A Nugget Of Advice, Chapter 20

"This isn't good, Tsunade," Jiraiya commented, rubbing his fingers through his hair. Even in the nice and relaxing setting of the Hokage Residence, his new abode during his reign as Hokage, Jiraiya was pacing back and forth in his living room.

Tsunade, on the other hand, sat down on a couch, nursing – like usual – a drink in a glass. "Boy, Jiraiya, got to admit: you've become quite the worrywart when you became the Hokage."

"And you became a freeloading drunk when you left the village but you know, time changes people," snarked the toad sage.

All Tsunade did was raise her eyebrow and stare at him. Jiraiya sighed, feeling guilty quickly. "Alright, sorry for snapping like that but still, the boy was able to break the Fūja Hōin. That means he's not trying to even hold back the influence of the jūinjutsu Orochimaru put on him."

"You are acting mighty surprised at that though," Tsunade shook her head. "The Uchiha had his whole family slaughtered and seen it with his very own eyes. One would be completely traumatized by that. It's only an added bonus that his own brother did the deed."

"Yeah," Jiraiya muttered, his mood darkening. "Fucking Itachi. Fucking elders. And fucking Danzō…"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at Jiraiya's mutterings. "Might want to backtrack a little bit. I get Itachi but why are you cursing out the elders? And Danzō Shimura? Sensei's old friend? What's he got to do with Itachi?"

Jiraiya balked, pausing his movement before sighing. "Tsunade, I need your help again."

"Oh no, oh no..." Tsunade groaned. "I walked into that, didn't I?"

"Come on now. Hear me out."

Irritated, she snapped, "Fine, what is it?"

"According to some information that our lovely sensei left behind… I have reasons to believe that the Uchiha Clan Massacre isn't as cut and dry as we believe it to be."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I can't speak much on it," Jiraiya softly spoke. "Not like this. I need you to be on board for the ride. Not this whole 'I'm not your shinobi, Hokage-sama' shtick you got going on."

"What are you trying to suck me into, Jiraiya?" sighed Tsunade. "I didn't come back for all of this. I still haven't figure out if I want to stay here anyway."

"You sure you still want to leave? I thought you got tired of running?"

"But I really don't want to deal with this shinobi shit again."

"Just think about it."

Tsunade sighed again, looking exasperated. After a few seconds, the buxom blonde nodded. "What are you going to do about the Uchiha?"

"Sasuke's seal works on his willpower. If he's no longer willing to keep Orochimaru's seal suppressed, then there isn't much we could do. I have to come with some sort of way to beat his seal, maybe suppress it with my own seal. However, that takes time and effort. I got my hands pretty much full trying to counter the Akatsuki and then getting Naruto up in his training to get stronger."

"Speaking of whom, you were a bit harsh on the brat."

"What?" Jiraiya blinked owlishly. "I'm surprised. You're feeling sorry for him?"

Tsunade looked a bit offended. "And there's a problem with that? You're acting like I don't like him."

"I mean before you said I needed to talk the stupid out him."

"Yeah, but not like that. The kid wasn't lying about Sasuke throwing the first punch. We've both seen it through the crystal ball."

"Yeah, but Naruto also should have walked away. Reported it. Something else. Instead, he let a genin get into a fight with him," Jiraiya reasoned, looking at her flatly. "I can't have him keep doing that stuff. I need to teach him how to handle things with a cool head. It didn't matter who started it."

"You're forgetting that he's a teenager, Jiraiya."

"Who has to deal with S-rank criminals out to get his bijū."

"Yes, that's true, however, you know more than anyone that he's young and still going to slip and make mistakes. You know how long you took to mature."

"What in the hell does that mean? I've been mature!"

"Wasn't it just two months you were spying on women in public bathhouses for your stories?" Tsunade asked in a deadpan.

Jiraiya huffed. "I wasn't that bad!"

Tsunade continued to frown at her former teammate.

"…Technically, it's been more since I was being worked to the bone by Sarutobi-sensei on spying missions, and then during and after the invasion, I got sacked with all of these Hokage duties. I haven't done any of that for a while."

"Regardless, it took you 50 years to grow up. You're being quite unreasonable."

"Tsunade," Jiraiya started to say with a glare. "How in the hell am I being 'unreasonable?' Do you not know what's at stake here?"

