A/N: Her we are, revised chapter 3.
I know the end of chapter 2 I hinted at Hinata's first 1 on 1 meeting with Master Drumheller was next, and I will get to that soon. But I thought it better at this point to bring the other elements of this point in the canon storyline back into play. With a few twists of my own.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters created by Kishimoto-san. Titokhan is mine of course. The owners of any OC's/jutsu I use that aren't mine will get credit if/when I use them
Chapter 3 – Conferences, Councils, and Confrontations
Kohona main gate, about a week later
Omoi, Kauri and Saumi walk up to the main gate amid all the hustle and bustle of the village's reconstruction
"What in Kami's name happened here?" all 3 of the Kumo messengers thought to themselves, only to almost get run over by a freight train of 15-20 of Naruto's Shadow clones carrying about 5 tons of lumber. "Oops, we're sorry Kumo-nin. We didn't see you" One of the clones states as the train continued on.
"Identify yourselves and state your business in Konoha please." Kotetsu and Izumo ask as the group of Kumo-nin approach the main gate station.
"I am Samui, these are Kauri and Omoi. We are messengers representing the Raikage, with a message for the Hokage's eyes only. Here are our diplomatic papers and a letter requesting an audience with the Hokage. And if I may ask, what happened to your village? It looks like a war zone".
"You're not that far off. The leader of the Atakuski, Pain, brazenly attacked the village. He was looking for the host of jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, Naruto Uzumaki. Pain used some jutsu that left a massive crater in the center of the village. Pain was defeated by Naruto, who is the kid whose shadow clones almost ran you guys over as you were entering. I know one of the clones apologized, but please forgive him. He's been like this almost non-stop since we got the crater filled in helping wherever he can. He's cut down a little, but usually has 2-300 of them running around all day, every day".
Kauri and Omoi's jaws dropped "2 to 300 shadow clones? All day, everyday? Kyuubi or not, that can't be possible!"
"Hang around for a while," replied Kotetsu "you'll learn that the term 'impossible' simply doesn't exist around him pretty quickly. I know for certain the word is not in his vocabulary. Your papers check out. Izumo, bring our guests to Lady Tsunade's office"
Undisclosed location
"Madara-sama…." Zetsu calls as he wiggles into the chamber from underground "Report Zetsu, what word from Kohona" ordered the man posing as Madara Uchiha.
"Nagato and his paths have been defeated by the Kyuubi brat, Konan has taken Nagato and the Deva path's bodies back to the Rain village, officially severing her ties with us. Furthermore, Nagato used Rinne Tensei to revive those killed in the attack on the Leaf."
"He did WHAT! Nagato, you fool." The masked man screamed. "There's more sir, I also spotted a group of Kumo ninja en route to the leaf. They bear a message calling for a gokage summit in the land of iron in 3 weeks".
"Hn. So the dobe keeps getting stronger hm? I'll still crush both him AND the leaf" Sasuke says, smirking in the shadows with Team Taka around him.
"In due time Sasuke, in due time. Zetsu, keep an eye on Kohona. Inform me when they leave." Tobi/Madara orders. "Kisame, you are tasked with re-capturing the 8 tails"
"As you command Madara" the blue skinned swordsman nodded and left
"Should we tell Sasuke about Danzo Master?" Zetsu whispered into Madara's ear, unaware that after years around Orochimaru and Kabuto, Sasuke learned to channel small amounts of chakra to his ears to boost his hearing.
"What about Danzo Zetsu? And please 'Madara', don't look at me like that. After all those years of the pedo-hebi and Kabuto whispering to themselves on what they had planned for me, I figured it in my best interest to know about it. Besides, Orochimaru was a sexual deviant and I don't swing that way. I figured out a way to chakra-enhance my hearing so I knew when the best time to strike was. So, what about the old crone? I can't cleanse the name of the clan without sending Danzo to the shinigami,"
"Very well, if you must know follow me. A word of warning though Sasuke, you have to stop over-using those new eyes. And you insisted on not implanting Ita.."
