Heya,
I'm back with another chapter. Hopefully this isn't coming too long after the previous one.
This chapter is mostly gonna serve as a set up for future stuff. Think of it like a bridge between the end of the previous arc and the start of the next. All of this to say don't expect a ton of action for a bit.
That said, let's not waste anymore time.
Sometimes, it really was all too easy to take a loved one's presence for granted. You see them often enough that it never occurs to you that a day might come that you're seeing them for the last time.
Naruto had been alone all his life, or at least close enough to it that he'd never had to think much about the idea of loss. Sure, he'd had friends, at least on some level or another. But when you went home to an empty house every day, the details tended not to matter; doubly so when it was really only recently that those friendships had actually started to mean something past just a few people to goof off with.
No, the only persistent presence in his life since his youth had been Hiruzen, the Third Hokage. The strongest man in the village; so powerful, so wise, and so knowledgeable that it'd never even occurred to the boy that the old man couldn't live forever.
Looking at him now though, that reality had become all too clear. Like having a foggy window wiped clean… Or more like getting brained upside the head with a rock.
Yeah, that sounded more accurate.
Still, for all the grief seeing the old man like this caused him, one still couldn't help but admire him. "You really are one tough motherfucker, old man." Naruto whispered, almost reverently.
Hiruzen looked frailer than he'd ever seen the man; his skin, old and liver spotted, had gone so pale and thin it could be mistaken for an off-color bedsheet. Naruto could swear he could make out the old man's skeleton through the contours of his flesh; his thin, bluish veins weakly pumped the man's tainted blood through his body. Hiruzen's hair had thinned even further in his ailment, leaving sizable bald patches in the man's scalp. Most ghastly, however, was the sunkenness of his face. Were it not for his shallow breaths, Naruto would have thought him truly dead and gone. As it was, every breath; every beat of his heart was this unsure thing, which brought the closest thing the boy had to a grandfather ever-closer to his end.
Hiruzen had been hooked up to a multitude of machines, several of which Naruto didn't even understand the purpose of. Each and every one of them were vital to the old man's survival, though.
"He's suffering from a mass shutdown. His organs are failing him bit-by-bit… I-I'm not sure what can be done to stop it."
The fact that the old man's primary caretaker seemed to be as much at a loss as he was- well, that certainly didn't bode well for the old Hokage.
"The poison in his system; it's resisting all attempts to purge it from his body. It's almost like it has a mind of its own!"
Not at all surprising. Orochimaru was one of the most prolific poison users in the world, rivaled only by Sasori of the Red Sand. Naruto had little faith that some average medic could cleanse the Snake Sanin's victim.
"How is he?" Jiraiya's voice nudged him out from his own musings. Naruto side-eyed the man, catching a glimpse of his head peeking hesitantly into the room.
His temper spiked; heat rushed to his face as his fury coiled in his chest, poised to lash out at the Toad Sage. 'How the fuck do you think he's doing!?'
...No.
Naruto bit back the urge to snap at the man; it wasn't his fault. If anything, he likely owed the old pervert his thanks for getting Hiruzen any help at all.
Had he not been there to help the old man…
Restraining himself, Naruto simply let out a shaky sigh. "I'm at a loss."
"Yeah," Jiraiya agreed, lamely. "Me too." He took a breath, then fully entered the room. He caught a flimsy metal chair that Naruto kicked his way and plopped down into it with a heavy slump. "It was a smart idea to repurpose my vector point seal to draw the poison away from his heart… You're probably the only reason he's still alive, kid."
Not true. Naruto could attribute that stroke of genius purely to Kushina. Even then, she'd only thought to suggest it after hearing of Jiraiya's usage of it to break down the barrier that had trapped the old man in with a monster like Orochimaru.
'No…' Had it been up to Naruto to figure out, the Third would be long dead.
And didn't that just sting, something fierce? An entire buffet of sealing knowledge cultivated by the greatest seal masters who had ever walked the Earth, all at his beck and call, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would have fumbled the bag.
He was just a damned imposter
"You're being too hard on yourself, darling," Kushina soothed him. "You're comparing yourself to two seal masters with far more experience under their belts. What's important here is that he's alive.'
He only grimaced, at that. 'I just don't like getting the credit for something you did. It makes me feel like a fraud.'
Kushina considered that. How to comfort her boy? They were so alike in many ways; she knew in her heart that words of sympathy would do little to soothe his pain. No, he needed a goal. "All the more incentive to surpass me then, mm?"
'Yeah…'
"You did damn good, dealing with the One Tails, by the way," Jiraiya tried again. He didn't have to fake the smile that bubbled up as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Damn good, kid. You earned that vest thrice over."
Naruto could do little more than shrug. His fingers ghosted over the weighty green material underneath his poncho; an authentic Chunin vest, offered to him for 'going above and beyond the call of duty', or whatever nonsense. Jonin commander Shikaku Nara had been all too pleased to hand one to him and Shikamaru both, even indulging in draping the reward over his son's shoulders with a grin. Naruto had almost snapped at Shikamaru as the boy groaned at the blatant show of affection, his own envy tough to master; having someone you cherish to express such pride in you truly was a blessing... Still though, the barely veiled irritation of the Third's personal advisors was a slight balm to his soul. Their brittle smiles as the Kyuubi jinchuriki was awarded the rank of Chūnin lived rent free in Naruto's head.
There was no doubt that he'd earned the vest, but the victory felt hollow.
"I'd have rathered that the old man could give it to me, himself." The vision of the old Hokage draping the vest over his shoulders, a proud smile worn beautifully on his aged face… It was a dream that Naruto now knew would never come to pass.
Jiraiya's face fell, and he took a breath. "Yeah, I get that…" He trailed off, struggling to find any words that could comfort the kid beside him. He spotted a wince from the boy; it was well-hidden, but Jiraiya was better. "How are your injuries, actually?"
"I'll live," Naruto batted back, shortly. He fought to keep his expression blank so as not to further bely his own condition.
Funny thing about cramming unfiltered, foreign chakra into your own body…
Don't do it. Period.
Doubly so when the chakra in question belonged to something like one of the Tailed Beasts.
"Your chakra coils have experienced multiple ruptures, I'm afraid. Whatever it is that you did caused them to burst under pressure. As a result, a high concentration of unfiltered chakra was able to leak into your muscular and nervous system. Hence the pain." The doctor had given him a grim, knowing look. "To be completely transparent, I don't even know how you're still alive… I've done what I can for you; I sealed the ruptures to the best of my ability, but I can't flush that chakra out enough to fully mend the damage. You'll just have to hope you'll eventually acclimate to the foreign intrusion enough that your own natural recovery can come into play… Until then, try to be conservative about your own chakra use so you don't overwhelm your coils while they're still so fragile."
Ironically, his conglomerate shape changing jutsu had played a huge part in saving his life. Spreading Shukaku's chakra into such a massive form had allowed him to thin out the damage it otherwise would have done to him across his entire body, instead of having it all focused into smaller, central points. His other saving grace had been his status as a jinchuriki.
How fortunate that his body was used to being flooded with copious amounts of caustic chakra from a malevolent turbo demon.
Still though, the results were far from ideal. He couldn't move much without extreme pain, for one. For two, he was back down to a mere fraction of his previous reserves and control, while the majority of his chakra was now stuck fighting both the Kyuubi and now the Ichibi's chakra to keep them from doing any further damage to his body.
Truly, one step forward, two steps back.
"I'm still wondering what possessed you to try something so foolish in the first place?" Kushina's judgment had been a long time coming. Frankly, Naruto was just glad she'd at least waited a bit for the inevitable 'I told you so.'
'It was the best thing I could think of at the time! I figured since we managed it well enough the first time, it probably wouldn't be too bad…'
Kushina sighed. 'The first time you did it, you were working with a tiny fraction of its chakra. When you fought it in the forest, you stole far more than just a teensy little crumb of its chakra. You stole more than a third of its total reserves!'
A fair point. Call it greed, desperation, or just plain foolishness. Regardless, he should have known better.
He let out a silent huff, ignoring Jiraiya's questioning look.
Not like he had many other options.
'And that is the difference between where you are and where you need to be,' Kushina once again critiqued him. 'Truly high level ninja don't need to make such risky plays to pull a victory. You should've been able to just wrap that sucker up with your chains while it was only partially manifested and called it a day. Hell, you could've just stuck it in a barrier calibrated to its own chakra and let it tire itself out while you went back to help support the counter offensive. Or even just cast a genjutsu to put Shukaku to sleep."
'I'm steaming hot garbage at genjutsu,' Naruto supplied with a frown.
"And that's a problem! If you want to reach your full potential, you need to chase every avenue available to you like a starving dog, love. If you suck at genjutsu, you're gonna have to find a way to un-suckify yourself! And frankly, while you're busy being stuck having the internal constitution of wet bread, it might be prudent to chase after some more subtle arts, anyhow."
Her son winced. He wanted to argue; to tell her to get off his back and let him enjoy his win. But he knew better. She was right, and she was only trying to help. He took a breath, then another; this one, much longer and deeper.
"I've gotta get stronger," Naruto muttered. To himself, to Kushina, and even to Jiraiya too. "Much, much stronger, so this never happens again."
Jiraiya searched the boy's eyes for a moment then grinned, finding exactly the resolve he was looking for. "That's the spirit, kid!" He ruffled the blonde's hair, pulling back quickly to avoid the haphazard swipe the boy took at him. "We don't have time for pity parties. If you've got time to be down on yourself, you've got time to toughen up!"
"Yeah…Yeah!" Naruto took another breath, then gripped his crutches and stood, leaning on them for balance. "I've gotta go. I've got a thing I've gotta handle."
"Hey, hold on now." Quickly, the Toad Sage got in the boy's way. "I was going somewhere with that, kid." His charge sighed, but gave him a 'go ahead' motion. "I know someone who might be able to help the old man. You too, for that matter," He added, gesturing to Naruto's own crutch-addled form.
Naruto blinked slowly, then glared hotly at the man. "If that's the case, why are you only just now bringing it up?"
"Well- er… She's really hard to find, usually. A real pain in the ass, actually. BUT, I'm currently chasing a big lead!" Jiraiya grinned, his pride plain to see. Then, just as quickly as it had arrived, it evaporated from his place in favor of a more serious look. "But there's a problem; one that I could really use your help with."
"Out with it. If it'll help gramps, I'm in."
"Once I find her, I'll need you to come with me. Tsunade will be a tough one to convince to come back, even if it's just to heal you and sensei. I need you to put some of that charm of yours and help me get her to come willingly."
"Charm?" Naruto scoffed. "Pervy Sage, I've got about as much charm as a fucking bridge troll. You're barking up the wrong tree, here."
"Look, just trust me. I know Tsunade better than anybody else and believe me when I tell you she'll adore you."
