Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Sweet Sacrifice ❯ Actions ( Chapter 7 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with Naruto, though I wish I did.

Tsunade had not been having a good week, let alone a good day. The conference was just a bunch of posturing and an excuse to have a pissing contest if you asked her. In other words, it was a complete waste of her time and energy, especially when she just knew that damned paperwork was probably the size of small mountains instead of the large hills they had been when she left. To make matters worse, she had won big in the lottery, not once, but twice, on the four day long trip back to Konoha and she had caught that stupid, perverted teammate of hers spying on her in one of the hotsprings. And the medic-nin had been so sure she would have to see the pervert for another week or so when he would come to give her an updated report of the information from his network.
It was definitely not her week and she had the worst feeling that all the bad feelings she was experiencing were centered on Naruto. She loved the blond brat, but he gave her the worst headache with the way trouble seemed to follow him everywhere. It didn't help that sometimes she felt very guilty when she looked at Naruto. Really, Jiraiya and herself had practically abandoned him after his birth and the death of Minato and Kushina. Because Tsunade knew that if Kushina was alive that she would have stayed with Naruto, having faith in Minato's seal, therefore she had to have died that night as well. Tsunade had no idea how wrong she was.
Of course Kushina would have faith in Minato's seal and in his sealing ability. The two had been very good friends even if their marriage had been arranged by the Council. Minato might not have loved Kushina, but he had cared for her as a friend. After all, its not like he could love, not being what and who he was. No one knew that though, and she never understood why her handsome male friend didn't love or find her the least bit attractive like she thought he should. This was probably why she abandoned her newly-born son so easily and thought him a monster, a demon. A shallow-minded, prejudiced, and jealous bitch never would have been able to truly love someone like Minato or should have been able to give birth to someone like Naruto. So with that one act of abandonment she proved that she was not really capable of anything past superficial love and that she held no true love for the man she married or the child she had given birth to. Spite was truly a dangerous thing as many would come to know, because who really could have guessed the events that would unfold or the secrets that would be revealed.
So with no idea of the problems that she was about to face Tsunade walked through the gates of Konoha with a feeling of dread. The first thing she noted was that the villagers seemed happier than usual, almost as if they were celebrating something. Tsunade wasn't the only one in her entourage to notice either. Shikamaru, Neji, Shizune, Jiraiya, and Kakashi were among those who also noticed and all of them felt a wave of dread wash over them as if they were about to receive very bad news. It would be very, very bad news, for Konoha at least, because though they didn't know it, they would lose more than just Naruto.
It didn't take long for Tsunade or the others of her entourage who had noticed the villagers peculiar behavior to arrive at Tsunade's office. All of them were feeling a bit uneasy because they had yet to be greeted by Naruto who had a habit of seeing them when they returned from missions. That thought had alarm bells going off in some of their minds and a few were beginning to connect the dots with a rising sense of panic. All of Naruto's friends had been gone from the Village for at least the last week and Naruto was off he active duty roster until Tsunade deemed it time to put him back on. So Naruto should have been at the gates or waiting for them at the Tower doors, but he hadn't been and the villagers were in a celebratory mood which didn't bode well for anyone.
As Tsunade sat down in her chair a scroll caught her attention. She wasn't sure why it had whenit looked nothing out the ordinary. Regardless, she had the urge to open up the scroll so she followed her instincts and did so. As she read the scroll the other shinobi in the office watched as the blood drained from her face leaving her pale and shaken. Obviously the scroll held some bad news. When she turned sad but furious amber eyes to them they knew it was worse than they feared.
"The Council," Tsunade spit out, sarcastic venom dripping from her words, "in their all-knowing wisdom practically gave Naruto away to Suna a week ago. He belongs to Suna and specifically to their Kazekage, who now holds responsibility over him. A Kazekage who is renown for his bloodlust and his ruthlessness on the battlefield and off it. Naruto will be sold off to the highest bidder in Suna to be used as breeding stock, for marriage, as possible leverage, as a weapon, or even as a slave. The Council didn't specify how Naruto was to be used, only that he never return to Konoha to be a citizen or to live here permanently."
Their Hokage's words and what they meant frightened them all and made them angry. Their friend or student depending on the person, who they really hadn't spent any time with lately they all thought with guilt, had been given to the Kage of another village, who regardless of being the Kage of an ally village was not, under any circumstances, going to give Naruto back. The Council of Konoha had made sure there were no loopholes and any that might have been exploited had probably been taken care of by the Kazekage if Naruto had arrived in Suna one week ago. There was no hope of gaining their blond back.
Only three people in the room really understood the full magnitude of what Naruto being gone actually meant. Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi had never told Naruto of his heritage for various personal reasons that were barely even justifiable to themselves. And now they might never be able to tell him because there was absolutely no chance the Kazekage would allow it. Naruto was now a citizen of Suna and their lack of foresight was the cause. It should have been very suspicious that all of the people who might have supported Naruto in the slightest or gotten a message to Tsunade or Jiraiya were out of the Villade at the same time as Tsunade had to leave Konoha on business. Hindsight always was an unpleasant view and this was no different. The Yondaime's legacy was lost to Konoha and soon so would many of their allies. After all, how smart is it to toss away the one wjo made all the alliances possible?
~~~~~
It took another week before the full scope of the damage caused by 'giving' Naruto away became apparent. The first sign was Nami closing off the Great Naruto Bridge to anyone from Hi no Kuni and the breaking off of the trade agreement. Then came the withdrawl of Tsuki no Kuni and Yuki no Kuni from their alliances with Konoha and by extension Hi no Kuni. Taxes were raised in Cha no Kuni and Ume no Kuni on all imported and exported goods to and from Hi no Kuni. To say the Fire Daimyo was displeased was an understatement, especially when he was given information from a source he wouldn't name as to why so many were withdrawing support from Hi no Kuni. To say the Fire Daimyo was appalled at what he learned of the treatment of the now Sabaku no Naruto was an understatement.
