This chapter was betaed by SingingSparklyKuma.
Chapter 03: Special Eyes
The next day, all Naruto had wanted to do was go to Ichiraku and get some freaking ramen. Was that really too much to ask? He'd been gone for twenty years, and now that he was back, he couldn't even leave the freaking Hokage mansion without Tsunade summoning him to tell him some other thing having to do with running the village. Yeah, he knew he had to learn all this soon, but he really wanted some ramen.
"…vote of confidence from the jonin council, then the position becomes official," Tsunade continued as Naruto shook himself from his thoughts. He guessed if he was going to have to sit here, he might as well pay attention and not waste the time.
"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" Naruto asked sheepishly. Tsunade simultaneously sighed and rolled her eyes, but obliged anyway.
"I was saying," she said pointedly, "that after I discuss with the elders the position of Hokage, we will go before the Fire Council that includes the daimyo of the Land of Fire. After they give their approval, which I'm sure will be the case, you will become the official candidate for the Sixth Hokage. You will take over control of the village for a trial period of two months before the jonin council takes a vote of confidence on how you have run the village. If they vote yes, then you officially become the Sixth Hokage. If they don't –"
Tsunade was interrupted mid sentence by the door to the office opening quite loudly. Naruto's eyes shifted to the man who was standing there, cloaked in black with his hood up, obscuring most of his face. He glanced at Tsunade to see that she grew tense at the man's entrance.
"Naruto Uzumaki," the man said, his voice low and cold. "To think that the rumors are true; you are alive." The man paused, waiting to see if Naruto or Tsunade would respond. "When one of my subordinates told me that they heard you were alive and in the village, I had many doubts, but it seemed that I owe him an apology."
"What do you want, Hyo?" Tsunade asked tersely.
"As I said, I came to find out if the rumors about his return are true," the man, Hyo, said. "I hope that Naruto has a good excuse for deserting the village for a large number of years."
Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but Tsunade beat him to it. "Naruto Uzumaki has been on a top-secret mission for the Leaf village," Tsunade said. "He most certainly did not desert the village."
"I'm intrigued to discover what sort of mission you would send one of the village's strongest shinobi on for twenty years," Hyo said with a pointed look at Tsunade. "I'm sure there would have been a better candidate for whatever mission this was." The mysterious man paused. "And to think, I was under the impression that you were incapable of deceit, Lady Tsunade."
"A true ninja is capable of anything," Tsunade said coldly, a harsh glare gracing her face. "But don't expect to hear about the mission from me. You might have taken over the Foundation, but without Danzo's influence over the elders, you have no entitlement to top-secret information anymore. Now get out of my office before I decide to not-so-politely escort you out."
"Very well," Hyo said with a slight bow of the head. "But I assure you, Tsunade, I will learn the extent of this mission at some point. Word always gets around to me." With that, the thoroughly unpleasant visitor turned around and left the office, the door swinging shut behind him. Tsunade's reaction was instantaneous, pounding her desk and making a fist-shaped hole.
"Who was that?" Naruto asked.
" You remember the Foundation, the section of the ANBU that reported to Danzo before he died, right?" Tsunade asked. Naruto nodded his head in confirmation. "That was one of Danzo's subordinates, Hyo, who picked up the helm of the Foundation shortly after you left the village and continued to run it much like Danzo had. Danzo always had too much influence because he was teammates with the old village elders; but with new elders that Hyo has no connection to, he finds it necessary to try and interrogate me for information that would have normally fallen in Danzo's lap." Tsunade scowled to herself before looking back up at Naruto.
"Don't underestimate them, Naruto," she warned. "When I make the announcement that I plan on stepping down and letting you become my replacement, there will be many opponents. The elders will surely have no problem, nor will the jonin. Even the daimyo can be convinced. But there will still be people in the village – strong, influential shinobi – who don't trust you and think that there should have been a different Sixth Hokage. Hyo is one of them. The last thing you need is a faction of the Hidden Leaf working to undermine your appointment as Hokage."
