AN: Hello again! This chapter's mostly just filler I guess while I try to work out the bigger scenes. I just barely managed to get this thing over 2000 words, so that was fun. Anyways, enjoy! EDIT: beta'd as of 8/8

As it turned out, Sasuke did master his jutsu quickly. Although it really shouldn't have been a surprise, considering how intensely he'd trained with Orochimaru in the three years he had been gone. Naruto on the other hand didn't have as much experience with his affinity, and thus had a harder time mastering it. He'd summoned some shadow clones to help out, but because he was on duty, he couldn't afford to waste as much chakra on them like he could have back in Konoha when mastering it for the first time.

"Are you done yet?" Sasuke drawled from the edge of the clearing where he was sat under a tree. It was amazing he had stayed at all after he'd gotten his jutsu, dragon flame caterwaul, down. He had been cold and disinterested with everyone ever since coming back, so Naruto was surprised when he'd offered to stay behind. He wasn't about to complain though. He'd worked so hard to win his best friend back, so he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Why, got something better to do?"

That of course didn't stop him from replying to everything to Uchiha said with dry remarks. What could he say, it was habit.

"Yeah, I do," Sasuke said. "Like eat. I don't know about you but I'm starving."

Hm, now that he thought about it, Naruto was feeling kind of hungry himself.

"Alright, let's get going," he said, dispelling his clones. Their memories rushed back to him immediately but he set them aside to rifle through later.

The walk back to the house was a quiet one. There was a tense atmosphere between them, but not enough so that either one wanted to address it. Naruto realized then that they had never really talked officially about what had happened when Sasuke had come back to help them in the war. He'd just showed up, announced that he would become Hokage, and teamed up with them. Naruto wanted to believe that that meant that everything was back to normal and that Sasuke really was back, but there was always this tension when he was with them that told him that wasn't quite the case.

But so far nothing bad had happened, so Naruto could only hope that meant something good could.

Knocking on Tazuna's front door, it opened to welcome them to the lovely smell of curry and rice. Right on cue their stomachs growled.

"Someone must be hungry," Tsunami said as she welcomed them in. Naruto almost tripped over himself getting his sandals off he was so excited to eat. "Food's not going anywhere," she teased, noticing his enthusiasm.

After seating himself, he said a quick "itadakimasu" he immediately started shoveling rice and curry into his mouth.

"Naruto," Sakura gasped. "Slow down! You're gonna hurt yourself."

"Bu' I'm 'ungry," he managed to say through a full mouth.

"Won't help if you throw it all up again," she scolded, green eyes giving him a dangerous look. The medic side of her was surfacing, he could tell. And that ironically enough usually promised pain. Maybe it was better to do as she said.

"Sorry, Sakura," Naruto apologized bashfully, scratching the back of his neck. He picked his chopsticks back up and continued at a more sedate pace.

"Maa, now that we're settled," Kakashi-sensei piped up, somehow already finished with his meal. "How did training go, boys?"

Naruto groaned under his breath as he continued to feed rice into his mouth.

"I mastered the technique you gave me, sensei," Sasuke reported drly, picking through his own portions.

"Good. Naruto?"

He mumbled something under his breath in response, which went unheard to the rest of the group.

"Come again?" Kakashi-sensei pressed.

An exasperated huff escaped Naruto before he spoke up. "I said I haven't gotten it yet," he admitted. Then, perking up he turned to his sensei with a bright smile. "But if I use my shadow clones I'm sure I'll get it down in no time!"

"Shadow clones?" Kakashi-sensei echoed, raising a skeptical eyebrow. Oh, that's right, Naruto figured. Kakashi-sensei hadn't yet had the idea to use shadow clones to decrease training time. Oh well, maybe he could tell him and take the credit for it. It would definitely make him look smart!

"Yeah, cuz like, when they dispel I get their memories, y'know," Naruto explained. "So if I have a lot of them practicing a jutsu, I get more experience and decrease the time it would take for me to learn it!"

