Happy Christmas people
I hope you all are having fun this Christmas. So I finished this chapter just today. I wasn't planning on posting it today, but I did it anyway.
Hope you like it.
Necessary Evil
Beginning of The End
Naruto was thinking about the upcoming fight when a familiar chakra signature was outside his room. Naruto tensed as the door opened.
"Naruto..."
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man he once viewed as a big brother. Why would his guards let Iruka enter when they knew that he didn't want to see the man?
"Umino san"
Iruka was hurt by the dispassionate tone and he gave a bitter smile.
"Do you still hate me Naruto?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Don't you already know my answer, Umino san?"
Iruka was already messing with his attitude; his very presence was making Naruto agitated.
"Will you listen to me once Naruto? After all, I was once your big brother..."
Iruka asked in a calm yet sad voice.
Big brother? Naruto slammed his hands on the table as he stood up.
"What are you playing at Iruka?!" He didn't yell, but he was angry.
Iruka smiled and then he chuckled.
"You're still so easy to rile up, Naruto.... You are still the same." Iruka said between chuckles.
"No Umino san, I can safely say that I am not the fool that I was back then."
Naruto said scowling and he turned away from Iruka; the person whose betrayal he still couldn't get over.
"No Naruto. You were never a fool to begin with. I know that you are still the kind hearted stubborn blonde who would fight the entire world for his precious people. I always saw through that mask you wore Naruto. That idiot mask you kept up to protect yourself."
Naruto's eyes widened but he didn't turn around to see Iruka's face. He didn't need to see his face to know that he was telling the truth. Iruka continued speaking.
"It didn't take me long to figure out that I was one of the only two people who saw through that mask."
Naruto had nothing to say. He couldn't speak. He had always been proud of his mask back then, because he believed that no one saw through it. But now Iruka is saying that two people saw through it. He had a guess who the second person was.
"The second person was the sandaime."
Iruka said confirming his guess.
"We knew you were suffering... but we couldn't do anything in fear of pushing you away...."
Naruto closed his eyes he didn't want to hear anymore. But he had no strength to stop Iruka, some part of him wanted to know, wanted to hear some form of explanation from Iruka.
"Day by day I watched as you faded, and despite all I had done you never did trust me enough to drop your mask in front of me. It hurt, but I understood... When the chunin exams were near, I was very worried about you. I found out about how Kakashi was neglecting you and how your teammates treated you but I never got the chance to change any of that before everything began crumbling down."
"Why are you telling me all this? What are you trying to prove?" Naruto asked.
"I am not trying to prove anything Naruto. But now that you're here with me again... I want you to know everything Naruto. Maybe I'll get my little brother back."
Naruto scoffed, "You're way over your head Iruka. Get out. I don't want to listen to you anymore."
"No Naruto. I won't leave until you listen to me. Give me a chance Naruto... Please."
Naruto closed his eyes, "And pray tell why should I give you a chance? You made it pretty clear what you thought of me, that day Iruka. I don't want to give you or this godforsaken village a chance at anything."
Naruto felt Iruka's anger build even before Iruka exploded.
"Don't lump me in with the rest of this disgusting village Naruto."
Naruto turned around to look at Iruka a little surprised.
"Give me a chance Naruto. Just listen to me once."
Naruto sat back down in his chair impassively. His eyes meeting Iruka's head on.
"I ask again, Umino san. Why should I?"
"Because I fucking deserve a chance Naruto" Iruka said.
Iruka was tired, so drained from all the years of agony he went through.
Naruto sighed. He knew he shouldn't do this, make the man leave this instant because even if Naruto wanted to hate this man, he never could. Listening to whatever he said would only crumple his resolve further. But his instincts told him to listen and he trusted his instincts. Naruto tilted his head back in the chair so that he was facing the ceiling.
"If it makes any difference, I am no longer a part of Konoha. Not even its citizen."
Naruto turned his head to face Iruka in surprise. And for the first time since the man entered Naruto clearly looked at Iruka, the lack of a headband was glaring difference; it only proved how much attention Naruto had given the man before.
