Tsunade tries not to get too distracted from Naruto's slow pacing from one wall to another in her meeting room. He looks twitchy, unable to stand or sit still. He's at least discarded his armour to the floor so it would stop the annoying rattling, but he seems mentally exhausted more than physically. His hair is all out of his face, something unusual to her given how long he's kept it over one eye.
"He has mastered a prototype of Mugen Tsukuyomi." Naruto reveals grimly.
She doesn't need to guess who 'he' is.
"The Sanbi Jinchuuriki was under a powerful Genjutsu unlike anything I've seen before. I believe it exploited the Sanbi's Chakra to increase its power. Yagura was seeing something that no-one else was, living his dream in reality and completely unaware of what he was actually doing. The perfect tool to cause national chaos, using a Villages weapon against them, yet alone that weapon being hosted by the Mizukage. I'm confident that he was behind it. Probably saw it as an opportunity to test his Jutsu and get revenge on Kiri."
"So what actually happened? Naruto, I've never seen you like this before."
Naruto shakes off some of his fatigue and gives her a brief rundown on what happened.
"The Mizukage was killing off Kekkei-Genkai Shinobi in Kiri. I ran into a civil resistance that was trying to overthrow him and offered my help in exchange for a guarantee that the new Mizukage would attend the Summit. She'll be corresponding soon."
"And the Jinchuuriki?"
"Dead. Yondaime Mizukage Yagura transformed into the Sanbi and I couldn't hold it down long enough to seal it. I had to kill it, so we have a few months tops before it regenerates. The Akatsuki won't sit idly by while we track down all the Bijuu, my actions will spur them into motion. Has Suna been informed?"
"They have." Tsunade nods, trying to ignore how he casually stated he'd 'killed the Sanbi'. "What's the concern?"
"It won't make a difference anyway." Naruto mutters with a shake of his head. "It'll take time to extract the Ichibi. We would have better luck preventing the sealing into the Gedo Mazo than we would actually saving the Jinchuuriki. It has now been proven to me that Obito may not actually need all the Bijuu to engage Mugen Tsukuyomi. As long as he has a good lot of them and a decent amount of Chakra from the rest, it's now feasible that he'll be able to use his prototype version once becoming the Juubi Jinchuuriki. It's more important now that we find where the statue is sealed and destroy it."
Tsunade stands up mid-way through his rambling and approaches him.
"How do you know it's sealed?" She asks, leaning against her desk and being more face-to-face with him.
Naruto's ringed eyes look down at her and he pauses his pacing. "Because I can't summon it. I should be able to with the Rinnegan but it has to be locked down somewhere that keeps it hidden and disconnected entirely to anyone besides the other Rinnegan wielder. I should begin to search for it, but I can only think of a few likely places-"
"-Naruto." Tsunade interrupts sternly.
He doesn't deflate. Naruto only looks at her, posture rigid and dare she say, stressed.
She touches his collar, dragging out the trademark high-brim from where it was tucked on his neck. The smell of his sweat escapes but it doesn't bother her.
"One thing at a time." Tsunade ushers him over to the cushioned couch. "You have to remember that we don't have another you. What you need to do right now before shit hits the fan, is take some deep breaths, relax a bit, spend some time with your fiance and let others carry burdens too. It will make them strong, and it won't leave you doing a thousand things at once."
Tsunade pushes him down into the seat and sits across from him. He lays down on it, arms going slack and legs hanging over the armrest.
Naruto is mostly quiet. Deep breaths from strong lungs and the ticking of a clock are the only sounds in the sunset-lit room.
"Do you know what will happen if they're given a taste of a perfect life?" Naruto asks after a moment.
"I like to imagine that they would take strides to improve their lives so they could get as close to it as they could." Tsunade returns.
"I am not so confident in them," Naruto retorts, voice reduced to a quiet timbre. "Even in our walls, there are fiendish degenerates who's most wild, happy dreams are those of horrors best kept from their victims. They fantasize evil and chaos, but they are kept in line by the light. For as long as moral scrutiny keeps them in line, then they stay their corruption. For as long as there are powers to protect the weak from them. If this dream comes to life, do you think they would accept being broken from it? Do you trust that they'll stop at nothing to achieve their perfect life at the expense of all others?"
"That does not sound any different from how the Shinobi world is already." Tsunade counters. "Many times it's not a deviant, but simply a powerful person that seeks to gain joy by exerting their power to abuse the resource that is the weak. How many have been ripped from their potential because of you? You seek power to gain what you want, and it is those weaker that are than you that pay the price."
