The next week the academy elite were huddled in the school courtyard as a group, in the center, Naruto. The only two off to the side was Hinata and Satsuki. "I'm sorry man this must've hurt." Kiba started. "It was brave of you to go out on your own terms, if illogical, I gained a lot of respect for you." Shino offered. "Thanks guys" Naruto smiled weakly. "If you need a place to stay I asked my parents and they said you could for a while." Sasuke really is the friendliest of the group, it makes itachi proud. Menma and Mito were silent. Choji said "We're here for you man, lets get some BBQ, later all of us." Sakura slightly annoyed, interjected "I don't understand what's the big deal here, its not like Naruto's parents kicked him out he lost a worthless name big whoop - "
"SAKURA SHUT UP!" Hinata yelled startling everyone. "a clan heir title is more that just a fancy name. Its a title, rank, and expectation. Its a promise that when you come of age you will lead the clan, its part of your clan identity and acknowledgment, in certain cases loosing that can be worse that being kicked out. It can have dark consequences." Everyone paused. They knew the horrors of the caged bird seal, what it could do.
Satsuki spoke next "For once the princess and I are in agreement. Loosing a clan heir title in my clan can lead to the sealing of the sharingan - it's never a good thing."
Sakura shook her head she couldn't grasp the gravity of the situation - civilians rarely did understand shin-obi politics especially clan succession because of how secretive it all was "We don't even know what the consequences for the Uzumaki-"
Menma cut her off "Because in the uzumaki clan being clan heir was was reserved for traitors or those who were utterly incompetent, loosing that title means becoming something similar to being branded an becoming something similar to being branded a pariah or traitor. Most times being removed from the clan entirely, sometimes even being outright killed. In the cases of the former. There were ways to abdicate, or ask someone to abdicate the title harmlessly, mainly through ceremony and giving of a rank or similar title or offering Naruto a chance to prove his worth as heir. What my parents did was not one of them. They planned to make it right during the festival, but thats not the point. I don't think they meant this but, what they unintentionally by trying to bribe him like they did what was said was he had no place in the family."
Sakura was quiet for a minute "Its not like that this is a different case, it was to help Mito and Menma, not hurt Naruto."
Mito softly said "there were better ways… we are actively looking for survivors from the clan, what happens when they find out about what happened Naruto and judge him?" With that the bell rung and everyone except Naruto went inside.
The next day Naruto got Hinata to skip school to go to the temple and release a yokai. Because of what clan Hinata belonged to Akira didn't trust her sooner, but she earned her stripes and even met the yokai and got their approval. She and Tomoko became fast friends do to their similar nature. Hinata wanted to release her, but Tomoko said no because they didn't have space for her in the apartment the Biniru clan had turned into a temporary compound. Turns out having a giant spider for a lower half takes up a lot of room, Who knew?
Since Hinata knew Naruto's goal she chose Rumiko instead. The Nine tailed Kitsune looked in a word stunning, she had long, orange hair that went halfway down her body. She had green slit eyes, sharp but full of warmth like Tsume Inuzuka's but also holding a certain mischief in them. Her lips pursed in a small, playful, and dangerous smile. On her head there were fox ears that seemed to come out of her hair. She wore a long elegant white dress, a Deep blue Chinese style tabard covering it. On the tabard there was the the Biniru clan symbol in white. 9 orange tail swayed from the back of the dress. "Hehehehehe, ahhh kit I thought you'd said that it wouldn't be safe to release me so soon~" the fox woman teased "aren't you afraid ill be hunted?"
Her mock pout was only held for a few seconds as Naruto and Hinata's deadpaned causing her to smirk. "Akira has told me your goals, a kitsune yokai sage? A lofty goal but with my help it will happen before long. And you, young girl who freed me? She smiled before flashing to hinata's back pushing her body against the young hyuga whispering in her ear "I can sense your emotions towards the boy, if you want to be with him, you'll have to become a kitsune as well. Follow my teachings and you'll become a splendid vixen."
A determined Naruto, Human form Rumiko and beet red Hinata left the temple to meet Akira, and team Ro. Naruto and Hinata were prepared for the force so she wasn't knocked out. Umi and the children had fabricated a letter exchange, as a cover for the yokai to come to the village. As soon as the Konohamaru crew got more freedom as a genin, they too would release a yokai, if they weren't all released by then. "Ma, Naruto I know your excited but you Shouldn't have left ahead like that." Dog chided calmly. "Yeah brats, yas left me's in the villages with a buncha masked bandits they even stole my sake." Akira chimed in, trying to get her gourd back from Weasel. Everyone laughed as They walked home.
