Blood does not make a Family

by KowaiCharacter

Summary:

Naruto was not an idiot.

He knew that, but nobody wanted to believe him. But then, one night, he bumped into one pink-haired girl and his life changed. He made friends, lots of them, even the grumpy old fox, and trained and trained and trained. He was going to become the Hokage and have everyone acknowledge him after all!

In which Team 7 grows closer as a family and learns to trust each other with their lives. If they had one another, no enemy was out of reach.

Notes:

Ok so first up, this is my first attempt at a Naruto fanfic, please bear with me until I fully get the hang of it. I don't know if my writing style complements this fandom and it may change along the line (not drastically, and I kind of do it unconsciously).

I've read so many fanfics with this kind of trope, but almost all were abandoned. I'll try not to do that as well, since I know how irritating it can be, but in the end, it all depends on my motivation to finish. Like, if I see that there is no feedback at all...well I might as well take it down. My goal is for you to have something to enjoy and have a look at the possibilities and my headcanons. And while I kind of do it for myself, I get easily discouraged...

Anyway, I'll try to post at least once a week (preferably on Sundays), but you know how life is.

Enough talking, let's get to it!

Chapter 1: First acquaintances

He was running.

And running and running and running. He was always running on nights like these. Nights of the 10th of October. His birthday. But also the night of the Kyubi attack that had happened seven years ago. He may not know what went down exactly, but he wasn't an idiot. He figured that the two events were somehow linked and that's why the majority of the village hated him. I mean, sure, there were people who didn't hate his guts, like Iruka-sensei and Jiji and...well, yeah, that's about it.

He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, ignoring the burning in his lugs and the cuts from a few minutes prior that were in the process healing softly on their own. They would've been long gone by now, but they cut deeper this time. And deeper. And deeper. He always healed fast and he didn't have any scars. The few they had managed to create last time were gone a week later. That ticked them off. They were angry. So, so angry. He just didn't know why.

As he zoomed past a family of three, he bumped into the girl with bubblegum-pink hair and, with a yelp, they both landed on their butts. The grocery bag she was holding fell from her arms and the contents spilt all over the ground.

"Hey! Watch it!" The girl yelled as he stumbled to get back up as fast as possible.

"S-sorry," He tensed and looked behind him. He always had good hearing and his sense of smell was above average. His pursuers were catching up. He had to go.

But as he turned to leave, he noticed something and froze. The girl kept glancing at her parents nervously, as if she was expecting them to blow up. After said parents were done glaring him down, they turned to their daughter. But their expression didn't change. They looked at her the same way everyone looked at him. With evil eyes filled with hate. He was torn. He should really keep running, but he couldn't leave her like that! If she got into trouble because of him, he wouldn't ever forgive himself. He had seen her hollow eyes when she thought no one was looking. Had seen those bruises she tried to hide but never thought much of it. Bullies were common after all...

With a sigh, he bent down to help her. She looked up surprised and scanned his face warily with her sea-green eyes, like she couldn't believe he was actually helping. He didn't blame her. He wasn't exactly known for being helpful and kind. He wordlessly handed her the stuff and stood back up. The group that was following him that night finally managed to break through the crowd and spotted him easily. No surprise there. His bright orange jumpsuit shone like a beacon in the darkness.

"There he is! The demon brat!"

The two kids turned to them with wide eyes. One a bit shocked but curious, the other scared. He mentally let out a stream of curses a seven-year-old should not know and got ready to sprint again. The headstart he had until now was all for nought. If he couldn't shake them off in the maze of streets within the next five minutes, he was done for.

"Naruto?" The girl asked, a silent question in her eyes. What is going on?

He shook himself out of his stupor and smiled at her. Big and bright and fake. He was afraid, but he couldn't let anyone know. Showing weakness always made it worse. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan! I'm way too fast for them!"

Sakura frowned. "Yeah, but why-"

"No time!" He yelled and sprinted into a nearby alley as soon as the mob started approaching.

He knew the streets of Konoha like the back of his hand, having spent much time exploring and running away from angry people whenever he pulled a prank on them. But he had been running for hours now. He was exhausted. His legs burned and his breath came out as little hectic huffs and the healed cuts were pulling at his skin uncomfortably. He wasn't getting enough oxygen and it made him dizzy. Because of that, he turned a wrong corner and found himself face-to-face with a dead end. There wasn't even a dumpster he could jump on to escape over the wall!

"Shit." He muttered and spun around.

"What do we have here?" The leader grinned disgustingly, twirling a stolen kunai in his hands.

"A cornered fox, it seems."

...

Naruto limped back to his run-down apartment, blood dripping on the floor. He'd have to clean that later, or else Mrs Susuki will get mad and cut off his water again. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. After somehow managing to take off his (too-small) shoes and go to the bathroom, he rinsed off his clothes and tended to his injuries. Like said earlier, they could heal just fine on their own, but there were too many. His strange healing powers focused on the most serious ones first, so it should take about a day to mend them all...hopefully.

Since he lacked to energy to shower, he crashed on his bed immediately after he was done. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was dead to the world.

.

Naruto rarely ever slept well. He was used to having nightmares and sometimes not sleeping at all. Those were lonely nights. But this was new...

When he opened his eyes, he found himself ankle-deep in yellow-tinted water that smelled kind of funny. He looked around. He was in a cavern of sorts. There were cracks along the walls and it was so huge, he couldn't even see the ceiling. The place reminded him of a sewer, and he'd seen a lot. He found they make great hiding spots. The only thing that didn't belong in there were the enormous metal bars. They were as thick as Naruto was tall, but the spaces in between were wide enough for him to pass through if he wanted to. Which he didn't particularly at the moment. The other side was a bit too dark for his liking. But he was curious.

He took a step forward, the sound echoing around the walls. The movement must've startled whatever was locked behind those bars because something big stirred in the darkness. Giant ruby eyes blinked open, glaring right at him. The creature radiated pure hatred, terror and danger. He knew he should be afraid, but he wasn't. His instincts told him that it couldn't do him any serious harm and he trusted them. They had saved his life multiple times already.

"Hello?" He spoke, his voice too loud in his own ears.

The massive shape moved again and several things swished, some sweeping through the air and some sending ripples across the stinky water. Naruto suspected they were tails, but that would be impossible. No animal had that many! It moved into the dim light and the blond boy finally caught a first full glance at the creature. It clearly resembled a fox, though, it was way too big with way too many tails (!!) and cruel eyes that pierced right through him. The colour of its fur was faded and tinted light orange. Naruto wondered what it normally looked like; blood-red or maybe amber?

It growled at him, but he just tilted his head. "Who are you? And...where am I?"

The fox snarled and didn't reply at first. When Naruto began to wonder if it even understood him or was able to talk at all, a voice so low and deadly that he felt it vibrate through his bones spoke up.

~You are in your sub-conscious. I'm surprised you could reach this place already~

Naruto glanced around again. "So we're in my mind? No wonder it's so gloomy...Don't you get bored in here all alone?"

Again, the fox didn't reply.

"Who are you?" Naruto repeated.

It looked like it was debating on whether or no to tell him, but ultimately, ~Get out! I have no patience for your kind~

A wave of dark and potent energy pushed Naruto back and he startled awake. The force caused him to fall off his bed and land on the floor with a thud. Massaging his still sore muscles, he stood up groaning. It was dawn, so he had a few hours to get ready for the academy. He should change the bandages, though...

"Rude much?"

...

Today's weird, he decided as he walked outside during lunch.

As practically always, he didn't have a bento like all the other kids. They had colourful boxes full of food made by their parents and some even had the audacity to complain when their parents had put something in it that they didn't like. Naruto envied them. Even Sasuke, who was also an orphan, had one every day! Stupid Uchiha and his stupid Uchiha money. The allowance Naruto got from the Hokage wasn't nearly enough for extra food and he spent most of it on medical supplies this time of the year. Besides, even if he wanted to buy actual food, the stores always gave him rotten stuff. Same with his clothes. The last time he got 'new' ones was when he got kicked out of the orphanage almost two years ago.

He felt someone following him but didn't have to look to know who it is. He had memorized the chakra signatures of everyone in their class and the senseis. Plus, she was the reason this day was different from the rest.

Usually, Sakura belonged to the children that scolded him for practically everything. For talking too loud. For standing in the way. For failing a test. For being an absolute moron. She never hit him, unlike other kids, but her words hurt sometimes. Today, however, she was quiet. As quiet as she never was. And she was observing him. Sea-green eyes calculating, taking in everything he did. It was scary. It was like she now saw something that wasn't there before. He had desperately tried to hide the bandages. Especially the ones around his throat, where a very nasty bruise lingered.

He attempted to shake her off in the maze of hallways, but she was persistent. Sighing mentally, he led her to the back of the school where he knew no one would be. Once there, he abruptly spun around and she almost crashed into him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you following me?"

Sakura flinched back, startled. Her cheeks flushed as pink as her hair and she turned her head to the side. "I was just wondering where you disappear every day at lunch and...and..."

Naruto blinked at that. She had noticed? That was new. He always thought she wasn't paying that much attention to him outside of being pissed during class and practice at his mere existence. "And?"

"I-uh, I wanted to make- to make sure you wouldn't tell anyone about what you saw yesterday!" She blurred out.

"What about yesterday?" He asked, tilting his head. Besides being chased and beaten by vengeful villagers that is... "Oh, you mean your parents?"

Sakura flinched again. She bit her lip and glanced around. Naruto took that time to look at her properly. She had bags under her eyes, like she hadn't slept at all, and she wore a red longsleeved shirt over her white skirt. This shouldn't be unusual during autumn, but in the Land of Fire, it was only actually cold in winter. And she was the type of person who liked to wear short-sleeved shirts and dresses. For her to wear this meant...

"Oh no," He said wide-eyed, causing her to look at him again. "You got hurt because of me, didn't you?"

"What? No!" She shook her head and rolled one sleeve up. There was a bruise, a large bruise, but it wasn't a fresh one. "That was from three days ago. I've been wearing this outfit all week, didn't you notice?"

"Oh," He didn't. He was usually pretty observant, but his mind wasn't exactly processing anything other than It is time. I have to think of something if I want to survive. He was kind of embarrassed. "Sorry."

"It's ok," She smiled and, for once, it wasn't fake. Outside of Iruka-sensei and Jiji, he had never received a genuine smile. He didn't know how to feel about that. Sakura scanned their surroundings curiously. "Is this where you run off to every time?"

"Sometimes. I never go to the same place two times in a row and I don't have a routine exactly." He shrugged, ignoring her confused grimace.

Sakura looked ready to comment on it but was cut off by a loud growl. Naruto turned pink around the ears and stared at his stomach in betrayal. She giggled. "You hungry?"

"Yeah, kind of..." He rubbed the back of his neck, momentarily forgetting the bandages. Sakura noticed. Of course she did. Her sea-green eyes bored into his cerulean blue ones.

"You don't have any food, do you?" She asked, clutching her own bento box to her chest. When he shook his head, she sighed and sat down against the wall. As she unwrapped the pink fabric plastered with tiny rabbits, she patted the space beside her. It almost looked like she was inviting him to sit and join her, but he hesitated. He had fallen for these false acts of kindness often enough to be wary. She glanced up. "Come on, I don't bite!"

He wanted to run before she got the chance to hurt him in some way, but his stomach betrayed him once again. Those onigiri looked freaking delicious. The last time he had a proper meal was two days ago when Iruka-sensei invited him for ramen. To that moment, he only had snacks here and there. Like apples, half a sandwich, or spoilt yoghurt. Not the healthiest, but it will do until he graduated and got paid for completed missions. For now, he perched himself beside the pink-haired girl.

She smiled again and handed him the whole thing.

Naruto stared at it with wide eyes, then at her. She must be joking! Why would she give him, of all people, her whole bento? "I can't eat all that! It's yours!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and grabbed an onigiri for herself. "There. Now eat!"

He slowly bit into a baby carrot. The next thing he knew, he had wolfed down everything and was staring at an empty box. His ears burned bright red again and his classmate chuckled. "S-sorry..."

He heard her sigh and turned his head. "You don't have to constantly apologize, you know."

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. "But you do it all the time too! I once saw you say sorry to a door you bumped into!"

"I guess you're right. I'm quite the hypocrite, huh?" She chuckled, but it was hollow this time. She then shook her head and looked him in the eyes, something like worry swimming in her own. "Are you ok, though? I saw you running away from some civilians yesterday."

Naruto broke the eye contact, not finding the strength to maintain it any longer. "I-I'm fine. I told you, I'm too fast for them!"

"Uh-huh. Then what're those?" She asked and swiftly pulled his collar down, exposing the white cloth around his neck. It was red at some spots where the injuries weren't healed yet. "And please don't tell me this happened only because you stopped to help me..."

Naruto freed himself from her grip and stared at the ground. He could tell her that, yes, he had lost his headstart due to that, but then he'd be lying. Deep down, he knew that they would eventually find him. On the streets, or in his apartment. Like every year. He shook his head. "No. It would've happened either way. It's not your fault. And besides, I was more worried about you...Are your parents always like that?"

Sakura nodded solemnly and stayed silent for a few minutes. It was strangely a mix of awkward and comfortable silence. Awkward because they didn't actually know each other that much, but comfortable in the way like they were supposed to be in each others company. It was really weird for Naruto. He never felt comfortable around another person, not even Iruka. He had a feeling like he could talk to her about anything and she would listen. Which was ridiculous. If he ever told her about the villagers or, god forbid, the giant fox sealed inside of him, he was sure she would just make fun of him.

"I am sorry!"

Naruto's head snapped up at her. "About what? I told you it wasn't your fault-"

She shook her head. "Not about that. About everything I've done to you. I know an apology does not just fix things, but I truly am sorry. I was so convinced that you were a nuisance, I didn't realize that that was what my parents wanted me to believe! I realized after I saw the way they looked at you. All of them! The village! I didn't know people could be so cruel!" She put her head in her arms that she had crossed over her knees.

Naruto watched her silently. He was too shocked to say anything. Why was she apologizing? No one has ever apologized to him about anything before. Not counting the lady of the orphanage; she so obviously hadn't meant it. But Sakura did mean it. It was so sincere, that he didn't know what to do. He knew that some parents told their children to stay away from the demon brat, but he never thought about what the kids' opinion was on the matter. Could it be that there are more children like Sakura who didn't want to treat him like trash? Who were manipulated to hate him? He didn't want to get his hopes that high up, but at least...

"It's okay," He said and hugged the sobbing girl. Yes, he actually hugged her. His crush. But it didn't feel anything like that, more like hugging a sibling. Which, of course, he wouldn't know anything about. He had never truly had any physical contact with anyone, but it felt nice. Comforting in a way he could not describe. Sakura cried harder and clung onto his shirt.

He waited for her to calm down and let go. She sniffed a few times and rubbed the tears away from her cheeks and eyes. She chuckled. "God, this is embarrassing. I usually don't cry in front of people."

"And I don't usually hug people." Naruto shrugged, carefully re-wrapping her bento box before setting it in front of her.

Taking it back, she smiled wobbly at him. "You liked it?"

Naruto nodded eagerly, grinning as bright as the sun and meaning it for once. He felt lighter than ever. "It was delicious, ya know!"

"I can bring you some tomorrow if you like!" She said standing up. Her eyes were still a little puffy, but other than that, there was no sign she had been crying at all. Kind of amazing if you asked him.

"I'd love to, but I don't think your parents would appreciate that." He replied, just a little bit depressed as he stood up as well.

Sakura turned to look at him over her shoulder. With a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, she said, "Oh, but they don't have to know!" and resumed her walk.

Naruto gaped after her. Then, slowly, his mouth stretched into a wide grin. Maybe she isn't so bad after all...

Chapter 2: Maybe you're not that bad after all

Summary:

In which Naruto makes some new friends...and almost dies.

Notes:

Welcome back to another chapter, I guess.
I hope you enjoy this story so far, but I would like to say that my first language is NOT English and I may make some grammatical or spelling errors. I try to fish them out during the final edit but...well, some still slip through.

I feel like I should warn you about this chapter though...

Bullying and a Near Death Experience are the main topic here, so I apologize in advance if any of this is triggering.

Anyway, let's get to it!

Naruto skipped through the halls of the academy, looking for Sakura. He was giddy to tell her about his newest prank that may or may not include two neon green Chunin.

A year had passed since the day she had apologized. A year in which his life took a better turn. Sure, he still got hateful looks and got spat on wherever he went. Still got rocks thrown at him when he wasn't careful enough to avoid certain neighbourhoods and was still dead-last in class. But now he had something to look forward to! He had a friend! And some of the other kids tolerated him too!

He had also been talking to the fox a lot, mostly on sleepless nights where he had nothing better to do. He told stories of his everyday life. About the pranks he pulled, sometimes even with Sakura. About Iruka-sensei and Teuchi and Ayame-nee-chan, and rarely Jiji. He liked talking to it and he knew it enjoyed his company too. Even if it didn't look like it. In the first few months, the fox had stayed in the shadows of its cage, sleeping, and it more than often threw him out of his own head when he got too annoying or asked too many questions. But he was stubborn. He continued visiting and continued talking, though, much softer and didn't ask any questions. The fox then slowly got used to him. Was awake when he talked, watching him with interest. Sometimes it even waited near the bars when he visited that part of his mind. Naruto made sure not to comment on it, afraid his progress would get lost.

He had figured out quickly that the fox sealed within him was the Kyuubi no Kitsune, aka the monster that attacked the village the day he was born. He wasn't mad at it, nor did he hate it. It may be the reason why the majority of the village scorned him and treated him badly, but it wasn't like the fox wanted to be sealed inside of a human boy. It made sure he knew that; calling him his 'jailor' or 'annoying little human'. But he could see that he was growing on the fox, he called him those things less and less those days!

As he walked past a deserted hallway, he heard a commotion. Doubling back, he peeked around the corner and anger welled in his gut. There was a group of kids hovering over a crying girl, all but spitting in her face. Naruto recognized her instantly. Hyuuga Hinata. She was in his class since day one and had never expressed any sort of hate towards him and talked to him like she would to any other, if a bit shy. He had heard her father scold her once and tell her to stay away from Naruto, but she didn't listen to him. She continued talking to him and it strangely made him really happy.

So to see these kids bully her made him see red.

"Freak!" A girl with brown pigtails sneered.

"Look at her eyes!" Another whispered to an ash blond boy, but loud enough for Hinata to hear.

"She's so small too," He agreed, nodding his head and eyeing the Hyuuga heiress with disgust. "And she plans on being a ninja? Yeah, right."

As a sob worked its way out of Hinata's shaking form, a feral growl escaped Naruto's throat. He sounded like an animal, but he barely registered it. Protective rage filled his insides as he stepped out of the shadows, allowing the brats to see him. They turned and froze. Something in his blue eyes sparked dangerously and they wasted no time running away in the opposite direction. Once he made sure they were gone, his eyes grew soft and he slowly made his way towards Hinata.

She looked up surprised when he sat down beside her, close enough that their thighs were touching. He smiled warmly at her and a new wave of tears washed over the girl. Naruto let her. Sometimes, it was better to just let it all out than bottle it up. He didn't cry often, but when he did, he always felt sounder afterwards. So he let her and stayed with her. He babbled about random things just to fill the silence and maybe, just maybe, make her feel a bit better. He didn't know how to comfort the heiress. He knew how to deal with a crying Sakura (she was a hugger), but a crying Hinata was new to him.

After a few minutes, she eventually calmed down and wiped the last of her tears with the sleeve of her jacket. She gave him a small smile. "T-Thank you, Naruto-kun!"

His ears turned a little pink as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's alright. There's no need to thank me. I just really hate bullies...How long has this been happening?"

"...since I started the academy."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" He asked and immediately felt like a hypocrite. He also hadn't mentioned any bullies to Sakura and the others, just some outside of school who weren't even that bad.

She stared at her hands. "I didn't- I didn't want to be a bother..."

"You'll never be a bother," He scoffed and lightly bumped their shoulders. "Besides, I think your eyes are beautiful. They're just idiots."

"R-Really?"

Her eyes practically lit up and Naruto wondered how on earth someone could find them ugly. He smiled and stood up, offering her a hand. "Really. Now come on, I was going to tell Sakura all about my brilliant new prank! You have to listen to this, ya know!"

Hinata chuckled and accepted his hand, letting him pull her to her feet.

They found Sakura in the classroom, patiently waiting in her seat. Naruto dragged Hinata with him and they both sat down. Hinata on the empty spot beside her and Naruto in front, next to Sasuke. The pink-haired girl lifted a curious eyebrow at them, but before she could ask, he had already started his enthusiastic report on the prank. Though, he did give her a nonverbal sign of 'I'll tell you later'. She nodded as Hinata giggled when he described in detail the expression of the ninja when they realized they had fallen into a trap.

...

Lunch time had also changed for him in the past year. Before, he would go outside and hide somewhere his bullies couldn't find him. They would always tease him for having no parents, no food, no proper clothes. His school supplies were hand-me-downs, something they found incredibly hilarious. He had to forcefully learn at the tender age of seven how to be stealthy and stay undetected. From both bullies and angry villagers.

Now...now he stayed in class with his very own orange bento box. No bullies and no need to hide. He would eat and chat with Sakura and some other kids who put up with him, like Shikamaru and Choji for example. That day, Hinata also stayed with them, giggling every so often at something stupid either he or Choji said. The sadness from a few hours ago totally forgotten. Naruto was glad. He smiled. Genuinely.

When he opened his bento, that smile turned sour. Tomatoes. He hated tomatoes, but he couldn't bring himself to complain. Sakura already risked a lot by preparing him lunch every morning behind her parents backs, he didn't want to be an asshole and make extra requests or complain.

He sighed and glanced around. Shikamaru and Sakura were absorbed in a conversation about some hard math he didn't understand, and Hinata was watching them interested. Choji munched on his potato chips, but it didn't look like he was paying any attention to him. The other kids in their class were a good distance away from them, so he took that opportunity to slip the red things into Sasuke's box. He knew Sasuke loved tomatoes, even if he hadn't said it out loud. He didn't have to. Naruto once saw him bite into one like it was an goddamn apple. Eww.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. This had happened before, so he just accepted his fate as a tomato disposal and nibbled on a piece while staring out the window. He did his best to ignore the furious fan club that was slowly, but surely, approaching his seat. His onyx eyes flashed in annoyance and Naruto suppressed the urge to chuckle. The Uchiha would kill him if he did.

And speaking of fan club, Sakura was also part of it. Not in the moment, as she was still talking to the Nara heir, but she had a massive (and quite embarrassing to be honest) crush on Uchiha Sasuke. He didn't understand why and had to hear her constant speeches of adoration. She was just as smart as him and, if she tried hard enough, she could easily be just as strong. But, as usual, her parents were in the way. They didn't let her train outside of school, which Naruto found extremely stupid. He wasn't even sure she had a crush on him. In his eyes, it seemed a little forced. Though, he didn't know if she herself realized so he wasn't going to say anything. It's for her to figure out.

Also, how did an eight-year-old manage to get himself a fan club in the first place?

Shikamaru, ever so the observant one, nudged him from behind. "Something on your mind?"

"Nah, nothing important." Naruto smiled back.

The Nara shrugged. "If you say so."

...

This is bad! I didn't know his parents were ninja!

That was what went through his mind as he raced across rooftops.

After school, he had cornered the group of kids that were picking on Hinata and gave them an ear-full. That obviously didn't end well since they outnumbered him, but he did manage to land a few good hits on the ash-blond boy. What he did not think of, however, were his parents. Turns out, they're Chunin level shinobi who hated his guts. Apparently, on the night of the Kyubi attack, the fox had killed a bunch of their closest friends. Which clearly wasn't good at all. While civilians used dull kitchen knives and pans, shinobi used kunai and shuriken and fire jutsus. Burns healed slower than cuts.

"Stay still, demon!" The mother yelled from behind, chucking a couple of kunai at him. He dodged to first one, but the second penetrated his left shoulder. "How dare you hurt my son!"

He pulled it out and bit his lip. Screaming in pain would not get him anywhere and would just please his pursuers. But it hurt. It really, really, hurt. The burns on his right arm were still not done healing, meaning that both his hands were useless now...He didn't know where he was going and he had the slight suspicion they were leading him into a trap of sorts. They were nearing some training grounds at the edge of the village, but the area was unknown to Naruto. This part was restricted for anyone who wasn't at least a Genin and he was chased away every time he tried to get close.

Her husband, who had disappeared a while ago, suddenly reappeared right beside him. He tried to avoid any sort of attack, but the man was faster and Naruto was sent flying. He squeezed his eyes shut as cold wind ruffled his whole being and became weightless. He yelped when he felt himself losing altitude. He landed on a tree, but only after he had crashed through several smaller branches.

"Ow!"

He winced and stopped his attempts to sit up. His head was spinning and right about everything that was part of his body hurt like hell. He lay there completely still, waiting for his healing powers to somewhat catch up and gazed at the night sky. At least, whatever was visible through the crown of trees. It was a full moon and the stars shone brightly. It was beautiful and Naruto thought the sky was mocking him.

The forest itself was quite lively. He could feel and hear a lot of different animals going through their nightly activities.

A soft breeze harassed the leaves all around him and he shivered. He lost his jacket somewhere along the hunt, so all he was wearing at the moment were his ratty pants and an equally torn and dirty shirt.

When he deemed his body okay enough, he tried to climb down the massive tree he landed on. He slipped on several occasions but eventually made it to the ground without failing miserably. From down there, the forest seemed much more terrifying. The trees were all gigantic, and plants he didn't know curled around his feet. The shadows that loomed over him threatened to swallow him whole; not even the moonlight had a chance to shine through the crown of the trees.

Trembling, he decided to keep moving and hopefully find an exit. He knew he was on one of the Training Grounds, he just needed to figure out which one. He walked aimlessly, not really knowing which way he came from or how far into the forest he landed. He just kept walking and walking. And after an hour, he found a river. Well, it was more like a creek. Wide and shallow and only that many feet deep. Naruto could probably cross it without getting his hair wet.

He sat at the edge and took off his shoes. Dipping his feet into the cold water, he sighed in relieve. The water felt good against his skin and it cooled him down. He was utterly exhausted from running and walking, but this woke him up a little. He washed his hands next and splashed water onto his face. He removed as much of the grime and dried (and fresh) blood as he could and even took the risk of drinking a little. He didn't know if it was safe to drink.

Ah..That feels good...

He stayed with his feet in the water for a few minutes longer, but he ultimately kept moving. He walked downstream and followed that path for a good thirty minutes. On the way, he noticed many weird looking plants and insects. Most of them looked poisonous, so he kept a healthy distance. He also saw a lot of animals moving in and out of the cover of the trees and was only slightly annoyed that he couldn't sense them all before he saw them. He really needed to work on his sensory skills.

It also gradually dawned to him where exactly he was. He had heard rumours of a place called 'The Forest of Death', aka Training Ground 44. It's supposed to be a very dangerous place and only experienced ninja dared to go in there. Honestly, Naruto could see why. This place gave him the creeps and he wanted to leave as soon as possible. His run-down apartment suddenly seemed cosy in comparison.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a growl behind him. Two growls. Two tigers. Bloodthirsty tigers. He spun around and backed away. He tried to be as slow and calm as possible, but his heart was everything but calm. It was beating so fast, he feared it would jump out of his chest and run away. Running. Yeah, that seemed like a good idea. But there was no way he was faster than a tiger and, again, there were two.

Cerulean eyes were blown wide with fear and panic. He couldn't think, his mind was too clouded. He had never been in this kind of situation before and didn't know how to act. He desperately tried to remember what Kiba had once mentioned about wild animals, but he came out blank. Villagers and shinobi were easy enough to handle, they weren't allowed to kill him. Tigers, on the other hand, didn't have such restrictions. They would rip him into shreds in a matter of seconds without hesitation.

He took another step back and had the unfortunate luck of stepping onto a branch, snapping it in half. The sound it made was definitely too loud in the lively forest and the tigers tensed their muscles. One bounced on him. He couldn't dodge. He was thrown onto the ground with a weight pinning him down. And either he was that small, or the tiger was that big, because Naruto fit perfectly under its paw. His head was trapped between two claws as long as Naruto's arms.

His eyes grew in size again and tears gathered in the corners. A pathetic little 'Help' was all he managed to force out as the tiger opened its maw and aimed for his neck. Something deep within him woke and raged, but he didn't have the mental strength to focus on that.

That something, however, bubbled to the surface and curled around him protectively. It was glowing orange and burning like acid, but not him. Rather, it was burning the tiger on top of him. The animal jumped off alarmed, hissing when its burned paw touched the grass. Its friend flicked its tail irritated, watching him closely.

The substance bubbled once more and slowly left Narutos body, gathering in front of him and taking shape. Due to his dizziness, Naruto couldn't make out what it was, but he saw several tails swishing in front of his face. The thing was no bigger than a grown wolf, but it had a terrifying aura. It roared and the tigers fled on the spot. When it turned around to face him, Naruto smiled. It was the Kyuubi, but much smaller and almost transparent, like a shadow.

"Thank you," He said as he passed out, exhaustion finally taking over. He had nothing to fear now. He knew the fox would protect him.

...

Naruto blinked his eyes open. It was still dark, so he must've slept two hours at best. He was laying on the ground in the forest, exactly where he had passed out, the fox hadn't moved him. But he was alive, so that was something. And speaking of the fox, it was currently curled around him, its tails serving as a blanket. He also noted that he wasn't trembling like he was before. The shade of the Kyuubi provided him with enough warmth as to not freeze to death.

He sat up and several tails moved to make it possible. He looked up to where the foxes head was and saw it staring at him, confusion written all over its face. "Why did you save me? Not that I'm not grateful, I am, but I didn't expect that."

It tilted its head and stood up, forcing him up as well with one of the tails. ~Me neither...Come on, we need to get you out of this place before you actually get yourself killed~

"So..." He said as he followed the creature into the trees. "How are you here? I thought you were sealed inside of my stomach?"

It swiped a few low branches away with a tail before responding. ~I am. This is just a part of my chakra that I forced through the seal. I think I can control how much I leak and change my size, but I have never tried it before~

"Heee, so there were others before me?"

The fox grunted displeased. ~Yes~

"And are you finally gonna tell me who you are?" He asked, watching as the fox froze for a moment before continuing.

~...I am the bijuu of the Nine Tails~

Naruto blinked. "The what now?"

It sighed. ~Humans call us Tailed Beasts. We are beings of living chakra and many centuries old. Way older than your petty little village~

"Living chakra? Wow, that means you're really strong then?" He asked excited. He had such a powerful being inside of him?

The fox puffs up with pride. ~I am the eldest and most powerful of all~

"COOL!" He exclaimed loudly, only to have a tail shoved into his face. He pushed it down. "Sorry...You said 'we' and 'us', right? So there are others like you?"

The fox seemed hesitant to answer that, like it was a topic it didn't feel comfortable disgusting. ~...We are nine.~

Naruto sidestepped a small tree that he noticed last second and jogged up to the Kyuubi to walk beside it. "Are the other foxes too?"

The Kyuubi scoffed. ~No, I'm the only fox. Each bijuu represents a different animal. The One-Tails, for example, is a tanuki.~

"So you have eight siblings? And each one is different?"

~Yes~

"And are you going to tell me who you are?"

The Kyuubi growled irritated.~I just did! Or are you that stupid, human?~

"No you didn't," He huffed, crossing his arms. "You told me what you are, not who you are. Like I am a human, but my name is Uzumaki Naruto. You all have names, don't you? Because I already knew you were the-"

He was cut off when he bumped into the miniature Kyuubi as it completely froze in place. He moved in front of it and saw the shock written all over its foxy face. "What's wrong?"

~No one...has ever asked me my name before...~

Naruto smiled. "So, you have a name?"

~...Kurama~

Naruto smiled brighter, almost blinding the fox in the middle of the night. "Nice to meet you, Kurama!"

Notes:

I know what you may say, but I honestly don't care.

I ship Naruhina, and while I don't hate Sasunaru, I think Naruto and Hinata are an adorable couple. (I'm also a big fan of Himawari, but that's for another time)

Also would like to add that I take inspiration from different media. Fanart, comics, other fanfics, and even other fandoms and anime. So if something seems familiar, it may be just what you were thinking of, idk. My mind's a mess and even I don't know how to sort through. I have shitty memory too, thus I tend to forget where I got the inspiration from. So please don't ask about it.

Stay tuned and be ready for next Sunday! All I will say is that one certain silver head is going to make an appearance.😏

Edit:

Wow, past me is quite aggressive...
Anyway, credit where credit is due (even if its that late...yes i feel bad) this fic was obviously inspired by SableScribe’s Of Harrowed Hearts (if the fic and author are still called that, i haven't checked) and to be honest i haven't read it in over two years so the next new chapters will probably not be like it, but no promises!

Anyway, toodles!

Chapter 3: The start of something Konoha was not prepared for

Summary:

In which Kurama accidentally becomes a parent and Kakashi gets a taste of the Genins wrath.

Notes:

I know I said I'll post every Sunday, but unfortunately I was not at home these past few days. I was staying at my dad's house and did not take my laptop with me, as that would be too inconvenient. This may happen again in the future, so I apologize in advance.

Anyway, let's get to it!

Kurama...did not know how this happened.

First, it was only his annoying jailor that he, despite all odds, grew fond of. He had the audacity of asking for and calling him by his fucking name, which had not happened since the Sage himself! None of his previous jinchuuriki had ever been this nice to him. Or, like, at all. As if he wasn't just a destructive monster, a burden for them to carry. They hated him as much as he hated them. But Naruto...he's different. He talked to him every day, without even expecting a response. Knowing he wouldn't get one. Talked to him while knowing what he was and what he's done. Talked to him like he was an equal. Like he understood. Understood that Kurama didn't want to be sealed inside the boy any more than he did. That Kurama hadn't even had the choice. That he was forced to it and would rather be free.

And now...Kurama found himself to care not only for the blond kit but also the pink-haired one! He had watched as the whole village shunned his kit out, threw rocks at him, spat on him, whispered behind his back and he was angry. Angry at those close-minded people. Angry at the Hokage for letting this happen. But this one girl did not. At least, not anymore. She made him lunch every day. She helped him study because he didn't understand the way the academy teaches stuff. Hell, she even helped pull brilliant pranks and terrorize half the Chunin population! How could he not like her?

There were other little humans as well, but none acted like the sibling the boy never got to have. Not at first, at least.

Kurama started training them at some point when he realized that the academy stuff was way below their level. Naruto hadn't told Sakura about him yet, understandably too afraid she would reject him. Kurama knew the pink-haired girl wouldn't even consider it as a possibility, but his jinchuuriki wasn't listening. So the only thing he could do was give instructions through Naruto. Make him write them down and act like they were from the library. He taught him how to henge properly sometime later on, so he could actually go to the library, without getting kicked out by the old hag that ran the place, and retrieve the scrolls they needed. Scrolls on katas and low-level Jutsu to start with.

He had them meditating first thing in the morning and last thing before bed to help them learn to clean their minds. It was harder than expected to get them to do so as it turned out eight-year-old humans had too much energy that they had no control over whatsoever.

He told Naruto of a technique he saw some ninja use, the Shadow Clone. Naruto couldn't do normal ones as he just had too much chakra and too little control over it, even without Kurama's in the mix. So one night, his kit sneaked into the Hokage's office and copied a bunch of techniques off of a big ass scroll, including the shadow clone. On his way out, he found a picture of his parents and asked about them. Asked who those people on the wall were. He knew he hadn't been paying too much attention on what the boy was up to growing up, but he was shocked to realize that he had no idea what his parents even looked like.

And who was Kurama to resist those puppy eyes anyway? So, he told him everything he knew. Of the village named Uzushio. Of Kushina's early years. Of Uzumaki Mito and Senju Hashirama. (He left out the details on Madara. The boy was too young for that part of the story) The kit made it his mission to someday visit that place. The place of his people

After that, training was a lot easier. Since Sakura's parents were close-minded buffoons, Naruto henged a clone to act like Sakura in the afternoons where the two would spar. They grew fond of Training Ground Three and went there almost every day. They learned how to walk on trees, but water was still a bit too difficult for them. They found out that Sakura had an affinity for earth, Naruto for wind and both for water, but Kurama had them learning at least one Jutsu of each element. While they couldn't just yet, they were getting there. They worked on stamina and strength and learned not to underestimate Narutos sealing abilities. That kid was a monster, worse than even Kushina and the Yondaime at this age.

Soon, they were stronger.

That didn't go unnoticed, and that was when Kurama officially lost count.

More and more little humans joined their training sessions. Bonded and got stronger. Especially the little Uchiha. He started hanging out with his two kits a lot after one particular incident, and Kurama wanted to hate him. Wanted it with every fiber of his being, but couldn't. Couldn't because the kit was hurting and lonely. Filled with hate just like he himself once was. Was focused on revenge when he should be focused on what to eat for dinner and homework. And yes, he was getting soft. He realized that himself, thank you very much. His jinchuuriki didn't miss out on that either and slowly made him part of his first-ever family. Made him warm up a little. Not all the way yet, but they were on the right path.

Naruto had two siblings now and he had friends. He was happy and he told him that more times than he had tails and claws. He still visited the mindscape almost every night. Still couldn't fall asleep in his unsafe apartment and still had nightmares. The kits life wasn't a good one, but he had people he loved and people who loved him and that was enough for now. Soon, the kit would make everyone in the village acknowledge him. Kurama wholeheartedly believed in that.

It was his birthdays that angered Kurama the most. The 'demon brat' hunt, where a bunch of despisable mortals chased his kit across the village for something he didn't do. For something he did. Not on purpose, mind you, but he did kill a lot of humans. And their loved ones wanted revenge. Naruto assured him that it was fine, that he was used to it and that they could use that as a training opportunity. Kurama scowled. Said that he shouldn't be used to it. But if it was gonna happen anyway, why not use the hunt against them? Make the kit stronger with every chase? Kurama was eager to see their faces after realization comes.

When the kits turned twelve, they officially graduated from the ninja academy. Became Genin. All nine of them. Kurama didn't know how to feel. He had truly created little monsters. Monsters that were too smart for their own good and preferred not to show their full abilities to their senseis to graduate together and move up ranks at a semi-normal pace.

--

"Aw yeah!" He yelled excitedly, holing up a black hitai-ate for the world to see. "Look what I got!"

Sakura giggled and lightly punched his shoulder. "Of course you'd pass, Naruto. No one doubted that!"

"Come on, let him be. It's a big day for him," Shikamaru rolled his eyes and walked into the examination room next.

Shikamaru was smart and observant. Terrifyingly so. And Naruto knew that. Knew that well. Yet, he was still shocked when he figured out that he was the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails and confronted him about it a few months ago. He was afraid he wouldn't want to be his friend anymore, but Shikamaru just called him an idiot. He even said that his parents never told him to stay away from Naruto and that even if they did, he wouldn't have listened. After smacking his head, he promised that he would stay by his side no matter what. And if he cried, no one else had to know. He would tell Sakura and Sasuke and the others about Kurama soon enough though. He felt like he owed the truth to them if they were to be a proper team.

"So," Sakura started as he sat down between her and Sasuke. "Who do you think is going to be our Jounin instructor?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "We don't even know if we're gonna be on the same team."

"Of course we're going to!" She shrugged off, grinning mischievously, "Our plans always work out!"

"Yeah! The top kunoichi, top shinobi and dead-last are always on a team! Jiji said so!"" Naruto grinned, pointedly ignoring their sudden grim expressions.

"Doesn't mean I have to like the plan..." The Uchiha huffed.

Naruto laughed, bumping their shoulders. "Don't be like that! Kiba promised to buy us food if we all graduate today!"

"Hey! When did I do that?!" The Inuzuka exclaimed from the other side of the room. Never underestimate a dogs hearing.

"Just now!"

They all started laughing just as Shikamaru came back, a hitai-ate tied around his biceps. He sat down and leaned against Choji, falling asleep almost instantly. Naruto rolled his eyes. He was always sleeping, but Kurama said it was a good thing. His clans 'Kagemane no Jutsu' required a lot of energy.

Sakura rolled her eyes fondly at him and jumped into a full on analysis about a book she recently read and everyone went back to what they were doing. Occasionally, students would stand up and either return as Genin or not at all. Aside from the nine of them, Naruto counted twelve other kids who made it past the exam at the moment. He was just not sure if they would pass the test their Jonin-sensei would assign. Because not everyone could make it, they were obviously too many.

After the last name was called up and a proud little Genin came back, Iruka-sensei dismissed them, saying they should all come back tomorrow for their team assignments. All at once, students pilled out of the building and into their parents' open arms. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke ignored the mob of proud relatives and headed straight for the gate. But they were held back by a shout.

"Sakura, darling, where are you going?"

It was her mother. She was dressed fancy, as if she was invited to the daimyos birthday party or something. Her husband beside her was much the same. Just their eyes did not match their smiles. They were cold and looked at them with pure hatred. Naruto was sure that they only came because their daughter graduated top of the class, tied with the sole Uchiha survivor. They wanted to keep up face and not let anyone discover the kind of scum they truly were.

Naruto and Sasuke positioned themselves protectively on either side of her, glaring at the pair. Sakura smiled softly and put her hands on their shoulders, dragging them back a step. "It's okay, you two. I'll see you all later at the Spot."

The Spot. The clearing on top of the Hokage monument. They admired the view of the village it provided and it was even better at night. They also liked to camp up there a lot and it was, outside of Training Ground Three, their usual meeting place.

Relucantly, they backed down. "Fine."

She smiled again and joined her parents who, shockingly, hugged her and told her how proud they were. The boys left before they lost control and attacked.

"I really hate them," He said under his breath. "Two-faced bastards!"

Sasuke nodded and sighed. There was nothing they could do at the moment, but when they officially become Genin tomorrow, Sakura has the right to move out as she'll be considered an adult. They had it already planned out. She would stay at Sasuke's apartment 'cause let's be honest, Naruto's was ready to collapse in on itself. They had already bought a futon for her and steadily brought her stuff over. Little by little, so her parents wouldn't notice.

As they walked away from the crowd, Sasuke looked him over and wrinkled his nose. "I think you need new clothes, dobe."

"Huh?" He looked down at himself and...yeah, he really did need new ones. The night he was flung into the forest, he had abandoned his orange jumpsuit and saved up until he had enough money to buy a pair of dark blue shinobi pants, sandals and a new orange shirt. All several numbers too big, but it worked out in the end and he grew into them. Whenever they got ripped during training, he would just stitch them back together; he had gotten quite good at that. But now, they were damaged beyond repair and scorched in some places. "Yeah, you're right...I'm just not sure I have enough money to buy clothes and weapons. I only saved up for new weapons..."

"I'll buy them for you then." Sasuke said, turning his head as to not be blinded by the grin Naruto flashed his way.

"Really? You're the best! I'll pay you back when we start getting paid for missions!" He said, running to his apartment. "I'll meet you there!"

Sasuke shouted something back, but he was already out of earshot. When he arrived, he staggered and came to a halt with a sigh. Someone had kicked his door in again. Now he'll have to fix it and keep the idiot waiting! Ugh! This is the worse! He quickly made sure nothing valuable was stolen. No? Ok. He had sealed the majority in storage seals anyway, but it was good to know that it wasn't a thief. Just an asshole.

~That's literally worse, kit~

"Oh shush. Nothing's missing, so its fine!"

After fixing his front door and grabbing Gama-chan, he hopped on a rooftop and headed for the ninja district. He recently found out that no one really cared who he was in that part of the village and let him buy stuff. As long as he was a ninja, or a ninja in training, and wasn't breaking anything, he was welcome.

He found Sasuke leaning against a pillar, looking just a tad pissed. He landed in a crouch in front of him.

"Sorry I'm late. I got held up."

"Hn, whatever." He said, pushing off the pillar and heading inside. "Come on. If I have to see you wear those things you call clothes one more day, I'll throw up. On you."

"Ok, now you're being mean." He complained as he looked around. He had never been to this store before, but if Sasuke says it's good and cheap, he may just come here more often.

He looked through some stuff and collected multiple pairs of black shinobi pants. You can never be wrong with that. He also grabbed some sandals that looked about his size and turned to find Sasuke eyeing a couple of kimono shirts. One was black, decorated with white doves. It was cool, but he liked the other better. That one was also black, but the inside was a faded light orange. It had the Uzumaki swirl on the back and red splashes like blood around the edges. Because he knew his clan, and always appreciated a little representation.

He came up from behind him and pointed at it. "That one!"

Sasuke nodded and grabbed two, along with a mesh shirt. He ushered him to the fitting room and closed the curtain. Almost as an afterthought, he threw in a dark orange haramaki as well. "Make sure to look at least a bit decent when you come out!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and peeled off his old clothes. They were more damaged than he let others see. A few days ago, he had stumbled across a drunk man who found it incredibly funny to throw bottles and other objects he found laying around at him. They reeked, no matter how hard he scrubbed. He dropped them into a corner without a care and put on the new ones. They surprisingly fit him well, even the shoes he had grabbed at random, and smiled at the mirror.

He dramatically pulled the curtain back and presented his outfit to Sasuke with pride. "Tada! How do I look?"

"You forgot your hitai-ate."

"Ah, your right!" He closed the curtain, bound the hitai-ate around his head and opened it again with the same energy. "Tada! How do I look?"

Sasuke nodded to himself, not paying his childishness any attention. "Like a shinobi. Now let's pay and go buy our weapons. I need new as well."

Naruto collected the bundle from the ground and followed him to the register. "Is it okay for me to just wear it?"

"As long as we pay it's alright." He shrugged.

Their next stop was a store down the street. It was small, but even from the display, Naruto could see that they sold good quality weapons. And the basic stuff was cheap too! As they entered, a girl with space buns greeted them with a smile.

"Welcome! New Genin?"

Naruto smiled back as Sasuke started to look around and collect what they needed. "Fresh out of the academy! We'll get our team assignments tomorrow!"

"Oh, that's fun!" She said, "I've been in my team for about a year now."

"Heee..." He said, glancing around. He picked up a weapon pouch for his thigh and a bigger one for his scrolls and brushes. "Are you only doing D-rank, or have you already moved up to doing C-rank missions?"

"We have! But there are always a few D-rank here and there that need to be taken care of..."

The boys put all the things together and checked if they had everything. They then split the pile in two and paid separately. Gama-chan was empty now, but he could afford two days of eating less until he got his monthly allowance. They each took a bag and waved the girl goodbye.

"Thanks for your purchase, come again!"

"Now, let's go to the Spot!" Naruto punched the air excitedly.

...

Despite all his whining, Kiba really did buy them food, with the help of Ino. Most of them were banned for life from the BBQ place (they do not speak of The Incident) and the two were the only ones not involved at the time. They could just go somewhere else, sure, but Thursday was assigned BBQ day whenever they met up. Just like Friday was ramen day and Saturday curry day. There were some rules you don't change because of details.

"Sasuke! Naruto!" Ino called as they approached. She scanned Naruto head-to-toe and gave an approving thumbs-up. "I like the new look. Suits you!"

"Thanks!"

Sakura wasn't there yet, but they left a spot for her between Naruto and Sasuke and a plate of untouched food, warmed by a well-placed seal.

"CHOJI! That was mine!" Kiba yelled, throwing himself at the boy and starting a hopeless wrestling match. The rest watched in amusement as Choji instantly overpowered and pinned him down by sitting on him, all while peacefully munching on a piece of meat. "That is so unfair!"

"Idiot," Shikamaru shook his head, pointing at Kiba with his chopsticks. "You know very well that you cannot win against Choji in a wrestling match. None of us can. Not even Naruto!"

Kiba pouted and looked away.

"So...How do you guys think the teams will be?" Ino asked once everyone (Kiba and Choji mainly) settled down.

"Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke. Kiba, Shino, Hinata. Choji, you and me. Obviously." Their resident Nara said with a 'duh!' kind of tone.

Hinata looked down at her food. "I mean, that are the obvious teams but...what if they are not and one of us gets stuck with other people?" She said that as if the rest of their classmates were monsters. Which they were, in a way. As soon as the nine of them started hanging out more frequently, they didn't want anything to do with them. Even Sasuke's fan club disbanded. Naruto couldn't help feeling guilty about it (not the fan club thing, he was as glad about that as Sasuke was), but his friends bonked him on the head and called him an idiot. They would choose him over any moronic bully. (He totally did not cry that night.)

"No way, Hinata-chan!" He exclaimed, smiling wickedly. "I think the Hokage knows what'd happen if he split us up."

The gang chuckled and some nodded. They had terrorized the old man enough the past years for him to know what they were capable of in terms of pettiness. If he put one of them in a different team or brought in an outsider, he was in for a boisterous protest and eventual paint and/or glitter bombs that were basically impossible to wash out.

Naruto perked up when he sensed a familiar chakra nearing their spot.

"What did I miss?"

"Sakura!" Ino jumped up from her place beside Shino and hugged the newcomer. Naruto tilted his head at them. Their relationship was still weird to him. Once Sakura stopped pinning after Sasuke, the two had magically become best friends again. He just wasn't sure if that was where their story ended.

"Oh, nothing important." Sasuke waved off, looking for something more to eat as he cleaned his plate and dangerously eyeing Naruto's. "Just planning revenge on the Hokage if he separates us." He shot out his chopsticks, but Naruto was faster and pulled his food out of the Uchihas range. The boy sighed in defeat.

Sakura chuckled and settled between them. "The usual then?"

"Hn."

Naruto smiled at her but it dropped when he noticed her puffy and slightly red eyes, like she had been crying only minutes ago. "You ok? Who do we need to kill?"

The others looked up from what they were doing. They noticed what he did too and their faces hardened. Sakura waved her arms in front of her nervously. "It's ok, guys. Really! My parents were just being idiots!"

"So dung bomb it is." Naruto decided after a short silence.

The others nodded in agreement while Sasuke said, "You can stay at my place when it goes off"

Sakura managed to crack a smile. "I love you guys."

...

"Today, you will begin your journey as a shinobi of Konoha. I know I've said it before, but I am proud of you all!" Iruka-sensei smiled.

Naruto tuned out on his speech, only half-listening when he started announcing the teams, keeping an ear open for any of their names. His mind wandered to the plan to make Sakuras house smell like literal shit for a week and searched his brain for a seal that could make that possible. The week part was essential. Maybe one that prevented new air to filter through the house? Or one that concentrated the gas in one area for a long time? Both? Or-

"Team 7 will consist of Uzumaki Naruto," His head snapped up from where it was laying on the table so fast he thought he pulled something. "Haruno Sakura," They grinned at each other. "And Uchiha Sasuke."

"Yes!" He jumped up with joy, earning a slightly confused but also amused glare from his sensei. "S-sorry." He sat back down as the class laughed and Iruka continued.

"Team 8; Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino"

When the three looked happy enough, their teacher read on. "Team 9 is still on duty, so Team 10 will be Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Choji. Team 11..."

The nine briefly grinned at each other victorious. The Hokage made the right choice and would live another day glitter-less. After that, they all just did whatever until Iruka was finished. Naruto absently traced kanji and weird shapes no one but him understood on the table as he stared out the window. He could sense many new chakra signatures in the building. Powerful ones. They must be their Jounin-senseis, but as he counted them he noticed that there weren't enough. One was missing and he sure as he'll hoped it wasn't their sensei.

.

It was their sensei. And they were late. Extremely late.

Little by little, Jounin came in and picked up their bunch of genin. An hour later, the last team, Team 10, was also fetched by a smoking man Naruto recognized as the Hokage's son and Team 7 was alone. Even Iruka-sensei left! Sasuke put on his brooding emo facade and stared out the window while Sakura read a seven-inch thick book beside him, occasionally commenting on it out loud. Naruto took a seat on the floor in front of the desk they were at and pulled out some parchment and ink.

He finished the seals for the prank rather quickly and leaned back against the wall, bored out of his mind. They have been waiting for almost three hours now! Their sensei honestly didn't know with who they were dealing with. After a few more minutes, he stood up muttering insults. Moving to the front of the classroom, he picked up the sponge for the blackboard, hopped on a desk and started doodling on it.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked, looking up from her book with a raised eyebrow.

"Revenge."

"Oh, ok." She said and went back to reading.

When he finished the seal that made the sponge weigh a ton, he pulled out some wire and attached it above the door. He looked over his trap once again and grinned. That'll do. He then took his place back on the floor, grabbed an onigiri Sakura brought them and waited. And waited. And waited. Munching on the treat, he waited.

Finally, he sensed foreign chakra in front of the classroom and the door opened. He watched in mild satisfaction as a silver-haired man popped his head inside and looked at them. His one visible eye widened and quickly pulled his head back out. Just in time, because the sponge fell and landed on the floor, damaging the wood it was made out of. The Jounin stared at the hole it made for a moment and cleared his throat.

"Meet me on the roof in five."

And he disappeared.

"Oh my god! Did you see his face?" Sakura laughed as she stood up, stuffing the monster book in her bag. Sasuke followed close behind her as the two left the row and joined Naruto at the front.

"Serves him right."

They got to the roof only four minutes later; a lot earlier than the teacher expected them to. They startled him for the second time that day when they arrived casually chatting, and not sweating and panting as normal people would after climbing five flights of stairs in such little time. They smiled innocently and settled in front of him, Sakura in the middle with Naruto and Sasuke on either side of her.

"Alright, why don't you all introduce yourselves?" He smiled under his mask.

The team shared a glace and Sakura asked, "Introduce ourselves? What should we say?"

"Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future; stuff like that." He shrugged and put his book away (Icha Icha Paradise...what a pervert), looking at them expectantly.

"Why don't you go first, sensei?" Sakura smiled sweetly, clearly pissed at his choice of literature. "Show us what to do!"

"Okay...My name is Hatake Kakashi. There are many things that I like, and things I dislike. My hobbies are irrelevant and my dream...never really thought about it, actually."

Sakura's right eye twitched. "Well, that was useless..."

"Alright, blondie. Your turn!" The silver-haired Jonin said before any of them could explode, pointing at Naruto.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" He grinned brightly, noting the stiffness in Kakashi's shoulders. "I like ramen and my friends! I dislike...Sakura's parents and tomatoes and however long it takes for ramen to cook. My hobbies are training and fuuinjutsu. My dream is to surpass all the previous Hokage and make everyone in the village acknowledge me!"

There was a pause in which Kakashi processed the information given to him. He had a far off look in his eye, and Naruto wondered what he was thinking about.

~Probably your parents. You are a lot like them~ Kurama said and Naruto tilted his head. ~I remember him being one of Minato's kits. Kushina was quite fond of them~

"Makes sense, I quess."

Kakashi forced himself back to reality a second and looked at Sakura. "Pinky?"

"My name is Haruno Sakura! I like my friends and the colour red. I don't like mean and closed-minded people. Oh and perverts." She shot him a pointed glare, then puffed her chest. "My hobbies consist of training and reading and my dream for the future is to become the strongest kunoichi!"

Kakashi nodded. "Broody, your turn."

Sasuke scowled at him but answered nonetheless. "Uchiha Sasuke. I like tomatoes and training and I have a lot of dislikes. My hobbies are training. My dream is to become Naruto's top ANBU when he becomes Hokage and kill a certain man."

Kakasi stared at him for a second, as if what he said wasn't exactly what he expected. He nodded, if a bit reluctantly and clapped his hands once almost gleefully. The switch was so sudden the three almost jumped. "Well, it's getting late. Meet me tomorrow on Training Ground Three at six in the morning. Oh, and I would advise you no to eat breakfast. You might throw up."

He disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving three pissed Genin behind. Oh, he really didn't know who he was messing with.

"Booby-trap the whole place?"

"Booby-trap the whole place."

