disclaimer: i don't own any part of naruto
The Chain of Change
Chapter Two
Naruto winced as he applied the cold compress to his face. The sparring exercises that morning had gotten a little out of hand and Sasuke's elbow had left its mark in the form of an ugly purpling under his left eye. Naruto wasn't concerned – the bruise wouldn't even be there the next morning – but in the meantime, it still hurt like hell, and it was a humiliating reminder of how out of shape he was. At least he had gotten the bastard back for it.
The Namikaze estate was as quiet as he remembered. The house was devoid of other people, as Minato chose not to keep servants. Naruto hated it. Even a girlfriend who visited once in a while to break the silence would have been nice, but Minato had seldom dated after his wife's death. Kushina had left an irreplaceable void in his mind, one that he had tried to fill with his duties as the hokage and, less successfully, with raising his son.
Naruto had an entire wing of the main house to himself. When he returned, he'd found his rooms unchanged but coated with dust. A quick application of wind chakra had remedied that, but bitterly he found himself thinking that it was typical of Minato to ignore his absence in the same way that he ignored his presence. He no longer minded being alone. He still minded being lied to.
Kakashi had suggested that they disband early after the particularly brutal morning. Since his father wouldn't be home until well into the evening, that meant Naruto had the entire rest of the day to himself to do fuck-all.
Or would have, if someone hadn't entered the estate grounds.
Long ago, Minato had inscribed a series of seals onto the outer perimeter of their home. Anyone who stepped on them would trigger a pulse of chakra along the walls of the buildings that served as a warning for visitors, of both the friendly and not-so-friendly sort. Naruto stiffened as he felt such a pulse, and waited for a knock at the gate. When there was none, he went out to investigate.
If the intruder was trying to be sneaky, then he failed entirely by neglecting to mask his killing intent. Naruto felt it shiver up his spine and immediately knew that someone was after him. The problem was locating the assassin.
The Namikaze grounds were diligently attended to by a gardener who came by twice a week at the insistence of the Council. It made the village look bad, they argued, if its leader's yard was not absolutely pristine. Minato had found the reasoning stupid, but rather than argue, he took his usual route of deferring to their judgment. As a consequence, the front yard was a perfectly sculpted Japanese garden, and that meant lots of places for a trained killer to hide.
As he scanned the perimeter, Naruto found himself wondering where the two ANBU assigned to him were. There was no love lost between himself and the citizens of Konoha, but he'd thought that at least Konoha-nin would obey the goddamn word of his leader and in the guardianship of his only child. Apparently that had been too much to hope for.
A shower of projectiles suddenly rained out of nowhere, and Naruto found himself cursing as he rolled away. He sent a pulse of wind chakra out to disturb his surroundings, and was rewarded by the brief glimpse of black fabric in a clump of shrubs. Swiftly, he formed a succession of hand seals and sent a more powerful fuuton jutsu in that direction, forcing the assassin to leap away.
His attacker was male, masked, and dressed all in black. Distantly, Naruto found himself thinking that this was a poor choice for a daytime attack, but he didn't have a chance to dwell on the matter as his opponent sent another hail of kunai his way. He managed to avoid most of them, but one sliced him somewhat deeply in the shoulder. Disgusted at how rusty his skills had become, Naruto clamped a hand down on the wound and, after finding it to be not that serious, formed a longer sequence of seals with his free hand.
The katon blast caught his attacker full-on and knocked him back into a tree. Before he could recover, Naruto was upon him, one hand pinning the assassin to the tree trunk by the neck, the other holding a kunai millimeters away from his face.
The blond casually sliced the mask from the man's face, revealing a pale countenance with dark hair and darker eyes. He had on a Konoha hitai-ite, but Naruto did not recognize him.
"So," Naruto said, almost conversationally, "Why are you trying to kill me?"
Graciously, the man spat in his face. Without so much as a flinch, Naruto wiped it off with the back of the hand holding the kunai and, just as impassively, gave the man's neck a little squeeze.
His attacker only became more defiant.
"I was doing my job as a Konoha citizen, culling a monster like you."
"You do know that I'm the son of the hokage, right?"
"The Yondaime is a great leader, but even he erred in marrying that witch!"
