To those of you anxious about the pairing of this fic, I cannot say for sure who it is because I have yet to decide. I'll be honest, NaruHina is the most likely one to happen, but to provide a sense of mystery to you and a challenge to myself, I'm not limiting myself to only that as a possibility.
The Namikaze Estate was indeed a large one. It had two hundred acres of land, which was surrounded by a low redbrick wall with an ornate gate that gave easy access to the property. The estate had its own small training ground, and during the Uchiha occupation of the Mansion, they had expanded upon it, in order to train new recruits.
The Mansion itself was in the center of the grounds. It was a large building, with more then a hundred rooms. And at the very top of the Mansion was a flagpole, which had originally bore the seal of the Namikaze Clan, but when the Uchiha moved in, they took it down and placed their own colors there instead.
On the day the Uchiha had been moving out, Kushina had come to the Estate, walking right past every member of the police force, and the moment she saw the Uchiha flag over her husband's home, she leapt onto the roof and removed it. No, she destroyed it. She tore the flag in half, and smiled down at the shocked Uchiha below.
It was hard to say what offended the Uchiha's more. Their headquarters being usurped from them, their symbol being destroyed as if by an animal, or the one responsible for both acts smiling the entire time.
Kushina didn't care in either regard, now that the proper flag had been returned to its rightful place and was fluttering in the breeze.
Kushina stood in front of the reclaimed Estate, a smile on her face as she held Naruto's hand. "This will do nicely. I hate to admit it, but I'm kinda glad the Uchiha increased its size. More room for the kids who need a home." She said, noticing the additions that had been made to it.
"What are you talking about Mom?" Naruto asked, still not clear on what she meant by opening her home up.
Kushina knelt down to look at him, smiling. "Well son, I love you, demon or not, but there are most likely some mommies and daddies out there in the village that can't say the same for their own kids. So if those kids can't stay with their parents, where would they go?" Naruto shrugged. "Exactly. They wouldn't know either. Since this place is too big for just the two of us, I'm going to give all those kids I just told you about a home with us. Where they can feel accepted and appreciated."
"How many do you think will come?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know. Maybe a couple, maybe a lot."
"I'm not sure if I should be glad or upset. I mean, I'd be glad to have some kids to play with, but I'd be sad that they'd only be here because their parents didn't want them anymore."
Kushina smiled and stroked his head. "That's normal son."
Naruto then looked worried. "But if there are a lot of kids here, will you still have time for me?" He was worried that now that he had his mother back, he'd barely get to be with her if she had more responsibilities than him.
Kushina just smiled. "Always. But I can't give you attention 24/7, and you probably wouldn't like that either after a while. I still need to get a job so we can keep living here, and many other kids in this village will need my help from time to time. So unfortunately you're going to have to learn to share me, but you'll be my only son."
"Thanks Mom. So what will you do for a job?"
"I've got an idea. But I need to do a little 'digging' first." Kushina told him, a gleam in her eyes he didn't see, and it was possibly good that he didn't, because it was not a good gleam.
At the Hyuuga compound, Hiashi sat in his private study, deep in thought.
(Flashback)
No one outside the Clan knew this secret, and the Main House was working franticly to make sure it did not circulate through the village.
Both the Main and Branch House had been affected by the massive chakra wave that occurred only days ago. For those in the Main House, their children were simply transformed into demons. However, something more happened to the children of the Branch family.
The Caged Bird Seal, which bound all member of the Branch Family in servitude to the Main House, had been wiped from the foreheads of every single transformed child. At first this did not seem to be an issue, the true issue was that no matter how many times they attempted to reapply it, they could not replace the seal.
And that terrified the Clan.
"The Branch family could rise up against us." A rather old member of the Main House said.
"Only the children have been affected, their parents still remain under our control." Another member answered, although he was just as worried about the situation.
"Then it is clear what we must do, we must kill the children."
"Are you insane? Do you not remember what that Devil Woman said? If we even consider such a thing she will come down upon us like a plague."
"Not to mention that killing them all would only give the Branch family even more reason to rise against us."
"Then what is to be done with them? And even more so, what is to be done with our own children?"
Suddenly all eyes turned to Hiashi who sat at the head of the long table, all of them wanted to hear what the Clan Head had to say on this matter.
