Upload Date: 11/21/2022

Disclaimer: Obligatory statement that these characters are not and will not be mine.

Chapter 11 – Unfinished Painting

Neji groaned slightly as she was covering him, her breath coming out heavily as she wrapped herself around him.

The shop still had an open sign hanging on the outside of the door. It was still daylight and the townsfolk were still shopping. He was an unwed man associating with an equally unwed woman, despite their courting status.

They had no chaperones, no audience, and no excuse to be holding each other so intimately.

It was incredibly improper, but for once he did not feel like obeying the rules.

It was the first time he was seeing her since he had returned three days ago. He had been questioned by his Hokage, prodded by doctors and nurses, and had been in several meetings with his family. It was only now that he was able to spend time with the person he had missed the most.

She sobbed into his chest, her brown hair coming undone and he whispered into her ears things that he was far too afraid to say out loud before.

How he had missed her, how much he needed her, and…

How much he loved her.

She looked up at him then, her warm brown eyes glistening with still unshed tears as she pressed a fist into his chest in anger. "You are an enormous fool, you realize that?"

"I know." He replied simply, appreciating her long hair falling delicately at her shoulders.

She pressed her forehead to his, his hair brushing gently against her own as she sighed.

"I thought I was going to lose you forever." Tenten whispered, gripping his hand tightly as if she still could not bring herself to believe he was there.

Neji swallowed hard. "I thought the same."

The experience of almost dying and of having to relearn to walk was humbling indeed and it had made him realize many things almost all at once. That life was not granted or guaranteed to anyone.

His father had expected the conversation Neji had with him and had bemusedly asked him many questions in order to prepare him for the inevitably long conversation he would be forced to have with his uncle.

This was a unique situation and not many in the clan had been able to do an action like this before. As was expected, Lord Hyuuga scrutinized him for a long time, asking for justifications, reasonings, and overall soundness of his decision, before turning to look at his brother who only reiterated Neji's feelings.

His uncle had eventually sighed, stood up, and bowed to Neji in an act that left him stammering and hastily bowing back.

"You're the future branch leader of the Hyuuga," he had said, rising and giving him a small smile, "I cannot very well deny the wishes of the man who protected our heir so diligently."

"My lord, I-" Neji stammered, beginning to protest, dark shame over his head like a cloud.

He had not been able to protect Hinata. That was his largest failure.

"None of that Neji," Hiashi spoke, his voice deep and commanding, knowing exactly what his nephew was thinking, "My daughter returned home, she fought her way to escape. I do not think she would have been so inclined to do so if you had not shown her our clan's strength first. I do not have anything worth enough to repay you for this kindness, but your wish is a good start."

And now here he stood with a woman who had been a capable teammate as children, a dear confidant as a teenager, and who now was something much more precious.

"Ms. Tenten, I have something to ask." He breathed as he separated from her, and placed his hand behind his back so she would not see.

She tilted her head at him, her cheeks filled with dried tear marks. "It sounds serious." She breathed, biting her lip as she looked anxiously into his eyes.

He swallowed hard. "Life-changingly so."

Tenten did not move as she saw him pull out a simple silver ring from his trouser pocket, thin lettering written on the inside of the band.

This was not something traditional, not to her at least, but she had grown from a civilian family with very little room for extravagances like these.

His family required them, incredible things like balls, formal meetings, and of course announcements to the townsfolk, but this was something item was something intimate. Something between the two of them that would never interfere with her training or work.

It was breathtaking how much he understood her.

Wordlessly she took it and stared at the words written until her eyesight began to blur once more.

Solely you, forever.

"Neji…"

"Marry me," he whispered, "There is no one else in this world I would rather have by my side than you."

There was a long moment of silence before she groaned, looking upset as she placed the ring on her finger, finding it fit perfectly.

Neji was, understandably, a little perplexed.

"Quite the romantic, aren't you?" Tenten asked, bringing her hands up to his cheeks as more tears fell down her face. "Taking advantage of my love for you to try and convince me with promises of a wonderful life."

She was forever loud and unafraid to voice her opinions to him. He could not imagine life without someone so contrary to him.

"Ms. Tenten," he murmured, tilting her head up. "Your answer…?"

