THE ALLIANCE OF FIRE AND WIND
AUTHOR: fantasylover12001
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
PAIRINGS: SasuNaruSasu, KakaIru, NejiGaara, LeeSaku, ShikaIno, and others mentioned...
RATING: R to NC-17
AUTHOR NOTES: I'm afraid there's not much development in this chapter, it's mostly a small filler to establish that they've arrived in Kaze and to shed some light on Iruka's past. I'm also sorry for the major delay and yes, it is rather short, but again...FILLER. The next chapter will probably be coming much faster and be much longer. Meanwhile, enjoy.
CHAPTER 13:
Kaze, Capitol of Wind Country,
Naruto hurried through the streets of Kaze trying to keep up with Sasuke who was up ahead. That morning had been awkward to say the least. Sasuke had fumed and glared at Naruto throughout the rest of the journey to Kaze. Naruto personally felt like the man had been sulking, but he didn't dare say so as he was pretty sure he was already in big trouble with Sasuke already. It might have been a few years, but Naruto could still tell when Sasuke was close to losing his temper. In an odd way he was happy that some parts of Sasuke were still the same.
The two had arrived in Kaze an hour ago. If Naruto had been amazed at Sand Village, he was awed by Kaze. The city was cradled against mountains where the river ended and flowed through. The city was over three times as large as Sand Village and three times as crowded. He had to duck several times to avoid running into someone's arm or a package. Inwardly cursing his shortness, he had to jog to keep up with Sasuke, who seemed to know where he was going. How he knew was beyond Naruto.
The streets of Kaze were endless and had seemed like a maze to Naruto as the two had rode up to the city's walls. Unlike Sand Village, which had been surrounded around one main street, the streets of Kaze wound in every which direction. There were also several small alleyways made just for walking. All the streets curved up and into the very tops of the mountains. Crowning the top of the mountains was the enormous royal court, a majestic looking building where Naruto remembered from his reading all the royals who were visiting, diplomats and more of the wealthy class lived. Looking up at the enormous building, he now understood how an entire class of people could live in one place, though he bet it was a pain to walk so far if you were traveling.
'I wonder if the architect planned it that way as a way to get back at the rich' the blond smirked at the thought. If that had been the case he certainly didn't blame the architect. Having put up with nobles all his life, he most definitely understood.
Sasuke had led him to a building rather close to the center of the city and into a room where he told Naruto to deposit his things and follow him, barely giving him time to look around the place he assumed they would be staying. Now he was following the man all through the city, or at least that was what it felt like to his aching feet. He was about to open his mouth to beg Sasuke if they could rest for a minute when Sasuke finally stopped in front of a tall circular building that towered over the other buildings it was neighboring in the small square.
"In here," Sasuke said to him curtly. Naruto (barely resisting the urge to stick out his tongue) finally decided to speak as the two entered the building.
"Sasuke, where are we?"
"We're at the Wind Country Division Headquarters for the Shinobi."
"Huh?"
Sasuke sighed. "Each country has a headquarters for Shinobi along with the main one at Konoha. This one is the one for Wind."
"Oh. What was that place we went to earlier?"
"A place for Shinobi to stay while they conduct business here. Every one of the capitals has one."
"Nice."
"Hmm."
Naruto took that as Sasuke's way of ending the conversation and so took the opurtunity to look around the place. It was surprisingly normal looking. He wasn't sure what he had expected a ninja headquarters to look like, but it certainly wasn't just an average looking place of business. About the only way Naruto would be able to tell that Shinobi worked here was the fact that several of them passed the two of them in the halls.
They were all so NORMAL looking too! Sure, they were uniforms like Sasuke's in varying colors and a majority had on the headband marking a Wind Shinobi, not to mention they had quite a few scars on some of them, but really they looked like regular people. He even noticed one guy leaning against the wall and trying to flirt with a pretty girl. 'I guess it's just Sasuke who is anti-social then' he thought with a sigh.
As if to confirm his thoughts, Sasuke turned to him abruptly and said, "Stay here."
This time, he didn't hold back his urge to stick out his tongue at Sasuke's back.
SasuNaru
"So now Iruka Umino is going to battle?" Ibiki Morino looked at him with an unreadable expression.
Normal people probably would have flinched at the look, but Sasuke was more then used to it by now. He had met Ibiki on previous occasions when the man had come to Konoha. In fact, the man had been the one who gave him his first test in the exam that had made him a full fledged Shinobi less then a year ago. So he just nodded, fully expecting to be reprimanded for allowing to let the man leave in the first place. Sure, it wasn't technically his fault that Iruka had slipped past him, but he wasn't one to make excuses.
Then to his surprise, Ibiki smirked. "Well, those Sound ninja are in for a surprise, aren't they?"
Sasuke blinked. "Sir?"
"You can relax, Uchiha, I'm not going to ream you for this one. In fact, it might be a good thing."
"A good thing?" Sasuke asked in disbelief. "How?"
"How much do you know about Iruka Umino?"
Sasuke shrugged. "I know he's been looking after Naruto since birth."
"Do you know what he did before that?"
