xxx Namikaze Compound Livingroom xxx
"So, let me get this straight." Anko said, sitting across from Naruto who had a sleeping Hanabi with her head on his thigh "Her father disowned her, you found her crying in the park, and you offered to let her live here?"
"Yes." he said with a nod.
Anko rubbed her temple "... and what are you going to do if her Father shows up?" she asked.
"Simple, Tell him to fuck off, and if he tries to pull some legal shit I'll shut it down by telling him that he disowned her from the clan, which means he forfeited all say in her life." he said determined.
"I guess, but what then?" she inquired.
"Well… I was thinking we'd let her live with us and go from there." he said, scratching the back of his head.
"In other words, you didn't think that far ahead?" she said, shaking her head.
"Well, no, I only wanted to get her out of the streets, and if what I saw during the coronation is anything to go by her life with her clan wasn't that good." he stated.
"Well, we'll ask her when she wakes up, and go from there." she got up and went into the kitchen "Want some tea?"
"I'd love some." he smiled.
After a few minutes, Anko brought in the tea, and the two decided to wait for the girl to wake up.
Hanabi awoke thirty minutes later with a start until she remembered what happened earlier, she then noticed the sleeping form of Naruto and Anko, who had her head resting on the man's shoulder. She decided to shake him awake.
"N-Naruto?" she asked the blonde, shaking him awake.
Naruto stirred and looked down at the girl "Ah, you're awake, how are you feeling?" he asked.
"A little better." she said with a nod.
"That's good, btw, this is Anko." he gestured to Anko, who was slowly waking up.
"Hi." Hanabi whispered.
"Helllo." Anko grinned.
"Where am I?" she asked "Last I recall I was in a park." she said, all trace of her stutter gone after the comfort Naruto gave her combined with the nap.
"You're in our home." Naruto said "I brought you here after you fell asleep in my arms earlier."
Hanabi nodded "D-Did you mean what you said earlier?" she asked.
"About you staying with us?" he asked, getting a nod "If you want to, of course."
"I d-do." she stuttered "F-Father was always cold, and distant." she said, the tears threatening to fall again.
Naruto ruffled her hair "Your Father was a fool then, what about your sister?" he asked.
"W-We weren't close, she was always shy, and Father's always putting pressure on her to be the clan heir." she says softly.
"So, you're Father was favoring your sister over you." he said matter of factly, she only nodded with a sad expression.
"That's awful!" Anko said, slamming her fist into her palm "I'm gonna teach him a lesson."
"Now, now, Anko, No need to resort to violence, the best revenge we could get for her would be to take her under our wing and train her to surpass her Father, and also find a way to remove that disgusting seal." he said, causing Hanabi to perk up at that last part.
"Remove the caged bird seal? That's possible?" she asked almost begging.
"I don't know, I'd have to study it and learn how it works. I can start right away if you'd like." he said to her, getting a frantic nod from the girl. "Okay, lay down on the couch."
Hanabi did as he said, and Naruto began looking at the seal on her head, studying it for nearly an hour before coming to a conclusion. "I won't be able to remove it, cause it would cause your death upon doing so, but I can seal it into a different seal that nullifies the aspect where pain could be inflicted on you via the seal."
"What do you mean?" Anko asked.
"Basically, the seal would work as intended, but the factor where someone could make a hand seal to cause pain to the victim wouldn't work, meaning Hanabi would be truly free from her clan." he said before getting tackled by the girl.
"Really!?" she asked her voice full of happiness and hope.
"Yes, however as I said, I can't fully remove the seal, but only seal it in a different seal, but the good news is I can make the seal itself invisible on your head as long as you don't put chakra into it." he said, patting the girls back.
"Thank you so much! When can you do it?" she inquired.
"I'll need some time to create the seal from scratch, since I had a clone copy the seal onto this paper, in the meantime, how about we start your training." he smiled at her "I bet we can make you a genin within the year, maybe even a month if we use resistance seals."
"Naruto, she's only seven, she's too young to be a genin." Anko reminded him.
"Fair point, what do you want to do Hanabi?" he asked
"I want to get stronger, and prove my clan and Father wrong." she said determined.
"How can we say no to that resolve" he chuckled, looking at Anko.
"Fine, but don't rush her!" she demanded.
"I'll give her the same training routine I gave Mito at her age, only slightly modified to account for her not having a bijuu sealed into her." he said getting up "Are the twins asleep?" he asked her.
