Chapter Twenty
As the sun made its way toward noon, it found Naruto skipping next to Tomoko as they made their way to training ground seventeen. This particular training ground was unique for public grounds because it was designed specifically for children of ninja clans, a kind of playground-cum-training yard. It was outfitted with more intense play equipment and lots of marked-off open areas for sparring under parental or guardian supervision.
Tomoko, dressed in a casual yellow blouse and khaki pants rolled up to her knees with her shinobi sandals — as well as her Sarutobi armband — smiled at the sight of Naruto clearly so happy to finally visit the place, especially with friends. Lady Nara had spoken with them both the other day after the Academy had let out to arrange a cooperative training day with Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino. It seemed Naruto had made a good impression at his birthday party, after all.
Though, as they left the Sarutobi compound, Tomoko caught sight of a familiar figure holding the hand of a much smaller one as they walked. "Sawano!" Tomoko called out, leading Naruto toward the pair, a mother and young son.
The woman turned at the sound of her name and gave a wide smile at the sight of Tomoko, halting with her son to wait for them to catch up. "Tomoko. It's been a while."
"Too long," Tomoko agreed. She knelt down to address the boy beside Sawano. "And how are you doing, Konohamaru?" she asked.
The child, no older than four years, smiled widely. "Momma's gonna take me to see Grandpa!" he shouted gleefully.
"Who's your grandpa?" Naruto asked, drawing everyone's attention. Little Konohamaru moved behind his mother with wide eyes, watching Naruto carefully from behind his mother's skirt. Naruto felt his spirits fall at the sight of such familiar motions, the motions he'd seen for so long when the villagers rejected him.
"Konohamaru," Sawano scolded lightly, "that is no way to act." She gave a motherly smile to Naruto. "I'm sorry, Naruto. Konohamaru is shy with strangers." She chuckled. "I think it's just a phase. He'll be as exuberant as any of us after he grows a bit more."
Naruto blinked at the idea of anyone being shy around him, and at the fact that a stranger had chosen to comfort him. His wide grin returned full-force and he cupped his hands behind his head. "No problem, lady! Guess it's just a drawback of being so awesome. You gotta get used to it!"
Tomoko and Sawano rolled their eyes in a nearly identical fashion at the child's boast. "Anyway, it was great to see you, Sawano," Tomoko said. "Naruto and I have somewhere to be, and you shouldn't keep Uncle waiting. We need to meet up sometime."
"Of course," Sawano said with a nod. "Come by the house any time, Tomoko." She took Konohamaru's hand again. "Say goodbye to your cousin, Kono," she nudged. Konohamaru waved with a smile and said goodbye before he and Sawano resumed their walk.
"Who was that?" Naruto asked. Since he'd been slowly being more accepted by the villagers, or at least more tolerated, he was even more curious to know about people he met. After all, he'd have to know the people he was protecting when he became Hokage.
"That was Sawano Sarutobi," Tomoko said. "She married into the clan. Her husband is Kozuki Sarutobi, one of Uncle's boys. Asuma's older brother."
In a flash of realization, Naruto connected the "Uncle" title to Gramps, the Lord Third. "Wait, that little kid was Gramps's grandson?!" Naruto shouted.
"Yep," Tomoko chuckled. "What? Are you scared he's gonna get the hat first?"
Naruto scoffed. "That shrimp? No way! I'll be way super strong before he even hits the Academy!" But even as he boasted with every ounce of determination he could muster, Naruto wondered if that little kid might have a leg up. The Sarutobi clan had a lot of really strong ninjas …
Naruto shook his head and decided he'd deal with that obstacle when it came. If it even came at all. "C'mon, Tomo! We're burning daylight that we could be training with!" With that, he grabbed her hand and started running toward training ground seventeen.
After several minutes of running, they finally arrived at the training ground, the place littered with children and their parents, many showing the classical traits of renowned clans. Tomoko moulded a bit of sensory chakra to get a feel for the area, grunting against the impressions of dozens of people before homing in on a cluster of familiar signatures. "This way, Kit," she said, gesturing toward a far side of the grounds.
They walked for a little bit before Naruto picked out the distinctive hairstyles of the Ino-Skika-Cho trio; Ino's chin-length platinum ponytail, Shikamaru's spiky ponytail that brought a pineapple to mind, and Choji's bushy spikes. Naruto laughed and ran ahead with a whoop of joy, leaving Tomoko to roll her eyes and join the mothers of his friends.
