Hokage no Isan Chapter 44, a naruto fanfic

And so we pick up after the orgy.

Let me assure you, that several characters WIll receive individual character development fics related to filler eps/movies, most notably Kaouru.

Kaouru: Sweet!

Kyugan: Aw have a cookie!

Kaouru: Yay!

Enter the sound 4; Sasuke's decision.

Several months after the citywide hangover, things had finally gotten back to a semblance of normal. A few changes were noteworthy however, for example, Gai and Kakashi seemed to be spending a lot more time in each other's company, the normally energetic jounin oddly silent as they chugged sake together.

Lee had to be returned to hospital because of injuries sustained from being kaiten'd into a wall at point blank range. Neji was still trying to 'purify' himself in the meditation halls.

Iruka was spending a lot more time at Ichiraku Ramen, though it seemed Teuchi was actually quite happy to see him these days, and not just as a customer. The sensei still couldn't get used to being called 'son-in-law'.

Anko, Hinata and Kurenai seemed to be glowing, a fact most other kunoichi were commenting on. Word passed round the grapevine and soon everyone knew the gist of what had gone on the night of Tsunade's appointment as Hokage. Needless to say Asuma, Sasuke and Naruto opted to stay hidden for a time, at least until the Hokage could instate a few restraining orders.

And speaking of the genin…

Sasuke stood on the roof of the hospital, ironically enough the only building in Konoha with a roof that could survive a direct assault from jutsu. Talk about priorities eh?

He gazed across at Naruto, the two looking each other in the eye, the wind rustling as they sized the other up. "Hope you didn't get rusty in that coma teme." The Hanyou mocked, smirking coyly "I'd hate to have to hospitalize you again."

"Hmmph," Sasuke scoffed, a small smirk on his features "What are the terms, Usara-tonkachi?"

"Straight out spar, no cursed seal or relying on other powers." Naruto replied, gripping his sword hilt "other than that…anything goes."

Sasuke smirked and readied himself, Sharingan activating as he slipped into a ready stance. The two eyed each other warily, before promptly vanishing into thin air, only the faint sound of clashing metal signifying where they'd disappeared.

"Not bad." Recca noted, sitting atop a water tank as he watched the proceedings "I'm sorry for saying it, but Uchiha's pretty damn good."

"Can't even see 'em move." Domon noted, eyes shut as he let his senses expand "I can keep tack of 'em like this tho'…watch your head."

Recca blinked, only to swear as one of the combatants used his skull as a springboard to leap in the air followed by the other "DAMMIT! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE STEPPING!"

The spar continued, Sasuke sending a massive Goukakyuu that scorched the roof, Naruto switching with a clone and descending from above with the back of his sword. Sasuke dodged in mid-air, the two kicking out at each other as they traded blows.

Sasuke had taken the blonde up on his sparring offer a while back, and the two had gotten together periodically to duke it out. At first it was tag-wins, where the first to land a blow won, then it moved up to knockdowns, then takedowns, and now outright combat.

Slowly but steadily, the Uchiha seemed to be catching up…if anything, he and Naruto were pretty evenly matched in regards to speed and strength.

'The benefits of rivalry.' Domon noted with a smirk, noting his own rival holding his head and cursing 'The Uchiha just needed a kick in the pants.' He blinked as he sensed a surge of chakra, cursing as the two readied their best techniques. "Not again! OI!" he yelled, stepping away from the wall, "YOU'LL RIP THE ROOF OFF!"

"RASENGAN!"

"CHIDORI!"

Recca cursed and prepared to summon Saiha, only to blink as Kakashi appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the two genin's wrists, hurling them at the water tanks where the attacks collided, Sasuke's making a large hole, Naruto's barely an indention.

"This is the third time this week." The copy-nin growled, looking a little annoyed despite his normally aloof demeanor "While I applaud your desire to improve I won't condone using techniques like that on your fellows."

Sasuke merely snorted, looking away dismissively but shooting Naruto a look the blonde returned; neither apologetic nor scornful, a simple, voiceless conversation passing between the two.

'You okay?'

'Yeah.'

'Same time tomorrow?'

'Count on it.'

