Author Notes: Ok this is a long chapter but I realized I was leaving out some relationships that I'd really wanted to build on when I first started this story. Guess that's what happens when the characters decide they are going to take over the story. You end up just typing the scenes that keep them the center of attention.
Rose: Bad dog Naruto toons. My story.
Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine. Too bad. Cause Pinkie would be in alot of trouble if it was.
Chapter Seventeen
The Consequences of Our Actions
The next morning, the day before the festival, Sakura reported to Tsunade-sama's office. She didn't know why she'd been summoned but assumed it was either for testing, training or a mission with her team. Since she knew Naruto-Baka hadn't been given clearance to leave he village she hoped it was a mission for her and Sasuke-kun. She smiled as she thought about actually being able to get some alone time with her love. But when she entered the office only Tsunade-sama and Kakashi-sensei were there. Wait Kakashi-sensei. . . here before her? Nani?"
"Sakura I thought I told you to stay away from Naruto's apartment." Tsunade asked.
"You meant that? I thought you only said that because you were angry I woke you up. He's my teammate and no one else can make him do what he's supposed to so I have to go to his apartment. He'd never get anywhere if I didn't make sure he was where he should be."
"I meant it. I told you under no uncertain terms that you were to stay away and leave him alone. You were also told by Kakashi to leave him alone. Now since you decided to break the injunction you will have to suffer the consequences." She paused to make sure she had her full attention.
"But Tsunade-shishui. I have to go to his place. If I don't the Baka won't ever show up for practice or for missions. He'll never get stronger hiding in that dump and he's held our team back enough."
Kakashi interrupted her. "He is NOT the weak link in our group Sakura. You are. You are the one who never faces the enemy in combat. You are the one who always needs to be protected. If they should ever both be incapacitated you're dead."
"That won't happen with Sasuke-kun around Kakashi-sensei and how dare you imply that Baka is stronger than I am! I can punch through anything I want to. I have perfect chakra control and I am a good medic. Next to Sasuke-kun I am the most important person on our team. Of course Sasuke-kun protects me in battle. He knows that if he gets hurt I am the only one that can heal him." She stuck her chin in the air and looked down her nose at Kakashi.
"You have perfect chakra control but I wonder how perfect it would be if you had even a fifth the chakra Naruto has. His chakra is way stronger than yours and he can outlast Sasuke when it comes to pure chakra based moves. Plus his stamina is out of this world. He doesn't need you for anything since you have nothing to offer him. Kyuubi heals him faster than you can and if it weren't for the fact that Kyuubi's chakra is poisonous to both me and Sasuke you would have been off the team a longtime ago." He finished speaking in disgust. It was clear he had lost any bit of respect he ever might have had for her.
Tsunade said, "Kakashi you won't have to deal with her for at least the next month. Sakura seems to have gotten to high of an opinion of herself so I am going to work her alone for awhile and knock it out of her. I did not agree to train her so that she could get a swollen head and I am tired of the way she has been lording herself over everyone else. Not only has she treated her teammate worse than we treat our enemies, but I have received more than one complaint from the staff at the hospital. I let her get out of hand but now I will fix that situation."
"Sakura, today you will be cleaning the restrooms at the hospital using a cloth, scrub brush and bucket. No chakra allowed and they'd better sparkle when you're finished. Get going. Someone is waiting for you. And Sakura, . . . if I find out you disobeyed me I will have you tied up and you will do the job with a toothbrush between your teeth. And don't bother crying or trying to get someone else to do it for you. The staff has been told not to help you in any way."
Kakashi could hardly hold back the grin that threatened to crack his face but as an ex-anbu he knew it was inappropriate for him to show emotion at the disciplinary actions taken against another ninja. However he'd long thought she was out of control and was glad to see that finally the Hokage was going to do something about it. That he could have also done something at any time since she had become his student he didn't think about.
Sakura just stood there completely dumbfounded. Scrubbing toilets? Her? For what? She was top of her class! One of the best medics in town. Second-in-Command at the hospital. What the hell was happening here? She didn't understand.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get moving. No one's going to roll out a red carpet for you," Tsunade barely even looked at her as she waved her out of the office. "Oh and Sakura. You won't be getting paid for this since you still owe Naruto for the damage to his property."
