Chapter 17

Interpersonal Warfare

Not much ever succeeds at getting Naruto truly down. He's a fighter, always managing to find something to keep him positive. Coming home to find his door broken and home vandalized is certainly not one of them. He stumbles through the graffiti-painted front door and looks over his shredded couch, toppled fridge, and busted table. The walls are marked with various threats and insults, ranging from the standard "DEMON" and "DIE" to one surprisingly creative instance of "YIFF IN HELL, FOX FUCKER". That one's new to him.

The furniture, he didn't mind much. He and Iruka could replace those. Painting would be easy enough. Replacing the now piss-stained carpets would be a little more difficult and obnoxious, since he could never get anyone to do it for him at his old apartment, and here at his dad's place is certainly going to be just as tough purely because of his own involvement. The truly tough part was finding his family photos smashed out of their frames and ripped apart. Those were one of the only things he had that was truly valuable to him that he kept in the open. Even Iruka had gotten into the habit of keeping his most valuable belongings locked up and hidden purely due to shinobi paranoia, long before Naruto came along. But the loss of these photos, the memories of their time as a family, truly hurts.

The difficult part for him to grasp was that his traps built beside the door had clearly been triggered, and people suffered at his hands under them. A few blood stains sit on the floor by the door, with the kunai that had been launched. The seals containing itching powder, stink bombs, and paintballs had all been dispensed. The evidence was literally on the wall. Enough people just happened to hate him enough to force their way through it all until no traps remained, and then ruin the place when no threats were left.

He had tried to put the same kind of security seals he used at Tazuna's place all over his door, but apparently this apartment complex didn't allow for him to mark their door like that. Now there was graffiti all over it and an eviction notice stuck to the wall just inside it. The landlord had decided the damage to his property was too extensive, and would surely happen any time Naruto left the village for a mission. There was no way he'd be allowed to stay here, even with the Hokage's influence. Civilian and shinobi laws clash all the time, and property law is one of the points that the civilian side always wins on.

Sakura and Sasuke step up beside their teammate. Sakura's arms find their way around him, and Sasuke places a hand on his shoulder. Naruto can't help but shiver. Even having had them as teammates and best friends for some time now, this sort of contact is one thing he's still unused to. Eventually, he closes his eyes and leans back into them. No words need be exchanged, as he can already tell they truly care in this moment, and it's more than pity.

The silence is surprisingly broken by Sasuke. "Let's gather up everything you want to and can recover from here. You need a new place; I'm moving you and Iruka-sensei into one of the empty homes in my compound."

Naruto's head bolts up fast enough for the Kyuubi to wonder how he avoided whiplash. "Wait, WHAT?!"

"You heard me." He shoves his hand back in his pocket and turns away from his teammates' stares. Sakura especially is bothering him with how enamored she is with this act of charity. "I have room for you, you won't have to pay rent, and you can save up to get a nice place of your own a hell of a lot faster. I already heard Iruka talking about it back at Tazuna's, when he was commenting on wanting a place like theirs. This just expedites things a bit." He walks to the door and peeks around outside. "You might wanna sneak some clones out the windows to check out who's staking out the house to see your reaction to this mess they left, and let Iruka know what's up here since he apparently went to see Anko before coming home…"

"I did, but…" All three genin turn to find Iruka coming out of his bedroom with a packed bag in hand and Anko standing just behind him. Anko looks like she's either about to cry or rip someone to shreds, but Iruka is just somber and resigned. "I brought her back here and found the place before you three. I figured this sort of thing might happen…" He rubs the back of his neck, but pauses at the sight of Naruto hanging his head and turning away. He quickly sets his bag down and pulls his son into a hug right away. "Naruto… I don't blame you at all for any of this. I took you in knowing this sort of thing could happen, and I didn't care. I have backups of all the photos, nothing irreplaceable was lost. We're going to be fine, alright?" Naruto remains silent, but slowly buries his face into Iruka's vest and barely contains his tears. Iruka knows he won't cry. Naruto never cries in front of anyone when it involves the violent hatred he's lived under. He numbed himself to it long ago. Iruka sighs and peeks up to his other two former students. "Sakura, could you please help Naruto and Anko gather his things while I speak with Sasuke?"

