Following the announcement of the engagement of between Naruto and Hinata, there was an immediate silence.
However, the silence did not last long, being quickly terminated by those closest to the young couple coming closer and offering all sorts of congratulations and compliments. So much was said all at once that it was impossible to tell who was saying what.
"Really? You're getting married?"
"How did he propose?"
"Never thought you'd be the first guy here to pop the question Naruto."
"When's the wedding?"
"Who are you getting to do the cake?"
"What kind of dress will you be wearing Hinata?"
While that was going two things were happening with those not as close to the couple or not close at all. A good portion left thinking this was a waste of time, though some did admit to themselves it was romantic, and those who remained were uncertain what to do. But it was clear they weren't going to get a chance to do anything until the commotion died down.
Said commotion continued, with more questions, praise, and some hugs for Hinata and pats on the back or good-natured punches in the arm for Naruto. The young couple knew that their friends would be excited and happy for them, but they were struggling to find a place to get a breath in edgewise, let alone a word.
Then, all of a sudden, both of them were covered in a puff of smoke and gone.
All of their friends were stunned silent by this, staring at where Naruto and Hinata used to be, blinking a bit.
"You got that out of your systems?" The real Naruto asked, coming into view from behind some trees with the real Hinata a moment later, holding hands.
"Sorry, I guess we did kind of get carried away." Ino sheepishly chuckled.
"But in our defense it was a big surprise." Tenten added.
It was then that that the father of the bride-to-be Hiashi stepped up. "I suppose I should be the first to give my official congratulations for this." He folded his arms behind his back and gave a small but genuine smile to the couple. "I will admit that Naruto was not the first candidate I had in mind when I thought about my eldest daughter's husband, those rare times I did think about it, but given the recent events that have occurred… I cannot think of a better man to love and protect her."
Naruto smiled with pride and Hinata could not help but blush slightly at hearing her father praise the man that she loved.
However the good feelings soon abated when one of the Hyuuga elders insisted on coming up alongside the clan head. "Hold on, don't be so hasty. You know any courtship cannot be that simple." The elder stated in a matter-of-factly
"Elder, he already approached me for my blessings, so that topic is over before it even comes up." Hiashi started.
"What about his social standing?" Another elder asked.
"What about it?" Tsunade asked, coming up towards the elders. "He is closely connected to both myself and Jiraiya, has the respect of the kazekage, and several members of royalty in other countries have nothing but praise for him. So in regards to Naruto's social status, quite frankly what more could you want?"
The first elder who had spoken was Hyuuga Kariya, an old frail-looking man with streaks of grey running through his dark hair. He had been part of the same graduating class as Sarutobi Hiruzen, but on a separate genin team. This made him one of the oldest, but not the oldest, elder of the clan. He cleared his throat and tried drawing himself up as to look more imposing.
"The Hyuuga clan is one of the oldest clans in the world, we were among the first to join Konoha upon its founding. Our bloodline can be traced back to the Ōtsutsuki clan."
This drew a murmur from the crowd, for the Ōtsutsuki clan had been legendary figures in the history of the shinobi world. They had produced some of the most powerful shinobi in the entire world, the most well-known member of that clan had been Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the Sage of the Six Paths. In modern times, there were very few surviving clans in the world who could claim to have descended from them. Many had tried, but many claims had been proven false or fabricated in the past, turning said clans into laughingstocks among their peers. The Senju, the Uchiha, and the Hyuuga were the only three clans who could, without question, claim to have the Ōtsutsuki clan within their ancestry.
Kariya then pointed to Naruto in an accusatory way. "This boy… is a nobody. Even his name is not his own. He is just an orphaned child with no heritage of his own."
Naruto could not help but lower his eyes slightly at that, being reminded of his low origins. Meanwhile Tsunade clenched her fist tightly and felt her blood start to boil inside of her.
Oblivious to the rage he was stoking in others, Kariya was on a roll now, spreading his arms like a showman and facing the remaining crowd of onlookers. "Maybe the rest of you are too young to remember the genuine Uzumaki, but I'm not. I've seen the real ones, they were admirable. Powerful warriors, a true force of nature in human form. Abrasive, but noble, and dare I say, inspirational. This boy..." He gestured towards Naruto. "...couldn't be less of an Uzumaki."
Hinata glared and grit her teeth. 'How dare that senile fossil stand there and say all that!'
"Well do something about it girl, or stand there and take it. It's not like you have other choices here." Rimona commented.
Hinata took a step forward ready to do something about it alright, but Sakura acted quicker, or at least moved quicker. "What the hell old man? Have you heard nothing about what Naruto has done over the years?!"
