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Chapter 3.4 [27]

The only thing stopping me from losing it was… a lot of things, actually, and said things were staring at Ino in various degrees of shock and horror because she'd screamed herself hoarse before passing out. My first order of business was getting her help for whatever the Nine-Tails had done to her, so I extracted my hand from her limp one and picked her up, walking to Shikamaru, who was sporting a quickly yellowing bruise from where I'd punched him.

"Here. Take her to the memorial stone. I'm going to go get Kiba." He nodded, looking a little dazed as he picked her up. "Actually, no. Give her back; you're concussed. Sasuke, you take her."

Sakura circled Shino and Sasuke, her brow furrowed. Concern for Ino morphed into hostility towards me. "What did you do?"

Taking a deep breath to calm myself while I transferred her unconscious friend to Sasuke, I held Sakura's gaze and kept the anger out of my voice—I wasn't angry at her. "I didn't do anything. I don't know why she screamed, but she passed out from chakra exhaustion. Earlier, we caught her using a bird to track us and that was before we all fought."

"She used the Mind Transfer Jutsu twice afterwards," said Sakura, biting her thumb. Her gaze flitted back to Ino and the sight of her limp body had obvious worry crawling all over Sakura's face. "The chakra cost from her scouting and then taking over our bodies…"

"Exactly my point." I stepped around her. "Training's over everyone. Get Ino to the jonin so they can take her to the hospital. A medical ninja will look at her and see what's up."

Sasuke was the first to go, hoisting Ino onto his back and sprinting into the forest. Shikamaru walked after them at a slower pace but was quickly overtaken by Sakura and Shino and now that I didn't have to keep up a front, I sat down in the grass and groaned.

The sheer mental exhaustion from the past… actually, I didn't know how long my first interaction with the Nine-Tails lasted. It could've happened in an instant for all I knew but regardless, dealing with Ino while talking to the Nine-Tails had sapped me of a lot of my usual mental clarity.

"Are you okay?" Choji asked. "What happened when Ino used her jutsu on you? That reaction can't just be because of chakra exhaustion."

Hinata opened her mouth to say something but then decided otherwise. I raised an eyebrow and she looked away almost guiltily.

…She'd had her Byakugan active the entire fight, but none of the Nine-Tails' chakra had leaked out of the seal, had it?

"What?" I asked.

"Ino—when she used her jutsu on you, I saw a different kind of chakra enter your chakra network—a dark chakra. Then I saw the seal on your stomach. It's where the chakra came from… isn't it?"

"It's not me you should worry about," I said. "Ino saw… it first. I arrived afterwards."

"Even then," said Hinata. "You're the—"

"I'm alright" I insisted, smiling tiredly at the two of them. "But you've got a point. Meeting it for the first time was intense."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Choji asked.

I barked out a laugh. "Something tells me I'll be talking about it a lot today."

"You know what I mean," he replied, folding his arms. "Knowing about something and seeing it are two different things, man."

"I won't lie to you, I'm not okay." I smiled wryly, spreading my arms out. "Unfortunately, there's not much either of you—or even I—can do about it."

Just thinking felt like wading through a river of syrup and I was moments away from genuinely snapping at the two people closest to me. Instead, I tried for a bright smile, but it didn't make me feel better, nor did it convince Choji and Hinata.

"I'm not mad at either of you, I just need some time alone to get my thoughts in order, alright?"

Choji folded his arms, looking like he might say something, while Hinata pursed her lips. Eventually, they walked away. They weren't happy about my decision, but I wasn't in the mood to deal with their endless questions right now—and even if I was, I didn't have the answer to their questions.

I remembered the dark chuckle shaking the prison walls as Ino screamed. My chest swelled with a targetless anger and with nowhere to direct it, I expelled it with a massive sigh. If what Hinata had said was true, then the torture the Nine-Tails put Ino through had inadvertently—or purposefully—injected more than the usual amount of Tailed Beast chakra into my body.

Enough that it was distinct from my own.

