"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

I don't own Naruto

Chapter 7: The Brewing Storm

The Next Day

Naruto was at the ANBU lounge, hanging out with his team on some down time. His team, known as Team Omega, was the most renown, and feared ANBU team in the entire elemental continent. Each member was the cream of the crop in the ANBU force, and were captains of their own teams too. When together however, suicide, S-rank missions were completed as easily as any regular B-rank mission.

They were led by Hatake Kakashi, who wasn't the strongest amongst them, but the most experienced, and made the best calls. The rest of the team was comprised of Itachi and Naruto, and finally, a former ROOT ANBU who had forgotten his name, and went by Tenzo. Each of their own respective teams had flawless records as well, attesting to their individual leadership and skill. Together, Team Omega's teamwork and prowess was legendary.

Things looked good for the team, but Naruto had his concerns. Itachi had been acting strange lately. He seemed even more withdrawn than usual. His head was not in the game. Naruto wondered if it had something to do with Izumi, who Itachi had begun to date a few months ago, when she was promoted to Chunin. He waited until Kakashi and Tenzo left, and he and Itachi were alone.

"So Itachi, is everything ok? You've been acting kinda strangely recently. Everything alright with you and Izumi?" Naruto asked in concern.

"Yeah, everything is fine with Izumi. Though I do miss her. Wish she came back from her long-term mission soon." Itachi replied.

Izumi was starting to be noticed for her skills, as expected of an Uchiha, but what set her apart was her high emotional quotient, and ability to understand what other people felt and wanted, which was rare, especially for an Uchiha. Her unique combination of skill and personality led her to be selected more and more for missions that required a more sensitive touch. This meant she was often out of the village for weeks and months at a time.

"She'll be back before you know it. I'm sure her team will complete the mission soon. She's quite skilled after all. She's becoming more and more noticed for her skill ever since she became a Chunin." Naruto said to Itachi, hoping his strange behavior as of late was simply because he missed Izumi. He had a feeling he was wrong, and there was more, but he tried to ignore them.

"So, how's the fam? Did you talk to Sasuke about his first day of school?" Naruto continued, trying to get a feel for if anything else was troubling the stoic Uchiha.

"I did. He said it was boring at first, but something exciting happened." Itachi started.

"Really? Narumi didn't mention anything interesting happening. She said it was a boring, standard introduction. Though I don't know what she knows about standard. Not like she's been to any other school introductions before." Naruto mused.

Itachi began with a small smirk. "Sasuke mentioned during the class introductions that-"

"Naruto taichou!" one ANBU shouted out, interrupting Itachi mid-speech.

"What is it?" Naruto asked the ANBU who showed up with some sort of message.

Itachi's smirk deepened, having a feeling he knew what this was all about.

"Taichou, you've been summoned to the Academy." The ANBU told Naruto.

"The Academy? Summoned? Who the hell in the Academy has the right to summon me?" He asked, slightly irritated.

"Why don't you go and find out?" Itachi told his blonde friend.

"Fine. Guess I'll get this over with. Tell me what you were gonna tell me about the class introductions when I get back." Naruto changed out of his ANBU gear, as he told Itachi, who just smirked back.

Naruto vanished in a shunshin.

At the Academy Office

A very angry Councilwoman and Clan head sat in front of a desk at the Academy office with their children, who were bandaged up and shifting nervously in their seat. At the other side of the desk, sat the Academy director, and Umino Iruka stood next to him. A nervous red headed girl was sitting in a separate chair, staring at her feet. She was also seated in front of the desk, on the side of the angry parents, who glared at her hatefully.

Naruto appeared in the office with his shunshin.

"So why was I "summoned"." Naruto asked in an irritated voice.

"Please take a seat next to your sister Naruto-san." The director asked.

Naruto grunted in compliance and took a seat next to Narumi, who seemed to be even more nervous now that Naruto appeared. She was unable to meet his eyes. Naruto raised his eyebrows in a questioning look.

"So?" he asked, hoping to get some answers quickly.

"SO?! I'll tell you what happened! Your damn demon of a sister, assaulted my precious girl, that's what!" Haruno Mebuki screamed at Naruto. "I knew she was trouble! If you ask me, that rabid dog shouldn't be allowed to be in class with the other students!" Tsume and Kiba bristled at the negative comparison to dogs.