Hiashi looked at all of his fellow Hyuuga, it somewhat pained him to see them talking about Branch members like they were all dogs that needed to be kept on a leash or put down for breaking free of that leash. Thoughts of his dead twin brother Hizashi entered his mind as he spoke.
"Whatever has befallen the children of our clan, we must not forget that they are still Hyuuga." He said calmly. "Perhaps what has happened is a sign from above that we must change our policy regarding the Branch members."
"Have you gone mad Hiashi? They are our servants! They have been since our clan was founded! It's the only reason we allow them to even be born!"
"And by treating them as nothing more then mere servants we have created in them a deep hatred of the Main House. Everyone here is so worried they will take any chance they can get to usurp us, when in fact we have done little to give them no reason not to other than a seal that's more of a torture symbol than a security measure. I believe it is time we stop fanning that flame of hatred and instead to repair the split with this family." Hiashi said.
"What… what are you suggesting Hiashi?"
"I propose that we end the segregation between Main and Branch houses. End the use of the Caged Bird Seal all together; integrate training classes with the children from both branches."
"You are asking that we just throw aside all of our traditions and values, our practices that have kept our clans secrets safe for generations."
"That has not stopped many from trying and succeeding." Hiashi countered, all present at the table, knew there had been some instances, when Main House members had been killed in battle, and on several occasions, their eyes, containing the Byakugan had been removed.
There was a sudden silence in the room, no one spoke for a few minutes, but then a Hyuuga elder stood. "You ask a great deal Hiashi, a very great deal. If the Council of Elders were to grant your request, what would you give us in return?" He asked as a small smile on his face.
Hiashi raised a brow. "What would you ask for?"
"Your daughters." The Elder said. "They are to be… cast out of the clan."
Hiashi jolted back and almost lost his balance. "What? You can't be serious."
"You're asking us all to make a big sacrifice. It's only fair we ask you to make one just as big."
"It's big but not reasonable." Hiashi countered.
"Telling us to discard tradition is not reasonable either." Another Hyuuga added.
A kinder Hyuuga spoke up. "Maybe you could consider this an act of faith Lord Hiashi. If you truly wish to merge the two houses, by casting out your daughters, you throw out any suspicions the Branch family may have that only the original Main house will keep all the power regardless of the joining."
The one who brought up the issue smiled triumphantly. "Then it's settled. Hiashi, for the sake of the clan, you will either cast out your daughters or agree to kill the Branch house children."
(End of Flash Back)
Hiashi was left with a difficult decision; if the Elders did agree to his request then this could usher in a whole new era for the Hyuuga Clan, perhaps its greatest ever. But at what cost? Hinata and Hanabi, his daughters, his heirs and all that remained to remind him of his wife.
The Clan Head weighed his options, part of him hating himself for even considering the idea.
A few evenings later, the council had gathered in their meeting room for a routine discussion of village events. This was the first one Kushina was attending, as representative of the demon community.
"How are things in my former property Kushina-san?" Fugaku asked when they had a free moment. It was clear to everyone that the Uchiha head was incredibly resentful of the forced change.
Kushina could sense it as clear as the nose on his face, but to add insult to injury she just smiled victoriously. "Actually it was my son's property; you and your police force were just squatting there. But to answer your question, it's going quite well. With all that Uchiha crap out of the way it's finally looking like my old home again."
"Crap?" Fugaku said, offended beyond reason. "That was all part of the Uchiha legacy passed down for generations to help us do our job and reflect our status."
Kushina shrugged. "One person's treasure is another person's trash, which is where it will end up if I find any left in my house."
Fugaku grumbled to himself, and Shikaku chose that moment to speak up in an effort to avoid any brewing incident. "How are things with your son? Or the demon orphanage?"
Kushina smiled, this time kindly rather than condescendingly. "My son is wonderful. I'm so glad I have a chance to be his mother for him. I'm so glad I didn't miss out on it. I do miss Minato greatly, but as long as I have Naruto a piece of Minato will always be with me. As for the orphanage, so far I've already had a few children come under my care. It's a little less than I expected by this point now."
"You expected many kids to come to you?" Homura asked.
