Chapter 6: Knowing One's Pain
This is fic is loosely inspired after reading "councils folly" by "Agamemnon". I have changed it accordingly to suit my story.
I would like to give credit to the base plot to him.
I do not own Naruto or any of its character
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Thank you for so many reviews for the last chapter, most were positive but a few didn't like I included Hinata and the way I included her.
I want to make it clear to everyone that Hinata and Naruto won't magically fall in love with each other for that matter nor will Temari and Naruto. Hinata and Naruto won't know about the contract anytime soon and the contents of the contract is not yet disclosed so please stop assuming things and come to wrong conclusions.
Love will happen gradually by understanding one another, knowing each other's quirks and good points and still caring for the other.
As for the third girl it will be in a later stage and when the time comes I'll put up a poll or something.
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In Konoha:
The Sand siblings were completely astounded as they made their way towards Naruto's house. A month back they were attacking on this place and trying to destroy it, now one of them would have to live their life here.
Temari was growing nervous thinking of the kind of treatment she would get from the general populace of Konoha, they arrived at Naruto's house and Temari was a little impressed with it, the house was by means not a mansion but a simple duplex, as she entered the house she saw that it was a typical boy's house which needed a bit of woman's touch.
"Alright guys let me give you a your of the house, it won't take long." Naruto said to the siblings
The trio of sand ninja nodded to this and followed Naruto.
"This the ground floor, it has only living room, kitchen and a guest room, this were you guys can sleep for now, if you are not comfortable sharing a bed then one of you has to take the couch"
Before Naruto could continue Gaara spoke
"I don't need sleep, Kankuro can take the room"
Kankuro wanted to argue but stopped as he saw Gaara's face which showed he was in no mood to argue.
"Fine" Kankuro replied.
"This where my room and Temari's room is located" Naruto said
Temari was once again surprised to hear this from the blond, she thought they had to stay in the same room even if they weren't married she knew they would be engaged in a few days and couple who are politically engaged tended to stay in the same room to show the society that their relationship would be a success.
"Gaara and Kankuro can you both give me and some Temari some time, I need to talk with her about some things" Naruto asked in a serious tone.
Both Gaara and Kankuro were surprised to hear the seriousness in the Naruto's voice and just nodded and made their way downstairs.
Temari was getting nervous about this talk, she thought that she would talk with him after a few days but she wasn't prepared to talk with him now.
"Temari-san I wanted you to know that I've agreed to this marriage only for the sake my village and I believe even you must have agreed for the same reason" Naruto asked
"Hai, I never thought that I would be used as a bargaining chip for my village but as a kunoichi I needed to think about the safety of my village, so I agreed." Temari replied
"Temari-san before we both dive inside this relationship I wanted you to know something's about me" Naruto said with a hint of sadness inside his voice.
Temari was curious as to what the news was, as it was important enough for him to say to her now as she didn't miss the sadness in his voice.
"Temari-san I'm not well liked in the village, no I'm downright hated by most of the village, I'm just like your brother I have a tailed beast sealed inside of me as well and if you marry me you will most likely be treated in the same way as me by the villagers, I'm saying this now because I don't want you to ruin your life by getting married to me" Naruto said to Temari with his head hung down.
Temari was completely surprise by the blond's words, no she was not surprised by the news of him being a jhinchuriki as she figured it out when Gaara had told her that Naruto was just like him, no she was surprised by his pure heart.
He was giving her a way out of this marriage as nobody knew about this news about him apart from Gaara and she could bring it up with the council and cancel the whole marriage, but if she did that will she be any different from the people who treated her brother wrongly simply because of what was inside of him.
No, this boy here had helped her brother and bought her family back to her, at the least she could do was so show him that not everybody thought of him as monster. Even if no love was possible for them in this relationship there could be a bond of trust between them and a bond of friendship. She decided to embrace this relationship with him and try to make it work.
Temari hugged Naruto fiercely and spoke to him with a few tears falling from her eyes
"Naruto I know about you, it's not hard to figure it out when my brother told me that you were like him and I want to you to know that I'm fine with it, as for not marrying you let's just say if I say no they will marry me off to someone else and I don't want that, I'd rather marry someone I know."