"Don't you dare mention his name in ear-shot of me! I will go about my revenge MY way, not yours. Suigetsu, Karin, Juugo. Wait for me in our quarters, I'll return soon." Meanwhile, Zetsu goes back underground to get back to the task he was ordered to.
'Besides 'Madara'', Sasuke thought to himself, 'or whomever it is you REALLY are. I know you were FAR more involved in the massacre of our clan than Itachi-niisan mentioned to me all those years ago. You must think I'm a fool if you didn't think I would have committed your chakra-signature to memory after that night. You think you're manipulating ME? Not in this lifetime. Yes, I do want to fight the 'dobe' again, but for reasons you will not like. I'm purposely burning these eyes out so you CAN'T use them later. All the pieces are just about in place. These next steps are critical. I can hope that kumo jinchuriki is as good as his word."
Taka's Quarters – 30 minutes later
Sasuke enters the room and closes the door, looks to Karin, then Jugo, then Suigetsu and nods.
Each member of the team pulls a tag from their pouch and sets it on the wall they are each standing by. "Uzumaki Style, Four Point Privacy seal, activate" Karin says to herself, knowing that here, of all places, the walls have eyes AND ears. The seals glow green, then yellow, then finally settle on red.
"OK, we're good for a while. Not even Zetsu can crack this seal, though I wouldn't recommend keeping it up long. We don't want them TOO suspicious of our motives. I didn't even know Nagato was my cousin until I felt him die. It had to devastate Naruto, though where he really isn't a sensor type, he might not have known Nagato was an Uzumaki. Heck until a year or so ago, I didn't know. Whoever that is posing as your 'immortal ancestor' is going to pay for that." Karin grumbles as a tick mark appears on her forehead.
"From what I learned about that sage mode of his, I suspect he figured it out before Nagato did what he did there at the end. I don't know how he manages it, but he always seems to find the best part of people and bring it out. Even me, though I'll admit I was more than a little stubborn." A sly smile comes across Sasuke's features, thinking about his friend. When the 2 of them concocted this plan all those years ago, neither of them had a clue just how hard it would be to keep just about everyone in the dark about it. Especially knowing Naruto's inability to keep his mouth shut. That they could even fool Naruto's 'tenant' that day when Team Kakashi found him shows how closely Naruto's been keeping this to himself. "Time to pass this info along."
Sasuke pulls a red and green scroll from his vest and unfurls it to show a summing circle with the kanji for 'oil'. Slamming his hand on the seal he says, "summoning jutsu". A messenger toad appears.
(A/N: Think about it for a second. Given the amount of traffic Zetsu likely spies watching Kohona. If you were Sasuke and wanted to get a message there without raising unwarranted suspicion, would you send summoned snakes or hawks? Or something more associated with the 'dobe you can't wait to kill' you'll see why it's a toad in just a little bit)
"Sasuke-sama, it's been quite a while since you used this scroll. I assume you have a message to pass along to Uzumaki-dono?"
"Yes and no. With the messengers from Kumo due to arrive in Kohona at any time, hopefully with the plan their jinchuriki and I came up with, I think Tsunade-sama should also get this." Handing the toad a black scroll "But find a way to pass this along to Naruto" Handing over an orange scroll
"Very well Sasuke-sama, I will get going, and see Hokage-sama delivers the other scroll to Uzumaki-dono" and the messenger poofs back to his realm.
"Uzumaki-dono? What did the baka do to earn that?" Suigetsu asked.
"If you only knew" Sasuke thought to himself with a hint of a smirk on his face
Hokage's Office
"Welcome to the Leaf village, sorry about the mess. Tends to happen then an S-ranked missing nin with the most powerful dojutsu known to ninja stops by for a visit. In all seriousness though, thank Kami for Naruto." Tsunade says as she waves the 3 kumo messengers into her office and activates the offices privacy seals.
