Dinner with the Hokage, Part III - The Mortality of a God and the Immediate Value of Effort

"A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and there comes a time when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist."

Stewart Alsop

"Do not fear death so much but rather the inadequate life."

Bertolt Brecht

Hiashi had noticed that the Hokage was still missing from his place at the head of the table. He had occupied himself the last half-hour or so with watching bemusedly from his seat as his peers made fools of themselves on the dance floor. Tsume had somehow dragged Shibi into the throng of Sarutobi clansmen and was grinding against the man as he stood ramrod still in such an explicit manner that he would have covered Hinata's eyes had she been in the room - he had to remind himself that Hitomi had told her the Inuzuka matriarch had always delighted into coming onto their male teammate for the sake trying to elicit a reaction, although the Hyuga did know that Shibi was a widower and Tsume was divorced, so perhaps there was something there he was unaware of.

Meanwhile, Shikaku was being forced to dance with his wife Yoshino, who moved rather gracefully in sharp contrast with her husband, who was shuffling along with her movements as best he could. It seemed for once it wasn't due to laziness that he wasn't matching her energy, but rather a lack of skill based upon the anxious expression on the Nara's face. His two "friends", Chouza and Inoichi, were pointing and laughing at their comrade's awkwardness as they started imbibing alcohol in earnest, their faces rapidly becoming tinged with red. Mebuki Haruno was surprisingly the most graceful dancer out of the group, twirling and spinning around with a Sarutobi woman with joy in her eyes. He supposed that she was grateful to feel as if she could keep up with her shinobi company in some regard.

While he was not in the mood for cavorting after the parting words from Hiruzen, he could not begrudge the other parents for taking the time to cut loose. It was a natural and human thing to such a sobering experience for many, and the clan head could acknowledge that even if he was trying to turn over a new leaf there was not enough levity in his being to take part in this kind of celebration.

Centering his mind on the Third, he reflected briefly on not only the old man's words that evening, but his words and behavior over the last several days. His focus was clear, the next generation had to become strong, frightfully so to inherit the will of fire. But what had caused this shift was where Hiashi's mind currently went.

What had caused the Third to become so personally involved? During the wars, Sarutobi Hiruzen had been an incredibly hands-on leader. He would routinely take the battlefield and run the village from a war camp during the second war, all while training the Sannin in the early days before dispatching them to Amegakure where they made their names. He had won several battles against his contemporaries, the Third Tsuchikage, Raikage, and Kazekages. In terms of how he handled internal affairs, back at that time he had far more control over his one-time rival Danzo and stronger relations with the various clans of his village. The Professor was not known as one of the greatest of Kage just due to his martial might, but his abilities as a diplomat and statesman.

He had not come out of retirement the same man. Hiashi remembered how Hiruzen had led the village against the Kyubi attack before the Fourth had teleported the beast away. Even though his skill set was not particularly suited to fighting biju as Hashirama Senju or even Onoki of Iwa had been, the man had been the same calm, cool, and collected leader Hiashi had looked up to as a child.

Then the next day, Hiashi had learned that the old man's wife, Biwako, had perished in the attack. The clan head knew better than most what the loss of your other half did to a person. After all, he had spent the better part of the last decade mourning his own lost love and becoming a man he was ashamed to have to acknowledge as himself, at least until very recently. The same could likely be said of Sarutobi - the Uchiha massacre, the Kumo Incident, the defection of Orochimaru. There were more internal disasters in the village in the twelve years that made up his second stint as Hokage than there had been in the prior forty, even if there had been no war. And that didn't even touch on the fact that it was a known secret that the shadowy parts of Konoha were now fully under the control of the man known as the Darkness of Shinobi, Danzo Shimura.

But in the last few days, he was beginning to see that hands-on leader he remembered from his youth. The question became - what caused the shift back to that level of tenacity? And unfortunately, given the recent request made of him by the old leader and said man's exit from the banquet he was hosting, Hiashi had a theory that made his heart drop and his stomach turn.

Deciding he needed to attempt to find an answer to this question, the Hyuga used the distraction of the party to quietly leave the table and sneak through the door he had seen Hiruzen disappear through earlier. Thankfully it seemed as if he did go unnoticed as he closed the door behind him, taking in the hallway before him.

It was similar to the rest of the area - simply colored, with small roots and vines adorning the walls, floor, and ceilings. The walls were lined with doors, each likely leading to someone's personal room, or perhaps a meeting room or a tea room. Hiashi quickly activated his Byakugan, attempting to determine which door held the Third behind it. It would undoubtedly be a scandal if he were caught doing so, but he was confident that given the revelry in the next room nobody would be the wiser to his moment of espionage.

He decided it was not any of the rooms along the hallway, as all were empty - no, it had to be the room at the very end of the hallway, through which his Byakugan could not see. Undoubtedly, that would need to be the room that the Third would preside in and call his quarters - the most secure one.

Approaching the door and knocking lightly, he heard a series of violent coughs before the tired voice of Hiruzen said, "Come in, Hiashi." Opening the door, he was greeted with a sight that all but confirmed his suspicions.

The Third sat on the end of his bed, bent over and looking exhausted. His robes had been discarded, the man now shirtless with only a black pair of shinobi pants to preserve his modesty. His upper body, while a bit on the small side, was built purely of lean muscle, made all the more obvious by how tensed said muscle was and the thin sheen of sweat covering it. What caught the clan head's eye more than anything however was the pool of blood that coated his lap and the floor before him, his mouth and teeth stained ruby red.

"I figured you would start to ask questions eventually, given what I had you write to Tsunade." The man smiled grimly at him before devolving into another round of body-shaking coughs, gobs of blood shooting from his mouth and nose.

"Lord Third!" Hiashi half-shouted. Without a second thought, instincts quite literally pounded into him by the greatest medic Konoha had ever seen had him rush to the old man's side, his hands glowing green as he prepared to diagnose the situation.

"Calm d-down." The old man sighed, his muscles losing their tenseness as Hiashi's hands passed over his back, assuaging the irritation wracking his respiratory system. "This is a nightly occurrence now. So I'm guessing after my fit at the table you put together who I was referring to by 'VIP patient'?"