"They should be, they were when I last checked while you were studying the seal." she answered.
"Okay, Hanabi, let's go pick out your room!" he said, heading upstairs followed by Anko and Hanabi.
xxx Two Months Later xxx
Hanabi and Mito have grown close over the months, Mito being Hanabi's other more involved big sister. Hanabi's training has been going well, she's already low genin level, and the resistance seals were instrumental in her growth, Naruto went to Tsunade a month after Hanabi moved in and explained the situation and how Naruto was close to creating the seal to help her be free.
During their talk, Tsunade brought up the idea of adopting Hanabi, Naruto was unsure at first, but when Tsunade explained how she was legally an orphan, and that he could adopt her without any backlash from the Hyuga clan. Naruto decided to ask Hanabi and see what she wanted to do and was pleasantly surprised when she instantly jumped at the chance, claiming " You're a better dad than my real one." it nearly brought a tear to the blonde's eyes, two days after their talk the adoption was official.
Hanabi was now Hanabi Namikaze, of course, as predicted Hiashi threw a fit, claiming that Naruto had no right to adopt a weak disowned clan member, he got a broken nose as his response from an enraged Naruto. Needless to say, he dropped the subject after that.
One thing Naruto did regret was that Hinata was being put under a lot more pressure because of the whole thing, and Hiashi wouldn't disown her since she was his only heir, besides his nephew, who was a member of the branch family.
He tried to help the poor girl as much as he could from the shadows, supporting her to the best of his abilities, though with everything else going on it wasn't easy, he wasn't able to support her as much as he'd like. He racked his mind to think of a solution to the problem but couldn't find one, and this is where we find him sitting on top of his Father's head in deep thought, two months after Hanabi moved in.
"Dad?" Hanabi's voice rang out behind him, she had recently in the last few weeks started calling him dad, and it warmed his heart everytime.
"Yes, Hanabi?" he asked, as he turned to look at the girl, who promptly plopped down next to him.
"You thinking about helping Hinata again?" she asked
"Yeah, I wish I could help her get away from that miserable man she calls Father." he said with regret in his voice., Hanabi could only nod, and look out at the view of the village. "I'll always love this view." he said, using his hand to gesture.
"It's pretty." Hanabi said with a smile.
"Should I ask Tsunade for help with the Hinata issue?" he pondered out loud.
"She's the Hokage, right? That means she's smart." Hanabi stated with the simplicity only a child could have.
Naruto chuckled "She definitely has her moments." he said "... and I've run out of options on my own, so let me take you home, then I'm going to go ask." he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, before flashing them home, then flashing himself to the outside of the Hokage's window
"Come in, Naruto! I know you're there." she called out to no one.
The window slid open and a blonde blur leaped in "Hey, Tsunade, can I ask for your opinion on something?"
He had her full attention now "What?"
"Well, you remember how I adopted Hanabi? Well, that's caused her sister to suffer and I've been trying to help her but I'm running out of options, got any ideas?" he asked
"Hmm, that's a tough call, the Hyuga clan is very protective of their ways and Hinata is the current clan heir." she said with a sad smile.
"So, basically I have to wait for him to disown her too?" he said, frustrated.
"Legally, yeah." she said leaning back in her chair "What if Neji was stronger than Hinata?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the Hyuga clan head has to be strong in order to lead, so if Neji is stronger than Hinata, and Hinata is weaker than Neji then the odds of him disowning her increase." she said
"It's a sound plan, but I'm worried about the emotional damage it could cause to Hinata." he expressed his concern.
"Don't worry, just ask her if she wants to leave, and if she does tell her the plan." she said
Naruto rubbed his temple in thought "Could you summon her here? I'd like to ask her as soon as possible." he said
"Of course. Boar!" she called out and an ANBU wearing a boar mask kneeled in front of her "Go retrieve Hinata Hyuga."
"Yes, Lord Hokage!" the ANBU left in a swirl of leaves.
A few moments later, Hinata nervously entered the room "Y-You c-called, L-Lord H-Hokage?" she asked while stuttering.
"Yes, this (points to Naruto) is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, and he has expressed the desire to adopt you like he did your younger sister." Tsunade said.
Hinata's eye's widened in shock "...W-What?" she finally asked.
"I've seen how you're Father has treated you, and I've been helping you from the shadows." he said.
"That was you?" Hinata asked, surprisingly without stuttering.
