A/N: *Bows head in shame and knees on the floor to beg for forgiveness* Uwa! I'm sorry! So so so sorry! I wanted to update the next chapter sometime mid-August (Really, I did!), but y little brother messed with my computer and… and… the next thing I knew… the fourth chapter – the one that I worked on for weeks – was… it was GONE! *Cries pitifully* And then… *sob*… and then… PMR (that's an exam that those in my country take very seriously) was getting nearer… And my mom took away my computer privileges… and… I'm sorry! Please, FORGIVE ME!
Anyway… *Wipes away tears* I'm sure that you've all had enough of this author's worthless ramblings so, for the next order of business, appreciation showing time!
To imsabbel, elyzmaki, AyameRose, MonlightDoom, DarkFoxKit, Sanz0gril, MakingLuck101, Allyieh, NX-Loveless-XN, RedRangerBelt, Kitsu3, Lazyman12, Souseiki no Tasogare, Bright26, Kid'sDarkWolf, Orexisgrimm, EmiTenshi, Shiekah Tetra, esmina, 69AnimeFreak69, Freedsama, dimensiontietraveler: Oh my god! I think I'm going to dry again! (In case you haven't noticed, I get extremely emotional when my writing is involved.) I LOVE you all so much! I think I might just pull an Izaya and say that I love all humans! Oh, your reviews, comments, criticism and advice had given me the drive to do well for PMR – so that my mom would give me the computer back and I could get to writing as soon as possible – and to finish the fourth chapter I barely two weeks! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you and…. I just can't seem to thank you guys enough! I really appreciate it that you guys could find the time to review and stuff and I'm just so happy and… and… *cries again* BUWAAAH!
To diesiontimetraveler: Aw… Naruto would never do that! He and Sakura are best friends!
To esmina: Thank you! I promise to try to keep the arrogance to a minimum.
To EmiTenshi: Oh, the memories idea, I kinda copied from a couple of other fanfics (but I can't seem to remember which ones). And yes, there will be suspicion. Mostly from Kakashi. I like suspicious!Kakashi! As for Kai's fic! Well, there aren't that many chapters yet, but I can tell that Savior is gonna be AWESOME! And the bell test… well, I made it long only 'coz I really liked that episode! It's one of my favorites!
To Kitsu3: Oh no! Oh no~! I didn't realize that I was using more than one tense! Thanks for the warning! As for the beta thing… well, this is kinda my first time of fanfiction (I'm using my cousin's account since I'm too lazy to make one of my own.) And I don't really know how that beta thing works… or what a beta is so… yeah, I suck… Do you think you can help me with that? And you're right. It is tempting. But don't worry, the other chapters don't have as much A/N's as the last one. That one just had a lot of them 'coz I really like the bell test scene, so I kinda got carried away when I wrote it.
To anonymous (Guest who reviewed on 7/4/12): Thanks for that recommendation! Anyway, I really appreciate your comment a lot! I like how honest you were and You're right, most of the timetravel!fics' bell tests are kinda boring (but don't tell anyone I said that) and I admit that mine was pretty boring as well. I didn't want to give Kakashi his memories back only because I think that suspicious!Kakashi is so much fun to mess with! Hm… I'll think about making Naruto friends with Anko, Gnema and the others, but I make no promises since I don't really know their characters very well. But I'll try my best! I've already got an idea of how to make the Wave County mission more interesting, but I'm not telling you! Nyaaa~! And about the Hiraishin stuff, well, I didn't want everyone to know of Naruto's relation to Minato too soon – because I'm not really sure myself how everyone will react if they did – so I thought that if he used Hiraishin, but not with the kunai – because the Yellow Flash was easier to recognize because of those kunai – then it would seem… y'know, less like Naruto was just following his dad's shadow. He's Naruto! He has his own way of doing stuff! And thanks for saying all of that nice stuff about my fic! It really brought a smile to my face!
To MoonlightDoom: Aw… you make me blush! Honestly, when you reviewed and I saw a picture of Obito on your account, I could actually imagine him talking to me in you reviews! The ay you talk, kinda reminds me of him for some strange reason… But don't take me the wrong way! I like Obito! He's funny – even if he did grow up to become one psychotic son of a bitch (Tobi)… And I'm glad that you like my fic, it really means a lot to me!
To AyameRose: Oh wow! I can imagine Naruto doing that to! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!
To imsabel: Aha! Shika is AWESOME! I can definitely agree with you on that! Well, I hope that you like this chapter better than the last! Thanks for your reviews! I appreciate it!
Summary: This is a dream, right? There's absolutely no way that all of this can be real, right? Yeah. There are five heads on the Hokage Monument. Not four. And Sandaime-jii-chan's been dead for years now, everyone knows that. There is absolutely no way he could've... is there? Time-travel's supposed to be impossible, isn't it? And the impossible is all that Uzumaki Naruto has ever done and – most likely – has done once more.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, then I'd give Team 8 more screen time!
P.S: To those who wanted to know, the pairing of my fic is NaruHina. Though there are other pairings, I'm making that my main! But try not to get too disappointed 'coz I'm not a very romantic-ish person (I'm asexual) so romance isn't going to play a very big art in my fic.
So, there ya have it! Enjoy!
Nami.
XxX
Rewind, Relive, Return
CHAPTER 4 – To Change the Course of Fate and Destiny... Suspicions Arise!
XxX
"There is no choice," Naruto said firmly.
"Oh?" Admittedly, Kakashi wasn't too surprised at the blond's answer. Almost everyone in the village knew of the Jinchuuriki's crush on the pink-haired girl and of his undying hatred of Konoha's last Uchiha. It would make sense that he would choose the girl over his other teammate.
Sasuke and Sakura were having thoughts similar to the one-eyed Jounin. Next, Naruto would say that he would choose Sakura-chan's life over Sasuke-teme's any day.
Sakura sighed. And to think that just yesterday she thought that Naruto had finally gotten over his hopeless crush over her. Guess she was wrong.
Naruto smirked. The gleam in his blue eyes telling his audience that he knew exactly what they were thinking.
"I'll just have to save them both," Naruto declared.
Three pairs of eyes widened. The disbelief that crossed their faces made it seem obvious that they had most definitely not been expecting that.
"I don't exactly know how," the blond admitted as he crossed his arms and legs and narrowed his eyes in his usual 'thinking pose'. "But I'm sure that I can think of something, dattebayo. And when I do, then you'd better watch your back, sensei," he grinned wickedly at the shocked silver-haired man. "I'm warning you. I don't forgive those who threaten my village or my friends so easily, y'know." As if to emphasize just how serious he was, Naruto took out a kunai and glared warningly at the Jounin.
He cares too much for others and too little for himself, Kakashi observed. That will be both his greatest strength and greatest weakness. Though, Kakashi couldn't help but think that the way Naruto had said those words reminded him very strongly of someone. But who...?
XxX
"Those that break the rules and regulations are scum. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum! If I'm going to be called scum either way, I'd rather break the rules! And if that's not being a proper shinobi, then I'll destroy that idea!"
