Chapter 26 The Truth

Sahino left Naruto's apartment after finishing the shower and getting dressed, wanting to get some new clothes. She still had to wear Hinata's top and jacket due to her chest size, but after testing out the other clothes she found Ino's skirt fit her well enough along with Sakura's shoes and gloves. She hoped that wearing an assortment of the girls clothes instead of just Hinata's would make her stand out less. The last thing Sahino wanted was for people to 'recognize' her.

Naruto on the other hand was still at home and working on something he hoped to surprise Sahino with when she got back. At the moment he was grinning like an idiot, feeling very good about himself.

'Looks like Ero-sennin was right when he said don't knock it till you try it. I probably should apologize for calling him a pervert so much... but then again he was always peeping on women without their consent. I'm pretty sure that's illegal even for him. And frankly there's no way I could apologize without explaining why and that part is none of his damn business.'

There was a knock at the door. "Naruto? Are you in there?"

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked himself, confused. Why would he be here right now? With a sigh he created a clone to keep working on what he was making and answered the door. "What brings you here?"

"Can I come in? This is... not going to be pleasant." Kakashi requested.

Naruto complied and allowed the cycloptic jounin to enter. "So what's so terrible?"

Kakashi sat down. "Naruto, before we start, I want to ask, was I a bad sensei?"

Naruto was caught off guard and his first impulse was to deny, but the whole business with Dark Sakura had shown him that ignoring your own thoughts didn't make them go away. "A bad sensei? Honestly... yeah you kind of were. But what makes you think that?"

"I've heard from Hokage-sama about you and a few friends going on strike. The core problem being that you are being denied your rights, and let's face it, if Sakura of all people thinks you're being treated too harshly then something has to be wrong."

Kakashi chuckled and Naruto couldn't resist cracking a smirk either.

"Anyway, on my way here I thought about if I had anything to do with making you feel dehumanized like that, and sadly I didn't exactly come up with arguments in my favor. I'll admit it, I'm a good ninja but a bad teacher."

Kakashi paused, as if waiting for his student to either confirm or deny the accusation.

"So you're saying that teaching me only one thing while teaching Sasuke more... wasn't on purpose?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi fidgeted uncomfortably. "Not out of malicious intent, but sadly... no, it was on purpose. But it's one I regret now."

"Why? Because it was wrong or because it didn't work?"

"Naruto, you're obviously a little resentful for my choices, which I understand completely. But tell me, what do you in your heart of hearts believe I was trying to accomplish at the time?"

Naruto crossed his arms. "Honestly, I think you were just putting up with me and waiting for me to be gone, one way or another. I don't believe you wanted me to die, but I think you considered it an acceptable outcome."

Kakashi looked horrified by that accusation. "What? How could you possibly think that?"

"You spend half of every morning staring at a memorial, don't you? A memorial with the names of people you knew and failed to protect. You blame yourself for their deaths, am I right? You tell yourself that if you had done more, they'd still be alive, right? If so, I'd like to think a man like that would bust his ass to prepare his students so that they'd never end up dead on his watch. That he'd prepare them for a world that would kill them if they weren't strong enough to defend themselves. So that our names would not end up on that memorial too. But then you push me off to the side to focus on someone else. You chose more than once to leave me to my own devices. All that tells me is that my death was one that you were willing to live with if it happened."

Kakashi felt colder than he had in Land of Snow, and right then he wouldn't be surprised if his heart had actually stopped beating. This was the worst accusation he had ever been given, and what made it worse was that he couldn't argue with the context it had been put in.

"Naruto, I am so sorry for making you feel that way." He said, rising to his feet. "I never intended for you to die. In fact, of all three of you I expected you to live the longest. It was Sasuke I thought was going to die young, that's why I prioritized him. Because I didn't want him to die. It never crossed my mind that you'd be at risk too."

"Even after Zabuza? Or Orochimaru? Or Gaara?" Naruto challenged.

"I... I guess I took the Kyuubi keeping you alive for granted. It's like you have extra lives, maybe I took that a little more literally than I should have. But that doesn't excuse it. I should have taught you so that you weren't dependent on a demon to keep you alive. I'm sorry I thought that keeping Sasuke from getting himself killed was more important."

"No, don't apologize for that Sensei. Keeping a student from making bad choices is not a bad thing, so if you're going to apologize, do it for helping Sasuke at the expense of me and Sakura-chan. By the way, why didn't you teach her either?"

"Frankly, she didn't really want to learn. At the time Sakura was in full fangirl mode, everything revolved around Sasuke for her and the only thing that mattered was getting herself closer to him. Everything Sakura saw or heard was done through a filter, and the parts that didn't bring her closer to her goals just weren't important. You can't teach someone who doesn't want to learn, so I did what I could but trying more would have been like teaching a brick wall. When she was actually ready to learn, she went to Tsunade-sama instead of me. Can't exactly fault her for not wanting my help anymore, but she can't say she ever really wanted my help in the first place."

"So what now? Where does this leave us?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I'd like to do what I should have done already and be a real teacher, but first I need to know something. About this strike, what exactly can Hokage-sama offer you that you would accept?"

