Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine.
Warnings: A little language and a depressed Sasuke.
Moving On
Chapter Eight
By Michiru's Mirror
As expected for the leader of a great ninja village, Tsunade's funeral was lavish. Thousands of citizens of Hi no Kuni poured into the village to pay their respects and share Konoha's grief.
Naruto was amazed by the variety of stories these citizens brought in, anecdotes he had never known about the former Hokage's years wandering Hi no Kuni. She may have struggled during those times, but you'd never know it to listen to the tales.
There was one man, so old Naruto was amazed he could stand, who outlined a tale of robbery.
"She had just lost at a casino, see? Lost big I guess, 'cause she had about four men on her tail, big guys calling her the most awful things as they ran her down.
"I'm just runnin' my stand, mindin' my business and then what looked like a gorgeous teenager comes flyin' by like some bird with a hunter on her tail. So I look at her and just think, 'Wow! What a babe!' And tell her she can hide behind my stand to get away.
"So she ducks down and the men run past. I'm hopin' she'll get the message for how I want her to pay me back by my wigglin' around a little, but she just gives me this dirty look and tells me she'll pay me with money if I insist on gettin' something for helping a poor lost girl.
"So I'm really ticked off about not getting' the reward I wanted. I tell her she'd better pay up then, all she's got, and she hands over this big wad of cash that I'm sure is enough to last me the month. She storms off mumblin' about how there's no charitable acts anymore, which I thought was a funny thing t'say given she doesn't look old enough to talk like that.
"So I try to add the bills to the safe I keep money in behind the stall, except there's nothing to add the bills to. That girl went and took the money from the safe and paid me with my own earnin's!"
The man sighed. "You shoulda seen me when I realized who'd ripped me off. It took decades before I could find the situation funny, let me tell you!"
That story was tame compared to some others Naruto heard. There were grateful mothers saying that though Tsunade had refused to use any chakra in her time away from Konoha, she had used her knowledge of the human body and the ills that could befall it to save their husbands and children. There were casino patrons laughing about how badly she'd lost on dozens of occasions. There were men she'd spent nights with who woke up to find her gone, and women who'd bought Tsunade drinks in bars when she was so broke she couldn't even afford basic food let alone her sake habit.
Tsunade was a woman who, even at her lowest point, had refused to live life any way other then exactly how she chose. Naruto stared at her picture set next to her ashes laid in the center of Konoha's main square. He had never felt so sad and yet so inspired at the same time.
He and Sakura had been up all night talking about what they had lost; Naruto was amazed to realize how much he had missed talking to her, and just how easy it was. It made his inability to verbalize his fears about becoming Hokage that much more mysterious. Was it because he was ashamed? Or because Sakura didn't know anything about politics?
No…if it was a matter of what Sakura did and didn't know, Naruto wouldn't have been able to talk about Jiraiya. She had no feelings for him that she could share with Naruto, but she smiled when Naruto spoke and made him comfortable talking about his old teacher. Naruto knew that Sakura didn't approve of much of the way Jiraiya had lived his life, but never once did she say anything negative while Naruto told stories of drunkenness, gambling and womanizing.
Jiraiya's funeral was considerably smaller then Tsunade's. He had been an intensely private man, and not a very kind one. Naruto had come to love him in a nephew-ly fashion, and he knew the feeling was mutual, but Jiraiya had never really let him get close. He knew virtually nothing about Jiraiya's history and thoughts save for what was in books. The last person who knew Jiraiya intimately was Konoha's Godaime, and with her gone Jiraiya was mourned by more fans than by friends.
But those fans poured in by the dozens to pay their respects. Naruto stood in front of them all, looking at the little urn containing Jiraiya's ashes and a picture that made him look so much more dignified and serious then the man Naruto had looked up to. Around him he could hear at least a dozen murmured conversations about Jiraiya's final book, but he didn't really pay attention. That wasn't why he was here.
Naruto did not think that his mentors regretted their deaths, and he did not mourn the way their lives had ended. They had lived long and full lives and did what they loved up until the end. Tsunade spent some time running from herself, but she had found her way back to life and went to her grave making sure that other ninja didn't have to suffer the way she had. She had revolutionized medical procedures, overhauled Konoha Hospital, created diplomatic relations with nations and hidden villages that had been thought beyond Konoha's reach, and gave her village Sakura and Shizune, two medics and leaders as talented as she herself had been.