The Hyuga clan head didn't answer for a moment, his Byakugan once again active as he assessed his impromptu patient. It was only his lifetime of prodigious self-control that kept him from gasping in horror at what he saw. However, there was still a reaction. "I am not certain you will last another month until sensei arrives, Lord Third." He spoke with disgust in his voice - any medic would, were they to see what he was.

The man's chakra network was covered in tumor-like masses, several of his tenketsu engorged to the size of lemons, or even apples. The old man's chakra was not flowing in the same way it should have, pushing against these swollen masses instead of flowing through them. It was causing his chakra to damage his pathways as clogged as they were, as well as nearby internal organs.

"Have you seen a doctor?" The Byakugan wielder asked, attempting to reduce the size of one particularly large tenketsu located next to his kage's lung by using his chakra to promote a healthy flow.

"The only doctor who knows of this is Tae Takemi, the current head of the hospital." Hiruzen sighed, relief showing on his face as Hiashi's work relieved some of his pain. "She was able to do what you're doing now, and we had hoped that would be the end of it, but the masses keep forming no matter how many times they are addressed. It's at the point where hours can be spent ridding me of all of them, only for them to be nearly as bad as they were the next morning."

Hiashi pursed his lips in concern. He had trained alongside Takemi under Tsunade - she was an incredibly talented medical ninja, even if she had no aptitude for combat. If she had been unable to do more than address the symptoms… "Did she have any working theories about what could be causing such issues?"

The old man chuckled ruefully - his impromptu physician had managed to reduce the tenketsu next to his lung to normal size and chakra was flowing normally, allowing such an action. He had now moved to one next to his heart. "She theorized that my body had reached a point where the quality of my chakra itself due to the spiritual and mental energy acquired over my long life far outstrips my physical pathways ability to properly channel it as they have degraded with age, in addition to creating an imbalance in my energies. She was at a loss as to how the problem could be addressed. It was because of her advice that I thought of reaching out to Tsunade in the first place. She is my only hope now."

"How long since the diagnosis?" Hiashi asked, now moving his attention to a tenketsu in his shoulder. The ones damaging his organs had been addressed for the moment, but the clan head figured the ones in his limbs were still causing discomfort and general issues with circulation.

"Three months, during my last quarterly physical." Hiruzen sighed in relief as his pain and discomfort diminished to much more manageable levels. "We have been mitigating the issue since then, but as you can tell by my recent actions I have run out of options. I don't truly believe even Tsunade will be able to keep me alive much longer."

The green chakra faded from Hiashi's hands. "Is this why you are pushing so hard now? Is that the reason why you are expecting so much from Kakashi Hatake?"

The old man stood, a content smile on his face - this was likely the easiest he had been able to move since the morning, maybe longer. "Indeed it is. I have to use the time I have left to find a worthy successor and ensure that the next generation is being guided successfully." He began to redress himself.

Hiashi stood silently as he watched one of the most powerful men he had ever met clothe himself, seemingly already past the episode he had just undergone. "How are you so calm, sir? Most would be more worried about their mortality in your shoes."

He went still as the robes fell back over his body, his face turned away from the clan head. "Let me respond to that with a return question, Hiashi: have I been a good Hokage?"

Hiashi's eyes widened at the innocent question before he answered. "The two wars the village has survived under your direction would say so, Lord Third."

The man snorted derisively, turning back to the other man and giving him a baleful stare. "Let me be more specific then: have I been a good Hokage since they Kyubi attack?"

The Byakugan wielder immediately opened his mouth to answer with an affirmation before his words caught in his throat as he remembered his earlier thoughts. While his initial instinct was to answer yes, could he do so honestly, without any caveats or qualifiers? "Your second reign has been… Less active than your first."

"What a polite way of saying I've sat on my hands playing figurehead." Hiruzen sighed. "There's no need to sugarcoat it Hiashi. If I had been the leader I was in my youth, so much could have been avoided. Maybe the Uchiha would still be with us, maybe your brother would be alive, maybe Orochimaru would never have fallen as he did." He clenched his fists in anger. "Do you know what my last words were to Kushina, before she died?"

Hiashi nearly staggered back as if struck. He hadn't really thought of his old teammate in many years, even though he missed her terribly. She had been like the sister he had never had - she had actually been one of his "groomsmen" at his and Hitomi's wedding. "No, I don't." He whispered.

"I told her, as she lay dying, her newborn son in my arms, that I accepted full responsibility." Hiruzen spit out the words like they were venom - Hiashi caught blood seeping from his clenched fists, his grip so tight his nails were cutting into his palm. "Full responsibility! And I do bear full responsibility for him growing up alone, hated, nobody to look after him!"

"Many of us bear responsibility for that." Hiashi sighed darkly. Oh, he knew Naruto Uzumaki's parentage - his mother, and his father. He had actually been Kushina's choice for godfather to the boy, though ultimately she and Minato had compromised with Jiraiya assuming the role of godfather and Mikoto being his godmother. However, both he and Mikoto had been blocked from doing anything to help the boy due to the fact that his parents were kept secret - they owed him nothing in the public perception, and their respective clans had vetoed their attempts to take the boy in or offer him aid. As time had gone on, doing anything for the son of his old teammate had fallen by the wayside in favor of duties to the clan and his failing efforts to parent his own daughter. However, even as he tried to accept blame for doing so little for his own teammate's son, it had not been his decision that Naruto Uzumaki was known to be an orphan with unnamed parents, simply a boy who had been in the right place at the right time - at least, his situation was right for everybody except the boy himself. The only man who was untethered by social expectations with the duty to care for the boy was Jiraiya, and he had his own reasons for not being in the boy's life, reasons that were likely flimsy when put up against what the child had endured throughout his adolescence.

"None more than myself, and perhaps Jiraiya." Hiruzen replied as if reading the other man's thoughts, his anger giving sadness. "We are the two that assured them we would accept full responsibility." The old man walked over to his closet and pulled out the Hokage's hat before returning back to his bed, sitting again on the edge though careful to not let his flowing white robes touch the bloodstains, the ceremonial headwear in his lap.

