Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine. Kakashi says he doesn't share. Perverted jounin.
Kakashi: I don't. You already know that. Besides your Hubby doesn't share either.
Rose:(gets a dreamy look) Hai. That's true. My Hubby. . .. (drools)
Kakashi: Besides, my Naruto-Koibito is too young for you.
Rose: That's true. Why am I letting him live with you again? I have a son older than he is. (Fixes Kakashi with a stern glare) You better not do anything I need to whoop your hide for, Kakashi. Remember the Coffee Incident?
Kakashi: ( gulps and whispers I remember the book incident better.) Scary. . .Anyway folks read and review. Make her hubby happy when she sees how much you like her writing. He benefits when she's happy, you know. (whispers) and if she's happy she'll leave my koi and I alone. . .maybe
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Council Shapes Up
Around the village for the next few days those councillors, who had been dressed down by their children and the rest of the Rookie Nine, were seen going places either together or with their kids, talking to people and listening to conversations of simple peasants when they didn't know the councillors were there. And into each conversation about Naruto they heard the derision attached to his name. They heard what the people thought of the possibility of Kakashi liking Naruto in the same fashion they had no trouble believing Naruto liked Kakashi. In almost every case, the people thought it was a trick Naruto had pulled on the jounin that convinced him to chase the blond. There was no doubt in the minds of the peasants that Naruto was not a mere human being with a difficult job to do. It was an eye-opening and disenheartening five days for the proud councillors of the Leaf. At the end of five days worth of walking, talking and observing, they met in the Akamichi bar-b-que to discuss their findings.
"Councillor Haruno was correct when she said the people do not see Naruto as human," said Koharu sadly.
"To the people he is still the demon sealed in his gut," Homura added.
"We can not let Tsunade force them into bringing a child into this village," added Tsume.
"This village does not deserve their child," agreed Shibi. "Logic dictates Naruto-kun is correct as to it's future should we fail to stop her."
"And watching the villagers kill his child will kill Naruto and then you know Kyuubi will take it's revenge on us all for it," said Shikato.
"That's provided Kakashi doesn't do it first. Can you see him standing by while the villagers kill his little one?" asked Chouza.
"Oh no. I know he will systematically hunt down every single villager who had a hand in the child's death and torture them slowly until they are begging for death before he will grant their wish." said Inoichi fervently.
"And he will begin where the the plot began. That means us, his other former student and our Hokage. Because Tsunade-sama forced them into having the child they knew the village would only destroy, he will not allow her to survive it's death by long. Because we did not stop her as soon as we discovered the truth of her plot, he will destroy us as well. And because his former student is not only openly disrespecting both himself and his partner, but actually helping the Hokage's plot to succeed she will die as well," expounded Shikato.
"Then we are agreed," said Hiashi. "We stop our Hokage before she destroys our home."
"Hai." They all said the word together and Hiashi marked the item off on his notepad. Moving on he brought up the second point of their agenda. "Did anyone hear anything we can use to get our comrade out of our lives?"
"I heard nothing but I saw plenty of evidence that the ordinary villager does not trust the Anbu. They shy away whenever a masked nin in black comes near them." A lot of the others nodded to Koharu's words.
Homura said, "It used to be the sight of the Anbu on the rooftops made the people feel safe but now it scares them and you have to wonder why. It can not be because Anbu interfere when they wanted to kill Naruto. That hasn't occurred in years."
"No, I don't think it is. Naruto's friends are the reason they are stopped these days. I was in a bar last night and heard the last attempt to rid the village of the demon being discussed. Did you know it was two weeks ago?" asked Inoichi.
"They still attack him?" asked Koharu. "But why? They should know he won't hurt them by now."
"They have multiple reasons from what I heard," said Chouza.
