Naruto’s group takes the Sand Siblings back to the village as prisoners, which is an interesting twist given that Naruto’s group is considerably better off than in canon, when Naruto was literally crawling on the ground toward where Gaara lay, and the others weren’t much better off.
Naruto looks around, and seems surprised by the idea that some of the people he values feel the same way about him, which shouldn’t be a surprise at this point, considering the people who are in Team 8.
Gaara asks Naruto how he controls the fox, and Naruto reveals that they have a deal, in which they help each other for their mutual survival. It should also be pointed out that Naruto has a stronger seal than Gaara does, meaning that he can sleep without his Tailed Beast taking over, to say nothing about the part about the yin and yang chakras, and Naruto eventually getting Kurama to help him.
Meanwhile, Hinata seems to offer Temari some ointment, while Shikamaru is unsurprised about the demon inside Naruto, fitting his lack of reaction when he hears Naruto boast about having a "monster" inside him in the hospital.
Naruto’s group meets the gate guards, and they get a surprisingly hostile reaction for heroes of the invasion. The younger guard apparently looks at Temari in a way that Naruto doesn’t like, as it reminds him of Jiraiya. Shikamaru then warns the ninja that if they're less than cooperative, it will be construed as countermanding Kurenai’s orders.
Shino, having placed a bug on Kurenai, as well as everyone else(although it’s hard to tell how he has his bugs track down multiple targets while going after a specific one) goes to find Kurenai, causing the Sand Siblings to realize how they were tracked down. An argument ensues over how Shikamaru is looking at the Sand Siblings, in which it’s revealed that Temari has a bit more respect for Hinata now.
The guards asks whether the Sand Siblings, children of the Kazekage are royalty, and they mention the conflict between the Daimyo and the Kazekage that drove their village to attack the Leaf Village.
Kurenai arrives, talking with Danzo, and says that their captives will be turned over to Ibiki. Naruto assumes an oddly formal and businesslike tone that seems appropriate for the scene, but fairly Out of Character, while reporting on his captives. Danzo reluctantly accepts, saying that the Hokage’s “charity case” cost him his arm (missing the point that Haku was able to freeze Orochimaru’s arm off, and that in canon, the Third Hokage DIED at the end of the fight).
Gaara realizes that his father is dead, and gives barely any reaction. While his relationship with his father was troubled, to say the least, and his canon reaction was not shown, I thought that he’d feel at least something, even a barely noticeable reaction. Naruto notices that his home has been damaged, but seems optimistic.
All in all, it seems like a bit of a wasted opportunity to have the invasion end with no deaths of characters we care about, not unlike how the Land of Waves arc had a Bittersweet Ending because of Haku and Zabuza’s tragic fates. Hayate’s death was a nice warning shot indicating that things were getting serious, and the Third Hokage’s death after only disabling Orochimaru not only caused the village to lose its beloved leader, but also showed the strength of many of the enemies out there. Naruto meets with Ibiki, and is oddly surprised that he’s an interrogator as well as a test proctor. Kurenai tells Ibiki that she wants them handled with care, since Danzo’s interested in them. Naruto arranges for Jiraiya to see them.
The village council meets, and while a silk merchant questions if they even have a quorum, Hiashi’s response silences him- in addition to being a Jerkass, Hiashi is also one of the merchant’s best customers. The council, composed of many of the prominent merchants and businessmen of the clan, asks what should be done first, and Danzo decides to cancel the Chunin Exam, critical of the idea of inviting foreign ninjas into the village. Some representatives are said to oppose this, but everyone there unanimously votes to approve it.
The discussion turns to the incapacitated Hokage, but Hiruzen arrives, informing Danzo that he lost his arm, but not his life. Hiashi tells Hiruzen he will be replaced, and Hiruzen reassures him that he is working on choosing his successor, and doing what he can to protect the village without needing their emergency power.
Haku criticizes Hiruzen over his choices, but Hiruzen said it was necessary, and he made his recommendations to the proctors.
The Genin of the Leaf Village set to work repairing the city. Naruto is understandably disappointed that he didn’t pass (although it’s more plausible here with his more decisive victory against Neji), but he realizes that there are more pressing issues, such as the Hokage losing his arm. Tellingly, he doesn’t seem to think about it in canon until he eats lunch with Iruka after the Search for Tsunade arc.
Hiruzen seems to think Naruto’s ready for Chunin rank, and I have to wonder whether he’d think this in canon if he had survived the invasion. Hiruzen is a bit disturbed by what Naruto did to Neji, but finds it understandable given what Neji did to Hinata, and is pleased Hinata can return to semi-active duty soon. He’s also pleased Naruto can forgive him for his failures.
Naruto begins to fully realize what being Hokage entails, and realizes who Haku was. He also has some measure of respect for Jiraiya’s performance during the invasion, and helping examine Gaara’s seal, although one has to wonder how his technique would work on Chiyo’s seal, which might be different from the seal that the Fourth Hokage, his student, used.
Their assigned tasks completed, Team 8 gets back to reconstruction and repair. The Third Hokage brings an inquiry from the Hyuuga clan asking if Hinata has recovered, and when it’s confirmed that she has mostly recovered, suggests that she return home if possible. However, the rest of Team 8, hoping to keep her away from Hiashi whenever possible, suggests that they take her along for her Byakugan, and the Hokage agrees, putting her on the search for Tsunade.