Jiraiya's list of accomplishments was less dramatic, but no less important. Aside from bringing Tsunade back to Konoha and training the Yondaime Hokage, his Icha Icha series had bridged as many gaps as Tsunade's diplomacy in their own way.
It had taken Naruto a long time to understand just how important art was to the formation of friendships between both people and nations. Having no appreciation of the stuff himself, Naruto had always thought art to be nothing more then boring books and paintings he had to memorize to pass certain useless classes at the Academy. He hadn't known then that when two men from enemy nations with nothing in common realize that they are both fans of the same artist, it can make them realize they are not as different as they thought. And from that beginning can develop a relationship to change the world.
Whether the Icha Icha series was "highly ironic, perceptive, erotic art" as Kakashi had always said or "cheap smut" like Tsunade insisted was debated by literary critics all over the world. But it was something men far and wide read and enjoyed, and more than one fan in Iwagakure had become pen pals with fans in Konoha. From those letters came friendship, and from that friendship important relations might one day form. Though Jiraiya couldn't directly take credit for this the way Tsunade could her diplomatic record, he had done his part to bridge some wide international gaps.
And Jiraiya had had fun the whole way. He could have been Hokage but chose not to; the job didn't suit him. Jiraiya had done what he wanted to do instead, and Naruto had to admire that.
On top of all that, Naruto didn't think for a minute that the two of them would rather have let their bodies rot to the point where they were invalid instead of dying in battle. The idea of them needing diapers because they couldn't get to the bathroom and living off of liquids because they had no teeth to chew with was painful.
No, Naruto didn't mourn for their lives. He mourned for what was missing in his own. The last of his teachers had gone from his life, and without their guidance he was blundering in the dark.
No, Naruto reminded himself, no you have your friends and loved ones…they'll walk with you.
True enough, but somehow it didn't fill the hole in his heart.
Naruto had done this before. Lee, Shino, Tenten, Sai, Kakashi…the world took them away, and Naruto was left with memories to comfort himself. He knew a day would come when he would wake up and the pain would be different, less all encompassing. In the meantime, the best he could do was share those memories with Sakura and Iruka-sensei and move on. It was almost routine…though somehow, it never became any easier.
So what to do next? He discussed it with Sakura the night after Jiraiya's funeral. They sat up in bed, sipping tea and just chatting as sleep eluded them once again.
"I don't understand how this could have happened," Sakura said. She was wrapped in Naruto's arms, her back to his chest. "They might have been old, but still, who was more powerful then Shishou and Jiraiya-sama?"
Naruto nodded against Sakura's hair. "Mm. I was thinking about that—the Akatsuki and Orochimaru are long gone, and the only other ninja I can think who have the power to do this are other Kage."
Sakura scowled. "Yeah, the fucking Tsuchikage, for example."
Naruto blinked in surprise—Sakura rarely swore unless she was really furious. "It was Iwa who called them out into the middle of nowhere."
"Yeah, it sure sounds like they're responsible. The Innkeeper of the place Baa-chan and Ero-sennin stayed at says he was threatened by someone wearing an Iwa hitai-ate, and the glimpses the other guests got of the fight says they saw those same hitai-ate. I wish we'd found some bodies to see for ourselves, but I have to hand it to Iwa's hunter-nin for cleaning up so damn quickly." Naruto sighed.
"What I don't get is why the hell Iwa is picking a fight with us now."
"They're our enemy, aren't they?" said Sakura crossly. "They probably saw their moment because our Hokage was growing old and took it. But I don't get why they think they're going to get away with it. They have to know we're going to kill them now."
There was rage in Sakura's voice, and Naruto felt the same stirring inside his chest. And yet there was sadness too as he saw the chance for relations between Iwa and Konoha sliding away. He thought again of the innocents in Kirigakure that Gaara had killed for an insult that he hadn't even bothered to confirm.
Naruto remembered what Tsunade had told him when he bemoaned Gaara's refusal to even speak to Kirigakure's Kage before attacking their village: She said that she would have spoken with him before attacking in the same situation.