--

When Kakashi walked into the Hokage office soaking wet and neon pink, holding what looked like a piece of charcoal in his hands, Asuma and Kurenai almost choked on thin air. The silver-now-pink-haired Jounin simply got in line with the rest of the potential senseis, dismissing the curious looks he got. Nobody dared to say anything, so Hiruzen started.

"Team 1?"

"Fail".

"Team 2?"

"Fail, Hokage-sama."

The list went on and on, until...

"Team 7?"

"Pass."

The Hokage nodded and went to write down 'fail' like every year but paused, looking back at him with a raised eyebrow. The whole room was staring at him in disbelieve. "Pass?"

"Pass, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said, as if not quite believing it himself. Which he didn't. Those were not Genin, those were monsters! Asuma and Kurenai hid their grins. This was bound to be great.

"Alright then, Team 8?"

"Pass."

"Team 10?"

"Pass."

And they had no idea what they just created.

Notes:

So like...I know I kind of rushed things here, but I did not want to dwell too much on the time they were little. I personally find more stuff to write about after they become Genin and not in their academy years, sorry.

But if you want a more detailed story about how Sasuke joined Naruto and Sakura in their little family, let me know and I might add an extra chapter. I'm also open to suggestions as I have not written anything on that. It will be a smaller chapter than the rest (I am planning on big chapters for you to enjoy), and I may post it outside of the sceduel. Idk. I may not write it at all, but who knows what the future holds?

See you in the next chapter!

Chapter 4: Forever by your side, idiot

Summary:

In which Kakashi is slightly overwhelmed and secrets are leaked.

Iruka always had a weird relationship with patience.

There were times he could sit through an entire class blank-faced, letting the rowdiness of eight-year-old kids wash over him, and times where he would snap at the tiniest of sounds. His students had learned to predict in what kind of mood he was the moment he entered the classroom.

Then there were the times he would listen to you pouring your heart out. Iruka was probably one of the only shinobi in the village trustworthy and willing enough to listen to people talk about their demons, but not everyone could. Not everyone could rant about stuff like that to a stranger, so it was essentially his closest friends that opened up to him. Most of them being irresponsible Jounin.

Those Jounin were also the ones that cared the least about their health. Would return from missions injured, but refuse to go to the hospital. Would be literally dying, but chat lightly with him instead. Once he finds out though... it's over for you. The deadly aura he radiated could sent even the most stubborn Jounin to the doctor.

He also had a love-hate relationship with pranks.

In the past, he was annoyed with them. Would find and punish the culprit and be done with it. But since Naruto came, he found entertainment in them. Fancied watching a brilliantly planned prank play out, as long as he wasn't the victim. Especially when others started teaming up with him. He enjoyed observing their creativity. So, he ignored the obvious signs when they were up to no good. Ignored Sakura's calculating sea-green eyes. Ignored Shino's bugs flying around seemingly nonchalant. Ignored Hinata's fidgeting. And, most importantly, ignored Naruto's sly grin.

And no one could've predicted his reaction when all of the above fused together and presented before him in form of one bright pink Hatake Kakashi.

He had seen a lot in his years as a Chunin academy teacher. But nothing had prepared him for that.

His number one headache slipped through the window of his apartment when he was busy sorting through some documents. He wasn't bothered by it, since it would seem like once you made it Jounin, doors cease to exist. What he was bothered by, was the sound of liquid dripping on the floor. Thinking it was blood and he had to scold Kakashi once again for his recklessness, he looked up.

There...wasn't any blood. Just a soaking wet, neon pink Jounin holding up a piece of charcoal that suspiciously looked like a book. The glare sent his way would've been intimidating under other circumstances, but it rather resembled that of a kicked puppy that couldn't believe the betrayal it went through.

"Kakashi...?" He didn't know what to say or how to react. He was frozen in place, hand still mid-movement, papers fluttering lightly in the breeze that was coming through the now open window.

"What have you been feeding those brats, Iruka?" The Hatake growled, slamming the charcoal/book on the table in front of him.

The man suppressed a grin. "Team 7?"

Kakashi nodded in frustration.

Iruka raised an eyebrow. Sure, he didn't get the tamest of the teams, but they weren't that bad. Unless..."Were you late?"

"When am I not?"

"How late?"

"...Three hours...maybe more..."

Iruka sighed and went back to sorting documents after removing the burned book and placing it at the edge of the table, away from the important stuff. "Then it's entirely your fault. I had nothing to do with that. But to fail them for something so trivial is a bit harsh, don't you think?"

Kakashi stayed quiet. Unnaturally quiet. Iruka lifted his head. He wasn't looking at him. He had his head turned to the side and was staring at the ground. Iruka's eyes widen in sudden realization.

"You passed them?"

"Yes!" He didn't sound too happy about that and pointed down his body. "Now, do you know how to remove this? I tried everything and it still doesn't come out! It didn't even dry! Literally how?"

The Chunin chuckled. "I see...they used that paint. You must've really pissed them off, Kakashi."

As he went to grab the special detergent Naruto had given him exclusively for these kinds of situations, he heard another thud as something landed by the window and the sound of nails scratching his wooden floors. Back in the kitchen, where Kakashi was still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room because Iruka forbid him to touch anything, Pakkun made himself comfortable on the counter. The ninken looked up at him as he entered and gave Kakashi the supplies.

"Hello, teach." He greeted, wagging his tail when Iruka scratched his head. "You gotta help him. I don't think Boss can take care of pups."

Kakashis head snapped up, his hair now half pink half silver. "They're Genin not pups! We've talked about this!" He almost whined, which in itself was pretty unusual for the Jounin.

Pakkun gave his ear a couple of lazy swats with his back leg, staring at him nonchalantly. "And where's the difference?"

"They're authorized adults!" It mostly sounded like he was trying to convince himself...and was failing miserably.

"And?"

Kakashi let out a frustrated groan but didn't reply. Instead, he resumed his task of cleaning paint off his hair and face. Iruka sat back down and finished sorting the last of the documents. Following a while of that and hearing Kakashi mutter curses under his breath, he sighed and put the papers where they belonged in the cupboard next to the fridge. He looked at Kakashi, who was almost done, and leaned against the opposite wall.

"They can't be that bad-"

"Absolut fucking terrors!" The man interrupted, glaring at him. "They booby-trapped the whole training ground even before they got there this morning! I was watching them for an hour or so, but they weren't doing anything besides goofing around and waiting! This means they put them up yesterday. And they moved around the place like they grew up there!"

"Which Training Ground?"

"Three."

Iruka put a hand on his chin. "I mean, I think I saw the nine of them training there after school once. Maybe they go there often."

Kakashi sighed in defeat, lowering the cloth Iruka gave him to clean up. "I have no idea what to do or what to teach them. Any plans I had for training in the back of my mind dissolved into thin air this morning. They know how to mask their presence, how to manage their chakra and how to walk on trees. Sakura threw a devastating punch that shattered a whole goddamn bolder! Sasuke, the little shit, burned my book. And don't get me started on Naruto. The kid is a monster when it comes to seals!"

Iruka wasn't the least bit sympathetic. Quite the opposite, he wore a proud smile. "I knew they were holding back!"

Kakashi glared at him again, but it didn't hold any real heat. "The point is, I don't know what I'm supposed to teach them when they already know the basics. And they're only twelve!"

"Look, they are people just like everyone else. They have strengths and weaknesses, hopes and dreams and doubts. Find out where they are the strongest and where they lack the strength. They are yours now, like it or not. Help them whenever they need it."

"You make it sound easy..."

Iruka shook his head, moving to the kettle to make some tea for the two of them. "It's not. It does take a while to adjust to the life of a teacher and get used to having children look up to you like you know all the answers. Like you should know all the answers. It's not easy, no."

"And there's another thing," He continued after a silence, placing a cup of steaming hot tea on the floor in front of the Jounin. Kakashi looked up at him, exhausted by his own thoughts. "There is going to come a time where they will need you, but not for training. Emotionally. They have been through much more than they let on, I can see it in their eyes. And when that time comes, you cannot just run away like you did until now when you faced that kind of problems. You're going to have to be there for them. You are responsible for them now, and that is also part of the deal."

He could see that his words hit him hard, reopened old unhealed wounds. He knew he was a bit harsh, but one had to be when it came to Hatake Kakashi. The man didn't seem to understand otherwise. Kakashi took the cup in his hands and stared at the liquid inside of it.

"I...I guess you're right," He muttered finally after a minute or two and looked him in the eyes with a burning resolve and an air of playfulness. "Besides, I want to see what they're capable of when pushed hard enough."

Iruka laughed. "That, I want to see as well."

--

That night, Sasuke's apartment was fuller than he remembered it ever being.

Naruto and Sakura had come by a few hours ago and together, they started making ramen. It was Friday after all. Fortunately, his kitchen was big enough for the three of them to move around freely without making that big of a mess.

They had come through the window, like one does, and left it open just in case. In case of uninvited guests silently sliding in when they were almost done an hour later. Silent, but not undetected. Nobody could fool Narutos senses. First, it was the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. And then Team 8, but they were everything but silent. The moment Kiba appeared on the windowsill, he started drooling. Literally. Sasuke, who had gone to the living/bedroom to hand out water bottles, raised an eyebrow at him.

"What the hell are you guys doing in here? I could smell you from halfway across the village!"

Shino pushed him inside and took his place. He looked down at his form, frowning. "You are being rude."

"But I'm hungry!" He whined and let out an unholy sound when Shino dead-ass stepped on him to walk over to where Shikamaru was sitting.

Hinata was the next to appear with Akamaru in her arms, solving one mystery in Sasuke's mind since he was quite concerned Shino had stepped onto the dog as well. She hopped over Kiba who was still whining about the fact that he was hungry not rude and that his teammate used him as a rug. She placed Akamaru on the floor, letting him roam free in his apartment, and went to the kitchen to help Naruto and Sakura.

"Ok, but let's be real," Ino said as she uncapped her bottle. "The stuff you guys cook is probably the best in the village."

Choji nodded eagerly whilst Sasuke just stared at her. "I think you're exaggerating. Ichiraku makes way better ramen than we do, and we don't even know how to make BBQ properly without burning the house down."

"Maybe, but your curry is the best. Don't try to deny it!"

The Uchiha shook his head and went back to the kitchen. A few minutes later, they each had a bowl of ramen in their hand, or lap, and sat scattered across the room. While Ino and Sakura occupied his bed, Naruto sat in front of them on the floor with Akamaru in his lap. Kiba sat next to him, leaned against the bedside table that was big enough for Sasuke to sit on. Shikamaru made himself comfortable on the windowsill and Shino in the corner beside him. Hinata and Choji were the only ones that sat at the table, but to be fair, he only had two chairs, to begin with.

"So, we all passed!" Naruto yelled excited once they settled down.

"Of course we did," Ino rolled her eyes, jabbing him in the back. "What did you expect?"

He threw his head back and grinned up at her brightly. "Nothing but the best!"

Sakura shook her head and stirred her ramen with her chopsticks. She and Naruto hand their very own tableware at his house, and Sasuke didn't even know when and how that happened. "I still cannot believe we passed. Hatake Kakashi...He was known for failing every Genin team thrown at him. To think that he passed us..."

"He'd be an idiot if he didn't," Kiba said with his mouth full of noodles. "I mean, you three are the strongest in our year!"

Sasuke slapped him on the head. "Don't talk while eating, moron. Swallow first."

"And I think you are giving us too much credit..." Naruto muttered.

Shikamaru scroffed. "And I think you are not giving yourselves enough credit."

Kiba swallowed dramatically, opening his mouth to inevitably say something stupid. To prevent that, Akamaru jumped off from Naruto and landed on his owner's face. There was a moment of silence before they all busted out laughing. Even Shino chuckled, and Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he felt so at ease and comfortable around people. But they weren't just anyone. They were his friends that tried so hard to pull him out of his darkness and he wouldn't trade them for anything or anyone in the world. They were his world now, and even his wish for revenge on his brother couldn't change that.

---

Naruto didn't notice he had gone silent until Shikamaru pointed it out while Sasuke was going around collecting empty bowls.

"Something on your mind, Naruto?" He asked, gaining everyone's attention. Even Sasuke paused his mission, still towering over Shino and head twisted back to him.

He bit his lip, his gaze downcast. There was something he wanted to talk about. But he wasn't sure if he should. He decided that it was time to tell them about Kurama; they had been friends for years now and he felt the urge to come clean. He didn't want to continue lying to them, he felt dirty. But he was afraid they would look at him differently if he did. Plus, he was pretty sure that was classified information.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata's soft voice made him look up. They were all staring at him, worried from his sudden silence. It was unlike him to be this quiet.

He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them close. "I...Yes, there is something I've been meaning to tell you guys..."

"What is it?" Sakura asked, shuffling to the side to look at his face. "You know you can tell us anything. And if you don't want to, everything you say stays in this room. Right, guys?"

"Yeah!" Kiba exclaimed. "Our lips are sealed!"

He glanced at everyone and only found genuine concern, but also curiosity in their eyes. Shikamaru looked like he had a vague idea of what he planned on revealing. But when they find out, what if they-

~Don't even go there, kit~ Kurama growled. ~You and I both know that they aren't like that~

"Right..."

"So...I'm pretty sure what I'm about to share is classified information because even I didn't know about it until I stumbled upon it."

Ino tilted her head. "Classified information about yourself that nobody thought to tell you until you stumbled across it?"

He smiled dryly and nodded. Taking a deep breath, he asked, "Do you know when my birthday is?"

They seemed confused about the question, but Hinata answered anyway. "Somewhere in October, right? Though, I think you never told us when. "

He nodded again. "It's the 10th "

Sakura's eyes widened a fraction. "The night the demon fox attacked the village?"

"Right. And do you know how the village was saved?"

"The Yondaime defeated it at the risk of his life..." Sasuke said, though, he sounded unsure.

"Kind of," He said, readying himself to drop the bomb. "You cannot just kill a Tailed Beast. So, he sealed it inside of a baby that was born not long before."

"...You were the baby?" Hinata asked in disbelieve, her lavender eyes blown wide like the rest of them. Well, he couldn't see Shinos and Shikamaru already knew, but yeah.

"...Yes. I am the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

There was a long silence where he let the information sink in. But when it stretched out, his insecurities came back full force and his anxiety flared up. He felt the sudden urge to run away and hide under the covers of his bed. Disappear from the earth's surface once and for all.

"That's...wow..." Kiba breathed out, running a hand through his hair. "And nobody told you? You found out yourself? Man, that must've been scary!"

"Wait!" Sakura suddenly shouted, making Naruto flinch. Her sea-green eyes flashed dangerously. "Is that the reason why everyone looks at you like that? Why you never even had normal food for school?"

"I-I mean...yes?" He said perplexed. "I'm not allowed to enter certain shops, like the grocery store down the street and most clothing stores...What?"

Now it wasn't just Sakura. The whole gang was livid, even Shikamaru...he didn't know that detail...

"THOSE ASSHOLES!!!" Sakura and Ino screamed in unison. Naruto fought the urge to flee the apartment again. They were too loud.

"Thank you for sharing that with us, Naruto-kun." Hinata smiled at him, easing some of his nerves.

His blue eyes widen when they all smiled at him, not even a pinch of hate or fear in their faces. The only hate he saw and felt was directed to the villagers that had treated him like shit. "You...you don't hate me now?"

"Why would we hate you just for that, usuratonkachi?" Sasuke huffed, bonking him on the head with the pile of bowls as he moved past him to go to the kitchen.

"You may be an idiot sometimes, but you are our friend." Ino said softly, ruffling his hair. "Nothing can change that. You are the one that brought us all together in the first place!"

He didn't notice the tears streaming down his face. What he noticed was getting an armful of a pink-haired girl. The other blonde joined the hug, then Choji and Hinata and soon, they all lay in a dogpile on the ground, with Sasuke on top and Naruto rock bottom. Typical, but he was happier than he ever was. They accepted him! He could cry. Wait no...he was crying! And the tears just wouldn't stop. He was just so relieved. Kurama laughed at him.

~That was obvious from the start, kit. They are just as crazy as you are~

"Oh, shut up, you grumpy old fox."

After a couple of minutes like that, they slowly got up again. They resumed their places around the room, but all slightly closer to Naruto than before.

He grinned.

---

Kakashi had learned his lesson, Sakura noted with a smile.

He was only one hour late for their first training session, not three. Still not the desired waiting time, but they'll work on that. And, he kept his perverted book safe in his pocket. If Sakura sees him pull that thing out during training one more time, she will make sure it gets full destroyed. She idly wondered if she should find out where he lives and destroy his whole collection, but that would be too cruel, even for her. She was a bookworm. Burning books stabbed her right in the heart.

Kakashi clapped his hands once and smiled under his mask. "For today's lesson, we'll be playing hide and seek. You're seeking, I'm hiding. Your goal is to find and capture me by the end of the day. Everything is allowed, except hurting and/or killing innocent bystanders. Simple enough, right?"

The genin looked at each other. "Where is the catch?" Naruto asked cautiously because they don't trust their sensei that much just yet.

The sensei's demeanour was innocent. A little too innocent for Sakura's liking. "You all have to give up on something. Your voice, your sight, or your hearing. You can choose now, but it will rotate every time we play. You have to learn how to rely on all of your senses, not just the dominant ones, and learn how to not take things for granted."

There it is.

"Hai, sensei!" They chorused, putting their heads together to brainstorm.

"I think I'll lose my sight first," Naruto said. "I don't rely much on that anyway, I can sense pretty much everything around me."

Sakura nodded. She had seen him rotate around her with his eyes closed and half asleep once, so it should be fine. "I think until we get used to this game, it's wiser to lose something we don't necessarily need. We don't know how hard he is to find, so I'll take voice and Sasuke hearing. That ok?"

The Uchiha nodded and they turned back to their sensei.

"Ready?" He asked. They all nodded and he beckoned them to come closer. He showed them the proper seals that would take away something they were so used to having and walked them through the process slowly.

It was weird. Not being able to speak. But they were somewhat prepared. They had all learned basic mission sign language and morse code. Now they just had to figure out how to apply them both while one of them cannot hear and the other see. It was going to be tough, but Sakura couldn't help being excited.

Kakashi smiled at them and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Shadow clone.

Figures.

...

This was pure torture.

Turns out, Hatake Kakashi was one hell of a man to find. While communicating outside of battle wasn't much of a problem, searching for the Jounin was. They raced across rooftops, alleys, the market, the Hokage tower, and even went to the library to look. He wasn't anywhere, but Naruto said he could sense him, he just couldn't pinpoint his exact location. Like there were multiple and they were running around in circles. Sakura guessed they were Shadow clones, which didn't make it any easier. They had to find the real one.

Four hours in, and they were exhausted. They had split up half an hour ago and decided to meet in front of the Hokage tower to regroup.

As Sakura was rounding a corner, she accidentally bumped into someone. She landed on her butt and winced. Hearing a grunt from the man above her, she looked up. The man was a ninja with brown, shoulder-length hair and brown eyes. He wore his hitai-ate like a bandana and had a senbon in his mouth. He looked confused but smiled at her as she stood up, senbon tilting up.

"Sorry, young lady." He said, eyes darting up to her own red hitai-ate that was tying her long hair back. "Genin on a mission in the village?"

She shook her head and signed -Training-

He tilted his head and eyed her with open curiosity. "Are you mute? Or is that part of the exercise?"

She put up two fingers to indicate the latter and smiled dryly. While she did get the importance of this, it was still annoying not being able to speak.

The shinobi nodded in understanding. "I see...Who's your sen-?"

He was cut off by a couple of kunai flying his way. If he hadn't used his senbon to throw the first off course, causing the second to clash with it, he would've probably lost an eye. He was instantly in the defence, ready to attack. Sakura noted that he had moved forward to protect her. She smiled but knew it wasn't needed.

Naruto landed silently in front of her, another kunai ready in his hand. His blue eyes were glazed over because of Kakashi's jutsu but were still moving around as if scanning their surroundings. After a few tense seconds, he sighed and put his kunai away. "So, I guess that's not Kakashi-sensei?"

If she could, she would giggle. Instead, she drew an X on his shoulder. The shinobi leaned back, eyes wide in surprise.

Naruto was facing his general direction, frowning. "But then, why does he have a trace of his chakra signature on him? Man, this is so confusing! If more shinobi have that, that means we have been walking around in circles searching for strangers all morning!"

"Wait a minute...did you just say Kakashi-sensei?" The man finally asked.

Sakura nodded, while Naruto said "Duh! Didn't you hear me? He has a Genin team now, didn't you know? Oh and, by the way, who are you?"

"My name is Genma, Tokubetsu Jounin," He said, clearly suppressing the urge to laugh. "And no. I did not know that! Oh my, this is gold! Can't wait to tell Anko!"

The genin tilted their heads at him as Sasuke landed behind them. "Still no trace?"

Sakura shook her head. Genma studied them for a moment. "I guess his weird behaviour this morning makes sense now. He isn't exactly known for touching people willingly, so we were a bit concerned about his mental health."

"Wait! How many people did he touch?" Naruto asked with growing dread. Sakura dutifully translated everything for their now deaf Uchiha.

"Dunno...maybe twenty?" Genma said, reaching in his pocket to take out a new senbon and place it between his teeth.

All three groaned simultaneously, although Sakura's was silent.

"You didn't happen to see him recently?" Sasuke asked hopefully.

The Tokubestu shook his head. "Sorry kids."

Naruto sighed. "Thank you anyways, Genma-san. You helped us a bunch! Bye!"

They took off again and resumed their search.

..

Sakura was the one who spotted him in the end.

It was way into the afternoon, right after they decided to get something to eat. As she was munching on a Dango, she saw a glimpse of silver gravity-defying hair in the corner of her eyes. She asked Naruto if he could sense Kakashi-sensei's chakra nearby and when he nodded, she grabbed the two of them and followed in the direction she saw it disappear, disregarding the poor sweets. They chased it for a good ten minutes before they finally caught up. And it was him!

Kakashi looked back at them satisfied. "It took you less time than I expected. This was fun!"

"Fun?!" Naruto yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the air just a few inches beside Kakashi. "You fucking tagged some of your colleagues you knew were staying in the village and going to confuse us! I've never once before in my life doubted my sensory skills! Asshole!"

Kakashis eye flashed dangerously. Sakura guessed it was a very bad idea to insult that man and winced. Sasuke and Naruto did the same and she assumed his chakra must've flared dangerously as well. "I think I told you...Do not take anything for granted. Trust your senses, but also your intuition. Got that, Uzumaki?"

"Hai, sensei..." Naruto looked down...well, dipped his head down.

"And? What are you waiting for?" Kakashi asked, spreading his arms in a welcoming gesture. "Were not done playing yet. You still have to catch me!"

Mentally groaning, Sakura got into a fighting stance. She glanced at the boys, at Kakashi and their surroundings. They had followed him into the foods of Training Ground Ten. Good. She knew this place well enough.

She tapped her sandal back into place twice, an unsuspicious gesture but the boys understood and were on high alert. Naruto took half a step forward and Sasuke back. Kakashi raised a curious eyebrow at their subtle change in demeanour.

Formation Two: Elemental hell

Almost at once, Naruto and Sakura formed the same hand seals and a large body of water shot towards Kakashi. He lazily tried to dodge that, but Sasuke had already released devastating lightning that hit him dead on. Their teacher was momentarily shocked, allowing them to change positions.

Their Hōryū Raika no Jutsu had worked surprisingly well, but they couldn't get their hopes up. They were still up against a Jounin. As Sasuke and Naruto prepared the next attack, she perched on a nearby tree readying her own Jutsu.

"Nōen Jōkiryū no Jutsu," The boys muttered.

On either side of the battle-ready Kakashi, the boys released a fire and water Jutsu. The Jounin avoided the worse, but that was part of the plan. In the fog the collision created, Naruto conjured about ten blind Shadow clones. They scattered to set up traps and were ready to attack at any given moment.

Using Doton: Kengan no Jutsu to encase her right arm in hard rock, she shot towards Kakashi's silhouette and threw a punch. When she made contact, the Jounin disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a now shattered piece of wood behind.

Kawarimi no Jutsu

Sakura saw him reappear on the tree she stood before. He was cheerfully waving at them and she smirked. She was beginning to like their sensei.

Notes:

SO. I decided to write a filler chapter about how all of them came to join Naruto, not just Sasuke. I don't know when I will post it. It depends on how long it takes me to write it...Let me know what you think in the comments!

Chapter 5: A Tidal Wave

Summary:

In which Sakura gets pissed off a lot and not-so-innocent people pay for it.

Hide and seek became a routine.

They would play every morning and, luckily, after the first time Kakashi made it easier to find him and didn't tag other Jounin or Tokujo that often. It now only took them less than two hours, and even when he did tag other people, Naruto had learned to tell them apart! Catching him, though, was a whole other question. That bastard was the definition of slippery! Every time they thought they had him, he disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared a few feet away, lecturing them when they did something wrong or if their form wasn't right.

"You put too much chakra into your punches, Sakura! You'd be exhausted before the fight's over and die!" He yelled, jumping away from the girl and promptly getting attacked by three Narutos. The taijutsu match lasted for about a minute before he disposed of two and the real one was sent flying into a tree. "And Naruto! Watch your footing, don't lose your balance so easily! That's it for today, go fetch the emo duck!"

"Hai, sensei!" They groaned and went to retrieve Sasuke from the lake. He grumpily sat in his water prison, cross-legged and armed, glaring at their sensei. He looked like an angry wet kitten.

They dispelled the Jutsu, dried off and took a break to eat something. Kakashi had taken the liberty of making them all bento this morning, which Naruto was not extremely happy about. Don't know what you're talking about. Later, they followed Kakashi to the mission desk to receive another chore-I mean-D-rank. They have been doing that for weeks now and Naruto was sick and tired of catching the same cat over and over again, painting fences and helping old ladies with their garden. But he wasn't complaining. He was getting money out of this. He could afford real food and everyday clothes now!

~It is still far below your skill levels. Even the Haruno caught up in strength and stamina she was lacking~

"I know, but there is nothing we can do unless Kakashi-sensei recommends us for a C-rank."

Kurama huffed and went back to sleep irritated. For some reason, he was the most bothered by the rank of missions they were doing. Naruto knew he just wanted to see if his teaching had any real life results. He couldn't help but giggle at his silliness.

They arrived and saw Iruka sensei looking through reports. Naruto grinned and ran up to him.

"Iruka-sensei!"

Their former teacher looked up, smiling when they came into view and put aside some papers. "Ah, Team 7. Here for another odd job?"

While the Genin grumbled confirmation, the Jounin chuckled. "For today, I'm afraid yes. But if you have a C-rank these little rascals can handle tomorrow..."

The response was immediate. Three heads snapped up to their sensei in disbelief. "Really?!"

"Yes. I believe you're ready."

Naruto flung himself onto the man with such force, he had to spin him to not lose balance. He was chanting a series of 'thank you's and 'finally' and was laughing brightly. His teammates shook their heads at his antics, but they also wore happy smiles.

Kakashi chuckled and put him down again. He reached out to ruffle his hair, but at that moment, that hand didn't look like his sensei's. A memory of a bigger, harsher and meaner hand flashed before his eyes and his first instinct was to flinch. The other shinobi at the desk didn't notice, but his team and Iruka did and frowned. Kakashi withdrew his hand and looked at the Chunin.

"We'll take a D-rank and be on our way. Inform me if there are any C-rank, Iruka."

The academy teacher nodded, looked over some documents and handed him a scroll. Kakashi-sensei smiled and waved lazily at the shinobi in the room and ushered his students out.

"Come on cubs, we have a cat to catch!"

The Genin groaned.

--

"You know it's not too late to drop out, right Sakura-chan?" Her mother's voice spoke from the doorway as she packed her luggage for their very first C-rank; a simple escort mission to the Land of Waves.

She rolled her eyes. "I know, but I don't want to. I'm finally getting the hang-"

"Darling, look at your face! And your clothes!" Mebuki interrupted, scanning her from head to toe with a displeased frown. "You're all scraped up and dirty! That's not appropriate for a young lady!"

Probably because we were chasing after our crazy sensei half of the day, and an equally crazy cat the other half!

They have had this discussion over a million times already since the fateful day she shouted her dream to her parents. ' I want to become the strongest kunoichi Konoha has ever seen!' They weren't happy about that and tried to talk her out of it almost every day. You'd guess that after five years they'd give up, but no.

Mebuki put her hand on her cheek as if she was watching something right out of a horror movie. Which, in her eyes, might just be true. "Your poor clothes...If you'd just stop playing around with those boys-"

"I wasn't playing!" Sakura finally yelled, zipping up her bag with more vigor than necessary and turning around to glare at her mother. "I was training and on a mission!"

"Being a shinobi is not fit for little girls! Especially from civilian families! You should just mature to a merchant like us or at least learn how to be a decent housewife and marry a nice guy-"

"But I'm not a little girl anymore! I proved myself at the academy and the missions we've done until now! And I'm not interested in marrying some no-name stranger you pick either! I hate-"

Her mother's emerald eyes flared with rage and before Sakura knew it-

*SMACK*

The left side of her face throbbed as she gaped at the woman in front of her. Her mother had never actually hit her, it was mostly her father when he was in a bad mood. She usually just shouted at her. Mebuki seemed equally surprised as she stared at her hand and the red print forming on her daughter's cheek. She composed herself rather quickly and gazed coldly at the girl.

"Don't you talk back at me, girl," she growled. "You do that one more time and you will no longer be welcome in this house."

Sakura glared at the woman that called herself her mother, grabbed her bag and walked to the window. "Good." She hopped out and disappeared into the night.

...

With tears in her eyes, she slipped through Sasuke's living room window. She didn't know where else to go and his apartment was the only place she would ever consider calling home.

From the looks and sounds of it, Sasuke was also done with packing and in the kitchen. She placed her bag next to his and walked out of the room. She wordlessly leapt on the counter and watched him cook. Seems like they were having katsudon. Sasuke noted her red, puffy eyes and raised an elegant eyebrow in a silent question, but she just shook her head. Nodding, he went back to cooking, making sure to add extra rice.

They ate in silence.

After washing the dishes, during which Sakura had been preparing her futon, Sasuke came into his bedroom and threw a towel at her head. "You can take a shower if you want. I don't think we'll be able to for another week or so, so I would recommend taking one now."

She pried the green cloth off her face and stared down at it, tears suddenly welling back behind her eyes, blurring her vision. She always used green towels, she liked the colour green. Not as much as red, of course, but still one of her favourite colours. But now it just reminded her of her mother. Of her emerald eyes as they glowed with anger right before she slapped her. "T-thanks, Sasu..."

When she made no move to actually take a shower, Sasuke sighed and sat down in front of her. "What happened? You know you can tell me anything, Naruto too. We're a team now."

The first tears escaped her eyes. "...I argued with my mum."

"Again?"

She nodded, clutching the towel in a tight grip. "Over the usual, of course. But then she...she..."

Sasuke's onyx eyes darted to the bruise forming on her cheek and narrowed. "She hit you?"

She nodded again and choked down a sob. "Yes...she'd never done that before and then she...she told me if I talk back again, they'll kick me out!"

"But didn't you want to get out of there as soon as possible?" He asked, understandably confused. "I thought once we became Genin and officially adults, you'd move out and stay here? It's been weeks, but you're still living with your sorry excuse of parents!"

"I know!" She snapped. "I know, but it's still hard! They were the ones to give me life. They raised me, fed me and gave me a place to stay. I cannot just abandon them!"

She was full-on crying now, and she knew what she said sounded ridiculous. She always complained about them and talked about how much she wanted to move out. But when it came to it, she was a coward. She just couldn't. She felt like a bad daughter for not meeting her parents' expectations. It was her dream to become a top-notch kunoichi, but she still felt like a failure whenever she talked about her progress. The disappointment in their eyes was enough to break her resolve, if only for a second.

Sasuke leaned over and dragged her into a hug. That surprised her. It was normally her and Naruto who initiated physical contact, never Sasuke. The Uchiha wasn't really the one for hugs and hand-holding but didn't object either when they did it anyway. He let her cry her eyes out on his shoulder and hold onto him for dear life. Even if some were to describe her as a cry baby, that was usually just for show. To make other kids point her out as weak and avoid her. The last time she really cried, was when her father got home drunk one night and let all his anger out on her. She still had some faint scars on her back to prove that.

She didn't know how long they stayed like that, but she felt better afterwards. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes dry with the sleeve of her jacket. She let go, a small smile decorating her face. "Thank you, Sasuke. I really needed that. And sorry for butting in, I didn't know where else to go."

Sasuke stood back up and offered a hand to lifter her to her feet. "It's ok. I don't mind. It does get lonely when neither of you two is staying over..."

Sakura cocked her head to the side, eyebrows furrowed. "Nightmares?"

He sighed and nodded. It was nothing new and nobody blamed him. Everyone would have terrible nightmares after watching their older brother slaughter everyone they knew and loved. Especially if said brother made them watch it for hours on loop while under one of the strongest genjutsu in existence. He had told them all about it one starry night where none of the three could sleep and met on top of the Hokage monument. Told them when he finally felt comfortable enough to let his guard down around them. Trusted them enough with his trauma. They had snuggled closer to him and swore to help him get revenge. Told him he wasn't alone.

"Well, I am here now and we'll be on a mission from tomorrow on. You won't be sleeping alone for a while!" She smiled. Because Sasuke slept better with someone else in the room. He had to hear steady breathing and a steady heartbeat. She found that really sweet.

Sasuke huffed but he was relieved. She could see that in his eyes. "Are you going to take a shower or not? We have to go to bed soon, or Kakashi will have our heads."

"Alright, alright, I'm going," She laughed, already moving out the door. "I wouldn't put it past him to randomly appear by the window."

"Like you did?" He smirked, raising an eyebrow.

She laughed.

--

Kakashi couldn't sleep.

It was a common occurrence and he couldn't do much about it. He always hated taking medication about anything and those pills the doctor gave him to help him sleep tasted like vomit. There were nights he would have nightmares about his Dad and Obito and Rin and Minato-sensei. Nightmares where his current team were dying horrible deaths one by one because he was a shit sensei and made a mistake once again in his life. And then there were nights he didn't sleep at all, like this one.

Instead of sleeping like any normal person would do at three-thirty a.m., he was chasing the wind along the rooftops of Konoha. The fresh pre-dawn air cleared his mind and his lungs; scattered away his dark thoughts and for the moment, he was free. Free of his guilt. Free of his doubts. And free of his responsibilities. At that moment, he was just Hatake Kakashi. A Jounin. A regular shinobi.

Out of habit, he went to check on his students. See if they really were asleep, resting properly before their first mission outside of the village. He went to the Harunos first and nearly fell three floors from the panic that rose from his stomach to his throat when all he saw was an empty bedroom. There weren't any signs of struggle, so she must've left willingly. Her travel bag was gone too. But just so to ease his nerves, he swung by Sasuke's apartment next.

He breathed out in relief when he saw the two sleeping soundly next to each other in Sasuke's room and smiled. If he were any other sensei, he probably would've thought they would make a great couple in the future. But he wasn't. He saw them for what they were. Siblings in everything but blood. Sasuke wasn't one for affections and love in general. He told them multiple times that he just didn't understand the concept of that. Maybe he was like Iruka. A likeable man, admired by both women and men, but attracted to nobody and nothing except his work. And Sakura...well, she's been getting pretty close to Ino lately...

But Kakashi wasn't a nosy sensei that was interested in his students love-life. And that's why he didn't suggest a group training session after they get back in passing when the senseis gathered for drinks last night. He really wasn't like that.

After making sure they were well, he went to check on his last student. Uzumaki Naruto. A natural disaster to be dealt with. He was a monster with seals and it scared Kakashi sometimes how fast he could recognize and undo an unknown seal and create new ones. Kakashi had always prided himself on the fact that he knew his way around seals, having been personally tutored by the Yondaime and his wife themselves, but Naruto made him question everything he knew. He would soon be out of stuff to teach the boy at the pace they were going at.

But he had been improving in other areas as well. His nin- and taijutsu were noticeably getting better and his sensory skills exceeded his own. He had learned how to fight during their games without his senses, all of them did. And Kakashi couldn't be prouder. So to see the ratty apartment the boy had to live in, made his heart ache. He had fought tooth and nail to adopt him when he was kicked out of the orphanage, but the council was not having it. The 'least' they could do, was to find him an apartment to live in instead of the streets. He had not been satisfied, but let it slide. Now, looking back, he wished he hadn't.

He knew where his student's window was and was promptly met with chaos. The small space was packed with scrolls, empty ramen cups, weapons and clothes. After looking closer, though, he noticed that half of the stuff was ripped and/or broken. Most of the furniture was held together with tape and some of the clothes lying around were torn. The sight made Kakashi's blood boil. Who the hell dared to hurt one of his cubs?! Kakashi will find them.

And in the middle of the mess, Naruto lay curled up under a thin sheet that barely counted as a blanket, surrounded by scrolls.

He raced back to his apartment and came back with a basket full of food and a thick blanket. He sneaked through the window, placed the basket on the unstable kitchen table and covered the Genin's shivering form. Immediately, the boy relaxed and smiled in his sleep. There was a squishy feeling in his gut Kakashi couldn't place. All he wanted was to protect his sensei's son, and the other kids as well. Despite all odds, Kakashi began to like and care for them. Something that had not happened since-

He shook his head. No need to dwell on the past. That was then. Now he just had to make sure his team survives at all cost. There was nothing he wouldn't do for them and that scared him.

Attachment is scary.

--

Sasuke sure as hell did not trust this guy at all.

From the moment they met this cranky old man, Sasuke knew he didn't like that guy. He was hiding something and Sasuke hates not knowing everything about the situation at hand. Tazuna the bridge builder was acting suspiciously since his eyes landed on the team that was supposed to be guarding him. He was nervous and jumpy and drank way too much sake. Sasuke didn't miss Naruto keeping a healthy distance, eyes always scanning for possible escape routes. He was quiet and cautious. Like he was expecting the drunk man to attack him. Sasuke noticed and made sure to steal his flask and switch it out with water at some point.

The grateful smile Naruto shot him was worth the scolding he got when Tazuna caught wind of it a mile later.

"Hey, Jounin," He said for the hundredth time, moving a tad closer to Kakashi. "Are you sure these brats can handle this?"

Kakashi eye-smiled and stepped away, letting Sakura take his place, and radiating a dangerous aura. "Pretty sure. As long as no S-rank criminals are attacking us for no reason, they will be just fine!"

For the rest of the day, they were walking and walking and walking. Tazuna had said it would take about two days to get there. The Genin took turns surveying the area ahead and playing a light game of hide and seek. Kakashi stayed by the bridge builder, watching them with a small unnoticeable smile. Others probably wouldn't be able to see that through his mask, but the three had learned to interpret his facial expressions. It was hard, but they managed.

At some point they got bored and Sakura fell into step with sensei. Naruto took the rear while Sasuke took the front. The pink-haired girl asked about the Land of Waves and its citizens. Tazuna was reluctant to answer, so Kakashi ranted about what he knew about it and the five great nations. Sasuke tuned them out.

While they were talking, Sasuke noticed movement in the corner of his eyes. Two people. Shinobi, most likely. Naruto also stiffened slightly, head snapping up, but relaxed again as to not give away anything to the enemy.

"Kakashi-sensei..."

"I know. Good job." The Jounin nodded, confusing their client.

The two trailed them for a while, enough time for the rest of the team to catch up and prepare for an attack, before deciding to go ahead of them. Sasuke couldn't see what they were up to, but if Naruto's smile indicated anything, it probably was something stupid.

And it was ridiculous.

Seriously...a puddle? It hasn't rained in weeks! Do they think they're stupid? Yeah, ok. They were just a bunch of Genin, but they were not stupid. Naruto grinned, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Naruto?"

The blond jinchuuriki leapt and landed right in the middle of the puddle. He jumped on it a couple of times, causing his teammates to laugh. Then, a pained shriek was heard as the ninja finally decided to dispel the Jutsu and come out. Two angry looking shinobi stood before them, holding some weird-ass weapons and wearing Kiri hitai-ate.

"You will pay for that, stinky brat!" The taller of the two yelled, pointing his 'claw' at Naruto. Their hands were connected with some kind of chain, which Sasuke found incredibly stupid.

They dashed forward, though, not towards Naruto. They wrapped the chain around Kakashi-sensei and cut him in half. Tazuna was pretty shocked, but the Genin were calm. They could all sense him nearby, watching them. This was a test. See what they learned under his tutelage. They formed a triangle around their client and pulled out their kunai.

The missing-nin looked quite smug and self-assured, thinking they eliminated the real threat. Oh boy...were they wrong.

...

The demon brothers, as they called themselves, stood no chance. In a matter of minutes, they were knocked out and bound on a tree with their own chain. Mind you, it was poisonous, and it luckily just nicked Naruto who was immune. Nobody suffered any kind of injuries, except for the enemy. They were beaten beyond recognition and would live in shame because they lost to Genin half their age and size.

"So, what are we gonna do with them?" Sakura asked, kicking Gozus side. He whimpered but made no other sound of discomfort.

Kakashi squinted at the sky. "There is a patrol coming in ten minutes, give or take. I say we leave them here and keep going. We need to find a safe place to camp for the night."

"Hai, sensei!" They chorused, picking up the bags they dropped during the fight as Naruto used shadow-clones to retrieve their kunai and shuriken and other lost items.

As they resumed walking, Sasuke noticed Tazuna staring at them with wide eyes. He looked lost, confused and shocked and Sasuke smirked. He was especially avoiding Sakura, and the Uchiha was pretty sure the girl traumatized the man for life after her punch split the ground in two. The seals Naruto used to stop their chakra flow were a bit unnecessary in his opinion, but it was still fun to watch them panic. They did have a good mastery of their weird weapon, but they used chakra to make it move. Like a snake. And to take that asset away was like destroying the weapon itself. Sasuke couldn't care less. They would've beaten them anyways, chakra or no chakra.

"So," Kakashi smiled coldly at their client, "Are you finally going to tell us the truth? Why were Chunin-level shinobi after you?"

Tazuna hesitated but eventually told them his story and their C-rank turned into a B-rank. Sasuke didn't know how to feel about that.

--

They spent the next day just like the last, save for demon brothers attacking them.

Kakashi-sensei and him had taken turns on the watch, as they were the only ones with decent sensory skills. The others were getting better, but there was always the possibility of getting attacked in the middle of the night. Naruto had noted that Sasuke slept closer to them than usual and guessed his nightmares were acting up again. If he remembered correctly, the date of the massacre was closing in. Naruto couldn't help but worry about him. Every year, he shut himself off and didn't let anyone talk to him, let alone find him. He was like a ghost.

~You worry too much. He's going to be okay. If he wasn't strong, I would be embarrassed as a teacher~

"Oh, get over yourself, Kurama. You were ruthless." Naruto rolled his eyes. "And I know he's physically strong...It's his mental health I'm worried about"

~I know, I know, me too...but if you're not careful that idiot is going to decapitate you in three...two..~

Finally snapping out of his thoughts, Naruto swirled around and ducked under Sasuke's arm. He jabbed his wrist, knocking the kunai that had come dangerously close to his neck out of the boy's hand. It probably made a sound, but Naruto was temporarily deaf and couldn't hear it. He jumped back grinning and disappeared into the trees again, leaving Sasuke muttering silent curses behind.

They knew what they were doing was dangerous, but honestly, the game made so much more fun that way! It was a great training experience too, learning how to maneuver blindly in a foreign place and not only in familiar territory. They had crossed the sea a while ago and it was pretty foggy. He saw the blind Sakura a few feet ahead of him and raced to her. It was Sasuke's turn to seek and they liked to gang up on and mess with him just to get on his nerves.

But just as he landed beside her, Kakashi-sensei's chakra spiked up. Morse code. -Undo seal. Defensive formation- And before Naruto could wonder why, he felt two strange and powerful chakra signatures nearby. Naruto and Sakura did as asked and dropped down in front of Tazuna, Sasuke not far behind. They were ready to defend or attack but what they did was up to Kakashi to decide.

Kakashi nodded and looked their pursuer straight in the face. "You can come out now, Momochi Zabuza!"

A big-ass sword was launched their way and they almost didn't have enough time to throw themselves onto the ground, with Sakura tackling the bridge builder. A moment later, a man was balancing on the hilt of the sword that got stuck in a tree. Naruto wondered if he could take it out fast enough. "So you knew I was there...Expected nothing less from you, Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi."

Sakura tilted her head, eyeing the shinobi before them. "Momochi? Like that one guy in the bingo book?"

Kakashi had made them memorize that thing and even quizzed them by using henge. And if Sasuke had lost it when they came to Itachi...well, Kakashi made sure to never do that again.

Their teacher nodded proudly, hand moving up to his hitai-ate. "That's right. So you understand why he is my opponent. While I don't doubt your abilities, you should focus on protecting our lovely client. Fight only if necessary!"

"Hai, sensei!"

Kakashi revealed his Sharingan, and the fight began.

...

So. Either Momochi's really stupid or...no, he's just stupid.

First, that guy had the audacity to attack them instead of Kakashi-sensei. Second, he underestimated them greatly. Just because they're Genin didn't mean they were weak! He was sick of people underestimating them, but it also worked in their favour. Naruto could smell the sneak attack from a mile away and had turned to slash him the very moment he appeared in the middle of their circle. Startled, he leaned back. Unfortunately for him, right into Sakura's fists.

Literally.

He flew about three hundred feet.

That was funny.

His next mistake was to think that they needed their senses to fight. While the fog he produced was irritating as fuck, they were used to fighting blind and deaf. So when he tried to attack the second time, he was in for a surprise when Sasuke kicked the shit out of him. He growled and disappeared into the mist again.

His water-clones couldn't do as much as lay a finger on them. Slashes and low-level raiton were enough to dispose of them.

Naruto didn't know how Kakashi was holding up with the original and the second presence watching them from afar concerned him. What were they up to?

The mist lifted and the genin saw the missing-nin standing there motionless as Kakashi held a kunai to his neck. He was pretty beat up but still breathing. They were saying something but the three were too far to hear anything.

All of a sudden, another Momochi appeared behind them and Kakashi had to duck unless he wanted to get impaled. He was then tossed into the body of water up ahead, and before any of them could react, Momochi created a water prison around Kakashi. He was left sitting crossed-legged and armed (just like Sasuke a little while ago), looking bored but also ashamed for letting himself get captured like that.

He sighed and waved his hand dismissively, confusing poor Momochi. "Do whatever, I guess. You're free to let loose."

The Genin grinned and Naruto formed a very familiar seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Half a dozen Narutos appeared in a puff of smoke and promptly surrounded Tazuna. Team 7 moved forth, towards their sensei and Momochi lifted an nonexistent eyebrow. It would've looked funny, if not for the seriousness of the situation. He did hold their sensei captive; the only adult outside of Iruka they respected. Nobody else had the patience to deal with them and would typically run the other way when they saw the three troublemakers. But Kakashi didn't. And he didn't scold them like Iruka did, he encouraged them! Looked at them and saw them for what and who they were. So, no. They're not letting this adult go, thank you very much.

"We need to make him remove his hand from the water prison," Sasuke said as soon as he 'killed' the last water clone. "Then Kakashi will be free."

"Sensei said we can let loose, but I don't wanna waste too much energy on him," Naruto said and lowered his voice so only his teammates could hear. "Another person is hiding here somewhere. And they're strong."

They looked at each other and nodded. They may have not have sensed them, but they trusted him.

Sasuke pulled one of his giant shuriken out of the storage seal Naruto had placed on the hem of his shirt and held it in front of him. "I'll distract him."

"Roger that!"

As Sasuke threw it at Momochi, the other two split up and got on either side of him. Momochi dodged the shuriken as expected and Sakura formed the seals for Suiton: Mizurappa, but despite the sheer power of it, it did little to no harm. But it distracted him further from Naruto. To the point where he looked like he completely forgot about him when he appeared in front of the shinobi, attempting to slice his arm off. He pulled back, but Naruto's kunai had already hit bone and he was bleeding heavily. The water prison dissolved.

"Good job, you three!" Kakashi praised, standing on the water like nothing happened. "Your distraction was good, Sakura, and we need to work on your aim, Sasuke. I liked your speed, Naruto, but the faster the better!"

"Hai, sensei!"

Momochi stared at them bewildered, not believing that they acted like this was just another training exercise. Team 7 watched as his friend finally decided to show themself and brought him away. The only evidence that this fight happened at all being the little puddle of blood Momochi left in the water. But that, too, was fading away.

"Man, I'm beat!" Naruto shouted as they made their way to Tazunas home. "I could use a nap!"

--

After getting a good night's sleep at the old man's house and Tsunami-san's wonderful cooking, they headed to the woods to train.

Sure, they had just fought against an S-class criminal, but either way, they were restless. Sitting in one spot doing nothing for too long irritated them. Everyone had learned not to cross them when they were bored. They tended to be...a little aggressive with their pranks and hell usually broke loose among the Chunin. So...yeah...It was a very bad idea to keep them unoccupied for too long.

And here she was. Blind in a forest she didn't know. Back to back with teammates that are supposed to protect her, although equally as blind. Zabuza's Jutsu was cool, in a way, but annoying to deal with. She wanted to hone her sensory skills. She knew she could never go anywhere near Naruto's level, but sharper was always better. Sasuke to her right shifted slightly, and so did Naruto on her left. Kakashi's clone was nearby. She cursed. She still couldn't sense him!

The attack was aimed at her. That much she knew.

From the feel and sound of it, it was a fireball. So she used Suiton Dan: Oruka and heard a hissing sound as it extinguished. She heard another pop and knew that Kakashi's clone also disappeared.

"Good, Sakura." The man praised from somewhere to her right. "You are getting there!"

She sighed. "But...I still couldn't sense you, sensei! I only noticed because of Naruto and Sasuke..."

Kakashi stepped in front of her, making as much noise as possible as to not get judo-flipped (it happened before), and patted her head. "It's ok. You will master your sensory skills, I am sure of it."

"Hai, sensei..."

"Now come on. We have a bridge builder to protect!"

The genin groaned as they undid the seal.

...

Sakura...felt naked somehow, exposed.

As if she was missing something crucial for her survival. She had felt this way before; the first time she lost her vision when they played Kakashi's version of hide and seek. But the only thing missing at the moment was Naruto, not one of her limbs! She had just been so used to having the blond around, she forgot what it was like walking around without his constant blabber. And Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke weren't exactly the social type.

Spinning a shuriken in her hand, a nervous tick she had picked up from Ino, she glanced around. She was unusually paranoid, Sasuke too. He kept checking his weapon pouch and fingering the hem of his shirt. Half of his face was hidden behind his high collar; something he only did when he was uncomfortable. They had lost their mental anchor, she realized. Naruto was always the one to reassure them and tell them that everything's going to be alright as long as they believed in it.

It wasn't even like he was gone forever, god forbid, no! He only stayed behind to protect Tazuna's family. When they weren't looking, he had bonded with Inari-kun and said he'd rather stay. He pulled them aside before they could protest and told them that someone had been watching the house for days now, waiting for Tsunami-san and Inari-kun to be alone and attack. Said they were constantly leaking killer intent and sadistic joy. He just wanted to make sure they were ok.

Curse him and his ginormous heart!

Sakura was bored. Paranoid and bored. Never a good combination.

She was watching the workers tinker on the almost done bridge and thinking of possible ways to annoy them when Kakashi's head snapped up and he tensed. His students tensed as well, looking around to find the source of his discomfort. They saw nothing, but that didn't mean anything.

"He's coming."

They didn't need to ask who. Momochi Zabuza. Possibly with his companion. Her shuriken stopped spinning and she held it so tight, her knuckles turned white. She didn't know what she was so worried about. They had fought him before. Maybe it was the fact that they were one teammate down. Maybe because they didn't know anything about that strange person accompanying the missing-nin. They didn't know their abilities, strength, or even if they were a boy or a girl. Based on their build, it could be both.

The weird mist appeared again and Zabuza's voice echoed throughout the bridge.

"Nice to see you again, Kakashi," he said, dropping down in the middle of their formation. He really liked to do that, didn't he?

They swirled around and Sakura dragged Tazuna out of the way, tucking him behind her. He was trembling like a leaf, probably not having expected the shinobi to appear again. But Team 7 knew. They knew and trained and were prepared. Kakashi would take him on. He was the only one who matched his strength and didn't tend to fall for the same tricks twice. They knew from personal experience. The Genin would take his pal. The three of them should be able to do it.

The only problem, they were two not three. Naruto still wasn't here!

Sasuke disposed of the clone and they all glared at the real one a little further ahead. Aaaand, he brought his friend! Oh joy!

...

Sakura was pissed.

Pissed that she had to babysit the old man that reeked like sake while her team had fun fighting dangerous criminals. She couldn't see anything in the mist, so she used her other senses to at least know what is going on. She heard dogs barking, felt the cold of Haku's kekkei Genkai, smelled the metallic scent of blood and had to restrain herself from joining in to help. But she was on strict orders: Stay with Tazuna. Make sure he survives.

Somewhere along the line, Naruto finally decided to show up, and after a brief update of the situation and assuring her that the family was fine, he ran in to help Sasuke. Sakura groaned. She had nothing to do!!

...She didn't know if you should be happy or frustrated that her wish eventually came true when Zabuza tried his luck again. About ten water clones suddenly surrounded the two of them and she was quite sure Tazuna pissed himself. Deciding now was not the time to goof of, she launched her shuriken to the nearest clone. This could be fun.

Notes:

Now that's what I call a big-ass chapter! I don't know, I just kinda tried to stuff the whole Wave mission into one, but it didn't work out. You, unfortunately, have to wait another week for the other half. Sorry.

Anyway, thank you all for your kudo and wonderful comments! They really are the highlight of most of my days and I am always open to constructive criticism! I know I sometimes tend to make silly mistakes and I would like to improve!

Have a good night, day, or whatever time you are reading this!

Chapter 6: What just happened?

Summary:

In which foes become friends and Naruto makes a promise.

Notes:

You guys are CRAZY!
I honestly didn't think this fic would get this much attention...
Thank you all so much for all the love you've shown for my babies and this story. Just know that I appreciate all of you more than you can imagine!

Anyway, let's get to it!

This was not fun.

For some reason, these clones were a lot stronger than the ones they fought before. They dodged, struck and dodged yet again. They succeeded to give her some nasty bruises and a cut on the cheek. She was panting heavily, but in the end, she killed every last one of them. She was surrounded by nasty-smelling water and her own blood. Tazuna was staring at her, wide eyes filled with both amazement and worry. She staggered back, struggling to catch her breath.

And all of a sudden, she knew that something was wrong. Terribly wrong. She froze.

Powerful and dangerous chakra flooded the whole place, shooing away the mist and Sakura could finally see her team. She did not like the picture they painted. Sasuke lay on the ground, looking very much like a hedgehog with so many senbon sticking out of his body. Over him, Naruto was growling and glaring at Haku, eyes red and slit, nails like claws and an orange substance curling protectively around him and his fallen teammate.

Kuramas chakra! Her brain supplemented weakly.

Naruto lashed out to the ice user, only managing to rip part of his clothes as Haku jumped out of the way. There was a back-and-forth as they both tried to hurt the other, but it was clear that Naruto had the upper hand. Sakura could see the Kyuubi's chakra slowly burning away Naruto's clothes and her worry only grew. He overpowered his opponent a few minutes later and pinned him to the ground. But...he didn't deliver the final blow. Instead, he came back to normal, his eyes the cerulean blue she so adored again.

He said something Sakura couldn't hear and got off of the boy. Haku stood up as well. He didn't attack. He kept his gaze downcast and muttered to Naruto. He then looked to his right and frowned.

