Chapter Text
“Rio.”
He stopped and automatically turned towards the deep voice, his mood souring at the sight of Shikamaru’s father standing there.
“Sorry, I have to deliver these,” he hefted the box further up his hip. “I don’t have time to talk to you.”
Sakura and Rio had been placed into a team of two since he’d returned, with Team Ten also forming a team of two as their chunin counterparts remained in their new roles. They were limited to in-village D-ranks but even almost three months after the attack there was still plenty to do. They were also left mostly to their own devices as Kashi and Asuma-sensei were allocated to higher rank missions so Rio at least felt they weren’t being treated like green genin. The desk trusted them to get stuff done on their own.
He’d been able to avoid Shikaku since Nii-san had been hospitalized. He just walked in a different direction or left the room whenever he saw him. It was blatant but Shikaku hadn’t tried to approach him, seeming to understand that Rio wanted nothing to do with him. He knew Nii-san was still close to him but Rio was willing to hold on to the resentment as long as possible. The man had known about Kazu-nee and Nii-san and he’d kept it from Rio. He wasn’t about to suddenly forget that.
Although Shikaku and Nii-san hadn’t seemed that close recently. Something had happened at the end of last month but Rio couldn’t even begin to guess what it was. While he was making an effort to talk to Nii-san more and really listen, there were some topics Nii-san liked to avoid completely and Rio had decided to respect that. What was important was that he got to know more about Nii-san; it didn’t matter what it was. That wasn’t worth making Nii-san uncomfortable.
“Please Rio,” Shikaku winced. “I know you and I are not on the best of terms but I need your help.”
“Why should I help you?” Rio finally put down the box, committing to the conversation for the moment. “You never helped me. You didn’t even bother to tell me that Nii-san and Kazu-nee were in danger.”
“I promise you, Rio, that was not what I wanted,” Shikaku stepped forward intently. “I was going to come straight to you and Sasuke after my meeting with the Sandaime but I was ordered not to. I didn’t even want them on that mission.”
He’d never seen the man show this much emotion before.
“You were ordered not to?”
“I thought you deserved to know too, Rio, but I couldn’t go against Sandaime-sama’s orders.”
“But Jiji wouldn’t…” he trailed off.
Shikaku’s dark eyes softened.
“He really believed he was doing the right thing, even if we didn’t agree,” he said. “He believed that it was safer for Naruto for no one to know he was missing. If the other villages got wind of the fact that was being held against his will outside of the village, then they would have searched for him too. There would have been the risk of them finding him first and it would have been even harder to get him back.”
“But telling me wouldn’t have made any difference!”
“I can’t tell you what Sandaime-sama was thinking,” Shikaku shrugged. He then paused. “I thought someone would have told you by now that we were all under orders.”
Rio cringed slightly.
“Nii-san told me but I guess it didn’t really sink in; like I know that, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.”
Shikaku nodded in understanding.
“I’m sorry you were put through it all. It never should have happened.”
Rio felt some of the resentment fade from his heart. He would still probably be a bit wary of Shikaku but he couldn’t really keep being mad at him like this anymore. Nii-san had told him many times that it hadn’t been Shikaku’s fault. He supposed he could sort of see that now. He may not like him that much but Shikaku clearly cared about Nii-san. Shikamaru told him about the family dinners they had with Nii-san; his mother was apparently close to trying to get him to move in.
“So what do you want help with?” Rio crossed his arms. “Is this because of what happened last month?”
Shikaku froze.
“He told you about that?”
“No,” Rio shook his head, “but I can tell something happened. Nii-san’s been off; he’s also been impossible to track down so I know he’s hiding from someone. Kazu-nee mentioned your name once and Nii-san flinched so it had to be you.”
Shikaku’s look of guilt was eerily similar to Shikamaru’s. They almost looked like twins anyway down to the hairstyle, bar to two scars and goatee that Shikaku sported.
“Can you just ask him to talk to me?” He asked neutrally, controlling his expression quickly. “I’ve been looking for him every day for two weeks and he’s never at the office anymore. I know he’s found other duties to complete but he’s also never home when I call round. Naruto could avoid me forever with his sensing.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“Tell him I’m stupid and I’m sorry and I’ll never try anything like that again,” Shikaku listed. “Yoshino is worried about him and so am I. I only wanted the best for him; I see him as a part of my family but I didn’t stop and think about his feelings. I will do better in the future, not just with him but Shikamaru and my clan too.”
Rio considered him for a moment.
“I mean, I’ll pass it on but I don’t know what he’ll do,” he gave in.
“Thank you, Rio,” Shikaku’s shoulders slumped into a more familiar posture. “That’s all I can ask.”