"I truly believed that I would only wear this hat for a year or two at most when I retook the mantle of Hokage. I wanted it off my head as soon as possible - I still mourn for my dear Biwako, and desired little more than to spend my days peacefully with our family before the time would come that I would be blessed to be reunited with her." He sighed, reaching into the pockets of his robes and pulling out his pipe. Hiashi's first instinct was to admonish him for continuing such a habit in his condition, but then again, perhaps he needed the vice more than ever now. "I thought another candidate would arise quickly. Perhaps Fugaku Uchiha would prove himself worthy after being passed over, or Orochimaru would change from the dark path I saw him on. Kakashi and Itachi Uchiha were both young and promising - I even saw you as a possibility for a time, Hiashi, before the Kumo incident and the death of your own wife changed you. But ultimately I held onto this hat for the last twelve years, and I have been a poor Hokage during that time. Every candidate I had thought would rise to the mantle has defected or died or fallen short of their potential, and never wanting the position back, I allowed myself to be a facsimile of the Kage I once was."

Hiashi absorbed all this information as best he could, the admission that he had been considered a possibility for the Hokage's office being the greatest surprise to him. He had not realized he held such a high estimation at one time in the eyes of the Professor. He could have spoken, but instead chose to remain quiet as the Third seemingly poured his heart out.

"And now I am dying and what I will leave behind is a power vacuum that will leave this village reeling." He placed the hat behind him and lit his pipe, inhaling deeply of the tobacco. "I feel almost reinvigorated by this stark mortality I am now faced with. I don't know how much time I have left, but I will use it wisely now. I will ensure that there will be both someone to succeed me, as well as a generation under them that can be counted on to carry the will of fire."

"Kakashi Hatake." Hiashi replied simply, finally understanding all the actions his leader had been taking. "You're grooming him to be your successor. Giving him this team, forcing him to face his demons… You're doing it all so when this disease takes you, he is ready to be Godaime."

"Yes." The man breathed out, his eyes closed as he savored the buzz the cloud exiting his mouth offered. "As of now, I have two months where I will be able to continue to conduct myself as Hokage, three to live by Doctor Takemi's estimations. I am hoping that if Tsunade cannot miraculously cure me, she can buy me at least until after the upcoming chunin exams. I believe if he is truly committed to reaching his potential - and if Minato was right about that potential - he will be ready then."

"And if he is not?" Hiashi asked, concern showing itself plainly in his expression. If there were not suitable candidates, that power vacuum would likely be filled by one man who longed for the Hokage's hat above all else - one crippled, dangerous, radical old man who would likely start the next great shinobi war in his twisted pursuit of the village's glory.

Hiruzen did not answer his question, but instead breathed deeply in and out a few times before smiling widely. "I am pleased to see you have continued to keep up with the skills Tsunade imparted upon you, Hiashi. I had wondered if you would after you became clan head."

While annoyed he did not get a direct answer to his question, the clan head also knew he had been given far more information than he was owed due to the fact that he had not demanded it. So he instead replied truthfully to the elder's musings. "I actually had not - I spent time this morning after Hinata left and my clan duties were addressed working on fish. Thankfully this has proven to me that the ease with which I accomplished that basic exercise was indicative that those skills have not rusted as much as I have feared."

The man's smile grew even wider at these words. "Excellent to hear. I would continue your efforts - as well as revisiting any other skills you were once attempting to acquire before bureaucracy weighed you down as it did me. If Kakashi falling short worries you, do not look to me for answers." He stood again, walking to the door and holding it open for the other man. "Rather, I would suggest you focus your efforts on offering me an alternative. I want my successor to be around Minato's age when he was appointed if possible, but I am open to older options if they have the strength of body and character to qualify."

Hiashi's eyes widened at the obvious insinuation Hiruzen was making before he smiled slightly. "Understood sir." The two men then made their way back to the event, hopefully before their absence became too notable.


Naruto located the other members of his team before his sensei, noticing them sitting under a tree as he rounded the corner. He smiled widely and was about to call out to them before he faltered a bit, remembering what he had just learned about Sasuke. He wanted to bring it up, tell him that he was sorry it had happened, but he figured that any form of pity wouldn't go over well. He would feel the same way if someone treated him differently because of the fox after all.

'We've been getting along better anyway I guess. I'll just be extra careful not to pick a fight with him.' The blonde decided internally, committing again to his original course of action. "Hey guys, whatcha doing out here?"

The two heads swiveled from looking up at the sky to looking in his direction. Sasuke's expression remained impassive, but Hinata blushed slightly while smiling at him. "W-we are simply enjoying the night air." The girl replied. She scooted over, making a space between her and Sasuke for Naruto to sit in, which he graciously did.

After a moment of silence, the blonde boy decided to bring up his conversation with Sakura. "Hey Hinata, I talked to Sakura a second ago about all that stuff that happened with you two."

The girl turned towards him, clearly surprised that he had spoken to the pinkette. "And how did that conversation go?" She asked, her tone neutral.

The blonde rubbed the back of his head nervously, picking up on the fact that it was certainly a loaded question. "She apologized for saying rude stuff about me and I apologized for always asking her out even after she told me no. We agreed to start over and be friends - she said she would apologize to you too."

Hinata's eyebrows rose in response to that considerably and her blush darkened a bit. "D-does that m-mean you won't be going after S-Sakura anymore?"

Naruto shrugged. "I guess not. It doesn't really matter too much. Really I think all I wanted was for her to be my friend anyways, ya know? I barely know how to have those. Guess I should worry about doing that right before I get a girlfriend, huh?"

The Uzumaki thought he saw disappointment flash across her face for a split second before she nodded with a smile on her face, causing him to chalk it up to his imagination. "That's s-sensible, Naruto. I think you're doing a good job of being m-my friend."

She shot Sasuke an expectant look, and he rolled his eyes in response. "You're substantially less hopeless than I thought."

"Be nice." Hinata admonished gently.

"That was me being nice." Sasuke replied with a raised eyebrow.

Normally this kind of attitude from the Uchiha would have had Naruto up in arms, but after what he just learned he felt he understood a bit better why the raven-haired boy was so caustic. So instead he just smirked. "Give it time, you'll have loads of nice stuff to say about how awesome I am after we get some training, ya know?"