"Oh, I know. But you're expecting way too much too soon. About two months ago, all Naruto had to worry about the Chūnin Exams. Now, he's got a terrorist group after him and his village. Imagine how he feels. You got your time to grow up and act mature. Meanwhile, you're asking Naruto Uzumaki, a jinchūriki, who doesn't even know who the hell his parents were, nor their hands at his sealing, nor that he even has a godfather, to grow up in a quick manner." Tsunade smiled when Jiraiya flinched. "Got to admit: that felt good digging on you after you gave me your 'pep talk' a day ago."

The Godaime Hokage groaned, holding his head. He finally stopped pacing around in the living room. Silently, he grabbed a glass and started pouring some sake into the cup. He sat down on an adjacent seat facing the Senju woman. He admitted defeat. "You got me."

"Feels good too."

"I bet."

The woman chuckled. "But yeah, give Naruto some time and he'll learn. No matter how much protection you want to give Naruto, you can't do it all for him."

"I know but… He deserves better. We should have given him better. Me and Sensei. Minato and Kushina couldn't do it but we could have and should have. Should have been there since day one and not had the kid running around like this."

"You're already doing what you can to make up for this, right?" Hesitantly, Jiraiya nodded. "So, relax already. Things will get done. Sheesh. And another thing too that you seem to forget: Naruto isn't like you. He's a knucklehead, sure, but it didn't take him years to shape up. In fact, I see a bit more of his father in him than you."

"What do you mean? I thought it was pretty silly to compare the two."

"Only if you're saying he's a carbon copy of Minato because that's just not true. However, Naruto's got serious potential. I've been listening to what you said before him and I've come to a conclusion.

"The kid was a dead-last, three-time failure at the Ninja Academy and yet when he applies himself, Naruto is a damn workhorse. He mastered the Kage Bunshin in the span of a few hours of one night. He has such insane levels of chakra that they trump nearly every jōnin in this village, maybe even rival our current chakra reserves – even without his bijū aiding him. Because of that, he is able to take full advantage of the Kage Bunshin's secret ability, enabling him to learn techniques that would take months in the span of days or even an hour.

"He was able to learn his Earth Release affinity in a month – a feat that takes the average shinobi perhaps years to do, months if they really work hard at it with little to no stopping in between. Then, you said he got a contract in summoning toads and summoned Gamabunta, which is even more insane since people struggle with summoning anything substantial due to how much chakra it costs to use the technique.

"The thing that really cements the idea that Naruto has serious potential and hidden talent is the fact that he learned the Rasengan in the span of a week. He learned that damn technique in a week when it took Minato three years to create and perfect it and you longer to even attempt to replicate it. You're worried about Naruto? I'm pretty bad at bets, I will admit it but I would say that Naruto is going to be just fine."

Jiraiya held his stare on her throughout her speech. He smiled a bit, feeling a bit of his nerves calming. "You're right. I knew that to be the case but still…"

"It seems like to me you somehow forgot." She took a swig of her drink. "Mm. Maybe you do need my help after all."

"I never said I didn't though." He grabbed his glass, silently asking for a toast. Tsunade clinked her glass with his and he drank the sake down. He exhaled, "Fuck. Maybe I did need a drink."

"Are you better? Can you think clearly now?"

"Yeah." He took another sip of his rice wine. "Alright. I can do something about Sasuke's seal. Won't be much but maybe I can create a supplementary seal to help the Kakashi's Fūja Hōin keep Sasuke's seal down."

"Sounds good."

"I got one in mind but… Ugh, that means I got to work on the design like right now."

"Sounds like a Hokage's problem. What's a quote they said often to us in the Academy when we were kids? 'The Hokage never truly sleeps.' So, basically, suck it up."

"Quite catty of you, Tsunade, especially all you've been doing is drinking my sake in my house," grumbled Jiraiya.

"Hey, I didn't accept the shitty job. You did."

The next morning, Jiraiya was up and about, walking to his office. Already there, the elders greeted him with a bow. He nodded at them and sat at his desk, immediately pouring himself a nice hot glass of green tea.

"My Lord, what are we to do about Sasuke Uchiha?" Councilor Homura asked.

"I already have something in mind. Send a shinobi to retrieve Kakashi Hatake," spoke Jiraiya.