Stone-faced, Naruto broke his nose. He ignored the ensuing howls of pain and said, "Before I kill you, I just want to know – did someone send you, or did you act alone?"
The man's pulse stayed steady under his hand as he replied spitefully, "I acted by myself. There are plenty more like me in this village." Catching sight of the blond's expression, he added with a sneer, "But you already know that, don't you?"
Naruto said nothing. He simply began to crush the man's throat. Small gurgling noises made their way out of his attacker's mouth. They were just starting to grow satisfying when the blond felt the presences of two new ninjas arrive behind him.
"Namikaze-san, we request that you hand the assassin to us. For questioning."
It was Mouse who spoke. Naruto felt his expression twist in anger.
"And where the hell were you two when this guy decided to attack me?"
"My apologies, Namikaze-san. He had us entrapped us in a genjutsu." There was neither shame nor apology in the ANBU's tone.
Naruto said darkly, "I am sure that's exactly what happened."
"You do not need to believe us." This time, it was Eagle who spoke, his voice crisp. "Still, we ask that you relinquish the assassin. It is imperative that we uncover his motivations for staging an attack at the hokage's very residence."
Naruto snarled in disgust, but withdrew his hand. "Fuck off then," was all that he said before he went back into the main house.
"How is he?" Minato asked, his hand paused over the next stack of forms. Unlike his predecessor, he could never get the hang of filling out paperwork and talking at the same time.
"Sloppy," was Kakashi's answer. "His reflexes have dulled. He let Sasuke get in a few hits that never would have landed two years ago. However, his skill with wind chakra has improved. Insanely."
There was a wry smile on the hokage's face as he said, "I think I got a sense of that in person. Has he developed a secondary affinity yet?"
There was a slight hesitation, and then Kakashi said, "Yes, I saw him light a cigarette with a minor katon jutsu."
Minato snorted. "He didn't blast his face off, so that's a good sign of his control, at least." Hearing that his son had added smoking to his list of vices didn't surprise him in the least bit. Really, tobacco was rather low in on the list of the things Naruto could be doing to shorten his life.
"How is the team getting along?"
Kakashi sighed. "They don't trust him, and I can't blame them. You know what they say – once burned, twice shy."
The hokage nodded. "Especially when it comes to my son. Sakura – did he ever –"
"Not that I know of," Kakashi said. "So at least, that's not the problem. The issue is that he left them, just when Team Seven was starting to come together. Naruto was always kind of the keystone of the group. He was helping Sakura get over her self-esteem problems, and I think he was the first real friend Sasuke had after the Uchiha Massacre. They were devastated when he vanished.
"I thought they would see it coming, though. His behavior was becoming more and more erratic, and his mood swings worse and worse. Sakura went home crying a few times because of him, towards the end."
"Of all the people who should have seen it coming, I think I'm probably at the top of that list," the blond said bitterly. "After all the things I caught him doing, all the arguments we had…"
"Minato-sensei—"
"Anyway, can they still work together?"
Kakashi sighed. "Their teamwork is as strong as I remember it being. Only instead of having Naruto watch their backs, Sasuke and Sakura prefer him to act as the diversion. A role he's quite suited for."
"I guess that's the best we can hope for," Minato said, half under his breath. "I'm sending you on a mission to Suna. They've recently appointed a new Kazekage, but because of our relations, we know very little about him. Reconnaissance, high B-rank. Take tomorrow to prepare, then depart immediately."
There was a sudden knock on the door, then one of the ANBU guards poked his head into the office.
"Sorry, sir, Danzo-san is here to see you."
"Let him in," Minato said tiredly, not bothering to dismiss his former pupil. He already knew that Kakashi was silently gone.
The blond wished that he could leave just as easily. He never enjoyed talking with the elders, but for the most part they were simply another of the many undesirable trappings that came with the office. One-on-one sessions with Danzo, however, were an entirely different story. Most high-ranking Konoha-nin knew better than to trust the war hawk. Minato took it one step further: he deeply, deeply despised the man.
Danzo was aware of how the hokage hated him, and worse, the scarred veteran knew exactly why Minato would never be able to act upon that hatred. The amount of tension that built up during their meetings sometimes caused the ANBU to shrink away from the doors in fear.