He knew how passionate Iruka was about Konoha. Konoha is the village that his parents had died protecting, the village that he swore to protect with his life, Iruka embraced the will of fire with all he had and now... Iruka was no longer a Konoha ninja? Why?
"Why?" Naruto asked.
Iruka sighed, at least now he had Naruto's attention. A small smile tugged at his lips as he answered.
"Konoha had lost my respect for a long time Naruto, even years before you were banished."
"Then why didn't you quit earlier?" Naruto asked, ignoring the fact that he was supposed to act like he didn't care.
"Because I had someone to protect..." Iruka looked Naruto as he said this. And Naruto knew who that someone was.
"I could only help you if I had remained a ninja, so I did. I always believed that you didn't belong in Konoha..."
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
"You deserved better than Konoha. And seeing you now, I guess I was right... I wanted to get you away from Konoha, wanted to give you a new chance at a happier life... but even behind the mask you wore, I knew you loved Konoha. And the sandaime always managed to convince me saying that you belonged in Konoha." Iruka scowled.
"And as long as you loved Konoha I couldn't take you away from here. But I tried to help you as much as I could. And for a while you were happy and I was satisfied... Everything went to hell with the sandaime's death. I was afraid whoever the new hokage was would treat you as a weapon, but then you came back with Tsunade. Seeing how close you were to Tsunade, I was relieved. But of course things couldn't stay good for very long could they?"
Iruka chuckled ruefully.
"I knew that the council was planning to get rid of you even before Sasuke defected. And that little Uchiha bastard gave them the perfect reason."
Naruto looked Iruka; his emotions a jumbled mess.
"When the council spread the news that you had gone Kyubi on Sasuke, I could guess what it would come to; either they would execute you, banish you or turn you over to Danzo. Among the three, I thought banishment was the best. I trusted Tsunade to have some more power over the council, but I guess she was too weak-willed for that." Iruka sneered.
Naruto was shell shocked by this new side of Iruka.
"The day before your punishment was decided; I found out that most of the council members were planning to execute you or turn you over to Danzo. I couldn't allow that. It was quite easy to manipulate the council members, some rumors about how your death would result in the Kyubi being released and a little lie about an organization after the Kyubi, which would attack Konoha to capture you... I only found out too late that the last one wasn't a lie at all. They predictably took the easier way out; banishment."
"You..." Naruto mumbled shocked.
Iruka chuckled, "Yeah, I am not the goody two shoes after all huh?"
Naruto looked down. He had a lot to think about already. Iruka continued.
"I was worried about them sealing off your chakra; as the procedure for banishment, but your jinchuuriki seal helped out there."
Of course, the only reason they didn't seal his chakra back then, was because it would've messed up his jinchuuriki seal, Naruto remembered that well.
"I wanted you to leave Konoha without a conflict and I wanted you to have no reason to ever come back to this accursed village if something went wrong. And after what had happened, I was the only thing binding you to this village." Iruka said.
"So you cut that relationship off, so that I would be free..." Naruto finished. Now he understood why Iruka treated him the way he did at that time.
Naruto leaned back in his chair, tired. This was all too much. But Iruka wasn't done.
"But it was only supposed to be temporary. I... I took on a long term mission the day before your banishment took place. I needed a reason to be out of the village. And using my mission as a cover, I followed you. I couldn't tell you the truth just yet, so I followed in the shadows and made sure you made it out of the Fire country unscathed."
Naruto didn't even bother hiding his surprise any longer; he had always wondered what kind of luck he had back then.
"Iruka..."
Iruka smiled softly, "everything went fine for a while. You made it out of fire country safely and I had some friends outside fire country who made sure you were safe afterward. They were supposed to make sure you were fine without giving themselves away. And I came back to Konoha after the mission. I did some snooping around and made sure that neither Danzo nor any of the Konoha ninja had any information about you. I had a free reign because I had publically belittled you. The civilians all believed that I was finally out of the demon's influence." Iruka scoffed.
