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nagi92 - You are going to get a scene with Naruto too. It's this chapter.

Sasuke speaks to Toru first. Naruto doesn't mind. Why should he? Toru's family and Naruto's seen how Sasuke's been tearing himself apart with the desire to talk to Toru but not having the time. And yeah, Naruto wants to speak with Toru as well, (wants to rage and scream and shout and never stop for a second), but he also needs to just… pause.

Naruto knows himself. He gets ahead of himself and is far too willing to jump in headfirst without thinking but he's also better than just doing that. When he has time to think and pause he can be better and be more prepared and-

And screaming at people, just lashing out when you're hurting and grieving and aching… That's a recipe for disaster. That's how your hurt someone and Naruto, no matter how he feels, doesn't want that. Maybe he shouldn't, but he loves Toru, still. Loves Toru more than he can ever say, (loves Toru like would-let-the-world-burn if Toru wanted it kind of love; it's scary and hurts but it's warm and Naruto loves with everything is, with all the self-destruction he is capable of, and that scares him sometimes but then he looks at his friends and family and can't imagine loving them less).

Naruto doesn't wait around, twiddling his thumbs, like he's waiting outside the Headmaster's Office to get issued a detention or something. He's not a child. Instead, he hustles Kakashi and Itachi away. It only takes a glance for Itachi to nod and turn around. They're not close like Sasuke and Itachi, but they're family and they're getting better. It's hard because Itachi did the worst thing he could to Sasuke.

He might not understand why Itachi took the actions he did, but he can only imagine how it felt to be so young and so scared and being told that this was how it had to end. Itachi's better now, trying more now, trying to do better. And if Naruto's good at anything, it's giving second chance.

Kakashi takes a little bit more effort to move. He kind of feels bad about it. Kakashi-sensei hates dealing with emotions most of the time, though he's gotten better at it over the years Naruto's known him, and this is one of the times Kakashi has wanted to clearly face his emotions straight-on. But Naruto's not about to have Kakashi-sensei stick around to see the aftermath of Sasuke's conversation with his wayward brother, (and yeah, Naruto trusts that it won't end in a tragedy but he also knows that people can be really, really awful and Toru's been gone for over a year—what if he's changed?). The worst part of it all, Naruto thinks to himself, is that Kakashi and Toru had been friends, kind of. Maybe. It'd been hard to see but it'd also been there. Toru left and Kakashi didn't even get a letter like the rest of them.

(But Naruto remembers sharing his message with Kakashi or, at least, sharing some of the things Toru had written when he'd been telling Kakashi that Toru was gone. It… Kakashi hadn't seemed mad or angry or anything. A little bit hurt, perhaps, but also thoughtful. Understanding, almost, like Kakashi could understand what drove Toru to take such actions. Naruto's never thought much about that. He hadn't wanted to.)

"You alright?" Sakura asks when it's only them in the deserted hallway.

Tilting his head, Naruto considers himself. Energy is buzzing beneath his skin and he kind of wants to scream at the top of his lungs. But his feet feel anchored to the ground and it's easy to breathe. "I will be," he says. "I just… want this over, you know?"

Sakura reaches out and Naruto shifts to her side easily. He loops an arm over her shoulders and she wraps an arm around his back. "Yeah," she says softly. "I hope it goes okay. With both of you."

"I think it will," Naruto says, fidgety but not showing it. There's nothing to promise that things will be okay, but he doesn't think it'll go badly. He hopes it won't, at least. "I just… Waiting."

Knocking their heads together lightly, Sakura hums. "Waiting," she agrees. "Gotta hate it."

There's nothing to say to that and so they sit and they wait. It's better than waiting alone, (anything's better than waiting alone), and Naruto rests his head on Sakura's shoulder and closes his eyes, while his teammate hums softly under her breath.

He doesn't know how much time pasts, doesn't try to keep count, before the door eases open on almost-silent hinges. He leaps to his feet, Sakura beside him, eyes wide as he stares at Sasuke and Toru. They look comfortable, a bit tired and a bit weary and teary-eyed, but they look comfortable with each other, arms thrown around each other and fitting ankle-to-shoulder against one another.