A few minutes later, a chūnin-rank shinobi saluted and left the Hokage's office, leaving behind one Kakashi. The silver-haired man stood in attention, staring forward at the Hokage.

"How do you feel, Kakashi?"

"Fine, sir," Kakashi responded.

"No time for pleasantries other than that," Jiraiya droned. "I need to talk to you – but not about a mission. Not yet."

"About what, sir?"

"Sasuke," Jiraiya stated, flatly staring at the silver-haired jōnin.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked, sounding exasperated.

"Well, I would say getting in an unsanctioned fight was one thing, but then getting into an unsanctioned fight with a superior officer is really bad."

"It was against Naruto, wasn't it?"

"You know something. Explain." Jiraiya glared at him, standing up and walking towards him with his arms folded around his back.

"Sasuke didn't take Naruto's promotion very well, Hokage-sama. They had a spat in the hospital one day when we were visiting Sasuke due to an injury he sustained during the invasion. If I remember correctly, it was during your inauguration day. Sasuke was fine for a while then figured out Naruto got promoted. He was very upset. I guess he was hanging onto that for a while and things just cumulated from there.

"And then Itachi showed up. That had to hurt a lot, especially when he was after Naruto and not him."

"The way I take it, you're not very surprised by this turn of events."

"I'm not." Kakashi grimaced. "If Sasuke started the fight, then, yeah, I'm not surprised. Naruto's hardheaded, but he's not that childish to pick fights with Sasuke right now. After all, you've got him very preoccupied with other matters, correct?"

"But Sasuke isn't 'preoccupied.' That's what you're saying?"

"Perhaps. I have given him a bit more training through scrolls but how busy I've been or how long I've been recovering in the hospital, I have not been really there to look over him. I have been dedicating training to him to keep him from thinking too hard about Itachi.

"Obviously that hasn't done much. He's made no secret that he wishes vengeance on his brother, Itachi, and has always been adamant on training and learning skills to get stronger in doing so. The seal placed on him by Orochimaru has made that desire only increase."

"Not just increase. It's an obsession now." Jiraiya grunted. "Your boy used Orochimaru's jūinjutsu against Naruto. Both of them could have even killed each other yesterday with the way they were throwing A-rank ninjutsu at each other."

Kakashi blanched. "Are you saying…?" Jiraiya nodded silently. The jōnin shook his head. "I didn't create the Chidori to be used on allies."

"Yeah, well, it almost happened but I, luckily enough, was passing through, and stopped both of them. Both of them could have been hurt badly. More so Sasuke than Naruto at least. After all, the Rasengan is stronger than the Chidori."

"My Lord, I will talk to him promptly."

"Oh? Talks? And what then? After all, Sasuke did attack a superior officer. We can't let that go unpunished. I have half of a mind to just strip him of his genin rank, throw out of the ninja program, and possibly even in jail. No one would blink twice about it either – last Uchiha or not."

Kakashi however wasn't convinced that was the right way to go about it. Sasuke would probably do something even more drastic than just attacking Naruto. "I can get him to cool down. I'm sure of it. I implore you. Let me do so." Kakashi bowed deeply. "It is not a student's fault for his conduct. It is a teacher's fault for failing to teach him right."

He could feel the weight of Jiraiya's stare. One would be foolish to think the Godaime Hokage as a person who could not be an imposing figure because of the man's habits of acting goofy.

"Stand up straight." The Hokage ordered. Kakashi acquiesced.

"He gets one more chance." Jiraiya stuck a finger up to bring the point home. "For three years, he will be doing nothing but D-rank missions and any C-rank that doesn't involve going out of the village. I also will have a look at his seal. It seems your Fūja Hōin isn't going to work only in suppressing Orochimaru's jūinjutsu.

"I can't have him potentially attacking others just out of jealously. This issue with Naruto won't resolve itself alone without these steps and him making the effort to do so. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

"Alright. Go talk to Sasuke and then come back here with him." Jiraiya ordered. "We're going to nip this in the bud right now."

"Sasuke-kun, are you feeling well? You don't look so-"

"For the last time, yes, Sakura, I'm fine. Can't you stop asking me?" Sasuke snapped, catching his pink-haired teammate's flinch. Uncaring, he returned his attention back to a training dummy and attacked it with reckless abandon.

