Hinata Hyuga Pt. 3

A/N: This newest chapter means that Chapter 18 went up over on my P atreon today. Chapter 17 will be released next month when Chapter 19 goes up over on my P atreon and so on and so forth.

Enjoy!

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"Give her to me."

He's resolute, when his answer finally falls from his lips. Tsunade raises both eyebrows, clearly expecting more than that, so Naruto gives it to her.

"You said it yourself. There's no one left to want her dead, right? But at the same time, you can't let her go free. Well… give her to me."

Bringing up a hand, Tsunade rubs her forehead with her thumb and index fingers.

"I'm going to need more than that, Naruto."

Bristling just a little bit, Naruto lets his irritation leak through as he balls his hands into fists.

"It's called a cover up, Hokage. Wouldn't be the first time that this village had engaged in one either, now would it?"

Tsunade goes ramrod straight at that, her eyes widening slightly.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Genin Uzumaki?"

Her clipped, frosty tone warns Naruto off… but he's never been very good at heeding warnings. Mouth turned downward into a frown; he shakes his head.

"My whole life is an S-Class secret, is it not? My entire existence is a cover-up."

He looks to the side, and thus misses the brief look of relief that flashes across the Fifth Hokage's face. Tsunade had read quite a lot of the files that her old geezer of a predecessor had left her with. When the Third Hokage had gone and died on all of them, and she'd been dragged back to Konoha to clean up his mess, she'd uncovered no end of skeletons in the closet.

For a moment, Tsunade thought Jiraiya had told Naruto some of those skeletons as part of his training. After all, Jiraiya and her situations were quite different, for all that they SEEMED the same. Tsunade had outright left the village, and only Hiruzen's fondness for her, and the fact that she hadn't done anything half as bad as Orochimaru, had kept her from being labeled a missing ninja.

Jiraiya, meanwhile, had made a point of leaving Konoha too… but there was never any doubt about his loyalties. Unlike Tsunade, who had done her best to cut all ties, Jiraiya had used his extended vacation from Konoha to build out their spy network, reporting everything he discovered back to Hiruzen until the Third Hokage's death.

Tsunade had had to learn where all the skeletons were buried and how deep they were buried when she finally took the Hokage's hat. Jiraiya had already known… he'd even buried more than a few of them with his own hands. But if Naruto was just talking about himself, well, that was an S-class secret that the boy had found out back when he'd first become a Genin. It certainly wasn't Konoha's best kept S-class secret by any stretch of the imagination…

"A cover-up within a cover-up at that. Yes, I'm the Kyuubi's jinchuriki. Despite that being an S-class secret, somehow the whole village found out about it. I'm sure that all of the other Hidden Villages knew it too. But nothing ever came of that because I had the ANBU watching over me, didn't I?"

Tsunade's nostrils flare at that, even as Naruto glances over at Cat, the ANBU who had brought him and Shizune to her office. The ANBU who hasn't left, on Tsunade's subtle orders. Cat stiffens under Naruto's gaze, but he merely offers her a grateful bow.

"I don't recognize your mask, hair, or body type specifically, ma'am. But allow me to thank you and yours for protecting me all my life. I only ever caught glimpses of animal masks while I was growing up, but those handful of times usually came during certain traumatic events as well, so I appreciate your assistance all the same."

Cat doesn't respond. Of course she doesn't. Tsunade isn't sure how to answer either. Naruto really had been a phenomenal kid, and perhaps also a latent chakra sensor, if he'd been able to notice the ANBU protecting him from the shadows even just a little bit.

In the end, answering him doesn't matter, because Naruto isn't done yet. His thanks given to the only ANBU agent in the room, Naruto turns back to Tsunade and all but pins her to her chair with his gaze.

"I do have to wonder though, just how much worse the attempts on my life would have been if it was known that Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki were my parents. Would being acknowledge as the son of the Fourth Hokage really have put me in any more danger than I already was from outside forces, at the expense of perhaps making my case a bit more sympathetic on the domestic front?"

… So Jiraiya HAD told him things then. Tsunade doesn't know what to say, but unlike before, this time Naruto is clearly waiting for an answer. Turning his question over in her head, she frowns.

