Sakura had accepted Naruto's invitation - the boy had been careful to word it that way - to eat ramen at Ichiraku.
Sasuke had declined. It had been particularly strange to see the dark-haired Uchiha again. The boy was still silent. Not permanently scowling like before so there was that but seemingly deep in thoughts and just as reserved as he used to be. Sakura knew he was going through something of a magnitude many times larger than her own interrogations and so left him alone.
She hadn't particularly wanted to talk to him anyway. Dating could wait and she realized she had no idea what to even talk about with Sasuke.
Anyway, ramen. If she had to be honest, those were very good ramen. Sakura, misguided by her obsession over being noticed by Sasuke, had been on a diet for almost two years now. The kind of diet based on salad, low carb, low fat, low sugar, low everything to be thin. For a growing girl in her teenage years trying to become a kunoichi, that was akin to a runner cutting his feet before the race.
Plus, she honestly missed eating mildly unhealthy food once in a while.
On top of that, Naruto was a good conversationalist. He regaled her with snippets of his missions with other teams, of his training, of the people he had met. Sakura had to admit, she was a little envious of the blond. The pink-haired girl would not define herself as adventurous but the reason she had entered the Academy in the first place was because of how her parents and the village as a whole painted ninja-life: full of amazing things.
Then it had been a matter of gaining strength, of being able to stand on her own two feet. Sakura wanted to be someone who Ino, her first friend, could lean against. Like she had leaned against Ino.
Nevertheless, she listened intently, genuinely interested and caught by Naruto's tale. She quickly noticed that the boy wasn't telling her everything, which was fair, she supposed. But the fact he hid how his mission with Team Gai ended felt strangely worrying. She had never seen the blond's visage darken as it did.
Naruto was going through his third bowl of ramen - which he was consuming with surprisingly good manners. She had seen him eat in the Academy and she hadn't been sure eating was the proper term. She didn't begrudge him slurping on the noodles: it was considered polite to show your appreciation for this type of dish by being a bit noisy when eating it.
Anyway, it was his third bowl already when a trio of Academy students seemingly appeared in the ramen restaurant.
"Boss, Boss! Are you- Ooohhh!" A little brown-haired boy with a long blue scarf and a wide smile missing a tooth loudly called before stopping. His smile widened as he saw Sakura. "Boss! Are you on a date?!" He asked, clearly to Naruto.
Sakura's left eye twitched. Naruto sighed, gave her a sideway, apologetic smile before he shook his head at the little boy.
"No Ko, Sakura is just a friend."
A little girl with carotte hair chopped the little boy - Ko? Strange name, thought Sakura - on his head. "Even if he were on a date, that's rude calling it out, Konohamaru-kun."
"That makes more sense", thought the pink-haired girl.
Konohamaru rubbed his head and send a sorry look at Naruto. "Sorry Boss, sorry lady, won't do it again."
Naruto smiled and looked at Sakura. "Heard that Sakura? You're a lady now." This caused pink to dust the girl's cheeks. The blond returned his eyes to Konohamaru and waved his hand in dismissal. "That's okay Ko. So, what's up?"
The boy nodded excitedly. "Have you seen all those foreign ninjas in the village Boss?! They all look so cool!"
Naruto grimaced and placed a hand on his heart. "Oh, how can you be so cruel Ko? You never say I look cool."
"That's silly Boss," admonished the carotte-haired girl. "Konohamaru always says that you're cool."
Naruto's face seemingly brightened. "Really? And you, what do you think Moegi-chan, am I cool?"
The girl blushed slightly and tried to hide it with a pout as she crossed her arms on her chest. "I'm not telling."
"Mooh, so mean Moegi-chan."
Sakura giggled. So Naruto was good with kids. She blushed furiously and choked at the thought. Where was that coming from?
"Anyway," was saying Naruto, "yes, I know about the foreign ninjas. They are here for the chuunin exams. Be careful you three. They'll likely be on edge and you don't want to cause trouble," he warned sternly.
This peaked Sakura's attention. She knew what the chuunin exams were obviously, that was taught in the Academy. She hadn't known Konoha was organizing them, however.
"Are you participating in the exams, Naruto?" The pink-haired girl asked curiously.
The blond smiled but shook his head. "No," he answered before his face darkened momentarily. "And I'm glad I don't." He whispered before his smile returned.
That surprised Sakura. The old Naruto, the one she knew in the Academy, would have passed no opportunity to prove his strength. His worth.
