A/N: I know that I should be finishing the last couple chapters of No More. We're soo close to being done... soooooo close. Then there is NotSB and A Daimyo's Tale to focus on next. Unfortunately, this story will not leave me alone. Oh well, gotta keep the Muse happy!
I'd like to take a second to thank Aelan-the-guide for the great feedback and conversation. That's the kind of stuff that helps amateur writers, like myself, get better. All too often people turn on the flames because they're unhappy but most never state why so it's unhelpful. Thank you.
I also want to thank darthwizard, mshade656, Habu2010, codywhite162, the Great Dullahan, and Killjoy3000 for sticking with me. If I missed your name, it's not intentional; it just means you need to stay in touch for the next chappie!
Enjoy as you will, Chapter 4, the end of the Exile Arc. Next arc starts the sojourn to a new life.
~ Siva'a
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~III~
Act I: Exiled Arc CH 4: Second (Fourth?) Chances
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The Blue Pharmacy, Orario
When Miach opened his eyes, he noticed two things.
One, it was nearing lunch time. Given their late start due to Tsunade needing the find the Pharmacy, things didn't get started until much later in the morning than he would have liked. They would need to make up the lost time at some point, but (for now), they also needed to eat something to keep up their strength for the remaining transfer of memories. Even with Miach supplying the bulk of the energy, the process would consume vast amounts of resources from the two females sharing his link – it was always easier to trade down than up when it came to mana versus chakra.
Two, there was a definite shift in emotions and both women looked like they needed to vent some excess. Calm minds were easier to browse and, from the looks of it, Tsunade and her apprentice shifted from being morbidly saddened over young Naruto's life to being furious over Jiraiya's treacherous behavior. Being a man of healing, he hoped that the spiky-haired villain would repent for his misdeeds before Tsunade got her hands on him in the coming days ahead.
Somehow, that seemed unlikely and the man was in for a world of pain.
For now, he was more concerned about Tsunade's response to what she'd just witnessed.
"Tsunade… san?" Miach's eyebrow perked upwards in worry even as plates filled with caramelized slabs of Bladefish Loaf over beds of seasoned rice settled in front of three very attentive noses. Off to the side of each plate was a small bowl filled with Needle Rabbit Stew ringed with chunks of fresh-baked rye bread. It was a veritable feast but the furious blonde paid attention to none of it. Instead, her eyes were focused off somewhere in the distance as if her glare could penetrate continents.
Miach flinched as the air around her wavered, almost like heat rising off the midday cobblestones of the market district during midsummer.
"I'll kill him."
Miach blinked. "I'm sorry, but kill whom?"
"Jiraiya!"
Her words were grumbled through gnashed teeth but the meaning was clear enough. Miach felt that a distraction was needed.
"Well, you can't kill anyone on an empty stomach." He smiled as both women blinked in surprise at the food steaming right under their twitching noses, each dish accompanied by a glass of chilled white wine. "Some of these ingredients are terribly annoying to find so please do not let the food get cold."
Even as he tore off smaller chunks of bread to sop up the soup - an action the ladies sharing the meal imitated much to humming delight by all, he wondered just how they would feel about the next section of Naruto's growing separation from his former home.
Perhaps the food will help her demeanor otherwise he feared for his home if she started smashing things. Her memories showed a very unforgiving woman surrounded by lots of shattered furniture, or buildings, or small mountains.
One could only hope.
"Scho…" Tsunade's garbled words snapped him out of his inner reflection.
Miach blinked in what could only be a shocked mix of awe and disgust. He knew exactly how good Naruto's food could be but even he tried to maintain some level of decorum when he ate no matter how hungry he grew. Yet here he sat with his mouth agape and one hand hovering protectively over his own bowl as he watched the beautiful women shove even more soup-soaked chunks into an already bulging cheek. It looked as if she was trying to push out words through one side of her windpipe while simultaneously squeezing as much food as possible down her esophagus.
It was a tragic spectacle if ever he'd seen one.
"Scho…" *munch* *munch* "…Hooowff mush lawger 'til da guh schtuffffs?"
Miach blinked again.
Then he blinked once more in absolute confusion shown by his eyebrows trying to merge in the middle of his forehead.
Finally, after giving up on the translation he turned to Shizune who was quietly sipping wine to help clear her food chute, one finger daintily pointing upwards asking him to wait a moment.
Then she calmly asked, "How much longer before Naruto-kun gets away from these vile people and we learn what he's been up to for… three and a half years now?"
Miach couldn't help but glare at the older blonde casually waggling a thumb in the direction of her apprentice as if to say, "What she said," even as the other hand continued to shovel food down her gullet.
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~III~
After Dinner and Both Kunoichi Discovering They Liked Wine…
To the chagrin of Tsunade and her apprentice, time did not fast forward through the painful moments of Naruto's life as a vagabond. He wandered for months after leaving the farm with little aim or purpose. Most of the time he had to forage to survive. Seeing as the Land of Fire was bountiful, very rarely did he have to starve though it required a lot of effort and slowed down his travel progress. It took time to find, kill, then field dress dinner in the wild. Wild fruits and root vegetables were a tragedy all their own when on the move constantly.
Sad thing was that it wasn't like Naruto didn't have plenty of time on his hands. It was just tragic to see it all happen through the boy's memories.
When he could, he bathed in a stream or along the coast when absolutely necessary (salt from the ocean chafed everywhere and left an odd smell to his clothes). When the option was available, Naruto would stop in any village or town looking for supplies or a quick job regardless of the pay but those never ended well. Given the gradually declining state of his clothes – faded, torn, and worn through wear and tear, most villagers politely waved him off or avoided him altogether.
