A/N: To Demontuffy19: As requested, there is a pic up of the anomaly on my DeviantArt account. It's accessible from my profile. And the idea was my own, not borrowed from anywhere. ^^


Chapter 9

Shizune jogged to keep up with Tsunade's ground-eating strides. The older woman marched with furious purpose down the hospital corridor. Medics and under-medics hastened to leap out of the Hokage's way; the thundercloud of disapproval on her face did not bode well for anyone she chose to take notice of.

"I want a detailed report on that anomaly waiting for me in my office the second I get back," Tsunade growled.

Shizune whimpered a reply, and disappeared to see it done.

Refraining from kicking the door to the hospital room, Tsunade instead shoved it open as she entered. The naked fear on Konohamaru and Inari's faces did her heart good. She leveled a stare at Tazuna, where he hovered at Inari's bedside, and Sakura, who'd been the one to treat the boys while she'd gone to see to Naruto's rescue. Both Tazuna and Sakura wisely and silently stepped to the far side of the room. Only then did Tsunade release the door and approach the sickbeds.

Her assessment was quick and thorough. Sakura had done a good job, which she indicated with a slight sniff. Anything less than perfection from her student wasn't accepted, and Sakura adhered to this rule well. Satisfied, she crossed her arms and pinned the boys with hard stares. "Start. Talking."

Terrified, Konohamaru and Inari spilled their guts without the slightest hesitation.

-oOo-

Naruto was next. Sakura had evidently concluded that he didn't need her direct supervision, since he was alone in his room. Someone had provided him with a bowl of ramen, Tsunade saw. He yelped and tipped it over in his surprise when she barged into his room.

She ignored his bleats and curses of pain, waited until he'd thrown the scalding sheet off his legs, and continued to wait in fuming silence until he'd fanned his reddened skin with a hand. When he was finally still, she went over and performed an assessment of him as well.

As expected, she could find nothing wrong with his body, not now that several hours had passed since the incident. His chakra showed evidence of being drained, but it was even now replenishing itself. Naruto lay meek and quiet while she worked.

Tsunade smacked him soundly across the face with the back of one hand, then spun away from him to pace the small room as he picked himself up from the floor.

Naruto weakly crawled back into his bed. "What was that for?" he whined.

The clueless reproach on his face sorely tempted her to hit him again, but she folded her arms, much as she had when interrogating Konohamaru and Inari. "Let's start with illicit training sessions in the forest. With an unranked boy and a Genin. A-rank jutsu. Unauthorized territory being used in an unspecified mission, and issued by another Genin without my knowledge or consent. Does any of that ring a bell?"

"They told on me?" Naruto's eyes were round.

Tsunade's jaw flexed dangerously.

Naruto shrank back from that look. "I'm not just a Genin," he muttered. "I'm also a Sage. We never had any problems out there till today. They wanted to learn and I taught them. I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, okay, maybe the A-rank stuff should have been saved for later, but I don't know any B or C-classed junk."

Tsunade blinked. "There isn't a shred of forethought in you, is there," she breathed. "You've grown tremendously, especially during the war and the events leading up to it, but you don't see the danger of your actions, do you."

"That thing-!"

"Don't you think," Tsunade interrupted, "that if you were ready to handle a team, you'd have one? Once you make Chuunin, you will have a team. A Chuunin has been tested, and thus is known to be trusted with the lives of others. A Chuunin shows maturity. Wisdom. These are things looked for in the Chuunin Exam. You are not Chuunin, so don't bitch at me about your generosity in teaching two boys who are clearly just as senseless as you are!"

Stung, Naruto blinked back tears. "You trusted me with the lives of others during the war!" he lashed out. "You were counting on me then!"

"That was war! A wise leader uses the weapons at her disposal, and you are undeniably a powerful weapon, but you are not ready to lead. Not even close."

A small gasp left Naruto. Granny had always believed in him. Hearing her essentially call him immature really hurt. Hating her intensely in that moment, he turned away and stared at where his bowl lay on the floor.

Tsunade regretted speaking so harshly, but it was the truth and had to be said. Naruto's head was swollen in the aftermath of the war, no doubt. The sooner he understood the lesson that he had to learn to follow before he could lead, the better. "You're to stay overnight for observation," she said softly. "And this discussion isn't over."

-oOo-

By the time she reached Sasuke's room, Tsunade's fury had simmered down to mere anger. She found him sitting up in his bed, still and watchful, as a medic fussed with the chakra-monitoring machine he was hooked up to. The medic quickly bowed and backed away as she walked closer, and studied the digital reading on the monitor's screen. She verified what she was seeing with a manual assessment of Sasuke's pathways. She also thumbed his eyelids wider apart and used her chakra-coated fingertips to delve his eyes.

"I was not aware that one in possession of Eternal Mangekyo could suffer damage to the eyes when employing Susanoo," she murmured.

"Normally one wouldn't," Sasuke said. "Holding Susanoo while an outside force is working to dispel it is a different matter. How bad is the damage?"

"Moderate. The damage to your pathways is bit more serious. Had you only molded and used your chakra normally after forcing them open, the harm you did yourself wouldn't have been so bad. You broke through your pathways' seal by way of Susanoo, however, itself a powerfully destructive jutsu to maintain; I fear the injury you've done yourself may be permanent."