"Good afternoon, Ladies," Tomoko said lightly, adding a bit of emphasis on their titles. Etsuko chuckled at the wordplay while Natsumi and Yoshino just rolled their eyes.
"It's Tomoko, yes?" Natsumi asked. "You were at Naruto's birthday party."
"That's me," Tomoko confirmed.
"How is your time with the little one faring?" Yoshimo asked, her eyes hard as she watched her son resist the efforts of both Ino and Naruto to motivate him to actually train rather than watch clouds, with Choji snickering at the display as he munched on a bag of chips.
"Naruto's doing great," Tomoko said warmly. "His manners may be a work in progress and he's louder than a trumpet, but he actually likes to train." Tomoko smiled and glanced at Yoshimo, who seemed unamused at the implied comparison to Shikamaru. "He trains himself into the ground with a passion you rarely see anymore."
"He does seem like an energetic child," Etsuko noted wryly.
"You don't know the half of it," Tomoko chuckled. "His chakra control still needs work, but that's understandable given his condition." All of them nodded in understanding. Chakra control tended to be tricky for those with large reserves, and the presence of the Fox would add further problems. "But I have no doubt he'll figure it out," Tomoko assured. "I just wish Red could be here to see every step of it."
"He may not be here to see every step," Natsumi said, "but he will see the end result of this month. And he will no doubt be proud of both of you."
"At any rate, I think it's time we got this training session underway," Yoshimo said. "SHIKAMARU! GET UP AND PREPARE FOR TRAINING!" She stomped over to her son and pulled him from the ground by the scruff of his neck, tossing him to his feet and hashing out sparring rules like a trained drill sergeant.
"Blondes versus brunettes?" Etsuko asked.
"No way," Tomoko said with a grin. "I wanna see Naruto and Ino duke it out. They've both got fire in them. I'm curious which burns brighter."
A few minutes later found Naruto facing Ino in one of the training park's padded sparring rings. Ino took up the stance of the Academy, while Naruto settled in the stance he had developed during his training with Ken. But though their stances differed, their expressions were almost identical: a look of self-assured determination.
"And … fight!" Tomoko shouted.
Naruto charged with a laugh and a flying kick that Ino blocked before lashing out with a spear-hand. Naruto, in a move he'd seen Tomoko use, caught her hand and tugged, and struck out with his elbow to Ino's face, sending her spinning to the ground in more surprise than pain.
"Ow, Naruto! Not the face!" Ino screeched.
"You're fine, Ino!" Naruto said. "Or else you're gonna be a sucky kunoichi!"
Ino growled at the challenging taunt and flew back at him to trade punches, kicks, and blocks. As they continued, everyone else watched with keen eyes.
"Any idea who's gonna win?" Choji asked Shikamaru.
"Naruto, hands down," Shikamaru replied. "No matter how good Ino is at taijutsu, Naruto will keep getting up until she's too tired to move." He sighed. "How troublesome. Good thing I won't have to fight him."
"That's where you're wrong, Shikamaru," his mother said with a poisonously sweet tone. "You're up against the winner of this bout, so you better hope it's Ino." Shikamaru gulped as Naruto swept Ino's legs out from under her, sending her crashing to the ground to stay there, heaving air into her starving lungs. Seems an ongoing blitz was a bad idea against Naruto's raw endurance.
"My life sucks," Shikamaru deadpanned before the feeling of his mother's death glare on his back got him up and moving. Shikamaru shook himself to loosen up before taking a stance similar to Ino's. He began to consider everything he had seen Naruto do up to this point, at least since he'd been taken in by his clansman, and formulating strategies as if it were a puzzle.
Unfortunately for him, every simulation resulted in either painful defeat or just-as-painful victory. Troublesome no matter how he played it.
Shikamaru sighed, his mouth twisted in an almost bitter frown. "Troublesome woman, making me go through with this," he muttered. Then he flinched at the feel of a death glare … but not from his mom. He blinked at the sight of Naruto in his odd stance, wearing not the wide smile he had during his spar with Ino, but a grim look of almost … anger?
"Hajime! Fight!" Yoshino shouted.
