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FICTION
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Chapter 19: Official Dismissal
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Danzou had warned me. "You could be invited to a special session of the Council."
Why? Well, the point is- I may be used as a scapegoat. Or as a 'trojan horse' to break into Danzou's efforts to remove Minato. It doesn't sound like good news, and it kind of wasn't.
The thing is that I wasn't going in without some guarantees. I had been sent letters by various clans beforehand: the Uchiha, unsurprisingly, supported me, same for the Hyuuga, the Inuzuka, the Aburame, and a few more. So, I wasn't going there blind or without big people covering my butt. And when the day came and after I left Itachi in charge of the Pizzeria, I was escorted by none other than Anko herself to the Council building,
I felt a hint of unease as I got closer to the noises coming from the approaching chamber. The Tokubetsu Jounin gave me a supportive look, but she told me she couldn't speak much so... I was stuck with just that. It wasn't exactly a good moment to step into the large political arena, especially as my mind had pulled back all I could remember about the bad tropes involving Konoha's Council.
Civvies bad, ninja good, Hokage is lazy and too into the status quo- and I could add some more through 'individual tropes' relating to said Hokage, and his wife.
Kushina was there, and she was the one that first greeted me with a scalding glare. The bitch didn't expect me to match hers with a furious glare of mine. She wasn't in the right, and I wasn't going to stand down against any challenges she dared to put onto me. Still, my attention was claimed as Minato stood from his chair, a hand raised up and he gestured everyone to fall quiet. It took a while, but soon the huge room fell into silence.
It wasn't the Hokage that spoke, rather Nara Shikaku. Was he the 'Speaker' for the Council? Sounded like a predictable development, but it was still surprising nonetheless as I paid little to no attention to the general details of the council's politics.
"The session can begin with your introduction, Bugarino-san."
I offered a tense bow.
"My name is Bugarino Jonno."
"Bugarino-san, you have been summoned for this special meeting of the council to discuss two points pertaining yourself and your family. First, you have to answer an inquiry regarding your current situation regarding the children of the former Kazekage, then you have to answer for... the matters regarding one Namikaze Naruko-"
"Bugarino Ruruko!" I interrupted strongly, causing the room to explode in a mixture of outrage and agreement to my statement. "That is her name, the one she recognizes herself as!"
Shikaku huffed, clearly not liking the matter either, but having to deal with a script.
"I suppose this correction is valid. Bugarino Ruruko has been registered as such for far longer than her previous identity," The man commented, which prompted quite a lot of tension to come from the booth where Kushina and Minato were. "Alas, I expect interjections to be moderated, Bugarino-san. I am willing to accept the necessity of this one time, but you shall wait your time to express dissent over some of those terms. Understood?"
I bowed my head, really disliking this 'trial-like' situation. I wasn't being accused of anything, but half of the Council was sure as hell treating it like that.
"Let's start with the 'Sand Siblings' affair. There are many questions regarding how it came to be. By your written statement, which you provided prior to this meeting, you mentioned that you were first approached by Gaara of the Sand, and that she was trying to get hold of your daughter, Ruruko."
I nodded. "That's correct."
"And then you wrote that you ended up befriending her as she tried to 'wait for her return', leading up to a degree of interest to renege her ties with Sunagakure and surrendering to Konoha as a political prisoner under your care."
"Yes, that's correct."
Shikaku blinked. "The question I wish to first raise is: what did you do to convince a Jinchuriki to betray her village and join ours?"
"...I wouldn't say there was any betrayal as Gaara was not truly tied to her village with the kind of treatment she got as a Jinchuriki. Especially since her father wanted her to be a tool to be used," I started to answer, then shifted to the core response. "Still, I would say there are three points behind Gaara's interest to not join the invasion. First, she was suffering from insomnia- a condition that was due to her faulty seal which could not keep her tailed beast from invading her mind while she slept and would ravage her mind as she she slumbered. This was a condition that was prevalent with her up to just a few weeks ago when I told her how to solve this problem."