Tsunade… Tsunade… Where had he heard that name bef- "You mean the Slug Sannin?"
"That's right!" Jiraiya let out a loud laugh. "She's the real deal, kid! She's got more medical accolades to her name than you've got hairs on your nuts! I bet she could fix you and Sarutobi-sensei in minutes!" He patted the boy's back, thankfully remembering to be mindful of his injuries. "Here, I'll even sweeten the deal for you. You come with me, and I'll teach you a jutsu unlike any other, on the way."
"I already said that I'd go. Just tell me when." Naruto grumbled. Though, he surely wasn't about to turn down free training. He would be a fool to turn down any aid or wisdom from someone as skilled as Jiraiya; he didn't need to like the man to understand that.
"It might be a few days, but once I find her, we're gonna have to move quickly."
With the conversation clearly closed, Naruto began to make his way to the door. "Fine. You know where to find me." He opened it, intent on stepping out, only to come face-to-glare with Kakashi Hatake. "Oh dear- mmph!" Naruto began to struggle as Kakashi's hand whipped out, faster than he could react, and wrapped firmly around his mouth. The man's other hand worked to pin his wrists together, leaving the boy to kick out uselessly. His crutches clattered to the floor, pointed toward a now-giggling Jiraiya.
"Good afternoon, Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi greeted the man, cheerfully. "Don't mind me; I just have very important business with my studen- ow!" By reflex, he yanked his hand away from Naruto's face, warily eyeing the shallowly bleeding punctures in his palm. "You bit me!"
"I couldn't breathe! Let me go!" Naruto hissed, trying twice more to take savage bites out of any part of Kakashi he could reach. Instinctively, his teeth lengthened and sharpened into small daggers. "No touchie! I bite!"
"Yeah, I can see that." Kakashi sighed. "I'll be taking him for a bit. Sorry for the inconvenience."
"Again."
Neji bit his lip in thought as he watched his cousin drag herself back to her feet without a word. Hiashi had been increasingly devoted to Hinata's training, in the days winding down from the invasion.
Just a week ago, he would've been delighted, watching the girl suffer under his uncle's uncompromising attentions. Now though…
"I owe you an apology," Naruto Uzumaki had finally cornered him at Team Gai's usual spot. Neji had half expected to have to fight the boy again before he'd opened his mouth. The blonde's crutches would've been a comforting sight there, were Neji not just as messed up on his own end.
Consequences of opening the gates so recklessly, so early into his training with them.
"I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly?" Neji frowned. Surely, he hadn't come all this way just to mess with him? It certainly would've been in character, from what he knew about the boy thus far.
Naruto took a breath. "I said some really questionable stuff to you during our fight to get you riled up. I promised myself I'd apologize later… It's later." An awkward silence opened between them for a moment, then Naruto bowed his head, curtly. "So, sorry for speaking ill of your father, and for making light of your trauma. I didn't actually mean any of that stuff." Then he grinned. "I'm not sorry about kicking the crap out of you though!"
He hadn't expected Naruto Uzumaki to apologize to him. He hadn't even thought he deserved one, really. He'd certainly said and done worse in his lifetime; recently, even.
Memories of Hinata's bloodstained smile was a syringe of guilt, injected directly to his heart.
No, he didn't really think he deserved an apology; not after what he'd done to her. If he were being honest with himself, he'd regretted it only shortly after, once the adrenaline had passed and his rage had quelled. He'd resented Hinata, maybe even hated her, sure. But Neji had never been quite so malicious as to attack a person who couldn't fight back.
Or rather, he hadn't thought so, at least.
But he would've been damned if he was going to be caught dead apologizing to anyone, least of all a member of the Main House. Unfortunate as the situation may have been, he'd been content to blame it on the girl. After all, she had chosen to step up against him. He may have taken it too far, but he certainly couldn't be blamed for turning his rage against its rightful cause…
Hiashi's prostrated form filled Neji's thoughts. Hearing the man's story about his father's final actions; about the true events that had occurred on the night of his father's death. More than even that, seeing Lord Hiashi of all people on his knees, begging for his nephew's forgiveness with such earnestness...
Well that had recontextualized a lot, and Neji wasn't quite sure he could keep hating his uncle and cousins after what he'd learned.
Now though, without that resentment left to fester, all he felt was shame.
Shame at attacking a comrade who couldn't fight back
Shame at raising his hand against family.
Shame at feeling pride as he strode away from her corpse, in that moment.
If Naruto Uzumaki could apologize to him, then Neji should certainly be able to do the same for Hinata. After all, Neji had no intentions of ever losing to the boy again.
"Again."
Once again, his cousin rose to her feet, this time sporting a whole new set of bruises.
How long had she been at it, anyways? She'd already been well into the swing of things when he'd sat down to watch well over an hour ago. Young Hanabi had been here even longer than he, and Hinata had been hard at work long before that, as well.
Hinata took a breath, then began to advance on a patiently waiting Hiashi. He was still as a statue as she made her first lunge, positioning her fingers like a knife's point. The straight thrust that came from her was faster than any that she'd tried before, so much so that it gave Neji pause, even. Hiashi simply tilted his torso, leaning just out of the way and aiming a sharp chop at her sternum. Hinata drew a leg up with great flexibility to block his retaliation, then swung her other leg out to aim a side kick at Hiashi's shoulder. Using a controlled application of chakra, he stuck his palm to Hinata's thigh and simply lifted her off balance; her leg missed with room to spare, and the girl's father slammed her down with a flourish.
Hinata crashed into the ground with a pained squeak, but did not let herself remain idle, rolling out of her father's range just as he slammed a foot down to pin her underneath. She rushed forward yet again, and for a moment, Neji had to stifle a groan at the girl's thoughtless persistence. He swallowed it all though, as she ducked low, rolling past a perfectly executed palm strike, planting her palms against the ground, and lashing out with a sharp back kick that came low. Hiashi had to leap away to avoid being tripped, and by the time he'd landed again, Hinata was hot on his trail, her finger tips glowing fiercely with chakra.
She rained blow after blow on her father's guard, increasing sharply with speed as she continued to advance. Neji realized in that moment that she had begun the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms with barely any start up.
How many times had she practiced it in the last few days, to manage such a quick cast?
Regardless of her efforts, Hiashi easily parried all of her blows, allowing her to wind up to the final chain before subduing her in a flash.
"Your transition is acceptable, but your starting speed leaves much to be desired," Hiashi critiqued the girl from above. He released the grip he'd placed on the back of her neck, then lifted her by the arm he'd grasped in his other hand. "I'm pleased to see your growing confidence with the sixty-four palms though. Keep practicing, and you may even take it a step further, in the coming weeks."
Hinata simply nodded, absently. She gripped her arm and rotated her aching wrist, seemingly blocking all else out, save for once more regulating her breathing.
"Perhaps, once Neji has recovered in full, you two will finally be able to provide suitable training partners for one another." There was something leading in the Hyuga head's tone, and Neji understood it for what it was.
Hope. Hope that the two of them could settle their differences.
"I would not be opposed, uncle," Neji piped up. He offered a bow -a proper one- to Hinata. "I am also impressed by your recent progress, Hinata-sama."
"Thank you," Hinata spoke back, absently. She spoke slowly, and Neji swore he saw a hint of satisfaction in the Hyuga Heiress' eyes. Looking back at Hiashi, she asked, "M-may I… May I be excused?"
"Do you have somewhere to be?" Hiashi hedged, curiously. His daughter had been different since they'd reunited post-invasion. Not terribly so, but Hiashi's eyes could spot it all the same. She spoke slower and took ample time before responding to questions.
Hiashi recognized the act from her old speech therapy sessions, back before she'd lost confidence and gave up on them. Training herself to stutter less, then…
" Yes…" Hinata didn't offer any further insight, but her fingers unconsciously ghosted over her pants-pocket; within, Hiashi's byakugan spotted a tiny note, seemingly written out on a scrap of parchment. For a moment, he thought to probe deeper. She would likely answer if he asked directly. Even if not, the Hyuga clan head was certain his eyes could decipher the note easily enough, were he so inclined. But Hiashi didn't need the byakugan's insight to see she didn't want to be there any longer, nor was he quite so reckless as to violate his daughter's privacy without due cause.
"Very well, you are excused," Hiashi finally allowed, after a moment. "Hanabi! Gather your equipment and take your sister's place."
Hanabi leaped to attention as soon as her name had been called, and she'd already gathered her things and made to join her father before he'd even finished his sentence. As the little girl passed her sister, the two shared a short hug and grin, then Hinata was off.
That was his queue, then.
Neji hauled himself to his feet and began to hobble after his cousin, as quickly as his crutches would allow.
"Hinata-sama!"
She stopped, just beyond the walls of the dojo, and turned to regard him. Neji saw her anxiousness, but it was contained. She was tired, but resolved.
She expected a fight.
"I come in peace," was the only thing he could think to say.
"A-ah." Hinata bit her lip, then took a breath. "I'm glad… I was- well, I was pl-anning to kick your crutches out from under you if you weren't." She huffed, and Neji wondered for a moment if her frustration was in him.
"Please don't do that," he deadpanned.
"It was- uh… It was a joke." Hinata licked her lips, obvious anxiousness teeming in her eyes. "T-to… To break the ice."
Neji didn't quite see the humor. It was likely the influence of that Inuzuka teammate of hers; she had been spending more time over there with that boy and his family as of late, if her frequent disappearances and changes in her usual clothes was any indicator. Wisely, he chose to keep those thoughts to himself.
"I wanted to-" Neji's breath hitched, and he struggled to find the words, for a moment. "I wanted to say I'm sorry." His cousin looked shocked, and he rushed to clarify. "For how I've treated you until now; for what I did to you during our match back in the preliminaries… I'm sorry. It was-" God, this sounded so lame. "It was wrong. You never deserved to be treated that way, and I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that."
"Oh..." There was a long silence between them, spanning somewhere in the range of half-a-minute. Neji watched a multitude of emotions pass over Hinata's face at lightning speed as she seemingly worked to process his words. Finally though, she shrugged, almost helplessly. "Thank you?"
Neji didn't quite know how to take that; his own confusion must have shown on his face, for Hinata seemingly rushed to clarify.
"S-sorry, I just don't r-really know what to say…" Hinata was silent again for a long moment. Then, "W-when… When we were young, I always wanted us to get along. I admired you; you were like the gold standard of what father wanted me to be. I wanted so much to be like you; to have your strength. More than that, I g-guess I wanted you to like me. Um- I wanted you to respect me. To value me." She looked so very sad as she said those words, and Neji sensed that she wasn't speaking to just him anymore. "But I think at some point I gave up on ever getting to be close, or anything like that. I'm- well, I'm thankful that you've changed your perspective, b-but I think it's coming so late that I don't really know what to do with it… I guess."
