The Burning Mines

II. Some Kind a' Outlaw

"You're kiddin' me, right?"

Naruto didn't even have to look at the application in front of him to know that everything written would be a lame lie to cover up the fact that the boy in front of him couldn't be more than fourteen years old.

"Listen, kid," he started with a tired sigh.

"Wait!" exclaimed the boy, leaning forwards in his seat. "Let me explain. Y'see I was born with this here condition that makes me look younger than I really am, and...well..."

Naruto could barely keep the amusement off his face. "That so? Then how old are you?"

"Uh…Twenty-five?"

The blonde stared at the boy for exactly three seconds before he burst out laughing. "Really, now?" He threw his head back and laughed again. "I might have believed you if you'd said nineteen at most—but twenty five? And as a question? Who you tryna fool?"

The teen glared at him. "I ain't tryna fool nobody!" he insisted. "Please mister, I need this job! Pa's farm is gon' go outta business any time now and god damn it all to hell if we get kicked out of our own home!" he leaned forwards and took Naruto's hands in a desperate plea. "Please, mister. I need to help the family, and I'm the only one who can work. You gotta give me the job, you just gotta—"

"All right, all right!" Naruto pulled his hands from the boy, who'd started tearing up. The last thing he wanted was another crier at his hands. Gosh, he was a real sucker for those types. "I'll give you a job. Not the job. Minin' still ain't no place for a kid."

The boy's eyes widened, looking grateful for one moment before they suddenly turned angry. "Ain't no, kid, mister. I done told you I'm twenty-five. I can work in the mines better an' all these other fellers can, I swear—"

"Yeah, yeah, I believe you." Naruto assured, waving a tired hand. "Just gimmie your name so I can put you on my list."

The boy looked like he wanted to say more, but he just sighed and nodded his head. "Konohamaru."

Naruto smiled at him as he wrote the name down. "That's the late mayor's first name. Good name your pa chose for you."

The boy shook his head. "Ma chose that name for me." His voice was quiet. "…She died. Last year."

With anyone else perhaps the boy would have gotten a hug or deeply pitying eyes. But with Naruto Konohamaru only recieved a small nod. He knew that pain, and he knew more than anyone that hugs and condolences didn't do much to lessen the pain. "Worst thing that could happen to a young boy." he offered. "Losin' a parent."

The boy only shrugged, but kept his head down.

Naruto let silence pass between them only for a few moments before he spoke again. "I need one more thing. How old are you?"

Konohamaru looked up cautiously. He opened his mouth, no doubt to lie again, but Naruto held up a hand.

"Kid." He began simply. "The truth."

The teen gave him a pained expression before he sighed and looked down. "Thirteen. Gon' be fourteen next week."

Naruto's eyes softened and he smiled. "Wasn't so hard now, was it? I've got the perfect job for you. Be back here at dawn. And don't call me mister. The name's Naruto."

The boy looked at him for longest time before he bowed low. "Thanks so much, mister!"

Naruto waved a hand and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." he said. "Get out of here. Don't be late!" he called after the boy when Konohamaru quite literally jumped out of the chair and ran off.

When the boy was out of sight, Naruto leaned back into his chair and yelled, "Next!" before turning to face Shikamaru whose desk was only a few yards from his own. The man was giving him a tired look, no doubt having seen what the blonde had just done.

"The kid couldn't have been more than sixteen, Naruto." He said.

Naruto gave the man a look of shock "You see, Shikamaru. That there is ignorance. You don't know about the disease that makes you look younger than you are? That fella right there was tweny-five."

Shikamaru gave the blonde a disgusted look before shaking his head and turning back around. Naruto laughed at him, loud and obnoxiously before he turned back to his own applicant.

"All right, let's start with your age. Then we can look through your appli..cation and..." Naruto had to stop when he looked up and actually saw the man before him. "Uhh…"

Green eyes stared back, neutral, but attentive. "Twenty-five."

Naruto just kept on staring. It was strange, the not foreign, but forgotten feeling that caressed the area just above his groin. He sighed out a soft breath, and slowly took in the man before him.

It was only when the said man cleared his throat lightly, that the blonde started upright and cleared his own throat. "Right, haha. " he began bashfully, shuffling papers aside. "Can I have your application please?"

