Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
_

The council of Konoha has existed since it's founding. It has two factions, one of civilians, mainly merchants, shop-owners and other wealthy or socially important non-shinobi, and one of Konoha's military, mainly the heads of Konoha's many shinobi-clans, although a few distinguished clan-less shinobi also had a seat.

According to the original charter, the council had the duty to advise the Hokage, supply him with information and help him gather different opinions on various topics so that he could make the best possible decisions for the village. They also had the right to suggest laws, who would then be debated. The Hokage originally did not necessarily have to participate in the debate, although it was encouraged and he generally did, but either way, the law and all arguments for and against it were given to him in writing. He could inform himself about specific arguments, before making the final verdict. That was the extent of the council's duties. Originally.

However, after the founding of the village two shinobi-wars had taken place. The Hokage suddenly was no longer merely a kind leader that wisely ruled the village. Suddenly he was the leader of their military, their strongest shinobi and the thing the entire village leaned on. However, as such it was his duty to be present and on the front-lines when threats neared the village, so he had less and less time for his peacetime-duties inside the village. The council naturally saw this problem and offered their aid to keep Konoha stable, the Hokage accepting the aid. The council worked restlessly and indeed succeeded in keeping the village running perfectly through both crisis's, earning Konoha the title of the strongest of the shinobi-villages, as even under the greatest pressures of war, the village had not once buckled, nor had there been a single uprising of any dissatisfied groups. Konoha had been the only village that had remained united since it's founding, and not once sacrificed its citizens needs.

After the war, the council felt that there was no reason that their authorities, in place long enough for them to become used to them and take them for granted, should be reduced. Had they not proven that they could handle their duties? And indeed, the Sandaime allowed them to keep most of their authority, seeing it as a reward for their excellent service. But as the saying goes, power corrupts. Where once unity and the benefit of all had stood, soon backstabbing and personal desires ruled. The Yondaime had seen the corruption, as in the later stages of the third shinobi-war, the strain had become visible and after it was over and he officially declared Hokage, he attempted to root out the corruption. He was partially successful, as amongst the shinobi, those that were too greedy had been dismissed from the council, and any council-member that had put their own advantage before the good of Konoha was executed. Things returned closer to their original standards, but sadly, at the time of Kyuubi's attack, Minato Namikaze had yet to completely purge the civilian-ranks from corruption, having focused on the potentially more dangerous shinobi first. All in all, the council was an institution balancing between personal gain and the greater good, not perfect, but generally the results it produced were halfway decent, and they were fair to everyone who was called before them. Unless some council-members had a grudge against him.

-0-

Kushina barely restrained herself from growling. Before they could even enter the waiting-area in front of the council-chambers, a shinobi had shown up and stated Naruto had to wear chakra-cuffs before he could enter. As that was a treatment that was usually reserved for shinobi who committed murder or treason, it was an insult to any upstanding shinobi. She and Sarutobi had both frowned when the man said this was the explicit wish of the civilian council-members to ensure their safety. Naruto had shrugged and let himself be cuffed, much to Kushina's ire. Then the clown had pulled a second pair of cuffs and moved towards her.

Her hand moved toward her sword.

The man ran for the hills. Kushina snorted in disgust, before turning to the doors of the chamber. She raised her left leg and in what Sarutobi secretly called 'the Kushina-way of knocking' kicked in the door. The murmurs that had been heard before instantly silenced as she strolled into the room, Naruto right behind her, shaking his head. Sarutobi entered last, chuckling to himself while he took his seat.

Sakuya Haruno frowned. "Kushina, you were not called."

Kushina glared at her. "I have the Hokage's permission to accompany my son."

Sakuya flinched, but she kept her mouth shut.

Sarutobi cleared his throat. "Now that that is settled, perhaps we can get to the reason for this gathering?"

Sakuya nodded. "Of course. It has come to our attention that Naruto Uzumaki, who has deserted this village years ago, has been captured. As proposed punishment..."

Naruto looked up. "Wait, what? I was kidnapped! Also, how could I desert the village? Civilians have the right to leave when they want, only shinobi can desert, and I was obviously not a shinobi, so no such charges can be pressed!" One of the books that Karin and Kabuto had given him to practice his reading had been Konoha's law-book, a dreadfully boring piece of literature.

