Chapter 5
There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.
Jiraiya demands to know what the hell happened.
Naruto tells him she was under a genjutsu.
(It's even true, after a fashion)
He doesn't believe her.
The argue fiercely, Jiraiya bringing up Itachi's infamous deeds –
As if Naruto had somehow missed the Uchiha clan disappearing off the face of the earth
- his status as a traitor -
No, really? She never would have guessed
- and how he's part of the organisation looking to kidnap her and steal her bijuu, killing her in the process -
We've already established this, thank you.
Arguing with Jiraiya makes her snippy.
Then they pick up Tsunade's trail and the topic is dropped, though not forgotten. Naruto will likely face further questions about her connection to one of Konoha's greatest traitors.
With the Sandaime dead, is there even anyone left who knew of them beyond what she's shared with Hana? There are likely records of Itachi's time on her guard, but ANBU are supposed to be strictly professional like all the others were bar him. She can't imagine he shared his activities with his former team, or surely one of them would have court-martialled him.
Naruto's a hundred percent sure Itachi broke all sorts of laws. He definitely wasn't supposed to sit in her living room, mask off, eating dango when he was guarding her.
Itachi was willing to break the law for her when they were just kids and she was ignorant of the dangers the world held. How can she not be willing to return the favour now when he needs her?
He may not say that he needs her, may not act like it, but it doesn't make it any less true. Itachi needs her, just as she needs him.
Out of all the Sannin, Naruto admires only Tsunade. Oh, she respects Jiraiya's power and the breadth of his knowledge. Tsunade though – she had done what Naruto has longed to do since even before she became a ninja; she left Konoha and no one was able to bring her back. Sure, one could argue Orochimaru had left as well, but Naruto has no regard for that madman.
In her academy essays, Naruto always named Senju Tsunade as her inspiration. She had proved that it could be done.
Her plan ever since losing Itachi five years ago was to become strong; strong enough that no one could make her stay, strong enough they couldn't bring her back when she went searching. S-rank strong.
But with Itachi on her side she no longer has to wait that long. Just the thought fills her with elation, and Naruto goes through the subsequent days trying not to let it show.
When Jiraiya tries to persuade Tsunade to become Hokage, Naruto says nothing. And when Tsunade calls Hokage a cursed title that only fools would want, she silently agrees.
Naruto isn't so sold on the 'curse' part, but it is true that all the Hokage had died on the job. She thinks that's more indicative of ninja life in general rather than the title itself being cursed, but who knows. There's surely some ninja that had died of old age, so maybe the job really did get them in the end.
Naruto frowns. There is, isn't there?
Her musings on the famous ninja she's heard of and their deaths – all going out in epic battles, likely gory and definitely painful – are interrupted by a voice.
"And what about you?" Cynical eyes bore into hers. "You going to try to convince me too?"
Naruto's purple tinted gaze locks with amber. "I have nothing to say."
She is met with understanding, Tsunade instantly recognising in Naruto her own desire to escape Konoha, to run from the village just as she had done. Tsunade sees her, Naruto notes with a flash of surprise, and she in turn instinctively understands the older kunoichi as well.
With Itachi, that understanding came with time. Hana had to chip away at her walls bit by bit before Naruto would let her in. And with Gaara, she came to know him as they fought and he desperately tried to justify his existence to the world.
Empathy flashes in Tsunade's eyes, before she turns her flat gaze back to Jiraiya.
Naruto can be found wandering late that night, unable to sleep, when the female member of the Sannin joins her up on the roof. The younger kunoichi had escaped early in the night as Jiraiya caught his old teammate up on the latest news and tried to drum up old nostalgia; as if a ninja of Tsunade's calibre would fall for such a blatant ploy.
"So you're the next jinchuuriki." The Senju breaks the silence between them after several minutes of simply staring at the moon.
"That's me." Naruto says lightly. "The jinchuuriki."
Her whole life has been defined by that title; she can never escape it.
"My grandmother was the first, you know." The medic says conversationally as she takes another sip from her bottle.
"Uzumaki Mito." The redhead acknowledges.
