Changing Fate: Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31


Naruto's Declaration
(ナルトの宣言 Naruto no Sengen)



Everyone in the Precinct House whispered to one another as the blond shinobi looked directly at Sasuke and the shape that he was in. Icy blue eyes narrowed at Koharu and Homura, the two people that was given the raven a hard time. Determined to put an end to this, Naruto started to take slow steps towards the front of the room. Kakashi and Yamato were watching their student make his way to the bench where the Daimyō was currently residing.

'Naruto...' Kakashi was worried about what would happen to Naruto for interrupting the trial. He was gonna pay the price for his actions, but at this point, he knew the blond didn't care about the punishment. The only thing he cared about at this moment was Sasuke and his safety.

"Naruto, why are you here?!" Homura questioned in anger, but the blond simply ignored the elder's question and his shallow footsteps echoed in the room as he got closer to the bench.

'He's not listening...' Tsunade pointed out while watching him. She knew that no amount of words were not going to deter the blond from what he was about to do. There was no mistaking that. Tsunade only wished that she would save him from suffering serious consequences for his actions.

Naruto had to turn this matter around and it had to be done fairly. Even with the talking that he and Shikamaru did week ago, he knew deep within his heart...that the elders wouldn't give him a fair trial, but that was all about to change. As he reached the front of the bench, Naruto paused and the blond looked up at the man with a solemn expression. His eyes were filled with certitude and he took a deep breath and spoke to him. "Daimyō, with all due respect, I do apologize for disturbing this trial. If you don't mind, I would like to speak on Sasuke Uchiha's behalf."

The room had once again had erupted with whispers. Some were hostile about the idea and some were confused as to why the blond would go out of his way just to help a 'traitor' to the village. The Fire Country officials were also baffled by Naruto's request as they already knew that nothing would be able to save Sasuke. They had too much evidence on him from the shinobi witnesses of Kumogakure.

Even more so, everyone was noticing that the Daimyō was deeply contemplating Naruto's proposal. "Well, since you are being so adamant with your request, I suppose that I could give you a few minutes to speak on his behalf to everyone here. There is something you must remember. You have to be able to convince everyone here why he shouldn't be executed. You have five minutes at the most to give your statement and I will decide his fate then."

Naruto had gave a tiny smile to him and he grinned happily in gratitude. "Thank you so much, sir."

"Lord Daimyō, I object to that proposal." Homura stated out loud, which made Naruto and the Daimyō turned their attention to the elder man. "This young man should not even be allowed in the Precinct House. A week ago, it was clearly stated that all of the young shinobi of his generation had been barred from intervening with this trial. He has clearly broke the decree for being here today and he should be punished for his actions."

'Damn you, you old buzzard...!' The blond had grounded his teeth in aggravation. Naruto had never been a person to downright disrespect an elder, but Homura was seriously pushing his buttons and driving him in that direction. He had to remain calm and not do anything that would ruin his final chance to pull Sasuke from the brink of death.

"And I've already made my decision in letting him speak, so why don't you and Koharu have a seat?" The Daimyō said in a cool manner, which was not like him at all. If anyone knew the Fire Daimyō, he is never precise with his decisions. "I'm sure that this young man will have a lot to say on behalf of his friend."

Not being to change the Daimyō's mind for the moment, Homura and Koharu had went to their seats next to the Fire Country officials and sat down. Despite the turn of events, they refused to show how angry they were for Naruto to involve himself into this matter.

"All right, Naruto, you may go ahead and give your statement." The Daimyō spoke and the blond nodded in agreement.

Tsunade had folded her hands and placed them under her chin. 'This has never happened before. The Daimyō almost never break procedures like this. His ability to change people's perception is amazing. But Naruto, you only get one more shot at this. Please make it count.'

The blond had turned around as he faced everyone in the Precinct House. He figured that trying to conjure up every detail about Sasuke and shrink into five minutes would be hard, but that wouldn't stop him and he would get through this...no matter long it took.

XxX

"N-Naruto?!" A female blonde exclaimed in shock and dropped the watering canteen that she was using to water the magnolias that she was currently growing.

