Naruto had removed his jacket so his white undershirt stood out as well as Lee's green against all of that orange. It was a handicap for Naruto since it let the clones tell him from each other, particularly when he used the replacement technique to switch places with one of them. At first Sasuke thought he had done that for his sake, so he could follow the action better. He quickly realized Naruto had done it primarily to protect himself from Lee, who fought as if he expected the clones to survive past one hit. Few of them did. They also refrained from anything resembling a dogpile after the first attempt ended with all six clones dispelled within seconds. Lee had done that with his feet, a flurry of carefully aimed kicks to the neck, gut, and one to the crotch that had obviously been an accident because Lee grimaced after landing it. The nearest clones taunted him about that, whatever they said making Lee's cheeks go bright red and causing him to stick with punches and blows aimed strictly at chest level until a clone hidden in the water caught his ankle and yanked him beneath the surface. From the splashing there had to be quite a few clones in the water with him. Naruto charged in to clear the area while Lee climbed out, soaking wet and looking embarrassed. There was a brief pause as Naruto bickered with his clones. The argument ended with a dogpile that sent Naruto and all the clones on top of him into the water. Naruto broke the surface with two fewer clones than he had gone in with and bickered with the survivors until they reached an agreement. There was no more dunking Lee after that. Naruto, on the other hand, was fair game. Judging by his grin, he didn't mind that at all.
They made it look fun. Lee was fast and extremely controlled, yet he gave the appearance of being utterly casual about it. He threw his blows as accurately as Sasuke threw weapons, knowing exactly how they might be deflected and ready to counter if they were. He also had shocking chakra control for someone Naruto claimed wasn't good at any ninjutsu. He balanced on his hands as easily as he did his feet, flipping around as if he were on stable land rather than water. There were a few instances where he appeared to be holding himself on just his fingertips and there was no hesitation involved, nothing to imply he had to concentrate more in order to do that. He appeared to be in his element, doing what came naturally and enjoying it. Naruto, on the other hand, was obviously playing with his clones rather than taking them as out as quickly as possible. Sasuke couldn't hear the taunts being exchanged, but he could see the grins and flashes of outrage. While Lee remained in the middle of the lake taking all comers and reacting accordingly, Naruto was all over the place causing confusion in the ranks. Even without the white shirt, Naruto's movements could easily be tracked by the poofs and the occasional splash accompanying the disappearance of an entire pile of clones. Sasuke had to watch him closely before he realized Naruto was using a henge to 'vanish' among the clones, leaving him free to start trouble and then slip away while they were fighting each other in search of the fake.
Sasuke quickly went from being a riveted spectator to wanting to be out there himself. Would he be able to hold himself on water using his hands? Even for a moment? Forget bouncing around and bracing himself strongly enough to kick with his full strength, he wasn't sure he could manipulate his chakra well enough to support his own weight with his palms. He would probably sink head first the first time he tried it. That was something he would have to practice in private. And why hadn't he considered using a henge to fool Naruto's clones? Naruto had defensively insisted that being bad at genjutsu didn't make a person a bad shinobi. Naruto had said that because he was bad at genjutsu. His clones couldn't see through a henge because he couldn't. It was so simple it would never have occurred to Sasuke at all. The lack of urgency in their fight was especially appealing. Did they consider this sparring? They were taking their time, trying things out and enjoying the process. That was experimentation in his mind, not sparring. Sparring, like a real fight, was a competition in which losing had serious consequences. Was that something else he had been taught wrong?
He had never sparred with anyone until his jounin instructor. None of his missions were supposed to involve fighting unless it was necessary to kill a target. Usually a fight meant something unexpected had happened, that the intelligence had been off or he had been spotted or ambushed or had failed in some way. He had only fought when forced to do so, and he had quickly learned not to risk a fight he was liable to lose because losing meant death. He had gotten very good at avoiding unnecessary risks. Openly attacking someone he didn't want dead and trusting that person not to kill him if he lost had been an utterly foreign concept by the time he returned to the clan. Sparring, as his teacher had taught him, was a training exercise that relied primarily on trust. Sasuke didn't trust anyone with his life, so instead they had made strict rules between them about what was and wasn't allowed during a spar. Gotou had emphasized the etiquette and proper form of a formal spar, which Lee exhibited between bunshin attacks. Lee's chagrin at that below-the-belt hit told him his teacher hadn't lied about that much. Cheap tricks like Naruto blinding him with his forehead protector had no place in sparring. But even with carefully observed rules the consequences of losing had remained severe. Humiliation was bad enough without serious injury. It had only taken a few losses before he had learned to spar the same way he had fought, by limiting the risks and waiting for the openings needed to win. Cracked ribs took forever to heal. He had gotten grim satisfaction the first time he had done that himself. But unlike him, Gotou had access to medics and had returned a few days later as able as ever. It was only when Sasuke had improved enough to damage him so severely he couldn't walk home on his own that the sparring had ended.
But was that really sparring? To him it had been more like a personal mission, a long extended one that had lasted until he had finally learned enough to take his target out with little effort and no personal risk. According to his teacher people sparred so the stronger could prove himself, so the weaker could improve himself, and so equals could test themselves against each other. Had that been true, Gotou should have kept sparring with him in order to improve after he had surpassed him. The fact that he hadn't wanted to had told Sasuke he had been right all along. Sparring with someone stronger was, at best, a risky and unpleasant way to improve. An experienced shinobi didn't engage in fights he was bound to lose because the consequences of losing weren't worth it.
