"Why are you up so early?" Naruto grumbled as he entered the kitchen. "I have to send a clone out soon, but you could have slept in. Even if we got there on time, Kakashi will definitely be late. Hours late. I'm not exaggerating. He's always late. That's just what he does. He shows up late."
Sasuke was sitting at the table. He glanced up in time to see Naruto crouch down to dig some instant ramen out from under the sink. They were definitely going to have to get groceries again.
"Well?" asked Naruto. "What are you doing?"
"Storing weapons." He slid one of the cuffs on his arm and activated the black seal on top in order to summon a shuriken. "This way I can access them without getting the entire pack wet the next time I'm out in the rain. It's also quicker and lets me carry more so I won't have to rely on senbon as much."
Naruto made a weird squinting face at him that would have been annoying if wasn't interrupted by a yawn. He was obviously still half asleep. "It's eight in the morning," he said finally. "How long have you been up?"
"A while," said Sasuke. "My chakra is much better." He'd woken up restless and impatient to get back to training. There were plenty of things he could do that wouldn't use much chakra or risk a blow to the back. He removed the cuff and stored the shuriken away again. Just getting used to summoning weapons this way, rather than drawing them from a pack on his thigh, should keep him busy until he was fully recovered.
The silence held until Naruto had finished his ramen and sent off a clone. Then he finally sat down and grabbed one of the kunai off the table. He wagged it at Sasuke. "Where do you come up with this stuff?"
"The seal? It's the same storage seal I used in the forest. This is far more convenient than having to deal with a scroll. That's why I wanted these arm bands. I've seen other people wear similar bands to hide seals written on their arms. I don't know enough about this particular seal to risk doing something permanent like that, but having the seal on the outside works well enough for my purposes. For now." In actual combat he would definitely want the seals hidden, if only by a strip of bandage.
"Wait," Naruto scowled, "that's the seal that makes my bunshin vanish on contact? And you're putting it on your wrists? We wouldn't even be able to spar with you wearing those!"
"These won't work that way unless I want them to, which I don't. Think about it," he scoffed. "If they automatically stored anything that touched them then any weapon I take out of them would be sucked right back in. Whether the seal stores or releases depends on how I activate it." He was surprised when Naruto continued to look suspicious. "Do you really not know anything about seals?"
"No," Naruto muttered. He wasn't quite pouting. "I know how to store stuff and take stuff out, but only if someone else sets the scroll up for me. And that's a normal storage seal, not a weird body storing thing like you're using. Why don't you just use a normal storage seal?"
"This is the only storage seal I know." And Naruto obviously wouldn't be able to teach him this 'normal' seal if he couldn't even set it up on his own. "Don't worry, I won't use it on your bunshin unless I'm at the bottom of a dogpile."
Naruto snorted at that, cracking a grin. "You're supposed to promise you won't use it at all without warning me first. Now I know to just avoid touching your wrists the next time I get you in a dogpile. There goes your advantage."
"We'll see." He was hoping he had copied Lee's moves well enough to avoid being dogpiled in the first place. He didn't have Lee's strength or experience, and he certainly wasn't ready to fight on water, but he was faster than Naruto and that should be enough to give him an edge. He was eager to try aiming blows the same way he aimed weapons. Having seen that sort of fighting style in action, it seemed so natural he really should have thought of it himself. His body was just another weapon, after all. He was good with weapons.
He unwound an arm-length strip of chakra wire and bound one end to the ring of the double-kunai they had found in the forest. He connected the other end of the wire to one of his long senbon and stored both away. When he summoned the senbon he whipped his arm to the side so the wire pulled tight and the kunai gave a little spin before he caught it in his left hand. A bit too long. He undid the wire and shortened it a few inches.
"That was neat!" said Naruto.
"And very impractical," Sasuke assured him. "I'm just trying things out." He would much rather have been doing it without an audience. Naruto's easy enthusiasm was embarrassing.
Naruto remained excited. "Can you store anything in there? Even big things? If that's the same seal you used on that snake then you could store a giant tree or a boulder in there and have it fall on people. That would be so cool. And funny!"
Sasuke sighed. He knew Naruto wasn't laughing at him, but it felt that way. "Unless I was high above the person, something that big would fall on me as well as my target. I'm only doing this so I can access weapons more quickly and easily, and so I can carry more of them. Senbon are useful for poisoning targets, but bigger weapons do far more damage and can be thrown farther."
"You're too practical," Naruto complained. "I'd be storing all sorts of things. The normal storage seal I use for the replacement technique can hold good sized logs and stuff, but nothing as big as that snake of yours. You like trying things out, so why not try something crazy and cool? I would. In fact," he reached out to run a finger over the seal of one of the cuffs, "I wouldn't mind if you made me a pair of these. Or even just one? Just so I can try a few things out myself?"
Sasuke didn't want to do that because that would mean giving up a potential advantage. If no one in Konoha had seen fit to teach Naruto anything about seals then why should he? Naruto obviously got along just fine without that sort of thing. Even as those thoughts crossed his mind, he recognized the hypocrisy of it. That was the exact reasoning, the exact excuse, that his jounin instructor had given him for not teaching him new things. Did he have a valid reason to want to prevent Naruto from potentially improving? He hadn't seen anything to imply Naruto's weapon usage was better than his. He certainly had a speed advantage over Naruto. These cuffs would make it even harder for Naruto to do any real training involving weapons with him. If Naruto did manage to store strange things in a useful way then Sasuke might find something he could use as well. The better Naruto got, the more he would have to improve in order to keep up with him. Training went both ways.
"I'll teach you how to draw the seal out and how to use it," said Sasuke. "In exchange, you can investigate something for me."
Naruto's face fell and he leaned back in his chair, his face twisted into a grimace. "I can't draw seals. I'm no good at it. Even my handwriting is bad."
"Then you'll practice until you can do it. With your clones it shouldn't take long." He raised an eyebrow when Naruto continued to pout. "When is the last time you even tried to draw out a seal?"
