So I had to start writing another story to get back into the rhythm of Naruto, but it gave me the motivation to figure out where I was heading with this story. Anyway, thank you for reading this monstrosity and bearing with me through all my extended breaks. Not long left until the end.
Thank you for the all the follow, favourites, alerts, and reviews.
Spiritwolf35 this is for you. Also no beta we die like men.
Naruto= flash back
'Naruto' is thoughts/thinking
"Naruto"signing/sign language
"Naruto" speaking.
"Naruto" Demon
" Naruto"is demon enhanced.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto just some DVDs and games.
Chapter 56 – the beginnings of change.
The Hokage's meeting room was filled with battle weary shinobi, each clan head was in attendance, as well as the two members of the Konoha council, Kazune the previous Hokage's civilian secretary was also in the room along with Kohaku Yamanaka, the wife of Doctor Yori Takumi.
Shizune opened the doors as Hikaru wheeled Tsunade into the room. All of the shinobi present were in a state of injury. They waited as Hikaru placed Tsunade at the head of the table, she placed her hand atop of Hikaru's to stop him leaving the room. The two council members frowned as Jiraiya enters the room and leans against the doors. Most of the shinobi were battered bruised and dead tired on their feet, the rain that had started when Kakashi brought Naruto back from the valley of the end had not let up since then, and the unexpected battle that had erupted inside the village, many shinobi were still recovering and the sand siblings were still in the village, Gaara was refusing to leave.
"We cannot keep the sand shinobi here much longer, before it will be seen as an act of war," Homura stated.
"They can stay as long as they like, if it wasn't for them, we'd be burying four more bodies," Shikaku stated, banging his hand down in a rare display of anger.
"What we need to address is the fact that the Konoha Council have been going behind the Hokage's back for years!" Choza snapped.
"We have done many things for this village, things that have been morally wrong, but for the greater good. And then Naruto became Hokage. At first, I was furious that Hiruzen would hand over the village to that monster," She held up a hand as all the ninja present went to interrupt her, "then I got to know him, started working with him, his ideas on how to improve the village, they were ideas I found myself agreeing with. Yes, we helped to put restrictions on Naruto, he was only ever seen as a weapon, a tool or a monster, we didn't see the person, the child that he is. I do now." Koharu braced a hand on the table. "Konohamaru overheard one of our meetings with Danzo, we didn't know it was Konohamaru." She continued.
"So, if it had been anyone else, that would have been okay? You would have just killed them to hide your secret?" Kenzo Sarutobi snapped.
He was the head of the Sarutobi clan, he is a large and imposing man, of a similar stature to Ichirou Sarutobi, with dark eyes and black hair that was short and cut close to his head, with sideburns running underneath his forehead protector. He also has a large plump nose and thick eyebrows. He was dressed in the standard Konoha ninja uniform.
"That is not what I meant." Homura stated.
"Then you better speak clearly. I am the head of the Sarutobi clan and responsible for two of the clan children that have been affected by the close ties you both hold with Danzo. You may be an Honourable elder and part of the council but after the recent revelations I have lost all respect for you." He watches as the council man bristles in his seat.
"Two clan children?" Tsunade asks.
"Konohamaru Sarutobi and his older brother Naruto Uzumaki Sarutobi. He is a Sarutobi in all but blood!" he glowered around the room.
"We went searching for one child and found twenty others, all about the age of our children, some even were from our clans. Children we didn't know had been taken." Inoichi slammed a hand down on the table.
"Most of those we fought were teenagers. We killed children. An entire generation wiped out because they were indoctrinated to believe that ROOT is where their loyalty lies not the village, but a mad man with a plan of his own." Tsume growled.
"Who is to say that he has not committed more heinous acts without the third's knowledge?" Shibi Aburame stated.
"I'll get into it." Jiraiya held a hand up, "That's what I'm good at after all."
"But what do we do about the children?" Lord Hyuuga asked. "If Naruto were to awaken, he would have a plan."
"I believe that Naruto already has a plan set out," Koharu said looking towards Kazune, who had been tucked away in the corner of the room making notes.
Kazune, looked up as all eyes turned to her, she wasn't as intimidated as she thought she would be after all she had been the third's secretary.
"Might I remind the room that Root were also behind an assassination attempt on Hikaru shortly after the invasion." She paused. "You need to remember that the crimes committed by Danzo will be worse than expected. But the man is dead. There will be no closure or scapegoat," she glanced at the two council members.
