Note: I have been doing a ton of thinking. Which resulted in no writing from my side for a while. I couldn't really decide what to do, which resulted in that I didn't really want to. You could say that I had burned out for a while, and I kept blaming it on everything else. In reality, this subject just depressed me a lot.
Thank you for all the support you guys have been showing. I know that the romance part has been a bit slow, but it'll start to pick up more after the next chapter. This chapter is primarily focused on the current situation, and what's about to happen. So don't expect anything crazy to happen. This chapter is more about me getting back into the flow of writing this fic than anything.
As some of you might notice, the fic is in a bit different format. The old ones seemed kinda weird, and I've changed the way I write and set up things a lot, so I might go back and touch up on the old chapters someday.
If y'all are interested in joining a community of readers and several talented authors, consider joining AizenTheGoat's Discord server.
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改行
-Chapter 24-
Return to the Academy.
改行
As he fluttered his eyes open the next morning, his tired gaze came in contact with the sight of the sleeping beauty beside him. Yeah, there was no point in denying it, he had already admitted that were his thoughts to others. Lying to himself wouldn't help.
A smile crept onto his features as he noticed the peaceful look on her face. Even her own lips had a slight curve upward, as he listened to the deep breaths she was taking in her even deeper slumber, in silence.
In the moments he got more awake, he noticed they had moved closer to each other during the night. Their knees and legs were subtly touching through the fabric of the sheets, as he contemplated whether or not to wake her up. She looked too peaceful to disturb, and she had deserved this much-needed rest more than anyone else.
He in the end decided to let her be for now and carefully maneuvered away from under the sheets. He grabbed a spare change of clothes and snuck out into the bathroom, got changed, and freshened up, before heading downstairs.
The smell of breakfast reached his nostrils from the kitchen as he walked downstairs whilst casually adjusting his haori, "Morning," He greeted with a smile, as the two faces at the table turned their heads to meet him.
The two surrogate siblings of his made a unison shout of 'Good morning' in unison which made him chuckle as he ruffled their hair respectively.
"Ohayo, is Mikoto-san still asleep?" Akari asked with a small smile as she watched the blond teen take a seat between Sasuke and Karin, and took a hold of his chopsticks.
Naruto hummed and started to gather some breakfast in front of him, "Yeah, we… talked, she seemed to need the extra rest," He mumbled, almost about to reveal how he knew. Not that there had been anything wrong with that, he'd rather just not deal with the questions. Uzumaki was… energetic by nature, so either Karin or Akari would likely have a remark about the… sleeping arrangement.
"I see, we'll leave some leftovers in the fridge then and a note. She still got to eat after all. By the way, Naruto, could I have a word with you after breakfast?" The older woman asked as she watched the teen eat his food in peace.
Naruto blinked, "Sure, what about?"
"Oh nothing much, I just wanted to hear about a few things."
With a nod, he returned to his food. The rest of breakfast time was a quiet affair, Karin chatted idly with her mom, whilst Sasuke seemed to pick at his food before eating it. Didn't take much time for him to figure out why.
By the time they were finished, Naruto went up to his room to fetch his sword. He planned to visit the ANBU headquarters after following Sasuke to the academy. He had some questions he'd like to discuss with Yugao today.
And also hand in his resignation from his ANBU duties.
He had thought about it for a while, ever since the massacre, since the thought of returning to ANBU had bothered him. While he was proud of achieving such a high standing in the black ops force, he had come to believe his time was better spent outside of the force.
Not only did he want to make sure his family members were okay, but he also was going to form a team with Mikoto now. And he had plans about helping Sasuke with anything the academy couldn't teach him. The boy had asked him for help with training before the massacre had occurred, so the times when Itachi would do the classic forehead poke. He had stepped up to help.
He also wanted to make sure his newfound ability was more honed before he considered returning to the force. It was a risk to use a wild canon in potential S-Class matters after all.
To which he made a mental note to visit Nara Shikaku as his grandfather had suggested.
