Naruto: Mercy of the Shinigami

by MercenaryGrax

On the night of the Kyuubi attack, the Shinigami chose to take mercy on a newborn Naruto. The Shinigami allowed Kushina Uzumaki to remain among the world of the living. As a result, Naruto and his sister Naruko grew up not only knowing the love of their mother, but they also grew up being loved by their village. How will all of this change things? AU/slight OOC NaruHarem

5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Return to Konoha; Kirobi's Fate & Danzo's Ruling

After the battle on the bridge, the group had left with Zabuza in tow and ventured back to Tazuna's house. Once there, Asuma went off to make sure that Kirobi and Marco were still secured and tied up. Meanwhile, the others sat around the dining table without speaking so much as a word.

Zabuza and Naruto were currently thinking about Haku. Zabuza was reflecting on his history with his apprentice, while Naruto was thinking about how Haku came to Naruko's rescue and how he had taken that poor man's life as thanks. It didn't sit right with him and it bothered him to no end. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, the young blonde looked Naruko over briefly before sighing sadly and resting his head upon his arms on the table. Well this sucks. This whole mission has been too fucking chaotic. Between Marco, Kirobi, and now this…I just want to get home and rest for a long, long time.

Naruko caught her brother peeking at her and smiled softly in his direction. It was a reassuring smile, but it wasn't having much of an effect on her depressed, younger brother. Frowning inwardly, she reached over and patted his hands gently. "I-It'll be okay Naru-kun. This mission has been hard on all of us. Well…almost all of us. When we get back, we'll talk with Kaa-chan and our friends. It might help to talk to them about everything that's happened."

The young, male Uzumaki-Namikaze sighed and nodded his head. "Yeah. Yeah." Sighing again, he rose from the chair and looked away. "I…I think I'm just going to go outside and go for a short walk. I don't really feel well right now." Without looking to Naruko, feeling too ashamed of himself for everything that had happened thus far, the young man left the house and walked off.

Asuma ventured downstairs shortly after and shook his head. "I sure hope he'll be okay. This mission has taken a lot out of the poor kid." Glancing at the others, the smoking Sarutobi shook his head and smiled. "Anyways, how are you holding up Naruko? Feeling any better?"

Naruko nodded slowly and looked down at her hands. "Yes. My wounds weren't anything serious, and they're healing fine. But this mission…I think it's taken its toll on us. Kirobi-sensei…he's never liked my otouto. He's…he's one of the few that just doesn't trust him. What my brother holds inside…he's suffered some prejudice for it. Kirobi just took it to a whole new level this time. I never expected it. And Marco? I don't know what we're going to do when we get back. I'm fine working with Rihoshi-san, but not those two. Not after what they've done on this mission.

But Asuma-sensei…Kirobi-sensei has a lot of pull with the Council. I'm actually a little worried about what might happen. I hope your father, Hokage-sama, can help us. I can't trust Marco or Kirobi anymore. They…they went way too far this time. But, despite all that…it's my brother I'm most worried about. He took his first lives on this mission, and he's blaming himself for everything that's happened to me on this mission. I don't know what I can do to help him." Sighing again, Naruko laid her head down and closed her eyes. "I'm worried about my otouto Asuma-sensei. I'm really worried…"

Asuma nodded, but he wasn't the one to speak up next. "The kid'll be just fine girl. The gaki's determined, fierce, strong…" Both Naruko and Asuma turned to Zabuza as he said these words and both nodded slowly. The swordsman looked between the two of them and shrugged. "Give it time. If you need to, help the gaki through whatever slump he might be in right now. He's a good kid. Reminds me a lot of Haku. I can understand why Haku put his trust in him the way he did." Nodding his head, Zabuza left it at that and simply glanced at Tsunami as she brought them their dinner. Thanking her, the swordsman lowered his mask enough so he could eat.

"I'm sure that he just needs to take some time and think things through. When he returns, tell him that I'll have something prepared for him. That young man does need to eat after all." Smiling at the group before her, Tsunami nodded her head and walked off back to the kitchen, all the while humming to herself a simple little tune. Meanwhile, back at the table, the others sighed and decided to strike up a simple conversation to try and lighten the mood at least a little.

Meanwhile, out in the woods

Naruto stopped walking as he heard something rustling nearby. Clutching the hilt of his nodachi, the blonde looked around and prepared himself for combat. However, he didn't expect for a silver-haired, buxom lady to step out into the clearing he was in and stare calmly into his deep, blue eyes. Releasing his sword, he looked her up and down and blushed slightly as he noticed the amount of cleavage she was showing. Gazing down at her feet, he shook his head and sighed. "M-Ma'am, what are you doing way out here? For all you know, it could actually be dangerous out here."

