A/N: We're practically back to my average chapter length! This is just under 3000 words, but I'm getting closer! If Natsu's last line of dialogue sounds a bit off, it's cause my beta reader suggested I change Teuchi's dialogue before it, which meant Natsu's original response didn't quite make sense, but she went straight to bed after editing so she can't tell me if my correction is okay. It's honestly not a big deal tho, the line's not game-changing or anything.
BUT YES. HERE IT IS. THE CONVERSATION THAT I DREADED FOR A WEEK ONLY TO FIND THAT ONCE I STARTED WRITING IT IT WAS ACTUALLY RIDICULOUSLY EASY AND I'VE BEEN PROCRASTINATING IT FOR NO REASON!
As always, thanks for reading! Enjoy~
Naruto's been withdrawn pretty much since the end of the fight on the bridge, but the closer they get to Konoha the quieter he gets, completely ignoring Natsu as he tries to make conversation. Natsuknows it's not his fault, because no one told him demonic possession was a thing, and he had nowhere near enough warning to even try and do something, and Naruto's just blaming himself for something the demon did, but it still feels like Natsu should be doing more.
He doesn't turn to glare at Kakashi, because he's done that a dozen times already on their return to the village and the sensei's started glaring back. Natsu's not quite sure if Kakashi is doing it just to mess with him, or if he's gotten genuinely irritated, but he tries to control himself either way.
If Kakashi hadn't made them wait until after their return to talk about it though, he could have convinced Naruto it was okay by now!
He's turning around to glare at the older man before he quite realizes, and finds himself met by Kakashi's lone eye narrowed sharply. He scowls, and turns back around to look at the gates visible in the distance.
Naruto's curled even more into himself, as though he were trying to disappear, and, no. Natsu grimaces, scrambling to think of an idea, something he can do-
Naruto's sadly-deflated backpack is what sparks it, and he grins, bounding forward to loop his arms into both Naruto and Sasuke's.
"Let's go for ramen at that Ichiraku place after that meeting thing Kakashi wants us to do!" He glares at Sasuke briefly before offering his most encouraging smile to Naruto. "I'll pay!"
Naruto hesitates. And Natsu may have only known him for less than two months, but he'd like to think he knows the blond well enough to say he would never hesitate for free ramen.
He tightens his grip on Sasuke's arm, because clearly this is worse than he thought. The Uchiha grunts after a moment.
"With how the dobe goes on about that place, they'd better have something edible." He scoffs after a moment, and in that moment, Natsu thinks Sasuke really is a great teammate.
Because Naruto just about leaps in sheer outrage.
"Teme! Take that back! Ichiraku is the best, even someone like you will have to admit it! Just you wait! Teuchi-jii's ramen will make you weep! Dattebayo!"
"Hn." Sasuke disentangles himself from Natsu's arm and raises an eyebrow at the blond. "The only one pathetic enough to weep over ramen here is you."
Naruto lets loose a battlecry and tries to tackle Sasuke, and Natsu grins fiercely. With Sasuke's agreement, there's no way Naruto will skip out!
Naruto's attempts to make Sasuke eat dirt don't stop until the gate guards hail them. Then he freezes, before practically stumbling away from Sasuke, eyes wide and nervous.
It- honestly, it confuses Natsu, because obviously no one's going to blame Naruto? Magical possession by artifacts or even other wizards' spells is a bit more common than demonic possession, back home, but everyone knows it's no one's fault except the possessor's, when something happens.
Maybe the demons work differently here, or something?
But Naruto still acts like Naruto, and there's no way he'd willingly disembowel someone, so Natsu's pretty sure that's not it.
When the gate guards hand him a clipboard to sign back in, he almost scrawls his own name, only remembering to write Sakura's at the last moment, and then they're hustled through the streets and straight to the administration tower, up a flight of stairs and into what's gotta be the Hokage's secondary office. It's a bit smaller, and there are actual chairs this time around, and the desk has no paperwork on it.