He prayed to whatever gods were looking over this Earth to get Sakura to finally shut up her incessant questioning. Did he really wear a sign over his head telling people to bother him, to feel "sorry" for him? He never asked for that once. All he wanted was to get stronger to avenge his family and kill his bastard of his brother but, no, he was struggling to gain anything here. And worse of all: people were gain training while he was waiting for a sensei who was still in the hospital.

Fucking Naruto. Who the hell did he think he was? He didn't believe two shits about Naruto's claim that the Hokage forced a mission on him. He was ducking him. He just knew it. What a prick and he knew why.

Did the blond bastard really think Sasuke didn't catch that "Jiraiya-sensei" comment from last night? He was training with the fucking Hokage! No wonder he was trying to be all hush-hush with that shit. The Hokage was favoring him with some training, while Sasuke who was ten times better than a shinobi, ten times stronger and worthier of the chūnin-rank (even if really didn't care about it all too much) than Naruto of all people struggled to gain any sort of training at all from Kakashi.

How long did Naruto become the Hokage's favorite little pet? If he got that free training, then maybe the rank came free too? Shit, it must have felt good to be him. No wonder he thought he could talk to Sasuke like that – the officious little prick.

He slammed a fist into the dummy, aware that the straw from it was spilling out.

Last night was something else and it had gone unfinished. Naruto and he were just starting their battle before the dead last's master had to come and save his ass. The Chidori would have shredded through whatever sort of attack Naruto had started to use. He couldn't touch Sasuke when he tapped into the cursed seal. The taste of that seal's power was…

"Intoxicating, wasn't it?" Sasuke balked as he heard the voice. It hissed at him with such scary familiarity. "The power of my seal was strong, wasn't Sasuke?"

'What the hell? Who's there?' He made a show moving his head around, looking for any signs of a person other than him and Sakura. When nothing came up and his female teammate gave him another worried look, he blanched. 'Am… Am I going crazy?'

"No, boy. Don't be so silly. Ku ku ku." The husky voice of Orochimaru was purring at his ear right there and then. "I'm right here."

'You're… supposed to be dead.' Perspiration dripped down the side of his face.

"Not quite. I am never truly dead. But that is neither here nor there." The snake sage's hoarse voice was in his head, whispering to him. "I can feel your anger, Sasuke."

'Angry? Who the hell am I angry at?'

"Who said anything about you being angry at someone?" Sasuke realized his mistake. "Admit it, you're angry at that foolish Uzumaki boy, Naruto, aren't you? And you have every right to be so. After all, why should a weakling like Naruto Uzumaki gain strength while you, the prodigious Sasuke Uchiha, struggle to get scraps of power?"

'I…'

"You need a teacher dedicated to giving you power, like that buffoon, Jiraiya, is given Naruto."

'And that's supposed to be, what? You?' Sasuke scoffed. 'Please. You may be in that seal but you're dead in real life.'

"And yet, you relied on my power, didn't you? Even in supposed death, I can give you what you need: the power to defeat your enemies and power to defeat your brother. Could you gain that here? Could you gain that terrible strength that you seek here in Konoha?" Sasuke was silent, unsure of what to say.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" The Uchiha was vaguely aware of Sakura calling for his name. "I-I know you asked me to stop bothering you but are you okay? Do you need help?"

He focused on Orochimaru's voice. "In, perhaps a week or so, your answer to my question will change. Soon, a boy with ash-colored hair, emerald green eyes, and baring a similar mark to your own will come and he will offer you that power. By then, I am sure you'll come to the same conclusion as I did, as others did before you. In Konoha, you can gain only so much strength. You'll need my power in order to achieve your wishes. Simple as that.

"Tell me though," Orochimaru requested. For some reason, Sasuke could imagine a smirk on the visage of the snake man. "My power – did it feel good to use?"

'It felt… good,' Sasuke admitted. 'I felt amazing.'

"That's just an iota of what power is held inside this seal, Sasuke-kun. Remember that." And after a chuckle, the snake went back inside its hole, hiding away.

"Sasuke-kun, can you hear me?"

Sasuke's mouth became dry and he licked his lips. He whispered in an almost hoarse voice, "Yeah, Sakura."

