Obito-Sensei

by Ser Serendipity

During the fateful mission to the Kannabi Bridge, Obito is too slow, and Kakashi ends up paying the price with his life. Years later, Elite Jonin Mangekyou no Obito is placed in charge of a very familiar genin team, determined to keep them safe in a world at peace. Or: Obito surviving wrecks everything, in twenty steps or less.

80. Confession

Obito-Sensei Chapter 77

Is Honest With Their Feelings

One week after the attack on Rain that had sent the world careening towards a bloody disaster, Minato Namikaze was sitting at his wife's side and watching her for a sign of life.

For the moment, he'd sent away the medical personnel who'd been carefully monitoring her chakra system and the sealing specialists who were refreshing the barrier around her new old home. He was alone with his wife, and for the first time in days, the Hokage's facade fell away. He allowed his exhaustion and fear to show through, though only one who knew him well would recognize it.

It was a house built in a spiral, an old Uzumaki structure just adjacent to the Hokage's tower that had survived the invasion unharmed. Jutsu formulas were built into the foundation of the building itself, siphoning away bijuu chakra in minute amounts and putting human chakra systems into stasis, slowing the production of physical and mental energy both. It was a place that embodied the buzz of fluorescent lights, the feeling of being awake at four in the morning with no hope of sleep. Kushina had always hated it, and it had been one of Minato's singular prides to have improved her seal enough to ensure she'd never need to step foot in it again before he became the Hokage.

But now his wife was back here, her mind locked away and her body struggling to recover from the Kyuubi's toxic chakra. She lay in a wide bed, expressionless and lifeless. Minato's face was just as lifeless as he stared at her. Kushina was not a peaceful sleeper; she frequently kicked and punched, spoke full sentences, and generally scared the hell out of anyone who didn't know her nighttime habits.

Seeing her lying there without any movement whatsoever cut Minato more deeply than he ever had been in his life.

"Kushina," he said quietly. He was sure she could hear him, even if she couldn't respond. "Naruto's picked up an apprenticeship." He tried to smile. "With Tsunade of the Sannin, if you can believe it."

She didn't move.

"Right," he muttered. "You'd definitely believe it." Minato sighed. "We've started working on a counterattack. The Hidden Sand is being dragged in: I doubt they're happy about it, but they can't afford to go back on the alliance at a time like this. Wind's court is kicking up a fuss, like usual; I think they're going to demand a joint mission to recover Rain's Daimyo, so the reward will be split. It will probably be worth conceding on for the extra ninja."

Naturally, Kushina didn't move. Minato knelt forward.

"But my heart's not in it," he confided in her. "Maybe that means I'm not taking this seriously enough, but everyone seems dead-set on leveling Amegakure. Even when I look at you, I can't justify that to myself. When I last saw Yahiko, I told him I would kill all his ninja. In a perfect world, we would just punish him. But he's dragged a whole country into it."

He hesitated.

"So even if I can't justify it, I guess they all have to die."

Still.

"Did he resent me that much?" Minato said, his voice below a whisper. "I never tried to oppose the Nation, but I wasn't its ally either. I thought Rain was too dangerous for Konoha to openly side with; it recruited too many rogue ninja, and of course the situation with the Daimyo…" He paused, considering his lifeless wife. "But I never thought it would come to this. I believed we could approach the villages from both sides, and meet in the middle. That while Konoha kept the rest of the world in check, Rain would spread its revolution, and that even if the Amekage's ideals and mine weren't perfectly matched, they would be at least close enough for coexistence, eventually cooperation."

Nothing.

"I don't think Jiraiya would have trained an evil man, but it's hard for me to see what he did as anything else. I'm not the only one stuck like this; across the whole village, people are hurting because I wasn't there to defend them; because I thought Yahiko was acting in good faith. I didn't think I was that easy to take advantage of, but I guess I was wrong. I saw an opportunity to avoid a fight, and even though the delay should have warned me I jumped at it without thinking. Now, people are dead because of my stupidity. The Hokage is supposed to protect the village, but right now the whole thing is on my back. It's too much, surely. I'm its shield and sword and leader and commander all at once, but it's like you say: multitasking is just doing multiple things poorly."

Still.

Nothing.

"Maybe I'm going too slow," Minato said, taking his wife's hands in his and feeling her burning warmth. "Do you think that's true? I've always thought that if I have to fight, I should try as hard as I can, as fast as I can, and get it over with. But I haven't been doing that; I haven't been fighting, have I, Kushina? I've been sitting still, thinking people would make the right decision. Thinking they would make my decisions. But I'm the abnormal one; I'm the one who doesn't want people to die. No one else seems to care. And with everything that's happened… have I still not been fast enough? Does that still sound right to you?"

Still.

Nothing.

"Yeah," Minato closed his eyes. "I don't know either."

He sat there in silence for several minutes watching the gentle rise and fall of his wife's chest, the microscopic flutters of motion as she occasionally struggled to take a breath.

"You're fighting your own battle right now," he eventually said. "I know you'll win. We'll figure out what to do about the seal once you're awake. For now, you're safe here, even if you hate it. One thing at a time." He bent forward and kissed her on the forehead, clammy skin feverish against his lips.

"I love you. I know you'll win," Minato repeated. "I don't want to leave you alone, but I have to go. You'll be in good hands." He stood up, breathed out, and became the Hokage once more.

"See you when you wake up," the Yondaime said, and then he vanished out of the room like he'd never existed.

###

Konoha mourned, fortified, and recovered. There were no public funerals held for those who had died: those kinds of commendations would wait until the war was finished. A thousand private memorials were held for friends, family, and lovers, but the village as a whole was focused on ensuring something like this could never happen again.

Sakura's mother did not wake up, and showed no indication of doing so anytime soon. The same went for Naruto's, who was locked away in a specialized sealing structure due to the disastrous weakness of her shattered seal. Both of them found themselves accepting it; their mothers weren't dead, which meant they would be back eventually. They took that with the implicit assumption of strength and recovery that had been drilled into them as ninja, and refocused just like the village had.

Konohagakure prepared for a counterattack against the Nation that had dared to provoke it, and gradually ninja were drawn together for the operation as the Hokage and his advisors worked to create a strike force that would end the war before it could begin in earnest. Obito Uchiha, the Hokage's right hand man, unofficial chief assassin who had spilled rivers of blood for the village, was automatically removed from consideration; it would be at least another ten days before his eyes recovered, and a ninja of Obito's caliber couldn't be risked at half-strength, especially when his Bloodline technique was about to grow even stronger. In a better world, the village would be able to wait until Obito had recovered to assault Rain, but every day they did not was another day that speculation across the world grew that Konoha was weaker and more damaged than anyone knew, a reputation the village could not afford to spread.

And besides, the Hokage was going. Minato Namikaze was enough.

So Obito rested and spent most of his time with Rin Nohara, who had taken it upon herself to look after him.

Chunin and Jonin swarmed out of the village, patrolling the borders of the Land of Fire and frequently coming into conflict with rogue ninja and shinobi from the Nation of Rain. There were ten skirmishes on the 19th, and seventeen on the 20th; all ended with at least one casualty, though only four caused a fatality on either side. The center of the continent boiled with violence and the expectation of it; countryside towns buckled down and instituted curfews, the Daimyo's court deployed more than twenty-thousand soldiers on peace-keeping missions, and commercial contracts began drying up as the world braced for a Fourth War.

Knowing firsthand the scale of the catastrophe that was approaching, Team Seven, their friends, and their teachers trained, determined to be prepared for a future that they weren't ready for. Naruto met with Tsunade of the Sannin on the morning of the 20th and was put through his paces, the medical master determined to learn everything she could about his condition and technique as a ninja and a medic. Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Ino, Shikamaru, Neji, and Lee attempted to tag along, but were quickly chased off by the legendary ninja and settled for observing from a distance as they worked on their own techniques, each of their usual teachers otherwise occupied.

Tsunade demanded that Naruto return for more work on the 21st, and earlier this time: 8 AM, practically the crack of dawn for the wandering ninja. When Naruto arrived, this time alone, Tsunade told him something that didn't make sense.

###

"By my standards, you're not really a medic," Tsunade said, as blunt as a hammer, and Naruto blinked.

"Huh?" he asked intelligently. They were back at training ground six, a small field with a little pond that Tsunade seemed to appreciate for its remoteness more than anything else. Naruto had figured the second day would be like the first, with Tsunade running him through countless chakra control exercises, observing his medical jutsu, and poking and prodding at him with the Mystic Palm technique as she figured out what made him tick.

