Chapter Text
Naruto wakes up in Kakashi's arms. Her whole body hurts as they move through the trees rapidly moving back to Konoha. She's so drained she can't use chakra sensing, but her sense of smell works just fine... Sasuke is not with them.
She looks at Kakashi's face. As always, it's mostly hidden by his hitai-ate and mask, but the one eye she can see is so sad.
"'Kashi-sensei..." Naruto croaks. If she didn't feel so miserable in so many ways, she'd almost find it funny how much like a toad she sounds; a toad summoner that croaks. Kakashi immediately turns his head down to look at her, "What about Sasuke?"
Even with his lower face covered, Naruto can tell he's clenching his jaw. Ah. So she failed her first mission as a chuunin. She hopes he isn't too upset with her.
"Kakashi-san!" A familiar voice calls to her teacher. A group of emergency medi-nin surround them, falling into pace with them. It's Hatori, her first ever medic that speaks, "What is the status of Uzumaki-hime's condition?!"
Kakashi looks at her again, this time with a comforting eye smile, "She's alive. Heavily injured but so far as I can tell; stable," She smiles back, though it's more forced than anything. He seems so sad, his eye, so she'd like to put him at ease.
A different medic speaks now, "And what of Uchiha Sasuke?" Kakashi closes his eye so he doesn't have to see her face when he shakes his head. Tears spring to her eyes anew. She failed. She couldn't stop Sasuke... She couldn't save him.
Wait, "My... squad!" She croaks again, "What is the status of... my squad?"
Kakashi nods, presumably to the medics, giving the go ahead to report. Hatori speaks up, "By Hokage-sama's orders, the first and second medical teams were dispatched. They've already recovered the scattered squad with the assistance of the aiding Suna squad. Some were taken to receive urgent medical treatment, but all are alive,"
"What's the situation?" Kakashi encourages further. He knows her well. He knows that she'd stew on it to the point of ignoring her own recovery if she didn't know.
"Nara Shikamaru has minor injuries. Inuzuka Kiba has a major wound but his life is in no danger, nor is the ninken Akamaru," Hatori reports. He reported on Akamaru too! Hatori is a dependable guy like that. His tone becomes grave, "Hyuuga Neji and Akimichi Choji are both in critical condition. Rock Lee is back to the hospital and recovering once again from his surgery,"
Her tears start all over again when she hears that two of her squad are in critical condition. She'll have to do better, but all she can do for now is hope they can pull through and recover safely. Crying hurts, but they're tears for precious comrades that fought so hard. Naruto won't fail them again.
Hatori then moves in, running basic first-aid jutsu over her while they're on the move.
She appreciates no one gives her empty platitudes about her failure. She couldn't take it right now. For the moment she's only got room inside of her for sadness and regret, there's no space for anger.
She's rushed to the hospital in Kakashi's arms, Hatori barking orders to nearby trauma medics to get her taken care of. Kakashi places her carefully on a gurney, patting her head once just as she's rushed off to be healed. Diagnostics are being run over her, Hatori taking charge of her healing. Tsunade and Shizune must be taking care of Choji and Neji.
They promised her they would stay alive, so they better keep their promises or she's gonna... gonna... Naruto doesn't know what but she'll do something to get back at them if they die! So those stupid boys better make it out alive!
They put Naruto under to heal her. Apparently, Hatori doesn't trust her to stay put for healing, so she doesn't know how long she's out for. But when she wakes up, two of her clan members are by her side. Naruto recognizes she's resting in the shinobi intensive care wing, so only ninja can visit her here; Teuchi and Ayame cannot enter here as civilians. Karin bursts into tears the second she sees Naruto's eyes are open.
"Naruto-sama!" She weeps, "You've got to stop ending up here! It's..." She doesn't finish, her shoulders shaking with sobs.