Both looked at him, clearly a bit surprised at how little the implied insult upset him. "What, no challenges or insults back?"

Naruto snorted. "Nah, I'll just kick your ass one of these days and you'll have to acknowledge what an amazing ninja I am!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes again but this time had a noticeable smirk on his face. "Sure you will, Naruto. It'll be fun watching you try."

"Not as fun as seeing you hit the ground." The blonde replied in rhythm. He was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Sasuke when he wasn't getting worked up about every little slight and comment. It was a strange thing to realize, but maybe the boy really didn't mean as much harm with his insults as Naruto had felt he did. Maybe he just didn't know any other way to talk to people beyond being sardonic and rough - keep them at a distance so they couldn't know how much he was hurting. The blonde knew he did something similar with his pranks and fake smiles.

Hinata giggled slightly at the exchange. "I'm glad to see you t-two getting along so well." She said, her eyes dancing with genuine amusement.

"It's like sensei said, we'll be spending too much time together, ya know?" Naruto replied to her comment, unknowingly echoing not just Kakashi but Hinata as well, having just moments earlier quoted the Hatake.

The Uzumaki frowned as he remembered his earlier revelation, before he had gotten distracted by his conversation with Sakura. "Hey guys, what do you think of sensei so far?"

The two seemed taken aback by the sudden question, but they were starting to get a feel for how their blonde teammate lacked any form of tact or conversational skill, so they instead contemplated the question.

"He's strong." Sasuke answered first. "Really strong compared to most people. You can tell by the way he moves and how other people treat him."

"He's also kind." Hinata picked up where he left off. "It doesn't seem like he's used to being kind, but he's tried to make us all feel welcome and excited to be on this t-team."

Naruto nodded at their words. "Yeah, he's been nicer to me from the start than just about anyone else I can remember outside of the Ichirakus. Even Iruka didn't really like me at first, ya know?"

The heir and heiress of their respective clans both looked a bit surprised at that admission - they had both noticed that the academy instructor seemed to have a soft spot for Naruto, even if he was usually hard on the boy due to his antics. Not sure how to reply, the two quieter members of Team 7 waited expectantly for the blonde to make his point.

"... He's been so cool and strong and nice that I thought he just did everything right. That he was a genius like you, Sasuke. But…" Naruto pulled the small gray tome out of his jacket, holding it up to the two. "Then I found out he's been reading this."

The other two quickly read the title and had two very different reactions. Hinata's mouth fell open in a small circle, a surprised gasp escaping her lips, while Sasuke narrowed his eyes in thought. "Turns out he's been trying really hard this whole time to be so good to us even if he isn't sure how, ya know?"

"How did you get that from him?" Sasuke asked pointedly.

Naruto grinned bashfully, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "Well, ah… Me and Konohamaru - he's'' the blonde stopped for a moment, remembering how much his new protege hated being acknowledged only as the grandson of the Third, "he's this Sarutobi kid I hit it off with at the banquet. But we were gonna prank him by putting a stink bomb in that book he bought earlier."

Sasuke grunted in annoyance while even kind Hinata gave an exasperated sigh. "W-why try to prank him, Naruto?" The Hyuga asked, her tone slightly reproachful.

While people admonishing him for his pranking didn't normally get to Naruto, the Uzumaki actually blushed and felt a bit of shame when Hinata got onto him. "Well, it seemed like a funny joke at the time, and something me and Konohamaru could get along doing and stuff. Plus I thought it would impress sensei if I was able to get one over on him… But when I saw this book instead of that romance book, I felt guilty and didn't want to go through with it. It felt wrong, ya know?"

Hinata's expression softened. "I-I'm glad you were able to rethink your a-actions, Naruto. Are you going to return it to him?"

Naruto sighed, his expression becoming more serious. "Yeah, even if he's mad at me. I guess I gotta stop trying to prank people all the time now that I'm a ninja and stuff, huh?"

"Your pranks aren't all bad." Sasuke cut in, much to the surprise of his teammates. Seeing their questioning expressions, he huffed and elaborated. "Well actually your pranks are stupid and annoying, but you're tricky to deal with in a fight and that comes in useful, like the test earlier. It's probably because you've been making an ass out of yourself for years."

Naruto's face screwed up and he was about to react in anger when the words went through his head again and he heard part of his counterpart's words more clearly. Instead, he smiled wide. "That sure sounded like you acknowledging how awesome I am, Sasuke."

The boy scoffed with disdain, but a small dusting of pink tinged his cheeks, providing proof that he was caught off guard by the blonde actually noticing the backhanded compliment. "Even a loser like you has at least one or two useful skills."

A tick-mark developed on Naruto's head. "Oh come on!" The blonde grumbled, throwing up his hands. "I'm super awesome with my clones and affinities and trickiness and stuff!" Remembering how he had helped Sakura through her emotions earlier, he added another thing that made him awesome. "Plus I'm like, a super nice guy and good with feelings I think!"

The Uchiha looked at him incredulously, and the blonde didn't quite notice the sidelong glance he threw at their female teammate, whose head was tilted to the side slightly as she looked at the Uzumaki with outright confusion. "No, Naruto, just no. I won't tell you why, but I'm very certain you are not good with feelings."

As he felt himself shrink a bit under their gazes, he grumbled out, "I still got good stuff going for me, ya know?"

Hinata giggled softly while Sasuke smirked. "I'll give you this, you knew what to say to get us to work together during that damned bell test. If it hadn't been for you, there's no chance we would have worked as a team. I wouldn't have seen you as worth my time." The dark-haired boy said, the tiniest bit of mirth entering his tone.

"I-I agree." Hinata nodded. "Though I would have been happy to work with you anyway, Naruto." She hastily added, not wanting to be conflated with the Uchiha heir's initial opinion of the blonde.

He smiled weakly at them. "Well, while we're all being honest about our feelings, I think I was wrong about you being weird Hinata. You're actually really nice." He then smirked at Sasuke. "And you're still an absolute bastard, but I think I was being too hard on you about that, ya know? You probably got your reasons for being such a dick all the time." 'And they're good ones.' The blonde admitted quietly in his own mind.

The Uchiha glared daggers at his teammate for a moment before rolling his eyes. "Whatever you say, sure. So why is it such a big deal that sensei is going out of his way to teach us well?"