A most painful truth was that his kind nature – when people were willing to listen to him - often earned him offers to stay so long as he was willing to work. Rural life was hard and few could afford to feed every wandering mouth. Unfortunately, as was proven time and time again, these turned out to be jobs he couldn't dare accept unless he wanted more innocents to get hurt; those faceless bastards never let him rest or gave him peace often chasing him away from people willing to help.
All it took to make him refuse would be to see one of those faceless bastards from the Tamashini farm step into his periphery and that would be the end to that.
He'd start a job loading and unloading boxes and one would be standing at the counter of whatever store he was in next to a suddenly nervous shopkeeper. The message was clear: "Move on before something unfortunate happens."
A family would offer to take him in for the night and another faceless goon would appear atop their home using a kunai to clean their fingernails, all just out of sight of the family. Tamiko-chan's face would flash before his eyes and that would be enough for him to graciously decline before wearily trudging off into the sunset once again.
So long as he roughed it in the wilderness, they usually left him alone.
The moment he wandered into civilization for more than a brief re-supply, the bastards hounded him to move on, to not get attached to anyone or anyplace. To never truly rest.
It was never ending.
They were relentless and they kept hounding him across the southern coast of Hi no Kuni up until the dusty road he followed turned north leading him to a massive structure of etched metal and reinforced stone rising up from the rocky shore…
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~III~
Back in the Hokage Tower, Konoha
This time when Danzo and his two stooges shuffled their way past Shizune's desk, she did nothing to recognize them. Not once did she pause in her routine sorting of the dreaded morning rush of paperwork. If anything, she more aggressively stamped the first three into her "rejection pile" as a subtle vote of protest, angry red Kanji appearing as if by magic on crisp sheafs of parchment.
For Danzo's part, the group arrogantly sniffed their disapproval almost simultaneously, backs ramrod stiff and noses tilted up towards the ceiling as if the air was purer above the angry kunoichi's desk. Each made a beeline for the Hokage's office without pause or preamble, that is until a gloved hand gripped the elder's wrist right as Danzo reached out to turn the handle.
The shocking silence was deafening.
"You… you… DARE!?"
Koharu's outrage was evident to everyone in the hall. Danzo, on the other hand, neither spoke nor moved as his mind waged war with striking down the impudent ANBU that dared to lay hands upon his person. In the end, he determined that a knock-down-drag-out fight with the Hokage because he injured or killed one of her pets was not in his best interests at the time.
"You will unhand me or you will lose that hand," Danzo ground out. The threat was ominously clear despite his intention to avoid bloodshed.
The ANBU agent didn't flinch but did release the elder long enough to snap open a scroll with the other hand. In bold, immaculate text, Homura leaned forward to read aloud the following:
To All Who See These Presents, Be Advised:
As of this day, let it be known that the Elder Advisors listed below are hereby immediately relieved of their duty and capacity as Advisors to the Hokage's Office. Their unfettered access to the office is hereby revoked per suant to Village laws. While their service to the village has been greatly appreciated, it is no longer required.
Please wish them well on their imminent retirement.
Shimura Danzo
Mitokado Homura
Utatane Koharu
Effective Upon Receipt,
Senju Tsunade
Godaime Hokage of the Hidden Leaf
Koharu scoffed loudly before stepping forward to resume their uninvited barging only to freeze, her arm outstretched towards the handle of one of the large double doors, and her eyes the widest open anyone could remember in recent history, as the singing of steel sliding from its sheath split the air.
A blade was hovering near her throat just below her chin.
Additionally, eight more ANBU dropped from the roof to surround the three advisors and making their presence known.
"For almost a year now you've complained about how Lady Hokage doesn't demand the proper respect that her office deserves."
Danzo refused to turn and face her. Homura, as equally shocked as his long-term friend was at the situation, hesitatingly turned away from Koharu's plight to view the smug smirk plastered on the face of Tsunade's apprentice.
"Now that she's giving you exactly what you whined about, you find it offensive." Shizune's head tilted towards her left shoulder in childish amusement.
"You are not on her calendar." The suddenly not-so-plain apprentice's face turned mean looking. "Come back when you are."
Shizune nodded her head back towards the hallway outside the reception room and several more blades hissed from their scabbards. The one still thrumming with energy under Koharu's chin lightly tapped her cheek to indicate she should start moving, the light sting making her flinch bodily in surprise.
Humiliated and vowing revenge under their breath, the former "Three" shuffled towards the exit to the sound of their dentures grinding together.
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Deep in the trance caused by the memory transfer, Miach smiled knowing a little humor might lighten the heavy load to come. He wouldn't be able to do a lot of it at first if what he'd originally glimpsed was true, but every little bit would help and theses shinobi of the Elemental Nations seemed to lead horrid lives.
Everyone needed a reason to smile, once in a while.
For her part, Shizune felt an incredible sense of contentment. That standoff was a long time coming and it felt good in that spine-tingling sort of way to finally put those old biddies in their rightful place – beneath the Hokage.
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Stepping forward, she knocked on the door then waited patiently for her cue to enter. Permission given, she applied enough chakra to force open the heavy door and push through the seal-driven blast of air to see her master chatting amicably with a particular desert kunoichi.
Shizune smiled softly and invited herself to the conversation looking for a momentary reprieve from her desk duties.
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On the ground floor just outside the Hokage's Complex, three elderly shinobi cleared the entrance pausing on the paved stones leading away into the heart of Konoha. One was clearly more agitated than the other two, his one good eye narrowed to a small, angry slit.
Unfortunately, it was Koharu's voice lashing out at the obvious insult that broke the silent tension.
"Surely, we're not going to allow her to treat us this way!"
Danzo let loose a subtle sigh before responding with a terse, "Certainly not."
He began walking away from the building to increase their distance from the two reserve Chūnin standing sentry duty at the entrance, another thing he would change once in power.
