Chapter 51: Chapter 51
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"Now, here's my plan.." Naruto said as everyone huddle up.
~ Now – Hokage's Office ~
Naruto took a deep breath as he looked at the large wooden doors separating him from the inevitable confrontation with his parents. "The Hokage will see you now." A petite blond said from behind the reception counter. "Are you ready, Vee?" Samui asked as Naruto got up. "Not like we can back down now." Naruto muttered as he went to the doors and kicked them open.
~ Inside the Hokage's Office ~
Minato sighed and put on his best poker face. "Send him in." He spoke to the small intercom on his desk. "Right away sir." His secretary said. "Ready Kushi-chan?" Minato asked as he looked to his wife. She nodded and they waited. The Doors were suddenly slammed open, prompting everyone to look that way. Vee stood there with his team behind him, prompting the ANBU guards to draw Kunais and train them on him and his team. "Hello, Hokage-sama." Naruto said in a neutral tone. "How about calling your men off so we can discuss our business?" Vee asked and walked in, taking a seat and propping his feet up on the coffee table.
"You will show the proper respect, Genin." An ANBU wearing a hawk mask said to Vee. "Hawk, stand down. You are dismissed. This meeting is of the highest importance, and thus you may have the afternoon off." Minato said, having no choice but to comply with Vee's demands. "But sir!" Hawk began, but was cut off. "That's an order!" Minato said, shutting every one up. The ANBU nodded and all of them appeared in front of the Hokage, a true credit to their skills in stealth. "Dismissed." He said, making them all shunshin out of the office. "Now, how may I help you?" Minato asked in a disarming tone.
"Cut the bullshit, I got the welcoming committee you sent after me and my team at the forest of death." HE said and motioned to Yugito. She handed him a small scroll and he unsealed the contents, splattering the remains of a dead ANBU and a porcelain mask. "You sent more than that after me, I know. Unfortunately, they didn't make it back." Vee said, making Minato fume. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Minato said in a monotone voice. "You don't, huh?" Vee asked as he motioned to Yugito again. She handed him a slightly larger scroll, which he unrolled on the floor. "Let's see if you recognize this one." Naruto said and pumped a small amount of chakra to the scroll.
A small cloud of smoke rose and the downed form of an ANBU with a large dog besides her appeared. 'Is that.. Kuromaru?' Kushina wondered as she saw the familiarly large dog. He had a small trail of blood streaming from where he once had an ear. Vee took the opportunity and snapped the mask off the ANBU's face, revealing her to be the inuzuka matriarch, Tsume Inuzuka. "Tsume-chan!" Kushina yelled as she tried to grab her friend, only for her to be resealed into the scroll and the scroll to quickly be snatched up by Vee. "The Inuzuka clan head, huh?" Naruto said as he unsheathed the Twin Inuzuka Fangs and held them before the Kage. "That explains why she was carrying these." He said.
"What do you want, you monster?!" Kushina demanded as she saw Vee pocket the scroll with one of her best friends inside it. "What I want is irrelevant. What I have is important, and how I use it may lead to what I seek." Naruto replied, confusing Minato and Kushina. "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't arrest you for injuring a clan head and holding her hostage." Minato said in a cold tone. "Simple. She isn't a hostage, she's a prisoner. You sent her to kidnap me from the middle of the Chunnin exams. Why?" Vee asked Minato. "That doesn't matter. No one will back up your claim." Minato responded and rose from his chair.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Naruto said to Minato, making him raise an eyebrow. "Why not?" He asked, making Naruto smirk in his helmet. He quickly took out the scroll and strapped an explosive tag to it, making Minato's eyes widen. "You move, she dies. You move, I give my team members the go ahead to deliver a report to the Raikage that explains what happened to my team and me during the second part of the exams, prompting an all out war. You move, the public discovers the secret agenda and the desperation of their almighty "Yellow Flash"." Vee said, making Minato think twice. "What do you want?" He asked through gritted teeth.
"Let's start small. First, you are to remove Naruto Romanov from the Bingo Book, and a public apology will be issued to him by you in the finals next month." Naruto said, hitting him in his pride. "Done, now my Shinobi.." Minato said, only to get a sigh from Naruto. "Tell me, do I look like an idiot? You and I both know that what you did. You sought to use the resources trusted to you by the previous Kage for your personal agenda, not only that but it led to the death of various Shinobi under you and has put you in a position where an all out war could be declared and with just cause." Naruto said, making Minato flinch.
"Now, I have a few questions. Obviously, you wanted me for something. What was it that you needed me for?" Vee asked in a neutral tone. "That is none of your.." Minato began, but was cut off by Kushina. "We.. We thought you might have had information on where our son is." Kushina admitted. "Hiruzen Namikaze? He was in the Forest of Death with the rest of the participants." Vee responded. "No.. We mean.. Naruto." Kushina said. "He is no longer your son. He hasn't been for ten years." Vee replied coldly, making her flinch.
"I don't care what you or anyone else says. He's still my son!" She yelled at him. "According to what you and your husband stated, he isn't." Vee replied. " Do you know what it's like? To repent for your wrong doings and try to correct them, only to be turned away? To be turned away from forgiveness and cast into the world?" Kushina asked through tears. "Kushina-san, I'm afraid you truly don't understand what you're doing. When you disowned him, you not only burned the bridge to him, but you salted the earth and destroyed the land. You cast him off to a cold world, an unforgiving one. The fact he was found by kind people is nothing short of amazing." Vee replied to the woman crying on the floor.
