A/N this chapter and the rest of the story is gonna be at a much slower pace than the first chapter. Also forgot to include A/N last chapter and don't want to update it so chapters will be coming out every Tuesday when possible.
Walking out of the Hokage tower with a little bit of surprise at how the whole ordeal went, I knew what happened next would be the biggest pain as I saw Iruka and Jiraiya waiting for me in the street. Both had very apprehensive faces but before they could speak I told them to meet me on the fourth's head.
The sunlight beaming onto the buildings never meant much to me despite the fact that it was supposed to make the village feel more welcoming. I suppose it was because I never felt this welcoming unless pitchforks and fire counted. But now I do, is it because I'm about to be exiled or is it because I'm going to take up a life of shadows.
Before I could ponder any more both Jiraiya and Iruka sunshinned next to me. "So how did your meeting go today? Iruka asked clearly not sure what to say or more likely any questions he did have died on his tongue the moment he saw me, and Jiraiya didn't seem to be doing much better in that regard.
"As of two days from now I will be enlisted into the anbu. And two traitors are being arrested and set to be executed on the same day." I responded a little lightheartedly in order to remove the tense atmosphere.
"But you're being banished tomorrow?" Iruka queried whilst Jiraiya seemed to realise the plan I had gone with and with a simple smirk and head nod indicated for me to tell Iruka everything.
"I will be banished and what better rouse to hide your jinchuriki whilst also keeping him in the village, it resolves too many problems within the village and will strengthen the hokage amongst the villager something that will be needed as the civilian council is likely to be executed soon." I finished my little speech in order to let Iruka, who had a proud smirk on his face, behind my planning before quickly realising I didn't tell him this yesterday.
"Why didn't you tell me yesterday instead of making me panic?" Iruka said with a frown and obvious worry in his voice.
"Because you were in front of civilians, even if they were trusted, and they are not supposed to know an anbu's identity but also because nothing was set in stone. Am I right Naruto?" Jiraiya answered for me which resulted in a nod to answer his question. Iruka seemed slightly concerned by this still but more embarrassed that he couldn't figure it out.
"Jiraiya, I have a favour to ask of you." I asked with hope in my voice something that clearly caught Jiraiya off guard.
"What is it? Jiraiya asked curiously.
"Could you ask Tsunade to allow me to execute the traitor elders and the civilian council? I believe I might be able to do the Uzumaki's only true forbidden jutsu." This news shocked Jiraiya before he quickly realised I also mentioned the civilian council.
"Why the civilian council? They haven't committed crimes." I turned to Jiraiya and asked him if he actually believed that.
"The civilian council helped with the experimentation if my theory is correct but I need you to find proof of it. Can you do it? Jiraiya nodded, seemingly glad that he could finally deal with the council. A moment later he sunshin away leaving me with Iruka who seemed very confused by this whole situation.
"What do you mean by experimentation and traitors, Naruto?" Not wanting to cause any distrust between us I told him everything which resulted in a very confused Iruka. Whilst amusing I knew he wouldn't be in a state to ask anymore questions I sunshined away to deal with his thoughts.
Not too sure what to do for the rest of the day I decided to head back to my house.
Kakashi Pov
Hour earlier- In training ground seven.
What are we supposed to do now? Kakashi, Naruto was the strongest on this team and now he's being discarded." Sakura asked which drew sombre looks from all of the Konoha 12 present.
"I don't know." I Sighed hatred still permeated through me as I was about to lose my mentor's legacy due to the actions of a council that shouldn't have even been in the meeting. Hell I was planning on leaving the village with Naruto but that ended once Naruto did his selfless actions and pleaded for me to stay to protect those he cared about. Why he chose me of all people when I've only failed at protecting people is still a mystery.
"So what can we do for him despite what he said about us being there whenever he needed it, he's been there far more times for each and everyone of us. We need to show our appreciation someway and I personally refuse to let it wait until he's banished." Neji spoke up which got heavy agreement from everyone there.
"But how? You heard Naruto, who we knew was just a mask so do we truly know how to show appreciation to him?" Tenten questioned. This earned a few grumbles but for the most part it was ignored.
"I don't believe the happiness he showed was a lie so maybe instead of planning something we just go to his house and spend time with him?" Shikamaru yawned.
"Since none of us have come up with better ideas, let's go with Shikarmus." Kakashi quickly agreed mostly because he wanted to do some spy work.
"Fine but it feels like a waste, I would like to do something for him but we don't have the time to plan something." Sakura muttered, adding her agreement with the others joining in.