"I don't know," Naruto grumbled, "years and years. I hate that stuff. My mind just doesn't work that way and my fingers don't, either. It was as bad as the whole dispelling illusions stuff. And Iruka-sensei really tried to teach me that. Even Sakura-chan tried to teach me that. I just can't learn that stuff."
"I didn't realize you were the sort to give up so quickly."
"I didn't give up! I accepted that I have my own strengths and they don't include stuff like that. That's not the same as giving up."
"Of course it is," Sasuke scoffed. He pulled on the arm cuffs and stored the rest of the weapons in his pouch. "You haven't spent a single minute trying to learn this seal and you've already given up. If you were willing to try with Iruka and Sakura, shouldn't you be willing to try with me? Before you give up like a loser?"
"A loser?" Naruto scowled and folded his arms over his chest. "You just want to see me look bad, and that's exactly what will happen. I know what I can and can't do and I'm telling you I can't do this. If you want to see me try that bad then fine, I'll try. And I'll fail and I'll be mad about it and you'll be mad that I wasted your time and then we can both be mad together. That'll be fun."
He ignored the sarcasm and went to get two blank scrolls. He had gotten the reaction he wanted and wasn't going to let Naruto change his mind. "I won't be wasting any of my time because you'll be working on the seal while I'm working on the teleportation jutsu. When we get to the training ground you'll take this scoll and make as many clones as you can fit in the area and all of you will practice drawing the seal. I'll look your work over when I'm done." That would also keep Naruto occupied so hopefully dealing with Kakashi wouldn't be any more painful than necessary.
He made Naruto watch as he broke the seal into three parts, the inner ring, the middle, and the outer edges. Then he did a fourth drawing of all three parts together. "Use the blank scroll and practice drawing these, in this order, until you reach the end of the scroll. If you finish before I do, henge the scroll to remove your work and start over. You can get in a ton of practice in a matter of minutes. There is no reason you shouldn't be able to get it right quickly."
"There's plenty of reason," Naruto insisted. He was starting to look daunted rather than riled. "I can't believe you're giving me homework. That's what this is, you know. Homework. Busy work. Why should I agree to this?"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "To make me happy?"
"Oh, you would use that. Now I'm going to feel even worse when I fail and you're disappointed in me. I hate disappointing people."
"I won't be disappointed in you," he promised. He would be disappointed in general, but not with Naruto in particular. If Naruto really was incapable of learning this sort of thing then he was more similar to Lee than Sasuke had realized. That would be disappointing, but better to know now so he could find ways to work around that problem. "If you genuinely try and fail then I'll have to accept that you were right and I was wrong. But you have to try."
"I'll try." Naruto accepted the scrolls and stored the ink and brush away in a storage scroll from his shelf.
"Who makes those for you? Those 'normal' storage scrolls?"
"Sakura gave me this one. I have a few that Shikamaru gave me and some old ones from my dad. I don't use them that often unless I'm going somewhere and need to bring more than I can carry. I mostly just keep one on me in case I need logs for a replacement."
So multiple people had been enabling Naruto. Maybe that shouldn't have surprised him. It seemed wrong to him, but people here didn't think the way he did. Naruto wouldn't be getting any enabling from him if he could help it. "Since you're used to using those, the seal I'm teaching you should be easy once you learn to draw it out. You already know how to store and retrieve things. Only the seal itself will be different."
"And the size of what it seals," said Naruto. "That's the main reason I'd want to use it. I swear, if I somehow manage to draw that the first thing I'm doing is finding a giant fallen tree and storing that sucker so I can drop it. That would be so awesome."
And destructive, if he dropped it in the wrong place. Sasuke supposed it would be up to him to make sure Naruto didn't destroy part of the village, or get crushed by summoning something ridiculously large right on top of himself. He would worry about that after Naruto learned to draw the seal. "You haven't asked what I want you to investigate for me," he pointed out.
"What? Oh! I forgot that part. That makes it even worse, you know. Not only are you assigning me homework, but I have to do something in exchange? You should be doing me a favor in exchange."
"Teaching you this is a favor," said Sasuke. "What I want in exchange is for you to ask around and find out if there is a way to counter wind chakra. The person who taught you to add wind to your rasengan will probably know."
"Asuma? He might, but if you have questions about the elemental stuff then Kakashi is the one I'd ask. He knows about all of the elements. I know you don't like him, but he's the one who tested me to see what element I matched up with. And we're going to see him today, anyway. Do you want me to ask him for you?"
"No," Sasuke grimaced. "If he's the only one you can ask then forget it. Especially not today. I'm hoping to learn the teleportation jutsu from him with as little conversation as possible."
Naruto laughed. "I'll ask Asuma. He was the teacher for Shikamaru's team and he's really good at using wind chakra to coat weapons. If he doesn't know then I can send a message to Gaara's sister, Temari. She's the one I told you about who uses wind techniques that can cut down a whole forest. They'll probably think I'm hoping to learn some more wind techniques myself, so they will jump at the chance to tell me whatever they know."
With all of those people eager to teach Naruto, did he really consider 'wind techniques' not worth learning? Or was it Naruto's fear of failure that kept him from trying to learn them? Sasuke could understand that. He also hated to fail. But failing, so long as it was done in private, was better than not trying at all. If there was a way to block wind chakra then Naruto would have to work harder to counter him once they were working with weapons. That might be all the motivation Naruto needed to learn a few of those wind techniques he claimed to have no interest in.
"Let's go now," said Sasuke. "I know, you're sure he won't get there till nine. If so then I'll help you and your bunshin with the seal until he arrives. And when he does arrive, don't engage him any more than necessary. The less he talks the easier it will be to tolerate having him for a teacher."
"You'll get used to him," Naruto laughed. "Eventually."
.-.
