A/N: I haven't been feeling well; for the past few days. But your support has given me the strength to write this chapter. Thank you for your support. I hope you guys like this chapter.
111segasonic: That's three reviews now. Thanks so much. Hmm well you are about to find out what Itachi thinks.
QrowOfFate: Sasuke and Fugaku are proud lions. Just because lions fight doesn't mean that they hate each other. As to whether they will make up…no spoilers.
Hades. : Lmao I will think about it.
Chapter 10
"Leaders must find a balance between speed and deliberation. One facet of making decisions involves knowing how to act when there's not much time to deliberate." – Rudolph W. Giuliani
Two months later
Sarutobi training ground
"No" said Sasuke "The answer is no. I refuse to follow this plan."
"Why not" asked Dante "The plan is genius"
"Your definition of genius must be the problem then" replied Sasuke "Not even the dobe will like this idea"
Dante smirked "Are you sure about that?"
Sasuke sweatdropped: Dante had a point. Naruto's sanity was almost as depraved as Dante's. Why couldn't he have normal friends? Sometimes he felt like one of his reincarnates had done something terrible to his friends. So Karma was unleashing the punishment on him for that sin. He could understand how Naruto lost his sanity: he grew up all alone, while under the hatred of the village. But Dante came from a good clan; why was he insane?
Dante chuckled when he saw the look on Sasuke's face. It had become his normal expression for a while. He laughed even more when he remembered what that face looked like on his birthday last month. You see, people like to create fond memories of their birthdays. Some travel to exotic places; others chose to simply just be with friends. Dante celebrated his birthday a little differently.
Flashback
"Dante-kun Sasuke and Naruto are here" shouted Mira "Hurry up and meet us outside with Konohamaru"
"Eh? Who is Konohamaru, Aunty Mira?" asked Naruto
"Oh that's Dante's little brother" said Mira "he's just a baby actually"
"You made more Dantes" groaned Sasuke "One is bad enough"
Mira laughed "Oh Sasuke, Konohamaru-chan is a good boy"
Well he was already showing signs of being like his older brother. But she wasn't going to tell Sasuke that. They arrived at the backyard where Mira introduced the boys to her husband. They already knew her father in-law so introductions were not necessary.
"Daisuke-kun these are Dante's friends. Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto and boys this is my husband"
Naruto and Sasuke were initially nervous about meeting Dante's dad. Dante rarely spoke about him so they didn't have a lot to go on. However, when in doubt you can always count on Naruto to break the ice.
"So you're Jerk's dad, nice to meet ya ttebayo"
Daisuke smiled "It is a pleasure to meet you too Naruto-kun. Thank you both for coming."
"Hehehe well we wouldn't miss the jerk's birthday y'know" said Naruto "He may be crazy but he's our friend"
Sasuke sighed "You are just as crazy as he is dobe"
Naruto twitched "What was that teme?"
The adults shared a laugh. The atmosphere became relaxed after that.
"It's nice to see you boys haven't changed" said Hiruzen "I must thank for being such good friends to Dante, despite his personality"
"No problem Jiji" said Naruto "I hope you are keeping that hat warm for me y'know"
"Like he would hand the hat to a shrimp" Sasuke sniped "Not even in your dreams dobe"
Naruto growled and grabbed Sasuke's shirt; sparks flew between their eyes
"You wanna say that again, go ahead I dare you Teme"
"Sheesh I keep telling you two: if you want to kiss, just do it"
Sasuke and Naruto turned to glare viciously at Dante for that comment
"Gah bah gah guuh"
The baby noises snapped them out of it. They finally took note of the little one in Dante's arms. Konohamaru looked a lot like his father: spiky brown hair with dark eyes. The brat looked so adorable gazing at his big brother.
"Guys this is my little brother" proudly said Dante
Sasuke saw an opportunity; he was not about to let it go.
"No shit genius" said Sasuke
Dante just smiled.