Of course that source of information he would not name was none other than the newly adopted Sabaku no Arashi who took great delight in helping his new brother Gaara get revenge for Naruto, Arashi's brother and Gaara's mate. It had been all to easy for the stealthy Jinchuuriki to sneak into Konoha and steal all the appropriate documents about Naruto that were sealed away by the Sandaime and had never been looked at by anyone else. If they had been then perhaps Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade might have been a bit more attentive when Naruto needed it and Ibiki, Iruka, Kurenai, and Anko would have more forcefully bullied the Sandaime into letting them watch over Naruto earlier.
The Daimyo had been none too happy about what he had read of the actions of the people of Konoha: of the injuries Naruto had suffered, the beatings, the mobs, the assassination attempts, or any of the general treatment they seemed to deem appropriate for the one they saw as a 'demon.' Never had the Daimyo been so ashamed and he said as much to Tsunade when he personally made the trip to Konoha and showed her the documents. What made it all the more worse was that they had done this to Minato's son. The people of Konoha had disrespected his friend Minato, Minato's wishes, and Minato's son. His friend was probably rolling in his grave over all of this injustice, made even more so for those who knew Minato's secret.
The Daimyo barely took any solace in the pure horror that shone brightly in Tsunade's eyes as she read the copies of the files he had been given. Even if that look in her eyes meant she hadn't known it was damning in a way because it meant she had never looked. And the Daimyo knew damned well that even if he had not known his friend Minato's son had survived Tsunade, Jiraiya, Sarutobi, and Kakashi certainly had. Sarutobi had obviously done his best, but he was a man getting on in years who had been thrust back in a demanding position that he had retired from only to be surrounded by enemies on all sides. Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi had practically abandoned and ignored both Sarutobi and Naruto and left them to fend for themselves. And look where they had ended up, Sarutobi was dead from trying in vain to kill Orochimaru and Naruto was given to another country who was practically on the verge of withdrawing from their alliance and asking for a non-aggression pact. The only good thing about Naruto leaving is that he had found happiness in Suna with his husband and mate Gaara, who was the Godaime Kazekage, with Arashi, who was his brother, and with his new siblings Temari and Kankuro.
Something about Arashi though brought up memories that the Daimyo could not quite grasp. He could almost swear he had heard Minato say something about silver eyes and hair the color of moonlight. Perhaps he was mistaken, it had been a long time ago, before Minato had been forced to marry Kushina, before Minato had been forced to sacrifice his beloved son, before Minato had lost hope.
~~~~~
Naruto could scarcely have been happier. He had a wonderful mate who completed him, his beloved brother now lived in Suna, he had more siblings in the forms of Kankuro and Temari, and his brother Arashi and his mate Gaara got along with each other extremely well. Both the red-haired Jinchuuriki and white-haired Jinchuuriki were like best friends, as close as brothers even. Arashi had shared his memories with Gaara as he had done with Naruto and now they had the same familial connection that did not in any way infringe upon the mating bond between Naruto and Gaara.
Arashi had been gone for three days informing all of Naruto's friends and allies outside of Konoha just exactly what had happened. The seer had taken great pleasure in telling the new Godaime Mizukage, Zabuza, just what Konoha had done and had given the now immortal swordsman and his Jinchuuriki mate, Haku, copies of the stolen files on Naruto.
The original files were given to Gaara who gave them back to Arashi for safe keeping because the red head became far too angry when reading what his mate had been through even though he had seen it first hand through memories. It angered the red head to know how badly his mate and his white-haired brother had been treated and that no one had truly helped them besides their tenants. It brought back memories better off buried and forgotten.
Gaara sat quietly at his kitchen table in contemplation as he silently watched Arashi and Naruto make breakfast while bantering with Temari and Kankuro. All five of them lived in the rather large comound and that was unlikely to change. The compound itself was brighter and more lively somehow with the presence of Naruto and Arashi as well as safer. The blond and the seer had both set up all the seals in the compound and keyed all five of them into the master seal. It still amazed Gaara to know that he would never be alone, truly alone again. He could feel the warm presence of Naruto in his mind along with Arashi's and it made him warm inside to know his presence both in mind and in body made them happier as well.
However, at the moment Gaara was taking in Arashi's appearance. The white-haired seer dressed almost exactly the same as Naruto, though now Gaara knew the equipment each carried on them was quite different. Arashi had a rather large amount of implements that could be used to make predictions and knew how to use them all accurately and correctly. Naruto had told Gaara that Arashi was never wrong when it came to predictions he made. It had surprised Gaara the first time he had seen Arashi's tarot deck, or bones, or pendant but he was already used to them. Their physical appearances differed as well. While Naruto's hair was like starlight, Arashi's was like moonlight. Where Naruto was golden skinned, Arashi's skin was as moon-kissed as Gaara's own. Arashi was also about five feet and ten inches, making him taller than Naruto and shorter than Gaara.
But what really kept catching Gaara's attention was Arashi's markings. They were around his eyes and almost exactly like Gaara's except they were more exotically shaped, probably because of the difference of thier tenants. However, Arashi also had two solid black streaks, one on each cheek, running down his face. Those streaks and the white present in his hair are rather telling of his heritage if one cares to look. After all, having Jiraiya for a father was rather rare regardeless of how perverted the man was and seemed. Actually, the only one who could legitimately claim to be the Gama Sennin's offspring was Arashi. Too bad the Gama Sennin had no idea and the white-haired Jinchuuriki had never had the inclination to meet his infamous porn-writing father.