That intimidating aura from before is completely absent as well, and Natsu could almost swear the man was nothing more than a concerned grandfather, because it's the exact sort of presence Makarov would have whenever Laxus would take a deliberately risky mission just to prove himself and-
It's just unnatural.
Natsu tries not to look bothered though, because he's pretty sure the old man doesn't like him much as it is…
"Kakashi. I hear you've had a terribly eventful mission."
Kakashi sighs, and Natsu wonders if he's imagining the dismay in it.
"Maa, it all worked out in the end." The Hokage's eyes narrow, and Kakashi continues seamlessly as though he'd always meant that to be just an intro. "I admit, upon learning the mission was underranked, I should have turned back, but I was outvoted by all three of my adorable young students… and more than that, goodwill is it's own reward, ne~?"
"Is it, now? Very well then." He turns his gaze from Kakashi onto the three of them, and he still feels like nothing more than a concerned old man. Natsu's gut says that's only half-true, and he tries not to fidget. "I'm sure none of you have been informed of the procedure in this sort of situation - this sort of thing isn't supposed to happen with genin, only chunin and above are at serious risk of it. However, the first part, after a team decides to continue a poorly-ranked mission, is a verbal report of what you feel are the relevant facts. A written report containing the full comprehensive dossier will be submitted after, to be put in our records. Please take turns."
Naruto practically melts, and not in a good way. Natsu and Sasuke trade glances, and Natsu doesn't think he's wrong to interpret that look as, "I agreed to eat lunch with you so you get to go first."
Tch.
He steps forward a little, because if the Hokage looks at Naruto for much longer the blond will probably combust, and laces his fingers behind his head.
"I don't really know what you guys consider important, but we had a couple fights, Sasuke woke up his magic spinny eyes-" the Uchiha chokes, and Naruto chuckles a bit. Natsu grins in success, "Naruto got possessed by some demon I guess, no one really explained that to me, and then we won and came back. That's pretty much everything right?" He glances at Kakashi as he asks, only to find the silver-haired man looking oddly distressed.
…
Was there something in there he wasn't supposed to say?
"He lost control of the Kyuubi?" The Hokage asks, staring directly at Kakashi, and Natsu's blood runs cold.
Lost control.
As though… he was supposed to be in control?
As though the village leaders knew about a demon possessing one of their own and did nothing because he was supposed to control it?!
He'd started to think-! Demon possession, bad luck, maybe some people getting injured around Naruto and not remembering it causing everyone to be suspicious, not the Hokage actually knowing about it!
It makes a terrifying amount of sense though, the longer he thinks on it, as Kakashi tries to convince the Hokage it wasn't a complete loss of control, and that Natsu just misunderstood-
What yami guild wouldn't like the power that is a demon at their beck and call? But everyone knows demons can't be controlled like that. People have tried and died for it.
But if they tricked the demon into possessing someone, and then trapped it there, so it couldn't escape… giving a human access to a demon's powers…
No wonder Naruto feels like it's his fault… if they expect him to actually control the demon, and he failed…
That's so sick!
"Duragneel." Natsu looks up, caught off-guard by his second name said almost smoothly. The Hokage meets his eyes, his focus intense. "Kakashi did not see much of your fight with the masked shinobi. Kindly explain how it happened."
Natsu shrugs a bit. "Sasuke probably saw more than me, what with his eyes, but… Haku did some sort of jutsu that didn't take any hand-signs, so it just happened instantly? Naruto'd jumped ahead when they started to retreat, so he and his clones got hit point-blank. He got impaled, and something like that woulda been fatal on anyone else, I thought it might be fatal on him, but instead he just started letting off huge amounts of chakra that burned the air red, and he grew a tail, and just… rampaged for a little bit? I dunno, normal demon-y stuff. But then he calmed down and got back in control and that's really all there is to it. Dunno what else you want."
"Only one tail?" the Hokage asks gravely, and Natsu wonders why that matters.
"Yeah, just one."
