Chapter 7: Past Regrets, Present Connections
Upload Date: 2/21/2020
The earth shook with contemptuous ease, followed by tempestuous winds that shook and battered all who stood before the demon of their nightmares, the subject of their eternal hatred. Even the most powerful of their forces, abused by the war efforts, fatigued by the endless waves, were forced to their knees by the wrathful god's attack.
"Shikaku… Inoichi…"
His eyes burned as tears carved a trail down his grimy cheeks. He hadn't known them all that well. He'd only known of them, of who they were.
Fathers. Shika and Ino's.
"Naruto-kun!"
He turned around, away from the tearful teammates and watched, helpless as the blue haired girl moved herself between him and imminent death. How many times had he seen this moment? How many more times will he have to see it? His lips moved without his command, yet he already knew of what he would say, the sound burned into his lasting memory.
"Neji!"
The blue haired girl turned her head around in surprise. So focused was she on his well-being that she had completely ignored the expanded field of vision given by her dōjutsu.
"Nii-san!"
A grunt of pain joined the desperate cry of fear. His tears continued unhindered. He wasn't hurt by the onslaught of chakra-laced spikes, so why did his heart ache so much? Why did his stomach twist itself into knots?
He scrambled towards the downed form of his friend. Every step he took, every foothold he gained seemed to put him even further away from the green outline of his friend's jacket.
"Neji! You bastard!"
His friend smiled at him.. Blood stained his teeth and gums, pouring from his lips and from the surely fatal wound that punctured through his abdomen.
"Free," he'd whispered reverently. "I'm finally free."
NO! NO!
"NO!"
Naruto jerked awake, thrashing against the confines of his sheets. His hand went straight for his chest, grasping away at a nonexistent object, seeking its comfort.
Nothing.
For the second time in as many minutes, he panicked, frantically searching the folds of his blanket for what he had assumed would be there. After a few seconds, his sleepy, grief-stricken thoughts caught up to his actions and halted his actions.
"Not again." Sweeping his gaze to the analog clock on his wall, he wiped at his teary eyes to properly read the clock. "Not even three hours-ttebayo."
Midnight had come and gone, leaving it only one in the morning and long before the sun would grace the world with its warmth. Climbing out of bed, he quickly got dressed, doing everything he could to drag his mind away from the emotional rabbit hole that had cropped up. It wouldn't do well to dwell on the deaths of those he no longer knew. It wouldn't help to see the world in the depths of hell once again.
Silently spawning a clone, it wordlessly took his place in bed in the event his sensei decided to check up on him again. He grabbed the blue jacket that bore the crest of the Uchiha Clan and hopped out of the window with nary a sound. It was nights like these that drove him to train until the sun breached over the horizon. He trained until his bones ached and his muscles screamed in protest because of these restless nights.
Nightmares, he could handle. Nightmares are of the imagination, a mix of the subconscious and the imagination. But these? They weren't nightmares; they were memories. Nightmares aren't real. The fear that they bring is potent, but fleeting. Real… yet not. The fear that came with these memories though, were far too real. They are a testament to his failure, not just as a shinobi, but also as a friend.
The cold night air did the trick, pilfering the last vestiges of sleep from his mind. He could sense several groups of ANBU hopping along the rooftops and following him, if only to verify his identity before veering away and continuing their routes. He could even see some jōnin return from their missions as they headed straight for the Hokage Tower and its Mission Registry. Where most people would sleep at night, it is actually during this time that shinobi villages truly come alive.
During the day, only a handful of jōnin could be seen along the rooftops, a strategic move used to reassure the civilians. At least, that's what Izumi taught him. Letting them see their protectors was an easy way to assuage the fears of the people. He knew better than anyone else how fear and paranoia could lead to civil distrust.
Naruto wanted, more than anything, to head towards Training Ground Forty Four, to tear up the deadly forest in his pursuit of a clear mind. But he couldn't. The villages' Chūnin Exams are currently underway, preventing him from entering the forest without starting a war with the other villages. He wasn't stupid enough to start the Fourth Shinobi World War for something as simple as some late night training.
Instead, he directed his path towards his favorite place in the village. Well, his second favorite place. Nothing tops Ichiraku's.
Sitting down on his father's head and leaning back on his palms, an explosive sigh parted his lips. Looking out over his beloved home, he felt his stomach churn as his mind dredged up his memories of the war. With his Kurama Mode chakra shared amongst the shinobi and active Sage Mode, he could feel the presence of every person. He could still remember the emptiness that came as each ninja fell, be it to the Jūbi or the Fissioned Beings birthed from the flesh of that accursed creature. His hand clutched at his chest, trying to dull the ache of his heart. As a Sage and as someone who values life above all else, it'd hurt to personally experience the death of so many at once.
Knowing that sleep would be out of his reach, Naruto laid down on the stone carving of his father's head and stared at the night sky above. The three year training trip with Jiraiya, although not as fruitful as he would have liked, had allowed him to travel across the continent without any fear of being hunted by the Akatsuki and without the hustle and bustle of mission objectives. He was just a boy and travelling the world with his godfather. They'd spent nights together, out in the wilderness, where the Toad Sage had regaled his many experiences to young Naruto.
Back then, he was too much of a brat to just enjoy the peace and quiet of a restful night with someone who cared about him. Now, he knew better. The sky above was barely speckled with stars, a stark contrast to the starry nights he'd spent out in the wild with his team and with the white-haired Sennin. His eyes closed, letting the gentle winds that managed to make it into the valley of the village cool his heated skin.
