Thank you to Renee Index for having a read over the chapter for me.
I had to break this chapter up in two parts just because it was getting ridiculously long. Hope you all like.
Naruto's POV
They walked in silence. Naruto didn't recognise the part of the Nara forest that Hiro was leading her through. Though, that wasn't surprising, seeing as she usually entered it near Shikamaru's house. She didn't ask where Hiro was taking her and instead just followed him. A small part of her still whispered with the desire to fight but most of her was just thankful that if she was to die by the actions of a Nara that it wasn't Shikamaru.
"I'm surprised you're willing to follow me," Hiro commented, looking over his shoulder. Gone was his near constant smile and spark of mischief. Instead there was an appearance of controlled strength. With just a glance one could tell he was well disciplined.
"You clearly don't know how messed up she is!"
"He can't hear you," Naruto reminded the fox, not caring if Hiro heard her.
The man stopped walking when they reached a small clearing. "This will do."
Naruto shrugged. "it's as good as any spot to die, I suppose."
Hiro swore to himself before turning on her with a fit of rage. "What the hell? Why are you like this?"
"Does it matter? You said you were going to destroy me, so why bother with the question and answer portion of the fight?"
A glimmer of Hiro's old smile came back for just a moment. "I never said I was going to destroy you. I said I had been ordered to find out how."
"Who ordered you?"
"Now you're asking the right questions. Unfortunately, I can't tell you."
"Well, what the hell can you tell me?" Naruto snapped. When Hiro shrugged despairingly, she groaned. "Is there something stopping you from telling me? Other than you being an asshole?"
Hiro nodded, smiling sadly. "My gag might not be as bad as others… in the same group as me… but it still stops me from telling you anything useful."
Naruto thought about his statement. She remembered reading about seals that worked on a person's ability to speak, but without knowing which one was used on him, she couldn't even think about how to break it. However, she knew of a flaw most seals had. "So why was Jun ordered to destroy me?"
She was given a confused look before Hiro realised what she was doing. "Because he's leader wants to control you. If you are weakened, mentally, then you will be easier for him."
"Do I know who his leader is?"
"No, but he… sent someone…" Hiro clamped his mouth shut.
Thinking over her next question, she wondered what Hiro had been trying to say. "Someone close to me is working for the same person as Jun. Are they trying to hurt me?"
"Only a spy like Jun could do that successfully to you. You're safe with your teammate."
"Sai," Naruto whispered before giving Hiro a hard stare. "Alright, why are you telling me this and why shouldn't I go tell Shikamaru and his dad that you're a spy for Sai's boss?"
Hiro gave a self-derogating smile. "Right to the point. I can't stop you from telling Shikamaru anything. But know that some people will destroy themselves for their clan leader's safety." He made sure to hold her gaze long enough for her to get the meaning. "And as for why I told you, I knew that there were only two liable outcomes. One, which was the most unlikely, would be that you would get mad and punch me, making you never trust me again. The second would be you imploding from being betrayed by someone you saw as a friend."
"And if I do neither?"
"You might find someone close to you hurt without me being able to stop it. Which is my true reason for telling you. Someone might be hurt to make you break and I will be forced to tell my boss who means the most to you. I think we both know whose name I will be forced to say."
For a moment there was silence between the two before Naruto gave a dark chuckle. "And what if I tell you that if you or anyone else goes after Shikamaru they will regret it? Cause, do you want to hear a secret?"
"I can't keep secrets," Hiro reminded with the same self-loathing, half smile.
"Good. Cause I want you to tell your boss. Tell him that when the Foundation was no where to be found, and Shikamaru was risking his life to save mine, the Nine-Tails didn't 'get out'!" She paused, letting her words sink in. When Hiro's eyes widened, she went on. "If anything happens to Shikamaru, or anyone else, I will let the Nine-Tails out again!"
"He might want that!"
"It'll be his end. He might want the Nine-Tails in a new vessel, one he can control, but I have been studying seals, and I am an Uzumaki. I'll put a seal on the Nine-Tails, making it impossible for your boss to control him, or force him into another vessel. He will be left to destroy the village with your boss as the cause. So, tell him whatever you want, but know I will not let those I care about be hurt. Especially not Shikamaru!"
She stared Hiro down, making sure he believed every word she said. It wasn't exactly a bluff. She could, and would, undo the seal if Shikamaru was attacked. Again, she was chilled to her core at the realisation of how much control Shikamaru had over her.
"That's a dangerous statement."
"Only if your boss is dumb enough to force me to follow through." Naruto stood, stretching until she felt a soft pop in her spine. With that she put her hands in her pockets and looked at Hiro. "Your move, Nara spy. I'll keep your secret… for now."
Hiro gave a hollow laugh. "Thanks for that."
Naruto didn't reply as she made her way out of the forest, not caring if Hiro was following. There was no denying that Hiro and Sai's boss was a formidable foe. However, the fact that he was trying to attack her mental stability showed that he couldn't make a move against her.
