A/N: I don't really know when was the last time I updated this was but it was probably too long. So sorry, I hope you enjoy this chapter at least.
Naruto took a seat in front of Tsunade's desk wondering what his father could have possibly left him. Jiraiya had assured him that the house had been taken care of and had arranged for a few mementos to be transferred to the flat, all of which had gone up in smoke thanks to Sasuke. The door to Naruto's left opened and a tall man walked over to the desk. His spiky silver hair glinted in the fire light and most of his face was covered by a surgical mask. One of his eyes was closed and a pale silver scar ran over the lid but his other crinkled as he smiled at Naruto.
"Naruto this is Kakashi, he knew your father better than me and he's been holding onto a few things since Minato's death."
"Nice to finally meet you Naruto," said Kakashi in a voice full of hidden humour as he offered his hand.
Naruto took it, "Have we met before?" he asked slowly, the man seemed oddly familiar.
Kakashi's one eye widened slightly, "No, no I don't think so."
"I swear we have..." persisted Naruto scratching his head, he was now almost certain he knew this man. "Kakashi... Hatake Kakashi! You used to edit Jiraiya's books for him didn't you?"
Tsunade clenched her fists, "You knew about him? All those times I asked you to get me information on the boy and you came back with nothing when you had gone as far as to meet him?!"
Kakashi sighed in defeat, his secret was out. "Minato wanted me to keep his identity secret and Jiraiya said he would hold me to it. So you see, I couldn't betray him..."
"Minato is not the leader of this coven any more Kakashi, I am! And I will not be kept in the dark! I need to know what's going on and I need to be able to trust that you will fulfil the missions I set you!" shouted Tsunade.
"I do fulfil my missions, when I am able. On this rare occasion I was not able to do so," explained Kakashi in a voice of perfect calm.
A vein popped in the side of Tsunade's head but she forced herself to sit down. She pulled one of her desk drawers open rather violently and reveal a bottle of sake and a small cup. "We'll discuss this later Kakashi."
Kakashi nodded before turning back to Naruto. "I believe you had a go at sword fighting today?" he said, taking Naruto by surprise.
"How did you know?"
"Tsunade told me."
"How did she...?"
"Neji told me," said Tsunade refilling her sake cup. "He said you didn't appear to get on very well with it."
Naruto huffed a little, so everyone knew he couldn't fight properly. "Thanks," he muttered sulkily.
"Since you're looking for a weapon to suit your fighting style..." Naruto looked up. "I thought you might want to give these a go."
Kakashi produced a package from inside his jacket and placed it gently on the desk before them all. He nodded at Naruto who opened it to reveal a sheathed dagger as well as a smaller leather pouch. The hard leather sheath of the knife was decorated with swirling golden patterns and had a strange shape to it. Naruto gingerly picked it up running his fingers over the great crystal set in the hilt before wrapping his fingers around the ridged handle of the dagger and drawing it from it's sheath. The blade glinted in the flickering light of the pale fire. It was a straight dagger and the main blade was about a foot long but before the hilt were two side blades jutting out from the main one. Naruto supposed they could be used for digging at someone or stopping a blade from running the length of the dagger to cut at his hand. He touched the edge and found that it was rather blunt, he supposed it had been out of practice for a long time. Then he examined the crystal, he was pretty certain it was a Kiyo crystal but it didn't contain a shimmering silver mist like Sasuke's had done, in fact it looked rather dull.
"Have a look in the pouch," prompted Kakashi.
Naruto picked up the leather pouch and opened it to reveal six smaller versions of the dagger. Instead of a crystal in the hilt, each had a loop at the end of the handle.
"For throwing," explained Kakashi. "Minato used to be very talented with them."
He plucked one of the knives from the pouch in Naruto's hands and used the loop to spin the small knife around his finger before gripping it as if he were about to throw it.
"These were my dad's weapons?" Naruto asked, a little in awe.
