Chapter 14: The Mighty Show Their True Colors
"Hinata," Naruto said as he helped clean up dinner. "How serious are you about becoming a medic-nin?"
"Very, I've already started reading over some medical scrolls. Why," Hinata replied.
"Well, I've managed to find somebody to teach you medical jutsu and knowledge. They were actually quite impressed with your healing cream," Naruto answered.
"Really who is it," Hinata begged dying to know who was going to teach her.
"Her name's Tsunade," Naruto said nonchalantly.
It took a moment for Hinata to realize who Tsunade was before she tackled Naruto in a hug repeating thank you over and over. Naruto told Hinata that she was welcome while Rin and Anko tried to stifle their laughter. Hinata heard them laughing and looked up to see what the two were laughing at. It was then that she realized what position she and Naruto were in from the hug. She immediately stood up blushing so red that someone would wonder if she had been out in the sun for the past few days straight.
"Naruto," Rin said as she stopped laughing. "I need to talk to you for a minute in the living room."
"About what," Naruto asked as he and Rin sat down.
"The council informed today of some information about you," Rin paused wondering how Naruto was going to take this news.
"What is it," Naruto asked when he saw Rin hesitate.
"The new treaty with Sand includes you marrying former Kazekage's daughter, Sabaku no Temari," Rin said watching Naruto's reaction.
Out of all the reactions Rin thought Naruto might have she never expected for him to start laughing.
"Naruto, are you okay," Rin asked fearing for Naruto's sanity.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Naruto said as he stopped laughing. "I just find ironic the children of two former Kages will be married. Why did they pick me?"
"All the council said was that the Sand representatives insisted that it be you that married her," Rin said.
"Once everybody learns who Tousan is Sand is going to flip at their luck. Oh well, I wish I could have chosen but at least now I won't have to worry about rabid fan girls," Naruto said with a wishful smile.
"Naruto, are you sure your going to be okay," Rin asked confused.
"Yeah, like I said this just means that I'll have fewer headaches later. Excuse me I need to get ready for the meeting with Hiashi-teme," Naruto said before he left.
Rin let out a sigh of relief. Naruto had taken the news far better than Hinata had earlier that day.
Scene change no jutsu
"Hello, Hiashi-san," Rin greeted formally. "I have to ask you to send your escorts home."
Hiashi thought that Rin's request was strange but obliged her none the less.
"Thank you. This was please," Rin said leading Hiashi into the house.
Rin brought Hiashi to formal meeting room in the house where Hinata, Naruto and everyone else were already waiting. Hinata and Naruto both stood and bowed when Rin and Hiashi entered the room. Hiashi returned the bow along with Rin but Rin, along with the other adults in the room saw the indifference and lack of feeling in Hiashi's bow to Hinata.
"Thank you for coming, Hiashi-san," Rin said after everyone sat down. "I'm sure you know why we are meeting for the most part but I have yet to inform our two guests. But before I tell them I would like to talk to you. The lack of concern and respect that you have for Hinata sickens me. Your late wife, Hitomi, would be appalled by the way you are treating her and you will start treating her with the respect she deserves or you will have more problems than you ever dreamed."
"And how would you do that," Hiashi asked.
"How quickly you forget what the council has the power to do, Hiashi-san," Rin said smirking.
Hiashi paled when he remembered the foolish councilmen that said that the council has the power to interfere with clan affairs.
"Now, Hinata, Naruto, what Hiashi-san is here to discuss is the arranged marriage between the heir of the Kazama clan and the heiress of the Hyuuga clan. In other words you two," Rin said flatly pointing at Naruto and Hinata.
Naruto's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was suppose to marry Hinata? Then what about his marriage to Temari?
Hinata's almost fainted as her eyes also widened with Naruto's but for different reasons. As the former heiress of such a prestigious clan, she knew that it was possible for a person to be arranged to marry two different people but only on accident or if all parties agreed to it. The only reason it would happen on accident was because arrangements like those were made with no way for either party to back out of.