The teleportation jutsu was very straight-forward, as he had expected it would be. He had experience with other seals, after all, and teleportation was essentially a controlled reverse summon. The original seal was much simpler than the one he had set Naruto to working on. Really, there was no reason for Naruto not to have learned it unless he really did have some sort of mental block like Lee claimed to have. Even the modifications made to specify location just involved a few extra hand signs. It reminded him of how the blood wards were set up at home, a baseline and then unique additions so only someone who knew those additions could use it. He wasn't happy to find that Kakashi knew the seal set for Naruto's apartment, but since that would be the place he teleported to the most he accepted it had to be the first thing he learned. He dutifully copied it out over and over until Kakashi was confident he had it memorized. He did his best to hide his annoyance at that. He had copied it perfectly the first time. He didn't need the sharingan to remember something that simple. But Kakashi hadn't said anything outright annoying since joining them on the training ground, hadn't even asked what Naruto was doing with so many clones crowded between the trees and bent over their scrolls. Naruto had only spared Kakashi a quick scowl, complaining about him being late, before turning back to his work. So far this 'lesson' had gone suspiciously smoothly. Then it came time to actually perform the jutsu.
"Do you have the chakra for it?" asked Kakashi. His eye narrowed in amusement. "Ibiki was roundly scolded for not recognizing that you were suffering from chakra depletion. You must hide it very well."
"I'm fine now," said Sasuke. He wasn't fully recovered, but he would be in a few more hours. This jutsu didn't require much chakra, anyway, just control and focus.
"Off we go, then. Naruto, we'll be walking back. It shouldn't take long, so try not to panic."
Naruto lifted his head just long enough to roll his eyes.
Kakashi placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and shrugged at the sharp look he received. His tone was still amused. "I have to go with you just in case you end up in the wrong place and need a quick way back. No one does this alone the first time. Try not to take it so personally."
He wouldn't be taking it personally if it were anyone other than Kakashi. He really needed to do something about his dislike of this man. It wasn't like him to hold a grudge this way. At least, he didn't think it was. He certainly couldn't allow those feelings to interfere with learning something he wanted to know. He focused on the seal he was going to and performed the handsigns. The moment they arrived in Naruto's livingroom Kakashi's hand slipped away. He was stupidly relieved. A brief moment of contact was nothing to get so worked up over. It was definitely a small price to pay for now having a quick means of escaping a dangerous situation. Naruto would now have no legitimate excuse to hover over him when he left the apartment.
"Okay," Kakashi nodded. "Now that we're alone, we need to talk."
Sasuke almost groaned. He should have known. So much for trying to convince himself that Kakashi wasn't as difficult to deal with as he had expected him to be. He turned with his expression as blank as he could make it. "About what?"
"The reanimation technique," Kakashi said, in a sober voice. "Ibiki says you casually mentioned that as if it were as commonplace as the henge. It's not. It is an extremely secret forbidden technique. You didn't know that, did you?" He sighed and stared at him with an expression Sasuke couldn't interpret. "Only a few people in the world know such a technique even exists and you shouldn't be one of them. Have you seen it performed?"
"No."
"That's something, at least. You heard about it in Sound, though, right? From someone who looked like this?" Kakashi performed a henge, transforming into a man with long black hair and dark rimmed eyes.
"No," said Sasuke. "I've never seen anyone who looks like that. I did hear about it in Sound, but I don't believe they're the only ones who know about it. Plenty of other villages wanted their targets recovered intact, or with as much of the body as could be found."
"And you assumed they all wanted the bodies so they could reanimate them? What for? What did Sound tell you they wanted them for?"
No, Sasuke decided, he did have a valid reason for disliking Kakashi so much. The man's tone made him feel ignorant and he had no doubt that was intentional.
"All I was told was that they wanted the bodies in order to reanimate them because they were easier to control dead than they were alive. I didn't ask why they wanted to be able to control them more easily. It wasn't any of my business. I did assume the others wanted the bodies for the same reason, but I had valid reason for making that assumption. Everyone I worked with either wanted the bodies or wanted them completely destroyed on the spot. If it only takes a part of a body to reanimate the person, no village would be foolish enough to bury their dead where they could be recovered and reanimated by their enemies."
Kakashi rubbed a hand over his eye, and then scrubbed at his temple. "Reasonable," he muttered. "Utterly wrong, but so reasonable." He dropped his hand with an exasperated grin that was visible through his mask. "You are dangerous. Your clan was insane to have hired you out without keeping a closer eye on you. You have no idea the chaos you could have caused had you simply asked one of those villages, anyone except Sound, whether or not they intended to reanimate their dead. Only Orochimaru, the man I transformed into, knows how to perform that technique. No one else does it, because no one else knows how. Most don't even know such a thing is possible. And it needs to stay that way. Never mention that technique again to anyone. If people knew there was a way to bring back the dead there would be chaos."
"Why?" asked Sasuke. "If they don't know how to perform it then they won't be using it themselves. But knowing it exists would ensure that everyone destroys their dead so there would be no bodies for those who do know the technique to use. If the point is to prevent the technique from being performed, having it be standard practice to eliminate bodies is the only way to ensure that."
"No, eliminating Orochimaru is the way to ensure that. Getting rid of bodies just forces him to use people like you to create new ones for him. And you've clearly created quite a few of them over the years. You're going to have to sit down with Ibiki again and go through the rest of his books, and do a henge for any of your targets who isn't in the books. If Orochimaru is amassing an undead army we need to know as much about their abilities as possible. I suppose it's a good thing you haven't done any missions in the last four years or the body count would be even higher."