She followed his gaze and saw Kakashi-sensei fighting Zabuza. Her idiot of a sensei was injured. Blood dripping on the bridge as he moved. His foe was not better off, though. He was also severely wounded, swaying ever so slightly. His sword was broken in half and he had several dogs dangling on him. Sakura recognised them as Kakashi's summons. She so wished she had a summon too! They're so cool!

Naruto hauled Sasuke carefully over his shoulder and stumbled towards her. "Kurama tried to heal him a bit, but it doesn't work well on others yet," He said as he put him down in front of her. "It should be safe to take out these things though."

She nodded and together, they worked on getting their teammate to look like a normal human being again. There were more than thirty. It sure must've hurt like a bitch. Once everything was removed, she crossed her palms over his chest and promptly felt the steady pulsing of her chakra as she applied what little she knew about medical ninjutsu. The puncture holes closed and left nothing but tiny marks behind. They were so small, they shouldn't be visible with the naked eye. If anyone did happen to notice them, they would probably think they're freckles.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead, suddenly glad she had bothered the nurses at the Konoha hospital to teach her first-aid. She looked at Naruto, noticing pointy things sticking out of the back of his neck. She glared. "You're hurt too! Come here, idiot!"

Naruto shook his head frantically, pulling the senbon out. "I'm not! It's already gone!"

Before she could smash the idiot's head into pieces, Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and they weren't black. They were red. Sharingan. And six tomoes at that! She was so shocked, she couldn't move or speak. When did that happen?

"What-?"

His question was cut off by a blur of colour flying past them and their heads snapped to where their sensei was about to impale Zabuza with a lightning technique they had never seen before. A hum of what sounded like thousands of chirping birds filled the air around them and Sakura's hair stood on edge. She made a mental note to never anger the man to the point where he used that against them because it was scary. His own Sharingan swirled crazily as he moved.

The blur that was Haku then appeared out of thin air between them, startling both. Kakashi moved his hand to avoid hitting the boys heart. Sakura held her breath.

--

The technique has only ever had one purpose.

To kill.

He didn’t have to worry about hitting his dogs. They could sense the electricity and knew when to drop. And they did. The moment Kakashi came close, they opened their jaws, hopped down and ran away towards his students. To guard them in case something goes wrong.

But then another presence jumped in between them. Momochi's apprentice materialized out of thin air, a cold breeze ruffling Kakashi's hair.

It all happened in less than a second.

The change of expressions happening on Zabuza’s face was so fast, that if Kakashi’s Sharingan hadn’t been trained on him, he’d have missed them completely. The man’s expression shifted momentarily to confusion and then right into a blind panic. The kind that registers so fast there’s no way to hide it. The kind that comes from the overwhelming terror that you are about to lose something precious to you.

Kakashi knew that fear very well. It was like an old friend of his. And when Zabuza's hand inched up to shove the boy out of the way, Kakashi moved as well. He leaned to the side last moment so that instead of piercing through Haku's heart, it went for the flesh of Zabuza’s left shoulder, only slightly nicking Haku's.

He pulled back and created a distance between them.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Sasuke lazily sitting up, using Sakura and Naruto as pillars. Tazuna stood behind them, his ninken scattered all around them in a defensive half-circle.

He locked eyes with Zabuza. "I...have a question for you."

The shinobi raised an eyebrow, broken sword moving up. "What?"

"Why," He said slowly, "Why are you working for someone like Gato?"

He narrowed his eyes and snarled, "Easy money."

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side, like every time he sensed that someone was lying. He looked at the man again. "Now the truth, if you please."

Momochi's eyes flickered from Haku to Kakashi, to his cubs, back to Haku and back to Kakashi.

"It's for protection, right? From the hunter-nin." There was a spark of recognition in the shinobi's eyes, one that understood. It was like the two adults came to a silent agreement, that they would do anything to protect what was precious to them. Even if one just realized what it actually meant to love someone.

He huffed, lowering his sword ever so slightly when he decided that Kakashi wouldn't attack them. "I guess you're not an idiot after all. Yes. Gato has connections. He is untouchable, even for the Bloody Mist."

Suddenly, Naruto perked up and turned his head to the far end of the bridge. Something was coming through the natural fog of the island. "Kakashi-sensei! We have company!"

...

And company they had. Just not a very strong one.

In less than two minutes, the temporary alliance of the missing-nin and Team 7 had Gato and all his thugs laying dead on the floor. Gato did a very shitty move insulting Zabuza and ninja in general like that. Kakashi was a bit worried about his students though, as they had never killed before, but they seemed fine. For now. They casually wiped the blood off their weapons and chatted lightly with Haku, giggling and laughing as they did so. He heard something about learning how to use senbon and made a mental note to be wary of Sakura in the future. He'd have to wait and see if this'll have lasting consequences on their mental health, though.

He sat back with Zabuza and bandaged his shoulder. He wasn't too gentle. Even if he was paid to do it, he still hurt his cubs. "There!"

" Gee, thanks." He grunted, carefully rolling his shoulder to test it.

Kakashi grinned. "No problem!"

Zabuza gave him a deadpan look, then sighed and stared up ahead where the kids were now sitting, surrounded by Kakashi's ninken. Naruto and Haku were leaned against Bull, conversing about something that sounded dangerously like new variations of seals that could store foreign Jutsus, with Shiba and Bisuke on their laps. Pakkun had made himself comfortable in Sasuke's arms, and the rest was swarming Sakura as she, apparently, gives the best head scratches.

"Are you sure it's alright to just let us go?" He asked after a while. "I mean... won't you get in trouble with your Kage?"

Kakashi shrugged. "As long as the mission was successful, he won't care."

"So every Kage is different, huh," Zabuza snorts. "Kohona doesn't sound like a total hell after a-"

"Every village has its problems" Kakashi interrupts, eyes darting to his laughing students. "They know that better than most."

"Orphans?"

"Two out of three, yes. And Sakura comes from a civilian family," He said and frowned, tilting his head to the side. "But I think they're not on good terms. She keeps running away..."

"Well," The Kiri-nin sighed, a playful huff escaping his lips. "You can always show up and scare the shit out of them...You can be quite intimidating when your kids are being threatened..."

Kakashi barks out a laugh. "Wouldn't you know better than anyone?"

Zabuza rolled his eyes just as the four children plus his dogs came strolling towards them, looking ready to take a long shower and a nap.

"Sensei!" Naruto yelled nonetheless, waving a hand over his head happily.

Kakashi sighed, but couldn't stop the smile from forming.

--

They departed the next morning and Naruto was excited.

Primarily because Bull let him ride on his back for a while when his feet started to hurt. He didn't tell anyone, but he had a nasty cut on the sole of his right foot that had yet to heal. It happened when he was protecting Tazuna's family. He was inside the house, and therefore, he hadn't been wearing shoes, and one of the intruders had fucking poison on his sword! And it wasn't anything he knew or dealt with before, so it took longer to heal.

~Maybe you should let Kakashi take a look at it~

"It's fine, Kurama. I'm fine!"

~No, you are not. Idiot!~

"Naruto? Is something wrong?"

Speak of the devil. It was Kakashi and he was eyeing him head to toe from where he was walking beside him. Naruto must've let his discomfort show on his face. Bull had gotten tired a while ago and let him down and his foot burned now. "I'm fine."

"U-huh," He said, obviously not believing him. "Show me your foot."

"What, why?"

"You said you're fine, right? Then it shouldn't be a problem," He replied easily, but the threat behind those words was tangible. "Unless you have something to hide."

Naruto pouted. "...fine!"

Kakashi called a break and Naruto sat down at the side of the road, taking off his sandal and turning his head away from Kakashi's prying eye. The Jounin crouched in front of him.

"Naruto..." He said dangerously low. "What is this and why didn't you show me before?"

The blond shifted uncomfortably as Kakashi cleaned the wound and bandaged it. "...It didn't look serious...I thought Kurama could heal it fast enough..."

~Yeah, yeah, just blame it on the fox~

Kakashi stilled. "Kurama?"

Oops.

"Uh..you know..the.. Kyuubi?" He said, suddenly uncertain because Kakashi freezes up completely. He yanked his foot out of the grip that was becoming painfully tight. "Sensei?"

"How-how long have you known about that?" He asked quietly.

Naruto scratched his head in thought. "I think I was seven when I talked to him the first time," He shrugged. "After that, it wasn't that hard to realize why the villagers hate me and hun-"

He cut himself off. He hadn't talked to anyone about the 'demon brat' hunt and wasn't exactly planning to. But the dark look in his sensei's eye left no room for argument. He folded immediately and told him everything.

Kakashi didn't speak, just listened to his story with an unreadable expression. Still, Naruto could feel his inner turmoil. When he informed him that he knew about his parents, he...relaxed somehow. He knew that the Jounin wasn't allowed to talk about them for unknown reasons, so he guessed now that Naruto knew anyway, he wouldn't have to restrain himself. When Naruto got to the part where he befriended the Biju, he shook his head.

"Only you, Naruto. Only you." He chuckled "I honestly shouldn't be surprised anymore."

"Am...am I in trouble?"

Kakashi shook his head again and ruffled his hair affectionately. "No. Not with me at least. But you do realize that you shouldn't even know you were a jinchuuriki, let alone tell others about it?"

"I know..."

"Kakashi-sensei! Naruto!" Sakura suddenly yelled from up ahead. "How long are we going to sit here? I'm bored!"

Kakashi's alarmed expression lured a chuckle out of Naruto and the Jounin sighed. "We're moving on! Just a sec!"

He turned to him but Naruto was already on his feet. "I can walk on my own."

"You sure?"

"Yep!"

--

They arrived back in Konoha the next morning. Kakashi left them to report back to the Hokage and told them they had a day off tomorrow to rest. He wanted to make it three, but after the violent protests that they'd just get extremely bored and that there was nothing else to do, he reduced it to one. He walked away, muttering something about 'little devils' under his breath.

They looked at each other and sniggered.

"So, what now?" Sakura asked as they made their way towards Sasuke's apartment.

Naruto put his hands behind his head and hummed thoughtfully. "We could just have dinner the three of us tonight and hang out with everyone tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a plan!" She smiled.

It was Saturday, so they had curry. And like every time, Naruto and Sasuke argued over the flavour. Sweet or spicy. In the end, Sakura had enough and hit them with a towel. And like every time, they found a middle road that somehow balanced both. And because of their quarrel earlier, they boys had to do the dishes.

"Are you staying the night?" He asked as he passed Naruto a plate.

The blond stayed quiet, mulling the idea over in his head. He nodded. "Yeah. I think I'll stay...I kind of don't wanna be alone at the moment."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. He was also not in the best mental state and he was sure Sakura wasn't either. They did kill real-life humans a little less than two days ago. He still didn't know how to feel about that and the date of the massacre was coming closer as well...He wasn't sure if he wanted to cut everyone off again and lock himself in his apartment or try to spend that day with his team, distract himself from the darkness.

"I'm not letting you isolate yourself again, teme," Naruto said quietly. It was like he could read his mind sometimes, which was quite scary to be honest. He dried off his hands and turned to look him dead in the eyes. "You and I both know that it's not doing you any good. You'll just make yourself more miserable."

Sasuke huffed and hid his face in his collar. He never was comfortable talking about it. "And? What else am I supposed to do?"

They walked out of the kitchen. "We can have a movie night or a sleepover! Or both! And invite Kakashi-sensei too! His dogs will surely be happy for free cuddles!"

That...didn't sound unwelcome at all. He tried to imagine a scene where all of them were sitting comfortably in front of the TV, and found himself looking forward to it. He huffed. "Do what you like."

Naruto's answering grin could surely outshine the sun as he hurried to tell Sakura about their plans. He shook his head, but a small smile was already forming.

...

He was on a clan compound. The Uchiha clan compound, to be exact. Why was he here? He swore to never come back. It's just too painful...

There was a scream, a very familiar one, and he was suddenly in his old house. Mother and father were laying on the floor, bloody and very much dead, Itachi standing over them. His mangekyou spinning. He was saying something, but his ears were ringing. He could only stare at their lifeless bodies.

His mothers head snapped up and her cold eyes stared right at him. "Why did you do it?"

He stumbled back. "Wha-?"

"Why did you kill them?"

"W-who...I-I didn't..."

His mother slowly stood up, blood streaming on the floor like some kind of messed up waterfall. She stepped closer. "But you did. Look."

A memory played in front of his eyes. It was him. He was dancing around a dozen thugs on the bridge, slashing down one after the other. Burning them. Electrocuting them. He felt sick. He really did kill all those people. People who probably had a family. People who-

"Didn't you vow to kill me and only me?" Itachi's voice suddenly was very clear. Hate and sarcasm dripping like syrup. He flinched.

"I-I-"

Then, all three of them moved forward, trapping him in a corner. They were yelling at him and he was crying because the ringing in his ears returned, louder than before. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe-

"-suke! Wake up!"

Someone was shaking him. His eyes snapped open and he shot up. Looking around wildly, he was alarmed to see darkness. Like in the dream. Like that night-

"Hey, hey, hey" Another person, a girl, was suddenly in front of him, hands on his shoulders. "Look at me, Sasu. Look at me and breathe, ok?"

She put his hand on her chest. He could feel her steady heartbeat and slow breathing. He tried to match the rhythm as best as he could at that moment. They did that for a couple of more minutes until he could breathe his own without hyperventilating and his eyes got used to the dark. It was Sakura. He recognized her bubblegum-pink hair. Naruto was there too. He was sitting next to him, rubbing his back. That was nice. He melted into his hand.

"You with us?" Sakura whispered and smiled when he nodded and withdrew his hand.

He wiped away his tears and flushed, embarrassed about the whole situation. "...sorry."

Naruto chuckled and gave him a glass of water, seemingly out of nowhere. "No need to apologize, everyone has nightmares. I think we told you that many times before."

He took a rich gulp and set it down on his nightstand. He took his blanket and cocooned himself, hiding his face like he would with his collar. "I still don't like this."

His teammates looked at each other, smiled, and threw themselves onto him. He yelled out. They swiftly crept into the cocoon and sandwiched him, arms looping around his body. And as much as he tried to hate the physical contact, his body betrayed him and relaxed. His eyes blinked shut on their own and sleep slowly overtook him. This time without his guilt eating up his brain to create horrible scenes.

"Idiots..."

--

Sakura whistled as she skipped down the street towards the Yamanaka compound.

They had agreed on splitting up to fetch the other teams and, for some reason, the boys insisted she went to Ino. Don't get her wrong, she liked the blonde. A lot, actually. But their behaviour was extremely weird. Naruto especially had that sly grin he wore whenever he was up to something that would inevitably get them in trouble. And Sasuke too! She could see that smirk he was hiding behind that collar of his.

Shaking her head, she came to a stop in front of the main house and knocked. Her heart was sort of beating faster, though, she didn't know why. She had done this many times before, there was no reason to be nervous. The door slid open and she was almost knocked to the ground.

"Sakura! You're back!" Ino shouted, arms around her neck.

"C-can't...breathe..."

"Oh, sorry," She chuckled and let go. She scanned her, smiling when she saw no real injuries except for a few bruises and a small cut. "I get that your first C-rank went well?"

Sakura nodded eagerly. "Yes! Well, it did turn out to be a B-rank because our client lied about the situation, but I think we handled it pretty ok-"

"Wait!" She put her hands in front of her, signalling 'stop'. "B-rank?!"

"Yes?" Sakura blinked. "But it was fine-"

The Yamanaka grabbed her by the shoulders. "You. Have. To. Tell. Me. EVERYTHING!"

Sakura laughed and stepped back. She didn't need any more bruises, thank you very much. "I'll tell you, geez. Anyway, I actually came here to ask if you and your team wanted to hang out today. If you have time, of course."

"Yeah, sure. We don't have any missions or training planned today." Ino smiled and closed the door behind her after shouting to her parents that she'll be out.

...

They went to fetch Shikamaru and Choji and met the others on the Hokage monument. Kiba and Naruto were already chasing each other, yelling profanities, while Hinata watched them giggling. Shino and Sasuke were sitting a few feet away, deep in conversation about, what Sakura could only guess, their training results and missions. Since Choji's mum had packed them all a bento with their favourite food, the boy was soon the centre of attention.

"I love your mum, Choji!" Naruto proclaimed, eagerly opening his box. It was orange. What else.

Over the last years, after they frequently started hanging out, all the mums had collected a set of colourful bento boxes. Well, except for her mother. She knew nothing of this and Sakura would prefer if it would stay like that. As she opened her pink box, her eyes landed on delicious looking Dango and umeboshi. Her mouth started to water, making Ino laugh.

She shot her a glare. "Oh shut up!"

Ino raised her hands in defeat, still chuckling. "Ok, ok, chill. But now you gotta tell me everything!"

The rest of the teams also stared at them expectantly. They were the first team to do a, technically, B-rank after all. They had all completed a C-rank and it was supposed to be Team 7's first one as well, but...yeah...

And so, Naruto started the tale of their mission. Overly dramatic, but they knew not to give too much attention to that. Sakura and Sasuke chirping in here and there when he forgot something or wasn't there. As they got to the demon brothers, Kiba gasped. He said he had heard that they were dangerous missing-nin, but team 7 just laughed at him. Said they were weak as hell. And at Momochi, they all gasped. Shino, who had been coincidentally studying the bingo book the whole time, looked up with a raised eyebrow.

"So, should I cross him out?" He asked, pointing at his picture.

"Nah, he's still alive. Actually, he helped us take down Gato..." Naruto waved off and elaborated at the questioning looks.

When they finished, Team 8 and Team 10 stared at them with wide eyes. They were astounded and Sakura flushed, not used to all this attention.

"You actually fought with Momochi fucking Zabuza?!" Kiba yelled, jumping to his feet and dropping poor Akamaru from his lap. The pup squeaked and ran to Hinata, who picked him up and soothingly scratched his head.

Sasuke raised an elegant eyebrow. "Is it that unbelievable?"

Now it was Kiba's turn to blush. "...no. You guys are strong as hell and it does sound like some crazy shit you would do, it's just...Why did you let him live?" He asked and clumsily sat back down, stepping on Shikamarus foot in the process.

"Hey!"

"Sorry!"

"He's not all that bad" Naruto hummed, taking a bite out of his last onigiri. "Haku played a big role in that too. If he hadn't stepped in between Momochi and Kashi-sensei, I don't think that moron would've realized how precious Haku was to him. Fucking idiot..."

Sakura tilted her head as the teams muttered about the mission, asking extra questions and all. But she tuned them out.

Kashi-sensei?

Did he just slur the words, or was that a new nickname? Either way, Sakura liked it. And by the looks of it, Sasuke too.

Watch out, Kashi-sensei. You're about to be annoyed until you fucking get used to it!

--

"What's wrong, Kurama?" Naruto asked, sprawled across the floor with countless scrolls open all around him. He had gone home a couple of hours ago after they parted ways and had been busy studying some scrolls he borrowed from Kakashi-sensei. Kurama's shade was curled in a corner up ahead and he noticed him wince just a second ago.

Kurama flicked his tails, irritated. ~Nothing's wrong~

"Don't be like that!" Naruto threw a brush at him, but he caught it with a tail before it hit his face and flung it right back. The boy dodged. "I know when something is bothering you. You have been like that for quite a while now...So, what's up?"

Kurama cocked his head to the side, crimson eyes narrowing in what could be confusion or pain. Something Naruto was used to seeing, but it unsettled him for some reason now. ~Do you remember when I told you about my siblings?~

He nodded, not quite understanding where this was going. "Yeah. Shukaku, Son Goku, Saiken and all?" Kurama inclined his head in affirmation. "What about them?"

~I think...I think I'm losing them~

"What do you mean 'losing them'?"

The fox sighed. ~As the eldest, I have the ability to sense them. Maybe not their exact location, but their states of being. And over the last few years, they have been disappearing from my radar. I cannot sense them and its frustrating~

"But...shouldn't that be impossible?" Naruto found himself asking, sitting up straighter, head tilted in confusion. "I mean, you can't be killed, right? And aren't you all, like, super strong?"

Kurama shook his head.

~Our existence now depends on our jinchuuriki. If they were killed, we would die with them for a certain amount of time. It takes many decades to be reborn. But the same is to say about jinchuuriki. If someone were to remove the biju from the jinchuuriki, it would rip the soul out of their bodies. They don't get to be reborn but, with enough power, it is possible to subdue even us. That's how we ended up imprisoned in the first place~

Naruto let that sink in and leaned back on his hands. "Are-are they dead?"

~I'm not sure~ He admits, ears flattened on his head. ~I can still sense their chakra but it's weak, faint. I cannot tell if they had been somehow imprisoned or if that is all that's left of them~

Naruto felt sick thinking about it. Until recently, he didn't have a family, nor did he have friends. He couldn't have imagined what it'd be like to lose someone close to him. But now he could and he would do anything to prevent that from happening. He felt incredibly bad for Kurama, who couldn't even do anything to help his siblings as he was trapped in his body. He wanted to help somehow. "Who...?"

He didn't finish, but Kurama seemed to know what he wanted to ask. ~Kokuo is the one who disappeared completely and some of the others are in distress, like they're being hunted or something~

Naruto folded his legs underneath him and put his chin in his hand. "Who would be able to do that though? Hunt bijuu?"

~Shinobi, I suppose~ Kurama growled softly, tails flicking more violently.

"But why?" He asked himself, thinking about how he would feel if something like that happened to him. If his friends suddenly started disappearing without a trace, if they were being hunted by unknown shinobi for unknown reasons. With eyes as hard as steel, he looked at his companion. "Whoever it is, I'm going to stop them!"

Kurama snorted. ~And how would you do that, pipsqueak? You're not nearly strong enough to take down Momochi on your own, how are you going to fight stronger S-class criminals capable of taking down powerful jinchuuriki and bijuu?~

Naruto grinned, picking up a scroll again. "Then I'll just have to get stronger!"

Chapter 7: Should I?

Summary:

In which Rookie 9 discover dangerous toys and a bunch of shinobi make fun of Kakashi.

Shikamaru was really not in the mood for this. But, as always, these idiots managed to convince him somehow.

He didn't hate training, it was just a pain in the ass to get out of bed so early in the morning to meet up with obnoxiously loud people. Ino had to practically drag him out of bed and attack him with clothes to get him moving. Choji was there too. He was chatting with his mother about breakfast, and they were debating on what would wake him up properly and give him the energy to train. As he tied his hitai-ate around his biceps, he heard the suggestion of coffee flying out of Choji's mouth. His mother was quiet for a moment before she agreed.

Shikamaru stepped out of his room and yawned. "Do I get a say in this, or are you going to decide if I will be a coffee addict on your own?"

Ino giggled from behind him. "Aw, don't be like that. I heard coffee does miracles! Also...you remember when Iruka-sensei showed up without an ounce of coffee in his system that one day?"

All three of them paused their walk out of the kitchen and shuddered simultaneously. That had been a very dark day in the history of the academy. Shikamaru had taken a mental note that day to never cross that man early in the morning before his first mug. Just to be safe, let's say the second.

"Whatever," He huffed and his mother chuckled, handing over his backpack and a cup to-go. He rolled his eyes but accepted it anyway.

And would you look at that. It didn't taste like shit and the two just created a monster.

...

They met up with Asuma-sensei on the way to Training Ground Nine.

He would've preferred Training Ground Three, and he was sure the others did too, but their senseis insisted on this one. Even if he had never set foot in here, he had to admit it was quite okay. It was kind of like the one they were used to, just wilder. The trees were tall and thick, close to each other and almost like a jungle. He could hear the faint sound of running water on his left and suspected a river or even a small waterfall. The clearing they arrived at was big and spacious and had a giant boulder in the middle

That was where the others were waiting.

Team 7 and 8 were already there, talking excitedly. Well, except for their two antisocial idiots; Shino and Sasuke. They were just standing close to Kakashi and Kurenai-sensei, doing absolutely nothing. To judge them would be hypocritical, though, as he did the same most of the time.

As soon as they were spotted, Naruto bounced over, all sun and sunshine like usual. It should annoy him, really. It does annoy him when he sees strangers be like that for no apparent reason, but Naruto...well, he's Naruto. Everything he does is irritating when you meet him. Once you get over that, though, it may just be the only thing that can brighten your day. It was almost funny how open and honest he was, which also made him a terrible liar; it wasn't that hard to figure out that he was a jinchuuriki, not that anyone tried to stop him from looking into it. He was pretty sure his father left those documents on his desk on purpose.

Naruto jumped, ready to tackle them, but Shikamaru saw it coming and dodged. Ino and Choji were not so lucky and found themselves laying in the dirt with a messy blond on top of them. Asuma chuckled, making his way over to his fellow Jounin.

"NARUTO! GET OFF!!" Ino shrieked, kicking out like a toddler would.

The Uzumaki laughed and did as asked, dusting himself off. Choji didn't even attempt to stand up and sat cross-legged on the ground, munching on potato chips. He offering some to Naruto. "Want some?"

Naruto shook his head, backing away ever so slightly. Shikamaru frowned. Did something happen? "No, thank you. They're yours, you need to eat before training."

Well, there was no arguing with that, but Shikamaru still found his behaviour strange. Naruto's always hungry. Yet, it looked like he was the only one to notice. Wait, no. Hinata noticed too. She was fidgeting more than usual, glancing worriedly at Naruto every so often.

Kakashi clapped his hands, gaining all of the Genins' attention. "I'm sure you all know why we gathered here today, so I say we'll just begin with warm-up's and then move to spar."

"Hai!" They chorused and got ready to run all around Konoha. Three times. The usual.

"What a drag..."

...

"Weapons?"

The Genin sat in a circle, all staring at their senseis in confusion.

It was late in the afternoon and they had just finished sparring. Shikamaru had been up against Sakura and was currently rubbing his abdomen with a sour expression. That girl hit way too hard for her size. Where did that power even come from? He almost felt bad for her future enemies. Kiba tossed him a water bottle which he gratefully caught.

"Yes," Asuma smiled, taking out one of his trench knives and a kunai. He held the kunai a little higher. "You all know how to use these and shuriken to some degree. They are a shinobi's most trusted but basic weapon, everyone uses them. But as you can properly imagine, some of us prefer other weapons." He held up his knives now. "Take me for instance. I use trench knives because they feel more natural to me. They are also chakra blades. Meaning that I can channel my chakra through them, making them even more deadly."

The kids hung on his words, eagerly soaking in everything they could. Even Shikamaru was interested. He had never actually thought about using weapons outside of kunai and shuriken, seeing as the Nara are more of the long-distance fighters. But looking at those knives, he felt the urge to try them out.

"You don't have to, of course," Kurenai-sensei cut in, smiling softly at the Genin. "There are some ninja that don't need them, like Kakashi and I. While Kakashi relies more on ninjutsu and taijutsu, I am more of the genjutsu type. And naturally, if any of you are interested, feel free to ask me and I will gladly teach you."

Sasuke was the last to nod. Shikamaru could see that he was considering it. Both suggestions, actually.

"We brought some weapons for you to-"

"Kashi-sensei!" Sakura interrupted the man, hand raised like they were back in the academy. "Do you have senbon?"

Was he imagining things, or did Kakashi really just pale a little?

"Of course," Kurenai smiled, oblivious to her college's subtle distress.

As she handed the girl a bundle, Shikamaru recalled what they had said about their most recent mission. Recalled Haku, the ice and senbon user and chuckled under his breath. If he remembered correctly, they had become friends and exchanged tips and tricks. Kakashi's fear was beyond justified in his opinion. Sakura was dangerous as it was; if she starts throwing around those little things, undoubtedly dipped in poison, who knows what'd happen.

As the pink-haired girl examined the senbon with stars in her eyes, Kakashi pulled out a scroll and unsealed a bunch of different weapons in all styles and sizes. They all gathered around them, examining those they found interesting looking. But nothing really intrigued him. The Tekko-Kagi seemed interesting enough, but...

"Asuma-sensei?" He walked up to him, hands in his pockets, trying to look indifferent. But he was giddy and anxious and he was sure his sensei could see it. Asuma raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Shikamaru?"

"Could I..." He scratched his cheek, eyeing the trench knives in his sensei's hands. "Could I try them?"

Both the man's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he chuckled, handing them over. "Of course!"

He slid his fingers through the holes and gripped them tight. He swung a few times the way he'd seen Asuma do and found that he liked the feel of it. The balance was just right. He tried to channel chakra into them and was excited when it worked. It wouldn't be any good now, but he was sure he could improve that with enough practice. He still wasn't too keen on close combat though.

Asuma chuckled again, pointing at his weapons. "We'll get you a nice pair. Those, unfortunately, belong to me."

Shikamaru smiled sheepishly, but his head snapped alarmed to the side when he heard a very loud squeal. It was Ino. Of course. She was jumping up and down like a toddler (again; Shikamaru was worried that her mental age dropped this morning), barely making sense of her words. He strode over to see what got her so excited and rolled his eyes. Tessen, fighting fans, and they were purple. They were out of metal and could, if used correctly, be the deadliest weapon one would encounter in the wildlife of a city.

"They're so pretty!" She cooed, picking them up. She had one in each hand and waved them around. It was a little awkward at first, but then she figured out how to somewhat wield them and he had to admit, they served her quite well.

"They suit you perfectly, Ino!" Sakura grinned, flushing slightly, and spinning a senbon in her hand. Did she already pick up a new tick?

"Right?"

Shikamaru shook his head but smiled as well. He rarely ever saw her this excited. He glanced around to see what the others were up to. As suspected, Sasuke was swinging a katana and Choji was testing out a couple of brass knuckles. The two destroyed a tree each, looking very pleased with themselves. Kiba was showing off karambits to Shino, who was more interested in the tanto he was holding and was basically ignoring the dog-nin. Typical. Naruto, on the other hand, was twirling a bo staff almost expertly as Hinata watched in awe, holding...

Now, that was unexpected.

She was holding a bow and a quiver full of arrows was strapped on her back. She looked like a hunter, to be completely honest. But then again, he couldn't imagine her with anything other than that. It clicked perfectly with her character. He just didn't know how her clan, especially her father, would react to that. They were famous for their byakugan and taijutsu, close combat. What would happen if the heiress started using bow and arrow? A clearly long-range weapon? Whatever their reaction, they would be there to support her. Like they always do.

--

Choosing weapons was fun!

Naruro really enjoyed trying out different things. He had liked Tekko-Kagi a lot but settled for a simple bo staff in the end. It just felt more natural. He could even spin it without hitting his face after a couple of tries! He also helped Hinata pick. Kurenai-sensei did say that it wasn't necessary, but she insisted and he agreed to help. Why not? They picked a bow and arrow after a while and he watched her try it out.

~Her stance is off~ Kurama commented after a few missed shots. ~Tell her to raise her left arm a little higher and adjust her legs~

Naruto tilted his head. "How do you know that, Kurama?"

The fox scoffed, tails swishing irritated in the mindscape. ~Have you forgotten how old I actually am, kit? I've seen and witnessed many archers. Humans used to use these weapons a long time ago.~

"Heee..."

Hinata looked up at him, arrow pausing hallway to the bow. "Is something the matter, Naruto-kun?"

Oops. Did he say something out loud?

He shook his head and smiled. "No, it's nothing. But Kurama says that your stance is off..."

After only a few more minutes, and with Kurama's help, Hinata managed to hit the target dead in the centre. The high five happily and giggle as Kakashi and Kurenai made their way over.

"I see you both made excellent choices!" Kurenai-sensei smiled and ruffled Hinata's hair. "You really managed to hit the target so soon? Now, that's what I call impressive!"

The Hyuuga blushed and glanced away from her sensei. "Than-thank you. But Na-Naruto-kun is way more impressive!"

The woman chuckled. "Really? How so?"

Hinata looked at him, a silent request written in her lavender eyes. He didn't want to show off, but Kakahi-sensei also seemed interested. So, he sighed and twirled the staff in front of him, behind him and even above. The Jounins' eyebrows shot up to their hairlines as they openly gaped at him. Hinata just watched in awe as she did before and clapped lightly.

"Who taught you those moves, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

He shrugged. "No one."

They stared for a moment longer before Kakashi sighed and ruffled his hair as well. He had gotten pretty used to that and managed not to flinch every time someone touched him unexpectedly! "Why am I even surprised? You all really shoot my standards over the roof."

Naruto chuckled.

...

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Shikamaru turned around, eyebrow raised. Naruto could see it in his eyes that he was thinking of multiple reasons as to why he wanted to talk. It only took a second and he nodded. "Are you going to tell me what has been bothering you?"

"Eh?" Naruto froze mid-step. He was pretty sure he acted like his normal annoying self, and that nobody suspected that there was indeed something that had been nagging him for a while now.

Shikamaru smirked. "You refused food. It was kinda obvious to me."

"Ah..."

They let the others know that they would join them in a few and walked to a more secluded spot. The Nara looked at him thoughtfully and worried, to some extent. "No, but seriously, what's on your mind?"

Naruto sighed and leaned against a tree, hands in his pockets. He had sealed his temporary bo staff away in a storage seal. Temporary because he planned to get a new one when he saved up enough money. "You know the date of the Uchiha massacre is coming up, right?"

He tilted his head. "Yeah. It's in, like, a week?" Naruto nodded. "What about it?"

"How do I put it...Something is just not adding up..."

"Meaning?"

"You remember when Sasuke told you guys about that night?"

"He had several melt downs during and we kind of swore to help him get revenge...How could I forget that? It was horrifying." Shikamaru grimaced.

"Well," Naruto continued, ignoring Shikamaru's shudder, "Since then, he told us more about his brother Itachi. Sakura and I. And it doesn't make any sense? Why would he do something like that? From what Sasuke told us, Itachi was incredibly skilled and loyal to the village. He would also never hurt Sasuke. Yet, he put him through mental torture. But then, why not kill him as well? He killed all the others; his parent, the elderly and children too."

Shikamaru furrowed his eyebrows. "...Itachi said he did it to measure his strength, but infants, toddlers and half-dead people are not all that strong...You believe there was another reason?"

"Yes," The jinchuuriki nodded. "I know it might be far stretched, but I thought about a million and two possible reasons and only one feels about right...What if he was ordered to do it?"

Shikamaru was taken aback. "Ordered to kill his whole clan? That's insane! Who in their right mind would do that to a thirteen-year-old?"

"...You remember that Danzo guy?" Naruto asked quietly. The brunette stilled, thinking about it. They had met him when they were summoned by the Hokage after a pretty nasty prank a while ago. He had been in the office then, arguing over something with Jiji. He gave off a really bad vibe and they instantly did not trust him at all. Kakashi had later explained some things about that man and they all knew that they did not like him. "He desperately wants to become Hokage and would do anything to achieve that. The Uchiha were a mighty clan, it would make sense to have them out of the way in case they cause problems...Especially after the Kyuubi attack. They were the main suspects because only the Sharingan is powerful enough to control Kurama."

"You might be right...but why make Itachi do it?"

"That's what I don't understand. Why him specifically?" Naruto questioned almost to himself. "Like I said, Itachi was loyal to the village. He was important, why throw him away like that? Maybe he was not as loyal to his clan? And what if he didn't kill Sasuke because he just couldn't? Agh! I don't know! I need your help."

"So, what do you want me to do?" Shikamaru asked in all seriousness. Looks like Naruto managed to convince him that something was foul.

"I need your help to find solid proof. And don't tell Sasuke about this just yet. I don't want to give him false hope only to realize that his brother's indeed the lunatic he hates. Also, we might need to break into the Hokage's office."

Despite the last part, Shikamaru nodded. "I see what I can find. I might be able to sneak into my father's office when he's not home...Can I bring Ino into this? Her dad may also hold something that could help."

"Sure. Do whatever you deem is necessary. I can do the whole 'breaking into the Hokage office in the middle of the night' thing. Nothing I haven't done before!" Naruto smiled.

"...Do I even want to know?"

...

When Sasuke opened the door, Naruto almost flinched back.

A week had passed since they all trained together and they had spent that time fulfilling D-rank missions. He was pretty sure they were the only Genin team that had completed so many in such a short amount of time, but Sasuke didn't show up today. They all knew why and didn't push him to come with them, but it still felt weird. There was just this empty spot that couldn't be filled and he felt naked somehow. Sakura said he didn't even want to leave his bed this morning and just hid in his blanket until she was gone.

And as they had promised, they invited Kakashi to have a movie night at the Uchiha's apartment. He agreed to also bring his pack, but he was late. Typical.

Now, back to Sasuke, he looked like shit. He was paler than usual and the bags under his eyes were almost as dark as his hair. He was wearing regular grey sweats and a black t-shirt three sizes too big, onyx eyes lifeless as he let them in without a word. Sakura and Naruto exchanged worried glances as they followed him to the living/bedroom. They took the front door instead of the window that day because they were sure he wouldn't appreciate mud on the windowsill at the moment.

"How are you holding up, Sasu?" Sakura asked, dumping her bag on the floor. She had sneaked into her parents house to 'borrow' some old movies. Sasuke gave her a dead look and she flushed. "Right...sorry."

As Sakura went to grab a bunch of blankets and pillows to build a fortress in front of the TV, Naruto opened his own bag and took out the snacks he brought. They were hella expensive, but it didn't matter to him. He held out an extra big tomato he had found to Sasuke, smiling slightly when he saw a spark in his eyes. Granted, it was only for a moment, but a spark nonetheless.

When Sakura came back, barely visible behind all the fabric, she and Naruto began to arrange them. Sasuke watched them with a dull expression, absently nibbling on the tomato. Just as they were ready, something small flew in through the window and landed in the middle of the nest.

"Pakkun!"

The rest of the pack arrived in a more civilized manner and when Kakashi appeared on the windowsill, he sighed heavily. His dogs had already made themselves comfortable. Pakkun was tucked under Sakura's arms and Bull lay in front of the TV, ready to serve as a pillow for his cubs (Naruto still couldn't get used to what Kakashi called them. It was like he saw them as his kids). Bisuke was trying to get Sasuke's attention, but the boy just stared numbly at him, not reacting to anything.

Team 7 frowned. He really was out of it. Naruto sighed and grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him to the heap of fluffy blankets and pillows. Kakashi-sensei, in civilian clothes, followed and Sakura put in a movie. Kakashi sat down cross-legged and Naruto shoved Sasuke gently in his direction. Their sensei caught him and forced him down next to him. It was scary how easy that was.

Once Sasuke was neatly tucked against his sensei's side with a baby blue blanket around his shoulders, Bisuke made himself comfortable on his lap, nosing his head under the boy's hand. Sakura wrapped herself in a red blanket like a burrito and sat next to Sasuke, leaning lightly into him, while Naruto took a bowl of popcorn and leaned against Bull. It was strangely warm and cosy. Naruto felt safe and at ease, something he wasn't used to at all. Maybe he could even sleep tonight!

Thirty minutes into the movie, an old one about a lost dog or something, Sasuke shook his head and looked around. His eyes were clear now, and wide. Like he hadn't comprehended what was happening. Kakashi noticed and smiled, gently running his hand through the Uchiha's hair. The boy hesitated, but closed his eyes and relaxed, leaning into the touch contently. He finally must've realized that he had a dog in his lap because he started petting Bisuke, who gave a happy bark and a tail wag. Sasuke smiled softly as Sakura melted into his side and rested her head on his shoulder. He looked over to where Naruto was surrounded by the rest of the dogs and his smile grew, if possible, softer.

Naruto smiled as well and turned his eyes back to the TV, humming a low tune.

--

It didn't take long for the cubs to fall asleep.

Naruto was curled into a ball, looking so small compared to Bull whom he was using as a pillow. He was hugging Guruko close to his chest, but it didn't seem like the dog had a problem with that, considering that he was fast asleep as well. Somewhere along the line, Sasuke had slid down and was now laying in his lap, Bisuke rolled up around his head and Sakura against his side, Pakkun tucked neatly in the crook of her legs. The rest of his dogs were lazing all around them.

Sasuke started wiggling uncomfortably, a frown on his face. He must be having a nightmare. Kakashi sighed, tenderly rubbing Sasuke's back. The genin stiffened at first, but then snuggled closer and relaxed, a small smile replacing the frown. He studied Sakura's sleeping frame. From what he could gather, she lived here at the moment. He noticed the extra futon, her duffle bag and a lot of her stuff lying around in the apartment. Did she get into a fight with her parents? Kakashi had showed up at her house when they got back, but they acted like they didn't know him. (They did recognize him later on though and he regretted not bringing a camera with him.)

He sighed again.

They all looked so peaceful when they were sleeping and it was then Kakashi realized just how stressed they usually were. It wasn't just training and missions. It was the burden they all carried, a different one each. Sasuke was the last Uchiha, excluding Itachi, so the council had many expectations and it was slowly eating him up from the inside. Naruto was Konoha's jinchuuriki, the only person keeping the Kyuubi from destroying the village, but was scorned and shunned out by its citizens. He worked so hard on getting people to acknowledge him, Kakashi wasn't sure what it did to his psyche. And Sakura...she came from a civilian family. While that was already a disadvantage compared to kids from clans, her parents didn't think much of shinobi and did not support her by any means.

And yet, his cubs were stronger than everyone else. Because they had each other. But living in this apartment...

A thought suddenly occurred to him and he perked up, eyes wide. He could-No. That was out of the question. He had sworn to never go back there. The memories were too painful. And what if they didn't want to? But then again...

"I know what you're thinking. Do it," Pakkun blinked up at him lazily. "What are you so afraid of, Boss? I'm sure you noticed that they are special, we like them. They won't reject you. Quite the opposite, they'll be really happy."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

...

Iruka choked on his coffee. "You what?" He asked wide-eyed.

Anko, Hayate, Aoba and Genma were also gaping at him, not believing their ears. Asuma and Kurenai were only smirking knowingly and he fought the urge to roll his eyes. They had gathered at Iruka's apartment, like they did sometimes when they all had time. Kakashi suddenly wished he had come later, but he couldn't wait. Thankfully, Gai wasn't here or he wouldn't hear the end of this. He was just way too energetic.

"I'm not repeating myself. I said what I said." He huffed.

"But..but why?" Anko stuttered out, setting down her cup of tea just in case.

Kakashi looked away, catching the shinobis attention once again. (He never gets embarrassed!) "Well, they need more space to run around..."

Aoba tilted his head. "Your dogs? But you let them roam free in the woods outside of Konoha multiple times a day!"

Genma smacked his arm and smirked, finally understanding where this was going. "He's not talking about his summons, idiot!"

Aoba rubbed the back of his head, looking confused as ever. "Then what-" His eyes widen. "Oh! You mean the monster trio?"

When the others nodded, Kakashi growled. The what now? "What did you just call them?"

The Tokujo paled. "Monster...trio?"

Before Kakashi could lash out, Hayate put a hand on his shoulder, coughing into his other one. "Calm down, Kakashi. He doesn't mean it like that. I don't know if you noticed, but your team had been terrorising half the ninja population for years now. First, they only pranked low-ranking Chunin, but now they levelled up to the Tokubetsu Jounin. When you were in The Land of Waves, Aoba was furiously trying to wash glitter out of his hair. Took him a week."

"Oh, okay then." Kakashi put his hands in his pockets, back to his indifferent self.

"OKAY?? THAT'S ALL YOU'VE GOT TO SAY??" Aoba exploded and Kakashi shrugged. The rest laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh while you can. But if those little demons pull one on you, don't come running back crying."

Asuma patted his shoulder, a smug grin painting his face. "Trust me, we won't. We have a special shampoo that can wash that shit out. Our kids gave it to us when we first started training, saying that we may need it in the future."

Aoba's jaw dropped to the floor. "You...You had something like that, yet you DIDN'T TELL ME?!"

"It was funny to see you struggle," Anko chuckled. She then swiftly stood up and dashed to Iruka, Aoba hot on her heels. She hid behind the Chunin and stuck out her tongue when Aoba hesitated.

Kakashi sighed as Genma turned to him. "Seriously though. It's only been a little over five months! Did they really worm their way into your heart that fast?"

The Jounin raised an eyebrow. "You haven't met them, have you?"

He tipped a finger on his chin. "I ran into them one time when you tagged me..."

"So, no."

"Well, I was their teacher at the academy, so I knew it wasn't entirely impossible." Iruka said, shoving Anko away from him. "But I didn't think it would happen that fast and that you'd be willing to open up your old clan grounds just for them to have a place to grow..."

"Now, that's newspaper worthy," Anko grinned, making herself comfortable on the ground in front of the bed to cover up her embarrassing slip. Aoba, having given up on the chase, lay beside her. "' Hatake Kakashi, The lone wolf finally found his pack!' Watcha think?"

Hayate threw a pillow at her face. "Don't be ridiculous! It's: 'Three wild Genin did the impossible and warmed Hatake Kakashi's stone-cold heart!'"

Kakashi groaned. "You're all impossible...I shouldn't have come here in the first place."

"What? No, no. You were right to come! We're sorry, okay?" Anko nervously waved off, glaring at the others. They quickly nodded.

He gave them a dry look and turned to Iruka. "Do you still have them, or did I just waste my time coming here?"

"Of course I do," The Chunin nodded and stood up. "Let me find them first. I don't remember where I put the paperwork."

As Iruka retreated to the kitchen, Hayate turned to him. "You do realize you have to talk to the Hokage about this, right?"

Kakashi sighed. "I know."

Chapter 8: Surprises in the making

Summary:

In which Team 7 encounters a weird individual and the people of Konoha are preparing for something big.

"Are you sure we have enough time?"

Asuma-sensei waved her off with a smile. "Don't worry, Ino. They are on a mission in the Land of Swamps right now. It'll take a month at best."

Ino nodded and fell back in step with Shikamaru and Choji. They were on the way to the old Hatake compound to clean it up before Team 7 returns from their mission and surprise them. It honestly came as a surprise to her as well that they planned on moving in together, but it made sense. Naruto's place was ready to collapse in on itself and while Sasuke's apartment was big enough, it was not suited for the three little powerhouses. They might just destroy the whole building on accident when testing out new things. Especially Naruto and his seal experiments. She shuddered at the thought.

"Hinata! Guys! Are you helping out too?" She yelled as soon as she spotted Team 8 on the other side of the road, walking in the same direction they were.

They crossed the road and Hinata smiled shyly. "Y-Yeah. I heard a lot-a lot of people are in o-on this pro-project"

She bumped their shoulders as they kept walking. "That just shows how popular they are! I'm kind of jealous, you know?"

"Of their popularity, or the fact that other people will be living with Sakura before you got the chance to?" Shikamaru smirked.

"SHIKAMARU!"

The Nara shrugged nonchalantly but took a safety step to the side, away from her. "What?"

Face as red as a chilly pepper, Ino glared at him. "You little-"

"Ino!" Asuma-sensei warned as if he wasn't all lovey-dovey with Kurenai-sensei just a moment ago.

"But he started it!"

Shikamaru had the audacity to look offended. "Did not!"

"But you did!"

"Kids! Calm down!" Their sensei cut in before the situation escalated. "No fighting. Remember why we're doing this."

That was enough to shut them up. Of course they knew why they so eagerly agreed to help out. Because Team 7 were their friends and they deserved good thing after all they suffered all their lives. All of their senseis friends were helping out too, whispering and giggling about a lone wolf and his cubs all the time. Whatever that meant. Those animal references they used regarding Team 7 confused her a lot, but she had to bad admit that they were as unruly as wild creatures in a forest. Sakura especially reminded her of a rabbit sometimes, with her bubbly but also leery personality...

Ugh! Why is she thinking about Sakura again? This is so irritating!

"We're here!" Kiba shouted and ran to the gate, only to stumble back, holding his nose. "Eww. This place reeks!"

Ino rolled her eyes and shoved past him. "That's why we have to clean it before they move in, idiot"

The Hatake house...only that it didn't look like a house at all. If she calculated it correctly, nobody had been living here for at least over a decade and it showed. Unusual plants were growing everywhere and moss covered the majority of the walls and floors. The front yard honestly looked more like a jungle than anything else. Ino was pretty sure half of the vegetation there was poisonous and took a mental note to collect what she could for Sakura. The pink-haired girl found an interest in poisons lately.

She glanced around as the others followed, and if she hadn't noticed the big-ass Hatake clan symbol, she would've completely overlooked the small dojo completely. It was practically part of the flora at this point. That'll be a pain in the ass to clean and repair.

But they would do it. Team 7 deserved this and much much more.

--

"Do you think they would like something like this?"

Sakura looked up at Naruto, who was holding a braided leather bracelet. It was brown and a bit boring, but otherwise pretty. "Who?"

"The 'Rookie 9'" He said, rolling his eyes. He still couldn't understand why they were so famous among the shinobi to be called that way. Sakura did. Though, she had the slight suspicion they were mostly terrified of them. They were considerably strong for Genin, vicious too, and nobody dared to cross them on a bad day. It was kind of funny watching grown-ass men flee when they caught sight of them and they weren't joking around.

"I suppose." She shrugged, dragging him away from the jewellery stall on the market. "Nevermind that, we have a mission to complete."

They were currently in the Land of Swamp on the Hokage's orders. They had to find a certain man and retrieve a scroll with classified information. Not even Kakashi-sensei was allowed to see its contents. Their first official B-rank. But. There's always a but. That man was impossible to find! Sakura was already exhausted. Not only did it take a whole fucking week to get here, they spent another one looking for him! And this nation is gigantic! Maybe not as big as the Land of Fire, but still big. This was the third city they visited today!

"I know that!" Naruto pouted. "But since we're already here, we could get gifts for everyone! Who knows if they ever come to this country!"

Sakura sighed, letting go of his shirt and walking at a normal pace again. Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets, looking around to find something interesting. Like their mystery person for example. The market was full of people of different ages and skin colours, surely, one of them must be their target! The crowd made both of them nervous, but they were ninja. Showing emotions was against the code. That didn't stop them, however, from flinching whenever a drunk passed them. Neither had good experiences with alcohol.

"Why don't we make them ourselves?" She suggested after a while of strolling around. Naruto looked at her with invisible question marks over his head. "Bracelets, I mean. We can buy different colours of leather and also make some for us too. They'll be like friendship bracelets!"

Naruto grinned so bright, Sakura had to squint. "That's an awesome idea!"

In the blink of an eye, it was now Sakura that was being dragged around. The market had a lot to offer, but they only managed to find three different colours; blue, red and purple. At least they were cheap. They weren't exactly the richest of people. The owner must've noticed that too because was watching them with disgust the whole time they were there. It made her uncomfortable. Was that how Naruto felt whenever he bought things in the village? She sure hoped not. She tugged on his sleeve, a silent request to leave. He nodded and quickly paid up. As they left, Sakura let out a breath she hadn't realize she was been holding.

"Are you ok?" Naruto asked, sealing their purchase away in a storage scroll and clipped it back to his belt.

"Yeah," She nodded and glanced at the sky. At the position of the sun, to be exact. "We have to go. Kashi-sensei and Sasuke are waiting."

"Let's go then!"

--

Iruka tried to drown out the noise around him. A difficult task, truly.

When he had asked for help to clean up the place, he had expected it to get rowdy, so it didn't bother him that much. That didn't mean, however, that it wasn't annoying. Especially Anko's booming laughter and shrieks whenever she touched something she wasn't supposed to were quite irritating. He was trying to scrub the floor for god's sake! Shut up!

But, of course, he didn't yell that out loud, as much as he wanted to. Instead, he rolled his eyes and he saw Genma grumpily agreeing with him. Also, why was it that the living room had the most moss and only two people volunteered to scrub it off? Water Jutsu only did that much, the rest must be done by hand. Unfortunately.

"I wonder what they are up to now," Genma said, stretching his muscles. "Team 7, I mean."

Iruka smiled dryly. "They have to find Oshan...You know how he is."

Genma shuddered. "I feel sorry for them then. Never liked that guy and I'm sure he never liked me either. He's just so...weird."

"A light way to phrase it," Iruka chuckled, ducking the rag into the water.

Oshan had never been a people person, much like Ibiki, and he had never tried to be friendly with others. He was brutally honest and had quite the temper, but was surprisingly one of Konoha's best spies. Being paranoid was part of a shinobi's life, that's for sure, but Oshan took that to another level. If he really didn't want to, not even the Hokage himself would be able to find him on a good day. And since he didn't get along with absolutely anyone in the village, Minato-sama had sent him away to travel and gather the information that might benefit the village someday. Even a decade after his passing, he was still travelling. Though, Iruka recalled, there was one person he tolerated.

Uzumaki Kushina.

Well, let's see how this goes.

..

They were done for today and he had to say: They did a pretty damn good job!

After only two weeks, they managed to make the house look like a house again and the dojo like a dojo. The yard didn't resemble a jungle anymore and he estimates, with the pace they were going, that it'll take another few days to get rid of the rest of the unnecessary vegetation and repair some things. The rest of the time they had until Team 7 comes back will be spent on painting and decorating, putting up furniture and breaking into three apartments to steal some stuff.

He couldn't wait to see their expressions! Though, he suspects Kakashi will be the most perplexed one, judging from the conversation they had before the mission.

Iruka came by Training Ground Three to drop off some scrolls Kakashi had requested and dumped them onto the Jounin's lap. "Here."

Kakashi didn't even glance at him, his calculating eyes trained on his students. "Yeah, thanks...NARUTO WATCH YOUR FOOTING!"

Naruto yelled back something that sounded suspiciously like 'My footing is fucking fine, you need to get your eyes checked!', just before he lost balance and stumbled. Iruka shook his head chuckling and leaned against a tree. He watched the three spar for a while; Sakura and Naruto teaming up to defeat Sasuke while the Uchiha did everything in his power to stay on his feet.

"You know...The lands are officially open now. Have you told them?"

He observed the Jounin out of the corner of his eyes and saw him stiffen and look to the side. "...no."

"What are you waiting for? Or rather, what are you afraid of?"

"They...might not-"

"Don't be ridiculous," Iruka scoffed, poking his arm rather aggressively. "They will be delighted!"

"But, but the house isn't nearly ready to be moved into!" He tried to argue, almost sounding desperate and insecure. "It still needs cleaning and repainting and-"

"And they would gladly help." The academy teacher finished sternly.

Kakashi frowned doubtfully. Was he blind or something?

Iruka sighed, pinching his nose. "Hatake Kakashi. You were put in charge of the three most stubborn and independent brats I have ever seen walk the academy halls. Brats that are intelligent and vicious and pretty much impossible to control on a good day. Am I wrong?"

"No?"

"And they listen to you because..."

"They have to?" He guessed, totally oblivious of his achievements.

"No, moron. They respect you!"

"...Isn't it normal to respect your sensei?"

Iruka almost laughed at that. "It is. They respect me, to some extent, but only because I had been their teacher for years. But you...well you may be the only adult they truly respect. They probably respect you more than the Hokage himself!"

"That's ridiculous!"

"No, that's terrifying." Iruka shook his head. "Look, just accept the fact that you're the only person in the world at the moment the can control those three troublemakers and fucking talk to them about the house. They adore you, you have absolutely nothing to worry about!"

Iruka really wanted to punch that frown off his face.

"Iruka-sensei?" A small hand tucked on his pant leg and he looked down to see Konohamaru blinking up at him. "When will Naruto-nii be back?"

He smiled and ruffled his hair, leading the boy through the front gate. "If everything goes well, in roughly two weeks"

--

"I hate that guy already..."

"Stop mumbling to yourself and keep moving, usuratonkachi!" Sasuke yelled from a few yards ahead of him. "We'll leave you behind!"

Naruto shook his head. "You wouldn't!"

"But I would!"

