Ōtsutsuki Legacy - Arthuria_PenDragon - Naruto [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Chapter 1: Cover

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: The History of It All

Chapter Text

Long ago in a time forgotten by the people of earth, was an era of long lasting rage and unending wars. The people fought each other, for even the pettiest of reasons. Some of them simply sought to gain more power through bloodshed, others simply fought for the sake of fighting.

Humanity had a curse – a sickening and infectious curse so great that in time even the other creatures were caught in it and soon, the earth was slowly being choked to death by the curse of the humans. This curse was named hatred. A powerful force that could drive any person from the innocent bystander to a rage-fuelled killer who would hunt down those who wronged them, inflicting more pain and brutality, effectively spreading the curse to others.

It was like a vicious cycle, a chain of hurt. The more one fought, the more blood spilled, the more hatred spread among the humans. Not even the new generations of the world were safe from it, as parents taught their children to hate, at the same time as they taught those children to walk.

One day, however, a princess came from a faraway land. This princess sought the Shinju, to harvest its fruit and take it to her family. This princess was Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. Originally she had sought the plant to take the fruit and destroy the world. Yet as time went by, she became attached to the humans, as a few had treated her with kindness. The people gave her home, despite being an outsider – they treated her, like one of their own. She had even found love.

However, war and hatred still thrived and she despised the idea. She now wished for peace – she wished to protect those whom she had come to care for. So, she sought power to break the chain which was hatred. She ate the fruit of the Shinju gaining power beyond human comprehension.

Using this great power, she ended the bloodshed and pain. For the first time since the dawn of this world humanity knew peace. Like the Shinju, Kaguya was also worshipped as a living god on earth. People bowed before her in respect and reverence for her power and divine will, that which many considered to have no equal.

Later on, she gave birth to two sons, who were both born with a part of her great power.

At one point in her reign however, Kaguya herself fell to the curse of hatred. She enslaved the people she once cared for and protected, driving fear into many peaceful hearts. From that day forward, behind her back, people called her a demon. She became so greedy, that she even wished to end the life of her own two sons, to gain back the chakra, the power, which they’d 'stolen' from her. In her great rage, Kaguya became one with the Shinju plant, giving life to a great beast – the Jūbi.

The beast was so great, that a swipe of a single tail could level nations and mountains within a blink. The beast, which had once been caring to Princess Kaguya, now had no compassion left for her or anything else. The Jūbi merely wished to destroy everything and to get hold of all the chakra in the world.

The two sons of Kaguya, Hagoromo and Hamura, fought against the Jūbi in a great battle that reshaped the world and they sealed it. Its power was sealed within Hagoromo and the empty husk of the beast was locked far away, creating the moon. Hamura and a few of the brothers’ clansmen left the world to guard the seal for the Jūbi.

Hagoromo remained with the humans and decided to guide them, for unlike his mother, he had not lost faith in the good of humanity. He taught people to use chakra for connecting, healing and spreading good – these teachings were Ninshū. For his efforts against the beast and for bringing the teachings of love and understanding, the people gave Hagoromo the moniker of Rikudō Sennin and some even called him a god.

After some time, Hagoromo would split the chakra of the Jūbi in nine equal parts, giving them consciousness and names. And so, the nine Bijū were born.

With time, Hagoromo would have his own children – two sons, who would inherit parts of his power.

The older, whom he named Indra would inherit the Yin part of his power and gain a lesser form of his grandmother’s eyes – these eyes would later be known as the Sharingan. The younger son, Asura would inherit the Yang part of his father’s chakra, which gave him a powerful body and strong life force.

The two brothers had grown up close, learning Ninshū from their father. However, the difference in their skills were extreme. Indra was hailed as a natural prodigy – even by the high Ōtsutsuki standards and many of the Sage’s followers believed that he would inherit.

At the same time, Indra led a solitary life. He cherished his family – his brother was his greatest treasure and anyone who dared say otherwise would face a very pissed off Ōtsutsuki Indra, and if they managed to survive the prodigy’s anger they were never seen near the family again. Because of Indra's solitary nature, yet still cherishing his family, he preferred to work alone. He believed that others would hinder his progress.

Asura, on the other hand, was a prankster and prefered to spend time with his friends as well as his non-human siblings. He liked to connect with people, rather than study. Yet given time, Asura unlocked his own powers manifesting the ability, which would later be dubbed Mokuton. As he gradually came into his powers, with the help of his friends, he gained skill and power to match Indra.