Ah… The cold sting of rejection. Well, you reap what you sow, and all that.
"I d-don't… I don't hate you," Hinata rushed to add, belatedly. "I never hated you. But- well, I don't think I could ever truly like you either."
And there it was. Neji's guilt doubled back to wash over him yet again. "I-I understand. I just- sorry… Sorry," Neji repeated with a lame shrug of his shoulders. He watched her walk away for a moment, then sighed.
Clearly, hell had gone and frozen over, for there was no other reason why Sasuke would've expected Kakashi Hatake to ever show up anywhere on time.
But their sensei was not just on time, he was early.
Naruto had been hogtied with good old-fashioned rope and carelessly slung over the man's shoulder. Seemingly, the blonde had given up on the struggling. Sasuke knew from experience that it just meant the boy was plotting his escape.
Sakura was surprisingly subdued, not even attempting to get her crush's attention like she normally would. Sasuke was grateful for the space, if a bit disturbed by the circumstances leading to its existence.
Sasuke huffed. "So are we doing this or not?" Because frankly, he had far better things to do than humor whatever this was supposed to be.
Kakashi hummed in thought. "Well that depends on you, Naruto… Will you try to run off again if I put you down?"
"Yeah, run away on two crutches, of course." He snarked back with a sneer. "I want it on record that I am not consenting to this meeting in any way, shape, or form." Bitterly, the blonde added, "Maybe if you took a hint the first time, I wouldn't have to avoid you."
Kakashi frowned. "You know, I hate pulling rank, but I am still your Jonin superior." He crouched down and set his wayward student onto the ground, thankfully remembering to be conscientious of his condition. "I'll cut you free. Sit."
"I'm not a dog, asshole." Still, Naruto did as he was bid. Like it or not, his cyclopean sensei was right about who called the shots. As his sensei cut his binds, Naruto stifled a groan as his pressure on his injuries was relieved.
"You certainly bite like one," Kakashi whined, now nursing the still tender punctures in his hand and forearm. A stab of guilt panged in him, seeing the boy's poorly concealed discomfort. "You know, I wouldn't have to treat you so roughly if you'd show up to our meetings without me having to come look for you."
Three days in a row, he'd tried to organize this meeting with his team. Showing up late was one thing, but not showing up at all? Now that was just rude.
Naruto rolled his eyes, but said nothing.
"We're doing this for your own good, idiot!" Sakura huffed, just a tough condescendingly. "We can't work as a team if you're gonna keep acting like a brat."
"A brat, huh?" Her whiskered teammate fixed her with a scathing glare. "That's an interesting way to say 'How are your injuries, Naruto? You know, we were really worried about you', ya know!"
"I-I was worried!" Sakura argued back, her voice rising.
"Then fucking say it!" Sakura cringed at her teammate's biting retort. "This is exactly why this is a waste of our damn time. Why the fuck do I have to be the one to fight every time just to have you to give a shit!?"
"Enough, both of you." Kakashi's uncharacteristic seriousness cut right through their squabble. Sakura at least had the grace to look sheepish, though Naruto simply glared at the man. "Clearly, there's a lot that we're going to need to unpack here. We're not leaving this spot until we do."
Naruto bit back the vile retort that danced on his lips. It wouldn't do to raise tensions even higher by being petulant, as Kushina was quick to remind him.
"Let's start simple, mm? Naruto, clearly you have some grievances with each of us that you need to get off your chest-"
"Nah just you and Sakura," Naruto cut in. "Sasuke and I have already talked our issues out."
Well, Sasuke was still a prick, but their friendship wasn't at all in question. For all of Sasuke's attitude, he was surprisingly simple to get along with, more often than not.
Or maybe they really just understood each other that well.
"A-ah," Kakashi chuckled, nervously. "So grievances with Sakura and I… Let's hear them."
Taking in their expressions, Naruto could only shrug. "Fine, fine… Let's do this then. You both suck." Pointing at Sakura, he scowled. "You treat me like a diseased animal. You flip-flop between putting me down or hitting me for the tiniest things, and patronizing me to hell and back. And that's when you can scrounge together enough fucks to give to even remember I exist in the first place. How is it that you spent the entire month with your thumb planted firmly in your ass and you couldn't even find time to even check on me? Hell, Kiba cared enough to show and we hate each other!" Naruto raised a finger. "Er- well more like he hates me. I'm pretty so-so about- I'm getting off topic.
"That's not fair!" Sakura butt in. "I do care! Of course I care! You're just- look, you're just a lot, sometimes! You're always acting immature or making inappropriate jokes; you never take anything seriously. Then you just flip a switch and get super intense out of the blue! You're impossible to keep up with!"
"What I'm hearing is 'I didn't visit you while you were on your deathbed in the hospital because you're annoying'," Naruto hissed, dangerously. "Did I get that right? Please tell me I misheard you."
"You are pretty annoying though," Sasuke muttered. He fought a losing battle to keep his smirk from stretching fully across his face.
"Sasuke-kun, you're not helping!" Sakura groaned.
"Good. I want problems."
"Ah-ah! We're adults right now!" Kakashi cut in. "We're the adult team seven now, okay? We do adult things, like talking clearly about our feelings and not instigating fights with each other!"
"How about you instigate these nuts across your forehea- Ack!" Naruto was honestly unsurprised when Kakashi knocked his crutches out from under him with a glare, leaving him to collapse onto the floor. "Y-yeah ok, I deserved that one."
Sakura groaned. "That's exactly what I mean! We're trying to have a serious conversation and you can't just be normal for like- five minutes!"
"Enough," Kakashi cut in again, sternly. "I'm being serious, you three. I won't say it again... Look, Naruto, you're obviously feeling really hurt and I want to take that seriously. Could you please just try to reciprocate?"
There was a long silence, and for a moment, Kakashi worried that the blonde jinchuriki would continue to be petulant.
That was until he saw the boy's face. It was the first time he'd ever seen the boy look so hurt before.
"Go on, love. Tell them how you feel," Kushina urged.
"I- Well it's like-" Naruto groaned and palmed his face. "Damnit, I'm not good with feelings… I don't know how to talk about the stuff that bothers me; not seriously, at least. But… I remember Iruka-sensei telling us when we graduated that our team is supposed to be like our second family. I've never had even one of those, so I was just so, so thrilled when I got assigned to work with you all. I thought- well, I thought maybe I wouldn't be so lonely anymore."
Dead silence met his admission. It was the first time he'd ever spoken so transparently to them all. No jokes, no overacting; no mask of comedy or idiocy to shield his hurt. It was vulnerable and he hated it with a passion. Naruto knew if he stopped, he'd just fall back on 'old reliable', so he pushed on.
"I know- I know I can be annoying, but let's not pretend like you are all always pleasant to be around. Sasuke's an all around salty butthole." Sasuke simply shrugged in a 'what can you do' sort of way. "Sakura is loud and violent, and kind've creepy sometimes whenever Sasuke is involved," Naruto rambled, ignoring Sakura's own indignant look. "And Kakashi is always so aloof about everything. Half the time I feel like I don't even exist to him." Kakashi hung his head, not even trying to hide his own shame. "But that's fine, because being a team means accepting each other in spite of each others' flaws and supporting one another… That's what old man Hokage always told me."
He wiped his face with his arm, trying not to get emotional at the thought of Hiruzen's ailment. "It just- it just feels really, really shitty to know that I was fighting for my life in the hospital and not a single one of you showed. It's like- if I had died in there, would you guys have even cared? Would you have come to my funeral? Would you have anything positive to say about me, or am I really just that awful to be around?"
Tiredly, Naruto threw his crutches aside and slowly took a seat, enjoying the relief of not having to stand for the moment. He didn't think he could, emotional as he was getting. He pushed on, now directing his attention solely on Kakashi.
"I asked Shikamaru and Hinata, both. Their senseis have taught them far more than Kakashi has taught us. Collectively, individually, doesn't matter. Kurenai-sensei has made sure all of her students can at least detect and dispel mid-range genjutsu, and that's not even getting into all the help she's given them in refining their core techniques. Asuma-sensei has gone and formed an actually cohesive team and helped round out a lot of their weaknesses, at the very least…"
Glaring at Kakashi, Naruto's accusation held the full weight of his judgment. "You know a thousand jutsu and have taught Sasuke a whole one. You showed up late every day and taught us the bare minimum for months! We're barely passable as a team and that was your sole focus for us from the very moment we were assigned to each other. We've developed no additional skills; hell, you haven't even helped us refine the techniques in our arsenal! You didn't even think to help me work on the Shadow Clone jutsu, despite me clearly missing several key aspects of the jutsu, and I'm certain you know it! Sakura is a weak link in this team and it's not even her fault anymore; you've done nothing to help her get even close to where she needs to be, to be a proper asset." Naruto at least had the grace to offer an apologetic look to a mortified Sakura as he called her out.
Turning back to Kakashi, he continued his tirade. "It's a miracle we survived in the forest with how underprepared we were! Then you just pawned me off to some random schmuck who you knew hated me!" Naruto accused Kakashi, a growl building in his throat. "How exactly am I supposed to take that? We barely managed to survive against Orochi-fucking-maru. He put a freaking seal on me and you didn't even think to check on me or ask about it! You didn't ask me how I was doing or offer us comfort or council. News flash, I was fucking terrified! I would've killed to have even just a pat on the back! Some acknowledgement! Something, anything to show me that you gave a damn and cared about how I was feeling!"
Tearing a fistful of grass from the ground, he chucked it at the man, childishly. "But that's not what happened, is it? No! You just grabbed Sasuke and fucked off like an alcoholic father, and within days, I was on death's door due to some bullshit completely out of my own control. And you. Didn't. Show! No, no! what's more, you didn't even care enough to come see my match! You had to find out from someone else that I'd won. Can you really not even guess how shitty that made me feel? My own sensei was so disinterested with me that he didn't even show up to one of the most important moments in my life!"
… Well, he'd been right in assuming there was a lot to unpack. Kakashi took a long moment before he responded. He needed to make sure he got it right. No deflections; no excuses. He knew this was likely his only chance to mend things between them. "I understand your grievances, and I'm sorry I made you feel that way, Naruto. I do care about you guys -all of you." He paused for a moment, thoughts of his old time trying to overwhelm him. His kids reminded him so much of his old Team Seven, sometimes. He needed to remind himself that they weren't the same. "I'm terrible at expressing my own feelings, and I guess my own laziness finally caught up to me… Please believe me when I tell you that I had my reasons for the things I did; I wasn't just ignoring you guys. But- well, looking back on them now and how things turned out, I'm not so sure they were very good ones." Another pause. "Truthfully, I think I'd started to take you for granted. You always act so tough; you smile so much and are so full of energy, so I think I let myself forget that you can be hurt when I screw things up…"
A long sigh followed that. It was difficult sometimes, to take other people seriously. He and Naruto were a lot alike in that way; they deflected, because they'd never truly learned how to process their emotions... Perhaps that was exactly why he'd taken the boy's feelings for granted. It had often felt like other people did exactly the same to him, back in his youth. "That's on me. Sorry, Naruto- no, I'm sorry to all three of you. I promise to do better at teaching you guys, moving forward."
