Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
AN: Wow 300+ reviews, time to party!! This was going to be the final chapter before the time skip but I decided I have a lot more to do before the skip. I think the main reason I wanted to rush is that until the time skip happens there will be no more progress with the relationships. New parings have been thought up (for other characters.) for added drama! My new goal is to get 1000+ reviews so expect updates far better in quality and frequency than I used to do. The more I get, the faster I update.
Obviously the poll is over (and the result is opposite of what I expected.) Check bottom AN to see list of what would have happened if the vote went the other way.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Chapter 16: Choice of Many
"The death of your mother was an accident. There were complications during the…" The clone of the doctor was cut off when Naruto canceled the Jutsu. The Hokage's face showed no emotion and that had the even more doctor nervous. Much to his relief Naruto just walked past him and out the door with Hinata right behind him.
Hinata did know what she should say in a situation like this or even if she should even say anything. She wasn't able to read his face as it showed no traces of sadness, happiness, or anything, just a blank expression. She herself was happy that Kushina's death was not intentional because if it had, there was no way that doctor would have lived for another ten minutes.
The walk back to their house was a lesson in frustration for the girl. While Naruto wasn't paying attention to anything she could clearly see the fear in the eyes of the civilians and the overflowing respect coming from the ninja. It confused and annoyed her to no end that people could be afraid of someone who is protecting them from what they should truly fear.
They quickly reached the house and Naruto still hasn't said a word. Once they entered Hinata went to sit on the sofa and a few minutes later Naruto sat next to her. She fiddled with her hands for a moment wondering what she could say to him. She turned to look at him and almost jumped up and shock when she saw tears running down his face. "Are you OK Naruto-kun?" She quickly asked.
Naruto buried his face in her lap surprising her again. "No I'm not OK. All these years I thought, no I wanted it to have been intentional so I can have someone to blame. I ruined that mans career, and for what, because he tried his best to help my mother. I hated him for
something that wasn't his fault. How is that different from the people here that hate me?" He said while tears continued to soak her leg.
Hinata started to rub and play in his hair while thinking about what he just said. She didn't blame him for suspecting the doctor because anyone in his situation would do the same. She didn't think he was right in comparing himself to those whom hate him, they knew Naruto wasn't Kyuubi.
After about ten minutes Hinata noticed that Naruto fell asleep. She had never seen him like this but it was nice to know that he could cry and that he wasn't emotionless. She knew she could never replace his mother but she would try her best to become someone that he cared for on the same level.
A knock on the front door woke Naruto from the most comfortable sleep he's had in years. When he sat up he looked at Hinata and saw that her Byakugan was activated and her face was a little pale. He then got up to wash his face so whoever was at the door wouldn't know he was crying.
Hinata decided that no matter how much she didn't want to, she had to open the door. When she did there were 3 Hyuuga waiting to be invited inside. At her door were her mother, her sister, and her cousin Neji. After looking at them for a few moments she decided that it was rude not to invite them in, so she did.
She had them sit at the dining room table and offered to make them tea, which they accepted. When she went into the kitchen to make said drinks Naruto returned from the bathroom. He didn't know who was outside of his door but was only a little surprised to see the Hyuuga. He did imprison their leader…
When he walked into the dining room the tree Hyuuga stood and bowed to him. With a courteous bow back to them he proceeded to sit with them. "Not that you're all unwelcome in my house but it's not normal practice for people to come to the Hokage's house uninvited." Naruto said.
"I'm very sorry for our impromptu visit but things have been… difficult for our clan with the uncertainty of our leader's future." Hyuuga Hanaya, Hinata's mother said. Hinata returned to serve the tea just in time to her mother speak.
"I understand that. There is nothing uncertain about Hiashi's future, everything has already been decided. I would have liked to have informed you earlier but there were certain situations that kept me from doing so. Hyuuga Hiashi has been found guilty of treason and was sentenced to a lifetime imprisonment." Naruto told them.
"My Otou-sama is not guilty!" Hanabi yelled.
"Quiet Hanabi, if the Hokage says he is guilty then he is guilty." Hanaya said.
"I also believe Hanabi-san is far too young and untrained to be the leader of the Hyuuga. I had another person in mind that would be perfect for the position." Naruto said.
"Hokage-sama, you should know that Hanabi is the only Hyuuga without the seal on her forehead. It is not possible for a branch member to become the clan head and there is no way to remove the seal." Hanaya said.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that. Show them Hinata." The blonde said.
Hinata then slowly untied her hitai-ate then removed it from her head and showed them her forehead that was free of any seals. All three of them were shocked to see something that they thought was impossible but Neji saw something else, opportunity. He wanted his seal removed and didn't care what it would cost him to do so.
"Since her forehead is clean, wouldn't it be best if Hinata was to become the leader of the Hyuuga? She was originally the heir after all." Hanaya said.