Kakashi-sensei blinked in surprise. "That's, actually quite smart," he admitted. Naruto smiled form the praise, laughing internally at the irony of it all.

The moment was ruined however by a young voice coming from the doorway.

"You all are pathetic." Naruto frowned and looked up to see who had spoken. He was unsurprised to find it was Inari, who was sitting across the table from him. Naruto hadn't even realized he was there, he had been so quiet. His hands were clenching onto his chopsticks so hard Naruto was afraid they might break. A scowl was plastered on his face, hardening his features into a grim state rather than the cute, chubby one they should have been for his age.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked guilelessly. Inari's scowled deepened but he looked up from the table anyway to address him.

"You all are training and planning, but it's pointless. You'll never win, so you should just go home!"

"Inari," Tsunami gasped.

"It's true," he shot back. "They're just wasting their time."

"Maa, surely you don't really believe that," Kakashi-sensei spoke up, tone easy and laid back in hopes of de-escalating the situation. "We are shinobi after all."

"It doesn't matter, Gatō will just hire better ones to kill you and then us," he shot back. "There's no point fighting!" Naruto blinked, taken aback by the raw pain in his voice.

"Of course there is," Naruto frowned. "That's the only way you can make a difference."

"No! He takes everything! You don't know what it's like to live here. You don't know what it's like to lose someone. You don't know our pain. You can never know, so you should just leave!"

I know exactly how you feel, kid, he thought to himself, memories playing in his mind. Jiraiya's grave, a slashed headband, Konoha destroyed, and two names carved into a memorial stone... I know better than anyone. But I'm still fighting, because I have to.

"You'll never beat Gatō, you'll just die!"

Years ago, Naruto would have just gotten mad. He would have yelled right back. Would have acted like the stupid kid he had been.

But now...

"Then that's what we'll do," he said firmly. Inari sucked in a shocked breath, tears halting for a second while he stared up at Naruto wide eyed. "If we die fighting Gatō, then we die," Naruto continued calmly, eyes hard and jaw set. In his hands he clenched his chopsticks so hard he thought they might snap. "But I won't run from it, because I can't. I have to face threats head on, because if I don't, then they win and nothing gets better." Pain would have won. His village would have been destroyed. His sensei would be dead. "And yeah, you could lose something precious because of it." Like his parents. Like Lord Third. Like Jiraiya. Like Neji. "But it's worth it in the end, y'know. Because you might win. And that makes it all worth it, right?"

Inari blinked, unshed tears shining in his eyes.

"And yeah, kid," he continued. "I do know how you feel, and it sucks. I just stopped pitying myself and decided to do something about it." It wasn't exactly the kindest thing to say, but tough love had worked last time, so maybe it would this time as well. Immediately after he said it, Inari's face twisted into an angry scowl, and the boy pushed off from the table and stormed outside, slamming the door behind him.

Despondent, Naruto turned back to his rice, hunger forgotten. He figured he wouldn't get through to Inari, but there had been some part of him that had hopped.

"I'm sorry about Inari," Tsunami apologized. "He hasn't been himself these past few months. Ever since…" She trailed off, eyes going misty at the memory of her loss.

"Ever since…?" Sakura pressed lightly, leaning forward. The three of them already knew the story, but it wouldn't do any harm to ask again.

"A few years ago," Tazuna started, answering for his daughter. "Inari met a man named Kaiza. He was considered a hero among our people for deeds he had done in the past. Eventually Inari came to see him as a father figure. He was part of our family."

"So what happened?" Sakura continued, in a tone that was convincingly earnest.

"When Gatō arrived," Tazuna said darkly. "He killed Kaiza for standing up against him. Killed him in front of the whole town."

"Including Inari," Tsunami added in a quiet voice. A deadly silence settled over the table at her words. Everyone had a grim expression on their face, even Kakashi-sensei. No kid should have to see someone slaughtered before them - especially their father.

"Ever since then," Tazuna continued. "He's been withdrawn, closed off. And apparently now the concept of heroes is idiotic to him."