Naruto flipped through his sealing notebook, making a note every few pages. He’d finally managed to finish the seals the hospital had asked for and he’d had new ideas about how to improve them. With his evenings free due to Tsunade’s new schedule for him, he would actually have time to try them out. He even had time to train in taijutsu and ninjutsu again. With the additional training, he probably had about the same amount of free time as before – which was none – which probably wasn’t Tsunade’s intention but Naruto was happy with it. He’d forgotten how cathartic it was just to blow up a training ground.
The small signature following him started to quicken his pace so Naruto slowed down, waiting for him to catch up. The badly disguised rock shuffled forward and matched his pace once again. Once they reached a quieter section of the village, Naruto stopped and turned. The paper-mâché rock stopped after a second and Naruto tried to muffle his laughter.
“Can I help you, Konohamaru-kun?”
The rock remained still and silent.
“Come on, kid. It was a good effort but I know you’re there.”
He wasn’t sure why the Sandaime’s grandson had decided to follow him around today. He knew he hadn’t exactly been fair to the kid the last time they’d met. He’d been so overwhelmed with preparations for the chunin exams that he hadn’t been in the mood for an eight year old to accuse him of tripping him up.
Konohamaru lifted the fake rock over his head, revealing his scowling face. He looked a bit like Asuma; his brown hair stuck straight up out of his face and he still had the blue scarf and yellow t-shirt with Konoha’s Leaf on it. Deep brown eyes were narrowed as he flung out his hand to point at Naruto.
“How did you know I was there?” he demanded.
Naruto looked incredulously between the kid and the rock.
“Kid, rocks don’t move on their own. They also don’t adjust their speed when following someone.”
Konohamaru huffed.
“You think you’re super smart, huh?”
Naruto shook his head, utterly baffled.
“No? The idea was solid; you just need to pick a better medium. It would have been maybe easier to use henge or even disguise as the fence. If you got the hang of stopping before your target turns around, it would work much better.”
He didn’t think Konohamaru had expected a lesson on sneaking up on people. The kid’s hand wavered before he finally lowered it.
“Why are you telling me this? Why aren’t you angry that I’m following you?”
“Why would I be angry?” Naruto asked in genuine confusion. “You probably want to talk to me but you’re not sure how to do it. Also, how are you going to get better if people don’t help you? You want to be Hokage someday, right? You have a long way to go but if you keep improving, I can see it happening.”
Konohamaru’s mouth opened and closed silently; Naruto wasn’t sure what he’d said. He sobered up slightly.
“I’m sorry about your grandfather,” he offered quietly. “He was a great man and he loved you very much.”
Konohamaru frowned, looking down at the ground.
“He talked about you.”
Naruto blinked in surprise. The Sandaime talked about him? Why? They’d fallen out when Konohamaru was only five. Why did the Sandaime talk about him?
“What did he say?” He couldn’t help but ask.
“He said you were strong and that you really cared about people,” Konohamaru recited, his eyes misty in memory. “Like you always stood up for people, no matter who they were, if you knew it was right; even against Ojii-chan.”
Naruto was motionless, frozen in shock.
“He said that if I ever needed help that I should find you,” Konohamaru finally looked at him, “and that you would be a great Hokage someday.”
Naruto felt the tears well up and he harshly wiped them away. Damn that old man; they’d disagreed on so much and he turned around and did this? They’d been so close before but Naruto knew that they’d lost that the night of the Uchiha Massacre. There had been minor conflicts since then and Naruto thought that he and the Sandaime were done; reduced to a tense relationship as subordinate and leader. There was so much that the old man hid, stuff Naruto knew shouldn’t be hidden.
He’d make a great Hokage? What was that nonsense? That was Rio’s dream, not his.
The tears kept coming but Naruto did his best to stem them. He didn’t need people to see him crying in the middle of the street. Jiji was gone. It shouldn’t matter that he’d talked about him to his grandson.
But somehow it did.
“Thanks for telling me, Konohamaru-kun,” he forced a smile. “You don’t have to worry about fighting me for the hat though; that’ll be my little brother’s job.”
Konohamaru just looked back at him with a serious expression.
“You call me by my name,” he said out of the blue. “That day, you told Ebisu-sensei to use it too.”
Naruto raised an eyebrow, his cheeks drying in the cold November air.
“What else are we supposed to call you?”
“People never call me by name. It’s always ‘Honorable Grandson’. People look at me and see him; they don’t see me. You did though,” Konohamaru’s eyes were intense.
Naruto couldn’t remember doing anything special that day. If anything, he thought he’d been too harsh on the kid.
“I think you’re giving me too much credit,” he held up his hands, his notebook falling open as it hung down in one hand. “I just treated you like I would any other kid.”
Konohamaru geared up to say something else when his attention was captured by the pages of his notebook.
“What’s that?”
“This?” Naruto stepped closer, dropping to one knee so he could allow Konoha a better view. “These are seals; I’m working on some new ones and this notebook is where I sketch out my ideas before I try them out on sealing paper.”
Konohamaru nodded, still captivated by the images. He pointed to one of the more complicated ones.
“What does this one do?”