The Shinigami giggled and shook her head. The woman approached him slowly, step by step, and reached out one of her hands. Gently, she patted him on the top of his head and knelt down so she could be at eye level with him. "Silly young Naruto, do not worry so much. I am a friend, and I have been waiting for a long time to meet you personally." At the shocked look on the young man's face, the silver-haired Shinigami giggled again. She pointed at his Shi no Tacchi and nodded. "I am the one who asked your mother to give you that sword. You may call me Yure if you'd like."

Naruto looked into her beautiful, sapphire-colored eye and nodded slowly. Something about her made him shiver, but at the same time he felt a sense of peace around her. "Yes Naruto-kun, I knew about the sword's abilities when I gave it to you. It's a blade I created myself. Naruto-kun, I am the Shinigami." When his eyes widened, she shook her head and smiled softly. "No, no. I cannot simply bring back the dead. Things do not work that way. As for the blade, the souls you take into it will empower the blade and allow you to call on unique abilities once belonging to those you've killed with it. But you should know that the soul will eventually diminish and return to my realm where it belongs. Use the abilities wisely, take only the souls of those that truly threaten you or your loved ones, and be careful. Okay sweet, little Naruto-kun?"

The blonde jinchuriki nodded slowly and then glanced down at his soul stealing blade. "Can you take the souls of those that are of no use to me and the ones that I do not want? Gato and his men aren't going to be of any help to me, and I'd rather not let them tarnish this blade. But…H-Haku…please let him stay. He gave himself to keep my sister safe, and I'd rather not let his soul go to waste. He was a good man…he was. If I could use Haku's abilities to protect the person closest to him and the people I care about most, I will do so. B-But…I don't really know enough about this blade. Please, teach me Shinigami-sama." Bowing low to the god, Naruto closed his eyes and waited for the Shinigami's response.

Sighing softly, Yure put both of her hands on the boy's shoulders and forced him to rise again. Leaning over, she kissed his forehead and smiled softly at him. "Naruto-kun, I told you to call me Yure. There is no need for you to refer to me as Shinigami-sama. As I said, I want to be your friend. Now, follow me and I will teach you what I can for now. As time goes on, I will train you further in the use of this blade and your other swords as well. There is still so much for you to learn, and so little time. I cannot be around all the time, as I am kept rather busy, but I will do what I can young one." Naruto nodded in response and walked off with Yure to train.

Two Weeks Later – Konoha

The rest of the time in Wave had passed by at a rather dull pace for most of the group. Naruto kept disappearing to train with Yure, and none of his companions could ever find where he went. Yure made sure to keep the two of them well hidden with her powers so that she could train Naruto in peace without any unneeded interruptions. Whenever the blonde Genin wasn't training, he would be with Naruko and/or his teammates. In fact, Naruko spent most of her time with Naruto staying as close to him as possible. It would seem that recent happenings had shaken her up more than she would have liked to admit.

As it was now, Team 10 and their allies now stood at the gates to Konoha, Marco & Kirobi bound together with powerful chakra thread that prevented them from using any of their chakra in an attempt to escape with jutsu or sheer, brute force. When questioned as to why two of their own were bound and gagged as they were, Asuma merely told the gate guards that he would explain it to the Hokage, and the Hokage alone. Taking this to mean that whatever had happened was something big, the gate guards simply waved them on through and instructed them to report to the Hokage immediately.

Upon entering the village, Asuma turned to Naruko and smiled softly at her. "You've been through a trying time Naruko-chan. We'll handle things from here. I want you to head on home and talk with your mother. Feel free to explain to her everything that happened on the mission, and inform her that she is free to come join the meeting with the old man. I'm sure she'll have a few choice words to say on the matter. In fact, I have a feeling she'll try to dole out the punishment these two deserve herself. In which case, I hope no one dares try to stop her." Chuckling softly to himself, the Jonin watched as Naruko kissed her brother's cheek before saying her good-byes to everyone. When she walked off and was out of sight, the group continued on.

When they neared the Hokage Tower, just a few dozen steps away at this point, Naruto was suddenly tackled from behind. Nearly collapsing under the weight of his 'attacker', Naruto spun around in his 'opponent's' grasp and blinked a few times in surprise. "I-Ino-chan. H-Hi there. What's up?"

Ino stared back and poked her boyfriend in the forehead. "What's up is I've been worried sick about you! I heard from your mother that you'd be gone for a whole month on a C-rank mission. I missed you a lot. Being stuck on a team with Kiba of all people rather than getting to spend time with you Naruto-kun is absolutely horrible. He's so rude all the time, and he never says anything good about any of us, and he loves to taunt me for being your girlfriend. It's just one thing after another with him. Kurenai-sensei's tried some Genjutsu on the idiot, but Dog breath never learns his lesson!" Sighing heavily, the platinum blonde wrapped her arms tightly around her boyfriend and rested her head against his chest. "So, are you okay Naru-sweetie?"

