Chapter 4: Dismissals and Assurances

For once, Hatake Kakashi was not distracting himself with an Icha Icha novel as he leaned against the railing on the small balcony leading to Uzumaki Naruto's bedroom. The silver-haired ninja may have appeared composed to most ordinary passersby if they could see his face from their vantage point, but Kakashi was anything but as his mind sunk deeply into his depressing thoughts about last night's events.

Kakashi had been aware for some time that Naruto would eventually be assigned to a genin team that would be placed under his command. At first, he tried not to think too much on the matter. Kakashi did have a legitimate obligation to train the boy, as Naruto was the son of his late sensei. It would have been easier if obligation was all Kakashi felt, or if Naruto's enthusiasm could have lessened the burden in some way. Naruto was a lot like Kakashi's deceased friend and teammate, Uchiha Obito, in a lot of regards. Those reminders alone were painful enough for the Copy Ninja...

But the truth of the matter was that though they had not called him out for it, he had lied to Kurenai and Hiruzen last night when he claimed his past wasn't responsible for influencing his hesitation to accept the responsibility of training Naruto. Kakashi was afraid that if he did train Naruto, he would get the boy killed. The fear was exacerbated by the fact Naruto almost died anyway regardless of Kakashi's absence from his life. Kakashi had already lost everyone else from his childhood. His father, Sakumo, committed seppuku after he was disgraced for his decision to rescue his comrades over completing an important mission. The deaths of his teammates, his sensei and his sensei's wife, all happening in relatively rapid succession, had an even worse impact on him. Obito had died doing the same thing that drove Sakumo to suicide, choosing to abandon the mission for the sake of a friend. Minato and his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, gave their lives to protect Konoha after the Kyūbi no Yōko was released, and were forced to condemn the newborn Naruto to carry the burden Kushina had carried before giving birth. And Rin…Kakashi still had nightmares and flashbacks from when Rin killed herself by stepping into the path of a Raikiri that had been meant to kill the enemy Kiri-nin who ambushed them during his attempt to rescue her. Everyone who got close to Kakashi died, their deaths usually caused by their own actions. And to know that Naruto, his sensei's only child and living legacy, had attempted to end his own life too…

"It does not do you well to dwell on the past at this time, Kakashi-san," a voice interrupted his thoughts. Kakashi looked up to see Hiruzen on the opposite side of the balcony.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi answered the call to attention from Hiruzen. "I didn't expect you to arrive so soon after you told me to wait here."

"Well, as you can see, last night was both eventful and sleepless," Hiruzen said in an apologetic manner. "But before we enter, should I explain why I called you here now?"

"After last night, sir, I don't think an explanation is necessary."

Hiruzen paused only long enough to unlock the back door using the master key he always kept with him. "This discussion we are about to have on Naruto and his teammates was originally supposed to happen yesterday. So many things that weren't supposed to happen, happened in its stead. Naruto's situation has taken a drastic turn for the worse and it is only now that I am realizing what should have been done to prevent it."

Kakashi nodded as he followed Hiruzen inside Naruto's apartment, and almost gagged as he found himself bombarded with a very unpleasant combination of odors. "Does Naruto even know what air fresheners are or how to use them?" he complained.

"Try not to let the smell get to you, Kakashi. It is unlikely Naruto would have willingly tried to purchase such products, given the poor experiences he has had during most of his shopping trips."

"And you allowed it to happen?"

Hiruzen sighed deeply while giving Kakashi a brief, but harsh warning glare. "In hindsight, I know I should have done more. But the situation is still complicated. The first few times Naruto tried to go shopping on his own, he was met with discrimination from the shopkeepers and merchants. They were all either killed or banished from the Land of Fire for their offenses against Naruto, but it was already too late to undo the damage they caused. Naruto decided that his best response to those incidents was to get revenge by vandalizing their stores. By doing so, he gave most of the other shopkeepers and merchants a legitimate excuse to deny him service. Was I supposed to have them killed or banished too, knowing the negative consequences such actions would have for the entire village? That is the problem I still face, Kakashi-san. Even as the Hokage, I am limited in how much influence I can exert. Actually, my position as the acting Hokage may well have placed greater limitations on me than I would have had if I had found another worthy successor."

Kakashi withheld his reply until he completed a quick inspection of the kitchen/dining area, which ended with removing a carton of milk from the fridge and setting it on the counter. "Would that explain why Naruto is drinking expired milk?"

"No store in this village is allowed to sell perishable food past its expiration date. If the shopkeeper from whom Naruto purchased the milk broke that law, he will be punished. That being said, something the medical report on Naruto mentioned was that he had not consumed any food or beverages yesterday. Naruto skipped breakfast before heading to the Academy." Kakashi could not think of an answer to that. The implications of that particular piece of information were just too much.

"But now is not the time to discuss Naruto's dietary habits," Hiruzen dismissed the subject. "We are here to figure out how to give Naruto a reason to keep living."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Kakashi asked.

