A/N: Hi there! I'm officially still in the middle of hell, but I thought I should give you guys some update on how the boys are doing before disappearing into hell again. We're getting a breather, a whole lot more OCs, and time to get a little more intimate with the human being we called Uzumaki Naruto. Yeah, I have thoughts about this boy.
Chapter 51: Forgotten Children
The Scums finally reached their destination as the sun came over the horizon. The streets in the town were still quiet as people were getting ready for work, so they were able to slipped undetected through the roads until they reached a compound on the outskirt. The top of the large two-storied house peaked over the walls, towering over smaller, cozier dwellings. They bypassed the main gate, opting instead to ring the back door where they were less likely to be seen.
Not before long, the door swung open, and on the other side was a woman. Her slender frame was hidden by an apron, and her hair was tied back with a large white bow. Her eyes widened the moment she saw them, and she quickly threw the door open for them to enter. They were shown to the back entrance of the main house next to the large kitchen and up the stairs to the second floor where they were led to a large empty room. Saya dropped all the packs she had on her and went to help laying out the bedding. Sasuke and Karin helped Naruto down onto a futon, only stepping back when he was lying safely on his back. Naruto looked like he wanted to pass out at this point, only hanging on by the need to stop any chakra healing from within his body, which was not a small feat given the size of his chakra reserve. Saya doubted he would be able to keep it up for much longer. He needed the operation, and now.
The door slid opened and rushing in was an elderly man. The long, white hair on his head was in contrast to his quick, precise movements as he strode up to Naruto's side. His white eyes seemed to be staring into the distance even has his pale eyebrows furrowed underneath a faint swastika.
He turned to Naruto and said, "What did you do this time?"
The blond suddenly found the strength to roll his eyes. "Not everything is my fault, Sensei."
The man let out a breath as he sat down. Without prompting, Karin sat down beside him and began explaining what was wrong with the blond. Saya would have loved to know what she said, but the conversation was littered with too many medical lingo for her to understand. Sensei got it, though. He nodded before the chakra vessels around his eyes bulged as he stared at the injured leg as if it was some kind of forbidden scrolls.
Then the old man turned to Juugo. The giant perked up. "Sit on him and make sure he doesn't move around." Then Sensei turned to her and, without needing to hear him speak, Saya knew what he wanted. The kunoichi took a seat between Naruto's feet. She held his legs against her waist, preventing him from kicking as the old man pressed the tip of his finger against the side of the calf and slowly drew a line across the skin.
"FUCK!" was the only word that bellowed out of Naruto's mouth. Saya applied more force to her hold as the jinchuuriki jerked. She could feel the muscles in his legs coiled, his body tensed in shock.
Sensei pressed his finger against the flesh and drew again, and again Naruto shouted. The old man might have been connecting a pair of chakra vessels or a pair of nerves - Saya didn't know. She just knew that Naruto's body was beginning to respond, muscles in his injured leg began tensing and relaxing in fits. The toes were bending at odd angles, trembling out of control. Profanities filled the room, but the old man went on with his work as if he did not hear them or did not care.
The sun was high when the operation finally declared over. By that time, she couldn't hear Naruto's voice any more, just his rapid breathing and occasional groaning. The cramps still came and went even as the kunoichi tried her best to gently massage the muscles into relaxing. He clearly was not going to be on his legs much for the next couple of days.
The old man motioned Juugo to get off the blond, and the giant scampered out of the way. The sight before her nearly broke her heart. Naruto had his head turned, buried as far as he could into the pillow as he sniffled. Trails of tears were on his cheeks and down his nose. Beside him was Sasuke, one of his hand in the blond's hair and the other holding Naruto's tightly. She could see the bruises and the bloodied nail marks on the back of the raven's hand and arms from all the struggling.
"You will need to stay off your feet as much as possible for the first couple of days, Naru," said Sensei. "I will give you prescription to help with it." Naruto wrenched his eyes open to look at the old man and nodded. The old man nodded back. "I'll leave you all to rest for now. We can talk at dinner."
Saya turned to him then and bowed until her forehead touched the floor. "My deepest gratitude, Sensei," was the only thing she could say, and it felt like an understatement. Naruto still had his leg intact. Saya honestly could not ask for anything better.
The old man just nodded and said, "I'm simply repaying what he had done for us. Don't think too much of it." And with that, he got up and left.
