Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any Naruto characters portrayed in this fic.

A/N: Oh my, such a hiatus. Studies caught up to me in more ways than one. Here, my faithful readers, is the next chapter, never fear. Thanks for sticking with me for so long! The timeline of this story follows the time-skip, after Naruto develops the Rasen-shuriken technique, but after that deviates from canon. Reviews and feedback appreciated!

PART 2: Flight

Chapter 10: Ties that Bind

Day 7 since Team Kakashi's departure from Konoha

His path to the academy was a distracted one. Thoughts in turmoil, he had stuffed his hands deep into his pockets to still the strange tremor that ran through them at intervals. Shikamaru was always one to carefully, almost dispassionately, analyze a situation and determine all possible outcomes. Instinct, impetuosity, those were allowances he left to others. This, however, this was altogether too close to home. His mind worked, furiously, one permutation upon another, crowding in upon each other in stifling haste. Pausing, he gritted his teeth, looking up at the building he had let his feet carry him to. The Academy looked as always, the dusty training ground, the heavily notched kunai-practice posts, the lone swing on the large tree at the front creaking slightly as it swayed in the light breeze. Tearing his eyes away from that last mark of familiarity where he had often seen a lone, drooping head of yellow hair, he strode purposefully in through the double doors and approached the classroom he had spent many hours dozing off in just a few years ago.

Iruka was in full swing as he stopped just outside the door. The sensei's fists were propped on his hips and he was glaring in that peculiar manner which was somehow simultaneously masculine and mother-hen reminiscent. The object of his ire squirmed uncomfortably in front of him, a short boy with reddish bangs that fell into his eyes.

" . . . thought it would be FUN to throw a kunai disguised as a paper plane? Oh yes. Great ninja skills. Great improvisation too. Next time, try aiming at the PRACTICE POSTS OUTSIDE!" He paused, straightening and frowning slightly. "Back to your seat. Hiruko, make sure nobody else tries to kill a classmate. I'll be back."

Turning towards the door, he gave Shikamaru a slight, concerned smile and exited, closing it smartly behind him. "Well, this is a surprise. Thought you never wanted to see this place again, huh?"

Despite the teasing tone, Shikamaru could see that Iruka was fully aware that something serious was up. He gave him a heartfelt, if tired, smile. "Iruka sensei. Ever the disciplinarian."

Iruka waved him off. "I gather from the time of day that you're not here to catch up on old times. What's going on?"

Gesturing slightly, Shikamaru sighed. "Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"

Nodding, the sensei led him to what seemed to be the staff area, where he greeted a few others, and through an adjoining door into a small office. Seating himself, he motioned for Shikamaru to do the same.

"So, what brings you here?"

"I assume you've heard of the civilian killings, sensei?"

"Of course." He now had Iruka's full attention. "And you're . . . ?"

"Uh, yeah. I've been placed in charge of inquiries." Despite the gravity of the topic at hand, Shikamaru did not fail to notice the flash of pride in his old teacher's eyes and the glance that lingered on the chuunin vest which they both now wore. Something inside him steadied and settled, something that enabled him to regain a measure of his composure. He took a breath. "Sensei, something's up. Something not right. And I, well . . . I needed -"

Iruka held up his hand with a faint smile. "Ask what you need to, Shikamaru."

"Right." He paused to gather his thoughts. "My investigation has led me to . . . something unexpected. Before I get into the matter, I just want to know one thing. About Naruto."

He had said the magic word. Or name, rather. Instantly, Iruka was on high alert. "What? Has something - "

"No. Calm down, sensei. It may be nothing, but I have to ask this right now. About when Naruto was a kid. You know, before he was at the Academy and stuff. Did anything . . . bad happen to him?" Seeing how Iruka's expression grew blank and stiff, he was quick to remedy the situation. "Sensei, I'm fully aware of the details surrounding . . . that. I knew before I made chuunin, actually. It wasn't exactly hard to deduce, given the things that used to happen during his missions. A Jinchuuriki's identity, especially one as . . . uninhibited as Naruto, would be common knowledge to anyone in the village with half a brain and a desire to read. And," he shrugged, adding far more firmly than he realised, "Naruto's my comrade. My friend. And we all know friends come with baggage. Same goes for any of us rookie nine."

