-AN-
I know using a civilian council is kind of a cop out, but I promise, this isn't a Naruto get's banished fic. Trust me, I have better than that planned out. Next couple chapters are still some set up, so expect more fluff than action for a bit. Now, how do we deal with three Uzumaki all in one place?
-Story Start-
Naruto had a mixture of emotions all at once and he wasn't entirely sure which to pick. Settling for chuckling and leaning back as his first bowl of ramen was placed in front of him, Naruto nodded and scooting over a bit closer to them. He left two stools between them as a respectful distance, but he didn't want to have to yell to be heard. "I wish I had some cool stories I could give ya, but I've been here all my life."
Karin nodded anyway while she waved his concerns away with a hand, "I was only here for the chunin exams before my team was wiped out, so that's okay." That one of his clones had saved her during the exam with a wink and a wave, but she got the feeling he didn't remember that. She hadn't even told Tayuya that little piece of information, but the older girl was much more loyal to Orochimaru than her. At least she seemed like it.
Naruto looked up with surprise, "You were in the exams? But you're not wearing a headband anymore."
Karin nodded, "We failed, so we were tossed out, considered failures." More like her town had been destroyed and she was left alone, but close enough.
Tayuya steppd in for a moment, "What about you blondie, how'd you do in the exams?" She knew, but she also knew poking subjects close to Orochimaru might help them.
Mood dimmed only briefly, the perpetually happy boy waved his chopsticks in the air, "Made it all the way to the finals actually before the invasion broke out." Finishing his first bowl and handing it over to receive another the blonde motioned to Tayuya, "What's life like for the Uzumaki outside of Konoha?"
Tayuya scoffed, "On the run a lot. Just about every village would give anything to have us. I'm not so in demand since I was more branch family, but Karin here is main line. So she's got all the perks, extended lifespan, denser chakra, and even managed to manifest a chain once."
"Tayuya-san, we aren't supposed to talk about that outside."
The older girl shrugged, "It's just us here, and he's an Uzumaki, so he knows all this already. And he seems to know and trust this ramen guy, so I'm not to worried." Though it wouldn't matter since they didn't plan on being here long. It would allow them to sow some trust between them.
Naruto was upset mentally. Outside the village it didn't sound like things were much better for his broken up clan. Everyone seemed to want a piece of them. "I'm sorry, it sounds like it's been rough out there."
Karin sighed as she looked down into her own bowl of noodles, "It has been, difficult." Memories of her mother flashed in her mind before she shook them free. Now wasn't the time, "But we at least hope that with another Uzumaki here we should be a little safer for a while. At least until we have to go."
Naruto shrugged, "Don't know about that." The council's interference and theft still fresh in his mind, the boy's mood darkened further.
Tayuya saw that and pounced on it, "Sounds like things aren't great here either. Wanna talk it out, I always like to vent and it helps."
Karin sighed, "You just like being vulgar, Tayuya-san."
"Like I said, it helps."
Naruto again downed another bowl of noodles, "Wish it was something I could talk about, but honestly I can't. You aren't leaf nin and it's a village thing." Turning to look at the girls with his mismatched eyes, the boy softened a little and offered them a smile, "Thanks for offering though."
Karin nudged Tayuya under the bar, sensing higher chakra signatures heading their way. Tayuya got the message and finished her own bowl, "Well blondie, we'll be in town for a few days at least. If you wanna hang out, talk, trade some stories just come find us." Giving him the hotel name and their room number, both red heads excused themselves and left with a wave.
This left Naruto alone to puzzle out the odds. What were the chances two other Uzumaki happened to show up in the leaf, now, of all times. Thinking it over and coming up blank, Naruto made plans that tomorrow he would visit Tsunade in the morning. She might be able to help him, because besides their word he really had no concrete proof they were Uzumaki. Sure they had the traits but that was easy enough to fool. And with his luck lately of finding people to trust, well, it was better to be paranoid Kakashi said. Somewhere a silver haired ninja sneezed.
As Naruto was getting into his fourth bowl of ramen he heard the door shades moved aside again. Behind him a down looking Hinata and a worried Ino made their way inside. Greeting the proprietor Ino took up her seat on Naruto's left while Hinata took a seat on his right.
Taking notice of two of his favorite people, Naruto felt his mood finally improve, "Hinata-chan, Ino-hime, what's up?"
Ino sighed, motioning to the down girl who unconsciously was leaning on Naruto for comfort, "The Hyuuga council just decided she would not become the heir of the Hyuuga clan, instead it'll be her sister." While they had gotten closer over these last few months, it was only recently that the shorter girl clued her in to some of the clan politics within her clan. None of it was pretty and Ino was pretty happy her own clan wasn't anything like that.
