Chapter 39 The Senseis
Late that night, there were three separate people all unable to sleep. The cause of it was not insomnia, but guilt. Guilt towards their choices, their accusations, their loses, and all of it tied back to one whiskered blonde and those close to him.
We start with one man, silver-haired and heterochromatic eyes, down at a bar. Accompanying him was another jounin, one a plain looking man with short black hair with a metal face plate around his face.
"Tenzo, can I ask you something?" Kakashi asked, holding a glass of ale that was only half-consumed. But it hadn't been his first.
"Sure, but that doesn't mean I'll answer." Tenzo replied, stirring his drink with a wooden finger.
"Let's say you have a student who accuses you of wanting him to die. How would you convince him that it's not true?"
Tenzo sipped his drink. "Well first, I would have to ask are you sure it's not true?"
"I beg your pardon?" Kakashi asked.
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say this is about Naruto, am I right?" Tenzo asked, and Kakashi shamefully nodded. "I'm no Yamanaka or interrogator. I deal with traps and defenses. Stopping people is my specialty, and sometimes the simple way works best. So let's handle this simplistically. Do you in fact want Naruto dead?"
"No! Of course not!"
"Now that that's established, why does he believe otherwise?"
Kakashi choked on his words for a moment. "A law prevents me from giving specific details."
"Then give a legally safe summary." Tenzo told him.
Kakashi lulled before complying. "Naruto gave the hokage an ultimatum, and she tried to make me tell him to get over it and accept his place, so to speak. I tried to reason with him, and in it he revealed that he suspected that all this time I wouldn't have cared if he died under my watch. Worst part was, the way he phrased it, it made too much sense for even me to deny. It made me wonder, if at any point in the past, maybe I did want him to die."
The cycloptic jounin paused for a sigh and to chug down more of his drink. "Then he went to yell at Hokage-sama, and she told him something I'm not legally allowed to repeat. The next time I saw Naruto, he was angrier than I've ever seen anybody in my life. He could have killed me right then and there, and likely been completely justified, but he forced himself not to and gave me a chance to escape. Right now, I don't want to take the chance he'll do it a second time. But now, knowing what he knows, he more than likely is convinced that all this time, I wanted him dead. I just didn't have the guts to do it myself."
Tenzo had another sip. "So let's say that he is right, that if not now then there was a time when Naruto's death was... let's say an acceptable option if not a desired outcome. What would have stopped you from contributing to this becoming a reality?"
"According to him, my sensei will hate me if I kill my student. But he'll just be disappointed if I look the other way and let someone else be responsible." Kakashi admitted.
"So disapproval from the dead is the only thing keeping you from killing one genin?" Tenzo asked.
"I don't want Naruto to die!" Kakashi insisted.
"Did you want to be his teacher?"
"I was afraid that if I did, he'd still die. So many people have died while I lived. I didn't want him to be another name on a memorial that I stared at." Kakashi defended.
Tenzo took another sip. "So if you teach him, he dies. And if you don't teach him, he dies. Sounds like you thought his death was inevitable whether you wanted it or not."
The cycloptic jounin looked away, unwilling to say anything.
"So then, if that was the case, why agree to be his sensei at all? Why not let someone else do the job instead of you?"
"I had to take the job."
"Why? Were you legally required to do it?"
Kakashi nodded. "Yes, I was. I had to teach Sasuke Uchiha, I couldn't get out of that. And I had to cover Naruto Uzumaki at the same time. I couldn't have one without the other."
"So the Uchiha was the one you wanted, despite the risk to his life, and the Uzumaki was the one you got stuck with." Tenzo summarized.
"I wasn't stuck with Naruto." Kakashi objected.
"Then if you could have one student without the other, which one would you have chosen?"
"That's a loaded question Tenzo. If I choose Naruto, that means I've got no excuse for not teaching him all this time. And if I say Sasuke, that means I'm admitting that I never wanted to be responsible for Naruto in the first place."
