The Orange Daimyo of Uzushiogakure

A/N: Hello, welcome to my new fanfic! The idea behind this story came to me while I was reading Solvdrage's Prince Naruto? and Solvdrage graciously let me pursue the idea! This is also going to a part of Rose Tiger's Prince Naruto profile challenge! J I have a lot planned for this story, so I'd really like to start working with a beta. If anyone is interested, give me a PM! I'm very excited for this story, so please enjoy & give me feedback!

Background: This going to be a divergence AU fic from just after the Chunin exams. It's also going to be shamelessly NaruHina, no other pairings confirmed.

Rating: "T" for some violence, mild language and mild sexiness. Rating will probably never increase. Probably.

Disclaimer: I do not own the world or characters. Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. I don't make and will never make any profit from this!

The Orange Daimyo of Uzushiogakure

Chapter One – War-hawks and Caged Birds

Danzo slowly made his way down the crowded Konoha road, pointedly ignoring the suspicious glances and hushed whispers that were pointed in his direction. The old veteran cared little for the opinions and gossip of the people he protected. He took on their hate willingly and was well aware of what they called him: the darkness of Shinobi, the bloodthirsty war-hawk, a monster. None of these things mattered, as long as Konoha's future was secured. He would do what they wouldn't to ensure their survival.

The old shinobi's lips curled into a slight smile at the thought of the villagers calling him a monster. They had no way of knowing that their senseless name-calling was physically far closer to the truth then any of them would ever realize.

Danzo and his single attendant smoothly exited the busy street in favor for a small alleyway, which afforded the pair increased privacy before they slipped into the back exit of a shabby building. Danzo disliked holding these types of meetings within Konoha itself, but his contact was adamant that he wouldn't enter the ROOT compound. This sentiment in itself was why the he trusted this former colleague. Mizushima Hideaki was an excellent political strategist and cautious to a fault. The man may have trusted Danzo enough to meet with him, but he wasn't stupid enough to step into the war-hawk's lair, even with the fat carrot that the Shimura shinobi was brandishing.

The rusting door creaked as the Konoha councilor and his man crossed the threshold into the beat up bar. The entire area reeked of mildew and old liquor. Danzo sighed. The smell was one of many reasons for him to get his meeting over with quickly. The old shinobi limped towards the end of the room. A table near the back was set up with a few closed files on it and seated at the table was a balding man of medium build who was at least Danzo's age. His thinning red hair tried in vain to cover the man's weathered face. Hideaki looked aged, even from the last time that Danzo had seen him, but his ramrod straight posture still hinted at his strength as a veteran ninja. "Shimura Danzo...you're certainly looking worse for the wear."

The Konoha nin let out a gruff chuckle. "Funny words coming from another old soldier," Danzo countered.

"True enough. But pleasantries aside Danzo, what do you want? You rejected my last two offers on the matter, and now, five years later, you suddenly decide to give in to my previous whims?" Hideaki's wizened face was filled with thinly veiled suspicion.

His own bandaged face working into a slight frown, Danzo answered the man, choosing his words very carefully. "The political climate in Konoha is changing, Hideaki. I'll be frank with you; the first time you asked for the boy, he was too valuable a shogi piece for me to give up. The boy is the previous Hokage's secret son and the current jinchuriki of the Nine Tails. He was perfect as a potential weapon of Konoha. The Third however, saw fit to treat him more as a son and now the brat is already starting to cause me trouble."

The former ninja of Uzushiogakure maintained his suspicious looks. "What kind of trouble?"

Danzo peered intently at the man with his good eye, and seemed to read the man's thoughts. "It isn't a matter of the boy's power. In fact, in the last few months he has proved himself as a somewhat capable ninja. I have no doubts that the boy may eventually be physically quite powerful. However, he has voiced his intent since he was young to be the next Hokage. Until recently, the boy's status as a pariah allowed me to gloss over this fact. I even took liberties to ensure this treatment of him continued."

He took a sip of watered down tea and frowned before continuing. "In the most recent Chunin examination, the boy beat a Hyuga prodigy and within the day was also implicated in defeating a neighboring village's jinchuriki. A few reports have made it back to me that some people saw him as a hero. And this was without knowledge of his lineage."

The red-haired man raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

The war-hawk's good eye caught his old ally in an intense stare. "Konoha doesn't need a hero, Hideaki. It needs discipline. It needs the old military ways. It needs to move away from this wishy-washy view of what shinobi ought to be like. It needs men like you and me."

Danzo realized that his voice had been slowly been rising until his last sentence was nearly a shout. He took a deep breath to collect his thoughts and then continued his long winded explanation.

"That's why I'll help you gain access to the boy. I have no doubts that he would be charismatic enough for you to draw your people back to their homeland. And as luck would have it, he certainly lacks the brainpower of Namikaze Minato. You shouldn't have much trouble influencing him and molding him as you see fit."

For a few minutes, the Uzu ninja continued to be silent but Danzo could see the calculations going on behind the man's sharp eyes. Finally, the red-haired shinobi spoke. "It seems it would be beneficial for both of us if I remove the Uzumaki boy back to our country. However, I think it would be prudent for both of us to be as removed as possible from the situation. It will take a few more weeks for the extra precaution, but I have the perfect candidate in mind to persuade the boy to leave Konoha."