Naruto frowned and turned back to the upset girl, "Do we need to head back over there and explode some idiots?"
"It'd be fun." Not thinking about her response really, she said what instantly came into her tired mind.
"That's all I need to hear! Let's go!"
"HOLD IT!" Freezing Naruto in place, Ino held up a hand and sighed, "Look, I know you've just gone through some stuff with the council, but don't go painting an even bigger target on your back.
"But, explosions?"
"They can't fix everything."
"You just haven't used enough yet."
Both froze as they saw Hinata's shoulders shaking, worried that they had set the girl off and she had begun crying. Naruto for sure was at a loss, as the girl was leaning into him, "I-I-I'm sorry Hinata-chan. Tell me what you want and we'll make it happen. On my honor."
Neither were prepared for the girl to lean back and let loose laughter. Hinata needed this right here. Being with her closest friends and dealing with their antics. Yes the clan council stripped her of her status, but she was still a ninja of the leaf and protected. She still could see the boy she was in love with and she could still train and grow into a successful kunoichi if she desired. Calming down and wiping a tear away from her eye, the girl nodded to her friends, "Thank you. I needed that."
Naruto was completely unsure of just what they did, though he had the presence of mind to at least smile and nod, "Anything for you Hinata-chan."
Ino however felt the need to step in, teasing now necessary, "Oh just Hinata? What about me? Your precious Ino-hime?"
Naruto turned back to her, mild panic on his face, "Well of course you too Ino-hime, I'd do anything for you too."
Hinata decided she needed the fun still as well, "But Naruto-kun, you'd abandon me?" Putting on her best watery eyes, she was rewarded with an even more desperate boy.
"Ww-w-w-ah what no! I wouldn't abandon you."
Ino now leaned forward, "Oh so I'm just yesterday's lunch then?"
Taking pity on the boy, Ayame stepped forward and placed the girl's usual orders down in front of them, "Don't listen to them Naruto, they're having fun with you."
Facing first Hinata and then Ino, seeing the odd sparkle in their eyes, Naruto sighed and went back to his noodles, "That wasn't very nice."
Hinata giggled, "But it was fun Naruto-kun."
Ino nodded, "Plus it cheered up Hinata-chan, so that's a win win to me."
Diving into his next bowl with a smile, Naruto finally relaxed properly. Sure, he was pissed about the council and what they did. And yes, he wanted to get back at them in some way. But right now he wasn't worried about any of it because he had his friends and his adoptive family too. That was more than enough for right now.
-b-
The next morning found a smiling and refreshed Naruto bounding his way to the Hokage tower. While he knew Tsunade wouldn't be up this early, at least not without a lot of coffee, Shizune would be. She would be more likely to help him without an argument as well, so that was a plus. Quickly making his way inside and bounding up the stairs, he was rewarded with said woman arranging her desk and getting ready for the day. Tonton will milling about on the floor around the desk, clearly already bored.
"Morning nee-chan, ready for today?"
Shizune shook her head, "You know Tsunade-sama, it's always a hassle to wake her up, I'm already tired." Chuckling, the older woman turned to him fully, "How can I help you Naruto-kun?"
Having spent all night trying to figure out how to word this, Naruto went for vague, "If you had distant family, but wanted to make sure, could you compare chakra or maybe a blood test?"
Shizune thought it over before snapping her fingers, "Oh, we have blood seal paper on hand for that."
"What's that?"
Shizune rifled around in a bag at the foot of her desk before pulling several paper sticks free, "Essentially they're used for multiple reasons, usually the biggest is paternity testing and the like." Seeing the slightly confused look on Naruto's face, Shizune handed the sticks over, "Essentially you put some of your blood on one side, and the other person's blood on the other, and the seal will write out your relation in the middle. If there's no match the stick will turn black." Not even worried why the boy would need this as it was most likely for either a prank or the like, and she was completely willing to help him out with those recently, the girl nodded, "Don't worry about those, I have more than enough."
Not looking this gift horse in the mouth, Naruto stashed the sticks in his pocket, "Thanks nee-chan. I guess then I'll get on the road, gotta get to training and causing chaos."
"Not to much I hope. I understand you're still upset, but making trouble will only give the council more ammunition against you." Watching Naruto pause, the woman leaned against the desk, "Something wrong?"
Naruto turned back to her with an unreadable expression before shaking his head, "Nah it's nothing. See ya later nee-chan!" Grinning and running off, Shizune put the encounter out of her mind. Whatever prank he had in store for the council members, they had it coming.