XxX
...Oh yeah. That's who.
"Those who break the rules and regulations are scum," Kakashi said as he slowly lifted himself off of Sasuke. "But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."
The man turned around and walked to a kunai-shaped stone while Sasuke brought himself back on his feet.
"My best friend said those exact words to me on the day he died," Kakashi whispered so softly that both Sasuke and Sakura had to strain their ears to hear his words.
But Naruto didn't have to hear him say it. He already knew of the tragic story behind those words. The blond had to fight back a small smile as he thought of the very first time he had heard them and the events that had taken place after that. The very same events that were taking place right now...
"This stone..." Kakashi said with his back facing the three Genin. Sasuke and Sakura took that moment to really examine the stone and the writing that covered it. "...is filled with the names of the greatest heroes of our village. The names of those who are... KIA."
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly.
Sakura gasped. "Killed In Action..."
Naruto brought his head down. He couldn't bring himself to look at the memorial. He didn't want to think of the day he and many others had to witness Sandaime-Jiji, Asuma-sensei and Ero-sennin's names get carved onto the smooth unforgiving stone.
But it's not going to happen this time... Naruto tightened his hand into a fist. I won't let it.
"It's a memorial," Kakashi said, only slightly aware of the pre-teens reaction to the little revelation he had just made. "The names of my closest friends, my teacher and his family are engraved here." The man turned his head a little to the left just in time to catch the widening of Naruto's blue eyes at the mention of his teacher from the corner of his eye.
Neither Sasuke nor Sakura needed to have Naruto's emotion-sensing ability to feel the sorrow rolling off of their blond teammate and their masked teacher. They could sense that the oddly shaped stone was having a sad effect on the two, so they decided to stay silent for the moment.
"I'll give you one more chance," Kakashi said suddenly. He turned his head around to look at the stunned faces of two of the pre-teens – Naruto seemed unsurprised. Had he been expecting it all along? "We'll continue after lunch. However, the next test will be harsher and much more difficult than the previous one. So I suggest that you eat something and recover as much energy as you possibly can. But…" at this he shot both Naruto and Sasuke warning glances. "You must not let Sakura eat, understand?"
Sakura glowered at the masked Jounin.
"If anyone feeds her, that person will immediately fail." Kakashi walked closer to them and looked at each Genin in the eye slowly. "Here, I am the rule. Got it?"
Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Not five seconds later…
"Here," Naruto said as he unceremoniously thrust his bento to Sakura's face.
"W-What…?" Sakura mumbled in shock as she stared longing at the food which filled the box in her face.
"What do you mean 'what'?" Naruto frowned in confusion. "I'm giving you my lunch, 'ttebayo. Isn't that obvious?"
"You should eat something," Sasuke said. He took out a kunai, carefully cut the ropes and released the pink haired girl.
"B-But-!" she stammered. "Sensei said-!"
"It's fine, 'ttebayo," Naruto assured as he closed his eyes in a show of concentration. "I can't sense him anywhere," he said. "So, it must mean that he's either out of my range or that he's really happy about something." Okay, so 'happy' wasn't really a word that Naruto could ever use to describe the porn-loving man. Maybe... 'extremely pleased'...? Yeah, that works.
"I don't get it," Sakura said as she sat on the ground after taking the bento box Naruto had offered her gratefully. "What does sensei being happy have anything to do with him not being here?"
"Oh yeah," Naruto said absentmindedly. He grinned at his confused teammates. Well, they were bound to find out sooner or later, so he might as well tell them now. "You guys don't know, do you? I have this... um... ability, you see. I can kind of... 'sense' other people's feelings," he explained slowly. "But, I can't sense every emotion someone feels. Just the bad ones like sadness, hatred, anger, annoyance, confusion and other stuff."
"I didn't know that you could do that," Sakura admitted before she took another bite of Naruto's lunch.
"Neither did I..." Sasuke said slowly with his dark eyes narrowed at Naruto.
"There's nothing to get so suspicious about, teme," Naruto said. "The reason why you guys didn't know about this was probably because I only got these powers about a week ago, 'ttebayo." A week, three years in the future... what's the difference? "This weird guy told me that he power was supposedly something I got from the Shodaime's wife, Mito." The 'weird guy' that Naruto was talking about was – of course, no one but – Uchiha Madara. But it's not like he could just flat out and tell them that Sasuke's great-great-great-granduncle had told him that little tidbit when Naruto had been fighting the guy at the border between Kumo and Iwa in a war that wouldn't happen in another three years, now could he?
"The Shodaime's wife?" gasped Sakura, nearly choking on the rice she had been in the process of swallowing just a moment before. "Why her? Are the two of you related or something?"
Oh great. He just had to open his big mouth, didn't he? Maybe he should just come out with it and say that both he and Uzumaki Mito had gotten the ability from a grumpy old nine-tailed demon fox which was currently sealed inside of his stomach taking his midday nap...?
Yeah right!
"I'm not really sure if we are, 'ttebayo..." Naruto said truthfully. "But the both of us did come from the same clan... so maybe?"
"You're part of a clan?" Sasuke asked dubiously. Since when had the year's loser been a part of any clan? That was impossible. "If you are, the how come no one has ever heard of it?"
"Because technically, it can't really be considered as a clan anymore since – at least for all I know – there are only three members left, teme," Naruto explained almost bitterly. "Our clan had been wiped out years ago in the earlier Shinobi World War. It only makes sense that no one remembers us anymore, 'ttebayo."
"Oh," Sakura mumbled. "I'm sorry..."
Even Sasuke seemed slightly upset, as he should be since he was the one who asked the question in the first place.
"No, it's fine," Naruto reassured her. "I didn't even know about the whole… clan thing until a few months ago!" Once more, a few months, three years later… it's all pretty much the same.
"Well…" Sakura said slightly hesitant as she stole a glance at each of her teammates. "I guess… that's another thing you and Sasuke-kun… have in common."
"What are you talking about, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke just raised a brow in silent question.
"Well, you both have big chakra reserves," Sakura said. "And you both really like big flashy destructive Jutsus. I mean, you said so yourself, didn't you Naruto?"
"Yeah…" Naruto said slowly as he recalled his memories of yesterday evening after he had showed Sakura how to do the Tree Climbing Exercise. "I guess, I did."
"And now we know that the two of you belong to clans…" Sakura's words flowed to a stop.
…both of which had been destroyed at one point in time. Though Sakura hadn't really said the words, they were there. They were just floating around in the air, causing a thick awkward atmosphere to appear among the team.
Fortunately, Kakashi chose that exact moment to appear and scare not only the three Genin, but the tense silence in the air as well.
There was a large explosion. Smoke was everywhere. The sky had darkened from a bright blue to a menacing purple. And Naruto… thought that this was possibly one of the most unconvincing Genjutsus he had ever had the misfortune of experiencing in his entire two lives. The fact that he had nearly peed in his pants the first time he had experienced it did nothing to sooth his already growing annoyance. Honestly, what is it with his teachers and their dynamic – more like dramatic – entries?
