Konoha was bustling yet peaceful. The first thing that struck Sasuke was how comfortable Naruto seemed to be with his surroundings. He wasn't nervous around the villagers populating the streets, moving calmly among them as if he belonged there. He didn't hesitate to look at anyone, but didn't watch out for anyone, either. The villagers, civilians and shinobi mixing as if it were normal, didn't pay any more attention to Naruto than he did to them. They didn't grow quiet at the sight of him, but they didn't ignore him, either. Sasuke followed close in Naruto's tracks, his expression schooled enough so that even those who noticed him didn't look twice. This was not what he had expected, and he had to wonder if news traveled slower here than it did in other hidden villages. Or maybe they were simply more casual. Naruto had said there were more civilians here than in other villages. Still, even if these people didn't know about him yet, they had to know about Naruto. He wondered if it was Naruto's personality that made them accept him, or his father's influence as the Hokage of the village.
He eyed Naruto speculatively as the boy shopped, shrugging and offering noncommittal answers to his questions about the things he picked out. He didn't care what Naruto stocked his refrigerator with, or whether he stocked it at all. That was a menial concern in comparison to all of the pressing questions he couldn't ask. He wanted to know just how strong Naruto really was, how strong Konoha really was. He remembered the way his jounin instructor had referred to this village, as if everyone knew of it and either feared or respected it. He wanted to know why. He wanted to know how Naruto could laugh with the vendor across from him when Gaara had been feared and ostracized by everyone in his village. Was his demon better contained, or was this village simply that different from Sand? He wanted to know who had been behind the assassination attempts Naruto had mentioned because Naruto had been jostled and brushed by so many people since leaving the apartment that he could have been killed a dozen times over. Was he supposed to protect him or were they being monitored by Anbu he wasn't good enough to detect? Most of all, he wanted to know when he would be trusted enough to arm himself. He had never gone near a hidden village unarmed, let alone walked through the heart of one like this. He could barely tolerate being surrounded by strangers, however complacent they might seem, when he felt completely naked. Having access to his chakra wasn't enough. If his packs hadn't been returned to the clan, then he wanted them back. Surely they were finished looking through them by now.
By the time they returned to Naruto's apartment with the groceries, Naruto had stopped trying to con a response from him. Sasuke was comfortable with the silence and made no attempt to break it as he helped him put things away. When Naruto started gathering up the empty bags, he went to the bathroom to check on his clothing. The shirt was dry enough to wear, but he hesitated to put it on. The Uchiha symbol on the back was far too large. Whatever good he might do the clan in his current position, he wasn't acting on behalf of the clan. If death wasn't an option, they would have preferred him in prison, out of sight and mind. By accepting Naruto's proposal, he had shamed them. Wearing their symbol here would simply advertise that to everyone who saw him. Yet he couldn't bring himself to care as much as he should have. He wondered if Itachi would continue wearing the clan symbol now that he was officially exiled. Probably not. That gave him at least one legitimate reason of his own to continue to wear it. He performed a henge on the shirt so the fan was a small note on the back, easily identifiable but not so glaringly proud.
Naruto was standing in the hall when he left the room. He ignored the reproachful look Naruto shot him, simply giving him back the chunin shirt he had borrowed. He made his way back to the kitchen, where he quickly finished the strange food he had picked at earlier. He also scraped off Naruto's plate and washed both dishes. The annoyance he had felt earlier was long gone. Naruto had packed his refrigerator with food he had no idea how to prepare in an attempt to make him happy. Cleaning up after him seemed a small concession.
"If I ask you what's wrong, are you going to be stubborn again?" Naruto asked, having come in to hover in the kitchen doorway.
Sasuke stared at the plates he had just put away in the cabinet. He hadn't been making an effort to annoy Naruto, so the petulance in his voice shouldn't have satisfied him so much. It did, though. He frowned, turning to actually look at him. Naruto was visibly upset, his arms folded over his chest defensively. He didn't want to get into the habit of scoring small victories off him, however easy Naruto made it for him to do so. Causing unnecessary friction wouldn't make this any better for him. He crossed the room until he stood directly in front of Naruto. "What do you want from me?" He had intended his tone to be mildly curious, but Naruto must have taken it as mocking because he scowled.
"I just want you to talk to me," Naruto muttered.
"About what?" This time he made sure his voice was absolutely monotone, yet Naruto's reaction was the same. He took a slow breath to keep from grinding his teeth in frustration the way Naruto was now doing. If Naruto was that determined to be annoyed with him, then there was nothing he could do about it.
"About what's bothering you," scowled Naruto. "And don't say nothing because you don't hide things as well as you think you do if you actually expect me to buy that."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. If anyone needed practice in schooling his expressions, it was the bristling blonde standing before him. "I consider stating the obvious a waste of time," he admitted. "But since you insist, I'll say it. What's bothering me is that I have lost everything. I did nothing to cause it and can do nothing to change it. Knowing that is not pleasant and learning to accept it is not easy. I will come to grips with this eventually, but until then I have to ask that you be patient with me and not assume that every silence is because you did something wrong. My every thought does not concern you. And even when I am annoyed with you, as I am right now, it's my choice whether or not I express that. Have I made myself clear enough, or would you like to talk about this some more?"
Naruto stared at him for a long moment, his eyes widening slowly. Then his mouth dropped open. "You're an asshole..."
"You're not the first to say so," Sasuke sniffed. "Maybe I should have mentioned that when you asked me to tell you about myself."
"That would have helped," Naruto drawled sarcastically. His mouth pulled into something between a grin and a grimace, and then he let out an exasperated laugh. "I already guessed though. I did," he insisted, when Sasuke's eyebrow rose again. "When I said you had a sharp tongue, that was my nice way of saying you were being a jerk. But there was this morning, too. You're not the sort of asshole who gets in your face and yells, but you're definitely an asshole." He smirked, putting his hands on his hips as if he were proud to have figured it out. "I can work with that. Tell me, Sasuke, what do you usually do when you're mad at someone?"
