Chương 30: Chapter 10: Past Meets Present 2
Summary: Tsunade meets Narutos new family. The Konoha delegation is subjected to several more paradigm shifts about Naruto, Itachi, and the Uchiha clan. And Naruto draws the line regarding Kumo Konoha relations.
AN: There is a 'hot' scene in the first half of the chapter. Just kissing. No clothes off hanky panky.
AN: Disclaimer in Chapter 1
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...ooO Past meets Present 2 Ooo...
"Your wife-."
"Is here." A low throaty voice interrupted coolly.
Naruto grinned as he turned away from the group and allowed his son to slide down his front to the floor.
The kages and jounins watched a slim but heavily pregnant figure clad in a maternity kimono of thick peacock blue silk emerged from the crowd. The dense material was printed with the fragile evocative design of twigs in black silhouette on the skirt. The obi was black silk embroidered with silver crescents and swirls secured by a purple silk cord. The experienced nins could easily discern the weapons she bore, the tanto inside the obi, the tessen she carried like an ordinary fan in one sleeve, the steel senbon securing her black silky hair in an elegant knot, even the chopsticks made of ironwood and decorated with white silk tassels. The jarring notes in the traditional image were the soft leather slippers secured by ribbons instead of the usual geta.
Her triangular face was distinctly Uchiha with the fly-away slim brows, the black almond shaped eyes, the fine delicate bones, the firm small mouth quirked in a very faint smile. She wore a mask-like expression of faint disdain.
Before their eyes the mask softened, the icy sheen melted, the stony eyes became faintly liquid with emotion.
"Anata." The word held so much emotion, veiled promises, whispered secrets...
"Bara-koi."
She moved until she was standing before him, but she made no attempt to reach out and touch him. Until he moved first.
One large tanned hand cupped the smooth cheek and pointed chin, gently tilting her face before he bent to touch her lips with his. The almost chaste touch rapidly heated before the gawking audience. In a much practiced maneuver the couple shifted so Naruto was at her side, one cupped hand angling her face, the other free right arm around her back and resting on her expanded waist. Her left arm was wrapped around his neck, slender fingers clenched in blonde tresses at the back of his head, occasionally sliding down to run her nails down his scalp then back up. Her right hand had a tight grip on his hand resting on her waist, guiding his faintly glowing hand over her belly.
Tsunade gawped. The couple had been kissing for thirty seconds, a minute, two minutes! How long could they keep that up without breaking to breathe?
"The longest I've seen is fifteen minutes." Jiraiya leered making notes in his ever present notebook. "Naruto definitely has the magic touch. He can make all his lovers come by a simple caress, by stimulating their chakra and nervous systems. A blend of genjutsu and ninjutsu that would be classified as ijutsu, perfect for seduction and infiltration. He can make any female and even a few males spill their guts after just a few touches."
Tsunade blinked then noticed something else. "His hand, it is glowing… purple."
Hiroshi nodded sagely. "He's feeding his chakra into her. Hibara needs regular transfusions of his bijuu-laced chakra during her pregnancies." Seeing their obvious confusion he explained. "A jinchuurikis child makes higher demands on the mothers resources. She nearly miscarried Ryuuchi before the medics figured out what was needed. After she gave birth the chakra remained in her system giving her greater endurance and resources than most kunoichis. Not that she wasn't lethal before."
Tsunade stilled. "You mean Naruto can literally power-up anyone he wants to?"
Hiroshi snorted. "Of course not. There has to be a powerful emotional and physical tie. And the recipient has to be strong enough to start with. Anyone else would burn out from overload." He grimaced. "The Council insisted we try on a few volunteers. They survived but now they can never mould chakra." Then he smirked. "Of course it is uncertain if Ryuuchi and any future children will be able to succeed in the procedure since they have less concentrated amounts of similar potent chakra." Then he turned to the couple in question. "Ah! It looks like they are done."
As if on cue the couple parted. Both were flushed, breathing hard, eyes dilated, mouths swollen and slick with saliva.
Hibara shivered as Naruto hummed, a low throaty sound that raised goose bumps and set hearts racing, as he moved his mouth to one cheek, a swirling his tongue in her outer ear lobe before dropping a series of tiny kisses tasting the skin along her jaw line down towards her collarbone. She could not help but allow her head to fall to one side to give her husband greater access to the sensitive cords in her throat.
