Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Slight AU warning.
Don't forget to review when you're finished reading!
Summary: What if Konoha was a destitute, paltry city that bred nothing of worth within its walls? The people of this miserable community barely keep going every day. The shinobi are no different. However, the dreams of two ninja trigger a feeling of rebirth within their hearts and now they strive to reach their own dreams. Will they find themselves on the right road...or lost forever?
Note: Italicized lines often mean thoughts of a character or in some cases dreams. Bolded lines often mean Inner Sakura's dialogue. Bolded italicized linesoften mean flashbacks.
The Author Speaks: There will be multiple couplings, but romance is not what is this fic is completely centered around. Despite this, you won't be disappointed come romance time. Look for the teenage ninja angst however! I will warn you, there will be heavy amounts of violence, swearing, blood, substance abuse, molestation, you name it! I don't like flames, but I do like constructive criticism. Also note; money! I have no idea what the equivalent to a dollar is when it comes to ryo, so I'm just doing it simple. 100 ryo equals 1 dollar. I'll trust you're intelligent enough to be able to perform equivalents with that piece of information given.There will be limes/possible lemons in this fic, mentioned rape and explicit scenes.
Timeline: Being as how it's slightly AU, the time period is the same except all the characters are two years older than before the time-skip in the series (13 is 15, 26 is 28, etc). Also, Otogakure is the main village of the Land of Fire, the biggest city with the most powerful army. It's located where it is in the series, except the Land of Rice Fields is no more; it's part of the Land of Fire.
Definitions:
None
Songs:
"The Back of Your Mouth" by The Used
"Yesterday" by The Beatles
"Bonecrusher" by Senses Fail
"Wasted" by Carrie Underwood
Show Me a Hero
Chapter 13 – Moving Forward
It was approximately three when the telephone rang at the Yamanaka shop, and it was an event indeed. For starters, to have a telephone was a luxury that many couldn't afford, or find for that matter. To have someone call that telephone was even rarer. So when it did indeed ring, Ino didn't know how to respond. She looked up from the counter, confused, and eyed her father. He dropped the pea plant he was preparing to shell and walked over to the phone. The thing sat there, ringing dully, the cord tucked behind the counter. It was so easy to trip over.
Inoichi wrapped his fingers around it and lifted the phone to his face. He held it carefully. The atmosphere in the shop would have made people think there was a poisonous snake loose. Inoichi kept calm as he opened his lips and spoke into the alien console.
"Hello, Yamanaka flower shop."
Ino heard the buzzing of someone talking on the other end. Fascinating, the way the machine distorted the sounds of a conversation and made it so private. It was a sanctuary in a tube, that phone. Once, Ino had played around with the dial trying to call a number. She had been in quite a bind when she found herself on a Kumo service line. She had dialed numbers repeatedly until she realized the only way to hang up was to place the phone back onto the pedestal.
Ice blue eyes grew wide in front of her. She put away her glam magazine and watched, interested. The sight of someone speaking on the phone was alluring. It was wrong to be suspicious, but plausible. With a letter it was so easy to retrieve, but a phone conversation, that was gone forever once it ended. It was like sentences walking to extinction.
Inoichi nearly dropped the phone in his craze. His voice became louder. "W-What? Slow down, damnit! Shikaku!"
This piqued her interest. Shikaku had access to a phone?
"What the—pay your bail?! Why are you in jail to begin with?! ...Slow down...shut up! Slow down I said!"
Ino frowned. Shikaku was in jail? He had gone to jail before, no doubt, but why would he need bail? He was usually released the next day.
"..." There it went. The phone fell from her father's coarse hands. It clanged against the counter, the cord sizzling. Ino jumped away from the electricity, remembering her hand. He snatched it up again, breathing staggered. "Yoshino...is what? You're...not kidding...you did...a TV?"
The suspense was absolute torture. No one read their letters out loud. The most a spectator could pick up was the facial expressions of the reader. A phone conversation meant fragmented, unimportant sentences that crowded around the big picture and kept it hidden.
"She's in the hospital? Good, good...s-st...stop crying, I can't understand you...a concussion? Damnit...what?! Shikamaru's missing?"
That's all Ino needed to hear. She ran out of the shop, leaving her father to take care of all of the adult stuff. What had happened at the Nara household yesterday?
She walked to Chouji's, keeping her gaze away from onlookers. She didn't want customers. The wind blew up her skirt; she didn't bother keeping it down.
Spring was in Konoha. The leaves had all blown across the streets as green sprouted from the places where it was able to grow. The flowers in her garden were juicy and bright. Yet the weather didn't seem to affect anyone anymore. The little schoolchildren loved playing in the warmth of the sun. Yet the teenagers complain, complain, and complain. And now the 'epitome' of a teenager was missing.
Chouji answered his door. The television was blasting some commercial on cat food. Chouza was giggling madly as he spooned through an entire box of cereal. He smiled goofily. Ino cast her eyes down at the floor, her heart fluttering with anxiety. "Something's happened at the Naras."
Chouji frowned and turned for a second. "Dad, I'm going out with Ino. If you get hungry, don't touch the oven!"