But the old Naruto was no more, she supposed. Six months out of her sight and the blond had changed greatly. He was still smiling and while she felt it was genuine, there was this layer of something underneath. Part of it was dark but most of all, it felt steady, rooted deep.
Maturity, she suddenly realized. The boy had immensely matured from the brat she had known. She suddenly felt saddened by that realization. Not that she begrudged Naruto his maturity but it was like she had been left behind in the dust while he was going forward. Now she feared she would not catch up to him. She would be alone again.
"Only Konohamaru causes trouble," little Moegi was saying, flailing her arms around and getting an affronted "Hey!" of protest from the boy. "A-anyway, are you sure you aren't on a date Boss? She is really pretty!" The carotte-haired student exclaimed loudly, apparently trying to tease Naruto back.
"What!? Nah, look at her forehead! Boss deserves better!"
Sakura's train of thought was brutally interrupted and she swivelled her head to stare at the little boy, getting a whimper out of him.
"Ko."
"Y-yeah, Boss?"
"Time to run and see if you're keeping in shape."
Konohamaru bolted out of the stand, Sakura hot on his heal while Naruto laughed heartily. The blond fished for some money in his toad-themed purse.
"Ah, so you're paying for your friend?" Ayame asked.
Naruto shrugged. "Well, not like she can."
Ayame gave the blond a mischievous smile. "If you're paying her tab, it's a date," she sing-sang.
Naruto blushed and flicked a coin at the older girl's forehead. "Shush, Ayame-Nee. Thanks for the ramen, Teuchi-Oji!"
"You're welcome!" The old cook yelled from somewhere in the back.
Naruto turned to face Moegi and Udon, who had been silent up until now.
"Say Boss, shouldn't we check that your girlfriend isn't killing Konohamaru?" The boy with glasses asked matter-of-factly.
The blond shook his head with a sigh. "You too Udon? Right, whatever, let's go."
They easily found Sakura and Konohamaru again. They had kicked so much dirt that following the trail was easy. What Naruto couldn't, for the life of him, understand, was how things could escalate that quickly.
From Sakura vengefully chasing after Konohamaru to said boy being held aloft by his collar by a Suna-nin dressed in a catsuit while Sakura was standing in front of them, frozen in fright, there was a causal step Naruto was missing.
He could very well see Konohamaru bumping accidentally in the Suna-nin but the little Sarutobi was a polite boy. He would know to apologize so there was no reason to scowl at him threateningly while hoisting him by his neck. Right?
And what the heck was that Suna-nin thinking, manhandling a child of Konoha while being a guest of the village?
Naruto nonchalantly made a cross with his fingers before he stepped forth, coughing to clear his throat and attract the necessary attention. "Alright people, let's calm down," he said with an easy smile. "I have no idea what happened but surely, violence isn't necessary."
He didn't phrase it as a question. He made sure his tone let no doubt that it wasn't a question.
So when the Suna-nin answered "yes, I think there is, you tree-hugger," Naruto sighed in mild annoyance.
"Okay, I'll reformulate that," said the blond, his blue eyes suddenly ice-cold and his voice hard as steel. "You'll drop this boy now or you'll lose your hand. The blond girl will lose a foot and the dude in the tree up there," Naruto pointed at a tree to the side, "will lose an eye. Guest of Konoha or not."
Before Catman could retort anything, a kunai was placed over his wrist while another was held over his throat. The older boy froze. Next to and behind him, two replicas of the blond were holding him at bladepoint. He could feel the cold bite of steel against his skin, which confirmed that the kunai were very real and quite able to hurt him.
"Kankuro," a voice, raspy in texture but flat in tone, suddenly spoke from the tree.
The Suna-nin paled. When before, he gave the impression that he wasn't overly afraid of Naruto, he now seemed truly terrified "G-Gaara." The boy swallowed thickly, nicking his throat against the kunai.
"Don't breathe too hard," warned Naruto, his voice still cutting.
"Let the child go, Kankuro." The voice in the tree ordered.
Slowly, the Suna-nin lowered Konohamaru, who ran behind Naruto. The blond smiled. "Good, glad everything is solved."
In a poof of smoke, the clones of the blond disappeared. In the corner of his eyes, the boy in the catsuit could see a similar smoke around his blond teammate and up in the tree.
In an abrupt body flicker, a redhead boy appeared in front of Kankuro.
"Who are you?" The redhead asked in his dead voice, staring unblinkingly at Naruto.
The blond smiled, hiding the nervousness the boy in front of him was invoking in him. "Menma, good to meet you."
