Well my amazing readers, it has been awhile. A long while. For that I apologize, I have had some medical issues keeping me away from writing. I am doing much better now though. I am trying to work out a better routine for my writing as well, so that I won't fall off the grid.
Thank you all for keeping up with this story and thank you for all of the comments and messages, I will say this now: I am not discontinuing this. I want to finish it, I have a lot of plans for this fic. But there may be times that I cannot get a chapter up for awhile but like I said I will try to fix that too.
So here it is enjoy!
Where Loyalties Lie: Chapter Eight
Naruto waited for her foggy eyes to adjust before sitting up in her hospital bed, she hated hospitals, the annoying sounds, the smell of bleach, of sickness and of something metallic, she hated that she never got a window in her room. Not even once. But most of all Naruto hated the people in the hospital, it didn't matter if they were patients, nurses or doctors every single person would glare at her when Jiji's back was turned.
It hit her then, the same feeling she had when she jumped into the lake last spring, not realizing that the water wasn't as warm as the day, the same chill racked her body, the people will still hate her, everyone will still hate her, they'll still shoot her nasty glances and call her horrible names, the adults won't let her play with their children and no one will let her buy things she needed from their shops but she knew why now. Every civilian, every shinobi, they know, they see the giant fox that destroyed the village, not a small girl, they don't see Naruto they see Kurama.
Somewhere within her mind the fox snorted, "As if I allow mere peasants to know myname Kit."
"But I know your name, Kurama, does that mean I'm not a peas- a peasant?"
"Of course not, to think the vessel to the strongest Chakra beast, is part of the common folk." The Kyuubi huffed, "They should be bowing down to you, to Uzumaki Naruto, the jinchuriki to the Kyuubi no Kitsune, to the Demon Fox, you will be the most powerful jinchuriki to ever grace the Elemental Villages, Kit, I Kurama, will make sure of it."
Naruto didn't know what to say, or think rather. He said most powerful…does that mean…
"Are there others- others like me?" she asked, unable to keep a small amount of hope out of the question.
"Yes, but you are the only one in this village, there are a total of nine Tailed Beasts, myself being the most powerful."
"Nine?! There are nine people just like me!?" Naruto all but screamed, "Tell me more, Kurama, I need to know! Do you know where they are? What village they live in? Could I meet them, would they want to mee-"
"I am unsure." The fox cut her off, "The seal placed on you is strong, I am unable to feel them, if another Jinchuriki were near you I could feel their power but that is all the information I am able to give. Now let me sleep young one, your prodding will have to wait, the poison-"
"The Kunai."
"Yes Kit, it was poisoned and specifically designed for a Jinchuriki, it seems. But as I was saying, the poison has me tired."
"Just one more question!"
"Fine." The fox relented.
"If you're helping me, will you help me become the Hokage?
"If that is your wish."
"But when will we start."
"Enough Kit, I need to sleep and in about thirty seconds someone will open that door, they will think something is wrong with your head if you keep spacing out to converse with me." Kurama chuckled.
"Thirty seconds? How do you know that?"
"All in good time, Naruto."
And with that the door opened, revealing a civilian nurse.
And for the first time since she woke Naruto noticed the heavy bandages that covered her face.
And she screamed.
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Kakashi could hear her screaming from down the hall as a frantic looking nurse threw open the door to his hospital room, interrupting their conversation.
"Lord Hokage…Uzumaki, she's awake."
The Sandaime jumped up from his seat, with a speed that rivaled his own, one that he didn't know the old man still possessed if he was being honest (not that he would ever voice that out loud) he quickly destroyed the silencing seal on the table, and sprinted past the nurse, the Copy Ninja at his heals.
Naruto was in an uproar, three nurses and a doctor eyed the little girl with fear and disgust as she shrieked, little hands shredded the dressings from her face as she felt the marks that would remain there for the rest of her life, Kakashi didn't even need his Sharringan to see the tears that streaked her cheeks, catching in her whisker marks, all running to the center of her face like rivers to the sea.
Kakashi watched as her eyes widened upon seeing The Hokage, her Jiji, the crying stopped, but only for a second, she cried harder when he enveloped her into a hug. He whispered to her for a few minutes until the tears slowed, comforting her trembling body, Kakashi could only pick up the words 'I'm sorry' and 'sunshine'.
Carefully the old man started shifting her, anyone could tell how hyper-aware he was of the I.V and multiple other wires attached to the young girl. He turned to face the other people in the room.
"The four of you are dismissed from your duties." The Sandaime commanded, "You have one hour to remove yourselves and any personal belongings from this hospital, you will leave your badges at the desk."
"But…Hokage-sama…" The doctor started, only to be stopped by the Hokage.
"If any other patient were to react the way Naruto just did, you would not have watched. Every one of you, as medical professionals, have a personal responsibility for everyone that walks, crawls, stumbles or is carried through those doors. You let personal feelings get in the way of your duty. Now. Get. Out."