Instead, she was pacing in front of him with an irritated look as he stood there gormlessly.

"Your iryojutsu is fair, though," she continued, and Naruto let out a sigh of relief, though his confusion didn't change. "I doubt anyone else has noticed your crutch; even Rin hasn't, right?"

"She hasn't said anything about it?" Naruto said, and Tsunade scoffed. "Uh, what do you mean by crutch?"

"Sloppy," Tsunade grunted. "I'm going to rub that in her face if I get the chance."

"Could you not?" Naruto asked, trying to be as polite as possible, and Tsunade gave him a withering glare. "I don't know what happened with you guys, but it makes me uncomfortable."

Tsunade laughed. "You're too nice for a medical ninja too," she said. "So you haven't noticed either, I take it?"

"I have zero idea what you're talking about," Naruto answered, edging towards irritation. Tsunade might have been a genius, but she didn't mince words, didn't try to soften her blatant superiority for the sake of others, and loved asking rhetorical questions. Naruto had a premonition that if this weird half-apprenticeship continued his patience was going to be pushed to the breaking point.

"When you use your jutsu, what do you feel?" Tsunade asked, and Naruto pushed down his annoyance to focus on the question.

"In my own system, or the patient's?" he asked, and Tsunade gave him an approving smirk.

"Both," she confirmed. Naruto sighed.

"A small drain on my end, and a bloom on theirs," he said, scratching his head. "I don't know if there's a better word. I know all the theory like the back of my hand by now, so I don't even think about it. I just tell their body to fix itself up and my brain covers the gaps; it's practically automatic-"

"Wrong," Tsunade said abruptly. Naruto scowled.

"What do you mean, wrong?" he groused. "I'm telling you what I feel-"

"It's not 'practically' automatic," Tsunade said with a smug smile. "It is automatic."

Naruto paused, trying to understand what the annoying genius was saying.

"What?" he settled for, and Tsunade stalked forward and grabbed hold of his hand.

"Medical jutsu always requires thought," she said. "Even if the act of guiding your chakra can become close to subconscious, it can never fully make the leap to an unconscious process. That would be like being able to fight in your sleep; it's just not possible."

"I'm not saying I literally don't think-" Naruto tried to say, not mentioning that he was pretty sure his mother could fight in her sleep. Once when he was six or seven she'd socked his dad in the jaw in the middle of the night, the only time he'd seen his father bruised.

"Shut up," Tsunade said, so casually that the words didn't hurt. "Don't take it the wrong way; like I said, you absolutely learned medical jutsu. You're above average, for sure…" Her face hardened. "But the results you've achieved in times of crisis have been extraordinary. Close to my level, as much as I hate to admit it. And that's because of your crutch."

"Which is?" Naruto said.

"Yang Release," Tsunade said triumphantly, and Naruto gave her a blank stare.

He understood what Yang chakra was, in theory. Chakra natures encompassed the five elemental chakras: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Lightning, each expressions of the different structures that chakra could take and be molded into. But beyond the fundamental elements, there were also combination natures, like the Wind and Water that Sakura used to create Ice for her Flowing Hail Blade, and beside them, there was Yin and Yang.

Those were foundational chakra manipulation divided by Yin, the mind, and Yang, the body, the two energies that when combined made chakra as a whole. Obviously either just meant a chakra type that was almost entirely one or the other, cause otherwise it wouldn't be chakra at all, but beyond that Naruto didn't know the specifics.

"Isn't all medical jutsu Yang natured?" he ventured. Tsunade rolled her eyes, but nodded.

"Like how all genjutsu is Yin natured, sure," she said, and Naruto nodded along, hoping to understand. "Anything that manipulates the body alone is Yang natured. But I'm not saying you have a Yang Affinity: I'm saying you have a Yang technique."

"A Bloodline?" Naruto realized, shocked, and Tsunade shrugged.

"It's not consistent enough to be categorized as that," she said. Naruto couldn't help but get sucked into her authoritative tone as she started pacing again. "There's a difference between Kekkei Genkai and just generating a unique kind of chakra. Your father's got no heritage as far as anyone can tell, but the Uzumaki have a long history of strange bodies, and they're an offshoot of the Senju, who were even stranger. My grandfather-"

"The First Hokage?" Naruto interrupted, disbelief rattling through him, and Tsunade snapped her fingers. The sound was shockingly loud, and his mouth snapped shut on reflex.

"The very same," Tsunade continued after a moment. "He was a freak of nature. You couldn't hurt him; his body just wouldn't allow it. I saw it once. He scratched himself pushing through a thorn bush and-" She drew a line up her arm, and made a hissing sound. "Shhhhhh. It closed right up, steaming. That's how much energy his body held."

"Why was he pushing through a thorn bush?" Naruto asked, wondering why the steam in particular sounded a little familiar.

"I threw his wallet in there." Tsunade waved him off as Naruto pondered someone stealing the First Hokage's wallet. "That part isn't important. You've taken some beatings, so you're obviously not capable of the kind of regeneration grandfather was, but you've got the same kind of Yang energy. You have your mother to thank for that, I'm sure." She tapped a finger against her lips. "It's interesting though; this kind of thing should have been present your whole life, but from what I've seen your Yang Release is recently awakened. Maybe between Waves, Rain, and the invasion here your body finally had enough."

Was that it, Naruto wondered? Had he pushed himself beyond the brink so many times that some part of his mom's power had woken up inside of him? He'd always wondered when he was young if he would inherit something like the Adamantine Chains, even though his parents had told him it wasn't likely; they'd married for love, not for maintaining a Bloodline like Sasuke's had.

He remembered the Land of Waves, how he'd been ready to kill himself to save Sakura before Karin had forced him to bite her. How golden chakra had bled out of her arm and her back, the tingling taste that had filled his mouth as his whole body exploded with energy. How he'd healed so fast he'd steamed.

He wondered if Karin was okay. What she thought about what Rain was doing. She hadn't even seen him before he'd been taken back to Konoha; she probably thought he'd ditched her, just like everyone else in her life always had.

Hopefully, she'd run away before his dad got there.

"The how doesn't matter," Tsunade said, bringing him back to the present. "What matters is understanding what you've actually been doing when you heal people."

"What do you mean?" Naruto said, snapping to attention as Tsunade scowled at him.

"Your medical ninjutsu isn't guiding the body into healing itself. You're directly injecting your Yang chakra into it: think of it as draining a bit of your own life to trade for theirs. It's directly stimulating cells with an infusion of energy and rapidly regenerating them." Tsunade paused, pondering again. "It has a lot of shared principles with some of my techniques, but your lack of understanding of the jutsu is the real problem."

"Have I been running down my life?" Naruto said, feeling a faint trill of alarm. "Sasuke said Nagato had a technique like that-"

"No," Tsunade said bluntly. "It's the other way around. By forcing people to heal like that, you're shortening their life. A year here or there. Shinobi aren't an infinite energy source, and cells can only split so many times. Forcing cells to regenerate so aggressively will make them approach their limit sooner."

Naruto stood there as horror took hold of his heart, but Tsunade just laughed at the look on his face. "Don't look so terrified. It's definitely better than them just being dead; those are the kind of situations that I'm talking about."

"I don't want that," Naruto said, the words bubbling out of him like boiling water. "That's the opposite of what I wanted when I learned how to be a medic. That's-"

"Yeah, left to your own devices it would be a real mess, eventually." Tsunade smirked. "That's why I'm here."

Naruto blinked. "I can learn to control it, right?" he said, filled with a sudden fervent energy.

"You'll do more than that," Tsunade declared. "Most talents like this are only good for killing: making deadlier, more complex ninjutsu. You've got a gift, Naruto; I'm not going to let you squander it."

"Where do we start, then?" Naruto said, realizing the whole first day really had been just Tsunade figuring him out. From her smug look, he could tell she'd already come up with a plan. He was split between excitement and terror; the notion that his medical jutsu was unique and powerful in a way others couldn't be thrilled him, but knowing that he'd probably already accidentally trimmed down the lives of Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, his mom, and who knew how many others filled him with a dread as crushing as the bottom of the sea.

"From the beginning, at first," Tsunade said. "You've slacked on chakra control; it's excellent, but that only counts for passing if you're a real medical ninja."

Naruto wondered just what Tsunade's definition of a 'real medical ninja' was as she continued, knowing that his chakra control was better than most he'd met. "We're going to make sure you're not accidentally using a single drop before we move on. Perfect control: that's all I'll accept."

Then, and only then, she hesitated.

