Chapter Text
[December 27; Age 8]
Naruto isn't sure what the protocol for Pledge Gifts are since Kota-nii admitted that he hadn't followed any of them, and Naruto hadn't been aware that he was Pledging himself to her so she isn't sure that it matters.
But it does matter because the Chiaki ask for a gift of honesty as an invitation to Pledge and the Chigusa ask for knowledge of one's greatest fears. Naruto has always prided herself on her honesty, so she tells them what they want to know. It is the second time in so many days that she is baring her soul to someone around her but it is the first time that it doesn't feel like she is being ripped apart by doing so. Unlike Shikamaru, Tomomi-nee, Yosu-nii, and Kotaro-nii don't get sick.
They get quiet. In the case of Yosuke-nii, who is normally quiet anyway, he gets more talkative. Naruto feels terrible for making them feel this way, for making simmer and burn so slowly, like candle wax, because that is how their emotions feel to her when she bothers to sense what is they are feeling with the revelation.
After getting the story out for the second time, she feels so much better. Yosu-nii and Tomo-nii thank her and tell her that they will get started on their gifts. Kotaro-nii gives them a long look before he takes Naruto aside and stresses that she cannot be upset by their gifts.
When Naruto asks why she would be, because she loves gifts, Kotaro says "Kajiyasaki gift what we believe you could use to protect yourself, Chigusa gift closure for your worst nightmares and fears, and Chiaki give the gift of honesty to show the world who you are as you are. You've told them of your abuse and neglect, your fears and sorrows. The Chiaki and Chigusa are more aligned with emotional and psychological matters than my own clan is so they tend to gift gifts that are more symbolic but no less tangible than a Kajiyasaki gift. I gave you Kazehana, because I know that you are primarily wind and water natured, and I made her thin but strong in order to prepare for if you ever had a lightning nature through possession or just as a secondary chakra nature.
"More than likely," Kota-nii continues, "Yosuke-kun are going to gift you proof of your enemies being dead: a gift of closure. If someone is dead, Naruto-hime, one doesn't need to worry about what it is they are going to do or when they will harm them again. As for Tomomi-chan, I cannot say. Her idea of honesty largely depends on how she interprets your story and how she feels you feel about everything. The Chiaki are very observant and emphatic that way."
"But I don't want anyone to die," Naruto says because she doesn't. Enough people have already died.
"Yes, but what you want and what you need are two different things." Kota-nii says simply. "Try your best not to get upset by the gifts. Yosuke-kun and Tomomi-chan will be aware that you may not particularly like them, but they will be expecting you to either accept or reject them in a proper way. Especially, Yosuke-kun, the Chigusa are sticklers for tradition."
"What happens if I reject them? Properly, I mean." Naruto asks. She doesn't want to hurt anyone feelings, even if her own are all over the place, and she doesn't want to make Yosu-nii feel like she doesn't appreciate his gift. She wants Yosu-nii and Tomo-nee to stay with her as long as possible. She loves them just as much as Kota-nii, can feel the way their chakra brushes gently against hers in support and love, and wants that feeling forever. Just like Kota-nii is the memory of forges and mint tea shared under the rising sun, Yosu-nii is dirt under her fingers as she works to pry up a tea plant from the soil without damaging the roots, and Tomo-nee is quiet mornings spent with pricked fingers as she struggles to embroider an obi. The three of them are Takumi to her and all its wonder.
Naruto doesn't think that she could stomach staying here, even with Shikamaru around, if she didn't have them around to remind her of a family that is hers by birth and not by choice or circumstance. She has spent most of her life thinking she was the child of traitors and was better off alone and an orphan and to discover that that is not true, that she has family, is a deafening and heady sensation, stronger than any sake and sweeter than any candy.
She wants to keep that feeling, hold it tight and never let go. She will keep that feeling.
"You say 'thank you for fulfilling your end of the covenant but I cannot find the heart to do the same. I fear that I am not of a mind to be joined with you right now and for this I am sorry.' You can say this to both Tomomi-chan and Yosuke-kun." Kotaro instructs and Naruto nods. "But Hime?" Kota-nii waits for her to look up at him and he smiles at her, amber eyes crinkling at the corners. "I think that you won't need them."
~*~
Yosu-nii gives her an intricately carved box filled with two sets of tongues, eyes, hands, and feet. The first set, she knows, belongs to Takara-san, the former wive of Kazuhiro-san. Naruto will never forget what she smells like even if the woman is just a mutilated bunch of body parts. The other takes her some time before she realizes that the body parts match the scent of the woman who cut her cheek open a few days ago in the market.
She had been prepared to reject the gift because Naruto had expected something like this anyway, but…the sense of relief that she feels at the knowledge that Takara-san is dead brings her to tears. She should not be happy that someone is dead but…if it wasn't for Takara-san, then none of the things in that shack would have happened. Probably.
"Thank you for the gift." Naruto mumbles quietly, still staring at the tongue that had condemned her for just being a child with emotions. She feels a hand on her head, strong and steady, and looks up into the black eyes of Yosu-nii to find him smiling sweetly at her. It is an odd expression to see when she is used to him being so stern and regal looking.
"You're welcome Hime-sama. These people shall no longer speak ill of you, think ill of you, do ill to you, or walk on a path that may lead them to doing so. I pledge that all your enemies shall be utterly destroyed, to the best of my abilities so that may not harm you or yours, even in death."
