Chapter 10: Naruto's Coup
Naruto sat in a forest clearing, examining his father's modified kunai. It was originally the Nindaime's jutsu, but the Yondaime had famously modified and perfected it. It should have technically been a part of his inheritance, as the modifications were sufficient enough to justify ownership. The ultimate checkmate to the Council. Naruto would pretend ignorance on the matter, the higher-level councilors would have their hands tied, and the lower level councilors would rebel over trying to get Naruto in trouble since they were unaware of the truth. It was sufficiently valuable enough for Naruto to justify taking it, and for Mizuki to reveal his traitorous nature. If Mizuki really did betray the village, the egg on the council's face would be enormous.
Naruto noticed a couple of interesting things about the seal formula: it had a failsafe where the formula would be erased if a foreign chakra signature entered it and a part of the formula that Naruto couldn't make sense of. Some sort of restricted detection aspect? It seemed to rely on some sensory ability Naruto did not possess. AH! Of course. With a sensory ability and a chained-relay it could create a teleportation field or even an acceleration effect. Fastest man alive indeed. Truly inspiring, the Nindaime was inventive, but there was always a sky beyond the sky.
Naruto suddenly felt a clone disperse itself in his perimeter, the memories came in, Mizuki was here.
"Mizuki-sensei, you're here!" Naruto yelled, hoping the man would not make a move to attack him. If Mizuki just attacked him, it would only prove he was trying to protect the scroll and capture Naruto. And Naruto couldn't let him win and escape either. By yelling, Naruto removed the possibility of Mizuki thinking he had a surprise attack, and therefore reduced the likelihood of it happening.
"Naruto! You did very well. But I think this was a trap by the council! They have set all the Chunin in the village against you. Hand me the Scroll and remain here so I can clear you," said Mizuki flashing quickly into the clearing a short distance from Naruto.
"You're right Mizuki, I think it was a setup. But not what you think. They moved the scroll from the office. I grabbed the next best thing to prove I passed their test though." Naruto twirled the famous tri-pronged-kunai. "It's the original kunai the Yondaime developed. No other would be able to reproduce his famous jutsu. But Mizuki, why would the council do this? Why do they hate me?"
Mizuki hesitated, no doubt tempted by the kunai, but cursing his luck in the scroll having been moved.
"It must have been a trick. Since you took a kunai instead of the scroll, they can go after you now. If you put on these chakra suppressing handcuffs and hand over the kunai, I'll explain why they hate you. Do you trust me Naruto? I don't want you to get hurt, I can protect you, but not if you're seen as a threat." Mizuki took out some heavy-looking stone manacles with a saddened look on his face.
Naruto nodded and threw the kunai on the ground in front of Mizuki. Mizuki handed him the cuffs, which Naruto slipped on without protest.
"Oho! That was too easy! So much for making a fool of me before, you're still a naïve child after all."
"W-what? What do you mean Mizuki-sensei? Quit fooling around. Tell me why the village hates me."
Mizuki laughed maniacally. "The village hates you because… You are the demon fox Naruto! You were born the night the demon fox ravaged the village, and the Yondaime was forced to seal it within you. You killed Iruka's parents, my brother, and no doubt the loved ones of everyone in this village! The Hokage and others wanted to use you, but the majority of the people in the village want to put you down. And now, you're the perfect scapegoat."
"It's not true!" Naruto yelled, "I can't be the demon fox."
"Oh, it is true. The Hokage made it against the law to say. But even he cannot make the village like you. Your whisker markings, your stamina, and your date of birth. It's irrefutable."
"You are going to turn me in then? Betray me to the council? Let them execute me to appease your hatred?" Naruto looked down in pretended hurt. Mizuki had now revealed the Kyuubi, an executable offense. There is no way Mizuki would take that sort of risk if he was turning him in. Which meant…
"Oh no, I'm taking you and the kunai to Orochimaru. The kunai is less optimal, but with a jinchuuriki for Orochimaru-sensei to experiment on, perhaps I'll come out ahead," Mizuki responded arrogantly. Truly, the man had villain-explaining-his-plan syndrome.
Naruto fell backward and scuttled away towards a tree in pretended fear. Mizuki didn't make a move to attack him, as he thought it was all under control.
"Then it's a good thing I was prepared to be restrained." Naruto picked up a scroll with his stored chakra in it and unlocked the manacles.
He stood up with an evil grin and cracked his knuckles.
"On the order of the Hokage, I am here to take you in on charges of betrayal of the village. I'll give you the option to wear the manacles. Please, attempt to struggle."
From his crystal ball, the Hokage laughed.
# # #
The council room was abuzz with noise. The Hokage had called a meeting at the last minute, quite late at night. Many wondered aloud if it had anything to do with the rumors of Naruto stealing from the Hokage Tower. Anything to do with the jinchuuriki was important enough to warrant a meeting.
"Call to order!" yelled Utatane Koharu, the Hokage's ex-teammate and advisor.