“That one will hopefully assist the diaphragm in patients with collapsed lungs,” Naruto described eagerly. “Essentially, you place it on their chest and it helps create a vacuum that’ll inflate the lungs when the muscles are too weak.”
He wasn’t sure if Konohamaru totally understood but there was a twinkle in his eye.
“I thought fūinjutsu was supposed to be really hard.”
Naruto chuckled, handing over the notebook for the kid to hold as he sat cross-legged in the middle of the path. Konohamaru mirrored him, plopping himself onto the ground.
“It involves a lot of reading, yeah, but the only important things you need to learn fūinjutsu is patience and imagination.”
Konohamaru grinned and Naruto pointed to another one.
“So this one…”
He didn’t know how long they sat there; going through his sealing notebook, but it was nice to have someone as excited as he was. He left the kid with a promise to find him some beginners’ fūinjutsu scrolls to read. His relationship with the Sandaime may have been a bit rocky but that didn’t mean it had to be the same way with Konohamaru.
Sasuke kicked a stone as he waited around a clearing just outside of the village walls. His teammate had gone for a piss somewhere in the trees so Sasuke was left to listen to the quiet rustling of the leaves around them in the evening air. He didn’t mind guard duty, even if it was dull, and he only had to put up with one other chunin at any given time. They did patrols in pairs, with ten pairs operating at any given time, and there was a lot of ground to cover. He enjoyed the exercise and his favourite route was this one, a few hundred metres away from the walls. It was peaceful and Sasuke had the time to really think about his future and what he wanted out of it.
He knew he would have to find something else. He couldn’t do guard duty forever. He needed something that made him better as a shinobi. While he knew this was necessary for Konoha, he could help but think he would be better suited elsewhere. He was better than just running circles around the village and he knew Naruto knew it too. Things had settled down from the invasion so he hoped they would find something for him soon.
He heard a loud rustle and he shifted his feet; took the guy long enough. He frowned as someone he didn’t recognize emerged from the foliage.
“Uchiha Sasuke?” The large man asked.
“Who the fuck else it is supposed to be, Jibōrō?” A girl appeared beside the man, crossing her arms.
“Tayuya, that’s not very ladylike,” the man scolded softly. “You’re going to make the wrong impression on Sasuke-kun.”
He scanned them, reaching for a kunai. The man was tall with ginger hair forming a short Mohawk on the top of his round head. He was on the bigger side, with broad shoulders and a gut being held back by a thick purple rope acting as a belt; Sasuke remembered seeing one like it on Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. The girl was much smaller and looked his age, dark pink hair covering most of her face. It was held in place with a black hat, the rim covered in white bandages, and she wore the same uniform as the man; beige tunic, purple rope belt and black shorts.
“Go fuck yourself, fatso,” she retorted harshly.
“Now, now, the level hasn’t even started yet.”
Another guy emerged, barely older than Sasuke. He was dark-skinned and spiky, black hair was slicked back into a bushy ponytail. His tunic was sleeveless and he was the only one wearing a hitai-ate; the music note immediately set Sasuke on the edge.
“Shut the fuck up, Kidōmaru,” she snapped. “Where are those useless twins?”
“They’re on a side quest,” Kidōmaru shrugged. “Gotta make sure the sensing guy doesn’t come and interrupt our fun.”
“What are you doing here?” Sasuke cut in tersely. “What does Orochimaru want with me?”
“Orochimaru-sama has a wonderful deal to offer you,” Jibōrō said calmly. “If you come to Oto, you can attain limitless power; enough to beat your brother.”
“I refuse,” Sasuke retorted almost instantly.
“We’ll just have to show you what you’re missing then,” the girl grinned widely.
The three vanished from view and Sasuke activated his Sharingan in time to block a blow from Kidōmaru aimed right at his face. He planted his hands on the back of his shoulders and shoved, pushing Kidōmaru towards the ground. He used the momentum to lift both of his feet off the ground, kicking back at Tayuya as she came up behind them and sending her flying.
Jibōrō came running with a fist already swinging and Sasuke had to think fast. He used his core to plant his feet back on the ground, deflecting the fist with his forearm as he grabbed the loop of Kidōmaru’s belt with his other hand. With a massive heave, he lifted Kidōmaru and swung him into Jibōrō, the pair tumbling away from him. He fell back into a ready stance as they turned into logs and he searched the clearing, finally finding them standing and observing him.
“Not bad,” Jibōrō stated thoughtfully. “No wonder Orochimaru wants you.”
Sasuke just snarled.
Kidōmaru launched himself forward and spat spider webs out of his mouth.
“Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu!”
The ball of flames caught the webs and burned them to ash in an instant. It didn’t slow down Kidōmaru’s approach and Sasuke ducked beneath a fist, not expecting another to follow in its shadow. The blow landed on his cheek and he used the momentum to spin into a roundhouse, getting some distance between them. Since when did the guy have six arms?
