Author's Note: Yay! Chapter 9! No clue how long this story is going to go on for. I also want to let you know that I went back through all of the previous chapters, reading them to myself to try to see where I can improve the flow and make it a bit easier to read. I didn't change much, so you will still get the gist of the story if you don't go back and re-read. As always, let me know what you think.
Chapter 9: Repercussions
Hiruzen Sarutobi was… concerned to put it lightly. He had felt the massive chakra spike that came from Naruto when he had completed the jutsu on Kiba. He and a team of ANBU who remained hidden went to investigate and found Tsume looking rattled and Kiba looking very confused.
"What happened here?" Hiruzen asked and Tsume jerked a bit. She motioned for them to talk privately and the Third raised an eyebrow but allowed her to pull him aside. Kiba made to follow.
"I need to talk to the Third alone. Go back to the compound. Akamaru is worried about you." Tsume said and Kiba smacked his forehead.
"Of course. I gotta go check on him! See you at home mom!" He said with a grin and raced off. Hiruzen noted that he didn't so much as look at Naruto who was still unconscious.
"Kuro, get there first and explain things to Akamaru. We don't need this spiraling out of control." Tsume said and Kuromaru was off.
"I'm beginning to lose patience Tsume. What. Happened?" Hiruzen asked, just barely refraining from gritting his teeth. He thought of Naruto as his own kin. He was very protective of him, and he had a dreadful feeling that something life altering had happened.
"When Kakashi told me what happened, I realized something. Naruto is not good for Kiba. He is going to get my son killed. I tried to forbid Kiba from seeing Naruto, and he… didn't like that. He… renounced his ties to the clan when I tried to pull rank on him. I found him here snuggled up in that... boys' arms and I told him to let go of my son. Kiba hadn't told Naruto about him leaving the clan, so I did. Naruto… he got really pale and then he did a bunch of hand signs that were too fast for even me to see and touched Kiba on the forehead. They both passed out and when Kiba came to, he didn't seem to… remember who Naruto even was." She explained, slowly getting quieter as she saw how angry Hiruzen was getting.
"Let me guess. Naruto was appalled by the fact that Kiba had left the clan because he felt that he wasn't even worth the time of day, huh? What that boy, as you call him, did was to override Kiba's memory of him. To Kiba, it'll be like Naruto never existed. I'll be surprised if Naruto ever lets anyone in like Kiba again." Hiruzen stated in a barely controlled voice, and Tsume felt a little sickened by the implications, though she still felt justified for trying to keep her son out of danger.
"How did he do that? Why?" She asked. She had believed that Naruto was going to fight her just as hard as Kiba did, if not more so. Unbeknownst to the two, Naruto's eyes slowly opened.
"My best guess is that the nine tails helped him. As for why… if you truly love someone, you'll let them go, no matter the personal sacrifice. Naruto let Kiba go. He doesn't want to see Kiba get hurt any more than you do." He said gravely, and Naruto felt his stomach turn to writhing snakes.
'Love… I love Kiba, don't I? That's what that strange feeling was...' Naruto thought, and fresh tears made their way down his face. He almost missed what it was that Hiruzen said next, he was so caught up in his own revelation.
"The life of a ninja is fraught with peril Tsume. You know this as well as anyone. I'm not without reason or compassion. I had already planned to take Kiba under my wing and to train him personally so that he could weather this storm alongside Naruto as his friend and confidante, someone who Naruto could open up to like no one else. Now, that choice has been taken from all of us. However unintentional this outcome may have been, you may have irrevocably damaged Naruto's life. You have to live with that." Hiruzen said with all of the weight of the world. Tsume floundered a bit.
"Well if we tell Kiba about this he can remember. Everything will work out!" She said, finally fully comprehending what had happened. Unexpectedly, Naruto let out a hysterical laugh. Both Hiruzen and Tsume started at the sound and looked at the blond. He had tears streaming down his cheeks and a crazed smile on his face.
"You don't get it. What I've done is permanent. Kiba won't ever regain those memories! And you were right. I'm no good for him. I'm no good for anyone." Naruto said getting quieter and more reserved as he went on.
"I'm… I'm so sorry Naruto… I…" Tsume said, at a loss for words. She knew that nothing she said would come close to repairing the damage that she had done.
"When do we get back to training sensei?" Naruto asked in a voice devoid of emotion. Hiruzen shuddered a bit, unused to hearing someone who was, by all accounts, dead inside.
"When you get better Naruto." He replied and Naruto got up out of the bed. He pulled his I.V. out and took off the wires leading to the heart monitor. A couple of seconds later, he stood in front of Hiruzen. His eyes were dull.
"Then let's go." He said and walked past the two.