"There is a plan for his psychological recovery being put into place. Naruto will be attending therapy sessions with Inoichi-san at least once every week while he is in the village, but that alone will not be enough. Naruto needs to be given a surrogate family. You will be part of that family, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi lowered his head and shut his visible eye. "Hokage-sama, I'm not sure if I'm the best person for the job. I understand why I'm being called upon, but—"

"You're still afraid of getting Naruto killed if you let yourself get close, but at the same time, you're asking yourself if things would have gone better for him if you had gotten close," Hiruzen observed. "But back then, you were mentally unfit to raise Naruto after experiencing so many traumatic events in such a short time. As I said earlier, Kakashi, it does not do you well to dwell on the past. What matters is what you can do in the here and now. And right now, Naruto needs you to overcome your fear and be there for him."

Keeping his visible eye shut, Kakashi crossed his right arm over his chest and gripped his left arm. "I will do everything I can for Naruto. But it's not going to be easy, and I'm not talking about my fear right now. There's still one other genin on Team Seven who may require a similar kind of focus that you're asking me to give to Naruto."

"That's already been taken care of. You don't need to worry about your focus being split between students. I have decided to terminate both Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. At this time, it is unlikely that either of them will be allowed to join the shinobi corps."

Kakashi reflexively lifted up his hitai-ate as his eyes snapped open. It was not done as a threatening gesture, but to display how much shock he was in after hearing the Hokage's decision to fail this year's Team Seven before they were even tested. "Sasuke and Sakura were among the top of their class. Sasuke had the highest grades for practical tests, while Sakura had the highest grades for written tests. What did Inoichi-san learn about them that led you to this decision?"

"Only part of Inoichi's evaluation uncovered new information; the rest of it was a confirmation of prior suspicions and another wake-up call to tell us what we should have done sooner. Both Sasuke and Sakura have mental issues of their own that impair their ability to function as competent and loyal ninja of our village. There is not a single shinobi in Konoha who doesn't know that Sasuke was left traumatized by witnessing the murders of nearly everyone else in the Uchiha Clan. Our response was woefully inadequate, and it pains me to admit that my failures regarding Sasuke started by looking at his situation from a political perspective. As for Sakura, Inoichi-san discovered the existence of a split personality that has the potential to cloud her judgment. For the time being, it is best that they are placed on strict probation and made to undergo therapy."

Kakashi shut his eyes again and lowered his hitai-ate back to its regular position. "Forgive me for pointing this out, but the ramifications of banning Sasuke from service will be huge."

"And the ramifications of the Last Loyal Uchiha going rogue or getting himself killed because of his desire for vengeance will be even worse," Hiruzen stated the other obvious fact. "Sasuke is currently unfit to be a shinobi. Until his mental state makes an adequate improvement, I will not reconsider this decision."

"And what about Naruto? After what happened last night, there is no way he can possibly be ready to wear the hitai-ate," Kakashi argued. "By all rights, Naruto should have been held back another year due to his poor grades, and would have been held back had he not used the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu during the graduation exam. Besides, each new ninja team formed out of the Academy needs three compatible genin, and the only other students in that class who could possibly be compatible with Naruto were already assigned to different teams."

Hiruzen growled at Kakashi's apparent refusal to look at the bigger picture. He reached under his robes for his pipe, only to discover that he had run out of tobacco and did not hide his annoyance as he put it back. "Naruto will not be sent back to the Academy or assigned to another team, Kakashi. You will be taking him on as an apprentice. We cannot afford to let him slip away. Naruto worked far too hard just to make it as far as he had before all of this happened and it will be up to you to make him believe that those years of effort were not wasted. Give Naruto a purpose in life, just as his father did for you."

Kakashi nodded once before he moved to leave the apartment the way they came in. "And if we should fail to mend Naruto's broken soul?"

"We won't," was Hiruzen's resolute reply as he walked outside and used a Shunshin no Jutsu to return to his office.

Before Kakashi made his own exit, he took one last look inside Naruto's bedroom. Kakashi himself had endured so much loneliness in his life and had accepted many years ago that he would have to endure much more before death claimed him, but the feeling he got from being inside Naruto's small apartment was worse than what he normally felt. That feeling told Kakashi that this apartment had never truly felt like a home for Naruto. And that was the first thing that would have to be fixed in order for Naruto to make a successful recovery.


As the head of the Yamanaka Clan and an important cog in the machine that was Konoha's Intelligence Division, Inoichi was often assigned many of the more unpleasant tasks that could be given to a shinobi. In most of those instances, calling the task unpleasant was an understatement.

Being the one to deliver the news to Uchiha Sasuke that he was banned from becoming a shinobi was no different. There was no way Sasuke would take this news well, and though there was nothing he could do to actually harm Inoichi should he lash out, Inoichi knew it would be prudent to speak with a certain amount of caution. Sasuke would find it all too easy to blame the wrong people for his own faults.

Inoichi did not have the time to dwell on the matter, though. He quickly arrived at his destination, a small apartment located close to the Uchiha district, but not inside the district itself. It was common knowledge that Sasuke had stopped living inside his clan's former district after the night the clan was slaughtered, and only returned there occasionally. No one in their right mind (Sasuke clearly wasn't, but still) would have willingly stayed in their old home after it became the site of one of the worst bloodbaths in recent history.