"Oh?"

"My goddaughter Airi can handle the matter of picking up the boy. She is trustworthy, and if the boy is an orphan…let us say that I have no doubts that she will be very persuasive indeed."

Hideaki watched as the Darkness of Shinobi stiffly got up from his chair and left with his seemingly mute attendant. The old Uzushiogakure ninja was feeling uncomfortably emotional about the day's events. When Danzo had contacted him out of the blue to say his mind had changed about the fate of the Uzumaki boy, he had been shocked but also cautious. Knowing the veteran politician, he didn't trust that the man would give up the kid without there being a strong reason. Over the course of the monologue it became clear that Danzo personally stood to gain from the transaction, specifically, access to the title of Hokage.

That in itself was enough to persuade Hideaki. But hearing about the kid's recent accomplishments made Hideaki alive with excitement. He was a face that could lead the Land of Uzu back to freedom and with a jinchuriki on their side, who could stop them?

The last thought did put a damper on the old ninja's grand mood. An uncontrolled tailed beast was the last thing that his war-torn people needed. The man wanted nothing to do with the boy if he had too many issues controlling his inner demon. The Land of Uzu needed to be rebuilt, not further destroyed.

Still, the meeting had ended hopefully for him. It was several years ago that the Whirlpool Independence Foundation had tracked Uzumaki Naruto down for being one of the last living descendants of the original line of Uzu daimyo. Finding out that he had been orphaned, well that was like striking gold twice.

The shinobi sighed, and then called for his attendant to bring him a blank scroll and ink. He needed to write to Airi and the other members of their organization. Thanks to the meddling from Danzo, the boy was now thirteen, and it was going to be far more complex to try and get him to leave his home village. Hideaki decided on a more positive outlook as he began to write. The Uzumaki child was but a boy of thirteen; how hard could it be to ask him to be royalty?

In a quiet corner of the Konoha hospital, Naruto lay in bed still covered head to toe in fresh bandages. A frown was uncharacteristically etched on his face as he dwelt on his most recent failure: retrieving Sasuke. The most important mission of his life and his lifetime promise to Sakura were both dashed to pieces and try as he might, he couldn't stop thinking about it and get some damn rest.

Groaning in frustration tinted with pain, the blond teenager gingerly turned over to face the window. The blackness outside his window told him that it was already very late into the night. Sadness permeated the young shinobi. Team seven had been his family. Beyond Iruka, and Pervy Sage, who did he really have left? Sasuke was gone. Old man Third was dead, killed by the man Sasuke was seeking and Sakura was hurting so bad, she couldn't even speak properly on the subject to him.

Grinding the heels of his hands into his face, Naruto tried to physically dispel the negative thoughts. For some reason, the words that strange Hyuga girl had said to him before his match in the Chunin finals popped into his head. What had she called him? Right, she had said he was a proud failure. Sighing, he mulled over the words. He didn't feel very proud at the moment. But then again, he never did right after something went wrong. She was right of course. He always did manage to scrape himself up off the ground again and keep going forward. Her words replayed a few times in his head as he felt his eyes begin to get heavy. Starting tomorrow he decided, as sleep finally claimed him, he'd quit sulking and continue to be a 'proud failure. '

Hiashi's face was rarely described as anything other than the textbook description of stern and today was certainly no exception. The anger and stress he was feeling caused him to periodically clench his teeth, a practice that his late wife had vowed, and failed, to stop. The leader of the Hyuga clan was headed to a serious meeting with the clan's council of elders and he was not looking forward to the object of the discussion: his daughters.

Hiashi harbored serious doubts about Hinata's ability to lead their clan. He had already made this clear in an effort to spurn her into further training, but things had mostly backfired. That is, until fairly recently. Hinata had started to show a great deal more potential, starting with the outcome of the Chunin exams. Despite this, it was not enough for him to plan to give the reins of the Hyuga over to her. Therein lay the problem.

If Hiashi officially declared Hanabi as his Heiress, the usual action would be for Hinata to be sent to the branch house and sealed like her uncle and cousin before her. The same would go for Hanabi should the tables be turned. In either instance, he would have to give up one of his girls to servitude and this wasn't something he would tolerate as the clan leader, especially not after seeing firsthand the damage that this practice had already caused his family. No, he would not rest until her was certain that neither of his girls received the Caged Bird seal.

There was one other course of action that Hiashi was clinging to. If whichever girl who wasn't named the successor of the clan was married into a different clan, they would escape that fate entirely. Two years ago, this idea was brought forth to the elders, and he had convinced them that Hinata, while maybe not a good shinobi, would make an outstanding noble's wife. They bought into the idea, and Hiashi was worry free for a few years.

He never thought that the Elders would try to marry Hinata off when she was this young. She was barely thirteen! It was preposterous! So once again, the fate of his daughters rested in a balancing act. The Hyuga monarch thanked his lucky stars that Hinata was once again showing improvement because it was the only ammunition he had against the council.