"Are you okay? You kind of blanked out-"

"Salutations, folks!" A new voice called out to the two genin of Team 7. Sasuke straightened up as he knew who it was. Sakura turned her attention away from the Uchiha teen.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're back," Sakura exclaimed with a cheery smile on her face. "How are you feeling today?"

"Pretty good, until this morning." The jōnin stared forward at Sasuke. "You've been a bad boy, haven't you?"

Sakura rose an eyebrow at Sasuke and then her teacher. "Er, what do you mean?"

"Sakura-chan, please, stay here for a bit," Kakashi stated in a sing-song. "Sasuke and I have some catching up to do."

Before any of the genin could say anything, Kakashi appeared in front of Sasuke and they disappeared in a Shunshin.

The two reappeared under a tree a bit further down on the training grounds. Kakashi almost dumped the boy down on the hard, showing root of a tree, looking at him with a stoic stare.

"As I said before: you've been a bad boy, haven't you, Sasuke? What's this I hear about you picking fights with a superior officer?"

"You already know the story, so why are we doing this? Just give me my punishment already."

"You're quite lucky the Hokage didn't do that himself." The jōnin sighed. "You need to chill, Sasuke. Seriously. Attacking Naruto for a petulant reason such as being jealous is unbecoming of you."

"That loser gets training with the Hokage while I get to sit on my hands and do nothing."

"Ah, so you figured that out, huh? I guess Naruto said something about it."

"You knew, didn't you?" Sasuke glared at his teacher.

Kakashi shrugged. "Why is that any of your business? If the Hokage wants to take on a student, then he can. Why are you upset? Is it because someone else's getting that training that isn't you or is it because it's Naruto?" Sasuke refused to say another word afterward. "I thought Naruto was the one who had a one-sided rivalry with you. Now, it seems like things have gone full-circle."

"Just give me my punishment and leave me be," the Uchiha teen repeated.

"You got a lot of nerve for someone who's willing, begged even, for the Hokage to not strip you of your rank and throw out of the ninja program."

"He can't!"

"Oh? Why not? Did you forget what a Hokage could do with his power?"

"But-"

"You need to stop chasing a dream, Sasuke. To become an avenger? You would throw away everything just to get revenge on Itachi?"

"Of course I would!" The boy snarled. "This is no game for me! I want to kill him! I want revenge!"

"And yet, how could you when you're going around attacking Naruto?"

"Why is it always about that loser?! Who gives a damn about him?! He just pissed me off, is all. If I got training like him, then who knows how strong I could be?"

"How would you even find Itachi?"

"I would eventually," Sasuke retorted, stubbornly.

"By what means? The village wouldn't allow a ninja of theirs free reign of the country without a reason, much less going on some quest around the Elemental Countries to search for a missing-nin." Kakashi shook his head. "This avenger stuff… it isn't a tangible dream, Sasuke. You should stop being focused on pursuing your brother and work with what you got."

"And what the hell do I got?!" Sasuke roared. "He killed everyone in my family! He didn't just kill my aunts and uncles, and my cousins, or even my parents! He killed every single soul in the clan. He slaughtered newborn children, children just starting the Academy! He killed every fucking body, so don't you dare say it's a silly ambition of mine! You couldn't possibly know how that feels!"

Kakashi said not a word, creating a silence. In his head, Sasuke had believed he had won the argument until the silver-haired jōnin sighed and sat down next to the genin. "Maybe so, but I know how it feels to lose people and how it hurts. I lost two families. If you remember our team introductions, you will recall I didn't say much about myself.

"That's because my past was, for a lack of better words, quite horrible. I was so young when I lost my mother that I don't recall her face. It was, for a short time, just me and my father. Then, the beginning years of the Third Shinobi World War happened and I lost my father."

Sasuke raised his head to give him a stare. Kakashi shook his head. "Don't misunderstand and think my father lost his life in some glorious battle that was for the greater good of Konohagakure. My father died here in the village, disgraced and seen as worthless. The only difference is it was by his own hand, not another's."

"You mean…?"

Kakashi nodded solemnly. "You know how it felt that day when it happened to you. Coming home to a house with dead silence? No breathing or movement of the floorboards or the sound of dinner on the stove? No, there was nothing. Nothing at all. All you can see is a body lying there motionless; the metallic smell of blood in the air. It's something you don't forget, no matter how much you want to. You even swear you can smell the blood in your dreams. I think you and I both share that unique experience, don't we, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha felt honestly sick because of how accurate the man was.