"Something wrong?" Naruto asked, and she shook her head.

"The most efficient technique for giving you that level of control can also be used in a fight," she said with a grimace. "I didn't want to teach you that sort of thing. That's not why I decided to bother with you."

Naruto frowned. "I get that, I guess," he said. "But I was going to ask you about that kind of stuff anyway." He crossed his arms, rocking back and forth with the rhythm of the breeze.

"Why?" Tsunade said bitterly. "Don't you want to protect people?"

"That's why," Naruto said, trying out her bluntness. "When the village got attacked, I couldn't help my mom. She almost died because I wasn't strong enough to even make a dent in the people trying to kill her. I felt useless; I was useless. If it weren't for Sakura, we'd both be dead."

Tsunade stared at him; he couldn't fully read her expression, but he thought it was probably somewhere between regret and excitement.

"Fine," she said after a moment. "But don't make me regret this, Namikaze. I promise you'll regret that a lot more."

"I'll try not to," Naruto said honestly. Tsunade turned away, preparing something as her chakra surged, and he jogged after her. "Hey," he continued, "should I give it a name?"

"Your technique?" Tsunade said, and Naruto nodded vigorously. "Of course. Names have power: creating a concept to attach your efforts to will help guide your chakra. That's just common sense."

"Cool." Naruto grinned. "I'll think of one then."

"Don't get cocky, brat," Tsunade grinned back. "First, we'll see if your control can be improved enough to use it safely. You might just be hopeless, you know."

"That's not going to happen," Naruto said, his happiness fading and replaced by an urgent seriousness.

"Everyone needs me at my best."

###

At first, Obito had thought that having to share the bed would be annoying. He wasn't someone who sprawled out in their sleep, but the freedom to do so had always been there, and there was some irrational part of him that still feared change which wondered if being stuck with half of his usual sleeping space would grate on him, and maybe eventually turn into a homicidal rage or something equally ridiculous.

On the morning of the 22nd, nine days after he'd slept with Rin for the first time, Obito was starting to wonder if his entire life would be a series of realizations that his past self had been an idiot.

"You still haven't used the VCR," Rin said, propped up on one elbow and grinning at him. "I'm beginning to think it's pathological at this point."

Obito groaned and covered his face with a pillow, hiding from her mocking smile. "I've been busy," he said. "It's not like the last week has been uneventful, you know."

"You've had plenty of time." Rin prodded at him, and he grunted, rolling over as she poked at his sensitive side. "Especially since you've supposed to have been on bed rest for the last couple days."

"I'm in bed," he said, peeking out at her from under the pillow with his one good eye. "I'm resting."

"And hating every second of it, which really isn't helping," Rin noted. She rolled over as well, bringing them face to face. "Do you even have any movies?"

"At the moment," Obito said, taking in how close and how undressed she was, "I genuinely don't remember."

"I had a couple," Rin mused, obviously delighting in distracting him, "but I'm sure they probably got wrecked with the rest of my stuff."

The Sanbi had flooded her family home; one more irreplaceable thing Rain had taken from them, even if it paled in comparison to the lives that had been lost. Obito's mood darkened, and Rin noticed. She rolled her eyes at him, and he blushed.

"Sorry," he said. "You know how I feel."

"I know how you feel," Rin confirmed. "But even you aren't important enough that the whole counterattack will wait for you, Obito," she went on with a smirk. "Maybe you should just deal with that, instead of sulking that sensei won't drag you along on another death-defying mission."

"It's not just that. Sasuke's been added to the assassination squad," Obito noted, and Rin sat up, distracting him again.

"Really?" she asked, and when he nodded she looked perplexed. "He made a name for himself over there and in the invasion, but still, with his age…"

"With the Nibi still being in Rain, sensei wants a Mangekyo Sharingan at his side when he faces the Amekage, I think," Obito said, which was a bit of a fib since he knew it for a fact; Minato had told him himself when he'd spoken with Obito about putting Sasuke in the counterattack force, half asking for permission and half explaining his reasoning. "I'm out of commission, and he wants Mikoto here in case the Kyuubi starts trying to break out Kushina again. It makes sense, though…"

"Mikoto?" Rin said with a scowl. "After what she-?"

"She saved Kushina's life once already," Obito said with a chuckle. "I don't think that's a concern anymore."

"Mmmm…" Rin groaned, and then blew a raspberry. "Fine. But Sasuke, you're not happy about that?" she asked, and Obito shrugged, some of his excitement draining away as he was forced to remember the real world.

"I'm proud of him. I think he'll handle himself fine," he said, meaning every word of it. "Sasuke made Jonin in Rain, and he deserved it. He's one of the finest ninja in the village."

"But?"

"But he's still just a kid, and my student. It feels wrong to see him going on a mission like that when I can't. Not to mention that…" No matter how comfortable with Rin Obito had gotten, he wasn't at the point where he could admit to her that when he was thinking about Sasuke being dragged into an invasion of a village he'd been a ninja of, it was Madara's cracked face and malicious empty sockets he saw, the words the corpse had said about the dream of Konoha being corrupted that echoed in his head.

Hashirama and Madara had created Konoha so that children wouldn't have to fight. And yet, they'd been sent to Kanabi Bridge, and Kakashi had died. Now, Sasuke was going to be sent to Rain to fight his former comrades, and if fate turned the wrong way, he could lose his life there.

It made him boil. Something was wrong, but Obito was in too deep to get a clear look at it. He'd grown up completely embedded in the village, and had never made a scholar of himself like his teachers; he knew in his gut knew that even if he was able to completely figure out the problem he would have no idea how to fix it, and knowing that made him unbelievably frustrated. More than that, he didn't want the ancient monster to be correct about anything; a man like Madara only deserved ridicule, not validation.

It was like when he'd come back to the village after his team had left; that feeling of reawakening. But this awakening was uncomfortably raw and coarse. Before, Obito had remembered who he really was: now, he couldn't help but question what he'd dedicated his life to.

"Not to mention that you're going too," he finished, and Rin shrugged.

"Sensei will be with us," Rin said, so sure of their teacher's strength that it let Obito believe for a moment that he was worrying for nothing. "He'll be fine; I'll keep an eye on him. I assume Naruto and Sakura aren't happy with it?"

"They accepted it," Obito said, trying to distract himself; he pulled himself up a little and started drawing circles down Rin's back, and she shivered, giving him a grin over her shoulder. "Naruto hates Rain for what they did to Kushina; can't blame him. Sakura…" He paused, and Rin pushed back into his hand when it stopped moving.

"I haven't been able to get a read on her," he admitted. "It's like she's numb. I don't have a clue what's going through her head right now."

"She bought the Akatsuki pitch hook, line, and sinker," Rin said, somehow not sounding cruel even though Obito knew she didn't exactly think the best of Sakura for her apparent naivete. "We've done that talk already: I'm sure she's just processing that betrayal. It'll take her a while."

"I wish she'd ask for help," Obito said, starting to move his hand again.

"She will when she needs it," Rin assured him, wriggling a little as he traced her spine. "Naruto will drag it out of her, if it needs to happen."

"Naruto?" Obito asked, and Rin gave him an incredulous look. "Why him?"

"Oh my god," she said, her voice deadpan. "You're never going to learn, are you?"

He squeezed her butt, and she jumped with a little squeal.

"You shouldn't bully me," Obito said, injecting false gravitas into his voice. "I'm a really dangerous man, you know."

"Yeah, in danger of being the most clueless man alive maybe," Rin laughed back, and with mock outrage on his face Obito pulled her down.

It had taken them a long time to be ready for one another, but things had worked out well enough. Even if it had taken his team going rogue, Waves and Rain and Leaf being attacked, and a midnight conversation to show them they shouldn't wait around, Obito was content he'd been brought here by everything that had happened.

Even if things were getting more dangerous by the day and uncertainty prowled the horizon, right then Obito was the happiest he'd ever been.

###

As the days passed, the village hardened like a blade being reforged. A date was set for the counterattack: April 27th, exactly two weeks after the initial strike against Rain that had kicked off all the chaos. Shinobi across Konoha and beyond began preparing themselves for a battle which would destroy the Nation of Rain's ambitions and reestablish the Leaf as the world's supreme power in whatever ways they could, be it prayers to gods and ancestors, debauchery, martial meditation, and a thousand other means.

Six hundred and forty-two Konoha shinobi and eighty-seven Sand shinobi had been selected to be part of the counterattack, split between a general disruption force meant to engage Rain's strength in detail, a raid group charged with destroying infrastructure and providing support to the main force, and a critical assassination squad led by the Hokage with the intent of tracking down and destroying Yahiko and anyone who tried to defend him.