"You two are to begin preparations for the inquiry immediately." His head turned partly to his left where Homura matched his now silent gate.
"Put together the list of names we need to pull this off." Even before the bespectacled nin completed the perfunctory head nod, Danzo began turning partially to his right. "I need you to reserve the Council Chamber." He refused to call it by the new name that child gave it. "Ensure the lesser clans are not included so we have the proper leverage."
"And what will you be doing in the meanwhile?" she asked in return.
"I have one more visit to make before the day is done."
Without another word, the crippled Elder vanished from their sight in the middle of the bright, shiny Konoha day.
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~III~
The Great Naruto Bridge, Nami no Kuni
"I don't see why we gotta add all this," hunched shoulders and a pair of hands – palms up - waved back and forth to indicate where the bridge met the earth of Hi no Kuni, "…extra stuff. They is gonna be soldiers, ain't they? Can't they handle it?"
The sound of a large blueprint scroll being rolled up filled the air right before the same scroll smacked up against the back of the speaker's head with an audible "THWAP!"
It didn't hurt but, then again, that wasn't the message being sent.
"Giichi! This is gonna be more than some place for guards to hide from the rain!"
Tazuna's ire was up but that wasn't anything unusual lately. Most in the village tread lightly around the old bridge builder since word spread about their hero getting banished from the Leaf due to his bratty teammate.
Most of the villagers let it slide as they shared in his frustration over it all. The youth was out there somewhere without any support the way they'd heard it and there wasn't a villager in Wave that wouldn't open up their homes to him. Problem was no one, not even other shinobi coming to Wave to speak with Tazuna, knew where to find him.
It didn't take long for the Leaf conspiracy theories to start percolating and, from there, Leaf sentiment could only get worse.
Giichi's thoughts were rudely interrupted by another heavy sigh from his boss and long-time friend, the embarrassed rubbing of the back of his head coming to a halt so that he could keep up with the old man's still-going rant.
"We need to be careful with the expansion. This," he gestured to the end of the bridge that did not reside over Leaf earth, "is going to be the first stage of our new trade center."
Tazuna excitedly gestured to where the two in-processing stations were going to be built to either side of the bridge. The foundations would need to be heavily reinforced but they could do one side of the bridge at a time to allow commerce to flow unimpeded.
"And then…" Tazuna's oft heard speech touting the super magnificent upgrades coming to the greatest bridge in the elemental nations was just warming up, the old bridge builder building to a truly righteous head of steam. His chest expanded and his mouth opened to lay upon his faithful henchmen his super vision for his architectural magnum opus only to blink in rapid succession at the slack-jawed face on his lead foreman. His brief hope that Giichi was dazzled by his brilliance melted away once he noticed the greying man was looking over his shoulder and deeper into the Land of Fire.
"Giichi?"
Nothing.
"Giichi!?"…. THWAP!
The man didn't even flinch, only making Tazuna's infamous temper rise more. Instead, Giichi slowly lifted his right hand to point a single finger back towards the bridge's Land of Fire end, his jaw slowly falling open in disbelief.
"Okay, I'll bite. What's got you so addle-brained that you can't focus for…"
By then Tazuna had turned around only to blink himself in both shocked silence and confusion. Standing just a dozen or so steps in the Land of Fire stood the most miserable creature he'd seen since the days of Gato. Normally the old bridge builder would spit on the ground at the mere memory of the hateful bastard but he could not muster up the ire to do so right now. He was too shocked by what he saw and thought he recognized.
Golden hair so matted and dirty it was almost a light brown. Ragged clothes hanging in tatters that barely clung to his emaciated frame showed that there hadn't been a good meal in weeks or more. A ragged backpack hung loosely from his shoulders, a hole or two peeing through the rugged leather indicated there were once better days for both it and its owner.
However, it was the smile that did it. Lethargic certainly, but the wide shining wall of white teeth gleamed just like he remembered. The short wave of one hand, just like he'd done the last time he left Wave with his team, snapped the old man to action.
"Giichi!"
This time the boss-like timber in Tazuna's voice cut through the surprise and the foreman snapped his gaze towards his leader and childhood friend.
"Go! Get Tsunami here as fast as you can."
No hesitation. Giichi turned and ran as fast as a middle-aged man could do without tearing something.
For Tazuna, there was a lot going through the old man's mind as he tried to make sense of what his eyes were telling him. Naruto appeared ragged and on the edge of exhaustion. There was an unreadable expression on his face, a normally very expressive face that poorly hid what the child was feeling. Everyone knew that the boy was kind of "in your face" with whatever he thought but that appeared to have changed recently.
Tazuna saw happiness but that faded to worry and caution almost immediately. Then the youngster's face went strangely blank even as his eyes darted around as if looking for something… or someone? The old bridge builder wasn't used to seeing fear in the eyes of the child that fought off a tyrant and his hired killers on behalf of Nami but he had seen fear in the eyes of his people for years.
He was intimately familiar with it.
Tazuna stepped forward with one arm raised, his feet picking up the pace as he mistook the boy's jumbled reaction as concern for his own safety. Surely, he knew that no one in Nami would ever hurt him? Maybe if he approached real slow like and made no sudden moves…
Tazuna suddenly slowed, his feet almost shuffling as he moved forward with both hands almost reaching out for Naruto.
When it was clear the old man was going to cross into Hi no Kuni, the ragged youth's chest expanded and both arms shot up but not in a welcoming embrace, which confused Tazuna enough for Naruto to yell out one word and halt him where he stood.
"STOP!"
Tazuna blinked in surprise, the pain and confusion clear on his face. "…Naruto? I-I don't understand! Tell me what's wrong?!"
