They sat in a conference room that was rarely used outside of war time or inter-clan disputes. The Hokage, her advisors, six of the most influential civilians, five clan heads and Jiraiya all waited around the rectangular table. A mix of confusion and anger was felt in the room as many simply couldn't understand why he did it, or even how. How did one genin do almost as much damage as an entire invading force? It made no sense, nothing any of them knew about Naruto would lead them to believe this would be his reaction. However, going over things again and again in their heads would do nothing, they simply had to wait for Inoichi to arrive and luck would have it that he'd done just that.

Shikaku was the first to notice how disturbed his friend was, whatever he'd learned from the Uzumaki greatly troubled him. Inoichi was a war veteran and had seen the very worst humanity had to offer so for something to shake him this badly, it made the Nara deeply concerned.

"Inochi, report!" Tsunade bellowed, wanting to know why her gaki did this. The good natured blond she knew wouldn't have. Like everyone else, minus Jiraiya, she was scared the Kyuubi made him do it. Though a part of her hoped it was the Kyuubi. She still remembered how broken he looked when she informed him of his arranged marriage to the Suna kunoichi, Temari. As if something precious had been stolen from him.

"It's bad, Tsunade-sama." Inochi started. "Firstly, while he never outright admitted it the chakra mapping from out barrier corp reveals it was him. The explosions that caused the clan compounds to drop below ground and the fires to the shops in the market district. It was him. A combination of exploding tags, shadow clones, and doton jutsu that allowed him to move underground." The shinobi in the room were mildly impressed at the simple but effective plan.

"Why?" Hamura asked. "Why did he do this? Why now of all times?"

"Why is complicated but all roads lead back to Sandaime-sama." Inoichi answered and saw the confusion in each of the faces in the room. "We all know how close Sandaime-sama was to Naruto and I personally know how guilty he felt he couldn't do more for the boy. He was also often dismayed at how little the shinobi would do for Naruto and how ostracized the civilians would leave him."

"We were afraid!" One merchant, Akira Jinshi said. He was a middle aged man of average size and height, brown eyes and balding salt and pepper hair. "We were terrified, how were we to know the thing inside the boy wouldn't affect him or get out one day?"

"Maybe because your Hokage told you as much." Jiraiya responded, in no mood for them to play victim. Their leader told them Naruto was no threat, that should have been enough. Seeing the civilian cowed, Inoichi continued.

"Well, I could only speculate about his motives but for whatever reason when Naruto would ask why he was hated or discriminated against or why he couldn't have a family the Sandaime told him the shinobi and civilian councils wouldn't allow it."

"There is no such thing." Hiashi stated.

"There is not. And yet, while indirect and complex we all can operate as a restraint on the Hokage's power and authority. When neither of the parties would ever lift a finger to help Naruto, even allowing our children to bully him for characteristics that would be expected in an isolated child, the Sandaime may have come to see us as a force operating in concert. Or, at least it was the only way he could explain to a child why the most powerful man in the village couldn't seem to do more for him.

Naruto believes, sincerely, that there is a governmental body in Konoha that will only ever harm him or deny him. The Sandaime was his protector from them, from us."

"That doesn't explain why he attacked us." Tsume Inuzuka barked.

"It does if you see things from his perspective." Inoichi responded. "Naruto's dream is to become Hokage to gain acknowledgment. He hoped if he were able to gain said acknowledgment he'd eventually be able to find someone to love him and start a family with."

"He could have a family with the Suna kunoichi." Choza said, not seeing the point.

"Yes, but she was being forced to marry him and he her. Naruto likely has an idealized view of relationships because he could only view them from afar. Forcing him into a political marriage is essentially telling him he either couldn't ever be loved by someone here or-"

"We'd never allow it." Tsunade finished. It made sense now, his voice was so hollow when he begged her to take it back. 'Please, Baa-chan' he said in a small voice and as much as she wanted to she couldn't jeopardize a treaty and alliance her advisors had managed to put together, not as her first act as Hokage. But because she didn't it signaled something to Naruto and by his reaction, Tsunade knew Shikaku understood it as well.

"Troublesome," the Jounin Commander started. "Because Tsunade-sama didn't end the political marriage she showed herself to be a subpar replacement to the Sandaime, she wasn't going to be able to protect Naruto like he did."

"Exactly." Inoichi said. "So, for Naruto, not only did he lose his greatest and only protector but we wasted no time in demonstrating what we'd do to him because of it. It was enemy action on 'our' part, as far as he was concerned."