"I don't care! I want my sons back, I want us to be a family again!" She yelled at Vee. "A blind man knows he cannot see and he that is blind in his understanding, which is the worst blindness of all, believes he sees as the best, and scorns a guide.." Naruto said out loud, making Kushina look at him. "What's that supposed to mean!" She demanded. "What it means is that you're blind and refuse to see what's in front of you, choosing to disguise it with thin veils of reason." Naruto replied in disgust. "Go, do right by the son you have left. He's the one you chose." Vee said to her, finally making her hit her breaking point.
She fell to the floor and curled up into a ball, a crying mess the only remnants of the once proud heiress of the Uzumaki. "Hiruzen will have nothing to do with us." Minato said in hopes to appeal to Vee's more human side as he picked up his wife and laid her down on the couch. "What happened between you and he?" Vee asked cautiously. Minato sighed and began the tale of his son, from his discovering of what happened to his older brother to him leaving the clan estate. "So, your son wishes to find his older brother..to apologize?" Vee asked.
"Exactly. When he learned of what happened because of him, he hid it, but began training with a renewed vigor. He no longer wanted to follow in his father's foot steps, he wanted to get strong enough to find his older brother and bring him back." Minato admitted as he sat with Kushina's head in his lap. "Minato-san, I am afraid you and your wife are past redemption. You both made your beds and now you must lie in them." Vee said, chuckling at his own pun. "But your son might still have a slim chance to get through to his brother." Vee said.
"I make no promises, but I will see if I can get Naruto to hear his brother out." Vee said, making Minato smile sadly. "Thank you." He said with a small bow. "Don't thank me I refuse to accept thanks from a man like you. Now we must finish our business." Vee said. "What are your terms?" Minato asked, reverting back to Kage mode. "Ten Million Ryo are to be given to Kumogakure No Sato as reparations for this crime committed against its Shinobi, and I will be holding on to the Inuzuka clan head until the exams are concluded. Half of all of the wind jutsu of Konoha are to be turned over to Kumo, and two jutsu in specific." Vee said, making Minato's eyes widen. "Konoha will not give away either the Rasengan or the Hiraishin!" Minato stated firmly.
"Yondaime-san, you overestimate your own jutsu. I want the Chidori and the Raikiri." Naruto stated, shocking the Hokage. "Those jutsu are Hatake clan secrets!" Minato declared. "As are the Inuzuka blades, are they not?" Vee asked, making Minato anger more "I'll see what I can do." Minato relented. " No one is to tail me or my team, and we are to be left alone. Any violation of these agreements will lead to the death of the Inuzuka matriarch and the declaration of war between Konoha and Kumo." Vee said, making Minato grit his teeth.
This brat literally had him and his entire village by the brass, and it didn't seem that he was giving up any time soon. "Fine. Now, if you would please leave my office, I have important matters I need to attend to." Minato said in an annoyed tone. "By your leave, Hokage-sama." Vee said in a mocking tone as he got up and gave an exaggerated bow. "Dismissed." Minato said.. "And Vee-san, you may be draining my village dry, but I thank you for what you're doing for my wife." He finished.
"Tell me, Yondaime, Do you want your first born back?" Vee asked, genuinely curious. "Of course I do. Despite everything that has happened, I'm proud of him and everything he's done for himself, despite our inadvertent hinderance. I've always had a thing for under dog, maybe because no one expected the orphan to become the Hokage." Minato admitted with a small smile. "That's why I thank you Vee. You helped my child, even if he doesn't admit to be so." Minato finished. "Remember Minato, I may promise a man the moon, and give nothing in the end." Vee said as he and his team left the Kage's office.
~ Abandoned Warehouse ~
Naruto smiled as he unlocked the gate and walked into his old home. It may have been a temporary one, but it was a good one. "Naruto-kun, where are we?" Samui asked as they all stepped inside. Despite its dirty look outside, it was rather clean on the inside. "My old home away from home." Vee replied and set Karui down on the small bed. "Make yourself at home. There isn't much, but there's enough." Vee said as he headed to the bathroom. "Wait, you never told us what we're supposed to do this month!" Samui said as she caught up to Naruto before he entered the bathroom.
"Simple. Train and hone your skills. We can't have one of you dying on us during the invasion." Naruto said. "But we're only a five man team. How much damage can we do?" Samui asked. Naruto thought about it and pulled out a worn photo from a pocket in his vest. It was the last one he took with the Avengers after his initiation. "I think it's time for some legends to make a stand.." Naruto said with a smirk. "What are you thinking?" Yugito asked after seeing that mischievous look on his face. "I'm making a plan." Naruto responded. "Let's get settled, have dinner, then we can talk." Naruto said as he headed into the bathroom.
~ After Dinner – Makeshift bed on the floor ~
Naruto sighed as he laid down on the covers on the floor. While not much, they were comfortable. "Naruto, we need to talk." A voice over him said. He looked up to see Yugito and Samui standing over him. "Sure, what's up?" He asked. "We want to know about you.." Samui said. "Ok, I'm a true romantic, like long walks on the beach, and poking dead things with a stick." Naruto replied. "We're serious." Yugito replied with a blank look. "Girls, there are certain aspects of my life that are not meant to be common knowledge. Unless you're in it for the long haul, I'm afraid I can't say much." Naruto said in a serious tone.
"Have you learned nothing, you idiot?" Samui asked as she caressed his cheek. "We're in it for the long haul, don't ever doubt that." Yugito replied as she kissed him, that warm, safe feeling flooding her senses, ensuring her choice. Samui blushed as memories of her, Naruto, and their children in a patio flooded her mind. There was no doubt she was all in, and she knew that would never change. "Alright, but you need to meet a few people. Not here, in Kumo. I promise." Naruto relented. Samui huffed, but hopped into his bed besides him.
"Fine, but we won't wait long after that. Even if we have to torture you for the information." Yugito replied as she slipped into his makeshift bed and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You're an idiot.." Samui began. "..But you're our idiot." Yugito finished, making Naruto smile.
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