Naruto shrugged in return. "I dunno, but it feels good. Like it makes it easier to see us being as strong as him if not everything is super easy for him? And it's nice to know he's taking training with us so seriously - it makes me want to try even harder than I was going to, ya know?"

Sasuke nodded slowly in agreement. "Yeah… I guess I haven't had someone to train me in… a while. It'll help me reach my goals far faster."

"I agree." Hinata said with a small smile. "It is n-nice to know sensei is doing everything he can to be a good teacher for us. It makes me feel like he truly c-cares for us, even if we just met."

Naruto gave his teammates a toothy grin before a commotion to their side caught their attention.

"I am so sorry for my mom, Shino." A gruff but young voice said to their side. The three members of Team 7 looked over and saw their former classmates walking in their direction. Sakura and Ino stood in the middle, evidently having made up to some degree, acting as buffers between their teams, with Shino and Kiba walking on one end and Shikamaru and Choji the other. "I don't know why she gets so weird around your dad."

"It does not bother me. Why, you ask? Because our parents are adults who can make their own decisions." The bug user replied in his normal monotone.

Kiba's nose scrunched up in disgust as he grabbed at his hair with both hands, tossing his head back with a groan. "Yeah, easy for you to say. Your dad isn't the one practically doing a strip tease in front of the Third Hokage and his family."

"Didn't you mention they were on the same team as kids, Kiba?" Sakura asked inquisitively. She held herself differently - there was a touch of maturity to the way she carried herself that hadn't been there just a few hours earlier.

Kiba nodded, dragging his hands down from his scalp and cradling his face. "Sure, yeah. But does that mean she's gotta hit on him like that?"

"I once again see no issue." Shino replied, a tinge of annoyance in his tone now. "My mother passed away many years ago, and yours is no longer with your father. If they wish to pursue something, it is none of our business."

Kiba unveiled his face again and gave his teammate a queer look. "Hold on now, you don't think they actually got something going on, do you?"

"If that is the case, it is not our concern until they desire to tell us." The Aburame replied simply.

"That would be so romantic - old teammates reconnecting as adults and awakening passionate feelings they've held back for so long!" Ino crooned, holding both of her hands together as she gave a girlish sigh.

Kiba began to mime a gagging motion while Shino turned towards the blonde girl. "Just because it does not cause me the immediate distress as it does my teammate does not mean I wish to hear about any "passionate feelings" my father may have, Ino."

The Yamanaka heiress had the decency to look sheepish. "Er, right, that's fair."

"Oh look, the gang's all here." Shikamaru noted lazily as he caught sight of Team 7, giving Kiba the small mercy of a change in subject.

"Hey guys!" Naruto greeted his old classmates gleefully.

"H-hello everyone." Hinata spoke softly with a small wave.

"Hn." Sasuke graced the group with his catchphrase.

"Hey Hinata, about earlier…" Sakura began, a bit of unease creeping into her tone.

"Water under the bridge." The heiress replied with her newly found serene confidence. "It sounds like it won't happen again."

The pinkette smiled shyly. "Right."

After a beat, Shikamaru spoke again. "I blame you three for this. Or at least your sensei."

Everyone in the group looked at him in surprise for a moment. "Whaddaya mean you blame us for this? For what?" Naruto questioned, his face once more screwed up in genuine confusion.

"Well, this whole get-together for starters." The shadow-user groaned. "I could have spent the evening watching the clouds. Do you know how great a time twilight is to do that? Instead I've been ducking my mother. Even worse than that is the fact that we're all gonna get our asses rode like crazy."

"What makes you say that? I mean we're ninjas now, so won't we have to work harder anyway?" Kiba asked, confused.

"You think it's normal for the new batch of genin to have dinner at the Hokage's house?" Shikamaru asked sardonically, his eyebrow raised at his feral-looking former classmate. "All of our sensei were just talking about how to make us miserable before all the loud music and dancing started up. Add in that I overheard our parents talking earlier about upping our training, and it's gonna be really hard for me to avoid my mom and dad and sensei when I want to sleep."

As he ended his rant, the pineapple-headed boy was struck across the back of his head by his blonde teammate. "Quick being such a lazy ass, Shika!" She barked. "We should be grateful that they all see our potential and want to make us stronger." She shot a look at Sakura next to her - Naruto figured the pinkette might have told her what he said about Sasuke and the type of people he liked.

'Are there rules to their weird competition to be his girlfriend? Do they have to share stuff like that so they both get a fair chance?' The blonde wondered briefly before discarding the thought as superfluous.

"Indeed, it is wonderful we are all getting this opportunity to stoke our flames of YOUTH!" A boy in a green jumpsuit shouted emphatically, appearing seemingly from nowhere. Behind him followed his two teammates.

Naruto immediately narrowed his eyes at Neji Hyuga. Earlier when he had been told that Neji had said some hurtful things about Sasuke's family and in general wasn't very nice to Hinata. At the time that behavior seemed out of line but not particularly out of the ordinary for the blonde - after all, he was an orphan who was regularly mistreated and had more than once been told his parents were drunks, disgraces, or some other insult about people nobody seemed to actually know, the boy included. He was used to the idea that people out there would be hurtful. But with what he had learned about his male teammate's past, it should have been expected that he would react as he was about to.

After all, while only Hinata remembered the incident, this was not the first time Naruto had stood up to one of her bullies.

*Crunch*

"Gah?!"

Naruto had surged forward without a second thought and punched Neji square in the nose, sending the boy careening back and blood flying into the air. Despite the prodigy's immense skills, the strike had been so out-of-pocket in a peaceful setting he had not reacted in time.

Immediately Naruto felt his movements restricted, as if he was no longer in control of his own body. He noticed that the green-suited boy had appeared between him and Neji, settled into a combat stance with one arm out, palm turned up, the other folded behind his back. Their female teammate was crouched to his side, holding a kunai to his gut.

"What the hell, Naruto?!" Shikamaru grunted, his hands forming the rat seal that allowed his current possession of the blonde's shadow.

"It is most unyouthful to attack somebody who is unprepared for it, especially an ally." The boy with the large eyebrows said neutrally, his face now deadly serious.