"You have to rest Naruto! You lost a lot of blood last night! We just put the stitches in four hours ago." Hiruzen said alarmed. Naruto turned to him and lifted the hospital shirt he had. Where the night before he had a deep wound from the kunai, now all he had was unblemished skin. Even the stitches were gone. Without saying anything, Naruto kept walking.
Tsume left the two of them and went to find her son, hoping that Kuromaru had gotten there before Kiba did. What she didn't expect was to have an entourage of some of the nin-dogs waiting for her. There was Taiki, Haru, Takihiro, and Juro there. Taiki was a large sandy brown dog with a black tipped tail. Takihiro was a grey dog with white streaked in his fur. Haru was a russet brown dog all through except for his belly that was a lighter red. Juro was a striking silver dog with black stripes going down her sides in an intricate pattern.
"We need to talk." Taiki said, the other dogs nodding their heads in affirmation. the tone broached no room for argument and, under normal circumstances, Tsume would have been livid that she was being talked to so disrespectfully, but she was too rattled to take much notice.
"What's going on with Kiba? He came home just a bit ago and he is different. He smelled heavily of Naruto, but when we asked how the blond was, he didn't seem to know who we were talking about." Taiki asked.
"I… made a mistake. I was scared that Kiba was going to be hurt if he stayed with Naruto. I tried to forbid him, he left the clan, and when I found him at the hospital with Naruto, I let it out that he had left the clan. Naruto overrode Kiba's memories of him, saying that I had been right when I said that Naruto wasn't good for him but-" Tsume said, but was cut off by a warning growl that rippled through all four of the dogs throats. Their hair stood on end and they looked furious.
"That boy has no family! How could you even think of saying something so cruel to another human being! You know better than anyone that he is not the demon that the rest of these idiots in the village take him for and you still went and said something like that? The boy is thirteen fucking years old! How would you feel if Kiba had to live even a fraction of the life that Naruto has?" Haru asked with venom in his voice. Tsume flinched and fought the urge to shrink in shame.
"I... thought that I was protecting Kiba... I didn't know it would come to this!" Tsume said, horrified to hear her voice crack. She hastened to contain her emotions and was only partially successful.
"Kiba had his own say in the matter! You did not listen to him and you tried to force your will on him! That will be what will cause him to get hurt because he will become rebellious and he will no longer respect you as a parent, or even as a person. You cannot force someone to go against their heart like that unless you want to see them miserable." Takahiro said a bit more gently, but no less firmly. They could smell the sorrow and regret coming from Tsume and knew that even though she had acted rashly, she never meant for this kind of outcome.
"I know. I wish I could take it back, but what Naruto did is permanent. He knew that and he still did it. I..." Tsume was at a loss for words and the four dogs left her to brood on what she had done and to try to find a way to even somewhat atone.
While Tsume was talking with the nindogs, Kiba was in his room playing with Akamaru, who was distracted.
"Hey Kiba, where did you get me?" Akamaru asked innocently enough, and Kiba looked at the ceiling in thought. After a moment he looked back at Akamaru with a fond smile.
"Hana and mom gave you to me on my birthday, don't you remember? Maybe you were too young to remember now. I remember the sun being so yellow and the sky being so blue... Bluer than I've ever seen it." Kiba said nostalgically, though Akamaru knew that it had been a rather overcast day. He wondered where Kiba had pulled those two descriptions from.
Akamaru was torn. He had been told by Kuromaru that Kiba no longer remembered who Naruto was. He didn't want that. He liked Naruto and he knew that Kiba was fond of him as well, and that they made each other happy. Kiba didn't seem upset, but Akamaru could only guess as to what Naruto was feeling. He subtly shuddered.
Naruto finally made it to the ANBU headquarters, Hiruzen right behind him. Neither of them spoke. There were no words that needed to be said. Hiruzen knew that there was nothing he could say that would help in their current situation, and Naruto knew that anything he had to say at the moment would be cynical and jaded so he said nothing.
"We're going to find out what your chakra element is. Take this piece of paper, hold it between your thumb and index finger, and direct your chakra into it. Based on the reaction, we will know what element, or elements you have an affinity for." The Third said, holding out a square of paper.
As soon as Naruto touched it, the piece of paper split in half, and a half second later, the halves drooped as if under a great deal of added weight. Naruto could feel it getting wet and he looked at Hiruzen.
"You have an affinity for the water and wind elements. It isn't everyone who has an affinity for two elements, and you couldn't choose two better elements. Water is a strong defense and can be a good offense. If you think about it, you can use water to cushion things coming at you, but you can also use it to erode through things. Wind is great for offense. You use your chakra and use it like a fine razor, or you can use it as a concussive blast. I can teach you the Syrup trap jutsu and the Gale Palm jutsu so that you can get a feel for the two elements and we will take it from there." Hiruzen said and Naruto nodded. They got to training intensely.