Naruto blushed heavily as he began to hear snickering from his teammates, Asuma, & Zabuza. "Aww, I didn't know the gaki was getting it on with somebody other than his sister. How cute." Snickering to himself, Zabuza smirked at Naruto when he shot him a rather nasty glare in response. "Relax gaki, I'm just giving you a hard time. Do try to remember that we're in a hurry though. These two need to be dealt with after all." Giving a good, hard kick to the back of Kirobi's knee and watching him collapse, the missing nin chuckled to himself gleefully. "Ahhh, doling out a little bit of my kind of punishment. They should really let me handle these two, I'd make them both suffer hell for what they tried to do."

Ino looked between the strange, yet intimidating man and her precious Naruto a few moments before finally stepping back and staring Naruto hard in the face. "Okay, what happened? You have some serious explaining to do Naruto. I won't take no for an answer either!"

The young blonde male sighed and shook his head. "Not right now Ino-koi. If you need to know the details immediately, head to my home and speak with Naruko. We need to go see the Hokage now. It's really quite important that we deal with this swiftly and as painlessly as possible. We're already getting questioning looks from other shinobi. Please, I'll tell you everything later if you'd rather hear it from me, but Naruko could really use a friend right now. Bye." Kissing Ino's lips tenderly, Naruto soon left, following his teammates and the others into the Hokage tower.

Something's really not right here. If he insists I go see Naruko, then I shall. It sounds like she's had it rough. Frowning at that, Ino shook her head and quickly took off in the direction of Naruto's home.

Hokage Tower

Hiruzen sat in his chair, sighing heavily as he stared intently at his son. "I'm not going to like this, am I?" At Asuma's simple shake of the head to signify the answer was "No.", the Sandaime Hokage took hold of his pipe, lit it, and took a few puffs. "Let me hear the report. Judging from the looks of things, the mission was successful and you even brought back a, erm…guest? You don't appear to be a prisoner, but as for what purpose you have been brought before me Zabuza Momochi, I admit that I am a bit perplexed. Please Team 10, explain what happened."

Asuma sighed and nodded his head solemnly. Staring at his father's face, he smirked a bit and shook his head. "This might be a long story, but you remember receiving our letter shortly after we left, do you not?" Seeing his pops nod in response, Asuma took that as his signal to continue. "After that, we met up with Kirobi-sensei's team and proceeded to continue our escort of the bridge builder to his home in Wave. As we suspected, we were again attacked, this time by none other than Zabuza Momochi himself."

Behind the Sarutobi, Zabuza nodded and adorned another smirk. "It was a good fight, I'll give you that much. As Team 10 here can tell you, I was defeated and forced to retreat. While I took the time to recuperate, it would seem this team underwent some training. The next I saw of them, they were each much stronger than our first battle. I must say I was rather impressed for the most part." With a shrug, Zabuza glanced about the room a moment before Shino spoke up to continue the story.

Eyeing the Hokage a moment from behind his sunglasses, Shino frowned and nodded his head. "During our first battle with Zabuza, Kirobi-sensei and his pupil, Marco, attempted to kill Naruto-san. As you can see, the attempt on his life failed. Sadly, this isn't the worst of what happened. After the battle, when we arrived at Tazuna's home, Kirobi proceeded to antagonize Naruto-san and made the situation worse. As a result of their behavior and conduct during the mission thus far, both Kirobi & Marco were hence put under house arrest, so to speak. They were monitored throughout the day, with at least one person watching both of them at every second."

Seeing the look on the Hokage's face, Shino shook his head and raised a hand. "Please Hokage-sama, before you speak, allow me to finish. It's important that we finish relaying to you our report so you understand the entirety of the situation." At Hiruzen's nod to continue on, Shino nodded in response and continued on. "As Zabuza said, we underwent training while keeping an eye on these two. However, at one point, a few days after arriving at Tazuna's house, Marco escaped our watch." Looking to Naruto at this point, Shino nodded his head for his teammate to continue the report.

Sighing, wishing he didn't have to regale his grandfather figure with such troubling details, Naruto spoke up. "It's…what happened at that point is just horrible Jiji. Naruko-chan and I were asleep in the woods that morning, exhausted from our night training and just…sleeping peacefully amongst the trees. I awoke to my body paralyzed by sealing tags. Marco assaulted my sister, he knocked her away from her swords, overpowered her in her still weakened state, and…and…" Feeling a reassuring hand on his shoulder, the blond looked up into his sensei's face and nodded, a sad sigh escaping his lips. "Marco…attempted to rape Naruko-chan, Jiji. He attempted to rape her, and after Haku, we'll explain more about Haku in a bit, I promise, well, after Haku showed up and distracted him, I…I lost myself. I was so angry, and all I remember of that exact moment is seeing red. I tried to kill that bastard for hurting Naruko-chan. I would have succeeded to had Kirobi-teme and Asuma-sensei stopped me. Heh, instead of trying to punish his pupil, Kirobi had the gall to lecture me, accuse me of attacking an innocent, a fellow Konoha shinobi, all that crap."