"Loaded or not, it's still a valid question Kakashi. From where I'm sitting, I'm starting to wonder if Naruto really is right. I don't think that you're the one owed sympathy here."
Kakashi payed his tab and decided to call it a night. Tenzo did not bother to follow him.
In an apartment, two people were laying in bed, naked but covered by the blankets. They had just had a passionate night, one that they were not strangers to having, but one seemed to be less enthusiastic about it than the other.
"Are you ready to talk now, Kurenai?" Asuma asked, laying down. His lover seemed more willing to discuss difficult topics post-nut. Something about an orgasm made her less guarded, he had learned.
Kurenai sat up, blanket under her arms so her breasts were still covered. Not that there was anyone around to see them except the only man she ever showed them to. "Something's happened to Hinata, and now she hates me."
"What did you do?"
Kurenai was surprised to be asked that. "Why do you assume it's my fault?"
"This is Hinata you're talking about. The girl who doesn't even hate the cousin who tried to murder her. For her to hate you of all people, you must have seriously done something wrong."
"I didn't. I just..." She started, only to trail off. "She's gotten together with Naruto Uzumaki."
Asuma blinked. "That's odd. Shikamaru and Chouji were telling me that Ino's taking a shine to him recently. And they saw him with Sakura a while ago, on what looked like a date."
Kurenai blinked this time. "But Hinata said he was dating her. Is he two-timing? Or three-timing?"
"Hold on, let's ignore that issue for now." Asuma claimed.
Kurenai ignored that. "How can you possibly say that?"
"Because you brought up your student being with Naruto first, and at the time you thought Hinata was the only girl into him. That means you weren't concerned about infidelity, you have a different reason to be upset about this. So what is it? Why are you bothered by this? Shouldn't you be happy that she's pursuing her dream?"
"He's not good enough for her. She deserves to be with someone better. Someone like a clan heir or a hokage's son. Or at least someone who's not still a genin. Someone who's... not him."
"Maybe she doesn't want a clan heir or a hokage's son. Maybe she just wants him." Asuma told her.
"She doesn't know what she wants. She doesn't know what's best for her." The genjutsu mistress insisted.
A little angry, Asuma sat up to look at her more directly. "What is she? Three years old?"
"I'm just looking out for her."
"No, you're trying to control her. You're acting like she needs your permission to be happy. Would you treat our daughter that way if we had one?"
Kurenai wilted at that and stood up, walking out of bed to look out the window. Right then anyone could see her bare body if they looked. But she made no effort to actually leave the room.
"Asuma, I... I might be pregnant."
The bearded jounin silently gasped and moved out of bed to stand beside her. "What do you mean 'might be'?"
"I took a home test, it said positive. But you're never truly certain until you see a doctor. I'm going to do that tomorrow. But yeah, we might be parents soon."
"Is that why you're taking this thing with Hinata personally? You're asking yourself what if it was our daughter choosing a boy that you didn't approve of?" He asked.
Kurenai rubbed her stomach, saying nothing.
"Why do you think Naruto isn't good enough for her? It can't be a status thing, unless you're only with me because of who my dad was. What do you hate about Naruto?" Asuma inquired.
"I don't hate him. I... I hate what he reminds me of."
"What's the difference?"
Kurenai paused, not sure how to phrase her response.
"I get it, Naruto reminds you of something you don't like being reminded of. You're not the only one who can say that. And if I had to guess, you're afraid that if Hinata is with him, you'll have to spend a lot more time around him if you want to spend any time with her. So it's either learn to live with the bad reminder, stay away from them both, or keep them apart. Is that what you're doing?" He asked, hugging her from behind.
Kurenai continued to remain silent, leaning into his arms for comfort.
"Kurenai, I love you, but Hinata's love life is her decision, not yours. Telling her who she can and can't love based on your personal preferences makes you... well, no different than the Hyuugas you're trying to protect her from."
"What about the two-timing?" Kurenai asked.
"We don't know the details. This is just speculation on my student's part. It's possible they misunderstood something. Maybe Sakura was just spending time with her teammate. Maybe Ino is just trying to be a friend to Naruto. Or maybe the three of them are in some kind of open relationship."