Kakashi nodded, returning the knife to it's pouch. Naruto supposed it made sense; of course such things wouldn't have been passed to him after his fathers death when they were trying to keep his hunter identity from him. Naruto wondered if Sasuke had known anything about this. He probably hadn't if Kakashi had been looking after them all this time.
"Well there you go then, you have your weapons, you can get out of my office now," said Tsunade, still grumpy about being keep in the dark all this time.
"Of course you might find these don't suit your fighting style either, But I think I've taken care of them long enough, it's better that you have them," said Kakashi.
Naruto thought the man seemed a bit sad to see them go but thanked him and made his exit. Kakashi tried to follow him but Tsunade's voice dragged him back, apparently she meant to discuss his failed mission right now. Naruto attached his father's dagger to his belt where it was hidden by his coat and then slipped the pouch of throwing knives into his pocket.
When Naruto got back to the lounge he sought out Sasuke who was sitting with a very drunk Karin, a very smug Suigetsu and a silent Juugo. Sasuke had an empty glass clutched in his hand and looked ready to murder Karin who was recounting some story about when her, Suigetsu and Juugo had lived at Oto. Apparently Sasuke and his brother had visited the Oto city coven when he was younger and Itachi had gotten on quite well with a young doctor who lived there.
Naruto decided they needed more drinks and Sasuke jumped on the chance to 'help him' and get away from the group. They were leaning against the bar when the atmosphere in the lounge changed subtly. The music still issued from the hidden speakers and people still danced and talked loudly, but two voices rang over the rest. Awkward glances were shot at the rowing duo.
"I have had enough of this!" shouted Ino. "You're so bloody overprotective."
"I'm not overprotective!" screeched Sakura. "I'm just trying to help! It's not my fault you're always getting into danger! Anyone would think you wanted to get hurt!"
"That's ridiculous! Why can't you just trust me?!"
"Ino, you're being irrational."
"I am not!" yelled Ino. "If you can't except the way I am then this is over!"
With that she turned swiftly and stormed through the crowd towards the kitchen. Sakura gave a scream of frustration and ran away down the main corridor. Naruto stood torn, his eyes flicking between both girls retreating backs. They had both become very dear to him and his instinct was to follow. It was clear to any outsider that the girls were meant to be together and it was painful to see them argue. He wanted to comfort them but he couldn't decide which way to go first. He wanted to console both of them and help them sort this out.
-0-
Sasuke saw everything, as did many of the hunters gathered in the lounge. Naruto had been standing right in front of him his gaze flicking between the two doorways and opposite ends of the bar. He had looked torn and then he was torn! Suddenly right in front of his eyes there had been two Naruto's and each had run after one of the girls.
Sasuke stood frozen as each of the Narutos ran away through a different doorway. He certainly couldn't chase both of the Narutos. Sasuke was, to a certain extent, shocked; of course he knew that the later a persons power surfaced the quicker the change would happen but even he hadn't expected it to be this soon. However it was the nature of his power that really shocked him; it was beyond anything he could have anticipated.
Sasuke opted to follow the Naruto that had run after Sakura. He began down the main passage knowing it was likely to be more private than the kitchen passage. Sasuke was confident that his 6th sense would lead him to Naruto so he took his time planning to arrive after Naruto had calmed Sakura down a bit.
-0-
Naruto was having an extremely strange experience. He had caught up with Sakura but the next second he had caught up with Ino as well. But then he was back with Sakura. Naruto shook his head on concentrated on the crying girl before him.
"I think she really meant it this time!" fretted Sakura pacing back and forth in the tunnel. "I swear, recently it's just been one argument after another. Maybe it just not meant to be... But I can't lose her, she my soul mate, I know it! But then I thought I knew her so I don't understand why she's acting like this all of a sudden."
"Why have you been arguing? Start with that," said Naruto, taking hold of Sakura's shoulders to halt her pacing.
"That's just the point; I don't know why!" cried Sakura in frustration.
"I'm sure you do, you said you know her so take a guess."
