Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine.
Warnings: Nothing, actually. Go me.
Moving On
Chapter Ten
By Michiru's Mirror
Konoha Hospital was, to put it mildly, a busy place. Patients came in at all hours of the day with everything from whiplash to sprained ankles to deep stab wounds, so no one had time to be anything but professional and focused while on call.
Behavior during break was a different matter entirely. Those short, blessed rest times were filled with food and gossip, which let the medic population blow off steam and go back to work refreshed.
Just where the staff took their breaks depended on their rank. The official break room was the sanctuary of the higher medics. Small and cramped with a single long table in the center, it was perfect for the short few minute intervals between emergencies that senior medics faced on a daily basis. One could sit, browse through the many file cabinets lining the walls, perch on the table (there was no room for chairs) and nibble on a chosen energy supplement before running off again.
The cafeteria was for everyone else. Unlike the break room, it had windows and no file cabinets to tempt one to work in one's off time. Spacious and clean with several small tables spread out in front of a serving counter, it was perfect for up to a multitude of small groups.
At the moment only three medics sat inside the brightened room, huddled around a small table. Uchiha Momoko was the topic of conversation, as she had been since her impending divorce was announced days ago.
"—don't know how stupid you'd have to be to break it off with Uchiha Sasuke-sama, of all people," said Yoshiko, a brunette desperately trying to hide her age with several layers of makeup. "All that money and privilege! Is she retarded?"
Her much younger friend Noriko nodded, making her blonde pigtails bounce like coiled springs. "Some girls are just total snobs, you know? Think they can do better than the best because they're so hot. I think she's just a bitch."T
he only male in the group, a man in his mid-twenties named Sannosuke, snorted so hard that a few grains of rice came from his mouth. "She's pretty stupid to think that. Look what a pig she is—I'm grossed out just looking at her, never mind what Uchiha-san had to feel touching her."
"Hey, yeah!" Noriko giggled, putting her hand over her mouth in a ladylike display. "I bet she's lying to try and save her pride—Sasuke-sama probably left her when she got that fat!"
"I don't blame him," said Yoshiko sounding disgusted. "She got all that money and such a good-looking husband and all that prestige...All she had to do in return was try to make him happy, and she couldn't even keep herself in shape? That's just so disrespectful, and ungrateful too!"
"Well she's paying for it now," said Noriko, lowering her voice and leaning in towards her friends, though there was no one else in the room. "I heard she was denounced by Hyuuga Hinata-sama as a disgrace. She's been disowned!"
Sannosuke snickered. "It's rare that someone so nasty gets what they deserve so quickly."
"Yeah, gives you hope for justice in the world, doesn't it?" said Noriko, leaning back again.
Though the three sat together at a circular table, their table's placement made it difficult to see the cafeteria entrance. Thus, they first realized that Haruno Sakura was watching them when they heard her fist smash down on the counter.
They turned in surprise and froze simultaneously at the thunderous look on Sakura's face. She looked rather like someone ready to commit murder.
"H-Haruno-sensei..." Noriko began, though she had no idea of what to say.
Sakura cut her off, her voice unusually low. "People who disrespect my personal assistant are disrespecting me as well, since I'm the one who chose her. I certainly hope you didn't think you were going to get away with calling me 'stupid', among other things."
Yoshiko was almost shaking. Sakura was rarely this angry, but when she was, people usually wound up fired. From cannons. "Haruno-sensei, please—"
"Shut your mouth!" Sakura yelled. Moving from a low, controlled voice to one so frighteningly loud was as startling as her words, and all three junior medics flinched. "I'd fire you right now, but you're going to tell everyone what I just told you. I've never tolerated bullying from my workers and I won't start now. I won't work with anyone who thinks it's fun to demoralize others!"
The three huddled together, wide-eyed and trapped in Sakura's gaze.
Sakura huffed in disgust. "Well? Get the hell out of my sight!"
