A/N: Alright, so at the end of the vote, you guys chose for Minato to not be paired up with anyone, and I have to say, I agree with the majority vote. For several reasons, though mainly for the fact that he's mentally as old as the eligible girls fathers, and the fact that he knew their parents. I don't think an older girl would do either...but that's my personal preference. Sooooo, I will not be pairing Minato up with anyone, but that doesn't mean others won't fall for him. Perhaps a pale eyed stalker...or a 'troublesome' person? That's basically it! Hope you enjoy this new chapter!

Chapter 10: Confrontations

"We will not allow this to stand, Hokage!"

Slightly different statements were exclaimed continuously over the past few hours after Hiruzen Sarutobi had called for a Council meeting as per the request of his three Advisers. As much as he wanted to avoid this meeting, he knew it was inevitable that the council would find out of Naruto's rank as Genin. Like he had suspected, the Shinobi council seemed to find Naruto's promotion with stride, knowing that the reports written by Jiraiya, ANBU Weasel, and Kakashi Hatake were accurate, as were the reports given personally by the Hokage, of the boys training since he was a mere four years old, as well as the reasons behind it.

The Civilian Council, on the other hand, were outraged such a thing was kept from them, and demanded the boy be put back into the Academy and then expelled for daring to think he could graduate early without their approval. When the main body of the Civilian council discovered the boy was running around the Village with a shinobi headband wrapped around his forehead, they were furious beyond reason. They would not let this demon defile their village any further than it already had. All their attempts to rid themselves of the beast were futile, so they could only hinder his progress in becoming a Shinobi - which became moot point when he was given his hitei-ate by the Hokage a mere day ago.

Sarutobi rubbed his tired eyes, already done with the repeating statements the Civilian Council was spewing. Unfortunately, not one had broken his law by claiming Naruto was a demon, so he couldn't send any of them down to Ibiki. However tempted he was.

"ENOUGH!" he exclaimed, slamming his wrinkling hand down hard on the wooden table the entire council sat around.

The entire council sat silenced by the sudden stern command. None had seen Hiruzen Sarutobi act such a way since before the days of the Yondaime Hokage.

"The brat is not to be made Genin, Hokage-sama. He cannot be capable of this skill you state without the help of the beast! You endanger us all!" one random civilian exclaimed, getting agreeing nods from the other members.

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes and glared at the daring Civilian. "Naruto Uzumaki is more than capable of completing D-ranks, and C-rank missions as a Shinobi. He has been trained since he was four. The reports handed to you all by Hatake, Weasel, Jiraiya, and myself are accurate. None of you civilians have the ability to sense chakra, but enough to remember the feeling that the Kyuubi emitted. I have read no complaints of reports that the Kyuubi's chakra or aura were felt by either civilians or ninja. Naruto's power is his own. I will hear no more of this nonsense. The boy is a Shinobi now. My Shinobi. You have no hold on him. This meeting is over. You are all dismissed."

The Shinobi council stared slightly awed at their Hokage. None of the heads had ever seen Sarutobi act so commanding since the war, but they weren't complaining now. The civilian council had gotten away with far too much when dealing with the ninja of the Village. They were damned proud of their Hokage and would support him all the way, as they were sworn to, regardless of their feelings toward Naruto, or any other matter.

The Civilians were red faced, and obviously, furious. It was clear through the Hokage's stern and cold tone that this meeting was indeed over and nothing said would be listened to, but they wouldn't let this matter go. The boy, if he could be called as such, was a menace. A time bomb just waiting to explode. And they give him training!? A genin rank?! It was foolish and because of it, they would undoubtedly meet their end at the hands of the demon.

No, they would not let this go.

They would take matters into their own hands.

No matter what.

Minato was enjoying a casual stroll around the Village, noticing that the majority of civilians were staring at him with greater hatred than Naruto or himself had seen before. It was slightly concerning, but he knew that such reactions were to be expected. The orphan demon boy had been made a shinobi, and as such, protected as one. Anything they did to him would be marked as not only assault, but assault on a Konoha Shinobi, which warranted much harsher punishment.

It was both a blessing and a curse in Minato's eyes. He knew that it would be years before he could begin to change the Civilians perspective on his son, but in the end, it would be worth it.

As he strolled around, Minato thought it would be a good idea to take a bath, and wandered off to the hot springs, henging through the back alley's into the same unsuspecting man he disguised himself as whenever he wanted to pay like any other man. It wasn't a long walk, considering he was already on that side of the Village, though he had decided to make it at a sprint in order to get even a little bit of training in after the long morning he had with Itachi Uchiha.

To be perfectly honest, he was more than a bit surprised when the young Chunin had come up to him and said that, under the Hokage's direct order, they were to be partners until he had made Chunin himself, and perhaps even afterward if they made a good team. Minato bowed to his new partner in respect, and said he looked forward to working with him, and promised to use his Kage Bushins in order to speed through the required minimum of D-ranks so that they could get started with C-ranked missions as soon as possible.

While he was sure the stoic Uchiha would deny it if it were ever brought up, Minato sworn he heard Itachi chuckle lowly at the statement.