As Hagoromo realised that his time was getting shorter and shorter, he gave a task for his sons to complete. The result of the task would determine, which of them would be the Heir to the Ninshū. Indra, who had always believed he would inherit without question, as the older, had been quite displeased. Yet, he still respected his father's choices, so he accepted the task with the grace that was expected of him, confident in his ability to complete it and prove his father he was a worthy Heir.

So the two brothers had left on their separate journeys to complete their given task. As expected, Indra was faster and had made it back sooner. Upon arriving and giving his account of the ongoings to his father Indra expected to be declared the Heir. However, Hagoromo insisted on waiting for Asura to return. A few days later Asura arrived home as well, followed by a few people, who had become his close companions during his journey. After Asura told of his own experiences while away, Hagoromo asked for some time to properly decide.

The next day, the Sennin –to the shock of everyone gathered, his sons included, – declared Asura his Heir. Indra, in a fit of rage, stormed away. Asura wished to follow him, but Hagoromo had forbidden it, asking his younger son to let Indra think on his own for a while. Saddened and unsure of the reasonability, Asura complied with his father's wishes

However, leaving Indra on his own was a poor decision by both Hagoromo and Asura.

Indra retreated to the forest to train, trying to release all his pent up anger and disappointment. However, that was the time when Black Zetsu approached the older son. Zetsu spoke to Indra, even though what his words were are unknown. What is known is that Zetsu’s words had turned Indra’s anger to hatred. Hatred felt for his once-beloved and cherished brother.

So Indra left his family behind, only followed by a few of those who still believed in him. As time passed, Indra gained more power and understanding of such powers. What Indra had gained about his powers, had in the end proved quite deadly to his few allies. Set in his course to beat Asura and gain the mantle of Heir, Indra killed his followers gaining a new and improved Sharingan.

The Sennin trusted all his teachings to Asura on his deathbed. With his father dead and only his Bijū siblings remaining by his side, Asura continued to teach Ninshū to people. However, he didn’t give up hope to see his brother again. To have him back by his side, kind and caring as he used to be.

Over the years, the brothers crossed paths several times. Each one of their clashes mightier and deadlier than the last – one wished to kill his brother while the other just wished to end this fight and see his family whole again. Asura even gained the help of their Bijū siblings – despite some of them being skeptical about Indra’s nature – and so, he fought his brother to a draw several times.

Their last battle, decades after that fateful day when Asura was declared Heir, was the longest and bloodiest one. It claimed the life of both brothers and sparked hate of such a scale between their families, hate that had not been seen since long ago.

Asura’s family (and followers) became the Senju Clan –and later, through distant ties, the Uzumaki Clan–, who held their forefather’s ideals of peace through understanding. An ideal, which would be dubbed the Hi no Ishi, thousand of years later.

Indra’s family and followers formed the Uchiha Clan, who held the elder’s belief of peace through power. His beliefs would spark the Nikushimi no Noroi, which spread through the Uchiha like wildfire.

However, something occurred that had not been seen before in the world. Something that not even Hagoromo or Kaguya had foreseen. When the two brothers died their natural chakra remained, even after their bodies were destroyed. This caused the two brothers to reincarnate themselves into various individuals within their descendants throughout history, fuelling and continuing the bloody feud between their clans. (As time went by, the Uchiha and Senju forgot the meaning and cause of their fight, they ended up simply fighting for the sake of fighting.)

And like a cycle of seasons, life, death and rebirth would come again and again. And with each reincarnation, the transmigrants would grow stronger. Each and every pair of transmigrants were called the gods of their time.

One such pair of gods were Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. The two legendary shinobi would befriend each other, as children and dream of peace. Of a time and place, where people didn’t need to fight wars for survival. It would take decades, but their dream would come true. For the two Clan Heads would sign a pact, ceasing the war and for the first time since Indra left his family behind, the clans were at peace. The transmigrants stood side by side.

Hagoromo himself, who while dead, remained watching the world, allowed himself to hope. The pain and bloodshed brought by his descendants had caused him great pain, but upon seeing Hashirama and Madara, he hoped for a better world to come. A world he had failed to create.

The two clans would go to form the first shinobi village in Hi no Kuni. A village, which would be a symbol of hope and peace, named Konohagakure no Sato by Madara. Hashirama would marry Uzumaki Mito, to gain the might and support of her clan and the three ancient clans would lay the milestones of revolution.