"Permanent? What do you mean?"

She stepped back from him and let her chakra fade. "I mean some of your pathways may remain closed, never to open again. You'll find that some of your jutsu aren't as powerful as they once were, or may not form correctly at all. A practical evaluation of your skill set will need to be made before a final diagnosis is given, but based on what I'm seeing, it doesn't look good."

Sasuke stared at her a moment, then gazed at his chakra-monitor. It was very like a heart monitor, only this machine showed three lines. One for the high points in his chakra, one for the low, and the median line that averaged the two. Permanent damage…

"I strongly suggest you get as much rest as possible over the course of the next week," she continued as she was leaving. "We'll discuss your violations and how you came to know Naruto was in trouble then."

Damn. I can't tell her about that clone. He didn't see any way around it, though. "When do I get the practical evaluation?" he said, halting her as she pulled his door open. He needed to know just what he could do and how well he could do it. His plan to leave had only been postponed as far as he was concerned.

"That has yet to be determined." She left him alone to lean pensively against his pillows.


Shizune had ANBU waiting in her office and a cup of sake-spiked coffee on her desk when Tsunade wearily dropped into her chair. She reached for the cup first thing, and closed her eyes on an inhalation of appreciation as the liquid went down.

Only when she'd taken an additional moment to let it hit her system did she lean back, open her eyes, and fix her subordinates with a beady glare. "Report," she snapped.

The ANBU captain himself stepped forward and went to one knee before her desk. "Hokage-sama. Two units of specialists have been dispatched to the site of the anomaly, as ordered. Their report is incomplete as yet, but we are confident-"

"What is it?" Tsunade barked.

"We don't know," the captain said. "Only that it is not natural. It was engineered, apparently with the specific function of responding to Bijuu chakra. The consensus is that it is something left behind during the war by an opposing faction."

"And how," Tsunade grated, pinching the bridge of her nose, "have patrols managed to miss coming across this thing before now?"

There was a pause. "Actually, the last patrol to pass that section of the forest never returned. A report was filed, but seeing as we were at war-"

"Silence." Tsunade moved to stand at her window and gaze out over the village. The sky was just starting to turn grey in the east. "I can't afford oversights like this," she hissed. "Nothing is to go overlooked or unresolved, is that clear?"

"It is, Hokage-sama."

"It's destroyed? There's no hope of it repairing itself?"

"None whatsoever. Whatever it was, it won't be troubling us again."

Tsunade turned and swept her eyes over the captain and the three agents standing behind him. She addressed the captain. "I want the full report on my desk in three days' time. You may leave."

He was gone in an instant. The three agents remaining automatically went to their knees in his absence, and waited.

Tsunade signaled her desire for a refill and waited until Shizune had done so and left the office, before speaking to the agent in the middle, the one with a wolf's mask. "I've read your reports on Sasuke," she said, sipping quietly. "What do you make of his actions tonight?"

Wolf spoke for some time. There were quite a few insights in his report that had Tsunade staring out her window again in deep thought.

The unfortunate truth of the her dilemma with Sasuke was that in spite of his more or less model behavior, she simply could not bring herself to trust him. She'd wrestled with her decision to allow him back into the village, and still lost sleep over it on occasion. By law, and in the interest of fairness, she was doing with him exactly what should be done, but her instincts screamed in warning.

Wolf's revelations just might provide a way for her to uphold her decision to let Sasuke resume his citizenship, while also heeding her instincts. At this point, she would take any opportunity that presented itself.


Naruto's funk only lasted a few minutes. As soon as Granny left the room, a swarm of medics bustled inside and took his blood and vital stats. He was given another bowl of ramen, and made to sit in the room's only chair while his bed linen was whisked off. It was replaced with fresh sheets and a blanket. He was then helped back into bed as if he were a helpless child who was terminally ill. The mess on the floor was removed in a blink.

When all was made right in the room, the medics shyly approached him with shining eyes and asked for his autograph. He gave it. The men left, but the female among them bent to his ear and whispered that she'd sneak in more ramen for him if he wanted it. She then dashed away, face scarlet at receiving his smile of thanks.

Comfortable now, Naruto scrunched down beneath his blanket and stared at the sliver of night he could see through the curtains at the window. His over-stimulated mind drifted for a while on idle thoughts, before rewinding the night's events. He supposed this was inevitable.

He would have bet his life that Uchiha fucking Sasuke wouldn't have pissed on him if he was on fire, but here he was, alive and kicking, and it was all thanks to him.

For a minute, he tried to call up all the negative feelings Sasuke's name usually inspired, but they just wouldn't come. And when they didn't, he resolutely faced the fact that he only wanted the comfort of that shield so that he could avoid thinking about how he really felt.

The memory of Sasuke's face when they'd been holding each other's hands, of him saying "Hang on," and the way his nose and eye had bled… That left Naruto swallowing in embarrassment, but it was the hug afterward, or whatever you wanted to call it, that did him in. The embrace had gone on a bit too long to really be called a hug, and had been far too intimate as well. Naruto didn't think he'd ever even held Haku as intently as Sasuke had held him.

