Naruto jumped as the gavel came down several times. "Order in the court!" Tsunade announced over the crowd as they began to settle down. "This hearing is to determine whether one Uzumaki Naruto, genin-rank ninja of the Leaf Village, consciously unleashed the Nine-tailed Demon Fox without regard to the safety of the village. Prosecution, you may call your first witness."
An old man, who Tsunade recognized as Homura, stood up. "The first witness I would like to call is the landlord of the apartments where the boy used to reside until recently. Mr. Yamamoto, please step forward." The person stepped out of the crowd and glared at Naruto as he passed by the desks and took the stand. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
"I do," the man replied, then sat down.
"Mr. Yamamoto, you are, in fact, the former landlord of the defendant. Is this correct?" Homura asked.
"Yes," he replied.
"Then you know about the defendant's personal habits. Could you please describe them?" Homura asked.
"Objection, your honor," Naruto's attorney, Yamanaka Inoichi, said as he stood up. "Where's the relevance to the topic in question?"
"I am merely trying to understand the boy's habits from the perspective of those who know him best," Homura answered. "The relevance will be established, your honor."
Tsunade frowned for a moment, but nodded. "Overruled. Continue."
"Thank you," Homura replied. "Mr. Yamamoto, please answer the question."
"He was quite a noisy troublemaker, as I am sure everyone here can attest to," Yamamoto spat with thinly-veiled hatred. "The boy would be up at early hours to 'work out', he would say, but everyone knows what that sort does in the darkness. His apartment was always the worst-kept and I had to leave a notice repeatedly about the trashy smells that no doubt came through his window. When he wasn't at school, which was often, he would always be out terrorizing the good citizens of this great village with 'pranks' designed to disrupt our lives and make us miserable. Then, each night, he would return and do only the gods know what in his room until late at night. Probably raping girls or something like that."
"Objection, your honor! Speculation; I request that that last remark be stricken from the record!" Inoichi shouted.
"Sustained," Tsunade replied. "Mr. Yamamoto, stick to the facts and the facts only. Ms. Shizune, strike the last remark from the record."
"Yes, my lady," Shizune said as she took a pen and scratched out the last part of Yamamoto's testimony.
"My apologies, your honor," Yamamoto said, though he clearly did not mean it. "Anyway, that sums up a day in its life."
"Thank you," Homura responded as he took his seat.
Inoichi stood up and approached the stand. "Mr. Yamamoto, how long have you owned the piece of property that you turned into an apartment complex and rent out to tenants?"
"About twenty-five years, sir," Yamamoto replied.
"How would you say your relationship with your tenants, as a whole, has been?" Inoichi asked.
"Pretty good, I'd say," Yamamoto replied. "I make sure to greet as many of them as I can in the morning as I open up."
"And your speed in responding to maintenance requests?" Inoichi continued.
"As quick as I can, though I'll admit that I'm not able to get around like I used to," Yamamoto replied.
"What would happen if someone felt they were not treated with the utmost courtesy that you claim to show your tenants?" Inoichi asked.
"Well, obviously they would be free to vacate and find another apartment to live in. I would surely lose my reputation as a reliable landlord and it would become more difficult to run the complex as, potentially, more people would leave," Yamamoto answered.
"Of course. What would happen if someone with high-level connections stayed at your apartments and had a good word regarding it?" Inoichi asked.
"Quite the opposite situation, I would imagine," Yamamoto said. "My business and reputation would increase."
"Then what would explain a drop in apartment rentals from September 15th in the sixth year of the Third Hokage to June 1st in the twelfth year of the Third Hokage, then a sudden spike right after that?" Inoichi asked.
"That's how the economy is," Yamamoto replied. "Sometimes you go up, sometimes you go down. Either can happen, and continue to happen for some time."
"Only in your complex, though? Reports show an overall growth; your business was the only one to see a sharp decline on the first indicated date followed by a flat-line that jumped back to rejoin the rest of the businesses on the second date. Would you care to explain what would appear to be an apparent discrepancy?" Inoichi continued, boring into the man's eyes with his own.
"There's nothing to explain. Sometimes a business experiences a sharp drop; maybe some other complex was offering a better deal."