Iruka's shoulders drooped visibly and he gave a small, rueful laugh. "I was right about you from the start, Shikamaru. Always seeming half asleep, yet never failing to surprise me. Naruto, he - he's managed to do so much, achieve so much despite the Kyuubi that I . . . "

"Yeah, you always were the nurturing type."

Iruka sputtered indignantly, before returning the slight grin the younger chuunin wore. It faded as Shikamaru's earlier question came back to him. "By anything bad happening, what do you mean by that?"

"Civilians knew about the Kyuubi too, right?"

"Of course. The Hokage was against it, in Naruto's interest, but the Council virtually made it law."

"I see. Well, that's what I'm asking about. Victimization from the villagers. I've seen it myself all too often, but I want to know about when, and if, it got seriously bad."

Iruka blew out a breath and rested his elbows on his knees. "I don't see how this connects to your investigation, but to answer your question, yes. Naruto was under supervision - surveillance, actually, for most of his childhood. He was assigned ANBU guards under orders to remain unseen at all times. We all knew the Hokage had assigned them for Naruto's safety more than the village's. Definitely not the story he spun for the village council. He had to convince them to allocate the manpower, see?" Shikamaru nodded and he continued. "When he entered the academy, Hokage-sama relaxed the all hours-watch on him to just routine checking once a day. There were times, however, when the ANBU guards had to . . . step in. Especially during a certain time of year, when the incidents escalated. I was only informed of this, because, as Naruto's academy teacher, I was also responsible for his safety during academy hours. There was . . . verbal abuse. Worse than the regular stuff. Objects thrown. Shopkeepers refusing to serve him. And then there were times when it got bad. Physical violence. Someone set fire to his apartment once."

Shikamaru sat up straighter. "Burning of his apartment. What do you know about that?"

His sensei shrugged, looking slightly puzzled. "Nothing much. I was out of the village, on special mission duty at the time. I don't know any details, other than that they were minors and they got off with a rap on the knuckles." He scowled. "Of course they would."

Nodding, Shikamaru changed tack. "Yeah, makes sense. Now, there's another more sensitive topic in this mess. Daisuke-sensei."

Iruka's expression grew grave. "Hm, I thought as much. So it's connected to those other killings, I presume?"

"Yeah, at least, that's what it looks like. Anything you can tell me about him?"

"Will you tell me what this has to do with Naruto?"

"Sensei . . . it's really too early to say. Just tell me a few more things and I'll give you whatever I have."

Sighing, Iruka nodded. "Sure. Let's see. Daisuke. Kept to himself a lot. Had a chuunin son and a medic-nin daughter. Was proud of them. His wife had died in the Kyuubi attack. He was a part of the defensive force of Konoha during that time and received a leg injury that forced him to retire from field duty. Never socialized much with him, so I can't give any details of his personal life."

There was something in the crisp, professional manner in which Iruka gave this run-down that led Shikamaru to his next question. "Didn't like him much?"

He received a sharp glance that somehow managed to make him feel ten years old again. "Liking has nothing to do with my feelings on the loss of a comrade and fellow instructor. You should know this, Shikamaru."

He raised his hands placatingly. "Just an observation, sensei. Can't help myself. May I ask why?"

"Oh for the love of - you're right. No, I didn't like him much. And we didn't speak other than formally due to a small argument we had some years back. Which in no way implies that -"

"I know, sensei. What did you argue about?"

For the first time, Iruka looked distinctly unsettled. "It - It was about Naruto, now that I think of it."

The uneasiness Shikamaru had felt earlier returned full force, a strong sense of foreboding now in accompaniment. "What about Naruto?"

"Well, it was victimization, to put it frankly." Iruka gestured helplessly. "We all know what a klutz Naruto used to be the moment you put a kunai in his hand. He was badly injured during a practice session in his first year at the academy."