Then his eyes hardened, "they were all so proud to tell me about how they had made your life worse than it already was. Well they regretted it afterwards."
Iruka's smirk had dark undercurrent. No one ever realized the reason for the sudden fires and tragedies that befell some of the esteemed council members and some merchant families.
Naruto was chuckling now, "Iruka you..." His eyes were sad.
"Why didn't you search for me afterwards Iruka?" Naruto asked sadly.
Iruka lowered his head, "because I had believed that you died."
Naruto looked confused. Iruka explained.
"For a month everything was alright. You were in water country and one of my friends was looking after you."
Naruto frowned, then his eyes saddened; "Mira?" He asked softly.
Iruka nodded.
Mira was a woman that Naruto could never forget.
He had just made it into water country and he was depressed and didn't even want to live anymore. That's when Mira found him. She was beautiful, with sky blue eyes and cherry red hair. He didn't understand then, but Mira had been of Uzumaki ancestry. She took him to her inn and gave him a room and took care of him despite his protests, she was the one who had managed to bring him out of his depression.
And he was truly happy then; but then the Akatsuki came. It was Kakuzu and Hidan who came for him that time.
Mira had tried to protect him. She failed and the price was her life. Naruto believed that it was the sight of her lifeless body that finally broke him down and crumpled every bit of will he had to live. That time just before her death Mira was trying to tell him about someone who wanted to protect him, at that time he never understood what she was trying to say. Now he knew that she was talking about Iruka.
"I had quit being a shinobi by the end of that month and was planning on going to water country to meet you and Mira there. Then I would've told you all the truth. I was worried when Mira didn't send me any letters that week. By the time I made it to Water country I got news of her death and you being kidnapped." Iruka's eyes looked far off.
"She died trying to protect me..." Naruto mumbled.
"And she is happy that she did."
Naruto looked at Iruka; Iruka was looking at him with conviction.
"The week before her death she wrote to me saying how precious you are and that if she had to, she would lay her life down for you. I was glad that you had one more person to protect you..." Iruka closed his eyes stifling his tears "After I knew you were kidnapped, I used the help of every connection I had in the elemental nations. That's how I found out about the Akatsuki. I also found out about how they killed the jinchuuriki by extracting the demon. I had made my way to Ame, trying to find you even if I knew I was too weak and too late. I arrived there, only to witness the giant explosion of demonic chakra that took half of Ame with it. I had assumed the worst after that."
Naruto nodded. He understood, and he was glad that he listened to Iruka. Silence extended for some time before Naruto stood up.
Naruto walked over to Iruka and pulled him into a hug.
"Sorry Iruka nee san..." He whispered.
Kyoshiro stood at the door watching the scene. He knew it was the right decision to let Iruka speak with Naruto. He didn't know what happened, but was sure that his mate would let him know later. He turned away and left, giving then some privacy.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Naruto entered his bedroom to see Kyoshiro lying on the bed. The blankets had pooled around his waist exposing his naked chest. Kyoshiro's head was tilted exposing his neck and the mating mark. His silky red hair spread out on the pillow.
Naruto stood there and appreciated the view for some time.
"If you like the view, why don't you come and get a closer look?" Kyoshiro turned his head to face to look at his mate. Eyes glowing in the dimly lit bedroom.
Naruto smirked and unbuttoned his shirt as he stepped forward, "I'll take you up on that offer."
Kyoshiro watched intently watched as his mate discarded his clothes one by one, slowly and sensually.
Once he was naked, Kyoshiro pulled him forward so that Naruto fell on top of him and then flipped their position.
"Mmm... You're in a very good mood today." Kyoshiro spoke before moving down to nibble on Naruto's neck. Naruto gasped and arched his back as Kyoshiro bit on top of the mating mark.
"Aren't I... always?" Naruto asked gasping.
"Maybe to the others... But I am your mate Naruto. You are different today." Kyoshiro met Naruto's eyes as he said this. Naruto noticed that Kyoshiro's pupil had turned fox like.