"Nani?" Sakura whispered.
"It costs a lot of money to repair building walls and replace broken furniture. I'm still looking for copies of the books we were able to identify that were trashed. Not to mention replacing his clothes. Because you made it possible, the villagers destroyed everything he had in there and so you will cover the cost of replacing it all. Every single thing."
"Hai." Sakura left the office slowly and went to the hospital where a very angry Shizune waited for her with a bucket of cleaners in one hand and a scrub brush and cloth in the other. She led her to the basement and said, "Start on the bathrooms on this level and work your way up. When you finish each level I will check them. Don't cheat and use any chakra. I've been told to check for it. And what to do if I find it. I can tie Naruto up well enough to keep him bound so don't think you'll escape using that strength Tsunade-sama taught you. You won't." She turned and left Sakura standing in the hallway.
It was only as she entered the bathroom that she realized they hadn't given her any gloves. She left to go find some. No way was she cleaning toilets without gloves. She didn't even do that at home where it was just her and her Mom using the toilet. She took the elevator back upstairs and went to the utility closet.
"What are you doing Sakura?" asked Shizune. "I already gave you your supplies. Now get back down there and get to work."
"I need gloves. I can't clean toilets without them."
"No. They aren't allowed. Now go get those toilets clean. You have an hour to finish the bathrooms on that level."
Sakura turned and went back to the basement. She tried to ignore the looks she was getting from people who'd overheard Shizune but it was hard and tears were running from her eyes by the time she finally made it back into the bathroom where she'd left the supplies she'd been allowed. This was torture. She got to work and cried every time she had to put her hands inside a dirty toilet bowl.
Back in the office Tsunade looked at Kakashi and said, "Suitable punishment I think given that she is hyper sensitive against germs and won't be given gloves."
Kakashi cringed and said, "For what she has put Naruto through and thereby Sasuke I'd have to agree. She has done more damage to Team Seven with her attitude than the guys can overcome. If this works and humbles her it will be worth the effort. She does have a place on the team but it's just not as big as she thinks it is."He smiled at her with his eye and said, "Though that contract you made him sign is helping bring the three of us closer than ever."
Tsunade nodded and growled. "Did Sasuke find Naruto's journal yet?"
Kakashi looked thoughtful for a minute and then shook his head. "I saw him with a knapsack earlier but it only held the ramen from that cave so I don't think so."
"Damn. That means he has a way around that provision also."
"Which one? The one to stay away from Ichiraku's and not being able to buy any ramen for the next two weeks? Oh he had a way around that before he ever signed his name on that scroll."
"Nani?"
"That contract says he can't buy his ramen and that he can't eat at Ichiraku's? It doesn't say someone else can't buy it for him from Ichiraku's or anywhere else. Nor does it say that someone can't make it for him." He smirked. "I know. I read it too."
"Crap. Dammit. Shit. I really wanted him to eat healthy for the next two weeks." She continued to cuss for the next couple of minutes. "He really does need a healthier diet Kakashi. I do his med scans and he's not as healthy as he should be given the amount of energy he expends during the day. I know he looks healthy but he isn't. That clause wasn't put in there to break him. See if you can at least limit how much his friends get for him. Please," she begged.
"So that was your brainchild was it? And Jiraiya wanted his journal. So I assume having to perform in the music show was Watari's idea then?"
Tsunade nodded and said, "But the counseling sessions were both our idea. Well, all three of us really."
" I'll help you with the ramen end of it but I have to ask. Was it worth it? You haven't gotten what you wanted from forcing him to sign it and he hasn't once come to see you since you let him out of the hospital. Was it really worth it Tsunade-sama?" She didn't answer and he poofed out of her office to go find his students. Once he'd gone she whispered, "No. It wasn't. I miss him."