If Hiruzen had thought that Naruto was a fast learner before, he found that Naruto when completely focused on the task right in front of him was an impressive sight indeed. Jutsu after jutsu, technique after technique, Naruto mastered. It got to the point where Hiruzen had trouble keeping up. The blond was just going and going, not even stopping to eat or anything. It was frightening Hiruzen a bit.
"All right, that's enough for today. Go home and get some rest. I understand that you are needed tomorrow by Kakashi." Hiruzen said and Naruto bowed stiffly but respectfully to the older man and made his way back to the surface without uttering a word. He showed no signs of having done something strenuous, though the Sandaime could feel that he was panting for breath.
As Naruto was making his way back home, a familiar bark distracted him and he glanced over, seeing Kiba with his arms behind his head and Akamaru trailing on the ground. The white puppy was looking directly at the jinchuuriki and Kiba looked like he had not a care in the world. Naruto felt his eyes prick with the threat of tears, though he refused to let them fall. Naruto just turned his back on the two and tried to make it towards his apartment while looking as casual as possible.
"Wait!" A voice said. A voice that Naruto knew too well. His back straightened in shock and he schooled his expression into a blank mask. Try as he might, he couldn't get his legs to work. Hoping against hope that the Inuzuka was asking for someone else to wait, Naruto waited with bated breath. Luck was not on his side, like usual, and Kiba entered his field of view.
"Hey, you're the one from the hospital! What was all of that about?" Kiba asked. Naruto found himself desperately wishing for Kiba to look at him with the warmth that he had come to know, but it was gone. He didn't look at Naruto like he was a piece of trash, but he didn't really look like he would go out of his way to try to get to know him either.
"I'm sorry. Do we know each other? You must be confusing me with someone else." Naruto said coolly and moved to go around Kiba. Akamaru gave a quick yip and suddenly, Kiba's hand was wrapped around Naruto's upper arm.
"You're... Naruto, right? For some reason, some people think that I know you. Do I?" Kiba asked, and Naruto forced himself not to look at Kiba, already feeling the tears trailing down his cheeks.
"Again, I think that you have the wrong person. Have a good day." The blond said with only the faintest of warbles to his voice. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know that the Kiba could smell much better than he would believe. Even tears have a scent, subtle as it was.
"... I'm sorry if I did something wrong. I didn't mean to make you cry. Maybe I'll see you around." Kiba said softly and let go of Naruto. Naruto was rooted to the spot for a few moments, trying to get himself under control. When he looked around, he realized that Kiba was nowhere to be found. He wiped his eyes, took a shaky breath, and forged on towards his house.
"What is going on?" Kiba asked Akamaru seriously.
"What do you mean?" Akamaru asked, though he pretty much knew what his partner was getting at.
"I mean with that guy. He seemed so... sad. What could have happened to bring someone down that much? He seemed pretty sure that he didn't know me, but I could tell that he wasn't being completely truthful. I'm sure that I would remember him if I knew him, so what's going on?" Kiba asked, not liking the fact that he was in the dark about something. Akamaru knew that he wasn't going to be able to lie, so he did the next best thing.
"I can't say anything. I don't know all of the details, and I don't want to give you any false info. Trust me on this Kiba, please?" Akamaru asked and Kiba smiled, scratching him behind the ears. Right where Naruto would pet him.
"All right, I trust you. I trust you with my life." Kiba said, and that was that.
Naruto made it to his apartment in record time and quickly made it inside. He let out a breath that he didn't even know that he was holding, feeling like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. His apartment was now officially the one place that he felt safe. Outside, he could run into Kiba at any moment. He could be cornered by Kakashi or Hiruzen and have to force himself to hold onto a mask that was becoming near impossible to keep in place. In his home, he could let everything slip and show.
To try to keep his mind off of Kiba and to try to exhaust himself so much that he would be able to sleep without any dreams, Naruto started to work out. He went from crunches to push-ups to pull-ups to everything that he could think of. He even went so far as to see how long he could hang from the ceiling, which took a lot of concentration. He had to make sure that he always applied the same amount of chakra flow evenly over the bottoms of his feet to make sure that he stuck without doing any damage to the ceiling or without slipping off.
He spent a good five hours on nothing but physical and grueling activity. His muscles felt like jelly and he was afraid that he wasn't going to be able to walk in the morning, but his mind was blessedly clear for the moment. He took a look outside of his window and saw that it was already dark. He realized that he hadn't eaten anything since the hospital, but anytime he thought of food, he felt his stomach turn unpleasantly. Shaking his head, he decided to turn in early.
Thankfully, he did indeed work his body to the point where it couldn't find the energy to subject the blond to any dreams. Naruto woke up just before his alarm went off and he went through the ritual of making sure that he was ready for what the day may bring. At least physically.