The old man turned to the last nurse, the one who didn't know how to knock, after the four others left the room, "You, Shimizu-san, thank you for looking out for her, now please get us some fresh bandages, and anything else needed to redress Naruto's wounds.
The young nurse bowed before leaving.
Kakashi shifted.
Bloodshot (but still the brightest blue he'd ever seen)eyes locked with his singular gray one as she wiggled out of the Hokage's grasp to turn more fully to the other man in the room.
"I know you." The blonde whispered, so quietly that even the Legendary Copy Ninja could barely hear it.
"Ahh…" a faint blush adorned his cheeks, as he scratched the back of his head, giving her his 'one eyed smile' "I know you too, Naruto."
"And how, may I ask, do you know each other?" The Hokage asked, looking amused.
To the Jonin's surprise she didn't answer the Hokage, only shaking her head and staring at the open door, one that the nurse from before walked into ten seconds later.
Did she…hear her coming? A started look passed on the old man's face as well before they both neutralized their expressions.
"I have what you requested Lord Hokage, I also brought jello for Naruto, she shouldn't eat a lot right away but I thought she may be hungry." Shimizu set everything on the bedside table, awaiting her next order.
"Thank you again, Shimizu-san, Hatake will clean and bandage Naruto's injuries. Please check her vitals before you leave, I'm afraid neither of us know anything about these contraptions." He laughed, eyes flicking towards the Jonin, obviously still entertained by Kakashi's own display earlier.
No one spoke as the young women flitted around the room, looking from one machine to the other. It wasn't until she announced that everything appeared normal, and the door softly clicked shut that everyone released a breath that they had been holding.
Kakashi walked to the small sink, thoroughly disinfecting his hands before settling down on the firm mattress, idly wondering how much weight these things can actually hold. He slowly cleaned the cuts before picking up a jar of skin glue.
"No stitches?" he wondered while applying the sticky substance.
"No, we thought it best to use the glue." The Hokage responded.
"Why?" Naruto asked as Kakashi covered the six marks with a thin layer of bandages.
"The marks will already scar, Naruto, we didn't want to add to them by stitching them up." The Sandaime sighed, "Now when they heal you can pass them off as birth marks, or maybe even clan markings." He mused.
"No." She hissed, "If I do that everyone will forget. I don't want them to forget Jiji."
It was Kakashi that found his voice first, "You don't want them to forget what, Naruto?"
She smiled then, a small, sad smile before answering, "That he didn't break me."
Both men gasped.
"I'm proud of you, Sunshine."
The blonde's smile brightened at the words as she reached across the Hokage to grab her jello, it wasn't quite as bright as Kakashi has seen it but he knew that would take time.
"So…Naruto," The Hokage prompted, Kakashi mentally prepared himself for the difficult conversation that was about to start, "How do you know Kakashi?"
She rolled her eyes and he would have laughed if she didn't promptly point to his hair, "You're Hound."
Beneath the mask his jaw dropped.
"You protect me." The six year old added as she leaned forward to (finally) give him a hug.
"And I always will."
She beamed up at him.
"My real name is Hatake Kakashi." The Jonin held out his hand to shake hers, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Naruto."
"It's nice to meet you too, Kashi." Naruto giggled
"Kashi?" The Hokage asked.
"Well it's not like I can go around calling him Hatake-san." Naruto mocked, clearly offended by the idea.
The Sandaime grumbled something about 'disrespectful brats' as he fumbled through his pockets for the second time that day. Producing, yet again, a small slip of paper decorated with neat symbols. Which was swiftly snatched out of his hand by one Uzumaki Naruto, who proceeded to study the paper.
"Did you make this, Jiji?" she questioned as she held the paper up to the light.
"Well…no." he sounded uncomfortable, a small laugh escaped the Copy Ninja before he could help himself, the Hokage shot him an unamused look before continuing, "Actually one of my students made this."
"Good." The small girl scoffed, "It's terrible, do you have any ink, Jiji? Kashi?" She looked back and forth between the two, and occasionally the seal that she had pinched between her thumb and index finger holding it away from her body as if it was something dirty.
The intrigued Jonin nodded and reached into his hip pouch, pulled out a small scroll with a standard storage seal (he pretended not to notice the narrowed blue eyes) and produced a small bottle of ink and a brush.
Both the Hokage and Kakashi watched as Naruto chewed on the end of the brush, contemplating the seal before her, a few minutes of brush strokes later she sat down the brush and held up the paper, the seal looking entirely different than before, his Sharringan eye twitched behind his hitai-ate, he wanted to watch as she slapped the seal on the table next to her and seeped a small amount of chakra into the paper.
A soft purple light engulfed the room and then slowly receded into the now shimmering purple seal on the table.
"What did you do?" The Hokage asked in awe.
