Nine Tails
Naruto stood in front of a hospital door. An ANBU guarded it from the outside.
"Uzumaki-san! You must not—!"
But Naruto didn't hear him. In her mind, the only reason an ANBU could be guarding a hospital room—a room with Sasuke inside—could mean one thing: Sasuke was in danger. Naruto scarcely registered the ANBU as she darted past him faster than his eyes could see. Inside the room, she came to an abrupt.
What she saw, she never expected. Uchiha Sasuke—the proud, the unbroken, the indomitable Uchiha Sasuke—lay on a hospital bed as still as death. His black hair stood out starkly against the eery paleness of his face.
"S-Sasuke!" In the blink of an eye, Naruto was by his side. Sasuke didn't respond to her cry. He didn't stir, didn't shift. If he had only been asleep, he would have been startled awake. It was as though he was—
"Uzumaki-san, this room is under guard." The ANBU was poised to haul Naruto from the room.
Naruto didn't even hear him. She reached out her hand, tentatively, and withdrew it. Then, as though finding a straggling sliver of courage, she put her hand against Sasuke's. He was so pale, his skin so clammy. But she could just make out the faint rise and fall of his chest. He was breathing, so he wasn't dead.
Her relief was short-lived. A terrible shaking swept over her. Someone had done this to Sasuke. Someone had harmed him to this point of helplessness. Someone would pay.
More noises came from the hallway, and Naruto turned to see who was there. Senju Tsunade walked in, her jaw set in a hard line.
"Obaa-chan!" shouted Naruto. "What's going on? Who attacked Sasuke?!" It must have happened after she left for Mount Myoboku, after she had left Sasuke alone and weak from their battle. Sasuke could never be beaten otherwise. Her voice turned harsh, deadly. "Was it the snake? I'll kill him. I will kill him." Naruto's eyes had swung back to Sasuke while she spoke. But when all was silent, Naruto looked up.
Tsunade's honey brown eyes gazed at the blonde unwaveringly. "It was not Orochimaru. I ordered Uchiha Sasuke to be mentally interrogated. New evidence came to light—"
The Hokage's mouth was moving, but Naruto heard nothing—only a dangerous humming.
Mentally interrogated.
Not Orochimaru.
I ordered…I ordered…I ordered…
An interrogation went wrong.
New evidence.
I ordered.
Naruto trembled.
Sasuke's waxen face burned through her.
Golden chakra erupted from her. Nine tails rose up to the sky.
Hospital walls crumbled. Cries and shouts sounded from the shinobi.
Red eyes of an enraged Kyuubi flashed. "You did this?" Naruto's gaze bored down at the Hokage. ANBU jumped in front of her, but they were little more than gnats before the Kyuubi.
"N-naruto!" yelled Tsunade.
In her mindscape, Naruto's eyes blinked open. A maelstrom of conflicting feelings beat and battered her, but Tsunade's cry had jolted Naruto from her enraged trance.
Kurama. Kurama, we have to…we need to…stop, just stop. We have to think, sort this out.
They harmed one of our own.
We're—we're feeding off each other's anger. You warned me about this, remember? When Kurama wasn't convinced, Naruto forced herself to joke. You don't even like him. So why do you care what happens to him? She couldn't bring herself to say his name.
I care because you do. Your anger is mine. You're barely able to contain it. You're quivering.
For the briefest moment, Naruto saw herself as Tsunade must see her: powerful, deadly, and out of control. Monster, the villagers had once called her. If she continued down this road, she would become one. Startled by the thought, Naruto came back from the brink, but she couldn't pull her conscious back into control of her body. Chakra was pumping out at an alarming rate. The Kyuubi cloak in it final form was shaping itself into being.
Summoning a reserve of willpower, Naruto reached into her ninja supply pouch and grabbed a kunai. The shinobi flinched. Naruto drove the point into her thigh. The sharp pain broke the hold her anger had on her.
Golden chakra dissipated. Nine tails faded back into Naruto's body, but they did not go easily. Naruto fought against her instinct. She forced herself to be calm. Her Sage training took over, and Naruto fell into stillness. When she could trust herself to speak, Naruto looked up.