Regardless of what happened during their partnership, he was sure of one thing; he would make sure to break Itachi Uchiha's mask and bring back the kid that he was supposed to be.

When he made it to the hot springs, Minato paid the man behind the desk and went toward the men's bath area, and was struck with a horribly familiar sight.

Jiraiya, on top of a toad, peeping on the women's baths.

He mentally face palmed at the sight.

Of course the idiot would take back to his "research" rather than try to meet with his godson. Like he always had, Jiraiya ran away from his problems, hoping they would leave him alone. The same could easily be said about Tsunade, but she wasn't anywhere near Konoha, so he couldn't do much about her at the time being.

He could do a hell of a lot to Jiraiya now though.

Castrating the bastard was the first thing that came to mind.

With a soft ploom of smoke, Minato expelled his henge and walked up to the toad as Jiraiya giggled pervertedly while writing down some things in his notebook.

"Get back to Pa." he whispered to the Toads ear so that Jiraiya wouldn't hear or notice him. "I need to talk to my godfather alone."

The toad, whose name he couldn't place for the life of him, stared at Minato with wide eyes. From the look of shock on his face, it was clear he had noticed Naruto looked scarily similar to Minato, and with a soft ploom of smoke, dispelled back to the other Toads, undoubtedly gone to tell Pa, and/or Bunta of what he had seen.

Jiraiya was in the middle of writing something down and fell ungracefully down to the hard stone floor flat on his face. No amount of training had prepared him for the sudden disappearance of his summons, especially not when he was distracted by certain...assets seen on the other side of the wooden fence.

With an annoyed groan and grunt, Jiraiya stood up, prepared to call back Goma and ask why the he decided to dispel so suddenly, when he caught sight of a familiar sun-kissed blonde head of hair at the corner of his eye.

Looking to the side, Jiraiya was met with the narrowed glare of his student's son. All thoughts about his upcoming Icha Icha were lost at the darkened sky-blue eyes that stared at him so intensely. He wasn't sure if he hoped to skip actually talking to his godson, but he was sure that he didn't want to have this confrontation with him...no matter how much the boy deserved it.

"Ah, hey there, gaki!" Jiraiya said with a pathetically fake smile, "Don't happen to know why Goma, the toad, decided to disappear, do you?"

"Let's skip the idle chat, Jiraiya." Minato said wanting to cut straight to the point, and knowing the Sannin would try to duck out of this conversation. "Where were you?"

Jiraiya looked at his ex-student's son with wide eyes. He knew that Naruto knew everything thanks to a fail-safe his father had implanted into the seal...that didn't mean he believed that he knew everything. No matter what he said, nothing would get him out of talking, and they both knew that.

"Naruto...I-" Jiraiya began, trying to find the right words to say, though they both knew nothing said would be good enough.

"Where. The. Fuck. Were. You?" Minato asked harshly, cutting the perverted man off before he could try to wriggle himself out of this conversation.

For a moment, Jiraiya was shocked. The boy was seven years old, and while mentally he was at around at least ten from what he had admitted thanks to the seal Minato used, he could swear that Naruto was older, if nothing else, the look in his eyes.

Taking the white haired mans pause, Minato pressed on with a harsh voice, channeling all the pain Naruto had felt. "Where were you when I was being beaten, stabbed, burned, and ripped apart by the people of this Village? Where were you all those nights I wondered why people hated my very existence? Where were you when I was starving and dumpster diving for measly scraps so that I wouldn't go to sleep, in a filthy health hazardous apartment, with a constricting stomach? Where were you when I cried myself to sleep days on end because no one would so much as look at me?"

He couldn't be kind about this. He couldn't allow his past feelings of this man let such heinous neglect go unpunished. This man, was supposed to be Naruto's Godfather. The man who was to take him in, along with his Godmother, should he and Kushina be unable to take care of him. The Old Man was never personally asked to take care of Naruto, merely make sure he was to be seen for who he truly was. This man, was supposed to love him like a father would. Supposed to feed, clothe, bathe, and care for him.

Supposed to love him.

Yet rather than fulfilling his responsibilities, the perverted man chose to distract himself with his childish hobbies. Choosing to peep on women during their baths and write graphic novels for a living rather than care for a living, breathing, human being.

It was unacceptable.

And Naruto died because of it.

Jiraiya stared at the small boy with wide eyes, frozen by what he had said. He knew that life wasn't easy for him, considering the entire civilian population thought him a demon, but burned? Stabbed? Ripped apart? No, that he had no idea of.

"Wh-wha?" he stuttered out, still unable to find his words. Naruto stared at him with, not hatred as he had suspected, but sheer and utter disappointment. Which, for some reason, hurt far worse than he knew hatred to hurt.

"Na-Naruto...I..."

"I know where you were." The boy continued harshly. "You were doing exactly what you were doing just now. Writing perverted, and worthless pieces of, if it can be called such, literature instead of taking care of your Godson! I'm seven! If I didn't nearly die and have dad train me in my head, I wouldn't have seen you till I graduated the Academy! If even then!"