It wasn't enough to do much to the seal but when my father freed it from Obito's control, it wasn't like the Nine-Tails stopped killing and eating people so it really could have been nothing more than sheer maliciousness.

I trusted my firsthand experience when it came to dealing with a monster that had taken more lives than I could fathom and firsthand experience taught me the Nine-Tails desired two things: carnage and freedom. If I had anything to say about it, that monster wouldn't get anywhere near another human being ever again.

But I didn't have a say—or rather, what I wanted fell short compared to what I needed to do. The Nine-Tails' power would make it far easier to fight against the coming future threats—and by training to control its power, I'd be able to see my mother again.

Giving that thing any leverage over me turned my blood to acid… but the facts remained despite my feelings.

Kiba ran into me about halfway towards the clearing where I'd left him earlier. Like Shikamaru, he was also pretty concussed, so I didn't have to fight him into submission or anything. After I explained things to him, we travelled in silence since neither of us were in the mood for small talk, emerging a few metres away from the memorial stone.

Kurenai raced towards us, crouching on a knee and looking at Kiba with pursed lips. "You're concussed."

"I also took a food pill," he said.

She sighed. "Then I'll be taking all three of you to the hospital."

Kiba tried fighting her on that but I'd walked too far out of earshot to hear what she said in reply. Whatever it was, he dropped his shoulders, clenched fists, and sat down with everyone else. Kurenai's face looked furious, swivelling left and right until she saw Shikamaru.

He blinked and stood up, meeting her halfway as she launched into a tirade.

Instead of joining the rest of my class, I went to Asuma. He and Kakashi stood under a tree, carefully watching over my eight ex-classmates. This was just a training exercise but some of them had gone to life-threatening lengths just to win. That said, we were training to take missions outside the village and none of us had ever left the Leaf's walls before.

The fact that they weren't looking at them in concern showed they approved of their drive at least.

It wasn't all a result of determination, though—there was a degree of nervousness involved that no one wanted to admit to even if its effects were clearly showing. Kiba had downed a food pill without a second thought and Ino… I looked back but turned away before the pity overwhelmed me.

Thanks to my parents' seal, she was never going to die but she'd still had an encounter with a Tailed Beast and coming out of those unscathed might as well be a pipe dream. Least of all the most hateful—not to mention the most powerful—one of all.

"Your insanity has rubbed off on the rest of these lot," said Asuma with a smile. "Two are seriously concussed, one's driven herself into serious chakra exhaustion, and the rest are well on the way there."

"Kiba's also eaten a food pill," I said, the ghost of a smile flickering over my face, "and speaking of…"

I tapped my ear and turned my head slightly to face him, waiting for Asuma to catch onto my meaning, but he didn't. Kakashi figured it out instead. He drew a pen and notebook from his flak jacket. I ripped out an empty page on the back and then passed it back. Asuma's eyebrows surged up and Kakashi's single grey widened.

They looked back at me simultaneously and I grimaced, breaking eye contact with their hands pressed against my shoulders.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry you had to find out this way," said Kakashi. He gave me another firm pat. "Asuma, I'll deal with the kids and set things up."

He nodded and walked down the small decline to the memorial stone. Kiba was the first to make a fuss, rocketing to his feet before stumbling, his ass slamming to the ground. The more level-headed people out of the group looked at him with concern, eventually heeding Kakashi's orders to go home for the day.

Kurenai departed, carrying Ino on her back and ensuring Kiba and Shikamaru were in front of her. The less-injured lot shuffled away in a disorganised clump with their feet dragging behind them. I caught Hinata and Choji's concerned looks and fished through my pockets, tossing them my house key.

The meaning was clear enough and I followed up the gesture with a firm nod, watching them walk away and disappear around the bend.

Asuma and I stood alone under the tree. "So… this is the part where I'd offer you a cigarette to take the edge off life."

I levelled a dry look his way.

"But," He grinned, slightly denting the cigarette between his teeth, and started his lighter, "the responsible adult in me says no."

"Sorry, haven't met him yet but I'll let you know when I find him."