Naruto smirked; his mate was getting rather wild tonight. Naruto leaned forward and put a small kiss on Kyoshiro's lips.
"Of course you would know. I feel better than I have felt in a long time today."
"Does this have something to do with Iruka's visit?"
Naruto scoffed, "As if you don't know. I know you're the one who let Iruka in."
Kyoshiro smirked. Instead of answering he placed his lips on Naruto's chest and placed little kisses.
"So what exactly happened?" Kyoshiro asked.
Naruto smiled sadly, "We talked... and Iruka even let me see his memories afterwards..."
"What did you see?"
"I... he always tried to help me Kyo... He never was disappointed in me when he heard about what I supposedly did to Sasuke. He didn't believe any of the things they said."
"Yet he belittled you for your actions that day? Why would he do that?"
"Did you know, he was trying to get me out of the village? He believed that I deserved better than Konoha. He had fought with the sandaime so many times over that. But the sandaime always stopped him saying that Konoha wouldn't let go of their jinchuuriki just like that. He protected me from so many assassination attempts yet always stayed in the shadows."
Kyoshiro frowned, "Wasn't he just a chunin?"
Naruto laughed, "Iruka nii san was a master of deception Kyo. He may be chunin by rank, but when it comes to strength..." Naruto smirked.
Kyoshiro chuckled, "but if he is that strong, how did Mizuki beat him so easily that night?"
Naruto frowned, "He wanted Mizuki to tell me the truth about you being sealed inside me. He had fought with the sandaime so many times to let me know, but jiji thought that it wouldn't be the best decision. Iruka believed that I had every right to know why I was hated, but he didn't want to go against the sandaime's orders either. So he let Mizuki do the dirty work... and if I hadn't jumped in and disposed of Mizuki, I am sure that Iruka would have after that."
"Oh and he's no longer a Konoha ninja." Naruto added as an afterthought.
Kyoshiro hummed, "But that would mean that his chakra was sealed off. Isn't that what they do to active shinobi who quit and want to leave the village?"
"Yes... His chakra used to be sealed, until this morning." Naruto said.
Kyoshiro laughed, "There's no seal an Uzumaki can't crack."
"I always wondered why no one attacked me while I was leaving the Fire country, not even the root ninja had come... Well today I got my answer to that question."
Kyoshiro was surprised, "You mean Iruka..."
Naruto nodded.
"That guy must be something then. Danzo would've sent at least one or two groups after you." Kyoshiro mumbled.
"He made sure that I got out of fire country unscathed and covered up my trails. He wanted me to cut all my ties with Konoha; including him. He didn't want me having anything that could bring me back to this accursed village, that's why, he..."
"I see..." Kyoshiro mumbled "He did a lot for you..."
"He did... He only remained a ninja because he wanted to make sure that Konoha never dragged me back. He did all this, for me. He has a very good spy network you know..."
"A spy network too?" Kyoshiro deadpanned, "Who ever made that guy a chunin..."
Naruto chuckled, "Well he found out when I had been captured by Akatsuki... He thought that I had died."
Kyoshiro shook his head, "He must've been devastated..."
"After that he just wandered around. Only came back to Konoha when the news about me being alive and coming back here, reached him. He was glad that I was alive but still only came here to not let me get tied down to Konoha again." Naruto said.
"Well, what did he say about what you were doing to Konoha now?" Kyoshiro asked.
"That he'd help me in every way he can."
"Good... Now that's out of the way..." Kyoshiro said and his hands moved down Naruto's body.
"Aww..." Naruto whined, "I lost my mood Kyo. Maybe some other time." With that Naruto turned over and closed his eyes.
Kyoshiro laid there confused for about five seconds before his libido caught up to the fact that his mate had just denied him. Kyoshiro narrowed his eyes.
"Oh No you don't."
In a split second Naruto found himself flipped over a demonic Kyoshiro hovering over him.