"You can come out now, Yūgao-chan." Out from the shadow of a nearby hair spike, the aforementioned girl stepped out of hiding. Her arms were crossed with an unimpressed frown on her face.
"Shouldn't you be in bed by now, Naruto-kun?"
"I should be," he answered honestly, turning his head to look at her, "but you know how nightmares can be."
Her frown lightened and her arms uncrossed. Her squad was currently on leave from their mission rotation, so they had time to relax and unwind after their series of missions. She was out for a late night run amongst the rooftops, something she'd picked up from the blond jinchūriki, when she saw him bolt towards the Hokage Monument. She had given chase with aspirations of yelling at the idiot for being up so late despite not having any missions, but the brief glimpse she'd caught of his face stayed her tongue. He looked haunted, and not like the fear of a child waking from a nightmare.
He'd looked like some of her superiors. In particular, the ones who had survived the Third Shinobi World War.
She walked over and sat down next to him. Picking his head up, she carefully placed it within her lap and ran her fingers through his hair. She kept her eyes on his face, aware of every muscle twitch. Between the two weeks that it had taken Izumi's mom to set up Naruto's room and convince her daughter to get him to move in, the two had spent many nights together, along with the rest of Tatsumaki, running along the rooftops using nothing but their muscle strength. No chakra enhancement whatsoever.
It was, quite possibly, the first time she'd had fun since she'd joined ANBU.
It was silly, really. Simple nights of freerunning along the rooftops with her team and their charge were far more memorable than the deadly missions she'd taken over the course of her short career. Those missions made her bond with her team, of course, but there was something about that blond that was so approachable. She didn't know what it was. Perhaps her senpais knew what it was. It couldn't be the happy-go-lucky attitude. Practically every child had that.
No. It had to be something else.
"Thanks, Yū-chan." Her cheeks flushed at the too intimate nickname.
"Baka," she reprimanded, pinching his cheek. "You only give nicknames like that to a girl that you like."
"But I do like you, Yū-chan!"
Oh boy. Why did she have to be the one to explain the difference between "liking" someone and "like liking" someone?
"I meant a girl you could see yourself spending the rest of your life with."
"Well, I could spend the rest of my life with you-ttebayo!"
Motherfucker! Either he's the cutest, most innocent idiot or the smoothest Cassanova. For the sake of what's left of her moral compass, it had better be the first one. Her cheeks even redder now than it was before, she looked away from him.
"Baka! You don't say that without meaning it!"
"But I do mean it!" He took her hand, which had been stroking his hair and placed it against his cheek, never letting go. "I can't see my life without you in it-ttebayo."
"My oh me. It appears that my jinchūriki isn't as innocent as he lets on, already playing with the heart of a girl seven years his senior." The Kyūbi's voice broke through the silence that had followed his declaration, as Yūgao did her best to come up with a coherent response.
"What are you on about, Kyūbi-chan?"
"Hmm. Nothing. You'll know when you grow older."
"Y-You can't go around saying things like that!" Yūgao stuttered. "You save that stuff for a romantic partner!"
"Romantic… partner?" Naruto tilted his head to the side, somewhat confused by the notion.
Truth be told, it wasn't an act. The idea of a romantic partner seemed novel. He'd chased after Sakura before, obviously, but he'd never given it thought. He was just seeking attention from someone he thought was his friend. After Izumi forced him to read - could being forced to read be considered cruel and unusual punishment? - he'd realized that his ideas of love have been shallow. He'd chased Sakura only because she was pretty, because he thought she was a friend. He'd followed her every whim and hated Sasuke for no other reason than he had her attention and Naruto did not. Nothing more.
"Naruto-kun?" Yūgao's thumb brushing across his whiskers drew his fluttering eyes towards the purple haired girl. She was no longer blushing, her brows furrowed together in a look of worry. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"About love?" She shook her head.
"About your nightmares."
He didn't. He really didn't. What was he going to tell her? "Oh yea, I'm a seventeen-year-old reincarnated war hero into his five-year-old self and now I'm having flashbacks of how I failed to protect my friends." He might as well go up to Ibiki and ask for a personal torture session from the scarred veteran.
"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, but I'm here for you." She didn't know what he was going through, but that was the point of telling him this, so he knew that she was more than willing to listen to his troubles.
"Thanks, Yū-chan," he acknowledged her efforts, "but I can't." Her frown deepened in obvious distaste.
"Can't, or won't?"
"Both," he admitted. "It's not something I can share."
"Oh." She sounded incredibly disappointed. "I see."
She clearly didn't. She probably thought he was just holding out on her. Prior to moving in with the Uchihas, they had spent enough time together to be considered friends at the very least. To him, she is a friend, a break from the constant self-imposed training and the training regimen Izumi had set out for him. Sure, Satsuki was closer to his age, but she was too standoffish, even at this age, to be a conversationalist.
Izumi is his sensei, first and foremost, so there was a sort of barrier between them. She would hand him a scroll and he would be off, using whatever clones he could to learn the jutsu or process the information. They've had their share of moments, the night she'd spent in his bed springs to mind, but those have been few given how engrossed he has been in his training.
Yūgao is an outlet for him as much as he is to her. Within her line of work and with the timetable established by the ANBU, there was little time for friends, even amongst her fellow colleagues. And with her three year probation under a veteran squad leader coming to an end, it would soon be her turn to lead squads of her own. No S-ranked suicide missions, obviously, but she will be leading her squads on clandestined operations into enemy territory. This will eat away even more of her time back at home unless they are during the two week break period.