Kakashi waved Sasuke at the door and followed him out of the apartment. Sasuke silently fell into place behind him as they started off. He was torn between a feeling of dread and suspicion. An army? He hadn't killed that many people on behalf of Sound. He hadn't even known they could reanimate more than one person at a time. He didn't know anything about the technique itself. He had assumed they were reanimating the bodies in order to interrogate them. How useful could even an army of walking corpses be in a fight? And how was he supposed to learn anything about it if he couldn't even mention it to anyone? He would ask Ibiki about it and if he wasn't satisfied with Ibiki's answers he would bring it up with Naruto. The clan burned their dead, unwilling to bury them in what was still considered a foreign land, but Sasuke knew they had buried them in the past. Did Konoha burn theirs now as well? If they didn't, they needed to start doing so. It was foolishness not to. Orochimaru might be the only person Konoha knew of who could perform that technique, but that didn't mean he was the only person who could do it. Kabuto knew about it, and Sasuke had heard other Sound shinobi refer to it. He didn't believe it was considered an extremely secret forbidden technique within that village. There could be many people there capable of performing that technique. And what that village knew, they might be willing to share in order to build a strong alliance. Keeping the other villages ignorant of the very existence of such a technique was setting them up for a very bad surprise. If Konoha wasn't even warning their allies then that was complete and utter foolishness. Even Ibiki was going to have a difficult time changing his mind about that.
"So," Kakashi said, in a casual tone as Sasuke followed him across the rooftops, "what is Naruto doing, anyway? I've never seen him so focused on something that wasn't ramen."
"He's practicing a seal."
Kakashi laughed. "As if I'd believe that. Keep your secrets, then. Just try not to damage the village this time. The forest of death would be a better place to experiment. Unless yesterday's attack has...dampened your enthusiasm for the place? That was quite a storm you whipped up. How exactly did you do that?"
"With fire," said Sasuke. He had no intention of discussing that with Kakashi. When the man shot him an amused look he turned his focus back on what he was supposed to be doing, teaching him the teleportation jutsu. "Is there a way to set a teleportation target without having to draw out the entire seal?" It was too big to hide easily and drawing out a new variation for each place would be time consuming.
"There shouldn't be a need for that, in your case, since you'll only be marking places within the village that you want to have a quick teleportation away. I'll be teaching you the seal for the hospital entrance next, and then just outside the Hokage tower. Any place you want to set up after that will be up to you. I'd recommend a spot in the forest if you do intend to keep going there. Since you and Lee walked and entered through a gate, anyone spying on Naruto's apartment could have followed you in order to ambush you on your way back. If you teleport in, then only someone who knew you were going there would be in a position to set up an attack."
That was a very good point. From any other source he would have appreciated it more. "I'll take that under advisement."
"I'm sure you will," Kakashi drawled. "As for abbreviating teleportations, that's something a lot of people have experimented with to no avail. The Hokage is the only one I know who has figured out a way to do that and since Naruto has no aptitude for much of anything that involves studying, that ability will probably die with him. It's a real shame."
Sasuke wasn't amused. "Is that why you haven't taught Naruto your techniques? You consider him too stupid to learn them?"
Kakashi hummed thoughtfully, and then flashed him a smile. "Not stupid so much as difficult, stubborn, and very easily frustrated. He does better when he plays to his strengths rather than getting hung up on his weaknesses. There is nothing worse than a depressed and hopeless Naruto. Best to avoid that and let him do what he does best. You were out with Lee for a few hours. Did you notice any similarities between him and Naruto? Those two have a lot in common."
Implying that Naruto really did have some sort of mental block he would have to think his way around in order to learn things? If that was the case then Sasuke wouldn't be much help to him. He would be better off encouraging Naruto to spend more time with Lee's teacher until he figured out some bizarre magical thought process to somehow automatically do things that shouldn't be possible. He really hoped that wasn't the case. He would much rather continue believing Naruto was just stubbornly wary of failure than to find out he was actually as incomprehensible as Lee was.
"You, on the other hand," said Kakashi, "are just the sort who could easily learn Minato's techniques. You might never have enough chakra to do them on your own, but there are ways around that. Who knows, once you're a second father to his grandchildren maybe he'll teach you his techniques in order to keep them in the family."
"You aren't funny," Sasuke muttered.
Kakashi laughed. "Maybe not to you. I find myself hilarious."
.-.
It was fairly disturbing to have so many Narutos eyeing him warily, each braced to be hurt and disappointed. The worst that would happen was Naruto would be proven right. No need to be so upset about that. But he understood exactly how they felt. This was his father and the katon jutsu all over again. Naruto really was worried about disappointing him. He kept his own expression blank as he went from one clone to the next, looking over their scrolls, before finally stopping next to Naruto. He crouched down next to him and tapped the third seal on the scroll. "How many times did you have to clear the scroll before you did this one?"
"Twice," Naruto muttered. "This is my third scroll. Every one I draw looks the same. I can't tell what I'm doing wrong. It looks just like yours to me."
"Dispel your clones."
There were quite a few complaints from the clones before they vanished. Naruto hunched his shoulders and scowled at the scroll in front of him.
"This one is perfect," Sasuke informed him, tapping the third seal again. "So are all of these." He ran his hand down the scroll. "Every one of your clones managed to get it."
"You're not just saying that?" Naruto demanded. "If you're just saying that to...to make me feel better or something I'm going to be pissed."
And hurt, no doubt. Sasuke shook his head solemnly. "I wouldn't lie about something like this, not even to make you feel better. You learned it just fine, Naruto. Third try on the third scroll, and you didn't even need the experience the bunshin just gave you. But," he smirked, "since you do have all of that experience, you should have this seal memorized for life now. Congratulations. I was right and you were wrong. Don't ever tell me you can't do something until you've tried."
Naruto sputtered out a laugh. "I can't remember the last time I was actually happy about being wrong. I can't remember the last time I was that nervous, either. My hands are sweaty." He wiped his palms on his pants and then laughed again. "I just did a seal. Sakura would beat the crap out of me if she found out I did it that fast. I haven't messed with that stuff in years. I still hate it," he said quickly, his face going sober. "Don't get me wrong. I hated every second of that. I'm glad it's over. I never want to do that again. But, yeah, okay. I can do a seal. Who knew?"
"I knew," Sasuke reminded him smugly. "Now pack it up. We need to get some groceries before we meet with your friends."
Naruto packed away the remaining ink and the scrolls and was walking beside him when he suddenly jumped. "Hey! How did the teleportation go? I know you made it to the apartment on your first try. Did he show you how to get anywhere else?"