The redhead boy seemed to consider something for a few seconds before he nodded briefly. "You'll make a good offering for mother."
Naruto's knees nearly buckled. "Sorry, I'm not into older women." The blond rasped out.
Blatantly ignoring the jab, the redhead turned his back on the blond and began to walk away. "Kankuro, Temari, let's go."
"Y-yes Gaara."
The trio of Suna-nin was long out of view when Naruto allowed himself to breathe normally again. The back of his shirt was damp with sweat.
The redhead, Gaara, had blasted him with murderous intent the like of which he had never felt. The only thing that had kept him on his feet standing was his experience with Team Gai. Now he was glad he wasn't taking part in the exams for a different reason.
He wasn't a coward. But Gaara was quite clearly a bloodthirsty psychopath. One of those ninjas for whom Duty was too restrictive. One of those ninjas who genuinely enjoyed killing. The redhead reeked of blood and fear and none was his own. There was no need to seek a fight with someone like that if it wasn't absolutely necessary.
He had to warn his friends. He had to warn Ibiki-sensei.
"N-Naruto, are you alright?"
He was shaken out of his thoughts by Sakura's questions and hand on his shoulders. Naruto nodded and coughed. "Yeah, thank you Sakura." He looked at the three Academy students. "You three go play in the Sarutobi compound and don't bump into another foreign team."
"But Boss-"
"Now, Konohamaru!" Naruto scowled. "I've no time for you at this moment. I'll catch you all later. In the Sarutobi compound. Am I clear?"
Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon all nodded. They had never seen Naruto like that but his tone clearly meant he would tolerate no complaining. Hurriedly, the three children left towards the Sarutobi clan grounds.
"Naruto?"
"Sakura." The blond breathed deeply and stared at the pink-haired girl dead in her green eyes. "Something big will happen during these exams. Eat well, train and stay sharp. You'll need it."
"I-I don't understand," protested the girl, panic slowly seeping in her voice. "What's happening?"
Naruto shook his head. "I'm… I'm not sure." He said hesitantly, looking at the girl intently as if hoping she would figure it out herself. "Be there for Kakashi kenjutsu training and if I may, look into iryo-jutsu at the hospital. You have the smarts and the control for that. We'll need everyone, Sakura."
He couldn't rightly tell her that war was coming; the Hokage had been clear that it was a piece of information to be kept secret. But maybe he could invoke a sense of urgency, a way to have herself kick her ass into gear.
"It was good seeing you Sakura," Naruto said before leaving in a body flicker.
Sakura was left in the middle of the street, alone and worried. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around her frame and shuddered, the words of Naruto looping back in her head.
"Eat well, train and stay sharp." She swallowed thickly. There was something in the boy's voice. A threat, a warning of a catastrophe coming.
"We'll need everyone." Her thought drifted to the headband now resting on her nightstand. Slowly, determination etched itself on the girl's features. Naruto was counting on her. She'd do her best.
As she made her way back to her home in a decided gait, she tried not to think about how hot he looked as he threatened the Suna-nin.
Shino, Shikamaru and Naruto were laying down in the grass of training ground four. Usually, they would be looking at the sparse clouds of the summer sky but today, the white aerial giants couldn't hold their attention.
After warning Ibiki about Gaara and being told that everything was monitored and under control, Naruto had gone straight for the training ground, having dispatched shadow clones to fetch his two friends. A third had been sent to find and warn Tenten or Neji.
Not that Naruto didn't like Lee, he very much did, but his two teammates had their head much more solidly anchored to their shoulders. Lee was the kind of guy who would refuse any intel on the concurrence on the basis that it was disloyal and unyouthful. Neji and Tenten thought like ninjas.
Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome. Do you think we should quit?"
Naruto hesitated. "Honestly? This exam is all about getting the opportunity to clown around in front of the Daimyo and other people who could forward their business to Konoha. Is it worth fighting against a psychopathic genin who is clearly not a genin? I don't think so."
"Do you truly evaluate him to be so dangerous?" Shino questioned, his voice neutral.
Naruto shivered and crossed his arms on his chest. After a few seconds, he inhaled deeply. "I've been scared twice in my life," the blond began slowly in a low tone. "The first time was with Team Gai. The second time was earlier in the street when I was face to face with Gaara." Naruto admitted to his friends. "Would I fight him if he threatened the village? Yes. Would I fight him if I can avoid it? Absolutely not."
