Time Travel? What the Fuck?

by dragonpyre

Summary:

Listen, I didn't want to do this, but it stayed in my mind and now here we are.

Basically, Team 7 vs. Kaguya, final smack down. Then suddenly POOF they’re twelve again and waiting to meet their sensei on team assignment day. With no way to get back they decide to stop the war before it begins, and maybe save some people along the way. But they’re twelve, how are they supposed to do that?
Staring: Naruto Everyone's-My-Friend Uzumaki, Sasuke Maybe-I-Won't-Destroy-Konoha Uchiha, and Sakura Better-Than-This Haruno; with a guest appearance from Kakashi's guilt complex.

We'll be in for a ride folks.

Notes:

So five months ago someone managed to get me back into this fandom after having stopped watching/reading it seven years ago. One thing led to another and now here we are, writing a fanfiction. It's not beta'd, so any mistakes are on me.
So like, enjoy, I guess.

Chapter 1: Wait, We're Twelve!?

They had her trapped! Kaguya was going to be sealed away once and for all. For good! Sakura felt a rush of adrenaline as her fist collided with the Goddess’ head, forcing her back into the boys’ path. They were so close. So close!

Then suddenly, everything warped around her. Not in a Kamui way, but in a sick, gut twisting, wrong way. And the next thing she knew she was sitting in a… classroom?

What the hell? Where was Kaguya? Where were Naruto and Sasuke? Where was she ?

“What… the hell?”

The voice behind her started her, and she whirled around only to see-

“Naruto!”

It was indeed Naruto, but…

“You- you’re twelve!” She cried, taking in his god-awful orange and blue jumpsuit and round face, baby fat still clinging to it. Were she not so alarmed, she would have wanted to pinch his cheeks.

“You’re twelve!” He shouted back, pointing an accusatory finger at her. “Just look at your hair!”

My hair? Frowning, Sakura looked down and saw long pink locks falling down to her boobs – or lack thereof. She was also wearing that silly dress from her genin days, the one with the high collar and baggy sleeves.

“Oh God, what did that rabbit Goddess bitch do?” She moaned, taking it all in with displeasure.

“This is so weird,” Naruto mumbled, sitting back and grabbing handfuls of his spiky hair.

“Speak for yourselves,” a new voice said. And holy shit, it was Sasuke. And he was twelve too! Even wearing that blue shirt of his with the insane collar that she had thought was so cool at the time.

“Sasuke,” Sakura gasped, unsure what to say. “What the hell!”

The only response she got was that annoying “hn” of his before he lapsed into pensive silence. It was contagious, because the next thing they knew, the whole room was silent, filled only with the sound of their panicked breaths.

They were twelve. They were in a classroom. They were alone. Judging from all the facts it looked to be the day of their team assignments. All three of them were wearing their headbands, and they were completely alone in the classroom. That hadn’t happened once after being assigned teams. The multitude of possibilities as to how this could be started flitting through Sakura’s mind, each more scary than the last.

“Is this…” Naruto started, eyeing their surroundings wearily. “A genjutsu?”

Behind him, Sasuke scoffed. “I’m immune to genjutsu now, so that’s impossible.”

Naruto scowled before turning to the now pre-teen. “Yeah well, how do I know you’re not part of the genjutsu!” He exclaimed.

“Because if you’re in a genjutsu, it doesn’t normally point out that it’s a genjutsu,” the boy shot back. Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but found that the logic, however unorthodox, was sound. So, scowling, he sat back down with a huff and simply glared at his team mate. Sasuke seemed satisfied with the action as well and resumed his “thinking pose”, or whatever it was, clasping his hands in front of his face and retaining a constipated expression. Actually, that could just be his default expression. You never knew with the Uchiha.

“Alright, now that we’ve cleared that up,” Sakura grumbled from the front of the classroom, hands on her hips. “Are we going to find a way to get back to the battle?” At the confused expressions of her teammates, she elaborated. “We can’t just leave Kakashi-sensei alone in that dimension,” she said. “And everyone else is still stuck in the Infinite Tsukuyomi.”

“Oh,” Naruto mumbled, eyes downcast. “Right.”

“So what do we do?” Sakura asked.

A moment passed before anyone bothered speaking up.

“What can we do?” Surprisingly, it was Naruto who spoke. Sakura frowned at his reply before gesturing for him to continue.

“Well,” he started uncomfortably, shifting in his seat. “What I’m saying is, if we don’t know how we got here, or where here even is , how can we figure out how to get back?”

He was right, though she was loathe to admit so. “There’s gotta be something,” Sakura insisted. “I mean, every jutsu has a way to counter it. If this is another dimension Kaguya threw us into, or a genjutsu, there’s a way to get out.”

“You’re really limiting your options there,” Sasuke’s voice suddenly drawled. Sakura turned to him, pinching her brow in confusion. Sasuke sighed before elaborating. “You claim it’s either one of two things,” he said, holding up two fingers. “One,” he put one finger down. “It’s another dimension, like the ones we traveled through while fighting her.” He put up his second finger. “Or two, it’s a genjutsu.”

“This has been established, yes,” Sakura said, unimpressed.

“What I’m getting at is there could be a third option,” he finished, putting his hand back down. “That we’re just not considering.”

“Oh yeah, and what’s that, bastard?” Naruto challenged.

The small smirk the Uchiha wore grated on Sakura’s nerves. Whatever he was about to say, she knew she wouldn’t like.

“Time travel.”

“Time travel? Really Sasuke?” Sakura deadpanned. The Uchiha only shrugged. “And do you have a way to prove that?”

Maybe Sasuke didn’t, but Naruto did, he realized with a start. “I do!” He exclaimed, jumping up. “Or at least, I think I do…” His teammates gave him an apprehensive look, but didn’t tell him off. He took that to mean he should go ahead and explain.

“Okay so, two days ago I was on this turtle island with Killer B where Kurama and I had this big battle over his chakra, right?”

He was met with blank stares. “Right, so… anyway,” he continued. “I changed the seal holding in Kurama. If it’s still the same one I had in the war, we’ll know it’s not time travel.”

“But if it’s the old one the Fourth gave you, it is,” Sakura finished, catching on to what he was saying. “But how will you be able to tell?” She asked.

“Easy,” he smiled. “I’ll talk to him!”

Sakura and Sasuke exchanged an uneasy look, neither looking particularly thrilled at his proposed idea.

“C’mon, it’s not like he’s gonna show up,” he grumbled. Did they really not have faith in him? That was disheartening.

Sakura’s scowled deepened, but then she nodded. “Alright, if you think it’s the right thing to do, I believe you.” A pause. Then, “Right Sasuke?”

The Uchiha sighed from his seat before nodding. “Sure, whatever.”

Pleased, Naruto nodded to them before slipping into his mindscape.

There was a moment of silence, and then-

“NARUTO!”

Naruto was so startled that he almost jumped back into the real world. He quickly regained his composure and walked up to the seal, meeting Kurama’s red gaze.

“What have you done, brat!” The fox yelled, banging a giant clawed hand against the bars of his prison. His prison, which Naruto was disheartened to see, made from the old seal.

“H-hey Kurama,” he said tentatively, not sure if this was new Kurama or old, grouchy Kurama who wanted to eat his face.

“Don’t ‘hey Kurama’ me, what have you done! Why am I back in Namikaze’s seal?”

New Kurama then. Angry Kurama, but new nonetheless.

“I don’t know, that’s what we’re trying to figure out,” he tried.

“We?”

“Yeah, Sakura, Sasuke and I.” The response was met with another bang on the seal, this time hard enough the rattle the sewer around him, sending waves crashing around him.

“Woah, watch it!” Naruto cried, bracing himself against the sloshing water. “You’re gonna break something.”

“You and I both know that’s impossible,” Kurama growled. “Now hurry up and fix this, brat!”

“If you had been listening you would know I can’t, you dumb fox!” Naruto shouted back. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you! We’ve been shot back in time by Kaguya and we’re trying to figure out how to fix it.”

“If you open this door I might be able to help,” the fox suggested. But it was such a transparent lie that all Naruto could do was cross his arms and give with the most unimpressed look he could muster.

“I thought we’d come to an agreement,” he scowled. “Besides, I need the key to open that door. And if I’m right, the toads still have it.”

The fox growled again, but didn’t threaten anything, so Naruto counted it as a plus.

“So,” the fox mumbled, or what could be interpreted as a mumble – it was hard to tell with a chakra beast. “We really are back in time.” Naruto nodded. “How old are you?”

“Twelve,” he said. “Probably.”

A rough laugh escaped Kurama. “Just a kit,” he scoffed. “Pathetic.”

Naruto huffed. “Well, you’re still stuck with this ‘kit’ until we can find a way to fix this. So you better get used to it.”

“Whatever,” the fox grumbled. “Just make it quick, you know I hate this cage.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, waving the fox off. “Just don’t wreck the place while I’m gone.” He could have sworn he heard a muffled “brat” as he slipped out of the mindscape, but he wasn’t going to stop and ask.

Naruto blinked open his eyes to see green and black staring back at him. Two inches from his face. “Woah!” He cried, startled. Before hitting his head on the desk behind him as he fell back. Needless to say he had bad memories of the last time such a thing had happened in this particular classroom.

Sakura and Sasuke were standing right in front of his face, staring at him intently.

“Well?” Sakura pressed. “What’s the conclusion?”

Naruto grimaced. “Well, Sasuke was right,” he said, picking himself up from the desk. “It’s not a genjutsu. Or another dimension.”

Sakura blinked. Once. Twice.

“FUCK!”

 

---

 

“Okay, time travel,” Sakura stated, some measure of exasperation coating her tone. “If we can have reanimation, why not time travel, why not?”

Both Naruto and Sasuke were sitting in the back of the classroom, cowering away from her, not that one of them would admit that. The first ten minutes after hearing that they had, in fact, time traveled into their twelve year old bodies was filled with lots of screaming, throwing things, and a broken desk. Naruto was sure Iruka would be scratching his head over it tomorrow, but now wasn’t the time to think about such things.

Thirty minutes had now passed and Sakura had calmed down significantly. Now, instead of throwing things around and threatening people's lives, namely Kaguya’s, she was pacing the front of the class and tugging at her hair, hair that she had cut short sometime during her ranting. The remnants were still lying on the floor by the chalkboard, scattered about because she had thrown them. Now her hair hung around chin level, like it always had after the chunin exams.

But still, it only went to prove how badly she was taking this.

“Hey, you know what,” she said, addressing them. “It’s not that different, right?”

“Not that different from what?” Naruto asked cautiously.

“Edo tensei,” she said. “I mean, all you’re doing there is putting a soul into a body. This is the same thing right? Our seventeen year old souls are in our twelve year old bodies. Ergo, not that different!” Her voice was shrill and wavering on every word, going to show just how much she was trying to keep it together.

“Well, sixteen for you, Naruto,” she added as an afterthought.

That earned her an indigent squawk. “Hey, it’s my seventeenth birthday! I’m seventeen!”

“We don’t know what time it was when Kaguya dragged us into that lava world,” Sasuke cut in. “Time stopped mattering after that point, so it could easily still have been the ninth when we were shot back.”

Naruto’s face was growing steadily more red at their statements. He opened his mouth to shout something back, but was stopped by the sound of the door to the classroom opening.

All their heads swiveled to see an incredibly familiar masked face looking at them with an indifferent expression.

“Hm, my first impression of you,” he said. “You’re interesting .”

Chapter 2: (Re)Introductions

Notes:

So in this fic, I'll be replacing Naruto's "dattebayo" with "y'know" along with other standerd verbal tics as well as using the English version of names. So it would be Naruto Uzumaki instead of Uzumaki Naruto.

Thank you guys for enjoying this. I had no idea it'd be received so well??
EDIT: as of 7/17 this chapter has been beta'd.

The first thing Kakashi noticed as he stepped into the classroom was the destroyed desk. That in itself was unusual. Then he spotted the locks of pink hair strewn across the floor, indicative of a rough, spur of the moment haircut. Then he spotted the pacing girl with matching pink hair and the two boys cowering from her in the back of the classroom. And then everything made sense.

She scared the shit out of them. Hm. This might be fun after all.

“Hm, my first impression of you,” he started, watching as all their heads snapped in his direction. “You’re interesting .”

He wasn’t really expecting much after he made that statement. And he definitely wasn’t expecting the Uzumaki’s mouth to drop open in shock. Hm. Whatever.

“Meet me on the roof.” And with that, he disappeared in a shunshin.

 

 

Naruto looked at Sasuke. Sasuke looked at Naruto. They both looked at Sakura.

“What the fuck.”

It doesn’t matter who said it. They were in unanimous agreement anyway.

“Did he just-“ Naruto started. “He- INTERESTING Y’KNOW!?”

“Do you think he could be…” Sakura trailed off, looking to her teammates. “Could he be our Kakashi-sensei?” She asked in a rough whisper. The only two could only shrug.

“He didn’t say he hated us,” Sasuke offered. “Not like last time.”

“Yeah but Sakura didn’t destroy the room last time,” Naruto mumbled in response. The pinkette heard, much to his chagrin, and threw him a nasty look.

“Well the only way we’ll know is if we go up and talk to him,” she said, brushing off Naruto’s comment quickly. “But if he was,” she added hesitantly. “He would have picked up on, well,” she gestured around herself. “This.”

Yeah, last time half the classroom hadn’t been destroyed, nor had Sakura had a psychotic break and chopped her hair off.

“Maybe he did notice and was downplaying it?” Naruto suggested half-heartedly, shrugging.

“Well there’s only way one to find out,” Sasuke replied, arms crossed in front of him. At the looks he received from his teammates, he continued. “Talk to him.”

“Yeah but how?” The blond jinchuuriki demanded. “It’s not like we can just ask ‘hey, are you from the future, y’know, cuz we are’.”

“We’re ninja, dumbass, we can figure something out,” Sasuke shot back drly. Naruto scowled, but didn’t retort.

“How about this,” Sakura interjected. “We could use words or phrases he would only pick up on if he was our Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura offered. “For instance, if we made a comment about something that happened on a mission, or maybe some ninja we’ve faced before. But in a casual way.”

It was a sound plan, and no one would get suspicious of it if they overheard.

“Hn, not a bad idea,” Sasuke agreed, nodding his assent. A faint blush lit up Sakura’s cheeks at the praise, but it was gone in an instant.

“So that’s the plan?” Naruto asked. “Subtle hints and stuff?”

The other nodded.

“Alright then, let’s go re-meet Kakashi-sensei!”

 

---

 

There plan was working perfectly, up until the point when they walked out onto the rooftop and Naruto shouted at almost the top of his lungs, “KAGUYA!”

Unfortunately, the only reaction that wrought from their teacher was a raised eyebrow and a half closed eye. Well, shit. They were truly alone in this.

Before Naruto could begin to imagine what that really meant for them, something whacked him hard in the gut. “Oof.” Naruto dibbles over as Sakura landed an elbow in his stomach.

“Idiot,” she hissed. “You were supposed to be subtle.”

What is with these kids? Kakashi thought to himself as he watched them make their way awkwardly over to him.

They sat down on the stairs like they had last time, Naruto on the edge, Sakura in the middle, and Sasuke on her right. After settling themselves, Kakashi spoke up.

“Aright, introductions. Go.”

The three “genin” shared a look of uncertainty between them. Or at least two of them did, Sasuke was still being an obstinate little shit. After a shared look between the pinkette and the blonde, Sakura took the initiative and answered Kakashi first.

“Could you give us an example?” She asked, looking back over at the jonin.

“Maa, sure,” he shrugged. “Just say your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future.” He shrugged. “Stuff like that.”

A smirk lit up Naruto’s face at the response, and Sakura knew immediately he was planning something.

“Could you go first?” The Uzumaki asked. “So we know how it’s done?”

Kakashi gave him an unimpressed look, but complied regardless. Sakura flashed her teammate a quick look, trying to ask without words what he was planning. He only gave her a wink back.

“Well,” Kakashi started, distracting her from her thoughts. “My name is Kakashi Hatake. I likes some things, dislike others. As for my hobbies, well, I have some. And dreams for the future, I have no intention of telling you those.”

Sakura huffed, nonplussed. It was just like last time. Honestly, why had she expected any different?

“Now, blondie,” their sensei said. “Your turn.”

The devilish smirk on Naruto’s face almost made her weary.

“My name’s Naruto Uzumaki,” Naruto started proudly. “I like some things,” he continued, grin slowly spreading on his face. “Dislike others. I have hobbies, but I don’t want to share them. And I do have a dream for the future.” He smiled contentedly to himself before crossing his arms and sitting back. Finished.

Seeing Kakashi-sensei’s eye twitch in annoyance was far more pleasurable than it had any right to be.

Ah, Sakura thought. So that’s what he was planning. Payback.

“Alright,” the scarecrow said, a feint edge to his voice. “Pinkies turn.”

Sakura couldn’t help the mischievous smirk that graced her face before she spoke. “My name is Sakura Haruno,” she proclaimed. “But you already knew that since you read our files. I won’t tell you what I like or dislike, and my hobbies are my own business, not yours. As for dreams for the future; personal.”

This time a spasm went through their sensei. Well hidden, yes, but they could tell. And they were pleased.

“Fine,” he bit out, just barely holding on to his aloof persona. “You’re last, broody.”

“Hn.”

And that was all they got out of Sasuke.

If Kakashi-sensei hadn’t been ex-ANBU and an elite jōnin, Naruto was sure he would have lost his shit right then and there. The man's eye was visibly spasming, fingers twitching like he wanted to reach for a kunai. Heh. Messing with Kakashi-sensei was fun.

“Alright, fine,” he finally said, glaring at the three of them. “My name is Kakashi Hatake. I like dogs. I dislike sweets. I enjoy reading, and my dream for the future is to never have to deal with you brats again.”

“Great!” Naruto cried. “Cuz I like ramen, y’know. I hate people who use others to get what they want, and my dream is to be Hokage, y’know!”

Kakashi shot him a death glare, but remained quite, realizing what was happening.

“And I like picking and arranging flowers,” Sakura started, continuing Naruto’s line of thought. “Dislike when my parents make me do stupid chores, and hope to one day surpass Lady Tsunade.”

They all looked to Sasuke.

“Hn, fine,” the Uchiha grumbled. “I don’t like much, I hate sweets, and my dream is to restore my clan.” He looked over towards his teammates, annoyed. “Happy?”

“Yup!” Naruto exclaimed, beaming like the sun.

“Well don’t get so excited just yet,” Kakashi cut in, dry tone dissipating the semi-playful mood. “You’re still not genin yet.” That damned glint was back in his eye again. The one that said he knew something that you didn’t, and that that something was most undoubtedly not going to be fun.

Naruto decided that he would be the one to play the part of ignorant genin as he said, “What do you mean? We passed the genin exam. We’re genin.”

This earned a humorless chuckle from their soon-to-be sensei. “Not quite,” he said, mirth in his tone. All three “genin” squinted at him in confusion, egging him to go on. “Out of the thirty or so who pass the preliminary exam, only 33% actually go on to become genin. The remaining 67% go back to the academy. Whether they pass or not is decided in a test given to them by their jōnin sensei.” A pause. “Which is me. So tomorrow, at training ground seven, we’ll meet at five for a survival exercise that will determine if you three are even cut out to be shinobi.”

It was meant to be an intimidating speech. They knew that. But both Naruto and Sakura were trying desperately to keep at bay the laughter that came with the memories of their last “survival exercise”, which had ended in their sensei eventually losing to them all in the hopes of his favorite book not being spoiled. Unfortunately they didn’t have such an edge on him this time, but they would surely think of something.

“Sounds easy enough,” Naruto smiled, not in the least bit phased. After all, the only thing Kakashi-sensei was looking for to pass them was teamwork, and they had that down pat. They had proven just hours ago in the war. Wow, had it really only been hours? It felt like a lifetime ago.

“Well maybe this will change your mind,” Kakashi-sensei said, leaning forward as if to tell them a secret. “In all six years that I have been assigned genin teams, I have never passed one.”

They’d known that. Known that for a while. When Naruto had seen Iruka after having passed the bell test the chunin had told him about the six previous teams that hadn’t made it. It had been in that moment that Naruto realized how lucky they were to have passed. It was flattering to know that something, the three of them had lived up to the standers the man had and were accepted as his students. And it wasn’t an honor Naruto was going to soon forgot, or abandon. Naruto’s smile slipped then, hardening into a look of determination. “Then I guess we’ll just have to be the first, y’know.”

Chapter 3: Acceptence

Notes:

A slower chapter this time, but more meaty.
EDIT: beta'd as of 7/19

Because of how hurried things had been, Naruto hadn’t had time to truly process what had happened. Hadn’t had time to understand what had happened to them. They were five years in the past. Every accomplishment they had made, every person they had lost, every enemy they had ever defeated, was all gone now. Naruto didn’t know what to think.

After Kakashi-sensei had dismissed them, they had each gone their separate ways in an attempt to wrap their minds around their new situation. Sasuke had headed back in the direction of the old Uchiha compound, Sakura had gone off to one of the training grounds, and Naruto had gone up to the top of the Hokage monuments. Specifically his father’s. It was now sunset, and the light of the setting sun spilled across everything, turning the world a vibrant orange.

He sat on the edge and overlooked the village. It had been destroyed a few months ago for him, so seeing it whole again was… jarring. He had left for Turtle Island while it was still being reconstructed, so he didn’t know what it looked like during the war. Perhaps it had been almost completed. Perhaps it still looked like it had when he’d left. But now he’d never know.

“Time travel,” he muttered to himself. “What the fuck.”

He would be faced with discrimination again, he knew. As the jinchuuriki of the Kyūbi, his life had never been easy. It had gotten better though after becoming a ninja, but not truly until after the chunin exams and after saving Gaara. He’d gotten more acknowledgment after that. People didn’t jeer at him in the street or smack him on the head for being in their way. It still hadn’t been ideal, but it had been a hell of a lot better than before.

But that had all been stripped away in a matter of moments. Now the only accomplishments he’d made was becoming a Genin. And even that wasn’t official yet. It also sucked because his only friends now were his teammates. No Konoha twelve, no Gaara, no Granny Tsunade, no Captain Yamato, no Sai. Hell, even no Killer B. It all just plain sucked.

The wind whipped at his hair, rustling it as he watched the sun set over Konoha. His knees were drawn up to his chin, arms wrapped around them. He must have looked incredibly small to the world right then, instead of like the seventeen year old hero he really was.

“Sixteen my ass,” he grumbled, remembering what Sakura had said earlier. “It was definitely after midnight.” Not that he could prove it. But it probably definitely had been.

Dismissing the thought, he focused back in the problem at hand. They were all stuck in their twelve year old bodies. That meant no Kyūbi mode for Naruto, no hundred hands of healing mark for Sakura, and no rinnegan for Sasuke. They were all back to square one. Luckily they still had all their memories and skills, so fighting and chakra control wouldn’t be too much of an issue. But strength wise, they’d all have to build it up again.

As well as height. Jeez, being a shorty again sucked!

Sighing, Naruto unfurled from himself and stretched his legs out, leaning back on his hands. There was still an issue he hadn’t addressed yet. But it was one he really didn’t want to, either.

Jiraiya was alive.

His godfather. That loss had been a knife to the heart. Accepting that he was still around but didn’t even know him yet, Naruto wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Hell, that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that old man Third was still kicking. The likelihood of running into the latter was far higher than it was with the former, and if so, Naruto wasn’t sure if he would be able to keep himself in check.

But that was part of being a ninja, wasn’t it? Facing hard situations?

“Come on, stupid,” he grumbled to himself. “You beat the Akatsuki AND Madara, you can face a stupid old man.”

A stupid old man who he had just been fighting with on the battlefield a few hours ago, along with his dad and two other Hokage. Jeez his life was complicated.

“Naruto?”

Naruto jumped, surprised, he hadn’t heard anyone coming. He silently cursed himself for his distraction. Twisting around he saw Sakura standing at the edge of the cliff above him, looking down at him. Her pink hair swayed in the wind, choppy edges flying around her face.

“I thought I might find you here.”

“Sakura,” he said, jumping up the edge in one chakra enhanced bound. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to go over the plan for tomorrow with you and Sasuke. As well as the plan for… well… after that.”

Meaning Orochimaru, the Akatsuki, Obito, Madara, Kaguya, all of it.

“Yeah, sure,” he agreed, tone somewhat subdued. “So like, here should we meet?”

Sakura gave him a faint smile. “Follow me.”

 

---

 

“You’re kidding me.”

“What? It’s the perfect meeting spot,” Sakura defended against Naruto’s sigh. She had led him to the Memorial Stone by training ground seven. Its inscriptions bore the names of those who had fallen in service to Konoha.

I wonder if Mom and Dad are on there, Naruto thought idly before being pulled back to the present by Sakura tugging sharply on his wrist.

“So we’re all here, then?” A new voice said. Naruto was surprised to find that Sasuke had already arrived and was leaning up against of the training posts in the field.

“Yup,” Sakura replied. “Let’s get to work.”

They all sat around in front of the stone obelisk, sitting in their own unique way. Sakura was sat with her legs folded beneath her, prim and proper, while Naruto sat criss cross with hands tucked between his legs. Sasuke had taken up leaning against one of the posts, arms folded in front of him like they always were. It made something inside Naruto ache with nostalgia. When was the last time they had all sat around like this? Four years ago? Five, even? He couldn’t remember.

“Alright, we should take stock,” Sakura said, voice firm and commanding, breaking Naruto out of his reverie. “What do we have available to us? And, more importantly, what don’t we?”

“I don’t have my eternal Mangekyō,” Sasuke piped up, deciding to go first. “Rinnegan either. But I still have my normal Mangekyō.”

Sakura nodded, making a mental note of that. “Okay, in that case, you should try to limit your use of it unless it’s absolutely necessary so you don’t go blind quicker.”

Sasuke considered her words for a brief moment before nodding.

“I don’t have my hundred hands of healing or the strength I did before,” Sakura reported, as it was now her turn to speak. “The strength should be easy to get back, but the other thing… I’ll need Lady Tsunade to help me with the seal for that.”

Alright then, Naruto thought. They just had to make sure to bring Tsunade back to Konoha again. Whether or not she’d also become Hokage was a different matter. Hopefully Lord Third wouldn’t die if they managed to do things right. But it really was too soon to tell.

“And Naruto,” Sakura said, snapping him out of his thoughts. “You said you had your old seal again. Does that mean you can’t access the Kyūbi’s chakra like you did back there?” Back there in the war.

Naruto shook his head. “If I tried, it would be like the time Pain attacked. I wouldn’t be in control.”

Sakura’s expression flashed to something akin to pain and regret, and Naruto knew she was remembering what that entailed. “Let’s hope it never comes to that,” she said softly. Naruto could only nod mutely in agreement.

Silence fell over the small group after that, each not knowing where to go now. The air around was getting colder now that the sun had set, making Sakura shiver.

“So,” the girl piped up. “Now for the elephant in the room. We’re in the past,” she clipped. “Now what?”

“That depends,” Sasuke replied dryly. “Do we want to change things are leave them be?”

“Change things, of course!” Naruto cried.

The only response the Uchiha gave was a “hn” and a shrug. Jeez, some things never change, Naruto thought with a pout.

“Okay, but how do we do that?” Sakura pressed, taking charge again.

When no one answered, she slumped where she sat. “Are you telling me neither of you two can figure out where things went wrong?”

“If you wanted to stop it there, we’re fifteen years too late,” Sasuke bit out. “You’d have to stop Obito from getting crushed so Madara wouldn’t sink his claws into him, thus releasing the Kyūbi and destroying a lot of people's lives,” he continued. “But as it is, we can’t.”

“Well fine,” Sakura shot back angrily. “But there are definitely things we can change here and now.”

“Yeah, let me go after Itachi,” was the boys response. “I can save him, so that maybe this time I’ll still have family.”

“If you leave the village you’ll be branded a rogue ninja,” Naruto finally cut in, tone deadly serious. His eyes were hard as he stared his teammate down. “I won’t stop you if you chose to, I know how much family means. But we can’t help you after that. And you will need help.”

The Uchiha stared him down for a long few moments, black bleeding red as his sharingan spun to life. It wasn’t a declaration of war, just a threat. A threat Naruto didn’t back down from as he maintained eye contact, his gaze holding fast.

“Fine,” the Uchiha finally growled. “But my only goal is to save Itachi, and kill Danzō,” he said. “Know that.”

Naruto nodded solemnly in reply.

“So aside from Itachi and Danzō,” Sakura said slowly, looking between the two boys. “What else should we do?”

Naruto didn’t even have to think before responding. “Orochimaru,” he piped up. “We gotta stop him.”

“Orochimaru is the reason your dad and the other Hokage fought with us,” Sasuke cut in before Sakura managed to. “He’s knows a lot of things that could help us win this war.”

“I didn’t say we had to kill him!” Naruto shot back. “He can rot in jail for all I care. I just won’t let him hurt anyone else ever again.”

“So how do we do that?” Sakura demanded. “He’s a Sannin. He’s bigger, and stronger, and smarter than all of us.”

“Yeah but we got something he doesn’t,” Naruto smirked. Sakura raised a pink eyebrow in confusion. “Knowledge. We know where he’s gonna be and when. All we gotta do is tip off the right people and boom!” He snaked his hand to his fist. “One Sannin coming right up!”

Both Sasuke and Sakura gave him a dubious look, but neither contradicted him.

“Well then that just takes care of one problem,” Sakura finally said. “But there’s still the Akatsuki. And on that note, Obito and Madara.”

“That’s three years away,” Sasuke pointed out. “They won’t surface until then, so there’s nothing we can do without leaving the village.”

A long suffering sigh escaped the pinkette, but she let the issue be. “Okay, So we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it?”

Both the boys gave uneasy nods, Naruto’s more reluctant than Sasuke’s.

“Okay,” Sakura said. “Now for the bell test.”

This was going to be fun.

Notes:

Next chapter, the bell test.

Chapter 4: Bell Test

Notes:

Bell test!
EDIT: beta'd as of 7/20

Even though they all knew Kakashi-sensei wouldn’t arrive until late morning, all three members of team seven showed up at training ground 7 at six in the morning. They had all eaten breakfast, ignoring yesterday's suggestion against it. If they were going to pull this off, they would need all the strength they could get. Besides, Kakashi-sensei hadn’t told them not to eat. He’d only suggested , so they weren’t going to get into trouble.

“Hey Naruto,” Sakura greeted him, rubbing her eyes. She hadn’t slept well last night. In fact, none of them had, judging by the bags under their eyes. Maybe after they pulled this off they could take a nap. Maybe…

“Did you bring the stuff?”

Naruto smirked and tipped his backpack over, spilling the entire contents onto the ground. “You bet I did.”

Out fell exploding tags, an excessive amount of ninja wire, smoke bombs, small paint cans, bags of glitter, rope, and anything else they might need for setting traps.

“Great,” Sakura smiled. “Let’s get to work.”

 

---

 

At first their plan was to just simply let things happen as they had last time. It would be much easier, and they would still get the same results. But ultimately they had decided against, choosing in favor to fuck with Kakashi-sensei as much as possible. He deserved it after all, what with all tardiness and trolling. If he was going to be a little shit to them, then by God were they going to be little shits back.

Hence their revenge plans.

They would set up traps all around the training ground until the place was practically saturated, and one wouldn’t even be able to take a step without setting something off. The next part was proving teamwork, because perhaps just simply getting the bells wouldn’t be enough for their belligerent sensei. Naruto had suggested playing it out like one of Shikamaru’s games of shogi, altering variables and changing tactics until they managed to make checkmate, retrieving the bells in this case. Sakura had completely stunned by the suggestion and had forgotten to respond for nearly a minute.

But it was a good plan, so they went with it.

Three hours later the trio had rigged the entire training ground with various traps, relying on Naruto’s knowledge of panks to make them the best, and most annoying, traps possible. Not all of them were for show. They had to trigger a few specific traps for their plan to work, but they were confident that it would work out. Now they just had to wait for their sensei.

“Hey Sakura,” Naruto said, hands behind his head as he sprawled across the grass.

“Yeah?”

“Do you wanna get ramen after this?”

“Why?” She asked.

“Well, I haven’t had it in months,” he admitted, thinking back to turtle island and the long ship ride to get there. “And I really miss it.”

“Idiot,” she sighed. “It wasn’t even a month, don’t exaggerate.”

Naruto huffed loudly in displeasure, but didn’t retort. They fell back into silence again, waiting for their perpetually late sensei to arrive.

After about thirty minutes, they finally heard a voice say, “Yo.”

“YOU’RE LATE!” Both Sakura and Naruto cried, jumping up from the ground.

“Well you see,” he started, about to begin a tirade of excuses. “A black cat crossed the road so I had to take the long way around, but then there was an old lady who needed help with her groceries. And I couldn’t simply stand by and leave her to break a hip or something, so I had to help.”

“For four hours?” Sakura deadpanned.

They were used to his bullshit, but his excuses were just pathetic. If they didn’t know he’d actually spent that time talking to gravestones they’d be furious.

“Maa, that’s just how things go.”

All three genin had to work very hard to resist the urge to roll their eyes.

“Well, now that I’m here,” their sensei began again. “How about I explain the survival exercise?”

“Please,” Naruto groaned. “Let’s get on with this.”

“Well, you see these?” Their sensei asked, pulling out two bells. “Your objective is to get one of these bells from me by noon. If you fail to do so, you’ll be sent back to the academy.” His voice was mildly cheerful, but his eye promised pain.

“But sensei,” Sakura piped up. “You only have two bells.”

“That’s right,” he said, flashing them an eye-smile. “One of you will fail, and whoever does gets to sit and watch the rest of us eat our lunch.”

Unlike the last time, the mention of lunch didn’t make their stomachs growl in protest. Kakashi-sensei noticed this and raised a line eyebrow.

“You three all ate breakfast didn’t you?” He accused, not used to having his orders ignored. His statement was met with nods from all three.

“You only suggested we didn’t eat,” Naruto pointed out. “Not that we couldn’t eat.”

Kakashi would have liked to have it known in that moment that he really wished Naruto had gotten a little less of his father’s smart-ass personality. Damn Minato.

“Fine,” he said. “We begin on my count. And remember, if you don’t come at me with the intent to kill, you won’t get a bell.”

All three of the genins faces hardened.

“Ready,” Kakashi drawled. “Go!”

They zipped off in a blur and Kakashi suddenly found he was alone in the large clearing.

“Hm, well hidden,” Kakashi-sensei commented idly from the middle of the now empty clearing.

From the bush he was hiding in, Naruto caught Sakura’s gaze from across the way and gave a small nod. Phase one was in motion.

From the trees where Sakura was perched came a barrage of shuriken, all aimed in Kakashi-sensei’s general direction. He watched them lazily and didn’t even bother side stepping any as they all the dirt around his feet.

“You might need to work on your aim, there,” he drawled, utterly unimpressed.

“Wasn't aiming for you,” Sakura chirped before jumping to another hiding spot. Kakashi-sensei didn’t even have a moment to think over what that meant before the ground beneath his feet exploded as their buried exploding tags were activated.

Kakashi had to jump away quickly and retreat to the top of one of the training posts in order to avoid the blast. While he had been distracted, Sakura had managed to find a new hiding spot.

“Not bad,” he noted, eyeing the training grounds, which were torn apart from the explosions. There went any earth jutsu he might have wanted to use. “But that doesn’t help you get the bells.”

“Helps distract you!” A sudden voice from behind him cried. He only had a moment to duck a leg that came sweeping across before sending a harsh kick to the offending party. The Naruto clone that had attacked him burst into a cloud of smoke at the connection, only for a kunai to come flying through it.

Damn, he thought as he jumped out of the way. This kid is better than I thought.

Another two clones ran up to him, pressing him back into the woods with another round of kunai and shuriken. He took another bound back-

Only to suddenly find his foot caught in a snare as he was hoisted up into a tree. Wasting no time, he cut himself down as another orange clad assailant threw himself at him. He popped the clone easily, watching with mild alarm as the other was caught in a similar trap.

Did they rig the entire forest? He thought, bewildered. The more alarming part of that thought was that they could have rigged it so much that they had forgotten where all the traps were placed. Shooting a quick glance around, he did indeed spot barely hidden ninja wire, rope, and even a bag of, was the glitter? Kakashi didn’t even want to know what that trap was supposed to do.

Either way, if he intended to stay in the forest, half his attention would have to be on those traps. And if the brats decided to gang up on him as a unit, it would be over for him. Clearing it was then, he thought begrudgingly. This was what they wanted, he knew, but he still had a better chance at fight out there than he did in here with all these traps.

Damn these brats were evil.

There were no more clones around to attack him, Kakashi noted, but that didn’t mean any weren’t lying in wait. Wearily, he stood up and jumped up onto a tree branch, surveying the ground below. No Narutos. Not here at least. Narrowing his eye, he hopped to the next branch and on towards the clearing. If those brats wanted him there, by god was he going to show them just who they were dealing with.

 

---

 

“Did he take the bait?” Sasuke asked, crouched on the tree branch beside Naruto. Naruto nodded, having received his clones’ memories.

“He’s headed to the clearing now. And he looks pissed.” He’d most likely figured out they wanted him in the clearing and was coming full force. Which could end very badly for them.

Sasuke smiled darkly. “Good.”

Naruto scowled and shot the Uchiha a look. “Just stick to the plan,” he hissed. Even though he knew Sasuke was back on their side for the most part, the image of him almost killing Sakura still played in his head. He didn’t want to relive that right now, thanks.

The boy just waved him off. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

Naruto bit his lip to keep from retorting.

“There!” Sasuke suddenly hissed, pointing towards the training posts. “He’s back.”

Naruto picked himself up from his crouch and dusted off his pants, looking towards his friend as he did the same. “Then let's finish this thing.”

They jumped off the branch and were in the clearing.

“No cherry blossom? How disappointing,” Kakashi-sensei sighed once he spotted them, referring to their other teammate.

“Well you get us, so deal with it, y’know!” Naruto shouted back, jabbing a thumb at himself for emphasis.

Kakashi-sensei looked as unimpressed as always, but Naruto could see the slight edge to his stance as he readied himself for their assault.

In a flash, the two boys jumped towards their teacher, kunai and shuriken at the ready. Sasuke went first, throwing his deadly accuracy. Naruto followed, aiming for all the places Kakashi-sensei would escape to, forcing him back.

“Naruto!” Sasuke shouted in warning as he watched their sensei fly through hands signs.

“Got it!” Before Kakashi-sensei could strike the ground with a chidori and fry them, Naruto unleashed a strong wind jutsu, combining the force element of rasengan and his own wind nature to disrupt their sensei’s jutsu in its entirety. The look of surprise on Kakashi-sensei’s face was almost comical, but it was swept quickly under the rug as they began their assault again.

Sasuke jumped behind him, readying a fire style jutsu while Naruto stayed in front, attacked with taijutsu. He swung a hard kick towards Kakashi-sensei, which was easily blocked by him simply grabbing his leg. Suddenly Naruto was being thrown behind him and straight into Sasuke line of fire. He stopped his jutsu and the two collided hard and toppled to the ground in a heap of limbs.

“Not bad,” Kakashi-sensei drawled, dusting off his hands smugly. “But still not good enough.”

A growl of frustration escaped Sasuke as they picked themselves up.

“Good thing we’re just getting started,” he shot back. Kakashi merely raised an amused eyebrow in response.

The two were off again, this time going for duel combat. Sasuke went low, sweeping with a leg while Naruto went high, first ready to collide with that stupid mask of his. Kakashi jumped deftly over the swipe and caught the oncoming fist in his hand, kicking Sasuke on the back on his way down.

They would be doing so much better right now if they had let themselves use their actual skills, Naruto thought bitterly to himself.

He was thrown to the ground again, rolling some ways until skidding to a stop in the dirt. He looked up, spotting Sasuke in a similar position near him. But that wasn’t who he was looking for.

Far off in the trees he spotted a familiar set of green eyes and pink hair. They exchanged a quick look and the other person nodded. It was go time.

“On my signal!” Naruto hissed to Sasuke, jumping back to keep distance between him and the jōnin. Following suit, Sasuke didn’t even have to ask as he saw the boy take a ready stance. The Uchiha flew through hand sign and built up hot chakra in his chest, ready to go.

“Now!” Naruto shouted. A burst of wind came roaring out of his hand, rushing toward their sensei. “Wind style; gale palm!”

Sasuke took that moment to release his own jutsu, spewing forth an inferno from his mouth. “Fire style; fireball jutsu!”

The jutsus clashed and the wind helped to accelerate the fire, pushing it hot and fast towards their sensei in a blistering storm.

“Shit,” was all they heard from their sensei.

They had him cornered, just as they’d planned. The forest to his left was covered in traps, to dangerous to make an escape in. The ground below him was cracked from Sakura’s multiple exploding tags, so no escaping through there. And they’d aimed the blast from their jutsu upwards, so that route was also not viable. That only left backwards and to the right. And, just as they’d calculated, he went right.

The man jumped to the side, quick as a flash, but Sakura was waiting. Nimbly, she grabbed at the bells hanging from his vest whilst also aiming a strong roundhouse kick right into his solar plexus. He went flying back, hitting a tree hard enough for them to hear it crack.

Then the tinkle of bells sounded, and it was all over.

When the smoke cleared, they were faced with scorched earth and a bewildered sensei leaning up against a tree. His eye was almost as wide as one of Naruto’s ramen bowls as he eyed the three of them.

Chuckling to himself, Naruto dusted off his hands nonchalant and folded them behind his head, grinning like a maniac.

“How, in the hell…” Kakashi-sensei managed, dumbfounded. He only received laughter in response.

“We had it all planned out since yesterday, sensei,” Naruto announced cheerfully. “We even made a three step plan!”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, step one of plan Beat Kakashi-sensei was to set off a lot of exploding tags buried in the dirt. It would break up the ground and make it so he wouldn’t be able to use any earth style jutsu very effectively, y’know,” Naruto said. “Because we asked around and found out what your preferred fighting style was and thought of ways to avoid them to give us the advantage.” That was a lie. But it was plausible enough to be the truth. In reality Sasuke just didn’t want to to be buried up to his neck again, as it was very embarrassing the last time. Of course they could have had Sakura straight up punching the ground again, but they didn’t have that luxury this time as they had covers to keep.

“Step two of the plan was keep you out of the woods,” Naruto continued. “If this was going to work, we needed you out in the open. So we rigged the entire forest, y’know, and even had one of my clones trip one to make you think not even we knew where they all were, because there were so many.” Naruto suddenly paused to think. “Which there are.”

“Yeah,” Sakura sighed next to him. “Might have gone a bit overboard there.” Naruto could only chuckle, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

“Anyway, once we had you out in the open, Sasuke and I would attack you while Sakura hid. Once we had you distracted, she would swoop in and get the bells, y’know. Pretty neat plan, huh?”

“And we got the bells, sensei,” Sakura smiled sweetly, holding up both bells for emphasis. They tinkled merrily in her grasp, a great juxtaposition to their current surroundings. “Does that mean we pass?”

Naruto saw their sensei’s eye harden in annoyance before he replied. “No, only one of you got the bells. And I said whoever doesn’t get one goes back to the academy.”

Even though they knew it was utter bullshit, they decided to play along.

“Oh, well, okay.” Deftly, Sakura handed a bell to each of the boys. “There, we all got a bell!”

Naruto was sure that under his mask, Kakashi-sensei was beet red.

“So did we pass?” Naruto piped up.

There was a long moment of silence from their sensei, in which the man was contemplating treason by smiting all three of the brats where they stood. But he eventually decided against it, as it would be in poor taste.

“Yes,” he finally ground out. “You all pass.”

Chapter 5: Reflections

Notes:

Beta'd as of 7/21/18

Genin. What a nightmare.

That was Kakashi Hatake’s thought as he made his way towards the Hokage tower. His hair was singed slightly at the edges from the giant wind-aided fireball the boys had thrown at him (and wasn’t that surprising, genin using elemental affinities), and his pants also had some soot on them from the exploding tags the Haruno girl had set off. No genin team had even come close to what those three had managed today. Not with the strategizing, the skill, or the teamwork. And he had been thoroughly humiliated by it. On top of that, he hadn’t even had a chance to read his favorite book, Icha Icha, so that had been a blow. All in all, he smelled like smoke and had the disposition of a cat dunked in water - which is to say, very sour.

But it hadn’t all been bad. The three hadn’t scoffed at what he’d told them about teamwork. They’d taken it in with serious expressions, like it was the most important thing to being a ninja.

He reflected back on that conversation.

 

“Do you know what this stone is?” He asked, walking up to the memorial stone. Instinct drove his eye to search out a familiar name. Obito Uchiha.

“It’s a memorial,” the Haruno girl spoke up. “For all the Shinobi killed in the line of duty.”

Kakashi nodded. “That’s correct.” Shooting them a quick glance, he was pleased to find that all of them had either relatively somber or pensive looks on their faces. Good, at least they had respect for the fallen.

“The names of my best friend and sensei are carved into this stone,” he went on to say, missing Naruto’s flinch and Sasuke’s narrowed eyes. “They died fighting for this village, and for the beliefs they held.”

He turned around to face them. “Do you know what it is?”

The three shared a cautious look before shaking their heads.

“In the Shinobi world, those who break the rules are considered scum. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.” He glanced down at Obito’s name again. “I learned that lesson the hard way. But you three will know it well by the time I’m done with you.”

A strong wind blew through the clearing, and for a long moment the only audible sound was that of leaves rustling in the morning breeze.

“Alright.” With a glance back, Kakashi noted that it was Naruto. “But you didn’t need to tell me that. Because I’ll never abandon my friends no matter what. I’ll always protect my precious people, even if it kills me, y’know!”

The look he gave was hard and determined. For a second, Kakashi saw Obito in him, the way he looked right before going back for Rin. It was unwavering, and more than he would have ever expected from a fresh genin.

“I’m glad,” was all he could reply with.

 

Kakashi was snapped out of his memory when he suddenly found himself before the Hokage tower. Right, he had to report that they’d passed.

Because they’d beaten him – him, Kakashi of the Sharingan, the Copy-Cat Ninja. Kakashi of a thousand jutsu. They’d beaten him – with tricks.

Grumpily he way his way up the tower, glowering all the while at anyone who made eye contact with him, before stepping into the Hokage’s office.

“Team 5 failed, Lord Hokage,” one of the jōnin sensei reported. Ah, they had already started, then. Kakashi sidled in and took his place towards the back of the room. Hiruzen nodded at the jonin’s account and wrote something down on a scroll before dismissing the man and going on to the next one.

“Team 6 did not pass,” the next jōnin reported, with a slightly frustrated expression on his face. Oh boy, what had his team done to earn such a reaction, Kakashi wondered. Probably nothing worse than his own, he figured.

“Alright,” Hiruzen said, jotting that down as well. “You are dismissed, Munōna-san*,” the Hokage said to the jōnin. Munōna gave a quick nod before retreating back. Now everyone’s eyes were on Kakashi.

Oh, right. They were going in numerical order.

Not moving from his spot, Kakashi gave a shrug and simply said, “Pass.”

He could have heard a senbon drop, it was so quiet.

“Pass?” Kurenai echoed, her shocked expression mirrored by the majority of the jōnin in the room, all staring at him with wide eyes and partly open mouths.

“Maa,” Kakashi shrugged again. “I figured it was time to change things up.” No one had to know he had nearly been set on fire. And like hell he was going to let his comrades know he was beaten by a bunch of pre-teens! He would like to save his dignity, thank you very much.

“Well, that is a pleasant surprise, Kakashi,” Hiruzen smiled.

Kakashi only hummed in reply.

“Well then,” Hiruzen continued. “Kurenai, team 8?”

Kakashi tuned the rest out, far more interested in finishing his book.

 

---

 

After being dismissed by the Hokage, Kakashi and the rest of the jōnin soon found themselves all filing out of the office. Kakashi however lagged behind as he hated crowds. Once he deemed it clear enough, he exited the office with his nose in a book.

Only to run headlong into a chunin.

“Ah, Kakashi,” the chunin exclaimed, startled. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. In front of him stood Iruka, the academy sensei, holding an armful of scrolls that he had, undoubtedly, been bringing to the Hokage. “Well, all jōnin sensei were required to meet here,” he stated. “Why would it be a surprise to see me?”

Iruka’s face took on a reddish hue, and the chunin scratched back of his neck nervously. A habit Kakashi noted that Naruto had as well. “Well, you do have a reputation… for being late. No offense.”

Kakashi merely rolled his eye. “Maa, reputations can often be misleading. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He made to move around the chunin, but was stopped when the younger man piped up.

“Naruto’s team,” he said, halting Kakashi in his tracks. “Did they pass your exam?” His tone was anxious. After all, Kakashi had never once passed a genin team in his six years of being on the sensei roster.

But this team...

Slowly, Kakashi turned around and leveled Iruka with a terrifyingly dangerous glint to his eye that rivaled his sharingan, and said in a harrowing voice, “You taught monsters, Iruka. Monsters.”

Iruka could only blink, stunned.

“So… does that mean…?” He trailed off, ready to flee if need be. He was certain Kakashi was half a second away from releasing some major Killing Intent.

“They passed,” the jōnin finally let out, causing Iruka to let out a big sigh of relief. “But if they try to set me on fire again, I will personally deliver their bodies to you, because you were their academy sensei, and thus, to blame.”

Iruka was gaping like a fish, unable to even process a coherent thought.

Kakashi, seeing his chance to escape, gave the chunin a respectful nod before stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning down the hallway. “Good day, Iruka.”

Iruka was left by himself to wonder just what exactly his students had done to garner this kind of response. To be honest, he was a little scared to find out.

 

---

 

Kushina Uzumaki.

There it was, his mother's name. It was carved neatly into the memorial stone right next to his father's. It felt like only yesterday he met her in his mindscape and she had told him about his dad and the night he was born. The image of her beautiful smiling face was still fresh in his mind, so seeing her name carved into the memorial for fallen soldiers was like a slap to the face.

After Kakashi had given them his speech about teamwork and he’d made his proclamation, they had all left to go their separate ways. Naruto had stayed behind with the lie that he’d just do some training when the reality was he had wanted to see if he could find his parents’ names on the obelisk. He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt the need to though. Maybe it was for closure, or to finally pay his respects, as he hadn’t ever done so before. Whatever it was, he’d felt he’d needed to, so here he was.

Unconsciously, his fingers traced his mom's name, fitting themselves into the grooves of ridges of the kanji.

“Hey mom,” he whispered. It was so quiet he could barely hear it, so he knew that if anyone was eavesdropping they would have heard nothing. His mind slowly turned to the last things she said to him before her chakra disappeared. He had never gotten the chance to reply then, so he should now. But first...

“Dad says hi,” he continued. “Or at least I think he does. We were kinda busy, so it kinda slipped our minds, y’know.” Silence. “Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I eat my vegetables, or I will be, and that I love taking baths, so you don’t need to worry about that. I made lots’a friends, but things are kinda complicated right now so we’re not exactly friends yet.” Tears started pricking unbidden at his eyes, and he told himself the pain in his throat was just an oncoming cough. “You were right about Pervy Sage though,” he laughed. “But I handled him fine, I think. And I haven’t even touched alcohol yet. Besides, I’ve seen what it does to grownups. I don’t think that’d be fun.” He swiped at his eyes, sniffing so as not to let his nose run. “School was pretty hard, but I graduated, so that’s good. Although it did take me three tries.”

The name stared blankly back at him. Because that’s all it was. A name. A name carved into a rock with so many others names of people who’d died in the line of duty.

Naruto sniffed hard again, whipping away the now free flowing tears. “I wish you were here, mom,” he choked out. “You and dad. You guys’d know what to do, cuz I don’t. I don’t have a goddamn idea what I’m doing. But I have to because the world is depending on it.” Now he was sobbing, the events of the past few days finally catching up to him. “I mean, it’s not like I can let Kaguya out again, or the Jūbi. But what can I do about it? I’m just a stupid genin. And now everyone who was dead is alive, and people who were my friends don’t even know me- God. What am I supposed to do? I don’t know what to do!”

At the last sentence, he curled his knees up into his chest, sobbing hard into them. His hands were fisted in the fabric of his pants, so tight his knuckles had turned white.

“I don’t know what to do,” he sobbed. Then, in a whisper, “I don’t know what to do.”

The wind rustling through the trees was all the response he got.

Notes:

*Munōna means incompetent in Japanese. So I like to believe that that jōnin is just an incompetent teacher and also why he failed his genin squad.

Also, this might be the last update for a little bit while I figure out the Wave arc. Things will be starting to change more in that arc so I really have to plot out what exactly team seven is going to do. I do have a rough outline of what I generally want to happen, but actually writing it will take some effort. Until then, thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a comment!

Chapter 6: Team 7

Notes:

So... this was finished faster than expected. Kind of a slow chapter, but this is official the start of the wave arc. Thank you all for the comments you've left so far, and I hope you enjoy!
EDIT: Beta's as of 7/24

Training with Kakashi-sensei hadn’t been this hard the first time around, Naruto thought as he dodged another round of kunai that flew towards him. But maybe he just wasn’t remembering right. Five years was a long time to dull his memories.

No, he was remembering right. This Kakashi-sensei was just a little more sadistic he thought as an exploding tag came sailing towards him.

What had they ever done to deserve this?

Oh yeah, they’d kicked his ass at the bell test. Hm, who knew Kakashi-sensei could be so petty?

“Too slow,” said sensei called out as the explosion went off in Naruto’s face, scorching his hair. It was a small explosion, obviously, but annoying nonetheless.

“I’ll show you slow, y’know!” he shouted back, picking himself up from the ground. Here he was, the savior of Konoha, getting tossed around by their lazy, porn-loving sensei. In the distance he heard Sakura chuckling, which only managed to turn his face red in embarrassment.

Great, not her too…

“Maybe if we took a break that would help,” Sasuke sidled from the side. “Whiner-boy gets cranky when he doesn’t have his nap.”

That was the last straw.

“WHY YOU LITTLE-” He charged forward towards his teammate, but was stopped at the last minute by someone grabbing his collar.

“Maa, that’s not very good teamwork, you two,” Kakashi-sensei drawled, still holding onto Naruto’s collar.

Hah. If only he knew.

“But I think Sasuke’s right,” he continued. “Let’s break for lunch.”

And that was how the four of them found themselves sitting in the shade of one of Konoha’s large trees, eating their respective bentos.

“Hey sensei,” Naruto piped up, absently pushing rice around with his chopsticks.

The jōnin looked up from his book, bento sitting empty in the grass next to him. They hadn’t even seen him eat it. “Hm?”

“Why are you having us run so many evasion drills?” They hadn’t last time, if memory served.

“Well you want to be chunin don’t you?” He asked rhetorically. “If you get hit by a stray kunai or shuriken, your ninja career can be ended just like that, and you’ll never be promoted.”

“Genin aren’t supposed to be in the line of fire though, sensei,” Sakura pointed out dryly. It was sort of hypocritical though, considering the missions that they had gone on in their genin days – or will have gone on…

“All the better for you then,” Kakashi-sensei said. “You’ll be ahead of the curve.”

For some reason, all three genin had sneaking suspicion that wasn’t the reason at all. But none of them had the courage to bring it up. They didn’t want to have to run laps around Konoha after all.

“So when do we start missions?” Sasuke asked, changing the topic.

It was true, for the last week since they had become genin, they hadn’t taken a single D rank. Which could become a real problem if they didn’t get the Wave mission because of it.

“Do you want to start on them?” Kakashi-sensei asked, raising an eyebrow.

All three of them nodded.

“Maa, all right then,” the jōnin sighed. “We start tomorrow. Now finish up your bentos. I have a few more exercises I’d like you to do today.”

At the mention of more of Kakashi-sensei’s “exercises” The three let out a long, unanimous groan.

 

---

 

It would be a long time before Kakashi-sensei let them go. He’d had them doing drills and exercises until the sun had begun to set. And even then it was only because Sakura couldn’t physically stand, under her own power, due to exhaustion. So Kakashi-sensei had dismissed them and said to meet at the missions office the following day at eight (but knowing him that meant eleven or later), before taking Sakura home. That left the two boys to make their way back to their own apartments on their own.

So there Naruto was, wandering through the streets in Konoha lost in thought. He didn’t particularly want to do D ranks again, but knowing he had to do they could get the Wave mission took precedence over his feelings. But still, painting fences for hours on end sucked .

Because he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings, Naruto managed to walk face first right into someone’s back.

“Oof.”

The person he’d walked into jolted, turning around to face his assailant.

“Hey, watch where you’re- Naruto?”

Naruto pauses from rubbing his nose. He knew that voice. Looking up, he saw a young face with a scar running across the nose, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail.

“Iruka-sensei!” He gasped. His brain short circuited for a moment while he took in the sight of his teacher. Emotions he couldn’t discern suddenly started selling up inside him upon seeing the man, and it was all Naruto could do to stop his eyes from watering.

The chunin in question simply broke out into a grin.

“Wow, Naruto, I haven’t seen you in ages,” he smiled. “But you really should watch where you’re- oof.”

The rest of his sentence was cut off by Naruto wrapping him in a bone crushing hug. Iruka laughed goodnaturedly, accepting the sudden form of affection.

“It hasn’t been that long, Naruto.”

It really hadn’t, for either of them. Naruto had seen him just before leaving for the war front, and Iruka had just seen on team assignment day. So it had only been roughly a week. But damn it if it didn’t feel like forever.

“I-I know,” Naruto said as he pulled away quickly, face turning red from embarrassment. Most people didn’t hug their teachers after all. Even if their teachers told them they thought of them as a little brother – or bought them ramen. Or just cared for them in general, more than what could be considered normal. “I just, like, missed you was all.”

“It’s all right,” Iruka chuckled, smiling warmly. “I’ll admit to having missed you. The academy is so peaceful without your pranks, it’s almost mind numbing.”

Oh, right. Pranks. Naruto hadn’t pulled any in years.

“Guess you’re just gonna have to get used to it,” was all he managed to reply with. And if his smile seemed a little too forced, well, Iruka didn’t call him out.

“Say, do you want to get ramen? I haven’t had any for a little bit, and we haven’t even celebrated you becoming an official genin yet.”

This time Naruto’s grin became authentic, stretching wide across his face.

“Let’s do it, y’know!”

 

---

 

It had been a long time since Naruto had had Ichiraku’s. So it wasn’t surprising when he finished off his first bowl in under a minute before readily starting on his second, slurping down the wonderfully yummy noodles with the same amount of vigor. Well, it wasn’t surprising for him, Iruka on the other hand…

“Woah, slow down there,” the chunin cautioned, watching with mild alarm at the speed his student ate. “The ramen isn’t going anywhere.”

Swallowing the bean sprouts and narutomaki he’d shoved in his mouth, Naruto turned to face Iruka. “Yeah but I haven’t had it in like forever, y’know.”

Iruka shot him a disbelieving look. “We had some the other week,” he stated.

That’s right, Naruto thought to himself. They’d had some after Iruka made him a genin. He’d forgotten about that.

“Yeah, like I said,” Naruto said, trying to play it off. “Forever!”

Iruka didn’t seem to think anything of it and merely rolled his eyes, smiling fondly despite himself.

“Well, just remember you need to eat fruits and vegetables too. You can’t live solely off ramen.”

“I know that, sensei,” Naruto retorted. Which was apparently the wrong thing to say.

Raising an eyebrow, Iruka turned back to look at him. “Did you just agree with me on nutrition?” He asked, dumbfounded.

“Uh,” Naruto trailed off. “Yeah?”

There was a pregnant pause from Iruka while the man appeared to collect his thoughts. Oh god, had Naruto said something out of character? Would Iruka get suspicious?

Instead, the chunin just blinked. Then a pleased look broke across his features. “Wow, Naruto. You’re really growing up, huh.”

Naruto blinked.

“I’m proud of you,” he went on to say, causing a warm feeling to spread in Naruto’s chest. A feeling he’d only really felt when he was Jiraiya or Kakashi-sensei in their later years. It felt like pride except, not. Then, breaking his train of thought, Iruka said, “Just don’t grow up too fast. Cuz then I’ll miss my little ball of energy.”

This little ball of energy wasn’t going anywhere, Naruto thought obstinately. Unfortunately for Iruka though, he had already grown up.

 

---

 

Unlike last time, Kakashi-sensei made them do D ranks until the sun had set. And by now, all three of them had come to an agreement that the only reason he was doing this was because they beat him in the bell test.

Jeez, how petty could a person get!

Apparently, the answer was very.

They had done so many D ranks around the village in the past week and a half that old man Hokage let out a long suffering sigh every time Kakashi-sensei dragged them into the mission office. He wasn’t the only one. Iruka had started wearing a pained, pitiful expression seeing them so dirty and tired, but wisely kept his mouth shut about it.

The three genin would have complained, but they knew that the more D ranks they went on, the higher the chance of the Hokage granting them the Wave escort mission. SO they kept their mouths shut and bore it through.

Then finally, one day, they got the Tora mission.

“Finally!” Naruto exclaimed upon exiting the office. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his sensei shoot him a confused look behind his book.

“I just mean, y’know, it’s something better than weeding gardens and stuff,” Naruto hurried to say, trying to cover his mistake. Kakashi-sensei raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Naruto counted that as a win.

Sakura, however, did not. She elbowed him in the ribs, probably harder than necessary, before shooting him a threatening look – one that told him to shut up immediately.

“Sorry,” he grumbled out. This seemed to appease her, as she rolled her eyes before hurrying up to walk next to Sasuke. She had been trying for the past two weeks to mend their relationship, because apparently neither one had gotten over the other trying to kill them. Of course to everyone else who knew them it just looked like Sakura was absorbed in her crush on the Uchiha like always – which, being fair might have also been true. But by now it wasn’t just a crush anymore. To be honest, Naruto didn’t know what it was. And he wasn’t about to ask either.

“Naruto.”

Naruto looked up at Sakura, who had just hissed at him, and saw her beckoning him to join her and Sasuke. Confused, he picked up the pace until he was walking in sync with them.

“I was just talking with Sasuke,” she said. “And we agreed that if we get assigned the Wave mission today that we’ll meet somewhere later to go over our plan for it. What do you think?”

Naruto blinked, surprised. He had never included in plans before, so this was somewhat shocking. Shaking off the feeling, he quickly nodded to show his assent.

“Sure, but meet where?”

Sakura shrugged. “Same place as always.”

So the memorial stone, Naruto thought.

“Alright,” he said. “I’ll be there.

 

---

 

The mission went as it had before. They had Tora at the expense of Naruto getting scratched to hell and back. Then he’d made a fuss at the mission office and demanded a C rank. The only difference was that this time Sakura and Sasuke (in his own, broody way) agreed with him, pressing for a C rank mission as well. For some reason the Hokage seemed relieved by their outburst and admitted that he’d been expecting them to ask for one for some time, considering how hard Kakashi-sensei was driving them with D ranks. He’d agreed and they’d been given a C rank.

And it had been the Wave mission.

Everything was going to plan.

So that night, Naruto left his warm apartment and tracked all the way out to the memorial stone, trusting his feet to get him there more than his eyes. When he got there, the other two were already waiting.

“Alright, we’re all here now,” he said Sakura say. He joined them at the obelisk and they sat down in a small circle. For a long while it was quiet, no one knowing where to start.

Sakura decided to take the initiative and start them off. “Tomorrow’s the Wave mission.”

It was said with a tone that was heavy and harrowing, not unlike that of a sentence. None of them had spoken about it, but they all knew the implications. This was the mission that truly started them on their Shinobi careers. They’d had a first-hand look into how the Shinobi world really operated. How dirty it was, how cruel it could be. It had also helped shaped them as people. Naruto had learned the value of protecting his precious people while Sasuke had gained his sharingan. Sakura hadn’t taken much away from it though. Her change had really started in the chunin exams.

But the problem with this now though, was that they’d already done it. But no one else knew that, thus their dilemma.

“Should we maybe tell Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto asked nervously, looking at the other two for a reaction. Sakura bit her lip in thought while Sasuke retained the pensive look he always wore.

“I don’t think so,” Sakura finally said. “We need him at the top of his game for this, and if we tell him…” she trailed off, the implication clear on her face. Naruto gave a mute nod. He remembered what had happened to their sensei when he, Naruto, and Gai discovered the masked man was actually his previously dead teammate; Obito Uchiha. He had never seen fear on his sensei's face before that moment.

If they told him all they knew about the future, there was no telling what would happen.

“So we don’t tell him,” Naruto surmised. “Not yet anyway.” He was met with a nod from Sakura and contemplative silence from Sasuke.

“So, that’s decided,” Sakura managed. “But what now? Do we just let things play out as they did before? I mean, it ended well, but things definitely could have gone better.”

Naruto didn’t even have to think before responding. “Haku,” he said. “I don’t want him to die. Zabuza either.”

“Haku and Zabuza were the enemy,” Sasuke cut in harshly. “If they don’t die there’s no telling what else they might do – or who they might kill.”

“Haku was innocent,” Naruto argued. “And Zabuza isn’t a monster! You weren’t awake when he killed Gato, but I saw it in his eyes. We can reach him if we try.”

An annoying huff escaped the Uchiha, followed by something that looked like a dismissive gesture.

“Sasuke,” Naruto tried warningly. “We’re not going to kill them.”

“We’ll see about that,” he said coldly. Naruto’s fists clenched on top of his knees, and it was only when Sakura put her hand on his arm that he unclenched them. Getting into an argument wouldn’t help anyone right now. Not if Sasuke was going to be an obstinate ass.

“Let’s figure out the Haku/Zabuza thing later, guys,” Sakura said, ever the peacekeeper. “Right now we should focus on how we’re going to approach the mission.”

A challenging look was shared between Naruto and Sasuke for a long few moments before one of them relented. Naruto sighed, looking away. “Alright,” he said. “Let’s get to work.”

 

---

 

The sun was shining brightly that morning, cheerful and warm. The coldness from the night was quickly being washed away by the warm mid-April breeze, giving the village a sense of peacefulness and contentment.

For team seven however, it was another matter.

They were stood in front of the village gates, backpacks on, papers exchanged with the guards, and by all intents and purposes, ready to go.

Except there was one teeny tiny problem with the whole matter, one that would postpone any thought of getting on the road.

“Seriously,” Naruto grounded, kicking at the dirt in annoyance. “I thought for sure he wouldn’t be late this time.”

Kakashi-sensei was very, very late.

Their sensei always has a habit of being late, this was known. But surprisingly, over the last few weeks of him leading their team, he had cut back the time immensely. Of course it had also lead to him pushing them harder than anything they’d ever experienced, but still. He hadn’t been that late.

Today though, that was not the case.

“It’s almost like he’s making up for lost time,” Sakura commented dryly.

“Wait,” Tazuna interrupted, a startled expression adorning his face. “You’re telling me this is a common occurrence?”

“We’ve had to wait five hours before,” was all Sakura said. Tazuna sweatdropped.

As amusing as the sight the bridge builder made was, Naruto couldn’t bother to spare it any attention. Nerves had been building up inside him all night. What if their plan didn't work? What if it made things worse? What if, what if, what if. The thoughts wouldn’t stop. And Kakashi-sensei being later than usual wasn’t helping. They were on a time table after all.

Suddenly-

“Good morning, my cute little monsters.”

There stood Kakashi-sensei. Hands in his pockets, backpack on, and slouching like he didn’t give a damn.

“YOU’RE LATE!”

Kakashi-sensei had the gall to look surprised. “Am I? It’s eleven, is it not?”

“Yeah but we were supposed to meet at nine,” Sakura supplied, annoyed because she knew full well that he’d known that, and was only doing this to be an ass. God she missed their Kaka-sensei. The one who was a little more real with them and wasn’t as late to things. Unfortunately that was still a few years down the line.

“Hah, oops,” he said, giving them all an innocent eye-smile.

