The Future Has Passed
Chapter 2: Give me strength
The gate loomed over them. Naruto's fists were shaking as he stared into the village. The citizens of Roran filtered through as they were being processed, registering every man, woman and child. Sara refused to stand at the front of the group, instead taking a place towards the back to make sure everyone was accounted for.
Unable to make his legs move, he found his place behind her. He wouldn't register as Uzumaki Naruto, shinobi of Konohagakure. Not yet. Until the matters were handled and they had their meeting with the Hokage, he was just Naruto, the refugee.
"Naruto," Yamato said, slapping him on the back. Naruto drew a sharp breath. "At attention, soldier."
Naruto straightened his back, walking forward with Sara and Yamato to one of the five booths they had set up for the registrations. Minato was standing next to it, giving them a soft smile.
"Please fill out this form," the young Chunin sitting inside spoke up, his eyes glued to the documents in his hands. "You'll find a second paper asking for your former profession, please describe your skills so we can more easily organize work after the initial waiting period for refugees is over."
"Ah, Eiichirou-kun." Minat's voice made the Chunin look up. "I already told you about those two, the shinobi I'm bringing to the Hokage. And that is the queen."
Eiichirou blinked, standing up so fast that his chair was knocked over. He bowed over the papers that were stacked on the table in front of him. "I am terribly sorry! Welcome to Konoha, Queen Sara-"
"Just Sara," she said, using one of the pens to fill out the form she picked up. "Sara of Roran, I no longer carry any titles."
Naruto stared at her from the corner of his eye. She didn't sound sad or otherwise distressed. She didn't sound happy or relieved either. The sound that broke the awkward silence was the pen scratching on the paper as Yamato followed suit.
"We can handle this later, we've already sent word ahead about you three," Minato said. "The Hokage's tower is straight down this road."
Sara and Yamato nodded, Naruto was still staring at the empty form he reflexively lifted off the table. It felt unreal. It almost looked the same. Almost. He furrowed his brows. "Minato, is Orochimaru in the village?"
Yamato's sharp glare almost made him stumble, but he kept going. Minato shrugged. "I think he's out on a mission right now. Why do you ask?"
"I was just curious," Naruto said. Yamato nodded, the motion looking stiff. "There's some stuff we need to talk about later."
"I see," Minato said, reading the mood. "Queen Sara, I hope I'm not imposing on you with this request. Until Naruto can earn some pay on missions, he won't have a place to stay. Do you think it'd be possible for the people of Roran to keep him around for a while longer?"
Naruto and Sara both looked confused at the question, but before the former could say something Sara spoke up. "We'd never refuse a hero of our people."
"Thank you very much," Minato said.
Naruto blinked. "What about the captain?" he asked, pointing at Yamato.
"We have a mission ready for him already," Minato said. "We can talk about this later, we're already there."
The Hokage tower didn't look any different. If anything it looked more like the tower he admired as a child than it did after the Sandaime died. The mere thought made his heart jump up, as if it tried to fly out of his throat. It was unlike him, the point where he felt disappointed in himself. He wasn't this kind of person. The kind that hesitated, the soft-spoken and careful kind.
When they reached the door to the Hokage's office, Sara grabbed his sleeve. As nervous and excited as he was, she was also about to meet a man whose name was spoken in the same breath as the First Hokage. Minato knocked twice, then opened the door.
Naruto pushed past him, forgetting Sara's grip on his arm, and almost choked on the smoke that filled the room. Behind the desk sat a man, old, but not that old. A pipe was in his mouth, and on his lips was a soft smile.
"Old man-" Naruto choked on his tongue. He knew Yamato was about to shout at him, but-
He bowed. A fist flew over head. Sara settled next to Naruto and bowed as well. "Sandaime. My name is-"
"Uzumaki Naruto," Hiruzen interrupted, standing up and moving around his desk. "And Queen Sara; Captain Yamato. Welcome to Konohagakure. Or perhaps it's 'welcome back'. Isn't that right, Naruto?"
Naruto straightened his back out of the bow, taking a step forward. He could feel his legs give out under him. Instead of keeping his distance, Hiruzen took a step forward as well, putting his thin hands on Naruto's shoulder. "Welcome home, Naruto."
When Yamato moved forward to drag Naruto back, Minato stopped the captain with a gentle hand. Sara was staring at the scene in silence.
Naruto collapsed to his knees, and wrapped his arms around Hiruzen. He was shaking, his vision blurry.
"I'm home, old man."
"This is confidential," Hiruzen said, "if this ever becomes public knowledge, Konoha and every villager is in danger. And as much as it pains me to say, this might also mean that we cannot act on certain information you might reveal to us."
Yamato was doing the talking. He was the commanding officer, and this was too serious to let Naruto make any decisions.
"Though I admit that I'm curious why you let the queen keep her memories of all of this," Hiruzen said. "In the field, I'd likely have given you the order to seal them away. Explain yourself, Minato."