/ / / / / /
Hiro clearly didn't know her as well as he thought. Only one day after speaking with the Nara she walked Sai home from a team 'meeting'. She made sure to be her usual loud self, leading up to the Foundation entrance. When Sai slowed his steps and looked surprised, or at least for him, Naruto looked forward, seeing an old man with one arm hidden in his kimono and half his face bandaged. Making sure to not size him up she turned back to Sai, asking if everything was alright.
"Yes, it's fine." Sai straightened his back and tried to look ahead but kept shooting Naruto looks.
"Hey, old man," Naruto greeted with a bright smile.
The man made a clicking noise with his tongue before glaring down at the blonde with his one visible eye. As he looked at her, Naruto used it as an opportunity to survey his face. She doubted the bandage truly covered injuries from a long-ended war. Someone like him would wear his battle scars as proof of his strength. Instead, he was either trying to convince everyone the injury was worse than it was, or it was hiding something else. A weakness, perhaps.
"Sir," Sai muttered with a bow. "This is my teammate, Naruto."
"I am aware." The man openly scanned her, sizing her up. In response, she scanned him back.
"And you are?" she asked, sounding uncaring.
"Danzo."
"Huh," she surveyed him again. "I thought you'd be… more."
"I wouldn't expect much more from a child," Danzo spat.
"I meant your injuries. Since you stayed out of the fight with Pein. I figured you must have been bad off. Guess not." She gave the man a cold smile before saying goodbye to Sai and walking off. Her heart was lodged in her throat. She knew that pissing off a man that had as much power as the Hokage, and in a time when their Hokage was out of action, was not smart but she was angry with him and she needed to see how dangerous he truly was.
He couldn't attack her, but when mad, people would do stupid things. The fact that he stayed in a calm fury told her volumes. She had thought he was a man who was used to getting what he wanted. In truth, he was a man willing to wait and plan to get what he wanted. He was the type of opponent she didn't know how to face. He was much smarter than her and if she was to attack him in her usual method than she would be destroyed.
She wanted to ask Shikamaru for advice. That thought instantly made her chastise herself. She needed to stop relying on him so much. The connection between them was bound to break and hurt her. Realising that gave her the chance to distance herself and make it so the pain would be less. In the mean time she had Danzo to deal with and the Akatsuki.
/ / / / /
Naruto thought that she was going to have to walk on eggshells for the rest of her life, or at least until Granny was healthy again. However, Danzo made a more forward and abrasive move than she expected. Somehow, he had become Hokage and the first order he gave in his new position was to declare Sasuke as an enemy of the village. She didn't need everyone to tell her to not go after the new Hokage. After all, Naruto had been waiting for the bait since Hiro's warning. She had to give Danzo credit though, he knew where to target. Unfortunately for him, Naruto did know how to play this game.
When Kakashi-Sensei and Captain Yamato had tried to 'talk sense' into her she discretely sent a clone out to observe the new Hokage. Pervy-Sage might not had been able to train her as a spy master but she wasn't completely hopeless. From the top of a building not to far from the Hokage Tower she was able to see a man walking around Old Granny's office as though he had always owned the place. She seethed at the sight of him carelessly throwing out the small number of personal items that Old Granny had had on her desk. This gave one clear message to the guards who watched over his actions. Danzo didn't expect Old Granny to wake up, and he had no care for her belongings, or her beliefs.
This also told Naruto something. Old Granny could not save her, or Sasuke. Danzo wouldn't stop trying to get at Naruto.
"He might be calling your bluff, brat," the Nine-Tails grumbled.
"Who said all of that was a bluff? From what I've read you can't go into anyone but an Uzumaki," Naruto thought back.
"Yeah, years before the village was made people tried. I burnt those people from the inside-out."
"You almost sound upset about it."
"I'm not. It was just a waste of lives so someone could claim control over me. My first host saw me as a monster needing to be caged."
"The second host?" Naruto asked through her mind.
"She saw herself as the first line of defence between me and the village. I can't work out how you see this situation though."
"I see you as a constant pain in my ass," the blonde retorted in her mind, receiving a dark chuckle in reply. With that she dispelled herself, returning to the original.
The moment the two were combined she got the idea of going around Danzo. The only reason he had the ability to label Sasuke a traitor was because of the Raikage. If she could get the Raikage to change his mind than Danzo would have to remove the target on the last remaining Uchiha's back. She could tell that Kakashi-Sensei and Captain Yamato doubted the success of her mission but they decided to go along with her. Naruto had wished that they had gone with her in the hope that she would find a way to do what seemed impossible, but when Sakura found them and commented how Naruto shouldn't have been out of the village thanks to the Nine-Tails she had felt her heart drop.
It was obvious that Sakura thought she could control Naruto under the belief that the blonde was in love with her. That part did cause her pain but mostly she realised how all her 'friends' must see her. She was just a cage. She wondered if, given the chance, they would lock her away so no one could get the Nine-Tails out of her. Would they force her into a box like the one Haruma had put her in countless times? Would Shikamaru? This realisation had caused something in her to break, leaving her to collapse into the snow.
