Chapter 247: He Must Be Stopped At Any Cost!
Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 247: He Must Be Stopped At Any Cost!
"Lady Tsunade, this is unacceptable!" Elder Koharu didn't usually raise her voice so much, but this was too much for her.
"Are you going to ignore something like this?" Elder Homura glared at the Hokage. "Naruto Uzumaki has gotten out of control!"
Tsunade leaned back in her chair and looked at her secretary for a moment.
Shizune merely shrugged in response. She had already warned Tsunade that this was going to happen.
"And what would you have me do, exactly?" Tsunade asked the two remaining Elders of the village.
"He killed Elder Shimura, and you won't even allow an investigation?" Koharu felt like she had already been too tolerant with the son of the Fourth Hokage. "Why are you so insistent on protecting that boy?"
"You think I'm protecting Naruto?" Tsunade thought she must have misheard that. Those two couldn't be so badly informed.
"Elders…there has already been an investigation into this. You've read the reports…Elder Shimura committed countless crimes, including the kidnapping of Ino Yamanaka, stealing several sets of Sharingan from victims of the Uchiha Massacre, as well as continuing his covert operations with the ROOT Agency that the Third Hokage had officially disbanded years ago." Shizune attempted to de-escalate things before they got out of control.
"Now…we are aware that some of Elder Shimura's methods could be questionable at best. But he was always loyal to Konoha, and at the very least, he deserved a proper trial. Naruto Uzumaki had no right to play executioner," Elder Homura said.
"His actions should have consequences. Uzumaki deserves some proper punishment, at the very least. I mean…look what happened the other night!" Koharu added.
"A member of Akatsuki invaded his home, and he defended himself. What was wrong with that?" Tsunade asked.
"His methods are reckless! He destroyed part of his building and damaged the one beside it. Lots of innocent people could have been injured by his actions," Homura exclaimed.
"No one was injured. And only Naruto's apartment suffered serious damage," Shizune reminded them.
Homura pulled out a large stack of papers and slammed it on the Hokage's desk. "This is a list of property damage, complaints, and unlawful death reports from Naruto's missions since he became a Genin."
"Even if he is the Jinchuriki and Lord Minato's son…he cannot be allowed to continue like this without consequences. Killing Elder Shimura without any sort of punishment would be the last straw," Koharu said, her voice carrying a tone of warning.
The air around Tsunade changed. "Are you telling me what to do? Be very careful with how you talk to me, Elder Koharu. I am the Hokage, and you two are my advisors. Nothing more."
"That is true, but as your advisors, we have the right to tell you this," Homura said. "And if you won't listen to us, we will be forced to take this issue directly to the Daimyo in person."
"That sounds like a threat," Shizune's tone became colder.
"We are merely doing our job. And what is best for the village," Koharu snapped.
"Don't think we don't know he was also responsible for the destruction on the Hyuga Compound premises…although we are unsure why Lord Hiashi would want to avoid accusing him openly," Homura mentioned.
Tsunade's eyes sharpened. "Let me just say this, and I hope I won't have to repeat myself. Naruto Uzumaki is off-limits. You will not conduct any investigation on him, and you will not interfere with him in any way. Do I make myself clear?"
The old Koharu was about to retort when her teammate placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. If they went too far, they would be the ones being punished instead.
"Very well, Lady Tsunade…"
"We will do as you wish."
The two of them responded solemnly with a light bow of their heads.
"Good. This is also for your own interest. " Tsunade added. "If there is no other business…"
"We will take our leave." The two Elders turned around and left the office without a single word of courtesy, they were in an extremely bad mood.
"I don't think they've been convinced," Shizune pointed out after the door was closed.
"Me neither, but perhaps this is for the best," Tsunade said.
"How so?" Shizune asked. She couldn't imagine a good outcome in this situation. If they tried to attack Naruto, things could get very messy.
"Big changes are coming to our land…proper leadership will be necessary," Tsunade muttered under her breath.
"Do you want me to give Naruto a heads-up? Those two Elders will definitely try something very soon," Shizune suggested.
Tsunade smiled. "Leave it... I want to see what happens."
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Nearly four hours later, Naruto was seated at a restaurant, eating some dango. He sometimes liked to come here for something sweet after filling his belly with ramen.
He was almost done with his dessert when Kakashi appeared out of nowhere and began to speak in an urgent tone.
"Can you repeat that?..." Naruto thought he must have misheard what his former sensei had told him.
"An order for your arrest has been issued to all Chunin and Jonin of the village. This includes the ANBU agents currently available. That's how I learned about it almost an hour ago," Kakashi spoke with a grave tone.
"Who is the one who wants to arrest me, exactly?" Naruto asked while calmly finishing his tea. "I'm sure the order didn't come from the Hokage."
Tsunade wasn't dumb enough to do something like that, but it must have been someone with a very high ranking in Konoha.
"Naruto Uzumaki!" The voice of Elder Koharu could be heard across the entire commercial district.
Next to her was the other Elder. "Surrender immediately. You are to be detained while a more thorough investigation into the death of Elder Shimura is carried out."
Behind them were several dozen ninjas of Konoha, many of whom were people Naruto was familiar with.
"I see…so it's you two, then." Naruto placed the cup on the table and stood up with an amused expression. "Go ahead…arrest me."
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