"The hospital and the Hokage tower. He also showed me how to set up a seal in new locations. He suggested putting one in the forest. I think I'll let you do that one."
"Me?"
Naruto's horrified expression was too much. He laughed. "Compared to that storage seal the teleportation seal is easy. You'll probably get it on your first scroll."
"But I already know how to teleport!"
"Yes, and by tomorrow you'll know how to draw out seals so you can teleport to new locations. You can thank me after you're done setting up the seal. My chakra will be fully recovered by then so we can get in some real training."
"Tomorrow? Meaning I'd have to learn it tonight? That's too soon! I wasn't kidding, I hated every second of that. It was stressful and my stomach aches from being so tense. I can't go through that again."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What did I tell you about saying that?"
"Why? Are you going to take it as a challenge? That wasn't a challenge. I really don't want to, Sasuke."
"But you will. Stop focusing on how stressful it was and focus on how good it felt to have done it. Or start focusing on the absurdly large things you'll be storing in your new seal. We can pick you up some cuffs while we're getting the food."
"Can we put the seals on wristbands instead? Short ones?"
"Sure."
"That's something," Naruto sighed. "It will be lots of fun experimenting with them. I just wish you'd change your mind about me trying to do another seal tonight. It can wait. There's no reason it has to be right away."
Sasuke let him whine and grumble. Difficult, stubborn, and very easily frustrated? Yes, but just as capable as anyone else of learning. If he had his way the Hokage wouldn't have to wait for grandchildren to pass down his techniques. He could teach them to his own son the way fathers were supposed to do.
.-.
They gathered in a dojo a quiet distance from the heart of the village, so at the least the setting suited a formal tea. Ino insisted there would be no 'shop talk' until afterward. She and Chouji were once again in what seemed like formal uniforms to Sasuke, but their third teammate, Nara Shikamaru, was casually rumpled, with what might have been civilian clothes and messy black hair pulled into a thick tail. His eyes were sharp and direct, but he actually yawned a few times during the serving. Sasuke was surprised Ino didn't take offense to that considering how quick she was to bristle and snap when Naruto squirmed and complained about the tea. It was strong and had a definite bite to it. Sasuke liked it. As soon as that was finished Chouji closed the outer door so they would have privacy. Ino jumped up before Shikamaru could start, quickly returning with a scroll.
"What's that?" asked Shikamaru.
"I drew out your timeline," said Ino. "Visuals should make it much easier to follow."
"I could have done that."
"Don't worry," she scoffed. "I got it all down properly. And I left plenty of room if you want to add things."
Shikamaru sighed at her. "I'm not worried you might have messed it up. This just isn't something we should have in down in writing."
"You can burn it afterward if you want to. But it's just a timeline of facts. You said the speculation was where it would get dangerous, right?"
"Fine," he said. He accepted the scroll and turned his full attention on Naruto. "Before I start, should I avoid naming the Anbu who attacked Sasuke? Is his identity a secret?"
"Oh!" Naruto winced, sending a quick look at Sasuke. "I didn't even think of that. Is it important?"
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "How could it not be important? Just tell me if I should avoid using his name or not so I can get started."
"You might as well tell him," Ino said to Naruto. "He's going to recognize him even without his mask. He has a distinct voice, Naruto."
"I know," Naruto sighed. "I just haven't gotten around to it yet. My dad told him to leave Sasuke alone unless Sasuke wanted a rematch, because you know how irritating Sai can get when he's trying to feel out a person, and Sasuke didn't want a rematch, so I haven't gotten a chance to introduce them yet. But I wasn't keeping it a secret. It's just that he requested to join the party convening with RedBird after I told him no rematch and he hasn't gotten back yet. I figured I would wait until he got back." He winced when he noticed the way Sasuke was staring at him. "Sorry! We're talking about Sai, the anbu who attacked you. He didn't go to the academy with us, but he's the same age and I count him as a friend. But he's...difficult to like right away. I think he'd bug you way worse than Kakashi. You have to give him time to stop being weird and then he's fine. I thought a rematch would be a great way to reintroduce you to him, under better circumstances and no talking, you know? But you didn't want to and then he left on a mission so, honest, it just hasn't come up. I wasn't keeping it a secret." He shot a quick and sober look at Shikamaru. "No secrets here. If you can say it to me, you can say it to Sasuke. It's his life they're after."
"I'll start, then," said Shikamaru. He opened the scroll, looking it over and then smirking. "You did a good job on this, Ino."
"I know," she said smugly.
Shikamaru laid down the scroll and unrolled it just a few inches. "I'll start with facts. Just the facts. For you," he said to Sasuke, "I'm working under the assumption you know very little about Konoha and the people here. If I over-explain, so be it. If I don't explain well enough and you have questions, try to save them till I'm through the facts. The timeline of facts alone makes a compelling picture."
"Wait," said Naruto. "You don't think Sai had anything to do with this, do you?"
"No," Shikamaru sighed. "But that's my opinion. That comes later. First the facts, then speculation, then my conclusion. I'm giving you my report, Naruto. We can discuss my findings afterward. During the report you just take it all in."
"I hate reports," Naruto groaned. "I forget half the things I wanted to say by the time it's over. And I already know yours is going to be long. Can't we just talk through it?"
"No. As Hokage you're going to hear a lot of reports. The sooner you get used to sitting through them the better. We can discuss it afterward. And," he added, when Naruto's mouth opened, "if you forget something you'll have plenty of time to remember it over lunch. Chouji is treating us to barbecue."
That cheered Naruto up. "Really?" He grinned at Chouji, who grinned back. "You're awesome."
"It's thanks for inviting us to dinner," said Chouji.
"And now that you're happy," said Shikamaru, "shut up and listen."
"Okay," beamed Naruto.