"Nice one." He exhaled the thick smoke with a chuckle, pulling the cigarette from his lips. Beneath the amusement, I saw a wary concern in his brown eyes. "How are you holding up, kid?"

I inspected his face and then the forest across from us. "Pretty alright. I have to be the worst-kept secret in this goddamn village. I figured it out before even meeting the monster because of them."

Asuma snorted.

"I'm serious. Hinata and Choji know because I told them a few years ago."

"That's a pretty big assumption to make," he said, taking a drag. "Even if you had suspicions, there was no way for you to truly know."

"...It wasn't a sure thing until today," I said, measuring my next words carefully. "And does it even matter? The way they treated me made it obvious something was up in the first place. "The Fox brat", isn't exactly subtle now, is it?"

He didn't say anything for a while. I could see the words settling in his expression, sinking beneath the surface. His usual easy-going brown eyes were careful and calculating; he opened and closed his mouth a few times, not speaking until his voice croaked through parted lips.

"Does anyone else know?"

"No, it's just them."

"Not the Nara kid?"

"Uh," I paused. " Shikamaru and I weren't on speaking terms when I told them."

"So, they've known about you for two years?" Asuma rubbed his chin. "Okay. But how about you? Sure, you had your suspicions but you never had them confirmed until today—how do you feel?"

I shuddered as I remembered the night of my birth… the blood, their words. "...I don't even have a word for it. Part of me can't believe I'm saying this but I understand why everyone hates me."

"Kid…"

I raised my hands. "I know I'm not the Nine-Tails. That's not the point I'm making. You understand me, right?"

"Yeah," he replied, laying a heavy hand on my head. "It's the shit you've been saddled with as its Jinchuriki and for all the grieving people, that makes you a target. Not that it's fair, but it's just the way things are."

"…I know." Sighing, I let my hands fall. "So, what now? Are we going to report this to Lord Third?"

"We need to grab Kurenai's genin first—the one who entered your seal—because your situation's technically taboo to talk about."

Despite my trying, I couldn't hold back my laugh.

Asuma let go of my head after ruffling my hair and laughed. "No one knows how it got leaked to the villagers, but my old man made spreading it taboo and… well, you know how that turned out."

With nothing more to say, we left the training grounds. I followed Asuma expecting to waste a solid few hours of my life in a hospital—but it turns out shinobi get special privileges. Ino was out after twenty minutes, leaning against Kurenai for support. The particular wing of the shinobi that we were in wasn't all that busy so, ignoring the workers, we were the only people around.

I purposefully shifted to Asuma's left—sandwiching him and Kurenai between Ino and me. Avoiding her might've been callous on my part, but until she got the facts from Lord Third, I didn't want to see her reaction. Neither of the jonin disturbed the tense silence that hung over our solemn journey.

What could either of them say? Don't worry, you're going to talk to the all-powerful leader of our autocratic village wasn't the best of openers.

When we arrived, the Red House's reception was empty, with carpeted space leading to the reception. We walked at a hobbled pace because Ino was dead on her feet. If not for Kurenai, she would've sagged to the floor long before we made it out of the hospital.

Kakashi stood waiting at the stairwell's exit, reading his usual erotica as he leaned against the wall opposite the double doors. "Great. You guys are right on time; everyone's waiting inside."

"Thank you, Kakashi," said Kurenai, ushering Ino along with a gentle nudge.

Asuma nodded and walked on first. I didn't follow him and turned to Kakashi instead. He didn't catch me staring at first because he was looking at Ino but when I didn't move, he asked, "What's wrong?"

There was a stiltedness to his voice—like he was forcing his usual smooth attitude.

"...I'm not looking forward to this meeting."

"Understandable." He smiled—I couldn't see the smile but his face softened underneath the mask. "You learned about your unwilling prisoner and, on the very same day, have to talk to the Hokage and advisory counsel about it. Just one of those would be enough for a tough time but you've got to deal with both."

I shook my head and slowly exhaled.

"Naruto, no matter what the villagers say, you're not that Nine-Tailed Fox," said Kakashi out of nowhere.

I pulled my lips into a thin hard line. "So everyone keeps telling me."