He buried his face in his pillow with a groan. Haku. Fuck.

He turned on his back and stared around the room. It was all starting to hit him now, everything that had happened. Nearly dying, and the horror of that thing. Sasuke. His feelings. Sasuke's actions. His body began trembling, and Naruto hugged himself beneath the blanket.

First and foremost, he told himself stubbornly, he had no feelings for Sasuke. Sasuke had offered him friendship, Sasuke had displayed said willingness to be friends by saving his hide, and that was as far as that went. He'd woken up in Sasuke's arms because he'd been unable to stand on his own, but there was nothing more to it, he thought repressively. Nothing, nothing, nothing! And there would never be anything. Ever. Period.

Remembering how pathetically he'd clung to Sasuke during that hug left his stomach roiling. He'd left himself open for a crushing rejection right then. That Sasuke hadn't done anything but let him cling didn't make one bit of difference, Naruto fumed. He'd decided to give Sasuke another shot, but that didn't mean he forgave him for everything.

Fuzzy memories of him doing just that when he'd been half-swallowed by that thing tried to push their way to the front of his mind. Naruto slammed the door on those thoughts.

The point was, he decided as he worked himself into a healthy dose of denial, that Sasuke had a lot to answer for, and saving him didn't erase all that. It only meant that he'd accept the friendship, if it was still on the table. An image of Sasuke's arms around him surfaced again, and he turned his head to get away from it.

He saw Haku standing in his room's doorway and felt a glad smile of relief and welcome split his face. Haku was warmth and light and love. The antithesis of all that he'd been through tonight, and the cure for every negative thought he was plagued with. Seeing his slight form and wan smile, Naruto felt a burst of happiness in his chest, a feeling that lit him from within and caused the shadowy thoughts of Sasuke to evaporate entirely.


Haku had been made to wait until the Hokage had conducted her examination of Naruto before he could enter. He'd been standing outside the room when she swept in, and consequently had heard her assessment of Naruto's judgment. It was an assessment he privately agreed with. She'd sailed back out again, spared a single, narrowed glance for him, then disappeared down the hall. He'd waited where he was while medics had rushed in after her. When they left some time later, he'd stood at the door and watched Naruto, who didn't seem to notice him.

He'd stared at the younger boy for a long time. Naruto's frown of thought tugged at his heart, but he made no move to enter. He wondered what Naruto was thinking, if the fear that must have been with him when he'd been with that thing was still upon him. He wondered many things as he watched Naruto tossing on the bed.

Most of all, he studied the entire convoluted puzzle of Naruto and thought he at last understood him fully. Enough to reconcile the hurt he was feeling, at any rate, and that only enough so that he was able to step into the room when Naruto saw him, and put a weak smile on his face. He couldn't reconcile everything, but he did not hold anything against Naruto, who, after all, hadn't really done anything wrong.

No, it was Sasuke who was to blame.

-oOo-

Naruto pounded the mattress near his hip. "Come here, oh my God."

Haku sat. Naruto dragged him into a fierce hug and just hung on, putting his head on Haku's shoulder. "I shouldn't have left you," Haku managed after a moment.

"Someone had to get the boys to safety." Naruto's voice was muffled. "And it allowed you to send Sasuke on ahead, which was brilliant, by the way. I can't even begin to thank you for that. It was really you who saved my life, not him."

Haku debated correcting this error in Naruto's thinking, but he'd long since surmised that the only way Sasuke could have known Naruto was in trouble and gotten to him as quickly as he had was through a clone. This, on top of everything else, had Haku's eyes flat and dark with a look Zabuza would have recognized. But Naruto didn't see. There were a lot of things Naruto didn't see, or chose not to see. "I'm just glad you're all right," he murmured. Yet he couldn't stop himself from comparing the hug he was receiving now to the one Naruto had given Sasuke only hours before. The tiny crack that had developed in the center of him when he'd seen Sasuke holding Naruto widened a little bit.

Naruto pulled back, but held on to Haku's shoulders. He gave them a little squeeze. "Me too. And listen…about what we were discussing before? You're right, and we should have our relationship defined. I'm totally ready to be your boyfriend. I'll be whatever you want." He stopped a moment and considered his words carefully. If he played his cards right, he could have everything. Haku as his love, and Sasuke as his friend. "You're…the best thing in my life. The best thing that has ever been in my life, and I don't want to lose that. Or you. I want you with me forever. Okay?" He gave a lopsided grin. "Will you be my boyfriend? I don't care who knows anymore, I just want you. Well? Say something."

Haku stared at him. He really is a boy, with no forethought, and no hindsight either. He understood how Naruto could be so hesitant about this subject this morning, and now so accepting of the idea. He did. But that didn't mean he could answer Naruto's question, so he didn't.


The hospital settled down after its excitement, so that by the time Tsunade was receiving the end of Wolf's long-winded report, and dawn was on the horizon, the corridors were silent as a tomb.

Wolf and his two comrades walked up to relieve the agents who'd filled in for them wile they'd been with the Hokage. They took up their positions outside Sasuke's room after peeking in and ascertaining that he was sound asleep. Wolf settled into a crouch outside the door, facing his companions, and prepared for a long day ahead.