Shikamaru turned his attention back to the scroll and Sasuke. He tapped the names on the top of the scroll. "When the Third Hokage took charge of the village he gave an unprecedented amount of power to his rival, Shimura Danzou. The Hokage controlled Anbu and Danzou formed an equivalent group of his own called Root. The Third Hokage trained the team known as the sanin, composed of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. Jiraiya trained Namikaze Minato. When the Third Hokage decided to retire, he skipped past all three of his students," Shikamaru trailed his finger past those names and tapped the one below them, "and recommended Minato for the Fourth Hokage. Danzou lodged a formal protest against this. Orochimaru lodged an informal protest. They were overruled by the Third Hokage and the majority of the clan elders."
He unrolled the scroll to reveal the first marker on the timeline. "When the nine-tails attacked the village, Danzou lodged an informal protest against members of the Uchiha clan being allowed to participate in the defense of Konoha. The Fourth Hokage overruled him. The Third Hokage died during the attack," and he shot a pointed look at Naruto, "using a forbidden jutsu to sacrifice his life in order to remove and seal the soul of the person responsible for the attack. The Third's body was recovered. His opponent's body was not. Danzou insisted the Uchiha clan be held responsible. The Fourth Hokage overruled him."
He uncovered the next marker, "One year later the Uchiha clan demanded the right to break from the village. Danzou made an informal recommendation that the entire clan be considered traitors and eliminated. The Fourth Hokage overruled him. The following year, the clan was allowed to leave. This time Danzou lodged a formal protest and recommended that the Fourth Hokage step down and be replaced by Orochimaru. The Fourth Hokage, and the elders of every remaining clan in Konoha, overruled him."
Naruto made a sputtering noise and received a quelling look from Ino. It was clear from Naruto's face that he hadn't known part of that. Which part? That Orochimaru had been suggested as a replacement for his father? That was certainly interesting.
Shikamaru unrolled a longer blank section of the scroll before getting to the next marker. "Konoha received information that the Uchiha clan had officially settled just outside the Sand Village. Danzou suggested that Sand village be considered an open enemy to Konoha. The Fourth Hokage overruled him and instead opened communication in the hopes of forming a formal alliance with Sand. Sand agreed to the alliance. Two days after the alliance was finalized, Orochimaru left Konoha on a mission to join Sand forces in spying along the border of Rain. Orochimaru never made contact with the Sand group. There was no information as to his whereabouts until three months later, when he sent word to the Hokage that he had formed his own village, which he named Sound. He requested a formal alliance with Konoha. The Fourth Hokage refused. Danzou lodged a formal protest suggesting that the Hokage was showing bias after allowing the Uchiha clan to do the same thing Orochimaru had done. His protest was noted and overruled. Orochimaru was labeled a traitor to Konoha and allies were warned that Sound should be viewed as a dangerous enemy. Pointing to the bias in his formal protest, Danzou suggested Root be placed in charge of any dealings with Sound going forward. The Hokage overruled him and placed all dealings with regards to Sound under Anbu control."
The next section of the scroll was so long that Shikamaru sent an exasperated look at Ino, who shrugged. Naruto and Sasuke had to move so Shikamaru could get alongside and within reach of the timeline running down the center of the scroll.
"About five years ago Sound requested a temporary truce for the duration of the chunin exam. The Hokage refused. Kabuto, the third member of Team Seven, revealed himself as a Sound spy and Naruto was set to fight Gaara while Orochimaru attacked the village. Afterward, Danzou suggested that Kabuto's place on Team Seven be filled by Sai, a former Root member. The Hokage accepted the suggestion but left the decision to Naruto and Sakura. They declined.
"Four years ago, a group of unidentified shinobi destroyed a formerly unknown underground facility located in the center of the former Uchiha complex. Sixteen members of Root died at the scene. An Anbu squad, which included Kakashi and Naruto," he nodded at him, "were sent in pursuit of the unidentified group. They were delayed by another unidentified group and never made contact with their target. During the following investigation, Danzou insisted that the attack had been waged by Sound, for the purpose of recovering something Orochimaru had left in the hidden facility, which he suggested Orochimaru must have created and used before leaving the village. No one officially contested his statement. The Hokage suggested Root be officially disbanded with the remaining members absorbed into the current shinobi ranks as befit their skills. Danzou agreed.
"That brings us to current events. Two men were spotted in Konoha, one wearing a Mist forehead protector with a line through it, and one identified by the witnesses as Uchiha Itachi. When confronted, Itachi disabled Kakashi and had a brief altercation with Maito Guy before the two men fled the scene. Sand offered to force the Uchiha clan to hand over Itachi as proof of how much they valued the alliance between our villages. The Hokage refused, and instead asked that the clan hand over Sasuke and have Itachi officially labeled a traitor to Sand. During the trip here, Sasuke was attacked by a former prospective Root member."
"What?" Naruto exclaimed. "Bullshit! My dad would have told me if he was-"
"Naruto," Shikamaru muttered. "Let me finish the facts first. I'm almost done."
"But..."
Sasuke sent him a quelling look. He had just as many questions as Naruto did, but if the Hokage had decided not to share this bit of information with Naruto then there was no point taking it out on Shikamaru. "Let him finish."
Naruto grimaced and folded his arms tightly over his chest. He flapped a hand at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru tapped the timeline again. "Sasuke was then attacked by an unidentified person in the guise of Anbu member, RedBird. His partner arrived on the scene and attacked Sasuke. That partner was Sai, a former Root member."
There was no surprise from Naruto this time. Sasuke gave him a suspicious glare. This was likely the real reason Naruto hadn't mentioned that Anbu was a friend of his. A former Root friend of his? Naruto definitely had some explaining to do there.
"And finally," said Shikamaru, "yesterday Sasuke was attacked by an unidentified group. The only former Root member known to have been in the village at that time was Tenzou." He paused long enough for Naruto to stop squirming. "Tenzou was assigned to the Hokage tower and never left his post."
The silence held for almost a minute before Naruto exhaled. "Can I talk now?"
"Yes," said Shikamaru. "For a bit. Then we'll start the speculations."