"I accept your pledge."
Tomo-nee gives her a stack of journals that she recognizes as having belonged to Jiji, two scrolls—one with the Uzumaki swirl and another with a gust of wind chasing a leaf: the Namikaze mon, and a photo album. She is aware that the scrolls are her inheritance, or part of it. She takes the gifts with a sense of trepidation but decides to open the photo album first.
When she does, staring back at her, are her parents. The woman is shorter than the man, with a waterfall of crimson hair falling down to her ankles just like Naruto's does, and a smile that Naruto has seen a thousand times reflected on her own face. Her mother, because it is her mother, is so beautiful. There are notes and captions next to the picture written in a looping script that Naruto doesn't recognize.
Her father is tall and towers over her mother, just like Hisa-jiji and Hoshi-ba, and smiles a secret smile that's both inviting and alienating. His eyes are narrower than hers but they are the same blue, his face more defined and angular, but it is, essentially, the same face.
They look so strong and fierce and alive. When Naruto turns the page, there is a picture of a woman that she knows to be her grandmother, Akiyoshi Mayumi. The woman looks delicate, with skin so pale that Naruto can trace her veins through the picture, and next to her is a younger version of her father, his vitality a striking contrast to the frailness of his mother. Even though Mayu-baachan looks like she might fly away with the wind, her eyes, a striking green, are bright with intelligence and laughter.
'Minato-sun and I arrive in Konoha.' the caption reads and Naruto wails.
There are tens of pictures of her parents, obviously taken from different family photos to make this one, with pictures of their parents and families, and notes and jokes written in the margins.
It is the last picture that breaks her because she hasn't been sure…really sure if her parents really loved her.
But the last picture is her, her mother, and Bi-baachan. Her mother is looking at her so tenderly, and Bi-baachan is grinning at the camera with thumbs up. Baby Naruto is asleep, cheek flush against the naked skin of her mother's breast.
'My little maelstorm princess was born today. I have never loved anything or anyone as much as I do my little Naruto. She looks like Minato but I can tell that she has just as much Uzumaki as she does Namikaze. The looping script beneath the picture reads.
Her father is not in the picture, but that's okay. They say that a mother's love makes all the difference anyway.
Shikaku is wary of his new guests.
All of them, equally. Which says a lot because of one them is the Chigusa Heir, a clan known for making nightmares reality and driving people insane.
Well, maybe not equally. It is very obvious that Kajiyasaki Kotaro is the ringleader of the little group, made even more obvious when the boy had simply…melted all the snow with three hand signs.
"Junsuina Chikyu: Sauna", the boy had said and the earth had roared and cracked as steam rose from its depths to swallow the snow and ice whole. It was over in seconds, the technique covering the entire village and all the affected areas outside it. Then the ground was smooth and dry once more and Shikaku thought, once again of how greatly Hisahito-dono had played him.
"You might want to weatherize your infrastructure while you have the chance." The teen had said simply and led his counterparts over to where Naru-chan was squealing about how awesome Kotaro-kun was.
Shikaku would say that the fifteen year old was dangerous and not awesome.
Usui Hisahito had played up the fear of the Chigusa in order to install the unknown player that was Kajiyasaki Kotaro. Kotaro had shown himself to be highly observant and politically inclined—if that stunt he pulled in the office after Naruto had left was anything to go by—and was powerful to boot. Shikaku was well aware that he didn't have an earth user on Kotaro's level and he didn't think that anyone in Iwa, a village known for its earth users, did either. Judging by the range of the technique, the boy had Kage-level chakra reserves or better, and none of the sensors that Shikaku had watching Kotaro-kun had realized it.
Shikaku had no idea how the Pure Earth Release worked beyond knowing it had something to do with metal, but even that didn't seem to be totally accurate information, as Kotaro-kun had been able to heat the earth to melt the snow, then dry it which meant that there was more than just a simple earth release technique going on. If Shikaku had to guess, the Junsuina Chikyu was a mix of earth and fire natures and maybe water? But he didn't know for sure and probably never would.
Kotaro-kun was careful about what he revealed about himself.
Then, there was Chiaki Tomomi who had somehow broken into the ANBU Archives which Shikaku had spent days fortifying after his own son had used the place like a damn library, to give Naruto the Sandaime's journals and a box of all her parents remaining belongings. Shikaku didn't have a problem with Naruto having her parent's things or getting Kushina's inheritance, he was going to give it to her anyway after going through it to make sure there was nothing too dangerous for the reckless and curious girl to sink her teeth into.
The problem is the Sandaime's journals which are pretty damning not just for Naruto but the village as a whole. All Hokage are required to keep a journal during their reign in order for future Hokage to read and build upon their predecessors knowledge or atone for their mistakes. Shikaku himself has only read the journals pertaining to Naruto and the ones that are from the first two years of the Third's reign, much too busy to read the rest.
But even those first two years are filled with disgusting entries about how Lord Third had signed off on Danzo's plans to kidnap the children of the village for Shimura's Root program and used the body of the Shodaime as a science experiment. Shikaku and his advisors have been cataloguing the entries and putting them in order of priority and when they should follow up on what. The top of that list is the kidnapping of clan children followed closely by Naruto's abuse.
He isn't sure how far Naruto has gotten into those journals, or if she's even began reading them at all, but he doesn't know for sure and so his head is filled with contingency plans for what Naruto may or may not do as a result.