Blood rushed through her ears, her lungs couldn't take in enough air. She could feel the sides of the Iron Box closing in on her, pressing against her body until her flesh started to bruise and split. She thought she was free of this. She had watched the box tumble off the cliff, heard the impact as it hit the ground. But those that she thought cared about her, those she cared about, they wanted to put her back. She had believed Shikamaru when he said that he didn't care about the Nine-Tails being in her. It was a lie and she had trusted him.
She didn't remember being moved into the hotel by Captain Yamato. She also didn't notice him watched over her after covering her in multiple blankets. She didn't think she was cold but she couldn't help but notice that her limbs trembled.
"You're pathetic!" snapped the Nine-Tails.
"Leave me alone."
"You know, the other two might have seen themselves as cages but they never let others get away with seeing them that way. I never got the impression off you that you saw yourself as nothing but a box for me to be shoved in. I thought you 'had iron in your blood'. You never let that Huruma cow get to you but you become a snivelling mess cause of that pipsqueak? Just so you know, if I wasn't trapped in you I could have squished her under my paw. I would bite your boyfriend's head off. Can't be smart without his brain. As for that Uchiha prick, I think I'd pluck out his eyes before ripping each limb off one at a time."
"ENOUGH!"
"Ohh, do you have fire in you again? Good. Get your ass up cause I'm not being a pawn for Danzo. Uchiha will be going after him if that masked guy wasn't lying. So. Get. Up!"
"Getting up won't help. Captain Yamato will stop me." Instead she carefully cut a hole in the ground, dropping into the floor below and sneaking off.
When she found out Sasuke had killed Danzo she started laughing. As she doubled over, gasping for breath between pearls of amusement, Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Finally, she was able to smother her chuckles.
"Danzo was trying to get at me by attacking you… and you ended up killing him!" Naruto shook her head at the way the man's plan backfired.
In response to her statement Sasuke gave a small smile. "Turns out we still make a good team."
There was something longing in his eyes and his feet shifted as though he was fighting the urge to walk closer.
Giving him a sad smile, Naruto shrugged. "Are you surprised?" She sighed, her shoulders sagging. There was no way she could fight him at that moment. She had no drive and Sakura's poison was leeching her strength, leaving her light headed and throwing her stomach in turmoil. "Sasuke, what are you doing here? What is it that you want?"
Sasuke looked in the direction that Naruto could sense lingering hostile chakra. She knew pulsing her chakra out was not a smart idea at that moment, but it had been the only way to find Sasuke. She sensed no hostility towards herself coming off the man, though there was an echo coming off him and aiming at… not her, but something in her. She wasn't sure how to describe it, but it was like pain, heartache, and hate that had long hollowed into a shadow of itself. Even so, it had a thirst to fight, one that caused an ache to shiver through Naruto.
"Do you know he wanted to lock you away?" Sasuke whispered, still looking towards his last fight. He looked back at Naruto, ignoring the confused looks from Sakura and Kakashi-Sensei. "How many people in the village want to do that to you?"
"At least two that I know of," the blonde shrugged.
"And how many of them have you fought? That you stopped."
"One. And I was working on taking down Danzo when you killed him."
A half smile started spreading on Sasuke's face. It was something she recognised, making her roll her eyes. Part of her was thankful for the presence of Sakura and Kakashi-Sensei, since she didn't really want to deal with Sasuke in one of his hysterical laughing fits. He sobered up as he surveyed her.
"You fought one, but the village is rotten. Danzo, the Elders, the Hokage, they put my brother in an unwinnable situation, they killed my family! They let you suffer! And that's why I'm going to destroy the village."
"You're going to punish the whole village for the wrong doings of the few?"
"The few?" Sasuke snapped, taking a step forward, making Kakashi-Sensei tighten his hold on his kunai. "How many dead bolts do you have on your door? Why is it that you expect to be hurt by those around you? Why do you look broken? Was it because of the few or because of the many?"
"You want to know one of the people who encouraged my distrust?" Naruto snapped, the hollow feeling in her stomach giving a dull ache. "My best friend, when he shoved his damn arm through my chest. So, don't pretend you care."
Sasuke's eyes slid to the people behind her before he went back to staring at Naruto, taking in the details of her face. She could feel that there were tear-tracks running down her cheeks, could feel how her mouth pulled down at the sides. It didn't even cross her mind to hide these facts from Sasuke. If he saw it as her weakness, so be it. She was already broken, had already handed someone the means to destroy her. There was nothing Sasuke could do to her that he hadn't already or that she hadn't done to herself before.
"Leave," Sasuke snapped at the two behind Naruto.
The blonde noticed Kakashi-Sensei tense as he growled out a refusal. Sakura just looked at Sasuke mournfully.
"Kakashi-Sensei, can you and Sakura give us room to talk?" Naruto asked calmly, though she made it clear that he didn't really have a choice.
"I'll be watching," Kakashi-Sensei promised.
Sasuke gave him a bored look but when he noticed Sakura not moving he turned his dark eyes on her. "You leave too."
"I'm a teammate too," Sakura whimpered, her hands clasped in front of her chest.
"I don't care. Go away." He didn't even watch her scamper off and instead turned his gaze back to Naruto. Once they were out of earshot of the other two members of Team Seven Sasuke gave the blonde a sad smile. "I see your still hiding who you really are."
