"Naruto!" the blond heard the shout as he entered Yakiniku Q and saw all the rookies in attendance, along with the jounin sensei sitting at a separate table, even Kakashi.
"Hey guys" the blond greeted while taking his seat.
"Naruto-kun, you look youthful, how was your training trip? We must spart soon!"
"Thanks Lee, you all look stronger as well. The training trip was productive, learned a lot but I'm happy to be back."
"Yea, I bet" Sakura muttered.
"Did you say something, Sakura-chan?"
"No, nothing at all, Naruto."
"Anyway, so what all did you learn from Jiraiya, Naruto?" asked Chouji.
"Not much, honestly. He only trained me for the first six months but his teaching style and my learning style weren't meshing so I trained with the elder toad Fukasaku-sensei and the toad clan instead. It was great."
"And what did you learn from the toads?" inquired Ino, which caused Naruto to look around and then wave for everyone to get closer. Looking around once more Naruto finally spoke, relieving them of their anticipation,
"Things." he said which caused everyone at the table to form a sweatdrop while he laughed at their reactions. "Guys, I'm a ninja, I can't reveal everything. Let's just say I learned a lot and am the better for it. Besides, that's enough about me, tell what you've all been up to."
At another table, the jounin sensei half listen to their students catch up with the Uzumaki.
"So, Kakashi, how did his assessment go?" asked Asuma, who has always had an interest in the blond given his father's attachment to him.
"Well, he beat me so I'd say it went well."
"That's amazing and a little hard to believe" added Kurenai. "How did he beat you?"
"Simple really, he had better tactics and a very effective taijutsu style. Had me fight a shadow clone, which I had assumed was the real Naruto. He set a trap and put a knife to my throat. It was a short assessment."
"Impressive but I assume you want to know more of his skillset." said Asuma.
"Yes and I'm sure he'll tell me, we have a mission to prep for so I doubt he'll be too withholding. I think he just wanted to prove a point, that he wasn't the same knucklehead and won't be treated as such."
"How youthful of Naruto-kun to have him best you. I will have Lee and Neji best me by months end or I…" Everyone tuned the man out until he was finished.
Back at the rookies table, the group had finished filling Naruto in on their previous three years before the table slipped into silence. Naruto could feel they wanted to bring something up but figured he wouldn't push them. Shino, seeing no logic in the continued avoidance spoke,
"Naruto-san, I believe you know that your burden is no longer a secret, yes?"
"Yea, Baa-chan told me she rescinded Jiji's law."
"While it came as a shock, I want to assure you that what you contain has no bearing on how I or the others view you." he said as the others nodded and added words of agreement.
"Thanks, Shino."
"Although I do think there should be an asterisk on your win in the Chunin Finals." replied Neji.
"Oh, is the bloodline user going to complain about unfair advantages? Or are you just in a hurry for me to kick your ass again?"
"I'd hardly call that match an ass kicking, even if my jaw hurt for a week afterward. Besides, without the motivation provided by Hinata-sama I doubt you'll be able to do much more than be my punching bag." Neji said, causing Hinata to blush faintly.
"Ok, enough you two. But Naruto, I am curious, how good are you with that sword?" asked Tenten
"I only really have the toad kenjutsu master to compare myself with so really I don't know. After I tune up your boyfriend we can go a couple of rounds, too."
"Shut up teme/Quiet Uzumaki/How youthful!" was the replies of team 9 as everyone else laughed at their reactions. Dinner lasted for a while longer before Naruto excused himself for the night.
"Where are you going, baka? We came here for you!" Sakura admonished, to the confusion of everyone.
"I have to go see someone I haven't spoken to in awhile. I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura-chan. Goodnight, guys." Naruto said as he departed from the restaurant. Taking to the rooftops of Konoha, Naruto sped to one of the few places he could always find peace in Konoha; his hurried pace and destination catching the eyes of a few residents.
"Hey, old man. I know we haven't spoken in awhile. Things have been good, better than good actually. They finally accept me, Jiji just like you said they would. I-I sometimes wondered if they ever would or if I could ever truly show them I'm not just a reminder of tragic events or a danger but they do." Naruto paused to wipe some tears away from his eyes. "I wish you were here to see it, I think you deserved to have your faith rewarded; not only in them but me as well. I wish you could see I'm not the knucklehead screw up I used to be. But if nothing else know the village is in good hands, the will of fire still burns strongly. I think I'm done, Temari-chan if there is something you'd like to add." he said, patting the spot next to himself in invitation.
"No, I'm sorry to intrude, I saw you running and got concerned." she said taking a seat.
"Oh, thanks but no, everything has been great. Almost-"
"Surreal?" she finished.
"Yea, exactly. It's like you hope for something for so long and once you get it the reality can be a bit overwhelming. I guess I'm just being dumb."
