Chapter 26: Fireworks
"What the hell..." Naruto made his way carefully down the stairs, even in his sleepy state he was cautious not to step on any of the upturned and broken parts, or any places that didn't look stable enough to hold his weight. He wasn't sure what time it was, all he knew was that the sun was up, the bright light made him rub his blurry eyes that couldn't quite handle the brightness it brought yet.
Naruto stood at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in nothing more then the white pants to his night clothing, which he started to notice when he felt the chill of the Uchiha house's lower level. "What's all the noise?" He looked around, awakened by an entanglement of sounds he couldn't completely identify.
He found Iruka on the ground behind the couch with some strips of wood, which Naruto guess the cutting of said wood was all the noise. "Oh Naruto, your awake."
"How could I not be!" Naruto scratched his head with clear aggravation. "You make enough noise to wake the dead! What are you doing!"
"This house is in pretty bad shape." Iruka said, holding a power saw over a damage area of the wooden floor boards to square out the wrecked area. "It's not really safe, if you and Sasuke are gonna stay here then it really needs some work...a lot of work..."
"Oh." Naruto understood, he just wished Iruka could have started at a not so early time. '?' He was looking at Iruka, so what was the other pounding sound he was hearing? "Is that-"
"Yeah, Asuma's helping too."
"What about your plane?" Naruto asked, "I thought you were working on that."
"Yeah well, I can take a break from that for a while." Iruka turned off the rather loud saw and set it aside. "It'll be quicker to finish this if we really work at it." Iruka picked up one of the wooden strips and set it over the hole.
"..." Naruto lifted his hand to the back of his neck and took another look around the room. There had to be at lest several more spots in the floor where the floorboards were torn up like this, some of them worst then the one Iruka was working on now. Not to mention the stairs, the stairs were barely standing as it was, he could remember when Lee got thrown through them during the fight with that demon thing, whatever it had been. He couldn't even remember where all the other holes had come from. "Your plane must be in really bad shape."
"Heh heh." Iruka laughed a little, reaching out for a nail sitting near by. "Don't worry, we'll finish."
Naruto started to realize how much work this house would need. "Um...Iruka?"
"Yes?"
"Maybe..." Naruto slipped his hands into his pockets and stared at the wall separating the dining room. "Maybe you should finish your plane first instead."
"What? Why?" Iruka looked back at him curiously.
"Well, it's really important to you." Naruto said. "And...you were really sad when it got messed up by Kabuto. I know you want to fix, so you should go do that first."Naruto started to feel guilty, he never realized how much Iruka did for him until now. How much of burden he must have been on the man. Iruka had been working on that plane everyday for nearly 3 months, it was Iruka's most prized possession. And now he wasn't, because he'd stopped to work on this house for his and Sasuke's sake, which, let's face it, wasn't an easy job.
Iruka paused, taking a break from his work to look at Naruto fully. "Why would I do that?"
"You should do it first, we'll be fine." Naruto told him. "I don't wanna hold you back."
"Naruto." Iruka smiled, rubbing Naruto's head softly. "Your more important, besides I wanna do this."
"Yeah but..." Naruto looked away uneasily. "You don't have too, it's kinda my fault it got this way in the first place."
"How did you get an idea like that?" Iruka asked.
"I was the one that wanted to leave, if I hadn't gone then Orochimaru would have never gotten us, and you would have never had to come out there to get us."
Iruka smiled again, his hand resting on Naruto's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, and I wanna help, so don't worry about it. This will be done before you know it."
"..." Naruto still couldn't shake the feeling though... "Sorry."
"Sorry? For what?"
"...Nothin'"
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Three days, three whole days.
When Konohamaru thought about that time frame surprisingly the first thing that came to his mind wasn't when his Grandfather's death happened. No, it was when he finally let someone find him, and by someone he meant White house security, or more accurately the National guard stationed around it. They had to be the longest, worst three days of his life, enough to make him want to stay hidden.
He blamed Iruka and his story, that's what made him stop running away. What a bad move that was.
By the time he turned up, the power was back on, at lest to those who hadn't had power lines knocked down by the storm. And apparently the news stations had power too, or were just very persistent because of course they were there to capture his return for anyone who actually had power to see it, and on tape for those who didn't, they'd see it eventually. And with all of Konoha now aware that the president's very Grandson that had been missing for 2 days and feared abducted again was safe, Konohamaru dropped off the radar for the second time.
No, it wasn't Iruka he blamed, he blamed Itachi for kicking him out. If he could have stayed with them he wouldn't have had to gone through all of this in the first place.
This time when he dropped off the radar it was because of...well, it was a lot of different groups actually, all of them asking him questions, so many questions... He was sure one of them was the secret service, and he was also kinda sure the FBI was involved, he could guess the department of homeland security, the rest of it was like an obscured blur, all of it was the same. No matter how nice all of those damn people were, and how damn concerned they were, they all handled him. He couldn't do anything, they stuck him some place that he, he didn't even know where he was, for his own safety and security reasons. And every day they took him to a place that looked a lot like an interrogation room, and they asked him questions, sometimes in that room they stashed him in when they weren't questioning him started to feel like an interrogation room, or a prison cell.
No, he blamed Orochimaru. All of this was his fault, everything was his fault. Everything that had gone wrong in his life was Orochimaru's fault!