With his eyes narrowed, Kakashi gave them a menacing and spine-chilling glare. "YOU GUYS...!" he growled.
Sasuke had crouched down and took out a few kunai, preparing himself for a fight. Sakura had done pretty much the same, though she positioned herself a little bit behind Sasuke – she wouldn't want to get in his way, of course. And Naruto... well, he wasn't really doing much.
"What's got you so ticked off, sensei?" Naruto asked impassively from the ground – because unlike his two teammates, he had thought the chore to be too bothersome to do. He stuck a finger into his ear for added effect.
Kakashi rounded his eyes on the blond. "I thought I told you not to give Sakura any food?"
"I thought you told us that too," Naruto said with his eyes glinting in mischief.
"No!" Sakura yelled out suddenly. Kakashi took his attention away from Naruto and aimed it at the girl. "D-Don't get mad at N-Naruto," Sakura stuttered out under Kakashi's dark gaze. "I-I was the one who a-ate the..."
"She would have been a burden to us," Sasuke said. "Sakura would have been too weak to be of any help on the next test. She would have just dragged the rest of us down."
Naruto clicked his tongue form Sakura's left. "Stop acting so cool, teme. You're only making yourself look stupid, 'ttebayo."
"Naruto..." Sakura growled in warning. How dare he call Sasuke a 'teme' at a time like this? And why was he acting so calm anyway? Was he blind? Could that idiot not see the angry Jounin in front of them?
"So," Kakashi said, his glare losing its malice slightly. "You did it for the good of the team, did you?"
"Yes," Sasuke said as he stood up, placed the kunai back into his pouch and relaxed himself slightly. Naruto was calm. The boy did just tell them that he could sense a person's negative emotions. So, if he wasn't worrying about it, then that means...
"Then, I guess I have no choice but to..." Kakashi said as his eye curled up in the shape of a 'U'. "...pass you!"
"Huh?" exclaimed Sakura dumbly. What just happened? Had she missed something? "I-I'm sorry but... why exactly are you passing us? Y-You know, not that I'm complaining or anything. I'm just curious."
"You guys are the very first team ever I've passed," Kakashi explained. "The others just did everything that I told them to. They were idiots."
Kakashi looked at each of his students (That's right. His students.) before he continued. "A ninja must always look underneath the underneath. My old friend was right. In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."
Sakura relaxed and smiled.
Sasuke's mouth curled into a victorious smirk.
Naruto grinned widely and placed his hands behind the back of his head.
"Congratulations," Kakashi said. "You all pass! Team 7 starts its first mission tomorrow!"
Naruto's grin morphed into a displeased scowl. Oh great, he groaned silently. D-Ranks...
"Yes, sir!" Sakura cheered before she started jumping up and down with glee. 'Shannaro! Look out, world! Haruno Sakura is now officially a Konoha kunoichi!'
XxX
"Alright everyone!" a man yelled as he adjusted his camera. "Get ready! I'm about to take the picture now!"
Sakura was trying out every pose she could think of. First she placed one hand behind her head and the other oh her hip with one of her eyes closed in a wink. Then, she tried grinning and putting both hands in front of her with each of her index and middle fingers held up in the 'peace' position. The green eyed girl tried pose after pose looking for the perfect one for the very first picture she was going to take with Sasu-! Erm… her team…
Sasuke was sitting just a few feet away from the rest of Team 7. If you had asked him what he had been doing at the time, he would have told you that he was brooding in the dark shade of the trees. But if you asked anyone else – preferably a certain blond Jinchuuriki – they would have told you that the raven-haired teen was sulking like the moody Uchiha that he was because he was upset. Why was he upset you ask? He was upset because he had to take a picture with the two people he least wanted to take a picture with. He knew it was mandatory for a shinobi to take a photo with his first Team as a way of making it official – and also because they needed to put something in the report files – but why couldn't they have just taken the photos individually and place those together in the files instead.
"Hey, teme!" Naruto called with a face-splitting grin, after appearing out of nowhere in front of his 'rival'. "What are you sulking around for, huh?" He grabbed Sasuke's arm and practically dragged the Uchiha to where the rest of their team was waiting. "C'mon! We've got a picture to take, 'ttebayo!"
The blond then proceeded to snagging Sakura's arm with his other hand before forcing the three of them closer together – almost squeezing himself between his two shocked teammates. "Here we go guys!" Naruto grinned. "Let's make this a memory worth remembering, alright?"
"Definitely," Kakashi said with a smile. The man positioned himself in a slight crouch behind his three – now official – students so that his masked face was just barely visible above Naruto's spiky blond hair. He snaked one of his hands on Sasuke's right shoulder and the other on Sakura's left and made the universal 'peace' sign with both of his hands.
"Say 'cheese'!" the photographer called from behind the camera.
"Cheese!" said Naruto and Kakashi cheerfully as they tightened their grips on the other two members of their team – who were, at the moment, too shocked to do anything but stand silently as they let themselves get photographed in the sudden position they currently found themselves in.
Two days later, when Naruto received his copy of Team 7's photo, he smiled.
The photo was – very – different than its original. But that was partly the reason why the smile was on his face in the first place.
In this photo, their positions were changed. Instead of Sakura smiling cutely at the camera, it was Naruto who stood there between his two teammates with a big grin on his whiskered face. Also, neither Sasuke nor Naruto were glaring irritably at each other. Sasuke was looking at his blond teammate with a raised brow and an expression that said, 'Did you just grow another head?' The look that Sakura had on her face, on the other hand, was something that could be easily interpreted as, 'What the hell just happened?' And Kakashi, instead of the exasperated look he as aiming at the camera, he was smiling – or what seemed to be the masked man's equivalent of a smile.
Though Naruto was a little sad at the obvious change – and was slightly disappointed that Yamato-taichou and Sai-teme weren't there to complete the team – he was happy. Because change meant that he was doing something. It was a sign that things didn't have to turn out like the nightmare they had left behind. Things were changing – hopefully – for the better.
Sasuke didn't have to leave the village and be branded a traitor and common criminal. And with Ero-Sennin and his talent in the arts of Fuuinjutsu, he could – probably – fix Gaara's seal. Itachi wouldn't have to die with his name whispered in the shadows as a traitor. Ero-sennin, Sandaime-Jiji, Asuma-sensei – no one – would have to die again – at least not if Naruto could do anything about it. Nagato and Konan would stay alive this time to see Yahoo's dream of world peace come true. The other Jinchuurikis won't be taken out so easily this time because this time, they would all be together. All of them – the nine Jinchuurikis and their Bijuu, the five kages, the shinobi villages and the shinobi themselves – were going to go through this together, just as they did in the Fourth Great War.
So, Uchiha Madara better watch out because Naruto wasn't planning on letting the shinigami take his soul without him bringing Madara's dark and foul one to depths of Hell with him.
Believe it.
XxX
Shikamaru was standing next to Asuma – now officially his team's Jounin instructor – as the two of them watched Ino rave to Chouji on why eating at a barbecue stand was a bad idea - "I can't eat the food there! It's fattening and I'm on a diet!" - and that they should choose someplace else to eat.