"No, you aren't. When the villagers started treating Gaara differently it was an adjustment for him as well; it took Kankuro and I months to finally figure out the problem."
"What was it?" asked Naruto, not finding it in himself to meet her gaze, which is why he didn't see what was coming next. Temari wrapped him in a hug and said,
"You deserve this, Naruto. You deserve to walk around and not be glared at or completely ignored. What the villagers did, you didn't deserve that."
"I know tha-"
"No, you don't. Well, you know it in your head but in your heart? How could you? Most of your life you were treated one way how could you not internalize it even if you fought against it? But don't worry, you have people who will remind you that you deserve this in case you're ever unsure."
"Naruto relaxed into the hug and enjoyed the reassurance from his newest friend.
In a darkened cave, seven holographic figures emerge, none look too happy.
"Kakuzu, report!" bellowed the leader.
"It was a setup, we thought the two tails container was alone but three squads of Kumo ANBU were lying in wait. They got Hidan and I lost two hearts but not before taking out half of them."
"This is a problem. Both Deidara and Sasori were killed in Suna and we have very little to go on besides a mystery figure aided the one tail. Itachi, Kisame, you will both return to Ame. We need to rethink things and swell our numbers. All but Tobi are dismissed."
"Hai, Leader-sama" they said.
"This is a problem, Madara."
"I'm aware and it isn't like S class shinobi grow on trees. I'm thinking it's time to bring Orochimaru back."
"Itachi and he could never work together long before one killed the other." replied Pein.
"Yes but they both have something in common, or someone. If we hold the brother hostage we can pull the strings of both until they've served their purposes."
"And how will you find the snake?"
"Zetsu was aware of a spy Sasori had, one he made periodic contact with, a scheduled meet is approaching. I'll shadow the spy back to Orochimaru and snatch the little Uchiha. Orochimaru will either submit or die."
The next morning found Naruto in the shinobi archives. Thinking over the upcoming mission, Naruto wanted to prepare should the meet be a trap and Orochimaru appears. His walk over had him cataloguing what he knew of the Snake Sannin, even if it wasn't much. Naruto realized that he utilized futon and doton jutsu along with his hebi techniques and while Naruto was confident he had developed his vacuum manipulation to the point he could overpower Orochimaru's wind release, the snake would have the edge as far as experience went. His suiton jutsu would also be neutralized by doton so it left Naruto in the position of choosing a new element to develop.
While doton would be useful to know, it'd leave him in a similar position of dueling affinities. Kakashi was a master of raiton so Naruto wielding an inferior version of the element would just be a waste of chakra. This is why Naruto settled on katon. Highly offensive as well as effective at guiding enemies into traps. He could also amplify his fire jutsu with wind from a clone to make up for the lack of experience. So, Naruto decided to get sources on training fire chakra and a few jutsu once the exercises were complete. While Naruto could try to learn several katon with his clones, he'd rather choose three and then discover multiple ways to manipulate the jutsu, making them faster or larger or other alterations to suit his needs. An overall increase in his jutsu library can come later as this was part of a contingency plan.
Naruto checked out his items and made his way over to the training field, surprised to see all three of his team members present, even Kakashi.
"YOU'RE LATE, NARUTO!" Sakura said irately.
"Sorry, I had to get some things from the library and I honestly didn't expect Kakashi-taicho to be here yet. It won't happen again."
"Why aren't you calling him sensei?"
"I don't see how that concerns you, Sakura-chan. Leave what's between Kakashi and I to us."
"Alright, now that we have that cleared up, as Tsunade-sama explained our mission is to meet and apprehend Orochimaru's spy to get intelligence on the whereabouts of Sasuke. This could be a trap set by Orochimaru so we have to be prepared to extract ourselves if need be and also prepared to fight and detain Sasuke should he be there. Our preparations will be in drilling you both in the tactics and skills required to incapacitate and transport a hostile captive. Before we begin, are either of you going to have any problems fighting Sasuke should he be there?"
"Seeing as we may have to kill him, I'm not looking forward to it but I'll perform my duty."
"N-naruto, you can't mean that."
"I can and I do. Sasuke chose to leave, my attempt to appeal to friends resulted in him breaking my neck and impaling me with a chidori twice. He's not only a risk but allowing Orochimaru to still his body is an even bigger risk. Sasuke isn't more important than Konoha, someone fortunate enough to work with the Hokage should know that much."
"It isn't that simple, Naruto."
"Say that when he crams a lighting fist in your chest. Maybe your tears can stop him this time."
"I think we need to calm down" replied Yamato.
"No, let them have it out, better to get it over with now than sit on it."
"I know I didn't do enough then, I know I left it all to you. Don't you think I feel bad about it?"
"No. How would I know? You just yell at me or have snarky comments. Since I've gotten back you've been acting like you're mad at me."