In time, Hashirama was elected the first leader of Konoha – a decision even Madara himself supported. Hashirama’s tenure as Hokage was one of prosperity and peace.

However, the idyllic peace was shattered, when Hashirama declared his younger brother, Tobirama to be the next Hokage. Displeased by the choice and saying he would not follow the killer of his beloved younger brother, Madara left.

Hashirama went after him, trying to make him see sense. Like a time so long ago, the time of their forefathers, Hashirama chased after Madara wishing for him to be by his side. However, his hope was not to be. The two fought and fought, reshaping the very land. Madara, to ensure his victory, even enslaved the mighty Kyūbi no Kitsune. Still, Hashirama reigned victorious with the help of his wife. Who, to save her husband from death, sealed the Kyūbi within herself, thus becoming the first-ever Jinchūriki.

The place of their last battle, which would claim Madara’s life, would later be called the Shūmatsu no Tani. It would be that time, when Indra’s chakra would leave Madara, floating in the world, watching the clans and his brother’s transmigrant.

Upon Hashirama and Mito’s return to the village, the Bijū would be claimed too dangerous to roam free by Tobirama and Mito. The other eight would be captured and sealed as well and they would be distributed to the other villages, as a sign of peace. Despite Hashirama’s efforts, a war would break out, which history would remember as the First Shinobi War. It would be on that battlefield, where Hashirama would die, by taking a blow to the back to protect his brother.

With that, Asura’s chakra would be free once more and the two brothers would remain watching, as the world flew by. (Watching with no small amount of horror – even Indra – as Madara’s plan took shape. A plan, which the ancient Uchiha would call Project Tsuki no Me.)

And it is where the cycle starts again, for the new transmigrants are soon to be born.

It would be a fateful night – the last day of the Yondaime Hokage’s tenure, as he would die on the battlefield with his wife – that the cycle of reincarnation would be complete once more.

Asura would watch, as the masked Uchiha controlled his eldest Bijū sibling, trying to destroy the village that one of his descendants and transmigrants had built from nothing. He would sense that the child about to be his fox sibling’s host, was his own transmigrant.

A child with both Uzumaki and Senju blood in his veins. (Admittedly, the second was unknown. The father, who had the Senju blood, was unaware of his heritage, having grown up in an orphanage, due to the war, he had ended.)

Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto. That was the child’s name. (Or more like Senju-Uzumaki Naruto, but that was a question of preference. When the time was right, the child himself would decide which variation of his name he wanted to use.)

Indra had already joined the world of living, attaching his chakra to a child by the name of Uchiha Sasuke. He had watched, with a bit of curiosity, as his brother’s chakra sunk in with the child. Harmonising with the child.

Asura himself felt the pull of another complete transmigration. He could just see his fox brother raging at his descendants for sealing him again. He watched helplessly, as Kurama tried bisecting his infant transmigrant – No, no! Kurama don’t you dare!– but of course, without a physical body he was not heard and so,could do nothing.

Both parents jumped in front of the sealing altar, using their very bodies to shield their son, stopping Kurama’s claw inches away from its target. He listened to the parents’ last words –Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, if he was correct,– his heart breaking. The child would never know the clans’ ways, would never know his parent's love. However, before he could ponder too much on it his senses ceased existing.

Roughly ten minutes after the seal closed around the Fox, the Sandaime would find the wailing Naruto with his dead parents, the altar’s candles snuffed out and vines and leaves cradling the whole thing, as if it had grown out of the very ground.

However, it would be something the Sandaime would brush off and he wouldn’t even remember it for a very long time...

Chapter 3: The First and "the Last" (part 1)

Chapter Text

Act I: IT BEGINS

Konoha was loud with the music and cheers of celebration. Today was a day of mourning and celebration at the same time.

Six years ago on this very day – October 10 – the Kyūbi had attacked the village, claiming the life of innocents and shinobi alike. However, it was also the day, when the village’s beloved Yondaime Hokage had given his life to stop the beast from destroying their home.

In the memory of that night, every year there would be a memorial to remember the heroes, who gave their life to stall the fox and after the memorial, there would be a great celebration, to remember, that despite everything, Konoha still stood strong.

However, not everyone was enjoying the festivities. A young boy sat alone in his apartment hoping the villagers would leave him alone. This young boy was none other than Uzumaki Naruto, the village’s pariah.