She was vaguely aware of their audience but did not give a damn. Kumo was very familiar with their occasional overly public displays. The dignitaries could just suck it up and get a case of blue balls or hot flashes for all she cared; besides most of them were males and would enjoy the free show. Konoha… Well Konoha had little say in what she did. In fact she was looking forward to rubbing it in.
She heard her husbands soft chuckle and felt his chakra dancing under her skin and into her core, soothing and arousing at the same time. She made a soft sound of protest vaguely aware it made her appear soft and kittenish but she did not care. Those who mattered knew this kunoichi had claws.
Reluctantly she shifted so she was curled against him, practically glued against him from shoulder to thigh. His arm moved across her back to keep her close. She inhaled deeply and took in his familiar musky scent as she girded her resolve.
Naruto took great care not to look at his once comrades, instead he focused on the dignitaries. "Sorry about that." Naruto was careful to keep a bland expression though those who knew him well knew he wasn't sorry at all. "We haven't had much time together with the Chuunin Exams and the new jobs." Then he smiled more naturally at all the kages and daimyos. "This is my wife Namikaze Hibara." He smirked. "Your intel reports might have her under a different name, Hanashin. However the both of us have hung up our BOLT identities."
Memory and rote practice had him introducing each of the group in turn and then he watched with quiet pride as Hibara charmed the older males while her softly spoken insights into relationships and child psychology gained the startled respect of the females.
And then they came to the woman he considered as a grandmother. Hibara did not relax or soften her guard but greeted the Hokage from a distance. It hurt Naruto to see the hurt on Baa-chans face but it was for the best. To his surprise it was Hibara who broke the tension by explaining.
"I am sorry Godaime-sama, but it is for the best. You are an expert medic and your Council will want to know why you did not take steps to neutralize me." She spoke evenly. "I will not trust any Konohan, even those who care for my husband, with me or my children. My husband can take care of himself."
Tsunade nodded slowly. As a medic she was more than capable of inducing medical conditions. She could easily have induced labor, encouraged pockets of infections, created blood clots or subdermal hematomas... the list was endless.
The Hokage watched the kunoichi glanced over the rest of the Konoha group and dismiss them without a second thought. Some of them accepted the once-over and dismissal while others stiffened at the implication that she did not consider them a threat.
Tsunade was intrigued to realize the kunoichi was deliberately stoking the flames, testing their limits, to make them explode. She was proud when none of her nins broke protocol. Wanting more information Tsunade prodded for information silently cursing Jiraiya. The bastard hadn't mentioned anything about Narutos wife!
"What will you tell me about yourself Hibara-san?"
The kunoichi smiled warmly. "My father was an Uchiha as you have deduced, my mother was weak-willed, easily manipulated by him. She did nothing to protect me when I was younger from Him or those around me." The Konohans stiffened at this implication. Her unknown Uchiha father had been aware of her existence but had chosen to leave his progeny outside Konoha. That only meant one thing… that he was married and could not risk the evidence of an unsanctioned liaison. Ignoring their tension Hibara continued. "I was determined to be strong, to protect myself. It was a welcome relief when Itachi slaughtered the Uchiha Clan. I no longer had a reason to fear for my safety.
"I spent several years traveling alone or with a partner and hunting before I met Naruto." Oinin, high class to have done the job for several years. How had Intel missed her? "We just clicked. After sometime together Naruto decided to sign up to be a Kumo shinobi. While I was pregnant we did mainly courier and diplomatic duty. Soon after Ryuuchi was born the Raikage decided BOLT needed war-shinobis and combat-specialists so we signed up. We have several friends who have children as well so we shared child-rearing duties so the children always had an adult they are familiar with." A delicate looking hand caressed the short messy strands covering the boys head. "When Ryuuchi was older I decided to reduce the number of missions I took to teach him how to use the Sharingan."
Everyone blinked. Teach a child how to use the Sharingan? But why would a child have to be taught? The Sharingan only manifested in older children with the chakra reserves to activate it. Uchiha Itachi activated it at seven and mastered it at eight, the youngest ever Sharingan Master.
Hiroshi smiled benignly as though reading their minds. "Ryuuchi had so much chakra that he was born with the Sharingan active. Naruto had to seal the Sharingan until Ryuuchi was old enough to understand chakra manipulation and consciously control it. The seal was removed when Ryuuchi turned four." He was really enjoying rubbing it in Konohas face, seeing their dismay and horror as they realized just what they had done, what they had scorned, what they had lost. His face turned thoughtful. "For a while I was curious to know if Naruto could boost other kekkai genkais and dojutsus. But he is married and refuses to have children with anyone other than Hibara."
