As always thank you everyone for liking this story. Before we start this there are few things that I want to confirm
First, Hinata CAN'T use Rasengan. She knows the steps of the training and was able to complete the first part, that's it. She used the theory to power up some of her own techniques, nothing more.
Second, lot of people wanted to know if I will give Naruto more bloodlines, like combining other elements of his primary bloodline. I will be honest, it was my idea at first but later I went against it. Because if I do give him more bloodlines like Ice release or swift release, he will be close to god-like which I am trying to avoid at all cost. Sorry if it disappointed some people.
Lastly, I rewrote first eleven chapters, just some slight changes and I remove all the first person point of views. It is ok if you don't read them, they are not gonna affect anything. The only chapter that I changed the most is chapter eleven and it is only the first half.
Now onto the story,
Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto.
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Tsunade closed the file and took a deep breath. She had a huge satisfying smile on her face. She had the every reason for it too, because Kumo's blunt attempt to take Naruto backfired.
Their first kidnap target from Konoha was Kushina, which was foiled by her would-be husband. The kidnappers were all missing nin but they knew better. Because their missing nin status was updated on the Bingo book just few months before the kidnapping attempt. Anyone could see that this was planned but the tension between all the villages was already high. So, Daimyo and Hokage was unwilling to take to Kumo.
Next one caused more havoc. The ambassador died while he tried to kidnap the Hyuuga heiress, but the truth was the ambassador took his life when he was caught and defeated by Hiashi. The Third tried to convince Daimyo to help him against the Kumo but the threat of war was too much, especially since it hadn't been long after the Kyuubi incident. So they had to give in.
But this time it was different. This time, Kumo acted rashly thinking they could've win or get away scot free. But Tsunade had the upper hand. No matter how indecisive Fire Daimyo was, even he would fight tooth and nail for the legacy of the Fourth and the next heir of the Senju clan. So after the talk with the ambassador she immediately sought out Fire Daimyo with Jiraiya and explained the situation. He was quite put off when he heard the situation and immediately held a meeting with the Lightning Daimyo, along with Jiraiya. So before Raikage could even come up with anything, he was already told to drop the matter and write a formal apology to the Hokage for his blunder, which he was forced to do.
Taking one last look at her finished work, Tsunade went out of her room. She was glad that it didn't escalate further but it did make her worried to know that Raikage had his eyes on Naruto. But even he was not stupid enough to do anything to him right now.
The scene before her when she entered the dining room made her smile wider.
Shizune and Haku were setting up the table while Naruto and Ranmaru were reading a book, more like Ranmaru was giving some pointers to Naruto. Seeing who entered, Naruto beamed up, "Tsunade-obaa-chan, what took you so long?"
"I will answer it with a satisfying smile when you will wear the hat." Tsunade smirked as she sat down. She looked around one more time. She was glad that she came back. Because after Naruto and his friends entered her life, it became a bit more colorful. Guess she was missing these family-like moments more than she thought.
Tsunade suddenly blinked as she remembered her conversation with Hiruzen, "By the way brat, come to the Hokage tower tomorrow. You too Haku."
Naruto and Haku both looked puzzled but Shizune mouthed 'O', but refrained from saying anything. Before they could ask questions, Tsunade just waved her hand,
"Just come and see, now where's the food?!"
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Next Day
Tsunade was stroking her forehead, just when she thought her workload was decreasing, another huge hurdle was thrown to her face. She was currently inside the council room, which was quite noisy because of the whispers all around. She looked at Hiruzen who shied away from her stern gaze. At least she was glad that Jiraiya and Shizune were here, because she needed them to calm her down for what she would be doing later.
The door opened and four people entered along with an Anbu.
"Finally, you brats are here." Tsunade smiled. She relaxed in her chair and grinned at the newcomers, "Before we start any idea as to why you are here?"
Haku looked at the other three as if they had a silent agreement. She stepped forward and spoke up, "To answer your question Hokage-sama, it is either for the Chunin exam or for the invasion."
Tsunade didn't miss the hesitation in her voice. So she asked, "You are uncertain, why is that?" This time Haku looked at Hinata, which made Tsunade to smile, "They talked to each other before coming here."