Choji took over here. "After that, we proceeded to tie Kirobi & Marco up and kept them tied up at Tazuna's house so they couldn't pull anything else. At first, we had decided it would be a good idea to keep them available for the upcoming battle, but with everything they had tried, it was clear they couldn't be trusted to so much as cooperate with us. Still, we managed to win the battle on the bridge, though it wasn't easy. Naruto and Naruko fought with Haku, Zabuza's pupil by the way, and managed to kill him. After that, Naruto saved Zabuza from a killing blow that Asuma-sensei would have dealt. After that, Gato appeared with a bunch of mercenaries. But…"

Everyone directed their gazes to Naruto at this point and the blonde felt like shrinking into himself as a turtle would retract its arms, head, and legs into its shell to escape danger. With another heavy sigh, Naruto spoke up. "I…used a sword bestowed upon me by somebody really special. It's called the Shi no Tacchi and…well, as I killed everyone in my way and then Gato himself…my sword absorbed their souls. Please don't ask, and please don't ask me to relinquish this blade. It's not an evil blade, I assure you. I've also been trained by the person who made it to use it effectively. It's…more of a last ditch effort weapon because of its abilities, but it's capable and I'm learning fast. As for the other mercenaries I didn't kill, Asuma-sensei dealt with them. I was too worried about my sister to truly care either way. I'm just glad she's alright after everything that's happened."

Sensing that the report was finished, Hiruzen then nodded his head towards Zabuza. "If that is all for your report, would you mind explaining Zabuza's presence here?"

Asuma sighed and nodded in response. "It's due to a promise that Naruto here made to Haku prior to the boy's death. Essentially, it was something along the lines of: 'Look after Zabuza and give him a place to call home.' Or something along those lines. Essentially, make sure Zabuza stays well." With a shrug, Asuma looked down to Naruto to see him nod. "Yep, looks like that's about it for that explanation. So what do you say Pops? Can you give Zabuza a place here in Konoha as one of our own?"

Hiruzen sighed and removed his hat with one hand, proceeding to place it down upon his desk. With that hand now freed, he ruffled his hair a bit before hanging his head. "Yes, though Zabuza will have to undergo questioning and have to prove himself. His skills aren't in question here, it's whether or not he'll be loyal to the village and fight to defend both it and its people. Zabuza, do you agree to be tested? If so, I ask that you remain behind once we are done here so we can discuss the details of what we'll need to do."

Seeing Zabuza nod, the Sandaime Hokage nodded in turn and then turned his gaze onto Kirobi and Marco. Narrowing his eyes, the old man began to speak. "As for these two, I'm calling the Council together for a meeting. Team 10, I ask that you be there. Naruko and her fellow teammate should come as well. Marco and Kirobi are going to be put before the Council and judged for their crimes. Naruto," looking to the blonde Genin, Hiruzen smirked a bit and nodded his head once more. "Bring your mother. I'm sure she'd love to be there when their sentences are passed down. In fact, I'm more than certain Kushina would love to enact her own brand of punishment upon these two."

Watching everyone nod, the Hokage dismissed Team 10 and the only member of Naruko's team that wasn't currently tied up before turning to one of his ANBU. "Take these two away, have Anko look after them. Tell her that she's free to 'play' a little." Smirking at the looks on Kirobi's & Marco's faces, the Hokage watched as they were escorted out of the room. Turning his gaze to Zabuza, the Sandaime donned his hat once again and smiled. "Take a seat Zabuza, this may take a while."

Earlier at the Uzumaki-Namikaze Estate

Naruko had been interrupted in the middle of giving her mother the news. She hadn't even been able to tell her about what had transpired on the bridge, let alone actually finish explaining what happened with Marco & Kirobi. In fact, the scream Kushina gave out, a rather loud, angry scream declaring: "They did WHAAAT?! WHY I'LL KILL THOSE BASTARDS!" and so on, and so on. Currently, the angry, redheaded mother was on an angry tirade, going on and on about what she'd do to the two of them and just how painful she would make their deaths.

The pissed off mother only stopped when they began to hear knocking on their front door. Naruko, walking to the door, slowly opened it and blinked a moment when she saw both Ino and Sakura standing in the doorway. "I-Ino? Sakura? What brings you two here? If you're looking for Naruto…"

Ino and Sakura shook their heads before Ino spoke up. "M-May we come in? Naruto told me that I should come and see you. Our boyfriend wouldn't tell me what was going on, but it's obvious something happened. He'd…like us to be here for you. Judging from Kushina-sama's screaming earlier, I assume it's really, really bad?" Seeing Naruko nod and step back, both Ino and Sakura stepped into the room and took a seat on either side of Naruko on the couch. When they did so, Kushina finally calmed down and smiled softly at the girls, rushing off to make some tea.

When she finally returned, she placed tea on the table for each of the girls, and then sat back in a chair near them and sighed, sipping her own cup of tea quietly. "It's good to see you girls. Right now, I think we could use the company. I'm sorry Naruko sweetie, but could you please start over from the beginning and explain what happened? I can deal with those two brutes later, but right now I want to hear the rest of the story."