Today was his birthday –he was six now– yet unlike other children, he didn’t enjoy his birthday. Only a very few amount of people ever wished him anything good on this day – those few were the Hokage and the ANBU, who would drop by if they had the chance. Only those precious people ever bothered to give him gifts.

The reason he sat here alone? Last year he had gone out to enjoy the festival and a group of drunk civilians beat him. The ANBU had interfered and he was taken to hospital – luckily it was nothing serious,– but it was a night he would forever remember. So, to avoid such incidents, this year he decided to stay inside.

He was alone now, curled on his old bed. “Happy birthday to me.” the little blonde muttered sadly.

Sometimes, on days like this, he wondered if his parents had ever loved him. Last year, Hokage-jiji had finally told him that no, he wasn’t abandoned, it was just that his parents had died in the Fox’s attack. Yet, it didn’t ease Naruto’s young mind. If his parents were alive, would they have loved him or would they have given him those horrible mean looks that others did?

Suddenly he was jolted from his depressing thoughts when he heard a commotion outside. For a moment, fear spiked in his heart – the last time he’d heard so many people near him, he had ended up in the hospital. The blonde hurriedly scrambled from his bed and tried to leave through the window, as he’d seen the adults do, but it was no use.

Soon the door to his home was broken down and the mob of angry people poured in like a raging river. They shouted things like ‘bakemono‘ and ‘get the kitsune‘. Naruto tried backing away and running from them, but sadly it was no use.

“Please...“ he whispered, as a man with dirty blonde hair and grey eyes approached him. “Please, leave me alone. I didn’t do anything.”

The man’s grey eyes narrowed on him and he sneered. “Didn’t do anything did you demon? You just killed our families and friends! Yondaime-sama should have killed you!” The man kicked him hard and Naruto fell to the floor with a cry.

He curled into a ball as the hits and kicks came again and again, always from a different angle. He whimpered softly at every new wave of pain. At first, he tried asking them to leave him, but every time he spoke, the blows were harder, so he quickly fell quiet.

Eventually the shock and pain was too much for him and he fell unconscious.

When Naruto opened his eyes he felt no pain. However, he woke to a completely unfamiliar and blank environment –quite literally. Everything around him was plain white. It was warm and serene, yet it also set him on edge, as he had no idea how he had ended up here. He didn’t even know where here was.

He turned around to look around, but he still saw nothing, but white. He was starting to panic now. “Hello? Anyone here? Where am I?!”

“Fear not, child. I have brought you here. It was the fastest way for me to spare you the pain.” a kind male voice called. Naruto whirled around, following it. Just a few steps away from him, stood a young man he’d never seen before.

The stranger had dark brown eyes and short, spiky brown hair — two locks of which were wrapped in bandages framing either side of his face and his forehead was also wrapped in white cloth. He wore a light-coloured kimono with magatama around the collar. The kimono was held closed by a dark-coloured sash. Underneath, he wore a black full-body suit.

“Who… who are you? And where are we?”

The man smiled kindly at him. “My name is Ōtsutsuki Asura. And we are in between the worlds. Between the real living world and between the world of the dead and spirits.”

Naruto’s violet eyes widened with fear. “Am I dead?” he whispered softly, fear lacing his tone. “Am I dead, without jiji telling me who my parents were?”

“We are between the worlds, Naruto. You are not dead.“ Asura repeated in an equally soft manner, yet still sternly. He placed a hand on the blonde’s head.

The child, shocked at the touch – and at the fact that this complete stranger knew his name,– looked up at the older man with blinking eyes. However, even before he could speak, there was a flash of light and warmness flooded his body.

He fell to the floor – or at least, fell down onto the surface, which would have been the floor in the real world– and passed out again.

Colours, sounds and flashes went through his mind. The memories and knowledge of a completely different time and life integrated themselves into his very being, in a way that had never happened before to any other transmigrant.

From that day forwards, Ōtsutsuki Asura and Namikaze (Senju)-Uzumaki Naruto were one and the same.

Naruto slowly fluttered his eyes open, to stare at white ceiling again. However, he noted idly that it was a different white than what he had seen before. His eyes were attacked by bright light, so he quickly shut them again, while his nose was filled with a sharp and clean smell. It made him uncomfortable.

He braced himself and opened his eyes once more, shifting a bit on the bed. “I see you’re awake, Naruto-kun.” an elderly voice called.