"I see you've started to dress like a stripper. Sorry but I don't have any notes on me."
Sasuke snorted into his fist before looking down at what he was wearing. "You're just mad that you can't get Shikamaru to wear something like this."
"Why would I when I can just see him without a shirt?"
The bark of laughter that statement caused in the dark-haired man made Kakashi-Sensei look over in suspicious and surprise. Sasuke didn't seem to care and instead gave Naruto a level gaze as all humour disappeared from his face.
"I am sorry for what I did to you. I don't even know why I did it." Sasuke gave her a sad smile, his hands moving to sit on his belt.
"Not exactly comforting," Naruto retorted. "'Sorry I technically killed you. I was in a bad mood'."
Sasuke had the decency to flinch at that. "And yet you want me to go back with you?"
"Cause I know what it's like to succumb to anger and pain. I know what it's like to feel like there is no way out. I refuse to let you suffer alone. I know where that leads." Naruto walked closer, ignoring how Kakashi-Sensei tightened his hold on his kunai. The man's knuckles were turning white and he had both eyes trained on the pair.
"Is that what you're going through now?" Sasuke asked, huffing angrily when he received no reply. That, and the way he marched towards Naruto made Kakashi-Sensei propel forward. The white-haired ninja stopped short when Sasuke put his hands on Naruto's shoulder, leaning forward to make eye contact.
"Don't you see?" he started in a soft voice. "The village corrupts! The village gave my brother the choice to spare me by destroying his clan, and Danzo used that to get his hands on my family's eyes. You were forced to house the Nine-Tails and you were punished for that. The village takes anyone good and destroys them. You don't have to be a part of that."
"The village is my home," Naruto reminded, waving off Kakashi-Sensei's worried gaze.
"It doesn't deserve to be. Naruto, you don't have to stay there. I'll stop anyone who tries to drag you back. I promise."
Anger boiled in Naruto's stomach at that. "You will? You want me to go with you? I'm a jinjurikki! You know, like the man you attacked! I may want to save you, Sasuke, but I don't trust you!"
She stepped out of Sasuke's reach, meeting his melancholy gaze with a glare. "Were you serious about wanting to destroy the village?"
"Yes," the dark-haired man mouthed, his eyes taking on a broken look as the woman before him straightened her back.
"Well, we both know our fight isn't over, so I'll be the village's stand in and we can fight to the death."
"Don't make me do that," Sasuke quietly begged, the pain in his eyes amplifying. "I can make the village a substitute for whatever force that calls to fight you. Please let me target the village instead."
"You once asked if I loved Shikamaru cause then killing him would be like killing a piece of me. I don't know about love but if he dies you will destroy me. And he won't stand aside whilst you go for the village. So, even if I was to give you what you ask, it'll be worse for me."
With a heavy sigh, Sasuke nodded. "I hope he's worth it."
Naruto shrugged. "I doubt I'd be in this situation if he wasn't."
Giving a shuttering sigh, the blonde went on, "You can't attack the village, or any other village until our fight. Once Madara is dealt with I promise to find you." She received a muttered promise from the disheartened man.
With a half-smile, Sasuke lifted his arms slightly, as though he was planning to hug her. He obviously thought better of it, since Kakashi-Sensei would probably attack him. "I guess I'll be seeing you around then."
"Try to behave yourself until then." Naruto was rewarded with a humourless chuckle before Sasuke turned, walking off.
"Wait, Sasuke!" Sakura called, charging forward.
Naruto caught her around the waist, receiving an elbow to the face for it. When Sasuke disappeared, Naruto threw Sakura away from her, not caring that she tumbled to the ground. Putting a hand to her head, the blonde felt the world tilt and her stomach swirl. Her face must have shown some of her turmoil because instantly, Kakashi-Sensei's arm was around her waist, holding her up.
"Sakura, the antidote!" Kakashi-Sensei snapped, giving the girl a hard look when she sheepishly looked away. "You didn't create an antidote, did you?"
The man expelled air through his nose before moving towards Sakura. "Were you dumb enough to actually make it strong enough to kill someone? How the hell did you not make an antidote to something so dangerous?"
"Umm," Sakura whimpered as Kakashi-Sensei stepped towards her.
"Like I'm so incompetent as to let you die from something as pathetic as poison."
"I'm gonna be fine. The Nine-Tails' got me," Naruto spat, not able to meet her teammate's eye. She should die from this, but of course, like many of the things Huruma did to her, she would survive.
Before she had time to work out what to do next she felt the ground rumble underneath her. Her stomach flipped uncomfortably when she was lifted into the air in a wooden cage. Instantly, Naruto's heart rate increased. She ignored Captain Yamato's yelling about leaving him terrified in favour of attacking the wooden bars, ignoring the blood and splinters that cut into her hands. The pillars were far to thick, and her strength was waning. Her throat was torn at the scream of frustration and desperation that ripped through her.
"Tenzo, get Naruto down!" Kakashi-Sensei snapped, his voice lilted with panic.
"He might escape again. He dug through the floor! I thought he might be dead!"