Naruto snorted. "Too right there Jii-jii! If you are interested in any experiments good luck trying to play matchmaker with my children."
Hibara smacked her husbands bicep lightly and glared at the elderly Raikage. "Hiroshi-sama, don't you dare set up any betrothals for my son! He is not even a genin!"
Hiroshi winced. "Only because you refuse to let him write the Academy Exam!"
"Exactly." Hibara glared. "I don't want him to be a genin. Not until he is at least eight. Until then he can study at home." She glanced at Jiraiya. "The old pervert is somewhat of a decent teacher since he taught both Naruto and his father. It is his unfortunate choice of other activities that concerns me."
Jiraiya winced and clutched at the material over his heart. "Ohh! You wound me Hibara-sama!"
Hibara snorted, a rude sound coming from the very refined seeming kunoichi. "I see no wounds but I would be more than happy to give you a few Jiraiya." She touched her hair briefly and flicked her wrist.
The Sannin yelped and twisted into a weird contortion to avoid the impact of several senbons. "All right! All right! I'll do my research outside the Compound!"
Tsunade couldn't help smiling at the way the younger woman had handled her old teammate. It was a tragedy… But then again if she had been brought in she most likely would have been killed like every other Uchiha by Itachi.
Naruto smiled, pleased by the ties of respect and affection between his precious people. He didn't expect Hibara to ever trust Shizune or Tsunade though. It had taken her months to reach this point of comfortable familiarity and trust with Jiraiya and it was only because the Gama Sannin had made it very clear with his actions and words that he held his students higher over his old village, the one that disrespected their sacrifices and accomplishments. The warmth faded as he turned to his once comrades and spoke the final words.
"Tell Konohas Council what you have seen and heard. What conclusions they care to draw I do not care. As far as I'm concerned they are all blind fools and cowards." He glanced at Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inochi. "I cannot understand how you two of all people just stood by and did nothing. Yamanaka-san, you are supposed to be a psychological-expert given your clan jutsus! What were you thinking by not interfering? And Nara-san, where is the logic in practically giving one of your own shinobis every reason to be bitter and resentful of his ill-treatment? You are simply creating a lesser Orochimaru with more justification for his hatred." Naruto shook his head. "What you choose to do in the future is your choice. Konoha is no concern of mine." And with that he said his polite farewells to the dignitaries and kages. "It has been an intense month and I wish to spend sometime with my family."
The Konoha envoy watched the trio meander through the crowd and towards the exit. Occasionally they were stopped by Kumo nins and civilians. Every time the couple responded to the greetings and inquiries before moving on.
Namikaze Minato had been like that. Willing to listen to the most insignificant voice because to him everyone was important. Always willing to forgive… Naruto was very much like that. Perhaps-.
"He will never come back." Shikamaru shattered the daydreams of the older jounins. "Not when he has respect and friends, an entire village that loves him, the title of kage. There is nothing but bitter memories and hatred in Konoha. For the both of them."
Sakura cried silently. For once the inner-Sakura had nothing positive to say, no loud encouraging words or plans of actions.
Sasuke was quiet. Was Naruto right? Had the Clan Elders experimented on Itachi? Like Orochimaru experimented on him and other Oto-nins? He made a silent resolution to find those records Naruto talked about. He was certain the Godaime would give him access to the ANBU archives as well. A cold glint shone in black eyes. If Konoha had known all along… If they had remained silent while his beloved elder brother had suffered… If they deliberately did nothing to help Itachi and hid all the facts… Sasuke wasn't certain of what he would do but he was absolutely certain the Godaime would give him complete free reign in order to ensure the guilty were punished in the most painful of ways.
...ooOoo...
TBC…
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AN: There are hints of misleading in this chapter. Remember, at this point the Konohans don't know Hibara was known to them as Itachi. They are assuming she was a Kumo kunoichi who met Naruto and recruited him.
AN: Tessen - iron fan, a ninja weapon that can be used as a club when folded closed, or to deflect projectiles when fanned open.
AN: I think I'm feeling a bit sadistic. I'm drawing out the story to make hammer strikes on Konoha, each revelation destroying some of their pomposity bit by bit. And this update is not the end of it. There is still the final blow to come. Two more chapters left in this tale. Enjoy this update.
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