To her surprise, the blond had easily filled in the role of a friend and confidant. Her squadmates could have easily filled in that role as well. Taka (Hawk) is from the same class at the Academy, where they'd shown promise and joined ANBU together. Buta (Boar) is an experienced shinobi, around ten years her senior, though he was too inexperienced during the Third Shinobi War to join the frontlines like Kakashi. Kuma (Bear) is a grizzled war vet, yet he is as kind as they came. Well, as kind as one could be in their line of work, which wasn't very kind, to be honest.
Yet, with their friendship and camaraderie came a sense of expectation. Not from them, but from herself. She didn't want to appear weak to her team. She refused to be seen as weak in a squad of males. She knew her own impulsive expectations, a byproduct of her upbringing as an orphan, were as illogical as they came, but she couldn't help it.
With Naruto, she didn't feel the same pressures. No self-imposed expectations of herself, no secrets that he wished to hear from her like Taka. She knew her classmate and fellow team member had a crush on her; he'd even joined ANBU for that very reason. The thought was sweet, but she couldn't reciprocate the way he felt. He was far too engrossed in the way he felt. It was as if he'd romanticized the idea of who she is.
Naruto was just someone she could talk with. He didn't judge, he didn't mock. He just accepted. She couldn't tell what it was about him that told her to open up. She knows of his status, she knows of his loneliness, but neither of those things explained his capacity for emotional connection.
He has only seen six winters, a child in every sense of the word. He has been ostracized, cast aside by the very village he is protecting. Her psychological training told her that his current social interactions, or lack thereof, should have caused his emotional development to be stunted. Humans are social creatures; interpersonal connections are important, especially so for an impressionable child. When ostracized or isolated from human interaction, humans become more observant of social cues and physical expressions. However, this increased perception is supposed to come at a cost: understanding.
Even though the person becomes much more perceptive and in tune with the actions and cues of others, they lose the ability to properly interpret those actions. Without the direct human contact necessary to personally display these cues and emotions, those who are isolated will be more likely to perceive an action or emotion as negative, even if it was to the contrary. These perceived negatives would then further isolate the person, leading to a cycle of self-imposed isolation and dissociation.
Naruto showed none of this emotional ineptitude.
Instead, he seemed to have an innate understanding of what people feel, regardless of what is physically displayed. As an ANBU whose face was hidden by a porcelain mask and trained to be the best of the best, she gave out no physical cues or emotional tells, yet Naruto could home in on her every emotion with ease. And she wasn't alone in her observations. The others in her team have also noticed their charge's ability to pick up emotions without establishing visual contact.
"Yū-chan."
"Yes, Naru-chan?" The childlike title made him pout, though the expression barely lasted a second.
"Thank you for being my friend." He reached up with his hand and brushed it against her cheek. She smiled and rested her palm against his cheek, shaking her head.
"No. Thank you for being my friend." Naruto blinked, confused. "You have been keeping me company almost every night that I have off back in Konoha." She brushed her thumb over his whisker marks. "I don't know what it is about you, little fox, but you got me to open up to you when I couldn't even do so with my teammates."
"I'm just that awesome-ttebayo!" She giggled and flicked her middle finger against his nose. "Ow!"
"Look at the ego on this one!" She laughed as Naruto pouted up at her. "If you're not careful, I'm gonna tell Izumi-chan to beat it out of you." Her threat seemed to get through to him, if the gasp of shock is to be believed.
"You wouldn't do that would you?! Izumi-sensei is brutal!"
"Only if you promise to keep that ego in check." Holding up her pinky, she teased the blond. "Pinky promise?"
"Pinky promise!" Naruto smiled and wrapped his pinky around hers. The two shared a laugh at the silly gesture, a rare moment of childlike youth in a world of assassins.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Yūgao hummed to herself as she walked to her regular hangout, a small shinobi-run café called The Sleepy Shuriken. From afar, she could already see her friends seated at their regular spot, a window-side booth, with drinks in hand.
"Yū-chan!" She had barely made it through the door when her friends called out to her.
Kurenai Yūhi, chūnin of Konoha and one of the most proficient genjutsu users of their village, barring the Uchiha and their dōjutsu. Dressed in a crimson shirt and black jeans that matched her rippled eyes and brought out her pale complexion, her friend is one of the most beautiful girls of their age. A definite heartbreaker.
Hana Inuzuka, recently promoted chūnin and practicing veterinarian of Konoha. Her brown hair is cut to shoulder length, leaving it free to bob and sway with every movement. Her cheeks are adorned with the marks of her clan, a pair of downward facing purple triangles that represented the fangs of her clan. Wearing a brown fur lined jacket, the tomboyish girl didn't flaunt her beauty, but didn't hide it either. Faded blue jeans and a plain white shirt helped complete her tomboy apparel.
Last but not least, Anko Mitarashi, chūnin and the former apprentice of Orochimaru. Wearing an open tan jacket over her maroon shirt with a matching tan skirt, the purple-haired teen tied her long hair into a spikey, haphazard ponytail, not too unlike a pineapple.
"Hey girls." Of course, Anko was the first one to catch onto her good mood.
"Damn baby! What got you in such a good mood? Finally popped your cherry?"
"Anko!" Kurenai came to her defense immediately, appalled by the idea. "She didn't 'pop her cherry,' as you put it. If she did, she would be limping."
Never mind. That's not really coming to her defense.
"Tch!" Why is Anko so avidly trying to get her to lose her V-card?! "If you want, I could hook you up, Yū-chan!"
"No, I'm good." She sat down beside Hana, petting the Haimaru brothers, who sat beneath her feet. "Just had a really good morning." Hana, with her ridiculous sensitive nose, immediately knew what she was talking about.