As he came back down he saw Sasuke standing with a small shy smile in the hallway, the look of appreciation was evident on his face, which made the blond happy. The boy depended on him, another reason to leave ANBU behind for the time being.
"I'll be right there Sasuke, I promised to have a word with Akari before we head out. Don't worry, we'll make it on time." Naruto said as he registered a nod from the young boy.
In the kitchen, Akari waited until she saw the blond boy enter, and without a word, she opened the door outside so they could talk on the porch.
Naruto raised a brow as he closed the sliding door behind him, "So, what was it you wanted to talk with me about?"
The redhead gave a small smile as she let out a breath, "Karin and I have now lived under your roof for a while."
The brow on his face continued to climb even further, "Yeah, it's been fun, what about it?"
She gave a small chuckle and nodded her head in agreement, "It has indeed been fun, and I'm beyond grateful for everything you've done for us. The matter I wanted to discuss is connected with this, because for a small while I've looked at other apartments after work."
Naruto's lips fell down into a frown, "You're moving out? Why?" He asked in confusion.
"Don't look at me like that, I never expected living with you to be a permanent solution. I know you said family sticks together, and that's true, but while clans live in compounds they don't live all under the same roof."
"Hey, I don't mind. Plus we have the space, it's not like it's a bother y'know?" Naruto pondered in confusion.
Akari gave a small smile, "You're a growing boy Naruto, and I know from talks with Mikoto and Hatake-san that you were used to living on your own before we came along. You don't need a mother, since you can take care of yourself."
Naruto sighed and tilted his head, still not quite understanding, "I don't see what that has to do with anything."
"The day we would move out, was inevitable, we can't all continue to live under the same roof until we're all old and grey after all. I also think it suits our situation better. With you and Mikoto-san going to do Shinobi work, and Sasuke in the academy to become a Shinobi himself, our living situations don't quite match." She spoke in a kind tone.
The blond scratched the back of his head, "I see…"
The older woman gave a chuckle and rubbed his arm, "Don't look so down, it's not like we'll never see each other again. At most, we're moving a couple of buildings away, and you can still come over whenever you like. And I'm sure Karin alone will make sure we spend as much time together as possible."
"What does she think about it?" Naruto asked with realization.
Akari sighed, "Well, she doesn't know yet. I know she'll want to stick around you, she still can but not in the same way as before. Plus, she has recently voiced some… interest, in the academy."
Naruto blinked, "She wants to be a Kunoichi?"
She shook her head, "No, not a Kunoichi. With how our life in Kusa was, she doesn't want to become a regular Kunoichi. While she knows Konoha is different, her experiences have a claw in her that makes her scared of the situation."
"Then why does she want to join the academy?"
The Uzumaki woman leaned up against the railing on the porch, "Because of Mikoto-san I think. Since she talked about returning to the Shinobi world as a potential medical-nin. Karin thought about it too."
"Not to bring up back memories, but I think that a hospital would be the last place she'd want to be with her experiences." Naruto worried.
Akari kept the smile on her face, "As I said she knows Konoha is different, and while the past definitely has left its marks on her, it's part of the reason she wants to help there. She also wants to do something that is closer to you, so she expressed that she wanted to help the 'good' Shinobi, just like her Aniki."
Naruto couldn't help but start laughing at that, she truly had the mind of a kid, "Well, she is more than welcome to ask for help from me or Mikoto-chan if she wants, I'm sure she'd love to help Karin with anything."
"I didn't think she had started at the hospital yet?"
"No, she hasn't, but she has been a Kunoichi before and some medical knowledge is mandatory to treat injuries. Plus, she fought in the part of the second and through the third war. She knows a thing or two, and I know that from experience." Naruto chuckled with a grimace.
Akari couldn't help but let out a burst of mocking laughter, "You mean to tell me you had her patch your wounded butt up?"
"Not exactly my butt… but, yes… I guess." Naruto blushed in embarrassment, perhaps he shouldn't have said that.