He was shoulder-barged by Jibōrō and it sent him flying, tumbling towards a smirking Tayuya. He made himself turn an extra two rotations so her hit missed as he ended up beneath her stomach. He flipped through hand seals and grabbed her ankles.
“Raiton: Bakurai!”
The lightning chakra lanced up his arms and into her legs, causing her to screech in pain. He held on tightly even as something slammed into his ribs. He wheezed as the pain radiated up his sides. He finally let go but she continued screaming as her legs failed to hold her weight. He coughed again as Jibōrō kicked his stomach.
“Give up and come with us,” he said. “You can be so much stronger than you are now; you are wasted in Konoha.”
He felt his foot being grabbed as cursed as Kidōmaru swung him around. He tore a kunai from one of the pockets of his chunin vest, swiping at the hand and managing to slice into the arteries in his wrist. Kidōmaru let go with a roar and Sasuke rolled to break his landing. He stood and faced the trio once again, grimly satisfied to see at least two of them injured.
“I will never join Orochimaru,” he spat defiantly. “You are going to have to drag my dead body out of this village because that's the only way it would ever happen.”
It wasn’t even a question; the allure of power didn’t have the slightest bit of sway on him. He knew he could become strong in Konoha; he’d already made so much progress and he knew he would just continue to grow. Sure, they stuck him with shitty missions sometimes and he usually wanted to be left alone and he occasionally wanted to stab the villagers and fangirls out of frustration but at the end of the day, it was his home. It was where Naruto and Kazuya and his team and his family history were. Betraying the village for power would make him no better than Itachi and would be an affront to his clan, one of the founders of this village.
He wanted to rebuild the Uchiha Clan and a part of that was re-establishing the reputation and esteem they had before. He would not be the final nail in the coffin; he would stand tall and earn the respect of everyone so when people spoke about the Uchiha Clan, it was with awe and pride. He would defeat not only Itachi himself but the shadow he had cast over his family. He would build a bright future with his own two hands.
“Come on, there’s nothing keeping you here,” Kidōmaru tried, having stemmed the blood flow from his wrist.
Faces flashed through his head; Rio and Kakashi and Kazuya and Tenten and the dumbasses he graduated with. Naruto’s grinning face was the last and he gripped his kunai tighter. The older boy had no idea what he’d done for Sasuke; without him Sasuke might have even been tempted by Orochimaru.
He’d taken Sasuke in without question and supported him and was just there for him. He believed with every inch of his soul that Sasuke could beat Itachi and fulfill all his goals and he fought so hard to find the truth about that night, all because he thought it was the right thing to do. Sasuke knew he wasn’t a great person; he was angry and vindictive and grumpy and stubborn and had no patience for people that frustrated him. Naruto showed him that it was okay, that even with all his faults they would never leave him.
“My family is here,” he stated firmly. “They’re dumb and gullible and loud but they’re mine.”
No one could ever replace his parents or his clan but the Uzumaki household had squirmed into his cold heart and settled there, making sure he knew that while he’d suffered a great loss, he wasn’t alone. The memory of the sea of candles from the first Rinne Festival after he’d lost his clan was still as bright and clear as the day it happened.
“I’m glad to hear it,” a very familiar voice said. “Otherwise this might have been a bit awkward.”
Sasuke watched Naruto emerge from the left of the clearing, grinning widely at him. Despite his joking tone, Sasuke could see the love and pride glittering in his soft blue eyes. There was a splatter of blood across his cheek but Sasuke couldn’t see a wound. There wasn’t even a hair out of place.
“Are the ANBU on their way?” Sasuke quickly asked.
“Nope,” he shook his head as he came to stand beside Sasuke, hands in his pocket. “You and I can handle them.”
“Where’s Sakon and Ukon?” Kidōmaru demanded.
Naruto appeared to think for a moment and Sasuke didn’t know how he was acting so nonchalantly. These guys were no joke.
“You mean the twins?” Naruto’s grin turned sharp. “I’m afraid they’re unavailable for the foreseeable future. You might find pieces of them around a few hundred metres west of here but the animals might have already got those.”
Tayuya howled in fury as she finally got her legs to obey her after the electrical attack. Sasuke readied himself but Naruto spoke quietly.
“I’m going to send off a fūton attack,” he said quickly, already flashing through his one-handed seals. “I need you to hit it with a katon.”
Sasuke nodded as Naruto unleashed his technique.
“Fūton: Kami Oroshi!”
Sasuke almost messed up a hand seal as he watched a massive wall of wind start to move towards their opponents. The thought that he’d never actually seen Naruto fight seriously flashed through his mind before he refocused.
“Katon: Hibashiri!”
He had to take a step back at the blast of heat that flared as the techniques combined, inducing an incredible furnace that roiled and burned as it scorched the grass beneath it.
“Which one do you want?”
He looked over to Naruto.
