Chapter Nine: The After Effects
Kakashi headed straight for his favorite get-drunk-and-pass-the-night-in-a-stupor place. He plopped himself down on a stool and motioned for the barkeep to keep it coming. He had a feeling it would take the man's whole stock to get him drunk enough to forget what he'd learned today and the trouble he now saw that he was in. No way did the Hokage-sama miss the fact that he had abandoned Naruto. No way did she overlook the fact that he'd had other orders. He'd be lucky to come out of this with his skin still covering his bones. And that was only if Naruto didn't decide he was owed also. Somehow he thought the Naruto he had brought back to the village was not the same easy going forgiving boy he had abandoned. He idly wondered how long it would be until the boy came for his revenge. In his mind there was no doubt Naruto would seek revenge. If he'd been the one abandoned he knew he would have wanted payback and since he had been the sensei for Naruot he couldn't believe Naruto would do any less than he himself would. He downed the drink and poured another. He had already handed his wallet to the barkeep and told the man to keep the liquor flowing as long as there was money in there to pay for it.
He wasn't left alone for long. Iruka came and joined him wanting to know if he'd really seen Naruto. He nodded drunkenly before pouring himself a refill. Iruka continued to talk to him, wanting to know where the boy was and how he could get to see him but Kakashi was so lost in the effort to get himself totally wasted that he didn't really hear what the teacher had to say. All he really heard was Sasuke saying he could have broken Naruto out of that box by killing a corner nin. Involved with his own dark thoughts he was wondering how deep his hate must have been for him to have allowed the situtation to have developed that far. He heard again Yamato detailing how poorly he had treated Naruto and wondered if he'd see the Shinigami his senseei was bound to when he died. If he did somehow he had a strong suspicion that his punishment for abandoning Naruto amongst other things wouldn't end with his life. Somehow he had the feeling his sensei would make all the punishment he got as a mortal look like a walk in the rain compared to what he could do to him.
He never even noticed when Iruka left him to his booze and someone else took his spot. They didn't stay long as it was clear he was only interested in getting drunk. People kept coming and leaving quickly but he didn't see any of them. Friends and acquaintances greeted him but he didn't respond. Even when Gai stopped by to share a drink and thought he needed company and another blasted contest he didn't look up from his bottle and glass. Gai eventually gave up, like everyone else, and left him to his solitary pursuit.
Kakashi just kept pouring one drink after another and drinking it as soon as his cup was full. The Barkeep kept his bottle full but otherwise left him alone until his eye closed and he collapsed upon the counter. The Barkeep took his due from the wallet Kakashi had handed him and slipped the much lighter thing back into Kakashi's vest. He had his bouncer pick up the copy-cat nin and take him to the emergency room. He knew the man would need medical attention after the way he'd been pouring the drink into himself that night. He just hoped there wouldn't be an investigation over how much alcolhol was in the copy-nin's blood stream.
Sakura had been told in no uncertain terms that if and when she saw Naruto she had better be as nice as was humanly possible if she didn't want her next training session to rip her a new one. Tsunade-shishui made it very clear that she was less than pleased with the report of her students behavior on missions and within her cell. Sakura decided she really didn't need to confront Naruto that badly after all. Tsunade-shishui angry during a training session was not an experience anyone in their right mind looked forward to and she, Sakura, was definitely in her right mind. Both of them.
Added to Tsunade-shishui telling her to leave Naruto alone, she had also been told by Sasuke-kun, Sai, and Yamato-Sensei to leave him alone. Those three had been almost as scary as Tsunade-shishui in what they promised her if they found out that she had bothered the blonde idiot. Why everyone was so bent on defending him now, she didn't know but it was clear they were. However she had no doubt that since he was now back her secondary job of civilizing him would soon begin. Kami knew the boy was nothing but a savage in human clothing.
She sighed as she entered her own home and greeted her Mother. She told her Mother of Naruto's return and didn't miss the look of pity on her face. Her mom had never asked any questions about Sakura's team or why she had Naruto as a teammate. Come to think of it, she had never once expressed any kind of distrust of Naruto or even disgust with the boy the way the rest of the villagers did. But to Sakura it just meant her Mother didn't understand ninjas and the job they had to do. It had never occurred to her that the woman might actually understand her teammate better than she did and feel a little sympathy for the child who grew up alone in a village full of enemies.
Sasuke had been left in no uncertain terms that he was to also leave Naruto alone. Tsunade told the pair how close they'd come the first day he was back to getting blown away and since she wasn't sure what Naruto had meant to do or to whom they should both just leave him be. To Sasuke, that was like saying Naruto was ready to fight him anytime any place it could be arranged. He set out immediately to find him, his blood boiling in his veins as he searched. It had been a long time since he'd had a worthy opponent and he could hardly wait. He grinned as he strolled along trying to look like nothing was any different than any other day but everyone he passed sensed his excitement. Most wondered at the cause but all were happy that the Uchiha was finally happy about something. It had been a long time since he'd been happy about anything. Alot of villagers had wondered if he'd ever really be happy again and if they'd made the right decision in wanting him to be a part of their village again. But the feeling as he passed them convinced them that everything would be alright again and so they went home happy also. If the Uchiha was happy than so was the village.
Tsunade arranged for Yamato to be brought into Naruto's orbit so that he could see if the seal was still intact or if there had been any changes made to it since the last time they'd seen it. Then she filed some of the paperwork that had piled up during her care of Naruto before heading with Yamato to the cabin where the boy staying.