The whiskered blonde leaned against the wall. "Chuunin rank would be a nice start, and someone actually teaching me how to be a hokage would be nice too. As Sakura-chan pointed out, I don't exactly know what the job actually comes with aside from the perks. Why is this too much to ask? Why is Baa-chan acting like I'm demanding gold or something?"

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Here's the thing Naruto, Hokage-sama sent me here to... do something that I don't want to do. In fact, I downright disagree with the orders."

Naruto tensed up. "She didn't tell you to come here and force me to get back to work whether my demands were met or not, did she?"

Kakashi slowly nodded. "She's essentially declaring the strike null and void and demanded you get back to work effective immediately."

Naruto growled and made a fist, his eyes on the verge of turning red. "Then why did she send you instead of telling me herself?"

"Because I was ordered to, and I quote, 'say it in a way that will get him to accept the reality of his situation'."

Naruto trembled, and Kakashi could not remember the last time he had seen his student this mad. Was this how Sakura felt when they stared down Kabuto in Land of Grass not long ago? When he was using four tails worth of chakra?

"Is she in her office right now?" Naruto managed to ask, sounding like he was forcing himself to not shout.

"Yes." Kakashi said, knowing it was futile to say anything else.

Naruto then left the apartment, slamming the door so hard it was a wonder it didn't fall off its hinges.

"Well, this is going to get really ugly." Kakashi sighed.

"If you want to do something, help me in here." Naruto's clone called from the kitchen, surprising the jounin. "I'm in no position to be in a bad mood right now, so get in here and lend a hand."

Kakashi complied, seeing the clone doing something that looked like baking. While not much of a baker, he agreed to help out. They both needed their minds on better things.

Sahino walked through the streets of Konoha with joy and confusion. Joy from being with Naruto and simply getting to be alive a little longer, and confusion from not being entirely sure where she was going. She was looking for a clothing store and she had a good idea where to look, but she couldn't remember anything specific.

'Weird, I know I have some of the memories of Sakura, Hinata, and Ino, but there are so many gaps. I vaguely remember sitting in class in the Academy, and being in the audience of the Chuunin Exams, and being with Naruto-kun when he came from his trip. Why did those stand out as the clearest? What do they have in common?'

One store caught her attention and she had a feeling in the back of her head this was one that one of her three 'parts' had been to before, so she went inside. She was greeted like a normal customer and went browsing, looking for anything she liked.

'I don't want to show off too much skin... then again I don't want to hide my figure either. It's not like Naruto-kun hasn't seen everything already, but the packaging can still be exciting and make him want to unwrap it sooner.' She thought, giggling perversely while comparing a sleeveless top to a sleeved one.

"Need some help?" An employee asked, a girl that looked related to Shikamaru except her hair hung down like Yoshino and was dyed bright teal. She wore a nametage that said Osora.

"Trying to make up my mind. I'm looking to try something new that will knock the socks off my boyfriend. Oh, while I'm here, I did recently outgrow my bras but I can't remember my old size. Could I get remeasured for one?"

Osora nodded and led her to the dressing rooms where they measured her. With an answer, she grabbed some new bras and matching panties, mostly normal but one set that was described by the teal-haired girl as 'you put it on knowing your man will take it off'. She even said it with a playful grin and a wiggle in her eyebrows.

"So Sahino, this boyfriend of yours, what does he like in a girl?" Osora asked while trying to help Sahino find a top. Sahino had told her her name while checking for underwear earlier.

"I'd say he looks for trust more than anything. He was hurt a lot growing up and few people ever really had his back, so I'm trying to convince him that I'm not going to be like that." Sahino explained.

"Hmm... I've got an idea." Osora said before selecting a specific top and bottom before showing them to the fusion girl. "This should be what you want for a date."

Sahino blinked. "Uhh... that's quite revealing. Wouldn't that make me look like I want all the boys drooling over me?"

"You want to show your devotion to him right? Well he is still a boy so he's not going to get that unless you straight up say the words to his face. After that, if you go out in public like this and still look at him like he's the only man in the world, he'll believe you more. Especially if he sees you reject a guy."

"But I don't want someone hitting on me just so I can reject them." Sahino insisted.

"Is this your first day being a woman?" Osora joked.

"Yes, it is."

Osora laughed. "Good one. Trust me, this outfit will do you wonders tonight. As for more everyday clothes, you kind of remind me of a Yamanaka so how about some of the clothes I see them buy the most? Couldn't hurt to try."

Sahino nodded and proceeded, keeping the date outfit handy.

When Naruto burst into the hokage's office, Tsunade was already waiting for him, looking like she hadn't expected anything else.

"I had a feeling Hatake wouldn't be able to make you see reason." She remarked.

"What the actual hell is wrong with you?! You actually think you can force me to work against my will?! Am I a slave to you?!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto, like it or not you're a jinchuuriki, and that means you're a key component to this village's offense and defense. As unfair as it is, you don't get to go on strike anymore than the walls surrounding Konoha get to."

