Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: Four and a half months. I have an excuse. It's a good one. Really.

Happy new year.

The woman had left right away, and Naruto was alone. It was kind of cold, and a crop of goosebumps bloomed on his skin before he rubbed them away. Eventually, the mirror lost its novelty, and he turned to the only furniture in the room.

Boredom set in quickly, and confusion. What was going on? Where was nii-san? Where was the Old Man, who had always fixed things, even if he'd made mistakes about where Naruto should live?

He began practicing the chakra exercises again, for lack of anything else to do. Practice, and worry, and keep practicing. Practice makes you good enough to survive, Raidou had said. Naruto had countered with Good enough to be Hokage! With that in mind, the lonely time passed a little faster.

He was getting better at it, he could tell. Raidou had been coaching him on hand signs; what each meant, how to form them, the correct transitions between. He was still having trouble going from Ram to Dragon; his fingers kept getting tangled. But it was coming faster, and soon maybe Raidou would let him put chakra in, too, and then he could do jutsu! And then he'd be just a step away from Hokage, when he'd never not know where nii-san was, and no one could take him away.

The room pulsed with conditioned, artificial warmth. Genma knew where he was from the first breath of sterile air. Waking up with a pounding headache where the guard had smashed a fist into his head, he kept his eyes firmly shut. The absence of a thigh holster was immediately registered and filed under the 'oh shit' column. The chakra-bracelet went into 'damn it all to hell.'

Stupid. He'd been stupid. Irrational, impulsive, incoherent with terror so forcefully pushed back that he couldn't see it. Until, now, as he stared into the blackness behind his lids, he admitted that if he opened his eyes and knew that Raidou was there and he was here, he'd lose it.

At least the kid was safe. He'd just have to trust Tenzou and Kakashi to know what to do. Trust in the team. He could do that. As long as his eyes stayed shut.

The cell was just on the wrong side of room temperature. Cold enough to keep him endlessly awake, the air stale from bad circulation and a distinct lack of windows or vents. Raidou pulled his knees up to his chest and stared at the wall, unable to close his eyes. At least Naruto was safe. And the squad. At least it wasn't Genma down here.

Could he leave Naruto alone? After he'd just formed his first real bonds? Was it right to take that path? It was the council's choice, really, now. Uchiha's choice. His life hadn't been his own since he'd accepted the forehead protector so many years ago. But at least he was dying for the village. It was how he'd always known it would end, even if the scenario was not quite what he'd expected.

His attention skittered over the different thoughts; unwilling to delve into any, Raidou waited.

"Genma."

The voice told him it was Kakashi. He couldn't feel the captain's chakra. "Where's Raidou?"

"I heard too late. Ibiki's in with the Hokage now. Genma, I'm going to take the bracelet off, and then we're walking out of here." Kakashi's brittle monotone, the one that said he had a face in his mind he desperately wanted to put a hole through, soothed Genma like the feel of a kunai handle in his hand.

"With or without permission?"

"I don't care."

Genma half-laughed, and let Kakashi guide him to his feet. The cuff clattered to the floor, and he grabbed Kakashi's shoulder. He walked in darkness from the little white room.

Kimiko breathed a sigh of relief when she opened the door and found Naruto standing on the stoop with a female ninja. "Naruto! Are you okay?" There was real concern tingeing her voice, and Naruto looked at her with surprise. "I had no idea you'd be gone so long. I thought it—" What had she thought? Not that they would hurt him, and as he mumbled that he was fine, it was confirmed that they hadn't. But if they had hurt him, and the Hokage found out she'd taken money to let him go...

But it had been a mistake, and she knew better now. Everything was okay. "I'm glad you're home. Go upstairs and get changed for bed."

He trudged up slowly, reluctant to once again be shut out of knowing what was happening. It'd been a long day: school, then the frantic search for Raidou, returning to the house only to be dragged away by strangers to an empty room and brought back again with no explanation. The woman in red hadn't talked to him on the walk home, and he still didn't know where nii-san had gone.

