Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto the character or anything of the like.
Sorry it took so long to put out this chapter have been a little busy and not really been able to write. So now enjoy the chapter. I will have some but not all the answers at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 34 – Aftermath…
Hiashi wore a sad smile upon his face. The invasion had failed and Konoha had prevailed. Sarutobi and many of the shinobi of the leaf were now in the overflowing hospitals and clan medical wards. The Hyuuga had also taken in many of the injured. There were few civilian casualties, this was a good thing. Buildings could be rebuild, people could be healed, but the dead could not be brought back.
Naruto was recovering in the next room with a shattered right hand and arm. Hinata had not left his side, Hiashi had smiled at this. What actually bothered him were these two women in this room. One was thought dead many years ago and the other thought dead only a few years ago. He had to talk to Sarutobi about this, and others would have to be informed the question was who. His big question was why the sound shinobi were trying to abduct these two women who were currently in comas.
"How are they doing?" Hiashi asked Kikiyo.
"They are both stable, they both appear to have been under a strong genjutsu for quite a while. It would appear that being under the genjutsu for so long has done some damage to both of the women. We would need someone with expertise greater than mine to heal them. I would think Tsunade-sama would be perfect but getting her here would be very hard to do." Kikiyo responded.
"Very well how are the other patients?" Hiashi asked.
"Well Neji will be fine. The shuriken wounds are healing nicely. He will be over his chakra exhaustion in a couple days. Naruto-kun has already healed from his newest kunai wounds from the attempted stabbing as has Lady Hinata. Naruto-kun will still take a couple weeks for his arm and hand to heal. Shino is suffering from mild burns but should be fine in a few days. I hear that Sasuke Uchiha will more than likely either be done with being a shinobi or be limited to using one hand, unless we can get a hold of Tsunade-sama to also help him." Kikiyo replied.
"I see. I will speak with the Hokage about this but am not sure he will like what I have to talk to him about." Hiashi commented.
"I'll bet. What were those two doing in the long term care ward anyways? I think they should have had Inoichi working with them a long time ago. Have you talked to him about this?" Kikiyo asked as Hiashi shook his head. "And we thought both of them were dead years ago. What are you going to say to the Hokage?" Kikiyo asked.
"I am not sure, but there are too many questions and not enough answers. Do not tell anyone about our two guests until we have seen the Hokage." Hiashi said and Kikiyo nodded and left.
--
Four beds were in the room filled with three Uzumaki and one Hyuuga. "Oneesan, why did you have to get hurt again?" Hanabi whined.
"She was protecting her love." Yugito said as she made her lips pucker as if she was going to kiss. This caused Hinata to turn bright red.
"Yugito, leave Hinata-hime alone!" Naruto yelled at his little sister.
"How many did you get Naruto-Oniisan?" Yugito asked.
"Let's see. I got two Hyuuga, a demon and a barrier. That is all I can claim." Naruto replied with a foxy grin.
"Ah, I got only two sound chunin before they broke my leg and stabbed me. Hey does a barrier even count?" Yugito questioned.
"Sure, if the Hokage is trapped behind it." Naruto retorted as Hinata giggled.
"What are you guys doing? You think that it was a contest? Konoha was invaded and we did what we could to try to help." Shinbo castigated the quarrelling siblings. "Anyways, I got a Sand jonin, and five chunin from Sound." Shinbo smirked.
"I say a demon and a barrier are worth at least a dozen jonin from Sand." Naruto retaliated verbally. "Heck I even helped defeat a Sanin. Beat that." Naruto said as he tried to cross his arms forgetting his cast. "Ow, ow, ow!!"
"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Hinata asked concerned.
Naruto scratched his head with his left hand. "Yeah Hinata-hime, I just keep on forgetting about this broken arm. Darn cast." Naruto complained as Hinata again giggled at Naruto's antics.
--
"How bad was it?" Sarutobi asked from his hospital bed.
"Not as bad as it could have been." Kakashi answered first from the surrounding jonin.