Hinata stepped forward whereas Haku took a step back, "Hokage-sama, we are uncertain as to why we were called in the council room? Forgive me if I am speaking out of line, but if it was a matter of Chunin exam or something else shouldn't we be called at the Hokage office rather than here?"
Before anyone could raise their voice, Tsunade raised her arm in a warning manner; silencing any argument before it could even form. Tsunade couldn't help but rub her forehead, "Even these brats know what is normal and what's not." With a sigh, she picked up a report and looked down, "Your questions will be answered after, now let's start this, shall we?"
"Hinata Hyuuga, Haku Yuki, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki; because of your performance in Chunin exam and your contribution in the invasion all four of you will receive the honor to be promoted to Chunin." Her voice became gentle after this, "I guess congratulations are in order."
The silence in the room broke after these words, everyone was clapping and the clan heads were looking at the four with appreciation. Tsunade was surprise to see Naruto so quiet but she soon understood the reason. One could clearly see that Naruto was overexcited but Hinata, who was right beside him, had a firm grip on his shirt. And from time to time she was giving Naruto a cute begging look. If she wasn't in the council, she would've outright laughed at the scene, "The brat is so whipped."
Tsunade waited till the clapping stopped, "Now usually it should have ended right here but," She gave a stern look at few people who just opened their mouth and shut immediately after seeing the look, "I would like to explain the reason why you were chosen amongst all other participants." She looked back the newly promoted Chunin and smiled.
"There are three facts we keep in mind when we want to promote a genin to Chunin; recommendation, performance and contribution. Now Haku Yuki," Tsunade continued, "Your performance at the Chunin exam was commendable, and I am not just talking about the fight in the stadium. You have power and you know how to use it. Now as for the recommendation, i gotta say, "Tsunade looked at the report again, "you really know how to work with others." Seeing the confused face, she chuckled and started to elaborate, "There are quite a lot of people who recommended for you. Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai, Anko, Yugao and even Ibiki pointed out the same thing, that you are a full-fledged Chunin. You have the skill, the strength, the mindset and the experience, a perfect Chunin material. I don't remember when was the last time I have seen so many people recommending a genin like this." Tsunade smiled but added soon after, "But don't let it get to your head."
Haku bowed in gratitude and stepped back.
"Now Hinata Hyuuga," Hinata almost jumped in surprise. But she quickly regained her composure and stepped forward. "You were recommended by Gai and Yamato. Both of them pointed out that you didn't reach the calm mind needed to be a Chunin but you are almost there. You just need a bit more exposure to high level missions. But it was your performance at the Chunin exam that earned your promotion. I personally didn't see your fight but from the report it's clearly shown that all the judges liked the way you fought with balance, skill and tactics; unlike normal Hyuuga." Tsunade was lowered the volume of her voice at the end, no need for unnecessary dramas, "You're still a bit rough around the edges but I know that you will come around soon enough."
Hinata smiled and bowed before stepping back.
"Well girls had a better record than boys, as usual," Tsunade grinned when she saw Naruto and Sasuke got uncomfortable hearing that, "Sasuke Uchiha, you did a good job in the fight, really good job," The slight mocking tone wasn't lost to anyone and Sasuke could feel the icy stare at the back of his head, "Also in the invasion your contribution protected the hospital. But the main reason I promoted you was to have you as an example. We are shinobi, not samurai. The way you won the fight might leave some displeasing taste to some people but it doesn't matter. Because at the end you won, and that's all it matters. Same for the invasion, you killed people. I heard that you had a slight breakdown because of it, and that is good. No matter how hard we try, we can't avoid killing; it's an occupational hazard. But it doesn't mean you have to like it." Tsunade then looked at all of them, "Be it a lesson for you all. In our world, it is the outcome that matters the most. But also keep in mind that what kind of outcome you are looking for."
Sasuke bowed and stepped back.
"Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto straightened his back and stepped forward, "Your case was a bit debatable, you didn't show much tactics nor did you have any recommendations." Naruto gripped his fists but stayed silent, "But we couldn't deny the power you possess, the power that defeated quite a lot of strong opponents as well as had a huge contribution in the invasion. You are reckless but according to the report you have no problem following orders. No, in some cases it was your recklessness and your power which was the key factor that saved the mission. Keeping you as a genin would be like cutting cooking ingredients with a mist sword. So welcome aboard."