Naruko nodded slowly and then turned to both Sakura & Ino. "T-This might not be easy to hear for the both of you, and I promise that as I go on with the details of the mission, the two of you..." Shaking her head, the redhead looked at her mother and then looked down again. "Excuse me; the three of you will like it less and less. The entire mission was bad. So very, very bad." Wrapping her arms around herself, the young woman began to shiver; at least until Sakura and Ino set their teacups down and wrapped her in a warm, three person hug.

Calming down, Naruko smiled at the girls and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Thank you. Both of you." Nodding slowly, Naruko took her teacup back into her hands, having had it removed from her grasp when she began shaking, and began to tell her tale.

"It began when my team was called in to assist Naruto-kun's team. They had taken on what was supposed to be a C-rank mission, but it turned out to be much more than it first seemed. The bridge builder, Tazuna, had apparently lied about the mission details. The enemy was Gato Corporation. As such, Gato had the money to hire almost whomever he wanted to get rid of the bridge builder. Please, don't ask me to explain Ino, Sakura. I just…I don't feel up to it right now."

Nodding in understanding, the girls urged her to continue when she was ready. "On our way, as we were escorting Tazuna to his home in Wave, we were attacked by the missing nin, Zabuza Momochi. As if that wasn't bad enough, during our fight, my Jonin sensei, Kirobi, and my teammate, Marco…they tried to kill Naruto-kun during the battle and make it look as if it was Zabuza's doing." At their horrified looks, Naruko offered up a weak smile and shook her head. "As you already know, they didn't succeed. But it was a terrible act regardless."

Proceeding to tell them how they forced Zabuza to flee with Haku, moving on to explaining what happened at Tazuna's house, and more, Naruko's tale continued on until she got to the part that haunted her the most. When tears began streaming down her eyes, her mother came over and hugged her tight. "Take your time sweetheart. Girls," looking between Ino and Sakura, Kushina frowned at this point. "This…this is the part that really got me here. After she told me about what happened at this point in the mission, I lost it. It's a good thing you two came when you did, or I would have gone straight to the Hokage and demanded that he let me take their heads."

Naruko smiled slightly at that, and almost felt like giggling when she saw the expressions on Ino's & Sakura's faces. "The morning after Naruto and I had that intense training session together…I awoke to my otouto's screams. Marco had somehow slipped away from Tazuna's and had found us in the woods, sleeping under a tree together. The bastard slapped paralysis tags on Naruto and then proceeded to assault me. I couldn't even muster up the strength to fight back, I was still so exhausted from the night before. Marco…he tried to rape me." This last part was barely even audible, she was so shaken up by the traumatic event.

Still, the girls heard her and they went pale. Immediately the hugged her tight and began pelting her with question after question. "Were you alright?! Did somebody save you two?! What happened then?! Tell us!" Mixed in with this barrage of questions were concerned comments and questions, all spoken in soft, soothing tones. It was an odd experience to be sure. "There, there. It'll be okay Naruko-chan, it will. How could that monster do such a thing? Women aren't tools for men's amusement. That's just so, so wrong. Please tell me you're okay?"

When Naruko could finally get a word in, she smiled softly at everyone and nodded slowly. "I…I'm okay. A kind young man, a boy around my age, came into the clearing and distracted Marco. He threatened her and tried to…to keep going. I can still feel his grubby hands on my breasts…I washed out my mouth in an attempt to get that horrible taste out, but it still haunts me. It…it was horrible. Absolutely horrible." Shaking again, Naruko managed to calm herself before she took a sip of her tea.

She actually took the time to drink most of her tea before she resumed her tale. "Naruto broke free of the paralysis and attacked Marco. Otouto was prepared to kill him, I could see it in his eyes. But…Naruto wasn't quite himself at that moment in time. You two already know what Naruto-kun carries inside of him. He's a Jinchuriki, and at that moment, he was under the Kyuubi's influence. However, I didn't care. I just wanted him to succeed. I wanted him to kill Marco for what he had just done. But then Kirobi…Kirobi attacked Naruto."

Seeing the scowls on their faces, Naruko shook her head and sighed. "Kirobi DEFENDED Marco's actions. Even had the nerve to say that he was only there to 'wake us for breakfast.' Bastard." Shaking her head again, Naruko finished off her tea and leaned back, putting her hands over her face. Taking a few breaths, she lowered her hands and wrapped herself about the chest with her arms. "After that, we tied the two of them up and made sure they couldn't do anything more for the rest of the mission."

Frowning more at this point, she shook her head. "The battle on the bridge…the second time we faced Zabuza, he brought his pupil with him. Haku…" Sighing, Naruko glanced around at the expressions each of the three women had on their faces. Shrugging her shoulders lightly, Naruko nodded. "Yes, the same young man that helped me. Naruto and I fought Haku while Asuma-sensei fought Zabuza. But…Haku defeated me. I fell unconscious, and I don't quite know what exactly took place afterwards. I was told the details later, but I never witnessed them."