"How troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled as he fought back a smile at seeing his two teammates argue on where they should celebrate their team's victory on the Genin Test.
They had just completed their Genin Test almost three hours ago – Ino and Chouji had been arguing on where they should eat for the past three hours. Asuma had made them go through an obstacle course where they had had to work together to capture the Jounin and find a way to get from the starting line to the finish in one piece. Shikamaru had been the brains, Chouji the brawns and Ino the glue that kept up the team morale and kept them together. (Though, her words were a bigger help to Chouji than to Shikamaru because the Nara already knew that they were going to pass the test.)
After they had finished the course, Asuma had made them choose on the two that would stay and the one person who would be sent back to the Academy. Of course, none of them did as he told and instead protested quite loudly – except for Shikamaru, he found the chore much too troublesome and let his teammates do the yelling instead – on why none of them should be sent back. This happened and that happened and in the end, all three of them passed.
At first Ino had wanted to celebrate by going shopping but Chouji had wanted to go have dinner instead. The two had turned to Shikamaru who almost immediately went for Chouji's idea. Now, here they were, three hours later and still haven't decided on where they would have their victory dinner.
Though not many know this, in the original timeline, Shikamaru had went for Ino's suggestion and their team had went shopping instead. At that time, he had made a mistake and not chosen to side with Chouji for he knew of his best friend's monstrous appetite and was afraid that he would have to go home with empty pockets.
Five hours later, Shikamaru had come to deeply regret that decision. He never knew why a woman would need so many clothes and shoes and how they could walk around a dozen different stores for hours without feeling tired.
This time, the Nara boy had made the wiser decision and voted for Chouji's idea instead – after making Asuma promise that he would be the one to pay for the food, of course.
While Shikamaru was watching his two friends argue with slight amusement, Asuma was watching him. The man had read his students' files – all of the Jounin Instructors had to after their teams were assigned – and this boy was nothing like the lazy genius Asuma had read about. Sure, the boy seemed like he would rather be snoozing at home than where he was now, but he was a little – no, a lot – different than what Asuma had expected him to be.
Asuma had thought that when he was assigned this team, he would get to meet the children of the legendary Ino-Shika-Cho. Yamanaka Inoichi's daughter, Ino, who would rather spend her days gossiping and chasing after Konoha's last Uchiha than running around and training hard until she was drenched in sweat. Then, there was Akimichi Chouza's son, Chouji – a boy with many insecurities and the confidence of timid mouse. He could usually be found with a friend or family member close by for he was afraid of getting bullied if there was no one around he could trust.
And lastly, Nara Shikaku's son, Shikamaru. In the reports the teachers at the Academy had made, the boy had slept through almost all of his classes and passed each and every one of them with one of the highest grades in his class – except for Taijutsu, as he states the subject to be too 'troublesome'. He could sometimes be found skipping classes with his friends, one of them being the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto. According to the reports, this boy was the type of person who would rather avoid any and every form of conflict than start one. The boy himself had admitted a few times of his dislike of fighting.
But the boy who was standing next to him and the boy he had expected to meet were almost nothing alike. In the test, Shikamaru had taken more of an effort to get his team to pass than Asuma had seen any Nara make for anything else. And the plan the boy had come up with was perfect. There wasn't a single flaw in it – at least, none that Asuma could detect. And when he had asked them to make the decision, Shikamaru had been the first to speak up. The boy had told him that three of them were a team and that none of them was going to condemn any of their teammates like that. And it was only after Shikamaru had said those words that the other two started protesting as well – though Ino and Chouji had chosen to make their views known in a much louder volume than Shikamaru did.
"Why don't we just eat over there?" the Nara suddenly said, causing his teammates' eyes to land on him. The pony-tailed boy was pointing to a ramen bar a few feet to their left.
"Ichiraku's?" Chouji asked. The ramen there was awesome, but Shikamaru had never liked eating ramen. So why did he want to go there now?
"A ramen bar?" Ino nearly screeched. "Do you want me to get fat? Why the hell should I eat that disgusting stuff anyway?"
"Maybe because Team 7's eating there too?" Shikamaru said with a blank expression, his finger still pointed to the bar.
"What?" Ino took a closer look at the bar and gave a loud squeal when she spotted the unmistakable dark hair of her long-time crush – while intentionally ignoring the orange and pink dots sitting on either side of him. "Well, what are we waiting for?" the girl yelled as she grabbed her teammates' hands in an iron hold. "I'm hungry! Let's go!" Ino dragged both Shikamaru and Chouji to the ramen bar, leaving Asuma to chase after them in his own pace.
"Hi, Sasuke-kun!" Ino squealed once she got close enough to the dining team.
Shikamaru saw the Uchiha stiffen and Sakura shoot a glare towards his female teammate. Naruto just turned his head around and – with noodles hanging from his mouth – greeted his two old partners in ditching. "Rey, guysh! (Hey, guys!)" the spiky-haired blond took some time to chew and swallow his food before he continued. "What a surprise. I didn't know you were coming here for dinner too, 'ttebayo."
"Troublesome liar," Shikamaru accused lightly. You knew we were close by all along, didn't you?
Naruto just brought one of his hands to rub at the back of his head and grinned – without even bothering to deny Shikamaru's accusation. It was mostly thanks to Ino's combination of great annoyance, disbelief, and frustration. He could pretty much feel Team 10 coming from a hundred miles away!
Sasuke lifted a brow at this – doing his best to ignore the bickering girls next to him. Had Shikamaru known about Naruto's Emotion Sensing?
Obviously, he did if what Sasuke could read from their facial expressions was any indication.
Shikamaru suddenly grew quiet and his eyes narrowed slightly. It was clearly obvious that something was bothering him to those who had been paying attention to his and Naruto's interaction – namely Sasuke, Kakashi and Asuma.
Sensing his friend's sudden unease, Naruto asked, "Ano sa, ano sa, is something wrong, Shikamaru?"
"I need to talk with you," Shikamaru said after a short silence. "Privately," he added as he threw a significant glance at the two eavesdropping teachers and Uchiha.
"Alright," Naruto said easily before he lifted his bowl – his sixth helping in the last hour – and finished the broth. Once that was done, he got up from his seat – Ino quickly took advantage of this and took his seat as it was right next to Sasuke's – and thanked the old Ramen chef. "Give the check to Kakashi-sensei, dattebayo! He's buying!" he called over his should before walking out the bar with Shikamaru.
Once Naruto was gone, Sasuke stood up and grunted at his teacher as a sign that he was leaving.
"Don't forget about tomorrow's training," Kakashi called to him with a lazy wave of his hand and his eyes never leaving his precious book. "Remember, 6AM sharp."
The young Uchiha just grunted in reply.
Ino and Sakura – having paused long enough in their argument to realize that Sasuke had already left – shot up from their seats and immediately ran after the retreating Uchiha screaming, "Sasuke-kun, wait for me!"
This left the two suspicious Jounin and the still eating Chouji at the ramen bar.