"Okay, okay, I get it," Naruto said, raising his hands in surrender. "I'll watch out for them, I promise."
"One more thing," Tsunade said. "When people ask you what you've been up to, it would be easiest to tell them that you were on a mission. Technically, your mission was to lay low for awhile, but you don't have to get into specifics."
"Why?" Naruto asked.
"Hyo and the Foundation have picked up Danzo's hobby of trying to destabilize my leadership," Tsunade said. "The last thing they need to know is that we were so unable to handle a madman that we sent you away from the village."
"That's not how it was at all!" Naruto exclaimed loudly.
"I know that, and you know that," Tsunade said. "But the truth of the matter is that Hyo would be able to spin the story that way. I need you to promise me you won't discuss with anyone other than those we've let in on the secret – Sasuke, Sakura, Jiraya, Iruka and Kakashi – about the mission."
"I promise," Naruto assured her. "Is there more you have to discuss with me, or can I go out and get some lunch and see some people?"
"There is one more matter I'd like to discuss with you, Naruto," Tsunade said, sitting back. "As you know, the results of the graduation exam at the academy have come out, and we have designed teams with three genin on each team with a jonin sensei, you being one of the sensei. Instead of doing what we usually do and pairing members of different caliber together to help improve some of the lesser-performing students, we specially arranged your team based on who you are and what skills you offer."
"Okay," Naruto said. "So when do I find out who I have?"
"Here is the list," Tsunade said, passing the clipboard. "This year we have four genin teams: Team 5, which will be lead by Tara Inuzuka, Team 6, which will be lead by Moegi Mazuki, Team 9, which will be lead by Ami Tsura, and Team 4, your team."
Naruto examined the clipboard, recognizing not a single name until his eyes rested on his own team. He looked up again with an eyebrow. "Saki Uchiha and Shikamira Nara?" Nauto asked, a questioning eyebrow raised. "You specially placed them on my team for any particular reason?"
"Well, they both come from prestigious families and have already begun to learn family jutsu," Tsunade said. "From what I hear, Saki is pretty talented in Fire Release, and Shikamira already knows how to use the Shadow Possession Jutsu. I placed them with you because I know you've worked with both Sasuke and Shikamaru in the past, and you have experience with these techniques; more than the others have, at least.
"But it's not Saki and Shikamira that we must talk about right now," Tsunade said, prompting Naruto to look at the third name in his team: Mino Kano. The name didn't ring a bell at all; what was so important that Tsunade decided to focus their discussion solely on him? "Mino Kano is…gifted."
"Is that your way of telling me that he's one of those bookworm-y kids that'll make me feel stupid half the time?" Naruto asked.
"Quite the opposite, actually," Tsunade said with a smirk. "His knuckleheadedness almost rivals yours."
"I'd be offended if I wasn't so intrigued," Naruto commented.
"Mino came to Konoha with his mother about ten years ago as refugees from the Fourth Shinobi World War," Tsunade explained. "Years had passed since the war was over, but we still accepted them after their new village had burned down. But there's something unique about that kid. We don't know how or why, but when he arrived here, he had a set of Rinnegan eyes, and his mother claims that he's had them since birth."
Naruto was silent as the statement sank in. There was only one way to obtain the Rinnegan; only a select number of people ever held it. The only person who can naturally unlock it is an Uchiha Clan member who has awakened their Sharingan. After they experience severe guilt and trauma, they can awaken their Mangekyo Sharingan, which has added powers at the cost of descending into blindness. If two close members of the family obtain the Mangekyo Sharingan, one can have the other's eyes implanted in his own to get the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, which stops the descent into blindness. Only after one has achieved the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan can one awaken the Rinnegan.
