sakura turned back to the husband in her arms and kissed his nose. "Come on. It's been a long day. Some food would be welcome for us."
The dinner was delicious, and it seemed as if Jiraiya had made sure to compensate for Naruto's increased appetite. There was quite a spread available for the two, ranging from barbequed meat to yakitori to, of course, a couple bowls of ramen. The two tried a little of everything, but both were shocked to discover that Sakura was able to pack away quite a bit of food on her own.
When queried regarding this, Kyuubi said in a nonchalant manner (as the two pictured her laying on her back in contentment), "Well, what did you expect? The Kit has always needed an increased food supply due to his high metabolism and stamina, thanks to the Uzumaki bloodline within him, but you, Kitling, also have increased your appetite because your body has been going through repeated changes within the last forty-eight hours. In order to keep up with your new bloodline, your body needs more nutrients to accommodate for the lost ones. In other words, Kitling, you need to eat more now than you would be if it weren't for your stupid little diets. Oh, and that reminds me - if I hear anything regarding you eating less come spewing from your mouth, Pinkie, I'll show you just how evil I can really be."
Sakura blushed at this reprimand while Naruto just laughed, to which Sakura lightly slapped him on the shoulder.
It was getting late, though, and the two slipped on their regular sleeping attire before settling under the bed covers and gazing up at the sky through the windows. The twin moons glowed beautifully, with the stars shining down around them, and Sakura nestled into Naruto's hold. He turned his head to look at her, and he smiled gently before leaning in and stealing a quick kiss to her lips. She blushed slightly and giggled, snuggling in closer to him before resting her head upon his chest. It wasn't even two minutes after he laid his head on his pillow that Sakura heard his breathing slow down and even out. She smiled again as she closed her own eyes, her last thoughts before slumber being, I'm not perfect, Kushina-dono, but I promise, I'll show your son what real happiness is. So please watch over both of us, and guide us to Naruto's true destiny...
Well, there you go. Sixty-two pages (more than double the amount of the original one-shot), single spaced, over the course of nearly two months. Now I realize that many of you probably have questions regarding this, so here are the ones I thought up and answered. But before I do, I just want to get this out of the way now.
When I was younger, I suffered from clinical depression, and every now and again, I have relapses into my previous state. Back when I wrote the first part to this, I was having one of my "special moments" while thinking of what would happen in the village were forced to realize just how wrong their behavior towards Naruto really was – because Kishimoto doesn't ever address this particular issue in the anime and instead just shows the entire village accepting and loving him for destroying Pein before trying to justify it with some shitty little generic flashback that takes place through the years.
(Yes, I am going to use this as an opportunity to rant at the creator and how he killed his own anime, and if you are, in fact, somehow reading this, Masashi Kishimoto, I just want to say this – MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND AND ACTUALLY USE SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE YOU TOOK IT FROM FANFICTION FOR ONCE! SERIOUSLY, OBITO IS FUCKING TOBI?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY FANFICS I READ THAT ADDRESSED THAT IDEA BEFORE YOU PULLED THIS FUCKING SO-CALLED "TWIST"?! TOO DAMN MANY! IT ACTUALLY WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER IF YOU HAD LEFT HIM AS MADARA UCHIHA OR, IF YOU REALLY WANTED A TWIST, MAKE HIM THE FIRST SON OF THE SAGE OF SIX PATHS! AT LEAST THEN, HIS LITTLE TWISTED VERSION OF REALITY WOULD MAKE MORE FUCKING SENSE!)
Anyway, I used this particular mood to help me figure out how Naruto would act as a broken person, and, judging by the reviews that I received, I succeeded pretty well. The problem is, these moods are unique, and they come and go at random intervals. Sometimes it's days. Others, weeks. Since I had last had an "episode," it's been around two months, and sometimes, it goes on for longer before another happens. Which means that I've been writing this entire chapter purely in my normal state of mind, and it's actually a lot harder for me to capture the previous mood when I don't have the right mindset already in place.
Does this mean that this story was a fluke and I'm not ever going to continue it? No, not really. I actually kind of hate leaving behind unfinished business (Sheikah's Tale, to this very day, haunts me for not finishing it, despite the fact that I just can't bring myself to do it). The thing is, when I do finally get around to updating, it's going to be at sporadic intervals, though the reviews I received so far have been rather encouraging to me. Thanks so much to all those who did so, because it did remind me that others really wanted to read this! The only problem is, I'm still in college while doing all of this, and I'm about to graduate in a year. I'm a person who does not mentally adjust well to changes in my lifestyles (I have come to believe that this is the reason why I fall into depressions or erratic mood swings), so graduating college and trying to find a job while making a life for myself could possibly give me a mental breakdown unlike anything I have ever had.