Kakashi sighed as his team vacated the roof, leaning against the wall as he read his beloved porn. "Naruto's WAY too young to handle the rasengan…and so are the others for that matter."

"Look who's talking," Jiraiya shot back, leaning against the wall below, "Sasuke may remind you of yourself, but you were a lot more stable than he was…teaching him Chidori was damned foolish." He smirked "Still, at least my tutelage helped the brat mature somewhat…got me some damn good research in the process."

"I heard about that." Kakashi noted with a wince "How in the hell did they escape from Anko?"

"Who said they escaped?" Jiraiya replied, grinning as Kakashi actually dropped the book in shock "Yeah my reaction was the same…the next issue's gonna be a killer."

Kakashi let out a little whimper as a tear fell past his cheek, actually thanking God for a full second as he cast his eyes heavenward. "Still," Jiraiya cut in, "What exactly is the relationship between those two?" he looked up at the masked jounin "It's different than with the rest of your troop."

Kakashi sat in silence for a moment, before shrugging with a dismissive sigh "Well, remember what your relationship with Orochimaru was like…before he left?"

Jiraiya's face twitched in comical sourness and he swore, muttering to himself.

Sasuke sat against the trunk of a tree, sighing as he looked up at the skyline. Ever since the conversation at the hospital, and the subsequent party and kidnapping, he had come to a startling revelation regarding his standing with the village.

He was their poster boy, their little pampered pet. Everything he'd wanted he'd been given on a silver platter. Everything except what he really needed: Power, and the skill to wield it properly.

He' d assumed, that since he was an Uchiha, he would easily surpass all obstacles in his way and succeed in killing Itachi. He had quite forgotten that not only was Itachi an Uchiha, but he was the famed prodigy of the clan, who not only wiped it out, he did so in a single night.

And that was the sticking point. No matter how strong Itachi was, he still just a single man against an entire clan. Even Uchiha's had their limits, and fighting off numerous sharingan would have been too much for a man on his own. Itachi had had help, so there must be at least one other Sharingan user out there.

Not his girlfriend obviously, Uchiha Makiko had been found dead by Itachi's katana in her apartment, and certainly not a friend, as he'd killed his closest friend Shisui to obtain the Mangekyou. So obviously someone the prodigy held in high enough regard to seek assistance from, but not someone that was on the clan register.

'A bastard child born outside the clan?' he wondered, biting his thumb at the thought and grimacing 'Possible, but unlikely, they'd have received no proper training otherwise…'

He had reached this conclusion during the spars, realizing how sorely lacking he'd been in regards to hands-on experience. Even Domon, mongoloid that he was, had sought out proper tutelage, rather than pasting together what worked from another's style.

Which meant if Sasuke wanted to get stronger he'd have to do it the hard way, but the fact of the matter was that he didn't want to go pleading to Naruto or the others. Even if they WERE his teammates, the fact they had outshone him spoke for itself. The council would simply pat him on the shoulders and offer jutsu scrolls and the like, but no proper tutelage, like he was a dog being thrown a bone.

No, Sasuke needed tutelage, a master to take the would-be avenger and hone him into a proper shinobi. Kakashi was out, the idiot had revealed that over during the course of the exams, and he doubted Gai would be willing to teach him squat, not that he'd put up with the loudmouthed jounin anyway. Asuma had a team of his own to worry about, though if their skills were any indication he focused more on teamwork than self improvement. And Kurenai was a genjutsu and tracking specialist, something the Uchiha clan had PERFECTED years ago.

Then there was the sennin, but he doubted they'd give him the time of day. Sure all three of his teammates had benefited from Jiraiya, but Sasuke didn't feel like growing a pair of jugs just to get training, and seeing as Tsunade was not only a MEDICAL specialist, but was already taking most of the local kunoichi under her wing, he didn't see any benefit in going to her. That left only one other person, someone who people had hailed as the greatest genius of his time.

"Orochimaru…" the Uchiha muttered, even as his senses went on high alert, looking up to see four figures silhouetted against the moon.