-oOo-

It wasn't so much a sound that made him turn his head to the side some time later, as it was a subtle yet unmistakable shift in the air currents. He saw a smallish figure and the glint of fading moonlight on steel, before his vision went dark, and he was collapsing sideways.


Haku had delivered all three senbon simultaneously, so all the agents slumped where they were without so much as a word of protest. He waited a beat, feeling out their vital rhythms.

Deeply unconscious. Good.

Moving silently, he pushed open Sasuke's door.

He hadn't been on the offensive like this in years; doing so without his mask felt decidedly strange. As if he was exposed. He slipped to the foot of Sasuke's bed regardless, and stared at the composed features.

-oOo-

Sasuke was catapulted to full wakefulness at feeling a sharp pinch in his neck. The next second his eyes bulged as it became obvious that he was paralyzed from the neck down. His eyes flew to the shadowy figure at the foot of his bed. This figure glided around to his right side and sat near his immobile hand, where it lay palm-up on the blanket.

"You," Sasuke wheezed. "If you think to murder me-"

Haku smiled thinly. "You may be important to some people, but you're hardly worth me going to that much bother."

Sasuke's panic receded somewhat. His eyes narrowed. "You're no match for me, anyway."

Haku casually turned his head to study the chakra monitor. "I don't suppose I could have handled the anomaly out in the forest as quickly or as decisively as you did, but you'd be wrong to assume you've seen my full strength, Sasuke-kun." He let his eyes drift in Sasuke's direction once more.

The weight of Haku's killing intent effectively silenced Sasuke's bravado. Whether or not Haku meant to kill him might be up for debate, but there was no denying that he was in the presence of an exceptionally powerful shinobi, and he himself was currently defenseless. He composed himself with an effort. "What do you want?"

"For you to listen, and listen well."

Haku began speaking.


The boys needed to remain in the hospital for several days, but Naruto and Sasuke were allowed to leave the next day. Tsunade had them each brought directly to the Hokage building the afternoon following their night in the forest. They were made to sit outside her office and wait on her convenience.

Naruto kept sneaking glances at Sasuke, but Sasuke was oddly subdued. His escort stood tensely around his chair, heads swiveling as if expecting some kind of threat, but all Sasuke did was stare as the bandage wrapped around one hand. If he noticed Naruto looking at him from time to time, he didn't show it. Naruto spent the rest of the time waiting cursing himself out for nine kinds of a raging idiot for expecting Sasuke to actually act like his friend.

He considered thanking Sasuke for saving his life, but since the bastard couldn't even be bothered to make eye contact…

-oOo-

Tsunade had Naruto brought in first. She only waited until his ass touched the chair in front of her desk before launching into his sentence. "The council and I have decided," she said crisply. "You are an important part of Konoha and a valued citizen, but you are undisciplined, Naruto. For unlawful exit from the village, and exposing Genin to mortal danger repeatedly, you are sentenced to one week of night patrol-"

"Whew," Naruto breathed. "That's not so bad-"

"-two weeks of devoting four hours a day to helping out in the north, south, and east sectors-"

"What! Granny!"

"-and three weeks of morning duty in the stone yard," Tsunade finished. "All this is to be done simultaneously, of course. And in addition to your assignment in the west sector. These hours can be doubled if you have an issue with them." Her steady gaze dared him to protest further.

"W-wh-when am I supposed to sleep?" he squeaked. "Or eat, or fu- see my friends?"

"That," Tsunade said as she shuffled papers in a clear dismissal, "is not my concern. You will have no days off. And I will be making periodic checks on you to ensure there or no…problems. This sentence is effective five minutes ago. Failure to meet the terms of this sentence will result in solitary, followed by an increase in hours. Here is your schedule." She held up a sheet of paper without looking at him, as she scribbled something down in a file.

Naruto was left to scramble out of his chair, snatch the schedule, and run out of her office.

Tsunade hid her tiny smirk. "That should keep him too busy and exhausted to get into trouble. Did you hear him, Shizune? 'When will I have time to fuck,' indeed." She shook her head around a chuckle, before assuming her stern expression once more. "Send in Sasuke."

-oOo-

Sasuke walked in, saw the council standing behind Tsunade's chair, and schooled his features to stoicism. This wasn't hard. He waited until told to sit before doing so. Wolf and the rest stood in a line behind his chair.

"How did you come to know Naruto was in trouble?" Tsunade asked without preamble. "And while you're at it, suppose you tell me from your own lips just why it is you and Naruto seem to butt heads so often since you've returned to the village."

Put on the spot so quickly, Sasuke did the only sensible thing he could think to do. He lied through his teeth.

Tsunade didn't bat an eye at the fish tale she was handed. If Sasuke really thought she believed that he'd had a clone shadowing Naruto because he knew all along how dangerous his little forays into the forest were, then her name was Uchiha Madara. His lengthy explanation only reinforced her certainty that he was an extremely cunning individual, and that she was dealing with a façade. In fact, the only real emotions she'd ever seen him display were immediately after he'd turned himself in after the war, and last night, when she'd witnessed him trying to save Naruto. The embrace afterward had also been noted and filed away.