Surreally, Naruto took in the damage she had caused. The hospital ceiling was blown away. Thankfully, they were on the top floor, so no one above them had been harmed. The ANBU were wary. Tsunade was staring as though she never seen her before.
Naruto, battling between guilt and rage, stuttered in the face of their shock. "I wasn't trying to—I just—" Her mind raced. "I—Damn it! Do you know how hard I worked first to drag him back to this village?! Guess what? He didn't want to come!"
... ... ...
{Flashback—Two Years Ago}
"Six months, Sasuke."
The battle-weary Uchiha stopped.
"Six months," said Naruto. "Come back with me to Konoha. Stay for six months, and if—if you hate it—if you have to leave, I won't stop you. If life in Konoha is so impossible, I'll stop chasing you."
"Why can't you just leave me be?"
"Because you're my brother and because Konoha is your home."
"Konoha destroyed my family." Sasuke couldn't even find the energy to shout.
"Those were different times and different people, Sasuke. We won't make the mistakes of our ancestors." Naruto's blue were steady, trained on Sasuke as though the force of their gaze would convince the Uchiha. "Six months, and I'll help you escape from Konoha. Six months, and you'll be free of me forever."
{A Year and a Half Ago}
It was the six-month mark. Naruto felt like he'd been tied to a lead weight and thrown into the depths of the ocean. He had wrangled a mission out of obaa-chan. It would be Sasuke's first in six months, ever since the war ended. Naruto had stood before the council and pledged to watch the Uchiha even as they completed the mission.
"Under the laws of patronage to which you agreed, Uchiha Sasuke is your responsibility. Should he escape, you will be held culpable. Do you understand?"
Naruto had given his affirmation, and the council their consent.
Naruto and Sasuke were at the border of Fire Country when Naruto stopped. He turned to Sasuke. From his ninja pouch, Naruto pulled a small, metal rod. It curled at one end into a spiral.
"That's the key to the limiters," said Sasuke, speaking for the first time since leaving Konoha.
"I nicked it." Naruto's words were nonchalant, at odds with his deadpan voice. Without saying a word, Naruto sent his chakra into the key, which lit in an electric, blue light.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I know you're not happy. Doesn't take much to see that." Naruto stepped towards Sasuke who extended his wrists, a trifle too eagerly. "I made you a promise six months ago, and I intend to see it through."
The Uchiha watched as Naruto drove the key into the lock. "You will be punished for this. The Council won't support you for Hokage."
"I stand by my word. That's my ninja way."
"You also gave your word to the Council."
"I accepted that you were my responsibility. And I, in my infinite wisdom, have decided to take responsibility for the promise I made six months ago. Now, are you going to talk me out of this? Because it wouldn't take much effort on your part."
Sasuke was quiet. Naruto, with a heavy heart, twisted the key. The limiters fell off.
Naruto slowly lifted his head to meet Sasuke's gaze.
"You really are an idiot, dobe."
Naruto's instinctive retort froze on his tongue. Hope sprang up like a fountain in his chest. Sasuke didn't slam a Chidori into his chest. He didn't activate Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. He wasn't trying to run.
Sasuke was smiling.
... ... ...
"I promised him," she choked. "I promised him that we wouldn't make the same mistakes as our ancestors."
"I didn't order the interrogation because he was an Uchiha but because he was a former ally of Orochimaru."
"So were you. You were his teammate."
"That was before he became twisted and evil," hissed Tsunade. "Naruto, if you become Hokage, you will be put in situations you don't like. You will have to make choices that seem unfair. You will—"
"I can't agree with your decision."
"I waited until the last possible moment, until there was too much evidence against him. I had no choice!"
"You had the choice to trust him," Naruto shot back. "That's what this is about. That's what all of this is about! Broken alliances, revenge, wars—it all stems from mistrust! Sasuke is a shinobi of Konoha. He placed himself under your power because I swore to him that the past wouldn't be repeated. But look what happened."
"You are too close to the Uchiha to view this in an unbiased manner." Tsunade's tone said she wanted to end the conversation.
"You knew you were doing something wrong," accused Naruto hotly. "You didn't even tell me."
"On Sasuke's suggestion, we decided to wait until he had recovered."