"Perhaps you didn't have to send all four of them?" Kabuto suggested, wincing as he felt his shoulder acting up. Orochimaru had ordered it reattached by his other assistants and so it had been done, didn't mean it didn't require further treatment, which Kabuto provided through his personalized Jutsu. It was slow going but in a few months he'd be back to normal.

"Those kids seem pretty interested in determining Sasuke's strength." Orochimaru chuckled, resting in his bed, arms bandaged and at his sides "What are his chances…Kabuto?"

"It'll be a slaughter," Kabuto predicted, a cool smirk on his face "The way Sasuke is now, he won't even provide a challenge."

"Too true, the leaf has spoiled him." Orochimaru agreed, chuckling darkly "but if we are to offer him the proper guidance, we have to reach him before that brat does."

Kabuto winced at the mention of Naruto, his body still aching from the damnable rasengan Domon had delivered. 'Naruto-kun has a nasty habit of changing people.' The medic noted 'If he gets to Sasuke before we do...'

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked, refusing to show any form of alarm as he looked over the four older teens with his trademark alert scowl.

"The sound four," the one with six arms replied with a smirk, "I'm Kidoumaru of the east gate."

"Jiroubou of the south gate." The fat-ass introduced, looming over the group and eyeing Sasuke carefully.

"Ukon of the west gate." a rather strange looking teen greeted, Sasuke noted what looked suspiciously like a second head growing out of his back.

"Tayuya of the North Gate." the sole female of the group greeted, her coarse voice hinting she had even coarser language.

No sooner had the introductions finished did Sasuke find himself on the receiving end of a scramble. He blocked a blow form Tayuya and flipped over Kidoumaru to deliver a kick to Ukon's larynx, sending the teen barreling into Tayuya. Jiroubou attempted to take the rear, only for Sasuke to lop his arm through Kidoumaru's bizarre rope-belt, grabbing the fatty's arm and hurling both into their teammates, only to blink as he realized they had switched with Logs and had been fooling with him the entire time.

"You bastards caught me at a very bad time," the Uchiha growled, looking over his shoulder at them in annoyance "You wanna have a go? Then bring it."

Naruto sat up in his room, wondering why on earth he felt like something bad was going down. "Something the matter squirt?" Domon called out, holding up some playing cards as he and Recca played old maid.

"…Nothing." Naruto assured him, though he didn't take his eyes off the window, a frown marring his features.

'Sasuke…'

Sasuke coughed, hanging upside down by his ankle in the grip of Ukon, who smirked superiorly. "What? This is the guy Orochimaru-sama's got his eye on?" the teen scoffed, shaking his head derisively "Even Kimimaro's better than this."

Sasuke clenched his teeth but kept silent, feigning weakness as he tried to figure out what they wanted. Apparently the snake sennin had been thinking of him as well, and had sent his little errand boys to fetch him.

"If you stay in this piece of shit village," Ukon stated brashly "You'll never get stronger, just another half-assed shinobi, bound by human limitations." He smirked "You'll just keep rotting away…playing nice with your so-called friends."

"Come with us." Tayuya stated, looking down at the Uchiha authoritatively "If you do, Orochimaru will give you the power you seek."

Sasuke would have replied but an image of him and Naruto sparring, and the climactic battle at the chunin exams shot through his mind, stalling him. Could they really offer him power…if so, what was he gaining by sparring with Naruto and the others? He'd far surpassed his old limits prior to the exam, and ever since his limb was re-attached he'd tripled his training to make up for the time spent as an invalid.

Hell, not even Kakashi could understand his development, it was far beyond what had happened with the jounin.

Ukon took the silence as indecision and hurled the Uchiha at a wall. "Well?" the impatient member of the sound four called out "Make up your mind…you coming or not?!" He watched as Sasuke caught his breath and smirked "Mataku, even though we can force you to come along, Orochimaru-sama prefers secrecy." He scoffed, quirking a lip coyly "Wasting our time on a weakling like this, I should kill you and be done with it."

"That so?" Sasuke stated, glaring up at them with his sharingan activated, the cursed seal already covering half his face, startling the four Oto-nin "Just try it!"