Naruto brushed his teeth with the blue toothbrush Kimiko had given him, and pulled Raidou's big yellow t-shirt over his head. For a moment, he left his face in the fabric, breathing in metal and cedar, but only for a moment. The window in his small room looked out over the thin slice of sickly grass behind the building, and he put his back to the darkness as he plopped himself down on his bed with his school shuriken and a polishing cloth spread around his knees. He still had school tomorrow, and sensei always checked their weapons before practice.

The council was still assembled. In the windowless meeting room, they hadn't noticed when the sun set or the moon began to rise.

Sarutobi had sent the messenger from Kusa out after he'd delivered his message, without giving him an answer. Now he raked his eyes across the silent council. "Opinions?"

One of the civilian representatives spoke first. He was a solid, honest man whose grip on politics was sadly lacking. "We should keep out of their disputes! It was bad enough last time; the village can't take another war!"

"They'd be indebted to us if we sent them a few squads. That could be useful," Hyuuga Hiashi said, as if the other had never spoken.

Uchiha frowned. "Iwa would want retribution. Do you want to risk that?"

"It would be to our advantage if Iwa were contained," Sarutobi pointed out. "They were weakened by the war, but Kusa probably has more reliable data on their current strength than even we do."

"Let Grass deal with them," Uchiha appealed to the rest of the table. "They will fight Iwa whether or not we help. So why make the deaths our own?"

"They've had to recruit missing-nin just to clean up their own territory," one of the elders reminded them in his harsh, crackly voice. "Kusa's not even strong enough to have a Kage. They were completely overrun by Iwa last time, and that was before they lost half their forces and had their whole country razed. Without us, they don't stand a chance."

"So let them destroy each other," Fugaku suggested. "By the time Iwa gets control over Kusa again, they'll be weak enough to take down without sacrificing too many of our own people."

"Too many?" Hiashi repeated softly. "How many is too many to you, Uchiha?"

"Can't we just stay out of war completely?" one of the civilians squawked.

A discreet tapping on the door to the chamber interrupted them. Black and white eyes left each other with identical lingering, challenging glares to appraise the intrusion. A dark-haired chuunin entered, followed by Ibiki. The chuunin bent over to whisper in the Hokage's ear. He pulled back, and they both glanced over at the interrogator.

Sarutobi dismissed the chuunin with a gesture. If he had been anyone other than the Hokage, he would have been smiling. Hiashi caught the predatory look in his commander's eyes, and stiffened just slightly. "Morino-san. We have a few things to sort out; if you could wait for a moment?"

"Yes, sir," Ibiki murmured, stepping back to stand against the wall.

Sarutobi faced the council again. "Morino-san has some news to discuss. However, how we deal with Kusa takes precedence. Hyuuga-san. You suggest sending squads to reinforce the Iwa-Kusa border as a deterrent, correct?"

Hiashi inclined his head. It was close enough. Phrasing it so would pull in those wishing to curry favor with the Hyuuga. He settled back in his seat slightly, ready to watch his Hokage twist the council around his finger.

Sarutobi steepled his hands in front of his face. "Four jounin-chuunin squads, and three ANBU squads. That totals thirty-five ninja."

"We can't spare that many people!" someone exclaimed.

Sarutobi slipped a pleasant smile across his face. "I'll require a reworking of the trade clauses in the last treaty for the assistance. We can loosen the restrictions on produce, medicines, and merchandise. That will repay the lost mission revenue easily in the long term."

"And if Iwa takes your 'deterrent' as a challenge?" Fugaku asked. "Then what?"

Sarutobi wasn't so crass as to look towards Ibiki. "If they were confident enough to be aggressive towards us, Uchiha-san, it wouldn't matter if we stood with Kusa or not. However, we may be able to prevent Grass country from being destroyed again. "

"Why do we care about Grass?" Fugaku snapped. "When it's our own people who are going to be fighting?" When it was his clan that was going to be decimated, again.

"Kusa doesn't want a war, Uchiha-san," the Hokage reminded him. "They're trying to protect themselves from Iwa by cleaning out Rock's strongholds and advantages in their territory. We will simply help them prevent fighting. Do you see, Uchiha-san?" And here was where the agreeable tone didn't change, and Uchiha's eyes didn't flicker towards the corner.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Fugaku's hands tightened in his lap. He wasn't immune to extortion, and Sarutobi wasn't above it.