Jiraiya could scarcely look at the twin blue orbs that stared straight into his soul. There was nothing he could say to make it better. Nothing he could say to excuse him for his actions.

'I'm sorry' wouldn't be enough.

Nothing he said would ever be enough.

"He doesn't hate you." Minato said, bringing Jiraiya's dark eyes to stare into his. "No, he could never hate you, Jiraiya. He is disappointed. Utterly disappointed and said, "I will never forgive him, even as he becomes nothing to me. Nothing because he couldn't even try to speak my son."" Have a nice life, Jiraiya." he continued. "You won't be seeing me again until I'm ready to sign the Toad Summoning Contract like my father did." Without bothering to even take a bath like he had planned, Minato walked calmly out of the men's baths and left a frozen Sannin in his wake.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at his desk contemplating over what was said at the Council meeting. Everything seemed to just explode with Naruto's graduation to Genin rank, and with his law being skillfully avoided at being broken, very few civilians were at the T.I department under the tender care of Ibiki. The few, however, were an example of what would come should it be broken anymore, and it seemed that the threat was being taken seriously. For once.

Danzo, Homura, and Koharu, all said to let them leave with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, as he had done so many times before. But now, he would be resolute. He had made a promise...and oath to Naruto and himself that he would not let this prejudice stand any longer without some sort of punishment. He knew that no matter what he did, he could never eradicate the hatred that he had allowed to fester toward Naruto, but he could be damn sure that he would stop it from growing until Naruto himself would be able to prove he was the son of the Villages beloved Yondaime Hokage.

He wouldn't lie to himeself, however. He knew that the glares the civilian council had leveled him would not be the last they would do. There was an unspoken promise in their glares, a promise that would undoubtedly harm Naruto in some way.

With narrowed eyes, he swore to himself that whatever happened, he would put a stop to it all before Naruto was hurt again.

He was the Hokage, he'd be damned before he let any of those ignorant civilians lay another hand on the blonde.

It was hardly a disinteresting day for Danzo Shimura.

Thanks to his ROOT ANBU, he had been the first (out of the original circle) to be informed that Naruto Uzumaki, the Jiinchuriki to the Kyuubi, had been given Genin rank after the test. It had been he who let the news leak through the proper channels, so that the other council members would find out through the villagers rather than the Hokage himself, leaving many members furious they were kept from such knowledge.

It would undoubtedly push the sad excuse of a Hokage to put the brat back to the Academy, and into the molding hands of his ANBU he had placed as an Instructor.

He was slightly surprised that Hiruzen gained backbone after so many years of cowing to their every demand. Surprising, and frustrating to no end.

Because of his sudden commanding demeanor, he had to throw away the plans he had set for the Uzumaki, and write up entirely new ones. Though, now that the boy was a shinobi, it would be slightly easier to bring him into his hold, considering he was to be partnered with the Uchiha prodigy.

It was a damned near perfect set up. What better way to kill two birds with one stone when said birds were a package deal?

"You will bring the boy to me. Unharmed." Danzo commanded one of his ROOT stationed at the door.

The white masked ANBU merely bowed in acceptance and disappeared into the shadows while Danzo sat in his chair, reading through numerous paperwork and reports with the speedy eidedic memory capability of the Sharingan.

His plan would succeed.

And he'd have both the Uchiha and Uzumaki as his weapons.

"Is this an accurate report?" a low deep voice demanded from a diminutive boy that kneeled in front of him.

"Ye-yes, it is accurate." the boy managed to whisper out.

The man looked at the report in his hands, and read through the detailed description. The news was something of great interest, after all, he was set to go to Konoha soon enough, what's to say he wouldn't come back without a little blonde, blue eyed souvenier?

At that thought, the man crackled a menacing laugh that shook the poor boy in front of him deeply. Whatever his master was planning after reading through his report...it would certainly not fare well for whoever else was involved.

He desperately hoped he wasn't one of those poor sods involved.

Minato took a long time walking back to his apartment. He didn't pay attention to those around him, though he vaguely remembered a surprised face of one Shikamaru Nara as he passed the Academy. He figured that would bite him in the butt later on, but for now, he just wanted to go home and sleep.

A part of him screamed to run back to Jiraiya, and explain everything to him...but he couldn't. Not to himself, and not to Naruto.

He just couldn't.

With a calming intake of breath, Minato walked into his apartment and began to write in his journal. Everything he had done and what had happened the past few days jotted down in detail with a slightly mechanical hand. As he wrote about Itachi Uchiha, he felt as though he were missing something.

Uchiha his mind repeated. The sudden attack of images from the battle between he and the Kyuubi suddenly sprung to his mind. Uchiha. The Sharingan... he wanted to curse and scream at himself for forgetting something so vital.

Uchiha.

Madara Uchiha.

The man he saw who was behind the attack on Konoha. The one who was controlling the Kyuubi. The man who had killed his wife, destroyed his life, and through that, killed his son.

A man who was supposed to have been dead for decades.

There was only one thing that ran through Minato's mind that summed up every possible outcome of this knowledge.

"Shit."

A/N: Reviews are loved.