Hiashi said, "I talked to Hinata about it and she explained it. When the villagers get drunk they remember their friends and family that died when the Kyuubi came to town. They remember the Yondaime sacrificing himself to seal the demon but they also remember the stories their elders told them when they were little about how when a human child is used to seal a demon you must always kill the child in order to kill the demon. Those stories varied on what would happen should the child not be killed but they all agreed on one thing. The demon would get free again and continue to wreak havoc wherever it went until it was contained once more. So they go try to find Naruto and beat on him to make sure Kyuubi dies before it can be released. They never did understand the seal the Yondaime used and I am not sure it would make any difference if they did now. When they are sober, they would not dare to attack him. Then, they know he is strong enough to break them without any problem. But when they are drunk, common sense flies out the window. They forget he's stronger than they are. They forget that he has never once done anything to hurt them. They forget they are alive today because he was born in time to contain their death for them. They forget how many times he has put his life on the line for them and fought tooth and nail to save them coming very close to dying himself in their place. When they drink, they forget. But in truth those who are beating on him have never seen him as a human being like any other. To them, he is the Kyuubi he keeps them safe from. To them, it is only a mtter of time before he turns on us and destroys us when we are least prepared."
"I think, if Ino had her way, she would have the bartenders set a limit on the civilians," said Inoichi. "She complained to me about the emergency beacon that assembles all Naruto's friends to his aid always going off when civilians drink too much and how it is never convenient. I didn't even know there was such a thing."
"Yeah I heard something about that also," said Shibi. "Apparently it is something the kids came up with in order to always be able to help Naruto when the villagers decide he has lived too long. I know Shino also has a bug on him at all times so that they can always find him should they need to."
"Hinata said the signal is made of a smear of all their blood mingled with their chakra. Once a week they meet and refresh it so that the signal will be strong. The jutsu is your basic aid call but the signal is triggered by Naruto's blood. I do not know how they know he is in trouble from that but somehow they do know when it is a spar or a single bully that just wants to bully him a little versus a mob trying to kill him. But they do."
"Honestly I think it doesn't matter if it is a bully or a mob. The Rookies defend their own," said Shikato. "They would not allow a bully to get away with hurting Hinata or Ino and so, because he will not fight back against those he knows he is stronger than, they will not allow a bully to hurt him either."
"I know that kid Lee wears one of the signals also and his is a little bit different from Naruto's just so the rookies can tell which of them is in trouble," said Chouza.
"Why would the Rock boy be getting beat on?" asked Koharu.
"Mainly because he idolizes his Sensei and mimics his behavior but also because the civilians feel he has no family to defend him so therefore no one will do anything to stop them. Like Naruto he refuses to fight back against the people he is honor sworn to protect." said Shibi. "But the fact that they are choosing to beat on one of our young ninja just because they know he is an orphan is a bad sign and I do not see how we could have missed it for so long. If they will beat on Naruto and Lee now, who is to say when they will start beating on the genin we send out for D rank missions? Or some other young orphan. I see it as a clear sign of their distrust of the ninja in the community. How much longer will it be until they cease to allow their children to attempt to join the academy?"
Tsume who had been mainly listening said, "You know, if Naruto should use his transformation and have Kakashi's child we wouldn't just have to worry about Kakashi and Kyuubi killing those responsible for hurting it. Every single one of our kids and their friends would be hunting the bastards down as well. And if Danzo so much as tried to approach that kid, there would be hell to pay. I know for a fact that Hana and Kiba both would tear his defunct arm off his body completely." Looks of agreement, some reluctant, passed over every face at the table as a waitress placed a new serving of meats on the grill.
"As for the fear level of the common citizen against the ninja populace, honestly I don't think it is our Anbu the people are afraid of. It his Anbu they fear but they can't tell his Anbu from ours so any Anbu is someone to be afraid of. As for why, think about what Naruto said. He said Danzo would hold his child over him to force him and Kakashi into working for him and becoming part of Root. And, he said, if he'd do that to them what made us think he wasn't already doing it to others? We have each thought ourselves and our families safe because we are on the council and we are clan but we find our ninja anywhere and that includes from the civilians. If we can find a ninja from a civilian family what makes us think he can't also? And being clan does not save our relatives. It is our Council seats that saves our immediate offspring."
"And he would have no problem taking a child he thought more talented than it's parents away from them to raise it in his own way. We still haven't figured out who that Sai kid used to be," said Hiashi.
"All the deprograming in the world won't work if I can't find his real name," said Inoichi. "I'm beginning to wonder if he ever had a real name to begin with. If Danzo snatched him from the hospital, as I suspect, then it is possible he never knew his birth name. But Anko and Ibiki are still working on it."
"You see what I am driving at, though. It isn't the regular Anbu the citizens fear. It's the ones who would steal their children or spouses from them. And Naruto is correct. He would make a move for a child he believed might have been touched by the Kyuubi in however an indirect fashion. And he would believe Kyuubi would touch that child," rounded out Tsume.