In history, only a few ninjas had the Rinnegan. The first person to awaken it was Madara Uchiha. Right around his death, the eyes were taken by Tobi and implanted into the baby Nagato. After Nagato's death, Tobi reclaimed the Rinnegan and implanted one in his eyes. The only other person to have awakened the Rinnegan was Sasuke Uchiha. These four: Sasuke, Madara, Tobi and Nagato – were the only ones to ever have a Rinnegan, and they were only able to be obtained by the evolution of the Sharingan or by transplant. In fact, knowing what they knew about the Rinnegan, Naruto and Tsunade both knew that it was impossible to be born with a Rinnegan.
"We know that the Rinnegan had to be implanted at birth, but if what you told me about Harame Mogiko," Tsunade said. "The only known sets of Rinnegan eyes are the one that Sasuke has and the ones that belonged to Madara Uchiha."
"I promise you that when I fought Harame, he was using the Rinnegan," Naruto said. "There's no way I could be mistaken about that."
"Then there are two possibilities," Tsunade said. "One is that somehow, Harame lost his eyes, and they ended up implanted in Mino for some reason. I don't think that's the case at all."
"Why not?" Naruto asked.
"Because Maya, Mino's mother, was certain that his Rinnegan was a hereditary dojutsu that was passed on from his father," Tsunade said. "The father was a one-night stand, but Maya remembers that Mino's father had the same Rinnegan eyes."
"Which means that there are more sets of the Rinnegan out there somewhere besides Madara's and Sasuke's," Naruto surmised. "That's a dangerous thought."
"I have people keeping eyes and ears open for information about this, but I haven't had much luck," Tsunade said. "I've kept this very secret, because I don't want this to get out. Do you understand me?" Naruto nodded. "I think that you should go see Maya and find out more about Mino for yourself," she continued. "I'm sure you have more than a few questions, and I'm also sure you'd like to know something about him before you meet him in two days as his sensei."
Naruto nodded. "Maya Kano works at the Bar-Be-Que restaurant in the village," Tsunade said. "Maybe you should wait to have Ichiraku for tonight and get some roasted pork instead."
Naruto was slightly put off that he had to put off Ichiraku's once again, but he could deal with it. After all, he did want to meet this Maya and learn more about Mino. Tsunade's decision to place Mino on his team made sense: someone had to look out for him, and he had the most experience dealing with the Rinnegan. He was the first person to defeat it, he went up against it multiple times between Nagato and Tobi, and he has fought alongside it with Sasuke.
He didn't expect this, however. To think that there was likely more than one person out there with the awesome power of the Rinnegan. The power that Nagato used to conquer the Hidden Rain and decimate the Hidden Leaf; The power that Tobi used to control 6 Tailed Beasts and wage war against the entire world; The power that Madara used to stand up to the five kage and bring himself back from the dead, the most powerful ninja in the world. That power was out there, and that thought alone was frightening.
The second he entered the BBQ place, however, he forgot about Maya and Mino and the Rinnegan, lost in a flashback of before he left the village. Sitting in a booth in the opposite corner of the restaurant were three frequent guests of the establishment: Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, and Shikamaru Nara.
Instantly, Naruto's jokester side took over, and he grinned at the thought that ran through his mind. Even if there were rumors starting to go around already, he was sure he could surprise the three, and he figured out how to do it in the most entertaining way possible.
He began to walk towards the table quietly but normally, as if he wasn't about to shock the shit out of his three friends. Just imagining the look on Shikamaru's face could only be slightly less entertaining than imagining the look on Ino's face when they saw him alive. Shikamaru and Ino were sitting on one side of the booth facing Naruto's direction, which meant that Choji was on the other side, his back towards Naruto. Even facing his direction, though, neither Ino nor Shikamaru noticed him until he was a couple of feet away. At which time, they promptly stopped speaking.
Before Choji could figure out why Shikamaru and Ino had just cut off, Naruto had sat down in the open space next to Choji, wrapping his right arm around Choji's shoulders. Choji stopped chewing abruptly as the three looked at Naruto in shock, and Naruto gave them a shit-eating grin. "Hey, Choji, I hope you saved some food for me. I'm starving!"