"Yeah, bad move blondie." The girl hissed. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Sasuke was behind her now, his own kunai held to her neck. Hinata then moved between him and the bushy-browed boy, sliding easily into her combat stance and ready to defend her teammate. The warmth that spread through Naruto's chest as he took in their quick defense of them only made him more confident he had done the right thing.

"What is the meaning of this?" Neji demanded, his eyes wide with rage as he held his nose, blood seeping between his fingers.

"Shut up." Naruto snarled with a feral expression, his voice low and lacking any of his normal energy but instead holding such certainty that several of the genin around them felt a shiver up their spines. "I wasn't around when it happened, but I still gotta make it clear what happens when you insult my teammates, asshole. I don't care how tough your life has been - talk about Sasuke's family or put Hinata down again and I'll break more than just your nose. Believe it."

The prodigal Hyuga glared at the boy as both his teammates looked at him in alarm. If it wasn't for how tense the situation was, the blonde Uzumaki might have lamented that yes, everyone except him seemed to know why talking about Sasuke's family was an unconscionable low blow before tonight.

Shikamaru released his technique, and Naruto pushed aside the bun-haired girl's arm. The green boy and Hinata both stepped out of the way, the girl throwing her blonde teammate a look of wonder. Naruto couldn't see Sasuke's face from his angle, but he figured he would probably be at least a bit surprised as well.

"You got that, bastard? My sensei taught us that being a team is being a family, and I don't know what having a family is like but I know I won't let people insult mine!" He continued, getting up in Neji's face.

The Hyuga's hands dropped, blood gushing freely as his expression morphed into a sneer. "I cannot wait to show you how wrong you are - you and your "family" are fated to be a group of failures who will disappoint all those who are putting faith in you. Your fight against me will simply be the first in a long line of shortcomings, I'm sure."

Naruto started to pull back his fist again, ready to have the match here and now, when he felt two steadying hands on his shoulders, and his eyes widened as he looked over and saw Sasuke and Hinata on either side of him.

"Calm down, idiot. We'll beat him as a team." Sasuke said, his tone disinterested but his eyes burning with anticipation.

"Yes, we will." Hinata agreed, her tone calm and kind, She stepped forward, retrieving out of her sleeve a small cream of healing. "I w-would apologize, cousin, but I cannot when I consider too much of me feels you deserved that. Still, take this c-cream. Apply it after resetting your nose - it w-will help with soreness and make it heal faster."

He glared at her with contempt before turning and walking away, leaving the group of genin all staring at Team 7. Several looks, like Shikamaru, were appraising them with a calculated intelligence. Others, like Kiba and Choji, simply looked confused.

Finally it was the green boy who broke the silence. "I do not believe we have yet met - my name is Rock Lee. While I apologize for my teammates words earlier this evening, it was still most unyouthful to strike him like that." The now named Lee said, a look of internal conflict on his face.

"Yeah, figure it out on the training field." The girl agreed, looking much less conflicted about continuing to defend Neji. "You're supposed to be a professional ninja now, not some kid on the playground blowing his top."

"Tenten, was it?" Sasuke cut in, immediately having everyone's attention due to how little he spoke. "That prick you call a teammate insulted my family. My dead family. He's lucky Hinata stopped me from trying to kill him in the middle of the village earlier. So while my teammate is a loudmouth idiot who does things without thinking, shut up, and be glad that all he got was a bloody nose for now."

The girl backpedaled, clearly not ready for a rookie genin to speak to her in the manner Sasuke did. She opened her mouth to launch a retort that likely would have further escalated things before Lee held an arm up, silencing the girl.

"We understand." He said, none of his usual silliness present as his seriousness seemed to negate even the ridiculousness of his eyebrows. "I think it would be best if our teams avoided each other until Neji and you all put your bad blood to rest. I have no quarrel with you personally and understand why you take exception to Neji's words, but he is still our teammate."

Naruto glared at the older boy for only a moment longer before sighing. "Yeah, I'm sorry to get you all caught up in this I guess. I'm just not gonna deal with some asshole thinking he's better than everybody and spouting unforgivable crap."

Lee nodded, his expression going rueful. "Apology accepted. I look forward to fighting you, Naruto Uzumaki. Your drive to protect your team is most commendable, even if the way you go about it is less so." He then grinned and gave his nice-guy pose. "It will be a most youthful battle between us!"

Naruto couldn't help but feel his grin alight his face. He liked this Lee guy a lot - the blonde had always been good at judging people's character, and he had a gut feeling the bushy-browed youth was one of the good ones. "Sounds good. After we finish mopping the training grounds with Neji's face we'll have a spar."

The boy laughed good-naturedly. "I am impressed by your confidence, though I would advise caution. I have been training for the last six months to beat Neji, and he has managed to stay head and shoulders above me despite my improvement - he is truly a genius."

Tenten nodded firmly, still giving the blonde a glare. "I doubt you three would have a shot against Lee, so Neji is going to beat you silly."

The blonde felt his eyebrow twitch. "We'll show you you're wrong about us."

"I hope so." Lee said before his teammate could reply, and the Uzumaki felt as if the other boy meant what he said. "We should go find Neji and explain everything that happened to sensei. You may end up in some trouble with your teacher for this."

Naruto thumbed his nose and smirked. "I was probably going to be in trouble anyway."

Lee smiled back awkwardly at that statement before turning and going after Neji, Tenten following closely behind.

The group was quiet for a moment before they suddenly all started speaking at once - Kiba giving props to Naruto for the solid punch, Ino and Sakura questioning how Neji dared to insult Sasuke's family, and Choji loudly chewing on his chips as the whole situation had made him anxious.

"Will everyone be quiet?!" Shikamaru groaned loudly, though his eyes were trained intently on Team 7. "Naruto, you do know you could face a court martial for assaulting another Konoha ninja, right?"

The blonde shrugged in reply. "He deserved it."

"I, that's not…" The Nara began before trailing off and throwing his head back. "Troublesome." He sighed into the night air before turning back towards the Sarutobi compound. "Come on everyone, we should disperse before someone comes looking for punch-happy blondes. Someone might get confused and take Ino."