Caught up in his own mind, Hiashi didn't notice that his trip to the customary meeting room was already over. Positioned outside the door, he took some calming breaths. When he was sure of his composure, he entered the room with his trademark authority intact. After seating himself on the aging traditional mats, he opened the formal meeting by speaking.

"Elder Youta," he called, "you called for a meeting of the clan elders, so you may open the floor with your concerns."

The shriveled old man shuffled forward a few steps and began speaking with animation. "Elders, Lord Hyuga, I called you here today because I wish to discuss our previous arrangement about the clan's…heiresses."

Hiashi's eyes narrowed. He didn't like the man's emphasis on the plural of heiress.

"Lord Hyuga assured us that sealing Heiress Hinata wouldn't be necessary and that she could instead be married off for the good of the clan. I am happy to announce that I have found the perfect match for her!"

Outrage flared in Hiashi's heart but before he could say anything, a second council member piped up. "Let me guess, Elder Youta, it's your wife's nephew isn't it? As if we of the council would allow one of our own to gain such an unfair advantage over the rest!" Soon, several more councilors spoke out both in favor of the match and against it. It never took long for the conflicting fractions of the Hyuga clan to start at each other's throats.

"SILENCE!"

Everyone in the room stopped speaking, and several councilmen sat back down. "Elder Youta, how old was your daughter when she married?"

The elder looked decidedly uncomfortable. "She was 18 my lord."

"And you, Elder Shichirou?"

"My eldest was 17 when she married, and my youngest 23."

"So why," Hiashi started, with venom seeping into his voice, "would you presume that I would allow my daughter to be betrothed at such a young age?! Neither of my daughters will be married before their seventeenth year. Do I make my stance perfectly clear?" The sound of Hiashi's raised voice echoed off the walls of the now quiet chamber. "Besides that, there is another issue at hand. Hinata has shown incredible growth over the course of the last few months. I must allow her to return to the competition with her sister for the title of Hyuga Heiress, as is her birthright."

There was a collective hiss of anger and disagreement at the Hyuga Head's words. One of the bravest councilmen spoke. "You give us excuses, Hiashi. You always have a reason why one of your daughters will not go into the service of the clan, whether that would be through the Branch house or honorable marriage. We have all had family give to the clan in one way or another."

Hiashi's normal frown deepened into a scowl at the men before him. He would need to make some sort of compromise to appease them for the time being. In a burst of quick thinking, it came to him. "Three years. In three years, whichever daughter is not chosen to lead our clan can be engaged to a suitable match. I do not, however, plan to change my mind on the actual age of marriage. This is the only compromise I will make on the subject."

The Hyuga leader's pale eye's swept the room before him, daring any of the councilmen to speak again about the fate of his daughters. For a moment, the room remained deadly quiet.

Satisfied that his point was made, Hiashi moved on to the next order of business. He was far too busy keeping the councilors in line to realize that one of the daughters in question was outside the room's door and had heard the arrangements he had made on their behalf.

Hinata stood completely still, shocked frozen at the words she had overhead outside her father's conference room. It was the honest truth that she didn't mean to eavesdrop on the conversation between her father and the clan elders. She had simply been heading to bed after a particularly late-running mission with her team. But when she heard someone speaking about how they had found a match for her she had stiffened up, caught in a fit of panicky horror.

Things had only gone downhill from there. Hearing that she had been put back into the competition for the position as Heiress was frightening. She dwelt on what she had overheard as she quietly slunk back to her quarters. People may not have believed it of her, but Hinata was not afraid for herself. As the heiress made her way back to her room, she stealthily cracked open the door to Hanabi's room.

Unsurprisingly given to the fairly late hour, Hanabi was asleep. Hinata would have to update her about the evening's events the following day. She was sure her sister would be happy to have the competition between them again but then again, this time, Hanabi was old enough to understand the consequences for the losing side. The older Hyuga girl quietly closed the door to her sister's room and continued down the hall to her own.

Hanabi was skilled and brave and Hinata was sure that she would make a far better clan leader than herself. Besides that, to think of her little sister, her little firecracker sealed or locked away to be nothing more than a demure wife…no. Hinata would take that burden. She may not be a very strong kunoichi, but she definitely wasn't going to let anything happen to Hanabi. She would face a thousand Nejis to save her sister from the fate of the 'second son'.

Peeling off her dirty mission clothes and slipping into comforting pjs, Hinata wondered whether she would be sealed or married off when she turned sixteen. Either option was horrible of course, but the very idea of marrying someone other than Naruto pained her. Lying on her bed, the raven-haired girl pulled a notebook from behind her pillow and flipped to the back page, where in the bottom corner she had scribbled two words: Uzumaki Hinata. Looking at the silly, girlish gesture made her blush furiously, so she quickly began stuffing the offending notebook back under her pillow.

When she was sure her notebook was concealed, she flopped back down onto her blankets. She didn't want to admit the truth to herself, but deep down she knew she couldn't ignore it any longer. To save her beloved younger sister, she may have to give up on ever being able to write those two precious words.