"Yet you seem to have done nothing to make a better deal to counter it, nor do you sound sure of if that is the case. As the owner of a business myself, I find it helpful to my business to check out the deals made by other companies and at least attempt to match or beat them. I ask again, explain the discrepancy."
"I don't know!" Yamamoto shouted.
Inoichi shook his head sadly and replied, "Yes, you do, but if you don't, then let me refresh your memory. On the day of September the 15th, the Hokage comes by with a friend that he wants to get set up with his own apartment. You eagerly accept, or so it would seem since you do not want to offend the Hokage. At first things seem fine, but you realize that several people are moving out and citing the same reason, and so you decide that since the Hokage assumes that everything is fine with his friend you begin to ignore his maintenance requests. You also squeeze more money out of him for his rent, citing price hikes as a result of inflation. Then, years later, the Hokage comes and moves his friend to a new complex, and the first thing you do is torch the apartment that the person used to live in. After that, you spread the word on a 'Monster Freedom Special,' attracting customers left and right and you're now finally able to make a solid profit! Does that sound familiar to you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Yamamoto defiantly stated.
"I submit to the court the following evidence: sales charts for the past six years from complex in question, posters from June 1st created for complex in question by the witness, and affidavits from several eyewitnesses to the state of the defendant's apartment before being moved," Inoichi stated to the court, handing several bags to Tsunade.
Tsunade took a look at all of the evidence. "What does this evidence point to?"
"An unnatural bias against my client that clearly shows animosity with intent to drive out, if not kill," Inoichi replied. "This witness is not a reliable witness, and his testimony is thus invalid in regard to this trial."
"Objection, your honor!" Homura said as he stood up. "Circumstantial evidence that could point to anything has no place in a court of law."
Tsunade held up a poster and said, "'This' is circumstantial? We all know what the defendant has been forced by the Fourth Hokage to carry for the past thirteen years." She then picked up her gavel and slammed it down three times. "The court accepts this evidence. Mr. Yamamoto, your testimony is invalid; you may step down."
"You can't ignore what I say!" Yamamoto shouted. "That little demon deserves to die!"
Tsunade took one look at the man, who realized what he said and began to shake from both rage and fear, and said, "Kakashi."
"Yes, your honor," the scarecrow said as he appeared behind the witness and slit his throat, then carried him out of the courtroom as a janitor came out and began to clean up the witness stand.
"You all know the law, and that it cannot be suspended for any reason, especially in a court of law. The punishment for treason is death," Tsunade announced. "We'll take a ten-minute recess to let the janitor clean the mess up." She slammed the gavel down once and then left the room, making sure to take the evidence with her in case anyone decided to try anything.
…
"My next witness was an eyewitness to the event in question, and through it I intend to prove that there is no further need of witnesses, but rather a swift judgment to befall the defendant. I call Miss Kamakura to the stand," Homura announced as he ushered a young woman in her twenties to the stand. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
"I do," Kamakura replied. Careful to not look at Naruto, she slid into her seat at the witness stand.
"Where were you on the day of the invasion?" Homura asked.
"Tending my shop, as usual," Kamakura replied.
"What happened that day?" Homura asked.
"Well, like I said, I was tending my shop. My family runs a clothing store, and we were having a sale that day because of the Exam, as we usually do. All of a sudden, a giant snake appeared nearby and everyone began to panic, myself included. As I ran away from the shop, I looked into the distance and saw a giant tan-colored monster, and then the Fox appeared and swatted at the monster. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, so I wasn't sure what to make of it. For awhile I thought I'd just imagined I saw it, because from all the stories I heard I would've figured the Fox would have joined with the monster in rampaging the city, but it didn't-"
"That will be all," Homura stated.
"Objection, your honor!" Inoichi said. "The witness is not finished with her testimony."
"Sustained," Tsunade replied. "Miss Kamakura, please continue."
"Thank you, ma'am- er, your honor." Kamakura took a breath and then continued. "Anyway, it didn't attack, but merely looked like it was defending the village. It disappeared, and then not more than a minute afterward the tan monster disappeared too. By this time the giant snake had disappeared as well, so we all went to work cleaning up the ruined shops, of which my family's was one." She then looked at Tsunade and added, "That sums up what happened to me that day."
"Thank you," Tsunade answered. "Homura, you may begin your questioning."