The boy never got the chance to speak up as two figures appeared in the distance between the former Leaf shinobi and the bridge carrying his name. It was then that Tazuna finally understood why Naruto wanted him to wait clear as day.
One faced Tazuna, while the other was turned away facing Naruto. ANBU body armor similar to what Konoha's ANBU wore was covered by dark cloaks that hid their bodies. White masks of different animals hid their faces. He wasn't close enough to read the Kanji on the right side of the mask's forehead but he knew enough to know they were not Tsunade's agents; there were no colorful markings like the ones he saw on his last visit to pay off their debt. Similar but not the same.
Movement behind the two assassins caught Tazuna's eye and his head shifted to see the sad smile of his village's hero, of his hero, as the youth backed away a few more steps. It was almost like he was trying to burn Tazuna's image into his mind one last time and the old man's heart plummeted to his stomach.
Naruto was going to run. He showed all the signs. Tension in his shoulders and legs said as much. His feet were already backing away. His shoulders were slowly turning towards the northern coast…
"Naruto!"
The boy froze for a second and Tazuna used the opportunity to put as much sincerity in his tired voice that he could despite suddenly feeling so old, so helpless.
"Naruto, just come to me!" His left hand was open and held out to the youth as the corners of his eyes burned behind his glasses.
Tazuna stubbornly blinked away the tears he knew were building and took a bold step forward only to pause once the agents blocking his path drew short blades, their bloody intentions clear. Still, he reached out his hand once again, begging… imploring the young man to hear him, frantic eyes locked on the boy that clearly needed his help.
"Please! Just make it to the bridge and we will do the rest!" He could hear many feet running along the bridge behind him and it was now or never. "I know you can do it! I've seen you do the impossible!"
Nothing. No response or movement.
"Please! Just try for me!," the old man pleaded again, his voice hoarse and almost breaking with the effort.
He could hear dozens of voices calling out for their hero, his grandson among them. Just a little longer…
"Please…" his voice was almost a whisper now.
His heart faltered when the boy he loved like his own grandson gently shook his head "no" even as he continued to back away and this time with purpose. Two more of these hated plain-faced shinobi landed next to their look-alikes and Tazuna, for the first time since Gato tried to destroy his home, felt a bitter hatred grow in his chest – a hatred this time for Konoha.
It had to be them because everyone else he knew was looking for Naruto to help the boy.
By the time half the village arrived at his back armed with clubs and hatchets and other items to fight with, Naruto was gone having leapt into the trees to dart away.
Once their hero vanished into the treeline, those hateful masked bastards vanished in fast-moving blurs leaving behind a gaggle of disheartened villagers asking Tazuna what was going on.
To hide his own bitter tears from his family, Tazuna glared one last time into the Hi no Kuni treeline then turned to storm back into the village. He had an urgent letter to write to that Gaara youngster.
He swore to himself that this would be the last time Nami was helpless ever again.
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~III~
Uchiha District, Hidden Leaf Village
In perhaps the quietest section of Konoha, a dark-haired youth glided through open handed forms in the packed sand square that made up his family training yard. It was one of four extra-large sand boxes used to train both Taijutsu forms and chakra control at the same time. The first was filled with concrete forming a square leitai, a raised training platform used for kata practice and sparring. The other three squares, all placed to form a two-by-two pattern across the training field, held a gravel-dirt mixture, sand, and finally water.
The goal was to progress from the most solid to the most fluid platform using chakra to disturb the surface as little as possible. When one mastered the basic forms on the first square, they would move to the next and so on. It was a private area hidden deep inside the Uchiha district meant to keep the deepest secrets of their clan techniques free from prying eyes. Each training box helped to fine tune physical and chakra-based control techniques, each brick-lined box deep enough to cover up to your ankles. The objective was to never sink, and ultimately to not disturb the surface of the last three squares, using chakra to stay atop the surface in each.
In that endeavor, Sasuke was failing miserably.
He stood with his bare feet completely buried in sand, a disgusted look on his face as the angry lines of sealing script crisscrossing his body flickered between black and red hues, that latter color nearly glowing beneath his soaked clothing. Slathered in sweat as he was, his plain white Novice battle kimono clung to his leaner frame, the pulsing lines of his chakra seal showing beneath the training garb he now wore as a reminder of his current limitations; his chakra had been sealed to a point where Rock Lee had access to more chakra than he did.
He was a beginner once again but not by choice.
He had no more chakra than the normal civilian and the realization brought a mix of frustration and relief at the same time.
For Sasuke, being able to train in this square was supposed to have been a landmark achievement in his personal milestones to slaughtering his elder brother. Once upon an idealistic time, he'd sat on the rear steps of their family home time and time again watching his brother glide over the packed surface leaving only the occasional blemish in his wake. Each time, the impressionable youth would challenge himself to one day be stronger, to one day be better than his older sibling and complete the exercise perfectly. Only then would he be ready to move onto the next phase.
He shifted his stance to the right, his foot plowing through the loose granules leaving a trough in its smooth surface and was once again disgusted in himself. He'd accepted - finally - that his current state as well as his future ambitions were his fault. It was all a consequence of his selfish actions even if he'd never admit that to another living sole.
All gone. Any hope was gone now because he was stupid. Because he got greedy.
Sasuke paused to look over the mangled sand pit surrounding himself. Having realized that the form was ruined along with his mood to train, Sasuke turned to slough to the back of the four-meter-by-four-meter training square with one hand reaching for the sand rake when a gentle cough at his back brought him to a pause.
"You were not invited in."
His sweaty arm bare from the elbow down, and pulsing with angry red lines of sealing script, paused in its extension from his side just a hand-span away from the handle of the garden tool he needed to reshape the gritty earth for his repeat training two days from now.