"Yes. Yes now, yes later, yes forever. You idiotic man." Tenten answered, clutching his cheeks with fervor as she whispered the acceptance against his face.

And Neji pressed his mouth to hers, for the first time since they had begun courting and a thrill overcame them both, the warmth of their skin making them both flush as they broke apart.

"I'm sorry, I-"

Tenten pulled his face down to hers and this time it was she who initiated the touch, her hands pressing against his neck and twisting deliciously in his long hair.

Now this, this was certainly improper.

"Tenten," he breathed against her, dropping the title he had so diligently been using, forcing himself to break apart from her, "We need-"

"We do not need anything other than each other." She whispered, her voice small and timid for once as she gazed up at him, brown eyes warm like smooth velvet. "I do not need anything other than you."

"We are not formally engaged." He voiced, unable to bring himself higher than a whisper as he looked upon her flushed face and long hair over the form-fitting qipao she wore.

"We will be." Tenten replied, reaching behind the small counter to offer him the key to the shop, "I will have you if you will have me. I thought you gone once; I do not want to go through that again."

He swallowed hard as his hand shook as he took the key and deliberately walked back to the door, slowly turned the hanging sign to say closed, and locked it shut.

She had reached behind her back to pull the backings of her dress loose and her face was flaming red as he noticed.

He exhaled and loosened his shirt and threw his walking stick in the faraway corner, the last shred of his formality and decency dying.

"We have to make our engagement short." He breathed, a shred of coherency remaining before closing the distance between them.

The trip inland was devastatingly nostalgic and he took no pleasure in reviving those memories.

Naruto fidgeted as he stared outside of the carriage, his lips tight as he recalled the last time he had been here.

He had only been sixteen when the closest thing to a father had passed on and he had been forced to return to Konoha and let his Hokage know. It was shameful and disappointing. Jiraiya was one of the strongest ninjas in the village and he had been the one to teach him so many things.

And then he was gone, without so much as a body left to bury.

Research, Jiraiya had called it. That was why they were briefly separating. He went off alone to the mainland, but did not specify to Naruto where, and he, far too used to his antics, assumed it was more of the usual.

It had not been anything like his usual research and since Naruto was unsure of where he had gone there was no body, no resolution, no end. The small ship Jiraiya had taken for himself had never been found and so the rumor that he had died at sea was conclusive because there was no other explanation.

It is pointless to think about that, he thought to himself, rubbing his forehead as he fought to remain composed. Being here in the Land of Fire was already disturbing his peace of mind.

With a weary look he glanced at his companions. Sai and Jugo remained with him, the rest of his crew staying on the ship back at the port. It was interesting how in a crew like his, Sai and Jugo were the most adequate ones to follow him, when they were easily two of the men who stood out the most, coincidentally both for their character. It was not that they were the two best suited for this trip no, it was because everyone else was far too recognizable to show their faces here.

The carriage finally stopped, directly in front of the Hokage's building and Naruto moved to step outside, the warm sunset still barely present.

There were a couple of people still walking and he caught the eye of a few women, walking together who merely fanned themselves and averted their eyes.

More of the same, he mused, until he realized that they were blushing and one was even brave enough to wink and smile in his direction.

Well, now that was quite a different welcome that the one he envisioned.

He nodded at the women, who returned to their conversation with even more vigor than before and he permitted himself a moment of contentment before looking back over at Sai and Jugo.

"Remain here until I return. Speak to no one."

"Yes, Captain." Both men uttered immediately, standing guard at opposite sides of the carriage.

Naruto slowly walked into the building and up the stairs the long wooden corridor, everything still as he remembered.

Briefly, he allowed himself to wonder how long it would be before Granny Fifth retired and named someone new to succeed her.

A woman was outside of Granny Fifth's office, her short dark hair and dark eyes easily recognizable even to Naruto who had not seen her in a very long time. And it appeared that he was also just as easily recognize as Shizune's face immediately brightened at seeing him as she stood from her desk.

"Naruto! Oh, it is wonderful to see you again!"

He smiled and nodded at Shizune. "It's good to see you again too, Shizune."

"You returned soon. We were not expecting you to be home so quickly."

"I was nearby." The sooner he arrived the sooner he could leave.