They did, scurrying out the door like rats without even grabbing the rest of their food.Sakura punched the counter again, cracking the linoleum surface. Of all the nerve—the Tsuchikage was on his way to Konoha, they might be on the brink of war with Iwagakure, and all those snots could come up with to talk about was malicious gossip on a subject they knew nothing about? What was the matter with them?
What's the matter with you? sneered a tiny voice in Sakura's head, making her sigh. Threatening to fire any medic who acted like a jackass was a stupid thing to do. If Konoha had enough medics to make that a feasible option she'd do it in a second, but in reality there was a shortage. She couldn't just kick them out, no matter how shitty they acted. Now if anyone defied her decree and she didn't fire them, they'd think that Sakura was a leader who didn't mean what she said. That could lead to a lot more disobedience and disrespect.
Shit.
Kicking the counter for good measure (and then cursing at the pain in her toes), Sakura walked out of the cafeteria and up to her office. She'd been hungry, but now she'd lost her appetite. It would be best to get to work.
Mumbling aloud to herself and swinging her arms in dramatic, irritated gestures had people giving her looks of alarm and stepping well out of her way. Thankfully Sakura was too caught up in her thoughts to notice; otherwise she might well have vented her spleen on someone who didn't deserve it.
She reached her office two floors above barely a moment later, slamming the faux-wood door open with wholly unnecessary force.
It was clean.
Sakura blinked, her rage forgotten in the face of her shock. She'd never seen it this clean! The file cabinets weren't overflowing, her desk had no stains on it, she could see through the window behind her desk and the coffee machine had been washed for perhaps the first time in a year.
Momoko's dark head popped up from behind Sakura's desk with a duster in hand.
"Almost finished!" she said, straightening up and brushing off the front of her sensible beige apron. "I just have to get behind the file cabinets—should I do that later after you leave?"
Sakura blinked again. Speech was too much for her.
Momoko cocked her head in confusion. "Haruno-sensei?"
"Ah...right, sorry. Yes. Yes, please get those later. But you know, I don't expect you to be a maid, or to work longer hours then me," said Sakura.
Momoko smiled brilliantly, and Sakura felt a sudden, powerful wave of nostalgia. That had been Momoko's normal smile before marrying Sasuke. "Well there's no point in taking a job if I can't do it right! Now, if you don't need me dusting while you're working, I'll get to work retyping all the old illegible files I found in those cabinets outside."
Marching confidently out the door, Momoko missed Sakura's blush. Was her handwriting really that bad?
Sakura shut the door after her, thinking hard. Momoko was obviously off to a good start, but eventually she was going to hear what people were saying about her. A girl in such a delicate position could easily be thrown into depression by such cruel words, especially if that bimbo medic in the cafeteria had been right and Momoko had been cut off by the Hyuuga.
Sakura couldn't stop the gossip from reaching Momoko eventually, but making friends might help bolster her through the hard months ahead. Poor Momoko didn't have anybody right now, and Sakura's own lack of a social life meant that she couldn't really introduce Momoko to anybody.
But she knew someone with lots of free time and great social life, didn't she? Brightening, Sakura moved to her desk and wrote a note to visit Ino later.
Then she began to work in earnest, because free time meant thinking about Naruto and Ino and all her other friends. Their being in such a precarious situation was bad enough but not being there to help him was unbearable.
Sakura said a small prayer for his safety, though who she was praying to, she did not know.
When Sasuke woke up, he was in bed...or in a bed, anyway. He didn't think it was his, as the ceiling he was staring up at was covered in mold unlike his own pristine one.
Once he began to look around, he could tell the entire room was a mess. Paint crumbled off the walls, the scant furniture looked ready to collapse, and dusty possessions were scattered about the floor. Sasuke, raised to be obsessively clean, was revolted.
Beside the bed was one of those nearly-dead pieces of furniture, and on the chair was Kiba. He appeared to be dozing lightly, and looked older and more haggard than ever.
Sasuke knew he probably didn't look much better. He was embarrassed and very angry at himself at the way he'd been acting. He had been out of his mind, he knew, deeply sunk into a fugue state brought on by rage and confusion. Oh, the things he'd done—hitting Momoko, throwing himself in the lake, scaring that weapon's dealer.
