Atop the Hokage Rock, where seven stone faces were carved to represent each of Konoha's leaders, a goddess stood in silence. She stared out and down towards the village, a bit larger than it was the last time she saw it. There were more houses, more lights in the night, and more people that comprised the village's population. It was thanks to the efforts of many men and women, and a certain man that was practically everywhere at once, that not only Konoha, but several other shinobi villages were expanding beyond what they had been before. Having wandered around the world for over a decade now, she was sure of at least that much. The "Five Great Shinobi Countries" were no more, because "great" was no longer exclusive to them.
Before long, she found that she was not alone, as someone appeared behind her.
"What're you doing alone up here?" Naruto asked, curiously.
"Nothing at all. Sightseeing, if you need an explanation." Kaguya replied, choosing not to turn around.
Naruto noticed that her voice was a little muffled, but said nothing about it. "That thing you said last night, about Himawari's gift. What did you give her?"
"Did I not say it was to be a surprise?" Kaguya asked rhetorically.
"Yeah, but I still want to know. I want to make sure it isn't something dangerous or that she can't handle, like the sword you have Boruto." Naruto explained.
Kaguya rolled her eyes, but understood exactly what Naruto was concerned about. "You're correct… It's not something that young Himawari can handle, just like her brother's gift, but it's not something she will need to be concerned with right now."
"Why not?" Naruto asked, even more curious than before because of Kaguya's reluctance.
"You could say that… this gift has been with Himawari for a very long time, like a seed that has been planted in the ground. It has yet to sprout. I am merely monitoring its growth and keeping my distance." Kaguya explained.
"Keeping your distance? So this is why you only come by a couple times a year? I thought you were just too focused on eating snacks and sweets." Naruto remarked carelessly.
His comment, however, felt like a jab to her side, and out of reflex, Kaguya turned with an annoyed look on her face.
"What do you think I am? Some kind of glutt-" she said, before freezing mid-sentence as she realized her mistake. Naruto saw exactly why she chose to be alone in a place most wouldn't go, and why her voice was slightly distorted. Kaguya's cheeks were puffed out slightly, and she wasn't empty handed either. A white paper box laid in one of her hands, and in the other, a skewer holding round objects.
They continued to stare at each other for a few seconds, but ultimately Naruto was the first to crack into releasing a suppressed laugh. He could barely hold his mouth closed at the sight of the rabbit goddess, with the face of an embarrassed and angry squirrel. Kaguya quickly swallowed, emptying her mouth and tossing what she was holding into a small rift she immediately opened and closed. She proceeded to wipe her face with part of her sleeve, caring not for potential stains. The finishing touch of her transformation was a return to her usual stern and composed demeanor.
"Not a word of this to anyone, or else." Kaguya demanded, but it only caused Naruto to grin more.
"Like you haven't said that a hundred times already." Naruto replied sarcastically, increasing Kaguya's embarrassment and anger apike
Ultimately, Kaguya sighed, letting her moment of panic dissipate into the air like it was never in her to begin with. "Yes, my distance from your children is in fact related. Were I to be more present in their lives, problems wwould surely multiply. Fortunately, it will not be for much longer."
"So, what exactly is it?" Naruto asked again.
"That, as I said, is to be a surprise. Not merely for Himawari, but for all of us." Kaguya replied.
"Huh? Even you don't know?" Naruto said, perplexed.
"I have, in truth, not given her something, not by my hand. However, the gift originates from myself, and thus, it was my gift to her." Kaguya explained cryptically, but Naruto couldn't guess what she meant. Surely, she was referring to chakra, what she always claimed credit for, but that would mean that she did something to Himawari's chakra. So then what exactly did she do?
Unfortunately, it didn't seem like he would be able to get an answer right now. if Kaguya didn't even know what it was, there was no point in continuing to ask. Although there were some things Naruto still wanted to say, so instead he changed the subject away from its dead end.
"Are you going to stay for the last part of the exams?"