"The walls don't talk! The walls don't sleep! The walls don't have dreams! I do! I'm not some sword or shield that gets put in storage when you don't need to use it! I'm a human being! I have the right to be happy!"

"If you want to be happy then you're going to have to stop this strike right now!" Tsunade countered, standing up. "I haven't officially let your strike be on record yet, so there's still time to correct it. You get back to work and we can pretend this never happened, but when a mission comes up that needs you and you refuse to take it, I'll have no choice but to consider the strike official. And when that happens, you can kiss becoming hokage goodbye forever."

"Do you want me to become hokage?" Naruto asked.

"Am I not making myself clear? There will be consequences to you refusing to do your job." Tsunade stated.

"I asked you a simple 'yes' or 'no' question, and you haven't answered." Naruto pointed out.

"Naruto, there are a lot of people in this village that don't trust you with power or freedom. They were even against you-"

"That's not an answer." Naruto interrupted, pointing at her. "Do you, you specifically, want me to become hokage someday?"

"Dammit stop being so entitled!" Tsunade yelled, slamming a hand on her desk shaking everything on it. "You think that because you're the Yondaime's son that you've earned the hokage's hat just by being born! You never took your training as a genin seriously, you refused to respect Jiraiya, and you're willing to endanger the entire village if you don't get your way! Your parents would be ashamed of you if they saw how you turned out!"

Naruto's eyes went wide and while Tsunade knew her words were unbearably harsh, she hoped they had gotten through to him.

"Yondaime's son?" Naruto repeated. "Did you just say that I'm the Yondaime's son?"

"What? Were you expecting me to throw a parade about it?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto glanced at the portrait of Minato Namikaze in the office, and for the first time he began to notice similarities between him and the man. Similarities that seemed so obvious now. How had he not noticed before? Then again, why would he, the boy everyone in Konoha hated, ever think he was related to the man everyone in Konoha loved? But if that was his father...

"I'm the Yondaime's son?" He repeated.

"Oh don't act like you didn't already know." Tsunade told him.

Naruto's eyes bore into her very soul, making her see emotions that she had only ever seen in her own reflection.

"Wait, you mean you really didn't know?" Tsunade asked, now sounding uncertain.

Naruto stepped up to the slug sannin, and she stepped back from him.

"I'm the Yondaime's son, and you knew? And you still see me as nothing more than a way to weaponize the fox?"

"Naruto that's-"

"Who knows?" Naruto asked, stepping closer, his eyes all red now. "WHO KNOWS?!"

Tsunade gulped. "Jiraiya, the elders, the clan heads, Shizune, Kakashi, the Sandaime..."

"Did Sakura-chan know?"

Tsunade shook her head. "No, she did not. None of your friends know as far as I know. But this doesn't change the fact that you are acting-"

She was cut off by Naruto getting in close and slapping her. It didn't hurt much thanks to her endurance, but the shock sure got to her.

"I quit being a shinobi." Naruto proclaimed with venom in his voice.

"Naruto, think about what you're doing." Tsunade pleaded.

"My entire life I've been treated as if I have to either apologize for my existence or justify it. Expected to do my best but never rewarded for it, to forgive people who've never apologized. And what have I ever asked for?"

Tsunade gulped.

"Tell me. What. Have. I. Asked. For?"

"To... to be acknowledged and become hokage someday." Tsunade answered.

"And yet you demand that I do a thankless job, in hopes of a reward that you've never made any attempt to make a reality, all while lying to me about who my parents are. And you have the gall to say that I'm the entitled one?"

"I thought you knew." Tsunade defended.

"And how does that make your demand better?"

Tsunade wisely chose not to answer. Seeing he wasn't going to get a response, Naruto turned and walked away.

"Naruto, there's something you still need to hear." She stated, hoping he would listen. He stopped but refused to look at her, which she settled for. "There are people who want to restrict you, who think that you being able to leave the village is a bad thing. They say it makes it easier for the Akatsuki to snatch you. I argued against that, but they expect you to prove that was a good idea. If you don't, they'll be vindicated and restrict your freedom and rights more than they already are. In the end, you really will be nothing more than a way to weaponize the fox."

"But that's only if I'm a ninja." Naruto pointed out. "They can't legally weaponize a civilian."

"They will try."

"Will you let them?" Naruto asked, then left before she could answer.

Tsunade slumped in her chair, her world shattered around her. All this time, Naruto had no idea he was Minato's and Kushina's son. Why hadn't Jiraiya told him? She had given the toad sannin permission to do so when they were away from the village on their training trip. He had the right to know and it would motivate him to take his training more seriously, as well as get his excitement out of his system so by the time he came back he wouldn't be announcing it to the entire village like an attention-seeking child.

But Jiraiya had told her he had told him the truth. He said Naruto was excited and by now had become more humble and modest, not wanting people to treat him any differently than before.

He had lied to her, and now Naruto had resigned because of it. Unable to ever trust her or Konoha's government again.

Tsunade grit her teeth and rose to her feet. "That son of a bitch is going to be sorry."