The only thing he does know is that Naruto has gone through all her parents things and is overjoyed with owning her mother's stuff; Naruto has taken to wearing Kushina's old yellow kimono and mesh top with quarter sleeves and her knee-high shinobi sandals. She's even styled her hair in the same fashion that Kushina did when she was on duty: hair up in a high tail with two long strands of hair framing the face. Naruto looks adorable and so much like her mother, even with her father's face, that something in Shikaku aches.
The most surprising thing that is found amongst Kushina's things is a family tree that has Nara Aiya's name on it. Naruto of course, not knowing the significance that the fall of Uzushio had on Konoha, on Aiya, cheerfully tells every Nara she meets that she and Aiya-sama are third cousins, once removed. The mystery of Aiya's father which has been a decades long riddle for the Nara, is solved all because Kushina has a fuinjutsu family tree that lists every Uzumaki there ever was and all their children.
Shikaku can tell that Aiya was not planning on her parentage being revealed and he thinks that the woman is going to snap at Naruto-chan when the little girl asks her to come to dinner to go over the stuff Kushina left her. There is a moment where there is so much pain in the woman's eyes, so much anger, that Shikaku steps in front of Naruto-chan to shield her instinctively, and then it is gone and Aiya-sama is smiling and agreeing to come over. Naruto, for all her apparent oblivious cheer, is more observant than he gives her credit for. When they are walking away from Aiya-sama's small cottage, she tugs on his hand that holds hers tightly.
"I hope Aiya-nee can be happier now that she knows about our family dattebayo."
Shikaku stops walking and finds himself looking into Minato's blue eyes that reflect Kushina's earnestness. "You're a smart one aren't you Little One?" Shikaku says tenderly and Naruto doesn't answer but she gives him such a pretty smile that he hopes that he'll remember the moment forever.
Tomomi-chan has given Naruto a gift, a gift that Shikaku isn't sure that he'd ever be brave enough to give her, and he finds himself thanking the teen girl profusely for it. Naruto-chan is so happy to know about her mother and the Uzumaki and she is so excited to dive into the scrolls that Kushina has about the Uzumaki Taijutsu and kenjutsu styles. Her enthusiasm is infectious and he finds that anyone in the Estate who spends more than five minutes in the girl's company to be smiling from ear to ear as Naruto-chan's happiness spreads amongst them.
"The Chiaki believe that truth in its entirety breeds acceptance and peace," Tomomi-chan says in reply to his thanks.
Shikaku thinks about that for a long time as he lays next to his wife and tries to find sleep, something that is normally so easy for him. Truth in its entirety breeds acceptance and peace, Shikaku thinks. There is a part of him that rebels against the notion because the truth of Naruto-chan's status as a jinchuriki has not bred any peace or acceptance in her life. But then, Naruto is not just the jinchuriki.
He wonders what the people will say if they knew that she is the only one who could have shouldered the burden of being the jinchuriki because she is the only person of an age and bloodline to hold the Kyuubi? If those who curse her existence would be more accepting if they were aware—more aware—of how she stands between them and a horrible death? That it is not the Kyuubi that makes the blonde "act nice" but rather her own experiences making the idea of being rude or mean to others distasteful? That the hate they bestow upon her would have a very different outcome if she was anyone else, if the Fourth wasn't a seal master, if she was less forgiving, more bitter and less sweet?
He wonders what the village would say if they were aware that the kindness that they take for granted and abuse is born of trauma and terror so acute that the girl believes that she cannot be anything but happy, anything but nice? Shikaku is aware that Naruto-chan is nice not because she actually has to be, but because she wants to be and has been conditioned by her past to think she has to. If Naruto-chan realizes that she doesn't owe the villagers shit, what then? Because the truth of the matter is that Naruto doesn't owe anyone, anything. There is no one outside of Uchiha Mikoto and Shisui, Jiraiya-sama, and maybe Hatake Kakashi—theoretically—who can stop her if she went full Kyuubi on the village. Naruto-chan is untrained yes, but she has something that Kushina never did: the friendship of the Nine Tails and Shikaku knows just how far bonds can take someone, how much stronger one is when fighting for something bigger than themselves.
He doesn't have a concrete answer to any of his questions. He is not sure he wants them.
Chigusa Yosuke's gift is more along the lines of what Shikamaru would give Naruto back when he was more psychopath then child. A set of hands, feet, eyes, and tongues. Why? Is the first question that comes to Shikaku's mind before the missing persons report comes in for Haida Takara nee Kazuhiro and Shiroyama Mamiya.
It is when he tries to punish Yosuke-kun for, you know, murdering his citizens no matter how much they deserved it, that he learns the truth of what he and his advisors have been calling the Kazuhiro Incident from Naruto-chan herself.
Shikaku normally doesn't have trouble keeping his face a blank and bored mask but he struggles then. Mikoto-chan and Yoshino excuse themselves and Tsunade-sama is very quiet which doesn't bode well for anyone and for the first time, Jiraiya-sama seems to understand. Shikaku is shocked that the Toad Sage hadn't known about this, but apparently, the only people who did beyond Naruto herself, was Asuma-kun, Kakashi-kun, an ANBU named Crane, the Sandaime and Shimura.
And now, within the span of four days or so, those six people have become fifteen.
Shikaku learns that Naru-chan telling Shikamaru—Shikamaru forcing her to tell him—is what caused the blizzard that has caused so much damage to the village.