"Yah, had Naruto not forced the Kazekage's son to surrender and then opened a hole in the barrier the invasion would have lasted a lot longer." Anko said almost excited. "We lost some good people. But on the bright side we did win and took a lot more of them than they took of us."
"We are currently at about one third normal strength right now but we can be back to two-thirds in a couple months. Otherwise I agree with Anko-sans and Kakashi-sans assessments. The sound invasion force was completely wiped out. Suna's forces were also decimated, but more like about eighty percent were either captured or killed. We did take quite a few prisoners, mostly Sand shinobi. It does appears that Orochimaru was the mastermind behind this attack. We also got word earlier today from Suna that the Kazekage's body was found near Suna." Ibiki stated.
"I see, now the reason I brought you all here. I want to know your opinion on the genin that participated in the chunin exams." Sarutobi asked.
"Both Nara and the Sand girl both showed very good strategic ability. The demon, I mean Naruto showed promise but I don't think he is ready. Sasuke Uchiha is ready. Gaara and Kankurou of the sand are not ready. Shino Aburame did not show us anything so I would say no to him. What?" A jonin in the back commented as the killing intent in the room went through the roof. Kakashi, Anko, Genma, and Kurenai were all looking at the Jonin. Zabuza has shifted behind the man and was pulling a kunai out. Sarutobi shook his head at this.
"I will not comment on my students' performance, but if you ever again refer to one of my students as demon again you will never have children do I make myself clear." Kurenai threatened as Sarutobi chuckled.
"I like the kid too. So watch what you say." Zabuza said menacingly. Kakashi had put his book away.
Said jonin was found later that day tied up near the front gates only wearing underpants. He decided never to insult Naruto again, especially in front of Kakashi, or Genma. Kurenai, Zabuza and Anko were even worse than Kakashi or Genma. They called for castration, but were overruled by Kakashi and Genma.
--
"Hello Sasuke-kun." Sakura said affectionately as she entered Sasuke's hospital room.
"What do you want?" Sasuke angrily looked at the pink haired girl.
"I wanted to see how you were doing? But if you want to be alone and mope be my guest. Lee-san has asked me out on a date and I am going to accept as I seem to not be wanted here." Sakura retorted.
"You would go out with that eyebrow freak?" Sasuke asked.
"Well at least he treats me… human. Unlike a certain stuck up Uchiha teammate of mine. Naruto was right you do have a stick up your ass." Sakura said as she turned to leave. She then turned back and looked angrily at Sasuke. "A little advice, if you keep pushing girls away you will either be left with none or you will be thought to be homosexual. It is your choice." Sakura left in an angry huff.
'I can't deal with girls right now I have to get stronger so that I can kill Itachi, and then I can think about rebuilding the clan.' Sasuke thought to himself.
--
'Jeez, just who does he think he is? He keeps on pushing all the girls away, pushing me away. I am tired of being treated like trash by him. At least Lee might appreciate me.' Sakura thought as she left the hospital and approached Lee.
"Sakura-chan, so how did it go with Sasuke-kun?" Lee asked.
"He is a jerk." Sakura said as tears welled up in her eyes.
Lee looked down smiled kindly and then offered Sakura his arm. "Come Sakura-chan, we will drown your sorrows in a dango or two, my treat." Sakura sadly smiled and then nodded as she took Lee's arm. They walked down the street to a local dango stand.
A figure watched them from the background as the pair walked into the dango stand.
--
"I have brought you home Sakura-chan. I hope you are feeling better and I believe that Sasuke-kun will eventually do better with your advances. I am sorry he is not ready yet. Have a good evening Sakura-chan." Lee said with a big grin and put his thumb up.
"Thank you Lee, and thank you for understanding. Good night." Sakura replied as she closed her door.
"You may come out and show yourself. You are not that good at hiding yourself." Lee said to no one in particular.
"I am sorry Lee-kun. Please forgive me." A female voice came from the bushes.
--
Somewhere in the Rice Field country, "Kabuto cut them off! It has already reached my elbows! Cut them off!" Orochimaru yelled as the pain of dying nerves had become excruciating.
