Disclaimer: I do not own any wrights to Naruto or Shadow Skill. I merely use their characters and themes for entertainment purposes.
Naruto stood looking at the out over the village from atop the Hokage Monument. He had been here for the last couple of hours just to clear his head. In just a few hours time he would go the Hyuuga compound and be presented to the Hyuuga Elders. The plan was simple really. Tell them that he and Hinata were married. Then after the objection the Elders were sure to come, they would lay out Naruto's rather unique history. Several people would accompany Naruto and Hinata as they addressed the Elders for sheer intimidation purposes. The people coming were indeed intimidating people: Hiashi as the most powerful member of the clan, Tsunade simply as the Hokage, Jiraiya as a part of Naruto's family inside the village; his closeness to the Fourth was what prompted this relationship, and Isalia as Naruto's family outside the village. Isalia would not carry as much weight as the others because she was unknown to the Hyuuga's, however rumors were beginning to be spread about the strength of the village's guests after a couple of Jounin's 'accidentally' saw some of them sparring with Naruto. Of coarse after Naruto's past linage was laid out for the Elders the plan kind of ended. After that they would have to improvise, and that was what worried Naruto, true he was a genius when it came to improvising in a fight but in this situation he would feel better if they could have planned more.
"He used to come up here when he had a lot on his mind," Jiraiya said. "It was almost like he was staking out his own place long before he became Hokage."
"I guess we do have a lot in common," Naruto said, "I would come up here before I became a ninja. It always helped me think."
"From what I heard you never really did that much," Jiraiya smirked.
"Shut up!" Naruto retorted, "Or I'll tell Tsunade you were peeking at the woman's bath."
"Don't even joke about that!" Jiraiya paled, "She wasn't kidding when she said she would make peeping a capital crime, I've looked at the books."
Naruto could not help but laugh at the Toad Summoner's panicked voice, "So why are you here Ero-Sannin?"
"Actually I came to give you this," Jiraiya said giving Naruto a small scroll. "It's the technique that was in Arashi's statue's hand."
"The Rasengan?" Naruto asked and Jiraiya nodded. Naruto looked at the scroll and noticed it had a blood seal on it, meaning only he could open it. After slicing his thump with his knife and running the blood over the seal he opened the scroll. After scanning it for a minute he looked at Jiraiya and asked, "He actually used balloons?"
"You should have seen the look on Jiraiya's face when he saw Arashi first should him how he came up with the Rasengan," Tsuande's said joining then. "It was rather funny, that is until he remembered what the end result could do."
"Well anyway thanks Ero-Sannin," Naruto said. Jiraiya, though annoyed at the nickname that was spreading as they spoke, just waived off the thanks.
"I've come to get you," Tsunade said, "The meeting will start soon." Naruto nodded then turned his gaze back to the village, subconsciously toward the Hyuuga section.
A few hours latter the meeting between arguably the strongest shinobi in Konoha started. At one end, on a raised platform for intimidation purposes, was the Hyuuga Elders seated with the senior Elder slightly above and behind the others that were lined up shoulder to shoulder. On the other side were, the real intimdators, were placed. When Hiashi called the meeting the Elders were at first confused, but then they remembered the news of the return of Hinata with the guests they assumed it could deal with the trade treaty. Though they were not consulted often in such matters it was not unheard of. This idea was thrown out the window when Naruto showed up with Hinata, it was decided to have Naruto's family show up after he did to through the Elders off balance. They new about the closes Hinata had with Naruto and could only assume it had increased over their time away. What did actually through them off were the appearances of the Fifth, her teammate Jiraiya, and the leader of the Savile Tribe to show up a few seconds after, now they did not know what to think. "Well Hiashi-sama," the senior Elder spoke, "Why have you called a meeting with us?"
"I have come to inform you that my eldest daughter has chosen Uzumaki-sama as her husband," Hiashi answered.
The four Elders exchanged glances, they were afraid of this when Naruto showed up. But if what they speculated was trued then why were the others here. "Then why have you brought outsiders in on a discussion that only involves the Hyuuga's?"