Sakuya gave him a cold look. "You are speaking out of order. As a civilian, your punishment lies solely in the hands of the civilian section of the council."

Shikaku looked up. "Either way, the kid raises a good point. Civilians can't desert the village, unless they steal vital information from Konoha and hand it over to the enemy. And you don't really want to try and claim an eight-year-old social outcast, no offense, would know anything interesting? Even if he did, how would you prove he talked?"

Naruto rolled his visible eye and pulled out the headband Sarutobi had given him. "As you can see, I have recently joined the ranks of Konoha's shinobi. As such, my punishment is out of the hands of the civilian council anyways." He knew that his chances with the shinobi were better than with the civilians, as while the civilians obviously hated him, most of the shinobi-council frankly didn't care about what he did as long as it wasn't detrimental to their wellbeing. Sakuya apparently knew this as well, as the grinding of her teeth were heard clearly from ten feet away.

Another merchant, one who Naruto remembered once sicked his watchdogs on Naruto when he had tried to enter his clothing-store, and laughed while he was mauled, jumped up. "I DEMAND THIS THING BE EXECUTED!"

Sarutobi frowned. "First of all, this is out of your hands, as Naruto is a shinobi. Secondly, executions are still something only I can authorize. And finally, on what charges?"

The merchant was about to answer, but then he heard the sound of Kushina's blade being loosened from the sheath so that it could be drawn quicker, an inch of the blade now in clear sight. Remembering the last time Kushina had come to him, it had ended with dead dogs, dog-blood all over his goods, broken bones and heavy scarring. He wisely shrunk in his seat, trying to make himself invisible.

Kushina stepped up. "Let me make one thing completely clear. If anyone even THINKS of doing anything to Naruto, I will make sure you'll FUCKING WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!"

Now the merchant jumped up. "You dare threaten us? Know your place, you insolent.. AAARRGGHH!"

Squelch

Few had seen what happened. Kushina had drawn her sword, given a single slash to the air and sheathed her blade in a split-second. However, the merchant's arm had dropped to the floor. What impressed Hiashi more than anyone was that it was not the result of Wind-chakra, but pure mastery of the sword that had allowed the cut to fly.

Danzo cleared his throat, ignoring the sobbing man that was being carted off to have his arm reattached. "Now that the tomfoolery is behind us, let's get to the real discussion, shall we? Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze," There were angry hisses from the civilian side, but Kushina's cold look, together with the fact that her hand was still resting on her blade's handle, kept anyone from denying that Naruto was their hero's son "you say you were kidnapped?"

Naruto nodded. This man interested him greatly. While the eye-patch blocked Naruto's normal vision, he noticed that it could still see chakra, meaning that people coming from his right side were in fact not in his blind spot, but clearly visible as human-shaped hazes. Naruto could even identify people just by looking at that haze. This man was quite interesting from his right eye's point of view. The majority of his chakra was normal, but there were anomalies, barely visible because they seemed suppressed somehow. His right eye, hidden by bandages, had a different signature than his left eye. Not only that, on his right arm, there were ten more spots of different chakra, remarkably similar to the one in his right eye. Naruto was not sure what to make of that, but the other anomaly on the man's right shoulder was obvious. There was no way that Naruto would fail to identify the signature of one of his own puppets. The man's shoulder was giving off the signature of Hashirama Senju. Naruto looked at him. "Yes. And you are...?"

"My name is Danzou Shimura, I am a member of the shinobi-section of the council." Translation: Unlike the civilian idiots, my opinion of you actually can have consequences for you. "Am I correct in assuming that your... changes are a result of this kidnapping?"

Naruto nodded. "Yes. I was used for experimental purposes, my current appearance is the result of a number of experiments and operations performed on me during the last years."

Danzou nodded, more to himself. "Who was this kidnapper?"

Naruto's eye narrowed in anger. "Orochimaru." He spat.