"..." Homura nodded and turned to the witness, knowing that he couldn't rely on bias against Naruto to make his case. "Miss Kamakura, could you describe the snake you saw?"
"I don't see why, but okay. It was larger than the Hokage Tower, and a dark purple color. It didn't have a hood like a cobra, but I could tell it had poisonous fangs because when it opened its mouth drops of some kind of liquid landed on houses and melted them on contact," Kamakura replied. "I overheard some ninja talking later on, during the rebuilding, and one of them said its name was 'Manda', or something like that."
"Manda, as in the king of the snake summons?" Tsunade asked, making a mental note to talk to Jiraiya about finding the scroll.
"I don't know, but I know that if summons have names then they must be important. In all honesty I didn't know it was a summon, though it makes sense since the snake appeared out of nowhere," Kamakura answered.
"Alright, please give details on the 'tan monster' you saw," Homura continued.
"It was too far away; I only saw a bit of its head. And if you're going to ask to describe the Fox, then the same answer applies: the only part of the Fox I saw was its tails and its paw when it attacked the monster," Kamakura stated.
"Now, when you say 'attacked' the monster, do you mean attacking to cause damage, or in a playful manner as some animals will do to each other?" Homura asked.
"I own a dog and two cats, so I know what you're talking about," Kamakura replied. "No, this was definitely an attack to damage if not kill."
Homura grimaced when he realized that he'd picked the wrong eyewitness. "... No further questions."
Inoichi stood up, smiling to himself and said, "The defense has no questions at this time."
Tsunade nodded and then looked at the witness. "You may step down."
"Thank you, your honor," Kamakura said as she stood up and made her way back to her seat.
"Does the prosecution have any further witnesses they wish to call on?" Tsunade asked as she turned her attention to Homura.
Seething inwardly, the man kept his face neutral and replied, "Not at this time, your honor."
Tsunade nodded, then turned to Inoichi. "Does the defense have any witnesses they wish to call forward?"
"Two, your honor. First, I would like to call Uchiha Sasuke to the stand," Inoichi replied, shocking all of the civilians. Sasuke was ushered in by the bailiff and took the stand as Inoichi approached him. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
"I do," Sasuke replied and then sat down.
"Sasuke, please describe the events of the invasion from your perspective, the perspective of a ninja," Inoichi asked.
"Yes, sir." Looking out across the crowd, he said, "Gaara of the Sand had just been injured by a jutsu my sensei had taught me, which is a shock because of Gaara's reputation for his impenetrable defense. This, however, caused a chain reaction that signaled to the Sound Village, which had been using the Sand as pawns, to begin the invasion process. Sound ninja had begun to cast a sleep-causing genjutsu over the crowd, but our own forces were there to dispel it and begin fighting the invaders. Meanwhile, Shikamaru, Chouji, Naruto, and I began to lead Gaara out of there to limit the damage he did to the village; he was after me primarily, so I had to lead and the others followed to give me backup. However, several others from our teams followed and we were all trapped by Gaara's sand; Naruto managed to escape because he'd substituted with a Shadow Clone. I was knocked out for a moment, but when I came to I saw Naruto standing on top of a gigantic orange-colored toad with a short sword on its belt."
"You're, of course, referring to the Toad Boss Gamabunta, correct?" Inoichi asked.
"Yes," Sasuke replied, which further shocked the crowd; Gamabunta had been known to be the Fourth's and Jiraiya's summon, and Gamabunta was there when the Fourth fought the Fox. "Anyway, I couldn't hear what Naruto was saying, but the two of them did a combo-transformation and took the appearance of the Fox, attacked the Demon Tanuki, then transformed back so that Naruto could get on top of the Tanuki's head to wake Gaara up. Apparently Gaara's seal allows the One-tailed Demon Tanuki to appear when Gaara's asleep, so Gaara was never able to sleep until Lord Jiraiya copied the seal that the Fourth used on Naruto and basically pasted it onto Gaara's seal. It's because of Naruto that our alliance with the Sand is stronger than ever; without that seal both we and the Sand Village would be burning to the ground underneath the boots of Orochimaru."
