Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. This is evidenced by the fact I like my stories to make sense, and frankly, I think Naruto doesn't half the time, and I'm not talking about the chakra part of it. And any resemblance to any other fanfiction is purely unintentional-I have very clear ideas for where this fiction is going, many plot points of which won't be seen for quite some time. Personally, I've never read any Naruto fanfiction like this anyways.
Funny Note: I always swore I'd never write Naruto fan fiction. At first, because I didn't really like the manga, and later, because I just didn't think it was the type of story I could write. I had a couple of ideas; even tried writing on one, but it just didn't seem to flow. I had another idea, and I decided I'd stick with it, simply because I wanted to write a story for my friend. It's been a bit of pain, but I hope I do the idea justice.
Dedication: So, in essence, this story is written for, dedicated to, and a birthday present for Tsubasa Kya. She's my best friend, sister I never had since I grew up with three older brothers (love them dearly, but it's nice to have a sister), and the best person I have to giggle over our stories with. For her birthday present (And I'm not telling you which day that is because she'd kill me…) along with this story being written for her, I'm going to do my best to update this story every two weeks, or the story that will eventually accompany this one, until they're finished or until a year's up. She also gets to gloat over me writing a Naruto story (I ended up posting a one-shot while I was writing this, but this is a chapter story, which is different, and I'm sure you'll point that out, TK, so I'm acknowledging it before hand). I'll also do my best to NOT talk to her about plot and such, so she can be genuinely surprised and just enjoy the story as a reader. This has already been a big pain in the butt over the past few months, because I am so USED to having her look over all my stuff, and talking to her about it, and so on, but I shall try to persevere. And last, but not least, she's been complaining about how hard it is to find a good Naruto fanfiction, so I hope this works out for her…
Warnings: This might end up being a Sasuke/Naruto fic. TK likes that pairing, but I'm not sure how well the pairing will end up fitting into the plot. It will definitely have a lot of friendship between the two of them in it. And there will probably be a few same sex pairings here and there, simply because that is how it works in real life. Also, I haven't really watched the show after the battle between Sasuke and Naruto when Sasuke was deserting. I tried, but holy crap, they sucked, and while Naruto has several good elements, it also has a lot that annoys me and they just seemed to increase after those last few episodes after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. I prefer Naruto fanfiction to canon, at least the better stories, but that's a personal opinion. So if something isn't canon, it's because I haven't seen/read it. My apologies, but I simply couldn't stand it anymore…
I'll probably have more ANs, but for now I'll shut up, and get on with the story.
Hidden Facets
Day Three
Otogakure was different from Konoha. As Orochimaru's prospective body in training, he was granted much more leniency, and at the same time, was hardly allowed to do pretty much anything. His life consisted almost primarily of completing various training exercises and doing whatever errands Orochimaru wanted him to do. At Konoha he'd spent much of his time training, but a lot of it was also spent with his team, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura. He avoided thinking about them when he could, and when he did he resolutely told himself that they were useless, and had nothing to do with his quest for Itachi's death. Aside from occasional nightmares, he was dealing.
He avoided thinking about the dreams when he could and generally made sure he was too tired to do anything but sleep, but it didn't always work. And it was always the same dream, though a different one then the one that had plagued him before his departure from Konoha. In it, he was little and was once again walking through the Uchiha district. However, instead of his clan's bodies, he saw his classmates and various other people he knew from Konoha. His younger self felt panic and started to hurry, running faster and faster to his home, a feeling of dread increasing the closer he got. He got there just in time to see himself, older, killing his teammates. Kakashi was already dead, and he was going after Sakura with a chidori when Naruto threw himself in front of her, and he plunged his hand through Naruto's chest.
Sakura fell sobbing, holding onto Naruto, and Sasuke took a sword and swiped her head off. He turned and looked at little Sasuke, eyes like Itachi's whirling. A crazy grin came over his face. "You know what you must do, don't you?" he asked, and Sasuke would wake up every time with his older self's blade plunging through his chest, crackling with electricity.
Sasuke shook his head slightly, feeling particularly grim. Orochimaru had called him, and Sasuke never knew what to expect from the Snake Sannin.
What he saw when he opened the door only proved his foreboding, except it was much, much worse then he might have ever imagined. Naruto was sitting in one of the seats in front of Orochimaru's desk, looking small and…different, despite the fact he was wearing his normal outfit. And he wasn't yelling-just sitting there quietly.