Kushina nodded. "Considering how this village has treated my son, why wouldn't I expect a good number of people to treat other children the same way? Because it's their children, therefore someone they can tolerate and love? Even you have to admit it's hard to believe no one would get rid of their children for one reason or the other. Orphans wouldn't even exist if it wasn't a possibility."
"I suppose you're right. I guess I just had more faith than you on how many people would continue to love their children despite the change." The old man replied.
"Was that the same faith that said those same people would respect Minato's dying wish?" Kushina added, silencing Homura effectively.
Sarutobi coughed. "Well, if there is no more business, I think we can end this meeting and go home."
"Actually, Lord Hokage, I have one more thing while we're all here." Kushina spoke up.
"Regarding?"
"I think I figured out who caused the problems regarding my son."
THAT certainly caught everyone's interest. "Go on." Sarutobi said.
Kushina stood up and folded her arms behind her back. "From what I gathered, here's the dilemma regarding my son. After Minato and I died and the kyuubi was sealed in him, he was brought to safety by someone here. From there the entire council was informed of my son's situation, most likely to remove any fears that the Kyuubi would return and continue attacking the village. This council had been informed of my husband's and mine dying wish for Naruto to be seen as a hero for keeping the fox away from doing any further harm."
The council members nodded and the redhead continued. "At the same time, our third Hokage was reinstated under the default law of Hokage selection right? The one that says if the current Hokage dies and there was no successor already declared, the previous Hokage automatically reclaims the title unless physically or mentally incapable of doing so or such Hokage was forced out of office, right?" More nods. "Now, around this time the information regarding my son's jinchuuriki status was somehow leaked to the general public, and probably spun in a propagandist way to cause more hysteria among the villagers, who were already afraid of impending doom. So a law to protect my son was created in an effort to protect him and give him a normal life, but information regarding my son's lineage was withheld. And for six years no one has been able to find out who leaked out this very important secret. Is that all correct?"
"What is your point?" Fugaku asked.
"I'm just getting the facts straight before I make any accusations." Kushina told him without looking at him. "And before I do that, I'd like to know what this council had in mind regarding my son's upbringing and future."
Koharu stood up to answer that one. "As we explained the other day, we were unable to find your son a permanent caregiver, but we were able to provide caregivers everyday and a residence where he could be safe and warm." She would have said more, but she was cut off by Kushina.
"I didn't ask what you did do. I asked what you had intended before this all happened."
"To be honest, it all happened so quickly I honestly cannot remember what we discussed before it became clear that Naruto's secret had been revealed."
Kushina nodded. "Okay, that tells me this information was leaked quite quickly. Probably even with the very hour you all learned it. And it spread quite significantly before you finished or had time to stop it. With that, I can only conclude that either there was someone listening in on your discussion that day, or someone here gave this information thru unclear means and had the receiver spread it for them."
"We have already considered that and interrogated everyone here to see if they could have done that. So far nothing has been found." Danzou stated.
"In that case, there are only two possibilities on who could have done this." Kushina said, and then turned to Inoichi. "Mr. Yamanaka, were any of your clansmen the ones who did the interrogating?"
"Of course. It was the only way to ensure that we found the truth, by going into their minds and checking their memories. Why?"
"Who interrogated you then?"
Inoichi looked shocked. "You think I did it?"
"Who interrogated you?" Kushina sternly repeated.
Inoichi frowned but answered. "It was another Yamanaka accompanied by Ibiki and the rest of the T&I division. They did all the work. I was not allowed to do it under the grounds I myself was a suspect. But I swear on my daughter's life I did not leak this information out."
Kushina's smile unnerved him. "Are you willing to prove that?"
"What do you mean?"
Kushina waved her hand as if to beckon someone to come towards her. From out of nowhere Ino appeared next to Kushina, looking completely human except for her aqua blue hair. As a siren, she was one of the few demon children that did not require a human disguise to hide in public.
"Ino? When did you get here?" Inoichi asked.
"Oh I asked the child or grandchild of every person here for this exact purpose." Kushina told him before touching Ino's scalp with a glowing red hand then firing a red chakra ray at Ino's face. "There. Now your daughter's life is dependent on you being honest. If you lie, she suffers for it."