Naruto however had sealed the test sticks away into a scroll for safe keeping for now, making his way to a training ground for the morning. It was early, so he figured he would give them some time and maybe try to find them a little after lunch time. With any luck he'd have the afternoon to find them, perform the tests, and then figure out what he was going to do. Alighting in the training ground and not feeling any of his teammates there, he filled the clearing with clones and they were off to their training. Today was chakra thread practice and rasengan throwing. Now that he could make a few meters of the stuff it was down to getting throwing practice in. Heh, he'd be grinding people into dust in no time with this. Deciding he needed the physical training himself he removed his jacket and shirt to inspect his own personal seals. He had almost fully forgotten about his weighting seals. He sure hadn't checked them in a long time, not that he had felt the need. Running a hand over the command seal he released them and bounced in place for a moment.
"That's, scary." He felt entirely to light. Perhaps he had forgotten about them for much longer than he should have. Deciding that indeed today should be a physical practice day, he also vowed not to reapply the seals for a long while or at least until he could figure out how not to forget about them. Taking an experimental dash around the training grounds and nearly smashing into a tree, he nodded to himself that yes, that was a bad idea. No more training seals. Resolving his morning to shitty workouts, he got to work readjusting his body.
By noon he was tired, sweaty, and bruised, but just about completely adjusted to his new speed. Having removed the seals from himself completely so he wouldn't be temped to use them again for a while, he instead focused on a different bit a training for the moment. With a bit of mental focus, he felt the seal within his home. Molding the chakra he was gone and reappeared in his apartment. "YES!" Chakra usage was way down already, meaning his tweaking the seals was paying off. Running to his room so he could shower and change into fresh clothes, the blonde was soon back out his door and headed in the direction of the hotel Tayuya and Karin said they were staying in. Hopefully they were there and not out exploring the village some more. Jumping over a building and catching sight of the hotel, he also saw the shock of red hair walking away from it. Grinning the boy changed direction slightly and dropped down to ground level, "Tayuya-san, Karin-san!" Waving a hand over his head, both girls turned to see him.
"Yo blondie."
"Good afternoon Naruto-san."
Naruto jogged up to them and joined them in their walk, "What're you both up to today?"
Tayuya shrugged with her hands in her pockets, "Wanted to see the sights, maybe check out the hokage monument. No time with your team today?"
Naruto shook his head, "We actually just got back from a mission so we have a few days off." He looked them over before nodding, "How about I show ya around, hit the monument and the rest of the sights." Both girls agreeing, they wandered off to see the village from a tourist's perspective. Naruto tried his best to be upbeat and not distracted, showing off the market district and eventually the Hokage tower. He couldn't show off training grounds or the academy to random people, but the nature and beauty of the village were fair game. Eventually however they found their way to the top of the Hokage monument, Naruto leading the way to his personal favorite, the fourth's head. Funny that his favorite place was a carving of his dad's face. If only he had known sooner, another sore point against the village elders. Breaking through the tree cover, Naruto wasn't fully prepared to see Hinata of all people sitting there looking out over the village. Sun beginning to lower in the sky, still afternoon and not quite evening, the boy jogged ahead of his potential clan mates.
"Hey Hinata-chan, you alright?" The downtrodden girl looked back at her crush, smiling though it didn't seem to be real.
"Not really. Who're your friends Naruto-kun?" Hinata noticed their bright red hair, but also lack of headbands. Civilians then most likely. Why would Naruto be hanging around with them? Maybe a mission?
Naruto chuckled turning back to the possible Uzumaki's, "Actually, these are Uzumaki Karin and Tayuya. They're visiting the village for a little while."
Frowning and considering things, Hinata didn't want her friend to be taken advantage of by someone looking to use his fame. "Are you sure they're Uzumaki?"
"Hey, we're right here you know, that's rude." Tayuya had no qualms about speaking up when she felt like she was being slighted. Karin however held up a hand.
"It is reasonable to doubt us, she hasn't met us before now. And it's not like we can prove it."
Being reminded of his earlier errand before he had met up with the girls, Naruto pulled out a scroll and unsealed the blood comparison seals. "Uh, actually, we can prove it. If you wouldn't mind?" He wanted to believe. Things had been so shitty recently that he needed some good right now. Learning he had living family would do a lot more towards cheering him up after losing all the clan scrolls. "I put a drop of my blood on one end and then you put some blood on the other. Then it tells us our relation in the middle."
Tayuya scoffed, "You could just believe us."
Karin shook her head and stepped forward, "We're in a ninja village Tayuya-san, secrets are pretty par the course." Turning to the blonde, Karin bowed slightly, "I won't mind at all. It'd be good to know for sure we're related. It's nice to know we have family out here." It had been nice today, to spend time with the blonde. He seemed to have an awareness about himself that extended past just battle. She could admit to herself that she had a slight crush on him from when he saved her, but his character really did help a lot. He was kind, but not a push over.
