Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters and blah! So, nyah! You can't sue me now! (attempts to chuck demonic plushies at anyone who dares say otherwise)

Review Questions:

ghostninja85: I'm glad you like this story! It's good to know that someone who can give really good feedback has confidence in it.

swtjemz: Of course! What would a Naruto fic be without the others? I know it's kind of focused solely around a few people so far, but I'll slowly introduce all the other characters. I'm trying to get in some of the core characters (even though I think they all are) and then you'll start to see all of them. Glad you like this story!

Half-Devil: Well, now that I know you enjoy it, I won't quit! Hehe. Thanks!

Hikaru Tsukiyono: I'm glad you like my story! Yes, it is annoying. It makes me feel bad when someone dislikes the story, but it would have been nice if she had at least made a point to tell me the story's name. Oh well…

Kami Beverly: No, no. You don't have to retreat away. Sorry if I seemed rude, I just got the impression that you were accusing me of plagiarism. It's true that a lot of people have the same beginning, and I can understand if my story seems similar, but thanks for telling me anyway. I appreciate it. And I wasn't going to bite your head off or anything.

Fragile Bonds

Chapter 5: Old Fires Rekindled

Iruka busied himself around the house, picking up clothes hear and there and just simply taking his mind off of his relatively bored state. It didn't take long before his mind wandered off to his students.

He was proud to hear that most, if not all, of his students had managed to become genin. Even though all of his students were dear to him, he took a strong liking to three specific students. Yes, none other than Sachiko, Daisuke, and Reiji who are now apart of Team 3.

He smiled. Reiji, he was especially attached to. The rambunctious boy reminded him so much of a certain blond student. Iruka's smile faded.

Ever since the boy's disappearance, he had lost the will to smile. It was like losing the son that he never had. People would constantly worry over him, so he would put on a forced smile. Those who knew him saw that it never reached his eyes. Kakashi especially. The jounin had even been kind enough to try and drop by every once in a while to check up on him.

The depression slowly began to eat away at him, but the chuunin slowly found his wounds healing as time passed him by. It had been almost four years since he had left the village of Konoha and Iruka had gradually come to accept the fact that Naruto was gone. The chances of him coming back were slim. It had almost come to the point where he would be marked as a missing-nin had it not been for Tsunade slipping in a few words.

Iruka let out a deep sigh. 'Things just aren't the same without you around, Naruto.' The chuunin jumped slightly as knocks sounded at the entrance to his house.

Adjusting his chuunin vest, he made his way to the door. Grabbing the doorknob, he opened the door and his eyes met with his visitor. Iruka widened his eyes in astonishment. 'It…can it be?'

"Naruto?" He gaped at the black clad figure standing in his doorway, smiling gently at him.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei."

From the moment that Naruto had stepped in the house, he could feel the warmth and comfort wash over his body. There was just something so gentle and welcoming about the man's presence that he couldn't help but love him. He was like a father to the blond boy.

Naruto was left alone in the living room while Iruka rushed off to prepare some tea for his guest. He smiled at his old teacher's eagerness to hear about his stories. At the same time, his heart tightened at the thought. 'I only paid attention to myself. I allowed my selfishness to get the best of me,' Naruto's happiness of seeing his teacher slowly began to dissipate.

Shaking his thoughts away, not wanting to dwell in the past, the blond looked around the room, his cerulean eyes absorbing in every little detail of the house. The floors were made of finely built wood, shined to the point that he could swear his reflection was visible. Warm shades of crèmes and whites adorned his furniture and curtains. Even though the man lived alone, he liked his house to appear 'livable'.

Despite the fact that Naruto had been here several times in the past, it seemed as though he was here for the first time. Nothing had really changed.

Naruto blinked when a small frame caught his attention. It was settled at the edge of the table that Iruka often worked at. The blond tilted his head to one side as he curiously stared at the picture. Iruka stood in the center, leaning forward with both his hands placed on a small boy that was standing in front of him.

Naruto's gaze softened as he picked up the picture. He traced the face of his teacher before coming to a stop at the boy. An open and honest grin was plastered to his face. 'So, I was like that once, eh?' He placed the picture on the table as Iruka had left it when he took notice of something else.