"I made it better, Jiji!" The now bubbly girl kept going, "I've been practicing seals for ages, ever since my first year at the Academy when Tayuya-Sensei talked about them, I'm really good, Jiji!" Naruto cried, now turning towards the Copy Ninja, "Kashi I can make them better too! Like this one! Before if people would press their ears to the door they would hear nothing which is really weird, ya know? Now they'll hear mumbling, no words just sounds, like we're speaking really quiet, they'll hear the machines beeping too, since this is a hospital, isn't that awesome?!" Naruto took a deep breath.
"That is indeed very awesome, Naruto." Kakashi praised the little blonde.
It was the Hokage that played the voice of reason, "While your skills in sealing are very impressive, Naruto, playing around with fuinjutsu without supervision is also very dangerous, you could have been seriously injured."
Naruto wilted at the scolding, "I'm sorry, Jiji."
"You know Naruto…" The Hokage started, the cogs in his brain were almost visibly turning as he glanced towards Kakashi, "Kakashi here may not be an expert in fuinjutsu but he is one of the most capable in the village, he could supervise and possibly teach you a thing or two…" the old man trailed off towards the end, eyes sparkling with something close to mischief.
Kakashi had to put every single one of his skills as a shinobi to use in order to keep himself from crying. But behind his figurative mask as well as his literal one, the Copy Ninja was elated, he finally after all of these six lonely years had a legitimate reason to be part of Uzumaki Naruto's life. Briefly the young man contemplated how long it's been since he's felt this much happiness, coming up very, very short.
That happiness dimmed however, when he saw the blank look on Naruto's face.
"You didn't make that storage seal, did you?" blue eyes judged him, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
Kakashi fidgeted under the scrutiny of Naruto's gaze, he gave his head a quick shake to dispel the images of Minato-Sensei giving him that exact look.
"I…did." He answered embarrassed, "But…" The Jonin continued trying to redeem himself somehow, "Using a complex storage seal for something as trivial as some ink, a brush and some senbon seems like a waste to me."
Naruto nodded, apparently finding his answer acceptable and turned to The Hokage.
"Why do we need the silencing seal, Jiji?" the little girl questioned.
The Sandaime sighed, his face grave, looking 20 years older than he was, "Sunshine, I know it'll be hard but I need to know what you remember…"
Naruto's gaze fell to her hands that were folded tightly on her lap as she answered the Hokage, "I…Nothing changed, Jiji, "she muttered, "They all still hate me…in class, I mean. No one talks to me, Iruka-Sensei ignores me, Mizuki-Sensei did too but…but he still watched me. I thought he was going to get me food, he said he would, but then he tied me up…and talked to me…and hurt me…And," she whispered the last part, "I know, Jiji."
Kakashi gripped his pants roughly as he listened to her talk about that scum, the one that she still called Sensei, wishing he could've made his death much more painful.
Naruto took a deep, shaky breathe and continued, "It's not their fault, not really…he told me about the Kyuubi, and how he wasn't killed…but sealed. I see why everyone thinks I'm a monster…" she trailed off, not looking the two men in the eye.
"I don't think you're a monster." The Hokage said.
"Nor do I." Kakashi added, the little blonde offered him a small smile, which he returned, not that she could really tell.
"Tiuchi and Ayame don't think you're a monster." Naruto sat up straighter, "You have people that love you, Naruto, or did you forget that?"
Naruto fervently shook her head.
"Good." The Sandaime looked to Kakashi, his eyes darkening, "Naruto, do you remember anything else, anything at all?"
Naruto shifted under the Hokage's intense gaze.
"I don't remember a lot, Jiji, it was hot, and I was scared but…"
They both waited as Naruto gathered her thoughts, looking like she was arguing with herself more than anything.
The Jonin watched Naruto closely, he remembered, even if she didn't, what Mizuki's fear smelled like mixed with the tangy scent of blood and the sweet smell of poison, he remembered how she looked broken and bloody with red eyes staring back, a deep, raspy voice echoing through the room, one that never should have been able to come out of such a small body. He remembered being absolutely terrified that another one of his precious people would have to die, by his hand, The Jonin was brought back to the girl from a few days ago, and shuddered.
"But when I woke up, I wasn't alone anymore."
The Hokage blanched.
Kakashi went still, she couldn't mean…
"I met the Kyuubi."
She did.
"You- you met the Kyuubi?" the Hokage barely stuttered out.
"Yeah, I mean he's not that bad, kinda misunderstood, ya know? Like me." Naruto smiled widely, one that showed too many teeth.
"The Kyuubi no Kitsune. The Nine tailed fox. Is misunderstood." The Sandaime sounded as detached as Kakashi felt.
"That's what I've been saying, jiji!" bright blue eyes rolled dramatically, "He's wants to help me, I'm going to become Hokage! Believe it!"
"Why does he want to help you?"
"He wants me to get strong, Jiji, so no one can hurt me again."
"Hokage?" Kakashi asked, finally finding his voice.
Her eyes shown with determination, a look that reminded him of Kushina before she answered, "No one can ignore me if I'm Hokage, Kashi."
Kakashi eyed the Hokage as he rubbed his temples, deep in thought, wondering what action his superior would take.
