The very moment that those words left Kakashi's mouth, a dead silence fell over the entire room. The reason for the silence was partly out of some desire to have someone else be the first to react, thus of course the only reactions were further silence. Some were also needing a few moments to try and digest this revelation, but the sheer mass of this knowledge seemed a little hard to swallow. And others seemed to be in deep thought as they reflected on how this put past actions and choices into perspective.

Finally, it was Hiashi himself who broke the silence. "Why was the council not informed of this matter?" He had been a leading member of the village council for years, and he had never even heard a whisper something like this. Not even back when Sarutobi was still alive and in charge. Which meant that someone had been very careful to keep it hidden. That thought prompted his eyes to dart over to Danzō for a brief moment, who stood in the back of the room, as silent and still as a statue.

"I had my reasons for keeping my mouth shut, as did everyone else who knew." Kakashi stated, briefly glancing towards his student as well. Naruto was doing a good job of looking calm, annoyed at worst, but Kakashi knew that when the time came the whiskered blonde was going to have words with him over this. Words that likely couldn't be said in polite company.

"And while I cannot speak for everyone else on the why, I can explain my reasons and what Sandaime-sama told me as well."

"No, enough has already been said." Homura proclaimed loudly. The old man looked ill, he was sweating profusely and looking like he wanted this entire meeting to be over with. And Koharu seemed to share the same sentiment.

"I think not. In fact, I think that this is in fact something that is long overdue. Naruto at the least deserves to hear this, and I think we all deserve to know why you're so adamant on this being swept under the rug and set on fire." Tsunade replied in a warning manner.

"Tsunade…" Koharu hissed. "Please, end this now, you got what you want, the boy knows enough, let us-"

But before she could say anything further the slug summoner stood up. "No, we will not end this. I am giving you two codgers a choice, you can either tell us everything right here and maybe avoid anything further, depending on just what I hear, or I can send you to Ibiki where we will get the truth from you one way or another. Me or him you two, who do you fear the wrath of more?"

Homura and Koharu glanced at each other, knowing that Ibiki was a professional through and through, and would never go easy on them just because of their age or status. If he wanted them to break, by the time he was done they'd need new hips. They both then glanced over at Danzō, as if silently pleading for their fellow council member to help them, but Danzō continued to maintain his silence.

"Why are you being so damn selfish?" Naruto accused, pointing to the two elders. "I get it, you guys don't like me, you don't trust me, you never have and you never will! But why? Tell me why is it so damn important to make me believe I'm nobody? Why do so many people here act like they need me to be pathetic and worthless? Like the alternative is somehow worse?"

Even the Hyuuga Elder Kariya winced a bit, knowing that this was a jab at him but not only him.

"Can anyone here explain anything? Or is this going to be one of those 'It was no one's fault' kind of situations?" Hinata asked, eyes and voice slightly verging on threatening.

Once again silence reigned in the room, with both Homura and Koharu keeping their lips pursed and their gazes avoiding everyone. They had both kept this secret for so long, to reveal it now seemed to be very difficult for them to contemplate, even with the threat of force hanging over them.

Then suddenly, it was Danzō who broke the silence. "It was a military decision."

All eyes suddenly turned to the older man, whose own eye was focused solely on Naruto as he spoke. "There are few left who remember the days when the bijuu ran loose throughout the land, unchecked and unbalanced, doing as they pleased. It was the first hokage who brought them to heel. The first one to sealed was in fact the Kyuubi following the Shodai Hokage's battle with Uchiha Madara."

There was not a person in that room who did not know the story of the legendary battle between Madara and Hashirama. Of the climatic battle between the two most powerful shinobi in the world at the time, the effects of their battle could still be seen today, one merely needed to go to the Valley of the End.

Tsunade had a vague memory, from when she was a still just a young child, she had asked her grandfather of the battle; she could remember how her grandfather had become silent and developed a distant look in his eyes, all he said of it was 'I fought my friend to protect the village'.

Danzō continued to speak. "Shortly after the defeat of Madara and the Kyuubi, the Shodai Hokage traveled the land and captured the other remaining tailed beasts, sealing them away. It was then that he presented the sealed beasts to each of the great hidden villages, as a token of friendship and trust and so that one nation could never claim more power than the other. The Kyuubi was kept by us."

"Yeah yeah I already know about that." Naruto said impatiently. "But what does that have to do with me?"

