Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“It is time for the weapon-handling and taijutsu portion of the exam. Make your way to the targets outside and wait for my instructions.”

Naruto sighed deeply and raised his head from the table slowly, watching his nervous classmates start to file out of the classroom. It was better to wait until they had all left before he made a move; the last thing he needed today was to get shoved or tripped. He had to pass this exam. He couldn’t afford any distractions.

When the last person exited the room, he finally got to his feet and followed after them. He soon joined them in their loose lines in front of the targets. They were still whispering nervously to each other and he rolled his eyes as they shot glares at him. They had never liked him; not that anyone else in the village did either.

Apparently having someone three years younger than them joining their class and actually doing better in some areas could be a blow to someone’s confidence. They had spent the last two years trying to make him fail so he would get moved back down. It had gotten worse when their parents had joined in but Naruto was stubborn; he wasn’t about to let anyone get in the way of this. He will pass today and he will never have to deal with any of these morons again.

Two particular morons started pointing to him, hateful looks twisting their faces, and Naruto raised an eyebrow back at them. Ren and Kichirou were the worst of everyone and no matter how many times Naruto beat them in taijutsu, they never left him alone. He secretly hoped they got on killed their first mission outside the village; that would solve a lot of his problems.

Hideki-sensei tapped his clipboard to get their attention.

“You will each be given five kunai and five shuriken. The target in front of you has been divided into sections, so the closer to the centre you hit, the more points you score. Your overall percentage will be added to the rest of your scores so take this seriously. This could be the difference between you passing or not.”

Naruto clenched his fist tightly as the man’s eyes swept over him at those last words. Hideki-sensei actually hadn’t been that bad; there had been no active sabotage or intentional failings while Naruto had been his student and there wasn’t more he could ask for than that. He also didn’t address the bullying or the stealing or the suicide-baiting but nobody ever did. Naruto knew better than to depend on an adult to help him anyway.

He watched the rest of his classmates step up and launch their weapons at the target. Some did better than others and he didn’t bother to smother his grin as Ren fumbled a shuriken, missing the target entirely. Finally it was his turn and he walked up to face targets, trying to steady his breathing.

Hideki marked off Kichirou’s score on his sheet, keeping one eye on the rabble of children as he scanned their score. It was going to be a good batch this year. Daisuke was in line for Rookie of the Year and Midori had already secured her spot as Kunoichi of the Year. Ren, Kichirou and Kaede were up there too and Hideki would bet on seeing them in the chunin exams sooner rather than later. His eyes fell to the final name on the list and his eyes snapped to the tuft of blond that stood slightly apart from the rest of his classmates. The boy appeared bored, a stark contrast to the excitable children around them.

The Kyūbi container.

Hideki knew better than to doubt the fūinjutsu of the late Yondaime and Uzumaki had shown no signs of it while in his class, but Hideki couldn’t help but try to stay away from him. There was only so much he could do as the boy’s teacher and while he knew he could have done worse, he also knew he could have done better. He just could not forget what lay within the body; the destruction that the beast left in its wake that horrible night still replaying in a loop in his head. Every time he told the boy to wake up in class or stop eating or pay attention, that giant orange fox appeared in his head.

The boy was favoured by Hokage-sama and Hideki had heard endless gossip about him, especially about his training habits. He wasn’t really interested in his students’ lives outside the classroom but when he heard Uzumaki’s name in conversation, he couldn’t help but listen in. From what he’d gathered, all the boy did was train; running, katas, weights, practice dummies. He was so tired and bored in his class that it was hard to imagine the blond having enough energy to do all that every day.

He was barely going to scrape by in his written exams as it was. The boy was the furthest thing from an academic and Hideki doubted the boy even knew where the library was. Despite that, Hideki knew it wasn’t from a lack of brains; the kid was clever when he wanted to be. His ninjutsu too; the boy wasn’t lacking in chakra, quite the opposite. His henge and kawarimi were passable even if his bunshin wasn’t, but he always got the feeling that Uzumaki didn’t want to apply himself if he didn’t have to. It wasn’t the lack of ability with the boy; he just did not engage with the academy curriculum like he should.

There were always two areas though, that Hideki could count on the boy to outshine all the other students in.

“Uzumaki Naruto.”

Hideki eyed him as the final student stepped forward, grabbing his weapons. Hopefully his future jounin-sensei would put him in something that couldn’t be seen for miles.

Most of it wasn’t bad; black shorts, blank sandals, black t-shirt, with each of the sleeves tied down with tattered white bandages. Then there was the bright orange sleeveless hoodie that the boy left zipped open. The boy had actually sewn on orange stripes onto the sides of his shorts to match. The orange clashed horrible with his mess of short blond hair as it hung slightly over his sharp blue eyes. His gaze passed over the whisker-like scars on his cheek but he abruptly looked away, setting his eyes on the target.

Uzumaki twisted a kunai around his finger for a moment before he threw it, the other four following in quick succession. Hideki would always swear that the blond’s eye colour flickered whenever he did that but he knew it wasn’t really possible; the container couldn’t have a bloodline limit. He was a trick of the light. The kunai were removed and Uzumaki weighed up the shuriken, his eyes focused.

Hideki saw the rock out of the corner of his eye but he did nothing to stop it, watching as it was flung towards the container’s face. He tried to convince himself it was good awareness training for him but he couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty. He knew that was only an excuse. He did make a note of the student who had thrown it; Kichirou was an excellent student, even with his slightly cruel tendencies.

The small blond snapped his hand back and deflected the rock with his shuriken, his gaze never wavering from the target.

“I’d just like to finish the exam, Kichi-teme,” Naruto said quietly. “You can try to beat me down later.”

Uzumaki twisted the shuriken in his hand one more time before he let loose, firing the next four one after the other. Hideki noted down his score, frowning at the boy’s full marks. He had no idea how the boy managed it every time; even with excessive training, any nine year old would still miss at least one.

“We are now going to move on to the taijutsu portion of the exam; make your way over to the taijutsu circle and do not enter it. You will be paired up randomly and no, you may not change your partners. Remember, even if you lose you still have a chance to get a decent score; but you should not be aiming to lose. Work hard, remember your training and do your best. No weapons and no ninjutsu; that will result in an automatic fail for that portion. You will stop when I say so, not when you think so,” he instructed, guiding the rabble over to the opposite side of the field.

The next two hours were spent grading the students on their ability to beat each other up with their bare hands. It wasn’t Hideki’s favourite way to spend an afternoon, but some of the moves that they came up with were definitely worth a watch. His class fought dirty compared to others he’d had in the past. It wasn’t a bad thing; there was no such thing as fighting dirty, only fighting to win. He was glad that they hadn’t become stuck in the mentality of clean fights or honour; something that would get them killed once they graduated. He had to wince when Midori hooked her opponent by his nostrils, dragging him out of the ring. Excellent technique, as the nose was a vulnerable spot and could potentially restrict their breathing, but it was vicious.

Overall, they had the academy taijutsu style down, with some variations from the clan kids. They all fought in similar ways that would soon branch out once they became genin. He looked down at his board and called the last pair up.

“Uzumaki Naruto and Ueda Kichirou.”

The two students stepped forward, already glaring hatefully at each other. They had some disagreements in the past but Hideki could not show special treatment; they would just have to get over it. Uzumaki had to lift his head to stare down Kichirou; the four inches in height more obvious than ever. He was pretty sure Kichirou was a distant relation to the Akimichi, with his straight brown hair, stocky build and plain green and brown clothing. Uzumaki, on the other hand, was already small for his age. There wasn’t a lick of fat on his frame and with his thin arms and legs, Hideki was already mentally calling for the stretcher.

He raised his arm and snapped it down, yelling ‘Begin!’

The boys did not bow and just fell into their taijutsu stances. Kichirou’s was an excellent example of the academy style; Uzumaki’s was not. It did not look anything like any taijutsu style that Hideki had observed during his time at the academy. The boy bounced lightly on his toes, his frame loose and relaxed.

There was a moment of silence as the boys just looked at each other. The other children had gone quiet.

Uzumaki’s eyes flickered again but Hideki determinedly did not think of what that could mean. He was not there to figure out his students’ lives; he was there to teach them the coursework and make sure they didn’t die their first week as a genin. That was all.

Uzumaki glanced down at Kichirou’s feet for a moment before he smirked, bringing out a small, foam ball from his pocket and starting to throw it from one hand to the other. Hideki narrowed his eyes but allowed it; it technically wasn’t a weapon but he would be watching very closely. This move by Uzumaki threw Kichirou off for a few seconds but the older student shook it off, moving forward to throw a punch to Uzumaki’s face.

Hideki couldn’t help but notice Kichirou’s eyes kept darting down to Uzumaki’s hand, his eyes following the movement of the ball. He knew that was unavoidable; they were taught to take note and be aware of anything moving in a fight. He was just not sure what Uzumaki was aiming to achieve with this.

Hideki was about to mark Kichirou the winner, the blond doing nothing to avoid a punch that would surely flatten him, when the unexpected happened. Kichirou’s right ankle gave way and he dropped heavily to the floor. He barely had time to push himself up when Uzumaki kicked in right in the chest. Hideki’s brush hovered over his clipboard as he watched Kichirou get shoved out of the ring; the large boy remained when he had landed, groaning dramatically as the kids around him stared. Uzumaki lowered his leg and looked at Hideki expectantly.

“Ueda Kichirou has been knocked out of the ring; Uzumaki Naruto wins.”

He motioned for the medic to attend to the still groaning boy. He had known that there would be medical assistance required but he had thought of the wrong student. Really he should have known; Naruto was nearly unbeatable in taijutsu. It was so easy to forget due to his size and attitude. He still wasn’t sure how he’d managed to get Kichirou off-balance using only a ball.

As Uzumaki made his way out of the ring, Hideki leaned over.

“You did not need to use a kick like that to finish the match. That was unnecessary violence against one of your future comrades,” he admonished, taken aback slightly at the glare he received.

“I won; that’s all that matters,” the boy replied shortly, walking in the direction of the classroom.

Hideki sighed, motioning for the rest of the kids to follow him. He couldn’t deny that Uzumaki was right; in their line of work, all that mattered was winning. It didn’t particularly matter how. He followed behind his class, leaving the other teachers to finish up with the wounded students.

“Congratulations to those whose names have been called; you have passed the final graduation exam and are now Genin of Konoha. Come back to the classroom at eight tomorrow morning to be assigned your teams. Those who have failed, come back in two week for the beginning of the new school year. You are dismissed,” Hideki-sensei announced from the front of the classroom.

Naruto stared down at the hitai-ate in his hands, running his fingers over the grooves in the metal. He abruptly shoved it into his pocket; as long as he had it on him as proof of his rank, he didn’t need to wear it. He ignored the laughter and wails of his once fellow classmates, moving to the door. He did not want to hang around the academy any longer than he absolutely had to.

“Uzumaki.” He turned to the sound of his teacher’s voice. “You are to report to Hokage-sama’s office tomorrow, not here.”

He nodded once and continued his way out of the room, not bothering to speak to anyone else. He didn’t have friends and he wasn’t happy for any of them; he hoped he never had to see most of them ever again. Sure, he would be stuck with two as teammates but that was only until the chunin exams. He walked down the corridor, turning over Hideki-sensei’s words in his head; why would Jiji want to see him for team assignments?

He weaved his way through the hordes of waiting parents, ignoring the glares and whispers directed his way. The occasional ‘demon’, ‘Kyūbi brat’ and ‘monster’ floated over to him but he brushed them away, shoving his hands deep into his pockets and gripping his headband tightly.

It was hardly his fault that he got stuck with the giant demon fox that destroyed the village; it wasn’t as if the Yondaime stopped and asked for his consent to be discriminated against and tormented for the rest of his life. He had barely drawn his first breath when the Kyūbi attacked the village and yet somehow, he was solely responsible for the ordeal. If he really was as bad as they all said he was, this village wouldn’t be standing. Somehow he couldn’t bring himself to be sad about that thought.

Now he was genin though, it would be much easier to avoid people. He didn’t have to be around other kids and he could avoid going into the village until absolutely necessary. They might even get missions outside the village! There was nothing that he wanted more. It was a good thing that Jiji gave him the option of graduating early. If he was stuck in that academy until he was twelve, he might have started maiming people. Starting with Kichi-teme and Ren-baka, but honestly he wasn’t picky.

Now he just had to hope that he would get a jounin-sensei that didn’t care about his tenant. He wasn’t expecting them to be nice or pay attention or anything, just the same neutral attitude that Hideki-sensei treated him with. That was all he needed. Jiji would probably put him with a taijutsu specialist and he hoped Jiji was aware enough to pick a good one. He needed to work on his bloodline limit and improving his taijutsu was a good way to do that.

No matter who he ended up with, he could just continue his solo training anyway. The real issue would be who his teammates were; he would actually be expected to work with them and be civil and Naruto could not think of anything worse. He had ended up dead-last in the class so he would probably end up with Daisuke and Midori, the top in the class. They did not go out of their way to be horrible but he would still be uncomfortable working with them. He could never trust them. The only reason he was even dead-last were his academic scores. He just didn’t see the point of learning useless stuff. Which dead man fought which dead man centuries ago would not help him survive a bandit attack.

Shaking his head of those thoughts, he finally arrived at his destination. It wasn’t quite time for the dinner rush so it was pretty empty, which suited Naruto just fine. He walked up to the counter and hopped on one of the seats, grinning at the pair behind the counter.

“Teuchi-jiisan, Ayame-neechan, four miso ramen please!”

“Naruto-kun!” Teuchi smiled right back at him. “How did it go?”

Naruto dug out the hitai-ate from his pocket, dumping it on the counter. Teuchi laughed and ruffled his hair before going to start on his order.

“I never doubted you.”

The owner of Ichiraku and his daughter were two of the three people that Naruto cared for in this village. Ever since Teuchi gave that free bowl of ramen to a starving orphan hiding from the rain; he had gained Naruto’s everlasting loyalty. He had been coming back ever since.

A girl of twelve stuck her hand out and Naruto gave her a high-five before she started making her way to the back.

“You showed them!” Ayame-neechan called behind her.

Teuchi placed the first bowl in front of him and Naruto took a moment to inhale the delicious scent.

“I bet you blew them all out of the water, huh?” Teuchi winked, turning to continue cooking.

“My taijutsu saved my ass.” Naruto dug into his meal. “Though I finally got that ankle break move to work and now I’m free of those bastards, I can finally work on making some real progress in my training.”

A flicker of sorrow crossed Teuchi’s face for only a second, but Naruto caught it. He was far too used to seeing it.

“Teuchi-jiisan, I’m fine. I have made it this far without people my age and I don’t need them; I can do everything myself.”

Teuchi handed him the second bowl but Naruto just twirled his chopsticks in his hands. It was an old argument between them. Teuchi was adamant that Naruto needed friends and needed to learn to work with other shinobi; Naruto was convinced he didn’t need them, that he would be fine on his own. Neither would budge on the issue and now that he’d graduated, he knew Teuchi was banking on his new teammates opening him up. Naruto knew better.

He ate the next three bowls, an uncomfortable silence hanging over the ramen stand. He stood and brought out Gama-chan, counting out the coins carefully. He flinched as a hand came towards him but forced himself to relax as he realised it was Teuchi. The man retracted his hand, a troubled look on his face.

“No need to pay,” he forced a smile. “It’s on the house; consider it a gift for you passing the exam and making genin. I know it’s something you’ve been wanting for a long time.”

Naruto forced a smile of his own although it wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be. He knew Teuchi cared and wanted the best for him. They just disagreed on what that best was.

“Thanks, Teuchi-jiisan.”

He shoved Gama-chan and his headband back into his pocket and left the ramen stand, hand once again resting in his pockets as he headed the long way home.

Chapter Text

He weaved his way through the bustling streets of Konoha, pulling on his hoodie as he held an apple in his mouth. Barely avoiding a shouting villager, he ducked beneath two haggling women and took a bite, switching the apple to his hand. Naruto didn’t like being in the village streets; he would have been more than happy to take every dark, isolated alleyway all the way to the Hokage Tower but he was running late as it was. He couldn’t wait for the moment he could take to the rooftops. As an academy student, he’d been heavily discouraged from that route; after the fifth ANBU found him, he’d taken the hint.

Glaring back at an old woman who seemed particularly annoyed at his general existence, he finally reached the tower. He ignored the chunin guards as he started taking the steps two at a time. Perhaps he shouldn’t have fallen asleep at the training grounds but it was too late to change that now. Jiji should be used to him turning up late. He still had no idea why the old man wanted to see him; he did suspect that it had something to  do with his team assignment as the rest of his classmates were being assigned to theirs right now.

He finally reached the top of the stairs, making his way down the short corridor to the large double doors. Most who entered the Hokage’s Tower would stop and take a moment to admire the carefully crafted interior; it was certainly worthy of the wealth and power that Konoha had as the strongest hidden village. Naruto had been in and out of this place his whole life so he was immune to the intimidation factor that the place conveyed onto outsiders. Since he was around so much though, he was more perceptive to any changes. 

A change such as the chunin that worked in the tower actively avoiding the door of the Hokage’s office. Some were annoyed, some were defeated and some were...scared? Naruto threw those ones a strange look; what could they possibly be scared of here? As he drew closer to the door he thought he heard something but as he reached for the handle, it was silent.

He poked his head in and tried to find what was putting off the chunin. The office looked the same as it always did: scrolls adorning the walls, books stacked neatly on the shelves, the pile of paperwork threatening to topple off the Hokage’s desk. His eyes were drawn to the Yondaime’s picture on the wall but he shook it off. He switched his gaze to the Hokage himself but his eyes snapped to the man’s left.

A man stood there in a tight green spandex bodysuit and woollen orange leg warmers, a bright red hitai-ate tied around his waist. He was the most...colourful man Naruto had ever set eyes on. The academy teachers used to tell him off for wearing orange, but had they ever seen this man? He winced as he took in the man’s shiny bowl cut and massive bushy eyebrows. Did he own a mirror?

The tightness of the bodysuit did give Naruto a chance to scope out the insane expanse of muscle that lay beneath. His lack of self-awareness over his appearance apparently did not affect his ability as a shinobi. The man’s dark eyes looked right back at him, probably doing the same assessment that Naruto had just done.

“Should I wait outside, Jiji?” he announced himself.

“No, no, Naruto-kun,” Jiji smiled at him. “We were just waiting for you. Congratulations on passing the exams; with the highest taijutsu and weaponry scores no less.”

Naruto grinned, fully stepping into the room and shoving his hands into his pockets as he stood in front of the desk.

“No sweat, Jiji. It would take more than that to keep me down.”

“Now,” said Jiji firmly. “I summoned you here because you will not be put into a three-man genin team like the rest of your classmates. Instead, you will operate as an apprentice, which is slightly different from your average genin.”

Naruto frowned in confusion as the Hokage continued.

“This is Maito Gai, an elite jounin of Konoha and a master of taijutsu. He will be your master and teacher until you pass the chunin exams.”

Before Naruto could say anything in reply, Gai bounced forward.

“GREETINGS MY YOUTHFUL PUPIL, I LO-”

“Volume, Gai-kun.”

“My most sincere apologies, Hokage-sama,” Gai beamed, his voice only slightly quieter at the old man’s words. “Naruto-kun, I look forward to training you and I’m sure we will reach the pinnacle of our Springtime of Youth!”

Naruto blinked in the face of Gai’s sparkling teeth and enthusiastic thumbs up. He redirected his incredulous gaze towards his grandfather figure.

“What the actual fuck, Jiji?”

“Gai-kun is very energetic and he is the most qualified instructor available,” the Hokage chuckled. “He will be able to aid you in both improving your weak points and in developing your bloodline limit.”

“Wait, so I just have to deal with him?” Naruto asked eagerly. “I don’t have teammates?”

“For now, no, you will not be placed on a team. You will complete D-ranks on your own but may work with other genin teams if Gai-kun wills it. You will be placed on teams for any C-ranks you undertake in the future. There were an odd number of students graduating this year and due to the rarity and specificity of your bloodline, it was decided that you need to focus on developing it and so would be the odd man out as it were.”

Naruto nodded along to the Hokage’s explanation but he could not hide his delight at the news. Jiji frowned at him and Naruto tried to school his features in something more neutral.

“You will have to work with other Konoha shinobi in the future, Naruto-kun,” he stated firmly. “Now, go get your picture taken for your identification and registration and then meet Gai-kun at training ground seventeen in two hours.”

A grin fell easily onto Naruto’s face as he raced out of the room, slamming the door closed behind him.

“Well?”

“His taijutsu and weapon-handling are very impressive, Hokage-sama. If he could harness the incredible volume of chakra within him and apply it to his ninjutsu, he would be a most formidable shinobi in the future. His age, too, has not hindered him; despite being three years younger than his peers, his work ethic and focus is up there with shinobi twice his age. I have no doubt that with some guidance that he will be able to fully embrace the Springtime of his Youth!”

“Go on. I know there is something else, Gai-kun.”

“His mindset may pose a problem. He has not only been unable to connect to anyone his own age, but he seems like he actively avoids it. His happiness at the news that he would not be placed in a team is a red flag for a Konoha shinobi. He also does not engage in anything that does not interest him. He skated through the academy on almost the bare minimum on most subjects, if he turned up at all. The issue is not his ability or his skills but his attitude and dismissal of his fellow shinobi and villagers.”

“Naruto-kun has not had it easy but I believe you will be able to help him, Gai-kun.”

“Of course, Hokage-sama! I will aid Naruto-kun to the best of my ability in embracing the best days of his Youth!”

“Dismissed, Gai-kun. Go and meet up with your new apprentice.”

Naruto scanned the empty training ground, trying to spot his new teacher. He didn’t know if he’d ever manage to miss him; the man was loud in every sense of the word.

“Gai-sensei?”

“NARUTO-KUN!”

He flinched and snapped his head round, coming face-to-face with the grinning visage of his new sensei. Naruto narrowed his eyes; he hadn’t been there earlier. Surely a man with his volume wouldn’t be any use for stealth.

“It is time to test your capabilities, Naruto-kun!”

Before Naruto could process this statement, Gai leapt forward with a punch aimed directly to his face. Only pure instinct allowed Naruto to duck and he snapped out his own fist into Gai's stomach. The man easily dodged and they engaged in a spar.

Naruto activated his bloodline limit as a kick from Gai shoved him back. He rolled with the momentum to displace the force and sprung to his feet. He scanned the jounin and grinned. He could see every muscle, every breath, where Gai’s centre of gravity, where he placed his weight. Gai’s elbow and bicep twitched and Naruto threw himself to the ground, avoiding Gai’s grab and returning it with a sweep of his legs. Gai stepped over the sweep and aimed his own leg at Naruto’s chest; he rolled to the side and rose to his feet, his forearm taking the next blow.

He was taking much less hits but as the seconds passed, it became obvious that Naruto’s bloodline worked faster than his body could keep up with.

Even as his brain supplied the information and told him exactly what was going to happen, Naruto’s limbs would not cooperate. It was only made more frustrating by the fact he knew Gai was holding back. He could see it. Every time he blocked Gai’s limbs with one of his own or had to take the blow he couldn’t dodge, his anger grew. His fists swung wider, sweat poured into his eyes, and he grew more concerned with landing a blow than watching Gai’s movements.

As he swung his fist one more time, determined to wipe off that stupid grin from the man’s face, he felt a sharp pain in his ribs. He blinked and when he next opened his eyes, he was staring at the clear blue sky above. He blinked once more, unsure of what point in the fight that his bloodline limit had deactivated itself. His befuddled brain kept trying to make sense of what had just happened as he became keenly aware of his lack of oxygen.

“That was excellent, Naruto-kun! Truly showing the Fire of Youth is burning brightly within you!”

Naruto ignored the voice as he desperately heaved air into his lungs, his head light and skin tingling. Every breath burned and only now did he notice that his limbs had turned to jelly from exertion. How long had they fought? It hadn’t felt that long.

Gai’s face appeared above him and Naruto felt his annoyance return; the man didn’t even look winded. The obnoxious man looked as fresh and lively as when they had first met in the Hokage’s office only two hours ago. The man waved a water bottle at him and Naruto sighed, hauling himself upright and regretting the motion immediately. The water bottle was dumped in his lap and he just stared at it; he would drink it after his lungs stopped screaming.

“Your taijutsu is wonderful, Naruto-kun! Closer to a chunin than a genin! Next you shall demonstrate the ninjutsu and genjutsu you know so I can get the full scope of your abilities!”

Naruto grunted, finally taking a swig of water. He didn’t really want to do that; he didn’t like ninjutsu and he hated genjutsu.

“Do I have to?” He groaned. “It’s just the basic academy stuff. Not anything I’m planning on using if I can help it.”

Gai’s smile remained unchanged.

“Of course you must! You can never have too many tools in your pouch, Naruto-kun! You can incorporate any of the skills you have learned into your fighting style!”

Naruto just poured the rest of the water down his throat. This happy, loud attitude was going to grate after a while. He stood slowly, shaking out his limbs to help regain the feeling. He threw the bottle to one side and flipped through the hand seals, producing a puff of smoke. Naruto raised his own bushy eyebrow as he stared deadpan back at Gai, refusing to look down at the green spandex that now covered his body. His illusion disappeared in another puff of smoke as he switched with a log, letting it sit for a moment before swapping back.

“Happy?”

“What about bunshin? Or genjutsu?”

“I can’t do bunshin,” Naruto shrugged. “I only passed because they didn’t choose it as one of the exam jutsu.”

Gai’s broad smile finally dropped into a serious expression.

“Show me.”

Naruto rolled his eyes but made the appropriate hand seals. Two puffs appeared beside him and he didn’t need to look to know what would be there. His clones always turned out looking like they’d just been poisoned; at least they weren’t missing any body parts this time. He allowed them to vanish as Gai raised a hand to his chin.

“And genjutsu?”

“I’m really good at breaking out of them,” Naruto offered. “Haven’t met one I couldn’t break out of yet. Can’t cast one though, never been able to.”

Gai was silent for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face. Naruto began to stretch out his muscles; he had to take advantage of the calm where he could with this jounin.

“I will investigate that for you,” Gai suddenly spoke up, his grin back in place. “For now, we must address your weaknesses!”

Naruto flopped back onto the ground.

“You are excellent at taijutsu but I know you can improve! The main issue is your body cannot keep up with your bloodline limit; I saw you trying to react but your body did not cooperate.”

Naruto nodded along. He already knew that.

“Your mind works at a much greater speed that your body can keep up with,” Gai continued. “You cannot utilise the advantage that your bloodline limit grants you. Fortunately, this can easily be remedied by training!”

This is what Naruto wanted; he wanted some guidance on how to get stronger. His bloodline limit had so much potential but he knew he couldn’t make it work on his own. There was only so far he could go by watching other shinobi from afar and trying to recreate it by himself. He needed a real teacher, one that would take him seriously and could give him some structure. He needed to get stronger or he might never escape this village. Gai was certainly unconventional but he might be the teacher Naruto needed.

Gai watched his genin from beneath the shade, taking a rare moment to sit still and take things in. Naruto struggled with the box, his legs shaking as he dumped it heavily into the cart. The boy took a moment to breathe before he walked back to pick up another.

They had gone to the mission assignment desk after their short training session to pick up Naruto’s first D-rank. There had been another genin team picking up their own D-rank and Gai had offered to let Naruto tag onto their team rather than tackle a mission on his own. The kid had vehemently denied it, snatching up the first scroll offered and stomping out of the room like he was afraid Gai wouldn’t give him a choice on the matter.

The mission had been one of the more heavy-going D-ranks available; a merchant was sending his stock to another village in the Land of Fire and required his cart to be packed. Gai knew this task really required a full genin team but he admired Naruto’s burning determination to get it done himself. The Springtime of Youth had a chance to blossom beautifully within his young pupil but the boy was so closed off.

A part of him had hoped that Naruto would work with that team; he hoped that Naruto would realise that it’s better to have a team to back you up, especially on missions. He should have known his apprentice would share the same desire to push himself to his limits that Gai had. It would be a slow process, fanning and building Naruto’s Will of Fire, but he knew the boy had it in him.

He had noticed that Naruto did not wear his hitai-ate; when he had asked the kid where it was, he had pulled it out of his pocket. He had tried to explain to the boy that he needed to wear it, proudly display it as a shinobi of Konoha, but Naruto had only asked if it was compulsory. Technically it wasn't a rule that a shinobi should display it visibly; it was just something that was expected. Naruto had immediately shoved it back in his pocket, stating that he would have it on him as proof of his rank and that he didn't see the need to put it on his clothing. It was a bit concerning that Naruto had so little pride in his village, going so far as to dismiss what should be a proud display of allegiance completely, but Gai hoped he could show him that the village would have his back. It was going to be an uphill battle.

Naruto heaved the last box onto the cart and turned to stare down Gai triumphantly. Another thing he had noticed with his new pupil; he was always ready to fight. Every time he had looked at Gai today, it was with a grumpy, challenging look that conveyed all the disdain he had for the world. The only time he had seen him smile and let his guard down was with Hokage-sama and even then it was brief. Gai knew Hokage-sama was hoping that Gai could get him to relax a bit; to start letting people in. From what Gai had observed, that would be a more difficult challenge than the Sandaime expected.

Gai grinned back brightly at his pupil, ignoring the obvious sigh and eye-roll that emerged whenever he did so. It was only day one; he had time to break through Naruto’s shell. He walked up to him, throwing him an earnest thumbs up before he met up with the client. He shook the man’s hand vigorously, wishing him a wonderful day and thanking him for the opportunity. The client didn’t return his enthusiasm but that had never deterred Gai; he would always lead by example.

He gestured for Naruto to follow him back towards the Mission Assignment Desk to report in and collect their mission pay. The blond trudged behind him, grumbling beneath his breath as they reached the village proper.  Gai grinned brightly at anyone who looked their way but their attention was taken by his pupil next to him. Naruto glared back at the villagers and Gai’s smile faltered as he watched the exchange.

“Naruto-kun! How is your chakra control? We did not have time to go over the exercises earlier!”

Naruto looked up at him, the glare fading into consideration. The distraction was working.

“Shit.”

Gai blinked.

“Your honesty is a shining example to all those who wish to pursue the epitome of their Youth!”

“Sure, Gai-sensei.”

The kid’s answer did help to fit another piece of the puzzle to the picture Gai was building. This might be the root of his issues with bunshin and genjutsu. He would have to investigate it first before he suggested anything to his pupil but he had a good feeling about it.

Naruto was the first student that Gai had ever taken under his wing. He had been inspired by Kakashi to take a student; he couldn’t let his rival pass on his wisdom alone. It hadn’t been what he expected, Naruto hadn't been what he expected, but Gai was looking forward to what the future had in store. He already had so many youthful ideas about how Naruto-kun could improve and his taijutsu was only the beginning.

He was only nine, two years older than Gai himself had been when he graduated; he wasn’t set in his ways. There was still time for Gai to show him that it was for his benefit that he positively engaged with the rest of the village. A team could be as close as family if he was just willing to let other people in. Gai would just have to do his utmost to help Naruto bring out the very best of his Youth.

Chapter Text

Kakashi flipped a page in his book, walking idly down the village streets. The genin team Hokage-sama had shoved onto him had been disappointing; no teamwork or independent thought to be found. He had sent them straight back to the academy and now he was free of that obligation for another year. Speaking of obligations, he could already hear the familiar footsteps bouncing in his direction. He briefly considered disappearing, unsure if he was up for Gai’s antics today, but ultimately just stayed where he was. He hadn’t actually seen Gai in a few weeks; a rarity when the older jounin was not on a mission away from the village.

“My Eternal Rival!”

Kakashi flipped another page in his book, his eyes scanning the words he’d already read numerous times.

“Sorry, did you say something?”

“You’re so hip, Kakashi!” Tears streamed down Gai’s face as he held up a fist in mock frustration.

Kakashi finally looked up to see Gai pointing at him.

“I challenge you, Kakashi! We must see which of us can do the most one-handed push-ups!”

Kakashi turned that over in his head for a moment. Could he be bothered with that right now? He was physically capable but did he really want to?

“Mah, Gai, can we not just see who can do the most blinks in a minute?”

His friend considered it before he grinned widely, his teeth sparkling.

“Of course, my Eternal Rival! What a unique challenge!”

Kakashi shoved his book into a pocket and turned his full attention to Gai. He stared into dark eyes as they waited.

“Go!”

Kakashi closed his eyes, opened them, and then rapidly repeated the process. As much as he liked to act like he didn’t care about these challenges, he really did. It was just funny to watch Gai’s reaction when he pretended otherwise. He would give each one his all when he did end up roped into them; he wasn’t just going to let the older man win.

“Time! I achieved a hundred and fifty-seven!”

Kakashi scowled beneath his mask; maybe he should have agreed to the one-handed push-ups after all.

“A hundred and fifty two,” he reluctantly admitted.

“That is 27-28 then, Kakashi!” Gai laughed. “One more challenge and we will have tied!”

Kakashi whipped his book back out and put it pointedly in front of his face, resuming his walk. Gai fell in step next to him and began to talk at his usual volume.

“I am glad I was able to catch you, Kakashi! My new apprentice has taken up much of my time but I did not want my fellow jounin to think I had vanished!”

“Trust me, Gai,” Kakashi turned a page. “No one would ever think you vanished; we can hear you coming a mile away.”

Gai let out a booming laugh, heavily patting Kakashi on the back. Kakashi caught himself as the force shoved him forward and he shot Gai an annoyed look that the other jounin did not register. A thought occurred to him.

“Wait, an apprentice?” He lowered his book. “Is that why we haven’t seen you in the past couple of weeks?”

“It is nice to know you missed me!” Gai beamed. “I could not let you tackle mentorship alone! So I put myself forward as a jounin-sensei this year! I did not get a full team but the pupil I have is excellent and in the Springtime of his Youth! How is your team?”

“Oh, I failed them on the first day,” Kakashi waved a hand dismissively.

“Kakashi, was that really necessary?” Gai’s smile dimmed for the first time since they’d met up. “I’m sure they weren’t that bad.”

“They really were that bad,” he shrugged. “The academy isn’t like it used to be. Is yours actually good or are you just being positive about him like you are with everything?”

Gai’s grin returned in full force.

“Naruto-kun is indeed brilliant! His work ethic rivals my own and his taijutsu is going to be the best in the village one day! He has my full and complete faith!”

The name registered and Kakashi stopped in the middle of the street.

“Naruto?”

“Uzumaki Naruto,” Gai confirmed. “He graduated this year and was assigned to me.”

“Huh,” Kakashi frowned. “I didn’t know he was graduating this year.”

Not that he knew anything about Minato-sensei’s son. To his shame, he had avoided the boy; he just didn’t want to be reminded of his loss. He knew he was letting Minato-sensei down but the more time that passed, the easier it was to ignore the dark pit of guilt that grew each year. He had appeased it slightly when the body was a baby by watching over him in ANBU but he hadn’t seen the kid since. A lot could happen in five years.

He glared weakly at Gai’s look of pity.

“You know, Kakashi,” his friend said at a normal volume. “It’s never too late to build a relationship with him. I know you were his ANBU guard when he was a toddler; you do care about him.”

“Just leave it, Gai.” Kakashi brought his book back up, eyes scanning the page but none of it sinking in. “It sounds like he’s doing just fine without me.”

“Kakashi...”

“Oh, who is that calling me?” Kakashi said, walking briskly away. “I’ll see you later, Gai.”

He was grateful when the other jounin did not follow. Thoughts of Minato-sensei’s son circled around his head, long buried regrets surfacing and guilt beginning to slowly choke him. He needed to go to the Memorial Stone.

Naruto gasped for breath as he lay spread-eagled in the grass. It had been almost two weeks since he’d been assigned to Gai and every day, they had a taijutsu spar. He had gotten no closer to even winding the jounin than he had the first day; it always ended the same way. Naruto collapsed on the ground, staring at the sky and struggling to get enough oxygen into his lungs. He healed quickly but he was forming new bruises quicker than they were able to disappear.

One good thing about Gai; the man didn’t know how to hold back. He was more than happy to throw Naruto around like a ragdoll and he was delighted. He wouldn’t get any stronger if the jounin took it easy on him. He was already a bit faster than he’d been when he sat the graduation exam; if he kept going like this, he might actually make chunin in a couple years.

On the other hand, while all the muscle training and taijutsu was great, Gai hadn’t mentioned Naruto’s bloodline limit once. He thought that when he finally got a jounin-sensei, he would be able to make some real progress with it. He had figured some aspects of it out himself through trial and error but he knew there was more to it.

“Gai-sensei,” he sat up slowly. “When are we going to work on my bloodline limit? It’s been two weeks.”

“Like we discussed before, Naruto-kun, we need to get your body up to speed before we can bring out its full potential!” Gai grinned, hands on his hips as he stared down at him. “We’ve barely begun your training; there is much more work to be done!”

“I know I’m not there yet but that could take months,” Naruto frowned. “Surely I should be developing it at the same time. All we’ve done this week is spar and D-ranks.”

“Naruto-kun, you are only nine,” Gai’s smile faded. “Jumping straight into developing everything at once will not help you in the future; we need to develop your skills gradually, starting at the basics to give you a strong foundation. You need solid taijutsu to even begin utilising your bloodline limit to its full potential.”

What Gai was saying did make sense; Naruto understood where the man was coming from. He had seen it in the very first spar. His body was nowhere close to keeping up with the information that his bloodline limit granted him.

He just had this burning desire to improve. He had to get strong as quickly as possible. He'd had such expectations when imagining what kind of training he would be doing with his jounin-sensei; thinking about it had helped pass the time in his history lessons. This had been both everything he'd wanted and nothing at all what he'd expected. He didn’t think he ever could have predicted Gai but even with the early starts and late finishes, there was still that itching feeling that he wasn’t improving quick enough.

He'd never had guidance before, especially with his bloodline limit. He just needed some direction and he could continue with it on his own. He had read up on other dōjutsu when he couldn’t find anything about his own and tried exercises for both the Sharingan and Byakugan to no avail. He knew that the library wouldn’t have any of the good stuff, they were kept within the clan compounds, but it was a start. He couldn’t get very far on his own; that’s why he needed Gai.

“Yeah, but I don’t think we should be ignoring it completely just because of that,” Naruto pointed out. “It’s all well and good working on my power and speed but then I won’t know how to incorporate my bloodline limit into my fighting style.”

Gai’s face sank into a thoughtful expression and he raised his hand to his chin, stroking it thoughtfully.

“You raise an excellent point,” Gai nodded. “I will look into it. It is called the Emperor’s Eye, correct?”

Something uncoiled in Naruto’s gut as he accepted Gai’s words. Gai was already more dependable than any other adult that Naruto had encountered in his life so far. He still held some reservations, he had been let down enough in his life, but Gai hadn’t done anything to prove otherwise. It had only been two weeks though; there was plenty of time for Gai to fuck him over.

“Yeah.” Naruto took a sip of his water. “There isn’t anything about it in the library or the archives, but Jiji knew someone who had the same one. That’s what he called it.”

Gai threw him an odd look and Naruto sighed, more than familiar with it from his former teachers.

“Yes, I do go to the library and no, it does not mean that I like reading or studying or any of that rubbish. I just go when I need pointers on my training or when something doesn’t make sense. I still stand by the fact that the book stuff in the academy is useless out in the field.”

This answer seemed to satisfy Gai as the man threw him thumbs up; he liked doing that way too much.

“Leave it with me, Naruto-kun!” Gai announced, back at full volume. “I shall find the most Youthful training exercises for you!”

Naruto just continued to drink his water. Two weeks in and the whole ‘Youth’ thing made no more sense than it had when Gai had first mentioned it. He’d learned to just roll with it; he was immune to much of Gai eccentricities through sheer exposure.

“Now, Naruto-kun!” Gai clapped his hands together. “Today we are going to work on your chakra control!”

Naruto sank back into the grass and groaned. He knew his chakra control sucked; the leaf exercise in the academy had been his worst enemy. He always ended up shooting the leaf far away from his forehead which he had later figured out was due to him putting too much chakra into it. That knowledge hadn’t helped him; he just couldn’t get the right amount of chakra. It sometimes felt like he was trying to fill a thimble with a bathtub.

“That’s not a very Youthful approach to your training!” Gai hovered over him. “This will help you with your E-rank jutsu; you cannot complete out of village missions without them!”

Naruto blinked and snapped upright, bouncing to his feet. Gai had a point; the sooner he learnt these jutsu, the sooner he could leave the village. He hadn’t managed to get a handle on any of them yet but maybe chakra control would help. He was willing to put himself through anything if it meant escaping this hellhole, even just for a mission.

Gai watched him in amusement; Naruto crossed his arms in response.

“Have you heard of the tree-walking exercise?”

“Nope.”

“Then observe, Naruto-kun!”

Gai led him to the edge of the training ground and stopped in front of one of the trees. Naruto raised an eyebrow as Gai continued walking to the base, as if he was going to walk directly into the trunk. His eyes widened as Gai started to walk up the tree. How was he doing that? He was just walking up the tree as if gravity wasn’t a thing. Gai walked along one of the thick branches and turned to face Naruto, upside down with his hands on his hips as he grinned down at him. 

“You have to teach me how to do that,” said Naruto breathlessly. “Right now.”

This is the key to the rooftops. He wouldn’t have to walk in the streets and suffer the ire of the villagers. He could just use the window of his shitty apartment as his new door; he would be able to go weeks without seeing a civilian. The ANBU wouldn’t be able to stop him either. He could just shove his hitai-ate in their stupid masks.

“That is what we are here to do!” Gai bellowed down from his branch.

He watched his teacher walk back down the trunk, a grin forming on his own face. Maybe chakra control wasn’t that bad. Gai landed lightly in front of him.

“So in order to do this, you must channel chakra to the bottom of your feet and keep it at a consistent level with each step. Too little and you will slide off, too much and you will destroy the bark beneath your feet. Do you understand?”

Naruto nodded eagerly. He bounced past Gai and faced the tree, channelling his chakra through his legs. He placed his right foot onto the tree and the wood immediately exploded, throwing him away from the trunk. He stumbled back, swearing loudly as Gai watched him intently from the side. He regained his footing and eyed the trunk, his smile dropping; so he would need even less.

He pushed chakra to his feet, trying to make it the smallest amount he physically could. He placed his foot back on the tree and felt his foot sliding. He tried to gently increase the level of chakra, grinning as his foot stuck. He lifted his other foot, his weight supported off the ground for a brief second. He tried to channel chakra to his suspended foot while maintaining the level of the foot stuck to the tree but he lost control. The wood beneath his foot shattered and he was thrown to the ground, landing on his ass.

“It will take time to master this,” Gai spoke up. “It will be especially hard for you but I have faith in your abilities.”

“Why is it hard for me?” Naruto scowled. “Is it ‘cause I’m dead-last? Or am I less capable than ‘normal kids’?”

The lines on Gai’s face deepened as his brow furrowed.

“Of course not, Naruto-kun,” he said sincerely. “You have more chakra than the average genin. It’s why you struggled with bunshin and the other E-rank jutsu; you just put too much chakra into the technique. This will make you more aware of your chakra supply and how much you are using”

Naruto was taken aback. He hadn’t been expecting that answer; he was so used to people putting him down for the Kyūbi or his grades or his financial situation. The thought that Gai wasn’t trying to be negative hadn’t even crossed his mind. His answer also made a lot of sense. He hadn’t realised that he was using so much chakra; it didn’t feel like too much to him.

“Oh.”

Gai’s face softened.

“It’s okay, Naruto-kun. We can just keep trying until you get it. I will be right here with you.”

Naruto resisted the urge to smile back at the jounin. He turned back to the tree, conflicting thoughts crowding his head. He wanted to believe Gai but deep down, he knew the only person he could really count on was himself.

Gai followed Naruto through the streets, the evening sun casting a warmth over the village and bathing each surface with a soft orange glow. Gai really did love Konoha and he had never doubted anything he did in service; he would live and die for this village.

The more he trained Naruto and got to know his student, the more questions he had. There were so many red flags popping up around the boy and Gai did not like it. That comment he made about ‘being less’. He had automatically jumped to the defensive; had expected to be put down and disregarded. What kind of schooling did he receive to think like that?

There was also the surprise that appeared on his face every time Gai encouraged him to learn and expand on things that were not immediately useful. Naruto could be very intense in his training, pushing himself like his very life depended on it. Other times, like when he mentioned ninjutsu or genjutsu, Naruto rolled his eyes and didn’t even try to pretend he was interested.

It was as if the genin thought that he was alone, thinking Gai was only there temporarily so he had to fit the pieces together by himself.

Gai looked forward to showing his student that he was there for him. He was there to help him reach his potential and flourish in the Springtime of his Youth. There was a burning passion beneath the surface and Gai wanted to help Naruto realise it was okay to embrace it.

He caught a few villagers looking their way and he beamed cheerfully at them in greeting; but they weren’t looking at him. Their eyes were latched onto the small blond boy just in front of him and Gai was surprised at the venom. People who usually smiled when he saw them were twisted up in hatred, their faces almost unrecognisable. He shot a glance at Naruto and found a matching glare as he gave as good as he got.

Gai had always overheard talk of Naruto; it was hard not to in a village like this. He hadn’t really taken it seriously. He didn’t agree with the negative comments and he was not about to think the worst of a boy he had never met. Now he had gotten to know Naruto, he was even less inclined to agree. His student was a hard worker and while he was on the grumpy side, his Youth and passion was clear for anyone to see. He hadn’t stopped to consider what kind of effect those comments would have on the kid himself.

Naruto tore his gaze away from the villagers as he spotted their destination in the distance. A smile almost broke across the genin’s face as he picked up the pace, almost skipping to the ramen stand. Gai followed, taking a seat next to his pupil and smiling at the ramen stand owner.

“Naruto!” The man grinned. “Who do you have with you today?”

Gai hid his surprise as Naruto smiled openly, his blue eyes sparkling.

“This is Gai-sensei!” He easily replied. “He’s treating me to ramen today!”

The ramen chef turned to Gai in mock sympathy.

“I hope you have a deep pocket, Gai-san,” he said. “This kid can really pack it away; I’m pretty sure his blood is part ramen broth at this point.”

Gai beamed at the chef as Naruto threw out an embarrassed ‘Teuchi-jiisan’. This was the most animated Naruto had been in the two weeks they had been training together. It was a nice change to see his student smiling rather than sporting the usual scowl he wore while completing missions.

“What would you like, Gai-san?” Teuchi turned to start cooking. “Naruto always gets miso ramen so I just need your order.”

“Vegetable ramen, please, Teuchi-san!”

Teuchi nodded to them and focused on what he was doing. Gai glanced over at Naruto and decided to ask a question that had been on his mind since he learned that Naruto did not wear his hitai-ate.

“Naruto-kun, why do you want to be a shinobi?”

Naruto’s smile fell and his brow furrowed.

“I owe it to Jiji; he helped me when I was younger and I want to repay him. I want to get to the point where I don’t have to debate whether I can afford an apple. I want to master my bloodline limit; I don’t want it to go to waste.”

Gai listened quietly. There was something else. Naruto kept throwing nervous glances at him so Gai kept his body relaxed, trying to project acceptance and patience. It wasn’t often that he tried to be quiet and tone himself down, but this felt important. He wanted Naruto to know he could trust him.

“I...I want to leave the village,” Naruto admitted quietly. “I want to get to the level where I can just leave and not get hunted down for it. The Sannin can do whatever they want; if I can get strong enough, I can do it too.”

Naruto stared down at his hands, twisting his fingers together. Gai could understand his nervousness; shinobi generally did not have that goal. Gai himself could not imagine ever leaving Konoha except for missions. It was his home; it was where his heart and soul lived. For someone to say they wished to leave without the intent to return, it bordered on treason. He already knew that Naruto held no loyalty towards Konoha, that was obvious within the first hour of meeting him, but he could understand why.

“That’s an admirable goal, Naruto-kun, to aim for that level of strength.” Gai patted his shoulder gently. “I will support you however I can.”

As Naruto snapped round to stare at him, his blue eyes wide in shock, Gai grinned at him. He meant what he said. Gai would help Naruto reach the epitome of his Youth and accomplish all his goals. That was what he was here to do as a jounin-sensei. 

He hoped Naruto would change his mind; that by the time he reached the level of the Sannin he would find a reason to stay.

Chapter Text

Naruto walked out of the administration building, finished for the day after a gardening D-rank. He may have been done with Gai for the day but he had every intention of going straight to the training grounds. In the month since he was shown the tree-walking exercise, he'd only made it halfway up the trunk. Gai had been nothing but accepting and encouraging but it was really starting to annoy Naruto. He would get to the top of that tree if it killed him.

Gai had really surprised him. He had taken a chance telling the jounin the real reason he became a shinobi. He knew that it was practically treason; the only thing worse was leaving and becoming a missing-nin. Naruto had considered that when he was younger but he knew it was wishful thinking. They would never let him go; the hunter-nin would find him within a day and then he’d be even more restricted. By conforming to the system, he at least would be able to leave on missions. He would take anything at this point.

His sensei had just accepted it like it was no big deal. Beneath the spandex and ‘Youth’, Gai was a lot more thoughtful than he let on. It was so easy to be fooled into thinking he was just a cheerful, loud, obnoxious character who yells about ‘Youth’ and challenges himself all the time. Gai was all of those things but there was a brain beneath that bowl cut.

“Well, if it isn’t the dead-last. Haven’t been sent back to the academy yet?”

Naruto closed his eyes, heaving a deep sigh. Six weeks, six glorious weeks, of avoiding his former classmates. He hadn’t seen a single genin from his class and it had been fantastic. There had almost been a weight lifted; he could through his day without being insulted and put down. The villagers threw him dirty looks but at least they kept to themselves.

He opened his eyes and turned to face them, folding his arms.

“Kichi-teme, don’t tell me you passed,” he goaded. “Don’t you need brains to be a genin? Or did they just pass you to use as a grunt?”

“They didn’t even waste a team on you,” scoffed Ren. “They must not think you’re going to last that long.”

“Or maybe they knew that anyone from the academy would only hold me back,” Naruto smirked.

He had always enjoyed that shade of purple on Kichi-teme’s face. Midori hung back a few steps from the two boys; she had never given him trouble but she also ignored him completely. She refused to look at him even now. He wondered how she was managing on a team with those two terrors. She was probably getting what she deserved.

“Please, like anyone could stand to be around a demon,” Ren jeered.

“If I really was a demon,” Naruto rolled his eyes. “Do you think you would still be breathing?”

His grin was all teeth as he watched a flicker of fear pass over their faces.

“You...you can’t touch us,” Ren swallowed, trying and failing to put on a brave face. “You’re just talking shit. You can’t do anything here.”

Naruto shrugged.

“True,” he agreed casually. “I can’t touch a hair on your heads while we’re in the village. On a mission, though, those enemy shinobi are tricky. You make one mistake and you’re dead before you even realise what happened.”

He watched the dawning realisation on their faces and he turned, waving a hand before shoving them into his pockets. He stopped as Kichirou called out behind him.

“You talk a big game dead-last! But you’re the one no one will miss when you're killed on your first mission! Your own parents killed themselves just so they could get away from you!”

The words struck his heart with the force of a kunai. Anger washed over him, leaving a hollow feeling in his gut. He whipped around in fury, watching them laugh as they walked into the Hokage’s tower.

That had always been the worst insult they could throw at him. They had done it once before in the academy and Naruto had almost maimed one of them. After he narrowly escaped expulsion, they'd made the same comment over and over again; they knew he couldn’t attack them again. He couldn’t risk getting thrown out of the academy so he responded with pranks. While frowned upon, there was no serious punishment for those. After the third shaved head, the class had learned not to bring up his parents. It seemed that they thought they were safe since they weren’t in the academy anymore.

Naruto turned back around, his steps fuelled with hatred and fury as he began to think up ideas for revenge. They thought they were safe now; he would just have to remind them exactly who they were dealing with.

Gai scanned the mostly empty jounin standby station. He finally spotted the man he’d been looking for, sitting by one of the windows and slumping into the red sofa. Kakashi had been avoiding him since he found out Naruto was Gai’s apprentice and Gai had given him his space. He knew how hard Kakashi took the loss of his team and he had all but vanished into ANBU when Yondaime-sama died. It had taken almost a decade to get him back and he knew that was only because the Sandaime hadn’t given him a choice.

However, he’d given his friend enough time to wallow; his rival needed to pick himself back up and face things head on. Gai had just the thing to help him do that.

“My Eternal Rival!”

He made it a point to ignore the way Kakashi shrunk into himself at the sound of his voice. His rival was simply having a bad day.

“I am glad to have found you!” He grinned. “I have a favour I need to ask of you!”

Kakashi lowered his book slightly as he stared deadpan back at Gai. To the outside observer, Kakashi looked as relaxed and unaffected as he always did. Gai knew better; Kakashi obviously hadn’t been sleeping. The lines of his frame were tense and he knew there was a deep frown hidden beneath that mask. Hopefully Gai’s proposition would help him out of his own head.

“Gai,” said Kakashi with a flat voice. “I’m kinda busy right now. Can I take a rain check?”

“Kakashi, you need to engage with life! Reach the Springtime of your Youth! You cannot hide in your book forever!”

“Watch me,” Kakashi mumbled under his breath.

“I need your help with my young pupil!” Gai continued. “He wishes to work on his dōjutsu and with your experience with the Sharingan, I know you would be the perfect mentor to help him to achieve the prime of his Youth!”

Kakashi dropped the book into his lap, leaning forward to actively stare at Gai.

“He inherited the Emperor’s Eye?”

“Indeed, although I was not aware it was named as such. Yondaime-sama kept it close to his chest. Most of Konoha do not know he even had a bloodline limit.”

“Does Naruto know?”

“He does not speak of his personal life but he is an intelligent young man. I do not doubt that he has figured it out.”

Kakashi slumped back in his seat.

“Shit.”

“Kakashi, you are the best person in the village to help him harness it,” Gai insisted. “You have your own experience and skill with your own bloodline limit and you saw the Emperor’s Eye up close when you trained under the Yondaime.”

He could feel his rival wavering and he grinned. This would be a fantastic partnership not only for the genin, but Kakashi too. Before the other jounin could answer, a voice called out from behind them.

“Gai!”

He turned to see one of the other jounin-sensei approaching, his expression thunderous as he stomped over to them.

“You need to tighten your leash on the Kyūbi brat!”

Gai’s grin fell.

“I am not sure what you mean, Hayama. I do not have Naruto on a leash.”

“Obviously,” Hayama scoffed. “You fucking need one. That brat needs some sort of fucking discipline and if you don't give it to him, someone else will.” 

The threat registered and Gai narrowed his eyes, his usual cheerful demeanour absent.

“Naruto is my apprentice, Hayama, and he is my responsibility. He does not deserve this kind of treatment and I assure you, if you place a finger on him, I will take my own decisive action.”

Shirakumo Hayama was an excellent jounin and Gai had worked well with him in the past. The man was usually calm and collected; he was the one who carefully assessed the situations on missions and decided on the appropriate course of action. He had never seen the man lose his temper like this. His grey hair was falling out of his high ponytail and his uniform was rumpled.

“What did Naruto do?” Kakashi spoke up, breaking their impromptu staring contest.

“He traumatised my genin is what he did!” Hayama threw up his arms in frustration. “Midori won’t leave her house and Ren and Kichirou won’t talk to me! They won’t talk to anyone!”

“How do you know Naruto was responsible?”

“Someone mentioned his name around Kichirou and the kid flinched so hard he fell off his bed. I did the same with the other two and they had the same reaction. That isn’t a coincidence.”

“Do you know what he did?” Gai asked quietly.

“I think it was some sort of prank gone wrong.” Hayama ran a hand through his hair, loosening his ponytail further. “Naruto did plenty of them while he was in the academy but he's a genin now. It’s unacceptable, Gai.”

“What did they do to him?”

They both turned to Kakashi as he rose to his feet.

“I don’t know,” Hayama sighed. “They really don’t like him but I can’t imagine them doing anything to warrant this level of retaliation. This is my first team and now I have to spend the next few days picking up the pieces.”

Gai considered his words. There was something missing. Naruto would not do anything like this unless he was provoked. The kid kept to himself; he hated speaking to other people. Gai had witnessed the genin go to extreme lengths to avoid any sort of conversation. If these kids already had a history, then whatever happened must be worse than Hayama was imagining. He knew Naruto was better than this.

Hayama also had a point. This kind of behaviour may have been tolerable at the academy, where they could assign extra work or detentions, but Naruto was legally an adult. The moment he had been handed that headband he was judged by the same standard that all Konoha shinobi were. He could not prank other shinobi out of revenge or malice. There were other ways of resolving conflict.

“I will speak to Naruto,” Gai said gravely, earning twin looks of surprise from his colleagues. “I will ensure this does not happen again.”

Hayama nodded, the anger leaving his frame and weariness replacing it.

“You also need to speak to your own students,” Gai continued. “Naruto would not do this unprovoked. They did or said something that I am sure was just as unprofessional. My student is not the only one at fault.”

Hayama rested his hands on his hips as he tilted his head back, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly.

“I know,” he admitted. “I’m not naive enough to think that they’re innocent. I’ll speak to them.”

He shot them a weak grin and turned, waving goodbye as he exited the building. Gai turned over the conversation in his head, trying to think of the best way to approach this. He had only had his student for two months; there was still a lot of work to do in bringing him to the full bloom of his Youth. This might set them back.

“I’ll do it.”

He glanced over at Kakashi, the man’s eye still fixed on where Hayama had left.

“I’ll teach him.”

Gai clasped Kakashi on the shoulder in thanks, before he began walking to the exit himself. The joy from his rival accepting his proposition warred with the concern and sadness that resulted from his talk with Hayama. He needed to find Naruto.

Naruto punched the wooden target, following it up with a kick and another punch. Sweat ran down his back as he continued the pattern, the dull ache in his fists beginning to travel up his forearms. He’d been at it for three hours now and his mind had zoned out.

This was his favourite training exercise; just him and a wooden training post, going through the same movements over and over again. He loved the freedom of it, as all other thoughts emptied from his mind. He could forget the village and the anger and frustration that came with it. The warmth of his muscles and the stretch and strain from the katas kept his mind from wandering completely so he felt like he was floating. He threw a particularly hard punch, smiling as the pain thrummed up his arm.

“Naruto-kun.”

He swung a wide kick into the side of the post, hoping they would go away.

“Naruto.”

He threw one final punch, feeling the sharp pain through his fingers as he stepped back from the post. He turned to look at Gai, his chest heaving and the sweat dripping into his eyes.

“What, Gai-sensei?”

Gai was uncharacteristically grim, his bright smile missing and his exuberant energy subdued. His thick brows were furrowed into a frown and his arms were crossed.

“We must discuss your recent actions towards Team Five.”

Naruto racked his brains; who were Team Five? He hadn’t been present at the team assignments and he hadn’t bothered to find out after.

“The team under Shirakumo Hayama,” Gai elaborated.

Naruto hoped his blank expression would clue his sensei in. He had no idea who these people were. Gai was unimpressed.

“Midori, Kichirou and Ren.”

It clicked.

“So they’re Team Five?” He said. “I had no idea. It wasn’t as if I was there when the teams were assigned.”

Gai sighed deeply and Naruto eyed him strangely. It was weird dealing with a Gai that wasn’t smiling and bouncing around and yelling about youth at the top of his lungs. He had found the whole charade annoying until now; maybe the enthusiasm was better than the stone faced jounin he was faced with now.

“Naruto-kun, you cannot prank your fellow shinobi. I understand it was something you engaged in during your time at the academy, but you are a genin now. It is not Youthful to treat your fellow shinobi this way.”

“Who said I pranked them?” Naruto asked, feigning surprise.

Gai just looked at him and Naruto gave up the innocent act, grumbling about snitches beneath his breath. He should have known one of those cowards would go crawling to one of the adults. They thought themselves so high and mighty when they dished it out but couldn't take it when faced with a little bit of payback.

“I was just letting off some steam, Gai-sensei. I didn’t do any harm.”

“Midori will not leave her home and the boys are similarly traumatised.”

“Then maybe they shouldn’t be shinobi,” Naruto shot back, frustrated.

Gai uncrossed his arms.

“What did you do, Naruto-kun?”

“I just surprised them!” Naruto retorted defensively. “They were in one of the forests for some team training exercise and their jounin wasn’t around so I ambushed them henged as Iwa nin.”

Gai looked at him for a long moment, one of his bushy brows raised. Naruto huffed, expanding on his explanation.

“I henged myself and a few clones and dropped on them from above. I let off a few explosion tags and stuff but I didn’t actually hurt them! It’s nothing that they wouldn’t face on a real mission!”

Gai remained silent and Naruto kept talking, trying to fill the empty air that his sensei would normally fill. It was unsettling; Naruto knew he would not normally spill so much information but Gai’s silent treatment was more effective than he would have thought. For some reason, the thought of Gai being disappointed in him sat heavily in his gut. He would take the angry yelling of the rest of his teachers any day.

“Okay, so maybe I threatened to torture and kill them...and one of my clones was henged as their sensei and was disembowelled and stuff.”

“You said you did not know who Hayama was.”

“I didn’t know his name,” Naruto huffed. “I just knew what he looked like; I saw him running them through katas last week.”

“And the clones?” Gai said.

“I spent the last two weeks learning Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu.”

“Specifically for this prank?”

Naruto was the silent one now. He didn’t think admitting that he snuck into the chunin section of the library and stole a scroll to learn a clone technique only for the purpose of a prank would go down well. He also decided not to mention the red food dye he had added to the water that made up his clones; it had worked surprisingly well as blood after he'd thickened it with cornflour.

Gai let out a heavy sigh, the stone façade finally breaking into exasperation.

“Naruto-kun, while it is impressive that you taught yourself a clone jutsu you cannot do this again. If you have grievances to bring against your fellow shinobi, you must follow the proper procedures. Raise it with me and I will handle it, escalating it if need be.”

“Okay, okay,” Naruto raised his hands in surrender. “I’ll do that next time. It’s not as if I knew I could do that.”

Gai’s frown returned.

“As far as I am aware they have this system in place at the academy.”

“Yeah, but not for me,” Naruto shrugged, looking away. “No one would do anything if people picked on me or wrecked my stuff, so I had to create a deterrent. After the fifth kid ended up with nails in their chair they started to leave me alone. I’m the Kyūbi brat; the rules have never applied to me.”

Gai nodded, his expression softening.           

“I swear on the Springtime of Youth, Naruto-kun, that I will not be like your former instructors. I will be here for you and I will support you. I only ask for your trust.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the jounin. Gai had been better than any of his other teachers combined and it had only been two months. He was also the most genuine person Naruto had ever met; once you got past the spandex and Youth, Gai was reliable and...kind. Naruto had never had a kind teacher before.

“Okay,” he nodded slowly. “I’ll trust you.”

Something loosened in Naruto’s gut as Gai’s smile returned, his teeth shining and his demeanour brightening. The man began to talk loudly about his water clones and Naruto relaxed as things went back to normal. Maybe adding one more person to his small circle of precious people wouldn’t be so bad.

Kakashi loitered at the edge of the training ground, watching Minato-sensei’s son scream expletives at a scuffed and damaged tree. He may have inherited Minato-sensei’s bloodline limit but that temper was all Kushina. He was trying to do the tree-walking exercise and he appeared close to reaching the top.

“My Eternal Rival!” Gai bounced up behind him, throwing an arm around Kakashi’s shoulders. “I am so happy you could come!”

“You asked me to be here,” Kakashi replied quietly, still watching the genin.

“He has far too much chakra for his age,” Gai answered his unspoken question, his volume lowered. “He has been attempting this exercise for two months.”

Kakashi looked at him in surprise.

“Two months? Really?”

“He had no chakra control at all when he was first apprenticed to me.” Gai removed his arm from Kakashi’s shoulders. “He has no interest in ninjutsu or genjutsu; that said he learned the water clone technique in less than two weeks.”

Kakashi was going to ask about that but Gai shoved him forward without warning.

“Naruto-kun!” The blond turned to them; blue eyes narrowed and face like thunder. “It is time to train your bloodline limit!”

Like the flick of a switch, the anger vanished and he grinned brightly. Kakashi’s heart hurt at the sight; he was too much like his parents.

“Finally!” He ran over to meet them. “Is this a new teacher or something?”

“Kakashi is one of the finest jounin in the village!” Gai laughed. “He is my Eternal Rival! He also has a dōjutsu so he is well equipped to aid you in developing yours!”

Naruto looked at him with no recognition in his gaze. Kakashi hid his wince and waved a hand half-heartedly.

“Yo.”

Naruto looked at him for a long moment before he turned back to Gai.

“Are you sure?”

Gai laughed.

“Of course, Naruto-kun! There is no one I trust more with your dōjutsu training!”

Naruto shrugged.

“If you say so, Gai-sensei.”

Kakashi shook off his thoughts, switching into his professional persona. It might make it easier to deal with Minato-sensei’s son.

“Why don’t you tell me what you have figured out?”

“It’s all observational as far as I can tell,” Naruto began to list. “It’s great for dodging, keeping track of projectiles, covering blind spots, reading taijutsu moves and people’s body language. I can see the smallest movements in muscles, breathing and expressions so I know when people are lying. My taijutsu is good; I can see moves before they’ve been made and feints don’t work on me.”

Kakashi considered the genin’s words. That lined up with what Minato-sensei could do; it was one of the reasons he was capable of the Hiraishin. Most could not keep up with the processing speed and reaction times of the technique. Minato-sensei’s bloodline limit eliminated the difficulties and drawbacks of the technique.

“So it’s mainly taijutsu orientated,” Kakashi mused, pretending that he had no knowledge of the Emperor’s Eye. “No chakra involved.”

“Pretty much,” Naruto shrugged. “It’s basically a shitter, taijutsu-based version of the Sharingan. It has some similarities to the Byakugan too as far as the field of vision is concerned.”

Kakashi frowned; while it did seem like a lesser version of the Sharingan there was a lot more to the Emperor’s Eye. He had seen Minato-sensei use it to its full potential and it was an incredible weapon. He hadn’t ever seen Minato-sensei taken by surprise or successfully fooled. It always seemed like he was seeing something no one else could; not even Kakashi with Obito’s Sharingan. That was without taking into account the Zone component of the bloodline limit.

“It seems like there is more to it,” Kakashi started. “It also sounds like the stronger the user, the more you will be able to bring out the full strengths of the bloodline limit. Have you tried copying taijutsu moves yet?”

“What, like the Sharingan?”

“Essentially yes, but you need to stop comparing your dōjutsu to the Sharingan. While similar, they are not the same. The Sharingan is capable of a lot, yes, but there are things that only the Emperor’s Eye can do.”

“How’d you know what it’s called?” Naruto asked suspiciously. “I didn’t tell you and Gai wouldn’t have told you. I asked him not to tell anyone.”

“Gai let it slip when he asked for my help,” Kakashi lied quickly, before he cursed at the sight of Naruto’s eyes flashing silver.

“Sure...” Naruto deadpanned. “So what are we doing now?”

Kakashi let out a breath as Naruto appeared to let the lie go. He definitely caught it; he should probably expect an interrogation sometime in the future.

“For now, copy Gai’s katas as closely as you can. We’ll start there.”

Chapter Text

Naruto watched the genin teams file out of the village from his vantage point on a nearby rooftop. The chunin exams were being held in Kusagakure this year and he had been asking Gai all week to take him. His sensei had refused; he had only been a genin for six months and he was nowhere near ready for something like the chunin exams. He also had to complete at least one C-rank mission and Gai had given no indication that he would be taking Naruto on one any time soon.

The only reason Naruto had let it go was because nobody else from his graduating class was allowed to go either. There was also something about only being allowed to compete in teams but Naruto was ignoring that bit for now; he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

As the last team left through the village gates, Naruto stood and stretched out his limbs. He turned and began to bounce across the rooftops, making his way towards his usual training ground. The village was only just starting to wake up and the streets were deserted but Naruto didn’t want to take any chances. Since he had mastered the tree-walking technique two months ago he hadn’t stepped a foot into the village proper. The closest he got was these rooftops; he sent a water clone to get his groceries while he waited close by. He had learnt the hard way that the water clones couldn’t stray too far away from his real body; it had been a long and hungry week.

He leapt down and broke the fall with a roll, walking away from the buildings and into the trees. Gai liked to start training at five in the morning. It had taken some getting used to but Naruto loved training. He would get stronger even faster this way.

They had settled into a consistent training schedule: physical conditioning first thing, moving onto chakra control and weapon-handling before lunchtime; after lunch, it was D-ranks, usually one or two; dinner and taijutsu training followed and while Gai let him go at six, Naruto always stayed much longer, stumbling into bed around ten. Kakashi sometimes joined them, running him through drills designed to improve his ability to wield the Emperor’s Eye.

It was hard. If it wasn’t for the advanced healing he got from the Kyūbi, he was sure he wouldn’t be coping as well as he was.

As it atood, there was always some part of him that hurt. Gai went all in for every aspect of his training. It was what Naruto wanted but sometimes he wished that his face wasn’t being shoved into the ground daily. Even with the small progress he’d made with his bloodline limit, he couldn’t put a scratch on the jounin. The man was now talking about adding weights and Naruto’s limbs already felt heavy at the thought.

He broke through the tree line to see Gai already in the middle of push-ups.

“Naruto-kun!” His sensei jumped to his feet. “We are going to do something different today! Follow me!”

Naruto picked up the pace as the jounin ran out of the training ground. The last time Gai had said that, Naruto had ended up walking around the edge of the village on his hands. His arms felt like jelly even into the next day. He had no doubt he would be grateful for the training but in the moment, Naruto just wanted death to take him there and then. He was driven, not insane.

He hurried after Gai, following the bright green back until they reached the base of the Hokage Mountain. He took a moment to stare up at the Yondaime; he didn’t really feel anything particularly positive about his father. He’d figured out that he got his bloodline limit from the man but he had also stuck him with the Kyūbi. He had no doubt that it had been the only choice at the time, but Naruto was the one who had to live with the consequences. His father wasn’t the one condemned and scorned by the village; he was dead and free of any repercussions from his decisions.

Gai turned to him, placing his hands on his hips proudly.

“Today we are going to climb the Hokage Mountain!”

Naruto stared at him before switching his gaze to the vertical cliff face. He looked back down at Gai incredulously and the jounin continued.

“Since it is your first time you may use all four of your limbs!” He announced like that it was some kind of great help to him. “I will only be using one hand! We will do this once a month until you are about to climb this with only one of your limbs! Do not use your chakra to grip the surface!”

He couldn’t be serious. He would struggle with all of his limbs; he couldn’t imagine only using one. Without chakra, it was going to be even harder.

When Naruto graduated from the academy, he was expecting to go much harder on his training than his sensei. He was hoping for some direction and a relatively neutral attitude; he knew he couldn’t ask for more than that. He was fully prepared to push himself and train on his own terms. He had gotten the exact opposite. Gai pushed him further than Naruto had ever imagined for himself and the jounin led by example. He was happy with the way it turned out; it was tough being Gai’s apprentice and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

He watched Gai turn to face the mountainside. He gripped a crevice and hauled himself up, crossing his legs and locking them in to place while he placed one hand behind his back. Naruto stared with wide eyes as Gai continued his way up, only using one hand. The jounin appeared to be hopping between handholds, swinging to reach them and still grinning madly.

Naruto placed his own hand on the mountain’s surface, finding a firm handhold. He looked up and spotted the next one, jumping to grip it tightly. He hauled himself up and shoved his feet into the first crevices he could find. He let out a sigh; there was a long way to go. He took a deep breath in and looked up once again, careful beginning to make his way up. Determination fuelled every step as he lost track of the world around him, his entire being focused on the next crevice, the next handhold.

He could do this. If he wanted to get to the Sannin level someday, if he ever wanted to leave this village he just had to complete every challenge set before him. He may get tired and fed up at times but his burning desire to reach his goal kept him going a lot longer after he should have stopped.

He cursed as the moss on his current handhold gave way and he dug his other hand more firmly into the rock face. He tried again and found a more secure lip. He moved his leg, yanking it out the crack in the rock to shove it into another one further up. His arms were starting to shake from the effort and he was pretty sure he had damaged one of his toes from thrusting it into the rock face too quickly. The sweat dripped down his back as he hauled himself up, his muscles burning and his breathing speeding up.

He finally reached up for the next hold and felt a flat grassy surface. His head snapped up and he grinned victoriously as he pulled himself up. His upper body flopped onto the grass as his legs hung over the cliff edge. He rolled over so he was sitting up, panting harshly as he looked back down to see how far he had come. The trees they had come from looked like a speck in the distance.

“Well done, Naruto-kun!” Gai stood next to him, looking unaffected by his own climb. “You were much faster than I was on my first excursion up the mountain!”

“Thanks, Gai-sensei,” Naruto smiled tiredly up at him.

“It is not only an excellent training exercise for discipline and physical conditioning, but I have always been fond of the view.”

Naruto joined him in looking out at the village below; it was picturesque, with the quiet village surrounded by trees rustling gently in the breeze. Birds flew overhead and the sunrise cast a warm glow over the colourful buildings.

“This view always reminds me of what I am fighting for,” Gai said quietly, his grin much softer.

Naruto frowned as he looked out at the village; he didn’t think he was seeing the same thing Gai was. Up here, he could imagine that he was separate from those down below. That he was observing the sleeping village as an outsider. He decided that he liked it up here too; it did remind him of what he was fighting for.

It wasn’t Konoha.

Genma rolled his senbon between his teeth as he leaned against the soft sofa behind him. It was a slow day and most of the jounin and chunin were busy with missions or village duties. Raidō had left yesterday, Iruka was busy at the academy at this time of day and Izumo and Kotetsu were bickering at the front gate the last he saw them. He wasn’t required to be anywhere for the next three hours so he was passing the time at the Jounin Standby Station; it was better than being bored at home.

Someone entered and Genma sat up with a grin.

“Ebisu!” His former genin teammate looked over at him, changing direction. “You’re not normally around at this time.”

“I have just come from the Hokage’s office,” Ebisu said proudly, sitting across from Genma. “He wants me to train his grandson!”

“That’s great,” Genma started before a thought occurred to him. “Isn’t the kid only, like, four? He won’t be in the academy for years yet, never mind graduating.”

Ebisu scoffed.

“It is never too early to start training, Genma!” He proclaimed. “The Honourable Grandson represents not only the Hokage himself but Konoha. He must be trained in the correct etiquette and techniques worthy of a member of the Hokage’s family.”

“If you say so,” Genma shrugged.