He took a deep breath before knocking on the door. When it opened, it was clear that Sasuke had been about to leave his apartment for one of Konoha's many training grounds, which meant this meeting had already taken a turn for the worse before it even started.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, his voice full of contempt. Inoichi didn't bother with trying to reprimand him for his disrespect and just handed him the first of two envelopes he was instructed by the Hokage to deliver. Sasuke stayed put long enough to open it and his anger spiked once he saw the pink color of the enclosed document. "What the hell is this?"

"Sasuke, I understand this is difficult to hear, but—"

"Difficult?! This is bullshit!" Sasuke shouted. "What the hell did I do to deserve this? I was at the top of my class!"

"One's performance at the Academy, by itself is not an accurate indicator of readiness to become a shinobi," Inoichi explained, taking a stern tone with the Last Loyal Uchiha. "There are other factors involved in determining one's readiness. In case you forgot, your jōnin instructor Hatake Kakashi-san would have been within his rights to fail you had he tested you and your teammates and found any one of the three of you lacking something essential. That was, of course, assuming that Hokage-sama had not decided to ban you from entering the shinobi corps on the grounds of mental instability."

Sasuke was already glowering to the point that his face would have been a beacon of red light in the darkest caves, but Inoichi had only started dressing him down. "During the four and a half years that have passed since that day, you have allowed yourself to become consumed with thoughts of revenge. You cannot see past your anger and therefore cannot understand what it means to be a shinobi. Being a shinobi is not about the pursuit of power or killing those who deserve to die. Until you realize that truth, you cannot expect us to allow you to continue walking the path you paved for yourself."

"You're a hypocrite if you think you can tell me what a shinobi is!" Sasuke screamed at Inoichi. "Both you and that pathetic Hokage allowed hundreds of people to die who didn't deserve it!"

Inoichi clenched and unclenched his fists, restraining himself from physically disciplining Sasuke. As much as he sympathized with Sasuke for the tragedy that befell him, and as much as he was to blame for the failure to help Sasuke recover, the disrespect Sasuke showed towards those who were socially superior to him could not be tolerated. "For that alone, I should hand you over to the Torture and Interrogation Force so they can permanently seal your chakra. Hokage-sama had intended for your ban to be temporary, but after what you just said—"

"Shut the hell up!" Sasuke interrupted Inoichi a second time with his screaming. "You know nothing about what you put me through since that night!"

"I'm a mind-walker, Sasuke," Inoichi reminded Sasuke. "And when I went inside your mind last night, I heard what Itachi told you to do. If you follow his words and let yourself continue as you are, there is a very strong possibility you will become just like him. What good does it do to destroy something you hate when by doing so, you become the very thing you set out to destroy?"

Inoichi allowed himself a heavy sigh as the raven-haired boy grew silent, crossing his arms and turning his face away as he appeared to be contemplating the question. It was the first sign of rational thought he had seen from Sasuke in this meeting. Perhaps it also meant that Sasuke wasn't too far gone, as Inoichi suspected/feared.

"As I said a minute ago, Hokage-sama intended for this to only be temporary," Inoichi continued. "It is possible for the ban to be rescinded."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, only reluctantly choosing to look Inoichi in the eye.

"As one of the conditions of your probation, Hokage-sama is ordering you to attend therapy sessions on a regular basis. These sessions will be conducted by either myself, or if I am not available, another Yamanaka who is sufficiently qualified. If you comply with this order and learn both a proper respect for your superiors and how not to let your desire for revenge control you, the ban will be rescinded and you will be accepted back into the shinobi program. But only when you can prove to us beyond a reasonable doubt that you have made these changes in yourself."

Sasuke, arms still crossed, turned his back to Inoichi. He clearly wasn't happy about the dismissal, but realizing that he was being offered another chance made him stop and think, but only briefly. "Fine," he muttered. "I'll go through with the therapy, but only because you're not giving me any other choice."

Inoichi frowned. Sasuke was taking this exactly like he expected him to, showing why the actions being taken to make him get better were fully warranted. "Very good," he said. "I have more work to attend to now, but you'll receive another written notice soon informing you when our first session will take place." He gave Sasuke a small nod and turned to leave the apartment, but Sasuke stopped him with one last question:

"How much of this really has to do with Naruto?"

Inoichi sighed as he turned back around to address Sasuke's final question for him. "Right now, you may think we should just let Naruto die. But I strongly suggest taking a long time to reflect on what happened last night. Earlier, I said that there was a strong chance you would be so consumed by revenge that you would become just like your brother. If that doesn't happen, I can promise you this. If you follow your current path and succeed in killing Itachi without becoming Itachi, you will be left just as empty inside as Naruto is now. You will have lost your purpose in life just as Naruto believes he has lost his, and you will seek to take your own life just as Naruto tried to take his."

Sasuke could only stare blankly at the front door as Inoichi took his leave. For the first time in a long time, he was left with more questions than answers.


Inoichi sighed deeply as he walked from Sasuke's apartment to a nearby complex where the Haruno family lived. Unlike with Sasuke, Inoichi was uncertain of how Sakura would react to her letter of dismissal, and that was accounting for what he knew of her prior to last night.