Rin looked on at Naruto and Hinata and was ready to answer the question that she was sure was on Naruto's mind.
"What about my marriage to Temari," Naruto asked shocked and confused.
"You will marry both of them, Naruto. There's nothing that can be done about it," Rin answered. "Now, Hiashi-san, could you please explain to Hinata and Naruto why they have to get married."
"Why do they need to know that," Hiashi asked wishing to get the meeting over with.
"I'll tell you why once your done telling them," Rin said leaving no room for arguments.
Hiashi sighed under his breath in defeat before starting, "Shortly after Konaha was founded many Hyuuga became jealous of the power the Kazama clan had and how their blood limit made the Hyuuga powerless against them, even though the Kazamas only had ten members. It eventually got to the point that the jealous Hyuuga attacked the Kazama clan. The attack caught the Kazama clan off guard and killed all but the at the time current clan head's father, who was on a diplomatic mission, and a child that was spending the night at a friend's house."
Naruto's and Hinata's eyes widened once again at hearing this but remained quite to here the rest of Hiashi explanation.
"Afterwards, the re-instated Kazama clan head agreed to keep the attack quite and not seek any retribution from the Hyuuga clan in exchange for the Hyuuga's support in the future and for the Hyuuga heir to marry the Kazama clan heir to replace the heir the Hyuuga killed in the attack."
"As a result, the wars that were fought after that time killed the remaining Kazama left before they try and re-establish the clan. Kazama Arashi was the last member of the clan. He did have a son but he died in the Kyuubi attack. You may only be an adopted Kazama but you are still the heir of the Kazama clan. This is just the first generation since the deal was made that the heirs have been of the opposite gender so they could marry. Now, why do they need to know the reason for this arrangement?"
"Well, I figured that Hinata should know why she has to marry Naruto and that Naruto should know why he is the last member of his clan," Rin stated calmly and clearly.
If Hiashi was a cartoon character a question mark would of appeared over his head at Rin's statement and that question mark would slowly straightened itself until it was an exclamation point that signaled Hiashi understood what Rin was implying. But alas, Hiashi isn't a cartoon so he settled for letting out a very undignified yell at the top of his lungs and a shocked expression on his face.
"There is NO way that he is the son on the Yondaime," Hiashi practically yelled. "Arashi's child died when the hospital was hit in the Kyuubi attack!"
"You can't believe it? How could you not see the similarities between him and Arashi? The two of you were best friends," Rin responded trying to hold her own emotions in check.
"It's just a side effect of the seal," Hiashi said trying to deny what was before him.
"No it's not. Naruto, show him your blood line," Rin stated.
Naruto did as he was told and activated the first step of his blood line. Hiashi activated his Byakugan ad looked at Naruto. If he was shocked before, now Hiashi would be brain dead. His mind didn't want to believe it but the proof of Naruto's lineage was right in front of him.
"All this time he was alive? Everything I've done. How could I ever make it up," Hiashi said barely above a whisper but in the silent room everyone heard it.
"Yes, you now realize the extent of what you and just about everyone in this village has done," Rin stated not looking happy. "That is all I wished to discuss with you. Goodnight and remember that the identity of Naruto's father is an S-class secret and revealing it will be punished accordingly."
Hiashi nodded and left for home. The whole way he was in a state of shock but in this shock he realized one important thing, just how shallow Konaha had become. He came to this conclusion when he vowed to treat his best friend's son better and realized that nothing about Naruto had changed. Not one measly thing had changed about Naruto since he first arrived at the Kazama estate. The only thing that had truly changed was what he knew about Naruto's lineage and that most if not all of the village would treat Naruto better simply because of who his father was.
This thought shook Hiashi to his very core. He remembered when some the older members of the Hyuuga clan talked about how everyone was welcome in Konaha when it first started. As long as they hadn't done anything like murder and were willing to devote themselves to the welfare of the village.
This practice was one of the things that made Konaha so strong before. With Hiashi's realization the, the future of Konaha looked decidedly bleak.