After talking to Iruka he now knew the Chunin Exam traditionally featured public fights that were similar to the 'sparring' he had done with his instructor. He supposed Gotou might have been preparing him for that. The very idea of fighting someone seriously with an audience of strangers watching was disturbing. That was one reason to be glad he would never be advancing in rank. Only the people he had fought with and killed had ever seen what he was truly capable of and they had taken those secrets to the grave. That was the entire point. Shinobi attacked from the shadows not only to get the drop on their enemies, but to hide their secrets from enemies and allies alike. No one had needed to teach him that. He had seen it for himself in every shinobi he had ever encountered. As much as he liked proving his strength, doing so usually meant revealing weaknesses at the same time and he hated doing that. Even with Gotou, Sasuke had never attacked him unless he had been confident his attacks would land with the desired results. Their early spars had been him defending and evading until he saw an opening. The hardest part had been forcing himself to stand his ground and continue taking part in the fight when he knew he was going to lose and it was going to be embarrassing and painful when he did. That had taught him basic taijutsu, but more importantly it had taught him that there was more to 'fighting' than killing and dying, and that the avoidance behavior that had kept him alive between missions was a hindrance when it came training. He had never learned to like sparring with his teacher, but he at least learned to tolerate it. In retrospect, his instructor should have stood in one place like Kakashi and invited him to attack instead of attacking himself. Then he would never have done anything and thus would have learned nothing from him. As it was, he still didn't know how to attack someone he didn't want dead. Attacking someone openly, without having any idea how his opponent might react, went against every instinct he had. It would be easier to intentionally walk into a fire than to jump blindly into a fight.
Honestly, he had learned to hate everything related to sparring. And then he had 'sparred' with Naruto and that really had been more like a training exercise, a series of games or experiments. And now this?
What Naruto and Lee were doing was nothing like sparring in his mind. Naruto and Lee clearly weren't in danger of losing against the clones. Some of the clones were armed, namely the ones going after Naruto, but they weren't aiming for arteries or headshots. The ones using taijutsu were a little more reckless, but there was little chance of serious injury if Lee failed to dodge because they weren't fighting that way. Even if they did have an accident and take serious damage, there was Sakura and Tsunade and an entire hospital of medics a quick teleportation away. There were no consequences to this fight. This wasn't sparring. This was playing. He supposed it could be considered training since Naruto would get the experience from all the clones, and Lee was definitely moving around enough to get a good workout. Whatever they called it, he envied them. He also envied the fact that Naruto's bunshin didn't pull their punches with Lee the way they had with him.
When there were only a fourth of the clones left, Naruto put his jacket back on and joined the clones' side of the fight against Lee. Sasuke was surprised that Lee didn't change his fighting style at all. He obviously couldn't tell Naruto apart from the clones, yet he used the same moves and the same amount of force on everyone who came near him. When one of his opponents struck back rather than poofing out, he reacted as if he had expected that all along. Maybe he was always prepared for a possible counter attack. It appeared to be automatic, the same way he used his chakra to keep himself above the water whether he was on both feet or braced with just the fingertips of one hand. Sasuke had no trouble picking the real Naruto out from among the bunshin. They looked the same to the sharingan, but the real Naruto behaved differently and that was very evident from where Sasuke was sitting. The clones knew they could be taken out by one hard hit from Lee, so they only risked that when it was to the real Naruto's advantage. Although Lee's taijutsu was far superior, Naruto's plotting had him on the run to avoid being dunked. That was the goal now, getting him in the air and then keeping his hands and feet occupied so he hit the water in an awkward position. Lee was quick enough to twist and catch himself with a knee or elbow if he fell from the side, but when he hit the water with his back he sunk like a brick. Then the bunshin crowded around the surface so he had to fight his way back out. Naruto stepped on his head at one point, casually pushing him back under. Instead of being furious, Lee came up sputtering and grinning and promptly grabbed Naruto's ankle and yanked him under as well. That was when things dissolved into chaos.
Sasuke stared in growing shock. There was no one left on top of the water. It was just a mess of blonde heads and flailing orange-clad arms, with a few glimpses of a black head and flailing green-clad arms. He doubted anyone had ever dared to swim in this lake while the clan had resided here. It was a landmark, such a vital part of their tradition that they had painstakingly recreated it after leaving this place. Within the space of a week Sasuke had helped to destroy it and turn it into a swimming pool for frolicking shinobi. If the elders had been dead, they would be rolling in their graves. Instead of being annoyed that Naruto had obviously forgotten that the point of this exercise was to give him some vicarious violence, he found himself fighting a laugh. Playing in that lake was more of a sacrilege than destroying it had been. How many times since returning to the clan had he stood at the end of that dock and thought about diving into the center of that lake just to prove to himself that he was no longer afraid of falling in there? He was very tempted to join the pair of idiots. Unfortunately he had only been taught to get to the surface and climb out. He would never be able to swim well enough to avoid drowning in the middle of that mass of flailing limbs. Not to mention the fact that this was a public space. He was quickly reminded of that by the appearance of a very large dog over the crest of the hill a few yards to his left.