Not having access to chakra made accelerated recovery from harsh training more difficult and Sasuke had very little access to the benefits he previously enjoyed as the darling of Konoha prior to his attempted defection. He had to be careful with his training now and needed time to recover naturally.
He nearly snorted at that thought, knowing that before he would have ignored such precautions which, oddly enough, and as a result of his sealing, he'd learned that such training – even with access to chakra – had been reducing his gains as his body fought to recover from his abuse of it. In the end, he short-changed any progress he should have enjoyed making himself weaker physically, mentally, and chakralitically.
Six months have passed and he still isn't used to the impacts of having his chakra network forcibly compressed to the level of a teenage civilian but it did have unforeseen benefits. It was… uncomfortable to say the least. His body felt like it was being squeezed into a too tight sock and his veins – despite not being filled with chakra – burned constantly. It was the only accurate way to describe the effects of an impacted chakra network. His limbs felt like they were on fire all the time.
"I didn't think you would begrudge me the right to deliver good news."
Sasuke sucked on his teeth. The old fossil tended to stare for overly long periods before imparting whatever wisdom he felt you deserved. Sasuke, a person always in motion lately, tended to fill the silence with his thoughts often wandering down a rabbit hole until distracted with exterior prompting.
Despite that, this conversation was not one of his priorities today hence his decision to end it soon as possible.
"What good news?" Without turning to face the old failure, the youth began to patiently re-level the training square to its formerly pristine condition, the cooling sweat on his brow dripping to the greedy sand below.
Everything was harder without chakra to augment you. While he could not express any externally to create even E or D-ranked jutsu, neither could he generate enough to activate even one of his hereditary Sharingan. Best he'd been able to do was to get one to flicker partially before his legs would collapse to the bathroom tile in exhaustion.
The frustration gnawed at him like a disease or a horrible rash he could never scratch.
"Soon I'll be able to return your precious chakra to you."
Sasuke froze mid-motion for a second, a noticeable pause before resuming the calming task of raking the sand pit. The rush he'd felt at those words, those precious few, nearly broke his stoic acceptance of his punishment. Itachi's face immediately flashed before his eyes and that familiar hate began to burn at his throat before a couple deep breaths through is nose regulated his pulse.
Then that rush of adrenaline evaporated like the morning mist when he remembered the Godaime's threat if she so much as suspected that he'd slipped his new leash and Sasuke shivered uncontrollably.
"Impossible. She'd never allow it." He numbly went back to raking sand all fight seemingly gone from him.
"You let me deal with that problem. Just be prepared to pledge your loyalty to me."
Danzo ignored the scoff from the irresponsible child that made a deal with the Snake and failed.
"In the meantime, you have company to deal with."
Sasuke's eyes widened briefly after a shocked blink. Kakashi?
When he turned to see who his new visitor was, hopeful eyes searching for the one person left he felt he could marginally trust, that expectant look soured almost immediately. Even before the horribly bright pink hair rounded the corner of his home, her scratchy voice drained whatever energy he had left from his still sweaty limbs.
There was no trace of the one-eyed mummy.
"Saaaaaaaasukee!"
He couldn't help the wince. Even without chakra to enhance his hearing her voice grated on his ears so he waited for her to stop before talking to her only to growl when he didn't stop her careless rush leading to the club-footed girl smashing her way through his sand square tripling his post-workout workload.
"What are you doing here, Sakura?"
It took a few moments for her to calm down and speak somewhat normally after running from wherever she'd come from. Sasuke made no effort to hide his disgust at her lack of conditioning.
"I-I wanted to… check up on you," she finally huffed out. "You're... my teammate... after all."
Sasuke snarled in frustration. "Get it through your thick head! I am no longer a member of Team Seven! I am no longer a shinobi!"
In his anger, Sasuke never recognized that his own foot took an ominous step forward further undoing his recent labor, the wooden handle to the sand rake creaking loudly in his straining grip. He was angry and frustrated that this insipid girl couldn't take the hint, something she continuously reminded him of even before Team Seven was founded. He remembered their last meaningful conversation more than six months before when he was being released from the hospital and she happily blurted out that the Do- that Naruto had been exiled from the village. He also remembered every conversation before and since then in startling clarity, each more aggravating than the last.
"The advisors think that, with time, they can get the Daimyo to overrule her and restore you, so-"
Sasuke's face was growing more incredulous with each word coming from her mouth.
"…so, Team 7 isn't done for yet. We just need to have a little faith!"
Her delusional look of happiness at the idea only made the fatigued youth feel exhausted. Tsunade was the outright military dictator of the village. Short of having irrefutable evidence to the contrary, no Daimyo would cut the legs out from his supreme mercenary to help a known traitor.
Not a sane one anyway.
"With that baka gone,-"
Here he'd had enough.
"You think I'm happy that those old fools banished my last hope at finding a way to get strong enough to bring my brother to justice?!"
Sakura could only blink in confusion. When had Sasuke-kun's dream change from executing his traitorous brother to bringing the man to justice?
"The one guy that was able to find a way to improve himself enough to beat me when he couldn't do it once the entire time we were in the academy or on the same team? And you think this makes me happy!?"
"But-But… he was always getting in our way, Sasuke-kun." Her voice sounded hollow. Lifeless.
"You mean your way!" he snapped back.
The cords in Sasuke's arm knotted as his grip on the sand rake tightened ominously.
She opened her mouth to offer another hollow platitude and he snapped.
"Leave!"
Sakura blinked in clear shock clearly not understanding his rage right then. Instead, she opened her mouth to try once again to console him, to win him to her side with an invite to a home cooked meal, but he cut her off with more vitriol.
"LEAVE! And, if you return uninvited again, I will have you arrested for trespassing!"