He found Sasuke and Naruto together with Hinata who had told Kurenai about the plan to help Naruto and had gotten permission to be absent from her team training sessions while Naruto had to fulfill the contract. They had headed for the park again and were sitting together talking about nothing in particular when Kakashi walked up to them.
"Hey guys," he greeted them and sat down. "Naruto, Sakura should be too tired to mess with you for the next several days. She will be cleaning toilets at the hospital though. So if you do see her, I suggest you turn and go the other way. Knowing her temper she will twist this into being your fault somehow."
Naruto nodded but said nothing about it. Sasuke smirk at the idea of how much that would drain her chakra reserves. "Well, anything that drains your chakra also builds it up."
Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Oh no. She can't wear gloves or use chakra to get them clean or keep them that way."
All three of the young people gasped and then burst out laughing as each of them got a clear mental image of their germ-obsessed, pink-haired companion scrubbing toilets the old-fashioned way. They were laughing so hard they never noticed the crowd of villagers gathering around them. The first thrown rock was a surprise and of course it hit Hinata.
The ninja leapt to their feet, falling into a fighting stance as more projectiles fell round them. They spread out and Sasuke, Kakashi and Hinata covered Naruto's retreat from the park. They knew without asking that there was no way he would fight the common people. And so the four of them beat a hasty retreat from the park even though Kakashi, Sasuke and Hinata were perfectly willing to beat them to a pulp for him. They went to the team seven training grounds instead. The training grounds didn't count as a public place as far as Watarimono was concerned. But until the mob lost interest it was the safest public place Naruto knew of and he led them there as quickly as he could while dodging angry villagers intent on punishing him for the death of their hero.
When they were safe, he said, "Yeah the village sure is a safe place for me nowadays." He plopped down on the ground and put his head in his hands. Then he jumped up and ran over to the trees and proceeded to beat the crap out of them. Kakashi watched, with Hinata and Sasuke, as he worked through his anger. None of them said anything. There wasn't anything to say.
Watarimono showed up while he was still beating up the tree and asked, "Kashi, what's that all about?"
Kakashi replied, "He's just training. Sasuke, go work out with him. Hinata, can you be ready to heal Sasuke since Sakura is otherwise occupied for the next few days?"
"Hai," they both said and walked closer to where Naruto was. Sasuke ran over to challenge Naruto to a spar while Hinata just knelt down at the edge of the fight area. The two young men went at it tooth and nail, both of them grinning and spurring each other on with calculated insults. They had a great time without Sakura to throw insults and threats out at Naruto or trying to intervene if he landed a hit on Sasuke and by the time they were both out of chakra they were exhausted and covered in sweat. Watarimono had never seen them go at it in battle but Kakashi said they weren't really hurting each other since Sasuke had only used the Chidori once and Naruto hadn't used the Rasengan at all in any of it's forms. He explained that if this had been a real fight there would have been a lot more damage and blood.
When the spar ended Kakashi walked out to them with Hinata, who performed first aid on them both and listened as Kakashi critiqued the fight. "Naruto, you held back when you were creating that earth shield and it wasn't strong enough to deflect the Chidori Sasuke used. Sasuke you need to start working with your affiliation for lightening and come up with some new moves. While it's true he messed up his defense against it today you can't count on a real enemy doing the same thing. Now both of you take a breather and then Naruto I think Watari is waiting for you. Sasuke, Hinata and I will wait over here until you are done. Make my homelife a littel easier please. Try to work with her a little. Ok?"
Naruto just sighed. "If she wants in my mind again the answer is no. I already have too many people in there."
Kakashi nodded. He and the rest of the group sat down to wait until Naruto was through as he walked over to where she waited for him at her normal bench.
"Hello Naruto. How was your day today?" she asked.
"Alright I guess. How was your day?" He bowed and caught the tendril of her mind trying to slip into his. He slammed his barriers down against it and narrowed his eyes. "I told you no. If you want to talk to me then use your voice."
"And I told you I need to talk to the Kyuubi to see if you've been keeping your side of the agreement."
"I'll see if the Fox wants to talk to you then but you know you could just ask me." He went silent and again she tried to probe his mind but his shields were firmly in place. He opened his eyes and she was startled to see they were no longer the crystal clear blue of a mountain top lake. They were an angry red and shooting fire at her.