"Leave if I can, or ignore them until they go away." Neither of which was an option in this situation. He couldn't figure Naruto out at all. When he made an effort to be civil and not antagonize him, he got angry. And when he was biting and sarcastic, Naruto reacted happily. Sasuke couldn't stop himself from grinding his teeth this time.
"That's what I thought," Naruto said, nodding quickly. "That's not going to work with me. Neither of us is going anywhere."
"You don't have to remind me," Sasuke bit out. "Are you trying to make this more difficult?"
"Of course not. I'm just trying to figure out what I should do with you when you're angry. You need to vent." Naruto made a face and scratched at his hair. "I can't decide if I want you to vent on me or not. I mean, you had a point about us sparring. If I show you up too much, that will just put you in an even worse mood. And honestly I'd rather see what level you're at before I do any serious sparring with you because the last thing I want is to put you in the hospital. Knowing my luck, Tsunade would take her sweet time healing you and I wouldn't see you for weeks. Well, no, I'd still probably sneak in to see you, but you wouldn't be happy to see me and you wouldn't be in much shape to do anything even if you were, so..." His eyes dropped to stare at Sasuke's clenched fists for a long moment. Then he looked up with a wide smirk. "You're really pissed at me now, aren't you?"
Why did he look so smug about that? Sasuke pressed his lips tightly together to keep from baring his teeth, or saying any of the things that wanted to hiss their way out of his throat. He wasn't used to being baited, certainly not openly like this. Was he being tested to see if he would follow the Hokage's command to refrain from attacking, even when provoked? Or was this merely Naruto's way of putting him in his place? He stared at Naruto's taunting expression until his control slipped enough for his upper lip to curl. "I thought you didn't want me to hate you."
"I don't," Naruto said immediately, his smirk turning into a sly grin that narrowed his eyes. "But you're angry. Angry with me, angry with the world. I bet if you didn't bottle it up so much, you wouldn't have as many asshole moments when it slips out. I don't want you to hate me, but I do want you to be open with me. When you're mad enough to hit me, go ahead and try. If I'm not good enough to dodge, then I deserve it. I might hit you back if I'm just as mad, but I have an insane soft spot for you so I'll pull my punches whether I like it or not. In fact, what I just said about showing you up was a bluff. You're more likely to get mad at me for not fighting you seriously. That's something I'll have to work on. Until then, anytime you're feeling the need to vent, just say so."
"I do not need to vent," Sasuke said scathingly, his eyes black slits in his face. "I'm a shinobi. I have better control than that."
Naruto snorted and deliberately dropped his eyes. "Right. Is that why you're dripping blood on my kitchen floor? Maybe you should have bandaged both hands if you're in the habit of digging holes in them with your fingernails."
Sasuke uncurled his fists and turned away sharply, as much to hide his surprise as to avoid Naruto's gaze. He gnashed his teeth as he hurried to the sink to rinse off the crescent shaped wounds in his left palm. He hadn't even felt it. Did he really have that little control? Maybe he did need to vent, but he would be damned if he were going to be taunted into venting on the one person he didn't dare lash out at. Either Naruto didn't understand the terms the Hokage had set for him, or he simply didn't care. By the time Sasuke turned back, he was as calm and empty as could be. He saw disappointment flash over Naruto's face before it pulled into a grimace. He ignored him until he had wiped the specks of blood off the floor. Then he stood and regarded him evenly.
"Don't do this again," Sasuke warned. "We've been together for one day, and so far I have done everything I agreed to do. If my company isn't the sort 'companionship' you had in mind, that's too bad. You should have been more specific. Don't try to force my hand. I admit, you're good at it, but all that will accomplish is to have me sent right back to that cell. So long as the truce between my clan and Konoha holds, I will not attack anyone in this village for any reason save self defense, and that includes you. If you want to incite me into lashing out at you, do so on a training ground, not here."
Naruto sighed, his shoulders slumping in annoyed defeat. "You're just using that no attacking people thing as an excuse to stay bottled up. You gave me a good whack upside the head last night - which I deserved for not thinking," he admitted quickly. "You didn't have any problem lashing out at me then."
Sasuke felt his stomach twist at the reminder. Did that count as an attack? He hadn't intended to do it, and it certainly wasn't a serious blow, but...
"No," Naruto groaned, "you're not going to regret that, too, now. Are you?" He caught him up in a sudden hug, dropping his chin onto his shoulder. "Sasuke, you're so messed up..."
"What?" Sasuke snapped, bristling at the unexpected contact. "What are you talking about?"
"You. You're all messed up," Naruto sighed, squeezing him tighter. "I'm sorry. I thought all you needed was to let loose a little, but it's so much worse than that. Don't worry, I won't push you like that again. I'm not in a hurry. You be just as frigid as you need to be. I can wait until you're ready to come out of your shell on your own."
There was nothing mocking about Naruto's tone, but Sasuke's eyebrow twitched anyway. He was being pandered to. This was even worse than being openly taunted and insulted. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I know," Naruto sighed sadly. "Don't worry about it." He pulled back suddenly, his eyes bright and direct. "Sasuke. Quick, what do you want more than anything else right now? If you could have one thing, what would it be?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "An hour with a training post and you at least ten feet away from me and not speaking."
"Ouch," Naruto winced, but he grinned to show that he wasn't really bothered. "I knew it would be something like that. Come on, I know the perfect place. And I'll do you a lot better than ten feet. You can have the entire training ground to yourself for the rest of the day, if you want." He had pulled Sasuke through the doorway, but paused as they reached the livingroom. "Do you want to raid my equipment first? I keep all my spares in the closet there. The good stuff is in the bedroom. Oh! Here, wear this."