And they asked him what happened, over and over, every single detail down to what people he passed on the street. They asked him his life story, his friends, everything he ever looked at twice, he was sure by day three he was telling them things they didn't ask, he barely knew what was happening himself. And finally it was over, but they would watch him, for his own safety. Because as it turned out, he knew things, important things, things people like the government didn't like people knowing.
And Orochimaru knew he knew these things, and they knew Orochimaru knew that he knew, the only thing neither of the two sides knew was how Konohamaru found these things out. Which Konohamaru was sure they asked him, he didn't know if he gave them an answer or not, he was just so tired... He even fell asleep a few times during questioning, and he had strange dreams. Oddly enough he dreamt that he was in the same room being questioned, but he saw Zabuza indifferent places, like he wanted him to see him, just not everyone else.
But of course he woke up and found himself still being questioned.
Then it was over, and he resurface, they finally let him go. And just as soon it seemed everyone had power, and TVs, or some form of news media, they'd been talking about what happened for all 72 hours since power was restored. Thats when Konohamaru realized something, as he was swamped with more cameras and reporters then he could count, he didn't hate these reporters as much as he thought when he was there during the first attempt on his Grandfather's life, and the death of his parents, and after he was taken by Orochimaru. He just hated the attention.
So now he stood, completely alone in his Grandfather's old office, still a crime scene. The first time he was allowed to be alone in days was here, they owed him this much. "Grandpa..." He could see everything just as it had been the day the man died, walking around the oval office with slow steps until he came to his Grandfather's old desk or what it used to be at lest.
"..." He silently knelt down over the half ruined furniture about to be replaced and pried open one of the cabinets still remotely in one peace. And he found what he was looking for still in place, a little orange bottle with a prescription in his name labeled on to it. He stared at it, he could practically hear his grandfather's voice now
"Just because you feel better doesn't mean you are."
"Yeah grandpa, ok." He sighed, holding the half full bottle of pills which he still thought were too large for him and awkward to swallow. "But they taste like crap, I don't want them."
"Konohamaru,
your gonna have to learn to be more responsible. I'm not always going
to be here to make sure you take these."
"Yeah, I guess so Grandpa." Konohamaru pushed down on the top with his opposite palm and twisted it counter-clockwise, child proof cap my ass. Then he poured one of the pills in his hand, staring at the gray tablet, but not with the same weariness he had when he looked at it before. A deadened demeanor was about him now, his eyes with out emotion as he had a slightly hallucagenic experience. With a deep breath Konohamaru slid the pill into his mouth. "They're too big, what if I choke? Huh?"
"Your just saying that to get out of it, you'll live."
"Alright, I'll take the damn things..."
"It better not be under your tongue again, swallow it."
"It's gone." Konohamaru said aloud, wincing as he felt the large, hard object going down his throat with out any water. "See, I'm not a little kid anymore grandpa, I can take it on my own."
He didn't hear anything this time.
"Grandpa..." Konohamaru looked around the room one last time, he couldn't help seeing how it used to be, he could just imagine everything in place and Sarutobi sitting behind that desk, angry at him for doing something stupid or trying to get away from Ebisu as he walked to the door. And as he stopped, slipping the bottle into his pocket and standing in the frame where two large oak doors once stood.
He couldn't help thinking that he never wanted to come into this room again.
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"It's really coming together Gai-sensei." Lee, the one from the future which Gai so affectionally called his Lee, stood up strait and took a step back from the open hood of the heavily damaged green car. He wiped the beginnings of sweat from his forehead and leaned against the wall, he had to admit this was hard work, he didn't get how Gai could do this so much. "I can't believe we did so much in so little time."
"Thank you guys for the help, I never would have gotten so much done if you hadn't been helping me." Gai pushed himself upright from over he hood of the car, looking at the clean, chrome steel of new parts and cleaned old ones. "Alright Lee, do you remember how I showed you?"
Lee, the one from the past, stuck his head out of the driver's side window far enough to see Gai with out being obstructed by the lifted hood. "Yes Gai-sensei."
"Alright, start it up."
Lee nodded and pushed himself back into the driver's seat, then with an anxious excitement he clinched the steering wheel tightly with one hand and took hold of the key mounted in the ignition with the other. He liked this, the idea of being in control of a machine this powerful, that could go this fast, he could just imagine it, if it that much of a rush being a passenger, what must it feel like driving? "Alright Gai-sensei!" Lee forced himself to focus, he turned the key and heard the loud sound of a starting engine and more parts then he could name coming to life.
Gai loved that sound, he could give a hundred different explanations why. "Great!"
"We did it." Lee leaned over the open hood of the car and stared at the parts inside quickly coming up to speed. "It's working."
"Now all we have to do is repair the body damage..." Gai slammed the hood shut and peered over the running vehicle and began surveying the rest of the damage that needed to be repaired This was gonna cost so much money...
Lee unzipped his coat and slipped the heavy fabric off, feeling the chill of cool air rushing to meet him with a cold breeze that blew through the open parking garage. His excitement started to waver a little with discomfort. "Is it just me or is it warmer out here?"
"Yes, it is warmer." Gai kelt down beside a red tool box sitting next to his leg and began putting things away, this was all he could do for the moment. "Our climate has been strange since the storm, Konoha's about to go on a warming trend." Gai said. "It is spring after all."