The blond smirked as an idea popped into his head and ran up to the Uchiha. As he passed, he kicked his legs from underneath him and dashed towards Kakashi-sensei for cover. Sasuke muttered profanities as he stood up and patted the dust off his clothes, almost sounding like he was placing a curse on the jinchuuriki. They were still in their ninja gear, but they weren't wearing their hitai-ate and had covered up their clan symbols. Anything that might give away their status as Konoha shinobi. Kakashi was wearing a cloak and a simple eyepatch to cover his Sharingan.

"Calm down you two," The Jounin sighed "We'll reach the next town soon. Behave!"

"Hai, Kashi-sensei..."

The shinobi groaned. "For the last time, it's Ka-ka-shi. Get that through that thick skull of yours!"

The three grinned. "Hai, Kashi-sensei!"

..

"Are you sure that's the place?" Sasuke asked, eyeing the run-down building with distrust.

Naruto nodded. "Absolutely. I can sense powerful chakra in here and it's friendly. Well, at least not entirely hostile. I can feel it spike up in Konoha morse code but it doesn't make sense. Maybe a tick of his?"

Kakashi ruffled his hair, smiling proudly. "You're right, Naruto. Your sensory skills really have grown, I wouldn't have noticed. And, yes. It is the man we are looking for. I recognize his chakra now."

"Well then," Sakura shrugged, pushing the door open. "Let's meet the mystery person we spent almost three weeks looking for."

Kakashi chuckled and followed in last. The building looked like it used to be some kind of hotel. There was a front desk and a lounge area when you walk in and stairs on the far left. Naruto was leading them to where the chakra was the strongest when, suddenly, he wasn't on his feet anymore. He was being held upside down by the ankles. He panicked for a second, before huffing and crossing his arms in front of his chest. He glared sideways at his captor.

"That's rude, ya know," He told him, tapping his finger four times on his arm to signal his teammates that it was alright and that this was the person they were looking for. "Has anyone ever told you you're rude?"

The man; tall, blond and bulky, raised an eyebrow at him and his team that visibly relaxed a little. "I get that all the time."

"Good to know. I didn't wanna be mean!" Naruto grinned and disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing by his teammates. The man was now holding a dead rat, which he dropped immediately after realizing.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

Kakashi stepped forwards, hands up in surrender. "Hatake Kakashi, Jounin. We are here on the Hokage's orders. Says you have something we may need."

The man scanned them for a minute, then turned around and motioned them to follow him. They went up a flight of stairs and arrived at a camp of sorts. The man had picked a small room to stay in, much to Naruto's confusion. There are bigger rooms that would be more comfortable! Though he had to admit, it was the cleanest room so far. Anyway. He had a sleeping bag rolled up in the corner and a backpack right beside it, a can of food open on the floor. It was still steaming, so he guessed they disturbed his dinnertime.

"You were eating?" He asked, but was met with sorrowful silence. "Erm, are you going to tell us your name or do I have to call you 'the man' in my head all the time?"

Sakura elbowed him in the ribs for being so blunt, but the man didn't seem to mind the question. "Oshan."

The Genin tilted their heads. What a weird name...

"Ossan?" Naruto wondered out loud.

"Who are you calling an old man, pipsqueak! It's Oshan!" He yelled, swirling around to glare at him. He then grinned creepily, sending shivers down his spine. "And do you have a name? Or do I have to call you a pipsqueak all the time?"

Naruto didn't let himself get intimidated and puffed his chest with pride. "Uzumaki Naruto!"

Oshan looked ready to make fun of him...until he heard his name, that is. "Uzumaki, you say? Now that's rare..."

At that, they all perked up, except for Kakashi-sensei who made himself comfortable against the windowsill.

"You've met other Uzumaki?" Sasuke asked as he knew none outside of Naruto.

Naruto himself knew about his mother, of course, through Kurama. And about the first jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Mito. He knew that he had a clan and that he originated from a village called Uzushio and that the village had been destroyed a long time ago. He hadn't heard of other Uzumaki surviving and didn't think it was all that necessary to tell his team about what he knew. It didn't really matter anyway.

"Well, yes," Oshan shrugged, looking through his bag. He unsealed a scroll from an inner fold, invisible to those who didn't know where to look. Naruto inched forward to get a glimpse of the seal. Oshan noticed and chuckled lowly, handing over the bag while tossing the scroll to Kakashi. Naruto examined it with wide eyes. How fascinating! "I've travelled the whole world, kid. Met a bunch of interesting people."

"Heee..." Sakura smiled, dropping to the floor cross-legged next to her blond teammate. "And do they look anything like Naruto at all?"

"Nope." He said, popping the 'p'. "First and most important of all, they all had fiery red hair, not that golden blond the pipsqueak has..."

Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, I know that. My mom had red hair, dad had blond. I kinda take that from him, ya know!"

"...Ya know?" He could feel the strange shinobi eyeing him and then come to a realization. "You're Kushina-san's..."

Naruto looked up from the new seal with a smile. "You knew my mom? Awesome!" Then went back to the seal, copying down everything he could.

Oshan turned to Kakashi bewildered. Their sensei must've found his reaction strange because he dipped his head to the side like a confused dog. The other man gestured wildly to Naruto, Kakashi and himself, leaving the Genin perplexed.

Kakashi understood though and barked out a laugh. "Deal with it."

--

"Ahhh, I'm beat!" Kiba whined, sprawled across the lawn. "And I'm hungry!"

Shikamaru sighed as Choji tossed him a bottle of water and a housemade ration bar. He was pretty exhausted himself. Between missions, training and renovating the house for Team 7, Shikamaru found little to no time for his usual naps. He was basically running on caffeine these days.

"It's been a month already, shouldn't they be back?" Ino wondered out loud, resting her head in her palm as she sat cross-legged next to Hinata. "I mean, are we going to even finish in time?"

"I heard from Genma-senpai that the man they're looking for is very hard to find, impossible even," Shino said, examining a curious-looking beetle on the tree in which shadow they sat.

"Besides," Shikamaru yawned and laid down next to him, eyes fluttering shut. "We're almost done. We only need to move their stuff."

Kiba snorted, lowering the bottle. "Yeah, like that'll be easy. Who is there to say they haven't boobytrapped their apartments? I'm especially afraid of Naruto's..."

"Nah, I believe his is the least guarded." Ino frowned, snatching two ration bars for her and Hinata from Choji's bag. "I remember he told me that his landlady got mad at him when he tried to do that...Sasuke's will be the hardest, I think."

...

And it was.

If Naruto had not 'saved' their chakra signatures in the security seals, they would've been dead for sure. Anko-san came close though. She did the foolish thing of stepping in first and almost paid the price. Ino managed to drag her out of the way before an axe (!!) sliced her skull clean in two. As Shikamaru deactivated the traps, she was muttering under her breath, eyes wide, and he was sure she will never try that again.

Now, collecting all their stuff wasn't all that hard. Both Sakura and Sasuke had alarmingly few belongings, most of them being weapons and books. Clothes were limited, but fluffy blankets were not. They had, like, a thousand of them. Other than a few picture frames of Team 7 and a pack of ninken, there...wasn't much else to take.

Shikamaru frowned. "This isn't right...should we go check her parents' house too? Sakura's, I mean."

Ino shook her head alarmed. "Nope, nope, bad idea. Very bad idea!"

"Let's move on to Naruto's apartment. The others must be done with Kakashi's already." Anko ushered them out the door, carrying the mountain of blankets in a simple scroll. Shikamaru activated the traps again and threw a bag full of clothes over his shoulder. Suprisingly, Naruto owned the most out of the three, but they had to search a damn long time to find them. Anger had boiled inside them when they first stepped into the apartment and saw the condition of the small place. Furniture was broken and held together with ducktape. Graffiti on the walls, insulting their friend with the worst slurs they had ever seen. What books he had left on the table and shelves were completely ripped apart and/or scorched.

Next time, they would bring Kiba. Identify any foreign scent and make them pay for that. Not necessarily a straight forward attack, though. That's against the law. Passive-aggressive. Like they had learned to do over the years to pay back everyone's bullies.

Anko was the one that found the storage seals in the end, carved onto the underside of the bed. It took them about half an hour to figure out how to unseal them because man, that's some complicated work. It's impressive, really, but a pain in the ass to deal with.

The jinchuuriki had even less clothes and personal items, but a had a heap more books and scrolls, parchment, ink and paintbrushes to make up for that. It looked like he had a whole freaking library at home!

"I don't know if I should be surprised or not." Ino sweatdropped.

Shikamaru sighed. "What a drag."

...

The young boy expertly snuck into his father's office when no one was looking. The perks of one's father being the Jounin Commander of Konoha and a reliable advisor for the Hokage here and there, was that he had a whole lot of documents. Paperwork the lazy Nara despised. But he kept it. Not hidden, no. He trusted Shikamaru and talked openly about topics other parents would avoid. Didn't mind Shikamaru looking through some files.

So, when he searched the 'U' section and noticed how slim the Uchiha one was, he became suspicious. Considering what happened five years ago, it should've been the biggest one. Was there really so little information? Or did his father hide the rest? Eyeing the Uzumaki one, he quickly tucked that under his black hoodie and kept looking.

After witnessing Naruto's genius hiding place for stuff he didn't want others to find, Shikamaru left all the obvious places for last. Sure, his father could've hidden them in plain sight, meant to be overlooked. It was Shikaku they were talking about after all. But the Nara heir had a slight suspicion this information was too crucial to take the risk.

An hour and three heart attacks later, he found what he was looking for. Behind the bookshelf in the corner (he trained his ears to detect if the noise alerted anyone at home, causing two out of the three attacks), was a portion of the wall that didn't quite look like the rest. The wallpaper was a slightly different colour. A square the size of one of Sakura's mega-books, a hue darker than it should be. Thank Ino and her insistence on learning the different colours and shades!

He fingered the edge a little and peeled off the layer. Behind it was a slot. And files. Thick ones. He gingerly grabbed one and his eyes widen. The Uchiha Massacre: Official Records, it read, but there was a sticky note attached on the front. Thoughts and suspicions included. Why it actually happened and who was behind it~ Nara Shikaku/ Yamanaka Inoichi

He quickly scanned the other documents and stuffed the ones he needed under his hoodie, into the seals to be exact. He had worn an extra big one on purpose today and had added some seals Naruto made just in case. He clued the sheet back on with chakra, pushed the bookshelf back into place and studied the room for any evidence that he was there. Nothing. Good.

He made a show of coming out of the office, clutching a file to his chest and letting his hair fall into his face. He preferred to let it loose at home. It wasn't an unusual sight in the Nara compound. Shikamaru liked to go through some interesting reports, furthering his knowledge, or just simply for a light read when he was particularly bored. He opened the door to the living room, his father glancing up at him. He had come back home a little while ago (hence the third heart attack) and was in the middle of a discussion with a Jounin Shikamaru didn't recognise. He raised an eyebrow at his son questioningly. The boy shifted the file enough for him to read the headline.

The Uzumaki Clan: Uzushiogakure And More

He nodded and his eyes fell back to the shinobi across from him. Shikamaru shuffled past the man and crawled under the table, which was luckily high enough for him to comfortably curl by his father's legs. Deciding that he didn't want to risk it just yet, he checked if the Uchiha files were still safe in the seal and opened the Uzumaki one. He felt his fathers hand on his head, fingers combing through his hair, as his dark eyes scanned the first page with interest. Uzumaki Mito, huh?

--

Sasuke let the salty wind hit his face and closed his eyes.

While the ocean wasn't necessarily his favourite thing in the world, it did have a different feel to it. He liked it, really. It radiated the kind of freedom he desired. Kept him at ease. Calmed his nerves. He wasn't obsessed with it like Naruto was for some reason, but he sure liked the sight of endless deep blue in every direction. A crash somewhere behind shook him out of the calmness and he flinched.

"Sakura! Give that back! I was working on it!" Naruto yelled, chasing the pink-haired girl across the ship.

Sakura stuck out her tongue, clutching something close to her chest as she raced over to where Sasuke was. "Not anymore!"

Sasuke turned around and sighed when she hid behind him. That started a game of peek a boo between his two idiot teammates until he had enough and grabbed them both by the collar and held them up like kittens. "What, exactly, are you two doing?"

Naruto cringed away from his tone as Sakura beamed at him. "We're making friendship bracelets for the gang. You wanna help?"

He let go of them and raised an eyebrow. "Friendship bracelets?"

She nodded eagerly, showing off what she had been clutching to her chest a minute ago. It was a half-finished red and grey braided leather bracelet. The colours reminded him of...

"This one's for Choji," She said. "Each one of us has a different colour, obviously, to match our aesthetic. Team 8's are ready, as well as Ino's and Shikamaru's. That leaves Choji's and ours. We could use an extra hand!"

The Uchiha shoved his hands in his pockets and buried his face in his collar as he followed the two below deck. "...I don't even know how..."

"It's okay, I can show you how it's done." Naruto grinned and dropped down near Kakashi-sensei and him.

That weird guy, Ossan or something, that had decided to leave with them. He said there was nothing in the Land of Swamps for him at the moment and since their destination was the Land of Fire with a stop in the Land of Bean Jam, he tagged along. It would've been faster to go overland from Swamp to Bean Jam and then take a ship, but it was safer for them with a ship from the start. Like it or not, Team 7 always managed to attract attention. Most of the time unwanted.

Naruto and Sakura gave him navy blue and black coloured leather bands and explained to him what he had to do. The two older shinobi watched them with small smiles as they were talking. It was weird to see Oshan smile, but he had taken a liking to Naruto and his attitude and Sasuke feared it was contagious.

To distract himself, he turned to Naruto, just slightly embarrassed. "Tell a story?"

"Of course," The boy smiled softly as he began to ramble, hands practically moving on their own.

...

"Will we meet again?" Naruto asked, letting his legs dangle over the railing, Sasuke and Sakura standing on either side of him.

They had arrived at Bean Jam an hour and a half ago. Being the little hurricanes they were, Team 7 had explored the harbour and wreaked a little havoc. And they may or may not be banned for life from the ramen shop together with Itsuki, the trainee of the crew they were travelling with. They were quite the troublemaker themself, as the three were informed by the captain, and they got along pretty well. Much to everybody else's horror. Over the last three days of sailing, the group of four had pranked pretty much everyone on the ship. While Kakashi and the crew were somewhat used to it, Oshan didn't appreciate their jokes.

And speaking of Oshan, he was currently walking away from them, a bag over his shoulder, as the last passengers boarded the ship. At Naruto's question, he stopped and looked back at them with a smirk. "I'm afraid not, squirt. I'm kind of impossible to find...you were lucky I made it easy this time since I knew someone would come for the scroll."

Sasuke frowned. Made it easy? They had spent almost three whole fucking weeks searching! As Kakashi snickered, Naruto tilted his head in confusion, studying Oshan like he was a complicated seal he desperately wanted to crack. Sakura, on the other hand, was about to explode. She principally did not like long missions. A week or two, yes. But not a month. He put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. She looked at him frustrated and he nodded. He understood where she was coming from.

"Then," Naruto said with a grin, gaining all of their attention. "Then, I'll make it my personal mission to find you again! As long as we're both alive, we will see each other again. And when I do find you, you have to tell me about yourself!"

The group gaped at him. He said it with such conviction, they couldn't help but believe him. Sasuke shook his head, smiling at his teammate's idiocy. They barely managed to locate him this time, when he made clear it was easier than usual. But they would grow. Grow stronger and more experienced. Sasuke had a slight suspicion that Naruto will become Konoha's number one sensor type ninja. With the pace he was going, and having already surpassed Kakashi in that field, it wasn't all that impossible. He was sure that if anyone could do it, it was Naruto.

Oshan chuckled, shaking his head. "Whatever you say, pipsqueak. It's a deal. But if you never find me again before I die, you will have to live with questions."

Questions. They all had those regarding this man. Sasuke was sure Kakashi had them too, even if he knew him in the past. They all wanted to know why he was travelling alone. Why he was so hard to find. Why it seemed like he didn't like or trust anybody but himself. While they admired his work and loyalty to the village, they wanted to know how it came to this in the first place.

Suddenly, Naruto tensed.

It wasn't that obvious, but those who knew him could tell. His legs stopped swinging, his knuckles turned white from how hard he was holding onto the railing, and his eyes darted around, trying to locate the source of his discomfort. An outsider may have not noticed, or just not paid attention to it, but it was enough for Sakura and Sasuke to move closer to him. They didn't sense any threats, but if Naruto was tense, they were too. It took Kakashi a moment, but he noticed too and glanced around almost lazily.

Oshan raised an eyebrow at their odd behaviour. "Wha-"

"Hey...isn't that the demon brat?" A voice them called from their right. Sasuke turned his head to see a couple of Konoha shinobi in travel attire, ready to board the ship. The one who spoke was a middle-aged man with ash-blond hair, Chunin in rank, if Sasuke was correct. His brown eyes held nothing of Iruka-sensei's warm chocolate ones as he stared at them, at Naruto, with shock and disgust. That alone enraged the young Uchiha.

The brunette woman, that seemed to be his wife, turned to look at them and her eyes widen. "Oh my god..it is! What the hell is that monster doing here? Surely not on a mission," She chuckled, shaking her head in disbelieve, "There's no way it graduated the academy!"

It. She fucking called Naruto an it! Like he wasn't even a person anymore. Sasuke clenched his fists, a snarl making its way past his lips. He rarely ever gets angry. He gets annoyed, yes, but never truly angry. But now...he's furious. Chakra channeled through his system, running fast and hot and gathering behind his eyes. His Sharingan flared to life, all six tomoe swirling like crazy, as he glared at the shinobi. His hand inched closer to his weapon pouch, but he knew he couldn't just yet. He glanced at Kakashi, waiting for orders on how to proceed.

But he was just as enraged as Sasuke was. The Uchiha had never seen him glare at someone so hard, even the Hokage would cower if put under that glare. He seemed to be battling with himself, understandably confused, his mind a mess. Sasuke knew that, if he could, he would shred the ninja into pieces for what they said. But they were Konoha shinobi. It was against the law to hurt your allies for no good reason. It was a pretty good reason in Sasuke's opinion, but they were no traitors, as far as he knew.

At last, he stepped forward and placed a hand on his two fuming 'cubs'. A clear message to stay put for now. Sakura and Sasuke huffed in unison, eyes still trained on the assholes that continued talking.

"Yeah, no way." The man shook his head, oblivious to the deadly glares he was receiving. "It must've snuck out of the village or something. Wouldn't put it past the demo-"

Naruto flinched with everything they said, steadily curling into a ball to appear smaller than he already was. And out of all of them, Oshan had the most odious, enraged and simultaneously cold scowl. He looked extremely intimidating. Everyone in a fifty feet perimeter inched away from him, glancing around nervously. His eyes darted to the blond boy, his scowl deepening. Then, in a flash, he was gone. He shunshined right in front of the couple, a creepy smile on his face, scaring the shit out of them.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat what you just said?" He asked, leaning back in a relaxed manner. But it was clear to everyone that one wrong word or move would be devastating. "I believe you called that boy a demon? But that can't be, right? I'm sure I just misheard. Right?"

By now, the pair noticed the glares. Noticed and recognised Team 7 and came to the realization that the 'demon brat' indeed graduated from the academy, and was part of the most feared Genin team in Konoha. They paled. Their knees were shaking. The blond man took an unsteady step back.

"O-of course...we-we would nev-never dare to-to call it-eh-him something like that!" He stuttered, retreating together with his wife. "Right, honey?"

"R-Right," She frantically nodded, grabbing his hand and dashing away. "It was nice meeting you, but we have to go! Bye!"

As he watched them disappear into the crowd, Sasuke let out a chuckle, deactivating his Sharingan. Sakura and Kakashi-sensei breathed a sigh of relief and the pink-haired girl hugged their jinchuuriki. Sasuke was alarmed to see his trembling shoulders, an indication that he was crying, and moved closer. Naruto's eyes darted up to him, a bit red and filled with tears, but he smiled. It was a small, relieved and grateful smile.

"Thanks, guys. You really didn't have to do this and get so angry. They're just regular people-"

He was cut off by Oshan who ruffled his hair. No one questioned when and how he got there. "Don't be stupid, pipsqueak. Your team will always be there to protect you no matter what. And...you can always count on me too. I may stay in the shadows, but I will be sure to eliminate any enemies to come."

After a pause, Naruto smiled again. Big and bright and blinding. "Thank you, Oshan! And our deal still stands! I will become stronger and find you!"

The Konoha shinobi laughed and walked off again, this time for good.

And despite all odds, Sasuke was going to miss the weird man. There just was something about him that pulled the boy in. Maybe it was the mystery surrounding him. Maybe it was his strange way to do things. Or maybe it was his incredible skills in espionage. Whatever the fact, Sasuke came to like him.

Notes:

Hello fellow humans and thank you for reading yet another chapter of this story of mine, hope you liked it.

Just a note here- Yes, Itsuki is indeed a non-binary person using they/them pronouns, which is why Sasuke refers to them as such. I don't know if they will ever appear again in later chapters, let me know if you want to see more of them.

Also- Shikamaru did start the investigation a little late, but only because he couldn't find the time to. As stated in the chapter, he was busy with training, missions and cleaning and when he was home, his father was in his office most of the time, so that was impossible. Ino started her search too, but I didn't know how to fit it in the story, so let's just pretend it happens parallel to Shikamaru, ok?

Anyway, stay tuned for next week!

Chapter 9: Home sweet home

Summary:

In which Kakashi has weird friends and Sakura has...a problem.

Kakashi sighed.

It had been their longest mission so far and he was just glad it was over. He was exhausted and bruised and his hair was full of glitter. Where his brats found that stuff on a ship in the middle of the sea was beyond him. The only thing he wanted to do now is to relax with his Icha-Icha and have a nice quiet night. But God was not on his side, as per usual.

As he took out his keys to unlock the door to his apartment, he felt three familiar chakra signatures running towards him. Confused because they just parted ways, he turned around to face his upset cubs, raising an eyebrow.

"Kashi-sensei!" They whined, strangely out of breath.

"Somebody broke into our homes!"

"And took our stuff!"

"There is nothing left! Not even the stuff I sealed away!"

"What?" Kakashi was baffled. Who in their right mind would rob his brats? Everyone in the village should know by now not to mess with Team 7... Surely he didn't-

He quickly unlocked his door, ignoring his students surprised yelps. Not even bothering to take off his shoes, Kakashi stormed inside...only to find it empty. All his belongings: bookshelf, closet, and even his bed. Gone. Searching the other rooms as well, he found that everything of value had been stolen. And if that also applied to his cubs, then there was only one reasonable explanation. Iruka was here.

He groaned, rubbing his face in irritation as the three entered the cleared out kitchen.

"Sensei, what's going on?" Sakura asked worriedly. She was playing with her sebon, like every time she was nervous or uncomfortable. He didn't know when she picked that habit up, but he was almost sure that if someone were to strip her off her weapons, she'd go feral.

"Maybe someone has a grudge against us?" Sasuke speculated, twirling a kunai in his hand and glancing around as if trying to find the one responsible and, possibly, hurt them. Again, what is it with those brats and weapons?

Kakashi looked at them, his insecurities and doubts suddenly coming back full force. He desperately tried to ignore this nagging feeling in the back of his mind during their mission and he couldn't find the courage to tell them about the house. But it was too late now. Damn Iruka acted on his own.

"I think I know where our belongings are...and the culprit..."

Three heads snapped to him in confusion and curiosity. He walked back to the door, letting them pass through first and shut it with a bang.

...

Kakashi led them to a far edge of Konoha, where the trees were overgrown and the traffic almost nonexistent. It was a path he had sworn to himself to not ever walk again. It was too painful to even think about. But here he was. With three kids that made the impossible possible. He had wholeheartedly thought that he was incapable of caring for anyone again. Thought that his emotions were completely cut off and shoved too far back. But these three brats came like a hurricane and became his new family of sorts.

A little small and broken maybe, but a family nonetheless.

He was scared. There was a reason why he pushed everyone away after Obito's death. And then Rin's. And Minato-sensei's and Kushina-san's. He was scared to lose them too.

"Kashi-sensei, where are we going?" Sakura asked, jumping on a tree to his left as they maneuvered through the dense woods.

"You'll see when we get there...though, I really hope I'm wrong."

"This place smells weird," Naruto commented as he flipped over a branch, scrunching his nose. "Like wildlife and stuff, but also...paint? Bleach? I dunno, doesn't really fit in the scenery-Oh, is that barbeque?"

Ok, yeah, there's definitely something going on.

They reached the end of the little forest. The trees opened up to a clearing, a huge gate marking the entrance to the property. They hopped down and made their way over. Kakashi opened the gate and passed through, three curious Genin trailing behind him.

"Where are we?" Sasuke asked, peering over his shoulder.

"My old clan lands...I haven't been here in a long time. I didn't really need all this space." Kakashi explained as they walked the path leading to the main house.

It was...clean. He knew it should not be like that. It should be filthy, plants growing everywhere and animals making it their own home. It should be covered in moss and other disgusting stuff. But it was not. It was neat and as good as new, as if it was never abandoned. As if it wasn't left at the mercy of mother nature for over ten years. Even if he had his suspicions before they arrived, he was still too shocked to move.

"This is all yours?" Sakura gaped, wide eyes scanning the setting. She gasped. "Is that a fucking dojo?"

It was. And it was cleaner and more impressive than he remembered. Because despite this being the official Hatake clan residence, it had always been just him and his father. And none of the two had been particularly fond of the dojo; they both preferred the Training Grounds Konoha provided.

"Well, you say that you haven't been here in a while, but," Naruto tilted his head, looking in the direction of the main house "This place is full of people. Why?"

They continued walking and Kakashi sighed. "I...I reopened this place recently. I was thinking maybe...you needed more room to run around in and experiment freely without causing harm to others and-"

"Wait," Sakura held up her hands in a time out gesture, eyes sparkling. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I-"

"About time you showed up!"

The four turned to where the cheery voice came from. Kurenai stood by the front door, wearing her civilian clothes: black sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt Kakashi was pretty sure belonged to Asuma. She was smiling brightly at them as she held up a plastic bag.

"Come on, the others are waiting. We were worried since you were late to return, but you can take a look at the house while we prepare dinner-"

Before she even got to finish, blurs of blue, pink and yellow ran past her into the building. Looking a little dumbfounded, Kurenai chuckled breathlessly. "I guess they never change, do they?"

While he did agree with that statement, Kakashi was still at a loss for words. This was actually happening. He was not dreaming or anything, he would've noticed. All his colleagues, except for Gai (thank god) and the Genin teams 8 and 10 were there. They were in the back yard, he could sense them. He glanced around again. Took in the neatly mown grass around the house, the previously-grey-now-white painted dojo, the flower garden right beside it. He, honest to god, did not know what to say or how to react.

Kurenai seemed to notice his inner turmoil because she smiled softly and took a step to the side. "Why don't you just come inside and take a look? Most of the furniture was trash, so we brought in new. We maintained what we could though!"

Kakashi nodded.

...

If he was expecting anything, it certainly wasn't this.

When he walked into the living room, aka the main lounge area, he was met with a large display of colours. Mainly blue, pink/red, and orange, but numerous different shades of them. Take the couch for instance; it was a big sectional one with enough room for five people and blood red. The many cushions stretched from blue to light orange to white; it should be hurting his eyes to look at, but the only thing he could think of was his team and it was a strangely welcome sight. It looked like home.

In front of the couch was a little table. Low, but also high enough for Shikamaru to nap under. Kakashi still wasn't too sure as to why the Nara liked to sleep under tables...

Ino was sitting on the kitchen counter (the two rooms were connected), letting her legs dangle while watching his cubs run around excitedly, laughing when Naruto slipped and fell face-first into Shikamaru. The kitchen, in contrast to the living room, was plain. White and black cupboards, grey counter and fridge. The fridge was huge, bigger than any of the four had in their apartments, and covered in photos. Of Teams 7, 8 and 10. Of all of them together. Of their joined training sessions. Of ridiculous missions the Genin had to accomplish...A smile made its way past his lips and he was suddenly very grateful he was wearing a mask to cover that.

He stepped to the side when Sakura came rushing past him to get to the upper floor, where he knew the bedrooms were located. His heart ached at the thought of sleeping in the room where his father-

He shook his head, no need to fall back into that spiral.

Sakura let out a very loud and very happy squeal before dashing back down to grab his arm and drag him upstairs. "Kashi-sensei, you have to see this! It's amazing! NARUTO, SASUKE! GET YOUR ASSES UP HERE!"

He heard a confirmation from Sasuke and a groan from Naruto, who was no doubt still recovering from his crash and Shikamaru's wrath of being woken up. Light footsteps echoed behind them as the boys caught up and Sakura slid a door open. Kakashi froze. It was his father's old room, but it hadn't been renovated to be his. He didn't know if Iruka did that on purpose, but he was glad it turned out this way.

Since the house itself did not have many bedrooms, they had made it so that the three Genin would be sharing one. At least for now. In return, Kakashi will be sleeping in his old quarters and they had a guestroom left for visitors. He'd look into that later. For now, he was gawking at what was in front of him.

The walls were white, but not the unwelcome, suffocating white. It was...gentle, in a way Kakashi could not describe and he had a feeling it would not stay like that. His cubs were sure to pin photos, drawings, blueprints and whatever else they wanted on them. A wooden bunk bed designed for three people was positioned in the far corner, right beside the window, and a trunk could be seen from underneath. He honestly did not want to know what was in there. Across the bed were the desks, two of them, and they were already cramped with papers and books, even when there was a considerably big bookshelf next to them. It looked like his cubs had more books and scrolls than the local library...

The one thing he actually raised his eyebrows at was the beanbags behind the door. Naruto was obviously the first one to jump on them and giggled when he sunk in like they were some kind of quicksand. Sasuke and Sakura rolled their eyes and ignored him to inspect their new room further.

Kakashi looked at them, at their sparkling eyes full of wonder, and swallowed. "So...you...want to stay here with me?" He asked almost shyly.

The three bright smiles he received almost threw him off. His eyes widen at the pure happiness he saw.

"Of course, sensei! We'd love to!" Naruto beamed, standing up from the beanbag to tackle him into a hug. Sakura and Sasuke soon followed, though the latter was still a bit uncomfortable with the human touch. Kakashi smiled softly.

"I thought you'd never ask! You were all secretly for a while now and we were wondering why-"

"So when Iruka-sensei came to the Training Ground that day before our mission, we had Nauto position a shadow clone to listen in."

The pink and blank-haired kids looked at him innocently, as if what they just said wasn't all that bad. He resisted the urge to groan.

"Also, we agree with Iruka-sensei," Naruto added as they let go and stepped back, glaring at him. "You are a moron. You could've just asked us and we would've happily agreed! Don't be a coward, sensei!"

He could see that almost as soon as the words left his mouth, Naruto regretted his choice of words. So like every responsible adult, Kakashi decided to tease them. He cocked his head to the side, eyebrow raised, but not in the confused dog manor. He made it look threatening, and his cubs fell right into the trap. Their smiles faded and their eyes widen. "Oh, is that what you think?"

Without blinking twice, the three bolted out of the room and since Kakashi was standing at the door, they took the window. He followed them there and burst out laughing when he saw them disappear into the woods, a confused Hinata staring after them.

"And here I thought you were growing soft on me," A voice said from behind him, sounding amused. He turned to see Genma leaned against the doorframe, a sebon between his teeth as usual. "But seriously though, did you really think they were gonna refuse? Dude, you're like the only person they listen to! And...oh my god..."

"What?"

Genma gaped at him as if he grew a second head or something. "Hatake Kakashi is a parent now!"

"..."

The Tokujo's eyes widen drastically when Kakashi started approaching him, murder in his only visible eye. He, too, bolted out of the room, the Jounin hot on his tail. "I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T-HEY WATCH IT! I SPENT TWO HOURS FIXING THAT- WAIT, NO, SOOOOORRRYYY!"

Laughter rang through the house as everyone watched the show. Genma looked like a ghost was chasing him instead of his friend and Kakashi was snickering behind his mask.

--

Naruto smiled softly into the night.

That day had been particularly eventful and even though he was exhausted, he was content. After they had returned from their month-long mission, the shock of being robbed blind was immense. But the reason behind that made him incredibly happy; he just couldn't stop smiling! The barbeque somehow was the best he ever had and he suspects it has to do with the fact that they shared it not only amongst the 'Rookie 9' but also a bunch of other interesting people.

Naruto had taken quite a liking to Anko, much to her delight and horror. They got along pretty well and had the same sense of humour, but he also found out something else. She was ridiculously easy to mess with. Just a simple genjutsu seal clapped onto her back when she wasn't looking sent her into a screaming fit. She ran around panicked, eyes blown wide and ready to cry. He didn't know what she was seeing, as he hadn't yet figured out how to control the illusions, but it was hilarious. She didn't talk to him for the rest of the night, though.

Aoba and Hayate were interesting too, even if the latter coughed way too much to hold a considerably normal conversation. But he discovered that the Tokubetsu Jounin was a skilled swordsman and Sasuke did not pass the chance to ask him to train him. While Kakashi and the other Jounin senseis weren't bad and he did learn something, it was always better to be taught by a specialist. Aoba was a bit jealous that the ill-looking shinobi had caught the Uchiha's attention, but instead of saying anything, he went to sulk in a corner, which was funny to watch.

Even Genma, whom they had run into at one point during training, was being bombarded with questions. Sakura was very lively and loud when she was excited, something the shinobi had not expected in the slightest and was taken aback. After coming over his shock, he answered her questions about sebon to the best of his abilities. At the end of the night, he too gained an apprentice.

Naruto giggled when he saw Kakashi glaring at his comrades, muttering something about them stealing his students under his breath. It sure wasn't meant to be heard by anyone, but Naruto's hearing never failed him. A strange warmth had spread in his chest.

It was then and there that he realized just how protective the man was over them. When they first met, Naruto did honestly not think much of him. But now...now he considered him part of his family. Wait...family? Since when did he have a- wait no, never mind. He gained a sister when he was seven and a brother not a year later. Sakura and Sasuke were his family. And Kakashi-sensei just joined when he became part of Team 7. Naruto was sure that if they were together, no enemy could stop them. No matter how big or how strong.

With that thought, he drifted into a dreamless sleep.

...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A shriek startled him awake and he fell out of his bunk. Which was quite inconvenient since his dumbass had chosen the very top one. He landed next to Sakura with a loud thud and cried out. "OW!"

He pulled himself up and sat cross-legged on the floor, glaring at nothing in particular. He saw Sasuke groggily sit up in his bed and rub his eyes, yawning. "What-what's going on?"

"I don't know. Ask her!" Naruto pointed at Sakura, who was still staring at her mattress in horror. "Sakura?"

She snapped back to reality and shuddered. "No, it's-it's nothing. S-Sorry to wake you guys." But as she said that, she bent over groaning. Her hand flew up to clutch her stomach. She looked like she was in pain.

"SAKURA!"

Now wide awake, the boys rushed to her side. They got on either side of her for support and led her back to her bed. She was still groaning and bent over, but after taking one look at her sheets and then a closer one at her pants, Naruto realized that it wasn't her stomach that was hurting. It was her lower abdomen and he knew exactly why. She just got her first period.

"Do-do you have any...you know..." He asked awkwardly. Since he wasn't a girl or had a female reproductive system for the matter, he had no idea what she was going through and what do to to make her feel better.

Sakura shook her head and took a couple of deep breaths. "I-I never had it before...I wasn't prepared and-and-"

"It's okay," Naruto smiled. "You can go take a shower. I'll tell Kakashi-sensei if you'd like and get this idiot to help me clean up." He gestured with his thumb towards Sasuke. The poor, oblivious, boy was looking at them in confusion, his eyes betraying a certain worry that told them he had no idea what was going on and thought that there was something seriously wrong with Sakura.

The pink-haired girl smiled brightly and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you! You're the best! Can we also send Pakkun to bring Kurenai-sensei? I don't feel comfortable talking about that stuff with Kashi-sensei..." She said as she let go, flushing in embarrassment.

"Will do!"

As Sakura grabbed a new set of clothes and left the room, Sasuke turned to the bottom bunk that belonged to her, eyebrows furrowed. He noticed a kunai sticking out from under her pillow and asked, "Did she injure herself with that? That's an awful amount of blood..."

Naruto smacked the back of his head. "She's got her period, you idiot."

...

Needless to say, Kakashi was horrified when he found out. Pakkun was sent to retrieve Team 8's sensei almost immediately and Naruto bit back a chuckle. They also had to explain the concept of menstruation to Sasuke since no one had ever informed him about that. He was still too little to understand why his mother was moody once a month when she was still alive, and as he had been living alone ever since then with no real contact with grown women, it wasn't all that weird. Naruto briefly wondered why they didn't learn that in school.

But to be fair, the only reason he knew was because he had read about it at some point and Kurama explained it to him in simpler terms when he asked. He had been quite aghast and gained a healthy respect for woman after that talk.

~Well...I wouldn't have known either, I'm living chakra after all. But with my previous two jinchuuriki being women...~ Kurama shuddered in his mindscape ~I still don't get how and why they both chose oblivious husbands, though. I still remember that one time Mito nearly blew up the house because of something Hashirama said~

Naruto giggled, receiving odd looks from his teammates. He waved them off and went back up. He started to change Sakura's sheets and clean them. It was almost sad that a twelve-year-old knew by heart how to remove blood stains from fabric, but what else could he do? He never was comfortable looking at the stains and after years of practising and experimenting, he could even perfectly clean up his wooden floors.

After he was done, he hung the laundry on the porch. Just in time to see Kurenai-sensei running up to their house, looking extremely worried.

"Hello-"

"What happened? Is Sakura ok? I heard it's an emergency!" She cut off his greeting, quickly moving to the door.

Naruto chuckled. "I don't know what Kakashi-sensei told you, but nobody is dead yet. Sakura just got her first-ever period and the others are quite freaked out about it."

Kurenai breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled softly. "Good thing I always am prepared for his kind of situation then. Hinata can be very moody if she wants to."

The blond blanched and gulped. He then quietly asked what to do and what not to on these days, for which Kurenai laughed but answered anyway. And by the sound of it, there were a lot of things that sent the young Hyuuga into raging-byakugan mode. He had seen that one day and decided to never, ever, make her mad again. Hinata was scary.

--

A couple of days had passed since Sakura got her period and honestly...he didn't know what he had expected.

Maybe for her to blow up every two seconds, or be a groaning and whining mess. From what Kakashi and Kurama had told him, women were scary on weeks like that. But Sakura was not. At least, not all the time. They still trained and went through their daily activities like they normally would, the only difference being Sakura running to the toilet every few hours. She wasn't as sensitive as they had expected and hid her pain quite perfectly.

It was only at night where she would lower her guard and let out small whimpers when she thought they were asleep. It was only then that she lashed out when somebody disturbed her and talked to her. It was only then that Sasuke truly was afraid of her.

...

The Rookie 9 were coming that day to train and hang out.

When they finally arrived, the two teams were happily welcomed by Naruto and Sakura. As always. Sasuke only nodded a greeting, but they were used to that. He wasn't exactly known for initiating physical contact, and neither were Shino and Shikamaru. In contrast to them, however, he did not let others outside of his team touch him like that. Hugs were taboo when it came to Uchiha Sasuke. Everyone quickly learned that.

"What are we going to do today, sensei?" Choji asked as he opened a new bag of chips.

Asuma grabbed it and said, "First, five laps around Konoha. Then we will talk further."

Sasuke mentally groaned with the rest of them and rolled his eyes. He hated this exercise. While he liked running and all, five laps around the gigantic village was a tad too much. He especially hated the moments he ran into random villagers and had to explain to old ladies why he was running at the edge of the village at six in the morning. So, no. He did not like this.

Regardless, they all did just that with Naruto finishing first and Kiba second. Sasuke managed to snatch third place from Ino last second and collapsed onto the ground. He faintly heard the rest arriving over his panting and racing heart. He stayed like that for a minute longer and only sat up when a water bottle was thrown at him. He glared at Naruto who pointedly looked away, ignoring him for the sake of his well being.

The Uchiha sighed and took a sip as the last person arrived. Hinata was, in terms of stamina, strangely the worst of them all. He had thought that because of the training her clan put her through, she would top them on fields like that, but soon learned that this wasn't the case. Her father was more focused on training her little sister. And that only because she showed more potential and talent. He was tempted to walk up to that man and punch him in the face the next time he saw him on the street.

He was torn out of his thoughts when Kakashi walked up to them, Hayate and Genma not far behind him. Sasuke raised his eyebrow. It was strange for them to come here, they had not visited since the day they got back from the mission and found their apartments robbed naked. Not like Sasuke was still mad at them, but it had been a shock that someone got past the traps they had set up.

For them to be here meant only one thing.

"I'm sure most of you guessed it already. Yes, we will be training with your choice of weapons today. You will later spar against at least three people of your choice individually." Kakashi explained and the Genin started moving.

Sasuke and Shino went to stand in front of Hayate as Sakura skipped over to Genma with a smile that sent shivers down the man's spine. Shikamaru lazily strolled over to Asuma-sensei together with Kiba, seeing as their weapons were quite similar. Naruto, Choji and Ino joined Kakashi-sensei, leaving Hinata with Kurenai-sensei. There wasn't any particular reason why the black-haired woman had to oversee her training, but they, unfortunately, didn't know anyone who wielded bow and arrow, so she had to learn it by herself. Kurenai was just there to make sure she didn't accidentally kill any of them. (It came close to happening one time and Kiba now avoids her whenever they were training with weapons)

Sasuke loved his katana. The hilt was a dark blue and had the Uchiha clan symbol painted on it. Ino was a surprisingly good artist and made it her job to paint everyone's clan symbols on their weapons. Except for Sakura's. As she wasn't actually part of a clan, her sebon pouch had been decorated with cherry blossoms and her initials.

Shino unsheathed the tanto he had strapped onto his back and pointed it at their teacher for the day. "Ready?"

Notes:

Hello fellow humans...
Can we take a minute to talk about the fact that periods aren't a thing in most media? Like, do ninjas even have those? Why is it not at least mentioned, or did I miss something? Anyway, I thought it'd be hilarious to watch Sakura have her first period and everyone being freaked out about it.

So, any thoughts about the house? I know it's not what people usually tend to write, but I think a colourful house suits the little rascals and their poor sensei quite well. Makes it homier.

Also, Ino training with Kakashi instead of Kurenai has to do more with the fact that he is more experienced with weapons. Kurenai uses genjutsu, but we rarely ever see her with a weapon. So, even if Kakahi doesn't know shit about these fancy weapons, he's sure to figure out faster how to help Ino.

Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter and my cute little redhead murder child.

Edit:
Past me really loved the pissed pants gag. Now me doesn't so I changed them all so if you are re-reading and notice something missing, it's probably that.

Chapter 10: Stories from the past

Notes:

I KNOW.
I know I said that the next chapter would feature my sweet little sand child, but I have to post this. I wanted this out of the way before the official start of the Chunin exams and the reason for posting it on a Sunday is that I'm slowly running out of chapters. I like to be three to four chapters ahead, but lately, I've been drowning in writer's block and barely keeping up.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy these cute little stories featuring my babies.

Shikamaru sighed as he reached the roof.

It wasn't the first time that there was someone already laying by his usual spot, gazing up as the clouds drifted mindlessly around the globe. He himself always enjoyed watching them, sometimes even wishing he was one, and when he entered the academy, he found that there were more people like that. People like Naruto who, despite being obnoxiously loud all the time, enjoyed the quiet. Enjoyed finding shapes and coming up with stories.

Shikamaru didn't mind his company.

He didn't mind listening to the stories, even found entertainment in them. Didn't mind that he was practically invading his privacy. Because he enjoyed the low buzz of his voice when he spoke softly, trying to find the cloudy shape he was talking about at the moment.

But there were times he didn't talk. Times where the blond would just stare up at the sky, eyes unmoving and emotionless. Those were times Shikamaru had to admit he was worried. He didn't let it show, though. Figured that whatever was on his mind, he didn't want to talk about it. He knew it would be counterproductive to pressure him to talk; Naruto tended to isolate himself and not show up for multiple days when stressed enough, not even for school. So he let him. Didn't pry. If they truly were friends (he sure hoped so), he would tell him when he was ready.

Today was one of these days.

When Shikamaru sat next to him, he noted his usually bright eyes were dull. Naruto barely acknowledged him with a nod, the movement and the light breeze making his shirt shift. What he saw underneath was rather concerning. There was a bandage wrapped around his torso. Upon further inspection, he noticed many more and judging by the amount of blood on each one, the wounds were on a different stage of healing.

It was still way too early, the sun had just shown itself, but they were both awake. The academy didn't start until in a few hours, but they were both awake. Awake and at a secluded spot, searching for peace before the storm. Shikamaru would normally still be sleeping, but he couldn't. Something had been bugging him in the past few days and he didn't know what. Which was quite irritating.

But now, looking at his friend, he found the source of his discomfort.

Naruto had been acting strange. He was quieter than before and was paying less and less attention in class. Not that Shikamaru was any better, but he was smart, he didn't need to study to get good grades. Naruto, on the other hand, was struggling. Even if his grades did improve since Sakura started tutoring him and he usually paid attention, somewhat, these past days were weird. Come to think of it...this had happened before...

Last year. And the year before that. In October. Like...now. Yesterday was the 10th and today he showed up in bandages. He was absent-minded the whole week but will turn back to normal tomorrow. That's what happened the last two times at least. Shikamaru wanted to know. He wanted to know because he was curious and worried. Worried that the blond was in some kind of trouble and he wanted to help. If there was anything he could do, he would do it.

But not now. Now was not the right moment. He couldn't risk him isolating himself with the state he was in. He would wait.

And wait he did.

Half a year had passed and he had a few theories. None of them were pleasant, so he kept them to himself. He would enjoy the time he had in the academy before all those troublesome missions would begin pilling up. He mostly hung out with Choji, but Naruto sometimes showed up out of nowhere right beside them.

Shikamaru was glad that he made other friends besides Sakura. Was glad that he was one of them. The pink-haired girl was smart and talented, even if her crush on Uchiha Sasuke was annoying. The only downside of their friendship were the pranks. A bunch of brilliant minds teaming up over a bucket of unremovable neon paint was a truly terrifying sight. But the reactions they were getting and the outcome were funny, that he had to admit.

But he also noticed changes in the two of them.

They were stronger and faster than before. Their katas were nearly perfect, as was their aim when it came to kunai and shuriken throwing. Normally, that wouldn't be tat strange; they were all steadily getting better. But that was steadily and over time, we're talking about drastic changes here. Naruto used to really struggle when it came to handling a kunai. Now, though, he was practically a pro.

Shikamaru, being the curious soul that he is, decided to investigate.

So, one day after school, he followed them. Made sure he stayed in and became one with the shadows the way he'd seen his father do. He was nowhere near his level, but thankfully the people he was trailing were also still academy students and didn't notice him. He followed them to Ichiraku Ramen, waiting outside for them to finish, and then to a training ground. Training Ground Three, if he wasn't mistaken.

He watched with no small amount of fascination as the two stretched and sparred and practised ninjutsu that were most definitely Chunin-level and not to be practised by eight-year-olds. He watched and observed and suddenly wished to be part of that. Part of the training group that seemed to be having so much fun, pushing and motivating each other to be stronger, better.

So he confronted them. Nonchalant, but the sparkle in his eyes was unmistakable.

(It was only months after that that he confronted Naruto with his most likely theory regarding the blond's weird behaviour and lifestyle. It was then that he learned the truth and found out that his friend was a major idiot for believing even for a second that he would abandon him for something that trivial.)

--

Choji was a kind boy.

He liked everyone and didn't particularly dislike anyone unless you count bullies. He did not like bullies. And mean people. Why couldn't everyone just be nice to each other? It's not that hard. He did that all the time! Other kids in his class too, like Naruto.

That was the reason he did not understand why everyone avoided him and called him names. He was kind and funny, easy to talk to. He could come up with stories on the spot, even if he had nothing for inspiration other than an empty room and chips. Because Naruto was nice and stayed with him when other kids left him alone. Who would want to sit with the fat kid? Naruto would.

Sure, he also had Shikamaru and sometimes even Ino, but they weren't always there. They were human and they got sick and Shikamaru was sometimes too lazy to go to school. And while that should unsettle him, he had Naruto, so it was fine.

He asked his father why the kids were mean to him, but he just smiled sadly and didn't explain, saying that it was fine as long as he was kind to him. So he was. He even tried to stop his classmates from bullying him, but his own bullying got worse after that and Naruto convinced him to stop trying. It hurt to see him like that. Beaten up but not caring because Choji was hurt and that was a top priority to him.

So no, Choji did very much not understand the situation.

But he was glad to be his friend. Glad to have more people to hang out with. Sakura was nice, she helped him when he was struggling with a class. Shikamaru would do that too, but he was too lazy and couldn't explain well as most of the stuff came naturally to him. He didn't mind. He didn't mind hanging out and later training with them, because he got stronger. Strong enough to fend off bullies and he started with those that were the meanest to Naruto.

Because he deserved a little justice and true friends that did not use him.

And that's what Choji was, his friend.

--

Shino had always been an outsider.

Even before the academy, he didn't have any friends and no one really wanted to hang out with 'bug boy'. His parents said that it wasn't anything unusual in their clan and most tended to be loners. Granted, there were always exceptions, but we don't talk about them.

So, yeah. When he entered the academy at the tender age of six, he did not expect to make any friends or acquaintances, have people to hang out with. But he was content with that. He enjoyed sitting back and observe people, learning what there was about them. Who knows, maybe that could help him in the future. After all, he was planning on becoming a shinobi, and information gathering was a skill he would need.

It was that way he learned of Uzumaki Naruto. The obnoxiously loud boy that usually sat in the middle row or the back corner.

He deemed him interesting enough and decided to keep an eye on him. He was glad he did because he noticed things most people overlooked. Noticed that Naruto was skinnier and shorter than most kids their age. Noticed his weird behaviour around adults, flinching when their sensei did as much as scratch their nose when close to Naruto. Noticed his lack of lunch every day. Noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Noticed-

He could go on forever, but the point is, he noticed many things that were not normal and concerning. Even if some things were less visible when he finally made friends.

He didn't know why he approached him one day after class, but he was glad that he did.

Not many liked to talk to him, as they were too grossed out by him. Shino could say that he was pleasantly surprised when the boy beamed at him and started talking. Naruto pretty much reminded the Aburame of the sun with how brightly he glowed, even when he somehow ended up talking about insects. Shino piped up, asking what he knew about them.

Turns out, it wasn't much. But Naruto eagerly listened when he listed fact after fact, going into detail about the most famous bugs and the ones he collected. Naruto was smiling the whole time, not interrupting even once. Who knew it'd be that easy to talk to someone?

After that, they continued to talk between classes. It wasn't always about bugs, Shino wasn't an asshole. He knew when to let people talk and he found that the stories he told were worth listening to. But there were also times they did not talk. Times were Naruto lay face-down on his desk, sleeping. Shikamaru said that it happened from time to time and that it was nothing to be worried about, but his eyes betrayed worry as well.

Naruto came out of his 'daze' and, much to his surprise, brought him a bunch of rare beetles he spent his free time looking for. He didn't tell him where he found them, but he didn't mind. He was happy, for the first time in a while and when Naruto offered they train together after school, he didn't hesitate to say yes.

It was the best decision he could've made.

--

Ino always had a fascination with flowers.

Not just because she was a girl and her family owned a flower shop, but because she found genuine interest in them. In their forms and colours and meanings. She had laughed when her father told her that the pretty purple flowers, iris, stood for royalty. But she became curious. What did each flower stand for? And how could she make the prettiest bouquet?

And while she adored flowers, it was irritating when arranging them was practically the only thing the girls did in the academy. She enjoyed it, but why couldn't they practice their Jutsus like the boys? Sure, they weren't in a time of war, so producing as many shinobi as possible was not all that necessary, but what about the girls that had dreams? Dreams to become strong and known in the whole world? Dreams to one day be like Senju Tsunade and other famous kunoichi?

Girls like Ino and Sakura.

They were once best friends and Ino used to be very protective over her. It even got to the point where no one dared to come close to the pink-haired girl. Ino couldn't remember why they parted ways, she just knew that it was painful and she cried a lot when she was alone. But they were both incredibly stubborn. No one approached the other to talk it out, so they got used to living without the constant presence of the other.

Ino made other friends, but none felt as real as Sakura did. She pushed those feelings down, ignoring them for months. But when she noticed that Sakura had a massive crush on Uchiha Sasuke (like all the others, really), something akin to anger rose and settled in her chest. She was only eight, so she did not understand until later on. Thinking back, it was obvious what it was, but at that time, it was something unknown.

She asked her mother about it and she laughed. She said that it was jealousy. Ino had tilted her head. Jealousy? Did she also have a crush on the Uchiha and didn't even realize it? That had to be the reason, so she convinced herself that it was the truth and joined the fan club.

Surprisigly, it was the loud Uzumaki Naruto that shook her awake.

They were in the same class, but they didn't talk much. He was annoying. Or at least, that's what she thought. The blond often stayed behind with her to water the plants in their classroom and take care of them because not many liked that job and was mostly just the two of them. It did strike her weird, but she decided not to comment on it. It was nice to have someone to help you.

They started talking at some point and it was Naruto who spoke up first, asking if she knew anything about flowers. He said he was aware that they had meanings but never got the chance to learn them. And he was willing to listen, so she rambled about them for hours. Those daily rambles often drifted off-topic and she ended up talking about her troubles.

Naruro was a good listener and never interrupted her. So she was shocked when, one day, he cut her off with a frown. She realised that she had been talking about Sakura, who was his friend and flushed. But in the end, all he said was that she's an idiot. She was ready to punch him but he stopped her, saying that, if she wanted to, she could join them in their training sessions after school and see for herself if she really hated the pink-haired girl.

She didn't.

In reality, she liked her and wanted to protect her. That was why she was so mad when the girl developed a crush on Uchiha Sasuke. Because she knew that he had absolutely no interest in her and would never have. Not because she was ugly or unlikeable, but because the boy was just so emotionally detached that it hurt to watch. Ino did not like him. The 'jealousy' her mother was talking about was actually the need to protect Sakura.

That made much more sense.

(She made new friends, real friends, and was happier than ever)

--

Kiba had competition.

He had that since the moment he stepped foot in the academy. He was so used to being the clown, the jokester of the family, that he did not think that others were like that as well. He was always sure that he'd be the class clown, the person cracking jokes and sarcastic comments in the middle of a lesson, the person that made everyone laugh.

He thought wrong.

They were two. Him and Uzumaki Naruto. Fortunately, they both had different ways to make people laugh and giggle, to lighten up the mood. Kiba liked jokes. The really terrible ones that are so bad they end up being funny. But also good ones, though, rarely. He sometimes even entertained himself by teasing his peers. Nothing too serious of course, he wasn't a bully. They always laughed with the rest of the class in good nature.

Naruto, on the other hand, impressed people by being incredibly stupid. Failing an exercise on purpose, making a joke out of it. Like that one time, he transformed into a naked lady and Iruka-sensei got knocked out by a massive nosebleed. Not only that, but he was also quite the prankster. Kiba still remembered the day the academy teachers had them self study because all their documents, papers and books had vanished.

But Kiba was not mad. He liked having a rival and his ways steadily became better. It didn't work on everyone, of course, his mother was not amused, but it was okay.

He liked Naruto. He was fun and surprisingly an easy guy to talk to. He was the only person willing to listen to him complain about his sister. Akamaru was fond of him too. The pup regularly got treats from the blond. Where he got them from was beyond him. Naruto didn't even bring lunch for himself, why did he always carry dog food around?

He learned the reason one day and to say that he was mad would be an understatement.

Since they were friends, Naruto invited him to train after school. Kiba had noticed that he was getting stronger. Not only him but a handful of his classmates as well. Turns out, they were all secretly training together and Kiba was thrilled to join. Though, what happened on the way there was quick to erase his smile.