"Naruto will behave himself. Get him down!"
Within seconds she dropped to the ground, her two team leaders standing over her and fussing. Captain Yamato started cleaning her knuckles, Naruto not even flinching when splinters were ripped from her flesh. The man was apologising for putting her in the cage, promising that he would not do it again. Naruto tried to believe him and not crawl away from him. If there wasn't poison weakening her she may have still done so.
When her knuckles had been cleaned, the Nine-Tails even going so far as to start healing them, Captain Yamato pulled Naruto to her feet, putting her cloak on her before wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. Even when Kakashi-Sensei sharply reminded Sakura of her comrades that she had knocked out and left behind Captain Yamato didn't stop with his fussing.
Even with her senses being dulled by Sakura's poison the blonde was able to notice the significants of Sai's curse mark having disappeared. Hiro was free, he now didn't have to toe around the line his curse mark drew.
As the village gates came into view Naruto's steps slowed. Inside those gates were people who saw her as nothing but a container for the Nine-Tails. She was something to manipulate and control for their own doing. Kakashi-Sensei put a hand on her back, giving her his usual eye smile, the first show of positive emotion he had shown all mission. As his supportive hand stayed on the middle of her back Captain Yamaro made sure that her cloak was secured properly around her neck. Other than the two leaders the only one she let near her was Sai, the man who had told her the truth and who blatantly refused to say a word to Sakura, even when she asked him a question.
Just inside the gate were her 'friends'. All of them looked like they were waiting for something. Perhaps they were waiting for her to submit to their plan to kill Sasuke. Although she couldn't meet any of their eyes, and the familiar hum of Shikamaru's chakra and the smell of his cologne in the air made her want to crawl into herself, she did take some pride in the fact that she had successfully ruined their plans. Not only did she ensure that Sasuke wouldn't be killed by her own village, and gained an assurance that he wouldn't harm any of the other villages, she had also put everyone in an awkward position. Who would they want dead more? Sasuke the Traitor, or Naruto the Nine-Tails? Instead of asking though, she muttered to her team leaders that she was going to go sit down. She ignored Sakura's pitched voice that demanded she go to a medical tent. She did not feel like obeying her, even if Sakura tried to hit her for it.
She wasn't surprised when Shikamaru found her by the lake. It was always him who found her. It made her wonder if he saw himself as her guard, ensuring that the Nine-Tails didn't break out. If so, he would be pissed that he was perhaps the only person who could put her in a position of letting the beast free. He stayed silent beside her though, not letting her know what was running through that vast mind of his.
"When I was younger I used to be envious of fish," Naruto admitted, trying to keep her voice light. She wasn't even sure why she spoke. "I would see them swim passed, going wherever they wanted. I wanted that freedom. And they always were swimming with another fish, they were never alone."
"Fish swimming together are called a school." She heard the shuttering breath Shikamaru took. "Are you still envious of fish?"
Instead of answering she spoke the realisation she had come to, the one that had shattered what little was left in her. After leaving the orphanage watching the fish had been her only comfort. She would spend hours imaging what it would be like to soar through the world, always with a companion at her side, using those images as a distraction from the hunger eating away at her, or the echoed memory of her skin knitting itself back together after one of Huruma's treatments. "I'm not the fish. Sasuke is."
"What are you?" Shikamaru whispered, the gentle, caring caress of his words making her shutter, hating how easily he could affect her.
Staring at the water, she thought of what a sick joke life could truly be. "I'm the fishing rod, and Sakura is the fisherman. Once she gets her fish, I'm no use anymore."
She thought of what Iruka-Sensei had told her the day after she had been put in Team Seven, when she had commented that Sakura didn't like her, even with her trying to be her friend, and how Sasuke thought she was useless.
"Naruto, one day, you'll look back and realise they have became the people you turn to first, that you care about, and trust, above all else. You are a talented kid, and you are one of the most genuine hearted people I have ever met. They will realise that, just give them time."
Naruto remembered how he had smiled at her softly, ruffling her hair in an affectionate manner. She wondered what he would do now if he realised that one of her teammates had tried to kill her twice and the other had tried to manipulate her feelings in the hope of controlling her.
"Yet, you're going to get Sakura her fish anyway," Shikamaru snapped, not appearing to be asking if that was what she planned to do.
"That's what a fishing rod does." She gave him a hollow smile, feeling tears roll down her face. There was no way she couldn't bring Sasuke back. He was being pulled apart by some force that happened to involve her, and his clan. She still cared about him and still would do anything to bring him home. How she saw Sakura affected nothing when it came to that goal.
Shikamaru was quiet next to her, making her wonder if he felt any guilt for seeing her as nothing but a tool as well. She tried not to whimper when she realised that if it had been Shikamaru, not Sakura, trying to control her, it may have worked. She was thankful she would never have to know.
"I'm not sure how to word this analogue properly but just because you're a tool to those two doesn't mean you're not a fish to the rest of us."
Naruto couldn't help the humour that bubbled up at those words being spoken in Shikamaru's deeper, slightly rough voice. It always won her over hearing him say unusual things to her. No one else had that ability over her. "That is both the strangest and sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you for calling me a fish."