"And you seriously didn't think I would figure it out?!"
"He should have awakened long before now."
The admission sobered Naruto. She looked back at the raven-haired shinobi lying in the hospital bed, unaware of the turmoil around him. "Sasuke is innocent," she insisted.
"We will confirm that as soon as Inoichi awakens."
"Orochimaru framed him."
"We have considered that possibility."
"I thought the Hokage had the ultimate say over the shinobi. You could have protected him! You could have come to me and—"
Tsunade cut her off. "In the case of foreign shinobi or missing nin, it becomes a matter for the council. You had no say. You could not have changed or prevented this. We went with protocol. We chose the right and just course of action."
"And what happens now?" challenged Naruto. "You've got one of your best shinobi in a fucking coma! What's protocol got to say now?"
Tsunade grit her teeth. "The council is meeting in three hours to determine Sasuke's status as a shinobi. His still has certain rights. Even the Hokage and the council are subject to the written laws of Konoha and must protect those rights. However, if a three quarter majority is reached, the council may revoke—"
"They—they can't do that! They're not even waiting to hear from Ino's oto-san!"
"Sasuke's resistance to the mental interrogation is further indication that he is indeed our enemy. They will vote to imprison him in a holding cell until such a time as his innocence can be proven."
"He can't recover in prison! He needs medical care! Those bastards can't—"
"HOLD YOUR TONGUE." Tsunade's voice was cold with authority. A heavy weight descended upon Naruto. The full power of the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf flashed in Tsunade's eyes. "Uzumaki Naruto, you are a shinobi of Konoha. As such, you will respect the position of Hokage and that of the Konoha Council. We have acted in the best interests of the village. As a loyal shinobi of Konoha, you will abide by our decision. Anything less is treason."
Naruto couldn't bring herself to respond.
After a long time of silence, Tsunade said, "Only you, I, the Council, T&I, and select ANBU are are aware of this matter. But this will leak, as all news does. We need a verdict soon, or word will reach the civilians before we are ready. Sasuke and Inoichi need to awaken."
Naruto clenched her fist as Tsunade moved towards the door. "What went wrong?"
"We have no idea. This is unprecedented, which makes it look all the worse for Sasuke." The Hokage's face, set in harsh lines, softened. "Whether we decide to imprison him or leave him to recover in the hospital, he will be permitted visitors."
... ... ...
Outside, Tsunade fell against the hospital wall. She clutched her chest.
"Hokage-sama! Are you all right?!" An ANBU was at her side.
Tsunade nodded, breathing deeply to calm her racing heart. The confrontation with Naruto was far worse than she'd feared. She thought she had prepared herself, but never had she imagined the crushing weight of the Kyuubi's chakra. It was chakra unlike any she'd felt before. It breathed anger and screamed malice.
It was the Kyuubi that her grandfather had faced. But no. This Kyuubi was even worse, because it wore the face of the person she most believed in.
"Hokage-sama?"
Tsunade waved at the crumbling corner of the hospital roof. "Tell someone to fix that." She supposed she should be grateful for the minimal damage. If Naruto hadn't regained control, the wreckage might have been worse.
Naruto. The blonde's anger was beyond what she had envisioned. Her feelings for the Uchiha ran far too deeply.
Tsuande believed she had done the right thing. She had trusted. She had waited. Finally, she had acted. As Hokage, it was her duty. The one thing she regretted was going behind Naruto's back. She had feared for the consequences, feared that Naruto would stop the interrogation out of loyalty for Sasuke. But her underhanded methods had only worsened the situation. Naruto's trust in her had broken.
Perhaps forever.
... ... ...
Naruto said nothing as Tsunade walked out of the room.
Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be too hard on her, Naruto. She made a bet with me about Sasuke. She bet that he had betrayed us again."
Unable to reply, Naruto wrestled with her anger and pushed down any feelings of betrayal. She had to focus. She had to pull herself together. "And she never wins her bets," she finally said, mostly because she knew Kakashi expected it of her.
Kakashi nodded and left Naruto alone with her thoughts. The blonde wanted to run after Tsunade and scream in her face. She wanted to barge into the council room and demand Sasuke's freedom. She wanted to let her fury erupt in a white-hot howl of rage.