"You didn't lose your virginity, but you did spend time with a boy."
"Hana!" Damn her and that stupid nose! "Ugh." Her forehead thunked against the table, clattering the cups and dessert plates. "Yes."
"Was it Whiskers?"
"Yes, it was Whiskers." ANBU training be damned, there was no way for her to keep the exasperation out of her voice.
"Well, don't hold out on us, girl! How was your morning with your boy toy?" Anko, being the curious person she is, was more than ready to grill one of her besties for all the juicy details.
"Anko! Naruto-san is only six years old. Have some decency. Yūgao wouldn't go for someone that young." Kurenai was too quick to chastise Anko, completely missing the blush on Yūgao's face as she recalled the events of the early morning. "Right, Yūgao?"
"Yūgao-chan?" This time, it was Hana who called out to her, shaking her shoulders and lifting her head. "Are you… blushing?"
"No!" The squeak in her voice and the red on her cheeks didn't help.
"No way!" Anko declared, wide eyed and smirking like she just won a lifetime supply of dango. "You're totally digging the little bastard!"
"Am not!"
"Pssh!" Anko waved her hand, shooting down Yūgao's denial with ease. "You can't bullshit a bullshitter. Now spill!"
Her eyes darting back and forth between Kurenai and Hana, she recognized the glint of interest in their eyes. They wanted to know as well. So either she spills it now, or they'll annoy her until she does.
"'Best friends', my ass."
So, against her will and under the scrutiny of her closest friends, she was forced to divulge the interaction she had with Naruto earlier that morning.
"I fucking knew it! You wanna jump his bones!"
"I don't!" Yūgao immediately denied. "He's cute, but he's too young."
"So you would be into him if he was older?" Damn Kurenai and her smarts.
"No? Yes? I don't know?" What was she supposed to say? He's definitely cute, but she didn't know enough about him to give a proper answer. "I guess he's… alright but I don't know enough about him. And again: he's too young! I don't think he even knows what girls are yet."
"Ha! He definitely knows what girls are after he told you when you were on your period!" Anko laughed, remembering the embarrassment on her bestie's face when she'd told them about that day.
"Ugh!" Yūgao hid her hands in her face. It was starting to look like red was going to be a permanent part of her facial expressions.
"Well, what can you tell us about him aside from the fact that he has whiskers?" Hana, the more inquisitive of the three, raised the question.
"Yea, what can you tell us about the gaki?" Yūgao's only reprieve from the endless teasing of her fellow purplette was the stick of dango in Anko's hands. Can't grill someone if your gob is stuffed full of sweets.
"Better get it over with now rather than later," she admitted. Her friends are goddamn persistent. "He's cute."
"Obviously," the other three teased.
"He is… a surprisingly good listener." That little tidbit seemed to throw her friends off.
"Uzumaki-san? 'A good listener?'" Kurenai, the brightest of the three, couldn't help but blink in surprise. "Are you sure, Yūgao?" From what she'd heard of the boy in the village, he has shown little to no ability to hold still, let alone listen.
"Yea, I'm sure." She stole a dango from Anko's plate, prompting an indignant yell from the Snake Mistress. "He listened to me rant about Hayate, he's listened to me rant about my missions. And he doesn't just listen, he remembers. And… that chakra…" She gave an involuntary shiver as she recalled the veritable flood of power that was used to keep her warm, catching her lip between her lips to hold back any sounds that might be damning her to even more embarrassment.
Eyes wide and lips parted, her friends couldn't believe what they were seeing and hearing. His chakra couldn't possibly feel that good, could it?
"And those whiskers on his cheeks are actually sensitive enough to make him purr." Yūgao bit back a squeal as her hands clapped against her cheeks, starry eyes clouded over as she recalled the last time she got to play with his whiskers. "He purrs!"
Now, that. That really got their attention.
"He… purrs?" Her best friends blinked in surprise, confusion and interest.
Back in the Uchiha compound, Naruto shuddered as he helped Mikoto prepare breakfast. For some strange reason, he felt the sudden urge to Henge and remove his whiskers.
"Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" Mikoto looked over at him in worry, afraid he was coming down with something based on the way he shuddered.
"Uhm… yea, Oba-chan. I'm fine. I… kinda feared for my life for a second there-ttebayo." Mikoto giggled.
"Maybe your 'Yū-chan' finally told her friends about your whiskers." Mikoto smirked and brushed the back of her hand against Naruto's whiskers, prompting him to purr and lean against her knuckles before snapping out of it and blushing profusely.
"Oba-chan! Stop it-ttebayo!"
"Oh, don't be like that, Naruto-kun. It's cute!"
"But I'm not supposed to be cute, damn it!" He kept the thought to himself, however. Cursing in front of Mikoto is a surefire way to get your mouth washed with soap.
Suddenly, the feeling of fear returned full force when he felt a familiar gaze on the back of his head. His spine went stiff as the tingle of fear trailed down his spine. Turning around, his eyes landed upon his sensei. Normally, seeing his sensei promoted a sense of happiness and fulfillment. This time, it only caused fear, confusion, and uncertain excitement, something that made him even more confused.
Her familiar black eyes are now glossed with a glassy stare, like she was focused on something other than what she could actually see. Her pink lips, slightly parted though no sound could be heard from her. Her ivory cheeks are dusted with shades of pink.
"Naruto-kun… purrs…"
"Ah. Fuck me-ttebayo."
"Yup! He purrs!" Yūgao nodded happily. Her friends, on the other hand, are less than convinced.