She watched him shake his head, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I think we both need sleep."
"I don't want to sleep, I don't want to move!" Her hand shot out to grab Shikamaru's, tears reappearing in her eyes. "Can we just sit here and be fish, please?" she pleaded.
"Of course," he breathed, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. She let herself have this moment of weakness, consequences be damned. "Is everything alright? Please tell me the truth."
"No. It's hard to breath. I feel like there are a million things I have to do and I can't do any of them." The very thought made her heart race and her stomach to drop, something that felt especially uncomfortable with the remains of Sakura's poison in her system.
"You don't need to do everything yourself."
"You all wanted to kill Sasuke," Naruto reminded bitterly.
"We don't want to kill him. We knew that if someone from another village killed him, that you or Sakura would seek revenge and then someone from that village would retaliate."
"That's what I was trying to stop."
"I know. But we knew it wouldn't work. So… I came up with a plan that would stop the cycle before it began. If someone from our village dealt with Sasuke then there would be no revenge to seek. We decided to leave you out of this because you had already done so much for the village. None of us wanted to ask for more and we all thought you deserved to sit out of this one. Sakura and her team were meant to explain the situation to you, comfort you, but she changed the plan without telling anyone." Naruto blinked slowly as Shikamaru rubbed her arm. "Are you mad at me? At all of us?"
She took a deep breath, wondering if Shikamaru was telling the truth. She released the breath with one word. "Yes. If you want the truth, that's it. I'm mad, and I'm scared, and I can't breathe." She moved out of the man's hold, feeling anger and disgust bubble up. "And everyone is so worried about 'the Jinchuriki'. That's what I am to everyone. A thing. A box for something everyone despised but so many people want. Why can't someone just see me, only me, and want to do something because of who I am?"
"Naruto," Shikamaru started softly. "We didn't make the plan because of the Nine-Tails. None of us even thought about him. We just wanted to stop you from suffering."
It felt like she had stopped breathing. Gasping around her tears, she stared at the man beside her. "What? But Sakura said that I shouldn't be out of the village cause I'm the Jinchuriki."
"Sakura is a bitch," Shikamaru stated plainly. "She didn't make the plan, I did. I told the others and they all agreed it was the best way to spare you. Not the Nine-Tails, but you."
Naruto buried her face in her hands, tears leaking through her fingers. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her friends didn't want to lock her away. They didn't see her as a monster. They only saw her. Cared about her! She found comfort in Shikamaru's arms as he rubbed her back.
"Tell me what you plan to do with Sasuke and I will do everything I can to make it happen. Just tell me what you want and I'll give it to you."
"I convinced Sasuke to leave all the villages alone. I told him that when Madara has been dealt with I'll find him and we can have a battle to the death. I will stand in for the village." Naruto sniffled, slowly raising her head to look Shikamaru in the eye. She couldn't bring herself to describe how heartbroken Sasuke had been as they made their deal. "I want you to help me make a battle plan. I want to go into that fight having ways I know I can win. Sasuke and I are evenly matched. I want you to help me tip it in my favour."
She couldn't kill Sasuke, but she also couldn't let him kill her. It would ruin him to end her life. If one of the people she wanted to protect could give her the thing she needed to save Sasuke from either fate she would take it unapologetically.
Shikamaru pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, making her skin heat. "Then that's what I'll do. You need to start letting yourself feel and want things, instead of doing what others want."
Nodding, she curled herself back into Shikamaru's chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart as cries racked her body. Shikamaru silently comforted her, something she appreciated more than she could voice.
/ / / / / /
A part of her wanted to scream, to tell Kakashi-Sensei, Captain Yamato, Sakura, everyone, what she had suffered, what she was trying to bury. Tell them what they were trying to make her face. So, what if she did everything for others? Making herself useful to others was the best way to stop people from wanting to hurt her.
After her confrontation with Kakashi-Sensei, Captain Yamato, and Liyah Naruto had stayed with Shikamaru. Although she was trying to distance herself from him there was no real point when she was already imploding, so what harm could giving in just once more do?
She slipped out of his room the next morning before he even began to stir. Binding her chest, she walked outside, not wanting to be confined. When she stepped out the back door she found Hiro pacing, being watched by a woman who looked disinterested. Naruto could tell she wasn't a Nara. There was nothing in her features and manner that spoke of Nara blood. She was stunning, with curly, dark red hair, big, hazel eyes, and a curvy figure. The only thing close to marring her appearance was three vertical scars running down one cheek. Naruto had seen enough injuries in her life to know they had been done on purpose, being to neat. They didn't diminish the woman's beauty and instead added to it somehow.
"Hiro, what are you doing?" Naruto asked, sitting on the edge of the porch.
The Nara jumped, looking over sheepishly. "Nothing to worry about, Naruto. Have you met… my friend?"
The red head rolled her eyes. "We work together. And he is nervous."
"I could tell." Naruto shot the man an amused look before turning her gaze back to the woman. "So, you're in the Foundation too. What's your name?"
"Don't have one." She shrugged. "Danzo normally gives us numbers but he used to call me his pet."