They were walking down the main street, Naruto and he. They were talking and goofing around, enjoying themselves. Suddenly, something was thrown at the blond that made him stagger and hold his head. Kiba looked at the item, shocked to see a stone with a little blood on it by his friend's feet. Then he heard it.

Heard the angry mad yelling at Naruto, calling him a monster and a demon and a beast. Saw the usually so confident boy lower his head and urge him to keep walking. Kiba shook with rage but followed, not wanting to upset him further. Well, he was planning to, but then another item was thrown their way, bigger than the last. Naruto caught it and flushed.

It was dog food. Fucking dog food!

The man continued to call his friend names and warned Kiba to stay away from the beast. That was the last straw. He wouldn't let just anyone insult his friend like that and get anyway with it, adult or not.

(Later on, he would claim that Akamaru was still a puppy and didn't know better. That it was an accident and they had nothing to do with it.)

--

Uchiha Sasuke had a complicated life.

Anyone who knew his story would wholeheartedly agree. But not everyone could understand. Many knew him, even before he became the last surviving Uchiha Konoha had left. Before he became known. Before people learned of his name.

In the first seven years of his life, people knew him as Itachi's little brother. The spoilt second child of the head of the clan, Uchiha Fukaku. The second child that wasn't a protégé like his brother. The child that was popular at the academy, but not at home. The sweet second child the elders liked but always compared to the first one, the heir, the wonder child.

Few called him by his name. And few dared to openly speak badly about him.

Because his older brother was always there to defend him, speak up for him when he wasn't there (Auntie told him about it). His brother that was an enigma. Caring older brother one day, emotionally detached the other. Talented and graceful, his every move elegant and Sasuke longed to be like that.

Longed to be like his brother so that his father would finally say that he was proud of him, that he was his boy.

He loved his brother, but he was also jealous. Why was everyone constantly talking about Itachi? Why never mention that seven-year-old Sasuke was top of his class, the best at both taijutsu and shuriken throwing?

But he kept trying. And trying and trying and it lead him to a whole lot of nothing.

Because everyone was dead. His brother killed them all. Killed mother and father and auntie and uncle and... no one could be proud of him now. Tell him that he did good and mean it. Be genuinely impressed. Care.

Because his big brother was gone and he had no one. He was alone. Itachi left him. Did something unthinkable out of nowhere and left with no explanation whatsoever. Tortured him and fucking left!

Sasuke swore that, if he ever saw him again, he will have his head.

Before that though, he'd have to train and become stronger. Stronger than him and stronger than everybody else. Because the strongest always had it easy and didn't have to depend on their older brother to carry them when they twisted their ankle.

He didn't need anyone. Didn't need friends.

He didn't.

So then, why did this guy keep bothering him?

Uzumaki Naruto, the definition of a social butterfly, obnoxious moron, and his self-proclaimed rival. Well, he never said it out loud, but actions spoke louder than words. He kept challenging him during training, knowing he would lose, and kept calling out to him, telling him that he was the stupid one. Those were times Sasuke did not like him, hated him even.

But then there were times Sasuke observed the young Uzumaki when he thought no one was paying attention. Observed as the impossibly wide grin fell and got reduced to a thin line, eyebrows creasing and hollow eyes staring at nothing in particular. Observed the scrawny boy when he happened to spot him at the market. Observed how the townspeople treated him. And every time he thought about stepping in, he shook his head and reminded himself that it was none of his business and that he wasn't trying to make friends.

He wasn't, so why did this kid keep being nice to him during classes? How did this kid know his favourite snack? Not even his father knew. Sasuke was confused. Wasn't he being clear enough that he wanted nothing to do with any of them? (He still gladly accepted the tomatoes, but that had nothing to do with it!)

Usually when he was frustrated, confused or angry, he would train. Pick a time he knew no one but him would be in the training area of the academy and bring his own set of kunai and shuriken. A set he found when he walked through the blood-soaked Uchiha compound and deemed too good to let it go to waste. A set that once belonged to Uchiha Izumi, but her corpse was never found. Maybe he burned her alive? There were ashes nearby...

A kunai was sent flying.

He was alone. Always alone. Trained alone, ate alone, treated his injuries alone, slept alone.

Until he wasn't.

That one day he went to train, he noticed another person's presence nearby. Maybe they forgot something? He shrugged it off and continued. But the person didn't leave. Stayed in the bushes thinking Sasuke hadn't noticed. He did and he knew who it was.

When ignoring the boy wasn't working and Sasuke missed the target completely for the fifth time, he called out to him. Snapped at him, but he only came forward with a sheepish smile, explaining nothing. When asked to be left alone, Naruto tilted his head and observed him with icy blue eyes. Stubbornly, he sat down crossed-legged and motioned Sasuke to keep training and don't mind him. He was just sitting there.

Sasuke huffed and grumbled but continued nonetheless and found that the blond had a surprisingly calming aura around him and Sasuke missed the targets no more.

This continued for a while. Whenever Sasuke was upset, when nightmares were becoming unbearable, when the memories were drowning him, the two would be there. Sasuke would be training furiously and Naruto would be sitting there, sometimes silently, sometimes talking. He was good at making up stories. Good at looking at something and imagine its past, present and future.

Sasuke liked the stories, each crazier than the last, but never told him that. There was no need. Naruto was an observant boy, he knew. He knew when Sasuke was in the mood to listen and when he was not. Knew that if he was not then he would most likely be the next target of Uchiha Izumi's kunai.

Naruto still annoyed him, but every time they met like that, Sasuke's demons seemed to be held back by an invisible force. He could be himself and not be judged. Because Naruto had no expectations of him. Saw him as Sasuke and not the Uchiha massacre survivor.

And then he brought Haruno Sakura into the picture.

Came with her one day and said that he didn't want to leave her alone with her parents that night, that her father was intoxicated and dangerous. That was the day Sasuke learned that not every family was perfect, not even the one from the smartest girl in class. He knew his family wasn't the best there was, but at least he never had to worry about his safety. Sakura had to worry about that and Sasuke found that he felt bad and allowed her to stay with no complains.

She never said anything, just smiled shyly and stayed behind Naruto. Sat down with him and opened a book when he started talking about the impossibly tragic backstory of the tree Sasuke was using as target practice.

That then happened a few more times and Sakura being with them just felt right. Like it had always been like that and should always be. She was there to stop them when Sasuke lashed out. Was there to remind Naruto that he still had homework to do and made that session a quiet one. Was there when Naruto wasn't because it was October and something always happens to him in October. Was there when Sasuke had a panic attack when he thought he had been left alone once again.

It was on a day like this that Sasuke realized that he hated the thought of being alone. The loneliness that had been consuming him, eating him up from the inside, was gone. Was gone and replaced with a feeling he couldn't begin to describe. Because he had never felt this way. Realized that being alone gave him no benefits and that since Naruto and Sakura started being there with him, for him, his performance in the class had been getting better.

Having someone to care about and who cared about him made him stronger.

That realization hit him like a wall of bricks and he collapsed, laughing and crying hysterically at the same time.

How stupid was he? What about revenge? What about his pledge to never have friends? To be alone because friendship only slows you down?

The two were by his side in an instant, asking what was wrong, comforting him even if they had no idea what was going on. They cared. They cared!

He shocked them by thanking them for everything when he calmed down. Shocked them when he smiled genuinely, for the first time in a long time. They looked at each other and nodded. Sasuke was now officially one of them. Officially part of their little trio and later part of the nine powerhouses.

A year later, Sasuke silently observed his friends goofing around after practice. Kiba running after Naruto, yelling at him to give back his beef jerky. Choji offering chips to Shikamaru. Sakura and Ino talking. Shino sitting next to him, equally silent.

He smiled. Itachi can wait, this was way more important.

Notes:

Okay, so some were shorter than the others and I'm sorry if you wanted there to be more or generally longer, but that's all I got. (At least for now) The order of these short stories also represents the order in which each became a part of the gang.

Stay tuned for next week and the start of the Chunin exams!

Chapter 11: What the hell is wrong with this kid?

Summary:

In which Naruto is confused and the Rookie 9 mess with everyone.

Notes:

So, yeah...
This came out a day late, but what can we do? Life is life and I just started my first job. Let's just say that running back and forth for hours making coffee is more exhausting than originally thought.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well and that I met your expectations. If not, well, there's nothing that can be done now, so deal with it.

Have a peaceful day, night, or whenever you are reading this!

"I think I'm starting to hate old ladies..."

"Me too," Sakura agreed and leaned against Naruto, the other two members of Team 7 walking behind them.

They had just come back from a 'mission', which was honestly just a chore not even the old woman's children wanted to do. Understandably. That lady's garden looked like a jungle and the shed was full of rats and insects. Their job was to clean it, obviously, and pick out what was still edible and what not. The 'not' pile was bigger than the 'safe' one...Make your own conclusions.

She was also incredibly mean, mostly to Naruto. And that ticked them off. She was all smiles and sunshine when they showed up and even offered cookies to the 'hard-working shinobi children'. However, that all changed drastically when her sunken eyes landed on the blond of the team. He seemed to recognize her as well because he half-winced-half-waved and hid behind Kakashi-sensei. After that, she forced herself to be nice (it was really obvious that she wanted them out of her garden as fast as possible), but her behaviour toward Naruto was unacceptable. She 'accidentally' dumped dirty water over him for fuck's sake!

So here they were, on their way home to get a new set of clothes. Thankfully, Naruto wasn't soaking wet anymore, it was a quite hot day, but he was filthy. He had been the one to tidy the shed and it certainly looked like it. His black ninja wear was brown now and a bit torn. The red splashes were almost completely covered up, same with the Uzumaki clan symbol. Sakura knew that this specific fact was the one that bugged him the most.

Not like she was any better. She and Sasuke were in charge of the garden and her poor red kunoichi attire was now splattered green and brown. Same with Sasuke's white shorts. She'll have to see if she can convince him to update his shinobi outfit, this just was not doing it for him.

When she heard a hawk screeching from above, she automatically looked up, as did her teammates. They watched the animal circle the afternoon sky for a moment before she glanced at her teacher.

"Go, Kashi-sensei. It might be something important."

The Jounin sighed and ruffled their hair. "Fine. But don't stay outside for too long! We have training tomorrow morning with Team 8 you don't wanna miss. The Chunin exams should be nearing!"

"Hai, sensei!"

He shunshined away and the three continued their way back to the house with sakura still leaning on Naruto. Not that she was particularly tired or anything, she was just too lazy to walk on her own and Naruto made a great human cushion.

"We have company..." Sasuke muttered at some point, burying his face in his shirt.

Sakura almost laughed. He had never been good with little kids and three of them were trailing them at the moment. Of course, they all knew who it was, Naruto was their idol after all. But even though they were annoying sometimes, Sakura found it cute how much they adored her blond brother. Which was funny, because the trio also called him that. Naruto-nii. Adorable!

"I know. Let them have their fun!" She smiled. She only got a grunt for a response, but it was enough to count as one.

She didn't know whether that's supposed to be a rock or part of the asphalt, but she had to admit it was terrible work. The breathing holes were a little too obvious and the shape was completely wrong. Naruto made sure to tell them so when they decided that playtime was over. Konohamaru complained, but Moegi whacked him on the head, saying that Naruto criticized them for a reason. To improve. He was quick to shut up.

"So? What did you guys want?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow. They continued walking, the three academy students close behind them. "I'm pretty sure you didn't try to trail us just for fun."

Konohamaru pouted cutely, pointing at the blond accusingly. "You promised to play ninja with us today!"

Did he really? Naruto looked like someone found his secret stash of ramen and confirmed that he did promise to play. Sakura's hand flew up to cover her mouth.

Adorable!

"...right. Ok, sorry, but can I go home to change first? I don't feel comfortable running around covered in mud..." He rubbed the back of his head and smiled nervously.

Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon looked at each other and, after a silent agreement, they nodded. "Fine, Naruto-nii."

"But we will lead the way!"

Before anyone could've said anything, the three started running ahead of them in the direction of the old Hatake compound. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were left to hastily scramble after them and Sakura finally let out the chuckle she had been suppressing.

"They are so adorable!"

--

If Temari had been expecting anything from coming to this village, it certainly wasn't three little children to bump into her younger brother full force shortly after arrival. It wasn't enough to make him stumble, but he was quite the sensitive guy. Plus, he was on edge since this was basically enemy territory. So even if his reaction was a bit over the top, it was justified to some extent. She was still a little mad at him for yelling at such adorable children, however. Why weren't her brothers like that?

Again, three kids rounded the corner, not looking very surprised to see them. Their guards were visibly up. (Also, what is it with Konoha? Do they all come in packs of three?) They were older than the first bunch, around her age, and the blond one was just as scrawny as her youngest brother. Was he not eating well, or was it just his nature to be that small? And what's with those eye bags? Did he not sleep enough? Regardless, it seemed that his teammates trusted him to take the lead in this situation. He smiled.

"Could you kindly release Konohamaru, please?" He said, intelligent cerulean eyes studying the two of them, only briefly drifting to a tree on their left. "I don't think the Hokage would appreciate his grandson being treated like that by our guests. I believe you are here for the exams, not to cause a scene in foreign territory."

The way he smiled unnerved her and she elbowed her brother, who in return let go of the kid. The Hokage's grandson stumbled back to Konoha-nin, eyes wide, and hid behind the pink-haired girl, clutching her red skirt. Temari noticed that all of them, especially the blond one, were covered head to toe in dirt and grass. She figured they must've just come back from a mission.

Now that the little ones were safe (the other two had taken shelter by the emo one when they appeared), the blond smiled brightly, bouncing over to them. It wasn't threatening in any way, so the siblings let him stop in front of them.

"So you are Genin from Suna?" He asked curiously. Temari nodded. "That's so cool! We're also Genin. Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you!"

Temari stared at his hand, then back at him. Why was he being so nice all of a sudden? They were supposed to be rivals. Either way, Kankuro slapped it away. "Kankuro. And that's my sister Temari." He nodded towards her, not noticing the glares he got for that action.

But Naruto only chuckled, pointing at the preteens behind him. "Well, that's my team. Sasuke and Sakura." He smiled, looking back at her brother with big, curious eyes. "Are-are those cat ears? Is that, like, your aesthetic? It's cool if it is, you just don't see that every-"

"The fuck is your problem?" Kankuro snarled, taking a step back. Naruto shut his mouth and tilted his head. Temari was reminded of a confused puppy, which was kind of cute. But she also noticed the slight flinch when Kankuro's hand twitched towards him. "Don't act all friendly with me, I don't even know you! Stop pretending and fuck off!"

Temari was about to scold him for being mean when a rock came flying from their left. It passed perfectly between her brother and Naruto, startling the former. He stumbled back and stared at the tree in horror. Gaara was standing upside down on a branch, holding another rock, his glare full of hate. Hate towards whom, Temari was not sure. There wasn't a time where she saw anything other than that after the Yashimaru incident. It pained her as a big sister, but a big part of her was scared of her brother. As much as she didn't like it, that fear ruled her life.

"Kankuro," Even his voice was scary, the little kids were practically trembling in their shoes. Though, she noticed that the Konoha Genin were not as surprised as the siblings were from his grand entrance. "Don't cause a ruckus. You know why we came to this village."

"O-Of course, G-Gaara. I'm sorry, I didn't-"

As Kankuro frantically searched for excuses, Temari raised an eyebrow at the blond boy. His bright smile had turned into a downright foxy grin.

"The Chunin-exams, right? Sensei mentioned something like that." He said, but the voice didn't come from in front of her. It came from her left and the Naruto she had been facing puffed out of existence. Her head snapped towards her brother just in time to see him take a bewildered step back and hit the trunk of the tree. Naruto didn't let that disconcert him and held out his hand, smiling brightly even when his hitai-ate was about to slip off his head. "Don't think we've met. Gaara, right? My name's Uzumaki Naruto! Pleased to meet you!"

Gaara glared at him and Temari flinched. She didn't want to cause a scene, but her brother was quite the uncontrollable force. Once he gets mad, there is nothing more she, or anyone, could do. And that Uzumaki seemed so nice too...

Unsurprisingly, Gaara did not shake his hand and jumped onto another branch. This time upright and the stone clutched tightly in his hand. Naruto frowned, eyes distant like he was not fully with them. That unsettled her even more. It was scary how many similarities she saw between the boys even though they were completely different. They held that air around them that made you think they knew perfectly well how cruel the world can be, but they were just so small.

Temari suppressed the urge to grab them both and drag them to the nearest restaurant.

The blond shook his head and flipped down a branch. He sat cross-legged and rested his head on his palm, eyeing Gaara almost lazily. But Temari wasn't fooled. She saw that something was troubling him. His teammates also looked at him concerned, as if his silence wasn't something common. Mind you, she could be wrong, she didn't know these people, but her intuition was more than often spot on.

Two tense minutes passed, in which Naruto was just staring at her brother who regained his composure and the rest shifted uncomfortably. The silence was only broken when the blond boy sighed and jumped off the tree, landing in between his friends. "Anyway, let's go. Sensei will get mad if we don't return now."

They nodded and the pink-haired one took a hold of two of the kids' hands. Naruto grabbed Konohamaru (?) and dragged him away. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at them. "See you at the exam!"

And they were gone.

Temari did not know what to make of that encounter.

--

"Are you sure? That's kind of a big deal you know..."

"I know, that's why this is driving me crazy!"

Sakura watched Naruto pace in their room, hands tucking at his hair. It was late at night, but none of them could sleep, minds still racing around their clash with the Suna Genin. While Sakura and Sasuke thought essentially nothing of it, Naruto had been awfully quiet. He said that there was something weird about that Gaara kid. I mean, ok, the kid was weird, but he apparently meant in another way.

She leaned against Kurama's shade, letting his tails curl around her. He was about the size of a grown Inuzuka hound, big enough to ride on but also small enough to fit in her bunk. He didn't like to show himself often, only when the three were alone with no danger of someone busting in. Which was a shame. Sakura found him quite adorable when he wasn't threatening to kill everything and everyone and the size of a giant teddy bear.

~I definitely sensed something off about him, but I'm not sure what yet~ He said, resting his head on his front paws as his eyes followed Naruto's pacing. ~We'll have to wait and see. If I'm close to him for a longer period of time, I should be able to figure it out~

"Heee..." She stifled a yawn and ran her fingers through the foxes amber fur, snuggling a tad closer. It was three in the morning and her eyes were starting to get heavy. "Then we should make sure Naruto gets a chance to be near him."

"But won't that be a little suspicious?" Sasuke asked, swaying his feet as he sat on one of the desks. They didn't use them that often; Naruto preferred the floor and Sakura liked to read on her bed or the beanbag. "Maybe it's better to wait until the exam before we try something. I don't trust them..."

"Me neither." Naruto huffed and plopped down in front of Sakura's bunk. "And I think you're right. The exams are barely a week away and after only that brief chat, it would be too suspicious if we talk to them again for no good reason, especially for us. We aren't exactly known for socializing and 'trusting' strangers. And I also don't want to become a weird-ass stalker that follows people around just because they're odd..."

The boys talked a bit more, but Sakura had already fallen asleep. The warmth the shade provided and the low buzz of their conversation was enough to lull her into a dreamless sleep.

...

It was the day of the first part of the official Chunin exam, where the villages participating did their best to show off their new bunch of shinobi. Or old bunch. Sakura tried to guess just how weak a thirty-something-year-old had to be to still have the rank of a Genin. But she would not lower her guard! They were enemies after all. And Kakashi had taught them to never underestimate the opponent, regardless of their rank and appearance.

Team 7 walked to the academy where the first part would be held, chatting lightly among themselves. Naruto had come up with a new way to annoy Anko-san and Sakura felt incredibly sorry for her. She admired her and her strength, but that meant nothing when faced with Uzumaki Naruto. And since the woman had a soft spot for him, she usually let him do whatever. That was her fatal flaw. Get ready Anko-san. I hope you like cockroaches.

As they were looking for the examination room, they noticed a crowd on the second floor. Which confused her, since she was pretty sure they had to go to the third. But when she saw Kotetsu and Izumo beating up a Genin that tried to pass, sputtering nonsense about the exam and what it meant to be a Chunin, she understood and chuckled. She looked around as Sasuke scoffed, muttering about how poorly done the genjutsu was. They ignored the crowd and aimed for the next flight of stairs on the other side of the corridor.

As they passed the boy in green that was being beaten up by the disguised Chunin, Naruto frowned and looked back at him.

"What's wrong?"

"...That guy's strong...why is he acting like a total wimp?"

They had reached the end of the corridor and Sasuke and her glanced back as well. The guy has been pretty beaten up already. If he really was as strong as Naruto says, then why is he letting them injure him this badly before an important exam like this one?

"Maybe he just wants the other participants to underestimate him." Sasuke shrugged once they rounded the corner. "We kind of do the same all the time. We're still children in adult eyes, so it's pretty easy to catch them off guard."

"Yeah, probably."

Unbeknownst to them, a boy a year older than them heard their entire conversation and was curious. Just who were those kids?

--

They entered the room where the participants were supposed to wait and immediately spotted some familiar faces. They quietly greeted Team 8 and 10. Well, as quiet as Naruto and Kiba can get. Sasuke looked around, noticing the evil glares they were getting for being too loud. He should scold his friends, but honestly, he couldn't care less. Let them be annoyed. If any of them tries something, they will get their asses handed to them in the exam.

He leaned against a nearby wall, listening to their usual blabber with a blank expression and analyzing the different ninja in the room. Most of them appeared weak, he speculated that more than half would not even get past the first part. But some characters seemed interesting enough. Like Gaara and that other Hyuuga, Neji or something. He heard about him from Hinata and imagined punching him in the face then and there. But he couldn't, which was a shame.

As he was eyeing a shinobi from Otogakure (a new shinobi village), he saw a teenager a few years older than them walk up to their group. He immediately tensed. But all he did was advise them to be quiet, seeing as the people in the room did not appreciate the mindless banter of twelve-year-olds. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"You're the rookies that just graduated, right?" He asked, earning a nod out of all of them. "I know you are new to this, but please don't be so childish. There are people in here that don't have much patience-"

Man, that guy's annoying...

The nine Genin stared at him, clearly unimpressed from his unnecessary speech and collectively rolled their eyes. The only thing interesting about that guy was the cards he had on everyone. Sasuke suspected that there was more to Kabuto than he let on. Why else would he have information on every single one of the participants? He did seem like the type that would be the perfect spy with how easily he addressed them and adjusted to their quirks and...unique way of talking.

He glanced at Naruto, just to make sure. And...yes. Despite his bright smile, his eyes had that distant and calculating shimmer in them.

Better stay away from that dude.

--

Kakashi sighed, nose buried in his book, as he tried to tune out his colleagues' and other Jounin instructors' conversations.

His cubs were probably already in the middle of their written exam. Not that he was worried or anything; they were smart enough to pass and he did not doubt their skills. What he was worried about was the mental and physical health of Ibiki and the other supervisors. He knew how...special they could be. Despite the limitations he gave them for this, they were still little shits and did pretty much whatever they wanted.

"Are your kids going to be ok, Kakashi?" Kurenai asked, shifting on the couch to face him. He was standing against the wall right behind her, so that task was a bit difficult and looked weird.

He raised an eyebrow at her over the edge of his book. "Why wouldn't they?"

"Well, they aren't exactly known for following the rules," Asuma chuckled, "Aren't you afraid they're gonna get disqualified for disobeying their superiors? You know you are the only person they listen to."

The Hatake shook his head. "They know how to listen when it counts. They just don't listen to others because it's not a matter of life and death."

"Bullshit!" Genma suddenly appeared by his side, looking very much irritated. "You remember that one time I was tutoring that little she-devil? I was teaching her how to handle poisonous senbon and how to safely throw them and what did she do?! SHE FUCKING CHOSE ME AS A DARTBOARD! I could've died!"

"You're being dramatic." Kakashi scoffed, rolling his eyes but mentally laughing at the image.

"I am n-"

"GOOD MORNING MY YOUTHFUL COLLEAGUES! WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY IT IS!" Might Gai's voice boomed into the room, effectively cutting off Genma's protest. Kakashi groaned as his self proclaimed rival ran up to them and struck a ridiculous pose. "Three rookie teams against veterans! What an interesting exam this year!" His laugh was almost as annoying as his voice and passion.

Kurenai chuckled. "Of course it's going to be interesting! With Team 7 participating, I'd be surprised if it turns out boring!"

"True." Asuma agreed and Genma begrudgingly nodded. Seems like he's still not over his near-death experience. Well, whatever.

Gai looked at them confused for a second before his lips stretched into an impossibly wide grin. "That would be Kakashi's youthful team, right? Are you certain they are ready to be up against my team? They do have more experience."

Kakashi lazily turned a page in his book and glanced at him with an air of confidence. "Absolutely."

--

Look, Ibiki was having a great day and given what was planned on his calendar, he assumed it would stay like that. You don't get to mess with kids every day now, do you?

He imagined the joy he would get out of mentally torturing hopeful Genin, and the opportunity to test his observation skills. He was pretty confident in the fact that he could judge any person in a matter of minutes and figure out how they think and what their reaction to different situations would be. He did get a pretty good read on the hundreds of candidates this year and about 80% of them would fail on his part of the exam. There was no denying that they weren't ready yet.

But he soon found that he himself was not ready for what was about to come.

After he explained the rules and they turned their papers around, naturally, many started to panic. The questions were Jounin level and they were not expected to answer them by themselves. Those smart enough either had the brains to solve them themself, or used their intel gathering skills to copy off of his Chunin who already knew the answers. He spotted a few ingenious tactics and let them slide. But those who were just plain stupid and ineffective in real life had to go.

He watched with mild satisfaction as more and more teams left the room, but froze when he took notice of some extraordinary Genin.

They weren't weirdly built or something, and neither did they have strange hairstyles that shone like a beacon in the sea of heads. No, those nine brats had the audacity to look bored.

He recognized some of them; the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and the Hyuuga heiress. She was squeezed in between two boys that seemed to be from the Aburame and Inuzuka clan respectively. The dog on top of the boy's head and the bugs lazying around the other being a dead giveaway.

And then there were the last three rascals, one of which he identified as Uchiha Sasuke. While he did have high expectations of him, being an absolute brat was not on his list. About fifteen minutes into the exam he had turned his paper face down and leaned back with his chair, balancing on two of its legs and staring at the ceiling. Ibiki glanced at the Chunin that was watching him and saw that he was just as bewildered. They made eye contact and he confirmed that his answers were, in fact, correct.

It took the pink-haired girl beside him five more minutes to finish, but only for the fact that she was writing slower and neater. He had the slight suspicion that she was doing it out of boredom, not finishing too fast in fear of running out of things to do until the time was up. He did not recognize her. She probably came from a civilian family, but if Anko's description was anywhere near trustworthy, she was a she-devil. Ibiki found that a bit melodramatic at the time, but now he began to wonder...

And last but not least, the blond boy with whiskers that looked a tad too much like his parents. It was painful to see him so suddenly; images of Minato-sama and Kushina-sama flashing before his eyes. He had heard of Naruto, of course. At first, it was complaints about silly pranks he pulled on Chunin. He had brushed it off then, it was nothing serious after all. But the complaints continued, the file report growing thicker and thicker until the victims officially gave up and accepted their new reality.

He had never really thought about the boy ever since, only caught glimpses of him on the streets or when he passed the training grounds. To be completely honest, he wasn't all that interested in his development. He was sure that he would make it big, considering who his parents were. But now he regrets his decision. He looked at those calculating cerulean blue eyes that hid so much intelligence and potential behind them and fought the urge to steal him from Kakashi. Which would be a terrible idea, really. The Hatake was more protective of those children than he was over his erotic books, and that was saying something.

He found the idea still alien. Hatake Kakashi in charge of Genin? Impossible. That guy was a lone wolf through and through, difficult to deal with on a good day. When Genma returned to the station one day and told them the news in between his chuckles, he had dismissed him completely. There was no way the Kakashi he knew would pass a team without being pressured to. But then the Tokujo began to whisper. Whisper about three little terrors and their sensei. And when the news reached him that Team 7 moved into the old Hatake house, Ibiki began to doubt his ears.

Why on earth would Kakashi move back into his old home? The house that held so many painful memories? Did these children really manage to accomplish the impossible and warmed the Hatake's, stone-cold heart?

The young Uzumaki caught his eye and gave him a cheeky grin. Ibiki shook his head, a small smile creeping past his lips.

Looking at them now, it didn't seem all that impossible.

--

Shikamaru was bored.

That wasn't something new, seeing as the only times he was not was when the 'Rookie 9' were all hanging out together and training, or on the rare occasions where he found something particularly interesting to read in his father's study. The problem at the moment was that he couldn't do anything about it. He finished all the questions some time ago and tried to take a nap to pass the time. But no. The universe decided to be against him and have a crazy blonde chick stare holes into his skull.

He didn't even know why!

All he did was put his head in his arms like he always used to do in class and close his eyes! Despite popular belief, he could not sleep peacefully when other people were staring at him. Correction. When strangers he had never seen in his entire fucking life were glaring at him for no god damn reason!

He really regretted not finishing his third cup of coffee this morning.

Irrited, he glanced over his shoulder at the girl three rows behind him. And yep, she was still glaring. If she was standing right in front of him and the glare was fully directed at him, he honestly would have to fight the urge to run. Man, that girl was scarier than both Ino and Sakura combined! But it wasn't, thankfully. It kind of seemed like she was mad at everything and everyone. She was irritably tapping her pencil onto her paper, teal eyes occasionally glancing up.

He noticed the floating eyeball some time ago. It must belong to one of her teammates.

Troublesome woman.

He turned his head back to the front of the room and proceeded to half-doze through the final question. It was a joke, honestly. Who in their right mind would ditch it now? Oh...a lot of people apparently. Only twenty teams stayed put, his included. Other than Naruto's and Hinata's teams, the rest sat there with nervous determination. Stupid, truly. Did they not see right through this 10th question thing?

The rest of his speech was boring as well and he fought hard to keep his eyes from falling shut. He may say something important for the second part, but his voice lulled him into a light sleep.

He was woken up abruptly when none other than Mitarashi Anko crashed through the window and made her grand entrance. Honestly, she was even worse than Naruto. A feat not many could accomplish. He noted with amusement how she kept a healthy distance to their little group as they walked towards the 'Forest of Death', no doubt wanting to avoid the humiliation that was sure to come if Naruto's sly grin and Sakura's slaps on the head were anything to go by.

While he had heard of this forest before from his father and some other shinobi, he had never been there himself. He simply had no reason to. The others were pretty much the same, but Naruto admitted to having been here before. When asked when and why he avoided the questions and changed the subject. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. Something serious happened, and he wanted- no, needed to know what.

After receiving their heaven scroll and bidding their friends goodbye, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio headed for their designated gate.

Shikamaru let out a sigh as he watched some clouds float by. "Can we find a safe place to take a nap first? I'm beat."

Ino and Choji laughed at him.

Chapter 12: Mind's Library

Summary:

In which snakes are acting weird and Kakashi takes a strange trip.

"So...that was easy..."

Naruto glanced at the earth scroll in his hand and sighed. They weren't even two hours into the second part of the exam and they already had what they needed to pass. All they had to do now was to get to the tower, hardly a difficult task. The ninja from Ame groaned beneath him and he absentmindedly hit his head to make him pass out again.

"A little too easy!" He whined and threw the scroll at Sakura, who in return placed it inside her backpack beside the others. "Even with Kakashi-sensei's restrictions, I thought it'd be at least a little more challenging!"

"Hn."

"Exactly!"

Kakashi had pulled them aside before they left the house in the morning, telling them about his peculiar rules for the exam. They each had to give up three of their techniques, including special weapon usage. They had tilted their heads in confusion at the time, but Naruto saw now why he did it. Even without the help of Kurama, his bo staff and any kind of water-Jutsu, this was just way too easy and boring! When he had heard of the exam, he thought that he could finally go all out and have fun! But this? This was nothing like he imagined. All the teams that had attacked them until now were weak and they managed to gather three other heaven and two earth scrolls, for no particular reason. They wouldn't have survived the five days in this place anyway, so why not take their scrolls as well?

Sakura rolled her eyes and stood up. She dusted off her clothes, pushing back the strands of hair that fell into her face. In the past year, none of them had the time, or the patience, to cut their hair and it just grew longer and longer. Sakura's now reached her lower back and Sasuke's just over his shoulders, but he liked to style them up so it wasn't all that obvious. Naruto's, on the other hand, were already past his shoulders. He preferred to tie them in a low ponytail.

Grabbing a pink lock, she inspected it with critical eyes. "I think I need a haircut. They're getting all over the place!" She said finally, glancing at them with a frown.

Sasuke hummed, also standing up. They had taken a 'lunch break' after the last attack since none of them had eaten anything that morning. They were too nervous and excited to do so. "Why don't you just braid it?"

"No..." Her frown deepened as she jumped onto a tree. The boys followed suit and they continued their way to the tower. "It would look stupid...Besides, I like short hair better anyways."

"Then why didn't you cut it sooner?" Naruto asked, leaping over a branch and landing in front of her. He could sense others nearby, but judging from the signatures, it was only Team 8. They were also heading to the centre, so he guessed they were done as well. Maybe they could meet up on the way?

"Well, 'it is not appropriate for young ladies' and 'short hair is only for boys'" She mocked in her mother's shrill voice and rolled her eyes, cutting off a set of leaves before they hit her face with a kunai. "I didn't dare to disobey when I was still living with them and after I moved out..well...I kind of forgot about it? I mean, we were so busy with missions and training all the time, it slipped my mind."

"Can't argue with that." Sasuke shrugged. "Now that I think about it...Can you cut my hair?"

The question was not directed towards Sakura, but Naruto. He blinked a few times in confusion before he remembered that out of the three of them, not counting Kakashi-sensei, he had the steadiest hands. He was also good at spotting unevenness. Perks of practising fuuinjutsu.

"Oh, yeah, ok. Why not? I can do yours too, Sakura."

His pink-haired teammate squealed happily but silenced immediately when Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, holding up a hand for them to do the same. He scanned his surroundings with narrowed eyes, trying to find the source of his uneasiness. Something dark and powerful and full of sadistic joy poked at his radar. It was cloaked like it didn't want to found, and spiked in irritation when it realized that it was. His skin prickled, as it always did when he was being watched.

"What is it?" Sakura whispered, senbon ready between her fingers. The three automatically formed a triangle, each protecting the others' backs.

"Strong." He said, voice rough. "Not Genin, nor Chunin."

"Jounin?" Sasuke guessed, clearly holding himself back from using his Sharingan. It was one of the things he gave up on. What he did not abandon, however, was his katana, which was currently in his hand and ready to slash or electrocute if needed.

"You sense that too, Kurama?"

~Hhm?~ Kurama yawned and, Naruto guessed, stretched in his mindscape. He then went really quiet for a moment before responding. ~I don't like this. Get out of here immediately!~

It was too late that Naruto moved to grab his teammates. It was too late that he saw a foot flying towards him, kicking him into the nearest colossal tree this forest seemed to be made out of. He grunted when he felt himself making a dent in the shape of a human body in the trunk and bit his lip. Crying out loud had never been an option before, why make an exception now?

"NARUTO!"

He blinked his eyes open, a difficult task at first. Dark spots were dancing in front of his eyes and the blinding light that shone through the crown of trees did not make it any better. When his vision returned, he saw his teammates. Both torn between being worried about him and glaring at the enemy. Said enemy was standing several feet away from them, tongue hanging creepily out of their mouth. They were pale, unnaturally so, and their black hair hung like a curtain under the bamboo hat.

He pried himself off the tree and stumbled forward.

"Really impressive." The weirdo drawled, their voice dripping with poison. "I guess one should not underestimate an Uzumaki's sensory skills."

"The fuck do you want?" Sakura snapped, her body tense. Now that the person was close, even she could feel the sliminess in their chakra. If someone was to tell Naruto that a chakra signature could feel disgusting and sickening a few hours ago, he probably wouldn't have believed them.

"What indeed..." The voice was teasing, mocking in a way that got on Naruto's nerves.

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed, doing a quick check-up on Naruto when he rejoined them and turned back to the shinobi. "You're that one Kusa-nin, but-"

"Not possible." Cerulean eyes were trained on the enemy, almost daring them to try anything. "I memorized all of the participants' chakra signatures that made it to the second part, including the Kusa team. That's not their chakra."

"Oh? You figured it out?" Weirdo chuckled and reached up to remove something from their face. It took the three a moment to realize that it was the face they were removing and suppressed a shudder. This was getting more and more disgusting. Naruto wants to flee as Kurama suggested, but he doubted they would get a chance to run.

Underneath the layer of skin, a sickly green complexion with purple highlights around the eyes was revealed. The eyes were golden and slit, like that of a snake's. There wasn't much time they had to marvel in horrified fascination the unexpected transformation, as the person, that definitely shouldn't be allowed to be there, attacked.

The giant wall of fire that suddenly manifested in front of them shook them out of their stupor and, without missing a beat, Naruto and Sakura rushed forward to counter with an equally big wave of water. There was no time to feel bad about breaking Kakashi-sensei's rules because the bastard did not sit still. Naruto swirled around to see Sasuke dancing around the enemy with grace, but he did not like the look in those golden eyes one bit. They were up to something.

The two rushed to assist and Naruto's eyes narrowed when the person opened their mouth, revealing senbon-sharp fangs. Before they got the chance to bite into Sasuke's neck like some sick version of a vampire, Naruto crashed full force into their side, tackling them to the ground. He stood back up, ignoring the throbbing pain in his ribcage. That bruise will take forever to heal!

Luckily, he saw the next attack coming and jumped out of the way before the floor swallowed him whole. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Sakura and Sasuke doing the same and made sure to land beside them. The person only chuckled again, in that ominous hissing way, and disappeared into the shadows.

"What the hell's that?" Sakura panted, staring wide-eyed at the clearing that definitely wasn't there a moment ago.

"That was, what, ten times stronger than your Jutsu?" Naruto responded, searching the place for the enemy. "Just who are they? They're not here to take the exam, that's for sure!"

"Do you think sensei will forgive us for breaking the rules?" Sasuke asked, Sharingan flaring to life.

The only girl in their team nodded grimly, "Probably," she said and tied her hair into a high ponytail.

--

"Whoo! I can't believe it was that easy! Man, we're in top form today!"

Hinata giggled as she watched Kiba and Akamaru dance through the trees in front of her, heaven and earth scrolls neatly tucked in her bag. They had taken advantage of the flora and fauna of this place and robbed a Konoha team blank of their belongings when they fell victims to the leeches. Since they weren't that heartless, they left them some food and water...if they wake up before someone else finds them that is.

Shino was a few paces behind her as they travelled to the tower. He held up a finger, letting a bug land on it, and raised an eyebrow. "Team 7 is nearby. Why? Because they're done as well."

"You think we can me-meet up on the way?" She asked, narrowly avoiding a low branch.

"Sur-" He began to say, but tripped over Akamaru who had stopped without them noticing. He regained his balance on the next tree and glared at the dog.

But Akamaru was not paying attention to them. His head was facing south, sniffing the air rather aggressively. He whined, which caught his owner's notice. "What is it?" Akamaru whined again and Kiba blanched.

"What-what's wrong?" The Hyuuga heiress asked, also looking in the same direction. They had all stopped by now.

"Hinata," Kiba turned to her, unnaturally serious. "Can you check with your byakugan, please? I think something is going on over there and Team 7 is involved."

She nodded, going through the proper seals. She was still not completely confident to activate the dojutsu without them, but she hoped one day that she'll be able to. Right now though, that was not a concern. What she saw in the distance made her blood run cold and nearly lose her balance. "Oh my..."

"What?"

Without responding or waiting for them, she dashed towards the clearing that, according to her earlier observations, shouldn't be there at all.

...

"What the hell happened here!?"

Ignoring Kiba's loud exclamation, Hinata and Shino rushed to Sakura's side, each releasing her from the weights she had to carry. She looked worse for wear, all muddy and bloody and scorched on more places than Hinata thought possible. Her clothes were drenched and her hair so utterly jagged, it looked like she fell asleep in the presence of a toddler and scissors.

The rest of her team didn't look much better. They looked worse.

Hinata carefully sat Naruto against a tree, settling beside him for support. He was slipping in and out of consciousness, head bobbing and falling onto her shoulder, then snapping back up. He was covered head to toe in mud and a weird sticky substance, ash smudged on his cheeks. She noticed that he avoided putting any kind of pressure on his right side and guessed that he was injured there as well. Small wounds were more often than not immediately treated by Kurama, so this had to be bigger.

Shino to her right had already begun treatment on Sasuke who, unlike the other two, was fully unconscious. His right arm was soaked in blood and more was coming out, so the Aburame focused on that first. He kept wincing and hissing in his temporary sleep and Hinata couldn't help but notice the strange way he favoured his neck.

"Sakura!" Kiba shouted, bringing her attention to the pink-haired girl. She collapsed into Kiba's arms, breathing heavily. "What happened here? Who the hell did this? You three are, like, super strong! Probably the strongest participants, how-"

"Kiba," Hinata spoke up, cutting the dog-nin off with a stern look. "I don't think now is the right time. We should focus on nursing them first, ask questions later."

Looking down at the girl in his arms, he sighed and lead her to where the others were. "You're right."

Luckily, Kurenai-sensei had insisted that at least one of them had to learn medical ninjutsu, in case of emergencies. This obviously counted as one and Hinata and Kiba did everything they could to help Shino. Since he was the most interested in the subject, he accompanied Sakura to the hospital twice a week to learn with her. He was nowhere near her level-she was a natural-but he got the basics down. They even managed to drag Shikamaru into this and no one understood how.

And right now, it was Sakura that needed help. She tried to stand up and even succeeded in making it to Sasuke's side to heal him when they weren't looking, but Hinata pushed her back, shaking her head. "Sakura, you need rest. Any more and you'll die from chakra exhaustion."

She grunted but didn't protest, her medical knowledge and logic telling her that Hinata was right, and leaned against a tree.

Hinata sighed, continuing her task. She washed out the cloth with cold water before tabbing it on Naruto's cheek, cleaning off the ash and dried blood from a nasty cut. His gaze was on her the whole time, which made her kind of nervous, but he was probably only focusing on staying awake. The more critical injuries had already been taken care of and she could still hear the faint hissing as the Nine-Tails worked on them.

"Can I, like, add snakes to the list of things that I hate?" He asked, eyes drifting to where Sasuke was laying a few feet ahead of them. Shino was still fussing over him, barking orders at Kiba.

That startled a soft chuckle out of Sakura and she grinned at him. "Yeah, me too."

Hinata sat back after she was finished cleaning him to the best of her abilities. It had to do for now. She tilted her head. "What-what happened out there? Because that was not the work of Genin or Chunin level ninja. That much I can see."

The two glanced at each other. It was obvious that they were having some kind of silent conversation, so Hinata waited patiently. They did that often, Team 7, and nobody could understand them. If they wanted you to know, they would straight out say it. If not...well then you're stuck with curiosity forever. Eventually, Sakura glanced at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Hinata, but we think we should talk about this with Kakashi first. It's kind of a big deal and the fewer people know about this, the better."

She nodded and stood up. "Of course. I'll-I'll go inform the others and then we can decide a course of action."

"Course of action?" Naruto questioned, tilting his head even though that particular movement sent black spots dancing in front of his eyes.

Hinata had already walked a few paces and looked back. Pushing down the squeezy feeling deep within her at the sight of him, she raised an eyebrow. "W-Well, you three are in no condition to travel or to fight, so we'll have to decide to move or-or to stay."

"Ah."

She forced herself to look away. She couldn't bear seeing him like that. All beaten up, broken and troubled. He was sure blaming himself for the situation. If not for the mysterious fight, then for being a 'burden' for them and holding them back in the exam. Which was stupid since they had what they needed to pass and four days to spare. It was enough time to nurse them back to health enough to reach the tower.

She really hoped he would grow out of that way of thinking, just like she had managed with the help of her friends.

--

Shino was never a man of many words. He preferred to stay quiet and speak only when it was necessary (not counting the times he insulted Kiba). But now, even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to speak properly. His throat was tied into a knot.

He worked on keeping Sasuke alive for almost an hour and a half and he almost didn't want to know what happened to bring him into this kind of state. He forced himself to relay orders to Kiba when he needed something because he didn't dare move away. He was afraid. Afraid that his medical ninjutsu wasn't enough. But it had to. It had to because there was no one else around. Sakura was still out of commission, sleeping close to Naruto. They were both exhausted.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he leaned back and let out a deep breath. Sasuke was stable for now, but he needed professional medical attention as soon as possible. They agreed to set off first thing in the morning to get to the tower. That way, they would have enough time to recover before the third part of the exam.

"Here."

He glanced up to find Kiba towering over him, a water bottle in his hand. He offered it to Shino, who gladly took it. They stayed silent for a while, eyes trailing the sleeping forms of Team 7. Hinata was sitting by Naruto and Sakura, humming softly to get them to relax. It didn't work as planned since they were technically still in danger in this forest, but they did fall asleep.

"Sleep," Kiba said looking at him. "I'll keep watch. You've done enough."

Shino wanted to protest, but he knew he was right. He had to rest, in case something happens tomorrow. It would be truly unfortunate if he was out of chakra before he could even do anything. Nodding, he laid down beside Sasuke and closed his eyes.

...

He was woken up by the scent of grilled fish.

He opened his eyes, staring numbly at the fire a few feet away. It took his sleep drunk brain a little to realize that the others, minus Sasuke, were sitting around it, eating fish on sticks. He sat up and stretched. Sleeping on the floor was never comfortable and he guessed that it will never be. But one had to get used to it. Especially on long-term missions; there won't always be a hotel conveniently nearby to stay the night, so the ground had to do.

Hinata smiled when she noticed him and waved him over. "Good morning! He-here, eat something!"

He went to join them, but hesitated, suddenly remembering the events of last night. He immediately turned to Sasuke, who was still asleep.

"Don't worry, he's fine for now," Sakura said, but her frown betrayed her worry. "I checked on him when I woke up. You did a good job, by the way, but you still need to improve healing burns. I took care of most of them when I had enough chakra."

Shino breathed a sigh of relief and sat next to Naruto, taking the stick he offered and bit into the fish. "There's a river nearby. Hinata and Sakura went there earlier to catch us breakfast." He said, smiling brightly as usual. Shino nodded.

They ate in silence. Unlike most of the time where they were obnoxiously loud. They didn't want to draw attention to themselves. Making a fire was already risky on their part since half of them were in no condition to fight. Even if the Kyuubi healed the majority of Naruto's injuries, he was still limping.

"Is...is it really safe to move Sasuke at the mo-moment?" Hinata asked when they started packing, glancing at the unconscious boy worriedly.

"No," Sakura sighed, shouldering her bag. "But we don't have much of a choice. We need to report what we saw as soon as possible. Plus, he'll have better chances recovering in an actual bed."

The girl nodded and watched as Kiba carefully lifted the Uchiha and secured him on his back. Depending on how much time it will take to get there, Shino and Kiba will switch carrying him. Naruto wanted to help as well, but Shino and Sakura strictly forbid him from straining his already sore muscles. Naruto pouted but didn't protest any further. Sakura can be scary when she wants to.

"Alright, let's go!"

--

Kakashi was not having a good day.

It all started in the morning when his pack decided to chew through most of his shoes and trash the living room. They had been a jittery mess since the cubs started the exam the day before and were more nervous than he was, making him nervous in return. Even more so than he was in the beginning.

He had spent all of yesterday with the other senseis and swung by the tower as well. He almost expected to see his cubs there, chatting mindlessly and joking around like usual. So, he was surprised to be informed that the only team that completed the second part was a team from Suna. And in record time as well. Did his kids get in trouble?

He shook his head, reminding himself that they always get in trouble. It was most likely that they were playing pranks on the other participants.

But he made two mistakes.

One of which being telling his summons about it, resulting in them more or less freaking out. Pakkun was the only logical one and tried to get the pack to relax. It didn't work, but the help was appreciated. Kakashi had been both touched and horrified when his team and his pack bonded. It was adorable to watch them interact, especially in the mornings where they all were still half asleep. But his summons gets attached too easily. And they worry too much. They see them as if they were their own pups.

His second mistake was ignoring his instincts, his paranoia and his pack. They were all right when it came to the safety of his students. Looking at them now, twenty hours after the start of the second part, it took all of his willpower to stay calm and not rush out to find that damn snake. They did have suspicions that there was an imposter after finding the faceless corpses, but who would've thought it was that guy?

And he went after his students? Unacceptable!

Even more unacceptable, however, was the fact that no one believed them. No one believed them because they were children, Genin, and they could just be telling lies to get attention. It made his blood boil hotter than ever before.

-

"Ridiculous!" One of the elderly exclaimed, pointing at his cub. "Why would he be here?"

"There's no way he got past Konoha's defences, don't joke about things like that!" Another said and the lady next to him nodded, sneering at Naruto.

The boy wasn't fazed. He glared right back. "We told you what we saw. This is a report from the Chunin exams that should not be overlooked." He said calmly, eyes flickering to Sakura and Kakashi for support. "Even if we're wrong, if there's a possibility, however small, that we are right, shouldn't it get investigated? Better be safe than-"

"Just who do you think you are talking to?" The sneering lady interrupted, eyeing him like he was that one mosquito in your room at two in the morning that won't let you sleep. "It's obvious why you're saying all this. You want attention. You and your little friends." She nodded to Sakura.

"No, we're not!" The pink-haired girl snapped, trembling with bottled up rage. "Why would we do that? Why do you think Sasuke got back half-dead? Because we wanted to? We had to fucking watch our teammates being beaten down and squashed like insects! We're both barely standing here even now! But we are, just so to give you this fucking report before things go south!"

"Language, young lady!" The first grandpa warned, looking at Sakura and clearly not taking her seriously. Kakashi was tempted to rip his spine out and hit the others with it. Only just.

Iruka seemed to sense that the three were now seconds away from attacking blind and cleared his throat. They all looked at him. "If I may make a suggestion...why don't we look at their memories? I'm sure Inoichi-san will help out here since he's quite familiar with the kids. That way, we can see if they are indeed right or wrong and stop this conflict. We're just wasting time."

Always the voice of reason that man.

-

"Don't worry, Kashi-sensei," A soft voice said beside him. He saw a glimpse of bubblegum-pink hair and a soft smile. "The doctor said he's going to be just fine until the time is up and can continue if he takes it easy!"

He glanced at Sasuke, laying in the infirmary bed, eyes still shut close, and sighed. He ruffled her hair. "I know, I'm not worried about him. I'm more worried about the interrogation. Are you sure you want to do that?"

Sakura volunteered to let Inoichi and him into her mind since she said that she was conscious the entire time and collapsed only after the fight was over and Team 8 found them.

She hummed as they exited the infirmary. "Sure, why not? I trust Inoichi-san, he's nice. And you will be there too! You can surely prevent him from looking into more personal memories, right sensei?"

"Of course." Kakashi smiled softly under his mask. What did he even do to deserve them?

...

Entering someone's mind was something Kakashi had never done before. It was weird at first, but he quickly got used to it. He looked around. They were in a...library?

"Everyone's mind looks different," Inoichi said as if reading his mind as well and started walking along with the aisles. "We all have our unique imagination and way of organizing. Some people have libraries like this one, a house with many doors, or even an open field. It's quite interesting that Sakura-What is that?"

Kakashi's head snapped towards him alarmed. "What?"

Inoichi paled, eyes wide in disbelieve. "This...part of the library...it shouldn't be like that..."

The girl's sensei followed the Yamanaka's gaze and his mouth pressed into a thin line. They had reached the section that belonged to Sakura's childhood, her most painful memories...There were more than there should be. The shelves were rotten, ready to fall apart, the floor cracked, the books themselves ripped and tattered. It looked haunted, and the screams echoing from some of the books did not make it any better. His heart gave a painful squeeze.

Just as Inoich was about to grab a book from five years ago and open it, Kakashi snapped out of his daze and slapped his hand away. He gave him a hard glare. "We are not here to have a look at her childhood. We are here because she was accused to be a liar!"

The Yamanaka stared at him, eyebrows furrowed in concern. It was obvious that he wanted to argue. To say that this was important too. And he agreed. But he also promised Sakura to stay away from those particular memories. Inoichi must've seen that on his face because he nodded grimly and moved on.

It didn't take them long, considering that Sakura's library was well organized and Inoichi was the best in his field. That particular aisle was kept for special fights. Fights that his cubs struggled with and barely got out of there alive. It was mostly empty; only half of the upper shelves actually holding books. Kakashi smiled when he saw the title of one, remembering the C-rank where they were attacked by missing-nin from Kusa while escorting merchants. It was a tough battle, but they managed without any major scars.

Inoichi grabbed the newest looking book, turning it in his hands. It was an ugly, muddy green with gold lettering. Chunin exams: Orochimaru attack! He looked at Kakashi. "Ready?"

Taking a deep breath, he nodded.

A strong wind pushed Kakashi back. He felt like he was falling, but it wasn't for long. He soon landed in a forest, Inoichi right beside him. He looked around, quickly spotting his students jumping around in a clearing, trying to avoid the cracks in the ground and upcoming fire attacks. The Forest of Death was filled with the sounds of them fighting and yelling. The two intruders stepped closer.

They both recognized the enemy immediately, having seen and heard so much about him. It was, indeed, the Sannin Orochimaru and he was currently overpowering his cubs. Inoichi had to physically hold him back from jumping in and dragging Naruto out of the way when he was too slow to notice the giant snake coming for him. It bit his leg and he screamed in pain. Kakashi cringed and resisted the urge to cover his ears.

While Naruto was busy with the dozen of snakes, Sasuke and Sakura were taking on the Sannin himself. Sasuke engaged him in an impressive taijutsu match, landing a few hit as his Sharingan swirled, jumping from one detail to another that could help the boy win this. Sakura was supporting him from afar, firing senbon when the timing was right and she was certain she wouldn't hit her teammate and wasn't in immediate danger of the Sannins wide-range attacks. Kakashi then noticed the poison drenched weapons sticking out of the shinobi's arms and legs. He was proud of her, but also knew that regular poison did not work on a guy like him.

Speaking of poison, he was pretty certain that the snakes Naruto was fighting were venomous. He knew the boy didn't sustain serious damage as he spoke with him only an hour ago, but he was still concerned. Sakura was barely glancing at him from time to time, so the memory around Naruto was fuzzy when she wasn't looking. He was both irked and glad that she did that. While he wanted to know what exactly happened to the blond, it was also important to keep your eyes on the enemy.

The taijutsu match was over. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, it was Orochimaru that won and Sasuke was sent flying into a tree, crashing above a dent that was suspiciously shaped like a human body. The boy stayed still for a moment, no doubt trying to keep his lunch in his stomach, and the Sannin took the opportunity to get close to him. Sakura stood in his way, covered in mud and blood and panting heavily. She shakily raised her fist and charged. She punched him in the gut, forcing him to double over and cough before glaring at her and sending her flying as well.

Kakashi's head snapped to the side, watching her land close to Naruto who was shocked when she fell from the sky. A snake neared her, maw open to devour her whole. Alarmed, Naruto dropped what he was doing and pulled out his bo staff, hitting it square on the head. The snake staggered, and after another hit, eventually collapsed. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, accepting Naruto's helping hand and stood up.

"Sakura, are you ok?"

"I'll manage."

Their heads simultaneously snapped forwards to where Sasuke was. Kakashi felt himself go pale when he saw Orochimaru sink his teeth into the boy's neck, grinning disgustingly when he started screaming in pain. It was a bloodcurdling scream. One he never wanted to hear from his students. When he ever sees Orochimaru again, he will be sure to rip his head off.