"I dunno, Yū-chan." Ever the skeptic, Anko was the first to speak up. "What kinda weirdo purrs?"
"He does!" Yūgao pouts. "Look, I'll prove it to you. He usually starts training with Izumi-chan around eight. We'll join them, Training Ground Six."
The girls still weren't convinced, but they accepted the opportunity to see their friend again without complaint. Then, they'll see about this "purring."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Yūgao, Kurenai, Anko, Hana and the Haimaru brothers sat amongst the trees, watching Naruto and Izumi as they sparred against one another with taijutsu in the grassy clearing. To Kurenai and Anko, who had attended the Academy and played their parts, albeit minor ones, in the Third Shinobi World War, the spar was nothing special. Hana, who is the same age as Itachi, was a little more impressed with the strength, agility, and reflexes displayed by the six year old as he tried to keep up with the prodigy in taijutsu. Yūgao, who has seen far deadlier fights in her stint as ANBU, was busy analyzing the two fighters, and thinking about getting to play with those whiskers.
In the midst of their spar, Izumi gave a faint smile, having noticed her friends seated amongst the trees. If she could see them, it meant that Naruto could sense them.
"Do you want to take a break, Naruto-kun?" She spoke softly, just loud enough for Naruto to hear. He seemed rather surprised, and disappointed, by her suggestion.
"Um. Sure." He'd honestly wanted more time training his reflexes and strikes against his sensei, but a short break wouldn't hurt. A feminine hum of disapproval followed his line of thought.
"You should not be so focused on your goal of preventing the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto." This time, it was Miko who had spoken up, her voice deeper and huskier than that of Kagura's.
"How could you say that, Miko-chan? You should know that-"
"I know that you want to prevent your friends from suffering through the same fate," she cut him off, already knowing what he was going to say. "But a person often meets their destiny on the road he took to avoid it."
"I-"
"Nagato also devoted everything he had into the very concept of peace, one that he and his friends had dreamed of, yet look how that turned out." He didn't want to admit it, but she had a point. "In his pursuit of peace, he stopped caring about those closest to him." She gave him a moment to think over her words. "Would you ever want to forsake your friends to pursue the same path, no matter how noble or beneficial it may be for them?"
"No, but…" he stopped. He couldn't quite come up with any rebuttal against her words, despite his need and desire to protect his friends against the hell that is to come.
"The war will come, Naruto," Miko stated matter-of-factly. "Perhaps this time, you will have the strength to protect those you consider precious. But all of your efforts would be for naught, if they see you as nothing more than a stranger - a hero - and not a friend."
With that, she left him alone to his thoughts as he walked alongside his sensei, headed for the treeline where her friends had been seated. His eyes were locked with the ground, barely giving his body any conscious thought as he moved one leg in front of the other, lost in a haze of indecision.
On one hand, he needed all of the advantages he could get his hands on to prepare himself for the war against Madara and the Akatsuki. Fighting against all S-ranked shinobi is a challenge, to be sure, but he is an S-ranked ninja in his own right. Having fought alongside his team against Kaguya, someone whose prowess is at least SSS-ranked, fighting some undead assholes, an explosives enthusiast, a talking fish-man and a pedo snake suddenly doesn't seem so bad. Especially when he could still feel the power of the Rikudō Sennin hiding beneath his chakra.
On the other hand, Miko is right. Preparing himself for war against a menagerie of highly skilled opponents is a monumental task, one that would be much easier if he had people he could trust at his back. Team Ten, Team Gai, and Team Eight are all invaluable to the war effort. And more than just that, he'd missed them. Over the past several months, he'd often caught himself falling back on old memories, thinking of the times he'd spent training with Team Seven and went out to eat with Team Ten. He missed his friends.
"Fine," he sighed. "You win, Miko-chan."
A soft hand wrapped itself around him, snapping him out of the daze. He couldn't even utter a sound of surprise before he was yanked forward, forced to move by an excited purple-haired girl.
"Yū-chan? What's the hurry?"
"I want you to meet my friends!" Of course, she didn't say the real reason. "And show them your whiskers!"
Looking ahead, he caught sight of her friends. Though they were younger, he had no trouble recognizing them for who they were. Anko Mitarashi. The crazy snake lady from the Chūnin Exam's second trial. Kurenai Yūhi. Asuma-sensei's future lover and sensei of Team Eight. The only one he didn't recognize was the Inuzuka and her ninken triplets. While the Inuzuka girl was around Izumi's age, the others were a bit older, pushing around maybe sixteen to seventeen.
"These are my friends," Yūgao started, now standing behind him with her hands on his shoulders. "This is Anko." She gestured towards the older purplette.
"'Sup, gaki?" She gave him a wink and a two-fingered salute.
"This is Kurenai."
"Hello, Uzumaki-kun." The raven-haired beauty gave a formal bow.
"And last, but not least, are Hana and her ninken, the Haimura brothers."
"Nice to meet ya!" The Haimura brothers didn't share her enthusiasm, however, as they all took a step back from him. "Uhh. Sorry about them, they're normally not like this."
He knew what the problem was before anyone could say anything: they could sense his tenant.
"It's fine, they'll warm up to me eventually." Just wait until he started using Sage Mode around them. They wouldn't be able to stay away.
Whatever thoughts he had on the subject was put aside when Anko kneeled down to eye level with him, not breaking eye contact. He wouldn't have thought anything was off it if Yūgao hadn't slightly tensed up and held a little more tightly onto his shoulders. Neither of them had any ill intent, which kept him from outright bolting across the training ground to hide behind his sensei, but the way Anko stared at him was rather disconcerting.