She chose not to comment on the way Sasuke completely avoided answering why he and Naruto had been at odds all this time, and instead spread her hands in supplication once he was done speaking. "Your actions have left me in a quandary," she said smoothly. "On the one hand, you have violated your probation beyond any hope of repair. On the other, you risked your life to save Naruto, a feat not many of us could have accomplished so neatly. I will even go so far as to say that it was a heroic deed. May I ask why you saved him?" she finished bluntly. "You and Naruto haven't been getting along, I'm told."

Sasuke kept his face neutral and his body still with an effort. "He'd have done the same for me. I owe him."

"What do you owe him?"

Sasuke cast around for some suitably sentimental garbage, something Tsunade would believe. "More than I can say." Brilliant! He dropped his eyes to the floor as if the weight of his debt was too much, but kept his face blank. No use overdoing it.

"I see." Tsunade leaned back in her chair. "What do you expect to happen now?"

Sasuke continued to push the penitent card by leaving his eyes downcast. He managed an awkward one-shouldered shrug. "I don't know. I know I was wrong to break out of solitary, but I couldn't…I just couldn't let him die." Not quite a whisper, but close.

"Indeed." Tsunade folded her hands across her stomach, and regarded him with unblinking eyes. When the silence had stretched out and she saw that he didn't fidget, she gave up waiting for anything more from him. "Your actions have effectively canceled each other out so that I'm forced to let you go free. No permanent incarceration. However, that only means that you will continue as you were before last night's events. And since you were in solitary last night, to solitary you will return. You've destroyed our detention facility, but there is a specially crafted cell deep beneath the Hokage mountain that I think would suit you well. I'm sure there are enough rats and other vermin down there to sustain you for the three weeks you'll be staying. You will be given one water supply upon your arrival. Use it wisely. Questions?"

The glance he leveled at the council was longer this time, but he met her eyes when he said, "No."

Tsunade nodded at Wolf and his team. "Take him. Oh, and Sasuke. You will not have chakra down there. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of how ill-advised it would be if you tried to force that issue the way you did last night?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"Good." She waited until he and his escort had left before asking Shizune, "Has he arrived?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

"Show him in."

-oOo-

She was studying a mission document when Haku was led in. She acknowledged his deep bow after a moment, but did not ask him to sit. "Your foster parents have been granted citizenship," she said without looking up. "You, however, are another matter."

Haku bowed his head, his face a picture of misery.

"Since I have not granted you citizenship yet," she went on, "I cannot very well punish you for disobeying our laws. However, you have violated the hospitality all visitors to this village are granted by aiding the endangerment of its youth. Have you anything to say?"

Haku slowly went to one knee and placed one fist on the floor. "Nothing, Hokage-sama. Only…that I should have known better. I let my love for one person cloud my judgment. I will do whatever you say to remove the stain of dishonor from Otan-san and his wife, as well as from myself."

Tsunade smiled. "You are a true shinobi, Haku. And I'm pleased you feel that way. Rise." She handed him the document she'd been studying.

Haku took it and skimmed its contents. "A mission, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes. I think some time away from the village is just the thing. The mission length will depend on you, but you can see that it requires a minimum of three months. You can use the time to consider just what it means to be a citizen of Konoha and how you will fit in here. After, if you decide not to pursue citizenship, I will completely understand, but if you do, I will be honored to have you."

"I…thank you, Hokage-sama." A fitting punishment. Not too harsh, but not lenient either. A wise woman. "You do me great honor with your mercy."

"Yes, well. Preparations should be complete within two to three weeks. I will have the necessary documents drawn up and signed by then. Until they are ready, you are to continue your work in the west sector. Dismissed."


Konohamaru and Inari were enjoying a rather pleasant visit with Tazuna, Moegi, and Udon. Inari wasn't as injured as Konohamaru, and so would be leaving in the morning. He and the other two children were perched on K's bed, living through a seriously enhanced version of last night's events, when their hospital room door crashed open much as it had the previous night. All four kids jumped in fright, but it wasn't the Hokage.

"So!" Ebisu-sensei crowed. His shades gleamed dangerously. "Seems there are boys here who feel that what I teach them isn't good enough anymore! They go around trying to learn A-rank jutsu from unqualified Genin! And other boys aspire to the rank of ninja without going through the proper channels! My, my, my…Hokage-sama has asked that I handle this situation. Just what am I to do, I wonder?" The violent grin on his face left no doubt that he knew exactly what he planned to do with them.

Inari and Konohamaru inched closer together, shivering with fear. "Ebisu-sama," Inari squeaked. "I-"

"Oho!" Ebisu leveled a finger at Inari, and the boy paled. "The maggot seeks to curry favor! You, worm, are to address me henceforth as Ebisu-sensei!"

Tazuna frowned and stepped forward, "Now see here-"

"And you," Ebisu's finger swung to point at the old man. His voice and tone lowered to an acceptable volume. "Hokage-sama begs your leave to send you three orphan boys as apprentices to replace the loss of your grandson. The boy will be initiated into the lofty and elite ranks of the ninja, provided he obeys my teachings to the letter. His Genin exam will take place with Iruka-sensei in three days."

