So, I'm pretty darn sure I've read this at least 3 times through at this point. It's a really good fic, and while I wish there was more that I could read, I'm just glad there are 18 long chapters I can enjoy.
At the same time, I really think it woulda internally killed everyone there and some people in Konohagakure proper if the members of the Caravan were prohibited from entering Konoha or worse declared enemies of Konoha. I think the best example is actually Minato himself, while he doesn't trust them completely every sign points towards him wanting to be able to trust them. It really shows in the fact that he still allows them to explain themselves after seeing firsthand how they'd defeated an elite Iwagakure squad.

I have just checked and saw that this is abandoned, which is just too bad. :\
Oh well, I'll give it a follow just in case.

I love that Kakashi is mocking himself.

That's the issue with stories like this written 10 years ago. Since the source material isn't finished, the author has to explain things that aren't covered yet. Sadly, since canon is finished, it becomes irresistibly difficult to continuing reading this. Damn shame too.

I have read this fic many many times, and I am still hoping that one day you will miraculously be inspired to update and finish it!

Oof this is dead. I'm sad. cykavryat

Stop with the damn flashbacks and get to the atory

Just passing by to say that I still really love this fic and I wish you magically found your outline and inspiration to finish it, despite it being almost a decade past!

To put it simply, the Hokage as a leader should protect the village. The basic fact that he is presented with here is that because of the self entitlement and paranoia of the Uchia clan, the relatively small slights they were subjected to (relocated to another compound to avoid conflict with the villagers, since they were suspected of potentially being involved in an attack, for reasons that were not exactly crazily out there), were plotting to slaughter their way into power (I would assume, Hokage and his family included, given that they were plotting a coup -that should put him and Kushina in self-defense mode-). Now, no matter who "started it" (in canon, it was a mistrust birthed by their known abilities and their past history and we didn't have specific "civilian councilors"), if we two argue and then you escalate by shooting me in the knee cap, you can't exactly say "he started it". There is no proportionality, and they were responsible for their actions. Here the issue is not really about the two councilors anymore, but the fact that they were ready to cause a civil war and a world war over this (or at all, since loyalty to their country should be kind of a basic requirement and expectation). Given that fact, the reason is kind of a moot point (particularly since I don't think that it makes them look particularly good, as Itachi/Shishui could attest, escalating things would be a crazy overreaction). I don't think it would be reasonable or responsible to, say, use the two councilmen as scapegoat. Yes, they might be assholes. That doesn't change the fact that the Uchia clan *did* turn out to be unworthy of trust and a blatant security threat. Even leaving them in charge of the military police after that seems crazy to me, they are essentially a self important kettle ready to explode at the smallest perceived slight. They are unstable and dangerous, not to mention potentially lethal. The focus should be on their coup, here, not on the two assholes that might have moved the first pebble -I didn't really like how the description of "it started" was carried out, as if it was a logical conclusion... Itachi and Shishui certainly didn't think so: they were the ones making the decisions, and I would say that I didn't like the scapegoating and avoiding of responsibility. If someone stole my wallet and I shot him in the face, the key factor in the encounter that everyone would and should focus on would be that I killed the guy, and no judge would consider it a serious excuse that the guy started the confrontation by stealing my wallet-. So they were mistrusted, though deal. They turned out to be planning to plunge the village in a sea of blood, and the thrust the world in another global conflict. I would say that the main issue would be the latter, and bringing up the scapegoats and focusing on them would be the moral equivalent to focusing our attention on the 10 dollar stolen by the pickpocket in the analogy above-.

I will add that neither Itachi nor Shishui, both geniuses, were able to come up with a better alternative than enslaving everyone in a dojutsu for life, kind of like an Infinite Tsukuyomi plan (and since everyone seems to think that in the latter's case death would be preferrable to "world peace" achieved by essentially becoming a puppet without free will, I don't really know that Shishui's solution would have been better).