While Lee and Gai finished cleaning up at the front of the car, and the other Lee sat waiting in the driver's seat and didn't seem to want to move, Shikamaru had been coaxed into doing something. He was rummaging through Gai's trunk, cleaning out the snow and broken metal to salvage what he could. He'd found nothing of interest yet... "..." Until he came across a rather large, blunt weapon. "Uh...Gai." Shikamaru slipped his hands under the M50 rocket launcher and pulled it out of the trunk, it was heavy and oversized in his arms, he felt smaller then he was holding it.
"Yes Shikamaru?"
"What do I do with this?"
Gai leaned over slightly from where he was keeling on the ground "Oh that..." Gai looked up thoughtfully "I have to reload that... Just set it down somewhere."
Shikamaru nearly dropped the weapon, something like this made him admire Gai's strength, there was no way he could hold it long enough to use it. In fact, he started to wonder what this weapon even did. With that thought in the back of his mind he began rummaging through the trunk again, he'd cleared away most of the snow so it wasn't much left. '?' Something did catch his eye this time though... Shikamaru leaned forward and began digging through the debris, tossing aside broken scraps of metal that found their way inside, moving closer and closer to a shining object reflecting off of the dim light.
"Hmm..." He pulled it out, cuffing the mid-sized object in his hands, it was still fine, relatively undamaged. "Hey Gai, what is this?" He held it out to his side just far enough for Gai to see.
"Huh? Oh, it's a camcorder. It records video." Gai told him.
Shikamaru looked over the device curiously, turning it over in his hands like a child who'd just gotten something he never saw before. "How?"
Lee, the one from the future, walked to Shikamaru's side and took the camera out of his hands. "Here, like this." Lee opened the screen on the side of the relatively small device and took the cover off of the lense. "Ah, looks like there is still some charge left on the battery." Lee turned on the power and handed it back to Shikamaru.
His face grew some interest to it as he watched the blank screen turned blue, then showed an image of the ground where the lens was pointed. "Interesting." Shikamaru lifted up the camera and slowly rotated it around, "...wow..."
Gai shut the tool box and latched it closed, watching Shikamaru, he didn't think he'd ever seen the boy take so much interest in anything. "Like it? If you want it you can keep it."
"Really?" Shikamaru tilted the screen slightly, then looked over the device again, it was a fascinate machine but... "I couldn't take this, I wouldn't know what to do with it." Shikamaru said.
"Nah, keep it." Gai said discardingly, "I'm sure a smart guy like you will find something to do with it."
Yeah, like figure out how it worked. "Thank you Gai."
At which point, a completely oblivious Lee from the past stuck his head out of the window, and abruptly shouted out "Gai-Sensei! Can you teach me how to drive?"
Shikamaru nearly dropped the camera when he heard that. "L-Lee!" It was hard enough being in a car with Gai, and now he'd have to be there with someone 10 times more impulsive. "I'm walking back."
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Asuma trudged tiredly trough the doorway of the kitchen, covered in a splattered grayish substance that could be any number of things. With a tired sigh he sat down on the couch, "Man this is hard work. Maybe this house just has bad luck."
Iruka, currently digging out the debris from the hole in the center of the stair's foundation. "Bad luck?"
"Yeah, Bad luck. More things happened here in a little under 3 months then 5 years in Naruto's apartment." Asuma said. Even as he spoke his mind focused on the repairs that needed to be done, like what he would fill these walls with. "Bad luck."
"That's one way to look at it." Iruka pulled the last of the broken debris from the hole and set it aside, he'd have to build some support for these three stairs the whole spanned. "I wouldn't call it bad luck...just an unfortunate string of circumstances."
Asuma smirked with amusement, "Heh, right."
"Hey Asuma." Iruka stood up strait and stretched his arms above his head lightly. "Didn't you do stuff like this in collage?"
"General contractor." Asuma nodded.
"Looks like I picked the right guy to work with."
Naruto came rather loudly to the head of the stairs, dressed in pair of overalls and a white hat to match, his usual orange Konoha shirt underneath. "Iruka, Asuma." Naruto jumped over the railing and landed sloppily beside Iruka, completely avoiding the stairs.
"Naruto?"
"I'm here to help." Naruto announced.
Iruka and Asuma looked at each other, then back at Naruto. "Uh...That's alright Naruto, we can handle this." Asuma said, "You don't have to bother."
"I wanna help." Naruto said, and he did. It was the lest he could do, "I wanna help."
Asuma and Iruka looked at each other again, and Iruka just shrugged. "Alright Naruto." Iruka agreed, if he wanted to help, then he could help, what could it hurt?
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"Zabuza?"
Kakashi had been sticking home more then usual for the past 3 days, this was the place Zabuza would probably come first. It was around the second day that he realized the only reason he waited here was because he was worried, about what Zabuza probably did. Which could be any number of things, none that came to mind were good.
Kakashi pushed his legs over the side of his bed and sat up when he saw the man walk through the door, slightly more equipped then when he left. "Gearing up for a small war?"
"Heh." Zabuza unzipped and removed a black vest he had on now, filed with any number of explosives, setting it carefully aside. "Miss me?"
"Of course, I couldn't go another day without hearing that cynical voice of yours." Just with a quick over look Kakashi gained a good idea of everything the man had on him, who knew what other things Zabuza had stashed away. "What did you do?"
"Research." Zabuza said simply. "Orochimaru has friends."
"Great, you don't let up do you? A mad bomber is nothing if not persistent." Kakashi knew this couldn't be good. "What are you talking about?"