This elicited a murmur from the civilian side of the crowd and applause from the ninja side that continued for a couple of moments before Tsunade silenced them with the gavel. "Order in the court!" After everyone had quieted down, she looked at Inoichi. "Continue, please?"
"Yes, your honor." Inoichi turned to Sasuke. "In your estimation, is the defendant a threat to the village in any way, shape, or form?"
"No, sir. If anything, he deserves nothing but the utmost respect for his dedication to protecting the village," Sasuke replied. "I am proud to call him a comrade, friend, and brother; and if anyone wants to so much as touch him, they'll have to kill me first." This made the crowd stir even more; they knew of the rivalry between the two during their Academy days, but given how active the genin were in training they knew next to nothing about the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke.
After silencing the crowd, Tsunade looked at Inoichi and asked, "Anything else you'd like to ask the witness?"
"No, I believe that will be sufficient," Inoichi said as he took his seat.
Homura stood up and began immediately. "Uchiha Sasuke... the last Uchiha. Rookie of the Year, just like your brother Itachi. Bearer of the ultimate jutsu, the Sharingan. Need I go on? The pride of the Leaf Village... that is certainly a lot to live up to."
"Yes, but I find that my friends are good at keeping me grounded in reality, sir," Sasuke replied. "However, I should point out some things. First, I am not the last Uchiha; my brother is still alive, and Madara was never declared deceased and his body was never found. Second, the Rookie of the Year award is just a title for children to get excited over; it means nothing when you're facing a Water Dragon jutsu. Third, the Sharingan is powerful but not unbeatable; my family stands as a testimony to that, as does the honorable Senju family. Fourth, if I am the pride of the Leaf Village, then that means you think very poorly of every ninja currently in service, including the Sannin themselves."
Homura could barely keep his jaw from dropping. 'This Sasuke isn't the Sasuke I knew of from back in the Academy. He should have eaten it all up and gotten angry as soon as I mentioned Itachi. How can I prove him unstable and unreliable? Maybe I should try a different tack... ah, right!' "Sasuke, during the preliminary round of the third part of the Chunin Exam, it was reported that Naruto nearly killed a fellow Leaf ninja. Care to clarify what happened?"
"It was the other way around. Hyuuga Neji was about to kill his cousin, and had the jonin not stepped in to protect her Naruto would have," Sasuke replied.
"But according to the report many of the jonin who were not on the floor were holding Naruto back, and his eyes were as red as yours," Homura insisted. "Does that sound like someone who has full control?"
"Naruto's eyes were still red when Neji backed off and Naruto issued his challenge to the older Hyuuga," Sasuke said. "His anger proves nothing other than that he was angry at the time. Don't forget that Hinata is Naruto's teammate, and he takes that VERY seriously; were Shikamaru in that position, or even someone of the other genin teams, he would have reacted the same way."
"Conceded, but there was a similar incident during the Wave mission, was there not? Reports indicate that measures were taken to prevent Naruto from being taken over by the Fox as its chakra began to leak out and form a cloak around him," Homura said as he opened up a file on his desk and read out of it.
"Objection!" Inoichi shouted as he stood up. "The contents of that mission are classified."
"For those who don't have the clearance," Homura smugly rebutted.
"As a civilian now, you should not have had access to those records," Tsunade pointed out. "How did you acquire them?"
"With all due respect, your honor, I am not the one on trial," Homura replied, then pointed a bony finger at Naruto. "That is."
"Your honor, I submit that the prosecution is too blinded in his hatred of the client to be a fair prosecutor," Inoichi pleaded.
"And I submit that the defense is too caught up in its trap to realize how deep he is," Homura countered. "I can see it now; you did a mind dive, only to have your mind warped by its will. No human can stand up to a demon, physically or mentally."
"Quiet!" Tsunade shouted. "Homura, Inoichi, my chambers! Fifteen minute recess!"
…
Having reconvened, Tsunade announced to the audience, "Due to the clear animosity between the prosecution and defense, I have no choice but to reconvene the trial at a later date." Before she could lower the gavel, though, Naruto raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Uzumaki?"
"May I make a statement? I can clear all of this up today," Naruto stated.
"... I suppose you can, though I can't imagine your attorney will want you to," Tsunade replied.