Scene change no jutsu
It had been three days since Hiashi told everyone why there was only one Kazama left and everyone that was at the meeting got over their shock at hearing the news. Hinata was ecstatic when Hiashi finally left. When she had heard that Naruto was to be married to the Suna kunoichi, Temari she had lost all hope. Hinata had nearly fainted when she finally realized what she had done in her moment of bliss.
Naruto, on the other hand, was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he had to marry to women. Jiraiya had tried to give him a hard time about it saying how lucky he was and other perverted things. But a quick glare and punch combo from Tsunade and Rin, who hit him almost as hard as Tsunade, had convinced him never to do that again.
Naruto knew that he barely knew anything about Temari and her about him. Still, he was going to try his best to get things to work out between the two of them. Hinata was also a concern. Naruto really wasn't sure how he felt about Hinata, but he chalked that up to the fact that he had barely felt what it meant to be loved by more than one person for only a handful of months. Basically, love was a foreign concept to him.
While things were going well with Naruto and those close to him, there were members of both the Hyuuga council and Konaha council that were far from pleased. Naruto's adoption into the Kazama clan and the return of Rin had effectively forever put Naruto out of their reach, at least legally. Members of both council had gotten together and discussed how they could get rid of the 'Demon Spawn' and what they came up with was both simplistic and very viable in their eyes.
All they had to do was let Uchiha Sasuke overhear how powerful Naruto had become, where he liked to train and when he would be there, by himself of course, and Sasuke's own ego would cause him to grow infuriated at the blonde and go challenge him to a fight. Naruto would be able to put up enough of a fight that Sasuke would completely lose control and kill the blonde. After all, the mighty Uchiha did defeat the Suna jinchuriki, Gaara, or so they believed.
Those who knew that Naruto was the one to actually beat Gaara tried to tell people this but most, if not all, people just simply brushed them aside and didn't believe them. Why should they when Naruto's supposed sensei, the famed Hatake Kakashi, stated that it was impossible for Naruto to actually beat Gaara? These statements about Sasuke beating Gaara had yet to reach Tsunade, Jiraiya, Sarutobi or Rin so they continued to be thought of as true.
If Sasuke could beat someone like Gaara then he would have no trouble dealing with Naruto. It was true that Sasuke should be killed if he killed Naruto but all of the parties involved believed that with their power and the public outcry against killing the last Uchiha they could make it so he got off with a slap on the wrist. The best part about it all was that even if it was traced back to them as the ones who let Sasuke know where Naruto trained nobody could do anything about it. Naruto's training habits weren't classified after all. How would they know that Sasuke would fly off the handle and kill Naruto?
Those were the events that led to Sasuke running through the forest. He was looking for Naruto, even if he had only heard that a powerful shinobi that would be willing to fight him was practicing where he was headed. He got to the clearing and was amazed at the destruction in it. Sasuke saw a figure in the middle of the clearing practicing taijutsu. Rock Lee was the first name thought that came to the young Uchiha's mind as he stared at the speed and strength of the one training along with a sense of triumph at finding a worthy foe. This triumph quickly turned to anger when he got a good look at the one he was watching and realized it was Naruto.
Naruto himself had sensed someone watching him. He knew that it wasn't Jiraiya because if he was there to watch then Naruto wouldn't be able to sense him at all nor was it Anko, Hinata or Rin. Those three always came out into the open when they would watch him train. Erring on the side of caution Naruto slowed down and didn't do more than basics until he knew who was watching him. In slowing down and focusing on his surroundings, Naruto also noticed another presence that was hidden better than the first. Naruto berated himself for getting so caught up in his training that he didn't notice it earlier. But once again it wasn't someone that Naruto knew.
Naruto didn't realize it but it was Sakura's presence he first sensed. She was being the loyal fangirl and was following Sasuke around. Like Sasuke, she too was amazed at the level of proficiency the unknown trainee was exhibiting but unlike Sasuke her awe turned into confusion upon realizing that it was Naruto. It was then that she remembered what Ino told her during the chunnin exam finales. She really hadn't given to much thought to Ino's words but with what she was seeing now, she started to realize exactly how little about Naruto she actually knew.