All three genin and bridge builder gave him deadpan stares of disbelief.

“Well,” Kakashi-sensei said, clapping his hands together. “Time’s a waist of. Let’s get going!”

Hiking his back pack up onto his shoulders, Naruto turned to face his teammates with a determined look in his eyes. Their ninjas careers began with this mission, and the weight of that wasn’t lost on them.

They stepped out of the gate, three genin, a jōnin, and a bridge builder, all walking towards danger.

The Wave mission had begun.

Chapter 7: Land of Waves

Notes:

Short chapter today, I know. But to be fair, I really hate this arc. It's overdone and slow and blah blah blah. That I'm working on college things as spring break has just ended. Anyway, thank you guys for all the comments and kudos. You guys are awesome!
EDIT: Beta'd as of 7/29

They had been walking for nearly three hours before the Demon Brothers from Kiri decided to show up. And, just like last time, they attacked Kakashi-sensei first, using their chains to rip him apart before going after Tazuna. Unlike last time however, they were ready for it.

“Sasuke, now!” Naruto shouted, tossing the boy a length of ninja wire. He caught it and the pair ran forward, wire stretched taut between them. Sakura meanwhile bolted toward Tazuna and took up a defensive stance in front of him, kunai in hand and ready.

The brothers noticed and jumped back to avoid being clotheslined, just the way they had planned it. Dropping the ninja wire, Naruto summoned ten clones and shot towards one of the brothers while Sasuke headed for the other. Their hope was to distract them by forcing them away from each other, thereby stretching their chain out until they went too far and tripped themselves.

Naruto pushed his opponent back into the tree line with a flurry of kicks and punches. But instead of jumping back, he detached and shot his clawed gauntlet straight towards Naruto. The boy leapt to the side-

Only for the gauntlet to swing back around, ensnaring him in the cable.

Fuck!

The demon brother started to reel in the gauntlet, and unfortunately that meant he came with it. He squirmed to try to get out of it, but his arms were stuck.

“Damn it!” He shouted.

“Naruto, duck!”

Naruto didn’t even hear who had said it, but using his legs, he pushed against the tree in front of him, performing a semi-successful backflip that ended with him on the ground while a volley of shuriken and kunai sailed above him.

A dull thunk followed. Something toppled over. Then silence.

Naruto took that moment of silence to catch his breath, all the air having been knocked out of him from his ungraceful landing. “Ow,” he groaned.

Turning his head to see where the Kiri ninja was, he looked in the direction he presumed he’d landed. In his place he saw a blood-soaked body covered in kunai and shuriken. It wasn’t moving.

“Naruto!” Someone was running up to him and grabbing his shoulders, helping to sit him upright. Looking up he saw Kakashi-sensei’s worried face. Immediately his sensei started to untangle the cable from the gauntlet, all the while appearing to look him over for injuries.

“I’m fine, sensei,” he said, shrugging off the cables once they were sufficiently loosened. Kakashi-sensei made no move to show he’d heard.

“Those were chunin from Kiri,” he said instead. “The Demons Brothers, known for their use of poison.”

“Well I didn’t get cut or anything,” he told him. “See?” He held up his hands for emphasis. Kakashi-sensei gave him an unimpressed look for his troubles. Naruto huffed in annoyance before scrambling to his feet, Kakashi-sensei lending a hand to help him.

“Sensei!” He heard Sakura call to them. He looked over to see her rushing toward the tree-line, med-kit out and ready. “Is Naruto hurt?”

“No, we’re fine here, Sakura,” their sensei said, waving her off. Her shoulders slumped in relief before she turned back to someone else, presumably Sasuke. When Naruto and Kakashi-sensei made it back to the road, Naruto was surprised to see just how gory it was.

This brother’s body wasn’t as mutilated by weapons as the other’s, but it was still gruesome.

“Your first kill, Sasuke,” his sensei hummed from his side. “I’m impressed.”

Well, Naruto grimaced. From a certain point of view.

“They were after the client,” Sasuke said simply, not even phased by his first apparent murder.

“Well, good job.” He nodded to the boy before turning to the bridge builder. “Now, Tazuna,” he said, voice turning cold. “We should talk.”

 

---

 

Somehow, by some miracle. They convinced Kakashi-sensei to let them complete the mission. And Naruto didn’t even have to stab his hand to do it. Their sensei was much more reluctant to agree because he’d had to save Naruto from being gutted by one of the Demon Brothers. Naruto disagreed on that front, insisting he would have been fine.

The side eye spoke enough words to shut down any argument.

Either way, they had still gotten him to agree, and were now on their way to the Land of Waves.

Once they’d exited the boat that had taken them there, every member of team 7 was on high alert. They had won one battle yes, but there was still one more to go before they arrived in Tazuna village. The one with Zabuza. Yet despite knowing he would attack them somewhere between the boat and village, none of them could remember exactly where. And it was putting them all on edge.

Walking at the front of the party, Naruto was palming a kunai nervously while Sakura hung back behind Tazuna in case any projectiles came his way. Sasuke had taken point and was having a hard time not activating his sharingan. He ached for his blade, the one he’d gotten from Orochimaru, so as to feel some semblance of reassurance. But as it was, he didn’t have it yet, so he had to settle for kunai like the rest of them.

“Awfully quiet, you three,” Kakashi noted from the side.

“Just focusing, sensei,” Sakura replied tersely. And that was the end of that conversation.

They walked for a little while longer, nerves growing with each step. They were so high strung that even the rustle of bushes could have set them off – which was exactly what happened.

Naruto reacted first and threw his kunai, where it hit its target with a sickening thunk .

After a moment’s thought, Naruto realized that couldn’t have been Zabuza. Upon investigation, he found he was right.

“Aw man,” he sighed, pulling the now dead rabbit out of the underbrush. It was a snow hare, winter coat still on despite it being spring. He vaguely remembered scaring a rabbit last time. But he hadn’t killed it. Just went to show how much his aim had improved over the years.

“Jeez,” Sakura sighed, clutching her chest. “That scared the shit out of me.”

Naruto opened his mouth to apologize, but was cut off by Kakashi-sensei’s sudden cry.

“GET DOWN!” he shouted.

Acting out of reflex, Naruto threw himself onto the ground, watching Sakura tackle Tazuna and Kakashi-sensei do the same to Sasuke. Not a second later a giant sword came spinning over their heads, lodging itself squarely in a tree behind Naruto. It would have surely decapitated all of them had they remained standing.

But that wasn’t the thought going threw Naruto’s head.

Zabuza, was all he thought.

 

---

 

The fight with Zabuza had gone much the same as it had last time. Chakra exhausted sensei included. It had been frustrating being forced to the sidelines again, save for the fūma shuriken move. Even though they all knew Kakashi-sensei would win, it was infuriating not being able to help. They had the skills. They had the knowledge. But it was useless when they couldn’t do anything with them. It made them all feel useless.

The whole team had been uncharacteristically quiet for the remainder of the journey to Tazuna’s house. But no one had made a comment of it. Tazuna might have assumed it was all due to the very traumatizing event that had just occurred. But the rest knew they each were all caught up in their own, frustrated thoughts.

They had been forced to stay out of the battle this time. What if the same happened next battle? They couldn’t accept being forced to sit back when they knew they could change things. They had agreed that they shouldn’t mess with the Zabuza battle much before they’d left. The world didn’t see them yet as the incredible powerhouses they were. And as such they had to play the part. They had known that. But that had been before. Before they had felt it. The powerlessness, the helplessness, the frustration. They’d known that was how it was going to be.

But there’s a difference between knowing, and knowing .

And it made all of them feel frustrated beyond compare. Because how could they change anything when they had to be stupid helpless genin? How?

“Here we are.”

Tazuna’s voice broke them out of their reverie and back into the present. They found themselves standing in front of a quaint wooden house set into a pier. Water lapped at the posts holding it up below them, the salty smell of the sea shifting calmly around them.

“It’s not much to what you guys are used to, I suppose,” the bridge builder continued, stroking his goatee thoughtfully. “But it’s home – and where the four of you will be staying until I get the bridge built.”

“It’s perfect,” Sakura supplied, speaking up for the first time since the battle. She offered him a kind smile. It was weak, slightly strained, but obviously sincere. “Thank you, Tazuna.”

The architect smiled back. “’Course. Now let’s get your teacher set up inside before you drop him.”

And that was that.

Notes:

^Sakura's new design for my fic

Chapter 8: Time For Some Training

Notes:

Light fluffy chapter before we get to the meatier bits of the arc. And as always, team 7 just loves to mess with Kakashi. Thank you guys for your reviews and kudos, they mean so much to a writer. Enjoy!
EDIT: Beta'd as of 7/29

“Hey, should I pull his mask down?”

“What, why?”

“Because then we would finally get to see what he’s hiding under there!”

“Naruto, you can’t just take advantage of someone like that while they’re unconscious.”

“I’m not taking advantage! You want to see it too. I know you do!”

He felt a hand reaching forward to grab at the fabric and immediately his senses went into high alert. His hand shot out and grabbed the offender’s wrist.

“Try it again, and you’ll be doing D ranks until you’re twenty,” Kakashi threatened, eyes still shut.

His student let out a loud nervous gulp before yanking his hand back.

“As I thought…”

He painstakingly opened his eyes and saw two of his students staring at him with their own, clearly shocked. Hm. Good. Sakura was seated behind Naruto, legs folded beneath her properly while Naruto was hovering by him, having escaped the possible wrath of lowering his mask. So that was two students accounted for. Now where was the third?

“Sasuke is taking watch right now,” Sakura reported, noticing what he was thinking. “We’re at Tazuna’s house with his daughter, and grandchild. You’ve only been out for a day.”

Kakashi sighed internally in relief. After the battle they had just endured, he didn’t want his genin to be left without guidance for too long. They were shinobi, yes, but they were still scared little kids, Genin who weren’t prepared to handle an A rank mission against rogue ninja assassins and crime lords. Though sometimes he did wonder…

“Also,” Sakura piped up, bringing him back to the present. “We were thinking about that hunter ninja, and how he just took Zabuza. It was really weird.”

Yes, it was, Kakashi agreed internally. He knew there was something off about that exchange. But he’d been too out of it to realize what.

“You’re right, Sakura,” he told her. She perked up at the affirmation. “Hunter ninja usually desecrate their mark on the spot. And rarely do they use senbon to kill, as they’re more so used as poisoning and for targeting the nervous system.”

Naruto and Sakura blinked, appearing to take in the knowledge.

He continued on. “That is why it is my belief that Zabuza may still be alive.”

Immediately, Naruto exploded in a disbelieving outburst. “What! Alive? How is that possible? You checked his pulse and everything. You said he was dead!” He barely noticed it, but he saw Sakura refrain from rolling her eyes. Only just. Hm. Odd.

“Senbon, when used correctly, can make it appear as if the victim has died. I’ll admit that the fake hunter ninja fooled me.”

“Wow, a jonin was fooled,” a new voice said, breaking into the conversation. “How often does that happen, I wonder.” Looking up towards the doorway of the small room, Kakashi spotted Sasuke leaning against the doorframe, looking thoroughly bored. But when he looked closer, he saw a glimmer of mirth twinkling in his onyx eyes. So the Uchiha did have a lighter side. He made a mental note of that.

“We shinobi aren’t perfect,” he replied easily. “We’re only human after all.” The Uchiha rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

With some effort, Kakashi managed to sit up on his futon, much to Sakura’s displeasure (“You should be resting, sensei!”) and beckoned Sasuke in. The boy did as requested and joined them on the floor. Soon all his genin were sitting in a semi-circle facing him, ready to hear whatever he had to say.

“So, as I said before, and I’ll repeat for Sasuke, Zabuza is most likely alive.” Before any of them could get another word in, he pressed on. “ But , given the nature of how he lost the battle, he’ll likely be on bedrest for the next week. Which means Tazuna will most likely not be in harm's way.” A sigh of relief escaped all three genin. “Unfortunately I will also need about a week to recover from chakra exhaustion.” All three let out a groan. “Fortunately, this also gives you three a week to get in some extra training so you’re all more prepared for when he does show up again.”

Naruto was the first one to speak up. “So like, what exactly do you have planned for us, y’know?” He asked skeptically.

“Maa, I’m glad you asked Naruto,” he eye-smiled. The three leaned in eagerly. “I’ll tell you what it is…”

They leaned in further.

“…Tomorrow”

Had he a camera to capture the expressions they’d made, he would have had it framed and hanging on his wall for the rest of time. He loved messing with them.

 

---

 

All three of his students were standing around in the clearing when he finally arrived on his crutches. Sasuke was brooding, as usual, Naruto was pacing impatiently, and Sakura was reading one of the book’s she’d brought along. Well, at one of them was being productive, he thought.

“Finally!” Naruto cried, turning to face him. “Are you gonna tell us what we’re doing or what!”

“Maa, maa, patience Naruto,” he said, waving him off. The blonde merely huffed loudly before folding his arms in a defiant motion.

“Fine,” he sighed. “I’ll be teaching you how to walk up a tree.” Wait for it… “Without using your hands!”

The reaction he got was not the one he was expecting at all. All three of his genin sweatdropped and gave him the most unimpressed looks in the world. More so than the one’s he’d given Obito back in the genin days.

“Really, sensei?” Sakura deadpanned. “We already know how to do that.”

What? Last he checked they didn’t teach that at the academy.

“Hm, interesting,” he said, trying to play off how surprised he was. “You wouldn’t mind showing me then, would you?”

All three seemed to let out a sigh of varying inflection before choosing a tree.

And walking straight up it like they were just out for a casual stroll. Okay, not what he was expecting. Nevertheless, he could work around this.

“How about water walking?” He challenged. Surely they couldn’t do that, could they?

“Easy,” Naruto declared, flipping back down to the ground.

Kakashi felt his eye twitch in annoyance. Good Lord, what was with these kids?

“Alright, fine ,” he finally said, voice straining. “You’re going to learn your elemental affinity, and work on perfecting a jutsu that matches that affinity over the course of the next week. I don’t care if you already know some.” Because at the rate they’re going they just might, he thought bitterly. “You’re going to find a new one and master it.”

“Easy enough,” Sasuke said, jumping back to the ground as well. He was followed shortly after by Sakura, who also didn’t seem overly impressed with the assignment.

“Well, we all know our affinities, right?” She asked, looking around the group. The boys both nodded. Right, because why wouldn’t they know their affinities. Why not have insane genin that can do crazy things like that.

What did Kakashi ever do to deserve this?

Actually, he’d rather that question not be answered.

“Alright then,” he sighed, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. “List them off. You first broody.”

“Lightning and fire.”

Two. Okay, well, he was an Uchiha after all. It was almost expected of him.

“Blondy.”

“Wind!” Naruto announced excitedly. That wasn’t surprising. His mother was an Uzumaki, it was a common affinity among their clan. And one of Minato-sensei’s as well.  Of course their son would get it.

“Pinky, your turn.”

“Water and earth,” she reported.

Wait, what? The daughter of civilians, a girl with possibly less chakra than the average genin, had two affinities. And rare affinities at that. Or at least in the land of fire.

“You three,” he announced, glaring at them all with one eye. “Are monsters.”

 

---

 

While messing with Kakashi-sensei had been fun, it might not have been worth it considering what he had them do next.

“Sensei, how are we supposed to master a whole new jutsu in a week ?” Naruto complained, looking up from the scroll said sensei had handed him. It was a scroll for the air bullet technique. An A rank jutsu no genin should be learning no matter how skilled they were. Then again, he wasn’t really a genin. But even so, it would still take forever to learn. Especially when he had to learn it from a scroll. He was better with one on one work, not reading, thank you very much.

“Maa, I’m sure you’ll figure it out, Naruto,” his sadistic sensei said, giving him one of his trademark eye-smiles. But not a nice one. One that meant he was going to do or say something incredibly awful to the recipient.

Instead of responding, Naruto just scowled and went back to his scroll. They were still sitting in the same clearing from earlier, but now they were all just sitting around in a loose circle, all reading their respective scrolls. Sakura had actually already finished hers and was working on hand signs. She was learning one Kakashi-sensei had copied from an Iwa ninja some years ago. And it was perfect for her. Earth style: rock fist was just the jutsu for her. It incorporated raw strength and chakra control. Like medical ninjutsu – except that it had the opposite effect on the recipient. Actually, it really wasn’t like medical ninjutsu, Naruto thought in retrospect. But it suited Sakura all the same.

In fact, speaking of which…

“Earth style: rock fist!”

The shout echoed through the forest right before the sound of a tree splitting in half did. Naruto watched with mild horror as his teammate literally punched a tree clean through with her new jutsu, falling the two pieces in opposite directions. There was utter silence for about ten seconds before Kakashi-sensei said, “Good work Sakura. You get the rest of the week off.”

“WHAT!” Naruto cried, jumping to his feet. “Seriously sensei?”

“Well, she did master the jutsu. There would be no point in her doing so for the rest of the week.”

“Yeah but,” Naruto struggled to come up with a counter argument. “She’s Sakura!” As if that explained everything.

“My statement still stands,” the man responded, with a rather cool edge to his tone. Naruto had to bite his tongue to keep from swearing out loud. How could this be the same man that taught him the Rasenshuriken? Or even the same one who was about to be promoted to sixth Hokage? He was so damn petty!

“Hmph, fine,” he finally grumbled, pouting for extra effect. That was something twelve year old him did, right? “But I’ll master my jutsu before the bastard does,” he said, despite knowing full well the Uchiha was easily jōnin level and could probably learn his fire jutsu just as fast as Sakura had. But Naruto ignored that little detail and exclaimed, “Even if it takes me all week!”

“Whatever,” came the dry reply.

“Well, have fun you two,” Kakashi-sensei waved, eye crinkled in a cheery smile. “Sakura and I will be at the house when you two finish up.” And with that, the two turned and started heading out of the forest. Before they left however, Sakura shot a smirk over her shoulder at the boys, waving her fingers in a condescending goodbye.

Rude.

Chapter 9: A Hero's Tale

Notes:

Hello again! This chapter's mostly just filler I guess while I try to work out the bigger scenes. I just barely managed to get this thing over 2000 words, so that was fun. Anyways, enjoy!
EDIT: beta'd as of 8/8

As it turned out, Sasuke did master his jutsu quickly. Although it really shouldn’t have been a surprise, considering how intensely he’d trained with Orochimaru in the three years he had been gone. Naruto on the other hand didn’t have as much experience with his affinity, and thus had a harder time mastering it. He’d summoned some shadow clones to help out, but because he was on duty, he couldn’t afford to waste as much chakra on them like he could have back in Konoha when mastering it for the first time.

“Are you done yet?” Sasuke drawled from the edge of the clearing where he was sat under a tree. It was amazing he had stayed at all after he’d gotten his jutsu, dragon flame caterwaul, down. He had been cold and disinterested with everyone ever since coming back, so Naruto was surprised when he’d offered to stay behind. He wasn’t about to complain though. He’d worked so hard to win his best friend back, so he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Why, got something better to do?”

That of course didn’t stop him from replying to everything to Uchiha said with dry remarks. What could he say, it was habit.

“Yeah, I do,” Sasuke said. “Like eat. I don’t know about you but I’m starving.”

Hm, now that he thought about it, Naruto was feeling kind of hungry himself.

“Alright, let’s get going,” he said, dispelling his clones. Their memories rushed back to him immediately but he set them aside to rifle through later.

The walk back to the house was a quiet one. There was a tense atmosphere between them, but not enough so that either one wanted to address it. Naruto realized then that they had never really talked officially about what had happened when Sasuke had come back to help them in the war. He’d just showed up, announced that he would become Hokage, and teamed up with them. Naruto wanted to believe that that meant that everything was back to normal and that Sasuke really was back, but there was always this tension when he was with them that told him that wasn’t quite the case.

But so far nothing bad had happened, so Naruto could only hope that meant something good could.

Knocking on Tazuna’s front door, it opened to welcome them to the lovely smell of curry and rice. Right on cue their stomachs growled.

“Someone must be hungry,” Tsunami said as she welcomed them in. Naruto almost tripped over himself getting his sandals off he was so excited to eat. “Food’s not going anywhere,” she teased, noticing his enthusiasm.

After seating himself, he said a quick “itadakimasu” he immediately started shoveling rice and curry into his mouth.

“Naruto,” Sakura gasped. “Slow down! You’re gonna hurt yourself.”

“Bu’ I’m ‘ungry,” he managed to say through a full mouth.

“Won’t help if you throw it all up again,” she scolded, green eyes giving him a dangerous look. The medic side of her was surfacing, he could tell. And that ironically enough usually promised pain. Maybe it was better to do as she said.

“Sorry, Sakura,” Naruto apologized bashfully, scratching the back of his neck. He picked his chopsticks back up and continued at a more sedate pace.

“Maa, now that we’re settled,” Kakashi-sensei piped up, somehow already finished with his meal. “How did training go, boys?”

Naruto groaned under his breath as he continued to feed rice into his mouth.

“I mastered the technique you gave me, sensei,” Sasuke reported drly, picking through his own portions.

“Good. Naruto?”

He mumbled something under his breath in response, which went unheard to the rest of the group.

“Come again?” Kakashi-sensei pressed.

An exasperated huff escaped Naruto before he spoke up. “I said I haven’t gotten it yet,” he admitted. Then, perking up he turned to his sensei with a bright smile. “But if I use my shadow clones I’m sure I’ll get it down in no time!”

“Shadow clones?” Kakashi-sensei echoed, raising a skeptical eyebrow. Oh, that’s right, Naruto figured. Kakashi-sensei hadn’t yet had the idea to use shadow clones to decrease training time. Oh well, maybe he could tell him and take the credit for it. It would definitely make him look smart!

“Yeah, cuz like, when they dispel I get their memories, y’know,” Naruto explained. “So if I have a lot of them practicing a jutsu, I get more experience and decrease the time it would take for me to learn it!”

Kakashi-sensei blinked in surprise. “That’s, actually quite smart,” he admitted. Naruto smiled form the praise, laughing internally at the irony of it all.

The moment was ruined however by a young voice coming from the doorway.

“You all are pathetic.” Naruto frowned and looked up to see who had spoken. He was unsurprised to find it was Inari, who was sitting across the table from him. Naruto hadn’t even realized he was there, he had been so quiet. His hands were clenching onto his chopsticks so hard Naruto was afraid they might break.  A scowl was plastered on his face, hardening his features into a grim state rather than the cute, chubby one they should have been for his age.

“What do you mean?” Naruto asked guilelessly. Inari’s scowled deepened but he looked up from the table anyway to address him.

“You all are training and planning, but it’s pointless. You’ll never win, so you should just go home!”

“Inari,” Tsunami gasped.

“It’s true,” he shot back. “They’re just wasting their time.”

“Maa, surely you don’t really believe that,” Kakashi-sensei spoke up, tone easy and laid back in hopes of de-escalating the situation. “We are shinobi after all.”

“It doesn’t matter, Gatō will just hire better ones to kill you and then us,” he shot back. “There’s no point fighting!”  Naruto blinked, taken aback by the raw pain in his voice.

“Of course there is,” Naruto frowned. “That’s the only way you can make a difference.”

“No! He takes everything! You don’t know what it’s like to live here. You don’t know what it’s like to lose someone. You don’t know our pain. You can never know, so you should just leave!”

I know exactly how you feel, kid, he thought to himself, memories playing in his mind. Jiraiya’s grave, a slashed headband, Konoha destroyed, and two names carved into a memorial stone... I know better than anyone . But I’m still fighting, because I have to.

“You’ll never beat Gatō, you’ll just die!”

Years ago, Naruto would have just gotten mad. He would have yelled right back. Would have acted like the stupid kid he had been.

But now...

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” he said firmly. Inari sucked in a shocked breath, tears halting for a second while he stared up at Naruto wide eyed. “If we die fighting Gatō, then we die,” Naruto continued calmly, eyes hard and jaw set. In his hands he clenched his chopsticks so hard he thought they might snap. “But I won’t run from it, because I can’t. I have to face threats head on, because if I don’t, then they win and nothing gets better.” Pain would have won. His village would have been destroyed. His sensei would be dead. “And yeah, you could lose something precious because of it.” Like his parents. Like Lord Third. Like Jiraiya. Like Neji. “But it’s worth it in the end, y’know. Because you might win. And that makes it all worth it, right?”

Inari blinked, unshed tears shining in his eyes.

“And yeah, kid,” he continued. “I do know how you feel, and it sucks. I just stopped pitying myself and decided to do something about it.” It wasn’t exactly the kindest thing to say, but tough love had worked last time, so maybe it would this time as well. Immediately after he said it, Inari’s face twisted into an angry scowl, and the boy pushed off from the table and stormed outside, slamming the door behind him.

Despondent, Naruto turned back to his rice, hunger forgotten. He figured he wouldn’t get through to Inari, but there had been some part of him that had hopped.

“I’m sorry about Inari,” Tsunami apologized. “He hasn’t been himself these past few months. Ever since…” She trailed off, eyes going misty at the memory of her loss.

“Ever since…?” Sakura pressed lightly, leaning forward. The three of them already knew the story, but it wouldn’t do any harm to ask again.

“A few years ago,” Tazuna started, answering for his daughter. “Inari met a man named Kaiza. He was considered a hero among our people for deeds he had done in the past. Eventually Inari came to see him as a father figure. He was part of our family.”

“So what happened?” Sakura continued, in a tone that was convincingly earnest.

“When Gatō arrived,” Tazuna said darkly. “He killed Kaiza for standing up against him. Killed him in front of the whole town.”

“Including Inari,” Tsunami added in a quiet voice. A deadly silence settled over the table at her words. Everyone had a grim expression on their face, even Kakashi-sensei. No kid should have to see someone slaughtered before them - especially their father.

“Ever since then,” Tazuna continued. “He’s been withdrawn, closed off. And apparently now the concept of heroes is idiotic to him.”

Naruto huffed, folding his arms over his chest in a semi defiant manner. “Then we’ll just have to convince him it’s not,” he said stubbornly.

Tazuna gave him an incredulous look. “And how does a squirt like you plan on doing that?” he asked.

“Because,” Naruto said, flashing him a wide smile. “I’m gonna be Hokage one day, y’know! And only heroes can become Hokage.” Tazuna still looked unconvinced, but out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Sakura giving him a faint smile, and he knew immediately what she was thinking. Naruto was already a hero. Now he just had to prove it.

 

---

 

“Wind style, air bullets!” Naruto shouted before trying for the fourteenth time since dinner to produce the wind jutsu depicted in the scroll. Once again, all that happened was a strong eruption of wind hitting a tree before the jutsu sputtered out and he was left with nothing.

“Damn it!” He cursed, kicking at the ground. All around him, copies of himself were having similar luck. Some had managed to progress further than others, but overall it was about the same.

“Alright,” he sighed. “Time to take a break.” With a single hand sign, he sat down and released the clones, waiting for all their memories to rush back to him. As expected, the experience left him drained, and he was glad he had chosen to sit. He’d only had about thirty clones helping him, so the overall recoil wasn’t nearly as bad as other times, but it was still a lot.

Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the tree he was resting against. Why was it so hard for him to learn a new jutsu? He had his affinity down, he was molding his chakra exactly the way it said to int he scroll. So why was he having so much difficulty?

“Naruto?” A new voice said. Naruto opened his eyes and looked up in surprise to see Sakura walking towards him. She was rubbing her bare shoulders to stave off the chilly night air, but the smile she was wearing told him she didn’t mind.

“Hey Sakura,” he greeted, pushing himself up into a better sitting position. “What are doing out here?”

“I know how hard you train,” she said, sitting herself down next to him. “Thought you might need someone to keep an eye on you.” Naruto smiled softly, mentally agreeing with her. Did he have a tendency to work himself to the bone.

“Just promise me you won’t try to feed me those mud balls of yours,” he teased, earning an indigent squawk from her.

“They’re not mud balls, they’re highly nutritional food pills!” She exclaimed.

“Not even Sai liked them,” he chuckled in response. “And he barely has emotions.”

“Oh shut up,” she moaned. Naruto only cackled in response. They sat that way for some time, bickering lightheartedly and laughing at nothing. Until, finally, Naruto piped up.

“For real though,” he said, tone turning serious. “What’s going on.”

There was silence on her end for a few moments, filled only by her absently picking at her sleeves. She had only just gotten her new outfit a few days before they left for Wave, so she was still getting used to it. Finally, after some time, she spoke up.

“I uh… It’s hard, you know?” She said in a quiet voice, eyes staring ahead into the darkness. “Being back here. Seeing everyone. But no one recognizes you.” A pause. “Not really, anyway.”

“It’s lonely,” he agreed.

“And so weird,” she continued, voice strained. “I care so much about all these people, people I shouldn’t even know, people who barely know me .” She let out a frustrated groan and leaned forward to rest her head in her hands. “It’s all just so confusing.”

“I know how you feel,” he said somberly. The pinkette looked up to see his eyes downcast, staring at his feet.

“The Kyūbi,” was all she said. It didn’t need further explanation, as they both knew the connotations. Before the chunin exams, before he’d tried to rescue Sasuke the first time around, he’d been shunned and secluded because of him being the Kyūbi’s jinchuuriki. That pain had faded over the years though as he gained more friends. But now that they were in the past, he was back to square one. No friends, and spiteful villagers.

“I’m a hero to Konoha,” he said. “But they don’t even know it.”

“I’m sorry,” Sakura said. “I wish it could be different.”

“Me too,” he sighed quietly. “Me too.”

She didn’t say anything, but Sakura scooted over and leaned over until her head was resting on his shoulder in a comforting gesture, hands entangled in his own. It wasn’t a romantic gesture, far from it. But it was nice. The two of them alone, just being there for each other.

“For what it’s worth,” she whispered softly. “I’m glad we have a chance to change things. Even if it means starting all over.”

“Yeah,” Naruto agreed, thinking about all those he hasn’t lost yet, about everything he had the chance to change. “I guess so.”

Chapter 10: Meetings, Jutsu, and Other Shinobi Things

Notes:

This chapter is mainly just filler and mandatory scenes. Anyway, thanks for all the comments and kudos so far, you guys are awesome! Enjoy!
EDIT: beta'd as of 8/23

Naruto woke up tired and laying on the ground. He’d pushed himself hard training after his talk with Sakura. She had stayed with him the whole time, watching him and making sure he didn’t over exert himself. She’d fallen asleep at some point though, leaning up against a tree. When Naruto noticed this he took off his jacket and had laid it over her so she wouldn’t get cold before going back to training.

And eventually, he himself had fallen asleep.

He was woken up by someone gently touching his shoulder. Opening his eyes, he saw a pretty face hovering over his own, framed by long, dark hair. His heart clenched.

Haku.

“Sorry to wake you,” he said kindly. “But I didn’t think you would find it comfortable to be sleeping out here.” He stretched out a hand to offer help up. Blinking, Naruto took it and sat up. Off by the trees, he heard rustling from where Sakura had fallen asleep followed by a startled gasp upon her seeing a stranger so close to them.

“Good morning, miss,” he greeted, smiling in her direction.

“Uh, hi,” she stammered out, trying to figure out who he was. Since she had never really met Haku before, she couldn’t place him as easily.

“I’m sorry for interrupting you two,” he said with a smile. “I just came out here to gather herbs and found you two asleep.” Then, “Oh, you two are shinobi,” he said, noticing their headbands, as if he hadn’t already noticed it before. “You must be very strong.”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Sakura said wearily, standing up to join them on the grass. Naruto’s jacket was clutched in her hands now that she was awake, and she handed it back to him upon sitting down.

“I’m Sakura, and that’s Naruto,” she greeted, gesturing to him. “Who are you?”

“My name is Haku,” he replied, giving them both a kind smile.

“Hi Haku,” Sakura said, returning his smile. “What kind of herbs do you need?” She continued, eyeing Haku’s partially full basket. “I’m pretty good with medicines, so I might be able to help.”

“Just these,” he said, holding up what was in his basket. Sakura glanced at the herbs, her medical experience coming to the forefront of her mind and her features contorting in recognition. She wiped away the look, replacing it with a smile.

“Ah, I see,” she said with just the slightest edge to her voice. “What do you need them for?”

A fleeting spark of recognition flared in Haku’s eyes, but he looked back down at the ground - to focus on the plants. “A friend of mine was injured, I’m trying to help him recover.”

“That’s very noble of you to help,” Sakura said.

“He’s my precious person,” Haku stated simply. “Of course I’d help him. Wouldn’t you do the same for yours?”

Sakura blinked, slightly dumbfounded. She had never realized the bond between Haku and Zabuza had been so close. Unsure of what to say, she went back to picking herbs.

“I would,” Naruto stated, jabbing a thumb towards his chest. “I’d never abandon my precious people!

Haku’s smile returned, kindness and warmth flowing back into his cheeks at the boy’s words. “Is that your dream? To protect them?” He asked. Naruto scratched his chin thoughtfully. Was it his dream? In part, he supposed. He’d always wanted to be Hokage. But being Hokage meant protecting everyone. And having everyone be your precious people.

“I guess so,” he shrugged. “I’ve always dreamt of becoming Hokage, and the Hokage protects everyone,” he said, reciting his thoughts. “So I guess that is my dream. Is it yours?”

“My dream is protect and serve my precious person,” Haku replied soberly. “Without him, I’m nothing”

Off to the side, Sakura frowned. “That can’t be true,” she countered. “Your life isn’t defined by one person. It’s defined by you.”

“Maybe,” Haku replied. “But it’s true for me.”

Sakura frowned, eyes betraying sadness, but said nothing.

“What about you, miss?” Haku continued. “What is your dream?”

“Uh, to protect my precious people, I suppose,” she said dumbly, still put off by his last answer to her statement. “I’m a medic, so I want to save people.”

“Those are both noble goals,” Haku told them warmly. “I hope you are able to achieve them someday, both of you.” A genuine smile, one that made its way to his eyes, appeared on the boy’s face.

Naruto stuck a thumb out in a thumbs-up gesture, broad smile plastered on his face. “I will achieve it, y’know, you can count on that!”

“I don’t doubt it, Naruto,” Haku chuckled. Then, dusting his kimono, he stood up, grabbing his now full basket of herbs. “Now, I must return to my friend. Thank you both for helping me gather herbs.”

“No problem,” Sakura smiled. “Hopefully we’ll see each other around town. Maybe we’ll even get to meet your friend if they’re feeling better.” She added. They would. Two days from now. They already knew.

“Maybe,” Haku agreed. “Farewell Naruto, Sakura. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“Bye Haku,” Naruto waved. “Take care!”

And with that, the kimono clad boy disappeared off into the trees. The two shinobi left behind sat together in silence for some time while they waited for the Kiri ninja to vanish completely. Then, just as they were sure he was gone, Sakura turned to Naruto.

“So that was Haku?”

“Yeah.”

A sigh from Sakura. “Oh boy. I don’t want him to die.”

Naruto shifted where he sat, a small pit forming in his stomach at the thought. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Me neither.”

 

---

 

The rest of the day was spent training for Naruto as he tried to get his jutsu down. He had made a lot of progress, and even managed to drill many holes into some poor trees. But the goal was to go clean through, and that hadn’t yet happened. Sakura had remained at the house after breakfast, as had Sasuke, so Naruto was on his own. He was working with about fifty shadow clones, each one taking up a tree as target practice. But it still didn’t feel like enough. There was something he was missing. If only he knew what…

“Having fun there?” The sudden voice distracted him and caused him to lose focus, resulting in his next shot losing velocity and only making a small dent on the bark.

“Damn,” he huffed, turning to see who’d spoken.

He wasn’t surprised to find Kakashi-sensei leaning against a tree that wasn’t currently being used as a target, eyeing the area with mild interest.

“I see you’re taking advantage of your shadow clones,” he noted, looking around at the sea of orange.

“Oh, yeah,” he replied. “I’m still not getting anywhere though.”

Kakashi-sensei raised an eyebrow before pushing off from the tree. He no longer needed the crutches to get around, so he strolled on over to Naruto easily. “Well what are you doing?” He asked, his tone mild.

Naruto frowned, scrunching his face up in confusion. “I’m doing what the scroll said,” he supplied. “What else should I be doing?”

“Well, you could try looking at it from a different angle,” he suggested in his annoyingly cocky voice. Naruto scowled in response. What kind of advice was that? He said as much.

“I mean trying to think of it differently,” he said clarified, undeterred by Naruto’s attitude. “But to do that, I need to know. What are you doing now?” Naruto opened his mouth to argue but Kakashi-sensei held up his hand to stop him. “Yes, you’re doing what the scroll said. But what is that exactly?”

“Just read it yourself,” Naruto grumbled.

“No, I want you to tell me,” he said. God, why did he have to have such a frustrating sensei? In that moment Naruto would have killed to have a sensei like Kurenai or Asuma. Maybe even Gai. At least with them you actually knew where you stood or what they were talking about while they were teaching - if you could even call what Kakashi-sensei did teaching. It felt a lot more like lecturing.

“Fine,” Naruto finally sighed. “I’m building wind chakra in my chest and then exerting pressure so it shoots forward. Just like the scroll said.”

“Ah, and are you building pressure before or after you’ve amassed wind chakra?”

“Uh, after, I guess,” he shrugged.

Kakashi-sensei hummed pensively, looking him up and down in thought. Finally, he spoke up and said, “Next time, I want you to build up normal chakra first, enough to build a substantial amount of pressure, before you form any wind chakra.” He nodded to himself. “Can you do that?”

Naruto shrugged. “I suppose.” Kakashi-sensei gestured for him to do so. Turning back to the tree, Naruto built up the chakra just like his sensei said, holding it down to form pressure. Then he used change in chakra nature to form the wind chakra he’d need for the jutsu to work. With a few hand signs, he shot the bullets out of his mouth, hitting the tree squarely in the center.

They drilled almost all the way through.

“Woah!” Naruto gasped, straightening up. “Did you see that!”

“I did,” Kakashi-sensei replied coolly. “Now this time,” he continued. “I want you to condense the your wind chakra more so that the bullets have more effect.”

“You got it!” Naruto exclaimed, jumping back into position. He formed the chakra, built the pressure, condensed the wind, formed the hand signs, and then-

BOOM!

The tree shattered at the base, splinters of bark flying everywhere. With a groan, the tree toppled over onto the ground, a loud crashing sound following its decent. Then, silence.

“That… was awesome!” Naruto suddenly shouted, jumping up and down with excitement. “Did ya see that! I did that, y’know! Like, it just toppled over, just like that, y’know! I’m awesome!”

Kakashi-sensei watched the celebratory dance with mirth and pride sparkling in his eye.

“Hey, hey, can I try that again?” He asked, turning to his sensei. Kakashi-sensei shrugged in a “why not” gesture. Naruto grinned happily before going to do it again.

And again, the same result happened.

“Yes!” He shouted. He proceeded to continue his celebratory shouting as he jumped around the clearing.

“Maa, now that you’ve mastered your jutsu,” Kakashi-sensei drawled, interrupting his jig. “You should dispel your clones. No point in wasting anymore chakra today.”

“Oh, right,” Naruto said, pausing his victory dance. With a single hand sign he dispelled them all.

Only to topple over onto his face. But not before his sensei caught him.

“Right,” Naruto groaned, wariness taking over his bones. “Forgot about that drawback.”

Kakashi-sensei let out a short chuckle before hiking him up onto his back into a piggyback, arms hooked under his short legs.

“Maa, let’s just get you back to the house,” he said. Naruto would have agreed, but he was already drooling onto his shoulder, fast asleep.

 

---

 

The next night, all three genin were gathered in the clearing for a meeting. Kakashi-sensei was taking watch at the house and was under the impression that the three had gone off to practice drills; when the reality was that they had needed to discuss the plan for the Bridge battle the next day. Naruto was still reeling from having completed his jutsu, excited energy buzzing under his skin at seemingly all hours of the day. The other two found it annoying, but they didn’t say much to make him stop.

“Alright,” Sakura said, breaking the silence. She always seemed to be the one to talk first at these meetings, so the other two often looked to her as their “leader” of sorts. The role fit her very well. “The bridge battle is tomorrow,” she said. “And I know we’ve sort of discussed this, but we really need to form a solid plan.”

“Inari and his mom are going to be attacked,” Naruto reported. “So someone needs to stay behind to help them.”

“I can do that,” Sakura volunteered. “Then afterwards I can go to the bridge to guard Tazuna.”

Sasuke nodded, agreeing. “We should leave Zabuza to Kakashi-sensei,” he said. “So Naruto and I can fight Haku.”

“Right,” Naruto agreed. “And we should try to detain him so he can’t form those mirrors of his. They’re a bitch to fight.”

“Not with my Sharingan they’re not,” Sasuke said, throwing a satisfied smirk his way. Naruto scowled in response, but didn’t take the bait any further.

“Whatever happens,” Sakura cut in, diffusing the tension between them. “Your goal is to make sure Haku doesn’t leap in front of Kaka-sensei’s Chidori. And making sure he doesn’t form those ice mirrors that trap you two.”

Sasuke let out a frustrated huff, shocking the other two. “Haku chose to take that chidori,” he said darkly. “If he wants to kill himself, that’s his problem.”

“Sasuke,” Naruto frowned. “Saving the world means saving its people. And that’s what we’re doing, isn’t it?”

The Uchiha shot him a dark look, onyx eyes cold and unrelenting. “The only person I care about saving is my brother,” he said. “And Haku is a rogue ninja. He should be killed just for that reason alone.”

Anger built up inside Naruto, and he suddenly found himself on his feet with clenched fists facing Sasuke. “If that’s true then we should have killed you! You abandoned the village on your stupid revenge quest, after all.”

Sasuke’s eyes flashed sharingan red, the iris’ glowing in the dim light. Sensing the two seemed about to break into a fight, Sakura stood up and shoved them away from each other, reinforcing her movement with chakra for added effect.

“The both of you need to cool down!” She exclaimed, glaring at them. “We’re not here to bicker over what happened in the past. We’re here to complete a mission.” She spoke, her eyes locked in a staring match with their own. “Got it?”

Naruto muttered something in response while Sasuke remained quiet, but both nodded in reluctant assent.

“Good,” she growled. “Now, back to the plan.” She sat back down and gestured for them to do the same. They complied, however reluctantly. “Here’s what we’ll do when we get to the bridge…”

Notes:

Next chapter, battle on the bridge!

Chapter 11: Battle On the Bridge

Notes:

Fucking.. this chapter man. Yeesh. I hate writing fight scenes. But I'll let you be the judge of it. Anyways's FINALLY! I've been trying to get to this chapter for ages. But thank you to all you commentators and those who have left kudos, you guys are the real super stars here! Enjoy!
EDIT: Beta'd as of 8/13

 

 

That morning, the men of Team 7 left Sakura, Tsunami, and Inari behind while they escorted Tazuna to the bridge. They had laid out a plan last night, detailing it and going over it so many times; Naruto felt as though he’d just studied for one of Iruka-sensei’s exams all over again. But Sakura had insisted they have it down, ignoring Naruto’s complaints. The rest of the night had been filled with fitful sleep, nerves keeping all of them (except Sasuke) up. Hopefully, it wouldn’t affect them in battle.

“You two seem awfully tense,” Kakashi-sensei noted from behind them. Naruto only managed to give a stiff, half-hearted shrug.

“It’s been a week,” he said simply. “You said that’s how long it would take for Zabuza to recover.” The implication of the rogue ninja preparing to attack them was clear.

“Ah, I see,” was their sensei’s somber response. “Well, let’s be on our guard then.” The two boys nodded absently in assent.

Not long after, they came upon the bridge.

And the bloodbath it had become.

“Tazuna, get behind me,” Kakashi-sensei snapped, immediately taking up a defensive position. “Naruto, Sasuke,” he ordered, shooting them a commanding look. Without having to hear any spoken order, the two jumped to flank Tazuna, kunai drawn and ready to use.

A low chuckle reverberated through the air around them, mist slowly encroaching on their small group.

“ Zabuza ,” Kakashi-sensei hissed. Naruto shared a hard look with Sasuke, to which the boy gave a nod. Their plan was a go.

The Kiri ninja appeared a few feet away, stepping out of the mist amongst the bloodbath. Kubikiribōchō was resting easily on his shoulder, dripping red from its victims.

“Good God,” Tazuna breathed, taking in the sight. Naruto couldn't help but agree, it was gruesome. But he didn’t have time to think about that right now. He had to focus on Zabuza, and Haku, wherever he was.

“I’ll ask only once, Kakashi,” Zabuza snarled. “Hand over the bridge builder, and your little kiddies don’t die.”

Naruto noticed his sensei’s slight change in stance at the mention of his genin, fist clenching tightening around his kunai, feet spread just a tad further apart. If he had to jump to protect one of them, he’d be ready. “Your battle is with me, Zabuza,” he growled back. The Kiri ninja scoffed, but hefted his sword off his shoulder anyway, shifting into an attack stance.

“Hmph, as you wish.” With that, he rushed forward, sword held up at the ready. Kakashi-sensei immediately ran forward to greet him, kunai up and sharingan exposed. They met in the middle in a clash of steel and sparks.

Not a moment later, Naruto felt a presence behind him and shouted, “Sasuke!” Sasuke turned and threw his kunai, just barely missing Haku as he tried to kill Tazuna himself.

“Naruto, now!” He cried, rushing forward himself to fight the boy. Naruto summoned up five clones, all of them taking up defensive positions around Tazuna as the original ran off to help Sasuke. They’d agreed that even alone, Sasuke might not beat Haku, as the boy could summon his ice mirrors at will. Perhaps having two of them be on offense might prevent that.

Naruto jumped into the battle when Sasuke aimed a kick at Haku’s head. The boy dodged, ducking under it only to head straight into Naruto’s oncoming punch. He jolted back from the impact, doubling over in shock. Sasuke took the opportunity to hit him with a basic lightning jutsu, paralyzing him and frying his nervous system. Haku dropped to the ground in a heap-

Only to melt into a puddle. It had been a water clone.

“Damn it!” Naruto cursed, turning around only to get hit with a round of senbon in the arm.

“I do not want to kill you, shinobi-san,” Haku said evenly, jumping out of the way of Sasuke’s attack. “But I will if I have to.”

“You won't be killing anyone today,” Sasuke growled darkly, eyes glowing sharingan red. His hands flashed through signs quickly before he exhaled a giant fireball towards the boy. Haku somehow jumped out of the way quick enough, landing a good few meters away.

“Naruto!” Sasuke cried.

“On it!” Naruto shouted back, tying ninja wire to some weapons before throwing them straight at their adversary. The shuriken went straight for the boy while the kunai went wide, encircling the area while the invisible wire formed into a net. Predictably, Haku jumped away out of the shurikens path but was caught by the ninja wire from the kunai.

“Now!” Naruto yelled. Sasuke wasted no time picking up a length of connected wire and running a short lightning jutsu down it, watching with a sadistic smirk as Haku writhed in pain as the current of electricity ran through him. Naruto bolted forward in the hopes of securing him once he’d finished flailing. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be hard now that he was actually paralyzed.

He slid to a stop next to the boy, sandals slipping on the blood-slickened ground. His hands were on the boy's shoulders when he saw his opponents hands struggling to move. The shock of seeing someone being able to move at all after a jutsu like that stopped him from recognizing just what jutsu the boy was about to perform.

“Secret jutsu,” he breathed out, voice strained but determined. “Crystal ice mirrors.”

Dread sank in Naruto’s stomach like a stone. No, was all he managed to think before Haku disappeared from in front of him into the surrounding mist. Immediately, water was pulled from the air, and Naruto suddenly found himself trapped in a dome of mirrors, all of them with Haku standing to face him.

“Oh no,” he breathed.

Before anyone could say another word, a flash flew through the air and a storm of senbon rained down on the two boys. Sasuke successfully dodged it with his sharingan, but Naruto still received the brunt of the attack.

Wincing, he fell back onto the ground, left side covered in needles like a pincushion.

“Dammit,” Sasuke growled, straightening up. “Now we have to deal with this. This was exactly what we were trying to avoid!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Naruto grumbled, plucking senbon out of his arm as he stood up.

“Let’s just fix this before anything worse happens,” the Uchiha ground out, pressing his back to Naruto’s, leaving no blind spots for them.

“My fire jutsus won’t be enough to melt these,” Sasuke commented, looking around the reflective dome. “And lightning might blow our cover if I’m not careful.”

“Good thing I have a wind affinity then,” Naruto replied. Sasuke shot him an inquisitive look over his shoulder as if tempted to ask what he was planning, but ultimately decided against it.

“Whatever your planning,” he hissed back. “Do it quickly.”

Smiling to himself, Naruto bunched up his sleeves and started gathering chakra in his belly, pressing it down and building up the pressure. He ran through the hand signs he’d memorized over the last week, then shouted, “Wind Style: Air Bullets!”

Condensed wind chakra shot out of his mouth at the ice mirrors. They hit, and large cracks spiderwebbed across the surface instantly, reflections disappearing from inside the ones he’d hit.

But they didn’t shatter.

“Damn it,” he cursed, jumping out of the way of another hail of senbon. The mirror was already mending itself, and Haku’s reflection had returned to its surface.

“We need another tactic,” Naruto called. “And preferably one that doesn’t use your Mangekyō.”

“Well if I used chidori…” Sasuke growled darkly. Naruto clenched his jaw hard to keep from biting back. Now wasn’t the time for arguing.

“I could use my clones,” he offered. “If all of them focus a wind jutsu on one mirror, it should crack,” he pointed out. “You saw what only one of me did! And you could use your sharingan to make sure he doesn’t hit me before I do it.”

“But what after, genius?” The Uchiha shot back, throwing a kunai to deflect more senbon. “He’s too fast; if we try to leave he’ll stop us. If you used one of your wind jutsu on my fire jutsu, he won't be able to get us.

“Yeah, and he’ll be dead because of it!” Naruto argued, trying to duck another blow from a lightning-quick Haku. He felt something sharp cut into his side anyway and hissed out a silent curse.

“How ‘bout we just try it my way, ‘kay?” When he received no reply from Sasuke, he took it as permission. Forming the hand sign, Naruto summoned five shadow clones, wasting no time to jump into the wind jutsu after. All six Naruto’s aimed at one of the mirrors, readying the jutsu.

They all struck, compressed chakra hitting one mirror and shattering it with a loud crash. The pieces fell to the ground, bursting into small silvery shards at the impact. They’d done it!

Before he  could take a step forward, he heard a sharp gasp behind him. Whirling around, he saw Sasuke with one of his own kunai stabbed into his shoulder, Haku standing behind him. He had somehow managed to sneak up from behind him!

“Move and your friend dies,” Haku threatened, tone dark and serious.

The split second it took for Naruto to remember Sasuke was in no real danger and could have easily gotten away, only letting it happen because of shock, was a split second too long. Haku took advantage of this, and immediately Naruto found himself with senbon sticking out of all his major nerve endings. The pain was incredible, and even worse was the numbness that ran through his body right after. He dropped to his knees, legs no longer able to hold him up, and his hands scraped themselves on the rough stone when he tried to stop his fall.

“You idiot!” Sasuke shouted, he yanked the kunai out of his shoulder and went to stab Haku, but he’d already disappeared into the mirrors. “Fuck!”

Another hail of senbon came down, which just barely missed Sasuke. The next time Haku went flying to other mirrors, Sasuke shot blistering hot fire jutsus at him. But even with his Mangekyō he never managed to get in a good shot. This continued for nearly a minute before finally, he let out a ferocious growl.

“Fuck this,” he shouted before running through a series of hands signs Naruto knew by heart.

He was planning using Chidori.

“No!” He cried, just as the sound of chirping birds filled the air. Lightning chakra wreathed Sasuke’s hand in a deadly, deafening, current. The killing intent radiating from him was enough to make the breath freeze in Naruto’s throat.

“Sasuke, no!” He cried from the ground. Sasuke ignored him and rushed towards the mirrors, Chidori chirping madly in his hand. At this point it didn’t matter how fast Haku was, with Sasuke’s sharingan, he wasn’t going to miss his target no matter what. He was going to kill Haku!

Then saw something out of the corner of his eye that froze all the blood in his body.

Kakashi-sensei was on the ground, Zabuza Momochi standing above him, sword raised for a finishing blow. He could see sensei’s hair was streaked with red from an obvious blow to his head. He didn’t look to be able to move out of the way of the swordsman's blow. He was going to die!

Kakashi-sensei was going to die.

Haku was going to die.

No, no, no. He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t let anyone die!

He had to do something. But he couldn’t, he couldn’t move at all! What could he do? What could he do!

Suddenly, something strong and powerful rushed through him. He threw his head back and screamed. Light burst from him, shooting out every which way and into the mist. He heard mirrors shatter and stone crack. Someone cried out in alarm. Then, all sounds of battle disappeared, and he was left with the sound of his own ragged breath to fill his ears.

What had just happened?

Wearily, he blinked his eyes open and was stunned at what he saw.

Chains of glowing golden light were protruding from his torso and back, sinking into the ground or shooting into the air. In front of him, they had wrapped themselves around both Haku and Sasuke, freezing them where they stood. Sasuke’s hand, no longer sparkling with Chidori, was held just over Haku’s heart, inches away from finishing him off. But he’d been stopped at the last second by the chains.

Off to the side, they had caught Zabuza’s descending sword, links wrapped tightly around the blade held over the man's head. Other chains had sprouted up from the ground and were holding onto the ninja’s feet and arms, completely immobilizing him.

Naruto had… done that?

“Argh!” The shout rang across the bridge. It was followed by the Kiri ninja squirming and fighting with his restraints while Naruto’s sensei watched on in shock. “What are these?” Zabuza cried out in frustration.

Naruto couldn’t even answer that.

“Naruto!” Sasuke shouted, dragging his attention away. The boy had craned his neck to glare at him with livid eyes. “Let go of me! Let me kill him!”

Lightning sparked across his arm, killing intent spilling across the battlefield.

Without his consent, Naruto felt the chains holding Sasuke back weaken, and fear gripped him at the thought of them breaking.

“No!” The shout came from a new voice, and suddenly his vision was filled with pink and red as Sakura burst in front of him. Without pausing, she sent her first sailing right into Sasuke’s head, the resounding crack echoing across the bridge. The boy slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Not wasting a second, Sakura drew back again and jabbed something at Haku, too fast for Naruto to see. Blood spurted from his neck, and he fell down in a heap.

“NO!” Naruto cried. Haku’s mask cracked upon his impact, splitting in two and falling to the ground. His face was bared for the world to see, lifeless eyes staring ahead into nothing. Dead.

Naruto couldn’t believe his eyes. Sakura had just killed Haku. Sakura !

Turning her head ever so slightly, Sakura met his eyes and- winked? Wait, why? Frowned, Naruto’s eyes trailed down her arm and stopped when he saw what was clutched in her hand. An empty vial of blood and a syringe. A syringe she had filled with a sedative this morning.

Naruto’s eyes widened in realization. Haku was alive!!

Out of the corner of his eye, however, he saw Zabuza staring at the sight with wide, bewildered eyes, not recognizing the scene for what it really was.

Recognizing the moment as the perfect distraction, Kakashi-sensei kicked out hard at Zabuza’s legs, forcing them to buckle under him. The Kiri ninja dropped his sword from the shock of it, and quickly Kakashi-sensei was standing above him with his head in a headlock, right hand flashing with lightning which was pressed against his neck.

“Try to get up,” Kakashi-sensei growled under his breath, Chidori held against his throat. “See what happens.”

Zabuza wisely remained to stay still.

A silence permeated the air on the bridge for a long moment, tense and stifling. In that time, Zabuza’s eyes were trained solely on Haku’s body, unwavering in their intensity. The four of them left standing were breathing hard, Naruto most of all. The chakra chains he’d created still clung to Zabuza and the now unconscious Sasuke, a golden glow emanating from them. It was almost beautiful if the scene before them all wasn’t so horrific.

Finally, unable to sustain the strain of them, the chains released, thus breaking the silence around them. They unraveled themselves from Zabuza and Sasuke’s forms and zipped back into his body, sinking into his flesh as they'd never been there in the first place. Gasping, Naruto fell onto his hands as a sudden wave of exhaustion came over him. Immediately Sakura rushes over to him, grabbing him by the arms and helping him up. He was numb and tired and bone weary but didn’t have long to focus on it as a new presence had made itself known.

“Zabuza Momochi,” someone sneered. “How pathetic are you, being beaten some teacher and his brats.” Naruto looked up to see Gatō standing near the end of the bridge, an amassing of criminals behind him, all holding some type of weapon. They all looked ready for a fight.

“I knew it was a good idea not to pay you,” Gatō continued, a devilish smirk on his face. “Would have been a waste if I had.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Zabuza asked darkly. Gatō let out a loud laugh in response.

“As if I would have actually paid you. You, a rogue ninja. I never planned on giving you a cent!”

Naruto could see from where he was leaning against Sakura the dark look that passed over Zabuza’s face. He knew that look. It meant someone was going to die.

“Kakashi,” Zabuza said in a light tone. “It seems my contract is at an end. You are no longer my enemy.”

Slowly, Kakashi-sensei released his hold on the rogue ninja, chidori fizzling out. “It would seem so,” he agreed.

“My sword, please,” Zabuza drawled. Eyeing him for a long moment, Kakashi-sensei ever so reluctantly handed it over. Gatō’s face fell when he realized what was happening.

“You’re going to regret that, dick-head,” Zabuza growled. His fist tightened around the hilt of Kubikiribōchō the same moment the crime lord gulped in fear.

Gatō stepped back behind his hired thugs, fear creeping into his voice, and said, ”Kill them all.”

His men let out a war cry and rushed forwards across the bridge, weapons held high in a manner that was supposedly threatening. Under his wrappings, Zabuza with a bloodthirsty grin took off to meet them.

The first few to meet him were the first to die.

Kubikiribōchō swung in a wide arc, slicing through the whole first wave. Screams of pain were followed by blood and guts spilling onto the bridge. Weapons were dropped on the ground, followed by bodies. More came after.

Very quickly, startlingly quickly, almost all the thugs were down, butchered, bashed, or some other variation of being sliced open. Now only Gatō was left.

Realizing his chances of surviving, Gatō turned and bolted for the end of the bridge, desperate to get away from the bloodthirsty rogue ninja.

“Ah, ah, not so fast,” Zabuza rasped, shooting after him. He flickered away only to reappear before Gatō. The man didn’t even get a chance to scream before Zabuza lifted his leg and kicked the man in the chest, sending him sprawling. He landed on his ass with a heavy thump. Hefted his sword, Zabuza gave the man one final glare before he brought it down. It sliced cleanly through his neck, decapitating him instantly.

Then it was silent.

The smell of blood permeated the air with it’s sickening, warm scent. There were at least thirty bodies now littering the ground, adding to the already dead builders that came before. Both the smell and sight would have made a younger Naruto gag, but as it was, he was almost used to it. Next, to him, Sakura was keeping her composure cool and collected. The sight of a body or the smell of blood was nothing new to her. She didn’t even blink.

Zabuza stood over the body of Gatō with Kubikiribōchō resting between the crime lord head and his neck. Blood was pooling out of the body, slowly forming a thick red puddle at the rogue ninja’s feet. It was a gruesome sight to behold.

“It seems your reign of terror is at an end,” he growled in his low, raspy voice. Gatō’s body remained motionless. “I guess you won’t be needing your money now.”

“Zabuza,” Kakashi-sensei called out from across the bridge. “You’re not going to take all of it for yourself, are you.”

Zabuza turned to give him a sneer, eyes narrowed in thinly veiled detest. “What does it matter to you,” he replied.

“These people are living in poverty because of the money Gatō took from them. Surely you can leave some for them,” his sensei continued, keeping his voice lighter for diplomacy

“My kill, my cash,” was all Zabuza said, picking his sword up from the ground before turning away. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some money to collect.”

Naruto watched with abhorrence as Zabuza walked away, right past Haku’s body and the rest of the assembled group. He didn’t even spare a glance at his apprentice. It was sickening.

“You can’t be that heartless!” Naruto suddenly cried out. Zabuza stopped in his tracks before turning, the jōnin leveling him with a hard look.

“What was that, brat?”

“You’re just going to take all that money from these poor people?” He continued, anger at the injustice coursing through him. It sent energy coursing through him that he didn’t even know he still had. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself up off the ground onto his legs, still numb from Haku’s senbon. Sakura let out a squeak of protest, but he waved her off, facing off with the Kiri ninja instead. “You’re just gonna let these people suffer? And leave Haku? He’s your apprentice and you’re just gonna leave him!”

“Shut up brat,” Zabuza growled. “You don’t know anything.”

“Yes, I do!” He shouted, fists clenched at his sides. “No one’s cold enough to do that. No one’s that cruel! Haku cared about you, fought for you, and you’re just gonna leave him here?”

“Shut up, brat,” Zabuza snarled from afar. “He’s dead. In the Shinobi world, that means useless. And I have no use for useless things.”

“You can’t mean that,” Sakura gasped. “He would have given his life for you!” And he had, in another time.

“Yeah, you ungrateful dick!” Naruto shouted.

“You don’t get to lecture me about my own tool!”

“But he’s not your tool!” Naruto shot back. “He looked up to you, he protected you, he admired you! You were his precious person, his reason for living. He was willing to die for you!”

“Shut up, brat!” Zabuza shot back in a hoarse voice.

“No! You were his whole world and you don’t even care that he’s dead!”

“ I said shut up !”

The wave of killing intent that followed his words left Naruto stunned into silence. But what was even more stunning were the tears streaming down Zabuza’s face.

“I know, kid,” he said, softer this time. “So shut up.”Naruto blinked, taken aback.

“Shinobi are trained to be tools,” Zabuza continued hoarsely, eyes now focused solely on Haku’s body. “We’re trained not to feel. Not to care. Only to complete the mission.” Naruto disagreed, but he kept that to himself.

“You say I don’t feel anything,” the Kiri ninja said, now addressing Naruto. “That’s a lie. Despite what we’re told, shinobi are still human. You can bury those feelings as deep as you want, but they’re still there.” A pause. Then, Zabuza’s eyes shot over to his own and he held his gaze for a long moment. “So don’t dare tell me I’m heartless,” he said. “No one’s truly heartless.”

Unbidden tears were pricking at both Naruto’s and Sakura’s eyes.

Then, just out of sight, someone behind them shifted and let out a low moan. Startled, Naruto and Sakura turned around to find-

“Haku!” Naruto gasped.

“How,” Zabuza breathed.

And indeed, there was Haku, very much alive thanks to Sakura’s deception, pushing himself up onto his elbows. Sasuke still lay unconscious next to him, but it didn’t seem to be a problem. Blinking in confusion, Haku’s eyes roamed around the battlefield before settling on Zabuza and widened in surprise.

“Zabuza,” he gasped. “I- I have failed you.”

“You’re alive,” was all Zabuza could reply with.

Haku blinked. “I am.” He blinked again, clearly confused. Turning his gaze to Naruto and Sakura, he stared at them before asking, “Why am I alive? You should have killed me. That was your mission.”

“Our mission was to keep the bridge builder alive,” Naruto replied, still somehow standing. “But we can do that without having to kill anyone.”

“But now I’ve lost my purpose,” Haku argued, struggling to his feet. He was still weak from the sedative Sakura injected him with, and thus only made it into a kneeling stance. “I have failed my master, Zabuza. You should have killed me!”

“Hey,” Naruto shouted. “You heard it yourself, my dream is to save all my friends! I can’t do that if one of them wants to die.”

Haku blinked in startlement, taken aback by his words. Even Zabuza was startled into silence.

“You said you hoped I would achieve my dreams,” Naruto continued. “Well help me do that by staying alive, y’know!”

Haku could only stare on in bewilderment.

“Friends?” He managed, brown eyes blown wide.

Naruto let out a short, slightly pained laugh. Now that all the excitement was over, fatigue was starting to creep up on him. His numb legs were shaking from the effort of trying to keep him up, reminding him of all the needles sticking painfully out of his body.

“Yeah, friends, y’know?”

It was all he managed to get out before his vision swam and suddenly turned to black. The next thing he knew he was pitching towards the ground.

Notes:

AAAAAAAAH! That drawing! That was why I wanted to get this chapter out so soon. I finished it a few days ago and just wanted to share it with you guys. Anyway, hoped you enjoyed this chapter. If you liked it, don't forget to comment! Comments fuel the creative process and get you chapters quicker. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 12: Repercussions

Notes:

Shorter chapter today. This was originally supposed to be part of the next chapter, but I decided to break it up due to the flow, and overall feel of the chapter. All your comments from last chapter were amazing, so thank you all for those. Enjoy!
EDIT: Beta'd as of 8/29

Consciousness came slowly to Naruto. It was fuzzy at first, like a heavy blanket draped over his senses. But slowly it was lifting, and he became more aware of his surroundings.

There were waves outside, and the sound of wave crashing against surf woke him further. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was… it was…

Right, Haku. He hadn’t died, and neither had Zabuza. Relief flooded through him as he lay on what was presumably a futon. But what had happened afterwards? After he had passed out? Had they left? Had kakashi-sensei gone and finished him off? He didn’t know.

The sound of pages turning caught his ear, and slowly, he cracked an eye open to see who it was.

“Welcome back to the waking world,” someone drawled from across the room. Naruto blinked and rubbed at his eyes, propping himself up on an elbow to see who had spoken. He was met with the sight of Kakashi-sensei propped up against the wall with his book, reading. Or he had been, Naruto noted once he noticed his eye was on him rather than the pages.

“Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto croaked out, throat surprisingly dry and, despite the gravelly edge, voice questioning. Kakashi noticed and set his book down so as to give the boy his full attention.

“You've only been out for two days,” he said, answering Naruto’s unspoken question.

“Two days?” He echoed in shock.

“Yes, chakra exhaustion tends to do that to a person,” was his sensei’s almost-snide remark - almost snide, because there was still concern in Kakashi-sensei’s voice and in his statement. But still, it was a little jarring to Naruto, who had only experienced severe chakra exhaustion two, maybe three, times in his life. And those times were limited only to intense training and going all out in a fight. And he hadn’t really gone all out with Haku. Not even close.

Noticing his confusion, Kakashi-sensei explained. “Do you remember the chains you summoned on the bridge?” He asked. Naruto frowned, recalling the memory. He had been confused and surprised by them, but hadn’t really put a lot of thought into it. There had been more pressing issues at hand. Like making sure Kakashi-sensei wasn’t decapitated and that Sasuke didn’t kill Haku or vice versa. That didn’t mean, however, that he didn’t recognise them. He had seen his mom use them to hold down Kurama when he had stolen the beast’s chakra. But thinking back, how had he summoned those?

“They are a rare Uzumaki kekkei genkai,” Kakashi-sensei filled in. “I’ve only seen them once before, and, quite frankly, I’m surprised you managed to awaken them yourself,” he continued. “Using them the way you did at that power must have drained your reserves more than any jutsu you’re used to. So it’s natural you’d suffer chakra exhaustion.”

“Wait,” Naruto said, sitting up straight, ignoring the wave of dizziness that washed over him from the action. “I have a kekkei genkai? For real?”

Kakashi-sensei nodded solemnly. “It would appear so.”

Naruto blinked, taking it in. He had a kekkei genkai. Him . The Uzumaki clan had a bloodline skill. He really shouldn’t have been surprised, considering he’d managed to pull it off, but some part of him still had doubts that it was just his mom, somehow. Or some other reason he couldn’t think of. To actually think that it was his own power he’d managed to unlock, instead of some other borrowed power, it was amazing. He could hardly wrap his head around it.

“Wow,” he breathed. Then, in a louder voice he exclaimed, “I’m awesome, y’know! Take that Sasuke, look who’s got a kekkei genkai now, y’know!”

“I think you’re getting a little too excited over this,” Kakashi-sensei voiced, sweat beading on his brow.