Naruto beamed, he was almost going to jump but a cough from Hinata stopped him. He hurriedly bowed and backed off.
"Now one thing I want to be clear with you." Tsunade continued, "If it was a normal occasion, only Haku would have been a Chunin," Everyone's eyes widened at that, "Because that is how it is, we chose the best one, max two out of all. But recent invasion put some gaps in our shinobi forces and we need all the help we can get." Tsunade looked at them sternly, "I hope all of you will live up to our expectations."
All four new Chunin nodded at that.
"Hokage-sama," Koharu spoke from her place.
Tsunade rubbed her forehead.
"Go ahead." The disinterest in her tone wasn't lost to anyone.
"Well then," Koharu coughed, "Sasuke Uchiha, Haku Yuki; as both of you are the last of your clan and made it to Chunin, as for that you must follow the CRA laws."
The civilian side of the council started to whisper whereas the shinobi side didn't seem pleased. Seeing the confused look on four people, Homura spoke up, "CRA refers to Clan Restoration Act, as a shinobi of Konoha and the last member of your clan, it is your duty to go by them."
Haku immediately knew something was wrong, and it was solidified when she saw Sasuke getting tensed and putting up his guard. But she didn't do anything hasty when she noticed Tsunade's eyes, she didn't look worried, just pissed. Haku knew her long enough to know that Tsunade would not let anything happen to them if it was really bad. So she asked, "And what exactly we have to do?"
Homura and Koharu shared a look before the latter answered, "There are quite a few, but I will just point out the main ones. First, you are not to take high risk missions as your lives are quite valuable. Second, you have to take multiple spouses in order to ensure your bloodline to be properly passed down. Third, you can join the Special Forces if you get the permission from your guardians. We will give you the copy of the book that has all the laws written down, look up the rest."
Danzo grinned when he saw how the civilians started to get excited. After all this was a huge chance for them to get inside a shinobi clan; one that had the potential to become a great clan over time. And that was perfect for Danzo, because he knew Haku and Sasuke would never bend to these kind of rule, so they would seek to enter the Special Forces. From there it would be easy for him to manipulate them more directly.
Haku and Sasuke was seething with rage, but before they could voice their protest, one person beat them to it, "What the hell is this bullshit? You can't just impose on them like this. It's like you're imprisoning them." Naruto shouted.
"Be quiet boy," Koharu frowned, "This is the law of the village which you serve. You …"
"Screw the laws." Naruto growled, "Who the hell …"
"Naruto."
He immediately became quiet when he heard Tsunade calling out his name, "You are a chunin now, if you have an opinion present it more properly."
"But .. " Naruto stopped as he saw the warning look from Tsunade.
"Now back to the matter of CRA, unfortunately they are right. You have to follow the rules. But," Tsunade motioned Shizune who came forward and handed her a book and a report. She didn't open the book rather just looked at the report, "If I am not mistaken, according to the original laws created and written down by Shodaime, which was of course approved by all the clan heads around that time; there are some minor mistakes to the laws you just presented."
Koharu and Homura flinched ever so lightly which didn't go unnoticed by Jiraiya or Tsunade.
Tsunade continued but her eyes were strictly on her advisors, "Sasuke Uchiha, Haku Yuki; as both of you are the last of your clan and made it to Chunin, you must follow the CRA laws. There are quite a few, but I will just point out the main ones. First, you HAVE THE RIGHT TO DENY high risk missions as your lives are quite valuable. Second, you ARE ENCOURAGED to take multiple spouses in order to ensure your bloodline to be properly passed down. Third, you can join the Special Forces if you get the permission from your guardians OR THE HOKAGE. We will give you the copy of the book, look up the rest." Tsunade purposely said the exact way like her advisors to point out what was wrong.
"Few words but they make such a huge difference, right?" Tsunade's eyes didn't leave the advisors who looked back at her and asked, "We said what was written in this book."
"What I have here," Tsunade hold up her book, "is one of the original. Now I understand there with time there were some changes. But last time I checked neither the first nor the second made any changes on anything except for the military section. Now Sensei," Tsunade looked at Hiruzen who was sitting on his clan seat, "Did you make any changes on the rule book?"