Naruto bit his thumb and wiped in on one end of a paper seal, "Okay. Here's the first one then." He held it out, trying not to show to much anticipation. And as Karin pulled out a small carving knife to make a slit in her thumb, he had to work not to hold his breath as her thumb pressed into the other end of the seal. Seeing the seal pull the blood into itself before glowing red, they watched for a moment before the seal wrote out that they matched.
"Second Cousins huh, you really are main branch aren't you?" Tayuya was looking over Karin's shoulder with curiosity. While she didn't care much about the relation, something in her did feel relieved that they were in fact some type of family.
Grinning Naruto put that seal away, placing his still slightly bloody thumb on a new seal while Hinata stood next to him, curious herself, "You ready Tayuya-chan?"
"Just Tayuya squirt, cut the chan shit." Not able to really describe her feelings at the moment, Tayuya took the offered knife from Karin and slit her own thumb. Pressing it quickly to the paper to get this over with, they went through the same process. After a moment the same red characters bled out to describe them as second cousins once removed. "Huh, look at that." Maybe not main branch, but it was confirmation that they were concretely related.
Looking down at the seals Naruto took a deep breath. Still not knowing these girls really well he did however have Hinata there with him. Spinning and picking the girl up in a hug, he laughed loudly as he spun her around, "I have family Hinata-chan!" Elated for a reason he really couldn't put into words fully, he knew at least that he was happy.
Karin watched as the boy spun his friend around, the girl blushing up a storm but smiling all the same, "They're close."
Tayuya nodded, "We could use that."
Karin shook her head, "Bad idea." Karin however was still of the mind that she might have to ditch Tayuya completely. She wasn't loyal to Orochimaru and the man had already attempted to experiment on her once. That she found a family member out here was a miracle. If he was as genuine as he seemed, she'd follow him anywhere. Speaking up Karin nodded to Hinata, "She seems important to you. This your girlfriend?"
Naruto put down his friend with a blush, "Ahhh, this is Hinata-chan. One of my best friends and a bad ass kunoichi. If you ever need someone to really help you out in a pinch, this is your girl." Boasting about his friends was always easy.
Hinata herself just smiled and shook her head, "I apologize for not being so trusting."
Tayuya waved it off, "You're ninja, we get it." There was no reason for anyone to trust each other in this profession. Look at them, they were here to convince Naruto to leave the village. Or bring a piece of him back with them. One or the other. It bothered her somewhat that after her hard work and training to become one of his guardians Orochimaru pretty much downgraded her to brood mare if needed. Then again, it was better than being one of his test subjects.
Naruto however was turning to look out over the village, the sun dropping further in the sky. "You know, you two asked me what things where like in this village." Thinking it over and realizing that besides the Kyuubi, he didn't need to censor much of his personal story. And now that he knew they were family, he felt better about sharing it, village be damned at the moment. "Wanna hear my story?"
Following Naruto as he sat down on the grassy head of the fourth, Hinata leaned close, "Is this wise?"
Naruto shrugged, "Is anything I do wise?"
Hinata smiled but shook her head, "You are you."
"Point."
Karin didn't hesitate, coming and sitting on his other side, "I'd like to hear all about it. I'll share about the crazy stuff I've been through." She would too, though some of it she might have to wait until Tayuya went to sleep and the smaller girl hunted the boy Uzumaki down.
Tayuya sighed and sat on the other side of Karin, "I am curious I guess." She sort of was at that. Konoha gave the impression as a village where no one suffered and Naruto's demeanor fed that mindset. Sure he had mentioned that things weren't that great here, but how bad it can be?
Naruto however started to dive into his memories, not noticing his hand covering Hinata's for mental support and sending the girl blushing, "So, I was an orphan and on the streets early." From there he talked about his early life. Scrounging for food and clothes, the loneliness, some beatings. Then the academy and the visits from the Hokage. Trying to learn and make friends, betrayals and lies from multiple adults. His hard fought rise from no name to something of a local legend in terms of pranking and outrunning Anbu. He spoke of finally gaining some real recognition from his first teacher that gave a damn about him. Then his team and sensei, their bonding and missions together. His first kill, nearly dying saving his friend, gaining the respect of foreign ninja and a country. Then the shitstorm that was his life since then. The chunin exams, Orochimaru, the invasion. Meeting his god father and the council. He left out sensitive bits about the village or anything related to defense, but his life was there before the other two. They were family and naive though the thought may be, he didn't feel the need to lie to them. Some part of him desperate to have someone actually care about him without some other motive involved. Yes he knew Hinata-chan and Ino-hime cared. His team would as well. But that was 4 maybe 5 people tops, in a village of thousands. He was finding lately his connections were more on a select few special people, instead of the village on a whole.