"Thank you Hokage-sama. We'll get right to the point. Shortly before you had your visitor, we had one of our own. Sasuke Uchiha and his team of former Orochimaru henchmen, wearing the robes of the Atakuski, attacked the Raikage's brother Killer Bee, the jinchuriki of the Habichi, appearing to capture him." Samui stated plainly. "Along with the request for a Gokage summit, we were to ask you to officially name the Uchiha boy an S-ranked missing nin."
Tsunade (being the one person in Kohona who is actually in the know about Naruto and Sasuke's plan) simply raised an eyebrow. "Yet, I suspect that Sasuke didn't actually capture him now, did he?" she said with a hint of Naruto's signature grin
"No, he didn't actually capture him, what they 'captured' was one of Habichi's tentacles transformed into Bee-sama. But Raikage-sama didn't actually learn of this until we were already in route when one of Bee's ink clones arrived in the village, with not only the details of that encounter but a plan Bee and the Uchiha had devised. A messenger hawk found us with new orders." The busty blonde kumo-nin reported before she asked "By the way, how did you know Sasuke didn't actually capture Bee-sama?"
As she was reading the delivered message, Tsunade responded "Sasuke Uchiha has, for the last three or so years, been on a covert deep cover mission assigned to him by me. Your delivered message indicates he has accomplished another of his long term goals. As well as an opportunity I believe Naruto will be interested in. We can move on to the next phase." Before Tsunade can continue, a gentle poof is heard and a messenger toad (the one sent by Sasuke) appears on her desk.
"Messages from Sasuke Uchiha Hokage-sama. One for you and one for Uzumaki-dono. I will take my leave, good day." Before turning to Samui, Karui and Omoi and saying "To you ninjas of Kumo, your jinchuriki is a crafty one. Dare I say almost a match for Uzumaki-dono. His one advantage is he has more experience." Before poofing away again.
As the messenger was speaking to the Cloud-nin, Tsunade had read Sasuke's message and taken out pen and paper for a message to send back with them. "Bring this back to Raikage-dono and inform him I will be at the summit in three weeks. While time is of the essence, you will make better time home if you take a day or two to restore yourselves. If you would honor us with your company for a short while."
"It is our honor Hokage-sama, thank you for your hospitality" Samui stated. And as they were about to turn towards the door, Karui turns and asks..
"If I may Hokage-sama, why did that messenger toad refer to your jinchuriki as Lord Uzumaki? I understand he defeated the leader of the Atakuski. But we were led to believe the boy was on orphan, not a noble."
"The toads refer to him as Lord Uzumaki because he is the first human to ever become a true sage, advancing further in their arts than his master Jiraiya. As for the nobility, Pain's defeat also allowed Naruto to learn of his true heritage. And because he is old enough to properly claim his inheritance, I suppose it's only a matter of time before all of the elemental nations learn this. You might want to sit down for this." And the 3 ninja did just that.
"Naruto Uzumaki, jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no kitsune, is the only son of Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage of Kohona; and Kushina Uzumaki, Heiress of the Uzumaki Clan of the former Whirlpool Village and direct descendant of the Shodaime Uzukage of said village."
Three jaws simultaneously hit the Hokage's desk. The 2 women then immediately fainted, their companion about 5 seconds later. "The gaki better get used to that reaction. But he has his princess, so I suspect he'll be fine. A few minutes later, the cloud trio have recovered their wits. Deactivating the privacy seals, Shizune opens the door to escort them out of her office. "Shizune, escort our guests to the hotel with full ambassador privileges and arrange for a tour with members of the Kohona 11, including Naruto at some point. Summon the council for a meeting in 2 hours. And have Naruto, Hinata and Master Drumheller report to my office immediately.
Tsunade's office, 15 minutes later
Knocking on the door, Shizune announces "Milady, Naruto, Hinata and Master Drumheller are here."
"Show them in" and the 3 of them enter, Naruto and Hinata holding hands.
"You called Tsunade-sama?" Titokhan asks for the three of them.