Naruto stood up and turned to face everyone. "Everyone, please listen to me. Every word I said at the Third Hokage's funeral, which all of you were there for, was meant. He was like a grandfather to me, and is everything I aspire to be. My path is clear to me: I cannot protect this village if the people do not want me to protect it. Therefore, I choose self-imposed exile until such a time as I can control the Nine-tailed Demon Fox's chakra. To facilitate this, Master Jiraiya of the Sannin has offered to take me on as his apprentice, which I fully accept. While this places a great burden on my team, Shikamaru is smart enough to figure out how to compensate, and they always have Saito-sensei and Yuugao-sensei to guide them. I do this because I want to protect you, and I cannot do that if, during the course of my training, I should lose control and unleash the power of the Fox; only Master Jiraiya can do anything to prevent the Fox's chakra from taking me over, should that happen. Just one last time, though, let me emphasize that my only goal is to protect this village, and I do this because I love it, though only a select few have ever loved me back. If I can protect you by being present, then I will stay; if I must leave, then I will leave, but I also leave a promise to return a better person and a stronger ninja." Turning back to Tsunade, he said, "That's about it."
Tsunade could feel herself moved to tears, but she was surprised to see many of the civilians who had previously been against Naruto were openly crying. "I suppose you would not have said all that if you weren't prepared to leave already, and I imagine keeping you around would only make you leave illegally. Therefore, this court sentences Uzumaki Naruto to exile until it can be proven under the tutelage of Jiraiya that the Fox no longer poses a danger to the Leaf Village; as such, they will report to me once a month via mail. Case dismissed." She slammed the gavel down, only to find Naruto poof out of existence. 'Shadow Clone... he must have been prepared for this, one way or the other. Take care, Naruto...'
…
"You did what!?" Sakura shouted, her jaw practically resting on the ground. The rest of the Rookie Twelve had mostly the same reaction to the announcement, and Naruto was beginning to wish that he hadn't said anything.
"Look, it's obvious they don't want me here, but if I can figure out how to control the Fox then maybe they won't be averse to letting me come back," Naruto replied.
"You do realize that it could be an entire lifetime before you are able to do that, right?" Shikamaru asked. "Any demon is difficult to defeat, let alone tame, and the Nine-tailed Demon Fox is the strongest of them all."
"That's why Jiraiya is coming," Naruto pointed out.
"Will you be leaving Fire Country permanently?" Shino asked.
"Not sure; at the least we're not allowed to be within a day's walk of the Leaf Village," Naruto answered. "I'll send you guys letters as well, though if we get caught up in some kind of mission it might be longer."
"You'll still do missions?" Ino asked.
"Yeah, I'm still an official Leaf ninja, and as such can be assigned missions. With Jiraiya, they should be pretty easy," Naruto replied.
"Naruto, let us talk to the Hokage," Hinata pleaded. "We'll get her to let the whole team go."
"I can't, Hinata," Naruto replied. "Your duty is to protect the Leaf Village, and the best way for you to do that is to train and do missions here. I'm counting on the both of you to do your best while I'm gone." Turning to Sasuke, he said, "Sasuke, protect Hinata and the others. Help Itachi any way that you can, and train so you'll be ready to kick some heads when I get back."
"I will, Naruto." Sasuke gave Naruto a big hug and said, "I'll see you again soon, brother."
"In time, brother," Naruto replied.
Rock Lee, along with the rest of Team Gai, was there as well, and the two former misfits embraced. "May your travels be fruitful, Naruto! I shall endeavor to redouble my efforts to keep up with the training Master Jiraiya no doubt has for you! Shall we duel when you return?"
"Maybe not the same day; Pervy-Sage tells me that travel is tiring, but we'll definitely spar when I get back," Naruto said.
"Naruto, are you ready to go?" Jiraiya shouted from down the road.
Naruto let go of Lee and began hugging everyone else. When he finished, he took up his pack and said, "I never go back on my word, believe it, so trust me when I say 'I'll be back'! See you!" Not sparing them one more look, Naruto turned and ran up to Jiraiya and the two of them left the Leaf Village and disappeared in the forest beyond.
"... I miss him already," Ino commented. "Who wants to go have some ramen in his honor?" Everyone agreed and it quickly became a celebration of their friend and his determination to live for the sake of his village.