"You guys don't pay attention very well, I was wondering how Orochimaru keeps using your own property against you." Zabuza smirked deviantly under the bandages covering his mouth."No wonder, he has friends in considerable places, you'd be amazed at what you learn if you stick around a few places when they question the president's grandson."
"Why does that not surprise me?" Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, "What did you do?" Kakashi asked expectantly.
"Nothing." Zabuza sat down on the bed and laid back, resting his arms behind his head.
"Wrong question, what are you going to do?" Kakashi sat down beside him, folding his arms and looking down at him chastisingly.
"You know me well." Zabuza just laughed with mild amusement.
"Tch. A blind person in a coma could read you." Kakashi sighed and shook his head. "Does everything you do have to involve someone dieing, it must get boring."
"Are you saying that to stop me?"
"In part." Kakashi shrugged. "I'm sure you could find something more productive to do with your talents."
"Are you seriously saying that too me?" Zabuza seemed to find even more amusement in that. "Like what?"
"I'm sure you'd find something if you tried." Kakashi said, he slipped his hands behind him and stood up. "Just don't kill anyone."
"That's the problem with you Kakashi, you could be so much stronger if you would stop thinking so weakly." Zabuza snorted with distaste.
"I'm not that interested in being strong." Kakashi said discardingly, "It's not that important."
"Tch. Not important, that's what I'm talking about. " Zabuza sat up strait. "Strength is everything, you know it and I know it, strength will get you power, and if you don't have power you don't matter in this world, your nothing but a weakling."
"Is that how you see it?" Kakashi laughed this time, "I don't want power, I don't need it. And my only interest in strength is to just have enough to protect the people around me."
"I don't get it, How did someone like you get to be so strong ... "Zabuza said discardingly.
"Then there must be something to my methods then, don't you think?" Kakashi began rummaging around his room, he had a feeling he'd need his bomb detector.
"..." Zabuza shifted his eyes away. "Why would you want to stay weak all of your life? It's stupid. Don't you have any sense of wanting to do something with yourself?"
"Wanting power and being greedy, believe it or not, are two different things. Which one do you think you are?" Kakashi asked sarcasticly.
"Right, whatever." Zabuza looked away, but he still had to wonder about what Kakashi was saying, why was he so strong for a person that didn't want power. "Oh, looking for this?" Zabuza reached into his pocket and pulled out Kakashi's bomb detector, lifting it from him a day before incase Kakashi decided to follow him. He tossed it to the man, who looked down at it questioningly. "I already planted the bombs." he said almost boredly.
"Your a bastard, you know that right?" Kakashi began pressing a combination of buttons, until a small beep could be heard. "This is pointless, who ever your doing this to-"
"They're not on remote, it's a timer, I couldn't stop it from here if I tried." Zabuza seemed to ignore him.
"Zabuza." Kakashi didn't have time to be mad, he knew Zabuza wouldn't tell him where they were. "I don't get you, you probably could find something actually good to do with skills like yours. It's a much better thing to do with yourself." Kakashi looked down at the device in his hand and ran out of the door. "We'll settle this later."
"I'll bet." He lied, he didn't have any bombs set, anywhere, yet. But...he had something to think about now.
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"You guys are really getting a lot done." Sasuke was genuinely impressed when he looked around the living room, most of the floor boards had been repaired, and the room was starting to look a lot cleaner.
Iruka knelt down by the wall holding the door to the dining room, prying up floor boards that had been crushed. He didn't even want to ask how, he didn't think he could stand the thought. And Asuma was working on the hole in the stairs' foundation, he seemed to know what he was doing. And lastly Naruto was helping Iruka.
"Yeah, it's not as bad as it looks, maybe a few days we can finish this." Asuma said. "If we work at it."
"Where are you going?" Naruto looked up at Sasuke, who was much more dressed then when he last saw him.
"I'm going to find Konohamaru." Sasuke said, the worry clearly present in his stoic voice."He's been gone for a while."
"Worried about him Eh?" Naruto said accusingly, looking back down at his work.
"Shut up dobe."
"Just saying."
Sasuke zipped up his coat and silently walked away before anyone else had a chance to comment on his actions, that was the last thing he felt like dealing with.
"He's worried alright." Asuma said, slipping his hand in his pocket and drawing out a cigarette, the first one he had in days actually. "You know Naruto, if you want too, you can go with him." he offered.
Naruto didn't respond right away, but from the look on his face they could see he was seriously thinking about it. But ultimately he shook his head and declined, "Nah... I wanna help."
Asuma and Iruka gave each other silent glances, both with the same thoughts. Iruka didn't understand it, Naruto was obviously worried about Konohamaru just like Sasuke was, it wasn't like him to pass up an opportunity to check up on him to do something like work. "Are you sure?" Iruka asked. "Because we can handle this ourselves."
"Yes, I'm sure." Naruto said, but with some detectable aggravation coming into his words and growing on his face. "I'm gonna help."
Neither Iruka nor Asuma could quite understand what Naruto was getting angry about, but they let him be, what else could they do?
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Sasuke didn't particularly hate snow, he was actually comfortable with it.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and let his head drop slightly, he kinda liked snow, and he liked the cold. Naruto always complained about them both, Naruto was much more suited for summer and 90 degree weather Konoha occasionally had. He on the other hand hated the heat and humidity summer brought, he'd rather freeze in 5 degree climates then over heat in 95. He'd rather be stuck in a blizzard then be soaked with the heavy rains and lighting of a summer storm.