"I wasn't a war-torn jōnin or hardened chūnin or even a genin when my father took his life. I literally finished up my first week of being in the Academy. Then I came home to find him. He didn't leave me much, just a note telling why he did it and his blade."

"And why did he do it?"

"The village back in the day had a much more ruthless streak to it. We had to. The Second Shinobi World War was only a few years past us and Konoha still had bad blood with everyone else in the world when, arguably, we came out of the war on top. We had to show our strength and produce shinobi who were excessively strong. Konoha had started with the sannin, of course, but there were many other shinobi who were now started to make names of themselves. My father, Sakumo Hatake, was known as the White Fang of Konoha, and once his fame surpassed the legendary sannin. Of course, with how fame works, people look at you with a microscopic lens, watching everything you can accomplish and everything you fail at.

"When my father was chosen for an S-rank mission that had great importance to Konoha, he came faced with a choice: save his teammates from peril or complete the mission and leave them to die. He chose the former and saved his teammates. Unfortunately, failing the mission meant a great blow was done not to just Konoha but to Hi no Kuni as a whole. Konohagakure's citizens and ninjas alike vilified him for it – even his teammates."

"That's… terrible," Sasuke muttered, bringing his knees up to his arms.

"Isn't it?" The man smirked wryly under his mask. "That was his last mission. He came home and there was a difference but I didn't see it until too late. I was a kid and too excited with the prospect of becoming a shinobi to notice that he seemed out of it. I suppose other factors may have led him to do what he did but the mission failure was the thing to bring him over the edge.

"And that happened when I was just five years old. Like you, I was shown the horrible things in the world. I honestly tried to shut myself out of it. I tried to become the greatest shinobi ever, to gain strength and follow the rules to a T. I didn't want to become friends or have a stable relationship with anyone at all. I was too into myself, wrapped around my pain.

"But that all changed when I was place on a team. It took years, and I certainly didn't try." Kakashi chuckled. "There was this one kid on my team who really bothered the crap out of me."

Despite himself, Sasuke snorted. "Let me guess: you had a Naruto on your team too."

"Heh. If Obito was here, he'd probably declare Naruto his twin. From being loud and rambunctious to having an obsession with the color orange. Even the food thing. You have seen how Naruto has such an affinity for ramen. Obito had an affinity for sushi." The jōnin chuckled.

"And what? You had a Sakura on your team too?"

"Well, Rin never had a set of lungs on her as Sakura did. She was much sweeter and friendlier too – even to the guy who had an obvious crush on her. Just a nice girl to be around. I was the Sasuke on my team. Brooding, stoic, and dare I say, quite hard to work with."

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes and, funny enough folded his arms. "Hm. I'm not that bad."

"I said the same thing to my teacher too." Kakashi dodged a swat from the Uchiha. "Careful now. Not keeping your hands to yourself got you into trouble."

Sasuke grunted, the only sort of sound of an agreement he allowed.

"Anyway, yeah, I didn't really enjoy being their teammates at first. I couldn't wait to become a chūnin so I can leave. Then, they grew on me. Or they learned how to deal with me. Obito and I were still at each other's throats at times. All the time, really. As much as I didn't like to say it, but they made it easier to be an orphan and soothed the pain of losing my father at such an early age as I did."

He knew exactly what Kakashi was implying Sasuke bit his lip, looking at the ground. Even though Naruto pissed him off, even though Sakura wouldn't stop bothering him about dates and stupid shit like that… he liked them. Generally. They had grown on him. Naruto had even become someone he could probably call his best friend.

But Sasuke remembered what Kakashi said before. "What happened to them?"

"The Third Shinobi World War, Sasuke." The light mood was gone. "I think I told you before but the Sharingan eye that I got wasn't from pilfering off the corpse of an Uchiha or killing one, but it was given to me by an Uchiha. Obito was an Uchiha. By then, they had become my second family – and I lost them. The only person who survived the war was my sensei but then, I lost him shortly afterward too.

"What I'm saying in all of this to you, Sasuke is you can't throw away what you've been given – even if it is to kill Itachi. You're not going to have it when you come back – if you even make it back with the way you're going."

