Shadows within a Dream
By: Kisu
A/N: I'm trying to keep the characters with the same personalities but the story as you can tell have a lot of OOCness…..esp. Sasuke since he's so damn cold in the anime! ^_^ I rewatched my favorite episodes (66-67) and some others, noticing how little Sasuke talked. Blah. Oh, and I'm going to the SakuraCon as Sasuke-chan! ; We'll see how far that takes me.
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.
2.7: Fate
"Obaasan!" Naruto walked into the office and Tsunade looked up in surprise. She placed one elbow on the desk and rested her cheek on it. Boy, did Naruto didn't know what was coming to him when he became Hokage. It was work, work, and more work. Naruto suddenly paused and that mischievous smile wiped off from his face. He straightened and his face became expressionless. With a fist to his heart, he bowed politely. Tsunade raised an eyebrow and straightened when she saw this display. What was he up to now?
"Yes, Uzumaki-kun. What did you need of me?" She asked, with a serious expression as she played along.
"Godaime-sama, permission to execute Uchiha Itachi away from the village." He said, solemnly. Tsunade stared at him and steepled her fingers together, resting her chin on top of them. Her eyes narrowed as she observed the young man with blonde hair, noting how awkward it was for such a serious expression to be displayed on the face.
"Permission denied." Tsunade said, smoothly as she picked up her pen. "Is that all?"
"Godaime-sama!" He protested. "I think it's for the best! The villagers-"
"-will be protected by the Shinobi." She finished.
"But!" Naruto frowned.
"Naruto, you are not a Jounin yet. You are hardly ANBU." Tsunade said, sharply. "If I was to let you out there all alone, facing off Itachi. Do you think that I will forgive myself if you get killed? Will I forgive myself if Uchiha Itachi releases the Nine-Tails within you?"
"He can't do that." Naruto replied, icily. "I won't let him." His blue eyes frosted over and a chill seemed to fill the air. "I'm almost Jounin! I just haven't taken that test yet! Sasuke will come with me!"
"Then, that will be two losses to the Hidden Leaf." Tsunade shot back.
"This situation is because of me, Godaime-sama." Naruto fumed. "It was my fault that I encountered him outside of Konohagure. It was my fault that the village of Saba burned down. I owe Cho-chan this. I owe her the death of Uchiha Itachi!"
"I know that he has advanced on you before." Tsunade replied. "So it is hardly your fault that you encountered Itachi. Maybe it was Jiraiya's fault for not keeping his eye on you. The damn pervert." She looked away as thoughts of how to kill him crossed her mind. When she looked back at Naruto, she realized he had not moved an inch. His head was bowed and he was looking at the ground.
"I know this is my fault." He replied, stiffly. "No one can convince me otherwise." Tsunade took a deep breath. One part of her wanted to give in to her anger and knock some sense into the boy. The other half willed her to calm down and approach this matter calmly. Screw that, she was stressed and she didn't need more stress. Getting up quickly, she knocked her chair down and stalked over to the young man. She came down hard on Naruto's head with a fist and Naruto reached up and rubbed the sore spot with a wounded look.
"Obaasan! What was that for?" He asked.
"I have to explain some things to you and I know how hard it is to get through to you." She snapped. "Especially through that dense skull of yours!"
"Geez, old hag." Naruto muttered, all formalities dropped.
"When the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi within you, he wanted others to recognize you as a hero. He expected you to become one of the strongest ninjas ever and to achieve the Hokage title." Tsunade told him. "He made sure to tell the Shinobi to protect you, because he knew that one day---you would be essential to Konoha." She scowled, darkly. "But unfortunately, the villagers thought differently. They thrive in Hidden Leaf's protection, unheeded to all the dangers that other countries bestow upon us." She walked back over to her desk and retrieved her chair to its previous place. "Do you notice how different the Shinobi treat you from the villagers?"
"Er." Naruto blinked. "Well except for you, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Jiraiya-sensei, Ebisu..that idiotic pervert, Genma…" He paused and a sheepish look came over him. "Oh."
"That is how you immediately know who is faithful to Hidden Leaf and who isn't." Tsunade told him, sharply. "Those who remember the words of the Yondaime, follow it. Those who don't are betrayers."
"That doesn't explain why I grew up all alone." Naruto muttered. His blue gaze wavered and he glared out the window.
"Ah yes. The Shinobi didn't know how to treat this situation." Tsunade replied. "Especially the Sandaime." She crossed her arms. "None of the Shinobi could really take care of you, it was always a battlefield for them. And of course, none of the villagers are willing to step up. But the Sandaime made sure to look after you. Even though he had a country to run and matters to tend to." He crossed his arms and his lips pressed into a thin line. "If we had babied you, would you have turned out to be the man you are today?" She asked, quietly. "Being Hokage is a very lonesome and independent job. Do you think you would have been able to handled it?"
"Are you saying that my destiny had been planned out?" Naruto asked, cautiously.
"Not entirely, the ambition is there. You just have to grasp it and work hard. No one is handing over the title to you." Tsunade smirked. "Especially not me. You have to earn it."
"I understand." Naruto nodded, finally. Tsunade let a small smile flit over her lips. "So that means taking my responsibility into my hands." He gave an affirmative nod. "So that means you're going to let me get Itachi on my own."
"NO!" Tsunade roared.
***
"Screw all this." Naruto whispered to himself. "I'm leaving and no one is stopping me. There's no way that Itachi can be brought to this village…after his abilities." The thought of those red eyes brought a chill down his back and his blue eyes narrowed. "I'll just have to bend that old hag's orders."