"It wasn't my choice to keep your parentage even more of a secret by letting your status as the Kyuubi Jinchuriki be a poorly kept S-class secret, Naruto. That was the choice of my sensei. But… I can't really find it in myself to fault his choice. At the end of the day, you are the vibrant, lively young man that you are because you were kept safe and kept whole."

Naruto nods, almost seeming like he accepts that. Then, he smiles.

"So give me Hinata."

Brow furrowing, Tsunade shakes her head.

"I'm not sure how this and that are the same, Naruto."

"What's one more cover-up in a string of cover-ups? The Hyuga Clan is gutted. Its Elders and Head poisoned. Its Heiress implicated by herself. Hinata… Hinata clearly suffered a psychotic break here. She's not mentally sound. Let me have her, let me… keep her away from the public. You say this isn't my fault, you say this was premeditated. But there's no reason for the rest of the village to have to know that, now is there? Say she did it in the heat of the moment, remand her into my custody, and allow me to watch over her as I rebuild my clan, just as you ordered me."

Tsunade frowns at the reminder.

"You've been working fast, haven't you Naruto? Who is it at this point again?"

Blushing a bit at that, Naruto winces and glances to Shizune first.

"Ah… Anko Mitarashi for starters. Ino Yamanaka next. Shizune here approached me with her feelings after that… and Hinata had been stalking me since I came back to the village."

"And you intend to marry all of these women, all of these kunoichi?"

Straightening up, his chin jutting out defiantly as he holds his head high, Naruto gives one sharp nod.

"Yes. Them… and probably more."

Kurama definitely wouldn't be happy with just four. And Naruto… Naruto wanted a big family. More than that, if he was going to make a serious go at rebuilding his clan, he would need more women, he would need to make the first generation of the new Uzumaki Clan as big as humanly possible to give it the best chance of prospering after he was dead and buried.

Tsunade doesn't look put out by this admission, if anything she looks pleased as she gives him a smile and an approving nod. In comparison… well, the ANBU Cat is more frozen than she was before, and Naruto can't help but suspect that her eyes are wide behind that porcelain animal mask of hers.

"… You want me to just GIVE you Hinata Hyuga. You want me to hand over a mass murderer, a kinslayer, to you."

They're statements rather than questions, but Naruto nevertheless takes them as the latter even as Tsunade's eyes almost seem to be doing their best to burrow into his very soul. He nods sharply once more, his hands balled into fists at his sides.

"Yes."

"And say I did… say I went along with this audacious plan. How do you intend to keep her under control? A psychotic break would be enough to have her at least locked in the hospital, if not kept in the depths of T&I for the rest of her life."

Naruto thins out his lips at that. They both know Hinata hadn't actually suffered a psychotic break. Not if this really all was as premeditated as Tsunade claimed the Hyuga Heiress had said it was.

"… For all that you've said this wasn't my fault, Hinata did this for me. She did this because last night she confessed her love to me, I reciprocated her feelings, and then Shizune explained to us after the fact that the village would never allow us to be together. That girl's love for me is apparently strong enough to make her kill. I'm hoping that it's also strong enough for her to still want to live, after what she's done. If you give her to me, I can promise she'll be confined to the compound. She won't ever leave it ever again without your permission. She'll stay because last night, both her and I were ready to leave just to be together."

That takes Tsunade aback, which was kind of the point. Naruto keeps his chin jutted out defiantly as he lets her take that in. The fact that he would have willingly left Konoha to protect Hinata… well, maybe it wasn't the right thing to be admitting to Konoha's Supreme Military Leader. But Tsunade wasn't just the Fifth Hokage… she was also Tsunade. And Naruto had always been a special case. He knew that, and in this instance was more than willing to try and take advantage of that fact.

"No… no, that's not good enough."

Naruto's nostrils flare and his eyes widen at that, but before he can have an outburst, be it justified or not, Tsunade holds up a hand to forestall his obvious objection.

"Not good enough by itself, anyways. I will require more promises from you then that, Naruto. Will you hear me out?"

"… Yes, Hokage."

Lifting a hand, Tsunade begins to count them out on her fingers.