Chouza's googly eyes looked at his son. "Yeah! Shut up, I'm watching TV!"
Chouji closed the door. "What's up at the ranch?"
Ino was relieved. A wild nightmare had risen inside her that Chouji wouldn't give two cents about Shikamaru's condition. Terrible as he might be, there was that feeling. Like when an ex-wife dies, it's a state of confusion. Wondering how things may have turned out, hoping for the best, even if the circumstances are icy.
"Yoshino's got a concussion. I think Shikaku gave it to her, cuz he's in jail. And Shikamaru's missing."
He frowned, disturbed. "How did you find this out?"
"Dad was talking to Shikaku on the phone." She had never used that sentence structure before in her life.
Chouji sat down, trying to bring up thoughts about his old friend. "Amaguriama," he said. "He likes...liked that place."
"Sure," Ino said, unable to cast off her veil of worry. They walked to the sweet shop, but only found the usual amount of customers, and Sakura's pink hair. Dark imprints underneath her eyes, she looked at them for a moment before smiling.
"Hey guys! You want something?" she asked, leaning against the cookie rack and nearly breaking it. She stood up, and sighed, before composing herself.
"What happened to you? Getting no sleep?" Ino asked.
"Not a wink. I'm trying to do well in Tsunade's class...it's getting tough."
Always was Sakura the hard worker. "Have you seen Shikamaru?"
Sakura shook her head. "He hasn't been around...why; did he actually leave his house?"
They quickly said goodbye to her. They didn't have time to sit around, though Ino was hurt that she couldn't spend some time with her friend. Instead, she was walking with Chouji around town, looking for anyplace that Shikamaru might go to. They checked about five bars before they hit one that had actually seen the boy.
"He broke my fucking beer keg!" the guy mused. "I would have made him pay for it if he hadn't been underage. He's psycho. He gave me thirty ryo just so he could watch the TV. Of all places, he goes here?"
Ino stepped away from the counter. "He's looking for television..." the statement left a pit in her stomach. Why else did she have scars on her hand?
"What's a place that doesn't close and would offer a place to sleep?" Chouji asked.
"...Inns." Ino turned out of the bar and stormed down the street to the nearest hotel. Chouji followed, waddling along far behind. He was panting, and she stopped. "I'm sorry...it...I just can't believe...why would he want television? I thought he...he ran from his dad..."
The boy shrugged. "We won't know until we find him."
Ino walked into the hotel, looking around the lobby. She saw the three foreign ninja, and turned to the receptionist, leaning forward when she noticed it was a man. Turning on her charm, she eyed the area around him. "Excuse me sir," she said in a seductive voice. "I was wondering if you have anyone named Shikamaru Nara booked here today."
The man's eyes wandered, and Chouji scooted closer to her defensively. He flipped open his book, giving the heavier boy a condescending glare as he looked. "No, we have no Nara here. If you're looking for someone, try the guy at the lounge. He slept there."
The three foreign ninja remained in the lobby; the two older ones seemed to be arguing. Ino went into the lounge, noting the crackling fire and the television tuned in on an action channel. There he was, sitting in a daze, fixated to the screen. Sixteen years of potential and five years of hell all mixed together to produce the thing that sat numbly on the couch.
"Shikamaru?" the prostitute asked gently. She wasn't going to provoke him. Perhaps the shock of seeing his mother hurt put him off-kilter.
He didn't reply, only continued watching the high-tech fight scene playing out before him. Chouji moved in front of the screen, walking over to him. "Hey, we heard about your mom, dude..."
Shikamaru's eyes broke from the television. He looked up at his former best friend with a glazed stare. "...what?"
"Shikamaru, this may be hard to tell you, and I'm sorry we two despicable people have to be the ones to tell you, but your mother has a major concussion. Your father is in prison for attacking her. The Jounin are looking for you." Ino touched his arm in an act of comfort.
He slapped it away. "...Well, they can find me here. I'm not done with the movie."
His words rotated around Ino's heart, constricting her emotions. That wasn't the reaction she was expecting. Chouji grabbed him and pushed him back into the couch.
"You son of a fucking bitch!" he hissed, tears springing to his face. "I don't fucking believe you! You...you FUCKER!" He had been worried about this. There was something inside him that prevented him from having any faith in Shikamaru. After witnessing these past few months of a human being degenerating into an unfeeling monster, he had become cold to change.
For once, Shikamaru didn't fight back. "...mom and dad were fighting. I saw him hit her with my TV. I was going to miss the big fight. I can tell when they're gonna happen. I didn't want to miss it. Mom had shut up, yeah, but dad was blubbering..."
Chouji punched him, starting to cry. "Shikamaru...Shikamaru..." he slipped down to his knees, crying into the cushion between his friend's legs. It completely torn him apart. Where was Shikamaru? He wanted the good one back, not this bastard. Not this...thing.
Ino pulled him away, trying to keep Chouji from jumping on the taller boy. "Please, it's not worth it, it's not worth the scars to try and get him to listen, please..." she held him when he flipped over and started crying into her. "Please...we'll go...forget this...let's just forget about him...forever..."