The relatively constrained size of the counterattack was Minato's concession to his own morals and to the dream he had shared with his fellow students, his attempt to limit bloodshed by cutting off the head off the snake; the Hokage had no idea if Yahiko's death would result in Rain refusing to prosecute their war against Konoha further or just doubling down, but Jiraiya counseled him to trust in Konan and Nagato, whom Yahiko had deceived.

And so for a time, Minato continued to trust his master.

The assassination squad was composed of Minato Namikaze, Rasa of the Desert, Hizashi Hyuuga, Muta Aburame, Rin Nohara, Suzaku Nara, and Sasuke Uchiha. This was considered a group of ninja small enough to navigate any battlefield in pursuit of their goal without being bogged down in the general conflict, skilled enough in tracking to locate the Amekage quickly while also countering enemy sensors, and powerful enough to kill any obstacle in their way. They would be accompanied by Jiraiya, though he was not officially a part of the squad.

In between tutoring Naruto, drinking, and wandering the village with a melancholy look, Tsunade found time to treat the remaining injuries that interested her, including Tenten, whose spine she realigned, though she forbade Sakura's friend from active duty for at least a month. Sakura was there, and though she hugged Tenten fiercely when she woke up, everyone present couldn't help but note how empty her eyes were.

On the 23rd, Sakura's father returned to the village, and was overcome by its destruction.

He and the rest of his squad, led by Anko Mitarashi, had been caught up in a corporate dispute in the Land of Waves that had escalated into a small ninja war as native Waves businesses and the Fukami family, predatory foreign companies, and black market operatives had squabbled over who would be responsible for rebuilding the Great Channel Bridge. Ninja had been brought in from several major and minor villages, but with many of Mist's most dangerous men and women occupied in Frost it had been nothing that the Konoha team hadn't been able to deal with. Kizashi Haruno had returned triumphant, but dreading what he'd find with the news of Rain's attack having spread like fire across the continent.

He did not leave his wife's side after finding her; Mebuki still had not awoken. To most who witnessed it, it seemed that Mebuki's condition shattered Kizashi, who was an experienced ninja but nonetheless was unprepared for his family to be ripped apart so soon after his daughter had returned from the Nation of Rain. Sakura, superhuman, a village hero who by now was well known to have slain the Three-Tails Jinchuriki and saved the village from even greater devastation, was left behind by her father once again; perhaps Kizashi believed that she was stronger than him, and that her cold demeanor meant she had already processed her mother's condition. Perhaps he simply did not have the capacity to comfort his daughter when he himself was nearly beyond comfort, especially when he did not have the context to understand how close she had been to Haku, seared by a kiss that had never happened.

Whatever the reason, Sakura pressed on without her parents. She trained relentlessly with her teammates, including Naruto when he had spare time, and did not speak of the Nation of Rain. All who knew her saw that she was chafing, straining against her binds and her place in the village. Sakura wanted to go abroad, to do something, but even when Naruto asked she herself was not sure of where or what.

Perhaps because of that yearning, she grew stronger every day alongside her team; but among them all, pushed forward by a sense of guilt and desperation, Naruto raced ahead.

It took three days for Naruto to name his technique, four days to learn how to shatter the earth with his bare hands, and five days for Tsunade to be satisfied.

Earlier on that same day, the day before the counterattack, Sand shinobi arrived in the village, including the Kazekage and his children, as they prepared to coordinate with Konoha's ninja and launch the assault against Rain as a joint force. Gaara of the Desert, maligned by just about every person who knew the truth of what had happened in the Land of Waves, was forbidden from entering Konohagakure. His power was needed for the attack on Amegakure, but he was not trusted, and his grudge against Sakura in particular was well understood, even if the news of her return had not yet spread widely. The Jinchuriki remained under guard by his siblings, who were too terrified to be effective at it, and a Gold Clone of his father, who swore to keep him under control.

He did not succeed.

###

It was the evening of the 26th when Tsunade looked Naruto over with her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"You're a freak," she said, and Naruto gave her a tired grin, never happier to hear the insult. "I didn't expect this."

"That's a bit mean," he said, on the line between smug and exhausted. "Did you think I wouldn't figure it out?"

"You might not have," Tsunade said, crossing her arms. "I might be incredible, but my teachings are no guarantee. Most ninja can't cut it."

"Well," Naruto said, straightening up and shaking out his arms as they vibrated with Yang chakra, golden light shimmering across them. "Guess I'm not most ninja?"

"Fortunately, yes," Tsunade said, looking over at some of the other ninja present. His whole team was there: Obito, Sakura, and Sasuke, all looking suitably impressed, along with Shizune, Tsunade's companion. "What do you think, Obito Uchiha?" she said with a toothless sneer. "Is he finished?"

"It looks finished to me," Obito said with a laugh, walking forward and slapping Naruto on the back. Naruto grinned up at him, absorbed in the moment and his justified pride.

"Well, that's a shame," Tsunade said with a grimace. "I told myself I'd give him a week, and the brat finishes a day early. I hate underestimating someone." She pursed her lips, sulking to herself for a moment, and then chuckled.

"Wait, that'll work out!" Naruto said, and everyone present looked at him in disbelief. Everyone except Sakura, who seemed to look right through him.

"There's another technique you want to work on with her, Naruto?" Sakura asked, and he nodded, wishing he could fix the way his heart tore a little whenever he heard her speak with a voice so obviously devoid of passion.

"Kinda?" he said, Tsunade looking at him with open interest. He'd learned how the Sannin had ticked pretty well over the course of the last couple days; she put on a cold front, but jutsu development was definitely something she was insanely passionate about, and the flexibility of his Yang Release and how quickly he'd picked up her techniques had obviously intrigued her.

Naruto was the only one who knew he'd only been sleeping two or three hours a night for the last five days, tirelessly working day and night to perfect his chakra control and the dangerous life energy that he now understood was raging inside him at all times. It wasn't the same thing, but the whole process had made him feel closer to his mom, who was still asleep but was getting stronger every day. Obviously his Yang chakra wasn't as dangerous as the Kyuubi, but it was dangerous nonetheless; it was a bit easier for him to see how seriously she took containing the Bijuu now.

"What 'kinda?'" she asked cautiously, and Naruto scratched the back of his head as he tried to organize his as-usual chaotic thoughts.

"I wanna combine everything," he said. Tsunade and Obito both quirked an eyebrow in the exact same way; when they realized it, they grimaced at one another. "Everything I know; my medical jutsu, my Yang Release, my jutsu formulas, and my fuinjutsu. I have an idea on how to make it work, so I'll need help."

"You sure you don't want to throw the Rasengan in there too?" Sasuke asked dryly, and Naruto laughed. "Make it the full package."

"If I could make a healing… Rasengan…" Naruto trailed off, looking thoughtful, and Sasuke gave him a dubious look.

"Seriously?" he asked, and Naruto smirked.

"Nah." He grinned. "Just messing with you," he finished, filing it away.

Shizune spoke up as Sasuke laughed. "I know a little about jutsu formula, Naruto, and of course Lady Tsunade is a master at them," she said, and Tsunade rolled her eyes. "I'm sure the two of us can help you at least start a formulation with a day to work with. Maybe the Toad Sage or your father could assist as well?"

"Feh," Tsunade said. "If you want to bring them in-"

"I'm your apprentice first," Naruto said, and Tsunade gave him a strangely sincere smile. "And I doubt either of them have the time; they'll be in Rain tomorrow anyway." He ignored the part of himself that was screaming in horror at that and focused on his hatred; how badly his mother had been hurt, how Sakura had been hurt, how Rain had betrayed him and them and the world and deserved everything his dad was going to do to them. "We'll see how it goes, and if I need it I'll go looking for other help afterwards."

"I need to speak with Jiraiya anyway," Sakura said suddenly, and everyone paused as they looked over at her. "So you should at least check with him, Naruto. We can speak to him together."

"You've gotta talk to him?" Obito asked, and Sakura nodded.

"I have some questions for him," she said. Their sensei waited a moment, and then made a gesturing motion.

"Any interest in sharing?" he asked. Sakura shook her head.

"Not really," she said, and her words were final enough that even Obito didn't seem to know how to respond.

"Well, okay," he said, looking like he didn't know whether to be impressed or offended. "Are you gonna go find him then?"

"We can go look together," Naruto said, and Sasuke raised his hand. "Yeah, I know," he said, smirking at his friend and burying his concern. "We'll head that way."