“The one with six arms,” he replied quickly.
There was something about him that rubbed Sasuke the wrong way.
“Sounds good,” Naruto cracked his knuckles. “You’ve already weakened the girl so I’ll deal with her quickly then take on the big one.”
The flames finally crashed into the trees behind the trio and spluttered out, the leaves still burning slowly. The Oto nin had managed to dodge it but not entirely; Jibōrō was slapping out flames on his tunic and Tayuya was struggling to stand on her own. Kidōmaru looked fine, with only ash streaked across his face and clothes.
Naruto vanished from next to him and reappeared behind Tayuya. It was only because of his Sharingan that he could see the fūton coating Naruto’s right hand as he swiped it across her throat, cutting her carotid artery and spraying her blood across the ground. Jibōrō screamed in fury as he lunged for Naruto and the Uzumaki dodged, leading him away from Kidōmaru and Tayuya’s cooling body.
Sasuke ran straight for Kidōmaru, launching several shuriken. Kidōmaru easily blocked it with his multiple limbs but it drew his attention back to Sasuke.
“All you had to do was say yes,” the Oto nin hissed. “We offered you more power than you could have ever dreamed of!”
“And yet half of you are dead and we are just getting started,” Sasuke grinned viciously. “Sounds like I made the right decision.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Sasuke landed another hit but it didn’t seem to faze the Oto nin. Black swirls spread over Kidōmaru’s skin until he was covered and Sasuke jumped back. He bit into his thumb and flew through hand seals, slamming one of his many hands onto the ground.
“Kuchiyose no jutsu!”
Dozens of spiders appeared and started slinging webs at Sasuke. He completed his own hand seals almost immediately after.
“Katon: Gōka Messhitsu!”
He heaved a great breath and fire spilled from his lips in a torrent. He spun, creating a living tornado as the spiders burned up around him. He finally ran out of breath and stopped the technique but the spiders were gone, leaving behind smouldering heaps. He didn’t have a chance to dodge the kunai thrown his way and gritted his teeth as it sliced into his right arm.
He didn’t let that stop him from launching himself forward again, exchanging fists and kicks in a flurry. It was harder than he thought trying to fight all six hands at once but he was just barely holding his own. Kidōmaru landed a heavy kick into his side and sent Sasuke rolling.
“Looks like I’m going to have to get serious, huh?”
Kidōmaru’s skin started to bubble and move and was soon covered in a red light that fluctuated like molten lava. He grew in height and width and when the light faded, Sasuke could only stare at what he’d become. He was demonic in appearance, with two horns sticking out of his head and a third eye in his now uncovered forehead. His hair had turned white and spikes stuck out of his shoulders and elbows, his skin a deep red.
“This is what you could have had, Uchiha! This is the power of the Cursed Seal!”
He secreted a yellow substance that hardened into projectiles and Sasuke winced as one of them managed to hit his leg. He powered through the rising pain to flip through seals.
“Katon: Engeki!”
His fists lit up with bright orange flames and he started swinging. Kidōmaru didn’t let him get close and Sasuke was reduced to hitting the weird orange kunai away from him. He was beginning to tire and Kidōmaru showed no sign of the same. He had to finish this but he couldn’t get close enough between the extra arms and constant waves of kunai. A terrible idea came to him. He’d never tried using the technique directly on another person but it should cause enough damage to down the Oto nin.
He ran straight for Kidōmaru and didn’t dodge the large kunai that lodged into his shoulder. Kidōmaru was surprised for only a split second, scrambling back but Sasuke was already slamming his hands on the other boy’s chest.
“Raiton: Jibashi!”
The lightning tore through Kidōmaru’s body followed by an excruciating scream. Blood sprayed into Sasuke’s face as the technique ripped his skin apart. He could see the muscle ripping apart in the open wounds and one of his eyes burst out of his socket. The scream was cut off abruptly and Sasuke cancelled the technique, standing back and sucking air desperately into his deprived lungs. Kidōmaru had reverted to his original form; his chest wasn’t moving from what he could tell through the blood and torn chunks of flesh. Sasuke took a moment to check the Oto nin was actually dead before he immediately looked over at Naruto.
The earth around the pair was wrecked; craters and debris were scattered about at random and Sasuke could see deep, clean slices in the ground from fūton jutsu. His mouth opened as a massive, heavy-altered Jibōrō pulled a massive sphere out of the ground, flinging it at Naruto who proceeded to bend over backwards to avoid it. He fell into a back-handspring and when upright, ran straight for Jibōrō. Sasuke was captivated as he watched the pair exchange blows.
Naruto looked like one of the festival dancers; his movements were so fluid and smooth and effortless. Gravity didn’t look like it affected him as he kicked and twirled around the man twice his size. One hit from Jibōrō would be enough to kill him but it was like Naruto was made of air, each punch seeming to pass through him. How fast did he have to be to do that? How flexible? How many hours did he spend training?