"U-um-" Sakura suddenly cut in. Naruto and Kakashi both looked her way to see her shuffling in place. "I'm sorry too… I swear I didn't choose not to visit you because you're annoying. I really was going to come see you! But my dad told me you were attacking people and I- Ugh, I got scared, ok?"
Naruto frowned.
Attacking people? He hadn't attacked any- Actually, no, he had. Doctors, the old pervert, and even his own guards. Maybe not consciously, but he knew that it had occurred. The only people who'd been spared had been the old man Hokage and Hinata, in the first few days of his internment…
At his silence, Sakura piped up yet again, as if rushing to fill the void between them. "One of my mom's friends is a nurse at the hospital; she said you were attacking everyone, even the doctors who were trying to save your life! When we heard that, my dad told me I should wait until you recovered and 'in control' before I went to see you. By the time I thought it'd be safe, Shikamaru and Ino were already so angry at me, I thought you wouldn't even want to see me…" She trailed off lamely, near the end, as if just now realizing the flaws in her own logic.
Naruto fought to keep his scowl off his own face. "So you just didn't show up because you thought I'd hurt you? When have I ever done anything to make you think I'd do something like that?"
"Look, I know it's stupid, alright?" Sakura's own guilt was easy to spot. "But back in the forest, you were acting super weird. Your eyes changed, and you were completely out of control! You barely seemed to even recognize Sasuke and I! I guess I just thought something like that had happened again; I didn't know if you were safe to be around."
Okay… Ouch.
Naruto had plenty more he wanted to say. For a moment, he considered going off on Sakura again. Sure, the Kyuubi's chakra made him act wild and unpredictable, but he'd never so much as threatened any of them. Not on Tazuna's bridge back in Wave, and certainly not in the forest.
After a moment though, he decided it simply wasn't a battle worth fighting. Whether she was right or not was irrelevant. It was a valid fear, even if he hated it; even if he felt in his heart that she was wrong.
It wasn't his place to tell her how to feel, even if it really freaking hurt to hear.
"If that's how you felt then that's how you felt, I guess." In that moment, a wall was forged between them. Naruto shot Sakura a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes, crafted specifically to hide the hurt he felt underneath. "I guess I can't blame you for being afraid." He shrugged, then made to stand. "Alrighty. We've all talked. Can I go now?"
Sasuke scowled between the two. "That's a load of crap and you know it, Naruto." He glared at Sakura, who winced. "What I'm hearing is that you either don't trust or don't respect , and that's a problem. I'm not exactly swimming in emotional intelligence and even I know Naruto would chew both his arms off before he ever let any of us get hurt.
"It is what it is, Sasuke," Naruto cut in with a sigh. "I'd rather just let it lie."
"H-hey! That's not fair!" Sakura whined. "I do trust you Naruto! I do respect you! You're my friend!" She shot to her feet, waving her arms frantically. "I do! I just- look, I messed up! I'm sorry! Next time, I'll be the first to visit, alright?
Were they really friends though? Dozens of interactions between them flitted through Naruto's memories at rapid speed. Some of them were positive; most, not-so-much.
Maybe when he was desperate for attention, he might've considered her one. She was his comrade, and they'd been through a great deal together; objectively speaking, he cared a great deal for her. Even now, hurt as he was, he couldn't quite find it in himself to hold any real ill will for her… But calling her a friend would've just felt disrespectful to the people who had stepped up, like Shikamaru, who had always been kind to him, even when they hadn't been close.
Like Hinata, who had shown every day to let him know just how much she treasured him.
Hell, like all of Hinata's team, who had not just come to visit him, but defended him against Gaara, while he was at his weakest.
"Sure Sakura, I'll hold you to that," Naruto gave the girl a thumbs up and a hollow grin.
Sasuke glared at him, and he knew the Uchiha had seen right through his smile. Even Kakashi seemed suspicious. Sakura though…
She sighed in relief.
Ramen was a rare treat for Hinata. Most of her meals were prepared within the clan, barring team meetings and the like. In those cases, Hinata's own meekness ensured that she rarely worded her own suggestions when it came to deciding what Team Eight would eat together. In most cases, Kiba's own outspokenness would decide where they took lunch long before either of his teammates got a chance to speak up.
Hinata didn't really mind; she wasn't picky, barring a few choice items, and she knew that Shino was the same. Kurenai-sensei generally seemed content, so long as the three were getting along with one another, and thus, everything just seemed to consistently align Kiba's way.
But Kiba wasn't here today. How fortunate, as Hinata really didn't think she could bear the boy's teasing, at the moment.
"Let's have ramen when you wake up. Please?"
She'd made the request back then in the heat of the moment. She'd needed it; something, anything to build up her own optimism for her crush's recovery. She didn't regret it in the slightest.
It sure as hell didn't mean she wasn't about to freak out over it. Still, 'Bold' Hinata had seemingly taken the helm today, as she had every intention of seeing this through with commitment.
Hinata had spent the better part of the afternoon sifting through Hana's old clothes, all largely donated by the older girl to her brother's teammate "in the name of a good cause." Hana hadn't even had the grace to let Hinata pay for them.
"I was planning on donating them anyway! It just wouldn't sit right with me if I took your money."
What exactly did one even wear for stuff like this? All Hinata knew was that her usual fit probably wouldn't be appropriate. At least, she didn't think so; that just felt lazy.
For the occasion, she'd thrown on a sleek, lavender hoodie over a mesh shirt. Tan-colored overall-shorts were far out of her comfort zone, but Hanabi had insisted that it looked good, and so Hinata had trusted her sister's advice. Clean white flats complimented her choice of clothes well enough for her tastes.
It wasn't extravagant, but it would have to be enough…
Oh who was she kidding? She should have done more with her hair! Should she have tried putting on make-up? She didn't know a damned thing about make-up! God, she should have just asked Kurenai-sensei for help! Maybe it wasn't too late to find the woman and-
"Heya."
Crap.
Hinata's neck creaked like a rusty machine as she slowly turned to regard Naruto, who had ducked underneath the folds blocking off the stall. "H-hello."
Naruto grinned her way, and Hinata's breath hitched in her chest as his eyes squinted, fondly. "I'm not late, am I? Sorry, my sensei abducted me and I had to rush back home to change." Hopping onto a stool beside the girl, he grinned at the waitress, who patiently awaited their orders, a fond grin on her face. Hey Ayame nee-chan! I'll take the usual."
Ah, that was her queue. She didn't need to look at the menu; she'd read it thrice over, waiting for her crush to arrive. "Pork Belly p-please. No egg." Hinata winced, spotting the redness around the boy's wrists. "Ah, w-was he… Was he rough with you?"
"A bit." Naruto shrugged, helplessly. "It's fine, I'll live. Honestly, just getting to chill at Ichiraku's more than makes up for it, for me. You don't know how much I feared for this place when things started going to shit!" He paused for a moment, his eyes roving over her appearance, politely. "Uh- you look pretty, by the way." His sudden earnestness cut through the lion's share of her own anxiety, and Hinata felt the viper in her chest uncoil just enough that she could breathe again.
"Tha-thanks… I think I-uh, really needed to hear that," she admitted. Mirroring his earlier actions, she fought the urge to gasp as she finally found the confidence to look directly at him. "G-g-gorgeous."
"Eh?" Naruto chuckled, nervously. His cheeks dusted pink and he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know about all that!"
Hinata strongly begged to differ. He'd clearly made an effort, thoroughly braiding the right side of his hair close to his scalp, so as to keep it out of his face; the braids had been meticulously done in a neat, diamond-pattern, with many of his braids being adorned with thin metal rings.
The rest of his hair retained its usual unruly appearance, though it seemed to have been at least partially tamed, taking on an appearance that was more fluffy than the outright spikes she was used to seeing. Hinata stifled a giggle, seeing that his hair seemed to be faintly spiking up again at the edges, the longer she looked at it.
His face was somehow prettier than she remembered, and Hinata spotted a set of rose-gold earrings dangling from his lobes. He noticed the attention, and grinned, proudly. "I made them out of my chains. They're just clip-ons, see?" True to his word, he easily pried one off, rolling the ornament in his palm for her to see. The shape was simple; a rounded, spider-web pattern that dangled from a thin metal chain. He clipped the earring back on with a barely audible 'snap'. "I made you something, actually." He stuck his tongue out in thought as he began rifling through his utility pouch. I wanted to do something nice for you too since you made this for me, after all!"
At his gesture, Hinata realized he was wearing the poncho she'd made him. Another surge of affection hit her as he unconsciously stroked the fabric of her gift.
"N-Naruto-kun, y-you didn't have to…" She took a long, steadying breath. "You don't have to pay me back."
"I'm not paying you back," Naruto batted back with a roll of his eyes. "I'm reciprocating your feelings, you goofball."
"M-my feelings?" He wasn't saying what she thought he was, was he?
Naruto went silent for a moment, considering a thought that she wished he'd just voice aloud. Then he sighed. "My brain cells are practically an endangered species, Hinata. But I'm not that dense, ya know. Even if I were, I've had enough people beating me over the head with it as of late that it'd be rude of me to not acknowledge it."
He'd thought it over ceaselessly, since they'd last seen each other. Shikamaru's urging was one thing; his mother's words were another. Even Jiraiya had taken a shot at him once or twice in the last few days or so. But today's meeting with the rest of team seven had only solidified for him his feelings.
Maybe it was a bit abrupt, but that was just how he did things, he supposed. He was spontaneous, and not exactly good at playing coy.
"Look, I'm not good at this kind of stuff- talking about my feelings, that is," Naruto muttered, lowly, unconsciously mirroring her own admission to him, not long ago. "But I know this: You were there for me at a point in my life where I really needed that support. Hell, now that I'm really thinking about it, you've always been cheering me on. At a bare minimum, you're one of my most precious people." Then, his cheeks began to redden, and he coughed. "You also happen to be a very pretty girl, hehe…"
Would it be rude to faint? Probably, and Hinata hated to be rude. Maybe that was why she didn't tilt back from her seat and crash into the ground, unconscious. Or maybe it was Naruto's quiet nervousness, so unlike his usual, bubbly self, that compelled Hinata to find her strength.
Maybe she was just growing up a bit.