"Going back to your original statement, yes Naruto does already have plans laid out, some of which can be adapted to help the transition from root to leaf. Kohaku would be of great assistance to those children, that's' why she's here. Those children will have gone through some traumatic events in their lives, they will need assistance to be able to continue with their lives." Kazune held out a hand to Kohaku.
Kohaku had auburn hair pulled up into a high ponytail, that still managed to reach the lower part of her back, like most of the Yamanaka clan, her amber eyes showed how tired she truly was. She was wearing a medical jacket over the top of a purple kimono-like dress along with a white haori and sandals.
"Naruto had already discussed a plan, to assist shinobi with trauma, these children would benefit from that. They will need a place to stay while they rehabilate, hopefully we can start to use the rehabilitation centre for that, any Root operatives will need to be assessed by the TI department. I could use a few more of our clan for this venture," she turned to Inoichi.
"Yes Auntie," Inoichi agreed, she would need the distraction.
"I think perhaps returning to the way Naruto had the village set up after the invasion would work, while we again rebuild. I would suggest that Koharu takes the position in the mission room would you not agree, Hikaru, Shikaku?"
"Yes, she did work alongside Naruto while he was discussing his plans. However, both the councillors have been a part of Danzo's schemes and have enabled him, they will need to have some accountability for their transactions." Shikaku suggested.
"You have lost much trust in all our eyes, and are just as much to blame, especially when it comes to Naruto," Hikaru added. "Homura could perhaps assist with discovering the details of Danzo's actions. Perhaps starting with the nine sealing rooms hidden in the root compound. Hopefully it will help to enlighten you to what you have put Naruto through."
"Tsunade sama you need to rest, Shizune can take over at the Hospital, there is much there we need to discuss. Inoichi start gathering up those children, Shikaku find any children that may have been part of the main root forces, they will need to be assessed too. Now if you will excuse me, I have deaths that need to be catalogued and a funeral to plan," Kohaku stands and leaves the room, Shizune sending a final look back at Hikaru follows after her.
"I think that adjoins this meeting," Tsunade dismisses the room. "Kenzo, we will get to the bottom of this."
Kenzo nods, he is one of the last to leave.
She turns to look at Hikaru and it strikes her that he looks very much like his grandfather, even if he does have the same colouring as herself and Nawaki, she touches his hand. She has always been abrupt with Hikaru, "Thank you. I have not always been the kindest to you and I know how hard it must be for you to not be by Naruto's side right now."
"Not like we ever truly had time to be around each other." He shrugs, "Naruto will wake up, won't he?"
"He had to regrow an entire heart, he died so many times, I honestly don't know."
They both looked out the window looking towards the hospital.
(Konoha Hospital)
Kohaku has many patients to visit, but her first stop is always Naruto she stops by his room and listens to the heart monitor and closes her eyes, it is the brief respite she gives herself, before she is walking back out into the corridor. Making her way through the hospital she noticed the high number of shinobi, healthy shinobi, in the waiting rooms, many had been patched up, many more were still in recovery, Naruto's operation had cycled through a lot of medics, even so there should not have been as many shinobi here. She stopped and looked around at the faces in the crowd looking for those she recognised. There was Naruto's team, Iruka, Kakashi, that was definitely an anbu mask she recognised. They were all waiting on news that nobody could give them, she made a mental note to send Shizune down here, as she continued on her path.
"Hello Sakura, how are we feeling today?"
The pinkette blinked slowly up at the woman, fresh pink scars glistened in the light. They weren't as raw as when they were first done but they would leave a permeant scar. She had a diagonal cut going from the middle of her eyebrow to the right side of her forehead. Another cut running from the right inside of her nose and following along her cheekbone. A final cut went from midway cross the previous cut diagonally down towards the bottom of her cheek.
"I'm doing fine, can I see the boys yet?"
"Who are you talking about when you say the boys?"
"Naruto and Sas…" Sakura stopped herself. "The team that went with Naruto, they're back, right?" she started to chew her lip.
Kohaku sat down the side of the bed. "Yes, they returned about two days ago now. Some over them were in a very dire situation. If it hadn't been for Lady Tsunade and Shizune we would be burying half of them along with those in the battle that followed."