And yet...There was something else in Sasuke's soul, a tiny shining spark of some emotion he was unfamiliar with. When he had been pulled out of that lake—out of his own darkness—by Kiba, he had felt...he didn't have words for what he'd felt. The pure joy of it, the overwhelming relief…The gratitude and sudden, all-consuming love of being alive that had washed over him were still there, shining in his soul like tiny beacons.
But those emotions were new to Sasuke, and he did not understand them fully. They felt good and proper and correct in a way that just living a life of duty somehow never had, but what was he to do with them? What could he do when his whole life was nothing but one disaster after the next—his marriage was unsalvageable, and perhaps his life as a ninja too. When rumors of his insanity got around, would anyone in Konoha want him around?
Sasuke's first impulse was to get out of bed and sneak out the door before Kiba could wake up. He had to think about these things, and did not want to face any awkward questions. Besides he and Kiba had never been bosom friends.
(Not that Sasuke had ever had any bosom friends, but even so.)
Yet he was alarmingly weak. Just sitting up made his head spin terribly, and putting his feet to the floor made pain blossom in the soles. Looking at them made Sasuke grimace; if he didn't know better he'd think he was looking at one big, infected blister.
"No worries," said Kiba, almost making Sasuke jump. Sasuke scowled, angry at how distracted he was. "There's a medic on the way, so we can clear up the infection and figure out what to feed you to give you your strength back."
Sasuke's usual response would have been to scowl at Kiba and say he did not need the help. But somehow he felt as though he could not be bothered to act so foolishly, and so he leaned back into the bed again and said, "Okay."
Then, after a moment of silence, he said, "Why did you do it?"
To Kiba's credit, he didn't make Sasuke be any more direct. "What, like I'd just let you drown? You're a dickhead, Uchiha, but I don't think even you'd let someone drown if you were walking right past them and could do something about it."
Sasuke was disappointed somehow; he'd wanted more then that. Studying Kiba's face, he saw the wrinkles, scars and cynicism that were signs of turning old at an early age and it struck Sasuke how much he and Kiba had in common. Fleetingly, he wondered why they'd never spoken before.
Because you never talk to anybody.
He realized that Kiba had spoken moments after it happened. "What?"
When you're out of the hospital, let's go get drunk," Kiba repeated.
Sasuke frowned slightly. "I've never been drunk."
Kiba grinned. "Perfect."
Naruto stood at the gates of Konoha and tried not to fidget.
He felt so small. The great, majestic wooden gates topped with Konoha's symbol loomed above him, and the wide dirt road leading into the distance seemed to stretch on forever.
To combat the feeling, Naruto tried to remember the first time he left these gates on his mission to Wave Country; he had been so excited he could barely keep from running full tilt down the road. He wanted to feel that excitement again. He knew he was still capable of it, that he wasn't totally lost to misery, for Uzumaki Naruto was not a man to give in to despair. But somehow, that light heartedness was beyond his grasp at the moment.
He wondered if the Tsuchikage felt the same way. The man first became visible as a speck on the distant road, slowly coming into focus as he walked at an almost leisurely pace towards the gate. His retainer could be seen several minutes later, as he was a normal sized man; the Tsuchikage was enormous.
Dark skinned and scarred, Ganseki Tsuyoshi carried himself with an air of poise and confidence that reminded Naruto of the Third Hokage, particularly since he was decked out in his full robes and ceremonial hat. Naruto had to fight himself to keep from immediately taking a liking to the other man.
Well, why shouldn't you? An inner voice that sounded oddly like his twelve year old self said. When have you been wrong when you decided to like someone?
He killed Ero-sennin and Baa-chan, Naruto thought stubbornly.
You don't know that!
His people did, he should have been able to control them!
You don't know what it's like for him over there, do you? You shouldn't judge so easily.
And while Naruto knew this was true, he couldn't stop a twisting in his heart of both pain and anger.
Ganseki Tsuyoshi was in front of him then, his retainer standing slightly behind him. The retainer was the oldest man Naruto had ever seen, hunched over with a katana strapped to his back. It was the only weapon either man had.