"And yet, this harsh reality based on the hierarchy of tangible power, is a vital tool in the development and continuation of humanity. What good is the escapism of a perfect dream if it costs you your entire species? While everyone's heads are in the sand, they'll be blind to the snakes and spiders that lurk within it. I will concede that my ambition has cost lives, perhaps many innocent ones too, but I will not roll over and die. It is the natural order of life to endure competition. This dream is as good as giving up. There is no room for growth, there is only temptation to give up all your worldly woes when the truth is, that is what makes you strong."
Naruto turns on to his side and looks at Tsunade once more.
"What do the weak do when they do not get their way, and yet they still live? They drag the names of their heroes through the mud. They take out their frustrations on the innocent instead of taking responsibility for themselves. What makes you think that they won't want to be in a reality that is free from all earthly concerns, where they can live out their fantasies and grow fat and weaker from a lack of true struggle, the fight to survive?"
"And that is something very easy to say for you." Tsunade states bluntly. "All things considered, you have a good life Naruto. You were born with the most powerful genes the world has seen up until now, you were mentored by people who understood exactly what you needed, and you were blessed with a cunning and intelligent mind. Not everyone is so lucky, and so they have their own struggles that aren't comparable to yours. Perhaps it's time to accept them for all their faults, and learn to see the good in them too. They have potential in their own ways, and they're struggling to survive in the same systems that you are. Maybe it's time for you to grow in not just your power, but in your mind, and overcome your cynicism and turn it into wisdom."
From the time they started talking, the sunlight fades away completely. Dim lamps are all that light the room, casting shadows of their figures on any surface that would take them.
Naruto sits up, and for the first time that she can remember, actually looks like he's having a struggle in his own head.
"Maybe you're right." He gets up shuffling over to scrape his armour and Gunbai from the floor. He looks at them dispassionately before making his way to the door.
He turns the handle.
"Maybe it's time that I grow up."
"Naruto," Tsunade calls out, one last time. "You're young, and you have time to learn that you can't take on everything yourself. Don't spread yourself so thin. You've got a lot to live for these days."
"The old man once told me something about picking my battles, hmpf!" Naruto chuckles wryly.
The next morning, Kakashi and Shizune are surprised to see Naruto and Karin appear at a Taijutsu practice and minor examination of their daughters' class. The parents were there partially to see how Minako is doing, and equal parts of having nothing better to do. All of the students had been carted away by Iruka and another teacher to the Chuunin Exams Stadium, likely to see how they would fare in a larger environment to spar in.
"Didn't think this was your kind of scene, Naruto." Kakashi comments idly.
Karin shakes her head. "I don't know what's gotten into him either. Probably wants to make the kids cry with his scary face."
'He definitely has a face that can do that.' Kakashi thinks with some amusement. Konohagakure is no stranger to scary and eccentric appearances, but Naruto can be a different beast in that regard if he's annoyed or angry.
Naruto looks uncharacteristically serious, not a smile nor a deep frown to be seen. He's in his usual getup of the black Uchiha coat, and his spiky slate-hair is in it's usual place over his eye. Kakashi can't even remember the last time he's seen Naruto's full face.
"Just checking in on my new apprentice." Naruto shrugs in a nonchalant manner, unconcerned with the awe-filled looks from the parents who know who he is.
"Apprentice?" Shizune asks with wide eyes and more than a little alarm. Understandable, given that Kakashi doesn't think that Naruto would be a very good teacher either.
A few of the spectating parents only heard 'apprentice' and all but flood around Naruto. Some of the kids look over curiously but Iruka manages to rein them in.
"Are you scouting for an apprentice, Naruto-sama?" One hopeful father asks, eye gleaming at the potential opportunity.
"No." Naruto shuts him down curtly.
Without a word or a stray look, Naruto walks away from the pack and towards a nervous man and woman who only have eyes for one of the children in the class. Kakashi shares a mystified glance with Shizune and Karin before they follow along, leaving behind the somewhat indignant group.
The two are very formally dressed. The woman in particular has an aristocratic beauty that some would slave over themselves to get. As they get closer, the two realize they're being approached.
"Naruto-dono." They dip their heads respectfully.
"Naruto is fine." Naruto corrects casually. "How is the boy doing?"
"He is... struggling. With the training, that is." The father gets out with a wince.
"That's to be expected. This is new to him, it'll take a bit of time before his body adjusts to the new stimuli of physical conditioning and Chakra awareness." Naruto explains clinically, but Kakashi feels it's something reassuring to the parents.