People had arrived. That had been inevitable. He was just glad they were too late to ruin his enjoyment of the fight. The pair who joined the dog looked close to Naruto's age. The young man was tall with bushy brown hair, and the much shorter girl had black hair and eyes that were very familiar. Pale periwinkle with no visible pupils. One of the Hyuuga clan? He wondered if this was the cousin Naruto had spoken of or someone else. His attention was quickly drawn back to the dog. It was enormous, more than waist high, yet it barked rather than speaking. He would have guessed it was a summon from its size.
"What the hell are they doing?" the boy demanded. He sounded shocked. Even the girl had a hand over her mouth, her eyes very wide as she stared at the lake. The dog barked again and then took off down the hill. The young man flinched and bolted after him. "No! Akamaru, don't! Not this lake!"
And now there was a dog swimming across this old Uchiha landmark. Sasuke snorted and put a hand over his face to hide his grin. There had to be ancestors of his buried somewhere in this village. They would definitely be rolling in their graves at this absurdity.
The dog's owner halted at the edge of the dock, yelling for him to get out of there, and then yelling at Naruto and Lee for giving him the idea in the first place because didn't they know what this lake was? Had they lost their damned minds?
That was enough to sober Sasuke up. If the Hokage still hadn't told Naruto how this lake was related to his clan, he would rather have kept it that way. He didn't want Naruto wondering why he had helped to damage it so badly. He certainly didn't want him to regret playing in the damn thing. It was just a lake, the deepest body of water in the village according to Naruto, so it was past time someone here repurposed it. Preserving it as an abandoned piece of history was pointless. They should deposit some fish in there or turn it into a training area. Or maybe they could add a diving board at the end of that damned dock. He sighed at himself. So much for his having worked out his resentment toward this lake with that fiery explosion. Naruto had barely finished repairing the place and he already wanted to destroy it again.
A gasp told him the girl had finally noticed him. He didn't glance over until she came to a stop a few feet away and bowed formally before apologizing profusely.
"It's just a lake," Sasuke stopped her. "Whatever purpose it served my clan ended the day they left it behind."
It continued to serve as a reminder to him, to the Hokage, and obviously to other clans like the Hyuuga clan. But it was just a lake to Naruto and Lee, and the dog. If he was going to be walking past this place on a regular basis he would much rather be reminded of those three swimming around like children than of his own history with the duplicate of this lake.
"Besides," Sasuke drawled, "Naruto worked very hard to repair the damage he and I did to this lake. It's only fitting that he be one of the first to swim in it."
"He and you? We heard he was repairing it because he had used some sort of new attack to...oh. Oh, of course. Please excuse me!" She gave him a distracted bow and rushed down the hill. "Kiba-kun...!"
He raised an eyebrow as he watched her pull the boy away from the dock. He was curious what sort of story they had heard. His attention shifted back to the swimmers. At first he thought Naruto must have released his clones. Then one of the remaining clones was taken out by an erupting splash of white fur. The other clones clustered more tightly around Naruto and Lee, who were both grinning their fool heads off. Either the dog's owner hadn't gotten a chance to tell Naruto about the supposed importance of this lake, or Naruto already knew and didn't care. The two boys ducked into the water just as the dog knocked another clone into the air like a furry shark diving up from the depths and poofing it between its teeth. The next time the dog emerged it had Lee clinging to its back and a Naruto hanging from each floppy brown ear. It let out a loud whine that made its owner rush back to the edge of the dock to yell at the boys. Sasuke abruptly found himself amused and envious again. Naruto really was ridiculously childish, and Lee was clearly no better. They made it look fun, though.
An almost inaudible swish of grass killed the mood as swiftly as a shuriken to the back. Sasuke shot a glare over his shoulder. Kakashi hadn't gotten that close this time, but for all he knew the man hadn't actually been trying to sneak up on him. The man hesitated for a moment, blinking at his expression, and then continued over until he was standing beside him. Kakashi looked down at the lake without saying a word. Sasuke looked back at the lake himself. He wasn't going to ask what Kakashi wanted. He didn't care what Kakashi wanted. He finally understood how Naruto could switch moods so quickly. He had never gone from fighting the urge to smile to wanting to hurt someone in a matter of seconds. It was a jarring sensation, like taking an extra step at the bottom of a set of stairs only to find that there were no more stairs. He really needed to stop viewing Kakashi as an extension of his own jounin instructor. Kakashi had irritated him, but he hadn't done anything to justify the violent resentment Sasuke felt the moment he saw the man. Misplaced aggression? Probably. Acknowledging that didn't make it go away, though.
Sasuke wasn't the only one who reacted to the sight of Kakashi. One glance up at them and Naruto immediately stopped playing. Within a few minutes he and Lee were wringing their clothes out on the bank, and then wringing them out again after the dog shook its wet fur so hard they were soaked again. From the quick talking, it was obvious Naruto convinced the dog owner and the Hyuuga girl to leave without talking to him again. Lee waved and grinned at him, and then accompanied the other two and the dog as they left. Naruto was unhappy and suspicious by the time he finally came to a wet halt in front of Kakashi.
"Why are you here?" asked Naruto. "Did my dad send you? Or-"
"Ibiki."
Naruto grimaced. "Not today. Tomorrow afternoon, I promise. I'll take him there as soon as I get done in the mission room. I'll even wait outside if I have to."
"It can't be put off any longer," Kakashi warned him.
"I know. Just not today." Naruto stared at him for a full minute, and then he winced. "Will you go away now? Please?"
Kakashi chuckled and turned away. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, Sasuke. Sorry to intrude on your first day out and about. Even with refrigeration, dead bodies just don't keep that well."