When Sasuke's eyes finally met Orochimaru's, Sasuke held back a wince. He had this odd smile on his face that seemed almost…satisfied. "Forgive me for not forewarning you," he said, and even his voice oozed a level of smugness that seemed disturbing, "I forgot. Might I…introduce you to Otagakure's newest recruit? Uzamaki Naruto."
Sasuke's blood ran cold. What?! Naruto would never…but he could hear no protest from his teammate's lips. "Naruto?"
The blond turned around, and even his face seemed different-shy, awkward, irresolute…and puzzled. "You…you look familiar…" he said.
"Familiar…sir?" he asked, looking at Orochimaru and doing his best to keep his voice calm-unlike his mind. Had Naruto…lost his memory? Had it been taken? While Sasuke knew that going to Otogakure, despite being a betrayal to his home village, was crucial to gaining strength, he'd always known Konoha was Naruto's place. He couldn't help but think of his teammate's pranks, his constant smiling expression, him hitting on Sakura and her hitting him back not very gently. Naruto, in many ways, personified Konoha to Sasuke and the idea of Naruto serving Orochimaru was disturbing.
"Young Naruto here suffered a bit of an accident in the woods while out on a mission. He's lost most of his memories-all the way back until not too long before his fifth birthday," Orochimaru said, his voice remaining smug despite the sympathy he put into his voice, probably for Naruto's sake.
No…Naruto…he couldn't have… Sasuke's gaze turned to Naruto, who was fidgeting and looking away from Sasuke. "How? I thought…" Sasuke couldn't bring himself to say the words aloud, but he knew what Naruto carried now, and thought something like that happening was practically impossible.
"Naruto, why don't you go see Kabuto again? I think he has a few more tests to run. He should be waiting for you right about now." Orochimaru's voice was slightly more…kind almost as he spoke to the child.
"Um…all right," Naruto said his movement awkward as he stood up. Sasuke supposed that made sense-if Naruto had lost that many years of memories, then despite the fact his body was trained, his mind wouldn't know how to use his almost thirteen year old body. And beyond that, Naruto was almost always full of energy, whereas this Naruto was…much too solemn. He'd never thought he would be annoyed; to have Naruto acting like a normal human being, but it was wrong.
Naruto's eyes flickered to Sasuke's again, staring at him. Sasuke wanted to look away, but was unable to. "You look so familiar…" Naruto whispered, before leaving out the door.
Sasuke stayed staring after the Naruto who was not Naruto for several moments before snapping back to Orochimaru. Orochimaru was openly smirking now, his elbows on his desk, his hands folded as he propped his chin on them. Sasuke felt sick at the thought of Naruto, who always seemed to retain an innocence strange for his years, and who was now even younger, being at the mercy of this man. At least he'd walked into it with open eyes.
"Well…what do you think?" Orochimaru said his tone smugger then ever.
"I think I'd be very suspicious, if it were anyone other then Naruto," Sasuke replied, trying to sound professional, "But as the container of the Kyuubi, how could his brain be damaged enough to blank out that many years? Shouldn't the Kyuubi be able to heal any damage he takes?"
Orochimaru smiled as he leaned back. "I was quite suspicious at first, but he's been here a few days going through various tests. He was out performing a routine message mission with someone, shall we say, favorable to our cause, when they were attacked. Naruto's skull was partially crushed-any normal human would have died. Kabuto's theory is that because of the extent and delicacy of the damage, the Kyuubi was unable to heal him correctly, and when he woke up, he didn't recognize even his own teammate. Quite wisely, my little spy rushed Naruto here and explained the situation to me, and left to report the Naruto was missing in action, presumed dead."
Sasuke felt a bit disconnected from the world. Not only was Naruto in Orochimaru's clutches, not only was most of his memory gone leaving him open to Orochimaru's manipulations, but soon he'd be reported as presumably dead, leaving no rescue parties, no search parties…practically no chance for Naruto to escape. Not to mention he felt a slight pang of pity for everyone who cared about Naruto so deeply believing he was dead.