"There was an explosion, then you came and made me sleep. Who was hurt? The boys?" Sakura turned.
"They all received injuries. Shikamaru a broken finger, Kiba and Akamaru, they were the small injuries. Neji, Choji and Naruto all almost died, we are waiting for them to awaken. You are all hurt because of Sasuke," she watched Sakura flinch at the mention of his name. "It will take time for you all to heal from this endeavour.
"Is he a bad person?" Sakura whispered. "He was trying to hurt Naruto. Kakashi, me," she touched her face. "Did I cause this? I wanted Naruto to promise me, but he almost died trying to bring Sasuke back." She turned teary eyes to Kohaku.
"I cannot say for sure what drove him to commit these terrible acts, but I can assure you it was not your fault. You are a bright young kunoichi, you have friends that care about you very much. Why don't we treat and dress your wounds, then go and give the boys a visit I'm sure they would appreciate that." She waited for Sakura to nod before moving the bandages and disinfectant over.
"He said I was annoying and weak and ugly, I guess now the scars truly do make me ugly." Sakura sighed as the bandages wrapped around her head.
"Only you can decide whether to believe him or not. It's up to you to prove him wrong." Kohaku stood holding the door open.
They walked down the corridor to be met by Ino, she bowed her head to Kohaku, who returned the inclination of her head.
"Hey Sakura, I heard about what happened, and that the team had returned, things have been pretty tense in the village though, so I've only just been able to get into the hospital. I was going to head up to Choji's room, did you want to come with?" Ino glanced up to Kohaku.
"I believe they were all moved into one room after the explosions." Kohaku nodded.
The three made their way to the room where the boys had been moved to, finding Choza sitting outside along with the sand siblings and Shikamaru.
"Can we still not talk to them?" Ino asked.
"Shizune has just entered the room. She said that Choji and Neji should regain consciousness soon," Choza explained.
"That's good right?" Ino asked.
"Tsunade Sama's return to Konoha utterly saved us. If she hadn't of come, Choji would now be…" he thought back a sob.
The door to the room opened and Shizune came out, she blinked surprised to see so many people there.
"Choza you should be able to see him now, the others are asleep at the moment, I'd prefer it if you went in one at a time, it was rather a quick decision to move them all into one room." Shizune explained.
"Thank you. For saving my team." Shikamaru bowed to Shizune. "I was wondering. May I ask you something?"
"Umm yes of course," Shizune stood with her hands clasped in front of her.
"Well, it's just that for the level of the mission and the members on the team there were different conditions but for such a team shouldn't we have been assigned a medical ninja?"
"Ah, I see. Well, I remember Lady Tsunade said that she wrote the same thing in a report on team survival and mission success rates, I think it was where she first met my uncle actually," she muttered under her breath. "But it's not easy to train a medical ninja. Medical ninjas require different skills compared to ninjas who focus on fighting. You must have every aspect of your chakra control refined to perfection. Study a large amount of specialized knowledge and have the ability to apply that knowledge and never give up. That is the most important thing that makes a first-class medical ninja. I was on my way to Naruto's room if you wanted to come by. Oh, I believe you three need to head back to sand. I promise we will send word when Naruto wakes up," she stops in front of Gaara, "You have done us a huge service we hope we can continue to rely on you in the future." She bowed to the sand siblings.
"I would like that," Gaara spoke with widened eyes. "We will see you next time." The two siblings bowed to Shizune and followed after Gaara.
"Is Naruto really bad?" Sakura whispered looking down at her feet.
"Why don't you come with us and see him," Kohaku spoke soothingly.
They followed Shizune as she made her way to Naruto's door, she pushed it open and made her way to check the machines, their steady beeping the only sound in the dark room. Shikamaru made his way slowly over to the bed and stopped to sit on the edge, he looked back at Sakura who had frozen in the doorway. It was the first time she had seen him since he came back.
His entire torso was covered in bandages, he had similar bandages wrapped around his head, like Sakura, she stared down at his pale form, breathing tube sticking out of his mouth blood bag and saline hanging above him. She didn't notice as the tears fell from her eyes.
"How bad was it?" Shikamaru asked.
"He died so many times, the only reason he's even alive now is because of Doctor Yori Takumi, Dr. Kohaku's husband," Shizune explained.
Both children turned to look back at Kohaku who had not stepped foot into the room. Sakura started to cry harder.