Inoichi's daughter, Ino, had fostered a strong friendship with Sakura during the Academy, but over the past year the friendship fell apart and turned into a bitter rivalry, and it was all because both Ino and Sakura (and every other female student in their class except for Hinata) had become infatuated with Sasuke almost to the point of obsession. Luckily, it wasn't severe enough to make Ino unwilling to work with her teammates and family allies, Shikamaru and Chōji, though she likely would have caused problems had she been assigned to any team that wasn't a continuation of the Ino-Shika-Chō tradition. He hoped that Ino would get over Sasuke on her own, and soon.

As he knocked on the front door of the Haruno residence and waited for someone to answer, Inoichi wondered about Sakura's motivations to become a ninja. Sakura had developed a friendship with Sasuke prior to the Uchiha Massacre, that fell apart when Sasuke started distancing himself from everyone else. Over the past year, Sakura's feelings toward the Last Loyal Uchiha had turned into an infatuation so consuming, that her former friend turned object of lust became her entire reason for wanting to serve Konoha as a kunoichi. That was something Inoichi would have to get her to shut down, but it was something she would have to do on her own. Even with her split personality complicating matters, Sakura was more than capable of doing an introspection to realize her own shortcomings without having anyone else there to help her. Inoichi couldn't afford to spend any time on therapy sessions with her, not when Naruto and Sasuke were already enough of a challenge.

The door opened to reveal Sakura, who looked at him with surprise for two seconds before greeting him: "Inoichi-san, what brings you here today?"

"Hello, Sakura. Are your parents here?" Inoichi asked.

Sakura shook her head. "They both left to run some errands on the other side of the village. Is there something I can help you with?"

Inoichi sighed again, remembering how Sakura's parents tended to bicker and how they had initially objected to Sakura joining the Academy. "It's probably for the best that Kizashi-san and Mebuki-san are not here for this conversation," he said as he walked inside, left his sandals at the door, and handed Sakura the second unlabeled envelope Hiruzen gave him to deliver.

It was with caution that Sakura opened the envelope, due to how ominous Inoichi's voice sounded to her. The moment she saw the pink color of the document, her eyes widened in horror; she didn't have to read it to know what it was.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Sakura, have you ever heard any other voices inside your mind?" was Inoichi's reply.

"Sometimes…but what does that have to do with this?"

"When I scanned your mind last night, Sakura, I discovered that you have a second personality. It appears to have developed because of your tendency to keep certain thoughts and emotions suppressed rather than allow them to be displayed to others. Hokage-sama and I believe this personality, this 'Inner Sakura' as we're currently calling it, has the ability to negatively affect your decision-making processes and can be considered a hindrance to both yourself and your teammates while out on missions. Therefore, Hokage-sama has decided that until you learn how to properly handle these repressed thoughts and emotions, you will not be allowed to become a ninja."

"WHAT?!" Sakura screeched. "I know how to make decisions just fine!"

"Both Hokage-sama and myself have every reason to doubt that after everything that has happened during the past twenty-four hours," Inoichi insisted. "If you were to tell Hinata what you just told me, I do not believe she would let you walk away from that conversation. And before you try to deny it, let me remind you of something else. As a genin, even if only a probationary genin, you should have realized that something was wrong when you thought Sasuke was speaking to you yesterday. Only a civilian would be consistently fooled by the Henge no Jutsu; a trained ninja would see through the deception. But you were blinded by your infatuation with Sasuke and refused to consider the possibility that you were not actually speaking to him. Your actions yesterday showed a blatant disregard for the Shinobi Rules that nearly cost the lives of two of your comrades. Surely you can understand why your conduct is not permissible and has caused you to be rejected from service?"

Sakura stood there in stunned silence for almost thirty seconds before she could answer that. The rational part of her knew Inoichi was right and she had royally screwed up, but Inner Sakura was receiving all of the rage she felt over being discharged before she even had a chance to prove herself. "I can change! I didn't mean to make Naruto feel like that!" she protested.

"Then why did you even say those words in the first place? You don't understand what Naruto is going through right now, Sakura. Naruto has lost the will to live because of what you told him. He won't open himself up to anyone, even the few people who genuinely wish to help him. The physical danger to his life may have passed for now, but if he is going to recover, then the people around him need to address their own shortcomings so they can be in a position to help him. Myself included, if that makes you feel better."

It didn't. Sakura hung her head low as she asked in a defeatist tone, "Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Figure that out yourself," Inoichi instructed her. "You're more than capable of doing so. Once you do, I'm sure you'll be able to get reinstated." He was about to turn and leave when it occurred to him that there was something else he needed to tell her, something he probably wasn't supposed to say. "Listen, Sakura. I don't have any time in my schedule right now to give you therapy sessions and it's doubtful that I'll be available to give you any sessions in the near future. I will see if there is someone else who can perform these sessions with you, but given the circumstances, it could still take at least a few months before a therapist becomes available." Which was basically telling Sakura that she was being denied help as punishment for her actions. "It isn't right, but that's just how it is," he added to soften the blow. Sakura gave him a nod, though he knew that Inner Sakura had to be seething right now. He tried a second time to leave, but this time Sakura stopped him.