Naruto gave her a glare so cold it could freeze fire as he released an amount of killing intent that was small to him, which he made sure didn't reach Narumi. Everyone else in the room felt it though. Kiba started to shake in his chair, and began to sweat profusely. A small amount of liquid stained Sakura's pants, as she also paled in fear. The director and Iruka were also nervous. Inuzuka Tsume was an experienced, veteran shinobi, but she too felt a small bit of fear she hadn't felt in a while.

Mebuki however, had most of the killing intent focused on her, and began to stammer as her blood ran cold. She didn't know why, but she felt like she was in the presence of a predator, who was waiting for her to slip up again, before it would pounce on her and tear her to pieces.

"Nobody asked you Councilwoman Haruno." Naruto replied in threatening tone, which Narumi had never heard from her brother before. "We're in the presence of children, so I suggest you watch your tongue."

Mebuki instinctively understood it was no suggestion. It was a warning.

Now Haruno Mebuki was a proud woman, and had every right to be, in her opinion. She was one of the youngest civilian council members in Konoha history, by her own merit. She was selected to replace a retiring council member when she was 25, selected for her business acumen, being a rising star in the economic scene of Konoha. She was famous for her ability to appraise the value of anything at just a glance, and had made a lot of money through shrewd business moves.

At this moment however, she forgot she was a successful, high-ranking member of the village in her mid-30's, and it didn't cross her mind that a 14-year-old boy was putting her in her place.

She didn't have a good concept of killing intent, so she didn't know why she felt compelled to, but she listened to her instincts and simply closed her mouth and gave him a small nod.

Naruto was currently dressed in civilian clothing, and was seemingly unarmed. That did nothing to take away from the overwhelming and dangerous presence and aura he seemed to exude, and it demanded respect, respect that belied what was fitting for his age. He took control of the conversation.

"Now, will somebody please tell me what is going on? In civil words?" He emphasized the 'civil', while glaring at Mebuki, who shrank away from his glare.

The director who finally found his voice answered him. "Well, you see Naruto-san, there was a small altercation between the 3 students present, yesterday."

Naruto nodded at the director, indicating for him to continue.

"From what I've heard, there was a bit of teasing from her peers, and Narumi decided to retaliate in a small scuffle." The director continued, trying to downplay the incident.

The Inuzuka Clan head thought it was time for her to enter the conversation. "By 'small scuffle', what he means is that your sister decided to brutally and viciously attack her classmates. My Kiba here had to get several stitches in his cheek, get his nose set straight, and has a black eye, not to mention all the severe bruising he has all over his body." Kiba squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. Tsume was pissed. "This is an unacceptable response to a little bit of teasing."

Sakura's mom regained her courage, now that she had back up in Tsume. "That's right. Absolutely unacceptable. She punched my precious girl in her pretty little face! Look at the swelling in her jaw! She fractured her jaw! My poor baby! What kind of girl resorts to violence over a small joke? So barbaric. It's as if she wants to let the whole world know she grew up without parents. For the record, we can tell, girl. Ugh, such uncivilized behavior, as expected from a filthy peasant." Mebuki spat out in disgust.

Tears began to fall from Narumi's eyes, when Mebuki brought up the fact that her parents weren't around. Though Naruto was always there for her, doing his best to play the role of both parents, she still felt the absence of her parents, and it was a touchy subject.

Tsume knew Mebuki fucked up, again, when she saw Naruto's countenance change.

Sakura was Mebuki's only child, and when it came to her daughter, she was a little blinded, despite being sharp when it came to business. Her better judgement was clouded by the anger she felt for her daughter's injuries.

"I demand full compensation for all her medical fees, as well as any psychological damage she might have suffered from that barbaric girl's assault. I want that girl to be kicked out of this school. She's unfit to be around other children."

Tsume was going to demand compensation for her son's many injuries as well, but held her tongue for the moment, because she knew it wasn't the right time anymore.

Naruto heard the councilwoman's harsh words towards his sister, and saw the huge tears that began to fall from Narumi's violet eyes. She made her cry. She made his precious, adorable sister cry. His hair fell over his eyes as he stood up.