The man, a redhead, handed the paper over. The blonde took it with surprisingly steady hands, and began to look it over.

"…Gaara Sabako, is it?" he asked, looking up at the redhead.

He received a nod.

Naruto laughed again, nervous for no damn reason, he thought angrily, and turned back to the application. He had to frown though, as he scrolled down at the contents. "Uh…mister, lots of these questions are blank."

When he looked up, the man looked slightly uncomfortable.

Naruto tried to raise an eyebrow, but he was too busy watching the small hints of emotion pass through the man's face. He was so…chiseled. Naruto didn't know what other word to use. It was as if someone took time to sculpt him, the same way the county took the time to sculpt the statue of the mayor in the middle of the county. He was angles where there should have been plush skin, and his eyes were almost overwhelmingly sharp on the count of his lack of eyebrows. Naruto had to raise his own at the redhead's lack of. Big arms were crossed over the man's chest, and wide, heavy shoulders rolled once before the man looked down and away.

"Mister…?" Naruto started lightly, and damn him if it came out more affectionate than questioning.

The redhead looked at him steadily, before he tightened his crossed arms and sat up in his chair. "Just ain't much of a reader, is all." He admitted with a murmur, but even the lowness couldn't quiet mask the deep tenor of his voice.

Naruto all but melted in his seat. It took him a moment to realize what the man said.

"Oh...Oh! Aww, well, that's no problem at all!" he exclaimed. "Hell, I wasn't much of a reader till' about a few years ago, and even now I still can't recognize some words, ya know? Like them one's in the old country books with the fancy bindings? But I try to get by. And God help me in those Bible reading sessions iffen I hadn't memorized the damn book already! So you really don't gotta worry 'bout nothin' like that 'cause you know it's…uhm… not uhh…important…" Naruto paused, looking up at the redhead with guilt in his eyes, as he realized his rant. The man was staring at him steadily, not saying anything, seemingly unbothered.

The blonde laughed nervously. "Ha…well." He looked back at the application, too aware of the way his face was heating up. "I'm just gonna find the answers to the important questions myself." He gave the man a big smile, then wiped it off his face when he was met with the same expressionlessness. "Right. Uh…What's your current residency?"

When the man only looked at him, Naruto laughed.

"Where ya from?"

The redhead closed his eyes in understanding. "Suna County."

Oh, thought Naruto. The depression hit Suna County the worst out of all the dirt counties. Last time he heard, half the population had been wiped out by famine and disease, while the other half was scattered around the county, trying to build new lives. He risked a pitying look the redhead's way before he went back to the application.

"Got any regular diseases?"

"No."

"Got any sex diseases?"

"No."

"Good, good." The blonde said, looking into the redhead's eyes and giving him another soft smile.

"You ever worked in mines before?"

"Yes."

"Ha. Haven't we all. Ever been incarcerated?"

Again, the redhead only looked at him.

Naruto smiled. "Ever been in jail? Ya know, committed a crime, or somethin'?"

"Yes."

Naruto paused. He was about to write 'no' just as he'd done for everyone else when the redhead answered the opposite. "…what for?" Hopefully it was for a small robbery or something because the rules strictly stated that incarcerated persons, under any circumstances, could not be—

"Murder."

Naruto had to close his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, it was with ice in his eyes. "Last time I checked, murderers get fifty to life." He said seriously. "You look too young to have been released. You some kinda outlaw?" He'd seen cases like this, escapees looking for work in counties where they weren't on the wanted list.

The redhead looked at him for a long moment, before he leaned back in his chair, uncrossed his arms, and let a tired hand run through his red hair.

Naruto felt a small chip fall off of his defenses; the man just looked so tired. He was someone who was fatigued by the harsh realities of life, like so many others were.

The redhead closed his eyes. "Suna din't have 'nuff money to keep the prisons running. Freed us all."

Naruto's eyes widened. A county so poor they risked letting their prisoners free? He'd never heard anything like that. He was surprised Gaara was here instead of hightailing it to the other side of the world where no one would ever find him as an illegally free man. Were times so hard that the man had to risk his life to find work instead? "You look like you would have rather stayed in jail, than watch your hometown sink this low…" he whispered.

The man stared at him , still not showing much in his face, before he inclined his head downwards and shrugged his shoulders, un-committedly.