Which makes plenty of sense. Naruto-chan has been holding in this information for years, first because it had been suppressed through a Yamanaka technique, and then out of fear when she began to remember. If Shikaku had gone through something even anywhere near as terrible as Naruto-chan, he knows for a fact that he would not have handled it as well. Not for the first time, Shikaku sees traces of Minato in the girl. Kushina would have destroyed the world in her grief. Her daughter internalizes her pain as well as her father.
~*~
[December 28]
The council room is bare of any decorations and is as utilitarian as possible.
Shikaku thinks the room looks much bigger when you are facing the tiers of staggered seats than when you are sitting in one of them. In front of him, to his left are those who make up the Civilian Council, Merchant Council, and Diplomatic Councils. All three groups besides the Merchant Council are mostly civilian. To his right are the Shinobi council and the Advisors of the Village, along with the Elders, Koharu-sama and Homura-sama who are probably older than the council room itself.
During the time of the Shodaime, there was only the advisors and a Clan Council, made up of the heads of all the shinobi clans in the newly established village. Shikaku finds it ironic that for someone so focused on peace, the ones that helped the Shodaime run the village were warriors as much as the First Hokage was. It is when the Nidaime takes office that the councils that are still in place now are founded and given power within the village. Senju Tobirama encouraged civilians to come and live in the village with the promise that they would be represented. It worked and now Konoha has the highest population of civilians of any hidden village. The Sandaime was the one who began the practice of keeping Elders, which the Yondaime upheld, and Shikaku plans to demolish.
The truth in its entirety breeds acceptance and peace.
He has been learning so much from his children—Naru-chan and Shikamaru-kun—and their little friends, or, Naruto's friends.
"I have called you here today to discuss the crimes against the village people, particularly the children that have been signed off by the late Sandaime Hokage, Shimura Danzo,Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu, the village Elders. Second, the treatment of Uzumaki Usui Naruto and how that's going to change. Today. Third, new standards for the Shinobi Academy as discussed and agreed upon by several clans present in a previously private discussion. Any questions on the agenda?"
"What is the meaning of this Shikaku? Surely you are aware of the weight of such accusations?" Homura-sama asks and Shikaku nods.
"Of course I am. I also, of course, have proof to back up these 'accusations'. Since you're obviously eager to see what my proof is, lets jump right into it: the village Elders—yourself and Utatane-sama—along with Shimura Danzo and the Sandaime, executed a plan to kidnap orphaned children after the Second Shinobi War to become puppets in the program called Root, otherwise known as the Foundation. When Shimura made the case that he needed specific bloodlines, it was Utatane-sama who convinced the Sandaime that taking children from the clans of Konoha's shinobi forces was the way to go. My advisors, Hyuuga Hitomi and Inuzuka Tsume, have spent plenty of time along with Yamanaka Inoichi going through the ranks of Root and doing their best to assimilate them into the normal shinobi ranks. Do you need more proof?" Shikaku doesn't wait for an answer and merely gestures his Jonin Commander, Mikoto, to read some of the Sandaime's journal entries and a few of Shimura's reports about the progress of his Foundation members to the room at large.
The entries and reports are passed around and when they get to the elders, Koharu-sama rips the papers in half, screaming about lies and manipulation.
"Ripping up paper does not erase the fact that you have done the things that you are being accused of," Hitomi-san says calmly.
"Also, bitch, we have copies," Tsume-san notes with a vicious grin.
Shikaku sighs. "Take them away." Two ANBU escort the struggling Elders away and Shikaku feels like a weight is removed from his chest. He claps to silence the room once more. "Next order of business, Uzumaki Usui Naruto." He lets his words sink in even as the civilians whisper amongst themselves at the word 'Usui'.
"We need to have a nice, long, chat about the way this village has treated her—"Shikaku begins.
"That monster should be grateful to be alive!" Haruno Mebuki hisses at him only to shrink in the face of Mikoto's killing intent directed at her.
"She, Naruto-chan that is, is very grateful to be alive," Shikaku says dryly. It's true, no one is more overjoyed about life than Naruto-chan is, that's for sure. "We," He says gesturing to the room at large, "will be regretting being alive, if her grandfather, Usui Hisahito, the Daimyo of Lightning Country, finds out that she has been treated so poorly. If he doesn't already know and Naruto-chan hasn't convinced him not to kill us." Shikaku doesn't give anyone time to process that, savagely he continues, "furthermore, our Daimyo has adopted Sarutobi Asuma who adopted Uzumaki Usui Naruto and she has been recognized to be a princess of Fire Country. Hide Hideyoshi-sama is well aware of Naruto-chan's status as a jinchuriki and likes her anyway. Naruto hasn't gotten the courage to write her adopted grandfather, but she has been writing her adopted grandmother, Shijimi-sama and we all know that Shijimi-sama spends quite a bit of time in the village. In fact, she's coming tomorrow, with her entourage, to spend the New Year with her only granddaughter.
"Even if everyone in this village is stupid enough to bring the wrath of the Usui down upon us, I would hope, that everyone knows not to piss off our own leader who funds us and lets us have the standard of living that we so enjoy. Haruno-san, are you aware of how civilians are treated in a place like Iwa?" Shikaku asks the dirty blonde.
The woman purses her lips. "I am not aware Hokage-sama."