Ino looked a bit afraid but the adults looked horrified, Inoichi especially. "YOU CANNOT DO THIS!"
Kushina just glared. "Little action was done to stop those willing to kill my son, so now you'll know what it feels like to see your child in danger if you act negligently. Besides, you were just a moment ago willing to swear on your daughter's life you were being honest, so why are you afraid now that you have the literal risk? If you are telling the truth, no harm will come. And rest assured I will remove the jutsu right away if you answer honesty Inoichi."
Inoichi kept glaring but he held himself in check. "I swear to you Kushina that I was not responsible for the information regarding your son being given to the public and I never once encouraged anything bad to happen to him." He looked to see what if anything would happen to Ino, and to his relief nothing did.
"Thank you Mr. Yamanaka." Kushina said before touching Ino with a green glowing hand. "Your daughter is safe now. I'm sorry I had to do that, but anyone can say anything if they know they don't have to prove it without serious repercussions."
Ino came over to her father and he embraced her quite protectively. At the same time all the other children went to their family memebers too.
Kushina looked over the rest of the council. "Like I said before, I brought with me the children or grandchildren of each and every one of you. I could do this to all of you to find out the real culprit." She saw they were all afraid, but more of the implication than of being caught she guessed. "However, I will not, since I believe that will be unnecessary and maybe little more effective than anything you've already tried the past six years."
"This is exactly why people hate demons and why they shouldn't be here." Fugaku commented, not caring who heard him but hoping someone would agree. It appeared everyone ignored him.
Kushina moved her arms so they were folded in front of her. "So as I was saying, the guilty party here was someone who had immediate access to the information on my son, could get that information sent to others before the meeting concluded, and escaped being found by the T&I ninja. With that in mind, I asked myself one question." She paused for dramatic effect and to get everyone even more curious.
"Was there ANYONE here that was NOT interrogated?"
Everyone looked confused. "Why do you ask that? Of course everyone was interrogated." Koharu answered.
Kushina looked towards Inoichi for confirmation. "It's true. Our forces showed that every shinobi member and civilian member and even the Anbu and T&I department itself were carefully gone over to ensure no one spoke of what happened to your son."
Kushina looked undaunted and crossed her arms. "Every shinobi member here?" Inoichi nodded. "Every civilian member here or present on that day?" Another nod. "Every Anbu in the village that day?" Another nod. "Every member of the T&I department?" Another nod.
"What's your point Kushina?" Danzo asked.
"Like I said before, I have an idea. It's possible that Madara Uchiha did it, since he was the one that unleashed the Kyuubi on Konoha in the first place."
"Madara Uchiha?" All the ninja members and elders asked in shock and disbelief.
Kushina nodded. "Yes, as hard as it is to believe Madara himself came to me as I was giving birth and stole my son from me, angering me enough to unwillingly release the Kyuubi from my body. He took it over and had it attack Konoha. Minato got Naruto back but Madara escaped. We had no choice but to reseal Kyuubi into Naruto since I was too injured to contain it again."
"How could he still be alive?" Homura asked.
"I don't know. But he could have easily sneaked around Konoha and caused everyone to fear Naruto rather than care for him, and then left. I can't be completely certain, since I can't be sure why he didn't just take Naruto when he was completely vulnerable then."
"Maybe he's waiting for Naruto to get stronger so he could use him for something." Shikaku offered.
"You certain it was Madara Uchiha?" Fugaku asked.
"It was either him, or someone here did escape interrogation." Kushina replied. "It's also possible he stole the missing money from my husband's accounts for himself, but I'm not as sure on that one. When it comes to the missing money, I still suspect someone here did that."
"This is a lot to think about." Sarutobi stated. "Kushina, thank you for your warning. This will help us greatly in the future."
"You can't be taking her seriously Lord Hokage?" Fugaku asked. "I mean, Madara Uchiha can't possibly be alive!"
"If I was lying, wouldn't I make a better lie than that?" Kushina asked.
"Let's not worry about it for now and give the matter some rest. It's not like we can do anything on the matter right now anyway." Sarutobi told everyone. "For now, let's all just go home and get some rest. Meeting adjourned."