Shikamaru only had time to grimace before Naruto had closed the gap and straight punched him square in the face. He grunted under the strike and went limp, from shock instead of his usual laziness. "Get up, Shikamaru!" Naruto shouted, but his tone was … wrong.
Shikamaru stumbled to his feet and looked at his opponent with new interest. Like before, Naruto's carefree smile was replaced with a grim frown, though maybe less pronounced than before. Something was seriously off … and the Nara heir couldn't help but consider it a puzzle. Naruto may not be a close friend like Choji or Ino, but they were acquaintances, comrades of sorts, companions in shirking schoolwork.
Shikamaru resumed his stance and watched closely. As he expected, Naruto ran straight for him with the same punch, and this time baring his teeth in a fearsome grimace. Shikamaru leaned sideways to avoid the strike and retaliated out with a palm-heel strike at the side of Naruto's head. One that was blocked, but only at the last minute. Then Naruto lashed out with a headbutt that connected to the ridge of Shikamaru's eyebrows and left him stunned, open to Naruto's leg sweep.
"C'mon, Shikamaru, get up," Naruto spat. "I know you can do better than this. And I know your mom believes in you too."
There it was again. An undercurrent of bitterness and subtle anger and … hurt. Given how soon that had come on, it had to have been something Shikamaru himself had done, and very recently. As he stumbled to his feet, Shikamaru thought over everything he had said since Naruto came to the park. He'd bellyached about having to train instead of cloudwatch, but that was normal and never seemed to bother Naruto, who was usually open to letting people do as they wished if no one got hurt. When the spar was about to start he'd said his life sucked and called his mom troublesome, which was-
Wait. Oh boy, there it was. But there was only one way to be sure.
"What's got your pants in a twist, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked as he resumed his stance and started planning. If Naruto was mad, he would be predictable. He just had to use that. Maybe if he gave a good show, his mom would let up a bit. Hah, fat chance.
"None of your business, Shika," Naruto growled before striking out again, this time with a straight kick. But Shikamaru had anticipated this time and he sidestepped and punched Naruto straight in the face, just as he had done to him at the beginning. That seemed to surprise Naruto enough to send him reeling back and to fall on his side.
"Don't give me that, Naruto. You're mad about something, and it's making you sloppy. So just tell me what it is." Shikamaru yelped as his legs were kicked out from under him and he crashed to the padded ground, too. Then Naruto was on his feet and hauling him up too by his shirt collar.
"Don't ever say your life sucks, Shikamaru!" Naruto roared. "You have no idea what a sucky life is like! What? Just because you have an awesome mom who tells you to train you think life is hard?! It's not!" Naruto punctuated that last sentence by throwing Shikamaru to the ground, the Nara only able to stare in silence at Naruto's uncharacteristic aggression and fury.
"I would give anything to know my mom, y'know!" Naruto kept up. "Or my dad! To know what they looked like, to hear their voices, to have my mom yell at me to train because she actually cares!" Naruto's eyes started to well up and his voice was straining. "Don't say your life sucks … 'cause I'd give anything to have a life like that." And with that, the dam broke and Naruto started to weep into his palms.
Shikamaru swallowed thickly and looked back at the others. Everyone seemed affected by Naruto's rant, from Ino and Choji who were openly shedding tears, to all of the mom's who were watching the boy with looks of mourning and guilt. Tomoko actually rushed forward and wrapped Naruto in a hug, whispering to him about stuff he couldn't hear.
Shikamaru sighed and stood before limping to his mother. Naruto's words were spinning in his head and he did something he hadn't done in a long time. He hugged his mom, who gasped before gently returning the gesture. "I'm sorry, Mom," Shikamaru said. "I love you."
Yoshino smiled at her son's words, both warmly and sadly. "I love you too, Shikamaru," she replied.
After such an emotional episode, most would have called it a day for training. But not Naruto; he bounced back with renewed vigor to challenge Choji. As many had come to find recently, the blond's enthusiasm was contagious and Choji had fought with everything he could muster, pitting his exceptional raw strength of the Akimichi against Naruto's insane Uzuamki stamina.
After a few more rounds of sparring, the children were lined up and coached through their katas, with Tomoko consulting a scroll of movements that was part of the lesson plans Ken had left them. After that came target practice with shuriken and kunai, some sparring with blunt wooden kunai knives, and — much to Naruto's chagrin — chakra control exercises.