"W-What did they tell you happened Naruko-chan?" Ino asked cautiously, not sure what was safe to ask and what wasn't. When Naruko turned her way with a soft-hearted smile upon her face, the platinum blonde felt herself shrinking from that gaze. I take it this is also bad… She thought quietly to herself.

"Naruto killed Haku using his new sword, the Shi no Tacchi as it's called. But, more than that, this sword absorbed his soul. But, Naruto made Haku a promise before he died that he would look after Zabuza. That's why Zabuza is alive, because Naruto saved him from Asuma-sensei's finishing blow. It's why Zabuza now seeks to become a shinobi of Konohagakure. In fact, it looks like Zabuza has taken a liking to my otouto. I wouldn't be surprised if he asks for permission to help train him."

The others looked astonished at this, especially Kushina, but they didn't speak a word. "Now that we're back in Konoha, Asuma assures me that both Marco & Kirobi will be held accountable for their actions during the mission. However, rather than force me to stand before the Hokage, in the same room as those two, he sent me home to be with you Kaa-san." Smiling slightly as she looked upon her mother, the two embraced one another and didn't speak another word.

They were interrupted about five minutes later with knocking at the door. At the sound, they all turned to see Naruto opening his home, closing the door quietly behind him upon noticing the scene before him. "Hi Kaa-san, Ino-chan, Sakura-chan, Naruko-chan. I'm home."

Later that Night – Council Chambers

Marco and Kirobi were currently standing in the center of the room, staring up at the Council members that had arrived thus far. There were still more filing into their seats, but they didn't pay them much mind. Behind them, waiting off to the side until they were needed, were the Uzumaki-Namikazes, Asuma, the rest of Team 10, and their remaining teammate, Rihoshi. As usual, he looked indifferent, almost as if he didn't care one way or the other about the current situation.

When everyone had taken their seats, the Sandaime Hokage began to speak, drawing everyone's attention to him. "I have called you here today to discuss the betrayal of two Konoha shinobi. A Jonin sensei and his Genin student: Kirobi and Marco." Motioning towards the two standing below them, the Council members began to whisper amongst themselves. Soon, Hiruzen hushed them and began to speak once again. "I sent Kirobi's team of Genin to assist Team 10, consisting of Jonin sensei Asuma Sarutobi, and his Genin squad of Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, Choji Akimichi, and Shino Aburame. Their mission was meant to be a simple one: just escort a bridge builder to his home in Wave and guard him while he and his crew of builders finished constructing a bridge to connect Wave to the mainland. However, the mission details were falsified and things turned out to be much tougher than they were meant to be. Under the circumstances, I would say that the teams did an exceptional job against unbelievable odds."

Nodding his head in appreciation of their efforts, excluding Kirobi & Marco, naturally, Hiruzen glanced about the room and heard words of praise directed at the teams and those involved. Raising his hand, he once again silenced the room so that he may continue to speak. "Unfortunately, the mission took a turn for the worse quickly after Kirobi's team joined Team 10. When the teams were confronted by none other than Zabuza Momochi, ex-Kiri Swordsman of the Mist, Kirobi and Marco took that moment to try and kill one of their own." Hearing the gasps, Hiruzen looked down at Naruto and motioned for him to step forward. "Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze was their intended victim."

Kushina and Naruko stepped out to join Naruto at his sides. The three glanced around at the Council members. Each of them seemed to be busy discussing the accusations against the traitors amongst themselves. Eventually, Danzo stepped forward and leered down at Naruto. Kushina narrowed her eyes and stared up at him while Naruto just squeezed his sister's hand, both of them seeking comfort from one another. "Do you have any evidence to back these claims of attempted assassination? Or is this all just hearsay and your own grudges against these two speaking for you?"

At this point, the remaining members of Team 10 stepped forward, Shino speaking up as they joined Naruto and his family. "I happened to overhear the plan earlier, before the battle even began. In fact, a few of us were actually witness to Marco's attempt on Naruto's life. I intervened and stopped him, and aside from that, Kirobi actually admitted to the orders later on after we had delivered the bridge builder to safety in his own home. Do you need any more proof than that Danzo-sama?"

Danzo nodded and stepped back without another word. Hiruzen then began to speak once more. "According to the report given to me Team 10, they put Marco & Kirobi under house arrest and kept a close eye on them at all times. However, at one point, days after arriving in Wave, Marco managed to slip away early in the morning. At this point, he found Naruto and Naruko laying, resting peacefully in the woods after a sparring session it would seem. He restrained Naruto and proceeded to assault young Naruko. It proceeded to the point where he even attempted to rape the lass."