"Hm? Is there a need for my presence? I am not any sort of proctor, and what is this exam for to begin with?" Kaguya asked, tilting her head in confusion. At that moment, it dawned on Naruto that she had never been told about any of the shinobi rankings. It made sense that she wouldn't, but it also disappointed him.
"It's not that kind of exam, well, not all of it." Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "The Chunin exam lets genin compete and reach the rank of Chunin. That way they can prove they're ready to take on more dangerous assignments. There's also the Jonin exam, but uh, I never took it." He said, chuckling weakly at the last detail. At the very least, he could say that he took the Chunin exam; taking never guaranteed passing after all.
"I see… It's for ascending ranks within your hierarchy. But none of this concerns me, does it?"
"No, but it's a pretty important event. Boruto and Himawari are going to be in the finals in a few days, and they'll be competing against others in one on one matches." Naruto explained, and as he finished his explanation, he saw a subtle change in Kaguya's expression. There was a frown for a moment, but it quickly returned to neutral.
"Hmm, single combat as a means of examination. That much, I am unfortunately familiar with, but if your children are participating, I suppose it might prove a little entertaining." Kaguya pondered.
"Did you have to do something like this in your clan?"
"Certainly. It was important to examine ourselves and understand our capabilities after each successful harvest. For many of us, it was simply an exercise of our growing power. There were also those among us who prioritized their martial prowess, and devoted themselves to combat. They would often be the first to fall as well." Kaguya said, sounding more somber as she continued.
"Well, these aren't death matches or anything. They're a way for our villages to show off our newest generations." Naruto reassured her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiling.
The upcoming tournament was going to be a big one. Several villages were going to be represented, with the kage of each of them also being present. A lot of up and coming talents were going to reveal themselves, and if there was anyone who was excited to see what would be shown, it was Naruto.
In particular, he was especially curious about those who would be coming from Otogakure. Once merely a fake name meant to grant anonymity to Orochimaru and his countless experiments. Now, it was a proper shinobi village, and a place of refuge for many clans driven to near extinction. In a relatively short time, it became populated by a wide variety of clans, most of which possessing unique abilities, kekkai genkai, which were themselves the cause for their near-extinction. For them. Otogakure was a land of second chances, an opportunity to restore themselves and find a degree of security. A place of redemption, and fittingly, the Otokage was none other than Orochimaru himself.
By popular consensus, his continued existence should not have been tolerated. He was responsible for the assassination of the third and fourth Kazekages, the third Hokage, a terrorist and criminal against humanity. The list of his atrocities could stretch as far as a line of Naruto's clones standing shoulder to shoulder. There was practically no end to the demands for his execution, and Naruto would be lying if he didn't fully understand how they felt. The amount of pain that man put so many through, not just him but granny Tsunade, the Pervy Sage, Sasuke, the list continued. But even so, eliminating Orochimaru wasn't exactly an option.
To begin with, Orochimaru had completed his quest for an undying body. The culmination of many of his past experiments was his current body. The White Zetsu enhanced by the cells of the first hokage was just a base, and the snake sage added on several other enhancements and qualities. He could regenerate from nearly any injury at incredible speed, and if something actually did enough damage to critically injure him, he still had his fallback of turning into a weird snake creature and slithering away, or splitting himself into a thousand snakes and scattering. In other words, killing him permanently would be next to impossible, and even Naruto understood that. Of course, he was not one just to give up against unlikely odds, but there were other reasons he was spared the trouble.
Orochimaru and his subordinates were a critical factor in the war effort. It was they who revived the four hokage, and gave the shinobi forces a real chance against Madara and Ten Tails. They saved the lives of the 5 kage, at least temporarily. The outcome of the war would have been very different, if not for his change of heart, however late it may have been. If Naruto was willing to forgive the likes of Obito, it wouldn't be right to condemn the likes of Orochimaru.
On the less idealistic and more practicL side of things, Orochimaru was a brilliant individual; the gifted one of his generation. His achievements, skill and knowledge, were valuable tools. Better for him to be an ally than an enemy. And for that decision, he paid back in spades.