"So, give up my revenge? That's what you're saying?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his teacher.

"Or maybe I'm saying to you that you don't need to use Orochimaru's power to gain strength. It will only bring you to ruin. Perhaps I am wrong and one day, you can exact your revenge on Itachi but you're going about it in the wrong way."

"I haven't done anything but tap into that power," Sasuke reasoned. "What if I could control it?"

"Orochimaru's power isn't anything to trifle with or even control. Have you not felt how seductive it is?" Sasuke didn't retort. "Why rely on that power?"

Sasuke couldn't say a perfect response back, not trusting his voice. He hated how right Kakashi seemed right now. Still, they were asking him to just forget about Itachi and he couldn't do that. Itachi needed to pay. Somehow, some way.

"I still need power."

"If you're so adamant about that, then why not try to gain power here then? I've been trying with you. The village is too, but if you're willing to throw it away, how could we help you?"

An awkward silence began them for a few seconds. Sasuke finally uttered, "I pissed off the Hokage that much?"

Kakashi nodded his head. "You really don't know what trouble you got yourself into, huh? Because of what you did, you can't go out of the village on missions. Instead, you're basically on house arrest, designated to D-rank missions."

Sasuke widened his eyes. Kakashi scratched his hair. "Don't look surprised. Not anyone's fault you forgot one of the Academy's lessons on one of the biggest tenets in assaulting friendlies in the village. So, yeah."

They were apparently barring him from using the seal, telling him to give up his revenge, and preventing him from doing high-ranking missions to gain the chance to fight strong opponents? "I…" Sasuke bit his lip, swallowing his frustration. He sagged. "So, what now?"

"We're going to the Hokage to see what he has in store for us." For now, let's just get back to Sakura, explain we're going to see the Hokage, and get onto doing it."

Sasuke nodded stiffly before rising up. Kakashi did too, brushing off the back of his pants. "For now, let's get Sakura, explain to her we're going to see the Hokage and go about the day one step at a time, alright?"

As they started walking back to where Sakura was, a throb in Sasuke's neck began, coming from the seal. "You see, don't you? This foolishness they are putting you through? All these rules forced upon you-"

'Shut up,' Sasuke hissed back to Orochimaru's voice, while he followed his teacher. 'Stop talking to me.'

He could hear the snake man's familiar laugh. "You can't keep me out for long, Sasuke-kun…" And then the voice faded away as Sasuke willed it to go down.

The power was strong but it had landed him in trouble. If he hadn't blown up on Naruto, maybe the Hokage wouldn't be out to get him. When he saw her again, Sasuke ignored Sakura's questioning. Instead, he tried to psyche himself up for what the Hokage had in store for him.

A fork in the road was starting to show to him. Once, the road to killing Itachi and avenging the Uchiha Clan seemed like a clear one, but now, two paths arrived at his mind's eye. A path of revenge was still there, but now, this new avenue was there. Both paths were shrouded in smoke. Where they would bring him, he did not know.

End.

A/N: The chapter was starting to get very long, so I broke it up.

But damn, a lot of people really were upset with my handling of Jiraiya in the last chapter. Even one person said this fic was about shitting on Naruto, and the scene solidified it for them, but it really isn't. I am trying to drive home that Jiraiya is extremely worried about Naruto and characters are – like real life – going to say and do things they may end up regretting later on. He's not perfect, even as a veteran, and he's going to need people to help him too. Ergo: Tsunade.

Back to Naruto, again, I am not trying to take shots at him. I am also trying to point out that Naruto needs to mature but like all things, he has to take things slowly. I am not trying to "shit" on Naruto at all. It was never my intention to do so. I was just using Naruto's starting personality. Maybe there's a bit of digging but honestly, I think his past personality is much better than a whole lot of other characters, especially people like Sasuke.

In this story, I feel like I am giving a lot of shine to him and I hope this chapter highlights such.

Plus, this story is mostly about Naruto's growth in character and maturity, so of course, the guy is going to slip. Don't worry, people. This isn't a "Bash Naruto" fic, especially when I feel like I am pointing out Sasuke's bad features a lot too. In fact, I feel worried about that a bit more than my current depiction of Naruto.

Anyway, had to point that out. We'll get to it. Anyway, see you guys soon!

Translation List:

Fūja Hōin – Evil Sealing Method