"The kit said you wanted to talk to me, human. What's your problem?" Naruto said in a voice much deeper than his normal voice. It sounded like he was speaking around a mouth full of pebbles. Kyuubi was still angry about the incident at the park and this woman trying to force Kit into let her run amuck in his mind wasn't helping his temper. He had caught her last attempt to force Kit to let her do as she pleased.
"I merely wanted to make sure he is keeping to the terms of our agreement."
"And so you needed to ask me about this because?"
"Because I have no way of knowing if he is telling me the truth. Humans and especially this one are good liars."
"True. Humans do lie very well but my vessel gave you his word. He does not lie about that. Ever. He gave his word to keep that contract and so he will. Do not call me again. I will not come. And stay out of his mind. If I catch you in here you will die. I am not as forgiving as my vessel." Naruto closed his eyes again and when he opened them he just looked at her with disgust.
"What is that look for?"
"You need to learn some honor before you go insinuating that others have none and calling them names."
"What does honor have to do with this? You have to admit you are a liar. You have been lying to the people of this village and your friends for years."
"I didn't lie to my friends. And as for everyone else, they saw who they wanted to see. It's not my fault they're stupid gullible fools. Who they saw made them accepting and comfortable around me and allowed me to relax. But as for honor if you don't know what it is or what it has to do with this then I'm done with you." He turned and walked back to where his friends waited.
"What about Tsu?" She called out to him. "You lied to her. Isn't she your friend?"
He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder. "She sucked you onto me and blackmailed me into doing what she wants me to do. Friends do not blackmail each other. Friends do not try and make us change who we are to suit themselves. Friends do not endanger each other to get their own way. No. She isn't my friend. There was a time when she was much more important than any friend could ever be but she chose to throw that away when she decided I wasn't good enough as I was for her. Now she is just my boss and the person who signs my paychecks. And the person who may end up costing me the few friends I really can count on if this continues." He continued on his way, never noticing Tsunade stood on the edge of the stream and had heard every word of his response. He never knew how deep his words cut as he and his friends left to go find somewhere else to be for the evening.
Watarimono saw Tsunade collapse and rushed over to her. "He didn't mean it Tsu. You're still the most important woman in town to him." Tsunade shook her head.
"No I'm not. He spoke the pure truth. Maybe I used to be but not anymore. Hinata is."
"Hinata? Why would she be more important than you are?"
"Because even when he was lying to everyone, she accepted him. She knew he was lying because she took the time and went to the trouble to find out the truth but she never called him on it. She accepted that he had his reasons and let it go knowing he'd tell her when he was ready. But I don't have her patience or her gentle nature so I rushed in and tried to force him. And now I've lost him. He'll never trust me again." She stood up and left Watarimono standing by the swiftly flowing creek.
Watarimono headed for her home where her daughters would be waiting for her to fix their dinner. On the way she tried to figure out just how honor played any kind of role in the work she was trying to do with Naruto. It was puzzling as she really didn't know how important honor was to the ninjas. She knew they lived by a code but she didn't know what that code entailed and Kashi wouldn't tell her. He said he couldn't explain it because she wasn't a ninja and therefore wouldn't understand even if he tried. Maybe she should ask one of the academy instructors to teach her the way they taught their students? Not the actual physical stuff but the stuff behind the moves. Maybe that Iruka guy would teach her.
She walked in her front door to find her daughters already eating. Shizune was standing in the kitchen and it was clear she had made them dinner because she wanted to talk to her. Watarimono greeted her children and motioned for Shizune to follow her to her office where she closed the door.
"How can I help you, Shi?" she asked once they were comfortable.
"You can lay off Naruto. Let him out of this contract you forced on him."
"But I thought you wanted to show him he could be himself without any one trying to hurt him for it?"