"So it's a common problem?" The woman asks hopefully.
"That's right," Naruto nods, gaining his signature 'lecture pose' that nearly made Kakashi want to tune out. "Once he learns to control his Chakra, his body will slowly adjust and his Tenketsu will train themselves to express it. The human body has eight natural gateways that regulate the flow of Chakra so that it won't flow too quickly and burn through the paths. Physical training will help those gates ease up just a little so that he can get a good feel for it. But that is with time, how about his classwork?"
"Good!" She beams up at him, perhaps unintentionally but excited at the prospect of her son doing well academically.
"Fujita is in the top bracket in his class for his studies, or so Iruka-sensei tells us." The father responds, rather proudly.
"Ah, Naruto? Care to introduce us?" Shizune asks, somewhat sheepishly.
Naruto turns to her with a smile. "No."
Kakashi hides a snicker as his wife huffs in annoyance.
"I'm Hatake Shizune, I'm the mother of that little silver-haired menace over there, and this is Kakashi." Shizune introduces, purposefully standing between Naruto and the two unknown parents. Not that it did much, given that Naruto is annoyingly tall and he could just peer over her.
Said silver-haired menace is in front of Naruto in a flash, hugging his legs just as she used to. Kakashi and Shizune both roll their eyes, knowing that Minako's attention has been stolen by her big brother and Iruka is unlikely to get it back. They seperate and Minako does a little dance, a seemingly familiar game with how Naruto copies what she's doing flawlessly. Seeing him act so ridiculously helped dash some of the uncertainty in the eyes of the unfamiliar parents.
"My name is Takehito, and this is my wife Mika." Takehito responds, formal and dignified.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Mika dips her head courteously.
Without further fanfare, Naruto picks up Minako and holds her behind his head. He vaults her straight back into the makeshift ring of students. Takehito and Mika gasp in horror.
"ONII-CHAN!" Minako screams at him while flying into the fray.
"Go back to class, brat!"
Minako huffs mid-air, twirling gracefully and landing on her feet in the middle of the wide ring.
"Minako has volunteered for our first match! Do we have any volunteers for her opponent?" Iruka calls out to the kids.
"The prodigy girl?" A parent mutters to another.
Kakashi feels Naruto bump his elbow. He looks at his former student as he creates a wooden stake and tosses it next to Minako. The wood vanishes, and in its place is a boy with the same spiky silvery-hair as the father beside him. The poor boy appears startled and frozen in place.
"You're cruel, Naruto." Karin shakes her head exasperatedly.
"Fujita and Minako! Seal of Confrontation!"
Minako does so without pause, left hand held in the seal while Fujita mimics her shyly. He flinches a bit at the jeering whispers of his classmates.
"Not much to pick from in the class." Naruto comments candidly and none-too-quiet. "Best get the two with the most potential out of the way first."
Kakashi thinks that's a poorly veiled excuse to just do what he came to do and leave. A busy-body like Naruto wouldn't want to lurk around for an entire field day for the Academy.
"Hajime!"
Minako dashes at Fujita, no doubt-used to roll her classmates with ease, and this boy is no exception. The clumsy guard he puts up is swiftly locked behind his back and Minako forces him into a kneeling position, arms held in each of Minako's.
Kakashi feels Naruto vanish and appear next to Iruka. The Sensei was about to call an abrupt victory to Minako through the cheering, but Naruto put his arm up to stop him.
Iruka feels like he's in the presence of a different kind of beast whenever Naruto is nearby. It hadn't been so bad when Naruto was just a student. Iruka's rudimentary ability to sense Chakra had been used to assess just how well students were adjusting to learning how to use their own. There are a few outliers in every class that are just a little cut above the rest, showing off reserves just big enough to illustrate to each other that they can keep going when others lag behind.
Naruto's class had been full of students from Shinobi backgrounds, clans at that. People who live for the trade and pass on unusual traits to their kids. Across the board, that class had many children with larger than average reserves. But even back then, one boy dwarfed them in their entirety. The teachers would often discuss Naruto's frightening proclivity towards anything they had to teach him. He devoured it, mastered it, and met everything that was meant to be challenge for experienced students and crushed them like he was born to do it.
And now, as if a terrifying premonition is coming true, he stands beside Iruka as one of the legendary Shinobi of Konoha who stands as of the present day, peerless. And as much as he doesn't want to admit it, Naruto's outright inhuman ability scares him.
"Don't call it." Naruto puts an arm up to stop him.
"This match is finished, look at the boy!" Iruka hisses. Monster Naruto may be, but Iruka is the teacher between them.