"Wait!"

Inoichi raised an eyebrow at Sakura. "Is there something else you wanted to have cleared up?"

Sakura clenched the pink sheet in her hand as she said, "The notice only said that Sasuke-kun and I were being dropped from the shinobi program. But all genin are assigned to teams in threes. What's going to happen to Naruto?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but the Hokage is ordering Kakashi-san to take on Naruto as an apprentice," Inoichi replied. "Hokage-sama believes that sending Naruto back to the Academy or banning him from service altogether will make it less likely for him to want to continue living. Only time will tell if the decision to keep Naruto in the program does him any good."

"Oh…I see…" Sakura said quietly. For a moment, she looked like she wanted to say something else, but decided against it and turned away. "Have a good afternoon, Inoichi-san."

As she turned away, Inoichi noticed a tear fall from her eye. He walked away from the door and placed a firm hand on Sakura's shoulder, giving her a stern look from her side. "Right now, I can't tell whether you are feeling sorry for yourself or if you truly regret your actions yesterday. But if you do feel remorse, then you need to wait for Naruto and Hinata to decide they are ready to see you again before you try to apologize. You have caused the two of them a tremendous amount of grief and it is of little wonder that Hinata snapped at everyone there and issued threats against you." Inoichi let go of Sakura's shoulder and walked back towards the door. "That's just one of the many things you'll have to think about if you still wish to become a ninja."

Sakura just stood there, keeping her back turned on Inoichi as he left the house. The only sound that was made was from the crumpling of the notice in her hand as she clenched her fist tighter. From the corner of her eye, that notice appeared to be staring at her, almost taunting her.

At least that was how the manifestation of her repressed feelings saw it, before deciding to comment.

"Good riddance!" Inner Sakura yelled. "This is all Naruto's fault! At least now he won't be around to bother us anymore! Shānnarō!"

"Shut up," Sakura warned the construct. "It's because of you rearing your ugly forehead that we're in the mess!"

"But you and I are the same person," 'Inner' pointed out. "So don't try to absolve yourself by pinning the blame on me."

"I said SHUT THE HELL UP!" Sakura screamed, ripping the notice in two. The voice fell silent, and Sakura was breathing heavily before she felt a tear land on her lower lip. She was finally starting to feel the impact of the blow she had dealt to herself and it brought her to her knees.

She knew she should have been nicer to Naruto. But all she had thought about when she thought of him was how he had constantly tried to treat her as someone who could be won like a prize at a festival. She had grown to hate Naruto for it. And she had let that hate run free for just a few minutes and it was enough to break him. Yesterday, she would have been glad that Naruto would be out of her life. But now all she could feel was the overwhelming guilt from knowing that she had driven Naruto to do something she would never have wished on him.

All of this was her own damn fault. And it was too late for her to make any attempt to fix things.

"What have I done?" she whispered incessantly.


While Inoichi was out dealing with Naruto's would-have-been teammates, Naruto was giving the wall to his right a blank stare. Being confined to his bed in the basement level of the hospital left him without much else he could do to pass the time. It was why he hated hospitals: every minute he spent in one was a minute he felt like they were trying to kill him through sheer boredom.

Naruto turned to his left and reached towards the blinds, pulling them open slightly to peek at Hinata. To his relief, she had cried herself back to sleep after the last time she tried talking to him, so he allowed himself to pull the blinds open as far as he could. He quickly wished he hadn't as he looked over her in the bed and felt sick to his stomach. He only now noticed that the nurses had reattached the wires to the ceiling which kept her broken leg suspended above the bed and that her left hand, which was on the cast over her right arm, was wrapped in bandages that were stained red from her own blood. Hinata had been hurt greatly because of his failures and that made him feel worse than anything.

He then looked down at his own injuries and that only aggravated what he felt about Hinata's suffering. All of the lesser wounds had already healed and though his head, chest and legs would take longer to be repaired, he felt no pain whatsoever from them, and he was sure he hadn't been given any medicine for the pain while he slept. That was how it had always been for Naruto. He'd never done anything like this before to incur more serious injuries, but any he had suffered from a training mishap always healed by the next day. Naruto was normally okay with this because it had kept him out of having to stay at the hospital for extended periods of time. But right now, he could not describe just how horrible he felt, knowing that he would recover from this quickly while Hinata, the girl who risked her life for him, would be suffering for far longer because of his actions.

Slowly, he reached his arm out to pull the blinds shut again, unable to bear looking at Hinata any longer. He just wanted to be left alone so he could die. But she was too stubborn to listen and had nearly killed herself trying to save him.

But before he could grab the blinds, the door to his room opened, revealing a middle-aged blond shinobi wearing a red haori over a standard black uniform. Naruto had trouble recognizing this man, even though he looked strangely familiar. The man's entrance also aroused Hinata from her slumber, making her moan in pain as she tried to sit up.

"My apologies for disturbing you, Hinata," the older man addressed the injured Hyūga.

Hinata shook her head and winced from another burst of pain. "It is alright, Inoichi-san. But may I ask what brings you here?"

The now-identified Inoichi sighed as he closed the door behind him. "I wish my visit here was under more pleasant circumstances," he said before moving one of the chairs for visitors between Hinata and Naruto's beds.