"Because it's true."

"I know." I smiled without humour. "It's a small distinction, though. I look in the mirror every day to these whiskers on my face. Did you know that Nine-Tails has the same whiskers?"

He stopped leaning on the wall, hands hanging limply at his sides.

"It's the little things, like my sharper canines, that have me wondering how much of an impact the Nine-Tails has had on… well, me. I might not be the Tailed Beast but I'm not exactly separate from it." I shrugged, feeling a bone-deep tiredness setting in. "Sorry for unloading that on you."

"Hold on," said Kakashi. "Nothing you said was wrong, but you're ignoring a key detail."

"What?" I asked.

"Are you killing and eating people?"

"...No?"

He smiled. "Be more convincing otherwise I'll take ten steps back right now."

"Wait, I think I'm starting to feel the urge to," I said, my lips twitching. "But no, I'm not killing and eating people."

"Exactly. You're the only thing stopping the Nine-Tails from turning the entire village into a buffet. Sure, the villagers blame you for the people the monster killed but without you, they very well may have joined them. Without you, all of us would have died—me included, so thanks for that."

"And the Fourth Hokage," I said.

"And the Fourth Hokage." Kakashi slumped a little, his voice dropping. He didn't know that I knew, but we shared a moment of mourning before he straightened, throwing up his eye-smile and ruffling my hair. "Now, blondie Yamanaka is one of those people too; you've got nothing to be ashamed of, so go on, now."

"Aren't you coming?" I asked, surprised at how earnest I sounded.

Kakashi chuckled slightly. "Not today—sorry, Naruto."

"Oh." I nodded, digesting the answer slowly. "Okay. Thanks for the talk and… you know, getting this thing together."

"No problem," he said, giving me a two-fingered salute.

"I've held up Lord Third for long enough. I'm not trying to be like you." I started walking away. He laughed and waved over his shoulder.

Asuma stood waiting for me next to the office door. "Ready?"

"Nope, but let's do it."

He cracked the door open, letting me in first.

Lord Third's desk was as cluttered as always; various documents, scrolls, and mission reports were stacked into small mountains over the large oaken surface. He sat behind the desk with an almost mournful look when I entered.

Not ready to open that can of worms yet, I looked at the two strangers in the room.

The younger one was pale—specifically Yamanaka pale. He bore enough resemblance to Ino that I crushed the urge to compare the two by looking back. Instead, I forced my eyes on the last person in the room.

I stopped in my tracks because in front of me sat Danzo Shimura, the man who inherited Tobirama Senju's prejudices against the Uchiha, stoking the flames so he could cull them and benefit from their eyes.

Did he have his freaky arm yet?

Orochimaru was meant to create it for him but he was a rogue ninja a good few years before the Uchiha Massacre. I was certain he had Shisui Uchiha's eye hidden under the bandages on his face. Of course, no one here except myself knew that, but that didn't make him any less threatening.

When an already fucked world knew you as the Shinobi of Darkness, that was a thousand red flags on its own.

I wrenched my gaze away, catching the fading remorse on Lord Third's face as composed himself—not that this was a surprise. The occasion was different, but it wasn't a foreign look to me. Every year on my birthday, he'd formally invite me to his office for the day and we'd spend the time dancing around the elephant in the room.

Things had got better since he sent Asuma to train me and I'd long since accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't open up to me until I made chunin. Sometimes, though, I'd catch him staring at the portrait of my father hanging on the wall above the door and then taking the odd glance at me.

As usual, his expression returned to the usual impassive stare he donned when wearing the hat and I felt Asuma place a reassuring hand on my shoulder. Together, we bowed and greeted him, which he returned with an incline of his head, smiling kindly at Ino. She rushed to bow to him but with the extent of her exhaustion, she could barely struggle off her chair.

"Please, there's no need, Genin Yamanaka. Today has been strenuous enough for you, I imagine." Ino pulled her lips into a thin line, scrunching her brow together. "I am glad that you are in as good a condition as you are despite the day's nightmarish events. I have an account from Jonin Hatake, which was produced by Genin Uzumaki—and now, I would like to hear yours."