"Lady Hokage is with Mr. Hatake right now, but I'll go ahead and let her know that you have arrived." She said, as she knocked on Lady Fifth's door and went inside.

It only took a couple of seconds for her to return and Shizune gave him another warm smile as she ushered him in and closed the door.

A cheeky grin erupted over his face as he bowed mockingly at Tsunade and looked over at his former sensei.

"Looking good, Granny. I see you have not aged a bit."

"You big idiot." She remarked, her brow furrowing as Kakashi let out a loud chuckle that he tried to disguise as a cough as she shot him a dirty look.

"And you Sensei, you haven't changed either."

"You have." He responded easily, his eyes softening just slightly as he looked upon his former student. The hair, the height, the confidence. Physically he looked well, but his cheerful blue eyes looked hazy, almost as if he were unable to see right through to him. "You've certainly grown into a fine young man."

Despite himself, Naruto felt his face heat as he brushed the back of his head with one hand as he winked at Tsunade, her brow still furrowed from his earlier comment.

"I couldn't stay a runt forever I guess."

Tsunade let herself smile fondly, before returning to look at her desk, ruffling through her files as she forced her heart to settle down. Now that he was here it was so much more difficult to envision how she would say it.

"It was not in my plans to return to Konoha anytime soon. Are you going to tell me why you called me here with such urgency?"

She swallowed. Now or never.

"How much do you know about your beast?"

Naruto paused. What a strange question. "It has nine tails. There are others out there with beast chakra, but mine is the strongest. That was all that Iruka Sensei and Pervy Sage ever mentioned to me about it."

"Did they ever mention which beast it was?"

"No." Iruka had wanted him to ignore the beast's chakra dwelling inside of him and Jiraiya had been too busy teaching him the ways of piracy to demonstrate much of anything to him. He did not care to announce his status as jinchuriki to other lands either.

"Ah," Tsunade swallowed hard. "Yours happens to be a Fox."

Naruto froze as one hand dipped to hover over his stomach, the taste of bile beginning to coat his tongue.

A fox?

A nine-tailed Fox beast resting inside him, now nothing more than an accumulation of chakra that had once caused much destruction and pain.

The realization that it had once been the nine-tailed Fox was almost laughable. The very mask that he wore, the very identity he had as a pirate! He had picked it out of sheer luck and the thought that he was masquerading as his own beast made him laugh loudly at his stupidity.

Tsunade frowned as she watched him laugh to himself, rubbing his eyes as he slowly settled down.

"A fox, huh?"

Kakashi looked over at Tsunade, clearly bewildered, but she did not dwell on his confusion before continuing.

"Indeed. Lord Fourth as you know sealed the remnants of the beast into chakra into your body."

Naruto's jaw clenched. "You call me back for a history lesson? I know this already."

"Yes, but tell me, what do you know about Lord Fourth?"

"He saved the Leaf." Naruto replied automatically, glancing between his Sensei and Tsunade. "Like you said, he sealed the beast…the Fox chakra inside of a newborn child…me."

Her silence was exhausting and Naruto tapped on the ground irritably. "Is there more information you plan on telling me about that day?"

"Naruto," she paused, glancing up at Kakashi who merely nodded, "Lord Fourth sealed the beast inside of you because you are his son."

"You are lying."

He responded automatically, his cheeks burning as he turned to look at his sensei, his beloved sensei who had told him tales of being trained under the Fourth Hokage. Surely, he would have never kept such a secret from him. Surely this was a grave mistake.

Surely one of them would have told him this if it were truth many years ago.

Surely one of them would have pitied him enough to not let him believe a lie.

"My parents died during the attack, but they were civilians. That is what Grandpa Third always said."

"It was a fabricated tale for you." Kakashi interjected, voice quiet in the room. "We had been attacked by the Stone not ten days after Lord Fourth died and we judged it too dangerous for you to be recognized as his son."

Naruto went silent, his eyes crossing between his sensei and Tsunade, an eerie silence descending upon the room, which was already turning dark despite the many candles that burned in her office.

Tsunade reached behind her desk and lifted a small framed painting from the ground, the colors faded and half unfinished on the canvas before turning it around so that Naruto could see it.

