Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters are the properties of Masashi Kishimoto. No profit is made off of this fan-fiction story. Any additional original characters located in this story are designated at such and belong to the author, Jae (Dirtyangel).

A/N: No, your eyes do not deceive you. This is actually an update. Unfortunately, it took me the better part of a year to write this chapter and I had the rare opportunity to finish it up during the Christmas holiday. With the end of the Naruto series, I think we can safely say that this fic is based on a loose interpretation of the canon world and is solidly an alternate universe piece of fiction.

Thanks, Happy Holidays, and enjoy!

—.&.&.—

VIII.

The Truth Could Set Us Free

It had been twenty minutes since they'd escorted him to this room. The walk up from the holding cells had gone by quietly, with neither Sasuke nor Kakashi encouraging any continued conversation. Truthfully, Naruto hadn't mind. In spite of the cautious welcome most of his old friends had offered the reality was that he was a deserter. Not even his former team leader could feign blissful ignorance to that. Now here he was: seated on the other side of a desk that he himself had once led enemies and defectors of Konoha to. If the curdling of anxiety hadn't begun to spread through his insides, Naruto might have laughed at the irony.

He glanced over to the only window in the room. It was a modest rectangular shape in the wall with a single glass pane. He wondered if there were any stun tags planted beneath it on the other side to prevent escape. Naruto was fairly certain there were. The interrogation rooms in the Hokage Tower were meant to be simple and unassuming. However, they were riddled with various traps and cantrips to keep wanted parties in. It was a clever setup.

The mischievous side of him pondered on how many of them he could trigger before anyone finally came. Being kept waiting and away from his son was slowly grating at his nerves.

Another ten minutes went by before he heard the door open behind him. The blond straightened in his chair and turned to see who was entering. He heart skipped a beat when he spotted the porcupine's nest of long white hair accompanied by the bemused smile of Jiraiya.

It had been years since Naruto had seen those features, and suddenly his heart ached with a deep sense of shame.

"You're not the Hokage," he said, not daring to say anything else.

"Ha! No, kid, you and I both know I dodged that kunai a long time ago," Jiraiya entered the room fully, shutting the door behind him.

The old ninja watched Naruto carefully for a moment, and Naruto knew he was taking in his new appearance. This had become a common reaction among the others. It had been eleven years after all. He was different. They were different.

"You got taller," Jiraiya said.

"And you not so much anymore." Naruto couldn't help the fondness that snuck into his voice. He even smiled when Jiraiya laughed at his small jab.

For an instant, the fact that he was a deserter about to be interrogated didn't matter. He was seeing his old mentor for the first time in over a decade. The opportunity made him realize how much he'd missed Jiraiya. Out of everyone he should have been able to go to the sannin for help. But would he have understood?

Thinking on his dream from this morning and about how much he was still piecing together from back then, Naruto wasn't sure. What had happened to him, the way that he'd been changing, he didn't think Jiraiya could have understood that. None of them would have.

He had been right to leave, but as a result he'd disappointed everyone. Naruto had disappointed Jiraiya. This thought suddenly overwhelmed Naruto, and he couldn't bear to look at the other ninja anymore.

Without a word, he turned back around in his seat and returned to looking out the window.

Jiraiya didn't comment. He slowly made his way to the chair opposite Naruto and sat down.

More silent seconds went by.

"What does the Hokage plan to do with me?" the blond decided to speak up since Jiraiya clearly wasn't.

Jiraiya inhaled deeply, folding his arms and reclining in his seat.

"Well, that honestly depends."

"On what?" Naruto turned his gaze to the old man.

"On what you tell me. On what we find out," Jiraiya replied. "Hell, your fate could already be decided and I could just be here to fill in the time."

Naruto rolled his eyes at this glib statement. Was Jiraiya trying to work him up so he would feel cornered? Though he'd never done an interrogation himself, he remembered how they were conducted. They wouldn't have him here if they'd already decided his fate.

"Jiraiya, please. It's been a long time, but I'm pretty sure Tsunade couldn't take a shit without you finding out about it," he spoke frankly.

The other man openly grinned at his crass declaration.

"So Uzumaki Naruto finally makes an appearance, eh?"

Naruto stared at him, confused.

"Since I walked in here you've been all business. Aside from that punk statement about my height, I wasn't sure who I was talking to," Jiraiya clarified.

