The day of Naruto's revelation dawned as normal as most days. He awoke in an unfamiliar setting, before remembering that he had slept in Sasuke's apartment. He got up and headed towards the kitchen, finding Sasuke already up and eating. As Naruto sat down, Sasuke handed him a note from Tsunade.
Naruto,
I set up the meeting for 10 am, so make sure you're there.
Tsunade
"Hm, I bet she's sleeping when we get there." Naruto remarked to himself.
After breakfast, the two boys walked over to the Hyuuga compound to pick up Hinata. The indigo headed girl met them at 9:30, so they were in plenty of time to make it to the Hokage's office. The trio made their way up the winding stair case and into the waiting room. Since Shizune was asleep, they quietly made their way inside the office, nodding to the chunnin guards and the ANBU stationed around the office.
As expected, at least by Naruto, the Godaime was asleep on her desk, blonde hair falling over her head, protecting her from the sun's harsh rays. Naruto snickered as he thought of ways to wake the sleeping women. Neither Hinata nor Sasuke had ever seen the Hokage asleep at work, so they didn't know how to approach her. Hinata was about to walk over and shake her awake, until Naruto's hand on her shoulder stopped her forward movement.
"Not a good idea, Hinata-chan. Here watch this." Her boyfriend explained.
He quickly made a shadow clone and sent it on its mission, from which there would be no return. The clone made its way to the side of the Hokage, before it took a mighty breath and yelled:
"HIYA, BAA-CHAN!"
Before anyone could cringe from the loud noise, there was a loud 'poof' and a plume of smoke as the clone was instantly destroyed by a fist to the skull. The two new comers to this ritual cringed in fear of that clone being a human being.
"Huh, what's going on?" Came the dumb response of the Hokage. Clearing the sleep from her eyes, she noticed the three arrivals to her office.
"Oh, is it 10 all ready?" She asked.
In answer to her question, the members of the 'Rookie 9' arrived, wondering why they were summoned. Next to the Hokage, stood Naruto and Hinata, Sasuke had moved to stand with the group.
"Well, I suggest that we get this over with, since I have an apartment to hunt." Naruto said, grinning.
"You've all been assembled today, damn that sounds stupid, any way, I had you all come here because I think it's time that I get some stuff off my chest. First of all, I'd like to thank you all for being my friends or caring for me in some way, when I was younger, without you guys, I probably wouldn't be who I am today. As you are all aware, sixteen years ago, the demon fox, Kyuubi attacked our village, reeking havoc and taking the lives of many brave shinobi and civilians. The stupid fox was winning, until the Yondaime Hokage came to the battle field, on the frog-boss Gamabunta. Using a forbidden jutsu, he was able to destroy the Kyuubi, at the cost of his life. As some of you know, that is a lie, fabricated by the Sandaime. The truth is that Yondaime sealed the soul and chakra of the demon into a human vessel, so that the fox's power would eventually meld with its vessel, and its soul would transcend this earth along with the soul of its vessel. If you can't see where this is going, I am the vessel of the demon fox Kyuubi." Naruto said, his voice never wavering or faltering.
The admission shocked those in the room who didn't all ready know. While the group was collectively pondering this fact, the thought once again occurred to Sakura that she didn't know her team mates at all. Actually, the thought was running through the minds of all of those present.
For the longest time, no one said anything, making Naruto nervous, He was afraid that they would abandon him, although this time, he would at least have friends.
"W-why didn't you tell us earlier?" Ino asked, confusion lacing her voice.
"Well, I guess it was because I didn't know until I was twelve, when Mizuki told me, then I was afraid that you would all abandon me if you found out. There was also the law that the Sandaime put into effect to make sure that I would have a fair chance to make friends my age." Naruto explained.
"Why would it matter if kids didn't know?" Tenten asked.
"Because, despite the Yondaime's wish for Naruto to be treated as a hero, the village has never seen him in that light, people despise him and blame him for their losses. For these people, time hasn't healed any wound, it has simply rubbed salt into them." Neji explained. As the only jounin in the group, he had become aware of Naruto's predicament.
"You mean that people blame Naruto for what the Kyuubi did to the village?" Sakura asked, in obvious disbelief. Looking at the occupants of the room, she saw a sea of bobbing heads, Shino, Sasuke, Lee, Hinata, and the Hokage were all nodding their head in confirmation.