"Anko-san?" He was quite apprehensive about where this was going.
"Hmm?"
"Umm… why are you staring at me like that?" There was a pause in the conversation as Anko built up the suspense.
"Whiskers."
Naruto stood there, the word rattling around in his skull as he tried to figure out what she meant. It didn't take particularly long.
"Damn it. Mikoto-oba-chan was right." He gave Yūgao the saddest, most kicked puppy dog look he could achieve. "Yū-chan. Help?"
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." To her credit, she actually looked guilty about sharing his unique disposition with her friends.
"You're the worst, Yū-chan."
By the time their little exchange had taken place, the rest of Yūgao's friends had already gathered around Naruto, focused solely on the whisker marks on his face.
"I've never seen anything like it, even with my clan!" Vet-in-training Hana Inuzuka was incredibly fixated on the birthmarks. Her clan, in spite of their affinity with their canid packmates and feral phenotypes, have never displayed anything that could have been misconstrued as whiskers. Yet here is this boy of unknown origins born with clear whisker markings on his cheeks.
"I don't know of any clans that would have markings like these," Kurenai supplied. "Do you, Anko?"
"Nah!" The cheerful purplette shook her head. "Even if they are from a clan, it wouldn't be one that was familiar with Konoha. If it was, someone from his clan would have already picked him up, don't you think?"
The other girls had to agree with Anko's assessment. It wasn't common knowledge, but there are a lot more clans within Konoha's walls than just the Akimichi, Hyūga, Inuzuka, Kurama, Nara, Sarutobi, Senju, Uchiha, and Yamanaka Clans. They were simply the most well-known clans, but that didn't make them the best. Simply the most renowned. However, not even Anko seemed to know of any clans, major, minor, or extinct that had such distinctive whisker-like features.
"Oi! I'm not a lab rat!"
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," Yūgao apologized. "You wouldn't mind it if they touched your whiskers, would you?" Naruto sighed. He knew what they wanted. Curse his stupid whiskers.
"You owe me three bowls of Ichiraku Ramen." Giving her the side eye, he couldn't even feel the thrill of being promised ramen as she nodded eagerly. "Alright… go ahead."
Purr!
The girls gasped quietly as they cautiously took turns brushing their thumbs across Naruto's whiskers. The quiet didn't last long.
"Kawaii~!" The three best friends had glomped onto the boy, squealing in delight.
Yūgao, who was more used to the cute purring, only giggled and pulled away as her friends practically smothered the boy in their embrace. Before the three could hold onto Naruto for much longer, they found themselves holding nothing but air as Izumi pulled her apprentice away from their clutches. Any hope Naruto had of being saved from further humiliation were dashed when she gave him a simple command:
"Five Kage Bunshin. Now."
And so, what was supposed to be his morning of taijutsu training with Izumi devolved into three hours of cooing females and purring clones. Even the ever calm and serious Izumi had taken a clone for herself and cuddled with him to the point of nearly popping the poor bastard multiple times. It was hard to tell if she just loved cute things or was being particularly vindictive with her petting given the nature of how she'd found out about Naruto's unique little feature.
Yūgao had taken her clone and fell asleep some time into the cuddle session, tired from being up for so long without any action. Leaning against a tree with the Naruclone in her lap, the scene was far too cute for the others to wake her up. ANBU, they knew, is absolute murder on the night squads' circadian rhythms. The warm morning sun, Naruto's natural body heat and calming aura certainly didn't help keeping the tired purplette awake either.
Anko, Hana, and Kurenai, on the other hand, were wide awake and took advantage of every moment they had with the purring boy, stroking his cheeks and whiskers while whispering amongst themselves about how cute he is. Most, if not all, kunoichi like to hide behind a mask of cold-hearted professionalism, making it incredibly rare for them to truly relax around others, especially strangers they'd just met hours previously. Now, for a few scant hours, they could lean back with their friends and be themselves.
This left Naruto with three hours of free time, so he decided to head out for a walk. Since his apprenticeship with Izumi is strictly off the books and he has no headband, there isn't much for him to do. No missions, no ninja library, and no training in the Forest of Death given the Chūnin Exams are still under way.
With nothing to do, his mind drifted away from reality. Memories of the past began to surface as his feet carried him throughout the memorised paths of the village. He heard none of the whispers and saw none of the glares. Even if he did, he'd developed a thick skin against such pointless shows of animosity. The condescending whispers and spiteful stares of civilians are worthless to someone who has stood before the likes of Orochimaru, Madara Uchiha and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
Doesn't make them any less annoying though.
Soon enough, he found himself back at the Uchiha Clan compound. As soon as he made it past the gates, he was nearly impaled by several kunai that had been thrown at him with impeccable accuracy. Only a sealless Kawarimi (Substitution) saved him from being turned into a human-shaped block of Swiss cheese.
"Che." His assailant gave an annoyed click of her tongue along with the sound of disappointment.
"'Tsuki-chan." He greeted the competitive girl with a wave off to the side, eyeing the collection of sharp metal objects that littered the poor log that had taken his place.
"Where's nee-chan?"
"What, no 'hello' for me?" When she simply pointed to the decimated log, he pouted. "This is the thanks I get for helping you learn tree-walking." He brushed past the girl and headed into the house, answering her question as he did so. "She's still at the training ground with her friends. I just came back early to tell Mikoto-oba-chan I won't be home for lunch."
"What's this I hear about you not being home for lunch?" The aforementioned woman walked around the corner, smiling at her godson.