Kyoshiro's eyes were red and fox like. Nine tails coiled around Naruto, restraining him. Some of Kyoshiro's tails glided over some sensitive regions eliciting a groan from Naruto.
"I have many ways to bring back your mood." Kyoshiro said as his lips moved towards his mate's manhood.
Unseen by Kyoshiro, Naruto smirked. It was so much fun riling up his mate, especially when it had such interesting benefits.
Naruto purred as his own demon reacted to his mate.
Well it was a good thing that the silencing seals were already up.
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One week passed just like that.
But so many things had already changed. The biggest one was how the Hyuga clan had changed.
True to his words the daimyo did investigate the Hyuga clan matter and the results were greatly against the Hyuga. Almost half of the Hyuga clan; mainly the main branch, had been imprisoned for use of an illegal seal. They also had to pay a huge penalty. So it was easy to say that the Hyuga clan was effectively crippled. But the branch families rejoiced their freedom.
The caged bird seal was permanent so removing it was impossible, but Naruto proposed that he could alter it. Everyone was surprised when the Uzumaki offered to help.
Flashback
"Naruto san" The daimyo who was present at the meeting greeted the blonde as he entered.
Naruto bowed his head in respect. "Hizaki sama"
"Rise Naruto san. Your grandmother told me that you agreed to help with the Hyuga issue." Hizaki said.
Naruto nodded his head. The representatives of the branch family, one of them being Neji; were surprised that the blonde decided to help them considering how the blonde had made clear of his hatred for the entire village.
"I have studied about the caged bird seal, my lord. I have found that the seal is impossible to remove without harming the individual." Naruto informed and the branch family members gasped when they heard this. They had hoped the blonde had found some way to remove them.
"But, I could alter it." Naruto said. All of them looked at the blonde confused.
"Alter it how Naruto san?"
"Well, it's fairly simple. I could remove the part of the seal that causes pain to the bearer of the seal. Instead the seal would act as a bloodline protection seal."
The Hyuga all looked at the blonde surprised.
"What all will the altered seal do, Naruto san?" Neji stepped forward and asked hopefully.
Naruto looked at Neji; no emotions crossed his face as he spoke, "The altered seal will prevent the Byakugan from being transplanted and the Byakugan genes on the body of a member after they die will be... sealed off. That is, the DNA from the dead body would be useless if anyone wish to use it. That's it."
"And you will be able to do it?" Another Hyuga asked.
"Yes." Naruto said with conviction.
"I don't doubt your ability Naruto san, but why are you helping us?" A female Hyuga asked.
"Does it matter what my reasons are?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. The Hyuga had no answer.
"For the record, let's just say that I helped you because I know how it feels to suffer because of a seal that you had no choice about being placed on you." The sentence struck their hearts, but Naruto had said it all with a stoic face.
"If you have no problem accepting my help, I will be ready to modify the seal tomorrow itself." Naruto informed them and left.
Flashback ends~
The very next day, the seal had been modified. The entire Hyuga clan; or at least what was left of them, was indebted to Naruto.
"Naruto, did you have breakfast yet?"
Naruto looked up from the document he was reading over. Iruka was standing at the door with a tray of food.
"Ah, thanks Iruka sensei." Naruto said with a small smile.
Iruka walked in and placed the tray on the table.
"The fight's today. Are you ready?" Iruka asked.
"Aren't I always?" Naruto chuckled, "The real question is whether they are ready for me."
Iruka smiled, he had complete trust in Naruto's abilities.
"Where is Kyo?" Naruto asked as he finished breakfast.
"Oh, he said that he'll meet you at the stadium. He wanted to greet the other kages before the match started. Hibara sama went with him as well."
"Ah... I kind of forgot about the other kages coming to watch the matches... Who all were coming Iruka?"
"Well, the sandaime and yondaime Tsuchikage, the godaime Mizukage, don't forget Gaara kun and the godaime and sandaime Raikage as well. And don't forget that all the daimyo would be present as well."