It looks like what had-once-been. It looks like what-will-be. It looks like what is.

Sasuke says something quietly to Toru who nods and lifts his arm off of Sasuke's shoulders. Then Sasuke is stepping forward, tugging Sakura and Naruto into a hug. Naruto breathes in, fights against tears in his eyes and he doesn't even know why they're there. Then Sasuke is stepping back.

"I'm going to go home," Sasuke says, glancing first to Sasuke and then to Sakura. Tilting his head backwards to indicate to Toru, he continues, "Someone's coming home." Sasuke's voice trembles with excitement and Naruto grins back, helpless to do anything else.

"I'll-"

Sasuke laughs and Naruto's shoulders relax. He hadn't even realised that he'd been so tense. "You've got a conversation to have," Sasuke says, voice just quiet enough so that Toru can't overhear them. Swallowing, Naruto meets Sasuke's gaze—and there's only kindness there, as always.

"You got this," Sakura says, hip-checking Naruto. Naruto smiles at his teammates, then nods and steps forward, meeting Toru's gaze, (and he looks cautious, uncertain, and he looks like a stranger like this; Naruto always felt like Toru was anything but hesitant).

As Naruto steps forward, Toru steps back, leaving space between him and Naruto. It's enough that Naruto can get through the door and shut it behind him, now in the room. The room is silent, but the silence doesn't feel heavy—but it's not quite comfortable either.

"So," Naruto says, breaking the silence, "Uzushio, huh?"

Toru tilts his head, "Uzushio," he agrees. When he says it, the word sounds like… like it's more than just a village. Like it's a saviour and a safe haven and something to love. Naruto only remembers what Toru's told him, stories and legends, but he feels like he can see it, beautiful and perfect and home, (and maybe one day it will be home to him too).

Pausing, Naruto searches for words to say. He's not sure what to say now. It feels like there's some canyon-wide gap between Toru and him and he doesn't know how to bridge it. All he knows is that Uzushio has something to do with it—and he shouldn't have to take that first step. It's on Toru to do that, (Naruto deserves better than Toru leaving him without telling him to his face, without explaining, and Toru taught him that).

In the end, it's Toru who breaks the silence, only heartbeats later. "I'm sorry," Toru says, sincerity clear in his voice. "Do you think you can forgive me one day?'

"Yes," Naruto answers immediately because that had never been in doubt. When he'll forgive Toru, how far in the future, all those things are in question—but never the fact he will one day forgive Toru.

Toru smiles, a small thing, but a clear one nevertheless. For another moment, they're at an impasse, unsure what to say. However, a thought strikes Naruto and he knows immediately what to ask. "How did Uzushio end up with so many jinchūriki?" Because he knows that jinchūriki are meant to stay with their villages. They'd been divided to balance the power of various countries and their respective hidden villages, though some rare cases had left their villages. But… Uzushio has not only one jinchūriki, but five.

"When Uzushio called home our people, she called out for anyone who needed a home," Toru explains. "Her voice swept the world and anyone who needed to hear her, or wanted to hear her, heard her. That included the jinchūrikis, as far as I'm aware. Fū left her village and Rōshi and Han let their wanderings lead them to Uzu no Kuni.

"Utakata, however, came later. We met him in Mizu no Kuni when we were helping their civil war. He was much more cautious than the others, but we fought alongside him and he fought with us and, well, you get close to people when you're fighting with them in a war. When the war finished, he agreed to join us."

"What about the other jinchūriki?" Naruto frowns. "Yagura?"

"Yagura isn't technically Uzushio's," Toru says. "He's Kiri's, but he'd been caught in a genjutsu for a while and been controlled. I won't go into it. It's his story to tell, but during the final battle for Kiri, we broke the genjutsu and he returned to himself. In the aftermath, he became Kiri's ambassador to Uzushio, which was why you met him in Uzushio."

Naruto nods in understanding. It all makes sense, (and something in his mind, a forgotten memory, shifts and a soft voice says 'come home' but then it's gone and Naruto never listened to it, he already had a home after all), but… "What did you mean 'when Uzushio called home our people'?"