Hiro flinched at her callus words. "She is… was Danzo's personal… companion when she wasn't using her abilities to assassinate or spy."
"What do you want to be called?"
The woman showed her first expression, surprise, before contemplating Naruto's question. "How about Kina for now?"
"Alright, Kina. Why is Hiro so nervous?"
Ignoring Hiro's shout of indignation, Kina sighed. "He wants to ask Shikaku for help but to do so he has to admit to being in the Foundation."
At Naruto's raised eyebrow Hiro elaborated. "Kina was spying on the council for Danzo. The moment word got to them of his death yesterday they started plotting to have the whole Foundation wiped out. A scorched earth approach. Shikaku-sama doesn't know yet and I'm hoping he can help us but I don't think he's going to like knowing I'm a spy. Even if it was for Shikamaru."
Naruto shook her head. "That's a dumb idea. Shikaku doesn't know much about the Foundation so it'll be hard to find a way around the council. Lucky for you, I know someone who, if he doesn't know enough can find the info. And said asshole owes me."
She stood, putting her hands in her pockets as she led the two in pursuit of a particular ninja with gravity defying, silver hair. Since her chakra wasn't stable after the last few days she couldn't search for him in the usual way. Instead they asked around until they were directed to his location.
He was visibly surprised to see Naruto, but he quickly covered it up with an eye-smile.
"If it isn't my cute, little student!"
"Don't be creepy, Kakashi-Sensei," Naruto snapped, making the man blink. "After yesterday, you owe me! So, I'm cashing in that favour."
"Anything for my favourite student."
Naruto tried to not let Kakashi-Sensei's words affect her but she could feel her heart give an extra beat at the thought of such a powerful man who she admired seeing her as someone special. She quickly reminded herself that he was probably just saying these things to make her not so angry at him and because he had noticed her state and thought a simple lie would make her feel better.
"Can we go somewhere more secluded?" Naruto asked, receiving a nod and being made to follow her tall teacher. They ended up at their old training grounds where Kakashi-Sensei had helped her master the rasenshuriken. The bench he had made Captain Yamato build him was still sitting under a shady tree, giving them somewhere to sit.
Kakashi-Sensei left the seat for the two women, Hiro opting to flop to the ground as the Copy Ninja stood. He waited for Naruto to speak, his hand not even twitching to his back pocket where an Icha Icha book was no doubt located.
"What we discuss here is not to be repeated to anyone else, understood?" she started, watching as Kakashi-Sensei nodded tentatively. "Good. With Danzo gone, the Council wanted to pretend they have strength by destroying the Foundation and everyone in it. I want you to help us find a way to stop that!"
The man appeared to contemplate her words, staring up at the sky with his one visible eye. "I'm honestly not too sure how to stop them."
"Well, we can try to get the Foundation dismantled instead, but the Council might not go for that, since everyone within the organisation was trained by Danzo, and he's made it clear that the village shouldn't have trusted him." Naruto crossed her arms, looking to see if Kina or Hiro had thought of anything.
"You're right about the fact that the Council… feels betrayed by Danzo's behaviour," Kina confirmed. "The council member I was ordered to… keep company, wants to use the Foundation as an example. Punish us for the wrong doing of our leader."
If Kakashi-Sensei was surprised by what Kina was made to do he didn't show it. "Although I see why they might not be able to trust the Foundation, it is a little rash to do away with the whole organisation because of the leader."
"What about if the Foundation had a new leader, one they can trust and one who is strong enough to keep the Foundation members in line? Someone that the Foundation and the village alike have respect for."
"Hmm, I think we can find someone who fits the bill but that might not be enough." Kakashi-Sensei pondered some more before Hiro sat up sharply.
"Danzo always did experiments and stuff. He liked collected rare abilities," Hiro started, getting confused looks off those listening. "Sometimes it was that rarity that helped him control the Council. He had people, or things that they needed. Maybe there is still someone in the Foundation like that. If we had someone that the Council saw as useful do you think they would change their mind?"
"If we can find you a leader that can help make that argument." Kakashi-Sensei sighed. "I'll talk to Tenzo. He might know more from his time in the Foundation, and you two can try and find some information that could help us." He stared at Kina and Hiro until the two nodded obediently. "I'm guessing you two were both spies, so weren't made emotionally numb like the others."
Hiro nodded. "Our curse marks were also weaker since Danzo realised if we couldn't at least mention the Foundation in conversation if ever needed that would appear suspicious. Please, don't tell Shikaku-Sama. I know I'll have to tell him eventually but considering all that the prick did to Yoshino-Sama I don't think he will understand why I joined."
"Why did you join?"
"Danzo saw that Shikamaru had a high intelligence, and saw that he was also becoming friends with Naruto. He saw the benefit of having Shikamaru as one of his underlings and was going to do anything to get him… including offering a cure for the jutsu used on Yoshino-Sama that made her sterile, since it still causes her pain. I realised what was happening and offered myself instead, pointing out that Shikamaru would never help the man who ordered his mother attacked, even if he offered a cure."
"And he believed you loyal?" Kakashi-Sensei eyed the man.