Naruto gave him another smile. "Right then. Gaara Sabako of Suna County, be back here at dawn to start the job."

The man didn't even widen his eyes in surprise. He blinked once, nodded his head, and stood up off the chair to go to the back of the line.

Naruto looked after him with a small smile. "Don't be late." He called out lamely. Gaara only raised an acknowledging hand and continued on his way.

Naruto sighed, not really allowing himself to appreciate the view he had of the man as he walked away from him.

He heard about Suna prisons. They weren't correctional facilities; they were punishment facilities. Naruto shivered a bit as he recalled the stories he'd heard about inmates being starved, and beaten, and raped. Konoha prisons weren't like that.

With a hand through his hair, he leaned forwards and called the next man.

"Sweet baby Jesus."

Sasuke was thinking of something along the same lines as he got off Kakashi's truck and stared at the lines of men waiting to be reviewed for the mining jobs.

"Never seen this many people apply to mine in my life…" Kakashi whispered with a shake of his head. Sasuke saw, from the corner of his eye, that the gray haired man had to use a cane now.

"I didn't think there were even this many people living in Konoha."

Kakashi shook his head. "No, son. Most of the natives are too old to work. These folks come from other counties."

"Why are they coming here for mining? They can get much better jobs elsewhere." Sasuke commented with a sneer. He still remembered his mining years.

"Oh, Sasuke." Kakashi pitied, shaking his head sadly. "So much has changed since you've left. Konoha might just be the last county standing in these trying times. Last I heard, Water County was suffering its third year of drought, Stone County is a riot town, and Suna is down right dead. Konoha is the only one left."

Sasuke looked ahead with wide eyes at the lines of people, a wave of confusion washing over him. "That doesn't make any sense. Sound City is flourishing. This part of the country can't be suffering when the other part is doing so well."

Kakashi only shrugged his shoulders. "Yes it can. Because it's happening. Right before our very eyes."

Sasuke looked at the man with a pained expression before he looked back at the crowd. He realized now that it was obvious that these people weren't from Konoha. They all wore down faces. Either anger, or sadness, or distraught. There were big men Sasuke knew Konoha couldn't breed, and young men with too much maturity in their eyes. It unnerved the brunette. He twisted his lips into a frown and took a step forward—

Then he saw him. Blonde hair, striking as always, standing up and stretching tanned arms over his head and yawning obnoxiously. The line in front of him groaned, and he saw the blonde wave an apologetic hand at them, before saying something and walking into mines behind him, already unzipping his pants.

Sasuke swallowed. That one sight, and he felt the dread fill him up again. Could he really do this? Stay here for an entire week and face the blonde's wrath? And he knew it would be wrath, because Naruto had always been the one to blow a fuse. He supposed in a way he deserved it; he abandoned the blonde, leaving a simple letter of goodbye, to pursue a career that would break them apart.

Sasuke huffed, trying to regain his composure, before he turned to face Kakashi again. "Take me back to the house." He said. "I don't want to be here."

Kakashi turned to him with a raised eyebrow, and at that moment Sasuke realized how much the man had aged. Wrinkles laced the area under his good eye and the black eye patch was now a musty sort of gray. His gray hair wasn't gray anymore. It was white. The brunette's mouth twisted in a deeper frown, and he made his way back into the truck. "I'll drive." he whispered. "I can't stay here."

Kakashi seemed to hesitate, raising a tired eye at his old student, before he gave in and got into the passengers seat of the truck.

"Damn; that took even longer than I thought it would." Naruto exclaimed, stretching. He waved off the last person with a tired smile, who was bowing and thanking Naruto as he walked away. Shikamaru was beside him when he stood up, and the blonde turned his tired smile towards him. "How many you got?"

The spiky haired man didn't answer for a while. He seemed to be searching for something in Naruto's face. "Twenty-four." He replied finally.

Twenty-four?!" the blonde responded incredulously. "Out of a over a hundred, you pulled out twenty-four? I gave you a quota of fifty."

"Ain't a push over like you, Naruto." he replied easily. "I saw you. One after the other people left your table with a smile on their face. I'm scared to ask you how much you rounded up."

Naruto suddenly looked bashful, and hid his own paper behind his back. "Not much." He stressed. "Just enough. Especially now that you only took in twenty-four men. If Sarutobi left you in charge we'd hardly have enough workers in the mine—"

"And we'd have more money pulling into the city that could go to the schools, and all the other things people don't pay much attention to."

