Shikaku walked into his home in a melancholic mood.
He said nothing as he trudged through his home. Finding who he was looking for, he went straight to her and hugged her from behind. He inhaled deeply, just basking in her presence, needing the reinsurance she presented.
Yoshino was a bit startled at the sudden show of affection her husband is presenting to her, but she stayed silent. She sensed that something was deeply bothering him. He hadn't been this somber since the Third Shinobi War when they both held each other whenever they could, glad that the other is still alive.
'What happened for him to need reinsurance?' Yoshino thought to herself as she turned around and returned the hug.
After a long moment, Shikaku was able to collect himself. "Thank you, No No-chan."
"Of course, Kaku-kun. What happened? What's wrong?" Yoshino asked softly.
"I'm not proud of a choice I was forced to make. I betrayed one of my fellow Konoha comrades. I betrayed one of Konoha's most loyal shinobi. I betrayed Minato and Kushina's only child. Again." Shikaku replied, sounding incredibly morose.
"Are you able to give me details?" Yoshino asked tentatively. She knew that some topics discussed in Council meetings cannot be spoken to just anyone.
So she was happy when he nodded, but that happiness vanished when she was told the root of the problem.
The Inuzuka Matriarch sat on the roof of her home staring at the moon, and letting tears flow from her eyes.
The emotional turmoil she previously felt is finally being released. It became harder to hold it in when the Hokage directed her gaze at her.
Tonight was the second time she betrayed the pup of her friend Kushina. She knew the struggle the poor pup went through, but her hands were tied. If she were to adopt him, or give him any help, then the Inuzuka clan would lose it's prestige in the eyes of the civilian population, and the Inuzuka usually have kids with civilians.
She could've helped him in secret, but she was scared she would've been found out, so she stayed awake every night looking towards the village, wondering in which alleyway that poor child slept in.
Tonight, though, she fucked him over a second time, and her heart is having a hard time coming to terms with that.
'I'm sorry, Kushina-chan.'
Hiashi was almost giddy when he walked into his study.
The foolish Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was going to be permanently removed, and Hinata will no longer be distracted and she can properly be molded to become the perfect heiress, just like her sister.
'It's a shame, but the rules of succession cannot be broken' Hiashi thought to himself. If it weren't for those rules, then Hiashi would've made Hanabi the heiress long ago.
He knew that Hinata held back in the spars she had with her sister. Everyone but Hanabi knew. 'That gentle nature of Hinata's will have to go. Not only she doing herself a disservice, but she's also making Hanabi grow complacent and arrogant, two things a shinobi should not have in the field.'
'Hinata will either be better, or she will be removed.' Hiashi thought as he ignored the portrait of his dead wife that seemed to be glaring at him.
Most people see an Aburame clan member, and incorrectly assume that they are completely incapable of seeing anything emotionally.
Just because they prioritize logic, doesn't mean they completely ignore emotions.
So the current Aburame Clan Head, Shibi, knew that in both a logical and an emotional sense, punishing one Uzumaki Naruto was wrong, but there was nothing he could do.
His wife died during a mission, and his adopted son was taken away. He will not lose his remaining son.
"Tou-san? I'm home. Something troubles you?" He heard his son ask. It seems his son has returned from the mission he went on with his cousins.
"Hello, Shino-kun. Welcome home. Yes, something does trouble me. Today I was forced to do something that was both logical and illogical."
"What do you mean, tou-san? How can something be both logical and illogical?" Shino asked as he sat down.
"You will be told soon anyways, so I'll tell you now and ask you to keep it a secret before it is told to the public. Your friend and comrade, Naruto Uzumaki was banished tonight after successfully returning the Uchiha from defecting from Konoha." Shibi decided to just rip the bandaid off. Despite Shino's outward calmness, Shibi could tell just how agitated he was by the loud buzzing his comrades produced.
"Why?"
"I was forced to do so. It was either this, or the Leaf will fall into a Civil War, and the other countries will want to take advantage. I know this is a lot to take in, Shino-kun, even I am still trying to come to terms with it, but know that Uzumaki did absolutely nothing wrong, so you may continue to consider him a friend."
"I see. Goodnight, tou-san. I have much to think on." Shino said before walking away.
Inoichi Yamanaka was not just one of the high ranking members of the Torture and Interrogation Force, but he was also the foremost shinobi therapist.
Most shinobi wear emotional masks so that they don't scare the civilian population by showing the horrors of the shinobi world.
Some notable people who wear emotional masks would be Maito Guy and his boisterous attitude along with his need to wear bright green to hide the pain from the things he's witnessed as an elite jonin.
Kakashi Hatake acts aloof, reads smut in public, and is habitually late to every meeting. He'd be a kage level shinobi by now if he'd train seriously instead focusing on the past. The death of his entire team really shattered him.
