The More Things Change

by

Justin Jossart

A/N: This fic has undergone some MASSIVE rewrites. Over the next couple of days, I'll be updating each chapter to better fit my new view of how the story should play out. I'm removing the unnecessary character bashing, fixing a lot of errors, and fleshing out Naruto's relationships with his teammates, sensei, and the rest of the Konoha Eleven. I hope that this rewrite will make the entire story a much better read.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Eight

Satsuki Uchiha was brooding on the clinic's rooftop, her soft hair billowing in the breeze. She hated herself for not being at Naruto's beside, especially since he was there because he'd been willing to sacrifice himself for her. Sighing, she figured things were better this way. Sakura and Kakashi were keeping him company, and blonde was expected to make a full recovery. The rosette had mentioned that he'd asked for her several times, but Satsuki had ignored her leading comments.

Sakura had been right, as loathe as she was to admit it. If Satsuki allowed things to progress with Naruto, she'd only end up hurting him. While he was undoubtedly hurting from her distance now, it paled in comparison to the havoc that she could wreak later on. Naruto was already willing to die for her; she couldn't allow herself to be selfish and give in to her own feelings. After all, she was an Avenger. Gaining power to kill Itachi should be her only concern until her wayward brother was cold in the ground.

Satsuki cared about Naruto, certainly, but would she be willing to die for him? She wasn't so sure. She was steadily getting the feeling that he was more invested in the relationship than she was. He was a ray of sunshine on a stormy day, but he wasn't her Sun. It was a fine distinction that the Uchiha heiress was forcing herself to address. She'd give him her body, but did he need her heart as well?

"I thought I'd find you up here," Kakashi said behind her. "You shouldn't spend so much time alone."

Satsuki didn't move as the Jonin sat next to her. His silver hair caught the breeze and the pair sat in silence watching the sunrise. "Satsuki, I wanted to talk to you about the bridge, as well as what happened in the town market." Kakashi wasn't looking at her. "I should have done this sooner, but with everything going on... I thought you'd want some time alone." The Jonin eyed her as he continued. "I don't know what happened on the bridge between you and Haku. Naruto told me what he knew, but after he fell unconscious... well... you're the only one who knows."

That's a secret you'll have to live without, sensei, Satsuki thought. She could tell that Kakashi wasn't quite ready to accuse her of any wrongdoing, but she doubted that he'd be thrilled that she had burned Haku alive after he'd surrendered. She'd done the right thing by killing him, but she didn't think that her sensei would approve of her methods. "I thought he'd killed Naruto," she finally said evenly.

"I'm not reprimanding you. I know better than most how fast a battle can get out of hand." The Jonin ran a hand through his hair, obviously frustrated. "I'm concerned. You were very brutal against Gato's thugs. Unrestrained. It wasn't like you. I'm worried that you haven't forgiven yourself for Haku's death. After all, a close range fire Jutsu isn't a pretty first kill. It can't have been easy for you. I just... If you want to talk, I'm here. I'm sure Naruto would tell you the same, but apparently you two aren't speaking at the moment."

"What's between Naruto and I isn't any of your business," Satsuki snapped. How dare he intrude on her private affairs. Who did he think he was?

The Jonin glared at her coldly. "Yes, it is. Especially when the pair of you took advantage of my absence to grope each other. You are professionals on a mission. Act like it. What you do in the village is your own concern, but the moment you step outside those gates, you represent the village, the Hokage, and me. Others judge the entire village based on your actions. Making out in Tazuna's kitchen doesn't send a good impression. Such behavior will not be tolerated in the future. Do I make myself clear?"

"Hn," Satsuki grunted, withdrawing into herself again. Her brief emotional outburst was reigned in, though Kakashi eyed her carefully. The young kunoichi's recent actions had been deeply concerning. No, scratch that. Her reactions to her actions were concerning. After the battle on the bridge, Kakashi had checked his male student for signs of life. Finding a weak pulse, he'd rushed Naruto to the village's clinic. The doctors there had been surprisingly adequate, and the Jonin let them do their job.

The remaining members of Team Seven had reunited in the waiting room, and Kakashi had questioned all of them extensively about the events on the bridge. Sakura started talking at once, detailing exactly what had happened between Naruto and Zabuza. Every word, action, and attack had been accounted for in excruciating detail, but before Kakashi could get the full story, they'd been interrupted by trouble in the market.