"It's impossible for Hinata to become the leader of the Hyuuga because she has other responsibilities and besides she isn't a Hyuuga anymore. You Hyuuga abandoned her for a stupid reason and she has no intentions of returning." Not that Naruto asked Hinata what she wanted but he was sure she didn't want to return. "The person who shall lead the Hyuuga is Neji."
There seemed to be a new fad in Konoha, it was knocking on one of Naruto's doors. This time the person was knocking as if they wanted to break the door. Hinata went to open the door again and when she did she was surprised to see Uchiha Sasuke. 'He must be here to ask about his brother, but I don't think right now is a good time.'
"Sasuke-san, could you come back another time? It's been a busy day and Naruto is meeting with my mother right now." Hinata said.
Sasuke on the other hand, wasn't hearing it. Itachi was in Konoha, in a cell somewhere and he wanted his revenge and he wanted it now. He pushed his way past Hinata and walked into the house and went to the dining room where Naruto and the Hyuuga were. "Where is Itachi?"
"Sorry Naruto I tried to stop him." Hinata said.
"You came to my house uninvited, you disrespect me and my family by forcing your way in and then you make demands. Get out of my house." Naruto said.
"I'm not leaving until you tell me where Itachi is." Sasuke replied.
"Uchiha, I was just like you until a few hours ago. I wanted revenge because I thought my mother was killed but…"
"I don't give a shit about you and your mother I'm asking where Itachi is!" Sasuke yelled.
One second later Sasuke was outside of Naruto house and the Hokage needed a new door. Naruto punched him hard enough to send him from the dining room, through the front door where he landed in the lawn, but Naruto wasn't done yet. Before Sasuke could even process what happened was outside with his foot on Sasuke's chest. "I don't give a shit about you or what happened to your family. For a fucking Gennin you're really stupid."
Sasuke reached up and grabbed Naruto's leg in an attempt to move it. "The Gennin is going to try and fight the Hokage? Ok, get up and fight, if you even touch me I'll let you kill Itachi right now, if you don't forget about it, you'll never see him."
That was a good deal in Sasuke's mind, too bad he wasn't thinking straight. When he got up he activated his Sharingan and charged Naruto, he received a knee to the stomach for his effort. He then tried to place Naruto under a Genjutsu but instead had his legs swept from under him. When Sasuke got up he was stopped by Kiba and Shino before he could do anything else. Some of Naruto neighbors seen what happened and everyone knew news of this would be spread around Konoha by dawn.
"Good, I was getting bored anyway. You two should teach your teammate the meaning of stupid." Naruto said to them. The Hokage then turned to go back into his house when an ANBU appeared beside him. "Hokage-sama, do you want us to arrest Sasuke-san."
"No, but I want you to get this door fixed as soon as possible." The blonde said before going back into his house.
"We might as well get this over with now. Neji, if you accept my offer follow me and I will remove your seal." He said. Of course Neji followed him without hesitation. He was being offered to have his seal removed and becoming head of the Hyuuga clan, today qualified as the best day ever.
When he was seated inside Naruto's scroll room he found things wouldn't be that simple. "The reason I'm doing this is not because you're consider you a genius or anything like that. The sole reason why I'm am removing you seal and making you the clan head of the Hyuuga is so that I can use you. Of the 10 major clans of Konoha, only 2 completely support me, with you at the head of the Hyuuga, it will be 3. You are to get my opinion on all major decision regarding the Hyuuga and completely support me within the council. Do you accept?"
Neji nodded showing that he understood. He wanted this seal removed, even if it means trading one cage for a slightly bigger one.
The next day Hinata went to the grocery store to get dinner for them to eat later. Naruto and Anko were greedy and Jiraiya often stopped by for dinner so the supplies needed to be replenished often. She won't have to worry about the Sannin eating habits for a while because he left with Sakura to find Tsunade. It was a pretty standard shopping trip until she went to pay for the food.
"We're closed." The cashier said.
"What? Its 11am and there are plenty of people in here shopping." Hinata replied.
"Well then we're closed to you then. We heard what that thing said and did to Uchiha-sama yesterday and I refuse to sell food to feed it or its family." The cashier said.
The person in line behind Hinata was a female Chunin who was also buying food for her family's dinner. She didn't know Naruto personally, and never have even met him, but Naruto was the Hokage and she was not a person to let someone insult the person who gave orders to her.
"Take her groceries and put them in a bag." The Kunoichi said with a threatening tone.
"Or what? You know ninja are not allowed to threaten civilians. You'd be heavily fined for doing so." The cashier said.
"Yeah I'm sure the Hokage would fine me because I defended his wife from an ignorant bitch like you. You should be more worried about what's going to happen to you when he finds out what you're doing." The lady said. The cashier, now thinking clearly bagged Hinata's groceries and when Hinata tried to pay said she didn't want their filthy money.