XxX
Naruto knelt in front of the carved stone and placed his hands together before sending a silent prayer to his parents. In front of him stood Konoha's Stone Memorial – or, as the Hachibi's Jinchuuriki so elegantly called it, 'Konoha's Rock of Dead People' – with two names carved close together somewhere in the middle.
Namikaze Minato was carved in elegant writing right next to Uzumaki Kushina.
Naruto and Shikamaru had been standing – or, in Naruto's case, sitting – in front of the memorial for nearly five minutes. Neither boy had wanted to break the silence that had fallen over them. But, then again, Naruto had never been known for staying quiet for too long.
"So," he said as he finished praying, yet made no move to stand up. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
Shikamaru stayed silent. He walked forwards to stand next to his friend in front of the memorial. He studied the black stone intently while forcing back the memories of seeing more names – names of his teacher, his friends and comrades – being carved on to it.
Then, Shikamaru spoke. "If there was another way to do this," he said. "Someway where you didn't have to give up your soul for... all of this," the Nara waved his hand around vaguely, "would you take it?"
Naruto knew that this wasn't what his friend had wanted to talk to him about, but he decided that he would humor the lazy genius... for now. "No," he answered the question truthfully.
"Why not?" Shikamaru asked without taking his eyes off of the memorial.
"Because chances like these," Naruto said, his eyes traveling to the dark twilight sky. "…always come with a price. And if I don't pay it…" his blue eyes closed as a sad smile graced his lips, "…someone else will have to, y'know."
Shikamaru looked sad yet understanding. But just because he understood his friends need to protect other so – maybe a little too – selflessly, it didn't mean that he had to accept it. "And you don't want that." It wasn't a question, both boys knew it.
Naruto shook his head.
"You're not going to try to save the world by yourself… again, are you?" the brunet asked the Jinchuuriki.
"No," Naruto said once more as he stood up. "There are just some things in life that no one – not even someone as awesome as me – can do by himself, 'ttebayo. I understand that now."
Shikamaru remained silent. He could sense that Naruto wanted to say more.
"Itachi said that to me, y'know," Naruto said. Though, the long-haired Uchiha didn't exactly call him 'awesome', he did say everything else. "He said that if I kept trying to do everything on my own, I'd end up just like Madara. He told me that though I was getting stronger, I was forgetting everyone else with those 'egotistical thoughts'. He reminded me that my Pa became Hokage because of my Ma and everyone else who believed in him. Itachi said that if I wanted to achieve the same dream, I shouldn't forget about my friends – my precious people."
Shikamaru nodded at those words. He always knew that he liked Sasuke's older brother for a reason. "So," Shikamaru began, "what do you want to do?"
"I'm going to rally our friends," the blond said with conviction. "We'll beat Madara – together! That prehistoric bastard won't know what hit him, dattebayo!"
"My thoughts exactly," Shikamaru nodded in satisfaction. He had been worried that he was going to have to force Naruto to accept his plans because that idiot would be too selfless and stubborn to ask help from others.
"So," the lazy genius said again. "Your team will be going to Nami no Kuni pretty soon, right?"
Naruto's ears perked at the mention of Wave Country and the sudden change in his friend's tone. Something told him that this was the real reason why the young Nara had asked him to come here. "Yeah," he said. "About two weeks from now, I think."
"And Nami is quite close to Kiri, isn't it?" Shikamaru smirked. "It's just a couple of days travel by boat, if I'm not mistaken," – and he rarely was.
"That look on your face is starting to creep me out, 'ttebayo," Naruto said warily. "What are you thinking, Shika?"
"I'm thinking," the Nara said slowly, "that Konoha is long overdue with sending our respects to the new Mizukage."
Naruto's blue eyes widened very slowly as he pieced a small part of Shikamaru's plan together.
Then, he grinned.
XxX
Many years ago, the powerful demon fox of the nine Bijuu, the Kyuubi no Youko attacked the great village of Konohagakure. Many shinobi had fought valiantly to protect their precious village and many lives had been lost.
When all hope seemed lost, the village's leader, the legendary Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, Namikaze Minato appeared on top of his mighty toad summons and faced the demon in battle. But no matter how strong he was, the young Hokage could not kill the Kyuubi for the beast was not an actual living being, but a monster made of pure malevolent chakra.
Left with no other choice, the Yondaime was forced to seal the Kyuubi – and place his faith, trust, hopes and dreams of his village and its future – into an infant. A spiky haired blond baby with the most honest and bluest eyes anyone would ever see.
This is where our story begins...
"BOOM!"
Jiraiya paused in his writing at the sound of the unbelievably loud explosion which came from the outside of the old restaurant he was in. The sound was soon followed by a string of slurred curses that could make even the most hardened sailor blush and stutter like a schoolgirl.
This could only mean one thing.
He had found Tsunade.
Honestly, he was having slight difficulty at believing how little time it took for him to find his wayward teammate. Maybe Naruto's unnatural luck was finally rubbing off on him?
The old Toad Sage sighed as he heard another building crumble to dust at the hands of his old friend. It looks like he would have to continue with Naruto's book another time.
Right now, he had public property to rescue.
XxX
"You're late," muttered a Tokubetsu Jounin named Morino Ibiki who was standing in the far corner of the Hokage's office as he eyed the late comers irritably. "Both of you."
"I'd have expected something like this from Kakashi," grumbled Kurenai with annoyance. "But you, Asuma?"
Kakashi gave everyone his infamous 'eye-smile' before he whipped out his latest volume of Icha Icha Paradise. Asuma just gave a non-committable shrug. "I was taking my team out for dinner. It took a while for their stomachs to be satisfied."
"Oh?" asked Mitarashi Anko from Kurenai's left as she nibbled on her fifth dango stick since waiting for Kakashi and Asuma to arrive. She had come here with Ibiki and a few other Jounin and Chunin to assess the Jounin-senseis' choices in the passing which Genin and why in case some of them do not see it fit for a few particular Genin to pass or fail – though she fails to see why they are needed as in the end they always agree on the same things. "So, the brats passed, then?"
Before Asuma had a chance to even open his mouth, the Sandaime cleared his throat loudly before he took a drag out of his pipe. "Now that we are all finally present," – at this, the old Hokage shot an exasperated look at his son and the late Yondaime's student – "we can begin with listing the teams that had passed and the teams that had not. Those who's assigned Genin had passed the exam please step forward and state your team's number and members."
Kurenai was the first to speak. "Team 8 under Yuuhi Kurenai, passed. Members: Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata."
The Sandaime nodded as he wrote down the specifics. Truthfully, he didn't need to write much as he had already had the passing teams' files ready after learning from Naruto which ones would pass the exams.
Asuma came next. "Team 10 under Sarutobi Asuma, passed. Members: Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino."
"Team 7 under Hatake Kakashi, passed," a voice said with a lazy tone, shocking nearly everyone in the room except for the two Sarutobis. "Members: Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura."
While everyone stayed in shocked silence, the Sandaime smirked. "Very well, then."
Anko – being her usual loud, honest, tactless and blunt as a hammer self – was the first to break the eerie silence. "Y-You p-p-passed a t-t-team! Everyone, check the windows! Do you see any pigs flying around?! Is the sky falling?!"