There was another picture beside the other, but instead of Naruto in it, there was a familiar silver-haired man standing beside Iruka. His eye was curved, in what would appear to be, him smiling. Iruka, though, seemed a little less comfortable, seeing as a deep crimson shade was spread across his cheeks. Naruto cocked his eyebrow in amusement. "Iruka and Kakashi-sensei?" he bit back the urge to laugh.

'Never saw that one coming,' he thought.

That's because you were never around long enough to see anything… you ran away.

Naruto shut his eyelids, fighting away the voice in his head. It was like he had a second mind. One that was always there, constantly tearing at his soul.

"Naruto? I've made the tea," Iruka said, joy dripping with every word that escaped his lips. Naruto quickly set the frame back down and turned to his teacher.

"Great!" he politely waited for his teacher to take a seat in the chair across from him before he seated himself as well. Iruka handed Naruto the warm cup before taking up his own and slowly sipping it.

Naruto stifled a whimper as the scalding liquid burned the tip of his tongue. After realizing that taking another sip would probably kill him, he set down the cup.

"Naruto, I wanted to ask you…" the chuunin began.

"Where was I all these years and why did I leave in the first place?"

Iruka's jaw dropped, but he quickly shut it so that he wouldn't seem rude. It was just the fact that the boy seemed so relaxed at the question. He gave a slow nod, signaling for Naruto to go on.

The blond chuckled lightly. "Sasuke asked the same thing."

This caught the man's attention. "You saw Sasuke already?" Iruka raised his eyebrow. He knew very well about the relationship between the two boys. Rivals yet close friends.

'The Uchiha boy had seemed to be the most affected by his disappearance.'

Naruto immediately regretted saying the words as a light blush graced his soft skin, remembering the closeness of the other boy the night before. Iruka observed the boy's face, making Naruto even more nervous than he already was. "Anyway," he went on. "I just needed a little time away from the place, that's all."

Iruka felt a small tug at his heart. 'I understand that you were in pain, but what about us? What about the people who did care about you?' Still, he could tell from the look in the boy's eyes that he did feel at least a small amount of guilt for leaving. He was aware of what he did.

Naruto shifted in his seat, brushing back the golden strands that hung loosely around his face. "I stayed in the Water Country for a while. Originally, I had planned on going alone, but then I found out that the old ha-" he stopped as he thought it best to use that name only in front of Tsunade herself. "Err… I mean Tsunade-sama… had sent Jiraiya to keep an eye on me. He traveled with me during my absence, training me. He was teaching me something special."

The brown-haired man's eyes lifted from his tea to stare at the boy. "Special?" he repeated.

Naruto smirked and stood up from his seat. "Well, I should be going."

Iruka frowned at the abrupt manner of his favorite student. Well, former student. "Naruto?" he watched his student walk towards the door. "Wait!"

Naruto stopped and turned to look at his teacher. "Don't worry about it. In any case, the jounin exams are coming up right?"

Another frown took shape on Iruka's face. "Oh yeah… guess I let that slip my mind." He smiled and beamed at Naruto. "I'm guessing you want to take part?"

"Actually, I'm already a jounin," he said. He noticed his teacher flinch slightly at the statement. "Still, I would like to participate. Everyone else will be there right? It'll be a good chance to test out my abilities. I can bet everyone's a lot stronger." The excitement in his eyes was impossible to miss. That hadn't changed about him.

"Really?" Iruka had always believed his student to have great potential, but the news was still a bit of a surprise. It seemed as though just yesterday he was the same brat that ran around vandalizing the Hokage monuments.

'You really have grown, haven't you, Naruto?'

"Have you seen any of the others yet?"

"No, I haven't. Well, except for you and Sasuke, of course. Oh yeah, I bumped into Sakura as well."

Iruka smiled. It was only fitting that he'd see those two first. "I do hope you make an effort to see the others as well. When you're ready of course," he said, quickly throwing in the last few words. It wouldn't come as a surprise if the boy felt some form of anxiety at meeting them again after so many years of being away.

He walked past Naruto and opened the door to let the boy out. "Thanks. Well, I'll be seeing you, Iruka-sensei," he said, smiling warmly. "Oh! And I appreciate your help in keeping my apartment clean. Hehe. There wasn't even a spec of dirt." And with that, he left.