"When was Tenzou in Root? Kakashi said he's been working with him for years and Kakashi was never in Root. He would have told me if-"
"Tenzou isn't under any suspicion of having any involvement in this," Shikamaru assured him. "He has been assigned to the Hokage as a member of Anbu for most of your life. Kakashi and your father both trust him completely. The fact that he was briefly a member of Root is just that, a fact. I included it because it's a fact. That's all. As for the man who attacked you on your way to Konoha," he said to Sasuke, "he was never a member of Root. He was a prospective member. He tried to join and was refused entry because he wasn't good enough. But that, the fact that he started this and he did have ties to Root, is what made the Hokage set me on this investigation when Sai was then set up to attack you. The obvious conclusion, through speculation," he said to Naruto, "is that either Root is involved or they're being set up. Since there is no more Root, that ultimately means Danzou is involved or he is being set up, most likely by Orochimaru, with whom he has had ties for a very long time."
"My dad should have told me that bastard tried to join Root," Naruto insisted. "That means he really does have a bias against Sasuke's clan. He has to be watched. If Root was planning something the moment they heard Sasuke was coming, maybe he attacked him hoping to finally join them. In that case he has to be questioned. Ibiki needs to-"
"Naruto," Sasuke sighed, "Ibiki probably questioned him as soon as he was released from the hospital. If they felt the need to question him again, they would have done so by now."
"Exactly," said Shikamaru. "He had no information to give, just an old fear of the sharingan and what it might do if turned on Naruto. That bias against the Uchiha clan is one of two things all the remaining former Root members have in common, with the exceptions of Sai and Tenzou," he nodded to Naruto. "Those two aren't under suspicion."
Sai should be under suspicion, as far as Sasuke was concerned. A former Root member who had once been suggested as a replacement for Kabuto? From their brief encounter it was clear that Sai had a strong bias against him. But maybe that was a personal bias against him in particular. If Sai was one of Naruto's friends, and had worked alongside people who feared any sharingan being in close proximity to Naruto, then he had a valid reason for distrusting Sasuke. At least one person who cared about Naruto should be concerned about having the two of them so close.
Shikamaru was waiting expectantly when Sasuke glanced up at him. It only took a moment to realize why.
"What is the other thing they have in common?" asked Sasuke.
"Loyalty to Danzou," Shikamaru nodded. "When I say it all points to Root, I'm really saying it points to Danzou. From the moment Minato was named Hokage, Danzou began losing power. The Third Hokage never openly and officially overruled him the way the Fourth did. By the time Root was officially disbanded Danzou was just another elder, with sway due to his experience but no true power to speak of. Why didn't he fight having Root disbanded? That brings us to speculation and hearsay. And that speculation is what really drives home the connection between Danzou, Orochimaru, and the Uchiha clan. So back to the timeline, unless," he looked at Naruto, "you have a few more questions first?"
"I did," Naruto grimaced, "I had a bunch of questions. I can't remember them right now. This is too much. Can we jump ahead for a second to your conclusion? Is it Danzou or is he being set up? Who's setting him up, Orochimaru or Itachi? How does Itachi play into this? Does Itachi play into it? Do you think he was working for Orochimaru when he showed up with that Mist ninja? Or is that not connected to the rest of this?"
"You remembered your questions," Chouji pointed out cheerfully.
"Too many questions," Shikamaru muttered. "My conclusion is that we need more information. It isn't an either or situation. In my opinion, Orochimaru likely set Sai to attack Sasuke, both in order to implicate Danzou and to destroy any possibility of a future alliance between Konoha and the Uchiha clan. The attack yesterday could have been anyone. It could have been another attempt to implicate Root since all of the former members most likely to act on Danzou's behalf are supposedly away on missions. It could also have been an attack waged by some of those supposedly absent former Root members. Without facts to go by there is no point speculating about that right now. What we can speculate about is the connection between the three groups and how that warns us so we can be prepared for what comes next."
Shikamaru moved back up the scroll a bit, waving Naruto and Sasuke sit across from him. "This," he tapped the marker four years ago, "is the key, in my opinion. What exactly was under the ground in the middle of the former Uchiha clan compound? A facility, according to the official report. It was completely burned out. The only things they found were pieces of two Root members who must have been inside when the place exploded. Either they went in to confront whoever was in there and were killed before the explosion, or they were already in there when the place was destroyed. There were eyewitnesses. That was just a dirt patch according to the people living nearby at the time. Dirt one moment, a fireball the next. They didn't see anyone until Root showed up. And Root got there far too quickly. The only explanation is that Root knew what was under that dirt patch and were ready to gather if anything happened in the area.
"Danzou said it was a secret laboratory of some sort used by Orochimaru. But Orochimaru left the village years ago. Before he left, he had continually received Danzou's full support for years. If it really was something used by Orochimaru, then Danzou likely knew and that's why he had his men watching the place. But I think it's worse than that. I think Danzou himself had his men doing things in that place and that's why two of his men were inside when it was destroyed. Whatever they were doing in there, it was something bad enough that Danzou agreed to having the last of his power stripped away rather than allowing the truth to be aired to the rest of the village. Maybe your father doesn't know exactly what they were doing," he said to Naruto, "but I'm convinced he had suspicions. And those suspicions were enough to make Danzou stand down. Since Orochimaru formed Sound we have gotten plenty of reports of the inhumane experiments and forbidden techniques he has been doing on his own people. This," and he tapped the timeline again, "implies he was doing them long before he left the village and Danzou knew about it. It's possible even the Third Hokage knew and condoned it."
"No way," said Naruto. "No hokage would overlook the things Orochimaru does to people. And if the Third knew then Jiraiya and Tsunade would have known and there's definitely no way they would have allowed it. Either he was doing his nasty shit in secret or he didn't start doing it until he left Konoha."
"If you insist," Shikamaru shrugged. It wasn't clear from his tone whether he agreed or just didn't see any use in arguing about it. "The point remains that one of them or both of them created that place after the Uchiha clan left and the compound was abandoned. They both knew about it and it had to be something major for Sound to infiltrate the village just to destroy the place. And Danzou attempted to stop them from destroying it, losing most of his Root members in the attempt."