Sasuke watched bemused as Naruto removed his forehead protector and presented it to him, beaming with an innocent excitement that would have sat better on a child than a grown shinobi. He could only assume this had meaning for him, because Naruto sighed with pleasure when he tied it in place around his own forehead. As for himself, it was a small price to pay. He wasted no time in equipping himself with the supplies in the closet, and he was appreciative when Naruto disappeared into the bedroom rather than watching over his shoulder. Although he didn't intend to do anything that would run counter to the Hokage's directive, he was still a shinobi. He didn't care to have someone know where he had hidden all of his weapons. A few concealed senbon and a small pack of equipment strapped to his thigh were all it took to put him completely at ease. He shook his head at himself as he waited for Naruto to return. He hadn't realized just how much he relied on having weapons available to him. It didn't matter that he had no plan to use them. Simply knowing they were there made all the difference. He adjusted the forehead protector idly, noting how warm it still was. It did have meaning, he realized, a wry smile pulling at his lips. Once again, Naruto had marked his ownership of him, and this was a mark he couldn't cover with bandages.
Naruto took to the rooftops as soon as they left the apartment, with Sasuke a pace behind him. The trip was brief, but interesting. Although Sasuke had traveled this way often enough under cover of night, he had never considered that some might do so on a normal basis. He found himself wondering at the inhabitants of the buildings they crossed over. Did they mind having shinobi randomly traipse over their roofs? Did they even notice? Naruto was quite light on his feet, and the buildings were sturdy, some as rigid and solid as the ones in Sand village. He still couldn't stop himself from imagining the outrage that would result if anyone dared step foot on a building in his clan's compound. Even as a child, he had been very aware of the etiquette concerning private property. Here there was a decided lack of space, with people packed into apartment buildings that might as well have been hotels in some trade town. Even as he followed Naruto away from the center of the village, the few yards he saw were obviously shared by multiple families. He wondered if the inhabitants were closer as a result of being crammed in together that way, or if it merely led to squabbling and petty grievances. It wasn't until they moved off in the direction of the distant wall that he began to spot enclosures, open spaces and far more trees. He had no doubt that this was where the majority of the shinobi took up residence. Even within a village where all worked toward a common goal, there had to be secrets and competition. That required privacy, space, and distance. He wondered if Naruto's apartment had been chosen only because of the price, or because he had wanted to be packed in and surrounded by people. Perhaps he was more lonely than he let on. With his father as the Hokage, he had probably been left to his own devices for the most part. And since Naruto had yet to mention his mother, there could be a very good reason there was no blonde baby in that photo on his shelf.
They skirted the area Sasuke had marked as the private residences of shinobi, following the more closely placed buildings until they began to give way to forest. He was quick to note that aside from one uniformed man he had spotted moving toward the center of the village, the rooftops had remained empty of life for the entire trip. Maybe this mode of travel was less common here than Naruto made it appear. Instead, like his orange, this could simply be another display of Naruto's boldness. Once again, Naruto seemed completely at ease. He doubted that was an affectation. Despite the parallels he had tried to draw between Naruto and Gaara, the former was clearly at home in his village. A moment later he realized that Naruto was even more at home in the trees. That could be a problem.
Sasuke followed more closely, taking care to land on the same place of each branch that Naruto had. It had been four long years since the last time he had traveled this way. He weighed more now, and even back then he hadn't been very good at estimating how much a branch could take. That had worked out in his favor during that last mission, as more than once he had found a branch snapping beneath him and been forced to launch way, coincidentally avoiding what might have been a deadly attack. It was difficult for an enemy to predict his movements when he wasn't even sure a planned landing spot would support him. It wasn't likely that his luck would hold once he was fighting regularly in forested areas, though. He would have to get used to fighting in this environment. Although he had devised a number of potential tactics after that mission, being confined on the outskirts of Sand village he hadn't had a chance to try any of them. He didn't know how much of what Naruto had said in the kitchen had only been meant to goad him, but he had brought up some hard truths regardless. He hadn't improved that much since their last encounter, so a serious spar between them could very well land him in a hospital. He had no aptitude for wind or earth style jutsus, so even the few techniques his teacher had tried to teach him would prove useless in a real fight. Naruto wasn't likely to appreciate him using fire techniques in his village's forests, and he was nearly as bad with water as he was with earth. He still had lightning, but to date his attempts to experiment with that hadn't gone well. All that left was taijutsu and genjutsu, and with Naruto's chakra and stamina he doubted either would make much of a dent. As much as it would gall him to be beaten badly, it would be even worse to have Naruto pandering and pulling his punches the way he had predicted he might.
Everything he knew told him that fighting Naruto right now would be a bad idea. Even a light spar would probably only serve to frustrate him. The desire remained strong, though, a burning need to prove himself. That was his pride gnawing away at him. Naruto might have wanted him primarily for the sex and company, but he could be far more useful as a shinobi. All he needed was a chance to prove that. But now wasn't the time. He knew better. Patience might not have been one of his strong points, but restraint was. He clamped down on the desire to speak up, to catch Naruto's attention and invite him to test his skills himself. He wouldn't do that. If Naruto knew how much he wanted to prove himself, then he could use it against him either by refusing to give him the chance to or by offering the chance as a gift he should be grateful for. He refused to give him such leverage. For now it was enough that he had been able to arm himself without revealing how important it was to him. He hadn't expected that. Did Naruto trust that he wouldn't go against the Hokage's terms, or did he consider him no more of a threat with weapons than he was without them? The thought of being underestimated that badly burned, but if he were honest with himself he considered the weapons more useful as a defense than anything. He had been the target of too many attacks that couldn't be evaded or defended against with his bare hands. If Naruto hadn't offered the weapons, it would only have been a matter of time before he either swallowed his pride and asked or took to creating his own weapons out of whatever he could find. He hadn't been reduced to that, so he should be satisfied to have gained this without offering anything in return. Unfortunately, telling himself that didn't help much.
Naruto was as good as his word. He took him to a small clearing that had been worn down into a training area complete with targets and even a small stream running along one side of it. He didn't waste any time on small talk, for which Sasuke was grateful. Despite his attempts to bury his frustration, it remained a burning knot in his stomach. He watched silently as Naruto crouched by the stream and performed a summoning jutsu. A small green toad appeared and promptly hopped into the water, drawing a scowl from Naruto.