The children watched as Ebisu withdrew a scroll from his pocket and handed it to Tazuna, who adjusted his glasses and read it. "Says here an exchange will take place, with my permission. Inari, resident of the Land of Waves, will henceforth be a student of the Konoha Ninja Academy, pending his examination's success. In exchange, three Konoha citizens will be apprenticed to the Land of Waves, to learn carpentry, for the duration of Inari's training." He looked at his grandson. "Boy, what would your mother say?"

Inari swallowd as he felt K's hand squeeze his own in excitement. It was everything he'd dreamed of, since meeting Naruto so long ago. His mother would cry and say no, but his mother wasn't here. His grandfather was, and he was holding the key to achieving his dream right there in his hand. All he had to do was sign.

Tazuna stared at Inari shrewdly. "Well. Tsunami put you in my care for this job of rebuilding Konoha, so that means she trusts my judgment regarding you. All I want to know is one thing. Can you do this? No sense me signing if you're going to bring dishonor down on my head."

Inari nodded immediately. "Boss and Haku taught me well. I'll ace that exam."

Tazuna grunted, as Konohamaru and the other two kids cheered and thumped Inari on the back. He scrawled his name on the scroll, and slapped it into Ebisu's outstretched hand. "Let's see these orphans you spoke about. Better not be too scrawny or weak."


The only way to get through his sentence was with clones, Naruto deduced immediately. He went to the stone yard in person each morning, and to the west sector each afternoon, but used clones for everything else. Every other night he would let a clone do the patrol while he conked out like something dead. By the end of the first week, chakra was a distant memory. Naruto really considered killing himself. He was so tired and drained that at this point death would be an improvement. He felt worse than when he'd been in that thing, and he still had two more weeks to go.

"Fuck this shit!" he roared. He'd just torn the nail off his thumb by stupidly catching it on a nail. Kiba glanced over at him, but resumed hammering his own plank without comment. Haku likewise didn't look up from the plumbing he was installing. Naruto sucked his thumb a moment, then winced and gave up when that hurt too much. He stared at where his nail was slowly re-growing itself.

The whistle sounded for the end of shift. He threw his hammer down and immediately went to Haku, who'd leapt out of the foundation to yet another apartment building. "Hey." Naruto sidled up to him. "Want to go to Ichiraku's? I have an hour to kill before night patrol…" He tried to nuzzle Haku's neck.

Haku allowed the touch, but pulled away without returning it. "I've already promised I'd eat dinner with Otan-san and his wife."

"Oh." Naruto deflated a bit. "Can I come with?"

"You're always welcome." Haku smiled, but it was a small one.

Naruto grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. "Okay, what is it? What'd I do this time?"

Haku's face was puzzled. "I'm sorry?"

"Don't gimme that, Haku. I know you, okay? You've been weird since that night in the forest. I know I haven't been around, and we haven't touched, but when I do suggest we hook up you act all sad and shit. What gives? You know I can't spare more than an hour here and there."

"Yes, I do know. Your sentence. I'm not angry."

"Then…what?" Naruto glanced back at the site, where Kiba was still jotting down that day's progress in a ledger. "Want to skip dinner for a quickie?"

Haku lowered his head. When he raised it again, he decided to tell Naruto at least part of his problem. "Tsunade-sama punished me as well."

"What!" Naruto stepped back in shock. "You never told me that!"

"We barely see each other, unless we're at the site. And you're lucky Kiba lets you sleep for half your shift in the foreman's hut."

Naruto waved a hand impatiently. "What is it?"

"A mission."

"Where? For how long?"

"Demon Country. And at least three months."

Naruto stared at him for a long moment. His shock and budding outraged were replaced with one of the rare flashes of insight that made him seem older than his years sometimes. "When?" he said quietly.

"A couple of weeks." Haku looked down at his hands.

Naruto felt sick. Haku was the kindest, sweetest soul he'd ever met. The boys had been hurt as a result of his negligence and cockiness, but that was life. Ninja got hurt, they moved on. Neither his actions in the forest, nor Granny's tirade in the hospital had really brought home to him the magnitude of his errors. Learning that Haku was being punished did that. Punished because of him. Because he'd asked for Haku's help, and Haku had been too eager to please him to deny him, a fact he'd known and exploited, he thought bitterly.

Never before had he felt so weighed down by the consequences of his actions. There, in the middle of the road, with twilight around them both, Naruto tasted true responsibility for the first time in his life, and found it a bitter dish indeed. He felt tears sting his eyes. "Haku. I'm so fucking sorry."

Without looking up from where he picked at a scratch on one hand, Haku slowly shook his head. "It was my fault. I knew better."

"You're being sent away."

There was nothing Haku could say to that.

Naruto scrubbed his face with the heels of his hands. "Look, uh…you go on ahead. Spend some time with your foster parents before you leave. I'll see you here at the site tomorrow, okay?"