The reaction was remarkable. Gasps rang through the room, the formerly rather disinterested council-members on the shinobi-side suddenly sat upright. All eyes were on Naruto and Danzou, who was shocked, although he kept his expression under control. "I see. With this, the situation is more serious than we originally anticipated. I believe I speak for everyone" He barely managed to keep himself from adding important "when I say that a detailed report of what exactly happened is necessary."

Naruto nodded and started his explanation. He spared little detail, only omitting a few names, namely Kabuto's, making it sound like Karin had been his only caretaker, and what precisely his abilities were, at least those that they could keep secret. No reason to spill all his secrets to potential enemies. Danzou seemed to notice, but to Naruto's surprise he actually smirked. When Naruto finished, silence reigned.

Finally, Inoichi Yamanaka spoke. "Orochimaru has developed a jutsu that allows him to permanently take over the body of another?" As someone who prided himself on knowing a lot on mental jutsu and the mind in general, it was both fascinating and horrifying.

Naruto looked at him. "Yes." He said in a deadpanned tone.

Now Danzou spoke. "And to gain a perfect body, he used you, as the Kyuubi would not let you die from the procedure like all his other subjects. He succeeded, but using one of the abilities he injected into you, you managed to escape." He could understand Orochimaru's train of thought. If you are working on something that kills everyone you want to use it on, find someone who won't die.

"Correct." Naruto stated, the entire topic starting to get a bitter taste.

Danzou nodded to himself. "Would you mind showing us your eye?"

Naruto removed his patch. That had been one of those things that Naruto had told them, as it would be impossible to keep secret. Although they only knew it was the combination of the Sharingan and something else. The council was shocked, especially when the eyes moved independently from each other. Danzou automatically began to calculate what advantages and disadvantages such an ability would have.

He cleared his throat. "Well then. I believe you have given us all many things to think about, like how we will defend ourselves against this invasion. You are dismissed." He was about to turn away, when he paused. "One more thing. Have you ever heard of the Clan Restoration Act?"

Kushina's eyes narrowed. "What are you suggesting Danzou?"

The bandaged man raised his hand in defense, not interested in a tussle with an S-ranked shinobi. "Nothing. I'm not saying that it will be enforced," outraged cries came from the civilian corner, and even a number of shinobi looked as if they had just bitten into a lemon. They may not like Naruto, but such a powerful mixture of abilities, one of them being their beloved and nearly lost Sharingan, had an appeal to anyone with even a single braincell. "I'm merely stating that it is an option that he, should he ever feel it necessary, can resort to."

Kushina nodded, before letting her gaze wander over the entire council. "It is an option that Naruto may take if HE thinks it's necessary. If, and who is a choice that none of you have any say in, do I make myself clear?"

Nervous nodding followed, although darker words were whispered. Naruto had enough. "By the way, amongst my abilities is enhanced hearing, so I understand everything you say."

Sakuya sneered at him. "And what are you going to do? Those cuffs keep you from doing anything, you filthy..."

Naruto merely raised a brow, looked at the cuffs, and with a single tug, tore them apart. His scales had long since sucked all chakra out of the seals, meaning that they were nothing more than ink, wood, and a fine layer of metal. To his immense satisfaction, the woman shut up. He grinned. "I think I'll do this. Suiton: Bakusui Shouha!" He spat out great amounts of water, although it was dosed so that there would be no drowning. Sarutobi, Danzou and most of the shinobi had been able to jump on the waves and water-walk in time to stay dry, however others were not so lucky. Drenched, water-spitting and coughing council-members were littered across the room, the water seeping out through the door. There was no sign of Naruto or Kushina.

Danzou looked at Sarutobi. "I take it Kushina has taken him under her wing? This is just the kind of stunt she'd pull."

Sarutobi shrugged, amused. "Well, he got them good, and it beats going on a killing-spree."

Danzou nodded. "But a pranking-spree is not much better."

"True, but I'm grateful for small mercies."