"Hey," Naruto snapped, "I haven't even said what I want yet!"
"Don't care," the toad croaked, its head dropping until only its eyes were above the water. "I don't like you," it bubbled.
Naruto sent a flustered look at Sasuke and quickly released the summon. Then he stood and backed up a few steps. He had a light blush on his scowling face. "That's a new one," he admitted crossly. "We haven't really come to an understanding yet." He looked around, and then moved closer to the forest, where the stream was wider. "I wanted to use a little one so you wouldn't notice him so much. But small means young and, yeah, they're all brats. Toads aren't big on respect to begin with."
"No worse than snakes," Sasuke noted. Naruto's embarrassment reminded him of his first summoning attempt. That had been a cat, assigned to him during the mission so he could get in unarmed and summon the weapons he needed when the time came. Except the cat he called had been so interested in asking after Itachi that it had nearly blown his cover. By the time he was able to make his own pact, he had intentionally chosen a species known for stealth. He hadn't realized then just how bloodthirsty snakes could be. Even the small ones were bottomless pits. In most cases, buying their cooperation wasn't worth their usefulness.
"You summon snakes?" Naruto asked sharply.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, not sure what to make of Naruto's startled and wary expression. "Is there something wrong with that?" He had met a Mist ninja once who summoned fish, which had to be the most useless summon a person could call for in the desert. At least snakes were versatile, and some had venom more potent than any poison a shinobi might concoct. The only trouble was getting one to hold still long enough to milk the venom required to create a reliable antivenom. They didn't even like their summoners to have a defense against them.
"No," Naruto mumbled, turning away, "I guess not. I was just surprised. Snakes and toads..." He shook his head, flashing a wincing look at Sasuke. "Don't mention that to any of my friends, though, okay? They might get the wrong idea."
"I don't understand." He knew that shinobi in different regions had their own preferences as far as summons went, but snakes lived everywhere. The only thing better might be birds, which were good for communication and traveling long distances. But they weren't very useful offensively and they had to travel by air, where they were easily spotted. As far as he could tell, snakes were the next best thing to insects, with whom he had no affinity whatsoever.
"It's Orochimaru," Naruto sighed, frowning at him. "Snake summons aren't very welcome around here."
"Because the leader of Sound summons them?" That was a petty reason to be biased against an entire species. By that logic, Konoha might as well avoid summoning birds simply because Itachi summoned crows.
"Well, it's mostly because he summons the really big ones like Manda," Naruto winced. "We had an altercation with him a few years ago and those snake summons of his did a lot of damage to the village. And..." He sighed, glancing at the spot where his toad had been. "I summon Gamabunta, and his whole family hates Manda, so...it would just be a lot easier if they don't find out you summon snakes. At least not right away. I'm sure they'll get over it eventually, but right now I'd rather avoid that issue."
"Understood." He had no intention of summoning anything unless it was necessary for a mission, so it really made no difference to him. He still thought it was a foolish bias. It wasn't as if he had ever attempted to summon Manda himself. By all accounts, Manda required human sacrifices. He had never been in a position where he had that many enemies to take out, not to mention the sheer amount of chakra it would take to call him. A snake that large certainly wouldn't lend itself to the sort of stealth missions he specialized in.
Naruto flashed him another quick look, an apologetic one this time, before turning back to perform another summon. The toad that arrived this time was enormous, with a mouth easily big enough to swallow a man. Sasuke couldn't even begin to guess what Naruto usually did with toads that large. Then again, he couldn't see the usefulness in summoning toads at all. He supposed their jumping ability might be handy in a mountainous region, but a large bird would do the job even better. The toad eyed him for a moment before cracking a grin at Naruto.
"Yo. This the love of your life?" the toad asked.
Naruto scowled, bristling a little in embarrassment. "Tease me later, okay, Gamakichi? This is Sasuke, and he's going to be training here for a while. I just want you to make yourself small and inconspicuous and hang out till he's done. If you're too busy, you can get someone else to do it for you. I won't mind. I tried to ask Genji, but he's still being a pain."
"I told you that you'd have to bribe him first," the toad said in amusement. "I don't know why you wanted to go and summon him, anyway."
"Because you don't like making yourself small," Naruto shrugged.
"And you blame me?" Gamakichi demanded. "What's the point growing big enough to carry you when you're going to turn around and ask me to shrink enough to fit in your pocket? I have my pride, you know."
"I know, I know. So, can you hang around for a while? Or get someone who can?"
"Yeah, I'll do it. It'll give me a chance to scope him out so I can tell Pops all about him. I still can't believe you had to go and get the hots for an Uchiha. Out of all the people you could have picked, you had to go and get one of the few who have-"
"Hey!" Naruto yelped. "I didn't bring you here to run your mouth. If you stay, then don't talk to him or bother him or anything. Just keep an eye out and get me if anything happens."
Sasuke met the toad's gaze evenly as it eyed him again, its manner a lot more serious now. He was curious what the summon had been about to say, particularly since Naruto hadn't wanted him to hear it. At the same time, he had a feeling he was better off not knowing. He had more than enough unanswered questions as it was.
"Why not just use a bunshin?" Gamakichi asked, sounding a bit put out.
"Because," Naruto scowled. "I don't want to."
"Right," the toad snorted. "I get it. He's sick of you already."
"That's not-"
The toad cut him off, waving a large webbed hand at him. "I got this, take it easy. I'll watch him for you."
"I don't want you to watch him," Naruto huffed. "Just keep an eye out."
"Right." The toad shrunk until it was about the size of a small dog, and then hopped to the other side of the stream. It took up residence on a sunny rock, with its back to them.
Naruto sighed as he turned back to Sasuke. "I'm sorry about this. It was the best thing I could think of. I'm sure you can handle yourself, but I'm really not comfortable with the idea of you being alone out here. This way you can have some space and I won't worry so much."