Anko Mitarashi, Inoichi's coworker, hides the pain of constantly being distrusted by her fellow shinobi in a mask of insanity. She acts crazy to keep those who would harm her away.
Naruto Uzumaki. Inoichi sighs as he sips his tea. Naruto Uzumaki has been forced to wear his idiot mask to lessen the attacks onto his person.
Seeing one so young having to wear an emotional mask really bothered Inoichi. With the treatment he's received from the village, he'd be an obvious flight risk, but the boy showed genuine interest in becoming Hokage.
He truly hoped Naruto would be able to escape tomorrow.
Choza Akimichi is usually classified as the dumb muscle in the Ino-Shika-Cho trio by enemy shinobi, and some comrades too, and he accepted that.
While he was by no means a fool, he knew he wasn't as smart analytically as Shikaku, or as smart emotionally as Inoichi, but one doesn't need to be smart to see the unfair and unjustified treatment of one Naruto Uzumaki.
Like Shikaku did for his son, Choza encouraged Choji to befriend the boy. It truly angered him to see just how deplorable the village has become.
With the intricate traps he planted as pranks, as well as the way he avoided high ranking shinobi, including ANBU, when he was a mere academy student, it was clear to Choza that the kid had incredible potential as a shinobi. Unfortunately, the village's stupidity refuses to stop putting their woes on Naruto, not seeing that they had another prodigy in their midst.
He hoped with all his being that the son of his friends could continue to endure through this horrid time.
Tsunade sat in her office an hour after the meeting, her fingers were interlaced, and her head rested on top. She was glaring at nothing while her mind worked furiously to find someway to punish all involved in this plot to get rid of Naruto.
Being no fool, Tsunade was definitely not going to let Danzo get his hands on Naruto, so she will have to banish Naruto several hours before the allotted time.
Before a wave of sadness and anger set in, Shizune bustled in the office carrying a large scroll while Tonton trailed behind her.
"I have it, Tsunade-sama!" She exclaimed.
What Shizune carried was the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. First wielded by the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju, then stolen by Naruto. After the ease that Naruto stole the scroll, the Sandaime put it in a more secure area in the Hokage library.
Getting up, Tsunade went to the portrait of the Yondaime. She moved it aside to reveal a safe. Opening it, she pulled out Naruto's birth certificate, his parent's marriage certificate, and a note left to him by his father.
As she closed the safe, an ANBU appeared also holding a large scroll. The scroll was black with a red spiral on it. The ANBU handed the scroll to Tsunade.
Now holding two large scrolls and a couple pieces of paper, Tsunade shunshined to the hospital. She made a shadow clone to go get some necessary things , then made a beeline to Naruto's room.
As soon as she stepped in, Naruto, being the light sleeper he was, woke up as soon as he felt another presence in the room.
"Baa-chan? What're you doing here so late?" Naruto asked, a bit groggily.
Tsunade didn't say anything. She walked up next to Naruto's bed placed the scrolls on the floor and gave Naruto a tearful hug. "I'm so sorry, Naruto."
"Huh? Sorry? Sorry for what? What happened?" Naruto asked, his grogginess leaving as soon as he heard Tsunade's tearful apology.
"Every once and a while, the Councils are able to overrule me on one topic, as long as it's a unanimous vote. They voted that you would either be imprisoned, or banished."
"For what? What could I have possibly done to warrant this?" Naruto asked incredulously.
Tsunade gave a bitter chuckle. "You are clearly stronger than they'd like. Listen Naruto, I think you should go. Stop, and just let me explain." She saw Naruto was getting upset. "This village is suffocating you, Naruto. I've read the reports of your pranks. You affinity for trap making as well as planning is incredible. The fact you could outrun and outmaneuver ANBU when you were just a kid is another plus. If you were given the same attention as the other students at the Academy, you'd be another prodigy. This village is stifling your growth, and you need to leave it to grow stronger."
"The teme left for the same reason. He said that this village was holding him back." Naruto tried to argue.
"Naruto, the Uchiha has had practically everything handed to him. Extra lessons from different academy sensei, a large clan library, discounts in all the stores he goes to, the support of the Civilian Council, no, he was spoiled to a disgusting degree. Konoha gave him everything, and as soon as he was given a hint at an alternative, he left. You leaving will only benefit you. Do you understand?"
Naruto nodded, albeit reluctantly.
"Now these two scrolls are very important. You're already familiar with the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, but this one, this scroll is one of two. The Hokage library is filled with an untold amount of jutsu, and should Konoha ever fall, there are two scrolls that have an exact copy of all the jutsu in the library so that the Hokage could grab one them and burn the rest of the library so that the jutsu never get stolen and Konoha can be rebuilt somewhere else." Tsunade explained.
"Are you saying that you're giving these to me?" Naruto asked in awe.