Apparently, the businessman who'd hired Zabuza hadn't been happy about the fact that Tazuna still lived, and decided to take his anger out on the helpless villagers. The short, balding man had brought along thirty armed men, none of whom were ninja. Kakashi didn't think that the man expected to be confronted by three fully trained shinobi. The Jonin made short work of him, ending the miserable pig's life with a kunai through the throat. He had then watched his students handle the remaining men. Sakura was fighting as expected. She used her kunai sparingly, more as a defensive tool against swords and spears than an actual weapon. She had knocked out almost a dozen of the armed thugs. Satsuki, on the other hand, was literally slicing through the rest with reckless abandon. While her methods had worried Kakashi, her lack of emotion during and afterwards was the truly concerning aspect.

Kakashi shook his head. The girl may pretend like nothing touched her, but beneath her calm exterior was a veritable ocean of emotions. What the Jonin didn't know was what kinds of emotions she kept hidden. Satsuki had been more than a little withdrawn since the battle on the bridge,e and he wished that he knew what had transpired. He felt completely responsible. If he'd been there, Naruto and Satsuki could have tackled Haku together while he squared off against Zabuza. Odds were good that the pair wouldn't have been trapped by Haku's mirrors, and that both students would have come out of the ordeal relatively unscathed.

As it was, Satsuki had been avoiding everyone, including Naruto, who was easily her closest friend on the team. The boy felt her absence keenly, and Sakura had been down as well. When he'd questioned the rosette about her sour mood, she simply stated that she hated being too weak to protect her team, then gave him a look colder than any of Haku's ice Jutsu.

Kakashi fought down a pang of guilt. He'd been focusing so much on Naruto and Satsuki while neglecting Sakura. True, Naruto was the son of his own sense, and Kakashi was the only person in Konoha who could help the Uchiha heiress unravel her Sharingan, but that was no excuse. He'd been neglecting the development of a promising young kunoichi. He had a Jutsu in mind that he could teach her and would do so once they had returned to the village. They would be leaving the Land of Waves today.

LINE BREAK

Naruto and Sakura were packing. Rather, Sakura was packing while Naruto sat on the edge of the hospital bed he'd been confined to for over a week. Sakura glanced at her blonde friend. She'd been amazed at how brave he'd been. He'd taken charge of a desperate situation, discreetly called for reinforcements, and stood toe to toe with an infamous Jonin. If he hadn't been facing such a strong opponent, his tactic with the exploding tag would have won him the battle. Sakura didn't quite know how Zabuza had survived a freaking explosive tag to the chest, but she wasn't likely to find out.

Sakura was feeling rather jubilant at the moment. She suspected that she had guilt-tripped Kakashi into some special training, and she had been able to spend the last week with one of her best friends without Satsuki butting in every other minute. Sure, he was a little down, but it was better than watching him suck face with the Uchiha.

"Sakura?" Naruto asked, gazing at her.

"Yes, Naruto?" Sakura paused from packing Naruto's freshly washed clothes into his backpack.

"Why is Satsuki avoiding me?" The bottom dropped out of the rosette's stomach. Naruto had posed the question several times over the past week, and each time she'd been unable to answer him. Honestly, she had no idea what Satsuki's problem was.

"Shouldn't you be focused on getting better? Stop worrying about your love life and help me." Her heart broke at the dejected look in his eyes. "I'll ask her if you want." Crap! She hadn't meant to say that! Now she'd have to talk to Satsuki, and that was a task she strictly avoided. She was rewarded with one of his sunshine smiles, though, so it wasn't a total loss.

"I'll just ask her later. Thanks, anyway." Sakura smiled politely and started loading Satsuki's stupid silver kunai into Naruto's weapon pouch. She was briefly tempted to just 'forget' them, but the impulse passed. After all, it would upset the blonde if they'd gotten 'lost.'

LINE BREAK

Team Seven had been on the road for a little over five hours. The Genin and their sensei had said their goodbyes to Tazuna, his daughter, and Inari, the bridge builder's grandson. Naruto was lagging slightly behind their little procession, which was moving a lot faster than it had on the way to the Land of Waves. The group didn't have to slow down for Tazuna, after all.

Naruto stared at Satsuki's back, wondering what he'd done to piss her off so much he. He'd racked his brain all week, but was thoroughly stumped. Nothing had changed during their battle on the bridge; everyone had been okay in the end. So why was she avoiding him?

"Alright, team. Ten minute break, then we're back on the road," Kakashi said, taking a long pull from his canteen. "I want to get back to Konoha tomorrow."

Team Seven nodded their assent, and Sakura started fumbling with her pack to retrieve her own canteen. Feeling bold, Naruto marched up to Satsuki. Her dark eyes stared up at him, emotionless.

"We need to talk. Now." Naruto was using the same commanding tone he had on the bridge. He was sick of whatever game the girl was playing. She was being immature. If she had a problem, she should just come out and say it.