An uneasy expression settled over Naruto's face. The idea of not being seen as himself perturbed him. It was most likely a careless comment on the old man's part, but how could he determine what Naruto should be like? Jiraiya hadn't seen him in years. All he or anyone else remembered was a lost boy.

"How valid do you think that remark is, Jiraiya? You haven't seen me in eleven years. I could be nothing like my teenage self," he said defensively.

Jiraiya leaned forward with a deliberate motion and placed folded hands on top of the table. His face was grim, smile gone.

"You're right. I can't properly vouch for what type of behavior you should have," the old ninja said. "The kid I knew would never have abandoned his village or his family. So, it's up to you to inform me of the type of man Uzumaki Naruto is, and why we should allow you to leave this building."

The terse delivery of Jiraiya's words stripped Naruto of his previous defense. He didn't know if he might have hurt his case by trying to disabuse the other man of who he thought he was. All he could do was nod in response.

Jiraiya accepted this with a grunt. "Let's start with the basics then."

"Have you defected to another hidden village or nation outside of Konohagakure or Fire Country?"

"No."

"Are you here as a spy for any secret organizations or enemies of Konoha."

"No."

"Is the boy you claim to be your son involved with any such organizations?"

"Absolutely not. Kanaye doesn't even know I used to be a shinobi."

A curious quirk of his eyebrow was Jiraiya's only response to this revelation.

"All right. Why did you leave?"

The question was simple but dangerously loaded. Naruto contemplated on how he should answer. With the truth? Perhaps Jiraiya could understand. He had been a rock at a time in Naruto's childhood when he most needed it. Jiraiya had been a father to him.

A dull ache began to form behind the blond's eye. It crept further along to his temple, spreading toward the back of his skull. The feeling associated with this migraine felt like Kurama. It was aggressively calling for his attention. Naruto still hadn't allowed it back into his conscious mind.

His headache grew worse.

What? His thoughts turned inward, pulling Kurama presence toward him.

'I'd advise you to think carefully on how you choose to answer that question,' the fox's deep, reverberating voice filled Naruto's mind.

I already know that.

'And yet you entertain the thought of telling the truth.'

Naruto hesitated at its words. A part of him desperately wanted to let the truth out. The only other person who knew anything about the things he'd done had been his wife; and she was gone now.

'You made a request of me,' Kurama barked angrily, 'and I have upheld my end of the deal. But if you place our boy in danger because of your stupidity, I will wrest control from you and burn this place to the ground. Then you will be left to deal with the aftermath this time.'

Its metaphysical form paced, agitated, through the mental tunnels of Naruto's psyche. He could sense that Kurama was serious about its threat. The image of the tree line atop the cliff came back to him, with its impenetrable darkness and the terror it filled him with. No, he couldn't face that yet.

"I didn't feel I was fit to serve Konoha anymore," Naruto turned his attention back to Jiraiya and the room. He decided that the best way to lie was with half-truths. Only a second had passed by since he'd been engrossed in his internal debate.

"What made you feel like you were unfit?" Jiraiya asked.

"I'd lost my conviction. I…I'd begun to doubt my way of the shinobi," Naruto continued. "I felt as if I didn't know what the principles of the Leaf meant anymore. I'd lost my Heart of Fire."

For the first time since they had started, a look of sympathy penetrated Jiraiya's features. It was slight, but Naruto could see the empathy his words evoked. He suddenly recalled the reasons why Jiraiya had chosen to travel outside of Konoha. The man had had his own demons he couldn't face.

"But why desert the village? Why didn't you come to me or Tsunade? Why not have gone to Sasuke? He of all people could have empathized if that was how you felt."

At the mention of Sasuke's name, Naruto's resolve faltered. He thought of the cliff again and the trees. The panic was creeping back.

He didn't know why he hadn't spoken to Sasuke. Trying to remember meant facing that terrible wood.

"I was sixteen. Trained ninja or not, how many teenagers do you know that think past their own problems?"

Jiraiya gave a wry smile.

When Naruto glanced back toward the window the sun was much higher than when he first came in to the room. He estimated that he'd been here for at least an hour.

"I want to talk to you about Akatsuki."

Naruto hoped he didn't give himself away with how fast his head turned to look at Jiraiya.

"About a month after we discovered you were gone, I went looking for you," Jiraiya leaned back into his seat.

"It took nearly a year, but I'd almost found you. This was primarily due to the fact that Akatsuki was also looking for you. I'm pretty sure you remember how they were hunting the Jinchuuriki."