"My brother speaks highly of you, you brought him back to me and for that I'm forever in your debt. Let's try and be friends for now, we can think about other stuff later in the future."
Naruto was shocked that temari was accepting him, for now he had a new friend in his life who would accept him for whom he was.
"Arigato Temari-san I'll try my best to be your friend Believe it!" Naruto said to Temari with full conviction in his voice
Temari just giggled at his proclamation and thought
'Definitely a better choice than the broody Uchiha'
"And Naruto, none of this san stuff just call me by my name and I'll call you by your name"
"Hai Temari"
Both just laughed once again and made their way towards the living room where Gaara and Kankuro were sitting.
Tsunade smiled as she saw the whole event through the crystal ball in the Hokage chamber.
Even though Shizune had scolded Tsunade about invading Naruto's privacy, Tsunade had said that she was doing some protective surveillance on her son.
'My Sochi will be fine with this girl; I just need to talk to her once' Tsunade thought to herself.
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Hinata was smiling as she made her way towards her clan compound; the reason for her happiness was the talk The Hokage had with her before she was released from the hospital.
Flashback:
"Ohayo Hinata" Tsunade greeted Hinata as she entered the room
"Ohayo Hokage-sama" Hinata greeted back.
"How are you doing Hinata, feeling better" Tsunade asked
"I'm alright hokage-sama" Hinata replied sadly.
"Hinata I know the reason for your sadness and I wish to tell you something that might help you" Tsunade said to Hinata.
Hinata was curious as to what might help her as she couldn't think of anything which could help her.
"Hinata what I'm about say cannot be said outside until its announced, if the news gets out then Naruto's life will be in danger."
Hinata was now very alert she didn't want anything to happen to her love.
"Hokage-sama whatever it is I won't say it to anyone."
"Hinata I want you to listen to me without interrupting me, alright" Tsunade said.
To which Hinata just nodded.
"Hinata, Naruto is from Uzumaki clan he recently found out about it, his mother was from this clan, Naruto is the last of his clan in Konoha and when he reaches the rank of chunin he will be granted clan status, I believe you can understand where this is going."
Hinata was surprised by this revelation about Naruto, when she heard that he was the last of his clan she understood what was going to be said.
Hinata nodded her head at Tsunade, with a light smile on her face.
"Hinata since you already know about CRA I won't explain it, but I want to make it clear to you that you have to earn your love from Naruto."
"Do you know the difference between you and the rest of the fangirls?" Tsunade asked.
Hinata just shook her head.
"You at least try and improve yourself by training your kunoichi skills. I'll be honest with you the way you are right now I don't think you will be able to win Naruto's affection."Tsunade said to Hinata honestly.
Hinata face fell once again as the Hokage just outright said that she was not worthy of Naruto's feelings
"But, I know you have the Will to change that, I want you to improve your confidence, skills. I want you to get Naruto to notice you for who you are, I'm willing to help you in that regard but are you willing to improve yourself?"Tsunade asked the pale eyed beauty.
"Hai, Hokage-sama for Naruto-kun I'll improve myself."Hinata replied with fierce determination shinning in her eyes.
Tsunade smiled at hearing this declaration and ruffled the hair on Hinata's head.
"Alright then I'm going to assign you a mentor apart from Kurenai who will help you with your issues, I'm warning you for the foreseeable future you will be very busy with all your training."
Hinata smiled once again and nodded her head at this.
"You will be released from the hospital today, you can return to your compound but rest for a few more days before commencing training and inform your sensei about this" tsunade said as she was leaving the room.
Hinata was happy, for now she still had the chance to gain her beloved's love for her.
Flashback End
Hinata entered the clan compound and made her way towards her father's study to talk to him about Hokage-sama's offer.
Hinata knocked on the door and entered the study when she got the permission from her father.
"Otou-sama"
"Hinata it's good to see you back, I hope you talked with Hokage-sama cleared everything for you" Hiashi said to Hinata with a small smile on his face.