Iruka looked on as the figure of the boy he had grown to love as a son over the years slowly faded. He sighed and shut the door, leaning against it. 'You're keeping a mask on,' he though, a sorrowful glint reaching his eyes. 'What has made you change this way?'

Almost two weeks had passed since Naruto had returned to Konoha. The blonde-haired woman wasn't sure how he did it, but it was obvious that the boy had gone about the village unnoticed. Had it been otherwise, the entire town would have been bustling with noise as the news was passed from one person to another. She bit her lower lip at the thought. Who knows how the villagers might react.

Even those who had fought alongside Naruto had gone by without knowing of their friend's arrival.

"Jiraiya, he hasn't locked himself up in his apartment has he?" Tsunade looked at him questioningly. A white-haired man was seated across from her desk in her office.

He shook his head. "I doubt that's the case. He never was one to hide himself from everyone. Still, if you were expecting a flashy entrance or numerous pranks… don't. That part's changed. Recently, he's been taking a liking to moving about on his own," he said, taking note of Tsunade's uncertainty. It was obvious she was puzzled as to whether or not she should be happy with the change.

She was more than happy to hear that he wasn't allowing the hateful glares of the villagers to hurt him, but the emptiness she caught in his bright eyes every once in a while fought against that. In a way, it was similar to the Uchiha, though not nearly as bad. That one just seemed to have a look-at-me-and-ill-rip-your-lungs-out type of attitude. The boy was about as social as a rock. In fact, she had once believe that maybe she could get a better response out of a rock than him. Right now, one of Naruto's old pranks would have been rather enjoyable.

"At least he's up an about," she whispered. "Still, there's something about him that isn't right, Jiraiya. His gaze seems so… far away. Even though it may only seem as though his appearance has changed, he himself has as well."

Jiraiya sighed and reached over the desk to grasp her hand lightly. "I know you're worried, but the brat's a strong kid. He'll be fine."

She smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. "Yeah, you're right."

The two sat in silence before Jiraiya, rather reluctantly, released her hand. He leaned against his chair in a lazy fashion, his legs stretched out and his arms folded across his abdomen. "The jounin exam is starting tomorrow?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Tsunade nodded and stood from her seat as Jiraiya mimicked her movements. "Yes, it is. Will you be attending it as well?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Nah, I got other things to do. Is Naruto going to be participating?"

"Well, I've given him the rank of jounin already. He's currently training a team of genin, but knowing Naruto…"

"He'll want to compete anyway," Jiraiya finished.

A smirk played across her lips. She pushed her light blonde hair behind her ears before placing her hands on her hips. "I'm curious to see how his training has paid off."

Jiraiya laughed, earning a quizzical look from his old friend. "Actually, about that." She looked at him intently, gesturing for him to go on. "I didn't really teach him much. Just how to control his second chakra and use it to his benefit."

"Second chakra? You don't mean…"

Jiraiya grinned. "Yep, just wait 'til you see the kid! He's grown a lot since you've last seen him. He's not the little brat we once knew. Though he hasn't lost some of his more annoying traits like the witty comments, the random outbursts, the annoying nicknames…" Tsunade let out a light-hearted laugh. "And the list goes on."

Tsunade took comfort in the fact that he was trying to chain down her worries, but she wasn't so sure if she was happy about him being able to wield his 'second chakra'.

Naruto stood in the center of a small clearing in a forest close to the edge of the village's gates. The jounin exam was starting tomorrow and he wanted to be ready. Even if he had confidence in his newfound abilities, he actually enjoyed it. Training was always a form of relief for him. A way to vent. Apparently, it was the same way for someone else as well.

"Oi, Naruto!"

The blond boy's body stiffened as an instinctive reaction to the voice, but he didn't show it. "What do you want, Sasuke?" His words flowed smoothly and calmly without any hint of hostility.

"You training?"

Naruto continued to gaze at the boy, searching through those dark depths. What was he searching for anyway? He blinked. "Yeah."

Sasuke pushed aside the awkward silence that had passed between the two. "How about sparring with me then?"

The blond shrugged his shoulders in reply, tossing aside his black coat to reveal his full jounin uniform. He brought out the two fingerless gloves from his pockets, slipping them on. "Why not?"

The taller boy smirked before positioning himself into a fighting stance; his right hand hovering over his holster while his left was in front. The other boy did the same.