"Civilians, women especially, are used to breed soldiers. In fact, it's a condition of residency in Iwa. Why? Because the Earth Daimyo doesn't give a shit about anything but the nobility and the military might of his country. In Kumo, civilians are only permitted to trade or get specialized medical attention, but Lightning has hundreds of civilian towns and villages which are protected by Kumogakure Shinobi by the Daimyo's orders. In Kiri, civilians aren't even allowed and have never been. The Bloody Mist is a military village first and foremost. Do you see the point?" He asks the woman who has gone pale. He looks at all the civilians in the room to see realization dawn on their faces. "Your fates are really in the hands of the Daimyo, your standard of living up to the Daimyo, and your peace of mind? Up to the Daimyo. As a Shinobi village, we protect the country, we don't really have to protect you. But we do because the Hide clan, our Imperial Family, says we should. Imagine if they find out that one of their own is being abused and mainly by the civilian populations at that? Make no mistake that the nobility cares about two things: the nobility and power. Uzumaki Usui Naruto is a descendant of three noble lines, one, albeit through adoption."
It is Ikejiri Ikuhiro, the head of the Diplomatic Council, who asks the next question in the near silent room. "What do you mean three? Who are her parents?"
"Her Uzumaki name isn't just for show," Shikaku says before taking a deep breath. He is really about to reveal Naruto-chan's parentage. The truth in its entirety breeds acceptance and peace. He hopes that the Chiaki Heiress is right.
"Uzumaki Usui Naruto is the daughter of the Princess of the Whirlpools, Uzumaki Kushina, the former Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune who was formerly known as the Red Hot Habanero. Her father was Lord Fourth,—which anyone who's ever seen the man would realize—Namikaze Minato who is the only son of Usui Hisahito and the Princess of the Akiyoshi Clan, Akiyoshi Mayumi." The Akiyoshi are not royal but they are nobles who had their hands in over half the global trade.
There is a moment of silent before the room erupts into chaos.
[January 1; Age 8]
Shijimi-baachan is fluffy, Naruto thinks. Naruto sinks into the woman's embrace and is surrounded by the smell of chamomile and cats, when the woman arrives three days earlier in a palanquin made of gold and with twelve samurai, seven ladies in waiting, and a caravan of clothes and supplies for her stay. The woman insists on staying at the Nara Estate with Naruto—who actually stays with Daddy in his new house, twenty minutes from the Hyuuga compound—instead of the Daimyo's village residence in the Diplomatic Quarters which is the richest area in the village.
Speaking of cats, her cat Tora-tan, is lazier than Shika which says a lot. She's also pretty sure that Tora-tan isn't an actual cat but a ninneko because she has more chakra than a normal cat does. And Tora-tan does weird stuff, even for a cat. Like, press her head to doors to listen to discussions going on in Touchan's home office, and then pretend like she wasn't doing that when someone walks by. The cat also seems to understand Naruto when she talks to her, Naruto is sure that she catches Tora-tan nodding along to her stories while she brushes the silky fur at night, in the room that Naruto shares with Shimi-baachan for the duration of her stay.
Shimi-baachan is aware of whatever weirdness that Tora-tan has going on because Naruto has seen her tell Tora-tan to scram only to dramatically collapse minutes later in 'worry' over her "poor Tora-chan being lost to the wilds of Konoha and could Shikaku-dono please send a genin team to retrieve her?"
Shikaku-touchan does and the genin come back looking like they had several fights and lost every single one of them, and Tora-tan is 'crushed' to Shijimi-baachan's ample chest and 'yowls' in 'horror' as Shimi-baachan acts like she's so relieved. Naruto can smell the lie in the act and wonders what Tora-tan is actually doing out in the village when Shimi-baachan tells her to scram other than torturing genin. Because there's no way that Shimi-baachan and Tora-tan just have a hate boner for the genin of the village, so Naruto is sure that something else is going on.
When she tries to sift through Touchan's emotions to see if he is even aware of what she thinks she is, Naruto comes up with nothing.
She doesn't think Shimi-baachan is a threat or anything…well to Naruto anyway, but the woman does seem to be up to something but Naruto doesn't know what it is, so she asks her as they walk around the village, Naruto's guard plus Shimi-baachan's seven samurai (the other five being left behind at the Nara Estate), Tonton-tan and Tora-tan trotting along beside them on leashes that Tonton-tan did not like and Tora-tan seemed indifferent towards.
"Baachan?" Naruto asks and Shimi-baachan looks down at her, hazel eyes sharp in the roundness of her face.
"Yes Little Maelstorm?" Naruto likes when Shimi-baachan calls her this. It makes her feel warm and reminds her of her mother.
"Why do you make Tora-tan run away and then pay for genin teams to get her back?" Naruto questions.
Shijimi-baachan blinks down at her in surprise but continues walking. Suddenly the woman begins to chuckle, releasing Naruto's hand to cover her face with her fan.
When she is finished chortling, at whatever it is that she has found funny, Shimi-baachan grins at Naruto, a perfect set of white teeth gleaming behind the plump confines of her mouth. "I cannot believe that a child figured that out and not one of the so-called geniuses that your village loves to boast about," Baachan says with another chuckle. "Tora-chan is not a normal cat, as you've probably been able to tell, she can go many places that I can't and hear things that I don't."
"Oh," Naruto says understanding. "You're using Tora-tan to spy cause you can't!"
"Exactly. You see, we all have…masks, shall we say? These masks allow us to protect ourselves and our loved ones. We cultivate them to the best of our abilities so that we don't have to worry about our enemies."