Hiruzen grimaced but shook his head. He was also surprised to hear the advisors said but he didn't remember what was written on the book; although he clearly remembered not to make any changes.
"Yes but for their safety and to ensure their bloodline is passed on they should follow the CRA." Houmura urged.
"And they will, and they will follow the rules written on this book." Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "I am not going to tell these kids to follow the rules of that book with questionable origin just because you said so."
"Then at least hear the opinion of the council, they have the right to speak." Koharu pointed out and as if on cue the whispers started again. But they immediately were silenced by one glare from Tsunade.
"Council? Then tell me this, why is there civilians here?" Tsunade asked with a cold tone.
"In times of emergency, to aid the village the civilian council can be formed to help the Hokage to ensure …" Homura couldn't finish as Tsunade raised her hand.
"The Hokage can form a TEMPORARY civilian council with the aid of his advisors, yah I know all of that. My question here is WHEN was this part of the council formed?"
One person from the civilian council was brave enough to stand up, he bowed and spoke, "Lady Hokage, we are here …"
"Sit back down, I didn't ask you." Her tone was colder than before, the anger was palpable.
The merchant immediately sat back down.
"I am waiting." Tsunade almost growled.
"When the Kyuubi attacked." That was the answer she got, and it just made her angrier.
"So you are telling me that this TEMPORARY civilian council has been sitting here for THIRTEEN years?" Tsunade didn't give her advisors the time to retort, "Ok fine. Maybe the old man needed that. Then can you tell me where's the paper? The paper asking for my permission if I am willing to keep the civilian side of the council or disband it?"
Homura and Koharu could clearly see that this was not going to end well for them, but still they tried to reason with her, "We thought that it would help …"
"You all can have wonderful thoughts and ideas, there is nothing wrong with that. But your JOB is to tell ME about those helpful IDEAS; and it is MY job is to see them through."
Before anyone could speak up she slammed her fist down, she looked around to see everyone staring at her wide eyed, "This isn't going anywhere. You two, and sensei; meet me in the office. Meeting dismissed."
She got up and stopped immediately, "Also the civilian council is officially disbanded. AND," She growled when she that all of them jumped to protest, "I better not hear a single complain about it."
She started walking but then her eyes landed on the dumbfounded four Chunin, "What are you brats here for, shoo, go throw shuriken or something."
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Hokage Office
Jiraiya was right behind Tsunade who was on her chair, right opposite of her stood the advisors and Hiruzen was sitting on the sofa beside them. He knew she was mad, the thing was she had every right to be. It was all the small details that everyone missed but as a surgeon, she focused on those small details to see the bigger picture. It was a different way to approach the problems but it did bring some unexpected complications.
Tsunade motioned Shizune who was right beside her, she walked to her and gave her few files. Without even opening she pointed at them and asked, "Do you know what these are?"
Seeing that they weren't speaking, Tsunade continued, "This," Picking up one file, "Has the report of the minor changes that was done in the rules without Hokage's consent. This has the report of the changes done in academy, once again without Hokage's consent. There are quite a few, I am not gonna go through all of them. But this," She picked up a specific file, "Is what crossed the line."
"Do you know why Suna attacked us?" Tsunade asked.
There was a pause before Koharu spoke up, "We do not know but whatever it was they attacked their allies, there has to be consequences."
Before Hiruzen could retort, Tsunade nodded, "There will be, trust me. But here is the thing, if you do not know the cause of the disease, you can't make the cure. So no matter how many infected people you heal or cut down, if you don't have the cure you are never safe."
Tsunade continued as she opened the file, "Suna was having a financial crisis after the war. And it didn't help when the Wind Daimyo started to send the missions on our way. Things like this happen, it is not uncommon. But the problem lies elsewhere."
She turned to Hiruzen, "Did you ever receive any statement from the Suna? Regarding their loss of appeal to their own Daimyo?"
Hiruzen didn't answer immediately, but after thinking for a minute or two he replied, "If I remember correctly it was three to four years ago when they sent a messenger regarding the matter, but that time was a bit troubling because of the Uchiha incident so I told them that I will talk to Kazekage about it at a later time."
"Did you meet any other messenger or notice from them after that?"
"No."