"I'm sorry, Karin-chan, for making you worry," Naruto says miserably. Karin shakes her head while wiping her face. Naruto understands what her cousin is trying to say. Naruto will try not to make Karin worry so much. Iruka too. He's trying to be strong for Karin, but she can read her dear older brother like a book, "Iruka-nii too, I'm sorry,"
"Please, Naruto-chan," Iruka says, "I am not only your teacher, clan member, or big brother- I am your senior as a ninja. I understand the life of a shinobi. Do not apologize for injuries incurred while doing your duty... still, this reminds me that I am not cut out for the field,"
"Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asks, reaching out with her senses. He's not within her range, so he's not in the hospital at all, "Is he..." Upset with her? Naruto knows that he favored Sasuke a lot, so maybe he's upset with her for failing to bring Sasuke back right away.
Iruka clears his throat, "He was here until just a little bit ago, then, Jiraiya-sama and Hokage-sama summoned him to discuss something. He left, well..." Iruka looks to her bedside table. On the table sits Uchiha Sasuke's slashed hitai-ate. She looks at it sadly, lifting herself up to a sitting position, grabbing it from the table. He left it behind. He left them behind.
"Naruto-sama," Karin calls. Naruto looks up at her, "I'm going to let Teuchi-jii and Ayame-nee that you're awake. They were really worried about you. Teuchi said that there's a great big bowl of ramen waiting for our precious clan head," Karin smiles, her eyes rimmed red from crying. Naruto can tell that she's gazing at her chakra as a whole for comfort.
"I'm looking forward to it," Naruto grins weakly, "Iruka-nii, you look like you've been awake for days. They're running you ragged, huh? You should rest, 'ttebayo,"
"Someone needs to make sure you don't try and escape the hospital," Iruka smiles. It's a tense smile, like he's scared to let her out of his sight.
Naruto doesn't think she'll be leaving the hospital any time soon this time; not so long as the rest of her squad is here. She can feel all of them best where she is; Choji's fluttering chakra, Neji's steady chakra, Kiba's and Akamaru's wild chakra, and Shikamaru's lethargic chaka are all within her realm of senses right here in the hospital. Lee's vibrant chakra too, it's anxious but recovering well.
"Iruka-nii, go get some rest. I..." Naruto sighs, gripping Sasuke's abandoned headband, "I want to stay here with my squad for now. I know I was only sub-commander, but they were still my responsibility," Not only that, but she wants to be alone for awhile. She's got to process and figure out what she's going to do next.
Iruka nods understandingly with a sad smile on his face. Sasuke was his student too; just because Sasuke wasn't as close to him as Naruto doesn't mean someone with such a deep well of caring like Iruka isn't hurt by the defection, "Get some rest," Iruka plants a familial kiss to her hair.
"Okay,"
It's maybe an hour and a half later that Naruto senses Shikamaru approaching Naruto's room. His chakra isn't as anxious as she would have expected, but he must have gotten status reports of their squad first. She runs her fingers over Sasuke's headband once more before turning her head toward the door just before Shikamaru walks in.
"You're awake," Shikamaru says when he sees her, "I wasn't sure if you would be,"
"Yeah... I'm glad to see you're okay too. I can feel everyone else is alright, their chakra is stable at least, but I'd feel better hearing it from you," Naruto waves him over to the empty visitor's seat.
"Everyone's stable. Choji and Neji were the worst off, but Shizune-san and Hokage-sama got them out of the woods. I heard you were pretty bad too, but your Uzumaki vitality got you through,"
Naruto shakes her head, clenching the bed sheets, "No! Well, maybe a little, but my clan abilities wouldn't have been enough to keep me alive after that," Besides the Kyuubi's rapid regeneration, Sasuke missed any vital points in his second attack. Naruto knows deep in her heart that Sasuke wasn't just thrown off by their competing jutsu... but that he decided not to kill her.
Maybe he did care for her in the end.
"I see. And Sasuke..." Shikamaru trails off, already knowing the answer.
Naruto nods, closing her eyes. Sakura is here, right outside the door, anxiously listening in, "I... failed. Sasuke got away," She knows Sakura's heard her when her friend's chakra flares in anguish, 'I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I'm so sorry,'
She lingers outside Naruto's hospital room, her chakra fluctuating. Sakura's trying to calm herself down for Naturo's sake. It's a kindness that Naruto appreciates but doesn't need.
Tsunade is coming up the hall toward Naruto's room, and she's sure to run into Sakura, so either Sakura will excuse herself or be forced to come inside. Also, Sakura's got to know Naruto can sense her out there, right?
