Disclaimer: Naruto and Dungeons and Dragons are property of their respective owners, not me…
On to the story…
Chapter 4 – Answers and unexpected news…
"You're what?" Naruto asked, more like he yelled.
"Keep your voice down, Naruto-chan. Like I said, this is an elven secret and you're both now sworn to secrecy on this subject. Do I make myself clear?" Selene demanded angrily. The children nodded their understanding and she continued more calmly, "I'm sorry to be so forceful, but if others knew then our race would become extinct and our secrets would cause much bloodshed."
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Bilik stood before the Hokage and she was furious. "I demand that you destroy this document! It is his attempt at getting even with yourself and the non-human clans," she said angrily, as she indicated the man in the room with whom she was angry with, Hyuuga Hiashi.
"She is my daughter and I will decide what is good for her," Hiashi said authoritatively.
Hiruzen glared at the Hyuuga head and said, "This contract is void, since it was prepared after you lost custody of Hinata for striking another child who only looked similar to your daughter. We are still investigating if you're a fit parent for your other daughter. The goblins have shown that they can raise a human who seems to be unwanted and said child did blossom."
"Those filthy creatures care for that demon, and I agree that it does act more human than most T'nari do, but he is still not up to the standards that the Hyuuga are," Hiashi explained.
Hiruzen motioned for the ANBU next to the door to open the door and bide the person outside to enter. Hiashi and Bilik both wondered for a moment who he was bringing in the discussion, but were both surprised when a chuunin entered the room. She was wearing a red bodysuit and a chuunin vest.
"Welcome Kurenai-san. I would like you to tell me what you observed when you took charge of Hinata from Hiashi-san?" Hiruzen asked kindly.
Kurenai swallowed hard, took a deep breath and then said, "He said that she wasn't worthy of the Hyuuga name and couldn't even be as adept as her two year old sister. He also said that I needed to take her off of his hands, so that he could focus on a real heir. I'm sorry to be so blunt Hiashi-sama, but the Hokage asked."
Hiashi scowled, but said nothing.
Hiruzen scowled at Hiashi and then said, "You're worse than the Uchiha in your arrogance. I will now put forth a resolution for the branch family to report to my office for questioning and the main branch to report to Ibiki for questioning, you shall count yourself as included that order."
"The Hyuuga refuse," Hiashi said arrogantly, but was disabled by a quick touch by Bilik to his neck.
"Sorry Hiashi-teme, but you're going to sleep," Bilik said, but then bowed to the Hokage and said, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't stand it anymore."
Hiruzen waved off her apology. Kurenai stood in awe that a goblin had disabled a Hyuuga so easily. Hiruzen then got a smile across his face.
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A few days later Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata sat in a council chamber in the Elven owned area of the village. While the elves didn't have walls around their estate, it was well guarded. Stepping foot into their area would, you would find yourself set upon by at least five elves, and those were the ones you could see. Thus few people came uninvited to the elven lands in Konoha. Across from the two children appeared to be a set of clones of themselves, but with elven features. This confused and worried the boy. 'Why did they have his doppelganger?' he wondered. He did noticed that he boy's eyes no longer had the white pupils, but the iris was different and was more animalistic than a normal round iris, sort of like a cat's iris he was fascinated by the look.
"This is kind of weird, seeing my reflection in front of me. Hello Naruto, Hinata. We welcome you to the elven lands and would like to ask you a few questions about what you know," the elven Naruto said warmly.
"Why the hell do you look like us?" Naruto asked his doppelganger.
The elven boy laughed lightly, but then became serious. "How much do you know about seals young Naruto?" he asked pointedly.
Naruto scratched his head and looked at the other with both contempt and confusion. "I know they exist and I have one. Why?" he asked angrily.
The elf lifted his shirt and appeared to concentrate. A seal appeared on his stomach, very similar to his own. Naruto then lifted his own shirt and followed suit. Hinata next to him touched his stomach eliciting a giggle from him and the elven Hinata. "Now that I showed you mine. What's the deal?" Naruto asked anxiously.
The elf took a deep breath and began. "What do you know about the seal?" he asked gently.
"Only that it holds the Kyuubi," Naruto replied shame written all over his face.
"You were given a gift by the Fourth Hokage and have protected the village. Have you been able to contact the Fox?" the elf asked.
Naruto's face skewered up in disgust and wore a look of totally confused. He then asked, "Why would I want to talk to it?"
"It can give you power, but there is a price for it and you should never take too much. I would like to take you under my wing, as it were and begin to train you. That is if you would like to learn some neat jutsu. Again there is a price for this," the elf said sternly.