-0-

After Sarutobi, Danzou and most shinobi had left, wet and angry councilors gathered. Nothing had gone as they planned! One of their most prominent members was hospitalized, they were soaked to the bones, and worst of all, Kushina was on a warpath. Things had been bad ever since Kushina showed up and started hospitalizing people left and right and claimed that the hellspawn they had just recently finally gotten out of their hair was not only her son, but she even had the audacity to state the Yondaime of all people was the demon's father! Of course, most had seen through her lies, but some had believed it, and had even started to gather clues that pointed towards that ridiculous conclusion. Some people, Ichiraku being at the head of that group, had sneered at the entire village, and that daughter of hers had become feared, that old story with the boiling oil not dying down. But when the brat returned was when things really started to spiral out of control. Assassinations and attempts of swooning had all been blocked by Kushina, who had become an impenetrable fortress shielding the demon from anything and anyone she did not personally approve of. Currently, that meant only Kakashi, Kurenai, Anko, Yuugao, and on some occasions Sarutobi. And now the demon not only had the Sharingan, but many other powers, and there was no way for them to get it, as Kushina had made clear.

Normally they could somewhat rely on Danzou to come up with something, but the elusive leader of the officially disbanded ROOT seemed to have decided that for the time-being, he didn't want to antagonize the unknown named Naruto that had just entered the equation, an understandable stance, not that they'd ever admit it.

Things had slipped out of their control, and unfortunately for them, they would not return to their standards.

-0-

Naruto bit his lip. He had told his mother to go ahead because he wanted to tell jiji something important, and in a way, that was true. However, he had a underhanded motive in giving that information, and what remained of his conscience was acting up. Was it really okay if he manipulated his grandfather-figure, even if the man had withheld his mother from him for so long, in such a way? He thought about it, and in the end the prankster that his mother had managed to awaken in him had answered. Yes. He sighed to himself as he slid out of the wall to Sarutobi's office, a second before the Hokage entered it himself.

This was by no means a coincident. Naruto had realized that after that last injection he had been given, he remembered every chakra-signature he ever encountered, and if he focused on only one signature, he could locate the person it belonged to no matter where on the planet he was. The only catch was that he had to memorize the signature, which took a few seconds, before his tracking worked. So the ability was not a radar, though with training it might become one, it was more like a bloodhound, catching a scent, or in this case a signature, and never losing it. Useful if you wanted to know where people you knew were.

Sarutobi was momentarily startled, before calming down when he saw who it was that had entered his office without anyone noticing. "Ah, Naruto, it's just you. What can I do for you?"

Naruto scratched his head. "I didn't want to say it in front of the whole council, so I waited. Could you send out the ANBU? This is really important."

Sarutobi's expression turned grim. He nodded and three ANBU stepped out of their hiding-places and left. "What is it?"

Naruto fidgeted. "Jiji, as Hokage, you know where the past Hokages are buried, right?"

Sarutobi slowly nodded his head. "Yes, I do. But I'm afraid I can't tell you where it is, not even the Hokage's family has a right to know, unless they are one of the few watchers of the tomb."

Naruto shook his head. "It's not about that jiji. I'm sorry to tell you, but Orochimaru has found the tomb."

The old Hokage paled. If this was true... a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions! "Are you sure Naruto?" It sounded almost begging.

Slowly, Naruto nodded. "I'm afraid I am. I just thought you should know. Bye jiji." With that, he sank into the ground.

Sarutobi stood there, thunderstruck. The remains of the Hokage in the hands of Orochimaru. It was too horrible to be true. He had to make sure. He rushed out of his office, informing his secretary that all appointments for the day were canceled and the ANBU that where he was going, they didn't have the required clearance. Then he rushed to the tomb, making sure that nobody saw him.

When he left it, he seemed to have aged years. The bodies of the Shodai and the Nidaime were gone.

-0-

On the top of the monument, Naruto sat up, looking down on the village from his father's head. He had followed jiji's signature, and it was easy to tell where the tomb was.

He hadn't known that before, as the tomb had originally not existed. The Shodai had originally been buried in the Senju-clan's tomb, and while the Nidaime had developed the idea of the tomb, he had fallen before he could start constructing it, leaving that task to Sarutobi, who, after receiving the Nidaime's body from Hanzou, had constructed it and moved the Shodai's body out of the Senju's tomb, the clan having practically died out by then so that he would rest with his brother.