Ebisu had always been a bit uptight. During their genin days, he couldn’t count the number of times he and Gai got scolded by the other shinobi for ‘improper conduct’. Genma would always bring up Ebisu’s ‘conduct’ around the bathhouses. That quickly shut him up.

“Do you not have somewhere to be?” Ebisu pushed his sunglasses a bit further up his nose.

“Mission but that’s not for three hours,” Genma sighed dramatically. “Everyone is either busy or on a mission. There wasn’t even anyone at the bar last night; usually I can count on Anko but she’s been busy with Ibiki in the T&I department.”

“Genma, you are a jounin of Konoha,” Ebisu said disapprovingly. “You should really stop going to the bar every night. There are too many stories going around about your antics and it’s not fitting for a shinobi of Konoha.”

Genma waved a hand dismissively.

“If it’s the one involving a cat and a melon, I spread that story myself. I refuse to let a feat like that go unnoticed.”

He could see Ebisu gearing up for one of his lectures when his other teammate entered the building. He tried to hide his sigh of relief at the distraction.

“Gai, over here!”

The elite jounin turned and smiled widely at the sight of them.

“My most Youthful teammates! How are you on this most wonderful day?”

“All the better for seeing you, Gai,” Genma grinned, moving over to let his other teammate sit down. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you at the Mission Assignment Desk or challenging Kakashi around the village.”

“My genin is keeping me busy,” Gai laughed boisterously, patting Genma on the back. Genma just managed to save his senbon as he was jolted forward from the force. “His Youth and passion are unparalleled and he encourages me to reach greater heights with my own training!”

“You have a genin team?” Ebisu spoke up, leaning forward intently.

“I have one genin,” Gai answered. “He is my apprentice!”

“How’d you manage to only get one?” Genma asked. “Usually an apprenticeship happens after they make chunin or one genin in the team is apprenticed while the others still train with them. It’s unusual for one genin to be apprenticed right off the bat.”

“The last one was Kakashi,” Ebisu nodded. “When he was apprenticed to the Yondaime, before he got Obito and Rin.”

“This is indeed a special case!” Gai said at full volume. “He will be specialising in taijutsu and Hokage-sama decided that I was the best to teach him. I have no doubts he will one day surpass me if his Youth continues to bloom so brightly!”

“Who is it?”

“Gai-sensei.”

Genma watched the tiny Kyūbi container trek into the station, mud trailing behind him and a deep scowl on his face. A black sleeveless shirt was tucked into slim black trousers, ending in white bandages that went into the top of his black shinobi sandals. His black fingerless gloves blended into black bracers that went all the way up to his elbow. A sleeveless hoodie that was more brown than orange at this point hung loosely over his narrow shoulders. His blond, spiky hair hung slightly into his eyes and the whisker marks were as obvious as ever. He couldn’t spot his hitai-ate.

He had nothing against the kid; he knew the Yondaime’s sealing work better than that. It saddened him to see how the village treated the kid and he always tried to make sure Uzumaki would at least be safe. Any drunkards at the bar who even suggested physical violence against the Uzumaki got a fist in their face. He couldn’t really do more than that. He hadn’t actually seen the kid in a while; talk of the Uzumaki had really died down over the past couple of months.

He watched Ebisu’s feathers ruffle and braced himself for the tirade.

“You should not be in here!” He huffed, standing and folding his arms. “Genin and chunin are barred entry from this building; only jounin may enter the Jounin Standby Station. You must remove yourself at once!”

Before Gai could speak up, Uzumaki retaliated first.

“I’m just here to see Gai-sensei,” he glared. “What was I supposed to do? Just yell outside for him? You would have told me off for doing that too.”

Genma had to agree; Ebisu would have gone out to reprimand him if he had done that. Ebisu blustered, shoving his sunglasses harshly up his nose in annoyance.

“That is no way to speak to your superior!”

“Good thing you aren’t my superior then,” Uzumaki rolled his eyes before he turned to look at Gai. “I can’t make it to training tomorrow morning. My landlady is trying to kick me out again and being homeless doesn’t agree with me. I need to go to the office first thing to sort it all out. I’ll meet you at the Desk at the usual time for the D-ranks.”

Genma couldn’t hold in his chuckle at Ebisu’s face. He had never really bothered with formalities like Ebisu did. Though it was concerning that Uzumaki was having issues with his accommodation; he was, what, nine? Was he living alone?

Gai threw the genin two thumbs up and a loud confirmation but Genma knew him better than that. He was worried too. Uzumaki threw a sarcastic salute at Ebisu and sauntered back out the station, still trailing mud behind him. Ebisu was almost purple in the face by this point and he whirled around to face Gai.

“You need to control him!” Ebisu demanded. “That boy is insubordinate and a liability! He should never have graduated!”

“Wow, hey, there’s no need for that,” Genma interjected. “Sure, he’s a bit rebellious but I’m sure he’s a good shinobi.”

“He’s a worthless nuisance!” Ebisu exploded. “At the academy, all he did was sleep or play pranks or skip entirely! He had openly stated disdain for the people of Konoha and his dislike of teamwork is well-known. He isn’t worthy of that hitai-ate!”

“That is not for you to decide.”

Genma and Ebisu looked over and Gai and Genma gulped at the look on his face. There weren’t many times that Genma had seen Gai angry; he could probably count them on one hand. The jounin was happy and boisterous and always looked on the bright side. He had been the same as a genin and chunin. That made the times where Gai was truly furious even worse.

“I will not sit here and listen to you slander my student,” Gai snapped as he rose from his seat. “Naruto-kun is the most hardworking and earnest genin I have ever had the pleasure of teaching. He has good reason for being the way he is and attitudes like that are what is hindering him from reaching the prime of his Youth. The next time I see you will be for an apology to Naruto-kun.”

Gai stomped out of the Jounin Standby Station, the young jounin just entering scrambling out of his way. Silence hung over the room for a long moment.

“Who the fuck pissed off Gai?”

Genma looked pointedly at Ebisu as the man stared after their genin teammate, the shock and indignation still clear across his face. He himself also stood and followed in the direction of Gai; he needed to get out of there. Genma had a feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time Gai and Ebisu would clash over Uzumaki.

Naruto stomped away from the office, unable to feel any satisfaction from his victory. He wasn’t being kicked out and he’d even managed to get his hot water finally fixed but dealing with her always left a bad taste in his mouth. She couldn’t raise the rent on him as it was the Orphan Fund paying for it until recently. She knew that he would report her in a heartbeat to the Hokage if she tried anything but it didn’t stop her from trying to make him miserable.

He had lost the hot water five months ago and she wouldn’t replace the fridge that had broken due to its sheer age. He'd felt bad but he had stolen one from the old Uchiha compound; they were all dead and wouldn’t need it anymore. He felt slightly ill at the thought of stealing from a dead clan but that was outweighed by his desire to keep his milk and vegetables from expiring early. He couldn’t afford more than one shop a week and he needed everything he bought to keep as long as possible. He couldn’t afford to buy even a second hand one.

He shot a burning glare at some woman who was staring at him and she actually flinched, her head snapping round to look back at the vegetables on the nearby stand. He sighed heavily and cast his eyes up, trying to find the best route to escape to the rooftops. His gaze was brought back down by the sounds of murmuring. It wasn’t even about him this time.

He watched Uchiha Sasuke walk up the street, his shoulders hunched and hands shoved deep into his pockets. The villagers around them whispered to one another and Naruto was pretty sure he could spot at least three girls their age following him. He was the only other kid that was talked about as much as Naruto was, although it was in a very different tone of voice. Naruto was spoken about with disgust, hatred or indifference; Sasuke with reverence, excitement or pity.

It was pretty obvious that Sasuke didn’t like it and Naruto couldn’t blame him. He was only a topic of discussion because his whole family had been killed by his brother. Naruto didn’t know what that was like but he imagined it sucked; especially being reminded of it everyday. He didn’t know what it was like to have a family, people he could fall back on and depend on for support, but to be left completely alone in this world wasn’t a nice feeling. He knew that at least.

He looked between the rooftop and the Uchiha, hesitating. He didn’t owe the other kid anything and he would probably just get yelled at for getting involved; but as he watched the Uchiha sink into himself further with each word from the villagers, his decision was made.

He walked forward, holding his head height and meeting each person’s gaze with a defiant glare. Sasuke looked up at his approach, his delicate features set in a deep scowl. The kid was pale with dark eyes and Naruto thought his hair kind of looked like the tail of a duck. He felt a hint of annoyance as he had to look up slightly to meet the boy's eyes.

“If you want to get away from these assholes, come with me.”

Sasuke’s scowl remained in place although Naruto could see the confusion in his eyes.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the only other person in Konoha talked about as much as you are,” Naruto shrugged, feeling the glares around him intensify. “I hate listening to them too so I take a route through the village they can’t reach. I can show you but it’s a one-time offer.”

Sasuke looked around, noticing that many of his admirers had switched their attention to Naruto and not in a good way. He took a long moment to stare silently at Naruto. Naruto sighed, giving up and turning to leave.

“Wait.”

He peered back over his shoulder.

“Show me.”

Naruto waved him forward and walked to one of the side alleys. He stopped, a bit surprised to see Sasuke right behind him.

“You’ll need to get on my back.”

Sasuke crossed his arms, affronted.

“Why would I do that?”

Naruto rolled his eyes, placing a foot on the wall and taking a couple of steps. He looked back down at Sasuke, satisfied to see the Uchiha’s scowl absent. He stared up at him with a slightly opened mouth and Naruto grinned at him.

“Unless the academy is different from what I remember, you don’t know how to walk up walls yet.”

Sasuke seemed to catch himself and his frown returned. Naruto held out a hand and Sasuke reached out reluctantly. He pulled the other boy up and onto his back, shocked at how easy it was. Maybe all those early morning physical conditioning sessions were actually paying off. He walked steadily up the wall and climbed over the lip of the building, dumping Sasuke down the moment they hit the flat surface.

“I’m late for something so I’ll leave you to make your own way. Just don’t fall; they would have my ass if they knew I brought an academy student up here.”

“Aren’t you an academy student?” asked Sasuke. “You can’t be older than me.”

“I’m probably younger,” Naruto shrugged. “I have a late birthday.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“I guess it doesn’t, huh.”

Naruto prepared to jump to the next roof but Sasuke spoke up again.

“Why did you do this?”

Naruto paused.

“I know what it’s like. Not the losing your family part, I’ve never had one to lose, but the rumours and whispering behind your back. It sucks and now you’ve got no one to have your back.” He backtracked quickly as he realised what he said. “Not that I have your back! This is a one-time thing, understand? You’ve got to figure things out on your own.”

“I don’t need anyone’s help,” Sasuke scoffed, rolling his own eyes.

“Good,” Naruto nodded. “Because no one is going to give it; not without wanting something in return. You’re on your own in Konoha.”

“So what do you want?”

Naruto opened his mouth but then closed it. He didn’t want anything but that completely contradicted what he had just said. Shit, he had to think of something.

“I want you to never mention this again,” he blurted out.

He leapt to the next rooftop, not daring to look back as he made his way to the Mission Assignment Desk to meet up with Gai. He didn’t want to help Sasuke; it’s just he understood what it was like. He wanted nothing more than to escape when he was in Sasuke’s position. He didn’t want to be forced to listen to people talk about him, no matter what was being said. He also still felt guilty about the fridge. That’s all it was.

Chapter Text

Gai watched Naruto argue with the merchant, waving around the shopping list and baring his teeth. He always struggled on the shopping D-ranks; Gai knew he hated them more than even the babysitting missions. It was part of the reason Gai still gave them to his genin. It would be good for Naruto to grow and learn from these interactions with the villagers. He had noticed the genin using the rooftops more and more and he couldn’t recall the last time he had seen him in the village outside of these missions.

It was not healthy for Naruto to completely withdraw from the village. He understood there were difficulties but the only way for the villagers to learn what a hard-working and wonderful genin he is was to show them. Hopefully Naruto could also learn from the experience; that he could get along with the villagers. There were reasons to stay.

“I don’t remember struggling this much with D-ranks.”

Gai turned to greet his rival but Kakashi slapped a hand over his mouth.

“We don’t want to disturb little Naruto. He seems like he needs to concentrate right now.”

Gai nodded behind his friend’s hand and Kakashi slowly lifted it. Gai beamed brightly at him before turning back to continue watching his genin. The argument was getting more heated; Gai could see Naruto’s hand twitching towards his kunai pouch but he was proud to see he was resisting. He remembered their talk about not pulling weapons on civilians.

“Indeed,” Gai replied, making sure to keep his voice quiet. “The bloom of his Youth is apparent more than ever but the villagers continue to be blind to it. There is hope though; this is the longest he has spoken to a civilian in two months.”

He missed Kakashi’s incredulous look.

“I don’t know if that’s a good thing, Gai. It doesn’t seem like it’s going well.”

“It is still better than his avoidance,” Gai said firmly. “At least he is communicating; this will open up the possibility for positive interactions along with the negative.”

He stubbornly kept his grin on his face as he watched his student grab the bag of rice and shove the yen into the chest of the civilian, almost causing the man to lose his balance. The merchant screamed obscenities at his student as Naruto hauled the bag over his shoulder, throwing a middle finger behind him. He could feel Kakashi’s stare.

“This is still an improvement!” he insisted. “His first week he stole the items and dropped the money on the ground in front of them. This time he spoke to the seller directly! His Youth blooms more beautifully every day! Soon the village shall see it too!”

“Your optimism is as stubborn as ever.”

Gai began walking, following his student at a distance. Most did not think he had the capacity to pass through the village unnoticed but when he occasion called, he was willing to dim his Youth if only briefly. It was a necessary sacrifice so he could support his student.

“How’s it going with him with everything else?” Kakashi shoved his hands in his pocket as he fell in step next to him. “I only see him once a week or so for his dōjutsu training.”

“He is making great progress towards the Springtime of his Youth!” Gai began, his voice rising until he noticed Naruto looking around. A bit quieter, he continued. “His taijutsu improves every day and he pushes himself to the limit every morning during his physical conditioning. He has been resistant to ninjutsu since he taught himself the water clone technique but he has learned the required E-rank jutsu.”

“He’s very particular, isn’t he?” Kakashi watched the genin stomp through the village. “I don’t know many genin that could manage mizu bunshin in less than two weeks, much less on their own. Yet despite his obvious ability and capacity to be a ninjutsu expert, he shows no interest and prefers punching a wooden post for hours.”

“He focuses when it interests him, but if it does not actively avoids it,” Gai agreed. “It is an attitude that we are working on.”

“We?”

“Naruto-kun does listen to me more than he did when he first became my student,” Gai said proudly.

“Are you making any progress on the teamwork thing?”

Gai paused.

“I’ll take your silence as a no,” said Kakashi, amused. “Next time I want to shut you up I’ll bring it up again. It’ll be a very convenient way for me to avoid your challenges.”

“While he trusts me and listens to my training suggestions, I have not been able to make any headway with his reluctance to work with his fellow comrades. It is a difficult mindset to break.”

Kakashi actually stopped, staring at him. Gai turned with a raised eyebrow, wondering what his rival was thinking. There was a strange look in his eye.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you doubt yourself before,” he said slowly. “Or be even vaguely negative at all. It’s not like you.”

“I am not being negative,” Gai dismissed him, turning round to continue following after his student. “It is not a Youthful mentality to have. I also do not have doubts; Naruto-kun is a shining example of the best Konoha has to offer and I am very lucky to be his sensei.”

Kakashi watched after him, that strange look still present in his gaze.

“Sure, Gai.”

His rival fell back into step and they walked along in silence for a few minutes. Gai took a moment to think on Kakashi’s words; was he acting differently? He had to admit that taking on a student was a bit different to what he had imagined when he had signed up for it back in December. He was grateful for Naruto and he truly believed that the genin was improving in most areas.

He would proudly proclaim to the entire village that he was Naruto’s sensei. He just didn’t know how to mend the rift between Naruto and the rest of the village. His student’s upbringing was a barrier that Gai had never encountered before. He loved the village and would do anything to protect it; his student was very much the opposite.

He grinned brightly as Naruto spoke to the woman running the lychee stand civilly, procuring a bunch without raising his voice or physical aggression. Gai turned to beam at Kakashi pointedly; his rival looked away from him in response.

His smile dimmed slightly as Naruto proceeded to pull a kunai on the next stall, his loud voice echoing over the village. There was still more work to be done.

Naruto let out a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Frustration did not help him with the tree-walking exercise, it would not help here. When Gai had suggested the next step in chakra control training, he had been eager to learn. The satisfaction he had from completing the tree-walking still lingered and foolishly he had thought that since he managed that one, the next one would be easier.

Three weeks and three damp sets of clothes later, he was ready to scream. He had taken to wearing shorts to training now and paired with his usual black sleeveless shirt, it was much easier to rinse out his clothes now. He was still resentful of the fact that he hadn’t really been dry since he had started learning the exercise. At least it wasn’t winter; the heating in his apartment was bad enough without being soaked. The small lake beside the training ground was still cold on the best of days.

“You are doing magnificently, Naruto-kun!”

He sighed although a small smile did escape. He could always count on Gai-sensei for unwarranted praise. He hadn’t done anything to earn it yet but it was nice to have someone on his side.

“I can only take two steps, Gai-sensei.”

Gai bounced up to him, his bowl cut flopping over his bushy eyebrows as he beamed widely, his white teeth sparkling. He was still wearing the tight green spandex and the orange leg warmers; Naruto would have thought he owned some sort of other clothes but apparently not.

His sensei was still trying to convince Naruto to wear his hitae-ate. He had taken to ‘accidently’ leaving it at home now to avoid the conversation. It sometimes made his D-ranks more difficult since the village didn’t want to believe he was a qualified genin but he had to pick his battles.

“That is one more step than you were able to take yesterday!” Gai laughed boisterously.

His sensei hadn’t decreased in volume either. Nothing about Gai had changed in the time he had been his sensei but Naruto liked that about him. He was consistent and Naruto was more willing to believe his earnestness this way.

“I guess so,” he reluctantly agreed.

“Are you ready for your D-rank?”

Naruto cursed silently. He would have said it out loud but last time he had used that kind of language in front of Gai-sensei he’d ended up with an hour long lecture on the power of words and on how some would hamper his ‘Youth’. It was just easier to say it out of his teacher’s hearing range.

“I may have forgotten I was doing one today,” he sighed.

He reached down to grab his sandals and reluctantly pulled them on along with his kunai pouch and hoodie. He hated putting his dry clothes over his soaked ones but he didn’t have time to dry out in the sun. Usually he would move onto physical conditioning straight after practicing water-walking and that dried him off.

“We shall go to your apartment first, Naruto-kun!” Gai announced, taking in his still dripping form. “It would not be Youthful of me to allow my student to catch a cold!”

“I can’t get colds, Gai-sensei.”

He was drowned out by the man herding him out of the training ground and towards the village. He managed to break out of the man’s grip as they reached the first buildings and he channelled chakra to his feet, running up the side. Landing on the roof, he waited for Gai-sensei to join him before he began to jump across the rooftops. He knew his sensei didn’t like it when he used this route; he didn’t think it was ‘healthy’ for him to avoid the villagers. Gai meant well but he didn’t know what Naruto had been through. It was for the good of everyone that Naruto stayed away from them.

He headed towards the most run down area of the village. As much as Konoha wanted to believe otherwise, there were poorer and more dangerous areas that the lowest in the social ladder called their home, far away from the splendour of the clan compounds. He was considered below even these people but it was the only place he could keep an apartment. It still wasn’t easy as his landlady occasionally tried to boot him out but he had mastered the art of thwarting her.

He came to his building and raised the window, deactivating the security seal on the frame. It was one of the most expensive things he had ever bought but it was worth every yen. There weren’t many civilians who tried his window but he preferred to be safe. He climbed through and popped his head back out as he noticed Gai didn’t follow him.

“Do you not own a door, Naruto-kun?”

“Not one that I use,” he shrugged, ducking back in.

He threw his hoodie on the bed as he listened to Gai enter his apartment. It was a good thing that he kept it reasonably clean. It’s not as if there was enough room for anything else.

Everything was in a single large room other than the tiny bathroom, the door of which was in the left wall. His front door was sealed shut with the wood and metal covering it and there was a small fridge and limited number of kitchen counters on the wall beside it. He had a single couch shoved against the wall to the right of the window and a small coffee table that he also used as a dining table sat in the middle of the space between the kitchen counters and sofa. His bed was pushed against the opposite wall and the bathroom door was at the end of it.

The paint was chipping off the walls and there were chunks missing from the wooden floorboards. One of his cupboards was missing a door and the cardboard box he used as a wardrobe was getting to the point where he would need to replace it.

Naruto knew it wasn’t much but he liked to think he’d managed to make it his own. Posters for ramen decorated the dull walls and his small supply of books and much more extensive supply of weapons had been stacked haphazardly against the far left corner, opposite the kitchen. He would have liked a bookcase or chest to keep them in but they were expensive and it was working well enough as it was. He had plants of various sizes dotted around the room in no particular arrangement; he had just shoved them where they would fit. He had even found a circular, beige rug that he threw under the coffee table after cleaning it extensively. It was amazing what could be found in the right dumpsters.

“I’ll be two seconds,” he called to Gai as he grabbed some dry clothes and headed into the bathroom.

He didn’t listen to Gai’s reply as he stripped, throwing the wet clothes into the bath. He pulled on the dry clothes and opened the door, pulling on his spare orange hoodie as he re-entered the main room. Gai was looking around his apartment with a frown and Naruto sighed. At the noise, Gai looked over at him and suddenly beamed.

“Thank you for bringing me here, Naruto-kun!” He boomed. “Your home is full of the same Youthful spirit that you yourself exhibit! The plants are wonderful!”

Trust Gai to try and highlight the positives.

“I must ask why you have bolted your door in such a manner,” he continued.

“It’s safer,” he shrugged, trying to be as casual as possible. “It’s a rough neighbourhood. I don’t have much they can steal but I’ve been collecting those weapons for a while. I don’t want to have to start again.”

While that was true, Naruto did not mention the more pertinent reason. Disgruntled villagers couldn’t take revenge on the Kyūbi brat if they couldn’t reach the Kyūbi brat.

“How are people meant to visit you if the door is barred?” Gai asked and Naruto chuckled to himself.

It was nice that Gai was always looking for the best in him even if he had a habit of disappointing the man.

“I don’t get visitors, Gai-sensei.” He was still smiling slightly. “You’re the first person I’ve ever had in this apartment.”

It didn’t bother him. Naruto had never wanted anyone to visit his apartment before; he tried hard enough to avoid people outside his home, bringing them here would defeat the purpose. Gai smiled brightly at him.

“I am honoured, Naruto-kun!”

“What’s the D-rank, Gai-sensei?” Naruto changed the subject before his teacher could try making a big thing out of nothing.

He was his sensei; it was kind of inevitable that he would come here eventually.

“Do you have your hitai-ate on you?”

Naruto blinked at the question.

“Why?”

“You will need it for this mission.”

Naruto stared up at the building in fury, vowing to do something horrible to Gai the first chance he got. He knew Gai liked to give him the missions he knew Naruto would hate in order for Naruto to ‘grow and learn from the experience’. This was taking it a step too far. The academy loomed over him, mocking his promise to never set foot on the premises again.

He remained in place, as if the mission would go away if he waited long enough. He had to collect each academy chunin’s annual report on the curriculum and bring it back to the administrative offices for them to process. He had been told that it was to see how effective the courses were in creating decent shinobi but Naruto was suspicious. The curriculum hadn’t changed in the slightest in the time he was there and he could have written a book about everything wrong with it. He hadn’t been there very long in fairness but his point stood.

He took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold. He wasn’t a student anymore. Once he collected these papers he could leave and go hit a wooden post for the rest of the day to relieve the stress of being back here. Gai couldn’t stop him either, not after doing this to him.

He made his way down the corridor, popping his head into the first classroom he saw. A sea of faces only slightly younger than him turned to stare. The woman at the front of the class turned her stern gaze onto him.

“I’m here to collect your annual report,” he explained shortly, bristling under the attention.

“Where’s your hitai-ate?”

He sighed as he pulled it out, cursing Gai once again. The man had known. The woman scanned the piece of metal before thrusting the pages into his hand, slamming the door shut behind him.

He had to repeat this process with every single chunin he spoke to. The annoyance just continued to build with every interaction. They all knew he graduated. He hadn’t exactly been invisible when he was a student here and between the altercations with the other students and his status, he knew these people knew who he was. They had to have known he graduated. Hideki-sensei had barely looked at him when he’d turned up at his classroom.

He came to the final door and slammed it open; he was done with being polite and respectful. He wanted to leave and never come back. If Gai ever gave him another mission like this one, he would tell his teacher to shove it. There was a bad memory around every corner and every sensei reminded him of the days where he was helpless to defend himself. He hadn’t realised just how spoiled he was with Gai until he came back here and was reminded of how much worse his life had been.

“That is no way to enter a classroom!” The sensei exclaimed. “Especially when arriving late!”

Naruto eyed the man. Brown hair pulled up into a spiky hairstyle similar to the Nara and a long horizontal scar across his nose, he seemed a bit younger than the other teachers. His warm brown eyes were annoyed but not malicious.

“I’m not late,” Naruto huffed. “I’m not a student. I’m just here to get your annual report.”

He held out his hitai-ate, already anticipating resistance. The man scanned the object before his eyes were drawn back to Naruto’s face. Naruto could pinpoint the exact moment the man realised who he was because he actually took a step back, his eyes widening.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he looked over to the students. They all looked back to him with varying levels of confusion. He was about to look away when he caught the gaze of the Uchiha; he prayed that he would keep his mouth shut. It was hoping for too much.

“You!” The boy stood, pointing at him.

A pink haired girl looked back and forth between him and Sasuke with a scowl.

“How do you know Sasuke-kun?” She demanded.

“I don’t,” Naruto shot back quickly.

“Who even are you?” The platinum blonde next to her raised an eyebrow. “Why aren’t you in our class?”

Naruto shook the hitai-ate in her direction, mentally urging the teacher to hurry up with the report. The man had been spurred into action by his student’s voices and he was rummaging around his desk, throwing Naruto nervous glances the entire time.

“That doesn’t tell us who you are,” the blonde said haughtily.

“That’s not my problem.”

He internally cried out in victory as he snatched the papers out of the teacher’s hand and left, abandoning the door as he walked quickly to the exit. He never wanted to do this again.

Sasuke heaved himself onto the rooftop, checking to see if anyone had spotted him. He’d been climbing up every chance he could get to find that blond boy again. He had to use his hands unlike the other boy who had managed to walk up it but he was getting faster every time.

He needed to find that guy and get him to teach him how to do that. He had to get strong and the other kids at the academy were only holding him back. He was reluctant to even ask this boy but he also wasn’t dumb enough to turn down an opportunity to get stronger. If only he could find him. All he knew was that he was a shinobi. He didn’t know his name and judging from his answers in the classroom, being vague and unhelpful with his answers was a theme with him. He shouldn’t be hard to find; how many other kids were there with whisker marks on their cheeks and an orange hoodie?

Iruka-sensei had acted like he had no idea who the other boy was when Sasuke had asked him after class, but he had seen the man’s reaction to the blond. There was something his teacher wasn’t telling him.

He looked around the deserted rooftop and picked a direction to run in. He leapt across the gap between the buildings and rolled to break the fall. He rose to his feet and prepared himself to repeat the process. A voice stopped him.

“What’re you doing up here?”

He snapped his head towards the voice to see the blond standing on the rooftop he had just jumped from, with an eyebrow raised and his arms crossed.

“You know the ANBU will personally shove you off the roof if they catch you,” the boy continued before he paused. “Or maybe that was just me.”

“What’s your name?” Sasuke demanded before he had a chance to leave.

The blond just looked at him.

“Why do you want to know?”

Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration and took a running leap back across. He stood and faced the shorter boy.

“It’s not a hard question.”

“Naruto,” the other boy offered. “Are we done here?”

“I want you to teach me how to walk up walls,” Sasuke said firmly, holding the boy’s blue gaze.

“No fucking way.”

Sasuke jolted in surprise as the boy turned to leave. He grabbed onto his sleeve but was shaken off as Naruto flinched.

“I need to get stronger,” Sasuke growled, trying to get his point across.

“And I need a million yen and a painkiller that works on me but we can’t always have what we want,” Naruto shot back.

“Then fight me!” Sasuke yelled hotly. “If I win, you teach me that technique.”

Naruto just shot him an incredulous look that only served to make Sasuke angrier.

“I can’t fight you. Do you know how much trouble I would be in for that? You’re an academy student.”

“Are you looking down on me?” Sasuke hissed, his fist trembling.

He was taken aback for a second at the confused look Naruto was sporting.

“I can’t look down on you,” he said slowly, a stark contrast to the fury bubbling up within Sasuke. “You’re taller than me.”

Sasuke almost hit him but he refrained. He didn’t remember the last time someone had managed to get under his skin like this and the worst part was that he wasn’t even trying. No one at the academy was worth thinking about and yet when he found someone that he could use, he wasn’t interested. The blond didn’t understand; Sasuke needed to get stronger.

“You have to teach me,” Sasuke said intently.

“I don’t have to do shit,” Naruto frowned back at him. “I don’t owe you anything and just telling me I have to teach you is not a way to get on my good side.

“You’re strong,” Sasuke insisted, trying to make him understand.

“Well, duh,” Naruto rolled his eyes. “Now I’m going to leave and you are going to forget I ever existed, okay? Last thing I need is the Last Uchiha following me around.”

Sasuke hated that name. He heard it in whispers around the village; all it did was remind him of what he had lost. He wasn’t even the last Uchiha. His brother was still out there and while one day, he would be the Last Uchiha after he killed Itachi, hearing it now just made him think of how far he had to go.

“Hey, I’m sorry.” His eyes darted back to the blond. “You apparently don’t like that name so I won’t use it again. Seriously though, leave me alone.”

He watched the blond leave and didn’t attempt to follow. He did this last time; acted cold and vague and then turned round and did something considerate for no apparent reason. No one else had bothered to notice how much he hated that name, yet the blond had actually apologised for using it. No one had ever done that before.

It strengthened Sasuke’s resolve to get the other boy to fight. He would just have to find a reason to convince Naruto. He would start by finding as much information as he could on the genin.

Chapter Text

Naruto activated his bloodline limit, staring intently at the form of Kakashi in front of him. The jounin began to move. Naruto focused on his minute muscle contractions and followed the almost imperceptible beat of his arteries. The world around him faded away until all he could see was what lay beneath Kakashi’s skin and tiny, undisputable movements that rippled down the jounin’s arms.

“Rock.”

Kakashi completed the action and was holding out a curled fist.

“You’re getting the hang of this,” he eye-smiled.

“Is predicting your moves in jan-ken-po really the best way for me to improve my bloodline limit?” Naruto asked dubiously.

“One of the Emperor’s Eye’s best attributes is the ability to discern the smallest details in a person’s movement,” Kakashi responded. “Breathing, heartbeat, muscle contractions, sweat; you can see it all and that means you can predict the enemy’s movement perfectly. Your timing will mean you will always have the advantage. You just need to hone it. What better way to do that than jan-ken-po?”

“And it’s not so we can just sit here instead of working on using it with taijutsu?”

Kakashi waved a hand dismissively.

“We’ll build our way up to taijutsu.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. While Kakashi did seem to know what he was talking about and he was getting better at predicting the jounin’s movements, he could be very blasé about things. Naruto was just as likely to find him reading his orange book in a random tree as he was to find him waiting in the right training ground.

It was a stark contrast to Gai’s way of teaching but Naruto found that he liked it that way. The mix of the two teaching styles made sure that he didn’t get too used to one way of learning, even if he spent the most time with Gai.

He needed some time away from Gai anyway. The D-ranks were getting unbearable and despite the fact he knew Gai meant well, it felt like he was being punished for the villagers’ behaviour; like it was up to him to fix their horrible opinions of him despite the fact he had done nothing to earn them. He didn’t want anything to do with them and he knew the feeling was mutual. He just didn’t know how to make Gai see it. The man was so joyful and optimistic and he loved Konoha. Naruto didn’t know if it was even possible for the man to understand where he was coming from.

“A ryō for your thoughts?”

Naruto looked up from where his gaze had dropped to the grass beneath them. He opened his mouth but quickly closed it again. Kakashi was Gai’s friend first, his teacher second. He probably wouldn’t appreciate Naruto’s thoughts on Gai’s current teaching methods.

“D-ranks getting you down, huh?”

Naruto snapped wide eyes towards the jounin. He couldn’t see much beneath the mask and the tilted headband but his grey eye was soft with understanding.

“I get it,” Kakashi began, looking up at the overcast sky. “I wasn’t exactly popular with the village myself when I was younger. I was already a chunin by then but I hated doing missions in the village. My sensei tried exactly the same tactics as Gai did and it didn’t work.”

“When did the village change their minds about you?”

“When I fought in the Third Shinobi War,” Kakashi’s posture sank slightly. “I think it mostly had to do with people forgetting my father existed though.”

“Did people hate you because of your dad?” Naruto asked hesitantly.

“Pretty much,” Kakashi shrugged. “He screwed up a mission that cost a lot of lives and when he died, I had to shoulder the burden since he wasn’t around to do it.”

“That sucks,” Naruto muttered in understanding.

“Yep,” Kakashi said, his countenance abruptly switching to cheerfulness. “But it did get better. You know that Gai just wants the best for you, right? He means well.”

“I know,” Naruto reluctantly admitted. “It doesn’t make the missions any easier.”

“Have you thought about talking to him? Explaining how you feel and what you think would be the best way forward?”

“It’s hard to talk to Gai,” Naruto admitted, constantly monitoring the jounin for signs of retaliation against the negative comments about his friend. There was nothing so Naruto continued hesitantly. “He’s so happy and enthusiastic and he just loves this village so much. I don’t want to be the one to upset him, especially for something I know he can’t understand. He’s so positive it feels like there’s no room for negativity.”

“Even if that negativity would be better for all those involved,” Kakashi nodded knowingly. “You know, Gai might understand better than you think.”

Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

“Gai’s father, Dai, was known as the ‘Eternal Genin’. Gai used to get into all sorts of fights trying to defend him from what the villagers were saying. The approach he’s trying with you is one he was taught by his father. He just hasn’t realised that it won’t work with you.”

Naruto sat back in his place on the grass. It was hard to imagine Gai as a kid, picking fights with villagers. He would have thought the man would have just yelled at them about ‘Youth’ or tried to show them the folly of their ways through a dramatic re-enactment or something.

“Maybe I’ll talk to him,” he reluctantly agreed, although he still had doubts about how effective it would be.

Kakashi ruffled his hair and Naruto squawked indignantly, swatting away the offending limb.

They didn’t notice the rustle of the nearby bushes as someone turned and walked away, his green spandex standing out against the dull background.

Gai sat in his chair outside the Hokage’s office, his leg bouncing erratically as he frowned in thought. He missed the strange looks thrown at him from passing shinobi, a sombre air surrounding him. The nearby guards kept glancing at him; they were almost confused by his uncharacteristic behaviour. Gai was oblivious to all this as he continued to think deeply about what he’d overheard in the training ground.

He had gone to meet up with the pair, maybe surprise Kakashi into taking up a challenge but he couldn’t bring himself to speak to them right now. Not with what he’d heard.

Was he really failing so badly as a jounin-sensei? That his only student felt like he couldn’t talk to him? That he felt like he had no say in his training? He knew that the boy was having trouble with the villagers but he’d been blind to the extent. Was he just making everything worse for his pupil?

“Gai.”

He looked up into the expressionless mask of the ANBU guard. The man had obviously been repeating his name. How had Gai not heard him?

“Hokage-sama is ready for you.”

Gai nodded and silently made his way into the office, bowing low in greeting to the village leader. The Hokage looked back at him with warm eyes but the smile dropped off his face as Gai continued to be quiet.

“Is everything okay, Gai-kun?”

“Yes, Hokage-sama,” Gai shook himself. “It’s something I need to work on myself.”

The Hokage considered him for a long moment.

“If you say so,” he allowed. “You may begin your report on your student.”

Gai gathered himself and stood straight.

“Naruto is continuing to improve immensely with his taijutsu and overall physical conditioning. His chakra control also continues to improve daily and he proves less resistant to learning ninjutsu, although he only prefers the close combat ones that he can incorporate into his taijutsu. His dōjutsu is developing under the guidance of Kakashi and he handles tasks with a determination and integrity that magnificently showcases his blossoming Youth.”

The Sandaime nodded along to his words as Gai continued in a serious tone.

“Genjutsu is still a struggle and his mindset is much the same as it was when he graduated seven months ago. He had accepted Kakashi’s and my guidance but he continues to isolate himself from the village and his peers. His attitude towards the villagers on D-ranks still requires much improvement but…”

Gai stopped, thinking back to what he’d overheard.

“…but that is not necessarily Naruto-kun’s fault. I have been trying to help Naruto-kun’s relationship with the village by showing them how hardworking and earnest Naruto-kun is, but I do not believe this is working. They are not willing to engage with him so I believe his D-ranks are ending up more of a punishment than a benefit.”

The Hokage sat back in his chair, his hand clasped together as he looked back at Gai thoughtfully. Gai waited for his leader’s verdict. He had not been able to see how much his student was suffering; he was a failure as a jounin-sensei.

“So why not use D-ranks as punishment?”

Gai’s head snapped up.

“Hokage-sama?”

“You can stop putting him on regular D-ranks,” the man elaborated. “He’s ready for something like guard duty which involves no interaction with civilians and while he will be working with other shinobi, I believe this is unavoidable. We’ll keep him on guard duty until we move him on to C-ranks.”

Gai’s brow furrowed as he considered the Hokage’s words.

“However, Naruto is still prone to acting in ways that are not acceptable for a shinobi,” the Sandaime continued. “So if he does things like openly threatening civilians or pranking his comrades or such then assign him a D-rank. It will give him incentive to behave himself.”

D-ranks as a punishment, but intentionally? That had never even occurred to Gai. The moment he’d found out how much those missions were hurting his student, he’d decided to stop them entirely and find an alternative.

“Hokage-sama, he’s young but he is still a shinobi of Konoha. It may be detrimental to treat him like a child being grounded for bad behaviour.”

“Naruto-kun has always been a unique case,” the Hokage shook his head. “He hadn’t had parents or guardians to shape his sense of right and wrong and his academy teachers punished him for doing both. Naruto will break the rules as he does not see them as applying to him but we need to teach him otherwise, before he breaks a law he cannot come back from. Behaviour like this was ignorable when he was an academy student but I cannot ignore complaints from my shinobi.”

Gai wanted to argue that this was still technically special treatment but he kept his mouth shut. No other genin was being assigned D-ranks as a method of discipline but Gai knew something had to change. He could not keep failing his apprentice.

“Yes, Hokage-sama.”

He bowed low, his mind swirling. He needed to speak to his pupil.

Naruto grinned evilly as he watched the ANBU land on the roof. He and Kuma had had a particularly contentious relationship in the past and he could not think of a better test subject to try out his new traps on. He figured that if it worked on an ANBU, then anyone ranked jounin and below would fall for it. That was the excuse if he got caught anyway. He hadn’t forgotten how Kuma had thrown him off the roof and into a dumpster when he was an academy student…twice.

He loosened his grip on the wires but before he could spring his trap, a hand came out of nowhere to grab them out of his hand. He looked back at Gai sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

“Hi, Gai-sensei,” he said. “I was just trying out some new traps and I thought if they would work on an ANBU they’d work on anyone and…”

“Naruto-kun, you cannot prank the ANBU.”

They had drawn the attention of Kuma and Naruto glared at the bear mask. He would get him back one day. The man vanished from the rooftop and Naruto was forced to dismantle his beautiful network of wires. He genuinely felt sad about it too; it was some of his best work yet. Enemy nin wouldn’t stand a chance. He finished up only for Gai to order him to follow him.

He walked behind his teacher, a bit confused. What was he going to do? They finally reached a training ground and Naruto stopped, his guard up and hackles raised. He did not like this. Gai was better than the rest of the adults that Naruto had encountered in his life but he was still an adult; he could turn on Naruto at any time. A part of him didn’t want to believe it; it had been months since he’d been assigned to Gai and he felt like he could trust the man. With the way he was acting now, Naruto wasn’t so sure.

The jounin stopped in the middle of the training ground and Naruto halted a few steps away from him. Gai turned and Naruto didn’t have the chance to spiral further as Gai bowed so low his forehead slammed into the ground.

“I AM SO SORRY, NARUTO-KUN! I HAVE FAILED YOU AS YOUR SENSEI AND HAVE BEEN BLIND TO YOUR STRUGGLES! I SWEAR ON THE POWER OF YOUTH THAT I WILL BE BETTER AND SUPPORT MY PRECIOUS PUPIL TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITIES!”

Naruto opened his mouth. He then closed it. He had no words. This hadn’t been what he’d been expecting. Gai lifted his head back up and Naruto’s eyes widened at the bright red patch beneath the man’s bangs. There was no reason for him to go that far.

“What?”

That was all he was able to manage right now. He’d never had someone apologise to him before; he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do in this situation.

“Naruto-kun, I apologise for forcing D-ranks upon you,” Gai continued a bit quieter. “I did not understand your aversion and was under the impression that the villagers would warm up to you through exposure to your brilliant Youth. I wanted to show the village how wonderful you are; you are hard-working and earnest and I could not ask for a better pupil. I now realise that I am in fact making things worse and I hope you can forgive my foolishness.”

He’d been planning on bringing up the D-rank issue with his sensei but he hadn’t expected the man to get to it first.

“Thanks, Gai-sensei,” he said faintly, still in shock from the whole conversation.

“Are you alright, Naruto-kun?”  Gai frowned. “I understand if you need time to find forgiveness…”

“No!” Naruto blurted out before wincing. “No, Gai-sensei, I really appreciate it. No one’s ever apologised to me before so it means a lot.”

He tilted his head in confusion at Gai’s horrified expression.

“So I don’t have to do D-ranks anymore?” He changed the subject to try and get that look off of Gai’s face. He didn’t know why the man was reacting like that but he didn’t like it. Gai was supposed to be happy and smiling and yelling dumb stuff about Youth.

Gai appeared to shake himself out of it and grinned, his white teeth sparkling in the afternoon sun.

“Not quite, Naruto-kun! We will cease doing D-ranks regularly and Hokage-sama has assigned us to guard duty instead. You will need to work with fellow comrades but it will keep you away from the village populace. We will also start C-ranks soon which will take us out of the village. You have trained hard and earned trust in your capabilities.”

Naruto felt a grin spread across his own face. He could leave the village soon! Sure, under supervision and probably not for very long but it was something! Guard duty didn’t sound too bad either; anything was better than D-ranks. Gai’s wording caught his attention before he could get too swept up in the excitement.

“What do you mean ‘not quite’?”

“Naruto-kun, you were attempting to prank an ANBU,” Gai raised one bushy brow at him. “That is not youthful behaviour for a genin of Konoha. You will be assigned D-ranks as punishment for behaviour like that so you must cease your pranks and antagonist behaviour when possible.”

That didn’t sound like Gai’s idea. He knew the man better than that.

“Whose idea was that?”

“Hokage-sama’s.”

Naruto scowled; this had Jiji’s fingers all over it. He loved the man but he had very particular ideas about Naruto’s behaviour and how it should be addressed. He was probably thinking the threat of D-ranks would force Naruto to try and get along with his peers and villagers. Naruto had no desire to get along with anyone and everyone he pranked deserved it. He avoided everyone as a general rule anyway so hopefully it would be a non-issue.

“We will go and get a D-rank but unless you act unyouthfully in the future, this should be your last,” Gai threw him a thumbs up.

Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets but allowed the jounin a small smile. It probably wouldn’t be his last since he wasn’t about to roll over and take the village’s abuse when it inevitably came back to haunt him, but the fact he wouldn’t be subjected to them daily did raise his spirits. Gai really was one of the good ones.

Shikamaru stomped away from his house, grumbling beneath his breath as he hunched his shoulders. Troublesome woman. His mother hadn’t stopped nagging him about his latest scores at the academy and he couldn’t take it anymore. He’d just wanted to nap in peace; she was now tearing into his father, claiming that they were too much alike and that his father needed to set a better example for him.

It was all such a drag. It was the early evening so there were still clouds in the sky so Shikamaru had decided to go look at them instead. His favourite spot was just outside the Nara forest where they kept the deer and he knew there wouldn’t be anyone around at this time.

What was so bad about being mediocre? He would pass with middling scores and get placed on a decent team and eventually settle down with a family. He just wanted a normal, easy life; aiming high and trying hard was just so much trouble. They couldn’t all be the Jounin Commander.

He came to the small hill and flopped down, resting his hands behind his head as he watched the red and gold lined clouds float away from the sunset. His thoughts began to empty and he relaxed, melting entirely into the soft grass beneath him. This is what he wanted; peace and quiet and nothing in his head other than the sight of gently floating clouds.

“Come on, don’t do this to me.”

Shikamaru frowned as an unfamiliar voice cut through the quiet evening air. That didn’t sound like any of his clan but they were the only ones allowed this close to the deer. He reluctantly hauled himself upright to see a boy around his age trying to unsuccessfully herd three fawns back towards the tree line.

The kid was blond, with short spiky hair and he didn’t look tall; he was probably shorter than Shikamaru. He wore black shinobi trousers tied with bandages at the bottom above his black sandals and a sleeveless black shirt. Black fingerless gloves and black bracers to his elbow covered his thin, defined arms and a loose sleeveless orange hoodie was wrapped around his waist. He had three whisker marks on each cheek and they jogged Shikamaru’s memory.

This was the kid who came to their classroom a month or two ago. He’d been told off by Iruka-sensei but had then presented a hitai-ate; so he was a genin? He didn’t see the rest of his team and he’d been alone when he’d come to the academy. The boy hadn’t exactly seemed pleased to be there and he hadn’t answered Ino’s questions which had driven the girl nuts.

“Come on, little fawns, go back to the trees,” the boy begged. “You’re the last ones and I want to go home.”

Shikamaru watched him struggle for a long moment before he heaved a heavy sigh, rising to his feet. Wary blue eyes flickered over to him.

“D-rank?”

The genin didn’t answer as one of the fawns came over to nibble on Shikamaru’s shirt. He brushed a hand over its soft coat.

“You a Nara?”

“Yes,” Shikamaru frowned at him. “Why do you have a D-rank with the deer?”

The boy grumbled something beneath his breath that Shikamaru didn’t catch but he spoke the next few words a bit louder.

“I have to get the herd within the pen at the bottom of this field,” he answered carefully. “Apparently they’re being checked over by the vet first thing tomorrow.”

Shikamaru nodded as he stroked the fawn. That made sense; they checked over the herd’s health every few months or so. He hadn’t realised that time had come around so soon.

“If you’re a genin, where’s the rest of your team?” He asked curiously.

“I don’t have a team,” the boy answered shortly. “I’m an apprentice.”

Huh, Shikamaru had heard of those but they weren’t common. He hadn’t known genin could become apprentices; as far as he knew they all had to spend time on a genin team first. He didn’t know what this guy had done to avoid that but it wasn’t really any of Shikamaru’s business anyway. It would be too troublesome; he’d leave all the information gathering and gossip to Ino.

“Do you want some help?” he offered reluctantly.

He didn’t particularly want to walk around chasing deer but it would be easier with him there; he was a Nara. The deer listened to his clan. The sooner this genin finished with his D-rank, the sooner Shikamaru could get back to his hill and his clouds. He just wanted some quiet and he wouldn’t get that until this boy left.

“I don’t need help,” the boy snapped.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as one of the fawns around the genin escaped his grasp and trotted over to Shikamaru. Blue eyes narrowed as the genin appeared to consider his choices.

“Fucking fine, but I don’t owe you shit,” he finally grumbled.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he walked to the genin, the two fawns walking in his wake. He ran a hand through the third fawn’s fur and it turned to push its head into Shikamaru’s hand. He rubbed the fawn between the eyes for a short moment.

“How do you do that?” the genin spoke up again. “Why do they listen to you?”

“They’re Nara deer,” Shikamaru explained as he began to walk beside the tree line, the fawns in his wake. “My clan has always had a connection with them. They don’t like outsiders much.”

“I could have told you that,” the genin griped.

This kid could rival Sasuke in the grumpy and unapproachable department. Shikamaru didn’t speak to the Uchiha but he’d observed his behaviour in class. Although Shikamaru couldn’t really blame him; if he had that many girls screaming into his ear every day, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t act any better. He didn’t know why this genin was so hostile but it was really none of Shikamaru’s business.

“Do I at least get a name?” He drawled as he followed the tree line, the wooden pen appearing in the near distance. “I’m Nara Shikamaru.”

The boy was silent for a long moment before he muttered, “Naruto”.

Shikamaru nodded as he continued to lead the fawns to their destination. He opened the gate and ushered the fawns in, their mothers coming to greet them. He closed it and turned to Naruto.

“I’ll see you around then.”

Naruto shrugged and began to walk off. He paused mid-step and hunched his shoulders.

“Thanks,” he said, the word sounding like it pained him to say.

He continued to walk away and Shikamaru watched him go. He hadn’t seen him around the village other than that time in the academy. He wondered who his jounin-sensei was.

He abruptly shook those thoughts off; he didn’t need to know. It was too much of a drag to be curious about someone that obviously did not want anything to do with him. He started to trek back to his cloud-watching spot, banishing thoughts about the genin. He had his own problems to deal with right now. His mother would notice he was missing soon.

Chapter Text

“Today we are going to learn ninjutsu.”

Naruto huffed, rolling his eyes.

“This is bullying,” he said without heat. “You and Gai-sensei are ganging up on me.”

“I don’t think trying to teach you techniques that will make you a stronger and more effective shinobi counts as bullying,” Kakashi eye-smiled, long used to Naruto’s opinions on the topic.

“Yeah, yeah,” Naruto waved off his words.

He stretched his arms over his head, feeling the pleasant pulling on his back muscles. Things had gotten much better since he’d been switched to guard duty with Gai-sensei. They’d kept most of their already established routine although they’d had to switch things around a bit depending on the time of the shifts. They still started at five in the morning unless they had nightshift and Gai made sure they fit physical conditioning, chakra control and weapon handling into their day somewhere.

He’d been talking about ninjutsu since Naruto first started learning chakra control and he should have known better than to think Gai-sensei would give up on something. Naruto knew they had a point about the whole thing but he just didn’t feel as involved with the fight when using techniques. There was a lack of accomplishment and satisfaction to watch the opponent fall from some flood or a ball of earth.

“I think doton would slow you down,” Kakashi drew his attention back to him. “Suiton depends too much on a water supply and fūton is the most difficult if there is no affinity for it. Katon or raiton then.”

Naruto perked up a bit.

“I vote for katon.”

He just looked innocently back at Kakashi as the jounin scrutinised him. He knows that he’d been pretty resistant to this but the thought of setting fire to stuff made him smile in a way he hadn’t expected. It’d be probably best if he didn’t give that as a reason to Gai-sensei and Kakashi though.

“Katon it is then,” Kakashi nodded, planting his feet firmly to face Naruto and motioning for him to do the same.

Naruto faced the jounin and watched him with determined eyes.

“Snake, Ram, Monkey, Tiger, Dragon, Ox, Dog, Dragon,” Kakashi ran through the seals slowly and Naruto copied him. “I want you to keep going through those without chakra until you can do it without thinking.”

“What’s the point of practising without chakra?” Naruto asked as he ran through the seals again to commit them to memory.

“What’s the point of learning the jutsu if you’re too slow to use it in a fight?” Kakashi countered and Naruto grumbled to himself.

The man had a point. Hand seals weren’t his strong point and it would take time for him to get used to them.

“This jutsu is called Katon: Engeki and it’ll coat your fists in fire,” Kakashi continued. “It’ll cover your opponent in fire if you land a hit but if you mess up the seals, that flame will be turned towards you.”

“Fine, you’ve made your point,” Naruto admitted. “I’ll practice.”

“You’re such a good little genin,” Kakashi stepped forward and ruffled his hair.

Naruto wacked his hand away and sent him a warning look. He liked Kakashi but it was a matter of principle. He continued to run through the seals, pointedly ignoring Kakashi’s dark eye observing him.

“So I’ve heard a little rumour going around the village.”

Naruto rolled his eyes but continued to remain silent.

“The Last Uchiha has been asking around about you,” Kakashi said, amused. “Did you make a friend?”

Naruto resisted the instinct to tell the jounin not to use that title. He could still remember how Sasuke had flinched when he’d said it to his face and although he was not trying to do anyone any favours, Naruto wasn’t that fond of some of his own ‘titles’ that the village had bestowed upon him. However, that would give Kakashi the wrong idea. He’d been managing to avoid the academy student since their last meeting on the rooftop and he would not have Kakashi’s tendency to meddle break that streak.

“I’ve never heard of him.”

He looked up and met Kakashi’s eye, refusing to blink or twitch. Kakashi watched him, tilting his head.

“Really?” The jounin asked, not even trying to conceal the amusement in his tone. “You haven’t heard of the only other kid in the village as infamous as you?”

“Nope,” Naruto looked back down at his hands as he ran through the seals once again.

He didn’t need friends, no matter how much the adults in his life liked to tell him otherwise.

“I’m going to try it, out,” he announced suddenly, hoping Kakashi would take the bait and quite bugging him about this. “Katon: Engeki!”

His fists lit up in a burst of flames and he grinned. Okay, so maybe when Gai-sensei brought up learning more ninjutsu in the future he wouldn’t be so quick to argue. He waved his hands around a bit, watching the orange flames trail after them. Punching someone in the face was going to be so much more effective this way.

“Naruto, what did I just say about practising?” Kakashi’s exasperated voice broke Naruto out of his fascination.

“I did practice and now I’m doing it,” he grinned cheekily.

He heard Kakashi’s quiet sigh and his grin widened. He may like the jounin but it wasn’t going to stop him from annoying the hell out of the man. It didn’t work on Gai-sensei; the man was way too cheerful and dense to appreciate Naruto’s wit. He had to keep someone on their toes.

Gai knocked on the window of his student’s apartment, sliding it open a second later. He hopped into the room, dumping his full backpack onto the worn wooden floor.

“Good morning, Naruto-kun!”

A groan emerged from the lump on the bed. A blond head popped out of the mess of orange blankets, blue eyes blearily glaring at him.

“What the fuck, Gai-sensei?” his student swore, his voice thick with sleep.

“Now, now, Naruto-kun, there is no need for such unyouthful words on this bright and wonderful morning!” Gai grinned, which only prompted another groan from his student.

“Gai-sensei,” Naruto finally emerged, sitting up to stare deadpan at Gai. “We finished a twelve hour patrol…” he paused to grab the old alarm clock sitting on the floor next to the bed, “three hours and forty-seven minutes ago. We are supposed to be meeting in…”

Naruto’s face scrunched as he ran the numbers. His student’s mathematical ability tended to suffer in the mornings. It was only in times like this where Gai could actually see how young his student really was; before he had a chance to put on his mask for the village. He was so mature and serious with a dry wit beyond his years; Gai admired that in his student, it was so much like his rival, but a part of him didn’t like that he’d been forced to grow up so quickly.

Gai was here for him, though; he would help his student reconnect with his Youth so he could live as bright and happy as Gai knew he could. Naruto was in the Springtime of his Youth and it was Gai’s job go make sure that he blossomed into the best version of himself.

“…seven hours and thirteen minutes. Why are you here?”

Gai excitedly grabbed his bag from the floor and moved it onto the coffee table.

“It’s your birthday, Naruto-kun! I could not wait to give you your gift!”

Something other than tired annoyance broke through his student’s expression and Gai saw a hint of surprise before it was quickly covered up.

“You got me something?” He asked, swinging his bare feet off the bed.

“Of course!” Gai grinned as Naruto finally stood, his loose orange shirt hanging over his loose black shorts. “It is not every year that you turn ten! Your birthday deserves to be celebrated!”

Naruto walked over slowly, peering down at the green bag suspiciously.

“The bag is for you too,” Gai told him brightly, bouncing in place as he stopped himself from shoving the bag towards him. “I noticed that yours sustained some damage on our last mission. The rest of your gift is inside.”

A small smile appeared on Naruto’s face as he carefully opened the flap on the bag. He reached in and lifted one of the weights out, examining it curiously.

“Weights?”

“There is a variety and I will go through each of them with you!” Gai gushed excitedly. “Some of them you will need to grow into as we do not want to stunt your growth by going too heavy too soon, but you can apply them to your physical conditioning and your taijutsu. It will improve your speed immensely and add power to your attacks which are the areas we are focusing on!”

Naruto turned over the wrist weights in his hands, his expression the most unguarded that Gai had ever seen.

“Thanks, Gai-sensei,” he said quietly. “I’ve never had a present before. I mean, Teuchi-jiisan gives me free ramen but he does that when it’s not my birthday.”

Gai’s grin dropped slightly at the admission but he quickly gathered himself.

“Well, Naruto-kun, you will have to get used to it as my student!”

Naruto reverently placed the weight back in the bag, closing it over delicately.

“I also came to tell you to take the rest of the day off!” Gai continued brightly. “You should enjoy your birthday! There should be a lot for you to do with the festival on!”

Naruto’s demeanour quickly dropped at his words.

“I’d rather just train, Gai-sensei.”

“Nonsense, Naruto-kun, you should explore the Springtime of your Youth and partake in the festivities!”

Naruto crossed his arms, looking away from Gai.

“I don’t go to the festival,” he said shortly.

Gai wanted to push his student but in the ten months since the young blond had become his apprentice, he had learned to recognise certain cues. Kakashi would say that Gai had finally learnt some restraint but Gai knew Naruto was not like other genin. He needed patience and while even Gai would admit it was not his strong suit, he had to be better for Naruto’s sake. Taking on a student had changed Gai more than he thought it ever would and through his mistakes, he’d learned that sometimes taking a step back was the best decision to support his student. However much it made him uncomfortable with how much he wanted to do the opposite.

“I will see you at the training ground at the appointed time then!” He threw thumbs up at his student, smiling brightly. “If you bring the blue weights, we can get started on your new taijutsu training!”

Naruto nodded gratefully and Gai clambered back out the window, waving energetically before making his way to the ground. He had not made much progress in getting his student to unbolt his front door, but he felt that they were still taking steps forward. They were smaller than he imagined when he had first been assigned Naruto as an apprentice but forward nonetheless. His student would be flourishing in his Youth soon enough and Gai was excited to go on that journey with him.

In the meantime, he should find Kakashi and see if his rival was up for a challenge.

Naruto hefted the wooden cabinet further up into his arms to prevent it slipping. The festival had finally ended in the early hours of the morning so he’d taken the opportunity to go ‘shopping’ while the streets were mostly empty; by shopping, he meant dumpster diving and scavenging perfectly good pieces of furniture people were stupidly throwing away. Most of the villagers were still hung-over so they wouldn’t be awake to bother him for another couple of hours.

Gai had surprised him. He’d never expected a present from his teacher; no one ever got him gifts. He hadn’t even known that’s what it was until Gai had said it. It made him feel warm in a way he’d never quite felt before and he didn’t know what to do with that feeling. He’d managed to avoid thinking too deeply about it by throwing himself wholeheartedly into his new weight training but the warmth crept up on him every time he looked at the collection of shiny weights sitting neatly in the corner of his room.

And now he had a place to store them! Someone had thrown away an oak cabinet and Naruto hadn’t hesitated to start dragging it home. It had five shelves and stood just a bit taller than Naruto himself. Two of the shelves were a bit wonky and he was pretty sure it was supposed to have doors but it was good enough for him. He could even fit his clothes on one of the shelves with his weapons and weights occupying the rest.

The only issue had been taking it back to his apartment. He’d done enough physical conditioning with Gai for the weight of the thing to not be a problem but it was the size that was causing Naruto some trouble. He knew he was pretty short for his age and the cabinet was taller than him and wider than his wingspan. It had taken some adjusting and he’d had to forego the rooftops, but he was almost there.

“Do you need any help?”

Naruto scowled as he continued walking. People were supposed to be asleep, not out here bothering him.

“Here, I can help.”

Naruto was forced to stop as a boy stepped in front of him. He placed the cabinet on the ground as he glared at the obstacle in his path. He was taller than Naruto by a fair bit, with long black hair tied back into a braid. A short tan kimono was wrapped around him and round, dark eyes looked back at him eagerly. He couldn’t have been much older than Naruto and he could see signs of training; an academy student then.

“No,” he said shortly, hoping the boy would pick up the hint.

“Oh,” his expression dropped a bit.

Naruto took that as his cue to leave and grabbed the cabinet. He didn’t even have the chance to pick it up when a chunk of wood fell off, causing him to lose his grip on the whole thing. It clattered to the ground and dislodged the two dodgy shelves. Naruto had to take a minute to breathe; yelling swears might wake the rest of the village up.

“Are you sure you don’t need help?”

“Shouldn’t you be training or something rather than hanging about here bothering me?” he snapped.

The boy actually took a step back before he looked away.

“I’m not going to pass anyway,” he said quietly and Naruto rolled his eyes.

“That sounds like a ‘you’ problem,” he retorted. “Go and train or something instead of moping about it.”

“You don’t understand!” The boy cried. “I can’t use chakra; I’ll never pass the exam!”

Naruto resisted the urge to face palm.

“You were never going to pass anyway with that shitty attitude,” he snapped, patience wearing thin. “The only thing stopping you from passing is you, so you need to take your finger out of your ass and figure it out. So what if you don’t have chakra? That ain’t no reason to give up; learn weapons or taijutsu or something that doesn’t use chakra. Fuck’s sake.”

He scooped up the fallen pieces of wood and grabbed the cabinet with his other arm, annoyance and the urge to get far, far away from this moping idiot fuelling his strength. Naruto had to work three times harder than everyone else but he did it. He graduated and showed everyone who didn’t think he could do it where to shove it. This boy probably didn’t even having people trying to sabotage him and he wanted to complain about how hard it was?

He stomped down the street, completely missing the way the other boy’s eyes followed him with wonder.

Sasuke sat in the training ground, legs crossed and chin propped up on one hand. He was supposed to be training but the puzzle that was one Uzumaki Naruto was occupying too much of his thoughts for him to concentrate.

He hadn’t anticipated much resistance when he’d started his investigation. Since he’d lost his family, everyone in the village had fallen over themselves to offer what empty promises and pointless assistance they thought would get them into his good books. He’d never accepted any of it. None of it would change what happened and Sasuke knew that they didn’t really do it for him; anyone who would have survived Itachi would have probably gotten the same treatment. No one cared about Sasuke; they only cared about the Uchiha.

That was why it had been almost refreshing to encounter someone like Naruto. He looked at him and saw Sasuke; it was infuriating in equal measures as the other boy refused to take him seriously. Naruto had a way of getting under his skin in a way no one else in the village had and they’d only met a few times. They would probably end up fighting when Sasuke tracked him down again but that only made him want to find him faster. No one brushed off Sasuke.

So he’d begun his quest to find out more about the blond…and had almost immediately encountered a wall. No one would talk and Sasuke knew for a damn fact that they knew what he was talking about. It was like no one wanted to acknowledge Naruto existed but Sasuke had seen the way they would talk about him when they thought he had left the vicinity. They knew who Naruto was and what’s more, they hated him. Sasuke had then started just eavesdropping since asking them directly was getting him nowhere.

‘Demon’ was the most common insult although Sasuke heard plenty more. The venom with which the villagers talked about the boy was startling and yet not a single one had outright said the reason why they all hated him. He’d found out about some of the pranks the blond had played but that shouldn’t have been enough to prompt this level of anger. The shinobi population were a lot more ambivalent but Sasuke suspected they knew he was there so who knows what they actually thought.

He had managed to find out that he was apprenticed to some jounin named ‘Maito Gai’. Sasuke had never heard of him but he did know how weird it was for a newly graduated genin to get apprenticed rather than put into the usual team of three. The genin from his graduating class were more than happy to tell Sasuke about how Naruto had been the dead-last and terrible at anything chakra-related. When he’d pressed to find out how he’d passed they’d suddenly clammed up. Apparently saying anything remotely positive about Naruto was too much for them to handle.

Sasuke scoffed and rose to his feet, brushing off his pants. He’d only managed to find more questions than answers about the genin. He understood the comment he’d made about knowing what it was like to be gossiped about a lot better but Sasuke still didn’t know why the village talked about Naruto like that. He couldn't think of anything that Naruto could have done to make a whole village turn against someone his age so strongly. It didn’t seem fair.

He still wanted to fight the other boy. Whatever the villager wanted to think wasn’t Sasuke’s problem. Someone who graduated early was exactly the sort of rival Sasuke needed to get stronger. Itachi was still out there and he was only falling further behind. The academy didn’t challenge him but he knew Naruto would. He had one mission in life and that was to kill his brother; he didn’t care what it took to get there. He would find Naruto again and make him fight so Sasuke could get stronger.

He had to get stronger.

Chapter Text

Gai stood next to his student before the Hokage, trying not to give away his excitement to his observant apprentice. Naruto would be delighted and Gai knew he was ready; his genin had truly blossomed since his graduation and his Youth was shining bright.

“We’re just waiting on the other team,” the Hokage said calmly, shuffling scrolls on his desk.

So maybe Naruto would not be delighted, but the prospect of leaving the village should outweigh his feelings about this genin team. It was agreed between himself, the Hokage and the other jounin-sensei that this would be good for all their students. Konoha was not a place where animosity could exist between fellow shinobi; this mission may help to break down the barriers between Naruto and his former classmates. His student had to be prepared to work with anyone and the same applied for the other genin. That was what made the Will of Fire so strong.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Hokage-sama,” a voice spoke up from the door behind them and Gai turned to smile brightly at Hayama.

He watched the other jounin shuffled his three genin into a line next to them and he could physically feel Naruto tense up at his side. He resisted the urge to clap his genin on his shoulder in comfort. He also could not help but note that the three genin looked as unhappy at this as his own.

“Now we are all here, we can get started,” the Hokage announced, handing a scroll over to Hayama. “This is your first C-rank for both teams so in the interest of safety, we are combining your teams for this mission. I understand there has been some tension between your teams in the past but that is irrelevant now. You are shinobi of Konoha and I expect you to uphold that standard. Do you understand?”

There was a chorus of ‘Yes, Hokage-sama’ from Team Five but Naruto just nodded.

“You are to deliver that letter to the Daiymo’s palace,” the Sandaime continued. “It is a standard delivery mission. Hand it to a member of the administrative team at the palace and return with their reply. There is no truly sensitive information enclosed, however, if you are ambushed and feel that you cannot defend it, destroy the letter. I do not expect you to run into this problem on a C-rank.”

Gai nodded at the underlying message.

“Your sensei will report on your conduct and efficiency during this mission,” the Hokage added with a stern glint in his dark eyes. “How this mission goes will weigh heavily in future assignments.”

There was a weighted silence before the man sat back in his chair.

“You are free to go.”

Gai bowed and left the office, Naruto trailing close behind. The minute the door shut, Naruto turned to him, arms crossed and expression sour.

“Is he serious?”

Before Gai could reply, one of the other genin spoke up.

“If you can’t control yourself, then maybe you should stay in the village,” the taller male genin said snidely.

“Like you’re ready, Kichi-teme,” Naruto smirked with a cruel twist Gai had never seen from his student. “Last I recall you pissed yourself when you thought you were under attack.”

The other genin turned a shade of purple but before they could continue, Hayama stepped in.

“Kichirou, that’s enough. This is exactly what cannot happen when we leave the village,” he said sternly. “Ren, Midori, I also expect better of you. You are shinobi of Konoha and need to act like it whoever you’re working with.”

Gai grinned brightly.

“I could not have said it better myself, Hayama-kun!” He proclaimed cheerfully, patting Naruto heavily on the back. “This is a wonderful opportunity for the genin to allow the Springtime of their Youth to blossom for all the world to see! The bonds between comrades will strengthen and the Will of Fire will burn brighter than ever!”

“If you say so, Gai,” Hayama grinned weakly back at him. “Should we meet at the front gate in an hour?”

Gai threw double thumbs up in response and Team Five left, leaving Gai with his apprentice.

“You finally get to leave the village, Naruto-kun! You can see the world!” Gai pointed out brightly, and the tension in Naruto’s shoulder that had been present since they saw Team Five finally started to dissipate.

“Yeah, I guess I do.” It was not quite a smile but Gai knew by now how to read his apprentice. “So gate in thirty?”

“We have an hour, Naruto-kun.”

“I am not taking the chance that they’ll leave without us and say we were late,” Naruto scoffed, starting to walk down the hall. “I’ll work with them, Gai-sensei, but Jiji didn’t say I had to trust them.”

Gai followed after his student. Naruto’s Youth really was blossoming wonderfully; six months ago he would not have even considered working with Team Five. He was making progress and Gai could barely keep himself from telling the whole village how proud he was. His student was ready for this.

Naruto bounced along the road, the looming walls of the Capital inching closer with every step. It had been an uneventful journey so far and his former classmates were just as happy to avoid him as he was them. Naruto opted to take up a position at the back of their formation and he hadn’t allowed them out of his sight. They were probably scheming something and while he had faith in his ability to deal with whatever feeble attempt they may make, he was outnumbered. He didn’t like being outnumbered.

He’d handled his own meals and had refused the offer from their jounin-sensei to join them for dinner. Gai had tried to encourage him but Naruto had managed to get away by offering to take the first watch. He hadn’t exactly slept when the other genin had been on watch but he had never needed much sleep. One of the perks of the damn fox he supposed.

The most important thing was that he was out of the village. He breathed in deeply; somehow the air felt different here. Better, fresher. He didn’t have to keep watch for disgruntled civilians. The people they had seen on their journey here had looked at them but not at him. No one cared who he was out here. He had imagining what the world was like outside of Konoha almost his whole life and he had to say that it was better than he imagined…mainly because he hadn’t really had a reference to imagine from but still. This was great. Not even Team Five could ruin this for him.

The walls of the capital loomed ever closer and Naruto let his eyes trail over the high stone walls. He could see what must be the palace peeking over the top of it in the distance somewhere. The trees on either side of the road that led to the city gates had started to thin out but were still thick enough that Naruto sometimes felt like they should have been named the Land of Trees rather than the Land of Fire. Traffic had picked up and civilians bustled around them, some alone, some with a group and a lot with various animals.

They finally reached the gates and Naruto hung back as Gai and Hayama spoke to the guards. He threw a filthy look at Kichi-teme as the other genin muttered ‘I’ll be surprised if they let the demon in’.

They were all ushered in soon enough and Naruto coughed as a wall of unfamiliar smells slammed into his sensitive nose. Some were familiar, he’d encountered them at the markets back in Konoha, but there were many that weren’t. There were a lot more people and stands and colour and noise and Naruto just stood there, taking it all in. This was amazing. He knew there was more out there but to be confronted with it, to realise just how much there could be, he never wanted to go back. If this place was this cool, then what would he see if he actually left the country?

Not only that, but no one knew who he was. Not a single person in the street in front of them turned to look in their direction. As they started to walk further into the city, the people that did catch his eye didn’t give him a second glance. Was this what it was like to be normal? Did other kids his age get to feel like this all the time?

“I miss Konoha already,” Ren muttered beneath his breath. “There are way too many people here.”

“Yeah, it feels like it would be so easy to get lost here,” Midori added quietly.

Naruto threw them an incredulous look. That was the best part! He turned to Gai and smiled wide, genuine in a way that he hadn’t felt in years.

“Thanks for this mission, Gai-sensei,” he beamed. His blue eyes were immediately drawn back to the bustling crowds so he missed Gai’s look of surprise.

“No problem, Naruto-kun!” His teacher clapped him on the shoulder. “It is wonderful to see your Youth shine so brightly in a new place!”

Naruto was so busy taking in his surroundings he didn’t acknowledge his sensei’s words. He also ignored Team Five’s unimpressed looks in his direction. They’d walked a far bit into the city, heading in the direction of the massive palace in the distance when Naruto’s sensitive ears picked up a commotion. He wandered off in that direction until he found the source. He frowned as he spotted three teenagers hassling an elderly vendor. The crowd around them was happy to just walk by and ignore the situation.

At least this was familiar. There had been many a time that the villagers of Konoha would look away from his own mistreatment, oftentimes at the hands of people that looked exactly like these boys. The sight boiled his blood and popped his happy bubble. People were still shit no matter where he was then. He couldn’t stop himself from moving forward to stop one of the boy’s fists from smashing more of the vendor’s stuff.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” The boy snarled, dark eyes glaring down at Naruto. “It isn’t your place to intervene. Do you know who I am?”

Naruto hated that phrase. ‘His place’. Everyone seemed to be of the opinion that his fucking place was below theirs and apparently there was nothing he could do about it. He personally thought they could shove that idea up their entitled asses.

“A shithead,” he answered the boy’s question and shoved him back, forcing the older teen to stumble. He crossed his arms as he glared at the trio. “Fuck off and leave the old man alone. Haven’t you got anything better to do?”

He was pretty sure they were civilians so he wasn’t allowed to do any real damage to them, but fortunately they were easy to scare. This is one of those times wearing his hitai-ate would have been handy.

“Naruto-kun!”

Gai came around the corner and Naruto smirked at the trio of dickheads as they spotted the hitai-ate around his teacher’s waist. He watched the leader debate within himself, before taking the coward’s route.

“This isn’t over!” He snarled. “I am going to tell my father all about the abuse I suffered at the hands of Konoha shinobi.”

He shoved his two accomplices back and they soon disappeared into the crowd. Gai walked over to join him with a big bushy eyebrow raised. Naruto feigned ignorance and turned back to the vendor, picking up his wares from where they had been scattered.

“Thank you, young shinobi,” the man smiled at him. “They like to cause trouble around this neighbourhood. Their fathers are nobility so there is little we can do about it. You have a kind heart.”

Naruto smiled weakly, unsure whether he should tell the man the real reason he came to help. It was more that he wanted to spite the bullies rather than help the victim. He would not be making a habit of helping strangers; he had too many problems of his own.

“My wonderful apprentice has a heart of gold!” Gai grinned brightly, holding out a thumbs up. “He is a wonderful example of Youth and he is blooming majestically for the whole world to see!”

Naruto resisted the urge to face palm. He translated that statement to know that Gai was happy with his actions by why couldn’t the jounin ever just say things without using the word youth?

“I am Arata Taichi,” the vendor introduced himself, bowing his head.

“I am Maito Gai, Konoha’s Sublime Green Beast of Prey!” His teacher posed proudly. “This is my young apprentice, Uzumaki Naruto!”