Ino was managing the flower shop while her parents were at the trial hearing and she also listening to the case on the radio that she had sitting on the counter. It was just announced that Naruto had disturbed the court case. What was Naruto doing there?

"What's the matter, Ino?" A male voice asked as he came in from the back of the shop. His spiky brown hair had reached his waist, small black eyes, red swirl marks on his cheeks, and he has a much more robust physique than most other ninja. It was Ino's teammate and friend, Chōji Akimichi. He was wearing his off duties clothes and was carrying two big white bags on his shoulders. Ino had asked him could he possibly help her out with some of the store chores and he happily agreed.

"Chōji, Naruto's at the Precinct House!" Ino told him.

"He is?!" Quickly setting down the heavy bags of potting soil, Chōji went over to listen to the radio and after hearing what the announcer had said, he had the same look as she did: a look of shock and concern and the two of asked themselves why was he there in the first place? The chores would have to wait and they decided to listen to the rest of the trial hearing...

XxX

"That damn idiot...is actually there?!" Kiba asked after listening to the radio. His eyes were as huge as saucers, because he couldn't believe that Naruto would actually go this far and break the decree. Then again, this was Naruto they were talking about.

At the main Hyuga branch's house, Team Gai and Team Kurenai were still keeping up with the events of the trial, but everyone was bit surprised by Naruto's appearance at the Precinct House.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata smiled happily as continued to listen to the radio.

"This doesn't surprise me at all. As if Naruto would take something like that sitting down." Neji said.

"Naruto is truly something else." Tenten concurred.

"His power of youth had guided him to that courthouse to save a former comrade!" Lee jumped in with a little too much excitement. "Naruto-kun is burning his life passionately for Sasuke-kun's life!"

Shino was being quiet, but he had to agree with Lee. Naruto was truly a shinobi of his word when it came down to his comrades. Why? Because that was his ninja way and he lived by his words every day. Everyone there continued to listen to what was about to happen next...

XxX

On the roof of Konoha Hospital, Kei was concentrating his chakra and he suddenly smiled from sensing a familiar chakra that was in the courthouse.

"Naruto-sama made it. He's there at the Precinct House!" The chakra expert said with mirth and this made the girls stop what they're and looked at him hopefully.

"Are you serious?!" Sarina asked with excitement as she wiped away Nariko's earlier tears and Kei only nodded as his response.

This made Nariko and Miyuki expressed their happiness by bumping their fists together and grinned at one another. "All right, Dad!" they both said with excitement.

"Now all we gotta do is wait and see what happens." Now that he knew that Naruto was there, Kei was not about to give up and continued to give his best in using his jutsu. Things were slowly turning around for the better and that was a good thing for them...

XxX

In the Precinct House, everyone was waiting for Naruto to see what he was going to say. The blond was still gathering up his thoughts, but it wouldn't be long before he gave his statement. Kakashi was concerned about what Naruto would say. He only hoped that Naruto would not accidentally mention the Uchiha massacre or the truth behind it. That does not need to be revealed to everyone here. It would only cause more problems.

Naruto had kept them waiting long enough. It was time to get this over with. "Let me ask all of you a serious question. How would you feel knowing that everything that you lived for...everything you fought for...everything that you believed in...was a lie?" The blond questioned, which made all the seated shinobi looked at one another with confusion and murmured their opinions.

Yamato was a little nervous from all of this and the blond haven't even got started yet. That statement alone had took the wood user by surprise. 'Naruto, where are you going with this...?'

"None of you can really answer that question, can you? Well, this is what Sasuke's life was like. He only lived in a lie, because he thought it was the truth. Nothing more. Nothing less." Naruto explained and Sasuke had suddenly grown impliable from what Naruto had just said. Nonetheless, he couldn't really do anything about it, so he just sat there and let Naruto talk.