Once again, Toru pauses, but more like he's trying to figure out where to start than struggling to answer. This, Naruto knows, is important. He can see it in the way Toru's shoulders straighten, the way his chin lifts, and it seems that although a year has passed, Toru still has many of the same mannerisms. He is still Toru.

"Before Uzushio's fall, there was someone called Toru Mizushima," Toru begins, (and an impossible idea is already forming in Naruto's mind, but he knows better than to discount the impossible—this is Toru they are speaking about after all). "When Uzushio found out about Kiri's invasion, it was Ayumu who was Uzukage. However, she died, was poisoned, as Uzushio planned and sent their people into hiding. The newly elected Uzukage was Toru, who did his best to keep his people safe. Above all else, if Uzushio was to fall, their people needed to be safe.

"And so the majority of Uzushio's citizens became refugees, running with Kiri at their backs. Some, however, stayed behind to buy their people time—Toru was amongst them. And when Uzushio fell, because it did in the end, Toru fell with it and… And Uzushio was there too, something not quite alive but not exactly just a village either. You see, when Ayumu and Toru had planned their people's evacuation, they'd planned to call their people back with seals too. But only they knew of it and with Ayumu dead, it left only Toru. But Toru died too.

"Except Uzushio didn't want her people to live homeless forevermore, so she offered Toru a choice." Toru lifts one shoulder, "And I accepted. A few decades later and I was born, and sometime after that I remembered. I'd been Toru Mizushima once and now I was Toru Uchiha. And it was in Konoha I found a home and a family and I was happy here. I was, I promise. But when the time came…" He trails off.

"Those people needed a home so you gave them one," Naruto completes. It makes sense. A lot of sense if Naruto's being honest. He knows what it's like to not have a home. Yeah, before he met Toru, he'd had an apartment, but it hadn't really been a home. It hadn't been warm or safe or a place he'd wanted to return to.

(Naruto understands because there's a part of him that will always be the little boy who was alone, who Toru opened his heart and his home to. There will always be some part of him lost in a storm and seeing Toru throw open a door, light escaping onto the street. There will always be some part of him that is lost and afraid and all too alone, and he will always remember that it is Toru who invited him inside.)

Toru smiles. "Exactly," he says. "I don't regret giving them one or the fact I left, but I regret hurting you and the way that I left."

It's not perfect, pretty far from perfect, but Naruto knows people aren't perfect. But they try and that's enough. Toru apologised and asked for forgiveness and gave so many more people a home. He let people be safe, let them laugh and smile without fear. And Naruto can't bring himself to hate Toru for that, only loves him all the more.

So he smiles, can't help the grin that stretches across his face. He leaps at Toru who catches him, like he's still only a kid and Toru's way taller than him, even if that's no longer the case. "I love you," Naruto says because it's really as simple as that, isn't it? He loves Toru and Toru was Uzushio's before he was born again and Toru created a safe harbour for anyone who needed a home.

"I love you too," Toru says and he sounds like he's about to cry.

Naruto's feet find the floor and he wraps his arms around Toru, squeezing like he'll never let go. "You're family," Naruto continues. "And maybe you had to leave for Uzushio and to help people, but now you have to stay in contact, okay? We're not going to lose you now that we've found you."

"No," Toru says quietly, "You're not about to lose me." He pauses for a second, then adds, "And you'll have to come to Uzushio some time. There aren't many, but we have some of the Uzumaki Clan. They'd love to teach you and show you the Clan Compound and share their history with you."

Naruto doesn't swallow and his eyes don't burn—or if they do, it's not because of what Toru's offered him. Naruto isn't searching for another family. He won't mind if his current one grows, but all he wants is Toru and his teammates and his friends in his life. Toru offering Uzushio, offering this village that he loves and left for, is important because it's important to Toru.

"I can't wait to see your village," Naruto says, even as he squishes his face into Toru's shoulder, breathing in the scent of him, (he hadn't realised he'd missed this too). "I'm sure it's perfect."