He lunged forwards, straight at Ukon with his fists drawn back, only to be sent sprawling, gaping up at the branded man. "You shouldn't use the seal so casually." Ukon chastised "Especially seeing as you can't even control it." he smirked "Keep the Tenfuuin released for too long and it'll start consuming your body."

He snorted, looking the stunned Uchiha over "You're currently in the first state, so the process is still slow, but once the seal completely consumes you…you're lost forever."

"In exchange for the mark's power," Tayuya elaborated "We four are bound to Orochimaru…nothing can be gained without losing something else…for people like us, it's freedom." She looked the boy over "Tell me, what's your purpose? Are you content to stay in this village with your friends? Licking your wounds?" she frowned "Forgetting Itachi?"

Sasuke flinched, barely hearing the parting words of the four as they departed, gripping his fist and glaring at the moon.

Naruto awoke abruptly, looking up at the moon and rising to his feet, almost instinctively. Something was calling him, he didn't know what but he had to follow it. He snuck out of the house with all the stealth he could muster, slipping from alleyway to alleyway as he made his way towards the lake not too far from the Shinobi Gakuen.

"Yo," Sasuke called out, sitting at the dock as he had as a child "I figured you'd be out here, don't ask me why."

"You're up late yourself." Naruto noted, walking down to the dock and pulling up alongside the Uchiha. "S'matter can't sleep?"

Sasuke was silent, sitting at the dock and scowling at the reflection of the moon. "Naruto…I told you all about my dream…right?" he continued at the blonde' nod "And you and the others have all seen Itachi…THAT'S what I'm up against."

"Can't say I envy you." Naruto muttered, standing beside the boy as they looked out at the lake "Still, Recca Aniki probably understands you a whole lot better than I do," he smirked "Never had much of a family to miss after all."

Sasuke was silent for a moment, looking out at the lake with his obsidian eyes. "I'm not like you Naruto…I can't get stronger for others." He continued despite the blonde's look of confusion "You fight for recognition, I fight for power, your aim is to earn respect, I just want revenge." His eyes hardened "Your dreams are set in the future…mine are locked in the past."

Silence fell over the two, neither looking at the other as the waters of the lake lapped against the dock. "Orochimaru's henchmen approached me a while ago." Sasuke admitted, the blonde tensing at his words "They want me to go back with them." He snorted at the silence "Don't you have anything to say to that?"

"What do you want me to say?" Naruto replied, looking at the Uchiha calmly "You want me to flip out and start squawking nonsense and sweet nothings to make you stay?"

"Hardly," Sasuke scoffed, resting his chin on his knees "I suppose…I just wanted someone else to know…" he got to his feet, hands in his pockets as he made his way for home.

"Sasuke." Naruto called out, not looking at the teen as he spoke, eyes shadowed "You know I'll come after you if you go."

Sasuke's eyes widened, and then closed, a smirk lining his face as he chuckled "Will you now…to drag me back?" he looked over his shoulder at the blonde "You sure you can do that?"

"Even if I had to break your arms and legs first." Naruto promised, a smirk on his face as he looked over his shoulder at the Uchiha. They held each other's gaze for a moment before vanishing via shunshin back to their respective homes.

Several nights later, the waning moon hanging in the sky, Sasuke stared at the picture that he'd received to commemorate the formation of Team 7. Recca Domon And Naruto stood in that order, arms around their shoulders as they gave the cameraman the finger. Sasuke was glaring at Naruto, who had him in a headlock, and Kakashi was standing in the background, palming his face and looking as embarrassed as hell.

He dimly thought of taking it with him, reaching out to touch the glass, only to smirk and place it facedown on the desk.

"And so he was all like 'WHOA!' and I was all like 'HROAH!' and then he came at me with these freaky kunai and-!"

Hinata giggled, sitting across from the blonde as he rattled on about his fight with the revived Yondaime, simply content to listen as they sat under the base of a tree. They had finally gotten round to that date Naruto had promised her, but since there wasn't a lot of places he was welcome, even now, they decided to spend it on a picnic.

Not that it mattered, after that wild night at Anko's apartment the boy could have taken the heiress to a trash dump and she'd have followed him with a skip in her step.