"How could I not be? Three years! You were gone for three years and never sent word. You wrote to Shizune and Tsunade. They don't know I knew but I do. Then you come back and you have time for everyone else but you didn't even tell me you were back."
"Why would I write you? For every instance you've been nice to me I can name ten where you weren't. How was I supposed to know you wanted to hear from me? Within five minutes of seeing me you were about to hit me. That's not what friends do."
"You were ignoring me!"
"What the shit, you aren't my girlfriend, Sakura-chan. I don't have to make you a priority over others."
"So, that's it? Just to hell with me, to hell with Sasuke? You just don't care?"
"That's rich coming from you."
"Ahhhhhhhh!" Sakura yelled as she charged Naruto with a feral left he managed to slap out of the way, which she deftly used the momentum to transition into a spin kick that Naruto dodged by leaning back. Undeterred she continued her assault.
"When Tsunade told me about your burden I felt so guilty. I know I haven't always been nice or supportive toward you. I was afraid that with some time away you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore." she said through her attack. "Then you get back and you don't even care, you treat me like I'm everyone else."
"I think I treat everyone else pretty fucking swell, Sakura-chan"
"But you always treated me better, damnit! I didn't want that to change."
"Attacking me like a crazy person is surely the way to go."
"SHUT UP! You come back a different person and now what? I'm nothing to you?"
"Sakura-chan, there is nothing in the way I've treated you that could lead you to believe I see you as nothing. You're my friend but I'm not so desperate for friendship that I'll allow you to walk all over me or berate me like you used to. Now, stop this."
"No, not until I slug you one. I'm not some useless fangirl and I won't be dismissed."
Having enough of her assault, Naruto shoots in for a double leg takedown and immediately sits on her stomach, holding her hands to her chest.
"LET ME GO NARUTO"
"Not until you calm down. Sakura-chan, I'm right here. There's nothing to be mad about or scared of. You're still my friend, dattebayo."
"You're wrong, things are different."
"Of course, we're older now; things had to change."
"To the point you'd kill Sasuke?"
"Yes, the world doesn't revolve around him. He made a choice and we can't keep him at the center of our universe. He didn't care enough to stay then fuck him! I don't want to kill him, I'd happily bring him back here alive but be realistic, he'll likely be executed for his betrayal regardless."
"Not if you defend him, Tsunade-shishou would listen to you."
"I'm not using my connection with her like that, Sasuke fleeing could have been a blunder for her. I'm supposed to ask her to ignore that? Sakura-chan, the Sasuke we knew might be gone. I won't let you kill yourself trying to prove otherwise. You have value outside of Sasuke, you matter."
"I-I guess you're right." she said but possibly out of emotional exhaustion than true agreement.
Seeing that she's calmed down, Naruto rolls to the side of her, only to be immediately engulfed in a hug with Sakura crying and apologizing. As Naruto was trying to reassure the girl, he missed the two senior members of the team signing something.
"Tsundere?" signed Yamato
"With her you can't tell." Kakashi signed back.
Their issues somewhat resolved, the team continued to prepare for their mission and managed to achieve a solid amount of cohesion. It was time and Kakashi was certain his team was ready. Although he had noticed Naruto's shifting facial expressions as they moved towards the meet.
"Naruto, what's wrong?"
"I'm getting something and it feels familiar but it keeps flicking on and off."
"Anything else?"
"We're not within my sensor range, I'm still training it but we should be shortly."
"Alright, let's keep our rate of travel steady and our senses sharp" Kakashi ordered.
About ten minutes later they were within Naruto's range and what he sensed alarmed him.
"Kakashi-taicho, there is a battle going on up ahead. That thing I was feeling is now tied to a chakra signature but it isn't steady, it comes and goes." Naruto said but was concerned when he felt Kurama stir.
"It's him, Naruto! The one who ripped me from Kushina, the one who started it all!" Kurama growled. Naruto faced with this fact felt his control slip, a burning hatred he'd never known welling up inside of him. He had manifested three tails before any of the team could respond. Kakashi tried to call out to him but his former student was gone in an orange flash before he could ever speak.
Tobi had been enjoying torturing the Snake Sannin for the location of Sasuke. He could have brought Zetsu along but decided it'd be more fun to kill the unkillable shinobi. He had to admit, Orochimaru knew a lot of impressive jutsu for getting himself out of trouble and if not for kamui, Tobi might actually be in a bit of trouble. Unfortunately, like all games, this had eventually become stale and as he was reaching down to grab the broken and defeated Sannin he felt a sudden pain in his chest. His heart instantly obliterated, his partial Zetsu body giving him enough durability to realize it while his famed bloodline got to see a vermillion Rasengan sticking out of his chest.
"Kukuku, good timing, Naruto-kun."
