Hey everyone!

Welcome back to the second chapter! I don't wait to keep the wait longer.

So let's get on with the story!

Chapter 2: The Backstory Begins

Konohakure no Sato

"I summoned all of you here today to speak to you all about something important. A secret. I'm sure a few of you already know what I'm about to tell." She threw a discrete glance at a few shinobi and then continued. "Some of you already have some kind of idea on what the matter might be". Again she paused and glanced at most of the older generation and a few of the younger. Then she continued. "But I'm here to do my part and get all of you on to the same level of knowledge in this matter."

"Today, some of you noticed and came to my office asking about Naruto…", she started.

"Finally" and a whole bunch of sighs could be heard interrupting. Most of the Rookies -12 (they weren't exactly rookies anymore, but they were the infamous ones) were confused about this but let it go.

"As I was saying, some of you came here asking about Naruto. Since you are all the ones who Naruto considered important, I decided to call you all and let you know the information. But before that, I want to know when you all got to know that Naruto was a female and not a male. When she trusted you with it. You can tell it with respect to her age", Tsunade said and waited for the others to answer.

See, Naruto had been posing as a boy for her own safety as she lived in the streets and in not-so-safe places and not many outside the room knew this secret outside of that room. Naruto, over the years, had revealed it by herself to many of these people. The rest were all the ones who had either been told by the Hokages themselves for the welfare of Naruto or they had played a major role when she was really young.

"When we were sixteen, Hokage-sama", replied Tenten.

"Yeah! After arriving back from her training with Jiraya-sama, she called the eleven of us and dropped the bomb on us", added Kiba.

The rest of the group, excluding a few, just nodded in agreement.

"After our first encounter, as a team, with Sasuke, Hokage-sama", added Sai, who had probably been the last to get to know.

"When I became a Jōnin, before she came", stated Neji. The rest of the group looked at him while Tsunade nodded understanding the situation. It's that, the majority of the people who knew that Naruto was a girl were the Jōnins and the ANBU. After Neji became a Jōnin, on the missions, he was paired with people he knew and most of them being the senseis, already knew this and must have left Neji in on the knowledge as none of them would unknowingly give up the secret.

"When we become their senseis", added Kurenai next. Gai gave his blinding smile and a thumbs-up.

"When she joined the academy, Lord Third let me know", said Iruka softly.

"Before she was born", Genma went next, "We were Minato's bodyguards". The two ANBU just nodded. "And I was Kushina's bodyguard during her pregnancy", added Kakashi.

Almost all the members in the room were shocked at hearing Kakashi's statement but some understood since she was Minato's last surviving student. Kakashi, on the other hand, tried to avoid pushing the conversation further and opened his orange book.

"The day she was born", added Asuma. "My father brought her home after the attack. So I was informed about her".

This again seemed like a shock to everyone even though it made perfect sense as he was the Sandaime's son.

"When the Gaki was three", butted in Anko to distract the others. Ibiki just sighed. Almost all of the younger generation wondered why they would know about Naruto's identity at such a young age. But before anyone could ask, Meogi interrupted with her answer.

"When she was 13 before Nēchan left with Pervy Sage", she answered.

"Hn, she met Meogi and me along with Konohamaru and told us", Udo added.

"Then she arrived back to Konoha after her training trip, Kono-kun told me", said Hanabi.

The rest of the people were surprised, except Iruka who knew about this. The Rookie -11 somewhat felt a tinge of jealousy when they realised that Naruto had trusted those 4 even before them. Some even realised that Konohamaru wasn't there in the meeting but decided to let it go for now.

"Hn, seven". The rest of the people in the room almost jumped at the sudden answer. They all turned to face actual-last Uchiha left alive now.

It would be an understatement to say the most were shocked at this revelation. Only a handful even knew that the Uchiha knew. The rest didn't even think he would know that she was a girl as he wasn't there when half of the people in the room learned the secret.

"So you know the truth. About everything." Stated Tunade. Sasuke just nodded in reply.

There seemed to be a pregnant pause where all seemed to be processing all the things they had learned. Even if it wasn't even the introduction into the original matter.

Suddenly, Sasuke again broke the silence with his question, "Did she do it then?".

"Yes….", Tsunade replied.

"Hn. Then I should probably get going", replied Sasuke. But before he left, he was stopped by Kakashi.

"No Sasuke. You can't. There are things to be discussed." Said Kakashi. This seemed to have ticked Sasuke in some way. "What the hell Kakashi? I'm leaving. You know why! How can you hold me back right now?", questioned Sasuke.

"We can't allow you. The council is yet to make the final decision", stated Tsunade. Before Sasuke could reply, Iruka interrupted in a calm but firm tone, "Enough Sasuke. We'll have to wait until the matter is discussed". It was finally at this that Sasuke just nodded and went back to his place and stood in silence.

Half the room was dumb-struck. No one had seen Sasuke obey anyone without a second thought. Also, they were all still confused as to what was going on.

"Tsunade-sama", Choji finally decided to start off with the major elephant in the room, "we don't know what is going on but we would like to first get answers to find Naruto. In the background, everyone heard a 'hn' and grunt but everyone ignored it.

"Y-Yes Tsunade-sama, we would like to know where she is and why we haven't seen her in the last few weeks." Joined in Hinata.

Tsunade just nodded and decided to continue where she had stopped. "Then I'm certain that she also gave you all some kind of idea as to why she disguises as a male". She received nods from the Rookie team except Sasuke. She looked at Kakashi and Iruka, both of who gave a slight nod. She also observes the tense posture of Neji. But she knew why. She let it go and continued.

"You all know that things about Naruto, especially about her being a Jinchūriki, was probably the worst kept secret in this village. No matter what effort was put to avoid it, it got out long before necessary." She took in a deep breath before she continued. "What you mostly didn't realise was that it wasn't the only worst kept secret. Her identity was another such secret. But the only difference was that it hid among the shadows and spread like fire within".

There was pin-drop silence for a few moments before a sharp breath was heard being drawn in.

"You mean…."

That's a wrap! If I'm being frustrating, let's measure the scale after each chapter and see when the maximum limit will be reached.

Let me know how you find the chapter in the comments!

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