All told, the training day lasted about three hours including all of the mothers and Tomoko offering their support and critiques of each of them and advice on what to work on.
"We've gotta do this again, y'know!" Naruto shouted, his energy hardly diminished by the day's activities.
"Yeah, I gotta admit," Ino laughed, "I thought it would be annoying having another blond who just won't stop moving. But it was actually really fun." She hooked a thumb at her friends. "A nice change of pace from these two, at least."
"It was exhausting and I'd rather not," Shikamaru said bluntly.
"I think it was fun," Choji said between handfuls of crackers. "I don't think I've ever seen you train so hard, Shika."
"That's because we never see him train, period," Ino sniped with a grin. Naruto cackled at that and offered a fistbump to Ino, who gleefully accepted. "See? This guy knows humor."
After everyone dispersed, Tomoko prepared to take Naruto back to the Sarutobi compound, but after a while the child seemed more … subdued than before. She blinked at his sudden change in mood and knelt to look him in the eyes. "Naruto? Is everything alright?"
"I just-" He hesitated for a second. "I wonder what Sasuke is doing today," he said haltingly.
Tomoko smiled at the question and glanced around to get her bearings before taking Naruto's hand and leading him forward. "Why don't we go see?" she said. Tomoko led Naruto through the streets of Konoha until they came to the gates of the Uchiha clan compound. Upon crossing the threshold, Naruto was struck by how … empty it seemed. How lifeless it all was. True, Tomoko had told him about the Massacre, but it was different hearing about it and seeing evidence firsthand.
"Do you know where you're going, Tomo?" Naruto asked.
"Yep," Tomoko replied, less cherrily than usual given the environment, "I've been here before. Though not since the Massacre. I used to have a few Uchiha kunoichi I was friendly with and we'd train together every now and then." They walked for a few more minutes in silence. "If I remember right, the clan training ground should be right ... about … here."
They emerged from the treeline to find a fairly standard training ground with every implement from training dummies to benches carved or emblazoned with the Uchiha fan. Young Sasuke was to be found hammering away at a training dummy with obsessive fervor, cycling through katas with machine-like precision and unwavering focus.
"Yeah, that's totally healthy for a kid," Tomoko muttered. Sure, she'd seen Naruto training with fervor much like this, but always under his cousin's watchful eye and support and with the goal of simple self-improvement. Not with this unyielding pace that almost reeked of mental instability.
"Yo, kid, take a break!" Tomoko shouted. That seemed to be enough to punch through Sasuke's focus. More than enough, as he spun on his heel with wide eyes.
"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded with heat in his voice Naruto had never heard. "What are you doing here?!" he demanded. "This is private property. Leave now."
"Well, which is it?" Tomoko asked mildly with a faint smirk. "Do you want to know what I'm doing here? Or do you want me to leave?"
The string of questions seemed to throw Sasuke back off-kilter. Not really surprising; rumored prodigy or not, he was eight years old. Barely older than Naruto himself. "I don't care. Get out," he demanded.
"Or what …?" Tomoko asked, her smirk turning less playful and more cold. Normally she would never speak like this to a child, but something about this kid was grating on her nerves. "Are you going to make me, kid?"
"Hey Tomo, ease up," Naruto said, the first words he'd spoken since they found the training ground. "Aren't I supposed to be the one ready to yell at him? You're a chunin for crying out loud!"
Tomoko blushed for a moment before smiling and ruffling Naruto's hair. "You're right, Kit. Not sure why I'm getting so worked up."
Naruto smiled in reply before looking at Sasuke. "Heya, Sasuke. You, uh …" For one of the few times in his life, Naruto Uzumaki had no idea what to say. 'Hi, you don't know it but we're actually family from really far back! Wanna talk about it?' just didn't seem right, even to someone like him with limited social skills.
"What do you want, idiot?" Sasuke said.
Naruto grit his teeth and carefully held his temper back, fighting the reactive urge to insult him back. "I wanted to talk," he settled on.
"Well I don't," Sasuke replied bluntly. "It's the weekend, which means it's time to train. And I do that alone when I can. I can't become the best with kids like you holding me back."