So Minato simply leaned back with his arms crossed as he watched Danzo enter the office. The Yondaime did not offer him a chair, partially out of petty spite, and partially because he knew Danzo would not take one. The elder did not sit; nor did he stand – he simply loomed over whatever he was addressing. Minato chalked it up as just one more thing he disliked about the man.
"Hokage-sama." Trust Danzo to make an honorific sound like an insult. "I heard that you have recalled your son."
"Yes, I had him brought back yesterday."
"We are worried about his mental state."
"The Council gave the order for his return to duty in the first place. From their decision, I assumed that any concerns over Naruto's condition had been addressed."
Danzo's mouth thinned into a cold line. "Not to everyone's satisfaction."
Minato fought the urge to smile. Normally Danzo was able to bully the Elders into going along with him. Apparently the man didn't appreciate having his opinion overridden.
"If you will excuse my directness, Hokage-sama, but Naruto's past record has shown that he cannot be relied upon. To have put him on the same team as two promising young Konoha-nin will be seen by some as a foolhardy move on your part."
"Kakashi is one of the most talented jounin this village has ever produced, and his students are just as capable," Minato replied dryly. "They have worked together well with Naruto before. I have complete faith in Team Seven's continued ability to excel. Your peers apparently agree with me," he added, enjoying how his words caused Danzo's scarred face to contort slightly. Twisting the knife further, he said, "In recognition of your concerns, I can recommend that he be placed with a therapist. Selected by this office, of course."
It took a few moments for the veteran to school his expression back into its normally impassive mask. "Well, seeing that Hokage-sama has the situation under control, I ask to take my leave," he said finally, making for the door. Just as he was about to leave, he turned back to stare at Minato, unbridled malice in his single eye.
"In any event, I hope that, if circumstances arise for it, you will do what needs to be done for the good of Konoha."
Minato froze at those words. He heard them echo in his head, repeated for every time they had been said to him, every time that he had failed their expectation.
The door closed behind Danzo with a small creak of its hinges.
In an uncharacteristic lapse of self-control, Minato seized one of his signature kunai and hurled it with all his strength. It gouged deeply and satisfyingly into the thick wooden panels, but Minato fervently wished that it had been the man itself. If only it were that easy. He felt the guilt that had become a constant in his life since the Kyuubi attack stir in his belly and forced it back down with a violence borne from fear. Of all the people who could know what he had always suspected since that day, why did it have to be Danzo? Of all the people who could have such a hold over his pride and his shame, why the fuck did it have to be Danzo?
It was Tenten's first time alone at the bar. Usually Neji and Lee would accompany her here after missions to unwind, but tonight Neji was occupied by Hyuuga Clan business and Lee had been immediately tapped upon their return for a task that required a taijutsu expert. Tenten was going to be damned if she stayed home with an empty apartment when everyone else seemed to doing something, so she put on something nice and went out.
She wasn't sure what she'd had in mind. She sat at the bar and finished two cocktails, both delicious and accordingly expensive. She watched the groups of people who came in, sat down, and gleefully lost control of themselves. A few people sat next to her and tried to chat her up, but she wasn't interested and responded appropriately. The bartender gave her a third drink on the house, which she was guilty of nursing a bit.
Meanwhile, someone had once again filled the seat next to her. She observed him from the corner of her eye. It was hard not to look at him, because he stood out: tall, tanned skin, lemon-yellow hair. She didn't hear what he ordered, but the bartender seemed surprised by it. The bartender took out a tall bottle, half-full of a clear, amber-colored spirit and poured a generous amount into a small glass. Then he laid a strange-looking, perforated spoon across the glass' circumference and on top of that placed a single sugar cube. Tenten was both confused and fascinated by this strange preparation. She watched as the bartender took a frosted pitcher of water and dripped it slowly over the sugar cube and into the glass. The liquor in the glass began to pale in color and take on a cloudy appearance.
When the volume in the glass had increased by about a third and the liquid inside was a milky white, the bartender removed the spoon and what was left of the sugar cube and gave the drink a quick stir. Then he handed it to the blond, who took a long sip.
"How is it?" The barkeep asked.
"Really good. Vintage?"
"Belonged to my grandfather, but no one in my family drinks the stuff. It won't put hair on your balls, but maybe it'll bring you some luck what that girl sitting next to you."