Sakura had always thought that Naruto was a no talent loser that would never amount to anything. But she knew that those thoughts were wrong because of what was before her eyes. It took years of heavy training to get to the speed Naruto was moving at and the grace that he was moving with took months to get to. She was about to think about why she liked Sasuke when Sasuke stepped out of hiding towards Naruto and her thoughts immediately went back into 'fangirl mode'.
"Who gave you that power, Dobe. You don't deserve that kind of power. Tell me who trained you so I can get the power that I need," Sasuke demanded as he made his way toward Naruto.
"Yeah, tell Sasuke who taught you, Naruto. They had to have been a miracle worker to get someone like you that strong and Sasuke-kun deserves that training more than you," Sakura chimed-in in her banshee voice, A.K.A. her fan girl voice, as she too made her way toward Naruto.
Naruto calmly turned to face the pair that intruded on his training session. It really didn't bother him that they tried to spy on his training. No, not at all. What really bothered him was that Sasuke and Sakura demanded that he be told who trained him and that he wasn't worthy enough to receive that training.
Naruto looked Sasuke right in the eye as he replied in a calm voice, "No."
"Why not," Sasuke practically screamed back.
"Because they have said they wouldn't," Naruto stated calmly. "You, Sasuke, are a stuck up arrogant teme that thinks that everything should be handed to you because of your family name. If that's how the rest of your family acted I'm glad that they were killed."
Sakura was surprised when Sasuke lunged at Naruto. Naruto on the other hand wasn't surprised. He knew that Sasuke would go ballistic when he told him what he thought of the arrogance that he had heard a lot of the Uchiha exhibited.
Sasuke charged and threw a haymaker at Naruto in a blind rage. Naruto calmly dodged the attack. Sasuke was not deterred in the least and kept attacking in a blind rage. Sakura was frozen from the shock of seeing Sasuke attack Naruto so suddenly. Her mind couldn't comprehend why Sasuke would do that. Naruto himself kept dodging or blocking Sasuke's attacks. This only enraged Sasuke more since Naruto still had a clam look on his face.
Naruto was trying to think of a way to put an end to the fight has he dodged another attack. H could knock Sasuke out but with only the loyal fan girl as a witness it was likely that he would get in a lot of trouble for hurting the 'noble' Uchiha and he really didn't want to take off his weights as that would just further enrage the Uchiha. Kyuubi was aware of Naruto's problem and offered him an idea before Naruto came up with a suicidal idea on his own.
Naruto agreed and jumped back dodging another of Sasuke's attacks creating distance between himself and Sasuke. He then created a small army of clones to distract Sasuke while he tried to slip away. Sasuke saw the clones appear and jumped in the air above the army. He quickly did the hand seals and launched a giant fireball at the clones. Many of the clones were unable to dodge the fire and those that did were destroyed in the blast that the fireball caused upon impact except one that was standing next to Naruto.
When the smoke cleared Sasuke saw Naruto standing there unharmed. Sasuke finally lost all rational thought and charged a chidori, intending to kill Naruto. Naruto cursed when he saw Sasuke charge the chidori. He remembered when Sasuke used that attack against Gaara and was not eager to see what it would do to him. Naruto quickly ran through the list of jutsu he knew for something that could counter the chidori.
Naruto was only able to come up with one technique that would be able to counter if not overpower Sasuke's technique, the Rasengan. Naruto quickly told his clone to help him make the Rasengan so he could keep the knowledge that he didn't need a clone to make it away from Sasuke. Sasuke charged as soon as he landed and Naruto did the same.
Sakura snapped out of her daze when she saw Naruto and Sasuke charged each other with such deadly techniques. She yelled at them to stop as she ran toward them in an effort to stop them. Naruto heard Sakura's yell and turned slightly to see her running at them. Naruto realized that if she didn't stop and his and Sasuke's attacks met the backlash from their techniques would kill or at the very least gravely injure her. Naruto realized that he was committed to his attack and wouldn't be able to stop without Sasuke killing him.