"But I'm not sure I do know her! Well she keeps pulling out that overprotective stuff but I don't know how she can say that. I'm not overprotective at all! Just because I disagree about her going hunting by herself, I mean come on most hunters don't go out without their partner. She's being downright reckless!"
Naruto opened his mouth to reply but suddenly found himself looking at Ino who was ranting as much as Sakura.
"I mean come on, I need some freedom. She's being so controlling. If I want to hunt by myself then I bloody well will! I don't need her stuck to my side all the time! She thinks she's so much stronger than me, well I mean when it comes to physical strength she's obviously going to beat me but I am by no means helpless! When we were younger she was always running to me for help and when it came to fighting I beat her every time and then she gets this stupid super-strength and now she's Miss Invincible!"
Naruto once again opened his mouth to interject but again he switched locations and found that Sakura was still talking.
"Sometimes it's like she just really resents me, you know? I'm only trying to help but she can never let me protect her even for a moment. She just has to be self sufficient all the bloody time! And I'm sorry but I can't let her do that when it means she's in danger. I took a vow and I'll be damned if she's going to stop me from fulfilling it!"
Once again Naruto switched locations to find that Ino was still talking at him. He was switching bodies faster and faster. All of Sakura and Ino's words swirled madly in his head and he was beginning to feel rather dizzy from it all. He continued to switch between bodies several more times without any control over either of himself.
"SHUT UP!" he shouted eventually, clutching at his aching head.
"Eh?!" shouted Sakura and Ino in unison.
-0-
At that moment Sasuke rounded the corner to find Naruto on his knees cradling his aching head. Sakura was crouched beside him with a hand on his back. Sasuke rushed over to him and went to his knees in front of Naruto who was rocking back and forth. He gently removed Naruto's hands and lifted his face by the chin so he could look into his eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they were still blue.
Sasuke rested his forehead on Naruto's and made gentle shushing noises as he held Naruto's gaze with his hands gently kneading the back of the boy's neck. He needed Naruto to calm down and so he was imitating the way his brother had reacted when Sasuke had first used his power. Using your power for the first time was often stressful and sometimes painful so the important thing was to remain calm and stop using it. Once Naruto had recovered from this episode they would be able to start exercising real control over his power but for now he just needed enough control to end it. As Sasuke placated Naruto with calming words he wondered how the hell they were going to reattach the other Naruto. Sasuke had never heard of any hunter with a power like this so they were covering entirely new territory.
When Naruto's panicked breathing finally began to slow Sasuke eased him to his feet. Naruto clutched tightly at Sasuke's arm as though to movement made him dizzy.
"We're just going to walk very slowly this way, okay Naruto?" cooed Sasuke as though he were talking to a mentally ill person.
Naruto nodded and allowed Sasuke to tug his arm over his shoulder so that he could lean on him as they made their way down the corridor to find his other body. Sasuke's mind had just returned to the dilemma of how to reattach the other Naruto when the strangest sight met his eyes. The other Naruto was coming straight at them, backwards, as though he was being dragged towards this Naruto by some invisible force. His arms were flailing madly and he was barely managing to stay on his feet as he was forced to run backwards.
The Naruto in Sasuke's arms looked up just as they were about to collide and gave a shout of surprise. But instead of crashing into each other they melted back into one. Sasuke stared in surprise at Naruto for a second before he was forced to take the boys entire weight as Naruto passed out.
"What the hell just happened?!" cried Ino running towards them having obviously followed the half flying Naruto.
"I was just about to ask the same thing," said Sakura, looking anxiously at the unconscious boy in Sasuke's arms.
Sasuke sighed. "He just used his power for the first time."
"Already?!" asked Sakura.
"You saw it didn't you? Anyway I need to get him back to his room and you two need to talk," said Sasuke giving them both a meaningful glare. "I am fed up of hearing you fight, so take some time and have a seriously honest conversation for once."
This snappy advice was the closest Sasuke was willingly to get to caring about them, so with that he grabbed Naruto firmly around the waist and threw him over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. Sakura and Ino stood silently for a while watching Sasuke carry Naruto away. But then, just when he was out of sight Sasuke heard Sakura's voice.