"Not at first, no. But I think he believed that I became so, or he realised that the more I worked with him, and the closer Shikamaru got to Naruto, the less likely Shikaku-Sama was to forgive me for being in the Foundation." Hiro ran a hand through his dark hair, his face downcast.
"You said there was a cure," Naruto spoke softly, feeling her heart pound loudly in her throat, "for the jutsu used on Yoshino."
"Yeah, I looked into it whenever I could without Danzo knowing and turns out he was bluffing… sort of. He was planning to start developing a cure to keep Shikamaru under his control until he could indoctrinate him. So, he never started working on it."
Naruto tried to ignore her disappointment as well as the sympathetic look Hiro sent her. She was thankful when Kakashi-Sensei dismissed them to go about the task he had set. It showed how well they had been trained by the way they left without a blink of hesitation.
When it was just the two of them, the silver-haired man sat down, lounging in his seat with an arm on the back rest. He studied Naruto quietly, seeming to wait out Naruto's limited patients. As it reached it's end she gave an angry huff, making the outline of Kakashi-Sensei's lips curl upwards.
"Out with it."
"I'll help them but only if you stay out of it."
"Like hell I will!" Naruto snapped, making the man straighten slightly in his seat.
"Naruto," he started in a warning voice. "You need to stop putting everyone first. You need to think about your health. You've lost weight, you're pale, your eyes have lost their lively spark. It hurts to look at you."
"Why do you care so much?" Naruto studied her teacher's face, having never seen fear in his eyes before.
"Because I've seen the look in your eyes before and I was too late the last time." When the blonde raised her eyebrow, Kakashi-Sensei sighed heavily. "My father, he had the same look in his eyes… shortly before I found him dead. He committed suicide when I was five."
She was certain the mask must have altered the words. How was it possible that the powerful, weird, funny, and supportive man that had always let her be a kid whilst simultaneously preparing her for the future be someone who had suffered such a tragedy? He had never let on during all the years he had been their mentor. Looking at him now though, she could see the shadows that his little eye-smiles hid.
Unlike the last time that Kakashi-Sensei had hugged her she allowed this interaction. She felt him pull his mask down before he kissed the crown of her head. The gesture stunned her so much that she didn't even try to pull back and catch a glimpse of his face, though she did notice that she couldn't feel any buck teeth or blimp lips. She let Kakashi-Sensei tuck her head under his chin, allowing her to feel his rumbled words. The embrace reminded her painfully of the times that Pervy-Sage would gather her in his arms after a particularly gruelling training session.
"Did you know that the only thing that pulled me back from following my father into the after life was you?" At her shuttered breath he continued. "I lost him and I became cold hearted, I gained a team and began to feel again… only to loss them too. When I was at my worst, when I could only see blood on my hands and couldn't sleep through the night your father gave me his most important mission, to protect his wife and unborn child. For five months I looked after your mother from the shadows, but then one night it was raining and she demanded I come inside. You had been moving a lot, but hadn't started kicking yet, and the only thing that settled you was this book. Your mother fell asleep when reading to you. I don't know why but I decided to finish it… that's when you kicked my hand. Minato-Sensei wouldn't stop crying when he found out he missed your first kick."
That caused Naruto to chuckle wetly, something that was echoed by her teacher. "Please tell me it wasn't an Icha Icha book."
He snorted. "No. Some nursery rhyme. I figured I couldn't be that bad of a person if you reached out for me whenever I read to you. For two months I was the only one who could get you to kick."
"You must have been really bad at reading."
Again, the man laughed. "Perhaps. But when your parents died I felt like a failure. I didn't want to be around you encase I just caused your death too. Then I ended up your teacher. And you're both your parents combined. Everything kind, inspiring, loving, and enthusiastic about them both. Now all of that is being suffocated and I can't let that happen! So please, just get better instead of helping every person who asks."
"You don't understand, Kakashi-Sensei." She pulled back, disappointed to see that the copy-ninja's mask was back in place. "I'm not doing this because they asked. They didn't ask. I'm doing this because I'm sick of the Council ignoring those in need. They don't care who suffers as long as they can be in charge of the village and do what they want. Well, I'm not standing for it! They let the village mistreat me, even encouraged people to see me as a monster. They didn't put any oversite in with Huruma and for fifty years she caused pain. I want to stop them. I want to show them that I might be a monster to them but I have more decency than they do and I won't let them kill people cause it's the easy option!"
"Do you promise that is your reason for helping the Foundation? Because you want to do it, and nothing else?" Kakashi-Sensei asked, staring her in the eye.
"Yes. Hiro was going to ask Shikaku for help but I decided it would be smarter to come to you. I chose to help them. I wasn't asked."
Kakashi-Sensei gave her an eye-smile, the fearful look leaving his face. He tapped her nose cheerfully. "Good to hear, my cute little student!"
"If you keep being creepy, I'll break your nose," she threatened, glaring at the man.
"But I like my nose." The pout on the man's face nearly made her stop pretending to be angry but she was able to keep it up even as Kakashi-Sensei laughed.
/ / / / / /
Hope you all like. Part two should be up really soon. R and R.