Sasuke took a deep breath and looked up at the clear, blue sky patchy with white clouds. The air was clear and cold, and he easily took this over the hot and humid air of the summer that was hard to breath. Konohamaru seemed to take after his liking of winter too, the boy seemed to hate being hot, especially in humid weather, and loved snow. Even when it got so high he could barely walk in it.
'Konohamaru...' Sasuke looked strait ahead, today he could see as far as his vision could reach. It was a completely clear day, and much warmer then it had been during that blizzard, well above freezing. Which was the only time he hated snow, when it started to melt. Especially when it was high, it became, for lack of a better word, slushy and hard to walk in.
Sasuke paused and looked around him, finding himself standing at a familiar intersection. "Hmm..." There were a lot more people out, the numbers steadily rising to normal standards everyday...
'!' Sasuke flinched when he felt something... someone run into his side hard enough to make him stumbled off balance and fall too the ground. "What the hell!"
He winced and looked around for the culprit, he found himself staring down at none other then Konohamaru who was laying flat on his back. "Ow, Ow..." Konohamaru clinched is head sat upright. "Oh I'm sorry I was...Sasuke?" Konohamaru was surprised to run in to him of all people.
"Konohamaru? Watch where your going." Sasuke stood up, wiping away the half melted snow that suck to him. "What are you running for?"
"Sorry, it's slippery out here." Konohamaru apologized, taking Sasuke's out stretched hand and pulled himself on to his feet. "What are you doing out here?"
Sasuke slipped his hands in his pocket and looked away indifferently, Konohamaru seemed alright, it didn't look like their was a reason for him to come looking for him at all. "Nothing really."
Konohamaru shook his head, dislodging the snow that had gotten stuck in the spiky brown hair. "Well then... can I come with you?" Konohamaru asked, looking up at him with surprisingly pleading eyes. "There's nothing else to do around here."
Alright, maybe Konohamaru wasn't as alright as he first thought. "Yeah, whatever." Sasuke passively agreed.
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Sasuke didn't like the idea of wondering around without a destination, especially in the slushy mess outside. So he stopped at Naruto's favorite place to eat, a restaurant specializing in Ramen.
"Why are we here?" Konohamaru followed Sasuke over to a small table near the counter and sat down on the opposite side.
"I owe you a bowl of natto, remember." Sasuke replied.
There was an awkward silence that stretched between them, and Konohamaru couldn't help but remember that day when he wanted to be mad at Sasuke for what he did. But he couldn't stay away, and Konohamaru ended up at Sasuke's doorstep. He remembered it...their silence was only broken when they ordered, Konohamaru getting his customary bowl of natto, and Sasuke simply ordering tea.
So they sat, Konohamaru staring down at the bowl in front of him while Sasuke just stared at the window. Finally Sasuke built up the nerve to speak. "Konohamaru."
"Hmm?" paused from eating and swallowed. "What?"
"Are you ok?" Sasuke asked. He never saw Konohamaru look so...normal after something bad happened to him, which honestly was more often then it should have been.
"Yeah, why?" Konohamaru looked down at the bowl again and began eating.
"Because your...Your." What was the word for it? He couldn't just say I'm worried about you because your acting normal. "You just off."
"I don't know, I guess." Konohamaru shrugged, thinking nothing of it.
"So, how have you been since...your grandfather died?" Sasuke asked reluctantly. "In fact I haven't seen you at all since that day you showed up at my house. Where were you?"
"Oh that." Konohamaru showed some emotion now, narrowing his eyes with annoyment and eating a little faster. "They stuck me away for some security reasons, that's what they told me."
"They?" Sasuke would have asked who "they" were, but he didn't want to get into it. He was sure that Konohamaru, being the president's grandson, knew just about every department in the government and it's purpose. And with a matter like this, several had to want to speak with him. "They asked you questions for that long?"
"Yeah, the same ones, over and over!" Konohamaru grunted. "All of these different guys kept asking me what the guy before them asked me, I don't see why they didn't just all ask me at once."
"What did they ask you?" Sasuke said, taking some interest.
"Everything." Konohamaru took a large spoonful of the warm soupy food sitting in front of him, all of this annoyment must have made him hungry. "They asked me what happened, they practically asked me my whole life story. They even asked me about you guys."
"Really? What?"
"I don't know, I think I fell asleep on that part. I guessed they wanted to figure out if one of you guys could have been connected to Orochimaru, since he's after me and all." Konohamaru narrowed his eyes even more. "I wonder where they got that idea."
'I'm never gonna live that down am I?' Sasuke sat back in his chair and took a sip of the tea sitting in front of him. "..." He didn't respond, what could he say?
Konohamaru paused, looking up at Sasuke somewhat worriedly. "You...You didn't...did you? I mean you'd...you'd admit something like that."
"No." Sasuke said firmly. He guessed he couldn't really be mad at the question, he had it coming.
And Konohamaru believed him, he always believed him. "I don't know, they're saying somebody in Konoha is leaking information, infact they say there are a lot of people working for Orochimaru in Konoha."
"That's obvious." Sasuke snorted.
"Well it's over now, they didn't wanna let me leave, I guess I know too much."
"What could you possibly know?"
"...A lot of things." Konohamaru told him. "I watched a lot, I remember some things my parents used to talk about, and some things my grandfather used to talk about with them, since they were in the army and all. Other stuff I heard when people talked to my Grandpa. I know stuff."