So this was Red Leg; he’d seen it in training but it was a different story in a real fight. Naruto was a different story in a fight. Jibōrō was slowly being cut up, small wounds appearing with each blow. Sasuke reactivated the Sharingan, which had faded after he’d checked Kidōmaru was dead, and was able to see the thin blanket of fūton chakra coating Naruto’s legs. The hits alone were powerful but combined like that? Sasuke hadn’t seen anything like it. He was already trying to think of ways he could do it himself with his elements.
Naruto flipped back several paces to avoid the hammer of earth that slammed into the ground where he’d stood. He grinned as he stood up straight, shoving his left hand into his pocket and relaxing. What was he doing? Jibōrō was still standing; the fight wasn’t over.
“You really are a big fucker,” Naruto said calmly. “Took a few more than I thought it would.”
A few more of what?
“You arrogant…” Jibōrō began but he froze halfway through.
His eyes rolled back into his skull and he dropped like a stone, his altered form fading just like it did with Kidōmaru. Sasuke limped over, holding his arm and dripping blood into the wrecked ground. He finally came close enough to see the small seals covering Jibōrō’s body.
“Each of those injects a bit of poison into his system,” Naruto explained, seeing his curiosity. “He’s a big guy so it took way longer to hit him than it usually would. Kazuya helped me make them last week and I haven’t had the chance to test them yet.”
Sasuke swallowed. Naruto was a little rumpled but his bun was still perfectly in place. The blood on his cheek was the only tangible evidence that he’d even been in a fight. Sasuke, on the other hand, was covered from head to toe in a mixture of his and Kidōmaru’s blood, with cuts and bruises littering his whole body. He was exhausted from all the chakra use and Naruto looked exactly the same as he had when he first appeared. He had so much further to go to match his level.
Had he even taken the fight seriously? He’d used it as an opportunity to test a seal while it had taken every bit of skill Sasuke had to beat Kidōmaru. He’d been right to stay; if Naruto could get this strong in Konoha, so could Sasuke. He’d have to rope the redhead into his training more often.
“Why didn’t you get back-up?” He asked abruptly, the edges of his vision becoming fuzzy.
“This was your fight,” Naruto shrugged. “I just helped even the odds a bit. Three to one is a bit much, even for me.”
Sasuke nodded but the dizziness hit him full force. He felt himself being caught by a pair of warm arms just before he blacked out.
Sasuke groaned as awareness slowly came back to him. His limbs felt so heavy and as he swallowed, a sharp, dry pain informed him of how thirsty he was. He peeled his eyes open and hissed at the bright white light. Gods, his head hurt.
“Sasuke.”
He opened his eyes more slowly this time to Naruto leaning over him, a glass of water in his hand. He offered the straw to Sasuke and he drank it greedily, the cold, soothing liquid coating his throat and easing the scratchy feeling. Naruto took away the empty glass and sat back in his chair beside Sasuke’s bed.
“How long…?” he croaked.
“Just an hour or so,” Naruto smiled softly. “It was the chakra exhaustion that got you.”
He nodded as Naruto continued.
“They were identified as the Sound Four. Orochimaru sent them to kidnap you so we can safely assume he’s not going to give up on having you for himself.”
A shudder ran through Sasuke; he didn’t want to think about what the Snake Sannin wanted him for.
“I need to get stronger,” he said. “So I can stop anyone who tries.”
“I agree.”
Naruto leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him.
“I’ve been thinking about you a lot,” he began. “You’re already an amazing chunin and ideally you would be handling B-ranks outside of the village. The issues with Sound complicate this, however, and I can’t in good conscience send you out of the village when I know these people are going to be hunting you.”
Sasuke gritted his teeth; they couldn’t trap him here.
“But if you were to wear a disguise, or were completely anonymous,” Naruto continued, interrupting Sasuke’s negative spiral, “then there would be very little risk considering no one would know if you left the village or not.”
Where was he going with this?
“I think you should apply to become an ANBU.”
Sasuke’s heart skipped a beat. ANBU?
“But I…” he whispered.
Itachi had been an ANBU.
“Sasuke, you held off three jounin-level enemy nin long enough for help to arrive,” Naruto explained patiently. “You defeated a jounin-level shinobi despite only being a chunin for just over three months. You have an incredible level of mastery over so many katon and raiton jutsu and your taijutsu is powerful. It’s a waste to have you on guard duty and ANBU will help you become stronger. It is also strictly confidential so no one would know what missions you were on or if you were out of the village bar a select trusted few.”
Sasuke didn’t respond, still trying to process Naruto’s words.
“The entry requirements aren’t as strict as people like to imagine,” he said, continuing to blow Sasuke’s mind. “You have to be a chunin and a current or former ANBU has to vouch for you. I’ve never been one but I know the ANBU Commander pretty well so I could get you in? Or we could find someone that would vouch for you? What do you think?”