Naruto folded his arms over his chest and scowled after the man. Then he sent Sasuke a worried look. "Sorry. They decided pictures aren't enough, so they want you to look at the body itself. But Dad said it could wait at least another day or two. I didn't expect Ibiki to send Kakashi looking for you or I would have warned them off earlier. Did he ruin it?"
"Ruin what?" asked Sasuke. "The dog drowning? The fight was over long before he showed up."
Naruto grinned at that. "There is no way we could drown Akamaru. He's even stronger than he looks. He was just whining because he wanted Kiba to come in with him. I'm surprised he didn't. Kiba is usually up for that sort of fun. I guess he was worried we'd damage the lake again. He and Hinata just got back from a mission and heard about my toads dumping water in here, so they came to check it out. Did they talk to you before Akamaru jumped in? Hinata is Neji's cousin, one of the Hyuuga clan. She was supposed to be the heir, but her little sister Hanabi ended up getting stuck with that instead. It's a real shame. Hinata is a lot easier to get along with. But she says her sister will be a better leader than she would, so there's no arguing with her on the subject. She's a chunin. Neji thinks she's probably nearly as strong as him now, but she's not showing anyone. I'm pretty sure it's because of her sister. They have a complicated family."
"I'm sure." Sasuke's tone might have been the reason Naruto quickly dropped that subject.
"So?" Naruto prompted. "Did we put on a good show? Before the whole dog drowning part?"
"Yes," Sasuke assured him. He didn't mention that he had enjoyed the dog drowning part as well. "Lee is as good as you said he was. You were wrong about you fighting your own clones, though. I found that interesting, too. How did you ever graduate from the academy without being able to see through a henge? Iruka should be ashamed of himself."
"Oh, don't start on that," Naruto groaned. "I've been getting that since I..."
"Graduated from the academy?"
"Shut up!"
Sasuke smirked. "I'll teach you how to see through a henge, just as soon as I get bored using that trick on your clones myself."
"Yeah, right," Naruto scoffed, grinning back at him. "People have been trying to teach me that for years. And I bet anything you won't get bored, you'll just get creative. My first henge was my sexy jutsu. All you'd have to do is henge your shirt off and boom, an army of clones down with a nosebleed. If you flashed some full nudity they'd probably poof right out. There's a good reason I learned that trick. Even people who can see through a henge can be shocked senseless if you flash the right thing at them."
Ridiculously childish, but not wrong. Sasuke was sure he would have been completely thrown if an enemy had randomly transformed into a naked woman. Sometimes all a person needed was the element of surprise. He hoped he wasn't giving Naruto any ideas. Even after having seen that transformation of his, he didn't know how he would react if Naruto suddenly used it during a fight with him. As eager as he was to fight Naruto's clones again, the thought of being surrounded by an army of naked female Narutos was downright traumatizing. He already knew they would squish themselves all over him. He made sure to keep his face blank as he forced that image away. If Naruto hadn't already considered doing that, Sasuke definitely didn't want to put that thought into his head. If it happened, he would deal with it. Hopefully it never happened.
"Did Lee say what time he would be coming by the apartment tomorrow?" asked Sasuke.
"Five!" Naruto winced. "He wants to circle around to the gate his team entered during the exam so you guys can go in just as the sun goes up. I warned you he was insane. No one should be up that early unless they haven't gone to bed yet."
"You can go back to sleep after I leave. And speaking of leaving," Sasuke sighed, "you didn't have to send your friends away just because I was here. Had they shown up sooner they would have been a distraction," and an annoyance, "but the fight was already over. You could have spent some time with them. Especially if those two just returned from a mission and were concerned enough to immediately seek you out."
"I just want you to meet them in small doses, you know? I figure if you meet them one by one then you'll have a better-"
"You have too many friends for that," Sasuke interrupted him. "Meeting them one by one would take forever. Invite whichever ones are in the village to dinner tonight and get it over with."
"Dinner?" Naruto blinked. "In my apartment? There aren't enough chairs! Although we might be able to fit everyone in the livingroom if most of us eat on the floor. The girls could sit at the table in the kitchen. Or maybe...wait," he frowned, "are you offering to cook for all my friends? Seriously?"
Sasuke let out a long sigh. "In case you hadn't noticed, we have a lot of food that is on the verge of expiring. You apparently ate ramen the entire time I was in the hospital. Yesterday, after I specifically told you I would be cooking, you brought home more ramen."
"That was Ichiraku's! It was a treat! And I still ate the dinner you cooked."
"Followed by instant ramen. If you were still hungry you should have eaten something out of the refrigerator."
"I wasn't hungry, I just wanted ramen."
"The point is I hate waste and dislike postponing the inevitable. Invite your friends. I'll feed and be civil to the ones who show up. If they annoy me, I'll retire early. I have the perfect excuse since I'll be getting up at four in the morning."
"What? Lee isn't coming till five!"
"Yes, and I'd like to be awake and ready to go when he arrives."
That clearly hadn't occurred to Naruto because he looked startled and horrified at the thought. As if four in the morning was that much worse than five.
Sasuke scoffed at him, "I'll sleep on the couch so you won't even notice when I leave."
"No," Naruto said quickly. "I'll survive waking up at four. I want to at least say bye to you. I can go back to sleep after you're gone. That'll give me at least a few hours of sleep before I have to get back up. You might even be back by then," he flashed him a taunting look, "if you wear yourself out so much Lee has to carry you home early."