"Anyhow, I wanted to let you know before I talked with Karin about it. She'd likely be down about it or make an outburst, I hope you could help her understand."
Naruto gave a small sigh, "I'll do my best. Do you have any idea when?"
"I was thinking after the festival, I don't want to ruin her mood and her opportunity to experience such a thing for the first time."
He nodded, "Alright… well, whatever you decide I'm here for you both, we're still family so don't hesitate to come if you need anything."
"Don't worry, I will. Now, you should go, Sasuke shouldn't be late on his first day back."
"Right," He smiled with a wave in her direction as he went back inside.
改行
"You don't seem happy about going back," Naruto commented idly as he and Sasuke walked through the busy streets of Konoha.
The young Uchiha hummed a bit in reply as he fidgetted idly with the strap of his bag, "It's not that I don't want to, it's more that…"
As Sasuke trailed out on his sentence, Naruto smiled softly and placed a reassuring hand on the boy's head, "That they'll have questions, and that it can be overwhelming?"
Fighting the urge to whine, Sasuke just smiled at the gesture, "Yes… that. I don't really want to think about it."
Naruto nodded at that, "And that's okay. Your sensei will likely have told them to go easy on you so you can adjust to being back, but there will probably be some that are too concerned to avoid asking if you're okay. They're your classmates after all."
"I suppose that's true," Sasuke replied in a soft tone.
Naruto gave him a small smile and ruffled his hair after that, "Don't worry, just take it one step at a time. Focus on getting through the day, if it becomes overwhelming just relax, anything you don't finish by the day is over I'll help you with."
"Really?" He asked with hope. All of that would certainly make the academy easier.
Naruto flashed a grin and gave him a thumbs-up, "Of course, I'm here for you all the way. I'll set up an arrangement with your sensei before I leave so that if it becomes too much you can take a few minutes or go home. I'll take full responsibility for that and teach you, so you won't have to worry about getting behind your classmates."
While Sasuke felt really happy about that, something started to bother him inside as he thought it over, "I really appreciate that… I do, but… do you have time for that? I mean, you're an ANBU, and I can't remember the last time you went on a mission. I don't want to steal your time."
"Don't worry Sasuke, I'm going there today to send in my letter of resignation. I'll be back to normal Shinobi duties by the end of the day." Naruto replied after a while.
The young boy's eyes widened in disbelief as he snapped his head up to watch his older brother figure's calm face, "W-Why? You don't have to do that for me…"
Naruo sighed softly, "Listen, it's not just about that. There are a lot of things that have made me want to get out of ANBU, at least for now. Even if it was the sole reason, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest. You're my kid brother, you take priority, I'd take D-Ranks all year to see you safe and sound."
The conversation went quiet after that as they got to the academy, while Sasuke was really happy and appreciated it. It did make him feel bad that Naruto was willing to go so much out of his way for them.
It didn't seem fair in his eyes, he did nothing but help them through everything that had happened, and he continued to make sacrifices to make sure they'd be okay.
He might've been young, but he didn't have to be older to understand that it always felt like the blond was pushing himself more than he needed to for their sake.
"Sasuke?"
Sasuke was brought out of his train of thought as he heard someone call out his name, and turned his head to the side to watch a certain pink-haired class of mate of his, "Hm?"
She smiled slightly as she ran up to them, her eyes widening a bit as she thought about what to say to him, "Welcome back… H-How are you?"
Naruto had to fight the urge to chuckle out loud, 'Sasuke has a fan, he really is following in Itachi's footsteps.'
As Naruto thought of that, he heard something from his left that brought him out of his line of thought.
"You're the last Uzumaki!"
He blinked in confusion and looked down beside the pink-haired girl that tried to idly chat with Sasuke, who seemed somewhat uncomfortable with the situation but decided to give him time to readjust.
Beside the girl now stood another young academy student with blonde hair, her finger pointed up at him as he tilted his head in confusion.