Temari watched them, very interested. There had been some exchange of emotions that was unprecedented; why else would the fat one punch the twig? The prostitute was being the mediator, keeping the fat boy close as they walked out.
Kankuro was waiting for her. Gaara was getting hungry, but she wanted to speak to the twig. She had been very interested in him when she saw him. He held an air of complete nothingness. He was from another dimension, not existing on this plane and refusing to come to exist. Sunagakure often had soldiers like this, but she wouldn't have expected one in Konoha.
She approached him, and noticed his love for cliché action movies might be also false. It was a distraction, the closed door of his self from everyone else.
Temari, you need to stop stealing the psychology books...she thought as she watched him. There had to be a way to send him a signal. Something to get him to respond to her. Merely staring at him didn't phase his barrier. Think about the mission...but she was too excited by this boy.
"Hey, you," she said in her rudest voice as possible. "Turn around." If she was rude, perhaps she'd get a rise. It didn't work. "Excuse me?" Nothing. Perhaps she needed a different way to communicate with him. If he watched the movie to close his door, would she be able to watch his movie to open it? She sat down next to him, her desert garment falling to her knees.
She had seen this one hundreds of times. It was actually based off a training video made in Suna by the Kazekage. Of course, the movie was supposed to be a spoof of Suna until the Kazekage got his hands on the producers and forced them to think otherwise.
Suddenly she felt the door open. The twig peered out, annoyed and confused. He looked at her. "...what do you want?"
She had merely come a-knocking, maybe just to say hi to the scary twig. She smiled. "Hello. Your name is Shikamaru? That means deer boy."
"...what of it?" He was suspicious, she could tell. Like the old man wondering why little kids would knock upon his door, he didn't know what she wanted. And to be truthful, neither did she.
"I'm Temari, from Sunagakure. Would you like to direct me around town? It's quite confusing, despite being so small." A friendly air usually won an old man over. Unless...
"I'm busy."
Yup, he was the cranky recluse. At the end of the novel, however, they always came out of their shell, if not for a moment. She decided the best way to keep him outside was to connect him with something. "Were those your friends? They didn't seem happy."
Wrong move. He glared at her, turning so harshly he could have slapped her. "Who the fuck do you think you are, bothering me? Of course they weren't fucking happy. I could give a fuck about Chouji and Ino. Fuck off."
The door hadn't shut, but he had gotten out a shovel to frighten her. She was taken aback, and the door suddenly slammed. He had gone back to his television. She stood up and left, feeling strangely dissatisfied with his reaction.
Kankuro was waiting with a drooling Gaara. "Why the hell are you talking to him?"
Temari shrugged. "You know what...honestly, there's something about him. I think I want to know more about him."
"We don't need sympathetic shit right now. Gaara is this close to attacking the next person who walks by. Can we go to the jerky cart before he freaks out?"
"You didn't need to wait for me," she spoke, sticking her hands in her pockets and walking with them.
XxXxXx
Sunny skies, windy days. Sasuke's hair whipped in front of his face as he tried cleaning the newspapers from the front of the store. Something yellow and sticky had been spilled all over the news. He could barely make out the headline. What was in the news, anyway? Little to care about, because it was never knew. A shooting, a robbery, a rape, whatever Konoha was in the mood for.
He set the broom against the counter and bade goodbye to the owner, checking out. Kakashi was waiting for him at the training grounds. He took off his work boots. His sandals shuffled against the street's uneven texture as he walked. It was a late evening, the sun was milky-white. He thought of Naruto, pouring cartons of milk down his throat almost as much as he slurped ramen.
Sasuke walked to the training grounds, hands in his pockets. Was summer really that far off? The months were flying by. Inside, his chakra boiled. There was some sort of feeling trying to escape him. Nervousness? Anticipation? He couldn't figure it out, but he had no time as Kakashi was visible in the distance.
Sasuke smiled softly when he reached Kakashi. The teacher was sitting on a log, reading a new volume of Icha Icha Paradise. Somehow, the eroticism was so popular the series spanned over thirty volumes. Of what, Sasuke never knew. That kind of reading had been banned from the household.
Kakashi pocketed the book. The sun was awfully bright, so that it had turned white. Some would say the moon was out early, but the rays remained the distorted yellow they always were.
"Please," he said, in a gesture to the surroundings. "After all, I have a meeting to attend in an hour."
"An hour?" Sasuke asked incredulously. "That's all I have? I'll keep you entertained."
He stepped away from the log. The air was heavy against him. The molten chakra flowed through his body, tinting his skin red as he concentrated the energy into his fingertips. His mind reeled. It was so difficult to think, so hard to keep his posture. The wind turned into a cyclone around him, it seemed, and he fell over, fingers burning. Sparks that emitted a chirping sound sizzled around his knuckles. The air was cool again, gently whipping his face with refreshment.
Sasuke loathed the look of disinterest in his teacher's face. He stood up again, sweating, clearing his throat. Yet another time to try to move through the volcano without sinking. Again, his fingertips felt like he had inserted them into a toaster. All went into darkness. There was no way to probe the amount of energy he needed, with this blind disadvantage. An explosion rattled his flesh, and he yowled. The world was vibrant again; trees shook their branches at him in disappointment. Burns outlined his knuckles. A small hole was fresh in a tree. The cracks in the bark spread all across the tree, strangling it in a piercing grip. There went the tree, broken into pieces. An antagonized bird flew away, disgruntled.