"That won't happen." Sasuke rose and brushed the grass off. "Are we going to teleport back to the apartment?"
"Only because I'm soaked. Then we're coming right back. I have to show you that house! I keep planning on it and then something pops up. But today's the day! As soon as I change we'll go check it out. Then if you still feel like feeding my hoard of friends, I'll send out the invites and see who bites. You know Sakura will," he warned him. "Lee might not, if he cons Tenten or Neji into sparring with him. That's where he was headed next. Chouji will definitely show, he's always up for food. You could pile him up with leftovers if you really want to clean out the fridge. You don't even have to cook it all first. He'll take it home and cook it up himself as a midnight snack. But, yeah, let's wait and see how you feel after you see the house."
"You think I'll be in a bad mood after seeing it?"
"Maybe," Naruto admitted. He sent him a worried look. "If it's anything like this lake."
Sasuke was stunned, and a little impressed. Naruto knew about this lake and had played in it anyway? Or had he played in it because he knew the importance of it? "When did you find out the history behind this lake?"
"When Kakashi brought his friend by to replace the dock," Naruto sighed. "I already guessed, though, since you said your clan had a lake like this, and my dad called it an 'important landmark' that no longer had a function."
"What did Kakashi tell you this lake was used for?"
"Katon," said Naruto. "Fireball jutsu. That's why the dock is so narrow and the lake is so deep. He said every Uchiha who enrolled in the academy learned their first fire jutsu here. Is that what your lake is used for?"
"Yes."
"Is that why you hate it?"
Sasuke stared at him in shock. Naruto's expression was far too knowing. He let out a sharp breath and nearly laughed. "Am I that transparent?"
Naruto gave a wincing smile. "Not usually. It was really obvious there was something about this lake that bothered you. Even when we were cleaning up the wood you either glared at it or avoiding looking at it. And then when we got here today you...well, you definitely didn't look happy to see it all fixed up again."
He was reminded of that genin photo Sand had taken of him. Sometimes he gave far more away than he thought he did. He would have to work on that. Naruto was waiting, watching him but not asking the question. He had only told one person about his fear of water, a shinobi who had been trying to show him a water justu most often used by his target. That had been a humiliating moment, but finally being rid of that phobia had been more than worth it. It really was a silly thing that had held him back for far too long. Had he simply told his father that day on the dock his father would have tossed him in the water and he would have realized within seconds that everyone floated in the absence of a strong current and he'd had nothing to fear from that damned lake. Keeping that secret had never brought anything good. There was no sense keeping it now.
"I almost drowned in a river during my first mission," said Sasuke. "As soon as I got home, my father took me to our lake to teach me my first fire jutsu. I couldn't learn it because I was too afraid of the water to concentrate. But I didn't tell him that. It took me forever to manage a decent katon and by then it was too late. I didn't tell anyone about my problem with water for three years." He scoffed at himself. "All it took was for someone to force me into some water and that phobia was gone. It was a stupid fear to begin with." But it had held him back and ruined what should have been the most important moment of his life. "It wasn't even water itself I was afraid of, it was being held under the water by the currents. I have been back to that river and I still can't figure out how I survived those rapids. I'm not surprised it left me with problems. I just hate that I didn't know enough to just admit my problem so someone could help me fix it."
"You went back to the river," Naruto said slowly, "like eating the snake that ate you...?"
"Yes, just like that that." Sasuke shook his head. Naruto was trying to lighten the mood, but there was really no need for it. "That was the plan, but once I actually saw the river again I had to reconsider. I couldn't see any logic in jumping into that water. Between the current and the rocks, it's deadly in that spot. I couldn't even risk walking across the surface. I jumped across it instead. That visit was a total waste of time."
"Pointless, just like me destroying that skull would be. I get that."
Because, as with this lake, destroying the reminder didn't change the past. It had felt good at the time, though. Naruto was quiet for so long that Sasuke finally realized he was glaring at the lake. He really was transparent. He forced his eyes away and braced himself for another of those knowing looks. Instead he found Naruto smirking at him. His eyes narrowed. "What?"
"Is that what you showed Kakashi?" Naruto demanded eagerly. "That river? Is that why he wanted to drown your teacher? I couldn't figure that out, him wanting to drown someone. He doesn't use water jutsu that much. He has an earth jutsu that would be a lot more humiliating if he just wanted to torture the guy, but he specifically said drowning so I didn't know what to think. Is that what you did to Kakashi? Used your genjutsu to drown him? What did that have to do with your teacher?"
"Basically," Sasuke admitted. "I don't know anything about Kakashi, so I couldn't create a genjutsu geared toward him. I told Kakashi that my jounin teacher tried to teach me wind but water suited me better. I said that after showing just how bad I am at using water jutsu without a water source nearby, so he probably assumed Gotou had taught me that. He didn't. Gotou never made a secret of the fact that he was afraid of water, so when I developed that genjutsu I drowned him with it. Having lived through the experience myself that is a more vivid illusion than any I could make up. I did the same thing with Kakashi, but he wasn't afraid of it. With him, it was more a matter of keeping him under until he physically stopped breathing. You don't have to be afraid of water for it to kill you."
"Sort of like snakes."
Naruto was definitely trying to lighten the mood. "Yes," Sasuke sighed, "except you were never really afraid of snakes. You just have a strong dislike of them. Right?"