Anyway, so the jury states on the issue: Keep your eyes peeled for my updates and keep on sending those reviews in, but please also be patient as I can't force myself to write something when my mind isn't in it.
Now, moving on to the questions I thought up. No doubt, there are scores of others, but these are the ones that I felt had the most importance.
Q: This challenge involves Sakura being the one to help Naruto achieve his clan head status by marrying him to undercut village law. Why her? Why not Ino or Hinata or some other girl?
A: Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy a good fic that pairs off Naruto with Ino or Hinata or some other girl, and I do like all of these girls – yes, even Hinata, despite the fact that I kind of paint her as a bit of a bitch in this fic. It's just that I hate all the damn Sakura-bashing that keeps on happening on the site. Again, don't get me wrong, since I have read some really good fics where Sakura gets bashed in the story. But, COME ON! Why is everyone so quick to start bashing her, when her character really isn't that evil to begin with?! Everyone's so willing to paint her as this little demoness who preys upon Naruto's pain and suffering, and quite honestly, it gets old VERY quick! I mean, for once, why can't Hinata be the bitch?! Why does everyone shy away from the possibility of "bitchy Hinata"? I mean, she already stalks Naruto in the goddamn canon, and people have this weird tendency to believe that it's cute and romantic. CUTE?! ROMANTIC?! No, it's CREEPY! It also shows that Hinata is not ready for any form of love from Naruto, because she doesn't really know him. You have to be able to actually talk to the person you are pursuing if you ever want a relationship with them.
Which brings us to the reason of why I chose Sakura. Not only does it tweak the noses of all those die-hard "We hate Sakura Haruno with a passion" fans, but it makes it more interesting. Face it, picking Hinata for this challenge is actually waaaaaay too easy for many Naruto writers. So, there ya go.
Q: Okaaaaay, but why does she seem so OOC? Why does she seem so willing to do this, when all we've seen her do to Naruto is bash his head in and call him an idiot?
A: Look at it this way. Whenever Sakura hit Naruto in the canon events, it was meant to be seen as humorous. This IS an anime, people. It's NOT grounded in reality. If people would actually look beyond Sakura hitting Naruto or mooning over Sasuke, they can actually see a character that, while not perfect, is just waiting to be developed into something so much better. Take her out of those contexts, and you will see that Sakura does care for Naruto in her own way through the first part of the series. And as for her being willing to do this? Think of it this way: the girl just watched one of the most central people in her life abandon his village for his idiotic, nonsensical quest of revenge, before being forced to watch another try to kill himself and be saved by the thing he is hated for. Some people would try to ease this kind of emotional stress by latching onto the quickest thing they can that allows the normalcy in their lives to resume. In other words, go after the boy who has already given up all the way and committed himself to ruining his own life by running away to a traitor, or help the boy who is teetering on the edge but can still be helped and is currently within arms' reach? Just think about it.
Q: Speaking of Naruto, why give him the bloodline? Doesn't this make him almost god-like?
A: Actually, this is one of my biggest pet peeves with the canon, because it shows just how much of a hypocrite Kishimoto really is. I mean, seriously, you have two boys on this team. One of them is the title character, which means that, yes, you don't want him uber-powerful right to begin with. However, the writer is supposed to compensate for this by having that same character struggle to overcome those barriers and become a main character that the reader can be proud of. Instead, Kishimoto winds up overpowering Sasuke - the boy who he once claimed was only supposed to act as a foil to Naruto's character and be more in the background - while totally ignoring Naruto until the Fourth Shinobi War. The title of this anime is "Naruto", not "Sasuke." I really don't give a goddamn rat's ass about how "horrible" Sasuke's life was and how dark his past is, because in the end, he's still just the same asshole who cares only about himself. And, seriously? The Hiraishin technique of the goddamn Yondaime, not a bloodline? If it's just a combination of seals, then why doesn't every ninja in Konoha learn it? What is it about this ability that makes it sooooo impossible for everyone else to learn? If this technique isn't part of a bloodline, then it damn well should have been, because at least then, Naruto would have been on more equal footing with Sasuke. Kishimoto had a chance in the very beginning of this series to make Naruto into this awesome character who still struggles but manages to kick ass in a very cool way, but he failed in a very, very bad way, making him into a one-trick pony who either spams Kage Bunshins left and right in the first part of the series or uses the Rasengan too damn much in the second.
And this is the reason why I totally gave up watching or reading Naruto in any serious way, because I find that the fanfiction written about the series is far more interesting than the shit that actual series offers.
I do hope that I managed to (somehow) answer your questions, and I'm sorry about the rant. It's just that, as I continue to evolve more and more as a writer, I feel myself become more disgusted with what Kishimoto did with his series. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, despite the slight change in tone from the last, and I hope to have your continued support as I continue on. Thank you so much, and be sure to review!