"It has everything to do with you… or rather your bloodline." Danzo said as he tapped his fingers on his cane. "For you see, so great was the Kyuubi's chakra, that even the seal of the Shodai Hokage had placed upon it began to weaken. It was feared that the power of the Kyuubi would eventually be released and the whole mess would start over again. Hashirama began to look for another solution… and he found it, a living vessel. A jail of flesh and blood capable of holding the power of the mightiest bijuu in check. The only problem was… who could be strong enough to host such a creature? The Shodai Hokage found the solution for that as well, his lady wife"

"Why his wife?" Hinata asked suddenly.

It was Tsunade who answered that. "Because of who she was. Her maiden name was Mito Uzumaki."

Naruto blinked a bit. 'An Uzumaki? Like me?'

"The Uzumaki bloodline is a strong one." Tsunade continued. "They naturally possess incredibly strong life forces, resulting in a natural healing factor and longer than normal lifespans. This helped enabled them to survive and endure much more severe injuries compared to ordinary ninja, while likewise able to recover from injuries and exhaustion with much greater efficiency in short periods of time."

That caught Naruto off-guard, he had always known that he healed quicker that most people, but he had never actually questioned why he did.

"Exactly Lady Tsunade. Your grandmother, Lady Mito, agreed to become the host for the Kyuubi. The fox was sealed inside of her… and she was not affected in the least by it. The Uzumaki bloodline became the chains that bound the beast. But we also learned that the host of the Kyuubi also possessed the ability to access the power of the bijuu. In effect, becoming the perfect conduit of virtually an endless source of chakra."

"A living weapon" Hiashi said in a hushed voice.

"Quiet right Lord Hyuuga. But of course, nobody outside of the council knew this at the time. As far as the other hidden villages were aware, our tailed beast was still sealed in an urn and locked deep beneath the village."

Danzo paused and allowed everyone to digest this information, taking no note of the death glares that he was receiving from his fellow elders. After a moment he spoke again. "Over the years though, as the Lady Mito grew older, it became evident that we would need to transfer the Kyuubi to a different host. We thus called upon the Whirlpool Village to send us a suitable replacement host, and thus we were sent Kushina Uzumaki."

"My mother…" Naruto said softly, his minds eye trying to imagine her face and trying to imagine her feelings at being brought from her home to become the host of the nine-tailed fox.

"Correct. She became the host for the Kyuubi, again a flawless transfer. But at this time, word of it got out, and other villages learned that it was possible for a human to be used to host the bijuu. Your mother was almost kidnapped by Kumo who wished to use her for their own purposes. Though it was the future Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, who prevented that."

Naruto just sat there, listening to all of this. Hinata likewise looked surprised to discover that Kumo had gone after Kushina in the past, much like they had gone after her not too long ago. It wasn't helping her opinion of the Cloud Village overall.

"But then tragedy happened, Uzushio was destroyed by those desperate to perfect their own jinchuuriki and in the process the Uzumaki were annihilated. We had thought that your mother would end up being the last vessel for the Kyuubi… until she married Minato and became pregnant with you." Danzō explained.

"But something happened… didn't it?" Naruto asked.

"Indeed. The night you were born, the seal holding the Kyuubi within your mother grew weak and…" Danzo's eyes shot to the other two elderly members of the council. "The Kyuubi was released. Your mother died just as you were born… and your father, with the last of his strength, sealed the Kyuubi within you."

Naruto sat there for a moment then he looked around at everyone. "Wait, so if my mother… and Tsunade's grandmother were hosts to the Kyuubi and were in complete control the entire time, why did everyone always act like I was never in control? Like I was the Kyuubi instead of its jailer?"

"Frankly boy… that's because we had no idea what to expect. You were a newborn infant, we had never sealed the Kyuubi within someone so young. And you were only half Uzumaki. We had no idea what to expect." Danzo said in a matter of fact tone.

Naruto ran his hand through his hair, feeling very hot and overwhelmed by all of this. He tried to calm down by focusing on the main issue that was still at hand "Okay…you've told me about the history of Kyuubi and their jailers, but why was I kept in the dark about all of this until now? Why didn't anyone ever tell me about my family and where I came from?"