Satsuki arched a brow. "Fine."

The duo walked a short ways away from where Kakashi and Sakura were munching on trail rations. "So what's going on with you?" Naruto demanded in a low voice.

She arched her brow again. "Nothing." Her tone was icy, colder than she'd used with him for a long time.

Naruto tried to hold his irritation in check. It wouldn't help if he started ranting. "Well, something must be. Before the bridge, we were getting along fine! More than fine! Now, you won't even look at me."

Satsuki polished her nails against her shirt before looking him dead in the eyes. "I'm looking at you right now."

"Don't get smart with me," Naruto snarled. "You know exactly what I meant." The blonde was barely keeping his temper in check.

"The only thing that's changed is that I finally have my priorities in order. Now, if that's all.." The ebony haired heiress turned to leave, but Naruto firmly grasped her wrist.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Naruto was getting truly angry now. "What the hell, Satsuki?"

The girl glared pointedly at her wrist, still firmly in Naruto's grasp. "It doesn't concern you," she said simply after he'd relinquished her arm.

"The hell it does! I deserve to know!" Naruto had started shouting.

Satsuki's eyes flashed. "You deserve? Deserve? You don't deserve to know what's going on inside my head. You're not my husband, you're not even my boyfriend. You're just some guy that I played with for awhile." She ignored his stricken face. "If you have to know, I watched you die, Naruto! I held you in my arms and cried over your dead body. I avenged your murder. Did you honestly think that we could just go back to how things were? That everything would just be okay?" She'd started crying, but she angrily wiped away her tears. Naruto started to pull her in for a hug, but she pushed him away.

"I'm sorry... I didn't think-"

"Naruto didn't think. There's a surprise," she mocked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She took a moment to compose herself and turned back to him, her expression blank. "Stay away from me Naruto. I know that you mean well, but I'm only going to hurt you." She turned and walked away, leaving a stunned Genin in her wake.

LINE BREAK

Team Seven had been back in Konoha for two weeks. Sakura had easily settled back into her old routine. Get up in the morning, get to the bridge, wait for Kakashi, complete a D Rank mission, then train for a little while before heading home or spending time with Kiba. After their harrowing C Rank mission, the rosette was happy to get a little down time picking weeds and chasing cats. She wished things would go back to normal with her teammates, as well, though. Satsuki had been even bitchier than usual lately and Naruto had been downright depressed. She suspected it was continued fallout from the couple's argument on the way back from the Land of Waves, but she hadn't had the courage to question Naruto about it. Kiba had advised her to give her teammates time to work it out themselves.

It hurt Sakura to see her friend so sad. She would have done anything to cheer him up, but she couldn't think of anything. She had tried to get him to hang out with her, Kiba, and Ino a few times, but Naruto left immediately after Kakashi relinquished them these days. The pink haired kunoichi sighed from her spot on Team Seven's bridge. She would get through to him today, somehow. Maybe she should let Ino ask him on a date. The blonde girl had been crushing pretty hard on him since Sakura had let slip the details of their mission. Ino had been very impressed that Naruto could give a seasoned Jonin trouble.

"Yo! Sorry I'm late, but there was a little boy trapped in a well. His dog led me right to him, I'm sure you understand." Sakura rolled her eyes. Their sensei was getting desperate for lame excuses if he'd started ripping off old movies.

"Sensei! You're only ten minutes late! I think that's a new record!"

Kakashi ignored her gentle ribbing and led Team Seven towards the training ground. "No mission today. Naruto, Jiraiya wants to see you. He said he wants to teach you something 'big,' so you'd best get a move on." Sakura watched as the boy simply nodded and trudged towards the bath house. Well, there goes my chance to cheer him up today.

"Alright, ladies. We're going to start with some sparring. Nothing lethal and nothing that could seriously injure. Start and stop on my mark." The Jonin waited for both girls to fall into their stances. "Start."

Neither kunoichi moved. They just stood there glaring at each other. "So Satsuki, no Sharingan?" Sakura asked while molding her chakra. If she could keep the Uchiha bitch distracted, then she might be able to finally defeat her rival.

Satsuki smirked. "I don't need it against you. You're worse than the dobe." With that, the Uchiha scion dashed toward Sakura, aiming a kick at her stomach... and missed. The rosette hadn't blocked, hadn't dodged, hadn't even moved. However, Satsuki's kick had missed its target by more than a foot. Sakura smiled before slamming her fist into the heiress's face. This Genjutsu that Kakashi had taught her was pure gold.