'Trust her to not hold back when she wants to say something.' Hinata thought gratefully.
"Yeah, what gives? Naruto just days ago kicked the ass of a jerk who wanted to rape Hinata!" Kiba defended.
"The Kazekage respects him more than he respects the Hokage." Shikamaru added. To which Tsunade nodded, showing no displeasure at being one-upped by the whiskered blonde in that regard.
"Not to mention that several countries are our allies because of him!" Ino jumped in. "I hear it all the time when people from Snow, Tea, Wave, or even Bird Country show up here. Each one of them says how much they appreciate what Naruto did for their leaders in the past. Naruto alone is responsible for at least half of our good economy."
That perked up the blonde jinchuuriki. While he knew he had done good things in previous missions and left good impressions outside Konoha, he had never considered how that in turn benefited Konoha. That made him feel a lot better, more worthy of Hinata in a way. Not that he felt he needed to prove it, but it did help the case in a way.
Unfortunately Kariya was less impressed. He rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and shook his head, acting as if everyone around him was literally saying 'blah blah blah'. "None of that changes the fact that he is nothing but an unclaimed child that even the Sandaime himself could not provide proof of lineage towards."
Naruto's friends and the adults who had respect for him all sported either looks of outrage or disgust at the Hyuuga elder's shallowness and elitism. Most of the rest of the crowd were not that surprised to hear him say this, but at the same time none of them were looking like they really cared what he was saying. They were just watching the scene unfold so they could talk about it later, this was just a gossip topic to them right now.
"Our clan head here says he has given this boy, who has absolutely no background and for all we know appeared out of thin air one day, his permission to marry into one of the most noble clans of the village. The sheer audacity of it makes me want to laugh. And it is my duty, as one of the elders of the Hyuuga clan, to ensure that our bloodline does not become tainted to allowing it to mix with an inferior-"
Kariya got no further, because before another vile world could pass through his lips he was punched hard across his entitled face, sending him into the dirt several meters away from where he had been standing.
"LADY TSUNADE?!" Shizune cried as she held Tonton in her arms, the small pig burrowing his head deep into the sleeve of her outfit, as he could sense trouble in the air.
The blonde-haired kunoichi stood above the elder who still laid on the ground, blood dripping from his broken nose and several of his teeth knocked loose. Many gathered around to help him up, mostly Hyuuga, and a good number of them looked towards the Hokage with a mixture of fear and shock. Thankfully none of them were admonishing her for her actions.
"You asshole! You couldn't care less about his personality or achievement? It's his background that defines him in your eye?" Tsunade asked through gritted teeth, glaring at the injured old man. "If Naruto's genetics are what matter, then allow me to enlighten you."
The slug summoner then strode forward and took her place next to Naruto, taking his free hand and raising it high into the air. "This boy… his name is Uzumaki Naruto, but this was not a name assigned to him at some orphanage. It was the name given to him by his parents."
Naruto looked at Tsunade with a shocked expression. "What?"
Tsunade ignored him and looked out among the faces of the crowd. She knew that there would be reprisals for what she was about to do, but at this moment she did not care. She was not going to let a bitter old man ruin this boy's chance at happiness just because said old man couldn't not judge a book by it's cover. "His mother was Uzumaki Kushina of the Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure. And his father was Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha."
An immediate silence fell over the crowd, everyone looked as if they had just seen an alien spaceship land before them. Eyes kept darting back and forth from Tsunade to Naruto. Hinata had her mouth covered from shock, Hiashi looked as if he had just swallowed a lemon. And Naruto, he suddenly felt very weak and sick to his stomach.
"That... that's impossible." Another elder spouted in disbelief.
"Hold on, look at him. His hair and eyes, they do resemble Namikaze-sama." Another elder commented.
"You know, now that you mention it..." One of the onlookers who wasn't Hyuuga added, looking at Naruto as if seeing him for the first time.
Tsunade smiled triumphantly, but that weakened when she felt Naruto jerk his hand away from her. She turned towards him, and to her shock saw an expression of rage on his face. Rage he was suppressing, but clearly there.
"Naruto? What's wrong?" She asked, not anticipating this at all.
Naruto stepped away from her, trembling in anger. His friends noticed and asked similar questions, but he avoided eye contact with all of them. Only Hinata came up to him and gently put her arm around him. He leaned into her and put his face between her shoulder and neck, looking like he might be crying a little now. Hinata wrapped her other arm around him and patted his back.
"I love you Naruto-kun." She whispered.
"I need to go home." He whispered back.
"Then let's go home."
"I'm sorry." He added, sounding ashamed of himself.
"Don't, it's not your fault."