This caused both Ino and Sakura to become angry at the ignorance of the village.
"Now, I have something else I'd like to say." Naruto brought the group back to attention. "To seal a being as powerful as the Kyuubi, the vessel must have chakra coils that haven't solidified yet. Therefore, the vessel must be a new born baby. Unfortunately there wasn't a baby that the Yondaime could use. He didn't have one of his own, and he couldn't simply ask for someone to donate their child, so he had to…improvise. If any of you noticed, I share a remarkable resemblance to the Yondaime. Some of you may have believed that I am his son, but truthfully I am a very advanced shadow clone."
This made the group that hadn't gone on the rescue mission gasp in shock and surprise.
"What do you mean a shadow clone?" Neji asked.
"During the fight with the Kyuubi, the Yondaime had to find a child who had recently been born. He assumed that whichever child he chose would be wanted for the power of the Kyuubi, and wanted the child to be from an established shinobi family. Since he couldn't find a baby fitting those specifications, he used a kinjutsu, kage bunshin: sozo to create life from nothing. Naruto is a true clone of the Yondaime, who knows every technique ever used by the Yondaime." Tsunade explained.
The majority of the room was contemplating this new bit of information. If Naruto was indeed a clone of the Yondaime, than he knew all of the Yondaime's attacks and when you add that to the chakra and power of the Kyuubi…damn.
Tsunade then went on to relate the tale of the rescue mission and the subsequent downfall of the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. The group was awestruck that the Yondaime had possessed Naruto in order to kill Orochimaru. When the story telling was done, everyone just stood or sat in the office of the Hokage for a while, in a state of shock. Almost every major enemy of their village was dead, and all in the space of two months.
People started to file out around twelve thirty for lunch, every one assuring Naruto that they still viewed him as their friend and not as a demon. These assurances brought Naruto a newfound joy in his life. He would always have friends who would stick by him, despite being the vessel for the demon fox.
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Five months had passed since the fall of Orochimaru and Otogakure along with the total destruction of the criminal organization Akatsuki. Spring had brought a newfound life to the village of Konoha and with it renewed trade with Suna. The Jounin exams had been held in late January. Almost every one of the chunnin nine had participated, with the exception of Ino, Shikamaru, and Sasuke. Ino had been accepted as the protégé of Morino Ibiki, the torture specialist. She was expanding her family's jutsu to help in the interrogation of enemy ninja. She was perfectly happy to remain a chunnin, at least for the time being. Shikamaru had never wanted to become a jounin and didn't need to, if he wanted to become the strategist of the village. Sasuke's suspension had been lifted shortly after the rescue mission returned, but he still needed to pass the chunnin exam. He had already received offers to join both the hunter Nins as well as ANBU, and was considering both, leaning towards the ANBU option.
The test consisted of only two parts. The first was a tournament, much like the chunnin exams, but instead of limiting the field to ten, the field was cut to twenty. The second part was an A-class mission, to be completed in teams of five. All of the chunnin's who had graduated with Naruto passed the first part of the exam, except for Kiba, who had the unfortunate luck to face Rock Lee, and Chouji who fought an experienced chunnin to a draw.
The group of twenty was divided into four teams for the second part and given their mission. Naruto had the great luck to find himself on the same team as Shino, Hinata, and two more experienced chunnin, including the replacement for Mizuki at the academy. Their mission was a fairly straight forward retrieval mission. A scroll from Kirigakure, containing a schematic of the village's defense had been stolen by a missing ninja, and was being auctioned off on the black market to Iwagakure. The only real reason that this was considered an A-class mission and not a B-class was the involvement of stone-ninja, who still harbored grudges against Konoha from the third great Ninja Wars.
The group had made it to the small outpost where the exchange was supposed to take place, and waited for the nuke-nin to arrive. When he did, Shino quickly attached his kikai bugs to the ninja, preventing him from using jutsu, and the two older chunnin moved in to take possession of the information.
