XX|V.
'He sure has grown up, hasn't he?' The Hyuga thinks to herself as they lead him back home. Three years. In just three years she had never imagined the day would come to this.
And now. Now, he was here in the flesh, standing beside her like he should be. And yet, his smiles; that fox like grin as he pulled his pranks. It was all but gone; not one trace of it left. The boy, now a young man, had a neutral expression adorning his face.
It was like he had wanted to be free, the way he looked behind him with his hands tied behind his back. An almost longing look overshadowing his features; a gloomy dark cloud of doom overhanging his head. Hinata felt almost sad about him tagging along with their squad, but, then again, there was no other choice but to. Hokage's orders, after all.
As they were walking along the snowy path, Hinata couldn't help but notice the now older blonde shivering, even with the Akatsuki robes on for warmth. Not wanting him to be completely helpless, she opted to help him out. "Naruto-kun, are you cold?" Her face contorts with concern, eyeing his body as it closes in on himself. "If - if you'd like, we can always take a break. Whatever you do, d - don't push yourself too hard..." Blood filled her cheeks as she looked at anything but at him.
"I'm okay," he says through jittery teeth. His body said so otherwise, however. "Here..." She wraps a ruby red scarf around his neck and ties it loosely with a small chuckle. "Haha! This looks lovely on you, Naruto-kun~!" She coos with a small smile. "Wh - whoa. What's this, Hinata?" He looked at it in awe, mouth agape. "I knitted it myself o - over the summer," She twirls a lock of her purple hair with flushed cheeks on her normally pale face. "You like it?"
"Of course I do. It looks just like the old one I used to have! Thanks, Hina - chan!" He would have hugged her had he not been stuck in his current position. 'EEEE! Naruto-kun likes it! This is so wonderful; this fuzzy feeling~.'
"O - Of course." She smiled once she saw that grin spread across his face. Now, THIS was the Naruto she knew and cherished. Sai smiled at the two lovebirds, absently using an inked paintbrush to draw them on his scroll. Sakura beams at them, it had been a long time since she'd seen them together like this (if, at all). From being complete strangers to now fellow friends. But still sweet, nonetheless.
"Come on, you two. The hokage's waiting, you know." She scolds them, smirking playfully, "Now, enough chit chat! Let's get going already, geez!"
'SHANNARO! That girl needs to back off; he's my man! ...Or so I'd like to say to that baka. Too bad that idiot likes someone else.' She thinks of Sasuke-kun and flinches. Seeing as how rogue he was right now, he'd probably have killed her if she so much as said that. Good thing he wasn't here to hear her out, or else he wouldn't even forgive her for taking that away from him. Thank goodness...
Naruto and Hinata groan.
Passing by, there stood a single store among the streets. Just the perfect scapegoat. "Guys, hang on a sec. I'mma get somethin'." They cast him a side glance that said, quite plainly, 'Oh, are you really? I should've known.'
"What? It'll be real quick, I promise!" He begs, tears in his eyes. "Hurry it up, then," Sakura huffed, unlatching his chakra cuffs. Feeling the Kyuubi enter inside of him, a rush of power enters through his veins. He feels alive again.
"Heh he, it feels good to be back and at 'em! How ya doin', Kit?"
'Well, aside from bein' seperated from the teme for THREE YEARS, I think I'm doin' pretty good, I'll say.'
"Well, that sucks. Maybe you'll see him again, soon."
'I sure hope so...'
"See ya in a bit!" He calls, his inner self chuckling madly. Snapping back into his senses, he turns to leave, but the Hyuga heiress stops him halfway through. "Naruto-kun, please hurry. I - I really really REALLY don't want to use my Gentle Fists on you..." He nods at her and rushes off as far away from them as possible. 'C'mon, c'mon...' He curses his legs, why couldn't he move any faster? "What's the rush, kiddo?"
'Well, it's just that, I gotta go! I can't stay here, not like this!' He says, making a mad dash across the street. "You used to be all for Konoha, now you're against it? Times sure do change, huh?"