Everyone watched them walk away, several of them tempted to follow but all withheld themselves. Tsunade felt the worst, wondering what she did wrong.
The stories were spreading through Konoha like a wildfire, all of them centered around Naruto and Hinata getting married but that was quickly overshadowed by the revelation that Naruto, the boy who was best known among people as the one who had once defaced the Hokage monument, was in fact the son of Namikaze Minato, the Yellow Flash, the man who had defeated the Kyuubi.
Virtually every reaction possible to this news was being played out somewhere in the village, in one way or another.
Knowing it was a matter of time before someone, or a particular group of someones, would have a problem with this, Tsunade had quickly gathered some Anbu and ordered them to inform all council members to attend a meeting that would take place in two hours. Some had already been there and didn't need to be told a second time.
'Okay, here we go.' Tsunade thought, standing before the door to Naruto's apartment. She had waited an hour already, hopefully giving him time to calm down and be soothed by Hinata's love. Now should be a good time to speak to him. She knocked on the door.
There was no answer.
"Naruto?" She knocked again. "Naruto, it's me. I want to talk to you."
There was no response, at least not until she was about to knock again. A shirtless Naruto in his boxers answered the door, looking rather annoyed.
"At least you didn't open the door and invite yourself in." He muttered, then disappeared revealing it was just a clone. Though strangely the boxers fell to the floor, showing they had at least been right.
'Why would a clone be wearing real clothes?' She asked herself, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. Seeing the apartment being empty, she looked around until she saw the bedroom door ajar. Inside there was a naked Naruto and Hinata on the bed, the blanket covering Naruto's lower half and everything below Hinata's shoulders. 'Well that answers that.'
"Make it quick." Naruto ordered, still looking mad at her. Hinata didn't look too happy either.
"Dammit Naruto what is the matter here? Why are you acting like someone spat in your ramen or something? I honestly don't get you right now."
The whiskered blonde crossed his arms. "Maybe you don't deserve to know. After all, apparently I didn't deserve to know the truth about my parents."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "What are you going on about? Of course you deserved to know. I told you didn't I?"
"No, you didn't. You told that old guy, I just happened to be there."
"Naruto, that is not what happened."
"So if that elder had said nothing, you would have still made the big reveal then Senju-sama?" Hinata asked, surprising the older woman with both the anger in her voice and the choice in title used for her.
Tsunade couldn't answer, and the worst part was it wasn't because she didn't know the answer, it was because she did.
Hinata moved off the bed, not bothering to keep her nude body covered anymore. "I know you thought you were helping Naruto-kun, but you did it in a very wrong way. You weren't telling him who his parents were because it was his right to know, you were telling an old man that in order to get him to shut up. If Naruto-kun hadn't been there, you still would have told the elder to shut him up, but if the elder hadn't been there, you would have kept your mouth shut instead. That is like saying complete strangers have more of a right to know who Naruto-kun's parents are than he does."
"That's not how it is." Tsunade defended.
"Why should I believe you?" Naruto demanded. "There's no way in hell you just found out today. I don't know how long you've known, but you've known, and I bet you're not the only one who knew. I bet even Ero-sennin knows too. You've known for I don't know how long, and you kept telling yourself I didn't need to know. And now you expect me to be happy I finally get to know? You know how many times I've asked to know who my parents were? Do you?"
Tsunade could only shake her head, starting to understand his ire.
"More times than I can remember, and every single time the answer was the same. I got nothing. Not. A. Thing. No names, no details, not even a 'they loved you Naruto'. It's like I just popped out of the ground like a mushroom. No wonder everyone thought I was Kyuubi, why wouldn't they if there were no parents or relatives there to claim me? I asked everyone I could who my parents were, even you, and no one said anything. Yet some cranky old bastard stands there saying my family isn't good enough for him, and then all of a sudden someone gives an answer."
"It's like you're not even defending Naruto-kun. You were defending his parents." Hinata added.
Tsunade hung her head, feeling rather ashamed of herself. "That's not what I was intending... but I can see why you'd see it that way." She then slowly looked back to both of them. "I'm surprised you're not trying to deny it, claiming it's a lie or something."
"People are going to want proof, and so do I. If it is a lie, we'll find out soon enough. If it's not, I'm not making any promises about what comes next." Naruto claimed.
"Naruto-kun deserves everything that's due to him." Hinata stated firmly. "There was never one day he didn't deserve to know who his parents were or if they loved him."
"It was for his own safety. Minato and Kushina had a lot of enemies." Tsunade justified.
Hinata rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, because as a ninja and a jinchuuriki he never had any enemies before."