Minato sat in his office 8 months after the fox festival. Stuck reading reports of academy students their Jonin prepared after the real graduation tests. Looking through the papers he got to his blonde sons name. The hokage hesitated, he knew he hurt the boy, not that he wanted to. The Shinigami's curse hung heavy on his family.
The Hokage also knew his relationship with his other two children wasn't that good. Unlike the neglect Naruto faced the curse manifested during their teachings. Naruto only saw the training his siblings had that Minato allowed the world to see. The laughing happy times tree walking with mommy and daddy. Not the ten hours a day brutal torture. Not the sparring in an all out slugfest, Not the burnt-out chakra points from over training or the anbu level obstacle course they had to do, Mito and Menma puking from being pushed too hard. Minato could not allow Naruto to join that, if his siblings with the nine tailed fox chakra barely had enough stamina for the hellish training then Naruto would die doing it. Probably with a smile on his face, he always wanted to be a part of the family and thats what made it worse.
Minato truly felt horrible seeing his boy grow cold to his family and the outside world and once this year was over, Dan would take a temporary ride with the hat so he and his wife could search for a cure and earn the boy's love and trust again.
As he pushed aside the reports on the ninja hopefuls as Weasel and Kinoe appeared in his office. "Did you find who the new one is?"
"According to lady uzumaki-senjus documents, the kitsune." Minato hummed. Kushina was shocked when a girl came in with her son one night claiming to be a part of the mythical clan she heard about from her bedtime stories. A clan that traveled with the uzumaki nomads that summoned magical creatures from folklore and could see into different worlds, that was said to have disappeared during the warring stated period. And the girl was found in a temple known by ninja for causing dreams and nightmares of said Creatures? The next day Kushina visited the senju compound and went right into the room of the first hokages wife and her daughter's namesake, mito uzumaki-Senju. And under the floor boards right where she remembered it a book and when she opened it staring at her, the girl from last night but with purple skin and horns along with other yokai, and the legend of their clan. From that day on they investigated the girl. A Yamanaka mind search done when she was interviewed to enter the village proved she had no ill will, all she hid was her status as a yokai and some other secrets relating to that.
Her only plans seemed to be to unseal the shrine maiden, Himiko and the rest of the yokai and Biniru clan in the temples around the world, then restructure the clan to live in the leaf taking all clan secrets back with them. Minato thought that was ok enough so as long as she didn't step too far out of line she was allowed to stay. And since she had trained their son when they were too compromised to do so it was the least they could do. Minato nodded "As long as Shes nothing like our other fox, it shouldn't be a problem." Kinoe spoke next "According to the books and other research we found, she is benevolent yet mischievous. As long as her pranks aren't too bad she should be fine."
Just then an Minato threw a kuni at the wall to the right of him. A false panel open up. Out came three ROOT agents one with orange hair and a puppet and one with blue hair and one with black hair. "I thought I decommissioned and shutdown Danzo's little project." minato eyed the trio. "You did" the black haired one said. They silently left two scrolls on the table. The orange haired one pulled out a vial of blood and poured on the scrolls unsealing them for the hokage's reading. "Be glad a traitor to former adviser had found it prudent to turn against him, If they did not, the ROOT's rot would have killed the tree. It already started too. Read the information they had sacrificed to get to you before anything else. We must return to Danzo before he finds out what we did. Shin will stay to verify the documents because Danzo believes he is already dead." He spoke as the two left. Minato opened the scroll and out popped all the information Akira collected. As the Hokage read the first file a report, slowly killing intent filled the room choking the anbu, and his guard hanging from the ceiling. Minato spoke in an unsettling calmness betraying a boiling rage "Get me Inochi Here. Now!" Kinoe looked back as the desk and saw the name of the report on the table: Operation Overcast.
(A/N: and now Danzo is caught. And Minato is not happy at all. good. Also Sakura this chapter wasn't written to be 'bashed' or cruel, just used to show the difference between civilian and clan/shin-obi understanding of the world, in this instance politics of clan titles. This will happen a few more times in the story but its not to bash anyone. please read and leve a review :) )