"This is a lot of subject matter to cover here, and since no one wants to be the first to start I suppose I will." Kakashi began, stopping only to clear his throat, then he looked to Naruto. "As Danzo-sama explained, the Uzumaki clan have been the traditional jailers for the Kyuubi in the past. Your mother had been the host before you, though I can't be certain how it affected her compared to you. What I can say is in her case it was kept a secret from the Konoha public, like it should have been for you. We still have no idea how the other villages learned of the fact that Kushina was the host."

But the truth was that Kakashi suspected that someone on the council had revealed the information. He could never prove it, but he knew that the third and fourth hokage had thought the same thing.

"When your mother died, pretty much everyone believed this meant the Uzumaki bloodline was gone for good. Which meant that there couldn't be anymore jailers for the fox, and yet it was gone. Sandaime-sama thought this was why it was so easy for people to believe that Minato-sensei had in fact killed the bijuu, or at least made it mortal. It was easier to believe that then it was to believe another Uzumaki was alive."

"What the hell? My name is Uzumaki! That's proof right there!" Naruto objected.

"Anyone can have a name Naruto regardless of bloodline. After all, when you marry Hinata she'll become an Uzumaki but she's one only by marriage rather by birth. There are many families and clans that have names that overlap even though they are not directly related to each other." Hiashi explained.

"Also, the Uzumaki were known for being redheads Naruto, which you are not. If you had red hair, that alone might have completely changed everything. But no, you had your father's blonde hair, so as far as everyone was concerned you were Uzumaki in name only."

"Seriously?! The one thing that could have made people believe I was human from the beginning was my hair?!" Naruto asked, briefly touching his blonde locks. "How freaking shallow are people?!"

"And there's more to it than that." Koharu jumped in." The other villages have their own jinchūriki too, or at least they did at the time. We had just lost ours and replaced it with a child that would need to be retrained. Any one of the other villages could have taken the opportunity to unleash theirs on us. But by supporting the idea that Konoha had the capability of ending the existence of a bijuu altogether, other villages would hesitate to send their jinchūriki at us."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Oh great plan, so I'm guessing what Gaara did at the chuunin exams years ago doesn't count then?"

"The plan worked for twelve years boy." Homura stated.

"Except that wasn't the plan, was it?" Hinata asked. "No, what you said is too simple and incomplete to be the plan. It's sounds more like a justification for the real plan."

"I agree." Naruto nodded. "Wanting everyone outside Konoha to believe the Kyuubi was really dead didn't mean that everyone inside Konoha had to know I was connected to it. Hell, a smart spy or traitor could see the contradiction. Why let enemies believe the fox was dead but at the same time let people here know it was in me? How did everyone find out about Kyuubi being sealed in me in the first place? I can understand Jiji telling some people, but I don't believe he announced it to the entire village if the 'plan' was to trick everyone into thinking the fox was dead."

"No, that definitely didn't happen." Chouza quipped.

"What does it matter how the information got out?" Koharu asked. "Hiruzen punished those that acted maliciously against Naruto and he hasn't been attacked for it in years. What does finding someone to blame accomplish?"

"You're looking at it the wrong way." Rimona spoke up, catching Hinata's attention though she acted otherwise. "Rather than ask for a confession, ask who had the most to gain from the truth being hidden and the lie encouraged."

"You're missing the point." Naruto declared, looking at the old woman. "If anyone deserved to know who my parents were and why everyone avoided me, it was me. And yet everyone decided I wasn't supposed to know anything. I wasn't supposed to know about Kyuubi, I wasn't supposed to know about my parents, I apparently wasn't supposed to know about the Uzumaki clan. If Mizuki had said nothing, none of you would have told me about the fox. If the old man here had said nothing, Baa-chan wouldn't have even mentioned my parents. And if we weren't here right now, my own sensei wouldn't have said a word about an Uzumaki clan."

Most of the adults in the room had the good grace to not look proud of this claim, nor refute it.

"Dammit what the hell do you people want from me?" Naruto continued. "I did not ask to be born and I did not ask to become a jinchuuriki, so why does everyone treat me like I did? Like I brought this on myself? I've been nothing but loyal and helpful to this village, I think I've more than proven I am not the fox. What more do I have to do? What more do you want before you'll finally decide I deserve what my parents wanted me to have?"

"Wait, is that the problem here?" Hinata jumped in. "We're here talking under the assumption that the secret about Naruto-kun was leaked out of fear or hatred or even naivety. But what if it was out of greed? Back then, who had the most to gain from Naruto-kun being unaware of everything?"