I would have to say that despite this being AU from canon, I didn't particularly like this characterization. First of all, in canon, the mistrust and bad rep was much most justified that in the case of Jinchurikis, since the Uchia took less of a hit, and they were the only ones known to be able to control Bijus, not to mention that the last times Kyubi attacked an Uchia was behind it. Given that set of circumstances, it would not be a completely unreasonable hypothesis to mistrust them, and moving them where you could see them, while keeping them away from the village to minimize civilian casualities would seem to me like a perfectly proportionate and reasonable solution. They still held control of the military police, so they were not powerless, the fact that they felt they deserved to have complete control of the village is their issue, but they were not automatically owed that, and in any case they are supposed to have a close relationship with the Hokage (Mikoto/Kushina) until fairly recently in canon (and one would assume that would continue in an alternate timeline where Kushina was alive). For that matter, one would expect that the rumors would have less of an impact, given that the Yondaime is alive and has more info on the whole affair, plus they have a personal connection to him through Mikoto/Kushina (then again, in canon they were not exactly relegated to labor camps, they had control of the military police force, which in my eyes is not exactly something they should have been entitled to, nor a wise decision, either: they were noted for being prone to emotional instability and potentially sociopathy -the so called Curse of Hatred-, and an emotionally unstable cop is not exactly a good prospect in my opinion-. Were they the victim of unfair prejudice? Partially. Were they prone to emotional instability? Yes. Were they trustworthy? They were planning a coup, and given they reasons for betraying their country and potentially plunging the village and the world in a sea of blood, I wouldn't exactly say that they were particularly opposed to backstabbing. Could they have been behind the Kyubi mess? Yes, and there were more than enough good reasons to suspect they were (contrary to the Jinchuriki's case, that was a perfectly logical assumption, given their skills and past history, and I would say that if you didn't put a nonzero probability on that you would be crazy).

Again, it's somewhat surprising that their closer relationship with the village echelons and the Yondaime's knowledge of the events didn't lessen their bad rep (then again, it's not as if that entitled them to slaughter everyone that had a low opinion on them, plunging the village in a civil war and causing another global conflict... they were still in charge of the Military Police, it's not as if they were rounded up and put to work in labor camps). But I don't really like the nonchalance with which Kushina relayed the information, as if it was *two people's* fault, and they were merely reacting in a reasonable and proportionate manner. Also surprising that the Hokage didn't know anything about the situation. In canon, the Third knew of the coup and repeatedly attempted to negotiate with them -something they were not entitled to, and should not have taken for granted: they were soldiers in a military dictatorship, thus they were supposed to follow orders, the fact that they were willing to bargain and negotiate with them even knowing abut their untrustworthyness was more than they deserved- I don't really know why, with the same set of information, Minato is supposed to be able to "solve" the situation. Nor do I think that the fact that because they were mistrusted and relocated (I repeat, not sent to a labor camp, they were not stripped of their power, they still controlled the military police, and the fact that they felt entitled to control the entire village is their issue -they were simply not *entitled* to it, the fact that they thought they were was a delusion of no consequences on their part, it was not a *right*, not to mention the fact that they spurned canon Third's attempts to negotiate with them-), this entitles them to slaughter their way through the village, plunging it into a sea of blood and causing a World War. The fact that self entitled power hungry a-holes thought they didn't get the recognition they deserved and decided to kill them should not be swept under the carpet. Again, while the Kyubi attack was engineered by an Uchia that was supposed to be dead, I wouldn't call the suspicions baseless, and I would say that the evidence of their propensity for emotional instability, coupled to the fact that they *were* plotting to slaughter their way to power (kinda proving the point that they were not to be trusted), makes this kind of one of the situation where "it's not paranoia, if they are out to get you" -they clearly demonstrated that they were not exactly trustworthy, since they responded to the first slight and bad press by rebelling... kiss their behinds otherwise they will kill you?-. Not really symathetic, and I would say that Mikoto's position is not exactly hard to solve: not betraying your country, or a coup that will cause a world war that will kill countless people, just because the village, not entirely unreasonably, were not particularly trusting of them (and despite that, they were still in charge of the police). Again, this is a change to canon Mikoto that was well aware of the coup and seemed to side with her husband, while the number of "sane" people that thought it was an insane overreaction could be counted on one hand: Itachi, Shishui, etc.

8 years later and still no update. I’m going to assume this is abandoned or your dead which is a real shame because this story will just be placed in the pile of unfinished works that thousands of people wished was completed. It was fun while it lasted.

Yes, change whatever you have planned. Naruto without Kurama is not natural!

Great use of language coupled with originality-you've just made my day

hinata & neji didn't use naruto new name

wasn't it sarutobi hiruzen?