"Strap him down. He is not ready to transfer just yet so strap him down and prepare to remove Orochimaru-sama's arms. Also give him anesthesia." Several other medical nin helped strap Orochimaru down to the table and then gave him sedatives to knock him out.
--
A blond woman apparently in her twenties had sneezed and caused the ball on the roulette table to change from her number to another. This caused her to lose her roulette game. 'If I find out who was talking about me just now I will kill them.' Tsunade said angrily.
"Is everything alright Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked.
"Yeah, someone was talking behind my back and caused me to sneeze and lose that game." Tsunade replied.
--
"So Orochimaru's plans failed and the Kyuubi container has made a name for himself?" A shadowy figure asked a group of other shadows.
"It would appear so leader. So when do we move?" Another shadow asked with red eyes.
"It will be some time yet." The leader responded. "But you can check on him if you like."
"Thank you leader, Kisame and I will leave now." The red eyed shadow responded.
--
"You status as probationary shinobi has been lifted Zabuza and Haku. We will now work on finding places for you in the regular forces. It may be boring for a while as we need do rebuild the village but there should be plenty of missions for you. Zabuza you are going to be assigned as a special jonin and Haku you will be a floating genin. Right now we have some large holes in our forces. I think can find places for both of you." Sarutobi said from his bed.
"Thank you Hokage-sama, we are greatly honored." Haku said as she bowed.
"I agree with Haku-chan Hokage-sama. I am thankful you shortening our probation. We were just on our way to see that gaki, Naruto." Zabuza said.
"Say hello to him and tell him 'thank you' from me. I am not sure I would be here if he did not do what he did." Sarutobi said smiling.
"What did he do exactly?" Haku asked.
"Oh, that is right you guys were in the village during the exams. Naruto defeated Gaara of the sand and then broke a hole in the barrier that Orochimaru's men had set up. The hole was big enough for some help to enter and help me stop him from doing much more than injuring me. Like an old fool I used a forbidden jutsu and aged myself a decade." Sarutobi said playfully.
"I am sorry we missed the party. Oh well I took a several jonin to the cleaners with Naruto's fight." Zabuza said jokingly.
"I hear both of you brought in about thirty Sand and Sound prisoners. Ibiki will be busy for quite a while thanks to both of you. Now go and see your friends." Sarutobi said as he shooed the former water nin out of his hospital room.
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and Sarutobi sighed. 'What now?'
"Hokage-san, we would like to have a word with you if you don't mind." Koharu said as she and Homura entered the room.
"With all of these visitors I will not be able to heal properly, but for my old teammates I will make an exception." Sarutobi said tiredly. 'I wonder what that old goat and bat want now.'
"We have just gotten out of a council meeting and they are split on what to do about the invasion. Most members want reconstruction and then war on the Sound village. What is your opinion Sarutobi?" Koharu asked.
"I say we do the reconstruction and then get back to normal as soon as possible. We are not in a position to be making war even on a small village such as the Sound. Orochimaru can wait. I would like to speak with my student Jiriaya as soon as possible." Sarutobi responded.
"We would also like to speak about the child being housed in the Hyuuga household and the girl from Kiri." Homura said.
"What of Naruto-kun and Haku-chan?" Sarutobi asked.
"Well the girl possesses a Kekkei Genkai, and we want to make sure it is not lost. We are proposing a marriage of Sasuke Uchiha to the girl, so that we could have both bloodlines in the same family." Koharu said.
"The girl will not be forced to marry as her foster father will cleave anyone in two who tries to do that. Zabuza-san is not fond of politics and I am sure not allow you or the council to force Haku-chan to marry. As for Sasuke Uchiha he is nowhere near ready to start a family. He is too driven right now by hate and anger to be a loving father. He would abandon his children just for a chance at his brother. Also the chances of Sasuke liking or agreeing to the marriage are slim at best. He does not like Zabuza." Sarutobi said sternly.
"Very well we will drop this subject for now Sarutobi." Homura replied.
"Now what is it that you want to discuss about Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi asked.
"Several of the council members want Naruto out of the Hyuuga household. Some want him to be married off to their daughters, others do not, and a few want 'the demon destroyed'." Koharu replied.