"We need to check the seal, Sunshine."
Naruto groaned, "Its fine, I've seen it."
"Lay down Naruto, I need to see your stomach." The Hokage left no room for debate.
She groaned again but apparently knew that tone and decided to listen, rather than argue.
He nodded toward the Jonin.
Naruto flopped back on the bed adjusting her clothing so that only her stomach was showing as Kakashi lifted his Hitai-ate, revealing his Sharingan.
Intricate black lines appeared on Naruto's stomach as the Hokage pressed his hand to her navel, Kakashi regarded the seal closely, searching for any changes, thankfully finding none. He pulled his Hitai-ate over his eye as the lines faded, "Nothing's changed."
"Good." The Hokage sighed in relief.
"See!" Naruto scrunched up her face, sticking her tongue out in the Third's direction, "I told you didn't I?"
The Hokage answered with laughter, a deep full-bellied laugh, one that made breathing unbearable and onlookers question your sanity, soon Naruto's own laughter mixed with the old man's, Kakashi felt his façade slip then, and before long all three of them were doubled over, gasping for air.
It was like that that they were found by an ANBU guard who took one look at The Hokage, his ANBU Captain, and the small girl sitting between them, and melted back into the hospital wall.
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Just before dawn a scream echoed through the small apartment of Umino Iruka as its inhabitant jolted awake, the Chunin clutched the sweat dampened sheets to his chest as he willed his erratic heart beat to calm. A chill ran down his spine as Iruka glanced toward the single window in his room, it wasn't quite dawn yet, but based on the slight lightening on the horizon, it would be soon. Sighing in defeat he swung his feet over the side of the mattress and padded his way across the room, determined to start his morning routine earlier than usual despite the memories that the nightmares brought forth.
He thought about them as he turned towards his bathroom in desperate want of a steaming shower, not a day went by that he didn't think of them. Normally his memories were happy ones. He remembered his mother most, her laughter could always be heard in their small home, he remembered how she would dance around the kitchen as she cooked, how she would coax a hint of a smile out of his normally stoic father, he remembered every embrace, every loving word, everything she did to try and keep her young son from growing up too soon.
His father was a different story, he was calm and collected, he took the rules of the shinobi to heart, never letting too much emotion escape, he was intelligent, he was stern, but he was sincere. Even as a boy Iruka knew that when his father spoke it was always something worth saying, he showed his love for his family not by filling the silence with useless words, but by giving what advice he could, by giving his son the knowledge necessary to form his own thoughts, by letting the pride he felt shine through when looking at his only child.
He didn't think of their deaths. He didn't think of that fateful day when the sky turned red with hate and the streets were filled with bodies. He tried not to remember his mother's dying smile, the one that looked like every other smile except for the stream of blood that ran from the corner of her upturned mouth down to a steady drip on her Jonin vest. He didn't think of his father dragging him away from the battlefield, he didn't think of his father's eyes that were filled with dread, or the single tear that slipped through his mask.
No, he tried not to remember the day that his only family was ripped away from him, ensuring his loneliness. He tried to fill the empty void that they had left behind. In the Academy he made friends by being the clown, doing anything necessary to make his classmates laugh. But at the end of the day no one was there to welcome him home, no one was there to cook him dinner, to ask about his day, to praise him when he became a Genin, and now six years later nothing changed, he was alone. And that hurt worse than any nightmare.
By mid-morning nothing the Chunin did helped to calm his frayed nerves, as much as he tried no amount of distraction could pull him away from his depressing thoughts. On any other week day he would already be at the Academy, he would be halfway through his lecture on the importance of chakra control, he would have already scolded the young Akimichi for eating in the classroom, he would have already answered Haruno's 15th question, he would have already woken up the Nara heir at least three times, he would have already successfully completely ignored the little blonde girl in the corner.
But today was different, instead of being in his classroom Iruka was wandering the Village in hopes of finding some answers to the hundreds of questions running through his mind. The Hokage had placed him on probation after the incident a few days ago, any punishment put on hold until after Uzumaki Naruto regained consciousness, something he prayed would happen soon.
Iruka sighed as he made his way to a familiar bench on the edge of Konoha, already deciding that he would be spending the afternoon trying to make sense out of the past few weeks. Every detail replayed in his mind, over and over, stuck on repeat, trying to find something that he could have done to prevent the horrific event. He should have noticed his assistant instructor's behavior, he should have went to look for her himself, he should have informed the Hokage immediately, and most importantly he should have paid some sort of attention to the blue eyed girl.
The Chunin jumped as someone sat next to him, scowling because he should have noticed the man approaching, "What brings you out here Hatake-san?" the scarred man asked.
"You're going to wrinkle early if you keep frowning like that." The white haired man responded, blatantly ignoring the younger man's question.
"Yeah…but…" he stole a glance at the aloof Jonin, "but I'll probably wrinkle early anyways if the students have any say in it."