"You haven't been out in the field for a while, have you?" Naruto's mocking mutter tests Iruka's nerves.
"Letting him struggle when he has already lost is just going to give his peers another reason to bully him!"
"Letting him give up without a struggle will destroy his ability to claw his way back from defeat. At least this way he can have a chance to test his tenacity. Would you surrender just because an enemy has a kunai to your throat?"
Iruka bites his tongue, wanting to snap back but finding himself answering the question in his head. He teaches his students to maneuver situations like that very carefully to preserve their lives, primarily through negotiation. It's not until they reach Jounin or primarily ANBU that they learn the 'whatever it takes' style of missions. He probably would surrender, knowing his limits and that it's not possible for the average Shinobi like him to make the best of all outcomes possible in that scenario.
"This boy can't be taught the same way you teach your normal students. He is destined for more, and he won't reach that potential unless he has a teacher that understands what he needs to grow into that. This is hardly the first time an Academy student has been poached by a skilled Shinobi."
"There are channels so that you can ask for permission to take on an apprentice, and I'm telling you that no-one in their right mind will give control of training a boy like this to you when he's clearly not ready!" Iruka does not appreciate Naruto's off-handed comments about the quality of the Academy training.
"I have permission from the only people who matter. His parents, and the Hokage. I dare say that the old witch is happy about the arrangement. And besides... who could stop me from training him anyway? Well, maybe the ANBU. But Konoha doesn't do brainwashing anymore, does it?"
Iruka feels cold at the insinuation. Does Naruto really think that entities in Konoha would conspire to manipulate a child to hate someone?
"And don't fret too much. The boy still needs to be taught the basic crap that I can't be bothered to teach. Reading, writing, blah blah. He'll have as normal a life as he can, but I will be primarily in charge of the rest of his studies when I'm not busy."
The Sensei looks at the struggling boy, miraculously still holding on despite Minako's attempts to get him to surrender. Fujita's arms very slowly edge forward, showing unusual strength for a child, especially when placed into such a helpless lock.
With a roar, Fujita swings his arms overhead and throws Minako off of his back. Minako lands on her feet, still holding his arms but the boy pushes her forward, inching her towards the edge of the ring to win on the technicality of 'out of play'. Minako rolls like a crocodile on the rough ground, spinning Fujita across it and putting him in an arm bar.
Iruka thought this would be the end of it, but the boy surprises him again by overcoming the pain and throwing Minako to the ground on his other side again. The moment of triumph doesn't last however, and Minako regains control one last time with a deterring punch in the ribs and a kick to his collarbone. With little fight left in him, Fujita goes slack on the ground.
The Uchiha hums, apparently satisfied with what he's seen, and Iruka takes that as his cue to actually call it.
"Winner, Minako!"
"...What did Naruto say the kids' surname was again?"
"Er- he didn't."
Takehito and Mika look nervous and it's somewhat revealing to Kakashi.
Despite being awful at fighting, the kid has some insane physical strength for his age. To outright overpower Minako, who has been training virtually from the day she could walk on her own two feet, is something that is not ordinarily possible. To have that kind of natural tenacity, you'd have to be seriously genetically gifted-
-Oh.
"We won't say anything." Kakashi assures quickly. "And it's probably best that Naruto got this out of the way now before anyone picked up on it. If he's publicly stating that Fujita is his apprentice, that'll deter pretty much anyone from trying to get him."
He thought it odd that Naruto would do the same thing that other Academy teacher did at Naruto's graduation. Let a fight go on for longer than it should and see what arises from it, but he sees that the decision had been made before Naruto had some here in the first place and that his former student was just testing to see how much work would be needed to bring Fujita up to speed.
Kakashi has to wonder what Naruto's motivations are in all of this though. It's hard to read into what Naruto is up to most of the time actually, and committing to train a child from a historically rival clan is definitely up the list of weird and quirky decisions that he's made. But then again, how much can he expect from a man who was taught by a Ghost?
One Week Later.
Naruto watches as his new student slogs through a brutal physical regime that he'd set him on. He's a little surprised that the kid is doing it without any complaints, but the frustration Fujita has at his inability to use Ninjutsu thus far is starting to get to him. So maybe Naruto was wrong in his initial assessment and things might need to change.
'This isn't working.' Naruto's lips purse in thought. "Kid, c'mere a minute."
Fujita doesn't drop the log he's pushing up and keeps it above his head as he approaches Naruto.
"Sensei?" Blue eyes peek up at him through white spikes of hair.
"Sit down kiddo, catch your breath."