"Grandma was a strong woman. But in some ways, she was just like me; bound by the memories of her loved ones. It's why she stayed in Konoha until her death, why she always encouraged the clan to serve to the best of their abilities, forever chasing the memories of Grandpa and Uncle Tobirama."
Tsunade scoffs bitterly. "And look where that got us; only a single Senju left in the world."
She gulps down another mouthful of sake. "And people wonder why I don't want to go back."
Naruto snorts. "You don't have to justify yourself to me."
Tsunade's lips curl into a humourless smile. "No, I suppose not."
A cold breeze tugs at Uzumaki-red hair, and she curls her knees to her chest for warmth.
"Why should you go back," Naruto says quietly, "if the ones you love are no longer there?"
In the dark of night, clouds enshrouding the moon, treason is far easier to give voice to.
Naruto touches her left wrist and Tsunade clutches her own piece of jewellery. No more words are needed. The two kunoichi sit side by side, each lost in their own thoughts.
Tsunade remains unmoved by all of Jiraiya's arguments and cajoling, pleads and bargains, and even Orochimaru intruding just convinces the last Senju that she would make a terrible Hokage.
Considering she freezes up at the sight of blood, Naruto is inclined to agree.
She can't imagine how horrible it is to relive her fiancé's death each time she sees the crimson fluid. But it doesn't change the fact that Tsunade's not fit for duty, much less Kage-ship.
They depart with a morose Jiraiya – who will now be saddled with the hat – and Tsunade's promise she'll at least look at the jounin Itachi had knocked out if they bring him to her. He's apparently in a genjutsu-induced coma, so there promises to be no blood in that venture.
They return to the village where Jiraiya is instantly whisked away to do Hokage things, and Naruto takes the free time to catch up with Hana.
Everyone has heard of the Akatsuki by now, it being impossible to hide two infamous S-rank nin waltzing into their village and one of their top jounin being sent to the hospital for over a month.
Their purpose - searching for the ninetails - is being kept quiet, but it's now known to most of the upper ranks that the organisation is hunting the jinchuuriki, and that several of them have already disappeared.
With secrecy over Akatsuki no longer on such a strict need-to-know basis, Naruto uses the opportunity to speak to Hana, to confess that they were here for the bijuu she holds. To ensure she gets the chance to tell Hana how much she means to her.
The Inuzuka doesn't react to the revelation of the ninetails beyond laughing at her silliness.
"Oh Naruto. I've already known about the fox, you don't need to explain anything to me."
Naruto throws herself forward and hugs Hana fiercely so she can't see the guilt on her face, the tears prickling in her eyes.
I know. She thinks. It's just an excuse.
"You're the best, Hana."
Hana returns the hug with a snort and an eyeroll. "Well, duh. Isn't that obvious?" She teases.
Naruto lets out a watery chuckle.
"One day, even if you come to hate me, I'll always consider you my precious friend."
Hana laughs again. "I won't hate you, stupid. Promise."
Oh, how desperately Naruto wishes that would be true.
The days go by simultaneously faster and more sluggish than before. Now that Naruto has reunited with Itachi and has concrete plans to do so again, she is anxious to leave Konoha more than ever before, and the familiar safety implied by the walls now seem like obstacles keeping her caged.
Jiraiya continues to teach her, works with her to use the ninetails' chakra, but he is more distant than before.
Still, he doesn't say anything and neither does she, both having an unspoken agreement to continue their relationship in a strictly professional manner. At times though, she catches him looking at her sadly from the corner of his eye.
Naruto wonders if on some level he can sense her desire to leave, and if so, why he doesn't do anything about it. He's the Hokage and she's the village's jinchuuriki; if anyone would be against her leaving it would be him.
But the tension remains simmering between them, inescapable but left untouched.
A month after the inauguration of the Godaime Hokage, Naruto returns to the village from a mission – carefully vetted and not out of Fire Country – to discover Itachi's little brother has defected.
Naruto honestly hasn't given much thought to Uchiha Sasuke.
They were in the same class in the academy until she tested out, but both of them were in a constant state of pretending the other didn't exist. Sasuke because he preferred to ignore everyone, not just her specifically, and Naruto because he was a reminder of what she had lost.