Sasuke was delighted; this was exactly the kind of thing that he wanted. ANBU would be a massive challenge and he would get to complete missions that would actually test his skills. ANBU were the strongest in the village right after the Hokage and Elite Jounin and while he wasn’t sure he was at that level yet, what better way to get there than training alongside them?
“I want to,” he nodded.
“I’ll vouch for him.” Kakashi-sensei walked into the room, eye-smiling with his hands in his pockets. “It’s the least I can do for my cute little kouhai. The others are on their way.”
Sasuke felt a smile forming across his face but didn’t try to stop it.
“Hey,” Naruto waggled a finger playfully. “We can just get you to the starting line. The hard part of ANBU is the boot camps and exams that decide if you can stay. It takes about a year of training to get your mask. Are you ready for that?”
Sasuke didn’t even hesitate.
“Yes.”
Naruto rooted through his office shelf, cursing himself for his hoarding habits. Why did he insist on keeping every single piece of paper and scroll that had even the tiniest relevance to his job? It looked great but at times like this it was like searching for a specific kunai in a practice range. He felt the signature hover outside his door but he decided not to run. He’d been avoiding the man long enough. If even Rio had said something, then Naruto should give him the chance.
“Naruto?”
He didn’t turn around and look.
“I’m sorry, kid.”
Naruto just continued to look through the next piles of scrolls.
“I was thinking about what was best for both you and the clan but I got it wrong.” It sounded painful for the Nara to say those words. “Sometimes I get too focused on the logic and strategy part of things that I don’t factor in the human element. It works out so great in my head that the world should follow that same conclusion. It works in battle but not so much in relationships.”
Naruto finally stopped moving, turning slowly to look at the man. Shikaku stood straight and stared him directly in the eye. Naruto could respect that.
“I thought you knew me better than this,” he said quietly.
“I do,” Shikaku said desperately. “Kid, I fucked up. I know that. I just thought that you should have the chance to see what you were missing. I didn’t want you to deny yourself the opportunity for new things because you’re too busy trying to protect people from hurting.”
Naruto knew he did do that; but not with this.
“Shikaku, I don’t deny myself a relationship because I don’t want them to have to attend my funeral. I just don’t want one; I don’t want sex or dates or any of it! It doesn’t make me less worthy and my happiness doesn’t depend on someone loving me like that. I have so many people who love me just for who I am and that’s all I could ever need. My platonic bonds are more than enough and if you can’t respect that, then fuck off!”
Gods, things had been so much easier when he was younger. No one asked about this type of shit because they’d assumed he’d grow into it. He didn’t know what happened when he’d turned sixteen and everyone decided that it was time for him to date, but after a month it got old real fast.
“I’m so sorry, kid,” Shikaku said quietly. “I thought you were trying to do that ‘protect people from your imminent death’ thing you always do.”
“I won’t deny that I do that.” something softened in Naruto’s chest, “just not with this.”
Shikaku nodded.
“I vow on my position as the Nara Clan Head and Jounin Commander of Konohagakure that I will never betray your trust like this again,” Shikaku said seriously. “The Nara Clan will have your back for as long as you need us.”
Naruto appreciated the sentiment and the gravitas behind his words.
“No need to get all dramatic,” he joked, letting the man know it was okay.
Shikaku relaxed and the laziness covered him like a cloak. Naruto thought it suited him much better than the tense and rigid posture he’d been sporting before.
“Besides, I can survive without you,” Naruto crossed his arms. “I even passed my post-kidnapping evaluation last week.”
Shikaku eyed him suspiciously.
“How much did you lie about?”
“Irrelevant.”
Shikaku appeared to let it go for the moment, not wishing to push his luck. It might take a bit of time for them to fully relax back into the friendship from before but Naruto knew they’d be fine.
Naruto slid into the barstool next to Genma-sensei. The jounin had been a bit off for a while after that night but two weeks later, he’d turned up with a bucket of instant ramen and demanded that Naruto stop avoiding him. Naruto had already forgiven him; he knew it wasn’t totally fair on them either. There was no happy solution to his situation and whether he hid it or didn’t, people got hurt. He knew how much it had to hurt to know Naruto was hiding such a massive part of his life from them but at the same time, it was his to hide.
He stood by every word he’d said to them that night. He just wanted people to live their lives as happily as they could and he knew that revealing his illness would take that away from them. Bearing their anger was worth their futures.
“I know I promised to treat you to Ichiraku’s but it’s going to be one or two bowls, right?” Genma-sensei only partially joked.
“You underestimate how much ramen I can shove down my throat before I need to be stopped,” Naruto grinned back at him, already ordering two miso ramen from Teuchi.
He was having a great day today; maybe he should have started taking medications sooner. He couldn’t remember the last time his appetite had been so big. It was relative though; he was still nowhere close to the likes of his kids but he would take each victory as it came.