The retainer spoke first. "This is the Tsuchikage, Ganseki Tsuyoshi," he said.
"I can see that," said Naruto. The retainer looked slightly offended, and he realized how rude that might have sounded. "I mean...the hat gave him away," Naruto blurted.
Behind him, Ino bit her lip to keep from laughing. Naruto was so glad Sakura wasn't here right now.
"Um," said the retainer, looking confused. Then he turned to the Tsuchikage and spoke in a language that Naruto recognized as belonging to the Land of Earth. It seemed that the Tsuchikage didn't speak their language, and the old man was there to translate.
Ganseki Tsuyoshi said something while raising his gaze to the square on his head. The old man translated: "It does do that, doesn't it?"
The Tsuchikage's tone was gentle, as though he was reminded of earlier days when he used to be as awkward as Naruto. Naruto almost blushed—this guy was like six years younger then him and yet so much more experienced at all this.
To cover his confusion, Naruto said, "I currently lack the pointy hat, but I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Hokage of Konoha." It hurt to get those words out, but Naruto knew that not calling himself the Hokage could be dangerous. Konoha couldn't appear weak by being without a leader.
Ganseki Tsuyoshi nodded. "It's an honor to meet you. Of course, I have come here to discuss the recent tragedy that has befallen your village."
And there it was. Naruto could hear rustling and murmuring behind him, and knew it wasn't just his guards. How many other ninja were hidden inside the gates, listening? He hadn't even bothered trying to ban people from coming, but instead ordered that they keep their distance.
It seemed like a wise decision now. If the Hyuuga could find any evidence of backup, they would have informed him by now. It seemed Ganseki Tsuyoshi and his old man were really and truly the only visitors here. If all those ninja decided to be offended and attack, they'd be in real trouble.
Which, of course, flew in the face of everything that Baa-chan had taught Naruto about how diplomats worked. It couldn't be denied that no matter how powerful any given ninja was, it was unpardonably stupid to walk alone into enemy territory, especially when you were outnumbered (several hundred to two, in this case).
But maybe this is a man like you, who never followed the rules he was given, and never listened when he was told that something was too dangerous or impossible.
"I'm listening," he said.Ganseki Tsuyoshi nodded. "I do not know how much your own ninja have uncovered about those who committed such a terrible crime against your village. Please forgive me if I say anything you are already familiar with.
"There are, in my village, many small groups of rebels. One group is—was—larger then the rest.
"They called themselves defenders of traditional values, and their goal, like that of all rebels, was to unseat me so that they could take my village and make sure that their traditional values became everyone's values."
A bitter smile flashed across the Tsuchikage's face, but it was gone in an instant as his composure took over again. In a way, Naruto was reminded of Sasuke, cool and composed in the face of catastrophe.
Well, usually anyway
."And so I must confess my role in this tragedy. You see, I wanted to meet with your esteemed Hokage...for help." This admission seemed to cost Ganseki Tsuyoshi a great deal. Naruto understood; admitting weakness to one's enemies was both frightening and unwise. He had to have a hell of a reason to have done so.
"Tsunade-sama was an unusual woman. Such an elderly lady possessing such a...youthful...spirit is rare, and so she managed to bring both experience and new, fresh ideas to Konoha in a way that I've never seen another leader accomplish. If I could not think of a way to satisfy the conservatives in my village while implementing new policies, which was my greatest ambition, perhaps she could help me."
Konoha's military might probably didn't turn you off either, Naruto thought. He didn't say anything, though not because he was learning the restraint that Tsunade had always tried so hard to teach him. It was instead because he was beginning to feel badly for the man before him and didn't want to needle him further. Ganseki Tsuyoshi, despite his outward calm, was probably already humiliated at airing his dirty laundry the way he was.
Naruto was also wary of the way that the younger man kept referring to himself in the past tense.
"I meant to keep the meeting quiet. I was so obsessed with stealth that I wrote the letter with my own hands despite my lack of skill in your language and let only my brother see and deliver it.