“Are you kidding, sensei!” Naruto exclaimed, punching the air in excitement. “My clan has something special! This is great, this is-” his sentence was cut off by the world suddenly swimming around him, and he pitched towards the floor. He would have stopped himself, but his body refused to react.

He never hit the ground though, strong hands catching him before he did.

“Perhaps getting over excited while chakra exhausted is a bad idea, hm?” His sensei hummed, laying him back down on the futon.

Naruto could only offer a weak, yet hearty, smile in response.

The jōnin moved back to sit against the wall again, arms folded in front of his chest in a relaxed pose. “I would suggest you rest, but knowing you you’ll keep pestering me with questions,” Kakashi-sensei mused in good nature. “Am I right?”

Naruto’s face broke out into a guilty grin, and a long sigh escaped the jōnin, but Kakashi didn’t really seem too put-out by the reaction.

“Oh, alright,” he sighed. “Ask away.”

Naruto opened his mouth to start his badgering, but was cut off by the sound of footsteps outside before the door was pulled hastily open.

“Is everything okay? We heard shouting,” asked the newcomer.

Naruto looked up to see who it was and was pleasantly surprised to find Sakura and Sasuke standing in the doorway.

“Ah, Sakura, please come in,” their sensei greeted. “I was just explaining to Naruto about his new kekkei genkai.”

Naruto watched as Sakura’s eyebrows rose comically high on her forehead. Her eyes widened and flickered over to Naruto as though to confirm that, yes, this was who Kakashi-sensei was talking about.

“A kekkei genkai?” She asked, still unable to believe it.

“Yeah,” he laughed. “Guess I’m just that awesome, y’know.”

Sakura frowned as she took her seat by him. It was almost cute to watch. “But you never had a kekkei genkai before,” she mused, referring to how in the past timeline he had never awakened such a power. And if Naruto was being honest, he was thinking the same thing. How had he never discovered it? What was different about this time around that he did? He remembered using Kurama’s power on the bridge last time, but that was a response to seeing Sasuke supposedly die in front of him. That hadn’t happened this time though. This time he wasn’t as angry. He was… desperate.

“Kekkei genkai are sometimes awakened by strenuous circumstances, or severe emotions,” kakashi-sensei cut in, oblivious to what Sakura had actually meant. “For instance, Sasuke awakened his sharingan, an Uchiha dōjutsu which he didn’t have before.”

Naruto’s eyebrows rose up his forehead as he turned to his teammate. “Really?” He asked, giving Sasuke a searching look. He still had his fully formed sharingan, not the two and one tomoe he’d originally had. How had he managed to swing that without incurring suspicion?

The Uchiha merely shrugged, unwilling to expound upon it himself. Naruto’s shoulders slumped, but he accepted the silence. He would badger him later during their secret meetings anyway. Another thought suddenly occurred to him.

“Wait,” he started, turning back to his sensei. “What about Haku, and Zabuza? What happened after I blacked out?”

“Oh,” Sakura started. “Right. Inari and the other villagers arrived to help. But they were a little late. Haku and Zabuza agreed to give some of Gatō’s money back to Wave and they’re still hanging around town. Haku wanted to speak to you before they left.”

“Left?” Naruto frowned. “To where?”

Sakura shrugged, a small smile tugging at her lips as she whispered. “I may have told them about the revolution being planned in Kiri. Zabuza seemed to like the idea and agreed to go back and help. For some reason the mention of Mei Terumi piqued his interest.”

More like another part of him… Naruto thought, recalling Mei Terumi and, more specifically, her looks.

“So that’s that,” Kakashi-sensei cut in mildly. “We managed to clean up the bridge while you were out, and since it’s almost done, Tazuna thinks we’ll be able to leave within the week.”

Naruto nodded. That was good. He couldn’t wait to get home and tell everyone all about their mission. Neither could Sakura or Sasuke by the looks of it. They had all been starting to get some form of cabin fever over the last few days. As great and exciting as this mission was, they’d rather be focusing on the future and preparing for that.

“However,” his sensei continued. All three genin let out a groan. What now? “You will be on bedrest for most of that week.”

“What!” Naruto cried, jolting in his seat. “That’s unfair! C’mon sensei, you didn’t stay in bed all week! Why do I gotta?”

“Maa, Naruto,” Kakashi-sensei sighed in defeat. “Can’t you just follow orders once in your life?”

“Not when they’re lame orders,” he shot back. Then something flashed in his sensei’s lone eye, and Naruto stiffened in response.

“Sakura, Sasuke, don’t you have somewhere to be?” He asked, his tone hard and filled with an authority the two had hardly realised he was capable of.

Sakura, nodded quickly and got up, ushering Sasuke to do the same. With an apologetic glance back at Naruto, she and Sasuke quickly left the room, leaving Naruto to face whatever Kakashi-sensei had to say to him alone.

Naruto gulped nervously.

“Naruto,” his sensei said seriously, forcing his attention. “I don’t think you understand just how much danger you put yourself in,” he said. “Unleashing a kekkei genkai that powerfully your first try, on top of forcing your body to work through the injuries you’d received, you could have been seriously hurt. If not dead.”

His words were heavy, but rang with truth. Overcome by the guilt the jōnin’s words instilled, Naruto looked down at his lap, fingers twisting the blanket around absently.

“I swore I’d never let my comrades die,” he continued. “And that means protecting them from themselves, if I have to.”

A lump formed in Naruto’s throat, thick and painful.

“I’m sorry, sensei,” he murmured. “I didn’t realize.”

Kakashi-sensei let out a low sigh, shoulders slumping some. “It’s alright, Naruto,” he said. “Just make sure you never push yourself like that again.”

I can’t promise that, Naruto thought to himself despairingly. I’ll do whatever I have to to protect my comrades. Even if it kills me. Even if it means facing a Goddess, or accidently being sent back in time.

“Okay, sensei,” he said quietly, not meaning a word of it.

Chapter 13: Milk Bread and Farewells

Notes:

Thank you all so much for all your comments and kudos! They mean so much. Beta'd as of 1/4/19. Enjoy!

The next few days went by surprisingly quickly. Naruto found that he really was exhausted, and spent much of the first two days sleeping. Of course when he was awake, he was being badgered by Inari for awesome stories and asking to be shown the cool chains his grandpa had talked about. Naruto had done the best to tell him stories, but when it came the second request…

Suffice to say, Kakashi-sensei’s threatening glare quickly closed that option down. In fact, his sensei was so against it that he’d forbid him from even trying to use them until they were back in Konoha and had given their report to the Hokage.

Naruto thought that was a little overkill, but he wasn’t about to argue with the jōnin.

Over the next few days, when he’d started to get up and move about, he’d asked about his jacket, which he hadn’t seen since waking up the first time. Eventually Sakura came around and admitted it had been destroyed by Naruto’s chakra chains. They had left huge, irreparable holes in the fabric that left it too mangled to wear. Thankfully they hadn’t thrown it away, but only because Sakura had known just how much he loved the thing.

It had come as a huge disappointment to him, but there was nothing he could do. So he settled for wearing just his t-shirt remaining instead, as the other had also been destroyed by his chains.

When they got back to Konoha, he would have to do some serious shopping.

Aside from personal grievances over lost clothing, the other thing that occupied Naruto’s time was Sasuke. He’d tried to kill Haku on the bridge, and only just failed because of Sakura’s intervention. None of them had discussed it yet, but given the frigid air around them whenever they were all in a room together, something would have to give.

But it seemed that that something could wait until they got back to Konoha. Maybe.

Finally, the day they were set to leave, Haku showed up at the house.

All four members of team seven as well as Tazuna’s family were eating breakfast when there was a polite knock on the door. Opening it up, everyone was surprised to find Haku standing there in his kimono holding a covered basket.

“Haku!” Naruto exclaimed, getting up from his seat. The boy in question offered everyone a kind, nervous smile in return. Tazuna gave the boy a curious look, but stood aside to let him in. Haku gave a small nod of thanks before stepping inside.

“It’s good to see you well, Naruto,” Haku offered, standing before them. He looked slightly awkward, holding himself stiffly, head bowed slightly in formal greeting.

“Uh, thanks,” he said. “You wanna sit down or something?” Across from him, Inari was shooting the newcomer confused looks, wondering who the boy was.

“I just came by to wish you well before you headed off back to your village,” he said in a polite tone, accepting Naruto’s invitation and sinking into the cushin next to him.

“What’s in the basket, sis?” Inari interrupted, leaning across the table to try and see for himself.

“Haku’s a boy, Inari,” Sakura told him flatly. Inari’s eyes went wide, and a blush appeared on his face.

“I knew that!” He cried, embarrassed, scrambling to sit back in his seat. Haku let out a small chuckle at the display, clearly not insulted.

“It’s alright,” he said. “And as for my basket, I suppose it is a parting gift. Since you are leaving today, I thought bringing something to show my gratitude was in place.” Opening it, he showed them all loaves of sweet Hokkaido milk bread, along with various fruits from around the region. Shifting the bread and fruits aside, he showed them what was underneath.

“Senbon and poisons from our region for Lady Sakura,” he said. “I recognise that you used a sedative on me on the bridge. I believe you would be good learning the art of poisons and the like.”

A blush appeared on Sakura’s cheeks, painting her face the color of her namesake. “Oh- that’s- you don’t need to call me ‘lady’,” she tried, graciously accepting the gifts. “And you didn’t need to get me these.”

“It’s quite alright,” Haku replied easily. “I recognise your dream to become a great medic. You don’t need to use these poisons, but learning from them might help you.”

“Thank you, Haku,” she said softly.

“Wait,” Naruto cut in. “Why are you doing this?”

There was a moment of silence from Haku before he responded. It looked as though he were collecting his thoughts, trying to make sense of them in his head before sharing with the world. Finally, he said, “On the bridge, you called me your friend. I’ve never had a person to call a friend before.”

Naruto blinked, surprised.

“I’ve been alone my whole life. Lord Zabuza was the first one to make me feel like my existence mattered, but I can not call him a friend. He is my master, and that is all.”

“I’m sorry you’ve been so alone, Haku,” Kakashi-sensei said from the side. Haku nodded in acknowledgment.

“Well,” Naruto said, shifting slightly where he sat. “I’m glad you’re not so alone now. I know how awful that is.”

Haku returned the comforting words with a soft smile, eyes twinkling with gratefulness.

“You also helped me realize something I never had before,” Haku continued. “Without Zabuza, I thought my existence meant nothing. You helped me realize there is more to having a dream than just existing.”

“So, what is your dream?” Naruto asked.

Haku gave them all a smile. “My dream is to help Lord Zabuza achieve his dream of peace within Kiri. Even if I fail to protect him, I can still go on to help realize that dream. That is my goal.”

Naruto smiled widely. Out of corner of his eye, he saw Sakura do the same. Even Kakashi-sensei looked pleased. “I’m glad.” Naruto said. “I hope you can achieve your dream.”

Haku’s smile softened before he replied. “And I hope you do as well, Naruto. I hope to one day see you become Kage of your village.”

Naruto grinned widely. “You bet,” he said. And he would. He definitely would.

 

---

 

Saying goodbye to Tazuna and his family involved more tears than Naruto remembered. Mostly from Inari. The boy wouldn’t stop bawling all the way to the bridge, and clung to Sakura when they were all saying their goodbyes.

Apparently when she’d saved them she’d left quite an impression.

“You gotta teach me those cools moves of yours someday,” Inari managed to say through sobs as he hugged Sakura within an inch of her life.

“Of course,” she tried, sweatdropping.

“And Naruto!” He cried, finally breaking away from the poor girl. “I’m gonna become a hero someday, just like you!”

“Ha, I don’t doubt it,” Naruto chuckled, ruffling the boys hair through his hat. “I bet you’ll become super strong too, someday. Just like your grandpa.”

The boy just burst into tears again. But they were happy tears, so it was alright.

“Well,” Tazuna said, interrupting his grandson’s sobbs. “I wish you all a fair journey back.”

“Thank you, sir,” Sakura nodded. With a few more goodbyes, they were off, walking down the length of the newly named Great Naruto Bridge. Sakura had rolled her eyes when Tazuna had told them, but Naruto hadn’t stopped beaming. It was almost annoying, but she wasn’t going to put on a damper on his excitement, so she let him be. It seemed the other had the same idea, as neither had spoken up against the blonde.

Over the course of the day the excitement from the past week slowly left everyone until they were merely trudging along, eager to get home.

For lunch they stopped by the side of the road and dug into the basket of food Haku had supplied them with that morning. But not before Kakashi-sensei checked all of it for poison, much to everyone’s dismay. Once he’d cleared the food, they dug in.

“Say, sensei,” Naruto piped up around a mouthful of fruit. Kakashi-sensei, who had already finished eat and had returned to reading his book, hummed to show he was listening. “What do you know about chakra chains?”

He knew his sensei had been his father’s student, and as such, had to have known his mother and maybe even something about her kekkei genkai. It was a long shot, but Naruto was desperate to know anything about his heritage.

“Maa, I can’t say I’m an expert,” his sensei drawled. “But I do know a little.”

“Yeah?” Naruto pressed.

The ruffle of pages sounded before he replied, supposedly giving him a moment to think. “It’s a very powerful form of sealing, so to speak. It keeps the ending immobilized, and are near impossible to break.”

Unless you’re a bijuu , Naruto thought to himself, remembering when Kurama had snapped his mother’s chains when Naruto had stolen his chakra.

“So how is that a form of sealing?” Sakura asked from the side, propping herself up on her elbows.

“Maa, I’m just repeating what my sensei told me,” Kakashi-sensei said, giving them an apologetic eye-smile. “He knew more about the kekkei genkai than anyone.”

“Did he have it too?” Sakura asked dumbly, knowing full well that Minato Namikaze did not, in fact, have the Uzumaki kekkei genkai.

“No, but he was close with someone who did,” he said, and left it at that.

“So like,” Naruto started again. “How rare is the kekkei genkai? How awesome am I for having it?”

“You know, Naruto,” Kakashi-sensei noted slyly. “Most people are subtle when fishing for compliments.”

“Sensei,” Sakura chuckled. “When has Naruto ever been subtle?”

“Maa, that’s true,” Kakashi-sensei hummed. Naruto frowned despondently. It was true, but he shouldn’t say it. He was supposed to encourage growth as a sensei, not ridicule.

“Hey,” Naruto moaned. Instead of a reply, Kakashi-sensei gave him one of his signature eye-smiles, complete with annoying smugness to boot.

“We’re getting off topic,” Sasuke cut in, finally joining the conversation. He was sat some distance from the group over by a tree, half a roll of sweet bread in hand. “As much as I don’t want to hear Naruto brag, I am interested in learning about his kekkei genkai.” Naruto shot him a confused look, completed with a raised eyebrow and head tilt. Since when had he been so interested?

“Maa, fine,” Kakashi-sensei said with a sigh. “Although I don’t know what there is to tell that I haven’t already said.”

“Well, how about how it’s used?” Sakura suggested. “You must know that, at least.”

Kakashi-sensei seemed to think about it for a bit before responding. While he was thinking, an almost somber look flashed across his eye. It looked painful, but it was brushed aside almost immediately. Naruto couldn’t even be sure that he’d seen it, it was so fast. “Well, the way I saw them used was for containment and barriers. Defensive, if you will.”

“When did you get to see it?” Sakura pressed, fascinated.

“The third shinobi war,” he replied coolly. “I must have your guy’s age at the time, so I can’t remember specifics, sorry.”

He didn’t sound all that sorry. Just… sad.

“Well,” Naruto tried, slightly disappointed. “How about… how many could they used? How long could they use them? How did they use them? Do you remember that?” He made a point not to say “she”, as that would have tipped his sensei off that he knew just who exactly the last Uzumaki in the village was.

“Slow down, Naruto,” Kakashi-sensei said with a soft chuckle. “I’m sorry, but I really don’t know that much about them.”

Naruto’s shoulders drooped in disappointment. Dismayed, his sensei spoke up again. “Perhaps when we get back to the village you can ask the Hokage,” his sensei tried, uncertainty just barely coloring his voice. “I’m sure he’ll be able to tell you more.”

Twisting his lips in though, Naruto mulled over what Kakashi-sensei had said. He was right, that maybe Lord Third knew more about his kekkei genkai than anyone else in the village, but for some reason he doubted that he would willingly open up about it. The man had hardly ever spoken of his parents, even in the abstract. Asking about his mother, even if indirectly, would surely not end well.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, sensei,” Naruto said anyway, trying not to convey his doubts. He had a feeling the jonin heard them anyways.

“Hey,” Sakura said lightly, bumping his shoulder playfully. “Even if Lord Third doesn’t know anything, we’ll find as many scrolls on it as we can. Even if it takes a bit. Right Sasuke?” The other boy let out a “hn” but didn’t seem disinterested in the idea.

Naruto smiled. He really did have the best friends.

Chapter 14: Kakashi's Conviction

Notes:

Me: Hm yes, this chapter would be perfect for some plot
Brain: Hahahaha. No. *dumps bucket of angst out instead*

Edit: Beta'd as of 2/9/19

“Ugh, finally ,” Naruto moaned, stepping through the gates of Konoha. He was hunched over in a weary gait, backpack threatening to slip over his shoulders because of it. Beside him, Sakura seemed a little sweaty from the heat, but otherwise fine, while both Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei were apparently too cool to be tired. Dicks.

“You can’t honestly be that tired, Naruto,” Sakura deadpanned, staring at him with the most unimpressed eyes he’d ever seen on her. Okay, that wasn’t true. He’d been on the receiving end of worse, but that wasn’t important.

“Maa, behave yourselves, you two,” Kakashi-sensei said idly, not even appearing to be paying attention to them as he walked them over to the gate guards. Izumo and Kotetsu were there to greet them, just as they did before and after every mission. While the chūnin were filling out the proper paperwork, Kotetsu leaned over and gave Naruto a funny look.

“What happened to the jacket, Naruto?” He asked, genuinely confused. “I thought you wore that thing everywhere?” For a moment Naruto was confused about how he knew that, as they hadn’t ever formally met in this timeline, then realized he must have been one of the chunin that chased after him when he set off a large prank or defaced public property.

“Oh, it uh…” Got torn apart by chains made of pure chakra. “Training accident,” he said instead, offering the chunin an embarrassed smile. Kotetsu seemed to think nothing of it and merely shrugged.

After they finished filing their paperwork for re-entry, the four started off to the mission desk to file their report. It was going to be an interesting one, for sure, Naruto figured. He remembered how crazy it had been. Telling the Hokage that the mission was actually an A-rank was crazy enough. Telling the Hokage that it was an A-rank this time, on top of everything else that had happened, was sure to be an interesting affair.

Not only had they confronted one of the seven swordsmen of Kiri, but they’d also not killed him as would be advised, made friends with his apprentice, and also unlocked a few kekkei genkai along the way. They hadn’t talked about it much, but Sasuke “unlocking” a final stage sharingan was sure to raise a few eyebrows.

Oh well. They’d burn that bridge when they got to it. Or was it cross? Naruto shrugged. It didn’t really matter. The point was that they’d do what they did best when that time came. Wing it.

 

---

 

During the walk to the mission desk for their mission debriefing and report, Kakashi’s mind was focused solely on one thing.

Naruto.

Or more specificity, what Lord Hiruzen was going to do about him. The boy had unlocked an amazingly powerful and rare kekkei genkai and had thousands of questions about it that Kakashi couldn’t answer. While he knew more on the subject than most people, he was far from being considered an expert. So on that front alone he wanted Hiruzen to take charge and step up. Then on the other hand Naruto must surely be dying to know about the last Uzumaki to have them. He’d want to know all about them, as he’d never met another one of his clan before. Unfortunately, Kakashi couldn’t give him what he wanted. Another reason he wanted Hiruzen to deal with his little jinchuuriki. Of course Kakashi wanted more than anything to tell him all about it. To answer any questions he might have. Questions about his clan, his predecessor, anything.

Naruto deserves to know about his heritage. But when his heritage is an S-class secret, there was little Kakashi could do.

“Sensei? You okay?”

Kakashi blinked, taken out of his reverie by the very genin he’d just been thinking about. Looking down at Naruto, he was met with concerned blue eyes. Eyes that seemed a little to old for the face they belonged to.

“Maa, just lost in thought,” he said easily, brushing him off. Naruto frowned at the response, but accepted it nonetheless. Kakashi watched his student turn back around and was reminded painfully of how close he’d come to losing him. Back on the bridge, when he’d seen golden chains erupt from the dome of mirrors, it was like he’d seen a ghost. And when the boy had crumpled to the ground, he’d been terrified he’d lost him. That after these years he’d failed at the one thing he’d swore he’d never do again. Lose a comrade.

The sight of his sensei’s son, lifeless on the ground, was almost too much. He hadn’t yet grown close to the boy, not like he had with his own team in the past, but the protective instinct was still there. As was the memory of kind blue eyes and bright smiles from his sensei.

When he rushed over to check his pulse and found it going strong, and when Sakura informed him is was just chakra exhaustion, he could have fallen to his knees in relief. But he didn’t. He was a jōnin, and he had to stay strong for his students. So he had. For two days until Naruto woke up. When the boy had immediately started shouting about how cool he was, Kakashi finally let himself relax.

Of course, he had immediately forbid him from even trying to use his chakra chains again. Naruto had been put out, but seemed to have understood his reasoning. Kakashi was glad; he didn’t feel like getting into another argument over it again. Now that they were back in the village though, Kakashi had a sneaking suspicion that the boy would spend every waking moment trying to master them, and obviously exhausting himself in the process. Jeez, he really needed adult supervision.

In a striking moment of panic, Kakashi came to the startling realization that he was the adult supervision.

That was a horrible idea , he thought to himself, inwardly cursing Hiruzen for ever forcing this responsibility on him.

Whatever, he would figure it out. He always did.

With a sigh, Kakashi settled for going to back to reading Icha Icha to distract him while they made their way to the mission desk where he was sure to be chewed out by the Hokage.

 

---

 

After a long, long retelling of events and explaining how their mission had turned from a C-rank to an A-rank (much to a certain chūnin’s chagrin), Lord Hiruzen finally let out a long sigh. Upon arriving, Iruka had immediately asked Naruto where his jacket was, as the boy wore it everywhere. With a frustrated sigh, Naruto had explained it had been destroyed by a jutsu before the three genin had launched into their tale of how the mission went. Finally they were finished, and neither Hokage nor chunin seemed entirely thrilled by it.

With his hands clasped in front of his face, Hiruzen gave Kakashi a accusatory stare, as if to say “and you allowed this?” Kakashi merely attempted an faux-innocent eye-smile, but gave up when he realized Hiruzen saw right through his bullshit.

“Well,” Hiruzen finally managed to say. “That was quite an adventure you three had,” he said, addressing Kakashi’s genin. “I’m glad you have all made it home safely.”

“Thank you, Lord Hokage,” Sakura said, dipping her head in a bow. The other two followed suit.

“Seeing as this has complicated some things, I would ask for you three to excuse us while we sort some things out,” Lord Third said. “Iruka, would you escort them out of the room and help them fill out their mission reports.” The chūnin nodded and got up to leave, shooting an expectant glance at the three genin.

Naruto frowned and looked to Sakura then Kakashi for affirmation. Sakura shrugged in acceptance. It seemed the adults needed to talk. After watching the four shinobi leave the room, Kakashi turned back to Hiruzen.

There was a moment of silence between them before Kakashi took the initiative to speak up.

“Naruto unlocked his mothers kekkei genkai,” he said bluntly.

“I’m aware,” Hiruzen said, voice heavy with something Kakashi could only relate to wisdom and burden.

“It won’t take long for other nations to realize his heritage,” Kakashi continued. “Kushina Uzumaki was famous for her chakra chains. She was kidnapped as a child because of it.” Hiruzen remained silent. “One way or another, Naruto will find out. And when he does he’ll have questions.” It was a threat. Kakashi was never of the mind to keep Naruto’s parents secret from him. The boy deserved to know the man he looked up to was his father, and how his parents were heroes to the village. On the other hand he did see the reasoning behind it. Minato and Kushina had many enemies. Enemies who be glad to get their hands on their child. But now that he was a full fledged shinobi there was no reason to continue keeping it from him. And that was what Kakashi was getting at.

“You suggest telling him,” the Hokage surmised. Kakashi only gave a small nod in response. “I’m sorry Kakashi, but I can not advise that course of action. It is far too dangerous.”

Anger boiled inside Kakashi as he listened to the man. “He’ll be in danger regardless,” he argued, forcing his voice to stay level despite the emotion inside him. “How long do you think it will take somewhere like Kumo or Iwa to figure out who he is? An Uzumaki with chakra chains is already enough to get him put in Bingo books by the time he makes chūnin. An Uzumaki with a striking resemblance to the Fourth Hokage will be immediately put under scrutiny,” Kakashi argued. “It doesn’t matter if you tell him, he’ll already be a target. It would be better to prepare him for that than send him out into the world blind and hope for the best.”

Kakashi watched as Hiruzen silently contemplated his words. The pensive look on his face betrayed nothing, as was expected from him. But to Kakashi it just frustrated him. He couldn’t tell if his words had swayed the man or not. Eventually, the man unclasped his hands and leveled the jōnin with a firm look.

“I appreciate your thoughts, Kakashi,” he said. The tone set the jōnin on edge, and his metaphorical hackles rose. “But I must disagree. He’s far too young now. He shall remain in the dark until the proper time comes.” A sigh. “I’m sorry, but it will have to wait.”

Clenching his teeth, Kakashi forced himself not to show any anger or frustration at the order. That was no excuse! Despite his anger, Kakashi schooled his features into something resembling respect to the Hokage. “I understand,” he finally ground out, bowing to the man in preparation to leave. Just as he made it to the door, Hiruzen’s voice stopped him.

“Kakashi,” he called out, halting his movements. Kakashi turned to look over his shoulder, not bothering to give the man his full attention. The action was noted by the man. “I trust you to keep it secret.”

Kakashi didn’t even bother responding as he slipped out the door.

Chapter 15: Shopping, Ramen, and Meetings

Notes:

Hey guys, thank you all so much for commenting and leaving kudos and the like. You guys are awesome!
Edit: Beta'd as of 2/14/19

 

After filling out and submitting their reports, Kakashi-sensei had dismissed them for the day with the order that he doesn’t see any of the them for the next two days. All three genin were just fine with that and each went their separate ways with the promise to meet at the memorial stone that night. None of them had really had a chance to go over the mission, or rather Sasuke’s actions, since the battle on the bridge. But as things grew more tense between them, they quickly realized that needed to be remedied.

But that meant they still had the rest of the day to themselves with nothing to do. Naruto would have loved to run off to the training grounds and try out his chakra chains, since they were now back in the village, but Sakura and Kakashi-sensei had forbidden him from even trying without a higher ranking shinobi or medical ninja present. Naruto thought it was overkill, personally, but he didn’t argue. Iruka-sensei had offered to take him out for ramen though, probably so he could make sure he was okay after all that had happened, but that was hours away.

Which left him with a half a day to kill.

“So you’re off back home?” He asked, stopping to wait for Sakura as she followed him out of the building.

“Yeah,” she said. “My mom and dad will be worried enough as it is that I left the village. When they hear it was an A-rank they’re gonna freak.”

Naruto winced in sympathy. “Did they freak last time, too?”

“You have no idea,” she moaned. Chuckling at her misfortune, Naruto waved her off as she started her walk home.

He should probably get home too, he figured. His poor plants needed to be watered, and he didn’t trust that Konohamaru had kept up with the schedule he’d set for him before he left. It was weird though seeing him as an eight year old again. He was used to seeing him and his crew wearing leaf headbands instead of goggles, like they now were (used to? Argh, this time travel business made no sense!).

Turning the key to his apartment, he was pleased to find all his plants alive and well as well as all the food in his fridge thrown out. He remembered he’d forgotten to do that the last time and came home to extremely sour milk and moldy cheese.

“Good job, Konohamaru,” he smiled.

Setting his bag down, he told himself he’d unpack it later and decided to take a shower, washing away all the grime of the road. Once he was clean and dressed, he found himself sitting in a very empty, very boring apartment.

“Well this sucks,” he muttered, sitting on his bed. What would he have normally done after a mission back when he was actually twelve? Probably have gone to Ichiraku’s. It wasn’t a bad idea, he thought, but that still left a lot of time before team 7’s meeting. And training was out of the question.

Suddenly, Naruto was struck by just how lonely he had been at this age. Yes he’d been apart of a team, but they hadn’t been great friends then. He hadn’t yet truly made friends with the members of team 8 or team 10 yet. Hell, he hadn’t even met team 9. That would have to wait until the chūnin exams.

Sighing, he flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. The paint was just as chipped and as cracked as he remembered. How many nights had he stared up at it wallowing in self pity and loneliness? Those years before he had become a ninja, before he’d met all his friends, all his precious people.

“This is stupid,” he muttered. “I’m seventeen, goddamnit, not a whiny kid.”

Pushing himself back up, he picked himself off the bed and made his way towards the door, shoving his sandals on. So he was lonely, so what. He’d made do before, he’d make do now. He was Naruto Uzumaki, goddamnit! Future Hokage and savior of Konoha. If he couldn’t find something to do, then all hope was lost.

It was time to face the world!

 

---

 

When he’d told himself he was going to face the world, he didn’t quite imagine that meant he’d end up in the shopping district. Nor did he imagine he’d be facing one of the most frustrating decisions of all time:

Which outfit to buy.

Since losing his jacket, he’d quickly found he wasn’t fond of not wearing one. T-shirts were fine and all, but he’d always worn an orange jacket to complete his jumpsuit. It was disheartening to suddenly find himself without it. So he’d made up his mind and settled on buying himself a new one. It wouldn’t be like the one Pervy Sage bought him, as that was still too big for him, but it wouldn’t be an exact replica of his old one either, as he was pretty sure no one in Konoha made it anymore.

So that brought him to his current predicament: what jacket to buy.

Before him were two options. Both were orange, thank God, but he still wasn’t sure which one to choose.

This would have been so much easier if Sakura or Ino were with him. They were much more knowledgeable about fashion than he was.

Finally, he decided on one of the two choices and pulled it down off the rack. It was orange with a dark blue color that was buttoned down at the top, with matching blue cuffs on the sleeve. He’d have to pay extra to get the Uzumaki spiral on the back and on the sleeve, but he’d just completed an A-rank mission, so he had the money.

“That’ll be ¥ 5000, kid,” the shopkeeper said. . Naruto obligingly handed over the ryo, happy to take the jacket in return. After stuffing Gama-chan back in his pocket, he made his way out of the shop.

The whole adventure had taken up a good portion of the afternoon, and now the village was lit up orange with the setting sun. He should probably start heading over to Ichiraku’s by now. By the time he arrived, Iruka-sensei had already started on his first bowl.

“Hey, couldn’t even wait for me!” he cried, jumping up onto a stool. Iruka-sensei stopped slurping up the noodles and gave him a bashful smile.

“Sorry, Naruto,” the chūnin apologized. “I got hungry.”

Naruto rolled his eyes good-naturedly at the response. “Yeah, yeah, that’s what they all say.”

Ignoring his jab, Iruka set his chopsticks and down and turned to show he was now focused solely on the genin. “So how did your mission go?” He asked, getting straight to the point.

“You were in the missions office,” Naruto frowned. “You already heard.”

Iruka rolled his eyes in a way that said “lord give me strength”. “I meant how do you feel it went?” he elaborated. “An A-rank when you’re only a genin isn’t something to scoff at. Surely it was pretty crazy.”

Naruto shrugged, pulling out a pair of chopsticks as Teuchi set his bowl on ramen down in front of him. “It was,” he started, trying to think of what to say. Hard? Well, not truthfully. He was a Kage level ninja, a meager A-rank was nothing. Scary? Not really. He’d already known what was going to happen, so facing off against a rogue ninja wasn’t exactly a nerve wracking ordeal. “Intense,” he finally settled on. “It was intense, y’know.”

Iruka-sensei made a sound of agreement. “And you drained your chakra reserves,” the chūnin noted. “That really takes a feat for you.”

“What can I say, I’m just that awesome,” he smiled in response, rubbing the back of his neck. The two lapsed into a comfortable silence after that, Naruto happily slurping up his ramen while Iruka-sensei did the same, except at a more sedate pace. It wasn’t until Naruto was slurping up the miso soup that Iruka-sensei spoke up again.

“You must be really excited about those chakra chains, huh?”

Naruto paused and set down his bowl, whipping at his mouth. “Huh? Oh yeah, it’s awesome, y’know! I got my own kekkei genkai. Now Sasuke’s not the only special one around here!”

Iruka-sensei laughed, eyes crinkling up in response. “Yeah, I guess that is true.”

“Yeah and I wanna learn about ‘em too, y’know. So I can use ‘em better,” Naruto continued excitedly. “But Kakashi-sensei doesn’t really know much about ‘em, so I want to ask Old Man Hokage but I don’t think he knows much either.” If he’d even tell him anything. The man seemed dead set against revealing anything about Naruto’s parents, and since chakra chains were a staple of Kushina Uzumaki, the likelihood of him spilling anything about them was next to none. It really was a bummer, he thought.

“Well, I can’t help you there,” Iruka-sensei said. “But the library might have some stuff on them.”

“That’s what Sakura said,” Naruto agreed. “But we’re on forced leave for the next two days, so I might not get to see her.”

“Just ‘cause you’re on leave doesn’t mean you can’t see each other,” Iruka-sensei chuckled. “Unless you’re already that sick of being around one another for a month straight.”

“Nah, I don’t think that’ll ever be the case,” he assured his old sensei. “Actually, we have a team meeting after dinner, so I gotta finish up fast,” he added. Iruka-sensei just smiled warmly in response.

“Then you better eat fast, ‘cause you still have another bowl to go through.”

Naruto merely laughed before digging in.

 

---

 

Just as they’d agreed, the genin of team 7 met at the memorial stone after sunset. Kakashi-sensei was long gone by now, as they knew he would have come straight here after their debriefing earlier. Silently, they sat in their little semi-circle facing each other before starting off the meeting.

But instead of starting, they just sat in frigid silence. It was quite uncomfortable.

It seemed that Sakura was the one who was willing to step up, because she took a breath and looked over to the Uchiha, ready to say what had been on all of their minds for the past week and a half.

“Sasuke,” Sakura started off, giving the Uchiha a steady look. “You almost killed Haku.” The boy in question just returned her stare with his own, cold one. Undeterred by the action, Sakura continued. “Why?”

“Because,” he said in a low tone. “He died in the original timeline. Keeping things the same is the smartest course of action, because then we can more accurately predict what’s to come.”

Naruto felt his fists clench where he rested them over his thighs. He hated to admit it, but his argument was sound. Sound, but frustrating.

“Yeah, but what happens when we go up against Orochimaru, or Itachi? What then?”

“We’re not going to go up against Itachi,” he ground out, glaring at the blonde. “I’m going to save him.”

“Even so,” Sakura pressed, cutting in. “What happens when you change that? What is the Akatsuki going to do?” Sasuke remained stubbornly quite. “You’re argument makes sense, but only to a point,” she continued. “We already agreed we wouldn’t let Orochimaru give you the cursed seal. That alone changes things a lot. And you said yourself on the battlefield that you would become Hokage,” she added, much to Naruto’s chagrin. “Well, being Hokage means you protect people, not kill them.”

“I’ll become Hokage to reform this village,” he spat back. “It’s corrupt and broken. It’s the reason my family is dead.”

“No, Danzo’s the reason you’re family’s dead,” Naruto cut in harshly. “Him and his twisted mindset of how a village should be run. He’s who you should be blaming, not Konoha.”

“So let me kill him already,” Sasuke shot back. “Ever since we got back I knew I had to do it. But we’ve been running around playing ninja instead. He deserves to die and you know it. So when do I get to kill him?”

“ We will kill him,” Sakura interjected, voice and expression sympathetic instead of hard. “I know you’re angry, Sasuke,” she continued, trying to cool the situation down. “And you have every right to be. But please think about this logically: Danzo is surrounded by Root members nearly 24/7. And if he wasn’t, we wouldn’t know about it because we’re only genin, and he’s a council member. Getting him alone and killing him would be one of the hardest S-rank missions we’ve ever gone on, unofficial or not. Do you understand?”

Naruto watched in silence as Sasuke took in her words. He seemed to be contemplating what she’d said, weighing the pros and cons of her facts. Finally, he appeared to have come to a verdict and looked up to meet her green eyes with his own black ones.

“Fine,” he said, letting Naruto sigh in relief. “But I’m still going to kill him eventually.”

“ We’re going to kill him,” Sakura corrected. “You’re not in this alone.”

“Yeah, y’know,” Naruto added loudly. “And we’re gonna save Itachi, too, obviously.”

A small smile, almost impossible to see, appeared on Sasuke’s face at his friends proclamation. If it wasn’t so dark, Naruto might have even seen the Uchiha’s face turning a faint pink. For a moment, the old Sasuke was back. The one that would have risked his life for his teammates because he believed it was the right thing to do, not the means to an end. The one who’d somehow managed to find a family in team 7. Just for a moment, that Sasuke was sitting with them on the training grounds by the memorial stone.

“Thanks,” he managed to say, and meant it.

And who knew, they might be seeing that Sasuke a lot more soon enough.

Notes:

^ Naruto's new jacket. It's basically just a re-color of Obito's, which is the point. Also, there were SO MANY versions of this thing, oh my god. Like six versions. But I settled on this one, so here ya go!

Edit: 5000 ryo (assuming it works the same as yen) is about $40 usd. So it’s a reasonably priced jacket he bought.

Chapter 16: Books Upon Books Upon Books

Notes:

Beta'd as of 5/10/19

It was seven in the morning when Naruto awoke to a pounding on his door. The banging was loud and insistent, as if the person on the other side had urgent business to attend to. Although what business anyone needed him for at seven was a mystery to him. Groggily, he rolled over to glare at the door. It was his day off, and anyone who would bother waking him up this early knew that!

The pounding continued.

“Argh, fine,” he growled, pushing the blankets off. Stomping to the door, he swung it open to reveal Sakura with her fist raised, ready to knock again. Upon seeing him, her face lit up.

“Good, you’re awake. Let’s go!” The pinkette was bubbly with excitement and practically bouncing on her toes. What had her in such a good mood?

“Go where?” He moaned, rubbing at his eyes. “I’m not even dressed, Sakura.”

“The library, of course,” she stated bemusedly . “I told you if Lord Hokage wouldn’t talk, we’d find out more about those chains by ourselves.”

Naruto blinked, surprised by the conviction in her voice. “Yeah but,” he started uncertainty. “it’s our day off,” he pointed out. “I would’a thought you wouldn’t want to see me until at least tomorrow.”

Sakura seemed to think about his statement before replying. “Maybe.” She admitted absently. “But this is so much more interesting. Like a mystery!”

Naruto sweatdropped. “You’re way more excited about this than me.”

Scoffing, Sakura rolled her eyes and pushed the boy back into his apartment, following after to close the door. “Just get dressed.” she sighed. “We have a long day of going through books and scrolls.” she continued as Naruto trugged back into his room. “Ah, so exciting! A whole day of research!”

“Only you.” he grumbled from his room. Shrugging his shirt on, he prepared himself for a long day ahead of him. Because knowing Sakura, that’s exactly what was going to happen.

---

Stacks of books and scrolls were piled high on almost every table in the back corner of the Shinobi library. Sakura had really outdone herself. She’d pulled out everything remotely related to Uzushio and the Uzumaki Clan, which somehow expanded to books such as Genealogical History of the Feuding Clans as well as a map of the destroyed city itself. Neither was going to be of much use to them, but Sakura insisted on pulling them out anyways.

Even so, it was a lot of literature to go through, and Naruto wasn’t sure his brain could handle it.

A loud thump sounded as Sakura dropped another stack of books onto the table. Looking wearily up from his own book, he saw Sakura dusting her hands off as though she were getting rid of all the grime from the old texts.

“There,” she said. “that’s all of them.” Gulping, Naruto looked over to see just how many books she’d brought. It was a fair sized stack, about six books, on top of the already full table(s) they’d commandeered already for their research project.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to get through all these, Sakura.” he moaned.

“Not by yourselves, no.” a new voice cut in. Turning around, both Naruto and Sakura were surprised to find Sasuke standing a few feet away, hands in his pockets, looking thoroughly and utterly bored.

“Sasuke!” Sakura gasped, face turning just the barest hints of pink from a blush. “You actually came.”

Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly, even though they could tell there was the barest amount of discomfort hidden beneath. “Yeah well, the quicker we get through all these, the less I’ll have to here the loser whining.”

Naruto scoffed, taking offense before realizing that Sasuke was offering his time to help them on something that didn’t benefit himself, and quickly shut his mouth. He would be wise not to comment on the fact, as it would just make the Uchiha defensive.

“Great!” he said instead. “And with my shadow clones, we’ll get through this in time!” Sasuke just made his signature “hn” sound before sitting down with him anyways, Sakura following suit right after.

“All right guys,” she said brightly. “Let’s get to work.”

---

It was nearing lunchtime when Sakura spoke up again.

“Hey Naruto,” she whispered, careful that no one overheard. Naruto looked up to show he was listening.

“What was your mom’s name again? You said she was an Uzumaki.”

Right, Naruto had never really talked about her since they got back. He hadn’t even talked about her to team 7 at all really. They only knew that his dad was the Fourth, leaving everything about his other parent to the imagination except for the fact that she was an Uzumaki.

“Uh, yeah,” he whispered back. “Kushina Uzumaki. She had chakra chains too.”

Sakura hummed in disappointment, looking back down at the book she currently had splayed open before her. “Well, damn it.” she groaned. “This one is about Mito Uzumaki.”

Mito Uzumaki. That name rang a bell…

“Oh!” Naruto exclaimed, straightening up in his seat. “She was the first Hokage’s wife, y’know,” he told them. Then, in a quieter voice, “My mom told me she was also the first jinchuuriki of the Kyūbi. Pretty cool huh?”

“Has every jinchuuriki in this village been an Uzumaki?” Sasuke wondered aloud, still looking down at his own book.

Naruto shrugged. “Guess my clan’s just that awesome,” he smirked. Sasuke rolled his eyes and remained silent, not taking the bait. Naruto pouted in disappointment, always enjoying the chance to bicker with his teammate, but all in all wasn’t too upset about it. It was enough that the boy was here at all. Best not to push his luck.

“Hey, this is exciting!” Sakura exclaimed, looking back down at the book. “It says here she had the Hundred Hands of Healing seal, just like Lady Tsunade!”

“Well yeah,” Naruto said. “she was her grandmother.”

“Wait,” the girl said, straightening up to look at Naruto. “does that mean you’re related to Tsunade?”

Naruto had never really thought of it before, but he supposed she was right. “Probably;” he said thoughtfully. “but like, distantly, too, y’know. Lady Mito wasn’t my grandma or anything, but I guess we’re still technically related.”

Across from him, Sakura was gushing with excitement. “That’s so cool!” she squealed. “You’re related to a Sannin!”

Naruto smiled, Sakura’s infectious enthusiasm spreading to him.

“Still doesn’t help us any, though.” Sasuke pointed out, bringing the mood back down to somber.

“Sasuke’s right.” Sakura sighed dejectedly. “If we can’t manage to find anything on Kushina Uzumaki or Uzumaki kekkei genkai, we won’t find anything to help Naruto.”

Naruto slumped in his seat at the declaration. She was right, which is what made it all the worse. “And it’s not like we can just ask the Old Man.” he said, in reference to the Hokage. “He likes his secrets.”

“He didn’t seem all that willing to share yesterday, either.” Sasuke pointed out. “Our best bet is here in the library.” Naruto nodded, still disappointed. And the worst part was, this wasn’t even a guarantee. There might be nothing for him here. At least when Sasuke got his kekkei genkai the first time around he had someone to teach him. Naruto had no one. Suddenly the feeling of loneliness he’d been ignoring since they’d arrived came back in it’s full crushing force, squeezing his lungs and making it difficult to breathe.

They all went back to reading after that, Sakura with her book Famous Clansmen Throughout the Ages , Sasuke to his History of Hidden Villages , and Naruto to his own Kekkei Genkai Among Clans . Within minutes they were all completely absorbed in their readings.

---

“Man, that was a long day.” Naruto groaned as he stretched his back. The library was shutting down for the night and they had all been kicked out, but not before Sakura had checked out nearly every book they hadn’t gotten around to reading. She was making Naruto, Sasuke, and Naruto’s clones carry them. Naruto was actually loath to dispel them, considering they had gone through a book or two each themselves, and there were about five of them. If Naruto was exhausted from just one of him doing this, he wasn't excited to see what happened when he got five more of the same experience shoved into his brain. For some reason he had a feeling it would be worse than when he’d been training with Kakashi-sensei the first time around.

“It sucks we didn’t find anything on your kekkei genkai,” Sakura pouted as they reached her house. Shifting her own stack of books into another arm, she rummaged around for her house key to unlock the door. Turning back around, she added, “I’m sorry, Naruto.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” he said, waving her off. “We got loads of time to figure it out. Besides, it’s not like I’m gonna use the chains anytime soon. Don’t got a reason to.”

“That is true.” Sakura agreed. Sasuke hummed in agreement as well. “Well, I should get going. My parents really freaked out yesterday about that A-rank, they don’t want me out of the house long.”

“Well you failed that.” Sasuke snarked.

For a moment both of the others were shocked into silence. Had Sasuke just… made a joke? Staring at the Uchiha, Naruto figured that, yes, he had. Who was he and what had he done to Sasuke Uchiha?

“Why are you two staring at me?” the boy in question demanded. “It’s creepy.”

“Sorry,” Sakura breathed out. “it’s just, you know, you... were funny?” Naruto nodded heartily in agreement.

“Hn, whatever.” he tried, face turning just the barest hint of red. Was he blushing! “See you two tomorrow.” And with that, he handed his own stack of books off to one of Naruto’s clones and jumped off to the rooftops to head home. Both Sakura and Naruto watched him go, confusion etched on their faces.

“So, that happened.” Naruto finally offered.

“Yeah, it did.”

Chapter 17: Trial and Error

Notes:

So... yeah. A chapter. Unbeta'd as always cuz I don't give a fuck. Kudos and comments are always appreciated and I love every single one! Enjoy!

Kakashi was seeing ghosts everywhere.

The first ghost he’d seen had been in his sensei’s son. The boy was a perfect blend of his old sensei and Kushina. He looked just like the fourth Hokage, the blonde hair, the eyes, everything. But he was so much like Kushina too. He had her strong will, her short temper, her love for ramen, and basically everything else that made her an Uzumaki seemed to have passed down to him. He might look like his father, but he was 100% his mother on the inside. What made it all even worse, or better depending on your viewpoint, was that he’d also inherited his desire to become hokage from both his parents. Sure Minato-sensei had eventually become hokage, but that didn’t mean Kushina hadn’t wanted it just as badly. In fact, kakashi was sure the only reasons she hadn’t gotten the job was because she was both the Kyūbi jinchuuriki and too hot tempered for it. Being a leader took diplomacy, and that was something she had lacked.

After being dismissed by the hokage (or rather, dismissing himself), he’d gone to the memorial stone for the rest of the day. He hadn’t meant to spend that long in front of it, it had just happened. And before he knew it the sun was setting and his stomach was telling him it was time to eat. This tended to happen a lot after a bad mission. He’d find himself gravitating towards graves and memorials, wishing he could discuss them with his fallen comrades. Sometimes he did, but as always, they never spoke back.

As was to be expected from stone slabs.

Sometimes he saw things that reminded him of them the days he’d visit their graves. He liked to think to himself that it was them calling out beyond the grave just to say hello or something equally as corny. It could be something as simple as a lilly, which was Rin’s favorite flower, or a short sword like the one his father used to kill himself with. It didn’t matter what it was, in the end, they were wisps of a past he’d long since given up on moving on from.

It had been years, but Kakashi was seeing ghosts everywhere.

And now he was seeing Obito’s.

“Hey sensei,” Naruto chirped when the jōnin finally decided to show up at the training ground. It looked like the three had already started running drills, knowing he’d be late and deciding to take advantage of the time instead of just wasting it doing nothing. Looking at the boy though he was shocked when he finally saw what he was wearing.

It was Obito’s jacket.

Sure the colors were inverted, but it was the same design, same length, same everything. Kakashi was sure that if Naruto turned around he’d see the Uzumaki spiral on the back as opposed to the Uchiha fan, but it was inconsequential.

He blinked once. And again.

Of course he should have figured the boy would buy a new jacket, seeing as the other one was destroyed. But jeez, what were the chances?

“Uh, sensei, you okay?”

The voice shook him out of his reverie and he found himself looking down at Sakura giving him a careful, steady look.

“Hm? Oh, yes. Never better,” he lied, crinkling his eye into one of his iconic smiles. He hoped it didn’t look too forced.

“Okay…” She trailed off, unconvinced. Naruto and Sasuke shared a look between them that suggested they felt the same way. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the three of them. Since when were genin so good at reading emotions? Shrugging, he brushed off the thought of the stupid jacket and forced himself not to dwell on it.

“Anyways, I’d like to start off today by first congratulating all of you on completing your first A-rank mission. Not a small feat for any genin to manage, let alone those fresh out of the academy,” he said warmly. “So good job, you three.” His words were met with bright smiles and twinkling eyes. “But now that you’ve proven you can hold yourselves in a real battle, you’re training will be that much harder.”

The indigent squawks that followed were music to his ears.

 

---

 

Lunch break was spent at Ichiraku’s, at Naruto’s behest. All three of his genin ordered at least two bowls, making up for the massive amount of calories they had burned that morning. Kakashi had pushed them hard, even by his standards (but perhaps not by Gia’s), and he felt maybe they deserved a little something as a reward, which is why he was treating them to lunch.

All of them had already finished one bowl and were working on their second, or third in Naruto’s case. Even Sakura, who didn’t seem the least bit concerned with watching her figure, as the psych report had stated before he’d met them. In fact, the girl was nothing like the report claimed. She wasn’t shy or timid, uncertain of her abilities. Instead she was headstrong and confident, often times taking on a leader position amongst the group.

It was interesting.

“Hey sensei,” Naruto piped up from his left. Kakashi turned to give him his attention with his one good eye. “Do ya think we could maybe try out my chakra chains soon? You said I could once were back in the village, and we are, so…” the boy trailed off. His connotation was clear. He wanted to figure out how to use his dangerous and powerful kekkei genkai. But he still needed permission, which was cute.

By still, the fact remained that Kakashi was sorely unequipped to deal with something like this. Sharingan? No problem. Chakra chains? No chance.

But Naruto was right. He had promised him, sort of, that he could practice them once back in Konoha. It wouldn’t be right to deny him if that.

“After our drills, sure,” he said lightly, answering Naruto’s question. A blinding smile lit up his face before he dug back into his third(?) bowl of ramen. Kakashi suppressed the urge to roll his eye at the boys enthusiasm. That boy loved ramen more than his mother did, if that was even possible.

“Did you find anything in those books yesterday, Naruto?” Teuchi suddenly said from behind the counter. Raising an eyebrow, Kakashi looked from the ramen chef back to Naruto in confusion. Naruto, and books? In the same sentence?

“Naw, nothing yet,” Naruto answered, slightly downcast. “But we still got lots of them to go through. I’m sure one of them has something useful.”

“What is this about books?” Kakashi finally asked.

It was Sakura who answered though. “Oh, yesterday we all went to the library to help Naruto find anything about his kekkei genkai and clan. We didn’t really find much that was helpful, though.”

“That’s right,” Ayame said, cutting in. “They came here for lunch with their hands full of books and scrolls. I don’t think I’ve ever seen little Naruto so silent for so long,” she gushed.

“Hey!” Naruto exclaimed. “I’m not little!”

“You are to me,” she smiled sweetly.

“I’m only five years younger than you,” he argued, as if it wasn’t practically half his lifespan. Ayame shrugged casually, dismissing it.

Meanwhile, while they bickered back and forth, Kakashi was staring at his student. He remembered reading his file and learning that he was horrible in class and at studying. Now here he was reading books in his free time? Of course he remembered his students promising that they would find something on the Uzumaki clan if no one else would tell them, but it still surprised him. It seemed everyone here was determined to prove him wrong on his assumptions. What was next? Sasuke wanted to settle down and have a family? At this point he wouldn’t be surprised.

“Maa, Naruto,” he said. “If you keep talking you won’t be able to finish your ramen,” he reminded him. Naruto perked up at his words.

“You’re right!” He cried, before digging in again. Kakashi eye-smiled at his enthusiasm. On his right, Sakura rolled her eyes while Sasuke huffed. All in all, normal team 7 behavior. Maybe he had nothing to worry about after all.

 

---

 

Training ground seven was full of loose soil and kunai by the time they were finished with Kakashi-sensei’s drills. True to his word, he had pushed them harder than ever before, which meant more intense training and not as many breaks. It had been three hours since lunch, and all them were exhausted. They’d been sparring for the past hour, and before that running evasion drills like they had been before the Wave mission. It was also target practice because it was the genin who were attacking the poor trainee instead of Kakashi-sensei like it normally would have been.

All of them came away with a few scratches, even if it was just from hitting the ground too hard. Sakura came away the most clean out of all of them thanks to her training as a field medic, since field medics had to be great at evasion so as to stay alive to help their teammates. She probably would have gotten off totally free of any scrapes, but they still had covers to maintain, and being perfect at evasion would have raised a few eyebrows.

“Alright, break time,” their sadistic sensei finally announced cheerily from the side. All three flopped heavily onto the ground, young bodies not used to the exersion they were putting them through.

“Hey sensei,” Naruto breathed from where he lay on the ground. “You said after drills I could work on my chakra chains. Can we do that now?”

Kakashi-sensei seemed to consider this for a moment before answering. “Not when you’re gasping for breath, no,” was his level response. “Give it a few minutes.”

Sakura could have sworn she heard the word “dick” escape Naruto’s mouth, but it was so quiet she couldn’t be sure.

Sure enough, once all their breaths had evened out, Kakashi-sensei grudgingly let him up to practice while Sasuke and Sakura stayed on the sidelines and ran through basic, non-demanding drills.

“Alright, whenever you’re ready,” their sensei called out.

Naruto got ready and into horse stance* before Sakura shouted out, “Wait! You’re jacket!”

Right, his shirt and jacket which he didn’t want destroyed like his old ones had been.

“Right!” He called back. Unbuttoning his jacket, he tossed it to the side before slipping his shirt off and doing the same. Now he was standing bare chested in the clearing all by himself, his team all standing off the side warily watching him.

Well, here’s go nothing.

With a deep look of concentration, Naruto focused his chakra and tried to recall the feeling of accessing his kekkei genkai. He remembered it hurting, and the feeling of numbness sweeping through his body as well. But as much as he tried to recreate it, nothing happened. After a while he gave up on that and went for a different tactic, just building up chakra and releasing it at different intervals in hopes that would spark something. No such luck.

How had he done this the first time?

“Aren’t you gonna start?” Sasuke asked, voice breaking the intense silence.

“I am ,” Naruto growled, eyes squeezed shut in concentration.

“Well you’ve been trying for thirty minutes now,” his friend stated duly. “It just looks like you need to take a shit.”

“ Sasuke ,” Kakashi-sensei’s warning tone sounded next to him. The boy merely shrugged in response.

Finally Naruto gave up and released his pose, standing up straight and glaring at the ground. His teammates seemed to sense his frustration, and he felt Sakura looking at him with some form of pity while Sasuke’s eyes were fixed on him like he was a puzzle he was trying to solve. Neither were well received.

“Well,” Kakashi-sensei spoke up. “That was anticlimactic.” The tone was one of his usual lazy ones, but the words stung nonetheless, even if they weren’t meant to. Naruto turned to glare at his sensei.

“It’s not exactly like there’s a guild book telling me how to do it,” he spat out, both embarrassed by his shortcomings as well as frustrated.

“No,” his sensei sighed sympathetically. “There isn’t.”

Naruto’s shoulders slumped, and he resigned himself to putting his shirt and jacket back on. He didn’t think he would be getting this down today. Kakashi-sensei seemed to realize this because he turned to Sasuke and Sakura and dismissed them for the day as well. The two genin nodded and packed up their stuff, heading off back to their homes waving their farewells to their teammate. But instead of following the two out like he expected, Naruto noticed Kakashi-sensei had stayed behind.

Before Naruto could ask any questions, the jonin spoke up.

“You don’t know how to access it,” he stated. Naruto only nodded stiffly in response. He was met with a cool, leveling look by his sensei before the man broke the silence again.

“Walk with me,” was all he said, before turning around and heading away. Naruto could only scrunch his brow in confusion before following. Whatever his eccentric sensei had to say, he didn’t doubt it’d be interesting.

 

---

 

They stopped in front of a headstone in Konoha’s graveyard. It was a headstone that looked just like all the other headstones. A name carved into pale granet set into the ground. Nothing assuming about it. Except for the name.

“This grave belongs to the last Uzumaki to use chakra chains in this village,” Kakashi-sensei told him, staring down at the headstone marked Kushina Uzumaki .

Naruto had known that, what he hadn’t known was where her grave actually lay. Now he did.

“She died the night of the Kyūbi attack. In fact, it was with her help that the Fourth even managed to seal the beast and save the village,” he continued, oblivious to Naruto’s internal storm of emotions.

I know that , he thought to himself. I know every single bit of it. But why are you telling me this now?

“Her gift made her a strong shinobi. One of the best in our village. But she used it to defend and protect her precious people. Just like you did back on the bridge.” He paused, still looking down at the grave. “I can’t tell you how to access a kekkei genkai. I can tell you of my own experiences with the sharingan, but I feel the two are far too different for it to count towards much.” Naruto nodded next to him. “But I have a feeling, that however you did it then, that was how she did it. It’s not a conscience thought, but a feeling. A feeling to protect. Or attack. Whichever is your aim.”

Naruto blinked, surprised by the tears that had been gathering in his eyes as he stared down at his mother's grave.

“I can’t tell you how to use your gift. And neither can she. But I’m sure if you give yourself enough time instead of getting mad, you’ll figure it out.”

And with that, he gave one last parting glance to the headstone and turned around, patting his pupil on the shoulder before heading for the exit. Naruto didn’t know what to make of his sensei’s words, but he felt they were important. They weren’t exactly inspiring, per say, but they were… something.

“Thanks, sensei,” he mumbled, knowing full well he was long out of earshot. Then, even quieter, he added, “Hey mom.”

Notes:

*horse stance is the basic stance used in most martial arts, used to ground ones self and make them harder to push over. You spread your legs out and do a semi squat. Think earth bending from Avatar and you get the picture.

Chapter 18: Tails of a Bijuu

Notes:

Heeeeeey, we reached 1000 kudos! Wow, I was not expecting that. Thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments and have followed this story. I know you hear it every fic, but seriously, without your support, this shit just would not exist, so thank you so much! Un-beta'd, as always. Enjoy!
Also, the title is kind of a pun. You'll see ;)

*yakisoba is a delicious, easy to make stir fry dish consisting of buckwheat noodles, chicken (or whatever meat you decide to use), and various vegetables. A very easy, delicious lunch meal!

The chunin exams were coming up. That was a fact. They were just over a month away, starting at the beginning of July and ending mid August, and it was the end of May now. May 26th to be exact. Two weeks since the disastrous attempt at summoning his kekkei genkai. Two weeks since he’d discovered where his mom's grave lay, and two weeks of nonstop reading in the vain hope of finding something about his clan that could help him understand his gift and heratege better.

And so far, nothing.

It was starting to get very annoying.

“Ugh, this is useless,” he moaned, dropping his head onto the table. Across from him, Sakura made a face of disdain at his antics.

“Naruto,” she sighed. “We haven’t even gone through all the books yet.”

“Yeah, but we almost have,” he noted, glaring at the swindling pile. They’d gone through two thirds of the books in the past two weeks, slowed down thanks to their sensei’s rigorous training. But still, it was enough to lose hope of ever finding anything of value.

It was one of their rare days off that they were sat around doing all this reading. Kakashi-sensei only allowed them one rest day for every six, so as to recuperate and take care of any other business they might need, like shopping and laundry. Or in their case, studying. And right now they were all cooped up in Sasuke’s apartment, huddled around his kitchen table with all the remaining books spread around them. Leftover dishes from lunch were also scattered around the table, chopsticks resting haphazardly in bowls of unfinished yakisoba*. Overall, it was quiet a messy scene, and one they were quickly growing familiar with.

“Well you can’t give up hope yet,” Sakura said assuredly, focusing back on her book. “You never have before.”

That was true, Naruto admitted grudgingly. But then again, that usually only applies to jutsu someone could actually tell him about. Like the rasengan or shadow clones. Not something that might as well be extinct. Except for that girl Karin, as Sasuke had informed them earlier. But she hadn’t discovered it yet either, so it didn’t really count.

“Hey Sasuke,” Naruto asked, a sudden thought having come to him.

“Hn?” The Uchiha asked, still absorbed in his own readings. Naruto took that as confirmation for him to go on.

“How do you access your sharingan? Is there like a trick to it?” His reason for asking being that maybe kekkei genkai are alike in their usage, and that knowing how Sasuke used his would Naruto know how his own worked.

“It’s not a ‘trick’,” the boy sighed. “It’s more like… like flexing your finger. Something you can just do.”

“Yeah but,” Naruto tried. “I don’t know how to flex my finger in this scenario, y’know.” Then, “How’d you do it the first time?”

Sasuke shrugged, setting his book down. “Same as yours. It just happened. Then after that, I just knew how it worked, so it was easy. But I was raised around, taught how it worked before I even developed it. It’s different for you. You’ve never really experienced it before.”

Sighing, Naruto folded his arms on the table and dejectedly rested his chin on them. “I s’pose you’re right,” he mumbled. Next to him, Sakura was looking at him with pitying green eyes, a slight frown painting her lips.

“Are you sure there’s no one you can ask? Not even the Kyūbi?”

Naruto perked up at that, confusion flitting across his face.

“You mean Kurama?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Sakura nodded. “You said he lived in your mother practically her whole life. Surely he at least knew about her kekkei genkai, if not experienced it.”

Naruto blinked, taken aback. How could he be so stupid? Of course Kurama would know about them! He’d seen them used on the fox before, and remembered how his mom had told him about how she’d kept him at bay while his mother sealed him away again with the same chains.

“I take it by your dopey expression that that would be a ‘yes’,” Sasuke drawled across him from him.

Naruto pouted in response, but didn’t argue.

“Just talk to him,” Sakura suggested. “It can’t hurt to ask.”

Well, technically it could, but he wasn’t going to correct her on that.

“Okay, fine,” he mumbled, already drawing himself up into a meditative position. “Hopefully he’s in a good mood.”

 

---

 

The sewer of his mind was just as wet and stinky as it always was when he appeared. He was standing ankle deep in the stuff, feet squelching uncomfortably in his sandals. Even though he knew it wasn’t real, it still felt the real thing. And the real thing was disgusting.

“It’s about damn time,” Kurama grumbled from behind the bars. The gate loomed in front of Naruto, just like it always had. Golden bars stretching up into the darkness, the lock still firmly in place. The fox’s ears were flattened back in an either bored or tired gesture, eyes red slits in the dark. He didn’t appear entirely happy with his predicament. Not surprising though, seeing as he had just been allowed out and about before being slingshot back in time into his old cage. It also meant Naruto couldn’t use Kyubi mode either, so it really sucked for both of them.

Probably more for Kurama though.

“Sorry Kurama,” he said sincerely. “Things have been crazy.”

“I know,” the fox growled out. Then, looking down at him knowingly, said, “It’s not everyday you unlock a kekkei genkei.”

Naruto gaped, jaw dropping open. “You knew!” He shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the tailed beast.

Kurama merely scoffed in response. “Of course I knew, brat. I live inside you. I see everything you do.” Then, in a lower voice, “Although I could have gone without the reminder.”

The reminder of being bound by the same chains, no doubt.

“Well, actually, that’s why I’m here,” Naruto chirped, brightening up instantly. “I was wondering if you knew anything about it. Y’know, to help me get a hang of it. Cuz there aren’t any other Uzumaki around and you were in my mom so you must have experience with it right?” Kurama’s ears flattened even further during his excited rambling, showing just how much the fox was dreading such a task.

“Why don’t you ask that annoying sensei of yours?” He sighed defeatedly. “And leave me out of it.”

“You already know why,” Naruto accused, calling him out on his bullshit. If Kurama did indeed see everything he did, then he knew damn well why that wouldn’t work.

The fox sighed regardless. “At least I tried…”

Rolling his eyes, Naruto strut up to the bars of the cage and slipped through them, clamber onto the foxes arm so as to be more level with his eyes. “C’mon Kurama,” he tried, looking up at him earnestly. “You know how boring all this reading is. If you tell me about those chains, it’ll be over.” Because threatening a creature of mischief and trickery with even more dull reading was exactly how one should coerce information from it.

Luckily for him, it seemed to do the trick, and Kurama’s eye slid over to meet his and the demon let out a great huff of resignation. Beaming in success, Naruto jumped back and stood at attention, ready to listen.

“First of all,” Kurama started, voice drawn as if reluctant. Which he most definitely was. “Kekkei genkai aren’t like normal jutsu. There’s no hand sign or method for it. It’s a feeling.”

Frowning in confusion, Naruto cocked his head to the side. “Like, how do you mean?”

The fox sighed in exasperation, drawing a tired hand down his muzzle. “I mean it’s not something you consciously focus on or do. Like that Uchiha brat said, it’s like lifting a finger. You just do .”

“Yeah but I don’t even know how to do that!” He shot back in frustration.

“Alright then, how’d you do it the first time?” Kurama asked rhetorically.

Growling angrily at the fox’s unhelpfulness, he cried, “I don’t know, I just did -”

Naruto stopped in his tracks. Wait…

“Wait,” he said.

The sight of Kurama grinning smugly down at him wasn’t entirely a welcome one. “Like I said, brat,” the fox smirked. “You just do .”

Just do. Don’t think. That was the secret?

“Now,” the fox continued, shifting himself into a different position. “Leave me alone so I can sleep. God knows I need it after you’re incessant yammering.”

“What? Hey, I thought we were friend!” Naruto shot back, backtracking out of the cage. An annoyed swish of one of Kurama’s tails was the only response he got before he was shot back into the real world.

 

---

 

When he blinked open his eyes, it was to the sight of Sakura’s curious green ones, and Sasuke’s empty black ones.

“Well?” Sakura immediately asked, leaning forward over the table. “Did he help at all?”

“Kinda,” he admitted. “I mean, we’ll see tomorrow, I guess.” Tomorrow when they were back to training with their insane sensei.

Shortly after, the two non Uchiha packed up their stuff and prepared to leave, waving their teammate off at the door. Once they reached the road, Naruto started off in the opposite direction of Sakura.

“Naruto, where are you going?” She asked with a frown, noticing him walking away from her. “Your house is that way,” she said, pointing down the road she had already started to head down herself.

“I know,” Naruto replied. “I just have to do something first.”

Sakura frowned, but didn’t press further, to which he was grateful. Instead, she nodded and waved him off with a smile.

“See you tomorrow then,” she smiled, heading down the road.

“See ya!” He waved back, waiting until she was out of sight before heading off to his own destination. He just hoped he’d have enough money for it.

 

---

 

Naruto couldn’t say he’d ever been inside Yamanaka’s flower shop before. At least not for any business reason. So he had no idea what to expect when he walked into the small shop with Gama-chan tucked away in his pocket, ready to be used.

He was greeted immediately by a familiar voice.

“Naruto, what are you doing here?” Ino sneered, looking up from her magazine. Well, it wasn’t exactly a sneer, but it wasn’t entirely polite either.

“Good afternoon to you, too,” he muttered, shoulders slumping in resignation. Ino, noticing how bitchy she’d been, blinked and straightened up, assuming a more professional manner.