Mebuki was feeling smug for getting revenge for her daughter by putting that redheaded demon in her place, when she suddenly felt the air leave her lungs as a hand grabbed her throat. She looked to see the owner of the hand, and saw the eyes of a demon.

"What did I say about keeping our words civil?" He whispered dangerously into her ear, as he tightened his grip. Right now, he wanted to cut off her limbs, and remove her eyelids as he used his Boil Release to melt her pink haired daughter before her eyes, before dissolving the councilwoman as well. He had to hold himself back so he didn't succumb to his dark desires.

"This is my last warning to you. Talk about my sister like that again, and I promise you, this village will have to find a new council member, consequences be damned." He whispered in a tone that made the woman wet herself in fear.

He released his squeeze on her throat.

"So how much do I owe the both of you?" He asked calmly. His calm demeanor following his fierce anger only scared everyone in the room.

"W-well, I spent 30,000 Ryo on her medical expenses." The Haruno mother stammered out.

Naruto summoned a scroll that held some of his money and unsealed a large stack of money, amounting to somewhere around 100,000 Ryo. He threw it at Mebuki's face with such force that it tipped her chair backwards and threw her onto the floor.

"Here's your damn money, woman. Keep the change." He said in a calm, neutral tone, which didn't match his actions at all. "And you?"

Tsume wasn't a soft civilian woman who wanted to charge for all the "psychological damage" done to her son. She knew Kiba had a brash mouth and said some dumb shit from time to time, and probably got what he deserved. However, the severity of injuries Kiba got was not acceptable, especially for a schoolyard fight that resulted from teasing.

"We'll just take the amount we spent for his stitches and getting his nose set. 20,000 Ryo will do." She told Naruto.

He counted out 20,000 Ryo and handed it to her, before resealing his scroll.

"Now that that's settled, I'd like to hear Narumi's side as well." Naruto asked.

Tsume got her money, and didn't want things to escalate beyond what was necessary. Her son was going to be a shinobi, and should be used to taking a few hits, and she had gotten into a few scraps in school herself in her youth. She decided to just be compliant and went along, as she nodded in agreement.

Mebuki picked herself off the floor and wisely kept her mouth shut.

Sakura and Kiba were terrified of Naruto, and gulped, fearing what was to come.

Iruka and the director had their mouths hanging open, shocked from the events that just took place. It took them a few moments to gather themselves to respond.

"Well maybe it's best if Narumi explains." The director said, not wanting to mess up as he explained, lest he feels Naruto's wrath.

Naruto agreed, and turned to Narumi, who shrank back at all the attention she was receiving. Naruto gave her a warm smile, and nodded at her to continue. Encouraged by her brother's presence, she explained what happened.

Naruto listened attentively, but quietly, not interrupting her story once. When she finished speaking, he turned to face Iruka.

"So, this is what happened?" Naruto asked.

Iruka merely nodded.

Tsume glared at her son, who had conveniently left out a lot of details to make him look more like the victim. Kiba couldn't meet his mom's stare.

Mebuki was never bullied in her life, in fact, she bullied others when she was younger, as such, she didn't see what the big problem was. "You see? It was just some good-natured joking amongst children, and she decided to overreact. She shouldn't be allowed to-"

"If you finish that sentence, it will be the last sentence you will ever say." Naruto cut her off. Mebuki caught herself mid-speech and shut her mouth.

"It seems to me like you two raised some bullies, crowd followers, who can't see the difference between right and wrong, and don't care as long as they're part of the cool crowd. Maybe if their parents were more involved in their life, they wouldn't be such scummy people, who are so insecure in themselves that they have to bring others down to make themselves feel better. You're lucky it was just my sister this time. There are people out there who would kill your children for less. Consider it a private lesson in manners." Naruto fired back.

"Now as this was just a small altercation between children, let's just forgive and forget this whole incident. After all, we've settled our differences and received our compensations, haven't we? Of course, Narumi will continue to attend the academy, and we won't have any complaints about that. Right? So can we wrap this up now? We're all busy people here, aren't we?" he forcefully concluded.

Tsume just wanted to get out of there at this point, and Mebuki didn't feel like getting any more embarrassed than she already was, so they agreed.