This caused an uncomfortable silence in the room as people digested what had been said. Even those that, initially, didn't like Naruto or pretended his pranks weren't retaliatory but unprovoked bouts of criminal mischief had to admit they had made life hell for a child. A child that believed the de facto discrimination he felt was actually a large and ongoing conspiracy to make his life as miserable as they could.

The shinobi felt no better. While angered by the attack, they were fighters and assassins by trade. None of them would tolerate being continually undermined by a group of people, especially not for something they had no choice over. They were also dismayed by the Sandaime's actions, each wondering how much faith and respect he'd lost in them to tell a small child they were actively working against his interests. It wasn't true. No, they never helped, but they believed they never did anything to harm Naruto and assumed it was enough.

"What do we do now? Even if we understand why he did it, Naruto caused a great deal of property damage." Tsume asked, her voice more reserved now.

"He's also the focal point of our alliance with Suna. Why they were so adamant it be him, regardless of his defeating their jinchuuriki, I just don't understand." Choza added and heard two scoffs, one from Jiraiya and the other from Danzo. The two men looked at each other in a moment of silent communication. After the messages had been relayed Danzo spoke first.

"No one outside of this room or ANBU knows it was Naruto. Tsunade-sama can contact the Daimyo and said it was a leftover trap by Oto. He'll send us the funds to make each of you whole."

"The barrier corp knows." Shikaku pointed out.

"No, they don't. I did a little nip and tuck after I got the evidence from them." Inoichi responded and all decided to move on.

"As for why they are dead set on Naruto, it's because they are more observant than a vast majority of Konoha residents and can see what you all ignored." Jiraiya added.

"This is not the time, Jiraiya!" Koharu scolded and immediately regretted her words when Jiraiya arose to his full height, shoulders squared as if he were prepared to attack.

"You'll shut up and remember I'm not a child. If I say it's the time then that's my decision to make. Don't interrupt me again." He said before focusing back on the "council". "Naruto is Minato's son. If one word of denial leaves any of your mouths I'll kill you." Jiraiya threatened plainly. Most in the room were not acquainted with this Jiraiya. They were used to the good natured fool or the super pervert but a few realized the Gama Sennin was in attendance.

Jiraiya was livid and had been for days. As Naruto's godfather, he should have been informed of Naruto's inclusion in a political marriage. He could not have stopped it, not really, but he would have been allowed to request a boon for participation. Any shinobi elected into such an arrangement has that right and given his status as the sole member of an allied clan, at least the sole member associated with Konoha, he was due quite the concession.

He wondered if this is why his sensei crafted the fiction of the council as those with even the least bit of power would use it to deny Naruto what was rightfully his, deny his existence period. He'd regretted not being here, keeping Iwa and Kumo from mounting an invasion was difficult but he'd admit part of it was his obsession with Orochimaru. It blinded him and he left too much to Sensei, he had other responsibilities and it wasn't for him to pick one or the other but to service them both to the best of his abilities.

He knew Naruto had been grieving the loss of his "Jiji" but he didn't realize what a massive presence the man was in Naruto's world. He truly was the blond's shield, the one person Naruto could always count on to do his best, to do right by him. This would have to be cleared up, it'd be hard to tell Naruto Sensei had lied to him. But he needed to know he didn't have twelve politically connected enemies, fifteen including the elders and Danzo, operating to screw him when and however they can.

"What I want to know is why you allowed it to be Naruto. Suna doesn't have enough negotiating power to dictate the participant of a political marriage, not on our end. Not only that, it wasn't necessary. So, why did you two allow them to name this term, why did you essentially box Tsunade into agreeing to it? I should have been present as the boy's Godfather so you better start talking before I lose my patience."

"We assumed they only selected Naruto because he defeated their weapon, knowing nothing about the boy except he was powerful enough to do so. This put to rest their concerns we'd march the boy in there on top a battletoad. Also, Naruto had no guardian or political capital. He couldn't fight us on this, couldn't force us to make concessions. None of the complications of the typical political marriage were present. It was just easier." Koharu said. She didn't dislike the boy or bear him any grudge. Nor did she enjoy treating the family of a former Hokage like he was just some orphan. It was just always easier to do so, to pretend he wasn't the son of Minato and Kushina. If she pretended she didn't have to feel guilty about never aiding him.

"Also, we had no idea how seriously you took your duties as Godfather, having never met the boy."