Tayuya and Karin were quiet through it all, watching the sun begin to truly set as Naruto told his story. Both were lost in their thoughts as they listened for their own reasons. Karin because much like herself and her mother, it sounded like Konoha was using Naruto and his ability however they could. She imagined a world where maybe her mother had ended up here instead of Kusa. Would they have taken Naruto in? Would they be more like siblings now, or more likely, engaged to rebuild the clan? It was a horrid thought to think that through someone else's machinations that they wouldn't get to have that life. At least they hadn't gotten to in the past. Deciding in her heart right then that she would be staying with him, she'd make up for lost time. Leaning forward she wasn't even bothered by the attention the pale eyed girl gave Naruto. He was a main line descendant like her, so if he did have a goal of rebuilding the clan he'd need more than one wife, consort, girlfriend. She could live with that.
Tayuya surprised them all by speaking up. The normally brash girl was quiet but her gaze was firm as she looked out over the orange tinted village, "I've been alone for as long as I can remember. Don't remember my parents, my family, anyone. I've had to fight for everything I have, every breath until now. Sometimes I wondered…why was I cursed to be born an Uzumaki. What benefit did we have in this world?" Still refusing to turn and look the boy in the eye, she could have this moment of truth with them all before coming back to reality and getting back to the mission, "It's truly nice, not to meet some lying shit head looking to use the Uzumaki name. Maybe, in another life, we would have met sooner. Had a better life."
Karin looked up to Tayuya with some awe, realizing that the older girl wasn't all that loyal to Orochimaru either, whether she said so or not. She could work with this, though she'd have to talk to her first just in case. "I never saw being an Uzumaki as a curse, though this special blood running through my veins is the reason my mother is dead." Feeling the others look at her, the girl leaned back on her hands as she looked up at the sky, "My mom and I ended up in Kusa. In order to stay my mom had to agree to healing the village ninja and, other, things. Eventually there was a battle, she was overworked and was pushed over her limit. She died healing others, while I was left alone. The village elder decided I was going to take her place, or be tossed out on my own. So I did. I learned, I trained, I fought. And I gave my blood to heal others in the hope that one day things would get better. Like you both, I can say things did not getting better." Looking over now to a wide eyed Naruto, Karin let some more truth slip past her lips, "Then you came. A horde of orange ninja. One taking a moment to save a dumb red head from a bear. I had almost accepted dying. But you smiled at me and gave me a second chance." Looking back up to the darkening sky, Karin finally let silent tears fall down her cheeks, "Thank you, for saving me."
Naruto made the decision to look away from the girl and her tears, giving her a moment, "For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here, Karin-chan." folding a knee and resting an arm on it, his gaze over the village was not completely kind at the moment. This world seemed to want to do it's best to use them up, and then toss them aside when they were broken. He had wanted to fight against it, to rage against this social machine. But doing it alone was draining. He needed friends, allies. Like his earlier thought however, he was finding that list short.
Hinata herself didn't want to intrude, this feeling like a family matter, but the warmth of Naruto's hand opened her mouth for her. "You know…." Waiting for a moment to hear some type of condemnation from them and not getting it, the Hyuuga continued, "When I was dropped as clan heir, I thought for sure I would finally be free from obligations, from the scrutiny. Instead I've found it to be the opposite. Even worse actually. Not only does my father see fit to judge and berate me at every turn, but the clan council sees me as no more than breed stock now. My sister has no respect for me, my cousin seems to have forced himself to be kind to me, but I know what they all think of me truly. Looking on it now, our village seems the be rotting from several places at once. The village council takes what it wants, the clans take what they want. But what about us? What of the ninja who give their lives to try to better the village as a whole? Why is what happened to the Uzumaki allowed to pass? The Uchiha? It's all so…." Turning to her friend, she offered him a watery smile, "So broken."
Naruto wanted to tell her they'd fix it. He wanted to say they'd make it better. Right now he couldn't though and he had said he wouldn't lie to his friends. "What do you do with a broken system?" Normally he'd say fight it, fix it. That wasn't on his mind at the moment.
Tayuya however was easy to say his thoughts, "Blow it up. Burn it to the ground. Start over. This world does nothing but take from us. Why is it so wrong that we take something back?"
Karin was still looking up at the sky, beginning to see some stars now, "Where does it stop? Can it stop?"