Naruto rolled his eyes and shoved the last of the stuff onto the table before hooking his teacher’s elbow.

“Come on, Gai-sensei, the Daimyo is expecting us and Team Five is totally going to ditch us. Later, Arata-san.”

He threw a half-hearted wave behind him, missing the man’s reaction to the name Uzumaki.

Naruto tried not to fidget as they waited for the Daimyo to arrive. Gai kept looking at him with proud tears in his eyes and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could take it. He had half a mind to go out and kick a puppy or something to make his teacher stop looking at him like that.

“Welcome, Konoha,” a man said as he entered from a side door, moving to take a seat on the Daimyo’s seat. “I believe you have something for me.”

Hayama stepped forward to hand over the letter, head bowed. Naruto observed the leader of their country. He wasn’t much. He was old like Jiji with small, hooded eyes and a thin mouth. The rest of his head was covered with a black cloth, with a white fan resting on top of his head pointing towards the ceiling. Naruto wondered how they stopped that from falling off. What if he bent over to pick something up? Did the Daimyo even pick things up from the floor?

His trail of thought had apparently caused him to miss the Daimyo actually reading the letter. The man folded it up carefully.

“Tell the Hokage, I agree.”

Naruto blinked. Was that it? What was even the question? He hadn’t expected anything too important since it was only a C-rank mission but they came all the way here for just a ‘yes’? Naruto shrugged off those thoughts easily enough; any reason to leave Konoha was a good reason in his book.

He followed Hayama’s and Gai’s example and bowed low to the man, making their way back to door behind them. Apparently it was rude to turn your back on the Daimyo. Naruto thought it was a dumb rule but adults had loads of dumb rules. What was one more? The massive doors closed and they were lead to the entrance of the palace.

“We’ll head back tomorrow morning, but you have the afternoon to explore the city a bit,” Hayama said. “I trust you to stay safe and make good decisions. I don’t want any incidents.”

For some reason he looked directly at Naruto when he said that.

“The Capital should be relatively safe for you but keep an eye out anyway. I expect you back at these gates at sundown, okay?”

Team Five chorused their understanding while Naruto looked Gai. His jounin-sensei gave him a thumbs up.

“You have earned this, Naruto-kun!” He grinned. “Enjoy the full potential of your Youth and live with no regrets!”

Naruto rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the fond smile as he turned away from his sensei to head into the city. Team Five walked along with them and Naruto resisted the urge to fuck off; he could stand their presence until they were out of Gai’s sight. He could do this for Gai.

“Hey, why is your jounin-sensei so fucking trashy?”

They had just turned out of sight of their teachers and Kichi-teme opens his big fucking mouth.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Naruto narrows his eyes.

“I mean, I knew your jounin-sensei had to be garbage,” sneered the older boy. “Why else would they give him you after all, but seriously? Is he sick in the head or something?”

“Gai-sensei is one of the best jounin in the whole village,” Naruto hissed venomously.

“Yeah, but that spandex? The haircut? The whole spiels about Youth? There is something wrong with him,” Ren added gleefully. “He’s perfect for you. No other student could stand him long enough to learn anything.”

Naruto stopped, feeling his nails dig into his palms. He could take them talking shit about him; well, maybe not take it, as he had proven before with his pranks but he knew how to deal with it. It was expected. He had not expected them to go after Gai-sensei. Gai didn’t deserve for people to talk shit about him. He…he liked Naruto. He was proud of Naruto. He didn’t try to change him or get at him for being a little brat he just…accepted him. No one had ever done that before.

“You really think that putting people down is going to get you anywhere?” he said quietly, drawing the attention of the genin. He continued before Kichi-teme could interrupt him. “You really think you’re going to be anything?”

He glared at them, the words spilling past his lips like poison.

“Yeah, I am the demon brat, but guess what? I fucking matter,” he took a step forward. “I am going to be remembered. I am going to be someone. Not because things were handed to me but because I grabbed them with my own two hands. I am going to build my future into one that I can be proud of! What the fuck are you going to be? None of you are going to make it past chunin; the best you can hope for is to become one of the hundreds of faceless chunins, and either die for the village or fade into obscurity.”

His volume rose.

“You don’t even work hard! You will never be jounin because that would mean stepping outside your fucking comfort zone! You are going to go through the rest of your life being only good enough. You are never going to matter. You are going to live your little lives and pass from this world with nothing more than a whimper.”

He hadn’t noticed when he’d stepped into their faces. He didn’t notice how pale they had become. All he could feel was the indignation, the rage.

“So yeah, you can make fun of me. You can make fun of Gai-sensei. You can feel really fucking good about yourselves because that is only for right now. You know, deep fucking down, that I am going to leave you and the rest of our godforsaken class in the fucking dirt. You know that we were never the fucking same; I was born to be great and you were born to be my fucking back story.”

He turned on his heel, unable to look at their faces for a second longer. He stomped his way through the city street, the crowd parting for him. He didn’t even know where he was going, just away from them. Why did it have to be so hard just to be himself? Why couldn’t people just leave him alone? All he wanted was to just live without people feeling like they had to shit on him to make themselves feel good. Why was that so hard?

“You’re the Uzumaki!”

He stopped short as he looked up from the road to see the vendor from earlier that day.

“Um, Arata-san?”

The man’s green eyes sparkled as he ushered Naruto to follow him. Naruto was too surprised to anything but follow.

“I have been waiting around the Daimyo’s residence for you,” the man said, his cane clacking against the stone below them. “I couldn’t allow you to leave the Capital without speaking to you first.”

“Arata-san, you don’t have to. I didn’t really help you,” Naruto tried to tell him but the old man wasn’t having it.

“Hush now child, and just follow me. You are an Uzumaki, correct? Which parent?”

“My mom?” Naruto answered hesitantly.

“Excellent, excellent,” Arata said as they finally came back to his stall. “I have something that belongs to you.”

Naruto had no idea what this man was talking about. He didn’t lose anything in the capital for it to be returned to him. His green backpack had been firmly closed the entire time he’s been in the city.

“Many years ago, shortly after the fall of Uzushio I met a man named Uzumaki Ashina. He said he was named for a past Uzukage. He was wounded and I took him in, helped him heal and hid him from the like of Kumo and Iwa,” his eyes grew soft. “I fell very much in love with him and he with me. We couldn’t continue the clan line and he died almost ten years ago now. He left me these and I promised that I would pass them onto the next Uzumaki I met. He was not optimistic, believing his clan to be gone.”

He finally hauled a duffel bag from the cart behind his stall and dumped it on the table, gesturing for Naruto to come look. Naruto walked forward slowly, spotting a couple of swords and some scrolls. Arata picked up one and offered it to him.

“They were masters of fuinjutsu, you know. Place a drop of your blood onto that seal there.”

Naruto just looked at the man incredulously before playing along. There was no fucking way. He bit his finger and watched the blood fall onto the seal. There was a burst of light before the thing unfurled, revealing different kenjutsu katas.

“You really are an Uzumaki,” Arata whispered with tears in his eyes. “Take it all. It is yours.”

“Arata-san, I can’t…”

“You will. These are heirlooms of the Uzumaki clan. They need to be with a member of that clan,” he smiled sadly. “I believe our meeting today was fate; maybe it was my Ashina allowing me to fulfil my promise or the gods themselves, but you were meant to have these, Uzumaki Naruto.”

Naruto struggled for words. He’d never had an heirloom before. He wasn’t allowed any of his parents stuff since it was a big secret and all. He belonged to a clan, a real clan, one he’d resigned himself to having lost before he was even born.

“Thank you, Arata-san,” he bowed in a rare moment of complete sincerity. “I will treasure these for the rest of my life.”

Sasuke stomped into the training ground, his target sitting innocently in the middle reading scrolls. Wearing that obnoxious orange, it was a wonder Sasuke had taken so long to find him.

“You!”

Naruto looked up and he rolled his eyes. Rolled his eyes at Sasuke! As if he was the problem!

“Where the fuck have you been?”

“What do you mean where have I been?” Naruto lowered his scroll. “Why were you even looking?”

“You are going to be my training partner,” Sasuke stated, pointing right into the dobe’s stupid face.

“Oh man, this again?” Naruto fell back into the grass.

Sasuke scowled and walked so was standing directly above him.

“You have to train with me,” he restated, holding eye contact with the genin. “Teach me how to walk up walls.”

“Why me?” Naruto raised a blond eyebrow up at him. “I am literally the last choice for pretty much every person in this village.”

“Everyone else is dumb,” Sasuke said firmly, and this caused Naruto to sit up. The blond stared at him for a long moment before patting the grass beside him. Sasuke sat down gracefully, crossing his arms. “You graduated three years early. You are the only person my age who could probably keep up with me.”

“I’m the only person your age who could beat you is what you mean,” Naruto grinned.

Sasuke just glared at him. Naruto sighed heavily.

“Fine, but I have conditions.”

“Hn.”

“You can get into place I can’t,” he began. “You can also get the good prices, so you’re going to buy my groceries and weapons. I’ll give you the money.”

“I’m not going to be your fucking errand boy!”

Naruto held up a hand.

“I would do it myself but it costs like double and they’re starting to catch onto my henge.”

That didn’t make any sense to Sasuke but the blond continued before he could ask.

“Also I want to make it clear that we are not friends, got it? So if a guy with silver hair or one in green spandex asks, we don’t know each other, got it? They absolutely cannot find out about this. They would never let me live it down.”

Sasuke scoffed. He didn’t need friends and it wasn’t like he was going to be admitting to training with Naruto with anyone. If anything, Naruto should be the one bragging.

“This is a business arrangement at most. You don’t have seniority on me so demanding isn’t going to do shit. Just ask like a normal human being ‘cause if you come in ordering me, odds are I am going to do the opposite. I can walk away at any time so demanding ain’t going to do shit. Got it?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes but nodded. He would take it. Getting stronger was the only thing that mattered and if he had to put up with this blond idiot to do it, he would. He blinked at the outstretched hand, taking it after a moment.

“Looks like we have a deal, partner,” Naruto grinned and Sasuke rolled his eyes even harder. This better be worth it.

Naruto breathed in the biting night air, watching the lanterns rise above the village into the night sky. The end of another year; it was a pretty good year he would say. He graduated from the academy, met Gai-sensei, left the village for the first time. Even Kakashi and Sasuke weren’t so bad.

He pulled the black duffel closer. He had spent many nights just looking at his family’s swords, trying to imagine his relatives swinging them around. He wanted to learn, he had the katas, but something made him hesitate. He wanted to do it right; he wanted to honour his family. He didn’t want to screw this up. He already had so little from his ancestors.

Kenjutsu would work so well with his bloodline limit. He had mentioned the swords to Gai when they’d met back up in the Capital. The man had said that the blooming of his Youth had been rewarded. Naruto had just rolled his eyes.

He would talk to Gai tomorrow about starting sword training. This was a new year; one step closer to his goals. He’d had a taste of freedom and was more determined than ever to make it more permanent.

He had a lot of work to do this year.

Chapter Text

Naruto ran across the rooftops of Konoha, feeling as though he was flying. This was his favourite time of day. Early morning, the village hadn’t quite woken up yet, so it was just him, the crisp morning air and the occasional shinobi. He slid down the slope of a roof, leaping to the next with a wide grin on his face.

It had been two years since he had been apprenticed to Gai and his life had started to change for the better. He still didn’t have a great relationship with the village and he was as determined as ever to leave, but he liked the life he had built at present. He didn’t even have to talk to the civilians with the way things were now. Sasuke was still very reluctantly getting his groceries for him, making sure to voice his displeasure at the task every single time, and Naruto pretty much lived on the rooftops at this point. He could barely remember the last time he’d had to walk through the streets themselves without Gai accompanying him.

They hadn’t tried to force a team on him yet either. He was aware he would need one to be allowed to participate in the chunin exams, but Gai had insisted he wait and build his skills first. Naruto wasn’t thrilled about the delay but he knew there were teams that would need an extra body to attend the exams this year. This was going to be his year. He could feel it. He was already pretty much a chunin anyway; he was on exclusively C-rank missions and while he only rarely got to leave the village, it was worlds better than the D-ranks. He knew the village and the surrounding lands like the back of his hand at this point with how many patrols he had done. He had even managed to avoid doing too many D-ranks; he’d had maybe five in the past year and it had been totally worth it. He wasn’t about to let people talk shit about Gai.

It gave him time to work on his kenjutsu. He had started working with his clan’s swords last January and he felt like he had a pretty good handle on them now. He still had a long way to go but they no longer felt wrong in his hands. He’d read that the best swordsman always said their weapon felt like an extension of their arm rather than something they wield in their hand. He had also discovered that the swords were meant to be used as a duo; that was a steep learning curve. Learning to use one was enough of a challenge but he was determined to master this style. He owed to his clan. His taijutsu and physical conditioning had come a long way too but that was no surprise with Gai as a teacher.

Kakashi had given him a couple more ninjutsu but it still wasn’t Naruto’s favourite speciality. He had been trying to talk the jounin into teaching him ninjutsu he could use with his swords. The man had insisted that he learned how to use the swords first. Naruto was forced to agree after he managed to slice open his own leg during practice. His bloodline limit hadn’t evolved very much but Kakashi said that it would grow with him. Naruto knew that his eyes were only as useful as the rest of his skills so he tried not to bother himself about his lack of progress.

Another development over the past year was Sasuke. He had kept up his end of the deal and had taught the Uchiha how to tree-walk. To Naruto’s annoyance, the academy student had picked it up a lot quicker than he had. He felt a little better after showing him water-walking; something about Sasuke looking like a drowned, disgruntled cat was enough to make him smile. He had also managed to learn some things from the Uchiha which he hadn’t expected. The Uchiha taijutsu style was very interesting and very different than what he was learning from Gai.

He hopped off the edge of a building, landing lightly onto the dirt beneath him. Gai had said to meet him at the Hokage’s office and he hoped it was for the reason he was thinking. He was overdue to go to the chunin exams.

Gai hadn’t changed in the slighted in the last year and Naruto liked that about him. He was still in the same outfit, still making dumb poses, still yelling at the top of his lungs about the power of Youth, still challenging himself in the weirdest ways. Naruto honestly thought he was the best jounin-sensei in Konoha. The man still tried to talk Naruto into matching his outfit though and he was not having that. He may adore his teacher, but he could also acknowledge that he was a super fucking weirdo. He says that in the fondest way possible; only he and Kakashi were allowed to say that about Gai too. He will and has fought people that have insulted his teacher’s quirks.

He still hadn’t been able to figure out Gai and Kakashi’s whole rivalry thing. He’d had front row seats to most of their challenges and some of them couldn’t even be qualified as challenges as far as he could see. They were keeping score but the one and only time Naruto had asked what the prize at the end was, he’d gotten two blank looks back. He just decided to leave them to it. It made Gai happy at the very least.

He nodded at the chunin guards as he passed them into the building. The shinobi population have always been a bit more dismissive than outright hostile was some exceptions. Something had changed since he’d graduated the academy though. Instead of the demon brat or little shit or any of the names he had been bestowed over the years, they all just referred to him as Gai’s student. That was a huge improvement in his book.

He took a moment to knock on the Hokage’s door, entering before they had a chance to answer. This was it; he knew it. This was going to be the moment when they would tell him he was going to the chunin exams. He was so ready.

Hiruzen watched Naruto enter and walk up to stand in front of his desk. He really had grown so much since his assignment to Gai.

He had grown at least five to six inches in height and Hiruzen could see him being as tall as Minato one day, even if he still only barely reached Gai’s chest. His blond hair had been cut short on the sides of his head but kept slightly longer on top; he did recall the boy talking about length bothering him the last time he was in for a mission. He had kept the black trousers, sandals and bandages keeping them tied at the bottom on his legs, but his orange sleeveless hoodie had been wrecked on one of his patrols. It was too much to hope the genin would give up on orange altogether. He wore a bright orange t-shirt instead, with a black sleeveless hoodie over it. Bracers covered his forearms and reinforced fingerless gloves already looked worn with use. He had heard of Naruto’s tendency to destroy wooden posts in training exercises. The Uzumaki spiral was displayed prominently between his shoulder blades, hidden beneath the swords strapped across his back.

Blue eyes looked determined back at him. Hiruzen didn’t know if it was easy or difficult to remember the boy was still only eleven. On one hand, he was by far one of the most capable genin in the village; on the other, he still had a habit of pranking people. The threat of D-ranks had deterred the genin but not enough to stop him entirely. It was curbed enough to protect him from more serious repercussions at the very least.

“Naruto-kun, it is nice to see you.”

“Hi, Jiji,” the genin said and Hiruzen could see the expectation in his blue eyes.

He knew exactly what Naruto was expecting from this meeting and he sighed. It was time to let him down gently.

“Naruto-kun, you will not be attending the chunin exams this year either.”

Naruto’s grin feel off his face and Hiruzen could sense him clam up.

“Why?” he asked shortly.

“The exams are being held in Iwa this year,” Hiruzen replied gravely. “I do not think I need to tell you why you should not be attending these exams. No one from Konoha will be going. I am sorry, but you will need to wait until next year.”

He could see Naruto’s fists clench but it could not be helped.

“You know, Jiji, you have never actually told me why I cannot go to Iwa specifically. Is there some special reason?”

Hiruzen shot the boy a sharp look. He understood he was frustrated that he could not earn a promotion for another year but he was treading into territory best left alone. He knew that Naruto knew who his parents were but he also knew the boy would keep it to himself. It was a better kept secret than that of the Kyūbi and Hiruzen had every intention of keeping it that way. Konoha, and Iwa for that matter, were not ready to learn the Yellow Flash had a son. He hadn’t wanted Naruto to know until he was ready but the genin had figured it out at some point.

“That is enough, Naruto,” he scolded. “That is not why I brought you here today.”

He took a deep breath and looked at Gai, the jounin strangely silent during their exchange.

“The new class graduate next week and I wanted to ask you if you would take on a team.”

Gai grinned widely at him.

“Hokage-sama, I already have one wonderfully Youthful genin!” he gestured dramatically to still sulking Naruto. “I could not possible part with him before his journey as a genin reaches its conclusion and my student flourishes in the Springtime of his Youth!”

“I am not asking you to end your apprenticeship,” Hiruzen reassured. “Naruto will remain your apprentice until he passes the chunin exams. You would be taking on a team alongside him.”

“I didn’t think that was allowed,” Naruto spoke up, narrowed eyes boring into Hiruzen.

“Under normal circumstance, it would not,” Hiruzen nodded, leaning back into his chair. “However, you are very advanced for your age and rank, Naruto. You can undertake your patrols and C-ranks alone and I have every confidence in you as an individual operative. You will not leave the village unaccompanied but you can operate within the village limits independently. You will still train with Gai but perhaps not to the same extent.”

“So basically I’m a chunin without the actual rank?”

Hiruzen ignored that to speak directly to Gai.

“I have seen how successful you have been with Naruto and I feel that there are other students in the village that would benefit from your tutelage. Naruto is ready to become a chunin and while it is unfortunate, that cannot happen yet. That does not mean that other genin should lose out on a good teacher.”

The jounin turned to Naruto.

“I will leave it up to you, Naruto-kun!” Gai sent thumbs up to his genin. “You are my student, first and foremost! You are my priority!”

Hiruzen watched Naruto finally melt from the sulky stance he’d taken up since being told about the chunin exams. The genin was still resistant to teamwork and reportedly a bit standoffish on missions but Hiruzen didn’t doubt that he cared about Gai a great deal. On any given day, if someone wanted Naruto to do something Gai needed to be the one to ask.

“I think you should take another team, Gai-sensei,” Naruto finally admitted. “You are the best teacher in Konoha. I think you would like more students. More people to spread the Youth to.”

Hiruzen watched the tears well up in Gai’s eyes and promptly decided he did not want to deal with what was about to occur.

“Thank you, I will put your name down, Gai,” he said quickly. “You may both go.”

Gai grabbed Naruto and pulled him into a bear hug, tears streaming down his face and mumbling about Youth. He walked out of the office with the genin still firmly trapped in his arms. Hiruzen caught sight of Naruto’s look of regret just as the door shut behind them.

Naruto flopped down onto the grass of the training ground, dumping his swords beside him as he let out a dramatic groan. He thought he would never escape. He was pretty sure the jounin had bruised some ribs though they had probably healed by now so he couldn’t prove it. He made a mental note to never mention Youth within earshot of Gai ever again. It was not worth it. He didn’t care how happy it made the man. Never again.

“What are you whining about now?”

Sasuke’s stupid face appeared above him, smirking down at him in a way that Naruto was far too familiar with by now.

“Guess who isn’t going to the chunin exams this year?” He grumbled back, sitting up as Sasuke sat himself down beside him.

“At this rate we’re going to be taking them at the same time,” Sasuke sniped and Naruto sent an unimpressed glare his way. “They say why?”

“It’s in Iwa this year,” Naruto rolled his eyes. “Apparently they still have a bunch of murderous feelings about us left over from the Third War. I personally think it would be an even better test for who makes chunin but stupid Jiji said no one’s going.”

“So you’re stuck doing the same genin shit another year?”

“Yup.”

“Hn.”

“What is ‘hn’ supposed to mean?”

“Hn.”

“Gods, I fucking hate you sometimes.”

Sasuke shoved him over and Naruto let himself fall, staring up at the passing clouds. He and Sasuke had kept to their arrangement that they’d made over a year ago now. They met up once a week to train and for Naruto receive his groceries. He would never admit it out loud but he had sort of come to maybe not hate these meet-ups with Sasuke. The Uchiha gave as good as he got. He also didn’t slow Naruto down; he actually picked up techniques stupidly fast. It was very annoying.

He had miraculously managed to stop Gai and Kakashi from finding out too. It had been tricky, especially in the beginning, but he had settled into a routine with it. He knew it wasn’t as big a deal as he was making it out to be but after this long it had become a point of pride. Gai would have been thrilled but Kakashi wouldn’t shut up about it if he knew. It was just easier for no one to know. Sasuke was even more eager than him to keep it secret. The great Uchiha could not be found to be training with a mere genin after all; least of all the village pariah.

Saying that, they’d found themselves training outside of the agreed weekly schedule. There was an unspoken rule that that neither of them could acknowledge that they were hanging outside of the designated training times and Naruto was not about to lose that game. It would ruin what they had going for them; a half decent training partner that they could be an ass to without any real backlash. Naruto didn’t want to give that up. This didn’t mean they were friends; Sasuke was just slightly more tolerable than other people his age.

“So are you just going to mope or are we going to do something today?”

Naruto sighed heavily.

“Maybe I will just mope,” he sniped back, putting his hands behind his head in a show of getting comfortable. “It’s hard work being a shinobi. You academy students wouldn’t understand.”

He closed his eyes, waiting for Sasuke to make his move. He heard the other boy move away in silence but Naruto didn’t dare open an eye. He could not show weakness. It wasn’t until he felt the warmth over his skin that he realised what Sasuke was doing.

“What the fuck, you fucking asshole! Why are you shooting your katon techniques at me?”

“Hn,” Sasuke replied with a smirk, knowing that he’d won this round.

“Oh, you asked for it,” Naruto snarled, drawing his swords and stalking towards the Uchiha.

If Sasuke wanted to train, Naruto would train. If the Uchiha got slightly maimed, then that was his problem. He started it. Naruto was not having fun. He was not.

Naruto reluctantly dragged his feet to the academy building. He had no idea why this was classified as a C-rank; he personally called bullshit. He didn’t see how hauling all the supplies for the graduation exam next week to the building warranted the rank. He secretly thought that Jiji was doing it to punish him for something but he couldn’t think of anything he’d done lately.

“It’s you!”

Naruto groaned. It was never a good thing when people recognised him. He walked a bit quicker, hoping they would just give up. It worked on the drunk ones.

“Wait! Please!”

Naruto tightened his grip on the new target boards. This is why he stuck to the rooftops. No one bothered him on the rooftops. He turned slowly to see a tall boy bouncing towards him…smiling? That was ominous.

“I have being trying to find you,” the boy beamed as he stopped into front of Naruto.

He was tall, with round, dark eyes and black hair tied back in a braid. Something nudged at the back of Naruto’s mind but he ignored it.

“Look, whatever you think I did, I didn’t,” Naruto rolled his eyes. “So you are just going to have to get over whatever it is and leave me alone…”

“No! I wanted to thank you!” The boy insisted, his large round eyes far more earnest than Naruto was comfortable with.

“Thank me for what?” Naruto placed the boards on his hip, confused. He didn’t remember this guy.

“You are the one who inspired me to work my hardest for the exam!” The boy’s eyes sparkled and he leaned forward. Naruto leaned away. “I have done nothing but work on my taijutsu since we last met and I have every confidence I am going to pass the exam this week! I owe it all to you!”

Naruto racked his brain. When had he done that? He didn’t even like talking to people his age, never mind ‘inspiring’ anyone. The only person he even spoke to was Sasuke and there was nothing inspiring about that; he was more likely to call the other boy an ass and call it a day.

“What?” He couldn’t help but ask.

The boy’s smile dimmed a bit.

“You don’t remember me?”

Naruto squinted at him. Had he met this guy before? He was pretty sure he would remember someone with eyebrows like that. They looked just like Gai’s. The academy student looked back him with disappointment and Naruto frowned. He was more than familiar with that expression; he didn’t think it was fair that he didn’t know what he’d done to cause it though.

“No,” he said shortly, raising an eyebrow.

The boy shook his head, forcing a smile back onto his face.

“No matter! I did not introduce myself the last we met! The fault is mine!” The boy bowed low. “I am Rock Lee! I cannot use chakra and so I feared I would fail the final exam, but I met you and you told me to stop limiting myself and to try my best regardless of my situation. That was me holding myself back, not my lack of chakra!”

Naruto blinked. That didn’t sound like something he would say. That sounded more like Gai.

“Cool, good for you,” Naruto hefted the target boards into a firmer grip. “Sounds like I gave some good advice. Now if you’re done, I’ve got to get this done so…bye.”

Naruto turned and waved a hand to the boy behind him. That was weird. He was definitely sure he would never say something like Lee was describing; maybe the academy student had confused him for someone else? But that didn’t make much sense considering he didn’t look like anyone in the village. The bright blond hair, the whisker marks on his cheeks and the orange usually gave him away.

He stopped and sighed. This was Gai’s bad influence, he knew it was.

“Hey, if you’re serious about taijutsu you should lose the braid. It’s a massive weakness; anyone could grab it and use it against you,” he called behind him.

He didn’t turn to look, cursing Gai in his head. He would never have said that before he was apprenticed to Gai. He had been more than happy keeping to himself, avoiding people and telling them to go fuck themselves. His teacher was a terrible influence. He made a mental note to avoid this Rock Lee in the future; he didn’t need the hassle.

Genma downed the cup of coffee the minute it was placed on the table in front of him. He hated night shift. He hated the adjustment back to daytime hours even more. Raidou had kicked him out of the flat, stating that the fresh air would do him some good. Genma knew that was code for ‘you are being insufferable and I need a break from you’. He couldn’t hold it against the older man; he was insufferable after night shift.

Ebisu sat stiffly across from him, eyeing him with disapproval.

“You are a shinobi of Konoha, Genma. Have some sense of decorum.”

Genma just groaned, dropping his head onto the table. He should have just cancelled; he didn’t know if he had the energy of meeting up with his old genin team today. Gai was due any moment and he already had a headache building up behind his eyes. Maybe he should pull a Kakashi and just find a tree somewhere.

It had just taken ages to get the two back on speaking terms. Ebisu was stubborn in his dislike of Naruto and Gai wouldn’t hear of anything negative about his student. It had made for a stressful few months for Genma who had to mediate between the pair. Choza-sensei had refused to get involved, stating that his involvement in their team drama ended when they became chunins. Genma thought the man was being a coward but he couldn’t blame the Clan Head; Gai could be scary when he wasn’t his normal, happy self.

“My fellow team, what a most wonderful morning!”

Genma groaned louder, failing in his attempt to sink into the wooden table. He loved the guy, he really did after knowing him for so long, but he was so tired. He’d never seen Gai tired; he wouldn’t understand the pain of the normal folk.

“You are usually the first to arrive, Gai,” Ebisu raised an eyebrow.

“Ah, yes!” Gai boomed, his laughter carrying all the way down the street. “My beloved student mastered a most challenging kata in his kenjutsu today! He is a most wondrous example of Youth and I shall strive to keep up with his shining example!”

Ebisu’s face soured and Genma kicked him beneath the table. He did not make that much of an effort for Ebisu to screw this up. The man should be able to keep his mouth shut at least for a little while. He didn’t even get his problem with Naruto; Genma thought the kid was pretty good. He had never really cared about the whole Kyūbi thing. He trusted Minato-sama’s work and he knew most jounin his age did too. The kid was a bit grumpy and crass, but he cared about Gai. That was enough for Genma.

“That’s great Gai,” Genma yawned. “Hey, can you get me, like, three more coffees?”

“That much caffeine is terrible for you!” Gai turned to dramatically point at him. “Your vitality and Youth is enough to keep your spirits up!”

Genma just stared at him for a long moment.

“That’s just you, Gai-sensei.”

The three of them turned in unison towards the voice. Naruto stood nearby, arms crossed with a playful smirk on his face. It looked identical to Kushina’s; now that was a bit of a wake-up call. He’d grown a few inches since Genma had last seen him. He’s shaved the sides of his head and added a couple of swords to his back. He looked good, stronger, less…angry than when he’d barged into the Jounin Standby station.

He saw Ebisu’s shoulders rise in irritation and cut in before the uptight man could say something stupid.

“Thank the gods someone said it,” he grinned at the genin. “I think Gai is the only one who doesn’t appreciate the miracle of caffeine.”

Naruto looked back at him warily but he lacked the outright hostility from before. Gai had really made a big difference with him. Genma was glad to see it. Konoha hadn’t been there for the kid, but he hoped the genin was starting to see that they weren’t against him. The jounin and chunin weren’t anyway.

“Yeah, but can you imagine Gai on caffeine?” Naruto pointed out and Genma felt a level of horror he’d only experienced during the war.

“Gai, promise me you will never drink coffee,” Genma shot up from his seat and grabbed Gai’s shoulders, shaking him dramatically. “Gai, you have to promise me! PROMISE!”

Gai just laughed boisterously and Genma felt his panic start to rise even higher. That wasn’t an answer; that wasn’t an answer!

“Anyway, Gai-sensei I just came to say I can’t make the training tonight,” Naruto shrugged, as if he hasn’t just suggested an idea that will haunt Genma’s dreams at least for the next month. “They have me setting up the shit for the academy exams tomorrow. I have tried to get out of it but Jiji ain’t budging.”

“That is excellent, Naruto-kun,” Gai threw an enthusiastic thumbs up at his genin. “You will be aiding in the blooming of the next generation’s Springtime of Youth!”

“That’s one way to put it,” Naruto huffed, rolling his eyes. “I would call it the dumbest task ever. I’ll see you at lunchtime tomorrow at the usual training ground. Tell Kakashi to bring some better jutsu than last time.”

Naruto turned and starting walking down the street, waving lazily over his shoulder. Genma let go of Gai, slowly sitting back onto the bench.

Well, at least he was awake now.

Chapter Text

Tenten tried not to fidget as she waited nervously for her name to be called. She’d done it; she’d graduated the academy as the top kunoichi and now she would be starting her journey as a genin. The thought of all the weapons she could master made her drool slightly but she held it together. She had to find out who her teammates were first.

“Team Nine will be Hyūga Neji, Hagane Tenten and Rock Lee. Your sensei will be Maito Gai.”

She bounced up from her seat. Neji was the top shinobi this year! He was a super strong teammate to have. Lee was the dead last this year but she’d seen him in the taijutsu exam. He was no joke either. She’d never heard of Maito Gai but she already had high hopes for this team. It was probably going to be more taijutsu focused going by the skill set of her new teammates but that suited Tenten just fine. Oh, what if Gai-sensei was a weapons expert? That would be amazing!

Her thoughts were interrupted by a large man slamming the door open, bounding in with a big smile and boisterous laugh. Her brain stopped for a moment as she took in the tight, green spandex, orange leg warmers and bowl cut; what in Konoha’s green earth?

“Team Nine! Follow me to truly flourish in the Springtime of your Youth!”

Tenten shared a look with Neji at the man’s statement but she followed him out the door anyway. He did say Team Nine although she didn’t know what he meant by youth. Maybe because they were genin?

She had to jog to keep up with the man as he strode in the direction of the training grounds. They finally stopped in one and Tenten stood next to her teammates, watching the man with anticipation.

“Welcome, Team Nine!” His voice boomed across the empty training ground. “I will be your sensei, Maito Gai! I am blessed to be teaching such wonderful and Youthful genin such as yourselves and I look forward to working together to reach the Springtime of our Youth!”

He grinned brightly, hands on his hips as he looked down at them. Tenten smiled back awkwardly. This wasn’t exactly what she was expecting from her jounin-sensei. What did the whole Youth thing mean?

“I am honoured, Gai-sensei!” Lee yelled from beside her and she winced at the volume. “I look forward to working my hardest and blossoming into the best version of Lee I can possibly be!”

“Such Youth!” Gai cried and…were those real tears?

Tenten looked desperately at Neji to make sure she wasn’t the only sane one here. Neji was always a bit stoic but even she could tell he was just as bewildered as she was.

“Now!” Gai announced, clapping his hands together excitedly. “Everyone introduce themselves! Your name, specialty and your goals as a shinobi!”

“I’m Rock Lee!” Lee yelled before Tenten or Neji had a chance to respond. “I specialise in taijutsu and my goal is to become the greatest taijutsu master in Konoha!”

“What a wonderful goal, Lee!” Gai threw him thumbs up. “As Konoha’s Sublime Green Beast of Prey, I will do my utmost to help you achieve your goal and reach the pinnacle of your Youth!”

“Gai-sensei!”

“Lee!”

Tenten watched the pair in horror. Is this what she was going to have to live with from now on? Sure, her teammates were pretty strong but she didn’t relish having to watch this display every day. Gai turned and pointed dramatically at Neji.

“You!”

Neji stared back, his blank, pale eyes staring back at their sensei with the opposite level of enthusiasm Lee had shown.

“Hyūga Neji, taijutsu,” he said flatly. “My goals do not matter as my path in life has already been predetermined.”

“You’re wrong!” Lee pointed a finger in his face. “Nothing is decided; only our hard work can determine our future!”

Neji looked at him, unimpressed.

“With your limitations, your goal is impossible,” he folded his arms. “Your birth has already dictated your station in life. You would be better to give up now rather than face disappointment.”

Lee’s face turned red and Tenten looked desperately at their new teacher, hoping he would step in before it escalated. The pair had never really gotten on in the academy either but they’d also never been forced to really work together before. Tenten knew Neji would beat Lee with ease and she didn’t want to spend her first day watching her teammates fight.

“How wonderful to see the Will of Fire burning so brightly in you both!” Gai clapped his hands, delighted. “Having a rival will push you to reach heights you would never have thought to reach alone!

“He’s not my rival,” Neji snapped, annoyance bleeding through his expression.

“I will make you acknowledge me!” Lee yelled.

Tenten hopelessly looked around at her team. Was this even going to work? Her teammates couldn’t get along and their sensei seemed to be trying to make it worse.

“Have no fear, we have not forgotten about you!” Gai grinned at her, cutting off Lee’s declarations. She flinched and cursed silently. She was this year’s top kunoichi; she couldn’t be acting like a civilian girl.

“I’m Hagane Tenten,” she said, trying to inject confidence she didn’t feel into her voice. “I specialise in weapons and my goal is to become the best weapons mistress in Konoha.”

“An honourable goal!” Gai threw her a thumbs up. “I have no doubt that you will accomplish it in no time!”

Tenten felt a small smile curve her lips. He may be weird and badly dressed and super loud, but he did seem like he cared. Only time would tell if this team would sink or swim. As Lee lunged for Neji, declaring a practice spar to prove him wrong, she felt like they would find out sooner rather than later.

Naruto blew on his ramen before he shoved in another mouthful, watching Gai’s new team argue among themselves from his perch in one of the trees surrounding the training ground. The leaves rustled gently around him and the sun lit up his surroundings in a kaleidoscope of green. It was rare that he took a moment like this to just sit and allow the world to move around him. He knew the urge to move and train would creep on him in no time but for now he was happy to sit in this tree with his ramen, judging Gai’s new genin.

He watched that Rock Lee kid yell at the Hyūga. He’d been channelling chakra to his ears so he could hear them even from this distance and he had to say he was unimpressed. This predestined shit the Hyūga was on was garbage. If Naruto kept to the ‘destiny’ the village had decided for him then he would be long dead by now. A part of him wanted to beat that mindset out of the other genin but the other, much larger part of him didn’t care enough to get involved. It wasn’t his problem; it was Gai’s. Although knowing Gai he would just let the Hyūga figure it out himself, believing his newly proclaimed ‘rival’ would help him.

Rock Lee had cut the braid off but he was still way too loud. He was making challenges that Naruto knew he probably wouldn’t be able to back up with his skill set. The girl was almost the opposite; Naruto could already see she was getting overwhelmed by her teammates and that was no use. What would happen if they were ambushed outside the village? Naruto could guarantee that it would be a hell of a lot more overwhelming than Gai.

He hadn’t been like this when he’d graduated, had he? Gai really had his work cut out for him and Naruto fucking knew he would be talked into training with them or helping out. Gai would ask him with that hopeful expression and Naruto wouldn’t be able to let the man down and then he’d be stuck with these idiots. Gai was wasted on them. Thank the gods he’d never been forced onto a team; it already looked like a nightmare.

“Got a good seat?”

Naruto looked over at Kakashi as he stood on a nearby branch, eye-smiling at him.

“What does it look like?” He sniped back, gesturing with his chopsticks.

Kakashi stepped onto Naruto’s branch, deliberately shoving Naruto’s legs over the side before looking out to the training ground. Naruto kicked out at him but the fucker just dodged with ease, not even looking back.

He’d been Naruto’s bloodline and ninjutsu teacher for almost two years now and they had a very different relationship than the one Naruto had with Gai. He’s still never called the man ‘sensei’; it wasn’t even out of deliberate disrespect either. He’d just never felt like he and Kakashi were ‘student-teacher’ material. Most of the time, it felt like he was training with an annoying older brother, or what he thought a brother would be like. It wasn’t as if he had a reference. They sniped at each other, tried to wind each other up and did things purely to annoy the other.

Gai had once spoken to him about it, concerned that his rival and student weren’t being very ‘Youthful’ towards each other. Naruto hadn’t been able to explain to the man that this was just how they worked. Naruto enjoyed having someone to push back against while also knowing there would be no hard feelings. He was pretty sure the jounin felt the same as he would have probably said something by now. He did respect Kakashi’s encyclopaedic knowledge of ninjutsu and he did appreciate the jounin could wipe the floor with him without breaking a sweat, so he toned it down during the times when Kakashi was actually teaching him stuff. The rest of the time was free game though.

“Get your own branch,” he growled.

“So aggressive, Naruto-chan,” Kakashi said lightly, moving to a thinner branch to their left and whipping out his orange book. “Some residual feelings over seeing Gai with other students perhaps?”

“I was the one who told him to do it,” Naruto shoved in another mouthful of ramen. “Aren’t you supposed to be teaching some of your own?”

“I’ll see them tomorrow,” the jounin waved a hand dismissively.

“You mean, you’ll fail them tomorrow,” Naruto accused good-naturedly. “You fail them every year.”

“You never know, this might be the year,” Kakashi replied without a drop of conviction in his tone.

“What are you even looking for?” Naruto looked away to see Gai start to fight the genin. He was being so much nicer to them. He hadn’t gotten a warning; Gai just ambushed him when he’d reached the training ground. He probably wouldn’t have wanted to stand around talking anyway but that wasn’t the point. “They’re just out of the academy; you know they’re pretty useless going in.”

“I do remember you being particularly terrible at the tree-climbing exercise.”

Naruto pouted. He’d gotten the hang of it eventually. He could do them all now; Gai was ruthless when working towards a specific goal like that.

“You know what I mean…besides, you’re avoiding the question.”

Kakashi remained silent for a long moment and Naruto took the opportunity to slurp up the rest of the broth and noodles. He took out a scroll, sealing the rubbish to dispose of later.

“They don’t know how to be a team,” Kakashi finally replied and Naruto rolled his eyes.

“Well, duh,” he raised an eyebrow at the jounin. “The academy is about learning a list of stuff and competing against each other. Why would they work in a team?”

“It’s integral to being a shinobi,” Kakashi replied with a little heat, actually lowering his book, and Naruto took a deep breath to stop himself snapping back.

He and Kakashi had very different ideas about the necessity of teamwork as a shinobi. Kakashi seemed to think that teamwork was the golden rule for all shinobi despite being a fucking loner and avoiding social interaction like the plague. Naruto had been functioning as a solo genin for two years and he knew that teammates were bullshit; they would have held him back if anything. If he’d been forced onto a team with anyone he’d graduated with he would have spent his entire genin career looking over his shoulder. He didn’t need to be looking at his back when there were plenty of enemies to fight right in front of him. People couldn’t be trusted; they would just let him down or betray him or treat him differently and he didn’t have fucking time for it. Kakashi had entirely too much faith in people and Naruto couldn’t understand why.

They’d had two arguments about it in the time that they’d known each other and they were enough to show that they just should avoid talking about it. They would never agree and Naruto did like the man when he wasn’t shoving teamwork propaganda down his throat.

Naruto looked out to the training ground as the Hyūga slammed down hard into the dirt. He might have the Byakugan but that wasn’t enough against Gai. He was probably too reliant on it, like the rest of his clansmen. That would soon get beaten out of him if Gai uses the same physical conditioning regime that Naruto used back when he first graduated.

The girl was light on her feet and better at dodging than he expected but she was reliant on weaponry. Naruto hadn’t seen her try to physically hit Gai once. Weaponry was the better alternative only if you were good at weapons in the first place. At this point, even after months, Naruto knew that in a fight his fists would be more effective than his twin blades. There would be no point in her learning all the weapons if she was shit with them.

Lee was pretty good at taijutsu for genin, although Naruto would probably never say it out loud. He had some decent power and he could take the hits Gai’s dishing out. He wasn’t very creative though; it was like he thought if he did the same thing enough times he would accomplish something. He didn’t try a new approach or think of anything on the fly. It limited him in a way that would be trouble later on.

“Any thoughts?” Kakashi prompted knowingly.

Naruto stood and fixed his hoodie.

“They aren’t my problem,” he said firmly. “No point wasting my time when I got my own shit to work on.”

Kakashi gave him a look that said he knew Naruto was talking out of his ass but he was going to let him get away with it for now. It pissed Naruto off; just because Gai got some more students, didn’t mean Naruto had to talk or train with them. He didn’t care how they did. As long as Gai was still there to train him, that was all he cared about, and he knew Gai would never abandon him.

“How has your katon been?” Kakashi gave him an out and Naruto took it.

“I set fire to two trees yesterday,” he grinned back.

“We should test your affinity sooner rather than later,” Kakashi eyed him carefully. “You should have more control by now.”

“Bold of you to assume I didn’t do it on purpose,” Naruto shot him a look before he started to make his way down the tree trunk. “Now come on, you look like you have nothing better to do so train me in that fūton jutsu you taught me last week. I think I’ve figured out a way to do it with a sword.”

“I’ve told you before, learn how to use the swords, then add ninjutsu,” Kakashi said exasperatedly as he followed him down, his nose still stuck in his book. “How many times do you need to stab yourself with your sword for that to stick?”

“Hey, I am very close to finding a kenjutsu teacher,” Naruto defended himself. The Kyūbi took care of his wounds in minutes anyway so it wasn’t a big deal. “Besides, you said we would start using my bloodline with them now.”

“I say many things, you rarely listen,” Kakashi shot back under his breath and Naruto felt a small, genuine smile creep onto his face. He walked a little quicker so Kakashi wouldn’t see. No need for the man to start getting a big head.

Sasuke stomped into the training ground. He’d thought that his fourth year in the academy would be different. Not that much different, it was still the academy after all, but they were less than a year from graduating. He thought they would begin to learn skills they could apply to future missions or more intensive ninjutsu or taijutsu; something other than memorising the lists of boring facts or throwing blunted kunai at a target or beating the same lazy classmates that’d been wasting his time since day one. He had thought wrong.

If he had someone decent to compete against it wouldn’t have been so bad. He would still have come out on top but at least he would have felt like he was getting stronger. As it stood, his entire class was useless. The boys were lazy and undisciplined. The only one who even bothered was Shino and even then he was nowhere close to Sasuke’s level. The girls were even worse; they called themselves his ‘fangirls’ but he wanted nothing to do with them. They were a nuisance and if it was Sasuke’s choice, none of them would be at the academy.

“Are we making a habit of stomping into the training ground?” Naruto quipped from where he was stretching. “I mean, I started it but I want to know if it’s becoming a thing. It seems like it’s a thing.”

Sasuke could only growl at him as he started his own stretches. He hadn’t expected much when he and Naruto had first started training together. He just wanted to learn the tree-climbing exercise and go on with his life. Instead he’d found a decent opponent who could not only keep up with him, but in some areas surpassed him. It was actually refreshing to have someone he could go all out against every time and he did feel that after a year, he had truly gotten one step closer to taking down Itachi. It made the situation at the academy all the more frustrating.

“What crawled up your ass?”

He looked up to see Naruto now standing over him with an eyebrow raised and arms crossed. He’d abandoned the black sleeveless hoodie in the training ground somewhere so Sasuke was assaulted with a full view of the genin’s awful orange t-shirt.

“Do you have to wear that eyesore?” He snapped instead of answering.

“Hey, the only eyesore right now is your face,” Naruto sniped back. “What your fangirls see in you, I’ll never fucking understand.”

Sasuke twitched slightly at the mention of the harpies and Naruto grinned. Sasuke just glared; he hated when Naruto did this. For someone so up front and direct, he was a sneaky shit when he wanted to be.

“So it was them,” Naruto mused. “Hey, I told you, just scare them or something. If you make yourself enough of an asshole, they’ll back off.”

“That would just make things worse,” Sasuke huffed. The worse he tried to treat them, the worse they got. There was no winning.

“Well you were the one who wouldn’t take my suggestion to just beat one of them up to send a message…”

“I am not beating up someone that fucking weak and we can’t fight classmates outside of class.”

“I said to beat them up during taijutsu practice! It’s the best excuse!”

Sasuke just shook his head. He’d unfortunately gotten to know Naruto quite well during their year of training. The blond had a very skewed way of thinking, even compared to Sasuke. He was like a stray dog that bit anyone that came close, except for his chosen few. He was so averse to talking to people; Sasuke knew about his goal to one day leave the village. He’d never really had someone who could not only match him, but had goals as big as Sasuke’s before.

Sasuke had thought about setting Naruto on his fangirls before but that would first of all imply that they were friends, and second of all Naruto would definitely go too far. He’d heard of some of his exploits against his own academy classmates.

He might have gone mad a while ago if it wasn’t for these meet-ups with Naruto. The blond had a way of trading Sasuke’s anger for annoyance, but a good annoyance if it was possible. It was just nice to have someone not trying to kiss his ass. The rest of the village put him on a pedestal as the last Uchiha but he hated it. Itachi put him there; the only reason he was the last was because he’d lost his whole clan. It wasn’t something he thought of in a positive light.

Naruto was an asshole, but he also gave Sasuke the freedom to also be an ass. He didn’t have to watch his words or put up with bullshit. He could just punch him in the face and call him a dick and Naruto would grin, get back up and kick him in the gut while calling him a bitch. It was a weird dynamic but it was one Sasuke didn’t want to lose. They weren’t friends but out of the entire village, Naruto was the only one Sasuke could be himself around. He would die before admitting it aloud though.

He stood, stretching his arm across his body.

“Taijutsu only to start.”

Naruto bounced backwards, grinning widely as his eye flashed silver. Sasuke had not been expecting the other boy to possess a bloodline limit, especially one so similar to the Sharingan. He hadn’t been able to activate his yet but it did mean that the blond was nearly impossible to beat in a straight taijutsu spar. Sasuke vowed he would beat him soon and right now, he just wanted to hit something.

He moved first and Naruto ducked, following the movement with a hit of his own and Sasuke dodged, the rhythm of their spar soon banishing thoughts of the academy.

Neji stood straight as his team waited around the training ground. It had been two days since he’d been assigned to Team Nine and he did not like it. Tenten was an acceptable teammate being the only girl worth her salt in the academy but Lee was impossible. The boy refused to understand that their paths were already formed at birth; there was nothing they could do to escape this fate. He himself was fated to be a servant for the Main House, to one day die in service to them and there was not a single thing he could do about it.

Lee would soon see the errors of his ways. Someone like him did well to pass the exam but he would not be able to reach his goals. It was not possible for someone of his ability. It was not Lee’s fault that the circumstances of his birth have hindered him. The only fault of his is refusing to acknowledge that fact.

He still was not sure of what to think of their jounin-sensei. He was loud, brash, optimistic to a fault and yet exceptionally strong. Neji had not been able to land a single hit in their first battle and he had not had an opportunity since, as Gai-sensei had started them on a training regime. He’d barely been able to still fit clan training in the busy schedule.

Gai had told them he had a new opponent to test their ‘youth’ against, whatever that meant. Neji was not sure who would be worth their time when they already had Gai-sensei to defeat. The jounin had been vague about it although Neji was able to see that he’d barely been able to keep it to himself. The man was literally vibrating with excitement. His thoughts were interrupted as he spotted what looked like another genin entering the training grounds.

He was short, closer to Tenten’s height than him or Lee. He had spiky blond hair, shaved close on the sides and longer on top with no hitai-ate in sight. He wore close fitting black trousers, black sandals and an open, black sleeveless hooded sweater with a loose, orange t-shirt beneath. The hilts of two katanas could be seen just over his shoulders and he had unusual whisker marks on his cheeks that Neji had never seen before. His face was turned down into a scowl and his blue eyes were closed off. He walked reluctantly up to them, hands shoved in his pockets as he looked them over.

“You owe me a weeks’ worth of ramen for this, Gai-sensei,” the boy spoke, his voice flat and unimpressed.

“Of course, Naruto-kun!” Gai-sensei laughed, clapping the boy heavily on the shoulder. Neji’s eyes narrowed as this ‘Naruto’ didn’t even flinch. He knew the weight Gai-sensei threw behind those pats. “I thought this was the most opportune moment for my wonderful genin to meet! You will be able to help each other reach new heights and truly blossom in the Springtime of your Youth!”

“I ain’t helping shit,” Naruto scowled. “This is a one time thing, understand? They’re your team, not mine. I don’t care how sad you look next time.”

They were interrupted by Lee.

“Naruto-kun!” He grinned, eerily reminiscent of their jounin-sensei. “I am so happy to learn your name! Thank you for your wonderful advice last time we met!”

Naruto shrunk away from Lee, looking like he would rather be anywhere else but here.

“Naruto-kun, have you already met Lee-kun?” Gai-sensei looked thrilled.

“No,” the blond crossed his arms. “Whatever, we’re burning daylight. Are we going to do this or not?”

Gai-sensei clapped his hand.

“You make a wonderful point, my apprentice!”

Apprentice?

“This is Uzumaki Naruto!” Gai introduced, dramatically sweeping his hands to present the grumpy genin. “He has been my diligent apprentice for the last two years and you will find no one more Youthful in the village! He has agreed to spar with you today!”

“I thought you couldn’t have a team and an apprentice at the same time?” Tenten asked, speaking for the first time.

“I’m pretty independent,” Naruto answered. “Gai-sensei still trains me but I do missions on my own and stuff.”

“So you never had a team?” she replied curiously.

“Nope.”

Neji wondered about that. It was unheard of for a genin not to be assigned to a team, let alone be apprenticed straight out of the academy.

“Naruto, I would ask that you refrain from using your weaponry but all else is encouraged!” Gai threw him thumbs up.

Naruto shrugged, wandering away to stretch. Gai turned to them excitedly.

“Naruto is on his way to becoming one of the best taijutsu masters in Konoha,” he said without an inch of doubt. “You will learn a great deal from him. He is very skilled and hard-working. Following his example will lead you to become very strong indeed.”

It was the most serious Neji had seen Gai-sensei since meeting him only a couple of days ago. He had never understood the bond between master and apprentice but perhaps he would gain more insight from this. He watched the genin stretch briefly before walking back to them, shoving his swords at Gai. He turned to them, his face still turned down into a deep scowl as if they were an inconvenience to him. Neji scoffed; he did not appreciate this genin looking down on him. He could not be that good if he had thus failed to become a chunin.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Naruto scanned them with annoyance. “Anything goes.”

“I look forward to learning from you, Naruto-senpai!” Lee bowed, his head almost bouncing off the ground in his enthusiasm.

“I’m younger than you,” Naruto replied, leaning away in physical discomfort.

“Wait, how old are you then?” Tenten cut it and Neji was curious to hear his answer too. He did look young but he carried himself as someone who had long left the academy behind. Neji had assumed he just had a young face.

“Old enough,” he answered evasively at the same time as Gai-sensei announced “eleven!”

“So you graduated at, what, nine?” she asked, eyes slightly wide.

“Does it matter?” Naruto sighed, exasperated.

Neji may have to revise his assumptions about him. It was difficult to graduate early in an age of peace. It spoke to the skill the genin must possess but it was curious that he was reluctant to reveal that fact. Most genin Neji knew would be boasting that information.

“Nevertheless, Naruto-senpai, you are our senior in experience and I wish to show you the respect you deserve!” Lee burst back in, eyes sparkling as he stared at Naruto.

“Such a beautiful display of Youth!” Gai-sensei joined Lee in his exuberance.

“Can we just get this over with?” Naruto crossed his arms, looking at Gai-sensei. “I do have things to do today.”

“Of course, Naruto-kun!” Gai grinned at him.

Neji watched them carefully, cataloguing their interaction. They were so different; Gai was open and happy and free and Naruto was grumpy and hostile and closed off. He could not see how they could have worked together for what would be two years now. It did not make sense.

He dismissed those thoughts as he prepared his stance, his teammates readying themselves around him. It was no matter. The outcome of this battle has already been decided. All he could do was follow the path placed down before him. Fate would decide the victor.

Chapter Text

Naruto watched the trio carefully. From what he knew of them so far, Lee would hit first. Neji would wait for the ‘right’ moment and Tenten would try and nail him from afar with one of her weapons while the boys distracted him. It had been the pattern that emerged from their fight with Gai-sensei and he knew they wouldn’t have changed it in two days. That made things simple.

Lee sped forward and swung a fist and Naruto grinned viciously. He ducked out of the way of the telegraphed move and grabbed the taller boy’s arm, locking his knees and flinging him into the dirt. That had given the Hyūga time to creep up on his right and shove a palm out. Naruto dodged around that too, observing the pale Byakugan in his eyes. He’d never had the chance to get a look this close before. It was a damn good bloodline limit but the clansmen were too arrogant to admit it had weaknesses.

Gai-sensei had said anything goes but he knew there were still limits. He couldn’t hospitalise them or cause permanent damage; honestly, if this was an enemy in the field he would just chop his hands off. It would make it damn hard to use his clan’s jutsu then. He bobbed and swayed around the Hyūga’s jabs; he was fast for a green genin but his stance was too rigid. He couldn’t adapt quick enough.

He led him towards Tenten and she moved, flinging three kunai at him. She was quick too but needs to work more on moving targets. He grabbed two out of the air, spinning to avoid Neji’s next blow and flung them right at Lee’s face, allowing the third to slice through a part of his hoodie. The genin had been getting closer to their fight and was forced to duck out of the way of the sharp blades. Neji took this moment to jab at one of Naruto’s central chakra points and Naruto slapped his forearm to the side with a flat palm and kicked Neji square in the chest. The Hyūga was forced back, the air being audibly knocked out of him.

The Hyūga he went to the academy with had the same issue; straight arms were pretty easy to shove to the side if you were quick enough.

He wasn’t doing too badly; it was tougher than fighting Sasuke just from the numbers advantage but it was a whole lot easier than Gai-sensei. His teacher had never once gone easy on his during their apprenticeship and Naruto was delighted to see the results of this finally coming through. Lee flung himself into the opening and threw a punch at Naruto’s face. He was just barely able to raise his arms, taking the punch on his forearms. It actually stung a little and Naruto had to admit that Lee might be physically stronger than him.

“Lee!”

The boy jumped back and Naruto turned in time to see a wall of shuriken coming his way. His hands flew through the hand signs automatically.

“Fūton: Boufuu Kyouzuu no Jutsu!” he called out, feeling the wind swirl up around him and push outwards.

The many shuriken were swept up in his technique, scattering them across the sky haphazardly. Most fell to the ground without any issues but some were knocked back into Tenten herself. She dove to the side to avoid her own weapons as the wind started to die down. Naruto was lucky that Kakashi liked to test his grasp on ninjutsu by ambushing him; the jounin had pulled the same kind of trick four months ago. It hadn’t gone as well.

He faced the three genin, grinning. They all faced him, having come together in a group in the wake of his technique. Each of them looked a bit ruffled and Naruto considered them for a moment. He could probably overwhelm them with ninjutsu since it was apparent none of them knew any themselves. On the other hand, he much preferred to beat them with his own two hands. It would be more educational anyway and it wasn’t like he was Gai-sensei; they would get much worse from him as his students. He would know.

“You’re so strong, Naruto-senpai!” Lee called out to him, beaming.

“Or you’re just weak,” he called back, grinning as he saw the other two genin bristle. Lee was unphased.

“We have much to learn from you, senpai!” Lee laughed. “Let us continue our battle and push ourselves to new heights in our training!”

“The outcome of his battle has already been decided,” Neji spoke up.

“You’re right,” Naruto folded his arms. “You’re going to lose.”

Despite his ‘fate’ bullshit, Naruto could tell Neji was getting angry at him. Naruto was a little annoyed at him too so he kept pushing.

“Why bother to fight at all?” he taunted. “Just lie down and die if that’s what fate has in mind for you.”

“Fate has decided your path too,” Neji snapped back. “We cannot escape the circumstances of our birth.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes. This asshole was really starting to annoy him now.

“Fate can go fuck itself,” he retorted. “I make my own path.”

“You should not try to exceed your natural limitations,” Neji sniped back. “You should know your place.”

Something snapped in Naruto at that phrase; that fucking phrase that people have been using against him his whole damn life. According to the village it was Naruto’s fate to fail and die, taking the Kyūbi with him. He’d been fighting what others had decided was his place his whole life and this green genin had the gall to tell him to know his place? He looked at the newly formed team, having eyes only for the Hyūga.

He lunged forward, throwing a punch at Tenten. She blocked with one arm and retaliated instinctively but Naruto grabbed her fist and drove it into the ground. He spun and brought his leg up, slamming it into the side of her lowered head and she crumpled like a leaf. The other two stared at him for a moment, not expecting the quick and vicious attack.

Naruto ignored Gai-sensei’s voice announcing Tenten’s defeat as he channelled chakra into his hands, grabbing a chunk of earth to hurl at the Hyūga. He deflected it easily but it kicked up a cloud of smoke which is exactly what Naruto wanted. He dove towards Lee and managed to land a kick to his side before the taller genin started to fight back.

Naruto blocked each blow, knowing it probably bruise, but he couldn’t feel it through his fury. He needed this idiot out of the way. He cursed as he activated his bloodline limit; he wanted to beat them without it. Lee was too good and Naruto needed him out of the way before Neji found the opening he was looking for. He danced back a few steps as Lee gained on him; then he saw it. He moved and Lee automatically followed, eyes widening as his feet got tangled up and he lost his balance. Lee managed to recover into a back handspring but Naruto had accounted for this.

He slammed his foot into Lee’s exposed back and genin went down. He stomped on his arm and felt the bone giving away beneath his foot. Lee called out in pain but Naruto didn’t even register it, turning to face his true foe. Gai-sensei called Lee out and Naruto ducked beneath Neji’s outstretched arm.

He dances out of reach of the Hyūga and stares at him with burning eyes.

“I don’t need them,” the Hyuga said coldly. “They are weak; they would not have changed the outcome of this fight.”

“You’re a coward.”

Neji narrowed his eyes, the pale Byakugan still activated.

“What?”

“I said you are a fucking coward,” Naruto said back slowly, venom dripping from his voice. “You are a coward who blames fate when things are shit. You don’t take responsibility for your own life. You act like this poor victim of fate and shove that into everyone else’s faces but the truth is you use it as an excuse for your own weakness.”

Neji couldn’t hide his own rage at Naruto’s words. He lunged forward and Naruto met him blow for blow. He was careful to make sure Neji’s glowing hands didn’t touch him and his own bloodline limit was singing. He could see each of Neji’s movements in perfect clarity and since he was faster than the Hyūga, he could actually do something about them. It was a big change from constantly losing to Kakashi.

He landed a punch on Neji’s face and forced the genin back. He twisted to avoid Neji’s retaliation and swept his legs. Neji just barely avoided going down, but Naruto gave him the time to recover. He wasn’t done with him yet.

This happened again and again. Naruto stole the advantage but allowed Neji the space to recover. He could see the frustration in the Hyūga’s face but he was uncompromising. The rage had refined itself into a sharp fury and Naruto didn’t just want to beat this boy; he wanted to destroy him. He wanted to take his stupid ideas about fate and smash them until they were unrecognisable.

“Fighting awful hard for someone who thinks this battle is already decided,” he sneered as Neji panted before him. The genin was covered in dirt and his once impeccable uniform was torn and rumpled. His long hair was tangled and his pale eyes were burning with rage. He didn’t know what he himself looked like but he didn’t really care.

He heard Gai-sensei say his name but Naruto ignored him. He couldn’t stop now.

“Why bother training? Why become a genin? If your entire life is predestined, why bother?” he pushed.

“I was born to the branch family,” Neji spat. “I was born to be servant to the main house. I’m better, stronger than half of them but that will never matter. I am bound by my birth as are you.”

“So what if you were born a servant?” Naruto shot back. “If you’re not happy with that shit, then change it.”

“I can’t!” Neji screamed at him, tearing off his hitai-ate to reveal a seal on his forehead. “I have been branded with my destiny. One foot wrong and they can tear me right back down. I cannot fight my destiny!”

“If they tear you down, build yourself back up faster.”

“It doesn’t work like that!”

“Have you even tried? Yeah, you were born with a shit lot in life but guess what, so are loads of people!” Naruto yelled. “What are you going to do when they brand the next person, watch and tell them that they just have to suck it up?”

This question seemed to stop Neji short but Naruto just continued.

“My destiny was to die!” he raged. “Everyone in this godforsaken village have been telling me that since I was born! Did I roll over and die? Fuck no, I’m going to become one of the strongest fuckers in this hellhole and all of them will have to eat shit!”

He took a deep breath, muttering ‘Katon: Engeki’. Orange flames flashed into existence over his closed fists. He sped forward and Neji was unable to block in time, fatigue dragging his limbs down. Naruto landed a fist square on his jaw and Neji hit the deck. He let his jutsu go as he stared down at the Hyūga.

“You don’t like the way things are?” he said, his volume lower. “Then do something about it. Whining isn’t going to change anything.”

He doesn’t look at Gai-sensei as he stomps out of the training grounds.

Kakashi entered the training ground to find Naruto punching his favourite log. The genin ignored his presence and Kakashi waited patiently, bringing out his book to flick through as he waited for Naruto get fed up with being watched.

“What?” Naruto finally snapped, twirling around to glare at him.

“Did you have fun yesterday?”

The genin’s face soured immediately.

“Of course you were watching, you bastard.”

He turned away and resumed hitting the log a little harder than before. Kakashi just continued watching him.

Naruto had changed since they met two years ago, in more ways than one. Skill wise he was growing at an incredible rate, which could be attributed to his endless stamina and single-minded determination when it came to training. He would be a force of nature when he was older, especially if he learnt to handle his swords properly. Kakashi could see him as an elite jounin one day and he had no doubt Naruto would make it happen, hell or high water. He could probably take the chunin exams tomorrow.

He was also less resistant to ninjutsu. He preferred to incorporate it into his taijutsu but they’d made a lot of progress. He was very good with wind techniques in particular although fire wasn’t far behind. His control over his bloodline limit too had come on leaps and bounds. He was just about fast enough to keep up with it now and he knew that both the bloodline limit and Naruto’s speed would only keep increasing, like it did for Minato-sensei.

The biggest area Kakashi had seen the change was in his attitude. He was still grumpy and a contrary little shit but he wasn’t so rough around the edges now. He wasn’t as angry and had stopped lashing out over the little things. He poked fun at Kakashi but not maliciously and Kakashi gave as good as he got. He was avoidant of the villagers but he also hadn’t seen him clash with any of them in ages. Gai had softened the boy, not that Naruto would ever admit that.

It was pretty funny to see their dynamic sometimes; overly positive, rambunctious Gai with grumpy, vulgar Naruto. The thing that made it funnier was it that it was clear how much Naruto adored Gai. He would tell everyone else to go fuck themselves but if Gai asked, he followed instructions perfectly. One word from Gai was enough to stop Naruto in his tracks. Kakashi knew he and Naruto got on, in their own way, but nothing came close to the loyalty Naruto had for Gai. He was the only adult that he trusted.

It’d been a while since he’d seen Naruto snap like he did yesterday. The fact that he had ignored Gai was an even bigger deal. He’d overheard their battle and knew there wasn’t much that could have been done to prevent the outcome of the fight. Neji and Naruto would have clashed over their viewpoints at some point and he honestly hoped that he’d managed to knock some sense into the Hyūga. That kind of attitude would not fly as a shinobi.

Kakashi suspected there was something deeper to this though. He’d known the minute Gai had been assigned a new team that there would be the risk of Naruto becoming jealous. He’d had Gai all to himself for two years and was extremely attached to the jounin. Now he had to share him with people around his age, who he didn’t like on a good day. It didn’t seem like it was an issue yet but it might be something he’d have to talk to Gai about. Naruto didn’t trust adults and he couldn’t afford to lose the only one he did.

“I have something for you.”

Naruto let loose one final hard punch and turned back to him, waving a hand for him to get on with it. Kakashi eye-smiled and held out a piece of paper. Naruto took it, frowning.

“I promised you chakra paper,” he explained.

“Fucking ages ago,” Naruto shot back, turning over the slip in his hand. “Late for fucking everything.”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He was in a very foul mood today.

“Channel your chakra into it.”

Naruto did as told without further comments and the page split cleanly down the middle.

“Wind,” Kakashi announced. “As I suspected.”

“Are we done now?” Naruto scowled.

“Are you still angry about yesterday?” Kakashi asked directly. “They’re all fine. The hospital didn’t keep them; they’re all healed up and on D-ranks with Gai as we speak.”

Naruto’s face darkened.

“They don’t deserve him,” he muttered petulantly.

“Irrelevant,” Kakashi answered flatly. “Gai isn’t earned and it’s not a matter of deserving. Can you tell me that they are not going to better off for training with him?”

Naruto’s silence was deafening.

“Do you think Gai is mad at you for yesterday?”

Naruto glared at the ground in response.

“Gai knows you’re an asshole,” Kakashi said, trying to lighten the mood a little. “He doesn’t hold it against you.”

“Look you don’t have to lie to me,” Naruto snapped. “I know I went too far for a spar.”

Kakashi looked at him for a long moment. Was Naruto feeling…guilty? That was something he’d never seen from the kid before.

“You did.”

Naruto gestured helplessly to the air.

“I know he wanted me to stop, but that Hyūga needed a kick up the ass,” he said, a little quieter.

“True,” Kakashi agreed, not commenting on Naruto’s surprised expression at his response. “I also think there was a better way to go about it than losing your temper and stomping on some green genin.”

Naruto scoffed but Kakashi could tell he was listening.

“How long are you going to avoid Gai?”

Naruto clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned back to his log. Kakashi took that as his answer and made his way out of the training ground. Gai and Naruto would be fine. He would give it a week before Naruto got over himself enough to apologise.

Naruto ran across the rooftops, not sparing a glance for the bustling village below. It had been two days since he beat Gai-sensei’s new genin and the awful, twisty feeling his gut hadn’t subsided. He’d never had this before and he hated it. He’d never worried about effect of his actions before since it was mainly directed at people who deserved it or it was a necessity at the time.

He didn’t feel guilty about taking Lee and Tenten out of the fight. He was a little ruthless about it but they were trying to be shinobi. That was nothing compared to what would be waiting for them in the future. He also didn’t feel guilty about his actions towards Neji; he needed to get a clue and Naruto wouldn’t have even bothered if the prick hadn’t told him to know his place. He didn’t do it to help; he just wanted to knock him down a peg or two. It was every time he thought of Gai-sensei that the discomfort began. He hadn’t listened when Gai-sensei had said his name to stop and he did enough damage that they needed the healers. He felt dread at the thought of having disappointed Gai-sensei and he had no idea what to do. It was something he’d never experienced before so he had taken to just avoiding them all.

He missed his training session with Gai early this morning, sending a hawk to inform him that he was too busy with missions to attend. It wasn’t even a lie since he’d gone to the Mission Assignment Desk and asked for every single C-rank going. He was on his fourth and it was only midday. The distraction helped but he felt stuck.

This would never have happened if he hadn’t told Gai-sensei to get a team; he slightly regretted agreeing to it now. He couldn’t argue Kakashi’s point that they would benefit from Gai-sensei’s teaching since he was the best taijutsu teacher in the whole village but they would have been fine with any jounin-sensei. Naruto only had Gai; no one else would have treated him fairly.

He bounced across to the next rooftop, rolling to break his fall. Since he was apprenticed to Gai, he couldn’t leave the village on missions without him but there was plenty to do in the village itself. Guard duty didn’t start for another two hours so Naruto had taken all the delivery missions available. He was almost finished though; he might have to see if he could start guard duty early.

As he bounded across the next roof, he caught a glimpse at the road below. He spotted a man in a jounin uniform walking along, talking to a purple-haired woman. The thing that caught his attention though was the katana strapped to his back. Naruto stopped in his tracks and peered over the edge of the roof at the pair, deciding that his client could wait a couple of minutes.

He was pretty plain, wearing black shinobi clothes and an olive green jounin vest. Floppy brown hair hung out of the navy bandana that covered his head, but Naruto couldn’t see his face from here. He was a little taller than the woman but his body language was weird. He seemed tired and he kept coughing like he had a bad cold or something. He might not be active if he was sick. The woman was dressed in the same black shinobi clothes and jounin vest; the only difference was her shirt was sleeveless, replacing them with black gloves to her biceps. Her long, straight hair hung down to her waist and she seemed better, not coughing at all. Naruto hadn’t seen them around before but he tended to avoid everyone so that wasn’t new.

He followed them as they walked towards the edge of the village, away from the busy marketplace. Naruto had thought he’d managed to get away with it when the guy looked up.

“You going to tell us why you’re following us?

Naruto walked down the side of the building until he faced them on the road. Now he was closer, the guy looked even worse. His skin was pale and the bags beneath his eyes were dark. His cheeks were slightly sunken in and even as Naruto looked at him, the man coughed into a handkerchief. The woman was watching him with curious brown eyes, much more tan than her companion.

“Do you know how to use that katana?” Naruto asked, straight to the point.

“I like to think so,” the man replied easily.

Naruto debated with himself for a moment. He didn’t want to ask for help but he wasn’t getting very far with the scrolls he’d gotten from the capital last year. He followed the katas and images on the pages but he had no idea if he was doing it right. He wanted to master his ancestors’ techniques and combine them with his bloodline limit but that required a teacher.

“Would you teach me?” He said reluctantly.

“Are you a dual-wielder?” the man responded, gesturing to the swords strapped to Naruto’s back.

“I want to be,” he confirmed. “I have a bunch of scrolls about my clan kenjutsu but I need someone to teach me the basics. You’re the first person I’ve seen that actually carries one.”

“Do we get a name?” The woman interrupted, amused.

Naruto was sure they already knew his name but if he was even going to start convincing them, he should at least try to be polite.

“Uzumaki Naruto,” he stated firmly, watching them carefully for their reaction.

They shared a look and Naruto prepared for the worst.

“Gai’s student?” the man confirmed and Naruto blinked. That wasn’t usually people’s first thought.

“Yeah,” he said slowly.

The man nodded.

“I can, but not very often.” He stopped to cough. “I can teach you for a couple hours a week but a lot of the work will still be done on your own. I’ll also need to look at those scrolls you mentioned. Sound good?”

Naruto didn’t reply at first, just staring at the jounin. It couldn’t be that easy; nothing was ever that easy, especially for him. This guy had to know who he was, what he contained. He couldn’t even buy groceries without a world of hassle yet he gets a kenjutsu teacher like that? He was expecting to have to fight tooth and nail to convince this guy to even consider it.

“You alright?” The woman asked in a gentle tone.

Naruto mentally shook himself; he could wonder about this later. He would have to keep watch for ulterior motives or the usual bullshit but even if he got one lesson out of this, that was one more from where he was right now. He would never get strong enough if he let chances like this pass him by.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “That sounds good.”

“I’m Gekkō Hayate,” the man introduced himself. “Just call me Hayate. This is my girlfriend Uzuki Yugao. She’s also a kenjutsu user so you might be able to pry a few tips out of her now and then.”

Yugao rolled her eyes fondly. Naruto could tell the pair of them were close.

“I have to go,” he gestured to the bag on his back. “What day and time?”

“Sunday noon should work for me.”

“And what do you want for it?” Naruto couldn’t stop himself from asking.

Hayate gave him a long, measured look that Naruto didn’t know how to read.

“Don’t worry about it,” he smiled, turning to cough into his handkerchief once again.

Naruto would do nothing but worry about it. People didn’t do things for free; there was always a price. Gai-sensei was the only person he knew that was the exception to this rule and he hadn’t met another since. He nodded anyway and gave them a small wave, walking his way back up the side of the buildings to the rooftops. He would worry about it later; right now he had a genin team to avoid.

Tenten pulled the weed from the ground, dumping it into the bag next to her. D-rank were not nearly as exciting as they’d been described at the academy. Painting fences, fetching groceries and weeding gardens made it feel like she was just doing chores rather than real missions but they made up for it by training a lot outside of them. It had become apparent during their fight with Gai’s apprentice that they still had a long way to go.