Naruto sighed again and sank into the ground.

The room he emerged in was dark, but the torches in the walls that had probably lit up when Sarutobi had entered hadn't extinguished yet, so he could see the four open coffins, three of them empty, as the one they should hold was either still alive or had been taken from his resting-place, to never be returned there. Even if Naruto would lay the puppets into those coffins, it wouldn't be the same, and eventually the rumor that two powerful weapons were laying here would spread and the entire world would converge on Konoha to get their hands on it. That was also not the reason Naruto came. He checked the floor with his right eye, but found that there were no seals in the room aside from the coffins themselves, and a closer look revealed that they were all old seals. The real defense-work was probably at the entrance, something that Naruto had a feeling Sarutobi would soon change. Still, for now, he could do what he wanted without alarming anyone. He stepped to the last coffin, the only one that still held a corpse.

"Hello father." Naruto whispered.

The body of the Yondaime laid peaceful, as if he was only sleeping. A tear ran down Naruto's face. This was his father. They had one time looked so alike. Naruto couldn't help but ask himself how his life could have been if this man had still been alive. And knowing that that question could never be answered, he asked himself what his father would think of him if he could see him now.

He gently caressed his father's cold cheek. "Would you still love me? Would you be ashamed of what I am now? Of what I am about to do?" He looked at the man who he should have grown up with. "Please forgive me, but I feel that I need your knowledge, to protect what I cherish. To never lose anything again."

Naruto's hand inched forward, moving towards the Yondaime's forehead. His fingers started to shake, and he paused, his hand, floating inches above his father's forehead, disgusted at the feelings that were welling up inside of him. Naruto bit his lip. "I thought I was over this."

Naruto had a weakness, a single flaw that he had gained under Orochimaru. A flaw that Naruto had known even then would destroy him if he let it consume him. Naruto had an addiction.

He was addicted to memories.

It was not really his fault, nor was it anything he could really do something about. It had started when he began crafted human-puppets. The pain of cutting into human flesh, removing all that had once made them so special, had become overwhelming, and after his second puppet, he had felt as if he were about to go insane. He had fled into his mind, finding it to be a maze, he had eventually stumbled into the room that held his knowledge and his memories, looking like a library. There he found that the knowledge he had taken out of the heads of his now-puppets. He had looked through his memories, trying to find something he could view to get his mind off what he had done, to give him a semblance of happiness. But he realized that the scrolls that held his truly happy moments, his time with his parents, back in those first stages of infancy when everything was alright were washed out and impossible to decipher. It had crushed him.

In his desperation, he had just asked for a truly happy memory, and he had received it. A scroll had dropped in his lap, and Naruto opened it.

Suddenly he was an infant, giggling happily as two people who he instinctively knew were his parents played with him and rocked him to sleep. It was over in a second, but the experience had been unlike anything he had ever felt before. That unblemished bliss and happiness, that absolute certainty that he was loved had been the most wonderful thing he had ever felt. The only problem was, both people he had seen had a skin much too dark to be his parents. He looked at the scroll and saw that it was a memory belonging to Kira, his first human-puppet.

He had left his mind in shock, vowing to never peek into another's life again. Yet soon, it became too much for him to bear. That absolute loneliness, the horrible things he had to do, and most of all, the wish to feel that bliss again. He had returned, and he had dived into the memories that were never his. At first only a few, to relieve his anguish, but soon, he spent much of his time there, basking in the memories of friendship and love, all the positive emotions that he had never felt. He was practically wearing the memories out, experiencing them again and again, craving more with each burst of joy.

He had refused to admit it, but by the end, he had actually been secretly looking forward to making human-puppets, so that he could have more memories that he could experience. After he had made his tenth, if Orochimaru had offered him more memories in return for his services, Naruto knew he would not have hesitated a second to commit even the most vile slaughter. Feeling the joy had become the center of his life.