Kurenai rolled her eyes. "There's no way Hinata would be into that."
"I said it was possible, not that it was likely." Asuma added, chuckling a little.
Over in Myoboku, Jiraiya was in the hut of Fukasaku and Shima, having discussed with them the issue of Naruto's refusal to work for Konoha. Or rather, he tried to discuss it with them.
"Jiraiya, you're telling us that due to the incompetence of you and your teammate, Naruto has resigned from being a ninja? And you expect us to convince him to change his mind?" Fukasaku asked.
"It's not like I'm not doing anything on my end. I've been working on something that will benefit him. The problem is right now he's not going to listen to a word I say. I think he'll be more likely to listen if you speak on my behalf." The toad sannin explained.
"Why should we do that? Maybe we agree that Naruto has the right to ignore you." Shima countered.
Jiraiya was surprised by that. "Why would you agree? He needs me."
"For what? You've barely been there for him at any point of his life. Why does he need you now?" Shima asked.
"Hold on." Fukasaku interjected before Jiraiya could respond. "Naruto is refusing to be a ninja anymore. You claim that you're trying to give him something he wants, but there are clearly strings attached. What if even if you do give Naruto what you have to offer, he still chooses to not be a ninja?"
"That can't happen. It would be disrespectful to Minato."
Fukasaku and Shima gave stern frowns to the super pervert.
"I'm pretty sure ignoring his son for over a decade and giving minimal training stretched out over three years is more disrespectful to Minato."
"You don't get it." Jiraiya insisted.
"Then explain it."
Jiraiya took a moment to take a breath and compose himself, knowing he only had one chance to get this right.
"Naruto was given a responsibility to the village. Not just to contain the fox, but to use it. To keep all that destructive energy out of Konoha and to instead aim it at our enemies. Do you think when Minato gave him the fox that he intended for his son to not use it? Would you give someone a sword and expect them to just put it on a wall for display? That's like saying Minato died for nothing."
Fukasaku and Shima looked at each other, and Jiraiya got the impression that he hadn't convinced them.
"Do you believe that's what Minato intended?" Fukasaku asked.
"He may have been pressed for time and limited on options, but the kid knew what he was doing and what the consequences would be. He knew that the only reason we put bijuu inside people in the first place was to weaponize them. Otherwise we'd just seal them in objects like Suna used to."
Shima glared. "So Naruto is just a weapon to you?"
"Of course not! Naruto's a human being! He has never been a weapon to me!"
"And yet you regard him as nothing more than a leash to control the Kyuubi."
"No, I don't! Naruto is a good person and a good ninja!"
"Because of the Kyuubi. He'd be nothing to you without it."
Jiraiya sighed. "Let me try this again. Naruto has the potential to be great, he could even be Yondaime-level if he tried to. For years I thought he was failing to live up to that potential, and now that I'm trying to fix that mistake he suddenly quits. He is throwing away Minato's gift. He's spitting on his father's sacrifice. I want to help him, but he has to become a ninja again. He owes it to Minato to be a ninja. He owes it to Konoha. Anything else is-"
"Stop! Right! There!" Fukasaku shouting, jabbing the end of his staff in Jiraiya's face. "You sit there telling me that in your eyes Naruto doesn't have a choice in being a ninja and yet you expect me to believe you don't see him as nothing more than a weapon?"
"It's not like I'm going to throw him in a cage in between missions or deny him a life of his own."
"No, just deny him a life of his own choosing. A life where he has the right to say no. A life where he has options."
"You speak of the Kyuubi's power like Naruto should be grateful to have it." Shima added. "We know that during the training trip you declined to expand Naruto's repertoire. Your primary focus, if not sole focus, was getting him accustomed to using greater amounts of Kyuubi chakra. You complained about his lack of variety in skills, yet you never actually taught him anything new. It sounds like you didn't want him to learn anything new."
"I made a mistake. At the time I had reason to believe that Naruto was well trained by everyone who respected Minato. I thought he had more jutsu than I did, so I had to focus on the one thing he had that I didn't."