"Naruto-kun, be nice," the elven Hinata sternly rebuked.
"What? He needs to learn things and we also need help fitting in," the elven Naruto replied in a near whine.
Hinata giggled at this and wished she had this type of relationship with her Naruto. While the elf was almost as cute as hers, the key word was almost. He also seemed older and more refined. She imagined it was like listening at an older Naruto, in a similar package. She was woken out of her thoughts by the other Hinata who had put a hand on her shoulder. She then moved her lips to Hinata's ear.
"We are an older version of yourself and I would like to help you along. He is still rough around the edges, but we can most certainly help you progress to where you want to be and you might find that your Naruto-kun will fall in love with you," the elven girl whispered. She then continued, "You're seven and have a simple crush right now, but it will blossom into more. I will help you if you like. Our Narutos are different, but they are the same. We will start tomorrow with Juken training. Your teachers were not suited for your abilities. My Naruto-kun will take care of your Naruto, but you must keep what we teach you secret from others. Only the goblins, the elves and the Hokage can know about this. This is the price for our training. Do you agree?"
Hinata blushed, but thought that she would fail yet again. This showed evident on her downcast face. She was surprised when she was wrapped in a gentle hug by the elven Hinata. She wore a look of surprise and asked, "But what if I fail?"
The elf giggled, but continued the hug. "You only fail if you give up and your crush isn't one to give up, now is he? I'm sure you'd want to impress him and become like him," the elf said encouragingly.
Naruto looked on at the girl who was to be his mate and watched the interaction between the two girls and was confused. "She likes you and will become more so as you both grow older together," the elven Naruto explained.
"But why?" Naruto asked, confused.
"She has admired you from afar. She watched you train and fail, but has taken courage from your failures, because you didn't give up. She wants to be like you and not give up. Tenacity can be a good thing for a shinobi, but understanding is another good trait. The price for my training is to be that you are to question what I teach you, so that you actually understand it. Also you can't show off your skills or mention it anyone outside your clan, my clan or the Hokage. I'm already at genin as far as knowledge goes and have battle experience," the elf explained.
Naruto looked at his counterpart and asked, "How can you have battle experience? You look like you're only seven years old."
The elf chuckled and said, "I'm an elf," a slight lie, "and as such I live longer than you do, thus I grow slower than you do. I will have a growth spurt for the next few years though. By the way, I'm sixteen as is my love Hinata-chan."
"How come you guys have our names?" Naruto asked.
"Because our parents gave them to us," the elven boy replied sarcastically.
Naruto growled at his counterpart, but accepted the answer. The elven Naruto knew this was going to be an uphill battle and wondered how Jiraiya had put up with him during their training. He knew that he was going to be a handful, but also he wanted to make sure that he actually got proper training. Naruto had explained to the Hokage what had happened during his timeline and it had taken the better part of a day for Hinata and him to finish the story. The good news was that Haku had been found and was on the way to the Hidden Leaf and would be protected by the Elves. There was one catch though, either there were more things different in this world than he had thought or Haku had pulled the ultimate trick on him and really was a girl. Naruto had never thought to check when he was given burial detail, thinking back he probably should have, not for perverted reason, but to actually answer the question, of whether Haku was a boy or girl. He was also put in charge of her training. Both Hinata and himself were given honorary chuunin ranks, but since they lacked the physical skills at the moment they would be put in the academy to keep watch over their charges, mainly their younger counterparts, but also Haku.
Hinata had agreed to help out her counterpart after hearing how ruthless her father was in this world. She was ready to walk over to the Hyuuga compound and take Hanabi out of there at that moment, but was stopped by Naruto and Selene. Naruto had convinced her that training her counterpart would be justice enough.
Naruto had also came up with an idea of trying to get the Uchiha youth to be on their side, since Sarutobi admitted that the village and the Uchiha clan were having problems right now. Naruto reluctantly agreed to a second betrothal to an Uchiha girl from one of the more amicable families. Hinata also suggested that he also take Haku as a bride to be, just to keep her safe from other clans. This got Naruto wondering what Hinata was thinking, but Hinata only said that she would be the head wife and the others would have to fall in line. Naruto accepted quickly after a long make out session that had him in bliss and would have agreed to release the Kyuubi if asked.
Naruto no Erufu watched as the gears in his counterpart began to click in the boy's head. "You mean you have some kickass jutsu and you're going to teach me?" Naruto asked happily.