"Which is?" Shikaku pressed on and I nodded.
"Well, my daughter had gotten her hands on a simple technique that allowed her to 'clone herself', and she noticed that she could apply different personalities to her clones. So, I thought that it could work in temporarily removing the Tailed Beast's consciousness and allow her to slumber without worrying about it."
"Just the clone technique? And are you referring to the Shadow Clone Technique?"
"No, she used her sand to restrain the clone, and yes it was the Shadow Clone Technique."
People started to murmur on the sides, something that was highlighted as Shikaku flipped a few pages from his script and then nodded at the lines she found.
"So, what you are saying is that your daughter is familiar with the Shadow Clone Technique?"
"Yes."
"Are you aware this technique is not publicly available to civilians?" Shikaku pointed out and I nodded, holding back a smile as I had been expecting such a turn of events despite a few civilians gasping and glaring at me with suspicion.
"I was told after I brought it up to a few ninja that visits the pizzeria. I wasn't the one teaching her the technique, rather she mentioned a 'Gallant Ninja' that said was 'a legendary writer' brought it up to her during one of her deliveries, and she then found someone that taught her the handsigns for the technique after she told them about her large reserves," I explained half-truthfully. "After that, she started to use it a few times, but restrained herself when she learned that too many clones can 'overdrive' her."
"Thank you for your honesty," Shikaku remarked before shifting back to the main line of questioning. "You also mentioned two other points."
"Yes. The second point is that Gaara was mistreated in her village for a large portion of her childhood, and badmouthed as she became a ninja. It became so intense that she hardly has any connection to Sunagakure beyond her family- and they are all here in Konoha."
There was more murmuring, but this time no 'Gotcha moments' as Shikaku took a moment to consider my words.
"What about the third point?"
"She... She asked about my daughter. She wanted to know how she was treated by Konoha, and I told her that I always treated her with love and care. Something that, she said to me personally, she wanted for herself and her siblings. Hence why they have been very collaborative during their stay at the Pizzeria."
Shikaku nodded, flipping more pages and then sighing. "Which I assume led her and her siblings to plan to ditch their village and not take part to the invasion."
"That's correct."
"Were the eliminations of Uchiha Satsuki and Namikaze Mito meant to facilitate the invasion?"
"I don't know," I admitted calmly, but this statement resulting for the civilian representatives to hurl a storm of screams for 'lying'.
I was 'saved' when the head of the Yamanaka Clan, Inoichi, stood up. "Actually, we have confirmation from the few prisoners we interrogated that the Suna Siblings were meant to escape back to the village when the invasions started and get the troops mobilized. There was no mention whatsoever of any individuals within the competition that had to be removed before the invasion."
"How absolute are those findings, Yamanaka-san?" Minato stood up and asked, and Inoichi offered a grimace to his old friend.
"They are good enough considering we caught some of the advisors behind the plans for the invasion and their memories confirmed there was no intention to sabotage the Exam or to employ the Kazekage's children as part of the invasion."
Silence descended within the chamber, but the most of the Clan Heads were now glaring back at their civilian counterparts while the Hokage sat down, slightly defeated by this turn of events.
"That being said, Bugarino-san, you are unfamiliar to the details of the invasion, correct?"
"I was unaware of it until the invasion occurred and Gaara brough her siblings to my pizzeria, mentioning her need to surrender and to peacefully concede to confinment."
More nodding, but the wait that came from this answer was motivated by the fact that Shikaku was now shifting away from the first subject, and moving to the next one. And this was where the heat picked up a lot.
"Bugarino-san, would it be fair to say that you found your daughter, Bugarino Ruruko, roughly ten or so years ago?"
I nodded. "Yes."
"What were her conditions when you found-"
"This is an unecessary question, Nara-san," The Hokage interrupted, and he turned his cold stare to me. "Ask him why didn't he return her back to her family?"