She nods shakily. "O-Of course, Iruka-sensei." She steps up and takes Naruto's hand to lead him. "Come on, let's make this quick so you can leave this mess behind, alright?" He remains silent, but allows her to pull him away from Iruka to head into his room.

Anko takes Iruka's hand and gently turns him to face her, their faces mere inches apart. "Are you sure you're alright? I know you're trying to be strong for the kid, but…"

Iruka shakes his head. "I am strong enough for this. I don't care how many people hate me for him, or for you. I don't have to try. I've been prepared for this and more for a long while now."

Anko's face softens as she sighs and nods in understanding. "Right… well, I'll help those two out, but I'll be back for you soon, alright?" She gently kisses him, but Sasuke can't help but notice that she bites his lip a bit as she pulls away. She then turns her gaze to Sasuke with a smirk. "And expect me to be visiting a lot. Probably spending the night. You got that?"

Sasuke pales for a moment, but narrows his eyes on her. "As long as you two can keep quiet enough to not keep me up and mess with my training."

Anko smirks and wiggles her eyebrows. "No promises, pinkeye." She steps away to get into Naruto's room. "So, brat! Where ya hide those porno mags you studied for that Orioke no Jutsu?!"

Sasuke's jaw drops, but Iruka shakes his head. "The worst part is, this isn't the first time she's asked that, and this time, she's probably going to find out."

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Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, Hatake Kakashi, and Maito Gai sit in a booth at the village's most popular barbecue, Yakiniku Q. As they await their orders, everyone but Kakashi reads over a form he's handed out in order to catch them up with the Hokage's latest orders. Asuma whistles as he finishes committing it to memory. "Even reading it over a second time, that's one hell of a plan. Tsunade might even willingly come home if she saw the potential of this." He takes a quick puff of his cigarette, freshly lit with his own thumb, but Kurenai focuses water chakra into her fingertip and snuffs it out with a tap, before cutting in with her own commentary.

"It's certainly a versatile system. Probably going to be more effective than any training program this village or any village has ever had, save for personal apprenticeships."

"More than that…" Gai interjects. "It's a gateway to more easily find specialized students to choose as apprentices." He peeks up from the forms with his signature Nice Gai Grin. "It's a masterwork of pure logic intertwined into the most hopeful education system I've ever laid eyes on."

"Precisely." Kakashi sets his away into his vest. "And it's set for tomorrow, hence why there's been orders to avoid any missions outside the village for the last week. My team should be fine to go for this training tomorrow. We'll all meet at training ground 7 and kick this off with trading students based on unaddressed skill sets and specialties. So, let's get that organized now…"

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The Uchiha compound hasn't been this lively for seven years. Naruto's clones scramble about cleaning floors, dusting corners, and generally prepping his family's new livingspace neighboring Sasuke's in short order. He's never been the best at cleaning, but when you have five clones each with large sponges doing a hands-down, ass-up sprint from one end of the room to the other, each floor ends up done in under five minutes. The dusting is a bit more of a mess when Naruto tries rushing it with Atsugai, but the wind jutsu only manages to get that dust cycling through the air and leaves both Naruto and Iruka sneezing up a storm. Iruka's water jutsu prove much more useful in the cleaning efforts.

In about an hour, they had their two bedrooms, livingroom, kitchen, and bathroom all spotless. They lacked furniture for now, but that proves a quick fix as well. Turns out that once Anko reported the incident to the Hokage, he went on the warpath hunting down which shonobi and citizens had done this, and handed Anko enough money and sealing scrolls to get all the furniture they'd need to them in no-time flat. Everyone discovered to have taken part in the defacing and destruction of their property would have their assets seized and sold to compensate them, then be thrown into prison for a minimum two-year sentence, depending on what other information was dug up about each of them in the process.

Of course, Anko had to go nuts with the furniture budget. She refused to waste so much as a dime of it, and Hiruzen had fully expected as much when he handed her such a hefty amount. Just another step towards spoiling Naruto as a silent apology for all the secrecy and suffering all these years. That apology is put to its fullest use, as Anko returns to them with a sectional couch, a new TV, radio, a surprisingly ornate coffee table that does a bit to give away her slightest feminine side and passion for ancient traditional culture, two new dressers, two new desks, a queen sized bed for Naruto, and a king sized for Iruka. When Iruka asked her why he'd ever need one so huge, her response was too vulgar for Naruto's ears, and whatever she'd whispered to Iruka lit him up like a Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fireball) to the face. He was instantly thankful for the stock of Naruto's silencing seals he kept on hand.