"That's right, Naruto. There's also something else you should know. Your parents, Naruto. Your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the previous container of the Kyuubi, the only person I hesitated to ever seriously fight, and your father... your father was Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage." Tsunade winced a bit, not knowing how Naruto would react.
Naruto looked heartbroken. "I knew it. I fucking knew it. I didn't want to believe it, but all the signs were there."
"What do you mean, you knew? How could you have known?" Tsunade was puzzled.
"Since I'm about to be banished, then I'll let you know. I'm not the dumbass I portray to everyone. It's a mask that I was forced to wear so that something like this didn't happen sooner. The second I removed the mask, I'm being banished." He chuckled bitterly. "Anyways, I figured out the Yondaime was my father years ago. I was born the same night the Kyuubi gets free, and I'm the only orphan around to seal the Kyuubi in? Then there's the fact when the villagers beat me, some of them would shout about me mocking the Yondaime by taking on his looks. I hinted at me knowing the truth when I painted the Hokage Monument. I panted whisker marks on his face."
Just then, Tsunade's shadow clone came in and dropped off a large amount of IVs of different fluids. With a salute, she poofed away.
"Alright, Naruto. Now I need to completely heal you with the absolute best of my abilities, then you need to go to your parent's home and get what you need there, afterwards you need to go to another destination. I'll tell you all about it later."
As she was talking, she was sticking a lot of different needles into his veins. Releasing her Yin Seal, she got to work healing Naruto to 100%.
Naruto watched as hundreds of his clones ransack the home of his parents. Thanks to a combination of Tsunade's healing, his natural Uzumaki healing factor, the Kyuubi's chakra, and the multitude of different IV bags, Naruto grew to the height he was supposed to be at his age, 5' 5".
Since he wasn't able to buy any proper groceries without being ridiculously overpriced, he could only eat ramen. If it wasn't for his tenet, Naruto would've died from only eating ramen, and not getting any of the proper nutrients needed for a growing boy.
Now he sat by the compound's gates writing his goodbye letter to his girlfriend. It hurt him that he has to leave her, and he knew it would hurt her too, but he had no choice.
He felt his clones dispersing by tens. As he finished his his letter, he sat in a meditative position so that he could properly sort through the memories of his clones. He was happy they found so many pictures and paintings of his parents and their friends.
"Here ya go, boss." His final clone popped after dropping a large scroll in front of him.
He took the two other scrolls he had and sealed them into the big one. Then he made another clone to deliver his letter to his girlfriend.
"I guess this is it." He made his way to what he assumed was an emergency escape tunnel from the village. He found it completely by accident when he was younger and running from civilians who meant to do him harm. He figured the Shodaime made it in the event that Konoha was ever invaded and it was a hopeless situation.
It was never used seeing how Konoha was only invaded once, and that was decades after the tunnel was built.
Dashing out the tunnel, he made out the village walls, then paused for a moment. "I should really tell baa-chan about this blatant security risk."
He took out his notepad and wrote the details of the tunnel and the possibility of others. He made a shadow clone to go deliver his message, then continued onward to his first stop.
As soon as 9:30 came, Tsunade walked into the Council Chambers. Even though she barely slept the night before, she looked as she always did, though her seal on her forehead was a bit faded due to the amount of chakra she used to heal all of Naruto's physical issues as well as giving her the needed energy to go about her day.
This time around there wasn't any of the disrespect. Everyone stood as she walked to her seat, then sat down after she did. Her usual stern expression looking harsher that morning.
"Allow me to not waste any time here. Naruto Uzumaki, Genin of Konohagakure no Sato, Shinobi Registration Number 0-1-2-6-0-7 is banished from the Village both as a shinobi and a civilian. I have the papers signed and they've just finished being filed." Tsunade spoke gravely.
Choza and Tsume lowered their heads, while the other Clan Heads were able to keep a neutral expression.
"We thank you for your decisive action, Hokage-sama. We can now have ANBU collect him, to properly sentence him." Koharu said, fighting valiantly to keep the smugness out of her voice.
"Hmm? Oh, there is no need for that." Tsunade stated.
"What do you mean, Hokage-sama?" Homura had a bad feeling about that statement.
"He's already out of the Village. I banished him hours ago after healing his injuries." Tsunade shrugged.
The civilians and the Shinobi Council both exploded at this news. Tsunade just sat there in amusement watching them vociferate, and complain. It was Danzo who took control of the situation and spoke. "Hokage-sama, you were supposed to have him be sentenced in the Council Room. That is the proper procedure."
"I thought we should have a clean slate. The illustrious Shinobi Council had the impertinence to call a council meeting without my permission, then summoned me after the fact like I was a fucking genin. In lieu of having you all executed for your presumption, I decided to do something behind your backs just like you all did here." Tsunade didn't have the same problem as Koharu, so when she spoke, she was unapologetically smug.