They do come into her room, stepping in together with Sakura just a bit behind Tsunade. Her eyes widen at Naruto's bandaged state, so she must look worse than she feels. She turns her eyes from her friend and teammate. Sakura truly likes Sasuke a lot. While Naruto cares for him too, she isn't in love with him.
Tsunade approaches Naruto's bed, checking out her injuries and quickly taking her vitals, "I heard you were severely injured, but you're recovering quickly,"
Naruto bites her lip, "I failed on my mission... I'm sorry," Naruto finally looks at Sakura, whose eyes are hidden by her hair, "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan,"
Sakura shakes her head, "Don't... don't apologize to me for that. You kept your promise to me; you came back alive and if Sasuke-kun's alive, then that means we can just try again," Naruto closes her eyes tightly. The blonde doesn't want to tell her what Orochimaru wants with Sasuke. She can't break her friend's heart further.
"I will! I will get him back! I'll save Sasuke!" Naruto shouts, gripping the sheets of her bed and tears springing to her eyes, "I won't fail again,"
"No!" Sakura shouts stamping her foot, looking at Naruto with her own tears in her eyes, "We will bring Sasuke-kun back! Together! I promise you, Uzumaki Naruto, that I will become strong!"
Naruto beams, nodding rapidly, "Mhm! We're members of the Poison Bouquet after all!" Sakura laughs, hugging Naruto.
"Yes, I'll be working Karin and Sakura quite hard," Tsunade says suddenly, "They'll need to prepare themselves,"
Sakura turns to grin at Tsunade, nodding with determination, "We'll work hard!" Then she turns back to Naruto, "Karin and I promised that we would work hard and become the most powerful medical kunoichi in the world,"
"Karin-chan didn't mention that when she was here!" Naruto exclaims.
Tsunade laughs, "I think she knew that you would get too excited and try and get out of bed," Tsunade smiles knowingly, then sighs, "Putting that aside, I'll tell you what I told Shikamaru-kun here; Your mission was a failure, however, everyone came back alive. That's the most important thing. There's other things that we need to discuss with you, Naruto, but those can wait until later. Rest up; that's an order,"
Naruto salutes, smiling, "Yes Granny!"
"Come along, Sakura, Shikamaru," Tsunade orders, "Shikamaru, I'll be expecting your full mission report from your team once all of them have recovered. As commander you're expected to collect it from them and turn them in,"
"Yes Hokage-sama!" Shikamaru bows lazily.
Naruto suddenly recalls something from when Kakashi was carrying her back, "Hey wait! There were Suna ninja here, right?! Was it Gaara?!"
Tsunade looks at her in surprise, "Yes, Suna sent their newly promoted chuunin, Temari, and her brothers. How did you know they were here?"
Naruto crosses her arms, frowning with a tilted head, "Hatori-sensei mentioned it when we were on our way back to Konoha. He said that a Suna squad provided aid on the mission. Anyway! I wanna see Gaara before he goes home again! I haven't seen him since the exams but I just knew we could be friends, dattebayo!" Naruto pleads, hands clasped together and her big blue eyes shining, "Pleeeeease Granny?"
The kage sighs, softly flicking her on the forehead, "I'll let him know you want to see him but that's as far as it goes. You're not to leave this bed to seek him out, am I understood?"
Naruto pouts, rubbing her forehead, "Yeah yeah..."
Shikamaru, Sakura, and Tsunade leave her room after that.
Once they're gone, Naruto scoots up the bed enough to lean against the headboard with pillows at her back. The blonde looks out the window, noticing the sun is up for the first time. It was night when Kakashi made it back to the village with her in his arms. Now, it looks like it's mid-morning.
Clouds were gathering during her fight with Sasuke, strong storm clouds. She could smell rain when she woke up in Kakashi's arms, however, it wasn't raining any longer either of the times she woke up. They must've had her out for quite a while. Sasuke must've made it to Otogakure by now.
Hopefully, he won't be made into Orochimaru's new ride right away, so she's got to think on how best to get him back. That dumb jerk, making her and Sakura cry like that!
There's no time to waste. She's got to get all healed up and then go after him.