He was immensely grateful the man had been completely unaware of his guinea-pig's little vice, and instead given him the bodies of two men he had always adored more than anything else in the world. Seeing them had shocked him to the core. He had absorbed the memories of the Shodai and the Nidaime before resealing them, and feeling their pride and love for their village, and their firm morals and honor that they had upheld even in the most brutal wars had shaken him beyond what words could describe. His conscience had awoken once more, reminding him of who he once was. Self-disgust had overwhelmed him, making him realize just what he was becoming. He had fled his mental library, running like the hounds of hell were after him. This time, he had kept his word, and since that time not once dived into a memory not his own, no matter how desperately his body and mind craved the release. Fully realizing what he had become, and understanding what he now had to do to those who, if unintentionally, had saved him from a abyss he had almost completely submerged in had broken him. For the first time in his life, Naruto not only gave up on life, but he simply wished to die, to end it all before he truly became something that he almost had become once. A true monster. Ironically, that had been the moment he had found out that cutting his wrist would not grant him eternal peace, the moment when all the pieces had finally fallen into place and he understood everything that had happened to him. It had also been the moment that awakened both and unbreakable resolve to escape and a deep loathing for both himself and the man who had done this to him.

The reason that Naruto had been so desperately clinging to his humanity, his existence as a human being, was that he knew the feeling of losing it, and never wanted to experience that again.

As much as it shamed him to admit, even though he had never relieved another's memory since that day, although he had read the knowledge of jutsu and strategy in the form of written texts to aid his escape, he had still been addicted to the feelings, only now he was an addict on absolute withdrawal, or to use the slang-term, cold turkey. Only when he met his mother had the craving that had haunted him since that day finally stopped. Originally he had intended to basically download her entire memory, her skills and everything he might be able to use. That was when he learned the difference between the dead and the living.

With the dead, the information is laying there, ready to be picked, in perfect, though not necessarily chronological order. But when he entered Kushina's mind, he had entered a typhoon expecting a calm. Not only were images all shooting around, flashes of jiji telling her he was dead, many nights of crying herself to sleep and flashes of past memories with her husband, making plans for their baby, but the emotions that were swirling around were a completely new experience. What he felt then and there was on a completely different level than what he had taken from the heads of others. This was not some memory stolen and played like a record so that a little bit of emotion directed at someone else could be harvested, this was an encompassing love directed at him, directly at him. Those bitter twinges that had plagued him even in his past moments of greatest bliss, that nagging knowledge that what he feeling wasn't his, wasn't for him or even by him, it was not there. This was heaven, this was euphoria, this was... a mother's love. At that moment he had known two things with absolute certainty. One, that he never wanted to leave this woman again, and two, that now he would finally be free of this craving for foreign emotions, as with this woman, no, with his mother, he would be able to experience his own moments of happiness, felt by him and only by him.

But apparently, he had yet to completely shake off his old craving, as when he was about to touch his father, his entire body had shuddered with a sick anticipation. Naruto gulped and took a deep breath. "Forgive me." He placed his hand on his father's forehead, and the familiar rush of information washed over him. He had intended to only take the knowledge of seals, as that was what he needed and came for, but some of those memories were connected to people he had talked with when learning seals, so Naruto ended up absorbing everything, once again.

What he learned about the seal on his stomach was interesting, as he originally had thought that the tag was all that kept the gates shut, but what truly shook him were the memories his father had of him. Of what he had discussed with Naruto's mother, what he himself had hoped for Naruto, the moments of love when Minato had talked to him while he was still in his mother's womb, and that final love and grief when he had sealed the Kyuubi into him.

Speaking of the devil, or in this case demon, a voice rang through Naruto's head, surprisingly somewhat considerate and almost kind. "It's time to leave."

Naruto nodded and sank into the floor.

-0-

Kushina was humming to herself when she saw Naruto rise out of the floor. "Hello sweetie, did you tell... what's wrong?" Naruto's expression was worrying her. She had never seen him so... lost. "What's wrong? Did one of those stupid council-members do anything to you?"

Naruto looked at her with an unreadable expression, then he jumped at her, hugging her tightly and causing her to lose balance.

"Naruto! Are you alright? What's wrong? Did someone do something to do? Naruto, please, talk to me!"