One thing Hinata realized was how famous she's become. There were few people in the entire village who didn't know she was married to the Hokage. When she was heir to the Hyuuga not many people knew who she was.
One her way back home she noticed a level of glares that was usual reserved for Naruto, now directed towards her. It was because of both of the Uchiha. They were happy that Itachi was caught but angry that Naruto beat up Sasuke for asking about him, it was safe to say that they didn't have the whole story.
When news of the incident reached Naruto's ears he went to the ANBU holding facility to explore a few options. His first stop was the cell of Uchiha Itachi. When he reached the cell he took a hair from the man and used to create an Uragirimono Bunshin of Itachi. The clone's memories are only as recent as the time the sample was taken so they had to be updated to get newer information.
Once the clone was made Naruto simply asked it would Itachi be willing to work directly under Naruto from now on. The clones answer was a short and simple yes.
Naruto then unlocked the man's cell and told him to follow him. "Your mission is now over, I will be taking over the final task of killing Madara. I have a new job for you." Naruto said before walking away from the cell. "Hai, Hokage-sama." Itachi responded while following him.
His next destination was another cell, this one held Tayuya. After repeating the same process he did with Itachi to make a clone he asked it a question. "Will you accept me as your need leader and follow my orders without question?"
"Does she have a damn choice?" the clone asked.
"Yes, she could either accept or be executed." He responded.
"Yes, she will follow your fucking orders if the alternative is death." The clone responded.
Naruto told the real Tayuya to stand and come closer to the bars and she did so. He pulled out a new scroll and had her hold it while he performed hand seals. When he was done, ink flowed from the scroll to Tayuya's head. The ink formed into three seals that would be on her until either Naruto removes them or she dies. The first seal was one similar to the Hyuuga's so that she wouldn't be able to betray him. The second was a Hiraishin locater seal so that he and when she learns it, Hinata can warp to her whenever they want. The third and final seal was one that changed her pink hair to black.
He then opened her cell and told her to follow him, which she did. He had the two ex-prisoners change into ANBU gear which he had stored in a scroll so people would see them walking out. After they left the prison Naruto led them to a large room inside the ANBU Root facility. Inside were Hinata, Anko, Danzo, Kagami, Hana, Auron, and 10 Root soldiers. "Are you sure you're up to this Hinata it's going to take a whole day."
"Yes, I'm going to have to get used to this type of stuff anyway." She said.
"Ok people, let's get started with the extraction of the Ichibi no Shikaku." He said and everyone nodded.
Itachi was a bit shocked that Naruto was going to extract the Bijuu from the Suna Gennin but it made sense, he wouldn't give a weapon back to an enemy. Tayuya didn't know what was going on so she just followed orders.
Two days later, because he spent a whole extra day working on the crystal he sealed the Ichibi in, Naruto introduced Tayuya to Hinata. "Tayuya, this is Uzumaki Hinata, my wife."
"Wife? You're telling me you're fucking married?" The ex-Oto Nin said.
"Yes I am, it's a long story and not one I'm willing to share with you. I also think it would best if you didn't curse so much." He said flatly.
"Anyway you are going to be her personal shinobi. Meaning you take orders from her and only her. You are not a Konoha citizen, and I doubt that you will ever be. Hinata is a kind person so you'll probably have a better life that you ever could have had in Oto." Naruto said.
"Why do I need a personal shinobi?" Hinata asked.
"She will be your body guard, assistant, and whatever else you want her to be. It's probably not wise for you to go out in public alone anymore. For now she will be staying at a Root training facility. When we have more room she will be living with us." Unless he cleared out his scroll room, which he wasn't doing, or had her sleep in the same room as Anko, which wasn't happening, there was no room for Tayuya in his house.
It was probably a good idea to look into getting another house, one of considerable size. With Anko, Tayuya, Itachi, Hinata, and him all living within the same house he could keep the two that should be dead hidden better. He really didn't need to keep an eye on them, with Uragirimono Bunshin he could easily tell if they planned or even had thoughts of betraying him. Interrogators around the world would be salivating at the idea of such a Jutsu.
Three weeks later Naruto was back in the holding facilities. This time he was visiting the children of the Kazekage. From outside of the cell he just looked over the two. They were in the same cell because Kankuro threaten to hurt himself if they were not, saying he didn't trust leaf bastards with his sister. The ANBU didn't really care but Naruto said he didn't want them hurt so they tossed them in the same cell.
"Guards, open the cell." Naruto ordered and the ANBU complied. Naruto then told Kankuro to come forward and when he did Naruto tossed him a scroll. "Inside that scroll are details for the negotiations with Suna. Take it to them, but it is only to be opened by the Kazekage or the Suna Council." Naruto said.