"What do you mean Hinata?" Hiashi asked.

"Think Otou-san, we've just been told that Naruto-kun is connected to the Yondaime, the Godaime, the Shodai, and an extinct clan. That means there's a good chance that Naruto-kun has inherited something from them all, and someone in Konoha's government doesn't want him to have it."

"That is a bold statement girl, bordering on treason!" Homura proclaimed.

Hinata strangely smiled and crossed her arms. "Elder, I made no accusation of anyone, I merely pointed out a logical possibility. The fact that you're so quick to be defensive about it does make me wonder a few things though."

All eyes were on Homura and Koharu, who rightfully looked put on the spot and caught off guard.

"That is indeed a matter I have wanted to ask for quiet some time. Kushina's father was the Lord of Uzushio and the head of the Uzumaki family at the time of it's destruction. And Minato was the only living member of the Namikaze clan. The combined assets of both those clans should have been a very sizable amount. Where is all that money right now?"

Both Homura and Koharu looked away unable to meet the gaze of anyone in the room, but eventually the tension in the room became so heavy and thick that finally they knew that the only way that they could get out of this was to reveal the truth.

It's just that..." Homura said with much hesitation. "A large portion of the Namikaze-Uzumaki fortune went into funding the various repairs and restoration projects for Konoha after the Kyuubi attack. At the time of the attack, the treasury was low and without the aid of that money we would have needed twice as long to repair our homes and defenses properly and been more vulnerable to outside attack."

Naruto stared at the elderly man and woman with a look that could have curdled fresh milk. "You stole my parents money? My inheritance?" He said with a growl fit for an Inuzuka.

"We didn't steal it… we appropriated the necessary funds to ensure the safety of the village. Something that we were certain that the Yondaime Hokage would have wished for the village that he loved." Koharu justified.

"And you left nothing for the son that he loved?" Tsunade said in a tone similar to Naruto.

"That is unfair and untrue. Money was set aside for Naruto, where do you think the money that he receives every two weeks for his food, home, and other expenses comes from?" Koharu said defensively.

"You were paying me with my own money? Theft is theft, no matter how you look at it."

"Hell yeah! You can't reward people with something they already own!" Tsume declared.

"Did either of you have any plan or investments set up to repay Naruto for what you took for him?" Inoichi asked. "Did either of you even intend to repay him?"

"And what about the Namikaze estate? The house, heirlooms, furniture, not to mention the scrolls for the jutsu's of the Namikaze clan and the Uzumaki clans. You couldn't use those in rebuilding Konoha, so what happened to them?" Hiashi added.

For the first time in their lives, Homura and Koharu were starting to wish they hadn't lived this long.

Danzou cleared his throat. "The estate and its contents was held in trust by the village council. Everything in it was sealed and left untouched. Except for the scrolls containing the jutsus developed by the clan, those were kept under strict guard at ANBU Headquarters."

"I never heard about this and I was an ANBU captain with direct connections to the Yondaime." Kakashi objected.

"But you weren't a council member, so you were uninformed." Danzou rationalized.

"What did the Sandaime Hokage say about all of this?" Hinata demanded in a firm tone and that shocked and impressed her father. "I highly doubt that he went along with any plotting to deprive Naruto of his inheritance. And yes I say deprive, not withhold. Your refusal to admit anything beforehand makes it clear that you never wanted Naruto-kun to know of this."

"That is not true!" Homura reprimanded.

Hinata silently huffed. "So then when was he allowed to know? After you were dead and it was someone else's problem? When he was dying and you needed another host to replace him? When? I'm calling it like I see it, and I see a bunch of old crones who jumped on my fiancee's birthright like vultures on a dying pig. You want me to believe otherwise? Prove I'm wrong, don't just keep saying I'm wrong."

None of the elders liked being spoken to in the tone that Hinata used, but given the circumstances they could not drag the issue out. "The Sandaime Hokage had wanted Naruto to know the truth, but he needed to grow up first. So Hiruzen had originally intended that Naruto would be told of his heritage on his 18th birthday. But…" Homura started but could not seem to find the courage to finish

"But what?" Naruto said with a glare.

"After his death following the Oto-Suna Invasion, and given Naruto's own maturity at the time, we three decided that it would be better if we waited until Naruto was… older and more mature before being told anything." Koharu finished.