So, whoever was coming from a village that Orochimaru ran, Naruto couldn't help but be positively anxious about it. As long as they weren't spies, of course.
Suddenly, a thought came to mind, and he looked back at Kaguya. "Come to think of it, a long time ago I had to fight a really strong guy who could make his bones into weapons, and you have something like that too. Can you use everyone's abilities?"
"Many, but far from all." Kaguya said, sounding somewhat defeated. "Your elemental techniques, surely. They are no more than manipulating chakra to mimic nature. The Byakugan, Sharingan, and Rinnegan, certainly. However, I have witnessed many abilities that are not my own. I have discovered that there are humans who are capable of unconsciously absorbing natural energy. Had I such an ability, we would not be here, of course."
"Huh, that makes sense." Naruto remarked. He felt some kind of satisfaction, hearing Kaguya admit that she wasn't the be all and end all. Though he didn't bother to mention that.
"Now then, I will be leaving." Kaguya said, and suddenly rose a few meters into the air.
"Already?" Naruto asked, surprised. Usually, she'd stay for several days at a time, not just for one.
"There are some things that I wish to attend to… concerns to be exact." Kaguya replied, with a weight in her voice that he hadn't heard in many years. "I have felt the flow of energy throughout this world. It is growing disturbed, and I need to know what the cause of the disturbance is. I would advise you to speak with those toads that you're fond of. This could be of utmost importance, Naruto."
Naruto blinked reflexively at her warning, but before he could say anything else to her, she was already gone. Naruto wasn't long to descend from the cliffside either. Her addiction to food aside, Naruto knew that Kaguya spent a lot of her time meditating and synchronizing with nature. She was probably a better sage than anyone in history by now, though maybe that would change if her son were around to compare with. Regardless, if there was something that even she was concerned about, enough to warn him and forego her more casual routines, then it wasn't something he was going to ignore either.
Naruto crossed his fingers, and a dozen shadow clones emerged from smoke around him. He didn't want to disturb too many sleeping citizens, and after 72 straight hours of labor and chakra expenditure in Amegakure, even he had to admit that he was quite tired.
"Alright guys, time to get to work." Naruto commanded.
"Yeaaah" His twelve doppelgangers groaned in unison. They weren't any more excited to pull another all-nighter than their original, and more likely, they also knew what their original had planned.
They moved out at high speeds, as did Naruto himself. Each clone was headed towards a person and place of interest. Assuming the worst possible outcome, a world-class danger, there were a couple of people he needed to contact immediately. The toads were of course a priority, as recommended, as well as some kage from villages, scientists and advisors all over the world. He felt somewhat bad, as some of them were likely in the middle of sleeping, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
His real body, in particular, was headed somewhere quite important. That being, his own house. It was going to take some time for his clones to reach their own destinations, speak with the people there, amd relay their findings, after all. That, and most of the people in Konoha that he wanted to contact on the matter, the likes of Shikamaru, Ino, the head of the ANBU, Sakura, and others, wre probably asleep anyways. Waking them all up for a late night maybe-cemergency meeting for which they would all either be frustrated, tired, or both, was not something he wanted or knew he needed to do. More than that, he wanted to spend the rest of the night in bed with his wife. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day, after all.
On his way home, he did have a slight concern about the upcoming Chunin exams' final round. With so many participants and spectators alike, he hoped with all of his heart that if there was any actual trouble, it was going to come after the exams were done. He'd hate for any of his citizens or guests to be inconvenienced, or worse, suffer directly by whatever trouble was possibly to come.
Although Hokage Rock wasn't exactly close to his house, at his speed, it didn't take much at all, even if he restrained himself to not accidentally disturb anyone's sleep. It was just a few seconds for him, though if he had the time, he would have liked to take a little longer to enjoy the night's peaceful air. But as he reached the front door of his house, he caught a trace of negative intent, and it was directed at him. When he spun himself around to face it's source, he saw an open palm reaching out towards his face.
Of course, he caught it by the wrist before there could've been any impact, but he was surprised to see who his assailant was.