"It's fine," said Sasuke. He preferred being left with the summon rather than a bunshin. He wouldn't have any problem ignoring it if the summon decided to annoy him. He had already learned that having Naruto stare at him was nearly as distracting as having him speak. Even if his bunshin did remain silent, he was sure it would end up watching him the entire time. "How long do I have here?"
Naruto forced a weak smile onto his face. "As long as you want. Take your time. Let him know when you're ready to go and he'll get me." He looked at him for a long moment, and then turned his back sharply. "See you later, Sasuke."
"Ah." He watched him walk into the forest, going quite a ways on foot before taking to the trees. He was impressed that Naruto didn't once look back.
In the end, he did very little training. He had requested a training post to beat on and that was exactly what he targeted. What he wanted most was to exercise, to stretch his muscles and feel that he hadn't gone completely soft after having been inactive for so long. Over the last two years he had gotten into a daily routine that he now missed more than he had expected to. He would wake, eat, spend the morning doing as much taijutsu as it took to wear him out, and then the afternoons were spent using up his chakra so that by nightfall he was as exhausted and shaky as he would be in a real battle situation. That was when he experimented, when the real training began. He doubted he would have the time to wear himself out enough to reach that point any time soon. Perhaps he wouldn't need to. He had only fallen into that routine in the first place because his teacher had run out of things to teach him. Even if Naruto couldn't give him access to any restricted jutsus, there were bound to be some new ones that Konoha took for granted, which he hadn't learned yet. Barring that, there was always the forest. He could borrow from Naruto's example and use a few bunshin to accelerate the training if time was an issue.
He was hoping time wouldn't always be an issue. As a shinobi, Naruto must have his own routine, with plenty of time allotted to training. His arrival would have messed up that routine, so once the newness wore off he would go back to it. He refused to consider the possibility that Naruto was beyond needing to train on a daily basis. Even his father trained on a daily basis and he hadn't done a mission in years. As a future Hokage, Naruto would have to keep his skills sharp no matter how high his level already was. Sasuke imagined he would also be learning to rule the village, which would probably involve time spent in conferences or pouring over documents. Surely he wouldn't be expected to sit quietly and wait while Naruto was busy doing those things. If he were to consider this situation in a positive light, his training might very well benefit more here than it would have had he remained with the clan. He would never have taken Sand's offer to continue training him in exchange for using him in a way that wasn't in the clan's best interests. And without Itachi, there was no one in the clan who could teach him anything he didn't already know. Except his father? He dismissed that notion the moment he thought of it. He had never seen his father in action, and had only been taught by him once. According to tradition, it had been his father's duty to teach him his first katon jutsu. When he failed to learn it within a week, he had lost any chance he had of interesting the man. Even after awakening the sharingan, he knew his father would have been gravely insulted if anyone had suggested he take the time to train him. That was just as well. He wouldn't have wanted to risk a repeat performance, either. The worst part was that his father hadn't been disappointed in him at all, because he had never held any hopes for him to begin with.
He put his full weight into the blows, leaving his chakra to dampen the impact. Although the training post was sturdy despite the visible wear, he had reinforced it with chakra wire. This had an added benefit of limiting where he could strike, close enough to the wire to take advantage of the chakra, but not so close that he risked cutting himself. The wire itself showed no signs of wear despite being part of Naruto's spare equipment, making him wonder if he had ever bothered to use it. Well, Sasuke would certainly put it to good use. That was one of the few skills his jounin teacher had imparted on him, and one that was bound to come in handy once he began experimenting in the trees. He tried to focus on that, to set his mind to devising a training regimen that would take advantage of the environment, while also maximizing what he already knew.
It didn't work. Instead of feeling more optimistic about his prospects, he found his stomach clenching with worry for the clan's future. He couldn't ignore it. His father had taught him who the members of the clan were, what sway they held in the council, but he had learned little about the active shinobi. Who was going to be doing the most important missions now that Itachi was gone? He had a met a few of the shinobi who had taken over his own missions after he was called back, but it had taken two three man teams to cover those missions, and two of the members had died in the last four years. If they couldn't even make up for the loss of him as an active shinobi, they had no hope of completing the sort of missions Itachi had been assigned. What would they do now? The clan's reputation remained intact, and the potential would always be in their blood, but they were falling behind. The world continued to evolve around them while they remained fixed in one place. It was ironic that he now found himself in the land of trees while the rest of the clan were so firmly rooted it would take an earthquake to budge them. A shift would have to take place whether they liked it or not. They didn't have the numbers to continue taking the missions others were unwilling to risk their own people on, not without Itachi and himself to take up the slack. A shift to information gathering would give them time for the next generation to come of age. But what would it take for them to seriously consider that? Sasuke had only heard the idea brought up once, and the elders had shot it down by pointing out that there were other clans that specialized in that sort of thing. It wasn't a solution that would let them compete evenly and never would be. But it could be a temporary fix, a way to maintain their prestige while also buying the time needed for the clan to recover some of its dwindling numbers. Information could be more deadly than the best assassin. It certainly paid more.
A rustle of leaves warned him that he had company. He turned to see two shinobi with Leaf forehead protectors land just inside the clearing. Their uniforms were the same as the ones who had brought him to the village, so he assumed they were jounin. Did that mean they were clumsier than Naruto, who had wisped silently through the trees, or had they intentionally let him hear their approach? One of them had dark brown hair tied in a short tail at the nape of his neck, just like the shinobi he had spotted moving over the rooftops earlier. He hadn't gotten a good look at the man's face before, but he thought it safe to assume this was the same person. The man looked suspicious and angry, but not overly threatening. The pale haired man accompanying him merely looked confused.
"He's just a genin," the pale-haired one muttered.
"At that age?" the other man demanded angrily. "I told you, he's an Uchiha. Didn't you see his back?"
"Here? Wearing a Leaf hitai-ate?"
"Exactly," the man snapped. He turned his attention back to Sasuke and took a sharp step forward. "What are you doing in our village? And what have you done with the brat?"