"Sasuke why don't you hold him for a minute?" asked Dante
Sasuke was happy he had gotten one up on his friend. He had no problem holding the baby. He was really adorable though. Thankfully, according to Mira-san he was nothing like his big brother.
Dante gently pushed Naruto aside and waited for the fireworks. You see, he had given Konohamaru over 5litres of water. He also punctured holes in the diaper; precisely at the point where the hose lay. So all Sasuke had to do was, shake Konohamaru a little and then…
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Sasuke
'Ah, music to my ears' Thought Dante
Everyone was too busy laughing to help Sasuke out. Sasuke of course could not drop the baby on the ground. It was a truly memorable moment.
Flashback end
Sasuke growled when he heard Dante laughing. He knew exactly what he was laughing about. That day was one of the most embarrassing days of his life. For weeks after it happened, his friends kept laughing when they remembered it. The worst part of that day was when he got home. Itachi was at home and the conversation he had with his brother almost made him wish he could control time. He would make sure that Dante was on the receiving end of that hose.
Flashback
Sasuke was wet in places he didn't even want to think about. Mira had given him some towels but the wet marks were still there. His last hope was that he could sneak into the house and take a shower. The last thing he needed was for his family to see him like this. But it seems fate was not on his side today.
"Why are you sneaking in, little brother?"
Sasuke groaned. Of all his family members, he was caught by Itachi. He loved his big brother but he was too sharp for his own good. There was no way he could lie to him: Itachi would see right through him. His only hope was that his brother would not get curious enough to ask. Oh who was kidding? This was his big brother; he had to come clean.
Itachi was amused. He knew that Dante was special; ever since he met him that day. He was the only one Itachi knew that really got Sasuke. When he came home and found out about the fight Sasuke had with his father: he felt so proud of his little brother. He knew first-hand how stubborn his father can be. At first, he feared that Sasuke would be crushed under the pressure. It was one of the reasons he pushed himself as much as he did. He hoped that his extra effort would shield Sasuke's: allowing him to grow into a normal boy.
'Shisui was right. I really should meet Dante myself. He seems to be at the centre of my little brother's life. And with the way things are developing in the clan, I need to make sure that Sasuke is going to be okay.'
"So that's what happened" said embarrassed Sasuke "Don't tell mom okay?"
Itachi smiled at the look in his little brother's eyes. Most people would never be friends with Dante ever again. Yet his brother still cared so dearly for his friend.
"You've really changed little brother" said Itachi
Sasuke would be lying if his brother's proud tone didn't make him happy. He had always looked up to Itachi. So to hear that his brother was proud of him: it almost made up for being peed on.
"Of course I won't be much of a big brother if I didn't tease you for this" smirked Itachi
Sasuke groaned "I'm going to take a shower"
"Don't stain any more clothes Sasuke-chan" said Itachi "Those kind of stains don't come off easy"
Flashback end
For the past month, Itachi had kept his word. Sasuke was starting to reach the end of his rope. Of course knowing Dante; that was part of the plan. He knew Dante enough to know that he derived pleasure in driving people crazy.
'Dear Karma, I don't know who I hurt in my past life. But please, can I have just one normal friend? I don't care who they are; so long as they are normal. I swear I will appreciate them far more than I did in my past life.'
"Hey Dante what happened to him?" asked Naruto
"I'm not sure" said Dante "I think I may have broken him"
Sasuke twitched "you wish"
Dante smirked "How did you know my wish?"
Naruto laughed "Yeah teme how did you know we want to see you break down?"
"Naruto have you heard your friend's new plan?" asked Sasuke "Dante here plans to get us all killed"
Dante adopted a betrayed look; which was clearly a fake
"Sasuke I am insulted that you would even think that"
Sasuke deadpanned "Let's review your plan: you want us to submerge ourselves…in…a…volcano" [1]
Naruto gaped "You want us to do what?!"
