I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, I'm just a fan I enjoyed the anime but I love the fanfics even more, they made me fall for the whole franchise.
Chapter 61
Located in a small room for privacy and security, Hiashi was asked by his father for an audience with important information to share with him. The Hyūga head thought it was important indeed, he was quick to make his way to the room but he was surprised to find Toneri there. He learned why a minute later and the topic did not appeal to him.
The father of two was in trouble and he knew it. Unlike most people in the village, he knew his daughter held great affection for Naruto Uzumaki that manifested itself in the form of love. Hearing that Hinata was seen sneaking out of the compound to meet the blonde was no surprise to Hiashi Hyūga. He saw how she looked ready to puff out of existence during introductions.
Hiashi did hide his smile well when he heard what Hinata did to Naruto, she was so much like her mother. The person who told him about the scene of Hinata kissing Naruto was Toneri Ōtsutsuki who was livid as he spoke. He hid it fine enough but Hiashi saw it and he came to a conclusion he only knew would complicate things.
The Ōtsutsuki clan was for intent and purpose dead, the last living members were a dying man and his son Toneri. The Hyūga as their oldest ally and also distant relatives had to help. Hiashi did not understand why his firstborn daughter's name was being thrown around in the mix by both this Toneri character and Hiashi's father.
"Why is it a problem that my daughter chooses to be with Uzumaki Naruto?" Hiashi asked trying to understand all of this. He was under the impression the Ōtsutsuki were here to visit and then leave but now it was a whole circle they were going around with him being dragged along.
"Hiashi!" Hiashi looked at his father's stoic expression with his own, waiting for him to continue since he was so eager to cut him off.
"The boy is a tool for Konoha, you would stain pure Hyūga blood with that foul chakra." The Hyūga elder asked with controlled disappointment in his old eyes.
Toneri only sat quietly sipping on the tea they were served while they discussed his future with the Byakugan princess. Hiashi sighed and rubbed his aging eyes that stung once in a while when his stress levels were rising.
"I remember when Hinata returned home from her first day at the academy, it was already late, past 8 pm with Naruto Uzumaki. I watched them coming towards the compound talking, laughing, and jesting." Hiashi paused looking first at his father before moving to the teen he thought deserved nothing from him and even less from his daughter.
"I had never seen Hinata so flustered in my life, she was always sad, crying, or detached but do you know what I noticed was hiding behind that flustered exterior?" Hiashi asked looking at the two people trying to strong-arm him. They both kept quiet at his inquiry and Hiashi nodded glad he had another reason to not listen to their stupid demands.
"My daughter was happy." He said looking now straight at his father with eyes that were accusing and filled with guilt. "And still is happy." The grandfather frowned at the look to come out of his son's eyes, Hiashi was getting soft he realized.
"This conversation is over, I will hear no more of it. When Hinata was at her lowest we all kicked, trampled, and degraded her sense of self-worth. I am responsible for all that had befallen my firstborn but for her, I will do better for Hanabi ." Hiashi rubbed his eyes again spying on Toneri still holding his cup of tea to his mouth but by this point, Hiashi knew the boy was faking it.
"If Naruto Uzumaki came to me today and asked for Hinata's hand in marriage. I will be the happiest father in the world, he has done so much for my daughter that I am sure my wife would be looking forward to grandkids even now." Hiashi saw the surprise coming out of his father's eyes. The old man looked like he heard some kind of taboo secret.
"I say this with the utmost assurance because I know the kind of boy he is and the kind of man he will become." Hiashi stood up folding his arms to place his hands inside his Kimono sleeves before addressing the teenage boy.
"I hold nothing against you Toneri-San, but know that I hold great respect for Naruto Uzumaki for what he has done for my daughter both psychologically, emotionally, and physically." Hiashi finally got to see the white-haired boy settle his cup on the table and faced him, eyes closed with all that Ōtsutsuki secrecy they had going on. seriously, the boy was angry.
"Don't ruin my daughter's happiness or you will answer to me directly." Hiashi warned dangerously with his dojutsu activating in his narrowed eyes.
Toneri nodded once and the Hyūga head walked out of the room to continue more important business than appease an old man trying to play matchmaker.
"I will talk to him." The elder told the youngster.
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When Kiba woke up at the end of the exams he was in great denial. He would not believe that Akamaru was dead. Kurenai tried to explain to the dog boy that Akamaru did not feel a thing, that he had a quick and peaceful death but Kiba said Sasuke was going to get the opposite and tried to make a run for it.