The blonde froze, needing a second to process it. Two names sprang forth in his mind at once and settled next to one another, in complete balance. The child took a deep breath to settle the fact within his own mind. He was Asura and he was Naruto. Both at once.

He shifted his gaze to find the Hokage sitting next to his bed, the lines of worry prominent on his face. “How are you feeling?”

Awful, he wanted to say. Having your mind ripped in two then put back together, accommodating two different lives’ memories was not fun. It was like Shukaku had jumped on him – the tanuki had always been unmindful of the difference in size, when he wanted to express his affections.

Instead, he spoke different words. “Fine, I guess. My head hurts and I’m sleepy.” he answered. And it was partly true. He was sleepy and his head hurt. It was just a little bit worse than he let on.

He was also confused. Where was Indra? If he remembered then Indra – or at least, his current incarnation,– should as well. His eyes darted around the room searching and he gently stretched his sensory too. It was strange. It hurt in a way and it was slower, then it had been in his previous life. But then again, sensory was like another limb and it could get cramped, if not used for a long time.

If his brother remembered, then how was he still laying calmly in his bed? Knowing Indra and his temper –as well as his annoying ability to hold grudges,– he should be already here, preparing his favourite short-range attack, Raibari (Lightning Needles).

“Hm, the doctor said you should heal in a few days. There are just small bruises and a bit of chakra exhaustion. Which reminds me... how have you unlocked your chakra, Naruto-kun?”

Naruto blinked at the old man, confused for a moment. And then... ‘Oh, no! When I gained my memories, I also unlocked my chakra! By the Shinju! I hope I had not used any attack subconsciously...‘

He shook his head, feigning confusion. When your pastime was pranking and one of your siblings was a kitsune, you learned a trick or two. “I don’t know.”

The old man studied him for a moment and then hummed. “Well, I hope you get better soon. You can leave in a few days and the ANBU will escort you home, then.”

Naruto smiled, relieved. “Thank you.”

When a few days later, the ANBU dropped him off at home, he smiled at them gratefully. (It grated at him, that people thought of his non-human siblings, as monsters and it also hurt, that because having Kurama sealed inside of him, people feared and hated him.)

He had tried talking to Kurama about the situation, but the fox had been strangely blunt – angry even. He had said, that it was the fault of two of his descendants/ancestors. One Uzumaki and one Senju, but it was also due to an Uchiha. Namely he ended up sealed in an Uzumaki woman because the aforementioned Senju and Uchiha fought, continuing the cycle of hatred the clans lived in, since his and Indra’s death for the first time. (He also absently noted that Kurama pointedly refused to say names.)

Naruto shook his head and waved at the masked shinobi. “Arigato, Inu-san, Tora-san. It was nice of you to show me a way here, which others use less.”

“You’re welcome, Naruto.“ Inu spoke quietly, ruffling his hair. He leaned into it a bit, not even realising how touch-starved he was, until the man touched him. “For now, an entire squad will stay and then, for the next week or so, there will always be one of us near you, so you will just have to call for us. Alright?”

He beamed at the man and studied him curiously. The man’s chakra was nothing like Indra’s and he had silver hair. From what Naruto could tell, he wasn’t an Uchiha, yet he had a fully mature Sharingan. (In only one eye, but it was a Sharingan nonetheless. It made him curious. Who was this ANBU?)

He noded. “Hai. Arigato, Inu-san.”

“Any time, Naruto.” the man said with a chuckle, before disappearing.

Naruto stood in his spot for a second, stretching his senses to follow the kind stranger. He was in the shadows, perfectly part of them, like a true shinobi. He also sensed three others and strangely enough, one of them had a touch of his own chakra to the signature. Naruto blinked in that agent’s direction, thoughtful for a while. Was that stranger one of his own kin, as perhaps Inu was Indra’s? (On a side note, he didn’t feel anyone in the village, who came even remotely close to his chakra. No Senju or Uzumaki anywhere, save for the one in the shadows. Where were his kin? Why was he alone? Surely, he’d taught his children well enough, to instill loyalty and care for family...)