"I don't remember that."

"You wouldn't. They did a good job of hushing it up. It was after hours. Naruto was with a few other students on the practice field, going at the post. Nobody knows how he got hold of a real kunai, but he slashed his arm up pretty badly. Daisuke-sensei was on duty."

Shikamaru watched as his former sensei's gaze took on a frosty quality. "Daisuke refused Naruto emergency medical treatment, which would have been offered to any other student. He patched up his arm sloppily and told him to run along. The ANBU assigned the daily check-up showed up at the Hokage tower late that night with Naruto. He had a raging fever from infection. He only regained consciousness three days after treatment. For such a small child, there was a limit to what the Kyuubi's healing power could do without destroying his chakra network."

Feeling faintly ill, the young Nara grimaced. "But wasn't there any kind of disciplinary action? Surely, an academy instructor - "

Iruka gave a humourless bark of laughter. "Disciplinary action? Sure. When I heard, I myself raised the issue. I was the only member of staff who did. I was then summarily informed that my complaint had been taken note of and that, considering my background, I should have been the last person to speak up."

"Your background?"

"My parents were killed in the Kyuubi attack." He waved away Shikamaru's apology. "Please, don't. Anyway, it wasn't as if I had been a sterling example. I hadn't taught Naruto at that point. I knew him much the same as all the other villagers did. When they told me to pipe down . . . I did as I was told." He sighed. "It's one of the things I am most ashamed of. I guess it was harder for me to reconcile what Daisuke had done because I was as much to blame."

Feeing slightly awkward, as offering comfort was definitely not his forte, Shikamaru stood. "Sensei, for what it's worth, I can tell you that I don't like the direction this case is taking, or the connections I've been finding to our mutual friend."

Iruka looked up sharply, eyes carefully assessing the younger chuunin's expression. "And what connections would those be?"

"I can't make a conclusive statement. But, from what I've gathered in the past few hours, it looks like someone is planning one hell of a set-up. Where is Naruto right now?"

Noting how Iruka's hands had bunched into fists at his sides, Shikamaru momentarily regretted making an information exchange with him. He'd forgotten just how much his former sensei cared. "Naruto's on a mission. C- rank escort. I was in the mission room when they received the-"

"Sensei?"

"Shikamaru . . . " Iruka's voice was suddenly brittle, his face pinched with worry. "Daisuke. Daisuke was on mission duty that day. He gave Team Kakashi their mission."

Day 8 since Team Kakashi's departure from Konoha

The shadow clone's memories came thick and fast. He had sent it out with the code key in the communications tower, with strict orders to evade capture and dispel once it had re-grouped with Kakashi. It had done just that, but the dispelling hadn't been of its own volition. Swearing, Naruto staggered slightly on the still muddy ground as he waded out to Gamakichi.

"Quick, we've got to go!"

"Where to?" The large frog swiveled his head, taking in his surroundings. He shifted, some unpleasant noises emerging from beneath him as he removed his weight from the prone form of the Iwa-nin. Heedless, Naruto took a flying leap onto his back, the retrieved scroll tucked safely into his weapons pouch.

"I'll direct you, just go. Kakashi-sensei's in trouble!"

Without further encouragement, the toad lowered his head and shimmied forward into the tunnel, pausing to coat the shard covered floor with a gobbet of thick toad slime. Emerging into the weak morning light, Naruto pointed him in the right direction and they catapulted away from the wrecked outpost, splintered, silent and still in the dawn. The young shinobi clung tightly to the knobbly skin of his summon, barely glancing at the destruction around him as they headed directly into the surrounding forest.

"What's the situation ahead?"

"ANBU," Naruto replied tersely, "Kakashi-sensei took out the old guy who was in charge here. My clone got to him, but then they swarmed them. I didn't even get a chance to see how many there were."

"Shit." Gamakichi ejected more force into his loping bounds. "What's his condition?"

"Not good. Sharingan one too many times, dammit."

Sensing Naruto's uneasiness, Gamakichi chose not to question him any further. The silence was only broken ten minutes later when Naruto nudged a knee into the toad's back. "Here, here. Turn right a bit. Slow down."