Kurenai had to place him in a genjutsu to calm him down, a second later she had to grimace when she saw tears of happiness come down Kiba's eyes while he mumbled Akamaru and hugged the dog close but the dog was never there. Kurenai realized a genjutsu of what he wanted to see most was not the best of ideas.
The next day Kiba Inuzuka was frustrated, angry, jumpy, vengeful, and intolerable. His older sister and mother could not seem to calm him down for longer than an hour before he became like a wild animal. He wanted to go kill the Uchiha boy that took Akamaru away from him.
"Are you sure mother?" Hana asked her mother who held in her hands an injection with a concoction inside.
Tsume has an animalistic look similar to that of her son Kiba. She has long, spiky, untamed brown hair, vertical slit-like pupils, elongated canine teeth, and nails. She has the clan fang markings on her cheeks as well as markings over her eyes and a dark shade of purple lipstick.
She wears the standard outfit of a Konoha shinobi consisting of a flak jacket and a black suit underneath with the sleeves rolled up and bandages around her legs.
"His connection with Akamaru was strong, not many Inuzuka can merge with their familiar at such a young age let alone your bitch of a sperm donner. But even that fool had his k-9 around when he ran with tails behind his spineless back!" Tsume shouted in anger and Hana had to sigh, it was always like this with this woman. Everything had to come back to her dad.
Hana has long brown hair which she wears in a ponytail with two locks of hair framing her face over her large, black eyes. She also wears a light shade of lipstick and has the traditional fang-like tattoos of the Inuzuka clan on both of her cheeks, in addition to a tattoo on her upper right arm that resembles a flower.
She wore a brace on her left wrist, bracelets on her right hand as well as bandages under her beige Konoha medic uniform indicating she was meant to be on duty back at the Hospital.
"Focus mom." Hana sighed as she said this, her brother was hurting and their mom was thinking about her deadbeat dad. Tsume at the reminder of everything has its time scratched her cheek with her elongated nail and got serious.
"When an Inuzuka's familiar die their master is most likely dead as well. We have not seen such a case since the warring periods.." Tsume Inuzuka explained looking saddened by her boy,s condition. The mother of two pressed the syringe in her hand a little and it squirted a little liquid which had Kiba getting on all four and growling.
Kiba had not said a thing since he got back home from the second phase of the exams, they had to first escort him to a hospital for a mental check-up because the final kick Sasuke landed gave the dog boy a concussion. Kurenai sensei informed them Kiba said Akamaru's name at some point back in the hospital but had not spoken a single word after.
"Okay, but only this once." Hana informed her mother who nodded before approaching Kiba. That injection only touched Kiba's backside 10 minutes later because he fought tooth and nail until a peaceful sleep claimed him.
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Naruto looked around the Uchiha clan grounds and found it to be nothing like what he expected it to be. The blonde's idea of this place was a grim setting. A dark creepy sky with a full moon hanging right in the middle with some kind of Sharingan with swirls and random tomoe on its surface. Naruto saw no crows or ravens on lamp posts cawing with an occasional bat and owl here and there……..
"You don't represent your block well, I could mistake this area for the red light district." Sasuke grunted and kept walking, ignoring the blonde who looked around his home. The Uchiha residence was not some kind of lavish grounds with tiled roads, green parks, and fancy houses. No, that was the Hyūga estate, this place was very underdeveloped.
Naruto saw kids running around bare feet with raggedy clothes. Adults roam around doing manual labor like painting, carpeting, or selling delicacies in booths. The occasional ninja who would jump through the rooftops and members of the police force walked around.
The Uchiha seemed to be living in poverty, it made no sense to Naruto. The clan that helped form the Hidden Leaf Village living this way seemed out of character. Seeing the home of the clan head in the distance Naruto assumed they at least had it better because they are important figures in their clan.
"The Uchiha clan was never a wealthy clan Naruto-Kun, even back in the warring periods." Itachi began explaining as they moved closer to where the Uchiha Teacher and student lived.
"Our clan could not afford the most mundane of accessories even armor, unlike the Senju who could do diverse jobs the Uchiha only specialized in war and concentrated all their endeavors on killing even a single Senju." Naruto listened to Itachi, his new girlfriend and what he hoped to be his future wife had her hand firmly held by his.
