Chapter 31: Konoha
~~~
Naruto followed Kakashi to the forest that was just right outside of the house. He stayed silent the whole way through the walk to the forest.
Kakashi turned towards Naruto, looking for an explanation or an answer.
"Talk. It looks like you need it." Naruto raised an eyebrow at Kakashi, wondering what he meant by that. He stood still, staring holes into Kakasi.
"What is there to talk about?"
"Everything. Satsuki said she almost died protecting you. Then there was this massive amount of power that leaked out towards your direction. It was you, wasn't it?" Naruto stayed silent, just nodding his head at Kakashi.
He sighed, knowing this was going to be a tough one.
"You're going to have to be honest with me on this one. So I need you to talk to me, Naruto. What did you feel in that exact moment?" Naruto looked at the ground, looking for the answer that he was needing for.
"All I felt was hatred."
"And why were you feeling hatred?"
"Because Haku almost killed Satsuki. For a moment there, I zoned out because I was just thinking. I became a liability to my comrade in battle." Kakashi sighed, guessing this was taking a huge toll on Naruto.
"You shouldn't say that to yourself. You are a great and talented ninja." Naruto wanted to laugh. Talented? His talent at thinking almost got Satsuki killed.
"But it was true. The moment I let myself be so. . . open was the moment that I had failed. Then I got so mad at myself and Haku. And I was so relieved to know that Satsuki was safe because she sacrificed herself." Naruto was focused on looking to the ground.
"So you care for her a lot." Naruto nodded, giving him a look of confusion. It was obvious and didn't need to be identified at all.
"I do. She's an asshole at times, but is actually a pretty good person." Kakashi gave Naruto an amused eye-smile. He grew confused at this action that Kakashi had just done.
"You two have a very good and stable bond." Naruto just stood there, silently processing what Kakashi was trying to say. He just shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess."
"But, enough with the sad talk. We have to do something sadder." Naruto raised an eyebrow, wondering what could possibly be sadder than what they were doing right now.
"We have to bury Zabuza and his apprentice, Haku."
~~~
They all stood at the now finished bridge that was just completed a day or two ago. Naruto looked at the crying Inari that was standing right in front of him.
All the other villagers of the Land of Waves were standing right behind him and his family. They all waved at him.
"Thanks for everything!" Yelled Inari, tears falling down his as he saw the 4 slowly make their leave. Naruto was not shook even slightly by this.
He sighed.
"We'll visit some other time. It's fine. There is no need to be so sad about it." Inari tried to stop his sobs but failed to do so after he started crying even harder.
Naruto sighed once more.
"You promise?" Asked Inari. Naruto stood there silent for a moment, just thinking about whether he could uphold this promise to Inari or not.
He nodded, answering his question with a nod to the head.
"Good." It was now time for them all to part ways for now. Team 7 turned around and started to walk away from the small town in the Land of Waves.
Naruto looked back, seeing them wave their hands to say goodbye to them. He returned this by waving his hand right back at them to also say goodbye to them.
Once Naruto and the other 3 were out of sight, Tazuna looked at the rest of his family and the entire citizens of the Land of Waves. He had a question for them.
"Now, let us get on with naming this village. I, for one, already thought of one." Oh? What could this bridge be possibly called? Something lame? Grandeur? Or just something plain normal.
"The Great Tazuna Bridge."
"Ewwww. That's so lame!" Shouted Inari, disagreeing with the name that Tazuna wanted to give the bridge. Many of the citizens were indifferent to this and chose to not take sides.
"How about we call this 'The Great Naruto Bridge'. It suits it much better than your lame name." Many of the citizens perked up to Inari's idea and rallied with shouts.
"Yeah!" A lot of the agreed with a yell. Tazuna sighed, knowing he had to change his plans of naming the bridge after himself and naming it right after Naruto.
"Fine, fine, fine. We can call it that."
~~~
Team 7 stood right in front of Hiruzen, The Third Hokage. They had just reported the mission details and umm. . . things weren't looking so great.
"So you're telling me that the C-Rank mission that I had given you turned out to be a lie and evolved into a B-Rank then A-Rank mission?" Asked Hiruzen, letting out a plume of smoke from his mouth.
They nodded in unison.
"And the reason why is because?" Hiruzen asked with a follow up question. Kakashi had a sheepish look right on his sheep as he was at loss for words.
"We couldn't abandon the mission," said Naruto, answering the question for Kakashi himself. Hiruzen took a pause, looking up at the ceiling and letting out another plume of smoke.
"You could've came back to the village and I've would've dispatched another team that could have handled the situation perfectly." This was quite the valid point.
"Yes, but Tazuna couldn't afford a mission of equivalent level/rank. That could pose a problem." Hiruzen sighed, knowing Naruto wouldn't be backing down anytime soon if he tried making another point.
"You all are dismissed. Kakashi, come here in the early morning tomorrow." Kakashi nodded. They all walked right out of the door. Naruto sighed, tiredly stretching his limbs out.
They all walked right out of the building and stood outside of it. The 3 turned around and faced Kakashi.