"Why yes, how did you know?" He then asked with a mildly amused expression.
She giggled and grinned ear to ear, "They teach about you in history class!"
Naruto's face suddenly started to lose all color, "I suddenly feel very old."
He scratched the back of his head as he watched Sasuke interact with the two academy students. Both seemed to be quite the… fans, of him, so he wasn't exactly confused about who they were.
There had been plenty of… remarks, about these two girls in particular whenever he had hung out with Itachi, well, hanging out was probably stretching it. They were always sparring or something in that direction.
"Glad you made it Uzumaki-san. Welcome back Sasuke-kun,"
Another blink as he registered someone else talking to him. With his brow raised, he turned to his right to see a man clad in the standard issued chunin uniform, had brown hair, with a scar over his nose.
Naruto gave a polite smile as he bowed his head as a greeting, "You must be Umino-sensei, I'm glad I got the chance to meet you before classes start."
The chunin instructor raised a brow with a polite smile, "Did you need a word with me?"
He gave a small nod of his head and crossed his arms over his chest, "Yeah, if you got the time I'd like to have a small meeting. It's about Sasuke, so preferably under four eyes."
"Sure, I don't see a problem with that. Mizuki-sensei will have to take care of the class for the time being then, but that'll be alright. We can step into the preparation room, would that be acceptable?" Iruka asked with a small glance toward the two girls bickering in front of a clearly annoyed Sasuke.
Naruto nodded in acceptance and started to walk after Iruka. Before he passed Sasuke he gave him a quick pat on the head and mouthed the words, 'Good luck.'
After a minute of walking, he entered the room in which he assumed the academy instructors used to prepare for their lectures. With a small sigh as he allowed himself to take in the atmosphere, he immediately was reminded of the depressing vibe of boredom he and Itachi had experienced before they graduated.
"So what did you need to talk to me about?" Iruka asked curiously.
Naruto cleared his throat and took a seat on one of the desks, much to the chunin's amusement, "Well, to be blunt I want to make sure that Sasuke is able to recover properly. Meaning that I'd like for you to keep an eye on him during the lectures, and if he seems out of it, send him home."
The academy instructor crossed his arms over his chest, "While I'd like to see yes right here and now, it's a bit difficult for me to make such a decision. I know his health should take priority, but he could lose a lot more and could end up having to retake this year."
"I'll take full responsibility and teach him like I've done since it has happened, you have my word that his academic and practical skills won't dull in the slightest and he'll be able to keep up with his peers," Naruto said in a calm, yet serious tone.
Iruka gave a satisfied nod of his head, "That'll be acceptable, I don't want to push a young Shinobi through the gates, and then realize he wasn't ready after it'll be too late."
Naruto gave a small chuckle, "I get that, I can remember everyone was reluctant when I was pushed for early graduation."
The scarred chunin snickered, "That's probably why my students knows about you, Mizuki-sensei somewhat comments on the feat done by you and Uchiha Itachi. It helps inspire the students to work harder."
"That's fair I guess, but yeah, I'll make Sasuke stays as sharp as ever. I'll be more local from now on, so it shouldn't be an issue," Naruto continued.
Iruka hummed for a second, "Word has it that you're part of the ANBU, are you certain it won't be a problem?"
"Well even if I can't then he has his mom, she's been a part of two wars and is coming back to active duty. And I'm resigning from the ANBU, I got more important matters to prioritize after the incident." Naruto finished.
Clapping his hands together, Iruka visibly relaxed more, "Understood, I'll keep all of this in mind. Do you mind if I ask you something?"
Naruto shrugged, "Sure, what is it?"
"Hmm, are you planning on taking Sasuke on as an apprentice after he graduates?" Iruka mused out loud.
The blond blinked in surprise at the question, "Uhm, I haven't really thought about it like that, but I won't dismiss that I might. We already train together a decent amount, so it wouldn't be bad per se."
Iruka rubbed his chin, "I feel a 'but' coming, or am I wrong?"