"Well, I did have nightmares for a long time. But it wasn't snakes so much as being eaten by one. Like how yours wasn't water so much as being held under it."
And thus they had so much in common. If he was transparent then Naruto was downright invisible. There really was no need for this. But if Naruto wanted it that badly, he would give it to him. "Right."
Naruto beamed, and had he not been soaking wet he probably would have hugged him even though they were in public. That cheerfulness lasted through the trip to the apartment, the walk back to the lake, and all the way to the entrance to the former Uchiha compound. At that point the happiness was exchanged for a watchful wariness that had Sasuke blanking his own expression more than he actually needed to.
The walls were surprising because of what they implied, but they and the buildings were nothing like the structures he had grown up with. They couldn't have been. Even if the clan had wanted to reproduce their homes, buildings like these would have been ovens and freezers in a desert environment. There were enough similarities in the layout of the streets to make him wonder if he would find the remnants of a shrine here in the same general area as the one at home, and whether this one had hidden the same secrets as their own. Aside from that, there was nothing that jumped out at him the way the lake had. The area was as heavily populated as the rest of the village, with fewer shops and a stronger concentration of shinobi than civilians. And children. There were quite a few children running around. Naruto had said something about this place being redone for orphans, but it had clearly been an attractive area for shinobi families to settle. Here they at least had private yards and fewer neighbors. He could see how the clan might have resented being isolated here, particularly with walls separating them from the rest of the village. But the clan members he had met would probably have been more comfortable living separately from the more crowded parts of the village. Perhaps they had always been here and the walls had been a late addition to cement their isolation, a very visible reminder of the distrust on both sides.
The house itself was impressive. It was a two story building with a stone wall separating it from the street and appeared far too large for a family of four. Or a family of three, if he really had been born here. There were overgrown trees visible to either side of the entryway, denoting side yards that probably connected to an open area in the back as well. He wouldn't be finding out today because, as Naruto had claimed, the place was heavily warded. He was inspecting the ones to either side of the front door when Naruto finally broke his silence.
"The roof looks okay, doesn't it? We'd have to do something about those trees, and those vine things going up that wall. Do you think that one is going in the window? It looks like it is. That could be a problem. But it's a really nice house, even for this area. And if it lasted this long without anyone taking care of it, it should be really easy to keep up. Don't you think?"
"It's fine," Sasuke said, sending him a quelling look. "I have no memories of this place, positive or negative. It's just a house. It's far too big for two people, but if your father is hoping to breed us both we may end up being glad for the space."
"He's not breeding us. Stop saying it like that. We're not dogs."
They might as well be. Sasuke didn't bother arguing with him. "The only problem with this house is that you can't enter it with these wards. I'll have to redo them first."
"Can you go in?"
"Of course. This is my father's work. It's set up a little differently from the ones at home, but I would recognize his style anywhere." He must have lived here because he was included on the 'guest list'. The strange thing was that it was set to alert the occupants if any other Uchiha attempted to enter. Had the clan been suspicious of their own following the Kyuubi attack or was that particular to his father? No one took precautions like that in the current clan compound. They must have left those suspicions behind when they had left. "There should be more wards set up along the perimeter and some key ones inside. I'd guess four or five pints to redo them all. That's a little over a week," he said, though he really doubted Naruto was that bad at math. "It takes two days to replenish a pint of blood."
"Who uses that much blood to secure a house?" Naruto demanded.
If Naruto thought that was bad, he would be horrified to learn how much had been used on their temple. The elders had supplied that. He couldn't remember the exact amount, but Shisui had joked they could have painted the place inside and out with that much blood. The clan never took security lightly. "Four or five pints is a standard amount for a private residence. These wards are permanent, after all. They're as strong today as they were the day they were applied. If I were just going to add you, it wouldn't take more than a pint. But I'm going to redo them completely. It's best that Itachi not have free access to this place once we take up residence here." He raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't you agree?"
"Oh, shit. I didn't even think of that. You mean these wards would let him-" He cut himself off with a grimace. "Of course they do. This was his house, too. Shit! Why didn't anyone mention that to me? They knew I was planning to bring you here and they didn't even consider that? What the hell? He was here. No one knows why or what he did while he was here. For all we know he could have waltzed into this house and rigged the whole place to blow. And I was about to suggest you take a look around without me! There's no way we can risk that now. I can't believe no one mentioned that me."
"Why would he have done anything to this house?" asked Sasuke. "It has been here since the clan left. Once you're living here he might have reason to target this place. But he couldn't have guessed anyone of importance would ever step foot in there when he entered this village. And you talked about me spotting ulterior motives where there are none. If no one mentioned the possibility to you, that's because it's too remote to even consider. Don't be paranoid."
"I'd rather be paranoid than have you walk in there and blow up. No, sorry, I can't let you go in there alone."
"I wasn't planning to go in alone," Sasuke informed him. "If we're going to live here together, we can see it for the first time together. It will take half a pint from each of us to just to get you in this door. Since I intend to run tomorrow morning, and I have an appointment with Ibiki after that, we'll have to wait until tomorrow evening at the earliest."
"Wait, when you said four or five pints, you meant from each of us? Ten pints of blood just to secure a house? And you call that a 'standard' amount? No, you don't get to call me paranoid. If that's normal for your clan, then you guys are definitely the paranoid ones." Naruto folded his arms over his chest and looked askance at both him and the door. "That's just crazy."