Naruto had fallen in love with her cooking, actually weeping for joy at how good everything tasted. When she revealed she'd learned from her mother he'd praised the late Mrs. Hyuuga at the top of his lungs, much to her embarrassment.

As it were, they were watching the light danced off a lake when Sakura happened by, looking up at them in surprise. "Ah, Hinata-san, Naruto! Good timing!" she called out, walking up the hill, scrolls in hand "Sorry to bother you, but Tsunade-sama wants you in her office, something about missions."

Naruto moaned and shook his head, having completed a delivery mission to a nearby village a few days ago. Domon and Recca were currently off with Fuko on a mission to Takigakure with a guy they just knew was undependable, and Tokiya and Haku were on patrol duty with Genma's team. Everyone seemed to be on double duty; even the academy had been shut down till things eased up.

"Sorry, looks like we'll have to postpone this till later." Naruto apologized, smiling at the heiress as she flushed, before nodding to Sakura and vanishing via shunshin.

"I have to learn that someday." The pink haired medic in training vowed, before looking at Hinata, who was still flushed dazedly "So what base have you let him get to yet?"

"S-SAKURA-SAN!"

"Yo, Neechan," Naruto called out, walking in only to find a sober, solemn looking Tsunade sitting behind the desk. This was never a good sign; Tsunade sober at this time in the day meant something serious was going down.

"Uchiha Sasuke is gone." The Godaime reported, nodding to an ANBU in the corner "He must have slipped out during the guard shift last night, no trace of him has been found anywhere."

"He's gone to Orochimaru," Naruto muttered, "He mentioned the snake's goons had been slithering around…looks like they got to him."

Tsunade frowned, deciding to have words with the blonde genin later before turning to Shikamaru "As his classmate and the only chunin not currently on missions, I'm appointing you leader of the team to retrieve Sasuke and bring him back."

"If that's the case," Shikamaru replied, looking unusually serious in his jounin vest "Then I request a cell composed of solely Jounin and chunin."

"…I'm, afraid I cannot grant that request." Tsunade replied "The reason being most of our Jounin and Chunin ranked Shinobi are either away on missions or guarding our borders, even the ANBU ranks are stretched thin." She nodded at the man "So in the next hour, gather as many qualified genin and potential chunin as possible and prepare to depart." She smirked eyeing Naruto coyly "I'm sure I can recommend someone for the mission."

"Don't even need to ask," Naruto replied, gripping his katana's sheath tightly "That idiot cost me a date and free lunch, I'm taking it outta his hide."

"Mendokuse…" Shikamaru muttered, scratching his neck "Alright, then lets get the others…"

"Yosh." Shikamaru muttered, standing at the ready with his team flanking him, composed of Chouji, Kiba and Neji, Naruto standing alongside them "Time's up, let's get this ball rolling."

"Any ideas?" Kiba asked, eyeing the lazy genin with a confident, slightly mocking smirk "No offense but can you even handle this?"

"Seeing as he was the only one out us to make chunin I think he should be." Naruto reminded the Inuzuka "And besides, who was it that didn't even make it to the finals?"

"Chouji didn't either!" Kiba snapped, only to trail off mumbling in defeat when Neji shot him the patented Hyuuga 'Shut up or I'll jyuuken your ass' look.

"As the pursuers we're at a disadvantage," Shikamaru relayed, "The enemy can anticipate our moves, so we need a formation that can instantly react to assault." He shot Kiba a look "If you ignore me and try to fly solo, we ALL die."

Satisfied that the rowdy shinobi was chastised he continued "Kiba, you and Akamaru will take point. You two spent the last year wandering the land of fire, so if anyone knows the terrain it's you. Your sense of smell should let you track Sasuke for miles, as well as picking up on enemy scents. Since the point man is most open to attack, your partnering with Akamaru makes you doubly effective."

"I'll go next," the Nara continued, "That way I can direct Kiba from behind while passing back order to the rest of the platoon via hand signs." He nodded to Naruto, "You're at the center. Out of all of us you have the best initiative and your sense of hearing should let you pick up whatever happens in a wide area. Also, your speed and kage bunshin would enable you to back up both the rear and front as need be."