Sasuke liked to think he'd put Konoha behind him, but he hadn't, and couldn't exactly lie to himself about it anymore. First it was the nightmares, and now combined with his intense desire to get Naruto AWAY from Orochimaru? However, when Sasuke looked into Orochimaru's eyes, he could see the bastard knew he hated this situation, knew Orochimaru was enjoying every instant of it, and Sasuke was left once again to the knowledge that he just wasn't strong enough. There was no way he'd be able to take Naruto and escape from Orochimaru's clutches.
"What will you do now?" Sasuke asked in a rather calm tone. Just because they both knew Sasuke was not happy about this didn't mean Sasuke wouldn't pretend everything was all right.
"Naruto is going to be training alongside you now, and you will be sharing your rooms with him. You will also be responsible for overseeing his training when I am too busy. He shall be a weapon the likes of which none have ever seen before within a year or two," Orochimaru's voice was full of glee and gloating and smugness, and Sasuke hated him for it, and hated that Orochimaru was manipulating the situation like this, so that Sasuke would be forced to see his best friend become a pawn of his.
Well, he'd just do his best to thwart Orochimaru's plans. Despite the fact that he knew Orochimaru would anticipate this-might even be setting this up to see him fail for his own personal amusement, he would show the bastard. He would train Naruto and together they would defeat the bastard and escape, and Sasuke would send him back to Konoha, where he belonged, safe, and Sasuke would go after his brother, and kill him, and things would be the way they were supposed to be. It might take awhile, but over the years, Sasuke developed a capacity for patience that was more then up to this task.
"How have you explained the situation to him? He must know this isn't Konoha, and even if he's never been the brightest, at least be a little suspicious," Sasuke stated.
"You underestimate your friend, I think," Orochimaru said, "Indeed, I think our delightful little Kyuubi brat was hiding many secrets from you. Oh, you weren't expecting that, were you? Oblivious little stupid Naruto, obsessed with becoming the Hokage and ramen and the color orange. But we've been talking to him, during our interviews, and even as a five year old…most impressive," Orochimaru said with a sly grin, "Oh yes, my dear Sasuke, he was indeed suspicious and confused. He'd never heard of Otogakure, and knew of no alliance with Konoha. But I explained to him all about how the poor old Sandaime was slaughtered by his two students, Jiraiya and Tsunade, and how they've taken over Konoha, and I, the only remaining true-hearted Sannin and devoted student of the aforementioned Sandaime, seek their destruction. He's confused, but determined to avenge the Sandaime. So cute-almost like a little you!"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He'd twisted the truth in just the perfect way to convince Naruto to side with Orochimaru. And Orochimaru was so smug, about all the apparent things he knew about Naruto that Sasuke didn't. It bothered Sasuke, but he figured that it couldn't be that much he didn't know, and it's not like Sasuke ever went out of his way to find out about Naruto and could be explained that way. Besides, he was only five now. How many secrets could he be hiding? Sasuke already knew about the Kyuubi.
"Anyways," Orochimaru flicked his hand sideways in an obvious dismissal, "You know where Kabuto normally is-why don't you go and fetch him and show him his new home. I've already sent someone by with a cot and some clothes for him. Training will begin with the both of you the day after tomorrow. I told poor Naruto I'd give him a chance to pull himself together, after the shock, and I thought you could take the chance to get reacquainted. Have fun!"
Sasuke's fists clenched, but he pulled off a slight bow and left, fuming all the way as he stomped to Kabuto's lair. Orochimaru didn't know it, but he'd just made the second place spot on his list of most loathed people, right behind Itachi.
Naruto was sitting quietly as a friendly Kabuto chatted to him. Sasuke truly loathed the man. He was always cheerful and smiling and the next thing you knew, a kunai was buried in your back. Well, not that that wasn't standard operating procedure for some shinobi, but something about Kabuto just turned Sasuke off.
"You're coming with me," Sasuke said briefly, arms folded in front of him.
Naruto looked up, and it was so strange to see someone who both was and wasn't Naruto staring at him like that. He nodded, after a moment, and jumped off the examination table. "Thank you for healing me," he said with a bit of a bow to Kabuto.
Kabuto smiled, and ruffled Naruto's hair. "It was my pleasure."
Sasuke wanted to chop Kabuto's hand off. The sneaky bastard had no right to be acting like some friendly older-brother type person to Naruto, no right at all. It was enough to distract him from his slight shock at Naruto's overly polite behavior.