"That is a decision for Kakashi, Hiashi and Naruto-kun to decide. Naruto-kun appears to be happy now so I am sure he will not want to move. Also there are his adopted siblings to worry about. As for killing him they can resign their place on the council if they feel that way about the person who quite literally saved the village. At least he saved those in the stadium and myself." Sarutobi stated.
"What about his adopted siblings. They can stay with the Hyuuga. Also Haruno is pushing for a marriage between their daughter and either Sasuke or Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki has made quite an impression on the citizens of Konoha. They are calling him 'the demon of the leaf', and 'Shukaku's tamer', there are several others. Naruto Uzumaki has turned form pariah to celebrity in the matter of hours. He is credited for defeating the demon container Gaara and helping you in your battle. Several of the minor clans are worried that the Hyuuga will become too powerful." Homura commented.
"I am glad he is getting some notoriety. I did not hear your opinions on chunin exam. Care to share that with me?" Sarutobi asked as he deflected the elders concerns.
--
"Hey gaki, you married to the pale eyed girl yet? If not you could always marry Haku-chan." Zabuza said laughingly as he entered the room. Hinata and Haku both blushed at his statement. Naruto was angry for a second and then smiled at the sight of his friends Zabuza and Haku.
"So Zabuza-san, are you offering up your daughter to marry me?" Naruto said playfully as Haku-chan blushed.
"I don't know are you asking?" Zabuza replied.
"Well I don't know, I do have Hinata-hime. Having two wives might be how does Shikamaru put it? 'Troublesome'." Hinata and Haku both blushed as Hinata tapped Naruto's left shoulder in a mock hit.
"So you have already secured a marriage to Hinata-chan? Did you ask Hiashi-sama about this?" Zabuza asked knowing that Hiashi was just outside the room.
"Well… no. I was going to ask but I don't think I am old enough yet to do that sort of thing." Naruto smiled as Hinata hugged Naruto.
"Given your status now as a hero, it would be hard to refuse you asking for my daughter's hand. But for now I will not give you an answer Naruto." Hiashi said as he stuck his head in the room. "I apologize Haku-chan, it sounds like Naruto-san is off the market so to speak."
Haku smirked. "Only if Hinata-sama is unwilling to share Naruto-kun." Haku replied playfully as she winked at Hinata who just blushed.
The room erupted in laughter as Naruto turned bright red. Hinata hugged Naruto again and kissed him on the cheek, she hit a whisker mark. Naruto's eyes glazed over as he laid back and just grinned. Everyone in the room again laughed.
Haku bent over and kissed Naruto on the other cheek and elicited the same reaction from him Hinata did. She then whispered into Hinata's ear. "You have nothing to worry about I have my sights on another strong shinobi." Haku said as she blushed.
--
A/N: Sorry for the filler chapter but had to put a few things on the table and now I can continue the story. The two women are going to be featured in the next chapter. Please do not guess who they are as I will reveal it in the next chapter. I hope you liked the chapter. As I am working on several stories at once I am trying to keep up with a good update schedule. I will try to not keep you in too much suspense on who the women are. Oh and yes Sasuke is still an emo, at least for now. I am not sure how I am going to handle emo boy yet but it will be fun for a while. Also I am going to start diverging from cannon somewhat. As if I haven't already. Sorry for the lack of action in this chapter but hey it was a filler chapter to push the story along. Also next chapter: Who are they and who made chunin…
Chewie cookies: No rape to be involved but Orochimaru was going to be up to no good.
SpeakerofNaught: You may be right, but pearls are not in all oysters. I may change the description some but there are only so many words I can use. As for the title well, I would have to start it over again. But hey people are stumbling over it all the time. I also have get back to the early chapters to make my possible reader look harder at the story. As this was my first fiction story I started with no betas and no experience, just an idea and a dream. :D
GraityTheWizard: No, Haku will not be another Anko or Ibiki, she has her own personality. She is cold and calculated in battle but gentle otherwise. She is also very logical, well sort of. She is more the capture type than the kill type Zabuza is, so it would be logical to take those that are captured to Ibiki.