Looking down at the Uzumaki-Namikaze's for permission to speak of what came next, they each nodded at him to continue. Sighing, scratching his beard in frustration, the Sandaime continued on. "It was at this point that Naruto harnessed some of the Kyuubi's chakra to break free of his restraints and proceeded to attack, and nearly kill, Marco. Kirobi then appeared on the scene with Asuma and attacked Naruto, proceeding to then accuse him of attacking an innocent. There were witnesses to testify to the attack and attempted rape, so whatever claims Kirobi might make in this room, pay them no heed."

Seeing everyone nodding in understanding, Hiruzen continued on. "The issue now comes down to what we should do about these two. Firstly, let us hear from the two traitors and hear what they have to say in their defense." Nodding to the guards to remove the gags preventing the treacherous duo from speaking, everyone watched and waited in anticipation to hear what the two would have to say.

Marco, being the arrogant little monster he was, spoke up first. "I was well within my rights as a Konoha shinobi to destroy any threat to the village, even if it comes from within. For starters, this monster that you all seem to love so much?! He carries a monster inside him, and he even showed himself to be a monster during this mission. He let the Kyuubi take over and even tried to take my life when I was simply trying to make sure my teammate was okay." Glancing at the Uzumaki-Namikazes for a moment, he shot a small smirk their way.

Glancing back up at the Council members, Marco continued on with his lies. "Aside from that, that beast is responsible for holding my team back from participating in previous Chunin Exams. There is no reason for me to be held back again on account of this garbage. Answer me this, what would any of you do should a monster such as this one prevent YOU from achieving YOUR dreams? My teammates and I could be well on our way to Jonin rank already were it not for him. He's holding us back and he deserves punishment for such action!"

Kushina glared at the boy and then looked up to the Sandaime. "Sandaime-sama, I ask that you allow me to cut this maggot down where he stands. Not only does he spew such obvious lies, but he belittles my son, blames him for something he had no control over, and even goes so far as to speak of the Kyuubi. We all know my son isn't the monster this worm claims him to be! Please, allow me to carry out the punishment befitting of the true monsters here!"

The Sandaime Hokage raised his hand and shook his head a moment. "Patience Kushina-san, patience. Kirobi, speak and share your side of things with the Council." Kushina practically snarled at this, but she stepped back beside her son and placed a warm, gentle hand upon his shoulder. Leaning down, she whispered into his ear. "Don't worry sweetie, everything will work out somehow. I promise. You'll be okay."

Kirobi looked at Marco for a moment and shook his head before looking into the Sandaime's eyes. "Marco deserves none of the punishment for what transpired. As his Jonin sensei, I am responsible for his actions. Besides that, as was mentioned previously, he acted per my orders."

At this, Kirobi was interrupted by Inoichi, who apparently had something to say in regards to this statement. "So you're saying that you ordered him to rape Naruko in front of her brother? What could this possibly have accomplished for you other than emotionally scarring both of them and keeping them out of commission for the rest of the mission?"

Nodding in agreement to his point, everyone turned to Kirobi for his answer. The Jonin glanced down at his Genin student and sighed inaudibly before looking back into the eyes of the Hokage. "I make no excuses. As I said before, I am responsible for his actions and will therefore take punishment for the both of us. He is still a child and has not even been allowed to participate in the Chunin Exams. At least give him the privilege of participating alongside his teammates. If you revoke his ninja status now, how would his fellow teammates get the chance to participate? Think of them Sandaime-sama, Council members, and then make your judgment. Would you punish Naruko and Rihoshi for the mistakes of their teammate and foolish sensei?"

Kushina was visibly shaking at this point. The Council can't seriously consider letting that little bastard off the hook for all he's done, right?! If they do, I swear I'll slaughter everyone that deems him innocent right now! Looking around at all of their faces, it was obvious what the Shinobi Council would do. They would never agree to what Kirobi was asking of them. Hiruzen's face showed that he was on the Uzumaki-Namikazes' side in this ordeal and would not agree. Therefore, it really came down to the Civilian Council, Danzo, Himura, & Koharu.

Sadly, there were a few members of the Civilian Council that were actually against Naruto, agreeing with Marco in his reasoning that Naruto was indeed a threat to the village and deserved swift, divine punishment. The majority of the Civilian Council was on his side however. After all, he was a sweet boy and they had a lot of respect for both Naruto and his family. However, before they could make their official ruling, Danzo stepped forward, speaking on behalf of himself, Homura, and Koharu.

"I propose an alternate solution to this particular ordeal. It is clear to everyone here that dear Naruko would not be willing to work any longer with her corrupt teammate. But you do have a point Kirobi. These were your orders and you are responsible for the actions of your students. After all, the actions of the students reflect upon the teacher, do they not?" Receiving a few nods in response to his question, Danzo smirked and continued on. "Therefore, if everyone is in agreement, I say we allow Naruko's & Naruto's mother to enact a swift execution upon Kirobi for his actions during this mission. He is a clear traitor to the village and deserves no less, am I correct in judging this so Hokage-sama?"