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the nickname. Just how many people in this village referred to Naruto that way? He didn't intend to explain himself, or to engage them at all, for that matter. But this was a chance to gain information both on Naruto and Konoha's shinobi. If word hadn't gotten out about him yet, then he had to wonder exactly what story was being disseminated. The Hokage had said he was officially a political prisoner, but officially didn't necessarily mean publicly. If they were spreading a story less humiliating than the truth, he didn't want to be the one to ruin it. He gave a subtle glance out of the corner of his eye, noting that Naruto's toad was still where it had been sitting all along. It was facing his way, though. He reigned in his curiosity. As a rule, he rarely went out of his way to gain information his superiors didn't want him to have. Even if he did decided that rule didn't apply to this situation, he definitely wouldn't break it in front of Naruto's summon.
The other man sighed, muttering to himself. "If he's involved, then it's probably a prank. Let's just stay out of it and-"
The dark-haired one pulled a kunai and advanced forward. It was more of an attempt to be intimidating than an outright threat, but Sasuke decided it was enough. His eyes flashed red.
"Hey!" the man yelled, whipping around to glare at the trees. "Get back here!" He darted toward the canopy, only to be caught by his startled companion.
"What the hell are you thinking? If he really is an Uchiha, the last thing you should do is chase after him. Report it. You better hope it's not one of Naruto's pranks, though, or you'll never hear the end of it."
"You think I can't tell a henge from the real thing?"
"I think you just got back from a really long mission and you should be filing your report instead of dragging me halfway across the village on a hunch."
"Hunch, my ass. I'm telling you, he looks just like Itachi. Even the brat wouldn't pull a prank like that."
"What? Since when do you know what he looks like?"
The dark-haired man snorted in contempt. "He looks just like Fugaku. Everyone knows that."
The two continued to argue as they darted off into the forest. Sasuke stared after them. His eyes had faded to black, but his eyebrow was still ticking when Naruto's toad suddenly hopped over to stand beside him.
"What did you do?" asked Gamakichi.
"Genjutsu," Sasuke muttered. A very simple one, in fact. He was stunned that it had taken both men so easily. He turned a disgruntled look down at the summon. "Were they chunin?"
"Jounin by the looks of them," the toad said. It continued to stare up at Sasuke, frowning as much as its face allowed. "I don't think they meant any harm. Just protecting their own."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at what he took as censure. It wasn't as if he had hurt them. And if the one man really could see through a henge, then he should have been able to recognize and dispel a basic illusion. He turned his back on the toad, and began unraveling the chakra wire from the training post. There was no point remaining here when the two might return with more questions he couldn't answer. If the toad thought using an illusion on them was bad, he doubted it would appreciate the action he would have taken had he allowed the confrontation to become physical instead.
He was just turning back to the toad when someone appeared directly in front of him. He recoiled, instinctively activating the sharingan and drawing a kunai. A split second later, he realized his mistake. He snapped out of his crouch, stowing the weapon and blacking his eyes. What had he done to alert the Hokage himself? His genjutsu had been harmless, merely a way to divert a would-be confrontation. And how had he found out about it so quickly? His blood ran cold as he realized his first suspicion had been correct. There had been Anbu shadowing him. Of course there were. Konoha wouldn't have earned a reputation if it were foolish enough to trust someone with his skills that quickly. They would be keeping an eye on him to protect Naruto as well. The only question was whether or not Naruto knew about it. He probably did. That would explain why he had left the toad behind, so Sasuke wouldn't wonder that he was being left entirely unwatched. It had been a way to divert him from the real eyes watching his every move.
"I'm sorry for startling you," the Hokage said. Without his robes, his resemblance to Naruto was more striking than ever. "Naruto tells me you're willing to share information with us. I'd like you to speak with a member of our intelligence division."
"Intelligence?" the toad blurted, staring up at the man in horror. "Are you talking about Ibiki? Does Naruto know about this?"
Blue eyes dropped to the toad, a small smile crossing the man's face. "As of yet, no, he does not. You may inform him in two hours. Teleporting directly to Sasuke should prove to be a good test for him."
"He'll go insane," the toad whispered.
"I expect so," the Hokage smiled. He beckoned to Sasuke, who obediently fell into step beside him. "I understand that you haven't had a chance to look around the village yet. But I'm sure you've seen enough to form a first impression. What do you think?"
"It's quiet," Sasuke said blankly. He was numb. His fear had hardened and dropped, leaving cold emptiness in its wake. He knew very well that 'intelligence' was a euphemism for interrogation, which went hand in hand with torture. He doubted he would be subjected to anything extreme, but the simple fact was he had never been interrogated at all. The thought of someone picking his mind for information was disturbing. He had nothing to hide as far as Sound or Mist were concerned. That was the information he had offered freely to Naruto. But there were clan secrets that couldn't be revealed even to allies. He couldn't tell them anything about Itachi, for instance, because there was always a chance it would end up hurting the rest of the clan as well. Even some of the things he knew about Sand had to be guarded for as long as the clan remained their ally.
"And Naruto?" the man prodded, sounding pleased with his answer.
"Not quiet." This drew a laugh from the man beside him. Sasuke kept his eyes on the ground beneath his feet. They were walking through the forest at a leisurely pace, as if they were in no hurry to get to their destination. He would have preferred teleporting directly there. Although he was dreading this, he also wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. It might even be nice to know, finally, just what he was capable of withstanding. But he supposed dragging this out was part of the psychological aspect, to leave him impatient and uneasy, and more likely to slip up as a result. He was reminded again of exactly why Sand shinobi suicided when captured. With the right approach, a skilled interrogator could break anyone. Then again, his father knew that as well as he did. Maybe his father had taken it for granted that Konoha would strip him of any information they could gain before killing him. It might be a waste of time for him to worry about giving information the clan already assumed Konoha had gained from him. That didn't stop him from wanting to protect their secrets with his life.
"He has his moments," the man said fondly. "I had hoped to have him train a genin team, but he never had the patience for it. It's a shame. He has a way with children." He dropped a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, causing him to halt and look up. "I expect quite a few of them," he said seriously. "I also expect that Naruto will want a hand in raising them. Will you have a problem with that?"