“Sorry,” she said. “It’s just, you’ve never been in here before, and I can’t help think you’re gonna use my flowers for some prank,” she explained. Then, narrowing her eyes, added. “You not pulling a prank, are you?”

Naruto blinked, taken aback. “What, no,” he frowned. He hadn’t pulled a prank in years. Well, years for him. Months to everyone else. But still, Ino hadn’t seen him since team assignment day, so she didn’t know how much he’d changed. “No,” he continued. “I’m here for some, uh…” he pulled out the note in his pocket he’d jotted down at the library. “Carnations,” he read off.

Immediately Ino’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Carnations? Those are used for gravestones,” she noted.

Naruto just nodded. “I know.”

He’d wanted to bring flowers to his mom's grave for awhile now, but hadn’t known what kind to get. Finally he had found a book on it at the library when he’d gone to return some of the ones he’d checked out and had jotted it down for this exact reason.

Immediately Ino’s face softened in sympathy, and the suspicion she’d been holding onto drained away. “Oh,” she said, voice softer than before. “Alright, well, which color would you like?” She made her way around to counter to get the flowers he’d asked for.

“Um,what do you suggest?” He asked, completely at a loss. Ino just smiled softly and showed him his choices.

“Each flower has its meaning,” she told him, bending down to point out the carnations. “Pink stands for remembrance, so if you wanted to express how much you missed them, or were thinking about them, you’d chose that. If you wanted to express love and passion, you would choose red.” She gestured to the flower. “And white is for love and innocence.”

Naruto nodded along with what she said, eyes focused on the flowers.

“I think I’ll go with pink, y’know.”

Ino nodded, going to clip a small bouquet. “May I ask the occasion? It’s alright if you don’t want to say.”

Naruto just shrugged in reply, unsure what so say. “It’s kinda complicated,” he admitted awkwardly. “I guess, one of my hero’s deserves to be remembered, y’know?” Because there were a lot of forgotten heroes in Konoha’s history. It wouldn’t be a far stretch of the imagination for Naruto to want to celebrate one of them. Maybe.

Ino nodded in understanding. “I’ll just go and ring you up then,” she said, heading back to the counter to wrap the bouquet up. “I hope whoever you’re going to see appreciated these.”

Naruto smiled. “She will.”

 

---

 

The graveyard was empty when Naruto entered, grounds bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. It cast a serene atmosphere across it, washing away the sadness of death that would usually go with a scene like this. Perfect for what he was planning.

“Hey mom,” he said, plopping down in front of the grave. Since he’d discovered where she was buried, he’d meant to come back and visit, but had been too busy to do so. He’d never paid his proper respects to his parents since finding out who they were, so now he decided he would.

He’d stopped by Ichiraku’s on his way over, grabbing two to-go cups of his favorite ramen. One for him, one for her. He knew it was kind of a waste of perfectly good ramen, but it was the thought that counted. Setting one of the to-go cups on top of the headstone, he placed the chopsticks on the lid and followed it quickly by setting the flowers down next to it.

“I didn’t know if you liked ramen,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “But I thought you might, cuz I do. And I know we’re a lot alike, so…” He trailed off, unsure how to continue.

It was the first time he’d ever visited his mom's grave on his own before. Thanks to Kakashi-sensei’s crazy schedule, he hadn’t had the time or energy to devote to stopping by. That wasn’t saying he hadn’t meant to for the past two weeks, he completely had. But most days he came home too tired to even make dinner, let alone trek all the way out to Konoha’s graveyard. But finally today he had found time. And amazingly he had money to spare still leftover from the Wave mission. He’d spent most of it on groceries and rent already, but he’d made sure to put some aside for this occasion. He was glad he had.

“Anyway,” he started again, fidgeting with his own chopsticks. “I haven’t spoken to you in a while, which I think makes me a bad son… I don’t really know. But I have a lot to tell you!” He started digging into his ramen while he spoke, waving his chopsticks around animatedly as he recalled his adventure to Wave and everything he’s learned so far. Talking about anything and everything that came to his mind, just because he felt he should share it with her.

“So anyways,” he continued excitedly. “I haven’t told you this yet, but I got your kekkei genkai! How cool is that, y’know? I know you and some other Uzumaki had it, but I never figured I’d get it. Although I still don’t know how to use it. Kurama gave me some good tips, but I haven’t tried them yet. Maybe tomorrow,” he mused thoughtfully. “I’d tell Dad, too, but he’s kinda buried with the other Hokage, and it’d be weird if someone saw me talkin’ to him about all this stuff, y’know? Cuz no one knows he’s my dad or anything. I mean, I can still talk to you, cuz we’re both Uzumaki, so it’s not weird. But Dad’s… he’s the Fourth, y’know. And I’m just…” He sighed. “I’m just Naruto.”

“That’s not true.”

The sudden voice shocked Naruto as he hadn’t heard anyone approach, and he whirled around to confront his stalker. He was ready to deny anything they’d just heard, say he was just joking, or pulling a prank. Anything to deny that what he’d said technically broke an S-class secret.

But when he saw who it was, he realized he didn’t have to.

“Sasuke?”

And indeed, it was the Uchiha himself who was standing there, hands shoved in his pockets, scowl permanently cemented on his face in a show of perpetual disdain. How did he know he was here? How long had he been standing there? Had he followed him all the way from his house?

“You’re not,” he said flatly. Naruto frowned, blinking.

“Not what?”

Sighing despairingly, Sasuke asked, “You’re really gonna make me say it?” When Naruto only continued to give him a puzzled look, Sasuke rolled his eyes and squatted down to his height, hands now folded across his knees. “You’re not just Naruto,” he ground out, eyes looking anywhere but at his teammate. “You’re a good ninja. See, there. I admitted it. And…” He ground his teeth in frustration, eyes closed in a moment of acceptance before he spoke again. “And you’re a good friend.”

Naruto could only blink in shock as the admision sunk in. Sasuke… recognized him? Not as a person, but as a friend. As a good shinobi. That was all he’d ever wanted from him. He didn’t even know how to respond, instead just staring at him with his mouth hanging open.

“Close your mouth, you moron,” Sasuke finally snapped, uncomfortable with the amount of emotions being exhibited. “You look like a damn fish.”

“Sorry,” he said, immediately snapping it shut. Sasuke merely rolled his eyes and shifted into a sitting position. He resumed his usual silence, focusing intently on the grass at his feet. It didn’t look like he was about to say anything anytime soon.

“Thanks,” Naruto finally breathed, just the barest smile crossing his face. “Mean’s a lot.”

“Hn.”

They continued to sit in silence for a good few minutes longer before Naruto broke it. “Hey, uh, how’d you know I was here?”

Sasuke shrugged. “I saw you going the other way when you left my house,” he admitted casually. “Wondered what was up.”

“Were you standing behind me that whole time?” He asked, cringing at the thought. Thankfully, the boy scoffed in response.

“No, only for the last part,” he replied. Then, “Is that ramen still hot?” He asked, eyeing Kushina’s cup. Naruto shrugged.

“You can have it,” he shrugged. “I was planning to finish it off for her,” he admitted, gesturing to his mom's grave. “But yeah, go ahead.”

Sasuke nodded, taking the cup and chopsticks in hand.

“It’s cold,” he stated.

“You can breathe fire, Sasuke,” Naruto deadpanned. “I’m sure you can figure something out.”

Notes:

Surprise appearance of Sasuke! Some bro time, too. Hope you liked it, please leave a comment or kudo if you did, I really appreciate them. Until next time!

Chapter 19: Bragging Rights

Notes:

TW for graphic depiction of a period after the line break in this chapter. Also, this chapter is /as always/ un-beta'd, so if you see a mistake, it just be like that, and I'll get around to fixing it eventually when I actually read this thing through completely. Anyways, I would like to thank everyone who has left kudos and comments on this fic so far. And WOW, guys, 24 comments last chapter! That's a record for this fic.
Hope you enjoy!

Kakashi really should have realized something was up with his genin team when they claimed to know how to tree walk and water walk without him having to teach them. It probably wasn’t the standard for most twelve year olds, but he wouldn’t know those things, as he made chunin as age six. He also should have been more suspicious when they seemed to all have some mastery over their elemental affinity. But, again, he had no reference for how normal genin progressed because of his odd upbringing.

So it was quite a shock to him when he agreed to sit down for dango and tea with his other jōnin instructors and heard them talking about their own students progress.

First of all, he hadn’t expected to take up the offer Kurenai and Asuma offered him, as he never had before. But for some reason he did. Perhaps it was because of his students affect on him. Ever since taking them on, he’d gone out more and read less. Well, that wasn’t to say he actually read less, he just didn’t do it in public as much. And he’d only been going out because they dragged him along to places like Ichiraku’s for lunch. He always seemed to end up paying though, so he wasn’t too thrilled about that.

But he digressed. The point was, he had taken his friends up on the offer and was now sitting down in Anko’s favorite dango shop “enjoying” some sweets and tea. He’d never really been a fan of sweets though, so he was letting Asuma eat his while he stuck with tea.

“So Kakashi,” Kurenai started, setting her cup down. “How has teaching been? This is the first time you’ve ever taken on a team before.”

He offered a shrug in response, not really sure what to say. “You know,” he offered half-heartedly. “They’re genin.”

Kurenai chuckled softly, taking a bite of her dango. “That is true,” she managed to say around a mouthful of sweets. For reason this made Asuma laugh. Glancing over at him, Kakashi saw the same sappy look in his eyes that Obito always had when looking at Rin. Oh God. He had it bad for Kurenai. Great, even more drama for him to be involved in. Just what he needed.

“So what have you been up to?” Asuma asked, lighting a cigarette he had clamped between his teeth. “I heard you’ve been pushing them rather hard with those D-ranks.”

“That was last month,” he said. “Ever since we got back from Wave it’s been nothing but training.”

“Oh yeah, I heard about that,” Kurenai said. “C-rank turned A-rank. I’m sure that must have been scary for them.”

Kakashi shrugged. “Honestly, they handled it just fine.” A little too fine , he thought to himself. Then, aloud, added “But still, I want them to be prepared if something like that ever happens again.” He didn’t need to see his students covered in senbon ever again, or keeling over from chakra exhaustion. He’d already lost enough teammates, thank you.

“Right,” Asuma said. “Just don’t push them too hard. They are still kids after all.” Kakashi rolled his eyes at the reminder. Kids, his ass. They were demons. Demons who wanted nothing more than to make his life a living hell.

“Don’t worry, I only train them six days out of seven. They still have a day to rest.”

Apparently, this was not the right thing to say.

“Are you crazy?” Kurenai exclaimed, slamming her tea on the table. Both Kakashi and Asuma jumped back in surprise, eyeing the kunoichi wearily. “Six days! That’s way too much! They need a day off at least every three days. Four if you stretch it. You’re going to burn them out on six!”

Kakashi blinked, taken aback by her sudden outburst. “Um…”

Even Asuma looked a little scared. But the traitor still sided with her, turning to give Kakashi an exasperated look.

“I agree with Kurenai on this…” he said with a sigh. “I’m all for pushing your students, but that is a little much.”

Kakashi tried to shrug it off, not sure what to say. “They never complain,” he offered weakly.

“Because you’re their sensei,” Kurenai pointed out dryly. “It would be rude of them to do so.”

Because they’re the peak of politeness and good behavior , he thought sarcastically. Maybe she was coming on to him like this because she didn’t know how evil they were. Yes, that must be it. After all, she had a quite, reserved Aburame, and a shy Hyuga. The only thing she had to worry about was that Inuzuka who had a mouth loud enough to rival Naruto’s. His students were waking nightmares. She had no idea what he was dealing with.

“Maa, alright,” he sighed, raising his hands in a show of surender. He knew he couldn’t explain himself to her. She was too stubborn.

“Anyways,” Asuma started carefully, eager to change the subject. “How far has your team gotten, Kurenai? I think you mentioned something about genjutsu last time.”

Shifting her red eyes from Kakashi, Kurenai’s face softened and she replied to the jōnin. “Yes I did. And my team has been making great progress in it. Although I’ve been running team drills with them for the past week. It was already good, but it can always be improved.”

“I just started my team on water walking,” Asuma offered, taking a drag of his cigarette. “They already mastered tree walking the other week. I’m sure they’ll get this one down in no time.”

Next to him, Kakashi choked on his drink. Both Kurenai and Asuma looked at him strangely. He coughed for a bit before speaking.

“What do you mean the other week ,” he finally managed, staring at Asuma. The other jonin just gave him a confused look, brow pulled tight together.

“Yeah, I hadn’t gotten around to it until recently. Too busy working on their taijutsu and missions,” he frowned, assuming Kakashi was judging his teaching skills.

“No that’s- that’s what what I’m saying,” the ex-anbu managed, still slightly shocked. “I mean, I thought they already knew that stuff.”

Across the table, Kurenai scoffed. “They’re taught basic chakra control in the academy, but that’s it. Everything else is left up to us.” Then, “You wouldn’t have known that, of course,” she added in a softer voice. “Graduating as early as you did.”

Kakashi shifted uncomfortably where he sat, eager to move the conversation along. This was why he didn’t socialize much.

“Wait,” Asuma cut in. “Do your students already know that stuff?”

Kakashi nodded. “And water walking. Claimed they already knew how to do it a few weeks into teaching them.”

Kurenai gawked before pulling herself together, lips then turning down into a frown. “That’s odd,” she said. “I wonder how they could have learned that.” He had no response for that.

Honestly, Kakashi had never really given it much thought before. But pairing his friends’ reactions with the fact that they already seemed to have mastered their elemental affinities… it was quite strange. Perhaps he should have looked into it more when the problem had first arisen, but he hadn’t. They had been a little busy at the time after all.

So instead of replying, he just shrugged. It was definitely something to looking into later, though.

Accepting that they probably wouldn’t get anything more out of him, the other two went back to talking (bragging) about their students and all that they’ve done. Kakashi decided to stay out of it for the most part. There wasn’t really anything for him to add that he thought was noteworthy that they didn’t already know. Things like Naruto’s chains and Sasuke’s sharingan were already old news to the village. No point commenting on it now, even if he was proud of them (not that he’d ever admit it. They were monsters, and that was that).

 

---

 

Puberty. A natural part of child development. Completely normal. After all, it was the just the change of hormone production in the body triggering certain organs and bones to grow and develop more. Oil production in the skin increased, causing acne and other skin blemishes. Hair started to appear all over the body, in the armpits and nether regions respectively, as well as altering the chemicals in the brain to cause things like moods swing and irrational and stupid thinking.

At least, that was the medical standpoint Sakura had adopted on it.

Experiencing it though was a different matter.

When she was seventeen, she had already gotten through the worst of it. No more growing pains in her legs or breasts, no more irregular periods, no more crazy mood swings. No more annoying shit . But now, as a twelve year old, she got to go through it all again .

And the worst part was her first period.

It wasn’t so bad the second time around, but boy were the cramps horrible. After she’d left Sasuke’s, they’d come on ten-fold. As soon as she’d gotten home, she’d made a beeline for the bathroom and stole one of her moms tampons before rushing off to her room. She’d been stuck there ever since, curled pathetically on her bed in a fetal position. Her parents had called her out for dinner, but she’d declined, saying she wasn’t feeling good.

Shit, she still had to tell her mom it was her first period. Just the thought of it sent a shudder down her spine. Oh God, she did not want to relive that talk again. It was bad enough the first time around, hearing it a second time would literally kill her.

At least she knew what to expect, so that was a plus. She knew from experience that her cramps would start to peter out after a year and a half, lessening in intensity. That might change of course because her exercise routine were so much different now than they were when she was actually twelve. She was eating more than she had before, and better food at that (of course, she usually had Ichiraku’s at least once a week, but that was Naruto’s fault), so that alone was setting her up for an easier time through puberty.

But still, it was puberty. And it fucking sucked.

And all guys have to deal with is voice drops and awkward boners , she thought bitterly as she curled tighter into herself. Fuck them .

Notes:

I like to imagine that little lunch was basically just a bunch of suburban moms eating salad together and going "Well my daughter Lakelyn is in the honors program" while another mom says "Macailah is in five sports and seven clubs" and so on.
Also, the period thing will have an affect on the next (few?) chapter(s), because hey, this is puberty. It fucking sucks. And I want to highlight that. Thank's for reading!

Chapter 20: Puberty and Child Development

Notes:

Hello all! Kind of a shorter chapter today. I just started my new job so that's been eating up a lot of my time and energy, on top of scholarship hunting and whatnot. Anyways, thank you all so much for commenting and leaving kudos on this fic. You have no idea how much it means to a writer. These next few chapters are defiantly going to be lighter and fluffier because after this is the chunin exams. And we all know how those go. So this is kind of a buffer. Anyways, this is un-beta'd because I'm just too lazy to bother with that. Enjoy!

For once in their genin career, Sakura was late to their morning meeting.

Naruto and Sasuke had already convened at the usual meeting spot on the bridge, ready to wait a while for their teacher, but were surprised when there was no pink hair to greet them. About an hour later she showed up, hair in disarray, clutching at her stomach, bags under her eyes, and a storm cloud hanging over her head.

She looked like shit.

“You okay, Sakura?” Naruto asked warily, eyeing her grouchy face with growing unease. An angry Sakura was never a pleasant Sakura.

“I’m fine,” she bit out, not sounded fine in the least. Naruto wisely decided not to mention the observation, as he wanted to keep all his teeth in his mouth, thank you very much.

It was another few minutes before their sensei decided to show up, trusty book in hand as usual.

Immediately, Naruto perked up and bounced over to him.

“Hey sensei, what are we gonna learn today?” Naruto asked, excited to try the trick Kurama had told him. Well, it wasn’t really a trick, but he wanted to try it nonetheless. But he needed downtime to do it, and weather or not they had downtime depended on what their sensei was going to teach them. Well, re-teach them.

“Maa, Naruto, don’t get so excited. We won’t be doing any of that today.” Not if he wanted a kunai up his ass, anyway. Courtesy of Kurenai.

“What! No training?”

“No training,” he echoed,  voice chipper. Then, clapping his hands together and rubbing them as if excited, added, “Instead, we’ll be doing missions.”

“Oh, so like another escort mission?” Sakura asked. “Maybe taking out some bandits?”

“Oh no, nothing like that,” Kakashi-sensei waved off. “There’s a festival about to start a few towns over, and we’ve been hired to help set up one for one of the merchants attending. Apparently he has a few cartfulls of wares and needed a few extra hands.”

Immediately the atmosphere changed from hopeful and excited to disparaged into the blink of an eye.

“A D-rank,” Naruto deadpanned, eye twitching. “Really?”

Next to him, Sasuke looked about ready to summon his mangekyo, and Sakura her fists. Kakashi-sensei seemed to notice this and raised a wary eyebrow.

“You three are still genin, after all,” he pointed out. “Besides, I thought you might appreciate a slow paced mission after the last one we did.”

“Yeah but Wave was exciting!” Naruto groaned, falling into his old childish habit of whining. Well, whining more than usual. “We saved a town, learned some new jutsu, did some cool shit-”

An elbow in his ribs for swearing.

“And came out completely fine. I don’t see why we can’t do another C-rank. An actual C-rank, anyways.”

“I wouldn’t say you were ‘completely fine’,” Kakashi-sensei noted, a weary look in his eye. “Two of you were unconscious by the end of that fight, and one nearly dead.” A sharp look towards Naruto as he said the last bit. “Think of this as an easy, get-back-on-our-feet type mission.”

The three “genin” understood that they weren't going to get anywhere arguing with the man, and just accepted their fate, however grudgingly. They couldn’t say they had expected to get more C-ranks after Wave, as it hadn’t happened last time. But they’d done a far better job this time around, so it wasn’t too far fetched to hope for something better.

They should have known better to hope with the sensei they had.

So, grudgingly, the three all went back to their homes to pack for their journey, cursing their sensei all the way.

 

---

 

Honestly, the reason for why he’d picked up a D-rank wasn’t just to give his students a break, although Kurenai had been right on that part. It had also been so that he could observe them. Now, Kakashi couldn’t claim to know much about child development, but after spending the rest of yesterday observing some of the other teams (unbeknownst to them), he’d come to the conclusion that maybe his genin were a little more mature than their comrades. Maybe.

And maybe he’d also picked up a book on child development just to see what a “normal” child was supposed to be like in their adolescence. Not that anyone would ever know. He’d made sure to use a henge when borrowing it from the library.

He was currently reading said book (in the guise of Icha Icha) as they walked down the dusty road away from the village. All three of his students walked in front of him in a lose diamond formation, seeming to all the world idle, slightly bored teens. But Kakashi knew better. He could see the slight tension in their muscles, the kind that only seasoned shinobi had, like him. He could see their eyes flicking to and fro every few minutes, as if scanning the area for threats. Humming in intrigue, he consulted the book for answers.

As your child enters puberty, the book read. They will start to go through changes both physically and mentally. Such changes can be concerns over body image, looks, and clothing.

Glancing up, Kakashi noted how none of them had exhibited behavior like that over the past few months he’d known them. Well, maybe the clothing thing for Naruto, but that was for a different reason.

Sighing, he looked back down at the book and continued to read.

Other changes might involve them focusing on themselves more; going back and forth between high expectations and lack of confidence.

Hm, nope. His kids were all pretty confident in themselves.

They will experience mood swings and heightened emotions. This is due to the hormones in their body, and nothing against you as a parent. These emotions, as wild as they may be, are normal in childhood development due to hormones coursing through their bodies.

Moodiness? Nope. That wasn’t to say of course that they didn’t often exhibit greater shows of emotion, but it wasn’t any as drastic as the book was making it seem. Of course they did sometimes express immature behavior, but it wasn’t like anything Kakashi had seen with the other teams yesterday. Because while Naruto was wild and unpredictable, Kiba was even worse. And where Sakura occasionally got angry and shouted about something, Ino had almost torn her teammates a new one just for messing up her ponytail. And Sasuke… well, Sasuke was Sasuke, and that’s all there was to that.

But back to the book.

Your child also may start showing more interest in and influence by peer groups.

Nope, not his kids. He skipped ahead past that part.

They might start expressing less affection toward parents; sometimes even seeming rude or short-tempered.

He wasn’t their parent, how should he know?

Teens commonly feel stress from more challenging school work.

If anything they thrived off it, if his rigures training was anything to go by. But then again, what Kurenai had said came back to him, and he wasn’t so sure if his judgement of them was as accurate as he liked to think. He might be pushing them harder than he needed to, and they would just not be speaking up about it because he was their superior. Well, if that was the case he hoped to change it soon. It wouldn’t do anybody any good to run them into the ground. But on the other hand, they really didn’t seem to upset or exhausted by it, which only managed to leave him scratching his head in confusion.

His thoughts were interrupted by a groan from Sakura, who had stopped walking and was doubled over in what appeared to be pain.

“Can we stop,” she moaned, hair falling in her face.

“Maa, just a few more miles until we get to the inn,” he said. “We can rest there.”

“No, sensei,” she said as she looked up, voice taking on a harder tone. “ I need to stop .”

Huh? A silver eyebrow rose up Kakashi’s forehead as he tried to figure out what she was saying. Then he smelled it when he took a breath.

Oh.

Blood. She was on her period.

Shit. Shit. Immediately he started panicking. What was he supposed to do? What did Rin do? Was this Sakura’s first one? Was she panicking? Did she even know she was on it? Did she even know what it was ?

“Sensei, I’m fine,” she said quickly, noticing his paling complexion (even though she could only see one eye). “I just need to stop in the bushes,” she assured.

She seems awfully calm for a twelve year old on her period, he noted absently.

“Why, do you gotta pee or something?” Naruto suddenly asked.

Oh, dear lord was he oblivious.

“Not… exactly,” she managed.

Frowning, the blonde cocked his head to the side as if in thought, trying to figure out the puzzle.

“So…?”

“Oh my God, just don’t think about it!” Sakura squaked, already mortified. “Just, just stay there.” And with that, she rushed off to the bushed, leaving a very confused Naruto in her wake. Sasuke might also have been confused, but he didn’t show it.

“Huh?” Naruto finally managed.

After a moment's silence, Kakashi strode up to Naruto and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll explain when you’re older.” And that was all that was said about that.

Chapter 21: Suspicions

They reached the inn by the time the sun started to sink into the horizon. As summer was just about to start, the days were growing longer, leaving them with more hours in the day. It also meant it was later than usual and they were all starving and in need of a good rest.

“I call shower first,” Sakura announced, tossing her bag onto one of the rolled out futons. Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but Kakashi quickly slapped a gloved hand over it, successfully shutting him up. There was a muffled squawk, but luckily no action was taken to remove said hand. Good. At least his student was smart.

Some time later, when Sasuke was out getting them their meal from the innkeeper and Naruto was in the shower, Kakashi aprouched Sakura.

Now for the moment he’d been dreading.

“Sakura,” he started, voice wavering only slightly. “I noticed on the trail today that you um, you had to…” God, how was he supposed to say this? Was he even supposed to talk about it? Surely her mother had already covered it. But he was her teacher, which meant he was in charge of her growth and development. But that was only for being a shinobi. No one said anything about, well, the teenage part.

“I had to…?” She echoed, looking up at him questioningly. Kakashi coughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck, a habit he’d unfortunatly picked up from Naruto.

“I… smelled blood,” he tried. “And I know it wasn’t from an injury…” This was so awkward. This was so awkward. “And if you’ve noticed anything… odd , about… your body-”

Next to him, Sakura’s face dropped and turned the color of an Uzumaki’s hair. She knew what he was trying to get at.

“OhmyGod! Sensei please, just, please stop. Please,” she rushed, hands waving desperately in hopes to shut him up. “I know where you’re going with this and you really don’t need to,” she continued. “And yeah, I already know what’s going on, I mean, you don’t have to explain anything, so please, don’t.”

Next her to, Kakashi was making absolutely zero eye contact. If he were to take off his mask, his face would be the same shade of red as his students.

“So, you understand what’s… going on, then?” He asked awkwardly.

“Yes,” she said, voice muffled because her head was now in her hands.

“And you… know what to do?”

Another muffled yes, this time sounding more like a groan.

“Okay,” he breathed out. Then, “Good talk,” and disappeared out of the room, presumably to help Sasuke with dinner. But really just to escape the situation.

When Naruto came out of the shower to see Sakura sitting mortified on the ground, eyes wide and glossy, he decided he didn’t want to know.

 

---

 

“Hey sensei,” Naruto spoke up over dinner. They were sitting in their shared room eating simple rice and curry provided by the inn. It wasn’t anything special, but it was filling.

“Hm?” Said sensei replied, absorbed in his book. His bowl was already clean even though they hadn’t seen him eat anything.

“Why do you where a mask?”

The question caught him off guard. He blinked. What brought this on? He said as much.

Naruto merely shrugged in response. “I dunno,” he said. “It’s just, like, we never see you eat or drink and you’re always wearing it so there’s gotta be a reason, y’know.”

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully at the response. He would have expected he demand to see what was under it, as most people did. Well, most people didn’t demand to know but they were always thinking it.

Looking at the other two genin, he saw similar looks on their faces as Naruto. Curious, but not imposing. Like they wanted to know just as badly, but knew better than to say anything. How very mature of them…

“Well,” he started, setting his book down, still disguised as Icha Icha. “What do you know about the Inuzuka?”

“Huh?” Naruto started. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

Kakashi ignored him and gestured for him to answer. Rolling his eyes, Naruto did as he was told.

“Fine,” he sighed dramatically. “They’re the dog clan. They all have ninkin and are kinda like dogs themselves. ‘Cept they all got those weird marking on their cheeks.” A pause. Then a loud gasp. “Wait, Kakashi-sensei, are you an Inuzuka? Do you have those marks and hide them cuz you actually ran away and don’t wanna be found out?”

“Don’t be an idiot, Naruto,” Sakura cried, whacking him on the head and immediately shutting down that train of thought. “Kaka-sensei isn’t an Inuzuka. And why would he hide it if he was? Besides, he looks nothing like one.”

“Then why’d he bring it up?” He moaned back.

“Maa, go easy on him Sakura,” Kakashi tried. “I suppose it was a valid question. But, to answer that, No I’m not an Inuzuka. But we do share something in common.”

“The dogs?” Naruto tried.

“Close,” he admitted. He didn’t want to outright tell them, as that would both ruin the fun as well as stop them from drawing their own conclusions based on little information, as ninja should be able to do. It was Sasuke who reached the conclusion first.

“Your sense of smell,” the Uchiha stated.

Kakashi nodded, slightly impressed. “It’s not a common known fact, but the Hatake clan possess a very powerful sense of smell, just like the Inuzuka. It makes us great for tracking. However,” he added. “The Hatake’s have always had sharper noses than our cousin clan, and sometimes it works a little too well. It’s rare, but on occasion a person is born with a hyperactive olfactory center. As useful as that is, humans simply aren’t meant to process that amount of input, and it can be debilitating in the long run.”

Or, in layman's terms, the nose worked too well and whatever poor sap had that could smell literally everything in a clerity not meant for humans to process.

“And as you might have put together, that is the case with me.”

A glance at his genin told him the meaning had gotten across to them.

“So… you wear the mask to basically block out smells?” Sakura tried, frowning. “Or, as a buffer, rather?”

He nodded. “Correct.”

For some reason, all three drooped in disappointment. Naruto most of all. It wasn’t overly obvious or anything, but definitely more gloomy than before.

“Ah man,” he moaned. “I really hoped it was because of buck teeth.” Next to him Sasuke rolled his eyes, but Kakashi couldn’t help but feel the Uchiha secretly agreed with him.

“But wait, I still don’t get it though,” Naruto groaned. “Nothing can smell that bad, right?”

Next to him, Sakura let out an insufferable sigh and leaned over. “Naruto, it’s like that time you farted in Kiba’s face when he had all the chakra in his nose. Remember? But instead it’s all the time.”

Naruto winced at the reminder before the realization seemed to dawn on him. “Oh,” he breathed. “Yeah, that would suck.”

Kakashi didn’t even want to know.

 

---

 

The next day brought with it clear skies and the promise of another hot day. Thankfully it was still cool when they packed up and left the inn, as it was still rather early, but Kakashi knew the sun wouldn't wait for long before cooking them. Thankfully though the summer humidity hadn’t yet set in, as it was only early June. But he knew it wouldn’t last forever. Come the end of the month, Konoha would be filled to the brim with sweaty, lethargic people. But that was just life.

The journey to their client only took a few hours, as they’d covered most of the ground yesterday. It was just after lunch that they made it to a reasonably sized farm a few miles outside of the village the festival was being held in.

“Ah, you’re here,” the farm owner exclaimed, wrinkled face bright and happy. “We weren’t expecting you four until sundown.”

Kakashi just gave him a kind eye smile. “Well, we are shinobi. It’s our job to be quick.”

The man let out a laugh at that before ushering them onto his grounds, showing them the way to their guest room. “I’m Kaito Sakamoto,” he introduced. “And my daughter is Sara. You’ll see her around, but she’s going to be staying here to watch the farm instead of coming with us. Usually it would be my wife that stayed but…” Kaito’s eyes drifted off into the middle distance in a look all four of the shinobi knew all too well. “Well, she’s not around anymore,” he finished. “But,” he added, brightening up possibly too enthusiastically. “That means I get you four!”

All four of them (well, three) put on what they hoped looked like supportive smiles (really it was just Naruto and Sakura who smiled while their sensei tried to make the same expression with only a quarter of his face showing. Needless to say he didn’t quite get the expression across).

After being shown their room and letting them unpack, Kaito led them around the farm and showed them what needed to be packed up and prepared for the festival. Mostly it was lots of grains and cured meats that needed sorting and packing. Each bag had to be measured and checked off for inventory, then stored in the barn until tomorrow. Kaito ran a food stand that was fairly popular each year, and as such had a lot of inventory to bring with him. It was easy work, but it was menial.

They finished just before dinner.

Three genin, dirty and sweaty, made it into the house with their sensei in tow, still reading that blasted book of his to find a young girl around their age with brown hair preparing a tasty looking dish of katsudon.

“Hi!” Naruto immediately greeted as he took off his sandals. “You must be Sara!”

The girl turned to them with a timid, but earnest smile. “You’re the shinobi that my dad hired,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you all.” She ushered them to take their seats around the table while she started dishing out the meal. A few minutes later Kaito joined them, giving his daughter a quick peck on the cheek before taking his own place at the table.

Soon enough, all their bowls were filled with delicious smelling food.

And of course Naruto dug in like his life depended on it.

“Wow, you’re really good at cooking,” Naruto said, swallowing a mouthful of rice and pork. “This is amazing!”

“Thanks,” she blushed. “I’ve had a lot of practice since, well…” She trailed off, bubbly demeanor gone. “Things have been… difficult lately,” she admitted, eyes downcast in obvious greif. “Mom used to do all the cooking, but now that she’s gone…”

“We’re sorry to hear about your mom,” Sakura offered, genuine sympathy in her voice. “I know what it’s like to lose someone important to you, and I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

Unbeknownst to her, Kakashi’s eye narrowed at her words, mind already working through what she said with more intellect than he let on.

Across from her, Sara dipped her head in thanks, a sad smile on her face. “It happened a while ago, now,” she said absently, chopsticks pushing around her rice. “But I guess it still hurts. Although dad and I are managing pretty well, so I think she’d be happy about that.”

Sakura offered a supportive smile in return. “I’m sure,” she said. “It might be hard now, but trust me when I say things will get easier. Before you know it, you’re gonna be doing amazing things on your own.”

Both Sara and Kaito smiled softly, a hopeful air about them.

“I hope you right, Sakura,” Kaito said. She gave them both an assured nod.

Next to her, Kakashi was looked as if he were trying to work out a puzzle.

 

---

 

It struck Kakashi later that night just what exactly was so different about his students than all the others he’d observed.

It was mostly because of what he’d observed during their diner.

They were confident in themselves.

Not in the body image way or what have you. But in the sense that they knew who they were as people, and had mastered their emotions more or less. While all the other teens were still figuring out where they stood and who they were going to be as shinobi and as people, his three had already figured it out. There was no uncertainty. When Sara, a girl their age had turned remorseful over a dead parent, Sakura had stepped right up to comfort her, appearing confident and self assured. Not awkward at all as Kakashi knew he would have been at that age when trying to comfort someone (as if he ever would have at that age).

And it wasn’t just Sakura. Kakashi remembered bath in Wave when young Inari had broken down at the table and told them they should all give up, and that it was all hopeless. Kakashi would have expected Naruto to jump up and start shouting right back, but instead the boy had surprised him and gave an inspiring speech about not giving up, and fighting for what you believe.

It was far too mature for a normal twelve year old to give.

It was curious.

So all in all, emotionally, they reminded him of fully fledged chunin. Chunin have have lived the shinobi life and understand loss and pain. Confident and sure in their abilities. Young chunin, yes, but mature. They even had the same look in their eyes that seasoned shinobi all had. Hardened and weary, but still up to the task.

But they were genin. It all made no sense.

Sighing, Kakashi accepted that this mystery would continue to elude him until he got more information. Until then, it might just be best to let them be. There wasn’t anything wrong with them anyways, so there was no point in trying to “fix” them.

Or at least, he hoped that was the case.

Kakashi fell asleep that night with a very uneasy feeling in his gut.

Notes:

^Team 7: *pulling some dumb shit*
Kakashi: *looks into the camera like he’s in The Office*

Kaito (介人: Supportive Person) because I think of him as a kindly, supportive man.
Sara (倖良: Good Fortune) because I imagine when owning a farm, you would want your only child to be named something lucky in the hopes that they and you're own family has good fortune

Chapter 22: Festival Fun

Notes:

Okay, this is officially the last chapter before the real stuff kicks back up and the chunin exams start. We just need some fluff before that shit happens. Anyway, I had a reviewer last chapter say that the hypersensitivity Kakashi has with his nose is a real medical condition called hyperosmia. It's basically exactly what I said in the last chapter (hypersensitive olfactory), except without all the ninja bullshit. It can also affect taste, which would explain why he hates sweet food in canon. It can in fact be genetic, which would also explain the whole Hatake thing. So yeah, poor Kakashi.
I would also like to say I've now found a beta, the awesome Dialga9182 on ff.net. We're working through all the chapters starting from the beginning, so it might take awhile to get to this one. Other than that, thank you to everyone who has commented and left kudos on this work. I know I say it every chapter but like, thank you so much you guys. You keep me writing.
Enjoy!

Breakfast was a quick affair the next morning. Simple red bean porridge before they were packing again to help Kaito cart everything to the festival. It was early, very early. The sun hadn’t even yet broken the horizon as they helped Kaito and Sara start packing everything up onto the carts. They had to do it now to set up the stall in time, as the festival started that afternoon. It was a laborious task, as there were many bundles and sacks of food. At one point Kakashi saw Sakura about to pick up a bag easily two thirds her weight and stepped in to take over. Only for the girl to lift it as if it were only ten pounds, swinging it up onto her shoulders and tossing it into the cart with no problem.

What the fuck.

Sakura caught sight of him staring and immediately froze. “... I’ve been working out,” she tried, eyes wide like she’d been caught in the act.

Kakashi would have had to be a civilian to be fooled by that.

The sun had just started peaking over the trees by the time they were done loading the carts. They all waved bye to Sara as they group headed off towards the town, smiles wide on their faces, before beginning their trek.

The trail was dry and dusty, not helped by the horses pulling the carts that kicked it up into the air. Kakashi was glad he had his mask to block out the particulars, but still. His genin had been on surprisingly good behavior so far, making friendly chit chat with Kaito and occasionally moving a rock out of the road before one of the wagon wheels could hit it. It wasn’t necessarily odd behavior, but his book said teens were lazy and complained when tasked to do something they didn’t necessarily want to. So by all means they should have been cranky and ill tempered. And yet none of them seemed to be so. Well, except Sasuke. But that was just who he was.

It was mid morning when they reached the village.

“Finally!” Naruto cried, pumping his fists in the air. “I can’t wait to see all the stuff set up!”

“Naruto,” Sakura but in. “We have to set up first, remember? It’s what we were hired to do?”

Naruto’s face dropped at the reminder. “Oh, yeah. Forgot.” Behind him Sasuke rolled his eyes and Sakura just sighed.

“Alright then, let’s get going!” He cried. Jeez, did this kid have no limit to his energy?

Apparently the answer was no; as he helped set up the stall in almost record time, using his shadow clones to speed the process up. Kakashi would have scolded him and said that was the improper use for the jutsu, but… He couldn’t bring himself to speak up. Besides, it got their work done faster. They finished just as the sun started dipping into the sky. It wasn’t yet evening, but in a few hours it would be. If they left now they might make it back to Konoha before midnight. They’d traveled in a relative triangle since leaving, so it wouldn’t be too far of a stretch. Maybe.

“Come on, you three,” he drawled, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “If we leave now we can make it home tonight.” He just wanted to be done and get back to reading his actual Icha Icha, thank you very much. But apparently that was the wrong thing to say, as all three (Okay, two) of their faces dropped in dismay, bordering on betrayal.

“What!” Naruto cried, outraged. “We’re not even gonna stay and enjoy the festival?”

“Maa, why bother?” He shrugged.

“But, but, what about the food and the fireworks Kaito talked about? What about those, y’know? We’re not even gonna see ‘em?” He sounded scandalized, as if he couldn’t believe Kakashi would deprive them of that.

“Sensei,” Sakura tried, stepping in. “We’ve worked so hard helping Kaito and his daughter and have been traveling non-stop. You’re really gonna make us go back without even considering letting have a well earned break?” She sounded both hurt and earnest. “As our teacher, you’re responsible for our growth as both shinobi and as people. It would be irresponsible of you not to indulge us in a reward every now and then.”

It was a very well crafted argument, backed up with both facts and puppy eyes. And while Kakashi liked to think he was immune to the latter (it would be a lie), he had to agree with the former.

Children needed rewards and breaks. His book had said so, after all.

“Fine,” he relented with a sigh, earning a cheer from two of his students. “But only till dark. Then we book it home.”

His genin nodded in agreement.

Later, Kakashi would wonder if that had been a good idea.

 

---

 

“You can’t possibly eat that much, Naruto,” Sakura moaned, looking at Naruto’s ever growing bag of sweets and treats. They’d been walking around town for almost an hour, and in that time the boy had managed to get a box of takeout yakisoba, some dango, four individual takoyaki, taiyaki, and dorayaki. If Sakura wasn’t so concerned for his health when he finally ate all the food, she’d be concerned about his wallet. The food itself hadn’t been horrible expensive, it was actually relatively cheap. But when added up together… well, she just hoped the D-rank covered it.

“I’m not gonna eat it all by myself,” he scoffed, scandalized as they made their way through the streets. Kakashi-sensei walked just behind them, head still in his Goddamn book as the three of them explored the town.

“So who is then?” She asked.

“You guys, duh.”

Sakura blinked. Oh. She should have realized that.

Before she could respond, one of the vendors called out to them, “Hey there, you three! You look like strong young kids. Care to try out a test of strength?”

Turning around, Sakura some some guy standing next to a tall contraption with a bell on the top, a large hammer resting just next to it. Immediately she knew what it was. And aso knew that it was rigged, just like every other game on the street.

“Yeah, you guys. Hey, you, in the blue shirt,” he gestured to Sasuke, he glanced boredly over in his direction. “You look like a strong young man. Care to try this out? Fair warning, few of the strongest of men can hit that bell.”

Sakura refrained from rolling her eyes. Talk about a sales pitch.

“Hn,” he shrugged dismissively. “Not really my thing.” The man's face dropped, but only for a second before he turned to Naruto.

“How about you then? Care to give it a go?”

Naruto frowned, scratching the back of his head in thought. “I dunno. Seems kinda lame to me. Sakura?” He asked, turning to her. “Wadda you think?”

The guy manning the booth just scoffed. “No offense,” he said, giving obvious offense. “But this test of strength isn’t meant for a little lady such as yourself. Don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Okay, Sakura didn’t want to do it before, but now she really wanted to. Fuck this guy.

“Hm, actually,” she said thoughtfully, finger to her lips. “I think I will give it a try. How much?”

The man didn’t seem entirely thrilled, but she was paying, so he couldn’t complain. “One hundred ryo,” he said, mouth almost twisted into a frown. Sakura dugg out the money and handed it over. Without a word, he handed her the hammer.

Immediately, as if it were heavier than she could manage, she dropped it to the ground, letting out a sound of dismay. The sight made the man smirk.

Ha. Sucker.

Behind her, Naruto and Sasuke quickly backed up behind their sensei, who was giving his student a half suspicious half scared look, knowing what she was about to do.

Smirking evilly to herself, Sakura tightened her grip on the hammer and readied her stance.

The look on the man's face when she broke the bell on top was worth way more than the 100 ryo she payed and the giant stuffed tsum tsum shiba inu she got as a prize. Totally. Worth it.

 

---

 

Some time later found them outside a stall selling festival masks. Naruto had spotted it and had immediately sprinted over, ogling the display before shooting puppy eyes over at the rest of them, practically begging them to stop so he could buy something.

The only thing was, he didn’t really have the money for it. His solution...

“I’m not buying you masks.” Kakashi staited.

“Please?”

“No.”

“Come on, Kaka-sensei, don’t be a buzzkill,” Naruto moaned.

“I’m not spending my own hard earned money on something you’ll never use again,” he stated monotonously. “I’m not doing it.”

Fifteen minutes later, they ended up all walking away with oni, okame, and kitsune masks. And a dog one for their beloved sensei (the irony was not lost on them).

Later they watched the fireworks from the roof of the inn they’d decided to stay at for the night, deciding to forgo the idea of making it back to Konoha before midnight. Their bellies were full of yummy, greasy food, Sakura had won many prizes from various vendors, and Sasuke seemed to actually be enjoying himself. For once, they were all at peace.

But they all had a sinking feeling this would be the last time it would be this way for some time. The thought sent a shiver down their spines.

 

Chapter 23: Desperation

Notes:

*laughing manically* Ooooh you guys are gonna love this chapter. >:3
Aside from that, thank you everyone who commented and left kudos last chapter. That is, for real, what gives me inspiration to keep writing and drawing. ALSO I finished a drawing for the chunin arc which I LOVE and can't wait for you guys to see it. Actually, that arc has quiet a bit of art, so you guys are in for a treat ;). This chapter is un-beta'd for now, but I have found a beta (Dialga9187 on ff.net) and we're currently working through each chapter. Right now we're on chapter five, so it might be a while before we get to this one... Other than that, enjoy!

Konoha was the usual bustling hub of activity it always was when they finally made their way back. It was early afternoon, as they’d left early that morning and traveled at usual ninja speeds, instead of the civilian pace they’d set on their way out. As usual, Izumo and Kotetsu greeted them at the gates, offering them friendly smiles and easy chit chat.

Submitting their mission report was much easier than it was last time. It had been a simple D-rank, after all, no need for getting chewed out by a stressed Iruka for doing things they really shouldn’t have.

Really if anyone was going to chew them out this time it would be their sensei for making them stay for the festival. But it had been totally worth it, or at least Naruto liked to think. Sakura’s storage scroll of prizes certainly agreed by any means.

But now that they were back in the village, it was training time again. And that meant chakra chains. Naruto had been aching to try what Kurama had suggested four days ago, but because of the mission he hadn’t been able to. And even if he had had time during their travels, Kakashi-sensei had more or less forbid him from using his kekkei genkai outside of the village. He hadn’t really given a reason, but Naruto had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with bingo books.

Whatever the case, it didn’t matter now as they were back in Konoha. And Naruto was nothing if not persistent, so he would get these damn chakra chains to work one way or another. As soon as they finished submitting their reports, he thought to himself, he would be off to training ground 7 in no time.

Unfortunately, a certain sensei seemed to see right through him and grabbed onto his collar just as he started off down the road outside of the Hokage tower.

“And just where do you think you’re going?” He drawled, eyebrow arched.

“Training, y’know,” he said, trying to wiggle out of the jōnin’s hold. It wasn’t very successful.

“No training without adult supervision,” was Kakashi-sensei dry response.

“Darn, then we’ve been breaking the rules this whole time,” Sasuke deadpanned, black eyes staring straight at their sensei.

Stone. Cold. Murder.

Kakashi-sensei’s eye spasmed in a visible twitch of irritation. But he said nothing.

“Anyway…” Kakashi-sensei continued. “I’m not allowing it. No training until tomorrow, and that’s final.” he finished his sentence by letting go of Naruto’s collar, essentially dropping the teen. Naruto immediately scrambled away out of his reach, fearing he might do it again.

“Aw, come on,” he groaned, straightening himself out. “I haven’t practiced in four days. I gotta get this down as soon as possible.”

Kakashi-sensei raised an eyebrow down at him. “What’s the rush?” He asked.

“Uh…” Naruto stammered. If he was being honest, getting it down before the chunin exams would be nice. And since that was a month out… “I just, wanna get it down, y’know?” He tried. Then, “It gives me a connection to my clan.” Okay, that last part wasn’t a lie, but he was only talking about one specific member of said clan. His mom. He had all the looks of his dad, his dads jutsu, his summons (well, not at the moment, but soon enough), and had even fought with the man on the battlefield. The only thing he had from his mom was a name and a biju trapped in his gut. He didn’t have her beautiful red hair, or pale complexion. Nothing. Nothing but this amazing kekkei genkai. A kekkei genkai he had no idea how to use.

Kakashi-sensei seemed to see his internal turmoil and softened his expression. As much as one could anyway when only showing one eye.

“I get it,” he offered, putting a hand on Naruto’s shoulder. Naruto looked at it in surprised. Kakashi-sensei had never shown this much affection before. What was different now? “You want to feel like you belong to something, I understand,” he continued, oblivious to his students musings. “Tell you what, tomorrow, no intense training, no missions, nothing. We can just work on that. Sound good?”

Naruto blinked, taken aback. “I-” He didn’t have words to finish the sentence. Luckily, Sakura did.

“For real, sensei?” She asked, stepping in. He nodded.

“In fact, tomorrow, I’ll train all of you in whatever you want.” The proclamation was followed by him retracting his hand and putting it on his hip in an assured, authoritative manner. “Naruto, we can focus on your chains. Sasuke, sharingan. And Sakura,” he turned to the girl. “You said you wanted to be a medic, yes?”

She nodded.

“Great, then let’s start there.” He offered them all an eye smile, the earnestly in his voice surprising them.

With a lazy wave, he dismissed them and disappeared in a shunshin, leaving the three of them to their own devices for the rest of the night.

“So,” Naruto said. “Anyone up for ramen?”

 

---

 

The next day greeted them with warm sunlight and cloudless skies. Not unusual for late May, but not necessarily appreciated. If the three of them were going to be training all day in this weather, they were going to get very hot very fast, and that was never fun. Especially when you had to stay in those dirty, smelling clothes for the rest of the day. They knew this from experience.

As always, they turned up at training ground seven at around eight, thinking their sensei would be at least an hour late. So it was a surprise when upon entering the grounds, they found their sensei already waiting for them, slouched against one of the training posts, book in hand.

“Ah, good, you’re all here,” he said, noticing their arrival. He tucked his book back in his weapons pouch and pushed off from the post, striding up to them. “Although it is rude to keep your teacher waiting.”

Yes, they were supposed to be here at seven, like usual. But they’d thrown that out the window their first week of training. “Are you serious,” Sakura deadpanned, glaring up at him.

The bastard only gave them an annoying eye smile before moving on.

“Maa, anyway,” he said, waving her off. “Who wants to go first? Whatever training you want, I’ll help you.”

“Oh, oh, can I sensei!” Naruto immediately shouted. One would think he were an actual twelve year old the way he was jumping around.

“Go ahead,” he said, nodding him off. Naruto took that as permission to start, and ran off to the center of the clearing and started stripping off his shirt and jacket as usual. He knew Kakashi-sensei wouldn’t be able to work with him one on one as the jonin had no idea how to help, so he started without him as always.

Shrugging, Kakashi turned back to Sakura and Sasuke. “Sasuke, we haven’t worked much on your sharingan. Do you want to focus on that today?” Sasuke could have laughed at the offer. At this point he knew more about the sharingan than Kakashi-sensei did. But he couldn’t let him know that, obviously.

“Sure,” he shrugged, trying not to sound too annoyed. Sakura would punch him if he did.

“Alright,” his sensei nodded. “And Sakura,” he turned to his last student. “We haven’t talked much about what you are interested in. What did you want to try today?”

Sakura put her finger to her lips in thought, brow furrowed slightly. She had mentioned before that she wanted to become a great medical ninja like Lady Tsunade, but the fact of the matter was that she already was. Maybe she didn’t have as much experience as the sannin, being only seventeen years old as opposed to fifty, but she was definitely amazing. But what would be the point of having Kakashi-sensei, a ninjutsu specialist, “train” her in that? For one he wasn’t all the knowledgeable in it, and for two she didn’t actually need to practice. So, what then?

“If I remember correctly,” he spoke up, interrupting her thoughts. “Haku gave you some poisons and senbon back in Wave. We haven’t worked on those at all as of yet. Would you be interested in doing that today?”

Sakura had to think about it. She was a medic, which meant she healed people, and poisons were the exact opposite of that. That wasn’t to say she wasn’t grateful for Haku’s gift, but it was very contradictory. But on the other hand, having a deeper understanding of poisons and the nervous system would make her a better healer. And it would help her in stealth missions, if that was ever a thing she would do.

“I think,” she said, worrying her lip. “I would like that.” Then, nodding decisively, she said, “Yes. I would like to work on that, sensei.”

Kakashi-sensei eye smiled. “Wonderful,” he said. “Then let’s get started.”

 

---

 

Naruto was doing what Kurama said. He really was. But so far, nothing. Was. Happening!

So, swallowing his frustration, he meditated on it. He’d done enough of it on mount Myoboku that he was fairly good at it. But still, nothing was coming to him.

Kurama had said it wasn’t a technique, it was a feeling. Well, he didn’t really know what that feeling was, and finding it was proving to be rather hard. Sasuke had said something similar to that, too. That activates his sharingan was like lifting a finger. It wasn’t something you thought about, you just did it. Yet despite all this ‘helpful’ information, he still couldn’t figure it out. How was he supposed to “just do” something when he has no reference point on it? Like explaining how to use a muscle he doesn’t have. Sure it was simple for them, because they have it. But to him, no such luck.

With a sigh, he released his pose and flopped back onto the grass, the blades tickling his neck.

“No luck?” Sakura asked from the tree line. She was busy pulling her senbon out of various trees she had thrown them into when practicing. They weren’t clustered in the least as was the goal, but then again, throwing kunai and throwing senob are two very different practices.

“Not yet,” he sighed, defeated. “I hough for sure I’d get it this time.” After all, he’d spent every waking moment thinking about it.

Sakura frowned in sympathy. “Well, I’m no good at offering advice,” she said. “But, you said it was more like a feeling, right?”

He nodded, staring vacantly at the sky. “Well…” she continued. “What were you feeling on the bridge? What made you activate them?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It was all happening so fast, I kinda didn’t really think about that .”

“Could you try?”

He glanced over again and saw her wearing a hopeful, earnest expression. One he’d seen on her before whenever they’d console a younger version of Sasuke back when they were actually genin.

“Uh, yeah. I’ll try.” He sat up, face pinched in concentration. What had he been feeling? “Um,” he started. “I think I was scared… but not for myself, y’know? Um, Sasuke was trying to kill Haku, and Kakashi-sensei was in danger, and I just had to do something! But I couldn’t, cuz of all the senbon, ‘n stuff.”

Sakura nodded thoughtfully, listening along to the story.

“So like, I guess I was feeling… desperate? I dunno. But, I wasn’t angry. Not like…” Not like the last time. When Haku and Zabuza had actually died. When he’d released kurama’s chakra. He didn’t say these things, but Sakura seemed to hear them clear as a day.

“I get it,” she said. “So… if you can recreate that feeling, maybe you’ll be able to access your chains again? And if you can do that, then you’ll know what to feel for. Does that make sense?”

He nodded. “I think so.”

“Great,” she smiled. “Then, good luck.” And with that, she went back to picking up stray senbon.

Naruto picked himself up off the ground and took a deep breath before closing his eyes. Time to focus.

The sound of chirping birds was the only warning he got before someone screamed.

“SAKURA!” Sasuke shouted.

Naruto’s eyes shot open and saw their sensei holding Sakura in a headlock, hand alight with chidori and pressed up against her neck.

“If anyone moves, she dies immediately,” their sensei cried out, eyes cold as ice. Naruto could only stare. Was he insane? Had he finally snapped? What the hell was going on!

“Sensei, what are you doing?” Sasuke shouted, sharingan spinning madly.

“Do as I say,” was all he growled back. Then he pushed his hand just a little closer to her neck, making her cry out in alarm. If Naruto was being rational, he would have known she could have easily gotten out of it, and maybe she would have known that as well. But as it was, she was fighting off flashbacks of having a chidori aimed at her by a certain Uchiha, and was unable to do anything.

Sakura cried out again, stirring something in Naruto. His sensei saw the look in his eye and glared at him.

“If you move, she dies.” His words were sharp as kunai.

He didn’t even think, he just acted. A scream of frustration tore itself out of his mouth, and with it came a rush of energy, and the sound of trees breaking and soil being upturned. Immediately his eyes were filled with blinding golden light, and the sight of… chains?

Chains covered the training ground. Snaking through trees, around posts, into the ground, everywhere.  And they were coming from him. Golden chains. Chakra chains. His chains.

The clearing was silent.

And then, clapping. Naruto looked up from his gawking to see their sensei, sans chidori, slowly applauding. The feral look was gone from his eyes, and he’d recovered his sharingan which he’d pulled out for his chidori. Sakura was standing next to him with a hand to her neck, eyes wide and limbs shaky.

Had it… all been an act?

“Good job Naruto,” he said easily. “I knew you could do it.” He offered him a thumbs up.

The three members of team 7 could only stare at their sensei in mild horror.

Afterwards he treated them to lunch, but if they all sat at least six feet away from him at the other end of the ramen bar, well, then nobody could really blame them.

 

 

 

 

GUYS THERE'S FANART

Notes:

Come scream at me on my tumblr (dragonpyre)

Chapter 24: Calm Before the Storm

Notes:

Sorry this is out later than usual. I actually had it sitting in my computer already finished for two days, but I wanted to hold off posting it until today because it's my birthday!!!! So as a present to both em and you, here ya go!
This chapter is un-beta'd, as usual. And thank you to everyone who has left comments and kudos so far, they really do inspire me. Enjoy!

On one hand, Naruto was glad he finally got his chakra chains. On the other, WHAT THE FUCK SENSEI!

Before they’d gone to lunch, and after everyone had gotten over the initial shock of what he’d done, they’d started screaming at him. Sasuke looked ready to activate his mangekyō and light him up with amaterasu. Naruto, having pulled in his chains, was also lighting into their insane sensei, screaming about emotional manipulation and the ethics of it. Nobody really shut up until Sakura finally succumbed to her panic attack.

Then it was Kakashi-sensei’s turn to freak out.

He tried apologizing, in his own awkward way, but ultimately he ended up offering to buy them all lunch as payment. Naruto managed to make him pay for all their lunches for the next week. He agreed.

Sakura didn’t calm down for a good hour, and Naruto understood why. Shooting an uneasy glance as Sasuke, as if to say “don’t help me”, for he was partly the reason for the episode, he crouched next to the shaking girl and wrapped an arm around her. He couldn't really offer any words, just comfort. If their sensei found the whole thing strange, he didn’t say anything.

Once she had calmed down, they’d made their way to Ichiraku’s and ate in silence. Nobody made eye contact with each other. Or rather, nobody made eye contact with their sensei. Afterwords, Kakashi-sensei dismissed Sakura and Sasuke for the day, even offering Sakura the day off tomorrow. She declined, whoever uneasily, and said she had to get stronger and couldn’t do that without training. He’d accepted that and waved them all off.

All except Naruto.

“Come on,” he said, already walking away from the ramen stand.

“Huh?” The genin asked.

Not turning around, Kakashi-sensei replied with, “The sooner we get back to training with your kekkei genkai the better. The feeling is still fresh in your mind, meaning it will be easier to try to access them again. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to remember it.”

Naruto hurried to catch up with his senile sensei, short legs pumping hard to keep up. Man he missed being taller. “So we’re gonna use them again?” He asked in clarification.

“Well I’m not,” Kakashi-sensei said. “But yes, we’re going to make sure you know how to access them. Preferably without a trigger…” Naruto had never heard his sensei sound guilty, but damn if that wasn’t what he sounded like now. Oh, so this Kakashi-sensei actually had emotions? That was good to know.

Naruto rolled his eyes, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

The trained until nearly sunset. And Naruto being able to freely access his chains after by the end of it, much to his joy. When he dismissed him, Kakashi-sensei even ruffled his hair in praise, something he’d rarely, if ever, done before. It didn’t quite make up for threatening Sakura’s life earlier, but it gave him a nice warm feeling in chest that lasted until after he got home that night.

 

---

 

Earlier that day, the three time travelers agreed to meet that night at the memorial stone to discuss the elephant in the room.

The chunin exams.

Or more specifically, Orochimaru.

They’d covered the topic in past meetings, but never in any detail. They’d simply agreed that subduing him would be best, as he had knowledge that would be useful for the future. But that was as far as they’d gotten. How they were supposed to do that… well, they had no idea.

Hence the meeting.

There was a tense silence between them as they all sat around the memorial stone. The cicadas in the woods were the only background noise, loudly crying into the night, but even their chirps couldn’t diminish the harrowing sense all members of team 7 were feeling.

It was Naruto who broke the silence.

“What do we do about the exams?”

Right to it then.

“We have to stop Orochimaru, no matter what,” Sakura stated. “And we can’t let him give you the curse mark, Sasuke, or let him kill the Third.”

“I don’t want that snake anywhere near me,” he agreed under his breath. “But we can’t kill him either,” the Uchiha pointed out. “He has valuable information and skills that we might need in the future. We wouldn’t have been able to fight with the previous Hokage on the battlefield without him.”

Naruto nodded, agreeing with his logic, however he hated to. “But he can’t be allowed to go free.” Both of his teammates nodded.

“So then…” Sakura started, voice wavering only slightly. “What do we do?”

It wasn’t a question anyone had an easy answer to.

“I think…” Sasuke started. “We apprehend him. Let him rot in a cell until we need him. We know where he’ll be and when,” he said. “All we have to do is withstand him and wear him down until we can get backup. And when we do, it’s over for him.”

It was a sound plan, but there was a glaring flaw in it.

“That’s great and all, Sasuke,” Naruto said. “But how the hell are we going to get backup? We’ll be in the forest of death for five days, with no way of communicating to the proctors. How the fuck are we gonna get help?”

To his surprise, Sasuke just rolled his eyes like the melodramatic shit he was. “Idiot, the scroll.” He stated it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“The… what now?”

The Uchiha let out a loud, heavy sigh of frustration. Next to him, Sakura looked as if she’d just figured it out too, but was going to let him explain, for his own sake if nothing else. “The scroll, the one we’ll get at the beginning of the exam, remember?” He asked. Ah, yes, Naruto did remember. The objective of that test was to retrieve a heaven and earth scroll and arrive at the tower in the center of the forest. He remembered teaming up with the two faced Kabuto to get them. Ignoring Naruto’s inner musings, Sasuke continued. “Iruka-sensei told us that if you opened it before you got to the tower with it’s matching counterpart, a proctor would appear and you’d be disqualified from the exam.”

“... Oh.” That made sense. “So… we open the scroll and get backup? Is that the plan?”

“Yes, idiot, that is the plan,” Sasuke sighed.

“That’s great and all,” Sakura cut in, a frown decorating her face. “But actually fighting Orochimaru is something else entirely.” The boys looked at her quizzically. She sighed. “We might have the memories and knowhow of seventeen year olds- sorry Naruto, sixteen,” she added, making the blonde glower. “But we only have the strength, stamina, and chakra of twelve year olds. Strong twelve year olds, sure, but still. It won’t be enough.” She sighed in frustration, looking down at her lap. “I don’t have my hundred hands of healing,” she said. “Naruto doesn’t have his kyūbi mode. Sasuke, you don’t have your rinnegan or eternal mangekyo. We’re all put at major disadvantages here. And we’re going up against a sannin . This isn’t something to be taken lightly.”

Her words were followed by a heavy silence. In the background, cicadas chirping filled the night.

“We’re gonna figure that out,” Naruto suddenly piped up, voice firm and self assured. “We have a month. It’s the thirtieth today,” he pointed out. “The exams don’t start until July first. I’m sure we can figure something out. Or at least you can, Sakura,” he added, smiling at her. “You always do.” She tried to hide her blush by tucking a strand of hair behind an ear.

“Naruto’s right,” Sasuke agreed, surprising the both of them. “You- we’ll figure something out. I know it.” His smile was small but genuine.

“Great,” Naruto smiled, breaking up the tender moment. “Then let’s do it, y’know!”

 

---

 

The next few weeks were filled with training and missions. Their training was centered around whatever specialty they had chosen, with the exception of Sasuke. He insisted there were loads of scrolls in the Uchiha compound he could read rather than “wasting his sensei’s time” as he’d put it. Really he just didn't want to pretend he didn’t know how to use his sharingan for any longer than he had to. And it had already been long enough.

With Naruto and Sakura however, they worked tirelessly. Sakura was starting to become quiet adapt with senbon and poisons, her groupings and aim were getting better and better. And that combined with her medical knowledge and perfect chakra control made the boys both very nervous of her. It was a good reminder to never get on her bad side ever again. On top of that, she was practicing more ninjutsu. It had never been her specialty, per say, but it would probably help to be more well rounded as a kunoichi.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was having Naruto work hard at mastering his kekkei genkai. Ever since the disaster of the day he’d finally managed to unlock them (again), he’d been working tirelessly with them, trying to understand them better and learn how to use them in different combat scenarios. So far he’d learned he can use them up to eight times a day, and that was without expending chakra on anything else for the rest of the day. So in combat, about four to five times. Six if he really pushed it. As much as Naruto hated the restriction, it was almost humbling to actually feel mild chakra exhaustion. That wasn’t to say it didn’t still suck, though.

But that was just using his own chakra, he’d never tried it using Kurama’s. But then again, he hadn’t used Kurama’s since being back here. While it was useful and powerful as all hell, the more he used, the more unstable he became. He could use up to three tails of the nine tails cloak and remain in relative control, but that control was flimsy at best. It wasn’t a risk he was willing to take. Besides, he didn’t have granny Tsunade’s necklace anymore. If he did go berserk, what could be done to reign him in?

But aside from all that, he didn’t want to risk using Kurama’s chakra anyways. Aside from the fact it made him more feral, he didn’t want to demand anything of the fox. He’d already dragged him back into his old cage, he didn’t want to upset the grumpy biju even more.

So his chakra it was. Until there was an emergency anyways.

“Again!” Kakashi shouted, breaking his train of thought as he threw more kunai in his direction. Naruto reacted and shot chains out at them, knocking them out of the air. They’re been running drills like this for the past few hours, working on dodging and deflection using his chains. They’d worked on restraining and attacking foes with them yesterday.

“Two chains this time,” his sensei ordered, throwing his kunai again. Naruto focused and shot out only two, striking down as many kunai as he could. Unfortunately he missed some and a blunted blade whacked him on the arm.

“Ouch!” He cried, grasping at the forming bruise. That was the fifth one. “Can we break?” He called out breathlessly.

“Enemies don’t break in battle,” Kakashi-sensei said sternly. “Why should I?”

Naruto scowled, pulling his chains back into his body. His legs were starting to shake from exhaustion, and sweat beaded his brow.

Luckily it was Sakura who spoke up. “Sensei, we’ve been at it for hours,” she said, sweat beading her own brow. “We have to let our bodies replenish our ATP and chakra. That’s the only way a body can strengthen itself.”

Their sensei hummed, mildly impressed with her reasoning before shrugging. “Maa, fine,” he sighed. “Thirty minutes, then you’re back to work.” All three genin nodded and went to sit in the shade. Kakashi-sensei walked a bit away to read his book in peace.

“Man,” Naruto sighed, slumping up against a tree. “I never thought I could be so tired before.” The bark he was leaning on scratched against his bare back, but it was nothing compared to the bruises dotting his body. He would definitely be sore tomorrow.

“Welcome to our world,” Sakura breathed, taking a big chug of water. Then, after a glance at Sasuke, added, “Or rather, my world at least.” Stupid, overpowered Uchiha’s.

“Yeah but you have perfect chakra control,” Naruto noted.

“Doesn’t mean I have a lot, though,” she retorted. “I have the chakra of a twelve year old,” she groaned. “Muscle mass of one too.”

“Hn, I think you have more muscle than you did before,’ Sasuke hummed, glancing over at her. “You looked like a stick back then.”

“Shut up,” she said lightly, smile pulling at her lips. “I still mastered tree walking before you.”

Naruto snorted beside her.

“The great Sasuke Uchiha,” she continued in a teasing voice, adding a fake pout for effect. “Beaten by a weak little girl.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but it was hard to hide the fact that he was smiling.

“I bet I could still kick your ass, now,” she said with finality, leaning back against the tree.

“Yeah right,” he smirked.

“Fucking watch me,” she said, before taking a drink of water. They went on like this for the next half hour, teasing each other and cracking jokes. For that moment, team 7 was really and truly back together.

 

Notes:

^I'm just gonna leave this here...

Chapter 25: Enter Gaara

Notes:

Thank you everyone who commented last chapter and to everyone who have left kudos. You guys keep this story going! Enjoy!
EDIT: Beta'd as of 8/4

It was the last week of June when Kakashi got called in for a jōnin meeting.

So, it’s that time already, he thought with a sigh. He’d known the chūnin exams were coming up soon, he just hadn’t known the exact date. Now I do.