"Meet me at that red-orange bridge thingy majiggy. You know where it is, right?" They nodded. . . slowly. Kakashi sighed, knowing that they didn't know where it was.
"Looks like you'll have an extra 3 hours to look for it. Bye!" Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves. This left them dumbfounded as they looked at the spot that Kakashi was formerly at.
"Well, I'll see you two tomorrow." Naruto walked away, making his way back to the apartment complex.
~~~
"Hm? Your mission turned into an A-Rank?" Questioned Danzo, analyzing Naruto to the very tee. It seemed like Naruto held no trauma from the experience.
It was expected. Naruto was a member of ROOT — they do not let such trauma clench them and hold them back from completing the mission.
"The Chunin Exams are coming up once more. Many opponents of opposing villages will be coming to our village to participate in the Chunin Exams this year." Naruto nodded, knowing where his words were currently going.
"I do expect for you and your team to pass this with relative ease. You, a prodigy of the shinobi arts will evolve." Naruto nodded once more, still kneeling down towards Danzo.
"Yes, Danzo-sama," said Naruto, standing right up.
"You are dismissed." Naruto nodded, bowing down slightly before he left the room that Danzo covered with his own power. Naruto soon escaped the treachery that was known as the ROOT HQ.
He appeared right inside of his apartment and took off his attire that was suited for his duties as a ROOT Anbu member. Naruto sighed, getting his normal attire and wearing it once more.
Naruto then crashed right onto his bed.
I haven't went on a mission for Danzo in quite some time. That is good. This led to another thought that was looming all around his brain. He looked up at the ceiling.
Has Kakashi-sensei reported that I am an Uchiha to the Hokage? Naruto thought, knowing that will definitely be the case. But there was one real problem to this if he wasn't careful.
My secret as an Uchiha could possibly be revealed to the council. And that means Danzo could also find out about it. Fuck. I am playing a dangerous game here. Naruto thought, continuing to look up at the ceiling.
But there is also the possibility that the Hokage won't tell the council. Naruto thought once more, looking at the window right next to him. The sun was just beginning to set once more.
I still have time. Naruto thought, jumping right out of his bed and then jumping right out of his window. He had a simple but definitely an effective plan by Naruto.
I'll just ask the Hokage to simply not tell anyone — especially the council. Naruto jumped right on top of a building and quickly made his way towards the Hokage Residence.
~~~
Naruto arrived to the Hokage Residence just in time before the sun fully sets. He hurriedly made his ways towards the Hokage's office in a quick manner.
Without permission, Naruto walked past every person that tried to stop him from going further into the Hokage Residence. He never stopped, they couldn't.
Naruto arrived at the door to the office.
"Hey! You can't go in there! You need permission!" Yelled one of the people that tried to stop him. Naruto ignored them and pushed the door right open.
Naruto entered the room that Hiruzen was inhabiting. He raised an eyebrow at Naruto's entrance that was so abruptly. Oh, he knew why he was here indeed. Naruto locked the door to block away the crazy people.
"Kakashi told me. It seems my theory was correct." Hiruzen enabled the silencing seals that were covering the room that they were in. Naruto stood there, silent to what he was currently saying.
"When? When did you create the theory?" Asked Naruto, narrowing his eyes at the sly old man right in front of him. Hiruzen let out a slight chuckle in response.
"Your interactions with others and Uchiha Satsuki. Your name, your attitude points to it all." Oh, he definitely has some concrete/solid proof that Naruto was an Uchiha.
"You act very. . . Uchiha-like. Your surname is also something I didn't pick up until later on when I got to know you. But that discovery was only recently." Naruto had a question in mind.
"My surname is very concrete evidence that I am an Uchiha. Why did you not act on it right on the moment you found out about it?" Naruto asked, seeking and extracting information from Hiruzen.
"While yes, it was definitely quite solid proof. But what are the chances that your surname was just a mere coincidence that I had picked up? That would be humiliation. So I decided not to act on it." Naruto nodded, seeing as that was at least solid reasoning.
"Are you planning on telling others and spreading it across the village?" Hiruzen laughed, shaking his head as a response to Naruto's worried question.
"Why should I? If something as scandalous as this were to break out, it'll cause a massive outrage. Your secret is safe with Kakashi and me." This did raise another question for Naruto.
"What about Satsuki and Sakura? What if they say my secret?"
"Kakashi has that covered. I ordered him to check up on the two and tell them to not spill the beans about your secret. This is a very serious matter." Naruto sighed in relief.
Maybe this wouldn't have happened if our team had just simply turned back. Whatever. What we had done is in the past. Naruto thought, bowing down slightly before leaving the Hokage Office.
As he left the office, Naruto looked up into the sky and saw that the sun was no longer there and that the moon was the only thing that was left.
He looked back down and saw that many people were beginning to go back inside their own houses for obvious reasons that were quite known. Naruto sighed, walking back to his apartment.
Once he had finally arrived at his apartment complex, he saw something unusual unexpectedly happen to him. Satsuki was attached to the side of the complex, trying to find a way in his apartment.