Naruto didn't lift his head, instead hugging her tighter. "Nobody did anything to me." Now he looked at her. "Mom? Would you mind if we... staid like this for a while?"

Kushina blinked, then she smiled. "Of course not Naruto. But let's get a little more comfortable, okay?"

Once she had sat down in a more comfortable position, leaning against a wall, she simply hugged Naruto, and remained in that position, silent. Naruto seemed to relax more and more in her grip. Kushina smiled and began to sing him a lullaby. Naruto fell asleep with a smile on his face, the happiest and most honest smile he had smiled in his entire short life. For the first time, he knew something with absolute certainty that most people take for granted, he knew that both of his parents had loved him very much.

-0-

When Naruto woke up, he felt happy. A wonderful feeling, especially when he could simply enjoy it without a twinge of guilt. One of the many reasons he cherished his mother so much was that she made him feel loved, so that he did not even have to read her, also something he had not done since he met her, to know that she loved him. Right now she was snuggling with him, and Naruto couldn't be happier. The only thing that told him something him different was his nose. "Mom, what's that smell?"

Kushina gave him a completely fake look of innocence. "What are you talking about, Naru-chan?"

Naruto sniffed. "Something smells really good."

Kushina smelled, then she broke out in a grin. "Oh, that. Hmm, it could be a flower, or my new perfume, or it could be the ramen I had my clone make while you were sleeping..."

Naruto's face lit up like a Christmas-tree. "Ramen?"

Kushina laughed. "Yep, ramen. I just felt like it, and we do have to celebrate that we left those stupid councilors in the rain, don't we?"

Now Naruto grinned. "I'm not sure what you're talking about mom, but I do remember that the sprinklers activated shortly after we left."

Kushina shook her head. "Just a tip, if you want to make excuses, you should not take Kakashi as your role-model. You see, he tells bullshit-excuses, but he does it on purpose, so that if he actually decides to make a plausible excuse, everyone will believe him because it doesn't sound like nonsense. And while that works for him, it doesn't work for anyone. So if you have to make an excuse, make it believable, alright?"

Naruto nodded, looking at her like a puppy. A eye-patched, split-colored puppy. Still, she couldn't help but hug him, before they both left to do one of their favorite things, eating the food of the gods, ramen, together.

Naruto was also contemplating the knowledge he had gained from his father. What kinda made him feel better was that his father had wanted to teach Naruto everything he knew, so Naruto could ease his biting conscience by saying that he had just granted his father's wish. With Minato's knowledge about seals, not only could Naruto finally equip his puppets in the way he wanted, but he also gained new insights on other things, amongst those the Kyuubi's seal. Unlike your normal jinchuuriki, Naruto was not able to release the Kyuubi even if he wanted to, as there was a key, currently safely stored with a toad that Minato had trusted. Even with the man's extensive knowledge on his side, Naruto would need months to make a key himself, as key and seal were designed for each other, connected amongst other things through their identical time of creation, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. If he started on it, Kyuubi might look over his shoulder the whole time and make her own, and he really didn't want her messing around in his head, not to mention that he heard rumors that the bijuu leaving was not good for the jinchuuriki's health.

Anyways, he'd tinker with his puppets first, deciding whether or not to make a copy of a key that could unleash the most powerful being in existence back into the world later.

"Flattery will get you everywhere." Kyuubi purred.

'That wasn't necessarily a compliment.' Naruto mentally replied.

"Again, that depends on your point of view. I think being called the most powerful being in existence is a very charming compliment." Kyuubi nonchalantly replied.

Naruto decided to spare himself the headache of trying to argue with a century- if not millenium-old demon that twisted every word coming out of his mouth.

"Good. I have taught you well." Kyuubi stated with a certain degree of satisfaction.

'Must ignore voice in head for sake of sanity.' Naruto thought to himself, turning his full attention on the ramen in front of him. Originally he had planned to make his next trip today, but he decided that tomorrow worked too. Or the day after that. Yeah, the day after tomorrow sounded good. Right now, he was too busy basking in his mother's love to even think of going anywhere.