The remaining two of Team 7 were by his side in less than a second. Sakura fussed over him, desperately trying to find a way to help him, as Naruto charged at Orochimaru in a blind rage. Kakashi could see his pupils slowly turning into slits, the edges of his irises fading into a deep red. He was losing control. Both of them were. And while the Kyuubi was not the hate-filled monster he once was, he had grown a soft spot for the three of them. Kakashi could understand that he was angry as well, not holding anything back.

But it was Orochimaru they were talking about here. As soon as he realized what was going on, in a few quick movements, he knocked the boy out, kicking him back to the others. He disappeared dramatically in flames, snickering as he did so.

Kakashi's heart beat so fast, he was afraid it would jump out of his ribcage and run away. Inoichi did not stop him this time from joining his students. Naruto, he noted, was not entirely unconscious. He pushed himself up. Kakashi tried to stop him, but his hands just passed through him. He blinked at Sakura.

"Stop that," He whispered. Sakura froze momentarily, hands hovering over Sasuke's torso. "You'll run out of chakra..."

"I-I won't," She argued shakily, her voice thin. "I still h-have plenty."

Naruto chuckled unsteadily and coughed a few times. There was blood on his hand after. "No, you don't."

Sakura stopped her attempts of healing the Uchiha and sighed, standing up. She swayed a little. "Anyway, we have to move. We cannot stay here." As Kakashi began to wonder how they would do that in the state they were in, the pink-haired girl hauled both of the boys up; Sasuke over her shoulder and Naruto under her arm. The boy protested but was too weak to do anything about it.

"Sakura...let me down..."

"No! I have to get us out of here!" She snapped, tears gathering in her eyes. She only managed a couple of feet before she slowed down, swaying more than before. "It's not...it's not safe..."

Naruto looked at her for a second and smiled softly, eyes shining a bit. "Don't worry...we're not alone."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but the tension visibly left her body when she saw three figures making it to the clearing. Team 8. Kakahi was never more glad to see them.

Notes:

Hello fellow humans, how are you all holding up?
Personally, I'm feeling so-so and I decided to take a small break to gather myself. This means that I won't be posting next week and maybe even the week after that. I'm really sorry, but I have to do this. Hope you understand.

Anyway, about the chapter. Anko did not go after Orochimaru when they found the corpses, so it was never confirmed it was him until later. Sure, she had her suspicions, but she didn't seek out danger like that. She's an Auntie now! Her kids need her!

Chapter 13: Ready? Set. Go!

Summary:

In which Sasuke finally wakes up and a lot of other shit happens.

Notes:

So...it's been a hot minute since I last updated this story and I'm only kinda sorry about that. While I wanted to continue writing this, I also wanted to focus on my mental health and other projects first. I'm still not fine but I'm getting there. I cannot, however, promise weekly updates as I have done in the past, I will post whenever a chapter is ready to be posted and properly checked through by me.

On another note, thank you to all the people that commented over the past weeks, you all motivated me to continue💞💞

Hope you enjoy it!
(Also, I had no effing clue what to name this chapter, so we'll go with this until I maybe change my mind)

Exhausted, Naruto plumped down next to Hinata and closed his eyes.

Hinata, who was busy cleaning her quiver, looked at him. Her chakra was acting up a little, bubbly dancing around like it always did when she was nervous or excited. Naruto wondered if he was the reason for that, but dismissed the thought almost immediately. Who would be excited in the presence of a monster?

"Are-are you alright?"

Naruto snorted and cracked an eye open to peer up at her. "As alright as one can be after being attacked by giant snakes and their master."

The girl giggled. "Ok, sorry," She went back to cleaning and silence befell them. Well, to the two of them at least. The room was anything but silent with Team 10 having arrived yesterday afternoon. There were other teams too, and it seemed like Kiba started beef with a guy from Oto. They were really loud, but Naruto only concentrated on the low hum of Hinata's voice as she set the quiver to the side and switched to her arrows, counting how many she had left (including the hidden) and sharpening the dull ones.

"Are the seals working ok?" He asked after a while.

Hinata beamed at him. "Yes! They're brilliant! It-it really is convenient now that the a-arrows don't fall out anymore. And even after- even halfway through the exam, I still have over two hundred left!"

"That's good to hear. Let me know if there's a problem." He smiled as she nodded and started to make the heap of silver arrows disappear into the quiver.

As they all learned more about their weapons, they adjusted to things and even changed some aspects of their outfits. Hinata, for example, now wore gloves and an armguard, and a harness around her middle that supported her quiver, all in pastel lilac and black colours. Early on into her training, she realised that the back quiver was not doing it for her and, with his help, they mortified her hip quiver so that the arrows would not slip when running and would just keep appearing. She would have a limitless amount of arrows as long as the fight doesn't last over five hours. But he was working on making the storage seal bigger.

That'll have to wait though, because right now, they still had to wait another day for the next part to begin, even if Naruto didn't think many teams would be showing up anymore. All of the Rookie 9 were there, as well as the Konoha team they saw acting weak before the first part, two or three from other villages and, last but not least, Gaara's team.

He and Kurama figured out what had been bothering them about the scrawny looking boy when Naruto recovered from the attack. He was a jinchuuriki, just like him, and he was not on good terms with his host. His eyes looked like that of a panda because he could not fall asleep. He could if he wanted to, of course, but that would mean letting the Biju inside him take full control of his body. Which was obviously not good at all, especially for his mental health and everybody else's lives.

According to what Shino said, he was the kind of unstable where he would kill everyone and everything that looked at him for a second too long. Naruto tried to think of ways to help him, but nothing seemed doable with the way things were between them. He'd have to befriend him, a task impossible at the moment. Every time he got close to him to talk or just say good morning, he was met with silence and maybe a death threat. Temari, his sister, told him it would be better if he stayed away. He did not agree.

~Don't go losing your mind now, kit. You'll get your chance~

"I guess...But it's just so frustrating! Why doesn't he even want to talk? Am I that insufferable?"

~Yes, but I don't believe that that's the problem here. He clearly has some issues and Shukaku doesn't make it any better. He's just waiting for a chance to take over his body~

Naruto sighed, burying his face into Hinata's shoulder as she leaned back next to him on the wall. She didn't comment on it and patted his head. It was then that another presence plopped down next to them, grumpily muttering a greeting.

"Hello, Shikamaru," The two muttered in return with the same energy and giggled when they got glared at by the boy in question.

"How's Sasuke?" He asked, stirring his coffee and downing half of it...How was that boy even alive at this point?

"He'll wake up on time...hopefully." Naruto said, glancing away from him. "Sakura and Ino are with him right now. Ino is trying to get her to sleep, but she won't budge. I got kicked out earlier to get some rest but I can't sleep."

"Good luck, Ino," Shikamaru grunted to himself and went back to observing the people in the room. "What about Orochimaru?"

Naruto shook his head slightly, not wanting to make Hinata uncomfortable by moving too much. "Still no trace. He's one slippery bastard, but at least the higher-ups believe us now..."

"They looked into Sakura's mind, right?"

"Yeah, and I heard them talking afterwards...they want to look into the rest of the team's as well." He furrowed his eyebrows. What did they see to make them want to check on Naruto and Sasuke as well?

Shikamaru glanced at him. "Why? They got the information they needed."

"I honestly don't know."

"M-maybe," Hinata suddenly spoke up. "Maybe they want-they want to check your state of- state of mind? They did that to-to me a while ago..."

Naruto moved his head to look up at her and raised an eyebrow. "Stade of mind? You mean like our mental health?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, ok, they're not gonna like what they see." Naruto couldn't help but snort. Where did the sudden interest come from? They didn't give two shits about them for years and now they want to check if their minds were ok? Ridiculous.

Lost in thought, Naruto did not notice the glance the other two shared as Hinata continued to run her fingers through his blond hair. To distract from the suddenly awkward topic, Shikamaru cleared his throat.

"I, uh, I managed to sneak into my father's office."

That got his attention. He literally shot up and sat straight with attention, eyes wide and curious. Hinata held her hand close to her chest, as the sudden movement startled her. "Really? Did you find anything? Was I right? Did-"

"Whoa, easy there tiger," Shikamaru waved his hands in front of him. "One question at the time!"

Naruto took a deep breath. "What did you find?"

"You were right. He was ordered to do it, though the reasons are unknown. At least according to my father's files. Ino looked into it as well, but we pretty much found the same things. Our fathers believe that Danzo's involved, but that remains a theory. I'm sorry, we didn't find anything more on that. I can give you a copy after the exam."

"No, no, you did more than enough. Though, with missions and stuff, I couldn't find the time to research on my own..." Naruto scratched his cheek and tilted his head, already lost in thought. "What do you think Kurama?"

~I think you should drop it for now because someone is approaching~

Confused, Naruto looked up to find that there was indeed a person walking towards them. An unexpected guest, if you might.

"You're Uzumaki Naruto, right?" He said, dark eyes burning with passion. Naruto was almost afraid his head would catch fire, but then again, that would mean the end of his terrible bowl-cut. He recognized the guy. How could he not? He was the only one wearing a green spandex jumpsuit.

Naruto nodded, not bothering to hide his curiosity. "That'd be me. And you are?"

"ROCK LEE!" He practically screeched and jumped to his feet. Did he forget to mention that he was walking on his hands prior?

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Lee." He smiled easily, getting to his feet. While there was seemingly nothing intimidating in the gesture, Lee tensed and his friends chuckled. They knew he liked to mess with people. "Though, I highly doubt you came here only to introduce yourself."

Lee shook his head and grinned. "That's right! I came to challenge you!"

Innocently, Naruto tilted his head and looked at him with impossibly big eyes. "Challenge me? To what?"

The tactic seemed to be working on him because he suddenly became very unsure of his actions and looked like he was questioning his life choices. "A match of course! I...I heard much about...you and your...strength..."

He trailed off, watching Naruto in confusion and nervousness. Because Naruto was circling him now, scanning him and taking in every detail he could find. He knew he was strong, even if it didn't look like he could use chakra. Sure, it was there and dominant, but not cared for and formed to match his person. It was rough around the edges but screamed danger. One look at his muscles and overall posture and it was clear that his taijutsu was not to be taken lightly.

"Oh really?" He came to a halt in from of him, still smiling. "I'm flattered, but I guess that has to wait until after the exam. But, if you're lucky, we might get paired up in the next part. I heard we're doing one-on-one battles."

Lee's face lit up and he bowed, shouting something about youth and strength and dashed away, back to where his team had been watching the whole interaction. Neji was glaring at him warily, but also with an air of arrogance. As if he thought he was better than him. Naruto wanted to glare back, but decided against it, waving and grinning at him instead.

Turning back towards his friends, his grin dropped and he scowled. "I really want to punch that guy."

"W-Who? Lee?" Hinata tilted her head, glancing at the other Konoha team. When she noticed Neji, she squeaked and looked away.

"No, your cousin."

--

To say Kankuro was confused would be an understatement.

He was beyond that and couldn't do anything about it. And that pissed him off. This was supposed to be a mission, a serious one, but no one seemed to be taking it like that. Temari was mostly focused on the exam as if it actually mattered and was regularly whining about the climate. And Gaara...well, he's Gaara. The only thing that mattered to him was the number of people he could kill.

Kankuro was constantly on edge, expecting to be attacked at any given moment (even losing hours of precious sleep, but let's ignore that). He was anxious. Anxious to succeed, afraid to disappoint. This was his number one chance to prove himself to his father, even if that man had been acting a little strange the last time he saw him. He also kind of felt different, but Kankuro was no sensory type shinobi, so he couldn't be sure.

The point is, he wanted to be useful and decided to gather as much information as possible.

Only that...this seemed to be impossible with those guys.

Eavesdropping conversations had always been his strong suit and he did manage to pick up some gossip in the village, but as he tried to do that here at the exam, he found that nearly impossible. He didn't bother on the weaklings, since they were least likely to know anything, and focused on the team they bumped into about a week ago and their friends.

Well, two of the three considering the emo one was brought in unconscious and was immediately transferred to the medical bay. His teammates disappeared with him and didn't show themselves for a day, which was understandable given the circumstances. Thus, he settled for the other team that came in with them; a loud guy with a pup, a quiet guy with glasses and a short girl with a slight stutter in her voice.

They mostly kept to themselves, not talking much. Well, not talking about much of importance. The dog-nin was quite the loudmouth and could be heard from halfway across the large room they were settled in as clear as a day. But he was stupid and a useless source of information. The other two on the other hand... were interesting to say at least.

They were essentially whispering to themselves, only rarely responding to their teammate who seemed to be used to it and didn't react as badly as Kankuro originally thought he would. He caught bits and pieces and ended up with an incomplete puzzle he had no idea what to do with.

From what he gathered, the pink-haired girl's team had been attacked and emo got injured badly. Not surprising considering the nature of the exam, but there was something off about it. The person was not a participant. He couldn't hear the name of the person but with the way, Hinata, the dark-haired girl, trembled and fidgeted with the strap of her quiver, it was one hell of an individual.

But that wasn't nearly enough information.

When blondie- Naruto, if he was correct- came back and finally started conversing (he was partially mute when he first came back for some reason), he thought he could find out more. Wrong. Many other teams had already arrived by the time that happened and the room was loud. He could barely hear his own thoughts, let alone spy on other people. The only thing he got out of that interaction was that Hinata and Naruto make a cute couple and the latter is famous amongst his peers.

Also, what was that guy's problem with his little brother? He always tried to talk to him. Kankuro wasn't sure if he had a death wish or he was just plain stupid. Temari, who found a liking to the boy for some reason, insisted he leave him alone and don't talk to him for his own good. He did, for now. Kankuro was sure he didn't give up on whatever he was planing, the look in his eyes says it all.

Can we further add that he can be hella intimidating when he wants to? When he talked with the bowl-cut guy, Kanuro's hair stood on end and he wasn't even the target! Others may have not noticed, but that smile walked a verythin line between friendly and deadly. It wasn't an obvious intimidation method like the one his brother used, but it was just as dangerous, if not more.

So, you get it now. Kankuro was confused and there was nothing that could help him.

--

Blinking was hard and painful.

It should not be like that, he knew, so why was it? When his eyes were open, he was blinded by a bright light, so he kept them close. He then tried to move his fingers. That worked, but they ached and there was something wrapped around them. Bandages maybe?

Where was he anyway-

Wait, no, he remembered. According to Sakura, they fought that weird snake guy, Orochimaru. She recognised the man in the middle of the fight. She had read about the Sannin in a book at some point. Though that information was little to no help at that moment and they had to duck yet another fireball. He's probably in a hospital or something.

He concentrated on the presences he felt in the room. There were two other people with him, sleeping, judging by the noises they made. One of them was Sakura; he knew her chakra signature just as well as he knew Naruto's and Kakashi's. It was something he searched for regularly, be it when he was having a nightmare or he needed help with a Jutsu that wasn't his affinity or just to check and calm his anxiety.

The other he knew as well. Maybe he couldn't recognise it right away since it wasn't as important to him as it was for Sakura, but Ino was usually glued to Sakura's side, so it wasn't that hard to figure out.

The light that bothered him so much turned out to be a lamb right above his bed and he glared at it. Moving his hand and arm was doable after a minute and he used it to force himself up. Bad idea. A white-hot pain shot through his body, starting from his neck. Oh, right. That's where the bastard bit him. What was that all about anyway?

"You shouldn't push yourself too much." A gentle voice said and pushed him down.

Sasuke blinked in his direction, having already recognized Kakashi's comforting buzz. He gave a barely-there nod and let his eyes wander. Sakura and Ino were sitting on a big chair, the former half on the lap of the latter. Sakura had tugged her head under Ino's chin and the blonde her arms wrapped around her upper body. It would be a truly adorable sight, but Sasuke was more worried about the dark circles under his teammate's eyes.

"Sakura hasn't slept in two days." Kakashi said as if reading his mind. Sasuke frowned. "She and Naruto refused to leave your side, but Ino was able to kick Naruto out. Hinata got him to sleep." Ok, that solved one question he had. "The two of them have been sleeping like that for a couple of hours now, I advise you not to wake them up."

The Uchiha nodded, kinda, and grimaced. He brought a hand up to rub the place on his neck that hurt the most. "What did he even do?" He croaked out.

Kakashi sighed and took a seat on his bed. "It's a cursed seal. We still don't know what exactly it does, but Naruto put another seal over that to block whatever it's supposed to do. But you have to be careful, too much use of chakra will weaken it and we don't know what'll happen then."

"What about the exam? What day is it?"

"The next part will begin tomorrow morning. You are free to participate as long as you don't use chakra. With your tai- and kenjutsu, it shouldn't pose a problem." Kakashi smiled and ruffled his hair. He stood up.

"I'll go inform the others that you are awake, they've been worried about you. And try to get some rest while you can."

"Hn."

...

Sasuke was used to being stared at. That, however, didn't mean he liked it.

Why was he the main attraction again? Oh yeah. Because he was carried inside unconscious a few days ago. Talk about humiliation. Also, who was that weird guy in green spandex that kept trying to talk to him? He seemed annoying.

Anyway, when they were all done gawking at him like he was some national treasure or something, they neatly got in line as they were instructed to. The next part would be announced shortly, but Sasuke was honestly just glad Kakashi was there. That man seemed to have some sort of calming effect on him that not even Naruto and Sakura had. At least, not that strong. He still felt safer standing in the middle with Naruto in front and Sakura behind him.

The pain on his neck had yet to lessen, but he got used to it and could walk around normally. Naruto said he'll look into it after the exam, or when he gets the time. The sooner the better, he says.

"Congratulations on making it this far!" Anko's voice echoed through the large room they were put in. "21 of you got out of the forest! Honestly, I didn't think more than 10 could make it but it looks like we have some promising faces this year!"

Geez, thanks for putting so much trust in us. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Of course, he knew that she was not talking about them. She has first-hand experienced part of their abilities and knew quite well what they were capable of. Sasuke saw Kakashi-sensei smiling proudly at them and couldn't help but smirk back. Yeah. It didn't matter what she or the council thought. As long as that man was satisfied, so was Sasuke.

It was now the Hokage's turn to talk and Anko respectfully stepped back. Sasuke heard the first few words and decided that it wasn't all that important. I mean, wasn't it clear from the start that the villages were just showing off? He tapped Naruto's shoulder.

"Hey, isn't it weird that this Gaara guy doesn't even have a scratch on him?" He whispered and Naruto's gaze subtly drifted to the said redhead. He had noticed that a while ago. Shouldn't he at least have some dirt on him? They didn't exactly get the chance to change clothes and the rest of them were all filthy to some extent.

"I heard his team finished in less than 2 hours. Kinda amazing. It makes me wonder what kind of powers he has."

Sasuke hummed. In less than 2 hours? If he remembers correctly, that's even less time Ita- that man needed to pass.

Movement up ahead brought his attention back to the matters at hand. Hayate-sempai appeared in front of the Hokage, asking for permission to explain the rules of the third part of the exam. Which he got and turned to them. "Good evening everyone. For those who don't know me, my name is Hayate and before we get to the third and last part, there's something that needs to be done..."

Was it just Sasuke, or did he look paler and more fragile than usual? Did he refuse to go see a doctor again?

"You all have to go through preliminaries. The...reason for that is 'cause more people passed than anticipated and the rules say we must do this, so yeah..."

Not very convincing sempai, but ok.

"But why?" Kiba exclaimed, just a little pissed that they had to go through this.

Hayate scratched his head. "Well, there will be a lot of people watching, so the process cannot be all too long." He shrugged. "Anyway, if someone wants to withdraw do it now. The preliminaries will start shortly."

Sasuke looked around bored, hands in his pockets. His shorts did get it bad. They were burnt, torn and covered with dry mud and blood. Maybe he should take Sakura's offer to go shopping. Because the ones he was wearing and the few others in his closet were pretty damaged. Plus, he could use a new look.

There was only one person that withdrew. Kabuto. Sasuke wasn't that mad about it. Sure, he would've liked to know how strong he was, but if that guy opens his mouth one more time, Sasuke wasn't sure he could retain himself to not punch him in the face. It took all of his self-control not to do that to Hyuuga Neji who was standing right next to him.

Hayate scanned the crowd. "Well, if that's all, then let's begin." He coughed twice but continued. "We're doing one-on-one fights and since there are 20 of you left, that'll be ten fights in total. The winners move onto the final stage. There are no rules. If you don't want to die, please give up before anything bad happens. I will be the judge and I determine if and when the fight's over. I can also stop it if I deem it necessary. Understand?"

Not many nodded, but some did out of pure kindness. Like Choji and Hinata.

"The match-ups are randomly generated by this machine overhead." He pointed at a big board Sasuke had not noticed before. "Once the first fighters are determined, the rest will go up and watch from above if they want. That's not really up to me..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Typical.

He turned to the board like all the others, waiting with anticipation for the first pair. He could feel Naruto practically vibrating with excitement, too much excess energy having bottled up the last few days. He was ready to fight. The general atmosphere changed, became more serious, as did the expressions of the soon to be Chunin.

Yamanaka Ino vs Tenten

Huh. That's going to be interesting.

As they cleared the ring, Sakura hugged Ino good luck, not noticing the blonde blushing once she let go and skipped over to them. Seriously, for being one of the smartest people he knew, Sakura was pretty dense sometimes. Especially when it came to feelings and basic human decency... Okay, Sasuke may not be the one to talk since he's oblivious most of the time too when it came to those things, but he now understood everyone's frustration.

He was seriously tempted to lock the two in a closet.

--

The fight didn't last too long.

Ino looked down at her opponent, smiling at her earnestly and offering a hand. "Good fight, you're pretty strong!"

Tenten snorted but accepted the hand nonetheless. "Yeah, right, I obviously need to train more."

As they made their way back to the sidelines, Ino noticed a Chunin gathering up all the stray weapons that were used and not picked up by the girls. She had to admit, it was a close call. Tenten had a year's worth of experience ahead of her and it clearly showed in their fight. She even landed her fair share of hits on Ino that were sure to bruise.

"But you seriously need to show me how you do this thing with the tessen!" Tenten said, hands moving through the air as if wielding imaginary fighting fans, smile wide and bright. "You literally looked so badass! I always wanted to learn how to use them, but never got around to."

"Absolutely! Do you know how long I waited for a proper sparing partner?"

"After the exam?"

"After the exam."

The two high five before splitting up to join their respective teams. Once she reached the area the Rookie 9 were occupying, she was almost tackled to the ground by a mob of pink hair. Ino laughed.

"Congratulations, Ino! I knew you could do it!" Sakura cheered, letting go of the blond to examine her. Her eyes narrowed at one particular cut along her cheek that Ino only now noticed was still bleeding. "Here, let me take care of that."

Sakura sat Ino down beside Shikamaru as the next two entered the arena. Hinata and Temari. She didn't know anything about the Suna Genin, but from what she heard from Team 7, that team was not to be messed with. Hinata rightfully looked nervous to face her opponent, but the shouts of encouragement their friends threw at her seemed to work.

Ino tried to focus on the fight, she really did! But that was impossible to do with Sakura leaning over her, gentle hands checking over her body for any more injuries, healing the ones she did find. Ino was once again mesmerized by the way those calculating seafoam-green eyes moved with concentration, taking in every detail they could find, making Ino's skin feel warm. Just as the girl finished bandaging her lightly sprained ankle, Shikamaru snorted beside her.

Startled out of her trance, Ino looked at him, face flushing slightly when she saw him smirking to himself. "What?"

Glancing at Sakura and then back at her, Shikamaru's smirk grew. "Oh, nothing, but I think you've got a little bit of drool there."

She smacked his arm in response just as Hinata returned. Sakura gave her a strange look before turning and focusing on the Hyuuga heiress that certainly needed her attention now. Naruto got up and hugged her, saying that it was ok and that she did her best, so Ino guessed she lost the fight. She glanced over to the other side and smiled when she saw the state the Suna nin was in. There were multiple arrows sticking out of the giant fan and she spotted a forming black eye.Serves her right.

The next fight was announced and Hyuuga Neji and a guy named Zaku Abumi made their way down. Ino watched with disinterest as Neji practically beat the other Genin half to death with simple moves, not even needing to use his Byakugan all too much. Man, were there even enough strong 'baby' shinobi in other villages? Because the ones she'd seen so far during the exam were not really, with very few exceptions.

When the arena was cleared once again, the next fighters got ready. Ino perked up when Narutos name flashed on the board and wished him luck as he jumped off the railing. She already felt sorry for his opponent.

Notes:

I guess it kind of ended in a cliffhanger? Oops? Anyway, I regret nothing and the gay was strong in this one. Poor Ino, completely whipped...

Chapter 14: You know what they say about them Genin

Summary:

In which my babies kick ass and make their senses proud...oh and angst!

Notes:

So, lovely person reading this, I'm sorry it took me so long to finish one fucking chapter but it is what it is. I'll try to be a bit more active, but know that I did not abandon this fic.

Anyway, as I was rereading my own writing, I noticed that my past self was very fond of using the 'pissed pants' joke. Now, I'd like to think that I've outgrown that phase and never use it again unless the opportunity calls for it and the moment is just too perfect to pass up. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

(Also, please let it be noted that I don't think I have the best understanding of how seals work in Naruto, so I took a few creative liberties here)

Yoroi...did not see this coming. Like, at all.

When he was paired up with the Uzumaki, he thought that his win was inevitable. The kid looked like a strong wind could knock him over and the bags under his eyes were darker than could be considered normal. So, a tired, small and scrawny opponent should be easy prey, right?

Wrong. That kid was anything but weak and easy to deal with! He was a pain in the ass!

After he had dodged the first round of shuriken Yoroi threw at him, instead of charging right at him as any normal person would do, he jumped further back and scattered a bunch of blank appearing papers on the ground. Oh, how he wished he had paid more attention to that…

When Uzumaki was done littering the ground all throughout the arena while running and dodging incoming attacks, he stopped and finally turned to him with a smile. It was all teeth and Yoroi was shocked to see sharp canines sticking out but didn’t have time to think about it as the brat attacked at last.

He engaged Yoroi in an impressive taijutsu fight that left him panting by the sheer speed they were going at. He was trying his hardest to touch him for at least over a second, to use his special Jutsu and drain him from his chakra, but he was too damn slippery! Every time he thought he had driven the other into a corner, he appeared behind him with a kick to the head.

Desperation slowly clawing at him, he made one last leap and was too shocked to move when he actually managed to grab the other boy's arm, even as he tabbed onto his chakra. It was...nothing like he ever felt before and his first instinct was to let the fuck go because it was red and burning and wrong! But he couldn’t move and it suddenly dawned on him that it wasn’t because of his earlier shock.

He could not move, not even a twitch in his muscles no matter how hard he tried and panic made its way to his core, eyes wide and staring at the grinning blond in front of him. Glancing down, he saw that he had stepped into a circle made of papers, but not just any papers. They were seals and, by the little basic knowledge he had on them, he could recognise that their purpose was to trap something in place and he sighed in resignation.

Hayate-san announced the winner and Yoroi was free once again. As they made their way back upstairs, he made sure to keep a healthy distance from the demon of a genin.

--

“That was fun!”

Sakura only chuckled when her teammate finally made it back to them after dragging out the fight longer than necessary. It did look fun, though. “I bet it was, idiot.”

Naruto looked mildly offended. “Why am I an idiot? I gave him a chance fair and square! It’s not my fault he wasn’t strong enough to keep the upper hand!”

“So that’s what it was?” Shikamaru raised his eyebrow, head tilted back to look at him from his spot on the floor. “To me, it looked like you wanted to test his limits and the new seal you recently discovered.”

Naruto stared at him for a moment before pointedly turning away and sitting down, back leaning against Kakashi-sensei’s legs and his silence was answer enough for all of them. Kakashi chuckled and ruffled his hair fondly.

“Hey, dog breath, you’re next,” Sasuke muttered and nudged Kiba who was too busy laughing at Naruto to notice the next set of names.

“Oh, right!”

He and another Konoha shinobi, who appeared to be on the same Genin team as Naruto’s opponent and that Kabuto guy, simultaneously jumped off the sidelines and landed perfectly on either side of Hayate. Akamaru hopped off Kiba’s head and positioned himself slightly behind him for backup.

Sakura leaned back as Hayate began the fight and watched as Kiba was the first to charge forward to throw the composed shinobi off for a moment and even succeeded in landing a hit. While, as a general rule, they don’t attack first, there were exceptions. Usually, whoever made the first move loses the fight, but when dealing with characters like Misumi, Kakashi told them it was better to throw them off their game, confuse them, in the first few seconds.

And that’s what the Inuzuka did.

In the second it took Misumi to recover from the first strike, Kiba pulled out his karambits and started slashing at him. For someone who didn’t know better, it looked like Kiba was going at it blindly and with the ferocity of a wild animal, but that was just for show. There was a pattern, one that even Misumi didn’t see until it was too late and his back hit a wall, a blade inches away from his jugular vein. Sakura could see him gulp nervously and mutter something that had Kiba chuckling.

“Inuzuka Kiba is the winner of this round!” Hayate announced as both Konoha nin stepped away from each other.

.

“...Are you sure you want to be his friend?” Sakura asked dryly as she watched Gaara practically crush Lee’s bones and him shattering his sand armour in return and flinched. Her body was itching to stop the fight and rush to mend their injuries.

Naruto glared at her. “Yes. He’s lonely. Do you think he has any other friends? Even his siblings are afraid of him! Look!”

Sakura followed his gaze to where the Suna team was standing. She...really didn’t know how to feel about all this. Sure, she gets why it would be good to befriend the jinchuriki of another village, but he was just way too brutal. She hadn’t been spending much time in the main hall, but from what she heard from the others, he was quite aggressive without being prompted to. But then again…

“He is a prime example of what I could’ve become if I didn’t have you guys in my life…” Naruto continued softly, eyes tracking the redhead’s every single move.

Sakura wanted to argue, say that he wasn’t like that, that he wasn’t a murderer, but then she’d be lying. She could remember as clear as a day the hatred in her friend’s eyes whenever a teacher mistreated him, or when people whispered about him downtown loud enough for him to hear. She remembered when they were seven and he was being chased by a group of villagers and how, after that, he pretended to be fine while the anger inside him was bottling up.

She remembered that one time all that pent up anger exploded and he almost let Kurama take over before she and Sasuke could calm him down.

Gaara didn’t have that. If even his biological siblings looked at him in fear, she didn’t want to begin to imagine what the people in his village were like…

She sighed and turned back to the fight, leaning a little more into Naruto to hopefully calm his storm of emotions just a little. She might not know what the two were going through, being jinchuriki and all, but she did know what it was like for your family not to like you and it was shitty, for the lack of a better word.

Sakura had to close her eyes as the sand picked up, creating a mini storm inside the arena. When everything settled again, both Gaara and Lee were laying on the floor, one worse off than the other. They waited to see if one of them would stand up to announce the winner.

It was Gaara who did, but it didn’t look like he was about to accept victory as he was about to attack again. Sakura hadn’t even realised that she moved until she was standing in front of him, Naruto, Sasuke and an older copy of Lee hot on her tail. Gaara glared at them, but his eyes were glazed over, likely from a concussion.

“What!?” He spat and charged clumsily at them. “Get out of my way!! Let me kill that moron!”

Naruto and Sakura glanced at each other and nodded before grabbing an arm each and lowering him to the ground. The shock of being touched in the first place was enough to stop him from struggling too much and he stared at them bewildered before he remembered to put his mask back on and glare through his dizziness. Sakura is about 90 per cent sure that before today, no one had even come close to his skin in years.

“What…?”

“It’s ok, we’re just trying to help,” Sakura assured him as she carefully took a look at his injuries. Sure they weren’t that bad, but it was the act itself that counted at the moment. They were trying to gain his trust after all. (She was starting to think that it wasn't such a bad idea after all)

Sakura tried to ignore the sounds of the medic-nin scooping Lee off the ground, having to break it a little further to do so. She really wanted to help them, but the bewilderment in Gaara’s eyes in response to her kindness was enough to make her stay and smile softly. Sadly. It made her wonder once again how people could be so terrible that kindness and care were foreign concepts to a twelve-year-old kid.

When she was done patching up a rather nasty wound on his arm, he suddenly jerked away and jumped to his feet. His glare was back full force and the dizziness was apparently gone. Sand was swirling around him in a threatening manner and her teammates wasted no time falling into defensive stances a step in front of her.

Naruto tilted his head, “What’s wrong? Did Sakura hurt you while patching you up?”

“No.” Gaara snarled and for a moment it looked like he was about to pounce, but he just shook his head and moved to the sidelines with a single jump.

“Asshole. Could’ve at least said thank you!” Sasuke huffed as they, too, made their way back to Kakashi and the rest.

“Aww, don’t be like that!” Naruto said and giggled. “He didn’t kill us so I count that as a win!”

“Whatever.”

--

“Make sure not to lose to that weirdo, Sasuke! That’d be embarrassing!” Kiba yelled as he slapped the Uchiha on the back. Sasuke grunted and glared at him before hopping onto the railing.

“Hey, Sasuke, I heard that guy uses sound as a weapon,” Naruto said and smiled with a head-tilt, “You know what to do, right?”

The raven returned the smile and rolled his eyes, “Of course, dope, I'm not the idiot of the team.”

“Hey!” Naruto exclaimed as he jumped down, weaving sings as he did so.

Hayate looked at the two of them and Naruto could see that he was attempting to hide a smirk when Sasuke moved closer and he made a greater show at announcing the start of the match than the last few times to make sure Sasuke understood.

Almost immediately, Dosu let loose a series of high pitched soundwaves that made Naruto and Kiba cringe. The others weren’t able to hear from the distance, but neither was Sasuke. They may have complained at the beginning when Kakashi made them use the seals for training, but they found them super useful at times like these.

Since Sasuke was under strict orders not to use chakra any more chakra than necessary for jutsu, he drew his sword and sliced at the startled Dosu’s arm. He managed to do some damage to the gauntlet thing on his arm before needing to put some distance between them. Dosu was talking to Sasuke, clearly confused and irritated, but Sasuke ignored him in order to slash at him again.

They went back and forth for a while, but it was obvious that Dosu was not used to fighting a deaf person who was immune to his sound attacks. His taijutsu was sloppy at most and the other few ninjutsu he had were weak. Sasuke was easily able to dodge them even without his Sharingan.

The fight ended with Sasuke pinning Dosu to the ground, his sword so close to his throat it drew a little blood. Dosu was quick to give.

The Rookie 9 cheered as he came back to them and Kiba even slapped his back when he got close enough. It wasn’t obvious, but Naruto was trained to see even the slightest of microexpressions and his eyes immediately narrowed to the covered seal on his neck at the flash of pain.

He grabbed Sakura and Sasuke by the arm and dragged them to a more secluded spot as Shikamaru was called down. The Nara threw a curious and concerned glance at them but left them to it as they hurried out the corridor.

“Naruto what-”

“Where does it hurt?” He cut Sakura off as he forced Sasuke to sit down. “Did you use chakra outside of the seal at the beginning?”

Sakura’s face changed from surprised to serious the second Sasuke actually let himself show his discomfort. A bit embarrassed, he nodded his head before wincing. He then pointed at his ears and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what he wanted to say.

“Idiot.” Naruto huffed as he undid the seal. “You used a too much to form it and then to jump high, didn’t you? Your lucky you can read lips, you absolute moron!”

“You’re a moron.” Sasuke bit back a hiss as Sakura worked to unwrap the bandage covering the cursed seal, as Naruto found out it was called. Seriously, didn’t the Oto nin know to keep their mouth shut about these things in a room full of potential enemies?

“What’s wrong, cubs?” Kakashi asked as he appeared beside them.

“This idiot over here used chakra despite strict orders,” Sakura said as she glared at her teammate and finally dropped the bandage.

What it revealed was shocking, to say at least. The protective seal Naruto had put over the one Orochimaru left was broken and now mere smudges of ink on his pale skin. And the seal it was meant to keep at bay was glowing red-orange and moving around, spreading all over his neck and shoulder.

Trying not to panic too much, Naruto pulled out his notebook, brush and a scroll and started writing down observations. He also tried not to be too excited about the retrospect of getting the opportunity to study a new seal, seeing as it could possibly kill his sibling in a very painful way.

Sasuke cried out in pain and Naruto jolted, his handwriting becoming messier and messier the more seconds passed, his theories coming together, though he was too stressed to even notice. He didn’t even realize he was hyperventilating until a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

“Calm down, Naruto.” Kakashi’s familiar and soft and soothing voice said and Naruto instinctively reached out to clutch his pant leg. Kakashi had helped him through enough panic attacks to know not to move too much and just keep talking. Even though time was kind of essence now, Naruto wouldn’t be a help if he was in this state. He knew this. He knew this, but it was too damn hard to focus when Sasuke was curling up in pain!

He took a deep, shuddering breath and gently let go of Kakashi, moving to pick up his notebook instead. He flipped through, quickly scanning over his writing, mind already working on the solution to this problem.

“You with us, Naru?” Sakura asked gently, petting Sasuke’s hair in order to provide him with at least a little comfort. Naruto nodded and she smiled gently at him. “Shikamaru won, by the way. It’s Shino’s turn now, so I’ll probably be next.”

Naruto smiled back and forced himself to relax. The thought of continuing to try and save Sasuke from the pain (and possibly death) without her was hard, but he needed to do this. “That’s great. I’m sure you’ll kick ass!”

Sakura shook her head.

While still keeping Sasuke’s condition under close observation, Naruto shifted through his notes, tearing out useless pages and doodling makeshift versions of the seal he was trying to create on a spare piece of paper. It was obvious from the previous one that already existing protective and blocking seals will not work, so Naruto had to make a new one. The fact that it was Orochimaru that they were talking about was another pointer of that theory so Naruto made sure to also listen to Kakashi-sensei’s suggestions.

Sakura had to leave at some point, but he couldn’t let that distract him for too long. He was missing something and he couldn’t figure out what and it was frustrating him. It wasn’t until Kurama said to take a look at his older notes that he found the kanji he was looking for and he nearly jumped two feet in the air in happiness. Because Sasuke was in pain and it was getting worse and not even Pakkun’s presence was enough anymore.

Whatever the Snake Sannin did to him, Naruto will make sure he regrets it.

After what felt like a century, Naruto finally slapped a piece of paper onto the left side of his neck and held his breath as it seemingly disappeared, hoping it’ll work. He and Kakashi were as still as statues as they waited for something to happen, but nothing did and oh god what if it doesn’t work and I just made it worse it’s my fault to begin with I should’ve protected them I-

Sasuke opened his eyes, slowly, as if afraid to be blinded by a light that was not there. The seal had visibly backed down and resumed its original design that looked awfully a lot like the tomoe of Sasuke’s Sharingan, though significantly smaller, and it didn’t seem like he was in much pain anymore. Naruto and Kakashi let out a sigh of relief and Naruto plopped down, sprawling across the floor as the adrenaline wore off and his exhaustion made itself known.

He raised a fist into the air and said, “Next step, remove that fucker and kill the fucker that fucking put it on him.”

Kakashi just glared at him but Naruto was sure he was smiling under his mask.

--

“Sorry again, Choji,” Sakura smiled sheepishly, tightening the bandage a little more. “You know, for throwing you into three walls and stuff.”

“It’s okay, Sakura,” Choji chuckled, “I wasn’t expecting to win against you anyway. We all know that you’re crazy strong, you just had to prove that to the other villages and soon all of Konoha!”

“Ugh, don’t remind me…” Sakura muttered. While she was pumped about proving herself and becoming Chunin, she wasn’t exactly looking forward to doing so in front of technically the whole village plus the leaders of every other village participating.

“C’mon! It’s gonna be fun!” Ino smiled and bumped their shoulders together.

“Well, fun to watch, but you guys always make things interesting!” Choji agreed as he hopped off the couch and made his way over to the kitchen

The eight of them were currently in the Hatake clan compound as Sasuke was still in the hospital with Kakashi. Kakashi had given them strict orders not to go as they were all still recovering from the matches this morning and didn’t need the added stress of looking after their friend. Resting only did that much though and Naruto had already resumed his pacing

“An hour more of that and you’ll start sinking into the floor,” Shikamaru commented as his eyes tracked the movement on the other side of the room. “Seriously, there’s nothing more you can do at the moment!”

“There’s always more I can do.” Naruto glared at him and stormed off. A few seconds later, they heard the front door close with a loud bang, followed by a muffled apology.

Sakura sighed. This was going to be a long month.

Notes:

As you may have noticed, Gaara came out of his fight with Lee far worse than in canon, partially because I wanted him to experience the power of friendship earlier in the game and partially because I think Lee deserved to land a few more good hits on him.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for next time!

Chapter 15: Training or bonding? (Is there a difference?)

Summary:

In which a weird old man appears and wants to look at complicated seals.

Notes:

I have nothing to say for myself.

A lot of shit happened these past two (holy shit) years that I will go into detail with, but know that this fic is still absolutely not abandoned and will continue until at least the time skip. I'm not sure if I'll fit Shippuden into this or write a separate fic and make it a series, but I'll see how it goes. If I do, I'll also have to change the tags up a bit so don't be too surprised. My Naruto hyperfixation was practically gone by the time I last updated and I do feel guilty for leaving you guys like that, but it sadly was not in my power.

On another note, I started uni in another fucking country and realised that I have none of my fucking notes on this fic so I have no idea where past me wanted this to go, so I'll have make shit up as I go.

As it is, I cannot guarantee frequent updates, please be patient with me<3

Naruto rubbed his eyes tiredly as sped through the Training Grounds, the scenery blurring into one big block of colours. He had been kicked out of the hospital yet again as the nurses refused to let him check up on Sasuke for what felt like the hundredth time in the last couple of days. It just wasn’t fair! Why couldn’t he see him? He was allowed to see Lee, why not Sasuke too? He was his brother so he had every right to do so!

He eventually had to slow down as his lungs refused to work at full capacity and he collapsed against a tree. A tree he was very familiar with. He somehow ended up on Training Ground Three. What a surprise.

He stared at his surroundings blankly, his eyes heavy as fuck but refusing to fall shut. Since the day he stormed out of the house, he had been training non-stop, unable to fall asleep, unable to relax. All he could do was study, get stronger. Maybe then they’ll let him help Sasuke. He helped him during the exam, didn’t he?

With that thought, he sat up straight and unrolled a scroll. He blinked at it for a moment before channelling a small amount of chakra into the seal. But his concentration slipped and instead of just retrieving the item he wanted, everything that was sealed inside poofed into existence, scattering all around him.

Naruto blinked at the mess, sighed and slumped back against the tree in defeat.

~Go to sleep, Naruto!~ Kurama snapped yet again. A common argument as of lately. ~You won’t be of any use if you keep going like that. Look at you! You couldn’t even unseal a book properly!~

Naruto ignored him. Again.

While, theoretically, he knew that Kurama was right, his body acted on its own. He couldn’t sit still enough to fall asleep and the cat naps he managed to take were filled with nightmares and cut uncomfortably short. Yeah, not risking that.

A presence entered his range, moving towards him at a fast pace. Naruto focused on that, mildly curious, but didn’t outwardly acknowledge it even as it came to a stop right above him. The person was strong, stronger than a regular jounin and stronger than Kakashi. That fact alone should alert him, make him ready to defend himself. But he was just so tired.

“Now, what do we have here?” The man- it was a man, maybe in his fifties- said in slight amusement. When the boy failed to acknowledge him, he hummed and hopped down, landing in a crouch in front of him, careful not to step on any of the scrolls and books.

“Ah.”

Naruto recognised him now. The Toad Sage, Jiraiya. After Orochimaru, Naruto had stolen Sakura’s book on the Sannin (the man was actually standing above it now) and made sure he knew all there was about them in case he ever came across one and they weren't friendly. But he also found out something else. This man, this powerful man, was his godfather. Kurama told him so (when he was still listening to him that is).

“Haha! Of course, of course, you know who I am! Expected nothing else from Kakashi’s student!” Jiraiya praised when a look of recognition crossed Naruto’s face.

“The hell is a Sannin doing here?” Naruto said, words slurred together from exhaustion as he tried to sit up straight.

Jiraiya didn’t reply. Instead, he took a step back and glanced at all the scrolls and books scattered on the ground. He hummed in approval when he noticed something and bent down to pick it up. Naruto, ignoring his body’s protest, pushed the man out of the way.

“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He yelped when he was picked up by the scruff of his shirt like a kitten. “Let go of me dammit!”

“I’m just looking, don’t worry!” The man laughed as he lowered Naruto on his shoulders.

Naruto huffed at being handled like a toddler but didn’t put up a fight. It was…actually kinda nice up there. He never sat on anybody’s shoulders like this. He never had anyone and when he met Kakashi-sensei he felt that he was too old for this and asking was too embarrassing at this point.

So, he huffed again, crossed his arms and rested his head on top of the man’s, watching him skim through his notes lazily. When Jiraiya paused on a page, Naruto squinted at it, then smirked.

“Yeah, that one was fun to make.” He said, yawning. “Dunno if it’s been done before, but the blocking off chakra came in handy in a fight that one time. Though I guess we coulda done without it but it was fun to watch them panic! Oh, and I think I tested it on Anko-san too..”

Jiraiya chuckled. “I assure you, it has been done before, but the documents have been destroyed together with the village. I have tried to recreate some of their seals, but I was unsuccessful for the most part.”

Destroyed village? Where seals- “Oh, you mean Uzushio? Yeah, such a bummer. Heard they made some freaking amazing seals. Wanna do that too one day.”

He felt the man freeze underneath him at the mention of the lost village and he would’ve been more concerned if he wasn’t so sleepy all of a sudden. The man’s presence was warm and kind. Safe.

Huh, weird.

“How-how do you know about Uzushio?”

“Hm? Oh, Kurama told me.”

“...Kurama?”

“You know,” He yawned, settling more comfortably in the bush that was the man’s hair. “The Kyuubi.”

“...You can talk to it?”

“Yeah.”

“And it told you about Uzusio?”

“Yeah. He told me lots of things. Like how you,” He bonked Jiraiya’s, “Are my godfather and never decided to fucking visit.”

Jiraiya froze once again, body tense, any playfulness that was still there now fully gone. “You…you knew?”

“U-huh.” He yawned again and closed his eyes.

–

Jiraiya looked at the child currently curled up in his lap with a sad sort of smile. He knew that he should’ve been there for him, regardless of what the Hokage said, but he can’t change the past. As much as it hurts to admit.

The brat looks so much like his parents. He had his mother’s features while maintaining his father’s colour palette. One could clearly see whose son he was if they knew the parents, so Sensei’s decision made even less sense. Keep him safe from their enemies? Like hell! He’s a Sannin for fuck’s sake! He can protect a child!

He took a deep breath. Thinking about what if’s will only make him mad and wake the boy up. And gods know he looks like death at the moment.

When he returned to the village for his yearly report, he never expected to run into Kakashi the way he did. The younger man looked utterly under distress and seemed to be searching frantically for something. Jiraiya took a double-take as he had never seen Kakashi show any emotion other than boredom and indifference.

So, like the nosy guy he is, Jiraiya asked what was wrong.

Apparently, a lot. A lot that Sensei failed to inform him about.

The fact that his ex best friend showed up at the Chunin exams and attacked his godson and his team was enough to get him serious. He sat Kakashi down and encouraged him to tell him more, get it off his chest before he exploded. The Jounin ranted for about half an hour about how worried he was about his cubs and how they barely sleep and are constantly on edge because of Orochimaru and Sasuke in the hospital.

He offered to go look for Naruto.

The boy had been unaccounted for for the past two days after he stormed out of the house (the were all living together, which was quite a shock to find out). His friends were worried about him, but chose to give him space. Wise choice, if the boy was anything like his parents.

That’s how he found himself rushing to the Training Grounds. If he remembers correctly, whenever Minato was stressed, he would spend days there to clear his head. Or just to let out steam. (He blew up Training Ground One once; it rattled the whole village)

He hadn’t seen Naruto in two years, as the last time he was in the village he couldn’t find him at his usual spots and he didn’t have the time to search for him. He remembered the boy, bright and mischievous, laughing louder than the rest of his friends and bouncing on the balls of his feet.

The memory was nothing like the figure he found leaning against a tree, surrounded by what looked to be scrolls. The boy before him had dull eyes that stared ahead with no emotion whatsoever, dark bags underneath them. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days and didn’t move when he spoke to him. Didn’t even flinch when he dropped down. Just stared at him with those hollow eyes, even as recognition flashed through them.

He only got a real reaction when he picked up a notebook and he was quick to settle him on his shoulders as he wished he could’ve done so many years ago. He smiled when he felt the boy huff and settle in, relaxing into him.

What he saw in the notebook honestly impressed him. While he had heard that the boy was proficient in seals, he didn’t realise just how far his knowledge went. This notebook spoke of a deep understanding of seals and a colourful mind that did not hesitate to use them to their full potential, unlike most shinobi nowadays.

He would love to have him as a disciple and teach him everything he knows. He would have to ask Kakashi later.

But that had to wait. Because Naruto knows exactly who he is and Jiraiya has a lot of explaining to do when he wakes up.

.

When Naruto woke up two hours later (much sooner than Jiraiya had hoped) it was obvious that he was more aware of his surroundings and on edge than before. When he opened his eyes and blinked up at him, his expression closed off and he immediately jumped up from his lap, putting a distance between them.

Jiraiya sighed, but smiled. “Slept well? You could use a few more hours.”

“You smell weird.” He said after a minute of silence and made a face. “Like, frogs or something and not in a good way.”

The Sannin laughed. Trust Kushina’s genes to make the boy blunt as hell.

Naruto’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you here? I thought you weren’t allowed to see me?”

“Oh? You knew about that?”

“Yeah, Kashi-sensei told me when he found out I talk to Kurama and knew about my parents,” Naruto huffed and crossed his arms. “So? Why are you here?”

Jiraiya sighed. “Everyone is worried about you. I found Kakashi frantically searching for you when it was clear that no one had heard anything from you in the last forty-eight hours.”

The boy’s eyebrows both rose to his hairline, his hitai-ate forgotten around his neck. “He was searching for me? What about Sasuke?”

“I heard that his friends are taking turns guarding him so Kakashi could get some sleep. Something you need as well.”

Naruto huffed again, looking around. He frowned at the mess Jiraiya was unable to clean due to him sleeping on the man and bent down to do so himself.

Jiraiya watched him silently. He was tempted to offer assistance, but decided against it. Naruto reacted badly the first time he touched his stuff and didn't trust him enough yet. He didn't want to push him more than necessary.

It would also seem like the boy didn't need any help. He summoned a Shadow Clone, of all things, and was quick to organise and seal everything away in their respective scrolls.

"Who taught you to make Shadow Clones? They're not exactly easy to learn." Jiraiya found himself asking.

Naruto removed the pouch he had on his lower back to neatly put the scrolls inside. He shrugged. "I learned it myself. They’re easier for me cause of the amount of chakra I have and can’t exactly control. Normal clones are tricky. Kurama helped though. We stole- erm, borrowed a giant scroll thing from the Hokage's office a few years ago."

Jiraiya couldn't help it. He laughed.

His godson really was something else.

–

"You think they found him yet?" Sakura asked as she paced her room, Ino perched on Sasuke's empty bed.

The blonde looked down at her and sighed. When Sakura got close again, she gently nudged her with her foot. "With Kakashi searching? Definitely. You need to stop worrying so much, he'll be fine. He always is."

Sakura swatted at her leg, frown still in place. "I know that. I don't think Naruto's weak or anything, but what happened at the exam hit him pretty hard. I'm sure that he's blaming himself, even though he saved Sasuke's life…"

"So you're saying you don't blame yourself?"

The question hit harder than it should've and Sakura stopped dead in her tracks.

Ino hopped down, landing in front of her, and grabbed her shoulders, forcing Sakura to look her in the eyes. "None of you are responsible for what happened, you need to stop being so hard on yourselves. You-We are just kids. We're not responsible for anything adults do, good or bad. You could not have known that Orochimaru was here and you could not have, for the love of God, defeated him back there. It's honestly a miracle you're even alive!"

With watery eyes, Sakura looked away. She didn't want to cry, not in front of Ino. Ino, however, continued.

"I'm glad that you are alive."

That was the final straw. After two days of stubbornly refusing to, Sakura let go and collapsed into her friend, quietly sobbing. Ino held her and gently lowered them to the ground.

Sakura couldn’t help but think that she felt like home. Ino, that is. But that’s something for future Sakura to figure out.

-

“More training?” Shikamaru groaned, flopping back onto the grass.

Asuma and Kurenai shared a look and chuckled as Kakashi rolled his eyes. At least the rest of the brats looked happy enough.

“Yes, more training. Or do you not want to become a Chunin?” Kakashi asked, but didn’t get the reaction he wanted, so he tried something else. “Or do you perhaps want to lose against the Suna girl? She’s pretty strong, so we wouldn’t blame you for losing.”

Shikamaru glared up at him and jumped to his feet. “Bring it on, old man. Like I’m going to lose to her.”

Sakura looked at him sweetly. It was a threat and a challenge. One that read: ‘Why? Can women not be stronger than men?’ To which, to be fair, she already knew his answer to. He would not be making the same mistake as he did when he was a teenager ever again.

“What are we going to do, exactly?” Naruto asked. “Our regular training is hard enough to begin with, no?”

Kakashi was glad to have him close again. He looked better now, more rested, even if there were still light purple bruises underneath his eyes. The kid was also eating more now and his cheeks filled up a little again. He had caught the other kids shoving food into his hands on multiple occasions and Sakura in Naruto’s bed in the mornings. They were all trying to cope with the situation.

“Well, yes, but there are still things you have to work on before the final exam,” Asuma explained. “That’s why, even though not all of you passed onto the final stage, you will be training with those who did pass regardless. We asked a few of our colleagues if they are willing to help you, to which they agreed.”

Sakura perked up. “Colleagues?”

As if on cue, Genma appeared behind her, chuckling. “Yes, brat, we will be working together this month. Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re a kid, ok?”

Sakura turned to him, grinning slyly. “I’d kick your ass if you were.”

Genma laughed and ruffled her hair as the rest arrived as well.

“Jiraiya?” Naruto sounded incredibly confused when the man in question puffed into existence by Kakashi’s side.

“HUH?!”

“What the hell is a Sanin doing here?”

“And how come you know him, Naruto?”

Ignoring the Genin’s reactions to his presence, he laughed. “That’s right, pipsqueak. I asked your sensei if he was willing to let me borrow you for a while. He didn’t like it, to be honest, but oh well!”

While the rest of the Rookie 9, sans Sasuke, gaped at the Sannin, Naruto walked over warily. He came to a halt in front of the two and tilted his head.

“Ok, but what about Sasuke?”

“He will be training with me once he gets released,” Kakashi said. “The doctor and Special Jounin in charge of his case say that he’ll have to stay for another week or so.”

“Wait, really?” Sakura gasped. “So he’s coming home?”

He smiled and nodded.

“And he’ll be allowed to participate in the finals?”

“If he takes it nice and slow until then yes.”

Naruto and Sakura shared a look, relieved smiles on both of their faces.

-

“Not bad, kid.”

“Not bad, old man,” Naruto grinned in response, hoisting himself back up. He was suddenly glad he chose to wear ratty old clothes instead of his usual ninja wear because the Sannin got him dirty. Quite literally.

“Hey, I’m not that old!” The man protested as he sent yet another wave of fire towards him. It burned hotter than any other fire user's Naruto had fought before and he wanted to know why. But Jiraiya said that he wouldn't tell him, that he had to figure it out on his own. Kurama was also not allowed to tell him.

Troublesome.