Instead, she walked to Sasuke's side.
"H-hey."
Sasuke didn't twitch.
"Hey, teme. You heard what the old lady said. You've gotta wake up." Naruto reached out a tentative hand and shook Sasuke by the shoulder. There was no response. Feeling suddenly weak, Naruto sat down in a chair beside the bed. She didn't look at the Uchiha while she spoke. Instead, she mumbled towards her hands, "Who am I kidding? You would just as soon do the opposite of whatever I say. Just like you prissy pants Uchiha to sleep the day away. You never were an early riser, were you, teme? You and your stupid hair. Permanent bed head."
Naruto laughed weakly. "You were always in such a foul mood in the mornings during missions. Worse than your normal asshole self, that is. Really, looking at you right now, I can't think of one reason to wish that you would wake up. Well—there was that time you helped me prank Kakashi-sensei. You gave me food during our genin test. You ate ramen with me when I begged and pleaded." Naruto stroked her hair, needing something to fiddle with. "You saved my life at the bridge, much as I hate to admit it. You saw me when no one else did. You defended when no one else cared." Naruto leaned in. Her hand found its way to Sasuke's.
"Hey teme, you give me rotten headaches, but you're worth every one of them. Fighting next to you, side by side, that's just about the best thing in the world. I'd never say all this crap if you were awake. That means it's your fault. So…so, Sasuke, you've gotta wake up. Datte—"
Naruto stopped. And stared. It was faint, so very faint, but she would swear before any court that Sasuke had squeezed her hand.
He would wake up. Not yet, but soon. The hand squeeze—it felt like a promise. Relief hit Naruto like a tidal wave. Any lingering anger vanished in its wake. Naruto slumped.
In a few short hours, her world had overturned. Her mother was reanimated by Naruto's worst enemy. Her cousin was fighting for her life. Her best friend was tortured by the leaders of her beloved home. Kushina was out of her reach for now. Karin was in Sakura's hands. But Sasuke…she wouldn't let anything happen to Sasuke.
Taking revenge went against everything Naruto believed in. Retaliating against the council and Hokage would destroy Konoha and all she held dear. But she couldn't sit back while they plotted to imprison or execute Sasuke.
Naruto gave him one final glance before she strode out of the hospital room.
There would be hell to pay, Naruto-way.
... ... ...
Sarutobi Konohamaru was training to combine Rasengan with earth style—and had been for some months. He lay on the ground, shirtless and mud-spattered, breathing in sharply and haltingly.
Training was not going well.
That was why, when he felt a shinobi's presence behind him, Konohamaru didn't even blink. If it was an enemy come to kill him, that was just fine, for all Konohamaru cared. At least then he wouldn't have to work out the damn jutsu. When the presence came closer, Konohamaru exerted himself to tilt his head backwards and view the upside-down shinobi. A figure clad in orange appeared in his vision. Long, blonde hair streamed to the shinobi's waist in pigtails. Blue eyes sparked from a tanned face.
Konohamaru suddenly grinned. He always had the chakra for this. Rejuvenated, he jumped to his feet to challenge his onii-san. Standing, he got a better view of Naruto's feminine features.
"Whew! That's some Oiroke no Jutsu, onii—arg!"
... ... ...
Nara Shikamaru was enjoying his day. He had evaded his nagging mother with skill denoting a highly intelligent jounin. He ate breakfast underneath his favorite tree and proceeded to nap against said tree for some time. When the four ponytailed terror had tracked him down, his shadows warned him in time to avoid catastrophe. Then Choji had come along, and the two friends had ambled to town for a pleasant stroll around the market.
If Shikamaru were a portentous kind of man, he would wonder how the fates would conspire to ruin his too perfect day. But he was too lazy to bother with portents. When the moment of truth came, Shikamaru was not prepared. He barely caught a glimpse of yellow and orange before he felt himself yanked upwards by the collar of his vest.
Choji turned.
"Shikamaru?"
There was no sign of the Nara genius, nothing but a small cloud of dirt where he had just been standing. Choji quirked his head. Then, with a shrug, he continued his morning stroll and munched on a steaming kabob.