"Well Sensei, "Kakashi began, sarcasm apparent, reminding Iruka of the ANBU from a few days ago, "Shouldn't you be at the Academy now?"
"I- yes…I should be."
"Well…" Kakashi drawled, "Why aren't you?"
"It's my…I wasn't…I couldn't…" The Chunin took a second to gather his thoughts, "I'm not a very good Sensei…"
"Oh yeah? Why is that?"
"Damn it Kakashi!" Iruka growled, turning towards the man next to him, "I know you know what happened! The whole Village knows."
"You are referring to the kidnap and torture of Uzumaki Naruto?"
At these words the provoked Chunin jumped up from the park bench and started pacing. Of course he was referring to that, and Iruka didn't believe for a second that the Elite Jonin in front of him was really naïve to what was happening, he may have his nose stuck in his filthy orange book 90% of the time, but Iruka knew it had to be an act. No Shinobi would be that unaware.
The younger man abruptly stopped his pacing and turned slowly to face the indifferent man before him, the book (that was in his hand albeit unopened) was just another mask, no, Kakashi of the Sharingan was not unaware, and neither it seems, was he.
It was at that precise moment that the Academy Sensei remembered everything he was subconsciously aware of, he remembered the gleam in Mizuki's eyes when he looked toward the far corner of the room, he remembered the harsh pen marks Mizuki made as he graded one of Uzumaki's papers, he remembered that morning, and how the Assistant instructor was more on edge than usual, he remembered looking out of the classroom window as a white haired ninja approached the lone child on the swing.
"It's…it's my fault. " The Chunin whispered more to himself than the Jonin still sitting on the bench, one that raised a thin eyebrow in question.
Iruka exhaled heavily and returned to his previous spot on the bench, trying his hardest to blink back the tears that started to form.
"I started thinking today…" The academy instructor began, "About these past few weeks, when The Hokage asked Mizuki and myself to teach the class, from the first day of the year to when she was-"He took a deep breath, "When she was taken. I was trying to remember any signs he showed, any suspicious behavior that indicated he wanted to hurt her."
"And?" Kakashi questioned.
"And I couldn't come up with anything, until now that is, there were...signs…small ones, but still there. And I…I didn't see them! I let my own hatred blind me to what was right there!"
For the second time that day Iruka shot up from his seat and started pacing a small stretch of the side walk.
"What kind of Shinobi- No! What kind of Instructor lets this happen to a six year old girl!" he exclaimed, each sentence getting louder and louder.
"A pitiful one." Kakashi answered.
"Excuse me?"
"I said…" The Jonin locked his eye with the Chunin's, "A pitiful one."
"I kn-"Iruka started only to be immediately interrupted.
"Great! Now that you acknowledge that your sensei skills leave much to be desired, what are you going to do about it?"
The Academy Instructor threw the last Hatake a withered, but somehow confused look, "What can I do?" he asked.
"Look, you may have recognized your mistakes, but there are still two paths in front of you. You can forget this conversation, pretend that your epiphany never happened and go back to being blind. Or…" The white haired ninja stood, opened the battered orange book and started to walk away, a single grey eye already scanning the pages, "Or you can quit your shit and be the Sensei everyone knows you are capable of being."
Iruka starred in awe at the back of the Copy Ninja as he walked slowly towards the village, book in hand, tossing a two finger salute his way before rounding the corner.
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The Third Hokage, the man still known as The Professor, hailed as "The God of Shinobi", was tired, completely, utterly, absolutely exhausted. And old, very, very old. And despite seeing too many seasons through the window in this office, his work was not yet done, the piles of scrolls and papers that littered his normally tidy desk grew taller, and his assistant angrier, but he still couldn't concentrate on the (admittedly) essential work in front of him. He tried to, and for a very short while he was actually productive, but then the smallest thing would bring his thoughts back to his adopted grandchild that was currently in a sterile, white, windowless room of Konoha's hospital surrounded by a few trusted ANBU. It was times such as these that Sandaime felt every year of his life crashing over him, reminding him that he was ancient. He wanted, more than anything to be in that room with her, comforting her, making her smile, but he knew, and she was starting to understand as well, that once you put on that hat and called yourself 'Hokage' your life will never be yours again. So instead of being where he wanted to be the Sandaime was where he needed to be.
Hiruzen sneered in disgust as he began reading through the next scroll, one that came from T&I. It was only a few hours after Naruto had been admitted to the hospital that the seal that was placed in Mizuki's home activated, causing the intruder to drop to the floor unconscious, remaining that way until the Hokage himself deactivated it. The kunoichi in question, Tsubaki, was a very talented Jonin to the Leaf Village, she was a Kenjustu master, and as an ANBU assassin Codename: Sparrow she was incredibly gifted in the art of stealth, she was also, although it was kept hidden, the fiancé to Mizuki. According to the report Tsubaki didn't out right hate Naruto for being the Vessel, but she also didn't try to stop Mizuki's plan to harm the child, a plan that had been possible because of Mizuki's involvement with Orochimaru, the poison was the Snake Sannin's doing. Orochimaru another problem that needed to be dealt with.