He jumped back a few paces and unleashed a powerful wind to push the flames away from him, giving him enough time to form a mud wall to hide behind. He quickly learned not to use any water techniques on this particular fire, as the reaction was too violent. He was almost caught in a devastating explosion the first time he tried that. Water did not mix well with-

Wait.

“You put oil into your attack!” Naruto shouted suddenly, almost accusingly, as he sprang away from his cover. He stared at his mentor (?) in both fascination and mild horror. “How do you even do that?”

Jiraiya laughed. “Impressive, kid. And it’s only the second day of me using it. Let’s call it for today, shall we? I’m hungry.”

Naruto trailed after him, back to the little camp they set up by the waterfall just outside of Konoha. It was Jiraiya’s idea to train outside of the village but Naruto wasn’t sure why. To eliminate unnecessary distractions maybe? Sasuke did get released from the hospital three days ago, so maybe that was why.

“How do you do that?” He asked again, searching the water for any fish. He used to come all the way out here to hunt for food when he was little, so he was familiar with the area.

“Toad’s oil,” He said as he approached and handed him a spear. He looked at it for a moment before accepting. He used to use regular pointy sticks, but he supposed this was easier.

“Toad’s oil?”

“One of the many techniques I learned from my summons,” He said before skillfully throwing his own spear into the water, impaling three fish at once. Naruto used the distraction to catch two more that tried to flee and nodded. Two should be enough.

He walked back to the campfire and started on gutting them as Jiraiya caught two more. “Oh, yeah, Toad Sage and all that. Man, I want summons too! They’re so cool!”

~What, I’m not enough for you?~ Kurama grumbled teasingly.

“Oh shut it, you know what I mean,” Naruto giggled as he put the first fish to the side. He would’ve caught more, but he was way too tired to bother. The old man really had him sweating with his spars. He was worse than Kakashi when he wanted to.

Jiraiya sat opposite him and raised an eyebrow. “You really do talk to it, don’t you?”

“Him,” Naruto corrected with a glare. “His name is Kurama and yes, I do talk to him. You got a problem with that?”

“No,” He shook his head, smiling playfully. “I’m just curious, that’s all.”

Naruto hummed and put his fish over the fire. Jiraiya was weird. He was his godfather and he was absent his whole life but he didn’t try to find excuses for it. Sure, he apologised and all and confirmed he was just following orders from the Hokage, but he didn’t act like everything was fine just because he was here now. He didn’t push Naruto to accept him all of the sudden and kept his distance, waiting for him to approach if and when he was ready.

Naruto was still not used to good adults. Not that he thought he was good or anything-

“Have you looked at your seal at all?” Jiraiya asked suddenly, pulling him away from his thoughts.

“What?”

“Your seal,” He said, pointing at his stomach. “The one holding Kurama inside of you.”

“Well, yes,” He said, absently touching his clothed abdomen. He bit into his fish and frowned. “But I don’t understand it. It looks too complicated for a normal seal. There are markings I don’t recognise.”

Jiraiya hummed thoughtfully, pulling two of his cooked fish off his stick and putting them on a small wooden plate before handing it to Naruto. He took it, a bit baffled by the action. Wasn’t he going to eat them?

“Do you mind if I take a look after we eat?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, sure,” Naruto shook his head to recenter himself. “Knock yourself out.”

After that, they ate in silence, letting the natural sounds of the forest wash over them. There was a bird nest two trees to their right with chicks that were old enough to learn to fly. Naruto listened as one of them jumped out, flapping wildly around as it neared the ground before it got the hang of it and flew away. He also sensed a pair of deer on the other side of the lake, but when he looked at them they fled.

When they finished, they packed away their gear and Naruto stepped up to the man, feeling strangely vulnerable as he lifted up his shirt and channelled a tiny bit of Kurama’s chakra into it.

“Huh, interesting,” Jiraiya said, careful not to get too close. Naruto was pretty sure he would punch him in the face if he touched him unexpectedly.

“What?”

“Minato used the Eight Trigrams Seal,” He said, as if that explained everything. “It’s a very powerful seal invented by the Uzumaki, but I only ever knew of it in theory. Your mother must have taught it to him.”

Naruto raised both his eyebrows in amazement. His people were capable of really amazing things. No wonder they were seen as a threat and wiped out by the other villages.

“But,” The man continued and leaned back to look at him. “As is the case with many seals, this one, too, weakened over time. I expected as much, but it seems that, because of your connection with the Nine-Tails, it loosened more than it should’ve.”

“Is that a bad thing?” He asked and lowered his shirt. He didn’t move away.

Jiraiya shook his head and smiled softly. “Right now? No. If Kurama was still the wild beast he was a decade ago, then it would’ve been. The Biju are known for influencing their Jinchuriki into doing many things, including using their chakra to loosen their seals enough to break free.”

“Really?”

~Well, yes~ Kurama admitted, somewhat reluctantly. ~I have to admit, the old man is right. If you didn’t- if I didn’t...yes. I would’ve used you to escape. I wouldn’t have cared what happened to you~

“Aw, so you do care!” Naruto teased.

~Shut up~

“I have the key,” Jiraiya continued, oblivious to the separate conversation going on. “I can either tighten it, or loosen it up more. If I tighten it now, you will have less access to the fox and his chakra, but it would let you have more control over it.”

“And if you open it up more?”

“I honestly don’t know,” He sighed, staring up at the sky. It was a starry night and Naruto recognised a lot of constellations Ino taught him. “A lot could happen, especially if both of you let strong emotions get the better of you. The seal is designed to let chakra flow through, but if you draw too much it could probably make you loose control. If you really want to train with Kurama, I’ll allow it when you and your body are ready. But it will take time.”

Naruto hummed thoughtfully as he sat back down, observing his godfather. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.

“What do you think, Kurama?”

~You are indeed not ready yet to withstand the whole force of my chakra~ He said. ~But it’s up to you if you want to spend more time with the geezer, kit~

“After the exam?”

Jiraiya’s face lit up.

Notes:

Ahh, yes, Pervy Sage and his little disciple, we adore <33

Like always, let me know what you thought about this chapter and until next time! (whenever that may be)

Chapter 16: What a mess...

Summary:

In which a lot of people fight each other and a lot of shit happens

Notes:

Hey, so I updated sooner than I expected me to, but it looks like my hyperfixation is hyperfixating again!

I got pretty carried away with this chapter I have to admit. By the time I decided to check how many words I had written, I was at around 4k so I kind of forced myself to wrap it up somehow. I didn't manage to fit the whole of the exam and after in this chapter, so the next one will still be about this arc, sorry.

I had real fun writing this and coming up with the changes in canon here and there and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Again, I cannot promise another update anytime soon, it will come when its ready I promise.

“There sure are a lot of people here…” Ino commented nervously, looking around the arena.

“Well, it’s kind of a big deal for the villages,” Sakura said and pointed at the box in the centre. “Even the Kazekage is here.”

“Aren’t other Kage normally present as well?”

“Yeah, but there are only Konoha and Suna Genin in the finals, so I suppose they weren’t all that interested in coming.”

“Where is Hayate-sempai?” Sasuke questioned, ignoring the chatter around him. He should be the one overlooking the fights, like he did at the preliminaries, but it was only Genma standing in front of them.

“I heard he’s in the hospital,” Shino said, standing next to him at the railing. “Why? Because he was almost killed two nights ago.”

“What?” Sasuke whirled around to stare at him. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“You were busy training with Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura sighed. “They thought you didn’t need any distractions, especially this close to the finals and your first opponent.”

Sasuke groaned, trying to mask his worry with annoyance. He still believed they should have told him, he was his disciple after all!

“He’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Naruto grinned, putting a warm hand on his shoulder. Trust the idiot to figure him out anyway.

He sighed, but Naruto stiffened suddenly. “What?”

The blond looked around, narrowing his eyes as they flicked through the stands, pausing every few seconds. “There are…there are ANBU here,” He whispered.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I recognised some of their signatures. Two belong to the Hokage’s personal guard, the other three I noticed following me around sometimes. But, yeah no, I never sensed the others before..”

That was new.

“ANBU are following you around?” Sakura asked, confused. “Why?”

Naruto shrugged. “Probably to make sure I don’t lose it like this guy,” He said, nodding his head to the Sand’s Jinchuuriki.

Sakura and Sasuke frowned.

“Maybe they’re here in case the snake bastard tries something?” Sakura suggested, glancing up to where Naruto was still staring.

“Maybe..”

..

Shikamaru put up a great fight, all things considered.

They were both long distance fighters but the shadows weren’t prominent enough this time of the day to be used to their full potential, so Shikamaru was at a disadvantage. But he was smart and he was fast. He worked around it. He got close and he even managed to slash at her a couple of times before she swung her fan and sent him flying into the nearest wall.

Their back and forth was interesting to watch, at least to Sasuke and the rest of the Genin. He noticed that the arena wasn’t quietly watching the match, they weren’t even whispering to themselves about it. No. They didn’t give two shits about Shikamaru or Temari. They were fucking bored.

That enraged him. Because he knew why they were there. They wanted to see him fight. Their precious little Uchiha. The Village’s darlin. It made him sick to the stomach.

In the end, Shikamaru managed to trap her in his jutsu, completely immobilising her, and she gave up. Not without glaring at him viciously, though. The stadium gave some half-assed cheers that Shikamaru got tenfold when he rejoined his friends. Temari had to see a medic as she lost quite a lot of blood during the fight.

One down, so many more to go.

–

Their fight was intense. It was brutal and bloody and Sakura enjoyed every second of it.

Her and Ino had sparred many times in the past, so they were familiar with each other’s fighting style and that made it all the more exciting now. They had to think of new ways to trick each other and get under each other's skin, to get close and keep their distance and dodge and attack.

Sakura felt more alive than she had in the past month of training and worrying and even more training. By the end, she was exhausted but couldn’t keep the feral grin off her face and neither could Ino, even though she was normally more lady-like than Sakura in so many ways.

“Winner: Haruno Sakura!”

The pink-haired girl untangled herself from her opponent that she had tackled moments prior and pointed senbon at her neck and offered her a hand. She hauled Ino up and, together, they made their way back to their friends.

“Good fight, Saku,” Ino smiled as they parted and sat with their respective teams, startling Sakura.

“Yeah,” She stared after her for a moment, wondering why her stomach was tingling, but she pushed it aside, blaming her exhaustion. That had to be the reason, right?

“That was so cool, Saku!” Naruto all but shouted, throwing an arm around her shoulders. “Even the audience was captivated!”

That got her attention. “Wait, really?” She had seen how uninterested they looked during Shikamaru’s fight.

“Yeah! Some were even cheering you on, but I think you were too focused to notice.”

“Huh.”

Before she could say anything else, the next fight was called.

Sasuke took a deep breath. They all knew that many came to see the exam finals just to see him fight, to see how good and strong the last Uchiha was. It was a lot of pressure for a twelve-year-old and Sakura thought that it wasn’t fair. They all expected something from him and he was struggling to meet their expectations, constantly afraid to disappoint. He didn’t say it out loud, but he didn’t need to. Sakura knew him well enough by now.

As both he and Neji prepared to jump into the arena, Sakura touched his arm. “Just do what you always do and give him hell. For Hinata’s sake.”

Sasuke’s lips twitched. “Of course.”

..

This fight was even more intense and the audience was rightfully immersed in it.

An Uchiha versus a Hyuuga. Two of the strongest clans Konoha had ever seen, two clans with strong dojutsu. One strained with ninjutsu, the other masters in their special taijutsu. It was bound to be interesting.

And because they were both incredibly skilled fighters, neither managed to land a hit for over five minutes. From the sidelines, it looked like they were talking but Sakura couldn’t hear them. Neither could Naruto, for that matter, and he had superhuman hearing thanks to Kurama.

Suddenly, Neji’s whole demeanour changed. He looked angry, livid even. He made a mistake.

He charged in blindly, aiming at Sasuke’s apparently unguarded left side and fell right into his trap.

Sasuke was smart enough to borrow some of Naruto’s explosive glue tags and carefully placed them under his armpits, making them practically invisible. He hadn’t stopped moving since the start of the fight and used a lot of chakra-fueled techniques to make sure Neji wouldn’t notice, even with his Byakugan.

This resulted in the Hyuuga getting covered in glue and stuck to the ground. He tried to move his arms, one last desperate attack that Sasuke easily avoided and landed his last blow. He really enjoyed electrocuting people, Sakura noticed.

“Winner: Uchiha Sasuke!”

The crowd erupted in cheers and it was difficult to say who was louder; the people or Hinata and her friends. Sakura locked eyes with her from across the arena and gave her a thumbs up. She was crying, but her smile outshone the sun itself.

–

Naruto wasn’t sure how prepared he was for this fight. Wasn’t sure what the Hokage was hoping to achieve by pitting the two Jinchuuriki against each other in the first round. To showcase Konoha’s strength? An unspoken, but clear as day threat to the other villages?

He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer to that.

Whatever the case, it didn’t change the fact that Naruto had to fight Gaara.

He hadn’t managed to get through to the boy in the past month and he was hoping this fight would change it. Because he understood him. Understood the pain of the Jinchuuriki like no one else could, not even his siblings. It wasn’t fair for either of them, they were too young to be forced to live with this burden.

~I’m a burden now, am I?~ Kurama huffed amused in the back of his mind.

“I mean, it is a lot of pressure, isn’t it?” Naruto mused, stepping up to his opponent. “To be the village’s greatest weapon, but be hated by everyone living in it. To be punished for crimes I didn’t commit.”

Kurama stayed silent. Naruto knew he still felt guilty about that, even though Naruto didn’t blame him. It wasn’t his fault that people couldn’t see the difference between the Jinchuuriki and the Tailed Beast inside them.

“Start!” Genma shouted, jumping back a few paces to get out of the line of fire.

Almost immediately, a wave of sand rushed towards him. He made a few shadow clones in the cover the sand gave him and all of them dodged at the last second, jumping up and around and forming a circle with Gaara in the centre.

The red-head was momentarily stunned to see so many of him so suddenly, but recovered quickly, his sand coming up to shield him from the slicing wind attacks coming towards him. They kept this up for a few more minutes before he had enough and slashed through all of the surrounding Narutos with sand spikes.

“Aw, that was mean, ya know?” The real Naruto pouted, jumping from the tree a few feet from Gaara where he had perched to prepare his seals. He scattered a few of them around as a distraction, keeping some in his pouch for later use.

He swirled his staff around and attempted to hit Gaara’s head. Predictably, his sand saved him, but that was what he was hoping for. The seal at the end of his staff activated and water poured out, drenching the boy. He quickly jumped back again and observed.

Since he didn’t seem to be producing his own sand, everything he used must be coming for the barrel strapped on his back. Wet sand was heavy sand and probably a lot harder to control.

Gaara cried out in rage. His eyes were wild. He was beginning to lose control of himself.

This wasn’t good.

He built a dome like thing around him and for the next minute or two, Naruto was forced into defence. His attacks did get slower, but there were still nothing to laugh at. They were still strong and devastating. The trees and bushes on the sidelines were flattened to the ground by the time Gaara slowed down, giving Naruto a split second to switch to offence.

He alternated between wind and water Jutsu to get close, his legs and his hands working on overdrive.

A second later, he managed to burst through the dome with a well placed explosive and their faces were only inches apart. Naruto took the chance to punch his nose and slap a seal on his chest before his defence caught up and pushed him back, throwing him all the way into the wall.

Silence.

Naruto slowly peeled himself off, hissing when he touched down. His femur was broken. It would take a day to heal properly, time he didn’t have.

When he looked up, all thoughts vanished from his mind. Gaara’s face was cracked all over and Naruto could see, even from a distance, that blood was dripping from his nose. His eyes did not look human anymore.

This really wasn't good.

He slowly, oh so slowly, brought his hand to his nose and inspected the blood now on his fingers. Naruto barely registered Temari shouting about the cocoon having not been completely formed and wondered just what he had gotten himself into.

Just then, something happened all around the arena. Naruto didn’t notice that, during his last move, the ANBU he did not recognise before had stood up and performed a powerful Genjutsu, putting everyone but the seasoned shinobi to sleep.

Kabuto, his mind supplied helplessly.

“What..”

Just as suddenly, crashes echoed through the village from the east and an earthquake followed.

Naruto’s head snapped to the Hokage, awaiting his reaction, orders, something, but what he saw made his blood freeze in his veins.

The Kazekage was holding a kunai to the Third’s neck. There was a barrier being raised around the two by the Kazekage’s underlings and Konoha’s ANBU were too slow. They were stuck outside, unable to help their Kage.

The rest of Gaara’s team jumped into the arena, flanking him as his dome dissolved.

Genma stepped in front of Naruto.

“You alright?” He asked without looking back at him.

“I think I broke something.”

“Can you fight?”

Naruto huffed. He really shouldn’t, Sakura would kill him if she knew. “I have to.”

Genma nodded.

“I knew it,” Temari was saying, kneeling down next to Gaara. She looked lost, scared.

“Idiot!” Her sensei scolded. “Trying to transform before the signal!”

“He’s experiencing the side effects,” Her voice was trembling, her eyes on her sensei. “It’s impossible to proceed now!”

“Well, we can’t do it without him!” Kankuro screamed, quite on the verge of panic himself. Naruto was shocked to see him lose his cool like that.

“Abort the mission,” The sensei growled, eyes locked on Genma. “Take Gaara and run. I’ll join the forces here.”

“O-okay.”

Kankuro threw Gaara over his shoulder and the three were gone. Naruto wanted to follow them immediately, but Ganma held up his hand, stopping him.

Not yet, he signed behind his back.

“I’m guessing Orochimaru is the leader of this little party?” He said, trying for nonchalant but his whole body was tense.

“Who knows,” The sand Jounin smirked, falling into a fighting stance.

“Now!” Genma shouted and Naruto was gone in a second, ignoring his body’s protest.

–

As soon as the chaos started, Sasuke and his friends ran up to the stands where they knew Kakashi-sensei and those that did not pass the preliminary round were. Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei were fighting the strange ANBU people Naruto had noticed before and a handful of Sand shinobi and they didn’t hesitate to split up and help wherever they could

Shikamaru, Ino and Sakura helped Hinata drag any civilian they could out of the fighting zone, carefully placing them as far away as they could as Sasuke, Choji and Shino joined the fight itself.

After throwing an ANBU over the railing, Kakashi-sensei turned to them. “Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata!” He shouted over the noise and crouched down to summon Pakkun. “Go and help Naruto. He’s following Gaara and he’ll definitely need help. The rest of you, make sure the civilians stay safe in and out of the arena, there should be Sand and Sound shinobi forces entering the village as we speak!”

“Roger that, sensei!” They all shouted and regrouped.

“Sasuke!” He yelled again and Sasuke turned. His face looked torn, like his thoughts were battling against each other. Softer, he said, “Make sure you don’t get caught. You are one of Orochimaru’s main objectives.”

Sasuke nodded seriously. “I will, Kashi-sensei.”

“Let’s go!” Pakkun said as he led his team over the walls.

“What a mess,” Hinata muttered.

Sakura scowled. “You can say that again.”

..

“We’re being followed,” Pakkun said suddenly. “Eight, no, nine people.”

“What the hell!” Sakura groaned. “We’re outnumbered... Fine, from what we know they’re probably former Konoha shinobi..”

“A regular ambush won’t work then,” Sasuke mused. He looked at Sakura. “What do we do?” She was better at strategy than he was.

She flipped over a branch, her eyes flicking around in thought. “We need a diversion. A decoy, to slow them down. But who..”

Sasuke would gladly take the offer, but he knew deep down that it was a bad idea. On the off chance he lost, he would be immediately taken prisoner and he wouldn’t hear the end of it from his team. He also had no desire whatsoever to see the snake bastard again.

“Hinata,” Sakura addressed, falling back to her pace. “Do you think you can do it? With your eyes and arrows you can hit them from afar and stay hidden.”

“Me?” She asked surprised.

“Yes, I could stay as well, but I’m almost out of senbon after my fight with Ino.”

“Oh, okay,” She mumbled, mostly to herself. She looked up at Sakura, her resolve clear. “I’ll do it. You can count on me.”

“We know we can,” Sakura smiled and reached into her pouch. “Those are trapping seals Naruto made. Use them when they go down so they can’t get back up.”

“Thank you.”

She fell back as the three kept moving.

–

“What the hell is that?” Ino cried out, slashing at a lower level Sound shinobi with her fans as Choji carried the children away.

“Looks like a giant frog to me,” Shikamaru commented, finally closing the gash on the man’s leg. “Take your wife and get to safety. The hospital should be the closest safety point.”

“T-thank you, young shinobi,” He said, trying hard not to cry in despair as he dragged his wife away.

“I didn’t know Jiraiya-sama was still here,” Ino sighed as they fell back into step, moving to the next street.

“Me neither, but I’m glad he is.”

“Yeah, me too.”

–

“Naruto caught up to them.” Pakkun announced and sniffed the air a bit more. “Hey, uh, Boss didn’t send anyone else beside you guys, right?”

“No, why?”

“Because Bug boy is right there with Naruto.”

Sakura and Sasuke shared a look.

“You don’t think he’s pissy because he didn’t get to fight Kankuro, right?” Sakura sighed. Shino was the quietest of them all, preferring to observe rather than to talk. But what most didn’t know was that he had quite the temper. He didn’t want much often but when he did, he would do anything to get it.

In this case, he was really looking forward to fighting Kankuro.

“Hn.”

–

“Shino?” Naruto questioned when the boy landed beside him. “Shouldn’t you be with the others?”

“I should but I am not,” He said. “Why? Because I came to finish my fight.”

Naruto sighed. Shino was quite stubborn sometimes. But it didn’t matter in the end. He could use any help he got and his team should catch up soon enough. They were already past his sensor boundary.

“Fine, I’ll leave Kankuro to you then. Don’t lose,” Naruto said as he disappeared farther into the forest after Temari and Gaara.

He didn’ know what their plan was, exactly, and the two were almost running in circles. They didn’t seem to have studied the area all that well, which was a stupid thing to do if you were planning on attacking the village. He saw his chance a few minutes later and managed to get ahead of them for the second time. But they stopped before they could reach him and he was forced to backtrack.

“Just..Run!” Gaara was screaming, clutching his head in pain. “Mind your damn business!”

Temari looked absolutely terrified as she stared at her brother and she seemed to have been shoved to the ground moments prior. Her head snapped to him and she paled. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to stop your brother from destroying my village,” Naruto said evenly, stepping up to Gaara. The boy was still fighting for control over his own body. “Do you know where his seal is located?” He asked without looking back at her.

“W-what?” She breathed out, startled. “Y-you knew?”

“That he’s a Jinchuuriki?” He said, finally locking eyes with Gaara. “Of course I knew. He’s like me after all.”

Gaara stood still, only his arms lowered slowly. “You’re not like me.”

“I am.”

“No.”

“Why did you seek me out a few days ago then?” He asked lightly, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Why did you seek me out if you didn’t feel like there was something connecting us? That we are alike?”

That was quite the shocker. Naruto didn’t know how the boy even found them, as Jiraiya had taken them to a more remote location to train with some of the seals that were too dangerous to try out around animals. Long story short, Gaara requested a death match. Because he 'didn’t like the look in Naruto’s eyes'. Go figure.

He looked confused, but also angry. Naruto guessed it was his default emotion. “You’re not filled with hate. You have no need to kill. You don’t have that loneliness in your eyes. You. Are. Not. Like. Me!”

Naruto tried hard to suppress his early memories, when he was still young and lonely. He hated everyone, then. Hated the village and its people, hated the academy and the children. Hated shinobi. He swore to one day get back to them, make them suffer for making him suffer, but then he met Iruka. And Sakura. And Sasuke. And Shikamaru. And Hinata. Kakashi-sensei and so many more. They lifted those clouds, made him realise that there was more to life, that he was worth something, that it was a good thing he was born after all.

Gaara didn’t have that.

“I was.”

“What?”

“I was just like you,” He said, willing his voice to stop trembling. His team was almost there. “But I’m not anymore. I still hate the people that wronged me, of course, but I know that killing them will not fulfil me. I won’t be content. I’d rather they see me become something they always told me I couldn’t ever be,” He grinned and held out his arms. “That is the biggest ‘fuck you’ I can give them!”

Gaara’s face cracked up more and he fell to his knees. His lips stretched into a deranged grin. “Yes, yes…I just need to kill you…”

“What?”

“Then I’ll finally feel alive!”

He didn’t dare to look back at Temari. He didn’t dare to look away, period. He felt like something terrible was about to happen.

–

“Iruka-sensei!” Ino panted, smiling at the little boy as she let him go. His mother cried out in relief and hugged him close, thanking Ino over and over. “This was the last one. The kindergarden is secured.”

“Good job, Ino,” He smiled, patting her head affectionately. “I knew you all would make great shinobi one day.”

Ino blushed and ducked her head. She wasn’t used to such direct praise from her former teacher. She was quite the brat when she was still at the academy.

“Where is your team?”

Right, report. This was something she could do. “Shikamaru joined his father at the east gate, they are trying to catch as many enemies as they can before they enter the village. Choji is by the hospital, helping the Chunin and the few Jounin there to keep it safe. There are patients that cannot be moved without risking their lives.”

Iruka sighed. “And the others?”

“Uh, well, Kakashi-sensei sent Sakura, Sasuke and Hinata after Naruto who’s after Gaara. Shino disappeared some time ago and we’re not sure where he went. Probably after them. Kiba is with his family, scouting the streets for any stray civilians.”

“What a mess,” The man muttered under his breath, barely audible over the chatter of the shelter.

Ino couldn’t agree more.

–

“Fuck!”

Naruto dodged and dodged and dodged. Gaara was fast, faster than before and he was actually attacking with his body. His body that was half transformed.

“Can I do that too?”

~Theoretically~ Kurama hummed. ~But I won’t let you. You can see what Shukaku does with his body. That is what a forced transformation looks like. We don’t want that.~

“Aww!”

Naruto jumped over Gaara at the very last second and activated the seal he had placed on him during the exam. The tag blew up, throwing the boy quite a few feet away. Temari gasped, but he didn’t have the time to think about her because Gaara stood back up again.

He was laughing.

“This is it…the reason why I was so excited to fight you..” He was saying between delirious giggles. “This pain..DEFEATING THE ONE STRONG ENOUGH TO HURT ME WILL BE THE GREATEST PROOF OF MY EXISTENCE!”

And all of the sudden, Naruto understood exactly what drove Gaara to this point. It wasn’t just the loneliness or the anger. It was the need to be recognised, the need to prove that his birth, that his whole existence wasn’t a mistake.

He thought he knew now how he could help him. But first, he needed to defeat him.

“Oh, shit. Is that a tail?”

–

“Naruto!”

Finally, finally, they caught up with him.

Just as they reached the small clearing they created, Naruto was thrown into a tree. He tried to pick himself up, but Gaara (was that really him?) was already on him.

Sasuke got in between them first, kicking the Sand Jinchuuriki out of the way. Sakura kneeled beside Naruto, checking his injuries. He looked pretty beaten up, but so did Gaara.

“Where does it hurt?” He heard her asking.

Naruto groaned. “Just-can you heal my femur? That’s, like, the only thing I need you to do right now, so I can keep fighting..”

“You’ve been fighting with a broken femur this whole time?” Sakura screeched, but immediately got to work, chewing him out under her breath.

Sasuke winced. After all this was over, Sakura was going to lecture all of them about the importance of rest and not fighting with broken important bones. Shikamaru and Shino were sure to help her out. The three of them were terrifying. Medics were terrifying.

His Sharingan was trained on the enemy, taking in any detail he could. He looked to be in the middle of a transformation, something Naruto had not yet tried to do with Kurama. He was faster and stronger than before, but he also wasn’t in his right mind. His eyes weren’t human anymore.

“Get out of the fucking way!” He screamed and charged at them.

Sasuke got ready to attack, but Gaara wasn’t aiming at him. He went straight for Naruto and Sasuke was too slow to change tactics. “Sakura!”

“Shit!”

Sakura abandoned her work and stepped in front of their teammate, her hands quickly calling up a water Jutsu. But the wave did nothing to slow Gaara down. His morphed arm grabbed her by the neck and slammed her into the nearest tree, immobilising her.She cried out in pain.

“SAKURA!”

Sasuke quickly grabbed Naruto and got him away. Gaara was unstable again. He was clutching his head, muttering to himself.

“How do we defeat him?” He asked, eyes flicking around.

“We don’t. I will,” Naruto said, startling Sasuke. His voice was deeper than usual, more serious.

“What are you talking about?”

“You take Temari and Sakura out of here,” He said as he stood up and looked at him. Sasuke gasped. "I'll deal with him."

“Naruto…your eyes..”

But Naruto ignored him. He turned to face Gaara and was gone in a flash. He reappeared right next to him, slicing at his arm in half with a kunai. Gaara screeched and was forced to let Sakura go. Naruto caught her and by the time it took Sasuke to blink once, she was next to him.

“What’s gotten into him all of a sudden?” She coughed, massaging her neck.

“I think he’s also losing control.”

His eyes were blood red and chakra that didn't belong to him was pouring out of his body.

Notes:

Uhm, yeah.. kind of a cliffhanger I suppose? Oops?

Chapter 17: Thank god it's over...or is it?

Summary:

In which sad boys bond and criminals pay a visit.

Notes:

Wait, what's this? Another chapter in less than a week? Wow, I'm really proud of myself...

What I'm not proud of is this chapter. I don't know, I just feel like it's kinda off and that I could've written this better. But it could be just me idk. Let me know what you think in the comments! I've said it before but I'll say it again: your comments give me life and really motivate me to keep writing! Really, I'm thankful for everyone that takes the time to share their thoughts with me<33

Hinata almost cried in relief when Asuma-sensei emerged from the trees, holding a Sound shinobi over his shoulder.

“Good thing I managed to get here in time!” He said, dumping the body with the rest Hinata had captured.

While Pakkun was right that there were nine shinobi after them originally, more just kept appearing the longer Hinata fought. She shot, dodged, hid and shot again and again and again. There didn’t seem to be an end to this and she was slowly running out of arrows. So much that, by the end, she resulted in close combat.

The moment Asuma-sensei came forward, the last three Hinata was fighting froze, making great targets for the Jounin. They were out in less than ten seconds and safely secured.

Hinata fell back with a sigh. She was exhausted.

“You did good,” Asuma-sensei smiled, patting her head gently. “Now let’s find the rest of the strays.”

“W-what?”

“Shino was nowhere to be found in the chaos. Kurenai suspects he went after all of you to fight that cat guy.”

Hinata chuckled. Yeah, that sounded like something he would do.

–

“What are they to you?” Gaara growled, his arm slowly growing back. “Why do you have that look in your eyes? Why are you protecting them?”

“They are my family,” Naruto answered evenly, feeling strangely calm despite the seething rage that flooded his system. “And nobody harms my family.”

Gaara didn’t seem to like his answer as he screamed and charged at him again. Naruto dodged as much as he could, but it seemed easier than before. It took less energy to jump and turn and duck out of the way. It took less out of him to form seals and perform Jutsu. It took less, yet his techniques were stronger.

Water still dealt a significant amount of damage on Gaara, even in his half transformed form. It slowed him down, his attacks sloppier. Naruto hoped he could defeat him before he reached full Biju mode.

“Why…why..WHY?”

Naruto would like to say that he didn’t know what Gaara was talking about. That he had no idea why that simple fact, the simple action, confused him so much. Why it made him question everything. But then he’d be lying.

Because if someone were to tell seven-year-old Naruto that someday people would love him and accept him for who he was, knowing what he was, he would’ve reacted much the same. He wouldn’t believe them, would call them disgusting liars and probably even attack for the lone audacity the person had implying such a thing.

Because he fell for false security, for a false sense of safety and love one too many times.

Really, the only difference between him and Gaara is that Naruto has found people he could trust for real. People that he knew would stay by his side until the end. Gaara could only trust himself and no one else, despite having two living blood-siblings and Naruto would like to talk to them himself after this was over.

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”

–

“Is that- is that really Naruto?” Sakura asked, her voice trembling.

Sasuke had tried to get them out of there like Naruto had instructed them to, but Sakura was hell bent on staying and he couldn’t just leave her alone. Temari was also with them but she stayed quiet. At least she was smart enough not to start a fight with everything going on around them.

“Yes,” Sasuke answered curtly, even if he had difficulties understanding himself.

They had seen Naruto angry before. They had seen him during high-stress situations. They had seen him not acting like himself. But not like this. Never like this. It was even more intense than when he fought Haku, back in the land of Waves. That seemed like a lifetime ago now.

This Naruto right before them had sharp, red eyes and more prominent fangs than ever. His nails also resembled claws at this point that he even used against his opponent, scratching at his face when he was close enough. This Naruto looked and acted more animalistic, more feral. If you squint hard enough, you could even mistake his spiky hair as ears.

Sasuke was worried about him.

“Has he..” Temari spoke up hesitantly for the first time. “Has he never gotten to this point before?”

“Who, Naruto?” Sakura asked. Temari nodded. “Not...really. He is on good terms with his Tailed Beast.”

There was no use hiding anything, Temari wasn’t blind and she wasn’t stupid. Her brother was a Jinchuuriki, she was sure to recognise others.

“Aren’t you scared?” She asked, quieter than before.

“Of what?”

She looked at Naruto, who was about to slap a seal onto Gaara’s tail but was pushed back. “Your friend.”

Sakura and Sasuke shared a look. They didn’t know their circumstances, how the siblings grew up and what they had gone through, why their relationship was as it was today. They were curious, sure, but it wasn't their place to ask or lecture her, for that matter. They could only speak their truth.

“No,” Sakura shook her head, a small smile on her face. She clumsily sat down beside her. “Because Naruto is our brother in all but blood. He is kind and stubborn and really smart, even if he doesn’t show that often. He is working the hardest out of all of us. What most people seemed to forget is that he is also human, just like the rest of us. That he does have feelings.”

That last part seemed to hit Temari somewhere deep inside of her. Her eyes widened, she gasped. Tears started falling.

She must’ve realised something very important.

–

“Shit, shit, fuck, shit,” Naruto muttered up a storm, trying to get as far as he could to not risk getting trampled over by the Tailed Beast that fucking appeared in full size in front of him.

He was just glad his team finally decided to leave. He wouldn’t be able to keep up with the fight while simultaneously making sure they were safe. They didn’t move too far, but at least they weren’t on the immediate sidelines.

Gaara emerged from the Beast’s head and he formed a seal with his hands. Naruto had to strain his ears to hear what he was saying. “Thank you for entertaining me this far..Now I’ll show you the true powers of the Sand’s Demon.”

“Um, no thanks.”

It didn’t matter, because Gaara put himself to sleep and Shukaku started laughing. A high pitched, cruel laugh.

~I’m finally out!~ He said, swishing his tail as his eyes landed on Naruto. ~And here’s someone I wanna kill!~

Naruto only barely managed to dodge the massive wind attack that was thrown his way. And the next. And the one after that.

“What do I do? How can I defeat him?”

~You have to wake the boy up~ Kurama said after a moment of silence. He did not sound happy at all.

“And how the fuck am I supposed to reach him up there?!” Naruto screamed mentally, calling up multiple Shadow clones to help him move up the trees. Once there, he looked around. Good. At least they were relatively far away from the nearest buildings.

~I don’t like this..~

“Yeah, no shit!” Dodging a Tailed Beast’s attacks was hard and terrifying and he didn’t manage to do so completely. He was flung back several miles and landed in a mud pile. At least he hoped it was mud. “Ew..”

Kurama growled and it was obvious he was mulling something over. ~ I really don’t like this, but you’ll have to use my chakra. More than you did before.~

“What? But you said-”

~It doesn’t matter what I said before, we don’t have much of a choice here unless you want this village to be destroyed! This place means nothing to me, but it means something to you. I won’t be the sad one if it’ll be gone by sundown!~

“Fine!”

Almost instantly, Naruto felt a rush of power as his system was overflooded with Kurama’s chakra. It was so much of it that he could even see it bubbling and forming around him. A thick red layer of chakra coated his body and when he looked behind him, he saw three tails flicking in the breeze. He thought about moving them and they did.

He had full control over this.

“Let’s do this!”

–

“Is that the fucking One Tails?” Genma asked over the sound of the fighting all around them.

“Sure looks like it!” Guy shouted, kicking the enemy shinobi in the head. He dropped like a fly.

“What’s that red thing flying around it?” Aoba wondered out loud, sidestepping an attack. Just how many Sand and Sound shinobi were at the arena? “It’s leaving explosions everywhere.”

Naruto.

Kakashi finished his opponent before moving to the next one, but only one thought swirled in his mind.

The cubs.

–

They found the boys five minutes later, both high up in the trees.

Shino was unconscious and Kankuro couldn’t move. Their fight must’ve been intense.

Asuma and Hinata were ready to take both of them to the medics, but Temari appeared just as they picked them up, demanding her brother with tears in her eyes. Asuma was reluctant, but Kankuro said that they weren’t a threat anymore and if they could please just let them go.

In the end, they let them and Hinata didn’t know how to feel about that.

–

“KAI!”

Finally, after what felt like hours of fighting, Naruto reached Gaara and managed to dispel the Jutsu. Shukaku screamed.

Gaara’s eyes flew open in shock. “What?”

But it was too soon to celebrate. Shukaku was still out and about and Naruto started sinking into his body. “Oh, fuck.”

The shadow clone he produced to drag him out of the sand was surprisingly also coated in Kurama’s chakra, also had three tails that he used to haul his body up and throw him at the other Jinchuuriki.

Glaring, Gaara formed a seal with his hands and screamed. “DIE!”

“Shut up you damn tanuki!”

He tried for a chakra fueled punch, but the sand was faster and trapped his arms and legs. In a last desperate attempt to do damage and save hilself, he headbutted Gaara. Hard. Luckily, it had the desired effect and Gaara was stunned momentarily. It was enough. Shukaku’s body started ‘melting’ away.

~Damn you, Kurama!~ Was the last thing they heard from the Tailed beast before he was back in Gaara’s body.

The two landed on trees a few feet away from each other and instantly turned to face their opponent. They both spotted identical wounds on their foreheads, dripping blood down their noses. Naruto wiped it away, but it kept dripping. He ignored it.

He caught Gaara’s gaze and, simultaneously, they charged at each other, fists raised.

–

“Hey, the One Tails disappeared!” Sakura shouted suddenly and unnecessarily. His eyes hadn’t left the fight since it started, feeling strangely out of place and powerless.

He needed to get stronger. Strong enough to be able to keep up in these types of fights. He suspected he would have to at some point.

“Is the fight over?”

“I don’t know,” Sasuke frowned.

“Should we go in?”

“No, wait,” He held her back and pointed at two trees relatively far away from them. “They’re still standing.”

Sakura narrowed her eyes at them. “I think we should still get closer. They are standing, but only barely. I’m worried.”

-

The last few minutes of their fight had been brutal. They punched and kicked and punched again until their fists were coated red. In the end, nobody won and nobody lost. They both reached their limit at the same time. They delivered their last blows at the same time.

The only downside in all of this was that the two were now free falling through the trees, too exhausted to do something about it, too hurt to move even their pinkies.

~Troublesome kids~

Kurama’s chakra flowed, once again, out of his body. This time, the tails reached out on their own and cushioned their fall, laying them down gently on the ground.

The fight was over, but Gaara’s emotions were still a mess. Naruto felt bad for him. He wanted to help him. He started to drag his beaten body over.

Gaara turned his head, glare still in place in a mixture of anger and fear. “My existence won’t be put out! It won’t, dammit!”

Naruto ignored him, even as his heart ached for him. He remembered oh so clearly when he still felt like this, when he questioned if he was even alive, if he was human at all. Because everyone treated him like a demon, like he was worse than trash.

“D-Don’t come any closer!” His eyes were wide now.

He ignored him again and got closer, close enough that he could touch him if he wanted to. He had tears in his eyes that he refused to let fall, overwhelmed with emotional and physical pain. “Being completely alone…What you must be feeling every single day..” He chuckled wetly. “You didn’t believe me before, but I know exactly how it feels like.”

Gaara gasped and he didn’t know what he saw in his eyes, but he looked like he finally believed him.

“But...I have people that are precious to me now,” He continued. “And I am precious to them too. It’s still weird, to be honest, but that is my life now,” He smiled softly before he scowled. “And I just won’t stand by if someone threatens to kill them and hurts them.”

“What…” Poor Gaara looked like he was having an aneurysm. “You did all of this for the sake of…them?”

“They rescued me from the hell of being completely alone,” Naruto said simply, but full of emotion. “They acknowledged my existence and for that, I’m forever grateful.”

He smiled. They were there.

“...Love..” Gaara muttered as their respected families arrived.

“That’s enough, Naru,” Sasuke said softly as he crouched down next to him. “You did enough.”

Naruto finally let himself relax as Sakura was torn about who to fuss over first. They were both in critical condition after all.

“Stop it,” Gaara said, his eyes still locked on Naruto as he addressed the others. His siblings looked ready to fight again. “That's enough.”

Temari and Kankuro glanced back at him surprised and shared a look.

Kankuro sighed and bent down to pick him up. “Alright.”

The last thing Naruto remembered before blacking out was Gaara softly apologising to his siblings as they retreated.

Yeah, they were going to be just fine.

–

Two days after the attack on the village, the funeral for the Third Hokage of Konoha, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was held on top of the Hokage Tower.

Sakura and her team, along with all the other teams were there, dressed in black shinobi wear. Only Kakashi-sensei was missing and she didn’t know if she should scold him for being late when he showed up or not. He was probably at the memorial stone again. Sakura wondered who he was still mourning, but didn’t pry. He would tell them when and if he felt ready to talk about it.

She looked to her left and her heart ached. Konohamaru was sobbing into Iruka-sensei’s pant leg, while holding onto Naruto’s hand like a lifeline. She wasn’t as close to the Hokage as they had been, so she couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for them. Sure, Naruto had distanced himself from the man when he found out about the order that prevented anyone from telling him about Kurama and his parents, that prevented anyone that knew them to simply be near him but he was still the only human connection he had had when he was little, before Sakura and the others.

He didn’t cry, but Sakura could sense that his death still affected him. She reached out and took his hand. She squeezed lightly and he squeezed back harder.

–

“Hayate is still in the hospital, is he not?”

The person behind him paused for a moment and chuckled softly before coming to stand next to him. “He is.”

“Who are these for then?”

Yugao sighed and placed the flowers by the memorial. “For our fallen comrades, our fallen friends…You’re here for Obito-san, right?”

Kakashi stayed silent.

“The ceremony is about to begin,” She said softly, not looking at him. “If I may ask, Kakashi-senpai…Is there a reason you are always late to such events?”

“Actually,” He sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I was there too early. But I didn’t know what to say, so I left.”

Yugao hummed.

“I…used to be so foolish and I did so many meaningless things all of the time..I just, I don’t…”

“Well,” She said as she turned to leave. “You just have to move forward then. That’s what he would want you to do. You have kids to look after and they will need you more than ever now. I heard they’re quite adorable.”

Kakashi huffed out a laugh. “They are gremlins, that’s what they are.”

Yugao chuckled.

“You should meet them sometime. You’ll love them.”

“I’m sure I will.”

–

“I think I figured it out!” Naruto shouted as he came downstairs a few days after the funeral. Sasuke and Sakura looked up from the card game they were playing. Kakashi continued reading his book, but it was obvious he was paying attention.

“Figured what out?” Sakura asked.

“How to remove snake bastard's seal,” He announced proudly. Now he had their complete attention.

“What?”

“Yeah, we just have to-”

“Wait,” Sakura held up her hand. “Even if you explain it we won’t understand any of your Fuinjutsu babble. Just…how certain are you that it's going to work?”

Naruto pouted. He loved to rant about his seals. “Well, about 90 per cent. What we need though is a person with fine chakra control and a lot of stamina to perform it. I don’t have fine chakra control, so…”

Sakura sighed. “Let me look at your notes.”

Naruto gave her his notebook and Sasuke watched them anxiously. He really wanted the damn seal off. It made him feel dirty, like there was something poisoning his blood. It leeched off negative emotions and made them stronger and it terrified him. He hadn’t felt this intense anger since Itachi-

Yeah, he just wanted it gone.

“Naruto,” Sakura breathed out and stared at him. “This will require a seasoned medic. A pretty fucking good one. I don’t think any of the staff we have here could do it successfully.”

“Oh, fuck, really?” Naruto groaned. “Kashi-sensei, do you know someone that could do it?”

Kakashi sat up straight and took the notebook, reading through it silently. He hummed. “Well, there is someone, but she hasn’t been in the village for quite some time now and I doubt she wants to come back.”

Naruto groaned again and Sasuke tried to hide his disappointment.

–

Kakashi waited outside of the dango shop only a day after Naruto came running down the stairs with a solution that unfortunately needed more work, seemingly unbothered by everything around him. But he was tense. He really chose the worst spot. What was he even doing here?

“Ah, Asuma, Kurenai,” He said lightly when he spotted the two walking towards him. “You look good together. Out on a date?”

They both blushed and furiously denied it, claiming to be there only because Anko asked them to pick up some sweets. Really, they should get their shit together. They weren’t being subtle at all.

At least, when they came close enough they sensed the danger as well and tensed up. They exchanged looks, but kept up the casual conversation.

“Well, what are you doing here?” Asuma asked. “I thought you didn't like sweets.”

“I don’t,” Kakashi confirmed with a nod. “But the cubs do. I’m waiting for Sasuke because, apparently, I always pick the ‘worst ones’.” His cubs deserved something nice after the week they had.

They chuckled just as Sasuke arrived. Speak of the devil and all that. He looked at him weirdly, thankfully not sensing anything. Kakashi wasn’t sure how he would react seeing him here all of a sudden, but they needed to work on his spacial awareness.

“Kashi-sensei, are you sick?”

“What?”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You’re early.”

Kakashi sweat-dropped. Asuma and Kurenai tried to suppress their giggles. “Eh..”

“Should I tell Sakura you’re not taking care of yourself again?” The boy all but threatened and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I really don’t-”

Suddenly, Sasuke’s head snapped to the tables behind him.

But there was no one there.

Asuma and Kurenai disappeared as well.

–

“I heard you come here from time to time. Looks like the intel was true.”

Naruto didn’t jump because he had sensed him coming, but he still levelled him with a glare. “Are you stalking me, Pervy-sage?”

“Again with that nickname!” Jiraiya cried as he sat down beside him and ordered the same ramen bowl as him.

“So? Why were you searching for me?” Naruto asked. He really couldn't get some alone time, could he?

Jiraiya grinned. “We’re going on a mission.”

“What?” He asked, turning to look at him again. “The two of us?”

“Yes,” The man laughed at his confused face and flicked his forehead. “It has already been approved.”

“Approved by who?” The Hokage was dead…

“The council,” Jiraiya shrugged, accepting his ramen with a ‘thanks’.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“What?”

“We’ll go search for our new Hokage.”

“What?”

–

“Kakashi-sensei!” Sakura and Sasuke shouted when Kurenai and Guy-sensei brought him home late in the afternoon.

“What’s wrong with him?” Sasuke asked. Kakashi had sent him home as soon as they got the dango, saying he had something important to take care of. Just what happened in the few hour they were apart?

Kurenai-sensei looked at them sympathetically as they gently lowered Kakashi into his bed and pulled the covers over him. “He’ll be alright.”

Sakura immediately sat at the foot of his bed. “What happened?”

Kurenai-sensei stayed silent.

“Does Naruto know?” Sasuke frowned.

“Your teammate left with Jiraiya-sama before we got any news,” Guy-sensei said, unusually sober. “We thought it would be best not to inform him. He needs to focus on his mission.”

Sakura wanted to hit them, scream at them. Naruto had every right to know about the situation! He wasn’t stupid and he will be mad when he comes back and hears about this. They really had no idea how to handle them.

Suddenly, the front door burst open and multiple pairs of feet came running up the stairs.

Aoba was the first at the door to Kakashi-sensei’s room. He was out of breath and looked extremely worried. “Is it true that Itachi came to the village looking for Naruto and fought Kakashiii…shit.”

Sasuke froze. Sakura looked up in shock.

“Idiot,” Kurenai groaned.

“What?”

“Sasuke-”

“Why is he after Naruto?” Sakura interrupted, her voice cold.

“We don’t-”

“Don’t lie!” Sasuke snapped and Sakura jumped to her feet next to him.

Asuma stepped into the room. “We can’t tell you. It’s classified information.”

Sakura glared at him. Classified my ass. “Where is he now?”

“Who?”

“Itachi.”

The Jounin looked at each other uncomfortably. Great, they didn’t know. But if it was true that he was searching for Naruto then he must be following him.

Sakura caught Sasuke’s gaze and they came to the same conclusion.

They were going after them. No matter what anyone said or who tried to stop them.

Notes:

...Is this considered another cliffhanger? Maybe? Probably? Sorry not sorry? Aaaaanyway, see you next time whenever that will beeee<33

(also, is it obvious that i have no idea how to write good fight scenes? when i try i just think its awkward and delete it..)

Chapter 18: Important mission, or something

Summary:

In which siblings have a stare down and the hunt is moving forward finally.

Notes:

Hey, I'm not dead! (shocking, I know)

And I gotta be honest loves, my sibling and best friend bullied me into completing this fucking chapter and finally updating after I showed them the statistics of this work. They were impressed (and I'm seriously so fucking thankful for you guys for loving this and I adore each and every one of you), but also convinced that you hate me for not updating sooner and leaving you hanging. And um, I hope that's not true? Maybe? Hopefully?

Anyway, again, this work is not abandoned, I'm too attached to it and you may wanna check the tags again. Since I decided that this will only contain Part 1, there will be no romatnic relationships between the kids yet (they're twelve for fucks sake) and I generally thought that I had to update them.

“Why the fuck are we staying at a red light district?” Naruto complained as they walked through the streets. He really didn’t like how some of the older men were looking at him. He shuffled closer to his temporary guardian. “I don’t think Tsunade-sama is at a place like this and this close to the village.”

They were only half a day away from Konoha, after all.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jiraiya grinned, ruffling his hair. He stared after one of the women with a creepy smile. Naruto wondered if he even remembered their mission. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Yeah, right.”

They arrived at an inn and booked a room for two for the night. But before they could go up, one of the workers caught the man’s eye and he went a bit crazy.

Jiraiya pushed the key into Naruto’s hand. “You go to our room and meditate or something, I’ll be right back!”

Before Naruto could respond, he was off. “Pervy-sage.” He muttered under his breath.

The room was standard, with two twin beds on either side and a nightstand in the middle. The first thing Naruto did was check for any holes in the walls and the floor and set up a few traps. He briefly looked out the window before shutting the curtains. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he had the feeling that someone was watching him, even if he didn’t pick up any strange chakra signatures.

~Better be safe than sorry, kit~ Kurama said as Naruto sat on one of the beds. ~Despite his…questionable approach on this mission, I think you should meditate~

“Fine.”

Just as he sat more comfortably, there was a knock on the door and one of the alarms went off in his head.

–

“Where do you think they are?” Sakura asked anxiously.

“I don’t know, but I have the feeling we should hurry,” Sasuke replied, leading her through the crowd. They should be still here, but the little town didn’t seem that little when you were searching for two individuals.

Sakura stopped suddenly and pulled him into an alley. “The red light district! Jiraiya-sama is known for his..preferences.”

Sasuke hummed. “It’s worth a try.”

–

This wasn’t good.

Jiraiya was two buildings away and most definitely distracted. There were two people on the other side of the door, both ridiculously strong and Naruto was at a loss. He didn’t even notice them until they were right outside!

Should he answer? No, that was probably a bad idea. Ignore them? Seemed just as bad. Wait, are those-

There was another knock. Whoever it was, they knew he was in there.

Naruto stood up and walked over warily, his hand firmly on his bo. “Who is it?”

Silence.

“I won’t open if I don’t know who you are!” He yelled. “Stranger Danger and all that.”

Another silence.

Just when Naruto prepared to yell at them again, someone spoke up. “Just some old friends of your father. Open up, Naruto.”

Yeah, not ominous at all.

Still, the fact that they knew his name and, apparently, who his father was put him more on edge. He opened the door just as backup entered the building.

Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame.

“Why am I not surprised?”

Itachi blinked at him, but his face remained emotionless.

“Is this child really the Nine-Tails?” Kisame asked sceptically, eyeing him up and down. Naruto suppressed the urge to growl. He smelled like fish in the worst way possible.

Kurama growled. ~They are most definitely part of the group hunting my siblings~

“Shit.”

~So they came for me as well~ Kurama continued and Naruto imagined him with his fur puffed up like an angry cat. ~You can’t fight them. Not yet. That Sharingan of his…I don’t trust it~

“Me neither. I think Jiraiya must’ve sensed something. He’s on his way as well-”

“Just come with us peacefully,” Itachi said and took a step back, as if inviting him to come out of the room.

“Yeah, no thank you.” Naruto said with all the sass he could master at the moment. He was both terrified and angry. So fucking angry at the man in front of him for causing his brother so much emotional pain and permanent trauma. Did he not care that Sasuke still suffered from nightmares? That he couldn’t trust anyone, not even himself? That he was so terrified about calling them his family because the only other family he had was brutally murdered?

Kisame tsked and reached for his sword. “Should we cut his legs off? He won’t be needing them..”

“What?”

But before either could pounce, Itachi shifted slightly. “It’s been a while…Sasuke.”

Seriously, what are they doing here?

Kisame sighed in disappointment. He really wanted to cut his legs off, didn’t he? “It’s a special day today, don’t you think? This is the second time I’ve seen a Sharingan.”

Second? Assuming he didn’t mean Itachi that left…Kakashi! Was he okay? What even happened? When did it happen? He had so many questions.

“Uchiha Itachi,” Sasuke growled out, red eyes spinning dangerously. His emotions were all over the place and it was probably the first time Naruto heard him say his name out loud consciously. “I’ll kill you!”

Kisame chuckled as if what he was seeing before him was a toddler throwing a tantrum. He turned to Itachi. “Who’s the brat? He seems familiar with you.”

Itachi took a moment to answer, his eyes locked with Sasuke’s. Sharingan on Sharingan. “He’s…my little brother.”

If Naruto wasn’t ready to jump before, he definitely was now. How dare he? How dare he call him his brother after everything he did? Conspiracy or not, order or no order, the fact remained that-

“I heard the whole clan was wiped out,” Fish guy hummed and smirked. “By you.”

Itachi stayed silent and Naruto wanted to punch him.

~Calm down, Naruto~ Kurama warned. ~Remember, you are not ready to fight him yet. Neither of you are. As much as I despise the Uchiha, it will only get your friends killed and you taken~

Naruto huffed and locked eyes with Sakura. They really had to get out of here before things went south. She nodded and tried to get Sasuke’s attention.

But he was beyond listening at this point. The only thing on his mind was Itachi and his vision tunnelled. His right hand started to crackle with electricity. This was not good.

–

Sasuke learned chidori when he was training with Kakashi for the Chunin Exam Finals. It was probably the most powerful technique he knew. Certainly the deadliest. He didn’t use it in his fight with Neji because, even after all the pain he put Hinata through, he didn’t actually want to kill him.

Itachi was different. Itachi was his goal all along. Itachi, he needed to kill.

He vaguely noticed Sakura trying to get his attention, but he ignored her. Nothing else mattered. The only thing that did was killing Itachi right then and there.

He charged. Blindly, even with his Sharingan active.

And that was his mistake.

One second Itachi was next to the other guy, the next he was behind him and striking him down and Sasuke was seven-years-old again. He was seven and terrified and confused and so angry because he was so scared and confused. That night started to replay in his mind even without being put in that stupid genjutsu and he couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t stop the memories. The pain that he tried so hard to bury resurfaced, choking him.