The children were sent back to class with Iruka, and the 2 parents and ANBU member left. The director couldn't have been happier to have his office to himself again. 'I need a vacation.' He thought to himself.

Back in the ANBU lounge

"Back so soon?" Itachi asked his blonde friend who appeared next to him in a shunshin. "So you still want to hear my story or-"

"Save it. Thanks for the heads up by the way." Naruto grumbled as he glared at Itachi.

Itachi just gave him a mirthful smirk. "You're welcome."

Naruto changed back into his ANBU gear. "Let's go find a bandit extermination mission or something. I need a palate cleanser after dealing with that Haruno bitch."

Itachi shrugged and followed Naruto to the mission board. It would be good to get his mind off of his problems for a bit.

School life for Narumi improved slightly after that incident. She was scared, thinking Naruto was going to scold her for getting into trouble in her first day, but Naruto actually encouraged her, and told her she handled it well. He told her that she shouldn't try to solve everything with her fists, but it was important to establish yourself as someone not to be trifled with. And she had done just that.

She wasn't too thrilled to be going back to that jungle, which seemed out to get her, but when she got back to class, people didn't publicly try to humiliate her anymore. She took her seat next to Hinata and Sasuke, who gave her a smile and welcomed her back.

"Pssst. How did things go?" Sasuke asked in a whisper.

"I'll tell you later." She whispered back. At least she had her friends to rely on.

When it was time for lunch, the students scattered around the Academy to eat. Narumi, Hinata, and Sasuke sat under a tree to eat the bentos made by their parents, and in Narumi's case, by Naruto.

"So how was it? Was Naruto nii-san mad?" Sasuke asked as they ate.

"I've never seen him that scary before. He was so angry, but luckily he wasn't mad at me." Narumi recalled. "You should have seen the way he dealt with Sakura's mom. He was all like 'SHUT UP OR I'LL KILL YOU!', and then he threw a bunch of money at her face to shut her up."

"He really did that?" Hinata asked, mortified. She had never seen anyone act like that before. Sasuke also looked to Narumi, non-verbally asking the same thing.

"Well not really, but basically. He told her to not be so rude, and she became real quiet after that. He told her that she was a bad mom, and not to be mean to me anymore or he'll get her back." Narumi recounted, leaving out the exact words used.

"Wow, he r-really said that to a councilwoman? That very… brave of him." Hinata spoke, wishing she had the backbone to stand up for herself too.

'Naruto nii-san is so cool! I wonder how Itachi nii-san would have handled that?' Sasuke thought to himself. "So how did Sakura take her mother being yelled at by your brother?"

The trio turned to look at Sakura, who was a short distance away, telling her friend Ino a similar story as they had their lunch. Ino said something that made Sakura angrier. She turned around to glare at them too, probably when she reached the part of when Naruto man-handled her mom.

The trio turned away from Sakura, and back towards themselves. "Looks like she didn't like it." Hinata commented, and her 2 friends laughed.

A little bit later, they were done eating, and were getting ready to get up from their meal, when they were approached by Ino.

"Hey! I'm Ino. I'm in your class."

The three looked at each other, not knowing what the blonde girl wanted. "Yeah. We know. What do you want?" Narumi asked, not knowing why the blonde girl was talking to them. Wasn't she Sakura's friend?

"I just wanted to apologize for my friend. Sorry about what happened to you yesterday. Sakura's usually not that mean. I don't know what got into her yesterday. All those mean jokes yesterday. It's not right. Nobody should be bullied like that." Ino said as she stuck out her hand in apology.

Narumi smiled when she sensed her sincerity. "It's cool. I noticed you weren't really involved in that, so you don't need to apologize. We're good." She shook Ino's hand to accept her apology.

"Great! Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after school today? I want you to meet my friends Shikamaru and Chouji." Ino offered.

"That lazy guy and the big guy?" Narumi asked.

Ino giggled. "Yup. Those two. They're kinda losers, but they're cool when you get to know them. Also, just as a heads up, when we see them, don't call Chouji the 'F' word."

"My brother doesn't let me swear anyway. I'll keep that in mind." Narumi told Ino.