He would have laughed at their reaction if it wasn't for the fact that Choji picked that very moment to start choking on his food, attracting the attention of most of the restaurant. Feeling guilty that he accidentally made Choji choke, Naruto got up to pull Choji up and perform the Heimlich maneuver, but Choji scrambled away from him, probably shocked at seeing Naruto at all.
Instead, it was a pretty waitress who came over and wrapped her arms around Choji's stomach from behind, doing the Heimlich to save Choji's life. Instantly, the choked-upon beef flew out of Choji's mouth and – ironically – landed on Naruto's cheek before rebounding to the ground.
"Dude! Gross!" Naruto said, wiping his cheek with his sleeve. The waitress asked Choji if he was alright, but he only managed to nod. Maybe Naruto shouldn't go around shocking the living fuck out of all his friends. Maybe he should be a little more tactful.
"I'm fine, thanks…" Choji paused to look at the waitress' name tag. "Maya."
"It was no problem," she said. "Just don't eat too fast, alright?" After receiving a nod, the waitress – who Naruto now assumed to be the very Maya Kano that he came here to see in the first place – left them.
By the time either of the three actually reacted to Naruto, the rest of the patrons had resumed their own meals. To Shikamaru's credit, he recovered fastest. "What's going on?" he asked, looking at Naruto.
"It's a really long story," Naruto said, sitting back down at the booth. "But for what it's worth, I'm sorry for almost killing Choji."
"I-It's okay," Choji said, his breathing returning to a more even pace as he tentatively sat down next to Naruto, keeping a small distance. "So is this the Edo Tensei jutsu, or did Sasuke finally crack and use the Rinne Tensei to bring him back?"
"It has to be the Rinne Tensei," Ino surmised, seeming to come out of her state of shock. "His eyes look pretty normal; all Edo Tensei revivals have black eyes."
"I'm not a revival," Naruto scoffed. "I'm the real deal. Believe it! It would take more than Harame Mogiko to put me six feet under."
"Are you going to actually explain anything, or are we going to pretend for another few minutes that you being here is normal?" Shikamaru asked impatiently.
"I told you it's a long story, Shikamaru," Naruto said with a shrug. "Without going into details, I was assigned a mission that ended up taking longer than expected. Harame's attack on the Leaf was timed with right before I was supposed to leave, and Tsunade decided that my mission would be easier to complete if people thought I was dead."
"Oh my god, is this really happening?" Ino asked. "Does Sasuke know? Does Sakura know?"
Naruto nodded. "They were the first people I decided to break the news to. To say they were unprepared for this is…"
"An understatement," Shikamaru supplied. "I can't imagine that went well at all."
"It went better than you'd expect, actually," Naruto said quite matter-of-factly. "Sakura was excited to see me. Sasuke was torn between happy and incredibly pissed off. And we know how he gets when he's pissed off."
No one decided to comment on that statement. Regardless, it wasn't long before Naruto had Shikamaru and Choji talking as if Naruto had never left. He learned that Ino and Shikamaru were married, which meant that Ino was Shikamira's mother. They were happy to find that their daughter was going to be on Naruto's team. Choji, while he hadn't yet settled down with anyone, had also changed quite a bit. He was much slimmer than he used to be, attributing his weight loss to many missions in which he ended up using a ton of chakra.
Shikamaru and Ino also told Naruto that their fathers had become the Konoha elders after the passing of Homura and Koharu, the previous elders. Naruto figured that if Inoichi and Shikaku were the village elders, it wouldn't be too hard to get their approval to be Hokage. Of course, Naruto didn't talk about that. Tsunade wanted Naruto to become more acclimated to life back in Konoha before dropping the bomb on the village that she was naming Naruto as her successor.