Now he did look at Naruto. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Then, because he'd missed it and Kiba was still busy writing, he leaned in and planted a hard kiss on Haku's mouth. When Haku left his face turned up, eyes closed, he stepped into him, grabbed him, and kissed him for real. Haku sagged in his arms, but returned the kiss with interest. "I love you," Naruto gasped when it ended. "I'll be loving you ten times as much while you're gone."

-oOo-

He was still standing in the middle of the road when Kiba strolled up with Akamaru. Haku was long gone. Naruto turned an annoyed glare on him and fell into step beside him. "And what's your problem?"

Kiba sniffed. "No idea what you mean."

"Come off it. I know your ass too, and I can tell when you're pissed at me; Akamaru growls when I try to pet him."

Kiba stared straight ahead, jaw tense. "Don't like traitors."

Naruto felt a headache settling between his eyes. These came and went as he battled fatigue, but he thought he just might be developing a migraine from the injustice of that statement. "I know you're not calling me a traitor."

"It is what it is, man."

Naruto considered punching Kiba, but decided he didn't have the energy. "Meaning?"

"Meaning either you want Haku or Sasuke, but you can't have both."

"The fuck are you talking about?" Naruto howled in acute frustration. "Since when do I want Sasuke?"

"Since you were all over him in the forest."

Naruto stopped and so did Kiba, who appeared ready for a fight. His face was belligerent and his fang gleamed. "You were there?" Naruto whispered in disbelief.

"Tailing Sasuke."

"Oh. Well, I wasn't all over him."

"Seemed like it."

"I wasn't."

"Smelled like it, too. Mostly from Sasuke, but I caught your scent as well. You smelled willing."

Naruto snapped. "I ought to kick your face in for that, you fuck. Willing for what? For Sasuke's dick? Is that what you're saying? Say it to my face if you are, and if you aren't then show some fucking loyalty, man!"

"The kind of loyalty you show? If I did, I'd be going after Haku right now."

It took Naruto all of three seconds to realize what Kiba was saying. "So it's like that. Dude…I wasn't horning in on your territory, okay? And what the fuck, I thought you said you weren't serious about him?"

Kiba ignored that. "So you don't want him?"

"Sasuke? How many ways can I say it? No, all right? He offered to be my friend, and saved my fucking life, but I'm not lusting for him."

Kiba would have to take it or leave it, because despite what he'd smelled, if Naruto's mind hadn't caught up to what his body felt around Sasuke then there was nothing to be done. He would have to trust Naruto. "Fine. But I'm saying it here and now, Sasuke is mine. Whether or not I'm serious is irrelevant; until I'm done with him, he's marked property."

Naruto's eyes widened. He'd learned a few things hanging around Kiba. "Have you-?"

"Marked him physically? Fuck no, you crazy? My mom would kill me. She's got some meek little bitch picked out to pup for me when I come of age. Besides, whatever I do, I'm not looking for any life-long commitment to Sasuke."

They resumed walking now, but Naruto frowned. "How's that work? The girl, and your thing for guys?"

"One doesn't have anything to do with the other, not for an alpha."

"Oh. Ichiraku's? I got twenty minutes to eat."

"Yeah, okay."

"We good?"

"You bet. Just the same, though, I'm glad Sasuke's not around. Dude seriously complicates things."


For the next two weeks, things settled into a pattern. Naruto continued to abuse Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, while Kiba allowed him to sleep at the site. The few times the Hokage made a surprise visit, he was able to smell her in time to wake Naruto beforehand. Haku would pitch in and cover for Naruto, but this on top of the trouble Haku was already in left Naruto feeling too guilty. He soon abandoned his naps and pushed himself harder.

He only spent every other night in the barracks, at which point he slept like a rock. He and Haku only had lunch and dinner breaks to be intimate, if Naruto wasn't too tired, which he usually was. Sometimes Haku watched his fitful sleep with a wistful smile. Other times he was glad that Naruto wasn't awake to see his tears. Sometimes he spooned with Naruto and slept for a few minutes as well.

-oOo-

"You never answered my question," Naruto said one night. It was one of the nights he was sleeping in the barracks. "About being my boyfriend?"

Haku went pink. "I know. I was thinking maybe I could give you my answer when I get back." The Hokage had given him the documents. He'd be leaving in one week, right when Naruto's sentence was over.

"I thought you wanted this."

"I do…"

"Then why do we have to wait?"

Because it's not what you really want. "I just think it would be selfish of us to hold the other to a relationship when we're apart."

Naruto slowly sat up on his bunk. "Wait. So you're saying that while you're gone we're supposed to be…seeing other people?"

The others in the barracks were now looking their way and listening. Naruto didn't seem to notice or care, but Haku ducked his head in embarrassment. "Naruto, please understand-"

"That what? That you think I can't wait? That I can't commit? What the f- are you planning on being with someone else?"

"No!"

"Then accept me, dammit!"

There was dead silence in the barracks. Lee had a hand to his mouth, eyes wide. Sakura and Ino each had one hand to their throats, and Kiba looked pained. He was staring hard at Haku.

Haku finally raised his eyes. They were wet. "I can't."