"Yes," Naruto said cautiously.

"Did you also know that a few month before I could pinpoint your location Akatsuki suddenly went dark? Our recon teams reported that the organization took heavy losses to nearly half their numbers in some altercation. It's pretty hard to gather much intel on them in general, but this was drastic."

"I only came across them once while I was hiding. I had to fight off one of their teams but was barely able to make it out alive. You can imagine why I became a ghost after that encounter," that was as close to the truth as Naruto could remember. He suspected Kurama knew the whole story of what happened.

Again, he felt the onset of a potential panic attack.

"When can I see Kanaye?" he redirected the conversation to the subject he really wanted. "I don't know how long Tsunade and the Council want to continue this crap kabuki dance with me; but if there is no end in sight at least allow me to send him home. He has nothing to do with this and Konoha has no jurisdiction over him. He belongs to Fire Country, not Konohagakure."

His wanted to hit something. It was straining to be on the receiving end of these tactics. The questions and the emotions he had to endure while he doublespoke wore at his mind with the voracity of a sandstorm. It was easier to lie when he wasn't in Konoha. He didn't have to deal with people who knew what to look for or how to pick up on minor tells that could give him away. Naruto needed to keep Jiraiya from pressing him on why he left. He could give the old ninja something else. Something that both he and Tsunade would find equally valuable.

"Look, I can show my good faith by telling you where I've been for the past nine years. That essentially takes away any hope of me returning to that life."

From the way Jiraiya's shoulders moved forward ever so slightly Naruto knew he'd made the right move. Kurama seemed to hum a tentative approval and settled back down into dormancy.

"That's quite a risk to take. You seemed to have gone through great pains in making sure neither your son nor this other family of yours know about your past life," Jiraiya pointed out.

Pausing for only a moment, Naruto remained steadfast. He shrugged.

"It doesn't matter now. Kanaye's a smart kid and he's probably come to his own conclusions. Becoming a father has taught me how perceptive children are," he focused on the window again. Seeing the sun and the cloudless sky helped him continue.

"Besides, I've already told Sasuke where I've been. If I tried leaving now, he'd be the first one to hunt me down."

When Jiraiya chuckled at that indisputable fact, Naruto began to tell him about the small farming village he'd called home for many years.

—.&.&.—

Two hours and twelve minutes. Sasuke was keeping track of the time when he knew shouldn't have been. He had delivered Naruto to the Hokage, thus completing his asset monitoring. It wasn't his place to sit and wait to see when Naruto came out of interrogation.

But here he was, hiding away in an empty break room, counting down the minutes that went by.

Elbows balanced on his thighs, Sasuke leaned forward to support his head on the thumbs of his linked hands. He wanted desperately to be angry.

Just angry.

He wanted an anger that wasn't diluted by feelings of conflict, or worry, or an offensive guilt. He desired a complete and utter rage that could be focused solely on Naruto. But it was proving difficult.

Growling in frustration, he shot up from his seat on the break room couch. He was too restless, and his behavior was undisciplined and trifle. Common sense told him to stop this insanity and go home. Everything was out of balance, all because he'd encountered Naruto in that godforsaken ramen stand. Where the hell was his rational mind?

Fate was a cruel thing.

Sasuke would be loath to ever speak the words, but he knew the reason he was so angry was due to how Naruto had hurt him. That idiot had hurt him in the same way that killing his brother had hurt him. He had loved Itachi just as fervently as he hated him for what he did to their family. And to the same effect, he'd missed Naruto just as much as he wished him gone. The biggest offense was the way the other man had seemed to move on. He had gotten married and had a son while Sasuke had spent five years mourning him. The thought caused a swell of fury to bubble up from inside Sasuke with such ferocity it threatened to explode from his body.

He needed to leave.

The dark-haired ninja made a straight line for the door. It was only until he reached for the doorknob that lucidity broke through his veil of anger. He had to make sure his face didn't betray him when he exited the room.

Stoic. That's what he needed to be. That's how he always needed to be.

A quick glance to a mirror on the opposite wall reassured him that his features were a blank slate. Letting out a deep breath, as if to mentally purge himself of any lingering emotions, Sasuke opened the door.

The hallway outside was mercifully empty.

—.o.—

"Uchiha-san, you're still here. Wonderful! If I can have a moment, please."