Shino simply nodded. "Very well. Your capacities as a ninja and the fact that we are friends enjoin that I trust your evaluation and take your advice seriously. I shall discuss it with my team."
Shikamaru sighed again and gestured towards Shino. "What he said."
Naruto exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding and relaxed a little. "Thanks guys. I'd really…" The blond coughed. "Hum, what I mean is, that would suck," Naruto said. "If something happened to you." He clarified.
Shikamaru smiled teasingly. "I'm glad you're so attached to our well-being, mom."
Naruto slapped the Nara on his arm. "Shush."
"I concur with Shikamaru-san."
Naruto pouted, his face red and his arms crossed over his chest. "You're mean. I'm serious, 'ttebayo." He muttered.
After a minute of silence, Shikamaru shifted. "Naruto?" The Nara said.
"What?" The blond grumbled.
"Stay safe too," completed Shino.
"Yeah. What he said."
Naruto felt himself redden as a warmth he rarely got to feel blossomed in his chest. Coughing loudly, he jumped on his feet and stretched, keeping his face out of his two friends' field of view. "Ahem! Yeah, thanks, guys! Now enough of the depressing stuff! What should we do?!"
Shikamaru smiled as Shino shrugged. None of the two took the seemingly abrupt dismissal of their worries as an insult. They fully knew Naruto had some troubles to being shown affection. Because say what you will but they were clever. So they went along with it.
"I propose we get Shikamaru in the river," Shino said suddenly.
"What?!"
"I fear you've mollified in spite of the correction Naruto gave your team, Shikamaru-san. It will not do," continued the Aburame.
Shikamaru rolled from his laying position to a crouch, his hand already holding the snake sign. "You'll never have me alive, Shino. And as I recall, Naruto also gave your team a correction." The Nara said as his shadow ensnared Shino's, causing the Aburame to freeze.
"I know from an unquestionable source that the one we got was way less humiliating."
Shikamaru scoffed. "Hinata fainted because Naruto showed some of his abs and you got done in with some honey."
"At least, I didn't get peppered by paint, eggs and glue. Also, I didn't get knocked out by a single blow."
"Well, sue me, Naruto hits like a truck."
Suddenly, both boys felt a hand around their neck.
"Oy, oy, oy. I'm here you know? It's impolite to talk about someone while they are here. I think you both deserve a bath."
"Shikamaru-san, I would think an alliance of circumstance is necessary."
Shikamaru nodded. "It would appear so," he answered before suddenly letting go of his hand sign and tackling the blond behind him, taking a page from Naruto's book on uncanny angles of attacks.
Shino swarmed the clone behind him with his kikaichuu, each of his allies pulsing minute amounts of chakra into the chakra construct and causing it to dissipate. He had worked hard towards this jutsu, with a little input from Naruto himself. It could destabilize any solid clone.
The impromptu spar quickly turned into the three boys simply horsing around until all three ended up in the stream bordering training ground four.
"Little genins are adorable, aren't they, Kurenai?" Asuma said from a tree overlooking the clearing of training ground four, a smile floating on his mouth.
"They are," the woman next to him agreed with a smile of her own. She quickly lost it, however. "I fear they won't stay adorable for long."
Asuma's face darkened. "It comes with the job. The important thing is that they stay alive."
Kurenai nodded.
Naruto was going through the first routine Kakashi - kind-of-sensei, the blond supposed - had showed them. He had trouble focusing, however, as he knew his friends were going through the first stage of the chuunin exam right now. They were newly minted genins among an experienced and very hostile concurrence. He hoped they would pull through without too many problems.
Hoping for none was just stupid.
"You're troubled Naruto-kun," greeted the Hokage, startling Naruto and almost making him lose his grip on his chokuto.
"Ah, Jiji, didn't hear you coming," the boy said, scratching the back of his scalp, a wobbly smile on his face.
"You're worried for your friends," remarked the Hokage with a gentle smile.
Naruto hesitated before he simply nodded.
"Your worries honour you, Naruto-kun but you must trust in them and focus on what you can do. Worrying and allowing your awareness to drop wouldn't favour them in any way."
The blond gulped and nodded. "I know, Jiji. I just can't help it. I wish I were with them."
"And it is normal but a good ninja is one who endures and it means to endure our worry and anxiety. It also means to conceal it, from your foes and from yourself if necessary."
"From myself?"
"No distraction can be had on the battlefield, Naruto-kun. It means the life or death of yourself and your comrades. You'll save them by being focused, my boy."