He knew he was going to nominate them. It wasn’t even a question. It had been five years since the last time a jōnin sensei nominated genin who were fresh out of the academy, so it would come as a shock to everyone if he did. But then again, Kurenai and Asuma knew how hard he pushed them, and he was renowned for his prowess as a shinobi. Perhaps people will just assume his skills rubbed off on them. And perhaps they had. His team had proved themselves on the A-rank mission to Wave, and before that whenever they were training. Hell, they’d impressed him during the bell test with their strength and intelligence. No doubt they would crush the competition in the exam. But…

It’s Naruto I’m worried about.

Ever since the boy had unlocked his kekkei genkai, Kakashi had known it was only a matter of time before someone inside the village or outside put the pieces together. It was why Kakashi had pushed so hard to have Hiruzen grant him clearance to tell Naruto about his heritage. If he knew, he could at least be prepared, instead of flaunting his gift like he was sure to do for everyone to see. Even though the villages coming to participate in the exams with them were allies, nothing was guaranteed.

People would talk. They always did.

Minato-sensei, what would you have done…

As usual, he got no response.

 

---

 

It was their day off when Naruto decided to buy some more flowers for his mom. Sakura had decided to join him for the day and tagged along. She’d said her parents were getting overbearing again and she needed some time off. So obviously the best solution was to tag along with him while he visited a grave…

Ignoring the irony of it, the two headed into the Yamanaka flower shop where Ino was waiting for them behind the counter.

“Billboard brow?” She sneered, ignoring Naruto as he went to peruse the aisles. “What are you doing hanging out with Naruto?”

Sakura stopped in her tracks and blinked a few times in surprise. For one, she hadn’t seen Ino since they’d been brought back, so seeing a twelve-year-old brat with facing her with lips curled in disdain was a major shock. On top of that, it had been ages since she and Ino were at each other's throats. For a second, she didn’t know how to respond.

Eventually, she came to her senses and managed, “We’re teammates,” she stated dumbly.

Unimpressed, Ino just stared at her. “So are you and Sasuke.” She said it as if it were an accusation instead of a fact. “I would’ve thought you’d want to hang around him. Or have you finally admitted defeat?” the sly smile that followed the end of her sentence made a feeling of unease sink into Sakura’s stomach. God, they still hadn’t gotten over their rivalry over Sasuke yet, had they? Well, no… of course not. That was never settled until after the chunin exams. And even then…

How childish she had been, fighting with someone who had been her best friend over a boy . A boy who later tried to kill her. Albeit after she tried to kill him, but it was water under the bridge.

“Honestly,” Sakura shrugged, crossing her arms. “He’s all yours. I’m over it.”

Oh, how she wished she had a camera.

Ino’s face dropped completely, eyes going wide and mouth hanging open. Dumbfounded and in shock, she might as well have looked like someone had just told her she would be the next Hokage.

Sakura tried not to enjoy the moment too much and was glad when Naruto, poor, sweet oblivious Naruto, came back to the counter with his bouquet of carnations.

He eyed the two of them oddly, then asked, “So like, how much do I gotta pay for these?”

 

---

 

The two were walking down the backstreets of Konoha when they heard a rustling behind them. Rolling his eyes, Naruto turned around, already knowing what he was going to see.

Ten feet behind them, standing out like a sore thumb in the middle of the road, was a box with eye holes designed to look like a rock. It was probably supposed to be a camouflage jutsu, but it failed miserably. The attempt was so horrible Naruto nearly choked on his own laughter, knowing what the person underneath it would be capable of in a few years.

“You’re not foolin’ anyone, Konohamaru,” he said pointedly. “Come out.”

With an irritated “humph” coming from the box, it disappeared in a puff of smoke, and standing in its place were chibi versions of team Ebisu. Udon, Moegi, and their fearless leader, Konohamaru. And to top it off, they were all wearing those ridiculous goggles Naruto had been so fond of as a kid.

God, holding back his laughter was gonna bruise a rib.

“Tip for the future,” Naruto managed, holding up a finger. “Rocks aren’t square. And they sure as hell don’t have eye holes or make noise.”

“Hmph,” Konohamaru replied, chubby arms crossed over his chest. Moegi and Udon seemed to take the suggestion to heart though and were nodding thoughtfully.

Behind him, Sakura chuckled.

Evidently having grown bored of the conversation, Konohamaru looked up at the two genins and frowned.

“Hey, what’s with the flowers, bro?” Konohamaru asked, peeking up at the bouquet of carnations in Naruto’s hands. Then, a mischievous sly grin slid across his face. “Is it for her?” He smirked, gesturing to Sakura.

Naruto blanched.

“Psh, as if,” Sakura cut in quickly, sparing Naruto from an awkward explanation. He really didn’t feel like saying they were for a dead relative, or lying and saying they were for someone else. “No, he’s carrying them for me,” she continued. “Cuz he’s such a good friend.”

Thank you, Sakura, he thought, shooting her a small grin.

Konohamaru however, didn’t seem convinced. “Sure,” he deadpanned.

“Whatever,” Naruto sighed, waving him off. “Believe it, don’t believe it; I don’t care. Just get better at the camouflage jutsu so we don’t have to do this again.” It might have come off as rude, but you couldn’t be a good shinobi if you got spotted every five seconds.

“Fine,” Konohamaru spat. “But I betcha can’t catch me!” And with that, he took off running in the other direction, kicking up dust in his wake. Naruto wouldn’t have bothered following, as he had things to do until he heard a scream.

Konohamaru's scream.

A cold feeling settled in his stomach. He shared a look with Sakura. “That’s not good,” he said and took off after him. Moegi and Udon were hot on their heels as they ran down the dirt road. When they rounded a corner, they were overcome with a sense of deja vu.

“Hey, put me down! Put me down!” The screaming was coming from Konohamaru, who was being held aloft by his scarf by a boy dressed in all black.

Sakura and Naruto froze in their tracks, breath caught in their throats from the sight that greeted them.

“You know it’s rude to bump into people,” the boy said. “I oughta teach you a lesson, brat.” He pulled his fist back to throw a punch, making Konohamaru flinch away, but was intercepted at the last minute by a girls cry.

“Kankuro, no!”

Because that’s who was standing in front of them. Kankuro and Temari of the Sand. The Kazekage’s children. They’d come for the chunin exams with their brother-

“Gaara,” Naruto breathed, finishing his thought aloud. Sakura shot him a quick, uneasy glance as if telling him to shut up.

“Put the brat down, you dumbass,” Temari continued, oblivious to the time traveler's presence. “We didn’t come here to pick fights.”

“Hey!” Naruto shouted, getting their attention. It was hard to look at them let alone speak knowing what he did about them, and consider them friends and comrades. But he had to pretend he didn’t know them, and that they were just some thugs picking on his friend. Not an easy task for him to do. “Let our friend go!”

Blinking, Kankuro glanced lazily over at him, almost surprised he hadn’t noticed him sooner. “And why’s that?” He asked with a bored tone, seeming to come to the conclusion that Naruto wasn’t worth his time.

Naruto grimaced. Konohamaru wouldn’t like this one. “Because that’s the Hokage’s grandson you’re picking on. Judging by your headbands, you guys are foreign ninjas so I doubt you wanna get on the bad side of this village, y’know.”

Like the cloth was burning him, Kankuro immediately lets go of his hold on the scarf, dropping the boy unceremoniously onto the ground. It looked like it hurt. Well, Naruto thought with a sigh, it had gotten the job done…

“You’re from Suna, aren’t you,” Sakura said, stepping forward. The two siblings looked over at her. “What are you doing here?” It was a pointless question for them, but it had to be asked for the sake of the “conversation”.

Temari took the initiative this time. “Chūnin exams,” she said, holding up a slip of paper. It was the same slip Kakashi-sensei would give to them in a few days that allowed them to enter the exams. “Konoha's hosting this time, and our sensei recommended us for it.”

It wasn’t the only reason they were here, obviously. But they couldn’t let on that they knew that.

“You need three people to enter the exams,” Sakura noted. “I only count two.”

Then, the voice that Naruto was both dreading and waiting with bated breath to hear said, “Perhaps you need to work on your counting skills.”

Naruto froze, fists clenching of their own accord. He looked up at the tree to their right to see the face the raspy voice belonged to and felt his mouth go dry.

It was Gaara.

 

---

 

All of Konoha's jōnin sensei were gathered in the Hokage’s tower in a room solely designated for jōnin meetings. The Hokage himself sat at the front in his large chair if one could call it that. It more resembled a stuffed cushion than anything.

They were all gathered to discuss the upcoming chunin exams. It hadn’t been stated, per say, but the implication was obvious. They were jōnin, if they didn’t realize what the meeting was about by now they didn’t deserve the title. Kakashi hadn’t been a part of a full meeting since team assignments three months ago when he’d been given the little bastards.

Fleetingly, Kakashi wondered if he’d known then how much of a pain in his ass they would be if he would have fought harder against taking them. In reality, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. He was the only one in the village who had a sharingan to keep the kyuubi under control and teach the last Uchiha how to use his. Even if he’d failed them, he still would have gotten them again next year, and be stuck in this stressful situation of whether he should or should not recommend them for the exams.

God, being a sensei was hard.

How had Minato-sensei done it?

The sound of a cleared throat brought him back to reality.

Looking forward, he fixed his eye on the Hokage, who was starting to address his assembled subjects.

“You’ve been assembled here for only one reason,” he started. “It should be obvious by the members here.”

“It’s already that time,” Kakashi sighed.

Behind him, he heard Genma speak up. “It’s already been reported to the other villages,” he reported. “There's been an increased influx of foreign nin in the village lately.” Then, “So when does it start?”

There was a pause in which Hiruzen took an inhale from his pipe. Kakashi watched patiently.

“Well,” he finally said, smoke billowing from his lips. “I’ll announce it properly seven days from now. On the first day of next month… the chunin exams will commence.”

The feeling of unease that had settled in Kakashi’s stomach only seemed to grow worse.

“Now,” Hiruzen said. “Let's hear from those teaching the new genin.”

Kakashi glanced over to look at Kurenai and Asuma. Both of them had hard looks on their faces as if determined about some resolve of theirs.

“Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma.” They stepped forward. “Well? Would you like to enter the exam?” After a short silence on their part, he continued. “I don’t have to tell you, but once a genin has completed eight D-rank missions, they qualify for the chunin exams, if nominated by their sensei that is,” he corrected himself. Then, shooting a look at Kakashi, added, “And I know for a fact some of you have completed well over eight missions.”

Both Kurenai and Asuma glanced over at him, Kurenai shooting him a withering stare.

Kakashi sweatdropped. Yes, he may have pushed his genin a little harder than necessary in the past, but they handled it fine. No need to work up a sweat over it. Or a genjutsu, he added mentally, eyeing Kurenai warily.

“Asuma,” Lord Third said, breaking him off his train of thought. “Are there any genin you recommend from your team.”

Asuma nodded and stepped forward. “Team 10, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi…” Kakashi waited to hear the verdict. “Under the name of Asuma Sarutobi, I nominate them to take the chunin exams.”

A surprised murmur rippled through the assembled shinobi. Most jōnin sensei didn’t nominate their genin who was only fresh out of the academy. To do so meant either Asuma thought very highly of them, or very low. For if nothing else, the chūnin exams were a great way to dissuade genin from continuing on the path of a shinobi. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the man.

In front of them, the Hokage nodded in acceptance before turning to Kurenai. She stepped forward.

“Team 8, Hinata Hyūga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame... “ Kakashi stared, waiting for her response. “Under the name of Kurenai Yūhi, I nominate them for the chunin exams.”

This time, the reaction was larger. Two rookie teams nominated for the exams? It was practically unheard of. As Kurenai stepped back, she locked gazes with him, and for a second, she seemed to be daring him. But the moment ended quickly as she took her place to his right again.

All eyes were on him now.

The pressure in the room seemed to be growing. Both Kurenai and Asuma had nominated their teams, and they had no experience of B or A-rank missions under their belts like his team did. If he didn’t nominate them, they might think he was lazy or didn’t care, and in turn, would be seen as a poor sensei. Even so, Kakashi wouldn’t care either way. But his team had already proven themselves capable to everyone in the village. He was known for pushing them hard, and seeing how they all came back unscathed from Wave meant they were very skilled.

So if he didn’t nominate them, what did that say about his faith in them?

But if he did…

Sakura was wise beyond her years and an expert in chakra theory. Her strength, however much she tried to hide it, was incredible and was already starting to understand basic medical ninjutsu without his aid. In a few years, he wouldn’t be surprised if she was on par with Lady Tsunade.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was as skilled as one came. His taijutsu was impeccable, and he was insanely fast. He's practically mastered the sharingan using scrolls from his clan and had already unlocked the third phase. His mastery over both fire and lightning nature was nothing to scoff at, and he already showed a high aptitude for kenjutsu.

And Naruto... He was a powerhouse, being both an Uzumaki and a jinchūriki. But he was also the son of the Fourth Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki, two well-known jōnin with far too many enemies. If he showed his chains, which he undoubtedly would, he was sure it wouldn’t take long for people to put the pieces together. True, they might just accept that it’s an Uzumaki kekkei genkai, as it wasn’t solely used by Kushina, but still, he worried.

His genin were strong. They were capable, also yes. But they would be in danger. Because of their skills, they would be made a target in the exams. And while they’d shown they can go toe to toe with much stronger enemies, they’d never done it on a scale like this. Shinobi with far more experience and knowledge pressing down on them, possibly breaking them. He didn’t want that for them. They already had the look in their eyes that only seasoned shinobi had. Haunted. He didn’t want to see that worsen because he pushed them into something they might not be ready for.

But still, would it be fair to deny them of this? Kakashi didn’t know. It was all so convoluted.

“Kakashi,” Hiruzen said, finally addressing the man. “What of your team?”

Making up his mind, Kakashi stepped forward.

 

---

 

 

Naruto could only help but stare wide-eyed at his fellow jinchūriki. He was standing upside down on a tree branch, watching the proceeding with empty eyes. There was a chilling air of apathy about him that sent a shiver down Naruto’s spine. It was a drastic difference from the Kage he had been fighting with not four months ago.

“Gaara,” Kankuro choked out. “You surprised us.”

Instead of responding, Gaara disappeared in a cloud of sand before reappearing in front of his siblings, back turned to Naruto and Sakura.

“Let’s go,” he rasped out. “We’ve wasted enough time as it is.” The two older siblings swallowed nervously before sharing a look.

“Alright,” Temari nodded. “Let’s go.”

“Hey, wait!” Naruto shouted, stopping them in their tracks. “Who are you guys? What are you guys?”

Panicked flashed across Temari and Kankuro’s faces as they stopped. Only Gaara seemed unaffected.

It was Kankuro who spoke up first. “What do you mean ‘what’?” He sounded like he was trying to keep up his casual, bored facade, but his voice shook slightly, giving him away.

“I can sense something wrong about you guys,” Naruto bluffed. “Something bad. What’s up with that?” He was trying to get at Gaara. He had to make a connection with him. He couldn’t let him continue being so nihilistic and psychotic. He had to help him realize he was loved and cared for. He had to help him.

“You, with the gourd.” He pointed straight at Gaara. The boys back was still turned to him, but Naruto could see how his shoulders tensed up. Next to him, Temari and Kankuro took a small step back, both paling.

“It’s you, isn’t it? What’s your name?”

There was silence for a moment after his question. Behind him, Konohamaru was clutching at his pant leg, Moegi and Udon doing the same with Sakura, who was shooting him a look that said: “What the fuck are you doing”. Well, sorry Sakura, no time to explain now.

“You wouldn’t ask a monster for its name,” Gaara finally said, looking over his shoulder with empty eyes. “Why care for mine?”

Naruto grit his teeth, fists clenching tightly at his sides. “I don’t believe in monsters,” he rumbled. “Only bad circumstances.” Kurama wasn’t a monster, Itachi wasn’t a monster, Obito wasn’t a monster. The world had turned its back on them. But that didn’t have to mean they were monsters.

“Hmph,” was all he got back.

He turned away again, ready to take off onto the roofs before Naruto yelled out, “Well my name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I’m not scared ah ‘you, cuz if I’m right, then we’re the same. And I’m no monster!” He jabbed a thumb at himself. All three siblings froze at the statement, the meaning of it sinking in. He’d just admitted he was the same as Gaara, which meant he held a bijuu too. But he was announcing it for the world to hear instead of threatening lives like their brother.

“In fact,” Naruto continued loudly. “I’m gonna prove it to ya in the exams. So, what’s your name?”

The smirk the future Kazekage gave him was more chilling than any empty stare of his had ever been. “I’m Gaara,” he said simply. “And I doubt you will.” And with that, he was gone.

Chapter 26: The First Exam

Notes:

We made it! First part of the chunin arc. Kind of a long chapter, just because there had to be so much in it. Yikes. Anyways, thank you so much to every who has commented and kudo'd this, y'all are seriously awesome. I squeak in excitement every time I see that notification in my email.
Anyways, this chapter isn't beta'd, but it will be soon. So don't worry about any spelling or grammar errors, they're gonna be taken care of real quick. Enjoy!

The days following the run in with Gaara were tense ones. After seeing him, Sakura had decided to go tell Sasuke what had happened after they visited Kushina’s grave, as originally planned before the run in. The next day all three of them had been on edge. If Kakashi-sensei had noticed, he didn’t comment on it. And if they trained extra hard during their drills, well, he didn’t comment on that either.

It was two days before the first test that Naruto finally took the initiative and walked up to their sensei to address the elephant in the room.

“Kaka-sensei?” He started uncertainty, looking up at their lazy teacher. He was leaning against one of the trees on the side of the clearing reading his stupid book while they did their morning exercises. Hearing his uneasy tone, Kakashi-sensei looked up, blinking his lone eye slowly.

“Hm? Is something the matter Naruto?” he asked, lowering his book.

“Well, like, not really, but, uh, well,” he fumbled around for the right thing to say before Sakura coughed loudly behind him from where she was stretching. “Right!” He cried. “Well, so we’ve noticed that there have been a lotta foreign ninja in the village recently,” he finally managed. “And… they’re all genin here for the chunin exams…”

“Yes, and?” Their sensei drawled in response, giving him an expectant, yet unimpressed look. It almost felt like he was egging him on. Naruto fumed at the thought.

“ Well ,” Naruto huffed. “We were wondering if you had, y’know, signed us up. For it. Maybe…”

Kakashi-sensei was silent for some time, simply observing the genin. A small trickle of anxiety wormed its way into Naruto’s git the longer the silence stretched out, And because his sensei’s face was unreadable, he couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

Wait, had he not nominated them? The sudden thought sent a jolt of panic through him, which he fought to keep down.

“Maa, well,” he finally sighed, rubbing the back of his head in a tired gesture. “I was going to wait to tell you all but, since you asked.” Naruto felt his jaw clench tightly from nerves as Kakashi-sensei beckoned the other two over, waiting patiently for them to get up from their stretches before joining them by the tree. Once settled in, the three looked expectantly up at him, almost holding their breath in nervousness.

“The chunin exams are coming up, that is accurate,” he told them. “Lord Hokage told all jōnin  sensei about it five days ago.”

The tension in the air between all three genin was nearly palpable. If he didn’t nominate them, then all their planning was for nothing. I would of course be stupid if he didn’t, as they were far better than they were back when they were originally genin. But again, it was Kakashi-sensei, who knew what went on in his mind.

“I nominated you for the chunin exams,” he stated. The effort it took all three of them to hide the relief and excitement they felt was incredible. “Should you choose to,” he continued, oblivious to their internal thoughts. “Show up at the academie tomorrow with these.” He handed them all slips of paper proclaiming themselves entrance tickets. It had the name and time of where they were to meet for the first exam. “If you don’t want to or feel you’re not ready to take the exam, you can elect not to.” A moot point, really, not that he realized that. “ However ,” he continued. “Should you chose to, I don’t want you showing off or using your full skill set until I say,” he said cryptically. It was an odd request for sure, and if they had been actual genin they would have broken off into an argument, shouting about how unfair that would be. But as it was... “I don’t want you three to be made targets of,” he finished seriously.

“But sensei,” Naruto scoffed, trying to ease the tension that had grown in the air. “We’re so badass though, no one can touch us.”

A hard, steely look flashed across their sensei’s grey eye, effectively shutting the genin up. “While you are all very talented,” he admitted, an edge to his voice. “There are others with far more experience and skill than your own.”

Doubtful , all three genin thought.

Their sensei, oblivious to their musings, went on. “And even so, it would be you three against everyone else. It doesn’t matter how good you are, the odds would be against you. And I don’t want to risk that.”

The seriousness in his voice made Naruto hold back any retort he might have been planning. If he wasn’t mistaken, Kakashi-sensei sounded… worried? Naruto frowned, that was never an emotion he’d seen or heard from the man. Yes there had been concern, obviously, but never blatant worry. It was striking to realize that.

“Can you three promise me that?” He asked them. Sakura and Naruto made eye contact for a brief moment, as if discussing what their sensei had just asked them. Then the same with Sasuke. It was fair, they decided.

Slowly, uncertainly, all three genin nodded. Their sensei let out a small sigh of relief.

“Good,” he breathed. “Now, back to stretching. We have a long day ahead of us.”

 

---

 

The academy was bustling with activity the next morning. The ground were saturated with genin teams were hanging around outside, running through stretches, chatting about strategy, and anything else average genin did. Team 7 made their way through the masses carefully, making sure not to bump into anyone or draw attention to themselves, as their sensei had asked. And yes, he that wasn’t exactly what he meant, but the less people noticed them, the better. Probably.

“So what classroom was it again?” Naruto asked once they made it inside, looking down at his slip of paper.

“Dumbass, it says 301,” Sasuke huffed, pointing to it.

“I knew that…” Naruto grumbled back, angrily stuffing the slip into his pocket. Next to them, Sakura just rolled her eyes, accepting that her boys would never not be at each other's throats for one reason or another. Best to just let it happen, really.

“So Sakura,” Naruto spoke up, looking over to the pinkette. “You like, took the chunin exams again, didn’t you? Was it different that time?”

Humming thoughtfully, Sakura thought back on it, going so far as to tap her chin. “Hm, well, it was different. Different tests that is. But the third exam was the same.” She shrugged. “That part was kind of easy though. But I guess training with Lady Tsunade does that.”

“I bet,” Sasuke added lowly next to her. “Of course, this time around it’s going to be far easier for all of us. We all trained under sannin after all.”

“I always wanted to take the exam again,” Naruto hummed. “After training with pervy sage that is. Never got the chance though…”

They’d made it to the stairs now, and started their journey up to the third floor.

“You don’t get to be chunin just cuz you’re powerful though,” Sasuke pointed out, a sly smirk decorating his face. “You’re still a dumbass.”

“Oi!” Naruto cried. “I’m smart enough to defeat Pein! And kick Obito’s ass!”

“You’re just too stubborn,” was the Uchiha’s reply. “Too stubborn and too powerful.”

Behind them, Sakura huffed out a defeated sigh. Boys , she thought.

Once they made it to the second floor, the sounds of loud arguing and frustration echoed into the hallway.

“The genjutsu,” Sakura reminded them, pointing to the sign above one of the doors reading “301”, despite the fact that they weren’t on the third floor. Naruto vaguely remembered this. There had been two genin blocking the doorway who wouldn’t let anyone through, despite it being the testing room. Except it hadn’t been the testing room, it had been a test in and of itself. Only when Sakura and Sasuke had pointed it out had the illusion dropped and people realized it was the wrong classroom.

Suddenly, the sight of three certain genin caught his eye, and his heart stopped.

“Hey, hey,” Naruto hissed suddenly, grabbing Sasuke’s sleeve to stop him from continuing up the stairs.

“ What ?” he hissed back, tearing his sleeve away.

“We have to go out there.”

“Why?” Sasuke growled. “If they’re too stupid to see a genjutsu, they shouldn’t become chunin.”

“Not that ,” Naruto hissed back. “ That .” He pointed down the hall to one of the teams hanging around arguing with the two absonite genin. There was a boy in a god awful green jumpsuit, a girl in a pink qipao-style blouse, and-

“ Neji ,” he breathed, limbs frozen and wide eyes trained on the Hyuga. Next to him, Sakura’s breath caught in her throat, eyes train on the genin as well.

“Who?” Sasuke asked.

“He,” His voice caught in his throat. God, how was he supposed to talk? It shouldn’t be this hard! “He sacrificed himself for me in the war…” he mumbled, eyes trained on the boys back. “He was my friend.”

Sasuke looked back and forth between the Hyuga and Naruto, as if trying to determine why that would be. “Do you know each other yet?” He asked carefully, eyeing him. Naruto just shook his head, not trusting his voice. An indiscernible look passed across the Uchiha’s face, too quick to catch. But it might have resembled sympathy if anyone had seen it.

“Well,” Sakura started uneasily, fairly shaken herself. “Come on. Let’s go introduce ourselves.” With that, she grabbed both of the boys hands and tugged them down the hall. Sasuke lagged behind, reluctant to be dragged anywhere, while Naruto just stumbled along, still lost in his musings.

“We’re just thinning out those who’re gonna fail anyway,” they heard one of the genin blocking the door day. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Great plan,” Sakura but in, pushing through the crow, no longer holding onto their hands. “Only one problem with that.”

The genin (who looked an awful lot like Izumo and Kotetsu) looked up at the newcomer and frowned. “Yeah, and what’s that?” He sneered.

Sakura smirked. “It’s the wrong door.”

There was a silent showdown between the two genin, where Sakura held his stare with her own icy one, one that dared anyone who looked at her to try anything. As was always the case, they didn’t. The genin backed down, then let out a low chuckle.

“So you noticed,” he smirked. All the surrounding genin were casting team 7 looks of confusion and intrigue, trying to figure out what they had.

“Drop the genjutsu,” Sasuke ordered. “We just want to get to the third floor. Where the actual classroom is.”

“Hmph,” the other genin sighed. “Whatever, you wont it through the exams anyway. We’ve already taken it three times, and we’ve never passed.” It was supposed to be a scare tactic, but Sasuke just laughed.

“I guess you suck then.”

This earned him a scowl from the two genin. They shared a look before the first one, the one that resembled Kotetsu, glowered at him and said, “You’ve only seen through the genjutsu, you still have to get past-” he dropped low onto one hand, swinging his leg into a kick aimed right at Sasuke. “ME!”

Two things happened at once. Sasuke stepped back away from the blow, hands still in his pockets, while at the same time, a green blur rushed in between them and caught the genin’s leg in his hand, effectively halting the boy in his tracks.

The hallway went dead silent.

There stood Lee, holding onto the attacking genin’s leg with one hand, nonplussed. Behind him, Sasuke stood watching the scene with vague interest. Suddenly, Lee dropped his hold on the genin and let him fall to the floor.

“Oof,” the genin let out, hitting the wood hard. Lee just smirked.

“Hey, someone said, coming up behind them. It was Neji.

Naruto and Sakura’s eyes widened as they watched the future jonin walk up to Lee, scowl already in place. “What happened to the plan,” he chastised. “You’re the one who said we shouldn’t draw attention to ourselves.”

Ignoring him, Lee brushed himself off and looked over his shoulder, as if looking around for something. His face lit up when he appeared to have found it, and he made his way confidently over to-

“Hello, what is your name?” he asked, standing directly in front of Sakura. Sakura blinked in astonishment, taken aback. All eyes in the hallway were on them, as Lee had just stopped a kick point blank like it was nothing, and was now just chatting up another genin like he’d done nothing wrong. It was a little jarring.

“I’m Sakura,” she stammered out. Then, remembering herself, she asked, “What’s yours?”

“I am Rock Lee!” He cried, flashing a thumbs up. “We should go out!”

Uh, what?

“Sorry, no…” she managed, shrinking back. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, hands off,” Naruto added, stepping up to the two.

Lee, recognising the faint hostility coming off the boy, immediately backed down, dropping into a low bow instead.

“Forgive my forwardness,” he cried. “I hope you accept my deepest apologies.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to bow,” she got out.

“Sorry about him,” Tenten suddenly spoke up, stepping up to them. “He’s a little weird. Just ignore him.”

“...Okay,”

“I’m Tenten,” she introduced. “And that sullen Hyuga over there is Neji. And this, as you can obviously guess, is Lee.”

“You seem like a very strong kunoichi,” he suddenly announced, straightening himself up. “If you will not go out with me, then I would love to fight you someday.”

“Eh, thanks,” Sakura managed awkwardly. “I hope to fight you too, I guess.” Tenten just chuckled behind Lee while Neji barely rolled his eyes.

“Come on Sakura,” Sasuke interrupted, turning towards the stairs. “We gotta get to the first exam.”

“Oh, right!” She squeaked. “Uh, it was really nice meeting you, Lee, and you Tenten.” She stopped and looked over at Neji, but before she could say anything, her words caught in her throat. She couldn’t quite bring herself to greet him. The image of his corpse skewered by the Juubi fresh in her mind. It happened months ago for them, but, seeing him again… it just triggered something in her.

“It was nice meeting you all,” she settled on, giving the team a small wave before being led off by her own team back towards the stairs.

 

---

 

They finally made it to room 301 after not even a five minute walk. And that was because there was no Lee to challenge them this time, which Naruto couldn’t decide was a good thing or not…

Regardless, they made it to the right room (no Kakashi-sensei to greet them this time like he had last), and pushed open the doors.

Immediately upon entering the room, someone tackled Sasuke.

“SASUKE! You’re late!” Someone shrieked. It was Ino, and she was launching herself at him. Without thinking, he judo flipped her over his shoulder, using her momentum to carry through. She smacked hard against the ground, face up towards the ceiling.

She let out a moan as she tried to get air back into her lungs.

“Don’t startle me,” Sasuke clipped, getting over the shock. Ino, still on the ground, just blinked up at him in both admiration and startlement.

“O-okay,” was her timid response. Rolling his eyes, the Uchiha helped her up, stuffing his hands back in his pockets as soon as she was on her feet.

“I just, haven’t seen you in a while,” she blushed. “Guess I was just a bit too excited.”

Sasuke “hn’d”, but aside from that he gave no response.

“Hey Ino,” Naruto greeted casually, offering a small wave. Ino gave a kind smile back.

“Oi, Ino,” someone called from off to the side. Looking over, Naruto spotted chibi-Shikamaru and chibi-Choji walking towards them. As usual, Shikamaru had his hands stuffed in his pockets and was slouching so much Naruto was sure Sakura would be freaking out over spinal health. Next to him, Choji was munching on a bag of chips. Because, for some reason, he literally always had chips on him. Even though weapons pouches were for, well, weapons. Not food.

“Come on, don’t make a scene,” the future jonin sighed. “Hey Naruto,” he added, nodding to the other genin. Naruto offered a big smile back, glad to see his friend again (even if they weren’t great friends yet).

“I’m surprised you guys are taking the test too,” he continued. “Most rookie genin don’t.”

“Haven’t you been keeping up with the village gossip?” Ino asked, scandalized. The deadpan look Shikamaru have her was all the answer she needed. Huffing, Ino brushed her hair out of her face and set her hands on her hips. “ Anyways, ” she started. “They did an A-rank mission like last month or something. They all got out fine, too. I mean seriously, are you living under a rock?”

Shikamaru just shrugged nonchalante. “I guess that’s pretty cool,” he sighed. “We haven’t done anything like that, so I don’t get why Asuma sensei nominated us.”

Asuma .

The name felt like a punch to the gut. Both Naruto and Sakura’s faces dropped, memories of the fallen jonin playing through their head. The funeral, the revenge mission, Kurenai…

“Yahoo! Found you!”

Speak of the devil, and it shall appear.

Trying to shake off the shock the mention of a once dead teammate brought, Sakura and Naruto turned to face the incoming team 8, Kurenai-sensei’s team.

“Jeez, you guys too,” Shikamaru groaned.

“Looks like we’re all here,” Chibi-Kiba smirked, ignoring Shikamaru. A tiny Akamaru sat on top of his head and yipped in agreement. And jeez, when was the last time he had been so tiny? “Man, all of the rookies,” Kiba continued. “Guess we’re all kick-ass, huh?”

“Hah, you wish,” Ino scoffed across from him. “Team 10’s gonna kick your asses, no doubt.”

“Hmph, as if,” the Inuzuka barked. “We’ve been training a lot, no way we’ll lose to you.”

While the two teams bickered back and forth, Naruto noticed Hinata almost hiding behind Shino, face beet red.

Oh shit, he thought in panic. She’s still got a crush on me. But I’m seventeen!

“H-hello, Naruto,” she mumbled, noticing him staring.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. What do I do?

Luckily, he was saved by another voice, a familiar voice, interrupting.

“Hey you guys, you should be more quiet.” Turning around, Naruto had to fight hard to keep his fists unclenched as he locked eyes with none other than Kabuto Yakushi, Orochimaru’s lackey and spy. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Sasuke’s eyes narrow threateningly, finger twitching as if itching to start a jutsu. Sakura was the same.

“You guys are rookies just out of the academy right?” The traitor continued, ignorant of their hostility. “Screaming like school girls… Jeez… This isn’t a picnic.”

The other two genin teams looked more subdued now that someone older and more experienced was telling them off. Meanwhile, team 7 was just trying their best not to deck the guy. It was proving to be rather hard.

Are you sure you don’t want me to give you some juice? Kurama suddenly spoke up. Frowning, Naruto shoved the idea down, as tempting as it was.

I know he’s strong, but we can’t just take him out here and now, he shot back.

Pity, the fox mumbled. It’s been a bit dull around here . Naruto just rolled his eyes and focused back in on the conversation taking place. Kabuto was pointing out that they were drawing unwanted attention to themselves.

“- quiet down before he cause a scene,” he finished.

“If we cause a scene you’ll be drawn in,” Sasuke pointed out dryly, almost glaring daggers at him. “Which’ll make you a target too. And I don’t think you want that.”

Kabuto narrowed his eyes at the Uchiha. “Hm, so I guess the Uchiha are smart,” he hummed.

“What I am or am not is none of your business,” Sasuke growled back, arms now crossed over his chest.

“Hm, touchy,” he smirked. Sasuke only narrowed his eyes further. Kabuto eventually got the hint and backed off. “Right, well,” he said. “Good luck on the exams.” And with that, he backtracked to his team, throwing them one last glance over his shoulder at them, glasses gleaming bright white.

Once he was out of hearing range, Ino turned to Sasuke with a quizzical look. “What was that about?” She asked. “You didn’t have to be so cold to him.”

“Hn,” was all he responded with. Both genin teams stared at him with apprehension, uneasiness radiating off of them. They knew he was distant from their time in school, but this was… cold.

“We’re just stressed,” Sakura tried, seeing their unease. They didn’t seem convinced, but they accepted it anyway.

“Whatever,” Shikamaru sighed. “Troublesome.”

Naruto tried to hide his grimace, but he had a feeling he was failing.

“ Shit ,” Sasuke suddenly hissed, turning away and hiding his face from whoever he’d spotted. Both Naruto and Sakura raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t like Sasuke to hide from someone...

“What?” Sakura deadpanned. Not saying a word, Sasuke gestured behind him to an area a few yards away, where a genin team from Kusa was milling about.

“Eh? What’s the deal?” Naruto asked, squinting at them. “They’re just genin.”

“No, he hissed. “ Her .” He gestured again and this time Naruto spotted familiar bright red hair and glasses. It was-

“Karin, you do as we say or else, you got it?” One of the genin on her team growled. He was glowering at her like she was scum on his sandals. Not a look any shinobi should give their teammate. Naruto had only ever seen the other Uzumaki as a bitter teenager, so seeing her so meek and small was startling. Chibi-Karin just nodded mutely to her teammate, movements subdued and withdrawn.

“That’s not very nice of them,” Sakura muttered under her breath, frowning deeply. Naruto echoed the same sentiment.

“Don’t step out of line,” the other Kusa genin ordered. “You know the only reason your here is to help us. Don’t get smart about it.” Again, Karin nodded her small, timid nod, head down and arms folded protective tight across her chest. She looked… scared.

Before he knew what he was doing, Naruto was racing over.

“Naruto!” Sakura hissed while Sasuke tried to grab him. But he wasn’t paying attention. Then, he was standing in front of the genin.

“Hey,” he said, not knowing what he was going to say. Well, he had an idea. But it was probably crazy.

“Buzz off,” the first Kusa shinobi said, arms crossed. The second boy copied the first, angry pout glaring him down.

“I’m not talking to you,” Naruto dismissed. “I’m talkin’ to her .” He turned to Karin. The girl blinked in surprise, shrinking away from the sudden attention. Without thinking, Naruto barged on. “So like, this might sound weird, but I saw your red hair across the room and the only people I know with hair like that are Uzumaki, y’know. And like, I’m an Uzumaki,‘cept I don’t got red hair like my mom did, and if you’re an Uzumaki too that means we’re family and I’ve never had family before, so are you an Uzumaki? Although if you are I don’t know what you’re doin’ in Kusa, ‘cause Konoha and Uzushio were allies an’ everything y’know. ” It was said all in one breath, words practically overlapping. It left poor Karin blinking in shock at all the information that just spilled from his mouth.

“...I-”

“Hey, we said buzz off! Quit botherin’ us,” one of the Kusa genin said, trying to shove him away. “She’s not interested in your stupid rambling, ya weirdo.”

“I can speak for myself, Soya* (crude),” she squeaked, eyes suddenly hard. Apparently this was new behavior for her, is both the apparent named Soya and his partner stared at her, blinking in disbelief.

“What did you say?” Soya growled lowly. Karin gulped nervously, backing away slightly until she was partially hidden behind Naruto.

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” she whimpered, eyes focused on the ground.

Naruto, having had enough of these two assholes, spoke up. “You don’t really act like a team, y’know,” he growled, leveling the two boys with a cold stare.

“She’s just here to make sure we become chunin,” Soya shot back. “It’s the only thing she’s good for.” The anger bubbling in Naruto belly burned hotter, threatening to seep into his chakra.

Now’s not the time Kurama, he thought to the fox, curling his fists to hide the claws threatening to grow.

“I bet she’s better than any ‘a you,” he growled. He’d seen her in action, he knew she was.

“Oh yeah,” Soya challenged, stepping into his space. His fists were curled at his sides in a supposedly threatening manner, not that he was all that intimidating. “What’s it matter to you?”

“Wait!” Karin suddenly cried, tugging on Naruto’s arm. “Please don’t fight,” she begged. Her red eyes were wide in fright as they flicked back and forth between the two boys as they squared off.

“Naruto, back off,” a new voice joined in. Glancing behind him, he saw Sakura and Sasuke were standing there with a scowls on their faces, bodies tense as if ready to spring into action. Either helping him cream this bastard or stopping him from doing so himself, he couldn’t tell.

“Remember what Kaka-sensei said,” Sakura reminded him in a hushed tone.

Right , he remembered, thinking back to that speech the other day. Don’t show off or make a target of yourself. He let a frustrated huff.

“Yeah, I know,” he grumbled, stepping away. Soya and his partner looked smug about it, which just further irritated him.

“Come on, let’s go Karin,” Soya said, walking away as an announcement was made about seating arrangements. Instead of immediately following him though, Karin hung back.

“Um, Naruto, you said it was?” She asked, looking over at him. He nodded. “Are you really an Uzumaki?”

He nodded. “Through and through!”

The girl gulped nervously in response, eyes flitting down to the floor for a moment before back up to him. “I am an Uzumaki,” she admitted in a small voice. “So was my mom.” The look of grief that flashed across her face combined with the use of past tense told Naruto everything he needed to know about her mother. She was gone. He grimaced at the realization.

“I guess that means we’re family?” She tried. Shaking off his frown, he nodded and gave her a big smile.

“I guess so.”

Before they could say anything else, there impromptu family reunion was interrupted by a proctor calling all genin to their seats, as the exam was about to begin. Karin started and was about to turn around before Naruto caught her arm.

“Hey,” he whispered holding onto her arm to stop her from leaving. “Find me after the exam. Family’s gotta stick together, y’know.”

A faint smile lit up her face. It didn’t quite reach her red eyes, but a small blush colored her cheeks, showing her appreciation.

“Yeah, sure thing,” she whispered back. He smiled back at her before letting go of her arm and letting her hurry of to find her seat. He looked for where Hinata was sitting instead of at the seating chart, as he remembered sitting next to her the first time around. Once settling himself in his seat, Ibiki Morino, the first exam proctor, got up in front of the assembled genin.

The first exam had begun.

 

Chapter 27: Uzumaki

Notes:

Yo, we passed 2000 kudos!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you everyone, holy shit. Y'all are awesome. Anyway, here ya go with the next chapter! Un-beta'd, so expect mistakes. Other than that, enjoy!

Karin watched as the blond Uzumaki made his way to his seat, determined expression fixed on his face. He seemed so confident, so self assured. Could he... could he really be family?

Karin wouldn’t have believed it at first, just because he looked nothing like an Uzumaki. He didn’t have red hair or pale skin like her or her mom did, but he was as bosturious as her mother said their clan was. And his chakra… it was so warm and bubbly. She’d felt it immediately when he entered the room, like a bonfire on a cold night. It was something she automatically wanted to latch onto, just because she never felt that back in Kusa. Maybe she had with her mom, but that was long ago. She couldn’t honestly say she remembered everything about the woman perfectly, even though she wished she could. The memories were all tainted with bitterness and regret.

She’d never met another Uzumaki before, she’d thought she was the last one. After all, she had no reason to think otherwise. To this this boy smiling and bouncing around, it was so foreign to her. What did he do for the village? Did they treat him like they treated her? Did they treat him better? He said he’d never had a family, so he was orphaned like her. Did they kill his mom too? Push her to the edge where she couldn’t crawl back from?

Looking at the way he smiled, somehow she didn’t think that was the case.

The proctor up front continued his speech on the rules of the exam and signaled for them to start. Karin did. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of her teammates glaring daggers at her. She had to pass this exam or else, is what their eyes said. Gulping, she turned to the clock.

One hour until she could speak with that Naruto boy.

Suddenly passing this test didn’t seem all that important.

 

---

 

Sakura was willing to just sit the test out if she was being honest. She didn’t have to answer a single question or do anything. The point of this test wasn’t to answer the questions correctly after all, it was just to gather information without getting caught. Which wasn’t a problem for her. She’d already made chunin, she could gather intel just fine. But that wasn’t the problem right now. The problem was she was so bored .

She was easily smart enough to answer all these without having to cheat, albeit it would still be hard, but she didn’t have to. But on the other hand, she couldn’t just sit here for an hour!

God, decision, decisions…

Eventually she decided to answer the questions, not working too fast in the hopes of stretching it out for as long as possible. If she really tried to she might even be able to push it till the last question. Maybe.

Across the room, Sasuke was eyeing his own test. His sharingan wasn’t activated yet, as he was still debating the merits of bothering to answer the questions. He didn’t have to, they were going on to the second exam anyways no matter what they did or didn’t do. They just had to stay until the very end.

Around him, he noticed some people begin to start cheating. Next to him, a boy was blatantly looking over at someone’s test. It was so obvious Sasuke almost laughed. He didn’t, but he did roll his eyes. He saw one of the chunin proctors make a tic on their clipboard. So he’d seen it too, he thought. Good. Any ninja as obvious as that didn’t deserve the title.

A few rows in front of him sat Naruto himself. The boy wasn’t nearly as panicked about the test as he was last time, but that didn’t mean he was doing anything either. He was torn between looking around to see if he could spot any familiar faces and just straight up taking a nap. He didn’t quite want to risk doing the first one though out of fear of one of the proctors thinking he was cheating. Nap it was.

We went to settle down, but a voice next to him spoke up before he could.

“Um, N-Naruto,” the soft voice said. “You haven’t answered a single question.”

Naruto looked up and spotted Hinata’s blushing face gazing down at him. Her brow was furrowed in worry, obviously concerned that he wouldn’t pass.

“Yeah?” He replied.

“Would you, would you like to copy my answers?” She offered nervously, scooting her paper a little closer to him. He just shook his head.

“Nah, it’s okay. I’m know what I’m doing.” He gave her a winning smile for effect.

She looked uncertain, but nodded anyways. “Al-alright,” she mumbled. “I just don’t want to see you fail.”

You won’t , he promised internally, remembering how she’d stood up for him in front of Pein. She’d been ready to sacrifice herself so he could have a chance. But thank you.

He went back to staring at the blackboard in the front, sinking into his musings of the future.

 

---

 

One by one, teams of three were kicked out of the test. At one point, Kankuro left for the bathroom, followed by one of the proctors.

Finally, forty five minutes into the test, Ibiki Morino announced the tenth question.

“Now… before we get to it,” he started, hawkish eyes staring over the assembled genin. “I’d like to go over the added rules for this question.” Murmurs of unrest rippled through the classroom. “These are… The rules of desperation.”

This time, Naruto could see some of the genin sweating nervously. A few shifted in their seats. Boy was the man getting to them.

“First, for the tenth question you have to decide whether or not you’ll take it.”

Immediately there was an outcry from one of the seats in the edge of the classroom. “Choose! What happens if we choose not to?” It was Temari that had shouted. She looked so young!

“If you choose not to,” Ibiki answered cooly. “Your points will be reduced to zero, and you’ll fail. Along with your two teammates.”

“What does that mean?” A random genin yelled, the same time another shouted, “Then of course we decide to take the question!”

Up font, Ibiki just humphed. “And now…” he continued, ignoring the outbursts. “The other rule.” Audible gulps were heard. “If you choose to take it and answer incorrectly, that person will lose the right to take the chunin exams ever again.”

While the rest of classroom silently freaked out, Naruto had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes.

“What kinda rule is that!” Kiba shouted from somewhere behind him. “There are guys here who have taken the exam before!”

Ibiki just laughed. “You guys were unlucky,” he said. “This year it’s my rules. But I am giving you a way out. Those that aren’t confident can choose not to take it and try again next year.

“Now,” he went on, ignoring the panicked looks on everyone's faces. “Let’s begin the tenth question.”

Next to him, Hinata shot Naruto a worried look. She knew he hadn’t answered one question, and if he failed this one too…

But Naruto was resting his chin against his hand, bored as all get out.

“Those that do not wish to take it,” Ibiki called out. “Raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave.”

A boy next to him stood up, followed by the rest of him team. A group a few rows ahead followed suit. It went on until there were twenty six teams left in the room, all visibly sweating. At that moment, Naruto decided to shoot up from his chair.

“I call bullshit,” he shouted.

Suddenly, everyone in the classroom went silent, eyes locked on him. The chunin proctors around the edges were staring at him with wide eyes. Up front, Ibiki was staring him don, trying to understand what was going on in his mind.

“And why’s that?” He eventually asked, unable to deduce the reason for the boys sudden outburst.

“This question is rigged,” Naruto announced. “We’re supposed to cheat. Knowing the answers isn’t the point of this. If you know the answer to the tenth question, that defeats the purpose of the whole test. And if you don’t know, you don’t have enough time to copy someone who does,” he said. “Besides, even if I answer it wrong and stay a genin forever, that doesn’t matter. I can still become Hokage through skill alone. You don’t have to have a fancy rank to get the hat.” You don’t have to have one to chase after your best friend, or go on S-rank missions, or fight in a war. He’d always been a genin. It didn't mean shit. “So yeah,” he finished, sitting back down. “I’m calling bullshit.”

Ibiki looked almost impressed, looking over the blonde with a intrigue. “Very well,” he said, unable to contradict anything the boy had said. “But I’ll say it again, your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quite.”

Naruto just scoffed. “Find someone else to quit,” he laughed. “‘Cause I ain’t.”

Ibiki nodded before glancing around the room. All the other genin were looking inspired, instilled with confidence after Naruto’s impromptu speech. The chunin proctors were all giving Naruto looks of impressed admiration, some even smiling to themselves. Ibiki sighed, might as well get on with this.

“Good decision,” he finally nodded. Now, to everyone still remaining…”

The whole classroom (minus team 7) leaned forward, nervous and excited.

“I congratulate you on passing the first test.”

 

---

 

Naruto was smiling like an idiot as team 7 regrouped at the doorway to the hall. Sasuke was giving him the most unimpressed look possible while Sakura could only roll her eyes.

After Anko had made her… striking entrance, and explained the second exam, they’d been let go. Unlike last time she didn’t make them follow her to the forest of death to start the second test, saying there would be one days preparation and to show up at training ground 44 tomorrow at noon.

“Was the speech really necessary?” Sakura asked with a sigh, eyeing their blonde teammate in exasperation.

“Duh,” he smirked, clasping his hands behind his head. “I gave a speech last time, didn’t I?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke agreed. “But how’d you figure out it was rigged. I thought you were a dumbass.”

“Hey, I can be smart!”

“Hn, idiot.”

While they bickered, Sakura just rolled her eyes before tugging her boys out into the hall, ready to go home to get ready for the second exam.

Karin was waiting outside the classroom for them when they walked out, hands clasped together in a clear sign of nervousness. Her teammates were nowhere to be seen, either having abandoned her or not noticing that she’d slipped away.

“Naruto, wasn’t it?” She asked, stepping forward. Naruto nodded. “Um, can we talk? Alone?”

Naruto glanced over to his teammates. Sakura nodded encouragingly, offering a smile as well. Sasuke just shrugged apathetically. He didn’t care either way.

“Yeah,” Naruto agreed. “Sure. You wanna go somewhere else? I know this great ramen place!”

Her smile was small, but it reached her eyes.

“Sounds great.”

 

---

 

“Hey, Teuchi, two bowls of miso and pork ramen, please!” Naruto cried out as he pushed past the curtains. Karin was being dragged behind him by her hand, which was held firmly in his own. Naruto tugged her into the ramen stand and finally let her go, pulling out stools for both of them.

“Welcome back Naruto,” the ramen chef greeted. “And who’s this?”

“This is Karin Uzumaki,” he gushed, jumping up onto his stool. “We’re cousins!”

Teuchi looked shocked at the declaration, but quickly slipped into an easy smile. “That’s great, Naruto,” he offered.

“Come on, sit down,” Naruto gushed, patting the stool next to him. Karin quickly slipped onto it, fingers going to drum the counter anxiously.

“So, how old are you?” He asked, leaning on the counter.

“I just turned thirteen,” she replied. “Almost two weeks ago.”

“Oh, well, happy birthday!” Naruto exclaimed.

The chatted some more while they waited for their food to come. About their teams, their sensei, their village. Anything really. When their food finally came, the conversation was halted for a good few minutes while Naruto dug in. Karin watched with amusement as the other Uzumaki slurped up his ramen like he hadn’t eaten in days. Eventually he slowed down enough for them to resume their conversation.

“So, what do you have to do,” she started uncertainty. “To stay here?”

Naruto stopped slurping his ramen and looked at her. “Wha’ ‘o you mean?”

Instead of answering, Karin looked down at her half eaten bowl of ramen, red eyes staring back up at her in the dark reflection of the broth. She look, sad? Anxious? There were tear in her eyes, he noticed. Was she, grieving?

“Back in Kusa,” she started, eyes still downcast. “My mom and I were allowed to stay because of her chakra,” she explained. “If someone who was injured bit her, then they would be healed by it. Even if they were on the brink of death.” She shifted to cover her arms, as if self conscience about them. Naruto followed her movement and noticed old scars speckled across her skin. They looked like teeth marks.

A sick feeling dropped into Naruto stomach at the realization. You’re mom wasn’t the only one with that gift, he thought to himself, mouth twisting in disgust.

“She worked at the hospital, helping heal wounded ninja. But the trick with her gift was that, for everyone it healed, it took away some of her own health.” Her eyes were now brimming with unshed tears. Naruto, already knowing how the story would end, had his hands clenched tightly underneath the table in fury. “One day… she didn’t come back.” She blinked, and droplets fell from her eyes into the broth, rippling and distorting the surface. “They made me take her place after that. Every day, for years. I had to go to the hospital and let them bit me. It was horrible, but I couldn’t say no, because I didn’t have anywhere else to go. They were letting me stay there after all.” She looked truly and thoroughly morose, head bowed and fists clenched. “I’m actually only here to make sure my teammates get through the exam. They don’t care about me at all.”

“They shouldn’t have done that,” Naruto growled. “They shouldn’t have made you do those things. What they did to your mom was awful, and you don’t deserve that.”

Karin blinked, startled, and looked up at him. Her eyes were still glistening with tears, wet streaks tracking down her face from them. “But, we didn’t have anywhere else to go,” she breathed. “Nowhere else wants us.”

“Bullshit,” Naruto scoffed. “Did you know that the wife of the first Hokage was an Uzumaki? And that the founding clans of Konoha were related to ours? And like, All chunin and jonin where our symbol on their backs to show the villages friendship, y’know. Hell, if Kusa won’t have you, Konoha will.”

Karin blinked, startled by the proclamation. “You, you mean it?” She asked, voice shaking. Her eyes were blown wide, still glistening with still flowing tears. She looked so small and pathetic, like a street cat that’d been kicked around so much it had stopped seeking human affection. It was a heartbreaking expression to see on her.

That’s it , Naruto decided right there and then. I’m not letting you be alone any longer. We’re family now.

“Absolutely,” he assured. “We can go talk to the Old Man right now, I’m sure he’ll let you stay! And if he doesn’t, well, I’m not letting Kusa have you.”

“Old man?” She asked as he threw some money on the counter before grabbing her wrist and leading her out of the shop.

“Yeah, Old Man Hokage. Or Gramps. Whichever. I’ve known him since forever, and he’s got a soft spot for me, not that he’ll ever admit it.” As he spoke, he led her down the crowded streets, still tugging her along by the hand. She didn’t seem to be putting up a protest though, and was only slightly lagging behind from the shock of it. “He might be busy cuz of all the exam stuff, but I’m sure we can get it. Especially if I just go in through the window. Hm, probably shouldn’t do that though, those Anbu are touchy…”

“You know the Hokage?” She asked, interrupting his monologue.

“Well, yeah,” he shrugged, leading them around a group of civilians. “Anyways, I’m sure if we ask nice he’ll let you stay. And then those Kusa ninja you’re with can’t touch you because you won't be a Kusa shinobi anymore. They don’t deserve the title anyway.”

Behind him, Karin could only blink in wonderment at everything he was saying, red eyes wide. Someone was going out of their way to do something for her. That hadn’t happened since… well, since her mom. Is this what having a family was supposed to be like? Is this what having a brother was like?

A blush crept up on her face from the thought, and a small smile followed after. His chakra was so warm, and he was so kind. Everyone’s in the village was. She truly hoped she would get to stay.

 

---

 

“You want to what?” Hiruzen deadpanned, looking back and forth between the two Uzumaki’s.

The two had made it to the Hokage’s office, somehow convincing the guards to let them through and see him, which had been an effort in itself, and were now addressing the man himself. Karin was standing with hunched shoulders and folded arms, clearly uncomfortable, while Naruto was standing with his hands at his sides instead of behind his head, his version of respect. The action didn’t go unnoticed by the Hokage.

“You heard me,” the blonde said. “I wanna adopt Karin. We’re family y’know.”

Hiruzen sighed, rubbing his temples tiredly. This is your doing, Kushina , he thought, remembering how much the red head would latch onto family. Clearly her son had picked up the trait. “Karin is an adult in her own right,” he pointed out. “And from another village. I simply can’t allow that to happen.”

“But what if,” Karin suddenly spoke up, finally looking up from where she’d been staring at the floor. There was a hard, self assured look in her eyes Naruto hadn’t seen from her as of yet. “What if I wanted to leave that village?” She asked uncertainty. “And join this one?”

Naruto glanced from the Hokage to Karin and back again. Hiruzen was leaning over his desk, fingers steepled together in thought.

“Well,” he started. “That would be quite complicated.” Karin looked back down at her feet, disappointed. “But not impossible.” Her head snapped back up. “It would take some time to get the paperwork in order, and a signed document from your village leader renouncing you from Kusa so you wouldn’t be a rogue ninja and for you to be officially registered here… But it is doable.”

Next to him, Karin was fighting hard to keep down her hopeful smile, lips straining from the effort.

“I must ask you though,” he added, tone turned darker. “Why do you want to leave for village?”

Naruto reached over and squeezed her hand for comfort. Karin squeezed back, thankful.

“They treat me like crap in Kusa,” she said. “I don’t have any family left, and I don’t want to be used for the rest of my life.”

“Used how?” Hiruzen asked. Instead of responding, Karin just twisted her lips into a grimace and looked down at her feet again. Naruto felt her hand grip tighter to his, tendons straining under her skin.

“It’s…” Naruto started, trying to think of a good way to explain her situation without bringing up bad memories. Ultimately, he couldn’t, and ended up settling for, “Complicated.”

Lord third frowned, but seemed to understand the severity of the her situation. “I understand,” he said at last. “I will send a message to Kusa after the exam tomorrow.”

A deep sigh of relief escaped Karin, and for a second Naruto was afraid she might faint and he’d have to catch her. She didn’t, thank God, but she did look feint. “It is also helpful that you have family here,” Hiruzen added, gesturing to Naruto. “That would make the process much smoother.”

“Ya mean it old man?” Naruto cried. “She can stay?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “She can stay.”

“YES!” Naruto cried, jumping up in victory. “This is great!” He continued. “You stay at my place and we can eat ramen for dinner like a real family, and you can have my bed and I can sleep on the couch, like a sleepover. Or like siblings! It’s like, gonna be great, y’know!”

The Hokage just smiled as he watched his surrogate grandson gush about his new family. He’d gone so long without anyone, he deserved this. Karin did the same, soft smile lighting up her face as Naruto rambled on about the things they could do now that they were family. She’d only just met him, but she knew she wanted to stay with him. His chakra was so nice and warm, and they were family. Family!

She knew then and there that she was glad to have taken the chunin exams. She’d found her family.

Chapter 28: The Forest of Death

Notes:

Warning, un-beta'd. And thank you so everyone who have commented and kudo'd this story. I know I say it every time but you guys are really the life blood of this thing. Thank you so much! Enjoy!

Naruto woke up early the next morning to a bare apartment. After having Karin over last night, It felt silent and empty, all the cheer and exuberance gone. Once they finished up with their visit to the Hokage; he’d taken her back here and they’d spent the rest of the day talking. Once it got late enough, they ended up making some simple stir fry before she said she had to go back to her hotel room. He was sad to see her go, but she assured him it was the last time she’d ever be staying with that team.

“So are you taking the exam tomorrow?” He asked as he’d walked her down the road.

“No,” she said, shaking her head in determination. “I won’t let myself be used by them every again.” Then, “They can fail for all I care.”

Naruto remembered being surprised by her fierce words before remembering how ferocious seventeen year old Karin had been. Then he’d smiled.

‘Well, good night Naruto,” she said, offering him a shy smile. She turned to walk into her hotel, but at the last second turned around and flung her arms around him in a big hug. Naruto, too shocked to respond, just stumbled back in surprise.

“ Thank you ,” Karin whispered into his ear, tears slipping down her cheeks onto his shoulder. “Thank you for finding me.”

Silently, dumbly, he’d slid his arms up around to encircle her as well. Then they had just stood there in the empty street, holding each other.

Eventually she’d had to go inside, but it was clear she didn’t want to go. Naruto had just smiled and told her to find him after the second exam. That was… if he made it out of the second exam. He didn’t say the last part, but he was thinking it.

Now it was morning though, and he had a lot of preparation to do.

Outside the sun had barely brushed over the horizon, sky still a dull dusty gray above him. On the floor around him were piles of shuriken, kunai, traps, explosion seals, ninja wire, and various other things he would need for the fight later that day. He’d even bought some storage seals from Tenten’s parents shop and was stuffing them full of supplies.

He knew Sakura was bringing her big medi-kit, as agreed upon earlier, and that Sasuke would be bringing his own arsenal as well. It was Naruto’s job to pack all the tools for the traps, as well as food since they didn’t know how long they would be in the forest for. Ration bars should suffice.

Once he’d finished packing, he made his way out of his apartment and into the streets of Konoha. It was still early, so there was little to no one on the streets. The people that were there though shot him nasty looks, often times accompanied with sneers. He tried his best to ignore it but… well, it didn’t matter. He was still the hero of Konoha, even if they didn’t know it.

Training ground 44 was still fairly empty by the time he made it there. They’d been told to meet there at eight AM by Anko. It was almost seven now.

“Naruto! Over here!” Someone called out. Looking over towards the perimeter fence, Naruto saw Sakura waving him over, standing next to a bored looking Sasuke. She was decked out in her full medic attire, med pack resting just over her waist on her back and hair tie’s ready for if she needed put it up. Sasuke on the other hand was dressed the same except for a new chokutō strapped to his waist. He had mentioned a few days ago that if they were going to face off against Orochimaru that they’d need to pull all the stops, hence the sword.

“Morning,” he breathed, jogging over.

“You got all the stuff?” Sasuke asked in lue of a greeting.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “You?” The Uchiha nodded as well.

“Great,” Sakura said. “You both know the plan?” The two boys nodded again.

“Subdue, but don’t kill,” Naruto listed off. “Goal is to detain and bring him in. Then plant the scroll on him with the details for the Oto invasion. Right?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke said. “And I got the scroll all ready to go.” He pulled out an unassuming scroll he’d written up last night and held it up for the rest of the team to see. Using his sharingan he had copied Orochimaru’s handwriting from when he’d trained under him and used that to write said scroll. It detailed the invasion plan as well as the alliance with Suna. If they did this right, it would be enough evidence to help stop the whole thing altogether. The Konoha crush, as it had come to be known later, wasn’t an event they wished to repeat. It had cost them all many lives, including Lord Thirds.

“Ok, great,” Sakura said, pleased by their work. “And remember, he thinks we’re genin. He won’t come at us at full strength. Not at first. We need to take advantage of that.” She put hard emphasis on the last sentence, green eyes piercing into theirs to make sure they understood. Both Naruto and Sasuke gave serious nods, understanding the weight of the situation.

“Alright…” Sakura sighed. “And just remember to stick to the plan. We have to do this right, or else we’re screwed.”

“You can say that again,” Naruto mumbled. Sakura could only grimace in response.

The team slipped into silence after that, unable to think about anything else because of their nerves. What they were about to try was the equivalent of an A-rank mission. Possibly S-rank. They’d done those before of course, or what worked as an equivalents of one; but this one was different. This one was personal.

Sometime later, one of the genin teams started to make a ruckus, drawing the attention of all the other teams.

“That bitch!” A boy cried, frustration clear in his voice. “First she fucks off after the test yesterday, now she doesn’t show up?”

Naruto leaning forward where he was sitting to peer around Sasuke so as to get a better view of the shouting boy. It was the Kusa genin from yesterday. The one on Karin’s team.

“If she doesn’t get here in ten minutes, I’m gonna kill her.”

“Aren’t those Karin’s teammates?” Sakura whispered. Naruto nodded, continuing to watch them freak out. “They can’t go on without a third team member,” she noted. “Did Karin say she wasn’t coming?”

“Yeah,” he affirmed. “She said she wouldn’t be used by them ever again.”

Sakura frowned, clearly not understanding what she’d meant by that. “Well…” She said. “As long as she’s okay, I guess that’s all that matters.”

Naruto smiled to himself. “I get the feeling we’re gonna be seeing her around here a lot more, y’know.”

Sakura could only look at him in confusion while Sasuke was burying his face in his knees.

Sometime later, there was a comotion up at the front near the gate, and someone shouted out over the crowd.

“Welcome to the stage for the second test; training ground 44,” a voice called out. All three members of team 7 looked up to see Anko Mitarashi standing in front of the assembled genin. “Also known as ‘the forest of death’.”

The other teams around them all shivered uncomfortably while team 7 just looked on in ambivalence.

“You’ll soon find out why it’s called the ‘forest of death’,” she finished. Sasuke just barely suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, while Sakura bit her cheek to keep from laughing. It was such a pathetic scare tactic she was surprised all the other genin were falling for it. Sure it was a dangerous forest, but if you were worthy of being a shinobi it was fine. And besides, they survived five days in it as actual genin before. It would be such a breeze this time.

“Now, before we start the second test,” she continued, reaching into her jacket. “There’s something I have to pass out.” She whipped out a large stack of papers. “You must sign these agreement forms.”

The surrounding genin began mumbling in confusion. Anko went on to explain, cheerful smile already plastered on her face.

“There will be deaths in this one” she explained. “And if I don’t have you sign these, it’ll be my responsibility.” Then she had the audacity to blush, as if it were something hilarious to her.

Now the assembled genin were really freaking out. Naruto could see one team visibly sweating, while Sasuke spotted one that was sharing nervous glancing with their teammates. Anko went on to explain the test before handing out the liability forms. She explained how each team needed a heaven and earth scroll before they could reach the tower in the center, and to not open their scrolls before they do so, or they would face terrible consequences.

Like getting knocked out is that horrible , Naruto thought with a roll of his eyes, remembering what said consequences were. He’d been knocked out plenty of times. It wasn’t anything special.

Once she’d finished her spiel, team 7 went and exchanged their liability forms for an earth scroll and went and took their places at one of the gates. Karin’s old team was turned away before they could even turn in their forms. They needed three after all, and they were only two. Naruto watched with sick satisfaction as the two screaming boys were thrown out.

So long, assholes , he thought, wicked grin his by his jacket collar.

Eventually they made their way to their gate and waited for the test to begin. Once the gate opened, there plan was a go.

 

---

 

For such a place of its moniker, the forest of death was oddly quiet. The trees above them were still, no wind moving through them to rustle the leaves or branches. The animal life around them was also silent, with barely a rustle to go off of to show that they still existed. It was as if the forest could sense something evil lurking among it’s undergrowth, sickening and twisted.

Orochimaru.

“Can you sense him yet?” Sasuke asked, looking up from one of the traps he was rigging. So far they had rigged about a square mile in total, but still had a bit to go. Naruto, who was standing further away tending to his own trap just shook his head.

“No clones have popped yet,” he told the Uchiha. “So he’s not in the two mile perimeter.” He’d set up a dozen or so clones interspersed around their team in a two mile perimeter with the instructions to pop upon spotting the snake sannin. The memories would rush back to Naruto who would alert the team, giving them an approximate time table for when the sannin would arrive. But so far though, nothing.

“Are you sure they haven’t just missed him?” Sasuke shot back.

“I think it’d be a little hard to miss that much killing intent,” he deadpanned, giving the Uchiha the most unimpressed look.

“Says the guy who couldn’t even sense that Ame genin,” he replied dryly, referencing the Ame shinobi that had managed to sneak up on them earlier. He’d gotten a solid hit in on Naruto before the blond had turned right back around and creamed him. It was thoroughly embarrassing for the savior of Konoha, but he didn’t let his teammates see how much it bothered him. Sasuke, however, didn’t seem to have been fooled.

“Both of you, stop it!” Sakura called out from a branch above them. She was glaring down at them with jaded eyes, fists curled tightly around a length of ninja wire. “You’re bickering like genin.”

“We are genin,” Naruto pointed out morosely.

“Don’t lump me in with you,” Sasuke moaned.

“But it’s true-”

Pop .

Naruto froze.

It was his clone.

Memories rushed into Naruto’s head. A Kusa genin running through the woods, malice leaking off them like the scent of decay. Two miles out to the north east; moving fast.

Both Sakura and Sasuke noticed their teammates sudden change in posture as he straightened up suddenly, eyes staring into the distance. “Naruto?” Sakura asked, jumping down to his branch. “Is it…?”

“He’s here,” he breathed. “Orochimaru’s here.”

Their mission had officially begun.