"No that's what you and Tsunade-sama wanted. And you're both wrong. He was chased out of a rarely used park today. A mob formed in the market yesterday because he was there to get groceries and new clothes. You don't seem to understand what you're doing to him and if he ends up in the hospital again because of this I will personally take it out on you. Tsunade-sama knows what she forced on him is wrong now and she'd end it but I know you well enough to know even if she told you to stop you won't without a good reason."
"Well, I still think that if he just let's the village get to know him as he really is that they'll accept him. Being chased out of a park is a small price to pay for the lie he's been telling. When we make a decision to be dishonest the consequence is often not nice. He'll just have to deal with it."
"I thought better of you. But I can see now, you're just like them. Only you don't want to hurt him for someone you lost thanks to who he jails. You just want to hurt him because you can. That's sad. And even if he has been lying his whole life to them it isn't worth his life. But that's exactly what the price might be." Shizune stood and left the room.
Watarimono tried to call her back but Shizune pretended she couldn't hear her as she said good-bye to the twins and left the small house. Watarimono heard the door close as Rakki and Jiyuu came to stand in the office doorway. Neither girl said a word but both looked at her with a look that asked if she really knew what she was doing. She found herself wondering as they turned and headed for their bedroom. Did she know what she was doing? Was she just trying to hurt her patient because she could?
Several hours passed and she was still sitting where Shizune had left her in the dark, thinking. Kashi came in and found her. Without a word he turned on a lamp and took the other chair across from her. He took off his mask and folded it before putting it in a pouch. Then he just stared at her and waited. He knew she'd talk when she was ready.
"Tsu thinks Naruto doesn't trust her any more. That's she's not one of his important people any more. Shi thinks I'm just trying to hurt him because I can. The way she said it makes me think she believes I'm lower than the villagers because at least they have a reason for trying to hurt him. And Naruto thinks I have no honor. What is going on, Kashi? I've never been treated this way before."
"Naruto is hurt by the trickery you and Tsunade-sama used to get him to sign that contract. If it had been just you, he would have understood but Tsunade-sama had a hand in it and that hurt. She is right. He doesn't trust her any more."
"As for her assistant, are you sure she isn't right? Think carefully about how you've been acting. Trying to force him to let you in his mind. Demanding it just because you want to treat him like a little boy. He's not you know. He happens to be a full-grown powerhouse that could destroy any of us any time he wishes. And you seem to be bent on treating him like a doormat."
"As for Naruto thinking you have no honor. He knows honor like every ninja does and no ninja worth the name would treat a friend and ally like you've been treating him. By his standards you don't have any honor. Honor is shown through our words but more importantly through our actions. I'd research it if I were you."
He stood up and left her to think about what he said, knowing she'd be thinking about it for several more hours. He went in and said good-night to his daughters. They asked if their Mom was going to be alright and he assured them she would be as soon as she realized the difference between a civilian town and a ninja one. They accepted that as they were already beginning to assimilate the differences themselves. He tucked the blankets under their chins, gave each a kiss on the forehead and shut out the light as he left the room.
Then he took a light blanket from the end of the bed in his and Watari's room and took it back to the office. He spread it over her lap and she gave him a small smile as he kissed her cheek. He went to bed alone.
When Shizune got home she saw Tsunade-sama's cloak already on the peg and uttered a soft curse. She hung her own up and noticed Jiraiya-san's was there also. She crept down the hall towards her own room trying not to be noticed.
She heard crying coming from Tsunade-sama's room and noticed the door to Jiraiya-san's was open. She debated going into Tsunade-sama's room and was just about to open the door when she heard a shushing sound from inside. A few seconds of listening told her Jiraiya-san was already giving her comfort so she crept back to her own room.
Maybe a good cry was all her boss and friend really needed, she reflected as she got ready for bed. At least she could cry now. It wasn't all that long ago when the sight or sound of Tsunade-sama crying would have seriously freaked her out, ninja trained or not. Naruto had done a lot of good for Tsunade-sama and for herself too. Jiraiya-san had picked up where he'd left off and was building a much closer relationship between them than the teammates they'd always been. She wondered idly as her eyes closed, if Tsunade-sama even realized what he was doing. Probably not. She could be as clueless as Naruto when it came to love. She drifted into sleep.