/***/
Sasuke didn't know where he found the strength to hold it together. He was prepared for all the shouts and the sobs although his heart still felt like it was going to shatter to pieces. And like the last time, he couldn't find the will to leave Naruto's side. The raven kept close to him even after the operation was over, massaging the blond's frequently cramping leg as Karin gave him the medication that finally knocked him under. Even then, Sasuke didn't feel like leaving him, not with Naruto so vulnerable and in need of protection.
"You should go wash up and get some sleep. There's a little bathhouse at the back of the garden that you can relax in for a while," suggested Karin as she packed the medicine away. She turned to him and smiled. "He'll be okay. I promise."
He stared at her a moment, unsure of how to take the comment or that knowing smile. After deciding that he was too tired to argue, he nodded and left the room, passing Saya who just came back with changes of clothes and toiletries from their gracious host. She handed him a set a clean nemaki and a towel before telling him to go to the bathhouse where Juugo supposedly were. The giant, however, was not there when Sasuke arrived. And around him was just quietness, the quietness that had always suited his temperament, but now Sasuke felt like he couldn't breathe.
He should be happy that Naruto was alive, but the only thing Sasuke could think of was the fact that he nearly lost him - had lost him in moments of overwhelming pain. Sasuke had trained all his life to be the best ninja there was, to be the strongest, the fastest, the smartest. He had even allowed himself to become a monster. But still, when Naruto was in his arms, fighting for his life, Sasuke couldn't do anything. He had never felt such crushing hopelessness until that moment, and it dragged him under the wave like a hapless victim. What was he supposed to do when nothing he could do helped? What good was he in the moments that mattered most? What good was 'being the strongest'?
He had to sit down when his chest felt like it wanted to cave in. The room shrank around him, and the cold air pressed in on his lungs. His breathes came out wet and painful, and his vision was just blurred light as tears fell from his eyes. His body hurt, not because of the fight he went through, not because of days spent on the run. It hurt from the storm of emotions wrecking him from the inside. And it raged on and on and on.
It took a while before the storm finally cleared and he felt strong enough to move again. He washed and changed, ignoring the sting in his hand where the crescent marks were still visible. He was going to go back up to watch over Naruto when a voice stopped him at the foot of the stairs. "I can take your laundry." And emerged from the kitchen was the woman who greeted them, still in her apron and the big white bow that tied back her hair. Her smile was gentle, like a mother to a child, which would have driven Sasuke to indignation if he wasn't so drained. As it were, he let her take the clothes. "I have never seen you with Saya-san before," she said. "How long have you been her student?"
Although Saya wasn't his teacher, Sasuke didn't think it was necessary to correct that misunderstanding. "About two months," he said, not being absolutely sure about the time frame, but who cared about the detail at this point.
"I see," the woman nodded. Then her eyes suddenly looked down. "Oh, dear," she muttered before reaching out for his hand and inspecting the nail marks. Normally, Sasuke would find it necessary to step away from the intrusion to his personal space, but with her he didn't felt threatened. "I have something in the kitchen if you will follow me," she said and led him into the room. She dragged out a stool for him to sit near the island in the middle before she pulled out a first aid kit from a drawer nearby. Sasuke accepted the implicit invitation and sat down as she rummaged through the box to pull out a bottle of antiseptics and some bandages. She got working on his hand right after, dabbing the crusted wounds with the brownish liquid. "I'm Kasumi, by the way," she said, lifting her eyes up briefly to smile at him. "You can say I'm the housekeeper here."
"I'm Sasuke," he answered.
The woman lifted an eyebrow. "Is that an inside name or an outside name?"
The raven blinked. He was confused for a second before he understood what she was asking. "Inside," he muttered, suddenly quite embarrassed. He shouldn't have given his name out so freely, should he?
But Kasumi just hummed. "What's the outside name, then?"
"Shizuka," he said, then he suddenly realized that despite her soft, unassuming demeanor, Kasumi knew.
"You might want to be careful about names around the children, Sasuke-kun," she said, a warm smile still on her face as she bandaged up his hand. "Some of them are too young to understand the importance of names, yet. You will have to always use the outside names with them." She chuckled. "Don't worry. I mess up, too. Sometimes I have to change what I am saying just to accommodate the mistake. It's quite strange for the kids."
Sasuke just nodded. Children? He hadn't heard or seen any children around at all.