'That's in the past, Kurama! My whole life I've been tryin' to please people, even though they treated me terribly, half the time. Actually, try ALL the time,' He thinks sourly, 'Sides, I always wondered it was like outside of the village. I want to explore the whole world, and go on tons of adventures! This isn't over, yet...'
He cast a look past the hokage's head mountains and softens his eyes. 'It's not like I'm goin' to hurt anybody. I mean, even I'm not THAT bad. I just wanna live my own life for once, y'know? Not havin' ta worry about something I can't get.' Like being the hokage, he adds in bitterly. "Ah, puberty. Rebelling, mood swings, and weird as heck hair growth. It got ya pretty good, Kit. But, so is the life of a teenager." Ignoring his comment for the time being, he sees his golden opportunity. 'Oh, look! This is my chance.' Opening a door to a random building, he enters inside.
'Huh...' Naruto tears through inside a bookstore and blinks. 'WHAT THE HECK!?'
"Err..." He says awkwardly, scratching the back of his head and pouting. "May I help you with something?" The shop clerk peers at him through his horn-rimmed glasses. "N - no thank you! Really." The Uzumaki shakes his hands back and forth with a nervous smile, hoping to sneak by without getting caught. "I'll just be on my merry way now. Hehe."
'Guess it can't ta check out a book or two. Maybe find a way out of this mess.' He looks around through the shelves of books upon books, but nothing catches his eye. Seeing a spark at a certain corner, he pries the wood open and it reveals a small, dusty book with cobwebs all over it. Blowing it off, he stares openly at the cover.
"'The Forbidden Affairs of Love.'" He whispers, blanching. "Sounds like a porno to me, Kit."
'What's this doin' here? It doesn't have a label like all the other books here.' He decides against buying it, but then a shadow looms over him ominously. "Hey." Someone taps his shoulder, and Naruto feels his hair stand on end. Turning around, he gulps, feeling a shiver down his spine.
He hides a book behind his back, but even the old man can see it. "Let me see that," he sighs, holding out a hand. The blonde hands it over reluctantly, not meeting his eyes. "I see what you got there." He examines the book intently. "...Interesting. Very interesting. You see, what you have is no ordinary book. It is something hidden away for good reason; actually I was the one who hid it decades ago. It's not something the public would want to see. The fact that you found it, after decades of it laying there, waiting to be found...speaks of the promise of a true intellect."
"Gee, thanks..." Naruto scratches the back of his head, blushing slightly, "But, I'm not actually THAT smart. I mean, even Sasuke does that kinda stuff better than me. He's...he is..." He trails off, thinking about the Uchiha boy. Truthfully, it had hurt that he wasn't there with him anymore. He grew so used to having him here, that without him...it was almost like he had nothing to look forward to. No challenge, no obstacle in his path, nothing. He was...gone. That's just it; gone. 'We were compatible...him and I. ...Where are you? Sasuke, are you in my heart, too? I'm gonna find you someday, now that I know you're alive. I won't sit back this time and watch you hurt yourself again. I promised I'd save you myself if I have to!'
"Ne, ne. Sorry. Sorta lost in thought there." He laughs nervously. The old man peers at him; adjusting his glasses, and smiles. "Dear boy, you seem to be confused about all of this. As you can see from the title, this is about the affairs of love. Moreover, the forbidden acts of shinobi and villagers alike." He elaborates, examining the book and flipping through its' crinkled pages, "Hand in hand, man and wife. This has been our system for hundreds of years and is still custom and traditional to this day."
"Huh?"
"What I'm saying is, is that a man can't love another man. Notice how there's almost never a woman and a woman together. Having fun, laughing, spending time together, even as friends."
The blonde nods. "It's how our world works. Men are structured to love a woman and women are structured to love a man. This is the decree from the First, Hashirama Senju, himself. That's why you almost never see a boy and a boy holding hands together. Why they never kiss; why they never marry. It is strictly illegal to do so otherwise."
Naruto gulped. He remembered doing that with Sasuke. A lot, actually. No wonder why people looked at them like they grew two heads or somethin'. Because it wasn't "normal" by any means. Glowering at the man, he snaps, "Hey, what's that to ya, anyways? And, yeah, so what if I do?! What I do with some guy doesn't matter, yanno!" He shouts in the library defensively, only realizing a little too late that he admitted the truth about his feelings. Flustered, he looks away angrily, and crosses his arms.