She’d been taken out first but she’d she hadn’t been knocked out completely so she was able to hear what Neji and Naruto were yelling about. She’d always admired Neji’s strength; it was hard not to when he was the strongest person in their class by a huge margin. His taijutsu was so smooth and she was amazed that he could be so good at their age. He’d always seemed more mature too. He was just really cool. She knew he believed in fate and stuff but hadn’t really thought much of it. Most of the time in the academy when he’d brought it up, it had been to tell others they would lose to him and it had come true every time. She hadn’t realised how deep it went. No one had ever challenged Neji on his philosophy before and Naruto had stomped all over it.

Gai had gathered them round after their visit to the healer and gave feedback on their fight. He’d finished it by saying that Naruto would be the best person to tell them what they needed to work on since he was the one fighting them but they would need to wait as Naruto was on missions. He’d said it much more dramatically and with several references to youth but Tenten was slowly learning to speak ‘Gai’. Neji had been quiet since the fight and Lee had gotten even more intense about everything but Tenten was more concerned about herself.

Looking back at the fight, she hadn’t done anything. Her weapons had been so easily swept aside by jutsu and she hadn’t even landed a hit on Naruto. She’d been taken out first. She was supposed to be the strongest kunoichi of her year and she prided herself on her proficiency with weaponry. It was something she’d worked so hard at outside of the academy and to have it so completely swept aside, it was frustrating.

She’d always felt like she had to go the extra mile to be considered as good as the boys. There weren’t many girls at the academy and it was obvious that they were expected to specialise in different areas to the guys; healing, genjutsu, poison, seduction. Tenten had no interest in any of them but it had always felt like no one would take her seriously when she talked about becoming a weapons master. Konoha had never had a female one and Tenten wanted to change that. She’d worked hard at the academy and she knew that while she was top kunoichi, she was better than most of the boys there too. When she proclaimed her dream of becoming the best weapons mistress in Konoha, she meant the best out of everyone although no one saw it that way.

The fight with Naruto revealed just how far away from her goal she really was. She may have been good enough for the academy but being a genin was a whole other level. Naruto had spent two years with Gai; would she be that strong in two years? It also wasn’t going to be enough to just be good with weapons. She needed a back-up in case something like that fight happened again. She’d thrown herself into the physical conditioning and taijutsu practice, keeping up with her male teammates despite the exhaustion and pain.

Tenten was going to be the best. She didn’t care how hard she had to work or long it took. She was actually grateful to Naruto; he may have been ruthless about it, but he’d shown her the way forward. She’d been shown her true ability, with any false pretence torn away, so she could now start building a true foundation. She was just getting started.

Naruto stopped short when he saw Gai-sensei waiting for him in the training ground. He felt his heart drop to his stomach and for a moment he debated just getting out of there. He really didn’t want to do this.

Then Gai-sensei smiled at him and Naruto froze.

“Naruto-kun!” Gai-sensei bounded over to him. “You are so Youthful, working so hard on the behalf of Konoha! When I was informed about the number of missions you have undertaken this week, I was so moved! Your Will of Fire is burning so brightly for all to see!”

Naruto blinked. Gai-sensei had to know Naruto had done it to avoid him, not for the village’s benefit. Why was he playing dumb?

“Team Nine have been working even harder since your battle!” Gai-sensei continued cheerfully. “Your shining example of Youth have moved them too and they are striving to blossom in their own Springtime of Youth!”

He couldn’t stand this. Why wouldn’t Gai-sensei just get it over with?

“I know you’re mad,” Naruto sighed. “You don’t have to pretend to be happy or whatever.”

Gai-sensei raised a bushy eyebrow at him.

“Why would I be angry, Naruto-kun?”

“I…went too far,” he admitted reluctantly. “I beat up your new team and yelled at them and stuff.”

“You fought them honestly,” Gai-sensei replied seriously. “You fought them to the best of your abilities and while your anger was strong, you did not let it take over completely. Your words to Neji-kun may have been borne from anger but they were not intended to hurt. You wished to expand his perception of himself and others around him.”

“But I didn’t stop when you told me to!” Naruto snapped back, unable to believe that Gai really wasn’t mad.

“I do not recall asking you to cease fighting,” Gai-sensei placed his hands on his hips.

Naruto stopped short.

“But you said my name…”

“I was moved by the depth of your feelings,” Gai-sensei smiled at him, softer than his usual manic grin. “Naruto-kun, you are a very passionate shinobi. When I asked you to fight our team, I knew you would push them beyond their own limitations so that they can continue to flourish into strong shinobi. You did your best and did not hold back, which is all I can ask of my students.”

Naruto was at a loss. Gai-sensei…wasn’t mad at him? He didn’t go too far? He knew Gai valued him as student but he’d been his only student. He’d doubted that with the addition of new, non-pariah genin that Gai-sensei would see him the way he did before. Everyone favoured other people over him and he wasn’t usually bothered by it but this was Gai-sensei. He didn’t want to lose his teacher.

“I believe they learned valuable lessons from you,” Gai-sensei grinned, his usual energetic demeanour returning. “The strength of your feelings made it through to them!”

Naruto felt himself relax. Gai-sensei really wasn’t mad at him; he hadn’t fucked this up. He knew he was a bit difficult but Gai-sensei had never cared before. It appeared that the only person that had thought things would change with the new team was Naruto. Gai-sensei was still there for him and cared about Naruto for exactly who he was.

“Thanks, Gai-sensei,” he smiled genuinely up at his teacher.

Gai-sensei beamed back at him.

“Anytime, Naruto-kun! You are my precious apprentice and I will always be here to help you reach the peak of your Springtime of Youth!”

Naruto just continued smiling, hoping that Gai-sensei would never change.

Chapter Text

Naruto frowned as he waited for the Hokage to finish with his papers. He couldn’t think of anything he’d done recently to get into trouble. He made up with Gai and his new genin were no worse for wear. He’d done all his missions and hadn’t spoken to a single civilian. He’d even done his reports right. He really couldn’t think of a reason why Jiji would want to speak to him.

“Naruto-kun,” Jiji finally looked up. “How have you been?”

“Fine,” he answered quickly, still suspicious. “What do you want, Jiji?”

The Hokage leaned back in his chair and observed him. Naruto hated that; people just needed to come out and say the shit they wanted to say. It’s why he liked Gai-sensei and even Sasuke; they didn’t beat around the bush. Kakashi did it on purpose just to mess with him but not when it mattered.

“I just wanted to catch up with you, Naruto-kun,” Jiji smiled. “I have heard good things from my shinobi about your conduct on missions. I have also heard you have started to train your kenjutsu.”

Naruto still didn’t get it. Jiji never called him just to ‘catch up’. It was always because he’d done something wrong or that he couldn’t go to the chunin exams or he needed to be nicer to the civilians. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Jiji just for the sake of seeing Jiji. He also couldn’t remember when he’d stopped trusting the old man. He never saw things from Naruto’s point of view, never took his side. It was always Naruto’s fault.

“Yeah,” he said, purposefully not elaborating.

The Hokage didn’t answer him, just looking at him with a considering look. They were interrupted by the door to the office slamming open and a young child stomping forward to point a finger at the Hokage, holding a kunai in the air above his head.

“TODAY IS THE DAY I BECOME THE HOKAGE!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.

He was tiny, can’t have been more than five. In a yellow t-shirt with the leaf symbol on the front in red, grey shorts and a weird cap that allowed a tuft of brown hair to emerge almost like a ponytail, he stuck out. He immediately tripped on the far too long blue scarf he had wrapped around his neck and Naruto didn’t suppress his grin as the child landed heavily on the wooden floor with a thud.

The kid looked up, a red mark on his forehead and tears starting to well in his dark eyes. His gaze locked onto Naruto and he sprang to his feet, directing his attention to him instead.

“You tripped me!”

Naruto looked back at him, unimpressed.

“Did I fuck.”

“Naruto-kun, please watch your language,” the Hokage admonished. “This is my grandson, Konohamaru.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. This kid was going to grow up to be a shinobi, which meant he was in for a lot more than a few curse words. Hell, he’d already heard way worse at this kid’s age.

“Hey, you tripped me!” the kid stomped his foot in anger, crossing his arms in a huff. “I want an apology!”

“I didn’t do anything,” Naruto crossed his own arms, glaring down at the kid. “You tripped over your scarf.”

“You totally tripped me!”

Oh, Naruto was not getting blamed for this. Knowing his luck, he would actually get punished for this to make the kid feel better and would be expected to just suck it up for the Hokage’s sake. Not today; he was not doing any D-ranks today. A look of realisation crossed Konohamaru’s face and Naruto braced for the new pile of shit this kid was spitting.

“You’re trying to take my grandpa down before me!” He accused. “I won’t let you steal the hat! I’m the one who’s going to beat him and become the next Hokage!”

Naruto couldn’t help it. He laughed, and once he started he couldn’t stop. Every time he took in a breath to try and control himself the giggles burst out of him again. He clutched his stomach, getting a stitch. Gods, he couldn’t breathe. That was the funniest shit he’d heard in a while. He straightened out from where he’d been hunched over, finally getting some control over himself. He wiped the wetness off his cheeks as he tried to resist bursting out laughing all over again at the sight of the kid’s indignant expression.

“Kid, I cannot express to you how little I want to be the Hokage,” he wheezed out. “Gods, that is the funniest shit ever. Me, Hokage.”

Just the thought was enough to send him into another fit of giggles. Him, voluntarily choosing to not only stay in the village, but actually help and protect its citizens. Like, forget his entire upbringing, instead defend the very people he was trying to escape.

“It’s not funny!” It appeared the kid had never had this reaction before.

“Look, you are welcome to it,” he waved a hand. “The old man could use a good fight.”

He grinned over at the Hokage who didn’t seem to be as amused as Naruto thought he would be. They were interrupted again by a man sweeping dramatically into the office.

“Honourable Grandson!” Ebisu cried.

Naruto’s good mood soured immediately. He fucking hated Ebisu. He knew he was Gai’s genin teammate and all, but the man hated him right back. He was so far up his own ass that his sunglasses had shit smeared on them. He never missed an opportunity to make Naruto feel like crap and Naruto could tell the man shared the opinions of most of the civilians. He thought Naruto was lesser, that he shouldn’t be a shinobi. He hadn’t even done anything to the man to deserve this. He was glad Gai-sensei stood up for him but there nothing to be done. Assholes like Ebisu were just an unfortunate part of his life.

“Hokage-sama, I apologise most profusely for this interruption,” the jounin simpered. “Come, Honourable Grandson. Let us leave Hokage-sama to his work.”

“This guy tripped me!” Konohamaru pointed to him and Naruto could actually see the disgust behind Ebisu’s glasses as he spotted him.

“It’s not your fault, Honourable Grandson,” Ebisu reassured the kid. “You don’t want to be associated with his kind. He’s bad luck wherever he goes; the wrong example of a shinobi. You must avoid him in the future.”

Konohamaru gaped at him with this new information but Naruto just looked away. The Hokage’s silence was deafening.

“Come, Honourable Grandson.”

“He has a fucking name,” Naruto couldn’t help but call out.

“You cannot use that sort of language around the Honourable Grandson,” Ebisu snapped back. “It may be befitting of someone of your station, but it is not for the rest of us.”

Naruto bit hard down on his lip to stop himself from retaliating. It wouldn’t do anything; he would be the one to get in trouble. If they hadn’t been in front of the Hokage things would be different but he had no faith the old man would choose him over his own flesh and blood, even if he was in the right.

“Can I go?”

“Of course, Naruto-kun,” the Sandaime nodded, features blank. “We can catch up another time.”

Naruto left the office and started down the opposite corridor than the other pair. He knew things were going to wrong but at least he now had official confirmation that the Hokage was no longer to be trusted. He wasn’t Jiji anymore, if he ever was.

Neji reluctantly followed his team towards the Hokage Tower to report for a D-rank. It was unfortunate but these asinine missions were a part of being a shinobi. Since his loss to the Uzumaki a few days ago, Neji had been deep in thought; about his beliefs, the Uzumaki’s words, his clan, his father.

His father had been sacrificed in place of the Clan Head and Neji had been convinced it was because his father was a branch member. It was their destiny to serve the Main House and this was only reinforced by the power of the cursed seal. He had seen too many occasions where a branch member was forced to submit under the pain of the activated seal. It was like having a chain around his neck and the Main House had the end of it, ready to suffocate him at any time. He could remember his father crippled in pain, his own brother standing over him, activating the cursed seal.

He hated it. He hated other people having so much control over his life. He hated having to limit himself in case someone thought he was trying to ‘rise above his station’. They could all be proud of how strong he was, but he knew for a fact that they didn’t believe he was a real threat. He was just something to be shown off to the village; within the walls of the Hyūga compound, he was just like any other branch member. He knew he could be stronger than them all but he was restricted. He wasn’t allowed access to all the Hyūga clan’s techniques. Weak little Hinata got that privilege. He knew she hadn’t chosen the circumstances of her birth anymore than he had but it was still frustrating. She had everything he didn’t and she couldn’t even find the courage to take it.

He hated to admit it, but Uzumaki had a point. Neji had accepted the path in life the Main House had laid out for him as much as he had resented it. He had accepted that there was nothing he could do in his position and hadn’t fought it, blaming fate and his birth. He had never actually tried to go as far as he knew he could. He had channelled his frustration into tearing everyone else down like he had been; thinking that if he had to accept his fate that everyone else did too. He’d been holding himself back just as much as the Main House were. The Main House had put him in a cage but he had never tried to escape.

The Uzumaki seemed to come from the same place he did, with people trying to stop him becoming as strong as he could be. He had asked around after their fight and found that public opinion was very much against the younger genin. There was so much hostility and although Neji didn’t get why, he did have to acknowledge that Naruto knew what he was talking about. He had been torn down by others around him but unlike Neji who had accepted it as his fate, he had fought against it with everything he had. It was…admirable, even if Neji still thought he was infuriating.

He was a decent fighter too. The Uzumaki was the first person Neji had fought his own age who could actually beat him. He had known that Naruto was purposefully allowing him to recover so they could continue fighting and it was shameful. He had not expected to be outmatched but it did bode well for his assignment to Gai. He may not like the Uzumaki but he had Neji’s respect.

Lee was talking about something in a volume unsuitable for public spaces and Tenten was nodding along. He still thought Lee was fighting a losing battle, his limitations too great to overcome, but he now saw that he did not need to tear the other boy down further. It would be up to Lee to fight his own battles. He also still thought Hinata was pitifully weak for a member of the Main House; he may be changing his mind on the finality of fate, but she had no excuse. Fate favoured her and she still fell short.

“Naruto-kun!”

Neji looked up to see the menace in question. The boy was looking back at them, seeming to be unpleased by this development. He looked the same as he had last time Neji saw him; orange t-shirt, black sleeveless hoodie, absent hitai-ate. His blue eyes were as stormy as before and his face was turned down into a scowl. The only time Neji could remember him smiling was when he was taunting them during their fight.

“Gai-sensei,” he replied flatly, a stark contrast to their teacher.

It was a strange juxtaposition; Gai was so happy and energetic while Naruto was grumpy and snappy. He did not know how they had managed to work effectively for the last couple of years with such different outlooks but he supposed he would find out.

“Do you care to join us on our D-rank?” Gai grinned.

“Over my dead body.”

Gai was unphased.

“Such passion, Naruto-kun!” He boomed, clapping the boy firmly on the shoulder.

Neji was now starting to see how this arrangement worked. Gai might be the only person that could deal with the sour genin.

“Naruto-senpai!”

Naruto did not even look in Lee’s direction.

“I’m working on ninjutsu today,” he said. “Are we still on for after dinner?”

“Of course, Naruto-kun!” Gai threw him a thumbs up. “We shall reach the Springtime of our Youth for all of Konoha to see!”

Naruto rolled his eyes, but Neji could see the fondness there. As Naruto looked at him, it abruptly vanished.

“Still on your fate bullshit?” he asked directly.

Neji looked at his teammates, unwilling to discuss it in front of them. He may not see them as hindrances anymore but that didn’t mean he trusted them yet. Naruto seemed to get the message.

“Hey, go get the mission,” he told Gai. “I’m borrowing the Hyūga for a sec.”

“I’m so moved!” Gai cried. “Two of my wonderful students bonding; the most beautiful friendship is sure to bloom!”

Naruto made a face that Neji knew mirrored his own. Gai did leave them alone, entering the Hokage Tower. Tenten stared curiously over her shoulder as Lee loudly proclaimed that he would win Naruto’s friendship before Neji. Neji was happy to let him win that one. Naruto crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.

“You may have had a point,” Neji admitted reluctantly. “I may have been too… focused on my destiny.”

“You let yourself be held back by other people then got all mad about it,” Naruto said frankly and Neji scowled.

“Yes,” he ground out.

“You gonna continue with that?”

“No,” Neji answered firmly. “I am in control of my destiny. I may have more limitations than others, but that will not stop me. Not anymore.”

Naruto surveyed him for a long moment, his blue eyes unreadable. Neji did not like it but he felt like he owed the other genin. He felt like they had an understanding; Naruto came from the same place he did, with others trying to keep them in their place. He knew the Main House would not allow him to grow as strong as he wanted to but he was ready to fight them now. His birth would not hold him back anymore. Not like it did his father.

“I am choosing to become strong enough that I will never lose again,” he continued, staring into his eyes intently.

Naruto broke out into the smallest grin.

“Good luck with that,” he said. “You’ll be losing to me a lot.”

Neji glared at him but it was missing the anger from before.

“I still do not like you,” he felt like he had to add.

“The feeling is mutual.”

They stood, staring at each other for a long moment. Neji was unsure where they went from here but he felt confident about the path he had chosen. He would show both the Main House and the Branch members what a caged bird could really do.

Tenten adjusted the sack of flour on her shoulder, making sure it wouldn’t slip out of her grasp. If she dropped it, she would then have to spend time cleaning it all up and fetching another and she would much rather spend that time training.

She’d been working on her own outside of their team training. She was a lot stronger than she had been when they’d fought Naruto a short time ago. She couldn’t have lifted this sack of flour back in the academy. It was gratifying to see her hard work pay off but she knew she was still a long way from where she was trying to go. She couldn’t beat either of her teammates yet although she got in way more hits than she used to. She’d convinced her father to increase the intensity of her weapons training too. It was slow but she was getting there.

She shoved a strand of hair that escaped one of her buns out of her face, just wanting this mission over with. She was pretty used to D-ranks now but that didn’t make them anymore interesting.

“Almost there, my wonderful students!” Gai-sensei encouraged. “The bakery will be able to make the best goods in Konoha with your Youthful contribution!”

Tenten thought it was a little much for delivering sacks of flour but she’d learned to let most of Gai-sensei’s proclamations wash over her. It had taken a while but she had learned to speak ‘Gai’. There was usually some sense buried under all that talk about youth and he knew what he was doing in terms of training and missions. It had been a little weird to have every little thing celebrated but she secretly liked all the positive reinforcement. She really felt like Gai-sensei did believe in them.

“Naruto-senpai!”

Tenten’s head snapped up at Lee’s voice and she saw the genin in question heading in their direction. He looked as grumpy as ever, stomping through the street with his own luggage in tow. She wondered if he ever looked happy; they’d seen him a few times in the past week, always looking angry or miserable. They’d asked Gai-sensei but the man had just said Naruto was assigned to D-ranks for the week. Naruto spotted them and his expression didn’t change.

“Another D-rank?” Neji asked.

“Two days left,” Naruto grumbled back, adjusting the box in his hands.

“I thought you didn’t do D-ranks anymore,” Tenten chimed in, watching the blond’s expression darken.

“The Hokage seems to think it will teach me some manners,” Naruto gritted out. “I didn’t even do anything this time.”

Tenten exchanged a look with her teammates. She had never heard of D-ranks being used as a punishment, much less by the Hokage. It was really weird.

“Why would he do that?” she asked.

“I caused some trouble when I first graduated,” Naruto admitted. “The Hokage thought I needed taught a lesson and since I don’t have a family or anything, he took it upon himself. I don’t even do anything anymore but he still forces me to do this crap when he thinks I’ve done something wrong.”

She glanced at Gai-sensei and was taken aback to see the man had stopped smiling, actually looking…frustrated? Disapproving? Tenten couldn’t tell; she had never the man without a happy smile before. She blinked and the look was gone as quickly as it came, replaced with Gai-sensei’s normal bright expression. She looked at her teammates but that hadn’t appeared to notice. Was there something more to this? Gai-sensei hadn’t looked happy that Naruto was on D-ranks. Did he not agree with the Hokage?

“It’s strange that D-ranks would be used in that way,” Neji frowned.

“Well, I’ve always been a special case,” Naruto shrugged but the way he said it made it sound like it was a bad thing.

Why would Naruto be a special case? Was it because he graduated early?

“You are so Youthful!” Lee suddenly cried. “Diligently performing these D-ranks! You truly are our senpai!”

Naruto shot him a weird look.

“What’s with the Youth?” he asked. “That’s Gai-sensei’s thing.”

“Gai-sensei has been showing us the wonderful ways of Youth!” Lee grinned in a way that was eerily similar to Gai-sensei. “I have been adopting this philosophy myself so I may become the most Youthful shinobi in Konoha!”

Naruto must have see it too as he grimaced, edging away from Lee slightly.

“Great,” Naruto said flatly. “I’m gonna get back to my mission then.”

He quickly walked past them and Tenten watched him go. Naruto always seemed to generate more questions than answers whenever they spoke.

“Why does the Hokage assign him D-ranks?” she asked Gai-sensei curiously.

“We are not in a position to question the Hokage,” he replied cheerfully. “I am sure Hokage-sama is trying to his best for Naruto-kun!”

Gai-sensei’s grin didn’t falter but Tenten could sense there was something he wasn’t telling them. She didn’t think assigning Naruto missions he clearly hated was very helpful. It also made it seem like he was being singled out for something but she couldn’t imagine what it was. He was a little unfriendly and unapproachable, and used a few too many swears than Tenten knew her mother would be happy with, but he was a really good genin. He was strong and from what she had seen of him so far, an incredibly hard worker.

Naruto seemed like he could use more people on his side and Tenten vowed she would try and be one of them. She might even be able to get some answers along the way.

Naruto dragged his feet towards the training ground. He was finally free from the D-ranks only to get cornered by Gai-sensei into training with his team again. He had vowed not to get suckered in again but he figured he owed his teacher from the last session he had with them. He had told Gai-sensei that he wouldn’t fight them all again; he knew that was asking for trouble.

The Hyūga had seemed to have adjusted his attitude from what he could tell from their conversation outside the Hokage Tower. They weren’t magically going to become friends or anything but it made him a little more bearable. Naruto had accepted that he wouldn’t be able to completely avoid interacting with Gai-sensei’s new team but that didn’t mean he had to become best friends and skip into the sunset with them.

He soon arrived at the training ground and spotted the three genin near the far edge. He’d been able to hear Lee on the walk up and it reminded him a lot of Gai-sensei. Lee reminded him of Gai-sensei a bit too much these days; he was pretty sure the older genin was trying to become the man’s twin. He was ranting about Youth more and more these days and Naruto dreaded the day he would see Lee sporting a green spandex one-piece. It was fucking weird. He didn’t know what was fucked in Lee’s head so that he couldn’t form his own independent identity, but the boy better realise that Gai-sensei wasn’t his. Gai-sensei wasn’t so shallow that imitation would sway him.

“Naruto-senpai!” Naruto groaned as the idiot in question spotted him.

“I told you to stop calling me that,” he said pointedly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“I could not be so disrespectful!”

Naruto sighed, looking to the other two genin. Neji nodded a greeting and Tenten smiled nervously at him.

“Where’s Gai-sensei?”

“He had to go to the Mission Assignment Desk,” Tenten offered. “Something about reports? He said we should train on our own until he gets here.”

“Gai-sensei wishes for us to foster our own Youth through independent, spirited training!” Lee added.

“Those were closer to his exact words,” Tenten admitted, shrugging.

“Great,” he said flatly.

He started to run through what he needed to work on. His kenjutsu was coming along nicely, but Hayate was still against him practicing on his own since he could mess up his form. His ninjutsu was okay but not something he wanted to work on right now. His bloodline limit needed a lot of work but that wasn’t much use until he could train his body to keep up with it. He didn’t really want a taijutsu battle with any of these guys; it wouldn’t be very productive. He looked over at Tenten thoughtfully.

“You still training with weapons?”

She nodded, unable to hide her surprise at being addressed.

“Yeah, but I’m focusing more on kunai and shuriken right now,” she said. “My dad wants me to master the basics before moving on to other types.”

“Perfect,” Naruto replied. “You can throw them at me.”

There was a moment of silence.

“What?” she demanded.

“Target practice for you, dodging practice for me,” he spelled out. “Do you not already do that? That’s a classic training exercise for a team with a weapon master-in-training.”

It was something he did need to work on and it would improve his speed and reaction times, both essential to mastering his bloodline limit. Kakashi ambushed him occasionally but a prolonged session of dodging would be pretty useful. He could even add it as a regular part of his training; Sasuke would be delighted to throw kunai at him.

“You are so knowledgeable!” Lee cried. “We have much we can learn from you!”

Neji remained quiet, as he had since Naruto had arrived in the clearing. He could see on his face though that he hadn’t considered this idea before. His Byakugan would make dodging pretty easy for him but it was still primarily chakra-based. Dodging plain metal kunai without his fancy clan techniques would be good for him. The Hyūga always over relied on their bloodline anyway.

“Well?” he asked, a bit impatient.

“What if I hit you?” she replied, a bit hesitant.

“Then you should be happy with your aim?” he said slowly, a bit confused. “That would be on me for not dodging fast enough.”

A minor stabbing wouldn’t even faze him; the Kyūbi took care of stuff like that within minutes. Plus it wasn’t like he was going to hold a grudge or anything. He knew he wasn’t the most tolerant person ever but he was the one asking. It didn’t make sense that she would be worried about him retaliating or getting mad.

“But I could really hurt you!” she insisted, her brown eyes boring into him with an emotion that he was unfamiliar with.

“Why do you care about that?” He crossed his arms. “That’s not even relevant; I’ll be fine. Just don’t aim for my head.”

She looked at him, at a loss, and Naruto noticed that even Lee had gone quiet. He felt like he was missing something; he hated that feeling.

“It’s just a training exercise,” he snapped, his confusion morphing into anger. “What is the big deal?”

“I don’t want to hurt you!” Tenten yelled and Naruto was alarmed to see she was getting upset. “I can’t just throw weapons at you; I couldn’t live with myself if I actually hit you. What part of that don’t you get?”

Naruto blinked. She was worried about hitting him because she…didn’t want to hurt him? What the fuck. How weak did she think he was?

“You could have just said no,” he snapped, glaring at her. “I should have known better than to train with some fucking green genin anyway. You don’t know what the fuck you’re doing; I’m not so weak that a training exercise is going to kill me and the fact you think that you are good enough to hurt me, despite all evidence pointing to the exact fucking opposite, is a fucking joke.”

He knew he was being harsh but he was so fucking annoyed. The suggestion that he wouldn’t be able to cope with such a simple exercise was insulting. He hadn’t put blood, sweat and every ounce of his being into training for the past few years to be talked down to by a genin that only graduated a few weeks ago.

There was always a risk of injury during training; it wouldn’t be effective otherwise. He’d come home with more bruises and aches than he could count from training with Gai-sensei and Kakashi wasn’t soft on him either. He knew they would never really hurt him but they also didn’t baby him either. They trusted him to know his own limits.

Even Sasuke knew better. He knew when he suggested this training exercise to the Uchiha, he wouldn’t hesitate to agree because he would be able to see the value in it. Naruto could even admit that they could alter the kunai so they didn’t injure as much but Tenten hadn’t considered that.

“Fuck this,” he said beneath his breath, turning to leave. “Let me know when you grow a spine.”

He stomped out, stopping at the tree line and taking a peak behind him. When he saw Tenten rubbing tears out of her eyes, Lee trying to comfort her, it twisted his gut. He hated this feeling; he only ever got it when he felt like he’d disappointed Gai-sensei. He didn’t even know why things had turned out liked this. He hadn’t tried to upset them or even rile them up; he just suggested a simple training exercise. He was even willing to train with them. He didn’t know what he did wrong.

Maybe he just wasn’t supposed to work with people his age. The academy had made that exceedingly clear to him, and other than Sasuke, it had only been reinforced by his interactions with Gai’s team. He wasn’t made to be on a team, but that was good. They wouldn’t hold him back. He would stick to his initial plan of avoiding them. He couldn’t do anything wrong if he didn’t engage at all. It was working with the civilians.

Neji met his eyes and raised an eyebrow at him. Naruto petulantly raised his middle finger at the Hyūga before continuing to stomp away. He needed to find Sasuke.

Chapter Text

“Are we going to talk about it?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Naruto…”

“Kakashi…”

The jounin raised an eyebrow at him. Naruto mirrored him. Kakashi folded his arms. Naruto copied him again. He was not going to lose this game. He knew exactly what Kakashi was talking about but he was not going to engage. It was none of his business and he already had to avoid the topic around Gai-sensei. Kakashi was supposed to be easy and not care about stupid things like this. Occasionally the jounin would bring up personal questions but Naruto thought he’d managed to get the man to take the hint.

He did not want to talk about it.

“Gai is worried about you.”

He narrowed his eyes but remained silent. That was a low blow. They stared at each other for another long moment.

“You are going to have to talk to them at some point,” Kakashi sighed, showing the first sign of weakness. “You share a teacher with them.”

“No I don’t,” Naruto snapped back. “They’re not my team, not my problem.”

Kakashi lifted his hand to rub his forehead wearily and Naruto almost growled at the jounin.

“I didn’t come here to be fucking judged,” he fumed. “I was under the impression that we were going to work on ninjutsu, which would make sense since you are my ninjutsu teacher, but apparently not. So find me when you are ready to work instead of sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

He turned to stomp his way out of the clearing but stopped as his name was called.

“Fine, I’ll drop it,” Kakashi raised his hands in defeat.

Naruto nodded but he didn’t relax. The jounin was fond of a sneak attack. He walked back over to stand in front of him, waiting for him to continue.

“You still can’t do Bunshin, can you?”

“Nope,” Naruto shrugged.

He’d never been able to do it. His clones always came out looking sickly and faded no mattered how many times he practiced the technique. There had been a minor improvement after he’d improved his chakra control with Gai but not enough to make a difference. He wasn’t that bothered about it since he didn’t like the technique that much anyway. He had other things to focus on.

“I may have a different technique for you.”

Naruto waited for him to continue.

“The only thing is that it can be incredibly dangerous,” Kakashi said with a seriousness Naruto hadn’t seen in him before. “It requires a lot of chakra and very little control which is why I thought of you, but it requires a lot of chakra. You need to be careful when and how you use it. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, loads of chakra,” Naruto waved him off.

Chakra had never been an issue for him. He’d never even come close to using up his reserves before. Kakashi sent him a look and Naruto rolled his eyes.

“I understand that this technique requires a lot of chakra,” he recited dully. “I should be careful when using it.”

He could tell Kakashi picked up on the fact that Naruto could not care less but the jounin left it alone, moving on.

“It is called Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,” he said. “It is a clone technique that allows you to make solid copies of yourself via chakra constructs. Your chakra will be divided equally between the clones: if you make one, your chakra will be halved, if you make two, they will each have a third, and so on. Why would this be an issue?”

Naruto was going over the possibilities in his head. Solid clones? Clones capable of taijutsu? There was so much he could do with that! Would the clones hold up after one blow? Would the amount of chakra influence the stability of the clone? How many hits could one take? How much autonomy would they have? If they were chakra constructs, could they also use ninjutsu?

“Naruto.” The jounin said his name with a hint of amusement, as if he could see the possibilities blooming in his head. “What would the issue be with the chakra division?”

“It’s divided evenly.” Naruto furrowed his brow in thought. “So if you made ten, and went down to a tenth of your reserves, that might be below what you need to stay alive.”

Kakashi eye-smiled.

“Correct, my cute little genin!”

Naruto let that one slide.

“Even making one, I would lose half of my reserves.”

“Yes,” Kakashi agreed. “It’s a risk; does the benefit of having an extra pair of hands outweigh the danger of losing so much chakra? It would limit your use of ninjutsu for the rest of the fight.”

Naruto grinned.

“What are the hand seals?”

Kakashi lifted his hand to show and Naruto mimicked him.

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.”

A puff of smoke appeared next to Kakashi and Naruto looked at the identical clone with interest. He couldn’t see any difference between them, none of the telltale signs that could be seen in the ordinary Bunshin. He reached forward and poked the clone curiously. The clone tilted his head at him in a way that was scarily identical to his teacher and poked him back.

“Is there any way to tell the difference?” He asked, looking for any signs himself.

“Their behaviour sometimes,” Kakashi shrugged. “They are never really used long enough for issues like that to come up.”

There was another puff of smoke as Kakashi let the technique go. Naruto grinned widely as he raised his hands.

“Naruto, wait-”

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”

A massive cloud of smoke erupted around them. He felt a dip in his reserves but it wasn’t so bad; he felt fine, not spent or anything. It certainly wasn’t as bad as Kakashi was trying to make him think. He would replenish the losses in a few hours at most. Had he not made enough?

The smoke started to clear around him and he stared at the crowd of clones that surrounded them. They were everywhere; in the trees, bushes, sitting on rocks, standing around the clearing and they all looked identical to him. He had no idea how many there were, just staring at the sea of orange. There had to be at least a hundred. He had a feeling that wasn’t supposed to happen and as he looked at a rigid Kakashi, he was pretty sure he was right.

“How much chakra did you put into it?” His voice was a bit faint but most of his expression was hidden by his mask.

“Don’t know,” Naruto shrugged. “A normal amount.”

There was a noise from Kakashi that Naruto couldn’t identify but Kakashi was already asking more questions before he could try.

“How do you feel? Faint? How are your reserves?”

“Fine,” Naruto looked back at him, a bit confused. “I could probably make way more. I wouldn’t really notice that little chakra missing.”

There was a moment of silence and Naruto let the technique go, coughing slightly at the sheer amount of smoke released. As it cleared, he caught a look in Kakashi’s eye that spelled doom.

“Looks like we are going to have to work on your control if you think that is a normal amount of chakra.”

Naruto groaned. Chakra control always came back to bite him in the ass.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

Hiruzen sighed, gazing at the young genin as he fumed in front of him. He felt for the Uzumaki but it simply wasn’t a possibility this year from him to attend the Chunin Exams. This had been a sore point for the genin the past few years but Hiruzen couldn’t change the rules for one genin.

“This isn’t fair.”

“It is not a matter of fairness, Naruto-kun,” he said, keeping his tone level. “You do not have a team therefore you cannot attend the exams. You knew this.”

“Yeah, but there are supposed to be teams that I can fill the gaps on,” Naruto insisted. “There are teams where one became a chunin and the others stayed genin; that’s what the genin reserve is for!”

“You are correct, however there are no teams available this year.”

“There’s never any teams available.”

Hiruzen sighed again. This argument came up every year.

“Naruto-kun, you are only eleven. You are still younger than most academy graduates; you have time. Most spend two to three years as a genin after their graduation from the academy so you are not falling behind. You are still very much ahead of your peers.”

“People from my academy class became a chunin last year, so sorry, Hokage-sama but I am very much behind.”

Hiruzen blinked at the use of his title. Naruto had been using Jiji less and less frequently as of late but he also knew that Naruto did not use his title with the respect it was intended. He had heard good reports from Gai about the genin’s training and was aware he was receiving additional training from Kakashi and Hayate but it hadn’t done anything to improve the genin’s relationship with people as a whole. The latest he’d seen in Naruto attitude towards Gai’s genin team had been less than promising and it made Hiruzen wonder if he’d been too lenient on Naruto.

There were not many people he would have bent the rules for to this extent. Allowing the boy to be apprenticed to Gai rather than join a standard three-man squad may have been more detrimental for his development as a shinobi. He had a valuable bloodline limit but he did not possess the Will of Fire like his parents. There had been nothing in the reports for his missions where he did work with other shinobi to suggest he was not working well or doing his part, but this was not what Hiruzen had hoped for.

“Naruto…”

“Are Gai-sensei’s team getting to go?” Naruto interrupted.

“They turned down the opportunity, preferring to build their skills for next year.”

“So they could have gone if they wanted to?” Naruto scoffed and Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.

“That is enough, Naruto.” He ordered, watching the genin flinch at the steel in his tone. “I will not have this argument with you again and I will not tolerate this disrespectful attitude of yours. I am your Hokage and you are my shinobi, is that understood?”

“Yes, Hokage-sama,” Naruto grumbled, dropping his head to stare at the floor.

It really did appear as if Hiruzen had been too soft on the boy. It was fine when he was younger but he had been a genin of Konoha for over two years now. He needed to learn to work with the system and his fellow shinobi instead of sulking when things did not go his way. He needed to do what he should have done when the boy graduated.

“When the new academy class graduates in January, you will be joining one of the teams,” he ordered, Naruto’s head snapping up. “Your apprenticeship with Gai-kun will be dissolved although you may train with him on your own time at the discretion of your jounin-sensei. You will take the Chunin Exams with this team when your jounin-sensei decides both you and your teammates are ready.”

“I have to join a team of green genin?” Naruto sounded horrified but Hiruzen steeled his heart. This was for his own good.

“You will have a team to take the Chunin Exams with.”

Naruto’s mouth opened and closed as he froze in place, struggling to compute Hiruzen’s words.

“I…I’m going to lose Gai-sensei?” He asked, a lot quieter.

“Gai-kun has other responsibilities,” Hiruzen responded. “He has his own team to manage. He has done incredibly well with you and your taijutsu abilities have soared under his instruction but that is something you can work on under your new jounin-sensei.”

He sighed at the sight of the crushed genin.

“This isn’t a punishment, Naruto-kun. You should have been placed on a team when you first graduated. I thought being a solo apprentice would help you more but it has become evident that I was wrong. You are being treated like any other genin, just a few years late.”

Hiruzen felt the lie in that statement but he ignored it. This was the right decision. If he had treated Naruto like any other genin two years ago they would not be here now.

“Is that everything, Hokage-sama?”

“Yes, you are dismissed, Naruto-kun.”

The door shut quietly behind the genin and Hiruzen realised he had been expecting a lot more anger from him. Naruto’s issues surrounding the Chunin Exams had always brought out his fury and even dealing with other people, he was gruff and impatient. He did not know if the lack of anger was a sign that the boy had actually matured during his apprenticeship with Gai-kun but the decision was made. Naruto would be joining a genin team in the upcoming year. It would be good for him. If he was ever going to actually become chunin, it was something he needed to learn.

Gai strode through the training ground, looking for his Eternal Rival. His wonderful genin team had completed their D-ranks for the day and wished to work on their individual skills. Gai was thrilled to have such hardworking and Youthful pupils and he knew they would reach the Springtime of their Youth and blossom for the whole village to see. They were following in the footsteps of his first wonderful pupil.

He finally spotted a sliver of silver hair in a tree and he grinned widely, running up the trunk to land on a branch nearby. His rival was sitting against the tree trunk, his legs stretched out in front of him on the branch with his ankles crossed.

“My Eternal Rival!” He called out, Kakashi continuing to read his book.

“Did you say something, Gai?”

“You are so hip, Kakashi!”

Kakashi sighed and placed the book on his lap, looking at him.

“This is about Naruto, isn’t it?”

Gai dropped to sit down on his own branch, swinging his legs. He knew he made the right choice coming to talk to Kakashi. He knew Naruto well and had been training him almost as long as Gai. Kakashi had an entirely different perspective than his own; he hoped that his rival could see something that Gai was missing. Gai knew he had his faults as Naruto’s teacher but he wanted to do his best for his pupil. Naruto deserved nothing but the absolute best from him and that meant sometimes looking to others to help.

“You are so insightful, my rival,” he said, his cheerfulness fading as thoughts returned to his apprentice. “Tell me, you have seen it too?”

“He’s totally avoiding that team of yours.”

“I do not understand why,” Gai insisted. “He is a wonderful genin and there is much they can learn from him! They look up to him as a shining example of the power of Youth! I do not understand where it keeps going wrong for him.”

It was frustrating. Gai could not see why Naruto and his team could not work well together. Naruto had a lot of experience and wisdom to share and his genin team could provide a source of friendship for his apprentice. He knew his genin team did not judge or dislike Naruto. Lee had stated several times how much he looked up to the younger genin. Gai felt as if he was missing something about his apprentice; he felt like he could not be the best teacher for him unless he figured it out.

“Can I be honest, Gai?” Kakashi put his book away in a pocket and sat up, curling one foot underneath his leg and leaning forward.

“Always.”

“Naruto has shit social skills.”

Gai blinked as Kakashi continued.

“It’s not his fault; he never developed them. He never had any friends or family and everything he got from the village was negative, so he learned how to deal with that. He never learned how to deal with people normally in non-negative situations.”

Gai frowned.

“He assumes the worst in people, not because of his own actions, but because of his own experience. We probably haven’t helped. Yes, we provide him with some normalcy and positive experiences but we roll with Naruto as he is. He likes us and respects you at least, so he makes an effort. He doesn’t see a reason to do that with anyone else as he’d never been given a reason. You following me?”

“I am, but I have only experienced Naruto as a hardworking, earnest young man. He is direct and does not enjoy empty words, but those are strengths of his! Why would my team not see the same?”

“You have a pretty unique perspective, Gai,” Kakashi shook his head fondly. “The problem with your genin is that Naruto doesn’t know how to read them. He can’t easily pick up emotions or cues as he’s just never learned. At the same time, they also don’t know how to read him. He doesn’t respond to things or think about things like they do. Something that is normal for them might not be for Naruto and vice versa. He’s fine with you since you’re pretty open and straightforward about everything that goes through your head.”

“They are unable to connect,” Gai continued for him. “They misunderstand each other and do not realise they are misunderstanding each other as they view the other as the same. They do not realise they have different ways of communicating.”

“Now you’re getting it,” Kakashi nodded. “It’s not that any of them were deliberately being difficult, they just can’t relate to each other. Another problem is that Naruto’s response to an unknown social situation is to get angry and defensive. He assumes that he is going to be blamed so he pushes them away and ends it then and there. He then avoids it like his life depends on it to protect himself.”

Gai nodded, thoughtful. Now his rival had pointed it out, it did make sense. Naruto had avoided him when he thought Gai was angry at him. He was currently avoiding his genin team after the discussion of training went wrong. He could see it was no fault of Naruto’s or his team’s, but it didn’t fix the issues that had caused the rift in the first place.

“You’ve done a great job with him, Gai,” Kakashi added. “I don’t think there’re many people who could have gotten him to open up this much. He really respects you. This is just something that will take a while.”

“Naruto-kun has never done anything less than his best while training with me,” Gai smiled. “He is a wonderful pupil and I am blessed every day to be his teacher. He is determined, intelligent, focused, strong and never gives less than one hundred percent. I have learned as much from him as he has from me. He is a shining example of the Springtime of Youth to all of Konoha.”

He meant every word. Naruto had a lot to overcome, more than anyone at his age, and it has been a privilege to be a part of his journey. He looked forward to many years of training and working with his pupil and he knew Naruto would achieve any goal he set his mind to.

“Never change, Gai,” Kakashi huffed in amusement, leaning back against the tree.

“So what can I do to help them?”

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders.

“I really don’t know. Naruto shuts down any attempt to talk about it. It might just take time. Keep doing what you’re doing and hopefully it works itself out.”

“I do not like that I am unable to do more,” Gai frowned. “It is not very Youthful.”

“They’re young,” Kakashi crossed his ankles once more. “They’ll figure it out. You just have to be patient; something for you to work on too.”

Gai looked at his friend for a long moment.

“You would make a wonderful jounin-sensei, my rival.”

Kakashi snorted.

“Yeah,” he said, although it was obvious he didn’t believe it. “That’s why I fail them every year.”

“You have your reasons,” Gai insisted. “You know if they are ready for the trials that come with becoming a shinobi and you would not fail them with a deceptive heart. You only wish the best for them. Becoming a shinobi is not part of their journey; you merely wish to keep them alive.”

“You make it sound much better than it actually is.”

“Perhaps you are waiting for the right team!” Gai grinned. “I could not imagine my life without my dear genin; all four of them are irreplaceable!”

Kakashi chuckled, shaking his head fondly before tilting his head thoughtfully.

“Hey, did you know how much chakra Naruto has?” he asked suddenly.

“I am aware that he has a great store of it,” Gai nodded. “He has much more than any genin I have encountered before.”

“But have you ever actually measured it or anything?”

“Is there something you wish to address, Kakashi?”

“I taught him Kage Bunshin,” his rival said, leaning forward once again. “He accidently made at least a hundred. One hundred, Gai! That would kill anyone else! I asked him about it and he said he barely noticed the drain.”

Gai’s eyes widened at the implications of Kakashi’s words. He knew Naruto had been blessed with a large chakra store and had valiantly worked hard on his physical conditioning and chakra control, which would have naturally increased it. He had never heard of what Kakashi was talking about.

“Is it due to the Kyūbi?” he suggested.

“I don’t know,” Kakashi shook his head. “But I think we are seriously under-utilising it. We need to look over his training regime again.”

Gai was about to agree when a hawk landed on a branch above them.

“We’ll talk after you see the Hokage,” Kakashi brought his book back out. “I’ll be here.”

“Thank you, my Eternal Rival!” Gai grinned, throwing him a thumbs up. “It is wonderful to know you are as invested my pupil’s training as I am. Naruto is fortunate to have someone as diligent as you watching over him.”

“Just don’t tell him that,” Kakashi muttered beneath his breath, bring his orange book back up to read. “I have a reputation.”

Gai left him to it, making his way towards the Hokage Tower, with a lighter heart than before. He may not be able to do much to help the relationship between his pupils but he could continue to be his most Youthful self and help his students strive to the Springtime of their Youth!

Sasuke huffed as he walked to the meeting location. He only had six months left of the academy and it was six months too long. No one was taking it seriously! In every taijutsu spar, every genjutsu tutorial, every single ninjutsu practice, he could feel the lack of discipline and motivation in his classmates. They were all content to float along the course, never bothering to push themselves, and Sasuke was sick of it. He put so much effort and training in and it all felt like it was wasted on them; everything was designed to go at the snail’s pace of his classmates.

With every day spent in that hellhole, he could feel Itachi getting further and further away from him. When Itachi was his age, he was on the verge of ANBU; his brother graduated five years earlier than Sasuke and he knew from his experience with Naruto that it mattered. The blond genin was in a completely different league to Sasuke’s classmates and he knew a huge part of that was getting out of the academy and actually doing the shit they were training for. How was he supposed to ever beat Itachi when he was stuck memorising stuff that would never actually be relevant for his actual shinobi career instead of doing something productive?

He could not wait until graduation. Yes, he would be potentially stuck with a couple of dead weights but he would get a jounin-sensei and missions and more time to train and get stronger. He would be moving forward which is more than what he was doing right now. Right now, he felt like he was trapped, cursed to remain in the same place, despite the fact he knew he had the power to move forward.

It wouldn’t be so bad if he got someone like Naruto on his team. He could be an asshole, but he was strong. He didn’t care that Sasuke was an Uchiha, only if he could beat him in a fight or what training they could do. He did not conform to the expectations of the village and he certainly didn’t follow the crowd. Sasuke appreciated that; the rest of his peers were like sheep. If he suggested a training method to his classmates, they would fall over themselves to agree even if it was a bad idea. Naruto actually gave it some thought and would tell him to his face if it was shit or would suggest improvements.

Sasuke respected hard work and ability and Naruto had that in spades. He also didn’t hold back for Sasuke. If he knew how to do something, he wouldn’t wait around for Sasuke to catch up. He would just forge on ahead and expect Sasuke to catch up in his own time. Sasuke loved that; Naruto made it feel like he was moving forward. He knew there were things Naruto got out of this arrangement too. Sasuke did not care about whatever stick the village had up their ass about Naruto. He took the blond at face value and he knew Naruto appreciated that.

Naruto was the only person Sasuke could trust to be upfront with him, and Sasuke was someone that Naruto could be himself around without having to worry about repercussions or offense. There was a freedom with each other that they couldn’t get anywhere else. He had never expected it to become what it had but he was also not going to question it. The less he thought about stuff like that the better.

He finally made it to the training grounds and spotted the genin in question sitting quietly in the centre. He walked over to him, letting the tensions of the day drain from his shoulders.

“Oi, dobe,” he called out and frowned as Naruto didn’t respond.

As he got closer and saw Naruto’s face, alarm bells started ringing. Naruto looked miserable. Sasuke had seen him angry, annoyed, smug, joyous, thoughtful, vindictive but never miserable. He didn’t know Naruto was capable of that; his default was always anger and always loud.

“Naruto,” Sasuke tried again, walking around to sit directly in front of the genin.

Naruto didn’t appear to hear him. He didn’t even seem like he could see Sasuke. He waved a hand in front of his face and there was no response. What the fuck? Sasuke started to get nervous; this was not normal. He didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t something that had ever happened before. He knew Naruto had a list of issues longer than the Hokage Tower but it wasn’t Sasuke’s problem. It had never affected their training before. He shoved at his shoulder, finally getting a reaction. Dull blue eyes gazed back at him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Naruto blinked and some life started to return to his eyes but there was still a weight to him, as if a dark cloud had settled on his shoulders.

“I’m losing Gai-sensei.”

Sasuke frowned.

“Is he dying or something?”

Naruto shook his head.

“Our apprenticeship is going to be dissolved and I’m being assigned to one of the graduating genin teams in January,” he elaborated, sounding defeated.

Sasuke ignored the little spark of hope that flared in his chest. Naruto could be his teammate; he could potentially have one less dead weight on the team. He could have an equal.

“That’s it?” He snorted derisively. “You made it seem like the world was ending.”

Naruto glared at him and something in Sasuke’s gut loosened at the sight of the familiar anger.

“You don’t get it,” he snapped bitterly. “Gai-sensei was the first person ever to treat me like a human being. He cares and thinks I actually matter! He’s the best jounin-sensei in this damned village and now I’m going to get stuck with some asshole that probably won’t even bother with me while Gai-sensei forgets me, too busy with his shiny, non-pariah genin.”

“Suck it up,” Sasuke said bluntly. “Gai wasn’t going to babysit you forever. If you are going to let a shit jounin-sensei hold you back, then you’re not the person I thought you were.”

Naruto looked back at him in surprise and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

“It’s not as if you’re losing him forever,” he pointed out. “He’s still going to be around the village and you can still talk to him and stuff. You’re just being a melodramatic ass.”

Naruto went quiet for a moment and Sasuke waited for him to process. This is not what he wanted to be dealing with today. He knew Gai meant a lot to Naruto. He’d never heard a single bad word from Naruto about his jounin-sensei and the blond was not the type to hold back. Naruto had been jealous of the new genin team Gai had taken on and Sasuke had been forced to listen to him whine about it for weeks. Sasuke also complained about his classmates so he figured they were even on that front.

“I’m going to get stuck on a green genin team,” Naruto pouted, but it was obvious that the depressive spell had worn off. Thank fuck. Sasuke never wanted to see him like that ever again. He didn’t suit it.

“You might get put on a team with me,” he couldn’t help but point out, keeping his tone disinterested in case the dobe got the wrong idea.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at him but for a brief moment, there was something warm in his gaze. It was gone before Sasuke could blink.

“I guess you’re not the worst person to get stuck with.”

Sasuke glared at him while Naruto grinned. He shoved over the blond, climbing to his feet. That was probably the closest he would get to Naruto saying he wanted to be on a team with Sasuke. It was pretty unlikely, but it would be cool. They could train like this every day. Sasuke shook those thoughts from his mind as Naruto bounced up, seemingly back to normal. He wanted to get some training done today and he didn’t need any distractions.

Chapter Text

Naruto panted as his arms burned, sweat dripping into his eyes.

“Do not drop your arm,” Hayate ordered from the side. “A swordsman cannot afford to lower their weapon. It leaves an opening for your opponent and projects weakness. You must maintain your form, no matter the exhaustion or potential injuries.”

Naruto gritted his teeth and nodded, gripping the hilt tighter.

“Discipline is the most important thing for a swordsman to master,” he continued to lecture, occasionally turning his head to cough into his shoulder. “Form, technique, speed, power will all come with time but are useless without discipline. Run through the first set of katas.”

Naruto moved, swinging his sword in purposeful strokes, slicing the training dummy in front of him. He ran through the combinations in his head, the sword and the dummy becoming his whole world for a few minutes. He felt a whack on his shoulder and glanced at Hayate as he finished the last one. The tokubetsu jounin swung his wooden sword idly.

“You must focus but you can’t lose your awareness of your surroundings. The sword should feel like an extension of your arm; you would need not need this much focus for controlling a limb.”

Naruto huffed. Right now the sword felt like a massive weight had been strapped onto his wrist. He didn’t dare voice his thoughts; it was hard-going but effective. He could feel the improvement after every training session and the last thing he wanted to do is appear ungrateful. He’d asked for the training in the first place so even if it was gruelling, he just had to suck it up. Hayate watched him for a long moment before he relaxed.

“You can stop for the day.”

Naruto slumped to the ground, panting heavily. He just managed to stop the sword bouncing off the ground. The last time he did that, Hayate had gone on to spend three hours talking about sword care and maintenance and the consequences of not doing it properly. All helpful information but Naruto wasn’t one for lectures.

“You’re doing well,” Hayate smiled at him. “I think you’re ready to try dual wielding next time.”

Naruto nodded, lacking the breath to respond verbally. He really needed to take a look at his physical conditioning; it evidently wasn’t enough. He had thought that it would be similar to taijutsu but kenjutsu was an entirely different story. There were so many things he had to think about and be aware of but he loved it. There was a sort of peace when his mind was so overwhelmed he had no choice but to focus.

Hayate was an interesting teacher. In general, he was pretty subdued; Naruto would even go so far as to say he was gentle by nature. He was calm, composed and Naruto couldn’t help but respond in kind. It was very different to Gai-sensei or Kakashi. He did censor himself more than he would with them but he didn’t feel weird about it. Things were straightforward and while Hayate was quiet, he was not soft. He was an unrelenting teacher and demanded perfection from Naruto. He knew that it was a strict discipline anyway and that it could take years to properly master kenjutsu, but there was nothing patronising or negative about the way Hayate critiqued him. It was all constructive and matter-of-fact and Naruto appreciated that.

“What did you do to the poor kid today?”

They looked over to see Yugao making their way towards them, looking to Naruto with an amused grin. Her long purple hung past her shoulders and she wore a simple black sweater. Her warm brown eyes looked at Naruto with sympathetic understanding.

“He is an absolute taskmaster,” she continued, crouching in front of him. “He was this bad when he taught me too and the worst part is none of our friends would believe it.”

“You make it sound way worse than it is,” Hayate defended himself but the moment Yugao had arrived, he’d melted. They were so gone for each other and while that wasn’t Naruto’s thing it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to put up with.

“I asked for the training,” he said, finally getting his breath back. “I would be more annoyed if he took it easy on me.”

Yugao ruffled his hair gently as he stood and he shook her off, glaring half-heartedly.

“You’ve got a good student,” she smiled over at the jounin.

“I do.”

Naruto wasn’t sure how to respond to the blunt praise so he busied himself with wiping his sword down, coating it in a thin coat of oil before returning it to its sheath. He was supposed to work on taijutsu next but he was fucking knackered. He might just inhale ten bowls of ramen and have a nap.

“Is next Thursday okay for you?” Hayate walked over to them.

“Yeah,” Naruto confirmed, running over his plans for the next few days. “I shouldn’t be on a mission then.”

Hayate nodded as he settled next to Yugao, the backs of their hands brushing gently. Naruto rolled his eyes; that was his cue to go. He liked the pair and they had a sense of serenity about them that he didn’t get from any of his other teachers but he had his limits. He remembered seeing them share a kiss before and the discomfort at the sight still haunted him.

“Thanks, Hayate-sensei,” he called out, turning to leave.

“Good work today.”

Naruto smiled to himself as he left the training field. He really did like them but that was something he kept to himself; couldn’t have people thinking he was going soft.

Neji entered the training grounds, hoping he finally had each distance that he could escape the prying eyes of the rest of his clan. He was limited in what he could train while in the compound and if he was ever going to get strong enough to keep his promises, then he had to train skills that the clan would not approve of. He’d picked the training ground furthest from the village itself; most never bothered to come out this far so it was usually deserted.

He spotted the orange eye-sore almost immediately. He frowned as blue eyes turned to meet his and a matching scowl appeared on Naruto’s face.

“What are you doing here?” Naruto glared. “Don’t the Hyūga have some super fancy training grounds you can use?”

“They do,” Neji said stiffly. “I cannot use them for what I intend to train.”

Naruto considered his words, realisation creeping into his gaze.

“You’re totally rebelling against your clan.”

“I am taking the opportunity to explore all training available to me,” Neji replied coolly. “It is no fault of mine that some of those options are not offered by the Hyūga clan.”

“That’s a bunch of fancy talk for saying yes,” Naruto grinned sharply. “Good for you; fuck the system.”

Neji rolled his eyes. The other boy was crude, which Neji would not normally appreciate, but there was something about the way Naruto approached things. He called Neji out on things that no one else would dare. His clan did not particularly care to dig any deeper and his peers were often intimidated by him. It was almost…refreshing, the way Naruto got to the heart of the matter with only a few select words. He had not seen the blond around since the argument with Tenten. It had not impacted Neji in any way but he had noticed it.

“How long do you intend to avoid my teammates?”

Naruto’s grin dropped and he returned to scowling.

“What’s it to you?”

“You are a common topic of discussion,” Neji replied, letting the distaste colour his tone. “I wish for them to drop it and move on but they have got into their heads that they would like to befriend you.”

“And you don’t?”

Neji blinked at the question. He could admit to himself that Naruto understood him in a way no one else had been able to. Lee and Tenten considered Neji to be their friend but he was not sure he reciprocated in the way that they wanted. He did appreciate them as his teammates and they worked well together. They had their problems; Tenten was hesitant to speak up when she had alternative ideas to his own and Lee constantly wished to fight him to prove some sort of point. He personally thought that Lee beating him in a fight was improbable but it would have very little impact on Lee’s future as a shinobi in the long run.

“I do not believe in wasting my time chasing people who do not want to be caught,” he answered. “I have never been one for friends as it is.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow but his scowl vanished, replaced with a considering look. Neji could admit to himself that Naruto had a profound impact on his future as a shinobi and there would always be a part of him that felt connected to the blond, but he was also not about to turn into his teammates and mope when someone did not reciprocate. Neji had been alone for a long time and he was perfectly content that way.

“Good,” Naruto nodded. “I don’t do whatever your teammates are after.”

There was a small voice in the back of his head pointing out that Naruto had been avoiding Tenten and Lee, not Neji, but he ignored it.

“Shall I pass on the fruitless nature of this endeavour to my team?”

“Why do you gotta talk like someone stuck a manners book up your ass?” Naruto crossed his arms. “Talk like a real person.”

“The Hyūga are a great and noble clan. Members must uphold the utmost decorum and etiquette as representatives of this legacy,” Neji replied, almost verbatim to the teachers he had when he was younger. “It would be a difficult habit to break considering it had been drilled into me since birth.”

“Well, you’re already rebelling against them,” Naruto grinned wickedly. “What’s one more thing? Come on, swear or something.”

Neji lifted one delicate brow. Naruto had brightened up considerably and walked closer to him. Blue eyes shined at him eagerly.

“This is ridiculous.”

“You saying you can’t?”

Neji narrowed his eyes at the blond.

“I most certainly can, you ass.”

Naruto laughed and Neji blinked at the openness of it. There was no underlying mischief or smugness or whatever Naruto usually did when talking to people. It was unguarded and unexpected.

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Naruto smiled widely at him. “The Hyūga ain’t gonna see what’s coming.”

“You seem to be enjoying this,” he remarked.

“Any chance to stick it to the fuckers in charge,” Naruto smirked. “Now, how would the great and mighty Hyūga clan feel about their members learning ninjutsu?”

Neji immediately thought back to his clan jutsu instructors. There was a firm, if arrogant, belief that all the Hyūga could ever need was their clan techniques. The Byakugan was a great weapon and married perfectly with the style of taijutsu his clan employed. Neji himself had never seen any reason to look elsewhere for his fighting repertoire but a part of him had wondered that if he had another card to play against Naruto that the outcome of the fight could have been very different.

If any members of the main branch found out, it would not end well. The Hyūga were very strict about the purity of their fighting style. Neji had never heard of any Hyūga using anything other than the clan techniques. He would have to be careful not use it around his clan members but out on missions, there would be nothing to hide. He had promised himself to become strong and he could not do that if he limited himself to the narrow views of his clan.

“They would greatly disapprove,” Neji said, a smile creeping onto his own face. “It would be most unbecoming for a member of the clan to use ninjutsu.”

He could see the delight in Naruto’s eyes at the prospect of chaos. Neji was not sure why he was agreeing to this or why he felt more at ease with the abrasive blond than he did his own teammates; perhaps it was the absence of any expectations. He decided not to think about it. He had more immediate concerns.

“I have so much I can teach you,” Naruto clapped his hands together. “This is going to be good. I can’t wait to see their stupid faces.”

Neji had a feeling Naruto was up to more than teaching Neji some jutsu. He had heard of the blond’s pranking tendencies and vehement hatred of any and all authority and had an inkling that the Hyūga were in for a lot worse than one rebelling genin. He could not bring himself to care.

“You can’t tell your teammates about this though,” Naruto added. “I can put up with you because you’re an asshole but I ain’t dealing with those bleeding hearts.”

Neji frowned but let it go. He knew that he would probably be hearing a lot worse if he was going to be hanging around Naruto on a semi-regular basis.

“This is only for the purpose of training and defying the Hyūga clan,” Neji replied. “Nothing more; there is no reason for them to know.”

This was not what he had expected for today but Neji refused to lose such an opportunity. He had vowed to become strong and if that meant leaving some of the traditions and etiquette of his clan behind, he would do it. He would not let anything hold him back.

Naruto closed his eyes as he savoured the beautiful broth on his tongue. He inhaled deeply, the wonderful scent of delicious ramen taking over his senses for a blissful few seconds. The warmth of the gentle steam caressed his face and he smiled. He loved ramen. Everything was better with ramen. He opened his eyes as the flap to the Ichiraku stall was pushed to the side and the familiar voice of his teacher made its way to him.

“Naruto-kun!” Gai-sensei grinned.

“Hi, Gai-sensei,” Naruto replied before he turned his attention back to his bowl.

“May I have the heartiest bowl of beef ramen, Teuchi!”

The ramen chef smiled fondly.

“Of course, Gai,” he nodded, motioning to his daughter to start the order. “How are you today?”

“I am having the most Youthful day!” Gai laughed. “A bowl of your ramen will only improve it further!”

Naruto knew that Gai didn’t like ramen as much as he did but he appreciated the effort. In fairness, no one liked ramen as much as Naruto did. He’d never complained once though in the almost three years of apprenticeship when Naruto wanted to eat here. He knew other people got sick of it after a while, although he couldn’t fathom why, but Gai-sensei always came with him when he could. He would miss that when he got a new jounin-sensei.

“Coming right up,” Teuchi tapped the bench and went to help Ayame.

Naruto continued slurping up the heavenly noodles. This was the first time he’d seen Gai-sensei since the verdict was passed down by the Hokage. He didn’t know what he was about to say. He had faith in Gai-sensei but small, hurt part of him thought his teacher might be grateful to be rid of him. He’d be able focus on his real team then.

“I am sorry, Naruto-kun.”

Naruto coughed in surprise, noodles catching in his throat. He clamped a hand over mouth as he struggled to swallow, grabbing a glass of water and gulping it greedily. A large hand slapped his back strongly in an attempt to help and he lost the breath he’d just managed to get back.

“Are you okay, Naruto-kun?” Gai-sensei asked frantically, standing and hovering over him. “Shall I call a medic?”

“I’m fine, Gai-sensei,” he said hoarsely. “What do you have to be sorry for?”

“I have failed you as a teacher,” Gai-sensei announced dramatically but Naruto could hear the sincerity behind his words. “I have not been able to nurture you to chunin and I have been deemed a lacking jounin-sensei by Hokage-sama!”

Naruto shook his head, unable to help his amusement. Of course Gai-sensei would take the news as if there was something wrong with him and not Naruto. The man couldn’t think the worst of him even if Naruto burned down the village. He would probably cry about the brightness of Naruto’s Will of Fire.

“It’s not you, Gai-sensei,” he swirled the noodles around the bowl. “The Hokage just showed his true colours, is all. He’s just like everyone else.”

“Naruto-kun, Hokage-sama is trying to do his best by you…”

Gai-sensei didn’t say it with as much conviction as he used to. Naruto knew there was an almost pathological need in every shinobi to defend and honour the Hokage; it came from being a military state. He didn’t hold it against Gai-sensei, especially since he knew his jounin-sensei tried to see the best in everyone anyway.

“I’m the Kyūbi container,” he said bluntly, uncaring of anyone listening in. It was the worst kept secret in Konoha. “If there is a chance to screw me over, people always take it.”

There was a moment of uncharacteristic silence and Naruto worried for a moment that he had finally broken Gai-sensei.

“Naruto-kun, you are the most hardworking, earnest pupil I have had the privilege of teaching,” Gai-sensei said, his dark eyes serious. “You are honest and direct and you do not compromise who you are for anyone. My only wish is that you know how brightly you shine and how much others look up to you; that you may open your eyes to the positivity around you instead of only seeing the negative. You have so much to offer, Naruto-kun; you are only in the dawn of your Springtime of Youth.”

A lump rose in Naruto’s throat and he looked away from his jounin-sensei. He couldn’t listen to this. He wasn’t any of those things.

“I’m not who you think I am,” he blurted out, the truth pouring out of him. “I hate this place. I hate their stupid festivals and markets and their stupid, judgemental looks. I hate that no matter what I do, no matter how helpful I am, no matter how much I avoid them, that the village will always hate me right back. I hate that even with the few people who I can tolerate that I feel like tearing down this village with my bare hands. I want to leave Konoha, Gai-sensei, and never look back.”

Just because he was learning from Kakashi and Hayate, training with Sasuke and Neji didn’t mean his original goals had faded. He was grateful to them and he put the effort in, but he knew in his heart if he was given half a chance he would abandon them all without a second thought. He wasn’t proud of it but he couldn’t be stuck here. He couldn’t give up his chance at a life of freedom for anyone. He’d told Gai about this before but he had never been sure that the man had understood. He knew he could be burning this bridge but he couldn’t have Gai-sensei thinking he was this great, loyal genin he boasted about. He owed Gai-sensei the truth before they went their separate ways.

“Naruto, I have always known about your goals and I respect your decision,” Gai-sensei beamed, placing a warm hand on Naruto’s shoulder. “My goal was to make you feel as if you could stay if you wished to. I apologise for falling short.”

Gai-sensei was impossible. Naruto would miss him.

“Your ramen, Gai-san.”

The moment was interrupted by the arrival of Gai-sensei’s beef ramen and Naruto took it as the reprieve it was. This was too much right now. It had been great being Gai-sensei’s student but he had to move forward. He would be leaving this village one day and that included leaving Gai-sensei. He just had to think of it as leaving the man a little earlier than planned.

“Thank you, Teuchi-san!” Gai-sensei’s smile sparkled. “I look forward to cherishing your wonderful meals for as long as I can!”

Naruto didn’t miss the look his jounin-sensei threw his way.

Naruto loitered outside of the doors of the Mission Assignment Desk, trying to put off the inevitable. The Rinne Festival was coming up and that meant dozens of D-rank missions would be coming up; Naruto hated this time of year. He had been stuck with setting up the decorations every year since graduation and none of his old tricks of getting out of it were going to work. Last year, he’d purposely dumped them in all the wrong places in terrible condition and it just lead to him being forced to remake them all. It took three days and he hadn’t even gotten D-rank pay for it.

The Rinne Festival also signified the end of the year and the academy graduations would be in three weeks. Sasuke hadn’t stopped talking about it for ages and Naruto was sure that if Sasuke could murder his classmates and get away with it, he wouldn’t hesitate. He’d heard some horror stories, particularly about the so-called ‘fangirls’ and it just made Naruto grateful that he’d graduated ages ago. He couldn’t imagine sitting in a classroom and tolerating that bullshit again. He’d recommended that Sasuke beat the shit out of them during taijutsu practice; the Uchiha hadn’t taken him up on as far as he’d heard.

He was ignoring the fact he would be forced onto a genin team. He had shit to do and thinking about it wouldn’t change anything. He still trained with Gai-sensei a few times a week but he’d seen his jounin-sensei a lot less in recent weeks. It was mainly Naruto’s doing since he figured it would be easier if there was some distance already established but it also hurt, knowing that those days were numbered. He could shove the misery to the back of his mind if he avoided Gai-sensei; out of sight, out of mind.

Gai-sensei had been busy with his own genin team anyway. They had started on C-ranks last month and it had made it that much easier to avoid them. It had been over two months since the incident in the trainings grounds and while the anger had long faded, Naruto was nothing if not stubborn.

He did train ninjutsu with Neji occasionally but that wasn’t friendly, that was purely to stick it to the Hyūga clan. They always walked around the village like that had a silver spoon stuck up their ass; like they were better than everyone else because they happened to be born with some fancy eyes. Naruto and Sasuke were also born with some cool bloodline limits, the Hyūga weren’t as special as they wanted to think they were. It was well known how much they prided themselves on using only clan techniques so teaching Neji how to throw around huge ass fireballs gave Naruto a spark of joy he only felt when pranking civilians. It had nothing to do with Neji himself. They did sort of get along by the fact they knew that they were there to get shit done, not be ‘best buds’, so Naruto tolerated him. He hadn’t seen Tenten or Lee though and he had no desire to seek them out.

“Naruto-senpai?”

He closed his eyes. Why had God forsaken him? What had he done? Surely he’d been punished enough for a lifetime, why would this happen to him? He hadn’t physically maimed anyone recently and he was nice to animals; was that not enough to be granted just the tiniest bit of good karma?

“Naruto-kun!”

He opened his eyes and looked flatly back at Gai-sensei. He didn’t look at the flock of genin around him.

“Gai-sensei.”

“Here for the festival missions?” the man asked cheerfully.

“Against my will,” Naruto confirmed.

“What’s so wrong with helping out with the festival?”

Naruto looked at Tenten, raising an eyebrow. He held the look long enough for her to become uncomfortable. She hadn’t changed much from when he’d last seen her in the training grounds. He knew that he was being a bit dramatic now with his avoidance of them but it was just easier. He didn’t actually hold anything in particular against Tenten; her view on his strength didn’t actually matter. He was pretty sure she still couldn’t hit him with a kunai, but whether it was from lack of skill or backbone didn’t really concern him anymore.

 He didn’t get the chance to answer before Lee cut in.

“It is an honour to be able to contribute to such an auspicious event!” He grinned, his smile a pale imitation of Gai-sensei’s. “We should be honoured that we can help the village celebrate and allow the Will of Fire to burn brighter than ever!”

Naruto took the other boy in, scanning the green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers and dumb bowl cut. He was the spitting image of Gai-sensei. He had predicted it a while back but the boy had taken it even further than Naruto had thought. A spark of anger flared his chest at the sight, although he couldn’t pinpoint why.

“If you say so, knock-off,” he answered dismissively.

Wasn’t it enough they got to keep Gai-sensei? They didn’t even realise how lucky they were and Lee didn’t even have the decency to have an original thought. He didn’t deserve Gai-sensei; he could copy any other jounin in this dumb village. Gai-sensei deserved better than some knock-off that was too busy trying to crawl up his ass than become a good shinobi. Neji was decent and Tenten was questionable but at least they relied on their own strengths. They didn’t try to copy someone they could never measure up to in any reality.

He knew his feelings for the boy were evident on his face but he wasn’t going to be Gai-sensei’s student anymore. He had no obligation to be nice to this moron. Gai-sensei would be delighted to have a carbon copy but his teacher wouldn’t be tricked into favouring Lee like that. Naruto knew Gai-sensei better than that.

“Naruto…” Tenten began but she stopped short at the glare he sent her way.

Maybe he was wrong about the anger having long faded; the longer he was around them, the more the urge to snap Lee’s neck crept up on him.

“Naruto-senpai, we heard you are being placed on a team of your own! They shall be most fortunate to gain someone with your experience!” Lee grinned and Naruto clenched his teeth.

There was no way he didn’t know what he was doing. He just had to fucking rub it in Naruto’s face that he lost Gai-sensei and they had him all to themselves. Gai-sensei had been the first person to meet him where he was at and see him for who he was. He liked Naruto as a person, even when Naruto knew he was being a shit. He even accepted Naruto’s ambitions even though they went against his own. Gai-sensei always saw the best in him and he knew his new jounin-sensei would be different. He would never have what he had with Gai-sensei and this asshole wanted to flaunt it?

“Go fuck yourself,” he snapped. He was too wrapped up in his fury to notice Gai-sensei’s disapproving look. “I’ll shove those leg warmers up your ass.”

“Naruto-kun, that’s enough.”

He took a step back at Gai-sensei’s words. It wasn’t fair; he was pretty used to being punished for shit that wasn’t his fault but this felt like the worst so far. He would not stand for Lee rubbing his face in it, not even to avoid disappointing Gai-sensei.

“I’m done with him anyway,” he spat.

He turned away from the quiet team and stomped through the doors, swiping the first scroll held out to him and diving out the first window he saw. He hadn’t been this angry in a long time. He crumpled the scroll in his hands at the thought of losing Gai-sensei to that fucker. He could imitate Gai-sensei as much as he wanted, it didn’t mean he would have even a fraction of the man’s skill. The kid couldn’t even beat Naruto.

Naruto steeled his resolve; he vowed that no matter what idiots he got stuck with on his new team he was going to make damn sure he could still wipe the floor with Team 9 on any given day of the week. He would show them that no matter how long they stayed with Gai-sensei, Naruto would be the best damn pupil the man would ever train.

Chapter Text

Neji sighed as Naruto failed to appear yet again. He had not thought that the run-in with his team the other day would be enough to chase the other boy away entirely. Neji personally did not care about whatever Naruto had against Lee but he was annoyed that it was interfering with his training. Naruto could at least have the decency to direct his ire at the true target of his rage.

There had been no indications towards his outburst when they had first seen him outside the Mission Assignment Desk’s doors. He had been indifferent if a bit unimpressed but it had not been until Lee spoke to him that Neji had seen the anger ripple across Naruto’s features. He had not exactly done much to hide it. Neji was sure Naruto was reacting to Lee dressing like Gai-sensei but he was unsure about why that would anger the blond to such a degree. He did ask Naruto when they’d next met up for training but he had not taken it well. He had begun ranting about pale imitations and disrespect towards Gai-sensei, yelling that dressing like Gai-sensei would not let Lee become half the shinobi Gai-sensei was. Neji had not seen him this furious since that very first fight with his team.