A giant toad appears outside her window, this one she hasn't met, with Jiraiya riding on its head.
She can feel Jiraiya's worry before he even gets through her room's window. He's got a furoshiki wrapped box under his arm as he climbs in. His worry relaxes slightly when he sees her, then, he gets a hold on his chakra, hiding it from her completely once more. That doesn't bode well for the conversation that's about to happen.
"Naruto-chan..." Jiraiya sighs, "How many times have you ended up in the hospital since I've met you?"
Naruto crosses her arms in a huff. It's not like she likes winding up here! It worries people she cares about, and besides, it's boring. Why does he have to get on her case in the first place? At least one of those times she ended up in the hospital was from training with him!
"I'm glad you're okay," Jiraiya says, putting the package on her lap. She doesn't unwrap it just yet, more concerned with the fact he's closed his chakra off to her once again. Jiraiya sits himself in her empty visitor's chair near the window with a sigh and a wry smile, "There's some things we need to talk about... From now on, you're officially my apprentice. For the next three years, you'll be traveling with me. We'll be training and doing missions outside of the village,"
Naruto leans forward, surprised.
"When I was looking into Orochimaru's immortality, I found some intel on the Akatsuki. They won't be after you until at least three years from now, so I'm going to train you up good!" Jiraiya states seriously.
"I-I can't!" She shouts. Jiraiya's face becomes even more serious, frowning at her, "I have to save Sasuke! I have to save him before that snake creep takes his body for his own! Please!" She grips the bed sheets so tightly they're in danger of ripping as she lowers her head.
Jiraiya sighs, propping his chin on his hand, "So you know about that. Like I told you, I was investigating his immortality, more accurately, his jutsu. I don't know if this will relieve you or not, but he can't take Sasuke's body for at least three years himself,"
"Really?! How do you know?"
"Don't underestimate my network!" Jiraiya smiles, "What I've discovered is that he can't cast that jutsu more than once every three years. The Sandaime forced him to waste his chance of immediately taking over Sasuke. He needed a new body before Sasuke decided to defect because of his arms, so, he'll have to wait three years,"
Naruto places a hand over her chest, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Though... You should forget about Uchiha Sasuke," Jiraiya's tone is grave, serious.
"Wh-what?!" Naruto shrieks angrily.
Jiraiya turns to look out the window at the toad, his expression sad, "Sasuke himself decided to defect and join Orochimaru. The sad fact is, he won't be swayed. I've been around a lot time, so I know... Sasuke is the same type as Orochimaru. It'd be a fools errand to attempt to bring him back. I don't say this to hurt you, Hime, but you have to understand that he's chosen this,"
"No! I have to try! He's my friend and comrade!" Naruto shouts. She shakes her head harshly, he golden tresses flying about.
Jiraiya shouts right back, waving over her body, "Look at where you are! Look at where he put you! Is that the actions of a friend?!"
Naruto grits her teeth, slamming her fist on the bed, "Thats-!"
"If you go after Sasuke, I will not train you. You will be constantly tailed by ANBU, even at home, and it will not be those you've befriended. YOu will never be able to make Jounin," Jiraiya warns, "You are not an oridinary child. You are the head of an ancient and founding clan, the child of a Kage, and a Jinchuriki. I won't be party to your death or any more of your suffering, Uzumaki Naruto-hime. I've cause enough of that as it is. If you follow Sasuke into the depths of Hell, then you'll remain weak and a fool,"
Naruto grits her teeth hard enough they make a grinding sound, "Okay... If that's what it means to be a fool, then I'll gladly be one for the rest of my life!" Naruto is resolved in this. There is no way a kage would be worthy to wear that hat if they abandon a comrade, "I'll just have to get by with my clan jutsu alone! I'll even invent new jutsu! I won't let these fashion disasters in the coats take me or win! And then I'll save Sasuke!"
Jiraiya's eyes are wide through her whole rant, then, they become dewy. He's looking right at her with such warmth and disbelief. It's confusing and she still can't read his chakra, "If you work alone, the most you'll be able to do is sad little scribbles and swinging chains around uselessly," He smiles at her. She puffs out her cheeks in response, "We won't go traveling until after your birthday, so you better prepare any way you can for a long journey, because I'm going to put your through hell, Hime-chan," He grins at her.