The Sandaime haphazardly tossed the scroll in the general area of the items waiting to be filed by his assistant, still glaring at the red 'Classified' seals on the front. A least they were both dead he thought rather viciously and almost completely out of character. Kakashi had taken care of both Mizuki and Tsubaki, which brought another issue that was filed away in the back of his brain to the forefront of his thoughts.
Kakashi, technically disobeyed an order from his superior, took matters into his own hands, killed two Konoha Shinobi, one that should have been detained, and one that was sitting in a cell waiting for judgement to be passed. The fact that the two would have been sentenced to death anyways wouldn't satisfy the council. They would expect the Hokage to give the man some sort of punishment.
He groaned, decided not to think on this issue further and set to work on the mountain of paperwork in front of him, if only someone would take this hat.
A few hours later after a quick glance to the clock and the cracking of overworked fingers, Hiruzen decided that it was the perfect time for lunch. The Hokage didn't even realize that the old wooden doors creaked open revealing a Chunin Academy instructor, having been thoroughly distracted by thoughts of Ichiraku ramen and the brilliant smile it would bring, he didn't realize it until he was already standing and the Chunin cleared his throat awkwardly.
Of course he couldn't just go to lunch like any normal Shinobi. The Sandaime wasn't moping, nope, such antics would be beneath his station. He sat down roughly in his overused desk chair, the one that couldn't even swivel without squeaking.
"What is it Iruka." The Hokage asked, unable to keep the annoyance from showing.
He stood there for was seemed like hours to the impatient man behind the desk with his eyes glued to his feet, nervously wringing his hands together, a light blush on his cheeks before taking a deep breath and meeting the Hokage's severe stare with an ashamed one.
"I've…well I've thought about what I'd say for hours and I…words are still failing me, forgive me Hokage-sama…" brown eyes turned toward the floor again.
"What is it Iruka?" he asked again, softer this time.
"I failed you…" The Chunin started quietly, "I didn't pay Naruto-san the attention she needed…I didn't notice what was happening right before my eyes, and I should have!" he said louder, disappointment and regret clear in his voice, "If I wasn't so damn stubborn I would have seen everything, I would have stopped it, could have, but I let my hatred for the Nine-Tails blind me from the truth."
"And what is the truth Iruka-san?
"The…truth?"
The Hokage watched as his Academy Instructor thought out his answer, they both knew how pivotal this question was. Iruka's punishment for his own involvement in this incident would be directly influenced by his response to this one small question.
"The truth is…I can't change how I treated her…but if you'll give me another chance…If she'll give me another chance, I'll be the person- no the Sensei- that she needs me to be."
Hiruzen studied the Chunin in front of him, he had always had a soft spot for Iruka, the man fiercely cared for his village, he was skilled and could easily make a name for himself as a Leaf Shinobi but opted to teach instead, wanting to pass on his own will of fire to each one of his students, something that the Hokage respected. He was actually very impressed with Iruka, while the old man was still irritated with the younger man's recent behavior he commended his courage, not many were brave enough to risk the Sandaime's ire, yet he did.
"And if I don't allow you to go back to the Academy, what then, Iruka?
"Then…" he started, looking to the floor again, "Then I would say that I understand your decision Hokage-sama, but I would still like to be there for Naruto, if possible."
Satisfied with his answer the Hokage slapped his hands on the desk and stood, startling the Chunin.
"Well, I'll leave the decision to Naruto, come with me Iruka."
Hiruzen could feel the confusion oozing off of his Academy Instructor as he passed the man, opened his office doors and started into the hallway, heading first towards his assistant's desk.
"Hayate, I'm going to lunch." The Jonin gave him a pointed look.
"And I may be visiting Naruto as well."
"You still have more mission scrolls to accept and assign Lord Hokage." Hayate grumbled, unable to keep his annoyance from showing.
The Hokage waved his hand in the air, batting away his assistant's words like one would a fly.
"I'll finish today, now I need a message sent to Shikaku," he paused as he waited for the Tokubetsu Jonin to get a scroll ready, "Tell Shikaku to take the rest of the day off, and to use some of that time to take his son to see Naruto, I've already made sure that they, along with his wife, are on the accepted visitor's list."
Hayate nodded.
"Now Iruka," he turned back to the chunin, "We have somewhere to be."
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Shikamaru was troubled, it was a normal Friday at the Academy, his peers were buzzing around him, all of them excited for the weekend. But instead of joining in on the excitement of what would normally be a perfectly lazy weekend filled with clouds, naps and his best friend, Choji, Shikamaru was worried. He didn't understand why he was fidgeting in his chair, why he couldn't keep his pencil from tapping the desk, or why he had to fight his brain to not turn and look at the corner. Shikamaru thought he knew himself rather well, as well as a six year old could understand oneself, at least, and the fact that he couldn't begin to explain his actions to himself (let alone his friend who kept glancing his way) had the young Nara deeply disturbed.