"All of them are here? Not surprising... After all, this match will create a huge change in the balance of power." Naruto sighed.
"Naruto, it's time to go to the stadium." Iruka said.
"Alright, let's go."
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The stadium was filled with people.
People from outside and inside fire country were there to see the matches. Most of them just wanted a chance to meet The Naruto Uzumaki who was their mysterious and talented Golden Fox, as well as the head of the Black Rose Corporation. Those particular details had been made public after Naruto had informed the council of it; after all, no use keeping it a secret when they knew that the Konoha council would make it public anyway.
Naruto and Iruka appeared inside the kage box with a traceless shunshin.
"Ah, Naruto kun you're here." It was Kurotsuchi (fourth tsuchikage) who greeted him.
Naruto bowed to the woman and the rest of the kages.
"No need to bow before us Naruto Kun, after all we are friends." Darui (fifth raikage) said chuckling. The others agreed.
"My! You've gotten even more hot since the last time I saw you Naruto... Kyoshiro san is quite the lucky man..." Mei said giving Naruto a smirk, then she glanced over at Kyoshiro, "But the same goes for Kyoshiro I suppose. Two unearthly beauties for each other... why are all the cute ones gay?!"
All others chuckled.
"Well good to know that you haven't changed, Mei san." Kyoshiro chuckled.
Tsunade could only watch dumbfounded as Naruto and the other kages engaged in a friendly banter, as if they had known each other for a long time.
"Jokes aside, are you ready for the match Naruto?" Gaara asked.
Naruto only replied with a smirk.
Kyoshiro stood near the glass viewing window. "Well the crowds getting impatient... It's time to start the matches."
The other kages nodded in agreement.
Naruto moved towards Kyoshiro who pulled him into a passionate kiss.
"Wait till you get somewhere alone you two... or you'll give the old guys a heart attack." Gaara said.
Onoki and Ay protested to the comment. The others only chuckled.
Naruto and Tsunade vanished from the kage box.
They all watched as Naruto appear in the middle of the stadium in a swirl of black rose petals.
Cries of 'Naruto sama!' filled the stadium. Fan girls squealed and some even fainted at the sight of their idol.
Kyoshiro only chuckled.
"So how are the matches arranged?" Onoki asked.
"Is it an all against one, match, or one on one matches?" Darui asked.
"One on One..." Kyoshiro said, "Naru said and I quote; 'I want some personal time with all of them'"
The other kage chuckled.
"He's going to decimate them..." Gaara said.
Kyoshiro hummed. His eyes moved to the area where the nobles sat, there a beautiful raven haired woman with violet eyes sat watching the match. She turned to look at him when she felt eyes on her. Her violet eyes met Kyoshiro's.
Kyoshiro smirked and her eyes widened. She quickly looked away.
No one noticed this small exchange as everyone was listening to Tsunade give and introduction speech.
When she laid out the terms of the matches, there were a lot of protests. No one wanted their beloved Naruto sama becoming a part of a village like Konoha; after all Konoha had hit rock bottom over the last nine years and it was no secret.
Ignoring the protests, Tsunade list out the matches.
The matches were as following,
1. Naruto v/s Ino
2. Naruto v/s Choji
3. Naruto v/s Tenten
4. Naruto v/s Shino
5. Naruto v/s Shikamaru
6. Naruto v/s Rock Lee
7. Naruto v/s Kiba
8. Naruto v/s Hanabi
9. Naruto v/s Sai
10. Naruto v/s Sakura
11. Naruto v/s Sasuke
12. Naruto v/s Kurenai
13. Naruto v/s Gai
14. Naruto v/s Asuma
15. Naruto v/s Kakashi
16. Naruto v/s Tsunade
17. Naruto v/s Jiraya
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Hey guys so did you like this chapter. I know it didn't have the fights you were looking forward to, but still, how was it?
Oh and Iruka's awesome isn't he?
And tell me if I missed something.
Let me know what you think about this okay?
And thank you to everyone who did review.
Bye for now.