After the first step was taken, the two lunged at each other. Blades clashed and wounds were inflicted as old rivals came together in battle.

Sasuke had made the first attempt to attack his opponent, swinging his leg out in an attempt to connect it with the other's stomach, knowing full well that it would be blocked. As expected, Naruto grabbed his leg, aiming a punch for his face as Sasuke fell back, his hands on the ground as he kicked loose from Naruto's grip.

In speed unlike his old antics, Naruto reappeared behind Sasuke. Drawing back his arm, clenching his fists, he brought it down in a powerful blow, only to find that his fist had connected with the cool ground and not his opponent. Dirt flew into the air as the ground broke apart beneath his palm. The raven-haired boy had barely missed it, nearing a tree as he watched Naruto.

Naruto hadn't moved from his position on the ground. Right hand buried into the dirt, crouched on one knee, as his other was up to balance him. Sasuke could only look on in surprise at this new speed. 'Since when was Naruto this fast? I can barely keep up with his moves…'

Naruto stood up, smirking at his friend. "Is that it?" The blond knew that, even with his training, his speed was equally matched with Sasuke's. If anything, he was currently only slightly faster. They had agreed not to use ninjutsu and relied solely on their ordinary abilities. Still, Naruto knew that his rival could do more. He wanted to see it. And he knew just how to push Sasuke's buttons. "It seems that these years have taken a toll on you. Are you really this pathetic?"

Sasuke clenched his fists, his face paling in anger, but the anger slowly subsided. This had been normal between them. There had been no spite in Naruto's words. "Heh, I see," he grinned, closing his eyes. "If that's what you want… then here I come!" His eyes shot open and Naruto smiled triumphantly as a deep red drowned out black.

"Now, I can finally have some fun!" Naruto exclaimed before the two clashed once again.

The two continued on for several minutes. With the Sharingan, Naruto wasn't able to do as much. He managed to land a few hits every once in a while, but it was obvious that Sasuke was at a slight advantage.

After their battle ended, Naruto plopped himself on the ground, leaning his back against the tree. He took shelter under its leaves as rain poured down on them. He had wanted to continue fighting, but the rain made it rather irritating.

The dark-haired boy took a seat by him. "I win. Again," he said, smirking. "I guess you're pretty pathetic. A jounin unable to defeat a chuunin?"

Naruto only grinned. "Whatever. I'll get you next time."

"Yeah right," he gave Naruto's arm a light tap with the back of his hand. "You have gotten strong, though, Naruto."

"Yeah… that'd suck if I wasn't after almost four damned years of training," he laughed. The emptiness in his voice made Sasuke flinch.

Naruto grimaced as his clothes began to soak. He had originally wanted to wear his coat to protect him from the cold droplets, but it had been drenched far before he could save it.

The blond visibly shivered. Sasuke frowned and stood up, holding out a hand to Naruto. The other boy looked at it questioningly. "Come on, it's cold out. We can go back to my place."

Naruto wrinkled his nose, showing his obvious disliking for the idea. Even if they were friends, the two still weren't always on the friendliest of terms. 'Since when does he invite people to his house? I always thought he was the type who shuts everyone out and would probably cut their feet off before they entered his house,' he thought a moment about this. 'Wait, he is that type.'

Sasuke shook his head. "Do you honestly want to stay out here? Your apartment is further off. It would be easier if we were to return to my home. You can get cleaned up, and once the rain stops you'll be able to leave."

The blond thought about this and wanted to protest, but he dropped the idea as he realized that was probably the best option. Shrugging his shoulders and slipping on his black coat despite the cold, he grasped his friend's hand, allowing him to pull him up before following him to his home.

Naruto poked around the house. He had never been to his friend's house and had never actually thought he would. He automatically began comparing it to Iruka's house. The Uchiha manor was definitely much larger in comparison to Iruka's home, but it was so barren.

There was nothing at all, nothing to accent the house's appeal. It was the complete opposite of Iruka's home that was nicely furnished. 'No decorations, colors… nothing. Where are all the pictures of his family members and stuff?' he thought to himself. 'I know he's alone, but…' The only things that he had managed to find were a few furniture items, but that was like a necessity. 'That's typical of him. Only getting the necessary stuff. How dull...'

"What are you doing, idiot?"