Kushina walked down the brick path that lead up to her home. She remembered when she had first walked down this path with Minato, they had been so young then. When she had first met Minato at the Academy, she thought he was such a wimp. But he had been the one to save her from the Kumo ninja who had kidnapped her so many years ago.
She found it unfair, unfair that she had been able to return and her beloved husband had not.
Of course, life had never been fair, if it had then it would never allowed 'him' to exist. That masked bastard. The man who had kidnapped her Naruto before he was even an hour old, the one who forcibly extracted the Kyuubi from her body and allowed it to run rampant causing so much destruction, and causing Naruto's misery and loneliness for all these years.
If she ever got her hands on that man, she would show him the legendary fury of the Uzumaki clan combined with the raw unrestrained power of the new Kyuubi.
She came within sight of the Mansions front doors, and she saw Naruto was sitting there waiting for her, but he was not alone.
There were two others with him, the two Hyuuga girls. Hinata sat close to Naruto, holding her whimpering sister in her arms.
When Naruto saw his mom he ran up to her very quickly. "Mom, you gotta do something." He said as he took her hand and pulled her over to the steps.
Hinata took her eyes off her sister and looked up at the red-haired women who stood above her. Kushina saw how frightened Hinata looked, and she could also see small beads of sweat running down her face. And then she saw her sister, Hanabi. The poor baby, she was still unused to her new harpy body and seemed pained. Apparently sometime since she informed Hiashi the concealing spell on her wore off, returning Hanabi to her harpy form. The same thing had been true when she saw Neji before she took him to the council room to make Hiashi tell the truth if she needed him to.
Kushina bent down and smiled warmly at Hinata. "Hello sweetheart, can I see your sister for a second?" She asked politely.
Hinata seemed a bit reluctant to give up Hanabi, but she could not see any cruelty in Kushina's eyes and slowly handed the still whimpering child to her. Kushina held the infant Hyuuga in her arms. Cradling the child with one hand while she slowly ran the fingers of her other hand down Hanabi's forehead.
It was then that the distinguishing harpy features began to vanish, melting away into the skin. Hanabi's legs began to contort and change, and after a few moments she looked like a completely normal child.
The whimpering had stopped, and the girl was now smiling happily up at Kushina who smiled back. "There now, all better."
Both Naruto and Hinata looked amazed. "Y… y… you fixed her." Hinata said shyly as she looked at her sister.
"Oh no, she is still a demon. I have simply performed a demon henge jutsu, it makes her look human, but once you scratch off the surface you'd see she's still a demon. I think she was just fussy because she's not used to her harpy body. It must be hard to suddenly adjust to having legs that bend backwards and arms that move like wings." Kushina trailed off as if suddenly realizing something. "What are you doing here? Naruto did you invite them here?"
The smaller kitsune shook his head. "No Mom, I was out here playing, and a couple of men showed up and brought them here." He said as he pointed to the small pile of bags that lay on the ground next to the steps.
Kushina looked at Hinata. "Is this true?" She asked.
The yuki-onna nodded slowly. "Y… yes, my father… said that… we had to live here now… and that we… could not come home." She said slowly, and tears began to form in her eyes.
Kushina was about to say something comforting to the girl but instead it was Naruto who did it. "Don't cry. If your father's such a jerk he can't love you anymore, you can stay with us and we will make you happy. Right Mom?" He turned to Kushina at the end and Hinata followed his lead.
"Of course. That's why I opened the house up to all demon kids. But I will have to have a talk with your father later on."
Hinata smiled and bowed. "Thank you." Kushina saw she was a bit wobbly and looked lightheaded.
"Let's get you inside now. You look like you're about to collapse." She said as she led the kids inside.
Hinata stepped inside but the heat had gotten to her and she practically passed out. Naruto caught her before she hit the ground. "Mom, what's wrong? Is she sick?" He asked, very worried for her.
"She'll be fine, she's just overheated. She needs to be somewhere cold to get better, and some special medicine to handle the heat, which she obviously doesn't have on her." Kushina explained. She walked up a set of stairs and headed for one of the empty rooms. 'I'm so glad I had the foresight to make sure some rooms included an air conditioner.'