Ino proceeded to whack him upside the head.

"... I am both correct and in pain. Ow." Shikamaru grumbled as he nursed the quickly-developing lump on his head.

Sakura shook her head in exasperation as she turned to leave with the others. "You're absolutely ridiculous, Naruto." There was, however, a small smile on her face.

As the other rookies cleared out, the blonde turned and looked at his team sheepishly. "Soooo… You think sensei will be more or less mad when I give him back his book?"


"So… Start from the top. You're saying Naruto broke your nose as you walked up to him, before you said anything this time?" Kakashi asked, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to ignore his steadily building headache. He had been walking over to join Gai on the dance floor after his conversation with Masamune, fully intent on messing with the man as he danced, when Neji Hyuga had run up with his teammates, blood streaming from his nose, and accused Naruto of assaulting him unprompted. He, Gai, and Kurenai had immediately ushered the group to the side to hear their story.

"He said afterwards that it was in retaliation for my earlier comments." Neji hissed through gritted teeth as Kurenai passed a hand coated in green chakra over his nose. She was no medic, but had enough basic training to handle a broken nose.

'Perhaps you'll learn something about running your mouth from this.' Kakashi thought to himself vindictively. However, he knew his blonde student's actions were out of line - it would have been more easily defended the moment insults were levied, but now, hours after Neji's careless words, it was premeditated retaliation, which looked especially bad when the cyclops had already scheduled a venue to work out the issue.

"I'll need to have a talk with him about the time and place to settle grievances then." The gray-haired man said outwardly. "My apologies for his actions."

The branch member of the Hyuga glared at him in contempt. "I doubt you mean your words. He said it was your own teachings that caused him to act as he did - something about how his team was his family after two days and he had to protect them, or some other drivel."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow at this. "Oh, did he now? And your teammates would confirm this?" He remembered the words he had given his team after they left the clothing store earlier - evidently he had at least reached Naruto with his words. Rock Lee and Tenten both nodded quietly as they watched the scene unfold. 'Well now I'm much less inclined to punish him.' The cyclops thought to himself dryly. "If that was his reasoning, perhaps I'll need to be emphatic when I speak to him about his actions."

"I hope so, Kakashi." Kurenai said, checking the bridge of the Hyuga's nose to make sure it was properly aligned. "He won't be officially punished more than likely, but he could face severe consequences if he wasn't a fresh shinobi." The fact that he was one of the village's biggest military assets as their jinchuriki was the unspoken reason for why he would not face much censure.

"Yes, we can't have him be so overt." The cyclops agreed in the lackadaisical manner he reserved for intentionally pissing people off. "I'll need to make sure he understands how important it is that there aren't witnesses next time."

"Now is not the time for you to have a cool attitude, Kakashi." Gai said, the seriousness of the situation reflected on his face. "We cannot have our young shinobi acting so unyouthfully towards each other."

"I agree - Neji really needs to watch his mouth. Imagine if this all happened in a month after I whipped Naruto into shape. He actually may have been notably injured." The man agreed, a look of faux-seriousness on his face.

"Are you saying your student's actions were warranted?" Gai questioned, one large eyebrow raised.

"I am saying that any "unyouthfulness" in the relationship between our students was not started by my cute little genin." Kakashi replied, with a bit of sharpness in his tone now. "And after how much I have emphasized teamwork and looking out for each other so far, I can hardly be too critical of Naruto standing up to someone for his teammates."

The two men held a glare for a moment before Gai clicked his teeth against his tongue and broke eye contact. "I hope there won't be any further incidents before their spar. This matter needs to be put to bed."

"On that, we agree." Kakashi said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find my team."

Neji began sputtering indignantly as the man turned to walk away. "Your student assaults me at a gathering at the home of Lord Third, and you won't even censure him?!" He demanded hotly, his voice a bit nasally due to his injury.

"As I said, we'll have a long talk about subtlety. I am very disappointed - with all his pranks over the years, I'd expect him to know how to not get caught. He's certainly impulsive and brazen. " The man said breezily as he walked away, holding up two fingers over his shoulder. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."

Allowing himself to return to his thoughts as he left the hall - the party was dying down anyway - the cyclops exited the room. Internally, while he did recognize that his student had acted foolishly, he couldn't help but feel giddy at what the blonde's actions signified. He was already treating his teammates with care, willing to stand up for them against someone who treated them poorly. With how little the Uzumaki and Uchiha heirs had gotten along just yesterday, this was an unexpected but very welcome development.

Reaching into his pocket, the gray-haired man was surprised to find it empty. He had brought the book by Tsunade on teaching, he was sure of that - he had figured it would be useful as a reference during conversations on how to train the recent graduates, even if he had not ended up needing it for that purpose.

Sighing as he decided to figure out where his missing literature was later, the man scanned the surrounding fields and quickly spotted his team sitting under a nearby tree - all three of them, to his mild surprise. He approached them quietly, suppressing his chakra and making sure they wouldn't be able to spot him while he began to eavesdrop.

"... Don't see why sensei would be too mad about Neji - we gotta protect each other like he said, ya know?" Naruto grumbled, seated between his teammates with his arms crossed.

Hinata giggled lightly at his words. "We do, but he wasn't exactly a threat at that m-moment."

Sasuke groaned in annoyance. "I'm going to kick you around in spars if he punishes all of us, idiot. Especially if he isn't mad about Neji but about you stealing his book."

The blonde chuckled nervously at this. "Yeah, I know, not my best idea. Technically Konohamaru took it though." Kakashi's eye widened a bit as he saw the boy lift a familiar gray book from his lap. "I mean I told him to, but that still means I didn't do it, ya know? I'm just returning it!"

"Let's hope he sees it that way - though I doubt that kind of logic will work on him." The dark-haired boy said sarcastically, though there was a touch of humor to his tone. Deciding now was as good of an opportunity as he was going to get, Kakashi took the chance to make himself known.

"It might." The jonin said, using the shunshin to appear in front of the trio in a swirl of leaves. "Depends on why you took the book in the first place."

Naruto's face lit up in a smile, though there was a bit of nervousness not wholly concealed by the expression. "H-hey sensei! I, uh… Found your book?" The blonde finished lamely, the words sounding more like a question than a statement.