The elf nodded and smiled warmly. He then added, "I will and I will have some help in that area. Our first order of business is to improve your basic skills." He immediately put up a hand to forestall any objections and continued, "We will work on chakra control, physical strength, speed and flexibility. You will not address me as sensei outside of our training. We will be friends outside of training. We should be evenly matched up in speed and strength, but I will have you on experience and knowledge. We can also do some pranks if you like. Our first day at the academy will be fun and we can prank the teacher, who is?"
Naruto frowned and said, "Masumoto Takashi and he's a real jerk. He puts me outside the class all the time for as little as sighing."
Hinata said in a stutter, "It's true and Naruto-kun does nothing to deserve this treatment."
Naruto sighed and thought this would be the case. If he could stop this treatment he might curb some habits in his counterpart early on. "We shall take care of this right away. Here's how the training is going to work. We will come back after the academy and do knowledge or chakra control training first. We switch off between them, so as to not make it so boring. Jutsu will come as your control increases to a level that you can safely do jutsu. Also you will not be able to do the standard clone jutsu, so I will teach you another one. We will work on physical exercises for several hours after the chakra control or knowledge training. Knowledge will include basic healing, health, and subjects not really covered in class. Physical will include strength, stamina, weapons, and flexibility. Chakra control will be working on chakra exercises that will both increase your reserves and your control, but mostly control for us. Right now Naruto, man that sounds funny, and I have the worst control, while our hime have it better than we do, so we will have to work that much harder to get it under control. Because we hold Kyuubi our reserves are much larger than anyone our age and some people much older than us. I will also be working with you, Naruto, to harness and attempt to control the Kyuubi chakra. Remember it isn't a toy and you or others can really be hurt if it isn't used correctly. There also will be some people over time that will come in and join our training. Treat them with respect, please," he said.
"You sound like an adult…" Naruto said in a derogatory tone.
"Like I said, we're sixteen, and you're seven, so I would hope I would sound a little older than you. Also we need to distinguish ourselves from each other. I'm going to hide my whisker marks, thus making us look a little bit different. With similar names we can surely have some real fun messing with people," the elf said deviously. This elicited a giggle from the elven Hinata.
Naruto grinned deviously along with his counterpart.
The elven couple then put their hands into the ram seal and said in unison, "Transform." There was a puff of smoke, but there was little change in their appearance. The goblin wards looked closer to notice the subtle changes in their counterparts. Naruto was missing his whisker marks and Hinata's eyes while taking on a darker lavender appearance also had black pupils and the irises were slits similar to Naruto.
"Well that was productive. We will meet up with you tomorrow at the academy and have some fun with the teachers. Please keep this a secret, especially you Naruto," the elven boy said sternly, but got a shy nod from his counterpart.
The younger pair left the meeting hall and headed back to the warrens hopeful that training would help them. Naruto looked back at Selene who nodded. "Geez, do I have to go through with this? I mean Hinata-chan is good enough, right?" he said in a whining tone.
"Naruto-kun, if what you said might happen and it just might come to be. We need to help preserve the Uchiha by some means. You marrying an Uchiha might not be such a bad thing. I hear that she is in the middle of the class that you're going to be in. I hear that she lacks the normal Uchiha penchant for arrogance and Hinata-chan can keep that to a minimum if needed. Now let us go and talk to the Uchiha," Selene said in an authoritative tone.
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Fugaku was beside himself. Mikoto had been able to arrange a marriage between an elf and one of the members of his clan. This would bring the elves to their side if conflict were to erupt, in the possibility of a conflict between the Uchiha and the village, or it would at least keep them as a neutral party in the possible conflict. The Hokage was trying to make amends, but it was almost a little too little, a little too late. The Uchiha thought that they were the pinnacle of the shinobi in ability and stature. He knew better or an Uchiha would have been Hokage by now. While he was somewhat angry that he didn't make the position of Hokage, he was rather pleased that he didn't have to sacrifice his life for the village when the Kyuubi had attacked. While the Uchiha would quietly support the goblins and the boy who held the Kyuubi at bay, they could not let it be known, because if any more associations between the beast and the Uchiha were made, it would be bad for the clan. Madara had set his clan on a collision course with the village and the elders.
The girl in that Mikoto had set before him for the union would more than likely get her Sharingan, but it would be when she was in her mid to late teen given her family history. The parents were also one of the more moderate families who didn't hold a grudge against the village, but held pity for it. Also the father, who was a radical was dead and had left his wife and two daughters to the clan. Thus she were trying to get her daughter to find a way to help them. The girl was nearly as old as his younger son and was in his class. Sasuke never talked about her much, other than she would mostly keep to herself most of the time. He did mention that she shied away from the Inuzuka boy and would be at least sociable with other people. She also helped his son out on a few occasions, in helping him evade a blossoming fan girl problem he was starting to have. All in all, things were looking up. He had the nominal support of the goblins, and now would have either the neutrality of the elves or they could even become an allied clan.