"No," Sasuke blurted. He had always assumed he would have children someday, if he lived long enough to marry. He had no idea what sort of parent he might make, and he suspected he would resent that the children he helped to raise were Naruto's rather than his own, but he certainly had no bias against children in general. He was surprised the Hokage was already thinking that far ahead, though. Had he brought the subject up as a test? Or was he seriously hoping Naruto would start breeding as soon as possible? Although he didn't mind the thought of raising children, he definitely didn't want to be demoted to the role of nursemaid. Perhaps that was the reason the man had brought it up, to force him to look ahead in case he had a mind to back out of this arrangement later.
"Good."
They broke from the forest and were immediately swooped down upon by a number of shinobi and civilians eager to greet the Hokage. Sasuke kept his eyes away from the curious looks he garnered. He noticed that none of them asked about him, despite their obvious interest. He also noticed that they had more than loyalty for their leader. There was clear affection in the way they addressed him, which he seemed to return easily. He couldn't avoid eavesdropping when the man was standing right next to him. Did they have no discretion whatsoever? One of the shinobi talked openly about a recent assignment, with the Hokage making no efforts to silence him. By the time the last of them went on his way, Sasuke was feeling extremely uncomfortable. That might have been why he suddenly noticed the presence over his right shoulder. His senses were on high alert and quick to note that someone had been been there since they stepped out of the trees.
"That should do it," the Hokage said, flashing a pleased look at Sasuke before turning to look behind him. "You can have him now, Kakashi."
A pale-haired man hopped down beside them. He was dressed in the jounin uniform rather than the Anbu one, but one look at his masked face and single visible eye had Sasuke convinced this man was an Anbu. Not just any Anbu, either. He was the one who had carried him the rest of the way here, and the one who had accompanied Naruto before he had finally lost the two in Sound. Had this man been one of the ones watching him earlier, or had he only just arrived? The man gave him a cool look that confused and intimidated him more than he cared to admit. He dropped his eyes. He didn't know what was going on. All he knew for certain was that he had done nothing wrong. They should have been grateful that he was willing to share information with them. Instead he was being taken to be interrogated and possibly tortured. Did they want to make an enemy of him?
"The Torture and Interrogation department?" Kakashi asked.
The man sounded amused, which only angered Sasuke even more. He was rapidly losing all respect for them. This was uncalled for, and very foolish on their part. He stared at the ground, forcibly calming his heart rate and blanking his face. He had no mercy for his enemies. They had no idea how dangerous he could be. All he had to do was bide his time until he had an opportunity to act without leaving them cause to retaliate against the clan. They had handed him Naruto, and if they couldn't see how vulnerable that made them, then all the better. Naruto had openly invited him to take advantage of him, so who was he to turn down an invitation like that? The panic that had been fluttering around inside him since the Hokage's abrupt appearance finally settled into true calm. He looked up to find the gray-haired man watching him, looking just as amused as he had sounded. That was fine. The more the man enjoyed this, the more justified Sasuke would be when he repaid him for it later.
"Make it quick," the Hokage responded. "I doubt Gamakichi will be able to wait even an hour before telling Naruto."
"You're twisted," Kakashi said approvingly, before adding as an afterthought, "Hokage-sama."
The blonde man grinned, "Not at all. I just know my son far too well." He lifted a hand and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
The jounin turned his amused gaze on Sasuke, who took the opportunity to look him over more closely. He wondered how much the man had improved since that fateful mission. He knew the man had summoned nindogs to track him, and that he was quick and loose with the replacement jutsu. Otherwise, he hadn't seen very much. The man seemed to have made a point of not revealing whatever ninjutsu he specialized in. He was clearly arrogant. He seemed to notice how much his amusement bothered Sasuke, because he laid it on more thickly than ever now that it was just the two of them.
"Well," Kakashi drawled. "Let's be off. Do try to keep up. I'd hate to have to carry you. Again."
Sasuke gave no reaction to the barb. He refused to give him any more satisfaction than he already had. Once again he found himself rushing over the rooftops. So it wasn't just Naruto who traveled this way. The man, Kakashi, went much faster than Naruto had. Testing him, perhaps. Sasuke had no trouble keeping pace with him. Unlike chakra control and stamina, speed was one of his strong points. It was also one of the few things he had learned from an actual Uchiha, a close friend of his brother's before he had left and everything had changed.
They stopped at a tall inconspicuous looking building and entered by the front door. There was nothing to give away what the place was. He had expected to be bombarded with a strong smell, blood and antiseptics, possibly chemicals. He should have known better. The people manning the desk out front were mere chunin, who might never advance enough to know what went on in the recesses of the building. One of them looked up curiously, but didn't question Kakashi when he led Sasuke past and down the corridor to the left. There was a strong scent in this hall, but it was one of ink and parchment. He wondered what sort of information was stored here and what sort of wards they had in place to protect it. Kakashi halted outside a door at the end of the hall, rapped lightly on it, and then opened it to reveal a scarred dark-skinned man with a black cloth over his head and a desk cluttered with scrolls.
"Kakashi," the man greeted, frowning at his visitors.
"Ibiki," Kakashi said with a flourish, "this is Uchiha Sasuke."
Dark eyes flicked to Sasuke for a short moment before narrowing back on Kakashi. "I can see that. Why is he in my office?"
Sasuke let himself be prodded into the room, resenting the hand on his shoulder nearly as much as he did the entire situation. None of that made it to his face, however. He was warring with his instinctive need to respect the man seated before him. There was nothing intimidating, vicious, or amusing in his manner, just cool confidence and a touch of annoyance at being interrupted. This was the sort of shinobi Sasuke preferred dealing with. If there was a petty or sadistic streak in the man, he hid it very well.
"He's here because he has information to share. Voluntarily," Kakashi added, when Ibiki raised an eyebrow.