One of her trembling hands tried to reach out plaintively.
He lifted the rake above his head as if to strike bellowing, "GET OFF MY PROPERTY! YOU WILL NEVER BE AN UCHIHA!"
At that point, the terrified fan girl turned and fled for her life, awkward legs nearly tripping in the disturbed sand at her feet as she fled the twisted rage of the boy she thought she loved with all her heart.
For his part, Uchiha Sasuke could only stare at her fading back hoping beyond hope that he'd gotten through to her. It wasn't that she didn't mean well or that he was too engrossed in his own suffering to see her efforts.
No, one thing that was painfully clear to him was that she was delusional and in desperate need of psychiatric help. Sasuke had come to see the benefits of it, after all. Part of his sentencing including mandatory sessions with the Yamanaka, originally with the clan head until they felt he'd reached a point where he was less of a threat to other members of the clan in question.
It would have been unthinkable before his sealing, a secret that he'd take to his grave, if at all possible. Another would be that the sealing itself had probably saved his life, and that was something he'd never admit to anyone since his stupid pride would not allow it.
With the Toad Sannin public Hokage enemy number one, Kakashi had been placed in charge of resealing his cursed seal correcting his breaking of it during his desperate bid for freedom. Only then with the curse contained could they proceed with his sentencing and, since Jiraiya was not needed for that either, things moved along rapidly instead of having to wait for the lecher to return to the village.
Funny thing was the immediate side effect of the sealing once the final arrays were activated: the unbridled rage clouding his mind and driving his behavior lifted. It was like he'd been walking in a fog bank for years and now, for the first time since before his clan died, Sasuke could see and think clearly again. Worse still, he could remember all of his childish behavior leading up to his recent history and the memory of his actions wanted to make him curl up into a ball inside his home and never come out. Truly cringe-worthy stuff remembered in perfect clarity.
He no longer shot into an uncontrollable rage at the mere mention of his brother's name. It was almost as if he was being driven to push people away in some adolescent fear that someone would take his purpose from him, a fate worse than death for the revenge-obsessed survivor.
It was like his actions were not his own and now he had full control again.
Was he still incredibly angry at his brother? Of course he was. The difference was that he could mitigate the level of anger he felt at the man's memory and could, to some degree, steer his actions by free will rather than feel like some herd animal driven by outside forces.
He felt free for the first time in years despite also feeling trapped inside his own body.
All of this took about a minute to rush through his mind, a mind now free of distractions and Genjutsu-based mind control.
Slowly and with the groan of tired, protesting muscles, he lowered the rake and began once again smoothing the bed of sand for tomorrow's practice. He would need to scoop up the sand Sakura spilled in her panicked flight, something his clan members would have done using chakra but he would be forced to do by hand, however, it needed to be done.
With a fatigued sigh, he pressed on happy to also realize that with the bad also came the good.
He was making progress with his counseling sessions and could, at least to himself, realize his errors. It would be some time before he could publicly own up to them but that was a goal to work towards, or so he'd been told. His biggest regret would be his relationship with his banished teammate.
He was also remembering small moments, times with his mother and father. Happier times.
One such memory led him to restoring his mother's vegetable garden and his mouth watered at the thought of bringing back her prized tomatoes.
As he patiently re-levelled the sand pit for the second time, Sasuke went through his mental list of recipes looking forward to a quiet afternoon of reading and lunch.
Things suddenly didn't feel so helpless and horrible for once.
.
.
~III~
The Wandering Jinchūriki, Land of Fire
Turning away from the old drunk was painful. To Naruto, it came a close second to leaving both the Leaf and his Obaa-chan and that felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest, kinda like a Chidori.
It had to be done though. Those faceless bastards would have killed them and that simply couldn't be allowed. Not for him. Not again. Never again.
You see, the Land of Fire may be big but when you're only living on the edges of it, it doesn't take as long as you would think to walk completely around it. Six weeks if his limited track of time was to be correct. Imagine his surprise two weeks before seeing Old Man Tazuna when he found himself sneaking into Tekkei Village only to realize he'd come full circle. Old Man Tamashini's farm was only a few minutes away by ninja speed and, for just a second, his heart soared wondering if he could sneak a clone out to check on them before he moved on.
That lasted until he found the town bulletin board and decided to take a gander for old time's sake. It was after midnight and most people in the farming community were already abed. Those that weren't would have been in the local bar and too tipsy to even notice him. It was a good thing.
It was a good thing since they wouldn't have been able to see him gaping like a koi fish either at his sketched image on a wanted poster.
Menma (No Surname)
(A hand-drawn picture of his face was here)
Wanted for Questioning:
Murder of the Tamashini Family, Arson
Reward: 10,000 Ryo posted by the Village of Tekkei
Yup, that was his cover ID alright.
He swore then and there that he'd never endanger anyone else with these hateful bastards dogging his heels. That also made his subsequent decision to flee Tazuna's kindness an automatic one.
Damn them!
So, he kept on walking just like he did in Tekkei. Sometimes, he'd stop to hunt or forage. Other times, he'd just sit on a branch high up in the trees and watch life slowly pass him by. He had plenty of time, after all, and no real destination or place to be.
He even gave serious consideration to opening that scroll tube Tsunade-'baachan gave him, even briefly looking at it nestled deep down in his ratty backpack, before shaking off that idea. If those faceless bastards saw it or even thought it was something important, they'd dogpile him and rob him blind in a heartbeat.
In the end, it stayed hidden with its mysteries forgotten for another day.
In this mindless fashion, Naruto nearly completed another lap of his home nation and wound up once again on the outskirts of Tanzaku Gai. High up from the ridge he stood on was a clear view of the walled village. The castle Orochimaru destroyed appeared to be almost rebuilt, complete with lots of little ant-like people crawling over the scaffolding surrounding the last couple layers of the cake-resembling structure.