His mind kept bringing him back to that day, he needed to know what happened, his father was withholding information, of that he was sure, Iruka-Sensei hadn't returned so he couldn't question him, their 'acting sensei' would smirk and pat him on the head if he so much as whispered the name 'Naruto', and to make things worse not a single other student seemed to care that she disappeared. It was like Uzumaki Naruto never existed. And it infuriated him.
With the end of the school day fast approaching and the only successful thing he did was come up with 162 reasons why ditching class and making his way to the Hokage tower to question the one man that may answer him was a horrible (yet compelling) idea, Shikamaru spun around quickly in order to look at the far corner of the room, only to find it painfully empty. Of course he knew she wouldn't appear out of thin air but…he couldn't exactly stop himself from hoping.
The young boy let out a frustrated groan, Choji, who had been watching him closely for the past few days, sat down his pocky and turned towards the Nara, "What's wrong, Shikamaru? You've been acting weird all week." He whispered, obviously not wanting to be overheard.
Shikamaru burrowed his face into his arms like he was going to take one of his infamous naps, groaning again instead of answering his friend.
"Is it…" Choji dropped his voice lower, "Is it because of Naruto?"
Shikamaru shifted so that he could see his friend and sighed. He didn't want to hurt Choji's feelings by brushing off his concern or by lying to him, so he nodded instead.
"I don't know why everything is so crazy right now, but Shikamaru, everything will be okay, okay?"
The dark haired boy shrugged in response. If only it were that simple. If only he were like Choji. Nothing phased Choji like it did Shikamaru, his solutions were never complex, he didn't over think any problem he was faced with, he took things in and responded naturally, he was genuine with everything he did.
Unlike Shikamaru, who took every single problem and overanalyzed it until exhaustion, who viciously sought out every possible affect from what was normally a very small cause, who would use his intelligence to engineer outcomes that were the most beneficial to his own priorities.
Choji opened his mouth to say something else, probably wanting to comfort the distressed Nara even more, when the door to their classroom quietly opened. Their senbon using, tokubetsu jonin, 'acting sensei', who adamantly refused to be called sensei by any of the students, stood to greet the man that casually walked through the door.
"Shika…" the jonin glanced towards the class, "Nara…uh…sama? What brings you here today?"
Shikaku snickered at the man's discomfort, "It's good to see you being such a good role model, Genma-san, too bad your manners will never last beyond this classroom."
"Yeah, well someone," he glared at the Jonin Commander, "Decided that I would be the perfect replacement for Iruka-san, while he is on leave."
The oldest Nara in the room laughed again while stepping closer to Genma, the tokubetsu's face darkened as he listened to what was being said, but lightened considerably toward the end as his eyes locked with Shikamaru's. The six year old didn't back down from the impromptu staring contest, even though he could barely contain his excitement, there was only one reason his father would be here after all.
It was Genma that broke the contact to walk over to his desk, Shikamaru fidgeted.
"Come on Shikamaru, we have somewhere to be." His father's gruff voice broke through the silent classroom. The young Nara gathered his things and started to walk down the aisle, only to stop and wave a good bye to his friend.
"Ahh, I almost forgot, your father will be by for you today Choji." Who nodded enthusiastically in response.
His father was already next to the door as he walked past the instructor's desk, only to get a folder shoved into his hands by Genma, written in the top right hand corner of the bright orange folder, in writing that he recognized as Iruka-sensei's was the name Uzumaki Naruto, "Make sure she understands it all." He said quietly with a wink.
"Thanks." Shikamaru mumbled and followed his father out of the room.
It was a quiet walk through the halls of the academy, which was not unusual despite it being a school, something that had less to do with the fact that the school was for aspiring ninja and more to do with the silencing seals placed in every room.
Father and son didn't speak as they made their way out of the building, another thing that wasn't unusual, Shikamaru took after his father in personality as well as looks, much to his mother's annoyance.
"Hey dad?" Shikamaru asked, leaving him room to deny any questioning.
Shikaku raised a dark eyebrow, contorting the scars on his face, silently giving the young boy his permission to continue.
"I was wondering...you and mom...you're so different…how'd you become friends?"
Shikamaru watched as his father looked towards the clouds, a small tilt to his lips.
"We met at the Academy, we were in different classes, her being younger, of course. The first day she started I was eight years old, Choza, Inoichi and I just crossed the Academy gate and there she was. Yoshino was…well, really loud, if you can imagine, she was six years old, at least a head shorter than me and she ran up grabbed my hand and demanded that I show her around. The next day she came up to me again, Choza and Inoichi, trying to embarrass me called her my girlfriend, she gave them one of the fiercest looks I've ever seen and told them that they should watch what they were saying because she was going to marry me one day." Shikaku smiled widely at his son, "The rest is history."
Shikamaru nodded, deep in thought.
"What's wrong Shikamaru?
"I don't know her dad, what if we're so different that…" he trailed off.