"Aru, Zabuza, Orochimaru, Kabuto, the Akatsuki, Sasuke, Mizuki, even Gaara for a time. All of them tried to kill me, and not a single one of them had my parents as an excuse." Naruto claimed, counting each name on his fingers.
Tsunade sighed in defeat. "Guess I can't argue with that. I'm sorry I never said a word, and I'm sorry you had to find out in a less than desirable way. All I can say in my defense is at the time it all made sense."
"Well that time is over. The cat's out of the bag and I'm not letting you put it back in. And there better not be more in that bag either. Are you hiding anything else from me?" Naruto all but threatened.
"I've called for a meeting in less than an hour. I'll be sure to let you have all the information there, this way we can make sure no one else is withholding anything." She assured him.
"Good, then I better get washed." He commented, throwing off the blanket and standing up with a stretch.
Tsunade quickly adverted her eyes. "I did not need to see that."
"Consider that punishment for everything I'm mad about right now."
Tsunade left the room and Naruto went into the bathroom, turning on the shower. But before she left, Tsunade was stopped by Hinata.
"Senju-sama, I just want you to know that if Naruto-kun gets hurt like this again tonight that pleasure isn't the only thing succubi know how to make people experience."
The blonde kunoichi nodded, and as she left the apartment Hinata joined Naruto in his shower.
The time came and a clean but still unhappy Naruto was inside the council meeting room with the Hokage Tower. With him of course was Hinata, seated beside him in the spot usually reserved for guest speakers to these meetings. Kariya had been there too, with an ice pack held to his face to deal with the swelling. He hadn't been invited, but he insisted on being present. Hiashi allowed it only to see him forced to eat crow and Tsunade allowed it if only to see how deep his denial would be here.
"Okay, we're all here." Tsunade said when everyone was seated. Though there was a notable absence of Homura, Koharu, and Danzou, but no one commented on it. "I assume everyone knows why we're here though."
"This is outrageous." Kariya declared, careless for any decorum right now. "How can this boy-" He pointed to Naruto, who was giving him a stink eye look matched by the one Hinata was giving the elder too. "How can he possibly be the son of the Fourth Hokage?"
"Well you see old man, when a man and a woman love each other very much..." Shikaku started to joke.
"Technically, they don't have to love each other." Tsume added.
Shikaku nodded. "That is true."
"Enough." Tsunade warned, not wanting this to get out of hand. "I have the proof to confirm what I said."
"What proof exactly?" Hiashi asked, he too had been taken aback by this announcement of Naruto's parentage and wanted to have it clarified.
"Let's start with this." Tsunade reached for a briefcase leaning against the legs of her chair and opened it, withdrawing a manila envelope. She opened it up and withdrew two documents that she laid before her. Everyone leaned in to try and get a look at them, but Hiashi and Kariya used their byakugans to see from where they were. Naruto however remained seated, as if disinterested, and Hinata ignored the evidence as well.
The first document Tsunade provided was an ultra-sound picture, one that clearly showed a fetus forming within the womb. The second document was a medical report from the Konoha hospital. The report explained that the ultrasound had revealed that the child was a health appearing male. It noted the names of the parents as being Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato. It also had the name of the signing doctor as Senju Tsunade.
"Well I'll be." Chouza said mirthfully.
"Such documents can easily be forged." Kariya said arrogantly. "The entire village knows that you have shown leniency and favor to the boy, it is not impossible to imagine that you have fabricated these documents."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "And have you ever wondered why I would show favor to a boy who by all rights I should have pummeled into the earth long ago? Did you think I was just being nice? Naruto and I are not simply bound together by the will of fire… but also by blood."
"What do you mean Hokage-sama?" Hinata asked softly.
Tsunade took a deep breath. "My grandfather, as you all know, was Senju Hashirama, the co-founder of Konoha and the First Hokage. However, his wife, my grandmother was Uzumaki Mito. The Uzumaki and the Senju clan have always been related to each other, they're distant cousins who split from the main Senju clan long ago." She then looked right to Kariya. "So you could say, Konoha has a fourth clan that can claim to be the descendants of the Ōtsutsuki clan."
Several members of the councils looked towards each other, taking this in.
"Despite the split, the Senju and Uzumaki still maintained close ties and often formed marriage pacts. My grandmother had a younger brother, who eventually assumed the leadership of the Uzumaki clan. He had a son, Uzumaki Saishu who would also assume leadership of the clan and one day had children of his own, one of them was Kushina. So Naruto's mother was my second cousin."
Kariya once again looked like she was just making noise rather than talking. "Again, such stories can easily be altered and fabricated. What real proof do you have?"