Regardless, she didn't faint, even as the boy she adored finally procured a beautiful, rose-gold bracelet for her to see. It was simple, only sparsely decorated with a simple, floral pattern. At the center, where the clasp lay, was a stylized sun.
Hinata swallowed dryly. Her eyes locked onto the design, its meaning clear.
Naruto hesitated for a moment, uncertainty swimming in his eye. Then, "Gah! I don't do all this subtle stuff! I like you! I don't know what to do with that; hell, I don't even really know what that means! But I do, so-" Irritatedly, her crush gripped her gift with intentionality. "Look, j-just accept this gift as a sign of my affection… This is a threat!" Then, with a startling swiftness, he gently took her forearm, clasped the ornament around her wrist, and ducked his head into a freshly placed bowl of miso ramen. Across from him, the waitress, Ayame, giggled like a young schoolgirl.
"I never thought I'd see the day where I got to watch Naruto-kun confess to a girl! A bit of a flounder at the start, but you stuck the landing, at least!"
Naruto glared at the girl from just above the rim of his bowl. "If you say anything, I will burn this place to the ground and snort the ashes."
A hollow threat, they both knew. Between the two, Naruto would somehow suffer the most if Ichiraku Ramen were to close down.
Thus, Ayame simply grinned, gently patting the boy's head before moving on with yet another giggle.
"Ugh, she's off to go tell the old man, I bet." He groaned, palming his face. Then, spotting the still-gaping Hinata out of the corner of his eye, he frowned. "Well, this is awkward."
The girl offered a stiff nod. Then, sluggishly, she broke apart her chopsticks and buried her head into her own bowl of ramen, willing her crush not to see the furious red blush of her face. The light 'clink' of metal stole her attention back toward her wrist, and Hinata couldn't help the silly grin that laid claim to her lips.
"Well done, X'omaa," Kushina sang, proudly. How wonderful was it that she got to see her son out on his first date? She clutched at her chest, trying to steady the fluttering within. Her boy's experience had been so eerily similar to her own, all those years ago; back when she and Minato had just started to understand their own feelings.
Kushina had never dreamed that she'd be fortunate enough to see her son enjoy such a wonderful moment. She'd given up on it entirely, from the moment the fox had claimed her life on the day of its rampage. Even after they'd reunited, so many years later, she'd never been quite so bold as to dream of getting to be a lasting part of her son's life.
But the reality of their situation had changed, and it was all thanks to her son's ingenuity that she got to have the privilege of raising him; maybe a bit late, but not so late that she could not forge a place in the boy's life.
She cast a sweeping gaze at her surroundings, taking in the space around her. The space, previously an empty white void, had begun to fill, ever-so-slowly. Steadily, it had begun to color itself as Kushina's place in it solidified. Previously, she'd been content to let it remain in its default state. Why go through the effort of changing it, when every second was uncertain? Now though, she was beginning to sort out her plans for the place. The streets of the late Uzushiogakure were assembling themselves all around her; large buildings loomed off in the distance, and seeing her home as she'd left it brought a brilliant smile to Kushina's face.
There was still much to do though. For starters, the now two scorching hot suns that loomed ominously above. One, which was massive enough to swallow up even the largest buildings around; the other, so overwhelmingly huge that it completely dwarfed the first and stretched across the entire sky, above.
"Yeah, that's gonna take some sorting, huh?"
On some level, Kurenai Yuhi recognized that spying on her favorite student was a rude thing to do. On another level, she wouldn't have missed the moment for the world.
She hadn't even planned it, really. Hearing Hinata come to ask her for dating advice of all things- well, that had been surprise number one. Surprise number two had been that young Naruto Uzumaki could be quite the debonair when he really wanted to be. Oh, he was a touch awkward; they both were, really. But the young Uzumaki seemed to handle himself far better than she would have expected a boy of his age to.
He'd clearly made a very nice effort, dressing neatly and even doing his hair for the occasion. That was a point in his favor. Point two was the beautiful gift he'd gone and clasped to her student's wrist. Point three- well, there was no 'point three' just yet, but the kid was currently two-for-two, which was only serving to help her opinion of him.
"Having fun?" Said kid's voice whispered amusedly, behind her.
Kurenai twitched, the only sign in her body that he had surprised her.
How had he managed to sneak up on her like that?
"You are very sneaky," she finally admitted, sourly.
"Yeah," He agreed, smugly. "Don't feel too bad. I've been clowning on elite ninja since I was still an academy student, if you can believe it."
She'd heard about it; most Konoha ninja had. Still, on some level, she'd simply assumed the stories were wrapped up with exaggerations of the boy's talent for stealth and espionage. Up until recently, he hadn't even seemed like he had the mind for it. Suddenly, stories of the little blonde hellion running circles around the ANBU didn't seem quite so farfetched.
Still, she needed to save at least some face. "Aren't you supposed to be on a date with my student, right now?"
Naruto scoffed. "I'm just a clone, lady. I wouldn't disrespect her like that."
"My name is Kurenai Yuhi."
"Yes mommy." Naruto grinned, even as she fixed him with a stern glare.
"Stop that."
"So, what are you doing creeping on us?" Naruto cut along. "You aren't perving, are you? Because if you are, I've got a whistle with your name on it."
On second thought, maybe she didn't like him after all- oh who was she kidding? Kurenai fought a hard battle to stifle the laugh that bubbled in her throat. "I'm just making sure you're treating my student properly, is all."
At her explanation, the boy's grin slowly morphed into a sad frown. "You know, I'm starting to take issue with how often people just seem to assume the worst of me." Sucking his teeth, he added, "I know I can be a bit of a clown, but I don't think I've done much to make people distrust me so often, ya know."
Oh dear, now she felt bad. "It's not quite that I distrust you, as it is that I fear for her." All she got in return was a quizzical look, so Kurenai thought carefully about her next words. "Hinata is a wonderful, beautiful, budding young woman who comes from a powerful family with many connections; she has one of the most sought after bloodline limits in the world and is friends and teammates with heirs of two other prominent clans within this village; her sensei is the number one genjutsu mistress in the entire village. What do you think that means? And be serious, please."
The boy chewed the bottom of his lip, considering her words. "You're saying she's an easy target for the wrong people… People who would look to use or take advantage of her." Again, he frowned. "Don't you think you aren't giving Hinata enough credit? She's strong as shit, ya know."
"I know," Kurenai affirmed. "But my role as a sensei is to look after that girl as if she were my own daughter. Same with Shino and Kiba; as far as I'm concerned, they may as well be my kids. Even if I trust Hinata's strength; even if I like you -and I do like you," She saw fit to add. "Even if all of that is the case, I still wouldn't feel satisfied if I didn't at least make sure."
"Huh…" Naruto stared at her blankly for a moment, and Kurenai almost worried that she'd said something inappropriate. Just when she was about to press him for answers, Naruto smiled at her. "You're really cool ya know, Kurenai-sensei."
Kurenai Yuhi never thought she'd see the day that a mere boy made her blush. "I- Just make sure you keep treating her right, are we clear? Because if you so much as hurt her-"
"Yeah, yeah, you'll cut my face off, then put it on your face, then look into the mirror so you can lecture yourself." He gave a long roll of his eyes. "You don't have to tell me all that. I really like her, ya know." A shared grin built the foundations of a bridge between them, then Naruto snapped his fingers. "Actually, I'm glad I caught you creeping on us!" If he noticed the indignant glower that was born from his thoughtless accusation, he certainly didn't act like it. "I was actually just looking for a smoking hot genjutsu mistress to teach me the fundamentals. You wouldn't happen to know one, would you?"
Let it never be said that Kurenai did not respect Naruto Uzumaki's boldness. Still though, "What about Kakashi?"
"He is neither smoking hot, nor a mistress of any kind, I'm afraid," Naruto mourned. "Also, I didn't even think to ask him because he kind've sucks and we're only just now speaking again. So how about it? I'll be your best friend!"
She couldn't help but laugh at his antics. "You are too much, you know that?" Still, Kurenai would be lying if she said she wasn't intrigued. As far as she understood it, Naruto Uzumaki had zero talent in genjutsu, nor the inclination to learn her craft. Still, he'd surprised her plenty already, and Kurenai was looking for someone to teach it to. "I want you to understand that I do not accept slackers under my tutelage. If you truly wish to learn, you will be at Training Ground Twelve at six A.M. on the dot, tomorrow morning. Do so, and I will teach you the basics in the time leading up to my team's assembly. I will not come looking for you, and you will regret it if you make me wait. Are we understood?"
A brilliant grin was her only answer before the clone vanished in a light puff of smoke.
"Whoever made this seal was either dangerously incompetent, or very evil." Jiraiya concluded, stepping away from Gaara. "You can put your shirt back on."
Nodding, Gaara redressed himself, sitting down onto the comfortable white sheets of his hospital bed. His peaceful surrender to Naruto and Sasuke's hands had at least afforded the boy and his siblings the luxury of a comfortable stay and medical care; a detail which all three Sand Siblings were certainly thankful for.
Baki, unfortunately, was still in holding for the assassination of one Hayate Gekko. As an adult and one of Sand's elite Jonin, their sensei was unlikely to receive anything close to the grace they had been given.
Naruto strongly concurred with Jiraiya's assessment. "This thing's got looser holes than your mama." He endured the anticipated smack on the back his head without complaint. "Ouchies. Anyways, the fact that it works at all is honestly the most impressive part."
"So evil as shit, then," Jiraiya decided. His scowl was stitched tightly to his face, so intense that his teeth had bared. "Who made this seal, boy? Do you know?"
Gaara flinched as the Toad Sage turned that expression his way. "Our seal mistress, Chiyo."
"Don't ever call her that again," Naruto cut in with a snarl. Again, Gaara flinched; Kankuro and Temari sidled up to the boy, interposing themselves between their brother and the newly incensed Konoha ninja. Guiltily, Naruto forced his features to soften. "Sorry, I'm not angry at you. "She doesn't deserve anything close to that title, and if I ever see her dumb ass, I'm killing her… Then killing her again."
Jiraiya didn't want to encourage that line of thinking, but he was hard-pressed to disagree with the sentiment. It was bad
Really bad.
"What exactly is the problem?" Temari finally asked, voicing the collective thoughts of the three siblings.
A long huff, then Naruto dove into an explanation. "Gaara's seal is primarily a yang-based, three-tetragram lock with a grade-three power suppression matrix as its basis. Underlaid is a neuro suppression matrix with a hidden kill switch. The two are connected and primed with a voice and word activation trigger, likely tied to your late father. On the surface, that seal is more than good enough for sealing and restricting the influence of, say, a cursed object. It'll keep the object in check and, in a worst case scenario, give the controller the means to immediately shut down any rebellion by destroying the object and taking the curse with it. The problem here being that Shukaku isn't an object, but a living, thinking creature. The seal is laughably lopsided with a yang-alignment, making it more than sufficient for containing Shukaku's body, but pathetically weak at containing its mind and spirit. That's why it was always so easily able to influence Gaara, and why it can use its chakra to act outside of his control whenever his will is weakened." Then, a rumbling growl ripped through his throat, so deep and full of rage that Temari staggered back a step. "This is by design. The seal is designed so that he'll eventually be completely consumed by Shukaku's will. Your father wanted Gaara to be devoured by Shukaku."