"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, suddenly appearing right next to her in an oddly fashion. Satsuki slightly widened her eyes, backing away just a bit due to the sudden question.
"I thought you were inside. I've been calling for you for the past. . . 10 minutes or so."
"I wasn't here. If I was here, I would've responded immediately."
"Sure, whatever. Now, let's go." Naruto raised an eyebrow at this sudden order that was coming from Satsuki herself. He stood there, puzzled at her request.
"Where are we going?"
"To train, you damn dumbass." Naruto sighed, knowing that she was going to keep on berating him until he agreed to train with her once again.
"It's night."
"Doesn't matter." Naruto nodded, walking right back down to the ground alongside Satsuki. The two were now back on the ground. God, Satsuki was a fucking handful.
"Why do you want to train so late at night?" A scoff was heard by Naruto. Oh, he asked a wrong question to Satsuki. Man, him and his mouth sometimes.
"It barely 9 PM. Stop being lazy and train with me." Naruto gave her narrowed eyes, wondering why she was being so. . . curt? Is that the best way to put it?
"Fine. Sure. I already am."
"Alright, Naruto. What I want is for the two of us to spar with our Sharingans." Again, this potential choice for Naruto could possibly go all wrong for him.
"Why?"
"Because I said so. Just do it." The two finally reached the training ground that the two had been using the entire time before the they became full-fledged genin.
"You sure?" Asked Naruto, standing right across from Satsuki as the two go into their own stances. Satsuki growled at Naruto's continuous amount of questioning that were unneeded.
Her Sharingan flared to life.
"Yes, I'm sure. I can at least spar for far longer now." Naruto shrugged, knowing that multiple amounts of Shadow Clones were on the lookout for anything suspicious.
His Sharingan flared to life.
The two didn't move for a moment. They were just closely observing each other to the absolute max. In an instant, they started to rush and approach each other at fast speeds.
The two quickly closed in on each other.
And in a blink of an eye, they clashed.
~~~
Naruto yawned, knowing he was going to be the last one to appear at the red-orange bridge thingy majiggy that Kakashi told them to meet him at today.
I slept in for an extra 2 hours. Naruto thought, rubbing his tired eyes as he made his way towards the bridge. Satsuki had made him stay up late to train with her for over 5 hours.
I'm still growing, I need my sleep. Naruto caught sight of his two other team members that were also in his squad. He then got another question appear inside of his head.
Satsuki is shorter than me. Is she trying to purposely stump my height so I would grow at a slower rate? Nah, I'm probably overthinking it. Or am I? Naruto walked up to them in complete silence.
"You're late," said Sakura. Naruto shrugged in response.
"I guess so. It doesn't really matter, Kakashi-sensei will probably be late for another hour or something." Sakura sighed, knowing what Naruto said was factual statements.
Satsuki was just there, silent through the whole ordeal that was happening at the moment.
And just like that, everyone was now waiting for Kakashi to arrive within the next hour or two. Naruto leaned right on the ledge, looking up at the sky during the process.
And as expected, Kakashi appeared right in front of them after an hour of waiting for him.
"You all are here. Good." They nodded, no longer leaning on the ledge of the and were facing Kakashi. He eye-smiled in response to this.
"I already got our 5-7 missions for today. The first one is to cut the grass of a lady on the outskirts of the village." They nodded, immediately following Kakashi to their destination.
They arrived at their destination after minutes upon minutes of walking on foot. The 4 were facing a old hag that had many wrinkles on their face.
"As you know, I need you to cut the grass and weeds of this place. An old lady like me would die after just 10 minutes." They nodded, knowing that her safety was a priority to her own self.
The 3 then started doing the task that they were tasked to be doing. They all completely finished it at quick pace, wanting all of this to be over in an instant.
They then went on to another mission that needed them to collect the trash that was piling up on a stream of water that was leading to a dangerous waterfall.
Thy finished that with perfection.
They then were tasked to walk. . . dogs? They all picked the smaller ones due to the fact that they were going to be less of a pain in the ass during the process.
They completed that.
They completed another.
They completed many other D-Rank missions as the day progressed. And this all happened in an instant. Now they were in front of Kakashi.
"You 3 did well today. Good job." Naruto and Satsuki gave him a small and slight nod, while Sakura did a wide smile that plastered on her face.
"I expect this kind of performance to be shown in the future. But other than that, you all may leave." They nodded as Kakashi walked away from them all.
Sakura waved goodbye to them as she also left the area after a few seconds.
This now only left the two Uchihas, Naruto and Satsuki. They stood there silently for a moment or two, doing nothing for some odd reason.
Satsuki looked over at Naruto's side.
"Train?" Asked Satsuki, hoping for a yes and not a no. Naruto looked over towards her, still staying silent for a few seconds before he answered the question.
"Sure, but look." Naruto pointed right behind them. Satsuki raised an eyebrow, following Naruto's index finger. She looked at where Naruto was pointing at.
"Oh, it's your shitty student."
~~~