“I was your jounin-sensei,” Genma-sensei shook his head, chuckling. “I’ve seen exactly how much you can pack away.”
He hesitated for a moment.
“So you’re feeling good today?”
He really had to start getting used to this. Every time Genma-sensei saw him there was a layer of meaning to his questions that hadn’t been there before.
“I’m really good, Genma-sensei,” he nodded, thanking Teuchi as his first bowl was placed in front of him. “Honestly, you just caught me on a bad day; Tsunade has been helping a lot.”
“I’m glad.”
A comfortable silence fell over them as they started to dig in. He was glad Genma-sensei was so understanding; he hadn’t seen Hana since that night. It hurt so much to know that he may have lost one of his oldest friends but he was determined to let her work through it on her own. He’d said his piece and given his reasons. It was a matter of whether she could accept them or not.
He felt her signature start to move towards them and he paused, his chopsticks hovering in the air. She was heading directly for them.
“Naruto?” He jumped at Genma-sensei’s voice. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just…” he felt her signature continue to move steadily towards the ramen stand. “I thought I felt something.”
He turned in his seat to see the Inuzuka Heir appear in the distance. He prayed she wasn’t about to have a public throw down with him. There were too many people around who might hear the wrong thing. He waited until she was right in front of him and he scanned her carefully.
She looked awful. Her long brown hair was tied sloppily, strands escaping everywhere, and the bags beneath her eyes showed that she probably hadn’t slept in the past month. Her chunin vest was crumpled and stained and her brown eyes were rimmed with red.
“Hana, are you okay?” Naruto jumped out of his seat, dismissing the lingering conflicted feelings from their argument in favour of worrying for his teammate. “What happened? Is everyone okay?”
His hands hovered worriedly over her as he tried to figure out what was wrong. It couldn’t be about him; it’d been so long and he could feel the pain seeping out of her every pore. She couldn’t have been in this state for the past month. She swallowed, sniffling, before she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him tightly into her chest. Naruto could only freeze in shock as Genma-sensei stood behind them, watching the pair warily.
“I’m so sorry, Naru-chan,” she whispered. “I’m so, so sorry.”
She pulled back a little, looking into Naruto’s eyes.
“You’re going through this awful thing and I made it all about me,” she croaked. “I just wasted a whole month of the time you have left being selfish and petty and I’m really sorry.”
“Hey, no,” Naruto pulled her back into a hug. “I hid something big from you and you had every right to be mad. I’m just sorry you had to find out that way.”
“Stop being so nice and understanding,” Hana pulled back sharply. “I hurt you, I know I did, and you shouldn’t just be sweeping it all under the rug like it never happened! You've always been too forgiving of people!”
Naruto just gently smiled, holding her shoulders firmly.
“Hana, how could I be mad at someone who is hurting so badly on my behalf?”
Hana shook her head weakly.
“I’m an Inuzuka,” she argued feebly. “We’re supposed to be the most loyal clan in Konoha and yet I turned around and ran when you needed me. That isn’t okay.”
He finally let go and just rested a hand on her head gently.
“Then do better for the next time someone else needs you,” he said softly. “Beating yourself up over the past isn’t going to help you make a better future. Accept the lesson then let it go, then you can change things for the better without all that deadweight holding you back.”
She nodded, wiping the tears off her cheeks. She nudged his arm with a small smile and Naruto was glad to see it; it was a good start.
“You sound like one of those old men whose quotes we had to learn at the academy.”
Naruto pulled an affronted look, prompting a chuckle out of the Inuzuka.
“She’s got a point,” he felt Genma-sensei mess with his braid. “You’d make a pretty good jounin-sensei.”
“You guys do remember I’m the youngest of all of you?” He rolled his eyes, internally wincing as Hana’s smile fell.
He turned back to the counter.
“Can we get a beef ramen, Teuchi?”
The man had been politely pretending he couldn’t hear them and Naruto was grateful. He didn’t think there was anything too incriminating said but he was glad to escape the attention.
“Consider it on the house,” Teuchi winked and Naruto smiled in thanks.
He guided Hana to sit next to them. His smile grew as the signature he’d felt approaching finally arrived.
“Meeting without me? I didn’t think I could feel so betrayed.”
Genma-sensei and Hana both jumped and Naruto laughed, glancing over his shoulder to see Kazuya with his hands on his hips. He could see the relief on his face when his eyes landed on Hana but he didn’t dwell on it, quickly seating himself right beside her.
“I swear one day we’re going to make you jump,” Kazuya peered around her to glare at Naruto playfully. “We’re going to sneak up on you and you’re going to shit yourself.”
Naruto rolled his eyes.
“Let me know how that goes.”
They relaxed into more casual conversation, chatting about what they’d been up to. Kazuya started gesturing wildly as he talked about his progress at the academy and Naruto felt the warm glow in his chest. His team was back together, where they should be, and he knew they were going to be stronger than ever. It would take work but the future really did look a bit brighter.