The Yamanaka heiress giggled again before clarifying herself. "I mean fat. Don't call Chouji fat. It's a clan thing, and he's sensitive about his weight."

"Oooohh. Gotcha. Ok we'll try to be cautious." Narumi answered.

The bell rang, signifying the end of lunch and the trio headed back to the class with their new friend.

Narumi had a huge smile on her face. Maybe she would make some more friends today!

That night, at the Underground Uchiha Shrine.

"For too long, has this village denied us of the respect we deserve. We bring much prestige to this village. We sacrifice our own time and safety, so that everyone can sleep in their beds in peace. We are the founders of this village! And yet, people see it fit to accuse us of a crime we are innocent of." Fugaku spoke to the gathered clansmen.

Grumbles rang out throughout the gathered crowd, acknowledging what was said.

"There have been 4 Hokage's and not one of them have been an Uchiha, despite us being the strongest clan, and producing numerous notable shinobi. Even now, 2 of the strongest shinobi in this village comes from our clan. None of the previous Hokage's have acted in our interest, and have only sought to reduce our power. Alienated us. Driven us to edges of the village, while the Senju Clan compound was at the center of the village. What else can you expect when the line of Hokage's descend from our rival clan. It's time we put one of our own in the seat." Fugaku declared.

There were cheers throughout the crowd. "About time!" "I'm tired of those Senju lapdogs!"

"How will we manage to do that? The Sandaime has rejected our previous candidates, and those in the council will never vote an Uchiha in, even if it comes to a vote, as they fear our power." A voice from the crowd asked.

"My son Itachi has the favor of the Hokage, I will propose him as a candidate at the next council meeting. There's no reason he should refuse. He is powerful, intelligent, and well known and well connected. There is no better candidate. If he is as wise as they say he is, Sarutobi will choose Itachi as his successor." The Uchiha Clan head replied.

"How about the Yondaime's son?" A voice from the crowd asked.

"There's nothing to worry about regarding the Yondaime's son. He has no interest in taking the hat, and if anything, should be the biggest supporter of Itachi." Fugaku said to assure the crowd, and they seemed to buy into the plan more and more.

"What if by some chance Itachi is not chosen? Then what? Wait until the next generation's Hokage?" A curious Uchiha asked.

Fugaku paused for a second. He knew seditious feelings were spreading like wildfire amongst his clan. Change needed to occur, and fast. If this uneasy energy continued to fester undirected, it would explode uncontrollably. To prevent a pressurized pot from exploding, you needed to give it a vent to direct the energy.

Unchecked, current affairs could lead to small groups of Uchiha rebelling under different leaders, only to be quelled with their numbers being too small to accomplish anything, whilst furthering the destruction of their clan's reputation, innocent or not. It could split the clan in half, and start a civil war in the clan. Worst yet, a clan wide rebellion against the village under incompetent leadership could mean the utter destruction of his clan.

No, he would control and direct this energy to minimize the damage to his clan. He would either peacefully place Itachi as the next Hokage, or he would lead his clan into a coup that would minimize the bloodshed and destruction. He wanted to show the Uchiha's clan as capable leaders of Konoha, not as its destroyers. To accomplish this, he would need overwhelming force to force the opposition to submit without a fight. Then he could show mercy and be benevolent, and show the Uchiha clan aren't simply power hungry, they just needed a chance to prove their capacity as leaders, a chance that never seemed to come their way.

Fugaku spoke after a brief pause. "If he doesn't become Hokage, we'll have to take the hat by force."

Murmurs and gasps broke out from the crowd. "As strong as we are, how could we take on the whole village?" someone from the crowd asked.

Fugaku answered with a sly grin. "We'll use the Kyuubi."

The crowd went silent. Maybe this could work after all.

Two figures in the back looked at each other in concern.

Shisui whispered to Itachi, "I don't know about you, but this sounds a lot like treason to me."

Itachi said nothing, but gave the smallest of nods. It looked like he would soon be forced to choose between his clan and his village if things didn't improve.

He hoped it wouldn't come down to that.

At the Namikaze-Uzumaki Household

"Mmmm! Did you try the seafood Ramen from Kiri? It's so good!" Narumi yelled out, savoring the taste of her birthday gift. She seemed to be in a very good mood, and Naruto had a feeling it wasn't just about the Ramen.