"Boruto?" Naruto asked, looking at his excited, but disappointed, son.
"Shh!" His own son said in a hushed tone. "I snuck out of bed just for this, y'know."
"Huh? You did?" Naruto asked in surprise, letting go of Boruto's arm in the process. He was actually a little impressed, given that he must have had to evade detection from his mother as well. "But why?"
"I wanted some time to talk, just me and you dad, before the finals start in a few days." Boruto said, seemingly a little restless.
"Hm, alright. Whaddya want to talk about?" Naruto accepted. He was interested, at least.
"I want you to teach me a new jutsu." Boruto asserted. "A cool flashy one to use in my match."
Hearing his son's request left Naruto with a rather blank expression, one that did not know what it was supposed to become. "Huh?" Was all he could think to offer him at first, as his brain waited for more informarion.
"I wanna surprise everyone out there, show them what the Hokage's son can do. You gotta help me with it since you're Hokage." Boruto insisted. "You can teach me that rasengan thing, and how to add an element to it like big bro Konohamaru did."
"The rasengan, Huh? It's a really hard jutsu to learn, y'know." Naruto remarked, skeptically.
"Big bro says that too, and won't teach us till we're older, but I'm already as old as you when you learned it, right?" Boruto argued confidently. The fire behind his eyes was clear to see.
Even so, Naruto wasn't quite sure what he should do. Konohamaru was the leader and teacher of team 7 after all. It was his duty to teach his students, not Naruto. Family aside, was it the right thing to do, to go ahead in place of and against the wishes of Boruto's teacher? And what about the others; what about Himawari and Mitsuki?
It wasn't as if Naruto wasn't self aware either. Obviously, he didn't learn the Rasengan from his own team leader. He learned a lot of his techniques from others. The Rasengan was taught by the pervy sage, as was how to summon toads. One of those was taught to him, coincidentally, before the final stage of the chunin exam as well. But it was a different time now, and his son was not him. Part of Naruto, the father in him, would love to teach his son anything he could. The father would be overjoyed to accept this request, and anything else that his son wanted to inherit from him to become a better shinobi. The other part of him, the Hokage, was different. The Hokage wanted Boruto to make use of what he was taught so far, the skills and techniques he'd acquired through the right channels, and demonstrate what he could do as a shinobi of Konoha without favoritism or discrimination. The Hokage was also considering the time and attention it would take to teach Boruto the rasengan, and given how close the finals were, how likely he was to even master it in time. It was, ultimately, a massive gamble.
And as those two halves of Naruto's mind wrestled back and forth, there was a moment when Naruto's eyes fell upon his son. Looking at Boruto staring silently, waiting for his father's response, Naruto found his answer.
So what if it was a risk? To be Hokage was to make the entire village his family, and here his son was, asking for his support. How could he say no?
"Alright, Boruto. I'll do my best. But we'll start tomorrow. So let's both get some sleep and start early, y'know?" He said with a smile.
Boruto had to hold his own mouth shut to contain his excitement, still letting out his voice for a fraction of a second and risking detection. He couldn't wait for tomorrow, and didn't know if he'd be able to sleep at all. Even though he was going to need it, he might not get it. There was just too much energy running through him now. Naruto, on the other hand, was not going to have that problem. He just wanted to get to bed now.
Of the clones that Naruto had created that night, only one of them remained in Konoha's bounds. Their destination was buried deep within the village, both figuratively and literally. Throughout all of Konoha, and perhaps across the entire world, there were maybe a dozen people who knew it existed at all.
Naruto's clone stopped at a seemingly random and empty square of land in Konoha, but as he shuffled his feet slightly, he felt both of them fall ever so slightly into place. He sent some of chakra downwards into the millimeter deep indentations, and after a few seconds, the ground beneath him gave way. Over the next ten minutes, he passed through more than ten layers of security, genjutsu camouflages and barrier ninjutsu defenses, his chakra being observed and examined at every second by a pair of sensory ninja to ensure there was nothing on him that could be traced or followed. Out of view, the entire complex was shrouded in a variety of materials and powders, designed to prevent anyone from seeing or tracking what was inside. Neither the Byakugan nor the Sharingan should be capable of even noticing it. By the time he reached the ground, he was confirmed clean, and another Jonin appeared to receive him.