Naruto smiled sweetly at Shikamaru. "You were always fond of those schools…" he said lightly.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "You tryna distract me from asking you how many people you promised a job." He accused.

Naruto laughed nervously and backed away. "Ha, don't worry about it! Once the first week passes—"

"Tell me, Naruto."

The blonde sighed and looked down at the floor. "Hun'ed four."

"A hundred an' four?"The man choked. "Are you kidding me? We ain't got that much space for—"

"Now hold on just one second." Naruto started, holding his hands up. "The fifty I went over were just kids, Shika. I didn't give em' minin' jobs. I gave 'em other jobs like cleanin' up, and movin' the oil trucks 'cross town and—"

"It ain't about whether they minin' or not, Naruto." Shikamaru interrupted, exasperated. "It's about having enough money to pay 'em. Minin' pays seven dollars an hour, and we got enough of that money for one hundred people to last the rest of the summer. With your hundred, my twenty, and Kiba's fifty, that's people we don't have any money for. Don't you understand that, Naruto?"

Instead of cowering and just agreeing with him like Shikamaru hoped he would, Naruto only glared at him. "Course I understand." He said. "An' I done told you not to worry about it. Fifty of em' are kids. We can pay em' four fifty stead of seven dollars, and you don't have to worry about where the rest of the money is coming from."

"What the hell you tellin' me, Naruto? You got some kinda fortune hangin' around that I don't know about?"

Naruto shrugged. "You could say something like that."

Shikamaru looked taken aback for a second before he sighed, and shook his head. "You'd better make fix of this mess before it's too late, Toad."

"Ain't no mess to be fixed, Porcupine."

Shikamaru looked like he was going to say something else, but he seemed to think better of himself and shook his head instead.

The blonde grinned at him, knowing he won the fight, and spoke playfully. "Wanna go to the bars with me tonight?"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at his friend. " I hope you're joking. The answer is no. The wife and I have plans anyway."

Naruto laughed. "You mean Ino has plans for the both of you." he countered, shaking his head. "It's probably for the best anyway. We've got a big day tomorrow. Can't go to the mines with a hang over."

Shikamaru glared at him. "You shouldn't be drinking period, Naruto. You have to stay away from that damn bottle." He said seriously. "You know that."

Naruto gave his friend a tired wave. "Didn't plan on gettin' drunk or anything…" he mumbled.

Shikamaru didn't let go of that serious look. They stared at each other for a long moment, before the brunette sighed and put his free hand in his pocket. "Listen, Naruto. Out of everyone in this town I know you're the best one for the job, but I feel like the mistakes you're making are because of your generosity— that affection you got for anyone in pain."

"Aww, Shika, don't go soundin' all wise on me."

"Just listen, Naruto." The man said, putting his free hand on the blonde's shoulder. "You need to learn to have an iron fist. Stop tryna make everyone happy. It's impossible."

Naruto stared at Shikamaru for a long time before he sighed. "That don't mean I can't try, Shika. And you saw how I casted the younger ones and the older ones away this morning. I can do—"

"Yeah, but it broke your heart didn't it?"

"Course it did. The least I can do now is give everyone who stayed behind a real chance to—"

Shikamaru shook his head in exasperation. "And what about those people who don't deserve those chances, huh, Naruto?"

"What kind of person don't deserve a second chance, Shika? Everyone–"

"Even, Sasuke, Naruto?"

One would think the blonde was an inanimate glass object, with the way he stiffened. He stared at Shikamaru with wide, betrayed eyes, before he slowly came back to himself, and looked away. What followed were several moments of silence, before—

"Kakashi told me that you sent him an invitation to the funeral." Shikamaru explained lightly.

Naruto said nothing.

Shikamaru sighed. "You see? Even going so far as to send an invite to someone who hurt you like that…It's just...I feel like you're gonna bring this place down with your wantin' to please everybody so much, is all. It makes me wonder about the kind of people you let in to work for our mines."

"Good people." he mumbled. "Don't matter iffen they're liars or thieves or people who've been incarcerated—they're still good people. I know how to pick 'em."