"Yes, However, I can't adopt you as things stand." he said
"W-What do you mean?" she asked
"Well, your Father is trying to groom you into taking over the clan, however, there is one other candidate that's acceptable for the job." he said, seeing the realization on Hinata's face "I see you know who I'm talking about." he said
"Neji…" Hinata whispered.
"Yes, as it stands you are slightly stronger than him, but if that changes and he becomes stronger than you your Father will likely disown you." he said, knowing the truth was better than a lie.
Hinata didn't answer, she only looked down for a second "I know…" she finally said.
Naruto moved to hug the emotional girl "I've already talked about it with the other people living in my house, they're all on board with you moving in, if you want to."
"I think I want to." she mumbled "But I'm afraid."
"That's understandable, but I have two ways of accomplishing what we want. The first is the worse of the two, it involves you slowing down your training and letting Neji surpass you, but this has the adverse effect of making Hyashi angry and then taking it out on you, or the better option, I hinge a shadow clone and become Neji's "Secret Sensei" and have him surpass you in a way where it would be hard to pin it on you."
"Will this work?" Hinata asked hopeful.
"Sadly, I can't guarantee and you'll definitely face some verbal abuse from the man, which alone makes me not want to do it. But I see no other option." he stated solemnly
"I see…" she paused for a moment, seemingly to gather her courage "Let's do It!" she declared.
"Are you absolutely sure?" Naruto asked, wanting her one hundred percent into the plan.
"Yes!" she nodded.
"Well, we should go with the second option first, after all, it's the better of the two." he said, with a thoughtful expression.
"How exactly are you going to do it? I doubt that arrogant Hyuga who only believes in fate would go for it." Tsunade said, 'cause she'd seen the boy's attitude over these last two months and it wasn't promising.
"Simple, use his arrogance and belief against him." this statement got him confused looks from Tsunade and Hinata "I'll show him that I, a non-clan member, can perform his clan's best techniques, then offer to teach them to him, making him stronger in the process."
Tsunade looked up in thought for a second "... and what if he goes and tells Hiashi?" she asked, knowing that there was a high probability that he would.
"Then this "Stranger" who knows the techniques will disappear." naruto said, flatly.
"Hmm, well, if you told him you'd disappear if he told people about you, he'd probably listen. That is if he wants your training." she mused
"It's worth a shot." he said, looking at Hinata "Keep your head down as much as you can, I'm sure your pitiful Father would attempt to take out his frustrations on you."
He handed her a trench knife with the Hirashin mark on its hilt "If your Father gets too aggressive and you feel like you're in danger, throw this on the ground, and I'll end it in a different way." he said, looking at Tsunade to make sure she understood his meaning.
Tsunade only sighed "Naruto, if you kill Hiashi, I'll have so much paperwork to do." she said "I'm only one person!" she complained.
Naruto just stared at her for a long moment "..." he blinked and stated "Use shadow clones." as if it was completely obvious.
Tsunade's eyes went wide as she slammed her head on her desk "Why am I such an idiot!" she yelled at her desk.
"You're not an idiot, you just had a lapse in knowledge." Naruto said, attempting to make his Godmother feel better.
She just glared at him for a second, looking for signs that he was mocking her, when she found none she just sighed and mumbled "I guess." into her desk.
Naruto chuckled, then said "Well, I have to see a Hyuga about "special training", see you later!" he then vanished from the room.
xxx With Neji xxx
Neji was training by himself in training ground 3, trying to get stronger when he heard the rustling of a bush nearby, turning towards it he saw a man wearing the standard Jonin outfit, with knee-high boots, his forehead protector around his neck, with black goggles resting on his forehead, and an eyepatch over his left eye.
"Who are you?" he asked, wary of the man.
"A friend." the man said "I've come with an offer."
"What offer?" Neji asked
"You want to be stronger than your cousin right?" the man asked
Neji's eyes widened in shock "How'd you know that?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
The man just laughed "Lucky guess." was his cryptic response, before continuing "Anyway, I know some of your clan's main branch jutsu, and I'll teach them to you if you do me a favor after."
Neji's jaw went slack as his brain processed this information "What? How?" he asked.
"How else? I stole them." the man said casually.
"Really? How were you able to read them?" Neji asked, knowing only someone with a Byakugan could read them.
The man didn't hesitate, reaching his hand up to his left eye, lifting the eyepatch to reveal a Byakugan eye. "This is how." he said, pointing to the eye.
Neji nearly passed out, but he then became enraged "How did you get that eye?" he demanded.