Naruto huffed, folding his arms over his chest in a semi defiant manner. "Then we'll just have to convince him it's not," he said stubbornly.

Tazuna gave him an incredulous look. "And how does a squirt like you plan on doing that?" he asked.

"Because," Naruto said, flashing him a wide smile. "I'm gonna be Hokage one day, y'know! And only heroes can become Hokage." Tazuna still looked unconvinced, but out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Sakura giving him a faint smile, and he knew immediately what she was thinking. Naruto was already a hero. Now he just had to prove it.


"Wind style, air bullets!" Naruto shouted before trying for the fourteenth time since dinner to produce the wind jutsu depicted in the scroll. Once again, all that happened was a strong eruption of wind hitting a tree before the jutsu sputtered out and he was left with nothing.

"Damn it!" He cursed, kicking at the ground. All around him, copies of himself were having similar luck. Some had managed to progress further than others, but overall it was about the same.

"Alright," he sighed. "Time to take a break." With a single hand sign, he sat down and released the clones, waiting for all their memories to rush back to him. As expected, the experience left him drained, and he was glad he had chosen to sit. He'd only had about thirty clones helping him, so the overall recoil wasn't nearly as bad as other times, but it was still a lot.

Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the tree he was resting against. Why was it so hard for him to learn a new jutsu? He had his affinity down, he was molding his chakra exactly the way it said to int he scroll. So why was he having so much difficulty?

"Naruto?" A new voice said. Naruto opened his eyes and looked up in surprise to see Sakura walking towards him. She was rubbing her bare shoulders to stave off the chilly night air, but the smile she was wearing told him she didn't mind.

"Hey Sakura," he greeted, pushing himself up into a better sitting position. "What are doing out here?"

"I know how hard you train," she said, sitting herself down next to him. "Thought you might need someone to keep an eye on you." Naruto smiled softly, mentally agreeing with her. Did he have a tendency to work himself to the bone.

"Just promise me you won't try to feed me those mud balls of yours," he teased, earning an indigent squawk from her.

"They're not mud balls, they're highly nutritional food pills!" She exclaimed.

"Not even Sai liked them," he chuckled in response. "And he barely has emotions."

"Oh shut up," she moaned. Naruto only cackled in response. They sat that way for some time, bickering lightheartedly and laughing at nothing. Until, finally, Naruto piped up.

"For real though," he said, tone turning serious. "What's going on."

There was silence on her end for a few moments, filled only by her absently picking at her sleeves. She had only just gotten her new outfit a few days before they left for Wave, so she was still getting used to it. Finally, after some time, she spoke up.

"I uh… It's hard, you know?" She said in a quiet voice, eyes staring ahead into the darkness. "Being back here. Seeing everyone. But no one recognizes you." A pause. "Not really, anyway."

"It's lonely," he agreed.

"And so weird," she continued, voice strained. "I care so much about all these people, people I shouldn't even know, people who barely know me." She let out a frustrated groan and leaned forward to rest her head in her hands. "It's all just so confusing."

"I know how you feel," he said somberly. The pinkette looked up to see his eyes downcast, staring at his feet.

"The Kyūbi," was all she said. It didn't need further explanation, as they both knew the connotations. Before the chunin exams, before he'd tried to rescue Sasuke the first time around, he'd been shunned and secluded because of him being the Kyūbi's jinchuuriki. That pain had faded over the years though as he gained more friends. But now that they were in the past, he was back to square one. No friends, and spiteful villagers.

"I'm a hero to Konoha," he said. "But they don't even know it."

"I'm sorry," Sakura said. "I wish it could be different."

"Me too," he sighed quietly. "Me too."

She didn't say anything, but Sakura scooted over and leaned over until her head was resting on his shoulder in a comforting gesture, hands entangled in his own. It wasn't a romantic gesture, far from it. But it was nice. The two of them alone, just being there for each other.

"For what it's worth," she whispered softly. "I'm glad we have a chance to change things. Even if it means starting all over."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, thinking about all those he hasn't lost yet, about everything he had the chance to change. "I guess so."