"Naruto...don't tell me you let incarcerated persons into our working fields…"

Naruto hesitated. "Now come on, Shika; even you and I ain't strangers to jail and even if–"

"Naruto," the man hissed. "You accepted incarcerated persons? Are you serious? The hell are you playin' at!? Do you want this function to burn to the ground—!?"

"Now hold on a minute," Naruto started, defensively. "It ain't like that. He was a nice man–couldn't even read. And you know how Suna is, they couldn't keep up with the prison bills so they freed everyone!"

Shikamaru looked like he was about to say something, but then he stopped and stared apprehensively at the blonde. "Naruto..." he started slowly. "Suna? That county don't free its prisoners when they run out of money. They kill them."

"..."

"So not only is that person previously incarcerated, you brought a prison escapee to work in these parts!?" The man's voice grew louder and louder as he spoke. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

Finally, Naruto took a step back and put on a face of shame. "Shika," he began weakly. "You don't understand. I have everything under control. And iffen it don't work out we'll just send them away and–"

"Tell me who it was." Shikamaru demanded, ignoring Naruto's pleas and taking out his own papers. "Tell me his name and what he looks like so I can send him away before he sets foot in these parts."

"Come on, you don't have to do that!" Naruto exclaimed, upset and exasperated. "He ain't gonna do nothin' wrong and iffen he does we can just send him away! Now I doubt it would come to that so come on, Shika – trust me. Please? Please."

The man stared at the blonde long and hard. Then he huffed and shook his head. "I need a cigarette..." he mumbled.

Naruto risked a small smile. "You know you can't have those anymore. You wanna keep your wife don't you?"

Shikamaru didn't share his humor and instead gave the blonde a cold stare. "I'm beginning to think it might have been a better choice to make Kakashi the head of this operation after all." he said.

Naruto pursed his lips. "Why in the hell would anybody pick a guy like that?" he asked with obvious distaste.

Shikamaru looked up at the sky as he shook his head disbelievingly. "You talk about second chances, but you still won't give Kakashi that, after all these years."

Naruto's face turned sour so fast. "I done gave him a second chance. I'm polite when I see him and I yelled at the kids who tried to take his damn cane away—what more do you want from me—"

"Oh, please, Naruto." The man said, cutting him off. This time he actually did take out a cigarette. "Just sayin' you messed up big when you hired those many people. And that hate you've got for Kakashi proves—

"I don't hate him—"

"That dislike you got for the old man proves you got some iron in your heart that'll let you say no when you have to."

Naruto looked away. "Whatever, Shika. We'll just...we'll just see how everything goes, I suppose."

The spiky haired man sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Before you go, Naruto. About Sasuke—did you hear from him at all?"

Naruto paused. "Kakashi said he…he responded to the letter. But I dunno if…I dunno iffen he's comin' or not."

The older of the two sighed. "I'm sorry."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Nothin' t'be sorry about. If he don't wanna come is up to him. It's probably best he don't show his face round here anyway."

Shikamaru gave him a half smile. "Ain't that the truth."

"It is."

"Go on home, Naruto." The older of the two said, wiping his brow. "The sooner you can rest up the better."

"You get some sleep too, Shika."

"I always do." The man murmured. "I always do."

Naruto didn't comment on the solemn way his friend said that. He could only make his way towards his own truck and head on home. The bittersweet shack, he like to call it. It was a good sturdy place but it had so many painful memories that he hated being in there.

But home was home. And so he went.

End of Chapter

Author's Notes:

Hope you enjoyed Gaara reveal. Next chapter Sasuke and Naruto meet for the first time in six years :O I'm not gonna waste anytime with that scene, I'm just gonna ease right into it. Next chapter will be up next Sunday the 16th, I think.

Here's some questions I'd like to know the answers to:

1. Was what you saw of Gaara so far believable? Is it realistic that Naruto would be attracted to him so soon?

2. And can anyone clue in on what Kakashi mentioned was Naruto's "bad habits"? Haha

Also, where do you guys read fanfiction from? Your Tablets? Phones? iPads? Computers? Laptops? Because I do almost everything from my iPhone - sometimea even writing a chapter! Maybe that's why there are often many grammar mistakes...And I literally can't read from my computer; the screen is too big and hurts my eyes. :/

Just tell me what you guys think in a message or in your reviews. Speaking of reviews, p.l.e.a.s.e r.e.v.i.e.w~

Peace&Love