That was until he went back upstairs and was met with loud giggles from within the room. He opened the door, and there was a bubbly little girl sitting on top of Naruto, who was now awake but still clearly tired. At least, he was reclining on a mountain of pillows behind his back as he mock-attacked the girl, tickling her as she tried to fend him off.
Sasuke didn't typical care about children, but in that moment he had never been more angry with a little twerp before. "Who let you in!?"
That shout stopped all the giggling, and the girl jumped in fright. The child turned to him with wide, frightful look, and Sasuke nearly recoiled from what he saw. She had just the left eye. The other side of the face was covered in red and ugly burn scar. There was a hint of the right eye, but it couldn't be open, not to the full. Sasuke fought his best to remain unaffected.
"Goddammit, Shizuka," Naruto sneered at him. "Akane didn't do anything."
The blond's anger came at him like a whiplash, and the raven nearly flinched. Another part of him wanted to retaliate in kind and be angry for being treated like he was the one intruding. "You should be resting," he muttered, a pathetic last attempt to defend himself. He just shouted at a six- or seven-year-old child. He knew he was not going to get away with it.
The jinchuuriki rolled his eyes. "I am," then he gave the pillow mountain behind him a hit before turning to the girl. "And it's all thanks to Akane, right?"
The frightened girl finally perked up, and, upon seeing Naruto's huge grin, smiled brightly back. The right side of her face didn't quite lift up the same way as her left, but there was no mistaken her joy. Naruto's smile shifted into something that looked so gentle it made Sasuke's heart hurt.
"Akane, Sensei's calling the class," came another voice from the door. The raven turned back to see another child, probably about ten or eleven standing in the doorway. The voice and the pigtail would have suggested that the child was a girl, but nothing in her demeanor or the way she dressed would suggest as such. She wore a calf-length loose pants, similar to one a shinobi might wear, and a sleeveless t-shirt with bandages around her lower arms. The way she stood told him that she was trained in taijutsu. And that glare could probably set Naruto on fire if she wanted to.
The little girl, Akane, pouted. The older girl stared at her some more until she finally climbed off the blond and readjusted her clothes. "I'll see you later, Naru-nii."
The blond nodded. The smile never left his face. "Later, Akane. Study hard today, okay?"
The little girl nodded, gave him another smile, and ran out of the room with such energy that made Sasuke envy. He sighed and only noticed a little later that the older girl at the door sighed as well.
"You, too, Ran," said Naruto, now directing a soft smile at her. But she just snorted, gave him another glare, and walked off. Sasuke couldn't say he had seen a more arrogant little tyke.
When he turned back to Naruto, the blond lifted an eyebrow at him, amusement brimming in his eyes and the raven frowned. "What?" he asked.
"She's kid. Don't be too hard on her."
Sasuke frowned at him. "The right age to hammer in some manners if you ask me." At that, the blond chuckled. The smirk on his face told Sasuke he had another idea. "What?"
"Calling the kettle black, huh?" It took a second for Sasuke to realize whom Naruto was referring to and he sputtered.
/***/
Although they were safe, Saya still found it hard to sleep. Maybe it was the result of a stressful week. Maybe it was paranoia after knowing that a powerful shinobi village was possibly after their blood, not to mention that they had just clashed with Anbu. Whether that team was after them or not was minor detail. The fact was that the Scums had taken down a large squad of the most talented and well-trained ninja in Konoha. Even if the Hokage would let them get away, Danzo would not. And Danzo, according to Orochimaru, would do anything for Konoha's sake. That might mean teaming up with Iwa even if the two villages didn't always see eye to eye.
But then again, they didn't join force against Akatsuki when the words came out that the organization was planning on hunting all jinchuuriki. The Scums was much smaller, more of a nuisance than a real danger, compared to those people. They shouldn't be so high on the priority list.
Still, she couldn't find peace in that thought. Not wanting to disturb the team now resting upstairs, the kunoichi decided that she would sit on the veranda overlooking the garden until she was tired enough to go to bed. The house was peaceful at the time with the children in the classroom, and Kasumi mainly preparing snacks for the class. The woman never seemed to rest. She took care of the house. She took care of the children. She took care of her most beloved father figure until he retired at the end of the evening.
And the mistress somehow still found time to come see her, carrying folded towels with a scissor and a comb on top. "Let's trim your hair," she said with a gentle smile before sitting down behind Saya. The kunoichi had all but forgotten the tattered state of her locks until that point. Worries tend to make people forget small trivial things like that.