"We don't have a full colored portrait of him like we do of the other Kage, but this is a good replica of what Lord Fourth looked like in life."

Intense blue eyes gazed upon the picture and it was as if he were staring into a mirror. Blonde hair and blue eyes, features that were identical to his were right there, right there on the page. And even then, it looked inaccurate somehow, the colors too pale to match his own features, a terrible consequence of the Fourth's fate. He had died to soon and the artist had left this portrait unfinished and unimpressive.

Naruto had seen portraits of Lord Fourth, his face was carved into the side of the mountain for goodness sakes, but the paintings hanging in the Hokage tower were all in black and white.

The resemblance with color was uncanny because it proved that someone in the village did have bright blonde hair and did have his bright eyes. Features that he had searched for longingly in the eyes of all he met for some sake of familiarity.

And still he had to believe this was a lie, because they would not have kept this secret from him. They could not have betrayed him in this manner.

"So, you say," Naruto spoke, surprised to find that his voice was low and hoarse, "So Grandpa Third gave me another man's last name? Who does the name Uzumaki belong to?"

"Lord Fourth was young and unwed, but he met a young woman from the Land of Whirlpools. She was feisty and strong-willed, carrying her clan's name with dignity and respect. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki."

Naruto remained silent.

"She was the vessel of the Fox beast and his chakra until the night you were born, someone attacking them and extracting the chakra from her body until she died. You were named after your mother."

Tsunade placed a journal on top of her desk and Naruto wordlessly grabbed it, his eyes widening as he gazed upon the handwriting and the dates.

Lord Fourth's journal of the events prior to his death. And from the worn appearance, it spanned many years prior.

It was too much, far too much to deal with and he tucked the journal into his trousers before raising his eyes at them, cold fury rampant in them as Tsunade slowly stood up, sensing he was about to do something reckless.

Naruto turned to face Kakashi, his sensei's eyes wary and focused.

"You knew." He choked, his eyes flashing red. "You fucking knew this whole time and you never said anything? The Fourth was your mentor and you said nothing!"

"It was not my place." Kakashi responded, causing Naruto to growl.

"Was it my place to be the vessel for everyone's hatred? Everyone's contempt? Do you realize what it is like to grow up hated by everyone for just being born?" He shouted and both Tsunade and Kakashi flinched.

His mind was spinning rapidly, coherent thoughts few and far between. All he felt now was rage, rage unlike anything he had felt before, the hot sting of betrayal more potent from two he would have considered family except for the nonexistent blood ties between them.

How many more had known the truth? How many more had known the Fourth in life and recognized his features in the small, destitute boy that caused mischief in the poor districts?

Even if he was Lord Fourth's bastard son, he would not have been hated for having the beast's chakra. Not outright anyway. He would have been tolerated at least, and not meant to feel as if he was trash that needed to be disposed of. He would have had a home, enough money for himself to survive, and not have to live off the limited funds that were available to him as an orphan.

Even if he held the beast chakra no one would have insulted the Fourth's son to his face if they knew who he was.

Naruto laughed bitterly and turned his steely eyes towards Tsunade.

"And you! You who knew that-"

"The treaty with the Stone was recently ratified." Tsunade immediately spoke up. "Iwa bore a grudge against Konoha for the wars prior in which Lord Fourth was part of. We needed to ensure they would not attack us again and cause chaos. Now you are old enough to do with the information as you wish."

There was nothing to be done, he realized his chest suddenly becoming tight. Nothing could take away the years of hunger, loneliness, and despair. Realizing his heritage would not bring him comfort or peace, it just brought him more pain.

He turned back as Tsunade called for him, but he ignored her, slamming the door behind him.

Ino walked along the street, half daydreaming, half impassive as she thought about what she would need to do in the future.

Her father was bringing yet another suitor to their home this evening. She had recklessly escaped and now was headed nowhere in particular as she wasted the evening away, mulling over her father's imminent fury at discovering her absence.

She had briefly checked in to her family's flower shop being tended by one of her cousins before deciding to pay Lady Shizune a visit at the Hokage tower. She was an excellent ear for advice and an even better source of gossip.