"Um…shouldn't you call—"

"No, Hinata," Inoichi answered her question before she could finish asking. "It is best that you remain in here for this therapy session." He then turned to face Naruto and said, "We haven't been properly introduced yet, Naruto. I am Inoichi of the Yamanaka Clan and I am here to talk to you about your…accident last night. Do you remember anything strange happening after you fell?"

Naruto knew right away from the delicate tone Inoichi used that something was being hidden from him, and he didn't like it. "Remember what, exactly?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the Yamanaka clan head.

Inoichi rubbed his temples to stave off the headache that he knew Naruto was going to give him after he said his next words. "While you were unconscious, I used a special ninjutsu that was developed my clan for the purpose of entering your mind."

Naruto shot up so fast that were it not for the casts on his legs, he would have launched himself out of his bed. "What the hell gives you the right to go messing with my head?!" he shouted.

"You had just tried to kill yourself and the Hokage needed to know why," Inoichi said sternly. "Right now, you cannot be trusted to be left alone or to willingly tell us what we need to know, so entering your mind directly was the only option. If you want to earn back the trust you lost, you had better start by answering my questions, and answering them truthfully."

"Inoichi-san, you are being too harsh on Naruto-kun," Hinata attempted to chastise Inoichi.

"Can you trust Naruto right now?" Inoichi asked her in reply. Hinata found herself unable to provide him with an answer. "That's what I thought," he added after waiting fifteen seconds for the answer that did not come. "As for you, Naruto, you are going to start making an effort to let others help you. This is a direct order from the Hokage. Noncompliance is not an option."

If there were any objects in reach that he could throw at Inoichi besides his pillow, Naruto would have thrown them. Being deprived of that option for venting his anger, he settled for crossing his arms, closing his eyes and looking away. "I don't need your help," he spat.

"Yes you do. You just won't admit it." But Naruto kept himself closed off from all conversation and after a minute of the silent treatment, Inoichi announced, "If you won't talk to me, I'll have no choice but to enter your mind again and get the answers that way." He stood up and walked over to Naruto and was about to place his right hand on top of the boy's head, but Naruto grabbed his wrist. Inoichi pulled free and was about to try again, this time making sure he moved too fast for Naruto to respond, when Hinata cried out to Naruto, stopping both of them.

"Naruto-kun, please," Hinata begged Naruto, remembering how Inoichi had defended her last night. "Inoichi-san really does want to help you. Please talk to him. No, please talk to us."

Naruto reluctantly turned his head towards Hinata and flinched away when he saw that she was crying again. He had been so determined to keep himself shut away until everyone else got the message and left him alone, but now that he could see that he was still hurting her by trying to distance himself from her, his resolve crumbled.

"I…I don't remember that much," Naruto said slowly to Inoichi. "It's all kinda fuzzy, you know? I remember hitting my head on something and then the next thing I know, everything was dark. Then I remember hearing a few voices but I can't remember what they were saying."

"I see," Inoichi said and frowned at the vagueness of Naruto's answer. The problem was that he could tell that Naruto wasn't being evasive, leaving Inoichi to wonder if Naruto was trying to suppress the memory or if he truly did not remember. However, there were two positives. The first was that this likely meant Naruto still did not know about the Kyūbi no Yōko sealed inside him. And the second was that Hinata had been able to convince Naruto to respond. Inoichi had spoken last night of finding the pillar of strength Naruto needed, and he was starting to think that perhaps Hinata was that pillar…

"Okay, Naruto. With that out of the way, it is my duty to inform you that we will be conducting these sessions regularly over a minimum period of six months. Whether or not these sessions continue beyond that depends on your willingness to cooperate." Naruto did not give him any further response. The look in his eyes told Inoichi all he needed to know about Naruto's thoughts on the matter. He pushed the chair back to its original position and opened the door to leave, taking only one more look at the broken children in their beds. He was about to say something else until Naruto's eyes met his, and he chose instead to clear his throat and empty it of the words that had just died there.

Now that they were alone again, Naruto looked Hinata in the eyes and saw that she was worrying over him. He still didn't understand why; he wasn't worth her concern, or anyone's for that matter. If only they'd just let me end it already so they won't have to worry anymore…

"Listen to me, Naruto-kun," Hinata said. "I—"

"Don't," Naruto cut her off. "Please don't, Hinata."

"If you won't listen to Hinata, then maybe you'll listen to me, for once," a new, all too familiar voice piped in from behind the door. Both Naruto and Hinata turned their heads towards the door and made a simultaneous exclamation of their surprise as it opened:

"Iruka-sensei!"


Iruka was already shaking his head at Naruto before he even entered the room. There were no words he could really use to adequately describe how he felt, seeing Naruto wrapped up like a mummy and confined to a bed, with Hinata looking almost as bad. He was angry beyond belief with Naruto for pulling this latest stunt, but at the same time, he was angrier with himself, and also terribly frightened by seeing that Naruto was even capable of deliberately trying to kill himself. He thought he knew Naruto better than this. He knew Naruto had been alone his entire childhood, but the blond troublemaker hadn't shown any signs at all until now that would go this far to cry out for attention. Naruto may have been the dead last, having failed so many of his assignments, but Iruka knew now that he was the real failure.