With the furniture set and their new home ready, Sasuke came over to visit his temporary neighbors. "You all settled in pretty quickly." He grumbles. "Don't get comfortable. This is a temporary arrangement."

Naruto crosses his arms and pouts. "Ya gotta ruin it, man? Just admit it, ya like having some neighbors in here again."

Sasuke stares silently for a moment, but rather than his usual dismissing scoff, he just slowly looks away and marching back to the door. "Just try not to be too noisy over here, alright?"

Iruka raises his head from his spot on the couch beside Anko. "Sasuke… you're more than welcome to come join us for dinner. It's the least we can do to thank you for letting us stay here."

He stops in the doorway for a moment, but shakes his head and keeps walking, never bothering to look back. "I have some training to do."

Naruto watches his best friend's back in silence for a few moments, eventually huffing and turning away to join his dad on the couch. "I don't get it… I almost managed to pull him out of his shell before graduation, and now he's shutting himself out again!"

Anko bites her lip, peeking over her shoulder and out the window to where Sasuke made his way off to. "… I think I know why. I might have a solution though, but I'm gonna have to get almost as manipulative as my old master was." She sighs deeply. "But at least it's for a good cause."

Iruka nods and pulls her in tighter. "Don't worry about becoming him. Like you said… it's a good cause. I know you'd never think that way otherwise. As sadistic as you are…" He gently kisses her, and for once, Naruto can't find it in himself to object. "you're a truly good person."

Anko blushes and pouts as he turns away, but scoots closer to lean against his chest. "W-Whatever. Let's just watch a damn movie or something…"

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Hinata watched it all from afar. Naruto's return home from his mission, the way his home had been vandalized in their absence, the new home they'd relocated to since, she saw it all. Throw in providing the anbu assigned to investigate with her descriptions of all the offending citizens and shinobi, including a few names, and her day had been quite the emotional rollercoaster. She still couldn't bring herself to intrude on his life, especially on a day like this, but reporting those responsible for his torment today was enough help for her to be just a bit proud of herself. Although one of them had been a member of her own clan, she didn't care. They deserve whatever they get for this transgression against Naruto.

She returns home to find one of the middling members of the main house being dragged out of the compound by anbu, with her father watching on the sidelines. She steps past without so much as a glance at the arrogant vandal and stops beside her father. "… I suppose this won't reflect well on us."

"No it will not…" He huffs. "But he will be imprisoned for his actions, and he'll be sealed by week's end. His chakra has already been sealed but his Byakugan must be locked to ensure he cannot orchestrate an escape, nor return to active duty upon his release." He peeks down to his daughter. "I would like to speak to you in private about this matter and several others." He turns to lead, knowing she'll fall into line as she's been raised to do all her life. She of course does, and though as nervous as she always is around the man, her determination to stand against Naruto's oppressors encourages her enough to not show it for once.

They soon arrive at Hiashi's office chamber and kneel upon the tatami mats. With a pair of handsigns, the doors seal shut and the room is soundproofed. "You seem quite bold today, daughter. Am I correct in you have something to do with Akechi's arrest?"

After a few moments, she bows her head in a quick nod. "Yes, father. I witnessed his vandalism of Naruto-kun and Iruka-sensei's home, among many others. I have witnessed the results of Naruto's former apartment being targeted and suspected such a thing may happen in their absence. As such, I took it upon myself to check on their home daily as I passed it on my way home from missions and training with my team."

Hiashi hums and nods in response. "A logical course of action, given the pattern of prior incidents. Thinking critically and defensively, as all shinobi should." He closes his eyes for just a moment. "… And what do you know of the reasoning behind these attacks?"

