Kaze no koibitō

19

"Could you repeat that? I believe I had something crazy in my ear."

Homura sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He could tell this wasn't going to go well.

"We wish to talk to you about your status as a shinobi of Konoha as well as your duties as the son of a Hokage. You have rights and privileges..."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

"...that I don't want. I'm no longer a Konoha ninja, so there is no 'status' that you speak of. As far as my lineage..."

He gave them a smile and laced his fingers behind his head as he looked at the ceiling.

"...I'm an orphan, a parentless child. I never knew who my parents were. We thought we knew at one point, but it was a decision of this council that the conclusion we came to could not be right. Therefore, I've given up all searches and have decided to just use the name given me by the Sandaime Hokage."

Homura rose from his seat and rested his hands on the table, leaning forward.

"That was a mistake! A terrible, grievious error on our part! We are willing to make amends to right the wrongs of the past."

Naruto locked eyes with Homura and the elderly man gulped silently. Those eyes were not kind. The blonde spoke slowly and with a low voice.

"There are so many sins of the past that not all can be totally forgiven nor bought off, councilman. I suggest you let someone else speak before I get up and leave."

Homura huffed and sat down in defeat. Koharu stood next, trying her grandmotherly charm.

"Naruto-san, surely you can't begrudge us everything that was done to you. You have to understand extenuating circumstances..."

Temari snorted and Koharu turned her attention to the blonde girl.

"Something you would like to add, young lady?"

Temari suddenly felt very self-conscious but cleared her throat to speak anyway.

"My village was just as bad as Konoha when it came to the treatment of my brother. The only difference is that my father tried to have Gaara killed on multiple occasions. But there was still resentment and fear, anger and mistrust, when he became Kazekage. And there is still some form of it in the older crowd today. The big difference is that we never denied the heritage of Gaara."

Koharu narrowed her eyes at the girl.

"Are you implying that we willingly denied the heritage of this young man?"

Temari turned her chin up in defiance.

"Can you deny the charge?"

She reached over and grabbed Naruto's face, framing it in her hands as she turned his head in all directions.

"Look at him! He has the body structure and hairstyle of his father and the facial structure of his mother! He's an amalgamation between the two. How could you not see it?"

She leveled a glare at the entire council.

"The reason is...you didn't want to, because that would have meant acknowledging him as someone of importance."

Naruto fidgeted and Temari cut her eyes to look at him. He blinked and gave her a sly grin.

"You can let go of my face now, dear."

Temari blushed slightly and pulled her hands away slowly as she turned forward in her chair again.

"Sorry."