Sasuke had just returned to the main hall of the Tower offices when he was accosted by Tsunade's assistant.

"What is it?" he said tersely.

"Hokage-sama would like to see you in her office. I believe it pertains to an assignment," the kunoichi did not miss a beat with their exchange. She remembered Sasuke's particular style of conversation and kept things straight to the point. He could respect her competency for that.

Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement and changed his route. It took him less than a minute to reach the large double doors of the Hokage's office. He knocked once, announcing himself.

Instead of verbally granting him admission, Tsunade opened the door.

"Ah, perfect timing as always, Sasuke. Come in."

She stepped aside so he could enter the room. Once he passed the threshold, Tsunade closed the door and gestured for him to follow her. Wordlessly, Sasuke complied.

The Hokage led him to another room, tucked away behind a sliding panel wall. It was a traditional tearoom; most likely used to entertain Fire Country dignitaries and the other members of the Konoha Council. Tsunade was showing him a lot of ceremony for the benign task of assigning him a new mission.

"I hope you'll forgive all the extra fanfare, Sasuke, but I felt that this was more appropriate for what I'm about to ask you," Tsunade took her place at the low-lying table in the center of the room. She motioned toward the pillow seat opposite hers.

Sasuke considered the entire room before removing his shoes and taking the offered seat. He watched as the Hokage prepared a pot of green tea that had been set up on a tray to her right. His brow furrowed into a grimace as he tried to make sense of all this preamble.

"Forgive me, Godaime-sama, but what exactly is this about?" he asked politely.

Tsunade poured the steeped tea into a single cup. "I have an assignment for you, Sasuke. But it's meant to be completely voluntary. You're free to say no if you don't agree with the conditions."

"And what would this assignment be?"

With an impressive amount of grace and flourish, the Hokage replaced the pot and presented the lone cup of tea to Sasuke. It surprised him how much formality she was giving him. It seemed almost symbolic.

A thought occurred to him.

Delving deep into his memory of barely remembered history lessons; he sorted out his knowledge of archaic rites. An old aunt of his had once explained the art of shinobi social contracts. They were simple actions done to emphasize the significance of a favor or compact being entered into between ninja. Few still practiced these rituals because of their implications. To dishonor one of these arrangements meant a mark against your personal honor as a shinobi.

Sasuke stared at the cup held in Tsunade's hands. He was curious about what it was she felt warranted such a deal.

"I'm taking it that this assignment is of great importance to you."

A smile spread across Tsunade's face as she looked at him.

"You never cease to impress me, Uchiha. Not even that old fool Jiraiya would get this," she said good-naturedly.

"To answer your question, yes," she added, "What I'm going to ask is nothing remarkably different from any mission you've done, but it is very important to me."

The Hokage had yet to put down the teacup. Sasuke didn't think she meant this offering to be a proclamation of his agreement. It was probably meant to gauge his willingness to listen.

He graciously took the cup from her and placed it in front of him.

Nodding her approval, Tsunade continued: "I'd like to assign you a genin team. More accurately, I'd like to place a single genin in your charge."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"There won't be any Academy graduates for at least another season, Godaime-sama. Who are you intending to assign to me?"

"As you already know, I have been wrestling with a proper solution for the Naruto problem," there was a grim undertone to her voice.

"Placing him under house arrest was a tolerable move, especially when the intent was to have him interrogated. But I am running out of political capital with my fellow Council members. Something significant needs to be down with him soon. If I fail to carry out any type of disciplinary action for what he did, imagine the kind of message that would send to Konoha's nin?"

He understood her point — inaction could cause dissent within the ranks. It had been common knowledge that Naruto was a favorite of the Hokage's. If he was allowed to desert without incurring the punishment of a missing nin, it would make the Council leadership appear weak.

The idiot had no idea what he'd done with his leaving.

"I'm still not clear on what this has to do with me getting a—"

Sasuke stopped.

"You're planning on demoting him?" he asked skeptically.

The idea seemed ludicrous. At the time Naruto had left Konoha he'd only ranked as a chounin. That was understood to be the lowest rank any competent ninja could have. Stripping someone of that title and relegating them to genin was…humiliating.

Tsunade gave a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I plan on giving him two options: He can choose to go through a tribunal, labeled as a missing nin, where he is guaranteed to serve at least five years in an ANBU prison for his desertion. Or he can forfeit his autonomy and rank as a ninja, and remain under the careful supervision of a jounin for six months. After that he will be reevaluated before the Council. I'm hoping his common sense will lead him to the most rational option."