Neji could admit that he had poked into the matter a bit soon; upon asking why that concerned Naruto, the blond had directed a venomous look his way, spitting some insult at him and vanishing from the training grounds. Neji knew Naruto’s preferred method of dealing with things was avoiding them by any means possible so he should have really expected for the blond to abandon their training. He had such a short fuse and an ability to hold such a long grudge.

Neji personally thought Naruto was handling this like a toddler who had their favourite toy taken from him. It was clear as day that he was jealous of Neji’s team; they remained with Gai-sensei while he was thrust onto a team of green genin and an unknown jounin-sensei. He could see how Naruto would think Lee was rubbing it into his face but Naruto did not know Lee. He had never made the effort; he had never made the effort to get to know any of them really. Lee was not the type of person to do that and while Neji found Lee to be insufferable at times with his naïve enthusiasm, he could see that Naruto was the one in the wrong here. It was not their fault and they did not deserve his ire.

He settled into a stance and began to run through hand seals. He would have preferred to keep learning new techniques but he could spend time improving the ones he did know. It had been very strange learning ninjutsu and it had taken some getting used to. His chakra control was excellent from his clan techniques so it was more familiarising himself with the hand seals and chakra requirements. He had not used them in front of his team yet, not quite happy with the quality of them. He had been the best in his class and the strongest of his year; even if he was learning forbidden techniques, he would learn them well. When Naruto finally realised how childish he was being, Neji would show him his mastery of the techniques. He did not need the blond. He kept the entrance to the training ground in his line of sight anyway.

Sasuke tapped his desk impatiently as Iruka-sensei shuffled the papers at his desk at the front of the room. He knew he would pass at the top of the class and he had; the dumb exam hadn’t even been a challenge. He’d had harder training sessions with Naruto. He couldn’t wait to get out of this place and actually get stuff done. If he had to spend another day with these idiots he might actually take Naruto’s advice and spar them for real.

Speaking of the blond, he’d been weird the past few days. Well, weirder than usual. He’d been pretty sure Naruto was over whining about the whole Gai situation but something had caused it to all flare up again. He hadn’t been insulting Sasuke or even responding to Sasuke’s own, just trying his damn hardest to kill him. Not that he could complain; part of the whole reason he hung out with the genin was that he wouldn’t take it easy on him. He was the only idiot his age that gave Sasuke a challenge and while the bruises from their latest spar still stung, Sasuke was satisfied with his progress. He was much faster than last year.

“Team 7 will be Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura…”

Sasuke groaned. He would never be free of her. All of his fangirls were annoying but the pink-haired girl took it to another level. The way she screeched ‘Sasuke-kun’ made him feel a bit sick. He always felt like he needed a shower after talking to them.

“…and you’ll have an already graduated genin join your team due to lack of numbers,” Iruka-sensei continued and Sasuke’s head snapped up, his heart in his throat.

“Uzumaki Naruto will be joining you and your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi.”

Naruto was going to be on his team. He was going to have one competent member! He was sure he’d heard Naruto mention the name ‘Kakashi’ before; usually to complain about him but if Naruto knew him then he couldn’t be the worst. Naruto also wouldn’t hold him back; he wouldn’t have to continue going at the snail’s pace of his now former classmates. With Naruto on his team, Sasuke could give his all and not have to worry about his team dragging him down. Yes, there was still the Sakura issue but that wasn’t just his problem now. Naruto wouldn’t tolerate a fangirl that didn’t pull her weight.

Iruka-sensei read out the rest of the names but Sasuke didn’t bother listening. It wasn’t like he would have to work with any of these dead weights again. Most of them will probably kick the bucket during a mission or something. The teachers gradually started arriving and Sasuke drummed his fingers impatiently on his desk. Where were they? He wanted to get out this building and never look back. Gods, wasn’t that a thought? He would never have to attend the academy again. Soon the numbers dwindled and it was only Sasuke and Sakura left. He saw Sakura turn to him in the corner of his eye and he grit his teeth.

“Where do you think they are, Sasuke-kun?” she asked in that fake sweetly sick voice. He’d heard her real one every time she yelled at Kiba or Ino so he didn’t know why she still tried. “Are they running late?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, vowing to stab Naruto as revenge for leaving him here alone. Where was he? Timing had never been a priority to the blond but Sasuke needed him to get here soon. Sakura looked like she was working up the courage for something Sasuke really wouldn’t want to hear. The door finally opened with a slam and Naruto poked his head in, blue eyes narrowed. He met Sasuke’s gaze and relaxed ever so slightly.

“So I’m stuck with you?” he strolled in, hands in his pockets. “Better not slow me down, Uchiha.”

“Whatever, dobe,” Sasuke replied automatically, leaning back and crossing his arms.

Naruto hadn’t changed much over the years. He was still pretty short which Sasuke made sure to point out at every given opportunity. He wore a black t-shirt, black shinobi pants with black sandals. His orange, sleeveless hoodie hung open and black, fingerless gloves had metal plating on the back of the hand. Orange-coloured tape around his right thigh secured his kunai pouch and the bottom of his trouser legs. Sasuke hadn’t quite believed it when he’d turned up with that orange tape. He couldn’t think of where on earth he’d managed to find it but it was just as likely that Naruto had coloured it himself. He’d shaved down the sides and back of his head recently, leaving it slightly longer and spiky on the top. He was still not wearing his hitai-ate but at this point Sasuke didn’t think he ever would.

“You can’t speak to Sasuke-kun that way!” Sakura yelled, pointing a finger accusingly at Naruto.

The amusement vanished from Naruto’s eyes as he looked at her.

“The fuck are you?”

Sakura gaped and Sasuke stomped on the urge to smile.

“You can’t talk to me like that!”

“That didn’t answer my question,” Naruto raised an eyebrow. “Whatever, I don’t actually care. Who’s the jounin-sensei?”

“Did they not tell you?” Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

“There was a scroll from the Hokage Tower but I lost it before I could read it,” Naruto shrugged and Sasuke translated that to mean Naruto had burned it the minute it arrived at his window. He was a bit more normal today so Sasuke hoped that meant the whole ‘Gai’ thing had blown over.

“Hatake Kakashi,” he offered, rolling his eyes.

Naruto blinked and Sasuke couldn’t read his expression. The blond definitely recognised the name but he couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“If he fails us, I’m burning his Icha Icha collection,” Naruto vowed darkly.

“So you do know him. What’s his deal?”

They were interrupted by Sakura once again.

“How do you know Sasuke–kun?”

She was looking between them, confused. Sasuke didn’t talk to anyone in class, actively avoided the possibility really, lest his brain dribble out of his ears from what inane childish things that were in fashion right now. None of his classmates had seen him talk to someone he actually respected.

“I didn’t drop him off the side of a building and I’ve regretted it ever since,” Naruto replied completely deadpan and Sasuke snorted. He looked away at Naruto’s knowing look. “Kakashi won’t be here for another couple of hours.”

Sasuke sighed and stood. He wasn’t going to wait around that long.

“Sasuke-kun, where are you going? You’re going to get in trouble!”

He ignored her as he walked down the aisle to Naruto. The blond tapped the metal of his headband and Sasuke roughly shoved the hand aside. He didn’t explain himself; memories of Itachi doing that very same movement flashed behind his eyes and he scowled. Naruto held up his hands in surrender, looking at Sasuke questioningly but he shook his head. Naruto immediately backed off and shoved his hands back in his pockets.

“If we’re not back before Kakashi shows his face, tell him that we’ll be around,” he called back to Sakura. She had made a motion to follow them and stopped at Naruto’s words. Sakura had always been a teacher’s pet; she wouldn’t risk pissing off their new teacher by disappearing.

Sasuke walked through the door, delighted to know that would be the last time he would ever have to set foot in that classroom.

“Feels good, right?” Naruto grinned at him knowingly.

Sasuke shoved his shoulder against Naruto’s but didn’t deny it. He was going to be able to move forward and get stronger; he would kill Itachi and restore his clan. He was finally at the starting line.

Kakashi popped his head into the classroom and blinked at the sight of the single genin waiting for him. She was pretty skinny and he could smell the perfume from here. Not ideal for fieldwork and if she passed the bell test, that would be something to address. Where were the other two?

“Kakashi-sensei?” the girl asked hesitantly and Kakashi eye-smiled.

“That’s me,” he said cheerfully. “Where are the other two cute little genin?”

“This guy just turned up and kidnapped Sasuke-kun!” she cried, actual tears in her wide green eyes. “I think they know each other or something but he was really rude! He just left me here!”

She seemed genuinely upset. How nice to know that Naruto had introduced himself to his new potential teammate. He dreaded to think what he’d done to the Uchiha. He’d read the reports about Sasuke and the boy wasn’t the most sociable. He was competitive and ill-tempered which would not be the best match with Naruto. He predicted a lot of fights in this team; provided they passed, of course. Naruto had an advantage in that he knew all about Kakashi’s method of testing new genin teams but the boy wouldn’t know teamwork if it slapped him in the face.

He summoned Pakkun and the pug appeared in a puff of smoke.

“Can you find Naruto and bring him the roof?” he asked, still keeping the cheerfully tone as Sakura gaped at him. “Make sure he hasn’t maimed Sasuke.”

“He is a wild pup,” Pakkun nodded his head and ran off. Kakashi beckoned Sakura to follow him to the stairs leading to the roof.

“What did you say about them knowing each other?” he asked casually.

“They talked to each other like they did but he was so horrible to both of us! He didn’t listen to anything I said! Poor Sasuke-kun had to follow him.”

Kakashi had known the chaotic genin for a number of years now and this was the first he’d heard that the kid might know Uchiha Sasuke. If he’d managed to hide it from him and Gai, because there was no way he told Gai and Gai didn’t tell Kakashi, then he might have to re-evaluate the kid’s skills in espionage. Naruto and Sasuke were pretty well-known in the village for very different reasons and there would have at least been rumours if anyone had seen them talking.

“Did he threaten Sasuke at all?”

“He said he wanted to throw him off a building!”

That was pretty in line with Naruto’s usual antics but usually it took a few meetings for him to reach that level of insult. He was mainly grumpy and uncooperative at first meetings; how interesting. He may end up passing a team this year. They reached the roof and Kakashi gestured for Sakura to take a seat on the steps. He leaned against the railing and it didn’t take long for his summon to appear, Naruto and a very much intact Sasuke following behind.

“You’re late,” Kakashi commented and Naruto threw him a sharp grin.

“How’s it feel?” he sniped back, dumping himself on the steps. Sasuke took a graceful seat next to him.

“Well, my cute little genin!” He clapped his hands as he wiped the smirk of Naruto’s face. “Let’s introduce ourselves one at a time!”

“What are we supposed to say?” Sakura asked innocently and he didn’t miss Naruto rolling his eyes. That could be a problem. “Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, that kind of thing,” he shrugged.

“Why don’t you go first then?” Naruto asked.

“I’m Hatake Kakashi,” he said. “Things I like, things I hate…I don’t feel like telling you that. My dream for the future…never really thought about it. As for my hobbies…I have lots of hobbies.”

“No, you don’t.” Naruto said loudly.

“Naruto, let’s start with you.”

The genin crossed his arms but complied.

“I’m Naruto, I don’t feel like telling you my likes and dislikes. My dreams for the future are none of your business. I have no hobbies.”

Kakashi stared at him as Naruto grinned back. He knew what the kid was like after being his ninjutsu teacher for years and it appeared that gaining two new teammates wasn’t going to change the way he acted around Kakashi.

“You didn’t tell us anything!” Sakura accused.

“I just followed my teacher’s example,” Naruto drawled, not even bothering to feign innocence.

“Sakura, you next,” Kakashi warded off that argument before it could begin. The girl perked up, a blush covering her cheeks.

“I’m Haruno Sakura! The thing…I mean the person I like…uh…is,” she stuttered, her eyes darting towards Sasuke. “My dream for the future is…”

She broke off giggling and Kakashi sighed. Girls her age were more interested in boys than shinobi training. That could be a problem with Naruto on the team. He had terrible tunnel-vision when it came to training and he didn’t understand when other people couldn’t do the same. Kakashi nodded to the Uchiha who’d spent the entire introduction with his chin propped up on his fists, elbows on his knees.

“My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don’t particularly like anything. I don’t have dreams, I have goals; I will restore my clan and destroy a certain someone.”

It was as he feared; Sasuke was gunning for Itachi. He couldn’t really blame the kid but as things stood he didn’t stand a chance. So his team this year was a fangirl, an avenger and an uncooperative little shit.

“First, we’ll do what we can do with four people,” Kakashi began his usual spiel, watching their reactions carefully while maintaining his bored façade. “A survival exercise; of the twenty-six graduates, only eight will be recognised as shinobi. The rest will have to return to the academy for another year.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Sucks to be you guys,” Naruto grinned and Sasuke punched him in the shoulder.

“Shut up, dobe.”

Huh, they did know each other.

“Okay, you’re dismissed. Meet me on training ground seven at 5am tomorrow…oh, and I recommend you skip breakfast. You’ll throw up.”

He caught Naruto shaking his head at Sasuke as he hopped off the roof, leaving his new team to talk amongst themselves. What he had learned was Naruto did know Sasuke; for how long was completely in the air. He didn’t know how Naruto managed to hide it and while he had an idea why, it was still a little disheartening. He knew he’d managed to build some trust with the kid but it evidently wasn’t enough. He wasn’t sure how it would work with him being the kid’s full-time jounin-sensei, especially knowing how attached he was to Gai. He was getting ahead of himself; they had to pass the Bell test first.

Naruto trudged through the forest, cursing whatever gods were out there. Why he had to be the one to find that stupid cat he had no idea. He had thought that the solo D-ranks would stop when he was assigned to his new team but apparently ‘he hadn’t secured the latch on her cage properly so it was still technically his mission’. He’d handed Tora in two days ago! Next time he got his hands on some glitter he was shoving it all into that paperwork chunin’s desk. It was bad enough he would be back to D-ranks with his new team.

The new team wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it would be. He knew Kakashi wouldn’t treat him unfairly but he wasn’t the most proactive teacher. Naruto knew he would have to organise most of his own training sessions if he wanted to keep training at the level he was at currently. Sasuke would join him and thank the gods he had one teammate he could tolerate. Sasuke was as obsessed with getting stronger as he was and he knew the Uchiha could handle himself. He still objected to the entire ‘team’ concept but if he was forced to be stuck with anyone, he would choose Sasuke. The problem lay with the pink-haired girl.

Sasuke had told him all about the fangirls in the class and while Naruto had listened to his complaints, he hadn’t really considered that they would get one on the team. She looked like she hadn’t met strength training in her life and the stench of her floral perfume was unpleasant. He wasn’t sure Kakashi would let that stand; his nose was way more sensitive. He didn’t have high hopes for her and there was no chance she was at the same level as Sasuke. He knew that they all technically had to pass the Bell test to be a team but part of him hoped that it could just be him and Sasuke to pass. He didn’t want to drag around a dead-weight.

He groaned as he shoved aside another bush, no sign of the brown feline. This was the worst mission. He didn’t know why the stupid woman didn’t keep better track of it. If she really cared so much for its welfare, she would actually keep an eye on it instead of sending random genin after it every week. He stopped as he saw something that definitely wasn’t Tora.

It was a Konoha chunin but Naruto didn’t recognise him. He was dressed in the standard uniform and chunin vest, with a bandana like Genma’s tied over shoulder-length white hair. He had a massive shuriken tied to his back and a large scroll under his arm. There wasn’t anything particularly suspicious but Naruto felt it in his gut; that guy was up to no good. No one trained in this area and they were pretty far from the village itself.

“Hey, have you seen a brown cat around?” he called out. “Red ribbon around its neck, pure evil in its eyes?”

The man turned to him and Naruto saw the moment he recognised him. It was always the same look of hatred in their eyes.

“What are you doing here?” the man hissed.

“I literally just said,” Naruto glared back. “What are you doing out here?”

“None of your fucking business, Kyūbi brat,” the last words were spat with a venom Naruto hadn’t heard in a while.

They were interrupted by the sound of distant sirens. That was the fugitive alarm; it went off when there was a security breach. Naruto looked at chunin in front of him and the way he tensed at the sound.

“Don’t suppose you know what that’s about?” Naruto asked casually but he subtly opened his kunai pouch as he did.

“Should be for you, demon,” the man hissed, looking increasingly tense as the alarm continued in the background. “It is a betrayal that you’re allowed to live. You should have been executed the moment you were born!”

Naruto rolled his eyes. How original.

“Guess that answers that.”

Before he had a chance to grab a kunai, the chunin grabbed the massive shuriken on his back, flinging it at Naruto. He barely ducked in time, rolling to the side and ignored the metal sinking deep into the tree behind him. He activated his bloodline limit, the world almost seeming to slow down around him. He watched as the man dropped the scroll behind him, flipping through hand seals. Naruto could see the jutsu coming through the hand seals of his own and prepared his in return.

“Doton: Dangan no Jutsu!”

“Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!”

The streams of water from his hands collided with the approaching rocks, dragging them out of the air. He didn’t stop as he continued with his next jutsu.

“Fūton: Fūjin no Jutsu!”

A massive cloud of dust left Naruto’s mouth and soon the whole area was obscured. So maybe Kakashi had had a point about learning ninjutsu; maybe it was good to have a long-range option that wasn’t his kunai or shuriken. Still, as he launched himself towards the enemy, there was nothing better than feeling their nose cave in underneath your fist.

The chunin was forced to take a step back, holding his bleeding face in one hand as he threw kunai with the other. Naruto dodged them easily, Emperor’s Eye showing every twitch of the chunin’s muscles, every bead of sweat. Every move the man made was telegraphed to Naruto as plain as day and he grinned viciously as he engaged the man in taijutsu. He hadn’t been able to use his bloodline limit in a proper fight in forever and he laughed as he swept the man’s incoming punch to the side, landing a foot deep in his gut in retaliation. The dust was starting to clear up and Naruto could see the man’s seething face more clearly.

“Die, demon brat!” he screeched, missing another blow as Naruto stepped beneath it.

He was finally able to keep up with his bloodline limit. Three years of training was finally paying off! All those games of jan-ken-po…it helped that this guy was so slow. Gai-sensei was way faster and hit way harder.

He watched for the man’s centre of gravity and as it switched very briefly to one leg, he took his shot. He kicked the man’s shin, feeling the bone give way beneath his sandal. He went down like a sack of bricks and Naruto kicked him in the face. He stopped moving and Naruto remained still, watching for any twitches of movement. Nothing. He was still breathing but it sounded wet, a sort of gargling in his throat. Probably not a good sign but he didn’t look like he was getting back up any time soon.

He brushed the dust off his hoodie as he walked over the massive scroll, opening it curiously. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu? That was the clone technique Kakashi taught him not long ago. Hadn’t he said it was forbidden or something? Why did this guy have it?

“Stop right there!”

Naruto looked over as another chunin ran up to them. He did recognise this one; he was an academy teacher. Iruka…something.? He was pretty sure he was Sasuke’s teacher.

“Put the scroll down and your hands in the air!”

Naruto blinked.

“What?”

“You are being charged with stealing the Forbidden Scroll!” Iruka continued and everything finally clicked.

“I didn’t steal fuck all,” he called back. “That was this guy.”

Iruka’s eyes widened as he took in the state of the crumpled chunin.

“Mizuki wouldn’t do something like that!” he ran over to check his pulse. “What did you do?”

“He tried to kill me first,” he shrugged, propping the Forbidden Scroll against his leg. “I was just looking for the stupid cat and found him in the forest with this scroll.”

Iruka didn’t look like he believed a word he said and Naruto sighed. Maybe he should have let the guy go and betray the village; would serve them right. If the guy had just said he was working towards Konoha’s downfall, he might have not bothered fighting him.

“We can go to interrogation and they can prove it,” he said, hefting the scroll onto his right shoulder. “You carry him.”

He didn’t bother waiting as he walked in the direction of the village. No good deed went unpunished.

He still had to find that damned cat.

Chapter Text

Naruto trudged to the meeting point, hugging his bag close to his chest, the aroma of ramen rising gently to caress his face. He didn’t want to be here. All he wanted was to inhale his ramen and sleep for a week; but no. He had to come and sit a dumb test that determined if he got a team that he didn’t even want in the first place.

Interrogation had kept him for hours and then finding the damn cat had taken even longer. He’d thrown the beast at the fucker who’d inflicted it on him and expressed in no uncertain terms what he would do to the cat if he ever got assigned that mission again. He had savoured the fear on that chunin’s face but it hadn’t been enough to balance out the irritation and exhaustion from the night’s events. The bridge finally came into sight and he saw Sasuke trying to ignore the fangirl.

“You’re two hours late,” Sasuke called out to him.

“I did tell you Kakashi would be at least three hours late,” Naruto called back. “Why did you bother coming here earlier?”

“I wanted to train but then you didn’t show.”

“I was busy debating the merits of murdering a cat.”

Sasuke scowled at him and Naruto grinned mockingly back. He slumped to the ground beside the Uchiha, back against the bridge’s railings, and dug his first bowl out of the bag. Ichiraku ramen was exactly what he needed after last night.

“Kakashi-sensei said not to eat!” Sakura sniped.

“He also said to be here for 5am,” Naruto pointed out, shoving a massive pile of noodles into his mouth. “Lesson one, don’t listen to Kakashi outside of training.”

She looked disgusted as Naruto chewed around his words but he wasn’t bothered. He was starving.

“Did you eat?” he asked Sasuke and the other boy didn’t look bothered, far too used to Naruto antics to care.

“You did say to,” he nodded and Sakura’s face fell.

“You’re going to get in trouble,” she looked genuinely worried for Sasuke and Naruto snorted. He swallowed his latest mouthful and pointed his chopsticks at her.

“This ain’t the classroom,” he said directly. “This is the real world. You would eat for missions or training; even if you thought you were gonna puke. You don’t know where your next meal could be coming from and if you ain’t eating, you ain’t performing your best.”

Gai-sensei had been the one to really drive that into his skull. Food wasn’t the most abundant for him growing up and he’d learned to ration it appropriately. When Gai-sensei had found out, he’d gone on a three hour long lecture about the role of nutrition in health and training. It had prompted Naruto to raid the library for recipes that he could afford to make. He ate a lot better now and only had one cup of instant ramen a day. The ramen was non-negotiable.

“I have to maintain my figure anyway,” Sakura sniffed and Naruto frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

“You know, my weight,” Sakura said slowly. “I’m on a diet.”

Naruto didn’t know. Why did her weight matter? Did it affect her training? She wasn’t an Akimichi as far as he knew.

“Diet?”

Sakura looked at him as if he’d asked what colour the sky was. Naruto shoved in another mouthful, still pretty confused. He knew that having a balanced diet was important but she made it sound like purposefully eating less was good. Naruto had many times in his life where he didn’t have enough to eat and it definitely hadn’t been good.

“Are you intentionally being dense?” she demanded and his mood soured.

“No,” he snapped, slurping the remains of his bowl and starting on the next one. “I just don’t get how starving is a good thing.”

He knew she was going to be annoying.

“So what happened last night?” Sasuke broke in, arms crossed. “You look like that time you had to clean the Hokage Mountain all night.”

Naruto groaned at that memory. The painting part had been fun but not really worth the punishment after. Next time he was using water-soluble paint.

“You heard the alarm?” Sasuke nodded. “I caught the guy but then they thought I did it so they brought me in and then I had to go find a cat.”

“Why the cat?”

“You’ll find out,” Naruto muttered. Every genin team had to do the Tora mission and his wouldn’t be an exception, even with his threats. He should call in sick that day.

“Good morning my cute little genin!” Kakashi announced as he appeared in a puff of smoke.

“You’re late!” Sakura screeched as she pointed a finger accusingly.

“I saw a black cat on the short path so I had to take the long way around.”

Naruto swallowed the rest of the broth and chucked the bowl back into the bag. He sealed it into one of his scrolls to dispose of later and looked up, finding that everyone was looking at him.

“I did recommend you avoid breakfast,” Kakashi said lightly, but Naruto could tell he was a little annoyed.

“So?”

Naruto could tell that Kakashi would make him regret that later. Oh well, it was a stupid recommendation that was meant to trick them or something. He’d known Kakashi long enough to know that he had look underneath the underneath and that translated into eating breakfast. Not his fault that he hadn’t fallen for it. He bounced to his feet to listen to the explanation of the test.

Sasuke ran for the trees the minute the test began. So he and Naruto just had to get a bell; there was no chance Sakura was going to get one. Naruto knew the jounin so he should have an idea of some weaknesses they could exploit. He landed among the branches turning to observe the jounin and groaned as he spotted Naruto standing opposite, arms crossed; Sasuke just knew he had that dumb look on his face. Naruto liked to taunt his opponents and it appeared Kakashi was no exception.

He wasn’t sure what to make of the jounin yet. He was dressed in the typically jounin uniform and his wild, spiky silver hair was held back by a Konoha hitai-ate that was slanted to cover one eye. A mask covered the rest of his face and Sasuke itched to see what was beneath it. He’d been pretty deadpan, borderline bored, every time he’d spoken to them so far.

“I’m going to punch you in the face,” Naruto announced.

“Aren’t you supposed to be going for a bell?” Kakashi replied, hands in his pockets. Was he even taking them seriously?

His eyes widened as Kakashi pulled out an orange book out of a pouch on his belt and proceeded to completely ignore Naruto. He wasn’t taking them seriously at all! Naruto made a hand sign and clouds of smoke appeared around the clearing and Sasuke blinked at the field of orange. Naruto liked to use a clone but Sasuke hadn’t seen this many before. The army of Naruto’s yelled and ran towards the jounin, being taken out as fast as they could reach him. Sasuke startled at the tap on his shoulder, whipping out a kunai and swinging it as he spun.

“Watch where you point that thing,” Naruto dodged the weapon with ease.

“I thought you were going to hide in your clones,” Sasuke replied, stowing the kunai.

“That would never work against Kakashi. We gotta come up with something way better. He may not look like it but he’s super strong when he bothers to try.”

The clones were quickly diminishing in numbers and Sasuke took out a couple of shuriken as the man exposed his back to them, occupied by the Naruto clones climbing onto his back. He flung them out and grinned when they struck his shoulder, spraying blood on the last remaining clone. The clone started to shout about how gross it was before it vanished and Kakashi was replaced by a log.

“Kawarimi,” Sasuke cursed under his breath as he and Naruto moved from their tree to move further in the forest.

“Did you really think that was going to work?”

“Shut it.”

There was a distant scream. Kakashi had found Sakura then. He looked back at Naruto but the blond didn’t even blink, deep in thought. Sasuke had an idea of his own. He stopped and pulled on Naruto’s hoodie before he could continue to the next tree.

“We need to set a trap.”

Naruto’s eyes glittered.

“Now you’re talking.”

“Where do you think you’re going, boys?”

Naruto watched Sasuke leap down from the branches to face the jounin in the small clearing. Sasuke’s plan was pretty good; he knew the Uchiha also wanted to show his worth to their jounin-sensei so he was happy to take a step back and let Sasuke take the lead. He wanted to see how Kakashi would react and if Sasuke could distract him enough for Naruto to get a swing in, then all the better.

“I’m not like Sakura,” Sasuke hissed.

“Not mentioning Naruto?” Kakashi turned a page. “I am interested in how you to know each other.”

For someone who pretended not to care about anything, Kakashi was one nosy bastard.

“Naruto’s not here,” Sasuke snapped. “I’m here and I’m going to be the one to beat you.”

“Say that after you get one of these bells.”

Naruto knew that there was no way Kakashi didn’t know he was here. The man took after his summons. Naruto had skipped out on ninjutsu training once to prank some civilian council members and he hadn’t even gotten to the glitter when the man appeared out of thin air.

He watched Sasuke fling shuriken at Kakashi which the man easily dodged. He grinned as he watched the same projectiles tear through the hidden rope, unleashing another barrage at the jounin and forcing him to put the book away. He landed and Sasuke was on him immediately, swinging a leg directly into Kakashi’s face. The jounin easily blocked and caught the fist Sasuke swung at him. Sasuke twisted in the man’s grip, bring his free leg on top of Kakashi’s head but Kakashi managed to block with his forearm. Naruto was pretty impressed; Sasuke had used this move on him before but it looked way cooler from the outside. He hadn’t been able to stop the second leg but thankfully the bleeding had stopped within minutes.

He leaned forward eagerly as the soft clink of a bell reached him. Sasuke almost had it! Take that Kakashi! The jounin threw Sasuke off of him and he rolled, standing to face their jounin-sensei once again.

“Well, I have to say you are different from the others in your class,” Kakashi called. “I’ll grant you that.”

Sasuke huffed and flashed through the hand seals. Naruto grinned. He started on his own and knew the clones they’d placed around the area were doing the same.

“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!”

“Fūton: Daitoppa!”

Naruto release the stream of air from his mouth, chunking a bunch of paper seals into it to carry them along. Identical attacks appeared in a circle around Kakashi, leaving no room for escape. Sasuke immediately ducked for cover as the massive fireball collided with the wind techniques, the entire field bursting into flames. Kakashi disappeared from view as the fire raged, the explosive seals catching light and exploding all over the field. The sound could probably be heard back in Konoha. It eventually settled down as the fire ran out of fuel and all that was left was a blackened field. Naruto’s eyes narrowed as there was no sign of Kakashi.

“You didn’t say there were going to be explosive seals, dobe!” Sasuke appeared at his side, the edges of his shirt slightly charred.

“I wanted to put my own flair on it,” Naruto grinned.

He looked away to search for Kakashi again.

“That was a good try but you still have a lot to learn, my little genin.”

He turned, an untouched Kakashi waving his Icha Icha at them. He didn’t think that would finish him off but he would have at least liked to see the man slightly charred, maybe burn the book a little. He scowled as the distant sound of an alarm clock sounded.

“It was a good idea,” Kakashi continued but Naruto didn’t want to be patronised.

He didn’t even get close to punching him; just a few more minutes and he could have had him. He’d been forced into a ninjutsu battle and he knew that underneath that stupid mask, Kakashi was being all smug about it. Gai-sensei would have at least fought him with taijutsu instead of being all evasive with that pervy book. He barely even got to fight at all! He scoffed and began stomping his way back to the field.

Sasuke sat next to a grumpy Naruto, Sakura tied to a log for some reason. He hadn’t seen her during the test at all. He was annoyed that he’d managed to get so close and still failed but Naruto was in an even fouler mood. He hadn’t spoken a word since the alarm went, preferring to glare at the ground. Whatever, he would beat the answer out of him later.

“So about the exercise,” Kakashi held up a finger. “I’ve decided that the pair of you are being dropped from the program, immediately.”

Sasuke startled. He couldn’t be serious; he was being lumped in with Sakura! He’d touched a bell while she hadn’t done anything! Fury welled up within in and he charged at Kakashi blindly. The world shifted and he was forced onto his stomach, the wind knocked out of him and his arm twisted painfully behind his back.

“Let go of Sasuke-kun!” Sakura strained against the rope. “You can’t step on him like he’s some sort of bug!”

Naruto hadn’t even flinched, just looking at them unimpressed. He could go screw himself; he didn’t have to worry about being sent back to the academy!

“Why do you think we put you on three-man squads?” Kakashi pressed down on his back. “Did you consider that for even a moment? You just abandoned a teammate to die, not even attempting to see if she was okay. We put you on three-man squads, not two, for a reason.”

“How is our problem that she can’t look after herself?” Naruto rolled his eyes and Sasuke tried not to wince as Kakashi’s grip tightened. “We’re not her babysitters.”

“I thought you had it when I saw you working with Sasuke but teamwork involves everyone! Even people you don’t like. If I asked you to kill Sakura now or Sasuke dies, what would you do?”

“Kill her,” Naruto didn’t even hesitate, ignoring Sakura’s sob. “Sasuke is way stronger and wouldn’t hold me back.”

Kakashi released Sasuke roughly and he scrambled away from the furious jounin.

“That attitude of yours is going to have to change,” Kakashi said darkly. “I am going to give you one last chance. Eat lunch now to build up your strength but Sakura doesn’t get any. If anyone tries to feed her, they will immediately fail. I make the rules, you follow them; got it?”

He vanished from view, leaving behind only the sound of Sakura’s sniffling. He jumped when one of the bento boxes was thrown his way. Naruto had already dug in and Sasuke wondered sometimes about the blond. While Naruto’s apathy was something he appreciated, sometimes he wondered if the blond was actually capable of caring about anyone. Well, other than Gai.

“Would…would you really kill me?” Sakura’s voice was smaller than Sasuke had ever heard it.

Naruto looked up from his rice.

“If it came down to you or Sasuke…” he shrugged. “Yeah, pretty much. It’s nothing personal though, plus I would have thought you'd be happy to sacrifice yourself for Sasuke-kun.”

Sakura’s sniffles became louder and Sasuke sighed as her stomach rumbled even louder. He piled some rice on his chopsticks and held it out to her.

“Sasuke-kun, I can’t…”

“Just take it,” he shoved the chopsticks forward. “Kakashi’s gone and we need to get those bells as a team otherwise he’s just going to fail us again. You didn’t eat breakfast; you’ll be too weak to be useful if you don’t eat.”

Naruto didn’t say anything as Sasuke glared at him. The blond pointedly looked away until Sasuke chucked a rock at his head. He turned back with a scowl.

“What?”

“Give her some of yours, dobe.”

“Why should I?”

“She needs it more than you do.”

“I thought she was on a diet anyway.”

Sasuke threw another rock at him.

“Fucking fine but she’s still going to be pretty useless…and I’m only doing this to piss off Kakashi!”

Sakura hesitantly took the rice from Sasuke, her tears glistening on her cheeks. Naruto shoved one of the mini sausages in her mouth straight after, causing her to choke. Sasuke was still impressed that he even did it. The blond was so territorial about food at the best of times. He’d gotten the other genin his groceries for years, he’d seen what he was like.

There was a burst of smoke and a furious Kakashi appeared in front of them.

“You broke the rules!” he accused. “I hope you’re ready for the punishment!”

He flipped through unfamiliar hand signs and dark clouds appeared above their heads, rain starting to fall. He heard Naruto mutter ‘dramatic asshole’ beneath his breath.

“We’re all on this squad,” Sasuke spoke up, meeting Kakashi’s grey eye without flinching.

“Yeah, that’s right!” Sakura backed him up.

There was a moment of silence.

“We can’t kick your ass if one of us is weak,” Naruto finally added, although his reluctance was palpable.

“The three of you are one, that’s your excuse?” Kakashi leant over to meet them at eye-level. “You…pass!”

Sasuke froze for a moment as those words sunk in. They passed?

“You’re the first squad that ever succeeded,” Kakashi continued. “The others did exactly what I said and fell into every trap. In the world of shinobi, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.”

They’d passed. Sasuke didn’t know how this team was going to work or what was going to happen, but for now they’d passed. He was officially a genin and one step closer to his goals.

Sakura tapped a foot on the ground as she waited for the rest of her team to turn up. The test the previous day had been…absolutely horrifying. That image of a dying Sasuke had kept her up half the night and Naruto’s casual admission that he would kill her hadn’t helped things. Her mom had been so worried about her and Sakura had had to reassure her that she still wanted to continue as a kunoichi.

It was a lot different than what she had imagined at the academy. When she’d heard she was going to be on a team with Sasuke-kun, she had imagined countless scenarios where she would impress him and he would instantly fall in love with her. She’d been the top kunoichi in their year, beating out even Ino-pig, so she hadn’t seen any obstacles in her path. She studied so hard in the academy and felt that she was prepared for anything that would be thrown her way.

Then Naruto appeared.

He was horrible and cruel and utterly ruthless and Sakura didn’t know if she could work with him. When she’d told her mother about her new teammates, she had reacted so weirdly to Naruto’s name, saying that she should stay away from him or swap teams. She wondered if her mother had met the boy; she could imagine anyone who met him having the same reaction. Sasuke-kun seemed to be exception but that just made everything even more confusing. Sasuke-kun shouldn’t be associating with someone like Naruto and she couldn’t fathom why he did. She knew Sasuke-kun better than anyone; he was calm and brave and serious and strong. He was better than Naruto and he shouldn’t even be acknowledging the blond.

And yet…Sasuke-kun had spoken more to the blond than he had anyone the whole four years in the academy. Sasuke-kun had always had this lone wolf quality to him, something she had often admired, but to find out he did speak to someone and it was this horrible, selfish boy…she just couldn’t understand. He even worked with him during the Bell test! Sasuke-kun never worked with anyone!

She heard distant voices and she quickly checked her hair. Naruto didn’t matter. She was on a team with Sasuke-kun. This was her chance to impress him and win his heart. He would see her in a new light and fall head over heels for her and then they would date and get married and Ino-pig wouldn’t be invited to the wedding and then…

“Hayate would kill me if I taught you any kenjutsu,” Naruto’s voice carried over to her and she scowled, quickly smoothing it over as Sasuke came into view. “He’s super serious about the right way to learn and the lessons and shit. It took me ages to get him to let me train with both swords.”

“I’m not asking for a whole lesson, dobe,” Sasuke said. “Just the basics.”

“Only if you teach me that move you used on Kakashi.”

“Done.”

The pair walked towards them and Sakura watched Sasuke-kun, an ugly feeling twisting in her gut as she realised he’d never looked at any of his classmates like that. Had Sasuke-kun not taken any of them seriously? She took a breath and shook her head. She had to pull it together. They were destined to be together; she just had to show Sasuke-kun.

“Good morning, Sasuke-kun!” she called out, ignoring the blond.

He looked towards her and she could see something flicker across his face before he looked back at Naruto, ignoring her. That was fine. He had never replied to anyone’s morning greetings; it just added to his coolness. It would be that much sweeter when she finally won his heart.

“I want to work on my speed,” he said to Naruto. “I wasn’t fast enough yesterday.”

Naruto grinned at him.

“If you insist.”

“I swear if you stab me again…”

“If you were faster, you wouldn’t have been stabbed.”

“Shut up, dobe.”

“Are you going to hurt Sasuke-kun?” accused Sakura, not liking the direction this was going.

The pair looked at her and she took a breath, holding firm. She passed the test; she was a part of this team too. Naruto’s whiskered face was unreadable but the way he looked at her, she felt like she was being tested like the final exam at the academy. The only problem was she didn’t know what she was being tested on.

“Not if he dodges,” Naruto finally drawled.

“What training are you doing?” she continued.

“Speed training,” he answered her. “We set up a track and throw kunai in intervals. The longer the exercise, the faster we throw them. The point is to be faster than the projectiles. It’s pretty good for learning to dodge too.”

Sakura had never heard of a training exercise like that. It sounded dangerous.

“But you could hurt Sasuke-kun!”

“Not. If. He. Dodges,” Naruto said slowly, exaggerating his words.

“There must be safer ways to train!” she argued, pointing a finger at him accusingly. “You just want an excuse to hurt people!”

Something closed off on Naruto’s face and Sakura felt uneasy. This was the same boy who had chosen to kill her without any hesitation. She’d seen how cruel and ruthless he could be yesterday but she had assumed that he wouldn’t actually hurt a teammate. He wouldn’t. That would be too far.

“We could practice with you first,” Naruto suggested with a glint of something in his eyes.

Sasuke finally interrupted them, scuffing the back of Naruto’s head.

“You can’t maim her just because she’s annoyed you,” Sasuke glared, annoyed. “We don’t have time to deal with that mess.”

Sasuke-kun had protected her. He did care!

“Hey, I didn’t say I’d hurt her! She just has to dodge! I’m including her in training!” Naruto argued back but even Sakura could tell he didn’t have good intentions.

“She won’t be able to do the training,” Sasuke rolled his eyes. “She’ll be way too slow and waste our time.”

Sakura froze.

“She probably won’t be able to do any training with us. She’s way too weak.”

Sakura didn’t even notice the tears forming in her eyes, still stuck on Sasuke-kun’s words. The way he said it…it was so matter-of-fact; like he was saying the grass was green or fire was hot. She could tell he wasn’t trying to be mean like Naruto was, he really believed what he was saying. Sasuke-kun…thought she was weak?

“Damn, you caught me,” Naruto raised his hands, laughing. “I just wanted to show her the difference between us. She’s not going to get far as she is and it would be better if she found out now. Less time hauling around a dead-weight, ya know?”

Sakura could hardly breathe.

“How…how can you be so cruel?” She yelled, tears streaming down her face. “I passed the academy too! I passed the Bell test too! I’m a genin too!”

Naruto remained unphased, raising one eyebrow.

“You’re not taking it seriously,” he replied. “You’re more worried about your hair or marrying Sasuke than being a kunoichi. I bet you couldn’t even run laps around this training ground. You’d get sweaty or dirty or something. Being a shinobi isn’t like they taught you in the academy and I ain’t working with anyone who isn’t willing to pull their own weight and put the damn training in. I ain’t here to waste time. Sasuke and I have goals to reach and we ain’t gonna be held back by someone who doesn’t even take training seriously.”

Sakura looked desperately over at Sasuke-kun but found nothing. He wasn’t even looking at her. She’d never felt as alone as she did right now. All her fantasies of winning Sasuke’s heart and proving Naruto wrong were evaporating and she didn’t know what to do. They weren’t taking her seriously; her, the top kunoichi of her year! She had been so confident when she’d graduated and now…

A puff of smoke appeared and Kakashi-sensei appeared, clapping his hands.

“Good morning, my cute little genin!”

It fell flat as the uncomfortable silence continued. Kakashi-sensei looked between them before turning immediately to Naruto.

“What did you do?”

“Why do you assume it was me?” Naruto snapped.

“What did you say to her?” Kakashi waved a hand in Sakura’s direction.

“I just made the realities of her situation clear,” Naruto crossed his arms. “She’s not taking this seriously and I don’t want to work with someone half-assing everything. She’s made the choice to become a kunoichi and she should honour that.”

“That’s not for you to decide, Naruto,” Kakashi said exasperatedly.

Sakura didn’t hear him saying otherwise though.

“I…I’m feeling sick today,” she stammered out, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. “I need to go home.”

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and walked away. She couldn’t be there right now. Thoughts were swirling around her brain in a storm she couldn’t untangle. She heard Kakashi and Naruto continuing to argue behind her but she couldn’t make anything out, not bothering to try. She didn’t need to hear more of what they thought of her. She was the weakest link of the team, even Sasuke-kun saying so.

She didn’t know what she was going to do.

Chapter Text

Naruto watched Sakura struggle through some physical conditioning exercises. He hadn’t expected her to come back the next day with the way she had fled but here she was. She was a lot quieter, not even speaking to Sasuke, and Naruto wasn’t sure if he could trust it. No one changed that quickly and just because she suddenly got some motivation to put some effort in didn’t mean that it would last.

Kakashi hadn’t shown up yet so they were training on their own as per usual. He wasn’t sure where Sakura had got the training menu since he was positive she wouldn’t have been able to find Kakashi between then and now; he guessed she’d made it herself. It contained all of the basic exercises but they were being done in a weird order, almost as if she was just running through a list rather than working towards specific goals. Whatever, it wasn’t his problem. He supposed the fact she was doing anything was the main thing.

“I’ve never seen her allow herself to get dirty before,” Sasuke commented beside him from where they were taking a break. “She used to complain about it all the time in the academy.”

Naruto looked back at the girl, observing the dirt on her cheek and the sweat pouring down her face.

“That’s not exactly a high bar,” he replied, taking a swig of his water bottle.

Sasuke shrugged and Naruto rolled his eyes. Kakashi should be arriving soon. Things had been tense yesterday after the whole ‘Sakura’ situation. He knew Kakashi had all these ideas and beliefs around teamwork and standing up for your comrades but Naruto didn’t have time for it. He didn’t see why he had to put up with a weak teammate. Kakashi seemed to think they were only as strong as that weakest link. Naruto thought that was bullshit.

“I wasn’t wrong about her,” he felt the need to say.

“No, you weren’t,” Sasuke said quietly. “She needs to decide if she is going to be a kunoichi or not. What she is doing now is not enough.”

Naruto may not buy into the whole ‘teamwork’ thing but if he was going to be forced onto a team with anyone, he was glad it was Sasuke. He’d known the other boy for a couple of years now and other than Gai, he was probably the only other person in the village who really knew him. It was the same for Sasuke; Naruto knew he was the only one who saw Sasuke for Sasuke rather than the ‘Last Uchiha’ or the ‘genius genin’. He’d seen Sasuke fail and fall on his face so many times but he kept trying, mastering whatever was in his path with a singular focus. He could respect his hard work. He also had never tried to change Naruto, just dealing with him as he was and giving as good as he got. He appreciated that too.

He heard the faint sound of footsteps and steeled himself. He and Kakashi had never managed to find common ground on this topic and now the man was his jounin-sensei, he was sure that it would keep coming up. He missed Gai; he would just let Naruto get on with things. He knew Kakashi was trying to be a good teacher in his own way but it wasn’t helpful. He wanted things to back to the way they used to be, when Kakashi was his ninjutsu teacher and they didn’t have teammates to worry about.

“Good morning!” Kakashi said brightly.

There was moment of silence as Sakura jogged over to join them but no late accusation followed. Good, Naruto had no desire to live through that every day. Best they figure out now that Kakashi would be late to his own funeral. There would be a lot of independent learning as his students.

He grinned as Kakashi pouted. He knew the man loved giving his weird excuses for his lateness but if they didn’t ask, then there was no reason for him to say. It was petty but Naruto thrived on pettiness. It kept him sane.

“It’s nice to see that you’re already training on your own!” he continued. “What were you working on?”

“Taijutsu,” Naruto answered for both him and Sasuke.

All eyes turned to Sakura.

“I’m working on my fitness,” she said, green eyes turned to the ground and shoulders hunched in on themselves.

It was like he was looking at a completely different person. All the confidence and bluster was gone, leaving behind a nervous shell. She wasn’t wearing perfume today, her pink hair was in disarray and her face shined with exertion. She obviously hadn’t spent as much time on her appearance this morning. Naruto wasn’t sure this was an improvement. Sure, she was a dead-weight when she had been filled with false confidence and entitlement but she wouldn’t be much use without a backbone either.

“What training programme are you using?”

“I read some books and found some exercises?”

As Naruto had suspected.

“It’s a good start but I can help you find one that works better for you,” Kakashi eye-smiled. “Now, shall we see about some D-ranks?”

Naruto scowled, debating if he could get away with replacing himself with a clone. He fucking hated D-ranks. Kakashi wouldn’t even notice, too busy reading his Icha Icha. Sasuke would get annoyed but he could find his own clone technique.

“No clones, Naruto.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the jounin. Challenge accepted.

Neji walked away from the market, supplies in hand. He did not know why Gai-sensei still insisted on completing D-ranks. They were carrying out regular C-ranks and training intently for the Chunin exams that were not that far away. He spouted something about ‘Youth’ and ‘serving the village’ but Neji was not convinced. He wondered if this was how Naruto felt. He understood now; D-ranks were indeed the worst.

Speaking of the Uzumaki, Neji still had not seen him, even around the village. He was more bothered than he had expected he would be. He had given up on Naruto returning to training and had settled for the techniques he had learned up until this point. He did not dare venture into the library nor ask his jounin-sensei for more; it would most definitely make its way back to his clan if he did that. Naruto was temperamental and unpredictable but he had known his secrets were safe with the blond. Naruto hated the Hyūga clan more than he wished to screw over Neji. It had been strangely dependable.

He was still of the opinion that Naruto was the wrong in this whole situation. The blond was far too childish and the fact he appeared to have utterly abandoned training with Neji was one such example of his short-sightedness. Neji had not done anything to earn this treatment and he knew he was not the only one who benefited from the joint training. Naruto’s bloodline limit was formidable and the applications of it in taijutsu were very different than the Byakugan which made for productive training sessions when pitted against each other.

The Byakugan relied upon chakra so it was excellent in battles involving any form of chakra use, such as ninjutsu or genjutsu. It was also unparalleled in detecting chakra signatures, as long as they were within the limits of the vision field. It meant that Neji would never lose track of his opponent, and therefore could not be caught by surprise. Naruto’s bloodline limit, which he refused to tell Neji the name of, had nothing to do with chakra. It involved seeing the minute details of movements; a muscle twitch, a bead of sweat, even a pulse. It even allowed him a wider field of vision, to a lesser extent than the Byakugan, but it was enough to cover most of his blind spots. One of the aspects of Naruto’s bloodline limit that always caught Neji off guard was how the blond could see Neji’s centre of gravity and manipulate it at will through his fighting style.

These facts meant that Neji had yet to beat the blond in a taijutsu fight. It was like he could see every movement Neji made before he had even moved. He knew Naruto was reading the twitches of his muscles and his changing centre of gravity but it did not make it any less frustrating. Neji was used to having a bloodline limit that allowed him to observe things that others had no hope of imagining, but having that turned on him was less than ideal. The Hyūga clan had always prided themselves on being the best at taijutsu for good reason; the combination of the Byakugan and their clan techniques were formidable and in close combat, nigh impenetrable.

Naruto’s own bloodline limit allowed him to find cracks in the Hyūga clan style. He knew every move Neji was going to make and always moved to perfectly counter it. It was less effective on ninjutsu than the Byakugan, but once, when Naruto had been in one of his better moods, he had explained that he could see the hand seals being made through the contractions of the muscles in the hands. It was not infallible; it depended on Naruto recognising the pattern of hand seals in the first place.

Gai-sensei really had been the perfect teacher for him. Neji knew those two extra years he’d spent with Gai-sensei would have really made a difference. Naruto was already suited to taijutsu but Gai-sensei was a master of the art. He did sort of understand the jealousy and hostility towards his team; losing the perfect teacher would have been difficult, but Naruto was taking it a step too far.

He looked up and caught a flash of blond. He activated the Byakugan and saw the very familiar chakra signature walking through one of the side streets. His feet were moving before he even had time to think and he ran through the side street, his gaze locked on that signature. He caught up quickly and reached out to grab his arm. Naruto ducked away from him and twirled, kunai in hand. His blue eyes scanned him over before he relaxed.

“Fuck, Neji, don’t sneak up on me.” Naruto tucked the kunai back into his pouch. “Next time I might actually stab you.”

He was speaking as if it had not been weeks since they had last seen one another; as if he had not shirked his responsibilities and broken his word.

“You are a coward, Uzumaki Naruto.”

Naruto scowled, blue eyes narrowed.

“The fuck you say?”

Neji straightened, all the thoughts that had been building up spilling out as soon as he could form the words.

“You are a coward,” he continued firmly. “You are childish and petty and unreliable.”

“Where the fuck is this coming from…”

“Did you or did you not agree to teach me ninjutsu?”

“I mean, yeah…”

“Have you not abandoned that?”

“Hey, I don’t owe you anything,” Naruto spat, his expression darkening. “I did you a fucking favour. I never said how long I would do it for.”

“No, but the reasons for stopping are stupid,” Neji glared back. “You decided to throw a tantrum when you were removed from Gai-sensei’s care and took it out on Lee. When things do not go your way, you throw a fit and avoid anything in connection with it. Do you not?”

“Go fuck yourself,” Naruto swore.

“You are doing it now,” Neji pointed out. “You need to get over yourself and realise that reacting in anger is only going to be detrimental in the long run.”

Naruto scoffed.

“I don’t want to hear that from you,” he snarled. “Mr. I’m going to be angry at the world for things that I haven’t even bothered to try to change. You walked around with a ‘poor me’ attitude your entire fucking life and you think you can get off judging me?”

“I did,” Neji admitted, “and you were the one to open my eyes. However, it is not any fault of mine that I remained with Gai and you did not. It is no fault of Tenten’s or Lee’s. Being angry with us accomplishes nothing; it is a petty, unfounded grudge.”

“So what?”

“What?”

“So what if it’s petty?” Naruto narrowed his eyes. “I don’t owe you anything. It ain’t my fault that you thought something more was going on here. I taught you some ninjutsu to piss off your clan. I couldn’t give a shit about you as a person. So stop whatever shit you’ve got rolling around in that big head of yours that makes you think you can order me around.”

Neji met Naruto’s eyes, a long silence passing between them.

“We’re done,” Naruto finally spat. He turned and walked away, calling out over his shoulder. “Stay the fuck away from me.”

Neji sighed as Naruto vanished from view; that had not gone how he thought it would. He had underestimated Naruto’s anger and pettiness. It was utterly pathetic. He had the capacity to be one of the strongest taijutsu masters of the village but he hindered his own progress though his stunted view of the world. Neji did not owe the blond anything and he certainly didn’t need him. It was none of his business if Naruto insisted on burning every bridge he’d ever made. All Neji had to do was keeping working towards his own goals. He was better off without him.

Tenten threw her kunai up in the air, catching it and throwing it up again in a steady cycle. She didn’t mind helping out in her family’s shop but when it was dead quiet like this, she wished she could be training instead. It felt like she was wasting time; she had so much that she wanted to do and she could do none of it here.

Lee’s taijutsu was becoming really strong and Neji was still the best of them by far. She didn’t want to fall behind. She knew she was a lot stronger than she had been when she’d first joined Gai-sensei’s team but she wasn’t satisfied. Gai-sensei always encouraged them to push their limits and she was trying to do that every single day. Her weapon repertoire had grown significantly and she felt so much more confident with both her close weapon combat and her aim. She felt she was taking real, tangible steps towards her dream of being the strongest weapons mistress in Konoha.

The first fight with Naruto had stuck with her; it had been the wake-up called she’d needed. She knew that he didn’t really acknowledge her existence but that was fine. It didn’t affect the impact he had made on her. He may be unapproachable and angry with their team right now, but that didn’t change his strength or his dedication. He may not reciprocate but Tenten was glad they had met. It had given her a shove in the right direction.

The bell rang and she grabbed the kunai out of the air, plastering on her customer service smile.

“Good afternoon, how may we help you…?”

Naruto stared back at her, an unreadable expression on his face. She hadn’t seen him since he blew up at Lee at the Mission Assignment Desk.

“I just can’t get away from you fuckers,” he muttered beneath his breath.

Tenten felt the urge to ask but squashed it down.

“How are you, Naruto?” she smiled. “It’s been a while.”

Naruto shot her a weird look. Tenten wasn’t sure where to go from here. The last time she’d seen him was when they were being assigned the Festival missions. She never did find out what he had against the Rinne Festival. She also wanted to know more about why he was so angry at them but she wasn’t in a place where she could ask. They didn’t know each other very well and despite her desire to change that, it wasn’t up to her. She had to respect the fact that Naruto wanted nothing to do with them. She knew her team had mixed feelings about Naruto but she couldn’t hold anything against him.

It did bother her that he was so angry. Not in that she thought it was bad or anything, but in that she couldn’t help but feel there was more to it. Naruto gave her the impression of a stray dog, furious and snapping at every hand offered, not because it was truly bad or angry but it had too many negative experiences to trust again. She knew he’d been treated badly by the villagers before; she’d overheard more than one person saying horrible things about him. The thing she couldn’t figure out is why. Naruto was rude and uncooperative but he was also super strong and a really hard worker.

She still wanted to be someone in his corner. She had seen how fond Gai-sensei was of him and although they had gotten off to a rocky start, Tenten could look back and see she handled the training situation wrong. She should have trusted Naruto to know his own limits; more importantly, she needed to push herself and have more confidence. She had never once seen Naruto or Gai-sensei doubt themselves and it was something she wanted for herself.

“I’m sorry.”

Naruto looked up from where he was going through packs of shuriken.

“For back then,” she smiled awkwardly. “I should have trusted you and…I need to trust myself more too. It was a good training idea.”

Naruto looked back at her, but she couldn’t read the look in his eyes.

“Whatever,” he shrugged and went back to ignoring her.

Tenten sat behind the counter, trying not to stare at the other genin. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. A few minutes passed and she looked up at the sound of metal clanging against wood. Naruto had dropped a couple packs of shuriken and kunai onto the counter and she bounced up, ringing up the amount quickly.

“Thank you,” she bowed her head. “Please come again.”

She raised her head to see him already walking out the shop. She sighed, resting her chin on her fist. She wasn’t sure if he believed her apology but she felt better having offered it. She would just have to keep trying to show him that she was in his corner. Gai-sensei had always taught them never to give up after all.

Naruto dragged his feet toward the meeting location. Kakashi had managed to detect his clones for every D-rank so far and it was fucking annoying. He couldn’t figure out what was giving it away. The clones were identical and they acted just like him; even the chakra signatures should have been the same! So how was Kakashi managing to figure it out every damn time? He knew Kakashi was a damn good shinobi and while that was a good attribute for a teacher, it was really backfiring on him right now.

So Naruto had been forced to actually participate in every D-rank and he was ready to burn the village to the ground. He used to do C-ranks! This was such a step down from what he’d been doing before and he hated it. He was capable of so much more than stupid D-ranks and yet, he had to accommodate for his teammates and Naruto, you can’t rush ahead without them. Kakashi could shove that up his ass. Every day he considered not showing up to the team meet-ups but every day he did; why wasn’t that enough for him?

His encounter with Neji a few days ago had already put him in a foul mood and Tenten just confused him. He didn’t know what her game was but people didn’t just apologise. Only Gai-sensei did that. He didn’t trust it. Sakura had also been baffling, turning up every day and working quietly on her own. People didn’t just change like that! She was up to something and Naruto wasn’t about to let his guard down just so she could show her true colours later. She wouldn’t just stop being a fangirl overnight and he did still catch her blushing at Sasuke occasionally.

He hated this; he hated people. He just wanted to be left alone. He had better things to do than waste his thoughts on these people.

He spotted Sasuke and immediately walked to join the other boy. At least Sasuke didn’t annoy him. He was pretty sure if he was about to fall off a cliff and Sasuke walked past, he would ignore him and it was all Naruto ever wanted. Sasuke knew he could handle himself and Naruto reciprocated the thought. Sasuke wouldn’t apologise or accost him in an alleyway or change overnight.

Sakura hadn’t arrived yet and Naruto frowned. Despite the fact that they all knew Kakashi would be at least three hours late, Sakura insisted on turning up on time every day. He and Sasuke were up and about long before the meet-up time but they were usually off doing their own thing.

A thought occurred to him. He spent more time around this team than Kakashi did; that was horrifying. It was good ammunition for next time Kakashi got on his case about shit. It was true though that he probably wouldn’t be if Sasuke wasn’t on the team. Kakashi didn’t have to know that though.

“Are we early?” he asked. “I hate being early.”

“You’re ten minutes late,” Sasuke shrugged. “Sakura hasn’t turned up.”

Hope blossomed in Naruto’s chest. Was this it? Had she finally given up and dropped out? It seemed too good to be true. He was distracted by the sight of a genin team walking towards them.

“Are you Team Seven?” the jounin-sensei asked, her red eyes looking over them.

She was pretty tall, with curly brown hair past her shoulders. She was wrapped in wide, white bandages, arranged to form a dress with a red shirt beneath, the wide billowing sleeves reaching her wrist. Her hitai-ate kept her hair out of her face and her pale face was soft and unmarred by lines or scars. She couldn’t have been older than Kakashi.

The genin around her must have been around his age. The rough-looking kid whose fur-lined jacket hood made it look like he was sporting a mane had symmetrical red triangles on each cheek, signifying his status as part of the Inuzuka clan. The small white puppy sitting on top of his head was also a dead giveaway. The other boy, taller than his counterpart, had his face mostly covered by the neckline of his oversized grey jacket and his eyes were hidden by dark glasses. The final member, a small girl, was definitely a member of the Hyūga clan. Her pale lavender eyes were like a beacon to her clan status but she seemed to lack the confidence that the Hyūga clan wore like a second skin. She wore a soft, pink hoodie and her short navy hair framed her face. She didn’t look up from the ground as they stopped in front of Naruto and Sasuke.

“Who’s asking?” Naruto crossed his arms over his chest.

“You can’t talk to Kurenai-sensei like that!” The Inuzuka yelled, pointing an accusing finger.

“Kurenai…” Naruto pondered.

He hadn’t heard that name before. He was pulled from his thoughts by Sasuke cuffing the back of his head. His ‘hey’ was ignored as Sasuke rolled his eyes.

“You don’t have to be a dick to everyone, dobe.”

Naruto pouted. Rich coming from this teme; he remembered listening to Sasuke’s complaints about his former classmates on many, many occasions. He had been a right dick and Naruto had fully supported him then he turns on him like this?

“I take it Kakashi isn’t here yet?” Kurenai shook her head. “Typical. Where’s your other teammate?”

“Don’t know.”

“Any idea at all?”

“Nope.”

“How do you not know?” the Inuzuka piped up again and Naruto gritted his teeth. “She’s your teammate.”

“Not my problem,” he shrugged. It wasn’t his job to keep track of her.

“We can ask Kakashi when he eventually turns up,” Kurenai cuts in, warding off the brewing argument before it could begin. “For now, you can come with us. This farming D-rank is joint between our teams so we can just get started.”

Naruto couldn’t detect any signs of deception and he knew some of the bigger D-ranks were shared between teams but he didn’t like this unknown adult was ordering him around. How did he know that this was actually a joint mission? What if she was taking advantage of Kakashi’s tardiness to rope them into some shit?

“You are so bloody paranoid,” Sasuke shook his head. “It’s written all over face, dobe.”

 “…I do not know what you are talking about.”

“Look, the sooner we do this D-rank, the sooner we can actually do something useful,” Sasuke pointed out. “So just shelve the paranoia for now and get this D-rank done so we can leave.”

“And if this goes sideways?”

“It’s a fucking D-rank, dobe!”

“What’s your point?”

“You are impossible.”

“What the fuck?”

That last remark didn’t come from either of them. They looked over to the other genin team to see them staring. Naruto scowled back at them; what the fuck were they looking at?

“That’s the most Sasuke’s ever said, like ever,” the Inuzuka said, eyes still wide.

“Can’t get him to shut up,” Naruto nodded, smirking at Sasuke’s venomous look thrown his way.

“Shut the fuck up, dobe.”

“Have you all met then?” Kurenai broke in again, working overtime to keep the peace.

“We know Sasuke but not the blond kid,” the Inuzuka said and was he the only person on the damn team to speak? What the hell was up with the other two?

“Well, we can introduce ourselves then. I am Kurenai, jounin-sensei of Team Eight.”

“I’m Inuzuka Kiba,” the boy said, pointing at himself with his thumb a little too proudly.

“Aburame Shino,” the taller boy added, speaking for the first time. The bug clan; he did resemble the other members he’d seen about the village.

The girl didn’t speak and Kurenai gave her a little nudge.

“…Hyūga Hinata,” she whispered, Naruto barely catching it.

She looked like a Hyūga but she certainly didn’t act like one.

“Naruto,” he offered reluctantly. He hated introductions; they were always so full of false niceness and shit.

“Uchiha Sasuke,” Sasuke said flatly, ending this nightmare.

“Okay, we better go see about this mission then,” Kurenai said, smiling gently. “I hope we can work well together.”

Kakashi may be an asshole most of the time but Naruto couldn’t help be glad he’d been assigned to him and not this lady. The whole ‘kind’ vibe was sending a shiver down his spine. This is why he preferred assholes; they didn’t try to hide their intentions or true thoughts and they were usually upfront with stuff. Nice people, he could never tell what they were really thinking.

The sooner this mission was over with the better.

Chapter Text

Sakura jogged her way to her team’s meeting point, shoving the pastry she’d picked up on the way out that morning into her mouth. It was weird to think that only a couple of weeks before she’d have fainted at the thought. She hadn’t allowed herself something so high carb in a long time but after yesterday, she knew she had to make some changes.

She’d been forcing herself to eat more since she started training for real. It hadn’t been enough since she’d been forced to miss the farming D-rank yesterday due to illness. Her family doctor had said she’d exhausted herself and need to either increase her calorie intake or cut down on the training. Losing time on training wasn’t an option so Sakura had agreed to snack throughout the day on top of her meals. It wasn’t easy; every bite she took felt like it was converting itself to fat and she hadn’t been able to stop checking her body in the mirror every day to make sure she wasn’t becoming flabby. She knew it was a habit she had to break. She had to stop thinking of her body in terms of how skinny it could be and instead about how strong it was; if she had to put on weight to get stronger, that was what she would have to do. She knew that it would take a long time to train herself out of thinking like that. It was hard to break habits built over years.

Being a kunoichi was a lot harder than she’d ever imagined. She’d thought she’d been ready when she graduated from the academy, but her team had given her a hell of a wake-up call. Sasuke-kun thought she was weak and Naruto didn’t even think she was worth the time of day. She could tell that even Kakashi-sensei thought she was the weakest in the team. She didn’t like it. She’d graduated at the top of her class in the academy and she’d held that position with pride. She’d left that team meeting at first not knowing what she was going to do, overwhelmed by the negative thoughts crowding her mind. She slowly realised over the course of that day that she needed to show them that they were wrong about her, but it wasn’t until she’d started training to show them all just how wrong they were about her that she realised that they were right.

She was the weakest in the team. She struggled with exercises that Naruto and Sasuke could do without breaking a sweat. It was embarrassing. She’d been too ashamed to even greet Sasuke-kun in the mornings and she avoided speaking to either of them. She just couldn’t face them, knowing they were right. She hadn’t a clue what being a kunoichi meant and she’d taken the career so lightly.

She had vowed to change things and become a team member that Sasuke-kun could respect. So he would look at her and see an equal he could fall in love with. It had taken him talking about her like that but Sakura had finally realised that her looks didn’t matter to Sasuke. He only cared about her strength and skill. It was mortifying to know that she had been focused on all the wrong things but it wasn’t too late. She may not have perfect hair or skin or clothes but if she could show that she was strong, that she was working hard and could contribute to the team then that would be enough for Sasuke to look at her and see someone who could support him. She didn’t like Naruto but she did want him to acknowledge her too.

It was really, really hard. She was exhausted and her legs hurt and she had cuts all over her hands and she felt like she would never be clean again. She often wondered what she could have been able to do if she had started earlier but that didn’t help her now. She was learning that while getting fitter was a physical matter, it was more of a mental battle. She felt like stopping so many times and catching her breath but she pushed herself to go that bit further and she always managed to do it.

She could do this. Kakashi-sensei had given her a real training menu to follow and she diligently completed it every day, adding extra runs where she could. She was going to start looking into ways to improve her taijutsu next. It was what she saw Sasuke-kun practicing the most so she figured that should be her next focus. The academy had put them through katas and spars a lot in their final years but wasn’t anything like what she saw Naruto and Sasuke-kun doing. They were way faster and hit way harder and she didn’t know how to achieve that. She should pay another visit to the library.

“Forehead?”

She stopped, looking over to the familiar voice. She hadn’t realised she was passing Ino’s family’s flower shop, too lost in her thoughts. The other girl was standing out front, a basket of flowers in her hands. She was still as beautiful as when she’d last seen her; long, silky blonde hair, clear skin, large pale blue eyes, a figure Sakura would kill for. She’d always been jealous of the way Ino looked. It was so unfair that she was just born like that.

“Ino-pig,” she called back automatically.

“What happened?” Ino walked toward her and Sakura could see real concern in her eyes. “You’re a mess.”

“I’ve been training,” Sakura shrugged, biting and swallowing the last piece of pastry.

“You’re on a team with Sasuke-kun!” Ino scowled. “You’re not going to win his heart looking like that! Do you have any idea how many calories that pastry has? Have you given up?”

She smirked.

“Are you finally admitting defeat to me?”

Sakura looked at her for a long moment. In the academy, Ino had been her ultimate rival. She couldn’t count the number of arguments and contests they’d had in an effort to prove themselves the better partner for Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun hadn’t once acknowledged them and Sakura had attributed it to the aloof, mysterious aura that made Sasuke-kun so cool. Now she had spent a couple of weeks with him, seeing how he interacted with Naruto, it was so pathetically easy to see he truly hadn’t cared. All those challenges, losing Ino as her best friend, it hadn’t mattered.

“I just realised that I need to grow up,” she replied, ignoring the bait. “I’m a kunoichi now; having perfect hair and make-up won’t be any use on a mission if I can’t back it up with real skills.”

Ino shot her a strange look.

“What happened to you?” she demanded. “This isn’t you.”

“Sasuke-kun isn’t so shallow that those things matter to him,” Sakura met her gaze confidently. “He cares about strength, so I’m going to be come strong. Not just for Sasuke-kun’s sake, but mine too.”

She never wanted to feel like she had the day after the Bell test ever again. She wasn’t okay with being the weakest but she could live with it as long as she knew she was working to change it. There were a lot of things outside of her control but this wasn’t one of them.

“We’re not academy students anymore, Ino,” she said, shaking her head. “We’re kunoichi. We need to start taking that seriously. I haven’t given up on Sasuke-kun but I now know there’s a lot of other stuff I need to focus on. Sasuke-kun isn’t going anywhere and if I want him to look at me, I need to prove I’m strong enough to stand by his side.”

She looked up, cursing at the time.

“Sorry Ino, I have to go.”

She didn’t wait for the blonde girl’s reply as she resumed her jog. She had to hurry; she couldn’t arrive later than Kakashi-sensei.

Naruto tapped his foot as Kakashi explained the training exercise. The jounin had been four hours late this time and while it had given Naruto extra time to work on his kenjutsu, it also delayed his plans for the rest of the day. He carried out most of his training outside of Team Seven hours and this was taking a good chunk of time out of it.

“I am not doing that.”

All eyes turned to him.

“Naruto, this is not optional.”

“This is ridiculous!” He threw up his hands. “I’m not doing it!”

“It is just a training exercise,” Kakashi tried to appease him but Naruto would not be swayed.

“For newly graduated genin,” he pointed out. “I did this on my own like three years ago.”

“This exercise isn’t meant to be done alone…”

Naruto crossed his arms, glaring at Kakashi. He was not about to waste his morning doing a damn obstacle course. He was not opposed to the concept but this particular course was a permanent fixture in Training Ground Two and it was purpose built for newly graduated genin to get used to travelling through terrain. They had the occasional survival trip in the academy but that was more to learn the essential of camping than anything else. They wouldn’t know the Tree-walking technique at this point so it was an appropriate level of difficulty…for them. Naruto had C-rank guard patrols that were more difficult than that course. It would be way too easy for Sasuke too.

“You’ve never done it tied to other genin.”

“Yeah, because I don’t need to be,” Naruto shook his head. “That course is meant to simulate travelling on missions. I don’t know why the fuck I would be tied to my teammates on a mission.”

“It’s a team training exercise,” Kakashi emphasised. “Something you need a significant amount of work on.”

“It’s a waste of time! I know I can do it, Sasuke can do it! It would only be Sakura and I ain’t spending two hours getting dragged down by someone who can’t pull herself up a wall!”

“And if you were attached to Sakura by a rope and she fell, what would you do?”

“Cut the rope,” Naruto said as if it was obvious because it was.

“And Sasuke?”

“Cut. The. Rope.”

“Naruto, you are on a team! You cannot just abandon your teammates whenever you feel like it!”

“They should be able to look after themselves! If I cut the rope, I believe they will be able to save themselves! How is that being a bad teammate?”

“And what if they didn’t? What if they died?”

Naruto felt something twist in gut at the thought of losing Sasuke but he squashed it. It didn’t matter; it wasn’t going to happen because Sasuke could handle his shit. He could see that there was something more to this for Kakashi but Naruto wasn’t going to compromise his training for whatever emotional baggage Kakashi was lugging around.

“It wouldn’t be my fault that they can’t look after themselves.”

Kakashi’s eye twitched and Naruto could see his grey eye darkened in anger. He was really pissed off, but guess what, so was Naruto. This shit had been coming since they were placed on the same team. Their ideals were too different.

“What if it was you? They cut the rope on you?”

“Good! I would figure it out! I ain’t special; I don’t expect to be treated any different!”

Kakashi sighed heavily.

“What do you want me to do? Carry her through the whole course?”

“No, go at the slowest person’s pace and assist each other. Like. A. Goddamn. Team.”

“I don’t see how that is any different than carrying her through the fucker.”

“Naruto!” Kakashi yelled and Naruto could tell he was reaching his limit. He was quite impressed with himself. Kakashi was hard to ruffle on a good day and he’d been dealing with Naruto for years. He couldn’t get this kind of reaction out of him often but he found he couldn’t even enjoy it. “When are you going to get it through your thick skull that you are a part of this team!”

Something in Naruto snapped.

“You think I don’t know that?” He spat. “I know I’m stuck on this goddamn team. I turn up for training, I go on the stupid D-ranks, I meet every single fucking obligation that is attached to this fucking team but is that good enough for you? No! It’s all ‘Naruto, be nice to your teammates’ or ‘Naruto, slow down’ or ‘Naruto, hold yourself back for their sake’. I didn’t ask for this! I wanted to stay with Gai-sensei!”

Sasuke and Sakura had vanished from his view and all he could see was Kakashi as he released all the rage that had been building up for the past couple of weeks.

“I am being forced on missions that are well below my skill level and training that doesn’t even challenge me! The fucking Hokage decided that I should be put on this team because I can’t be nice to civilians who hate my fucking guts and would kill me given half a chance! People from my class are fucking chunin! I’m not even allowed to sit the exam! And yet, I suck it up! I turn up every goddamn day and suffer through whatever half-assed training you offer because you can’t be bothered to turn up!”

He felt like he’d stalled, like he was stuck while the world moved around him. He had been a genin for so long and it was stifling. He was sick of seeing the people around him move forward when he was forced to stay still through no choice of his own. What was even worse is that not only could he not move forward, he had been being forced backwards ever since joining this team.

“Why do I always have to be one to bend? It’s not my fault I graduated early! I am doing my absolute fucking best to put up with shit and do productive training in my own time but you go on and on about teamwork and depending on each other and making each other better but that doesn’t fucking apply here because I can’t depend on anyone! Sakura is too weak and you’re too busy trying to make us work together than to actually look and see what the fuck is going wrong!”

He used to be able to do what he wanted. He hadn’t trained with Gai-sensei every day, but he could do C-ranks that challenged him and training that he actually liked and generally exist in peace. At least on C-ranks he could occasionally leave the village! He didn’t just lose Gai-sensei but all of that too. Nobody seemed to get that. They just assumed he was being rude and difficult because he was an asshole and not because he hated absolutely everything about his situation.