Naruto sits down with him on the grassy plains of the training ground. The ambient noise of the adjacent river is calming, but it's barely heard over Fujita's panting.
"Did I do something wrong?" Fujita rasps out.
"No, what? You've been doing what I've told you to do just fine." Naruto assures. How much do those Academy bullies knock down newbies? They'll be in for a surprise when the brat comes back swinging.
"I still can't use Jutsu." Fujita explains his insecurity, disheartened.
"We just need to figure out how to best bring out your Chakra. I wanna try something, you know the leaf sticking exercise they teach you in the Academy?"
"Yeah." Fujita nods simply.
Naruto puts his hands into a Ram seal. "Alright, try the Ram sign. I want you to try and focus on calming down, take some deep breaths."
Fujita mimics with some confusion.
"What are the two main components of using the Chakra that's inside you?"
"Physical energy and Spiritual energy." Fujita parrots the Academy lessons.
"That's right. Now focus on the physical, what's happening in and on your body right now. Keep holding the sign." Naruto nudges Fujita's elbows up when they droop.
Fujita takes slow and deep breaths.
"My arms feel sore. I can feel my heartbeat."
"Good. Now what are you feeling? Are you happy or sad about anything? Are you excited, do you feel angry?"
There's a pause before Fujita can answer, with Naruto bumping Fujita's elbows up again when he fails to maintain form for the sign.
"I feel bad."
"Why do you feel bad?" Naruto presses, but quiet. Private.
"I don't have friends." Fujita sniffles. "And the kids at school are mean to me because I'm not good like they are."
"It's okay to feel that way sometimes." Naruto assures. "Because when things are bad, they can always get better. You're starting at the bottom, so you've got everything to win and nothing to lose. Remember your match with Minako? You didn't give up just because she was more skilled than you, you kept going. Why?"
"To prove myself. I don't want to disappoint anyone. I saw you and didn't want you to not train me because I sucked." Fujita chokes out.
"Turn that into focus. Feel the rhythm of your heart, feel your desire to prove yourself, feel the hot wind in your lungs and your arms hurting to keep going. Feel it, and know it, know that you can only go up."
Fujita straightens and keeps his arms up alone this time. His eyes are clenched shut and he breathes deeply. A noise of strain comes from his throat on the exhale.
"It's right there," Naruto coaxes. "It's in your body and your mind. All you have to do is drag it out."
A thin veneer of turquoise Chakra begins to leak from the Tenketsu on his arms.
Naruto watches eagerly as Fujita finally manages to access his latent power. The Chakra builds up on the boys' skin and flicks off like waves into dust.
With excessive effort, Fujita screams and pulls out as much as he can at once, causing the Chakra to burst outwards and knock the sitting Naruto on his back. The boy nearly faints, splaying his limbs out on the grass and Naruto laughs.
"You did it kiddo!"
Fujita manages to huff out an elated giggle before fainting.
Sasuke looks up at the ceiling of the sealscape. He is laying in the ankle length water, a soft purple glow emitting from the floor but with no obvious source of the light. What is above him appears to be a curved dome of dark, curving clouds with dense and artistic outlines.
"I don't know what I'm doing with my life." He says aloud.
Matatabi pauses her grooming, tongue flicking off fiery paws. The bamboo gate does little to show that she's a caged animal.
"I feel stagnant. I don't know if I should be going vengeance like I was before, or giving myself to the village entirely. I feel lost."
"Do you think that perhaps you need a goal? Something to strive for?" Matatabi rests her head on crossed paws languidly.
"Killing my brother was at the top of my list for a long time. Kakashi kind of broke me out of it and helped me find value in things that aren't death. My family." Sasuke breathes in and out while in thought. "Naruto. Sakura. Jiraiya-sensei, and everyone in the village that's helped me become more than the child I was before. But where am I supposed to go from here?"
"I know not the motivations of Itachi, but I would not discredit the threat he may still hold to that which you have gained." Matatabi's voice echoes but it's the wisdom in the words that makes something in Sasuke's spine tingle.
"He's still out there." Sasuke pushes down his personal horror and fear.
"That will not be changing any time soon, unless action is taken."
'How many lives is he destroying out there?'
"Perhaps you could inquire into avenues about confronting him at long last. If it will bring you peace and allow you to search out what you desire to do with your life going forward. Be weary, however. Defeating your brother poses a great challenge, but I do not imagine that he will be the feat that will satiate you for the rest of your days. Think carefully on why he must be removed from the equation, think what may come after he is gone. What if by destroying one evil, you allow a worse one to take its place? And that is presuming that the evil is outside the walls of your home, rather than in."