He got a reminder soon enough. "Where are we going, sir?" Naruto asked, coming to stand besides him.
Sasuke scowled at him. "Don't call me sir," he snapped before he really thought about it. He ignored Kabuto's obvious amusement, concentrating on Naruto, "Just follow me."
Naruto sighed a bit, but he followed Sasuke readily enough as Sasuke turned around abruptly and stalked off. Silence filled the corridors as they walked, and while before, Sasuke had no problem walking through the slightly sinister hallways, it was starting to bother him. It took him a few minutes to realize what was wrong, and he wondered why he hadn't realized it earlier. Normally, Naruto would be bouncing all over the place, demanding to know where they were going, who he was, and whatever other nonsense that routinely came from him. Sasuke didn't necessarily pay that much attention to it, but it had become…expected while with Naruto, there to be a constant, almost…comforting level of background noise.
And so he found himself asking, "Don't you have any questions?" before he really thought about it. He liked the silence, and he used to think he wanted nothing more then Naruto to just SHUT UP, but…
"You don't mind if I ask some?" Naruto's voice sounding hesitant was some how more foreign then the silence and he almost expected to look back and see a five-year old Naruto, instead of the Naruto who was the same age as him, at least physically, following behind him.
"I'm not going to kill you," Sasuke said, then almost winced a bit. He almost had, not too long ago.
"Um…" Naruto said, "What's your name?"
"Uchiha Sasuke. I was your genin teammate," Sasuke found himself tacking on that unnecessary information on without conscious thought, maybe in a bid to establish some form of recognition, or relationship, or something! This…calm between them wasn't natural.
"You…you knew me before?" Naruto asked hesitantly.
"To an extent," Sasuke replied, cursing himself for even saying anything.
"Were…were we friends?" Naruto's voice was hesitant and hopeful and maybe even a bit disbelieving. As if having a friend was this sacred, unattainable thing.
Sasuke opened his mouth to say no, and instead found himself blurting out, "Of a sort."
"Wow…" Naruto breathed out, and Sasuke found he almost didn't regret saying they were friends. "What was I like?"
"I guess about the same as you are now, except older," Sasuke said.
"Um…do I really like wearing this?" Naruto asked. Sasuke stopped dead and turned around to stare at Naruto. He was picking at his outfit, the look on his face disbelieving.
"You don't like it?" Sasuke asked, working hard to keep the incredulity from his voice.
He must not have completely succeeded-Naruto blushed slightly. "It's all right, I guess…it's just so…bright."
"We can find you something else to wear. Lord Orochimaru likes his shinobi wearing a uniform of sorts anyways," Sasuke said, turning around and continuing to walk.
"I don't have to wear…sorry…" Naruto said, "That was rude of me."
Sasuke's lip twitched slightly, though Naruto probably couldn't see it since he was still trailing behind Sasuke. It was nice, to finally see a bit of the Naruto he knew back, even if he then apologized for it. "I'm sorry to say it is indeed a part of the outfit." Sasuke said. He figured that Naruto was talking about the purple robe. Sasuke had never exactly cared about his clothes that much, but he was still having to get used to the ugly purple thing. He swore he was going to burn it, once they left.
"So…did you graduate with me? That would make you two years younger, unless you skipped too, but you don't look that much older then me…" Naruto trailed off.
"I am approximately the same age," Sasuke said. He'd always known Naruto had failed twice, but…he never really thought about it before. He always acted to carefree about it, most of the time. He vaguely remembered his father being mad about some student getting to get in early because of the Hokage, and wondered if that was actually Naruto, "And we graduated together."
"So you got to start early too," Naruto said, "That's really cool."
"No-you failed twice," Sasuke said matter-of-factly.
"But I couldn't have!" Naruto protested, "I just couldn't! The Sandaime said I couldn't move out on my own until I passed the written part of the graduation exam for genin, and I did it just…well, it seems like only a couple weeks ago, but I did! I swear! Matron made sure I wouldn't fail!"