That was the truth of it; he hated his life right now. He hated that he couldn’t take the chunin exams; he hated that he lost Gai-sensei; he hated that no matter how much he avoided them the villagers still blamed him for shit that wasn’t his fault; he hated that he’d lost his freedom; he hated that his choices had been taken away from him; he hated that no one would even acknowledge that fact he was fucking trying. If he really wanted to, he could miss every team meeting and mission and do his own thing. He would be punished by the Hokage but that wasn’t anything new. Fuck, he could leave the village! He wouldn’t get far without the ANBU catching him, he knew that from when he’d tried when he was younger, but he could figure it out. He was a lot stronger than he had been when he was four. He’d only decided to try and leave the village the legal ways when all of his attempts failed.

“I don’t even know why I try!” he threw up his hands. “This is Naruto just being difficult right? I’m the asshole who refuses to work in a team because I’m evil and horrible and difficult! Everything is my fault, right? Just ask the fucking villagers! I can’t do anything right!”

He stopped, his chest heaving and his mouth dry as the silence weighed on the surroundings. He hadn’t meant to say that much; fuck, he didn’t want to deal with this. Fuck this; fuck everything.

“I’m outta here.”

He turned and ran from the training ground. No one called him back.

Kakashi slumped further into the branch, the quiet rustling of leaves washing over him. He was pathetic; he was a terrible teacher and Minato-sensei would be so disappointed in him. How had he managed to get everything so wrong?

He knew Naruto had his issues with teamwork and it had been something that Kakashi wanted to try and address. When he looked at Naruto, he saw himself before Obito died. He’d also been against having a team and he’d cared more about his own training and missions than he did Obito and Rin. He just didn’t want Naruto to have to learn the lessons the hard way, like he did. There wasn’t a day that went by when Kakashi didn’t regret his actions and the attitude that led to the loss of his team. He didn’t want it to break Naruto like it broke him.

He hadn’t really tried when Naruto was just his ninjutsu student. He hadn’t wanted to overstep and Gai was doing a great job with him. He’d seen the changes in Naruto over his time as Gai’s student and while it wasn’t all the way there, it had been leaps and bounds from the first day. When he’d been reassigned to Kakashi, he knew it was a chance to try and show the kid that having a team was a good thing; that they could support each other, help each other improve, that he could have allies to fall back on. It was a stroke of luck that he and Sasuke not only already knew each other but actually seemed to get along. He still didn’t know how that had happened.

He knew Sakura was one of the problems here. She was so far behind the boys and her attitude at first had been problematic. While he did not agree with the way it was done, he could already see the changes in Sakura. She was putting a lot more effort in and seemed less focused on Sasuke. She still wasn’t ready for a C-rank but she was least now heading in the right direction. Part of it wasn’t her fault; she was from a civilian family. The only exposure she’d had to being a kunoichi was through the academy and that was a tame, sanitised version to what the reality was.

But was it really fair to hold the other two back for her sake? Naruto’s words had been bothering him since their argument this morning and he knew deep down that the kid was right. Kakashi hadn’t acknowledged how hard everything had been for him and hadn’t appreciated that Naruto really was trying in his own way. He hadn’t missed a mission or training session even if his attitude towards Sakura still fell short. It wasn’t what Kakashi had wanted from him but that didn’t change the fact that Naruto was making the effort. He’d seen the way the kid responded to other jounin he didn’t like and Naruto didn’t act that way with him. It was certainly not to the levels of admiration and respect he held for Gai but Naruto did respect Kakashi, in his own way.

He’d probably screwed all that up now, hadn’t he? Naruto was right; it was unfair of Kakashi to ask him to slow down for his teammates. It was for the good of the team but to the detriment of Naruto. That wasn’t fair. Naruto’s wasn’t willing to slow down and support his teammates, which had been Kakashi’s main issue with him, but also hadn’t seen things from Naruto’s point of view. He couldn’t rely on his teammates either since they were not strong enough yet and why would Naruto allow them to rely on him if he couldn’t do the same? Sasuke was advanced for a genin fresh out of the academy, even if he wasn’t quite on the same level as Naruto yet, but he was still getting used to being a genin.

And yet he couldn’t throw Sakura and Sasuke into the deep end; that was a sure fire way of getting them killed. He dropped his head back onto the tree trunk. How was he going to do this? He had to change the way he was doing things and try to be better, but how was he going to do that? All his genin were at different levels and they all needed different things and working as a real team would be impossible until they were all at more similar levels. Did he abandon team training to focus on them individually? Would that be better for them as a team in the long run?

How would that help them be a team though? It would put them on a level footing so they could work better on missions and team exercises but would it make a difference to Naruto’s viewpoint? He knew Naruto would still cut the rope even if they stronger so that didn’t help the whole ‘try and get Naruto to see that teams are a good thing’ plan. And even if he trained them at levels appropriate for them, they would never get to similar levels as Naruto would keep improving; Sakura would never catch up.

He was at a loss. He didn’t know what he was going to do. All he did know was that things had to change. He couldn’t drive Naruto away any further and as it was, he didn’t know if he would be able to repair the damage already done. Why did he think he would be a good jounin-sensei for them? He was a complete failure; he had failed his own genin team and now he was failing his students.

He knew he hadn’t put as much effort into being a jounin-sensei as he could have. He felt like if he actually tried, he would just screw things up even further. He wanted to be a good teacher like Minato-sensei but he felt stuck. He hated not knowing what to do and he didn’t want to make the wrong choices. It was a bit late for that though; apparently he’d already been making all the wrong choices.

He needed to figure something out. He may be a failure but these kids were his responsibility. It was time to stop running from that. He may make the wrong decisions but he was doing that now; the worst had already happened. His fears were already becoming reality. How could he make things worse than what they already were? Things couldn’t stay the way they were and Kakashi vowed then and there to change. He didn’t know how yet but his team deserved better. Naruto deserved better.

Naruto slammed the window shut, cursing the old bag beneath his breath. She’d made another ploy to kick him out and he was so fucking fed up with it. He paid his rent, he didn’t make any noise, he kept his trash tidy, and he even cleaned the place. What more did she want from him? He had seen places kept in worse conditions during his D-ranks and yet they didn’t have their landlady trying to kick them out at any given opportunity. She’d said he was bad for business and he had noticed that the apartments on his floor never stayed full for long but he knew that had more to do with the building’s tendency to lack hot water and electricity for days on end. He didn’t even use his front door so no one would even see him in the corridor. He knew the Kyūbi had killed her only son in the attack but that didn’t have anything to do with him.

He took a breath of the crisp morning air, taking a moment to appreciate the quiet. He could almost imagine the village was completely empty. He didn’t let himself linger for long, making his way across the rooftops. He would not be attending the training for Team Seven today so he had to find somewhere Kakashi and Sasuke wouldn’t think to look for him. Unfortunately, the pair of them knew him a little too well for his liking although it was still nowhere near to the extent of Gai-sensei.

He hopped down to the ground in one of the side alleys, heading out to the Hokage Mountain. He had never been there with either of them so it should be safe. He shoved his hands into his pockets, glaring at the ground as he walked through the empty streets. He wasn’t sure what to do here. He’d said his piece and he’d meant every word but that didn’t actually change the situation. The Chunin Exams were only a few months away but he had no guarantee that Kakashi would offer up the other two to sit it with him; saying dumb shit like they weren’t ready or something. He didn’t think he could wait another year. He couldn’t spend another year pissing his hard work up the wall just because the people around him were useless.

Maybe…maybe it was time to consider leaving. He was much stronger than he was during his last attempt and if he picked the right time and disguise, he could probably do it. He could leave one of his clones here to buy him some time too. He didn’t know what he would do when he actually left but he was sure he would figure it out. He could just go after bounties or something.

He walked up to the cliff face and looked up and the cold, stone faces of previous Hokage. He didn’t feel a connection to them, not like everyone else seemed to. The only things he would be leaving behind really was Sasuke, Kakashi, Hayate, Gai-sensei and Ichiraku Ramen. Sasuke, Kakashi and Hayate would be totally fine without him and Gai-sensei had his new team to worry about. He would miss Ichiraku Ramen but there was bound to be other ramen out there; he could spend some of his free time finding one just as good.

“Naruto-kun!”

Naruto jumped out of his skin and snapped around to stare at a grinning Gai-sensei. He hadn’t changed from the last time he’d seen him; a perfectly symmetrical bowl-cut, shining white teeth and skin-tight green spandex. He quickly looked around but couldn’t see any of his genin team.

“Hi, Gai-sensei.”

“Are you here to train, Naruto-kun?” Gai-sensei grinned brightly. “You were always a most diligent student!”

“Yeah,” Naruto agreed, not mentioning that he was here mainly to avoid people. Training was just a side benefit. “You too?”

“I am challenging myself to climb this mountain with one hand!” Gai-sensei laughed. “Kakashi and I had a challenge to do so and I lost to my rival, so I must train to address my shortcomings!”

Naruto personally couldn’t imagine Kakashi having the motivation to do that much physical labour. His happiness at seeing Gai-sensei dimmed at the thought of his new jounin-sensei.

“Is everything alright, Naruto-kun?”

His head snapped up to stare at Gai-sensei. Was he that obvious? Gai-sensei had always been a little too good at reading him.

“Yeah, Gai-sensei,” he brushed it off. “Are we going to climb this or what?”

Gai-sensei immediately lit up and Naruto blinked at his blinding smile.

“You are flourishing in your Springtime of Youth, Naruto-kun! How wonderful that you would join my training!”

Naruto couldn’t hide his small smile at the man’s antics. It was a breath of fresh air after the last couple of weeks. He needed this; he needed the uncomplicated approach that Gai-sensei had. A spoon was a spoon with Gai-sensei and he would never hold back with his students. He would only encourage them to try harder.

“Race you to the top?” he offered.

Gai-sensei laughed.

“Of course, Naruto-kun!”

Naruto faced the wall and readied himself, thoughts of Team Seven shoved to the back of his mind. He would need his full concentration for this and for the first time since he’d left Gai-sensei’s tutelage, he felt like he was actually doing something. He would think back on his plans to leave later, but for now, he would soak in the challenge and thrill that came with being Gai-sensei’s student, if only for a short time.

Chapter Text

Sasuke flung the blanket off him and stomped to the front door, vowing to murder the asshole who dared knock incessantly at his door at this goddamn time of the morning. He’d had never had visitors and didn’t want to start now.

He’d already had a shit week. D-ranks were every bit as awful as Naruto had always said they were and after the blond’s blow-up at Kakashi, he’d been nowhere to be found, so Sasuke had been forced to suffer the team on his own. He had not liked it. He would never admit it aloud but training was better with Naruto there. If Sasuke was going to choose anyone in this village to get stuck with, it was Naruto so the fact the blond had ghosted them all had put Sasuke in a foul mood.

He swung the door open with growl, only to see the bane of his life standing there. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

“Dramatic much?”

Sasuke slammed the door in his stupid face. The knocking started back up again and Sasuke stood in the darkness of his apartment, debating the merits of murdering his teammate. The moron ignored him all week and then turned up at his apartment in the middle of the damn night and called him dramatic?

“C’mon Sasuke! Let me in!”

Sasuke turned and dragged the door back open against his better judgement. Naruto barged in before he had the chance to speak, apparently unwilling to risk Sasuke slamming the door on him again.

“What the fuck dobe?”

It was then he noticed the packed duffle bag that Naruto had dumped on the ground. He met Naruto’s eyes and hoped the blond could read the murder in his eyes.

“Just hear me out!” Naruto threw up his hands. “Let me crash here for a couple days!”

“And why the fuck would I do that?”

“How much do you want the katon jutsu I promised? The super high-level forbidden ones that I may or may not have tracked down after Kakashi told me ‘no’ that one time?”

Sasuke glared at him. He hated that Naruto knew him a little too well. The idiot wouldn’t even use the jutsu himself so why would he go looking for them?

“I want all of them.”

Naruto grinned back at him and Sasuke just continued glaring.

“Where the hell have you been?”

Naruto dumped his bag on the couch and proceeded to melt into Sasuke’s couch. He was immune to Sasuke’s glares so he kicked the dobe for good measure.

“C’mon Sasuke, it’s the middle of the night!” Naruto groaned, flopping his head back. “Can’t we do this in the morning?”

Sasuke was this close to throwing him out the window.

“You’re the one who turned up at my apartment in the middle of the fucking night dobe, so you will answer or you will be sleeping in the Forest of Death.”

It wasn’t like Sasuke would be getting back to sleep any time soon. One blue eye opened and glared back at him. With a huff, Naruto straightened up and propped his chin on his hand while Sasuke crossed his arms, glaring expectantly.

“My landlady kicked me out,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Why?”

“Because I’m me,” Naruto spat bitterly. “What other reason does she need?”

Sasuke frowned. He’d never understood what the villagers had against Naruto. He was an asshole and Sasuke frequently wished to smash his face into a tree but he wasn’t a bad person. As much as he annoyed Sasuke, he was also the only one Sasuke could trust to be straight with him and see him not for his Uchiha status, but as Sasuke. Naruto was an asshole but Sasuke liked that about him, not that he’d ever tell the dumbass. He always met Sasuke blow-for-blow and never took it easy on him.

He’d never seen anything that justified Naruto’s treatment by the village. Naruto also went out of his way to avoid any and all villagers so he wasn’t sure what they had against him.

“That’s shit,” he replied, not sure what else there was to say.

Naruto huffed a laugh, staring at the ceiling.

“I don’t know if I can do this anymore.”

Alarm bells started ringing in Sasuke’s head and he leaned forward abruptly.

“What?”

Naruto looked at him and laughed.

“I’m not going to off myself,” he chuckled although the sound was hollow. “That would mean Konoha wins and I would burn down the village before I let them win.”

Sasuke leaned back slowly. He was more than familiar with Naruto’s sentiments about Konoha but he’d never heard the blond sound so serious about it before.

“Would you hold it against me if I left?”

Sasuke blinked.

“Where the hell did that come from?”

“I’m leaving,” Naruto announced, as if he was talking about the forecast. “Not tonight, but soon.”

Sasuke wished he could be more surprised by the sentiment but it made a lot of sense. Naruto wasn’t happy here and his response to conflict with people was to run. The fight with Kakashi might have pushed him too far.

“Okay.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

“Nothing to say?”

“What is there to say?” Sasuke shrugged, dumping himself into one of his armchairs. “You’re the most stubborn mule I know so if you’ve decided to go, you’ll go.”

“You get why, right?”

Sasuke shrugged again.

“Would you ever leave?”

“Why would I do that?”

“You’re not going to beat Itachi by staying in the village.”

Sasuke’s snapped towards his teammate, a snarl in his throat. What the fuck did he know about Itachi? Itachi had been ANBU; he’d gotten strong in the village, so why wouldn’t Sasuke? Naruto put his hands up in a placating gesture.

“I’m not saying you can’t kill him, I’m just asking if you’re sure you’re going to get strong enough here, with Team Seven?” he continued, dropping his hands. “Itachi was ANBU sure, but the village is holding you back to the same level as your peers, not your actual abilities. They did it with me too. You weren’t allowed to graduate early, right?”

Sasuke was about to snap something back but he stopped, considering. Kakashi-sensei had been better with training since the fight with Naruto but it was still nowhere near what Sasuke wanted. He trained until he bled when he came home at night and if it wasn’t for Naruto bribing him with powerful jutsu in the academy he would be severely lacking in those too.

“Kakashi-sensei has been better about training recently. How would leaving the village benefit me?”

Naruto grinned, light entering his eyes for the first time since he’d barged his way into Sasuke’s apartment.

“It’s a big world out there, Sasuke. I’ve seen it on C-ranks. We could do whatever we wanted out there and no one would be able to hold us back. We’d have to disguise ourselves for a while but we could collect bounties or something.”

Sasuke…didn’t know. Naruto had made some good points but he didn’t know if leaving the village would make him any stronger. Here he had teachers and access to jutsu but outside the village, he would have nothing.

“Look, I just wanted to mention it,” Naruto looked away. “You’re way better than this village, Sasuke. You don’t owe them anything.”

That…was the closest Naruto had ever come to a real compliment; although considering how he felt about Konoha, it wasn’t exactly a high bar.

“I’m not going anywhere…for now,” he answered. “When are you planning on leaving?”

“Our first C-rank,” Naruto replied immediately. He must have been thinking about this for a while. “We always leave the village for that one and there has got to be some chance to ditch Kakashi.”

“What about Gai?”

“He has his own team to worry about now,” Naruto scowled and Sasuke rolled his eyes at the jealous ass. “You’re not going to tell anyone?”

“That’s a stupid question.”

A brief pause.

“Thanks, Sasuke.”

“Go the fuck to sleep, dobe. You’re coming to team training tomorrow.”

“But…”

Sasuke abandoned him, walking back into his bedroom and slamming the door. The dobe had so many issues he could probably put a Yamanaka into a damn coma. He was paranoid, antagonistic, chaotic, smug and responded with any emotional confrontation with instant, irrational anger and then proceeded to avoid the person like the plague. He was one dysfunctional bastard and he was the only person in the village that Sasuke genuinely liked. If the sandal was on the other foot, Sasuke realised that he would go to Naruto too. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Naruto was a good person to have in his corner anyway. He was strong, clever and fought dirty; he’d never seen anything come between Naruto and his goals before. He pushed Sasuke to be better and go further. He didn’t know how things would change when the dobe left but as the sunrise began touch his window, he decided that it was a problem for the future. He could probably still get a couple of hours if he fell asleep now.

Kakashi looked down from the trees, something loosening in his chest at the sight of three genin waiting for him. He hadn’t tracked Naruto down during the week he was missing, having known the blond long enough to know that that would only push him further away. He still wasn’t sure what he was going to say. Did he appear and act as if it had never happened? Did he take Naruto aside and apologise? That wouldn’t work; Naruto didn’t believe in words. Kakashi could tell Naruto that things were going to change until he was blue in the face but none of it mattered unless he actually showed his student that he had heard and acknowledged what he’d said.

He popped onto the training ground, waving a hand.

“Yo!”

“Are you on time?” Sakura frowned at him. “Are you sick or something?”

“We have a lot of training to do so I wanted to get a jumpstart on it,” Kakashi replied cheerfully, desperately ignoring the venomous aura from Naruto. “Sakura, I’ve increased your physical fitness menu so go get started on that.”

Sakura just looked at him warily for a long moment, before moving slowly to follow his instructions. He was still half an hour late, should she really be so suspicious?

“Sasuke, I got those weights so you can continue working on your speed. Your elemental affinity is raiton so we should take advantage of that.”

He handed over the scroll to his student, catching the looks that he was sending to Naruto. He couldn’t decipher them but Sasuke soon abandoned them both to go work on his own fitness course. Kakashi looked at his final student but Naruto wouldn’t meet his eyes, just staring angrily at the ground. This was Kakashi’s fault. He’d failed his student and lost his trust.

“We’re stepping up your bloodline limit training.”

Naruto still didn’t look at him.

“I spoke to Gai about an appropriate menu for you.” There was a twitch at the mention of the other jounin. “Your taijutsu is easily high chunin level and your ninjutsu could blow most chunin out of the water with your reserves alone. You’ve managed to keep up with the speed of your bloodline limit recently so now we need to grow both together.”

There was nothing he could say to fix what he broke but he would show Naruto that he had listened.

“Your teammates won’t be able to keep up with you so we’ll work on it separately for now,” he continued. “It might be good for you to spar with Sasuke occasionally since he is also training his body for speed but we can see how it goes.”

Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets but he nodded in acknowledgement. That was more than Kakashi was expecting to get out of him at this stage.

“Do you have anything you want to work on?” he asked directly.

The kid shrugged and Kakashi accepted that was as much as Naruto would give him right now. That was okay; Kakashi fully intended to fix things. He may never be able to regain that trust but he could at least do right by his student starting now.

Shikamaru sighed at the sight of Team Seven approaching. They were an half an hour late which Asuma-sensei hadn’t been bothered about in the slightest so Shikamaru was forced to listen to Ino whine about waiting around and the audacity of Sakura on making her wait. Chouji was on his last bag of snacks and starting to look worried.

Something had happened with the Yamanaka recently and she had yelled at them during training a lot louder than usual. He’d seen her training much harder than before and she only mentioned Sasuke a couple of times a day; it was a massive difference from the ten times an hour they’d had before. He had no idea what inspired this change in his female teammate other than the fact it had involved Sakura in some way. He was still under the impression that they were bitter rivals over their ‘precious Sasuke-kun’ and Ino hadn’t told them otherwise. It was damn troublesome; she’d nagged too much before she’d gotten the whole training thing in her head.

He didn’t know how this was going to go. He hadn’t seen Sasuke or Sakura since graduation and he didn’t know about their third teammate. It was someone from the genin forces who’d graduated a while ago and Shikamaru wondered how they were faring with Sakura. Unlike Ino, she had the object of her obsession well within reach. Sasuke wasn’t any easier to work with, preferring to work solo as much as he could physically get away with, so Shikamaru wasn’t sure how their team dynamic was going to be.

While he was glad they’d finally turned up and Ino would finally stop whining, he was sure this mission would be a drag. He wasn’t sold on Ino but her alone was way better than whatever baggage Team Seven was going to drag in with them.

“You’re early, Kakashi,” Asuma-sensei called out, causing his team’s heads to snap to him in disbelief. “I told you the meeting time only an hour earlier than the real time.”

“Mah, Asuma, I have to keep you on your toes,” the other jounin-sensei called back.

He was pretty tall, with spiky gravity-defying silver hair and his face mostly hidden by a slanted hitai-ate and a black facemask that covered from the bridge of his nose to beneath his chunin vest. He was slouched over and everything about him screamed ‘relaxed’. His genin trailed behind him. Sasuke looked exactly the same as he had in the academy, scowl and all. Sakura had changed a little; she wore her long pink hair up into a high bun and wore a practical red battle dress with black leggings beneath. It had dirt smudged on it which was something Shikamaru didn’t think he’d ever see on Sakura. She’d been insane about looking her best for ‘Sasuke-kun’.

The third genin was the one who caught his attention. He recognised him. It had been a few years but it was definitely the boy from the Nara forest back then. He’d had a D-rank to round up the deer for their vet check-ups and struggled with the last few fawns. He hadn’t changed much; still in black shinobi trousers tied with bandages at the bottom, his black sandals and sleeveless black shirt. The bandages were a shade of orange which was new. Black fingerless gloves and black bracers to his elbow covered his thin, defined arms and he was wearing his loose sleeveless orange hoodie this time. He was shorter than both Sakura and Sasuke and had recently shaved down the sides of his head, leaving the blond spikes a bit longer on the top. He also had two swords strapped to his back that he didn’t have before. Why was he with them? He’d told Shikamaru he was an apprentice which meant he didn’t have a team.

“Forehead!” Ino yelled out, pointing accusingly at Sakura.

“Hi Ino-pig,” Sakura waved back calmly and Shikamaru blinked. That wasn’t what was supposed to happen. What had that jounin-sensei done to her?

“Right,” Asuma-sensei lit up another cigarette. “We should head out to the farm. There’s a lot to do and we have until sunset.”

Shikamaru remained lying on the grass, shifting his gaze back to the lovely clouds floating by. He didn’t like D-ranks and he especially didn’t like ones that involved a lot of manual labour like this one. It wasn’t often that it took more than one genin team to get a D-rank done but the ones involving the farms were infamous for it. They were just too damn big. It was such a drag.

“Change of plans,” Kakashi announced brightly. “I’ll take Sakura, Sasuke and your cute little genin for this mission and you work with Naruto on his fūton techniques. He needs some help applying it to his kunai and you’re the best in Konoha.”

“I’m the only one in Konoha, you mean,” Asuma blew out a puff of smoke.

“Hey, why does he get to skip the stupid mission?” Ino snapped, crossing her arms and staring furiously at the blond genin.

Naruto, Shikamaru remembered, glared back at Ino and his blue eyes were just as hostile and grumpy as they had been back in the forest. He couldn’t imagine the guy ever smiling.

“Naruto has been a genin for a few years now and D-ranks are a waste of his time. He’s done enough of them,” Kakashi answered, seemingly unphased by Ino’s response. “Hayate’s working with him on his kenjutsu but he needs more control over his fūton which is more your territory.”

Naruto looked just as surprised as Asuma-sensei about this turn of events. Wary blue eyes turned to Asuma-sensei.

“I mean, if you’re happy with that,” Asuma-sensei shrugged, letting out another puff of smoke. “Kakashi is more than capable of overseeing the D-rank on his own.”

Naruto didn’t look convinced.

“This is such a drag,” Shikamaru sighed. He didn’t want to pick up the slack of losing a person.

Naruto’s gaze turned to him and there was a spark of recognition although the blond kept quiet.

“Come now children,” Kakashi began waving his arms and Shikamaru reluctantly stood, shoving his hands into his pocket. “We have a lot to do and we’re running late.”

“That was your fault, Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura spoke up.

“Let’s go,” Kakashi ignored her, pulling out an orange book from a pouch and immediately sticking his nose into it. “No time to waste.”

Sakura rolled her eyes and Sasuke stomped ahead, his mood by some miracle being even worse than usual. Shikamaru fell into step beside Chouji as Ino bounded forward to start harassing Sakura. He looked back to see Naruto and Asuma-sensei staring at each other although he couldn’t read their expressions from here.

Whatever, it wasn’t any of his business and he had enough to think about with this stupid D-rank. What he wouldn’t give to just ditch them and go stare at the clouds somewhere but then Ino and his mother would be on his case and one was bad enough. Being a shinobi was so damn troublesome.

Lee bounced along the road, his beloved teammates not far behind him. It was such a beautiful day for training! He was so blessed to have been placed on a team with Gai-sensei! He felt like a completely different person than he had been only a year ago and it was all due to his sensei and Power of Youth! He was determined to make his teacher proud and show him that Lee could uphold the legacy of Youth.

He was lucky to have his teammates too. Tenten was much more confident than she had been when they were first assigned to a team together and while Neji had not gotten any friendlier, he worked hard and met Lee with the same intensity and determination that Lee did. It truly felt like they were becoming rivals like Gai-sensei and his rival and Lee was over the moon. He would have to continue to work hard and show that the power of taijutsu was more than enough to compete with any opponent Lee faced.

“Gai-sensei said he would be running late, Lee,” Tenten called out from behind him. “There’s no reason to rush.”

“We must get there early so we can appropriately warm up!” he called back, turning so he was walking backwards.

Neji remained silent. Lee had noticed that he had been unhappier recently but he could not think of a cause to his teammate’s suffering. Neji was so strong and Lee was honoured to be his rival but there was a weight on Neji’s shoulders that he refused to talk about. It was not Lee’s place to ask about it but he could at least be there for his rival if he ever wished to share the burden.

“Is someone already there?”

He turned to look into the training ground and grinned as he watched Naruto swing a sword, the metal cutting through the rock in front of him like it was butter. He had seen the pair of swords strapped to Naruto’s back but he had not seen them in use before. He had not appeared to notice their arrival and Lee resisted the urge to call out, knowing the blond would stop the moment he did.

Naruto was someone he looked up to a lot. He was the first to inspire Lee, long before he was assigned to Gai-sensei. He told Lee that he should never give up! If he cannot use chakra, then he should work hard and find alternative ways of fighting! He had not expressed it in those exact words but Lee understood the feeling behind them. Naruto was the hardest work that Lee had ever had the privilege to work with, even beyond himself and his teammates. Lee could only aspire to work as hard and become as strong as Naruto. The match from when they first formed their team was still fresh in his mind and he knew he still had a long way to go before he could properly challenge Gai-sensei’s first student.

Naruto was not the friendliest shinobi but Lee did not see that a as a negative. Naruto preferred to show his strength through his actions rather than his words and that only made Lee admire him more. Naruto was not a man of wasted words. He was a pillar of strength and Lee would win him over one day with his own strength. He just had to keep working hard until the day he could meet the genin on equal footing. Naruto’s dismissal of him did hurt sometimes but Lee knew that Naruto’s trust was not easily won. He was willing to work hard and prove himself worthy with the Power of Youth!

“How can a sword cut through rock like that?” he asked Tenten, assuming that she would know. “Would it not break?”

“Fūton,” breathed Tenten, her brown eyes sparkling. “Those with an affinity can apply to the edge of blades to make them sharper but it’s not common in Konoha. My family’s shop has only made chakra-conducting blades for one jounin before.”

Lee turned back but he couldn’t see anything special on the blade. Naruto was incredible! He could have just focused on kenjutsu but he pushed himself a step further just like he did every time.

“Naruto is truly in the Springtime of his Youth!” Lee grinned as Naruto’s head snapped towards them.

“What are you doing here?” he growled, sheathing the sword as they approached.

“Gai-sensei told us to meet him here for training,” Tenten explained, her eyes still on the blade that was now being slung across Naruto’s back. “Where did you get those?”

“I stole them.”

Lee could not tell if he was serious or not; the blond’s face was blank and his response was completely deadpan. Tenten did not appear to know how to respond to that either.

“You should not expect a civil response from him,” Neji spoke up for the first time. “He cannot get past his own pettiness to attempt a normal conversation.”

Naruto scoffed.

“Rich coming from you,” he sneered. “You can’t go a fucking sentence without putting someone down for your own ego.”

Tension bubbled between them and Lee was not sure what the right approach was. It was evident that something had transpired between the two when Lee and Tenten had not been present but Lee could not think of anything that could cause this level of animosity between two comrades.

“Do you wish to join us in training today, Naruto-kun?” Lee tried. He did not expect the blond to agree but he knew he could never give up on trying to reach out to the blond. “Gai-sensei will be along shortly and he would be thrilled to see you.”

“I would rather die.”

“Such commitment!” Lee grinned, deciding that he would only try and take the positives out of this, just like Gai-sensei did. “I will have to keep working hard for your acknowledgement then!”

Naruto stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head.

“Whatever, knock-off.”

He turned on his heel and stalked out of the training ground. Lee grinned. Naruto’s temper had not sparked and he had not threatened Lee even once! That was progress! He was still not willing to engage with them and he and Neji appeared to be on terrible terms but he could feel like he was one step closer to his goal of taking on equal footing with Naruto and winning his trust. One day he would be able to count the blond among his friends and together they could blossom into their Springtime of Youth!

Chapter Text

Naruto carefully ran the oiled cloth over the metal, avoiding the sharpened edge. He was finally starting to feel like the blades were becoming an extension of himself, just like Hayate-sensei said they should. The sword gleamed in the early morning sun and fresh spring air curled over his seated form as he worked on his weapons.

He tried to spend as little time in Sasuke’s flat as possible, knowing his teammate’s patience wouldn’t last forever. He was still surprised that he let him stay past one night but he wasn’t willing to push it. He wasn’t going to spend his saving on an inn and with the occasional rain showers, he also didn’t fancy sleeping in the forest. He was full capable, he had all of his camping equipment for missions after all, but he would be too on guard to sleep properly and it was just a hassle he didn’t need right now. He only really went to Sasuke’s to sleep but the arrangement was working.

It was actually working a lot better than he thought it would. He’d always thought he would hate sharing space with someone else but Sasuke was quiet and tidy and they only spoke to talk about training or shinobi related stuff. He didn’t try to pry or make Naruto spill his guts and that was all he wanted. He dumped some tomatoes into Sasuke’s fridge every so often and cleaned up after himself so he supposed that was enough to keep Sasuke from kicking him out.

He hadn’t told Kakashi about his change of address and he hadn’t registered it with the records department either. No one had come looking for him and Sasuke wouldn’t say anything so it was a non-issue. He didn’t see the point in trying to find a new place when he was going to be leaving soon anyway. He’d organised his gear and his savings with storage scrolls so his entire life currently fit into one rucksack. Whenever they finally got a C-rank out of the village, he was ready. There wasn’t really anything left for him in the village anyway.

Gai-sensei had his team. Sasuke had his whole ‘kill his brother’ ambitions. Kakashi would have one less student to worry about. Hayate-sensei wouldn’t be that bothered since they hadn’t known each other that long. He no longer had a landlady to worry about and he didn’t have roots with any part of the village. The villagers would probably hold another festival when they found out he was gone. The old man would be pissed and send the ANBU after him but the risk was worth it. He was suffocating in this place. He didn’t belong here and there was a whole world out there to explore. The short time he’d spent in the Capital during his own first C-rank had never left him and every opportunity he’d gotten to leave the village had only fed his desire to see what was out there; a world where nobody cared who Uzumaki Naruto was or about his past.

He took the cloth off the blade and inspected it carefully. The metal was designed to be able to tolerate chakra and since Asuma had shown him how to generate fūton blades, it had quickly become his new obsession. His bloodline limit worked well with kenjutsu and this was just a sharper, deadlier version of kenjutsu. He hadn’t been sure about Asuma at first but the man was even more laidback than Kakashi and he didn’t try to abuse his authority or anything. He taught Naruto what he needed to know and left him to it; he liked that in a teacher. He hadn’t shown Hayate-sensei yet, knowing that the man would tell him that he had improve his basic skills first and master the foundation before he went adding shit. He’d gone through this before with Kakashi and adding ninjutsu to his taijutsu but he would rather practice it now so it was usable for when he struck out on his own.

Kakashi had been better recently about the training but Naruto couldn’t bring himself to fully trust it. He was being allowed to train more to his actual level and he was no longer forced to go on D-ranks with his teammates. Sasuke had made it a point to let Naruto know how stupid D-ranks were every evening and Naruto shared his own horror stories from when he had to do them alone with Gai-sensei. Kakashi had also stopped the teamwork exercises which had been a huge relief to Naruto but he couldn’t help but feel it wouldn’t last. Something would come up to ruin it all; whether it was being barred from the chunin exams yet another year or Sakura never managing to reach a level where they could work effectively as a team he didn’t know. He just knew this couldn’t last.

Kakashi was trying; he had to give that to the man. He’d trained with him for a long time and he knew him well. This teamwork thing was always going to explode in their faces and Naruto was no closer to whatever Kakashi wanted from him. He was never going to be what Kakashi wanted him to be and that made it even easier to leave.

“Oi, dobe.”

Naruto peered over the edge to see Sasuke glaring at him.

“Good morning to you too.”

“We’re going to be late.”

“What a travesty. How will Kakashi ever forgive us?”

“You agreed to lightning tag yesterday, remember? We can’t do that around Kakashi-sensei.”

Naruto blinked. He’d totally forgotten about that. Since Sasuke had started training his raiton affinity, he’d gotten a lot faster. It was something that Naruto also needed to train so they’d come up with ‘lightning tag’. It was essentially Sasuke chasing him to electrocute him with raiton jutsu and Naruto practicing evasion and using his fūton chakra to shield the parts of his body Sasuke was targeting. It had been a rough learning curve at first but it was great training. They weren’t sure if Kakashi would allow it, especially since there were a lot of injuries at first, so they just did it before he got there; might as well take advantage of their teacher’s chronic lateness. Sakura had started turning up only half an hour before Kakashi, working on her own training somewhere else, so they had plenty of time to do their own thing.

“Fuck,” he swore, sheathing the blade and slinging both on his back. “You still owe me a new pair of pants for last time.”

“You should have dodged.”

“That’s not what you said when I shredded your jacket.”

“That’s because I’m meant to tag you, not the other way around!”

“You got way too close. Next time don’t land on me!”

Naruto followed the other genin down the side of the building, bickering all the way down. There might be some things he would miss about Konoha.

Naruto crossed his arms, tapping his foot on the wooden floor as they waited to receive their mission. They should have had a C-rank by now; it had been a few months since graduation and he was itching for a mission. Every day in Konoha felt like another day for someone to figure out his plans and keep him in the village permanently.

“Next is Team Seven, we have a painting mission, gardening, babysitting…”

“No way.”

Naruto stepped forward, holding the chunin’s gaze. It was the guy that accused him of stealing the Forbidden Scroll, with the scar across his nose. It had been a shit night and after being rightfully cleared by the interrogation unit and flipping the chunin the bird, he’d had to go back out and find the stupid cat. He did not have fond feelings for this chunin and he was not about to put up with this bullshit.

“Give us a C-rank.”

“Naruto…” Kakashi started.

“No, Kakashi.” Naruto whirled around to glare at the jounin-sensei. “We’ve been doing dumbass D-ranks for months. We’re ready for a C-rank.”

“I know you are,” Kakashi sighed.

“Sasuke could beat half the chunin in the village and Sakura is not as useless as she was when she graduated,” Naruto continued. “We are all ready for this so just fucking let us.”

Kakashi blinked. Naruto knew what he’d said could be taken as the first and only compliment he’d ever given his female teammate but C-ranks weren’t that hard; even Sakura should be capable of making it back alive.

“I guess we’re going on a C-rank then,” Kakashi eye-smiled.

“Okay then,” Naruto nodded, not sure what to do now. He’d expected more of a fight.

“Can I say something?”

Naruto frowned. He didn’t think the chunin got an opinion on this.

“I just wanted to apologise to you, Naruto,” Iruka continued. “I made assumptions that day that were unfair. I promise to try and be better in the future. I haven’t seen you since then so I wanted to take this chance to apologise now before you head out of the village.”

Naruto froze, not sure what to do here. Why the fuck the guy would even apologise was escaping him and he wasn’t sure what to say in return. It was unlikely that Iruka meant it; the question was why even do it at all.

“Here,” Iruka handed Kakashi a scroll, stealing a look at a silent Naruto. “You will escort Tazuna, a bridge-master, back to his home in the Land of Waves. It should take about a week to get there, so prepare for two. The rest of the information is in the scroll.”

Naruto grinned. This was it. This was his chance. Sasuke shot him a look but he ignored it.

“Let’s go then!” Naruto clapped his hands. “Where is this guy?”

The door behind them slammed open and Naruto watched an old guy stumble in. The stench of alcohol was almost overwhelming. He clutched a brown bottle in one hand as he leaned the other on the doorframe. Bleary, dark eyes glared at them over the rim of thin, wire glasses and his grey beard did nothing to hide the sneer he sent their way. His olive tunic was dishevelled, barely tucked into loose tan trousers.

“What’s this? It’s just a bunch of darned squirts!” he slurred. “You’re so tiny! Are you really shinobi?”

Naruto clenched his fists but kept his opinion to himself. He couldn’t afford to lose this mission, even if he had to put up with this pathetic geezer.

“I can assure you that there are wonderful shinobi,” Kakashi replied cheerfully. “They are more than capable of protecting you.”

“The short one looks like he would rather stab me,” Tazuna waved a bottle in Naruto’s direction.

“That’s just what his face looks like.”

Naruto scowled, unimpressed.

“We can meet in front of the front gates in half an hour,” Kakashi continued. “You guys know what to pack.”

Naruto took the chance to leave, Sasuke and Sakura not far behind him. He could do this. He just had to put up with the old man long enough to find an opportunity to slip away. A smile found its way back onto his face as he realised this could very well be the last time he would step foot in Konoha. He had to do this; this would be his best chance to finally escape the village once and for all.

Sakura hefted her backpack to rest more comfortably on her shoulders. They’d been walking for days now, Konoha long faded behind them and she’d finally begun to relax. She’d been so nervous, leaving the village for the first time and on a C-rank mission too! She wasn’t sure if she was ready for it but she couldn’t speak up and let her teammates down. She was more than aware that she was the weak link in this team and while she had been working hard to try and change that, she knew she still had a long way to go.

Her physical training was paying off at least as she’d been able to keep up the whole time. They were walking a civilian pace due to Tazuna-san but she didn’t feel very tired and knew she could probably keep walking all night too. It was nice to see her training finally show itself after so many gruelling hours of working on her own.

She’s also expected a mission outside the mission to be more exciting. It had been day after day of walking and the scenery was starting to blend together. She knew she was supposed to be on alert as part of the body guarding mission but it was hard to maintain that after days of nothing. The most entertaining thing had been watching Naruto hold himself back from lynching the bridge-builder who’d done nothing but drink and complain the entire journey. It was actually quite nice to see his ire directed at someone else, especially since she had also grown tired of listening to their client whine.

“Did the scroll say we had to deliver him alive?” Naruto hissed beneath his breath.

“That’s a given on a body guarding mission dobe,” Sasuke-kun muttered back although he didn’t look happy about it.

“I would help hide the body,” she offered, smiling awkwardly as the two boys looked at her.

Naruto’s blue eyes watched her for a moment before he nodded slightly, his eyes turning back to the road. It was such a minor thing but Sakura couldn’t help the glow of pride. It hadn’t been easy to get Naruto to acknowledge her and he still hadn’t really but she could tell that he respected her efforts in training. Despite first impressions, Naruto wasn’t a mean or malicious person. He didn’t suffer fools and would not tolerate someone who tried any less than their best; it had taken some time for Sakura to see that.

She was actually sort of grateful to him. He had pushed her in a way the academy and her teachers never had and she could feel the difference in herself. She had by no means given up on winning Sasuke-kun’s heart but she’d realised that Sasuke-kun valued strength above everything else. She suspected it was why he and Naruto got on so well although she knew that they’d known each other for much longer than they would admit.

It made her feel like the odd one out. They trained together, leaving her out, and it was frustrating. She felt like she couldn’t ask to join; she would just slow them down as she was now. It was a weird combination of feelings. She often found herself wishing she’d put in more effort in the academy. She was the top kunoichi but she knew it was her paper test scores that had pushed her into that position. She was passable in the practical shinobi arts but knowing what she did now, she’d barely scratched the surface back then. She had never pushed herself enough.

It was hard but she was trying to make up for it now. Their team dynamic had settled into something that wasn’t uncomfortable, like it had been in the first few weeks. Sakura knew that her teammates didn’t see her at the same level but they didn’t put her down or tell her she couldn’t do it. Naruto wasn’t nice about it and Sasuke generally didn’t acknowledge her existence but she knew they accepted her efforts. It wasn’t anything like she’d imagined her team when she’d been in the academy but there was still time.

“So how did you two actually meet?” Sakura asked. “You’ve never actually said.”

“I told you,” Naruto replied, appearing as bored as her. “I didn’t drop him off a building.”

He answered her! Without any reluctance or insults! He must be more bored than she thought.

“Like you could’ve if you’d tried,” Sasuke-kun rolled his eyes.

“I took you up that building and I was more than capable of throwing your ass off,” Naruto retorted but it was more…playful than anything? She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen that from him before. “You were only a baby academy student back then.”

“You’re younger than me, dobe.”

“What’s your point?”

Sakura watched the exchange, things even less clear than they were before. She may never get to the bottom of this. She stepped over the puddle absentmindedly, frowning at the ground. Would her teammates ever let her in? How hard did she have to work before she was seen as one of them?

They’d only taken a few more steps before there was a splashing sound behind them. She started to turn and only managed to catch a glimpse of two figures dressed in black before a long, spiked chain wrapped around Kakashi-sensei, trapping him in place. Two foreign shinobi held the ends of the chains out of matching metal gauntlets and Sakura’s heart leaped into her throat as they pulled. Blood splattered onto the road as their teacher was torn apart with a horrifying squelch and Sakura felt the burn of bile in the back of her throat as she stared in horror.

The two shinobi barely paused as they flung themselves towards Naruto, the chain held between them to capture her teammate just like they had Kakashi-sensei. Naruto looked unphased by their teacher’s death and had already drawn his dual blades when she hadn’t been looking. It was the calmest she’d ever seen him. There was no scowl or frown and sneer; just focused blue eyes that tracked the deadly chain closely.

Naruto suddenly swung one of his swords into the chain and rammed it into one of the trees next to the road, the blade and chain sinking more than halfway into the thick trunk. It caught the enemy nin off guard as they were suddenly pulled to a halt, the chain pulled taunt and pulling them off balance. Sakura barely had time to blink before Sasuke suddenly appeared, landing on their shoulders. She watched as he gripped their arms, kicking back into their faces. The chain detached from their gauntlets and they dove to either side. Sasuke landed gracefully into crouch where they’d been stood only a moment ago.

Her gaze was torn from her crush when the enemy nin flanked and ran towards her. She pulled a kunai from her pouch, assuming a defensive stance in front of Tazuna-san. She may not be as strong as her teammates but she could do this. She had to protect Tazuna-san.

She had a few seconds to get a good look at them. One was covered by full-length, ragged black cloak while the other had a baggy, tan tunic over camouflage trousers. They both had a black gasmask over their lower faces and their Kiri hitai-ate had metal horns attached, keeping their long, greasy black hair out of their faces. They lunged at her, clawed gauntlets outstretched. Sakura barely had a chance to take a swipe at them with her kunai when blue filled her vision, Sasuke-kun’s back blocking her view. She looked over her shoulder just in time to see Naruto swing his remaining sword, sinking it into the side of the enemy nin with the ragged cloak.

 Naruto tore it free with a spray of blood and kicked the nin to the side, before spinning to target the second. She’d never seen him work with his blades before; he had another teacher for that and he practiced different skills when he was with them so she hadn’t realised how skilled he’d become with them. He moved the sword like it was an extension of his arm and he turned on his feet like gravity didn’t affect him. She caught the flash of silver in his eyes as he swung the sword up, intent on finishing the fight then and there.

A forearm reached across the enemy’s neck and jerked him out of the way of Naruto’s blade. Sakura felt a lump in her throat as she saw their teacher, alive and well. She didn’t know how but right now, she didn’t care.

“Now, now, Naruto, we need to keep at least one of them alive for questioning,” he drawled, as if he hadn’t been torn apart in front of their eyes.

“The other one is still breathing,” Naruto argued back, wiping the blood off his blade with said shinobi’s cloak. He wasn’t moving and Sakura didn’t think he would be breathing much longer.

“You guys did well,” Kakashi eye-smiled, dragging the limp body in his arms over to one of the trees by the side of the road. “Your speed training is really paying off and you did well to stand your ground.”

He was looking at Sakura with that last statement and she felt the warm glow of pride wash over her. She had protected Tazuna-san; she may not have done any of the fighting but she hadn’t frozen up or held the team back. Naruto tore his second sword out of the tree, the chain falling to the ground with a loud clank. Sasuke-kun shoved his hands into his pockets beside her but she caught the way he was looking at Kakashi-sensei. He wasn’t as unaffected by their teacher’s trick as he wanted to act. She’d been watching him long enough to know.

“Was the whole dramatic death scene necessary?” Naruto asked, slinging both his sheathed swords back into a cross on his back. “It was a little much.”

“I wanted to see how my cute little genin would do on their own,” Kakashi-sensei replied casually, like he hadn’t added years of stress onto Sakura. He had tied up the remaining chunin and Sakura was making a point not to look at the prone body in the middle of the road. “The real question is why two high-level chunin would be targeting a bridge-builder, especially on a C-rank mission.”

All eyes turned to the sweating bridge-builder.

Naruto frowned as the old man finished his tale of woe. So this bastard Gatō, who was some sort of big, important business guy, had pretty much taken over the Land of Waves and sucked all the money out of them ‘cause he had control over the water and no-one could really sneak a boat past him. So they were gonna build a bridge? The bridge would mean they could get other business that didn’t involve Gatō so he wouldn’t be able to continue being a bastard but Gatō knows this so has been threatening people into giving up on the bridge using some second-rate thugs.

“So you want us to protect you while you build the bridge?” Naruto concluded.

“Yes,” Tazuna nodded, having sobered but considerably since the attack of the Demon Brothers. “We’ve made a lot of progress but people are scared.”

“The problem is, Tazuna-san, that you lied to us,” Kakashi drawled but Naruto could tell he was actually pissed. “This is a B-rank minimum, maybe an A-rank. You only requested a C-rank which is why they sent a genin team. This mission is out of our current capabilities.”

“We could only afford a C-rank,” Tazuna pleaded. “Please, we need your help.”

“I say let’s do it.”

All eyes turned to Naruto.

“We’re already here,” he continued. “They need help and we can do it. There’s no point in going all the way back to Konoha to send another team that they can’t afford anyway.”

“That’s…nice of you,” said Kakashi, but he was looking at Naruto a little too intensely.

He prayed that the jounin wouldn’t figure him out. They couldn’t go back to Konoha. He’d already made it this far and this mission was the perfect opportunity to leave Konoha in the dust. There was also a small part of him that wanted to stick it to this Gatō guy. Naruto knew rich bullies and he hated them with every fibre of his being. Continuing the mission was a win-win for him.

“I’m with Naruto,” Sasuke spoke up, crossing his arms. “We can handle it.”

They looked at a nervous Sakura.

“I…” she hesitated. “I’m with my team. We should continue with the mission.”

Naruto honestly hadn’t expected her to agree. He thought this mission was a bit much for her at her current level but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“We all agree,” he said, meeting Kakashi’s eye. “We’re continuing the mission.”

Kakashi met his gaze for a long moment before blinking, looking over to Tazuna.

“You’ve still got us then.”

Tazuna grinned.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“What should we do with them?” Naruto waved a hand over the enemy nin. One was definitely dead by now and the one Kakashi had tied up and interrogate didn’t look like he was going to wake up any time soon.

“We can collect their bounties when we get back,” Kakashi shrugged, throwing a scroll over to Naruto. “He was your kill so you can take the bounty.”

Naruto grinned. The money would come in handy. He should probably feel something more after taking a man’s life but it wasn’t his first; that had been not long after he’d started C-ranks with Gai-sensei. He couldn’t even remember the man’s face.

“Nice!”

He ignored Sakura’s ill look as he stored the body into the scroll, Kakashi doing the same with the other chunin.

“We’re not far from the boat now,” Tazuna said. “We can make it by nightfall and use the darkness as cover from Gatō’s men.”

Naruto shoved the scroll into his backpack and moved to follow his teammates back down the road. Things were still going to plan.

Chapter Text

Naruto breathed in the crisp morning air, the freezing cold mist showering his skin with tiny droplets. He couldn’t see very far in any direction from the boat with the thick, white mist but they hadn’t seen anyone else on the water in the long while they’d been stuck on the boat. Tazuna insisted on no lights so they’d taken shifts sleeping and watching out for other vessels as they’d crept closer to the Land of Waves. Naruto had taken a couple of breaks to walk on the surface of the sea just to stretch his legs but they were supposed to be on the down low so they were forced to stay on the boat for the majority of the time.

“We’re almost there.”

“How can you even tell in this fog?” Sakura asked the old man, squinting as she peered over the side of the boat.

“The bridge.”

Naruto only had enough time to think ‘what fucking bridge’ before a massive white shape began to pierce through the fog. Naruto’s eyes widened as the shape just kept growing bigger and bigger. For some reason when the old man had told them about a bridge, Naruto had been imagining one like they had in Konoha, not this monster. How long had it taken them to build this thing? The smooth stone towered above their heads and as they started passing the pillar, they were easily as thick as some of the massive trees back in the Forest of Death.

“This is the hope of our people,” added Tazuna, looking up at the structure with a wistful gaze.

They followed the bridge until Tazuna suddenly veered away from it, steering them to a destination known only to him. It wasn’t long before they reached land and Naruto hopped out of the boat, wavering slightly as he adjusted to the non-moving ground. The forest began close to the shoreline and the early morning light failed to pierce the leaves, casting a dark shadow among the trees.

“My house isn’t far,” Tazuna informed them, pulling the boat out of the water with the help of Sakura and hiding it nearby, hiding it with a cloak made of fallen leaves.

Naruto followed him into the trees, listening to the rustling of the leaves in the gentle sea breeze. They had been walking for about half an hour when the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He came to a dead stop, looking around.

“Naruto?”

“There’s…” he began, activating his bloodline limit and trying to find what was out of place. “I…”

“Spit it out, dobe.”

He ignored Sasuke as he caught the smallest flash of white.

“There!”

He flung his kunai out and bounded after it, finding a terrified white rabbit hidden behind the bush. His kunai had sunk into the trunk of a tree barely millimetre away from one of its ears.

“Well done,” Sasuke deadpanned, coming to look over his shoulder. “You have defeated the evil bunny.”

There was something off about this. Why was there a white rabbit here? It didn’t blend into its surroundings at all; not a great survival mechanism.

“DUCK!”

Naruto hit the deck, dragging Sasuke down with him just in time for a massive grey sword to fly through the air where their heads had been and sink into one of the tree trunks further up. It was at least as tall as Kakashi, with a rectangular shape and a large hole cut out of it near the tip. He lifted his head to see a foreign nin land on the handle of the blade, staring down at them.

He was a big guy, at least as tall as Kakashi. Black spiky hair was held out of his face by a hitai-ate, the metal plate with the Kiri symbol on the side of his head. He was shirtless, showing off a muscular physique with a thick black belt running diagonally across his chest. Matching arm and leg warmers with a brown cow-pattern covered his limbs and grey-striped trousers were tucked into the leg warmers. White bandages covered the lower half of his face and dark brown eyes glared at them.

“If it isn’t Momochi Zabuza,” Kakashi walked up from behind them as Naruto pulled himself up from the forest floor. “You three protect the bridge-builder.”

He reached up to push his hitai-ate out of his face, revealing a single red eye that locked onto the enemy nin. Naruto stood in position in front of the bridge-builder, with Sakura and Sasuke either side of him, when Zabuza pulled the massive sword from the trunk, landing silently on the grass.

“Kirigakure no jutsu.”

Thick, white fog began to roll in and Naruto could barely see the man anymore. The fog continued to thicken until he lost sight of everything except his teammates and the bridge-builder. He began the hand seals for a fūton technique but Kakashi beat him to it, the strong winds blowing away the thick fog in mere seconds. His heart leaped into his throat as he looked behind him to see Zabuza swinging for the bridge-builder. He felt something shove him out of the way and as he rolled to a stop, he snapped his eyes towards the two jounin. Kakashi had managed to sink a kunai into Zabuza’s chest but the Kiri nin vanished, water splashing to the ground around them. A water clone?

Another Zabuza swung his sword and cut straight through Kakashi’s torso but his teacher also vanished, his form fading into water in exactly the same way as the Kiri nin. Naruto tore his gaze from the fight to find Tazuna, quickly locating him near Sakura. Sasuke had landed a bit away from them and Naruto hauled himself up, quickly running to plant himself between the two battling jounin and the bridge-builder. He looked back just in time to see Kakashi get kicked in the face, landing in the nearby lake.

“Suirō no jutsu.”

Naruto watched with wide eyes as Kakashi was imprisoned by a ball of water.

“Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu.”

A clone rose from the lake, soon solidifying into another Zabuza. Naruto barely ducked to avoid a kick to the face, his bloodline limit saving his skin. He rolled out of the way of the next blow, trying to watch for the faint muscle twitches that would tell him Zabuza’s next move.

“You’re good at running away, brat.”

“Or your aim’s shit,” Naruto snapped back, unable to help himself.

He tore his swords from his back, gritting his teeth as he barely stopped the massive blade from taking his head off. He wasn’t able to stop the foot and he choked back bile as he was thrown back. He got up in time to see Sasuke fling shuriken at the enemy nin, the man easily batting them away. It had only been a distraction as Sasuke jumped high into the air, aiming another kunai at the man’s eyes. He swore as Sasuke was caught around his throat and the man threw him one-handed across the clearing. Sasuke hit the ground hard and Zabuza followed the move with a stomp to Sasuke’s stomach.

Naruto growled, channelling fūton chakra into the blades and swinging. It didn’t make a dent but it was enough to get his foot off Sasuke who managed to roll away.

“You just insist on getting in my way,” Zabuza growled, losing interest in Sasuke to focus on Naruto.

He tried to think through the adrenaline rushing through his veins. How were they going to beat this guy? He’d captured Kakashi and Naruto knew his kenjutsu was no match for him at his current level. He hopped backwards as Zabuza took another swing.

“I’ll distract this guy!” he yelled at Sasuke. He didn’t have time to figure out a better plan. “Figure out how to get the real one!”

“Bold words from a mere genin,” Zabuza scoffed. “You think you can beat me with your toy swords?”

Naruto didn’t have the breath to reply as he dodged another swing. His bloodline limit slowed things down around, allowing him to see every twitch, every bead of sweat, every beat of his carotid, the flicker of his eyes. It was just enough to keep him half a step ahead and out of the path of the giant blade.

“Is all you’re good for is running away, brat?”

Naruto’s reply was muffled by the sound of a large explosion and they both looked back to see the real Zabuza flinch from an explosion next to his ear. It was just enough to distract him and the water prison around Kakashi melted away.

A flicker out the corner of his eye was the only warning Naruto got as he brought up both swords to block the next blow. The weight of it pushed him back several steps and he could feel his arms shaking. He wasn’t sure how many more of these he could take. He blinked as the clone suddenly splashed to the floor, a soaking wet Kakashi appearing from behind.

“You’ve done well,” he praised, turning back to face Zabuza and stepping back onto the water. “Go to your teammates.”

Naruto nodded, scrambling towards a panting Sasuke. He could see Sakura crouching over a petrified Tazuna not far from them.

“Explosion seal on a kunai?”

“Yes.”

“Nice.”

He turned back to see Kakashi and Zabuza flipping through identical hand seals at the same rate. They called out at the same time.

“Sūiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!” “Sūiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!”

Naruto watched twin dragons rise from the surface of the water, the blue scales shining in the afternoon sun. They clashed in a massive explosion of water and Naruto watched in awe as they rammed into each other, the sound echoing across the clearing. He looked back down to see Kakashi and Zabuza locked in combat beneath the giant dragons, Kakashi holding back the massive blade with the metal plates on the back of his gloves.

The dragons vanished from above with a splash and Zabuza and Kakashi circled each other. Every movement Zabuza did, Kakashi followed identically at exactly the same time. It was something the jounin had said Naruto would be able to do with enough mastery of his bloodline limit but he knew he wasn’t close to this level yet. For the first time since he’d made his plans to leave, he felt a small pang of regret. When he left, he wouldn’t have Kakashi to help him anymore. It wasn’t going to be enough to stop him but it was unexpected.

“…going to do next,” Kakashi suddenly spoke up and Naruto grinned at the freaked out look in Zabuza’s eyes.

“All you’re doing is copying me like a monkey,” Zabuza spat, his hands clasped into front of him in a hand seal. “You can’t beat me with cheap tricks! I’ll crush you!”

Kakashi’s voice overlapped with Zabuza’s and as Zabuza’s hands began to move, Kakashi’s moved with them. Kakashi was the one to speak first.

“Sūiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!”

A torrential swirl of water began to circle Kakashi, increasing in strength and size before it slammed into Zabuza with a giant crash, Zabuza calling out in pain. Naruto lost sight of him in the violent swell and Naruto watched the massive wave tear through the forest in its path, presumably carrying Zabuza along with it. The water level took a few seconds to die down and when it finally did, Zabuza was pinned to a tree by kunai piercing his limbs, Kakashi crouched on one of the tree branches above.

“Can you see into the future?” coughed Zabuza.

“Yes,” Kakashi took out another kunai from his pouch. “This is your last battle.”

He was interrupted by twin senbons appearing out of nowhere, striking Zabuza and sending a spray of blood into the air. Zabuza slumped to the ground and all eyes went to the figure standing among the leaves. Two long strands of dark hair, tied at the bottom with scraps of white fabric framed a bone white mask that hid the person’s identity. Red swirls covered where the mouth would have been and the symbol of Kiri was carved into the forehead. The rest of their hair was tied back into a bun and a loose, dark grey kimono covered their body, an olive, striped turtleneck covering up every inch of skin. They were pretty small and Naruto didn’t think they could be much older than him.

They appeared next to Zabuza in a swirl of wind, dragging the large man to rest across their shoulders.

“Your battle is over for now,” they spoke softly, their voice further giving away their youth. “I must get rid of this corpse to protect the secrets it keeps. Please excuse me.”

They raised a hand and vanished in another gust of wind. Kakashi reached up and covered the Sharingan, but Naruto caught Sasuke’s intense look toward their teacher. That was a mess waiting to happen.

“We still need to take Tazuna-san home,” Kakashi broke the silence.

“You can all rest at my house!” the bridge-builder offered cheerfully, appearing happy to still be breathing.

Kakashi nodded and turned to walk. He only made it a few steps before he face-planted, his limbs going limp. Naruto deactivated his bloodline limit as he ran up to the jounin, checking his pulse. Feeling it strong and steady beneath his fingers, he let out a quiet sigh of relief. He may be annoyed at the man but he didn’t want him to die.

“Kakashi-sensei!” cried Sakura, the group running up to join them.

“He’s fine,” Naruto started dragging their teacher onto his shoulders. He struggled for a moment, his arms not recovered from taking the brunt of Zabuza’s blade. “He’s just used too much chakra. Lead the way, Tazuna.”

The bridge-builder hesitated for a moment before starting to walk forward. Sasuke walked up to his side.

“Did you know he had a Sharingan?” Sasuke demanded.

“He’s the Copy-Nin,” Naruto huffed back, adjusting his grip on Kakashi. “His name is literally Sharingan no Kakashi in the Bingo Book. I thought you knew.”

Sasuke didn’t reply and Naruto focused on not dropping their teacher. Tazuna’s house shouldn’t be too much further.

Naruto watched as Tazuna’s daughter Tsunami checked over Kakashi.

“Will you be okay?” she asked, hands on her hips as she looked down at him.

“Not really,” Kakashi slowly sat up from where he’d been lying on the green futon. “It will be hard to move for about a week.”

“Well, it would be better if you didn’t move for a while.”

“O-okay,” Kakashi sank back into the pillow, pulling the blanket to beneath his chin.

“Kakashi-sensei!” Sakura called out, bouncing into the room. “You’re awake!”

Naruto stayed back as he watched the pinkette fuss over their teacher. Kakashi was down for at least a week so if he made his move in the next couple of days, the jounin would be still too drained to chase after him. He could send the nin dogs back to summon the ANBU but that would take at least a further two days, giving him a four day head start. He could work with that.

“That kid with the mask…who was he?”

“ANBU Black Ops from Kirigakure. He was wearing the mask of the Elite Tracking Unit.”

“Elite Tracking Unit?”

“They’re commonly called the ‘fire-extinguishing corps’. Their duty is to erase all traces that a shinobi had ever lived. The body of a shinobi can reveal a variety of things; ninjutsu secrets and chakra characteristics of their village, even the compositions of secret medicines that may have been used on them. In essence, they prevent village secrets from leaking out by killing missing nin who’ve run away from their village and completely eliminating their bodies.”

Konoha’s version would be the ones hunting Naruto down when he made his escape.

“They didn’t destroy the body though,” he felt the need to point out. “Hunter nin are supposed to destroy them on the spot.”

He’d done a lot of research into that branch of ANBU. They were damn hard to find anything about them considering they were ANBU and all so he wasn’t able find out much but he knew at least that. Not that he thought they would kill him if they caught him but he wouldn’t put it past people to finally get rid of the ‘demon brat’.

“Zabuza is alive,” Kakashi nodded, having sat back up at the realisation.

“What?” Tazuna screeched.

“The fake Hunter nin must have put him into a state of near-death,” Kakashi continued. “The senbon the Hunter nin used wouldn’t have been enough to kill him unless it hit a vital spot.”

“So what now?” Naruto asked, eyebrow raised. “You can’t move.”

“We can still prepare,” Kakashi replied. “We can step up your training for the week so you can be more prepared for the next time we face them.”

“We can’t get that strong that quickly!” Sakura argued.

“You all did well in this battle,” Kakashi countered. “You’ve all grown a lot since you became a team.”

Naruto also didn’t think that only a week of training would get them to a level where they could fight Zabuza but it wasn’t like he planned to be around for that long.

“Grandpa!”

They turned to see a little kid appear in the doorway. He wore forest green overalls over a pale yellow t-shirt, a blue-striped bucket hat covering short, black hair. He ignored them all as he ran straight for the old man.

“Inari!” Tazuna hugged the kid close.

“Inari, what sort of greeting is that?” Tsunami told him off. “These are the shinobi who escorted your grandpa home safely.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Tazuna waved her off. “Right, Inari?”

The kid glared at them from beneath the brim of the bucket hat. He turned to his mother.

“Mom, these guys will die,” he said as if he was saying the sky is blue and the grass was green. “There’s no way they can beat Gatō and win.”

“Oi…” Naruto growled.

“If you don’t want to die, hurry up and go home,” the kid added, starting to walk out of the room.

“Where are you going, Inari?” Tazuna called out.

“The sea,” Inari answered quietly. “I’ll be looking at the sea.”

He left the room and Tsunami immediately turned to them.

“I’m sorry about my son,” she said, her voice thick with grief. “He’s been through a lot.”

Naruto glanced at her but left it alone. He had better things to do than concern himself with some bitter brat. He had a golden window of opportunity and he wasn’t going to miss it.

Sasuke sat on the porch of the house, basking in the silence of the night. The lights were out and he could see the blanket of stars in the night sky, shining like gems. The leaves rustled gently and the cold air was refreshing, keeping him alert as he waited for his target.

He hadn’t had a chance to confront Kakashi about the Sharingan yet. The man had fallen back asleep pretty quickly after Inari had ditched them and apparently his chakra exhaustion would be keeping him down for a whole week.

How hadn’t he noticed before? He wanted to be mad at Naruto for not telling him but the blond also had a point. He was in the damn Bingo Book as Sharingan No Kakashi. He definitely wasn’t a member of the Uchiha clan so Sasuke didn’t know why he was in possession of their bloodline limit but he had a few guesses. He didn’t think his clan would have allowed him to keep it if it had been forcibly taken but for the life of him he couldn’t think of a single Uchiha would have given away the Sharingan. He had been told so many times growing that the Sharingan was the pride of the clan and had to be protected at all costs. Only an idiot would have given it to someone like that.

Was that why Sasuke was assigned to him? He hadn’t managed to awaken his own Sharingan but when he did, it wasn’t as if he had clan members to help him. Kakashi might be closest he got to a real instructor for the Sharingan and it left a sour taste in his mouth.

He heard the faint creak of wood and turned, meeting Naruto’s blue eyes.

“You didn’t have to wait up.”

“You’re really leaving now?”

Naruto remained silent for a long moment, one hand on the strap of his backpack.

“Zabuza is going to be back and Kakashi-sensei is currently useless.”

“I know,” Naruto rolled his eyes, hopping down the front steps. “That’s why we’re going to kill Gatō before I go.”

That caught Sasuke off guard.

“What?”

“No Gatō, no mission for Zabuza, no reason to go after Tazuna,” Naruto explained. “You guys will be safe again and can babysit the old man while he finishes the bridge.”

Sasuke was honestly surprised. He had been half expecting the Uzumaki to just disappear and leave them to their fates.

“I want to leave but not at the expense of your lives,” Naruto added quietly.

Sasuke wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

“I’m pretty sure Kakashi-sensei will notice you’re missing,” he changed to the subject, looking away from his teammate.

Naruto laughed, the quiet sincerity vanishing as quickly as it arrived.

“I’ve been working on my kage bunshin with Kakashi for weeks,” he revealed.

It wasn’t news to Sasuke.

“You were doing that to get out of D-ranks.”

“I can multi-task,” Naruto waved at him and Sasuke heaved himself up, following him away from the house. “I needed to get them to a point where they could fool him for a while. With his chakra exhaustion, it’ll be much harder for him to tell and if I make just one clone, it’ll last a few days. Once we’ve killed Gatō, I’ll send a clone back with you to continue things like normal.”

“And if they wake up looking for us?”

“I drugged them all at dinner,” Naruto shrugged. “Except Kakashi, he would totally be able to tell but thankfully the chakra exhaustion will be enough to keep him down.”

This was news to Sasuke. He could never predict this guy.

“And what if Gatō has hired more like Zabuza?” he asked, continuing to try and find holes in the plan.

“Zabuza is also out of commission like Kakashi and a strong guy like that wouldn’t share a bounty. Gatō probably has a bunch of low-level thugs that are cheap to hire. Tsunami was telling me about them.”

“That’s a pretty big fucking guess, dobe.”

“Look, are you going to help me liberate the Land of Waves or not?” Naruto frowned at him. “If you’re just going to ask stupid question the whole time I’d be better on my own.”

Sasuke shook his head.

“Fine,” he relented. “You really thought this out.”

“Of course I did,” Naruto replied, leading the way through the trees. “This is my one chance, Sasuke. Kakashi won’t be able to come after me and it’ll take at least two days before Konoha would even find out.”

There was a long moment of silence as they trekked through the trees.

“Why did you trust with me with this?” Sasuke couldn’t help but ask, the question having rolled around his head since Naruto had first brought up the idea of leaving. “I could turn around and ruin everything in a second. As a Konoha shinobi, that is what I should be doing. I’m the margin of error in this plan.”

Naruto didn’t reply for a few minutes.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone before we came out on this mission?” he countered. “You had plenty of opportunities. Like you said, it’s what a good Konoha shinobi would do.”

Sasuke shot him a look, keeping his mouth shut. He would never say the real reason out loud, just as Naruto wouldn’t. It wasn’t how they worked. Sasuke could say that Naruto was his first and only friend, that he was the only person in the village to treat him like ‘Sasuke’ rather than the ‘Last Uchiha’, that he was the only reason Sasuke didn’t go insane back at the academy, but what would that accomplish? Naruto was still going to leave him behind. He was going to leave him on Team Seven without a training partner and without the one damn person in the village he could be himself with.

He kept trying to tell himself that with Naruto gone he could focus more on his goal to kill Itachi but it rang hollow. Naruto didn’t take it easy on him and pushed Sasuke to be better. He didn’t need the damn dobe’s help to take down Itachi but he was a good training partner.

Despite all this, he couldn’t begrudge Naruto for leaving. He’d seen firsthand what the blond went through and if the shoe was on the other foot, Sasuke would have left ages ago. It didn’t mean he was happy about it.

“Turns out I’m not a good Konoha shinobi,” he said, avoiding the real question.

Naruto chuckled.

“Me either.”

It didn’t take them long to reach a break in the trees and Sasuke joined Naruto in kneeling behind a large rock, watching the dark, quiet mansion. He could see a couple guards wandering around the place but nothing they couldn’t handle.

“So what’s the plan?”

Naruto pulled out a roll of seals from his backpack, a delightful glee plastered across his face. Sasuke knew that look.

“Really, dobe? Someone is going to notice the damn explosions in the middle of the night. It’ll pull every guard Gatō has back to the house.”

 “Actually,” Naruto pouted, as if Sasuke was the one not thinking things through. “These are for their boats as a just in case measure. I need to steal one of the boats anyway so I’ll plant them when I go. I was planning on arson for the house; much quieter.”

Sasuke hit his forehead with his palm. Naruto wouldn’t know subtle if it kicked him in the face.

“People are still going to notice, dobe.”

“It doesn’t matter if they notice,” Naruto shrugged off his comment. “We’ll be gone and Gatō will be dead before anyone tries to investigate. The villagers live too far away. With my fūton and your katon, the house will go up too fast for them to do anything about it. If they escape the fire, we can pick them off outside while they’re disorientated. Just look at the house, Gatō is way too arrogant and has super lax security right now. He’ll never see it coming!”

Sasuke sat back on his haunches. That…actually wasn’t a bad plan. He was thrown off balance, almost falling on his ass as Naruto shoved him.

“You don’t have to look so surprised.”

Sasuke flipped him the bird and Naruto stuck his tongue out in reply.

“Alright, dobe. Let’s get this over with before we’re stuck here all night.”

Naruto grinned at him, the familiar gleam of chaos in his eyes. Sasuke couldn’t help the anticipation he felt for what they were about to do. Life in Konoha was going to be boring without him.

Chapter Text

Kakashi rose to awareness slowly, blinking the black spots out of his eye. Chakra exhaustion was the absolute worst; his limbs felt like lead, his throat was dry and his brain was full of cotton wool. He’d think he’d learnt the consequences of overusing the Sharingan in the nearly fourteen years he’d been in possession of Obito’s eye but he couldn’t take Momochi Zabuza lightly, not with his team in danger.

They’d responded to serious combat better than he’d thought they would. Sakura hadn’t left Tazuna’s shadow the whole fight and Sasuke and Naruto held their own, if only barely. They hadn’t been ready for a real fight against the missing nin but they survived and that was enough in Kakashi’s book. Naruto especially had been a lot more skilled with his kenjutsu than he’d anticipated and his training with his bloodline limit really shone through. He could see the threat the blond was going to be in only a few years.

A blurry pink head appeared above him and he blinked at the shape, his vision slowly clearing to reveal the worried face of his sole female genin.

“Kakashi-sensei, are you okay?” she asked, green eyes scanning his form as if looking for new injuries.

“Mah, Sakura, have a little faith in your sensei,” he waved her off, hauling himself upright. He made a conscious effort not to let her see how much of a struggle it was. “Where are the others?”

“I haven’t seen them yet,” she shrugged, seeming to accept at he wasn’t about to drop dead. “Everyone woke up late today so I was helping Tsunami-san.”

Kakashi wasn’t surprised that the genin had slept in. The fight yesterday would have taken a lot out of them. Sasuke walked in the door, towelling off his hair before it could drip onto the wooden floor.

“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura blushed. “I didn’t see you this morning.”

“Not my fault that you all lazed about all morning,” Sasuke replied. “I got some training in with the dobe then went to clean up.”

Kakashi spied a white bandage peeking out from beneath Sasuke’s sleeve that hadn’t been there yesterday. There was also a bruise forming on his shin that his shorts couldn’t hide.

“Did you hurt yourself?”

“Training,” Sasuke said shortly. “The dobe doesn’t hold back.”

“Where is Naruto now?”

Sasuke was interrupted by Tazuna bursting into the room.

“FIRE!” he waved his woven hat in the air like a victory flag. “Gatō’s dead!”

Kakashi leant forward abruptly, ignoring the pain at the movement.

“What?”

“Gatō’s dead!” Tazuna gleefully informed him. “His mansion caught fire and someone just confirmed the body. He’s dead! So are most of his men!”

That didn’t make sense. It couldn’t be a coincidence that they arrived in Wave and Gatō was killed only a few hours later. Zabuza had to still be recovering so he may have had less protection last night but it didn’t make sense for one of the villagers to suddenly find the courage to stand up to Gatō.

“Where’s Naruto?” he asked Sasuke again, urgency leaking into his tone.

“The dobe was outside last time I saw him.”

As if summoned by the sound of his name, Naruto stepped into the room, raising an eyebrow as all eyes turned to him. He took a moment to stare at the ecstatic Tazuna.

“Has the geezer been drinking already?”

“Gatō is dead!” Tazuna laughed.

Naruto blinked.

“Is that what everyone has been cheering about?” he crossed his arms. “Who got him?”

“Who cares!” Tazuna throw up his hands. “All that matters is that the rotten bastard is dead and the Land of Waves is free!”

Naruto looked over at Kakashi, as if seeking confirmation. Kakashi could only shrug in reply; he would have to find some crutches so he could verify for himself. He took the chance to look carefully over his genin. He couldn’t see any wounds or dark smudges; no ash or frayed clothing at could suggest his student had been near a fire recently. He couldn’t smell anything either. He couldn’t think of a single reason for Naruto to take down Gatō by himself and there wasn’t any obvious evidence to point towards him being responsible. There was nothing off about him so Kakashi didn’t know why he was getting this nagging feeling at the back of his mind.