"My childhood friend was a Hyuga, his name was Hiroto, and he died when we were genin, he gave me this eye after his eye was gouged out by an enemy ninja, I've had it ever since." the man said
Neji looked to see if the man was lying but found no evidence of it, this calmed the boy down a bit "Sorry." he said.
The man lifted his hand "No need to apologize, boy. It was years ago. Anyway, about my offer?"
"That depends." Neji said, looking at him with a quizzical eye "What's the favor you mentioned?"
"I'd like for you to become the next clan head of your clan." the man said simply.
"What? Why?" Neji asked, not understanding the man's motives.
"The current clan head isn't doing a good job, and I feel his being in charge is a stain on my lost friend's legacy." said the man, with a scowl on his face.
Neji nodded since the man's reason kinda made sense "How long with this take?" he asked "I have to meet my team nearly every day and only have free time in the afternoon."
"This training will take as long as it takes, and that's fine, we'll work with your current schedule." the man said "Now, let's begin your training."
xxx One Month Later xxx
Naruto had gotten his genin team a month ago, with Mito, and identical twin girls named Akira, and Akari Tanaka, they both had short white hair, with piercing crimson eyes that made them look like demons, their appearance apparently earned them some scrutiny from the villagers.
When Naruto learned about it, he was angry, but he didn't show it, choosing to show the girls kindness and help them become great kunoichi. His kind attitude, mixed with his strict training made the girls happy since they wanted to be strong to make their deceased parents proud because it was their dying wish.
The girls became even more endeared to Naruto and Mito when they learned that they also lost their parents, being able to bond over that shared pain. The two had taken to their training like fish to water and blew Naruto's expectations out of the water.
The two were high chunin, while Mito was mid jonin, Naruto was happy at his luck, not only did he have his prodigal sister on his team, but he also had the pleasure of training two hidden gems and he made sure to flaunt them to the other sensei's, much to their chagrin.
He also had been training Neji over the month when he was free, the boy now was stronger than Hinata and his uncle definitely took notice, but Naruto had no idea which cliff the clan head would leap off of. He had to be patient while keeping his eye on Hinata to make sure she was safe.
However, he couldn't worry about that right now, as he was in Tsunade's office getting his team's first C-rank mission a month into their training, just as he declared to Kakashi.
"Are you sure about this, Naruto?" Tsunade asked.
Naruto quirked an eyebrow "You know me, Tsunade, would I really be asking if I wasn't confident in my team?" he said
Tsunade chuckled "Fair point, well, I guess I've had a C-rank that no one wanted on account of the client being a "Rude Drunk" as most of them put it.
"Oh yeah, how long has it been sitting?" he asked
"Almost four months, the poor man has been basically living in an apartment, begging for help." she shook her head "You up for the task?"
Naruto looked at his team and felt the sheer determination radiating off of them. "Yes, Lord Hokage." he replied
"Alright!" she stamped the scroll "It's yours, good luck."
Naruto nodded before asking "Where's the client?"
Tsunade gestured for Shizune to get the man, who came in drunk "Took you nearly four months, and you give me children, and a man barely over the age of 20?" he rudely said
Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously "Insult my team again, and we walk." he said coldly, the man sweated, then apologized. "Anyway.." Naruto cleared his throat "What's your name?" he asked the man.
"Tazuna." the man said, shakily outstretching his hand, which Naruto didn't take.
"Okay, so what are we doing?" Naruto asked, Tazuna lowering his hand.
"You're guarding him back to wave country." Tsunade said.
"Yeah, I need to hurry back, I'm worried about my daughter and grandson." Tazuna said, panic evident in his drunken voice.
"Well then, we shouldn't delay any longer." Naruto said as he and his team walked past the man saying "Be at the gate in an hour." before walking out.
xxx Kohona Gate One Hour Later xxx
Naruto and his team waited for Tazuna, who was late "You know, for a man worried about his family he sure is taking his time." Naruto remarked, clearly angry.
Tazuna stumbled through the gate, clearly drunk. Naruto sighed before going through hand seals whispering "Suiton: Suihachi (Water Release: Water Bowl)" A medium-sized jet of water shot at Tazuna, soaking the man from head to toe, instantly waking the inebriated man.
Akira, Akari, and Mito busted out laughing, while Naruto smirked "No drinking on my mission." he reprimanded.
Tazuna shot him a weak glare before mumbling about "Disrespectful brats." and "Not respecting their elders."
The team and their client set off for wave country.