"You have enemies?" Naruto asks because everyone seems to genuinely like Shimi-baachan, even if they also think that she's kinda stupid. Naruto knows that Shijimi-baachan isn't stupid but that must be the mask thing she's talking about, making everyone believe things about her that aren't true.
"A woman always has enemies Little Maelstorm. The first of whom is herself." Naruto doesn't really understand that. She likes herself, mostly, anyway. Naruto likes to think she would notice if she didn't. Shimi-baachan smiles at her when she sees the confusion written in the lines of Naruto's forehead. "A woman is told what to be and who to be and when to be. Normally by the men around her. When a woman decides that she is going to determine what and who she wants to be and when, there is always a voice in the back of her mind telling her that she is wrong to do so," Shimi-baachan explains. "You must always fight with that voice. In order to prove yourself to others, you must prove yourself to yourself first."
"How do you prove yourself to yourself? Aren't you yourself?"
"The you that you are proving yourself to is the you who believes the things that people have told you about who you should be and what you should do. Advice is nice and all, Little Maelstorm, but it's just that—advice; you don't have to follow it or listen to it. Anyone who tells you anything and acts like you must do that, are not your friends."
"So you use Tora-tan to do the things you can't do cause you have to keep up your mask to fool your enemies?" Naruto summarizes. It makes sense but also doesn't because Naruto hasn't really been told much of anything regarding what she should and should not do, only implied these things from the way people acted around her. She's never felt like people didn't like her cause she was a girl, but because they thought she was the Kyuubi.
"Exactly, in a way," Shimi-baachan agrees.
The two of them are quiet then as Naruto leads Shimi-baachan to Ichiraku's where the woman looks completely out of place in her opulent kimono and ornate hair pieces.
But Shijimi-baachan enjoys the ramen and even eats three bowls and promises Naruto that she will tell Hide-jiji all about Ichiraku Ramen so he can eat here too when he gets time to visit the village.
It is a good day, and becomes even better when Tora-tan talks to her. "What a smart kitten you are. When you become a genin, I will only claw your teammates," the cat says on the way home.
Naruto blinks and thanks the cat even though she feels bad for her future teammates. Tora-tan really didn't mess around when it came to clawing up the poor genin sent to capture her.
[January 5; Age 8]
Sasuke hasn't seen Naruto since the Daimyo's wife, Shijimi-sama came, specifically to see Naruto of all people.
When he sees her again, she is surrounded by the three giants that call themselves teenagers, Shisui-niisan, and Shikamaru-san. The Hokage is behind her talking to his wife, Yoshino-sama, and their sensei, Umino Iruka.
It is the first day of the winter term and people are pointing and whispering at the sight of Naruto as they have been for the past several days.
Sasuke wonders what is being said to Iruka-sensei to make him look so nervous and pale but Sasuke thinks he can guess. A few days ago, Shikaku-sama revealed Naruto's parentage and Sasuke had been thrown for a fucking loop. His mother hadn't been surprised at all, had admitted that she knew Naruto's parents personally, and that the truth was long overdue.
The village had, from what he'd seen anyway, not taken the news very well. There were two camps: those who were horrified (like Sasuke had been) at the knowledge that they had been treating literal royalty like trash and tripping over themselves to apologize to the Heiress; then, there were those who thought it was all some kind of conspiracy theory, that Naruto had somehow tricked two Daimyo into being related to her—even if one was related to her through adoption—and just happened to look like the spitting image of the Yondaime. The latter group, were probably not gonna last long, Sasuke thought. Especially if that psychopath Nara Shikamaru was around. The other boy was insane about the blonde and what was worse, was that the giants who acted as her shadows—no pun intended—seemed even more batshit about her than Shikamaru-san was.
Shisui-niisan had also become pretty insane about blondie which…was disturbing to say the least because Shisui-niisan's affections normally translated into shameless flirting, regardless of whether he was actually attracted to that person or not. Sasuke was used to the teenager flirting with his mother in order to get food and sympathy points, but seeing him flirt with Naruto, was a whole new level of yuck.
Mainly because she was a kid, his age, that Sasuke found pretty. He'd never found any girl pretty before but Naruto was the exception. Sasuke didn't necessarily like her, and even if he did, he was sure that Shikamaru-san would throw him into a waiting grave if he ever made a move on the blonde, but he did find Naruto warm and inviting, and found himself wanting to be around the light she exuded.
Of course, he would never admit that he wanted to be around the blonde.
~*~
Sasuke is saved the awkwardness of trying to figure out how to sit in Naruto's general vicinity when Shisui-niisan grabs him and hauls him to the last row where Naruto is sitting between Shikamaru and an empty chair, Kotaro-san sitting directly in front of her, Tomomi-chan sitting beside Shikamaru, and Yosuke-san sitting at the end of the row. Shisui plops Sasuke into the seat empty seat next to Naruto and Shikamaru-san looks at him.
Sasuke does his best to keep eye contact even if every single hair on his body is standing at attention from dread because of the other boy. Sasuke isn't dumb and knows that his rival is…not really his rival if its based on strength alone. Shikamaru had handed Sasuke his ass on a platter all the times they fought and he wasn't keen on being put in the hospital again.
Still, he is an Uchiha and won't let himself be intimidated by a Nara who is more asleep than awake ninety percent of the time.