Naruto let out a small sigh as he fidgetted with the sleeves of his shirt, "I'm currently training for some private matters, and while there is a chance that I'll be finished with it before Sasuke graduates… I don't want to get his hopes up. Because I won't take him on as an apprentice if I can't keep up with it, I don't want to be a neglectful teacher."
The academy teacher gave a quick nod of his head, as he started smiling, "That's a very good view on it. I'd not have become a teacher here at the academy either if I had a similar dilemma."
"I'll still help him, don't worry, but I want his teacher to be able to focus on him. So if I'm not up to that, perhaps it'll have to be someone else."
Iruka gave a smile of understanding and reached over to pat the younger man on his shoulder, "Nonetheless I got a feeling you'll be a big help for Sasuke, not only for his studies and eventual training but also for his mental health. Which reminds me, are you going to be busy this morning?"
Naruto raised a questioning brow, "This almost sounds like you're asking me out on a date."
Fumbling over his own sentence, Iruka smacked his forehead and let out a semi-annoyed grunt, "Please don't joke like that… What I meant to ask, was a favor."
"Oh… Well, I don't have to be anywhere at a specific time. I just got to hand in some papers before the afternoon. I should be free to do whatever until then. What is the favor?" Naruto eventually asked.
Clapping his hands together, Iruka placed his palms down on one of the desks, "I'd like you to perhaps go and say a few words to Sasuke's class. Since you're one of the youngest graduates in the village history, you caught a few glances from some of the students."
The blond's brow twitched, "You're trying to exploit my potential popularity to keep them invested in the classes."
"Saying it like that makes it sound bad. All I'm proposing is a small display of you joining a class so that my students will continue doing their best," Iruka countered.
"How very cunning of you… Seems like I underestimated you. Fine, I'll make an… appearance, or whatever. Just don't expect it to not go up in flames, I don't have the best memories of the academy," Naruto chuckled as he reminisced about all the times Itachi had woken him up from sleeping on the table.
Iruka gave a satisfied nod and stood at the door, "Very much appreciated, we should get going then. Mizuki-sensei should be awaiting me."
"Here goes nothing I guess…" Naruto mumbled mostly to himself but didn't miss the slight smirk on Iruka's face as he passed by him in the doorframe.
He'd always known academy teachers were evil, but this level of mischievousness was beyond him.
XXXX
Iruka reentered his classroom to see the students somewhat settled down. It'd often be chaos in here, but he got a feeling that the returned presence of Sasuke was keeping things down a bit for today at least. Even his usual fans were managing to keep a respectable distance, which the two chunin instructors gladly appreciated.
"Alright everyone, I need you all to settle down. I brought you a special guest today, someone that I think a lot of you… have at least heard about, from your parents and other instructors," The scarred Chunin continued.
A specific Inuzuka heir let out a groan, "How much are you going to hype this guy up? Let him just enter already. Probably brought a boring scientist to explain some chemistry or whatever."
A tickmark appeared on Iruka's forehead as he fought his inner urges to strangle an academy student, "Since Kiba here is so impatient, I guess we'll have to move on. You can enter now, Naruto-san."
The sliding door into the classroom opened as Naruto stepped inside, shooting a slight grin at the brown-haired boy who looked at him a bit dumbfounded, "Boring scientist? Sounds familiar." He commented and waltzed inside.
The blond teen took a seat on top of the teacher's desk, instantly making Iruka and Mizuki grimace as the rest of the students chuckled, "Iruka here was so kind to ask me to join you all, figured I'd be… an example of some kind, since I'm one of the earliest graduants we have in the village."
A chubby boy raised his hand, to which Naruto pointed at him, "You… Uh, Choji, right? If I recall correctly, a lot of the clan heirs is in this class."
The boy stood up from his seat with a nod of his head, "Yes, I'm Akimichi Choji, Naruto-san. I wanted to ask you how you managed to graduate so early. It's only been done a handful of times… from what I can remember at least."