And now it was the same situation, and Naruto could see how Gaara had so easily been convinced to massacre innocent people. It was what all of Konoha wanted now. There wasn't a single citizen, from the elders to the youngest children in the Academy, who wasn't screaming for Iwa blood.
But…
"Sakura-chan, that might not be such a good idea."
Sakura stiffened in his arms, and abruptly she wrenched away from his body. Turning to scowl at him, she said, "What does that mean? We should just let them kill us?"
"No, of course not," said Naruto. Her reaction would have been his only a scant few years ago, and he understood completely that her anger was not really directed at him. "But what if Iwagakure wasn't responsible for this? What if it was, I don't know, Kirigakure wearing Iwa hitai-ate to set them up? What if it was a neutral group like Akatsuki?
"There's too much we don't know, Sakura-chan. Someone has retribution coming to them, but we have to know who it is as a nation, or we'll hurt a lot of innocent people and fuck up our own international relations with Iwa and its allies."
Sakura had frozen, the scowl on her face becoming ridiculous as it was mixed with shock. Naruto fought to keep his own face neutral, since this wasn't the time to laugh at Sakura's confusion. He would be having this conversation with other villagers, and many of them would have the same reaction.
"I didn't…I mean…I thought…"
Naruto nodded. "We're all pretty pissed off, but we gotta make sure we're pissed at the right people."
Sakura deflated before his eyes as his words penetrated her brain, and Naruto had to quickly lunge forward to keep her from toppling over. Her teacup went spilling over the side, hitting the floor with a clink.
Naruto understood. This was the mental equivalent of running forward as fast as you could go and suddenly slamming into a brick wall. Sakura was open minded, kind hearted and intelligent; she would be fine once she got over the initial shock, but the shock itself was unavoidable.
"I…hadn't even though of that," said Sakura finally, curling again into Naruto's embrace.
"I don't think a lot of people have," said Naruto grimly. "The new Hokage better have some real good ideas about how to break it to people or there'll be a revolt or something."
Sakura looked up at Naruto curiously. "The new Hokage? Naruto, that'll probably be you."
She meant it as a bolstering sort of statement. He was finally achieving his lifelong dream after long years of preparation and long decades of dreaming. The last thing she expected was for him to go so stiff that she almost got a crick in her neck leaning up against him and so silent that she could hear crickets chirping outside of the window.
Naruto pushed her away then, and got up off the bed. "I'll clean up this tea," he said, heading for the kitchen with his head bowed.
Sakura was left on the bed, stunned for the second time in three minutes. What on earth was going on? Something was obviously bothering Naruto.
Well of course something was bothering him: Tsunade and Jiraiya had just died. But somehow she got the feeling that something else was going on.
He had reacted so strongly when she said he would be Hokage. But that couldn't be the problem, could it? Naruto had wanted the job since before he entered the Ninja Academy and had trained for decades to get it.
And yet…
He had bragged nonstop about how he was going to be Hokage since Sakura had met him, only to clam up once he became Tsunade's apprentice. Sakura thought that having achieved his goal Naruto no longer felt the need to boast, but could there be another reason?
And when she thought about it, that terrible night less then a week ago had started after he came home from work. Was it that work that put him in such a terrible, silent mood? Sakura had assumed that something about her had turned him off, but what if that wasn't the case?
Naruto reentered the room, and Sakura was careful not to say the word "Hokage" again. The response was noticeable: Naruto began to relax and talk again. They went back to swapping stories about their mentors, trading tears and laughs.
But Sakura did not forget her suspicions.
Only when the sun rose did the two realize they had been awake all night; they had to go to work after two days with very little sleep.
Sakura stood from the bed with a deep groan and a popping of limbs. "We are no longer teenagers, Naruto."
"Shut up," Naruto said, and then ducked to avoid her playful swing. It was a happy start to the day, and it bolstered them through what followed.
Neither Naruto nor Sakura felt ready to face company yet, and when you added that to their exhaustion both hoped they could go home early. Naruto was still officially on vacation, and though he didn't fool himself into thinking that there wouldn't be work for him after the fiasco that had just happened, he prayed to whatever gods might be listening that it would be work that could be put off until after a day of rest.