"I don't want to lose all the years we've spent together," she said fearfully.
"Yeah... maybe we do need to have a proper talk," admitted Ino before both of them faded from Sasuke's hearing.
He didn't use his magickal hearing to listen in since he didn't really care what was said as long as it stopped them arguing. Sasuke's journey through the tunnels was slowed by Naruto's weight; he couldn't remember ever having to carry another person so he didn't have any way of comparing but Naruto seemed really heavy. When he finally got the boy back to his room he dropped Naruto on the bed none too gently and upside down.
Sasuke was about to throw the covers over him when he noticed something strange. Naruto's coat had fallen open to reveal a sheathed dagger hanging from his belt. Sasuke knelt on the edge of the bed and leaned over Naruto to examine it. He gently tugged the strange dagger from it's sheath and ran his fingers over the crystal. There was no magick in it and Sasuke wondered where Naruto had gotten such an old knife, he was sure Naruto had had no such weapon earlier.
Once more Sasuke leaned over Naruto. He replaced the dagger and turned his attention to the sheath. The golden spiral that adorned it stirred some long forgotten memory. Sasuke frowned and then it came to him, an image of Fugaku telling him about the old hunter families. He was certain this was the crest of the Namikaze clan. So this was likely the weapon of one of Naruto's relatives...
"It was my father's."
Sasuke jumped back. Naruto smiled lightly at the embarrassment that flashed momentarily across Sasuke's face before a glare sprung into his eyes.
"How long have you been awake?" demanded Sasuke; if he found out that he had carried Naruto's dead weight all that way for nothing he would be pissed.
"I only just woke up. Did you carry me back here?"
"Hn."
"Guess we're even then."
"Not really, you were bloody heavy."
"It's all my muscle," replied Naruto promptly.
"Hn," grunted Sasuke, standing up and getting ready to leave.
But Naruto called him back. "What happened to me?"
Sasuke stopped and looked back at Naruto. "You used your power."
Naruto's jaw dropped a little. "Seriously?! But I didn't know what the hell was happening, it was like I was in two places at once!"
"You were in two places at once," said Sasuke, sitting down on the sofa at the end of Naruto's bed. "You split into two and followed Sakura and Ino at the same time."
"I split in two... What like down the middle?" asked Naruto rubbing his midriff nervously.
"No, usuratonkachi. There were two of you, don't you remember any of it?"
"Er... I sort of remember... it was all a bit confusing really. I was flicking between Sakura and Ino and I kept going faster and faster, I had a terrible headache 'cause I couldn't control it at all and I think I shouted and then... you were there." Naruto looked at Sasuke with an odd expression on his face. "You kept me in one place..."
Sasuke looked away, "I guess it's not possible to be in two places at once then," he said thoughtfully. "It sounds like your conscious can only be in one body at a ti-"
"Ooh I remember now, you were helping me walk and then another me came flying along! He must have knocked me out... but where is he now?"
"He didn't knock you out, you fainted after he merged with you."
"Ah... but I didn't faint!"
"Baka, I saw you; I had to hold you up!"
"Yeah but I didn't faint; fainting isn't manly, I passed out." Naruto gave a wide yawn.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Whatever, you should get some sleep."
Sasuke turned away and went in search of Tsunade; she had made him promise to tell her as soon as Naruto's power emerged.
-0-
Naruto watched Sasuke leave without another word. He yawned again and forced himself to at least take off his outer clothes and newly acquired weapons before crawling back into bed. Naruto didn't think he'd ever felt this exhausted, except it wasn't the normal kind of exhaustion but rather he felt that there was something missing from his person. But he couldn't think about it anymore; his brain felt overworked for the first time since he'd tried revising for exams back at school. The last thing Naruto saw before he sunk into dreams was a pair of infinitely dark eyes staring calmly at him.
A/N: Reviews are always wonderful. I'll try not to keep you waiting for the next chapter!
-Yasu