Naruto snorted thinking they might actually finish it if he did a couple more loops around the nation.
Well, enough reminiscing. With a heavy sigh, he began to turn away only to pause and draw his raggedy jacket tighter around his shoulders. He'd lost all sense of time since being forced away from the Tamashini farm but the weather was turning towards the slightly chilly at night. It rarely ever snowed in the Land of Fire but nights could get uncomfortably cold this time of year without proper shelter.
Oh, he knew those faceless bastards would chase him away if he got too close to someone but hiding out in one of the many grungy alleyways would be okay, wouldn't it? If he remembered, there were plenty of beggars in the dark corners of Tanzaku Quarters. There shouldn't be a problem with him claiming one for himself this winter and the walls would provide some shelter from the biting night winds.
Maybe?
He hoped.
With a resolved nod, Naruto turned back around to face the infamous Pleasure Village with the mindset of finding a winter bolt hole to hide away in.
He would need to come up with a way to shake tagalongs if he ever planned to have a normal life, and, in order to do that, he would need to be able to stop and really think on something other than finding enough food to keep moving forward.
.
.
Outside the entry gate lay the farmer's market just like he remembered. While in Konoha, he often avoided fruits and vegetables like the plague but living on a farm deprived of ramen managed to change his viewpoint on the lesser foods. Over the last few months of travel, Naruto found his body craving an apple, a carrot, or just anything other than forest game.
Something crunchy and light.
The work didn't pay a lot but the farmer did pay some hoping to help the boy save up for his own home one day. Some of the few jobs he'd found gave a little pocket money in addition to food and supplies, like blankets and other small necessities. While he had some money from his farming stint, most times he never got to use it not being allowed to stop in any one place long enough to get settled.
Once again ignoring Kyuubi's rant about him being a stubborn jackass for not opening Tsunade's scroll, Naruto instead bought a reasonable amount of foodstuffs to seal into one of his now empty storage scrolls from his Genin days. Basic storage scrolls didn't preserve perishables so he didn't want to overdo it.
He did make a mental note to try and do this more often before his minders could shoo him away again.
Gaining entry to the village was obscenely easy. Despite bathing in rivers and streams whenever he could, he was filthy enough that none of the guards would touch him to inspect him. The most they would condone was a brief peek into his backpack from a respectable distance while Naruto held it open.
Neither guard, the one "inspecting" him and the other standing back a couple paces "to allow his partner freedom to work," could wave him through fast enough. It was common enough for the poor and downtrodden to seek shelter during the colder months in whatever walled city they could find. Tanzaku was no different and oft preferred for the more lax security measures.
Once inside, he turned off the main road immediately and began working his way around the large village to familiarize himself with the back streets. It was still early in the day so he had plenty of time to search even as the memories of his first visit to this place rolled through his mind.
Some spots he recognized right away from their search for Tsunade. Most of those spots involved him dragging Jiraiya away from the scantily clad women so they could search.
Jiraiya…
He quickly shrugged off those memories not wanting to dwell on his last two interactions with the bastard. Instead, he stopped near a dumpster when the sun was high up and began to peel the orange he'd bought and stuffed into a pocket not really caring where he was at the moment.
Just as the tangy citrus aroma made his nose burn, a loud bang drew his attention from the pungent fruit half-exposed in his hands, deep blue eyes taking in the grunts of a large man being manhandled by another just a hair smaller. While the larger man's working kimono was made of plain browns of different shades held loosely together by a tan sash, the smaller (and younger) man bore the jade green and yellow uniform of an establishment. Naruto figured it was a uniform as there were a couple more young men behind him watching and they all wore similar uniforms of identical color – the one notable difference being the dark grey haori of the lead guy calmly blocking drunken swings from the larger man with ease.
Broad shouldered, neatly cut dark hair slicked back out of his face, and well-muscled, he had no trouble leaning back to avoid one desperate swing or raising his left forearm to block another. He did manage to knock the wind – and fight – out of the drunk when one booted heel Spartan kicked the his opponent over the safety railing and head over heels to the paved alleyway below with a heavy grunt of pain.
Naruto, for all the interest he was trying not to show, never stopped peeling his orange as his eyes flickered back and forth from the three standing on the slightly raised platform (the steps down to the street hugged the building with a handrail leading up to where they stood) to the crumpled man moaning and cursing, his words heavily slurred from drink and pain.
"Ca….Can' d-do thissss…"
Naruto glanced back up to the younger man to get his response but only heard a grunt of disapproval.
"Ch-chance… to… win it b-back, R-R-Ryota!"
This time "Ryota" did respond.
"You've had a chance all morning to win it back, Saji. You've been losing all night and you know the missus isn't going to be happy to see you as it is!"
The younger man leaned forward to rest his hands on the railing, thick forearms bulging with the effort.
"Go home and sleep it off!" He frowned and an impressive wave of dread Naruto recognized as Killing Intent spilled out onto the damp cobblestone making the air waiver like heat from the stone streets in the middle of a very hot summer day. "If she lets you out again, come talk to me. Once you are properly sober and you've apologized to Mai for gettin' all handsy, we will go see Lady Katsute."
The drunk seemed to sober a little bit, his complexion going pale, his bloodshot eyes widening in fright and recognition.
"If she says it's okay, we'll let you try again." The strong man abruptly nodded his head down the long alleyway to indicate the drunk should go home.
Naruto was amazed. The blubbering man's anger bled from his face then, his hands clumsily grasping and pulling at his clothes to straighten them without much success. It was a futile attempt really, but it would allow him to save some dignity with the effort.