"Indeed." Kakashi agreed, nodding along. "Now was that before or after you punched Neji in the face?"

"Er… Before?" The Uzumaki replied, once again asking a question rather than providing an answer.

"I'd like to go on record and say Hinata and I were not involved in either of those things." Sasuke said coolly, looking off to the side.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the Uchiha boy. "So after he punched Neji, you and Hinata did not have his back when Neji's teammates moved into position to disable Naruto?"

The Uchiha pursed his lips at that, and the heiress spoke up for him. "W-we did, sensei. While we would rather Naruto had n-not acted as he did, we still were ready to defend him as his t-teammates."

The cyclops nodded in agreement. "Good. Naruto, do you know what you did wrong?" He ignored the looks of surprise on the faces of all three genin.

"Er… I punched Neji and took your book?" The blonde asked hopefully.

"We'll talk about the book later - and not quite in regards to Neji Hyuga." Kakashi replied. "Think about what would be wrong if you had been trying to prank him instead of punch him."

The blonde pondered the scenario for a moment before his eyes went wide. "I did it in front of people?" He asked, causing Sasuke to cradle his face in his hands.

"Yes, exactly." The cyclops confirmed, causing all three students to look at him with shocked expressions. "When you're getting back at your comrades, you have to be careful that your actions can't be traced back to you. I'm surprised I have to tell you this with your pranking history."

"... What?" The blonde asked dumbly, not at all believing that an authority figure was encouraging him in this way.

"And in regards to my book… How about we just say I misplaced it and you found it and were nice enough to return it to me?" He continued. 'I'd actually prefer that being the story over me getting pickpocketed by a child.'

"... Sure?" Naruto agreed, not at all having expected the conversation to go this way.

Kakashi chuckled a bit at the stupefied looks he was getting from his team. "Everyone gets a mulligan, kids. However, don't think you'll get off this easily if you continue to act impulsively, Naruto. Oh, and if anyone asks, I was very strict with you about your conduct. Understood?"

All three expressions slowly morphed into some version of a cat with the canary. "Understood, sensei." The blonde agreed. He rose to his feet and looked his teacher in his visible eye. "Hey, sensei… You're not really sure how to be a teacher, huh? That's why you have that book."

The cyclops raised an eyebrow at his student's words. "I have some idea of what I'm doing. But… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried. Working with others hasn't always… Well, it hasn't really ever come easily to me." He eye-smiled at his team. "But I'm determined that if you kids don't get strong, it won't be because I didn't do enough as your sensei. I'll do anything possible to make sure you all become the very best, including reading instructional books."

The boy looked at his teammates, and they all broke out into wide smiles. "Then we'll do everything we can too, sensei!"

"Good to hear." Kakashi replied. He looked up at the night sky for a moment. "The party seems to be winding down."

"It indeed is." Cut in a wizened voice. The team all turned their heads in the direction of the new voice and saw Hiruzen Sarutobi and Hiashi walking up to them. "I understand you three came into conflict with Team Nine… More than once this evening, in fact."

The three genin had the decency to look ashamed at the old man's words. Kakashi held up his hands placatingly. "Don't worry Lord Third, I've already spoken with them, Naruto especially, regarding the events of the evening."

"I'm sure you did." The Third turned to Hiashi, whose face was an impassive, stony mask. "Given that it was your nephew that was injured, I feel you should decide the punishment for young Naruto."

Hiashi looked at the blonde, his expression impossible to read. "... The gardens of the Hyuga clan compound have been in need of some extra care recently. I believe I submitted a request for some genin to undertake its care as a D-rank mission. Are you capable with plants?"

Naruto blinked before nodding vigorously. "Yeah, I got potted plants at home - I take care of them as a hobby." All three other members of Team Seven looked at the blonde in surprise, none of the three having been aware that the boy was botanically inclined.

"Then taking care of our gardens without payment will be a suitable recompense." His stony expression cracked a bit as the corner of his mouth twitched. "And for the record, while I wish for there to be no repeats of this incident outside of the planned match between Neji and this team, it is quite impressive you managed to catch my nephew unawares."

The blonde stared at the man before his face broke into a wide, if still slightly bashful, smile. "Just wait until you see what we can do in the spar, !" He exclaimed, his teammates nodding in agreement.


At least I managed to get this done before New Year's. Sorry for the delay, I had a death in the family, and also a family meltdown over Christmas - I nearly beat my brother-in-law within an inch of his life. Don't drink if you can't handle it like that dumbass. Add in my recent work schedule and honestly, I am so burnt out with 2023. My car got stolen and declared a total loss in April and that doesn't even crack the top five list of terrible things that have happened to me this year.

Okay. So I hate the latter half of this chapter, but this is the version I've liked the most and I've been sitting on it for three days trying to figure out a neat and tidy ending. That was after a week of trying to figure out the scene between Naruto and Neji - originally he was just going to give him a speech, but then I thought about how young Naruto is and realized that he would be more inclined to punch him in the face. Instead of a scene where everyone says goodbye and heads home for the night, we're just going to open the next chapter with training. I've done everything I needed to with this event, so I'm going to end this like I did chapter 3 so we can all move on. I may come back and try to do an ending scene, I'll let everyone know in a future AN if I do. It won't add any new information if I do, so don't feel compelled to check back. I'm only cutting it because it really isn't important.

Hiashi is on the shortlist for the Godaime as well. Will he get it? Will Kakashi? We'll see.

Sarutobi is dying. I hope the condition I gave him makes sense. In early drafts it was just lung cancer, but that felt oddly banal, so I came up with something a bit more unique. Or maybe a dozen other fanfiction authors have done this and I'm not special, we'll see.

Lots of consternation on pairings after the last chapter, which I don't mind at all. It's fair, I know a lot of people only read stories that have a certain pairing. Ultimately I'm getting a better idea of where I will go with those, but I just don't like declaring the pairings. Takes away any suspense. Just know we are likely going to end up with NaruHina. There's a chance that'll change, but those two just fit together too well for me to go out of my way to make something different happen when I'm going to be increasing their interaction frequency so much from canon.

What else… Nothing else actually. Happy New Year everyone, I'll see you for the next update.