Dante had the decency to look abashed. The plan was a little outside the box. But the pay-off would be huge. Also he had complete faith that they could do it.
"It's a little more complicated than that"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow in shock. He couldn't believe Dante would try to rationalise suicide. A part of him didn't even want to know; but…
"Well in that case, please explain."
Dante coughed to clear his throat. He could admit that his plan was slightly crazy. But he had a lust inside of him. It was probably his Sparda gene: that gene that thrived in danger and craziness. However, he had done his homework on this plan. He just had to convince Naruto to join: once Naruto's on-board Sasuke would have no choice but to come with.
"So for the past two months, we've focused on mastering what we already know. We trained and studied until we could do everything on a terrible sick day. Thanks to that, we have added finesse to the skills we've acquired over the past few months. But our Steam Dragon has not improved even a little bit."
"What part of that requires suicide?" asked Naruto "There is no steam in a volcano; only hot, boiling lava."
"Would you let me finish?" asked Dante
"Let him finish Dobe I want to hear this explanation" said Sasuke
"Look each of our elements combined can repel the lava sea. Our problem with our Steam Dragon is getting the right mix of chakra. If we can survive a small volcano: we are able to dive deep into it without getting hurt. It will make learning the Steam Dragon a lot easier. There is also the added bonus of mastering our elements. Besides we live in a world where people can walk on water. That means that anything is possible here: we just have to believe in each other and ourselves. All we need to do is create a bubble of chakra that can withstand the lava bed; that's all."
Sasuke couldn't believe his ears. His best friend wanted them to dive into a lava bed: just to master a Jutsu. The scary part was Dante didn't even look remotely scared of his plan: the lunatic seemed excited. This was the point Sasuke knew that he had to have Dante's head examined. It was like he was addicted to dangerous and suicidal plans.
"Hmm okay then let's do it ttebayo"
Sasuke's head nearly snapped when he turned to glare at Naruto. The idiot was agreeing to Dante's suicide plan. He knew Naruto enough to know what his reason for this would be. However, just in case he was wrong he decided to ask.
"Why would want to do this?"
Naruto adopted his thinking pose: hands behind his head; eyes closed shut.
"Well in anything we do; we have to learn by doing and feeling. I'm not sure if this would work: but I'm not going to give up just because it seems impossible. If I did that: I wouldn't have achieved half of what I have. Besides we will have each other's backs, right? So I believe we can do it. I mean we can already walk on lava; how hard can this be?"
Dante smirked. When he turned to Sasuke though, he saw him walking away.
"Hey Sasuke: where are you going?"
"To write my last living will and testament" said Sasuke "Being your friend is going to get me killed for sure"
The dead tone he used only served to amuse his friends. At this point, Sasuke was dead sure of one thing. Somebody up there really hated him. He knew that if Dante's craziness and Naruto's stubbornness didn't get him killed. Then he would eventually develop his own brand of crazy. To be honest, he did not know which one was worse.
"Hey Sasuke can I get your archery set?" asked Naruto
"I will only leave things for sane people"
Dante and Naruto were barely able to hold their laughter.
"Are you saying that we are not sane people?" asked Dante
"I refuse to even dignify that with a response" said Sasuke
Dante couldn't help but burst into laughter; neither could Naruto. The inner truth though is that there was a pattern to Dante's madness. Given the strength of the enemies that Sasuke and Naruto were up against; they needed to be as prepared as possible. Dante's plan was to drill the basics of every discipline into his best friends. This way when they graduate and start taking on missions: they would excel without nearly dying. In cannon, Naruto nearly died so many times it was ridiculous. Well this wasn't cannon. This timeline was different because of him and he will be damned if he left their survival up to chance and the Kyuubi.
'Although I guess I really did lose my sanity in the womb. So I suppose it is safe to assume that I was born crazy. Hmm interesting'
"So we'll be using the volcano bed underground this compound right?" asked Naruto
"Oh yeah" said Dante "it's small and deep enough for what I have in mind"
Naruto smirked "Youdo know that you're insane right?"