The stare down is broken by Naruto who chirps a cheery greeting to him, even as Shisui-niisan settles himself in front of them, next to Kotaro-san.
"Hey Sasu-chan!"
Sasuke twitches as Nara snorts. "Do not call me that!"
"Eh? But Miki-kaachan said that I can!" Sasuke will be having a talk with his mother when he gets home. He is glad that the classroom is mainly empty, Iruka-sensei the only other person in the room besides their party and the man seems to be doing his best to ignore them. The Hokage was busy talking to the parents of the families for some reason. Sasuke was sure it had something to do with the four teenagers who also happened to be Naruto's guard.
"My mother is not me. Call me Sasuke-kun or Sasuke-san if you're gonna insist on talking to me at all Ursatonkachi." Sasuke snaps.
The weight of the Nara's stare intensives at the words, and Sasuke sticks his tongue out at him over Naruto's head.
"If I'm gonna call you that you can't call me Ursatonkachi! My name is Naruto dattebayo!"
Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Fine, Naruto."
"That's Naruto-san to you," Nara grumbles from the blonde's other side.
"It should really be Naruto-hime," Yosuke-san says next to Sasuke, and Sasuke straightens at the threat in the teen's voice.
Yosuke-san is the closest thing to death on earth, Sasuke thinks. The blue-haired teen is built like a damn mountain—but still not taller than Kotaro-san for some reason—and has the presence of the Shinigami. He's scary and even Shikamaru-san seems to agree if the way he gives the teen a wary side-eye is any indication.
Naruto, of course, is unperturbed. "You can call me whatever makes you feel comfortable Sasuke-kun!" The blonde chirps and Sasuke feels a sense of victory when the Nara scowls at his crush's profile.
"Hn…okay, Naruto-hime." It is so worth it to see Nara's face twist in horror at the beaming smile Naruto-hime shoots Sasuke's way.
The blonde girl that her father told her to befriend is unapproachable. Mainly because she is surrounded by two people who make Hinata nervous: Uchiha Sasuke and Nara Shikamaru.
Of the two, Hinata thinks that she is more concerned about Shikamaru-san, who's gray eyes seem to see everything. She's never thought much about the saying of eyes being the window to the soul, but she thinks that it pertains to the Nara Heir. Every time he looks in her direction, Hinata feels like the world is stripped bare and all her faults, fears, and desires are bared for all to see. It is daunting, this power that someone her own age holds, even if Hinata isn't sure if the Nara Heir is aware of his own power or not.
Over the past year, the Nara has steadily climbed the ranks like a man possessed, resulting in more Taijutsu practice for Hinata at home along with more disappointment from her clan.
"You let a Nara beat you?" Her father had said surprised and with no small amount of disgust. "You will regain your place as number two and then as number one", Hyuuga Hiashi had said.
Her mother, had been more forgiving, but puzzled, as if she couldn't understand what she was hearing. "It's fine Hina-chan, scores aren't everything. Just do your best."
And Hinata tried to do her best but there was always Nara Shikamaru there to bring her back to size or Uchiha Sasuke to remind her of her place.
Sasuke-san is the more violent of the two boys, prone to giving his opponents nasty bruises in Taijutsu matches, relentlessly wailing on them until they gave up or passed out.
He is bitter and cold and so very angry and she doesn't like him at all.
Hinata wonders why someone like Naruto-hime is hanging out with Sasuke-san. Naruto-hime is so bright and gorgeous and lovely. She has always seemed close to Shikamaru-san, and they seem to have gotten closer to one another, but Hinata cannot understand why the other girl is smiling at Sasuke-san. Shikamaru-san, for his part, seems to not like Sasuke-san either and Hinata thinks that Naruto-hime is the glue that is holding them all together.
Hinata has talked to Naruto-hime before she was a Hime, but Naruto-hime did most of the talking and Hinata listened. There is also the fact that there was normally four other people around when the blonde would talk to her—Akimichi Choji, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Shikamaru-san himself—and out of those four, only Shikamaru-san and Shino-san seemed to actually like her.
Choji-san seemed scared of her while Kiba-san seemed to be tolerating her for some reason. She wasn't sure if Shino-san actually did like Naruto-hime, but he was a lot more animated with her than those of his clan normally were so Hinata thought so.
~*~
Hinata tries and fails to find an opening to talk to Naruto-hime as the school day goes on because her father is expecting a report, and so far she has nothing to report. Every time she tries to look in Naruto-hime's direction, Shikamaru-san is staring back at her or it is the blue-haired boy that makes Hinata's skin crawl.
During lunch, Hinata tries to steal herself to go and introduce herself or something when her query pops up in front of her.
"Wanna eat lunch together?" Naruto-hime asks and she's even prettier up close and shines even brighter. The other girl is wearing a lovely blue Kimono top that matches her eyes and a pair of black shorts and shinobi sandals. Her hair is up in two buns secured with little pearl netting. Hinata is sure that she's wearing real pearls and that the golden thread peaking out from her kimono's lining is real gold.
She looks every bit the princess that Hinata's mother said she was.
"Um…yes," Hinata whispers and worries that Naruto-hime didn't hear her because the other girl doesn't say anything for a moment but then she breaks out into a grin that blinds Hinata.
"Awesome! I'm Uzumaki Usui Naruto dattebayo! And this is my fiancé, Shika; the green-haired one is Kota-nii, the girl is Tomo-nee, and the blue-haired one is Yosu-nii. I'm sure you know Sasuke-kun and that's his cousin Shishi-nii!" The blonde exclaims.