Besides, he wanted to check on Sasuke. The Uchiha had been conspicuously absent from both funerals, and no one Naruto spoke to seemed to know where he was. Recent reports did, however, say that they'd seen him wandering like a lost soul all over Konoha. Naruto had never heard of such behavior in his friend, and was hoping to find out himself just what was going on.
No such luck. A village like Konoha couldn't be left without a leader for long, and so Naruto was not surprised to be cornered by a pair of village Elders near Konoha Hospital where he was about to drop Sakura off. He could not keep himself from stiffening and clenching his fists, and he felt his heart begin beating much faster then before.
As he bowed his head to keep from showing the elders the strain on his face, he did not see Sakura turn to him with a contemplative look. Indeed, he barely felt the comforting hand she put on his arm.
"If you will please come with us, Uzumaki-san," said one of the Elders. He was tall and completely bald.
Naruto hesitated but nodded after a moment. It wasn't as though he had a choice.
But to his surprise Sakura was suddenly in front of him, bowing low to the elders. "May I accompany you, Honored Elders?"
Both Elders looked slightly scandalized. "What makes you think that this is your business, Medic?"
"Nothing at all, and I apologize for my inexcusable rudeness," said Sakura. "But if the meeting is about what I think it is, I feel my presence may be beneficiary."
The two Elders exchanged glances before looking at Naruto. "It is your choice, Uzumaki-san. The whole village will know soon anyway, so whether you want this one to know first is up to you."
Naruto hesitated, as conflicted as he'd ever been. He didn't want Sakura to see his shame, and yet he wanted her by his side more then anything, nervous and confused as he was.
His hiding had caused such a huge fight between them, and if nothing else, Naruto didn't want to start another one. He didn't know if he could take an angry Sakura on top of what he knew was coming.
So he nodded, and fell in to step beside Sakura. They walked the familiar roads of Konoha in complete silence, Naruto's head hung low.
What could he say? Not only was there no one else with the training and power he had to offer, it seemed that Konoha was on the brink of war with somebody powerful enough to kill two sannin at once. Naruto might have begun to see the world in a different way from his adolescent view, but his desire to protect his loved ones had not lessened one jot. He knew what would happen if there wasn't a strong leader to organize and protect them, and he would never, could never, let that happen.
And indeed, it wasn't the upcoming battle that he dreaded. It was exactly this type of situation he had dreamed of when he decided to become Hokage in his childhood. Konoha on the brink of disaster, relying on UZUMAKI NARUTO (capital letters mandatory) to save them. Of course at that time he hadn't understood the responsibility that would go with the glory and prestige, but even that weight would be worth it to see his loved ones safe.
No, it was what would come after the war that Naruto was worried about. He would have to assign assassinations and watch people get slaughtered and send Sakura and Sasuke out into danger without being able to protect them…it made him ill just thinking about it. Had he spent so much time making himself strong so that he could protect those precious to him only to wind up sitting behind a desk and watching them suffer and die?
They were in the conference room of the Konoha elders before he knew it. A dozen determined old faces stared at him, pinning Naruto in place as securely as if they'd sewn him to the wall.
He was going to puke, he knew it.
"I am sure you know why you're here, Uzumaki-san," said the Elder furthest from him, the First Elder, regal and poised in immaculate blue robes. "The time has come to choose a new Hokage, and not one of us can think of a more suitable candidate then you."
They hadn't even offered him a seat.
"I…" Naruto said. "I…"
Sakura was next to him then. Physical contact was forbidden by the formality of the situation, but she was still so close that he could feel her warmth through the thin black material of his shirt. It was all she could offer him now, but Naruto knew she had come with him specifically for this. She somehow knew about his anxiety.
He was humiliated, yet bolstered at the same time.
"Can I…" Naruto swallowed. "Can I think about it?"
Murmuring immediately broke out and diffused around the room. Hadn't Naruto wanted this his whole life? Hadn't he been training for it for three years? Now, when the moment was upon him, what was making him hesitate?
Perhaps it was guilt, thought some. To take the job a loved one had held until death was no small thing.