"...Yes, Lord Hokage." She squirmed in her seat and avoided all eye contact. "When I used the Mind Transfer Jutsu on Naruto, I… I ran into something strange. Like, it was a part of him but separate at the same time—and then I opened my eyes and was in a cave."

"A cave?" Lord Third asked. "Inoichi, could you provide further clarification?"

Inoichi nodded solemnly. "While there are Yamanaka hijutsu that deal with mindscapes, the Mind Transfer Jutsu is not one of them. Ordinarily, the Mind Transfer Jutsu fashions the user's consciousness into a weapon that is then used to attack a target, taking over their consciousness, and thus, their body. I believe that when my daughter used it, she… for lack of better phrasing, attempting to take over the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox."

Asuma swore.

"I-I… he…" Ino pointed in our general direction. Her breath hitched in her throat and she gulped, finally getting the words out in a rush of air. "Naruto has the Nine-Tails inside him?"

"Well, things could be worse, right?" said Asuma, trying for some optimism. It fell flat and he coughed, muttering an apology.

"Yeah, about that," I said, pulling my lips into something halfway between a grimace and a smile. "There are things I didn't tell you and Kakashi-sensei earlier because there wasn't enough space on the paper."

"Wait, why is he 'Kakashi-sensei' while I'm plain old 'Asuma'?"

"I've been calling you 'Asuma' since before you were officially my sensei. And is this important right now?"

"That was before I officially became your teacher—and yes, yes it is."

"Well, now you know why I don't call you Asuma-sensei," I replied with a roll of my eyes. "I swear, you really pick your times, Asuma."

He looked away as his grumbles faded—though before the silence could re-settle over the room, Ino giggled. As hysterical as it sounded, it noticeably lowered the tension pressing down on us; that she could still laugh after facing the Nine-Tails' hatred said good things about her future.

Lord Third coughed. "It warms my heart to see that you get along so well, but please, be professional."

Asuma snorted, a snarky retort on his tongue but he caught Danzo's unimpressed gaze and, with a narrow of the bandaged man's eyes, decided he'd swallow it instead.

"Sorry, sir," I continued. "Going back to what I was saying, Ino's presence inside my head let me enter the seal without any prior training. When I found her, the Nine-Tails was… well, it was torturing her. Is she… is Ino going to be okay?"

"In time, she will be fine, Uzumaki," said Inoichi, a small smile breaking the mask of professionalism he wore. "And as her father, I am thankful that you saved her when you did. Any longer and that damnable monster would have driven her into psychosis. As an intruder into your mental space, the seal's protection does not extend to her."

Ino smile turned brittle. "Thank you, Naruto."

"Uh…" I looked around the room—at Kurenai's smile, at the old man's smile, at the intrigue in Danzo's eye. Anything to avoid seeing how fragile she looked, only to find himself staring at the Yamanakas' turquoise eyes with a smile. "...you're welcome, I guess."

The moment was over, but it felt like an eternity. I released a breath I didn't know I was withholding when Lord Third spoke up. "Now, onto business—Danzo, if you will."

The one-eyed man folded his arms, speaking with a slow, gradual cadence. "Genin Yamanaka, the knowledge you are now privy to is an S-ranked secret—do you understand what that means?"

"Y-Yes, Elder Shimura," said Ino, her eyes briefly flicking between me and her father. "Secret information related to the village's security."

"Good." Danzo nodded. "Genin Uzumaki's status as a Jinchuriki is one of those things. It is closely guarded intel revealed on a need-to-know basis. Until the day he masters the Tailed Beast's powers, this secret protects him from the eager hands of our enemies.

"I trust that I do not need to impress the meaning of secrecy upon you?"

She nodded rapidly.

Danzo was silent for a few moments. "That said, the punishment for revealing his identity without express permission from Lord Third will result in a two-million-ryo fine alongside a minimum of ten years imprisonment."