He wondered how Naruto would react if he informed him that it had likely taken his parents three months of regular bleeding to add him to this family seal. That was obviously a tradition that would not be allowed if they did move children into this house. He would keep that in mind while redoing the wards. If he allowed them to be connected to some strategically placed hairs it would keep any 'new family members' nearly as safe as blood seals. Those markers would just have to be replaced regularly until the children were old enough for Naruto to allow them to donate blood for a permanent form of protection.
"Touch the wall," said Sasuke.
"What? Why?"
"Just do it."
Naruto laid a hand on the stone wall and gave him a funny look when nothing happened.
"Now touch the door."
Naruto had to lean back to see the silvery blue sheen that set up over the house. Now that was a familiar sight, Sasuke admitted. A welcome one. That was home, the sort of protection only family could provide. The shield that formed from combining his and Naruto's blood was bound to be different. That was probably for the best. This was the shield around his parents' home. He would never see them step foot in this house.
"What kind of shield is that?" asked Naruto.
"A blood one. Don't any of the clans in your village use blood seals?"
"I wouldn't know," Naruto admitted sheepishly. "I've never been invited into one of their areas. Neji and Hinata have their own apartments away from their clan, and Shino definitely isn't the sort to bring someone home with him. I don't even think his teammates have seen where his family lives. I think the Inuzuka use blood in their wards, but I always thought that was because of their nindogs. They do a lot of things that rely more on scent than chakra. I don't know much about seals in general."
"I noticed that. Don't worry," he said, when Naruto glowered at him, "if you ever want to learn more about seals in general, I'll teach you what I know. For the wards I intend to place here the work is already done for us. Alignment is the key for the best blood wards. All we have to do is apply the blood and perform the hand signs to set it in place." He doubted he would let Naruto watch that part. The hand signs to rewrite these particular wards were known only by his immediate family. He would settle on a new combination for the new ward and teach that to Naruto, just in case he needed to reset it on his own someday. "There isn't anything we can do here for now. Let's get back to the apartment."
"Wait," Naruto blurted. He took his hand off the door and looked at the place where the shield had been. "What would happen if someone tried to get in here? Or to disable these wards? Does that trigger some sort of trap?"
"Not without anyone in residence. I'm sure your village has seal breakers powerful enough to get in there if they really wanted to. That would destroy the wall, the road, and those houses there. But it would break the shield. Then the moment they crossed the first wards the interior ones would trigger and another shield would set up." Sasuke smirked as Naruto saw where he was going with this. "Breaking that one would destroy the surrounding yard and do some more damage to everything nearby. Then they would trigger the final shield. We have three at home. There might be four or five here, if my parents were more concerned with safety here than they are these days. If the final shield is broken with no one inside, it will destroy what's left of the place. If someone was inside, they would be transported to safety." He already knew the the final one here would be around Itachi's bedroom, and possibly his own if they'd had time to alter the original wards after his birth. It had probably been set up to transport the occupants to the shrine's hidden area. He wouldn't be able to do that part himself until he learned the teleporation jutsu. He would also have to talk to Naruto about which places he considered the safest in this village. Since they didn't have any children that needed that sort of protection it wasn't an urgent concern.
"So that's why all the blood? Because it's multiple shields rather than just one..."
"Exactly. And once it's set up it will potentially last forever. Consider it an investment. A little blood now for wards that require no maintenance and aren't likely to be challenged unless someone with far too much time on their hands wants in there and isn't afraid of attracting a great deal of attention to their attempts."
Naruto grumbled and tried to act as if he wasn't starting to like the idea. "If it's that good then maybe I won't have to bring that scroll from my room."
"No, you should still have that set up. It's linked to Kyuubi's chakra rather than your blood. That's a completely different sort of protection. Having multiple layers and types is always better than just one." He preferred the blood wards because he was used to them and they were an Uchiha tradition. Naruto's chakra seal had been set up by his father, and possibly Jiraiya, and was designed specifically for him as a demon carrier.
"My dad will probably like that you said that," Naruto admitted. "He's the same way. Any time he or Jiraiya come across a new seal they're sticking it on me. I'm surprised my seal doesn't look like a quilt at this point."
"I have never seen your seal." Which was strange, considering he had seen Naruto naked from multiple angles. "Is it hidden?"
"Oh. Yeah, it only shows up when I'm accessing Kyuubi's chakra. It's around my navel. I'll show you when we get back to the apartment. Are you sure you want to go back now, though? If we hop on that roof we can get a peek at the backyard. There's a tiny pond back there. It was slimy and gross the last time I looked, but I bet it will clean up really nice."
"We can check that out first." A back yard with a built-in water source? The house probably had a dojo, too. This was going to be quite a step up from Naruto's cramped apartment. Even if that vine Naruto had pointed out had cracked the window frame and exposed parts of the house to the elements it would still be a private retreat with that wall. Not to mention the larger wall that separated this area from the rest of the village. The clan might have resented being isolated that way, but it suited Sasuke just fine. One glimpse into the back yard and he was sure of it. "Very nice."
"Right?" Naruto grinned. "I knew you'd like that. No more practicing in the bathtub."
"That was probably a koi pond. It would be a shame to clean it up just to make a practice area out of it."
"But...?"
"But," Sasuke admitted, "that is exactly what I would do with it. Any objections?"
"Nope!"