Naruto…passed the written exam before he was five? Suddenly what Orochimaru said about Naruto having secrets was starting to make sense. He always acted like such an idiot, but…Sasuke stopped himself from going overboard and actually thought about it. While he'd never thought about it that much, people always seemed to avoid, or ignore Naruto, except for a few people. When he was younger, he thought it was all the pranks he pulled. Sasuke had heard about him even before Naruto joined Sasuke's class, and before that he knew Naruto often served time after class for punishments with some of his classmates, because they'd talk about him. So, if the Hokage made it so that the orphanage couldn't get rid of Naruto until he could pass the written exam…
"What do you mean; Matron made sure you wouldn't fail?" Sasuke kept his tone light, casual, but he wanted to confirm his suspicions.
"Well, Matron doesn't…she doesn't like me that much," Naruto's voice sounded crestfallen, "So she made sure I was ready to move out extra early. I don't mind though," Naruto reassured, "It was so much more fun living on my own! I got to eat however much I wanted, and I didn't have to study all the time, and I don't have to clean if I don't want to, though I don't really like it when it gets gross so I clean sometimes…"
"When did the Matron start teaching you?" Sasuke was now morbidly interested in learning more about Naruto. Apparently, Naruto was a lot more secretive then Sasuke would have ever dreamed of. Though Sasuke could understand why he wouldn't like to talk about these kinds of things. Still…to enable Naruto to pass the exam before he was even five-how much had the bitch made him study just to get rid of him a few years earlier?
"I don't know…seems like it's the first thing I remember doing," Naruto admitted.
Now, Sasuke had been raised to learn early. He'd been encouraged to learn to read by his mother, who had made it fun. She'd read stories to him about shinobi and how they used some brilliant strategy to win against odds, and so Sasuke had started to learn to read about four, unlike some of the others who he knew had maybe a year later. But it was only for a little bit a day-he was also encouraged to go out and play. They'd wanted him to be strong physically as well as mentally.
But being made to spend all of his time learning to read and write and whatever else the Hokage required before he could move out? That must have been…
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Sasuke found himself asking. He had always assumed Naruto had just always wanted to be Hokage, because ever since Sasuke had really met Naruto, that was true. But if Naruto really wasn't that stupid, maybe this was different too…Sasuke idly wondered as well as to why Naruto acted so dumb. Naruto had to get his memory back someday, and when he did…Sasuke felt inclined to corner him and figure out his friend. Sasuke didn't like mysteries, and now that he was finding the person he'd considered to be his best friend was one, he wanted to find out.
"Well…I…I never really thought about it that much," Naruto admitted, "I'm going to be a shinobi, I know. I guess…" Naruto trailed off.
"But did you always want to be a shinobi?" Sasuke questioned. He had, but that was because he was an Uchiha.
"I don't know," Naruto said, "What else is there to do?" His tone was rather matter of fact, and in some ways, Sasuke understood that part, because he'd been raised to simply consider his becoming a shinobi a fact as well.
Sasuke shrugged in response and stopped, because they were in front of his door. "I guess this will be where you're staying for awhile."
Sasuke opened his door. He could hear voices from the entry way, and he hurriedly kicked off his shoes and entered the living room off the central hallway to the left. Two of the lesser shinobi under Orochimaru's command where sitting there on HIS couch, chatting away. "What are YOU doing here?" Sasuke bit out.
The two shinobi jumped up then slouched slightly. "We're here on Lord Orochimaru's orders," the taller one said, eyeing Sasuke with a dismissive eye.
Sasuke remembered what Orochimaru said about people dropping by, but… "He told you to drop some furniture off, I don't remember anything being mentioned about you simply relaxing on my sofa when you were finished.
"What do you know? You're just a walking vessel for Orochimaru who will be dead before three years are out," the shorter man sneered this time.
Sasuke moved in a flash and was behind them with a kunai to each of their throats before they could blink. "If I might make a suggestion?"
The two shinobi froze and gulped, and didn't say a thing.
"Three years is a long, long time. You better be a little more worried about me now, and not about the fact that I'll be gone in three years, though your concern is appreciated," Sasuke said in a deadly voice as he pressed the kunai a little deeper.
"Are you…are you going to kill us?" the taller one whimpered.
"You'd stain my carpet if I cut your throats with kunai…I could just break your necks, but…I think I'll let you go. And I would advise you to warn your fellow shinobi to be a little more careful around me. There is a reason Orochimaru wishes me to be his next vessel, aside from my eyes," Sasuke said his voice pitched dangerously low.
"Yes sir!" they said, voices trembling slightly.