The First Elder spoke again, his tone gentle. "Normally we would be glad to give you time. Unfortunately, right now we find ourselves with none to give."
"Because we have to start researching who killed Baa—I mean, the Godaime Hokage-sama?"
"No," said the First Elder, "Because the Tsuchikage is coming this way. He'll be here within hours."
Sasuke didn't know where he was. He was fairly certain that he was still in Konoha, because the buildings seemed vaguely familiar and he kept passing by people wearing hitai-ate with the Konoha leaf mark emblazoned on them.
In fact, Sasuke was walking down Kuina Dori St., a street he had gone to every week since he returned to Konoha to see a weapon smith that lived there. His mind, however, was so far away from reality that he did not recognize it. He had been walking for days now without a break for food or rest, just traversing the same streets again and again. His feet were covered with ruptured blisters, but he did not feel them. He had soiled himself several times without noticing. All he could see were his thoughts and all he could feel was his shame.
The weapon smith he frequented recognized him, however. As Sasuke was too far away for the burly man to see his condition or smell him, he waved cheerfully. The Uchiha heir was an excellent customer, paying top prices for enough weaponry to outfit a small army. The weapon smith enjoyed the opportunity to make such fine weapons—many people settled for cheap, slipshod work—and of course he enjoyed receiving the high fee he was paid.
"Uchiha-sama!" he called out, setting down the kunai he had been beating into shape. Oddly, though Sasuke wasn't too far away from him, it seemed he hadn't heard.
Frowning, the weapon smith tried again. "UCHIHA-SAMA!"
Sasuke looked up, and the weapon smith was taken aback. There was stubble all along Sasuke's face, his eyes were bloodshot and so swollen they looked bulgy, and he seemed to have lost an alarming amount of weight.
"Uchiha-sama?" asked the weapon smith. Sasuke was close to him now, and he nearly gagged at the smell. "Are you…do you need assistance?"
Sasuke stopped walking and started at him, as though trying to decide who he was.
The weapon smith saw Sasuke's feet and recoiled. He was not a man who was easily frightened; in his line of work he'd suffered burns, bruises, broken arms and numerous other unpleasant injuries. But to his eyes the weeping, bleeding, infected appendages looked to be almost permanently ruined. If Sasuke didn't get off his feet he might never be able to walk again.
"Uchiha-sama, come inside! I'll get my wife to treat those for you."
Still Sasuke stood and stared at him, making the weapon smith very nervous. Those black eyes seemed to be staring at something he could not see.
Then Sasuke said, "Sons are more valuable then daughters," and walked away, leaving the weapon smith to gape after him. The man shivered, deeply disquieted by what he had seen.
Sasuke did not know that, because he didn't look back. He was in fact not even aware that he had just spoken to anyone.
Sasuke's mind was in a place so deep inside of himself that later he was unable to remember a thing from those days he'd spent wandering. All he remembered was arriving at a familiar pier, and realizing that he had decided to jump.
He remembered this pier and the lake it lead into. Here he had struggled for hours to perfect his fire techniques in the vain hope that his father would deign too look at him and acknowledge him as a son. Here he had sworn to kill his brother and restore the glory of the Uchiha clan, no matter how low he had to fall.
Well, he had fallen…and yet somehow his promise had not been kept. No, it was he who had not kept his promise. He had failed his clan and his father. He was nothing, nobody, a loser unworthy of the great Uchiha name.
But how great was it really? How many people seemed unhappy when the Uchiha were wiped from the earth? What kind of family breeds men like Itachi…and you?
Sasuke silenced those doubts as he had silenced them his whole life, banishing them to the dark place inside of his head that he put things he did not want to acknowledge.
It seemed somehow terribly unfair that it was a bright and sunny day. Why wasn't there a storm? Wind to blow Sasuke's clothes and hair dramatically and show his mood to the world? Frothy, choppy water to receive his weary body when it fell?
He supposed it didn't really matter. But if he was going to die this way he wished it could be a more dramatic exit, one befitting an Uchiha.
Sasuke raised his arms wide as if to embrace the whole lake, this lake where he grew up, where his dreams were crushed and his impossible ambitions made.