A silence formed between the five present ninja as the Sand Siblings absorbed that information; the only sound that filled the room was Temari's heavy breathing as her rage built, her inevitable explosion imminent.
"WHY!?" She finally screamed; a touch of hysteria in her voice preceded the angry tears that welled up in her eyes. "What the fuck!? What purpose could that possibly serve?"
"Oh that's easy," Naruto cut into her tirade. As she turned her teary-eyed glare his way, he shrugged, exasperatedly. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger... Like I said, the seal is yang-based, designed to contain, control, and suppress physical entities. Shukaku was meant to slurp Gaara's soul and consciousness like a juice box until there was nothing left of him, leaving it fully in control of Gaara's body; a body which was designed to become its permanent collar."
"I-I don't understand. Please, just give it to us straight," She pleaded.
"Note that I said collar, not cage. He wanted to sacrifice Gaara's body and soul so he could turn Shukaku into his pet. If things had worked out the way he'd wanted, Shukaku would've been stuck in a body that could only obey the will of the Kazekage. In a worst case scenario, he could've killed Gaara's body and taken Shukaku with it at any moment, pretty much forcing its cooperation." Sadly, Naruto bowed his head to Gaara. "You were raised as a pig for slaughter."
"Ah." Gaara simply nodded, solemnly.
"'Ah'!? That's all you have to say?" Temari whipped around to grip the boy's shoulders. "You should be angry! Furious!" She gathered her confused brother into her arms and sobbed. "I'm so sorry, Gaara. I'm so, so sorry!" The youngest of the Sand Siblings froze at her touch, seeming to be at a complete loss. Still, he was thoroughly without his sand; even if he were inclined to strike out, he hardly had the strength to do anymore than let the girl sob into his neck.
It wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling.
Kankuro wrapped an arm around both their shoulders, a cold frown etched onto his face.
"For you, it's a tragedy," Jiraiya told Temari with a sigh. "For people like Gaara, that's just the reality of things." Looking Gaara's way, he nodded. "I'm sure you had your suspicions, eh kid?"
Gaara simply nodded back. "He tried to have me killed many times as a child. My own uncle was sent on a suicide mission to assassinate me… Many times, he told me that I was a mistake; a failed experiment. It was like he wanted me to hate him. Or rather, he wanted me to hate myself."
Mulling over that for a moment, Naruto sighed. "The strength of one's spiritual energy is related to their strength of will and emotional state. By keeping you downtrodden, he hoped to make you an easy meal for Shukaku. Take everything away from you; remove your will to live, and he eventually gets a perfect killing machine at his beck and call… But Shukaku isn't stupid. It probably suspected that something was fishy and chose to manipulate you without taking you over fully, setting you up as the fall guy. It planned to groom you into a servant to carry out its will on its behalf while it explored its options... But you're stronger than either of them gave you credit for. Once you started to rebel against Shukaku, it got desperate. Once the Kazekage had died, Shukaku understood that it could make a bid for its freedom, and that cursed seal that fake ANBU injected you with was its perfect opportunity."
Gaara let out a shaky breath, now understanding just how close he'd come to his own end.
To completely ceasing to exist.
"But we were able to put Shukaku in check. As for the Kazekage, well you lost your way for a bit, but he's dead, and you're still here. The secondary seal is inert without him around to activate it... What will you do now?"
A pause. Then, Gaara looked back at him, his eyes wide and imploring. "What would you do?"
Grinning, Naruto threw his arms up, clasping his hands behind his head. "See, I'm the petty sort, so I'd want to do the opposite of whatever that assclown wanted for me. Live your best life; make some friends; build a family. While you're at it, become a better Kazekage than he ever could. Then go ahead and piss on his grave and hope the dead can see us while you do it."
Gaara ducked his head, deep in thought. His eyes were hard to spot underneath the curtain of spiky locks. Then, he raised his head, a tiny grin dancing its way across his lips. His eyes glimmered with a pittance of life. It was a weak, almost pitiful thing. But it was a start. "Ok."
"You're punctual; I like that." Kurenai couldn't deny that she'd had some worries about whether or not Naruto Uzumaki would make it on time. It had little to do with the boy himself, and more to do with who his sensei was.
Kakashi Hatake's questionable habits were almost legendary among the Jonin force.
Needless to say that Kurenai was happy to see that his student hadn't seemed to have adopted any of the man's more negative traits.
"Listen, I like having my limbs and organs very much attached to my body, thanks," was the boy's reply. "Besides, you're doing me a huge favor here. I'd be a huge jackass to take that for granted."
"Well said. Sit." She waited for him to obey his command, the boy plopping down onto the grass with a sigh of relief; his crutches were tossed as he did so, landing just within arm's reach of him. "Now, what is genjutsu?"
Naruto thought for a moment. "Yin release. Er- well, it's a branch of jutsu that focuses on manipulating the senses, and is activated through yin release."
Kurenai blinked, owlishly. "Clearly, you understand more than I gave you credit for. Yes, that's exactly right!"
A huff. "I understand the mechanics of genjutsu well enough. I'm just ass at its execution. My chakra is heavily lopsided toward a yang distribution, you see; it's why I struggle so much to do even basic stuff like making standard clones. They're primarily yin release jutsu, compared to my Shadow clones, which while comprised of yin-yang release, are largely yang-leaning." He thought for a moment. "I suppose I could do the clone jutsu with enough practice now that my control is better, but the problem is that my yin-chakra is so much weaker than my yang that it's hard for me to even keep track of it, sometimes. It just gets swallowed up in it all."
Kurenai had been under the impression that Naruto Uzumaki was a bit- well, a bit lacking in the education department. The boy that sat in front of her seemed to be fairly well educated in the mechanics of chakra, though. For a moment, she thought to ask. They were short on time though…
Another time, perhaps. Still though, "If you know that you aren't suited for yin release, then why bother trying to learn genjutsu?" Kurenai questioned, trying to withhold her exasperation.
Naruto groaned. "I'd have to be Bibbles the damn clown to just neglect one of the core ninja arts just because it's difficult. Besides, lopsided chakra distributions happen all the time; I was hoping you might be able to help me balance the scales a little more evenly."
...Fair enough.
"If your alignments are really so lopsided that you can't even produce a basic clone, then you're really going to have your work cut out for you, young man." Truly, Kurenai didn't envy his position. "Still, if you're committed to finding a solution, then I'll help you get started, at least.
How to do so, though? Genjutsu was a rather difficult art to get into, especially for those lacking in natural talent. For many practitioners, herself included, you were either naturally gifted at it or you weren't. That gift generally came at the cost of a weaker body, as a heavy leaning toward yin chakra usually resulted in a disproportionately low amount of yang energy.
"To combat my own mismatch, my sensei had me work twice as hard in our physical conditioning to strengthen my body. Even still, taijutsu has always been my weakest point." Oh, she was passable enough; you didn't get to be a Jonin by having a weakness as glaring as basic hand-to-hand. "If you want to strengthen your yin chakra, you'll likely need to double down on your studies and mental training to compensate. I recommend regular meditation to strengthen your mind and spirit. Has Kakashi taught you spirit control?"
"Uh… no," Naruto admitted, slowly. "I know the theory behind it; Iruka sensei mentioned it once or twice in the academy, but he said it was really advanced so…" He trailed off with a shrug.
"The mechanics are simple, the execution is a pain." Sitting down just across from him, Kurenai outstretched her arms, with palms up. "Give me your hands." Not wishing to take the woman's patience for granted, Naruto complied without question; not even a hint of his usual snark was to be seen.
Kurenai made a show of taking a deep breath, smiling encouragingly when her temporary student mirrored her motion. "We're going to match our breathing as best as we can. It'll help us focus. Then, I'll reach for you with my yin-chakra. What I want you to do is try to match my output as closely as you can. Separate your physical and spiritual energies first… Do you know how to do that?"
Kurenai felt the exact moment the boy reached into the well that was his chakra pool. It was massive; titanic, even. So much so that it utterly dwarfed her own, and she knew instinctively that he was only harnessing a fraction of the whole, like watching a bear loom over you on four legs. Her stomach lurched, and she had to fight to steady herself as a veritable ocean of chakra threatened to wash over her. Choking on her own saliva, Kurenai let out a flimsy wheeze. "That's a lot of chakra."
"S-sorry," Naruto muttered with a wince. "My control is rough right now 'cuz of my injuries. Let me just-" Slowly, the weight that had pressed down on his teacher began to lessen. "Separate my energies…"
Clearly, he at least understood the process. It was clumsy, but not entirely unpracticed.
"If you're struggling, try to imagine it like a two intersecting circles," Kurenai tried, shakily. "One is your yin-chakra; the other is your yang. At the center, where the two intersect, is the chakra you naturally use to cast ninjutsu. Since your yang chakra is so much more potent than the other, you're going to want to get a feel for the differences; try to envision those differences. It'll help you manipulate them better."
Her guidance seemed to help somewhat, as Naruto once again matched her breathing and reigned his power in with great effort. Much of the weight he'd called forth lessened all at once, and slowly, Naruto managed to adjust himself to the best approximation he could manage of her own output.
"That's not bad at all," Kurenai mused. "I wouldn't have thought so, considering your known issues. But clearly, you have some experience using just your yin chakra, huh?"
"I had to do it back when I fought Gaara during the invasion. I mostly just bs'ed it on the fly, back then. It's- er, well it's a lot easier to do that kind of stuff when it's for seals or I'm doing it through my chains, I guess."
Ah, Kurenai did recall the boy's fascination with sealing, back during the tournament. That sparked an idea. "In that case, try to think of it like this. Imagine my chakra is the mold of a seal, and your goal is to match that mold exactly so it doesn't destabilize. If it really does help, you can use your chains to start with, but you'll want to eventually get to a point where you can do it unaided."
He was silent for a long moment, then a faint rattle of metal sounded as several of the ghostly appendages sluggishly melted away from his flesh; they congealed together, creeping along from the space between his shoulder blades before coiling around his forearms and clasping together to encase each of his palms. Their usual ghostly flames were dull, like a dying candle; nevertheless, they burned confidently, and Kurenai noted with some fascination that the boy's chakra had contorted almost perfectly to match her own output.