The techniques were about to meet when Naruto decided he would redirect his Rasengan so it wouldn't hit anything and try to deflect Sasuke's Chidori when a blur shot out of the bushes and redirected both his and Sasuke's attack. Naruto's attack was forced into the side of a tree while Sasuke's was forced into the ground. It took a few minutes before everything settled enough for people to start thinking clearly. Naruto looked back to see who stepped in when his attack finished.
Naruto turned and saw the creator that Sasuke's chidori made next to a slowly standing Sasuke and a scowling Kakashi looking directly at him.
"I thought you had more restraint then that, Naruto," Kakashi said in a scolding tone. "I forbid you from ever using that attack again."
"Really," Naruto asked raising an eyebrow. "And exactly how much of the fight did you see?"
"I saw enough to know that you aren't any where near ready for an attack like that powerful," Kakashi replied.
"And Sasuke is," Naruto said barely restraining his temper at Kakashi's attitude toward him.
"He needs that kind of power. You don't! Now you will respect my authority and never use that attack again till I say so and I doubt that will ever happen given your actions and attitude today," Kakashi said, clearly getting angry at Naruto's backtalk.
"Like I care what you say. You don't even have any authority over me," Naruto said dusting himself off.
"That's it, Naruto. You and me are going to go talk to the Hokage about your attitude," Kakashi said finally losing his temper.
It is quite unfortunate for Kakashi hat he was completely unaware of Naruto's relationship with both of the Hokages. He was also unaware of what had happened since he had fought Itachi except that Tsunade was the new Hokage.
"That won't be necessary," A female voice sounded.
Everyone turned toward the voice to see Tsunade and a hooded figure at the other side of the clearing. Kakashi instantly recognized Tsunade along with Sakura and Naruto but only Naruto knew that the hooded figure was his mother, Rin. Sasuke just gave a grunt that clearly indicated that he thought he was better than that whoever these newcomers were.
"Watch it, Uchiha. I'm the Hokage. You will show me the proper respect," Tsunade snapped at Sasuke.
"I'm glad you're here, Hokage-sama. I need to talk to you about Naruto's attitude and get him to respect my order," Kakashi said in a serious tone ignoring Sasuke's disrespect.
"What order is that," Tsunade asked.
"He ordered me never to use the Rasengan again," Naruto said chiming in clearly not worried about what might happen.
"And why did you give him that order," Tsunade said as she narrowed her eyes at Kakashi as did Rin, though no one could see it.
"Because he isn't ready for that kind of power," Kakashi replied.
"But he thinks Sasuke is," Naruto once again chimed in.
"That's enough out of you," Kakashi snapped cutting Naruto's statement off.
"Kakashi, you be quiet! Kakashi thinks Sasuke is what, Naruto," Tsunade asked.
"He thinks Sasuke is ready to handle the power of the Chidori," Naruto said in an even voice.
"Is it true, Kakashi, that you think that Naruto isn't ready for such a powerful technique but Sasuke is," Tsunade asked barely restraining her temper.
"Yes, this spar should be more than enough evidence to prove my point. Naruto almost killed both Sasuke and Sakura," Kakashi said blissfully unaware of the grave he was digging for himself.
"And what exactly did you see in the fight that would make you think Naruto wasn't ready for that kind of power," Tsunade asked calmly while on the inside she was a hairs breath away from killing the copy nin.
"Naruto charging at Sasuke with such a powerful technique in a spar is all that I need to see to know that Naruto isn't ready to handle that kind of power," Kakashi said.
"Tell me, Kakashi, did you see Sasuke make a chidori and proceed to charge Naruto with it BEFORE Naruto even made the Rasengan," Tsunade asked in a deceptively calm voice.
Kakashi started to panic as he shook his head no and asked, "How do you know that Sasuke did that?"
"Because me and my guest here saw the whole thing along with Sarutobi-sensei on the Hokage's crystal ball," Tsunade snapped back. "I bet you missed that Naruto was moving his attack away from Sasuke's to prevent Sakura getting hurt before you did anything."