"Adorable," Tsunade said flatly, stretching out and closing her eyes for a moment. "I'll see you tomorrow, Namikaze," she decided, and then she vanished, no doubt in search of a bar she hadn't plundered yet.

Shizune watched her master disappear with a helpless look before turning back to them all. "You've done very well, Naruto," she said, and then she surprised him by stepping forward and bowing slightly to him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome?" Naruto asked as Shizune straightened up with a clear smile.

"You can't know how difficult it has been for Lady Tsunade these past years," she said as everyone watched her curiously. "But I have traveled with her since I was young, and I can tell that this week has brought her great joy. She's never had a disciple that she's worked so well with."

"Have all the others betrayed themselves?" Sakura asked, both sudden and subdued, and Shizune gave her a startled look.

"I think that is how she would put it," she decided after a moment of hesitation. "It's no secret that Lady Tsunade hates ninja. Most of her clan is dead or gone, including all of her siblings. Her fiance, my uncle, died in the Second War. She blames shinobi for that, and rightfully so I would think. Everyone else she has ever trained has used her skills to become a better ninja; she felt that they had betrayed her, and forced her to betray herself."

"I don't think I'm different there," Naruto said doubtfully, but Shizune shook her head.

"You are," she said quietly. "You're too young to see it, but especially compared to your father?" She looked at Obito, and Naruto's sensei nodded. "But please don't overthink it; I just wanted to thank you for helping Lady Tsunade, even if that wasn't your intention."

She turned to leave as well, before stopping and bowing to Sasuke as well. "I hope tomorrow goes well," she said, fishing into her sleeve for something as Sasuke nodded back. "I'm not someone who believes in the justice of war, but what Rain did was unconscionable. Please stay safe there."

She pulled out a small vial of yellow liquid with a sealed plastic cap and handed it to Sasuke, and he took it with the reverence of a small child receiving a birthday present. "A poison?" he asked, as Naruto and Obito craned to look at the vial.

"A topical neurotoxin," Shizune confirmed, and Naruto whistled. "My hobby," she continued with a shy grin. "This is one of my deadlier ones. Please don't get any on your skin, and only use it if the circumstances justify it. It's very painful."

"I will," Sasuke promised, and after some further pleasantries Shizune departed as well while Team Seven headed towards the heart of the village in search of the Toad Sage.

"They're really not going to wait for you, sensei?" Naruto asked for the hundredth time, and Obito shrugged.

"I'm not back in action for at least another week," he said, obviously resisting the urge to rub at his healing eye; according to him it had started itching like hell constantly. "And the Daimyo's court is very concerned that Konoha hasn't taken retribution against Rain already. They think not counterattacking the very same day proved Rain's ideology had merit, and made Konoha, and them, look weak."

"That's ridiculous," Sakura said, her tone a little crueler than Naruto would have liked.

"Even the Fire Daimyo isn't that embedded in the village's logistics," Sasuke noted. "Which is just the way both parties like it anyway. Konoha might functionally be at the Daimyo's right hand, but there's a degree of separation of knowledge that both the court and the village cultivate. It's not like Rain."

"It doesn't need to be like Rain," Sakura said. "But the village being driven by political considerations instead of reality is still ridiculous. If the attack could wait just another week…" She paused, considering, and Naruto spoke up.

"Is that how you feel about it, Sakura?" he asked, genuinely curious. They hadn't spoken about their feelings on Rain all week, and he had figured that Sakura of all people would be hurting the most about the coming counterattack. She had been a member of the Akatsuki, after all. Or still was? It wasn't like they had any way of knowing if she'd been officially kicked out or not, though she probably had been.

"I don't know how to feel about it," she responded bluntly. "We all consented to those mind-dives to pull out Amegakure's layout and response protocols: we're already colluding with the assault, even if Sasuke's the only one that's going."

Naruto frowned, remembering the work they'd done with the Yamanaka clan at the Hokage's request. T&I operatives had pulled Rain's organization and layout from their heads, and while Naruto had gone along with it the whole time he'd felt dirty. Getting yanked out of Rain against his will had been against his control, fighting Kagami and Kimimaro had basically been self defense, but spreading information to make attacking the Nation easier? That was a straight, unambiguous betrayal.

"Do you think we're bad people?" he asked, and as Sasuke and Obito walked quietly Sakura shrugged.

"If we are, everyone is," she said. "I don't think it matters anymore. Rain decided to betray us first. Remember what Jiraiya said? 'The traitor is the guy who punches first.'"

Naruto remembered that old conversation, his first introduction to the idea of Ninshu in the wake of Rain's operation to steal Fuu, and his heart hardened. Fuu was somewhere in Rain now; whether Sasuke's brother had meant to do it or not, he'd accomplished the mission Rain had originally given him, and the Nation had gotten exactly what they were looking for.

When he thought about it like that, Sakura was right. Rain had betrayed them, and they'd betrayed themselves, just like Tsunade would say. Even if they'd talked a big game about peace and bringing people together, in the end they'd just collected a bunch of powerful ninja that they were using to take on the world and kill anyone who disagreed with them.

His consciousness somewhat assuaged, they continued on talking about things of no importance, until Sasuke started to subtly lead off.

"Heading towards the compound again?" Obito asked with a sly smile, and Sasuke gave him the kind of irritated look only a teenage boy who had disintegrated an S-rank ninja could pull off.

"You're one to talk," he said. "Like you haven't been spending every spare second with Rin."

"That's different," Obito said smugly. "She's my doctor."

"I didn't know those kinds of treatments were allowed in Konoha," Sasuke said, and that got a laugh out of Naruto and Sakura both as their teacher blushed.

"I can't beat that," Obito decided after a moment, and Sasuke smirked at him. "Get out of here, if that's how it is. Whatever you need to handle tomorrow."

"I'll come see you all before we leave," Sasuke said. "Promise." He wandered off towards the east, people in the street recognizing him and getting out of the way, some giving him little charms or words of affirmation, and then it was just Obito, Sakura, and Naruto.

"Any idea where Toad dude might be, sensei?" Naruto asked, and Obito shrugged.

"I could summon someone to ask," he said, and Sakura nodded.

"Hopefully he's a bit far," she said as Obito summoned a small orange toad and asked it where the Toad Sage was. "I need time to think."

"You could bounce some stuff off us?" Naruto asked, and Sakura shook her head.

"It's about a conversation we had in the Nation of Rain," she said, and Naruto made an understanding noise, remembering what Sakura had told him and Sasuke about the night she'd made chunin. "I don't think it'll make sense to anyone but him. No offense, Naruto."

"I get that," Naruto acknowledged, a little offended but knowing that it wasn't rational. He shoved it down as Obito got his answer.

"Looks like he's at the Hokage's tower," he said, and they altered course, heading north. "He and sensei might be making plans."

"We can check with both of them then," Sakura said confidently, and as Naruto started to say something she waved him off. "You've barely seen your father at all since the invasion. He can make time for you before he launches one of his own, right?"

"Maybe," Naruto said, feeling doubtful. His mom still hadn't woken up, and as Sakura had said he hadn't seen his dad more than three times since everything had happened. The balance between 'dad' and 'Hokage' had been something that his father had handled pretty well as far as Naruto could remember, though obviously there had always been weeks or months where he only had time for one or the other. But with what Rain had done, Minato the dad had essentially disappeared and been replaced by Minato the Hokage, and Naruto couldn't blame him one bit for that. Dad had lost one family member; the Hokage had lost a couple thousand.

As they went, they were recognized every once and a while like Sasuke had been. People stopped them and gave them thanks, wished Obito luck with his recovery, and one young girl pressed an origami kunai into Sakura's hands with a fervent look and a story about how she'd been at the Chunin Exams. Sakura gave the kunai a funny look, perhaps remembering Konan, but it was a sincere gift, and she gave it sincere thanks as the girl told her Sakura had inspired her to be a ninja. Naruto's teammate didn't seem to know what to say as the girl left, even as Obito had given her shoulder a squeeze.

Naruto had never seen the village like this before, but he'd seen the conviction everyone was filled with since the attack; most people came to Konoha because of how safe it was, but with it being attacked that sense of safety had been transformed into gratitude towards the shinobi who'd defended their home.

If Konoha was like this, he thought, what must it be like in Rain?

They were almost to the Hokage's tower when they were interrupted by something strange.

Sakura was the first to stop, followed by Naruto and then Obito. She stared straight ahead and they followed her gaze, Naruto channeling chakra and awakening his superhuman senses as he realized Sakura had been doing the same the whole time. Her sixth sense had picked up something before either of them.