How had he-
"When you put it like that, this isn't hard at all," Naruto mused. "My chakra system is kind of messed up right now, but so long as my chains hold I should be able to control it all well enough."
"Ah, g-good!" Kurenai praised him. "That's the first step… For the next, we're going to raise our output as high as we can, while doing our best to stay in sync. Stay with me now."
Heeding her words, Naruto continued to match her as Kurenai breathed, letting her chakra bloom to its apex. To her own surprise, he matched it easily.
"Higher?" Naruto questioned, readily.
Kurenai's heart threatened to leap into her throat. "G-give me a moment."
A breath. Then another.
Bracing herself, she affirmed for the boy, and once again had to fight to stay afloat in the ocean of chakra that threatened to build above her head and drag her into its abyss. "Stop!"
He did so, an anxious frown plastered across his face. "S-sorry. I just-"
"It's fine," Kurenai assured him, a shaky smile of her own rushing to assuage his worries. "I just didn't realize you had so much to work with… That complicates things." Taking in his confusion, she considered her words. "The purpose of this exercise is to continually raise our output as high as we can… Think of it like a spar between our chakras. The role of the instructor is to provide a wall for you to climb, and your role is to keep climbing that wall until you can reach the top and go past it. At that point, we'd be able to challenge each other as equals. It's one of the reasons that genjutsu is best learned from an experienced instructor." A sigh. "The problem being that you, the student, already eclipse me in this area. It could take me months or even years to get to a point where I could provide a suitable challenge for you when it comes to the raw potency you're currently working with; by then, you'd likely be in another dimension entirely, even if you never trained a day in your life for this."
Kurenai tried not to let her own envy pervert her words. A student's advantages should be celebrated, even if it did hurt her ego a bit.
"Before anything, let me start with a full explanation. The principles of spirit control can be broken down to three core ideas. We start with 'spirit strengthening', which we just attempted. That's how we grow the potency of our yin chakra. With that, we can strengthen the hold of our genjutsu or other techniques which are built upon yin-release." Naruto nodded, and she smiled, before moving on. "The next idea is 'spirit regulation', which revolves around how we manage that chakra. The most effective way to develop this skill is by matching our output to resonate with each other. The best way to develop it would normally be to practice with many different partners so you don't get too accustomed and so it always remains a challenge… This isn't very feasible for us though, since genjutsu is a pretty unpopular art within the village."
Once, the Leaf had been home to the largest collection of genjutsu practitioners in the entire world. The loss of the Uchiha clan however... It would have been disingenuous to call them kin, but Kurenai had truly mourned their loss, the day the news had been released.
Naruto nodded slowly. It certainly explained why she was so eager to train a student. More genjutsu practitioners eventually meant more rivals; more rivals meant she'd have more opportunities to test her skills and refine her craft. "So we've got spirit strengthening and spirit regulation. What's next?"
"Next, we've got 'spirit projection'. Spirit strengthening is how we build our strength. Spirit regulation is how we refine that strength. The art of projection is how we shape that strength to carry out our will. It's also the core idea that free-form genjutsu is built on, which in turn is how we develop pre-made genjutsu techniques from scratch. To develop this skill, the best way to do so is with a projection duel." Kurenai offered him an apologetic smile. A projection duel involves us creating a- well, something like a middle point between our consciousnesses. In that space, we can engage in a battle of wills to refine the accuracy and flexibility of our illusions. "I can help you refine the latter two, but I can't do much to help you build your strength if you're already so much stronger than me in this area."
"But you're the best genjutsu user in the village. What do I do then, if the next strongest yin chakra in the village can't match my out-" Naruto paused, suddenly struck by inspiration. "Could a clone work?"
… She didn't see why not. It was a bit unorthodox, but they weren't exactly swimming in options.
"It might not be as effective for refinement, but you should certainly be able to use it to build your strength. Give it a shot!"
Wordlessly, Naruto crossed his fingers. A deep breath, then a shadow clone 'poofed' into existence beside him. Kurenai stood to relinquish her spot to the clone, watching as the pair positioned themselves just like she had done with him only moments prior.
"Again, match your energies as well as you can and raise your output to your max. Once you find it, hold that output for as long as you possibly can and steady your mind; sequester it off from all distractions and focus solely on your chakra."
The two Narutos did so. A visible, purple flame-like aura began to rise from their metal-clad palms as their yin chakras rose. A bead of sweat gathered at the original's temple as their two auras merged into one, finding a perfect sync with each other.
"Can you go higher?" Kurenai asked, trying to keep her voice low, so as to not distract them.
Naruto didn't verbally acknowledge the woman, but she noted with awe as their aura swelled even more. Now, sweat had begun to gather expeditiously at his brow; several streams of the liquid poured over his face and dropped to the grass between his legs.
"Higher," Kurenai urged, yet again. "Like a rubber band. Stretch it just short of snapping." The blonde grit his teeth as he struggled to follow her teachings. His and his clone's grips on each other had tightened to a painful degree, but their focus held.
"Hold that resonance for as long as you can. Don't lose focus."
Then, she took a seat at the base of a tree and waited.
Again, Naruto said nothing in favor of maintaining his connection with his clone. Honestly, it wasn't terribly dissimilar to the resonance he had held with Mito through the legacy seal, minus the physical elements. The strain was there, but he found that the very same exercises he'd used to maintain his focus there translated well enough to this exercise.
A minute passed, and Kurenai raised a brow. Most students struggled to even break past the minute mark when they first began practicing genjutsu. It was quite the challenge for beginners to not only maintain their output, but also the intense focus required to keep generating yin-chakra at the rate needed to prolong this exercise.
Another minute passed, then another still. Kurenai's interest bloomed into awe as the boy held his focus, even as his efforts drenched him with a thick layer of sweat. A line of drool trailed from his lips as his focus peaked, and Kurenai knew the blonde jinchuriki would not be distracted by anything. A vein throbbed in his temple, blood rushing with intensity and pinkening his face with the color of his efforts; Kurenai worried he'd pop a blood vessel.
"Try to relax. Maintain that output as best as you can without over-straining yourself. Your goal is to normalize this output so it becomes your new 'resting' output. Once you can do this without any strain at all, you'll find your new limit and shoot for that."
Again, most people could barely manage a minute, performing this exercise. Kurenai, herself, had a record of twenty-one minutes; the result of years of dedicated training to strengthen her yin chakra and rate of production to the highest degree she could.
Naruto Uzumaki's endurance had to be superhuman- alien, even, for he annihilated her record with ease, managing twenty-nine on his first try before his strength completely left him and he was forced to separate from his clone. A hacking cough ripped from his throat, splattering the grass beneath him with thick phlegm that tinted pink.
"H-how- haaa… How was t-tha-that?" He finally choked out, shakily. Kurenai noted with some alarm that his eyes were bloodshot.
His dedication to his learning was certainly admirable, if a bit reckless. She'd want to try curbing that a bit, in future sessions.
No response came to mind, for a moment. How to explain to this boy that he'd just managed something she'd thought impossible, and seemingly with ease, at that?
"It was alright. Nothing special, but we'll get you there."
Naruto grinned at her. "You're full of shit," he laughed, wiping the blood from his face and standing with some effort.
Kurenai joined him for just a moment before forcing an air of seriousness. "Practice that in the morning when you wake up, and at night before bed. Make sure to exercise your mind too. Things like puzzles are a great source of mental stimulation and will help strengthen your yin-chakra. Reading helps a lot too. Come back tomorrow and I'll help you cast your first illusion."
He nodded, then stood. "Thanks for your time, Kurenai-sensei." He bowed, then gathered his crutches and hobbled off, slowly.
"Huh… Cute kid."
Kakashi watched his students with a careful eye as they worked.
Losses had been tallied; property damage was accounted for.
There was a lot to recover from.
Hence, many of the available Genin teams had been delegated to the reconstruction effort in the form of D-rank missions, dedicated toward all the manual labor outside the scope of a regular civilian's capabilities.
Hell, even his own hands were busy, assembling support beams or painting buildings.
"I still don't understand why we need to be stuck doing a bunch of grunt work," Sasuke grunted, his irritation plain as day. "Wouldn't we be best served reinforcing the borders to make sure no one tries anything funny?"
"You are grunts, Sasuke," Kakashi batted back, chidingly. He did not miss the way the boy's knuckles whitened as their grip tightened on a wooden pane. "Work like this is allocated to Genin because you guys are the lowest among our forces. The only ones who should be exempt from this work are Naruto and myself."
"And right now, I've got the constitution of a bowl of overcooked oatmeal." Naruto sighed, mournfully. He couldn't fully complain though. The labor was menial and even a bit frustrating, but it was effective for helping him regain his strength, ever-so-slowly. Spotting Sasuke's frustration as well, he elbowed the boy, lightly. "When we're done with this, we can spar a bit if you're down. Should help me get back into shape."
Sasuke merely glowered at him. "What purpose would it serve to have me fight a cripple?" His friend rolled his eyes at the boy's insensitive comment.
"You know that's gonna be really awkward for you if this cripple hands you your own ass, right?" Naruto side-eyed the civilian family who were not-so-subtly watching them from a nearby window. A man and a woman both glared his way, their suspicion evident. It was a hard-won battle not to flip them off. Refocusing onto the sneering Sasuke, he bumped him again. "You want some genuine advice that'll make you way stronger?"
The Uchiha paused, his dark eyes regarding the blonde, curiously. "You'd better not be bullshitting me."
"I'm not. I've got some real advice I wish someone would've given me way sooner, and I'll share it with you if you do me a favor in exchange." At Sasuke's hesitant nod, Naruto grinned. "Teach me your fire jutsu. The big fireball one!"
"That jutsu is a specialty of my clan," Sasuke growled. "I'm not just going to teach it to you for some advice, you idiot."
"Yes you are, because you've been brooding over how strong I've gotten everyday since the Chūnin exams. You want to know so bad you'd teach me all of your fire jutsu if I asked." Naruto spoke with such confidence that Sasuke was given pause.
He considered the offer again, this time far more seriously. "Just the one?"
"It's all I need," Naruto assured him. "I'll make damned good use of it, believe it." Hesitantly, Sasuke nodded, and Naruto knew that to be as good as any promise. "Your biggest thing holding you back from getting a lot stronger right now is your mindset. Don't interrupt me," Naruto snapped, as Sasuke opened his mouth to argue. "You're objectively dedicated to your growth as a fighter, but the biggest problem you have is that you distract yourself far too much. You spend far too much time brooding over where you feel you should be, instead of looking at where you currently are and how you can progress to the next stage. You're at level five trying to skip to fifty, instead of thinking about how you can optimize your transition to six." Thinking for a moment, he added, "Your emotional state is super important to the growth of your chakra. When your chakra is allowed to be fueled by those emotions, you'll grow much faster."