"Yes, I did. Naruto, theres a few things you need to know." Tsunade repeats the pronouncement of Naruto's full heritage (as while Naruto knew about Minato being Yondaime, his mother's official lineage might be a bit shocking even to him). After she finished, Naruto looked a little shocked, but hid behind his trademark grin. Hinata got out "My Naru-kun, a prince?" before she turned a new shade of red for her and fainted. Naruto of course caught her and laid her gently on the couch, kissing her forehead. "I guess I can't blame her this time."
"So now you know the whole truth Kit. While I would have told you myself, I suspect you probably wouldn't have believed me. We need to have a talk. Just you, me and your vixen. When the two of you are ready, let me know, and I'll show you how to bring her along. You might be surprised at the changes in here." Chuckled the Kyuubi.
"No, I wouldn't have believed you heh. I'll let you know when we're ready" Naruto replied in his thoughts. "Is there anything else Hokage-sama?" he replied to Tsunade.
"Actually gaki, there are a few things. One, you're the guest of honor at the next council meeting in about an hour and a half. And for this occasion, I'd recommend dressing 'formally'. I sent something over to your place that should work, and still be, well you. Two. You, Kakashi, Sakura, and Hinata are to be my escort/guards to the Gokage summit in three weeks in the Land of Iron. Three." Noting that Hinata is still asleep, but slowly starting to stir "Message from the brooding avenger, it's time to advance to the next stage of the plan, and he sent along this." And tosses the orange scroll Sasuke had sent. "Four, you and Titokhan had mentioned some training to harness the Kyuubi's power? We have an opportunity there as well." Tossing the second message to Titokhan. "Bee-sama is looking forward to seeing you again master Drumheller. Are you alright Hinata?" as the Hyuga princess opens her eyes and discovers that it wasn't a dream..
Kohona Council Chamber, 90 minutes later
There is a knock at the council chamber entrance, announcing Naruto's arrival "Let him in." Tsunade orders, and the ANBU guarding the door open it, allowing Naruto entrance into the council chambers.
Narutro is dressed for the meeting befitting more a clan head than a teenaged genin. In style, it's a match for Hiashi's formal kimono, only in a color scheme more fitting of Kohona's number one unpredictable ninja. The outer Kimono is black with dual layered red and yellow flames along the bottom and sleeves with burnt orange colored leaves falling across the front like they were falling from a tree. The Obi is Naruto's trademark 'kill-me' orange, with the Uzumaki swirl in white on each end of the sash. A larger, red and orange version of the clan symbol is squarely in the center of his back, exactly where it would be on a chunin/jounin flak jacket.
"Hokage-sama.." Naruto manages to get out before a screech comes from the civilian side of the council fills the chamber.
"So what if he saved the village, why is that accursed demon brat before us? And why is he dressed like THAT?" Sakiri Hanuro screams while pointing an accusing finger at her only daughter's team-mate
'I always wondered where Sakura had gotten her banshee tendencies from as a child, now I know. Glad Sakura-chan grew out of it, kind of. Besides, after baa-chan's little surprise in her office, I think I know why I'm here. I wonder..' "Hokage-sama, I suspect this is something you get to do, but can I do the honors?Just this once?" Naruto asks.
"Why not? And what do you mean, just this once? You still want this hat right?" Tsunade points to the Hokage's hat sitting on the table in front of her. "Consider what your about to do one of the occasional perks of the job." This sentence generates some chuckles from the shinobi potion of the council, who have a sneaking suspicion what's going to happen next.
"Thank you milady" Naruto bows to his surrogate grandmother before whirling on the older civilain
"SILENCE! Were you given permission to speak? NO, if we want your input, WE'LL ASK FOR IT" Naruto, using a combination of Iruka-sensei's big head jutsu while tapping into the fox's chakra just enough to deepen his voice and turn his eyes red. He also is radiating just enough refined killing intent to cause Sakiri to faint with fear on the spot.
(A/N: unlike Hinata, who would faint in Naruto's presence from a completely different emotion.)
Naruto eyes almost immediately went back to their deep blue and the killing intend faded into nothingness. "Much better. As I was saying Hokage-sama, you summoned me?"