Notes:

And we're off...
(AND OH MY GOD I'M SO PROUD OF THAT DRAWING YOU HAVE NO IDEA)

Chapter 29: Orochimaru

Notes:

HOOOOOOOOOLY SHIT. Ugh, finally did it. I just want to preface this chapter with saying that I absolutely CAN NOT write fight scenes. So, uh, yeah. Anyways, thank you to everyone who has stuck with the story this far. I don't know when I'll be able to update again because school is starting soon and it's a full time job in and of itself. I know exactly where I'm going with it though, so you can be rest assured in that. Without further ado, enjoy!
TW FOR VIOLENCE AND BROKEN BONES!
EDIT: Beta'd as of 8/27

 

 

 

The forest was still. Too still. The sound of forest animals scurrying around the underbrush was suspiciously absent. It was as if the forest was holding its breath. Up in the trees; Naruto was sitting with his back to a tree meditating, jacket wrapped around his waist. They were planning on using his chains for this, and he didn’t feel like buying a new jacket again.

Meanwhile, Sakura was squatting on the same branch just a few meters away, nervously tugging at her gloves. Her green eyes were scouring the forest around them, looking for any sign of movement. She hated being caught unawares, and as such was on high alert. Next to her, Sasuke was standing at attention, fingers drumming against the handle of his new sword.

Everyone was anxious. And rightly so.

“Anything?” Sasuke asked, eyes still scanning the woods.

Naruto, who was tapping into Kurama’s chakra as much as he could, could sense the malicious intent rushing towards them a few hundred yards to their 5 o'clock.

“Two minutes,” he reported. Sasuke nodded and pulled his sword out. Sakura followed suit, straightening up from her crouch and looking around.

They waited for a minute. And another. Untill-

“Now,” Naruto hissed.

All three exerted chakra to their feet as a giant wall of wind slammed into them. Dirt and twigs flew into their vision, threatening to blind them as their hair and clothing whipped about. The bark beneath Naruto’s feet threatened to break off, but he grabbed a kunai and plunged it into the branch, holding in to that for stability.

As suddenly as the wind had started, it stopped.

Naruto dropped to his knees. “That was close,” he huffed, yanking his kunai out.

“Yeah,” Sakura breathed, wiping the grime off herself.

Before anyone else got a chance to say anything, an achingly familiar voice chuckled. It echoed in the air around them, making it impossible to locate.

“Kukukuku.” Laughter.

The three members of team 7 spun around so they were all back to back, weapons drawn and ready to use. Sasuke's eyes spun into their sharingan while Naruto and Sakura dropped into readying stances.

“It seems my prey is stronger than I anticipated,” the voice gushed, bloodlust dripping of every word. “This will make for a more interesting fight than I imagined.”

“Show yourself you coward,” Naruto shouted, playing the part of a clueless genin. More chuckled followed his declaration.

A powerful wave of killing intent swept through the forest. Naruto didn’t have to fake the sweat that started to bead on his brow. His limbs were shaking only slightly as the pressure increased. He hadn’t experienced killing intent that intense in years, but he was desensitized enough to it that it didn’t restrict his movements. Not that Orochimaru could know that.

Next to him, Sakura and Sasuke were putting up the same farce, Sasuke with wide eyes and trembling arms, Sakura clenching her kunai like a lifeline. Good, it looked convincing.

“My, my, my,” the voice echoed again. “Three little flies caught in my trap. What to do, what to do?”

Shooting them both a glance, Sasuke motioned with his chin behind them, where they’d laid all the traps. The other two two gave minute nods, showing they understood.

“Should I decapitate them?” Orochimaru went on, voice coming closer and closer. “Paralyze them? Hm, so many options.”

“Run!” Sasuke shouted. Immediately the three were off, racing into the forest. Orochimaru shot after them, jumping out of the trees above them. Somewhere else, Naruto’s clones started collecting nature chakra, ready to use at a moments notice.

“Three and nine!” Sakura cried, dropping below them. Sasuke reached into his bag and threw a kunai to their right, Naruto following suit to the left. They hit their targets, stabbing into exploding seals on the trunks of some trees, causing a huge smoke bomb to go off.

Behind them they heard an amused chuckle.

“Parlor tricks? How pathetic.”

But when the smoke cleared, Orochimaru found himself alone.

“Hmmmm, where could they be?” He purred, tongue flicking across his lips. His stolen face scrunched up in thought, eyes flicking back and forth through the canopy for any sign of them.

Then he smiled and turned pointedly towards a shrub that seemed to stand out from the rest. “Found you.”

“Wasn’t hiding.”

Orochimaru turned around to look at whoever spoke behind him only to find a foot in his face. He blocked it with his arm and quickly jumped away, landing further down the branch.

Sasuke straightened up from his failed attack, drawing his chokutō threateningly.

“Adorable,” Orochimaru purred. “A stick.”

Sasuke’s eyes flashed dangerously, red spinning into mangekyo black. He pushed lightning chakra into the blade, making it crackled with blue light. If Orochimaru got touched by that, he’d he paralyzed. “Is it adorable now?” He asked with a smirk. The sannin’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

Behind the two, Sakura and Naruto were hiding in some foliage, watching the proceedings below, waiting for their cue.

Naruto was sitting perfectly still, gathering as much nature chakra as he could to go into sage mode, while Sakura focused intently on Sasuke. She was watching for the signal that would alert her to go down and join Sasuke in the brawl. Her fists tightened by her side as she watched the two trade blows below, metal hitting metal as Sasuke fought the snake summoner, sword against kunai.

“Any moment,” she hissed, eyes narrowing. There!

Sakura saw the flash of lightning that left Sasuke’s other hand and shot forward off the branch, hands already flying through seals.

“Earth style, rock fist!” She shouted, slamming her fist into Orochimaru’s side. The rock covered limb crashed into the man's ribs sickening cracks following. Sasuke’s sword rushed in after, sliding between the trapezius muscle and the clavicle.

Only for the man to dissolve into mud.

“Fuck,” Sakura hissed, spinning around. “Where’d he go?”

“Watch your back!” Sasuke shouted instead, throwing her to the side. Sakura skid along the branch, looking up to see Sasuke deflect a snake summons, cleaving its head right off.

“Show yourself you dick,” he growled.

“That’s not very polite,” their adversary’s voice sounded from above them. Sakura had only a moments notice to jump out of the way before the ground that had been below her was impaled by a large snake. The creator hissed in anger, turning its beady yellow eyes to look at her. Looking up, she saw it was actually Orochimaru’s arm that he’d only transformed, and grimaced when he pulled it back into his sleeve. Disgusting.

“Where’d the third go, I wonder,” the man mused.

“Away from you,” Sakura bluffed. “We’re not letting you get our scroll!” The comment just made Orochimaru smirk in amusement, seeming to find the idea of them assuming he was after their earth scroll hilarious. Even if it was just a farce.

“Sakura,” Sasuke hissed under his breath. “Nisemono (liar) formation.” Sakura nodded swiftly before jumping off out of sight, leaving Sasuke alone with the sannin. He stepped back into a defensive stance, bringing his sword up to eye level. He knew Orochimaru was after his eyes, aiming to give him the curse mark. That wasn’t going to happen this time around if he could help it.

Orochimaru smirked before jumping down from the branch, eyes wide with bloodlust. Sasuke jumped out of the way, sword flashing as he parried an attack. Good, he had his attention. Now it was up to Sakura.

After trading blows for a good minute, Sakura jumped out of the shadows and hit Orochimaru hard with a punch to the back, sending him flying forward into Sasuke’s own attack. A growl of frustration escaped the sannin as he just barely averted it, substituting himself for a log at the last second. But the two pressed on, relentless.

This should be enough time for Naruto...

“Naruto now!” Sakura cried, sweeping her legs under Orochimaru’s. From above, an orange and yellow blur shot out of the foliage, iris’ yellow with orange around the lids. Naruto had entered sage mode.

“Take this, ya dick!’ He cried, swiping a fist down. Orochimaru easily dodged-

Only to go careening backward anyway.

“Ha, nature chakra, bitch!” Naruto cried as the sannin went crashing into a tree. Just like when he’d fought Pein, Naruto had pushed some of the chakra out and had managed to hit the sannin hard in the face despite not actually making contact. Even from where he stood, Naruto could see the bruise already starting to form on the man's cheek.

“That’s some jutsu you have there,” the sannin drawled, wiping some blood from the corner of his mouth. “I wonder,” he continued. “However did a genin like you learn it?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Naruto shot back, fists balled up at his sides. The grin Orochimaru’s mouth stretched into was anything but comforting.

“Oh, I think I would.” Then he vanished in a shunshin.

“Naruto, to your right!” Sakura shouted. Without thinking, Naruto ducked and rolled towards the branch bellow him, just missing the kunai that would have clipped his ear off. Orochimaru growled in frustration before shooting off after him, feet slamming against the bark as he raced down the tree. His hands were already flashing through another set of seals when Sakura intervened.

“Not on my watch,” she cried, launching herself towards him. Sailing forwards, she wound back her fist, and aguementing her chakra just right, sent it careening into the unsuspecting sannin. He only had a moments notice when he looked up before she slammed into him.

BOOM!

Bark exploded everywhere. Spears of wood shot out in all directions, slicing through the air with deadly force. Behind him, Naruto watched as the tree he’d just been on exploded into shards of wood as a crater ten meters long destroyed the center. Cracks shot up and down the trunk, splintering the wood apart until it just collapsed from the stress. In the epicenter, he spotted a roughed up orochimaru shooting away from the destruction, face already starting to peel off.

Good, he thought bitterly. They were already making progress.

“One good punch isn’t enough to take me down,” Orochimaru sneered, shooting past them into the forest.

“We have to stop him!” Sasuke cried, jumping after him. Naruto followed suit, leaping from one branch to another. In his hands, rigged kunai flashing before he threw them towards his target. They shot  into the branches just in front of the man before going off in a violent explosion. The sannin was forced to find a different route.

“Naruto, stop him!” It was Sasuke who’d yelled. Without wasting any time, Naruto landed on a branch and focused. Suddenly; chains were shooting from his chest, speeding towards the snake sannin with deadly accuracy.

“ What ?” they heard the man gasp. In a second he was tangled in the kekkei genkai, links wrapped tightly around him. He dropped towards the ground, feet no longer carrying him forward.

“Summoning jutsu!” They heard, and instantly the forest was filled with thick smoke. Naruto felt something in the cloud yank at his chains, and it as all he could do to stop himself from being thrown off the branch.

“Erk!” He pulled the chains back in, some links coming back cracked or broken. What had Orochimaru summoned that was strong enough to break chakra chains?

“Shit,” Sasuke muttered next to him.

The smoke cleared, revealing a towering silhouette inside it. It reached high up into the canopy, head crushing the top few branches. Beneath it, trees crashed to the ground, foliage breaking apart and flattening under its girth. Only the tailed beasts could match that size, and that destructive power.

“It’s Manda,” Sasuke answered.

 

---

 

“I thought you said you killed this guy before,” Naruto panted, hiding behind a tree. Once Orochimaru had summoned Manda, they had pulled all the stops, which had resulted in a chaotic, draining battle. The forest was littered with burn marks and destroyed foliage. Naruto had used his chains six times now, which was his limit in a battle, and Orochimaru didn’t seem one bit closer to being stopped. Naruto’s eyes were vivid yellow with orange around them, signaling he was in sage mode. Across from him was Sasuke, doing the same. Except the Uchiha had his mangekyo activated. Blood was streaked down the side of his face from when he’d overused his kekkei genkai, signaling he was reaching his limit. He hadn’t pulled out Susano, but it was perhaps only a matter of time before he did. Even so, it was the last of last resorts. He didn’t want to go blind, after all. It was bad enough he’d had to use the mangekyo at all.

“Yeah, when he was already dying!” Sasuke shot back, ducking under another blast of fire.

“Well we gotta take him down somehow, y’know,” Naruto exclaimed. “Got any ideas for that?”

The glare Sasuke shot him was enough to shut him up. “Dumbass, we’re already at full power. You think of something.”

Another explosion went off behind them.

“Alright, alright,” Naruto cried, duking around the tree to see if Sakura had survived that one. He sighed in relief when he saw she was the source. She had been going to to toe with Orochimaru for the past few minutes, and even though she was amazing, she still had her limits. They had to figure out something fast.

“Alright, I think I got it,” he finally said. “I’ll try to use Kurama’s cloak with a rasengan. That should take him down.”

“It didn’t even take me down when we fought last time,” Sasuke pointed out sharply, referring to their battle at the valley of the end. “How’s it supposed to work against him ?”

“Just go with me on this ok!” He screamed back.

“Fine!”

Thank you, Naruto sighed internally. Then, Hey, Kurama, wanna have some fun?

Do you even have to ask? The bijuu purred back. As soon as he’d finished, corrosive red chakra started to bubble up from under Naruto’s skin, boiling like lava. His whisker marks thickened and his iris’ grew red, pupils turning into black slits. His fingernails lengthened into claws and he could feel sharp canines drop into his mouth. The fox’s energy flowed through him like a coursing river, pounding at the edges, demanding to be unleashed. He had to be careful though, one false step and he’d fall in too deep.

“Alright,” he smirked, turning to Sasuke with a feral grin. “Let’s do this.”

The Uchiha grinned back before jumping up into the trees. Naruto followed with an excited grin.

Above them, Sakura jumped out of the way of a powerful blast of wind chakra, only barely escaping the cone of destruction. She had already used a fair amount of her chakra, and was carefully rationing out what was left, which meant she couldn’t afford to waste any on fancy jutsu. A small part of her cursed her younger body for not having better reserves.

“I must admit I’m impressed,” Orochimaru said as he ducked under one of her kicks. “Not even a full fledged chunin can stand up to me.”

I’m better than just a chunin, Sakura thought furiously, dodging a fire jutsu. She went to get in another punch, but was knocked off by a low kick that swept her legs from under her. He hit the branch hard with her stomach, hands scraping against the bark as she tried to catch herself.

“But,” Orochimaru sighed. “You’re still no chunin.” Sakura looked up and glared at him, spitting blood out of her mouth from where she’d bit her tongue.

“Hm,” the sannin scoffed. “Pathetic.”

“HEY ASSHOLE!” Someone screamed. In the blink of an eye, an orange blur slammed into Orochimaru, throwing him off the branch and away from her. Sakura squealed and crawled over to the edge of the branch, looking down to see where her teammate had landed. A few yards below her, she spotted a fully cloaked Naruto squatting near the snake sannin, orange chakra bubbling around him protectively. “Keep your hands off her ya bastard!” Naruto cried, jumping forward to swipe at the man.

Orochimaru reflexively blocked it, only to get burned by the corrosive chakra. He was thrown back again by a fist made of Kurama’s chakra shooting out at him, sending him tumbling off the tree.

He landed on a trunk below, feet sticking to the side. His clothes were burned where he’d been punched, and a long gash ran down his arm from where he’d tried to block Naruto’s attack, blood seeping into the clothing. And he looked genuinely breathless. They were winning!

“Ah, so you’re the jinchuuriki of the nine tails,” he purred, scooting himself up into a sideways standing position, eyes fixing the boy with a hungry gaze. Naruto felt Kurama’s tail lash angrily behind him. “ Interesting .”

He didn’t want to know what Orochimaru was thinking just then, only knowing that he didn’t want to be one of his damn experiments. Forming a hand sign, he summoned a shadow clone and held out his hand. The shadow clone set to work.

“Now there’s a jutsu I haven’t seen in quite some time,” Orochimaru mused, watching the proceedings in front of him. Blue chakra starting swirling faster and faster in Naruto’s palm, glowing bright through the red chakra cloak. “I wonder, wherever did you pick it up?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Naruto growled, dispelling his clone. As soon as he did, he shot off the branch, kyuubi chakra speeding him up and shooting him towards his target. He held up his hand, ready to slam it into the sannin.

“RASEN-”

“Five pronged seal!”

A hand slammed into Naruto’s stomach. And it burned.

“ACK!”

Fire raced across his abdomen, burning into his gut. Suddenly, all of Kurama’s chakra was sucked out of him, cloak fading away until nothing was left. Orochimaru followed up the action with a swift, forceful kick to the chest, sending him flying backwards into a tree.

He held out his hand behind him to break his fall. But-

CRACK.

He screamed in agony.

Sliding down the tree, he hit the ground, hard. The breath was immediately knocked out of him, making him choke on air. His arm was on fire, pulsing so bad he was sure it had its own heartbeat. Without his coat on, he could see from where his face was smushed against the grass the angle his arm was at. It wasn’t good.

“Naruto!”

Suddenly, Sakura was crouched in front of him, rolling him onto his side.

“Ah, ah, ah,” he hissed, arm flaring with pain. Sakura frowned, looked down. Then-

“Shit,” she hissed, catching sight of the bent elbow. “Let me see it.”

“No, no, we gotta get back up there,” Naruto protested, already trying to push himself up off the ground. Without speaking, Sakura just shoved him back down, already inspecting the arm. Her hands glowed green for a few seconds, hovering over the injury as a frown of concentration slid over her face.

After a moment, she dropped her hands. “It’s a stage two supracondylar fracture,” she reported.

“A what now?” He asked. She rolled her eyes in exasperation.

“You broke your elbow.”

He dropped his head to ground, frustrated. Well, worse things have happened. He was about to say as much when he tried to move it and a lance of pain shot up his arm, making him bite down on his cheek to keep from screaming. But then again…

“You can’t move your arm,” Sakura told him. “And I’d heal it but-” She was cut off by an explosion a few hundred meters away. “That.”

Naruto grimaced, scooting up into a sitting position. “But I’m right handed!” He protested. “I gotta do something, y’know!”

“Not with a broken arm you’re not-”

She was cut off by another explosion right above them, this one raining bark and fire down on them. Sakura cut off to cover them both, arms wrapped protectively around hers and Naruto’s heads. Once the debris had passed, she pulled away.

“Argh, Sasuke needs help,” she growled, looking up to see the Uchiha going toe to toe with Orochimaru. She turned back to Naruto, green eyes hard as ice. “Stay here,” she hissed. “And don’t move your arm.” She gave him one last glare as a warning before jumping up to go help their teammate.

Like hell, he thought, scrambling back onto his feet. His arm was throbbing with pain. Even worse when he moved it, and on top of Sakura practically yelling at him to keep it still… it really limited him on options. He couldn’t form hand seals without both hands, having no yet mastered one handed hand signs. And to make matters worse, he was right handed, which meant all his weapons training had been with his right. Argh! Why hadn’t he listened more when Kakashi-sensei made them practice ambidextrously?

“I’m the goddamn savior of Konoha,” he ground out through his teeth, grabbing his jacket from around his waist the create a makeshift sling. “If I can’t find a way, I’ll never live it down.”

Once him arm was stable, he grabbed a kunai from his pouch and jumped up onto the tree, racing upwards. Above him, Sakura and Sasuke were duking it out with Orochimaru in an intense taijutsu showdown. Sakura was evading nearly all the attacks thrown at her, occasionally landing one of her own on the man when there was an opening. Sasuke was holding his own with his chōkuto, deflecting blows left and right.

“Dragon flame caterwaul!” The Uchiha cried. Large dragon shaped fireballs followed the exclamation, diving towards Orochimaru. The blistering jutsu scorched the tree tops, almost sending Naruto tumbling back to the ground from the intensity of it.

“Ah, so the Uchiha has some tricks up his sleeve, does he,” Orochimaru chuckled, jumping up out of the way. Sasuke snarled, jumping after him, Sakura hot on his heels.

Naruto stopped on a branch below, panting. How was he already out of breath?

It’s because of the seal, you moron, Kurama’s voice suddenly shouted.

“Seal?” He asked aloud, eyes following the battle above.

Yes, brat, the fox growled back. That stupid snake put an odd numbered seal on top of my even numbered seal. It destabilized your chakra network and cut me off from you. He sounded pissed off. Then, It’s honestly a miracle you’re not unconscious.

“So what am I supposed to do?” He shouted back, hand gripping his kunai even harder in frustration.

How am I supposed to know? I’m not a stupid shinobi!

“Yeah but you’re part of me!”

If anyone from the outside had looked upon the scene, they might have been put off by a twelve year old seemingly getting angry and yelling at nobody. As it was, there was no one paying attention to him. Luckily.

Look, Kurama finally said. I can’t give you any more of my chakra because of this damn seal, and because of the imbalance sage mode is out of the question. But you’re still a stubborn Uzumaki. I’m sure you’ll figure something out.

Before Naruto could argue further, he felt the fox retract from his mind, leaving him effectively alone.

“Psh, thanks,” he muttered bitterly.

But he was still left with one problem. How the fuck was he supposed to take this bastard down?

“Sakura,” he called up, landing on a branch next to her. She ducked under a volley of kunai before spinning to face him. Her hair was disheveled and her clothes were ripped, but other than that she looked alright.

“Naruto! I told you to stay down!” She cried.

“Your fault for thinking I would,” he pointed out. Then, “Listen, we need a distraction,” he told her. “We can’t disable him head on.”

“What do you suggest?” she asked, panting.

“Look, just distract him and tell Sasuke to follow my lead,” he said. “Alright?”

Sakura scowled and pursed her lips, but didn’t retort. “Fine,” she finally said. “Just don’t take too long.”

Naruto smirked. “I won’t.”

 

---

 

Making the hand sign for the shadow clone jutsu was rather hard with only one usable hand, but he managed to do it anyway with only some contorting involved. He was standing on a branch high above the fight taking place below. Sakura was going toe to toe with Orochimaru, dodging his massive jutsu and snake combo attack. She was amazing. But it wasn’t enough.

“Hey, asshole!” He shouted down, interrupting them. Breaking off from his fight with Sakura, Orochimaru looked up to see the Uzumaki and his clone standing next to each other, hands held out towards each other for some reason. “My name is Naruto Uzumaki,” he exclaimed. “And I’m not going to lose to scum like you!”

Below him, the snake sannin scoffed. “You can barely stand up to me,” he sideled. “What more can you do?”

Naruto’s smirk widened devilishly. “This,” he grinned. He held up his hand just as his clone popped, and held in it was a swirling vortex of concentrated chakra. The rasengan.

“Sakura, now!” He shouted, jumping forward off the branch. Immediately Sakura slammed her hand into the ground, activating the seals she had placed before hand. Ropes shot up from the branch, wrapping around the sannin with impossible speed, trapping him in place.

“TAKE THIS YA DAMN SNAKE BASTARD!” He cried, speeding towards the man, face illuminated by his jutsu.

He wound back his arm, rasengan whirring violently, then-

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEE

-Sasuke’s chidori went straight through Orochimaru’s shoulder.

And Naruto’s rasengan into his other.

Blood splattered across Naruto’s face, splashing into his eyes and mouth. In front of him Orochimaru was being skewered from behind and pinned from the front. In his shoulder, Sasuke’s hand still crackled with lightning, making the flesh around the wound smoke and char. Naruto had planned it to be like this. Hoping the Uchiha would catch on to his plan, he had figured the best way to debilitate Orochimaru would be to get him from the back while he was focused on his front. Luckily, Sasuke had picked up on it and had snuck in from behind. In front of Naruto, blood dropped slowly down the sannin’s chest, splashing onto the branch below.

And then he laughed.

“Kukuku- cough - kuku. How… amusing,” he laughed wetly , eyes fixed on Naruto’s. An uneasy feeling settled over the jinchuuriki. “Three genin managed to beat me,” he huffed. “Isn’t that a surprise.”

“Naruto!” Sasuke shouted from behind the man. Naruto didn’t even have the time to process the cry before Orochimaru started to slide off his pupils hand and further into Naruto’s. Startled, the rasengan fizzled out, leaving Naruto with a bare palm now pressed against a bloodied shoulder.

“Unless,” the snake went on, tongue flashing across his lips. “You’re not normal genin.” He leaned forward more, mouth opening to show sharp teeth and-

“Naruto watch out!” Sakura suddenly cried. He didn’t even get a chance to move before someone barreled into him, throwing him off the branch and into the trees below. The two hit another branch hard, wind knocked out of both of their lungs.

“Oof,” he cried. “What was that-“

The clang if steel above him answered his question before he even finished it. There was a sword clenched in Orochimaru’s jaw, one that hadn’t been there before. One that could only have come from his mouth… which had been facing Naruto. Sakura had saved him from being stabbed!

“Thanks,” he coughed.

“Don’t mention it,” she wheezed back. “I think,” she continued, eyes flicking to his seriously. “It’s time,”

Naruto gaped. “Seriously?”

“If we keep going like this he could very well beat us,” she reasoned. “It’s either now or never.”

“We can still wear him down,” he argued. “I’m not done yet, and neither is that bastard!” He gesture sharply with his chin towards the man in question, who was fighting Sasuke in a battle of kenjutsu.

“Your arm is shot, he sealed off Kurama, and I’m not gonna let Sasuke use his mangekō anymore! We need help.”

Naruto’s face twisted into a scowl. He didn’t want to agree with her, but she was right. He’d used his chains six times already, and they were no match for Orochimaru. As much as he was loath to admit it.

“Alright, fine,” he spat out, looking away. “Let’s do it.”

Sakura smiled. “Good.”

 

---

 

Orochimaru stood on the tree branch looking over the forest. The Uchiha he’d just been fighting had scampered off somewhere, withdrawing from the fight without a word. It was like he’d been signaled away, but genin didn’t know signals yet. Not unless Konoha decided to step up their teaching, which he highly doubted.

His shoulders ached something fierce as he shifted around to get a better look. How foolish he had been. He had been preparing himself for the jinchuuriki’s attack, building up chakra to soften the blow. He hadn’t even heard the other coming from behind him. These three weren’t average genin, he could say that much. Not with the jinchuuriki using sage mode, or the Uchiha using mangekyō. Even the girl surprised him, strength reminding him painfully of Tsunade. What was with these kids?

“Hmmmm, where’d the little kiddies go,” he purred, looking around. There were no genin as far as he could see, either having fled or hidden themselves extremely well. Instead of getting an answer though, Sakura stepped out in front of him.

“You want the scroll?” She panted,demeaned hard as stone. Orochimaru locked eyes with her, his own narrowing. “Here,” she finished. Digging into her pouch, she held up their earth scroll. Her limbs shook as she did so, legs quivering from the strain of holding her up. She was panting from exhaustion, looking to all the world ready to drop.

“Tsk, you think I’m still after that silly thing?” He mocked. A chuckle escaped him at the thought. “What I’m after is far more precious than that.”

He would have thought the vague, harrowing answer would have frightened her. But Instead of getting the response he was expecting, the young girl just smirked.

“I know,” she said. Then, twisting on her feet, she flung the scroll through the air into the forest. It fluttered open, paper trailing after it like a ribbon until-

POOF!

Orochimaru only stared. “What?”

Out of the scroll popped a proctor, not so gracefully falling towards the ground after being summoned in mid air. It was Kotetsu, the gate guard.

He landed nimbly on a branch bellow him, looking around in confusion before looking up. His eyes landed on the very battered Sakura, who was no longer putting on a show of fatigue. Sakura, noticing that he saw her, immediately ran down the tree.

“He’s not a genin!” She shouted in a shrill voice, gesturing wildly to the sannin. Kotetsu finally turned around, and spotting their attacker, froze. His eyes went wide and his face pale. Clearly he recognized their adversary. Good.

“Please, we need help!” Sakura finished, landing beside him.

“Got it,” Kotetsu nodded, shaking himself out of his revery. “Get behind me!” The genin did as he was told. Naruto hopped down onto the branch from where he’d been hiding, arm still stuck in his makeshift sling. Sasuke followed suit, sword out and ready to use. They weren’t taking any chances.

In front of them, Orochimaru was watching them with an intrigued eye, arms dangling uselessly at his side, kusanagi still clutched in his mouth.

“Alright,” the chunin said. “On my signal, run the opposite direction. I’ll cover you.”

Sasuke scoffed. “You’re only a chunin, he’ll kill you,” he argued.

“Better me than you!” The proctor shot back, effectively shutting him up. “Now just do as I say.”

The team of genin scowled, but ultimately nodded.

Kotetsu eyed them for a moment before ushering them off, pulling out a scroll of his own and summoning a giant mace. Immediately after he pulled out a paper seal from his weapons pouch and, pushing chakra into it, chucked it into the air.

The seal exploded upward and suddenly the forest was illuminated with fireworks. A signal then.

“Signaling for help won’t do you any good,” Orochimaru chuckled, watching the chunin with mild fascination, like how a cat would watch a mouse caught in its paws.

“You’ll be the one who needs help, you snake,” Kotetsu shot back before turning around the pushing off the branch, headed after the genin he’d sent off. Orochimaru just smirked before jumping after him. This was getting fun!

Below him on the forest floor, the team of four was moving quickly through the underbrush, dirt and leaves getting kicked up in their wake.

“Why are we running?” Naruto demanded from in front of the proctor,  jumping around a fallen log. “We gotta take him down!”

“That man is a sannin, there’s no way I’ll let you do that,” the chunin shot back.

“Not like we have a choice,” Sasuke huffed. “He’s gaining on us.”

Kotetsu glanced over his shoulder before letting out a loud curse. Indeed he was. Orochimaru couldn’t be over a hundred yards behind them. How he was gaining with injuries like those he didn’t know. Perhaps he didn’t want to either. “Whatever I do, just stay behind me!” he cried anyway. The three genin nodded.

Skidding to halt in the ground, the chunin whipped around and, flashing through a few hand signs, shot a large blast of fire shooting out of his hands at the sannin. Naruto quickly stepped in and helped by pushing some wind chakra into it, turning it into a blistering firestorm. The flames raged forward, rushing through the undergrowth with an unworldly hunger. After a moment, they couldn’t even see Orochimaru.

It took several moments, but eventually the flames died down, settling into a smoldering crackle.

“Did, did that do it?” Kotetsu breathed, uncovering his eyes after doing so to hide the light.

“I think-” Sakura stopped dead. Her eyes were fixed on a peace of dirt a few hundred yards away. Slowly, it rose up from the ground, stacking itself into a humanoid figure. The features returned one by one until they were staring straight at Orochimaru himself. Very alive, and very unburnt.

His hair unplastered itself from his face and fell over his eyes. The skin across his face was peeling worse than before though, resembling a melted wax figurine. A murderous look bled into his eyes, which were no longer filled with the playful mirth of the hunt from before.

“That,” the sannin hisses, whipping the rest of his peeling face off. “Was a mistake.” His killing intent spiked, and he rushed forward, ready to kill.

Then Naruto screamed.

Notes:

Hey, you remember that cup of readers tears? *Sluuuuurp*

 
A stage two supracondular fracture (what Naruto received) is when the humorous just above the olecranon (elbow joint) fractures. A stage one would be a small hairline fracture. Stage two is when the crack goes all the way through instead of just partially. Stage three is when the humerus is completely separated from the olecronan (elbow) and in some cases can even rupture the skin. If you want you can google X-rays like I did but if your sensitive to that kind of stuff, maybe not. And I chose a supracondylar fracture because it was a clean enough break that it wouldn't have any serious long term side effects but still restricted arm movement.

Also, all medical lingo used in this chapter is 100% accurate. I got my mom who's a doctor to actually help me with researching everything and determining the best way to break a bone on a prepubescent boy. And I know the terminology because I took human anatomy senior year. Anyways, until next time. And thanks for reading!

Chapter 30: Aftermath

Notes:

You get this earlier than I intended because my discord group pushed me to post it. So, here ya go! Enjoy!

 

Silence.

The forest was silent. The same way it would be after an explosion, Or in this case, a fight. Five figures could be seen on the forest floor, all bloodied or beaten. Blood dripped onto the ground in an unsteady rhythm, staining the grass it landed on.

“ Naruto ,” Sakura breathed, breaking the silence. Her eyes were wide, hands held up in front of her defensively. But there was nothing to defend against. Not anymore. In front of her, Kotetsu had the same look, eyes wider and sweat beading his face.

Naruto was on his knees in front of them all, panting heavily. Sweat dripped down his brow while his arms hung uselessly by his sides, makeshift sling having fallen off at some point. “Is everyone okay?” He breathed, looking over his shoulder.

“You…” Sakura tried, fumbling with her words for a moment before shouting, “You idiot!”

Naruto only managed a wobbly smile.

Chains of golden light jutted out of his chest, ripping his already torn shirt to shreds. They wrapped around the snake sannin tightly, links pinning his arms to his side and forcing him to stay on the ground. Naruto had jumped in front of the group before Orochimaru could do anything and had unleashed them, straining his already exhausted chakra reserves. And with the seal on his stomach, the strain was even harder.

The action alone could have very well killed him. And he’d known that. But he’d done it anyway.

“You bastard,” Orochimaru suddenly hissed from across the small clearing. His chin was propped up on the ground so he could look at them, hair plastered to his face with both sweat and blood, making an even sharper contrast to his pale skin. He looked livid, the bloodlust in his eyes ebbing out into the air around him.

“Oh, shut up,” Naruto shot back weakly. “We got you. You’re finished.” The sannin only growled in response.

“I’ll finish him up,” Sasuke offered, grabbing a roll of ninja wire from his weapons pouch. Before Kotetsu could argue, he’d jumped forward and kicked the sannin in the head, knocking him out. He then set to work wrapping his exposed hands in the wire. Once he was almost finished, he slipped a scroll onto Orochimaru’s pocket, careful to hide the action from Kotetsu. It was the scroll Sasuke had forged detailing the Sound invasion due to take place during the third exam.

“Hey, get away from that man!” Kotetsu shouted, finally coming to his senses and rushing forward. Sasuke just rolled his eyes but stepped away, making a show of raising his hands in surrender. The chunin immediately set about securing the area, placing chakra suppressant seals on the sannin before checking everyone over.

“Are you all alright?” He asked, looking up from his work.

Across the clearing, Naruto was panting hard. He was hunched over, beads of sweat dotted his face and brow and covered in grime. He really looked like he’d been dragged through hell. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m great.”

Sakura just glared at him while Sasuke looked entirely unamused Kotetsu himself didn’t look the least bit convinced.

“Backup should be here soon,” he said. “So you can let go of the chains now.”

“No,” Naruto said firmly, shaking his head. “He could wake back up. I’m not taking chances.”

Kotetsu grimaced, but said nothing, accepting the response. Instead he set back to work.

Given the reprise, Sakura walked over to Naruto and started checking him over, sinking to her knees so she was at his level. She winced at what she saw. “I told you to keep still, moron,” she breathed, moving to look at his arm. Naruto winced as she held it up, examining it once again.

“I ain’t gonna back down from a fight,” he panted. “You know that.”

For a moment, it looked like Sakura was about to argue, but when she looked up and saw the determined expression on his face, the words died on her lips. She let out a defeated sigh instead.

“I know,” was all she managed.

Just then, Naruto doubled over with a cry of pain, shuddering.

“Naruto!” Sakura cried, catching him.

“‘M fine,” he ground out, hands curling into tight fists.

“It’s the chains, isn’t it,” Sasuke noted, watching the golden kekkei genkai start to waver in the air.

“I said I’m fine,” the blonde shot back, voice shaking from exertion.

“You just went up against a sannin,” Kotetsu suddenly shouted at them. “You shouldn’t even be alive!”

“Guess we’re just full of surprises,” Sasuke muttered back. The comment was met with a doubtful stare, but no verbal response.

The group waited in silence after that for backup to arrive. And after five minutes, it did.

Anbu dropped down from the trees above, landing in a perfect circle around them. Accompanying them was none other than Anko Mitarashi, eyes practically on fire.

Naruto, who was just barely holding it together, managed to give them a pathetic wave in greeting. Unsurprisingly, none of the Anbu returned it.

“Cat, boar,” Anko called out. “Secure the area. Rabbit, Fox, Bird, take care of him .” She gestured sharply to Orochimaru, eyes full of disdain.Three of the arrivals branched off to deal with the still unconscious sannin, following her orders, while the other two went over to the small team.

“You can let go of the prisoner now, Uzumaki,” the cat Anbu said. Naruto spared him a doubtful glance, but listened anyway. Anbu were trained to handle situations like these. He could put his trust in them.

Following his orders, he let go of the chains. Immediately Naruto felt the toll it had taken on his body as they zipped back into him. His breathing was labored and he felt his heart beating erratically in his chest. He sagged towards the ground, falling into Sakura’s grip like a sack of flour.

“You shouldn’t have pushed yourself so hard,” she scolded quietly as she held him up.

He was breathing so hard he could barely respond. “Not like I… had a choice,” he finally managed to breath back, a small smirk on his lips. Above him, he could feel Sakura roll her eyes.

“Excuse me,” someone above them interrupted. Naruto didn’t have the energy to look up, only managing to catch a glimpse of their sandals. “Are either of you in need of medical attention?” Ah, so it was a medical ninja.

“Yes,” Sakura announced, slipping into doctor mode; as Naruto like to call it. Her demeanor turned hard and serious, all signs of fatigue and weariness vanishing, replaced instead with the cool level facade of a seasoned medic. “My teammate is suffering from chakra exhaustion and a stage two supracondylar fracture to the right humerus. I suspect bruised ribs as well.”

“It’s not that bad,” he grumbled from her arms. Ignoring him, Sakura went on.

“I have a few lacerations and bruising, but nothing severe. And Sasuke has some mild second degree burns.”

The medic made hummed in acknowledgment before shouting orders to some of his comrades. Naruto listened as the ninja rushed about before he felt someone take him out of Sakura’s arms and ease him onto a stretcher.

“I can walk!” He grumbled weakly, trying to push himself up. Unfortunately his one good arm didn’t seem to be enough and he fell back down, vision swimming. Above him, Sakura just scowled, eyes glaring daggers at him.

“Please stay down, Uzumaki,” one of the medics said firmly. He only listened because he saw Sakura cracking her knuckles in the background.

“Take them to the hospital,” He heard Anko call out from the side. “We’ll clean up here.”

By now, Naruto’s vision was started to darken, black creeping up along the edges. His limbs felt heavy as lead, making it near impossible to turn his head to see what was going on.

“The Hokage will want to speak to them,” Boar announced, ignoring Anko’s orders.

“He can wait,” Anko shot back threateningly. “Hospital first.” When they didn’t move, she threw a round of senbon at their feet, shouting, “Now!”

The Anbu nodded reluctantly before ushering the medical ninja off. And that was the last thing Naruto saw before his eyes slipped shut, exhaustion finally taking over.

---

 

Kakashi’s day was going rather slowly. Because he didn’t have a genin team to teach, he had nothing on the calendar. And wasn’t that odd. He had grown so used to managing his little demons that five days without them seemed, well, boring. And Kakashi did not do well with boredom.

He considered taking Gai up on a challenge, but ultimately decided against it, choosing instead to hang out in the jōnin lounge with all his other sensei comrades. It had been dull, but they made good company. He actually made conversation! So that was new.

It was sometime around one that he left to find some food (anything but Ichiraku’s), but upon returning to the lounge a few hours later, he was met with a scene of chaos.

“What’s going on?” Kakashi asked, watching the all the other jōnin run around frantically.

“You haven’t heard?” One asked, stopping in front of him. He shook his head. “Orochimaru appeared in the forest of death. No one knows how he got in.”

Forest of death? That’s where the second exam was taking place!

“What happened?” He asked, stomach already starting to sink in dread.

“He attacked a genin team,” the jōnin told him, face like stone.

Kakashi’s stomach felt like lead now. His hands started to shake. Not his team. Please not his team. They were strong but Orochimaru was a sannin. Not even Kakashi could stand up to him. He didn’t want to know- but he had to.

“ Which team ,” he demanded.

 

---

 

The hospital was bustling with people just like any other day, which wouldn’t have annoyed the ex-Anbu had it not been that his team was somewhere in it possibly dying from their wounds. Kakashi shoved people out of the way as he made his way to the front desk, earning him a few glares and frustrated exclamations. He didn’t care though. He had things to do.

Sliding to a stop in front of the front desk, he rattled off breathlessly “Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha. Where are they?”

“Sir I’m sorry but they’re not allowed any visitors at the moment,” the front desk nurse apologized. The statement just made Kakashi angry.

“I am their jōnin sensei, Kakashi Hatake, which means I have family visiting rights,” he spat out. “I demand to see them.”

“Let him through,” a new voice interrupted. Kakashi looked up to see the Cat Anbu standing off to the side, apparently having just arrived. “I can watch him.”

Hesitantly, the nurse nodded before pulling out the sign in form and handing it to him. Not one to waste time, Kakashi just signed a henohenomoheji instead of his name before rushing off towards the Anbu.

“Thank you, Tenzō,” he said, heading off down the hall.

“Of course, senpai,” his friend said, following after him.

“What happened?” He asked, getting straight to the chase. “Nobody’s been giving me a solid account.” None of the jonin he’s spoken too had offered anything beyond “Orochimaru attacked some genin” and that he’d been apprehended. So it wasn’t a surprise that Kakashi was freaking out upon learning that it had been his team that had been attacked.

“Orochimaru showed up in the Forest of Death during the second exam,” Tenzō listed off. “He and two others had been impersonating a team of Kusa genin, We know so because a group of us found the bodies this morning. Without their faces.”

A cold shiver of dread ran through Kakashi at the report. Orochimaru could do that? At this point though he really shouldn’t be surprised.

“Then what?” he demanded.

Tenzō let out a sigh before continuing. “We don’t know, because the genin haven’t said much,” he said. “But apparently he attacked them and engaged in a battle. What he was after we’re still not sure. He hasn’t said yet and neither have your students. But eventually, during combat your team managed to signal for help in the form off opening a scroll which summoned a proctor. Weather they knew that would happen or not is still up in the air, but with the help of Kotetsu they subdued Orochimaru and brought him in.”

Kakashi faltered in his steps.

“They what ?” Subdue a sannin? Impossible.

“Yes,” Tenzō responded. “There were two puncture wounds in Orochimaru’s shoulders that restricted his movement along with multiple burn marks and lacerations. He was also chakra deprived, meaning he really put up a fight against them.”

While Tenzō was speaking, Kakashi’s mind was working at a hundred miles per hour. My genin , he thought. Did that ?

“What happened to them?” He managed to ask. If they were all in the hospital, it was for a reason. And knowing that they had gone up against a sannin…

“The Uzumaki was hit with a seal that shut off his access to the Kyuubi. It unbalanced his chakra system immensely,” Tenzō reported. “They discovered it during surgery. We’re still trying to find someone who can undo it.”

Surgery for what? He wondered nervously. The stone that had formed in his stomach grew heavier.

“The girl, Sakura, received multiple lacerations and suffered minor chakra exhaustion,” his friend continued. “The least injured is the Uchiha boy, with only a few cuts and burns.”

It was all Kakashi could do to keep one foot in front of the other as they walked down the hall. How could this have happened?

“Are they… are they alright?” He finally managed to ask.

The Anbu’s silence only made his stomach sink lower. The then Anbu stopped in front of a door and reached to open it. “I’ll let you see for yourself.”

Notes:

Hahahahahahhahaa. What? You thought I'd actually kill someone? Anyways, thank you SO much for reading, and if you liked it, drop a kudo or leave a comment telling me what you thought of it! Thank you for reading!

Chapter 31: Worry

Notes:

Oh. My. God. Guys, we topped 60 comments last chapter. That is literally /the most/ comments I have every received. Thank you guys SO MUCH. On another note, trigger warning for panic attacks in this chapter. it's not much, but I figured I should at least warn you guys in case it does set someone off. And again, thank you everyone who has left comments, kudo'd, subscribed, bookmarked, and posted about this on tumblr (I've seen your posts. I love you). So without further ado, enjoy!

Sakura was sitting up in her bed when the door to the hospital room slammed open. Everyone’s eyes shot to the doorway to see a breathless looking Kakashi-sensei standing with the Anbu Cat, looking more worried than he’d ever seen him. Her sensei’s eye flew across the room frantically before landing on the three of them.

They were all in beds, covered in bandages and in varying degrees of alertness. In the furthest one from the door, Naruto was out cold, right arm wrapped tightly in cast and chest bound from the few fractured ribs he’d collected. Next to that was Sakura, and closest to the door was Sasuke. Around the walls two Anbu stood at attention, watching over them while a medic worked on Sasuke, having already treated the other two. Upon seeing his team safe and alive, Kakashi-sensei’s shoulders sagged in relief, and all the tension draining away from his expression.

“You three,” he sighed, stepping into the room. “Are going to be the death of me.”

Behind him, Cat followed and closed the door behind him, taking up his place as guard along the wall.

Instead of speaking right away, Kakashi-sensei’s eye moved between his three students, inspecting their injuries. His gaze landed on Naruto’s cast for a long moment, grimace forming under his mask. Sakura didn’t miss how he winced slightly either. Appearing to shake himself off, he moved on to the other two. He noted how Sasuke was covered in various bandaids from all the cuts and burns he’d gotten while Sakura’s hands were wrapped in tight bandages, blood just barely seeping through. They looked like they’d completed an A rank mission, which they might as well have.

Glancing around the room, he looked at all the Anbu carefully, as if judging their character. “Sakura, Sasuke,” he started, not looking at them. “Have you spoken to anyone about what’s happened?”

Cat answered for them. “Not yet, Hatake.”

Kakashi-sensei looked ready to roll his eye at the formal use of his name. Then, shooting his two conscious students a firm look while addressing the Anbu, said, “Everyone out.”

For a second, none of them moved. Then, “We’re under orders not to leave them,” Boar said from by the window, sounding oddly unsure of himself. Sakura watched as Kakashi-sensei’s eye narrowed dangerously, staring the Anbu down threateningly.

“I said,” he reiterated sharply. “ Leave. I wish to speak to my students alone.” Still no one moved. Although there was some uncomfortable shifting around the room. Finally, seeming to have had enough, Kakashi-sensei snapped, “ Now .”

Immediately, all the Anbu shunshined out, leaving just a rush of wind behind. Only Cat remained by the door, looking indecisive about leaving. Sakura blinked, surprised. She knew Kakashi-sensei had been Anbu, but he wasn't anymore, so didn’t they technically outrank him? Which left her wondering why they followed his orders.

“You too, Tenzō,” Kakashi added in a softer tone, not looking back at Cat.

If he hadn’t been wearing the mask, Sakura was sure she would have seen the man roll his eyes.

“Stop calling me Tenzō, senpai” the Anbu just muttered back, moving out of the room.

“Then stop calling me senpai,” Kakashi-sensei shot back halfheartedly. It sounded like a practiced script the way they said it, making Sakura wonder, just who was Cat?

Well, Tenzō, apparently , she thought to herself. But who the hell is that?

“Alright,” Kakashi-sensei said, closing the door behind the Anbu. “We’re alone now. You can relax.” How he knew that having the Anbu around was making them tense baffled Sakura. But she didn’t question it.

“Cat told me none of you would talk,” he started, eyeing the two of them. “I thought I trained you better.”

“You did,” Sakura said. “It’s just…” We haven’t thought up a good story yet… Naruto was supposed to help downplay it… it wasn’t supposed to end this badly.

“We’re still… processing it,” Sasuke jumped in. The grateful look she shot lasted not even a second, but she was sure he saw it. “That man was terrifying,” he lied. “It’s hard to just think about.”

Their sensei seemed to accept the answer though, nodding sympathetically. “Understandable,” he hummed. “I won’t make you give your reports today.” Sakura’s shoulders sagged a barely hidden relief. At least they now had more time to think up a plausible story.

“But,” their sensei added. “You will have to eventually. He’s an S-class rogue ninja; what he was even doing here is a mystery that we need to solve as soon as possible.”

Sakura blinked in surprise. Have they not found the scroll? She thought, remembering the falsified scroll detailing the Suna/Oto alliance. Or maybe they have and he just hasn’t seen it yet. Yes, that made more sense.

“Alright sensei,” the two genin nodded.

Kakashi-sensei seemed to be pleased by their answer, closing his eye in what looked like relief.

A long moment of silence stretched between the three of them, wherein Kakashi-sensei just stood there, observing them. His lone grey eyes swept over to Naruto again, this time locking on instead of glancing over him. Slowly, Sakura watched as their sensei made their way across the room to stand over his conscious student, guilt etched onto his face. He looked like how he had when he’d brought Naruto back after his and Sasuke’s fight when the Uchiha had deserted. Broken. Grieving. It was a painful sight to see on someone you looked up to.

“What happened?” He finally asked, eye still trained on Naruto. His voice almost sounded horse.

Whether he was talking about the battle in general or about Naruto she couldn’t tell. She decided to answer both.

“We fought really hard,” she offered. “But I guess he figured Naruto…” She trailed off.

“He was in his way,” Sasuke finished somberly.

“In his way of doing what ?” Her sensei asked, barely suppressing his wince.

Sakura quickly shared a glance with Sasuke, as if to ask him if it was a really a good idea to tell their sensei. Sasuke just gave her a small nod in reply. “My eyes,” he said cooly. “He wanted the sharingan.”

The sickened look that flashed across Kakashi-sensei’s face reverberated deep in Sakura’s bones. She knew that feeling. Had lived with it for three years before she heard the snake sannin had died. Absolute and utter disgust.

“The sharingan?” He echoed. Sasuke nodded. “What for?”

Honestly, Sakura didn’t know. She always figured he’d wanted it to be stronger. To be the perfect shinobi. Or maybe there wasn’t a good reason and it was just the desire of a power hungry madman.

“No idea,” the Uchiha answered. And that was that.

The disgusted look in their sensei’s eye slowly turned somber as his gaze landed back on their third teammate.

“And Naruto?” He finally rasped out.

“He protected us,” she offered. “He used this… orange chakra,” she continued, trying to sound ignorant. “But then Orochimaru did something that shut it off, so he used his chains.” Then, in afterthought, added, “Even though he’d already used them six times.”

They all knew the implication of that. The chains took up an eighth of his total chakra stores each time he used them. They weren’t like his shadow clones which just divided themselves equally. Meaning Naruto very well could have died of chakra exhaustion today. The thought was terrifying.

Kakashi-sensei’s head dropped towards his chest, eye squeezed shut. Sakura could recognize his easy breathing as a grounding tool, taking note of his clenched hands at his side. It was all the signs of an impending panic attack.

“I’m glad you’re all alive,” he breathed, voice just barely staying level. “I don’t know what would have happened if…” He didn’t need to finish the thought. Then, straightening up suddenly, he said, “I’ll be back soon,” and swept out the door.

Sakura and Sasuke could only stare at the door as it was closed behind him.

 

---

 

Rocks. Dust. The smell of blood. It was all swimming in Kakashi’s mind as he stumbled through the hospital corridor. Leaning against the wall, he could feel the onset of a panic attack, something he hadn’t had since his days in Anbu. Sakura’s words had shaken memories loose that he’d tried not to touch for a long time.

Obito.

Damn Minato’s son. Why did he have to be so much like his idiot teammate? Self sacrificial bastard.

Logical he knew Naruto was fine and alive in the hospital room, but all his mind could see was Obito pinned under a boulder. A boulder that had been meant for him.

Naruto could have died. Minato’s son, his legacy could have died. And Kakashi couldn’t have done a thing about it. And to learn he’d used to Kyuubi’s chakra to stay alive… Kakashi wasn’t sure if he was greatful or terrified.

Letting out a shaky breath, Kakashi loosened his fists, forcing himself to relax. He was a jonin. An ex-Anbu commander. He had to be in control.

He had to calm down. Somewhere preferably with lots of distractions. Those usually helped him get his mind off whatever his troubling him if his books couldn’t.

Making up his mind, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and headed forward. Lobby it was then.

 

---

 

It had been almost two hours before Kakashi started to feel normal again. Stupid PTSD. He was reading his book in the lobby (partially because he loved fucking with people, partially because why not) when a shrill voice distracted him.

“Please, I just want to know where he is,” the voice pleaded from the lobby. Kakashi looked up curiously to see a young girl with bright red hair looking up at the nurse manning the check in station with wide red eyes, practically in tears.

“I’m sorry but that’s confidential. Only family members and Anbu are allowed there,” the nurse apologized. Hm, so she was hoping to visit one of his students. Probably a Sasuke fangirl.

“But I am family!” The girl cried. “I’m his cousin!”

Cousin? That piqued Kakashi’s interest.

Pushing off the wall, Kakashi walked up to the argueing duo, not paying attention to their conversation anymore. Bright red hair, not an Uchiha, talking about a boy… Kakashi knew exactly who this girl was.

“Excuse me,” he interrupted, stepping into the conversation. “But I couldn’t help but overhear you were here to visit your cousin.” The girl looked up, startled. Kakashi noticed the tear tracks that ran down her face, some old some fresh. She was wearing a Kusa headband, indicating she was here for the chunin exams. She looked like a mess. “Uzumaki, I presume?”

Slowly, the girl nodded, looking rather timid while doing so.

“Naruto…” She started uncertainty. “I heard he was in here and I wanted to see him. But no one’s letting me through!” She looked down at her feet, distraught. “I just want to see if he’s okay.”

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully in response. She didn't seem like a threat, or a spy. And she looked genuinely shaken up. Besides, if it had been a farce, Kakashi would know.

“I’ll take her back,” he told the nurse suddenly. Below him, the girl perked up in startlement.

“Are you sure, Hatake?” The nurse questioned, glancing nervously towards the girl’s headband, obviously concerned about a foreign ninja becoming involved with their jinchuuriki. Kakashi just crinkled his eye up into a smile in response.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said lightly. “I’ll keep an eye on her.” The nurse looked doubtful, but ultimately couldn’t oppose him. He was a jonin after all.

“Just sign here,” the nurse murmured, pushing the sign in sheet towards her. Kakashi watched her as she scratched the name “Karin Uzumaki” onto the paper. So her name was Karin, huh?

“Follow me,” he said lazily, walking away from the nurse’s station. He heard a scrambling of feet behind him before he felt her presence at his side, nervous and small. He pushed through the double doors into the hallway and listened as she followed along. The two walked in silence for a few moments before he spoke up.

“So, Karin,” he started, making her look up. “How did you meet Naruto?”

“Uh, he jumped in my face and said we were family,” she said in a small voice. “Then he took me out to ramen and told the Hokage he wanted me to live with him.”

Kakashi sighed. Sounds like Naruto .

“When did this happen?” He asked. Surely he would have heard about it if it had happened before the exams started. Naruto could never shut up about whatever he was excited about. And he was sure he’d have been very excited about finding family.

“Before the first exam,” the answered. “I don’t know how he knew. Maybe he could feel my chakra too and figured it out.”

Too?

“So you’re a sensor?” he asked lightly, already knowing the answer. Minato was a sensor, but he was pretty sure the young blonde didn’t have such an affinity. It was only one more question utop the ever growing pile his genin were throwing at him.

“Yeah,” Karin answered. “And his chakra feels really nice,” she admitted. “It’s really warm and bubbly. Not like my teams. Theirs is coarse and dry.”

Kakashi hummed. An powerful chakra sensor then.

They took a turn down another corridor, approaching the closed off wing the Anbu were watching.

“So, what happened to him?” She finally asked, referring to Naruto.

No point in sugarcoating it , Kakashi thought morosely. “He was attacked,” he supplied succinctly. “Buy a very powerful rogue ninja.”

“How!” Karin gasped, whipping her head around.

“We don’t know,” he admitted grudgingly. “During the second exam his team was ambushed by the sannin Orochimaru, forcing them to fight for their lives. He broke an arm and suffered chakra exhaustion from overusing his kekkei genkai.” Among other things, he added mentally, remembering the seal placed over the kyuubi’s. “He’s still recovering.”

“Kekkei genkai?” She whispered, partially amazed and partially confused.

Kakashi just nodded in response. “It’s a rare Uzumaki trait,” he said. “Who knows, maybe you have it,” he mused offhandedly. “But it’s very chakra intensive. He isn’t supposed to use it more than eight time a day. Four or five in a fight.”

“How many did times did he use it?” Karin asked.

Kakashi sighed heavily. “Seven.”

 

---

 

The two shinobi entered the closed off ward under the Anbu’s watchful eyes before arriving at team 7’s shared room. Easing the door open, Kakashi let Karin slip in first. Hesitantly, she stepped into the room, eyes drifting around before settling on Naruto, who still appeared asleep.

Sasuke immediately sat up at attention at the sight of the redhead, but calmed down once he saw rush over to Naruto’s side.

“I found her in the lobby,” Kakashi offered lamely as Karin started looking her cousin over. “Figured she wasn’t a threat.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Sasuke muttered quietly. Only Sakura heard him, and she shot him a withering glare in response.

“You’re Naruto’s cousin, right?” Sakura asked, turning to Karin. The girl in question nodded, not looking up from Naruto.

“He’ll be alright, won’t he?” She asked nervously. Sakura let out a small chuckle in response.

“It’s takes more than a broken arm and some chakra exhaustion to take him down,” she said warmly. “He heals fast anyway.” But still… he could have died. She pointedly refused to acknowledge the memory of squeezing his heart just to keep him alive. She didn’t need to think of that right now. Or ever.

“Honestly, I’m surprised Kakashi-sensei hasn’t exploded yet,” Sasuke commented from the side. “From Naruto being such a dumbass.”

“Oh believe me,” Kakashi spoke up. “Once he wakes up, he’ll be in for an earful.” Sakura smiled cheekily from her bed, glancing over at her blonde teammate. Getting chewed out by Kakashi-sensei was never a fun thing. She didn’t envy him.

After that the group lapsed into silence. Karin sat by her cousins side, watching the rise and fall of his chest. Occasionally she would rub absently at her arms, frown decorating her face. Sakura knew she was thinking about all the bite mark scars, having seen a few of them herself. Was she thinking about letting Naruto bite her? From the pained expression on the Uzumaki’s face, Sakura assumes that she was.

Eventually, the redhead looked up from her worrying and at the rest of the team.

“So um, would it be alright if I maybe stayed with you guys… for a little bit?”

“Like in the hospital?” Sakura asked. Karin shrugged, embarrassed blush turning dr face red.

“I was thinking just like, in general…” she trailed off, eyes dropping down to the floor. Sakura saw the moment for what it was. She remembered the Kusa genin she’d been with throwing a fit before the exam, pissed at their teammate for not showing up. She understood if Karin wanted to be as far away from them as she could.

“Yeah, I think that’d be fine.”

The small smile Karin offered was enough to let Sakura know just how grateful she was.

Eventually the three kids slipped into casual conversation, attempting to make jokes and bitch about teammates. It was awkward, but they were making it work. At some point Kakashi was called out by an Anbu to come look at some evidence they’d found. Something about a scroll. He left Karin with the other two, trusting them not to let her get into any sort of trouble. He wasn’t worried though, she seemed stable enough. He spared them all one last glance before closing the door behind him.

They were all smiling. All roughed up of course, and one still sleeping, but smiling and talking. In that moment he realized just how proud of his team he was. He really did love them.

Notes:

Thank you for reading! I appreciate it so much. Also, this will be the last update for a while (like, until Christmas at the earliest). It's because I'm starting tech school in two days (September 4th) and I will have literally NO TIME to work on this. That does NOT mean I plan on abandoning it (I mean c'mon, I have to get to the one plot point this while thing is based around). I hope you all understand and can be patient with me. You guys are amazing, I love you all <3

Chapter 32: A Troublesome Scroll

Notes:

Soooo... I know I said probably no updates till Christmas... but this just happened. That does NOT mean I will be updating frequently anytime soon. School just started so it's not so crazy, but the workload is about to intensify. So, you've been warned. ALSO, on another note, not that anyone here has done so but if anyone posts any unnecessarily mean/rude comments, know that I screenshot those and send them to my Naruto discord chat where we laugh about it before bitching about it. It happened today where someone went through every chapter and left slightly rude/offensive comments. It was pretty disheartening, and considering how much time and effort I put into this I'd really appreciate it if no one did that. On a better note, you guys are so amazing with all your comments and kudos and everything! When I started this fic I had NO IDEA it would get as big as it did (we just passed 50 comments on one of the chapters 0_0), so thank you all SO MUCH for making that happen. Without further ado, enjoy!

It was well into the night by the time Kakashi ended up leaving the hospital. The streets were practically deserted, only the occasional pedestrian meandering between buildings, most likely drunk. The village was otherwise peaceful, going about its night as if nothing had even happened. Even though so many things had.

Inside, Kakashi was tearing himself up over his current predicament. On one hand, he didn’t want to leave his students (and the Uzumaki girl) alone, knowing just how vulnerable they were. But on the other, he knew that if they had to call him in, it was serious.

But then again, he thought. An S-rank rogue ninja broke into the village and attacked a team of genin. It was an all hands on deck situation, regardless of rank or skill. He knew the T&I department would have their hands full right now, as well as the black ops. Really, everyone tokujo and above would be scurrying around like crazy. Maybe Hiruzen had just let him have more down time because it had been his students that had been in the line of fire.

Or maybe not. You could never quite tell with the Third.

Eventually he made his way up into the Hokage’s office, pushing the doors open silently. He was met with a room full of jonin and Anbu. At the moment he entered it looked like Shikaku Nara and the Hokage were discussing something. It stopped when he entered.

“Ah, Kakashi, there you are,” Genma greeted off to the side, staple senbon hanging out of his mouth.

“Maa, why am I here?” Kakashi asked, getting straight to the point. Genma frowned in response. Kakashi didn’t mean to be rude, but he had been dragged away from his injured students. So sue him if he was a bit short with others.

It was the Hokage who answered. “We found a piece of evidence on Orochimaru that we wanted you to analyze,” Hiruzen reported. “It’s a scroll detailing Orochimaru’s plans. Our T&I department has already looked it over and copied all of the data and are looking into it, but we were hoping you with your sharingan might be able to find anything we haven’t. It’s doubtful there is anything but we can’t leave anything to doubt. Not with Orochimaru.”

Kakashi nodded in understanding. He wouldn’t put it past Orochimaru to do something sneaky like that. And since he was the only able bodied shinobi with a sharingan in the village, the task automatically fell to him.

“Understood, Lord Hokage,” he nodded.

“I want you to report back to me on your findings, if any, as soon as possible,” Hiruzen continued. “And as Shikaku and I were just discussing, we also will require a report from your genin.”

Kakashi’s fingers curled into a tight ball of their own accord. Couldn’t the man give his students a break?

“Understood,” he said instead, voice strained.

“Good,” Hiruzen hummed. “Shikaku, the scroll.”

The jōnin commander nodded and pulled out an unassuming scroll from a pocket, handing it over to Kakashi.

“The contents of the scroll are being investigated as we speak to check the validity of them,” he said. “All we need from you is to check for hidden info.” Kakashi nodded, staring at the scroll in his hand. “Take as long as you need.”

“Understood,” Kakashi nodded. And with that, he was dismissed.

 

---

 

So, Orochimaru wanted to attack Konoha? And he wanted to use Oto and Suna to do it. Well, that was something. And to use Suna’s jinchuuriki to do it… what a mess. Sighing heavily, he ran a tired hand down his face, eyes looking off into his empty apartment.

Kakashi had spent the last hour going over the scroll, dissecting it for every bit of info he could. So far, he hadn’t found anything with his Sharingan. Realistically, he should have turned in his findings, or lack there of, hours ago. But something about the scroll was bugging him. Something about it just didn’t sit right, and for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what.

Sighing in frustration, he set the scroll down and focused back on his now cold cup of tea. He couldn’t remember how long ago he’d made it, probably hours by now. The only thing that would make it redeemable would be heaping spoonfuls of sugar. A shiver ran down Kakashi’s spine at the thought.

Ew.

Sighing, the jōnin leaned back on his couch, head bumping into the wall behind him. Sunlight was just starting to peek in through his window, lighting up his room with a golden glow. Hm. It was the middle of the night when he’d last looked up, or sometime in there. Absently, he realized he hadn’t visited his students at all since being called in, and wondered if Naruto was awake yet. If he was then he felt guilt for not stopping by. It wasn’t that he had to be at their side 24/7, but he hated seeing his students in that state, and perhaps seeing the blonde idiot’s stupid grin would remind him they were, in fact, okay.

But they weren’t. They were almost killed by Orochimaru, a Sannin, and had somehow survived. Somehow , his genin had gone up against an S-class ninja and had only come out with chakra exhaustion and a broken arm.

And also a cousin, but that wasn’t related to the fact.

Sighing again, Kakashi dropped his head back forward towards the scroll in his hand, eye flicking over it for what felt like the thousandth time. And for all he know, it could have been.

This was useless. He was getting nowhere.

On a hunch, he packed up the scroll in his weapons pouch and got dressed before hopping out of his window. The morning was still cool despite it being July, clear sky promising hot temperatures later. Ignoring that, Kakashi leapt across the rooftops, headed towards the archival building. He needed to check something out…

 

---

 

The archival building was rather empty when he arrived. The halls were barren of any shinobi coming or going, offering him a straight shot towards the records department. When he arrived, he was met with the sight of a lowly paper ninja bent over his desk, seemingly focused on his work.

Kakashi slapped a hand down on the desk to make his presence known.

“I need to see all the mission reports submitted by Orochimaru before his desertion,” he said briskly, not giving the desk clerk a chance to breathe.

“Uh, I’m afraid I can’t just let you see-” the man started. Kakashi raised a hand and cut him off.

“I don’t need to see the classified ones. Just a few.” He was getting impatient. The desk clerk gave him an odd look, but ultimately nodded.

He was led back into a large warehouse-esque room filled with filing cabinets.This was where all the reports and documents regarding shinobi were stored, ranging from academy student grades to A-rank mission reports. The S-rank mission reports and S-class documents were kept in another building though. Things like Tenzō’s info and anything regarding Naruto’s parents. It was all tucked away elsewhere where no one would accidentally go poking their noses in it. Kakashi may have broken into it once or twice, but no one needed to know that.

“Here we are,” the chunin grumbled, stopping in front of one of the cabinets. “All of Orochimaru’s reports.” He said. Then added, “The non-redacted ones, anyway.” Kakashi hummed in acknowledgment before setting to work, pulling open one of the cabinets and pulling out random reports.

“Can I uh, can I ask what you’re looking for?” The paper ninja asked.

Kakashi paused in his motions.

“No,” he said. And that was that. With a grumbled sigh, the chunin turned away and told him he could have all the time he needed. Not that Kakashi needed permission. He waited until the shinobi was out sight before setting to work.

After accumulating what felt like enough papers, Kakashi settled down and began to read them. He wasn’t looking at the content per se, but at the handwriting. His hunch was far-fetched, but plausible. For some reason he had a feeling the scroll that had been found on Orochimaru was a forged one. He couldn’t put his finger on why he felt that, but it was a strong enough itch that he couldn’t ignore it. And after being a shinobi for twenty one years, he had learned to trust his gut instinct, even if it didn’t make sense.

Sitting down against the filing cabinets, Kakashi settled in for a long research session. He had a feeling this wouldn't be easy to prove. And he was rarely proven wrong.

 

---

 

It must have been nearing the afternoon when Kakashi finally looked up from the papers. He had gone through every single report the Sannin had written (that wasn’t classified) and had compared it to the scroll. So far, nothing seemed out of place. And it was pissing him off .

What is it , the jōnin agonized. He had been so scrutinizing. Analyzing every kanji, ever hiragana. He was tempted to start ripping out his hair, it was annoying him so bad. He felt like the answer was right in front of his face, so obvious he shouldn't even have to think. And yet…

“Any luck, senpai?” A familiar voice spoke up behind him. Kakashi turned around from his seat on the floor and found himself looking up at his old subordinate, Tenzō.

“Same ol’, same ol’,” he sighed wearily, turning back to the scroll and papers in his hands. He hadn’t even heard the Anbu enter, he had been so focused. “How’d you know I was here?” He asked.

“Overheard some paper ninja whining about ‘a rude old man’. Figured it had to be you.”

A sharp laugh escaped Kakashi. “Old, huh?” He sighed. Well, he supposed silver hair and deep set eyes would do that.

“Just what exactly are you looking for, senpai?” Tenzō finally asked, crouching down next to him. Kakashi just sighed again.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted, staring at the papers in front of him. “But for some reason I think the scroll they found on Orochimaru was a forgery.” A pause. “I just can't explain why.”