The old man sighs faintly, Natsu almost doesn't hear it, and he wonders why that relieves the man. He then looks toward Naruto and Sasuke.
"Do either of you have anything you'd like to add right now?"
Naruto looks torn, hesitating, and Sasuke glances between him and Natsu before sighing. "The do- Naruto did pretty much kill Haku while he wasn't in control, but there really isn't anything more to say."
Naruto flinches, and the Hokage glances at him. "I see… you're dismissed. Please have the full mission reports turned in tomorrow morning. N-"
"Sweet! C'mon, we've got a date with the ramen shop! Wanna walk us there, Kakashi-sensei?" Natsu asks brightly as he loops Naruto's arm into his and reaches for Sasuke. The Uchiha dodges away, and Kakashi sighs.
"Maa, it's rude to interrupt people, Natsu."
"Psh. Anything said after 'dismissed' can't be important, or he'da said it before. Now come on!"
The Hokage chuckles, and Kakashi clearly takes that as a sign that it's okay, because he follows them out as Natsu beelines towards Ichiraku.
About half-way there, Kakashi breaks the silence. "I thought I wasn't invited?"
"Eh, no, though I couldn't stop you if you wanted to come." Natsu glances up at him, shrugging a bit. "But I had to ask if you'd leave that bit off your report, is all."
Kakashi's focus sharpens, and Natsu feels the edges of a threat in the air. "Mm? How so?"
Natsu waves a hand between himself and Sasuke. "The part where we got hurt? It's not too important, so mentioning that it happened… Naruto completely ignored us until we started trying to get his attention. We'd have never got hurt if we hadn't practically thrown ourselves in front of him, so he shouldn't have people hearing about that, because they might get the wrong idea and think he couldn't even remember to stay pointed at the enemy. S'not like we've got any scars that'd raise awkward questions, so we could just… avoid mentioning it? Yeah?"
Kakashi sighs. "Team 7's very first C-Rank and I'm already being asked to commit treason…"
"Wha- No way! Don't be dramatic!" Natsu blurts, because if smudging paperwork is equatable to treason that's just too extreme!
Kakashi chuckles. "Don't worry about it. A full report doesn't usually involve an injury summary unless the shinobi captain thinks the wounds are bad enough that they might affect the shinobi's fighting capability either now or later in life. Neither of your wounds fell into that category, so it isn't against any rules to leave it off. Ne~?" He pulls out his book then, and turns to wander down a different street. "We'll meet tomorrow at the usual time, my cute students! Make sure to have your reports done so I can go over them!"
He walks away, disappearing quickly, and Naruto tries to pull away as well.
Natsu tightens his grip. "Come on, food won't eat itself!"
"B-but-!"
He doesn't let Naruto get anything else out, dragging the blond forward and straight up to the counter of Ichiraku, Sasuke silently slipping in behind them. Only one other person is at the stand, and he waves at them. "Naruto! Sakura, Sasuke! Back from your C-Rank?"
Naruto jerks his head up. "I-Iruka-sensei! Wh-what are you doing here?"
The man, one of the Academy teachers? Grins at them. "Eating ramen, obviously. Care to join me?" Naruto looks between Iruka and Natsu, and the pinkette shrugs.
"Sure. We were gonna chat a bit over the meal, fair warning."
"Wait- we are?!"
Natsu grins. "Of course! You seem to want to run away, but you won't make me pay for your ramen and then not even eat it, would you? That'd be rude! So I'll have your ear for at least a few minutes! Oi, Teuchi-san! Can I have four miso, extra pork, just give 'em one at a time, for Naruto? I'll take a tonkatsu myself, and I'm covering Sasuke too!"
The old ramen chef chuckles a bit. "Of course, of course! And you, Uchiha-kun?"
"...Shio." Sasuke says, after a moment of glancing through the menu. Natsu drags Naruto up into a seat, Sasuke taking the other side, with Iruka to Natsu's left. Naruto glances between them nervously.