"You have to ask?" replied Dante
Naruto laughed "True. I'm going to check on Teme be right back"
Dante nodded. Once Naruto took off though, he felt something ambling around him. It wasn't like he could sense anything. Honestly, he just had a hunch. Something in his environment has changed.
"It appears you have good senses Dante-san"
'Wait a minute I know that voice' thought Dante
True enough when he turned he saw Itachi standing behind him.
"Oh hey Itachi what's up?"
"I hear that you are the cause of my brother's new behaviour" said Itachi "So I felt I should come have a word with you"
"O kay"
Dante was suspicious. Itachi was a lot of things: plain wasn't one of them. This visit had a grand reason behind it. The question is: why would Itachi come see him privately? As far as Dante knew the massacre shouldn't happen until Itachi entered ANBU. Was this another ripple effect from him being here?
Itachi smirked "I just want to meet my brother's friend. I can assure you; my visit has no ulterior motive."
"If you are as smart as I know you to be; there is no way that that is true. You don't have to tell me the real reason, but let's not pretend that there isn't one"
Itachi was surprised. He didn't peg Dante as the intuitive type: way too many screws loose. It seems that Sasuke's friend was more than he seems. The only reason he could think of to justify the look Dante was giving him: he knew something. Itachi suspects Dante didn't become Sasuke's friend by mere chance. No there was a plan involved: a plan that also involved his clan.
"It appears that I underestimated you Dante-san. Tell me, why did you choose to have Sasuke as a friend?"
When Itachi saw Dante stiffen he knew he had stumbled onto the right path. Dante had a plan for his clan: Sasuke was at the core of that plan. The first question is: how did a child know so much about the affairs of another clan? He knew that the Sandaime would not share that kind of sensitive information with his grandson. So that means that Dante figured it out himself and he was taking contingencies. But that level of thought in a five year old was unheard of: unless Dante wasn't five. [2]
"I chose Sasuke as a friend because I wanted to meet the Uchiha clan heir. I wanted to have friends with potential."
At this point, Dante was feeling anxious. Itachi was too damn smart. So far no one had figured out his secret. However, he had seriously underestimated Itachi's intelligence. His only hope would be to redirect his train of thought. Hopefully his true identity would be too abstract an idea for Itachi to believe possible. Even as crazy as he is, he was not crazy enough to tempt fate. If anyone found out his secret, who knows what would happen.
"Very well then" said Itachi "I can tell this is a sensitive matter. So I will take your answer as it is and not dig any deeper."
Dante thanked his lucky stars when he heard that. It seems he could always count on Itachi's sense of honour.
"However, I want you to tell me your real intentions for my little brother" said Itachi "Please be honest with me"
Dante took a deep breath. He realized that Itachi needed to know this. So he had to be honest with him.
"I want Sasuke to: grow to reach his maximum potential among people who love him, for him."
Itachi couldn't sense any deceit in Dante's eyes. He seems that Dante really loved his brother. That was all the information he needed to know. As for whom Sarutobi Dante is: he was Sasuke's best friend.
"Thank you for looking out for my brother" said Itachi "I must be leaving now. I have a mission to get to."
"I understand"
When he left Dante dropped to the ground in exhaustion. Cannon did not get the full extent of Itachi's intelligence. If it wasn't for his honour, Dante knew that it would only be a matter of time before Itachi figured out his secret. Damn just damn. He really dodged a big time bullet on that one.
"Hey Dante we're back ttebayo"
"Oh hey guys"
"You good?" asked Sasuke "You look like you just saw a ghost or something"
"Eh? Please tell me there aren't any ghosts here" said a scared Naruto
"You love blowing things up and yet you're scared of ghosts?" asked Sasuke
"Of course I am dattebayo" said Naruto "You can't fight ghosts but they can hurt you."
