Dream Team (NaruHina)

#5 Banishment

Hinata sat on her bed and wondered why her father had wanted to talk with her alone. Hiashi sat in front of her on the small stool, that she used as a nightstand.

"Hinata, you know how you told me about what happened two nights ago? Well, I know, this must be confusing, but I want you to tell the council today, that Naruto has attacked you."

"But he didn't, it was these evil teens." Hinata interrupted her father. Hiashi held up his hand and smiled at his daughter for wanting to be honest.

"I know. But it would not be good for anyone if the truth came out. They would probably hurt Naruto really bad for attacking and injuring the boys and would probably still pin your injuries at him." Hiashi tried to explain to the lavender haired girl.

"But why do they hate him so much?"

"That is for Naruto to tell you. But I came here to tell you something else."

"What is it?" Hinata asked, after her father had stopped and looked out of the window for a few seconds.

Sighing, Hiashi continued: "The council has decided that I have to name Hanabi as the heir, since they think that you are not fit to lead the Hyuuga. The case with Naruto seems to have only solidified their opinion."

Hinata's eyes went wide at that. "But I am the heir, what will happen to me?" She asked with fear in her voice.

"They want me to disown you and to give you the caged bird seal." He said just loud enough for his daughter to hear it.

The dark haired girl froze when she heard her father's words. Hiashi immediately took her into his arms and tried to comfort her, but to no avail. The kid couldn't understand why that was happening to her, but she understood, what it meant to have the caged bird seal put on.

"I don't want that, it hurts.", she whispered.

"I know, I won't let you go through this. That's another reason, why you have to lie to the council later because, when Naruto gets banished, I have asked him to take you with him. You can stay at a house that your mother owned, where you will get food and everything. I will see to that. I hope that you can be happy outside of the village and the clan."

"But I don't want to go away."

Hinata's voice cracked when she realized that she would either get the seal or had to leave her family.

"You will be fine. I promise, but you and I both know that staying here, would be a giant mistake.", Hiashi pulled his daughter in for another hug as she pressed her face into his chest.

"Naruto Uzumaki. You are accused of attacking the citizen Hinata Hyuuga. What is your plea?"

Naruto's eyes had finally accustomed themselves to the brightness of the council chamber. Looking around he saw Hiruzen Sarutobi sitting opposite him, arms folded waiting for an answer. On Naruto's left sat the civilian council who had smug grins on their faces. The other side was occupied by the shinobi council and Hinata Hyuuga who sat next to her father and had guilt written all over her face. The rest of the didn't look happy as they watched the boy close his eyes again and let his head sink to his chest.

"We are still waiting for an answer, you monster!", one of the civilians screamed.

Naruto didn't react.

"Are you even listening? Don't you dare disrespect us!", another one of them shouted.

Naruto didn't react.

Then suddenly the boy felt something hit his shoulder, with so much force, that he fell from the chair he sat on. He almost cried out but could just barely keep his composure, he wouldn't give them the pleasure to see him scream. He opened his eyes to orient himself and sat back down on the chair, before going back into his initial position.

"Naruto, do you have a plea to your charges?" The third Hokage asked again.

Naruto didn't react.

The civilian side was in an uproar and more things were picked up to be thrown at the blonde boy.

"Anyone who throws something will be executed." The words were silent but direct and immediately the room grew quiet.

"Hinata, can you tell us what happened?" The girl looked at her father, who nodded, before standing up. She could barely look over the edge of the table when she spoke.

"I was walking home after I had visited Ino Yamanaka at her home. I took the route through the park, since I like the plants there and it is shorter than going through the market. Then I suddenly was shoved and hit the ground. When I looked up he stood over me." Hinata began to cry while she told everyone what had happened, only leaving out that her attacker wasn't Naruto. Hiashi pulled his daughter close and looked at the third Hokage, who was looking at the girl with a shocked expression.

"I call for the banishment of Naruto Uzumaki." The shinobi side of the council looked at the man in shock, while the civilians smiled warmly at their apparent ally. Hiruzen shot a look at Hiashi that told him, that he would have to explain himself. But before he opened his mouth he saw the corners of Naruto's mouth twitch upward, into a small smile, before going back to the expressionless face he held for the whole trial.

"We support this punishment." Mebuki Haruno, the spokeswoman of the civilian side of the council said with a big smile on her face.

"Okay, then I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, third Hokage, sentence Naruto Uzumaki to be banished. He will have until sundown tomorrow to leave the village."

Everyone looked at the blonde boy when he raised his head and nodded slowly to the Hokage, before letting his look glide over the shinobi present. Hiruzen didn't miss the subtle nod, Naruto threw towards Hiashi.

"Naruto come with me, I will explain everything that will happen now." Hiruzen stood up and went to the door that was right behind his chair, waiting for Naruto to follow him.

When he closed the door, he knelt down in front of Naruto. "Why would you do something like this?"

"I didn't hurt Hinata.", Naruto answered.

"I know, why would you work with Hiashi to get yourself banished?" Hiruzen rephrased his question.

"Because this village will never accept me. When I was in prison, there were a lot of people that paid the guards to let them into my cell. You can imagine what they did to me. Then Hiashi came to me, since Hinata had told him, that I had actually saved her. That's when we made the deal, that he would tell Hinata to lie in order for me to escape from this village."

Naruto didn't show any signs of sadness when talking about leaving the village, which Hiruzen understood, he knew how bad the villagers treated the boy, even if they couldn't torture him anymore since Itachi had trained him, because he would always escape before they could catch him. But one question still lingered in the old man's mind.

"Why would Hiashi agree to this?"

Just then there was a knock on the door. Hiruzen looked up as the door opened and Hiashi came in, Hinata in tow.

"I'm sorry Naruto." Hinata whispered with tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry about it, I knew what would happen."

Hiruzen looked at Hiashi, knowing that the man had heard his last question.

"Well, when Hinata was injured, the Hyuuga council decided that she was not fit to lead the clan, since she had not learned to defend herself yet. Apparently they expect everyone to be a prodigy at least as good as Neji. Anyways, they voted to exclude Hinata from the main family. But I won't let my daughter get the caged bird curse seal, which is why I am planning on letting her go with Naruto. I only ask that you hold back the tracking squads for a few days so that the two can get out of here safely."

Hiruzen nodded before his eyes narrowed a bit.

"Which tracking squads?", he asked.

"Well you see, I am officially not allowed to let Hinata go, to avoid putting the seal on her. When they are gone, I will have to alarm everyone, and to demand for you to search for her, since I will tell everyone that she has been kidnapped."

"I see. I will see what I can do."