Inoichi frowned—not at Danzo in particular, but he frowned. As if the man himself wasn't deterrence enough, the punishment he revealed had caused Ino to pale to the point where she looked like she was on the verge of death.

"Come now, Danzo," his father chuckled. "Young she may be, but Genin Yamanaka is a shinobi. There is no need to terrify her with the consequences of something she will never do, yes?"

"Y-Yes, Lord Third," she replied, stuck between gratefulness to him and skittish glances at Danzo, who hadn't stopped staring at her.

Lord Third smiled. "You may go home now, Genin Yamanaka. You and your team will have a reprieve from all duty for one week to recuperate. Genin Inuzuka will have a tough time ahead of him in the coming days, I'm sure."

"By your leave, Lord Third," said Kurenai. "Inoichi, I'll hand Ino over to you."

The man nodded. "Thank you, Kurenai."

She squeezed Asuma's arm and held the door open for Inoichi and Ino before following them out.

"Naruto, stay," said Lord Third just as I turned my back to leave.

The door clicked shut.

"Yes, sir?" I asked, controlling my voice to come out as flatly as it could.

This conversation wasn't one I wanted to have right now, but here we were.

"All those years ago, you asked me what makes you different, why I come to you out of the countless orphans in this village." Lord Third propped his elbows up on the table and that same guilty look he liked to hide from me crawled across his face. "And now you know."

Asuma walked over to one of the support pillars, folded his arms, and watched. I shot him a look and he gave me a slow nod.

"I… I don't know what to say to that." Taking a breath, I continued, "To be honest, I've had suspicions about what I am for years now—the villagers don't make it hard."

"No," the old Hokage replied with a grimace. "No, they do not."

"I felt betrayed that you didn't confirm it for me, though."

That one was sure to hit Lord Third right where it hurt—but after years of turmoil and needless anguish, I felt like it was the least he deserved. Danzo didn't look the least bit concerned about the heaviness in the air.

Then again, this was the point in their relationship where they were strictly professional… but if that was the case, why was Danzo the only member of Lord Third's counsel present right now?

"Was that song and dance necessary?" asked Asuma, taking over the discussion. "I get making sure the girl doesn't blab to anyone, but the whole good cop bad cop thing was just stressful."

"Stressful, but necessary," said Danzo. "All that we do—and all that we are—is for the Leaf."

"For the Leaf, indeed." Lord Third sighed. "Naruto, it may have been short-sighted of me, but I withheld your status to give you whatever childhood I could—but in doing so, I lost your trust and for that, I am truly sorry."

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. "Not much we can do now except keep going."

It took me almost six years to pry one confession out of the old man and it wasn't even his choice. Good-intentioned as his motivations could be, it didn't change the fact that his choices placed me as far as could be from a nice and happy childhood.

But like I'd told him—there was nothing I could do but move on with my life.

"Besides, you got your son to train me, right?" I smiled a little at the way his eyebrows scrunched up his already wrinkled forehead. "He found me when I wasn't doing so well at the Academy—because there's no way he "accidentally" managed to find me in one of a hundred parks in the village."

"I…" The old man looked to Asuma and then to Naruto. "Naruto, I was not the one responsible for Asuma deciding to take you on as his pupil."

"...If you weren't then who was?"

Asuma tilted his head. "Look to your right."

"E-Elder Shimura!" I stepped back slightly, clamping down on my rising panic. "No way!"

Lord Third didn't look as surprised as I thought he would while we waited for Danzo's reply with bated breath.

"Asuma has been taking tea with me for some time now," Danzo revealed the information in his usual slow manner, his eye sweeping the room as he spoke. "We talk about many things and when he one day came to me after encountering a particularly gifted young man, I proposed that he take him under his wing—there is nothing else to it."

"Is that true?" I asked.

"Pretty much," said Asuma.

Lord Third stroked his beard and he considered Danzo from the corner of his eye, still facing me. "...I was also not unaware of Danzo's involvement in Asuma training you. Our relationship, Naruto, is complicated. When I saw that Asuma had approached you, despite it not being on my orders, I decided to let it happen for your sake. However, remember that neither I nor Danzo coerced Asuma into training you—he could have easily refused and that would have been that."