After dispatching of the missing Nin, the group made a quick retreat towards Konoha. Shino was using his bugs to scout in front of the group, and Hinata's byakugan was covering the rear. About midway between the village and the meeting place, Hinata signaled that they were being tracked by Iwa ninja. There were only three of them, but they were al jounin. It would be best to avoid them and return to the village. Naruto simply made a large number of shadow clones as a distraction, and the group left a number of traps to ward off the following ninja.
In the end, the mission was a success, although, only Shino and Naruto were promoted. The other two chunnin were told that they weren't quite ready for the missions they would take as jounin, and Hinata was offered an apprenticeship with the hospital, to further her medical studies.
Naruto made his way towards the Hyuuga compound to pick up Hinata for a date. The warm sun was beginning to lower in the western sky as he knocked on the door. Moments later Hinata appeared and the two headed off towards a nice restaurant on the edge of the village. It was a nice meal and the pair discussed the different things they were doing in their new jobs.
"I'm starting to do basic surgeries." Hinata explained. "Nothing too big, mostly just small bone fragments in non-vital spots on the body. The most difficult one I've had to do was an appendectomy."
"Yeah, how did that go?" The blonde asked.
"It was routine, so no major problems, it wasn't even an emergency removal, and it was just a precaution." The Hyuuga heiress explained.
"That's great, Hinata-chan, I kinda wish I had cool stuff like that to do." Naruto whined. "But I can't complain too much, the missions I've been getting have been interesting at least. I got to go back to Wave Country and visit Inari and his family. They had requested some help with some Grass ninja that were encroaching on the village."
The remainder of dinner was eaten quickly and soon the pair was walking around Konoha. During the course of their relationship, they had gotten into a habit of going out for a meal and then walking around, simply discussing whatever happened to be on their minds at the time, until Hinata had to return to her home. Tonight's topic of conversation was brought up by Hinata.
"Um…Naruto-kun, th-there's something I want to talk with you about." The young women said, reverting to her shy nature. "Well, the council, um, they want me to get married by December…"
At this point in her speech, Naruto interrupted her.
"I know, Hinata-chan, your father explained the deal to me a while ago, I was waiting for you to bring it up so we could discuss it. I want to know how you feel about it." He asked.
For a moment Hinata didn't respond, simply staring at the ground, finding something fascinating hidden among the pebbles and dirt.
"Naruto-kun…I…I don't mind the proposal of the clan, I don't, I just didn't know how you would react." She explained.
"I don't mind it at all, Hinata-chan, I love you and I doubt that I'll ever stop loving you. I'm more worried about how everyone would take it, if we got engaged. You know, the whole 'noble clan heiress and the demon' thing." He smiled at the last part, unable to keep a straight face.
"I think that the village should keep out of my life, as well as the clan." She stated firmly.
"You know," Naruto said in a mock serious tone of voice "when I become the Hokage, you'll be pulled even more into the village life." He mocked her.
This caused the formerly shy girl to giggle at her boyfriend's antics.
"Hinata-chan, I've got a question for you." Said Naruto as he interrupted her fit of laughter. "When your Dad told me about the agreement, he said that…well he said that you would have asked me to marry you if you weren't so shy. Is that true?"
Hinata blushed a brilliant shade of crimson, but stared directly into Naruto's eyes as she answered.
"Hai, Naruto-kun, I've been in love with you since the academy, and I don't think I could imagine marrying anyone but you."
For a moment, there was a pause in dialogue between the two. It was Naruto who broke the silence after a minute.
"Well, then Hyuuga Hinata, would you marry me? You know, when we get older and are ready for it." He asked, he suddenly felt as if his stomach was going to tie it's self into a knot and squeeze until it broke in half.
Hinata simply stared at her boyfriend reading his emotions as if they were a book. He was nervous which showed that he really was sincere on his offer. Fighting back the tears that began to well up in the corners of her eyes, Hinata grabbed Naruto in what would be described as a bone crushing hug. She quickly lost her battle against her tears and began to cry on his shoulder, whispering the words:
"Yes, yes Naruto-kun, I'll marry you!"
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(A/N: I'm sorry to say that this fic has reached its end. There is only one more chapter remaining, and it's going to be an epilogue, set after a time skip. I'd say five or more years. Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who's read this story, and especially everyone who's reviewed it. Right now most of my time is being invested into my other story, but I could be persuaded to make a sequel to the story, just let me know what you think. Thanks!)