"You don't think my clan could have created it?" asked Sasuke. He had a good idea what had stood in the center of that compound when his clan had lived there. The temple, and the secret area beneath it. They would have taken their secrets with them when they cleared the place out, but would they have destroyed the temple itself? Maybe the building, but not necessarily the space beneath it.
"They could have dug out the space," said Shikamaru, "a basement or hideout. But there is no evidence of your clan ever getting involved in scientific experimentation. Danzou insisted it was a laboratory, and that was his biggest mistake. How could he know that if he had never been in there? A random place blows up and he automatically assumes it must have been a hidden laboratory? That part disturbs me. It's almost as if he wanted the Hokage to suspect him. Did he want Root disbanded? There were only a few members left alive. Maybe he wanted them absorbed into the active shinobi so he could continue to influence things through them rather than attempting to rebuild the group. The Fourth constantly overruled him when he had a separate group. This could have been a way around that. Maybe. I haven't decided on that. It doesn't feel right. What I am sure of is that if Orochimaru wanted that area destroyed he would have done it sooner if he had been able to. He had to wait until he had someone on his side strong enough to almost completely annihilate Root in a matter of minutes."
Nobody said anything. Naruto was staring at that mark on the timeline. Everyone else was staring at Sasuke.
Sasuke sighed. "If you think it was Itachi, just say so."
"I think it was Itachi," said Shikamaru. "Not just because you were part of the team sent to prevent Anbu from catching up with the ones responsible, but because the fire that destroyed the place and killed all of the Root members who showed up was black. A black flame that couldn't be put out and that devoured everything it touched. There have been a few vague reports of such a thing in the last few years, always in connection with Itachi. Kakashi believes that each mangekyou sharingan may come with unique skills. I think the black fire is one of Itachi's unique skills."
"I wouldn't know," Sasuke said, when Naruto shot him a quick look. "I've never heard of any Uchiha creating black fire, but if it's unique to Itachi then I wouldn't have heard of it. I've never seen Itachi use the mangekyou sharingan." He grimaced. "I didn't even know he had those eyes until Kakashi told me he had used Tsukuyomi on him." And he wouldn't have known the Tsukuyomi existed if Itachi hadn't told him about the mangekyou sharingan and how unnecessary it was. It was painful to know that Itachi had told him that after attaining those eyes himself. Did he regret having gotten them? Did he at least regret what he'd had to do in order to get them? He might as well ask himself why Itachi had bothered to warn him when there was little chance of him ever getting those eyes anyway. He had just returned to the clan, two fledgling marks in each of his newly awakened sharingan. The thought of him achieving mangekyou sharingan shouldn't have even crossed Itachi's mind.
"Well," said Naruto, "let's assume it was Itachi. We already know the Uchiha clan was doing missions for Sound. If that was just another mission to him, then it had nothing to do with him coming back with that Mist guy, right? Or do you think the two are connected? Do you think Orochimaru sent them? Why would he?"
"I don't think that's connected to the conflict between Orochimaru and Danzou," Shikamaru said quickly. "I put that on the timeline because it's a fact, and it did lead to the truce. But neither Danzou nor Orochimaru wanted a truce between Konoha and the Uchiha clan. It's my opinion that Itachi wasn't working for Sound when he openly infiltrated the village. There is no evidence of him having done anything while he was here. No explosions, no attacks, and he wasn't even attempting to hide his presence. Even the thing with Kakashi might not have happened if they hadn't confronted the pair on their way out. As far as I can tell the only things Itachi accomplished with that was to reveal the mangekyou sharingan, get himself declared a traitor, and force his clan into a truce with Konoha. The only village that benefited from that is Konoha and he certainly wasn't on a mission for us. Maybe you could view it as a way for Mist to spite Sound, making it publicly known that Itachi is on their side now and removing Sound's access to the Uchiha clan via the truce. But that's a reach, if you ask me."
The clan also stood to benefit, whether they liked it or not. Sasuke firmly pushed away from that slippery slope. He needed to find out more about what Itachi had been doing over the years. He didn't know nearly enough, about anything, to assign a likely motive to Itachi. He knew better than to jump to the conclusion he preferred just because it was what he wanted to believe.
"What's your conclusion, then?" asked Naruto.
"My conclusion is that we need to act as if we believe Sound is behind this. Openly looking toward Root could rile them into acting, not just against Sasuke but against anyone who might learn something Danzou doesn't want becoming public. Anbu will be keeping a close eye on anyone entering the village, watching for outsiders and any hint of outside plots. We carry on as if we're confident Anbu has the matter covered. Meanwhile you need to be wary of anyone you don't know very well. Your father will be keeping a close eye on the remaining former Root members. He'll probably keep them busy on missions away from the village. But Danzou gathered some very strong people to his side over the years. Just because Root was officially disbanded doesn't mean he hasn't continued gathering likely adherents to his way of thinking. Be on guard and leave plenty of openings for potential ambushes."
"You want us to set up a trap?" Naruto shot a wary look at Sasuke. "I don't like that."
Shikamaru shook his head. "Better that than to force them to attack openly when innocent bystanders are likely to be caught up in it. I'm not suggesting Sasuke start wearing orange," he scoffed, "just that you don't keep him under such heavy guard that the only way to get to him is to destroy your entire apartment building. Are you still planning to move to the house in the Uchiha district? I can find someone to help you dismantle the wards if Sasuke can't do it himself."
"There's no need for that," said Sasuke.
"Good. Once you two are there you'll at least have some space between you and the nearest neighbors. I'm not kidding, Naruto. If they really want him gone they'll take out whoever stands in their way, civilians and children included. Yesterday's attack does prove one thing. These aren't people who care about their comrades. They're people willing to sacrifice as many of their own as needed to achieve their goal. If they're willing to sacrifice their own, they'll be willing to sacrifice ours. It's better to give them openings that also leave you free to counterattack than to hide in a hole until they blast half the village in order to get you out."
.-.
TBC