"Chouji's next," he instructed, "You're slow but have the highest striking power out of all of us. While Kiba Naruto and I launch a surprise attack, you wade right in and lay the smack down on anyone that gets in the way. Basically your our striker." He nodded to the reserved Hyuuga "That leaves Neji to bring up the rear, it's a tough job but with your Byakugan you can ensure no-one tries to blind-side us."

He pulled out a piece of paper and began making sketches "Here," he ordered, "Memorize your target areas, if you see anything at all in these spots let the rest of the platoon know." He frowned "Also, while we're at it, take inventory to see how we're set for tools."

'Impressive!' Lee noted, 'Making such a simple, effective formation and seizing command so quickly.' He chuckled 'Shikamaru-kun seems to be settling into the role of Chunin rather well, I wish I wasn't still recovering.'

"Alright, lets head out." Shikamaru ordered, the group of five nodding their confirmation and moving to leave, only to be stopped by a voice, turning to face Sakura, Hinata and Ino behind them. "I already know what you're going to say," Shikamaru began and shook his head "I can't take you on this mission, you've only just begun training as medics and can't be risked on the front lines at the moment."

"We know that." Ino shot back, before looking down "It's just…we wanted to see you off." She looked at her teammates concernedly "Take care alright."

"What are you saying Ino?" Chouji chuckled. Looking at his crush with a smile on his face "That isn't like you…acting all meek."

"B-BAKA!" Ino swore, turning away quickly and fighting down the blush spreading across her cheeks "JUST MAKE SURE YOU COME BACK, GOT IT?!"

"OSSU!" Chouji saluted, a smirk on his face all the while as he chuckled gently "That's the Ino we know, had me worried there."

"Mendokuse." Shikamaru muttered, a simillar grin on his face "a genin bossing a chunin around…only you Ino, only you."

Neji scoffed, only to blink as Hinata stepped up to him, eyeing his cousin as she twiddled her fingers, not looking him in the eye. "…I'll come back." He promised, noting the tension in her shoulder lighten as she smiled up at him, before turning to Naruto.

"Relax Hina-chan." Naruto assured her, not noticing the protective glare Neji shot at the back of his head "I'll be back before the mayo on those sandwiches begins to sour, promise!"

Hinata giggled at her crush's confidence, only to smile and nod her head, wishing him luck as she and Ino stepped back, leaving only Sakura.

The pink haired girl looked terrible, so torn between desperation and helplessness she couldn't even speak. She blinked as Naruto set a hand on her shoulder, looking up into calm blue eyes, ringed with red. "We'll bring him back," the jinchuuriki promised, "Even if it takes forever, we'll drag Sasuke back here whether he likes it or not."

Sakura's eyes widened, before lowering her gaze gratefully, Lee supporting her with a concerned look on his face. "Arigatou…" the girl wept, honest thanks in her voice as she did "Arigatou…"

"Alright enough with the waterworks." Shikamaru grumbled after Lee had lead the girls away "Sasuke isn't gonna rescue himself and we've lost time as it is."

And with that, the Sasuke retrieval team set off, unaware of the fate that lay in store for them.

'I'm coming for you Sasuke.' Naruto promised, marching alongside the others as he did so 'I'm not losing any more friends to that snake!'

"We've just cleared Konoha's border, Sasuke-sama." Ukon noted as they took a break in a small clearing "This should be far enough."

"Enough?" Sasuke repeated, eyeing the other three with a hint of suspicion as they took up positions all around him, like a trapped beast "Enough for what?"

"Just a task Orochimaru-sama gave us," Ukon assured the suspicious Uchiha calmly, his face calm "Something vital to your growth."

"And that is?" Sasuke asked, ready to fend off another assault if it came, tensing as Ukon's face settled in a smirk.

"You must experience death."

Holy shit balls, is Sasuke gonna die?!

Hao: Not necessarily, near death experiences have drastic affects on one's growth, often awkening hidden potential.

Kyugan: Really, so I supoose spending a few minutes in hell does the same?

Hao: Well yes, but it's not for the faint hearted.

Lu: Damn right, I should start charging admission.

R&R or be charged per view!