"Because we are his family," Tsunade answered with a confident smile.
"It has not family," the Hyuuga Elder to the right said. A sharp glance from the four eldest people addressing the Elders made him flinch.
"Actually," Tsunade said, "Ever since Naruto was an infant he was been under the guardian-ship of the Hokage Position. So when I became Hokage I became his legal relative."
Surprise showed on the Elders' faces once again but they quickly regained their composure. "Be that as it may, the Hyuuga Heir cannot just marry any shinobi, no matter whom his 'legal' relative is," the one on the left said smugly. "We will not accept 'him' as her future husband."
"I believe you misinterpreted my initial statement," Hiashi said.
"What do you mean?" the same Elder asked.
"I have already married him," Hinata answered with pride.
"Under our laws," Isalia added. "And our laws say that it cannot be broken in anyway."
"Then we are faced with no choice but to banish Hinata from the Hyuuga Clan," the middle Elder said.
"And by our Clan Law," the senior Elder said, "She will have the Curse Seal placed on her."
"No she won't," Naruto said with a slight flicker of his chakra. Again the Hyuuga Elders flinched, they had heard of Naruto's power.
"And it would not be wise to make such a hasty decision," Jiraiya finally spoke, "After all the village would not look to kindly on you banishing a relative of the Fourth Hokage."
This time the Elders did not try to hide their surprise, "What do you mean?"
"It has been confirmed through blood tests that Naruto is the Nephew of the Fourth," Tsunade answered, "I confirmed it myself."
"And your Fourth was also my brother," Isalia said, "We lost him when he was very you when we sent our first envoy here many years ago."
"The news is going to be spread among the populace soon," Jiraiya continued, "The latest information about Naruto plus his rising popularity from the war, well you get the idea."
The group addressing the Elders became silent as they discussed privately among themselves. After several minutes of silence the senior Elder addressed them, "We have discussed the prospect of Uzumaki Naruto marring Hinata-sama will be a benefit to the Clan. We accept her marriage to him. However we must insist a ceremony here in the village."
"I have no objection to that," Naruto said.
"We can discuss the details later," Tsunade said. "We all have other duties to perform." She then stood, soon followed everyone in the room, and left with Naruto and the others soon after.
Over the next several days plans were made for the ceremony. The Elders wanted a grand display to show off their new attachment to the Fourth's legacy, especially after it was revealed Naruto's relation to him. Naruto and Hinata really did not mind actually, after all they already had their own ceremony, this was merely for show. Although they were glad that their friends could come to this one unlike the real one. Other than minor details and arguments between what kind of decorations would be in place the only real problem came from at what date should the ceremony take place. One thing that must be accommodated for was the return of the Third, his mission to Suna was taking more time than needed and it would not be appropriate for a Hokage to miss such an important event. Apparently Garra of the Desert was smart and willing to negotiate but was also determined not to let his village sink into despair like it had with last Kazekage, this meant drawn out talks and a long time away from Konoha. It was estimated that even at longest the negotiations should not take more than a couple of weeks. And once that was confirmed many people started suggesting dates. Many different suggestions came up, from New Years to the anniversary of the release of the first Icha Icha Paradise book, Jiraiya was reported to need a visit to the hospital soon after that suggestion. Unfortunately no date seemed to be appropriate, that was until Jade suggested, by chance, just pointed to a calendar date which October 10. At first many objected, after all that was the day many mourned lost loved ones. But then people started to discuss the issue, and soon every one agreed that it would be a great way to honor the Fourth and those that died by celebrating the promise of life they died to protect. And so it was finally agreed to have the marriage on October 10 later that year.
Finally after everything was settled everyone went back into their normal routines of missions and training. One day while training Naruto was in his private area sparring with Dag when he called for a halt because he felt a familiar yet different chakra signature coming to them. When the signature was close enough Naruto turned to the source, there coming into the clearing was Sasuke returning from his training mission with Kakashi. When Sasuke was a meter away he said, "So I hear you're marrying Hinata."