Kurenai meets with Jiraiya to brief him on her genin, and hopes Naruto will not learn the wrong lessons from Jiraiya. Jiraiya asks her if polite behavior will really help all that much, which is a valid question; Naruto is somewhat abrasive but good hearted, and manages to attract people to him.
Kurenai lays into Jiraiya, for abandoning him (although it’s unclear whether Minato formally named him his godfather or expectedhim to look after him, and a fair number of people could have done more for Naruto). Jiraiya defends his actions, saying that he’s not happy about it, but Jiraiya has enemies, and has been working to deal with Naruto’s enemies, which is a good point. Jiraiya inadvertently mentions that Naruto is the Fourth Hokage’s son, and Kurenai worries whether Naruto’s Strong Family Resemblance to Minato will cause problems as he gets older. In response to Kurenai not wanting the future Hokage to be a pervert, Jiraiya ultimately decides to tone down his perverted activities in front of Naruto.
Kurenai then discusses Hinata, who, despite being the eldest child, won’t be confirmed as heiress. Kurenai says that Hinata has been subject to emotional and physical abuse, and can only escape through missions. Kurenai ultimately suspects that within a year, the Hyuugas will kill Hinata and Make It Look Like an Accident.
Kurenai points out that Hinata’s friends will seek revenge should that happen, especially since Hinata talked Naruto out of suicide. Kurenai says that Naruto’s closeness toward his friends is reciprocated, especially considering that Hinata loves him, or at least as much as someone with her problems can love someone- an addendum with a tone too dismissive of Hinata’s feelings for my liking. Kurenai concludes that Naruto doesn’t yet understand love, making it difficult for him to return Hinata’s feelings, a fairly good assessment of him.
Jiraiya regrets the plan to keep Naruto safely anonymous, but Kurenai concedes it kept Naruto alive.
Naruto eats at Ichiraku, thinking about his mission. Naruto finds himself surprised at how well he understands Hinata’s desires, compared to everyone else he knows, and is glad he can help her get away from her Big Screwed-Up Family. Naruto thinks about some other things, such as the discounts Ichiraku gives to village repairmen, and Iruka’s betting pool.
Neji then arrives, which Ayame considers a troubling sign, but Neji reveals that Naruto's final attack scarred him and destroyed the Caged Bird Seal. Neji says that it "shouldn’t be possible," and he’s right- the seal only is shown disappearing when he dies, both as it fulfills its purpose of sealing the Byakugan in his corpse, and somewhat symbolic of how his Heroic Sacrifice for Hinata (as well as Naruto) was his way of choosing his own destiny like his father did in sacrificing himself for his brother and village.
Neji asks why and Naruto says he didn’t do it for him, but for Hinata, citing how she wanted him to spare Neji after everything he did to her, resulting in Naruto coming up with the plan to destroy the Caged Bird Seal. Naruto tells Neji that he owes a debt to Hinata, who hated the Caged Bird Seal even more and wanted to be in the Branch Family instead. Naruto then insists that Hinata loves him as a cousin, and to repay him by way of repaying her, he should act like one. Neji agrees, and with that, the chapter ends.
Naruto’s points were reasonable- that Hinata loves Neji and wants to see the Branch family as family, are good ones. However, the tone he takes is unusually harsh and bitter, even considering what Neji did. Canonically, he doesn’t gloss over what Neji did or how infuriating he finds his beliefs, but also shows empathy for him, and says what he did because he doesn’t want people in a similar situation to make the same mistakes.
Additionally, it seems at this point that Neji doesn’t learn what he did in canon- that his father sacrificed himself not for the clan, but for his brother and village. While he may be free of the Curse Mark, I have to wonder whether he will learn the same lesson about striving to achieve one’s dreams in spite of the limitations one has- while some may say the Screw Destiny aesopi is a Broken Aesop, Neji himself acknowledges that not everything is possible, an appropriate reconciliation between his earlier fatalism (caused by beliefs that aren’t entirely wrong) and the lessons Naruto teaches him. It’s thus disappointing that he doesn’t reach that same point in canon, and that the Main Family, with the exception of Hinata, will not be doing any conciliatory gestures toward the Branch Family.
A guest reviewer known as “Griffin” makes an interesting analysis of Neji. Griffin says that while Neji’s behavior is inexcusable, it’s also a natural response to the abuse that he’s suffered, and if he can’t take it out on Hiashi, he can take it out on Hinata. It then also declares that saying that Neji’s suffering is all about him is problematic, especially when Hiashi is the one who’s responsible (of course, in canon, not only does he change because of Naruto, but also because of Hiashi revealing the truth to him and starting to treat him decently), and now has to be subservient to Hinata again, albeit in a different context. This nicely touches on some of the Unfortunate Implications present in Neji's portrayal, and I found it to be one of the better reviews.
What I liked
- Some of Jiraiya’s points
- Naruto’s thoughts about being Hokage.
What I didn’t like
- Kurenai preaching to Jiraiya again, although she didn’t dominate the argument as much this time.
- Neji being portrayed as the only one at fault for what happened
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