Conversation was made impossible by much hollering and tears. Naruto wasn’t even aware that there were other people inside the room. Shisui had a forlorn look on his face like he’d seen this scene many times.
Was he reminiscing about the number of times he saw the brat causing a ruckus while shadowing the third?
The nice welcome home moment ended with the old codger with glasses clearing his throat.
“Uzumaki Naruto,” the man said. From his mouth, it sounded like the name was a bad thing.
Karin’s head snapped toward the old man, then to Naruto.
Sunshine brat let go of me, cleared some snot with the back of his hand, turned.
“That’s my name,” he said. Then he turned to me, tilted his head. “Hinata-chan, who are these old people?”
I shrugged, croaked. “No idea who these old people are.”
From the corner of my eye, I caught Kakashi-sensei stiffening, then turning around, shoulders shaking. Was he… laughing? Why? I mean, no one told me who these people are. I had suspicions, but nothing other than that.
“Naruto-kun, these are Councilman Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.” Shisui introduced.
I looked at the two again. Were they the ones responsible for making my life not the best ninja life it could have been? At least I knew their faces and names. Now I just need a black cover book and to write down their names on it.
Naruto scratched his head. “Council something, gotcha.” Then he turned back to me. “Hinata-chan, you won’t believe it! I learned this super powerful jutsu—the Fourth made it, and the Ero-sennin taught—”
Homura cleared his throat again.
Naruto stopped his recounting, looked at the old man with glasses. “Is your throat hurt? I think I have a few candies if you want.”
Homura’s face twitched. “We’re busy with important things,” he said.
“Ahh, okay.” Naruto nodded like that made perfect sense. He grabbed my hand and started dragging me toward the door.
“Come Hinata-chan, let’s leave these old folks to their business.”
“Our business is with her,” Koharu said, stopping Naruto again.
Naruto blinked, glancing around the room, at the new Hokage, at Kakashi-sensei, who was definitely laughing now, at the two grumpy council members, and at Karin, who still looked surprised and hadn’t stopped looking at Naruto.
“Hinata-chan, do these old people also want your cupcakes?”
I shrugged. I don’t think my cupcakes were their problem with me. Even so, I had to answer Naruto. I erased the words from my board, wrote others.
“I dunno, Naruto-kun.”
Once he read the message, I erased it and wrote another. “Did you deliver the letters?”
“I did!” Naruto said, nodding. “The fat lady kept asking when you’d be back.” Naruto stopped, face troubled. He pointed a finger at my nose.
“Hinata-chan, you shouldn’t let people capture you, you made Ino cry.”
…What? I think Naruto saw my confusion.
“Ino-chan’s team went to help with your secret mission,” he said. “She cried a lot when she got back.” His expression darkened. I heard a bit of waver in his voice. “You shouldn’t make her cry, Hinata-chan.”
His eyes were misting again. Was he talking about Ino or himself?
“Listen—” Homura started, voice impatient.
Koharu stopped him by touching his shoulder. She shook her head. “Leave the young ones to their reunion.”
Both councilmen exchanged looks, the kind that carried entire conversations without a single word, the way people who had worked together for decades often did.
Homura turned to Shisui. “We’ll continue this discussion later.”
Without waiting for a response, or even acknowledging anyone else in the room, they left.
As soon as the door closed and I felt their chakra moving down the stairs, I pulled Naruto into another hug.
“Thank you, Naruto-kun,” I whispered.
“Ehh, for what?” Naruto scratched the side of his head. His ears were pink.
“You’re an Uzumaki?” Karin’s voice cut in the moment.
I let go of Naruto, and he turned toward the voice, answered like it was a reflex. “That’s my name,”
His eyes widened as if he’d seen her for the first time. I caught a slight blush on the brat’s cheeks. Teenagers, who would have thunk?
He turned to me, “Hinata-chan, who is she?”
I rolled my eyes, wrote. “Why don’t you ask her?”
The brat read the message, then turned back to Karin, a little bashful now. “Uh… what’s your name?”
“Uzumaki Karin,” the redhead said.
Naruto tilted his head. His eyes widened. “You’re my sister!?”
Kakashi-sensei was the one who answered this time. “No, Naruto-kun, it means she’s from the Uzumaki clan.”
Naruto looked from Karin to Kakashi and then to me. “What Uzumaki clan?”
“Kakashi,” Shisui cut through any response to Naruto’s question. “Why don’t you take Naruto and Karin outside and explain the situation to him while I finish talking with Hinata?”
“Come, Naruto-kun, you’ll have time to tell Hinata about your mission later.” He turned to Karin and gave her one of his signature eye-crescent smiles. Cool Kakashi-sensei was such a chad material that I caught a dusting of pink on Karin’s cheeks before she looked away and nodded shyly.
It was my time to have a forlorn look on my face now while I watched the trio leave the office. I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or sad.
Wait. Why would I be sad?
“Please, sit Hinata-san,” Shisui said, taking me out of my musings.
I gave the door one last troubled look. Turned and sat. Shisui didn’t seem keen on wasting time.
“I think you noticed there are issues we must deal with.”
I nodded. Was he going to demand I spill all my secrets now? Or maybe ask me to swear an oath or something?
“The council has gathered enough influence with the shinobi families that I cannot just dismiss them out of hand.”
I blinked. What was he talking about?
“Nominally, I’m the village leader, but they have considerable pull with other shinobi that I more often than not have to maneuver around them.”
That was strange. Should a Hokage admit to weakness in front of a chunin? A possible traitor chunin? Wasn’t this how people saw me?
“Ever since Lord Hiruzen passed away, they have been pushing for drastic measures regarding you.”
Shisui stopped, looked back at the picture of the old man hung on the back wall.
“Shikaku did what he could and sent you on a mission that kept you out of reach. It seemed the best choice at the time.” The Hokage got up from his chair and bowed. “I apologize that this caused you such hardships.”
I was dreaming, wasn’t I? There was no way people would start being honest with me. Was this a trick? Numbly, I just nodded. I didn’t know what else to say or do.
“I’ll give you the full details later, but right now, we need to prepare for two things.”
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“The Hyuga clan and the Council.”
Wait, what? The Hyuga, why?