Kakashi shrugged. "Can you afford a shriveled hand?"
There was no reason to argue with him. Sasuke didn't argue. He just kept on going, his fingers receiving the same punishment, the pain doubling and striking him blind or death, his chakra turning on him and choking him, threatening to close him to breath, as he felt his insides heat up. It was not until the hour was nearly up was the chakra able to crawl up his arm harmlessly, turning his flesh into a weapon.
Still, he could not control it. The arm wouldn't move until most of the chakra died out. The sound of one-thousand chirping birds rang in Sasuke's ear as he tried desperately to move his arm like it hadn't been bolted down with a weight.
He was tired and sweating against a tree. His throat sucked of all water. His mind, unable to make anything out clearly. The rest of the day needed to be for relaxation only.
Kakashi stood over him. "That's enough for today. At least you can harness Chidori, but can you use it? From the look of things, I wouldn't go trying it out next mission."
Sasuke remained on the ground. It really was tiring, that Chidori. "What do you take me for? There's no reason to burn my fingers off trying it." His chest heaved.
"Let's work on this again in four days. Give your chakra some time to regenerate—and your skin, for that matter." There was a disapproving look on his student's face. "What, it doesn't work for you?"
"I'm going to the Land of Water in two days. I'm not going to be able to make it."
He could afford that sort of trip? Of course, somehow his student was richer than him. "The Land of Water, huh...what's the occasion?"
"I'm going to the Kiri Library of Shinobi Records. I might be able to find something on the Sharingan." Sasuke started wrapping gauze around his burned arm. "I've been sitting around doing nothing about it for sixteen years. I figure I'm old enough to start looking for clues on how to unlock it." He spat a piece of unneeded gauze on the grass. The wind picked it up and sent it to the river. "I looked at my savings yesterday. It's tight, but I've got enough to scrape by with a two-way trip."
"So you're going in two days. Something about that day seems different. Oh yes, that's the same boat Team 8 is taking for their newest mission." Kakashi chuckled. "I'd like to see how that turns out."
News seemed to bring the most surprising revelations. Sasuke had almost forgotten Shino, Kiba, and Hinata were even ninjas. "What's their mission?"
"It's C-class, but only because it involves long-distance travel. They've gotta protect this Water lord from Hepotomo assassins. Hepotomo is getting a huge budget cut because the lord wants to install a new military fort—and let's just say, they aren't happy customers."
"What's a Water lord doing in Fire country?"
"He was talking to a lord here about proper trace credentials to the new fort. Looks like Orochimaru was able to pull some strings and get the mission redirected to us."
Team 8 was supposed to be based on stealth and cooperation: if by that, they meant Hinata and Kiba fucking together while Shino snuck behind an alley to get high. Shit, he almost forgot about that. He'd have to talk to Kurenai about it later. "Hepotomo assassins...why's it only C?"
"All of the assassins are jailed in Wave. It's just a precaution."
Sasuke nodded, hands going into his pockets. "Alright, then." It should be smooth sailing from here, he thought.
XxXxXx
Umbrellas dotted the outdoor café, as the sun was particularly luminous that day. Seagulls flew above the roofs and dipped gracefully under train paths, curving around skyscrapers out into the endless sea beyond the technology. The streets were painted in bright pastel colors from flower displays and ice cream carts celebrating the emergence of spring.
Spectators at the café sipped their sparkling juice as they looked over at a table situated near the gates separating the street from its boundaries. A silver fork was cutting into a piece of flourless chocolate cake. The equal, brown squares sizzled under the sun, becoming gooey. In went the fork, plunging through the confection with a flash of silver. A pair of pale lips enclosed around it, and the mouth began to chew.
Girls giggled, watching this scenario. It was quite possibly the most fulfilling thing on the planet; watching the Otokage eat.
Orochimaru dabbed his mouth with a napkin, folding it over to expose a clean part of the paper. He put down his fork and sipped his iced tea. Across from him, Kabuto was devouring strawberry pie lathered in whipped cream.
"I do say Kabuto, we will lose all our teeth by the end of the year," he declared, laughing and taking precaution not to prop his shoulders on the table.
The younger man pushed up his glasses, looking at the Otokage. "I'm fairly certain I can prevent that. A few injections might be necessary, but I'll give you special free treatment."
"There's no need to treat me like the most important man in Oto—oh wait, I am." He smiled and ate another piece of cake.
Kabuto couldn't help but notice that one of Orochimaru's controversial qualities was his humorous egotism. He knew when to be humble, but he made it known that he wasn't delicate with his position in the political system. A leader who wasn't afraid of being a leader. Sometimes it embarrassed the young doctor.
Orochimaru smirked at him. "You're blushing. Do I embarrass you that easily? It hurts inside, that you don't like my company."
Kabuto's eyebrow rose. "I've known you for how many years now, and I've always blushed whenever you make comments like that. I know you're quite—overt—but you could at least bite your tongue."
