Taming Your Demon (Sealing Series Part I)

A Worthy Death

"If Neji took Hinata, it is because he is being manipulated." Hiro Hyuga spoke before the jonin council. "I have no doubt both he and Sasuke are being manipulated by Madara."

"You are blinded by the fact that Sabui is your grandson." Inoichi Yamanaka retorted, frustrated. He was ready to pull out his sandy blonde hair strand by strand, as haywire as things had been ever since Pain's attack on the village. He was not even quite sure if he should be trusting this entire room of elders, clan leaders, and high ranking jonin. Based on the recently revealed past events, even the hokage was not above suspicion anymore. And unfortunately, at present the only two who he had complete confidence in were his old teammates and best friends, Choza Akimichi and the current jonin commander, Shikaku Nara. "And I get it but..."

"And Hinata is my granddaughter. I am not blind to anything. But Sabui has been corrupted and weakened from all of the years that he has spent under Orochimaru, Danzo, and now Madara's influence. However Hinata has grown into a strong and capable shinobi. I have no doubt that she will come out of this ok. While Neji... I'm not so sure about." Hiro scolded. "Besides Homura and Koharu, I am the only one who is old enough to have lived among those who remembered Madara Uchiha when he was a konoha shinobi and leader of the Uchiha clan."

Hiro continued. "My great aunt Lady Eiko Hyuga had the exact disposition of my oldest Granddaughter Hinata but was almost identical physically to my youngest granddaughter Hanabi. She was the leader of the Hyuga clan then. She was also one of the few people other than Hashirama who had a relationship with Madara and whom he might have even cared for deeply... in some form or fashion. And even she was very much afraid of him. All of this... is Madara's doing. He will have ensured that Neji, Sasuke, and any other involved in his plot are acting exactly how he planned for them to act. Every single last one of them. If he wanted Hinata, he was going to get her one way or another."

Hiro turned to look at Yamato. "The reason why Madara approached Naruto that night in the north is because Naruto was able to influence Nagato, one of his most loyal subordinates. If Madara admitted that he believes Naruto is an embodiment of Hashirama, it is because he sees Naruto as a rival. He is afraid Naruto may be able to influence the others.

Even as power hungry as Madara is, there was a time that even he would have turned back from that dark path. So just like Nagato, Madara also believes that Sasuke is not completely lost, yet."

"So then, he will want to get rid of Naruto as quickly as possible." Shikaku stated.

"Not really his style. He will want to defeat him in battle. Finally prove that he is the stronger of the two. Uchiha versus Senju. That is more Madara's style." Homura stated.

" And he will use Hinata and Sasuke to bait Naruto into that fight." Shikaku replied.

"I agree with everything Hiro has said. And the intel that Kakashi has sent back is proof that Madara was manipulating Danzo... and likely Orochimaru the entire time too. Hiruzen was right. We should have found a way to make things right between the village and the Uchiha clan. Madara set the nine tails against the village and kidnapped those children in order to widen the gap between the village and the Uchihas, so his own people would become a target... Sacrificial lambs to push the two children who he wanted towards that accursed power of the Uchiha bloodline. A punishment for those who dared to defy him. And like fools, we fell for it." Homura scowled pushing his glasses up his nose. He clutched his fists together in frustration. "He hid the altered Hyuga, while letting Lord Third discover the Uzumaki clone because he knew with the help of an Uchiha, the girl could be hidden in plain sight, and this discovery would strain Danzo and Hiruzen's relationship even further, ensuring Hiruzen would protect both Itachi and Sasuke at all costs, even his own life. I should have seen this when Lord Third insisted on placing Naruto and Sasuke on a genin team together. Hiruzen knew Itachi would protect that bond... protect Naruto, ensuring the Uchiha would continue to keep the girl out of Danzo's hands."