Naruto clapped his hands together, "Good question, I'd like to say I was super smart and strong. The truth is that I was just a sore loser. I had a best friend when I was in the academy, he was eons ahead of me in terms of being smart. I didn't want to lose, so I worked hard and made sure I graduated with him."
The Uzumaki let out a few laughs, "Enough about me. How is the classes going? Is history as boring as always?"
"N-Naruto-san, please…" Iruka tried.
The chunin was however interrupted as Kiba stood to his feat and yelled, "Yeah, they history but all we get is an hours worth of nap time."
Naruto stood up from his seat on the desk and paced around a bit,"Yeah, I bet that all you learn about is people that are long gone. Old monuments and stories, am I right? Things you'll never use."
"It's a bit of a drag, but yeah." A dark-haired boy mumbled, his head rested on top of his crossed arms on top of the desk.
The blond shrugged with a small hum, "Well, that's where you're wrong. While history may seem boring, you learn a lot of things. Merely taking the things they said and did into account, could help you in your Shinobi career."
Next, the pink-haired girl from earlier stood up with her hand raised, "When have you used it as a Shinobi?" She asked curiously, and sat down next.
Naruto nodded, "Good question again, let's take a recent example. Nidaime-sama created the ANBU black ops, in which you for example learn stealth and proper take-downs in regard to assassination. I went on a mission to Kusa, things went south. And I decided to use these things, to make sure that everything went according to plan."
Taking this chance to speak, Iruka crossed his arms over his chest, "As you can hear, while it may be plain and mandatory. History can save your life, even formerly used strategy can be used to help your own plans in the future."
"What the man said, so keep at it. I'm not gonna take anymore of your time, so uh… Study hard, or something, don't be like me." Naruto chuckled sheepishly and stared to make his way toward the door.
It wasn't that he wouldn't want to stay longer or help them out, but he started to feel a bit awkward. Sasuke had given him a curious stare through most of it, so it at least seemed to cheer him up slightly by giving him this… surprise visit, probably planned by the devious chunin all along.
Also, he'd run out of things to say, and he'd rather go and hand in his ANBU resignation before he somehow managed to have doubt change his mind about it all.
As he stood in the academy hallway, he shot a brief nod to Iruka and Mizuki before closing the door shot. And then let out a sigh of relief, whilst visibly looking bored.
What he'd said wasn't technically a lie, but it wasn't true either, it was more like… extending what he'd done that day, more than he should've. If it'd keep them invested in the classes in the future, then it'd be a good lie. If not, well, then it was Iruka's problem to deal with.
'I shouldn't be laughing about that…' He mentally correct himself as he chuckled on his way out of the academy.
Once he was outside, he leapt onto the roof of the academy and made his way toward the ANBU headquarters. He was more than ready now to hand in his resignation, plus, it'd mean he'd be able to spend more time with Mikoto on their newly formed team.
For some reason, he was starting to really look forward to that. It'd be anything but boring and glum, compared to how ANBU life usually could be. If anything, he was quite sure they'd have a blast doing it.
Plus, he really hoped she'd start looking more like her usual happy-self once they got more out of the village. It couldn't be easy constantly being in Konoha, knowing what had happened.
So at the very least, this would help keep her mind off of things for a while.
改行
Yeah, I know. It's going to be the same thing again, "Sorry, I was lazy." Or rather, as I said, lost inspiration. Didn't know what to do or where to take the story, it was going a bit in circles until someone told me like easiest fix I'd never thought about.
As I said before, this story is like, well… I suppose you can call it 'my baby' in a sense. It's the first thing I tried working on seriously, the romance got slow, and people got impatient. Even people I talk to were iffy about it, and in the end, it just felt like a total failure.
Didn't really expect people to still message me to ask for an update for this, and I figured that I might as well continue it for the few people that do like it. Can't please everyone, as much as I'd like to, so hopefully… I can work on an update that isn't like, nine years into the future.