Dante was grateful for their bickering. It gave him time to catch his breath. Once that was done it was time to get back to work. Nothing cleared the mind faster than a death-defying exercise. Said exercise took them two and a half months of constant training to master. The cold weather was probably the only reason he and Sasuke didn't get a tan. Even Dante had to admit: volcano diving was hard. They spent every second in the underground volcano: they had to do the exercise in their underwear. The risk of melting in a lava bed however had an unexpected benefit. They now knew how to use the Shushin within the blink of an eye. They had learnt the Jutsu from his mom. Now it was time for the moment of truth.
"Fire Style:"
"Wind Style:"
"Water Style:"
"Combination Jutsu: Great Steam Dragon"
A great steam dragon roared loud and proud above them. The Jutsu was a success. However since they had summoned the dragon; they couldn't just let it go to waste. When they launched the dragon at the forest it completely annihilated over a dozen trees. It left them feeling exhausted but it was worth it. Once they increased their chakra capacity, they will be able to use the Jutsu without worry.
"I hate you both so much" said Sasuke
Dante laughed "We did it so I don't know what you're so upset about"
Sasuke gave his best friend an icy glare
"That is why I hate you so much"
"I don't get it" said Naruto
Sasuke took a deep breath. He was upset for one reason only. Dante's craziness and Naruto stubbornness got results. It was almost like fate loved their plans. So he didn't have a leg to stand on; when it comes to wishing for a normal friend. After this month passes he will be stuck on the road with these two, for two years. He didn't know what his limit was: but after nearly a year with his friends he wasn't sure his sanity would last two years.
"Sasuke is just jealous of my genius plans Naruto"
"Okay even I know that that isn't it Jerk" said Naruto
"And how do you know that?"
"Because your plans are retarded not genius"
When Naruto said that, Dante and Sasuke's jaws dropped. The blonde was confused as to why. That is until they started crying anime tears at how their little Dobe was using big words now. Naruto could feel his temper rising; sometimes his friends could be such assholes. However before he throttled them he remembered something.
"Hey Dante we are still set for our road trip in two weeks right?"
"Oh yeah definitely, Sasuke have you told your mom about it?" asked Dante
"Yeah she said it's cool so long as we pick a good adult to go with us"
"So have you found one yet?" asked Naruto "The trip is in two weeks after all"
"Yeah, yeah I'm working on it" said Dante
Sasuke sweatdropped "You got nothing do you?"
Dante blushed "Well it is not like I have access to all our Shinobi at my disposal. Not to mention two years is a long time to take a shinobi from their home."
"And you're just telling us this now?" gritted Sasuke
"Sheesh calm down will you? It's not like I don't have a list of people. The problem is finding someone that the village won't miss for two years."
"Dante how long is that list?" asked Naruto
"I have five names" Dante stated proudly
Sasuke and Naruto face-planted: a whole year and he could only get five names. What the hell was he doing with his time?
"And have you tried asking these people if they will like to come with us?" asked Sasuke
"Nope, should I have?"
"YOUR LIST MEANS JACK IF THEY DON'T WANT TO COME YOU IDIOT!" screamed Naruto
Dante just adopted the 'I got it' pose.
"Yosh so how do we ask them?"
Sasuke could feel his hands itching to wrap themselves around Dante's neck. But he managed to restrain himself. At least now they knew so they can start making plans. The first thing to do would be to know the people Dante had highlighted. For all his faults, Dante had good instincts about people. So if he picked five then he had done his homework on them.
"So who are these five people?"
"I am glad you asked" said Dante "They are Mitirashi Anko, Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Shisui, Yuhi Kurenai, and Uzuki Yugao"
"I've never heard of them before" said Naruto
"Uchiha Shisui is a friend of my brother's and he's a Jounin. I know from my father that Kakashi and Yugao are in ANBU. He told me their names during one of his lectures on diligence. I don't know who Anko and Kurenai are though. But taking an ANBU member out of the village for two years would be impossible."