"You said it yourself that Konoha is more benign than Kumo." Sasuke points out.
"You should also be speculative of everyone and everything at first glance, especially if you do not completely understand them. Being able to know that you trust someone is a gift, but every human has their own motivations that may clash with your own. The ambition of man leads to 'butting heads', as you say. Be sure of yourself when you say that you trust someone or trust your village."
Matatabi's head nudges forward, a gust of hot wind huffing from her nose.
"So, what is it that you want?"
Sasuke is quiet for a few minutes, clearly in thought.
"Hmm."
He vanishes from the sealscape as if he were never there.
Sasuke manages to find Naruto after asking Karin where he'd disappeared to this time. The redhead was willing to lead the way and show him just where he was haunting, all the while filling up a picnic basket and idly mentioning that Naruto would probably be spending a bit more time in the village from now on.
"Why d'ya want to find him anyways?" Karin asks, dumping the basket in his arms and letting him do the carrying for her.
"I just need to ask a few people what they think about what I want to do." Sasuke says with a shrug.
"What, get a girlfriend?"
Sasuke manages to smile at the cheek. "Nah, more like 'get-permission-to-kill-baddies-more'."
"I have no idea what that's supposed to mean so I'm going to ignore it." Karin walks faster toward a training ground.
Naruto really is lucky to get a girl like Karin. Fiance, even. Sasuke will admit that such thoughts hadn't really crossed his mind yet, but figures he has the time afforded by youth to figure it out as he goes along.
"Naruto's training again?" Sasuke asks idly, knowing that's probably the case if he's gonna be in the village more.
"Kinda," Karin alludes. "He's on standby in case there's news from the Akatsuki, but he's getting training in here and there between all the other crap he does."
They're in the massive field in no time. Sasuke spots Naruto easy enough, given that he's awkwardly perched on a training post with his legs crossed and his arms clasped into clap. His eyes are closed, and it's something kind of weird to see Naruto so perfectly still.
"You told me you were training! Not relaxing!" Karin shouts indignantly.
Naruto seemingly ignores her, or at least isn't aware of her, which is even more unusual.
Karin seems taken aback by the lack of reaction and huffs. Under the dense shade of a tree is an ornamental wooden bench, and resting on it
is a white-haired child. Conked out and drooling a bit. Clearly exhausted.
"Hey munchkin," Karin coos sweetly.
Big blue eyes slowly open. The kid sits up, blinking and rubbing his face.
"Sensei's girlfriend?"
'Sensei?' Someone gave Naruto permission to teach a child?
"Uh-huh! You can call me Karin, sweety. I bought you both some food so you can get back to training."
"Cool!" The kid perks up.
"I can't believe he just let you lay here like that." Karin ruffles his hair. "What's the big bad Naruto doing anyway?"
"Dunno, jus' woke up."
"Let's go wake up that lazy bum. Sasuke, help yourself."
Sasuke takes Fujita's place on the bench and does exactly that. Karin makes some good food, he'd be stupid not to get some before Naruto can devour what's left. He observes as Karin lifts the boy onto her shoulders and lets him pull on Naruto's face, making him do silly faces while the two giggled happily.
"ALRIGHT!" Naruto shouts at the top of his lungs. "I GET IT! I'm paying attention now! Satisfied?!"
"You should be paying more attention to me in the first place!"
Sasuke felt the raw emotion in Naruto's groan of pure annoyance. Naruto picks up Karin in a bridal-carry and shakes her threateningly over the river.
"Don't you dare!" Karin laughs, clutching onto his shoulders.
"Yes, yes. I suppose I should take care of you. Just this once."
"Gross." Fujita cringes, making Sasuke smile.
Naruto and Karin make their way back to the bench, swinging around and in their own little world before Naruto extends it into a loop.
"What's up?" Naruto asks, diverting attention from his needy fiance.
"Know anything about ANBU?"
Mid-sip, Naruto looks at him directly.
"I can answer that." Karin states matter-of-factly and puts on her best Uchiha Naruto impression. "Killed a few in my day. Not really sure about 'em to be honest, they're just masked fodder to me, same as everyone else."
Sasuke's lips twitch. Naruto's quiet protest of 'I don't sound like that' is resolutely ignored, despite it being way too accurate.
"Look, she's right. I don't really know much about ANBU at all. I know Kakashi had a long stint with them, same with that Mokuton friend of yours. But if someone as prolific as Kakashi can get in, I think you probably have a good shot at it too."