Orochimaru chuckled. "I wouldn't do it. I prefer speaking over pain, thank you. Plus, my cake would get bloody. Don't you think that's a little, for lack of a better word, gross?" He wrinkled his nose thinking about it and picked up another piece of cake. "My lord, this is absolutely delicious. I will be sure to tip everyone graciously, though I can tell they get wonderful business without my help."
He pointed out to the street. "Do you see that? People are walking everywhere. Look at the thirsty parents and the doting mothers, the teenagers...they all will see this beautiful establishment with its marble sign and revolving doors and they will come in. That is good business. Presenting an outdoor display of their food to entice all who are innocently passing by—excellent! Look, did you see that man notice my cake? Well, he probably was busy ogling me, but I'm sure he'd like the cake too. The point is, Kabuto, if you're in a heavily-trafficked area then you will get good business if you're presentable."
"Why are you giving me business advice?" Kabuto questioned, though he hung onto the older man's every word.
"Because you learn to learn, not necessarily to apply. Another thing you should remember. Knowledge is for everyone. It may not be used, but it is still there."
The doctor smiled and took a forkful of pie. "No wonder Tsunade is so infatuated with you. You're a regular charm."
Orochimaru's serpentine eyes scanned Kabuto's pale face. An amused smile crossed his face. Kabuto frowned. "What?"
"You have something on your cheek," Orochimaru noted. Before Kabuto could take his napkin, the back of his neck had been captured by his boss's hand. Orochimaru pulled him forward and licked off whipped cream from his face, his long tongue dancing on Kabuto's skin lovingly.
Everyone was staring at them. A waiter who had been in the process of serving a couple ice cream stopped and the bowls slipped off the platter, landing upside-down on the flowered tablecloth. It didn't seem to matter to anyone, because what they were witnessing was much better than strawberry ice cream.
Kabuto was beet red when the Otokage moved away. His gaze dropped into his pie and remained there for a few minutes, trying to gauge whether people had stopped taking mental pictures of their table. He took the napkin to his face and cleaned up Orochimaru's saliva. "...I...sir, I..."
"See how formal you get when I do those things to you?" As if not an unnatural thing in the world had happened, he continued eating his cake. "I would think you'd get more casual."
"How do you expect me to react? It's not a common thing to see, whether that be good or bad." He started to pick at his pie again, his appetite off-kilter.
"It is not like the young Miss Haruno will see. How have your letters been going? Are they getting shorter with each reply?"
"Just the opposite actually. She's quite possibly the most intelligent girl I've ever met. I could spend hours with her much more than the dry socialites I am forced to talk to at receptions. Honestly, you can find the gems of society in the dirtiest of places." And how strange it was indeed, that a sixteen-year old girl gave him more of a thrill than the chiefs of surgery at all the greatest hospitals in Oto.
Orochimaru smiled. "Wonderful. I am glad you're keeping correspondence with her. Fuel that adorable little crush she's bound to have on you. Unless you honestly wish to reciprocate?"
"...Would the Lord's heart be crushed?" Kabuto asked under his breath, twiddling his fingers.
"Not at all! Remember, Lord Orochimaru has no romantic love for his assistant. His assistant's attraction is not reciprocated. All he can find with Lord Orochimaru," the Otokage said, taking Kabuto's hand, "is pleasure."
The fresh adult turned beet red. "Y-Yes...I know, my lord."
"Once again with the formalities." Orochimaru started to take money from his wallet. "You need to relax. Stress doesn't help you grow." He put a large sum of money on the table, stood up, wiped his mouth, and began to walk away with his assistant.
Everyone watched them. It was a treat, to watch the Otokage walk away from his meal.
XxXxXx
Bouncy balls were never a good thing to take into the forest. Konohamaru was on his knees, crawling around the earthen floor as he tried to locate the, ironically enough, dark green ball he had been playing with while waiting for Naruto.
It was nowhere to be found. With a sigh, he sat on a tree stump and watched the budding flowers poke out from beyond the tall, wild grass. He had never been this far out of Konoha. Grandpa never took him anywhere, because he could be in trouble if there were no doctors around to help him. At least he had his medicine, but Iruka had been very skeptical on letting him go play out in the forest.
How had he managed to secure the trust? He said Naruto was going to teach him how to fish. Somehow, Iruka believed that, even though he wasn't sure even Naruto knew how to fish properly. Nonetheless, there he was, waiting for the older boy. He was starting to get scared. What if Naruto forgot and he had an attack right in the middle of the forest? He'd never be able to make it back by himself. That's probably why Iruka wanted him to keep close to town.
Would Iruka hate Naruto? Probably…no. Konohamaru wouldn't even hate Naruto if he got sick. After all, he already was. Naruto was the first older person to give him the time of day and not treat him like a china doll.
Konohamaru noticed he had somehow winded up on the grass, watching caterpillars crawling feebly around blades of grass to find some destination. He heard the cacophonous screeching of someone trying to sing. At first he wasn't sure if it even was singing, or if a goose had been run over by a bull.
The source was Naruto. It was as if the heavens had recoiled from his attempt at music. The clouds were layering over each other. The skies deepened into a wispy blue.