It was a common misconception that toads were clumsy creatures. Indeed, Gamakichi put paid to this idea fully as he slid forward with as much stealth as a viper, secreting a layer of slime onto his skin such that he moved soundlessly through the trees towards their destination. Naruto released his handhold on the toad's back, ejecting a small amount of chakra to his knees such that he stayed anchored on despite the slippery surface. The sounds of battle reached them, the clash of steel on steel, the faint calls of jutsu. It was one of the hardest things Naruto had ever done, inching forward, slowly, slowly, the leaves slipping past them until the fight came into view.

It was more of a corralling than a fight. Naruto gritted his teeth, sweat breaking out on his brow as he saw his sensei, blood caking one side of his face and streaked across his tattered form, hair muddy and tangled, ribcage heaving painfully from exertion, the Sharingan still burning bright and defiant in his left eye socket. He had always seen Kakashi as the hunter, the pack leader, so in sync with his nin-dogs that his fighting style and whole demeanour had taken on some of their characteristics. And here he was, surrounded like a heavily wounded wolf at bay, his tormentors snipping at his ankles as their masked faces flashed past, lunging in for quick debilitating strikes which he was barely holding off. Naruto did not register most of these thoughts in the face of his one overwhelming fear; that of seeing a precious person and friend in mortal danger.

"Gamakichi." The young shinobi's voice was a rough-edged, hard. "Here it comes."

The toad braced himself as a flood of chakra from his summoner lanced through his body, exhilarating, thunderous with latent rage.

Under ordinary circumstances, he could have taken them. His body, however, had other plans. He could ignore the protesting muscles, the grating, agonizing feel of chakra burn along his spent pathways, the exhaustion, the pain. As a seasoned shinobi, once ANBU, he had found that place within himself many years since. Somewhere to retreat to once the body was well beyond its limit. A place of cold detachment, where every wound was inflicted with no effect, where death would be simply acceptable. In this manner, he had managed to kill two of them, those who had been deceived by his weakness and had ventured a little too close.

But they were closing. He knew it was only a matter of time before he gave them an opening. These were ANBU. Any error was more than enough. Ragged breathing sounded too close in his ear, his own, along with the pounding of his over-taxed heart. He deflected a scattering of poison-tipped senbon and felt a wrench in his shoulder where a tanto caught in his jounin vest, scraping across his collarbone. Gritting his teeth, he lashed out, scoring a hit in an elbow joint. The ANBU skidded away, now clutching a dangling arm. He was immediately confronted by another two, one swooping in from the left for a strike at the head, the other aiming lower from the right. Behind him, another shot out of the ground, kunai winging for the base of his spine. He spun around, dipping, catching the wrist of the ANBU behind him, flinging her upward into the attack of the other. They pivoted in mid-air awkwardly to avoid a collision and he used their distraction to speedily substitute, the sharp pok of a log splitting under the third's tanto. Thinking to intercept him, the tanto-wielding ANBU struck out directly behind him, expecting an attack from that direction. Kakashi slid between his legs, kunai in each hand slicing a hamstring and opening an artery. A grunt of pain reached his ears as the man staggered, clutching at the dark fountain spilling from his thigh.

Pain, yet again. This time from his own leg. The clawed gauntlet of the burly-looking captain struck out, the serrated edges catching on his calf. He stumbled, rolled, opened his eyes in time to see the concealed member of the team, the one he had sensed lurking on the edges of battle, descend from a well-timed leap wielding a long spear honed to a razor-thin tip. He felt the world around him slow, darken, the glittering arc of the spear almost beautiful as it quivered down to meet his flesh. He would not be able to move in time.

And then, a flash across his field of vision. He watched, almost bemused, as the spear punctured the ground some distance from his head and the ANBU was blasted out of the air by a super-pressurized stream of water. There was a scream from the female ANBU, a shout from the captain, a sickening crack as the fifth ANBU caught by the water attack collided with a rocky protrusion some distance away and lay still and limp as a doll. He saw two of them react quickly to the new arrival, darting into the trees where the water had come from and finding nothing. They re-grouped with backs to each other, facing outwards, some with hands in seal formation, others with weapons.