Tsunade nodded and looked at the report again, "Well the thing is, they claimed that they had sent four messenger, after that meeting." She looked up and straight at the advisors, "And all of them couldn't meet the Hokage but they sure did meet the advisors."
"What are you implying, Tsunade?" Hiruzen asked, shocked.
"I told Jiraiya to do some investigating regarding the cause of the invasion. It seemed that Suna was pushed to wall, so much that they literally couldn't think of any other option than to invade us to show their strength to their Daimyo." Tsunade answered.
"I hope you are not going to let them go easy," Homura frowned, "They invaded us."
"Oh don't worry, I am not going to go easy on them no matter their circumstances." Tsunade narrowed her eyes, "But it is not about them, it is about you two."
The silence in the room was deafening before Tsunade broke it again, "Come on. I am waiting."
"Konoha was at lowest point ever since it was founded. The Senju clan almost went extinct, the Uchiha were gone. Hiruzen was past his prime and amongst the legendary sanin, only Jiraiya was left. We didn't have any frontal guard. We are not at war time, we understand this but this is shinobi world." Homura looked down, "We have seen how long it takes to start a war. If a war start anytime soon, we are gonna be first to get hit, and we fear that we will face the same fate as Uzoshio if that happens. We couldn't take the chances. We needed all the helps we could get, no matter the consequences."
"Suna were our allies?" Hiruzen said, his shoulders slumped.
"And that is why we couldn't tell you Hiruzen. Do you really think Suna would have done otherwise if the tables were turned?" Koharu answered.
"I see. But what was the end result of it?" Tsunade asked and once again the advisors couldn't answer their Hokage. Because they were taking so many steps to avoid war but their actions were the one that caused the invasion, talk about irony.
Homura spoke up after some time, "But we prevailed and we could use this chance to grow stronger."
"How? By sucking up everything that Suna has? You know what? Don't answer that question." Tsunade rubbed her forehead, "You can preach all about the future of Konoha and what not, but who was the one that suffered because of the invasion?"
"Sacrifices has to be made for greater good, it has always been this way for us Shinobi." Koharu said, in a low voice.
There was a deadly silence.
"Do you know what you did?" Tsunade asked, her face void of all emotion.
They didn't answer, just nodded their head.
"No, I don't think you do. What you did," She pointed at all the files in front of her, "is considered as treason of highest category. You know, where your whole clan gets executed?"
All the people in the room looked alarmed except for Tsunade and Jiraiya, the calm façade of the advisors were gone and were replaced by pure terror. Tsunade put her hand up before they could utter a word, "Not. A. Word."
Tsunade was taking deep breaths, it was easy to just hang them and be done with it. What they did were crimes, there was no sugarcoating it.
"Isn't this what you want? To fix the problems like a real shinobi, ruthless and straight-cut; unlike sensei-s way." They didn't say anything but their eyes told everything. They were pleading and if Tsunade would ask they would grovel. She shook her head,
"For now your clan will lose their seats in the council and you two will be constantly monitored. I will give your final verdict at a later date." Tsunade slumped on her chair, "Don't think for a second that I am doing this out of kindness, I just don't want blood on my hand so soon."
Tsunade closed her eyes, everyone got the message. Slowly the advisors left but before Hiruzen could leave, "Old man, you are not getting off that easy; you will be taking their place."
Hiruzen didn't answer. He just gave a defeated smile and nodded before leaving.
When their sensei left, so did Shizune as Jiraiya motioned her to. After she left, he went to the closet and took out a sake bottle. He came back and poured some for Tsunade.
"I am really starting to hate this job."
"You are doing it wonderfully, Tsunade-hime." Jiraiya paused, before he poured some for himself. He debated if it was the right time or not but at the end he made up his mind,
"Tsunade-hime, I know it is not the right time but there is something you should know."
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Done.
Now for the Chunin, the reason why I didn't put Shikamaru there was because even though he had the minds of a Chunin, he is seriously lacking in power and in motivation. That is just my opinion, although I would be making him into Chunin soon.
This is my way of ending 'Civilian Council'; when I started this I didn't know much and I didn't know which was 'cliché' and which was real. So I used them and the advisors to give more depth to Tsunade's character. I hope you guys liked it.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Do leave a review, it helps to motivate a lot.
So till next time.