"Thank you Koharu," the Hokage said, "We are here because a traitor has been uncovered in our midst. A Chunin level betrayal, to Orochimaru no less, and I seek the council's permission to take actions against such a traitor. I have temporarily imprisoned said traitor."
A lone councilor yelled out, "Why do you need our permission Hokage-sama? A Chunin with ties to Orochimaru? You are well within your rights to do as you please."
The Hokage smiled. "Because, Mebuki-san, the Chunin in question has a writ of protection against me by this very council. The traitor is Mizuki; he used you like fools and attempted to frame Naruto for a crime.
"Framed? As far as I am aware the demon brat truly did steal from you! He should be punished!" another council member yelled out, with noises of agreement ringing out.
"I am afraid you are incorrect. Naruto had long ago approached me about his suspicion of his teacher. You see, Mizuki used your hatred of the boy to almost get away. Luckily, Naruto came to me when Mizuki presented him with an extra test, having to steal the Scroll of Seals. We were not sure if this was a test to prove his trustworthiness, which Naruto would have passed with flying colors I might add, and so we had Naruto take from my office to see if Mizuki would betray. Unfortunately, the cat is out of the bag, in this case, the fox. Naruto knows he holds the fox within him."
The crowd of council members was in a complete uproar murmuring amongst themselves.
"Then Mizuki is a traitor and we were wrong to trust him. But what of his accusations? The Scroll of Seals is full of forbidden jutsu! Surely you don't think a boy with such history just carried it without looking? If so, then he proved our mistrust and our initial actions to bar him from Rookie of the Year were justified! If he messed around with his seal it would be the death of all of us!" Mebuki-san yelled, her voice reaching a high pitch.
"Indeed Sarutobi, if this is the case, we should not reward the boy with a title, he could have put us in extreme danger," the Sandaime's other teammate, Mitokado Homura stated.
The Hokage coughed loudly, drawing everyone's attention. "I'm afraid you are mistaken. I never said Naruto took the Scroll of Seals. Let us remove the pretense of respect. You have always done everything in your power to hurt Naruto, but you have failed. And in your failure, you were used by a Chunin with no prospects for advancement, and outsmarted by a Genin one day out of the academy."
Shimura Danzo stepped forward. "Now now, Hiruzen. I know you gave the boy something to draw out the traitor. It can be said that we simply find your overprotectiveness for a tool of the village to be, inappropriate. We still must test the boy's trustworthiness."
"I'm afraid I cannot say. The council's mistake in this matter shows your inability to act rationally when it comes to Naruto. I have no choice but to decree the council unfit to decide matters concerning him. I'm also awarding him a B-Rank mission for this, including pay and privileges with the full Shinobi Library. The mission did involve going against an enemy Chunin level ninja."
"You can't do that!" multiple councilors yelled out. The rest nodded in agreement.
"Hiruzen, you are clearly protecting the boy here. We must at least investigate the matter before you are allowed to accuse us of such a thing," Danzo calmly added.
The Hokage slapped his leg in laughter. "Very well. I'll say what the boy carried. And you are free to support measures to question the boy on it. It was a special kunai. Would you like to vindicate yourself now?"
Danzo and anyone else in the know turned completely white.
"No, no. It's fine Hiruzen, we will respect your decision on these matters." Danzo gritted his teeth.
The council members who didn't understand the significance began to protest. If they pursued the matter, only more egg on their face awaited. The tri-pronged-kunai was rightfully Naruto's. An investigation would force those with clearance to acknowledge these rights, those without clearance might step beyond their station and be forcibly removed if they attempted to find out why the investigation didn't bear results. With the Third ready to replace them, it would be a huge political coup.
"Good luck keeping your faction in line Danzo. We're done." The Hokage walked off.
# # #
Soon the whole village knew of Naruto's innocence and Mizuki's guilt as the Chunin were called off the search. Naruto went to Ichiraku's to celebrate. He had initially been in a bad mood, but the Hokage's maneuvering to get him a B-Rank mission and C-Rank clearance out of this turned things around. The first thing he did was obtain all the useful Jutsu he could find. Mostly finding higher level Kenjutsu and Taijutsu to incorporate into his style. Naruto wanted to see what his Jonin instructor would give him to practice before he jumped into the library ninjutsu, the addition of some genjutsu was helpful though.
"Teuchi-sama! Another Naruto Special!"
"Naruto! You look so handsome with that new headband! You won't forget your Ayame nee-san will you?" Ayame winked at Naruto.
"I'll always come back for the ramen Ayame nee-san. Speaking of, any boyfriends on the horizon onee-san?" Naruto laughed as Teuchi looked over with intensity.
"No no, not anytime soon. Dad would kill them." Ayame waved her hands in front of her face protectively.
"It's true what they say then. Doting fathers make single daughters." Naruto laughed as he threw his money on the table and ran off.
"You scoundrel!" Ayame yelled waving her fist. "Tell Yuki-san we said hi."
Naruto waved with his back turned in acknowledgment.