"So what are you saying?" asked Homura.
"I'm saying we let Tsunade go ahead with her plan and then we make damn sure we get all her evidence from her and destroy it. The only way we will ever discover everything she has on him is if we allow her to use it. When she does we can swoop in and gather it all up and destroy it before her eyes making it very clear to her that is not the way we treat our people. We also make damn sure Danzo does not really get that kid but we execute him when he makes a play for it as we know he will," said Koharu. A part of her still wanted Naruto to have a child before she died and as far as she could tell this was the only way it would ever happen. Though she did have her doubts as to whether or not should he have said child they could indeed keep the child alive long enough to actually get rid of the threats against it before it died. Desires of the heart die hard deaths.
"How about we order a Hands mission to execute him before it goes that far? We already know he is the viper in the nest. Why keep playing games with him that risk innocent lives?" asked Shikato.
"Because we have no proof," said Koharu.
"Koharu, we only need proof if we want the Hokage to openly assign it to a ninja cell. We don't. We want to make it a Hands mission which means we'll disavow any knowledge of it should it fail."
"We could get her to sign off on it anyway if we tell her he is the reason Naruto refuses to have a child. She'll never believe the villagers are a threat to the child but she will believe Danzo is due to the fact that he still openly calls Naruto a demon." said Shibi.
"And I can't really believes she wants to make Naruto-kun unhappy by threatening to release those pictures," said Homura. "She really does love him."
"And she did punch Danzo in the nose hard enough to knock him out the last time she heard him call Naruto that," snickered Tsume. "That was the greatest thing I think I have seen her do."
"Agreed," smiled Koharu. "So let's make it a mission and get her to sign off on it so that she can assign it to whoever she thinks can actually get the job done so long as it isn't a part of the Naruto protection squad of Rookies."
"Agreed by everyone?" asked Hiashi. Once again everyone agreed and they went on to the next order of business which oddly enough was how to restore the faith of the people in the ninja and the council that served them. The meeting dragged on for hours with all sorts of ideas tossed onto the table but most of them felt that only with time would they be able to repair that bridge. They agreed that from now on every councillor had to spend at least three days on the streets mixing and mingling with the common people. They had to go into the bars and restaurants to listen to what was being talked about and how the people felt about it but they also needed to keep an ear on the ninja population since they did not, as a rule, frequent the same establishments as the civilians did.
The Rookies were keeping a careful eye on their parents. They were pleased to see them doing as Naruto had suggested they do. Every single one of the councillors they had raked over the coals spent a good portion of time walking in the village and sitting in restaurants and bars. Each of the Rookies answered the Elders questions, when they were asked to clarify things the Elders had overheard, with smirks or long suffering sighs and rolled eyes. But they also answered them honestly and completely. They all thought it was time their parents woke up to the differences in the village of their childhood and the one that existed now. Konoha as it was now was not the same place it had been before the Kyuubi had come to town.
They also kept a careful eye on Sakura, Danzo and Sakura's Kaasan though those three either didn't know they were being observed or didn't care. In Sakura's case, none of them had any doubt she was unaware of how they were watching her. As for Danzo they knew he was aware of their surveillance but he honestly thought himself too well protected and strong to be in any danger from them. Sakura's Kaasan, they saw, had a very confusing set of guidelines where Naruto was concerned but her guidelines regarding Kakashi and everyone else were so clear cut and well defined you could use them to cut a piece of steel. She had dressed down more than one place where she saw or heard something denigrating the jounin, always making sure to rip up whatever physical evidence had caused the dressing down to occur. Ino was snickering as she watched the Elder Haruno tear into a bar owner for his betting pool sheet being prominently displayed complete with blinking lights to make sure it caught his patrons attention. There was nothing like Sakura's Mom on a tear, she giggled mentally.
Author Note: I know the chapters are getting shorter and shorter. Whaaaaa....(cries) I just write a scene and a good chapter name comes to me to describe the scene and I can't help it. I have to tell you what I thought the scene should be called. Reviews please. I'm still waiting for prank ideas too. Come on some of you have to have a good prank idea or two. Plus it'd be nice to have ideas of things the other rookies could threaten their folks with. I mean Ino against Inoichi? Come on folks. Help me out here.