Naruto and Jiraiya were still gone which she was grateful for since someone had chosen to give the place a new decorating scheme. She didn't know who had found them or even if it was more of the same that Naruto had always gotten. For all she knew it could have been a bunch of kids out looking to make trouble for someone or a bunch of women fed up with having to chase Jiraiya away when they wanted to bathe. In any case, it had to be cleaned up before they got back and Naruto saw it. She called in her personal guards and got them to help. By the time they were done she was hot and sweaty but there wasn't any more toilet paper cherry blossoms clinging to the tree branches or eaves of the cabin. The soap writing had been washed away and everything looked as peaceful, if a little barer than it used to be,as it could with four trash bags sitting on the curb.
She fixed a nutritious dinner for them anyway before going to clean herself up, leaving Yamato in the sitting room. While she was in the shower she heard them come back and finished as quickly as she could. She introduced Yamato to Naruto and watched as he just stared through the man. He made no effort to greet him but he also showed no sign of rejecting him. Yamato for his part made no aggressive move towards him and just welcomed him back to the village. He promised to help Naruto in any way he could.
"So how'd it go at practice today," she asked once they were all seated at the table.
"He's still a powerhouse and as far as I can see his little break from reality hasn't harmed him at all. If anything it's made him more focused. The only thing I think is really different now is that he won't fight another nin for fun anymore or as a test of his power or theirs. If he fights you, he's fighting to kill you," Jiraiya told her.
Naruto finished his food without comment and took his plate to the sink. He set it down and then went to the room they'd told him was his. After he had shut his door Tsunade asked, "Did you ask how he feels about his old team?"
Jiraiya nodded, his eyes so angry they sparkled. "He hates them. All three of them. It's like when they left him there the blinders fell off and somehow it became ok to admit he doesn't like someone. That led to admitting he hates people. That led to forgiving himself for hating them." He sighed and then continued quietly, "Most of us grow up learning to like some people and dislike others. Naruto never allowed himself to admit he didn't like someone let alone hated them. We tell the young students their teammates will be their family. He truly believed it was wrong to hate his chosen family but those three made it easy to hate them. Sasuke treated him like a piece of dirt not even worth noticing while Sakura acted like he was some wild animal she needed to civilize and Kakashi treated him like he was only there to be a puching bag for the other two. I don't know that someone else with his power could have held back the hate half as long as he did but I guess he never thought they'd be the one to kill him and then just leave him behind like that."
"Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't kill Kakashi while he was helping us here. He hates Sasuke because Sasuke abandoned him here. Left him to face everyone alone because even though Sasuke treated him so badly he did notice him. He did on occassion defend him from others. They had a bond Naruto didn't have with anyone else. And he hates your little apprentice for what she is. I honestly think he hates her the most of all of them. But as far as I could gather he bears no grudge against either Sai or Yamato here."
"Apparently when your little apprentice found him in that cave, she yelled at him for hiding there. She seems to have gone off on a tangent where he was the most ungrateful little worm she'd ever known for making you and I worry about him and ordered him to crawl out of there and come back here to face his execution like a man."
"Sounds like something she would do," said Yamato.
"How do you know she said all that? Did he understand what she was saying? I'll beat her black and blue if he did."
"Settle down. Apparently he only caught the gist of it. He had already lost most of his ability for speech by then but he did understand body language. And hers told him that she thought he deserved to die. I don't know the exact words she used but knowing her capacity for being insulting I think that's probably pretty close to what she would say and needless to say it's also more than likely the reason he didn't come back for such a long time. When he did return, he probably expected to die. I think he was trying to for all those years but that fox wouldn't let him."
"Well, I don't think he was trying to die. He believed he was already dead. I think the fox was trying to make him live," said Tsunade quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"I had them all explain what they knew of that battle years ago. Kakashi admitted he didn't help as Naruto was fighting with Orochimaru and Kabuto. Claimed he couldn't. Naruto managed to kill Kabuto, which from Kakashi's words I think surprised him. But before he could kill Orochimaru, the snake had him sealed in a box barrier with the revived bodies of every Hokage who ever lived here." Tears worked free of her eyes and rolled slowly down her cheeks. "That snake made him fight his own father. He couldn't kill them. They were his heros. His idols. His only family. To Kakashi, that inability is proof that Naruto doesn't understand what being a ninja means." She ran a shaky hand over her cheek to wipe away a teardrop.
Yamato felt out of place here now. So he quietly got up and carried his dishes to the sink. He nodded to Jiraiya and indicated his wish to leave. Jiraiya nodded and Yamato took his leave.
Tsunade kept talking without notice. "Sasuke said the barrier was tied to Naruto's lifeforce. There were only two ways it would come down. One was if someone killed one of the corner supports and the second was if Naruto died. Since the supports were outside of the barrier, Naruto couldn't reach them to kill them and Kakashi didn't. So that means that to all extents and purposes Naruto did die in there."
She placed her head in her hands and cried. Jiraiya pulled her close and just held her while tears caused his red make-up to run and drip onto his broad sleeve. Pale rivulets marked the passage of water flowing from his eyes as the two sat in silence crying at the hate the boy had known. How could an instructor just stand by and not even try to help his student in a battle he admitted he knew the boy couldn't win? The concept was foreign to the both of them. And then to call the boy weak for getting defeated.