Maybe people didn't pay attention to Konohamaru like they should have, who would have guessed that Konohamaru payed attention to all of those things. Sasuke didn't, but it turned out Orochimaru did. "I never knew... So if you know so much, why are you here?"
"They couldn't keep me forever, so they let me go, but they wanted somebody to watch me." Konohamaru smirked impishly. "Ebisu was 10 times better then those guys, I got away from them easy... So, can I stay with you guys for a while?"
He was fine, but he was avoiding his security, he only did that when he didn't want to deal with the attention... Maybe something really was wrong with Konohamaru. "If they asked about us, don't you think they know where we are?"
"No." Konohamaru's smirk grew into a large smile. "They don't know where you guys are now, since Naruto's old home is gone."
"Well, I guess so then." Sasuke folded his arms and closed his eyes thoughtfully. He did seem normal, but still...
! - ! - !
! - ! - !
He couldn't believe it, maybe this time Zabuza had gotten the better of him.
Kakashi spent the better part of the day looking around for the bombs Zabuza had planted, checking just about every suitable target someone like Zabuza would target. But it quickly became more strategic then that, Kakashi began thinking as much like Zabuza as possible,
Which turned out to be harder then it sounded for two people who had an odd set of similarities.
Kakashi finally started to think about what had been said to him, it wasn't where Zabuza would target, but who. He said Orochimaru had connections in Konoha, who? The only possible way to figure something like that out is through an investigation, he didn't really have that much time.
It looked like this time that Zabuza finally beat him.
'Damnit Zabuza.' Kakashi looked around downtown Konoha, staring suspiciously at the snow capped buildings with bomb detector in hand. It was late, at lest if he didn't find Zabuza's bombs in time then the chance he'd actually hit anyone was low. In fact it was past midnight, who would actually be here this late? Well... maybe a lot more people then normal considering all the events that transpired as of late.
Maybe he'd just hit the important people and not the civilians.
Maybe he knew Zabuza better then he thought. But where? Where would be the places people would most likely be working late?
'Wait...'
! - ! - !
The power was on again, Naruto was thankful for that, because it would have been really hard doing this in the dark.
He didn't know how late it was, he completely lost track of time. Iruka and Asuma had left, a few hours ago. He was sure Iruka was at the hanger, working on his plane, it should be easier for him now that there was power, and with Asuma helping. Naruto hoped it was going well for him.
He was alone, the house was empty, and he didn't really know where Sasuke was. Naruto was crouched down on the ground with the nail gun Iruka left behind for tomorrow's work. Nailing down the new strips of oakwood to the ground as neatly as he could manage over the crushed areas that had been torn up and squared out.
He was so focused on what he was doing that he didn't notice Asuma slip inside of the home and shut the door behind him.
Asuma was almost surprised to see Naruto here alone, still working. "Naruto."
Naruto flinched at the sudden voice disturbing the quiet, "A-Asuma!" Naruto dropped the wood he was attempting to put into place and looked over his shoulder with a hard glare. "Don't sneak up on me like that, your just as bad as Kakashi."
"Yeah, sorry about that." Asuma smirked with amusement, hiding his small bit of laughter behind the cigarette in his mouth.
"Your even worse, that wasn't funny." Naruto rolled his eyes, reaching down to pick up the wood he'd dropped and go about the tedious process of realigning it into place.
"Why are you still working, it's past midnight, shouldn't you be in bed or something?" Asuma folded his arms and looked around at the repairs that had been done since he left. He had to admit, Naruto learned this type of thing quickly, he was actually pretty good at it.
"It's that late?... Hey, why are you here so late? Weren't you helping Iruka?" Naruto asked, forcing his hand to stay steady as he held the wooden board in place and reached for the nail gun. He almost had it, but Asuma reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"It's late, just leave it for now." Asuma said.
"Nah, I'll go much quicker if-"
"No, really, leave it for now." Asuma said seriously. "I think we need to talk."
Naruto set the nail gun down and turned around, looking up fully at the man. "Why?"
Asuma ran a hand uneasily through his hair and turned around, walking back towards the door. He was never good with these types of things. "Just follow me."
Naruto curiously stood up, feeling the stiffness that had built of from being crouched down so long. So he didn't question Asuma, there was a rather uncomfortable sense of relief that came over him from stretching out his legs again, but a much needed one he was happy to get. He was a little surprised though when Asuma led him outside, immediately feeling the distinct chill hanging in the air.
It seemed almost bright out here, Naruto had gotten so used to the house, this whole are being shrouded in darkness. With the illumination of the street lights he could see most things that mattered, it was still oddly quiet here. It was always quiet around here, considering all of the houses were empty and had been since the Uchiha family was killed off. At this rate the whole area would remain this way since Sasuke owned all of the property now and hadn't thought about selling it. Well, co-owner, Iruka had to take ownership of it until Sasuke was legal age by becoming their legal guardian.
Asuma leaned against the wall beside the door, watching Naruto sit down on the stairs. "Well?" Naruto asked. "What is it, it's freezing out here."
Asuma slipped the cigarette from his mouth, softly expelling a cloud of gray smoke made even deeper by his visible breath in the cold air. "Oh, I'm sorry about that." Asuma unzipped the black jacket he wore and slipped out of it, setting it on Naruto's shoulders. "Well, I need to talk to you."