"I'll leave you two alone, Gau," Dag said.
Naruto nodded as he walked off, when he was gone Sasuke asked, "Gau?"
"Part of the story," Naruto explained. For next half hour Naruto gave Sasuke the condensed version of the events that had been happening in his life since they last parted ways. When he was done Sasuke had slight smirk on his face signaling his amusement. "So now that you know about me, what about you? Sakura-chan told me about your training mission."
"It was productive," Sasuke said.
"How exactly was it productive?" Naruto asked.
"Like this," Sasuke answered. He activated his Sharingan, but instead of three black marks surrounding the center of his red eye there were four.
"A fourth mark?" Naruto asked surprised, "I thought the max was three marks."
"Obviously not," Sasuke replied.
"What does it do?" Naruto questioned.
"Through trial an error Kakashi-sensei and I have determined that the fourth mark negates the affect of another Sharingan," Sasuke said.
"Will it work on the Mangekyou?" Naruto asked calmly.
"Don't know yet," Sasuke said. "But even if it doesn't I have a back up." He then focused harder and the four marks shifted and appeared as a four-point star. "I found a higher level." Sasuke fully smiled at Naruto's even more shocked look and went on to answer the silent question, "This form, I don't have a name yet, allows me to use something else."
"What?" Naruto asked.
"Well according to records from my clan," Sasuke said, "The Mangekyou Sharingan allows a person to use powerful Genjutsu. The one Itachi used on you," Naruto nodded, "But it also allows a person to use black fire. It is much stronger than normal Fire Jutsus." He then brought his hand up and suddenly a white flame came out of his palm, "This form of the Sharingan allows me to use white flames. And they apparently can have the same intensity as black flames. So I have a counter for my brother."
"Pretty good Counter Ninja," Naruto said smirking. Sasuke then deactivate his new abilities and Naruto turned serious, "Even with this don't be to proud to seek help, your brother has very power allies, and Missing-nins are not know to fight fair."
"Noted," Sasuke said.
"Good then let me go introduce you to my family," Naruto insisted.
Deep in a cave nine figures stood around a massive show of seals. The design was a complex design that was a mixture of elemental, binding and summoning seals on the floor. On the walls there was strange runic language that was long forgotten by the world. "After months of preparation it is finally complete," one said.
"We will be to finally be able to complete our goals," another said.
"We will need to gather the others first," a third informed, "To use these seals we will need much to bring it here. We can use the others for the power once we extract enough chakra from them."
"Then shall we begin collecting them?" the fourth person asked.
"Yes," the first answered, "We shall start with the one in Canyon Country first. It is the most isolated and the easiest to retrieve."
"What about the one in Wind Country?" a fifth said, "It is the weakest right now."
"Maybe," the first said, "But it is currently being very public we will need to wait for that one."
"Once we have bring the last one others here," the sixth spoke, "Will be able to contain it? It is the strongest and will be quite upset when we summon it."
"That is true," the first agreed, "But the runes are specially designed to trap the beast."
"What should we do about the traitor?" the eighth asked.
"I say leave him be," the nine said, "He is too weak to stop us and does not even care about our plans. His foolishness will get him killed anyway."
"If he does interfere in any way kill him," the first said, "But if not let him be, we must concentrate we must concentrate on retrieving the beasts including the Nine Tails."
Naruto bolted upright at the mention of 'Nine Tails'. When he looked around he noticed he was his home in Konoha. Motion to his side signaled Hinata sleeping by his side, confirming his location. Deciding to get up to clear his head Naruto made his way to the kitchen. After getting something eat Naruto sighed, "I guess it was just a dream."
"It was not a dream, Shadow Claw," a soft voice said from behind him.
Caught completely off guard by the voice and that someone could sneak up on him. Naruto was shocked at what he saw. There standing in the shadowed room was a man about twenty or so centimeters taller than him come into the moon light through the window. When Naruto saw the person he gasped out, "Darkness!"