"My information network doesn't run itself and seeing me interact with an unknown orphan would start to raise questions. It wasn't by choice and all of you insured any involvement I had would look suspect so thanks for that."

"We're getting off track, ultimately why they chose Naruto isn't as important as the reality that they did and we have a broken and scared child who feels he's surrounded by enemies." Tsunade interrupted. "Inoichi, where do we go from here? We need to fix this or next time he might not settle for just property damage. We were lucky he waited for my inauguration ceremony."

"I see two areas of concern. The first is informing him that the Sandaime lied to him. He'll likely not believe us and if you push too hard he might start to think you're on our side. If he thinks you'll be like us there is no telling what he may do. Secondly, the marriage pact calls for a child to be produced before Temari turns twenty. If this was Naruto's reaction for not getting to choose his bride, given seven years to train and grow he may see killing us as a more reasonable alternative to producing a child in a loveless relationship. One, he'd believe we'd mistreat just like we've mistreated him."

"Troublesome." The Nara leader said and it summed up everyone's feelings on the matter, especially the clan heads that knew the boy could spam shadow clones like no one before. He may not be a threat in direct combat for most but indirect methods that he could set up days, months or even years in advance? A shinobi that can be anywhere at anytime is an inherent threat.

"What can we do?" Hiashi repeated the question.

"Come clean about everything. Why the Sandaime lied, his heritage, all of it. Provide him with the Konoha charter, just lay it all out. And stress the Sandaime lied to best help him understand." Inoichi said.

"So, he'd just get away with it? Because we were a little mean to him he gets to terrorize us?"

"Yes." Tsunade said not bothering to correct the civilian as they weren't a little mean. It was a village wide mental and emotional abuse of a child for roughly a decade. "He has importance you can't ignore now thanks to the Suna treaty and since you'll be compensated for your loss there is nothing for you to complain about."

"Unless he does it again."

"Then I guess you should make him not want to do it again. Hell, maybe not make him want to do it in the first place. Understand something, I have no sympathy for any of you in this room. Some of you were fearful even when all available evidence demonstrated he wasn't a threat but you kept it up. You didn't try to endear yourselves, you tried to pretend he didn't exist. This is what you get.

As for my advisors, you know you shouldn't have agreed to anything this major. You are not acting Hokage when one isn't in office but you essentially had a formalized agreement. For me to have gone back on it would mean both Konoha and I would have lost face and rose questions about internal dissention. You cornering me will be the last significant acts either of you have, your services are no longer required. I'll select new advisors in the future.

Many of the crews we had making repairs are still within the village and I will extend their stay. The clan compounds will be the initial focus. The true story of how your compounds were damaged is an S-rank secret. Should you break it you will be tortured and then put to death. Inoichi, I want you to erase any mention of Naruto's involvement from the civilian's memories."

"That's not fair!" they shouted.

"Life isn't fair. Besides, the last Hokage that told you lot to keep your mouths shut about something just got his law flaunted. I have no interest in seeing how clever you are. Or would you prefer I just kill you and take ownership of your various enterprises?" Seeing them all shake their heads in the negative Tsunade closes the meeting but orders Jiraiya and Danzo to follow her. As the two trailed her, Tsunade contemplated how she planned to tell Naruto the truth. An errant impulse was for her to simply snatch Shizune and him so they could disappear for awhile. How the boy managed to love this village was inexplicable.

The trio arrived at the Uzumaki's cell. To see him so still felt wrong to Jiraiya and Tsunade both. He looked up once he heard them and his blue eyes appeared lifeless, even his hair seemed more subdued. It was all so very wrong.

"Naruto," Tsunade started, "we have a lot to talk about. I don't condone what you did but I do understand. However, if you want to get out of here, if you want to continue being a ninja then that can never happen again." She watched as a little hope returned to those eyes but she could take no pleasure in it, knowing she was likely going to crush it. "As I was saying, we have a lot to discuss and it won't be easy but you need to hear the truth. All of it."

"What truth?" He asked in genuine confusion.

"About the councils you believe exist. About the Sandaime. And about your parents."

Yo! So, this is an old idea I had that I'm making a challenge fic.

Not a lot of rules on this one. Naruto can either get married to Temari, or not. Have a polyamorous (not a harem) relationship (which would have to include Temari) or whatever but there has to be a fallout for whichever lane you pic.

Danzo gets to train Naruto a little bit (as he doesn't have to be an evil, myopic asshole. Just an aged asshole will do.)