"But it seems the rebels found out anyway, and you can imagine their reaction."
"I know what their reaction was," said Naruto quietly, unable to help himself this time.
Ganseki Tsuyoshi bowed slightly, to show that he knew his words had been insensitive. "Yes...yes...of course you do.
"And you know what happened next, of course. In my attempt to call the honorable Tsunade-sama to me, I lured her out into the open where she and her retinue could be killed, and there is no one to take responsibility for this but me."
"Oh?" asked Naruto. "What about the rebels? They're the ones who did it."
"There is some irony in that," said Ganseki Tsuyoshi, "For she and her companion—it was Jiraiya-sama, was it not?—killed them all. She proved far more capable then I, because in her death she accomplished what I had failed to do in ten years of work: wipe out my most powerful enemies.
"Two dozen powerful jounin and she and Jiraiya-sama took care of them all! I would hand over the survivors to you were there any, but your Hokage and Jiraiya-sama avenged themselves even as they left this world. I have rarely heard of—and never seen—such prodigious skill. I can only regret that an alliance was never possible, for there was much I could have learned from them both."
Ganseki Tsuyoshi turned to his translator then, and said something that the old man did not translate. Rather he fell silent, and his wrinkled face became so sad that Naruto felt a pang of sadness just looking at it.
But Ganseki Tsuyoshi seemed unmoved; he simply repeated the same words again in a firmer tone.
The old man nodded, and swung the katana off of his back. Every Konoha ninja present tensed and reached for their own weapons, but the old man made no attempt to unsheathe the sword. Rather, to general astonishment, he bowed and reached out to hand it to Naruto.
"And so that only leaves me," said Ganseki Tsuyoshi through the old man, "And reparation for my part in the deaths of your citizens."
Naruto stared at the katana—rather, he gaped at it, wondering if Ganseki Tsuyoshi was suggesting what he thought.
"I would not have war between our villages," said the Tsuchikage when Naruto did nothing. He was still as poised and clear eyed as ever, and Naruto was almost in awe. "But I cannot ask a village that has been so terribly violated not to ask for justice, and because the villains who were physically responsible for the tragedy are dead, the only one left to punish is the one whose mistakes and cowardice lead to the vulnerable position your citizens were in when they were attacked. That is, me.
"And so, I beg you to be satisfied with my life. There will be no revenge from my people, because I have ordered it so. Justice is yours, and peace can belong to the future of our people."
The old man was crying as he continued to offer Naruto the katana, tears running unstoppably down his face as though his heart was broken.
Naruto knew that the old man had been chosen to come because the Tsuchikage had no confidence that whoever accompanied him would live. This man's family had probably passed away, and all his affairs put in order.
But even so, it was no ordinary feeling of loyalty that made a man risk his life the way this one was doing for his Tsuchikage. That Ganseki Tsuyoshi inspired such loyalty spoke loudly for his character.
Still, Naruto was beginning to see just how things had gotten so bad in Iwagakure, because if all of Ganseki's plans had been as stupid as this one it was a wonder he'd lived this long.
If the Tsuchikage thought that there wouldn't be people who wanted revenge for his death he was delusional. There were people who hated him, but if this old man was any indication there were people who loved him as well, and they'd all be screaming for Konoha's blood. Besides, if Naruto killed Ganseki Tsuyoshi now he'd be leaving a leadership void in Iwagakure that could easily be taken advantage of should Konoha decide to raid and conquer the place. The Tsuchikage was counting on Naruto to act honorably, and that was never something you could rely on even your ally doing, let alone your enemy.
Naruto looked at the Tsuchikage and saw him as he was despite the calm facade he had learned to show the world: A boy in out of his depth, desperately trying to save his village with nothing but his extraordinary honor and courage. He was an exemplary man, but not a very smart one, and a terrible leader—so terrible that he really believed the only thing he could do for his country now was die for it.
Uzumaki Naruto did not kill little boys. Particularly not when he was having a flashback of a twelve year old taking the chuunin exam for the first time and announcing his refusal to give up on an impossible exam. Naruto realized with a cringe that he'd declared his challenge without sparing a thought for the way that decision could make his teammates suffer or how it could ruin his own life. It had been pure luck that he hadn't destroyed his future.