"Because I was just like you, when I was younger, dear boy." The old man says ever so gently, Naruto is almost taken aback. "Oh, yeah?! So what?"
"I - I loved a Kohaku. Before we even became ROOT members, we were the bestest of friends. We were going to marry one day; we promised under a sakura tree." He sighs, sliding the spectacles off of his long, crooked nose and slips it into his hands. "I remember exactly...I had proposed to him and confessed my love, all but for nay. Alas, it was not meant to be. We faced the penalty. The council members at the time forbid it. We were separated, and soon after, we broke ties with each other. We were never to be seen in public ever again."
'H - he's just like me...' Naruto sniffles, tears streaming down his cheeks. "T - that's horrible! I'd hate feelin' like that!" He grits his teeth, looking down painfully, "I hated that teme for sure, but...! If the Old Man told me one day that that our friendship was as good as over, then I wouldn't know how ta live with myself!"
'He was my first kiss, after all! Would they arrest me for that?' The old man smiles down at him sadly, stroking his shoulder. "Don't make the same mistake I did, young lad... As someone who was just like you, it will only make you suffer, in the end. I married a woman, but I still regret not having have done something sooner. I never loved her, no, not truly like the man I used to love. It was never the same; so I had to replace my feelings for her, instead. How I regret doing something like that..."
Naruto wipes his tears away angrily with his sleeve. "I - I'm sorry, ojii-san..." The shop clerk smiles down at him, "As a token of my thanks, I'd like to leave it in your good hands." He places the book in his hands, which the blonde accepts with disbelief. "Now, go! Before anyone else sees you, Naruto Uzumaki!" The blonde nods, but then sputters. "Wait, wha - ! How'd you know it was me the whole time?" The shop clerk smirks at him. "It's rather obvious, is it not? Don't worry, I'll cover for you if they ask." Before the boy leaves, he says, "Oh, and don't forget..."
"...your feelings for the Uchiha are genuine. Don't let it die."
Naruto blushes and nods, despite himself. And so the old man shoos him away, and, as he walks off, he hears familiar voices to his ears. Disguising himself in a henge, he listens into the conversation that unfolds right before his eyes.
Overhearing Team Ten from one of the tables, Naruto hides himself from behind a bookshelf. "I sure hope Team Kakashi finds that number one knuckle headed ninja before we do. Honestly, what a drag..."
"As long as they don't capture the missing nin Sasuke-kun. He's already corrupt as he is...killing thousands of lives in battle without a second thought. I don't think Miss Forehead could ever catch him, even if she tried. If that's the case, then she'll just hafta forfeit the mission. Better safe than sorry, right? And at least that blonde baka isn't THAT dangerous."
'Criminal?' Naruto echoed in his mind, 'Since when did that happen? I thought that asshole was just livin' his life in the wild or whatever...'
"Just because that Uchiha brat is out there, doesn't mean he's taking the easy life. Maybe they aren't lying, after all. I wouldn't be surprised if he really is killing people behind your back, kid."
'I dunno. Somethin' just doesn't feel right about this picture...' He hears a slam on the table, and listens in a little more. "That still doesn't change the fact that the Akatsuki are still out there, growing stronger than ever. We already lost our sensei, Asuma..."
All of them look at the floor sadly, not maintaining eye contact."But, enough about that. What about that new kid on their team. What's his name? Sai? How troublesome..."
"Oh, him?" Ino had a far off gaze in her eyes, "Well, he's not as emotionless as people make him out to be. He's very nice. Actually, Miss Forehead set me up with him and we had lunch together one night. He just has trouble reading other people's emotions, that's all. One time, he even called me," her cheeks dust a nice shade of pink, "'gorgeous.'"
'Blegh!' Naruto stuck his tongue out
"Ugh...I need a cigarette for this," Shikamaru sighs, using a match to light up a cigar. "Anyways, you and Temari are a thing, hmm~?" Ino says slyly. "We went on one date and she passive aggressively punched me as we were eating at a dango shop because she had a sweet tooth and she didn't tell me until then. And then she says that I'm too lazy for my own good and that my head is too often in the clouds...and she isn't wrong. It's just that women are so much trouble to keep up with...too tiresome for me. But, yeah. We hang out. Sometimes."