"Naruto was right love isn't worth this. I'm so sorry, I'm sorry," she shouted at Kohaku, before turning to Naruto, "I promise I'll become that girl you know I can be, and when the day comes, I'll be strong enough so that we can do this together." Her hand clenched into a fist, "When you wake up, I will be a better teammate I mean it."
She turned and darted out of the room.
"I thought she was so in love with Sasuke that she would hold it against Naruto that we couldn't bring him back," Shikamaru questioned.
"She needed to understand the damage that was done not just to her, but Naruto as well, that the Sasuke she used to love isn't the same person anymore," Kohaku stated.
"Bit of a strong step to take though," Shizune frowned at her while running her fingers through Naruto's hair.
"She was blinded by what she thought Sasuke was, not what he actually is. The same for Naruto, she would never have seen Naruto if Sasuke hadn't of shoved his hand through his chest. Seeing Naruto like this should hopefully open her eyes to the realities of the shinobi life."
(The hokage building)
Hikaru was stood to the side of Tsunade's desk when they heard a knock at the door, after a brief come in, it was opened by Sakura, even though her face was covered in bandages she had a look of determination shining out of her red puffy eyes.
"I have a request, please make me your apprentice!" she bowed low.
The two blondes shared a look, "I've heard from Kakashi that you're intelligent and that you have a strong spirit. Alright, from now on, I won't go easy on you!"
"Okay!" Sakura agreed.
(line)
he hadn't expected to come back and find the village in chaos, smoke rising from an explosion that had rocked the very foundations of the village. He had jumped into battle easily quelling many of the younger Root operatives, he hadn't the heart to strike them down.
Jiraiya stopped by the hospital to check in on Naruto, it had taken him some time to find Naruto's room, his eyes narrowed as he saw Kakashi sat outside the waiting room, toying with an object in his hand. The man was still blood soaked almost like he had not returned home. He felt his anger rising just looking at the man, as he stormed over to the shinobi.
"What are you even doing here?" He shouted, "It's because of you Naruto is in this state. If you hadn't of taught Sasuke how to use Chidori he wouldn't be lying there without a heart!" Jiraiya snapped, hauling Kakashi up into the air by the front of his flak jacket.
Takeru who had stopped by to check up on Naruto's condition dragged Jiraiya away from Kakashi, along with Asuma, who had stepped out of the room Konohamaru was recovering in and Gai who was passing by to visit Lee. The three men managed to wrestle the irate sannin off of Kakashi.
"You need to stay away from Naruto! You hear me!"
Kakashi disappeared a cloud of leaves after Gai shouted at him to go. The three men slumped as Jiraiya finally shrugged them off. He moved to the doorway staring in at Naruto. Homura edged closer surprised at Jiraiya's reaction just now. The man had never lost his temper like that before, he glanced into the room. Jiraiya had moved to the side of the bed and hand placed a hand gingerly in Naruto's hair. The boy was connected up to all sorts of machines and was covered head to toe in bandages. He looked at the child and frowned, they had told the child he could not harm Sasuke, that the Uchiha was more important than his well being.
"You should at this," Homura turned to look at Jiraiya. "This is what happened to the fourth's legacy. Because you choose a traumatised entitled little shit, over the son of the fourth hokage." Jiraiya snapped. "They're children not tools."
"Like you are any different, you who could have looked after the boy and raised him. But you ran away. All ninja are tools to be used for the village."
"And what happens when you run out of tools, how many clans have to die out before you realise there is no village without it's people." Jiraiya snapped.
Homura snapped his mouth shut. He frowned as he followed Jiraiya to the remains of the root base.
(Mission room)
Koharu frowned it was becoming a permenant feature of both her and Homura's faces. Kazune and Mrs. Yamamoto the lady that was in charge of Naruto's apartment block were ruthless, even though neither one of them were kunochi. Their loyalty to Naruto and his ideal of improving the village was as strong with them as it was with Naruto. That boy could really change people's hearts. They were discussing what to do with children that root had stolen.
"We should look into the caretaker at the orphanage, Tazuna has already been requested to return to the village, he can finish up the requested expansion of the orphanage. Although we will need more funding." Mrs. Yamamoto stated, as Kotetsu left to fetch the caretaker of the orphanage, Izumo had already left to collect Iruka from the academy.