There was someone standing in the middle of the road ahead, about the same height as him and Sakura. They were hooded and cloaked, with one hand in their pocket and the other sleeve limp at their side, and they stood stock still as the village surged around them, ninja carrying messages, civilians shopping in just-rebuilt commercial buildings, and people of every sort walking the streets in the waning hours of the day.

"Who is that?" Naruto asked, and Obito narrowed his eye.

"No idea," he said. "They're looking at us though."

They all stood still for a moment, and the mysterious ninja, 'cause Naruto was one-hundred percent sure that's what they were, made no motion whatsoever. His sensei had been right; whoever they were, the ninja was staring right at them, his unseen eyes boring into them. The feeling was familiar; cold sweat prickled on the back of his neck.

"You know who it is, right Naruto?" Sakura said, and Naruto blinked, looking over at her. Her chakra was raging, pouring out of her body so violently it was almost visible to the naked eye and emitted a faint hum. He had never seen Sakura do something like that, hadn't even known she was capable of it. "You remember this feeling, don't you?"

He realized what she was talking about; where he'd felt this feeling before.

"There's no way," he said; Obito clearly didn't understand what they were talking about, but his sensei looked ready to run and get help with the way things were going. "He was banned from the village."

"When would something like that ever stop him?" Sakura said, taking a step forward. The hooded figure did as well, and that's when Obito pulled things together.

"Gaara?" he said in a harsh whisper. "That's-?"

"It's him," Sakura said. She looked so determined, so focused, that it sent a chill down Naruto's spine, a mixed cocktail of admiration, anxiety, and love. "He's been waiting. For either you or me, Naruto. Maybe both." She took another step, and so did Gaara, the deadlock breaking as they both strode forward. "Should we go talk to him?"

"Not here," Obito ordered, and Sakura looked back at him. "Too many people. Get somewhere more isolated."

"After last time?" Naruto said, agreeing. "Let's hit the roofs; let him follow."

Sakura paused, then nodded. "Good idea," she said, and then she leapt away. A couple people on the street gave her curious looks as Naruto and Obito followed.

Gaara did as well, vanishing from the street in an instant. He was fast and quiet, even more so than last time Naruto had seen him, and fear and rage began twisting his gut.

They came upon the rooftops and drew away from the quiet clamor of the streets with Gaara right behind them, the hooded shinobi maintaining a cautious distance. Naruto's heart was racing. Gaara would have to be insane to attack them in the middle of the village, but Gaara was insane. The Land of Waves had proved that. There was a good reason his dad had forbidden Sand's Jinchuriki from entering the village. Had the Kazekage not cared, or could he not even prevent his son from doing that?

Sakura spun and stopped and Obito and Naruto did as well, forming a phalanx alongside her. Gaara stopped just as suddenly, silently regarding them from about fifteen feet away.

"We know it's you," Sakura said, her chakra still screeching. "Come on. Take off the hood."

Gaara reached up with a rock-steady hand and tugged back his hood, and upon seeing his full face for the first time Naruto hissed. Part of it was genuine anger, but it was mostly shock. He hadn't seen Gaara's face in Waves after Sakura had cut him.

It was a mess. Sakura's blade had obliterated the top of Gaara's nose and left a brutal, ragged scar that arced up and past his left eye to his temple, a screw of scar tissue that had erased his tattoo and left his face completely asymmetrical. It made one eye seem larger than the other, and only contributed to the deranged look on his face as he glared at them, his lips pressed into a grim line and his body vibrating with anticipation.

"Hello, Sakura," he said, his voice unsettlingly quiet and composed. "Namikaze, Uchiha. A pleasure."

"Like hell," Naruto said, his teeth grinding against his will. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Father is working with the Hokage," Gaara said, like that explained a thing. "I'm sure you know I'll be accompanying the attack force to Amegakure. My…" He paused, and then gave a sick smile. "I'm valuable. So it seems we're allies once again. Isn't that nice?"

"How did you know they were back?" Obito asked, and Gaara looked at him like he'd forgotten he was actually a human being instead of a prop, surprised he was capable of speech.

"My father was very angry with me after what happened in Waves," he said. "He supposed that Namikaze was a double agent, since he was working with other Konoha ninja. It seems he was correct." His gaze shifted back to Sakura, and she met it without apparent fear or hesitation. Naruto couldn't imagine how she was capable of it after what happened last time. Sakura was even stronger than he'd known if she was capable of that.

"You were waiting for us," she said, and Gaara nodded.

"I was waiting for you," he answered. The coherence of the sentence made Naruto shiver. "Or someone who would lead me to you."

"Looking for a rematch?" Sakura said, so boldly that Naruto couldn't believe it. Slowly, almost delicately, Gaara shook his head.

"Not yet," he said. Sakura laughed, but he continued. "That wouldn't be appropriate. I wanted to talk to you."

"So talk then," Sakura said, crossing her arms, and Gaara shifted.

"I wanted to talk to you alone," he said. This time, Naruto was the one to laugh.

"That's never happening," he said, trying to inject as much venom into his voice as possible. "Just get out of here; leave the village. You're a mass murderer; you being here at all makes us sick. Just go off to Rain and do what you were made to do."

Gaara shifted his gaze to him and Naruto did his best to meet it with as little fear as Sakura had. He didn't have as much luck. Gaara's eyes were pitiless, unblinking, and he was overwhelmed with the same sensation he'd felt back in the Chunin Exam. Of being ascertained, of being prey. It made him want to crawl out of his skin.

"I can speak," he eventually said as if deciding it for the first time, "even if we are not alone." He looked back to Sakura, his hands stiff at his sides, his face expressionless.

"I love you, Sakura Haruno."

There was a long, baffled silence. Obito and Naruto were speechless. Even Sakura, with her steel-like resolve, obviously had no idea what to say. They all stared at Gaara, struck dumb, and he stared back. For the first time ever he looked like an ordinary scarred teenager instead of a delusional mass murderer, patiently waiting for a response to his confession.

"What?" Sakura eventually asked. Gaara blinked, and then nodded his head.

"I love you," he said with just as much conviction as the first time. "I had to think about it for a long time, but I'm sure of it now."

"What the hell…?" Obito muttered, but Sakura somehow recovered her composure almost immediately.

"What do you mean?" she asked, so clear-headed, and Naruto realized she'd already assessed the situation: that what Gaara called love wasn't recognizable to a normal person. He was still too stunned to say a thing as the Jinchuriki answered.

"My uncle told me about love," he said, brushing his hand across the scar tissue on his head. "Before I killed him. He said it was what you felt for people you wanted to protect, but I've never felt that for anyone. So I carved that reminder on my forehead, Sakura. To make sure I knew to love only myself, and to fight only for myself."

His finger traced through the bumps and grooves of the scar, settling above his eye. "But you cut it out. You made me realize it, Sakura. You're all I think about. You're the only one who's made me feel pain; pain in my body, and pain in my heart. I can never stop thinking about you, and every time I look in the mirror, I can only see you and the marks you've left on me."

"Gaara…" Sakura said, shockingly quiet, but he continued without acknowledging her. The words were pouring out of him so sincerely that Naruto couldn't reconcile them with their sick contents.

"My uncle said human life was about love and pain and how they intersect, so until you hurt me… I wasn't sure I was human, not really. Each time we've met, we've gotten closer and closer; we've learned more about each other. We've given each other so much pain that we're a part of each other now, inseparable." His hand fell away from his face, and he smiled. It wasn't the death-grimace that Naruto was used to: it was a real smile, with real warmth.

"We both got closer and closer to death each time we met, Sakura. Let's go all the way."

Naruto and Obito were too horrified to say a thing. As Gaara expectantly waited for a response, the red sun dipping in the west and stretching out their shadows, Sakura…

Laughed.

Gaara's smile faded, but Sakura's laugh didn't, carrying loud and clear over the roof. She petered out, shaking her head and grinning, rubbing her forehead and covering her eyes for a moment before she fixed him with a bemused look.

"Gaara," she said. "I don't love you. It's like I told you in Fukami City. I don't care about you at all."

"That's-" Gaara started to say, but Sakura cut him off. Naruto could see that he was staggering, like her words were doing just as much damage as her sword had back in Waves.

