This fic is dedicated to Master of the Rebels, the unknowing Pandora's Box opener. She, unbeknownst to her, introduced us to the forbidden fruit of yaoi and we've been hooked ever since. Read, Revel, and Review.

Forgiveness

No." His amethyst eyes glinted with finality.

"What do you mean 'no' you idiot? It's him!" screamed a loud voice from the corner of the Hokage's office, slightly shaking the foundation. The aforementioned Hokage just sat sighing, sake forgotten. Naruto just stood stoically, his face not betraying a sliver of emotion. Of course he knew it was he. Naruto resisted the urge to sneer at her. He wasn't stupid.

Naruto had changed. Hell, they had all changed. Ever since their wayward teammate abandoned the village, Team Seven was taciturnly disbanded. It was a hard blow for all of them.

For weeks on end, Kakashi refused to see anyone, saying he had failed his teacher and his late teammate, Obito. His grief weighed on his heart and he gradually began asking for missions, each getting longer and longer. Finally it was too much to bear, and Kakashi resigned his status as a shinobi of Konoha before moving to Kusagakure, taking with him his lover of ten years, Academy teacher Iruka. After having her love rejected, Sakura immersed herself in her study to be a medic nin, and was rarely seen outside the library. Therefore catching the attention of a certain Slug Princess. And Naruto…

Naruto disappeared.

When Iruka left the village with Kakashi, Naruto mysteriously vanished as well. The Konoha shinobi went into a riot, as the council was split between happiness for a possible suicide andgrave at the news of another missing was putting her duties as the Hokage on the backburner in the mad search of the boy she had come to love as a little brother. Konoha's head branches were in utter chaos.

Months passedwithout sightings of the missing blond, and the case finally rested on the grounds of a suicide. Many of Konoha's younger shinobi were out of commission, grieving for their lost teammate. A small funeral was held outside of Konoha near a lush forest, which, coincidentally, happened to be the very same forest of Naruto's blood oath. Tears were shed, and the skies were a murky gray as if showing respect to the fallen shinobi. From then on, all was quiet.

Three years later a stranger arrived at the village's gates asking to meet with the Hokage, saying "the cursed diamond still rings true."Tsunade's startled shout could be heard for miles and the pained cries of the ANBU unfortunate enough to get in her to say, the visitor was nothing like the energetic Hokage-wannabe she had come to love.

But even for him… Tsunade thought with a frown adorning her face. She looked back to the man in front of her.

"Hokage-sama, I refuse this mission on grounds that I do not hold the mental capacity of such an assignment." His voice was monotonous but it still held an underlying edge of warning. Sakura looked enraged, and opened her mouth to speak, but held her tongue as Tsunade raised her hand.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed in examination of this boy—no,manbefore her, wondering what could've caused this drastic change. Of course she knew exactly what happened to his appearance, as she had every last statement documented and blood-sealed. Apparently the blonde had merged with the Kyuubi, and consequently had been submerged in a chakra cocoon for three years. Or at least that's what was recorded—she didn't have any way to detect a lie, not being a demon container herself. Though despite the slight feeling nagging in the back of her head, she took the testament in stride, seeing as no other explanation could be given to enlighten his extreme physical appearance.

The most noticeable change was his impressive growth spurt to the height of approximately six foot three. His blue eyes were now violet and his hair a pale, platinum blond reaching down his back. His skin was still a recognizable tan, and the whisker marks on both sides of his cheeks were deepened. What vexed Tsunade the most, however, was his new mentality.

Naruto now completely abstained from human contact, even going as far as to wear gloves everywhere no matter what he was doing. Hebought a cottage a few miles outside of the village and made it his home, only coming out if he was summoned or for groceries.

Probably the greatest shock of his transformation occurred when Sakura, fed up with the weird behavior, stormed to his house demanding him to 'stop with the attitude'. Naruto hadstoically replied: "Miss Haruno, I suggest you remove yourself from my property, lest I be forced to assist you in the endeavor." Sakura didn't say a word her entire trip back to the Hokage's office, her mind still in shock.

But even then, Tsunade expected the brat to be willing to sell his soul to have his rouge teammate back, but he never once asked for retrieval squad or any news of his rouge friend. Instead, Naruto reinstated himself as a Konoha shinobi and immediately signed up for the Jounin Exam, never mentioning a word about the traitor.

It quickly became clear to the Hokage that Naruto had no intention of searching for his a rather violent confrontation concerning the matter, he ended it by saying: "He who abandons the mission is trash, but those who abandon their teammates are below trash."

But Tsunade never expected him to flat out refuse the mission. She could practically feel the steely gaze upon her insisting the answer to be final. Nevertheless, she was the Hokage… and she wanted her little gaki back. And the Slug Princess truly felt that it would only happened if Team Seven was brought back together. Strengthening her resolve and saying a silent prayer that this wouldn't all blow up in her face; the Hokage spoke.

"I feel that you are capable of handling such a mission, and yet since you have established grounds of reasoning I'm sending you back up." Tsunade watched as Naruto's eyes flashed in in a shudder, she continued. "Shikamaru and Shino will accompany you for this mission. Search them out and tell them to rendezvous here in three hours, packed and ready for a month."