Since she didn't care much how her hair looked, she just let Kasumi trimmed it however she wanted. They fell into a comfortable silence with only the sound of the scissors snipping away until the mistress said, "Sui-chan hasn't shown up yet."
"He's taking care of things," Saya replied.
Kasumi hummed. "How bad was it?"
The kunoichi didn't know what to say except. "Quite."
"Who did you rile up this time?"
Saya let out a long breath. "Iwa and Konoha."
She could almost see in her mind's eye Kasumi's eyebrows climbing up her forehead when she asked, "Both?"
Saya didn't reply. She had never told Kasumi anything about their missions, not wanting to drag her into the world that took away her family, but the mistress was able to read into the gravity of the situation anyway. Being raised by an ex-ninja must have given her an ability to assess danger and a daringness to go with it.
"It's going to be Obon Matsuri next week," she said. "You all should stay for the festival."
The kunoichi blinked. That sounded like a terrible idea. "I don't want to impose."
"Nonsense," replied the mistress. "Our door is always open to you. You're welcome to stay as long as you want."
Saya knew this, but there was that sense of unease she always had when dropping by. As savvy as they might be with the shinobi business, they weren't in it. And Saya did not want to drag them into the mess.
Still, she couldn't find the will to oppose Kasumi when the mistress was eyeing her with a smile on her face. "Some rest is in order, I guess," Saya said, and Kasumi's smile could have brightened up the whole sky.
/***/
Naruto woke up the moment the medicine wore off. It wasn't so much pain as discomfort that stirred him from his sleep. His leg was still sore, but it had stopped trying to tear itself apart now that the chakra circulation was back to normal. Naruto stretched it a few time, feeling his toes wiggling without the annoying cramps. He should be able to walk without problems, which was good news since he would need to use the outhouse pretty soon.
So he sat up, waiting a few moment for the dizziness to subside. That was when he saw Karin and Saya on the other side of the room in their respective futon, sleeping soundly. Closer to the door was Juugo, asleep sitting against the wall like a sentinel. Naruto couldn't help a smile. Juugo was still diligent as always.
On the futon besides him had to be Sasuke. The raven had his back turned to the blond under layers of blankets, but the steady breathing told Naruto that he was fast asleep. Might as well, considering all the things Sasuke had taken on in the past couple of days let alone before that. Pulling off that rescue mission was impressive, but he also managed to keep the team together under crisis at the same time. That was no small feat with Suigetsu involved and that Naruto would know.
He also knew Sasuke was at his limit. He had looked worn out, and Naruto couldn't help a pang of guilt that he couldn't do anything about it. The raven had even insisted on sitting by his bedside just to make sure no one came to wake him up despite Sasuke himself looking like he had been about to collapse from fatigue. Naruto couldn't find the heart to argue with him and just let him do what he pleased, hoping that he would get in bed soon enough.
So Naruto was glad to see that his friend was sleeping away. He tried his best to be absolutely noiseless as he sneaked by, making his way to the door. Thankfully everyone was dead to the world, and Naruto was able to slip out without anyone waking up. The world downstairs, on the other hand, was noisy. The sun was getting lower now, and the children were finally freed from their class. They congregated in the garden where shouts and screams could be heard in intervals, even back in the kitchen.
"It's probably some kind of game," Kasumi told him when he stopped by the say hi and thanked her for hosting them yet again. The mistress just handed him his change of clothes and shooed him to clean up and go see Sensei.
After the bath, the blond found the old man on the veranda by the garden, a stack of students' homeworks on both sides. He was looking down at the notebook in his hand as if reading something intensely, but Naruto knew he could see all the kids just as he was grading their work. And, of course, Sensei could see him. "What have I told you about being on your feet?"
Naruto rolled his eyes before he found a spot by the old man and sat down. "I'm fine. It'll be perfect by tomorrow."
The old man hummed. "You can't keep being reckless with your body," he said, his eyes still on the homework as he scribbled down a correction. "Am I going to find traces of improper chakra healing on you again?"
Naruto grunted. "Just the old ones. I've been careful."