"It's-"
"Ah!" Natsu leans forward onto the bar as he cuts Naruto off. "First we're gonna wait til the first bowls get here! Then you're gonna listen while I talk, and then you get to say whatever you want. Yeah?" He leans over to bump shoulders with the blond, smiling encouragingly.
Naruto sighs, nodding.
It doesn't take long for the first round of food, Teuchi-san whipping it right out after just a few minutes alongside Iruka's own order, and Natsu savors the first few bites. Even Naruto seems to forget to panic over their conversation, happily slurping his noodles.
"It wasn't your fault at all, you know." Natsu starts, while the blond is between bites. Naruto freezes mid-motion, curling into himself. He opens his mouth to say something, but Natsu talks over him. "No, I don't wanna hear it. It wasn't your fault! Seriously, do you not even know how utterly sick it is that they did that to you?! It's not just wrong, it's downright disgusting! I mean, it's not hard to understand I guess, cause what yami guild doesn't want a walking human weapon, but violating your body like that, stuffing some demon inside you without even giving you a choice-! It's absolutely depraved and you never deserved it! And you were hurt, if you didn't heal so fast you'd probably have died, so the fact that you lost control isn't your fault either, and if anyone tells you otherwise send them to me and I'll set them straight! You shouldn't have to listen to that shit! You understand?" Natsu sticks his chopsticks in Naruto's face, the blond wide-eyed and gaping.
He works his mouth for a moment, before stuttering. "B-but I hurt you-"
"Psh. Even if you could call that paltry scratch a wound, which you can't, it wasn't even you that did it! It was whatever unfortunate hellspawn they stuck inside you, and just the fact that it was only a scratch is proof enough for me that you were tryin' to fight it! I've picked a fight with a demon before, and they're strong. Strong enough that if you weren't at least struggling to get back in control, I know I'd be sporting a lot worse than I got. So stop actin' like you weren't trying your best. And if you don't think your best was good enough this time, then get better. But don't go thinking it was your fault. Because it's not. You didn't ask to have a demon stuffed inside you, and you didn't deserve it either. But I'm not Levy, I don't know traps and curses and shit, and without even knowing how strong the demon is I couldn't say whether it'd be possible to beat it into submission even if it were possible to get it out of you, so you're gonna have to live with it too. But it's not ever your fault, so don't let me hear you sayin' something like that!"
Naruto starts crying.
He wipes at his eyes quickly, and Natsu scrambles to drop his chopsticks on the counter, not sure what to do because that was not the reaction he expected, and he nearly tumbles off the stool as Naruto tackles him in a hug.
Sasuke sighs, slurping up the last of his broth before turning to them as Naruto tries to stifle sobs into Natsu's shoulder.
"He's right." The Uchiha offers after a moment, quietly. "It wasn't you that hurt us, because you're a dobe and you couldn't hurt me in a straight fight to save your life. So stop being ridiculous in thinking you're better than me."
Natsu practically sweatdrops, because that is not the kind of encouragement Sasuke should be giving, but Naruto starts laughing, tears still rolling down his cheeks, practically shaking in his arms, so…
Even if he's a jerk, at least Naruto doesn't care.
A couple fresh bowls of steaming ramen plop down on the countertop as Naruto slowly pulls himself away, their previous half-finished bowls whisked away in a moment.
Teuchi grins at him as Natsu glances up. "Naruto needs to bring you two 'round here more often! A friend of the kid's is always welcome in my shop! Take these on the house while I heat the others back up!"
Sasuke offers a 'hn' that Natsu is pretty sure is out of embarrassment, as Natsu grins up at the man.
"Well at least I'm in good company! Think between the two of us we can convince Naruto ta stop lettin' other people get to him?"
Teuchi laughs as he takes their old bowls back to heat up again, and Naruto hastily scrubs at his eyes, trying not to cry again.
Natsu smiles to himself.
A perfect success!
He's three bites into his fresh bowl of ramen when Iruka speaks.
"You… aren't actually Sakura, are you?"