Maybe Naruto's toads would get some use out of it as well. Gamakichi claimed his bumpy skin should have made it obvious he wasn't the slimy frog sort, but he had also said Naruto had a couple of those he could summon if Sasuke wanted someone who didn't mind being submerged. He didn't actually want to incorporate Naruto's summons into his own training, but if he was left with one here that pond would at least give him something to do with the creature. He just hoped they didn't drop any eggs in there. The last thing he wanted was a noisy frog pond in the backyard. He was liable to introduce some snakes if it came to that, and he could already imagine the sort of war that would break out if he did such a thing. That might be interesting, though. It was something to think about.
"Let's go back," said Sasuke. "If that friend of yours really will take left overs, then I have a lot of cooking to do."
"You still want to do that?"
"Yes." He raised an eyebrow. "You don't?"
"I don't know," Naruto admitted. "I want to and I don't want to. This could go so wrong. But then maybe it'll be okay and that makes me want to because it really would save a lot of time. But if it goes wrong there's no going back from that, especially with you. They could be all awkward and give you the wrong impression. Or maybe they'll try too hard and you'll hate them instantly. I already know I'll try too hard and you're bound to hate that. I just don't know if it's worth the risk."
"They're your friends. I'll tolerate them whether I like or hate them. I won't decide how I feel about them based on a first meeting, whether it's awkward or not. What are you so afraid of?"
Naruto folded his arms over his chest and glowered at him. "Kakashi."
Sasuke winced and looked away. Naruto had a very good point. He sighed and folded his own arms over his chest. "I don't like that man."
"I know," said Naruto. "Everyone who has seen you with him knows. It's pretty funny, actually. At least, Sakura thinks it's funny. Iruka, too. And my dad loves it because Kakashi honestly doesn't know what he did to make you hate him so much. It wouldn't really be a problem since Kakashi can handle not being liked. Sometimes he deserves it, anyway. But you're going to have to interact with him because he's the only one with the sharingan and lightning and the sort of ninjutsu that can help you take your techniques up a notch. That would be a lot easier if you didn't-"
"He uses lightning?"
Naruto's eyes narrowed and a slow smirk spread across his face. Sasuke glared back at him.
"Why, yes," Naruto drawled. "Yes, he does."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "At least that gives me a reason to think he might be useful enough to learn to tolerate. Assuming he can be compelled to actually do something besides stand and taunt."
"Just drown him again," Naruto grinned. "That messed him up good the first time. But this time I want to watch."
"He didn't show any sign of being 'messed up' in front of me. That was probably an act for your benefit, or for the Hokage's."
"No, no chance of that. If he played it cool around you, that was the act. With my dad? Real thing. And I got to see it, so there is no way I'll let him play cool with you if he tries that again. I bet he twitches something awful!"
Sasuke disliked the man. He had a reason to want to see him twitch. Naruto supposedly liked him, so what was his excuse? He frowned and redirected Naruto's attention. "So long as none of your friends scare me, mock me, and manhandle me all within the space of a few minutes, it's very unlikely I will view them the way I do Kakashi. So take me back to the apartment before I decide to make you help with the cooking."
"I can't cook," Naruto winced. Then he blinked. "Wait, when did Kakashi scare you? How? And what do you mean by manhandle? I swear if that bastard stuck his fingers up your butt I'll kill him!"
"What? Why the hell would he do that?" The man was an infuriating nuisance, but he hadn't struck him as a pervert.
"One thousand years of death."
Sasuke blinked at Naruto's absolutely sober expression. "What...?"
"It is one of the more horribly violating and painful techniques ever invented," Naruto told him. "If he ever even tries to use that on you, tell me. I'll take a page out of Sound's book and shove a kunai with an exploding tag up his ass."
"He did that technique to you?" And it involved fingers up the ass? "Does your father know about that?"
"Oh, sure. I got in trouble for using it on someone and my dad immediately lectured Kakashi for teaching it to me. He didn't even have to ask who I learned it from. It's a really horrible technique. I'd teach it to you, but I don't think you could pull it off. No offense, you're just not that sort."
Which was probably a compliment. Somehow. Maybe. He really didn't want to know. "Apartment," he said flatly. "Now, please."
As soon as they were back, Sasuke washed his hands. Naruto immediately started prying again.
"How did he scare you?"
"Grab the bag of tomatoes, wash them, and chop them up. Small pieces. You can put them in this bowl."
"And what did you mean by manhandle? If it wasn't the thousand years of death, what did he do?"
"Here, you can cut them on this. We need to get a cutting board."
"I'm not letting it go," Naruto warned "If you don't tell me yourself I'll have to go ask him. Iruka will probably be there so naturally I'll invite him to dinner, and that means I'll have to invite Kakashi, too. Do you really want that? Eh? Dinner with Kakashi?"
"Iruka is welcome to come. If you consider Kakashi one of your friends, feel free to invite him, too."
"Are you serious? Was it that bad? So bad you'd rather have him here than tell me? What the hell did he do to you?"
"When you're done with that, you can dice these up, too. Onions make my eyes water."
"Onions make everyone's eyes water. What are the onions for? I don't like onions!"
"Just shut up, finish the tomatoes, dice those, and maybe I'll consider answering your questions. I have a lot to do and you're annoying me. Make yourself useful. And send out your clones. This shouldn't take more than an hour or two."
"I knew this dinner thing was a bad idea," Naruto muttered.
.-.
TBC