“What about Zabuza and that Hunter nin?” Sakura asked worriedly.

“Their employer is dead and they can’t get paid,” Kakashi assured her. “They have no reason to keep going after Tazuna or the bridge.”

“Does that mean we have to go back to Konoha?”

Kakashi looked back at Naruto. The blond didn’t seem as thrilled at the news of Gatō’s demise as Tazuna. He knew from Gai that Naruto loved being out of the village so he probably wasn’t pleased that they might have to go straight home, especially after being told they would be away for at least two weeks.

“We were hired to protect the bridge while it was being built so we need to stick around until it’s finished,” Kakashi eye-smiled, catching the relief in Naruto’s eyes before it was quickly hidden. “We can continue with the training plan, even if Zabuza is no longer a problem.”

He pushed the blanket off of him.

“Tazuna-san, can you please find me a pair of crutches?” he asked politely. “I would like to look at Gatō’s mansion myself.”

It didn’t sit well with him not knowing who did this. There could be a third party they weren’t aware of.

“Are you sure you should be moving, Kakashi-sensei?”

He patted the top of Sakura’s hair gently.

“I will be fine, Sakura. Now, go help Tazuna-san find those crutches.”

It was a bit disconcerting to see a man of Tazuna’s age almost skip out of the room but Kakashi couldn’t exactly hold against the man. No one had been expecting for Gatō to die like this.

“You two,” Kakashi gestured to a quiet Naruto and Sasuke. “Did you hear anything last night?”

The pair shared a look.

“Nope,” Naruto shook his head. “Someone would have seen it though. If it was big a fire as Tazuna’s making it seem, people would have had to have seen something.”

He had a point there. What he didn’t know was why it taken so long for the news to reach them. Why hadn’t some sort of alarm been sounded during the night when the fire would have been more visible?

“We only woke up a couple of hours before Sakura,” Sasuke added. “It was already light and Tazuna and his family woke up after us.”

“Okay,” Kakashi nodded. “Go and see if anyone needs help in town. Things are sure to change quickly once people calm down.”

Sasuke nodded while Naruto threw him a mock salute and the two boys left the room. It was the most Naruto had spoken to him since their argument. He didn’t know what had invited this change but with how this mission was turning out, Kakashi was going to take what he could get. His first priority had to be finding out who had taken out Gatō. He needed to make sure there was nothing else that could threaten his team.

Naruto grinned as he breathed in the fresh, salty air. He’d been sailing since parting ways with Sasuke and planting the explosion seals on the other boats. It was a much bigger boat than the one Tazuna had snuck into Wave with but it was manageable. Naruto didn’t know how all the ropes and sails and shit worked but he’d managed to shove the sails into a position where it could catch some wind and pull him forward. He was prepared to use fūton to get him the rest of way there if the wind dropped but it seemed to hold steady for now.

There was only open water around him for miles so he was completely reliant on the compass to guide the way. From the maps he’d studied prior to leaving Konoha, he just had to keep going directly west to reach the collection of islands that made up the Land of Water. The ocean was weird after being surrounded by trees his whole life but it just fuelled the desire in him to leave the Land of Fire far behind him. He didn’t know what would be waiting for him in the Land of Water but he would manage. He could do this.

He’d had to ditch his orange hoodie and orange bandages, shoving them in a storage scroll at the bottom of his bag. He would have to stay away from orange for a while as much as it pained him. He was the only person he knew that liked the colour so it would be dead giveaway when they came looking for him. He now wore loose brown trousers, a black long-sleeve top and a threadbare brown vest. He’d left his hitai-ate back in Konoha. He never wore it so no one had noticed anyway. His swords were also safely sealed away. He would have to track down a less recognisable one so he could continue with his training.

He’d clumsily shaved his head soon after setting sail, figuring it was easier than dyeing it, and he’d covered the whisker marks on his cheek with thick sunscreen. It wasn’t great and he would have to find a better solution but it would do for now. He’d firmly tied a brown bucket hat he’s found lying around Tazuna’s house onto his head and he could confidently say he looked nothing like Uzumaki Naruto. He couldn’t change his eye colour but that wouldn’t be able to give him away, not with all the other changes he’d made. He could see the style in the Land of Water and adapt some things but he was pretty happy with the result.

This was going to work. He had thought about this from every angle; he’d been gathering supplies since the landlady had kicked him out. Sasuke would keep his mouth shut and his clone hadn’t been discovered yet and with the level of chakra exhaustion Kakashi had suffered, it might take days until he could sense something was off…or his clone would do something stupid and get itself dismissed. It didn’t really matter which one it was, as long it happened when Naruto was at least another couple of days away. He didn’t know how long it took to sail to the Land of Water but it couldn’t be more than a week and he had enough food stored for a month.

He took another deep breath, gazing at the passing waves. There was a whole world waiting for him outside the suffocating clutches of Konoha. He did feel a small pit of something in his gut, whether it was guilt or sadness at leaving behind the people he didn’t actually want to run away from but they weren’t enough to overpower his hatred of Konoha. They weren’t enough to erase all the voices that had insulted him, all the cold eyes that followed him the street, all the times he’d been kicked out of places.

There was nothing Konoha could do to fix the damage that had been done. There was nothing the Hokage could offer that would miraculously turn Naruto in a loyal Konoha shinobi. The Will of Fire that the old man had always talked about had been snuffed out a long time ago, leaving only a burning rage in its wake.

He was done with putting up with people’s shit. It was time to finally live the life that he chose. One far way from Konoha.

Sasuke lugged the massive stone over to the edge of the almost completed bridge. It was dull work but good strength training and the sooner they finished this damn bridge, the sooner they could go home and work on real training. They had made a lot of progress on the bridge in the past couple of days, even with Kakashi sitting on the side with his crutches. Now Gatō was gone, the villagers had offered to help with the bridge. Sakura had actually been pulling her weight and kept up a decent pace. Naruto’s clone had also kept up but Sasuke was just waiting for the technique to run out of chakra.

He’d never seen it maintained for this long and Naruto had said before he left that he didn’t actually know how long the thing would last. It was a matter of whether the clone would pop first or if Kakashi noticed. Kakashi was usually a lot better at recognising the clones back in Konoha when Naruto used to them to try and get out of the chores. Sasuke didn’t know if it was the chakra exhaustion or the fact he wasn’t expecting Naruto to use a clone on the mission or a combination of the two but he hadn’t said anything yet. Naruto had sailed away three nights ago and he hadn’t told Sasuke where he was heading, citing ‘plausible deniability’ so he had no idea where the blond could be by now.

He dumped the stone into place, shaking out his arm as he turned to grab another.

“You little shinobi sure are strong!” Tazuna grinned from where he was doing something to keep the stones together. “My men can hardly keep up.”

His ‘men’ were civilians that while admittedly strong from months of lugging around stones for the bridge, were still civilians. Sasuke could take on any of them of a bad day. He was managing even with the burns scattered beneath his clothing. They were nothing serious but they were damn annoying. They could be covered by his clothing so Kakashi hadn’t seen them and connected the dots. They hadn’t been able to escape Gatō’s place totally unscathed but it was still a good result overall. Kakashi didn’t suspect them even after he went over the mansion himself and Zabuza hadn’t turned up to kill them for taking out his money source.

“My cute little genin are the best,” Kakashi agreed and Sasuke ground his teeth together. He hated that dumb term Kakashi used for them.

The Naruto clone threw Kakashi a glower; at least the clone was still in character. The stone slipped through the clone’s fingers and he yelped, jumping away from the stone block and just barely avoiding the hit that would blow it out of existence. It was honestly a miracle the clone had lasted this long.

“At this rate, we’ll be finished in a few days,” Tazuna continued, the cheer rising around him at the announcement. “We’ll be back on the map and can start trading.”’

“It feels like we’ve been away from Konoha for ages,” Sakura commented, a few wisps of pink head sticking to her forehead. “Are all C-ranks like this?”

She directed the last question at Kakashi.

“Not really,” he admitted, eye-smiling. “This would be more equivalent to a B-rank; an A-rank if someone hadn’t killed Gatō since Zabuza would have kept coming after us.”

“C-ranks are only a small step up from D-ranks,” the Naruto clone added. “It’s basically chores but outside the village.”

Sasuke hauled up the next stone, ignoring his team. The Naruto clone had picked up their own stone and dropped it in the right spot, dusting his hands off onto his trousers.

“Look out!”

The clone couldn’t react in time and Sasuke watched it disappear into a cloud of white smoke with a ‘pop’ as a bucket swung through where its head had been. They were usually more durable than that when Naruto made only one but it had been a few days. Kakashi lurched forward out of the corner of his eyes, seeming to forget about the crutches. Sasuke dumped the stone he was carrying at his feet, preparing for the aftermath.

“Why is he using a clone?” Sakura asked innocently. “The bridge work isn’t that bad.”

Sasuke watched the emotions flicker across Kakashi’s too fast to keep track and braced himself as the jounin snapped his head to him, dark grey eye furious. Sasuke vowed that the next time he saw the dobe, he would deck him for leaving this mess in Sasuke’s lap.

Naruto popped out of existence and Kakashi’s world stopped for a second. A clone. A kage bunshin. How had he not noticed? How the fuck had he not noticed? How long had he been gone?

His chakra exhaustion was bad but he didn’t think it was ‘unable to detect kage bunshin’ bad! Naruto had spent weeks using his clones to get out of D-ranks and Kakashi had been able to find them every time. How hadn’t he noticed?

Logically, he knew there were a few factors. His chakra exhaustion, the fact he hadn’t been expecting it, the whole Gatō mystery but he was still a jounin of Konoha. He should have fucking noticed when one of his genin replaced himself with a damn clone! He turned to look at an unsurprised Sasuke and felt the fury bubble in his chest. He would bet the pay for an S-rank mission that Sasuke knew about this; and he didn’t tell Kakashi. He didn’t try to stop him. He kept his mouth shut and let his teammate defect from the village. There was a faint hope that Naruto merely wanted to escape the mundane manual labour but Kakashi could feel the truth in his bones. Naruto had finally defected from Konoha.

He held up his hand and summoned Pakkun and the rest of the pack, feeling the drain heavily on his meagre reserves.

“Find Naruto. Now.”

They understood the level of urgency and took off. Kakashi knew it was a bit futile. They couldn’t follow the scent across the water and they were on a damn island. There was little to no chance that Naruto hadn’t sailed away but he had to cover his bases.

“Sasuke,” he snapped, limping down the bridge.

The Uchiha reluctantly followed him until they were a safe hearing distance from the civilians.

“What do you know?”

Sasuke crossed his arms.

“Why would I know anything about what that dobe does?”

“Enough, Sasuke,” Kakashi ordered. “This isn’t the time. Your teammate has defected. Do you realise how serious this is?”

Sasuke shuffled uncomfortably but maintained the eye contact.

“He’s probably just trying to get out of the bridge work.”

“He will be labelled a missing nin. They will send ANBU after him and they may kill him if he refuses to come back. That doesn’t even take into account the foreign nin that will be after him if word gets out.”

“Why would anyone care?” Sasuke argued. “He’s just a genin.”

Kakashi’s teeth clicked as he shut his mouth. He couldn’t tell him about the Kyūbi. No one outside of Konoha should know but it was horribly kept secret within the village walls and Kakashi wasn’t naïve enough to believe that it hadn’t made it out of the confines of the village.

“He is still a shinobi on Konoha and genin or not, he is a missing nin,” Kakashi stressed. “Tell me what you know.”

“I don’t know anything!” Sasuke snapped, irritated. “He didn’t tell me where he was going.”

“So you knew he was leaving?”

Sasuke remained silent and Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Sasuke, you aided and abetted; that is also a crime.”

This only seemed make things worse.

“I told you, he didn’t tell me shit,” Sasuke scowled. “I knew about the clone but I thought he was just trying to get out of work. I didn’t know he was going to run.”

The kid was lying through his teeth but there was nothing Kakashi could do without the help of a Yamanaka. He had to tell the Hokage about Naruto but he would keep quiet about Sasuke for now. The Uchiha knew something but Kakashi didn’t want to put him through the stress of an interrogation and there was a small part of him that was proud of him. It was wrong considering the situation but factoring in how anti-teamwork both Naruto and Sasuke were, them supporting each other like this was good in a very bad way. It was biting him in the ass right now. He was going to be in so much trouble for losing him.

“Shit,” he swore, running a hand aggressively through his hair. “We need to retrace his steps. We need to find him.”

“We don’t know how long he was replaced with a clone,” Sasuke pointed out unhelpfully.

“We know he was the real one after the fight with Zabuza,” Kakashi replied. “The earliest it could have been was that night.”

Dots connected.

“The night Gatō died in the fire.”

Kakashi zeroed in on the bandage that still covered Sasuke’s upper arm. He reached forward and although Sasuke tried to resist, he was no match for a pissed off Kakashi. He ripped the bandage off to see a small burn. It was starting to heal; maybe three days old.

“What did you two do?”

“I burned myself on the stove in the kitchen,” Sasuke spat back and Kakashi was tempted to throw the frustrating little shit into the sea. He still didn’t get how serious this was.

Even with that revelation, he couldn’t think of a single reason for the two genin to go rogue and murder Gatō. Their mission had been to protect Tazuna and the bridge so it could very technically still fall into the mission parameters but it felt like it came from nowhere. A distraction for Naruto? He could think of at least three better ways of doing that.

Every fibre of his being wanted to chase after Naruto right this second he couldn’t leave Sakura and Sasuke alone in a foreign country and he was still recovering his chakra. Naruto would have known that. Naruto also knew that the chakra exhaustion would have made it harder for Kakashi to detect the kage bunshin. This was too well planned; how long had he been waiting for the opportunity? Was this why he was so adamant about getting a C-rank mission?

The pieces kept falling into place and with every dot connected, Kakashi felt more and more like an idiot. How had he not seen this? In hindsight, it was so obvious. Oh gods, what would Minato-sensei and Kushina-nee think? Their son was so unhappy in the village they died to protect that he ran off and Kakashi was too incompetent to stop him. He was pulled from his spiralling thoughts by the taps of paws against stone.

“He’s not on the island,” Pakkun reported, panting. “We lost his scent by the boats.”

“He’s probably taken one,” Kakashi sighed. “Gatō wasn’t using them anymore.”

Was that why he killed the tyrant? He turned back to Sasuke.

“We are not done,” he warned him. “You are on probation until further notice. Don’t speak to anyone unless I give you permission. Go back to work until I figure something out.”

Last thing he needed was someone figuring out the Uchiha had been on it and then he’d be dealing with two traitor genin. He’d leave the kid his denial. Naruto was infamous enough for his distaste for teams and people his own age that people would believe he didn’t tell his teammates anything. Sasuke glared at him but did as instructed, making his way back to the group of curious workers. Sakura stepped forward to ask him something Kakashi couldn’t hear from this distance but Sasuke ignored her, picking up the stone he had dropped and resuming his work.

“What are you going to do?”

“We need to leave,” he replied. “Tazuna will be fine since Gatō is dead and this takes priority. We need to go back to Konoha. I can’t track him down with genin with me. I need you to go ahead and tell the Hokage.”

“Are you sure?” Pakkun asked. “You’d be turning the pup in. The Hunter nin won’t take it easy on him.”

“I know,” Kakashi sighed. “The Hokage will want him alive though and he’ll be safer in Konoha. He’ll be angry and miserable but he’ll be alive. We can figure things out from there.”

This was a nightmare. He’d only had the kid for a few months; how had Gai dealt with him for three years?

Gai.

“Gai is going to be devastated,” he whispered, feeling a bit sick.

He’d failed his teacher, his pseudo-sister and his friend. He’d also failed Naruto. His teaching had to be one of the things to drive the kid away. It certainly hadn’t been enough to make him stay.

“One problem at a time,” Pakkun place a paw on his leg in an attempt to ground him.

“Yeah,” Kakashi adjusted the crutches. “You head to Konoha. I’ll follow with the genin as soon as I can.”

Pakkun nodded and Kakashi dismissed the rest of the pack. He turned to limp back to the group. Time to break the news to Sakura and Tazuna.

Chapter Text

Naruto bounced down the street, eyes unable to rest on one place as he took it all in. He’d landed on one of the smaller islands so he’d ditched the boat, shoving it into some foliage near the shore to start looking for the public ferry that would continue taking him to the islands further into the Land of Water. He figured it would be safer to blend in with the civilians as much as possible and an extra body on the ferry was less conspicuous than a boy sailing on his own.

He’d hiked across the island to find the only town in sight and soon lost himself amongst the people. It was way smaller than Konoha, probably comparable to the town back in Wave back before Gatō got his slimy hooks in it. It was small but it was so full of life. Colourful stalls lined the streets, with some vendors calling out their wares but most speaking with what looked like friends or family judging by the familiarity. Children ran through the streets, giggling as they weaved through the legs of the adults. There was the smell of fish but it wasn’t overwhelming and the fresh, salty air hadn’t left him since they’d boarded the boat to the Land of Waves.

The best part was not a single person gave him a second glance. He blended in perfectly with the civilians around him but Naruto knew his outfit wouldn’t have been enough to fool anyone back in Konoha. Here, no one knew he was and no one cared. He was just one more person walking through the street, minding his own business. He felt a weight leave his shoulders; it wasn’t the first time he had experienced it but he cherished it every time. Every time he left Konoha he felt lighter and every time he had to go back, he felt it settle back onto his shoulders. This time was different though. This time he didn’t have to go back. He felt his throat tighten at the thought. It probably hadn’t quite sank in yet since it had only been a few days but Naruto desperately wanted it carry on forever.

He reached the end of the street to finally see the port. He wasn’t sure which of the docked boats the ferry was so he walked up to one of the men sitting on a box nearby, cigarette hanging from his mouth.

“Hi,” he started, trying not to show his anxiety. He didn’t like unknown strangers, in or out of Konoha. “Do you know what time the next ferry to the capital is?”

The man took his time answering, looking Naruto up and down. He was older, around Tazuna’s age. The stench of fish clung to him and his grey, scraggly beard stood out against weathered brown skin. Naruto resisted the urge to check his kunai. He’d stowed a few in his civilian outfit but he wasn’t used to not having a kunai pouch. He didn’t think this man would attack him but he had long learned not to rely on such instincts. It was always better to prepare for the worst case scenario.

“Lucky kid,” the man suddenly grinned. “Leaves in five. On with ya.”

Naruto blinked, following the man’s pointed thumb to one of the larger vessels.

“Thanks,” he said, immediately stepping away from the man.

He quickly walked up to the boat, encountering a bored young man standing by the ramp. Dirty blue overalls over a grey turtleneck with dark hair down to his shoulders, he looked the image of a local fishing lad.

“One to the capital,” Naruto requested.

“Aren’t ya a little young ta be travellin’ yerself?” the man asked, his accent similar to the old man’s.

“I’m meeting my grandfather at the capital,” Naruto replied easily, having come up with the story during his many days stuck on the boat. “My father died so I have to move in with him but he’s too elderly to come to me so I’m going to him. I can totally travel on my own; it’s just a couple ferries.”

Twelve was young for a civilian so he had to make it seem like he was used to being treated like a little kid. Twelve for a shinobi was nothing. He’d graduated and started missions when he was nine and he knew Kakashi and Gai-sensei had started earlier. Civilians were so weird about age sometimes.

“You don’t sound like ya from ‘round ‘ere,” the man continued.

“Is that a requirement for boarding the ferry?” Naruto snapped back, unable to hide his irritation. Why did he even care?

“Calm down, lil guy,” the man patted Naruto’s head and it took everything he had not to break his wrist. “Just curious ‘bout the new face. Three hundred ryō for the trip.”

Naruto shoved it at him, climbing onto the boat. This wasn’t something he anticipated. On one hand, people didn’t care who he was but at the same time, he was supposed to be a twelve year old civilian. Apparently, people cared about kids travelling on their own. It wouldn’t change things for him but he needed to keep his story straight. He was sure people would care less once he got to the capital. If it was anything like the Land of Fire’s it would be too damn big for anyone to care about one kid.

He found a free spot and hunkered down, ignoring the few people milling about. He hadn’t asked how long the trip was but he supposed that didn’t really change much. He was stuck on the boat until they arrived there and there was nothing he could do to speed things up. He clutched his bag to his chest, keeping the people in his line of sight as a horn sounded and he felt the boat start to move.

He’d managed to get to the second boat at least which should keep throwing off his scent. Kakashi’s nin dogs wouldn’t be able to track him but at the same time, it was a small island. They would be able to quickly guess that he’d taken the ferry to the capital.

He tried to shake the negative thoughts. He was okay. He was getting further and further from Konoha and soon he would be in the Land of Water capital where he could get so lost that he would never be found. He could just become one of many and it was everything he ever wanted. Just a little bit further to go.

“Wonderful form, Lee! The Power of Youth shines brightly within you!”

“Gai-sensei!”

“Tenten, your tanto technique puts all others to shame! So elegant!”

“Thanks, sensei!”

“Neji, your clan taijutsu is glorious! Your speed increases every day!”

Neji nodded at him.

“Now, we end with twenty laps around Konoha!” Gai announced.

“Yes, Gai-sensei!” Lee answered with enthusiasm, the other two genin quickly following him out of the training grounds.

They were ready. Holding them back for the chunin exams last year had been the correct decision and his team had bloomed wonderfully. He had every confidence in his team and knew they would have done magnificently if he had entered them last year but holding them back, allowing them to work on their skills and become even stronger meant that they would be leagues above any other genin team who had graduated after them. The experience of regular missions alone would stand them in good stead when they were promoted to chunin and Gai was happy to send them off into the world, sound in the knowledge that they were as prepared as he could possibly prepare them to be.

Had Naruto been placed on a team when he had been assigned to Gai, he wouldn’t have hesitated to put forward his former apprentice. Naruto had been ready for the chunin exams since his first year as a genin but Gai had done the same with him as he had done for his genin team; holding him back only a year to give him the best possible chance. The issues that had come up each subsequent year had been out of his control and he knew the Hokage had been deliberately holding Naruto back from his attempts at promotion. He did not know why but he just had to have faith that their leader was doing it for Naruto’s sake.

He was still firmly of the opinion that Naruto was one of the best genin in the village and the Power of Youth shone brightly within him. He was privileged to be able to claim he was one of Naruto’s teachers. His student would reach every goal he set and accomplish whatever dream he desired. He knew not everyone in the village could see Naruto’s hard work and not all appreciated Naruto’s refreshing direct approach but Gai knew that it would not be forever. It was only a matter of time before everyone saw what he did; a wonderful young boy who worked hard, with a sharp wit and a kind heart.

Kakashi may enter them into the chunin exams this year. Naruto’s teammates had only been out of the academy for a few short months, but Gai had heard nothing but wonderful things about Uchiha Sasuke and he had seen Haruno Sakura working hard on her own in different training fields. Lee was quite taken with her but had not wanted to interrupt her training so had vowed to win her over with hard work of his own. Gai was so proud of him. Kakashi was a fantastic teacher so they would probably be ready for the chunin exams and his rival was very much of the school of ‘the best teacher is experience’ so Gai had very little doubt about his entering of his genin team. The two recent academy graduates would also have Naruto in their corner.

 His student may still be struggling with the concept of teammates but Gai knew Naruto could do anything he put his mind to. He would trust in their skills and if became too much for them, he would step in to protect them. He pretended to care little for other people but Gai knew that was just a shield to protect himself from the harsh criticism of others. He wished Naruto would allow himself out of his shell a little more but that sort of thing could not be forced. His student had already come so far from when he had first graduated and Gai knew he would just continue to grow and flourish and bloom into the Springtime of his Youth!

He couldn’t wait to see his students in the chunin exams! It would be an honour to see his team to compete against his rival’s team too!

He would have to speak with Kakashi when they returned from their mission. Kakashi’s team had been granted their first C-rank but they should be back well before the exams. He could also see if Naruto wished to spar! He had not wanted to interfere with Kakashi’s teachings, especially with how new the team was, but it had been months and they had even had a C-rank. Surely it would not be overstepping to invite Naruto for a spar. He would have to ask his rival. He wanted to see how far Naruto had come with his own eyes.

Naruto had informed him of his lessons with Hayate to master the Uzumaki clan blades he had received in the capital. Genma had also informed him of Naruto’s new affinity for fūton after having heard from Asuma at one of the bars. Naruto had picked up so many wonderful skills since he had left Gai’s care and he could not wait to see them! His taijutsu would be something to behold!

He could not stand still anymore. He raced off in the direction of his students. He could not slack off either! He would have to keep training hard and challenging himself so he may pose not only a challenge to his beloved rival, but also to his wonderful student! He eagerly anticipated their return!

Sakura walked just behind her teacher, following the dirt road back home. It felt like it had been both ages and no time at all since they were last on this road going to the Land of Waves. Her first C-rank had not gone at all like she’d been expecting. It had been terrifying at first, between the Demon Brothers and Zabuza, but it had ended anticlimactically, with someone taking out Gatō without them. They’d spent a few days just helping out with the bridge-building and making sure no left over thugs decided to try their luck but nothing had really happened; then Naruto’s clone had popped and everything had gone sideways.

She hadn’t really understood Kakashi-sensei at first when he’d told her what happened. She’d been convinced that he was just trying to get out of the boring bridgework but she’d never seen Kakashi-sensei so serious before. It started to sink in when they’d told Tazuna-san that they had to leave. It became real when they’d started their journey back to Konoha without Naruto.

Sakura knew about missing nin. It was impossible not to know as a kunoichi and the Bingo Book was full of them. There had been a few lectures about them back at the academy so Sakura also knew that they were not as uncommon as people liked to believe. At the same time, they had been an abstract concept. She knew they were criminals that had abandoned their village but they were from other villages or before her time. Defecting from the village was a well known crime, but she’d never dreamed that someone would actually do it. She couldn’t even fathom doing something like that. Her family and her team and her friends were in Konoha; why would anyone ever want to leave?

She had never imagined that it could be someone she knew. She knew Naruto hadn’t gotten on with the villagers but she’d didn’t think it was enough to make him leave! Maybe if he was a bit less abrasive and made an effort, things would have been better and he wouldn’t have felt like he had to leave? At the same time, there was something about Naruto that Sakura knew she was missing. He was hard to get along with but people’s reaction to him had always seemed a bit extreme. She’s seen it on D-ranks and had never managed to figure it out.

What was going to happen? Naruto was technically a criminal now? But what if he had a really good reason to leave? Naruto had never liked her but he was still her teammate. She wanted him to acknowledge her but he couldn’t do that if he was out of the village or in jail. There had to be more to this. This couldn’t be the way things were from now on.

They were moving quicker than they had when they’d had Tazuna-san but it wasn’t up to speed with a normal shinobi pace, not with Kakashi-sensei’s condition. They had set a brutal pace when they’d first reached the Land of Fire but they hadn’t been able to maintain it. He’d left his crutches back in the Land of Waves and Sakura knew that he’d had to have had an unhealthy amount of soldier pills at this point.

Sasuke-kun hadn’t said anything since they’d left the Land of Waves but neither had Kakashi-sensei, really. There was some weird sort of tension between them. They hadn’t shared a single word since their discussion after Naruto’s clone popped, not even when they’d stopped to camp for a few brief hours. Sasuke-kun had been sullen and didn’t respond to Sakura when she’d tried to break the uncomfortable silence. That in itself wasn’t that unusual as Sasuke-kun was the strong, silent type but there was just something off about him. Sakura had been watching him for years and while she knew there was a lot about Sasuke-kun that she still had to learn, she knew when something wasn’t right.

She wondered how he felt about Naruto’s departure. They had been training partners and had known each other for what must be a while now. He had to be affected by Naruto leaving. She tried to imagine what it would feel like if Ino left the village and it was horrible. It would feel like a hole in her life that she wouldn’t be able to fill. It would also feel like a stab to the heart; Ino would have chosen to leave her.

Naruto chose to leave them. He didn’t think his team was worth sticking around for and that hurt a lot more than Sakura had expected. She had put in so much effort, had taken his harsh criticisms and abrasive comments and had turned them into motivation and was actually seeing results, and Naruto wouldn’t even be around to see it. Not that she needed his approval, but she wanted to at least prove him wrong; maybe even knock him on his backside just once to see his face. The team felt wrong without him.

“What’s going to happen?” she asked, unable to keep turning things over alone in her own head. She was driving herself nuts. “To Naruto, I mean.”

“The Hokage will send shinobi to get him back,” Kakashi-sensei answered shortly.

Sakura could see the sweat on the exposed parts of his face. He had been pushing himself so much, she wondered what would happen to him when they got to Konoha and the adrenaline and soldier pills wore off.

“Then what happens?”

“I don’t know,” Kakashi-sensei replied, but there was a hesitation. “That would be for the Hokage to decide.”

He was lying and Sakura didn’t like it. Kakashi-sensei hadn’t been acting like himself since Naruto’s clone disappeared and there hadn’t even been a glimpse of his orange book. Naruto was gone and Kakashi-sensei was all wrong and Sasuke-kun was super down in the dumps and Sakura felt like things would never be normal again. It didn’t feel like her team anymore. She’d always felt like the odd one out but she’d take that feeling over what was happening now.

“He’ll be chained to the village forever if they don’t kill him,” Sasuke-kun finally spoke up.

“He’s just a genin though,” Sakura pointed out. “Why would they care so much?”

“Defecting from the village is a crime, no matter the rank,” Kakashi-sensei cut in harshly.

“We know the village has it out for Naruto,” Sasuke-kun snapped back. “They don’t want him there and they don’t want him to leave. It’s so fucking stupid.”

“I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself when we get back to the village.” Kakashi-sensei actually stopped in the middle of the road to glare at Sasuke-kun. “You’re on thin ice as it is and the last thing we need is you being arrested too.”

Why would Sasuke-kun be arrested? Sakura tried to dampen the alarm that shot through her, her pulse skyrocketing. What had happened? Sasuke-kun couldn’t be arrested!

“Why would Sasuke-kun be arrested?” she blurted out, her wide-eyed gaze switching between the pair desperately.

“Don’t worry about it, Sakura,” Kakashi-sensei blew her off and she couldn’t help but snap.

“Don’t worry about it?” she snarled, stopping dead in the middle of the road. “My teammate is gone! He has defected and no one will tell me how or why or even talk about it! You and Sasuke obviously know something but you won’t tell me! I’m a member of this team too and I am fed up of you brushing me aside like I’m stupid or I can’t handle it! Naruto is difficult and grumpy and condescending and an amazing shinobi and he’s my teammate! I deserve to know things too!”

She roughly wiped away the tears as she glared at the pair. It wasn’t just Naruto who looked down on her; they all did, even Kakashi-sensei. She knew she was the weakest but she was still a member of this team and should be treated as such. She didn’t always know if it was because she was behind them in training or if she preferred books or if she was a girl but she was sick of them treating her like she wasn’t worth a thought. She put in as much effort as the boys and while yes, she wasn’t at the same level yet, it should still be recognised and acknowledged. She tried her damn hardest and right now, she didn’t care if that was enough for them. It was enough for her.

“Sorry, Sakura,” Kakashi-sensei apologised. “I didn’t realise.”

“Why would you?” she spat, her anger driving her words. “You barely acknowledge me unless it’s to send me running or on a D-rank. I don’t matter as much as the boys.”

She didn’t know how long this had been building and she didn’t know why it was coming out now. There were much more important things, like getting back to Konoha and Naruto leaving, but she couldn’t help it. She had this well of anger and spite and hurt and she didn’t know what to do with it.

“That’s not true,” Kakashi-sensei insisted. “You matter too, Sakura.”

She just couldn’t bring herself to believe him.

“Whatever,” she swallowed the lump in her throat. “We don’t have time for this. We need to get back to the village.”

She couldn’t deal with this right now. This was bigger than something that could be figured out in the middle of a dusty road with one of her teammates missing. They would deal with this whole ‘Naruto’ situation first and see what happened, but she knew things couldn’t continue like this. She was a part of this team and it was about time they all started acting like it.

“Team Seven have just returned.”

“Why did you feel the need to report this?”

“Uzumaki Naruto did not return with them.”

A pause.

“What is his status?”

“They are trying to keep it quiet but there is word that he has defected from the village. The Hokage has sent the ANBU out.”

“Has he defected to another village?”

“Unknown at this time.”

“The Uchiha?”

“He returned unharmed.”

“What is Team Seven’s likelihood of entering the chunin exams?”

“Low. They are down to a two-person team and it is unlikely that they will be entered upon retrieval of Uzumaki Naruto. They may add a member of the genin corps to allow Uchiha Sasuke to sit the exam but with only a couple of weeks until the participants start to arrive, they will not qualify.”

“So Uchiha Sasuke will not be participating in the chunin exams.”

“No, master.”

“This may change my plans.”

“Will the attack still go ahead?”

“I have already done away with the Kazekage and prepared Suna for the battle. It will weaken Konoha even if we will need to access the Uchiha by another avenue. It may also provide the distraction and privacy I need to gift the boy the seal.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Approach the boy. Begin to plant the seed in his mind. His teammate has left the village which may have an effect on him; we must try to lure him willingly.”

“Of course, master.”

“Inform me of new developments in regard to Uzumaki Naruto. He may not be as valuable as the Uchiha but the Kyūbi would be an asset we cannot dismiss. The Akatsuki may already know he left the village.”

“Yes, master.”

Another pause.

“You have done well. Your time in Konoha will end with the attack so gather as much information as you are able. Do not disappoint me.”

“Of course, master.”

The summoned snake burst in a cloud of smoke, ending the correspondence. Kabuto pushed his glasses back into place as he rose from his seat. He could not fail his master. He needed to speak to Uchiha Sasuke and get to the bottom of the mystery of Uzumaki Naruto’s disappearance before the chunin exams and Konoha’s downfall began.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry, Hokage-sama.”

Hiruzen felt every single year of his long lifetime. He was too old for this.

“You are confident he is headed towards the Land of Water?” he clarified.

“I am, Hokage-sama,” Kakashi confirmed.

The jounin looked rough. Had it not been stated in the man’s report, Hiruzen would have known this mission had gone sideways. Kakashi was one of his most capable jounin and the man had survived the worst missions in ANBU for ten years; it took a lot to take the man off guard. The presence of Momochi Zabuza had been an unforeseen complication and he would be speaking to the mission assignment division about performing due diligence when assigning ranks to missions in the future. 

“I see,” he sat back into his chair. “I sent the ANBU the moment your summon reported in so we should find him quickly.”

Hiruzen wished he could say he had not seen this coming. Naruto had been unhappy in the village for a long time and he was ashamed to say he had been a contributing factor in that. He was not sure what to do with the boy. He had provided a home and provisions after the fiasco at the orphanage in his early years and he had tried to check in with the boy when he could. He knew the villagers had treated him less than favourably and he had not managed to keep the secret of the Kyūbi well enough to protect Naruto, but no one would dare to try and outright hurt the boy. He just had so much anger and Hiruzen had not known what to do. Forcing the boy to socialise angered him, and separating him was not fair to him either. He could not make Naruto understand that Hiruzen was just trying to look out for him, as his parents would have wanted.

Gai had a wonderful influence on him and Hiruzen regretted splitting the pair up. It did not change the fact that Naruto still required a team to take the exams but perhaps in hindsight there were other, better options that would not have driven the boy to these extremes. Regardless, that did not give Naruto the right to become a missing-nin and Hiruzen could not give him special treatment. The Kyūbi would guarantee he kept his life but out-of-village missions would no long be an option, considering his flight risk status. Danzō was sure to have strong opinions about what would happen to the boy from here on out.

“I will head out to join them, Hokage-sama.”

“You will not,” Hiruzen disagreed. “You will go to the hospital to heal and allow the ANBU to do their jobs.”

“Hokage-sama, I am one of the best trackers in the village. I should be out there looking for him.”

He rarely ever heard Kakashi speak with such emotion in his voice. He was sure the man had to be feeling guilty but Hiruzen could not allow him to leave in such a condition. The village could not afford to lose the Copy Nin. Kakashi’s feelings on Minato and Kushina were clouding his judgement.

“One of,” Hiruzen nodded. “Not the only. Leave this to the team, Kakashi-kun. You brought your genin back safely and completed the mission. That is your duty as a jounin-sensei.”

Although he supposed that Naruto was technically the one to complete the mission. Kakashi seemed to think it was a distraction but Hiruzen could not help but feel there was more to this. Naruto killed Gatō and liberated the Land of Waves behind the backs of his teammates when he did not have to. The boy never did anything without a reason, but what that could be escaped him.

Kakashi slumped.

“Yes, Hokage-sama.”

“Go to the hospital, Kakashi-kun. Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan, I am sorry this has happened. This will not affect your standing nor your career paths. We will handle this situation as quickly and painlessly as possible.”

“Will…” Sakura hesitantly spoke up. “When Naruto comes back, will he come back to our team?”

“I am afraid it is too early to say,” Hiruzen said not unkindly. “We will need to bring Naruto home first and then the Council will meet to decide.”

She nodded, her gaze dropping sullenly to the floor. Sasuke remained silent, continuing to look out of the window and refusing to meet the eyes of anyone in the room. From what Hiruzen knew, Naruto was not a team player nor did he get along with anyone his own age. He was a bit surprised about how affected his teammates were; perhaps they had grown closer than they had thought? Kakashi had reported when the team first formed that Naruto and Sasuke had known each other beforehand but he also had not reported a drastic change in Naruto’s attitude towards people his own age. There was also the scenario that his teammates thought they were closer than Naruto did; he could see that happening.

“Go home, Team Seven,” he dismissed. “You will be informed of any updates when they arrive.”

The three bowed and shuffled out of the room, a depressing cloud following them. He wondered if Naruto had considered the effect of his leaving on the team. Likely not. He was not the most sensitive to the feelings of others.

He sighed heavily, too tired to even reach for his pipe. He really was too old for this but there was one more thing he had to do. He leaned forward, dragging a parchment over to begin drafting a letter. Jiraiya needed to know his godson had defected and become a missing nin. His former student was sure to take it hard, especially with what happened with Orochimaru and his guilt and grief over losing Minato too soon but he had to know. Having one more set of eyes looking for the boy before the worst happened could not hurt and Jiraiya would be invested in bring back the boy safely. Once he did, he could have a word with him about the mantle of Hokage; it was time for Hiruzen to retire.

One thing Naruto could say since landing on the next island was that the place lived up to its name as the Land of Water. He had always thought that the country had earned its name due to the fact it was a collection of islands surround by the sea for as far as the eye could see but there was just as much water inland. During his journey through the biggest island towards the capital, which was not on the coast like he thought, he had passed numerous lakes and that wasn’t even taking into consideration the weather.

He knew it would be different, coming from the Land of Fire but he did feel like he would never be warm or dry again. The mist that settled on the land never seemed to budge, only interrupted by the occasional shower. There were rivers from the sea that led into the capital and there were a bunch of boats that acted as transport but walking was free. He’d also been trapped on boats since he’d left the Land of Waves so it was nice to stretch his legs even if everything was damp. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought to steal a jacket from Tazuna’s when he had pilfered the hat but he would have to find one when he reached the capital.

The foot traffic around him was beginning to pick up and he finally saw walls start to rise in the horizon. He adjusted the pack on his shoulders and picked up the pace. It wasn’t long before he reached the gates, shortly being waved in by the guards after he waved the letter from his ‘grandfather’. He took his first step into the capital of the Land of Water and grinned.

It looked to be bigger than Konoha but that could be because of the structure of the place. Wide canals ran through the village instead of roads and many small boats were floating gently along. There were small paths than ran alongside these canals but that mainly seemed to be for stalls and colourful shop fronts. There were many more people on the small gondolas than there were walking along the edge. It was a shame he couldn’t use his water-walking here but it was a small price to pay for the anonymity. As he walked further in, down one of the paths he took in the sights. It was so different to Konoha; it was amazing. He could get on board with hanging around here until he figured out his next steps. If it was as big as he was imagining anyway; he would need to explore and see if it would work.

Konoha would be able to track him to the Land of Water, that was a guarantee, but they couldn’t move freely inside their cities and villages. The Land of Water and Land of Fire were not allies, only tolerating each other and their respective shinobi villages just avoided each other after the civil war in the Land of Water. As long as he kept his head down, acted like an ordinary civilian and updated his disguise, they shouldn’t be able to find him here. He didn’t like that he wouldn’t be able to train but it was just temporary until the heat died down. He wouldn’t lose all his skills in a few weeks and he would just train that much harder when he got the chance.

He could imagine Sasuke’s disapproving face at the plan and Naruto knew that it wasn’t something he would have been happy about if he was back in Konoha. The oppressive weight on his shoulders was gone now though and so was the burning fury in his gut; he still wanted to train and become strong enough that no one would ever be able to force him to do anything he didn’t want to do but the desperation behind it was gone. It felt like the weights around his ankles had been taken off and he could float away.

He kind of wished Sasuke was here to share in this feeling but he had different goals that leaving Konoha couldn’t help and Naruto could respect that. He would see him again and they could test how much they’d gotten stronger while they were apart.

Gai-sensei’s face briefly appeared in his thoughts and Naruto shoved it away. He didn’t want to think about his teacher. He knew he’d betrayed the man by doing this. He knew he was a disappointment of a student. Gai-sensei must hate him now. Naruto had abandoned the village his teacher loved and left a black mark on the jounin’s record.

He couldn’t regret it though; no amount of guilt would have been able to stop him. Gai-sensei may hate him now but they wouldn’t see each other again. Gai-sensei would heal and forget about him and he had his team to focus on anyway. Naruto would just not think about it and it would eventually get easier. He would be able to think about Gai-sensei without this churning in his gut.

He took a breath of the fresh, damp air, a grin slowly appearing on his face as he successfully shoved the darker thoughts away. He could definitely make this work. He hadn’t done all of this just so he could be dragged back to Konoha so he was going to make the most of it. He was free.

Sasuke threw another punch at the log, ignoring the sting on his knuckles. Kakashi-sensei hadn’t been cleared for duty yet since they’d come back to Konoha a few days ago and he had no desire to train with Sakura. The only person he wanted to train with was running around another country with no regard for Sasuke. He couldn’t really hold it against Naruto but it still fucking sucked. Konoha sucked a lot more without him than he’d anticipated and a tiny part of him wondered about what would have happened if he’d agreed to go with him. Not that he would have, standing by his point that a life on the run would be worse for his training than staying with the teachers and library of scrolls in Konoha but still. He’d seen the dobe at least once a week for years, going on daily for the last year, and now he was gone.

Sasuke had taken the opportunity to train. He had to get stronger if he wanted to take down Itachi and losing his training partner was not a reason to slack off. He was going to accomplish his goals with or without Naruto. The next time he saw the dobe he would show him how much stronger he’d become without him and smash his face into the ground. The thought helped.

The worst thing about all of this was Sasuke was no longer eligible for the Chunin Exams. He had asked Kakashi-sensei about it but they had to be a three-man team and his teacher refused to pull in another genin with everything that was going on. So Sasuke was going to be held back as a genin for at least another six months, which was such bullshit. He remembered Naruto’s rants about being held back but Sasuke hadn’t actually thought that would ever happen to him. He was more than strong enough to pass the shitty exams and the fact that they were one teammate down was the only thing stopping them was infuriating.

Naruto could seriously go fuck himself. He had told Sasuke that Konoha would hold him back and shove hurdles in his path, but the dobe was the one fucking doing that by ditching them. He could understand why he’d left and he would have never tried to stop him but he couldn’t quite convince himself that it was the best option available to them. Understand the reason why didn’t make it any easier to accept; it hadn’t felt so hard back in the Land of Waves.

It was so ironic that everyone else had wanted the blond gone but things were worse without him.

“You look like you’re training hard.”

Sasuke whirled around at the unexpected voice. He’d chosen the most isolated training ground on purpose, unwilling to deal with anyone else right now.

The guy was a few years older than him, with grey hair tied up into a ponytail and his hitai-ate covering his forehead. Sunlight reflected off the large round glasses on his face and dark eyes watched him. He was dressed a black turtleneck, in the standard shinobi uniform and sandal with no vest; must be a genin.

Sasuke turned back to his training stump, figuring the guy would get the message.

“Missing your teammate?”

The question hit a little too hard for Sasuke and he spun, growling.

“I wouldn’t miss that asshole.” He wasn’t missing Naruto. He was pissed at him for leaving and he would shove the difference in their strength down his throat when they next saw each other, but he didn’t miss him. “What do you even want?”

The guy raised his hands, palms up.

“I’m just wondering how you’re holding up.” The guy said. “You can’t take the Chunin Exams, right?”

Sasuke’s mood soured further.

“Who the fuck even are you?” he snapped.

“My apologies,” the genin lowered his hands. “Yakushi Kabuto, fellow genin. It’s nice to meet you, Sasuke-kun.”

Sasuke glared at him.

“I just thought it was a shame that you can’t advance within the village. You don’t deserve to be held back like that.”

What was his point? Sasuke knew he could ace these exams but it didn’t matter; Kakashi-sensei would never let them enter now. That had nothing to do with this guy though.

“Konoha struggles to see what’s right in front of them, don’t you think?”

Sasuke remained silent.

“I understand you have a goal, Sasuke-kun?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Of course,” the slimeball smiled. “I was just wondering how you were going to accomplish it in the village. I mean, your sensei is injured and occupied with your missing teammate and the girl is hardly on your level. I just wonder who you would be looking to for the kind of training you need.”

This guy wondered about a lot; Sasuke didn’t like it. There was an agenda here and Sasuke didn’t appreciate the fact that this guy thought Sasuke was too stupid to understand it. Yakushi’s words held merit, saying everything Sasuke himself had been thinking about but that didn’t mean it would allow this guy to manipulate him.

“Get to the point or get lost,” Sasuke growled. “You want something and I’m not interested, I don’t need anything from the likes of you.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, Sasuke-kun,” the guy continued smiling but there was something empty about it. “I would never think that I could help you. You are too strong for that. I was thinking more along the lines of finding another teacher for you, one stronger than Hatake Kakashi that would focus on you and you alone.”

That sounded…like a trap. There was no way there just happened to be a strong teacher just waiting to train Sasuke.

“I’m done here,” Sasuke reached down to grab his stuff and started to make his way out of the training ground.

“Just think about it!” Yakushi called behind him but Sasuke ignored him.

He didn’t need Yakushi and he didn’t need Naruto. He would defeat Itachi on his own.

Neji followed his teammates down the street, easily dodging the villagers around them. The Chunin Exams were so close he could taste them and he was ready for anything they had to throw at him. His time as Gai-sensei’s student had been well spent and even his teammates would be hard to beat now. His Gentle Fist had come in leaps and bounds and he could beat anyone even close to his age when he was training in the clan and Lee had yet to beat him either.

His mood soured. There was one genin who could beat him and Neji hated it. He tried to avoid thinking about Naruto since their mutually beneficial training arrangement blew up in their faces. It was entirely the fault of the blond and Neji stood by that opinion. Luckily he hadn’t seen him around the village since their last argument so it was easy to put the Uzumaki out of his mind. He was able to use the jutsu the other genin taught him with no problems, although he was still keeping it a secret from the rest of his team.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!”

He raised an eyebrow at the girl who had walked into Lee. She was a bit shorter than Tenten, with long pink hair held out of her face by a hitai-ate. She wore a deep red battle dress to her knees, open at the side to reveal black biker shorts with a kunai pouch on her right thigh. Soft green eyes were trained on Lee as she stammered another apology. Neji would have expected better situational awareness from a kunoichi in training.

“It is okay!” Lee grinned widely in a mimic of Gai-sensei. “You are the most beautiful flower I have ever had the fortune to lay eyes on! Go out with me! I will protect you until the day I die!”

Neji resisted the urge to face palm. This was not the time for this; the Chunin Exams started tomorrow. They didn’t need any distractions.

“Oh,” the green eyes widened. “I…I can’t. I’m sorry, I…have a lot going on right now.”

Lee wilted and Neji rolled his eyes.

“You’re Naruto’s teammate, right?” Tenten spoke up. “I’ve seen you around the village with him on D-ranks.”

Tears formed in the girl’s eyes. Neji could only assume that sort of reaction came hand-in-hand with being on a team with Naruto.

“Yeah,” she nodded, the tears clearing up as she blinked. “Haruno Sakura. You are…?”

“Hagane Tenten,” Tenten smiled. “This is Rock Lee and Hyūga Neji.”

“Nice to meet you,” Haruno answered with a smile of her own but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You know Naruto?”

“Unfortunately,” Neji finally spoke, crossing his arms. It was drowned out by Lee’s reply.

“Naruto-senpai is a most Youthful shinobi and I can only strive to follow his wonderful example!”

Neji eyebrow twitched.

“Senpai?” Haruno frowned.

“He was Gai-sensei’s student first,” Tenten explained. “Lee has taken to calling him ‘Senpai’ since he is our senior in terms of experience.”

“Oh,” Sakura replied. “I had no idea. He’s never said anything.”

“Naruto is not a man of wasted words,” Lee grinned. “He is a man of action!”

“I don’t really know anything about him. It’s not like he would ever share anything with me anyway,” Haruno’s voice was flat. “I mean, I knew he was a genin for a few years before we became a team but I guess I didn’t really think about it.”

“Are you going to the Chunin Exams tomorrow?” Neji cut in again.

It was a dumb question but Neji couldn’t help but ask, just to be sure. There was no way Naruto was missing this. Neji had heard the whining enough times to know how much he wanted to sit these exams to progress in his career and as much as he hated to admit it, Naruto could easily pass. He could have been chunin a while ago if he’d been allowed to sit the exams when he’d first wanted to. He had a team now so there should be nothing in his way, but he had been held back for so long he was now their problem. Naruto was the only one that could provide difficulty from Konoha and the blond was petty enough that Neji did not want to take any risks. Naruto would stomp on all of them to become chunin without thinking twice. The fact he and Neji were still pissed at each other just made him that much more unpredictable.

Haruno shook her head and Neji narrowed his eyes. There was no way Naruto would allow another Chunin Exam to slip through his fingers. He would not put it past him to drag two corpses as his teammates just to sit the exam.

“What happened?” he demanded, stepping forward.

“I…”

“Tell me where Naruto is now.”

This was unacceptable. The blond had the emotional stability of a two-year-old but he was damn strong. He had not a single doubt that Naruto would be one of the strongest in the village one day, even if he burned every bridge to get there. He may not want to associate with him anymore, but Naruto was the one to snap Neji out of fate’s grasp and that still meant something to him. The girl wouldn’t look him in the eye.

“I can’t tell you.”

“What do you mean? Is he okay?” Tenten asked, worried about the wrong thing.

Naruto wouldn’t let anything hold him back except himself so whatever happened was self-inflicted. What could prompt this response? The only thing that he could think of was…he wouldn’t…

“Has Naruto become a missing nin?” he took another step closer, forcing the kunoichi to look him in the eye. “Just nod.”

She hesitated but she eventually gave a short nod and something churned in Neji’s gut. He ignored the reaction of his teammates as he ran through what he knew about Naruto. It made sense; the bastard absolutely would. Now that he thought about it, he was surprised that Naruto hadn’t tried to leave earlier. He made it no secret that he hated living in Konoha.

Neji didn’t know why he was so thrown. It did make sense and it wasn’t like he and Naruto were on talking terms. They hadn’t seen each other since that argument in the side street. Neji had no intentions of seeking him out and he had no plans to patch things up with him. It shouldn’t matter that he’d left the village; it didn’t actually change anything in Neji’s life. Naruto hadn’t been a part of his life in weeks.

But it did. It did change things and Neji didn’t know how to feel about that.

“Does Gai-sensei know?”

Neji looked at Tenten. He didn’t even think of that. He had to know, right? There was no way that hadn’t told him.

“I don’t know.” Sakura shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

“I am sure Naruto has a good reason,” said Lee, but he was missing the cheerfulness from a moment ago. “Naruto is an incredible shinobi who works hard than anyone I know. He must have a good reason.”

Neji personally thought Lee was lying to himself but that wasn’t his problem right now. They didn’t have time for this right now. They had the Chunin Exams tomorrow and Neji refused to let Naruto get in their way. It was good riddance. They were better off without him. It was one less obstacle.

Lee was not the only one lying to himself.

“The Kyūbi jinchūriki is not in the village.”

“Where is he?”

“He did not return from their last mission.”

“So we have to go hunt the brat down then.”

“It appears so. It seems they suspect he was heading for the Land of Water.”

“I guess we’re visiting my homeland then.”

Chapter Text

“I am sorry to pull you away from your team, Gai-kun, but this could not wait.”

“Of course, Hokage-sama!” Gai smiled brightly. “My team are fully prepared for the exam tomorrow and will shine brightly in the Springtime of their Youth! I know they will do wonderfully!”

The atmosphere in the Hokage’s office remained grim after his declaration.

“It’s about Naruto.”

Gai’s smile faltered. He had been looking for his student to wish him luck for the exams but he had been unable to find his former apprentice or his team. He had heard Kakashi was in the village so he knew they were not out on a mission but he had not managed to track down his rival either. Kakashi had not avoided him like this since his ANBU days but Gai had assumed he was preparing his genin team for the exam. Naruto was a determined young man and now he had a real team Gai had not a single doubt that his wonderful student would take the exams by storm, earn his chunin vest and take one step closer to his dreams.

“He has defected from Konoha.”

…what?

“The ANBU are on his trail and we have contacted Jiraiya. They should find him soon.”

Naruto had…

“You were his teacher for a long time so I felt you deserved the courtesy of hearing it directly.”

What?

It felt like Hokage-sama had driven a kunai straight into Gai’s chest. Naruto had left Konoha? He knew that it was his goal but Naruto had hoped to emulate the Sannin. He really thought his student was making strong strides towards his goal so why would he suddenly run like this? What had changed?

“I’m sorry, Gai-kun.”

For once, he did not know how to respond. He could only stand there in silence, going over every single interaction he had had with Naruto in recent months. There had been nothing. He had been his teacher for four years, Gai should have noticed! How could he claim to care about the boy if he missed something like this? Did Naruto lose faith in him? How had he failed his student?

“Gai-kun.”

He swallowed, his throat dry.

“Hokage-sama.”

His leader looked at him with pity.

“We have always known Naruto’s heart lay beyond the borders of this village. He only stopped his attempts to defect when he was young because he realised that it wouldn’t work. He has obviously been planning this escape plan for a long time. It is a shock, yes, but not a surprise.”

Gai was surprised. Gai was very surprised.

“Focus on the team you have.” Hokage-sama continued. “They will need you for the rest of the Chunin Exams. ANBU and Jiraiya will handle Naruto. He will be back soon enough.”

Naruto would never be allowed on missions again. He would be branded a flight risk; he would be confined to the village, if not outright imprisoned, until he could earn the trust of the village enough to be restored to normal duties. Gai knew that would never happen. They had not managed to foster a positive relationship with Naruto when he was not a criminal but now?

“Of course, Hokage-sama,” he bowed, turning to leave quietly. The door to the Hokage’s office softly clicked shut.

Gai loved Konoha. He loved this village with everything he had and he would gladly lay down his life for it. The Will of Fire burned brightly and Gai was so proud to be the Sublime Green Beast of Konoha. He had never once wavered in this loyalty and he trusted Hokage-sama with his life, his team, his friends; everything he had to give belonged to the village and its leader.

He knew this was the protocol. They had to retrieve Naruto not only for his own safety but to protect the village from secrets being leaked to other villages. It was the same for anyone who defected.

But Gai didn’t want them to find him. He did not want Naruto to be dragged back kicking and screaming to a village he would never be able to leave. His mind kept being forced back to every mission they had spend outside the village and every moment of joy he got to experience with his student. Naruto had never been so light and free and vibrant and Youthful than he had on those missions. Every time it was like seeing what his student could have been and Gai had always hoped he could find that in Konoha one day. He had been naïve.

He loved Konoha and he was its loyal soldier…but he also loved Naruto and he was his teacher. It was the first time Gai had ever experienced such a divide within himself. Gai had never doubted his path and his loyalties but he just could not bring himself to agree with Konoha on this. He wanted Naruto to be happy and free and now it had reached this point, Gai knew that would only happen outside of Konoha. He wanted his student to be safe but Naruto was strong; he had always been so strong and determined and diligent and a shining example of Youth for all. He knew everyone else would have seen it eventually but Gai was realistic enough to know that there was no turning back from this. Naruto had made his choice and there was nothing Gai could do about it.

He wanted Naruto to be happy. It was all he ever wanted for his students. If Naruto could only find it far from here, Gai could not find it in his heart to stand in his student’s way. Gai’s failure was not Naruto’s burden to bear; it was on Gai for not giving him a reason to stay. He had tried for four years and still failed. He could not fault his student for seeking his own happiness.

His team would be making their last minute preparations for the exams right now. He knew they would be fine. He needed to find Kakashi. His rival had avoided him for too long and now Gai knew why, he was not about to let his rival suffer alone a moment longer.

He didn’t know how long he had been sitting here. He’d stopped feeling the effect of the elements a while ago and he hadn’t seen anyone for longer than that. He wondered how Sasuke and Sakura were doing but the thought wasn’t enough to move him. They would be fine, better off without him. He had failed completely and utterly as a teacher and his students knew it.

Naruto had defected. Sasuke had covered for him. Sakura felt like she was ignored and disregarded. His failures piled up one after the other and Kakashi was drowning in them. He never should have taken them on as a team. He had destroyed his own team as a student now he had destroyed another as a teacher. He couldn’t even look at the Memorial Stone where teacher and teammates’ names were carved into the smooth surface without bile rising in his throat. He knew he hadn’t been suitable for teaching but he’d done it anyway and now they were here; three genin irrevocably changed and their trust broken. Kakashi knew what a team falling apart did to a person and now he had inflicted it on his own students.

He wasn’t even allowed to track Naruto down himself; not that he knew what he would do if he found him. He wanted to speak to his student, find out where things had gone so wrong, fucking apologise but he didn’t know if he would be capable of bringing his student back to the village. He knew once Naruto entered those village gates he would never be allowed outside of them again and Kakashi knew the kid well enough to know that was a sentence worse than death for the Uzumaki. What would he even be bringing him back for? The team was broken and Kakashi a failure as a teacher. He could honestly say that Naruto would not be better off back on Team Seven.

He needs to transfer the other two to other teams. He would not be their teacher any longer. They deserved a sensei that knew what they were doing and more importantly, one that didn’t ruin everything they touched. Sasuke would be fine as long as he was put with someone strong to teach him. Sakura would take it harder but she had been more attached to the idea of a team. She would probably feel betrayed, like she’d been swept aside once again without consideration, but Kakashi knew that she would understand eventually. This would be the best thing for the both of them.

He would go back to ANBU. It was where he belonged. It was where he could be the most use for his village while doing the least amount of damage. He knew his friends would not be happy with him, especially Gai with how long they’d fought to get him out but this was his life. They hadn’t fucked up like he had; they didn’t understand this was for the best.

He felt the bile rise at the thought of Gai. He had managed to avoid the other jounin since returning to the village. He couldn’t face him. He knew how much Gai loved Naruto. This wouldn’t have happened if Naruto was still Gai’s student.

“Kakashi.”

No.

“Kakashi, you cannot blame yourself.”

He couldn’t do this.

“Kakashi.”

He wouldn’t be able to escape. Gai was fast and Kakashi’s limbs were stiff.

“The fuck I can’t,” he finally replied, voice hoarse.

“Naruto has always been an independent spirit. You cannot assume responsibility for his choices.”

“Like you haven’t.”

Gai did not reply. It was the quietest he’d ever heard Gai and it somehow made it all worse. He wished he’d yell at him.

“Naruto has always planned to leave.”

Kakashi swallowed, his throat dry. Gai walked over and sat himself next to Kakashi, crossing his legs with his back straight. He barely recognised him like this.

“Naruto’s dream was to leave Konoha,” Gai continued. “I am sure you are aware of his attempts in his youth. He wished to become strong enough to reach Sannin status so he could do it legally.”

He knew Naruto hated Konoha, that he took every opportunity to leave when he could. He hadn’t known the Sannin bit though. Where was Gai going with this?

“I tried to give him a reason to stay,” Gai’s deep voice was subdued. “I failed in that.”

“You were probably the only reason he stayed as long as he did,” Kakashi scoffed, looking away to stare into the trees. “He never would have left if he stayed with you.”

“We cannot know that.”

“I can!” Kakashi snapped. “Don’t fucking patronise me. This was my fault. He was under my care, under my watch, in foreign territory. He slipped away under my nose.”

“You are too hard on yourself, my rival.”

Kakashi scoffed. He didn’t know why Gai wasn’t being harder on him. Gai had always been stupidly optimistic and forgiving and it was not fucking helpful. Kakashi knew he had failed and Gai pretending he hadn’t was making it even worse.

“I failed him, Gai. I failed him and Sasuke and Sakura and I was never cut out to be a teacher.”

“He is more than your student.”

That stopped Kakashi short.

“What?”

“He would never express his sentiments out loud and he kept his emotions to himself, but Naruto was mine for three years. I know my student, Kakashi. His heart is guarded more closely than the Daimyo but he allowed you as close as he was able. Those years you spent as his tutor did not suddenly vanish.”

What the fuck was he even talking about?

“There were things he would talk to you about that he would not mention to me. He trusted you. I do not believe that has changed.”

“Gai, he left!” Kakashi finally turned back to his friend, meeting grim dark eyes. “He chose to become a criminal over being on my team!”

“It was not about you.”

That stopped Kakashi short. Gai crossed his arms, looking the most grave Kakashi had ever seen him. There was nothing of the happy, ‘Youthful’ man that Kakashi knew. It was very seldom that Gai was serious like this. Kakashi could count the number of times on his hands with fingers to spare.

“Naruto leaving was not about you. You are not the sole reason for his defection. Naruto has been failed by this village his entire life and we were not enough to overcome that. That failure is on us but Naruto leaving? You cannot take that choice away from him by assuming responsibility for it.”

Gai sighed heavily. How much had he been thinking about this?

“I’ve never heard you say anything against the village before,” Kakashi couldn’t help but comment, still processing Gai’s words.

“I always believed they would see what I see. A wonderful student; the best I have ever trained. He is hard-working, diligent, faces everything head on and never holds himself back. He would have been the best the village has ever seen. He is kind and honest and if you are fortunate to be allowed past his guard, a wonderful person who cares with his whole heart even if he struggled to show it.”

Gai shook his head.

“We did what we could,” he continued. “We loved him and supported him and gave him room to be himself without judgement, but it was not enough. We failed, yes, but Naruto has been let down for longer than we have been in his life. We just were not enough.”

He hadn’t been expecting this from Gai. He knew his friend was clever and observant, a fact many people overlooked due to Gai’s personality and way of expressing himself, but the man was an Elite Jounin. You did not get to that rank by strength alone. Kakashi had known him too long to be fooled like the others but it still caught him off guard occasionally.

“You don’t want them to bring him back.”

It wasn’t a question.

“Do you?”

Kakashi’s silence was answer enough.

“Wherever he may be, I hope for his happiness,” Gai smiled, the ghost of his usual enthusiasm emerging. “I hope he is finally able to be free and immerse himself fully into the Springtime of his Youth. I have no doubt he will shine brightly no matter where he is.”

Kakashi still didn’t think he was teacher material. He still fully intended to transfer his team out and reapply to ANBU. The weight of Naruto leaving still sat heavily on his heart and the guilt still churned a storm in his gut. He didn’t know how Gai could still find the positives in this situation.

“He won’t be able to evade the ANBU forever,” Kakashi pointed out. “Jiraiya will find him too. Whatever happiness is temporary and when he gets dragged back, things are going to be even worse for him.”

“And if that happens, we will be here for him,” Gai said as if it was most simple thing in the world. “We will show him that we are still here and we always will be.”

His friend finally stood.

“When is the last time you had a meal?”

“I’m fine.”

“That is not what I asked.”

“I’m fine, Gai.”

“Eggplant soup it is. I will return shortly, my rival.”

Gai vanished and Kakashi sighed. He could leave to escape but he knew Gai would just track him down again. The other jounin had been there for the entirety of the shitshow that was Kakashi losing his team and as much as he’d tried to ditch the older man during his time in ANBU, Gai had always turned up with a smile and a challenge. Gai had seen him at his lowest and never looked away. This may be a new low for Kakashi but Gai would never waver. He didn’t know why he bothered with Kakashi. He certainly didn’t return the favour.

He finally looked at the Memorial Stone.

“I’m sorry, Minato-sensei. I failed your son.”

Silence was the only answer.

Naruto bounced through the streets, using his bloodline limit to avoid any collisions on the narrow streets. It wasn’t the same as training but it was nice to stretch it a little. He couldn’t use chakra or anything that might give him away as a shinobi but nobody ever noticed his eye. He already had to run at a normal civilian speed and couldn’t water walk on the canals or use his tree-walking to navigate the rooftops so he had to use something to challenge himself. He wanted to keep developing his bloodline limit and this was one way to make sure he didn’t get rusty.

It had been one blissful month since he’d escaped from the Land of Waves and although it hadn’t been long since he’d settled in the capital, Naruto found that the lightness and joy he’d felt on arriving hadn’t faded in the slightest. He’d managed to find room and board in exchange for courier services. It was less than he’d earn on a D-rank per package or letter and he lost most of it for his ‘room and board’ but Naruto didn’t care. If anything, working for an asshole who was taking advantage of kids with nowhere else to go worked to his advantage because it was much more likely to be kept on the down low which was perfect for him. He had somewhere to sleep and he scavenged enough to eat and he had something to not only keep him active but let him get to know the city.

It was way bigger than he’d first suspected on his arrival. The whole place was organised in concentric circles with canals separating the streets and running through the entire city. The closer to the centre of the city, the higher the ground became, like a man-made mountain. At the peak was the Daimyo’s residence, decorated in gaudy fountains and white metal fencing. The buildings in the city itself were tall, with the majority a light beige and at least five stories high, topped with rounded red roofs. Unlike Konoha, which tended towards sprawling, low level complexes, the Capital was condensed with buildings that were thin but tall to fit them all in. The streets and buildings were so bright and clean. Konoha was well-developed but it retained some of the elements of the natural world that surrounded it; this place was designed to be sleek. It made sense with all the rain. It was like things were built for water to slide off, draining back into the canals.

Tall white walls surrounded the city, with smaller buildings and residences on the rougher ground outside. They still had the canals but they lacked the clean, white stone pathways that ran throughout the rest of the city, instead using well-worn dirt paths and misshapen wooden bridges. There was free traffic between these buildings and the others beyond the wall but the divide was quite clear. Naruto lived in the poorest of the city and he honestly preferred it. The city itself was a little too nice for him to be comfortable with but he sucked it up for his job.

He would probably be able to do the courier runs in a third of the time if he used chakra but it was fine. It had become apparent he was still one of the quickest on the job and so he was given the deliveries than required the most groundwork. He didn’t speak to any of the other kids though some had attempted to speak to him a little and the geezer that hired them had no interest beyond barking orders.

He was left alone and it was fantastic. Everyone had gotten the message so they all ignored him back at the house other than to give him his portion of breakfast and dinner. It wasn’t like back in Konoha where they ignored him with malicious intent; they just ignored him because they had their own problems or they didn’t have time for him. It was what he’d always wanted. No one picked a fight with him either, because that was a one way ticket to being chucked out for causing trouble and no one could afford that.

Even in the city itself, it was like he was a part of the scenery. No one looked at the couriers or the gondola drivers or any of the workers that kept the city ticking over. They were just there and even the people Naruto delivered to barely looked at him, much less thanked him.

He was having the time of his life.

He’d even managed to scrape together enough money to get a waterproof poncho. He kept his non-descript clothing that he’d initially brought but after two soggy days of delivery he’d decided he’d had enough. It was a boring brown, with a couple of holes and had obviously been well worn before he’d gotten his hands on it, but it was light and kept him dry. The bucket hat he’d stolen from Tazuna hid the blond hair that was already starting to grow back; he’d have to cut it off again soon. He would have to figure out a better idea to cover the whisker marks on his cheeks; he was running out of sunscreen and dirt may not go over well with some of the clients. Something to think about. He was starting to get used to his fake name ‘Riku’ at least.

He was not naïve enough to believe Konoha wouldn’t be on his trail, just waiting to drag him back to the village and lock him up. He’d kept an ear out for any mention of his home village and his deliveries to the city guards (which he was pretty certain were bribes but was none of his damn business) had given no indication that people from the Land of Fire had entered the city limits. ANBU wouldn’t exactly announce their presence and Naruto doubted he’d be able to pick them out a crowd but it wasn’t exactly risk free.

The Land of Water was barely recovering from the recent civil war and shinobi from other countries were not exactly welcome. He’d heard enough stories during his time in the city to know that if word got out that Konoha shinobi had entered the Capital of the Land of Water, the home of the Daimyo, there would be uproar. If they did find him, if he could get the attention of anyone, it would at least Konoha some trouble. He sure as shit wasn’t going to go quietly.

He knew he couldn’t stay forever but he could enjoy it while it lasted. He’s earned a little peace.

Brown eyes looked up at the tall white walls. It had taken longer to get here than he would have liked but he was here now. He’d beaten the ANBU at the very least and despite how annoyed he was with the whole thing, he had to give Minato’s brat credit; he’d planned this out well and had managed to stay hidden longer than any of them had expected.

It wasn’t enough though. Very few people could escape his information network, certainly not a genin. It was an admirable attempt but he couldn’t help but think that the measly month the kid had managed to squeeze was hardly going to be worth the punishment back in Konoha. Sarutobi-sensei had already informed him that the training trip he had planned for the brat may not be possible. The kid was one step away from being locked up and Jiraiya was one of the few things standing in the way of that. The kid had to learn how to use the Kyūbi’s chakra and he could hardly do that from a cell. It was a waste of his potential and a dishonour to Minato.

What was the point of this? Why had Minato’s brat fled the village? All he remembered of his godson was a happy, gurgling baby in the wake of the Kyūbi attack. He knew he hadn’t exactly hung around but it was hard to imagine a kid of Minato and Kushina committing treason like this. He would get the answers before he took him back to Konoha.

Jiraiya entered the Capital of the Land of Water.

Chapter Text

Naruto knocked on the door.

“Delivery for Sato-san!”

There was some rustling behind the door before it swung open and a half-naked man appeared. He stank of sweat and his bald head reflected the overhead light. It was obvious that he had just barely managed to shove on some underwear before answering the door, a dark scowl on his face.

“Shut it, brat, not so loud,” he demanded, trying and failing to sound threatening. Naruto had encountered academy students more dangerous than this man. “How did you find me here?”

“Not my problem,” Naruto shrugged, holding out the envelope. “I go where I’m told.”

He ignored the female voice calling Sato back to bed. He didn’t care enough to figure why exactly Sato was so sensitive to being found. Sato snarled but he did snatch it from him. Naruto rolled his eyes as he next held out the ink pad and receipt.

“Print here.”

Sato shoved his meaty thumb into the ink and pressed his thumb to the receipt, smudging it beyond recognition. Naruto didn’t particularly care. He delivered it and he had proof. It wasn’t his fault the client was a mess. The door slammed abruptly in his face and Naruto sighed. He reminded himself it was still not as bad as Konoha. The thought helped.

“Uzumaki Naruto.”

He snapped around, breath catching in his throat. No one here should know that name. He hadn’t uttered it once since leaving the Land of Waves, only using ‘Riku’. Had Konoha found him? Shit, his reaction had given away so he couldn’t even bluff his way out of anything.

His gaze caught on two men at the end of the hallway. Both wore black cloaks decorated in red clouds and they were closed from the top of their shinobi sandals to their noses, hiding the clothing beneath. The taller one had blue skin with what looked like gills beneath each of his eyes. Pale blue eyes watched him from beneath a Kiri hitai-ate that had been scratched out, holding spiky black hair out of his face. The shorter one looked like Sasuke; like, way too much like Sasuke. He had the same pale skin and sleek black hair, although it hung around this guy’s face longer than it did on Sasuke’s. His Konoha hitai-ate was scored out. Red eyes stared back at him and Naruto swallowed. This had to be Itachi. Why the fuck was Sasuke’s brother here? Why was he looking for Naruto?

“Itachi,” he couldn’t help but say, tensing as the guy’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“You are familiar with me?”

“I’ve heard stories.”

They didn’t move.

“What do you want?” Naruto continued, eyes darting between them as he figured out exit routes. “You can’t be here to bring me back to Konoha.”

“You are correct,” Itachi walked towards him, stopping a couple of steps away. Naruto had to figure something out soon. “You will come with us.”

Naruto eyes widened.

“It would be a pain in the neck if this kid moves around,” the taller man’s deep voice cut in, moving one hand to grasp the giant sword handle that had been peeking over his shoulder. “Maybe I should cut off a leg just in case.”

Naruto took a step back. What the fuck? What the fuck? He’d been expecting Konoha but he had not expected two random missing nin whom he had never even met before! What did they want with him? Why him? He wasn’t bothering anyone here and they weren’t with any village that he could tell. The blue guy started to draw his sword off his back and Naruto another step back. How could he get out of this?

He brought up his hand to summon clones but nothing happened. Nothing happened! He couldn’t even feel his chakra right now.

“My sword, Shark Skin, has the ability to cut through and eat chakra,” the man announced. “It’s a pain in the ass if you move around and use jutsu like that.”

Oh shit.

“What the fuck do you shitheads even want?” Naruto howled, furious. All that planning, all this time as a civilian, all that freedom, and it was going to be taken away from him because of these guys? Not even Konoha? “What the fuck have I ever done to you?”

“Foul-mouthed little shit.”

“It is not a matter of what you have done,” Itachi answered calmly. “It is a matter of what you have.”

Naruto didn’t have time to puzzle that out before there was a ‘pop’ and white smoke began to fill the narrow hallway. He looked up to see the back of an…orange toad? It had blue flame-like markings across its skin and wore shoulder bracers as armour. It stood several inches taller than Naruto, having to crane his neck to look at the back of its head.

“What?” the blue demanded, echoing Naruto’s thoughts.

“You guys do not know me much, do you?” a deep voice spoke from behind him. “You thought you could get past me to the brat so easily?”

Naruto looked behind to see a mountain of a man standing next to him. He was dressed in an olive green loose shirt and pants, with a bright red haori over it that had two yellow spots on his chest. Black mesh bracers covered his wrists and he wore grey knuckledusters on his hands. Spiky white hair framed his face, hanging to his collarbones with the rest tied up into a high ponytail that fell to his hips. A red line ran down from each eye straight to his chin and his horned metal hitai-ate just read ‘oil’.