"Whoah man, what are you laying down there for?" he asked, bending over him, blonde hair blocking the view.
Konohamaru sat up. Not too fast, otherwise he'd get dizzy for a half hour. "Nothing. Just trying to avoid that pain you call singing."
Naruto chuckled. "Hey, I know it's not the next Yogurt Boxcars but I'm working on it!" He helped him up. "Alright, let's get you started."
"So what will we be working on?" he asked with enthusiasm, brushing grass off his knees.
Naruto thought for a minute. "We'll start you out small o' course. I'm gonna suggest learning the Transformation Jutsu. Here, let me show you."
He stepped back from the boy and put his hands together. The air grew thicker around Naruto as chakra built up in his clasped hands, giving off a faint blue light. White smoke poured around him as his body shifted, and Sarutobi was standing in front of an awed Konohamaru.
"You look JUST like grandpa!" he stated, dumbfounded.
"That's the point," Naruto said as he transformed back into his normal self. "You have to picture the person in your mind while concentrating on your chakra levels. You need just the amount of chakra depending on their age, weight, height, gender…it's not very easy, but easier than it sounds. Since you're only copying the person externally, you don't have to match organs or anything, so their state of health isn't important. That's why older people are easier to do. You have to decrease chakra levels throughout your body instead of increase."
"How do you decrease or increase chakra if you have a set amount?" It seemed like a hard thing to do.
"Well, you don't actually decrease your chakra level. You just don't activate that part of chakra. You need self control to decrease chakra levels. It's easier to increase chakra levels, because all you need to do is activate more. You immediately activate about half of your chakra, so all you need to do is open up more chakra points. Anyway, is there anyone you want to turn into?"
Konohamaru thought for a while. "Can you turn into a girl?"
"Yeah, it's not so hard," he said, focusing again. He drew energy away from his pelvis and brought it up to his chest, weakening the amount in his arms. He turned into a copy of Sakura and did her little "Cha!" pose. It had always been adorable.
The boy laughed. "Wow, you sure look like her! I see her a lot at Amaguriama. She's always at the counter. She tried to sneak me a free chocolate pretzel once but the owner caught her."
"Did she now? Tsk tsk Sakura, trying to break the rules. Hey, are you interested in girls?"
Konohamaru frowned. "Do you mean like…in that way? Of course I am. I'm eleven after all."
"Well, let me show you something." As Sakura, he backed up. Once again he shifted back into himself. He focused less on needing clothes, and he turned into a voluptuous woman with long blonde hair spilling over naked breasts. In fact, the entirety of her was naked, with smoke well-placed around her nether-region.
She looked down at Konohamaru with sky-blue eyes, whisker markings cutely accenting a small nose. "Konohamaru-kun," she said in a girly voice, "do you want to come home with me?"
Konohamaru fell over in shock. It was sickening to think that he was holding such naughty thoughts about Naruto, but he was one drop-dead sexy woman. "J-Jeez Naruto, control yourself, will ya?"
With a pop, he was back to normal. "Sorry. It's just fun to do, especially when you do it perfectly. It's a guy's greatest weakness."
"I wanna do it! I wanna learn that jutsu. What's it called?"
"Sexy Jutsu," Naruto replied. "I invented it. Ninja aren't supposed to use vulgarity in their technique, but I thought all the other transformation jutsu were pretty boring. I don't know if your grandpa would be happy with a naked woman prancing around."
Konohamaru burst into fits of laughter. "I can't even think of it…grandpa would kill me. But," he said after he had calmed down, "I wanna learn it."
Naruto jumped from the stump. "Do you now? Alright then, let's get you started. First, show me the strongest jutsu you can perform."
Konohamaru concentrated. His hands seemed to be unable to stop shaking, as he put them together. "Dumbbell Shuriken!" with a squeaky voice, and two oddly-shaped chakra shuriken appeared in his hands. Their energy quavered violently, distorting the air.
"Alright, that's not terribly easy to do," Naruto admitted. "You need to have good control, which you seem to barely have. Look at the way the shuriken quiver. The chakra is struggling to stay in its form."
"I'm sorry!" the little boy apologized, sounding crestfallen. "I never really figured out how to control it. Grandpa's books are real hard, and Iruka never brings his."
"That's the problem," Naruto pointed out, "Iruka's books are meant for your level. But we won't need them, because you'll find inwardly controlling chakra is easier than outwardly. Put those away," he waved at the shuriken, "and try to concentrate that same amount into your chest."
He obliged, his eyes squeezed shut, his breathing quick and heaving. It hurt to concentrate so hard. He nearly collapsed, and tried to make his stumble unnoticeable to his teacher. The chakra slowly crawled around his chest; he couldn't make it do what he wanted.
Naruto stood over Konohamaru and moved his hands apart. "Keeping your hands together will cause the chakra to be inclined to go to them. For now, keep them apart."
Now he found no problems. The chakra in his chest started to swirl around, pressing against his skin and making him sweat. He started to cramp up, and he silently prayed that he wouldn't collapse. He didn't want to, now that he felt the progress.