He was woken from his musing by a hand on his shoulder from his wife, who wore a warm smile. "They're here," she said warmly.
He looked up to see a young boy with blonde hair and looked surprisingly like the jinchuuriki of the village, but also wore wild features, such as elven ears and slits for irises. The other two along with the boy were both females, one looked similar to Hiashi's eldest daughter, but lacked her Byakugan and had elven features similar to the boy. The third member was Selene, who had red hair that reminded him of an Uzumaki woman, Kushina, but he pushed that thought out of his mind, he had a meeting to deal with.
The boy bowed and then said politely, "I would like to thank you for inviting us into your house, Uchiha-sama."
This impressed the Uchiha head, the boy appeared to be around seven, but knowing the elves he might be older. "Thank you for your greeting, Erufu-san. Please sit and we will discuss our agreement, Selene-san," he said in a monotone. This caused the boy to scowl slightly, but the girl elbowed him, forcing him to school his features. This pleased him somewhat, either the girl was to be his first wife or she was his sister. It didn't matter either way she would keep the boy under control. The trio sat on the other side of the table and waited.
"Sasuke, please bring in Akemi and her mother, if you would," Mikoto said into the other room.
"Yeah sure mom," a young voice came from the other room.
A girl with black hair and deep, almost black eyes entered the doorway with an older copy of herself. She and the older woman bowed. Naruto immediately stood and bowed to the woman first and then to the girl, who blushed at the show of respect.
"Aya, will you and Akemi please sit down?" Mikoto said while offering a spot on the side of the table between Naruto and Fugaku. The pair sat and Naruto sat just afterwards.
"We are here to discuss the marriage arrangements between the Uchiha and the Erufu clans. Akemi is to be wed to Naru no Erufu on or around her sixteenth birthday. This union will cement the union of friendship between the two clans. Is that acceptable to you Selene-sama?" Fugaku asked.
Naruto cleared his throat and then said, "I would like to hear from Akemi-chan first, since this affects her the most." He turned to the girl and then asked, "Do you understand what this means?"
All of the Uchiha were stunned that a supposed seven year old boy was asking this question. Akemi blushed profusely, but then steeled herself for this and said, "I understand that I do this for my clan and will be a good wife for you Naru-sama."
Naruto sighed internally, but only allowed a scowl to appear on his face. "I'm asking if you understand that you're committing the rest of your life to a union of you, my other fiancé and me? It isn't a commitment that should be taken lightly. If you like someone else than I would rather have you seek them out and be happy rather than miserable with me," he explained.
"I don't know you well enough to know if you're the one that I seek or it is another," she replied sheepishly.
"Well then, how about we do this… We continue with the agreement, but if you feel that you want out for any reason than we will release you without any repercussions. The other portions of the agreement will stand, but you are free to follow your heart, that is until we become properly married, then I'm afraid that the agreement would be permanent and there would be no going back," he explained.
Akemi blushed and smiled happily. "I like those terms," she said happily.
Fugaku was stunned, he thought it would be a simple agreement where the children would just discuss school or just keep quiet during the negotiations, but no, the boy had surprised him. He had looked after the wellbeing of Akemi before he looked at the agreement. This boy needed close watching. "Alright then, we are agreed that in nine years Akemi, barring her rescinding the agreement will marry Naru-chan. The elves will for their part start sell healing herbs to the Uchiha clan at reduced prices along with sharing some jutsu. The Uchiha for our part will share some of our tactics and jutsu in return," Fugaku explained.
Selene smiled and nodded, while saying, "It is agreed. The elves will work with your merchants to have the herbs available to you within the week. We would also like for Akemi and her mother to join us in the elven woods to learn our ways and so that we can learn your ways in return. If, that is alright with you, Fugaku-sama?"
Fugaku looked at Mikoto who seemed to ponder it for a minute, but then said, "That isn't a problem as long as you allow her sister, Emi-chan to come along. I'm sure she would miss her mother and sister dearly."
Selene nodded and replied, "She would be welcome as family of course. We look forward to Akemi-chan and her family at the end of the week. Is that acceptable to you Aya-san?"
Aya bowed deeply and nodded. "That would be wonderful, Selene-sama. We shall see you at the end of the week then."
"I think our business here is done here. Good day to you all. Naru-chan, Hina-chan, please come with me," Selene said warmly. The trio got up and left the house quietly.
Fugaku waited until the Erufu had left and then turned to Aya and said, "Do as much as you can to convince the elves to help us out. We will need their support. Akemi, if you could open your heart to Naru-chan it would be most beneficial to the clan."