Who the fuck was this? Another missing nin?

The door beside them opened and Sato poked his head out, furious.

“What the hell are you doing out here?” he yelled. “How dare you disturb…”

Naruto saw the moment he realised what exactly was happening as all three powerful shinobi turned to look at the man. Sato squeaked and the door slammed shut, panicked yelling emerging from the wooden surface.

“You are, after all, Master Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin,” the blue bastard interrupted, drawing their gazes. “I did not believe that you would be so easy to subvert.”

Sannin? This old guy was one of the Sannin? Would Konoha really send one of the Sannin to bring him back? Shit, now his enemies here had doubled. How was he going to get away?

“To abduct Naruto is the number one priority placed by our organisation, Akatsuki,” Itachi added. “The Kyūbi is destined to be ours.”

Naruto’s hand unconsciously rose to touch his stomach. They were after the Kyūbi? As if the damned fox had been causing him enough trouble in his life!

“I can’t let you have Naruto,” Jiraiya stated firmly. “This is perfect…I’ll get rid of both of you right here.” 

“The brat isn’t even a Konoha shinobi anymore,” the blue bastard replied. “He is a missing nin. Don’t butt in!”

Naruto growled. It itched at him that someone from Konoha was helping him but there was nothing he could do about it. He was too weak to take these guys on by himself. He fucking hated it. He cursed as the walls started to change to a weird fleshy colour, the meat crawling over the walls until they were surrounded on all sides.

“Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari.”

Itachi and his partner started to get sucked into the walls and Naruto could only watch in disbelief.

“How unfortunate, Itachi, Kisame,” Jiraiya said, grinning. “You guys are already inside my stomach!”

“The fuck is this?” Naruto yelled, the floor squelching beneath his feet.

“Stay still, brat!”

The newly named Kisame tore his sword from the floor with a shower of blood as he and Itachi began to run in the opposite direction. Jiraiya knelt to the ground and pressed both his palms down, the floor soon starting to move and constrict around them. Thick strands of flesh broke out of the walls and tore towards the retreating pair, Kisame fending them off with his sword. Naruto lost sight of them, Jiraiya racing past him. Naruto tore off after him, soon coming to an opening in the fleshy wall. Black flames flickered around the new entrance, starting to spread slowly down the hall.

“Don’t get close!”

“Wasn’t planning on it, geezer.”

Jiraiya placed a giant scroll on the ground and rolled it out, rapidly running through hand signs.

“Fūka Hōin!”

The black flames vanished around them and Naruto took his chance. He lunged for the opening, choking as something caught the back of his shirt.

“Not so fast, brat,” the Sannin said, unimpressed. “We’ve got to talk.”

Jiraiya set the kid down in front of him, having finally reached an area devoid of people. He hadn’t expected the brat to be in danger so soon. It was very bad news that the Akatsuki had managed to catch up to the kid before he did. He was lucky Jiraiya was already watching him.

“I didn’t need your help.”

The kid scowled up at him and Jiraiya couldn’t help but find the parts of Minato and Kushina in him. He was covered and dirt and sunscreen which covered most of his identifiable features but those blue eyes were all Minato, same as his round face was all Kushina. The ugly bucket hat hid what Jiraiya knew would be blond spiky hair that the kid had hacked away at with a kunai. He was underweight and short for his age.

“You’re welcome, brat,” he scoffed.

“What the fuck do you want?” The kid’s face was still twisted into an ugly scowl, blue eyes stormy. How had this grumpy brat come from Minato and Kushina?

“I came to save your ass, you ungrateful little shit,” he snapped back. “Watch the language.”

“Eat shit and die, old man.”

Jiraiya’s eye twitched. Do not hit the child.

“It’s time for you to go home, brat.”

Jiraiya didn’t think it was possible for the brat’s expression to sour further. He was quickly proven wrong as murderous intent flooded out of the boy.

“Over your dead body.”

“You really think you could put a scratch on me, brat? You’re one hundred years too early to challenge the Great Jiraiya!”

He grabbed the kid’s arm before he could take off. Ignoring Jiraiya’s wonderful speech; he really was an insolent little brat. He plucked the kunai that tried to make its way into his eye out of the kid’s hand, knocking away the other from his private area. This kid was fucking feral!

“Calm down!”

“Fuck you! I’m not going back!”

Jiraiya dropped him and the kid just barely landed on his feet, still shooting an evil look at Jiraiya.

“It’s not safe for you to be out of the village on your own,” Jiraiya tried to reason, still resisting the urge to hit the brat quite gallantly he’d like to add. “People are after you, people like Itachi and Kisame, and they are not going to stop.”

“I don’t care!” Naruto crossed his arms, seeming to realise he was not going to get far. “I’d rather die fighting out here than suffocate there.”

Jiraiya frowned.

“What happened in Konoha, kid? Why don’t you want to go back?”

“None of your fucking business.”

The kid was less cooperative than a fucking wall. It was not what he expected on meeting his godson.

“Is it really worth your life?”

“Yes.”

They stared at each other, unwilling to back down. There was something Jiraiya was missing here. He knew jinchūriki were often mistreated but Sarutobi-sensei wouldn’t have let that happen. There had to be something else.

“Well, unless you can beat me you don’t have a choice in the matter,” Jiraiya crossed his arms.

He would wait until the brat calmed down before telling him about their connection. He had a feeling the training trip would not be well received right now either. He had to get the brat back to Konoha and figure out what happened in his absence.

“If I go back, I’ll never be allowed out again!” Naruto yelled, rage palpable in the air around him. “They’ll lock me up and throw away the key!”

“You’re being a little dramatic, brat,” Jiraiya rolled his eyes. “You should have thought about this before you ran off!”

Naruto snarled, the words unintelligible around the clenching of his teeth. This was one angry kid. Jiraiya thought he might be a little grateful that he’d saved him from Itachi and Kisame but apparently not. The brat needed to learn some manners. The kid darted out of the way of Jiraiya’s hand but they both knew the Sannin had allowed it. The brat was stuck and he knew it.

Naruto stopped, staring Jiraiya dead in the eye. The change was unnerving.

“If you take me back,” Naruto began, his expression unreadable. “I will release the Kyūbi and they will destroy the village.”

A drop of ice slid down Jiraiya’s spine.

“Quit joking, brat.”

“I’m not.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying.”

He didn’t know what he was talking about. He didn’t know the destruction of a Tailed Beast. He didn’t know.

“I’m the one who has been carrying them around for twelve years. I know enough.”

A moment of silence.

“It would kill you.”

“I know. It would be worth it if I could take Konoha down with me.”

The brat was serious. The kid was dead fucking serious. Jiraiya could see it in his eyes. What the fuck?

“I could stop you.”

“Yeah,” Naruto shrugged. “You can’t be there all the time though. If you take me back to Konoha, I swear on every fucking god out there I will release the Kyūbi and let me tell you, the demon has a bone to pick with your village. You won’t be able to save them all.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Naruto shrugged, smiling for the first time that Jiraiya had seen. It was not a nice smile.

“I am what they made me,” he bared his teeth. “They always thought I was evil and would destroy the village one day. I could finally prove them right. They’ll be thrilled.”

Jiraiya did not like the implications of that. Naruto had relaxed slightly and Jiraiya could tell the brat had thought he’d won. He didn’t know what to do here. This couldn’t be his godson; this could not be Minato and Kushina’s child.

“Well?”

Naruto crossed his arms, waiting.

“I don’t respond well to threats, brat.”

“And I don’t respond well to being dragged back to Konoha,” he snarked. “Looks like we both get to be fucking inconvenienced.”

Another moment of silence.

“I can seal the beast away so even you can’t touch it.”

Naruto’s smile dropped, his blue eyes cold.

“Then I would have to do it the old-fashioned way.”

“You aren’t nearly strong enough for that.”

“Let me be clear, Jiraiya of the fucking Sannin,” Naruto said slowly, walking over and poking him in the chest. “If you bring me back to Konoha, even if I can’t release the Kyūbi, I will kill every civilian I can get my hands on. I don’t care about dying if I can hurt Konoha along the way, not anymore. I’ve tasted freedom and I would rather burn down the village with my bare hands than go back to the way it was before.”

There was something broken in this kid’s head.

“You can be locked up for the rest of your life,” Jiraiya replied. “You would spend the rest of your life locked up and away from anyone you can hurt. What’s the plan here, kid? You know you can’t fight this.”

Anger seeped back in Naruto’s features.

“I have been fighting every single fucking day of my life. I don’t care what measures you take or what you, I swear on the Yondaime’s name I will figure it out.”

Hearing that name was like a punch in the gut.

“Don’t use his name like that,” he couldn’t help but snap.

“He’s my old man, isn’t he?” Naruto sneered and shit, when did he find out? “I’ll even kill everyone in his name; really liven up the family name.”

Jiraiya punched the kid before he could stop himself. Naruto was knocked to the ground with a thud, lifting a hand to press at the blood on his lip. He grinned up at Jiraiya, the blood smearing on his teeth.

“Got you.”

Jiraiya was breathing heavily. What the fuck was wrong with this kid? What the fuck was wrong with this kid?

“You’ll travel with me for now,” he barely managed to get out. “We need to go get your stuff.”

“No Konoha?”

Jiraiya fucking hated this.

“No Konoha, for now.”

The kid bounced up.

“Good enough for now, I guess.”

The kid turned to lead the way and Jiraiya followed, staring at the back of the kid’s head. He need time to think. This conversation had taken a turn he never would have expected in a million years and he needed time to process. He needed to send a message to Sarutobi-sama to call the ANBU off the search and if he demanded to know more about his godson, he damned well deserved to know.

Sasuke couldn’t even enjoy the blaze, frowning as the fire from his jutsu slowly spread through the tree, leaves crumbling to ash and branches turning black. He should probably stop it before it jumped to the surrounding tress; Konoha unsurprisingly frowned on forest fires. He couldn’t find it in himself to care.

The first part of the Chunin Exams was finished and they had a month before the next portion. Sasuke didn’t know if he would go and watch. He didn’t know if he would be able to sit there and just watch, knowing he could easily kick the ass of anyone there. He should be training for the final component of the exam but no, he was in an abandoned training ground watching trees burn down.

It was getting harder and harder every day to remember why he wanted to stay in the village instead of going with Naruto. Kakashi was still a fucking ghost and the coward hadn’t even bothered to show up when Sasuke had been summoned to the Mission Assignment Desk with Sakura to find out they’d been transferred to new genin teams. Sakura had tried to speak to him about it but Sasuke had quickly made himself scarce. He didn’t even know who his new jounin-sensei was meant to be and he didn’t care. He was not going to get trapped into another genin team, especially not one that would hold him back even further. Team Seven had only been bearable because Naruto had been there.

You’re not going to beat Itachi by staying in the village.

Naruto’s words haunted him. His reasoning for disagreeing with the blond felt flimsy now. Kakashi had pawned them off onto other genin teams. His research into any other strong jounin in the village was coming up empty; they either were always out on missions or they already had teams of their own. He had exhausted the jutsu in the library that he could access and even his status as an Uchiha hadn’t allowed him to access the chunin level and higher jutsu and security had been increased with all the foreign nin in the village. Every reason he had given himself for staying and all he was left with was regret that he hadn’t just taken that leap and gone with Naruto.

It was still true that they wouldn’t have teachers or jutsu scrolls out there on their own and they would have ANBU hunting them down and money would be scarce and every other thing Sasuke could think of but it had to be better than here. It would at least challenge him and he could adapt and overcome and survive and feel like he was moving forward.

“Training hard again, Sasuke-kun?”

Sasuke scowled as he turned to look at the genin from a couple weeks ago. He looked the same as he had last time he came to bother Sasuke, a mild look on his stupid face.

“It’s a shame that you don’t have a teacher that can help,” the guy continued. Sasuke thought his name was…Yakusha? Yakashi? Whatever, it wasn’t important. “I heard about your transfer.”

“You’re a nosy bastard,” Sasuke growled as he considered aiming his next katon jutsu at the genin.

“I was just wondering if you had thought about my offer? About a new teacher for you?”

To be honest, Sasuke hadn’t thought about this guy once since he’d last seen him but his reappearance drudged up the memory from him. Yakushi was his name, he finally recalled.

“Where would you find a teacher like this?” he humoured him.

Yakushi smiled. Sasuke didn’t like it. This whole thing felt off but he was more desperate than he was two weeks ago.

“My sensei has been interested in your potential for a while,” Yakushi stepped closer. “He thinks it’s a shame a talent like you is being held back like this. He wants to help.”

Sasuke could hear the slime curling around Yakushi’s words. This idiot thought he could manipulate Sasuke but he would allow it for now. He had vowed he would do whatever it took to get stronger than Itachi and if that meant humouring this guy’s attempts to lure Sasuke into a trap, Sasuke would do it. He could just kill the guy if it went south.

“Who is he?”

Yakushi paused.

“Let’s just say he’s not a fan of Konoha.”

“Not good enough,” Sasuke crossed his arms. “It’s obvious that this teacher is not in the village; I’m willing to be bet he’s a missing nin or something. If I’m going to ditch the village, I want to know if it’s worth my time.”

The pleasant smile dropped from Yakushi’s face and a cold, considering look replaced it. It was about time this guy started showing his true colours. Sasuke didn’t like fucking about with fake pleasantries or sucking up. It was why he spent so much around Naruto.

“To be expected from you Sasuke-kun,” the smile this time was sharp. “It is Orochimaru of the Sannin. I am sure you have heard of his strength.”

Sasuke had not been expecting that. He knew of the Sannin, the man having fled the village after being ousted for some illegal shit way back when. He didn’t know much more than that, having had very little interest, but they learned of the feats of the Sannin during the wars back in the academy. This was a man on par with the Hokage himself.

“What’s to stop me from reporting you?” he asked, curious. “I doubt Konoha would be happy that Orochimaru had a serving boy in the village trying to recruit people.”

It was reminiscent of when he’d asked Naruto something very similar, when the blond had revealed his plans to him for leaving. He wasn’t actually going to do it; he didn’t owe anything to Konoha after all.

“I’m only here for you,” Yakushi replied evenly. “I can’t stop you from reporting me but I feel like you know that I have the better offer. Do you want to become strong, Uchiha Sasuke? Or do you want to be a good little Konoha soldier?”

He did not appreciate the condescension but he knew that wouldn’t change his answer. It wasn’t as if there was anything left to keep him here. He needed to get stronger to defeat Itachi and it had become glaringly obvious that would not happen if he stayed in Konoha.

He could imagine Naruto’s delighted expression at his decision. He was still going to punch the dobe when he saw him next.

“When do we leave?”

Yakushi’s satisfied grin almost annoyed Sasuke enough to spite him but he refrained. He had chosen his path and he would stick to it. He had to defeat Itachi and to do that, he had to become much, much stronger.

Nothing else mattered.

Chapter Text

Naruto dragged his feet behind the Sannin, glaring out at the scenery as it slowly passed by. He’d grabbed his stuff and immediately been forced out the Capital, Jiraiya stating that they needed to stay on the move. Naruto didn’t necessarily disagree with him but he couldn’t help the instinct to do exactly the opposite of whatever the old man told him to do. Naruto did not like people who thought they had any unearned authority over him and he liked it even less when they tried to order him around.

The Kyūbi hadn’t been a card he thought of playing before. Normally, he liked to spend his time imagining the Tailed Beast did not exist. He’d heard rumblings at the back of his mind but he had become very good at ignoring them. It had not been until the very real risk of Jiraiya dragging him back to Konoha did Naruto realise how far he was willing to go. He didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to unleash something like that on the very few people he actually liked in the village. His time away from Konoha had impacted him more than he’d expected it to and the threats had spilled out.

They’d been through several villages and Naruto was starting to get an idea of the man. He was stubborn, childish and enjoyed riling people up. He acted dumber and weaker than he was and always chose which ever option was the most over-the-top or dramatic. If Naruto hadn’t seen for himself how strong the man was, he wouldn’t have been able to take him seriously. The more he saw the man interact with other people though the more Naruto saw that was the goal of the behaviour.

One thing about him that was definitely not an act was that Jiraiya was a massive pervert. He’d caught the man sneaking off to one of the women’s bathhouses after ordering Naruto to stay at the inn and he’d taken the opportunity to get the hell out of there. Jiraiya had caught him on the outskirts and it was the most genuinely annoyed he’d seen the man so far. The Sannin had proceeded to go on a rant about ‘research’ and ‘not appreciating beauty’ and ‘having much to learn’. Naruto didn’t get it. He’d never had any interest in people like that.

It did mean that while Naruto was stuck with the Sannin, every escape attempt thwarted and having to finally accept he was not going anywhere, he had an avenue for revenge. If Jiraiya insisted on ordering Naruto around and dragging him places against his will, he was going to make it as inconvenient as humanly possible for the man; maybe if he annoyed him enough, he would just abandon Naruto to his fate…or take him back to Konoha but Naruto was beyond caring. He’d already lost the freedom he’d had, even if he was still outside of the village. Jiraiya loomed over him like a fucking buzzkill and every time Naruto wanted to go explore or go to a particular village the man overruled him, even if he wasn’t trying to escape or be difficult.

Jiraiya hadn’t managed to get near a bathhouse since that first village and Naruto was feeling pretty proud of himself. The tactics Jiraiya used to keep him in one place long enough for him to peek at the bathhouses had been getting more and more extreme and Naruto was honestly enjoying the chance to practice escaping the bonds. It felt like the first proper training since he’d left the Land of Waves although he was sure it wasn’t Jiraiya’s intention.

“Hurry it up, brat.”

Naruto slowed his footsteps even further.

“Seriously?”

Naruto sneered at the man. Jiraiya’s annoyed expression had become very familiar by this point and Naruto wondered how much more the man could stand. He had already lasted longer than anyone else who had experienced Naruto’s particular brand of rebellion.

“What is the point of this?” Jiraiya threw his hands up in frustration, stopping in the middle of the dirt road and whirling around to face Naruto. “I’m doing you a favour, you damned brat. I haven’t taken you back to Konoha and I’ve stopped you from being snatched up by the Akatsuki. You could learn to be a little more grateful and lot less of a little shit.”

Naruto stopped, scowling. This, this was the problem. Jiraiya kept telling him how grateful he should be and how great he was for taking Naruto on as a student and he was sick of it. He didn’t choose any of this. If he was going to choose anyone to be stuck with it would be Gai-sensei or Sasuke; even Kakashi or gods forbid Neji would be better than this guy, at least he could kick Neji’s ass when he annoyed him.

He’d tried to ask Naruto a bunch of questions about his life back in Konoha and what led to his defection. It had taken about a week for him to finally get the message that Naruto wasn’t going to tell him shit. He hadn’t earned a single thing from Naruto and the combination of silent treatment and insults had finally managed to make their way through the man’s thick skull enough for him to stop with the interrogation. He didn’t know why he thought that Naruto owed him anything but he was not having it.

“Whatever, Ero Sennin,” he snapped, the nickname expressing how little Naruto respected or cared about his damn opinion.

“I told you to stop calling me that!”

“Boo hoo.”

Jiraiya’s face twisted unpleasantly.

“How the fuck a demon like you came from Minato and Kushina I’ll never fucking know,” the Sannin said to himself, but Naruto heard. Jiraiya spoke a bit louder. “What happened back in Konoha, huh? Why are you like this?”

Naruto threw the bastard a middle finger, stuck on the ‘demon’ comment. The village had used it a lot in reference to the Kyūbi but it had become a way to describe him, as if he and the Tailed Beast were one and the same. Naruto knew Jiraiya used it in reference to his attitude towards the man but it brought up old anger and hurt he’d wanted to leave back in Konoha.

“What a shame they got themselves killed so we can’t ask them,” Naruto’s words dripped with poison, the insincerity palpable. “They were too busy being pathetic to save themselves.”

Jiraiya’s face clouded over and Naruto knew he’d hit the man’s weak spot. For some reason, the man was attached to the idea of the Yondaime and his wife, reacting badly whenever Naruto badmouthed them or even suggested anything vaguely negative about them. He saved it for the times that his usual tactics fell through, as a last resort. It never failed to land.

“Do not talk about them.”

Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets, staring down the man’s furious gaze.

“Why do you even care?” Naruto asked, not really looking for an answer. “They’re dead. They don’t care.”

“Have some damn respect for the dead,” Jiraiya snapped, turning around to stomp down the dirt road, Naruto slowly starting to follow. “You owe them everything.”

“I owe them alright,” Naruto growled.

He owed them for the shit he put up with from the village and the unfair treatment from the Hokage and the misery he felt every second he spent within the village walls.

“We’ll reach the next town by nightfall,” Jiraiya’s voice was clipped.

Naruto didn’t answer.

Jiraiya sat the bar and downed the sake placed in front of him. He felt like he’d aged a decade in the past few weeks. His godson was a nightmare given flesh and he was no closer to figuring out why.

Naruto was vicious, vindictive, petty, disrespectful and had awful temper. Any attempt Jiraiya made to try to get to know him, to figure out how they got there, was met with unyielding resistance. The brat would sooner bite off his own tongue than give Jiraiya even a scrap of personal information.

The brat was mean. He took any and all opportunities to annoy Jiraiya and it was really starting to grate on him now. He hadn’t been able to do any research since picking the brat up and it was itching at him and that was just the tip of the iceberg. The stupid nickname, the futile escape attempts, the insults, the open disrespect, the comments on Minato and Kushina; it was a lot. Jiraiya was a seasoned shinobi and it would take more than some mean-spirited words to truly affect him enough for it to change anything, but it was frustrating. Naruto had made it his personal mission to make Jiraiya as miserable as he was and he hated to admit it, but it was working.

What had gone so wrong with his godson? What happened while he wasn’t there?

He had sent a toad to Sarutobi-sensei for answers but there had been no reply yet. He knew his teacher would be busy with the Chunin Exams right now so the delay was to be expected.

He downed the next cup of sake, checking on Naruto’s chakra signature. He was still in the room and there were no clones that he could detect around the village; that had been a fun way to discover his godson’s proficiency with Kage Bunshin. He hadn’t been able to get an accurate gauge of Naruto’s abilities since they hadn’t had a proper training session yet; maybe that would calm the brat down and get him to see that Jiraiya was on his side. He had been able to see glimpses of it. He was reluctantly impressed that the brat kept wiggling out of every restraint he could put on him when he tried to take a precious moment for his research. He still wasn’t sure how the brat had gotten out of the last seal but if wasn’t as if he could ask him. Naruto would just insult him and his sealing.

 He had to remember Naruto was just a child. He was an adult in shinobi terms but he was only twelve. He was lashing out and while Jiraiya didn’t know why, it was in line with the immaturity and short-sightedness he could remember from his own youth. The brat would come around…if Jiraiya didn’t kill him first.

He held up a hand, ordering another sake. He had to figure something out before they headed out tomorrow morning. Things could not keep going like this. Jiraiya did want to help his godson becoming stronger but they couldn’t do anything while they were at odds like this. He had to figure out a way to break through to the kid. He could teach him the Rasengan? Surely the kid wouldn’t be able to turn down learning a super powerful jutsu.

His thoughts were interrupted by the puff of smoke appearing on the counter of the bar. Jiraiya grinned at the toad, taking the scroll in her hands and thanking her. It was about time Sarutobi-sensei replied; maybe this would have something to help him with the brat. He unrolled the scroll and scanned the document…

…Sarutobi-sensei?…

…the parchment crinkled under his white knuckled grip. He dumped money for sake on the counter and turned towards their inn, intent on finding the kid and getting the hell out of there.

It couldn’t be true. Sarutobi-sensei was fine and Konoha was fine and everything would be fine. They had to get back to Konoha. He didn’t care what the brat had to say about it; Jiraiya was no longer humouring him. He didn’t care if he had to knock the little shit out. Sarutobi-sensei and Konoha needed them. The scroll had mentioned they hadn’t been able to reach Tsunade-hime; there was a lot of wounded and they needed her. Dammit, he might need to drag her back himself at some point.

He just hoped that the attack wasn’t as bad as they made it sound. Konoha was strong. Not even a Tailed Beast could keep them down. Oto and Suna may have caught them off guard, but Konoha was strong. They had to be fine.

Sakura shoved her hair back from where it had escaped her ponytail. She knew she was adding more dirt but it would hardly make a difference; she’d been covered in a layer of dirt and grime long before she’d started helping with the recovery efforts.

It had all happened so fast. She hadn’t been at the stadium, the epicentre of the main attack. She hadn’t been able to stomach watching Ino and the rest of her academy classmates’ jump so far ahead of her while her own career fell apart so she had gone to a quiet training ground on her own.

Naruto left and then Kakashi-sensei tells her that she’s being transferred to another team and then she finds out Sasuke also left the village; that had been a kick in the gut. Both her teammates had abandoned the village and she hadn’t known, hadn’t been able to even pick up a hint about their plans to do so. Another reason she’d found herself alone in the training ground was to escape the gossip about the Uchiha, all the whispers that Naruto had corrupted him and tempted him away. She hated the staring from everyone else; most of the time she couldn’t tell if it was pity or accusing or if they thought she was next.

She had tried so hard, trained so hard, after joining Team Seven and she was proud of the progress she’d made, even if no one else had been. She felt strong for the first time in her life and it hurt that the people she wanted to see it the most were the people who looked right through her.

Naruto had always been very up-front on his feelings so Sakura couldn’t hold it against him but she had so wanted him to acknowledge her. The rose-coloured lenses she had for Sasuke had been shattered a long time ago. She couldn’t believe her younger self now; she couldn’t blame Sasuke for not liking her back. Sakura couldn’t say she liked herself in hindsight. Kakashi-sensei…his heart had never been in it. Their team hadn’t fit together from the start and now they were in the aftermath, it was pretty clear how they’d gotten to this point. Still, they had been her team. They would always be her genin team, no matter what other team she landed in.

She had been broken from her daily spiral on the state of her team by explosions and by the time she looked in the direction of the village, the smoke was already rising. She’d run back as fast as she could but everything had already started by then.

She’d had to be told about the events in and around the stadium later since she’d never gotten close and it had sounded like a nightmare. Suna had unleashed a massive sand beast that was responsible for most of the property damage Konoha had suffered. She’d seen the sandy blob in the distance at some points but she’d been too busy fighting for her life at the time to think more on it.

She’d first arrived at the village to see the bodies.

She hadn’t seen dead bodies before.

She’d always thought that they would look like they were sleeping but they really didn’t. They were too still and their cheeks too hollow and their skin too pale. She’d seen the chunin around Konoha, usually talking to the body lying close by. The blood still dripped from his slashed throat and his brown eyes stared back at Sakura, glassy and empty and they didn’t even flinch when a fly landed right on the eyeball. Sakura hadn’t been able to keep her stomach contents, heaving for several minutes as she saw the man behind her closed eyelids. Looking back, she’d been lucky not to be attacked at that moment; she would have died quickly.

She’d run out of bile and pulled herself together slowly, looking out at the increasing amount of smoke that covered the village. She could hear the clash of kunai and the yelling and the crunching and splashing that she was absolutely not going to think about right now and her feet moved before she could think, running to the closest sound. She’d come to a fight between Konoha and a shinobi from another village. They had a musical note on their hitai-ate and Sakura had recalled the mention of a relatively new village, Oto, who had participated in the Chunin Exams.

Why were they attacking Konoha?

The pair noticed her and it was long enough for the Konoha nin to take the advantage. Sakura watched with wide eyes as the chunin stuck a kunai deep into the Oto nin’s eye, the enemy falling to the ground with a wet thump.

“You a genin?”

Sakura’s voice caught in her throat but she managed a nod. The chunin was covered in dirt and blood and other stains she couldn’t identify right now and she knew that this is what happened as a kunoichi but holy shit.

“You weren’t at the stadium with the rest of them,” the chunin said mostly to herself, the red triangles on her cheeks marking her as an Inuzuka. She couldn’t see the dogs that would normally accompany the clan member. “Look, the enemy is Suna and Oto. It’s kill on sight for any of them. You understanding me?”

Sakura quickly nodded.

“Stick with me,” the chunin ordered. “I can’t send you off on your own as a genin but I need you to pull your weight, okay? I say jump, you jump, got it?”

“Yes,” Sakura finally found her voice. “I…okay.”

“What’s your name?”

“Sakura.”

“I’m Hana. The academy has been covered but we need to go bolster the defences around the hospital. If you see any injured, let me know so we can take them with us. You know basic first aid?”

Sakura nodded again, following after Hana as she set off.

She didn’t know how long she had Hana had fought together in the end. It all became a blur and if anyone had asked Sakura to recall any details she would have had nothing to say. It was fight after fight and she knew that she never would have survived if she hadn’t been training as hard as she had. The faces of the villagers she felt no pulse for didn’t sink in and the ones who were still breathing they didn’t stick around to remember, just handing them to the closest medic nin.

She took her first life that day. It was a teen not much older than her, an awful sneer on his face. Three Oto nin had gotten the jump on her and Hana. The chunin was managing two of them, leaving Sakura with this guy. She was pretty sure he had underestimated her, whether it was her age, her rank, her gender, she would never know. She could only be grateful he did when she finally managed to sink her kunai into his chest, the blade becoming stuck and dragging her to the ground with him. The breath had been knocked from her lungs and it had taken another two attempts to yank the kunai from his chest, the wet sound sickening. She had learned not to lose any kunai if she could help it. She’d turned to see Hana looking approvingly back at her, the other two Oto nin dead on the ground. Her cheek had throbbed and Sakura was pretty sure half her body was a massive bruise but she couldn’t stop.

She took more lives that day but it didn’t affect her like the first. She’d seen too many bodies to ever be bothered by something like that again.

She didn’t know how many hours had passed when the fighting became far and few between. She and Hana were able to spend more time digging shinobi and civilians from the rubble, Hana’s dogs appearing to guard them. Hana had said after that they’d been sent to guard over a preschool group nearby and when an Inuzuka jounin had finally found them, he’d let the Haimaru brothers go back to Hana. It certainly sped up the search.

Sakura couldn’t say at what point the attack was deemed as over. She was pretty sure it still wasn’t. She hadn’t seen a living Oto or Suna nin in hours by this point and she’d fully moved on to recovery efforts now.

Hana had forced her to have a quick check-up and meal at the hospital before they’d headed back out. It had been long enough to find out that Kiba, who turned out to be Hana’s little brother, hadn’t survived the stadium attack. Shino, his teammate, had passed as well and she’d managed to find out Ino did survive but was admitted to hospital with grave injuries. Hana had left to find her clan members in the wake of the news about her brother and Sakura had been picked up by another chunin organising the recovery efforts. She’d been paired with Shikamaru, the Nara injured but well enough to help dig people out of the rubble. She didn’t know what to say to him. They had never spoken back when they’d been classmates and she didn’t know what to say to him now.

Konoha was devastated. Half the buildings in the village were in ruins, most of the civilian casualties a result of the building collapses. Sakura didn’t think things would ever be normal again. She dreaded the final body count.

All her worries and anger about her team seemed so small in comparison. Naruto and Sasuke had abandoned the village but she hadn’t. She still loved Konoha and she was a proud member of this village. She hated that this had happened and she hated even more that there was nothing she could have done to help more, not at her current skill level.

It was a quiet moment with Shikamaru that helped her realise her path forward.

“I’m sorry about Ino,” she’d told him as they shared a water bottle, sitting on a pile of rocks that used to be a café. “I hope she pulls through. Chouji too.”

“I know you’re friends with Ino,” Shikamaru had answered quietly, all traces of the usual nonchalance and laziness she remembered from the academy gone. “She missed you at the stadium but I guess that was for the best.”

Sakura looked back out to the shinobi guiding limping civilians away from what used to the market.

“I hate this,” she whispered. “I hate I couldn’t stop them.”

“We’re just genin,” Shikamaru shrugged, taking another swig of water. “How much could we have done?”

“We could do more,” she answered, knowing it in her heart to be true. “We could do so much more but we need to get stronger.”

Shikamaru was silent for a moment.

“I’m sorry about your team.”

“That’s different,” she scoffed. “They abandoned Konoha. They weren’t here to help.”

“They left you,” Shikamaru continued. “It can’t be easy being the one left behind.”

“Well, I’m just going to have to become the strongest in the entire damn village and beat their asses when I see them next,” Sakura vowed. “I’ll become strong enough that something like this can’t ever happen again. People should be safe and I don’t ever want to drag bodies out of their own homes again.”

She wasn’t sure where the declaration came from but she felt it settle in her heart. She meant it. She would become strong and no one would ever look down on her again and she would be able to protect the village.

“I’ve been slacking.”

She looked over to Shikamaru.

“I’ve been doing the bare minimum,” the confession felt raw, Shikamaru’s face twisted in an expression Sakura had never seen from him before. “I just wanted to skate by, be an ordinary chunin, live an ordinary life where I didn’t have to try or work hard or go out of my way. I beat the genjutsu at the stadium but then lay there doing nothing, hoping it would all fix itself without me…and now I have probably lost my teammates. I don’t even know if my parents are okay and I don’t know how many of my clan are dead.”

Sakura hadn’t had the time or space to wonder about her own parents. They were civilians so they couldn’t defend themselves. She also knew, from being around the fighting and the hospital, that she probably wouldn’t be able to track them down herself. She would have to go look at the lists when they finished the search. She hated that she couldn’t even bring herself to be upset; she was just empty.

“Then do something about it,” she told him, his dark eyes looking over at her. “I was the weakest on my team and Naruto let me know it. I’ve been trying to change that and I am nowhere close but one thing I learned from him is that moping around and self-pity isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

She would always be grateful to him for that, as much as she was angry too.

“So we get stronger,” Shikamaru nodded, something settling in his eyes. “We build a future where something like this never happens again; a future where people have time to just watch the clouds without worry.”

“A future where we can fight anyone who tries to hurt the village,” Sakura agreed. “A future where everyone feels safe and happy and no one has a reason to leave.”

The promise settled between the pair of them and Sakura didn’t know how they would do it, but they would. She hoped Ino and Chouji recovered and the rest of her classmates unaccounted for turned up safe, so they could all work together towards this future. She could do it on her own, but she was tired of fighting by herself. As horrifying as this battle had been, it had shown her what it was like to really work with people and be part of a real team. It made her experience as part of Team Seven even more pathetic.

Sakura looked over the ruins of her village.

She would never let this happen again.

Chapter Text

“We need to go, brat.”

Naruto ignored him.

“I’m serious. Get up.”

Naruto purposefully turned over in the futon so his back was to Jiraiya. His eyes snapped open as he felt something grab his leg and he was torn from the covers, dangling upside down from the massive fist of the Sannin.

“What the fuck, Ero-Sennin?” he grouched. “I wasn’t even doing anything.”

“We need to go.”

Jiraiya released him and Naruto landed on all fours, glaring up at the jounin. He slept in all his gear anyway so he was ready to go at a moment’s notice but that wasn’t for Jiraiya’s benefit.

“What crawled up your ass?”

“Konoha has been attacked.”

Naruto paused.

“Attacked?”

“Oto and Suna attacked the village in the final round of the Chunin Exams. We need to go.”

Naruto’s thought immediately jumped to Gai-sensei. He had to be okay, right? No one was stronger than Gai-sensei. Sasuke would be okay too, and Kakashi. Hayate and Yugao were strong too. They were all fine. Teuchi and Ayame were civilians but they were tough. He kind of hated that was his first thought; he was supposed to be leaving the village behind. He couldn’t even ask Jiraiya if they were okay. Gods forbid the Sannin find out Naruto had a soft spot for anyone. It would give him ideas that he might be able to win Naruto over and he was not having that.

“You know, I always thought it would be me to burn the village down.” He thought out loud. “Never thought someone would beat me to it.”

“This is not the fucking time, brat,” Jiraiya snarled and wow, Naruto hadn’t seen him this pissed off yet. He needed to up his game.

“What’s the point in even going back?” he continued, unphased. “Sounds like there isn’t a village to go back to.”

He didn’t have time to even flinch when Jiraiya grabbed the back on his hoodie and threw him out of the window with a loud crash. Naruto hissed as he felt shards of glass dig into his back but he managed to soften the landing, glaring up at Jiraiya who jumped out of the window after him.

“This is serious, you little shit!” Jiraiya yelled. It was different than all the other times the Sannin had yelled at him up to now. “People died! Sarutobi-sensei died!”

Naruto blinked. The Hokage had died? Things had soured considerably between he and the old man in recent years but it still knocked the wind out of him. He’d known the old man his whole life even if they had parted on bad terms.

“And I care why?” he snapped, trying to save face. “It’s not like I was ever going to see any of them again.”

“So you’re telling me that there is not a single person in the village that you care about? Not a single person you want to know survived?”

Gai-sensei’s face appeared again, Sasuke’s and the others flashing by quickly, but not quickly enough. Naruto could see the moment Jiraiya realised he had taken a fraction too long to answer.

“My point stands,” Naruto crossed his arms defensively. “What exactly do you think you will be able to do if we go back? The damage has been done.”

Naruto knew he had a point. By the time they even made it back to Konoha, at least a week would have passed and the recovery efforts would have been well under way for a while.

“Is there absolutely nothing you can do that doesn’t involve going back to the village?”

It was not his most subtle attempt, almost embarrassingly transparent, but Naruto had managed to keep away from the village this long. There had to be something he could say that would keep Jiraiya away from the village.

“We have to have to back to the Land of Fire,” Jiraiya answer, voice hard and unyielding and Naruto knew he wouldn’t be able to get out of this one.

The fact the Sannin had said ‘Land of Fire’ and not ‘Konoha’ did give him a little hope. He would just have to play along for now. If it looked like Jiraiya was dragging him back to Konoha, he would figure something out. He had time.

Not enough time.

He hadn’t had nearly enough time to figure something out.

They had reached the Land of Fire a lot quicker than Naruto had been anticipating and the Sannin was a lot less tolerant of his bullshit. The man didn’t ask him questions and didn’t try to get to know him anymore. It was what Naruto wanted but it still felt weird. Jiraiya had been different since the news about Konoha and everything they’d heard on their travels hadn’t helped.

Apparently the damage was a lot worse than Jiraiya had said. They’d apparently lost at least a third of the civilian population and quarter of the shinobi forces. The genin ranks in particular had been decimated. There were very few buildings left standing and there had already been whispers of other shinobi villages taking advantage; Konoha hadn’t been this weak to its enemies like ever.

He had managed to get some information on Sasuke. The news of the defection of the Last Uchiha, coinciding with the attack, had led to many rumours that Sasuke had sold Konoha out. Naruto was just glad that he wasn’t in the village for the attack and he was even happier to hear that he’d left the village at all. He kind of wished that Sasuke had come with him when he’d asked but they were sure to run into each other outside the village. Sasuke was chasing after his own goals and Naruto had no doubts that he would succeed. Something in his chest had loosened at the news that his teammate hadn’t been present for the devastation of Konoha, that he was safe.

Sasuke would kick his ass for the thought. It made him smile.

Jiraiya had demanded if he’d known Sasuke would do something like that. Naruto had asked why he would know something like that; just because they were on the same team didn’t mean he knew anything about his teammates. One of his more bold-faced lies but apparently time around Naruto had convinced Jiraiya that Naruto was incapable of having friends or being any version of friendly so he didn’t question it. Naruto didn’t think Sasuke sold Konoha out personally but it didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. He was a missing nin now which was kinda funny considering Naruto technically wasn’t now.

They had been heading in a different direction that Konoha for a day or two and Naruto could feel the hope bubbling in his chest.

“So where are we going?”

Jiraiya didn’t answer him and Naruto rolled his eyes. All that time trying to get Naruto to talk to him and now he ignores him. The attack on Konoha and the loss of the Hokage had rattled the Sannin and he’d been grumpy and miserable the whole trip to the Land of Fire. It was an interesting role reversal.

“We need to find Tsunade,” Jiraiya finally answered him.

“Who’s that?”

Jiraiya actually turned to look at him, still walking down the dirt road.

“You don’t know the Sannin?”

“I know the Sannin, as like a concept,” Naruto shrugged. “Never really cared to learn the names; didn’t seem important.”

Jiraiya grumbled something beneath his breath.

“We need to find her,” he spoke a bit louder. “Konoha needs her medical abilities.”

Naruto nodded, suppressing his grin. They weren’t heading for Konoha. They had to find this Sannin lady first. This was good. This gave him more time. Jiraiya might want to head to Konoha with Tsunade but he would figure that out when it happened.

He continued to follow Jiraiya quietly down the road, the Sannin falling back into grim silence.

Neji stepped outside of the walls of the clan compound, taking a breath of the cold morning air. He hated meetings with the clan. As a member of the Branch family, he was beholden to any orders from the Main family and in the wake of the attack that had devastated Konoha, apparently a meeting had been due.

They’d lost several clan members and been recruited along with the Aburame and the Inuzuka to search for survivors due to their clan techniques. It had been a very long two weeks and Neji had seen more bodies than he would ever be comfortable seeing again. The funeral for everyone lost was finally organised for a couple days time so the Hyūga clan had wanted to inform their members of the plans for their own clan members and the changes to succession.

He had never particularly liked Hinata. She was too soft, too sensitive, too weak. Neji hated the idea of having someone he could easily beat in a fight in charge of his life and he had never really tried to hide that. He couldn’t be rude or anything but he’d managed to make his displeasure known. Hinata was a coward so she avoided him which suited him just fine.

Still, he had hardly recognised her today. She had lost both her teammates in the attack and it had obviously affected her heavily. The life had vanished from her eyes and although she had recovered from her own injuries, Neji knew she wouldn’t be able to lead the clan. He had never had any confidence in her before but this seemed to be the final straw. Hanabi, her little sister, had been named the new successor and Neji didn’t think he was going to like any more than he had when it had been Hinata but for very different reasons. Hanabi was stronger and more confident but she also believed in the hierarchy of the clan far more than Hinata ever did. It meant that Neji’s place in the Branch family would be even more constricting than it had been before.

Hinata would undergo training to later be wed for political alliances when she was older. Neji didn’t envy her. The Hyūga clan had changed although Neji couldn’t be sure if it was for the better or worse. He knew it wouldn’t affect his own goals though. He refused to let the history and laws of the clan stop him from becoming strong and finding his own place in the village, independent of submissive role he’d been unwilling assigned at birth.

He set off, walking through the once colourful and vibrant streets. The rubble had been shoved to the sides of the path to clear enough for people to walk through but nothing had been done about the state of the buildings themselves. He’d heard that would start after the funeral, now they’d found all the bodies. Dust still lingered in the air and it was eerily silent, although Neji had become somewhat used to it over the past couple of weeks. He saw people digging through the ruins to try and gather supplies or belongings and more than one civilian sobbing in front of what used to be their home.

The Hyūga had been lucky, only sustaining damage to the Western portion of their compound. Many of the other clans, such as the Nara and the Akimichi, had also come out mostly unscathed but others hadn’t been so lucky. The old Uchiha compound had remained almost entirely untouched so displaced civilians had been allocated there, much of the houses still in working order if not a bit dusty. He wasn’t sure if they’d cleaned the bloodstains from the original massacre but it wasn’t as if the civilians had a choice with half of Konoha destroyed.

It wasn’t as if the Last Uchiha was here to protest. He’d betrayed the village, much the same as his teammate, and Neji thought good riddance. Naruto had probably had something to do with it but Neji refused to give the blond any more thought than he already had. He had much bigger issues in his life to worry about rather than wasting energy on Uzumaki Naruto.

He reached his destination, weaving between the still too full triage tents that had been set up in front of the main hospital. There was less than there had been but they had too many patients and not enough medic nins so it would take a while before they could go back at anything resuming normal here. Neji walked in the front doors, his feet taking him down the familiar path. He finally came to the door and shoved it open.

“Neji!” Tenten smiled at him. “How was the clan meeting?”

“Insufferable,” he replied dryly, taking a seat in the uncomfortable plastic chair reserved for visitors. “Your voice sounds more acceptable today.”

Tenten reached up to touch the bandages still wrapped around her neck. Neji recalled that she had been very lucky for the blade to have just missed one of her carotid arteries but it was still a grievous injury. The scar would span from her chin to below her collarbones and it would be a considerable width. He hadn’t even seen it happen, having been separated from his team at the time but he’d seen the wound when they’d changed the bandages on one of his visits.

Her hair was down and she wore the standard blue robes of the hospital. Dark bags had settled beneath her eyes and Neji knew her dreams were about as peaceful as his own. He didn’t know how she could still find it in herself to smile.

“They’re saying I can leave for the funeral and then just come back for regular check-ups,” she announced. “My dad has never been happier in his life and I am so sick of these stupid walls.”

The hospital room was rather dull. It was meant to be a small single room but considering the volume of patients Tenten shared it with their third teammate.

“No change today,” she told him, looking at the prone form in the bed. “They did say that they were going to try and bring him out of it tomorrow.”

Lee had been the closest to the Suna jinchūriki when the attack had first begun. It wasn’t until the massive sand beast had vanished and fighting started to die down that Neji found out about the extent of the damage. The medic nins thought that he’d been crushed by sand, with all four of his limbs in varying stages of what Neji could only describe as mangled. He’d been put into a medically induced coma to help with the pain and prevent movement but it was hard to tell how much he had healed under the thick casts that covered each limb. It was enough to know that Lee wasn’t coming back to their team any time soon, if ever.

“What’s the plan for today then?” Tenten interrupted his thoughts. “I have to live vicariously through you so...”

“Gai-sensei is still busy with his jounin duties so I will go to the Mission Assignment Desk and see what can be done,” Neji shrugged. “I shall train in the evening.”

“Sounds…normal,” Tenten smiled but tears glistened in her eyes. She swallowed and roughly wiped her eyes. “Sorry, I thought I was done crying.”

Neji had become immune to the tears of others at this point.

“I still can’t believe this happened,” she whispered. “So many people dead or injured, Lee might never be a shinobi again…nothing will ever be normal again.”

There was nothing Neji could say to make her feel better and that wasn’t really his thing anyway. She was right; things would never be normal again. A lot had changed in the past couple of weeks and he knew that every single person in the village had been changed forever because of it, him included.

“We’ve got to get a lot stronger.” Tenten met his gaze, brown eyes still wet but shining with something else, an underlying, unyielding steel. “Konoha is going to need us and I don’t want Gai-sensei worried about us.”

Neji had been having similar thoughts, although less altruistic than his teammate. He needed to become strong enough so that he could have the freedom to make his own decisions. He may have been a Branch member but the Hyūga clan was more than aware he was by far the strongest clan member his age and they didn’t even know about all the non-clan training and jutsu he had mastered. They could not afford to lose him and they knew it, especially in the wake of Hinata’s demotion, but he was still a Branch member and they could not have him showing up any members of the Main family. It was a delicate balance and one Neji was determined to win.

“We will become stronger,” he said without a hint of doubt.

“Lee is going to have a lot of catching up to do,” Tenten smiled at their sleeping teammate but Neji could hear the truth. Lee wasn’t going to be able to catch up; he probably would never be a shinobi again. Neither of them had been able to bring themselves to say it out loud yet.

Lee…annoyed Neji. The taller boy had always been weaker than him but had always acted like he was a match for Neji; like they were equal rivals. Lee had changed a lot in their final year in the academy but when they’d been placed on a team together, Neji hadn’t had a higher opinion of him than when they’d met in their first year of the academy. In the year and a half they’d been teammates, Lee had won Neji’s reluctant respect. He never gave less than one hundred percent and he trained more than anyone Neji knew except for maybe Naruto. He had become stronger and stronger and while he had still never beat Neji in a fight, he would say at he was at least better than any of the other genin. Tenten had also changed over their time as teammates. She’d become more accurate and more confident and she stood side-by-side them.

Neji hadn’t expected his team to grow on him so much. He hadn’t expected to actually like them. He certainly hadn’t expected their team to end like this.

“I should go,” he said quietly.

“I’ll be back on missions with you soon,” she smiled softly. “Don’t be too lonely.”

“Lee is the one to complain about that, not me,” he answered just as softly, throwing one last look at the unconscious genin. “He’s going to be insufferable when he wakes up.”

“I can just imagine him trying to train in all those casts,” Tenten chuckled.

The attempt at humour died as quickly as it appeared. Neji waves and left the room, closing the door behind him. He started the familiar path out of the hospital, towards the temporary Mission Assignment Desk that had been set up for the shinobi still fit for active duty.

Everything had changed. Neji still didn’t know if it was for the better or for the worse, but there was nothing he could do about it. He could only keep taking steps forward and keep getting stronger. The most important thing was that no matter what his future held now, it wasn’t up to fate.

It was up to him.

Jiraiya walked into the town, Naruto trailing behind him. He was reaching the end of his rope with the brat. Minato be damned, he might just dump the kid back in the village and leave him to his fate. It was hard to find anything redeemable about the brat especially the last couple weeks since the news of Konoha.

He knew Naruto did not like Konoha; that fact was well-established. He still hadn’t expected the complete lack of interest in the fate of the village. He hadn’t cared or asked if anyone was okay or the extent of the damage or about Sarutobi-sensei. Just quipped that he thought he’d been the one to do it. Jiraiya had almost maimed the brat in his fury. He refused to believe that there wasn’t a single soul in Konoha that Naruto didn’t care about enough to hope they’d survived. If there was, the brat had barely given a single hint.

There was the Uchiha but he hadn’t been in the village, betraying the village much like his teammate. Naruto had claimed he hadn’t known anything and Jiraiya had let him think that Jiraiya believed him but he’d known the kid for a few weeks now. He could read him a lot better now and there was something between him and the Uchiha brat; more than he was willing to let on. Unfortunately, getting any personal information out of Naruto was like trying to lift an island out of the sea with his bare hands so Jiraiya left it for now.

He knew enough about Naruto to know that he was annoying and flippant on purpose. Jiraiya was sure that was a massive part of who he was but it couldn’t be all of it. There had to be something deeper to his godson; there had to be something worth putting up with his shitty attitude. He had to find out what happened to Naruto back in Konoha but he knew well enough now that asking wasn’t going to get him anywhere.

He had been so, so close to going back to Konoha; when he’d first found out that had been his intention. Naruto had had a point though. There wasn’t much Jiraiya could actually do if he went back right now. The fighting was over and Jiraiya was reconnaissance and combat orientated, neither skill set which would much use post-attack and he refused to become Hokage. He could keep an ear out and stop any other villages from taking advantage or warn Konoha with enough time they could defend themselves. He also could find Tsunade and convince her to go back. It was the most helpful thing he could do for the village right now but he hated that it felt like Naruto was winning.

He headed for the first bar he saw, Naruto still trailing behind him. The brat had at least stopped his escape attempts after the last time. If only Jiraiya knew that all it would take was four foot for rope, a toad summon, a paralysis seal and a pair of unwashed socks to convince the brat that escape was not only impossible, but a very bad idea.

“Drinking already?” Naruto snarked at him. “Didn’t know we had time for that.”

The kid was still being bitter over them skipping the last town. The brat had wanted to stop at the ramen stall but Jiraiya had refused, not wanting to miss Tsunade in this town. She’d already been here three days and she was bound to be leaving soon. Not that he told the brat the reason why; if he’d just asked Jiraiya instead of complaining and insulting him, then he would have told him.

Jiraiya ignored him as they entered the bar and he saw who he was looking for.

“Tsunade-hime!”

The blonde head turned toward him and Jiraiya couldn’t help the skip in his heartbeat when she turned unimpressed brown eyes towards him. She was still as beautiful as the last time he saw her.

“Jiraiya?” she yelled, standing from the bench and slamming the palms of her hands on the table. “Why are you here?”

“I finally found you,” he replied walking over to the table. “I’m exhausted!”

He slumped onto the bench opposite, nodding a greeting at Shizune. Naruto slunk in after him, narrowed eyes staring at Tsunade.

“Seriously, Jiraiya, why are you here?”

“Did you hear about Konoha?”

Tsunade frowned at him, taking another swig of sake.

“I try to not to listen to anything about Konoha, you know that.”

“Sarutobi-sensei is dead,” he said abruptly. No point in mincing words. “Konoha was attacked by Oto and Suna. We lost about a third of the civilians and a quarter of the shinobi. They need you.”

The sake cup fell from Tsunade’s frozen hand, landing on the table with a clatter.

“No…”

“I’m sorry, hime, but they need you.”

Tsunade looked down at the sake cup, now cracked up one side. Jiraiya had a feeling she hadn’t heard. She refused to listen to anything about the village and she’d probably spent the last two weeks in various gambling dens and bars, too drunk to really listen to idle chat. Shizune would have had heard at least something but she wouldn’t have mentioned it to Tsunade. She probably wouldn’t have realised how bad the attack actually was; such was the nature of gossip, there was been many stories floating around the Land of Fire.

“Jiraiya, I can’t.”

His heart sank. He had expected the answer but this wasn’t a normal circumstance. She had to know how serious this was.

“They need you, Tsunade,” he insisted, leaning forward. “People are dying and they need you. They need a new Hokage.”

Her eyes widened but Jiraiya just met her gaze head on. She was the best choice for Hokage and even if she wasn’t, they still need her for her medical knowledge. Konoha needed Tsunade and he wasn’t leaving until she understood that.

“This old hag is going to be Hokage?”

All eyes dropped to Naruto, who had stolen the snacks from Tsunade’s side of the table. He looked back, blue eyes unimpressed, and Jiraiya knew this meeting about to go sideways.

Chapter Text

Naruto shoved another taiyaki in his mouth, unbothered by the sudden silence. So this was Tsunade? He wasn’t impressed. She didn’t look like she was the same age as Jiraiya but Jiraiya could just look super old for his age. Tsunade had pale blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, with thick stands framing the side of her face. Brown eyes were staring at him and she had a small blue mark in the middle of her forehead that looked like a diamond. She wore a simple sleeveless sage kimono with a forest green obi wrapped around her waist and a forest green kimono rest on her shoulders.

Her companion looked younger, short black hair to her shoulders and large, dark eyes also staring at him. She was dressed in an all black kimono.

“Who are you calling an old hag?” Tsunade demanded furiously as Jiraiya face palmed beside him.

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

“You never said she was going to be Hokage,” he spoke to Jiraiya instead, the words muffled by the food in his mouth.

“Do you care?” Jiraiya looked at his open mouth vaguely disgusted but the man had a point. Maybe he knew Naruto a little better than he thought.

“Nope,” Naruto swallowed the mouthful before stuffing the next one in. They hadn’t eaten since breakfast and after missing out on ramen yesterday, his stomach felt a little too empty. “Carry on.”

“Who is this brat?” Tsunade snarled.

It was nice that she didn’t know. His hair had started to grow back although it was still shorter than when he’d first hacked it off. His face was clear of sunscreen and dirt so his whisker marks were visible. He hadn’t needed the disguise since he was travelling with Jiraiya but the bucket hat had grown on him. He’d put his black shinobi gear and his sleeveless orange hoodie back on so he looked like himself again.

“This is Uzumaki Naruto,” Jiraiya introduced and Naruto caught the recognition in her eyes. Damn.

Naruto opened his mouth to show off the half eaten contents of his mouth as she looked at him. Her lips curled in disgust.

“Did you not beat any manners into him?”

Naruto snorted. Jiraiya couldn’t even stop him calling him Ero-Sennin. The Sannin’s elbow was shoved into his ribs and he coughed as he inhaled a stray crumb. He swallowed hard and glared at the man.

“Tsunade, what’s your answer?” Jiraiya brought the conversation back on track.

“I refuse,” she replied immediately and Naruto caught the look of shock from her companion. He blinked as a pig jumped into the younger kunoichi’s lap, wearing a red dress and a string of pearls. What the…you know what, not his problem. “I’m not going back.”

“Well, I think this went rather well,” Naruto swallowed the last of the snack, pushing the cleared plate back to the women’s side of the table. “Are we done here or is there more food?”

“Unlike your last apprentice, this kid is not only rude, disrespectful and foul-mouthed but he’s ugly to match,” Tsunade replied and Naruto scowled.

“It’s tough on anyone to be compared to the Yondaime.”

Something clicked in his brain.

“That’s why you’re so sensitive whenever I talk shit about him,” he wondered aloud. “I figured you knew him but I didn’t know you taught him. Wow, you did kind of a shit job since you outlived him, huh?”

He didn’t even mean it in a malicious way this time. He really had been wondering how they knew each other and why it was so easy to use the Yondaime against Jiraiya.

“Watch your tongue, brat,” it was Tsunade who unexpectedly came to the defence. “You’ll never be half the man he was.”

“Good,” Naruto snapped back. “If I ever end up like that asshole, take me out the back and stab me in the head.”

Her eyes widened.

“He was a shit Hokage, just like the Sandaime, no doubt just like every Hokage before them and every Hokage after them,” he continued, twisting his words further, trying to make them hurt. “Konoha is a doomed village and it isn’t worth it.”

Tsunade slammed a hand on the table and it cracked in half. Naruto didn’t actively seek out these kinds of situations but she had insulted him and talked down to him before he even had the chance to earn it and he’d had plenty of practice using his words to find weak points during his time with Jiraiya. Not a skill he had really used in Konoha, mostly just avoiding situations like that and lashing out when cornered, but since Jiraiya had dragged him out of the Land of Water he’d had plenty of pent up rage and no way to avoid unleashing it on the closest person to him. Not that he really wanted to stop himself from lashing out at Jiraiya.

“Shut your mouth!” she snarled.

“Why do you care?” he sniped back. “You don’t wanna be Hokage anyway and you aren’t going back to help. The village dying isn’t going to affect your life since you avoid the place like the fucking plague anyway. What difference does it make to you?”

That question seemed to stop her short, the anger draining from her quicker than he expected.

“You don’t know anything about my relationship with Konoha,” she hissed but it was much quieter than before.

“I know you are willing to let it crumble to the ground without lifting a finger to help,” Naruto shrugged. “I’m not saying that as a bad thing. I would be more than happy for that place to be ground into dust. I’m with you; I wouldn’t go back either. I just don’t know why you’re getting so pissed off about it.”

“What is wrong with you?”

All eyes were drawn to the younger woman, her dark eyes just staring at Naruto in horror.

“Aren’t you a Konoha shinobi? Don’t you care about the village?”

“Nope,” he answered easily. “I wouldn’t really choose to be a Konoha shinobi but it’s that or prison, so you know…”

He trailed off, shrugging. He honestly couldn’t care less about what happened to the village itself. He had people he cared about but they weren’t tied to the village in his mind. They were Konoha shinobi, yes, but Naruto didn’t associate them with the village. Sasuke wasn’t even there and he knew Gai-sensei and Kakashi were strong enough to have survived unscathed. The others he wasn’t so sure about, but he couldn’t afford to think about it. He couldn’t let himself go back to the village, not for anything or anyone. If they truly knew him, they would understand that.

Silence descended over the group and Naruto rolled his eyes. For people who spent all their time away from the village, they sure were being super fucking sensitive about it.

“Can I go?”

He looked over to Jiraiya who was watching with an unreadable expression.

“Sure, brat,” he said. “Do not leave…”

“Don’t leave the village, don’t steal anything, don’t start any fights, don’t defect to any other shinobi villages, don’t get arrested, don’t blow anything up, don’t kill anyone,” Naruto listed off, getting up from his seat and rolling his eyes. The list had expanded significantly since they’d first met and he hadn’t even tried half the things on it. “I know, Ero-Sennin.”

“Shizune, leave us.”

He turned and left the bar. He didn’t know how long it would take for them to finish arguing about this but it should be long enough to get some training in now Jiraiya wasn’t looking. He remembered a clearing close to the edge of town.

“What the hell is wrong with him?” Tsunade demanded.

Jiraiya sighed heavily, dropping his head into his hands.

“I wish I knew.”

“No, seriously, Jiraiya,” Tsunade continued. “How did Minato and Kushina’s brat end up like that? What did he mean prison?”

“He defected from the village,” Jiraiya lifted his head from his hands. “I found him in the Land of Water as a missing nin about to be kidnapped. I convinced the village he’s now my personal student so the ANBU don’t arrest him but I’m at a loss with him, Tsunade. Nothing I say gets through to him and I know if he was given a chance to murder me in exchange for permanent freedom. I would already be dead.”

Tsunade sat back, processing his words.

“What happened?”

“I have my suspicions,” Jiraiya began. “So you know the stigma around jinchūriki?”

She nodded.

“I think Naruto suffered at the hands of the villagers,” he continued. “I didn’t want to believe it; I never thought Sarutobi-sensei would allow it but it’s the only thing that makes sense. He hates the village but he doesn’t actually want to destroy it himself. He just wants to be away from it. He threatened the release the Kyūbi if I ever tried to take him back.”

“Damn it,” Tsunade swore. “What the hell was the old man playing at?”

“I honestly don’t know.” He paused at the mention of the late Hokage. “You really won’t go back?”

Tsunade went silent.

“Tsunade?”

“Fuck.”

She slammed back the rest of the sake, just drinking straight from the bottle.

“Fuck,” she repeated with no less feeling than the first.

“The kid got to you,” Jiraiya slowly realised. “You still care about the village.”

“Of course I do!” she snapped. “Doesn’t mean I want to be the fucking Hokage though!”

“You’re the only one who can do the job!”

“Why don’t you do it?”

“I need to be out here with my information network,” Jiraiya explained. “Oto and Suna are just the beginning. There’s movement in the shadows of all the nations and I don’t want to be caught off guard again. I’m more useful away from the village.”

He took a breath before continuing.

“I also need to keep an eye on Naruto. He’s already almost been kidnapped once and there’s no way in hell we are going to get him to go back to the village willingly. He can stay with me and I’ll train him and protect him and show him that there are people on his side. If given enough time, I can convince him that being a part of Konoha is the best thing for him.”

“You really think you can do that?”

“What other option is there?”

“And how long are you planning for this ‘training trip’? At what point does it become a lost cause?”

“I can’t believe he’s lost,” Jiraiya replied quietly. “I can’t believe that this…this rude, guarded, shitty little brat is all that’s left of Minato and Kushina. He’s been hurt, badly. He just needs time to heal; away from Konoha.”

“Does he know your relation to him?”

“No, Tsunade, I have not told the brat who hates my guts that I’m his godfather,” he drawled. “That won’t end badly.”

“It will be even worse when he does find out.”

Jiraiya rubbed his brow. She didn’t need to tell him that.

“You know why I don’t want to go back,” she continued in a quiet voice that very unlike her. “I can’t be Hokage, Jiraiya. You know that.”

“I know,” Jiraiya nodded. “I wish there was another choice. Konoha needs you, hime, and you have a choice. You can ignore them and go back to this self-destructive spiral you’ve been stuck in since Nawaki and Dan died or you can step up and help people who desperately need it, because I’ll be honest; if you don’t I don’t know how much of a village there will be to go back to.”

He took a risk using their names but he needed her to understand.

“I hate you.”

“I know.”

“I’ll…I’ll go back.”

Jiraiya froze.

“What?”

“I said I’ll go back!” she threw the sake cup at him but he barely even noticed. “I’m not going to be Hokage but I’ll go back and help with the healing shit.”

“What about the blood?”

“I’ll figure it out,” she muttered, looking very unhappy with her own decision. “Fuck, fucking that shitty, bastard, shitty fucking brat. I was fine before he opened his big mouth.”

If someone had told Jiraiya that Tsunade was going to be convinced by Naruto to go back to Konoha after decades of avoiding the place like the plague, he would not have believed it.

“How did he…?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“He was right,” she hissed. “If I don’t go back now, if I let Konoha fall without even trying to help…I hate Konoha for taking Nawaki and Dan away from me but not enough to lose it; that would make their deaths even more pointless and I can’t have that.”

She looked at him, brown eyes serious and unwavering.

“If I do this though, you have to fix him. You have to get him to care about Konoha, fuck, even care about other people! I’ll give you three years, Jiraiya. Three years to convince him to come back.”

“If I don’t?”

It wasn’t a threat. Jiraiya really didn’t know if he could.

“I don’t know,” Tsunade threw up her hands. “Figure it out.”

“Thank you, hime.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” she sneered. “I may change my way on the way or when I get there and I won’t stay a moment longer than I have to.”

Jiraiya knew she thought she meant it but she would stay. She would help. She hadn’t made this decision lightly and if she was going to do this, then she would throw herself into it whole-heartedly. It was one of the things he loved about her.

“I better go tell the brat then.”

She waved him away, crumbling into herself. Jiraiya left her to grieve, heading to where he could feel Naruto’s chakra signature. He wouldn’t tell the brat about the three year deadline. Naruto would just take it as a challenge to figure out a way to get away before those three years were up. He would just have to keep working on him and try to earn his trust. He hadn’t gotten anywhere yet but he’d only had the boy for a few weeks. He could do a lot more in three years.

Gai walked into the Jounin Standby Station, just back from his latest mission. It had been a very tough month since the Chunin Exams. Gai had not seen anything like it since the Third Shinobi War and he had hoped he never would again, much less to his own village. It had caught them off guard and they had only barely managed to fight the enemy off.

Hokage-sama had incapacitated Orochimaru which had triggered the retreat but they had managed to do a lot of damage in the mean time. Gai had no doubt it was over either. Konoha had to honour their dead and start rebuilding but they would not let this go. Suna and Oto were now at the top of Konoha’s list of enemies and Gai dreaded the day they would be ordered to attack. He wished to protect Konoha but he firmly believed they had quite enough death and destruction for the time being, especially the genin.

He had been fortunate to still have his team among the living. Almost every other genin team had lost one member, most losing two and the very unlucky ones that lost the whole team. There were many members of Naruto’s graduating class that had succumbed to the fighting and Gai could not help but remember how small they were when Naruto used to pick fights with them. They had lost over half their genin forces and Gai knew it would have many long-term repercussions on Konoha’s future. As much as he missed him, Gai was glad Naruto was not here for his. He did not think he could have bared to lose any of his students. Saying that, every single person had lost someone they knew that day, and he was not an exception.

Neji was assisting with missions and Tenten had recently joined him, her wounds healing gradually. His team had been in the thick of it at the stadium and Gai was so, so proud of them. They had fought and survived and although they were not unscathed, scars were always a better alternative to death.

His mood dropped at the thought of his final student. Lee had fought gallantly, burning with the spirit of Youth, but he had been at the epicentre. He loved the boy, and he was so proud and honoured to be his teacher, but no genin could stand up to the might of a jinchūriki that had released their Tailed Beast. Lee had vanished from view in the sandstorm and Gai had become preoccupied with the fighting and trying to protect the remaining genin and civilians. He would carry that dishonour and regret for the rest of his life; he had failed to protect his student and now Lee was suffering the consequences. He may never be a shinobi again. They had tried to bring his young pupil out of his coma a couple of weeks ago but it had not gone well, the boy in too much pain. They had quickly put him back under, deciding to wait until his limbs had healed further. No one was capable of the advanced healing necessary to facilitate a real recovery so they simply had to wait.

He did not want to accept the outcome. Lee was a strong, brave pupil who shone with the Power of Youth and he refused to accept that a future pillar of the village had his career abruptly halted so soon. They would just have to wait for him to be well enough to wake up and then Lee could decide his future for himself. Gai would support whatever decision he made.

“How are you still upright?”

Genma lay slumped across one of the benches, his head in Raidou’s lap. The tokubetsu jounin looked exhausted, much the same as the rest of Konoha’s population. The remaining genin and chunin were focused on rebuilding efforts in the village so it was up to the jounin to continue taking missions and generate income to fund the rebuild and show other shinobi villages that they were down but not out.

“Why would I not be?” he grinned at his genin teammate. “Any opportunity to grow stronger while assisting the village invigorates and energizes me with the Power of Youth!”

Genma glared at him but it lacked any heat. He turned into Raidou’s stomach with a grumble. Gai had not been lying as he truly did appreciate the change to push himself and assist the village, but his limbs did not feel as light as they usually did. He found it harder to rouse himself recently and he knew he was pushing his limits but he could not stop; not when they had lost so many. He could not afford to let anyone else down.

“How are your team doing?” Raido asked kindly, as Gai sat on one of the chairs opposite them, folding his arms. He could not help the way his back sank in the cushions behind him. “I heard they survived?”

“Neji and Tenten are helping with the rebuilding efforts!” Gai announced proudly. “They have recovered tremendously and I admire their fortitude.”

He paused for a half a second, not long enough for anyone else to notice.

“Lee is improving,” was all he said on the third.

“That’s great!” Genma had turned back to him, head still on Raidou’s lap. “Kurenai lost both the boys and the Hyūga is retiring from kunoichi duties. Asuma kept one but I’ve seen the Yamanaka girl racing around in her wheelchair with no issues so Inoichi might train her up in torture and interrogation so she can still be a kunoichi. I don’t know about the Akimichi kid; heard he lost an arm.”

“Kakashi’s girl survived too,” Raidou added. “She’s been working like a demon I hear. It’s a shame about the two boys though.”

Gai nodded. He had not expected Sasuke to follow in Naruto’s footsteps and he could not imagine how his rival was taking it. He had been defeated after the loss of Naruto and for a second one to defect from the village, Gai worried for his rival. He had heard rumours that Kakashi was going back into ANBU but he dismissed them. He did not like rumours anyway; he would hear from Kakashi himself next time he saw him. He desperately hoped it was untrue. He had spent so long trying to get Kakashi out and he did not know what he would do if his rival went back willingly. He knew the boys leaving had been tough on his rival but ANBU was not the solution. It had nearly killed him last time.

His rival had informed him Naruto was Jiraiya when they’d last spoken so at least he knew his student would be safe. He would also not be taken back to the village by the ANBU and Gai could not admit aloud how glad he was for that fact. He hoped Naruto had found what he was looking for. He hoped he was happy now.

“I should find my students,” Gai announced. He had to focus on the students still within his reach. He would always be here if Naruto needed him. “I am glad to see both well.”

“You too, Gai,” Raidou replied over Genma’s threat to sleep for a year.

He left the station, heading in the direction of the Mission Assignment Desk. Konoha was broken and bruised and hurt, but it was still standing. Gai loved this village and he knew despite all they had lost, they would recover. They would rebuild. They would not forget what they lost but they could not let the grief drown them,

The shinobi and kunoichi of Konoha burned brightly with the Power of Youth and Gai knew that the village would be okay.

Naruto stopped behind Jiraiya in the empty clearing, tilting his head as the Sannin turned to him. They had entered the Land of Waterfalls not too long ago and had left Tsunade and her assistant back in that town, Jiraiya only saying that she’d agreed to go back to Konoha. Naruto didn’t really care. He was still a little confused by her. It was like she couldn’t make up her mind.

 “Alright, brat.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

“You and I both know you do not want to be here,” Jiraiya stated and Naruto nodded. No point in disagreeing at this point. “You already know you have to stick with me or its back to Konoha.”

Why was he stating the obvious? Of course Naruto knew this; it hangs over him like an executioner’s katana. He also knew the odds of travelling with Jiraiya for the rest of their lives were almost nonexistent. He had yet to solve this problem but he thought he’d have a little longer.

“Why not work with me? I can train you. You may not like him, but you can’t deny the strength of the Yondaime. I trained him and I can do the same for you.”

Naruto scowled. Jiraiya had brought this up before and Naruto hadn’t entertained it. He didn’t want Jiraiya knowing his true strength. He’d wanted the element of the surprise when he made his move. He’d been with the guy long enough now that he knew it wouldn’t work. He was still a little sour over that realisation.

“What sort of training?”

Jiraiya grinned, surprised.

“The standard taijutsu, ninjutsu, weapons stuff,” he offered. “You also need to work on using the Kyūbi’s chakra.”

“I don’t need to do shit,” Naruto crossed his arms. “Say I agree. Ninjutsu and taijutsu is a given, but what about kenjutsu?”

“You have swords?”

Naruto pulled the scroll out and unsealed his twin blades. He’d had neglected them a little so Jiraiya wouldn’t see them but he supposed that they’d reached the point of no return. He wanted to become stronger and Jiraiya was offering that to him without having to go back to Konoha. If he happened to learn the Sannin’s weaknesses and pressure points along the way, then who was Naruto not to take advantage?

“Where’d you get these?” He didn’t like the look in Jiraiya’s eyes.

“Does it matter?” He sealed them away. “I have them and I can use them.”

Jiraiya seemed to take the hint which was already fucking suspicious. He had been a nosy, pushy bastard since they’d met.

“We can work on your kenjutsu and your bloodline limit,” Jiraiya continued. “I have some exercises Minato used to do that should help speed you up.”

Naruto hated that this was sounding like a good idea.

“We haven’t finished talking about the Kyūbi chakra thing.”

“I say we have.”

Jiraiya again just left it there and now Naruto felt wrong-footed.

“What’s the catch?” he demanded. “Since when do you respect boundaries?”

“No catch.” Jiraiya put his hands on his hips. “I just realised that there’s no point pushing you, brat. You’d bite off your nose to spite your face so I’ll work with what I got.”

That was a stupid fucking saying and Naruto told him so.

“Any other demands?”

Naruto frowned. Fuck, he’d come this far? It was all well and good training with Jiraiya and getting stronger, but that wasn’t the only reason he’d left Konoha.

“You need to slacken the leash,” he met the Sannin’s gaze head on. “I want to be able to go and do things and explore and have fun without you hanging over my every move.”

“You really want to waste time having fun?”

“Yes!” Naruto snapped. “I spent my whole life becoming strong enough so I could live my life on my own terms. I never wanted to be strong for the fucking sake of it. I want to have fun. I want to go to festivals, I want to taste all the ramen I can find, I want to swim at the beach, I want nap in a field, I want to do everything I couldn’t before!”

Naruto took a breath.

“I want to live my life on my terms. I want to live and not just survive for the first time in my fucking life.”

It felt like he’d ripped open his chest and shoved a kunai into Jiraiya’s hands to stab his exposed beating heart with.

“Only if you let me do my research in peace from now on.”

He looked up from where his gaze had dropped to the ground. Jiraiya was smiling gently at him and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

“I still don’t like you,” he felt like he had to add.

“Fair enough, kid,” Jiraiya laughed.

It went over better than he thought it would but he had no doubt it was going to be anything but smooth sailing from now on. He and Jiraiya would no doubt argue and clash and fight much, much more in the coming days but they’d both agreed to it now. Naruto had to stick with this, at least until he figured out how to deal with Jiraiya, Akatsuki and whoever else wanted to fuck him over.

The most important thing was that he was free of Konoha and he still had the whole of the Elemental Nations at his fingertips. He would not let Jiraiya take away the joy he had fought so hard and so long for, even if he had to compromise a little to protect it.

Naruto was free and no one would ever be able to take that away from him again.