And here was where Sarutobi had the whole council in the palm of his hand. Even the civilians, placated by a lightening of trade limitations, followed along.

Sarutobi let the smile he'd been holding in creep across his face. The two main factions with power in the council were agreeing, the rest were being led like sheep. Maybe he could get some village reforms through on this bubble of cooperation. The Academy graduation age, for one, which was far, far too low. Uchiha had been one of the main opponents of raising the age. And if he let the classes closest to graduating keep the old rules, they'd have sufficient manpower if Iwa did retaliate. It could work.

By the end of the next two hours, Sarutobi had gotten the council to approve more measures than in all the last forty days. Uchiha was shooting glances at Ibiki, still standing stolidly against the wall, and Hiashi was almost not-frowning.

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and stretched his crackling joints. "Well, I think we can let the messenger stop stewing now. Thirty ninja to patrol the Rock border as peacekeepers." He'd lowered the number to get the district representatives to agree to a village-wide rebuilding ordinance. "And Kusa to rewrite all treaties by sending an envoy to us." Heads nodded around the long table. "Ibiki-san." Fugaku's eyes sharpened.

"Hokage-sama?" The tall teenager stepped forward and bowed.

"Tell the chuunin outside to send the messenger in. And bring Namiashi to my office. I'll deal with him next."

Fugaku leaned forward. "Has he confessed, Sarutobi?"

The Hokage arched a fuzzy eyebrow, his wizened face hard. "The premises you presented to me earlier are now quite clearly incorrect, Uchiha-san. As Kusa was not pressing aggression against us, Namiashi could not have been aiding them in such an endeavor. And while I appreciate your concern for the village's safety in its time of need, since the situation has been resolved there is no need for a continued investment of time and labor into an obsolete course of action. Isn't that so, Uchiha-san?"

Fugaku blinked. He'd been tricked. The table creaked under the sudden pressure of his hands. His jaw muscles bulged as he fought the words, and they came out harsh and furious. "Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi smiled.

They were waiting for him when Ibiki walked him up from underground. Raidou kept his eyes on the dirt, leaning away from Ibiki's grip on his arm. Tenzou moved, as if to step forward, but Kakashi caught his wrist. Their chakra pressed in on him, but he didn't look up.

"The Hokage is waiting for you in his office," Ibiki said quietly.

Raidou gave a half-nod, and kept his empty gaze down. A one-handed seal, a pull on shivery chakra, and he was gone.

"Taichou..." Tenzou began.

"Go home." Kakashi glanced at Genma, and added, "Or wait at the Hokage Tower if you can't do that." Then he repeated Raidou's gesture, and disappeared.

There was only one place Raidou was going to go. He didn't care that the Hokage was waiting.

He appeared in a dark street, on the civilian side of town. He slipped through the space between two buildings, and onto the strip of pale grass that passed for a yard behind the leftmost house. A light was on in a second-floor window, and Raidou noted automatically how clear a target the occupant was, framed against that yellow glow. The boy needed to be more careful.

Raidou stayed in the shadows, craning his head up to see in. It looked right. But he'd been lied to too much lately. He stretched out his chakra, probing in towards the figure.

The chakra presence he encountered was bright and cool, with an underlying scrape of steel wool on his senses; almost soft, but stripping slice after thin slice away as it rubbed against him and leaving a raw-throat metal tang behind. In a strange way, it felt crimson. Naruto. No one could reproduce that feeling, the faint tinge of the Kyuubi permeating his aura, and Raidou doubted anyone had ever cared enough to try.

Naruto, the real Naruto, was here. He breathed a quick bite of relief. With nothing left to do, Raidou faded away into the shadows.

There was motion at the window, as Naruto untangled his legs and scrambled to his feet, scattering shuriken across the bedcovers. On the roof, a shadow grew a shade lighter.

The training ground was empty, at two in the morning. The stars were bright, here, away from the lights of the town. A crescent moon augmented their thin glow. Raidou sat at the base of a tree, letting the shadows swallow him whole. The celestial wash did not manage to reach under there, nor to catch the edge of the newly withdrawn kunai.

The thick green vest crumpled between his back and the bark as he unzipped it and slipped his arms out. He reversed his grip on the hilt of the knife.