The blond nodded once more, slowly this time and his eyes slowly hardened. "Hai, Hokage-sama."
The old man smiled. "Good. Keep your spirits high, fiery and most importantly, riveted on your goal. Now en garde."
Naruto had barely the time to ready his chokuto before the Kage lunged at him with a kunai. After all of three seconds, the blond abandoned the unfamiliar weapon to seize two short knives which whined with perfectly refined Fuuton chakra. Naruto's steel went through the Hokage's weapon like a hot knife through butter.
The old man quickly jumped back and before Naruto could follow, ran through hand signs to breathe a stream of fire. The blond simply threw his knives through the fire before running through his own hand signs. His cheeks bulged before he spewed a wall of water. Steam exploded between the two shinobi but Naruto lost no time to observe it and crossed his fingers. Several copies of him appeared at his side. Naruto twisted the hand sign and several other copies shimmered in existence. He twisted it again and ran through another sequence that caused him to disappear from sight, sound and smell.
One Naruto blew the steam clear with a Fuuton jutsu and the horde zeroed on the Hokage who was calmly waiting, staff in hand.
Naruto knew full well the old man in front of him was a clone of some kind but he had to take care of it. It would be a thorn in his flank otherwise.
While his clones were battered by the fake Hokage, Naruto quickly ran through hand signs, pinched a piece of unmarked chakra paper from one of his pouches and nicked his thumb over it.
The square folded itself in a butterfly that seemed truer than nature, which immediately homed on the position of the true Hokage. Or maybe another clone. The shinki simply sought the biggest chakra signature in the vicinity that wasn't Naruto or anything the blond was telling it not to approach.
The blond silently thanked Shino and stalked after the butterfly; not directly behind obviously.
It did him good because a fireball crashed right where he should have been. But fighting like a shinobi was a game of layers. With a smile, Naruto flung three shurikens along the fireball's path, shurikens which multiplied into three hundred whistling stars of steel with a single hand sign.
A single kunai with impossible accuracy pierced the butterfly and burnt it as the Katon chakra infusing the blade dispersed in the paper. Naruto didn't need to watch to know his shuriken had reduced a log to ribbons.
He immediately whirled around only to receive a hit on his head that reduced him to a puff of smoke.
The real Naruto, who had been just to the side of the decoy, abandoned stealth to strike like lightning with a Fuuton augmented kunai.
That was the problem with his invisibility jutsu: moving too fast was impossible, it simply disrupted the light shield. One had to be slow and careful in their movements.
The Hokage caught his wrist at the very last second, redirecting the blow away from his guts but earning a long tear on his robes. With a twist of his arm, the Kage sent Naruto in a sprawl to the ground before striking him with his bo staff, robbing the blond of his breath and shattering his focus with the raw pain of a broken rib.
The Hokage observed the hole in his robes and smiled. "I'm very, very proud of you, Naruto-kun."
The blond answered nothing. He was too busy trying to catch his breath. He had been going all out, sparing no expense of chakra, buttressing his conditioning with some and creating many shadow clones but the spar had lasted less than a minute. The Hokage had used a substitution jutsu, two Katon techniques and bukijutsu. Kami above, Naruto hated this staff.
Slowly, the blond rolled on his undamaged side and rose to a stand. Leashing his breathing, Naruto blinked to evacuate the tears of pain and readied himself. Sweat pearled on his brow.
"En garde."
The Hokage nodded.
AN: I kind of realize how it might seem like I'm teasing a return of Sasuke but that's not for now. As a reviewer said in a story that wasn't mine, "if you don't like a character, change them or don't write about them". Wise words I'm following seeing as bent-on-revenge-at-all-cost-Sasuke is too difficult for me to compute and solve. So, until therapy works or fails, Sasuke is benched.
On other news, what is up with Kabuto and one-handed signs? Like, Haku knew about them and that's it. Not Orochimaru, not Itachi, not Kisame, none of the big baddies who were big on ninjutsu or coming from Kiri knew about them. So no, Kabuto doesn't know about them.
Finally, you can forget how the Konoha Crush went in canon. The idea that two armies could enter the Land of Fire, cross it in its near entirety and approach Konoha completely undetected and assault it directly is just absolutely fucking ludicrous. You don't need to come out of Westpoint to realize that it's retarded and paint Konoha shinobi as completely incompetent. As explained in chapter 26, the really big clashes of troops will take place way before Konoha. Next chapter will also give some keys to the attack.
Also, a cookie goes to Alastor Wolfkin. He'll know why.
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