Tenzō’s eyebrows shot up, eyes going wide. “A forgery?” He asked, taken aback. “But who would have known all that? And better yet, why would they have put so much sensitive info on one document?” The implication was clear. Orochimaru wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t go around carrying detailed plans of a mission for anyone to read, and he wouldn’t have any of his underlings doing the same. The man was as meticulous as he was insane. He didn’t make such foolish mistakes. So to think that someone that knew the plans well enough had done so on purpose baffled them.

“I don’t know,” Kakashi ground out. “And that’s what’s frustrating me.”

Tenzō’s frown deepened, and he looked down at the papers. “So you’re looking for proof of a forgery?” He clarified. The jōnin next to him just hummed in confirmation. “Have you compared handwriting?” he asked.

“Yes,” Kakashi hummed. “It matches.”

“Prose?”

“Yes.”

“Style?”

“Also yes.”

The Anbu sighed, deflating. “I don’t really know what else there is then…”

Kakashi hummed, letting his eye slip close as he leaned back against the wall. He’d hoped for a moment that fresh eyes would have been of some help, yet that had proven to be a false hope.

“Maybe you’re thinking too hard about it, senpai,” Tenzō finally offered. “Maybe it’s not ‘underneath the underneath’,” he teased. The smile was evident in his voice.

“Don’t use my own words against me,” Kakashi shot back halfheartedly, no real heat behind them. Tenzō just smiled softly, finding the whole thing amusing.

“Perhaps it’s nothing,” he offered with a shrug. “Maybe your age is just finally getting to you.”

Instead of laughing, Kakashi just turned his lone eye to Tenzō and gave him the most deadpan stare he could muster. Tenzō at least has the decency to look embarrassed.

“What are you really here for, Tenzō?” Kakashi suddenly asked, demeanor hardening. Tenzō, noticing the shift, dropped his guilty face, expression mirroring the ex-Anbu’s.

“Anbu was able to verify the information detailed in that scroll,” he said, expression stony. “Suna and Oto really are planning an attack on Konoha.”

Kakashi let out a weary sigh, letting his head fall back against the filing cabinet he was leaning against. He was doing that a lot lately now that he thought about it…

“And the Kazekage’s children?”

“Still taking the exam,” the mokuton user reported. “We will apprehend them for questioning after the second test is over, as well as all other Suna and Oto genin.”

Kakashi hummed, nodding. It sounded fair. “And my students?” He asked.

“Still under watch at the hospital. They have yet to give their reports though. The Haruno girl claims she doesn’t want to until Uzumaki is awake.”

So he’s still out, huh? Kakashi thought to himself. At least they were still okay. He hadn’t seen them since last night, but this was a shinobi village. Life moved quickly and things could change in an instant.

“Thank you, Tenzō,” the jōnin nodded. The Anbu nodded before standing back up, clearly intent on getting back to his duties.

“Anytime, senpai.”

He was gone in a shunshin before Kakashi could even respond.

“Stop calling me senpai,” he muttered anyway. He received only the cool draft of the filing room as his response.

Sighing to himself, Kakashi turned back to the scroll, this time not focusing too hard on it, letting his eye skim over the text instead. A few minutes later, he realized what was wrong with it, and cursed himself for not catching it sooner.

The kanji for “leaf”. It was wrong . It wasn’t anything major, but on closer inspection, he noticed how the brush strokes in the scroll differed from the ones in all of Orochimaru’s reports. It was obvious that there was an attempt to replicate the original, but perhaps the person copying it had no reference for how the Sannin wrote “leaf”. And it showed. Because Kakashi recognized that kanji.

He’d seen this iteration enough to know exactly who’s handwriting it was. What with how many mission reports he’d had to look over the past few months. Something inside Kakashi’s chest clenched at the realization, turning his stomach to ice. He should have seen it sooner.

The handwriting was Sasuke’s.

 

Notes:

Dun, dun, duuuuuuh.

The science behind this is that Kakashi's brain was picking up on Sasuke's handwriting without realizing it because he had read through so many of his reports in the past three months. It's like where you make a spelling mistake but your brain skips over it because it automatically knows what you're trying to say. Sasuke also couldn't copy that specific kanji because I doubt he would have ever seen Orochimaru write it. I assume it'd be a very common one to use as an active duty Leaf shinobi, but since Sasuke knew him when he was a rogue ninja, he wouldn't have any reason to write it. Which is also why I chose that word specifically. Anyways, until next time you lovely peeps! Please comment or leave kudos if you liked it!

Chapter 33: Kakashi's Interrogation

Notes:

Um. Surprise? Seriously I don't know how I'm doing this, school is CRAZY. Anyways, I seriously want to thank everyone who has left kudos and comments so far. Us writers don't know what you guys think of it without them, so to get so much feedback is so validating. I love you all so much. Thank you. Enjoy!

Why would Sasuke…

Why would he…

Why…

The thoughts were flying through Kakashi’s head faster than he could keep up with them, leaving him sitting on the hard floor of the filing room clutching the scroll, eye staring blankly ahead.

His student had successfully forged a scroll in the handwriting of someone he hadn’t met. He had filled it with accurate data regarding an impending invasion. He had presumably planted said scroll on Orochimaru after a confrontation with him, meaning he knew he would have a confrontation with him. And that he would win.

Kakashi felt something in his throat catch.

How.

How did Sasuke know Orochimaru? How did he know about the invasion? How did he know he would meet him in the exam? How did he know about any of this? Better yet, did Naruto and Sakura know about this? Was Sasuke acting alone or with others?

Was his student a spy? No, if so, why would he plant so much data on a criminal. Could he be in contact with a double agent working for Orochimaru? If so, it would make sense if he left their data out. But he was a genin with no reason to converse with someone like that, so that wouldn’t make sense.

He needed answers, he realized. And he knew exactly where to get them.

 

---

 

The prison was oddly quiet considering how many people occupied it, Kakashi thought to himself as he made his way through the stony corridors. Guards were stationed every ten yards, rigid as lamp poles. They looked either afraid, or on edge. Or both. And Kakashi honestly couldn’t blame them, considering who they were guarding. He himself could barely face the man let alone try to guard him. It was understandable they’d be nervous.

“Hatake,” someone said from faurther up ahead. Glancing up, he was met with the familiar brown eyes of Yugao, his former underling.

“I’m here to see the prisoner,” he said, forgoing formalities. Behind her mask, Yugao seemed taken aback, but didn’t question him.

With a quick hand signal, the Anbu guarding the alcove of the cell moved away, allowing him passage.

“Actually, I’ll need some privacy,” Kakashi amended. Yugao shot him a concerned, quizzical look in response.

“Senpai-” she started to argue, but he stopped her with a wave of his hand.

“I won’t be long. I only have to ask a few things.”

“Things you can’t ask in front of the black ops?” The Anbu wearing a deer mask argued.

Hm , Kakashi thought. He must be new. I don’t recognise him .

“An S-rank rogue ninja managed to break into a hidden village and infiltrate the chunin exams and nearly kill my students. So sorry if I’m a little suspicious of people right now,” Kakashi spat dryly, not the least bit sincere. The Anbu looked ashamed for a moment before backing down.

“Alright,” Yugao piped up. “But you get five minutes. No more.”

Kakashi nodded. “Understood.”

Yugao gave him a long look before motioning to her subordinated to leave. She waited until they were out of sight before turning back to him.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” she whispered.

Something in Kakashi’s chest tightened uncomfortably. He came down here for answers. But something told him he wouldn’t like what he was about to find. He didn’t say any of this aloud though, instead only replying with, “So do I.”

 

---

 

Before he’d approached the alcove of the cell holding the Sannin, Kakashi had paused to push his headband up his forehead to reveal his sharingan. He had a feeling he was going to need it soon.

“Kakashi,” the Sannin greeted with a sickening smile as the jonin stepped into the light. “What a pleasant surprise.” Kakashi only narrowed his eye in response, killing intent leaking out of him. The Sannin sensed it and frowned, playful attitude evaporating in an instant.

“Not in the mood for games, I see,” he grumbled.

“Sasuke Uchiha,” Kakashi bit out instead, getting straight to the point. “What is he to you?”

The Sannin’s frown deepened. His amber eyes narrowed, practically glowing with malice in the dark cell. “A replacement,” was all he said.

The answer sent shivers down Kakashi’s spine, but he refused to let it show. He wanted the sharingan he remembered Sasuke saying. Is this what he’d meant by that? Strengthening his resolve, he curled his fists and set his shoulders, not letting himself be deterred by the man and his twisted desires.

“Have you ever spoken with him before? In disguise or otherwise?” He asked.

“Only his brother,” the man admitted nonchalantly. “Not a very good conversationalist.”

Kakashi almost scoffed at that. Almost.

“And this?” He held up the scroll.

Orochimaru looked at it, no hint of recognition flashing in his eyes. “Is this a test?” He asked dryly, glaring back at the jōnin.

“Answer the question,” was all Kakashi said.

Sighing, Orochimaru rolled his eyes but replied. “It’s a scroll,” he stated. “I have eyes, Hatake.”

The humor wasn’t appreciated. “It was confiscated off you when you were brought in,” Kakashi told him. “Did you know it contains every detail of your plan to invade Konoha next month? Including information about your little spy; Yakushi, and those Oto genin?”

Orochimaru’s eyes widened comically. He straightened up, face paling (more than it already was) considerably.

Holding the scroll up, Kakashi unraveled it, letting the paper go almost until the floor before halting it. In the dim light of the prison, the kanji and hiragana scratched onto it were just barely visible. But it was enough.

Orochimaru’s eyes narrowed before widening, lips sliding into a thin line.

“H-how?” He breathed, staring wide eyed at the characters. The quiver in his shoulders and under his eyes told Kakashi it wasn’t a farce. Which only proved to worsen his troubled thoughts.

“Why would Sasuke Uchiha have access to this information?” the jōnin finally growled out, both eyes narrowing in seething anger. Obito’s sharingan was spinning madly in his eye socket, showing just how serious he was.

Orochimaru though, to his credit, seemed genuinely surprised. “I’ve never spoken with Sasuke Uchiha in my life before the other day,” he rasped out. “I have no idea how he would know any of this.” It sounded sincere. And not in the way that a lying ninja would make it sound, but genuinely, truthfully sincere in only a way someone with nothing to lose would sound. Something Kakashi knew very well.

“Then why would he knew your handwriting and prose to a T?”

“I have no idea,” the man bit out, scowl painting his features. “He’s not my spy if that’s what you’re thinking. How he got this information is as much a mystery to me as it is to you. As well as how he and his aggravating teammates managed to put me in this cell.” He spat the words out like venom, teeth showing in his anger. The fury radiating off him was almost palpable. Kakashi almost had to take a step back just from the force of it. But he didn’t.

“What do you mean?” He asked wearily, narrowing his eyes. It was the Anbu who had brought Orochimaru in. Not his students.

“Hmph,” Orochimaru huffed. “It seems someone didn’t read the reports,” he scoffed, anger receding somewhat. “Tsk, I expected better from you, Hatake.”

The reports hadn’t been written yet, but he didn’t tell him that.

Taking a deep breath, the jōnin composed himself and tucked the scroll into his weapons pouch. There was nothing more he could learn here. He turned to leave, but was stopped by Orochimaru’s voice.

“How long do you think I was fighting them before they summoned that blasted proctor?” He asked. Kakashi’s feet halted on the ground. Part of him did want to know, but another dreading the answer. His students were strong, he knew this. But strong enough to keep up with a sannin before calling for backup? It was unnerving.

Orochimaru took his hesitation as a sign to go on. “A good half hour at the least,” he offered. “Maybe more. I wasn’t paying attention; I was having too much fun.”

Fun . Kakashi shivered at the word.

“I haven’t had a challenge so thrilling in a long time,” the Sannin went on. “It was rather refreshing.”

“Refreshing,” Kakashi echoed in disgust, whirling around. “They’re twelve . You could have killed them.”

“You say it like I didn’t try,” Orochimaru said with a frown. “My, my. You have such little faith in your students.”

It sounded like an insult, the way he said it. As if he weren’t a competent teacher who knew his students. Which was bullshit. Kakashi cared for his students immensely. He made it a point to know them. Just what was this snake bastard getting at?

Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi glared at the man. He hadn’t given him any answers or explanations on the scroll. He was just a sick, twisted monster with nothing more to offer him. “We’re done here,” he said succinctly, turning around and heading off down the hall.

“Oh Kakashi,” the Sannin called out in a sickeningly sweet voice, stopping him in his tracks again. “Don’t you want to know how your precious little genin managed to beat me? It’s quite an interesting story.”

Part of Kakashi wanted to know. Desperately wanted to understand how his students could have stood up to such a man. The other, larger part though wanted to get away as fast as possible. He didn’t want to be near the man any longer than he had to.

He didn’t get the option to choose though as Orochimaru continued talking.

“Hm, you don’t seem to be in the mood,” the Sannin sighed. “But,” he added. “I will say this much. You’re students know some very interesting jutsu. Some of which I haven't seen in thirteen years.”

Kakashi’s hand twitched.

“ Some of which only one person in the world knows,” he continued.

“What are you talking about?” Kakashi finally hissed, shooting a glare over his shoulder.

He saw Orochimaru standing at the edge of his cell, practically pressed up the bars, wicked grin plastered on his face.

“I’ll only say this,” he hummed, making Kakashi narrow his eye. “If Jiraiya didn’t teach that Uzumaki brat his father's jutsu… I wonder who did.”

Notes:

I highly doubt Orochimaru didn't know Naruto was Minato's son. For one, he looks just like him. Secondly, his last name is Uzumaki (y'know, like Minato's wife). And thirdly, Orochimaru's not dumb. He's a genious. Of course he knows.
Anyway, I still can't promise regular updates. I don't know how I did these last few chapters. So, until next time you lovely people!

Chapter 34: Exposed

Notes:

Art before the chapter because... well... You'll see ;)
Anyways, thank you guys SO MUCH for being so supportive and patient with my while I go through school. It's insane and awesome and I love it, but boy does it not leave me with much time to work. Someone actually did fanart of my fic but I CAN'T FIND IT ON MY TUMBLR AND I FEEL SO BAD! I was gonna link it because I love it, too. Also, I added some art to end of chapter 22, so if you haven't seen it by now, go check it out! Anyways, happy thanksgiving to all my American readers, and enjoy the chapter!

 

The hospital was oddly peaceful as the sun rose over the village. After all the insanity of the past few days, what with Orochimaru and everything that entailed, it felt almost as though it were holding its breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

That wasn’t to say it was going to, though. But it also wasn’t entirely out of the question.

For team 7, the two days had full of uncertainty and worry. No one had come to ask them for their report. Naruto still hadn’t woken up. They hadn’t received any news on how the exams were going, if they were even continued at all. Overall, there were too many questions and no one giving them answers. For the two (conscious) time travelers, it was infuriating.

“You’re already awake?” A soft voice mumbled by the wall. Looking over, Sakura saw Karin blearily blinking up at them, glasses askew from the awkward position she’d just woken up from. She had stayed both the first night and last night with them, sleeping on a chair next to Naruto’s bed. Not that either of the two were complaining. For some reason though she’d refused to leave her cousins side whenever a nurse or doctor asked her too. She claimed she needed to be there for him, that family had to stick together. Which anyone could tell she meant.

But Sakura knew better.

She saw it in the girls discarded headband, and the scars along her skin. She had nowhere else to go. She was all alone.

“Yeah, just woke up,” Sakura answered, noticing the girl shift to cover her arm. “You look exhausted,” she pointed out. “Are you sure you don’t want the keys to Naruto’s place? You can sleep and take a shower there. He wouldn’t mind.”

Karin just grimaced, looking back down at her cousin. Her red eyes were filled with sadness and what looked like regret or grief. It was possible she was remembering something painful. Sakura didn’t doubt it. From what she remembered about seventeen year old Karin, she’d had a tough life even before Sasuke. Sakura couldn’t imagine what was going through her head at the moment.

“I don’t want him to be alone,” the girl finally muttered, hands fisting over her knees.

“He won’t be. He has us,” Sakura stated. “You both do.”

A soft blush bloomed across Karin’s cheeks, small smile forming on her lips.

“Thank you Sakura,” she murmured.

Sakura returned the smile, eyes soft and kind like she knew Karin needed. “Of course.”

Then it was quiet for a moment, sunlight from the rising sun spilling into the room and a peaceful silence hanging in the air. Until-

“Jeez, get a room you two.”

“SASUKE!”

“EW GROSS!” The girls shreaked in unison at the now awake Uchiha, who was staring idly at them.

“Sasuke, that’s disgusting,” Sakura gasped. “She’s thirteen and I’m-” Seventeen. She paused. “I’m twelve.” A small flicker of understanding passed across Sasuke’s face, but it quickly returned to its usual passive apathy.

“Th-that’s not that big of an age gap,” Karin exclaimed behind her.

Sakura had to physically stop herself from flinching. If only you knew…

“Whatever,” Sasuke sighed, leaning back into his pillows. “Just stop being weird.”

“You’re the one being weird, asshole!” Sakura shouted back, veins bulging in her fist. Behind her, a flustered Karin sweatdropped.

“You guys are insane…” the poor Uzumaki muttered.

“Sadly this is nothing new,” was all Sasuke said.

Just then, the door to their room suddenly slid open, drawing all their attention. Looking up, Sakura was surprised to see Kakashi-sensei standing on the threshold, body language deceptively relaxed. Immediately she knew something wasn’t right.

“Sensei?” She asked, heart starting to beat faster in her chest. “What are you doing here so early?” It was around six in the morning. Not necessarily early for a shinobi, but not really an appropriate time to visit your students in the hospital. Well, not appropriate for anyone who understand social cues, that was.

“Maa, just wanted to pop in and see how my kiddies were doing,” he brushed up, eye-smiling at the three of them. Something about it seemed off though… But Sakura couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Karin,” he spoke up again, turning to the Uzumaki. “Why don’t you go back to Naruto’s place and get some proper sleep and a shower. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

Just as she did when Sakura suggested it, Karin’s face fell in dismay, red eyes flicking down to her unconscious cousin before going back up to the jonin. “Are-are you sure?” She asked in a small voice. “I don’t want him to be alone…”

“He’ll have us, don’t worry,” Kakashi-sensei continued, voice sounding just the tiniest bit strained. Sakura’s eyes narrowed in response. “Besides,” he continued. “I’m sure he won’t mind you using his apartment anyway.”

Karin looked doubtful, but didn’t contend it. Meanwhile, across from her, Sakura was scouring her sensei to see what his real reason for wanting the girl out of the room was. He might be a skilled jonin, but she’d known him for almost six years. Something wasn’t right here. He was tense, despite how he tried to hide it. She could tell in the fact that his shoulders were too lax. Slumped more than usual. His eye was just the tiniest bit narrowed, as if scouring for something. And if she looked closely she could see he was holding on to something tightly in his pocket. And it wasn’t his porn book.

Something was up, and whatever it was, Kakashi-sensei felt the need to discuss it with only his students.

Sakura didn’t like where this was going.

“Will you guys be okay here?” Karin asked, shocking Sakura from her inner musings. Blinking, Sakura looked over at the girl, noting the unsure way she held herself. Plastering on the biggest smile she could, Sakura nodded.

“We’ll be fine, Karin. Go get some rest.”

The Uzumaki blinked, eyes full of uncertainty. At long last, she gave a small nod, mouth set into a firm line.

“Great,” Sakura smiled.

Karin, still holding har arm, hesitantly got up. Sakura watched as she walked out of the room, casting a final glance at them over her shoulder before sliding the door closed behind her.

As soon as the redhead was out of sight, their sensei’s demeanor changed like a switch being flipped.

“Sasuke,” he growled, eye narrowing dangerously. The hand in his pocket shot out and something went flying onto Sasuke’s bed. “Explain yourself.”

When Sakura saw what it was, her heart stopped.

The scroll .

The scroll depicting Orochimaru’s “master plan”. The one they forged. The one Kakashi-sensei was now questioning them about.

Her veins had turned to ice, eyes wide as saucers. What did he know?

Unlike Sakura, who was panicking inside, Sasuke managed to keep his cool, face relatively devoid of emotion. “Sensei-“ Sasuke started, trying to look calm but confused. Before he could say anymore, Kakashi-sensei interrupted.

“Cut the bullshit,” he growled, startling the two. They’d never heard him swear before. At least, not when they were actually genin. He was leaning over Sasuke’s bed now, Hands curled around the metal bar of the footboard. “I know you wrote that,” he continued, voice low and dangerous. “I’ve read enough of your reports to recognise your handwriting, even if you did manage to copy it character for character.”

Sakura noticed Sasuke’s finger twitch.

“Now, I’d like to know how for one, you can copy his handwriting so well without having seen his reports before, and two.” He took a deep breath in, hands curling tighter around the metal bar. “ How the fuck did you know about Orochimaru’s plans ?”

Sakura felt her heart jackhammer against her chest, sweat forming on her brow. Her hands were clenching her sheets so hard her knuckles were turning white. Sasuke, while holding a much cooler demeanor, wasn’t much better off. His eyes were wider in fear and Sakura could see his adam's apple bobbing up and down nervously, like he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words.

Like the jonin he was, Kakashi-sensei noticed all of this.

“Look,” he started again, standing up straight. “I know you three are stronger than most genin. I know you’re more mature than you should be. I know you’re different . What I just don’t get is why .” Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a fearful glance. “You can’t be imposters. No one can replicate the sharingan, or…” He trailed off, eye flicking over to Naruto. “And you’re still familiar with the villege in a way only shinobi raised here would be.”

“So what are you saying?” Sakura breathed, genuinely terrified of her sensei for once.

The jonin’s lone grey eye narrowed at her. “I’m saying,” he started. “I’m asking ,” he corrected. “Why do you know what you know? And how do you know it?” He looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment, as if thinking of how to phrase his next sentence. “Depending on your answers, all of this is off the record. But I need to know, are you loyal to Konoha?”

Sakura immediately shot out of her bed, bare feet hitting the cold tiled floor. “Of course we’re loyal to Konoha!” She cried, outraged. “How could you think such a thing?”

“You tell me,” was all he replied with. Growling in frustration, Sakura opened her mouth to retort but was overcome by a wave of dizziness. Oh, right, chakra exhaustion. Stumbling slightly, she caught herself on the edge of the bed. A hand reached out to help her, and she was surprised to see Sasuke leaning over to help her. When was the last time he had done that?

Blushing slightly from gratitude, she hauled herself back up onto her bed, this time sitting on the edge. The two genin shared a look before an irritated flare of chakra made them look back up at their sensei. Next to her, Sasuke huffed out a sigh of frustration.

“Look,” he started, turning to their sensei. “We’re loyal to Konoha. I don’t know how we can prove it to you, but we don’t hold any ill-intent towards it.”

Sakura noted the auspiciously missing “anymore” from his sentence.

“And yet here you are knowing the entire terrorist plan of a rogue S-class ninja,” the jonin pointed out bitterly. “So sorry if I can’t help but wonder.”

They were at a loss for an explanation. Really there wasn’t any good way to excuse how they knew all that yet hadn’t gone to any officials. It’s what the law stated to do anyway. So off the bat they’d already commited a crime, time travel be damned.

Sakura felt herself open her mouth to reply, no words on her tongue, but was saved at the last minute by a voice she hadn’t expected at all.

“‘Kashi-s’nei?”

Sakura froze.

Sucking in a breath, she turned to the far bed to see the familiar blue eyes of Konoha’s jinchuuriki cracked open. He was awake.

“Naruto,” she gasped, shocked. How was he awake? She and the doctors had predicted he’d be out for a good week at the minimum. Sure he’d been out for two days after Wave, but his chakra exhaustion hadn’t been nearly as bad then as it was now. There was no feasible way that he should even be conscious, let alone talking.

Behind her, the rest of team 7 was just as shocked. Kakashi-sensei’s eye was blown wide, and Sasuke was frozen in his bed.

“Wha’s with the stares?” The blonde asked in a slurred voice. Sakura had no answer for him, instead watching dumbfounded as he pushed himself up some from the bed to lean back on the pillows.

“You’re… awake,” was all Sakura could manage.

Naruto blinked at her, eyes vacant and glassy. “Well… yeah,” he mumbled dumbly. “I heal fast.”

“No,” Sakura insisted, pushing forward. “Your chakra- the doctors- you shouldn’t be awake!” She exclaimed. It was then as he frowned that Sakura noticed something red on the corner of his mouth. Squinting, she peared closer at it.

It was blood… But it couldn’t have been his.

Sakura gasped.

“Karin,” she breathed. She should have seen it sooner. The exhaustion in her eyes, the way she was hiding her arm… God, how could she have been so stupid!

“Karin?” Kakashi-sensei echoed with a frown.

Next to her, Sakura could see her sensei’s confusion reflected on her blonde teammate’s face. Poor guy, he didn’t even know his cousin had visited him.

“Karin,” Sakura started. “She has a kekkei genkai that lets her heal people, but…” She trailed off, thoughts turning dark.

Luckily, Sasuke finished for her. “But at the cost of her own vitality.”

In his bed, Naruto blinked in shock, seeming to come to more awareness. “What did she do?” He asked in a croaky voice.

Sakura just shook her head hard in response. “It doesn’t matter,” she insisted, ignoring the disgust that wrapped itself around her heart. “All that matters now is that you’re fine.”

No one seemed convinced, but they didn’t comment on it. Thankfully.

Unfortunately, Kakashi-sensei dragged the conversation back. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said honestly. Then his voice hardened. “But regardless,” he dismissed. “I want an explanation. Now .”

“Wha’s goin’ on?” Naruto asked from the side, eyes going back and forth between his team and sensei.

“This,” Kakashi-sensei replied icily, holding up the scroll he’d tossed onto Sasuke’s bed. Almost immediately, all fatigue vanished from his expression, face falling in recognition.

Oh.

“What do you three know about this?” Their sensei finally demanded.

Silence was the only thing he received.

What were they supposed to do, tell him? Oh hey, guess what, we’re from the future and have been this whole time. And guess what, we know secrets you don’t, and also, the guy who gave you your eye killed Naruto’s parents and is still alive, actively plotting to murder everyone.

Yeah, not really an option.

But not telling him wouldn’t go well for them either. They were cornered. He’d suspected something was up with them for a while now, so they couldn’t just shake it off or dismiss it. But they also couldn’t fabricate a whole lie either. He was smart. He would figure it out in an instant. Besides, they hadn’t actually lied to him the whole time they’d been with him. Omitted, yes, but never lied. Hell, Naruto literally shouted out “kaguya” the first time they “met” him.

But telling him the truth… Who would believe that? Certainly not a normal shinobi, even one with a space/time jutsu sitting in their eye socket. Besides, even if they did, they’d have to back it up with facts. Something that he’d never told them in this timeline that he had in theirs, or another piece of info just as coveted. Wincing in realization, Sakura’s eye drifted over to Naruto. They could always tell Kakashi-sensei about Naruto’s parents…

No. That’d be like open a wound. Too personal. Too painful.

Maybe as a last resort though.

“Well?” Her sensei growled, snapping her back to the present.

Sakura blinked, turning to face him again.

“Do you work for Danzo? Another village? What?” The pointed question stung like senbon.

Sakura prided herself on being the smartest and most rational member of team 7. Having trained under Lady Tsunade for three years, and working her way up the ranks until she was the most respected medical ninja in the village was no small feat. She deserved everything she worked so hard for. So, using her intellect, she came to the only conclusion that seemed to make sense. Even if she didn’t like it.

Gulping, Sakura opened her mouth to answer.

“You wouldn’t believe us,” she said. She didn’t see any other option. He had to know something. “But please just listen.” On either side of her, her teammates whipped their heads to stare at her, aghast.

“Sakura!” Sasuke hissed. “What are you doing?”

“Do you have a better idea?” She snapped back.

“Well no but-”

“Exactly, so let me handle this!”

The Uchiha snapped his mouth shut in shock, but offered no rebuttal. Good.

With a sigh, she turned back to their frustrated sensei. Next to her, Sasuke was glaring daggers at her, but thankfully remaining silent. On her other side though, Naruto was staring wide eyed, as if unable to believe what she was about to do.

Gathering herself, Sakura took a deep breath in. This wasn’t going to be easy.

“Sensei,” she started, voice wavering just slightly. “What you’re about to hear won’t make sense, but please bare with us.”

Across from her, her sensei’s eye narrowed, grey iris turning icy. Sakura ignored the frantic pounding of her heart and pushed on.

“We don’t work for Danzo,” she said, earning a disgusted sneer from Sasuke. “And nor do we work for another village.” God, this was gonna be hard. Sucking in a deep breath, she steeled herself. It was now or never.

“The truth is…”

Naruto gulped loudly next to her. Sasuke’s eyes widened.

“We’re from the future.”

Notes:

See you at Christmas!

Chapter 35: Truth

Notes:

Oof. Sorry for the wait, everyone. School was literally hell. I had six finals to do and a few late assignments to turn in as well. But anyways, here is the chapter, AS PROMISED. And thank you all so much for reading and commenting and leaving kudos, and all the like. I love every single comment and kudo I receive. Anyway, enjoy!

Kakashi-sensei blinked.

And then blinked again.

“Come again?”

“Uuuh,” Naruto tried, staring wide eyed at Sakura. She really did that. She really DID THAT.

“It’s true, sensei,” the girl insisted, leaning forward. “We can tell you anything.”

On either side of her, her teammates were staring wide eyed, unsure what to do. In front of them however, their sensei’s eye was narrowed to almost a slit.

“Do tell,” he finally ground out.

None of them seemed to know what to say. What on earth should they say? What could they say? Something they shouldn’t know that Kakashi-sensei did know. Unfortunately a lot of what they knew, he didn’t. Like information about the Uchiha massacre, the akatsuki, Obito, Kaguya, the fourth war… What could they possibly tell him?

“You used to be in Anbu,” Sakura suddenly piped up. “You have the tattoo on your shoulder from it.”

Kakashi-sensei didn’t look convinced by her words. Instead raising an eyebrow in a look of annoyance.

“You could easily have seen it over the past few months. Especially during the Wave mission,” he countered. They had been in close quarters for that mission, so to imply that they could have seen it when he was asleep or changing wasn’t a stretch.

Frustrated, Sakura let out a growling huff of air, fists balling in anger. Naruto took that as permission to go next.

“Whenever you’re late to meetings,” he said. “It’s because you’re in front of the memorial stone. Not because of a black cat or some old lady. ”

Kakashi-sensei didn’t even seem impressed by that.

“You three easily could have stalked me,” he pointed out with dry bitterness. “ Easily .”

Jeez. They were getting nowhere with him.

“Well fine!” Sakura suddenly cried, eyes burning with determination . “You got your sharingan from Obito Uchiha, and with kamui you can suck things into another dimension!”

This time, their sensei did look shocked.

“How...?” He trailed off, eye widening.

“We all know about what a Mangekyō sharingan is, sensei,” Sasuke interjected, taking the man's attention away from his teammate. “Well all know because, well.” He closed his eyes for a brief moment, taking a small steadying breathe in. Then his eyes flew open, no longer charcoal black.

Instead they were Mangekyō red. Inverted lotus staring directly at their sensei.

Naruto heard Kakashi-sensei suck in a sharp breath.

“That’s not… possible,” the jonin breathed.

Letting his sharingan fade away, Sasuke spoke up with, “It is possible. Like Sakura said, we’re not actually twelve.”

“And we all know you have one as well,” Sakura added on. “I don’t know how,” she continued, ignoring his look of shock. “But somehow your friend gave it to you and since then you unlocked the Mangekyō. Which, frankly,” she started to trail off. “I’m a little nervous as to how…”

Kakashi-sensei didn’t move. Just stared at them. Naruto could practically see the cogs turning in his mind. Did he believe them yet? Something akin to hope swelled in Naruto’s chest. Kakashi-sensei might just believe them now. They weren’t alone anymore-

“You could have asked someone,” was their sensei’s reply. His voice was shaky and faint, but it had conviction. “Gai, or Anko, or…” He trailed off, staring blankly at his students.

Perhaps bringing up his mangekyo wasn’t the best idea. They all knew how to get one after all, so whatever was going through Kakashi-sensei’s head must not have been pleasant.

“I’m sorry sensei,” Sakura said in a smaller, more careful voice. “But it’s true. We really are from the future.”

Their sensei didn’t seem to acknowledge her words, staring vacantly into the empty air instead. His grey eye was distant, wider than normal. For a moment, Naruto was afraid he was going to hyperventilate like he had that one time. But instead, the jonin looked back up at them, a dangerously cold look in his eye.

“That is not possible,” he growled. “Now stop giving me excuses and tell me the truth!”

God damn! What was it going to take for him to believe them?

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto spotted Sakura looking at him. She was giving him a meaningful look, her green eyes trying to say something. Naruto frowned questioningly. What was it?

Then he understood when she mouthed one word.

Parents.

Naruto blinked.

Oh.

“Are you sure?” He whispered. She gave a curt nod back.

It was their trump card, but… Naruto didn’t want to bring up those awful memories for his sensei. He knew his dad was Kakashi-sensei’s teacher, and that he must have at least known his mom. And they’d already mentioned Obito and his mangekyo, so the jonin must be having a real tough time right now. But he didn’t really have another option.

Well. This was going to be fun.

Stealing himself, Naruto sucked in a deep breathe, preparing himself for what was to come. God, he really didn’t want to do this to the man.

Looking up at his sensei, he said with hard conviction, “I know who my parents are.”

That stopped the man dead.

“... What did you just say?”

Kakashi-sensei was staring at him with a wide eye, face considerably paler than normal. All the frustration and anger had faded away from his expression, leaving only blank horror.

“I said,” Naruto replied shakily. “I know who my parents are.” He didn’t wait for a signal to continue, knowing he wouldn't get one. “Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze. The fourth Hokage.”

Kakashi-sensei was frozen. Eye wide and masked face pale as snow. Naruto watched the man's fingers twitch sporadically, seeming as though he was looking to grab something.

“How do you… Who told you,” Kakashi-sensei finally breathed. His voice was audibly shaking, betraying just how not put together he was.

“They told me themselves, y’know,” he answered. “When Kurama- the kyuubi went berserk, the seal almost broke. But like, my dad had sealed some of his chakra away so that he could fix it,” he went on to say, ignoring Kakashi-sensei’s befuddled expression. “Same with my mom. When I tried to steal the kyuubi’s chakra, she helped me do it, and she told me how she and dad met and-” his voice was growing wet with tears, throat starting to ache. His eyes fell to his hands, unable to meet anyone else’s. “She told me about the day I was born. That her seal was weakened because of the pregnancy, and somehow the man with the mask knew an’ he ripped the kyuubi out of her and set it on the villege.”

He didn’t notice it because he was looking down, but Kakashi-sensei’s expression morphed from confused shock to guilt and horror. Sasuke noticed though, and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“And I know dad was your sensei. And I know you tried to perfect his rasengan but instead made the chidori.” Kakashi-sensei’s eye widened again. “And I know why he sealed the kyuubi in me. And that he and mom died protecting me.” Tears started sliding down his face. Absently, he swiped them away with his good arm, his right still in it’s cast.

There was a stiff silence in the room after that. Nobody knew quiet what to say, or if they should even say anything at all. Kakashi-sensei was frozen in place, eye staring vacantly into the space between him and his blonde student. Sakura was watching her friend and sensei hesitantly, wondering if she should do something, while Sasuke was growing more and more uncomfortable the longer the silence stretched out.

Finally, their sensei broke the silence.

“You can’t… That’s not possible. Someone must have told you…” Even to Naruto he didn’t sound convinced, his faint voice giving him away. “No one but the Hokage and I knew that about her seal.”

And neither would have told you went unsaid.

“Do you believe us now?” Naruto asked quietly.

Their sensei could only stare at them in silence, unable to speak.

Biting her lip, Sakura sat up, insistent look in her eyes. “It’s true,” she insisted, “There was a war. Madara Uchiha was trying to bring back the juubi so he could put the whole world in a genjutsu, but he needed all the bijuu to do it. Which meant getting the kyuubi from Naruto. But really some goddess named Kaguya was pulling the strings so we had to seal her away. Before we could do it though, we were shot back in time,” she explained. “We still don’t know how.”

“Madara’s dead,” Kakashi-sensei said absently.

“Five years from now he’ll be reanimated by the masked man who set the kyuubi loose,” Naruto countered. “He’s his underling.”

It was at this point it looked like they were losing Kakashi-sensei, watching as the man became more and more overwhelmed by everything they said. Then, without warning, he gave them all one last look before disappearing in a violent storm of leaves.

And he was gone.

 

---

 

Time travel. Time travel. What the fuck.

Kakashi stood on top of a roof somewhere in Konoha, eye staring vacantly over the village.

No one else could have known about Kushina’s seal weakening. Only he and the Hokage did. Minato-sensei too, when he was alive. No one knew she was the jinchuuriki before Naruto either, save for the aforementioned two. So there was no way Naruto could have known that. Except he did. As well as so much more.

They might even know stuff that he doesn’t. Just what were his students?

Itching to move around, Kakashi hopped off the roof and onto another, starting to move towards the only place he went when he needed to think; the memorial stone.

His head was spinning by the time he made it there, whirling with all the questions he couldn't seem to properly form.

How could they be from the future? What jutsu could have done that? Why did Naruto go berserk? How did they know about his Mangekyō? How did Sasuke have his Mangekyō?

His thoughts stopped short there, replaced with a sickening feeling of dread.

Who did he kill to get his Mangekyō?

Suddenly he had the urge to vomit. Tearing off his mask, he sped to the bushes and puked out whatever what in his stomach onto the ground. What mostly came out was stomach acid though, which burned his throat and mouth.

Disgusting.

Spitting what was left in his mouth out, he pulled his mask back on and straightened up.

If his right hand shook while he did so, well, no one was around to see.

Walking back to the memorial stone, he shoved the thought of Sasuke out of his head, compartmentalizing it for later. Instead, he focused back on everything his students had said and exhibited, and how it correlated with their claim of time travel.

Kakashi hated to admit it, but everything about them made sense. In a weird, convoluted way of course. But still, he had to admit, everything about them all pointed to their insane explanation.

They were all so mature. Their eyes looked like those of seasoned chunin, if not jonin. Their teamwork was impeccable, their knowledge of practical field work higher than any other kid their age should be. They didn’t even teach tree climbing in the academy for crying out loud!

Then his thoughts turned to what they could do. No genin should be able to have full mastery over an elemental affinity, let alone multiple. Kakashi of course was an exception, and possibly Sasuke, as he was both rookie of the year and heir to the Uchiha clan. What was left of it anyway. But a civilian born girl like Sakura to be able to do so as well? Unlikely.

And then there was Sasuke with his fully formed sharingan. Kakashi wasn’t an Uchiha, but surely that must be weird. Sakura’s immense strength and precise chakra control? And from a civilian girl no less? He should have been far more suspicious of that.

And then Naruto. The boy had seemed surprised by his kekkei genkai, but everything else about him…

He knew the rasengan. In no way should he know that jutsu. His father has been dead for almost thirteen years, Jiraiya had never met him, and well, Kakashi just didn’t feel like doing it. Too many memories too unpack there. Plus it was an A rank jutsu, and they were supposed to be genin .

Kakashi really should have looked underneath the underneath with these kids. But he hadn’t. Maybe it was because he didn’t have a frame of reference for what a normal genin team during peacetime looked like. Maybe it’s because he had never really been a kid himself.

Or maybe it’s because I didn’t want to see it , a voice in the back of his mind whispered.

Kakashi closed his eye with a sigh, shoulders drooping. Maybe it was that. Those blasted genin had wormed their way into his heart and he’d clung on tight, ignoring everything that was telling him that something was off. He hadn’t wanted to lose his team again. Couldn’t lose his team again. And as such he’d blinded himself to all the facts.

His genin were seventeen and had gone through a war. And he’d been having them run evasion drills.

How had he not noticed? The look in their eyes, it was the same one he saw in the mirror every day. And the same one he saw in all his friends who had fought with him.

What a failure of a jonin he was.

“Minato-sensei,” he sighed, staring at the memorial stone. “What would you have done?”

As usual, he got no response. He never did.

Notes:

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! And Happy Holidays to those who don't!

Chapter 36: The Next Step

Notes:

Holy shit. We hit 1k comments guys. Thank you so much for all your support, it means so much to me. Did you know that as of right now this fic is at the top of the 3rd page for most comments and kudos!?!? That's all thanks to you guys. Thank you so much! Enjoy!

Orange sunlight filtered through the windows as Sakura and Sasuke signed their release forms from the hospital. Sometime after noon a nurse had come in with a doctor and they’d informed them they were healthy enough to be released, with strict instructions to get plenty of rest. Naruto though had to stay for observation. His arm was still broken and he was only suffering from minor chakra exhaustion. Something that wouldn’t really bother him, but considering what he went through, it made sense the hospital wanted to keep an eye on him.

It had been late afternoon when team 7 realised their sensei wasn’t coming back any time soon. They didn’t hold it against him though. They’d just dumped a lot on the poor unsuspecting man. But still, knowing what he was thinking or doing would have been nice. They just hoped he didn’t go straight to the Hokage. Although, if he had, they were pretty sure they’d be hanging out with T&I right about now.

But no such thing happened, and eventually night fell and Naruto was left alone in the hospital room, Anbu guards just outside the door.

 

“Sorry, Naruto,” Sakura had sighed as she’d put her ruined shirt on. The hospital had kept all their salvageable clothes when they’d been brought in. This included Sakura’s battered shirt, skirt, and pants, as well as Sasuke’s ensemble. Only Naruto’s coat and pants had been salvaged, but he knew that going in.

“I’d visit you tomorrow but,” she continued helplessly.

“But your parents,” Naruto finished for her. “I get it.” He tried to offer her a smile. Somehow he didn’t think it convinced her. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I heal fast, remember?”

She smiled softly at that, memories of all the times he’d gotten injured probably playing through her head.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Oi, Sakura, you coming or not?” Sasuke had suddenly called from the door. An Anbu guard was holding it open for him, waiting for Sakura to join them so he could escort them out.

“Yeah, yeah,” she’d waved back. Turning back to Naruto, she smiled again. “See you soon, dummy.”

 

Naruto smiled at the memory.

The sound of the door sliding open dragged him from his thoughts.

When he looked over, he was surprised to see Karin standing in the doorway with one of the ANBU guards behind her. He watched as she nodded timidly to the guard before walking into the room.

“They told me you were awake,” she started. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.”

Shifting into a sitting up position, Naruto just smiled. “Nah, you’re good,” he said. “Sakura said you needed some rest.”

The red head attempted a smile, sitting down on the bed next to him. Across the room, the Anbu who’d brought her in left the room, closing the door behind him. The other Anbu who’d been stationed in the room stayed put. Porcelain mask devoid of emotion as always.

Doing his best to ignore the Anbu, cuz, weird, Naruto turned back to his cousin.

“I know what you did for me,” he started softly.

Karin’s eyes widened for a brief moment before replying. “What do you uh, what do you mean?”

Trying to be as careful as possible, Naruto grasped her wrist and held her arm out. Pushing her sleeve up, he exposed the freshly wrapped bite mark, spots of blood speckling the gauze.

Karin’s shoulders slumped. “Oh,” she said. Then, with a defeated sigh, she asked, “How did you know?”

“Sakura figured it out,” he answered honestly, not offering any further explanation. This seemed to be enough for Karin,  eyes falling towards her lap in guilt. She stayed like that for a long moment.

“I didn’t want to lose my family again,” she finally whispered.

Naruto felt something grip his heart upon hearing her words. He watched as her welling tears finally slid down her cheeks. She made no move to get rid of them.

“I’m sorry,” he said hoarsley. “I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

“It’s fine,” she sniffed. “No one ever does.”

Naruto grimaced at that. She’d been through a lot. And if he didn’t change things she would go through a lot more. The image of her bleeding out on a broken bridge invaded his mind. Blood had been pouring from her mouth. Only Sakura’s knowledge and medical skills managing to save her. He didn’t want that for this Karin. Never.

“Hey,” he started, reaching out to hold her hand. Blinking, she looked up at him in confusion. “I’m okay now y’know. But, if you’re gonna stay with me, there’s only one thing I want you to promise me.”

Karin gulped nervously. “Uh, sure. What it is?”

Naruto smiled. “Don’t hurt yourself to make others feel better.”

A smile smile formed on Karin’s face, just reaching her eyes. A quick swipe of her sleeves cleared her eyes of tears. “I think I can do that,” she said.

 

---

 

After Pain's attack on Konoha, Sakura thought she’d seen how clingy her parents could be. She was sorely wrong. As soon as she’d entered the hospital lobby after being escorted out by an Anbu, she’d been tackled in a hug that she was sure would have broken something. Immediately her parents started fussing over her, checking every inch to make sure she was really and truly alright.

She was aware of Sasuke watching the whole thing go down off to the side. He looked uncomfortable. Right, she realized guiltily. He didn’t have parents to fuss over him.

“Mom, Dad, I’m fine,” she said, trying to pry herself away from their smothering. It didn’t help her case that she was wearing the same clothes she had been in the forest of death. Or that she still had a few bandages on.

“Honey, you were attacked by a Sannin!” Her mom gushed. “It’s a miracle you’re alive !”

Casting an apologetic glance over to Sasuke, Sakura tried again with her parents.

“Mom, I’m okay. See?” She held out her arms for affect. Then, putting her hands on her hips, added, “C’mon, I’m stronger than you think.”

They didn’t look at all convinced, but they gave her sympathetic smiles anyway. The kind parents gave when they said they believed you but really didn’t. Whatever. Sakura didn’t need reassurance or sympathy or whatever. She was a seasoned shinobi. But she would like to get out of the hospital where her parents were starting to make a scene.

“So um…” she tried again. “Can we go home now? I’m really tired.”

“Oh, of course!” Her dad cried. “I’ll make you whatever you want for dinner. You must be exhausted.”

Before she could agree, her parents started ushering her out of the hospital. Halfway to the door, she looked over her shoulder to where Sasuke was still standing. He looked so alone, standing in the middle of the bustling lobby with no one to pick him up. He was probably going to head back to his apartment and make dinner by himself, and probably burn it cuz they were both still a bit out of it. It wasn’t fair.

“Hey Mom?” She asked, stopping in the middle of the hallway. Her parents turned back to her, confused. “Could we let Sasuke come as well? I don’t want him to be home alone while he recovers.”

The look her mom gave her said she didn’t believe her, probably remembering when Sakura was absolutely crazy about the Uchiha. Rolling her eyes, Sakura dismissed the thought.

“It’s not like that, Mom,” she sighed. “It’s just…” She looked back over her shoulder at the teen (preteen?) still covered in bandages and wearing his burned clothes. “He shouldn’t have to be alone right now.”

Sakura didn’t see hr parents reactions, but she was fairly sure they were sympathetic. After a moment of quiet debate between the two, Sakura was ushered off back to her teammate to invite him to dinner. She wasted no time.

“Hey Sasuke,” she said as she walked up. Be casual. Be casual. “Why are you still here?”

“I have to fill out some forms to get my sword back,” he replied easily. “What are you still doing here?” It wasn’t accusatory, but it came across that way.

Huffing out a frustrated sigh, Sakura said, “I’m inviting you to come have dinner with my parents.”

“As a date?” He asked in confusion.

“No, dipshit!” She practically cried. “As a medical ninja, I don’t want you being on your own after just being released from the hospital. Besides, I doubt you’d actually take it easy like the staff told us to,” she ranted. “I can’t make sure you’re following their orders if I’m cooped up in my house. Now are you coming to dinner or not?”

Sasuke looked baffled for a moment before pulling himself together and shrugging. “Sure. Why not.”

Jeez. Was it really that hard to show emotions?

“Alright. You know where my house is?” He nodded. “Alright,” she said as she started to turn back to her parents. “And you better show up. I’ll have no patient of mine neglecting his health.”

“I’m not your patient,” she heard him mutter.

She just rolled her eyes, already headed back towards her parents.

 

---

 

It had already gotten dark by the time Sasuke had arrived. Sakura had usured him in immediately and had plopped him down at the table, shoving chopsticks into his hands. Her father had greeted him with an exuberant smile while her mother had served him up a bowl of donburi. Suffice to say, Sasuke was very surprised by all the excitement happening around him. Her father’s jokes weren’t helping.

After an interesting dinner, and yummy (on her part) dessert of anmitsu, Sakura somehow convinced Sasuke to stay the night. Her father lent him some pajamas, and they dug out an extra blanket for him and set up a makeshift bed on the couch. Before her parents ushered them off to bed (doctors orders). Before they went to their separate rooms though, Sakura grabbed Sasuke’s arm and dragged him off to the hall.

“We have to talk about Kakashi-sensei,” she hissed, hoping her parents couldn’t hear them.

:What about him?” he hissed back.

“Well, what if he rats us out to the Hokage?” She shot back. “And even so, we still have to come up with a fake report of what happened.”

Sasuke chewed his lip for a moment, contemplating what she’d just said.  After a moment, he bit out, “Fine. After your parents go to bed, though.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved him off. “Now go to your couch. I’ll come back later.”

With a huff, he trudged off to the couch, making him look more like a twelve year old rather than the seventeen year old he really was. Sakura smiled to herself at the sight. Uchihas.

Without waiting to hear if he’d made it to the living room, she headed off to bed, head already spinning with plans on how to overcome their predicament.

 

---

 

It was well past midnight when Sakura snuck out of her room. Across the hall she could hear her parents softly snoring, indicating that they were fast asleep.

Making sure to be as silent as possible, she tiptoed out into the hall and shut her door behind her. Out in the living room Sasuke has sitting up on the couch, some book in hand and blanket draped over his lap. The lamp on the end table next to him was on, throwing yellow light over the room.

“ Sasuke, ” she hissed, grabbing his attention. He looked up from his book, shutting it immediately upon seeing her in the doorway.

“Alright,” he sighed, sitting up. “Let’s get this over with.”

Rolling her eyes, Sakura made her way over to the couch, plopping down next to the Uchiha. But instead of getting right to it, Sakura’s face fell, eyes drifting away.

“We should have Naruto here,” she lamented, staring at an empty spot on the couch; as if expecting their blonde teammate to be sitting there.

“Well he’s not,” Sasuke replied, earning him a dirty look from Sakura. “But we still have to do this.”

“I know,” she sighed, somewhat frustrated. “Anyways, what are we going to do?”

“About Kakashi or about our report?”

Sakura shrugged helplessly. “Both?”

“Well,” Sasuke started. “we can’t really do anything about him right now. We’re on house arrest, remember?”

Sakura just rolled her eyes again. “ Technically it’s bed rest, but sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.”

It was the Uchiha‘s turn to roll his eyes.

They fell into a short silence after that. Neither of them really knew what to say next, just that they had to speak. Sakura was the first to break it.

“Do you think he believes us?” she  asked quietly. She couldn't keep the uncertainty out of her voice despite her best attempt.

“Most likely,” Sasuke replied. “Why else would he disappear on us like that?”

Sakura shrugged, partly agreeing with him.

“The only question now is what is he going to do?” She said. “If he goes to the hokage we’re screwed. Cuz then we’ll be dragged to T&I and well,” she paused, remembering all the shit they’d been through and done in the last five years. All the village secrets they shouldn’t know, and crimes they let Sasuke get away with. “It wouldn’t be pretty.”

Next to her, Sasuke hummed in agreement. “We can’t really do anything about it right now,” he mused, looking out the window into the night. “We’re basically on house arrest.”

Grimacing, Sakura nodded. “So, assuming he doesn’t rat us out,” she started. “What should our report say? We fought a sannin and came out alive; we have to come up with a feasible story that also counteracts whatever he might say.”

“Hn,” Sasuke agreed. “Something not too complicated. Otherwise it’d look suspicious.”

A slow smile spread across Sakura's face, green eyes shining in the dark. “I think I can work with that.”

 

Notes:

My re-imagined teen Karin ^

Chapter 37: Final Report

Two days later found Kakashi still standing in front of the memorial stone. He had gone home to sleep, of course. But every waking moment he found himself gravitating towards the damned rock. He didn’t know what to think, so he came here.

“Hey Minato-sensei, Kushina-san, Obito,” he greeted. “I know I’ve been here a lot for the past few days but…” he looked down at his shoes. “Sensei, Kushina, your son. He’s done something unimaginable. Hell, I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around it.” He paused, letting out a long breath before continuing. “I don’t know what to do with him. Or any of them for that matter. They say they’re from the future, they know things they shouldn’t… I can’t find any reason not to believe them.”

The warm summer breeze rustled through the forest around him. If he tried, he could pretend for a moment that it was his dead sensei and friends giving him reassurance. As it was though, he was an ex-Anbu commander and a jonin sensei. He didn’t believe in such nonsense.

“Anyway,” he continued, “They said they were releasing Naruto today, so I have to bring them all to Lord Hokage so they can finally give their report. Which was due a week ago.” Kakashi heard himself let out a dry laugh. “Guess that makes me like you, Obito. Late with everything.”

Again, the only response he got was the wind.

Sighing in defeat, Kakashi let his chin drop to his chest. He was getting nowhere with this. His students needed help and here he was talking to a stone.

He still wasn’t sure what to do with them though. Should he go to the hokage with it, or let them keep their cover? On the one hand it would make his life simpler and he wouldn’t have to deal with any more headaches. On the other hand they would probably be thrown straight into prison for not coming forward sooner and never let out of sight again.

Decisions, decisions.

Making up his mind, Kakashi straightened up and shoved his hands in his pockets. He had some genin to pick up.

 

---

 

When Kakashi-sensei came to pick him up from the hospital, Naruto wasn’t really sure what to expect. Anger, frustration, maybe even betrayal.But distant wasn’t one of them.

“Come on,” his sensei said as soon as Naruto finished signing the release papers. “We have to drop Karin off at your apartment before picking Sakura and Sasuke up.”

Oh, right. He had to give his report to the Hokage today. Sakura and Sasuke had probably already figured something out for that. Unfortunately he hadn’t been around to hear it. Maybe they could squeeze it in on the way to the tower?

“Okay,” Naruto nodded. Turning to his cousin, he asked, “You okay with that?”

Karin offered a nod back. “Sure.”

The three left the hospital in uncomfortable silence. Karin knew something had happened between the team and their sensei, but didn’t know what. Naruto hadn’t offered an explanation, so she hadn’t badgered him for one. Naruto knew this and was grateful. He didn’t know how he would have explained it to her.

After dropping her off at his apartment (which was looking suspiciously cleaner), they continued on to Sasuke’s place.

They didn’t expect it to be empty.

“Maybe he’s training?” Naruto offered weakly. Kakashi-sensei just snorted.

“He’s on bedrest. He’s not supposed to even leave the house.”

Naruto didn’t know what to say to that. Instead, he gave a halfhearted shrug, which didn’t really work because of the sling and cast still on his arm.

Sighing, Kakashi-sensei backed away from the door and started heading down the hall. “Come on, we should at least get Sakura.”

Sighing, Naruto trotted after him. Why did his legs have to be so short?

After almost ten minutes of walking (jogging on Naruto’s part) the duo arrived at Sakura’s house. Not wasting any time, Kakashi-sensei rapped his knuckle on the door before stepping back to wait.

What the two of them weren’t expecting was for a certain Uchiha to open to the door instead.

Standing in the doorway was none other than Sasuke Uchiha himself. He was wearing a large sleep shirt and rubbing a towel through still-wet hair. Had he showered here?

“Uh, Sasuke?” Naruto puzzled. “What are you doing here?”

“Doing where?” was his deadpan response.

Lucky for him he was saved by Sakura’s mom. “Sasuke dear, who is it?” the woman asked, rounding the corner. Upon seeing the two in the doorway, she nodded in understanding.

“Sakura, honey,” she called into the house. “Your sensei’s here to pick you up!”

“Alright mom!” they heard her respond.

Turning back to the Uchiha, Sakura’s mom said, “Your clothes should be dry. Go on and get ready too.”

In the doorway, Kakashi-sensei and Naruto watched in stunned silence as Sasuke listened to an adult and went back into the house to get changed.

What the hell.

Five minutes later when Sakura and Sasuke were pulling their sandals on, Sakura asked, “What’s up with you two?”

Neither decided to comment.

 

---

 

The four man group had been walking for five minutes in uncomfortable silence when Kakashi-sensei finally snapped.

“Okay,” he hissed, dragging them in an alley. “We don’t have a lot of time because Lord Third is expecting us, so let’s make this quick.”

Sakura frowned up at him. “Sensei?”

“Look, I need us all to be on the same page before we all go up that tower.” He pointed in the direction of the Hokage’s tower. “I need to know everything you can tell me about your little mishap so I can help cover for you.”

“Wait, you’ll cover for us-”

Naruto was quickly shushed by a hand being slapped over his mouth.

“ Yes ,” their sensei hissed, gloved hand still held over the blonde’s mouth. “But I need to know everything you can possibly tell me so I know this is the right decision.”

“And what if you decide it isn’t?” Sasuke challenged. “Why should we tell you anything?”

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, as their sensei’s lone eye narrowed dangerously. In a low voice, he replied, “Because currently I am the only thing standing between you three, and our lovely T&I force. Not to mention prison, based on how many rules I’m assuming you’ve broken. So in my educated opinion, I suggest you cooperate with me.”

Behind his hand, Naruto gulped nervously.

The three genin all exchanged nervous glances, seeming to be having a silent debate. A stern look from Sasuke though had them come to a consensus.

“We’ll tell you,” Sasuke announced.

“Wasn’t really an option.”

Letting out a weary sigh, Sakura removed their sensei’s hand from Naruto’s mouth and started speaking. “We didn’t mean to come back here. It was a fluke,” she explained. “We were fighting someone stronger than anything you could imagine. Someone horrible. We were about to beat her when suddenly we were shot back in time. It wasn’t our fault, I swear .”

In front of them, their sensei rose a disbelieving eyebrow. “How could someone possibly be so strong?” he challenged.

“You can if you’re the juubi’s jinchuuriki,” Sasuke announced.

That got their sensei’s attention. Narrowing his eye, he looked the three of them over with newfound scrutiny.

“You have five minutes,” he finally announced. “Go.”

 

---

 

“So to get this straight,” their sensei started, “a group called the Akatsuki was stealing bijuu so as to put the whole world in a genjutsu, but instead it just brought a chakra goddess back?”

The three gennin in front of him nodded.

“And then she tried to steal everyone’s chakra,” he continued. The three nodded again. “So you three fought her and then…”

“Got shot back here, yes,” Sasuke finished.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Kakashi-sensei dropped his head into his hand. “Jeez, you three.”

Growling in frustration, Naruto stepped forward towards their sensei. “Look, it’s not like we meant to travel back in time!” he cried. “We were winning!”

“So why did you decide to change things?” Kakashi-sensei shot back.

“Because I’m not letting my friends die for me again! Wouldn’t you do the same?”

That made him freeze. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto watched as their sensei’s eye glazed over, not seeming to see them. For a moment, Sakura was afraid he was going to have a panic attack again.

But at the last moment he snapped himself out of it, eye hardening and shoulders squared. “Okay,” he finally said. “I’ll back you up.” The three let out a unanimous sigh. “But afterwards,” he continued, “you’re going to explain everything to me.”

The three genin of team 7 all exchanged a quick glance. Yes, they would tell. But not everything.

Not Obito.

 

---

 

“Ah, Kakashi,” the Third said as their team entered the Hokage’s office. “Good of you to finally show up.” The sarcasm was not lost to them. Behind him stood the two crones who supposedly aided him, as well as Shikamaru’s dad, the jonin commander.

“Sorry,” he said. “Naruto was still tired, so we had to go extra slow for him.” The boy in question shot an angry look up at the jonin, which went ignored. It didn’t seem to convince anyone else either, but the Hokage let it slide regardless.

“As you’re aware, Kakashi, your team has yet to give their report on what happened in training ground 44. As Kotetsu was only there for part off it, we still have yet to learn what all happened.”

“Didn’t the snake bastard say anything?” Naruto piped up in confusion.

“Sadly, no,” Hiruzen replied. “He refuses to speak no matter what we do.”

Unbeknownst to the higher ups in the room, all three time travellers felt an instant wave of relief wash over them. Good. At least they didn’t have to contend with another recount of events.

“Now,” the Hokage said, “if you would start from the beginning.”

Taking a breath, the three began.

“We had been setting traps to catch other teams when he showed up,” Sakura started. Her voice was level and calm, exactly how a shinobi was expected to deliver reports. “He attacked us with a powerful wind jutsu. We tried to run away but he chased us, triggering some traps in the process.”

“They didn’t hold him,” Sasuke added on. “Barely even slowed him down.”

The Hokage nodded along. “As expected of a sannin,” he sighed.

“Then, realizing running wasn’t an option, we tried our best to hold our ground,” Sakura continued. “But then he summoned a giant snake, and well…” she trailed off, eyes dropping toward the floor. She was trying her best to appear as though she was remembering something awful. Something a normal twelve year old wouldn’t want to talk about.

They’d barely had time to fill Naruto in on the plan, but luckily he remembered that this was where he came in.

“After he summoned the snake,” Naruto picked up. His voice wavered just the right amount to sound like he felt guilty. “I, um. My chakra, it…”

“It turned orange,” Sasuke finished.

Every face in the room paled. The office seemed to grow colder as well, the teens noticed. Clearly even after nearly thirteen years any mention of the fox was despised.

Ignoring the obvious shift in the room, Naruto spoke up again. “I don’t really remember what I did,” he lied. “But I know I was fighting Orochimaru. And then he hit me with something and the orange chakra went away. Then I broke my arm.” He held up his arm for emphasis.

“Sakura and I stayed back while they fought,” Sasuke added on. “Once Naruto broke his arm though and lost the cloak, we knew we had to think quick.”

“And what did you do,” Hiruzen asked.

Sakura gulped faux nervously and exchanged a glance with Sasuke. “We, uh, we knew that if we opened the scroll it’d summoned a proctor,” she admitted. Then, to avoid suspicion, added,  “We saw it happen to another group.”

The elders in the room weren’t too pleased by her last comment, but the rest of it they didn’t seem to question. It was too soon to tell, but all four of them started to feel as though they’d pulled it off.

Finally, turning to their sensei, the Hokage asked, “And all of this lines up with what they’ve told you?”

Kakashi-sensei didn’t even hesitate before nodding.

“Good,” the man sighed. “Alright then, your team can go now, Kakashi. And Naruto.” The boy froze “I want to see you later to discuss that orange chakra.”

Gulping nervously, Naruto nodded.

“Alright then, you are dismissed.”

After offering respectful bows, the four were ushered out of the office so the higher ups could talk.

As soon as the door was shut behind them, their sensei gave them all a leveling stare. “My house,” he announced. “ Now .”

They didn’t argue.

Notes:

Happy new year!

Chapter 38: (Not) The Whole Story

Notes:

HOLY SHIT! 4000 KUDOS!!!!! We are OFFICIALS on the second page of most kudo'd works in this fandom. Holy SHIT guys!
Thank you all so much for your support. I really couldn't have done it with out you. And thank you to my lovely beta's for helping me with this chapter.
Enjoy!

Kakashi’s apartment was fair sized for a single adult living alone. It had a bed, a desk, a small table, and a kitchenette. Everything a person needed to live well. For three teenagers and their sensei though, it was a little cramped.

“We couldn’t have done this at my apartment?” Naruto whined as they crossed the threshold. As shitty as his place was, at least it had more space.

“No,” Kakashi-sensei immediately shot down. “You don’t have privacy seals.”

Naruto cursed himself for not even considering that. “Right,” he tried instead. “I knew that.” He did not know that.

“You three, sit down,” Kakashi-sensei ordered, pointing to his kitchen table. They complied while he started to busy himself in the kitchen, pulling out an electric kettle and four cups. The three of them sat in silence as they watched their sensei angrily make tea. Naruto didn’t even know someone could DO that. Yet here they were. Well, maybe angry wasn’t the right word. Stressed? Could someone even doing something stressfully? Shaking himself of the thought, Naruto focused back on their sensei, who was now done with the preparations.

The few minutes it took to steep the tea were one of the most awkward ones of Naruto’s life.

Once the cups of matcha were placed in front of them, their sensei finally sat down.

“Alright,” he said. “Start.”

“Uh, where do you want us to start?” Sakura asked.

“Well, for starters,” Kakashi-sensei replied. “First of all, how old are you?” He asked.

“Seventeen,” they answered in unison.

“Well,” Sakura added. “Naruto’s still sixteen.”

“Hey!” The blonde cried. “It was after midnight. I’m seventeen!”

“Timespace stops mattering once you enter another dimension,” Sakura argued. “Ergo, you’re not seventeen!”

“It was definitely after midnight when she shot us into that lava realm,” he argued.

“Guys,” Sasuke interrupted. “Focus.”

Across the table, a certain jōnin was trying his best to comprehend the conversation that’d just been had in front of him. He wasn’t successful.

“Right, sorry,” Sakura mumbled, dropping it. Meanwhile Naruto was sending them both filthy looks.

“ Anyways ,” Kakashi-sensei started again. “How about you start from the beginning.”

Naruto frowned. “The beginning?”

“You already vaguely explained how you got here,” he elaborated. “But I want to know what led up to that, and what has to be fixed.”

“That’s a little complicated, sensei,” Naruto bemoaned.

Kakashi-sensei just shrugged, crossing his arms nonchalant. “I have all day.”

Naruto let out a huff of air. “Alright fine,” he sighed. “But you’re probably gonna wanna make some more tea. This’ll take a while.”

 

---

 

Once they were done, the kitchen was silent. In front of them, Kakashi-sensei leaned against his counter with a pensive expression. His visible eye seemed to give nothing away, staring blankly off into space.

He was taking it all in, they knew. But they wished they knew what he was thinking.

They had started by telling him about the war and what he already knew. They’d told him about Kaguya and where she’d come from, what she’d been planning to do. They explained how Sasuke with his mangekyō, Naruto with Kurama, Sakura with her byakugo, and Kakashi with his kamui had managed to beat Kaguya before being blasted back here.

Then they’d explained what had originally happened. They started with the Wave mission. It had been their first real mission. The one that had shaped who they were as shinobi. And then they went on. The chunin exams, Orochimaru, Tsunade, Itachi, the Akatsuki. They explained how the organization had been after jinchuuriki, extracting their bijuu in the hopes of reforming the juubi.

But when they’d gotten to Obito/Madara, they’d paused.

They couldn’t tell him. Not now. This wasn’t the Kakashi-sensei who had lost a student. Not the one who’d had to fight tooth and nail to keep his team together. Not the one who they’d fought side by side with on the battlefield. He hadn’t seen Konoha destroyed, or witnessed a mass resurrection by the very man who killed him.

No. This was their twenty six year old, barely-knows-what-he’s-doing, ex-Anbu commander, sensei who’d been thrust into a situation far above his payroll.

This wasn’t the man who could know that the owner of his sharingan was still out there. Nor that said owner had been the cause of the Kyuubi attack nearly thirteen years ago.

The Kakashi Hatake of now didn’t need to know what their Kakashi knew.

Not yet anyways.

They hadn’t told him about Sasuke leaving the village or how he’d killed Danzō, either. They felt that was better left out. Their poor sensei had already had enough dumped on him today. Adding a possible traitor to the list definitely wouldn’t help.

So there they sat. Three time travelers waiting on their sensei to break the silence. Empty cups of tea sat in front of all of them, having all been drankin up over the course of the talk. Outside the sound of Konoha’s nightlife was picking up, but only as a distance buzzing in their ears.

Finally, their sensei did move, breaking the awful silence.

“So,” he began. He looked unsure of himself. “You all have been through a lot,” he finally managed.

“Yes,” Sakura replied, voice hoarse from emotion. Talking about everything hadn’t been easy on them.

“And what do you want to do about it?” He asked.

“We want to stop it,” Naruto announced. “We want to save our friends and make sure none of that ever happens again.”