"That's what I'm confused about, actually. Lots of ANBU are recognizable, even in uniform. I think Kakashi used to tell us that he used Chidori and his Sharingan on his missions, so I'm starting to think it's not entirely about just being stealthy and covert." Sasuke utters his skepticism.
"Um," Fujita chimes in shyly. "Tsunade Baa-sama told me that different teams do different things. It- um... might be the same, right?"
"A reasonable comparison." Naruto acknowledges quickly, making the kid beam. "Come to think of it, actually, I know that Iwagakure has a famous ANBU division based around demolition specialists, some of which are Shinobi using the Bakuton Kekkei-Genkai. The Nidaime Hokage fought an ANBU division of twenty S-Rank Shinobi from Kumogakure, and there's the hunter division in Kirigakure. There's bound to be sects of ANBU that do different things or simply act as elite unit versions of Genin squads, covering each other's weaknesses and taking on the most difficult missions."
Sasuke listens carefully through the nuggets of truth that Naruto sometimes deigns to let free.
"But on the other hand, I haven't been in ANBU so I don't know how it works internally. There's probably a whole bunch of bureaucratic crap you'll have to slog through too."
"I guess I'll go see our Sensei then. Thanks for the food, Karin."
"You're welcome!" Karin chirps.
"The food makes it all worth it." Naruto puts an arm over his eyes to block out what sun is coming in through the leaves, but the tiny smile on his face lets Sasuke in on something already.
"Oh?" Karin sounds unimpressed. "Am I not enough on my own?"
"You might be too much for me to handle."
Karin flicks her sassily. "Yep. I'm definitely too good to you sometimes. It's hard when you don't treat me like I deserve."
"Yep," The smile on Naruto's face widens as he looks cheekily at Sasuke. "Never seen her satisfied."
Sasuke lets out an uncontrolled snicker at the surprise innuendo. Karin's face matches her hair.
"Not in front of Fujita!" Karin hisses in embarrassment. "And you! Don't encourage his stupid jokes!"
"Gross." Fujita proclaims once more, accurately guessing 'weird adult stuff'.
"Yeah kid," Sasuke agrees with another snicker. "Gross."
Sasuke explains his talk with Naruto and his motivations for asking about it in the first place to Kakashi, who listens carefully as usual with his students.
"We do have a hunter division. You might call them 'bounty hunters', even." Kakashi reveals calmly, almost reminiscent. "But the risk can't outweigh the reward when it comes to hunting missing-nin from Konoha. Orochimaru got away with it for so long because realistically, he was too strong for so long and it's too much to expect an ANBU squad to be able to take him down. ANBU will go after easier targets simply for the fact that they're less likely to die, or they pose a security threat in the way of intel. When it comes to people like Orichimaru and Itachi, all you can really do is change security in the village and try to gather intelligence on what they're up to so if they come back, you'll have the home field advantage. ANBU have to get paid too for various personal reasons and if they have responsibilities like families, they can't really go out of their way to kill nin of that caliber only to die and leave everyone behind."
"But it's possible that someone skilled enough could be sent after threats of that level to the village?" Sasuke questions, not concerned about money or strength. Fact of the matter is, he has grown strong and Matatabi has only exemplified that.
"If your name is Naruto, sure." Kakashi says off-handedly, making Sasuke scowl a bit. "Don't take this the wrong way. Getting into ANBU is the easy part, it's gaining a mission record and definitive accolades that warrant risking your life to take these people down. That's the hard part. You've been gone for two years and the only person who really knows what you're capable of is Jiraiya-sama. Naruto taking down Orochimaru means he would be a shoe-in for basically any threat that might need to preemptively need action taken on. You'd need some experience on paper if you want to go after Itachi. You'll be starting from the bottom."
"That's fine by me, but Itachi and the Akatsuki won't wait. ANBU or not, I'll do whatever it takes to protect Konoha from them."
Kakashi slumps on his sofa. "Look at you kids, all grown up and talking about stuff like this. It's enough to make a man feel old."
"You are old." Sasuke gets out before a bottle-cap nails him in the forehead.
"But in all seriousness, ANBU isn't just about covert ops like some believe. The mask isn't about hiding your identity, it's a personal acknowledgement that you're surrendering your very being to the village and all its inhabitants. Sometimes, you're gonna do things that you don't agree with for the sake of Konoha. Are you prepared to sacrifice your life, knowing what you are and your deterrence value to the village? Could you risk your life and Konoha's possession of the Nibi?"
"I'm certain of my power and my devotion to the village. There are things I want to protect, and I'll do it from the light or the shadows."