After reaching Naruto's apartment they were surprised to see two anbu guards outside its front door. Who Kakashi recognised as two members of his old anbu team, Tenzo and Yugao. Raising his hand to greet them "yo cat and cat with extra steps." Tenzo seemed taken aback by my joke and surprised by our arrival before quickly returning to his anbu persona.
"Kakashi Hatake it is good to see you again." He said with an outstretched hand, his tone of voice was rougher than one would expect for those words but there was a small amount of happiness in his tone only audible to former anbu, or more specifically only anbu he's served with.
Yugao stepped up next and with a slight bow of her head asked me why I was here. "Well, I wanted to throw Naruto a surprise with the rest of his friends." I replied whilst rubbing my head. They both dropped some tension before quickly regaining it, a telltale sign they are embarrassed if I remember them correctly. Odd how the cat duo were so similar.
"If you can get in go ahead the place is locked down better than anbu headquarters but from what we can tell by looking in from the larger window the place has a fortune inside of it." Curious on what he meant I quickly went around to the opposite side of the building where the larger window, which I've used to spy on Naruto a couple of times, was. I peered in to look for traps but inside was something I wasn't expecting. Not only was the room clean for once. But it reminded me so much of the Uzumaki compound when Kushina took me there once. The wall paper was a crimson red with each of the corners being gold with engraving mimicking fuinjutsu. On the large desk opposite Naruto's king sized bed was a scroll of fuinjutsu far more advanced than anything I've ever seen before.
Attempting to open the window was a complete failure as the moment I touched it a seal appeared and blew me off the roof luckily Yuhao seemed to be expecting this as she was able to catch me. "See what I mean." Tenzo said and despite the mask I knew he had a very large smirk.
"So Naruto has his home protected can't we just break the seals and enter that way." Kiba barked, leading me to groan internally. I am going to have to have words with Kurenai about training her students, granted I'm not much better.
"And how do you reckon we'd do that Kiba?" I asked not hiding any of my irritation. If three heavily qualified anbu can't sneak into the place how does he expect to.
"We use a jutsu on it." That was seriously his master plan, luckily I don't have to lecture him as Kurenai looks like she is about to.
"I wouldn't do that If I were you, the seal is set to reflect whatever you do ten times back." Spinning around whilst drawing a kunai as all of my instincts were screaming danger I was surprised to see Naruto and judging by the reactions of the anbu they didn't sense him either. How do you hide that much chakra? It should be impossible.
"Naruto! When did you get here?" Sakura screamed she was apparently as shocked as we were and judging by the rest of the party so were they.
"I've been here a while wondering what it is that you were doing but I'd rather not lose some friends to my own protective barriers." I sweatdropped no sealer in this village other than Jiraiya and the one in the barrier corp, can make this type of barrier so what does he mean he's mediocre. Wait nevermind he said he was mediocre by Uzumaki standards which puts him just below a typical seal master. I am really slipping that much that I didn't pick up on that.
"Are you able to open the barrier for us then Naruto?" Choji spoke up or rather munched out as he didn't stop eating his chips.
"I could but I won't. Instead I will take you to the Uzumaki compound where we can speak there." Wait, did he just say he will take us to the Uzumaki compound? That is an honour I don't think even Minato got this privilege.
"I thank you for this great honour, Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto." The others seemed surprised at the fact I gave a slight bow as well as my cordial bow but I know from the Uzumaki's the singular greatest honour and respect is being invited into their home.
"It seems your time with my mother wasn't spent in Kakashi." Naruto smiled what seemed like a genuine smile though now it was impossible for me to tell.
"I'm just surprised you would offer us something that even the Hokage never received, including your father." The other seemed to have finally caught on to why this was such a big deal and had a mixture of emotions on their faces. Sakura, Sasuke, Neji and Ino looked happy whilst Shikarmu and Choji looked indifferent. Hinata had a blush and seemed the most excited whilst Shino was surprised. Lee was Lee less on him the better whilst tenten was seemed unsure of how to act, Kiba looked stressed for some reason
"You have all proved yourself true friends of the Uzumaki including Team Ro which if possible I would like to attend as well, I have a couple other people to invite but I'll send shadow clones for that." Tenzo and Yugao seemed surprised by the invite before nodding their heads and sun shining away, likely to collect whoever on Team Ro that wasn't on a mission.
And so we all headed in the direction of the village that felt as if it was forgotten. The buildings in the east district were old and poorly made. If I remember what Kushina told me, the Uzumaki agreed to deal with maintenance in these areas. Hells there were trees growing out of buildings here but despite it the people here seemed happy and content with their lives. Odd considering maybe I'll have to check this area out more.