There was a faltering, stumbling bow from the older drunk to the younger tough before the drunk turned and wobbled down the alley back to its brightly-lit entrance. Naruto's eyes stayed glued to the drunk's rumpled back as he vanished into the passing crowd. Once gone, the former shinobi shrugged his shoulders once before turning back to his now completely peeled citrus, the first slice finding its way into his mouth with an appreciative hum.
His eyes closed at the burst of flavor that hit his tongue and stung his nostrils anew. How long had it been? Too long.
It was then that his mind connected the dots with the fact that the heavy metal door leading into the back of whatever this place was (most likely a casino if the blubbering drunk crying about losing money was any indication) hadn't closed with the heavy bang he expected. His eyes flickered open then upwards to meet with the medium brown ones of the younger boss guy who appeared to be firmly focused on our filthy protagonist.
Naruto blinked in surprise.
The bossman named Ryota blinked back.
"Um, sorry. I… just needed to borrow your… garbage thingy for my orange." He made a half-hearted effort to lift the partially consumed fruit in his hand.
Ryota blinked again but said nothing making Naruto feel weirdly exposed all of a sudden.
"Um, do you want some? I don't have a lot but I can split this into…" – he made a brief count even going up on his toes to glance around the guy's very broad shoulders – "…four… if you want?"
A wide smile burst onto the larger man's face and the tense atmosphere seemed to fade into the sky.
"Sure kid." He turned to motion for the two behind him to stay while he walked calmly down the stairs to join Naruto, who'd already split the orange in half.
"Didn't get your name, Gaki."
Naruto smirked. "Shouldn't you give yours first?" He tried to be inconspicuous about glancing around for his faceless shadows.
"Well, you already heard Old Man Saji call me Ryota." Ryota's expression turned mischievous as he tore off a section of his part of the orange and savored the fresh fruit with an appreciative groan. "By kami, Farmer Junpei knows his way around an orange."
The two chewed (not so quietly) for a few minutes as Ryota took stock of the boy's condition. The entire time Naruto debated whether or not he would answer or simply flee first chance he got.
In the end, what did it matter if those goons from Jiraiya were just going to chase him away again? It didn't, at least not anymore.
"Naruto." He had to pause a moment to keep from spitting out orange pulp onto the ground, one hand flying up to keep it in his mouth much to the giggling laughter of both. Food was precious after all.
For a moment, the embattled Jinchūriki lost himself in the simple pleasure of talking with another human being.
"Got any family? Anyone wondering where you ran off to?"
"Nope. Parents died when I was born."
"Got any skills or trade learnin'?"
"A little farm work but nothing of value."
The conversation flowed as equally as the plump juice from the now devoured fruit. Some nights he'd get desperate and create clones just to sit and joke around with, something he'd never admit to anyone else even if his faceless tormentors saw it. He needed a way to keep hold of his sanity even if it meant talking to himself but this… this was nice he had to admit.
Deep down he knew it wouldn't last, but he was tired of the constant running away and wanted to simply enjoy the brief human contact of a simple conversation. What would it hurt? Besides, Ryota looked like he could defend himself and he had other strong looking men to help him, not like poor farmer Tamishini.
That memory still burned but he buried it harshly before his eyes could mist up.
As to these casino toughs, he didn't think they could stand up to ANBU but this Ryota guy could definitely use chakra since he knew how to use KI. Maybe the others could also?
At that moment, Ryota appeared to make some kind of decision and turned to walk back up the stairs calling over his shoulder a chipper, "Well, c'mon then."
Naruto froze with the last slice of fruit almost in his mouth responding with a shocked, "Wha-Huh?"
Ryota paused with one hand on the railing, his right leg raised to the first step. "You don't think Lady Katsute would hire you looking like that do you?"
"Hire me?"
"Yes, hire you." Ryota smiled brightly again. "Can't have you stinking up the gambling hall. I'm sure Mai won't mind helping you get all cleaned up before your big interview with the owner."
His smile was completely devilish.
Reality seemed to crash down on his shoulders again as Naruto began his by now usual retreating denial. Seeing this, Ryota demonstrated that he knew a bit more about chakra and its uses by blurring out of sight only to appear behind Naruto with both hands pushing the young boy forward by the shoulders.
It was the chakra use that stunned Naruto long enough for the older male to get the drop on him and shove him along towards the stairs.
"C'mon now. No dilly-dallying. The first thing you need to learn if you're gonna work here is that Lady Katsute does not like to be kept waiting."
"But-but… I never applied for any job!" he dried to dig his ratty sandals into the cobblestones at his feet with zero luck.
"Details… details," the now named Ryota gruffed not once slowing his pace in moving Naruto along. "You'll love it here. Promise."
As Naruto glanced back over his shoulder, he found warmth in the bright smile of the rock jawed casino tough.
Despite his half-hearted feet dragging, Naruto wanted to believe that this might work. His sputtering excuses weren't very forceful and, deep down, he suspected Ryota could tell. Even as his feet stutter-stepped up to the still open metal door, he desperately wanted to believe that this might work and that Tanzaku might become his new home.
As the door finally slammed closed, none of them noticed the two masked figures standing on the adjacent rooftop watching it all take place from the shadows.
"Send word to Danzo-sama. We will need to proceed with caution in this instance."
.
.
~III~
Final Thoughts: I might have gotten something in my eye smoothing this chapter. Took longer than I thought especially since i shouldn't even be working on it right now.
That said, we finally got a peek and what Sasuke has been up to since his return and I wonder what that sneak Danzo might be up to? We still aren't out of the Elemental Nations yet but you can see it's building to some sort of breaking point.
Soon, my faithful readers. Very soon.
Happy belated Easter and I hope you all have a great week among the crazy stuff. Peace to my readers across the lands and seas of the world.
Until next time.
~Siva'a