I stood up right as he did, not waiting for Shikaku's prompt. "To answer your question, Hokage-san, I preferred to first treat her malnourished and wounded self before looking for her family. Yet, I already knew what I was going to find - she had been forfeited to the orphanage and the orphanage, taking inspiration by the Hokage's warning that the 'Kyuubi can corrupt others', crossed her name out of the list of children under their care after kicking her into the streets!"
My proclamation sent ripples all over the council as this time it was the Ninja side that got extremely vocal with the roaring and the accusations, while the civilian side called me a 'demon-lover' and shit that I have already made my skin thick enough to endure and ignore.
"Enough!" Shikaku's voice shredded into the chaotic exchange. "I will have order for this interrogation or suspend the session altogether!"
It took a few minutes, but the room soon returned to something close to silence. Shikaku thought it fitting to resume the questioning and turned to me.
"Bugarino-san, in regard to the legal paperwork, you have a legally-binding documentation that confirms Ruruko as your daughter?"
"I do."
Shikaku hummed as someone brought to his attention the copy of those documents and he nodded at those before shifting to the next question.
"Have you ever taken your daughter to a doctor to verify her condition when you took her in?"
"I didn't get the opportunity as her wounds were healing by the next day, and she refused to leave the pizzeria for a solid month before allowing me to take around for brief walks around the district."
"What about after that?" Shikaku pressed.
"I have started to take her to doctors a year after I took her in. She was diagnosed with mild Stranger Anxiety and a light form of Agoraphobia. Both of which seems to have passed by the time she turned ten."
Before Shikaku could have brought up more questions, I heard someone walking behind me, and I turned to see... Danzou? Actually, I recalled just now I hadn't seen Danzou anywhere in the council. I had seen the other elders, but not Danzou...
"Shimura-san, that is not a booth you can preside. I suggest you vacate it or-"
"Apologies for interrupting, Nara-san. But I believe I have to express the need to interrupt the current meeting and start a new one due to the invokation of Article 6 of the Hokage's Legislation."
Shikaku flashed a... dry look. "Is there support for this motion?"
"I support Shimura-san's proposal," Fugaku stood up and proclaimed, then followed by Hiashi, Tsume, the heads of the Aburame, Akimichi, Yamanaka, and even Shikaku's own wife on behalf of the Nara Clan.
"If that's the case, the current session is adjourned and a new meeting regarding Article 6, the possibility of casting a vote of no confidence for the Fourth Hokage."
Minato stood up to try and prevent this, but this had moved way faster than he had expected, and I had happily taken Danzou's advice of leaving at once before I was forced to 'stay as a witness'.
Anko tagged along and soon she spoke up.
"That was really scary, Jonno-san. I am glad that you held yourself so proudly- also, about house chores, I have to say that... oh?"
Before Anko could have finished that sentence as we were marching out of the building... I saw a familiar blond-haired girl drift around the corner and then bolting after me.
"DaaaAAAAADDDDY!"
Ruruko's sudden arrival gave me so much relief- which vanished as she didn't slow down and then jumped onto me. I caught her mid-air, but I almost tripped backward due to her momentum.
"R-Ruruko-"
"Daddy, I missed you so muuuuuch!" The brat bawled against my, rubbing her snot-filled nose against my shoulder much to my chagrin.
"Ruko-chan! Stop treating my shoulder as your napkin!"
While I said that, I heard someone chuckling at my sorrow, and I turned to see... Tsunade and Shizune, both very amused about seeing this sight unfolding...
And both very interested to tell me that I was now supposed to house them too in the pizzeria.
AN
Ruruko: Dad, I took in grandma and auntie!
Jonno: Ruko, I took in two girls and a boy your age-
Ruruko: Ye fucken wot?!
Still, the feud between the Bugarino and the Namikaze Family is far from over- especially since Menma has been busy doing... stuff.