Then, Naruto pointed at the boy, almost accusingly. "Your problem is that you're currently trying to feed your growth with negativity by focusing entirely on the guy who killed your clan, but you can only burn coal for so long before you're all out. That brings me to my advice: If you really want to grow super fast, find more reasons to grow powerful and unify them into one central purpose that you identify with. When all of your emotions can operate as one, your focus will improve. When that happens, you'll grow way faster." Looking over to the obviously eavesdropping Sakura, he added, "That goes for you too, by the way."
His piece said, Naruto walked on from Sasuke, who had gone silent in contemplation. Looking back at the boy, he grinned. "You can start teaching me the fireball jutsu once we're done here."
Trying to practice his clan's war dances weren't going nearly as well as he would've liked.
If it were just a matter of the pain, Naruto was certain he could've powered through it easily enough. He'd endured far worse, after all… Memories of the chasm came first and most prominently in the young Uzumaki's head as a frontrunner among his most traumatic memories.
Truly, it was hard to complain about pain when you'd already been at rock bottom, both in a figurative and literal sense.
No, if it were just pain, he could've endured it easily. The real issue was the weakness. His yang chakra had been particularly difficult to call forth, likely the result of his reckless and clumsy use of the shape changing jutsu on such a massive scale.
Oh, he could use it with enough effort, but even the most basic of techniques were a work of monumental effort just to get off the ground. For a whole branch of techniques which were built on a strong body and powerful natural augmentations via chakra flow, Naruto was finding that many of his techniques were out of reach, or at least significantly weakened.
"This isn't getting me anywhere," Naruto was finally forced to admit to himself.
He was just wasting his time.
Kushina concurred. "Overstraining your body is just going to make your condition even worse. You won't heal that way."
"Yeah…" He was healing, at least to some degree, thankfully. The day he'd woken up from the hospital, he'd been so weak he hadn't even been able to stand without aid, let alone walk. Now, he could at least take a break from his crutches for a few minutes at a time without tiring himself out too terribly. Still, his healing was slow, likely impeded both by the massive presence of the One Tails' largely unfiltered chakra, as well as the Nine Tails' heightened restrictions.
Still preferable to the alternative though. Naruto really didn't want to find out how much influence the fox could exert while he was weakened to such a degree. Kushina was working around the clock trying to keep its malevolence in check.
Still, if he couldn't train himself physically, "My yin-chakra is still fine enough. I can add the extra focus to that, for the time being." It helped that, with his yang-chakra as weak as it was at the moment, calling on his yin-chakra was easier than it had ever been. This was the perfect moment for him to find some equilibrium.
He sensed Kushina's hesitance for a moment. Then, "Just try not to overdo it, alright?"
"Mhm," He muttered back, noncommittally. Coating his hands with his chains for the extra help, Naruto took a breath. "Shadow-clone Jutsu."
Eleven other copies popped up in front of him, and the boy was forced to take a long breather, dropping down on his butt and ejecting a long, tired breath through his teeth. Patiently, his doppelgangers allowed their creator to recover himself, simply moving along to carry out his will. They didn't need instructions; not when they knew exactly what he'd made them for from the very moment of their inception.
Each clone broke off into pairs, taking seats with each other and clasping their hands together. A lone clone dropped down right across from the original and invited the boy's palms with his own. "Whenever you're ready, boss."
"Yeah…" For now, if his body and yang chakra were too weak to make any headway, he'd simply need to triple down on his yin-training. Clasping hands with his clone, he announced, "Let's shoot for a clean thirty-minutes, everyone! Minimum!"
A chorus of agreement sounded among the crowd as an amethyst glow bloomed within their joined hands.
Deep within, Kushina wrung her hands with concern.
That's this chapter!
As you can see, there's a lot of buildup going on in this chapter, but little else. I'm sure things will pick up again shortly, but I was just wanting to write something a little less intense while I plan out my next moves.
That said, let's do some analysis while I explain some of my thought processes, this chapter. This is gonna be lengthy so if you don't care for these, move on. If you do, bear with me while I cook for a few moments.
First and foremost, Naruto's lunch with Hinata... I'm going to be real with you guys, I thought about trying to draw this out, make it feel a lot more intense and build it up more. But I hated the stuff I came up with, trying to do that. All of it just felt so inorganic. Real relationships rarely come from all the screwing around I tend to see in fanfiction; mixed signals are unattractive. Moreover, I looked at the characters I was writing and just couldn't make it happen; didn't want to make it happen.
Hinata's adoration for Naruto is so obvious that the only thing that ever made it unable to work was Naruto being one dumb motherfucker in canon. Now take that, and try putting it into a context where she has found the strength to confess her feelings. Now take that and factor in the fact that the Naruto that she is working with here is a bit less dense and also far more appreciative of her. Add the work that we've done to have them function with some genuine closeness and chemistry to each other and I would've had to BS REALLY hard to drag this out.
Plus, it's not really Naruto's style to beat around the bush. My only real regret is that I didn't give it a larger part in this chapter but I do have my reasons for that. We'll be seeing more of them together moving forward, so you won't have to wait long at all.
Next on the list, the fate of Hiruzen. I've seen plenty of stories where Hiruzen manages to survive by some way or another. I wanted to give it my own shot for one major reason. I clearly set up a lot of emotional work between him and Naruto that I really wouldn't be able to cash in on the way I'd like if Hiruzen just got disconnected from the server so early into this story's run-time. More importantly, I really want to try tackling the idea of grief from someone like Naruto's perspective and analyze how he'd handle something like that based on his environment and values. That's also something we'll see more as I continue to write and get more comfortable with the direction of this story.
Now, addressing the interactions with Team Seven here: I'm already anticipating the accusation that Sakura and Kakashi both got off easy here.
I disagree. In Kakashi's case, apologizing is the least he could do here. That doesn't necessarily mean he is forgiven, nor does it mean that he has necessarily learned entirely from his mistakes. However, I maintain that this is not meant to be a bashing fic, and I see no reason why Kakashi, when faced with the consequences of his poor actions, wouldn't be willing to apologize or reevaluate. I like Kakashi, and so I don't want to misrepresent him just to create some drama or give Naruto someone to hate. We'll see as things progress how their relationship builds, if at all.
As for Sakura, I've mixed feelings. I don't like Sakura, and my reason for that is that I generally feel that she terribly misunderstands Naruto as a person, to the worst degree. I don't doubt that Sakura cares about him a great deal, but the impression I got throughout canon was that Sakura just doesn't really respect Naruto. She clearly understands his strength, but even looking far into Shippuden, she still just thinks Naruto is doing everything he is doing for her, instead of having his own reasons. What that tells me is that she doesn't really see him as his own man or value that he has his own motivations; to her, he's still the little clown who shouted about being Hokage. THAT'S the angle I'm taking here. Sakura cares about Naruto, but that care is shallow because she doesn't really even understand that care, and isn't mature enough to properly reevaluate like Kakashi is. I don't want to bash her though, so I'm trying to take my writing of her very slow so I don't just botch it.
As for Sasuke, I've mentioned before that I want Naruto and Sasuke's relationship to feel like it has a lot more substance pre-timeskip. I want them to feel like good friends who have a strong understanding of each other and their values, even if they don't always agree. That was my goal with the construction scene, to show how well Naruto can read him. Kakashi just pokes fun at Sasuke and doesn't take his frustration seriously, showing that he's still slow to truly understand his students. Naruto though can see Sasuke's frustration and understand exactly why he is feeling frustrated, as well as know how to curb it. The two are so alike at their cores, that I feel like he really would be able to clock his friend's anger and know just how to get ahead of it; just like how Kushina did for him at the start, by giving him some direction and a clear goal.
If he can get a neat technique out of it while he's at it, all the better.
Lastly, I already know I'm going to get people asking "Why Kurenai?"
Honestly, one of the big areas that I feel were underdelivered on in Naruto, both among the canon and even in fan stories, is the usage of genjutsu. Outside of certain specialty-cases like Itachi, it's rare that we get to see it used at any kind of high level and even when it is, it's usually kind've underwhelming... Again, outside of the case of Itachi, who is working with a mean pair of magic eyeballs. That isn't to say that genjutsu is lame by any means, just that I wanna try my hand at showing off how cool it can really be. It also serves as a nice setup for additional showings and helps me dive further into my interpretation of how yin-release works.
In canon, Kurenai's sole showing was being touted as the premier genjutsu user, only to get solidly bitched out by Itachi in seconds. Later, she only really existed to have a dead man's baby and further Shikamaru's character growth. Not gonna lie, I kind've hate how she was used. A lot of the stories I read that involve her tend to have her portrayed as a prudish bitch who exists to shit talk Kakashi's team and get put in her place in some way or another. Here, I don't really think I intend for her to have any major roles, but I do think I can do more with her; especially since she happens to be the sensei of one of the most important characters, here. Also, I just really liked the dynamic that I had started to build up between her and Naruto during the Chūnin exams and I really wanted to try exploring that more.
Here, I imagine her seeing him as a cute kid, who is snarky and maybe a bit obnoxious, but ultimately earnest and well-meaning. Maybe even a bit charming, once you get through all the layers of attitude. I could imagine someone like her having the patience to deal with a lot of his shenanigans and see his potential, while also occasionally having some pleasant banter with one another... I don't know, I'll figure it out more as I go.
The last order of business is Gaara. I'm honestly glad I can stop driving and reversing over that poor boy; I know he's had it rough over the last few chapters. This is far from being the last we'll see of him, and I'm excited to get to write more of him as he develops further. A lot of his growth happens off-screen between him getting beaten by Naruto and when we next see him in the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. I hope to show that growth a bit and also give him room to affect other characters.
I think that covers analysis. Once more thing and that'll be it. This one is important, so bear with me:
I'm currently taking action to experiment with social options to open the bridge of communication with y'all. I think one of the best things I can do for myself as a growing creator is to explore any opportunities to have a discussion with my fanbase and get some real insight into what you guys are looking for and how I can improve. That's why reviews and shares are so helpful! They not only push engagement with this story by making sure it reaches a larger audience, but also gives me a chance to see you guys' direct responses and what you think of the story as it progresses.
Naturally, I'd like it if we can keep that going; I love seeing reviews; seeing them fills me with a burst of energy and gets me so excited to write that sometimes I just put down everything and start going crazy on the page.
But I don't want this to be the only way that you guys can talk to me or share your opinions, which is why I'm trying to build a discord server. I'm not super experienced at managing a social presence of any kind, but I should likely have something concrete by the time I post the next chapter, but you guys will be able to join and engage in a more direct manner, is my hope. If you're all interested in seeing that become a thing, definitely let me know in the reviews.
Okay, that's it. Thanks for bearing with me while I got all my thoughts down. Until next time!