"Yup. That's why I got it. It's hard to find these days though, with the civil war going on in Kiri and all." He replied. "But that's not why you're in such a good mood is it? He asked his smiling sister.

"Well partly. But also, I made 3 new friends today! I doubled the number of friends I have in a single day!" Narumi proudly announced.

"3 friends in one day huh? Impressive. So, who are they?" Naruto asked.

"Well, there's Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino! I met them after school. Well, Ino introduced me to the other two, after we talked at lunch." Narumi told her brother.

"Ino? Is that the Yamanaka's girl?" he asked, seeing a similarity between her name and Inoichi. Perhaps he would visit her later to thank her.

"Yup! She's pretty cool! She came to apologize because she felt bad that her friend Sakura was bullying me." Narumi told Naruto as she slurped up more noodles.

"I see. That is quite nice of her. Looks like not everyone is a giant butthole huh?" Naruto said to Narumi who laughed, revealing half chewed noodles to Naruto.

'She needs to work on her table manners if she ever wants to find a boyfriend' Naruto thought. 'But then again I don't have a girlfriend either so I guess that's that.'

He smiled at her, happy to see things were beginning to turn around for her. He had been worried she'd never make more friends, especially after that unpleasant meeting this morning.

'Maybe things will start changing for the better.' he hoped.

He couldn't be more wrong.

*Author's Note*

Thanks for reading another chapter of The Jinchuuriki's Brother!

Here's the latest standings for pairing vote.

Samui 17

Shizune 12

Tayuya 6

Izumi 5

Anko 4

Yugao 3

Temari 3

Kurotsuchi 3

Kurenai 2

Ryuuzetsu2

Mabui 2

Mei 2

Fuu 1

Yakumo 1

Shizuka 1

Hana 1

Fem Haku 1

Yugito 0

Ayame 0

Princess Koyuki 0

Let's face it, it looks like it's gonna come down to either Samui or Shizune at this point, unless people suddenly start voting en masse for some other character. Still gonna keep the poll going until it's finally decided though. I'm gonna try to write in connections to multiple characters, so you can see how this story's version of Naruto will interact with them, so you can have a better idea, and I can simply finalize it later when I decide.

Also, some of you are wondering why Naruto doesn't just go and make Konoha submit to his wrath already. Well, let's just say as strong as he is, he's 14-year-old boy. A middle schooler by our standards. He obviously is one of the strongest in the village, intelligent, and forced into maturity by circumstances, but he still can't handle the whole village yet. Besides, he still is loyal to the village his parents gave their lives for, at least so far.

As for his inheritance issue, he knows what happened, and knows they used a loophole in the law, so he can't do anything about it. Yet.

As for how the villagers treat Narumi, let's just say people aren't always so rational. They've all been hurt one way or another by the Kyuubi, who they associate with Narumi. Now when people get hurt or are hurting, they often look for a place to vent their anger. Her haters are largely split between people who think she's volatile and think the Kyuubi might break out at anytime. These people steer clear of her. The others don't really expect the Kyuubi to escape, as it never did with previous jinchuurikis, but they see her as an avatar of the Kyuubi in some way, and take out their frustration and anger they have at the Kyuubi on her. Think about how angry Germans had their anger directed to Jews in WW2, although in hindsight it doesn't really make sense. Or how stupid people still call Germans Nazi's although most Germans alive today had nothing to do with them. Anyway, these are the people who directly make her life miserable. She got people who hate her, and those who avoid her. Great life huh. Also the kids don't know why the adults hate her, but know they do, so they see her as easy prey. Or did until the ass whooping from last chapter. We all know how kids are easily influenced, and seeing one kid get away with mocking her, they can get caught up with group psychology and join in.

Also I don't know if I mentioned it, but Naruto doesn't have whiskers in this story, and neither does Narumi. Seriously, what's with that? None of the other Jinchuurikis have anything like that besides Gaara, and even that is explained as a result of not being able to sleep. Not like Yugito has whiskers.

Anyways thanks again for your time and attention! Please continue to leave your thoughts and questions, and vote! I'll compile Narumi's pairing votes later. Sorry about that.

Anyway, until next time!