At that, Sensei nodded. The blond wasn't entirely sure if it was for him or for the homework since the old man folded it back, put it down on the stack to his right, and grabbed a new one from the one on his left. "I'm glad you've finally grown up enough to think of being careful." He started marking again. "Still, you are to take two days of house rest. No funny business running around." At that, the old man turned to stare at him with his white, pupil-less eyes, as if knowing that Naruto was going to protest. The blond shut his mouth. "That goes for all of your friends. You are all exhausted as far as I can tell, and that doesn't seem to be the only problem."
Having the Byakugan sure was convenient. "Of course, I think they need it anyway."
"And yet, you never show the same compassion to yourself," said the old man as he turned his gaze back the notebook, folding and placing it on the completed stack before reaching for another one. "You keep pushing and pushing, running and running. You're becoming more and more like your master in that regard. And you know what happen to him."
"Yeah, I do," said the blond. "He's dead."
Sensei turned to him again, watching him carefully. "So, you've done it."
Naruto shrugged.
The old man was silent for a while, an unnerving thing for someone who seemed to know all. "How did it feel?"
How did it feel? Naruto honestly didn't know. He didn't feel anything per se, not the satisfaction, not the seething hatred he taught himself to remember. Numb was probably the word. He'd had thoughts, though, that Orochimaru was dead, that all was supposed to be right with the world again. But, of course, the world was never right, was never good, was never anything. It moved on just as it did when Iruka-sensei died. Orochimaru, at the end of his quest to become something, still was nothing.
As the blond tried to put his jumbled up array of thoughts and feelings into words, a commotion broke out in the garden. Sensei looked towards the sound, but he didn't move. Those white lidless eyes watched as a boy, no older than eleven and decked out too much to be a farmer's son, took out a wooden sword and challenged Ran. Naruto could see her fumed, but she did nothing more but glared at the kid. Akane was behind her as well as little Ryo, another child Sensei accepted into his permanent care. The two of them, despite being the youngests on the playground, stood by their friend as she faced the bully.
Naruto looked to the old man. He just shook his head. The blond narrowed his eyes at him. "We intervene only when needed," he said. "Ran can handle Taito."
Sometimes, Naruto really didn't understand Sensei's hand-off approach to teaching. "I'd say it's now," he said before getting up and striding over to the small crowd. He could feel the Byakugan glaring at his back. His face broke into a smile. "Well, what's going on here?"
All eyes turned to him, but he focused his attention on Ran and the boy. The girl's glare told him to stay back. Taito, on the other hand, was brimming with curiosity. He frowned. "Who are you?"
Naruto bowed his head slightly. "I'm Naru. I'm a student here," he said before turning to the girl. "Right, Ran-senpai?" Ran's glare wavered a little as she tried to work out what his game was. Naruto didn't let her wait long as he turned back to the boy. "That means if you want to fight senpai, you have to beat me first."
The boys standing behind Taito began to look nervous now. After all, Naruto was nearly twice their size and clearly more developed in musculature. There was no way, a wooden sword or not, that Taito was going to win. And that was kind of the point. Intimidation was always the first tactic - to try to win without delivering a blow.
But, as the blond found out, he underestimated the damn brat. "Fine," Taito said, stepping up. It was hard to tell if he genuinely thought he had a chance or it was peer pressure. He pointed his sword at the blond. "I challenge you to a duel."
"Very well," said Naruto, his stance relaxed. "Come at me, then."
And Taito did. The boy was clearly trained in the basic of kenjutsu - his footwork and swings were of the correct forms - but he didn't have the speed, the strength, or the accuracy. His moves were easy to read and hence easy to dodge. All Naruto did was waiting until the last second to step aside. The fight wasn't a fight, really, but more of a dance where Naruto just led the boy around, increasingly irritating him the longer they went.
Naruto's eyes landed on Ran at one point and spotted her frowning with an odd expression at Taito. He only understood that look a second later when Taito let out a loud huff. His stance shifted and, suddenly, he was faster and more precise, barely giving Naruto any time to dodge. Naruto started to move faster as well, still successfully evading any attack, but now he had to pay more attention to what Taito was doing. This boy was actually pretty good when he wasn't lousy, but he was impatient and not very intelligent. He should be down from exhaustion in no time.
Except the blond forgot that his leg wasn't in the shape to wait for that long. After minutes of constantly moving around, the sore muscles in his calf decided to protest with a cramp.
"Shit!" was the only thing Naruto could say as the strength in his leg disappeared and he fell on his knee. He heard a shout somewhere from the house, but all he could concentrate on was the sword coming for his head.