"Mmm!" Chouji licks his lips, wiping the grease off his mouth. Reaching for more chips in his bag, he adds in, "If he was chicken, I'd have barbequed that Yamanaka! Delicious~!"
"EWW! Do you ALWAYS think about food?" Ino whacks him on the head with a book. "Now, as I was saying, before you so RUDELY interrupted me -"
- A rumble stops her midsentence and she groaned. "Not again."
"Let's get our grub on! I'm hungry..."
"Of course YOU are, Chouji." She sighs, "alright, let's go, you two. It's not like we got anything better to do, anyway."
And so, Naruto exits the store before they can spot him.
"You sure took your sweet time, baka. Frankly, I shouldn't even be surprised that you slacked off again. What's your lame excuse this time?" She glares at him, hands on her hips. "I - I got none." He shrugs, "my... bad?"
"Baka." She slaps him across the face, sending him flying to the ground. Hinata screams. Sai looks aghast, narrowing his eyes on the offending girl. "You're lucky you got away with your stupidity this time," Sakura says, wagging a finger. "You know, if it weren't for us, you'd be dead by now. You should be grateful for our help." Opting to change the subject, Sai decided to start a conversation on something else; notably the thing the blonde was holding. "What's that you got there?" Sai stares down at the object he's trying to hide behind the small of his back. But, it's becoming increasingly more obvious that it's something to worry about. "Oh, this? Uhh...it's nothin'..."
"Ah, you like to read, Naruto-kun?" Hinata beams with delight, eyes doe like. "Me too! We have so much in common~!" She smothers him in a hug and kisses him on the cheek. "H - hey!" He blushes, not used to such intimate contact. Though, he shrinks away because as nice as she was, he barely knew her by heart. In his eyes, it would be the same as some stranger walking by the street and frolicking to you like some lovesick puppy. This is exactly how he felt at the moment. But Naruto laughs nervously, playing along with it.
"Hey! Show it to me," Sakura demands, trying to snatch it out of his hands. The girl was persistent, just as feisty and as determined as he was. Naruto smirks at her. "Catch it if ya can, then!" He and Sakura watch as it flies past their heads and onto the road. 'You idiot!' Inner Sakura rages, 'I'm gonna get this, no problem!' She speeds off and catches it between two slick fingers. "Oh, look. I actually got it, what do you know?" She cackles with glee. She had outsmarted the blonde yet again. Score two for Sakura Haruno! But, looking at the title, she almost screams and drops it. 'What the heck?' She thinks, eyeing the title with distaste.
She walks back to her squad and shows it to them. "Why do you have this, anyway? Seems kinda pointless to me."
"I - I dunno! The shop guy gave it to me, that's all! I swear!" He says, embarassed. "Hmph! Let's just go to the hokage already," She cuffs him again, as they continue their stroll.
"Stay...still!" Sakura huffs, trying to keep him steady as he was struggling. "I'm not gonna make this any easy for you, Sakura-chan, just 'cuz you're my friend!" He retorts back confidently, happy he got her good. "What? So you'd prefer to run around like all the other wild animals out in the woods? No way." She scoffs, crossing her arms and looking away. So far, the blonde was proving to be a real pest.
Naruto grunted. There was no stopping a confident Sakura, was there. On the bright side, Hina-chan seemed happy to be with him. And Sai was drawing something on his scroll. "W - What are you doin'?" The other male feels down his pants and looks up with a fake smile. "As I thought, my length is bigger than yours. Your penis is quite small, I see..."
"WHY YOU?!" Naruto growls, his inner fox boy leaking out. He'd tear him up into pieces if he had to! "Shut up, you dorks! Now is not the time to talk about your manhoods! Gawds!" She looks away, disgusted, "You're in the presence of two women. And two pretty young women, mind you. Pull yourselves together!"