"What do you mean 'kids like me'?" Naruto asked, stunned at the snide dismissal. "You're my age, you jerk!"
"There's the hothead I know and love," Tomoko chuckled, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder to calm him down. "You know, Sasuke, you could be a little nicer. Naruto's just trying to look out for you."
"I don't need anyone to look out for me," Sasuke snarled.
"R-i-i-i-ght," Tomoko said, drawing out the word with clear disbelief.
"I don't believe you," Naruto said harshly. Sasuke stared in disbelief at Naruto's declaration, his silence lasting long enough for Naruto to keep going. "I've been living that crap ever since I was born. I haven't had anyone to look out for me except Gramps, the Lord Third. And it was awful. You've been alone for, what, a year or two? And you act like you're better off?! That's horseshit!"
"Naruto, language!" Tomoko snapped on instinct.
"Sorry, Tomo," Naruto said in the same tone as before, not taking his eyes off of Sasuke. "I'm not gonna say what you lost doesn't mean anything, Jerk, because it does. But do you think your clan would be happy to see you falling into that pit of pity and anger? Would your parents want that?" Naruto took a deep breath. "Your clan may be gone, Sasuke, but that doesn't mean you're out of family."
"What would you know about family, Naruto?" Sasuke snapped. "You've had a clansman for a few months and suddenly you're an expert?! You have no idea what I've lost!"
"I may not know, but I do have an idea!" Naruto shouted. "You're not the only one who lost a clan to violence! You heard Cousin Ken! Our clan was slaughtered, too!"
Sasuke ground his teeth together and tried to think of another rebuttal. "You didn't know them at all, so how is that a loss?" he shot back. Naruto was silent as he mulled that over, the ache of old loneliness still throbbing in his heart.
"Because he never got to know his family," Tomoko said. "At least you had a loving family from the time you were born. Naruto hasn't had anyone to take care of him." Tomoko hummed in thought. "It really does bring up an old philosophical quandary, doesn't it?" Both boys, still tense, looked at her with grim curiosity. "Which is worse? To never experience something wonderful? Or to experience it and then have it taken away?" Tomoko frowned and crossed her arms. "As far as I'm concerned, they're equally bad in different ways."
Both boys considered that thought for a few moments, though both were too stubborn to concede defeat.
"I know one thing about family, Sasuke," Naruto finally said. "My cousin told me the story of where the Uzumaki came from. And it's the same place as the Senju ... and the Uchiha. The first guy to use chakra had two sons. The older brother's family eventually turned into the Uchiha, and the younger brother's became the Senju and the Uzumaki."
He looked Sasuke dead in the eyes. "It may just be a story, even if Cousin Ken is convinced it's true. But whether it's true or not, I think it means we're family, you and me." He turned and took a few steps toward the training ground exit before pausing. "So if you ever want to talk or train or whatever … you know where to find me."
Tomoko glanced at Sasuke and nodded before following Naruto. When they were out of earshot, she ruffled the boy's hair again. "Well, I think that could have gone worse," she said.
"I guess," Naruto said sullenly.
"You know what? How about a visit to Ichiraku?" She held him close in a side hug. "I think you've earned it."
Naruto immediately perked up and started running, with Tomoko maintaining her walking pace. "Oh, yeah!"
Welcome back to Spirals! Hope you enjoyed another foray into the Hidden Leaf.
*We got very little information on Konohamaru's parents in canon, with it almost entirely from a small Boruto panel that claims they were ANBU operatives known as the "Arms of the Hokage" who raised Kono together. I thought I'd add a little depth here, at least to his mother. Sawano means "brilliant" or "grace," fitting I think for an ANBU mother.
*Naruto's outburst was intended to be a little out-of-character, a product of his past. Don't worry, it didn't last in this chapter and it won't last in the fic. But the kid's had it rough, and I wanted to address that in some way.
*The scene with Sasuke may come off as bashing, and that may be accurate for a bit. I have some serious issues with Sasuke as a character, and it probably bled through a bit. But this will not devolve into a bashing!fic if I can help it - I will do everything I can to encourage Sasuke's in-work growth in a realistic way that doesn't fly in the face of canon. Believe it!
At any rate, I hope you enjoyed this! Leave a review, let me know if you liked it. And may your inspiration flow freely!