Naruto didn't decline the warm fabric, he barely felt the cold in it. "About what?"
"About you actually, what's with you?" Asuma placed the cigarette back into the side of his mouth and pushed his hands into his pocket.
"What do you mean, I'm fine." Naruto said. He tilted his head back and stared at the sky, he could see the stars better here then he could back at his apartment, it was darker here.
"Maybe, or maybe you aren't."
Naruto took a quick glance back at him before returning his eyes to the stars. "What the hell is that suppose to mean?"
"Why do you want to work so much?" Asuma asked.
"What? I wanna help out, that's all." Naruto said simply.
A cold breeze blew across them, blowing away the ashes gathered at the tip of Asuma's cigarette in small, red embers and rustling surrounding trees. Adding some sound to the quiet streets. "Do you really wanna help us do this? This is hard work."
"I'm not afraid of hard work."
"So you just wanna help."
"Yeah."
"Even more then you want to find Konohamaru?" Asuma said, watching Naruto tense slightly under his jacket. That was all he needed to see.
"..." Naruto didn't respond.
"I though so." Asuma rested his full weight against the wall and turned his head to the side, peering out into the shadowy distance where he could see the outline of large trees that lined the edge of the Uchiha household property. Every time he felt the wind it made him think of what it was like to be up there in the sky... "So why do you really want to work on this so much?"
"Because." Naruto said childishly, traces of resentment showing.
"Why?"
"Because I want to help ok?" He said, looking over his shoulder in annoyment.
"Why do you want to help so much, you should be out there with Sasuke trying to-"
"Because I don't want to just do nothing ok!" Naruto shouted, changing from annoyment to anger with a single sentence.
"But you don't need to do this." Asuma said, "Your friend-"
"Konohamaru will manage with Sasuke! He doesn't need me there." Naruto yelled, pushing himself on to his feet and turning around to face Asuma. "I want to help."
"Why... Why is this so important to you?" Asuma didn't understand this.
"Because I want to help, I don't wanna just be a burden." Naruto hands clinched into tight fist, the anger evident on his face even if he couldn't look at Asuma completely. "I'm not just that kid with no parents that can't do anything! Everybody thinks that I'm only that annoying little bastard who can't do damn thing for himself, that needs everyone to take care of him. I'm not damnit!"
Asuma just stared at him, he had no idea Naruto thought of it like this.
"Why is he even an infantry soldier? How can he take care of Konoha's interest if he can't be anything but a henderance to everyone else? He's nothing but a brat, he's not anything at all." Naruto spat bitterly. "I'm not goddamnit! I'm not just some stupid little kid! I don't need to be rescued all the time! I can do things for myself!"
"Naruto..." Asuma closed his eyes and let out another soft exhale, blowing a small cloud of gray smoke from his mouth. "We don't think of you that way."
"It doesn't matter how you think if me because I am." Naruto sighed, holding his head down out of sight. "Iruka is all ways doing everything for me, he almost got killed coming to rescue us. And look what happened to his plane, he loves that thing. He works on it every day, and now he can't because he's doing this."
"Naruto this is only going to take a few days."
"It doesn't matter! That's not the point." Naruto turned away, sitting back down on the stairs wearily. "He shouldn't have too, he shouldn't have too, nobody should have too..."
Asuma smiled to himself, he never knew Naruto was so concerned about Iruka. He never knew Naruto was so concerned about all of it. Asuma slipped the cigarette out of his mouth again and slowly walked behind Naruto, pausing for a moment before he finally set down on the stairs beside him. "Iruka's not doing this because he thinks he needs to take care of you."
"What about you?"
"No way, your a tough guy, you can get along fine on your own." Asuma told him. "I've seen you in action back in the Sound, and anyone who can slip the president's grandson out of Konoha deserves a little credit."
Naruto smiled, blushing in embarrassment. "Heh, heh."
"We're doing this because we want to, just like you should have gone after Konohamaru because you wanted to. That's what friends are suppose to do." Asuma lifted the cigarette back into his mouth, watching the heated end glow with the light red of a stoked flame. "You know Iruka is a very friendly person. He really love you guys, that's what he's doing this for."
Naruto's shoulders slumped beneath Asuma's jacket and he held his head down again. "Damn, I guess I missed my chance huh?"
! - ! - !
"It's not as cold as I thought it would be." Konohamaru rested his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, hearing the soft sounds of his scarf trailing in the wind behind him. It was dark, and starting to get late, or so he'd noticed when felt himself starting to become increasingly sleepy.
Konohamaru trailed behind Sasuke, walking through the familiar road towards Sasuke's house. Sasuke, lost in thought, finally noticed how close they were getting to their destination. "Konohamaru." Sasuke stopped, turning back to face the boy. "Wait... I can't do this, something is wrong Konohamaru."
"What?" Konohamaru stopped, blinking questioningly "What are you talking about?"
"Konohamaru, what's wrong? Something just isn't right with you." Sasuke just couldn't shake the feeling, he knew Konohamaru, and this just didn't seem like Konohamaru.
"I'm fine Sasuke." Konohamaru said with a grunt of annoyment, "Stop worrying about me."
"It's just that...This isn't you." Sasuke said.
"Why?"
"Well..." Sasuke folded his arms and looked around. "Your grandfather was just killed by Orochimaru, and you..."
"I'm ok." Konohamaru repeated, and he was getting sick of saying it over again.