"Funding for all expansions have been assigned already. With Tsunade back in the village the hospital would technically be the next thing to updated. The generators that Naruto designed have all passed their initial testing stage. They were important during the fight with Root. Many of the main buildings retained their electricity and water supplies thanks to their recent reforms."
"Speaking of reforms," Koharu interrupted. "The academy. What were Naruto's plans for the academy?"
"To alter the curriculum." Iruka stated taking his seat at the small table. "He believes that all children have the right to an education and that they should all be able to learn if they should so choose to progress onwards. He once asked what happened to those that did not become ninja. That is why many of the orphans that are of age are training in some sort of trade. That should be an option for all of the children." He sighed. "For example currently the orphanage educates their children until they are of age to which they can join the academy. Many of these students are behind in many subjects as well as social and mental development. The proposal is that by lowering the academy age of entry and allowing those not wishing to become shinobi the chance to and education."
"And how would that work?" Koharu asked. "The academy was built by the second as a way to help build up our military might."
"Exactly the issue. Only children who want to become shinobi can enter the academy. We teach them over four years, the basic core curriculum which consists of reading, writing, mathematics, science, geography etc. but these lessons are often framed in a ninja context and facilitate later instructions in tactics and strategy. But if we were able to give the children a more in depth lesson on geography and history or maths and science we could pave the way for those that will develop new technology and advancement of the village. We could also teach the children basic survival skills, many orphans have had to learn how to cook and clean and look after themselves. Some don't understand the importance of money. But we could help these children, not just the orphans but those with parents and from clans too. If we reduce the strain then they can do more for the village.
But we could also overhaul the ninja curriculum. We could introduce the basics of medical ninjutsu, expand on chakra control, basic seals and sealing scrolls. We already have one of the best educational institutes for training shinobi but we can expand on that." Iruka stated.
"You would need far more teachers, and volunteers in order to make this successful," Koharu remarked.
"You could hire many of the parents." Kazune chipped in, all eyes turned to her. "What I mean is there are many parents that are exceptional at teaching their children. You must have some children come to you that have exceptional knowledge in certain aspects of the curriculum already. Why not approach those parents? Then you could also think about the clans. The Akimichi clan would be a good way to introduce the children to a good and healthy diet as well as teaching them how to prepare and cook meals. The Yamanaka would be good for a healthy mindset, knowing when you need to stop and take a break. I'm sure it is very important for the village to have sane and healthy villagers isn't it?" she asked.
"and what about those ninja that are experts in certain fields? They could effectively teach the students their knowledge meaning we would be passing the knowledge onto the next generation."
"Allowing for change of curriculum would enable us to prioritise our resources at the orphanage," a young man added as he settled into his seat at the table.
He was younger than Iruka with dark hair and eyes and a bulbous nose with a birthmark covering it. He was in the standard attire of the Kohona shinobi.
"ah Urushi, thank you for joining us." Koharu spoke before Mrs. Yamamoto managed to.
"A pleasure." Urushi bowed.
"Did you bring the current blue prints with you?" Kazune asked.
"Indeed." He spread out the blueprint for the orphanage, "Currently as the only place in Konoha to take in children from all over the fire nation, we are limited on space. Not to mention having to act as a medical centre during war time."
"But there is plenty of space to expand." Iruka stated looking over the blueprints. "by extending through the back here." He pointed at the blue prints.
"There is lots of land available too, you could build a garden, for herbs and vegetables. Maybe even have some chickens. The children could assist with the garden and the collection of eggs and feeding of the chickens." Mrs. Yamamoto added.
"How are the children currently housed?" Kazune asked. "Are girls separated from boys? What happens about families and siblings?"
"It's rare for us to ever receive siblings, and even rarer for families to come in. Most children are not adopted out either. As soon as they reach the age for the academy they are given an apartment of their own. I believe you run most of the apartment buildings housing orphans." Urushi stated looking over at Mrs. Yamamoto.
"Indeed I do. The reform in the academy would alleviate a lot of stress for the orphanage. We would also require more care givers. But we would also be able to give better care to those in our care currently." Urushi nods.
The conversation dissolves into the curriculum, what happens at the orphanage and how it crosses over with the academy. It is agreed that someone with knowledge of seals is required to add barrier protection to all substantial buildings in the village. The hospital included.
Thanks for reading.
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Until next time.