Naruto looked Tsunade with fury dancing in his eyes, his nails elongating and cutting through his gloves.

"It shall be done."

He disappeared leaving nothing but a searing wind behind. Sighing deeply, Tsunadeput her head in her hands.

Naruto violently willed his belongings into scroll after scroll. He gritted his teeth as he reigned in his agitated chakra. 'I only ask for one bloody day off! One refused mission!' Naruto knew what she was doing, but it only served to fuel the demonic energy in its rebellion against its confinement.

Naruto continued willing things into storage, knowing that his cottage wouldn't be there when he came back. He had thought to put seals around the perimeter, but with the council already breathing down his neck, dead civilians and shinobi weren't an option. Naruto was why he specifically didn't take long missions; he wouldn't have anywhere to come back to.

Naruto had purposely abstained from living in the village, with all the hatred being directed towards made the demon in him alive and carnal. Naruto remembered when his identity was first released back to the public—all the hatred funneled directly to him nearly caused a massacre even the Wave Country wouldn't be able to stomach. Instead he had to satisfy his blood lust and rage on the Forbidden Forest.

A flash of silver caught his eye from behind the television. Cocking his head, Naruto pulled the item towards him, his eyes widening in recognition of the picture frame.

It was a picture of Team Seven right after the mission to the Wave Country. Sakura flashed the victory sign at the camera with her tongue sticking out; Kakashi towered over them with his ever-conspiring eyes. Naruto himself was on the ground with his thumb up and a grin splitting his face, and Sasuke… Naruto traced over the pale frowning face with glazed eyes. A crowed cawed in the distance, steering the blond's thoughts elsewhere.

With a sigh Naruto looked towards the rapidly setting sun, then back to the photo. Slowly Naruto raised the scroll from his backpack and sealed the picture inside.

Three Jounin appeared in the Hokage's office, two in soundless smoke and the other in searing heat. The Hokage didn't even lift her head to greet the intrusions, and instead gestured them to sit. Two of them declined and the other lazily sat before taking a cigarette out of his Jounin not looking up, Tsunade shrugged her shoulders before stretching. Cracking open an eye the Hokage snuck a glance the violet eyed man and nearly winced at the poisonous glare directed at her. Tsunade snapped her fingers, and then turned to look at the young men before her.

Shino had grown over the last few years, though he was still covered by a large overcoat, and his hair was still a spiky dark brown framing his face and sunglasses. There seemed to be a constant humming around him to which Naruto attributed to his "tenants". Shikamaru hadn't changed at all besides growing a couple more inches—he was now as tall as Asuma, something of which Shikamaru never failed to remind his mentor. His hair still resembled a pineapple with his ponytail a few inches longer, but still gravity defying.

These three were her most prized shinobi, as none of them had failed a single mission and as a team they were unstoppable. Which, for this mission, was exactly what Tsunade needed

"I'm sending you three on a S-class retrieval mission. Civilians on the borders of Otogakure have reported numerous sightings of Uchiha Sasuke, S-class nuke-nin of Konoha. Your mission is to detain him by any means possible." Tsunade screwed up her face at the endnotes of the mission briefing left by the council. "And preferably alive with minimal damage to the genital area."

Shikamaru let out a small snort before taking a long drag out of his cigar. Shino remained motionless but the buzzing became louder and more erratic, and Naruto…Naruto was stone, his eyes gazing piercingly at Tsunade.

"Is there a time limit, Hokage-sama?" Naruto said, his voice sharp.

"Return within a month and send word back with a progress report every three days." Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know what Uchiha is playing at, letting himself being sighted in the open. Be careful and come back alive."

The three ninja nodded an affirmative before disappearing.

"Sasuke-kun." Karin ignored the flare of killing intent. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked for the third time, concern written clearly in her eyes. Sasuke cut his eyes over to her, and realized with a sigh that she wouldn't drop it without some kind of assurance. The raven stood towering over her and flashed her a smirk.

"I'm positive. I have spies in the council, and they have reported that the Hokage has sent the dobe, a Nara, and a bug user on an S-class Retrieval mission. No doubt there is a warrant issued on my head, and I've revealed myself to enough citizens for them to track my location. And when they find me, I'll get dragged back."

Karin look scandalized, but before she could open her mouth to object, Suigetsu spoke. "What would be the point of all this planning, if you intended to commit suicide via execution? Why not save yourself an unnecessary hassle and jump off a cliff now?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I suggest you mind your tongue, Suigetsu,because my patience is thin. My death won't be an occurrence. To have an execution in Konoha, the approval of the Hokage and 2/3 of the council is mandatory. I've already have the council in my grasp, and Naruto has the Hokage in his." Sasuke smirked. "I've known Naruto for ten years, and I know him well enough to know he doesn't give up someone precious to him…Probation is the worst I could get."

Juugo whistled. "That's a pretty big leap of faith, don't you think? What do you have to ensure that the Hokage won't overrule the kid?"

Sasuke turned his back to them. "Naruto holds the Hokage's heart." The raven grasped the diamond necklace that rested on his chest and smirked. 'And I've got his.'