In front of them, Kakashi-sensei’s lone gray eye scrutinized the three. They could see the wheels turning in his head. They watched as he chewed over their words, calculative look hanging about him. He seemed to be making a decision.

“Good,” he finally said before straightening up. “Then let's get started.”

Team 7 smiled.

 

---

 

It was so easy not to believe what was going to happen from the safety of a house. With tea in your hands and the sound of bustling life outside the window. When your heart was full and everything right with the world. Like the worst that tomorrow would bring was a scraped knee or a kunai cut. It was easy to believe nothing could go wrong when everything around you told you it wouldn’t.

But Kakashi knew better.

War was coming. Not necessarily soon, but it was coming. His team was proof of that. Immediately though was the attack against Konoha that Orochimaru would have headed. Except that was no longer a problem seeing as he was in prison. But there were still Oto and Suna ninja out there waiting for their orders. Namely, the Kazekage’s children. And out of those three, Gaara of the Sand. Or rather, the Ichibi jinchuuriki

According to his team, Gaara became a competent Kage, and friend to Naruto later on. Now though he was a bloodthirsty monster who wouldn’t blink twice at killing his own siblings.

“Maa,” Kakashi sighed, sagging against the railing of his balcony. “What a mess you three dragged me into.”

The words weren’t addressed to anyone, as his team had all gone home over an hour ago. But he felt it still needed saying.

And what a mess he would have to clean up. Well, he would help them clean up, seeing as they had done all of the work prior to now. But honestly, did they really think they could stop a war single handedly? Hell, even with his help he doubted they’d succeed. They’d needed more. Not just the four of them.

But they couldn’t go to Hiruzen. Not after everything he’d just learned. He didn’t even know if he could trust the man, knowing that he was partly to blame for the Uchiha massacre. Kakashi shook his head, dropping it down to his chest.

And to think, Itachi had been innocent the whole time.

“Just how much are you hiding, Hiruzen?” He breathed.

They needed someone powerful on their side. But not him. Someone better.

If only Minato-sensei were still alive.

With one last sigh, Kakashi took in the sight of Konoha’s nightlife before heading back inside, knowing he wouldn’t get a wink of sleep that night.

 

---

 

Since they had one more day of being on bedrest, Sasuke was forced to come back to Sakura’s house for the night. Her parents didn’t seem to mind in the least, happy to have their special guest back over for one more night. Sakura’s mom made yakisoba for dinner and her dad kept making stupid jokes. Afterwards he and Sakura had been ushered to bed, but sometime later Sakura had snuck out to the living room and laid her futon down next to his makeshift bed on the couch, seeming intent on staying with him for the night.

Sasuke wasn’t about to complain though. After the day they’d had, he wasn't about to fault her for her actions. Telling Kakashi hadn’t been easy. For any of them.

The two were silent for a long time before Sakura suddenly spoke up.

“Sasuke?” Sakura asked. Her voice was barely above a whisper, hushed by the heavy atmosphere around them.

“Yeah?” He whispered back.

A short silence stretched between the two before his teammate responded. “I was thinking,” she said. “If we had managed to beat Kaguya and get back to our own dimension… would you have stayed?”

As Sasuke stared up at the dark ceiling of Sakura’s house, he realized he didn’t know how to answer that. Yes , he was ready to say, but something stopped him. He hated to admit it now, but part of him back then had still wanted vengeance on the leaf. He’d wanted reform, no matter how he did it. No matter who he had to kill.

And that meant no team 7.

Before he could say as much, Sakura spoke up.

“It’s okay,” she sighed forlornly. “I get it. I do. What Konoha did to Itachi… it’s unspeakable. I understand you wanting revenge.”

“No,” he jumped up. “That’s not it.”

In the dark, he managed to see Sakura’s confused gaze find his. “I mean,” he continued. “Yes I wanted revenge, but…” But what? Part of him still wanted revenge. But the other half just wanted his family. And maybe he was starting to realize that that family wasn’t just made up of Uchiha anymore.

“But?” Sakura echoed.

“But…” He trailed off, unsure how to continue. “Yes I’m mad at Konoha. I’m mad at Danzo. I’ll still kill him for what he did to Itachi. To my clan. But…” he let out a long breath. “But not everyone has to suffer for the choices of a few. And I know that now. I guess there’s still some good in this stupid world.”

He wasn’t sure what he expected Sakura’s reaction to be to his admission, but it certainly wasn’t laughter.

“What?” He sneered, propping himself up to to see her better. She was laying on her futon cackling . How annoying.

“I just-” She gasped. “I just wonder who made you change your mind.”

Sasuke scowled. They both knew damn well who Sakura was thinking about. Naruto.

Puffing up in annoyance, Sasuke grabbed his pillow from behind him and chucked it at his laughing teammate. It hit her square in the face, bowling her over. She didn’t seem to mind.

“Naruto finally- finally got you-” she gasped between laughing. “You- you fucking tsundere .”

“If you keep laughing I’m going to kill you for real this time.”

She didn’t stop.

And if he was being honest, he didn’t really want her too either.

Notes:

Thanks for reading! Untill next time <3

Chapter 39: Jinchuuriki Predicament

Kakashi was not ready to face the Hokage the next morning, but he had to anyways. He had been called back to discuss the scroll he’d been given a few days prior; the one that had tipped him off about his students. The one Hiruzen suspected of holding hidden information. Since Kakashi hadn’t made a report on his findings yet, he had to do so now. And God was he dreading it.

“Kakashi,” Hiruzen started, eyeing him with tired eyes. Arresting your student would do that to you , he figured. Though Kakashi had no sympathy to give, considering everything he’d just learned last night.

“What did you find?”

It was moments like these Kakashi was grateful for his mask. “Nothing, Lord Hokage,” he lied. “I didn’t detect any hidden codes or ciphers with my sharingan.”

“So everything in the scroll is authentic?” The third asked in clarification.

Technically… “Yes.” Succinct and to the point. And technically not a lie. And even so, the best farce was the one based on truth.

“Good,” the Hokage sighed before him. “I’m glad. I wouldn’t put it past Orochimaru to have done something like that.”

Kakashi remained silent, figuring it best not to add his own musings on the subject. In fact, he had other topics on his mind…

“What of Suna’s jinchuuriki?” He asked. Gaara, Naruto has called him. The fifth Kazekage and a good friend. Although he wasn’t quite that person yet.

“Arrested earlier this morning,” Hiruzen replied levely. “As the second exam ended today and all our information was confirmed, we saw fit to finally put all the Suna and Oto ninja in custody.”

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully.

“And his seal?” He asked, referring to the relatively unstable nature of it.

“Taken care of,” the Hokage said. “For now.”

So a patch job. Or perhaps just more potent chakra dampeners. Either way they would need a more permanent solution. Unfortunately that solution was abroad and writing porn.

“I see,” Kakashi said. “Now, if I am no longer needed…”

“Go ahead,” Hiruzen dismissed, waving him off. “Your genin probably need you. They’ve been through quite the ordeal.”

Kakashi snorted under his breath as he bowed farewell. “That they have.”

 

---

 

“We should tell Karin,” was the first thing out of Naruto’s mouth when his team came to pick him up the next day.

They were all standing in the doorway, waiting on him to get his things so they could head out when he had suggested it. Technically he was also still on bedrest and shouldn’t be going anywhere,but with his natural Uzumaki energy and Kurama, he knew it wouldn’t take as long as it would for normal people. So he had no qualms about agreeing to a team meeting today. What he was having an issue with though was his house guest. Or more specifically, how he was going to keep such a massive secret from her in the long run.

Ultimately he decided he wouldn’t be able to. Which led him to now.

Sakura stared at him, dumbfounded. “No!” She cried. “She barely knows us.”

Growling, Naruto stepped outside and shut the door behind him with his good arm, effectively blocking Karin from possibly overhearing their conversation.

“Look, she’s family. Family doesn’t keep secrets from each other.”

“That’s rich,” Sakura deadpanned, obviously referring to her parents and how they thought she was still twelve. Naruto just rolled his eyes in response.

“Yeah but like, they’re your parents,” he argued. “She’s my cousin . I don’t wanna start things out by lying!”

“We don’t know how she would respond,” Kakashi-sensei cut in. “It’s too much of a risk.”

Desperately, Naruto looked to Sasuke. He had spent the most amount of time with her. He probably knew her best. Sakura, catching on to his thinking, followed suit.

Finally the Uchiha seemed to notice all eyes were on him. Sighing heavily, he shifted his weight and shrugged. “She’s loyal, I’ll give her that. Even after I stabbed her she still stood by my side.”

(“You stabbed her?”

“Not now, sensei.”)

“ Regardless ,” Sasuke pushed. “I can vouch for her.”

Naruto nodded exuberantly. “Yeah sensei, see!”

“I didn’t say it was a good idea though.”

Naruto just rolled his eyes in response. “That’s what you said about my sexy jutsu and look how that turned out.”

The furious blush on Sakura's face and absolute deadpan on Sasuke's made Kakashi-sensei decide that particular conversation was better left unheard.

“Alright fine,” the jōnin finally sighed. “I’ve heard your case. But we should get going. Naruto, get your shoes and say bye to Karin.”

Naruto nodded before heading back instead to hid his cousin farewell for the day. Five minutes later they were all ready to head to their training ground.

 

---

 

“Okay, first off,” their sensei said as they arrived at training ground 7. “Let’s start this meeting off by you three transforming into your older selves.”

The statement was met with three confused stares. Sighing, the jonin went on to elaborate. “It’s still hard to take you seriously when you look like children,” he admitted. “I want to see what I’m actually working with, here.”

The three nodded in understanding, all moving to form the ram hand sign.

When the cloud of smoke dissipated, their sensei was left facing three teenagers, all almost a foot taller than before.

They were all wearing the clothing they had in the war, instead this time it was intact. Sakura was missing her byakugō and Sasuke his rinnegan, but Naruto supposed that was because they hadn’t seen it for themselves yet.

But their sensei had to focus on one detail.

“Sasuke, where’s your headband?” Kakashi-sensei asked. Team 7 froze.

Right. They hadn’t told him Sasuke had become a rogue ninja. Nor had they explained his relationship with Orochimaru. Panicking, Naruto and Sakura looked over to the Uchiha to see what he’d say, at a loss for words themselves.

“I was kidnapped by Orochimaru for three years,” he answered simply. “I didn’t mention it because it wasn’t relevant.” AKA, he hadn’t thought of an excuse until just last night.

“Not relevant?” Their sensei echoed.

“It was an uneventful three years.”

And that was the end of that.

If Sakura and Naruto had been sweating bullets the entire time, neither Sasuke or Kakashi-sensei needed to know.

“Alright then,” their sensei sighed. “What are your ranks?”

“Chunin,” Sakura immediately answered. “Possibly being considered for jōnin due to my efforts in the war as both chief medic and front line fighter.”

Kakashi-sensei rose an eyebrow at the proclamation. “If you’re a medic, you wouldn’t be a frontline fighter,” he stated simply. Sakura just smirked in response.

“Not unless you’ve mastered the byakugō,” she smiled, referencing the seal both she and Lady Tsunade had mastered.

“...Ah,” was all their sensei said. Sakura’s smile widened. It was nice to see her sensei finally fearing her strength once again. “And uh, Naruto?” He continued.

Naruto straightened up and pointed a thumb at his headband. “Next in line for Hokage, y’know!” He exclaimed. Kakashi-sensei didn’t seem impressed, though.

“I understand that,” he said. “But what’s your rank ?”

Naruto visibly deflated. He looked down at his sandals before answering. “... Genin,” he finally mumbled.

“Genin?” Their sensei echoed, clearly trying to hide his shock.

Naruto shrugged. “I just like, never got around to it, y’know?”

“Never got around to it?” He echoed again.

Naruto puffed up angrily. “We were a little busy, ok!”

His sensei finally let out an exasperated sigh before turning to their last teammate. “And Sasuke?” He asked. “Surely you’re at least a chunin.”

What a vote of confidence , Naruto thought with a role of his eyes.

“No,” Sasuke replied coolly. “Genin.”

The sweatdrop from their sensei was truly one to behold.

 

---

 

It was almost an hour later when they’d finished up explaining their skill set and ranks to their sensei. He was now all caught up on their techniques: Sasuke’s Mangekyō and rinnegan, Naruto’s Kyuubi and sage mode, and Sakura’s byakugō and strength. They’d also explained all the other jutsu they’d picked up along the way. Sasuke talked about how he was a skilled swordsman now, as well as having mastery of the chidori like Kakashi-sensei had never seen. Naruto went into how he’d finally perfected his dads rasengan, using sage mode to enhance its power and range. Sakura didn’t have much to add, but she noted how her medical prowess had earned her the rank of chief field medic in the war.

Suffice to say, Kakashi-sensei had been impressed by all of it.

But they still had things to cover.

“While I’m glad you all turned out to be exceptional shinobi,” he said. “We still have to deal with today's problems. First things first,” he crossed his arms seriously. “Gaara.”

The teenagers in front of him, still in their henged forms, nodded seriously, their easy expressions gone in a flash.

Kakashi-sensei continued on. “He’s the most immediate threat,” he said in reference to Suna’s jinchuuriki. “Currently being detained as we speak now that the second exam is over.” The three teens in front of him nodded along, taking in the information with cool professionalism. “Currently I doubt the Third knows what to do with him, as he’s both the Kazekages son and the jinchuuriki of Suna.”

“It’d cause an international incident,” Sakura announced. “If we were to execute him as protocol demands if it were under normal circumstances.”

Kakashi-sensei nodded. “Sakura’s right.”

“So then what do we do?” Naruto asked.

“That’s where this gets tricky,” the jōnin admitted. “What did you all do last time?”

“Well,” Naruto started, thinking back to the original chunin exams. “He kinda went crazy and leveled a forest.”

“And he almost killed Sakura,” Sasuke added.

“Hm, let’s not repeat that.”

Sakura scoffed. “ Please .”

“Besides,” Naruto continued. “He and his siblings got away anyway. They escaped while Orochimaru was battling Old Man Third.”

“To which Lord Hiruzen lost,” Kakashi-sensei surmised, remembering their account of it. The three teenagers nodded. “Taking into account everything that you’ve said about him in the future, he’s a good person,” he continued. “Would you say so?”

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. “He’s awesome, y’know!”

“But right now he’s a murderous psychopath,” Sasuke noted

“Right now,” Naruto amended. “But not later.”

“Which is why I’m wondering how we get to that point,” Kakashi-sensei wrapped up. “You said he changed his ways because you beat him. Well, there’s no way we can reenact that scenario seeing as he’s behind bars.”

Naruto frowned, thinking. Next to him Sakura was doing the same, chewing on her lip as she did so. It was a habit she’d unfortunatly picked up while studying medical ninjutsu. Meanwhile Sasuke didn’t look the east bit contemplative.

“Wait,” Naruto suddenly spoke up. The rest of the team could practically see the lightbulb over his head signaling an epiphany. “Shukaku is the reason he’s so crazy,” he said. “If I just tell Shukaku to quit it, he should be fine, right?”

Looks of disbelief greeted him from all sides.

“Naruto, how the hell would you do that?” Sakura asked. Her puzzled expression was mirrored on both their sensei and Sasuke.

“Through our mindscape, duh,” he replied. “I learned the trick from Octopops.”

“Octopops?” Kakashi-sensei echoed.

Next to him, Sakura sighed. “He means Killer Bee, the hachibi jinchuuriki.”

“ Anyways ,” Naruto said. “Kurama and I can talk to him,” he insisted. “I just need to get into the prison to see him.”

“Which is impossible,” Sasuke countered. “He’s guarded by loads of ANBU or jōnin. There’s no way you could get in.”

“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong,” their sensei quipped cheerfully. All three of them turned to face him with matching frowns.

“What’s that supposed to mean, y’know?” Naruto asked skeptical.

The mischievous glimmer in his eye sparkled with untapped mirth. “Who said you had to sneak in?”

 

 

 

Hey guys, did you know this fic is being translated into Spanish! If you want to check it out you can find it here on Youtube! It's being done in audio format, so it'll be like a podfic.

Also, I may have to go on a temporary hiatus. School is kicking my ass. I'm so busy I can't even afford to have a job. I hope you can all be patient with me as I sort through that :D

Thank you for reading!

Chapter 40: Talks

The plan was laid out, and everyone knew what they had to do to prepare. As it was late afternoon though, the team decided to put off their plan until tomorrow. So, after being dismissed, the three time travelers started to head home.

“Naruto,” Kakashi-sensei suddenly called out. “Can I have a word?”

Naruto stopped in his tracks, frowning. They’d just finished detailing their plan for how to get into the prison to see Gaara and we’re headed home. What could Kakashi-sensei possibly want to talk about?

Naruto looked back at his teammates for guidance. Sakura shook her head with a shrug to signify she wasn’t sure what the jōnin wanted to talk about, while Sasuke merely shrugged. Well, it looked like Naruto was on his own. “Uh? Sure?” He finally said.

Waving Sakura and Sasuke off, Naruto walked back over to his sensei, who beckoned him over to the memorial stone.

Oh, he realized with a pang, so it was going to be that kind of conversation.

For a little while neither said anything. Neither really knew what to say. What was Kakashi-sensei thinking about? Was he going to warn him about the dangers of their plan? Tell him the whole story about Obito and his sharingan (which Naruto didn’t seem to think was likely at the current moment)? What on earth could it be?

“I’m sorry I never told you about your parents,” the jōnin finally offered.

Of all the things Naruto thought he was going to say, that wasn’t it. Frowning, Naruto looked up at his sensei. “What?”

“You said you knew who your parents were back at the hospital,” his sensei elaborated. “And you explained how you met both of them, yes?”

Naruto nodded mutely. Next to him, Kakashi-sensei sighed. “I wish you could have found out another way.”

“So, why didn’t you? Tell me that is,” Naruto asked. Although a part of him already suspected the answer.

Sighing, his sensei looked over to him from the stone, lone eye heavy with guilt. “There was a gag order put on everyone who knew who your real parents were,” he said. “We were forbidden from even talking about it, to you or anyone else.” Naruto frowned. If he was younger he felt as though he definitely would have been hurt by this news. Probably even angry. Keeping his parents from him was cruel, beyond cruel really. But now he just felt… Tired.

“I get it, Kakashi-sensei,” he said honestly. “But you don’t gotta apologize. You were under orders, y’know..”

He could tell though by what little expression he could see that his sensei still felt guilty. “It doesn’t excuse my actions- or- lack thereof.” Then, added on, “You’re father and I were very close. I should have been there for you like he was there for me, and I’m sorry I wasn’t.”

Naruto tried to ignore the heat rising in his chest. The kind that made your throat close up and your eyes sting. Now wasn’t the time for tears, he tried to tell himself. Not yet, at least.

“Yeah but that’s all in the past,” Naruto said, trying to put on a smile. “So it doesn’t matter.”

Kakashi-sensei cocked an unamused eyebrow. “Not if you’re a time traveler,” he noted dryly.

“Well, whatever,” the blonde shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning to face the jonin. “I mean, as a time traveler ,” he smirked. “I think I have full authority to say that the past is what the past is, and that it’s the future ya gotta focus on, y’know.”

Despite the mask, Naruto could see the dry smirk on his sensei’s face.

“Maa, alright,” he chuckled. Then he reached out and ruffled Naruto’s hair. Just a quick motion, but enough to spark a warm feeling in Naruto’s chest. “Now, we have a jinchuuriki to meet tomorrow. You should get some rest,” he added, putting an end to the conversation.

“Right, yeah.” Naruto turned to head back to his place, but stopped when he was a few yards away. “Um, if it’s okay,” he added over his shoulder. “Could you tell me about them some time? My parents?” He may have met his parents, but he didn’t know anything about them. Kakashi-sensei however had been his father's student. He must have known him well. And hopefully, by association, his mother.

Naruto wasn’t sure what he expected from his sensei in response, but a soft smile didn’t seem to be it.

“Of course, Naruto,” Kakashi-sensei softly replied. “Now get going,” he added, waving his hand dismissively. “You have a cousin waiting for you.”

Naruto felt a large grin stretch over his face before he rushed off towards the village and towards his family waiting for him at home.

 

---

 

“I’m home!” Naruto called as soon as he opened the door. Immediately a blur of red filled his vision and he tackled with a hug.

“Welcome back!” Karin cried. “I hope you don’t mind but I cleaned the place up a bit. I didn’t know where everything went though so some stuff might not be in the right place.” She pulled away, expression suddenly unsure. “Is that alright?”

Naruto just beamed. “Totally fine, y’know!” Then, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, added, “To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever really organized my apartment anyway. So this’ll be a first.”

Karin’s face went from elated to deadpan in not even a second. “You’re a real slob, you know that?” She grumbled.

Naruto shrugged. “It’s an Uzumaki thing?”

Karin scoffed, sticking her nose up in the air. “My mom was never this messy,” was her haughty reply. “Maybe it’s just a woman thing.”

On one hand, it was nice to see Karin coming into her own. On the other hand…

Woman thing huh… he thought bitterly.

“Anyways,” she continued, snootiness receding. “I started cooking dinner. I had to buy some, well, most of the ingredients ‘cause well. You kinda don’t have anything except ramen.” She scrunched her face up in a small show of disgust. Which, fare. “I’m making katsudon, if that’s okay.”

Naruto’s smile returned. “Sounds great.”

“Awesome,” she blushed. “It’s almost done, so help me with the dishes.”

After taking his sandals and coat off, Naruto set to work with setting the table for dinner. Once the bowls and chopsticks were set, they dug in.

“Thanks for the food!”

The two were silent for awhile while they ate before Karin noticed Naruto looking at her.

“What?” She asked.

“Nothing,” he grinned. Then, shoveling some rice onto his chopsticks, said, “Just that, I’ve never got to share a meal with family before.”

“Right,” she breathed. “Family.”

Naruto could see out of the corner of his eyes the soft smile lighting up Karin’s face. She hadn’t had this either for a long time. She was probably just as nervous about it as him, but at the same time, it was exciting. They got to share their life with someone. Someone who cares! And they’d both lost enough to know to cherish it. It was scary, but it was good. It felt good.

“Hey uh, there was something I wanted to talk to you about,” he started, changing the subject. Karin looked up from her katsudon. Her face fell in what looked like nervousness.

“Yeah?”

“It’s nothin bad!” He rushes to assure her. “But it is… weird? Or, unbelievable I guess. Like, okay, it’s super crazy, y’know. Like super crazy!”

“Spit it out, Naruto,” she ordered.

“Right,” he sighed. “So, um, anyway…” this had been far easier when he’d told Kakashi-sensei. So why was he having such a hard time now!

Oh, right. Because he’d known Kakashi-sensei for years and had basically just met Karin a few days ago.

“Ok,” he finally got out. “My team and I aren’t what you’d call… normal.”

Karin cocked an eyebrow. “... Okay?”

So far so good.

“We know things we shouldn’t,” he continued. “And because of that we’re in lots of danger. We’re also not genin level either. We’re like, super crazy strong. Like jōnin strong.” At least . “And I wanted to tell you because I don’t want to lie to you about anything.”

“What do you mean?” She asked, frowning. “How are you still genin?”

“We sorta aren’t?”

“So you guys are like secret operatives?” She asked. “Are you on a special mission?” Then, with a gasp asked, “Is that why you fought that man in the Forest of Death? Was he your target?”

“Um… yes and no,” he tried. “We are everything you just said, but also, kind of sort of from…” Oh boy. It was now or never. “The future.”

Karin blinked.

“The what now.”

 

---

 

The next day the plan was put into action. That morning Kakashi headed to the Hokage tower in the hopes of having a last minute audience with the man himself. It wasn’t necessarily vital that this part of the plan work, but it would make it incredibly easier.

Fortunately, luck was in his favor, and he was allowed entry to speak to the Hokage.

“Kakashi,” Lord Third said as he strolled into his office. “What a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Instead of replying cordially, Kakashi cut straight to it. “I’d like Naruto to meet Gaara of the Desert.”

Blinking in surprise, Hiruzen eyed the man. “And what sparked this request, if I may ask,” he said slowly.

“Naruto is the jinchuuriki of Konoha,” Kakashi stated. “Gaara of the Desert is the jinchuuriki of Suna. Except Gaara is far more unstable than Naruto.” Kakashi watched the Hokage to see his reaction. His face was neutral, which while giving nothing away still told Kakashi the man didn’t have any objections. Yet. Continuing, Kakashi said, “I think it would be beneficial for Naruto to see what can become of a jinchuuriki if he’s not careful.”

“Is that so?” Hiruzen asked. A faint edge to his tone reminded Kakashi just who he was talking to. The jōnin backed off some and lowered his head.

“Yes,” he said. “And I believe it would be good for Naruto as a jinchuuriki to meet another jinchuuriki so as to better understand his position.” Position as a political deterrent that was.

“Also,” he added as an afterthought. “I hear the mistreat their jinchuuriki in Sunagakure. Maybe it would help put things in perspective for Naruto to see that.” Or, in other words, Naruto has it better than Gaara, and he saw that, it might inspire more loyalty towards the village. It was a dirty move Kakashi despised making, but he needed the Hokage’s approval.

After a moment of nerve wracking silence, Hiruzen finally spoke.

“I will allow you to let them meet,” the Hokage finally said. “If,” Kakashi knew there was an ‘if’. “You can guarantee it will not affect Naruto adversely.”

Not for the first time, Kakashi was glad he wore a mask. If not the Hokage would have seen his devilish smirk.

“I promise you, Lord Hokage,” Kakashi swore. “Naruto will not be affected.”

But that Gaara kid hopefully will.

 

---

 

Konoha’s prison wasn’t what one would call hospitable. It was dark and eerie, dampness dripping down the walls from unknown sources in the stone ceiling above. Noise was echoed and amplified down the tunnels, turning moans into screams and whimpers into shrieks. Dim lights were set up every ten feet, casting sickly yellow light into the corridors and throwing every nook and cranny in deep shadows.

Overall, not somewhere Naruto was particularly keen on being.

“This place gives me the creeps,” Naruto muttered as they walked past another cell, too dark to see if anyone was in it.

“That’s the point, Naruto,” Kakashi-sensei commented from behind him. “We don’t keep prisoners in cells so they feel comfortable .”

Huffing out a sigh, Naruto accepted his sensei's words and continued on down the passageway.

Two ANBU were leading them through the prison, one up front and one behind. The three “genin” walked a small cluster together, with their sensei bringing up their rear. They had been walking for minutes and so far had yet to reach their destination.

“Hey Naruto,” Sakura whispered next to him. He looked over to show he was paying attention. “How did your talk with Karin go last night?”

This grabbed Sasuke’s attention as well, the young Uchiha looking over at the two.

“Uh,” Naruto started. “It went…” he thought back to their conversation last night, remembering how many times he’d had to explain it to her. “Not bad.”

“So does she believe us?” Sakura pried.

“Uh, I think so?”

“That’s a yes or no question, loser,” Sasuke bit out in front of him.

“Look, I’m not an expert in knowing what people are thinking,” he hissed back.

Before anyone else could respond with a snarky comeback, they’d rounded a corner and the guards lamplight was thrown into a cell to reveal-

“Kabuto,” Sasuke drawled, pulling to a stop in front of the cell. “Nice to see you behind bars.”

The young man look up at them, lamplight flashing across his glasses. He was dressed in the standard prisoner garb with cuffs attached to his wrists and feet. A gash across his cheek was left unbandaged, dried blood crusting around it. Most likely from an attempt to evade arrest. He seemed very different from the cocky young man they’d seen at the first exam just over a week before.

“I don’t think I ever told you my name, Sasuke,” the spy replied coolly.

“You didn’t have to,” was the Uchiha’s cryptic response. Behind him, both Sakura and Naruto were shooting Kabuto withering looks.

Naruto didn’t hate many people. But he did truly hate Kabuto. And so did Sakura.

“Come on,” Kakashi-sensei urged from behind them. “Let’s not waste time.”

A light shove on his shoulder got Naruto moving. The jinchuuriki complied, but not before flashing his eyes red at the traitor. The look on Kabuto’s face as team 7 rounded the corner was priceless.

As soon as they were out of hearing range, Kakashi-sensei leaned over to them and said, “No more pit stops, okay? This isn’t a field trip.”

“He totally deserved it though,” Naruto grumbled.

“Not something a future Hokage should be saying,” was his annoying reply. Naruto opened his mouth to counter, but sighed and shut it in defeat.

A few minutes later, the ANBU guiding them stopped.

“They’re just behind that door,” the one wearing the rat mask said. He was pointing to a heavy steel door, and by the seal lines tracing across it, Naruto figured it was meant for holding very powerful things inside.

Like an unstable jinchuuriki.

“Thank you,” Kakashi-sensei said from behind them. “You are dismissed.”

The ANBU didn’t leave, instead just backing up some down the hall. Above him Naruto heard Kakashi sigh. It wasn’t exactly what they wanted but it was good enough. Moving them forward, he pressed his hand to the sealed door and the genin all watched as the seals spiderwebbed across the door slithered away.

Kakashi-sensei pushed open the door and walked inside, only beckoning them to follow once he’d disappeared into the darkness. Steeling his nerves, Naruto did just that, Sakura and Sasuke right on his heels.

Then the door was shut behind them, and they were plunged into darkness.

And then a lamp was lit. It cast an eerie orange glow over the occupants of the separate cells. Three in total, all against the wall. In the dim light Naruto could make out Temari in one of them, leaning against the wall in a bored slump. Across from her was Kankuro, sat in a rather similar position. And in the middle between them was-

“Gaara of the Desert,” Naruto announced, stepping into the light. “As one jinchuuriki to another, we gotta talk.”

 

 

Amazing commission art by akatsukiarts on tumblr. Also, I formed a new discord, much less choatic and large than the last one. You can join here!

Notes:

Thank you guys SO MUCH for being patient with me! School has been hella tough and I haven't had any room in my brain to think about anything else. Finals are next week and I basically stress-wrote this chapter. I can't promise the next chapter will be up soon but I at least owed it to you guys to post this one. Thank you all so much for reading, and please leave a comment telling me what you thought about it (hint: it fuels the creative process)!
Thanks so much, so you next time!

Chapter 41: Jinchuuriki and Bijuu

Notes:

I'M NOT DEAD!
I am SO sorry for such a late update. For some reason this chapter did NOT want to work with me so i literally just beat it over the head until i got 3000 words. Also school started up so that puts a real hamper on my schedule. And I was hiking in Europe for the summer where like, I had no data on my phone. Cuz I'm American. But ANYWAYS! I'm BACK and I'm EXCITED to move forward!!!!!!!!

The air in the cell which at first had at first been musty now seemed to crackle with electricity. Gaara of the desert stood in silence as he stared unblinkingly onward at the kyūbi jinchuuriki, who met his gaze just as fiercely. On the sides, the other two Suna genin watched with bated breath, fear keeping them in place. No one had spoken to Gaara like that before and lived. No one.

The proclamation of Naruto’s status as a jinchuuriki did little to phase the occupant of the cell. The only indication he was even remotely intrigued was the slight narrowing of his eyes.

“You,” Gaara finally rasped out. His pale eyes were fixed on Naruto, the only light in them the reflections of the lamps lining the walls. Naruto felt himself stiffen inadvertently. He hadn’t seen this look in Gaara’s eyes for nearly five years. The bloodlust behind it was practically tangible.

“You’re that boy from the street aren’t you?” Gaara finished.

Instead of answering audibly, Naruto just nodded.

“So you’re a jinchuuriki too, huh,” he drawled. There was little inflection behind his voice, as if there was nothing less interesting to him. In their respective cells, Kankuro and Temari both seemed to shrink back some, wide eyes fixed on Naruto. He wished they wouldn’t, but it was understandable as they didn’t know him. Yet.

“Well,” Gaara spoke up again. “I have nothing to say to you.”

The words came out like stone grating on stone.  But Naruto wasn’t going to let that stop him. He never backed down from anything.

“Well I got a lot to say to you, so you’re gonna listen, y’know,” he shot back.

Gaara’s only response was to narrow his eyes further.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto steeled his nerves and stepped forward. He was now about two feet from the cell - an uncomfortably close distance for anyone who knew what Gaara was. But to Naruto that didn’t matter. All he saw was a friend in need, and by God was he going to help him.

He held up a fist.

“What… is this?” Gaara rasped, his eyes were training on Naruto’s outstretched hand. It was the same thing Killer Bee had done way back when, and it had given Naruto the idea.

“Just do it too, asshole,” he bit back.

On the sides of the room, Temari and Kankuro watched the exchange wearily. They didn’t look nervous of Naruto, but scared for him. Not that Gaara could do anything with those chakra seals in place, anyways. Thank you, Anbu.

“If you don’t cooperate,” Kakashi-sensei cut in from behind him. “Your stay here will be much more uncomfortable.”

Narrowing his eyes, Gaara finally relented. Through the bar he held up his fist, pale and unblemished. Well, no going back now.

“See ya in a bit, guys,” Naruto said. Then he hit Gaara’s fist with his own and the world around them vanished.

 

---

 

White.

White light surrounded the two shinobi, an empty void of stars and color. Opposite Naruto stood Gaara, feet planted on the empty space beneath them. It was a familiar scene to Naruto. He’d met his dad here, met his mom here, spoken with others here. It was a place of peace. Somewhere where no harm could come to you-supposedly.

“What is this place,” Gaara finally rasped out. He was glaring all around with suspicion in his eyes. Clearly this new setting wasn’t as calming for him as it was for Naruo.

“Honestly?” Naruto shrugged. “No clue. Probably like a mind-scape or somethin’. No one’s ever really explained it to me.” Gaara didn’t appear to be satisfied with his answer but let it go nonetheless.

“So why are we here?” the redhead demanded.

“Cuz we gotta talk, dipshit,” Naruto glowered.

“About what?” Gaara growled back. “I don’t owe you my time or breath.”

“Fine, but you’re still gonna listen to what I have to say if you ever wanna get outta this place.” he shot back. “You guys are war criminals and my village would be happy to keep you here for however long it takes. No one cares if the Kazekage’s your dad or not.”

Apparently, that struck a nerve. Pale turquoise eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. “Not even my father cares that he’s my father,” Gaara scoffed. “So good luck using that as a bargaining chip.”

Ugh, this conversation was getting nowhere.  “Look that’s not what we need to talk about,” Naruto finally groaned. “So just shut up, wouldja?”

Apparently Gaara wasn’t used to people talking to him like that. His mouth snapped shut and eyes widened almost comically in shock. Under different circumstances, Naruto would have laughed.

But not today.

“I know what you think you are,” he finally said. “And what you do.” His words were met with an empty stare. “I just wanted to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way.”

“And what way is that?” Gaara sneered.

“Murdering people, calling yourself a monster,” Naruto replied, waving his arms erratically as if to prove his point. “Just because everyone says you’re one doesn’t mean you have to be.”

Gaara’s eyes narrowed. “And why are you telling me this?”

“Because if I don’t, who will?!” Naruto cried. “I’m a jinchuuriki too, people have called me a monster my whole life, I know how you feel and it sucks ! But we can do so much good too! We have the power to make change and you’re throwing it away by killing people needlessly!”

“It’s not needless,” was the rasped response he got. “It’s my purpose.”

Naruto found himself growing angry. He stepped forward with fists clenched. “Says who?” He challenged. “The only people who get to determine who we are is us .”

“We were made ,” Gaara shot back. “Things that are made have purpose, and mine is to kill. I don’t care what yours is so you may as well not exist to me.” Then, “Only things with purpose should be allowed to exist. Everything else is a waste of space.”

An image of Haku flashed before Naruto’s eyes. He died the first time around because he believed that was his purpose. But he was saved from that. Purpose didn’t define people, People defined people. Now how could he make Gaara see that?

“Fine then,” he shot back. “If you need a purpose so badly, everyone’s purpose is to love and be loved. Life doesn’t really matter otherwise. How’s that for a purpose?”

“Jinchuuriki aren’t human, we’re monsters! Our existence is detested by the very people who created us. We can never be loved !”

“SHUT UP!”

WHACK.

Gaara went reeling back, just managing to catch himself before he could fall to the ground.

Drip. Drip.

“...Blood.”

Wide pale eyes stared transfixed at the crimson dripping from his mouth. The liquid ran slowly down his jaw before falling to the ground below, forming a small puddle. If one could even call it that.

“Your sand doesn’t work here, Gaara,” Naruto said as he straightened up. “We’re on equal footing now.”

Slowly, Gaara tipped his head back up to meet the other boy's eyes. “Was this your plan all along?” he breathed, voice faint. “Bring me here to kill me?”

Naruto’s face screwed itself up into a scowl. “What? No. No, I want to help you.”

“There’s nothing I need help with. I’ve survived this long, after all.” The words made Naruto’s stomach churn uncomfortable. His frown deeped and he found himself stepping towards the boy, who’d since straightened up and was now at eye level.

“That’s just it, you idiot, you’re not supposed to survive, you’re supposed to live !”

The answer Gaara gave him was one that made his blood run cold. “What’s the difference.”

Naruto blanked.

“Because…” he tried. He didn’t know if his words were the right ones, or if they would even do anything, but he still had to speak. “Because if you’re not living, then you suffer,” he managed. “And then the people who care about you will suffer.” And then it’s just endless misery .

“People have been trying to kill me my whole life. My own father tried to kill me. How can you say that people care about me when they all want me gone?!”

The exclamation ended with a choked sob. The impassive face of Gaara had finally started to crack, and everything was starting to pour out.

“You say you know me but how could you?" Gaara continued. “ How could you know? !”

“No one’s ever tried to assassinate me, that’s true,” Naruto found himself admitting. “But when people are scared, they do dumb things. Lots of dumb things.” The Uchiha massacre flashed through his head. “But we just have to educate them. And yeah it’s hard, but it's definitely worth it. I used to be a lot like you, but my friends saved me from that. And that taught me I could save others, and have others to care about.”

A small smile stretches across his face as he spoke. Memories of his time with Team 7, both from the past and now, the Konoha 12, Iruka-sensei, and so many others flashed through his mind. Gaara, too. He would have so many friends, so many loved ones. He would be Kazekage for crying out loud! EVERYONE would be his loved ones.

Across from him, Gaara’s eyes widened in disbelief. They were red rimmed from either being open too long or from emotion; either way Naruto couldn’t tell.

“When people keep calling you a monster, eventually you start to believe it,” he continued. “And trust me, I know. And it hurts. But there are people who care about you, who know that all those idiots are wrong- and that’s what’s important.”

Images of Iruka-sensei, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, Pervy Sage, and many others flashed through his mind. If not for them… Well. The alternative was looking at him.

“Your siblings love you, Gaara,” he said quietly. “If you’ll let them. And I promise, if you just open yourself up, you will have so many who’ll love you and accept you as you are.”

I know, he thought to himself. Because I’ve seen it.

“You don’t have to be defined by where you come from. You get to define yourself by where you’re going and who goes with you.”

The eyes that had remained dull the entire time Naruto had been speaking to them suddenly flashed with a glint of… something. Life, interest, you name it. Whatever it was, Naruto knew he had gotten through, even if only somewhat.

“Is that what you do?” Gaara finally asked. Instead of the usual emotionless rasp, his voice had a hint of uncertainty. “Do you… forge your own path regardless of your past?”

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. “Yup, that’s exactly right, y’know!” Then, flashing a toothy smile, added, “And one day, I’m gonna be Hokage so I can protect everyone!”

“...protect?” Gaara echoed. “But why?”

Naruto found himself frowning. “Because,” he started. “That’s what you do for your loved ones.”

And like that it seemed like a switch was flipped in Gaara’s mind. Naruto couldn’t tell what he was thinking of, unable to discern the expression on his face, but he suspected it had to do with his siblings, and his sand. Or whatever had happened in his past. Whatever it was, it worked.

“Also,” Naruto continued with a smirk. “I have a friend who’d like to meet you. You and Shukaku.”

 

---

 

“It’s been forever; what are they doing?”

Sasuke eyes snapped over to the sand ninja who’d spoken. It was the girl, Temari. She was standing at the edge of her cell watching the two jinchuuriki with growing nervousness. Whether she was worried for them or of them Sasuke couldn’t tell.

“Relax,” Sasuke sighed. “It’s a jinchuuriki thing.” I think, he added silently. Honestly Naruto never really explained it so he had no idea. But he wasn’t about to admit that to the enemy. “They’ll both be fine,” he continued. “Naruto just needed somewhere private to talk.”

“We’re already in cells,” Temari pointed out dryly. “What more do you need?”

Sasuke just rolled his eyes in response. “Cells with Anbu guards outside and seals all over the place,” he grumbled. “Real private, huh.” The sarcastic edge to his voice was not lost to the prisoners.

“Sasuke,” he heard their sensei warn. “Be nice.”

Tsk. They were gonna destroy the village. What manners did he owe them? “Whatever.”

Uncomfortable silence once again returned to the room. The only sound that broke it was the occasional drip of water or someone shifting their weight. It stretched on for another few minutes before someone finally spoke up.

“So he’s really got a bijuu?” the guy with the face paint suddenly asked. He was leaning against the bars more nonchalantly than his sister. Sasuke could of thought he was at ease but he knew that was the farthest thing from the truth. Everyone was strung tight as a bowstring, appearances be damned.

“Yeah,” Sakura supplied. “He is.”

Face-paint frowned. “But he’s so…”

Non murderous?

“Put together,” he finished. “Why is he so different?”

“That’s… hard to answer,” Sakura said uncertainty. “He was ostracized as a kid but… he never let that stop him.”

“He’s driven,” Sasuke found himself saying. “No matter how many times people shunned him or said he’d never make anything of himself, he never backed down. He doesn’t let what people think of him get in the way of who he knows he is. Of who he wants to be.”

“Who he wants to be?” Temari echoed.

“That’s right,” Sakura smiled. “Naruto’s gonna be Hokage one day. He'll do it. Jinchuuriki or not!”

 

---

 

“You need to calm down, you damn tanuki.”

That was the first thing out of the fox’s mouth as soon as the bijuu entered the mindscape. He towered over the teens with a scowl deep enough to make Danzō jealous. His red eyes were narrowed in annoyance and his tails lashed behind him. Overall; the picture of contempt.

Across from him and behind Gaara sat the ichibi. And while his expressions were harder to make out, annoyance was clear on his face as well.

While Naruto was used to sharing a mindscape with bijuu, Gaara clearly was not. He jumped in startlement and balked at the gigantic chakra constructs. It was almost comical.

“ Kuramaaaa !” Shukaku roared. “ What are you doing here?”

“Is that really…” Gaara trailed off. Naruto nodded.

“Yup. The kyuubi and ichibi. Say hi, Kurama!”

From above them, Kurama gave a half hearted scowl. “Hey brats.”

Gaara was too shocked to speak.

“Anyways,” Naruto said, looking up at Shukau. “I’m Naruto Uzumaki, jinchuuriki of the kyuubi. Nice ta meetcha!”

Instead of offering a reply Shukaku just looked down at him in disgust.

“What is this? ” the tenuki scowled. “ Some brat thinks he can speak to me?”

“Hey!” Naruto shouted up at him. “This brat is trying to help you!”

“Oh? And how’s that?” Condescension practically dropped from his tongue.

“Well for one, by listening,” he pouted.

“He means stop being such an ass and focus on something other than yourself for once,” Kurama supplied calmly.

“Have you gone soft, fox?” The ichibi taunted. “You, the embodiment of rage, showing emotions?”

“Better than spending my free time pretending to be some brat’s mother,” Kurama offered in return.

Beneath him Naruto choked on his laughter.

“ You don’t get to laugh at me, brat !” Shukaku cried in outrage. “ I’m the ichibi, I am nature chakra incarnate! I am infinitely more powerful than you puny thing could ever dream of being!”

“Grow up, you fucking moron ,” was all Kurama grumbled back. “ You lived in a pot and now you live in a prepubescent teen. Get down from that pedestal before you break something.”

Below the two beasts, Naruto and Gaara watched in fascination. Naruto with a wry smirk plastered to his face, while Gaara found himself dumbstruck. The monster that lived inside him all his life, that tormented him day in and day out, was… being scolded? It was almost unreal.

Above them, Kurama’s expression shifted suddenly to something more grim. All laughter was gone from his eyes, replaced with something harder and more serious. “We weren’t made to destroy, brother, as much as I understand the urge to do so, ” he growled out. “ Father made us to protect humans. To guide them. And I can’t blame you for losing sight of that, as I did the same for a long time. ” If it was possible, the tanuki looked ashamed, staring down at the ground beneath his feet. Kurama continued on regardless, driving his point home. “ We can hate them all we want, but we at least have to respect them. They’ve managed incredible feats and harnessed power almost equal to our own. And eventually they might even fight for us. ” Like in the war, Naruto remembered. “ Yes, not all humans are perfect or good, but that doesn’t mean you should treat them all like they aren’t. Especially innocent children who’ve done nothing to deserve that. ” His red eyes lowered from Shukaku to Gaara pointedly. “ You’d do best to remember that.”

The tanuki sulked in silence after Kurama finished, His golden eyes narrowed and glowering at his feet. Naruto was reminded of Konohamaru being scolded and wearing the same look on his face. It was the expression of someone who knew they were in the wrong but were loath to admit it. Especially to an elder.

Well, Kurama was the older brother, Naruto figured.

“Look, ” Kurama sighed. “ One day we might need to rely on our dumb humans. It’s hard to explain why, but just trust me on this. So maybe try being nice for once. ” The fox glanced down at Naruto, just a moment, before saying. “ You’ll find that it’s better than being alone.”

Naruto found he didn’t have anything to add to that. Instead, he just smiled.

 

Art by sloaners and color by me. And feel free to join my discord!

Notes:

THANK YOU FOR READING! I love you all so much you have no idea how much all you kudos and comments mean to me. THANK YOU!

Chapter 42: Promises Kept and Broken

Notes:

I'M NOT DEAD!
First off I am SO SORRY for making you guys wait. School is HELL now. But I r e f u s e to abandon this because I swore to myself I would finish something. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy, and thank you for reading!!
Edit: beta'd as of 1/21/20

It was a long while before Naruto and Gaara opened their eyes again.

When they did, the sand siblings saw something in their brother they hadn’t seen in a very long time: Light. He wasn’t smiling necessarily, but his eyes were. Like a gentle smile when watching the desert rains, or seeing children playing without all the worries of adulthood.

If Temari had to describe how her little brother looked, she could only say soft. She didn’t know what that Naruto boy did, but she knew she would be forever grateful.

“Better?” the boy in question asked. Gaara managed a small nod in response, which was more than he ever gave most of the time.

“Great,” the blonde jinchuuriki smiled. “Now we just gotta get you outta here.”

“What, you’re going to break us out?” Kankuro suddenly exclaimed across the cell from her. The pink haired girl just laughed.

“No. But I wish we could.”

“Unfortunately there are laws ,” Naruto added.

“Which we should respect,” their sensei reprimanded them. Temari took note of his use of ‘respect’ instead of ‘follow’. Turning to her, the jonin continued by saying, “Unfortunately we do have to follow the chain of command, seeing as you were a part of an attempted coup.”

“We didn’t even want to be,” Kankuro groused, truly acting like the fourteen year old he was.

“It wasn’t our idea either,” Temari insisted. “Our village has been losing money. We haven’t been getting enough missions due to them being outsourced by the daimyos.”

The jonin said nothing in response, but did raise an intrigued eyebrow.

“Y’know…” the jinchuuriki- Naruto- started. “We can probably make the kages come to an agreement.” Six pairs of eyes found themselves boring into the preteen. Was he crazy? The Kages were the most suborn men in the land. How could just a few genin and a sensei possibly convince them of anything ? “I mean, we have his kids hostage,” he quickly added as their gazes started boring holes in him. “And even if he doesn’t act like he cares for them, he still has to like, I don’t know, be a dad?”

“If we all were to die, Suna wouldn’t have a fifth Kazekage,” Kankuro suddenly piped up. The Konoha shinobi turned to look at him in confusion. “The role of Kazekage is passed down through family. No one outside of our line has ever even been considered . If Rasa were to lose all three of his children, Suna would be left defenseless. And that would be a show of carelessness or weakness or whatever. He couldn’t afford to do it. He’d have to come.”

The four Konoha shinobi appeared both startled and excited by the new information. They all shared a look and smiled.

“I promise we’ll get you outta here soon.” Naruto grinned. “Leave it to us!”

 

---

 

The walk back through the prison halls was just as eerie as before, but this time everyone seemed to have a lighter step. Even Sasuke, ever so dower, seemed to be in a better mood, though it was slightly dampened by the Anbu in front and behind them.

“Sensei,” Sakura asked, breaking the silence that had accumulated since leaving the prison cell. “What happens now with the exams? Are they gonna be canceled?”

Above them, Kakashi-sensei sighed heavily. “Most likely,” he replied. “What with half the contestants being involved in an attempted coup d'etat, it would only make sense.”

“But what about all the others?” Naruto asked. “The guys from Taki, and Konoha, and Ame, and Kusa. They didn’t do anything. Do they just wait another six months to take the exam again?”

Kakashi-sensei just shrugged nonchalantly. “Probably. If they got this far in the exams they can do it again.”

Naruto found himself frowning at the reply. If that were true, then Shikamaru wouldn’t be promoted for another six months… But, he realized, they wouldn’t need him to lead a rescue mission anytime soon. So maybe it was okay that he won’t be promoted just quite yet.

“So what about us?”

“What about you?” the jonin echoed.

“Well,” Naruto started. “We went up against a sannin, shouldn’t we be like, promoted for that on the spot?” On top of everything else we’ve done, that is , he added mentally.

Instead of answering with reassurance, their sensei just sighed wearily. “Promotions aren't that simple, Naruto. In war time there can be many field promotions and the like. But right now we’re not at war. And to add to that you three technically forfeit the second exam when you summoned Kotetsu, purposeful or not.”

“Well that blows,” Sakura grumbled. “I was really hoping to make chūnin.” Their sensei only shrugged in response. The rest of the walk through the halls was in comfortable silence.

 

---

 

Finally, the four shinobi were escorted out of Konoha’s prison and into the bright summer sunlight. It was early afternoon, the sounds of the village not far off, seemingly bustling with activity. Turning around, Kakashi-sensei gave a quick salute to the Anbu, waving them off. With a quick salute back, they disappeared with a shunshin, presumably back into the prison or to report to the Hokage.

Finally Team Seven were allowed a moment to breathe.

Next to Naeuto; Sasuke let out a big sigh. “That’s one thing off our to-do list,” the Uchiha commented. “Finally.”

“Well, I think we deserve a treat after all that!” Sakura exclaimed brightly, the announcement accompanied by a big stretch. “We did just save the village after all. Again.”

Naruto opened his mouth to agree but was cut off before he could.

“Before any of us do anything,” Kakashi-sensei interrupted. “Naruto and I have to go see the Hokage.”

Naruto blinked in surprise. “Huh? Why?”

“You still have that seal on you from Orochimaru, remember,” his sensei said. “We need to get it off you as soon as possible. Otherwise your chakra control will be all over the place.”

Right, Naruto recalled. Orochimaru had hit him with something mid-battle that had made Kurama’s chakra disappear. He vaguely remembered something similar happening the first time around, but that fight had been more of a blur. Probably due to the fox’s influence, he figured. Also the fact that it had happened over five years ago for him.

“But wait,” he realized. “Don’t we need a sealmaster for that?” He wasn’t sure, but taking off a seal from Orochimaru surely wasn’t some small feat. Not even Kakashi-sensei could manage it with Sasuke’s cursed seal originally.

“That’s part of what we’re going to talk about.” Then, “You two run along now. We’ll meet up at my place in the morning.”

The two younger shinobi nodded their affirmation before heading off back to the village. Naruto and Kakashi-sensei watched for a bit before the jōnin ushered him along.

Walking through the streets to the tower though was strange. Naruto had thought he’d gotten used to it again, but after his conversation with Gaara, he was acutely aware of all the looks being thrown at him. Sure they weren’t as bad as when he hadn’t been a ninja, but they were still… isolating.

He even noticed Kakashi-sensei getting a polite smile or a wave right before getting frowned at himself.

A selfish part of him wished Pain would show up so he could prove himself to everyone again.

“Don’t pay attention to them.” A voice snapped Naruto out of his thoughts. Above him, Kakashi-sensei was giving icy stares to anyone looking their way. “As long as you know who you are, their beliefs don’t matter.”

Naruto blinked, surprised by the wisdom of his sensei's words.

“I-“ Naruto blanked. “Thank you, sensei.”

The jōnin flashed him one of the those squinty smiles of his. “Don’t mention it.”

Naruto felt himself smile warmly in response.

 

---

 

Entering the Hokage’s office felt like stepping into a bubble. The busy sounds of the tower vanished and in its place was a feeling of underlying dread. There was nothing to be scared of here, Naruto knew, but the feeling in his gut wouldn’t go away. Maybe it was something in the Hokage’s eyes… they were harder than usual.

The Old Man smiled and broke the silence. “Naruto, it’s good to see you back on your feet. I’m glad you are doing better.”

“Thank you Lord Hokage,” Naruto replied, giving a small bow. The Old Man’s face twitched somewhat in response. Odd.

“Lord Hokage,” Kakashi-sensei cut in. “What are we going to do about Orochimaru’s seal? Do you have any sealmaster in mind who could help?”

The Old Man’s smile faded at Kakashi-sensei's reminder. “The only seal master we have who could fix this is currently out of the village,” he sighed in defeat. “It will take a few days for him to get back if we sent out a summons today. So until then, for everyone’s safety Naruto, I forbid you from trying to use your chakra.”

Naruto wanted to scoff. It wasn’t his chakra the hokage was worried about, but Kurama’s. And besides, he had nothing to worry about anyway. He’d used chakra before the seal came off the first time and it’d been fine. Maybe the old man's age was really getting to him. Old people were always paranoid, right?

“Yes, Lord Hokage,” he responded instead.

“Good, now,” the Old Man continued. “On to what I wanted to talk to you about.” Naruto straightened up. “Kakashi told me that during the fight with Orochimaru you somehow accessed an ‘orange chakra cloak’. Do you remember this?”

Ah. So that was it. Right, because at this time using any of kyuubi’s chakra was a hazard; purposeful or not. Slowly, Naruto nodded his head, carefully controlling his expression so it wouldn’t give anything away.

“Are you aware of what that was?” The Hokage continued.

Hesitantly, he nodded again. “It was K- the fox, right? That was his chakra?”

“Yes,” was the succinct reply. “The seal placed on you by the Fourth Hokage allows some of the Nine Tails’ power to leak into your chakra system. He believed that by doing this, it would be easier for you to master its power.”

Naruto already knew this of course, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

“However,” The Old Man continued. “There is a risk to it. When it times of high duress it appears the valve opens a little more, allowing you more access to that power. The issue with that though is that the more chakra from the fox is in your system, the more sway it has over you.”

Yeah, Naruto definitely knew that…

Shaking the thought aside, Naruto spoke. “So… what you’re saying is to not get angry?” He asked.

“I’m telling you that you should be careful and mindful of your emotions. It can become dangerous to yourself and everyone around you if you lost control while in that state.”

No shit.

Deciding to play dumb, Naruto asked “What’ll happen if I lose control?”

The hard look that had resided in the Hokages eye during the meeting darkened drastically. Suddenly, Naruto was reminded why this man had held the title of Hokage for so long.

“I will not sugarcoat it for you, Naruto,” he said in stony voice. “It is entirely possible the fox could escape. And if that happens, you would die.”

Despite knowing this, ice washed through Naruto’s veins at the statement. An image of his mom’s sad smile suddenly filled his head. If it weren’t for her broken seal… she would still be here. Being a jinchuuriki really was a sacrifice, just as the name implied. If you failed… you died. Simple as that.

And he had. Once.

But this seal was his dad’s, it wouldn’t break unless he wanted it to. For now anyway. And if what happened last time happened again, well, he had Kurama and his father to help him through. Probably. He really wasn’t sure if his father's chakra was still in the seal or not. Most likely, considering it was still the old seal. At least, he hoped for that to be the case.

Shaking himself from memories of the future, Naruto stuck himself back in the present. “What would happen if it starts to break though?” he asked. He knew, but he still had to play the part.

“There are countermeasures in place,” was the Hokage’s cryptic answer.

Gee, Naruto grimaced. Thanks.

“Also,” the Old Man continued. “If you do start to experience that ‘chakra cloak’ again, if you are able, find a jonin and they should be able to help.” A pointed look was sent Kakashi-sensei’s way.

“Understood sir,” the genin nodded.

“Is there anything else, Lord Hokage?” Kakashi-sensei asked.

The Old Man just shook his head. “No. That is all. You are dismissed.”

“Wait,” Naruto cut in. “One last thing.”

The Old Man rose an eyebrow, but didn’t stop him from continuing.

“The sand siblings; They say the only reason they were assigned this mission was because of something to due with the daimyos and missions or something. Maybe instead of a coup you could like, I dunno know, talk to the Daimyos? Instead of killing?”

First, he didn’t seem all too impressed, but then a look of mirth entered the Hokage’s eyes. “Well, I suppose so,” he offered. “It’s always best to talk instead of fight. Perhaps we can reach an understanding.”

Relief flowed through Naruto at the proclamation, making his shoulders sink a good half foot.

“I’ll explain the situation in better detail, if you require, Lord Hokage,” Kakashi-sensei offered. The Old Man nodded.

“Now, if that is all, you are dismissed. Apparently, I have a Kage and some Daimyos to message.”

Naruto offered a bow before turning around to leave, alone, as Kakashi-sensei would stay behind and hash the political stuff out. Before opening the door though, he turned around, an idea forming in his head.

“Has it ever happened before?” He asked suddenly. “A bijuu escaping?”

He knew the answer, of course. It had happened before. His mom. But he wanted to look the Old Man in the eye and see what he had to say. To see if he trusted Naruto enough to tell him the truth. He was a ninja of Konoha, and the jinchuuriki of the kyuubi. He had a right to be trusted. But he wanted to see if the Old Man thought that too.

The answer he got sent a stone falling into the pit of his stomach.

“No,” was the man’s reply. “Not in Konoha.”

 

 

Notes:

^let's end this chapter on a happier note

As of now this story is officially on hiatus. Instead of posting one chapter months apart I'm going to focus on finishing the whole thing and then posting every week so it's more consistent. We're about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way through, so HOPEFULLY it shouldn't take too long but... college. Anyways, thank you again for reading and feel free to scream in the comments section as I know we're all known to do. Untill next time!

Chapter 43: Next Step Forward

Notes:

*Shows up almost four years late with starbucks* Sup

Before now, Naruto had never had a reason to doubt the Old Man. He’d been a kind, and good leader. But after seeing him boldly lie to his face like that… and about his own family! Something just didn’t sit well with him.

Now Naruto wasn’t really one for politics or whatever, and he was sure there was a reason the Old Man had done it, but it still irked him. He was a full fledged shinobi of Konoha AND the jinchuuriki of the kyuubi. Surely that garnered a semblance of respect.

Frustrated, Naruto kicked at a pebble on the road, watching as it clattered down the street.

What did it take to gain the Old Man's trust? He’d taken down a terrorist, exposed an attack against the village, and proved himself to be a good shinobi. Sure he was just a genin but that shouldn't matter. He’d proved himself on an A rank for crying out loud!

And the man had still lied to his face.

Deep inside, Naruto could feel his faith in the Hokage crumbling. He didn’t want to acknowledge it, but the thought was there.

If this was how the Old Man was gonna be… could Naruto even trust him to do what needed to be done when something finally happened? Could he lead a war against the akatsuki? Join forces with the other nations? Could he even make peace with Suna?

Maybe there was a reason he’d retired in the first place.

Sighing heavily, Naruto tried to force all of the thoughts out of his head. He was too tired to deal with this shit. There was nothing he could do about it for the time being anyways. It would be a few days before the Kazekage would drag his ass over here to sort shit out. Although “a few days” was being kind. Maybe a month was more accurate. And then, to get the seal off…

Jiraiya.

Naruto stopped dead in the middle of the road. Some people bumped into him and grumbled, but he didn’t notice, mind too far away to even try.

Jiraiya, he thought. He was the only seal master capable of fixing what Orochimaru had done, and he was coming here. Jiraiya, who had been like a grandpa to him. Who had taught him so much. Who had died.

Jiraiya, who didn’t even know who he was right now.

Forcing his feet to move again he resumed his walk home, stubbornly refusing to admit that the heat growing behind his eyes were tears.

 

---

 

“I’m home!” He called.

Naruto had done this all his life, but never before (at this point in time at least) had he ever received an answer. Well, he didn’t receive an answer this time, not in the usual sense anyway, but he was met with a startled cry and a pan being dropped on the floor.

“Karin?”

In his kitchenette stood a startled redhead, a spilled bowl of something on the floor from where she must have dropped it. Was she… cooking?

To be honest Naruto didn’t even know he owned a mixing bowl so this was a surprise to him.

“Ah! You’re back. I’m so sorry I spilled everything, I’ll clean it all up, I promise!” Immediately the girl got to work picking up the splattered food, rambling  the whole while. “It’s just, it was really kind of you to offer your place to me and I didn’t want to be a burden and I thought the best way to not be is to make you some food. But now I spilled it all so I get if you’re mad at me-”

“You’re fine, y’know!” He cut in, stopping her mid rant. “I just- sorry I startled you,” he chuckled. “And you’re not gonna be a burden. Honestly I’m just happy to finally have family to come home to.”

At his words, Karin’s anxiety slipped off her face, replaced instead by a warm smile. “That’s- I’m uh… Thank you.” She managed. “And you too.”

A long awkward pause followed her words.

“So…” she wrung her fingers together nervously, red eyes flickering over every surface that wasn’t him. “Um, are we gonna talk about that whole ‘time travel’ thing? You didn’t really explain before dashing off.”

Right. Naruto had only told her the bare minimum (which she’d somehow believed) before rushing off to join the rest of his team so they could get to the prison to talk with Gaara. He’d explained it was a freak accident and that he just wanted her to know so he wouldn’t have to lie to her. Apart from that, he hadn’t said much.. Like that she used to (would?) work for a terrorist organization, or almost die by Sasuke’s hand, or that there was a conspiracy to destroy all known life by a moon goddess alien thing.

Yeah, they had a lot to talk about.

“Yeah, yeah um…” he looked around for somewhere to sit. This wasn’t gonna be a short conversation. “I’ll get some tea going first. Just sit wherever.”

Karin nodded, plopping down on the edge of his bed. It wasn’t like there was much seating in the one bedroom. Naruto would probably have to take the kitchen chair.

After boiling the water and letting the tea steep, the two got to talking.

“So,” Naruto hummed. “I don’t know where to start.”

“The beginning?” His cousin offered lamely.

Technically, he thought to himself. The beginning of this messed up story was a few thousand years ago. Or maybe it was the night of the kyuubi attack. Or when Hashirama and Madara had their big fight. Or whenever Obito “died”. Sighing to himself, Naruto decided to just go with the easiest option: the one that would make the most sense. Hopefully.

“Okay so like, I’m actually seventeen,” he started. He watched Karin’s expression carefully but so far he didn’t see anything concerning. “Um. I was fighting in this big war with Sakura and Sasuke when we were like, I don’t know, shot back to our younger selves?” He shrugged helplessly. “So that was like three-ish months ago. And we’ve sorta been working on stopping the war that we were fighting but so far we haven’t done much. Um, we just told Kakashi-sensei cuz he kinda found out. No one else knows.” A pause. “Except now you, y’know.”

A long silence followed the confession. Karin used the time to sip slowly at her tea with a faraway look in her eyes. Naruto couldn’t blame her. If someone had told him all this he wouldn’t be taking it nearly half as well as she was now.

Finally, the girl spoke up. “So is that how you knew we were cousins?” She asked. “You’d already met me?”

“Yeah,” the blonde smiled. “I mean, we never really got to know each other, but you were friends with Sasuke.”

The redhead grimaced immediately. “ Him ?” She groaned. “But he’s so lame.”

Naruto choked on his tea.

 

---

 

They’d finally settled down to bed, deciding to share a futon on the floor instead of fighting over who got the bed. Now that all the excitement of the day was over, Naruto felt all the exhaustion of the past few days catching up. His arm, now almost completely healed, ached. His muscles were still a bit sore and he could feel his chakra reserves were still on the low side. For him anyway. He could probably still run laps around his old classmates.

All of this thinking though was to avoid the obvious looming over his head: Jiraiya.

What was he supposed to do? If he took one look at the man he was sure he’d burst into tears. And then what? How was he gonna explain away that mess to his godfather? Or anyone else for that matter. And then there was the other matter that was slowly creeping into his brain.

Why hadn’t Jiraiya been there for him after his parents death? Cuz he was the jinchuuriki of the Leaf? ‘Cause he was the fourth's son? Wouldn’t he have been safer with sannin as a guardian than a kid growing up on his own in a village that loathed him?

Maybe it was the twelve year old hormones or the bone deep exhaustion, but he was mad. He didn’t like the feeling, but he couldn’t stop it either. It was like a burning coal deep in his gut that refused to be smothered.

He hated it.

“Naruto?” A voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned over in the futon to see Karin curled up staring at the opposite wall. He looked so small and vulnerable like this, not anything like the sassy, confident kunoichi he met months ago (years from now?)

“What’s up?” He whispered back.

A long moment passed by before she said anything. “What happens now? To me, that is?”

A frown burrowed its way onto Naruto’s face. “What do ya mean?”

She turned over on her side to face him, finally showing the lost expression painting her face. Without her glasses she looked much younger, much more scared. “I mean like, I don’t have a job, or a team, or anything here. What am I supposed to do?”

“Well, what do you wanna do?” He asked.

A faraway look came over Karin in response to his question. He watched as she pondered over his words, really thinking it over. Eventually, her red eyes went unfocused, staring vacantly at the wall. Her bangs had slipped in front of them at some point, half obscuring the helpless look she wore. It hurt Naruto’s heart to see it.

“I want to help people,” she whispered at last. “But I don’t want to hurt myself to do it.” A pause. “I don’t want to be what Kusa made me.”

Behind her glasses, Naruto could see tears welling in her eyes. He didn’t know much about her past, just what she had said when they first met, but he knew it had been awful. Being forced to  give your own life to those who held no regard for it was something no one should have to go through, least of all a young girl. The fact that she still wanted to help people despite all that amazed him.

“Y’know,” Naruto began. “Sakura is an amazing medical ninja. I’m sure if you asked she could teach you a few things if you want.” Karin smiled at that, but it looked uncertain, withdrawn.

“And even if you don’t wanna be a ninja anymore there’s lots of things you can do.”

Another frown, this time twisting her lips in thought. “No, I think I want to be a ninja… But,” a sigh. “Even if I do get the Hokage’s approval I still don’t have a team. Can’t really be a genin without a team. And who would take in a genin from another village? I don’t know if that’s even a thing,” she mumbled.

Then a brilliant idea crossed Naruto’s mind. “So join our team!”

A pause. Then-

“Wh- But I-“ She tried to protest.

“No, no, no,” he rushed. “I’m sure Kakashi-sensei would agree. And besides, we’re family, y’know. We gotta stick together!”

The girl frowned. “Is that even allowed?” She asked.

Naruto shrugged. “If it’s not, what’s a little rule breaking? Not like we haven’t done it before, y’know.”

And Karin smiled. A real, honest to god smile. “I would love to, y’know.”

(“HAHA you said ‘y’know’!)”

(“Oh shut up! I take back everything I said!”)

(“Too late!!!”)

Notes:

Um... hi?
Okay so uh. That took longer than expected. First off, covid happened. that sucked. second off, I graduated college and now have a degree, woo! Third, there is one FUCKING plotpoint in this fic that literally gave me the WORST writers block for THREE YEARS. Also I literally don't have anything else properly written for this so woops. Hopefully tho I'll write more, hyperfixation be damned.