It subtly messed with an opponent's depth perception. All it took to activate was eye contact and a slight push of chakra. It was almost impossible to detect without a Dojutsu or very precise chakra awareness, but Sakura had taken care of that. Her goading had almost guaranteed that Satsuki wouldn't use her Sharingan.

Satsuki stumbled from the heavy blow and tried to retaliate with a flurry of attacks in rapid succession. Sakura easily dodged the off target strikes and countered with a hard kick to Satsuki's stomach. The rosette grinned widely. This was going to be a good day.

LINE BREAK

Meanwhile, Naruto sat in front of the Toad Sennin. The large man was telling one of his stories, but the blonde wasn't really listening. He knew that he'd been sulking lately, but he found it hard to care. He'd thought that giving Satsuki some space would fix things, but it hadn't helped at all. They hadn't spoken since their fight on the road, and the young Genin feared that there would never be a reconciliation. Why were girls so complicated? He didn't understand what was going on inside her head, but she'd made it abundantly clear that it wasn't any of his business.

"Naruto! What's gotten into you?" The blonde gave his attention back to his sensei. The Sannin was looking at him expectantly. "You just missed a great punchline!"

"Sorry sense, I've just got a lot on my mind."

Jiraiya frowned. "Is this about what happened on the way to the Land of Waves? Kakashi told me that you'd had a hard time coping with your first kill."

"No," Naruto said, shaking his head. He was reluctant to tell the big man about his problems. Jiraiya would probably say that he was too young to be worried about girl troubles. Scratch that, the Sannin would probably take him to a brothel to 'lift his spirits.'

"Look kid, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going to you."

"It's about... Satsuki." He wince at the big smile on his sensei's face.

"Girl problems, eh? Well don't worry, you've come to the right place!" The Sannin winked and gave him a thumbs up.

"I don't think that perving will help me," Naruto replied honestly.

Jiraiya just laughed. "Kid, I've forgotten more about women than you'll ever know. Tell me what's going on and I'll help you the best I can." The silver haired man leaned back as Naruto began to tell his sensei everything that had happened between him and Satsuki.

LINE BREAK

Sakura smirked as she held a kunai to Satsuki's throat. The fight hadn't gone one for nearly as long as she would have liked, but a ninja of Satsuki's caliber wouldn't have been fooled by a Genjutsu for long. Honestly, the whole thing had been anticlimactic. The rosette had daydreamed of beating Satsuki for years, and built up quiet the scenario in her head. It had originally involved all kinds of destructive Jutsu, flawless Taijutsu, and Kiba watching her in admiration. In reality, the spar had been a short, rather tame affair with a single Genjutsu and a couple Taijutsu exchanges.

Sakura hadn't been too keen when Kakashi had offered to teach her Genjutsu. She had, like most shinobi, thought that the art of illusions was for those who were too incompetent to use real Ninjutsu. However, after learning that some of the most powerful Jutsu in the world were Genjutsu, she had taken more of an interest.

Kakashi had told her that Genjutsu were much easier and safer to develop than Tai or Ninjutsu. Apparently, each Genjutsu user learned a few basic techniques to get their feet wet and were then left to craft their own illusions. If the created Jutsu was a dud, then nothing bad would happen. The caster would simply have to revise the hand seals that went into the Jutsu and/or alter the amount of chakra they pumped into the Jutsu. If the creator of a Ninjutsu made the same mistake, however, the results could be catastrophic.

"That's enough," Kakashi called out from beside the training posts. Sakura nodded, removing her kunai from Satsuki's neck and waiting for her sensei's notes. The Jonin turned to Satsuki first. "Can you tell me where you went wrong?" The girl just glared at him in icy silence. "You let your guard down. You underestimated your opponent and let her cast a Genjutsu that you could have easily detected and dispelled. You let past victories cloud your judgment. No matter how many times you fight someone or how many times you beat them, you always have to be on guard against new abilities and fight them with your full strength."

"She got lucky," Satsuki said, glaring at Sakura.

"No she didn't. She was playing you from the moment I started the match and used your arrogance against you. It doesn't matter how powerful you become, Satsuki, if you allow your opponent to outwit you. If Sakura had been an enemy shinobi, you'd be dead right now." The Uchiha heiress seemed like she wanted to argue, but Kakashi had already turned his attention to his other student. "You did very well. You took too long to make your move, however. Most experienced shinobi can detect a Genjutsu quickly, so you need to act fast once you use your technique." He gave her a smile. "But congratulations on your first win. I knew that Genjutsu would be a good fit for you. Now run a lap around the village, both of you." The silver-haired Jonin pulled a familiar orange book from his hip pouch while the kunoichi started jogging. He didn't miss the death glares they were giving each other.