"That proof should be coming in right about…"
Suddenly the doors to the meeting room opened with a loud practically explosive bang just before the three uninvited members of the Konoha Council walked into the room. Homura and Koharu had angry looks on their faces, yet Danzo seemed very calm. Following behind them was Kakashi whose good eye darted to Naruto and then to Tsunade. Kakashi's expression was unreadable, even by his standards.
"What. Have. You. Done?" Homura demanded, barging right past the shinobi members then slamming his hands on the desk of Tsunade like an angry teacher confronting a student in front of the class. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
Tsunade stood up, her gaze cutting right through the older man. "I told the people the truth."
"You had no right to tell anyone anything, especially him!" Koharu protested as she pointed to Naruto. Her tone and expression made it look like in her eyes Naruto knowing this was morally offensive to her.
"Then who does have the right if not me?" Tsunade countered. "Obviously not you since you clearly had no intention of him knowing, so who does?"
"You have no idea the can of worms you have opened up here Tsunade."
"That's Hokage-sama to you, and if you can't answer my question I have no reason to believe you are fit to decide anything on this matter."
"Pardon me, Hokage-sama, but what is going on here?" Hiashi interjected.
Tsunade immediately gestured to Kakashi who stepped forward. "Well, my gut told me that physical evidence wouldn't be enough for some people here, so I asked Hatake Kakashi to show up as well. Shame he still can't be on time, even when the importance is stressed."
Kakashi shrugged. "Got a reputation to maintain after all."
Tsunade was not amused, but ignored it. "So, Kakashi, you are known and respected by the citizens of this village and despite some unsavory parts of that reputation of yours, I doubt anyone would truly call you a liar. So answer me this… you were the student to Namikaze Minato were you not?"
Kakashi was quiet for a moment, and he nodded his head. "Yes, I was."
"And you respected him, didn't you?"
Kakashi narrowed his eye. "Of course I did. I would never not do that."
"Therefore, you would never say anything false about your sensei. And you would immediately defend his honor and memory if a lie was ever spoken about him. Is that right?" Tsunade continued.
Again Kakashi nodded his head.
"Then please would you answer for everyone here… was Namikaze Minato married to Uzumaki Kushina?"
"DON'T SAY A WORD!" Homura shouted at Kakashi.
"Was Minato married to Kushina? Yes or no." Tsunade repeated.
"Don't answer that!" Koharu threatened.
"Yes." Kakashi said, much to the elder's displeasure.
"And you have proof of this?" Tsunade asked.
Slowly and with great deliberation, Kakashi withdraw a piece of parchment. It was folded and wrinkled, and upon sight Koharu tried to snatch it out of his hands. However he was still an active jounin while the closest thing to ninja work she had done in over twenty years was cut her own meat. He moved aside and got on the side of Tsunade opposite Homura then handed it to her. Homura tried to snatch it again but she grabbed his hand, the sound of bones snapping easily audible.
Homura backed away, clutching his hand, and Tsunade unfolded the parchment and laid it out for everyone to see. It was a marriage certificate, testifying to the union between Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. And one of the names on the document as witness to the event was Hatake Kakashi.
The councils, both shinobi and civilian, looked at this with interest. The shinobi were asking themselves how they could have not known before or forgotten so much. The civilians were starting to wonder if perhaps they had overreacted when it came to Naruto all those years ago. Danzou looked strangely calm, but both Homura and Koharu looked like they were about to murder someone here.
"This... this can't be. It can't be real." Kariya sputtered, looking like he was seeing something he didn't want to see. "The boy can't be the son of the Yondaime. He's not supposed to be."
"Old man, with no due respect, blow it out your ass." Naruto couldn't resist saying.
"I agree." Hinata added.
"And now Kakashi, with all that said, could you please clarify one other detail? Is Naruto in fact the son of Minato and Kushina?" Tsunade asked.
"NO! I FORBID THIS CONVERSATION FROM GOING ANY FURTHER! I FORBID IT!" Homura shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Lady Tsunade, think about what you are doing. Do you have any idea of the consequences that could come from this?" Koharu pleaded desperately. "You can stop this now before it goes any further."
Tsunade gave the older woman an ugly look. "I might believe your concerns have merit if I didn't already believe they're purely selfish." She then looked back to the cycloptic jounin. "Answer the question Kakashi."
Kakashi was silent, then slowly he turned his head to look at Naruto. The boy looked back, and there was a definite bit of bitterness in his eyes. Kakashi could tell Naruto was putting the pieces together and not liking the picture he was getting from it. This made him mentally sigh, knowing he'd have a lot to answer for in regards to his student later.
"Yes, Naruto is and has always been their son."