"I don't care about you at all," she said, every word crystal clear. "No one does. You have no real family, no friends; no one loves you. If you die in Rain, the whole world will be glad for it. Your father and siblings, they'll do their best to pretend you never existed. And me? I won't be able to pretend, but I will forget about you eventually. You'll just be dust, and the only thing anyone will care about will be your Tailed Beast. And then, before too long, it won't even be 'yours.' You'll just be another forgotten failure who never understood anything except how to kill people, because you were too stupid, too weak, to make an identity for yourself beyond pain."

Gaara wasn't the only one struck dumb by Sakura's words: Naruto and Obito were too. Nothing Sakura was saying was incorrect, but the clarity with which she spoke, the naked cruelty, neither of them had ever experienced that before. Sakura's anger had always burned so hot it was dangerous to be near, but now she was cold, and calculated, and they both could see when she broke Gaara's heart like a porcelain ornament with a hammer.

"Fuck off and die, in whichever order you'd prefer," Sakura finished. "I won't be joining you."

Gaara stood there in complete stillness for a full seven seconds. Naruto tensed, not knowing if he was preparing to attack or not.

Then the Jinchuriki turned and walked away, his whole body shaking like he was having a seizure. He leapt off the roof, and was gone.

Sakura sighed. "Well, that was stupid," she said. Naruto blinked at her. "Let's go, yeah?"

"Sakura," Obito said quietly. "You don't want to-?"

"It's pointless," Sakura said with a shake of her head. "He's not going to come back. He didn't come here for a fight."

Naruto could tell that wasn't what Obito had been asking about, but Sakura clearly didn't care one way or another. She started heading towards the Hokage's tower and he trailed after her, trying to digest what had just happened. It rolled around in his head as they made their way back to the street, through the doors of the tower, and began climbing the stairs.

She was different. Killing Haku had changed her, and maybe not for the better, but it was more than that. Naruto struggled to identify it as they took the stairs two at a time, Sakura pushing ahead of them. Something about the girl he loved had changed, but it had happened while he hadn't been looking, sometime during the invasion. So much of what they'd experienced, they'd experienced together; that was where his love came from, and why his mom had been able to call him out so easily.

But now, there was an aberration. He'd missed something, and he needed to find out what.

When they reached the top of the tower, Naruto didn't recognize the ANBU guarding the door to the Hokage's office. The Hokage's normal bodyguards, who he'd known since he was a toddler, had all been assassinated in the invasion to keep them from reverse-teleporting his dad. The bitter hatred that reminder spiked into his brain helped him forget, for the moment, about his concern for Sakura.

"The Hokage's-" the ANBU started to say, and then Sakura pushed the door open and slipped through without acknowledging him, too fast to be stopped. Naruto felt a complicated sense of deja vu; how many times had he done the same thing? But the last time he'd done it, when he'd finished learning the Rasengan, Sakura had had such a scandalized look.

Now, she was the one marching into the Hokage's office without an invitation.

He and Obito followed, and found the room quiet and dark. His dad and Jiraiya were both in there alone; it was a personal meeting, not a war planning session. They were standing on either side of the desk, and stopped discussing whatever they were talking about as Sakura approached.

His dad looked tired. He wasn't in Sage Mode for the first time in a while that Naruto could remember, but Jiraiya was, small wrinkles and warts creasing his face in unnatural ways as they took in the new visitors. Minato gave them all a tired smile as they came to a stop, Sakura keeping her arms flat at her sides.

"Naruto, Sakura, Obito," he said, acknowledging them each in turn. "What's up?"

"Sensei," Obito said with a small bow of his head. "Sakura and Naruto both wanted to speak with Jiraiya before he left tomorrow."

"Oh?" Jiraiya said, shifting to give them his full attention. Naruto couldn't help but notice his dad looked relieved at not being the focus for once. "The both of you? What about?"

"You first, Naruto," Sakura said, deferring back to him. She was frowning, her characteristic look when she was trying to put an argument together; she wanted him to buy her some time. Naruto gave her a grin, some of his doubt fading, and straightened up.

"I finished my new technique," he said, and Jiraiya gave him an impressed nod. "But I want to make another. And I want your help to do it."

"So soon? You can rest on your laurels, you know," the Sage said with a light chuckle. Naruto shook his head.

"I can't," he said as seriously as he could. "I have the idea already; it's a fuinjutsu, a remote seal that stores my chakra until I release it." He looked over at his father, seeing the gleam of interest in his eyes. "Like the Hiraishin, almost. A cursed seal, but for medical jutsu. I'd ask you first, dad, but you know…"

"Yeah," Minato admitted. "Sorry, Naruto."

"It's not your fault," Naruto said, clenching his fist. "It's Rain's. I'm going to get started on it tomorrow with Tsunade, but when you get back, I want your help with it, Jiraiya. If that's okay. I think I'm onto something, but I'm not smart enough to put it together."

"You're plenty smart," Jiraiya scoffed. "What you've pulled with Tsunade is proof enough of that. What you're lacking is experience, which I've got in spades." He stroked his beard. "Though that's just a fancy way of saying I'm old. If things go well, I'll be happy to help, Naruto. It sounds like an interesting technique."

"Great," Naruto said, trying to muster up a grateful smile. "Awesome. And dad," he shifted to the Hokage. "Do you mind if I try it out on mom? What I've finished, I mean."

"You've got my permission," Minato said with a curt nod, somehow not showing any of the relief Naruto knew he had to be feeling. "Hopefully it'll give her the push she needs to wake up."

"Yeah," Naruto said, not needing to say out loud that that was why he'd been working himself beyond exhaustion all week. Everything he'd done, all the motivation he'd scrounged up, the desperate energy to master his Yang chakra; it was all thanks to his mother.

The room shifted to Sakura, who had closed both her eyes. She opened them as Jiraiya looked at her.

"Do you remember what I said?" she said after a moment, quiet but authoritative. "At the end of that Go game."

"I remember," Jiraiya said, which was more than Naruto could say. This was something else Sakura had never shared with him; he'd known she'd spoken with Jiraiya and the Amekage on that day in Amegakure that she'd been promoted to chunin, but Sakura had never given him a word for word breakdown of what had transpired.

"You were right about everything," Sakura said. "Even more so than you thought you were, I bet."

"To everyone's misfortune," Jiraiya said curtly. "What's your point, Sakura?"

"I'd have to make them real," Sakura said, glancing back at Naruto. She'd sensed his confusion, he thought; was there anything he could hide from her anymore? "If I ended up in a situation where my beliefs, my ideals, or the ideals of the people I followed, ended up not being reality, I would just have to make them real." She looked back to the Toad Sage. "I haven't changed my mind. I still believe that shinobi should come before organizations, but after what happened with Rain, I've got no choice but to believe that violence needs to be part of the equation; that deterrence is the only way to guarantee safety."

She paused. "But even that belief is just based on being attacked. My home's been sacked twice; once in Amegakure, and again here. And it was the same in the Land of Waves, and in the Hidden Waterfall. Everywhere I go, people are being killed because others think they can get away with it."

"And?" Jiraiya said, clearly just as curious what Sakura was going to say as Naruto himself was. Neither Minato or Obito showed as obvious an anticipation, but they were clearly paying close attention.

"And I'm sick of it," Sakura said plainly. "I think people like that deserve some of their own medicine." She shifted, looking to the Hokage as well. "I want to go to the Land of Frost."

The Hokage shifted, not giving an immediate response, and Sakura continued. Naruto blinked, watching the conviction boil off her as Sakura continued. "I've heard that Rain and Mist have both been fighting there against Cloud; that Lightning is trying to take over the country."

"That's true," the Hokage said neutrally: like he was speaking to an equal, and not a subordinate. Whatever relationship Team Seven had with his dad, Naruto realized, everything that had happened with the Land of Rain had irrevocably altered it.

"Have any Konoha ninja been dispatched to the Land of Frost?" she said. Minato gave her an amused look.

"You're not qualified to have that sort of information, Sakura," he said, still neutral, but Sakura smirked.

"I doubt that any have. Because Konoha doesn't want to start a war with Cloud right now." she said, and Naruto's father didn't react. "You might have before Rain attacked, but now that they've been that stupid, and the village is this hurt, you don't want a war on two fronts, especially when Cloud is already being opposed by two villages anyway. Right?"

"That could be true," Minato said. Jiraiya's curiosity looked to be growing more intense. "But-"

"Sakura," Naruto interrupted, and his father paused. "You want to go to Frost to fight Cloud?"

Sakura looked back at him. "Yeah," she said simply. "We just got back from Rain; our defection was common knowledge, especially since we fought Cloud ninja as Rain shinobi, but with everything that's happened, and having not been on any missions outside the village, us getting back shouldn't be." She took a deep breath. "I joined the Akatsuki to try and create peace, but at the very first meeting I learned that they'd been trying to scare up a war with the Land of Frost or Water with Lightning anyway. Because people like Kimimaro believed the war was inevitable, so they might as well have it on their terms."