"Sorry, Sakura-chan!" he says unapologetically. After all, she was his captive. No use having Stockholm Syndrome for some girl who hates him, right? "No, you're quite ugly, actually." Sai says savagely, face impassive. 'OH, CRAP! He's gonna get it!' Naruto thinks, eyeing the pink girl a she loses it on the guy. "EXCUSE ME?!" Sakura screeched, whirling on him. Before it got into a full out brawl, the Hyuga tried stopping them, but to no avail. "G - guys..." She points to the location in front of them.
"We're at the hokage's." Hinata announces from the front, opening the door for them to enter.
"Ah, it seems we're not alone." A familiar voice says.
Nervously, Naruto steps out of the shadows and the council members in the room just stare at him in contemplation. "Er, granny," he began, looking at the woman in question. "Brat?" she slurs, with a slight burp, as she holds onto a bottle of sake. She wobbles a bit, and she couldn't seem to stay still even for just a minute. "Hokage-sama," Sakura greets with a bow, the other two doing the same. "We have brought him back, just as you wanted."
"Th...ank you..." Tsunade says, straining a smile. "What should we do with him, hokage-sama?" Danzo asks from beside her. She stands up from her desk, and advances toward her subject. Stumbling in the process, she lands facefirst into his chest; her mouth gurgling. "W - what're you doing?" Naruto flinches, feeling her take a step back and giggle.
"ANBU…" the words slurred together," ...strain…'im ow."
"OW!" she yells soon after; holding her head in her hands. "Old hag, you OK?" Naruto seemed to ignore his present predicament and still showed some care to the woman who was arresting him on the spot. She fell to the floor, and repeatedly shook her head back and forth. "Perhaps you need some rest, Tsunade-san. I'll take things from here," Danzo suggests, and she nods numbly. Standing up shakily, she leaves the room.
"Now, as for you," he looks to Naruto with a look of glee.
"You'll be annihilated."
Without thinking, he tears through the room. "BAA-CHAN!" Naruto screamed, pushing past them over to Shizune, who carries the old woman to a bed. Going to her side, he kneels beside her. His face was full of emotions as he clutched her hand. "Eh...you brat…" she grunted, face sweating profusely. "Tell him everything."
"You were...too late." Shizune informs him sadly.
Taking a shaky breath, the young woman explains, "Well, we were running a few tests through her body, and, at first, she seemed perfectly fine. But then, the medics found toxins throughout her bloodstream. We identified the cause of poison from her excessive drinking from a certain sake. What it was, we had no idea. Until now. We've narrowed it down to this bottle that she drank from Danzo. We believe he was the one behind the poison incident."
"Damn fool...and all to become hokage…" Tsunade laughed without feeling and her dull eyes searched through Naruto's big, blue ones. She brings a hand to his face and wipes his tears away with a soft smile. "Gaki..."
"We all found signs she wasn't being herself." Shizune's voice choked, and her eyes watered a considerable amount. But, she didn't cry. Not just yet. "Ever since you've left, she didn't talk to me, Jiraiya-san...or anyone. S - she drank more and more. H - Hokage-sama closed herself in and smoked, as well. She drugged herself to the point of addiction and now she's...she's…" The tears spill from her face and she sobs; burying her face into the older woman's lap.
"Please take this," Tsunade weakly removes her necklace around her neck and placed it into Naruto's palm. "It is the first hokage's." She croaks, voice cracking, "This is a treasure worth thousands and thousands, enough to buy all the hidden villages combined. Or the gold from three mountains...it is that powerful. The special gem has the power to control tail beasts, including that beast of yours, brat..." she coughs, looking at him with soft amber eyes, "This is all yours. I leave it in your care, Namikaze."
'I'm a...Namikaze?' He realizes with horror, as her body slumps against the makeshift bed. 'But, I thought-! Mom was an Uzumaki...so Dad is a -?'
"Naruto, I'm so sorry...s - sorry...Minato and Kushina Namikaze...they…l - lo - " her words trailed off, and her eyes are blank. "Y - you…." Her body stilled, and her hand hung lifeless in his hand. "Smile for me ... one last time..."
"NO! Don't you dare die on me!" he cradles her head to his chest, shaking uncontrollably. "I won't let you!"
Too late. Letting the tears fall, she draws in one last breath.