Sasuke felt all the pressures he had let drive his life build inside his mind. They formed a festering knot, an infectious wound in his soul that had eaten away at his humanity for almost twenty years. He studied that wound for a single moment, seeing how red and polluted it had become.
Then, he let himself fall forwards into the cool water before him with a great splash that shocked his already overtaxed mind into blacking out.
As Sasuke slid into that blackness, he hoped that it would comfort him and end the pain he'd felt every day of his life. But somehow, he didn't think that he'd be that lucky.
Sakura was again bowing low, her head almost to her knees. "Please, Honored Elders, may I speak?"
There was some minor grumbling from the assembled group, but the First Elder only nodded and said, "You may."
Sakura's tone was humble, but did not lack for confidence. "If I'm not mistaken, Uzumaki-san can only become Hokage officially after the proper rites and ceremonies have been completed."
"That's correct," the First Elder said, and Naruto wondered what she was getting at.
"So," said Sakura, "Uzumaki-san will deal with the Tsuchikage when he comes, but he won't be Hokage yet, will he?"
"Yes, that's right," said the First Elder. He was beginning to look at Sakura curiously, wondering what she was trying to say, but Naruto understood now.
He would lead this battle, but only later would the new Hokage be officially appointed. Perhaps he had a small bit of leeway before the worst part of the job was thrust upon him.
Naruto had to fight to keep himself from collapsing with relief. There was no time for that and he knew it; there was a threat that had to be dealt with now
So Naruto contented himself with a deep breath and a slight shaking of his knees which Sakura deftly covered up for him by bowing ostentatiously and stepping back.
"Okay," said Naruto when she was behind him again. "So what kind of force are we talking about?"
The Second Elder, an old woman with very thin hair and large spectacles, spoke. "That's what's confusing us. It's not a 'force,' it's the Tsuchikage and one old man about my age."
Naruto frowned. "…And?"
"And that's it," the First Elder said. "Only those two, walking up to us in broad daylight with no backup we can see. We've had jounin out since the Tsuchikage was spotted around dawn trying to find some trace of a retinue, but there appears to be nobody."
"We thought that perhaps his soldiers were waiting to teleport in, but very few shinobi can travel long distances that way, so even if he is bringing backup it can't be a very large force." said the Second Elder. Gray heads nodded like bobble-headed dolls as she spoke.
Sakura did not speak. She had no standing in this council, nor any place in this meeting. Her very presence was a breach of etiquette, and she had already provoked too much ire in the Elders by speaking out of turn once.
Naruto knew he wasn't supposed to ask for her opinion. She was too lowly, and though many leaders listened to the opinions of their friends and lovers under cover of darkness when no one could hear, asking openly was taboo. Why, that would suggest favoritism, make the leader look weak, and give power to an unelected official!
So naturally Naruto turned around and said, "What do you think, Sakura-chan?"
The shocked and irritated mutterings from the Elders now at his back made him roll his eyes. Rule-bound conservative idiots. This was what most rulers did anyway! If he had to wait for night time to find out Sakura's opinion or do it now when it might actually be useful to him, he didn't see why he shouldn't ask now. Everyone knew she had the biggest influence on his decisions aside from Iruka-sensei, so why hide it?
He remembered Hinata telling him that she stopped calling Neji "nii-san" because it made a bad impression on people she had to impress for her own and other's livelihoods, and how sad it made him to hear that. He could respect what Hinata was doing in order to save lives, but he could never do the same. He knew that now.
Sakura seemed annoyed with him too, and Naruto knew what she was thinking.
He's making himself look ridiculous! Doesn't he know there's a certain way a Hokage has to act?
But slowly that look left her face to be replaced by an understanding one. She knew how hard he had been working under Tsunade, and how much he had learned from her. If he was asking her opinion now it was because it was important to him, not because he'd forgotten the rules.
"I think…" Sakura hesitated a moment, collecting her thoughts. Naruto waited patiently. "I think that there is a possibility that this is a trap, so I'd put guardsmen on alert all around Konoha, and not just at the main gates."
Naruto nodded.