LINE BREAK

Jiraiya had listened intently to Naruto's story, sometimes interrupting him to ask for clarification on what the blonde had told him. A few times the Sannin had asked to know EXACTLY what the girl had said, or what expression she'd had when she said it.

"Well, kid, looks like you've got a toughie," Jiraiya mused as Naruto finished his tale. "Its hard to tell what any woman is thinking, but it's rare for a girl to be so hot and cold all the time. Sometimes it means she likes you more than she wants to, other times it means she likes you less than she wants to, and sometimes it means she's just bat-shit crazy."

"Thank you, Ero-sensei, for clearing that up." Naruto didn't try to hide his sarcasm.

The big man held up a hand. "Hold on a minute. I didn't say that I couldn't help you, just that it was a tough situation to read."

"Then what do I do?" Naruto asked. He should've known that asking Jiraiya for advice about women was a bad idea.

"Nothing. You do nothing. If she wants you in her life, she'll make it happen. You've already done your best to talk to her. One thing you never want to do is mope around after a woman, especially a kunoichi. They don't like that; it makes you look weak. Live your life. Be happy."

Naruto wasn't sure if he could trust the Toad Sennin's advice. Satsuki wasn't like most of the kunoichi he knew. On the other hand, he was getting tired of sulking. It wasn't in his nature, and honestly, was really boring. He looked up at his sensei, forcing a small smile on his face.

"There he is! Alright, just for that I'm going to show you something super awesome!" The Sannin flashed through a set of hand seals, bit his thumb, and slammed his hand flat on the ground. A large cloud of smoke covered the area, and Naruto strained his eyes to see what had happened. When the smoke cleared, it revealed... a toad. A large toad, but still unmistakably a toad. Jiraiya was grinning at him like he'd just shown him the secrets of the universe, but Naruto was nonplussed.

"So, what's with the toad?"

"It's your lucky day, gaki! As the legendary Toad Sannin, I have decided that you will be the next summoner to sign the Toad Summoning Contract!" Jiraiya was still grinning like a loon.

"It doesn't look very strong..." Naruto started, but Jiraiya cut him off.

"The Yondaime used Toad Summons to fight the Kyuubi," Jiraiya said with a straight face. The big man had just said the magic words. Naruto's ambivalence morphed into giddy excitement.

"You're gonna show me something the Yondaime used? Awesome!"

That was the reaction that Jiraiya had been expecting. The blue and orange toad unfurled its tongue, revealing a large scroll. The Sannin unrolled the scroll on the ground, revealing a short list of names, each accompanied by a bloody hand print.

"Alright, kid. Sign you name and leave your mark." The blonde did as he was told, signing his name carefully. He didn't know who'd sign this after him, after all. He then bit his thumb exactly like Jiraiya had earlier. After dabbing each of his fingers in blood, he pressed them firmly against the scroll. Jiraiya carefully furled the scroll again, giving it back to the huge toad. Afterwards, the summon disappeared in another cloud of smoke. "Alright, now give it a try. The hand seals are Boar, Bird, Monkey, and Ram."

Naruto committed the hand seals to memory. "How much chakra do I use?"

"As much as you want," Jiraiya said, an evil grin spreading across his face.

Naruto nodded, formed the correct hand seals and slammed his hand on the ground like Jiraiya had done. He lost sight of everything as the entire area disappeared a gigantic plum of smoke. When it cleared, Naruto was barely able to hold back a surprised yell. He was standing atop a positively massive toad. It was easily taller than the tallest building in Konoha and then some. All of Team Seven could comfortably fit on top of his head with room to spare.

"Jiraiya!" The toad's voice echoed through the surrounding forest. "Why have you called me here?"

Naruto swallowed and found his voice. "I'm the one who summoned you. My name's Naruto Uzumaki." To his surprise, the toad started laughing.

"A pipsqueak like you summoned the great great Gamabunta? Stop joking around and tell me where Jiraiya is!"

"I'm not joking!" Naruto shouted indignantly. "Jiraiya-sensei let me sign the Summoning Contract! That means you have to help me fight and stuff!"

The toad laughed again. "You've got spirit, pipsqueak. But spirit ain't enough to let you summon the Toads of Mount Myoboku! You've gotta have heart! You've gotta have guts! Tell you what, if you can stay on my back until sunset, I'll let you be my henchman."

Naruto guessed that was the toad's best offer. "Alright, then! Let's do it!" He barely finished talking before Gamabunta hurled himself into the air, leaving Naruto to hang on for dear life. Neither toad nor boy saw Jiraiya watching with a huge smile splitting his face.