He also found out about some of his other friends. Hinata and Kiba ended up together with a couple of kids, Kusa and Amaru Inuzuka, who were 15 and 16 respectively. They inherited the same nose as their father with the same eyes as their mother. Neji and Tenten have been together since before Naruto left the village, and they now have two kids: Sara, 19, and Hizabi, 14.
Shikamaru and Ino talked a lot about their daughter, Shikamira, who seemed to have begun learning the Nara family jutsu already. It turns out that unlike her mother, she was quite tomboyish, and unlike her father, she was easily excited.
After a couple more rounds of BBQ, all the patrons at the table were sufficiently full, and they decided to leave. Or at least Ino, Shikamaru and Choji did. Naruto decided he'd stay back and wait for Maya to come to the table to collect the money and the check, and then he'd have a little talk with her.
It didn't take too long. Just a couple of minutes after Ino, Shikamaru and Choji left, Maya arrived at the table to collect the check and clear off the table for the next patrons, but was surprised to see Naruto still there.
"Oh, is there anything else you'd like?" Maya asked sweetly as she collected the plates that Shikamaru, Ino and Choji had used.
"I'd like it very much if you'd sit and talk with me for a couple of minutes," Naruto offered, spreading his arm to indicate the free space across from him.
"That's very sweet, but I'm working right now," Maya said with what seemed to be a more forced smile than she was wearing before.
"Then maybe later," Naruto said smiling. "I know this great ramen stand that has the best miso pork in the village."
"Sorry, but I'm not interested," Maya said, her smile fading as she started to become more irritated. Suddenly, Naruto realized what he sounded like, and decided to clear the air.
"No!" he exclaimed. "Not like that; not on a date or anything! I'm married."
"It doesn't stop some people," she muttered, probably more to herself than to Naruto.
"I'm going to be Mino's jonin sensei," Naruto cleared up. "You're Maya Kano, right? I just want to talk about your son."
"Oh," she said, her cheeks reddening slightly. "I'm sorry, I thought you were just another pervert hitting on me. I'm working here until about 6:00-ish, so stop by then and we can talk, alright?"
Naruto nodded and apologized for the confusion before standing up and leaving the restaurant. It worked better this way. He had a few more people he had to see – Kiba, Hinata, Neji, Tenten, Lee, Konohamaru – and he wanted to see them before word really started to spread across the village.
Despite the fact that he had had his fill at BBQ, he still headed in the direction of Ichiraku. One could never get too full for ramen! Besides, he still hadn't had any ramen since he got back to the village. Sure, Suna had its fair share of ramen, but nothing could compare to some good ol' Ichiraku.
"Hey there," Naruto said as he swung his head underneath the sign that hung, blocking the view of the shop from the outside. He sat down nonchalantly, forgetting for a moment that very few people knew he was even alive.
"Hello, sir, what would you like?" Ayame, the girl who had always helped her father run the stand, said with a cheerful smile.
"I'll have my usual," Naruto said with a smile. It took him a moment to realize that Ayame was perplexed by that set of directions. Immediately, he realized what it was that was confusing her, and he smirked. "Come on, Aya. I know it's been a while, but you should remember my gorgeous face."
"Stop messing with her, Naruto," piped up Iruka, who Naruto had not noticed was eating on the other side of the ramen bar. He scratched the side of his head sheepishly with a grin on his face as Ayame's face contorted from confusion to shock to happiness to even more shock.
"What's going on?" she asked, directing her question to Iruka. Naruto wondered why nobody ever asked him why he wasn't dead, they always first looked to everyone else.
"I was on a pretty long undercover mission," Naruto answered before Iruka had a chance. Ayame's attention shifted to him. "I don't know why they wanted everyone to think I was dead, but it helped me with my assignment."
"I…I just…I can't even believe this," Ayame said, a smile starting to spread across her face. "This is so great!" she exclaimed, flinging herself over the counter to hug Naruto. "You have no idea how sad my father and I were when we heard…you were always our best customer." She pulled back quickly, a serious expression on her face. "You still like ramen, don't you?"