"One, Hinata Hyuga will renounce all claims to her clan and the position of Clan Head. Her younger sister Hanabi will become Clan Heiress and will take over as Clan Head once she is deemed old enough. Two, Hinata will never again act in the capacity of a kunoichi. She will not fight, she will not serve in the Konoha Ninja Corps. She is a civilian from this point forward. Three, you and she will not be allowed to marry until she is pregnant with your child."

On that one, Tsunade pauses, as if expecting Naruto to speak up then. She's not wrong.

"That's not remotely fair!"

Scowling, Tsunade shakes her head.

"The world isn't fair, Naruto. Hinata Hyuga is no more… from this moment on, Hinata's freedom is dependent on her value as a broodmare. She will serve Konoha in this way by helping in the revitalization of your clan. You will knock her up, and then and only then will I allow you to take her as a wife with the others. Is that understood?"

After a moment of bristling about the injustice of it all, Naruto slowly nods, clearly accepting that it's the best he's going to get. Tsunade smirks and then raises her fourth finger.

"Fourth and finally, I will be placing one of my people within your compound to make sure that all previously mentioned obligations are carried out to the letter."

Naruto blinks at that and lifts an eyebrow.

"… One of your people, Tsunade? Shizune is already going to be staying at the compound as it is…"

"Not what I meant."

For the first time, Tsunade's eyes drift over to Cat. The ANBU stiffens the moment that she realizes her Hokage is now focused on her.

"Cat. Step forward and remove your mask."

"Hokage-!"

"That was an order."

Now it's the ANBU that's bristling, for the equivalent of an ANBU bristling. Stepping forward, she slowly reaches up and removes her mask, revealing a beautiful young woman with warm brown eyes.

"From this point on, you are released from your duties as the ANBU Cat. Special Jonin Yugao Uzuki, I am assigning you to the newly instated Uzumaki Compound for the foreseeable future. You will be Hinata Hyuga's warden. In the matters that I have already outlined, my word is law. However, outside of that… you will obey the Uzumaki Clan Head while serving on his lands. Is that understood?"

"… Yes, Hokage."

From the almost smug grin on Tsunade's face, Naruto is rapidly beginning to feel like he's been played at some point in this conversation. His eyes wide, he can't bring himself to do much more than stand there frozen as Yugao Uzuki turns to face him and drops to a knee, her head bowed.

"Lord Uzumaki. I am at your command."

Did… did the Hokage really just gift him an ANBU? A pretty, young, and altogether female ANBU at that? Mouth dry, Naruto swallows thickly and finally finds the words.

"A-Ah, um… you can just call me Naruto. And please, get up… I'm not going to stand on ceremony very often, I don't think."

Rising back to her feet, Yugao looks anywhere but Naruto's face.

"Of course… Naruto."

Well, that's a start.

"Go pick Hinata up from T&I Naruto. With Yugao and Shizune accompanying you, you won't have any trouble. Try not to let the girl commit any further fratricide while you're at it, alright?"

Flushing a bit, Naruto nevertheless snaps off a distinctly lazy salute and turns to leave with Shizune and Yugao both following in his wake. Before he can get all the way out the door however, Tsunade calls to him one last time, making him turn back and meet her eyes.

"Blame yourself for this all you want, Naruto… but it truly wasn't your fault. The girl didn't just poison everyone who knew the Caged Bird Seal in one fell swoop, she also deliberately destroyed every scroll that so much as mentioned how to perform the technique and how to activate the seal from the Hyuga Clan Library. I've got it on good authority that recreating the technique would take a true genius at this point…"

That… Naruto chuckles, at least a little used to reading underneath the underneath at this point. Dipping his head in silent acknowledgment of what Tsunade has told him, he turns and leaves, secure in the knowledge that Konoha would no longer have a clan that practiced slavery, at the very least.

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An hour later, he's back home in the compound with Hinata, Shizune, and Yugao. Naruto just isn't sure what to do next, to be honest. Does he talk to Hinata, try and… explain what's happening? Or should he leave her to her own devices for the time being and maybe talk to Yugao about… well, about her new circumstances?

It really did feel like he'd been played back there. But at the end of the day, here he was with Hinata still by his side, and now a female ANBU under his command. So even if he had been played by the Hokage… hadn't he come out on top anyways?

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