"Rasengan!"

A blaze of yellow shot through the ground at the centre, a spiraling blue sphere aimed right into the unguarded back of the captain. More shouts, a noisy puff of smoke as the clone was dispersed by a tanto, but the captain was already picking himself off the ground some distance away, clutching at his ribs in agony. Eerie echoing shouts came from the trees all around them as more of the wind spheres came to humming, swirling life on the palms of another dozen clones.

"Douton: Earthen wall!"

"Suiton: Moat defence!"

"Raiton: Singing current!"

A towering replica of Kakashi's own favoured earth-oriented tactic shot out of the ground all around the remaining ANBU, the captain managing to throw himself within before it came to a rumbling halt. All around the outer base of the wall, a water barrier crashed into place, a low sonic screech preceding the crackling electricity dancing across the surface. The shadow clones that had rushed forward were dispersed in a thick, obscuring fog, the charge in the water too strong for them to withstand. The remnants of the clones attempted leaping over, some rasengan attacks making contact with the dark walls. A fissure suddenly formed at one end and a dark shape struck out from within, catching one of the clones with a tanto. More of the kage bunshin were emerging from the forest, the few that made it to the walls scoring cracks across its surface that were rapidly reinforced from within. Those that made it across the charged moat were dispatched by the same rapid fissure technique.

Kakashi raised himself on his elbows, dragging himself out of range of the shards of rock sent scattering like shrapnel across the clearing. He could tell, as well as the ANBU probably could, that against the almost perfect defense/offense combo, Naruto's attacks would soon become obsolete and run out. But he, unlike the opponent, knew full well Naruto's capacity for surprise attack. All these clones . . . a distraction? But from what?

As if in answer to his mental question, a sudden rustle sounded in the trees above him. A large shadow obscured the light. Looking up, he beheld the underside of a large toad, powerful hind legs outstretched in a leap that carried him directly above the walled enclosure. And astride him, a flash of yellow and orange, hands linked in the tiger seal.

"Toad oil cannon!"

Eyes widening, Kakashi scrambled back, the blast of heat and chakra almost knocking him into the trees. The jet of burning oil was faster and more powerful than he had ever imagined, vaporizing the electrified moat within seconds. Screams of terror and agony sounded from within the earth fortress as cracks opened in its crumbling, hissing surface, the two surviving ANBU diving for safety to prevent being burned alive. The ground reverberated slightly under the heavy landing of the toad as it moved to cut them off. And then, spying Kakashi lying a few feet away, Naruto rapidly pulled Gamakichi into a swerve, sliding from his back and dashing to the older shinobi.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

Dropping his head back to the ground, Kakashi fought the darkness that swam threateningly over his vision, fighting, pushing at that loss of consciousness until . . .

A strong, warm hand, a man's hand with a child's grip, pushed none too gently beneath his head. Bright, blue eyes, so clear despite the destruction they'd just caused for his safety, gazed down into his own. A finger prodded at his eyelid, bringing it down over the Sharingan he'd forgotten was exposed.

"It's okay, sensei. Just sleep."

Ah, there it was. There was a faint, unseen smile beneath the mask as the darkness took him.

A/N: Forgive any rustiness in the flow of the story, it's been a long time since the last chapter. To clear up any questions about the fight scene in advance, yes, Naruto basically took out a squadron of ANBU. However, I did write this while thinking as realistically as possible. These are Iwa-nin faced with a war-time bogeyman in the form of Kakashi, who manages to kill two of them even while heavily injured and suffering from chakra exhaustion. ANBU are human, after all. And, as an elite assassination squad, their strength lies in quick, deadly kills, not brute force. Rattled as they are by Kakashi and faced with the sheer power of Naruto (who managed to take on Akatsuki, let's not forget), it's an expected outcome for this battle. Thanks, dear readers, once again, for continuing to follow this story!