She thinks it likely that Sasuke didn't even notice when she never turned up to class again. If the Uchiha hadn't gotten such abysmal group work scores, he likely could have tested out early as well, but Sasuke had remained forever disdainful and aloof – and that was the last Naruto had seen of him all these years.
The mission to retrieve the younger Uchiha ends up being a total disaster according to the gossip vine, with his classmates being sent out and returning in various states of injury. The Akimichi she remembers as being shy but friendly is still in the hospital and may never recover enough to be a ninja again.
Naruto thinks if Sasuke wanted to burn his bridges, he really did a thorough job. He ran off to join the man who invaded Konoha and killed the Sandaime, and in the process a bunch of clan kids got seriously hurt.
Kiba – to Hana's great relief – comes out with only mild wounds thanks to the newly allied shinobi from Sand.
It's… good to see Gaara again. He looks happier, more settled and not nearly as lonely as he did before. His siblings really seem to be trying and Naruto is glad for him.
He tells her in private that he took her advice, is trying to love his siblings despite not really knowing what love is. Naruto explains to him as best as she can what she thinks love is but feels a bit like the blind leading the blind. Everyone else's experiences are likely to be very different from jinchuuriki like them.
When he asks to meet the one she holds closest to her heart, Naruto hesitates.
She doesn't want to lie to Gaara despite having only met him twice. There is a connection between them that goes beyond the short time they've been acquainted and Naruto doesn't want to ruin that. To lie to him now would be a betrayal, would render their relationship tarnished.
"Ah, well." Naruto fiddles with her bracelet. "He's not in Konoha right now."
Gaara's eyes flicker to her wrist and he just nods, accepting the hint of Itachi's identity without even blinking. Naruto supposes Gaara himself had killed dozens of his own village's people – had even killed his own uncle – and the idea of either Uchiha likely doesn't bother him.
"I think I'd like to meet him, one day."
The Uzumaki smiles, her shoulders losing some of the tension they had gained.
"I'd like that too."
She is fourteen and two months when a crow comes for her under the cover of night.
Uzumaki Naruto defects from Konoha the next day, leaving using her physical transformation variant henge to turn herself into a fish and swim the Naka River. The icy waters carry her straight out of the village, past the security gates and – disgustingly – through the sewage treatment. Intellectually, Naruto knows she comes out cleaner than she went in, but it certainly doesn't feel like it.
A specially prepared seal momentarily hides her chakra signature from the sensory squad's barrier, giving her a few precious seconds of no presence before her vast reserves overload it and it burns out.
It takes much longer as a fish than as a human, but Naruto makes it cleanly to the rendezvous point a mile downstream from Konoha proper.
He is waiting for her, seated by the riverside, black hair gleaming beneath the dim light of the midwinter sun. Several snowflakes swirl gently around his body and his Akatsuki cloak has been replaced with a plain black one. The stillness of his form and unmoving features lends him an inhuman quality, like a statue which has stood sentinel for hundreds of years.
Then his lids lift, eyes shimmering red before turning black again, and Naruto rushes over as Itachi lists where he sits.
"It's done." He speaks, sounding as exhausted as he looks. "I have Shisui's eye."
Naruto feels a burst of admiration. He killed Kisame, sprinted all the way to Konoha from wherever he was, infiltrated the village then killed Danzo and who knows how many other guards the old codger had. No wonder he looks absolutely shattered.
"Are you okay?" She asks, biting her lip.
"Fine. It's just chakra exhaustion."
The Uzumaki sighs in relief. "I'm so glad."
Itachi manages to dredge up a smile that Naruto returns.
She props him up, and though Itachi is the one enshrouding her with his larger form, Naruto knows it is she who is sheltering him. He is uncharacteristically vulnerable in that moment, and Naruto's heart aches for Itachi even as she rejoices in being able to hold him.
"I've got you, Itachi."
The older ninja hums into her neck, already slipping into unconsciousness.
As she secures her passenger, Naruto uses the time to take one last glance upriver. It's a foolish gesture, Konoha's walls aren't even in sight from here. But she looks anyway and she bids farewell to her past.
Her future stretches out before her, full of danger, uncertainty and hardship.
But it is the future she wants and chooses for herself.
Leaping through the branches, Itachi's warmth at her back, Naruto has never felt so free.
[End of Arc I]