Kakashi heaves a great sigh as he stands up. He puts a fatherly hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
"Alright. I'll draft up a recommendation for you."
Sakura shifts uncomfortably while reading through a stack of papers. Sitting across from her in her new apartment is Neji, who'd asked her to look into the damage caused by cursed seals a while ago. Initially, she hadn't thought much of it. But Neji had presented a very real and non-theoretical mark, and offered himself and his father as subjects to evaluate the progessive damage-over-time that prolonged activation of it could cause. She was fascinated, and that fascination turned to acute horror on realizing that Neji had been getting exposed to it for as long as he could remember.
"I'm pretty sure this is illegal." Sakura bobs her head with wide eyes and pursed lips. "If Tsunade-sama knew that the mark actually did damage, she'd say hell to the Hyuuga and either kick 'em out of the village or force them to remove the marks."
"And that's only a part of the issue." Neji daintily puts his teacup down. "As far as I've been able to gather, the seal only came into use a few years after the Sandaime Hokage came into power. It was 'pitched' as bloodline protection that would destroy the eyes of a Dojutsu wielder in the event that they passed. It doesn't get used outside of the compound and with Clan Hiden Jutsu protection laws, I can't really go up to Tsunade-sama without any proof that it's essentially a slavery and torture seal."
Neji looks tired and burnt out. The bags under his eyes are getting worse every time that she sees him. On his shoulders is the freedom of his Clan, and potentially their lives as well if the situation isn't handled delicately. If Tsunade-sama finds out the truth then she will act as she is wont to do; quick and decisive action to remove the problem from the equation entirely. Neji has the chance to figure out how to protect the innocent ones in his clan and to remove the wasteful stains that are the abusers and manipulators, but Sakura thinks that this is a bit much for someone their age to have to do.
"To be honest Neji, I can only assess the damage done by it. If you want to figure out how it does, then you're probably better off going to see a Fuinjutsu specialist." Sakura feels her lips purse, dissatisfied that she hasn't figured it out entirely yet.
"You've done enough, Sakura." Neji soothes with a crooked smile that comes out more like a grimace. "It's what comes now that has me worried."
"You're going to take this to Hokage-sama?" Sakura asks quickly.
"No."
Sakura feels disbelieving and confused.
"What? What do you mean no?"
"I can't. This is written into the law, if Hokage-sama abolishes it, it will reflect poorly on her and any opposers to her leadership will be up in arms to drag her down for interfering with clan protection laws. She can't be seen making moves to change or abolish legislation like that, it'll stir up civil conflict when Konoha needs to be united to take on the threat of the Akatsuki."
Sakura's jaw clamps shut. Neji heaves a weary sigh.
"Nothing can be done. Propaganda can only really work after this international crisis is done, so all I can really do is wait until they slip up, which they haven't for nearly fifty years now. I don't know if I can petition the Daimyo either, for all I know, he's in bed with them too. I don't know what to do."
"I think you shouldn't underestimate Tsunade-sama." Sakura insists firmly.
"I'm not, but she can hardly go marching in through the Hyuuga Compound and demand clan secrets."
Sakura thinks hard about what can be done. Her thoughts travel to her teammates, thinking on what they would do in this terrible situation.
Sasuke would probably have the same approach as Neji himself. Wait until just the right moment and exploit it as much as conceivably possible, but only after this time of strife is over. Careful and calculated. Watching with the eyes of a hawk, always.
"Butcher them." Naruto would say. "Can't torture you if they're dead."
'Thanks, you brute.' Sakura unintentionally scowls.
"Maybe..." Sakura trails off.
"I'm all ears if you have anything." Neji's wry comment comes out like a question.
"Maybe you don't have to spectate your own clan. Maybe you can find out who the big boys are friends with, and wait for them to trip up and make a mistake. Build a big profile of whispers that turn into a shout that no-one in the village can ignore. The general population can worry about shaming them and keeping them under wraps while Tsunade-sama doesn't lose manpower dedicating her smart and strong Shinobi on figuring out how to do it."
Neji's face locks into a stony visage, clearly lost in thought as his mind toils through the possibilities.
"I think... you may just be on to something."
A panicked Chuunin is on the warpath.
"Tsunade-sama!"
"What's got you in a tizzy at this time of the day-"
"Sunagakure requests backup! The Kazekage is in critical condition and the Ichibi Jinchuuriki has been taken by the Akatsuki!"
"...Damnit, just as I told them to take a break. Get me Naruto, Sakura, and Team Guy."