"A healthy prostate?" Shima joked, making her husband laugh and Jiraiya blush.
"The point is Naruto has a responsibility-" Jiraiya started.
"You have no right to preach responsibility, Jiraiya!" Fukasaku stated. "You claim that as a sage you avoid vice, but you frequently get drunk, visit brothels, and peep on naked women!"
"If possible you do all three at once." Shima commented.
"You spent years believing that Naruto was lazy and holding himself back, yet you yourself never bothered to complete your senjutsu training." Fukasaku continued. "You claim that hard work beats bloodlines and natural talent, yet the only students you've ever put any effort into teaching were one with a doujutsu and one who was a prodigy. Don't deny it, you gloat about training the Yondaime and you thought Nagato was the Child of Prophecy. But what about your other genin? What about Nagato's friends or Minato's teammates? Are they still alive? Did they achieve anything noteworthy? Do you even remember their names?"
Jiraiya looked down, avoiding direct eye contact.
"Jiraiya, when you were teaching Naruto, were you aware that Naruto would sneak off to here in your absence?" Shima asked, making him look up again. "You did it often enough that he came here regularly. We taught him several things, such as improved taijutsu and some elemental jutsu too. We found his affinity and not only worked on it but expanded it to another. Right now I think he's easily chuunin material."
"I wasn't away from him that much." Jiraiya stated.
"Spar with him and prove me wrong."
"That means nothing if he's still going to refuse to be a ninja afterwards." Jiraiya insisted.
"We're not going to help you with that. If Naruto has decided that he's no longer interested in being a shinobi, we're not going to twist his arm and make him do the job just because you can't tell the difference between a responsibility and an obligation. Or because you look at Naruto and want to see Minato Jr." Fukasaku declared.
"Tell us something, is there anyone else in Konoha who like you believes Naruto doesn't have the right to stop being a ninja?" Shima added.
"I imagine there are a few. We've been careful to keep them out of the loop, but at some point Tsunade will have to tell everyone why Naruto isn't on missions anymore. I have a workaround that should protect him, but he needs to be registered as a ninja for it to work and right now he won't accept that unless someone he trusts gets him to listen."
"What is this workaround?" Fukasaku asked.
"A new law we're creating. We call it the Clan Creation Act."
Far away from Konoha, a young woman had been peacefully asleep. It was a nice reward for her long day of duty. Her dreams had been comforting, until they weren't.
In this dream, she saw a man her age with spiked blonde hair kneeling on a stone floor, blood coming out of his mouth and some of his clothes torn and stained with blood. From the seams between the stone tiles purple vapors emitted, ones that looked sinister, alive. He clutched his stone and grit his teeth, but he rose to his feet. Right beside him was a woman, but she was out of focus. The dreamer couldn't make out who she was at all, only that she was a she.
The vapors attacked the blonde man and his companion, with them resisting. He made it to a wall, one covered with seals and markings that the dream was familiar with. A wall that was meant to imprison a terrible demon. Before the man or the woman could touch it, a wave of miasma burst through the ground and pierced them both in the abdomens. Yet the man didn't scream, instead he created a ball of chakra in his hands and the woman added her own, making it look like the two were holding a star together.
"-Live!" could be heard, but there was no context.
There was a burst of light, a thunderous rumble and quake, and soon the miasma was gone. To the floor fell a battered and damaged Konoha hitai-ate. And then right beside it the dreamer could see a single set of bare feet.
Then the dream ended, and the dreamer woke up.
"Konoha... a blonde man... death..." She muttered while steadying her heart. She reached for some paper and began to write down what she had just seen.
"In the morning, I will have to contact the village. I am going to need their help." She claimed as she finished writing and set down her tools. She laid down, but did not fall back asleep.
"It's so strange, why was one of them blurred? Who was she? And which one of them will be the one to die if there's only one survivor?"
After a moment, she sighed and closed her eyes. "It doesn't matter. Just another death, like the rest of them."