"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Fifteen bowls on the house for you and Iruka each!" Ayame exclaimed, holding a soup ladle above her head.
"F-Fifteen," Iruka asked, choking on his miso. "I'm fine with just one more."
"Then I'll have your other fourteen, too!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. "I have a lot of ramen eating to catch up on!"
As Ayame turned to start cooking the first bowl of ramen, Naruto got up and moved a couple seats over until he was seated next to Iruka. Iruka set aside his first bowl with a satisfied expression on his face.
"So how are things going with you now, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked as the first of what would soon be many bowls of ramen was placed in front of him.
"Pretty well, if I do say so myself," Iruka said with a smile. "I was promoted to jonin about seventeen years ago, I've already gotten and trained a genin team who are now all chunin, and Kakashi and I –"
"Did you tell him?" Naruto interrupted excitedly, a grin spreading at the reaction on Iruka's face. "You did! It's about fucking time. I was telling you for, like, ever that you should tell him."
"Well, that's old news," Iruka said with a shrug. "We've been dating for a few years now."
"You can tell me I was right any time now," Naruto said smugly as he finished draining the first bowl. A second was promptly placed in front of him.
"Fine, Naruto," Iruka said with a sigh. "You were right." Naruto grinned at Iruka. "It doesn't happen often," the brunet said with a smirk, causing Naruto to scowl.
"So what was it like training a genin team?" Naruto asked. "I mean, I know you couldn't have someone as good looking or as powerful as I, but I'd like to hear who they got you to train."
"Someone hasn't gotten any less cocky since they were a kid," Iruka muttered under his breath with a smile. "They were actually very strong ninja, I'll have you know."
"Sure, but not 'Reincarnation-of-Sage-of-Six-Paths-Perfect-Nine-Tails-Jinchuriki-Toad-Sage-Son-of-the-Yellow-Flash' strong, I'm sure," Naruto said with a smirk. "Heck, I'm sure they weren't even 'Rinnegan-Sharingan-Mangekyo-Weilding' strong either, were they?"
"Your entire graduating class was a bunch of freakishly strong weirdos," Iruka muttered under his breath. "My team was still very strong."
"With a sensei like you, how couldn't they be?" Naruto asked after he finished polishing off his third bowl. He looked up to see a mountain of bowls waiting for consumption, and suddenly he remembered all the food he ate at BBQ. 'No matter,' he thought to himself. 'I will eat every last noodle.'
A couple hours later, Naruto was on his way back towards the BBQ restaurant so that he could talk to Maya and find out more about this kid with the Rinnegan. The entire idea of it was odd. The only two pair of Rinnegan that Naruto knew of belonged to Sasuke and Madara originally. Of course, Madara's eyes passed down to Nagato and then to Tobi, but that didn't change the fact that only two pairs of eyes existed. Madara's eyes were destroyed; Sasuke still had his eyes. So how could this Mino Kano have the Rinnegan?
He entered the restaurant and caught sight of Maya as she was walking into the kitchen. He stood near the door waiting for a few seconds until she emerged, having lost her waitress-apron. She immediately saw him and waved him over to a booth in the middle of the restaurant. He obediently followed, sitting down in front of her.
"I already gave my order to the kitchen, but I didn't know what you wanted," Maya said, sounding slightly out-of-breath.
"I'm good," Naruto said. "I had a very large lunch."
She nodded. "So, I take it this is about his eyes?" Naruto quirked an eyebrow. She was pretty forward. He nodded. "When we came here as refugees, the Hokage questioned us about it, and I have no more information to give to you."
"Can you tell me everything you told her?" Naruto asked. "Being that I will be his sensei in a couple of days, I figure I should get the whole story from you."
She nodded in understanding before taking a sip of the tea she had in front of her. "His father had those same eyes," she began. "This was back when we lived on the border of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire. My family was originally from the Land of Hot Water, but we were displaced in the Fourth Shinobi World War."