Naruto went to the meeting spot to wait for everyone to arrive. Sasuke, once again, was the first to arrive after Naruto. They inclined their heads towards one another, acknowledging the presence of the other, but content with the silence. Sakura, when she arrived, surprised Naruto by standing directly in front of him with her hands on her hips. She looked in his eyes with a contemplative look on her face. Finally, she lowered her eyes and her shoulders drooped.
"I owe you an apology. What Kakashi-sensei said that first day was right. I never gave you a chance to prove the rest of the village wrong. I shouldn't have treated you the way that I did. You deserve better than that. At the very least, you deserve it for me to make my own opinion instead of going with what someone else says. Hopefully we can start again." She said hopefully. Naruto's eyes softened a bit and he gave her a small smile.
"I'd like that. Thank you. And... don't worry about it. The entire village hates me, so I can't really fault you for going with everyone else. You never knew any different." Naruto said. At that moment, Kakashi cleared his throat to the right of the group. Sakura jumped slightly, not knowing that he was there, and even Sasuke started a bit. Naruto, who already knew that he was there didn't move a muscle.
"Today, we're going to the Hokage mansion to see if there are any missions. We'll only be doing the D rank missions for now because we are such a new team, but we'll work our way up. Let's go." Kakashi said and the all made their way towards the mansion. Kakashi was secretly pleased to notice that Naruto was walking with the group instead of behind everyone. The good feeling was short lived as he noticed how Naruto didn't seem to have his usual pep.
When they got to the mansion, they saw that Kurenai's team was just leaving the mansion. Kakashi nodded his head at the team and when they passed each other, he noticed something very strange. He watched as Kiba gave Naruto a friendly smile. Naruto gave a pained smile in return after a moment of hesitation, almost like he wished he was anywhere else. Kakashi had thought that the two of them were good friends, so he was left perplexed by the incident. He resolved to talk to Naruto about it later.
When they entered the mansion, they were taken to the Hokage's office.
"Welcome, and congratulations on becoming official ninjas of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. You are all valuable assets to this village and are essential for making sure that we run smoothly. I know that you are here for your first mission, and while it may not be glamorous, it still needs to be done. A wealthy woman appears to have lost her cat, and has employed us to track him down and bring him back home. Good luck." The Sandaime said, handing Kakashi a scroll with the mission details.
It didn't take long for the group to complete their mission. Finding the cat was only slightly easier than catching it. Naruto was the one to grab it and he seemed to pay no attention to the fact that it was clawing him up. They took the cat back to the Hokage's mansion, and since it only took them an hour to complete the mission, they all decided to do another.
The squad ended up doing one more mission, almost finding themselves bored by the fact that they were able to complete everything so quickly. Finally, they decided that enough was enough, and Naruto was quick to leave to his apartment. He had seen Kiba from afar four separate times that day, and he just wanted to be left alone. Kakashi was going to follow him to make sure that everything was okay with him, but he didn't get the chance.
"Kakashi, there's something you need to know. I'm sure you've noticed that Naruto has… changed. He used a forbidden jutsu to replace Kiba's memory of him." Hiruzen said and the silver haired ninja furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Why would he do that? He had a remarkable connection with the boy, probably the only one that he has ever had. Why would he give that up?" Kakashi asked, his mind racing through several possibilities, though not many of them seemed even remotely plausible.
"Naruto thought, with help from Tsume, that he wasn't worthy of being Kiba's friend. After what happened to them, Tsume felt that her son's life was in too much danger and she let it cloud her sense of reason. Naruto believed her and replaced Kiba's memories of him so that Kiba could be more protected. Tsume has seen the grave error that she has wrought, but unfortunately for everyone involved, what Naruto did is permanent. No one has ever been able to bring back the original memories." Hiruzen stated, suddenly looking a few years older. Kakashi knew that then that the Hokage was incredibly worried for Naruto and that it was exhausting the old man.
"Well, we won't give him a chance to close himself off completely. Squad 7 will stand behind him, and we will be there for him for when he needs us. I admit that, even though I've only known him a few short days, I've grown attached to him. He has a certain... quality about him that draws you in. It's amazing that he's spent so much of his life alone." Kakashi mused, and Hiruzen nodded wearily.
"Minato wanted the jinchuuriki of the nine tails to be revered as a hero. I can only imagine the shame he would have for the entire village if he could see how they were treating his son. And don't even get me started on how Kushina would take it. That woman scared even me when she was angry." The Sandaime chuckled fondly, dearly missing some of his most beloved friends. He was saddened to see that he had outlived so many.
Hiruzen vowed to make sure that Naruto would outlive and, if he had the ability that Hiruzen thought he might, surpass him. It was the least that he felt he could do to assuage the hurt that was wracking the poor boys' soul.
Author's Note: Here we go. A little later than the previous two, but a bit longer than the last one. I hope that you guys enjoy it. I'm liking where this is going so far, but I hope that Naruto can find a bit of happiness soon. He deserves it!