Naruto sighed, "I don't know. For now I'm happy however. I got to meet and share my life with two members of my clan, my family that I didn't know about. That's a gift I didn't know I'd get to have." Turning to look at the two girls Naruto bowed his head slightly, "I'm glad to have met you both. I'm sorry life seems to want to keep kicking us around."
Tayuya was eager to wave him off, even if she was touched, "Nothin' you could do squirt. Not like we can rebuild Uzu or some shit." That place had been torched and reduced to rubble. Orochimaru had taken her once to show her the futility of hopeful thoughts.
Karin nodded to him with a smile, "You'd make a good clan head I think. In another world, I'd like to think that maybe the Uzumaki didn't get wiped out, that maybe we'd be friends."
Naruto nodded, "Maybe on a team even." Naruto gripped the girl's hand next to him, "Though I don't know if I could give up knowing Hinata-hime and Ino-hime."
Sitting in silence for a while, enjoying the peace and watching the village come to life in the night time. They all in their own way either admired the stars or just the company. Four children feeling abandoned by their village, clans, leaders, or some combination of it all. They shared a moment of unity in the cooling night. Eventually Tayuya motioned for Karin to rise, who did so reluctantly. Naruto and Hinata looked over to watch them, though Tayuya motioned for them to stay.
"We gotta go, but uh. We'll be here another day or so. Catch you tomorrow?"
Naruto nodded, "Sure thing, Ta-chan."
"Brat." A little less irritated, the female pair waved and made their way back down the mountain and left Naruto and HInata alone.
Relaxing completely, Hinata leaned into the boy, "They're nicer than I thought they'd be. I don't know if I'd turn out as well with the lives they had lived."
Naruto nodded, "You're stronger than you think, me and Ino-hime tell you that all the time." Silence descended on them again, Hinata thinking something dark and for once feeling confident enough to speak it.
"Do you think….do you think you could leave the village?"
Shocked by the question, Naruto looked down at the girl currently hiding her eyes behind her bangs, "What?"
"I…besides my team, you and Ino are really all that links me to the village. If I didn't have you…" She couldn't look at him though, scared to see the disgust and rejection she was sure was in his eyes. "You have even less, and now two members of your clan are here. What's stopping you from leaving the village with them?"
"I for sure wouldn't leave without you and Ino-hime."
"What if we went with you?"
Silence dropped around them. That was the question of the night. Naruto however knew he couldn't answer that at all. He had never even dared to think about it, dared to even dream about it. He had always wanted to keep fighting, keep pushing forward. That included gaining the village's respect, the respect of his fellow ninja. Become Hokage and protect everyone. What if their respect wasn't something he could ever gain? What if they always saw him as nothing but a tool? What if one day when he grew old and maybe befriended even the fuzzball in his gut, the council decided to rip it out and stuff it in one of his kids to keep their weapon fresh?
"I'm sorry. I'm sure you hate me for even saying that. I-"
"I think I would." Naruto couldn't look at her either in his own shame, but his hand enclosed around her own, "I think. If something happened, pushed one of us over the edge. I could leave. I don't know if I could blow the village apart, there are innocent people here. But the council? Some of the clans? Yeah some part of me could leave." They sat in silence from then on. They both knew they couldn't leave. Not now, to many obligations and ties held them here. They still had some hope that things could get better, improve. That maybe such a drastic measure wouldn't be needed. Eventually Naruto hugged the girl and stood, offering her his hand, "I'm gonna see if I can convince Tayuya and Karin to stay in the leaf."
Hinata took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet, "Do you think that's wise?" She wouldn't question if he could do it. If he decided it was going to happen, it would happen.
Naruto shook his head, "Probably not, Konoha will want to use them too. I'll fight and protect them as much as I can. And well, with the council being the way it is, I'm not above a little threatening now." And he wasn't. He meant it that he wouldn't blow up the village, but the council didn't know that. Which meant creative threats were allowed. "Com'on, let's head out and get something to eat, it's almost dinnertime." Taking the lead, Hinata's warm hand still in his own, he felt lighter than he had in probably a week.
-b-
The next morning around the same time Naruto had met up with Tayuya and Karin before, he was dropping into the street and meeting them again. He had one day before he had to start team training and missions back up. That meant he had to get things done today. So thinking it and now focused, he had a plan in mind. Waving to a smiling Karin and a apathetic Tayuya, they marched off towards the city with no real destination in mind, though Naruto was subtly trying to divert them to his apartment. First however he needed to open that conversation.
"So, you're gonna leave soon?" Smooth Naruto, real smooth.
Tayuya nodded, "Have to, not enough money to stay. Gotta go find some work and keep moving." Not a complete lie, but not the truth either. While she had slipped up yesterday she would make sure to stick to the plan today. There was no reason to share her past with him or Karin. The sound village was for the strong, the weak got eaten.