"Who is his father?" Naruto asked.
"He was just a one-night stand," she said quickly.
"No name?" Naruto pressed. She gave him a sour look.
"I don't see what names have to do with anything," she said. He was about to open his mouth to respond, but she continued. "I couldn't tell you if I wanted to, anyway. I never got his name." Naruto nodded and urged her to continue.
"Our village was attacked by bandits, and our house was burned," Maya said. "This was back when Mino was about one-and-a-half years old. Having nowhere else to go, we came here, knowing that the Leaf was still accepting refugees from the war."
"Mino has had these eyes all his life?" Naruto questioned.
"Since birth," Maya confirmed. "The Hokage seems to think that he was taken shortly after birth and implanted with those eyes, but that's not true."
"You're sure?" Naruto asked. "You saw his eyes the second he was delivered?"
"I saw him when I woke up," she amended. "I passed out during childbirth. But there are just some things that mothers know." Naruto was quiet. Obviously Maya was sure of herself that Mino had the Rinnegan since birth, but Naruto knew it's not possible. He was with Tsunade on this – Mino had to have been implanted with them.
"I don't even get what the big deal is," Maya continued. "I mean, sure they're not 'normal' eyes," she said, using air quotes, "but I'm sure there are stranger things in this village for you all to worry about."
"They didn't tell you anything about the eyes?" Naruto asked, confused as to why Tsunade wouldn't inform her. Maya shook her head.
"No, but they made sure that we were put up in a nice apartment," she said bitterly. "I'm not complaining, but I sometimes feel like they keep tabs on us."
Naruto was quiet, contemplating whether or not he should tell Maya about the Rinnegan. On one hand, Tsunade and the rest of the higher-ups probably had a reason that they didn't want to let Maya know about it. On the other hand, it did directly concern Maya and Mino, so they deserved to know. After a brief battle about whether or not to tell Maya, he decided that he should tell her.
"Those eyes aren't just abnormal," Naruto said quietly. "Those eyes are incredibly powerful, and there's a reason that Mino was most likely not born with them."
"Oh, am I finally going to find out why people are so interested in my son's eyes?" Maya asked bitterly.
"His eyes are a special evolution of the Sharingan eye called the Rinnegan," Naruto explained. "Only two sets of eyes, to my knowledge, have ever awakened them: the co-founder of the Hidden Leaf, Madara Uchiha, and Sasuke Uchiha, the patriarch of the Uchiha clan. The Sharingan is a kekkei genkai specific to the Uchiha Clan, which is only awakened by the most skilled of their members. The evolution from Sharingan to Rinnegan is a long path that would be impossible to be gone through in the womb or just after birth."
"What kind of path?" Maya asked, seeming to be interested.
"Well, the first evolution of the Sharingan is called the Mangekyo Sharingan, which can only be attained when the user kills the person closest to them," Naruto explained. The look on Maya's face was almost comical at the moment. "Only a handful of people have attained the Mangekyo Sharingan to my knowledge. The Mangekyo Sharingan contains a variety of extremely powerful techniques that are extremely taxing on the eye. Use of the Mangekyo Sharingan leads to blindness."
"And then," Maya urged Naruto to continue.
"And then comes the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan," Naruto explained. "If two close relatives – usually brothers – have obtained the Mangekyo Sharingan, the eyes of one can be infused in the other to get the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. In addition to more powerful techniques, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan prevents the blindness that the first Mangekyo Sharingan produces.
"The Rinnegan is the final evolution in the Sharingan line," Naruto continued. "It is the eye of the first shinobi, the Sage of Six Paths, who was the ancestor of all shinobi, specifically of the Senju and Uchiha clans that founded the village. The Rinnegan has different powers altogether from the other eyes, and is the most powerful bloodline limit I've ever come across."
"So Mino has somehow awakened this eye?" Maya asked in awe.