Iruka remained silent for what felt like an eternity as he grabbed the chair Inoichi had used and moved it back between Naruto and Hinata's beds. He could only recall one other time when he had trouble speaking to Naruto, and it was back when Naruto was starting out at the Academy. Iruka had been reluctant to teach Naruto back then, at least before he was set straight by a certain jōnin who would be Naruto's new instructor after he was released. But the awkwardness he'd felt back then wasn't even close to what was present between them now as he struggled to find the right words to say.

"What were you thinking, Naruto?" Iruka forced himself to ask. He managed to keep the anger out of his voice, leaving only exasperation. But Naruto didn't care how he was trying to come across.

"It's none of your damn business," Naruto growled.

"None of my damn business?" Anyone who might have been listening in could practically hear the quotation marks around Iruka's incredulous repeating of Naruto's words. "I am your teacher, Naruto, so what happens to you is my damn business. And I just can't believe that you would do something like this without trying to talk to me."

"So now you care?!" Naruto snapped. From his point of view, Iruka was trying to guilt trip him, which only made him angrier with his instructor. "All you ever do when you pay attention to me is scold me! You always tell me to study harder but you never actually do anything to help me! So why don't you just piss off?!" From the corner of his eye, he could barely see Hinata's eyes widen at his yelling and her left hand moving up to cover her mouth.

"I was trying to treat you like a normal student!" Iruka shouted back, causing Naruto to flinch from the anguish in his voice. He was breathing heavily afterward, his yelling taking a lot out of him. "I thought that being strict on you was the best way to get you to do better, but now I see that I was wrong," he continued more quietly, but the softer tone gave these words a greater impact. "As a teacher, it's my job to treat all of my students equally and not give any of them special treatment. But we often forget that every student has different needs." He stood up and walked over to the right side of Naruto's bed and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. "And I'm sorry, Naruto. I couldn't see what you really needed. Please forgive me."

Naruto's eyes widened as Iruka issued his apology, then screwed shut as his tears started to fall. He knew now that Iruka meant what he said. He hadn't meant to push his teacher that far, though. Iruka wasn't just a teacher to Naruto, he was the closest thing Naruto had to a father. But with how much turmoil he was still in, how was Naruto supposed to know what to think or believe anymore? How was he supposed to know who, if anyone, he could trust? Almost everyone else in the village had either lied to him or ignored him, and it had taken a particular angry rant from Sakura for him to realize why.

"It's not your fault, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said, pushing Iruka's hands off him. "I caused you all that trouble. And not just you. You don't have to apologize. It's really—"

"Don't say it," Iruka interrupted.

"But—" Naruto tried to protest, but Iruka raised his hand to warn Naruto that there would be consequences if he didn't remain silent.

"I know you believe this is all your fault, Naruto. And I would be lying if I tried to tell you that you're not completely blameless here. But you are not responsible for everything bad that happens in this world. Even the Hokage can't carry the burdens of the whole world on his shoulders, so don't think for even one second that you're capable of doing so, got it?"

"Then what's the point of being Hokage if I can't help everyone?"

"As revered as Hokage-sama is, he is still only human. A single man can't change the world by himself. Nor can he change what others think of him."

Naruto crossed his arms and looked away from Iruka, closing his eyes so he wouldn't also have to look at Hinata. "If I can't make anyone acknowledge me, what am I supposed to do?"

Iruka walked back around and sat down between Naruto and Hinata's beds. Naruto still had his eyes closed, but Hinata was staring at him almost as intensely as he was thinking about what needed to be said to get Naruto back on the right path. "You are only responsible for your own actions, Naruto. You are the only person you can change, and if no one else in this village wants to see that you are trying to change into a better person, then they are not worth your time. Those people are the ones who can't be pleased. They're the ones who will always try to find flaws in you when they should be looking inward to address their own problems. If you find yourself around those people, the best thing you can do is to leave them be."

"Iruka-sensei is right, Naruto-kun," Hinata spoke for the first time since Iruka entered the room, making Naruto reluctantly open his eyes to look at her. "I know you feel like you can't change yourself. I used to feel that way too, Naruto-kun. You just have to focus harder and take things at your own pace, until you become the person you want to be."

Naruto just turned away from them again. "I don't even know who I wanna be anymore, so why does it matter whether or not I can change myself?" he asked, confirming to them that mere words were not going to be enough to get through to him. However, his next words would relight a flame of hope inside Iruka, one that he was repeatedly trying to stamp out:

"You know, Iruka-sensei…while I was up there, I was thinking about that question you asked."

"What question was that, Naruto?" Iruka asked with a smile.

"You asked us, 'If the world were going to come to an end tomorrow, who would we like to spend our last day with', right?"

Iruka's smile widened as Naruto kept opening up to him. "That's right. Were you able to find an answer?" But his smile vanished when Naruto turned back towards him and he saw that Naruto was struggling to not cry again.