His head swung back and knocked against the wood. He didn't want to do this. He still had a life, still had dreams and goals and a family.

Broken trust couldn't heal. His team didn't know yet, but he could no longer trust himself. It didn't matter that he did it for Naruto. It didn't matter why.

Deep blue cloth separated into useless, dangling strands under the lightest of pressures. His hand began to tremble.

Still had everything. Friends and hope and love.

Couldn't heal. There was no second chance.

Still had—

Crimson.

"Raidou-nii-san!" The stars bleached his hair to white, his eyes to silver. He ran out of the trees across the field and arrowed in on Raidou, even hidden by the dark.

The kunai tumbled from Raidou's hands; a single drip of blood buried itself in the dirt. The boy dropped to his knees beside him and wrapped his arms around his neck. "You didn't come today," he accused. "You said you'd come practice and you didn't."

It startled him; how had only a day passed? "Sorry," he exhaled.

"You were the one who said plans were so important. But you didn't tell me you weren't coming. I was scared," he whispered.

"Sorry," Raidou murmured again, and tentatively lifted an arm, draping it around Naruto. The child snuggled up against his side and squeezed him more tightly. "Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you come?"

"I felt you there," Naruto murmured into his chest. "Outside. You weren't happy. I missed you."

He must have felt the chakra brush, Raidou surmised. He lifted a hand and laid it on Naruto's head. Children weren't supposed to be that sensitive yet. "You don't need to worry, Naruto."

The boy let himself slide down until he lay across Raidou lap, pressing his head up into the fingers that began to comb softly through his hair. "Stay here," Naruto mumbled into Raidou's shirt. "Don't go away again."

Raidou nodded. Slowly, slowly, his body stopped shuddering. The dark, rioting tension drained away. Raidou kept smoothing his hand across Naruto's head as the minutes passed and the boy's breathing slowed. Curled against Raidou's side, head on Raidou's stomach, the child fell asleep.

For a while, there was nothing to disturb them. And under the shadows of a tall, wide-leafed tree, in the soft embrace of night breezes, he didn't have to think.

The man didn't try and hide his approach. Raidou tracked him by the soft footsteps and light breathing, until he crouched down in the middle of the open field and extended an empty hand. "I thought I'd find you here."

Raidou, his arm curved protectively around Naruto, didn't answer.

"I won't stay long," Matsuda said. His voice slipped under the sounds of the night rather than penetrating them, the swirl at the bottom of a clear stream that spreads out and disappears into the waters before the color ever has a chance to reveal itself as brown or red. "I have a promise to keep."

He hooked a chain out from under the collar of his black shirt; metal clinked. The sliver light seemed to come from the air rather than the sky as it reflected off his pale face and hands, shedding impenetrable shadows into the hollows of his eyes and mouth. Matsuda broke the necklace with his fingers. His dogtags fell glittering to his knees. The chain dripped down his chest in a mercurial stream.

"I told sensei I wouldn't let you die." The two plain rings he now held in his palm looked like pure silver, though Raidou knew they were old, battered steel. He was too far away to make even the shape out clearly, but he still felt he could see the scratch cutting across the outer edge of one, where she'd tried to block a kunai with her bare hand and nearly lost two fingers.

"He wasn't asking for forever," Raidou finally answered.

"No." The dark holes in Matsuda's face gaped emptily, but the tone belied the shadows. "But a promise is a promise." For a moment, his fingers closed over the rings. "I'll still never forgive you."

"No."

Matsuda rose and the moonlight glistened in his eyes for a moment. The rings dropped into Raidou's hand with a soft jingle. They were warm from contact with Matsuda's skin. "I don't understand why you would save the demon, but not your own teammate," he whispered.

Raidou's eyes met his silently, faces floating between them in accusation and regret.

Matsuda turned away. "You owe me a life, Raidou. And until the Hokage claims it, you will repay me with yours."

After the man disappeared into the trees, Raidou bent his head and cried silently, dripping tears into the sleeping boy's hair.

A/N #2: You get explanations of the history later. I decided to just get the chapter up, before something new steals away all my time.

As always, it is probably going to get edited again. Eventually.