"What happened to the Senju clan?" Hinata asked her teacher who thought about the question first before answering.
"Unlike the Uchiha who hold great pride in the clan, the Senju were a diverse group made up of many different factions coming together under one banner." Itachi paused to let his genin absorb the information as they marched, he saw Sasuke listening in as well.
"In actuality, the Senju blood only ran through the first Hokage's family tree, in the end, they slowly broke up the clan. The first group left after the first Hokage's death and the rest during and after the second Hokage's death, disowning the Senju name to make a name for themselves." Itachi finished and a second later they were greeted by Mikoto Uchiha matriarch.
Naruto noticed the woman looked nervous, which was funny because she was the one to call them over for dinner. Then again, they were pretty early, it was still noon.
"You are all here early today, Sasuke must have said some great things about my cooking." The woman said which had Naruto snorting at the joke, Naruto finally realized where his Uchiha teammate got his humor bone.
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Rock Lee sat in his wheelchair and watched his Hyūga teammate. Neji was okay, nothing seemed too different about him as he fought an imaginary foe. His strikes were still as calculated and precise as Lee remembered them to be. There was just one thing that made all that Lee saw seem like an act because Neji couldn't stop snickering at a joke only he knew before catching himself.
"Don't worry Tenten-Chan, Neji is just going through a phase and is pushing himself harder to beat his rival next time." Might Guy told his female student who nodded with reluctance but Lee did not make any indication. There was something fundamentally different about Neji since he saw him in the infirmary.
"I don't know Guy-Sensei, he seems different from the Neji-San I remember." Lee said with his left leg tapping the floor in inpatients due to not being able to train. He was excited about the upcoming finals, a 9-way fight was like a mini-war.
"Stop moving so much!" Tenten said with anger, Lee nodded seriously looking like he was going to stop moving but he did not which had Tenten accepting the challenge. A second later Lee's legs were tied together by ninja wires.
"TENTEN IS RIGHT LEE, YOUR BODY NEEDS TO REST UP AND RECUPERATE BEFORE WE TRAIN TO OUR HEARTS CONTENT!!." GUY bellowed like an inspirational speech and Lee ate it all up with excitement now bouncing on his wheelchair which had Tenten frowning.
"HAI GUY-SENSEI!" Lee bellowed back to his sensei who threw him a nice guy smile before they ran to each other or Guy did, Rock Lee was in a wheelchair so Tenten was sitting on his lap a second later stopping the scene about to occur. In the distance, they heard Neji snicker.
"Let's just give it time." Tenten mumbled in sadness. Lee and Guy were sad because they could not bro hug. ("Author-San should just kill her off already for broblocking." a random reviewer says.)
Tenten had to blush when her teenage teammate wearing spandex got a hard-on, it was like his green spandex where not even there, that is the amount of freedom to move Lee has. Tenten abruptly stood up and looked back to the long tent at Lee's disposal.
"YOUTH IS A WONDERFUL GIFT!!!" GUY-Sensei bellowed, once more trying to run to Lee and lock him in a bro hug. Tenten had to swallow her reservations and sit back down on Lee's lap making the young spandex-wearing boy grimace at another 'close encounter' with Tenten, Lee never realized she was a girl before.
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"Yes, Jiraiya he knows." Hiruzen sighed, exasperated by the fact his former genin was still making on-the-spur decisions at his old age of 50. Hiruzen loved Jiraiya as a student and always knows he can count on his loyalty to the village and him but he should have came to him first before going to meet the blonde.
"For how long?" The toad sage asked the aged Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"About a week and semi ago." The oldest of the two white-haired men spoke, the answer had Jiraiya frowning. He remembered Itachi being surprised by the fact Naruto knew his status.
"Then he must truly be a fuinjutsu genius to decipher and understand the purpose of the seal in his abdomen." Hiruzen's eyes widened and widened at the words to come out of his former genin's mouth.
"What do you mean decipher? Shisui Uchiha was the one to inform him of his burden." Hiruzen asked with a very serious tone in his voice. Jiraiya gulped at the reminder of exactly who took the title of God of Shinobi when the first Hokage died and why that same man lived such a long life.
"Naruto told me he understood the brushstrokes and kanjis in the seal which led him to understand he was the nine tails Jinchuriki." The two white-haired men stopped to think about the information they both had before concluding.
"How was his childhood growing up." At Jiraiya's inquiry, Hiruzen grimaced but decided to be honest.