"What about my sister and brother?" Kankuro asked.
"You're brother Gaara will be returned to you, but you sister will be staying at least until the negotiations are complete." The blonde answered.
"This is bullshit, who the hell do you think you are anyway?" The puppet user yelled.
"I am the Godaime Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto. If you don't like the way the world works then get strong enough to do something about it or shut up." The Hokage replied.
'Get strong enough to do something about it, I'll definitely do that.' Kankuro though. He then took one last look at his sister. "I'll be back for you sis, and if they do anything to you I'll fucking kill them all." He said before being escorted out by ANBU.
'Man is he going to be pissed off when he gets home. Suna probably won't ever be a reliable ally. They'll more than likely hate us forever.' Naruto thought.
Later that day Naruto was busy finishing up the plans for the assault on Oto. The troops would be leaving tomorrow on a 2 day travel to Oto and the assault is estimated to last 1 week. The only one of his students going would be Ino. Sakura was still away with Jiraiya and Hinata couldn't go on mission like that, being his wife, she would be a really high priority target. Itachi was also going disguise as an ANBU but Tayuya would be staying in Konoha, her job was to serve Hinata and nothing else.
They were surprised to find out the girl could cook. She was getting used to the routine of going to their house in the morning, and stay until Hinata went ready for bed. So far Tayuya was more of a maid than a shinobi. She did the Shopping, cooking, cleaning, and other little things. Hinata's ANBU training started a week ago and would be done in a few months, since she was only learning the rules.
Capturing Itachi was like finding gold and diamond mines is the same day. The amount of stuff he learned about Akatsuki would help so much in defeating them. The Jutsu he had the clone writing down are almost as genius as his own. Some he found himself studding immediately for future usage. So far the man had been doing little more than training since being released.
Naruto doubted he would have to go to Oto himself but he was prepared in case he did have to leave. Speaking of leaving he just received a signal from Jiraiya. The old pervert must have found Tsunade and she wasn't cooperating. Naruto made a Kage Bunshin to stay in his office and then warped to where Jiraiya was.
He found himself in a bar looking at Sakura, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, and a pig. "What's the problem Jiraiya?" He said scaring them with his sudden appearance.
"Well, she says she's not coming back to the village and she's not training anyone." He told.
"Didn't you tell her it's an order from the Godaime?" Naruto asked.
"If the Godaime wants to give me an order he better come to me himself." Tsunade said.
"Eh, Jiraiya, did you tell her who the Godaime is?" Naruto asked. Sakura dropped her head to the table. She was going to have a nice long word to Naruto when they were done talking. Why did he send her with this pervert? While Jiraiya didn't try to look at her she grew annoyed with
his constant side trips to peek at woman. If the man wasn't of the Sannin she would have tried to roast him long ago.
"Ah, never got to that part yet. Tsunade, this is the Godaime Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto." The toad hermit said.
"And he has come to you himself to give you an order." Naruto said sarcastically.
"He's the Hokage? Konoha must be worse off than I thought if they made a brat the Hokage." Tsunade said.
"Whatever old woman either come back to Konoha and train Sakura or become a missing-nin." The Hokage said.
Tsunade narrowed her eyes and said. "You have a lot of nerves to be threatening me, even if you are the Hokage."
"Tsunade you have one week to return with Sakura. Jiraiya, if that woman next to Tsunade is a medic then take her with you when you go to the rendezvous point. I'm leaving, I have important things to do." Naruto warped back to Konoha after speaking.
"He's not serious is he, about making me a missing Nin?" Tsunade asked.
"I'm afraid he is. Not only would he make you an S-Rank missing Nin he would probably come after you himself. He is the person who killed Orochimaru and captured Itachi." The white haired man answered.
"I need a drink."
The next day Ino found herself amongst a large group of ninja, 304 to be exact. They were preparing to leave Konoha to travel to Oto. She was a nervous wreck because none of her teammates were present. 'Sakura is still gone and Little Miss Princess isn't allowed to do dangerous things anymore.' Ino thought. The only people she knew in the whole group were Shikamaru, Shino, Chouji, Sasuke, and Kiba.
"Are you Yamanaka Ino?" Asked a woman who was clearly an Inuzuka, the 3 dogs following her was a dead giveaway. Ino nodded her head slowly, wondering what this woman wanted.
"I'm Inuzuka Hana, your new captain. Welcome to my team." The woman no known as Hana said.
AN: Well just want to list a few things that would have happened if Naruto Mother was killed intentionally.
Doctor would have been used to Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei to bring Kushina back so Naruto could have one final talk with her, and introduce her to Hinata.
Ino would have lost all chances of being with Naruto.
Uchiha would have been killed.
Naruto would have become far too overprotective of Hinata to the point where she hardly goes anywhere.