"And he's the one you want to assign to me? You want me to be his babysitter for six months?" The thought made Sasuke's blood boil. Again he was being saddled with the mess of Naruto's carelessness.

"The reason I'm asking you, Sasuke, instead of anyone else is because I want you to get through to him. You've had the longest rapport with him," Tsunade said. "Use that to find out what really happened eleven years ago. I need an unequivocal vouch for his character that I can use to shut both Koharu and Homura up."

He didn't like the Hokage's plan in the least. Agreeing to be Naruto's jounin supervisor could end up backfiring in her face. What good could his involvement do when he wanted to break the blond's face in every time he saw him.

"What about his son?" Sasuke hadn't heard any references to the boy. "If I agreed to take him on, is the proposed plan to let him stay in Naruto's custody? Will I be responsible for the both of them? Where exactly will they be housed? The apartment Naruto used to rent has had various new tenants over the years."

"I certainly don't plan on taking a child away from his father," Tsunade responded. "Let Naruto decide what he wants to do with his son. He might decide to send him back to his wife's family. As for housing, the Uchiha Estate is still in escrow. You hadn't bothered reclaiming it when your brother died."

Sasuke frowned. Looking down at the cooling cup of tea in front of him, his face was reflected back in the swarthy liquid. What Tsunade was asking him to do would test his fortitude like few things have. He honestly felt that he was the wrong person to do this.

—.&.&.—

"WHAT?!"

The roar of indignation that burst forth from Naruto nearly shook the walls of Tsunade's office. She had just told him his ultimatums.

"Calm down, Naruto," she demanded.

Before deciding to bring him in, Jiraiya had briefed her on the information he'd gathered during their questioning. All of Naruto's answers had been guarded, and the blond seemed particularly defensive when assertions were made about his temperament in the past. Jiraiya didn't believe that he was lying about being a rice farmer for the last several years, but Naruto was being deliberately evasive about the details of the his first year away. It was recommended that she conducted further investigations into that timeframe.

Jiraiya felt that there was more there, especially when Akatsuki was bound to have been hunting Naruto at the time.

The man in question scoffed at her request for restraint.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down after the bullshit you just told me?" Naruto glared at her with unbridled rage.

Tsunade's patience was worn thin. The fool couldn't see that she was trying to help him as best she could.

"I want you to calm down because you are in no position to act outraged, Uzumaki. You abandoned your village for eleven years. There was an oath you took when you became a shinobi! You couldn't have possibly thought the repercussions would be any different. Count yourself lucky that you aren't dead."

His angry pacing stopped but he continued to look at her balefully. She pointed to the seat that laid discarded on the floor in front of her desk — from when he'd shot up out of it to rave at her. Naruto snatched it up and sat back down. She could see that he was roiling in place.

"Consider your options carefully," she said firmly.

"Either you go before the military tribunal and spend a minimum of five years locked up or you take the demotion for six months. You decide how your son will see you after you leave this room."

It was unfair to use the boy against him but Tsunade wanted to make sure his pride didn't cloud his judgment.

Naruto pursed his lips disagreeably.

"He's going to be left out of this either way, correct?"

"Of course he is. He's done nothing wrong. You can have him sent back to your family if you'd like."

"I would," he said tersely.

"Then what is your decision," Tsunade glanced over at the empty teacup resting on top of a folder of documents.

There was a pregnant silence before Naruto folded his arm and grudgingly declared that he would accept the terms of a demotion. Relief secretly ran through her body in waves.

"Who will I be released to?"

"You will be under the twenty-four hour supervision of Uchiha Sasuke, your juonin administrator."

Naruto shook his head and rolled his eyes, a sarcastic bark of laughter leaving him. "Of course it would be him. I might as well have chosen the tribunal."

Tsunade frowned and slammed her palm down on the hard surface of her desk. The solid oak creaked in protest at her abuse.

"Shut the hell up and be grateful you still have someone who's willing to put their own reputation on the line for you, brat. You wronged a lot of people with your selfishness."

This reprimand seemed to cut through Naruto's ignorant behavior because he had the good sense to look ashamed. He fixed his posture and bowed his head in wordless apology.

She felt vindicated by it. Tsunade had extracted a substantial promise from a good man on Naruto's behalf. She would make sure he understood that.

—.&.o.o.&. —