And it sounded nice, but whichever way I twisted things, Danzo was the reason behind practically everything I'd learned since halfway through the Academy, which begged the question—what the hell did he want with me?

"Kid?" Asuma asked me. "You good?"

I drew my gaze from the carpeted floor and up to his concerned face.

The reveal that Asuma hadn't come to me on his own wasn't surprising. I spilled my heart out to him, appealing to him in a way that garnered sympathy all for him to possibly train me. He didn't exactly teach me because of altruism either—I assumed he had some kind of political angle by deciding to teach me but just didn't care.

Not until I'd found out Danzo of all people encouraged him to do so.

Yet Asuma was the only one willing to give me the time of day—and by extension, Danzo was the only person willing to give me the time of day. Even if I had known back then, I wouldn't have rejected Asuma's offer to train me. There were things I wanted to achieve in life and with the sort of time frame I was running on, there was no being picky about things.

"I'm good," I replied. "It's just a shock. This whole time I thought Lord Third asked you to train me."

Asuma's eyes darted to the side where Lord Third was sitting. "My old man knew about it and let it continue happening so it's not like he wasn't involved."

"Do not think too deeply about it, Genin Uzumaki," said Danzo. "In the end, I am happy a mere suggestion on my part helped you to grow to the extent that you have."

Knowing the things I did about Danzo, my mind repeated his words three times over—searching for something—before I bowed in his direction. "Thank you, Elder Shimura—and you as well, Lord Third. Elder Shimura might have been responsible for the initial act, but without your blessing, none of it would've happened."

Lord Third smiled with a nod of his head in acceptance.

"Hey, what about me?" asked Asuma. "Where's my thank you?"

I glanced at him for three full seconds before I bowed to the two old men again and turned to leave. He squawked in outrage and started ranting about ungrateful students and all the years he toiled for my sake.

"In any case, Asuma—you and Naruto are free to leave." Lord Third took a moment to stifle his chuckle. "Unlike Team 8, I will only give you three days rest in light of today's revelation. Team 10 will be expected to resume its usual duties after this week."

"Damn," Asuma grunted, patting my shoulder. "At the very least, let's take advantage of the next few days, kid. Come on, I'll treat you, Hinata, and Choji to dinner. They're at your place, right? We'll grab some takeout and eat there if that's fine?"

I nodded slowly, looking pensive. "Sure."

The cool night air helped to clear my head, slipping past my clothes. I closed my eyes and focused on the sensation of the wind trailing across my exposed forearms and sighed, opening them to a darkening sky. Asuma walked the paved ground in front of me and I followed, half-listening to him jokingly complain about a lack of respect.

Being away from Danzo's presence and his deceptively welcoming attitude went a long way in giving me some clarity to think straight. There was some unknown dynamic between Asuma, Lord Third, and Danzo. It was there in the slight glances Asuma took at the bandaged man and I would've been fooled by the dynamic between Danzo and Lord Third if I didn't know any better.

Their relationship definitely wasn't as strong as it seemed in the office—not after the things Danzo had done. He took pride in being called a man of darkness; in doing unspeakable things for the sake of his ideals. If he could, he'd twist the village to that ideal—my knowledge made that clear enough.

All of this was true… and yet it didn't change anything. Without Danzo, Asuma wouldn't have trained me. He too had his reasons for extending a hand to me when I needed it—maybe his reasons and Asuma's reasons were the same. I didn't know how far his influence ran and at the same time, I was grateful for it.

Maybe that's why the meeting left me feeling so discombobulated—like a leaf being blown about this way and that, completely at the wind's mercy—because it wasn't only because of Danzo. I hadn't expected to meet the Nine-Tails in the way I did and not this soon. I thought that the day I ventured into the seal-space, I'd be equipped and ready for everything it could throw at me.

I received a harsh reminder instead—so, with two reveals like that, it was no wonder I felt out of it. Each cut of warm beef on my tongue felt heavy and on any other day, the taste would have sent euphoric tingles across my face.