"Imagine a pair of breasts," Naruto said with a smirk. He felt like a total pervert, but how else was he supposed to tell the boy?
With a blushing face, Konohamaru did. The chakra squirmed around inside him, pushing, making his body change. Interestingly enough, the fact that his skin was reshaping itself wasn't painful. It was the effort of keeping his chakra stable so that his chest could move. He grunted and clutched the side of the stump, chest up in the air.
Naruto had to admit, this was a really strange scene. An eleven-year old with a face so red he was afraid bulls would come running, sounded like he was quietly giving birth in the middle of a clearing. How wonderful nature could be.
Eventually, Konohamaru stropped hurting and he stood up, panting, showing Naruto what he had accomplished. It was a pair alright. One was about the size of a volleyball, the other, a tangerine. Naruto sniggered. "Wow. That's monstrous. But good job keeping the chakra together, even if it's a little uneven."
Konohamaru looked down at himself. "…What did I do to myself?!" he moaned, grabbing his new pair of breasts. They flopped around. He grinned and started to laugh, and he did with Naruto for a few minutes.
They shrunk back into his normal chest, and they continued working. It had been an hour before they made progress. Now the breasts were normal and Konohamaru had stretched his height. Naruto didn't want to point out that his clothes were hanging on for dear life, but he praised the boy and they finished the training with some normal exercises.
Konohamaru sprawled himself on the grass, hugging it for comfort. "I'm so tired," he complained, trying to catch his breath.
"You're doing well," Naruto said matter-of-factly, pulling out a notepad and pencil from his breast pocket. He began marking it up with records. "Just need to write down the results of today's lesson…and there we go. Alright, when is the next time we should meet?"
"Tomorrow!" the little boy said excitedly.
Naruto shook his head. "We can't do it every day. Your grandpa only lets you out a few times a week, remember? We'll have to wait until Thursday."
Konohamaru pouted. "That's gay! I don't want to wait that long."
Naruto snorted at his choice of insult. "Alright, gay as it might be, it's the rules. I usually don't like following them, but sometimes you gotta if you want to be productive. Here, let me walk you back home."
It seemed as if the evening brightened. Konohamaru instinctively grabbed onto Naruto's hand, as he often did with his grandfather. In a second he jerked it away, leaving the older boy looking a little confused. There was no way he could act like a little kid in front of Naruto.
The day was long. The sun remained set in the sky, though it had shifted from a light yellow to deep orange and cast the roofs the same color. There were certain times of the day when Konoha looked splendid for a moment, and this was one of those times. It was only when the realization set in that graffiti and crumbling homes were the most illustrative figures to be seen that people knew how much disrepair Konoha was in.
"Man, I can't wait to show Moegi and Udon my weird boy-woman. They'll be totally freaked out. Udon would probably like it, the perv." Konohamaru sniggered.
"Is he a pervert?" Naruto asked. "He seemed really geeky. Like, if I was a bad kid I'd beat him up geeky."
"He loves mathematics. Moegi gets tutored by him," Konohamaru said, pausing. Naruto could easily identify the jealousy plastered on his face.
He smirked. "You little kids and your crazy crushes."
"I'm not a little kid! Come on, you said you'd teach me stuff. You wouldn't teach just any other little kid stuff, right?"
"…Well, if they paid me yeah. But you're different. I actually like you."
Those words drifted through the little boy's mind, settling down and letting him understand their meaning. He blushed a little. He didn't really know why, but Naruto felt like a really close friend. Barely any time had passed after their first meeting, and Konohamaru was ready to tell Naruto all of his secrets. Except for one thing. After all, Naruto would be less likely to train him if he knew just how sick he was.
"What are you dreaming about now?" Naruto took him away from his thoughts.
"Oh, nothing." Konohamaru smiled up at the teenager and continued walking with him.
XxXxXx
The alley was strangely bright for having so many clothing lines blocking the sky. Tsunade found that the light came from a candle that was set on a holder roughly beaten into a brick wall. Deciding not to acknowledge that a lot of the stuff in the alley was stolen, she continued walking.
It looked like no one disturbed this little section. There were no garbage cans nearby, and what were unmistakable mattresses and blankets looked fairly clean. A little wooden roof was sustained above those mattresses by shaky metal rods dug into the ground. The graffiti lining the walls were so old, parts had faded away leaving messages that made no sense whatsoever, and it looked like someone had covered the walls with painted-on calendars. Bowls were stacked next to books and there was a tiny dog bed against one of the walls with squeak toys around it.
The bed had signs of life in it. A little pig was sleeping soundly, guttural oinks coming from its large nose. Tsunade smiled a little at it; it looked healthy and fat. A darker side of her imagined a plate of bacon, but she ignored the temptation as she looked through the books.
There were pieces of paper stuck in the books; one of them was a balance slip from fifteen years ago, showing a zero balance of an account. Tsunade stuffed it back into the book, feeling sick, and stood up.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" A shrill voice rang out behind her.
She spun around and saw a half-drunk Shizune wobbling towards her. It was apparent she took more care of the pig than herself. Her hair was sticking in all directions and had bits of blood, vomit, and rock in it. Her teeth were yellowed, her eyes red, and her skin blotched. Her clothing could have been mistaken for a dirt plot.