The insult won his attention, but he wasn't fazed by it. "Nothing. I was just looking around the place." A frown marred Sasuke's face, but he let it quickly vanish. He wasn't sure whether or not he should be angry or worried. Either Naruto was ignoring the insult to irritate him or he had just lost his old ways. A few years back, the two would have been at each other's throats within a second. Maybe it was better, but it still didn't stop it from nagging at the back of his mind.

"Here, I'll show you your room," he said, not waiting to check if the boy was following him or not, but the soft footsteps that sounded behind him assured him that he was. The two went up the slight winding stairs.

Naruto had noticed that the house had quite a few rooms. A few were downstairs as well as the kitchen and the living room. Upstairs was a hallway with two rooms, one across from the other. Sasuke pushed opened the room door closest to the stairway and walked in.

Like the rest of the house, the room was empty save a bed, a side table, a desk, and a closet. "As you can see, there's the bed. You also have a private bathroom," he said, pointing to a second door in the room. "As for clothes, you'll just have to bare with a few of mine that are in the closet until I get yours cleaned."

Tossing his coat on the floor, he looked around the room, seemingly ignoring the Uchiha. "Your house is seriously boring, you know that?"

'What's that idiot going on about now?' Sasuke thought as he watched the other boy eye his surroundings.

"What?"

"Where are all the preferences and decorations? And what about the personal stuff?" he turned around to look at Sasuke who just stared at him like he had lost his head. "You know, pictures of your family?"

Sasuke's gaze hardened and Naruto instinctively slapped a hand to his mouth, knowing full well that he had said something wrong. He didn't know what it was, but the whirlwind of emotions that flashed in the boy's eyes told him that he had dug up something very personal. 'What happened to you?'

The raven-haired boy hung his head low and brushed past the other boy. "If you need anything, I'll be in the room across," he hissed.

Before he could leave, Naruto grabbed his hand. "Wait!" he softened his tone before continuing. "I'm sorry if I said something to offend you. I kind of say things without thinking…" Even if Naruto had changed throughout the years, it was still rather hard to insult himself, but he knew it was worth it when Sasuke's body visibly relaxed under his touch.

'I guess having to apologize to the cold bastard is still a pain in the ass,' he thought. He mentally kicked himself. 'I was supposed to drop that rivalry crap.'

"It doesn't matter."

"Shut up! There you go again with that damned wall!" he yelled. He smacked his forehead. Again, he had done something stupid. He knew that harsh words weren't going to help, but he hated the way he hid his emotions. It was like this ever since the Academy. "You know, you can talk to me if you need to. I know how it feels… to keep things bottled up inside. And I hated it."

Sasuke didn't make an effort to leave, so Naruto let go of the boy's hand. He scratched the back of his head. "Well, whatever. That probably doesn't help, but yeah."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as Sasuke turned around, sliding his slender, pale fingers around the smaller boy's wrists, pulling Naruto's form closer to his. He leaned forward and rested his head in the crook of Naruto's neck. The blond let out a soft gasp as he felt Sasuke's warm lips gently graze his soft skin. That slight contact alone was enough to send waves of pleasure up Naruto's spine. 'Why is my body… reacting this way?'

"U-Uh, Sasuke?"

"Thank you… Naruto," he whispered, before turning and exiting the room rather quickly, leaving behind a dumbfounded blond.

HAH! Now I can finally get on to the part I've been waiting to write! I noticed that my story could be rather abrupt sometimes. Sorry to all the readers who find that annoying. I just skip from scene to scene. I'm trying to be a bit more descriptive in the beginnings of each scene so that people can quickly settle in with the change. I get confused reading my own writing. Now, how sad is that? Haha. I'm glad that a lot of people seemed to like the last chapter.

I just realized I'm not too good at the fluffiness with these two. For some reason, I'm always tempted to make them jump at each other and argue like they usually do. --; Sorry if it's a bit of a disappointment to the readers who like that kind of stuff. I don't want to rush my story.

One more thing! If anyone got confused with the reason that Naruto could keep up with the Sharingan and whatnot… I want to say that I sort of changed the outcome of their battle. Sasuke doesn't have the mangekyou (is that how you spell it?) and Sasuke doesn't know about the fox demon. Sorry about this, but I will say that I have a reason for doing this.

So, what do you think?