"Shut the door," said Ibiki. He waited until Kakashi had done so, then waved Sasuke toward the chair across from his desk. "Sit. Who have you worked with?"
"Everyone except Konoha, as far as I know," Sasuke frowned. That had to be the most vague question the man might have asked. Kakashi snorted softly at his response, but both he and Ibiki ignored it.
"Let me rephrase that," Ibiki nodded. "Who have you worked for?"
"I've done solo missions for all of the daimyo's save Fire Country's. As far as the shinobi villages are concerned, I've primarily worked for Sound, Mist, and Rain."
"Rain?" Kakashi repeated, sounding choked somehow.
Ibiki shot him an unamused look. "Should I ask you to wait outside?"
"No. Sorry."
Sasuke was surprised at how quiet and sober the man sounded. He supposed he should be worried that this Ibiki could garner respect from the mocking jounin, but he wasn't. He would wait until the man did something threatening to him before he worried.
"What work did you do for Rain?" Ibiki asked Sasuke.
"Delivery of classified information. Five years ago there were an especially large number of missives to Mist in particular. I led a squad of no fewer than five for those, always Rain or Mist shinobi. They never survived the trips." Ibiki nodded, obviously understanding the real reasons behind those missions. It was a simple way for the villages to get rid of their own shinobi. Sasuke had been under orders to take and guard the missive at the first sign of an attack. He never learned how or why the squads he left behind were killed, just that they always were.
"Was there any similar communication going on between Rain and Sound at that time?"
"No," Sasuke answered. "The only missives I ever took from Sound went directly to Sand. They hired me for assassinations more than anything."
Ibiki sent an unreadable look at Kakashi, and then bent to dig in a drawer. He slapped a thick book down on the desk in front of Sasuke. "How many of these are yours?"
It wasn't until Sasuke opened the book that he realized what it was. A Bingo Book. He knew that all shinobi villages had them, of course, but he had never seen one himself. This one was rather old, with most of the pictures already crossed out. Few of those were his. He pointed out the ones that were, telling who had hired him for each mission. Ibiki didn't ask for many details, simply marking the pages. He wondered if they would take his word for the deaths, or if they would investigate them first. He had usually disposed of them on the spot, or delivered them to be disposed of by their own villages. It wasn't until he came to the first man he had killed that Ibiki showed a hint of doubt. The book listed the man as having been a master of genjutsu, which Sasuke had never known.
"He hasn't been seen in at least nine years. We know you haven't had the sharingan that long. How are you claiming to have killed him?"
"With a poisoned senbon," Sasuke said flatly.
He hadn't needed the sharingan or ninjutsu, or even skills. He had been given the mission precisely because he hadn't needed any training in order to pull it off. It had been his trial run. If he hadn't succeeded on that mission, he might never have become a shinobi. "He targeted children. I was the right age. I simply waited near his last known location until he came after me. I had the senbon hidden in my hair. When he grabbed me, he cut himself and died within seconds." He didn't mention that the man had flung him into the river the moment he was cut, nearly drowning him in the process and instilling a phobia that had taken him three years to get rid of. The important thing was that he had survived, the body had remained untouched until he made his way back to it, and he had guarded it for days before a squad of shinobi arrived to dispose of it. "Rock hired me for that mission. I doubt they would deny it if you feel the need to verify it with them."
Ibiki raised an eyebrow at his tone, and Sasuke bit back anything else he might have said. That mission had been messy, and had he been a few years older and forced to use a henge, he might not have accomplished it. But he had, and there had been four shinobi on the retrieval team who could confirm that. What reason would he have to lie about it, anyway? Any civilian child could have done the same thing he had. Rock hadn't been willing to risk one of their own, so it had fallen to him. That was all there was to it.
"He had quite a reputation for being picky," Kakashi commented. "You must have been a cute kid."
Sasuke's eyes widened and it was all he could do not to whip around and stare at the man. Of all the things to joke about! As it was, Ibiki stared for him.
"Sometimes I wonder about you, Kakashi..."
"What? You know you were thinking the exact same thing. Anyway, I have to get Sasuke out of here now." Kakashi reached down to catch Sasuke's arm, drawing him out of the chair. He ignored the look Sasuke was giving him. "You can continue this later, right?"
"How much later?" Ibiki demanded, rising to scowl at Kakashi. "The things he knows could be vital to-"
"A few days, if that," Kakashi assured him. "Just long enough for Naruto to calm down."
Ibiki's face blanked suddenly, then his eyes narrowed. "Does he know-"
"No," Kakashi said flatly. "He'll be finding out any minute now. You might want to make yourself scarce for the rest of the day."
"If this was your idea," Ibiki started, in a low growling tone.
Kakashi raised his empty hand. "Not me. Full credit for this goes to our esteemed Hokage, who in his infinite wisdom decided this was an appropriate way to pay his son back for that little stunt he pulled at the hospital."
"So I have to suffer because he can't control the brat," Ibiki muttered, grabbing an armful of scrolls off his desk.
"It's not just you," Kakashi said, as if to make him feel better. "I get the feeling Sasuke would like to kill me, and with his record that's nothing to take lightly."
"I hope he succeeds," Ibiki muttered, as he elbowed his way past them and out of the room.
Kakashi released Sasuke's arm and smiled down at him. "You're not actually allowed to kill me. Sorry. But you can attempt to pay me back as much as you like." His smile faded when he caught sight of Sasuke's expression. He leaned down to look more closely at him, not minding when Sasuke recoiled. "Oh," he blinked. "You still don't get it. Well, all the better."
Sasuke flinched when the man caught hold of the back of his shirt, yanking him close enough to teleport them out of the room. The moment he was released, he backed away and bumped right into a training post. He jumped in surprise, whipping a quick glare over his shoulder at it. Kakashi chuckled at him, no doubt enjoying how confused and wary he was. He immediately turned his glare on him.
Kakashi met his anger with a careless smile that only served to irritate him even more. "You made quite a few claims in there, for a mere genin. Let's see if you have the skills to back those claims up."
.-.
TBC