Though Naruto wanted to speak up, Sara's hand on his arm stopped him. The old man, his look was all business; an expression that mirrored the gravity of the situation. The kind of face where even Naruto would be pushing it.
"Her connection to the Ryumyaku and the events that have transpired under the city of Roran had a part in that decision. The actual risk of changing the future has already come to pass, even this information is unusable to most, as their knowledge pertains only certain key events that might not happen with their presence."
"So despite the confidentiality we've established, the information might not actually be useful?"
"No," Minato said, shaking his head. He looked over to Naruto, a glint in his eye and a smile on his lips. "I think that being aware of certain things will give us an edge in the bigger picture, even if specific events might not change."
"Things you'd not trust me with," Sara said. Her voice was soft, but there was an air around her which made it clear she was speaking from experience. "I don't understand why you let me in on some things and yet hesitate to speak on others."
"Call it a mutual agreement," Hiruzen said. "You've already learned about things before I gave the order to keep them from the public, and I am not so cruel to retroactively punish you for it."
"And if the information leaks," she said, "you'll know where to turn your gaze."
Hiruzen nodded. She smiled at him, giving him a small bow. Naruto didn't understand the exchange, but he could tell they came to an understanding. After a moment, the old man spoke up again. "Which brings us to another matter. Naruto-kun, despite the Land of Wind's dismissal of the people of Roran, there's still value in them and in their queen. I have a mission for you."
That made him perk up. "I promised Sara to take care of her and the others, can-"
"Yes," Hiruzen said, nodding. "As refugees, their status is rather special. We've taken them in out of charity and hope they will assimilate and make our village stronger and more prosperous one day. Until then, you'll have to protect them."
Naruto hesitated. He looked over to Sara, who had a content smile playing on her lips. He looked over to Minato, who shrugged and shook his head. "You're making this my mission so I get paid, right?"
"The state isn't going to pay you from its own pockets, of course," Hiruzen said. "But the mission was requested and you are going to receive a monthly payment for as long as it takes."
As long as it takes until what? They… assimilated? Had children that became shinobi, perhaps? Loyalty to one's village was easier when your children become soldiers to protect it, right? That's how someone explained it to him once.
"That could take years," Naruto concluded. Hiruzen nodded. "In which I do… what I've been doing the past few days?"
He couldn't do much. They wouldn't allow him to act on his knowledge anyway. He could spend this time with Sara, or training, or getting reacquainted with the village. It wasn't a surprise to him that when the reality of his predicament managed to catch up to him, he felt small.
His enemies, Akatsuki, were years away. His friend, Sasuke, was years from his betrayal… years from being born. Himself, he felt miserable because there was a pang of happiness at being allowed to continue doing something that felt familiar.
Would it be so easy to forget his friends? So easy to make new ones and spend his time dodging the thoughts of what will become of them now that the future has passed?
"I accept," Naruto said. He was a shinobi that wore his heart on his sleeve. It was pounding, making his hands shake. Making his ears heat up.
Sara grabbed his hand, squeezing it.
He leaned down, making sure she could hear his whisper, and spoke again. "Thank you."
He wasn't sure what he was thanking her for. It could have been for giving him peace, or perhaps for reaching out for him when the weight of the world was sitting square on his shoulders. Yamato's hand on his shoulder was just one of many that had given him hope already.
Naruto and Sara were dismissed. Some of the information that was left out during the meeting would no doubt be handled by the commanding ninja, and Naruto didn't trust himself enough to stay calm when discussing Orochimaru's inevitable betrayal and what it meant for Konoha.
He settled to pushing his conflicting feelings aside and riding the high. The old man was still alive. Maybe, just maybe, he could find happiness in keeping things from going bad again.
"Naruto," Sara said. He turned to her as they stepped out of the building. "You said you'd show me around, but I think it'd be better to visit the others first; see where we're staying."
He nodded."Thank you for sticking with me through this."
"Thank you," she said. He looked at her, not able to put his thoughts into words. "For supporting me. I'm not as strong as you."
"No," he said. She furrowed her brow when he shook his head. He took a large step forward, turning to meet her eye. "You're strong."
He put a hand on her shoulder when she tried to look away.
"You're way stronger than you think, and you have to stay strong for your people, right?"
They'd also have to stay strong for the children not yet born, as much as they had to remain unyielding to keep the people already here safe.
"Make me stronger," she said, grabbing his arm and moving forward towards the assigned refugee district. "Give me some of your strength and I'm sure everything will be alright."
"I'm here to protect you all," he said. "Whatever you need, I'll give."
She laughed.
He didn't know why. He felt content to let her drag him around. He felt like a fish out of water and despite all, it was Sara who felt like a pillar of support to him, not his father, not Yamato.
Maybe it was the remnants of the Ryumyaku's chakra. Maybe it was just this bond of two people who had lost everything they knew and had to start from scratch.