Sasuke rolled his eyes slightly at the shinobi's cowardice. He could see Naruto's already wide eyes widen, and a small grin start to break onto his young face. Sasuke was glad Naruto was amused and not scared-he had been slightly worried as a younger child Naruto might be a bit squeamish, but apparently not.
"Well, get out of here already," Sasuke growled as he removed the kunai from their throat.
The two shinobi, knees shaking, half stumbled, half ran out the door, slamming it shut behind them. "Pitiful," Sasuke said, "What pathetic excuses for shinobi."
Naruto's grin grew slightly. "You're really strong, aren't you?"
The admiration shining out of his rival's eyes was slightly…creepy. "Yes. So were you before you lost your memory," Sasuke found himself saying, because Naruto wasn't supposed to admire him.
"Wow…really?" Naruto asked.
"Mostly through sheer stubbornness," Sasuke decided to add, "You never thought things through. And you kept getting up when other wiser people would wait for a better opportunity later." It wasn't really fair, but the criticism made him feel better. He'd managed to harden himself back to what he was like before he was put on a genin team, and here was Naruto, once again breaking down the barriers like they didn't even exist, the stupid idiot.
Except…he wasn't an idiot…not really, if he passed the exam to become genin before he was five…
"Oh…" Naruto bit his lip, as if he wanted to say something, but refrained.
This time, Sasuke managed to keep himself from saying anything to promote Naruto to speak his mind, because after all, he really did want silence, even if Naruto being silent, of all people, was weird.
Instead, he checked over his underground apartment of sorts. It wasn't anything special-Sasuke, despite growing up in a rich clan, never really was one to care that much for material possessions. He liked his things to be of good quality, but he didn't go out of his way to stuff his apartment with odds and ends. There was a discarded wrapper in the corner by his sofa, and Sasuke snarled slightly as he threw it away, but other then that…
He continued looking through his house. The living room was opposite the kitchen. It seemed normal and undisturbed. He came back out, ignoring Naruto who was hesitantly fidgeting in the doorway of the living room.
The bathroom had been used. The soap had been left off the dish by the handle and was instead making a mess of the counter. And…Sasuke's nose wrinkled in disdain. They hadn't even flushed…he took a piece of toilet paper and used it on the handle-he'd be cleaning this room tonight.
His bedroom was normal, but the meditation room, on the right side by the bathroom, was a mess. A single bed had been put up, a bunch of blankets, clothes, and other things that any shinobi would need had dumped on it, spilling off onto the floor. A small dresser was set besides it, and there were scuff marks on the floor…
Sasuke was scowling as he left the room, which apparently wasn't his anymore, only to almost run into Naruto, who squeaked slightly as he jumped back. "What are you doing?" Sasuke growled.
"N-nothing!" Naruto said timidly.
"Go do something productive! I have to clean up after these apes!" Sasuke said.
"What?" Naruto asked.
Gods, Sasuke was getting annoyed by this version of Naruto who didn't even sound like him, despite the fact they had the same voice, because the speech patterns and tone was so different, so much more reserved and timid and… "I don't care!" Sasuke said before stomping down the hallway to retrieve some cleaning supplies for his bathroom.
When he finished cleaning the bathroom and came out, he didn't see Naruto, but he could hear clattering noises coming from the kitchen. Naruto was probably making a mess in there, but who knows when Naruto ate last, and it wasn't like Sasuke had asked. He felt a bit guilty, and decided to go work on Naruto's room. As he continued to organize and clean, his temper continued to die down. This was relaxing, this was peaceful. He liked having things clean and neat and organized. Some might call him a bit obsessive compulsive, but on the other hand, people did that anyways.
Sasuke worked on straightening up the bed, having put everything away and having centered everything the way he preferred, when a light knock came at the door. "Yes," Sasuke's statement was short, but didn't come out sounding like he was about to slaughter someone.
"Um…dinner's ready…" Naruto said from the other side.
Sasuke grimaced. He'd figured Naruto had just made a sandwich for himself or something-he wasn't looking forward to eating whatever Naruto had come up with. But it would be rude not to at least eat something. "I'll be right there."