No one could say anything to refute this, so the two different councils sat and stewed, while all the Clan Heads, except one, were noticeably more relaxed.
"Now that the only matter we've converged this morning is finished, I can end this meeting."
As soon as everyone dismissed, Danzo made his way to his underground facility. He needed to send some of men after the brat. He spent over a decade trying to find a way to get him under his control, so he'll be damned if he lost this opportunity.
Hinata was outside on top of a small pond slowly going through her katas. She was both incredibly angry, and heartbroken. Her best friend, first love, and boyfriend has been banished for doing his job.
"Hinata." A voice she'd much rather not hear called. She looked towards the land and found her sperm donor.
Masking her face just like her love taught her, she made her way to Hiashi.
"That disappointed, Uzumaki, has been banished. Now that he's gone, I expect you to improve without him distracting you. Do you understand?" Hiashi punctuated this by glaring. What he did not expect was to receive a glare in return.
"Let us get some things clear. First, Naruto-kun was not a distraction, he was an inspiration. A pillar who helped me grow stronger, while you were determined to weaken me. Second, the shy, timid, and weak Hinata you were used to does not exist. She never did. It was a mask I wore so I can clearly determine who are my enemies, and who are my allies. Naruto-kun taught me that. Now that I've gathered sufficient information on who is who, I can finally show my true strength. Rejoice, otou-sama. You're getting what you want."
With that, Hinata walked away, leaving a completely shellshocked Hiashi behind.
Hinata made her way to her room and reread the note that was left for her.
Dear Hime,
It hurts me to write this note, but there was no other choice. The outcome of me briefly slipping off my mask came true. Tsunade came in the middle of the night to tell me I've been banished. She gave me two huge scrolls filled to the brim jutsu and directed me to my parents' home. We were right, my parents were the Yondaime and Kushina Uzumaki. In their home, I found a special set of scrolls. They act like a hiraishin. If I put a note in one, it'll appear in the other. So even though I'm banished, we'll still be able to send each other notes and small souvenirs. I know it's not the same as me being there, but it's the best we have for now.
I think you should take off your mask. I think it's overdue. Show you are no longer a target.
I love you hime, now and always
Naruto
Hinata teared up again, but she wiped them away. She's cried enough.
"Located somewhere along the outskirts of Konoha is the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple. At the entrance of the temple is a giant replica of the clan's symbol. Within the temple, at the center, is a podium of sorts where hangs several oni-masks hung beneath three connected symbols of the clan, under all of which are ornate, black flames. These are powerful masks that can be used to summon a deity, one of them being the Shinigami himself. The shrine has since fallen into ruin from the wear and tear of time, though the masks all stayed intact."
Tsunade had instructed him to retrieve those masks and keep them safe with him at all times. If Konoha wasn't going to do it's job in protecting them, they can't have it's power.
It upset Naruto to see just how disrespectful Konoha was to the Uzumaki. They wear the clan symbol on their hitai-ate and on the back of there flak vests, yet they completely erase their existence from the history books, and their Academy's curriculum.
Shaking his head, he found another large storage scroll. This one was covered in dust, but it was still intact. Carefully, and reverently placing each mask in a different seal, he closed the scroll, then he placed the scroll into the larger one that had the other two scrolls in them.
Hefting the scroll onto his back, he made his way to the Fire Temple. Tsunade had told him that they would accept any traveler as long as you don't harm them.
Going in the direction Tsunade indicated, Naruto sped off.
"What do you mean you banished Naruto?"
Sat in front of Tsunade in the Hokage's office was one Jiraiya of the Sannin, and he looked deathly calm.
This was new to Tsunade. She's seen him angry, and serious, but this was a new beast.
Absolute fury.
Tsunade sighed tiredly. "It's as I said, Jiraiya. I banished Naruto. I had no better choice."
"You are the Hokage. It doesn't matter what other people's opinions are. Your word is law, unless contested by the Fire Daimyo." Jiraiya stated calmly, his face unchanged.
"It's in the laws, Jiraiya, I've double checked myself. The council are allowed to decide on one thing a year with the Hokage having no choice but to approve, as long as the decision doesn't harm Konoha. This was the lesser of two evils. They wanted to lock him up and extract as much semen is needed to get a kunoichi pregnant, then when she gives birth, have the Kyuubi transferred to the newborn."
"Then you can tell that damned council that I'm hereby removing my spy network from supporting Konoha." Then Jiraiya got up and walked out the door, not using the window like he usually does.
Tsunade sighed again. She glanced towards the three shadow clones doing paperwork at one side of the office. That was Naruto's gift to her, the idea of using clones to do paperwork never crossed her mind.
She pulled out a bottle of sake and toasted Naruto.
"To your continued freedom, gaki."
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