"When I first met Sasuke, I thought he was the biggest jerk in the entire village. He was cruel and he belittled me when I was growing up, but hard reality came crashing down on him. I'm pretty sure you all know what I'm talking about, but let's not get into that. Ever since I known him, he always wanted revenge and wanted to make peace by walking down the path of darkness. Why? Because he thought it was the only path he could take and he deemed it the right path."

Koharu and Homura was listening to the statement, but they deemed it hopeless for the blond to persuade them in changing their decision. No amount of words was going to change their minds.

"As he grew older, I realized that the path that Sasuke chose...was the wrong path and I made a promise to myself that I would save him from going down that road. As his best friend, I'm doing everything in my power to make sure that a former comrade doesn't get his life taken away. I'm not asking you to forgive him for his actions, but I'm asking you to understand why he did the things he did. Most of you, if not all of you, want the death of my best friend. But who are we to say who deserves to live or die? We have no right to decide one's life and fate." Naruto said as he clutched the front of his jacket. "The life that Sasuke lived...he had no choice but to carry out on what he thought was right. So I ask all of you. If you were in his place or even understood a smidget of his pain, wouldn't you have done the same thing that he did? Even if it meant to find peace?" The blond questioned, waiting for someone to respond.

This time, no one answered or even bothered to make a sound.

"Well, that's what he did. Sasuke took path that he thought it could lead to peace, but his way was a misconception of hurt and destruction. He couldn't see that his right...was wrong. In order to redeem his wrong doings, Sasuke wants to kill himself and seal himself away in the after life. He believes that he doesn't deserve a second chance to live and fix his mistakes." Naruto stated.

Kakashi and Yamato exchanged glances at one another before bringing their attention back to Naruto.

"Now as I leave you all with my final thought, let me say one more thing. Everyone...and I mean everyone deserves a second chance. No matter how far they have fallen or how much their spirit has been corrupted, they still deserves another chance. If you have people who love you and care about you enough to fight for you, then you are already one step closer...at turning over a new leaf..." Naruto finished.

The entire room was silent from Naruto's short yet powerful declaration. Kakashi and Yamato had no idea...that the blond could be so profound with words. Homura and Koharu had remained quiet during the whole thing and their ideals about having Sasuke executed had not wavered. Tsunade and the Fire Country officials were now writing down their thoughts on the scrolls that were on their bench.

Naruto had turned around and faced the man behind the bench. "I'm finished, Lord Daimyō."

"Very well, Naruto Uzumaki." The man spoke and it had gotten everyone's attention. "Now, we will have a one hour recess to give Tsunade and the other officials a chance to deliberate on their final thoughts. Afterwards, I will give the final verdict. Court adjourned."

With that notion, Naruto sighed a breath of relief as everyone else had started to leave the room. Naruto had looked at Sasuke, who was now being escorted out by the ANBU. 'Don't worry, Sasuke. I'm not gonna let you die...'

"Naruto." Kakashi called out to him and the blond turned to see him and Yamato standing together. "Are you okay?"

"Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-taichou..." Naruto had looked away from them for a moment. For an instant, he was assaulted with the nightmarish images from earlier and he grasped his head from seeing them again. The vision that kept playing over and over again in his head would have be the one of Sasuke covered in thorns and his own blood. Naruto had shook his thoughts away and showed a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine..."

"Let's go outside, Naruto. I'm sure all of us could use some fresh air after being stuck in here for so long." Kakashi was speaking more for himself at the moment, but it would be good for Naruto to not stay in the Precinct House and clear his head for a few minutes.

After all, he had just hit everyone with one of the strongest statements to ever be heard in a court case. Kakashi knew that Naruto had poured his heart out to everyone in the Precinct House, but he also wondered would it be enough to change the minds of the officials. Not dwelling on it anymore, the three shinobi were now walking towards the exit where they could just sit down and relax for the remaining minutes that they had left within the hour...

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* * *NEXT CHAPTER SYNOPSIS* * *


The next chapter of Changing Fate is:

Final Verdict
(最終評決 Saishū Hyōketsu)

After everything that's happen, it all comes down to this. The trial reaches its end! What will be the outcome?! And what lies ahead for Naruto and Sasuke?!