Hearing this, Tenten flushed, but then the bartender smiled at her and she remembered that he had at least given her a free drink. In any event, she was feeling too mellowed to take further offense.
The blond smiled at her too and started a conversation. The topic was trivial, but he was funny and engaging. A little crazy. Tenten began to enjoy herself. He had another drink. Then another. Tenten joined in for a round of shots. And then the blond kept going, until she no longer cared to keep track.
The strange thing was, as her companion grew more and more obviously inebriated, his eyes began to take on a disturbing clarity. It was almost as if some other entity were gazing through them and directly at her. Something wiser and much, much older. Tenten found herself looking away more often.
Suddenly, he said, "So how is Gai doing?" and her hand immediately went to the kunai she had hidden at the small of her back, underneath her shirt.
"Do I know you?" She asked cautiously, trying to concentrate through the blur of alcohol.
"I'm hurt, Tenten. It's me, Naruto. From Team Seven?"
"Naru – Naruto! I thought you were away! Why the hell didn't you say something sooner?"
He laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head; a familiar gesture. "Actually, I just realized who you were. You've grown a lot, Tenten."
"Well, in my defense, so have you."
Naruto grinned. "Fuck, Tenten. I was trying to pick you up! Your teammates would fucking cream me if they found out."
Tenten found herself grinning back despite herself. "Who says they have to find out?"
But Naruto wasn't paying attention to her anymore. He was staring at someone else, and there was furious expression on his face. Puzzled by who could have caused such an abrupt change in his mood, Tenten followed his gaze and saw a pale middle-aged man with dark hair and darker eyes, finishing off a pitcher of beer by himself in a corner of the bar. His skin was oddly discolored at his throat, as though it was bruised, but aside from that there was nothing obviously unusual about him that Tenten could see.
Abruptly, Naruto excused himself to pay their tabs. Then he was out the door before she could even say goodbye.
Kakashi found him on top of the Nidaime's monument.
Naruto noticeably stiffened as the jounin approached. He was sitting cross-legged, smoking a cigarette, and watching the village go about its usual morning routine. His eyes were half-lidded and shadowed. He did not look like he had slept at all.
"You were supposed to meet us an hour and a half ago," Kakashi said.
"I know, I know, get moving or you'll send the hunter-nin out to cull me." Naruto stood up with a small groan, wobbling a little on his feet. Kakashi shot him a sharp glance, but the blond waved it off: "Don't worry, I'm not high anymore. My legs are just stiff." The end of his cigarette flared to life as he took one last, long drag, then crushed it beneath his heel.
For a minute, Kakashi said nothing. Then,
"I've been asked by Umino-san to bring Team Seven to the academy for 'Meet a Ninja Day,' or whatever it is."
Naruto seemed to sense his jounin-sensei's reluctance for introducing someone such as himself to young, developing minds and smiled lop-sidedly in response. "You're probably better off leaving me here then, Kakashi-sensei." For once, there was no rancor in his voice as he addressed his teacher.
Kakashi looked at him, surprised by the change in his tone. Finally, the jounin said, bluntly, "If I have to suffer through show-and-tell with academy brats, I'm going to drag anyone I can find down with me. Especially if it's you."
His wayward student only chuckled in response as the two of them leapt down toward the village.
Author's Note: Fuck, the response to the first chapter was kind of overwhelming. It definitely propelled me to churn this update out faster, although I am afraid that the quality may have suffered from it. I am amazed (and delighted) that so many people enjoyed the first chapter, but now I really hope I don't fuck it up. Looking at the feedback (thank you to everyone who provided it -- it was amazingly helpful), there are a few points I would like to address before anyone gets their hopes up. (1) There is not going to be any pairing. (2) I'm kind of one of those show rather than tell writers, so there will be less on the flashbacks and more on details dropped here and there before some big reveal, if any. (3) All of the major players in canon will be accounted for, eventually.
To answer some reviewers: The Rookie Nine are going to be around 16-17; sorry, no bloodline for the Namikaze family; and don't worry, the fic is "M" because of Naruto's recreational habits, not due to explicit descriptions of his love life.
One last thing. It would be really helpful, if I keep writing at this speed, to have a beta reader. I usually don't have problems with the technical writing aside from typos and lapses in style, but I worry that my plot/characterization is not quite as sound. If anyone is interested, drop me a PM.