At this Naruto suddenly stood up, an aura of anger resonating from him as he glared at the trio of aged shinobi. "Better? Better? Who was it supposed to better for? Me or you?" Before he could let them answer he added. "You seriously thought I'd still be too stupid to handle the truth when I'm 18? If that wasn't old enough for you then how old did you plan on me getting before I was told? 20? 30? 100? Or like Hinata-chan said, old enough to where you all were dead and didn't have to worry about being held accountable for what you've done to me?"

The whiskered blonde was breathing hard, his hands clenched so tightly he felt like his nails would break the skin of his palms. "TO HELL WITH ALL OF YOU AND YOUR SECRETS!" He shouted as he suddenly stormed out of the room, pulling the door open and slamming it shut so hard that it shook the frame.

Hinata stood up as well and gazed at everyone in turn. "I would say all of you should be ashamed, but that would be pointless. All his life Naruto-kun was made to feel like he was alone, that he never had anyone who loved him or any kind of legacy or heritage. Many of you in this room knew otherwise and yet you either conspired to keep the truth from him or simply kept silent. Justify it however you want, you chose this over the alternative, and you chose this because it gave you what you wanted, not what he needed." Hinata shook her head. "Naruto-kun is a good man who loves this village and has shed blood to protect it… and even after all that, you still claim he hasn't done enough." Hinata shook her head in disgust and left the room to go after Naruto.

Everyone in the council chamber simply remained where they were, in silence.

Tsunade sighed and stood up. "I think it's safe to say we're done for the night."

"Actually Tsunade-sama, I think there's one more thing we can discuss that might make things a little better for everyone." Hiashi offered, rising to his feet.

"Go ahead, but this better be good." Tsunade warned. She was a little emotionally drained from this meeting too and wanted it to be over with.

"This council owes Naruto Uzumaki. For the theft of his inheritance, for the silence to his parriahship, to the actions and inactions we've done over the years, collectively overall we shows we have taken the duty and sacrifice of himself and his parents for granted. I believe we owe it to him to find a way to actively repay him for it all."

"Well duh Hiashi, but how? We can't all give him our daughters to wed like you." Tsume groaned.

"No and neither will you try. But I suggest things such as relinquishing the withheld items and property that the Namikaze and Uzumaki have left behind to him. Perhaps even a donation from our own clan treasuries to compensate for the theft of his own."

"You want to buy his forgiveness?" Kakashi asked.

Hiashi shook his head. "No, I will not demean my future son-in-law by telling him I believe he is like that. This is justice, we may not have taken his money directly but we did benefit from it, so he deserves compensation."

"We could call it a wedding present. That might make it easier for him to accept." Inoichi suggested.

Tsume turned towards the elders. "So then how much do these three have to cough up? They are the masterminds after all. Some silverware or food processors aren't going to get them off the hook."

"I am willing to offer the boy proper training." Danzou claimed. "With it he can gain his chuunin promotion and not be led to believe it's a mere token gesture meant to silence his anger."

"Considering the nature of Naruto's previous training we'd have to consult with Jiraiya to ensure that your training would not be detrimental to him." Tsunade stated. Her gut told her that letting Naruto work under the warhawk was a bad idea, but sadly with the context he put it in she couldn't just say no without sounding like she didn't want Naruto to be promoted.

"I think we should all take some time to think about what we can give Naruto, and how to give it to him. Some of you will be held to higher standards than others." She glared towards Homura and Koharu at that part. "But keep in mind, this is both a request and an order from your hokage. Naruto Uzumaki does indeed deserve something from this council and we will give it to him. I will let you decide what to do, but none of you have the right to refuse and all your offers must be approved by me first. Is that understood?"

"Do I count?" Kakashi asked. "After all, as Danzou-sama pointed out I'm not part of the council."

"No you're not, but since I'm certain you now feel obligated to do something anyway you might as well go through me first. Now, that is all. Everyone go home and whatever you do, don't make him madder."

With that everyone slowly rose and departed the room.

Hinata found Naruto, standing outside on the balcony of the Hokage tower, his hands gripping the railing as he gazed out at the village. Hinata walked up to him silently, then when she reached him she gently wrapped her arms around his tense body and hugged him from behind. He tensed for a bit but relaxed, knowing it was her, and she rested her head against his back.

Neither spoke, but as she hugged him the tears began to well up in Naruto's eyes. He tried to hold them back, but the floodgates of emotions burst and he started to cry.