"But…if this is really what it seems to be, if the Tsuchikage is really coming up to us in broad daylight in peace, I think you should listen to what he has to say before you decide to do anything." Sakura's smile turned rueful. "Not everyone is going to like that idea, though, so if you choose to meet with him, I'd suggest assembling some powerful jounin that you trust to guard yourself and the Tsuchikage while you talk. That will protect you against some of the more…hotheaded…ninja here."
Naruto grinned at her, knowing she was remembering her own outburst the evening before.
Naruto turned back to the Elders. "I think that sounds like an excellent plan. Any objections?"
More grumbling. The idea was a good one, and so the Elders had no problems with it; rather, they didn't like the idea of their Hokage grabbing onto the opinion of an uninvited, unelected outsider so quickly.
Especially when it was an outsider he was sleeping with.
Naruto knew expressions like "pussy-whipped" and "wrapped around her finger" were going to be circulating the village by nightfall. It was quite a joke that all Sakura had done was make a plan based on the words he had given her the night before. She was giving him an idea, yes, but she was also parroting back his speech about talking to your enemy and being sure you knew who to fight.
The people who would whisper gossip didn't know any of that. All they would know was what they heard about this meeting, and for them, that would be enough to pass judgment. Naruto knew from his time in Tsunade's office that people were going to talk nonsense whatever the circumstances were, which in his mind was yet another reason not let old-fashioned rules fuck things up.
"Right then," said Naruto after several minutes of grumbling didn't turn into any actual objections. "I'll meet the Tsuchikage just outside of Konoha's gates so he can't get directly inside. I'm off to make preparations—just send a messenger bird for me if you have any suggestions. Sakura-chan, come with me."
And with that, Naruto turned on his heel and strode out the door, Sakura right behind him.
Naruto's mind was reeling with all of the memories suddenly clamoring for his attention. He remembered Tsunade, drinking sake on the job and telling off her teachers for not listening to her ideas about adding medics to each three man cell. He thought of Jiraiya telling the Elders he didn't want the Hokage job because he had porn to write, damn it!
Naruto remembered this feeling. This was good. This was the part where he showed everyone that Uzumaki Naruto did everything better then everyone else, because he did it his own way.
This was not joy or happiness, because his grief was still too fresh and his responsibility too great for feelings like that. But now, in this moment, feelings of determination and pride and clarity were coming back to him. He was alive again for the first time in months, and it was so good.
"Sakura-chan, I'm gonna need your help," he said. She nodded, and he went on. "For my guards, I want all that's left of our old crowd."
Again he was setting himself up to be accused of playing favorites, but Sakura understood the value in comrades you could trust. There was no one they trusted more to keep Naruto safe from attackers. Though they might disagree with his decision to talk to the Tsuchikage, they wouldn't try to physically hurt him over it.
"I'll head over to the Hyuuga manor," Sakura said. Immediately, she leapt off to tell them that the village leader (though not the Hokage, yet) was calling them to duty. Naruto himself made for the Akimichi compound, bounding over buildings with energy he hadn't had in too long. He wouldn't leave a duty like this to messenger birds, and he knew he'd have some explaining to do anyway.
It was time to get to work.
A/NThere's definitely some liberty with Naruto's character here when he explains things to Sakura; he's usually much more hotheaded. I'm trying to move with the character we all know and love, who has become more mature with all he's learned. Did I do it or not? Lemmie know either way.
I've gotten a lot of different comments on the romance on this fic, wondering why I haven't written its beginnings, or why there isn't more fluff, or why Naruto and Sakura are as "old" as they are (though 35 is hardly old!). I appreciate these comments, like the comments I get, and I thought I'd explain a little bit:A lot of people like to write love stories where the audience watches a couple go through trials to become a couple. I enjoy that kind of romance too, but I've known too many couples to be anything but realistic: most couples don't work out. There's a 50percent+ divorce rate in America, and a lot of the remaining couples grow apart and just tolerate each other. Couples who go a long time and still like each other are rare, and in my mind the greatest romance isn't one just budding, but instead one that has withstood time and is still strong. The reason I've written Naruto and Sakura as being together for a long time instead of going over how they got together isn't because I'm avoiding writing romance. That Naruto and Sakura have withstood the test of time and can not only tolerate but really love each other still is, to me, the most romantic idea of all.