Ganseki Tsuyoshi was trusting to that same luck now. Naruto could no more bring himself to crush that spark of hope in the younger man then the adults training Naruto had been able to bring themselves to extinguish it in him. There was something rare and wonderful and even admirable about it, even if it didn't make a man right for the position of Kage.
And anyway, this guy was really no more responsible for Tsunade and Jiraiya's death then anyone else if he was telling the truth.
Naruto waved the sword away in an undignified gesture that would have had Tsunade fuming, and said, "I think we have a lot to talk about."
They did, too. For all his sympathy, the pain that hit Naruto's chest whenever he glanced at the Tsuchikage's face wasn't going away. Keeping Konohagakure and Iwagakure from wiping each other out was going to be difficult, and he didn't even want to think about what it would be like to create new relations.
But Naruto had had enough of that pain for now. He was really missing the days that he could haul off and punch Ganseki Tsuyoshi, relying on The Adults around him to pull him back and explain why that was immature.
But no, now I'm the adult. Damn.
The best he could do was say, "Listen, I'm sure you're exhausted after such a long journey. I'll...put you up at the Konoha Inn and we'll talk tomorrow."
Naruto heard a throat clear from behind him, and he turned to see Shikamaru making a formal bow.
"Hokage-sama, if I may suggest, perhaps he should stay at a nearby inn in the city. I'm not sure that your citizens will all be as, uh, forgiving as you, and Tsuchikage-sama will be an open target in the middle of Konoha."
Oh, right. Naruto could almost feel Sakura grabbing his ear and yelling, You moron!
"An, uh, excellent suggestion, Shikamaru," said Naruto, desperately trying to keep from blushing and forcing his hand not to go to the back of his head in his habitual embarrassed gesture. "I can send one of my men to show you some of the best options if you'd like."
He turned back to see the old man looking flabbergasted. Even the Tsuchikakge looked a little taken aback.
He really expected me to kill him.
But the Tsuchikakage rallied himself with admirable speed and made a reply. The old man was too busy gaping like he'd seen a flock of flamingoes go tap dancing by in top hats to translate, so the Tsuchikage elbowed him in the shoulder to bring him back to reality.
"Oh! Um, he says that would be fine and wonders what time you'd like to meet in the morning."
An hour later, Naruto was on the road to Konoha Hospital. Chouji and Ino had agreed to find Sasuke, while Hinata had ordered Neji to look for Kiba. However far Kiba had fallen, he was still her teammate, and she took responsibility for him in times like this.
"Usually he's just lying passed out in a gutter somewhere," Hinata sighed, "But you never know."
Naruto just wanted to sleep. He had to get up ridiculously early the next day to face Ganseki Tsuyoshi again, and he didn't have a clue of what he was going to say. At the very least he had to get a good long nights sleep or he wasn't going to make it, which was ridiculous because the only physical activity he'd done today was walking damn it!
Hmph.
But first he had to tell Sakura that there were no medical emergencies so she didn't worry. God knew he'd be bouncing off the walls if he'd been left behind to just think about all of his best friends in a potentially dangerous situation.
He followed the winding dirt road past shop stalls and apartment buildings, waving vague hellos at the many people who stuck their heads out of windows and doors to greet him.
Sakura was waiting for him at the hospital, of course. She'd been waiting for him for months. He smiled at her, and said, "Hi."
She smiled back, though she looked exhausted. "Hi yourself."
Naruto took her by the hand, and they headed for their apartment.
A/N
Next: Naruto and Sakura finally talk about all the problems Naruto's been having and Sasuke gets drunk…if I can fit all that into one chapter. At this point I'm not sure!
Again, the bit about language is totally my creation, since in canon it seems that the whole world speaks just one language.
A big thank you to my beta Ceras Gala, who always helps but really saved my bacon this chapter by pointing out a lot of awkward sentences.
Like it? Hate it? Review please!