Finally coming to a stop in front of a grand crimson and golden wall, which had the occasional clan symbol of the Uzumaki engraved into it rather than painted like the Uchiha compound. On the large steel door which seemed to be the only entrance into the compound were engravings depicting complex seals which I had no hope of understanding nor knowing if they were actually active or not.
Naruto refused to comment just as he refused to allow us in, which caused no sense of nervousness to rise in the genin and singular chunin. Me and the fellow Jonin realised he was probably waiting for the other guests to arrive. Before I could even get out my favourite book, so that I have a little entertainment for the inevitable long wait or so I thought, but that idea was quickly put to rest when both of the living Hokage arrived. Tsunade went to say something to Naruto but I halted her with a shake of my head. Getting under his nerves whilst we are waiting wouldn't do us any good. To my surprise we didn't have to wait much longer as both the owner and his daughter of Ichiraku ramen both arrived after being carried here by some shadow clones. I believe their names are Teuchi and Ayame, if they're here then this conversation likely won't be pleasant. A few minutes after those two Iruka arrived with Jiraiya, the moment they arrived Naruto finally spoke up.
"Glad everyone could make it. I welcome you all to the last remnants of the village guarded by whirlpools. I offer you all the greatest honour available to me to bestow on each of you… As a thank you for everything." Naruto finished his head turning to indicate his embarrassment of saying thank you or at least in the way he did. Only a moment later the steel gate glowed as the seal turned into a glistening shade of turquoise, before the gate opened of its own accord revealing a garden that even the Yamanka would be envious of. Something that was evident by Ino's wide eyes, although this was a similar reaction to everyone else as well.
The garden held four tall sakura trees, two on each side. Between the Sakura trees there were large ponds. Which had whirlpools in them? Forcing my eyes away from the whirlpools I noticed a paved path of pure white heading to the fountain that seemed to act as a centre point of the whole garden. From the fountain and large circular paved ground surrounding it, there were four paths one leading to the manor which was just a continued straight line, one heading to the gate and two heading opposite directions into the gardens forming a cross with a circle as its connector. All along the pure white path , Like seriously how did they get it this white I've been to the land of snow and even their snow doesn't compare, where bushes decorated with flowers of similarly endless different colour shapes and sizes that somehow still doesn't make it come across as overwhelming despite the fact that it should.
"Naruto, how did you maintain this?" Ino spurred out clearly not even realising she asked the question as continued to stare towards the garden.
"The seals do everything, I've never once done anything to them." Naruto responded quickly but warmly, something I wasn't expecting for some reason. "So anyway are you all going to enter or stand at the gate forever, I mean it is a pretty nice gate." Naruto amused whilst pulling all of us back to reality as we finally realised that we haven't even entered the compound yet.
Earning a few chuckles and even more embarrassed head scratches. Leading us into the gardens Naruto answered any question he could which were all sent at him at speeds I didn't even think Ino could speak at. Of course all these questions were pertaining to the garden and every now and then Sakura would ask one or two if she saw a flower she especially liked. Something that got a very subdued reaction from Sasuke which unfortunately for him was noticed by all the older shinobi. But the part I was more focused on was the humidity, the moment we entered the air morphed into the same kind of steamy coolness you would expect from the land of waves not Konoha. This seemed to catch a few people off guard especially Kiba and Shino, as Shino attempted to use his bugs to discover what caused it but none came out and Kiba seemed to lose his sense of smell here.
"Naruto, is there a reason why I can't use my bugs here?" Shino asked first, surprising me as I expected Kiba to shout at Naruto to demand answers.
"The steam comes from a fruit by creating a thin cloud of mist one practically unnoticeable by people it lessens any extremes such as the Byakugan or the Inzuka heightened senses'' This caused both Hyuga to activate their dojutsu, only a moment later they both dropped to their knees with their Byakugan deactivated. It seems Naruto didn't say everything these plants do but based on his curious and concerned facial expression maybe he didn't know. "but also makes bugs effectively high and you giving them orders are likely giving them the biggest headaches imaginable." Naruto finished after confirming that the Hyuga's were okay getting a inquisitive look from Shino or at least that's what I assumed it was.
Unbeknownst to us except Naruto we reached the fountain in the centre. Once I got a closer look at it the whole thing was a work of art at the top of the wedding cake like formation was a horned man mediating and made of marble. On the Next tier were all of the tailed beasts but they looked as if they were children. On the tier below was an army of warriors all wearing the Uzumaki symbol and on the bottom tier were hundreds if not thousands of figures clashing with each other, all bearing a different clan symbol on them. Two caught everyone's eye as they were on a raised platform while these were the Senju and Uchiha. Underneath each battle a river of water flowed down into the larger pool just as you would expect from a fountain but there was something about these that was disturbing.