"Naruto left the orphanage at the age of four on his own, I was only informed of this a year after he left. I had Anbu locate him, they informed me he had an apartment and they saw him working odd jobs to make ends need." Jiraiya's frown became prominent when the Hokage stopped there and added no more information on the subject.
"That is it?!" The Toad Sage's voice had a bark in it and Hiruzen was not deaf to its accusing nature.
"The Village needed a Kage to lead it, I sadly could not concentrate all my time on Naruto-Kun." The third sighed looking very disappointed in himself for his neglect.
"Three hours a day, or even an hour allocated to my godson is not going to make the leaf village implode. What is the real reason?" Jiraiya did not buy that lame excuse from his sensei, it was unnecessarily obvious that the man was not being honest.
"I lost someone important to me that day Jiraiya-Kun, you know that." Hiruzen said sadly thinking of his deceased wife.
"Kushina entrusted her only son to you, I understand you were grieving for Biwako-Sama but Naruto needed you!" Jiraiya raised his voice but lucky for them both the office was soundproofed with a seal and the Anbu officers who kept the Hokage guard were ordered to leave.
"You cannot place all the blame on me Jiraiya, you, yourself are only returning after 12 years of deciding to chase after Orochimaru." Hiruzen glared back at his hypocritical student. "Minato entrusted you to look after Naruto as his godfather but you chose to handle personal things as I did." Jiraiya and his former teacher glared at each other for a minute before Jiraiya sighed.
"I am here now, fill me in on his skills so I know what I am working with." Jiraiya saw a small smile blossom on the face of the third before he began explaining Naruto's skill sets with pride. Jiraiya decided to keep the side of Naruto he saw today a secret from the old man, his paranoia knew no bounds after all.
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"Good afternoon, I am Hinata Hyūga, Sasuke's teammate." Mikoto smiled lovingly at the polite Hyūga girl who gave her a small bow of respect. Mikoto bowed a little as well returning the courtesy.
'A pretty face, polite nature, and a formidable genin, I can see why Sasuke-Kun would fall for her." Mikoto thought looking to Sasuke who stood at a distance with Itachi while the two genins introduced themselves.
"This is Naruto-Kun, my best friend." Mikoto looked to said boy who made sure he looked at anything else except the mother of his rival and teammate.
"Hello, Naruto-Kun how are you?" Mikoto bent a little and tried to make eye contact with the blonde boy who sighed before greeting her back with a 'sup Itachi-Sensei's mom'. Mikoto looked at Naruto sadly before looking back to Hinata who smiled apologetically in her direction.
"Come on in, make yourselves at home." Mikoto said getting some of her cheer back before winking at Sasuke and Itachi making both her sons groan. Mikoto planned on lightening the mood by revealing embarrassing stories.
"Thank you." Hinata said before Naruto took her hand once more and followed Mikoto Uchiha inside the house. Itachi and Sasuke looked at each other and walked inside.
"Naruto-Kun, can you join me in the Kitchen, please? You seem like a strong boy, there are some heavy boxes I could use your help moving." Mikoto tried, she watched Naruto closely for his reaction. The blonde looked reluctant to do it, how she knew that? The boy had the same face as her friend.
"Naruto-Kun would be happy to help." The Hyūga heiress said which had the blonde swerving his head to look at the Hyūga heiress. "He had something he wanted your help with as well, isn't that right Naruto-Kun." Hinata let go of the blonde's hand and pushed him forward with such a loving gaze in her unseeing eyes that Mikoto understood who Sasuke's rival in love is.
"Fine." Naruto grumbled, dragging his feet towards Mikoto who was located in front of the Kitchen door. Mikoto smiled and mouthed thank you to the Hyūga only to realize a second later she could not see, but it looked like she accepted her gratitude by the serious nod she gave.
"Would you like some tea Hinata-Chan?" Itachi asked his student who shook her head no with a smile. She was led to the living room to sit down while Sasuke went upstairs to do something. Itachi sat down next to her, his emotions were happy about something.
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"I am sorry for lying Naruto-Kun, I was just so excited to see you and a bit nervous to talk to you alone." Mikoto began chuckling lightly and looking at the blonde who leaned on the door leading outside the kitchen with his arms folded.
"Why would you be excited to see me?" Naruto asked with a controlled façade, leaving nothing for the Uchiha women to gauge from his expression.