It takes Naruto to understand the meaning behind his words, but once she does, she grins brightly right back at him, "I won't let anyone down ever again! And that includes you, Pervy Sage!" She laughs.
"I told you to stop calling me that!"
Gaara doesn't come visit her in the hospital. When she asks about it, it's because he's an uninjured foreign shinobi that he can't visit the shinobi wing. Also because of his previous history with bad behavior in the hospital. In short, his attempt to kill Lee in the hospital during the exams has made it difficult for him to be allowed to visit.
She's had plenty of visitors despite Gaara not being able to see her. Hinata teams up with Karin to scold her ears off. Hinata was on a tear, immediately marching off to scold Neji and Kiba after she finished ringing Naruto's ears. All of her other friends visit at least once, except Choji and newly made friend Neji. They keep her impatience at bay, as does planning for her travels with Jiraiya, until she's all healed up.
It just so happens that the day she's to be released from the hospital is the departure date of the Sunagakure siblings.
The second she's released, much to the displeasure of her family and Sakura, Naruto runs to the main gate of the village to wait. Kotetsu and Izumo aren't the guards on duty, shockingly enough, but instead there's two chuunin she's never met before sat at the booth. They give her shy little waves as she stands there against the open gate. She returns their wave with a grin.
That's been happening more and more recently; the kindness from villagers with no hidden malice.
She's not waiting long, sensing Shikamaru, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro coming up on the gate. She bounces on her toes, as they come into view, "Gaara!" She shouts, running toward the group!
"Oh man, this is gonna be troublesome," She can hear Shikamaru gripe, "Now that she's out of the hospital she's going to be absolutely exhausting," When Naruto's on the group, she pinches Shikamaru once, then grins at the other three.
Gaara's chakra is much more calm than it was before, though there is still the Ichibi's madness trying to break through, but Gaara seems to have a better handle on it. Naruto can feel Gaara much more fully than she could before. His chakra is so warm, not a desert heat but a sun soaked beach with a gentle breeze. It's so pleasant and it fits him so much better than what she was feeling before.
"Hi!" Naruto grins at her fellow Jinchuriki. Gaara blinks at her, looking utterly lost and his ears a bit red, "Your chakra is much better than last time, dattebayo! Like a day at the beach on a warm day!"
Some color comes to Gaara's cheeks, sending helpless glances at his siblings. Kankuro seems to find something funny, turned away with his shoulders shaking in laughter. Temari is looking at Gaara with a soft look of surprise. Their behavior is so different than back during the exams. At this point, that was only a little over a month ago.
Temari makes an encouraging motion toward Gaara, elbowing her other brother, making him grunt in pain and cease his laughter. Gaara nods, turning his attention back to Naruto, who continues to grin brightly at him.
"Hello again," Gaara says, his voice as soft as it was before though gentle instead of an eerie monotone, "I see your injuries have healed. That's good,"
"Hehe! Can't keep me down for long! I'm going to be Hokage one day, 'ttebayo!" She laughs throwing her arms behind her head, "I heard Temari-san got promoted too! Congrats to you!"
Temari smiles, "Thank you. I understand you were promoted as well, so congratulations to you as well. Seems Konohagakure is a proper sealing mistress since the death of the Red-Hot Habanero,"
Naruto grins, "Mom's that famous?!"
The two elder siblings both boggle, studying her face closely. Naruto scrunches up her face in confusion, "What? You already knew my name is Uzumaki Naruto!"
"I-I just though you were a clan member to her, not that you're her kid!" Temari shouts, "Wow... As Kage's children we were taught about the most powerful shinobi and kunoichi from the Third War, since it was the generation of our parents, and she was a big one,"
Naruto smiles softly, "Yeah... I kinda wish I got her red hair sometimes, instead of dad's yellow hair. In the pictures its so pretty! But come to think of it, both my parents got nick names because of their hair color," She considers out loud. Though, not loud enough for many to overhear her besides those she stands conversing with. Her phrasing makes them look between each other.
"The Hokage telling you about your dad is why I was asked to leave when we were promoted right?" Shikamaru looks like he's put puzzle pieces together. Oh that smart bastard, "I have my suspicions... Naruto-hime," He smirks.