Hinata remains still and silent for a few moments, but sighs and slouches almost imperceptibly. Enough for a trained shinobi to catch with ease, but not enough to suggest disrespect or weakness in the clan head's presence. "I have witnessed the seal on him with my Byuakugan. It's complexity makes our clan's work appear… juvenile in comparison. The power within it is vast." She turns her head away. "… You know my distaste for this clan's class system, father. You know I've planned to eradicate the Kago no Tori no Juin. (Caged Bird Seal) Every time I look into fuinjutsu, one term always surfaces as the most advanced and potent example of the art in human history." She turns her gaze back to her father. "Jinchuuriki."

Hiashi nods sternly. "That it is. Then you've connected the dots, I see. Yet you haven't lost your… interest in him." Interest is certainly putting it lightly, but he'd rather not call it the overwhelming crush it is. After a few moments, he manages to smile for the first time she's witnessed in years. "Impressive, my dear daughter."

She goes ramrod straight and wide-eyed at his praise. "F-Father?.."

He gently waves towards the floor as a gesture for her to calm down. "His status as a jinchuuriki, as I'm sure you suspect, is an S-rank secret. We are not meant to discuss it. Only the fact that you have discovered the truth through your own devices allows us to speak of it now. You may address the matter with the Hokage if you have further questions regarding his status. For now, I must congratulate you for recognizing him as a person rather than the beast." He grumbles. "A rather distasteful person in many ways, but still a shinobi of Konoha, rather than the monster many treat him as."

Hinata sighs in relief and bows. "Thank you, father. I will uphold the law and not speak of this outside of the correct circles. I… don't think I'll have it in me to discuss the matter with Naruto for some time anyway." She sits upright once more. "Does he know, or has he been kept in the dark as we have?"

"Actually…" He crosses his arms. "It's come to my attention recently, through Hokage-sama, that Naruto has indeed learned of his status through similar circumstances to your own discovery. His research into sealing has been fruitful to say the least, and his progress in the art has been…"

She smiles. "Breathtaking, honestly."

He huffs. "I wouldn't quite put it that way, but he's certainly proven abnormally vast talent in the field. Given time, I suspect he could overtake our clan's greatest sealmasters and approach the level of Jiraiya-sama." He shakes himself from these thoughts. "Regardless of his improvements though, the fact that you've seen through the surface level of his status and witnessed his true character beneath proves that you can be trusted with this knowledge, and that… I suppose I no longer have any reason to insist you keep your distance from him. Especially considering the events to take place tomorrow morning."

Hinata pauses and grips her tights for a moment. "What's happening tomorrow?"

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"Sooo, come on, talk to me!" Ino sits across from Sakura, whom elected to visit her best friend after assisting Naruto with the move. There wasn't really much to move though, and she bailed shortly after Anko pulled a stack of magazines out of a seal etched into the underside of Naruto's bedframe. This impromptu visit to the Yamanaka compound quickly became a sleepover that she'd honestly been hoping to have for some time. That inevitably brought out Ino's gossipy side, which obviously took up about 70% of her civilian personality. Now, they sit across from one another on her bedroom floor amongst a myriad of pillows, old plushies, and junk food she'd been saving for just such an occasion. She used to avoid all of this stuff like the plague, but Choji managed to get her to rethink her diet. They're in sets of matching polka dot pajamas and T shirts of their own signature colors, and Ino's lowered hair flails about as she gets in Sakura's face. "You spent two whole weeks with Sasuke, you've gotta have at least a few juicy details about him by now!"

Sakura sighs deeply and runs her fingers through her hair. "Honestly, I didn't learn much that I didn't already know. His sharingan's working now, so that's pretty awesome. Honestly, those eyes are really intimidating, but… also kind of hot for that exact reason?" She blushes rather deeply at that vocalized though. "E-Especially since he tends to bring them out when he's getting protective. An avenger to the end, ya know?"

Ino giggles at her own overactive imagination. "Ooooh, now that's juicy. Being that protective of you, huh?"

Sakura blushes deeply and looks away. "N-No, actually. I don't think he feels like he really needs to protect me? He did get really protective of this kid who we found living in a box in front of his burned home in Nami no Kuni." She stares at the floor. "Hideki's a great kid. We had to leave him in Nami with some friends we made there who agreed to care for him while we looked into sending two shinobi Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei knew from here who're apparently looking to adopt." She raises her head with a grin. "We saved him from a few thugs and the boy got so attached to Sasuke you'd think they were brothers."