"Hai Otou-sama, Lady Tsunade will be assigning a new mentor for me along with Kurenai- sensei to train"
"Hmm that's good and I hope your training will be helpful for you to achieve your dream." Hiashi said to Hinata.
"Arigato Otou-sama, I'll try my best" with that said Hinata started to move out of her father's study.
"Hinata before you go, come here for a minute" Hiashi asked Hinata
"Here pour some of your chakra into this paper" Hiashi said to Hinata s he handed her a chakra paper.
Hinata did as she was asked by her father and poured some of her chakra into the paper; the paper reacted by dampening at the centre and crumpling at the edges.
Hiashi looked amazed while Hinata looked confused at this reaction.
"Hmm no wonder you were having problems with your Jyuken, I should have checked your affinity long time back." Hiashi said to Hinata
"What are you saying Otou-sama?" Hinata asked with confusion clear on her face.
"Hinata as you know the Jyuken style is based on earth affinity with rigid katas, but your natural affinity is the opposite of that, hence you have problem with your Jyuken."
Hinata's face fell with sadness at hearing this, Hiashi saw this and told her
"It's not a problem Hinata, my mother also had the same problem, she created a new style of Jyuken for herself and for anyone who had the affinity of water in the clan, I'll bring out those scrolls for you to practice from the library." Hiashi said
Hinata's face got some more hope as she now knew the problem for her inability to perform classic Jyuken and her father's help along with her mentor's help she could improve herself.
This had to be one of the happiest days for her since her mother died.
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Dinner at Naruto's house had gone pretty smoothly, Temari and her brothers were impressed with Naruto's cooking skill; they all wanted to rest as they had a long day and made their way towards their respective rooms.
As soon as everyone left Gaara made his way towards Naruto's room, he knocked once and entered the room and saw the blonde had already changed into his sleeping attire.
Naruto saw Gaara standing near his room and invited him to his room.
"Uzumaki I wish to speak to you, come with me to the roof" Gaara said and made his towards the roof.
Naruto didn't really think much and just followed Gaara to the roof of the house.
Gaara stood there watching the stars in the clear night sky; wind blew gently in the direction of the forest which could be seen from the house. The whole scene was giving a calming effect to the Sand Jhinchuriki.
"Hey Gaara what is it that you wanted to talk to me about." Naruto asked Gaara as he came and stood beside him
"Uzumaki, I wanted to thank you for sparing me and teaching the right way for gaining strength" Gaara said bluntly.
"Hey no need for thanks and all Gaara, how could I not help you when I saw the same eyes as mine and no need to use surname and all you can call me Naruto." Naruto said a bit embarrassed.
Gaara just nodded his head at continued
"Naruto I wanted to understand a bit of your pain, I'm still trying to figure out how to come out of my hate filled past and how I can get the people of my village to acknowledge me."
Naruto was surprised by this request as he still hadn't earned the acknowledgement of the entire village.
"Gaara first tell me how the people of your villagers treated you and then I'll tell you my pain."
"In my village people were scared, they would give me a look which showed fear towards me; whenever I went to play with children of age they would even let me near them."
"The sand wouldn't let anyone touch me and I didn't know what it felt like to be touched by anyone other than myself or the warmth of a mother. I recently experienced it with Temari about love and all sort of different feelings." Gaara finished.
Naruto was convinced that it wasn't Gaara's fault that he had turned into homicidal maniac.
"Well Gaara I can't say that my life was as bad as yours but in some cases it was worse than yours."
"My life here was very bad, people refused to acknowledge my presence they used to refer me as 'it', like I was some kind of thing. For the first four years of my life I didn't even know what my name was, only after I was thrown out from the orphanage at the age of four and when I was found by The Sandaime Hokage did I get to know that my name was 'Uzumaki Naruto'.
I didn't know how to read and write as no one would teach me and when I went to academy my education was sabotaged by my own sensei's, to get people's attention towards me I resorted to pulling pranks."
"Only after I met the Ichiraku ramen stand owner and his daughter did I have some social interaction and after sometime Iruka-sensei came into my life and tried his best to help me."