All of the people that she introduced take the time to reintroduce themselves with their proper names since Naruto-hime didn't bother.
As they settle down to eat in the classroom, Naruto-hime keeps the conversation going about any and everything with Shikamaru-san and Sasuke-san bickering in the background about any and everything.
"My barchan, Shijimi-sama, gave me this outfit dattebayo!" Naruto-hime says to Hinata who nods politely.
Next to Naruto-hime, Sasuke-san and Shikamaru-san are having a heated debate about whose mother is the better cook.
"My mother knows tons of more recipes than your mother," Sasuke-san snarls and the viciousness in his tone scares Hinata.
"Your mother can only cook meals with tomatoes in them you cock-eyed fuck," Shikamaru-san says with just as much venom.
"I like tomatoes!"
"And you've never choked on one? Shame."
"I'll choke you, deer fucker."
"For a fatherless bitch boy you sure seem to have a lot of balls. Where'd you get them from, your mother?"
"I got them from your mother, haven't you noticed that she's looking more womanly lately?"
"You—" Shikamaru-san is cut off when Naruto-hime sends both boys flying through the suddenly open window with a flick to both their foreheads.
The blonde had been listening to the argument without any of Hinata's mounting horror coloring her face but had quickly become annoyed when they'd started insulting each other's mothers.
"Yoshi-kaachan and Miki-kaachan are both great cooks." Naruto-hime tells Hinata solemnly, as if daring Hinata to disagree with her.
"I'm sure," Hinata mumbles weakly.
~*~
When Hinata gets home and tells her father what she learned, her father thanks her, and asks her to tell her mother to come to his office.
A few minutes later, she hears her parents arguing.
"Did you know that Tsunade-sama was teaching Naruto-hime her technique?!"
"No, but good for her!"
"Hitomi! This is serious!"
"I am being serious dear. Let the girl flick stupid boys out windows if she wants to. It's not like either kid had many braincells left anyway!"
"Hitomi!"
"Hiashi!"
[January 6]
Iruka tried to argue with the Hokage about there being three foreign ninja in his classroom and one Jonin. It is insulting that Shikaku-sama thinks that he is going to let something happen to Naruto-chan while in his class and he doesn't appreciate the lack of trust. But his Hokage makes it clear that he isn't budging on this and Iruka can either get with the program or teach another class.
So he gets with the program because this is his class and he wants to stay with them. Even if he is uncomfortable with three foreign ninja watching his every move like a hawk. Uchiha Shisui is too, but he's more subtle about it. The Lightning citizens just stare at him, openly.
The foreign ninja, it turns out, are not as much of a problem as Uchiha Shisui is. The Jonin seems hellbent on teasing his cousin and prompting the normally reserved Sasuke into fits of rage while also sending the entirety of his female student population into a tizzy with his flirting. The only girl in the classroom who isn't affected is Naruto-chan who flirts back, much to the chagrin of Shikamaru-kun who throws Shisui-san out a window with a shadow and then yanks Naruto into his lap where he proceeds to rub his face all over her neck as if he scenting her or something.
Iruka isn't sure that the Nara Heir isn't scenting Naruto-chan but…he's not gonna ask so he supposes its fine since Naruto-chan seems more amused than anything.
The foreign ninja who have been introduced to him by Naruto-chan herself, are mostly quiet except for when a student tries to bully Naruto and then they are more than happy to fight children and Iruka gets thirty complaints from parents after the first day of school when he sends his students home with bruises and, in some extreme cases, broken bones.
Kajiyasaki Kotaro is the most approachable out of the three and is quick to smile and laugh with his colleagues and at Shikamaru's antics which are mainly throwing Shisui-san around like a rag doll and treating Sasuke-kun like some kind of second-class citizen. Chiaki Tomomi is mainly silent except for when she is squealing over Naruto-chan being cute and adorable, the tall girl petting the blonde like she's a particularly large puppy. Chigusa Yosuke hasn't said a single thing the entire time that Iruka's been watching him, but he doesn't seem to actually need to as those he wants to communicate with understand him just fine.
Naruto-chan herself is just as cheerful as she was before but more prone to giving out scathing comments—only to Sasuke-kun or Shikamaru-kun (or both)—and seemed to be getting along well with Hyuuga Hinata who seemed starstruck whenever Naruto-chan so much as breathed next to her.
"I'm gonna fill your lungs with urine you Kami-damned pineapple-haired shadow freak!" It is a daily event (and its only been two days, this being the second day, since school began) where Sasuke-kun and Shikamaru-kun argue with each other.
"Try it and your mom is gonna realize that you're not worth the dirt needed to bury you in!"
Iruka isn't sure what set Sasuke-kun office since the arguments are normally pretty quiet until they're not. Yesterday, the two got into eight arguments and that was after Naruto-chan launched them out of a window like she was taking out the trash.
"Thats rich coming from someone who looks like they eat buttons off of remotes."
Shikamaru-kun snorts. "Oh that was adorable. I can't believe you're talking about how I look when you look like your ancestors fucked every cactus they could find. Its the only answer for you being such a prick."
"If the both of you don't shut up I'm gonna hit you so hard that your spines are gonna pop out of your mouths like soda cans out of a fucking vending machine!" Naruto-chan snapped and both boys immediately shut up.
Iruka sighed. This was going to be a long four years.