Toru hums. "I'm not sure if it's perfect," he says slowly. "But if you and Sasuke visit, it'd be as close to perfect as anywhere can get."

That, in the end, is what makes Naruto cry. He hides his tears in Toru's shoulder and lets himself cry. A hand rubs up and down his back comfortably, and Naruto can't help but smile.

Eventually, he pulls back. He feels somewhat tired, likely from crying, but he feels settled and happy too. He doesn't think life could get any better. He extends a hand to Toru, "Do you want to come home?"

Toru grips his hand, tight, and smiles. "I'd love to."

They find him as they use the rooftops to get home. Perhaps Toru should have expected it, considering that he's Uzukage and a familiar face even if not everyone knows his name, (but a number of people did—the majority of those in the Uchiha Clan Compound would know both his name and his face and they have surely seen him; but they're not the only ones Toru knows). Not to mention, there's Sasuke and Naruto and all their friends.

So really, there's no 'perhaps' around this. Toru should've expected it. But… Well, Toru's genin team had never been his family as such, only teammates with distant ties once they'd been promoted to chūnin. Toru entering ANBU had likely only further distanced them from each other and while he loves his genin teammates, he doesn't necessarily know them that well anymore.

(They mean something to each other because of what they once had, not what they still have. They love each other for what they have and the memories they created together. Maybe they're no longer close, maybe they grew apart, but that doesn't matter. They had something once, had been close friends once, and that's all that needs to matter.)

It's not like Toru hadn't had friends either. While he hadn't necessarily been really close with anyone outside his teammates, there had been Iruka. Iruka who'd been a good friend and never pushed Toru and had helped out because he could, not because he was asked to. Iruka who cared for the boys and also for Toru.

Iruka who Toru had left behind too.

(How many friendships can you break and repair? What do you do when someone doesn't want to repair that friendship? You let them go and you mourn what you shared but you accept their decision.)

(In the end, it always comes down to choices.)

Shou and Kiku look somewhat different, but Toru doesn't try to pick out the differences. His old teammates have always been changing. They've been growing up without him and without each other and he made his peace with that a long time ago, (he's never once compared his team to his genin teammates, never needed to and never wanted to).

They join him easily, dropping to run at his shoulders as Naruto leaps ahead to give them space. It's not familiarity or comfort that has them taking such positions, but simply ease. They feel strange at his shoulders and he's unused to their presence, but he doesn't quite mind either, (it helps that their expressions only appear to be joy and delight; it reminds him of after a team attack landed successfully in training).

"Toru," Kiku crows. "Always got to show us up, hmm? When you disappeared you didn't need to go make yourself Kage, you know. We'd have loved you as you were, chūnin and all."

Shou nods. "It's actually kind of rude, you know. You go and become Kage and reform a village while we become your average ninja. I mean, I'd had to actually be in the spotlight, but you're really showing off how incredible your genin team was by proving how far we could all go, right?"

Laughing, Toru grins at them. "I mentioned both of you in a speech," he says. It's a lie, a joke, and they both laugh at it. Their relationship will never be what it was and it'll always be distant, but it's easy to laugh at them, to joke without going into depth about their lives or about why he left.

"Good," Kiku says. "It's the least you could do."

"And Toru," Shou calls, letting a touch of gravity enter her voice, "We're proud of you, really."

Toru looks at them, at Kiku's crinkled smile, at Shou's toothy one, and can't help but smile at them. "Thanks," he says. "If we get time, we should try and catch up. You can tell me about all your exploits!"

"Only you have exploits," Shou says. "The rest of us have normal luck on missions and nothing goes weird."

"Also some of us don't want to deal with organising a village. That sounds like a lot of responsibility," Kiku says, grin teasing, and Toru laughs once again. They disappear after that and he waves at them, before they drop onto the street level.

Then there's only him and Naruto and also Iruka who'd been sticking with his former student—until now. He drops back to settle almost at Toru's shoulder, but also a half-step behind. It'd be a strange position, except it feels comfortable—comforting, perhaps. It's a protective gesture, normally, or maybe it's meant to be a threat. Toru doesn't quite know because Iruka hasn't yet spoken.