Life was good.
_

Chapter 8 is finished. A little angsty, but oh well. Not that much action, but I think it still is not too bad. The council-meeting was a little tricky, and it didn't go quite as well as I had hoped, I guess my focus was on the scene that came after it. Anyways, this will probably be one of the darkest chapters in this story, but I feel it is important to show that Naruto is not just the stereotype of a badass, but in fact a human being with faults and flaws. And lets be honest, it is very likely for a child from Naruto's background to crave love like I have described, especially if he can basically relive such experiences again and again.

As you may have guessed, I'm not making Danzou into a super-villain. He's a schemer and a backstabber when he feels it necessary, but in his own way, he is a patriot. Naruto is going to talk to him in the near future, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

And yes, the council and the majority of Konoha's population denies that Naruto is the Yondaime's son. Sorry, but I just don't think that 'We hated this kid for years, but now someone says that he is the son of a hero so I will cower at his feet' is likely. Denial is a much more likely reaction, eventually followed by doubt and slowly, after perhaps years, realization. I don't believe in instant personality-changes, at least not unless brainwashing is involved.

On a different note, I officially apologize for taking so long to get the chapter done, my Abitur has gone into the second round and I've had little time for anything. I'm hoping to get some more writing done now that I have a bit more free time on my hands, so keep your fingers crossed.

Well, not much to say, so I'd go on to the review-replies, but a few people told me that you're not supposed to directly reply reviews and that the administrators, who are in my opinion seriously making a mess of things on this page right now, may delete my story if I do it, so I'll have to make due with a general Q & A, which have the advantage that more people read them and I don't have to answer the same questions every chapter. I mean seriously, not only has the search-function been a lot more bothersome to use, you can now neither look for stories within a certain rating nor can you enter a certain character to make your favorite types stories easier to find. I call bullshit and request they turn things back the way they were. This is all just a royal and unnecessary pain in the butt.

Anyways, the Q & A

Q: What effects will Naruto's actions in Mizu no Kuni have?
A: For Naruto? Right now not so many. Of course rumors of a man who destroyed an army of 7000 men will spread, and Kiri will give him a ranking not seen since the Yondaime Hokage, an SS-ranked shinobi, but it will be given to unknown. Few people in Kiri even saw Naruto, and amongst those, only two know how the man who crushed the army looks like, and they're not about to blab it to anyone, to keep the enemy wondering if the one is perhaps amongst the troops they are charging at. Mental warfare can be very effective.

Q: How come Naruto randomly landed in Kiri, but was able to return to Konoha? And is there a speed-limit?
A: Naruto landed in a random location because he gave a very random order for his destination. 'Anywhere but Oto and Ame' leaves a lot of places where he could pop up. When he returned to Konoha, he knew exactly where he wanted to go. Also, Zetsu does not move through the ground. He has popped out of objects that are in no way thick enough for his body to be completely hidden by them. He is slower than Madara, who can move anywhere instantaneously, but not by much.

Q: What will the gods do?
A: For the moment, not too much. Not only does too much divine intervention ruin almost every plot, but the situation is tense. If one god intervenes too much, the others will think he's making a move to make himself look good in Naruto's eyes and start a potentially world-ending chain-reaction. Also, they know that if they go too far, Kami will intervene and just declare Naruto is hers to end the fighting, something that everyone is trying to avoid. And yes, in this fic Kami is a girl. Name one thing other than micro-organisms that produce life.

Q: Is it okay if ideas out of my stories are taken and used for other stories?
A: Yes, as long as you tell me beforehand and state that it was my idea.

Q: What are the pairings?
A: For the last time, I haven't decided yet! When I do, I'll write it in capital letters, but until then, I am open to suggestions and slowly starting to get annoyed by the question.

Q: Does Naruto have chakra-bloodlines?
A: No, but the Rinnegan allows him to use all affinities, and the Sharingan allows him to copy jutsu. So he can use raw elemental-chakra and jutsu's he's seen, but he can't make new jutsu for an element without hard and extensive work. Also, chakra-bloodlines do more than simply allow creation of a new element, since neither Haku walking into the mirrors nor the Shodai's control over bijuu can be explained with 'Well, they could form this element'.

Well, I guess I've said enough, so

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