"So that leaves us with Mitirashi Anko and Yuhi Kurenai" said Naruto "Who are they?"
"Well they are both Chunin. Anko works in the Interrogation & Torture department while Kurenai is a budding Genjutsu mistress."
"In that case, we should go with Kurenai then" said Sasuke "If Anko works for that department then she probably has a few screws loose. You two are bad enough I don't need another one."
"Well there is a problem with that. Kurenai is the caretaker for the Hyuuga clan heiress." Said Dante
"Wait if she already has a job why is she even on the list?" asked Sasuke
"How should I know?" asked Dante
Naruto had to physically restrain Sasuke from attacking their friend. They had other problems to worry about. Just then Naruto had an idea;
"What about us bringing a Genin with us?"
Sasuke and Dante stared at him like he had grown a second head.
"What are talking about Dobe?" asked Sasuke
"Genin aren't that important to the village right? So I'm sure we can find one that will come with us for two years. Also according to law, a genin is an adult."
"Try explaining that to two mothers" said Dante "You'd have a better chance getting the ANBU"
Naruto pouted "Well it's not like you came up with something better"
"I'm pretty sure I can convince the Hokage to give us one of the people on the list. Uzuki Yugao is still a rookie ANBU member so we can probably swing her case by the Hokage."
"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go see Jiji"
Hokage's Office
"Just so I understand this correctly: you want to go on a two year road trip and you want one of my ANBU agents. You do realize that that isn't part of their job description, correct?"
"Of course we know that but we still need an escort" said Dante "Having an ANBU member with us will help ease a lot of minds"
Hiruzen sighed "You're right about that. I will agree to this on one condition: You will follow the ANBU's leading to the letter. Having a guard is meaningless if you constantly ignore their warnings."
"You got it" said Dante
"Sasuke-kun I trust you will keep your friends in line"
"I will try my best"
"Hey Jiji what is that supposed to mean?" asked Naruto
Hiruzen sweatdropped "I'm not going to answer that. I will inform Yugao to meet you at the gates when you're leaving"
"Thanks gramps"
One week later
You remember the first scene in Naruto The Last movie. That scene was happening right now in front of my eyes. Sasuke was at home getting ready for our trip. My mom had taken it upon herself to get Naruto and me ready for ours. So Naruto and I spent most of our time lazing around the village. Naruto was sitting on a swing while I was up in the tree when it happened.
"If you are a Hyuuga then show us the Byakugan"
"Yeah but if you won't; don't look at us"
"I bet you're actually a monster aren't you?"
I didn't connect the dots at first. However, when I saw who was being bullied I was shocked. Naruto of course couldn't seat back and let a young damsel be bullied.
"Hey leave her alone"
'Oh this is going to be good' thought Dante
"Who are you?"
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm the future Hokage"
The boys laughed when they heard that.
"Yeah right"
Naruto of course wasn't going to take their mockery lying down. In seconds all three boys were out cold with bloody noses. I swear it was so funny to watch. The only catch was that Naruto's red scarf didn't get ruined: or did it…sending a pulse of Water chakra to rent the scarf was child's play for me. Of course I had to time it perfectly so that Naruto didn't suspect I did it.
"Hey that was my favourite scarf" said Naruto "Stupid bullies"
"Um"
Naruto turned to face the girl; she looked really shy.
"I'm sorry about your scarf"
"Ah don't worry about it. I gotta go." Said Naruto leaving the scarf in Hinata's hands
"Ano I just wanted to say thank you very much"
Naruto smirked "Later"
'Ah young love' thought Dante 'I can't wait for Naruto to grow old enough for me to tease him about this. Kukukukuku'
A/N: That's a wrap people. Hope you guys liked the chapter.
1: I really want to know what went through your mind when you read this.
2: Kukukukuku did I raise your blood pressure?
See you all next chapter.