Kakashi's eyes bugged out as he broke into a cold sweat. Two Hokages and another person had witnessed the whole thing and apparently not happy with what they saw.
"I'm disappointed in you, Kakashi," Jiraiya said as he walked up to everyone along with the Sandaime. "Arashi would be disappointed with you as well, showing this level of favoritism. When Sarutobi-sensei first told me about it I didn't want to believe it but now there is no doubt that he was right. Arashi trained you better than this."
"Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, I want the three of you to go home now. The rest of us are going to stay and have a little chat with Kakashi here," Sarutobi stated.
Sasuke couldn't have cared less about what was going on when he left. He was just enraged that somehow Naruto had acquired a lot of power in such a short time. He took comfort in the fact that his attack was still stronger than Naruto's. This, however, changed when he go passed the tree than Naruto had knocked over. The amount of destruction was massive. The only reason he hadn't seen it before was because Naruto's attack had knocked a tree over blocking his view till he moved around as he left.
Sakura left with Ino's words from the chunnin exams once again ringing in her ears. She realized that Ino was right and she really didn't know Naruto at all. She also began to truly question why she liked Sasuke as well. She had thought about it off and on recently but Sasuke's total disregard for her safety during the fight shocked her. She also still couldn't believe that Sasuke would attack Naruto like that.
Naruto left hoping that someone would tell him the story of what Kakashi was about to get later. Better yet, if they had pictures of what happened to Kakashi.
"Now where were we," Sarutobi asked turning to Kakashi. "That's right! You were just about to get your long overdue punishment for the way you have been treating Naruto."
"What do you mean 'long overdue punishment'? I thought we were just going to be talked to about what happened in Naruto's and Sasuke's spar," Kakashi asked thoroughly confused.
"No, Kakashi, if I had my way you would have been punished for abandoning Naruto to train Sasuke before the chunnin exams," Sarutobi said with a glare. "The only thing that stopped me was the village council but they are no longer a problem. Although in a way I should thank you. If it weren't for your actions we may have never found out whom Naruto's parents are."
"You found out whom Naruto's parents are," Kakashi said both shocked, curious and scared.
Kakashi was shocked because nobody ever thought that anyone would find out who Naruto's parents were curious because he wanted to know who Naruto's parents were and lastly he was scared of what Naruto's parents might do to him if they ever got a hold of him. Yes, he realized what had done to Naruto wasn't right but since it was for the last of his dead teammates family he figured that it was alright. Besides, it's not like anyone would really cared what happened to the dead last.
No Kakashi didn't hate Naruto because of Kyuubi. He just thought that Sasuke was the only one with real potential. Sakura had some, yes, but nobody could compare with Sasuke's potential. Naruto, in his opinion, was just a dead last that spouted about being Hokage but didn't have anywhere near the potential or the attitude to attain such a rank.
"Yes, we know who Naruto's parents are but I don't know if you have the right to such knowledge" Rin removing her hood.
This sent Kakashi into a state of shock. He couldn't believe that his old teammate and the wife of his late sensei was back.
"R-Rin," Kakashi stuttered out. "Hold on, why shouldn't I be told who Naruto's parents are. I'm his sensei have every right to know who his parents are," Kakashi said quickly getting over his shock.
"Sensei? You haven't been his sensei in four months," Rin nearly shouted back. "Whatever that doesn't matter right know. If you want to know who Naruto's parents are then just tell me why you never watched over him like I asked. And don't try to make any excuses. You told me that you would watch over him no matter who's child he was," Rin finished with a glare as she waited for him to reply.
Fin
Sorry for the late update but real life got in the way of writing it. Don't worry this fic will never be abandoned or put on hiatus. It just might take me awhile to update. The next update will be posted when it's done but I'm going to continue to be busy. I don't know when it will be ready but expect to take about as long as this one. Unfortunately that the reality. I will try to get it out sooner but I can't make any guarantees.