(Between them, there has always been much left unsaid, things that they couldn't say, not aloud or in public. The secrets they held had, at least, been shared in the shadows with each other. Once, at least. Then Toru left and Iruka continued living, left behind but not angry or grieving or hurting about it, just a sort of painful understanding.)

"Hey Iruka," Toru says, voice soft, barely more than a whisper really.

Iruka offers a half-smile. "Hey," he echoes.

Once again, Toru pauses, unsure what to say. Iruka isn't like his kids or his team. They're not quite family—or not close family, at least. But Iruka had been a good friend and Toru loves the same way he loves Shōta and Michi. He cares for Iruka, deeply and completely, but that doesn't make things easier.

It makes things harder, if anything. If he cared a little bit less or if they'd been a little bit more distant, it'd be like what happened with Shou and Kiku—something easier, less explaining needed. And technically Toru doesn't need to explain, no one's forcing him to after all. He wants to though. And that's enough.

(He wants to tell Iruka about the sea and how it looks when the sun sets. He wants to tell Iruka about Uzushio and the way the roofs gleam in the sun. He wants to tell Iruka about the laughter he hears on the streets and how the people make him smile. He wants to share this part of life with Iruka, wants to share this part of himself.)

"I'm sorry," Toru says, because that's an easy starting point, "for if I caused you any pain." He won't apologise for leaving, for bring Uzushio back, and everything else that happened. He'll regret leaving the way he did and the pain he's caused but he'll never regret actually doing it.

Iruka raises a shoulder in a smooth shrug. He doesn't say that Toru matters less than he thinks or anything like that. Instead, he simply says, "Sometimes you have to go rather than stay. Sometimes that's just going to hurt you more. Sometimes it's better this way. I can't say I understand, but we've all seen ninjas like this. You're not alone, Toru."

Toru smothers a smile before it can rise completely. "I don't think anyone's quite like me," he says. It's another hint, but Toru's always been a little bit more lax around Iruka, a bit less interested in trying to hide completely. There's a reason why Iruka has heard Toru speak of Uzushio. Toru had welcomed Iruka into his home, had opened his heart, had slept while Iruka had been there. It's trust of the highest degree.

"No," Iruka says slowly, thoughtful, "I suppose that's true." He doesn't ask if Toru's going to share anything else. In fact, Toru thinks if he told Iruka nothing else the other would be content with that. Iruka's always been that way—willing to take all that is given to him and nothing more, not pushing people at least. He's never settled but he's never asked for more than Toru's been willing to give.

The meetings room had been safe, sound-proofed and with seals. Out on the rooftops of Konoha, it's considerably less safe. But Toru can sense his teammates keeping a perimeter around him and he knows how to keep his voice from bouncing off the rooftops.

Besides, if anyone does hear him, are they really going to believe him?

"I was born in Uzushio, once," Toru says simply because he doesn't need to lay each detail out for Iruka. Iruka probably has a number of the facts anyway, observations filed away neatly. It's just a little bit more information to fill the gaps. "And I was Uzukage when Uzushio fell. Except our people were still out there and they deserved to be called back home. The time had come for that to happen."

"That should make less sense than it does," Iruka says and he accepts it as simple as that. Laughter threatens to erupt from Toru's mouth because it feels like it shouldn't be this easy. It feels like it should be harder, like everyone should be a little bit meaner, and maybe he deserves that—but it's not about what he deserves. It's about what he wants, what they want.

Naruto drops back to keep pace at Toru's other shoulder. "Are you coming for dinner too, Iruka-sensei?"

"If you'll have me," Iruka says easily. "I'm sure it'll be crowded this evening."

Rather than answering straight away, Naruto looks at Toru, lets Toru make the decision. It sends something down his nerves, feels like a shot of adrenaline, feels like fire burning through his veins, and Toru grins. "We'd love that, I think. Can my team come too?"