"Lord Hokage." The jonin said affirmatively, kneeling before his leader.
"I'd like to enter." Naruto's clone announced.
They grunted, and signaled to another man behind him. Immediately, the large metal doors behind him began to open, and Naruto's clone was ushered inside. After he entered, the doors were closed, and a soundproofing ninjutsu was placed over the room once more. By the end of the week, even the four jonin would have their memories of this location erased via hypnotism genjutsu.
They were necessary measures in order to maintain security. As what laid here in utmost secrecy, was a single prison cell, and appropriately, a single prisoner.
Naruto's clone stopped and stood at the bars, and looked beyond them. The room was dimly lit, needing very little light for visitors and even less for the captive within. His hands and feet were bound tightly, his neck in a collar connected to the wall by chain, and his face was wrapped in a thick blindfold. On the inner side of the collar were a set of paper bombs, which would detonate if the wearer tried to perform ninjutsu. All of it was designed to contain, but also protect, the inhabitant.
"It's me again, Sasuke." Naruto spoke, looking at what became of his brother from another with a pained expression. He waited for a response, as always, and as always, there was nothing. "It was my kids' birthday a little while ago. Even granny Kaguya showed up with presents. Boruto really likes the sword he got. One day he might end up being as good with it as you, y'know."
Sasuke often used a straight sword when he was younger, something he took after from Orochimaru. He used it to cut down a huge number of people and enemies, and even used it against Madara, to varying degrees of success. Ultimately, it was destroyed when it fell into Kaguya's lava dimension. Had he the chance, Naruto would've definitely ordered a new one to be made for Sasuke. Even the leader of the samurai, Naruto had heard, complimented his skill was a blade. Even now, he still hoped to see it again.
"The chunin exam are about to reach its climax. A bunch of the kage are gonna be watching. I think Orochimaru will even be here. Well, with some surveillance that is. Shikamaru and Kakashi-sensei won't budge on that, not that I blame them." Naruto explained, trying to lighten the mood by just a little.
He could tell, however, that Sasuke wasn't interested. Or rather, Sasuke knew this was all pointless banter. There was something else Naruto came here for. Both knowing this, Naruto sighed, and dropped his pretenses.
"Something bad might be happening soon. I don't know what it is yet, but it's a big enough deal that even Kaguya is worried. I don't know if I can deal with it on my own, but as Hokage, it's my duty to protect everyone. I wish… I wish I could ask you for help, Sasuke. Even if it isn't that big of a deal, being able to fight alongside you, it would be good." Naruto finished. If he could, he would undo Sasuke's binds and bring him to the surface, let him feel the light once more, and see the world with his own eyes again. But he couldn't, not yet at least, partially thanks to Sasuke's refusal to say anything at all. He wasn't trying to die, starve or injure himself beyond recovery. He simply chose to be inert.
Was it his idea of surrender? Was this part of his punishment for his defeat? Had he ever reflected back on his actions? Did he still cling to his beliefs? They were all unknowns. Naruto would love to be able to understand, perhaps one day he would.
"If you got out of here, what would you do?" Naruto asked, for perhaps the thousandth time. "Would you try to protect this world alongside us this time? It'd sure be a relief to hear a yes to that… Me and Sakura are still waiting for you."
Still, there was nothing. Sasuke's breathing indicated that he was awake, and his ears proved he was listening. But despite being able to use his tongue, he chose not to.
"I understand. Let's talk next time, alright? Ya stubborn jerk."
With that, Naruto's clone vanished into a cloud of smoke. peace and quiet returned to the room, and once more, Sasuke was left alone in the darkness.
Nearly fifteen years, he'd been here, alone, but not always. There was no such thing as a night that never ended, and so close to the sun so often, Sasuke surely knew that.
I don't know