"Can he activate it and de-activate it at will?" Naruto asked. Maya shook her head no. "Then those eyes have almost certainly been implanted into him. You said that the father also had these eyes?"
"Yeah," Maya said, starting to look overwhelmed by the information being received. Naruto frowned. That meant that in addition to Sasuke and Harame's pair of Rinnegan, there were two more pairs out there. A waiter came over before Naruto could respond and placed a plate of food in front of her.
"What does this mean for my boy?" Maya asked.
"He's going to be an extremely skilled ninja," Naruto answered. "I was specifically made his sensei because I have very extensive experience with the Rinnegan. I have fought against it and alongside it, and I am aware of many of its secrets."
"Then I'm glad that you are his sensei," Maya said. Naruto nodded in agreement, grateful that Mino's training would not be in the hands of someone without any knowledge or experience of the Rinnegan. But still, plaguing him in the back of his mind, was one question: how did Mino get his Rinnegan?
There was little discussion between Naruto and Maya after his explanation of the Rinnegan to her. Overall, the day had been exhausting. He'd seen way too many people and watched far too many double-takes. He'd be glad when no one was surprised to see him anymore.
He was tired as he walked up towards the Hokage mansion, momentarily stopping when he saw a pink-haired woman standing by the door, seemingly waiting for him.
"Sakura," he said, trying to muster up as much peppiness in his voice as possible. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Someone's been working on his vocabulary the last twenty years," Sakura commented with an amused smirk. "Besides, can't a girl show up to see her best friend who she hasn't seen in decades?"
"It's Gaara," Naruto explained, ignoring her last statement. "He has such a formal way of speaking and constantly corrects my grammar. It's pretty annoying sometimes." He paused for a moment, entering the house area of the Hokage mansion with Sakura following behind. "So it seems like we have a lot to catch up on." Upon entering his room, he jumped onto his bed and sighed in contentment, closing his eyes.
"I know!" Sakura exclaimed, sitting down beside his lying form. "You're married! To Gaara!"
"I'm not the only one who got a husband," Naurto said, peeking through one eye to see Sakura's face. Her cheeks colored a little bit, and she faced away from him.
"About that…" she began.
"Oh no, it's totally fine," Naruto said, sitting up after realizing what he implied. "I'm happy for you guys. You have a family and everything. I know how much both of you wanted a family."
"I'd understand if you're upset," Sakura said. "In fact, I sort of expect it. We only got together about a year or so after you left."
"A lot can happen in a year," Naruto said, laying back down. "I mean, look at what's happened in the last couple of days. I'm not mad."
"Are you sure?" Sakura asked. "I mean, you two were about to be married."
"I don't think I'll ever completely fall out of love with Sasuke," Naruto admitted, "but I do have a husband now, and I love Gaara a lot. He's the best thing that happened to me."
"Same with Sasuke," Sakura said, content that Naruto wasn't upset with her for marrying Sasuke. "I mean, I was in love with him for, like, ever. And even though we got together a while ago, I don't think he really had feelings for me until much more recently." Naruto chose not to respond, remembering Sasuke's words from last night.
"You love her now, don't you?" Naruto accused Sasuke.
"Not the same way I love you," Sasuke said, surprising Naruto. "I could never love anyone the way I love you."
"I really do hope you guys are happy," Naruto mumbled. "Sakura, as much as I'd love to talk to you some more, I am fucking exhausted right now."
"Of course," Sakura said, standing up and smoothing out her skirt. "Again, welcome home. It's great to have you back."
"It's great to be back," Naruto mumbled as he started to fall asleep. He was aware of the light turning off and the door clicking shut before sleep took him.
Author's Note: As I'm sure that people who read the original story are well aware from this chapter, the name Temira Nara has been switched to Shikamira Nara. As I wrote the original story, I found the name Temira to be too close to the name Temari, and both are characters that are connected to Shikamaru throughout the story. When I began to rewrite, I decided to take the opportunity to change her name.
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