" Do you always talk to yourself?"
"Not all the time." Naruto replied, seriously. He turned around and saw Kakashi lounging next to a tree with the newest volume of Icha Icha Paradise in his hand. "Hey…Sensei was writing that when we were---" He cut himself off sharply and crossed his arms. "What are you doing here?"
"Hmm…I wonder." Kakashi replied. "Perhaps you could tell me."
"I have things to do. Forgive me, because I can't play with you right now." Naruto said in a tone as if he was trying to get a bothersome kid away.
"How about I treat you to ramen?" Kakashi asked. Naruto paused in midstep and clenched his hands. Evil man knew his weakness!
"Ah, not now." Naruto replied, continuing to walk away.
"I'll pay for it this time." Kakashi bribed with a bright grin beneath his mask. He watched as his former student stopped and turned around.
"…Okay."
***
Naruto stared silently into his noodles, furiously thinking of the plans he had to take to escape Konoha. Especially without letting Sasuke know. He tapped his chopsticks against his cheek and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. Kakashi had done a speed eat while Naruto had looked over his shoulder and after they had a friendly argument about jounins and their masked faces, Kakashi had whipped out his book and Naruto had fallen into silence.
"Your ramen is getting cold." Kakashi said, his one visible eye glancing at the blonde young man next to him.
"Hm." Naruto responded with a little distraction.
"They don't taste so good when they're cold." Kakashi implied.
"Hm." Came the response. Then slowly, Naruto took his chopsticks and picked up a mouthful of noodles. I'll go over to Shikamaru's for a whole day and leave in the middle of the night, pick up my things on the way and take the long way out of Konoha. Sasuke will never know what hit him!
"Hey." The voice of the person on his mind came from his right and he choked. He thumped his chest with a fist as the noodles slid down the right tube and he turned around with a glare.
"Where did you come from?" Naruto demanded. Sasuke turned to his side and pointed to the left of the stand. "What are you doing here?"
"I saw you two and dropped by." Sasuke replied. He sat down next to Naruto and ordered a seafood ramen. He glanced at Kakashi and gave him a nod. Kakashi waved at him before resuming his reading. "Is that a new edition?" He asked.
"Yup." Kakashi grinned.
"Oh, I have to return that other one that I borrowed from you." Sasuke replied in a way that it seemed like he was talking about the weather.
"You're seriously reading those stupid books?" Naruto asked after choking on his noodles for the second time.
"They can be educational." Sasuke shrugged, offhandedly.
"What have you done to him?" Naruto asked Kakashi. Kakashi smiled like a Cheshire cat. "Don't read them anymore."
"Why?" Sasuke prompted as he started on his own bowl of ramen.
"Because…" Naruto began as his eyes lowered. "Because none of the stories can come true." Sasuke paused and turned to look at him at the same time, Kakashi lost interest in his book. Naruto's hands tightened and they snapped in half. The pieces dropped to the floor as the two ninjas continued to stare at him with hidden worry. All at once, the blonde blinked and glanced down at the floor. "Oops." He laughed as he took a new pair of chopsticks from the can on the counter. He snapped them apart and resumed eating again. Kakashi's and Sasuke's gaze met across the blonde and they turned back to what they were originally doing. But none of them could mistake the emotions that had flash through the blonde's eyes.
After they had finished eating, Kakashi paid for the meal and vanished in a poof of smoke. Sasuke and Naruto were left alone. As they walked through town, there seem to be an enormous amount of attention on Naruto. After all, the boy hadn't openly walked through town after coming back to Konoha.
"I look a lot like the Yondaime." Naruto explained to the unasked question. "Besides the fact of the Kyuubi…" He trailed off as they continued to walk in silence. "He was my father."
"What?" Sasuke turned his head to stare at Naruto.
"The Yondaime was my father." Naruto replied, softly. "Jiraiya-sensei told me when we were training. I was the only newborn on the day that the Kyuubi attacked. So he sealed it within me. That's why my birthday is the same day celebrated as the day the Kyuubi was sealed."
"Oh." Sasuke hadn't realized it but the two years that Naruto was gone, everyone had been happier. There were less incidents between neighbors, and tension that had been in the air had lifted. The villagers really did want Naruto to be gone. He felt resentment burn inside him as anger surged through his veins.
"Sasuke?" Naruto touched him lightly on the arm and Sasuke blinked as all thoughts disappeared. "Daijobu?"
"Yeah." He said, turning his gaze away. "I guess it makes sense, since there aren't a lot of blondes in the village and since you resemble the late Yondaime."
"My father was a hero." Naruto said, slowly. "He died for the sake of the village but no one really knew he had a son." He shoved his hands into his orange jacket. "So that's why I'm shunned."
They stopped suddenly and Sasuke looked up, realizing they were in front of the monument with the Hokage faces carved into them.
"The Hokages were amazing ninjas actually." Naruto said, softly as he raised his head to scan the faces. His gaze lingered a little longer on the last one and a small smile crossed his face. "The Yondaime was a man who knew many things and he always had a gut feeling. I was born with a purpose and he knew that." Sasuke continued to listen to him in silence. "Every living thing is born with a purpose but its destiny is based on its individual decision. Each decision affects its fate. So that's why we all have control of our fates. Whether we live or die is part of fate."
"I understand." Sasuke told him.
"Do you?" Naruto asked, softly. His eyes glittered with suppressed emotions and his voice was low and husky. "Do you really understand, Sasuke?"
Sasuke hesitated and reached out to embrace him. "Let's go back to my place."
TBC! X3