Normally that statement would have been enough to shake him up. "Why aren't you..." Sasuke paused, what was the best way to say this... "You aren't-"
"All depressed?" Konohamaru asked. "Because I don't wanna be, I guess I just got used to it."
Sasuke could pick out the problem right there, but he didn't saying about it, what could he say about it anyway? "But it's hasn't even been a full week yet-"
"I know, but I'm over it, I'm not going to be all sad anymore." Konohamaru told him. "I can't do it, it's just too hard."
"What the hell do you mean too hard?" Sasuke reprimanded. "No it's not."
Ok, it was pretty easy. "I just don't want to be ok? I'm ok. I just can't stay that way anymore." Konohamaru looked around almost casually, "I couldn't say mad at you. I guess I can't stay sad all the time either."
"..." Sasuke wasn't completely sure if that answer was plausible enough for him, but bringing up the subject of his betrayal generally did well to get him off whatever particlar subject they were on. Naruto had learned this fact, and Konohamaru had learned it from him. "I guess..." It was reasonable right? If Konohamaru could get over hating him for what he did in record time, maybe he could deal with his grandfather's death.
"I'm just not gonna be a little kid anymore, I got over it."
! - ! - !
Kakashi found his way to the west edge of town where Konoha met the ocean, though he was at the higher end near the south edge of the city. From where he was he could almost see the harbor down at sea level and faint traces of the ocean behind him, separated by a small forest he was half in side when he came upon this building.
It was a 4 stories high and much longer then it was tall, a subdivision that acted much like the NDAFA did, though focused more on the water then the sky. If someone wanted to slip into Konoha undetected, this would be a good place to start.
"Z-Zabuza!" Kakashi came to an abrupt stop in the soft snow, in front of the other man who had surprisingly been waiting for him.
Zabuza stood there almost casually, most notably with his customary remote held in his right hand. "Kakashi."
Looks like he was right. "Don't do this." He said simply and he obviously meant it by his tone of voice.
"Are you actually telling me that?" Zabuza snorted with like amusement.
"I didn't think it would work, but I am going to stop you." Kakashi said firmly.
"Better hurry." Zabuza outstretched his right arm-
'!' Kakashi immediately bolted towards Zabuza, charging at the man with all of his speed. "No!" Which was actually quicker then Zabuza expected it to be, Kakashi rammed him with his shoulder, sending both of them sprawling to the ground. '?' Kakashi pinned down Zabuza's arms, his eyes inanely shooting towards the remote still held tightly in the other man's hand.
But the largest button at the bottom was glowing red, he pushed it! "No!"
Kakashi flinched when he heard the loud sound of a burst coming from the building, looking away from Zabuza and watching as something shot into the air with a loud screech, then it was quiet again... right before something exploded against the midnight dark sky, a brilliant blast of red sparks in a perfect sphere. Then more and more of the screeching sounds came as more objects shot into the air.
"F-Fireworks?" Kakashi couldn't have been more confused. "Zabuza?" He looked back down at the other man.
Zabuza was on the verge of breaking out in laughter.
The air was filled with more bursts of explosives erupting in the air, filling it with blue red, whites, and a volley of other colors.
Kakashi scratched his head and looked up at the display before again. "Fireworks? Why?"
"Fireworks, bombs, basically the same thing." Zabuza looked past Kakashi, his eyes steadily on the display. "Depends on how much of what you put in them."
"So...you didn't-"
"No Kakashi." Zabuza spoke this time with clear annoyance. He always had to point out the obvious to him.
Kakashi didn't know what to say, he couldn't believe it... he also couldn't believe he'd just run all over town for no reason what so ever. "Zabuza." He smirked underneath the mask. "See, I told you, you can do something productive."
"Right, whatever." Zabuza's smirk grew wider, he had to admit the look on Kakashi's face was priceless. "I didn't kill anyone, happy now?"
"Very." Kakashi nodded. "I'm rubbing off on you." Maybe he saw more into the act then Zabuza did, but he was actually pleased with the man. He wasn't a stubborn or his mind wasn't as one tracked as he appeared, he'd just passed up an opportunity to sever a connection to Orochimaru for him. If he ever needed a reason for not turning Zabuza in, it was this.
"Yeah, this is your fault isn't it?" Zabuza snorted. "You and your goddamn lectures."
"Yeah, that's what did it." Kakashi slipped his hand down to Zabuza's face and gently pulled away the bandages while he tugged down his own mask and pressed his lips against the other man's. Listening to the sounds of the fireworks exploding overhead, tenting everything in different colors.
! - ! - !
"Whoa..." Naruto stared up at the sky in amazement, watching the burst of colors paint the sky with growing rapidity, his face glowing with each one as the light washed over the house. "What's going on?"
Asuma sat beside him, watching with the same fixation. "I have no idea..."
"I'm glad I stayed up then." Naruto smiled.
"Hmm..." Asuma wondered who could possibly be doing this at such an hour, but he didn't care too much, he was happy for the sight.
They watched as more and more burst of colorful explosions flooded the sky with the sound to match. "Cool!" Naruto's smile grew larger as he watched the display of fireworks intensify, filling the sky with invisible white smoke that could only be seen behind an explosion.
"Hn." 'He seems happy.' Asuma slipped his arms behind his head and laid back on the porch at the end of the stairs, his eyes steady towards the sky. Maybe it was because he was a pilot, but he couldn't help wondering what that would look like from above...