She laughed, but this one didn't send shivers down Naruto's spine like her earlier one with Gaara had. It was human, desperate, but genuinely amused. "And it got them blown up!" she said, and Naruto couldn't help but laugh along at the black comedy of it all. "So I think the best thing I can do is follow the ideals I was chasing in the first place: to prevent conflict, even if that means being a part of it. Going to Frost as a ninja of Rain, not Leaf, and helping them fight the people who tried to wipe them out… I think that's the only place in the world I can be right now and feel like I actually belong."

His dad was actually considering it. Despite his neutral attitude, he was seriously pondering Sakura going off to be part of the war. Naruto's hands curled into fists; he didn't know if Sakura was right or wrong, but he knew what he had to do.

"I'd go with you," Naruto said, deciding it in that instant, and Sakura gave him a surprised look.

"Again?" she said, and he laughed.

"Again," he confirmed, and her smile lit up his world. "I bet Sasuke would too. This is-"

He had a sudden and painful epiphany, like someone had dropped a brick on his head. "This is how we can start trying to make things alright, maybe," Naruto said. "If it's like people have said, and Yahiko did this without getting everyone involved-"

"He did," Jiraiya confirmed. "I'm sure he went to the Summit telling Nagato and Konan he was sincere. And Konan is in the Land of Frost now, leading the Rain contingent against Cloud. He stabbed his own lover in the back out of fear."

"That's perfect," Naruto said, even though objectively it was terrible. "Konan liked us; Sakura and I can meet up with her, explain what happened; we can be the ambassadors you thought up, Sakura. And with someone to fight together, it'll be hard for her to turn down the help," he finished, not understanding why Sakura didn't look as excited as she should be.

"It won't be that simple," she said after a moment.

"Nothing's ever simple," Naruto said, knowing it was both pithy and true. "But it's something. You thought this up, even if you might not have put it this way from the start. It's a good idea!"

"Or Rain turns on you," Minato said quietly, "and you both die in Frost without accomplishing anything."

"At least we'd die trying something!" Naruto said, his own fervor surprising him. What he said next surprised him even more. "If you'd let us go back from the beginning, we might have been able to avoid this. Or at least seen it coming!" He threw his hands up, overwhelmed by the feeling they were on the verge of something, at least something more than sitting around and trying to put the pieces back together. "Trust me, dad. We can do this."

His father watched him, unreadable icy blue eyes, and Naruto maintained eye contact for an uncomfortably long time. After a long moment, the corner of Minato's lip jerked up, but he didn't finish the smile, and no mirth made its way into his gaze.

"Sakura's point about you all still being rogues is well founded," he said. "And once Obito is fully recovered, I had planned to turn our attention towards neutralizing Cloud and its Cannon regardless." Naruto sighed, excitement squirming through him, as his father straightened up. "Sasuke was a jonin in Rain as well, so there are doubtlessly some ninja there who trust him. After the assault on Amegakure, he could be dispatched to Frost as well; if all goes well, there won't be any witnesses for him in Rain anyway." He looked over at Jiraiya; the Sage was frowning. "Sensei, you're a well known wanderer. Do you think you being in Frost would be considered an attack by the Hidden Leaf on the Hidden Cloud?"

"I don't really care one way or another," Jiraiya snorted. "But I'm a well known pariah. It would be simple for you to disown me until Obito is done cooking. It's been done before."

"I'm not cooking," Obito said mildly, drawing the room to him. "And I don't like this, even if it's well put together." His single eye was full of an emotion Naruto couldn't identify. "War's a terrible thing, Sakura. I'd rather you not see more of it, even if you think you need to."

"I've already killed one of the people most important to me, sensei," Sakura said, the bluntness of it clearly catching Obito off guard. "After that…" For just a second, Naruto caught a glimpse of the struggle inside Sakura, but it was muted, stiff as meat left in the freezer.

In that glimpse, Naruto realized that Sakura still hadn't really grieved. Even more than a week later, she was still stuck.

"I want to make a difference," she decided. "I can't do that here." She smiled. "And if I'm turned down, I'll just run away anyway. I came here to ask for forgiveness, not permission."

"I'm sure," Minato said dryly. "Then you all will leave the day after tomorrow, with my blessing. Hopefully by then, Yahiko will be dead, and we can begin drawing the rest of Rain back to sanity." He paused. "Assuming you're on board, sensei."

"I'm on board," Jiraiya said, studying Sakura. "It's worth a shot, at the very least. We'll see if we can't hammer things back together using Cloud as an anvil."

"It's decided then," Naruto's dad said, looking tired and grateful in equal measure. "Thank you for your initiative, Sakura."

"Don't thank me," Sakura said with a shake of her head. Naruto watched her carefully, trying to get another glimpse into her heart, but she was frozen up, implacable and unreadable again; all he could see was her certainty. "This is just for me."

###

Thirty minutes later, Sakura had gone off to speak with Tenten, and Naruto and Obito had been whisked away to Kushina's side by Minato. His father was there as well, accompanied by several ninja from both the medical and sealing divisions, but they were all kept to the periphery, leaving space for Naruto to work.

He circled his mother, analyzing her chakra system for the twentieth time or so. Medical jutsu had proven insufficient to wake Kushina up; even after she'd made a full physical recovery, she'd remained in a coma, and it was obvious to Naruto why. Her chakra system had been shredded, and the seal hastily rebuilt on top of it. For a couple minutes, her chakra and the Kyuubi's had been one and the same, and even if she'd somehow miraculously transformed its chakra into something that had empowered her instead of melting her, his mom's chakra system now more resembled a corpses than a living person's.

It should have terrified him, but instead Naruto found himself filled with a steadfast determination. A week wasn't much time; it had taken him months to master the Rasengan, after all. But nonetheless, the week had changed him; even if he hadn't been strong enough to save his mother during the invasion, he knew he could do something now.

He laid his hands on her stomach, over the shredded seal, and concentrated. It was just like it had been with Kagami. There was all his life before this, and then all his life after, never able to return to what it had been.

"Yang Release," he muttered, drawing on the name to focus himself, to guide his chakra into the perfect pattern Tsunade had hammered into him. The fire inside him started raging, the energy that could cut his mom's life to pieces like her seal had been if he wasn't careful straining to pour out of him. He marshaled it, shaped it, and brought it so completely under his control that for a moment he lost awareness of the rest of his body, feeling only his gathered chakra and intent.

"Kongō Saisei," he intoned, and released the jutsu. Life energy poured out of him, enough that it was visible as a faint orange aura that suffused Kushina's entire body, and Naruto stopped and focused.

It took twenty seconds for Naruto to complete the jutsu. He regrew most of his mom's chakra system from scratch, annihilating and regenerating it in the same moment, the same way Tsunade had cured Sasori's peerless poison. The seal was still a lost cause, but to Naruto's relief, he felt his mother's energy respond; her body wanted to live even more than he wanted her to, and as its chakra system was corrected Kushina's own energy surged, rebinding her spiritual and physical pieces and making her whole once more.

Naruto stepped back, panting, and waited. Ten, twenty, thirty seconds, and still nothing. But after thirty-seven seconds, nearly ninety beats of his heart, his mother stirred.

Her blue-grey eyes slipped open, and Naruto blinked. She looked around the room, turning her head slowly and carefully, every movement obviously sore and stiff. Her gaze settled on Naruto, and then shifted to his father.

Her pupils were distended, pushed into vertical slits. They were the eyes of a fox.

"Mom?" Naruto whispered, and Minato stepped forward as well, muttering spreading among the other ninja.

Kushina smiled.

"Hey," she said. Naruto felt something burn in his eyes, unable to hold back his relief. He stumbled forward, hoping to wrap his arms around her.

But his father caught him by his shoulder. Naruto looked back at him without comprehension; his father's face was cautious, not relieved.

"Kushina," he said quietly, and Naruto's mother nodded. "Your eyes."

"Yeah," Kushina said, struggling to lift one arm to touch her face. "The seal's wrecked. If we weren't in this crappy place…" Her arm dropped with a sigh, and she looked around, seeming to make up her mind.

"Naruto, Minato, Obito," she decided.

"Everyone else should leave. We've got a lot to talk about."

AN:

Due credit to FFFX for help in coming up with some jutsu names, both here and later on. You're invaluable.