He had to admit that he didn't. He hadn't really interacted much with Naruto's tutor when they were younger so he didn't know the man well other then the fact that Naruto adored his teacher, despite their frequent arguments.
"Umino-san used to be a warrior."
Sasuke stared at Ibiki in surprise. He knew Iruka knew how to fight, at least that's what Naruto had told him, but a warrior?
"He was one of the royal guards as a matter of fact. I'm still not sure on all the details, but from what I gather he was the one that found your fiancé and brought him to the palace. Apparently, the King decided that Iruka would be the best one to look after him and teach him."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He had never heard that before, but then he had never really asked Naruto about things like his parents before so it wasn't a surprise he didn't know. Still, it was good to know that Iruka could at least take care of himself. "So I suppose it's a good thing that Iruka-Sensei is going with Kakashi?"
"If what I've heard about his skills are true then it's more then just a good thing."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What have you heard about his skills?"
"That they were good enough to get him an invitation to become a Shinobi. He would probably be one of us now, if he hadn't found the Carrier."
Sasuke felt his respect for Iruka jump up a notch at that information. Being invited to become a Shinobi meant you were good. The only reason he was a Shinobi now was because Kakashi had spoken for him and even after that, he had to go through a series of tests to even become a trainee. 'But then the fact that he's been able to keep up with Naruto all these years proves he has a lot of strength to begin with' he thought ruefully.
"So, you do know that you're expected at court tomorrow, right?" Ibiki said.
"What?" Sasuke said in dismay. "I thought we would at least have two to three days of rest."
"Sorry, kid. There are visiting diplomats from Fire Country here, they want to see the two of you and congratulate themselves on a job well done and whatnot."
Sasuke sighed. "We'll be there." 'Assuming I don't decide to strangle Naruto between now and then' he thought silently.
SasuNaruSasu
"We're expected where?" Naruto asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
"There's supposed to be some party at court tomorrow, they want us to be there." Sasuke said as he lead them to their room.
"Man," Naruto muttered. "I thought I got out of having to put up with stuffy nobles when I left the palace."
Despite himself, Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. "Sorry. I'm afraid they're everywhere."
"Damn." He looked at Sasuke hopefully, "Don't suppose you could persuade them that they don't want us there?"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "How am I supposed to do that?"
Naruto thought for a minute and then grinned. "Glare at them!"
Sasuke snorted. "It won't work."
"How do you know?"
"I've already tried it before," Sasuke admitted a little sheepishly.
The blond blinked and then grinned. "Really?"
"You think I enjoy these things? I probably hate them more then you do."
Naruto had to agree with him there. They had reached their room and now looking around, he noticed something. "Hey, there's only one bed!"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Well spotted."
"Where am I supposed to sleep?"
"The bed is big enough. We can share," Sasuke said casually. Naruto stared at him.
"What?" He started to protest but Sasuke had already moved on, gathering a towel and other cleaning supplies.
"I'm going to go wash up," he said, heading towards the door. Then he glanced at Naruto out of the corner of his eye. "You better not snore like you used too."
Naruto sputtered at him but Sasuke left before he could retort.
SasuNaruSasu
Later that night, Sasuke lay fast asleep but Naruto was wide awake next to him. He wasn't sure why he couldn't just fall asleep. 'It's not like it's that big of a deal' he thought to himself. Hell, when they were kids he used to sneak over to Sasuke's room at night for sleep overs or when he had bad dreams. Of course that was when they were little which they weren't anymore. Naruto was all too aware of this as he glanced over at Sasuke, who had turned onto his side so he was facing Naruto. Now, their faces were inches from each other and Naruto felt his face heat up.
Inwardly cursing Sasuke, he turned in the opposite direction. 'You better get used to this' he thought to himself. 'After all, you are going to be married within the next month.' That didn't make it any easier though. He felt like he was torn in two. Part of him wanted to just give in to the familiar feelings that were coming back. It would be so easy too, because Sasuke was still Sasuke. Frustrating, annoying, and yet wonderful at the same time.
But the other part of him kept trying to cling to his rapidly disappearing anger and hurt at Sasuke. That part was mostly his pride, Iruka-Sensei had always said he had a little too much of it at times. He sighed at the thought of his mentor. If there was ever a time he wished for his teacher's presence it was now.
But he didn't regret pushing Iruka into following Kakashi. It had helped eased a large part of him that had always felt a little guilty at being responsible for his teacher putting his own life on hold for his. Iruka had never said anything, but Naruto knew he had given up a lot to be Naruto's guardian. He had always suspected that the reason Iruka had kept Kakashi at bay for so long was because he felt it would interfere with his duty to Naruto.
Still, he would've liked hearing his guardian's advice right about now. Because at the moment, he felt horribly confused.
AUTHORS NOTE: PLEASE REVIEW! I'm also thinking of doing a series of one-shots based around this verse that shed some light on background stuff. For instance, the first one I'm thinking of doing is about how Iruka found Naruto, plus a lot of chibi-Naruto/Sasuke moments. If enough people express interest I'll actually do it. Let me know if you're interested!