Surprisingly enough, the dinner was rather good. Naruto had apologized for only being able to make tomato soup, since that was all he could come up with considering the ingredients Sasuke had stocked. Sasuke liked tomato soup though, and Naruto's wasn't too bad. Sasuke found himself watching Naruto as he ate-even that was different then what Sasuke was used to for him. He didn't eat even a quarter as much as he normally did, and he ate very politely. Not to mention the fact that Naruto had cooked something other then ramen in the first place. On second thought, that was probably something else that Naruto was required to learn before he left, how to cook for himself, so that made sense.
"I have more food in the refrigerator if you're still hungry," Sasuke said, seeing the slightly forlorn look on Naruto's face.
Naruto shook his head. "I don't need any more food. Matron says I eat too much anyways."
"You have a high metabolism, and you're bigger then you remember being. I don't mind," Sasuke said. He wondered if this Matron was still alive-he was starting to feel a bit tempted to hunt her down.
Naruto thought about this, and got up, and got more soup. "Thank you," he said.
"You cooked it," Sasuke said, "It was rather…tolerable."
Naruto brightened up. "You liked it then?"
Sasuke paused, then jerked his head into a brief nod.
"Great!" Naruto said.
Sasuke helped Naruto clean up and store the remaining leftovers. Naruto still hadn't eaten as much as Sasuke was used to, and Sasuke had the feeling he'd have to work on that-Naruto obviously needed that much food, otherwise he would have gotten fat from excess eating. He'd have to requisition more food from stores.
"Follow me," Sasuke said when they were finished cleaning. Sasuke lead Naruto to what was now his room and opened the door, gesturing for Naruto to go first. "This is your room now."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Wow…it's really nice," he said, "Thank you. Does this mean I'm going to be staying with you? Really?"
"Yes," Sasuke said. He didn't feel like explaining that it was by Orochimaru's request. Nor that he probably would have done it anyway, to keep morons like the ones who'd been here earlier from screwing around with Naruto's head even more then Orochimaru already had, filling it with incorrect stories when Naruto didn't know any better.
"Cool…" Naruto said, wide-eyed.
"Your new clothes are in the dresser, and supplies for your shinobi lessons are on top. Don't cut yourself," Sasuke felt compelled to add. Not that Naruto wouldn't heal up quickly after cutting his hand or whatever, but it seemed like the sort of thing you were supposed to say to a kid, even if the "kid" was technically the same age as you. Of course, this was Naruto, so…better safe then sorry. "Actually, don't touch them too much until I can go over them with you. I don't know how well you can use them, since you've lost your memory."
"All right…" Naruto said, sounding disappointed.
Sasuke resisted a smile. That sounded a bit like Naruto, though he'd be more likely to add something about how awesome he was and how he wouldn't let a mere kunai get the best of him.
"I'm going to go mediate, and then I'm going to bed. I wake up early. I suggest you not stay up more then an hour, because I will expect you to get up a reasonable hour for your training as well. Lord Orochimaru is expecting you with me at training the day after tomorrow, and I want to see where you stand, and how much work I'll have to do with you."
"You're going to be training me…AND Lord Orochimaru?" Naruto said, sounding slightly stunned.
"Yes. So you better work hard," Sasuke said. After all, he wanted Naruto in shape so they could kill Orochimaru. Though he'd calmed down since the debacle at the office, it had only cooled and hardened his determination and hatred, not destroyed it. He would look forward to seeing Orochimaru's smug face when he discovered that his two creations, his "future" body and tool, destroyed him. It would be almost as sweet as when he took revenge for his family.
"I will," Naruto promised. He hesitated a moment then said, "Is…is the Sandaime really dead?"
"Yes," Sasuke wanted to explain the entire situation, but he was positive that Orochimaru, especially now, was listening to everything he said.
"I hope Tsunade and Jiraiya will burn in hell for killing him," Naruto said, his voice rather calm as he spoke.
Sasuke stared at Naruto. "What?"
"I know it isn't nice," Naruto said, ducking his head slightly in embarrassment. His features hardened then, and he looked Sasuke straight in the eyes, "But Sandaime-sama…he was the only person who was ever nice to me, even if it was only because the Hokage loves everyone in his village. His murderers should pay for what they did."
Sasuke's smile was tight. "I'm sure he will be avenged."
Naruto nodded at him, his eyes determined. "I'll train hard, I promise."
"See that you do," was all Sasuke said, and he left.
* * * * * * * *
End Day Three
* * * * * * * *
As a note, the chapter is called Day Three because it is Naruto's third day at Otogakure.
~FL