Kotetsu – being one of the few Chunin in the room – would have complied with Anko's strange request had his ever loyal partner, Izumo not stopped him from making a fool of himself...again.
"Kakashi..." Ibiki said carefully. "Are you feeling...alright?" This question was asked with Ibiki pointing to his temple. "Do you need me and Inoichi-san to... help you with anything...?"
Asuma rolled his eyes at his fellow colleagues' antics. Are these guys serious?
Everyone else just continued to look at the masked Jounin as if he had pulled his mask off, grown six extra arms and legs and was dancing the Hokey-Pokey in a yellow polka-dotted bikini.
"I guess we don't need to be too surprised," one of the Jounin who had failed his team said after a while of silence. "That Uchiha kid's on his team after all."
Most of the shinobi murmured and grunted in agreement. All of them knew how much the council adored the last Uchiha and would be willing to do just about anything to turn him into one of their greatest weapons. They figured that the council must have ordered – or threatened – Kakashi to let the kid pass.
Though, this was untrue, Kakashi didn't do anything to stop this rumor from spreading.
He vaguely remembered Koharu and Homura approaching him yesterday after his meeting with Team 7. They didn't threaten him, but they made sure to emphasize on Sasuke's blood-relation with Obito and how devastated Obito might be if his cousin did not get the chance to become a shinobi only because his teammate had been too hard to please. Kakashi had noted that the two were getting too old and had become senile for they had seemed to have forgotten how they had scorned Obito and his lack of talent and manners as a member of one of the elite clans of Konoha.
The Hokage cleared his throat once more – a silent order for the Jounin to be quiet – before he spoke, "Now that that is dealt with, let us continue. About the oncoming Chunin Exams..."
XxX
"Why are the two of you still here?" the Sandaime asked without beating around the bush. Actually, the old man had a pretty good idea of what the two Jounin wanted, but it would be better for all of them if he continued to appear ignorant.
"Maa, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said as he closed his book. "We just had a couple of things we wanted to discuss with you."
"It's about a couple of our Genin," Asuma interjected.
"And why," the Hokage said, "did you not think to voice such concerns during the meeting?"
"These concerns of ours," Kakashi said, "are best discussed without the ears of others around to hear such information."
"Are these matters that delicate?" the Sandaime asked.
"Yes," the two Jounin answered immediately.
"Very well." The Hokage made a few hand-signs as he activated his privacy seals and gave his ANBU silent orders to guard his office and make sure that there were no stray flies on the walls.
"So?" the Hokage asked the two. "Out with it."
Kakashi and Asuma looked to each other before Asuma nodded – a sign that Kakashi should start.
The silver-haired Jounin sighed. "Well, Hokage-sama," he began. "It has come to our attention that one of each of our Genin has been showing great skill and intelligence they should not."
"And these Genin you speak of are…?" The question had not needed to be asked. Hiruzen already had a good hunch of whom Kakashi was speaking of.
"Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Naruto," Asuma spoke from behind his fellow Jounin.
Bingo. Hiruzen was right.
"And these skills that you speak of…?" the Sandaime spoke slowly. He needed to be extremely careful of what he said and he had to be fast in coming up with a plausible reason on why these Genin were acting as such – or they might all be in trouble.
"Naruto knows how to use the Hiraishin," Kakashi said. This caused the disbelieving eyes of Sarutobi Asuma to land on him. The Hiraishin – one of the Yondaime's most prized techniques? Kakashi definitely did not mention that during their meal at Ichiraku's.
"Hmm," the Sandaime hummed. "Frankly speaking, I am not too surprised nor am I worried of it."
"Why not, Hokage-sama?" the masked Jounin asked.
"You may not know this," the Sandaime said as an excuse for Naruto's sudden knowledge of one of his father's most kept secrets came to his mind. "But my student had dropped over for a visit about a week ago. He came here because he wanted to see Naruto."
"Jiraiya-sama?" Asuma questioned. For the man did not know of the Toad Sannin nor the Yondaime's actual relation to Konoha's last Uzumaki, he assumed that the man had come to check up on Naruto's seal.
"Yes," the Sandaime confirmed. "But if you want to look for him, I suggest you wait until the Chunin Exams. Something had come up so he had to leave the village for a while. Now initially, he came here to examine Naruto's seal and ensure that it was doing exactly what it was designed to do, but then he and Naruto had started talking and the next thing I knew, Jiraiya had dragged Naruto off somewhere to show him just how awesome he really was by teaching him a few techniques he knew. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if the boy started using the Rasengan from now on if he had already learned how to use the Hiraishin."
"Did he also tell Naruto of his parents' identities? Because Naruto had hinted that he knows who they are yesterday when I made the team introduce themselves," Kakashi questioned.
"His parents…?" Asuma murmured. Come to think of it, he never really gave much thought as to who the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki's parents were.
"Yes," the Sandaime said. "Naruto now knows who his parents are."
Asuma began thinking. He wondered who the boy's parents were and if he had ever met them before.
"And he isn't angry with them for what they had done?" Kakashi asked. This was something that he needed to know.
"No," the old Hokage answered. "If anything, I believe that Naruto only grew to love them for he understands their sacrifice and is happy to know that they loved him and believed in him enough to carry the burden of a Jinchuuriki."
Kakashi gave an inaudible sigh. That was good. He would really hate it if Naruto resented his sensei and Kushina-nee-san for using him – their own son – as a vessel for the most powerful Bijuu there was.
Asuma tried putting the pieces together. So, his parents knew what Minato-san was planning to do and handed over Naruto to him for the sealing of their free will – he could tell that much by the words his father had spoken. But that doesn't help him come up with their identity very much.
"Hokage-sama, there's something else," Kakashi said, cutting off Asuma's train of thought. "During the test… I'm not entirely sure of this and maybe all those years in ANBU-" he didn't bother hiding the fact that he had once been an ANBU from Asuma because both he and the Sandaime's son had come to a silent agreement years ago that he would keep quiet of Asuma's role as one of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi – to those who didn't know already – and Asuma wouldn't tell anyone of Kakashi's previous rank in ANBU "-have made me delusional and paranoid, but if I'm not mistaken… Naruto, during the test, he looked so confident – too confident – that if I didn't know any better, I would've thought that he knew of the test's objective before I even introduced myself to his team."
"Yeah," Asuma cut in with a troubled crease between his brows. "Shikamaru was acting pretty much the same. During the test, it was like he could read my movements – know where I'd be and what trap I had for them – before even I could figure out what my next move would be."
Well, that one was slightly more difficult to explain. But he wasn't known as 'The Professor' for nothing.
"Well, the Naras had always been known for their above average IQ. And young Shikamaru is said to be one of the most brilliant Naras in history, maybe even better than his father. I'm sure that all he did was think up a good strategy and predict a few of your moves. He may have even thought a few steps ahead of you as the members of his clan are known to do.