"Well what if, you had a place to stay, that you didn't have to pay for?"
Tayuya crossed her arms under her modest bust, "We aren't women of the night so we sure as hell aren't going to find something that nice."
Blushing Naruto shook his hands back and forth, "No no. Nothing like that." Looking away and taking a calming breath, he got on with it, "What if, you stayed with me?" Seeing both girls pause and just stare at him, he was quick to start defending himself and stave off pervert accusations. "I wouldn't ask you to do anything at all, and I'll be better about keeping it clean and what not. You can have my room. I just. I don't have much, but I don't like the idea of you both going back out into the world alone like that. If I have some power to do anything, let it be to protect what's precious to me." Looking at them directly, the boy smiled, "You're family. I don't know if that means anything, but that's special. I've never had that before."
Karin was happy as this fell in line with her decision to stay by his side, so she would agree in a heartbeat. "I would love to stay, though I'll have to see your apartment first."
Tayuya wanted to give at least the pretense of fighting it, but with Karin so gung-ho about it, she couldn't muster up much energy to do so. "That's a lot to ask of two girls you really don't know." A token resistance at least.
Naruto shrugged, "We're Uzumaki, do we need any other proof than that? At the least, we know each other's pain." And they did in one form or another.
Sighing and pretending to really think it over, Tayuya scrubbed a hand through her hair. He really was just so earnest, "Ugh alright! Let's go see this shithole."
"Com'on, at least see it first before you call my place a shithole."
"It's a man's house, it's bound to be a shithole."
"Says you, I can clean."
"Can and do are two different things."
Karin tried to moderate, "Com'on you two, we're supposed to be bonding, this is a happy thing, happy!"
"We are bonding." Tayuya reached over and ruffled Karin's hair. She could pretend for a little while. Now that they were secured to be close to him, they'd have plenty of time. So she could have a family, if only for a bit.
Naruto was grinning, "I'm a pretty brash guy, so if I'm teasing you it usually means I care." It was his way with his team, and Ino-hime and Hinata-hime. Leading the girls to his apartment building, and then up the stairs to his place. He pointed out the rickety stairs not to trust and several sections of floor not to step on. "So most of the building is empty, so noise won't ever be a problem." If was mostly the lower floors that had some people, but the upper floors were all empty and his apartment was right at the top. Fishing out his key and unlocking the door, Naruto led the way inside, "And this is home sweet home!" Waving them in. Karin and Tayuya gazed upon his kingdom.
"It's….clean." Karin snorted at Tayuya's surprise.
"I said I cleaned after myself."
"Yeah but, you're a guy, guys lie about that stuff all the time." Walking in and taking a tour, she did note that the refrigerator was pretty empty. Probably owing to the fact that the guy was gone a lot and didn't shop. "Gonna have to fix this."
Karin was looking over his plants, all looking healthy, "What's that?"
"No food."
"Yeah uh, I'm usually pretty busy, so I just shop daily or go out." He could cook but he'd just been in and out of the village recently. Hadn't had a chance to restock yet.
Karin shrugged, "We can take care of stuff like that. If you aren't going to charge us to stay, the least we can do is help out."
Tayuya frowned, "We're gonna have to do something about money. Guess I could get a job, though I don't want to use the Uzumaki name. We're supposed to be on a low profile."
Naruto shook his head, "Don't worry about money. I make a lot with missions and I still have some money from bounties I received a while ago. Since I don't go out or do anything, I do nothing but save." Sure he spent some money on bomb supplies, but ultimately he still had cash to spare. Turning to the girls who were wandering around his living room, he spread his arms wide, "Consider this your home. I know it isn't a clan compound or anything. But, it's home."
Home. That was a word Karin never thought she'd be able to really ascribe to anywhere anymore. Nodding, she set about exploring further.
Tayuya unintentionally was thinking much the same as Karin. Sound was never home, just as much a prison as it was hell. This could be something else. Again she had to remind herself that this was just pretend. Nothing serious. "We have some money saved up, so we can at least help stock up on food and supplies. We'll need to go back to the hotel and get our bags."
Naruto nodded, "I'll clear out my room, like I said, you both can share it. I'm gonna take a shower but I should be done before you get back. If not, feel free to start moving in." Getting both girls to nod and giving them a spare key, he watched them go before creating and tasking several clones to empty out his room and place things strategically around the living room. He could seal away his clothes for now, buy a dresser to shove in a corner later. Grinning the boy jumped in the air in joy. He had honest to kami family living with him! Bounding off to jump in the shower, grabbing pants and a towel, he reminded the clones to disperse themselves when they were finished with their tasks.