"You look so much like her." Mikoto's voice almost broke when she said that, her eyes were already watering. If there was anything Naruto hated, it was seeing a woman cry. It made him feel like a tool even if it was not him who caused it.
"You knew my mother." Naruto stated it was the only thing he could do, to state the obvious. Mikoto nodded and walked up to the blonde to stand in front of him. Her eyes were already leaking tears.
"I never wanted this day to come, believe it or not, I was afraid but after hearing so much from Sasuke, Itachi, and Izumi about you I felt like I was missing out on your life" Mikoto's tears dropped and Naruto wondered where she was going with this whole thing, he was waiting for her to bring up the law.
"H-how could I let Kushina down like this, just look at how her little Naruto-Kun has grown." Mikoto reached out for Naruto's whiskered cheek and he moved his head away which made her smile sadly.
"I deserve that, is there any way I can earn your forgiveness?" Naruto squinted his eyes, Mikoto was not bringing up excuses or telling him that a law prevented her from doing anything for him.
'She is taking full responsibility.' Naruto thought, finding it weird that he has met so many Uchiha clan members who seem more humane than other clans that call them savage, deceitful, and power-hungry, even Sasuke was honest he had to begrudgingly accept.
"Can you tell me about her?" Naruto asked, he has seen a photo of her Kushina Uzumaki before. The blonde knew his mother was the prettiest person to walk the elemental nations before her early passing. What he did not know was her personality, her likes, and dislikes, her dreams, and ambitions but even more, he did not know if she loved him as much as he loved her.
Mikoto nodded wiping her tears away and indicating for Naruto to take a sit. The mother of two at landing her eyes on Naruto for the first time in more than 12 years was overwhelmed by memories of her red-haired best friend. Naruto might have Minato's yellow hair and blue eyes but everything else was Kushina, even personality wise if the stories she heard were anything to go by.
Naruto took a sit and looked to Mikoto who moved to the stove and continued cooking. She had something special planned for Naruto to eat and she hoped he would accept her gesture.
"Kushina Uzumaki in the last 9 months of her life had only one love and his name was Naruto Uzumaki, her little baby boy." The mother of two began and the blonde who just so happened to be named Naruto Uzumaki couldn't help but smile to hear his mother loved him even before his birth.
"She was so excited to be a mother, it was always Naruto this and Naruto that. She would not stop talking about how you would be strong, courageous, supportive, and handsome." Mikoto chuckled softly at the memories playing in her head while she placed noodles on the stove to boil.
"She must have seen the future because you have turned out exactly as she hoped you would." The Uchiha looked back over her shoulder to spy Naruto paying rapt attention to her back before she looked back forward.
"I miss her, she was so energetic and playful, she would be proud of the prank you played 2 years ago, hahaha." Mikoto gave a beautiful laugh at the memory which had Naruto squaring his chest in pride to hear that his mother would approve of his art.
"She once said she wanted to be Hokage but I think she only did that to gain attention when she first came to the village." Mikoto hummed in thought at the subject before nodding. "I think what she wanted most in the world was to have a family of her own and for a little while after your birth, she achieved that dream." Mikoto dropped more tears at the thought of her friend's early demise.
"Ohhhh!!" Mikoto jumped a little when she found Naruto next to her. The blonde who had been quietly listening to her speak jumped on the kitchen counter and took a seat. Mikoto was further surprised when Naruto reached out to her face and wiped away her tears.
"Who are you to me?" Naruto asked her, hoping in his voice that his mother left him at least some semblance of family in the form of this woman who decided to bring up the subject on her own and apologize for her blunders.
"I am Mikoto Uchiha, your godmother." Mikoto did not get to finish her proper introduction because Naruto wrapped his arms around her neck and hugged her tightly.
"I don't blame you, Aunty." Naruto told her softly. Mikoto dropped the spoon she held on the floor before wrapping her arms around the blonde enigma and returning the hug. Deep down she was happy but on the outside, she was crying because her best friend never got the chance to hug her baby like this.
Authors notes
The Uchiha clan is broke, not broke but economically laking. All those wars they fought and the fact Madara took off with a large sum of their clan wealth left them as one of Konoha's poorest clans. Naruto is richer then that whole clan combined.
In this chapter I decided to touch down on some of the rookie 11 like Kiba, Neji and Lee.
I'm just gonna ask because my readers though quiet are awesome... Do you guys want another chapter to continue the dinner at the Uchiha's which will feature, Izumi ?
Yeah