"I will kick your ass if you call me that again, dattebayo!" Naruto hisses in his face. Shikamaru's smirk gets more smug. Yeah, he's figured it out, "Don't you dare tell Ino or Choji that you know! I haven't told anyone yet!"
"Whatever you say. Ino'd only be pissed that I knew before she did," Shikamaru sighs.
They begin to move toward the gate as a unit, Naruto returning to conversing with Gaara. She laments that she didn't get to take him to try her clan's ramen and he just silently listens to her babble away. She can feel the bond of kinship between them grow.
When the three step outside the gate, it's time to bid them farewell.
"See you later, I guess," Shikamaru says, "Be safe going home,"
Naruto grins, dancing forward a bit, "And thanks for helping us out!" She gives both Gaara and Kankuro a friendly kiss on the cheek before moving back to Shikamaru's side. The two boys both turn bright red, Temari laughing at them both.
"If anything happens again, we'll come help out. Is that okay, Crybaby?" Temari taunts Shikamaru. Honestly, it just comes off as flirty to Naruto.
"You talk too much. That's why women are troublesome," Shikamaru smirks.
Naruto pinches him again as Temari leads her brothers away from Konoha and back to Suna.
Over the next month and a half, Naruto prepares to leave the village for several years just as Jiraiya told her to.
Turns out that the thing Tsunade wanted to talk to her about was her trip. As a chuunin, she'll be sent missions to complete while she follows Jiraiya around. All her earnings will go directly into her personal account unless she wants otherwise, so one of the first things she does is set it up that anything higher than C-rank goes into her clan's account. She may not be able to do much for her clan while she's away, but she can at least contribute to the savings.
The matter of packing becomes a problem quickly.
The tough thing about getting ready for such a long journey is figuring out what to take. She has more options than most, considering she has summoning storage scrolls, but still. She can't overload herself with things.
Maybe it's time to finish that bit of fuuinjutsu to help her out. She's got a lot of time-space seals figured out by now! It'll be helpful to summon things to and from home. With some hardcore fuuinjutsu work done in blood, chakra, and ink; Naruto's apartment becomes a summoning space. With this, she can summon or send anything she needs as long as she has the corresponding scroll and the item is marked with the correct seal.
Tenten does something similar, but her seals only work on ninja tools she's properly tagged.
Another thing that happens, her father's effects are delivered to her. The rest of her family's albums finally find their way to her. There's a whole day she spends just endlessly flipping through pictures. There's pictures from her parents' wedding and from when her mother was pregnant with her. The way her parents looked at her growing inside her mother brings fresh tears nearly every time she sees the photos.
They really really loved her.
Another thing amongst her father's things, besides a ton of jutsu notes, are his famous kunai and the seal that wraps their handles. It's an intense bit of fuuinjutsu that she's seen part of before... Oh that's right! The kinjutsu scroll! She even took notes on it (even though she wasn't supposed to). With both versions of the formula, Naruto can maybe figure out how to do it herself! She packs several of those up among the items she'll take with her on her person.
The Yamanaka have already agreed to take her plants in their care before she leaves and her family has already agreed to help her apartment stay dust free.
With all those plans and preparations made, Naruto's got other things to do too.
Like deal with the Hyuuga.
She gets to sit on the procedure, with Hinata and Neji, and watch the two old former heads face justice for what they've done.
"Naruto-chan..." Hinata whispers, hugging her tightly after seeing her. Neji stands strong beside the two girls as they embrace, "You did it... It's really happening,"
Naruto nods, holding her best friend close, "Mhm! Just like I promised. While I'm away training, I'll work on a seal the whole Hyuuga clan can use- I promise you! I might not finish it by the time I get back, but it'll be started. I'll be making modifications to that mish-mash grossness that wrinkly bastard cooked up without any fuuinjutsu talent,"
One of the old Hyuuga hisses, butting into the conversation, "How dare you! You know nothing of what-!"
Hinata steps in between them, glaring at the old woman, "You will not speak to a clan head that way, especially one that's shown us leniency. Great Grandfather was a thief! If you cannot accept this, then perhaps I will ask kindly for Naruto-sama to place the old style seal on you so you do not shame our family further!" Hinata threatens.