"I thought that question was so stupid when you asked it, so I just threw my paper out the window," Naruto explained. "There was no way the world was gonna end. But then last night, my world almost did end, and then I understood what you were trying to ask. But I still couldn't think of anyone, and…"

Both Iruka and Hinata felt a violent jolt from Naruto's anguished confession. "Um, Naruto, about that…" Iruka tried to say, but stopped himself after seeing Hinata look at him expectantly. No, now isn't the right time. He wouldn't be able to handle it if I told him that Hinata wrote down his name for that assignment. "Never mind. Just try to get some rest, okay? The two of you have a long week ahead of you." Hinata nodded, while Naruto just looked away again. It's probably better that they wait to find out about their new living arrangements until after they're released, he thought to himself as he moved his chair back to its original position and opened the door to leave. But before he left, there was one more thing he felt Naruto needed to hear.

"Naruto, you may still think this is all your fault and that you deserve to die alone. But before you let those thoughts cloud your judgment, you need to ask yourself this. If that were really true, why would Hinata risk her life to save you?"

The moment Iruka closed the door, Naruto pulled the blinds around his bed shut again, refusing to spare Hinata another look as he shut down any further attempts she would have made to plead with him. There was only one thought on his mind right now, and it was a thought Iruka had just told him not to think.

It doesn't matter…she shouldn't have saved me…


A/N: Normally, I don't like to address guest reviews, but a lot of the anonymous readers who aren't signing up for an account before clicking the Review button still have some big misconceptions stuck in their heads that need to be cleared up, if at all possible.

1) The civilian council doesn't exist in canon. Nor will it exist in this story, or in any story written by myself or my co-author unless a damn good reason can be provided for why it should exist. ("To function as a hate sink" aka get bashed as it does in far too many pieces of bad fan fiction is NOT a valid reason.)

2) Naruto was never sabotaged at the Academy; if any of the teachers there had tried, they'd have found themselves out of a job at the very least. The main reason Naruto was dead last was because he deliberately failed or refused to perform many of his assignments in class. That being said, Iruka can be partially blamed for not doing more for Naruto after he stopped hating him. I say partially because while Iruka did hate Naruto at first, once he got over that hate, he treated Naruto like he would have treated any other trouble-making student. In fact, Iruka's strictness towards Naruto made him the only person Naruto respected during the Academy Years.

3) To the best of my knowledge, since most members of the Uzumaki Clan did not reside in Konoha prior to disbanding after the destruction of Uzushio, they did not have a clan compound there. What they have is the Mask Storage Temple, located on the outskirts of Konoha. It is also shown that Minato and Kushina never lived in a mansion, but in a modest house that was destroyed in the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha. Minato also owned at least two safe houses outside of Konoha that also do not conform to the misconception that they lived in a mansion (and were also destroyed in the Nine-Tails' attack); this does allow for the possibility that there is at least one other safe house somewhere that survived and is still usable.

4) On the same note as the above, Namikaze is not recognized as a clan in the source material; given what we were shown from Kushina's memories, it is far more likely that Minato was an orphan. (Minato's reason for wanting to become Hokage was exactly the same as Naruto's original reason: because he wanted acknowledgment.) Even if the family name Namikaze had clan status, the Uzumaki Clan would have carried a greater level of prestige anyway, and that's even after accounting for Minato's achievements. Had Minato and Kushina lived to raise Naruto and their marriage been public knowledge, Minato would have likely changed his family name from Namikaze to Uzumaki, unless you happen to live inside the Infinite Filleryomi.

Anyway...

To those of you who asked yourselves "what happened to Naruto already knowing he has Kyūbi sealed inside him because Mizuki ran his mouth" after reading this chapter, I will remind you of this: in the first chapter, Hinata mentioned that Naruto used the Shadow Clone Technique to pass the legitimate graduation exams, so the scheme concocted by Mizuki to trick Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals never happened in this AU. Naruto doesn't know about Kyūbi here...at least for now. (Only one reviewer for Chapter 1 seemed to notice this fact, or at least mention that she noticed. Props to NaruHinaRyu for being that one reviewer.)

Several of you mentioned last chapter that you did not see Naruto's first encounter with Jiraiya going well in this story. Normally, Naruto is supposed to be the forgiving type, but in this story, you guys may be right. Those of you who are among them will also likely disagree with Hiruzen's reasoning for why he didn't do more for Naruto, but Hiruzen was always intended to be a victim of The Chains of Commanding in this story.

And now for some bad news: Starting with the next chapter, my co-author and I will only be able to release an average of one new chapter to this story every 2-3 months. The main reason for this is simple: "adulting" sucks. Both of us have IRL issues we would prefer not to mention, but besides them, my co-author also has other fanfics he wants to work on when he has time to spare, and I am still his beta reader. There will be times when we can release chapters faster than that, though.

Speaking of my co-author's fics, I am requesting on his behalf that those of you who are reading this story, who haven't read his second attempt to rewrite one of his older stories - said rewrite being titled "Separate Paths" - that they give it a chance. I am also going to ask our readers to check out the completed "Club 81" and the ongoing "Compounds", a rare pair of decent modern AU stories from Midnight Rain19.

And I guess this is goodbye for now. Unless you decide to seek us out on Discord, that is.