Half an hour later found Karin and Tayuya back at the apartment. Tayuya putting clothes away in the bedroom while Karin was filling the fridge with their market haul. They couldn't bother Naruto since they heard the shower, but they could entertain themselves in the meantime. As Tayuya came out, biker shorts on and a snug black tank top, she was closest to hear a knock at the door. "Did he say anything about visitors?"
Karin shook her head, "Don't think so, but he does have some friends. Maybe it's one of them? Their chakra feels genin level, maybe chunin. It'd fit."
Shrugging and going to answer the door, the taller Tayuya opened the door to see Hinata and some other blonde she hadn't met before, "Uh, yo. What'd you want?"
"Uuuuuuh, who the hell are you?" Why was there some scantily dressed older girl answering Naruto's door? Ino was caught off guard. Ino did not do well caught off guard.
"Wouldn't you like to know blondie."
"Why yes, yes I would you-"
Hinata sighed and stepped forward, bowing lightly, "Good afternoon Tayuya-san. I didn't know you would be with Naruto-kun today. Can we come in?"
Tayuya turned and headed back inside, "Sure sure. And yeah, we were going to hang out before we left but plans have changed.
Ino was looking between the taller red head and Hinata. She wasn't freaking out about this hussy in their crush's house, so that was hopefully a good sign. "Uh, who is this Hinata-chan?"
Hinata smiled as she closed the door and walked behind Tayuya, "This is Tayuya Uzumaki. She and Karin are two Uzumaki who've found their way to Konoha." Oh the look on Ino's face was priceless.
"Uzumaki? As in clan members of Naruto's clan? There are more of them?" Well that was certainly news, that meant potentially Naruto was a clan head. It also meant he had family. "That's amazing."
From the kitchen Karin stepped out, "You're telling us. We thought we'd never find another Uzumaki ever." Holding out a hand to the blonde who took it with a shake, Karin smiled "Karin, nice to meet you."
Ino nodded to both of the other red heads, must be a family trait, "Ino Yamanaka. Flourist and beauty of a kunoichi at your service."
Tayuya could admit that she seemed to at least take the job somewhat seriously, not a vapid rail thin airhead, "I'm Tayuya. Flourist huh? Know anyone looking for some hired civilian help?" She'd have to keep up appearances for now
Ino put a finger to her chin and Karin tried to herd them all to the living room. Sitting on one of the couches herself. Ino and HInata sat together on the longer couch, "I can ask around. My parent's shop could use a helping hand I think." At least these girls weren't going to mooch off of Naruto while they were here. "Where are you staying, I can find somewhere close by it."
Tayuya motioned around them, "Naruto offered his place, so we're staying here."
That was news to both of the younger leaf girls, "Staying with Naruto?" Hinata had a mild blush on her face. They were clan mates sure but like hers, there were plenty of clans who weren't bothered about keeping blood pure.
Karin nodded, "He was very adamant about it." None of them heard the shower turn off.
Ino herself sighed, "That sounds like him, always thinking of others." She'd had to grill the little explosion junky later.
Not hearing the conversation and walking out with a towel around his neck, Naruto was only dressed in some black sweat pants that were slightly loose. Upper body on display and showing off that in fact sword training along with physical conditioning was doing wonders for his physique. All the girls present were blushing as he froze in place. What were Ino and Hinata doing here?
"Uh, hey everyone." Why was everyone else's eyes glinting?
"Abs…" Ino's voice cut clear through everyone else's thoughts. Eyes focused solely on the v-shape of Naruto's core leading downward. Why was she suddenly so hot?
"We're gonna live with that? Sign me up full time." Tayuya started cackling as Karin pounded on her arm.
"We're supposed to be nice, nice! Don't get all weird day one!"
Hinata however was much as Ino, however her blush finally reached nuclear level and she passed out.
Naruto of course saw this, "Ack, Hinata! Stay with us! You okay, hey!" Rushing to try and shake her awake, he missed the silly smile on her face.
Ino sighed and leaned back, "Oh we're so going to have to visit often. No way we're missing out on this."
Still laughing Tayuya appreciated the sight of Naruto's toned back, "You know, I might wanna take back what I said about the women of the night comment. You look worth it." Cackling as Karin blushed even harder, she took pride in the dark look Ino tossed her way. So the little blonde was into the Uzumaki blonde. Good info to have.
Naruto however was still trying to wake up Hinata. Recent drama aside, this wasn't a bad day in the end.
-AN-
And cut. Gonna have some set up and fluff these next couple of chapters before some real chaos. But I promise we're getting there. Thought, has anyone noticed Jiraiya's missing?