And then, a wave of powerful chakra washed over him and he was back to the present.

Kurama’s chakra and presence had the opposite effect on him than it had on others. While Itachi and Kisame froze in alarm, Sasuke calmed down. It cleared his mind, reassured him, reminded him that he wasn’t alone in this.

Yeah, that’s right. He had family friends that swore to stay by his side and help him when the time came.

He suddenly remembered that the time had not come yet.

He wasn’t nearly powerful enough to fight his brother, let alone kill him. They were still in completely different leagues.

What was he thinking? He could’ve gotten them killed.

But just as suddenly as it came, Kurama’s chakra vanished.

“Shit,” Naruto grumbled. “I forgot about that ridiculous sword of his.”

Kisame…actually looked impressed that he knew about his sword. If his throat wasn’t as tight as it was at the moment and he didn’t feel like crying and throwing up, Sasuke would have mentioned that Naruto only knew because Sasuke could go days talking about various famous swords. Yes, Hayate-senpai made him a sword nerd. He was still mad about that.

“Well, now that your Jutsu is gone, you shouldn’t be any trouble,” Kisame shrugged, a sadistic smile taking over his fish-like face. “Should I chop your arms or legs off first?”

Naruto glared at him, his staff coming up to block the bandaged sword. “How about neither?”

Unfortunately, the missing Kiri-nin was stronger and easily pushed the bo out of the way, ripping it off Naruto’s hands. He swung again, but was stopped a second time.

By a frog. Or was it a toad? Sasuke wasn’t sure.

Whatever the case, Jiraiya was there.

–

“You don’t seem to know very much about me if you think that I would be fooled by your…bait here,” Jiraiya said slowly, amused, as he put down the body of the girl Naruto saw him leave with earlier. Huh, so it was a trap. And he fell for it.

Naruto turned and levelled him with a deadpan look. “You still fell for it, Pervy-sage,” He told him. “You’re just trying to look cool in front of the others.”

Jiraiya sputtered, flustered. “Don’t call me that in front of people, brat!”

“So this is the legendary Jiraiya, huh?” Kisame chuckled, drawing the attention to him again as he put more pressure on his sword, but the toad remained unmoving. “You love beautiful women, but of course we didn’t think it would stall you for long. Well, maybe long enough to get the job done. We were interrupted, unfortunately.”

Naruto shivered. He didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened if Sasuke and Sakura hadn’t shown up, if Jiraiya didn’t get here in time. He was no match for these two, he knew that.

Jiraiya was strangely calm in this situation, but Naruto could see underneath the mask. He was angry and maybe a little scared and it made him uneasy. Regardless, the man kept a cool head and Naruto couldn’t help but admire that. He was being professional, something he still struggled with in certain situations.

“So you really are after Naruto,” He said, taking a step forward as if to shield him further.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. “So you know about that. No wonder Kakashi knew, you told him, didn’t you?”

Naruto’s blood ran cold. So Kakashi-sensei did fight them. He prayed that he was okay, but knowing he fought Itachi, he probably wasn’t. He felt the sudden urge to go back to the village and check on him.

Everyone stayed silent, but the air thickened with tension. Naruto knew, of course, that someday someone would come for him as well, but he didn’t expect that day to be today. Jiraiya was also somehow aware that this was happening and apparently Kakashi too. He idly wondered who else knew, or even if they knew why.

“‘Abduct Naruto’,” Itachi continued, turning his head ever so slightly. “Those were the orders given to us by the higher ups of the Akatsuki.”

His eyes narrowed. So that was their name. He was going to take them down, one way or another for what they did to Kurama’s siblings.

Jiraiya scowled as the summon puffed out of existence. “You’re not getting him.”

“Why not?” Itachi asked arrogantly. A challenge.

“I’m not gonna let you,” Another voice all but growled and Naruto wanted Sasuke to shut up and calm down because his chakra was all over the place and if he wasn’t careful-

The Seal was starting to act up.

Sakura saw this and grabbed his hand, forcefully dragging him behind her. She whispered something to him, but Naruto couldn’t hear over the blood rushing through his ears. She then turned to glare at Itachi and Naruto loved her for her audacity and stupid bravery.

“You’re not getting him,” She repeated lowly.

Itachi stared at them blankly, but Naruto hadn’t spent years trying to figure out Sasuke’s expressions for nothing. There was curiosity in his eyes and surprise and maybe a tiny slip of anger. He didn’t know what to make of it.

Suddenly, the hallway started changing rapidly and was soon coated in a layer of flesh (ew). Jiraiya was on his knees, hands pressed to the ground, eyes never leaving the Akatsuki members. “I hope you don’t mind becoming food for Iwagama! We’re in his oesophagus, for your information.”

Again, ew.

Naruto levelled a glare at Itachi as the walls started closing in on them. He wasn’t afraid. He knew Sakura, Sasuke and him were going to be fine. Jiraiya was strong enough to get them to safety. “You can’t win this one, Itachi!” He yelled. “You’re not gonna get me, not today!”

The older Uchiha glared and motioned Kisame to follow him, but Naruto had one last thing to say before they left.

“Also, it wouldn’t hurt questioning orders from above once in a while, ya know? Asshole!”

Itachi actually stumbled, shocking everyone and probably himself. His head snapped back to him, his eyes a bit wide. He then glanced at his brother and schooled his expression. A blink and they were gone from the hallway. Jiraiya scrambled to follow them, but they both knew it was no use.

Naruto ran to his team and pulled both of them in a hug, the adrenalin slowly fading from his system. “What the fuck are you guys doing here?” He hissed into Sakura’s shoulder.

Sakura clung to his haori. “They brought Kashi-sensei home and he was unconscious. They wouldn’t tell us what happened, but Aoba slipped and said that he fought Itachi and that he was after you…”

“So you came after us,” Naruto sighed and pulled back. He couldn’t blame them, he would’ve done the same. He looked at Sasuke, eyes scanning his body. The Seal went back, luckily, but his Chakra was still disturbed. “How are you?”

“Fine,” He grunted, hugging his midsection. “I just…I wasn’t…”

“I know, it’s okay,” Naruto smiled softly. Sasuke wasn’t ready to face his brother yet. It was too soon and the emotions were too much for him to handle at the moment, especially with the Seal that fed off negative emotions. “Lemme see.”

He gently pulled back Sasuke’s shirt and charged his seals, vaguely registering Jiraiya coming up to them with a scroll in hand. He sighed in relief. The protections were still in place, they held on even when the Seal fought tooth and nail to free itself and activate. He didn’t know how Sakura managed to calm him down enough to make it draw back, but he wanted to hug her and buy her dango.

“That’s impressive, kid,” Jiraiya hummed, also looking over the Seal and the protections around it. “I’m guessing you did this?”

“Yeah,” Naruto said, letting go of Sasuke and stepping back. “Hell of a bitch to make too.”

Jiraiya chuckled and patted his shoulder. “Maybe I need to jumpstart our sealing lessons after all. You still have a lot to learn."

“Really?” Naruto gasped, staring up at him excitedly. Jiraiya was known for his Fuinjutsu after all.

“Yes,” He smiled and looked at the other two. “You should go back to the village, they’ll be looking for you.”

“But-”

“No buts,” Jiraiya cut her off, shaking his head. “The mission was approved only for me and Naruto and it’s important. You can’t come with.”

Neither looked happy about this, he wouldn’t be either, but Jiraiya was right. As much as he wanted to travel with his family like he was so used to, they couldn’t just tag along to their mission. And with the state Konoha was in at the moment, every shinobi was needed.

He stepped forward and hugged them again. “It’s okay, go back. Kashi-sensei and Konoha need you. I’ll be fine, I have the Pervy-sage.”

“Fine,” Sakura grumbled, tightening her grip before loosening it. “Good luck.”

“Hn.”

Sasuke was still a bit dazed from the interaction with his brother when Guy-sensei barged in and whisked them away after making sure nobody was dead and/or critically injured. Naruto was worried about him, but he had Sakura and Kakashi-sensei(when he wakes up, hopefully soon). He’ll be fine, he had to have faith in that.

In the meantime, Naruto had a Sanin to track down.

–

“Ne, Pervy-sage?”

Jiraiya glanced down, then back when he noticed that Naruto had stopped walking. They’ve been travelling for two days now and the kid had been weirdly silent since their encounter with the Akatsuki. Well, understandably. It’s not every day you find out a powerful criminal organisation is after you.

“Yes?”

Naruto kicked up dirt, not looking at him. “Do you know why they want me?”

“Well,” Jiraiya hummed. “They’re less after you than they are what’s inside you.”

“I know that!” Naruto huffed, crossing his arms. “I wanna know why. What’s their plan? What do they want the Biju for? There’s got to be more than just wanting to control them and use their power! And how're they going to control all of them in the first place? It just doesn't make sense.”

Jiraiya was stunned. The boy knew way more than he had thought. It wasn’t the shock of finding out he was being hunted that kept him quiet, it was his thoughts, his questions.

“I don’t know,” He answered softly, truthfully. He really had no idea, but he would do anything in his power to find out. “But what I do know is that they won’t stop coming after you. Of course, if you stick with me I can keep you safe, but-”

“You can’t always be there,” Naruto finished, finally looking up at him with a determined glare. “Then I just have to get stronger. Strong enough to protect myself and others. We can’t let them win. I won’t let them have Kurama.”

Jiraiya grinned and ruffled his hair. “First things first, pipsqueak. We have an old friend of mine to find.”

Naruto pushed his hand away and they continued walking. “What’s she like?”

“Hm?”

“Tsunade-sama.”

“Oh, she’s something else, let me tell ya,” He chuckled, fondly thinking back to a time where everything was fine, easy. Sure, there was war and destruction everywhere, but at least he had his team, had his real family. They moved like one, thought like one. Now, he barely recognised either of them. He didn’t know when everything started going sideways. “She's crazy stubborn, that woman, and obsessed with gambling-”

–

“What did he mean?”

Sakura threw the boulder she was holding to the side and looked at him. “What?”

“Naruto,” He said, kicking a few pebbles. The two of them and Ino were charged to clean up the area around the walls they didn’t get to yet in the chaos of the aftermath. “What he said to…him before he left. What did he mean?”

Sakura frowned as she wiped her forehead. “I don’t know.”

“What did he say?” Ino asked, materialising next to him. She looked concerned, but alert. Sasuke had a feeling she knew something.

“‘It wouldn’t hurt to question orders from above once in a while’, or something like that.”

“Oh,” She whispered, her eyes darting around like they usually did when she was thinking intensely about something. “And how did he react?”

“He was shocked,” Sakura answered for him, tilting her head. She was just as confused as he was about this. He had never seen Itachi react like that. “He stumbled on his way out, stared at Naruto like he knew something he shouldn’t. Why?”

Ino’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

“What do you know?” Sasuke glared at her. He hated being out of the loop, especially when it concerned his brother.

“I don’t- I-,” Ino stuttered before sighing. “Look, we’ve been looking into some things, okay? Me and Shikamaru. But it’s kind of sensitive, probably illegal and will definitely get us into trouble if somebody found out, so we’re keeping it a secret for now until we know for sure.”

“About It..him?”

“Yes,” She smiled at him a bit sadly and Sasuke did not like that look. “We can’t tell you yet, not until we know for sure. But you’ll be the first to know, I promise.”

Sasuke knew he was staring, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted to scream at her, demand answers. He wanted to scream and cry and destroy something. He didn’t do any of this. He didn’t like it, not one bit, but he trusted his friends. If they thought that he shouldn’t be in the know yet, they probably had a good reason to. His only consolation was that nobody else knew except for them (and apparently Naruto, but it was likely his idea first).

He trusted his friends, but he hated everything about the situation. It left him wrong-footed, unbalanced. He wanted Naruto to hurry up and come back and Kakashi-sensei to wake up so that everything was in place again, go back to normal. He suspected normal was out of the question at the moment.

–

“You want me to gather information and train at the same time?” Naruto asked incredulously. They were in a forest outside of a town and Naruto could sense a lot of people. There was excitement and laughter and a bit of frustration, a cocktail of emotions that usually meant a festival. He had the sneaky suspicion that he wasn’t going to be allowed to enjoy it much.

“Yes!” Jiraiya said cheerfully. “We’ll make use of those clones of yours. It’s good practice! The original you will stay here and master the technique I’ve been meaning to teach you for some time now and a few of your clones will henge and gather information in town.”

Naruto frowned. “What if I lose focus and the clones disappear? Won’t that alarm people?”

Jiraiya laughed and slapped his shoulder, making him stumble forward. “Make sure not to lose focus then!”

“I hate you.”

Despite his words, Naruto conjured up four clones. If he was learning a new Jutsu, he’ll need all the Chakra he could spare. The four glanced at each other and there was another cloud of smoke. One now looked like a slightly older, female version of himself without the whiskers, the other adored freckles all over his face with a shock of pale blond hair and brown eyes and the last two went for a twin look. They were younger, maybe nine, with dark skin, buzzed hair and dark eyes.

“Perfect!” Jiraiya clapped his hands and pointed at the freckled one as he made a clone of his own. “You two will go together. The whole father-son spiel works on a lot of people around here. We’ll get some sympathy points.”

All Narutos rolled their eyes and the clones took off.

“What Jutsu will I be learning?” Naruto asked, turning to face his…mentor? He was still unsure about his position. He acted like a mentor though.

Jiraiya smiled and held up his hand. Almost instantly, Naruto could see Chakra swirling out of it, forming a sphere. It moved fast and hard and radiated power. When the man held it to a nearby tree, it shattered.

“Whoa…”

“It’s called the Rasengan,” He explained calmly, almost proudly. “ The Fourth Hokage invented it and it took him three years to perfect. It’s considered an A-rank technique.”

Naruto’s eyes were wide. “My father did that? Out of nothing?”

“Indeed,” Jiraiya chuckled. “And I want you to learn it.”

“What do I need to do?” He asked eagerly, bouncing on his heels. A Jutsu his father invented? Hell yeah he was going to master it!

“We’ll start small,” Jiraiya explained, pulling what looked like a water balloon out of his pocket. “First, I want you to-”

.

Naruto managed to burst the water balloon late on day two after figuring out that he was spinning the water in one direction, while Jiraiya was spinning it in every direction. It took a few hours of practice and a lot of concentration to mimic that, but he did it. He was proud of himself. He groaned when he was handed a rubber ball and told to do the same but with more power.

The clones on the other hand didn’t have much luck in the information gathering department. A few people said they thought they saw Tsunade move through the town, but nothing concrete and noboby was sure. It could’ve been any other blonde lady. One even said he saw her a year ago, which didn’t help them much.

They kept this up for the rest of the week.

.

Naruto blinked a few times in the middle of week two in town, lowering his chopsticks. He was still getting used to the feeling of his clone's memories rushing through his mind and it took him a moment to sort through them.

“What is it?” Jiraiya asked over the rim of his sake. They were in a tavern for once, celebrating Naruto’s success with obliterating the rubber ball (the swirl on his palm helped a lot surprisingly) while also keeping an ear out for anything useful.

“I know where she is.”

Notes:

Finally, we're getting somewhere!

Chapter 19: The Sannin

Summary:

In which they somehow end up fighting a snake but go home victorious.

Naruto glared at the remains of his balloon. It really shouldn’t be this hard to keep the sphere shape, but every time he almost has it, his mind wanders for just a split second and he loses control of his chakra and the balloon pops. It was frustrating.

~Don’t be so put up about this, kit~ Kurama sighed in his mind and Naruto allowed himself to slip in for a moment. Jiraiya was busy trying to get information out of some guy and wasn’t paying attention to him. ~It took your father three years to master it, remember?~

He stared up at his furry friend behind the bars of his cage and plopped down in the murky water. He idly wondered if he could somehow change the setting in here. “I know,” He mumbled, glaring at his hand, where the swirl stayed painted on. He had to repaint it a few times after he showered. “But I wanna learn it, ya know? It’s like, the only thing from him that I have right now, besides my looks.”

Kurama’s head lowered until they were face to face. He huffed, ruffling Naruto’s hair. ~I know, but you can’t be too hard on yourself now. You can do it, I know you can. I hate to admit it, but you are just as, if not more, talented than The Fourth. It’s only a matter of time.~

Naruto perked up. “Really?”

~Really~ Kurama chuckled, but sobered up quickly and tilted his head.

Naruto mimicked him, frowning. “Hey, is that-”

~Yes~

“I have to go.”

Back in the real world, Naruto grabbed the back of Jiraiya’s shirt and dragged him outside.

“Nauro, what-”

“We have to go,” He said curtly, jumping onto the nearest building, followed by his mentor. “I can feel her, but she’s not alone.”

Jiraiya’s eyes narrowed and they took off in the direction the castle should’ve been, but is no more.

What a mess they just walked into.

.

“Shit,” Naruto hissed when they arrived. The destruction was unmistakable, something happened here. And they were too late.

Jiraiya looked around with an unreadable expression. Naruto didn’t know what to make of the man right now. He felt bad for him, for what happened to his team. He couldn’t imagine what he would be like in his place, if Sasuke went nuts and fucked off doing terrible things, if Sakura ran away from her problems because she couldn’t face them in the village. If both of them decided that he couldn’t be trusted to help them with whatever they were facing and left him behind.

He probably would’ve gone crazy himself.

Naruto heard a lot about the two of them the past few weeks. What started as a simple question to get a better grasp of the person they were looking for ended up in drunken confessions and stories from the past. He heard about the stubborn, explosive girl that could control her teammates with just a look and had such a grasp on medical ninjutsu that she kind of started a revolution in the field. He heard about the boy who was a freak amongst his peers because he was different, but soft spoken and sarcastic and extremely good at ninjutsu. He heard about the other boy, too loud and hyperactive for anyone else to tolerate, but loved his team.

He heard about how the Legendary Sannin were before, during and after the war and recognised a family. He saw his team in them and he was scared.

He still hated Orochimaru for what he did of course, he almost killed the three of them in the forest, actually killed the Third, and placed a nasty Seal on his brother. He couldn’t forgive that, no matter what he learned about him. This Orochimaru was nothing like the one Jiraiya knew and the man was painfully aware of that.

“Can you sense them?” He asked, turning to Naruto with that unreadable expression still on his face.

Naruto closed his eyes and focused on every Chakra signature in town, his range more than big enough to cover the whole town and part of the outskirts. But the two massive presences he had felt before were gone and he hadn’t gotten a good enough feel on Tsunade’s earlier to find her even if she was masking. It was a useful skill Kakashi had drilled into him a while ago, but utterly useless when he wasn’t already familiar with the Chakra he was looking for.

He sighed and opened his eyes. “No. Orochimaru is definitely not in the immediate area anymore, I could recognise his slimy Chakra no matter how much he hides it. But I’m not sure about Tsunade. She could still be in town.”

Jiraiya sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Alright. We’ll stay here for the time being, see what we can find out.”

“Clones?”

“Just two,” He replied as they slowly made their way back to town. “Send one to get us a room for tonight, it’s getting dark.”

“Okay.”

.

When they eventually found Tsunade, it was entirely by accident. They were getting hungry and pubs usually were a good place to get information. What they weren’t expecting when they walked in, was to come face to face with the person they spent almost a month searching for.

That was how Naruto found himself seated across a young lady named Shizune and a pig. He stared at it as he slurped his noodles. It was kind of cute, to be honest.

~Oh, please~ Kurama huffed. ~As if you wouldn’t eat it in a heartbeat if you were low on food~

Naruto choked on the broth and fell into a coughing fit. Everyone stared at him in concern as Jiraiya patted his back until he calmed down.

“I’m fine,” He croaked out once his breathing was under control again and glared in his mindscape. “That was mean, Kurama! I wouldn’t eat Tsunade-sama’s pig! She’ll kill me!”

Kurama laughed at him, like the asshole he was.

When they were done eating, Tsunade leaned on the table, hands clasped in front of here. “Today,” She said, watching the ripples in her sake as she spoke. “I met with someone that brought back bad memories.”

Jiraiya and Naruto glanced at each other. Yeah, they were aware. They just didn’t know why he was there.

“Orochimaru,” The man said slowly, face serious. “What did he want?”

“Nothing,” She looked to the side. “Just a little greeting…”

Shizune frowned, and Naruto looked at her.

Yeah, right. She was as bad of a liar as he was.

“So, why did you come see me?” Tsunade sighed, leaning back. She smirked. “Wasn’t expecting two reunions in one day.”

Jiraiya snorted. “I’m afraid I’m not here for a simple greeting. Konoha has issued a request for you to become the Fifth Hokage.”

Silence. Both women stared at him with wide eyes.

“The Third-”

“Yeah, Orochimaru,” Tsunade finished solemnly. “I heard. He…told me.”

The two former teammates stared at each other with unreadable expressions. Naruto was getting sick of those, especially when both had their Chakra so tightly tucked in he couldn’t read their emotions.

“So it’s true, he killed Sensei.”

It wasn’t a question, but Jiraiya nodded anyway.

Naruto really hated that guy. Out of all the shit he did, this was probably one of the worst. Killing their Sensei, almost destroying his former home. And for what? Petty revenge?

Glaring at nothing in particular, Naruto let out a soft, angry growl.

Tsunade glanced at him after downing the rest of her drink. “Who’s the kid?”

“Uzumaki Naruto,” He said like it meant something to her. And, judging by her expression, it did. Great, just how many people were aware that he’s the Jinchuuriki? Nice secret they had there.

At least, his name didn’t seem to mean anything to Shizune, as she just smiled at him politely.

“So, what’s your answer?” Jiraiya asked, back to the topic at hand. “Will you accept?”

“No,” She said softly after a second. “I decline.”

What?

“Why not?” Naruto found himself asking. Sure, she had been out of the village for quite some time now after something even drunk Jiraiya wouldn’t talk about happened, but being asked to be Hokage is the highest honour. It has been his dream since he knew what being Hokage meant to the people.

Tsunade snorted, pouring herself another drink. Shizune watched her in concerned silence. “Quite the insolent student you got there, Jiraiya. Certainly worse than your last.”

Naruto tried not to get offended, but he always hated when people looked down on him like that. Like he was just a stupid kid that knew nothing while they knew everything.

“Maa,” Jiraiya chuckled, ruffling his hair. “Not nice to compare Naruto to the Fourth like that. They both have the talent to become top-rated shinobi. Minato was smart, reliable and handsome. Like me.”

~Maybe in his dreams~ Kurama snorted and Naruto had to bite the inside of his cheek to not react.

“He still died young,” Tsudande whispered with a mean chuckle. “He died for the village. A life is different from money, it can’t be gambled with so thoughtlessly. Whoever can do this easily is an idiot.”

Okay, now she was getting on his nerves. Sannin or not, she had no right to talk about his father’s sacrifice like that. He couldn’t even focus on the rest of her stupid speech, too busy keeping his Chakra from exploding with his temper. He didn’t care what she thought of him, what happened to make her have such a pessimistic view of life, but how dare she talk ill of the dead? Those who gave up everything, including their life, just so they could have it easy now, so the next generation had a chance to make it.

“Being Hokage is shit,” She was saying when he tuned back in. “Only a fool would accept.”

That’s it.

Slamming his hands on the table, not caring about the cups toppling over, Naruto glared at her. “Look, lady. I don’t know and I don’t care what your deal is, but I won’t let you talk about the Hokage like that, especially not my father. You don’t wanna be the next because you’re scared? Fine, not my problem. Be a coward for all I care, we’ll find someone else eventually. But you are the best medic out there and I need you to come back and help my friends because I don’t know how much longer I can take them being like that.”

Well, looks like he got under her skin. She stood up, also slamming her hands. The wood creaked and he was surprised it didn’t break under the pressure. God knows how many tables Sakura broke in her rage. “How dare you, brat? Do you even know who you are talking to?”

Naruto leaned forward, snarling. “I know exactly who I’m talking to, Tsunade-sama. You Sannin had been talked highly of by everyone, but I’m starting to see it’s just talk. The first one I encounter nearly kills my team in an exam that was supposed to be safe and places a godawful Seal on one of them that is all but poisoning his system. The other is a pervert that doesn’t know how to act around me half the time and the last is someone that runs from her problems and talks ill of the dead, including her own grandfather. So, yeah, excuse me for not thinking highly of you.”

Shizune and Jiraiya were watching their interaction with matching looks of concern and growing horror.

“You wanna fight, brat?”

“I will if you don’t shut up!”

When neither backed down, they took it outside.

Jiraiya looked like he was about to complain, but respectfully stayed out of it. This was between Naruto and Tsunade. He was under no illusion that he could possibly win this fight, but he was beyond frustrated with her at the moment. She not only talked down on some amazing people, she disrespected his dream.

As their scuffle began, more and more people fled the scene until it was just the four (and a half) of them there outside the pub. Naruto jumped up and around her, eyes flicking back and forth in search of an opening. Of course, there was none. Because, as drunk as she was right now, she was still strong and confident in her abilities. She even only used one finger to fight him! And it was working!

Naruto groaned as he was flicked back once more, his forehead protector flying off his head. He wasn’t giving up yet. If she fought anything like Sakura, then her blows were powered by Chakra. If he could just get close enough to place the seal on her…

“Fuck.”

Okay, that didn’t work. He was grateful that Kurama healed his injuries almost instantly, because he was sure he wouldn’t be able to walk with all the bruises he was collecting like trophies.

He vaguely registered Shizune picking up the seal he tried to use on her mentor, letting out an impressed sound.

“Lemme ask you something before you pass out,” Tsunade asked when she flung him back again. “Why do you get so defensive when I talk about the Hokage?”

“Because unlike you, I’d actually like to become Hokage,” He said without hesitation as he crawled back to his feet. “Becoming Hokage is my dream!”

.

Okay, so, he wasn’t sure how the situation escalated from there, but he somehow ended up promising to master the Rasengan in a week in exchange for Tsunade’s, apparently very precious and invaluable, necklace.

And a few nasty bruises that took forever to heal.

Great, just great.

.

The week passed by slowly. Naruto trained by a cliff day and night, only stopping when Kurama reminded him to eat and drink and sleep. He knew that if he didn’t have these constant reminders, he’d be a lot more exhausted. Not that he wasn’t, he just knew it could’ve been worse.

By the end of day six, he made the perfect Rasengan and smashed a hole right through an unassuming tree. He gave it a weak apology before passing out with a smile on his face.

He did it. He really did it!

But now he just wanted to sleep. Chakra exhaustion wasn’t something he experienced often, but when he did, he crashed for a day straight.

It didn’t matter. He did it!

—

Shizune woke up with a start. She shot up and almost collided with Naruto, who was trying to sneak back into the room with a bag that smelled like breakfast.

“Oh, nice, you’re awake,” He smiled. “Dunno why you were sleeping on the ground, but I-”

“What day is it?”

“What?”

“What day is it?” She insisted, wobbly pushing herself to her feet. Geez, Tunade-sama packed a mean punch. She never thought she’d be on the receiving end of one of those.

“Um, Monday.”

“What?” Shizune blinked at him. He wasn’t supposed to wake up until tomorrow. “When did you…”

“Oh,” He said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand sheepishly. “I normally just crash for a day and then I'm fine. I woke up in the middle of the night. Still not sure why you were sleeping on the floor, but I didn’t want to disturb you-”

“Doesn’t matter,” She cut him off and headed for the window. “I have to go. You stay here.”

Before she could make it outside, though, a kunai flew in front of her face, stopping her. She looked to the side where it came from and saw Jiraiya-sama barely holding it together, leaning heavily on the wall of the inn.

“Wait, Shizune,” He panted. Naruto and Shizune didn’t hesitate to jump out and help him sit down, all but fretting over him. “Fucking Tsunade spiked my drink. I’ve got little to no control of my Chakra and my body feels weird. Can’t even hold chopsticks…”

“Some great shinobi you are,” Naruto muttered under his breath, warily looking around for any threats. He tensed, eyes glued to a building across from them. When Shizune followed his gaze, she could just make out silver hair retreating around the corner. That’s not good.

“I think it’s time you tell us what happened with Orochimaru,” Jiraiya said, staring up at her with the same serious look Tsunade sometimes got. There was no doubt they were former teammates, not at a time like this.

She looked away, balling her hands into fists. “I wanted to believe in Tsunade-sama, that’s why I didn’t say anything until now…” Mind made up, she turned and jumped away, yelling over her shoulder. “We don’t have much time. I’ll tell you on the way!”

.

“Something is happening,” Naruto grunted as he flipped over a branch. “They’re fighting. I think Tsunade-sama declined after all.”

Shizune let out a breath. Thank the gods. While she didn’t want to think badly of her mentor, she was still worried she might accept. She wondered what changed her mind, but as she watched the genin zig zag through the trees, she thought she might have an idea. For all the bad mouthing, he was still bright and passionate. He reminded her a lot of her uncle and she was almost sure the boy reminded Tsunade-sama of her brother as well.

“They’re moving,” He said suddenly, stopping on a tree.

“Where are they going?” Jiraiya-sama panted. He was still struggling from the effects of the drug and Shizune wished she could do something about it, but this was above her current level.

Naruto’s nose scrunched up in time with Ton-Ton’s and she struggled not to smile. “That way.”

It was always helpful to have a sensor on the team, especially at a time like this. They could not waste even a second. The stakes were too high.

.

They arrived at the clearing just as that boy that was with Orochimaru charged at Tsunade-sama with a kunai, babbling about scattering just enough blood around to leave her on the brink of death.

The three of them pushed harder and appeared between them in a cloud of smoke, forcing him to jump back a few paces. She glared at him and took on a defensive pose, hands ready on her senbon.

“Long time no see,” Orochimaru drawled from the distance with a sleazy smile. Seriously, when this was over, she’ll have to take a long, hot bath. “Jiraiya.”

Jiraiya-sama smirked. “You haven’t changed at all. Wild eyes like always.”

While the Sannin had a stare down, Shizune noticed Naruto shifting beside her. He was glaring at the boy, knuckles white around his bo.

“Kabuto,” He growled. “Knew there was a reason I didn’t like you.”

“You know him?” Shizune asked, surprised.

“So we meet again, Naruto-kun,” The boy, Kabuto, chuckled, slowly turning the kunai in his hand.

Before any of them could do or say anything, Tsunade-sama pushed through them with a shout, throwing herself at Kabuto. But he was faster and didn’t hesitate to cut his own arm just so he could douse her in blood. She froze horribly and didn’t so much as twitch when he flung her away.

Too late did Shizune realise that she was heading towards her and they were both thrown back.

“Ow,” She groaned when they hit the ground. Tsunade-sama was heavy.

She quickly moved from under her, reaching for a sealing scroll. She unsealed a spare kimono and draped it over her shoulders. The woman was shaking badly and Shizune was worried. She had never seen her like this.

“Here,” She said softly, attempting to remove as much of the blood as she could. “Don’t overdo it, please. You still got me, I’m not going anywhere.”

The damage was already done, though. Tsunade-sama was unresponsive. She wasn’t sure she could even hear her.

Shizune looked back to the fight in time to see Naruto being thrown back. Right towards her. Again. Fuck, that Kabuto really enjoyed using her as a target, didn’t he? In retaliation, she shot off a few of her poison dipped senbon, but he used his hitai ate to block them. He jumped back until he was next to Orochimaru and popped a pill in his mouth.

Shizune hissed, recognising the pill. “He’s a medic, like me.”

Naruto glanced at her, but didn’t say anything. He was locked in a defensive position in front of Tsunade-sama, likely realising that she was out of commission at the moment.

“Shizune,” Jiraiya-sama barked, eyes glued on his former teammate as slowly moved towards them. “You take care of glasses guy. I’ll deal with Orochimaru.”

“What about me?” Naruto asked.

“You’ll watch over Tsunade and the pig,” Jiraiya-sama said and, to his credit, Naruto only nodded. He didn’t complain like Shizune half expected him to. “But before I fight, I’ll need you to heal me, Tsunade. My body is still wonky from that damn drug you slipped me.”

Tsunade-sama didn’t reply. She didn’t even look up. Jiraiya-sama sighed, muttering something about making do anyway.

Almost simultaneously, both Jiraiya-sama and Kabuto (apparently using a seal on Orochimaru’s arm) slammed their hands to the ground and summoned their respective animals. At least, theoretically. While Orochimaru summoned two of his giant snakes, Jiraiya-sama only managed to summon a small toad. His Chakra was all over the place.

This wasn’t good.

The fight started anyway.

.

Shizune would like to think that she put up a good fight, a great fight even. But there was no denying that Kabuto was stronger than her and she was knocked out during the fight. When she came to, she was only glad she was still alive.

She shot up to her feet just in time to see Orochimaru slice through Tsunade-sama, Naruto curled up behind her. She had no idea what happened, but Naruto was severely injured and it looked like Tsunade-sama was protecting him. With her life.

Shizune’s blood ran cold when her mentor activated her Byakugou, promptly healing all her wounds. But the number of times a human cell can multiply is limited and Tsunade-sama was basically shortening her lifespan by using it. As happy as she was that Tsunade-sama seemingly ‘got over’ her fear at the moment and accepted her new title as Hokage, she wasn’t keen on losing her.

She was the only family Shizune had left.

She jumped when a piece of Katsuya-sama landed next to her, carrying Naruto. “Shizune-sama, please take care of this child…”

“Naruto-kun!” She gasped, looming over his still curled up form. He was clutching at his chest, breaths coming up short. “Are you alright?” Stupid question. Of course he wasn’t!

“I’ll live,” He rasped as she gathered him into her arms. “That fucker did comething to my heart. Tsunade tried to heal it as best she could on the battlefield, but all my ribs are also broken. It’s gonna take them a minute…”

“Please go find someplace safe to hide. Tsunade-sama’s orders,” Katsuya-sama continued sternly. “This will be a gruesome battle, you should not be present.”

Shizune frowned at the slug before turning her gaze to the Sannin, all of them on top of their most powerful summons, all of them serious, two of them heartbroken that it came to this point.

Finally, she looked at the boy in her arms and nodded.

The two of them had no business here.

–

“So, Hokage-sama,” Naruto started teasingly, jumping from one tree to the next backwards in front of Tsunade. The necklace was bouncing with him where it lay on top of his mesh shirt, a grounding presence all things considered. “Something particular you missed from the village?”

Tsunade rolled her eyes at him, but she seemed different from before. Lighter. “If it’s filled with insolent brats like you, then no.”

Naruto chuckled. “You have to meet my team then, you’ll love them.”

Shizune giggled as Tsunade sighed. Jiraiya looked back at them with fond exasperation and Naruto couldn’t help but feel like things would turn out alright for once.

Later that night, when they set up camp, Naruto approached his new Hokage with his notebook. He still wasn’t sure about the specifics and he had been looking for other ways to remove the Seal, but everything pointed back to this. It was starting to look like the only way to remove it safely and he was anxious. What if even Tsunade can’t do it? What then? Sasuke couldn’t possibly live the rest of his life with that fucking Seal.

“Yes?” She asked curiously, poking at the fire. He had been standing there starting for a few minutes now.

“I just,” He sighed, plopping down next to her. “I dunno if you heard about those Cursed Seals Orochimaru likes to give out like fucking candy-” She snorted. “-but my teammate, Sasuke, has it and it’s really fucking with his system and I’ve been looking for ways to remove it without killing him and… Sakura said that it would take a seasoned medic, a good one, and I know that you-”

“Let me take a look,” She cut off his rambling with a soft smile, holding out her hand.

Naruto took a deep breath to calm his nerves, opening his notebook to the right pages before handing it over. He watched her face closely as she skimmed through the notes. Her eyebrows rose ever so slightly, but other than that, her face remained impassive.

“You thought of this?” She asked eventually, tapping her pointer finger on the last page.

“Yeah,” He nodded. “Can you do it?”

“Well,” Tsunade smiled. “Can’t say that I’m not impressed, kid. I understand why Jiraiya wanted you as a student. If he hadn’t called dibs, I might’ve just stolen you away.”

“Hey!” Jiraiya called out offended from across the fire. They ignored him.

“So?”

“The procedure needs a little more fine tuning,” Tsunade reached out and ruffled his hair. “But, yes. I think I can do it.”

Naruto beamed.

Notes:

Okay, so I might have gotten carried away writing this, but there were some scenes that I didn't want to be left out. They are important to me, especially with the changes I have made in canon up to this point.

Also, since we're rapidly approaching the end of Part 1, there will likely be a few more chapters until this fic is finished (who would've thought I'd get this far?? Certainly not me). I was thinking about writing a fic for during the time skip, like between Part 1 and Shippuden, kind of like a filler and what the Rookie 9 (but will most likely evolve into the Konoha 12) are up to in the three years before the plot thickens in Shippuden.

But anyway, let me know what you think!

Chapter 20: Change is scary

Summary:

In which they all get a few surprises, some more pleasant than others.

Notes:

...I did not think that the ao3 authors curse was a real thing. Turns out it is.

After I spent the better half of this year so far feeling like a rotten piece of meat in an abandoned alley, I was in and out of the hospital for the past month because the universe said 'fuck you, I'm giving you an autoimmune disease without telling you and everything you did to feel better only worsens your symptoms. also, since finals are just around the corner i'm giving you more depression and executive disfunction. for funsies. why not :)'

Yeah, hope you can forgive me for not posting the last (!!) chapter sooner even though it was sitting almost finished in my drafts staring at me, demanding attention.

Anyway, let me know what you think and I'll answer any questions you have in the comments <3

“So…”

“Yeah…”

“We made it?”

“We did…”

The Rookie 9 were gathered on top of the Hokage Monument, their Spot, sitting in a loose circle, wearing matching expressions of astonishment. In front of each and every one of them lay a green vest. A Chunin vest, to be specific. They had just received them.

Apparently, after the shitshow that was the Chunin exams and a lengthy discussion, the council and their new Hokage agreed that they were ready to be promoted. Not all of them reached the final stage, but all of them displayed their skills during the attack, fighting enemies and protecting civilians alike. They had followed the orders of their superiors perfectly and even showed bits of their own leadership and acted calm and collected in a crisis. They all got a field promotion.

(Shino too, even though he did go a bit rogue when he went after Kankuro. They made an exception if he agreed to take extra lessons with an ANBU commander on obedience on the field.)

“I still can’t believe it,” Sakura muttered, reaching out to hold her vest in front of her. She stared at it like it was something precious, but would explode in her face any second.

“Tell me about it,” Ino said, not yet daring to touch hers.

“Well, I can!” Naruto grinned. “We’re awesome, ya know!”

Shikamaru snorted as he slipped into his vest. “It’s troublesome, that’s what it is. Do you know on how many missions they’re going to be sending us now? We’re low on manpower after the attack.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Naruto pouted, before realising what he said. “Wait, no, I didn’t mean it like that! It is a bad thing, a very bad thing, that we lost so many of us, including the Third…I meant the mission thing...”

“We know, idiot,” Sasuke punched his shoulder as Hinata and Ino chuckled.

“I think we should celebrate!” Choji announced happily, opening a new bag of chips. “Maybe barbeque?”

Sakura perked up. “At ours?”

.

They decided to do it the next evening. It was a bit of an open invitation and they had really only expected their teams and senseis to be there (maybe some of their parents if they had time), but a bunch more people showed up. Essentially every higher ranking shinobi they knew and even Team Guy and Tsunade and Shizune. Jiraiya was late, but he also eventually showed up.

Choza and Aoba manned the grill, even if the latter was a bit of a disaster and burned himself every five minutes. He wouldn’t let anyone help or switch with him, determined to figure it out on his own. Choza, ever the patient man, didn’t complain and only gave him some pointers.

Naruto was being chased around by Konohamaru and his friends as they yelled at him to put on his vest. He yelled back. He didn’t want to take off his haori and it looked stupid on top of it. Iruka shook his head at them fondly, but didn’t intervene. Kiba was rolling on the floor laughing at them.

Sakura had snatched Shizune and was asking question after question after she found out that she was also a medic and used senbon as her primary weapon. She was especially fascinated by the contraption she had on her arm. Genma was sulking in the corner, something about her stealing his student, while Tsunade was watching the new Chunin with interest.

Sasuke was sitting with Hayate and his girlfriend, Yugao. As soon as the man arrived, he was glued to his side, not letting him out of his sight. Understandably, his near-death had affected the boy more than the others. Shino was also with them, conversing quietly with Yugao, as she was also a talented swordsman (swordswoman?) and gave him a lot of tips on his tanto. The four of them were in their own little bubble, so the rest decided not to bother them.

There was a lot of mingling going on and Shikaku somehow managed to rope Kakashi into playing shogi with him. He didn’t look too happy about it and he was losing, but he put up a good fight. Guy and Anko were cheering him on, but they were distracting him more than they were helping. Inoichi was rolling his eyes, quietly sipping on his tea as he sat next to his friend.

At some point, Naruto managed to distract the academy kids enough to swap places with a clone and plopped down next to Lee. God knew he could use a pick me up after the news he received. He hadn’t decided yet if he was going to do the surgery or not, but Tsunade was the best medic there was. If anyone could do it, it was her. For now, he told him dumb jokes and accounts of his best pranks and it worked. He was laughing and Tenten sent the blond a grateful look.

All in all, the celebration was a success and something they all needed. Things would only get more complicated from now on, so they enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere while they could.

–

Shikamaru wasn’t kidding when he said that they would be drowning in missions after their promotion. All of them got back to back missions, more often than not out of the village and in mixed teams. Now that they weren’t genin anymore, they got swapped around to fit the type of mission. They weren’t exactly a fan of that development, but they adapted. They still got partnered up a lot, so it was fine.

Naruto had just gotten back from the borders of the Land of Fire with Choji and another Chunin, Yama, where they had been sent to deliver supplies for the shinobi stationed there. Yama was a few years older than them and she was nice, all things considered. She was also fast and could easily keep up with Naruto’s endless energy.

He was supposed to meet up with Sakura and Sasuke for dango after they gave their report, but as they approached the Hokage Tower, he tensed and urged his team to hurry up.

“There’s someone in the village,” Was the first thing he said when they entered Tsunade’s office.

Tsunade looked up from the documents she was reviewing. “What?”

“There’s someone in the village,” He repeated, stopping in front of her desk. “Four people, shinobi, and they’re strong, from what I can tell. Not ours. I have them all memorised.”

“How did they get past security?” She asked, not questioning him on the matter. He was glad that she put so much trust in his sensory skills. He was probably one of the best sensors they had left.

“The walls are still under construction and the barrier seals were damaged during the attack. It will take some time to repair them all, Hokage-sama,” And ANBU, Bird, reported quietly from her right.

Tsunade’s eyes narrowed. Naruto stayed quiet, seeing that she was calculating on how to best approach the situation. “All the higher ranking shinobi are out right now, shit. Okay. Naruto, I want you to gather a team and find them. Try not to kill them, we need them for interrogation.”

“Yes, Tsunade-sama.”

“Yama-san, stay for the report,” Tsunade added and nodded at Naruto and Choji. “The two of you are dismissed.”

They nodded and leapt out the window. As they reached the rooftops, Naruto turned to his friend.

“Can you fight?”

Choji quietly asserted his body. He frowned at him. “Who else is in the village?”

“Very few that I know the strength of, less that we have worked with before,” Naruto sighed.

“I can fight,” He decided, not stumbling when Naruto changed directions.

He cursed.

“Shit, they’re cycling Sasuke and he’s alone in the woods,” They ran faster, suddenly glad that their Senseis put them through hellish stamina training. “Why the fuck is he alone in the woods?”

.

“Sakura!” He shouted as they passed over the dango shop they were supposed to meet at.

She startled, but dropped everything and followed them up. “What’s happening?”

.

They stopped by the Hyuuga compound next and collected two. Luckily, Neji had decided to get over himself and actually help Hinata with their clan techniques instead of bullying her and they spent the evenings together. It saved Naruto the extra trip.
.

“Why did I have to be dragged into this?”

“Because all the others are out!”

“Troublesome.”

.

When they finally reached Sasuke, he was fighting for his life. Quite literally. Four against one didn’t seem like a fair fight, no matter how strong Sasuke was.

“Finally!” He yelled when he caught sight of them, dodging what looked like spider webs.

“Does he have six fucking arms?”

“Not important right now!”

The foreign kunoichi tsked at them and dodged when Sakura attacked her. “Why did you have to make this so difficult? Should’ve just come with us quietly.”

“Like hell!” Sasuke snapped, setting fire to some webs. It didn’t work as he expected it to and he frowned in annoyance. “Why would I want to become Orochimaru’s slave?”

Orochimaru? So those were Sound shinobi. Great, just great. Naruto had just about enough of those and their master.

The one with the blue hair (and what the fuck was that on the back of his head?) charged at him. “We told you! If you come with us you’ll become strong. Orochimaru-sama can give you strength! What about Itachi?”

“I don’t need that snake bastard!”

Naruto’s eyes flicked around the scene and made a split second decision, as he was technically the leader of this team. “Hinata, Neji, get the spider guy. Choji, Sakura, the tall one. Shika, the girl is yours. And remember, we have to prioritise capturing them!”

They all shouted their confirmations and split up, trying to lead their opponents away from the ‘main’ fight with Sasuke. Naruto sent a few clones with Shikamaru before jumping into the fight himself.

This was going to be a pain in the ass.

.

By the time all the fights were over, the Konoha shinobi were bloody and exhausted, some hanging off each other's shoulders. Maybe fighting against strong enemies like that after a long mission wasn’t a good idea after all. And it wasn’t just him and Choji, the others had just gotten back from their own missions as well. At least it was over now and they managed to keep all of them alive. Sort of.

Naruto summoned a shadow clone and sent him to get reinforcements. It was at times like these he wished he had summons. Life would be so much easier, but Kurama refused to work with the Toads so he had to keep looking.

The reinforcements were much needed right now, as Naruto had run out of body storage scrolls and there was no way they could carry all four of them to I&T and Neji, Choji and Shikamaru to the hospital. Sakura did everything she could, but she was low on Chakra at the moment.

“You know what,” He said as he slumped against Sasuke. “I’m glad you’re not as you were a few years ago. You would’ve totally gone with them and ended up looking like that.”

Sasuke scoffed. “What are you talking about? I would never go with scum like them. Orochimaru can shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.”

The kunoichi, the only one still conscious, made an offended noise. “Why you piece of-”

“Alright, enough,” Sakura knocked her out with a sigh. “Seriously, why is the snake bastard so obsessed with you? It’s creepy.”

“Tell me about it,” Sasuke sighed as a couple of Chunin made it to their clearing, the one Sakura accidentally created.

“Wow, you really know how to make a mess, don’t you?” Yama chuckled, helping Shikamaru up as the others gathered the prisoners.

Naruto rolled his eyes, but smiled.

“You know what?” He glanced at his brother. “I think it’s time to finally get that fucking seal off.”

–

Kakashi couldn’t help but pace the halls of the hospital. He was worried, of course he was. One of his cubs was in surgery and the other two were helping. He, unfortunately, wasn’t allowed inside, but he knew he would just be in the way. The only reason his cubs were there in the first place was because Naruto was the only one who understood the procedure completely (he came up with it) and could supply the needed amount of Chakra and for Sakura it was a learning exercise of sorts.

He wasn’t sure how or when, exactly, it happened, but Tsunade decided to take Sakura under her wing. Kakashi would be proud if he wasn’t so worried at the moment.

“Kakashi, calm down,” Kurenai sighed. Her and Asuma had come by for emotional support and were following his movements from where they were sitting. “Sasuke’s going to be fine.”

He slowed his pace and sat down next to them. “I know, I know, I just…”

“We know,” Kurenai smiled, taking his hand in hers. She squeezed lightly.

“Honestly, you’re acting like a worried mother,” Asuma joked. Kakashi glared at him.

The last few days had not been kind to his heart. He came back from an exhausting mission that left him limping and ready to crash in his bed for the next twenty four hours only to find out that Sasuke had been attacked inside the village. When he was alone. In the woods. Why was he alone in the woods?

If it weren’t for Naruto arriving just in time and quickly gathering a team to fight them, who knew what would’ve happened?

Kakashi didn’t like to think about that.

He hoped, with the Seal gone, Orochimaru would stop going after his student.

But…he’s not really his student anymore, is he? None of them are. They’re Chuunin now, they didn’t need a Jounin sensei, Team Seven wasn’t their team number anymore. Obviously, he was proud of their promotion. He knew first hand what they were capable of and they deserved it. He had expected them to pass when he nominated them for the exam. He just hadn’t expected the feeling of loss that came with it.

If they knew what he was thinking they would probably tackle him and call him an idiot, pouting like the adorable little demons they were.

Because they’re still a team, deep down they would always be that and so much more. They were Family. Pack. They lived together, trained together still, spent most of their free time together, went on missions together. They were his kids, his cubs. He didn’t think he could ever let them go.

The door to the OR opened and Kakashi shot up from his seat. Tsunade came out, looking a bit sweaty and tired, but not unhappy.

“And?”

She smiled at him. “It was a success. That boy of yours is truly something else, to be able to come up with something like this so quickly. If I had sat down alone it would’ve taken me years to develop. Remind me to schedule Anko when we’re all rested and able to repeat it.”

Kakashi let out a sigh of relief and slumped back. Kurenai curled an arm around his shoulders, beaming at him. Asume huffed, but he was also smiling.

–

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The little Uchiha froze, staring at her like a startled cat. He was halfway out of his bed, fresh clothes his teammates brought in his hands.

“Um, home?” He said meekly, not meeting her eyes.

Tsunade glared at him as she crossed the room. She grabbed the clothes and forced him to lay down. “I think the fuck not. You just got out of a major surgery, you’re in no place to be moving around yet until we’re sure there’s no damage to both your chakra and nervous systems.”

“But-”

“No buts!” She scolded. “You’re on bedrest. No missions, no training until I say so.”

The boy crossed his arms and pouted. Naruto wasn’t kidding when he said that Sasuke was a stubborn little shit, especially when in medical care. He liked to pretend that he was fine, but it was most likely due to his upbringing. Tsunade could count on one hand and still have fingers left the number of Uchiha’s that willingly came to get help and being completely on his own after the massacre certainly didn’t help in this case.

Not for the first time did she feel bad for leaving the village and not looking back. A lot has happened since then, bad stuff. She wondered if her presence would have changed anything, but there was no use dwelling on the what if’s. She was the Hokage now and she would damn sure do her best for her village.

“Do you want me to put you and Lee in one room?” She asked gently. “So you’ll both have company?”

Sasuke made a face. “He’s so…loud.”

“I suppose he is,” Tsunade chuckled. “Alright, you get to keep your room. But if you attempt to leave again before I say so, I will put you two together so someone has an eye on you.”

What started as a friendly offer quickly turned into a threat. And it worked.

“Fine,” Sasuke groaned, flopping back on his pillows. “Can I ask you something?”

Tsunade hummed as she checked his vitals. Everything seemed fine for now, but he needed further monitoring. “Sure.”

“How come you made Sakura your apprentice? Aren’t you busy enough now that you are Hokage?”

“It’s true, I am quite busy and it will just get worse as I settle in,” She admitted. “But Sakura is quite the interesting one. She reminds me of myself when I was her age. She has potential.”

Sasuke nodded, accepting her answer, but she wasn’t done. It had to be said and it was something she strongly believed in, especially now that she had met and worked with all of them and read their files. They were troublesome little shits but…

“She will surpass me someday. All of you will. There’s no doubt in my mind that your generation will be the greatest the Five Nations have ever seen. You will do great things. But for now, rest.”

The little Uchiha stared after her wide eyed as she left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

She smiled to herself, more determined than she ever remembered being. She had a lot of work to do to ensure that the next generation will flourish.

–

“An apprenticeship?”

“Yes,” Jiraiya nodded, leaning against the railing on the roof of the hospital. “I want to make it official. If you agree to it, that is.”

Naruto frowned at him. He didn’t want to stray far from the hospital once Sasuke woke up, but he needed some fresh air. Hospitals were never his thing, but he supposed he’d have to get used to it now that Sakura was kind of officially working here. “Why now? What about Akatsuki? Isn’t it safer for me in the village?”

“About that,” Jiraiya sighed, head tilted up to stare at the clouds. “I looked into the organisation. According to my information network, they won’t come after you for the next three or four years. Now more than ever is the best time to train you, prepare you for when they do come.”

Naruto stayed silent. It was a great opportunity to train under a Sannin for the next three years and travel. He’d like that, he realised, but he was also hesitant to leave the village. To leave his family. Sakura had also been taken under the wing by Tsunade and Sasuke’s Cursed Seal was finally off. They were Chuunin now, so Kakashi wasn’t officially their sensei anymore. He didn’t want to leave them, but it would be stupid to decline.

He looked at his godfather. “You said three years, right?”

“Yes.”

“And we’ll be travelling the whole time?”

Jiraiya hummed.

“Can we still visit when we have the time?” He asked. “I’m not comfortable leaving everyone for three whole years…”

His eyebrows rose. “You’re accepting the offer?”

Naruto turned fully to him, face set. “If I can visit my family, then yes.”

Jiraiya grinned. “Very well then. I’ll inform Tsunade. We’ll leave in a month.”

–

Sasuke never liked change. Change meant losing his doting brother to the Academy and missions and super secret ANBU work. Change meant losing his mother's genuine smiles, his father's rare but precious warmth. Change meant losing all of them in a sick game of power, meant going from having something to nothing in just a few hours.

Change meant loss and heartbreak and loneliness.

Until it didn’t, not necessarily.

When he was eight, he was reluctant, but eventually, change was good. It meant finding a new family. It meant finding a new brother that was the literal embodiment of the sun and a sister that reminded him of a starry night in the middle of spring. Change meant friends that didn’t expect anything from him and a guardian that was proud no matter what he did.

Sasuke looked around the room. The Rookie 9 were sprawled around the living room in various stages of sleepiness while the movie played half-forgotten in the background and their Senseis talked quietly in the kitchen. Pakkun all but shared the spot on his lap with Sakura, who was fast asleep as Naruto absently braided small strands in her short hair, eyes locked on the screen.

Team Kurenai shared the other side of the couch with them, also in a pile with only Shino still awake enough to follow the movie. Hinata was petting Akamaru, seconds away from falling asleep as Kiba snored beside her. How that position was comfortable for the boy, Sasuke could not understand.

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio was perched in front of them, all stating that the floor was more comfortable than the bean bags. Sasuke didn’t believe them, but didn’t mind that they wanted to be close. Shikamaru was, of course, sleeping, even before they put on the movie. Choji just finished his chips and looked around before balling the bag up and expertly throwing it on the table a little further away. Surprisingly, Ino was neither sleeping nor watching. She was reading through a file Sasuke was pretty sure she shouldn’t have and scribbling in a notebook. He realised she was trying to crack a code, something he wasn’t as proficient with.

His attention shifted when he heard footsteps approaching and he craned his neck to see Kakashi with a pile of blankets. The man smiled at him as he carefully covered all of the Chunin and ruffled his hair on his way back.

“Sleep, cub. You’re safe now.”

So, yeah. There was a lot of change coming and change was scary. But maybe, this time was also for the best. He had to hope for that.

Notes:

Did I...did I really just finish this fic? Seriously? After THREE YEARS?? I honestly didn't think I'd come this far..

So yeah, as you can see, this is the last chapter of Blood does not make a Family, the rewrite of Naruto part 1. I have to thank all of you for the support and love you have given for this little work of mine in the past years and the patience you have shown me as I went through a lot of quite dramatic changes in my life. I am not sure when or if I will ever continue this storyline (I really want to, but idk if I'll have the time, patience and motivation to do so) and hope that at least some of you are satisfied with the ending I provided here.

I'm quite proud of this work and it is my most successful one. I never could've imagined something I wrote would get this much attention and I seriously LOVE all of you.

Till we meet again, sailors!