One of the kids already dropped off to live in the new orphanage was in the hall and saw the older woman and her son coming. "Hi Mrs. Namikaze, Naruto. Who's this with you?"
"Two new tenants Sakura. One of them isn't doing too well and needs to cool down."
The pink-haired girl gasped. "Can I help?"
Kushina shook her head. "No need. All she needs is to get some rest and cool down." She then opened the door to a room with air conditioning and Naruto set Hinata down on a futon before his mom turned the AC on. "Let's give her some time to cool down. I'll go make her some of her medicine. Naruto, come with me and keep an eye on the baby while I work. Sakura, keep an eye on her in case something looks wrong or if she wakes up. If you need me, come get me." Both kids nodded and did as told.
Ten minutes later Hinata woke up. "Wha... where am I?"
"You're here where the rest of us unwanted kids are." A girl's voice told her. Hinata turned to her left and saw a young girl with short pink hair trying to keep warm. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah, actually I am." Hinata said as she sat up. "Where's my sister?"
"Mrs. Namikaze took her downstairs. I'm Sakura Ha... just Sakura I guess."
"Hinata Hyu... just Hinata I guess too."
"So what did you get turned into that made your parents not want you anymore?" Sakura bluntly yet curiously asked.
Hinata shedded one tear which froze on her cheek. "A yuki-onna."
"Oh, that explains the need for this room to be so chilly. I'm a banshee now. My parents told me I'm just a monster now and don't want me under their roof anymore, so I came here. What happened to you?"
"I... don't really know. E-everything was g-going okay for the past few days, then my clan got angry over something and my father t-told me that my sister and I had to l-l-leave and never come back before someone ki-killed us. He... said he was sorry and would visit me when he could, but he c-couldn't let anyone know about it though."
Sakura looked away sadly. "Just be glad he did say that. I don't think my parents want to ever see me again."
"Why's that?" Hinata asked.
Sakura started to cry. "When I... didn't want to leave, my mom... screamed at me and threw a knife at me."
Hinata's eyes widened. "R-r-really?"
Sakura nodded. "But it didn't work. The knife just went right thru me because Mrs. Namikaze says most weapons can't hurt banshees. I still screamed in fear though and both Mom and Dad were so hurt from my scream their ears were bleeding. Dad passed out and I'm not sure if he's okay yet, and Mom looked at me like I was a monster. So I just grabbed some of my stuff and came here before they could do more."
Hinata came over and hugged Sakura to make her feel better. Sakura returned the hug and both girls started crying. After a few moments, they heard a knock at the door. It opened to reveal Naruto. "Hi girls. I've got your medicine Hinata." He held out a lollipop for her. "Mom says these will help you stand the heat better so you can be outside more. But each only lasts a day."
"Th-thank y-you N-Naruto." Hinata took it and placed it in her mouth. "Mmm... tastes good."
"Oh, Mom says you can have this room as yours, but your sister will need a different room since she won't like being cold all the time." Naruto added.
"Who does?" Sakura commented, shivering.
"What are you talking about? It's not cold in here at all." Hinata said.
"Sure, to you isn't. But I'm freezing."
Back in his house, Fugaku had a lot on his mind.
'So that bitch not only dares to steal my rightful headquarters, but dares to slander my clan's reputation with some preposterous story of our biggest mistake still up to no good. If word of Madara Uchiha still being alive ever got out and taken seriously, people would start to suspect more problems would arise from the Uchiha clan, lowering our status further.'
Sasuke tried to approach his father. "Hi Dad, wanna see how good I've gotten using the Fireball jUtsu?"
Fugaku just frowned. "Go away Sasuke, I'm in no mood." He then walked away, leaving his hurt son behind. 'Damn that woman. If she keeps snooping around she may find out those missing funds were because of me. The only reason I was never exposed was because I blackmailed the interrogator with having someone they cared about arrested and executed in a day if they didn't keep their mouth shut. But if she finds out, I'll need the entire clan to save my life and reputation from her horrible deeds.'
He sighed. 'I better ensure we eliminate her and her bastard child before they pose further threat. The training of our monster children will have to be intensified to get ready as fast as humanly possible. Oh wait, they're not human anymore so make that as fast as inhumanly possible.' He chuckled at his personal joke.