Akemi blushed and nodded. "As you wish, Fugaku-dono," she said while she bowed low.
Akemi and Aya both left the house in a good mood.
"So wife, do you think that we did the right thing?" Fugaku asked.
"Naru-chan seems sincere and would make a good husband even if he outlived Akemi. Their children would be half-elves and would be a great addition to either of the clans. Akemi seems to be taken by the boy, so yes we did the right thing. Although I can't seem to shake the feeling that the boy bears an uncanny resemblance to Naruto-chan of the goblins and the Fourth Hokage," Mikoto replied.
"Maybe Minato-sama had a fling with an elf and a human, thus fathered two children. That would explain a lot of the resemblance. Also from what I hear, there are no real half-elves, either they are born elf or they are born human. The only thing is that the humans get is a longer life span out of the deal, about a third of the elven lifespan," Fugaku explained. He then sighed heavily and said, "I just hope negotiations with the Hokage can pan out, if not we will have to turn to our alternative plan."
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Selene was smiling widely at what had happened. "I'm impressed Naru-chan, you've shown a lot of courage and forethought in how you dealt with the Uchiha," she said, complimenting the boy.
Naruto scratched his head through his cape hood and said, "Well truthfully, I was trying to scare her away, so that I would only have to try to figure out Hina-hime."
Naruto flinched when his arm was lightly slapped and Hinata said, "That wasn't nice, but I agree you handled it well. While I don't really like the idea of sharing my Naru-kun, I do understand why there might be a reason that he would have more than one wife. So when is the ceremony?"
Selene nodded and then said, "It will be just after the break for the academy."
The trio stopped when a group of Hyuuga landed in front of them.
"How may we help you Hyuuga-san?" Selene asked.
"You will return Hinata-sama or suffer the consequences," the leader said angrily.
Hinata removed her cowl and showed her face. "Were you referring to me?"
Naruto tensed at this hoping that they would leave, but preparing for them not too.
"You look like Hinata-sama, but you are not her. Where is she?" the Hyuuga demanded.
"I would check with the goblins, if I was you and I would also stand down or face both the Erufu guard and ANBU. Oh and tell Hiashi-teme that this little incident will not be forgotten and that the Hyuuga will now pay a premium price for both Nara and Erufu medicines," Selene explained.
The man paled, but then said, "The demon will not have our heir."
Hinata walked up to the man and then motioned for him to come down to her level and then she tapped him on the forehead. The man fell over backwards with a resounding headache. "You have delayed us and we're on a tight schedule. You can tell that monster of a man, Hiashi, that his daughter will be much happier where she is and much stronger," she explained and then walked over the man, as the trio continued past the Hyuuga. Hinata reached her hand out and Naruto quickly took it. The trio headed into town to buy some supplies for training and the clan.
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A distant rumble was heard upon the air along with an inhuman shriek. Several of the older shinobi knew this didn't bode well for the village. All just hoped this particular hazard would just go around the village and not return again.
A/N: For those who are hoping for Hiashi and Tsume to get hurt. Sorry, but you'll have to wait. I'm working on progressing this story along fairly slowly and it will somewhat follow cannon, but take several deviations. Naruto will be stronger and much smarter, but not god like. The elven version or AU Naruto is already stronger in just knowledge and will only get more so. With them training after school it will help to establish a possibly more normal existence for this world's Naruto and Hinata. Yes I've made Hiashi and Tsume antagonists in this story. Currently Kiba at best would be Tsume's willing dupe, but it may or may not change over time. Hanabi is only two and as such hasn't formed too many opinions yet. I won't be dealing with her for a little while. I'm still working out the details of the Uchiha massacre and haven't finalized it just yet.
Yes the Uchiha are plotting a coup, but also want to try to allow for a process that wouldn't leave them a shattered village afterwards, they may be arrogant, but they are not idiots. Sasuke hasn't yet been affected by the massacre, so he is a quiet reserved, but somewhat snobbish boy. Girls are just starting to notice him in the academy.
Now for the harem, Naruto is more forced to marry the others and will take care of them, if not love them. His main feelings are towards Hinata and she is happy about that. She knows that he is in need of a lot of love and still has her own issues around her confidence, but isn't showing it. She needs to be strong for her Naruto and the other Hinata. I hope I didn't confuse you with the conversation between the characters. Well until next chapter.
I'm working on Missing Hokage and Uzumaki of the Whirlpool, but those are going slower than I would like. I will have something out as soon as I can. My other stories are chugging right along when I get time to write and am not betaing for a couple people.