"That you can't be friends?" Shikaku inquired.
"Yeah…"
"Well…" Shikamaru looked up at his father as he stroked his goatee, "Then I suppose you'll just be classmates, and eventually comrades. You saved her life Shikamaru, you'll always have a bond, even if it's only as allies. But…" Shikaku paused looking up at the hospital that they had just arrived at, "If it's any consolation, I think you and Naruto will become very good friends."
Shikamaru hadn't been in the hospital often but it always made him uncomfortable, he couldn't help but think of each door and who was behind it. Was it a civilian room? A shinobi's? Were they there for a checkup? Or were they dying?
A thought struck the Nara boy as they walked to Naruto's room(his father apparently already knew the way) being here was part of being a Shinobi, one day he will be behind one of those pristine white doors, his friends, his comrades, every single one of them will undoubtedly wind up in this same predicament. Except instead of his father knowing exactly where to go, it would be him.
The two Nara came to a stop in front of a door labeled 462, Shikamaru almost jumped as an ANBU materialized out of the wall.
"Names?" he said.
"Shikaku and Shikamaru Nara."
"You may enter."
His father nodded as the ANBU went back into the walls.
As they entered the room Shikamaru was…more than surprised about what he saw. He expected her to be in the hospital bed, hooked up to wires, tubes, and maybe even an oxygen tank. He expected her to look like she belonged in a hospital room, instead he found her in the orange jumpsuit that she always wore, standing in the middle of the room, eyes closed with 20+ leaves sticking to her body. The only thing screaming 'hospital' were the few bandages on her face.
His father cleared his throat, bright eyes opened and the leaves scattered to the floor. She blinked rapidly for a few seconds, looking equal parts confused and wary as she regarded Shikaku, but then blue eyes met brown and Shikamaru saw the moment that she recognized him.
"Oh! We're in class together!" Naruto exclaimed, "I don't remember your name…" She broke eye contact and stared at the floor, apparently finding the scuffed white tiles very interesting, "Sorry…"
"I'm Nara Shikamaru." She nodded but still didn't meet his eyes again, something that was beginning to bother him, "I have work. I mean your work. A folder, from the classes you missed." Shikamaru blurted out, breaking the silence. Naruto finally looked back at him as he shuffling forward to hand her the papers, only to have her looking back at the floor after muttering a 'thank you'.
The Nara heir frowned, for once he wished he had his mother's verbal skills, then he would know what to say, he hoped that Naruto would say something, he wanted to be friends, but you can't make friends with someone that won't even look at you. Shikamaru shifted his gaze to his father, sending him a questioning look. He shrugged with a smirk.
"This is my father, Nara Shikaku, he's the Jonin Commander."
It was like a switch had been flipped in the small blonde girl, before Naruto saw them she was calm doing whatever she was doing, when they made themselves known she was guarded and awkward but now Naruto looked scared, absolutely terrified.
She bowed to his father as she stuttered out her greeting, "Pl-Pleased to meet you Nara-sama."
Whenshe looked up at Shikaku she was pleading, her eyes watering, "Please don't be mad a Shikamaru, Nara-sama! I'm sure Iruka-Sensei only asked for him to bring my homework because he's really busy preparing class lessons. Shikamaru and I aren't friends, he's never talked to me before today, I promise he hasn't done anything wrong!" She bowed again, both Naras were speechless.
A whole minute had passed before his father's eyes went from shock to understanding.
"I'm not mad Naruto." He said before adding, "Why would I be mad?"
Naruto blinked back her own surprise before answering in a whisper, "All other parents are mad if their kids talk to me."
Then he understood, the reason why their classmates avoided her was because of their parents, some kids may have even tried to talk to her, in the market or the playground, then they got in trouble and Naruto felt guilty, she didn't want him to be punished for being nice to her. Shikamaru frowned, so many people ignored her or call her a monster yet here she is worried for their wellbeing.
Shikamaru snorted, gaining her attention, "Well all the other parents are troublesome. Mine aren't like that." He peeked up at his dad while remembering his mother's shrill yells and insatiable prodding and added, "Mostly."
Shikaku barked out a laugh and reached over to ruffle Shikamaru's hair. He glared at his father.
The young boy grumbled to himself as he tried to fix the leather band holding up his hair, only making it worse in the process. Troublesome.
But then she laughed. Her giggles were quiet next to his father's gruff cackles, almost timid, like she really didn't know if she should join in as much as she might have wanted to. Shikamaru's brows relaxed and his gaze softened as they made eye contact, Naruto's bright blue eyes were sparkling in happiness, they no longer held the uncertainties of before. He offered her a small smile as the laughter died, and she gave him a wider, toothier grin of her own.
Maybe his father wasn't so troublesome after all.
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There you go! My longest chapter yet with close to 8000 words and 19 pages in microsoft word!
It may not have been worth the long wait but I hope everyone enjoyed it anyways.
Yet again, Thank you all for the support, you are all amazing! 3
-UM