Ino was fully expecting to perhaps catch the eye of some exhausted, handsome ninja finishing their mission report. Perhaps she would flirt with them and they would flirt back leading to a little fun for her among the dreary passing days.

Ino was not expecting to get knocked into the ground roughly as a man rounded the corner of a carriage and bumped into her without so much as a word of forgiveness.

She was momentarily stunned as she remained in the ground while the man who had so rudely jostled her stared at her for a very long moment before extending his hand.

She swatted him away angrily, standing with her face burning. "You idiotic buffoon. Can you not see where you are going?"

Sai raised his eyebrow. "Perhaps you should learn to walk further away from parked carriages."

If possible, Ino's anger grew tenfold and she pointed a finger directly into his face. "You say that to me? What a pathetic excuse for a gentleman!"

"I never claimed to be a gentleman." Sai responded, his calm demeanor growing less so as the plain-looking woman continued to glare at him, her light blue eyes darkening in anger.

Jugo sighed and walked over to both of them. "Our apologies, milady. We did not mean to cause you any harm. Are you alright from your fall? Would you like us to accompany you to a clinic?"

Foreigners, Ino realized quickly hearing the orange-haired man's accent. The one with dark hair did not have an unfamiliar accent, but he was quite unnerving with his plain eyes and his pale skin. He was certainly not from Konoha, that much she could say for certain.

She huffed in response and glowered at them both, before dusting herself off, cheeks still hot. "I do not need anything from either of you fools. I am feeling particularly kind today, but let this be the last time you slight a Yamanaka."

She turned away heading home, realizing that her foul mood would last well throughout her suitor's visit.

At least she would be able to get rid of him easily.

Recently, it was becoming more difficult to ensure that the products that Naruto passed on to him were exchanged in a quick and efficient manner. Tough laws and relationship with the people of Iwa limited Sasuke to finding merchants from within his native Land of Fire or Suna to sell items fast.

Luckily, those jewels that Naruto had passed on to him were a very ostentatious commodity, and he would have little trouble the next time he went to Suna and met with the Kazekage and his entourage. He would engage in a short detour around the neighboring lands and be able to sell much of what Naruto had left him.

Sasuke was at his desk, thinking about his upcoming travels when Izumi knocked at his door, her face impassive.

"Sasuke, your teacher is at the door."

"Which one?"

"Mr. Hatake." Izumi answered, leaning against the doorframe, with a thoughtful expression. "I'll send him right to you if that's alright?"

"Yes. Thank you, Izumi."

Kakashi's appearances were seldom, often limited to mission directives instead of courtesy visits. Unexpected visits were even less frequent, as he preferred to find him out and about for a quick chat rather than a home visit.

Kakashi walked into his office, hands in his pockets. Sasuke stood up and gave the man a nod and offered his hand.

"I'm not accustomed to you making house calls."

Kakashi smiled, his eyes twinkling as he took Sasuke's hand. "You do not make it easy. You are not the socializing type, remember?"

"Neither are you." Sasuke contested, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

His sensei sighed, a tired aura settling over him.

"Naruto is back in the Leaf Village. You should probably go see him tonight."

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow. "He couldn't come to me himself?"

"He could use a friend right about now." He responded, and Sasuke stood there a confused silence crossing between the two men.

"Very well." Sasuke answered, and with that short reply, Kakashi vanished in a poof of smoke leaving Sasuke even more confused and stunned.

His friend was not the type who would send a messenger to do something for him unless it was something that he himself could not do.

Kakashi's cryptic words did nothing to ease the confusion that he had caused Sasuke and he was left to wonder what could possibly have happened.

Without a minute to waste, he grabbed his coat and headed outside.

Author's Note: A very tough chapter for me to complete this week. Lots of background things going in life right now. Posting a new chapter every week for over 10 weeks straight is becoming very difficult for me, so if I have to edit the frequency of postings I will be certain to update when that happens.

Naruto is grieving from learning a couple of secrets from his past and it will take quite a while for him to overcome that anger. A couple of things ended up being put into this chapter as I work my way around certain events that are being set-up to happen later (A beautiful ball in the future, anyone?).

As always thank you to all those who fave, follow, and review the chapters that I post weekly. Your dedication to this work is incredible and I will forever appreciate you all! See you next week.