"While your village hated you they acknowledged your presence, but my village downright neglected me, you are lucky you couldn't sleep because when I was younger I would wake up from a nightmare and would find no one to comfort me, I would just stare at an empty apartment and cry myself to sleep again." Naruto said with tears falling from his face
Gaara still couldn't believe how this person survived and didn't become a monster like he used to be.
"But now I have some people who care for me as though I'm a part of their family" Naruto finished with a smile on his face.
"Gaara, on my first mission outside the village I met a person who told me that True strength comes only when we have someone precious to protect"
"I wish to be strong Gaara so I can protect everyone who is precious to me; you and sister are precious to me because I consider you as one of my friend and your sister because even after knowing about my burden she is willing to be my friend."
Naruto said as he hugged Gaara with a smile o his face.
Gaara was stunned at the contact and returned the hug; he now knew his sister would be safe with Naruto.
"Naruto I just wanted to tell you, Temari is like my mother to me please don't hurt her in anyway"
Naruto pulled away from Gaara and smiled brightly at him and said
"Gaara I promise to keep your sister always happy and try my best not to hurt her intentionally Believe It"
Gaara just nodded and sat down to look at the stars and Naruto joined him.
Unknown to them Temari had heard their conversation, as she had seen Naruto follow Gaara to the roof, she was curious as to what the two of them would do.
Temari after hearing her brother end Naruto explain what they had to go through in their childhood had started to cry, but when she heard her brother say he thought of her as his mother she ran back to her room.
She cried her eyes out in her room and decided to help out both her brother and her future husband to the best of her ability. She knew she had a lot to fix, with the emotional scar on both of their hearts but she would do it. She slept after a few minutes as the day's exhaustion took over her.
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Morning came quickly to the residents of Konoha as Temari and Naruto were already up and getting ready to meet the Hokage for the swearing in ceremony of Temari as a kunoichi of Konoha.
"Ohayo Temari, want to have some breakfast" Naruto greeted Temari as she came down from her room.
"Hai Naruto, so what have you prepared for breakfast?"Temari asked as she made her way towards the dining table.
"Eggs and bacon nothing special" Naruto replied as he served her some of the breakfast.
Temari smiled at this gesture and ate them; she was still surprised as he clearly was a better cook than her.
"You really are a wonderful cook Naruto; I'm really a lucky girl" Temari teased Naruto.
Naruto just blushed at the praise he received and scratched the back of his neck.
They both finished their breakfast in relative silence, as they both finished and made their way towards the Hokage tower.
"Temari where are your brother's?"Naruto asked.
"Oh they both left to meet with Baki-sensei and the other members of the Suna envoy."
"Oh alright, so do you have anything in mind to do after the swearing ceremony." Naruto asked Temari.
"Nothing much, why do you ask?" Temari asked
"Oh I thought you might want to get a tour of the village" Naruto told Temari.
Temari was once again pleasantly surprised by Naruto's offer.
"OK Naruto after we finish the swearing in ceremony you can take me on the tour of the village." Temari said happily
Naruto was happy to see Temari reacting positively to his efforts to get to know one another.
Naruto and Temari made their way towards the Hokage tower and entered the chamber to see all the important parties present in the chamber.
"Since everyone has come we shall start the proceedings" Tsunade said to everyone in the chamber.
"Temari come forward and repeat after me"
Temari came forward and repeated all the vows said by Tsunade.
After the ceremony was completed Temari was given a Konoha Hiaitae and chunin flak jacket. All the members of the Suna envoy soon left after finalising the marriage contract which would be activated when Temari reached the age of sixteen.
"Naruto go outside and wait for Temari, I need to talk with her about some important matters" Tsunade said to Naruto.
Naruto saw the seriousness in his mother's face and made his way outside the room and waited for Temari.
"So what is it you wish to talk with me Hokage-sama" Temari asked Tsunade.
"I have a lot of things to discuss, but the most important thing to discuss would be about his clan and his inclusion in CRA."
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So how was the chapter please read and review.
Some readers might assume that I bashed Hinata in this chapter, please refrain from flaming because of that.
I'm not Bashing any characters I'm only showing my prespective of the character.
Anyways till next time
Ja Ne.