Before the blond could grab it, Ran moved in with the familiar circular footwork and in a single swoop knocked the sword out of Taito's hand with her left arm and hit his solar plexus with her right palm. The force was such that the boy literally flew backward a foot before hitting the ground. The kids around them stared with mouth agape as Taito gasped for air, staring disbelievingly at Ran. It was then that Sasuke appeared by the blond's side, hissing angrily about what an idiot he was, but what the raven said was drowned by Taito's high-pitch scream. "My father will know about this!" The boy railed. "He will take you to prison for maiming me, you brute!"
Naruto winced as his ear rang from the shout. The brat flailed on the ground, making ridiculous noises, until Sensei finally walked over to them. A calming aura descended on the group. "Now, now, Taito-dono," the old man said, "what might be the matter?"
"She hit me!" the boy continued with his indignant scream, pointing at Ran who stood her ground.
"Where?" Sensei asked. The boy pointed to his abdomen. The old man crouched down and placed two fingers on the spot. The boy froze, probably sensing something coming through from the contact. "Indeed, she had hit you, but it is merely a bruise, Taito-dono. Surely, a warrior could withstand some contusion." And that shut the boy up completely. If anything, Naruto thought he looked slightly ashamed by his own tantrum. "And the ground must be uncomfortable. You should find a better place to sit and rest until the pain goes away."
Following his advice, Taito slowly got up on his feet, still feeling the hit. His friends were still behind him, but other children had already lost interest and moved on elsewhere. As the tension seemed to have dispersed, the old man turned to the blond's direction with a glare that made hairs on Naruto's back stood on ends. "Ran, Naru, see me inside."
Without missing a beat, Ran nodded, not paying any attention to the way Taito's gang quietly sniggered, and followed her teacher to the house. Akane wanted to come along, but Ran stopped her with a shake of her head. The poor girl turned to Naruto as if to ask for help but the blond could only mouthed an apology. After all, he was on the hook for this mess, too.
He tried to get up, but with one of his leg being so weak, it was hard to do so without stumbling forward. After letting him try for about two seconds, Sasuke sighed and came over to hoist him up by the shoulder. "Serves you right," he said before helping Naruto staggered over to the house and up the steps into the classroom. Sensei was there standing in the middle of the empty room. A look of his face told Naruto this was bad.
"Where do I even begin with the two of you," the old man breathed out as soon as Naruto sat down, his leg stretched forward so that Sasuke could help massage those muscles into submission. "Ran, you know exactly how dangerous your taijutsu could be. That attack with enough force could have killed Taito within minutes-"
"And precisely why I didn't hit him with full force."
"Did I say you can explain yourself?"
Ran looked down instantly. "No, Sensei. My apology."
The old man let out a long frustrated breath. "Ran," he began again, "you are my best student, especially in my taijutsu. But you are young, and your lack of control sometimes worries me. To be a master in an art as dangerous as this, you first need to be able to not use it." At that, he looked her straight in the eye. "Am I clear?"
"Yes, Sensei," she replied. "May I speak now?"
Having said his piece, the old man nodded. "You may."
"The only reason I thought I should intervene was because Naru had incited Taito to win," she said, throwing barbs and blames at the blond, not that Naruto denied it. "And Taito is not above using lowly tactics. Naru would have a more difficult time controlling the damage since he was a sitting duck."
She turned to glare at him. Naruto could hear Sasuke's huff, agreeing with Ran's assessment as he fixed the odd angle of the blond's toe. The jinchuuriki gave him stink-eyes.
"Noted," said Sensei with a nod before turning to the blond, "And that leads to you." The blond swallowed as the old Hyuuga's attention was directed at him. "What is the most important tenet in The Art of War?"
Naruto froze. He had read that book once cover to cover, but he couldn't for the life of him recall anything from it in that moment. He thought and thought and smiled awkwardly.
The old man let out another frustrated breath. "Ran."
"'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.'" She paused to look at Naruto, scowling, "'If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.'"
"And that is exactly what happened when you confronted Taito today," said Sensei. "You neither knew what drives that boy nor considered your own limitation. You escalated things unnecessarily, and put other children in harm's way because you thought you could stop a fight from breaking." The old man huffed. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
The blond swallowed. With the gift of hindsight, he knew that what he had done was so ill-conceived it bordered on moronic. But it didn't feel wrong. Not doing anything felt wrong. "Look, I know I'm dumb," he said, "but I still don't understand why you let that punk harass Ran like that. Shouldn't you as an adult put that guy in line? What if he goes on to bully other kids, too?"