"As for Naruto, like I said before, he and Jiraiya ha talked with each other for a while. I'm sure that my student had told him a few stories of his Genin days and of the test I had given him and his team – the same test that he had used on Minato's team who had used the same test on your team, Kakashi. Naruto may not be the sharpest kunai in the shed, but he definitely isn't the bluntest. So I'm sure that he had been able to deduce what you had been planning for his team without too many problems."
There, that sounded like a plausible excuse. After he had answered a few more questions and sent the two Jounin out of his office, the old Hokage reminded himself to have a word with the two boys later on the art of stealth, subtlety and cunning.
XxX
"Hey, Ino?" Sakura said quietly to her ex-best friend.
"What?" the blonde snapped. She was tired from all the running they did from chasing Sasuke-kun and aggravated that they had lost him not ten minutes from leaving their team at the ramen bar.
"Do…" Sakura hesitated at asking her question but she sucked it up and asked anyway. "Do you think I'm weak?"
Ino faltered slightly in her pace before she resumed walking next to her rival. To say that the question was unexpected was a great understatement. "What makes you think that you're weak?"
"During the test," Sakura began explaining. "Kakashi-sensei made us fight him and get some bells from him to pass."
Ino nodded as an indication that she was listening. The test sound pretty simple compared to what her team had to do – run through a hard-ass obstacle course while chasing after a Jounin (who kept escaping every time they caught him) was no walk in the park – but it didn't mean that the test was easier. At least her team didn't have to actually fight their sensei – just catch him.
"Sasuke-kun was able to touch the bells," Sakura said with great admiration. "Naruto actually got a bell."
"What?!" Ino yelped as her steps faltered once more. "Hey, are you sure that we're thinking of the same Naruto here?"
"Hmm," Sakura hummed with a nod. "Naruto… he's a lot stronger than all of us first thought. He can make solid clones and he has some kind of teleportation jutsu and did you know that he can sense other people's emotions? Not chakra, emotions."
"Really?" Ino questioned with disbelief. "The Uzumaki Naruto – the dead-last, the outcast, the idiot – can do all that? Since when?"
Sakura shrugged. "He said that the emotion-sensing and the Kage Bunshin were pretty recent. But he said nothing about the teleportation technique." Maybe she could ask him about that the next time she saw him. Then, Sakura hung her head in shame as she thought of how much stronger Naruto – the supposed loser – was then her. "He and Sasuke-kun were amazing. The both fought Kakashi-sensei head on and weren't afraid to go against a Jounin. All I did was run around like a head-less chicken like some idiot. I'm useless."
"No," Ino assured suddenly – greatly surprising the pink-haired Genin. "You're not useless." She wasn't sure where those words were coming from, but when Sakura had said that she was useless, a sudden image of her friend – with much shorter hair – destroying an entire boulder with her bare fist appeared in her mind and she couldn't help but think of how cool Sakura seemed. "You're great, Sakura – at least better than I am. During our test, Shikamaru came up with this amazing plan and Chouji was really strong. All I could do was cheer them on from the sidelines like some worthless cheerleader."
Both girls sighed at the same time. "I wish there was some way for us to get stronger," Ino murmured.
A sudden image of her orange-loving teammate giving her a reassuring grin and a 'thumbs up' appeared in Sakura's mind and she said, "We can't just become strong over night." She turned her head to look at Ino and give her and encouraging smile as an idea formed in her head. "But that doesn't mean we can't start now."
Ino gave her ex-best friend a raised blonde brow as she asked suspiciously, "What are you thinking, billboard-brow?"
"I think that I want to show you something cool," Sakura said as her eyes roved around the neighborhood they were in. "Now all we need is to find a tree."
XxX
The next morning, Sakura had arrived at the red bridge where her team was said to meet up with a bright smile on her face. Sakura was the first member of Team 7 to arrive, but she wasn't troubled by this even the slightest. Naruto was probably going to arrive late (only because Kakashi was definitely going to take his sweet time getting there) and Sasuke-kun was most likely on his way.
She was still giddy from the look of amazement on Ino's face from seeing her climb a tree using only chakra and from the unexpected compliments her rival had given her. She had gratefully the favor by teaching the Yamanaka girl the tree-climbing exercise Naruto had taught her a few days ago and was greatly pleased of the fact that she had better chakra control than Ino.
She took out one of the scrolls Iruka-sensei had given her – it showed the steps in an exercise where she would have to keep a fish out of water alive with only using her chakra – and began to read while she waited for her teammates. While she was half-way through (she couldn't wait to try it out later after their team's very first mission!) she read in the next paragraph that to be a good medic-nin, one would have to have perfect chakra control and above average chakra reserves – for injuries which would require a lot of chakra to heal.
She knew that she had above average control of her chakra – if what Naruto had told her was in any way true – but it still wasn't perfect. And she had been told by many of her Academy teachers that her chakra reserves were still barely above those of a civilian's and nowhere near the size of an average shinobi's. So the first on her agenda should be increasing her control and expand reserves.
Sakura stood up from her sitting position and made her way to one of the trees located near the red bridge. Naruto did say the tree-climbing exercise was used to boost a shinobi's chakra control, so maybe she should try that first. She could always ask him or Kakashi-sensei of what she could do to expand her chakra reserves later.
XxX
When Sasuke had woken up that morning – from a, thankfully, dreamless sleep – he had expected many things once he reached the bridge where his team was supposed to meet before their first official mission. The Uchiha had expected the absence of their Jounin sensei – if the last two days could be of any indication. He had expected to find his idiot of a blond teammate grumbling about how late their sensei was and to have Sakura jump at him the moment he made his presence known.
Surprisingly, only one of those many things happened.
His sensei – just as he thought – wasn't there. Neither was Naruto – but then again, since when had the dobe ever done anything predictable? And Sakura didn't jump him… for she was too busy walking up a tree while reading a scroll.
"Sakura?" he blurted out before he could even think of saying anything else.
Sakura froze in her steps before he yelped out, "Sasuke-kun!" and lost her focus before she finally fell from the tree.
Sasuke grimaced and walked up to the pink-haired girl, though he did nothing to assist her – he didn't want her to get any ideas after all.
Sakura groaned in pain before she looked up at Sasuke and promptly glowed a shade of red that could put a tomato to shame. She couldn't believe she had just fallen from a tree in front of Uchiha Sasuke! He had also seen her reading from her iryou jutsu scroll. Oh god, he must think that she was some kind of weak nerdy bookworm!
Actually, the young Uchiha was thinking none of those things. In fact, he only thing that ran through his mind at the moment was the technique Sakura had used when she climbed the tree and what he could do to learn it.
"Sakura," he said slowly, to make sure that he had her attention. "What you did just now… that was…"
Oh god! Sasuke-kun must have thought that she was pathetic to have fallen from the tree like that!
"Who taught you how to do that?" Sasuke asked. Maybe he could get whoever Sakura's teacher was to teach him the technique as well, because he very well doubted that the fangirl could teach him that technique without ogling at him the entire time.
"Oh?" Well, that was unexpected. "Um… well, i-it was Naruto…"
"Naruto?" he questioned. There went his earlier plan. "Who taught it to him?" he tried.