Ino blanches at the mention of Sasuke and 'brothers'. "Um… isn't that a bit of a sore subject for Sasuke, though?"

She huffs. "Very… but he actually got kinda soft for Hideki. He saw himself in the boy, and he just… couldn't stand to see someone be where he'd been, ya know?"

Ino nods faintly, her formerly flirtatious and gossipy mood having traded for something far more somber. "He's changed a lot. Looking back, he was kind of a prick… but I guess there really is a lot more to him than that." She forces her smile back on. "You're lucky to have gotten to see that side of him."

Sakura pouts a bit. "I know that smile, Ino. I know, I get it, you're still crushing on him a bit too. But really, we have much more important things to worry about. Right now, I'm just happy being his friend and teammate."

"Yeah, I get that…" Ino drops her forced smile. For a moment, Sakura realizes how much it reminds her of Naruto's. Great at acting genuine, but a bit too wide to be real. "I'm still kinda jealous, though. I know neither of us has any chance of getting a date with him any time soon, but you've certainly pulled ahead more than anyone." She shakes her head a bit and brushes her fallen hair out of her face. "But as jealous as I am, I'm kinda proud of you too. Looking back, he's never been mentally healthy. If I wasn't so blinded by a crush, being from my clan especially, I should have seen that from a mile away. Despite that setback, you seem to be helping him find some peace of mind."

Sakura blushes faintly and looks away. "I-I guess so. I've been helping Naruto just as much, I think. He's dealt with a lot over the years, and he's a much better person than we all used to think."

"Despite that horrifying prank…" Ino pales and shudders as she recalls that horrible day. The oil. The speedo. That leathery, sagging skin. No matter how much therapy she gets, she can never truly recover from such a sight. She smacks both her cheeks lightly to snap herself out of it. "He's… yeah, he's a cooler guy than I used to think. Still a nutcase, though."

"Oh, no, that's gotten twenty times worse. You should see what he's got planned for the day of the Chuunin Exam tournament."

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Nara Shikaku sits on his back porch in the dead of night as he has a smoke with Sarutobi Asuma. The forms for the new training module sit between them on a glass coffee table. "That's quite the setup, Asuma. Personally, I'm all for it, and as lazy as my son is, I doubt he'll be able to argue with the logic of it. Sure you're ready for this?"

Asuma takes a deep drag and nods as he blows it out. "More than ready. Honestly, it'll be nice to get to know the other kids. I wanna see the full breadth of this generation's potential." He smirks. "And we're gonna bring every ounce of it to the surface."

Shikaku narrows his eyes a bit. "That's fine and dandy, but I've never seen you this eager about training. You've got something else on your mind right now, don't you?"

"Hmph…" Asuma shrugs and slouches a bit in his seat. "Maybe so."

"Something to do with Kurenai?"

Asuma chokes on his next drag. "Ugh, shit, seriously? I thought we were stealthier than that!"

"Kid, you've got a long way to go before you're sneaky enough to hide from the greatest shadow master in the world." Shikaku snuffs out the last embers of his cigarette. "So then… I suppose things are going well on that front."

He sighs deeply and nods. "Yeah, yeah they are. She's kind of giddy herself, 'cuz Yugao and Gekko just got news of a kid with potential ninja skill in need of adoption in Nami no Kuni. Those two have been trying forever, and settled on adoption a while ago, but it's kinda tough to find kids to adopt nowadays that're alright with being taken in by shinobi and dealing with this lifestyle, ya know?" He uprights himself in his seat. "And Kurenai… well, she's gotten a lead from Anko on someone she should train tomorrow to try and reforge some long-lost family relations. I might train the kid too, since it seems he's already picking up on one of my specialties."

Shikaku runs through the list of genin in his head and quickly smirks at the realization of who it must be. "Well I'll be damned. Tomorrow's looking interesting enough I'll have to stop by and watch a bit." He pushes himself up from his seat and saunters back inside. "Get home and sleep already. Considering the class you'll be dealing with, those students might exhaust you by day's end."

Asuma grins into the sky, deciding to stay for a few more minutes before moving on towards home. "Yeah? Well, I look forward to it."