"That wouldn't happen," Sensei said with such conviction that made Naruto frowned.
"How could you be so sure?"
"I know him more than you do," was the old man's reply. "Taito is in an unfortunate position of being the third son of a successful bureaucrat, which means he has inferiority complex when it comes to his own self-worth in comparison to his two older brothers. That is why when he picks on someone, he picks the strongest not the weakest. Ran has unfortunately become his target, but she has been handling him well since he started school here."
For a second, Naruto found that he couldn't speak. "Are you saying this has been going on for a while now?"
It was hard to keep the anger off his voice. It was even harder to not feel his wrath rose when Sensei admitted that, "Yes."
Now, the blond was speechless. "How could you?" was the first thing he managed to say, and with that, the flood gate opened. "Just because Ran's the toughest one doesn't mean you can just use her as a shield for other-"
"Why do you care anyway?" Naruto quickly turned to the girl as she stared at him with the fury of a thousand suns. "You're here whenever you please and go whenever you please. You do whatever you like, and you have the audacity to think you know what's best for us- "
"Ran-"
"-Why don't you just fuck off!"
Her screamed felt like a punch to his face, just as her slamming the door a second later. He didn't know why he was surprised. After all, he knew this was coming someday.
Sensei let out a sigh. "She's entering a difficult phase," he said. "Do try to forgive her."
Naruto shrugged. He didn't blame her for acting up. He couldn't even if he tried. He knew one day she was going to hate him enough to say it to his face. It seemed like finally the day had come.
/***/
End of Chapter 51
A/N: Actually, the Japanese saying for 'the pot calling the kettle black' is literally translated to 'the eye scum laughing at the snot,' which sounds a little too mean-spirited in this context (I also don't know the context of how to use it) so I stick to the English version.
Hppyy Thank you! I'm sorry it's going be slow(er) for a while because I don't have a lot of new content yet. (I tend to write in arcs, but these coming ones are not easy, my friend.) But I hope to see you around.
xxAngelClairexx Thank you so much for your generous review! (Both in length and content.) I'm very, very moved. I honestly didn't think I had the ability to make people feel so intensely. I mean, I think tend to put in too much drama or being over-dramatic. I'm really not a good comedic writer (as in being able to sustain the story using comedy and not just for occasional jokes) so this is kind of what I know how to write. I'm sorry about all the tears, even though some of them are entirely intentional. Please have a box of tissue and a bottle of water for replenishment.
I also have to apologize in advance that there are still more shitstorms to come. We have Itachi, Danzo, the shinobi system in general, and Konoha in particular still to deal with. And they do not play to our boys' advantage at all. And, yes, Sasuke will be confessing in this coming arc. He's wholly ready for it now (at last!), but I don't know if I can say the same about Naruto. I hope I can give you more insight into Naruto's character in this and the next couple of arcs because we are going to be interrogating him and his messed up psyche, now. The thing is, I think Naruto is as much of a mess as Sasuke is, but he just hides it very well because he's made passing off his key survival skill. And so he comes off as totally reasonable and normal when in fact he's far from being psychologically stable or healthy. And that's what make him fascinating and frustrating to write. And, yes, more mess is coming.
If you want a break, may I suggest my other AU story "Tea for Two" to heal your soul in the meantime? I know it's shameless self-promotion, but I wrote that to heal myself from the hot mess that is Uzumaki Naruto, so it might help you, too, hopefully.
InvisibleNinja12 Thank you! And Naruto is definitely getting better, so yeah!
Brenda247 I know, right? Chapter 50 AND THEY HAVEN'T KISS YET (shouting up to the sky). But well, our boys are idiots so what can we do. I agree. The shinobi politics is unfair. It's born out of might and control (which I guess you can argue that all politics are), but when people are literal weapons, it adds a layer of complexity to it that, frankly, I was disappointed that Kishimoto never talked about it. I don't know how well I can talk about it that since I'm not a student of political science of anything, but the storyline is heading there. I'd probably need a break to think it through.
Guest Ha! Take that, Naruto! Well, Sasuke's not keeping it right now, but he's been showing the capability, right? He totally should have it. And how do you find Sensei? :) I feel like he and Neji would have gotten along if they had known each other.