-oOo-

After that, Naruto didn't see Haku at all. He'd moved out of the barracks to spend his last week with his foster parents. Kiba said the Hokage had likewise excused him from working at the site. Naruto found a bit of energy at last as panic and fear set in. He applied himself to his sentence with renewed vigor, and all the while he berated himself for being the dumbest piece of shit to ever befoul the earth.

Because if Kiba had seen him and Sasuke hugging in the forest, he belatedly realized with infinite shame, then so had Haku.


Naruto didn't wait to celebrate when the whistle blew for the end of shift on the last evening of his sentence. He only washed up quickly at the barracks, grabbed a clean shirt, and changed into it during his frantic dash to the village gates. Haku was scheduled to leave at 8 pm. It was 8:01.

-oOo-

Haku had been delayed by the Chuunin on gate security, Naruto was relieved to see. They were carefully reading though his mission documents when he ran up, and paid no mind as he hastily pulled Haku aside.

"Made it," he gusted. "Couldn't let you leave without seeing you off, could I?" He pulled the shorter man into a tight hug.

"I'm glad you came," Haku murmured. "It means the world to me."

Naruto looked down into his face. "No prob. I, uh…wanted to tell you…I mean, I wanted to say…fuck." He tried again. "What happened in the forest with Sasuke…it's not what you think. If you were thinking it, I mean. I was hurt and tired and he'd saved me, and…but it wasn't like a thing or anything. Okay? I just wanted to say that. And that I get it if you don't want to be my boyfriend right now because of it. If you're mad at me or something. We'll have plenty of time to work it all out when you get back." He took a deep breath once he'd finished.

Haku reluctantly pulled out of Naruto's arms and shouldered his satchel. "I'm not coming back."

The Chuunin had handed the documents back, and Haku was rolling them and putting them into his belt by the time that statement registered with Naruto's stunned mind. "What?" he jogged up to grab Haku's arm. "What?"

"I'm not-"

"Why?"

The Chuunin were staring at them. Haku took Naruto's hand and led him a few yards back into the village, away from the gate. Naruto looked wild: nostrils flared, mouth and eyes wide with shock. He was hyperventilating too, which was a sure sign that he was either about to get very loud or very violent, or both. Probably both. Haku took his hands and held them close to his heart. "Naruto, listen to me."

"You…I…I said I was sorry, you can't leave, you can't, you can't, you can't- If I hadn't made it here in time, you would never have even told me-"

"I was going to send a letter."

"Son of a-"

Haku squeezed the cold hands sharply. "Listen to me. Are you listening?"

Naruto focused on Haku's stern face with difficulty, and nodded.

"I want you to believe me when I say that I have nothing but your best interests at heart. That all I want is the best for you. For you to be happy and healthy and whole. To live without pain inside you. Do you believe me?"

"Y-yes. But Haku-"

"I love you, Naruto. I've never loved another. I felt something for Zabuza, but it's nothing next to what I feel for you. And I know you love me, but…I'm not the one you really want to be with."

Naruto's tremors left him so that he was completely still. Haku's words called up a bunch of things he normally kept behind locked doors. A rushing sound filled his ears as these things were let loose one by one by Haku's gentle accusation, and he tried to speak. To deny them. To put the things back and close the door once more, but Haku was speaking, and denial, his long-time friend, was being taken away from him.

"I didn't see it at first," Haku was saying. "Or maybe I didn't want to see. I wanted to believe you, and believe in you. I wanted the prize, the great shining hero, the incomparable Uzumaki Naruto to be all mine. I let you conduct those missions with the boys, and overlooked your mistakes. I let you lie to both of us, but no more. I can't do this to you anymore, not if I love you. I'm selfish, but not that selfish."

"Stop," Naruto begged in a small voice. "Please…"

Haku went on relentlessly, if kindly. "You use your love for me like a shield, Naruto. To hide from how much you want Sasuke. To mask how much you've always wanted him. And that night in the hospital, when you suddenly wanted to be my boyfriend, I finally understood that."

"No." Speaking was so difficult. His voice was hoarse. "No, that's not true. I want you."

"But you want Sasuke more. And I can't continue to complicate your life by staying here and confusing the issue. Nor can I really have you when you're so conflicted. If I have you, I want all of you, without interference."

"You do!"

"I don't," Haku insisted. He released Naruto's hands and stepped back. "But maybe one day, if we see each other again, you'll be completely free and we can start over. I'm going to hope for that, so I won't….I won't say good-bye."

Naruto watched him wipe his eyes and turn away through his own blurry vision, watched as Haku passed through the gate and began walking on the long road leading from the village.

He ran after him, intending to follow, but the Chuunin on guard blocked him. "Hokage's orders," the largest one said. "You're not to leave the village without her express permission."

For a second, Naruto's chakra swelled ominously, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't overpower them even though they were clearly weaker, because that would only prove Granny right. That he was immature.

And going after Haku would only be more running from the truth. As fucked as he currently was, he wasn't a big enough shit to hurt Haku like that. Not on top of how much he'd already hurt him. He could barely stand beneath the weight of his shame over just how much he'd hurt Haku through his stupidity, and all the guy had ever wanted was to love him and be with him. But I want that too! I want Haku more than anything, I know I do!

He watched Haku's small form, heart breaking, until it was swallowed by the night.