Looking into Hiruzen's eyes, Danzo smirked inwardly and then turned to Kushina. "It would seem we are all in agreement. Go on and deliver your vengeance upon him Kushina-san, it is clear you've waited long enough for this." The entire room watched as Kushina drew her blade and took a few slow steps towards Kirobi before vanishing. When she reappeared, standing back where she was, Kirobi's eyes rolled into the back of his head and bits and pieces of him began to fall to the ground. It was a rather unpleasant sight, and the Hokage ordered it to be cleaned up before they could continue on with their discussion on what to do about Marco.

About ten minutes later, when the room had finally quieted down again and the mess had been cleaned, Danzo looked back down at Marco and grinned. "As I mentioned previously, Marco will no longer be welcome on his current team. Instead, I propose we take him from his current team and put him on a team with two individuals of my choosing. He will take place in the Chunin Exams as a member of this alternate team, while Naruko and Rihoshi will join with a new teammate of your choosing Hokage-sama. Does this sound like a fair judgment?"

The Sandaime sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Indeed, it did sound like a fairly decent decision, but he knew there was definitely no chance of Kushina agreeing to such a thing. "If the Council agrees to this, I might as well too. However, I will need a bit of time to find another Jonin sensei for this team, not to mention a new Genin to replace Marco." Sighing heavily again, he looked at Kushina and the other Uzumakis. "Kushina, Naruto, Naruko, what do you say to this?"

Before any of them could speak, Rihoshi took a step forward and looked up into the Hokage's eyes. "If I may?" Receiving a nod in response, the Genin shot a quick glance to Marco before speaking to the Hokage. "I rarely choose to offer my two cents, but in this case I think it would be appropriate. As a member of this team, I believe we clearly need to be a cohesive unit. We need to work as one and support one another. Marco has never strived towards this goal. Removing him from the team or killing him, I care not, but I think it would be a wise decision to keep him out of the next Chunin Exams should he be permitted to live. Think of it as punishment for his actions on this mission if you will. However, if you do permit him to participate, there should be some countermeasures in place to prevent him from seeking out Naruto and/or Naruko in an attempt to do them harm. I'm sure shinobi as smart as those on this Council, not to mention you, Hokage-sama and Danzo-sama, could come up with such a measure. In fact, if you were able to do this, perhaps Kushina-sama, Naruto-san, and Naruko-san might be more accepting of this proposal of yours Danzo-sama?"

Nodding, seeing reason in what Rihoshi just said, everyone looked to Kushina, Naruto, and Naruko to see what would their response would be. They quietly discussed the matter amongst themselves, and although they appeared rather reluctant to agree to such a shady deal, Kushina sighed and nodded in response. "The important thing is making sure my children stay safe from this cretin. Personally, I'd still prefer to kill the wretch where he stands, but it seems I am outvoted in this case." Turning to Marco, Kushina smirked evilly and pointed her sword at his face. "In the upcoming Chunin Exams, you'd best stay far away from my children. Because if I hear these countermeasures fail and you've harmed either one of my babies, I'll be coming for you Marco. And when I find you, I'll do far, far worse to you than what your precious sensei received. Understand?"

Once her threat had been delivered, Kushina glared at the Council members, then at Danzo and finally the Hokage. "You'd better do something smart." With that said, the Uzumaki-Namikaze clan head took hold of her children's hands and left the Council chambers. Team 10 followed behind her. The only ones to stay behind were Marco and Rihoshi, who was curious to hear news on if the Hokage would decide on a new team for himself and Naruko once the meeting had concluded.

A/N: Firstly I would like to apologize for taking so, sooo long to get another chapter up for ANY of my fics. Things have been really rough for a while, and I'm still experiencing a tough time. Aside from my health problems kicking me in the ass (epilepsy, mental disorders, etc.), I've been suffering from depression and, well...I could go on. For those of you that have been patient with me and will still look forward to reading my material, I thank you very, very much.

Secondly, I'd like to apologize that this chapter is a bit shorter than you might be used to seeing from me. I started this chapter some months back, but could never find the time to finish it due to, well, my personal problems. Just last night I picked it up again and actually cranked this baby out. Took me until just ten minutes ago to finish this chapter, sooo...yeaaah. Sadly, it didn't end up as long as usual, but who cares right? I think it's a good chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed it as well.

Thirdly, sorry if there's any inconsistencies or I made some errors in spelling and/or grammar somewhere in the chapter. I've been running a fever for a number of hours now and I really felt like passing out a couple of times. I really should have just taken a break and gotten some sleep, but I reaaaaally wanted to get this chapter out for all of you to read. Again, hopefully you all enjoy it. If not, I do apologize again.

Please comment/review on what you thought of the chapter. Hopefully it works for ya. ^^

P.S. I updated my profile page, so you might want to check it out. My profile page now includes my current schedule on what I'm working on now, next, and then later. It also contains a bit of information on certain fics of mine. Other than that, if you want to get in touch with me to discuss anything, just lemme know okay? ^^ Take care and have a good day. I'm going to get some SLEEP! lol.