"Yes Naruto. As you informed us recently, you are aware of at least a portion of your true lineage, with the Yondaime being your father." Shocked expressions from the civilian side of the council, but Tsunade continues regardless "I explained both your full lineage to you earlier today. And as you are of legal age, it is now the time to give to you to receive your full inheritance. You were summoned here so that it can be formally recognized by both the shinobi and civilian councils. We now formally recognize you, Naruto Uzumaki, as the Son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, and grant you the titles as head of the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans of Konoha, along with the seat on the shinobi council that those titles convey. As clan head, you are hereby also promoted to jounin, a rank you honestly should already have based on your skills." Naruto is looking to the shinobi side of the council and is greeted with looks of appreciation by all of the shinobi clans. The civilian side is, well dumbstruck.
"As the last known Namikaze and believed to be the the last known Uzumaki," Tsunade continues, "you also have the option of invoking the CRA for the rebuilding of your clan if you desire for yourself, or any surviving members of your clans you may find who choose to return to the village. You are also granted ownership of the Namikaze compound, which has been held in waiting for your coming of age. Any bank accounts in your parents' names will be transferred over into your name and be made available to you in the next few days. For all the hardships you've endured over the course of your young life, I cannot help but say how proud I am of you. And know that you truly deserve this." Tsunade gets up from her chair and walks over to him, and then gives him a hug a grandmother might give her grandson.
She then returns to her seat at the head of the council. "Before you take your rightful place on the council, is there anything you'd like to say?"
"I do have a few things actually. Short of being named Hokage, this is an honor I will cherish for the rest of my days. As it regards the CRA, I at this time choose NOT to invoke it. Though it doesn't exactly pertain to the CRA, I would request an audience with Hiashi-sama at his convenience." A few eyebrows raise at this comment.
"The last things I have to say is first to the shinobi portion of the council. Thank you. Finally, to the civilian side of the council. I hold no grudge against you. I want to be Hokage to represent everyone, not just those that already acknowledge me. I hope those of you who still see me as 'that accursed demon brat' as councilor Hanuro so eloquently put it just a short while ago, can soon see me as me, Naruto Uzumaki. Not the demon who stays contained every day I continue to draw breath." Naruto then bows politely to each side of the council, to Tsunade herself, then walks over to the empty council seat with the Uzumaki swirl banner behind it and sits down.
"As that was the reason for calling this special session of the council today, I hereby declare today's session concluded"
"There's hope for you yet Kit, look at the faces of the civilian council. Properly shamed, the lot of them."
"I know, I didn't want to be hard on them, but they needed to hear it directly from me."
"And are you going to ask your vixen's father what I think you're going to ask him?"
"Not quite yet, there's still too much going on, too much to do before I can REALLY think about that. I know he, as her father, will want to establish some ground rules. I respect that. He deserves that much. We may be considered adults by ninja standards, but we're not even seventeen yet. I do want a family, but I can be patient.
Post chapter A/N: that's a wrap for this, easily the largest single chapter I've managed to write. The merged chapters are about this length, but I needed two and three chapters respectively to get anything close to what this chapter was.
Next chapter will have:
Hiashi and Naruto's meeting.
Naruto's reading Sasukes message scroll (and a little flashback to connect with Karin's comments from this chapter)
A flashback or 2 with Sasuke (which I think for me is the biggest variant, I was thinking to myself how was I going to handle him in this. Then I got to the section about implanting Itachi's eyes when inspiration struck me. The flashbacks will deal with the 2 canon meetings between Sasuke and Itachi and why they weren't what we originally believed)
Hinata's talk with Titokhan and her first in person (if you count Naruto's mindscape as in-person) with Kurama and what finding true love has done to said mindscape
Please, I really want to know what people think of what I'm doing. Be honest, you never know, if I like some ideas, I'll figure out a way to implement them. So please leave reviews. On that note, I also want to say thank you to everyone, in the 5 or 6 days this has been up here on FF, its gotten more views than it did on DeviantArt in THREE YEARS