"Hey, oba-chan. I'm going to Ichiraku Ramen with Izumi and her friends for lunch…" Naruto's words trailed off as his mind became occupied with the thought of indulging in his favorite food once more. Too bad his daydreams were ruined by a certain half-pint.
"What kind of ninja has an addiction to ramen?" Never one to back down from a challenge, Naruto fired back his own retort.
"What kind of person likes tomatoes?"
As expected, the little raven-haired girl flushed, though out of anger at having her favorite food insulted or out of embarrassment for her own hypocrisy, Naruto couldn't tell. Mikoto giggled behind her hand as her kids - yes, she saw Naruto as her own child - butted heads once again. Though both could act mature for their age, there were still moments of juvenile bickering. She valued these moments more than any others, reminding her that they were still kids. Her kids.
"Oh? And why are you going out to eat with Izumi and her friends?" The look she gave him was stern and rather protective. Like how Fugaku was rather protective of his daughters and any males who got near them, Naruto included, Mikoto is rather protective of Naruto and any female company he might keep, her daughters notwithstanding.
"Ramen… for whiskers." With those three words, Naruto sighed and his shoulders sagged, as if simply admitting it had caused what is left of his dignity to give him the middle finger and commit seppuku.
"You'd leave the village if Iwa promised you enough ramen…"
Naruto couldn't offer any comeback to Satsuki's jab. She isn't wrong… and since he isn't a shinobi…
"Ow!" Naruto held his head as a resounding smack filled the house.
"Don't even think about it, buster." Harisen in hand, Mikoto reprimanded him for even entertaining the thought.
"I wasn't-ttebayo!"
"So you were drooling for no reason?" With years of experience dealing with the hot-headed Kushina, Mikoto knew how to handle Naruto.
"I…" He gave up trying to deny it. "You can't blame me. A lifetime supply of ramen sounds really good…"
"Addict," Satsuki accused.
"Half-pint," Naruto smirked.
If there was one thing that Satsuki hated, it is how short she is compared to Naruto. She is three months older than he is, yet Naruto had somehow outgrown the girl in the short time that he'd lived with them. At first, they had assumed it was just Naruto's body responding to having sufficient nutrients, but after watching him grow twenty centimeters (eight inches) in a single year, they knew it had to be something else. But when all the medical tests they had on him had come back negative, they'd assumed it was either due to the fox or something caused by Naruto's chakra.
Despite being the very energy that powers the world as they know it, there is actually a lot they didn't know about chakra. Like, what is it about chakra that allows a dōjutsu to see it, but not others? At what point does chakra become visible to the naked eye and why? Why does opening the Eight Gates allow one's chakra to become visible? How could some jutsus be limited to the bloodlines of a clan, like the Hyōton of the Yuki Clan or the Mokuton, limited to only those with Hashirama Senju's cells?
"Huh… Since I'm Hashirama's chakra reincarnation, does that mean I can use Mokuton?"
"So your Yū-chan really sold you out to her friends?"
"Yup."
"So how did you make it back here with your cheeks intact?" For some reason, Mikoto seemed a little too interested.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Why?"
"Care to make me one? I… want an extra set of hands around the kitchen."
Thinking nothing of it, Naruto spawned a döppelganger without so much as twitching his fingers, showing his mastery over the kinjutsu.
"Thank you, dear." Taking the clone's hand, she led him to the kitchen. Disturbingly, the clone shot his progenitor a look of absolute murder.
"What's his problem?" Chalking it up to the personality quirks that have been known to crop up among his clones, he didn't think anything further on it.
"So… you wanna walk on water?"
The spark of happiness in her eyes told him everything he needed to know.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"You're getting a lot better, 'Tsuki-chan!"
Satsuki smiled at the words of praise/encouragement from the blond. Before the blond had come along, the only one she really connected with was her older sister. Being born into a family of prodigies, her life had been practically devoid of acknowledgement.
Her father, aptly named "Kyōgan Fugaku (Wicked Eye Fugaku)," is a prodigy in the use of Genjutsu: Sharingan, capable of weaving illusions so layered and complex that his enemies are said to die from mental stress before they could even realize they were in a genjutsu. She doubted one could die from being trapped in an illusion, but then again, she's never been trapped in one before.
Her mother, dubbed the "Sharingan no Entei (Fire Empress of the Sharingan)," is said to possess a Katon-nature so powerful that getting hit by her Katon jutsus are said to be like being baptized by Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. She didn't know how hot the Sun could really get, but if her mom managed to earn herself a moniker like that, it had to be pretty hot.
Then, there was her sister. Izumi Uchiha, coined as "Sharingan no Izumi (Izumi of the Sharingan)," is renowned throughout the village, at least according to her father, for graduating at the age of six and unlocking her Sharingan at the age of eight. She is perfect at everything she did. Perfect scores, perfect katas. Even her cooking is enough to make everyone drool!
Where did that leave her?
Even under the tutelage of her mother, learning how to read, write, and weave hand seals had been incredibly discouraging. Her sister had somehow managed to graduate at the same age she is currently at, yet here she is, still learning how to properly write. Sometimes, she almost felt like she didn't belong in the family. She is still rather young, yet she knew that she had some big shoes to fill if she ever wanted to step out of her family's shadow.
Then, he came along. It was like he'd just fallen out of the sky. Her sister had brought him home one day, becoming a permanent part of their lives. At first, she hated him. He'd called her sister "sensei." Not only that, but her mother fawned over him, taking care of him like she would herself or Izumi. Even her father seemed to be interested in the sudden addition to their household.