The old woman backs off, bowing, "Forgive me Hinata-sama. I only meant that our dojutsu will be vulnerable now,"
Naruto moves to stand side-by-side with Hinata, "Your dojutsu was vulnerable before. You're main branch right? If I were to throw you out of this village right now, throw you in the path of Kumo, Iwa, or Kiri, would your eyes be safe to pluck out of your fat head?" The aged woman flinches, "All you've done is breed resentment among your own family, kept them slaves, for nothing other than your own ego. Don't you want things to be better for your whole family? Don't you want to laugh together?"
The woman says nothing, her eyes down cast, as she lets the three children pass into the room that will play host to the final use of the Caged Bird curse.
It's not a long process, but it is painful to watch. Hinata's grandfather is resolute but there's pain in his eyes as he applies the cursed seal to his own father. The old man, aged one hundred and two, whimpers weakly, trying to mask the pain of the seal being tattooed on his forehead.
Once the process is over, the old men's hands are permanently bound and all copies of the formula and the kit are laid in a neat pile. The elders seem reluctant to hand it over to her, so she's gotta show off a bit. Naruto manifests her chains, quickly coiling them around the scrolls and box. It's just perfect that she made her apartment a summon space for objects. Adding the correct seal to those objects with her chains, Naruto grins at the flabbergasted Hyuuga, "Uzumaki Fuuin! Space Binding!"
Her chains become slack, so she dismisses them to reveal the objects have gone.
Now that they're back home, she can destroy the copies and return the box to the space the others share. The last thing done at this event is binding the seal to Neji and Hinata, so that only those two may use it.
The Hyuuga she cares about see her off, Hinata giving Naruto one more hug before she leaves the compound, "I'll see you soon, Naruto-chan. Thank you,"
Naruto grins, "Don't thank me, Hina-chan. You're my friend! Neji too!" Naruto grins at Neji, whose ears turn a bit pink.
Boys are weird lately.
The day before she's slated to leave, her birthday, Naruto is packed and prepared to leave. Her plants were all dropped off at the Yamanaka yesterday and her house is locked down and sealed against anyone besides those keyed in.
For her birthday, many of her friends each give her a gift. They're mostly practical things for traveling, all of them considerate presents for her journey. Teuchi and Ayame make sure her belly is stuffed full of ramen and Hinata fills what space is left with cake.
Her thirteenth birthday is spent with friends and family- Even Kakashi-sensei comes!- it's the last birthday she will spend with them for at least two years.
Only Iruka sees her off at the gate the day she leaves. She'd said he goodbyes to her friends and Teuchi and Ayame at her birthday get together, then Karin wished her wall this morning before going to train with Sakura and Tsunade.
Iruka smiles proudly at her with tears in his eyes, "Naruto-chan... my precious little sister. I know this trip will make you stronger than I could possibly imagine. I will protect our clan in your absence... so please, listen to Jiraiya-sama and stay safe for us too. I'll miss you,"
"I'll miss you too. So much! I won't be allowed to send personal letters or anything! But I'll come back strong! And a full fledged fuuinjutsu mistress!" Naruto hugs him tight on the middle, "Make sure you eat properly too!"
Iruka laughs, "I should be the one saying that to you, young lady," When Naruto takes a step back, back to a waiting Jiraiya's side, Iruka looks at her seriously, "And be careful of boys. I know you don't believe in cooties anymore, but still! No boys,"
Naruto snorts. Her whole body wracks with laughter, "Iruka-nii! I probably won't have time for boys!" Both Jiraiya and Iruka breath sighs of relief. Sage! Even if she wanted to play around with boys, there might be no way she'd even get a chance to be alone with one with that protective pervert watching over her!
"Well, we have to go now, Hime," Jiraiya says, "We got places to be,"
"Okay. I'll see you in a couple of years, Nii-chan!"
"Be safe!"
She's going to get strong! Strong enough to stop those Akatsuki bastards and rescue Sasuke!
Goodbye Uzumaki Clan. Goodbye Team Seven. Goodbye Konohagakure.
Goodbye but only for now!
See You Next Time!