"Erm… I'm not sure…" Sakura said with slight hesitance. "He told me that it was this Jounin he knew a while back… Naruto never mentioned a name."
Sasuke grunted irritably. Typical.
"But… um, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said with a hopeful gleam in her bottle-green eyes and a light blush dusting her cheeks. "If you want… I can teach it to you. I already taught it to Ino last night, so…"
So if he really wanted to learn this – and Sasuke really wanted to for he could see the benefits of learning such technique – then he would have to ask either, a) the dead last, b) some mysterious Jounin – if he could find the guy first, that is – c) Fangirl #1 (Sakura) d) Fangirl #2 (Ino) or e) his new Jounin sensei – not that he expected Kakashi to teach it to him even if he was begging on his knees (which he most definitely will not! Especially not to Kakashi of all people!)
Great…
"Sakura…" Sasuke said as he slowly came to a decision.
"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked eagerly and excitedly.
Sasuke sighed. Please don't let him regret this! "Will you…" he said slowly – as if just saying the words brought him physical pain. "…teach me…" Sasuke gritted his teeth. "…how you… did that…technique?" That was it. He couldn't even make an actual sentence without killing more of his already suffering pride. It was humiliating. Having to ask the fangirl – of all people – to teach him (HIM!) a technique that even the Dobe could do.
Damnit! How the hell could that idiot have learned a technique that even he hadn't known about? First the Kage Bunshin, then there was that teleportation jutsu – which he was going to ask the blond idiot where exactly he learnt it – and now this!
That moron was getting stronger! And he was going nowhere! How the hell can he even hope to kill his brother if someone like Naruto could be stronger than him?!
"Sure thing, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said enthusiastically and with a bright smile adorning her face – she remained oblivious to the dark turns Sasuke's thoughts were turning.
Sakura stood and quickly composed herself so that it would seem like this was no big deal to her (which it was since Sasuke-kun was the one who asked for her help! Shannaro! Take that Ino-pig!) After all, it wouldn't be good to have Sasuke-kun think that she was desperate. Yes, she had to act cool. Play hard-to-get.
"Now, first," she said as she began her explanation. "You have to focus chakra to…"
XxX
Naruto was worried.
He had woken up this morning – after six because he would bet on anything that Kakashi-sensei wouldn't be at the bridge until at least seven-thirty (and h was Uzumaki Naruto – he never lost a bet) – and had been about to eat breakfast (RAMEN!) when he sensed a heavy dark aura coming from the bridge where his team was supposed to meet at. And it wasn't just any typical KI… it was Sasuke's!
The blond had quickly grabbed his orange jacket and abandoned his breakfast (his heart was still crying over the wasted food) and ran over the rooftops towards the small red bridge while berating himself over and over again for not placing one of his seals there before!
Stupid! Stupid! STUPID, Naruto! You IDIOT! Naruto let extremely colorful and curses fly from his lips as he quickened his pace. The KI had disappeared a few moments ago – he really didn't want to think of the many reasons how that could have happened – and had now dwindled into something more akin to annoyance and dissatisfaction.
Naruto thought back to Sasuke's KI and what could have happened to trigger it. Though it wasn't as potent as the older-Sasuke's KI, it was still enough to have the blond worry. The only time Sasuke ever let out something so strong was when he was thinking of his brother (though this was before he found out the truth of Itachi), Konoha or Naruto. He was really hoping that it was none of the above.
Once the red bridge and his teammates were in sight (he took note that Kakashi-sensei wasn't present. What a surprise…), Naruto paused and ducked behind a building nearby. (His mind vaguely registered that it was one of Konoha's many bathhouses, although it wasn't as popular as the one Ero-sennin liked to visit to do 'research'.) He didn't want his presence to be known yet. He wanted to get a hold of the situation first before doing making a move he most probably would regret.
Being in a war had made the blond Jinchuuriki paranoid and had forced him to consider of every possible scenario that comes to mind before going into battle. The second one, he had the entire Nara clan and Tsunade-baa-chan to thank.
He made himself to remember that this was the arrogant twelve-year-old-I-want-to-kill-my-brother Sasuke and not psychotic seventeen-year-old-must-destroy-Konoha Sasuke and that he should regard him as such. Was Sasuke just brooding over his clan and revenge again? Did Sakura-chan say or do something that reminded Sasuke of things that no one should remind Uchiha Sasuke about?
Or was this really the psychotic seventeen-year-old-must-destroy-Konoha Sasuke? It was a possibility, wasn't it? Kurama did say that even if Naruto didn't give everyone their memories back, sooner or later they were going to get them back anyway, didn't he? What if Sasuke got his memories returned sooner rather than later? What happens then?
Naruto steeled himself and brought his head out from behind the bathhouse before he froze and stared dumbly at the scene before him.
Did he just see the Uchiha Sasuke fall from a tree?
"Argh," Naruto heard Sasuke growl – annoyance radiating off of the black-haired boy in waves.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura tried consoling. "You don't have to get angry now. Naruto said that it took him days to get this right."
Sasuke growled once more at the mention of his blond teammate. "I won't lose," he said with determination. "Not to that idiot." After that, he took off at a run up the tree once more.
Naruto blinked.
The gears in his brain turned and squeaked as he processed the events that were unfolding.
The Jinchuuriki blinked once more.
Oh…
So, Sasuke found out that Naruto and Sakura could do the tree-climbing exercise… and he realized that he – the genius, the prodigy – couldn't do it himself… which led him to think that he was weaker than his teammates… which led him to think of his clan and Itachi… which would explain the KI Naruto had sensed earlier… and…
And Naruto abandoned his precious ramen for this?!
Naruto sighed at the false alarm.
Let it never be said that war leaves those who had been involved sane.
Naruto crouched down as he looked on at his two teammates – his friends – from afar. They had both learned – or in Sakura's case, mastered – the tree climbing exercise two weeks earlier than they did in the first timeline. He wasn't exactly sure how this would help them in the future, but it was a start. It showed how different things were and that changes were happening. Events were going to play differently and fate and destiny had abandoned their earlier plans to make way for the new ones.
Not that he would have let things go exactly as they did before anyway. What a waste of time-travel that would have been.
Naruto smiled.
It wasn't anything big, but it was a start.
And it was good enough for him.
…
Still, he couldn't believe that he had forsaken breakfast for this. He was too high-strung. Maybe a good prank or two would loosen him up a little. The mission to Wave Country wouldn't start in another two weeks. He had time to spare for a couple of pranks.
Yeah. And he knew just who his victims were going to be…
Naruto's thoughts were instantly cut through when he heard a loud – and extremely familiar – voice call out to him. (Thankfully, neither Sakura nor Sasuke had heard the voice, so they still didn't know that he was there.)
"Oi, Uzumaki! 'The hell are you doing at that bathhouse? Are you being a pervert or- Hey! I'm talking to you! Don't ignore me!"
Oh, great…
XxX
Recommended fic of the chapter: Lights in the Fridge by fowl68 – a Naruto fanfic.