For the first time in her life, she was afraid. Afraid of being left behind. Was he here to steal away the one true connection she had to her family, the one person that made her feel like she belonged? Was she… getting replaced? Somehow, she'd managed to convince herself that it was exactly what was happening. And so, she lashed out at him. She'd pick fights with him, throw her training weapons at him when he wasn't looking.
He never rose to the challenge.
No matter what she did, he wouldn't pick a fight with her. They would butt heads, sure, but he never hit her or maliciously threw something at her. He was patient, kind. Just like her sister. She thought he was mocking her, flaunting the fact that he is her sister's student.
And she despised him for it.
One day, she'd caught a glimpse of him training, doing something that she had thought was impossible: walking up trees. It had caught her so off guard that she'd spent quite some time simply gawking at the gravity-defying feat. When she'd finally collected herself, she took off in the opposite direction, running away from the blond that made her feel so insignificant.
She spent the rest of the day hidden away from the rest of her family, training by herself amongst the trees that surrounded their clan home. She tried and tried to replicate the impossible feat that she'd seen the blond perform, but to no avail. When she had gotten too tired to continue, she'd fallen off of the tree she was trying to run up, scraping her hands and knees on the rough bark. The first reaction that had come to her mind was to cry, but through sheer determination, she'd managed to fight against the pain, leaving only small droplets of moisture in the corners of her eyes.
When she'd blinked to clear her eyes, he was there. It was all his fault! She wanted to push him away, to yell and scream at him.
So she did.
Through it all, he said nothing. He stood there, taking her yelling and screaming without a word of complaint. Once she'd exhausted herself, panting from pain, anger, and fatigue, he'd moved in. She closed her eyes shut, afraid that she'd pushed him over the edge, afraid that he would hit her.
He didn't.
Her eyes slowly opened when she felt him pick up her hands, looking over her peeled skin and bleeding flesh with sympathy. She said nothing as he spread a medical cream across her cuts and bandaged her wounds.
She didn't get it. Why was he helping her?
The silence between them dragged on as he finished treating her, only broken when she yelped in surprise as he tossed her onto his back, holding his hands behind her knees. A piggyback ride. He carried her back home, helping her hide her injuries from everyone but her sister. Even then, he'd left the choice of actually saying anything up to her.
It was the first secret she ever kept from her sister. The first of many to come.
The next day, she'd returned to that same place, deep within the forest and away from any prying eyes. This time, however, she wasn't alone. There, standing at the base of the tree, is the blond enigma that had been plaguing her mind.
What did he want? Was he here to make fun of her? Was he here to show off?
"Trust me," he said, taking her hand and walking up to the tree. She didn't, yet she had no reason not to, so she played along.
"Pour a little bit of chakra to your feet until you can get it to stick." He'd laid down on the ground at the base of the tree, pulling her down along with him until their feet were firmly planted against the base.
Is this how he did it? Didn't he just run up the tree until he'd gotten it right?
It had taken her ten different attempts, adding more and more chakra to her feet before she could make her feet stick to the trunk of the tree. Step one complete. Now, she had to walk. Here, he helped her too. He'd stood up, walking up the tree until he was an arm's length away from her and held both of her hands.
"Right."
"Left."
"Right."
"Left."
Step by step, foot by foot, he walked backwards up the tree as he called out to her which foot to move. Step by step, foot by foot, she moved in time with him. She didn't know how long it took. She didn't know how far she made it. All she could focus on was the sensation of her chakra flowing out beneath her feet and the blond boy who held her hands and guided her along.
Then, they did it in reverse. He walked forwards, guiding her back down the tree.
"Left."
"Right."
"Left."
"Right."
"Ground."
By the time she'd reached the ground, she was panting and sweating, her cheeks flushed as a minor case of chakra exhaustion made her body burn in protest. He'd then pointed up at the tree, her eyes instinctively following the trajectory of his hand. Somehow, he'd managed to mark the bark of the tree. A thin, yet distinct line carved its way across the diameter of the tree, marking her progress.
"Halfway up," she thought.
Everyday after that point, he would join her, just off to the side and watching as she slowly walked up the tree, focusing on every step. When she reached the top, three days later, he'd clapped for her. In her elation, she'd smiled at him.
And just like that, he was gone again, back to his own training regimen. Now, he was teaching her how to waterwalk using the same method. Though he still had to hold her hands five days into their little routine, every step she took was more confident, far less shaky than when she'd first stepped onto the shallow waters of a meandering creek.
Her loss of focus caused her to focus to slip, plunging her bare foot into the cool water below.
"Gah!" She squeaked out in shock as her foot was chilled by several degrees in a few short seconds. Her shock disrupted the steady current of chakra she was pumping through her feet, sending her other foot into the water as well.
Thankfully, the water was only ankle deep.
"I think that's enough for today 'Tsuki-chan." What? "You've been going at it for two hours. You'll be low on chakra soon."
"Two hours?" Looking up at the sky, she soon found his words to be true. In her thoughts, she hadn't realized that time had flown by without her notice.
"Fine," she muttered. With that, she jumped onto his back, making him yelp in surprise. "Tired. Piggyback ride."
She really wasn't tired. Enough said.
"Do I look like a horse to you-ttebayo?"
"No." As Naruto leaned down to pick up her ninja sandals, she finished her thought. "Horses don't give piggyback rides."
Heeyyyyyyyy. Ya boi doing an author's note after forever. This is a filler chapter that I've been working on and off for a bit. I have a layout for what I want chapter 8 to be, and it'll be battle-heavy. Anyways, read, react, review.
Smile and have a nice day!