But before Naruto could say something I opened my mouth and asked "The water is meant to represent blood isn't it?" Naruto gave a quick nod which made everyone take another look at the fountain.
"At the top is the Sage of Six Paths below are nine of his children and below them the Uzumaki carrying out their vow to protect the tailed beasts and finally the wars of the world."Naruto said in a depressed tone which raised more than a few questions one quickly coming from Sasuke.
"Why are the Senju and Uchiha on a raised platform then?" This was clearly one of the million questions everyone wanted to ask.
"The Uchiha and Senju are descendants of the Sage right?" Naruto half asked half stated earning a quick but noticeably unsure nod from Sasuke. "Well it's as a warning to their only other relative the Uzumaki that this is what happens when you stray from the path of a guardian." Naruto finished his cryptic message before turning and walking towards the manor leaving the rest of us to catch up.
When we reached the manor that somehow seemed larger than the Hokage mansion and tower combined but noticeably had a similar architecture style to those two buildings. We all started to slow down due to the second set of steel doors, well I say all but in reality it was all of us but Naruto as he carried on with his pace. Eventually reaching the door and opening of its own accord just like before.
End of Kakashi Pov
Beginning of Sasuke Pov
As Naruto walked up to the large steel door of an unreasonably big manor I had only one thought going through my mind the moment an opportunity presents itself I must beg Naruto's and the others forgiveness. But those thoughts instantly went out of my head when the door opened revealing a hall large enough to fit the Uchiha clan four times over inside. In the centre and clearly focal point of the room was a large rectangular table with the inside cut out for a fireplace to be put stretching the whole length of the impressive table. The chairs that surrounded it were impressively decorated and looked suitable for the Fire Lord to sit on, but they were nothing compared to the throne that was slightly elevated from the table. The throne seating was a crimson cushion whilst the golden frame was made up of hundreds of patterns depicting various things, the most notable being the Uzumaki crest situated at the top of the frame.
Naruto gestured for us all to have a seat around the ridiculous table, honestly each time I looked at it, it seemed to be getting larger. Once we were all seated, the Hokage being closest to the throne followed by the Joninns then the genin then the Ichiraku family were at the other end, Naruto made his way up to the throne. He sat with the grace and authority of the emperor leaving me clueless as to where he got this aura from.
"As head of the Uzumaki Namikaze Clan soon to be formerly of Konoha" that statement caused a wince from just about everyone. " I would like to thank you for accepting the invitation into my home" That caused a slightly different reaction as most of the older shinobi nodded their heads in acknowledgement. "But as Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze I want to say a different thanks, a thank you to you all for being there at some point in my life." Now was my chance rising to my feet, an act that garnered everyone's attention and no small amount of concerned looks, especially Kakashi.
"Naruto I do not deserve your thanks after the pain I caused you and everyone here." I practically yelled whilst having my head bowed as far as humanly possible.
"I have already forgiven you Sasuke, there is nothing to apologise to me for but the others are their own people." Naruto quickly responded dismissively.
"I thank you for your desire to forgive Naruto but I won't accept it until I have been punished." Once again I yelled my voice becoming more desperate for some unknown reason.
"Fine, come up to my throne Sasuke." Naruto ordered leaving no doubt or room to question him, seriously where did he get this authority from. "And Lady Hokage is that 'thing' still alive?" I was confused at first of what Naruto was talking about but the evil smile on Tsunade's face meant I was likely about to suffer.
"Yes it is Naruto." Tsunade quickly replied, only helping to fill me with dread. Finally reaching Naruto's throne, I was really expecting anything but for some reason Naruto standing up and more going into his nine tails cloak was not something I was expecting. Granted before I could react his fist was already firmly in my stomach launching me across the room and into the steel door we came through.
"That is the first stage of my forgiveness, revenge. The second stage is commitment: you will do the capture tora mission 10 times without chakra and before you begin each time you will be punched by the strength enhanced fist of the Hokage wherever she chooses." The evil smile on Tsunade's face only grew although I didn't notice it as I was slowly rising to my feet barely hearing what Naruto was saying.
After I got back to my seat, in a cloud of smoke food appeared in quantities I didn't even know was possible. Only a moment later Naruto called for the beginning of the party and it was obvious for the rest of the night everyone was trying their best to enjoy it despite what it was 'celebrating'.
A/N this was a surprisingly hard chapter to write and yes I left it without going into the actual celebration because I attempted it in four different ways and each time it felt like a waste of space so I decided just not to show it instead. anyway the story should start picking up next chapter as it will be the official day of banishment.