"Shizune, please don't attack me," she pleaded. "Come on, you used to look up to me, there's no need for this violence." What the hell are you saying? She has every right to want to kill you. Just look at her!
Shizune looked extremely confused for a moment, before realizing who it was invading her alley. "YOU!" Immediately, she broke a bottle she was holding, the alcohol spilling all over her arm and robe before she rushed Tsunade.
With a sigh, she stepped to the side just as Shizune swung, and grabbed her arm, sending a chakra blast through it to weaken her grip on the weapon; sure enough, It fell and shattered all over the ground.
"Fucking bitch! You got glass everywhere," she moaned angrily, stooping down and grabbing handfuls without any regard for her safety. She threw them under the fence separating her side of the alley from the other. Flecks of blood dotted the ground.
"Shizune…" It hurt to see her like this. Tsunade didn't understand how stupid Dan could be, to give all of his money to her, to trust her out of love and affection.
"Don't talk to me. It's been fifteen years. You could have stayed!" She continued cleaning up the glass, further injuring herself. She hiccupped. "So Uncle Dan wasted all his money on you. To fuel your fucking gambling. You know what? I wouldn't have been nearly as fucking pissed with you as I am over you ABANDONING ME!"
Once again, Tsunade didn't know how to retort. "You're hurting yourself. Let me pick it up…"
Shizune waved her away when she attempted to approach. "Fuck off! Get out of here. I don't want to see your fucking face again. You're out living the life while I'm rotting in this goddamn alley because you don't' know what the FUCK responsibility is! I was left with nothing, absolutely nothing. They took away the house. I'm too old to be in a foster home. Everyone I knew was dead. Do you think if you hadn't been so fucking stupid, Nawaki would have been able to come through for me? Because he was a lot fucking better than YOU!"
Tsunade stepped forward, crunching some glass near the pig's bed. "Don't talk about Nawaki, okay? Don't talk about him! You weren't there, you didn't see his condition! You weren't there when Dan was killed. You weren't there when I murdered your grandfather. I wasn't in my right mind to think about consequences. I didn't think about you or anyone, just myself. I admit that."
She let out an annoyed laugh that followed with another hiccup. "Well you had fourteen years and three-hundred sixty-four days to think about it afterwards!"
There wasn't anything Tsunade could say to dispute that. She remained quiet for a moment, while Shizune finished cleaning the glass. The miserable woman petted the pig affectionately, giving it a genuine smile. It sort of lifted the older woman's spirits from the very bottom to just above the ground. "Where did you find that thing?"
"…I passed out in a barn at one of the farm's…not Nara's, the one next to it. It was just there with all the others, but it looked the fattest, so I took it. I figured I'd eat it…but then she kinda grew on me. Her name's Tonton. Get away from her!" Shizune barked suddenly, noticing Tsunade's approach, "I don't want you near something precious to me. You'll destroy it!"
"…Shizune…Take Tonton and come to my house. I can clean you up, make you look better and get you healthy, it's the least I can do."
She burst out laughing. "Don't do me any fucking favors! I don't want your help. I'm used to being miserable. Fuck you."
"Shizune!"
"Leave me alone! Can't you fucking take my side for once!" She slumped under her wooden roof and threw the blankets over her. "Go away."
"…Please…"
"GO AWAY!"
Raindrops slowly came down from the sky. The clouds were moving fast along the heavens. The pig woke up with a start after water dripped onto her face. She trotted underneath Shizune's roofing.
Tsunade watched them for a while. Shizune apparently fell asleep, as she started squirming, moaning sadly. Nightmares were easily plaguing her.
What were they about? Tsunade was afraid to think. She turned around and left the alley, walking through the rain-soaked streets with little regard to the people around her. The result of her past mistakes were still living, breathing, in that alley. A part of her wanted it to disappear. Another part wanted it to take her help. All she could do now was help Konoha, so heaven could find a reason to forgive her. And perhaps, Shizune could as well.
XxXxXx
Wahoo! School is over, and I'm officially a senior! YEAH! Now guess what that means? Well, senior means I'm the top of my school! Freshmen, beware! And summer means more time to write my fanfics. I still have summer homework for AP Literature. I'm anxiously awaiting my AP U.S. History results…man, it makes me nervous thinking about it! Anyone else take it? What did you think; personally I thought the DBQ was really easy, but I don't think I did it justice.
There was some Shikamaru development for you. As you can see, Temari has taken an interest in Shikamaru's case. Their connection has been made, but what will come out of her future prying? We got to see Sasuke training as well. Team 7's relationship looks like it was short-lived. We'll have to see whether it comes back or not. And prepare for a mission chapter next, because we've got Team 8 and Sasuke on one boat. Naruto was training Konohamaru…how sick is that boy, anyway? And Tsunade/Shizune development. Will Shizune ever accept Tsunade's help, after fifteen years of neglect?
I've been into the video game Tales of the Abyss lately. I just love the characters; especially Luke's development. And Asch/Natalia is just amazing.
Did anyone go see The Happening? I recommend it for people seeking a good suspense flick.