And yes, Sora and Souma have met the others before. But there's Dai to introduce to them and they're Toru's family. He gets the chance to have his whole family together now. It's something he hadn't ever thought could really happen.

He imagines it, for a single second: Souma, trying to budge in on the cooking; Sora, trying to lend a hand somewhere; Dai, taking a step back and smiling at the chaos; Sasuke, grumpily forcing everyone to lay out the table properly; Naruto, bouncing around from conversation to conversation; Sakura, with her teammates and smiling; Iruka, at ease in the kitchen and with the chaos; Kakashi, a bit awkward but there; and Itachi, caught amongst all of them rather than being alone on the outside of the group.

He imagines it and then wipes the scene from his mind. Why should he try to imagine it? There's no need to. He can live it.

(In the back of his mind, there's another scene, a smaller one with the same level of chaos. One where he's home and there's Sora and Souma and Dai, but there's also Naruto and Sasuke. Outside the window, the sun sets on Uzushio and sends rays of light bouncing off the tiles. But Toru isn't looking outside, he's staring at the scene in his own home, caught up in the love and warmth and hardly able to believe this is his life.)

(He chases the scene from his mind. There's still a question of whether Sasuke and Naruto can even go to Uzushio since they are Konoha-nins. Although, Toru doubts that'll stop them. Still, why should he imagine this scene either? He should appreciate what he currently has. Besides… he has a feeling that scene will come to pass too, in the future sometime. He only has to wait.)

(After all, neither Sasuke nor Naruto are going to give him up easily. And Toru's not about to let them go either. He made that mistake once and now he's been given the chance to make up for that. He's going to do the best he can.)

And so, Toru speaks not only with Sasuke but also Naruto. He apologises for his actions and promises to do better. What happened once will not happen again. He will be better. But, being in Konoha, there are others who want to speak with Toru too. There's Shou and Kiku and Iruka. Toru had a life here and the lives he touched have gone on without him. But that doesn't mean they can't still be in his life. That doesn't mean they can't still be friends. It's just the continuing of what they once had, just slightly different to what it had been before.

!! I went straight from the next chapter into writing this one and now I'm about to launch straight into writing the epilogue! The final chapter! But, first, I'll write this AN.

Naruto's conversation with Toru was a bit shorter than I wanted and the original plot line included bits on peace, family, the biju, and also Uzushio, the Uzumaki, and the Uzushio of Konoha. However, none of those happened because Naruto (and Toru I guess) decided that it wasn't going to happen. Also, remember what I mentioned in the last chapter? About Sasuke and Naruto and the ways they responded? Naruto was interesting because he remembers getting a home thanks to Toru and so he can really sympathise with those who didn't have a home and those Toru called home, those Toru called so that he could give them a home. In his mind, it's a rather Toru thing to do. Which, to be fair, it definitely is.

Did I do my best to shove some more hugs into this? Yes, they all deserve it. But also I have no idea what Naruto's height is in relation to Toru but probably shorter. Regardless, I just went with whatever and you all just get to live with that.

Then! We get Shou and Kiku (Toru's genin teammates in case you don't remember) and Iruka. The plot outline was a bit more uncertain what Toru would say to these three and whether he'd spill the beans. Thankfully, it seems the characters knew what was up. Shou and Kiku aren't really that close with Toru but they're still friendly and at ease around him. They show him that they still view him as the same person he was before and that helps. They're friends, not close and rather distant, but still friends despite it all.

Then there's Iruka. Now Iruka's much more interesting because he knew Toru pre-remembering and also after remembering. He saw the gaps in Toru and the reactions Toru had and saw him change as well. They weren't like ANBU-team level close or family-level close but they were still really, really close. In the end, that's one of the main reasons why Toru told Iruka - because Iruka had seen him, all of him, and Toru had never really felt like he had to hide around Iruka. Iruka saw him as a genius when like no one else had really spotted it and all that. Anyway, Iruka deserved to know the truth and Toru deserves to have good friends.

I'm not screaming over preparation to write the last chapter (oh god, what do I call it?), but. Yeah. Lotta mental screaming.

Look after yourselves everyone! There's one more chapter to go.