Meanwhile, Tenzo had a hard time remaining still, pressed against the apartment wall, as the blonde turned to him. The child could not see him, but Tenzo could see Naruto and the sharp, narrowed violet eyes made him uncomfortable for some reason. And the fact that the kid was subconsciously releasing a mix of KI and chakra, didn’t help either. It wasn’t a big amount, compared to what he felt from A-rank shinobi, but for a six year old, it was an impressive feat, for sure. Not to mention, that he had unlocked it without any previous training. It was most likely jump-started by the emotional and physical trauma, but it was a very rare thing to happen. So far, Tenzo only knew of one similar situation where a child faced, with great trauma, unlocked his chakra without any prior training.

‘Holy crap! The kid surely has dense chakra! And it doesn’t feel malicious at all, so it’s surely his and not the Fox’s. If so, he’s going to be one hell of a shinobi!‘ Tenzo thought.

He feared for the Nations, if this kid was ever properly trained. That amount and density was devastating in itself (and it would only grow with time) – the kid could be a powerhouse. Add the fact that he was a Jinchūriki and the kid would be a walking juggernaut by twenty...

“Note to self,” Tenzo muttered under his breath, “Stay on the kid’s good side.”

Chapter 4: The First and "the Last" (part 2)

Chapter Text

Uchiha Sasuke’s life was content – perfect, in a way only an innocent child’s could be. A child, who had a loving family and always had kin nearby to greet him, or offer him advice. However, he also noticed that the oddest of things would give him a feeling of familiarity, a sense of something missing.

It started randomly one day, when he was six. The feeling would come without warning and would leave him disoriented for several minutes.

Like the time, when he saw his aunt practice fire jutsu. It was as if something within him whispered, that he knew, or should know how it worked.

Like when he saw his father’s Sharingan.

Or when he first saw Shisui’s eyes. It had a different pattern, than what he knew the Sharingan to be. When he asked his cousin, Shisui said it was the Mangekyō Sharingan. Stronger than the standard, three-tomoe version, but getting these eyes (as well as using them) was hard and not worth it, as his cousin said. Sasuke didn’t really understand what he meant by that.

And then, when he was seven, someone mentioned something about death and killing with jutsu and the odd feeling was back, in a bad way. As if what he had overheard should not have happened.

When he entered the Academy, Sasuke didn’t have many friends. In fact, he didn’t have any. It was just not his sort of thing. He felt more at ease on his own, in a way. He missed the company of others, but he was fine on his own too. It was like he missed certain people, not people in general.

At first, he thought he missed his mother and Itachi (no, not his father – his father was so busy, that his absence was normal and even when he was around, he paid little attention to Sasuke). It grated at Sasuke in an odd sort of way, but at the same time, he realised that he didn’t mind being left out. His father was a demanding man, that much Sasuke understood and for now, he was left to his own devices, to enjoy his childhood.

And then, when he met that boy, the feeling of missing something disappeared, replaced by something else. Familiarity. It was something Sasuke didn’t understand. He had never met the violet-eyed blonde before.

After that first time, when he noticed the blonde on his own by the swings, he always felt it. The searing violet eyes following his every move. Then, during the spars, he was sorted to fight the blonde and that was the first time he heard his name.

Uzumaki Naruto.

He fought well and unlike any other. The style Naruto used was strange, yet he felt he should know it. As time passed, he took notice of the small things.

No one ever played with Naruto. He was always alone. The parents glared at him and would whisper to their children, when they thought no one would hear ‘see that blonde? Don’t play with him. He’s trouble‘. He noticed how the teachers ignored Naruto. There were times, when Naruto would raise his hand, give a correct answer (just once in a while), but it would be ignored and the next minute, when another kid would give the same answer, the teacher would praise them.

When the teachers instructed them to unlock their chakra, Naruto told Iruka-sensei his chakra was already unlocked. Sasuke watched with confused curiosity, as fear flashed through the man’s face. His voice even wavered a bit, when he told Naruto to demonstrate. (Sasuke had an odd feeling, that the man wanted to ridicule Naruto.)

But then, Naruto’s chakra flared in a tiny flame and Sasuke found himself relaxing. There was something familiar about the energy. It was warm, dense and calming, reaching out to cover him, like a blanket. Once his moment of bliss passed, Sasuke saw Iruka-sensei glare – but there was fear in his eyes, too– and he waved Naruto out of class, saying he had no place there that day, if his chakra was already in use.

Naruto frowned at Iruka-sensei, sad and angry at once, but politely bid farewell and left. When they went back into the classroom, Sauske noted that Naruto’s small, ragged backpack was gone. As he set down, the sensei announced the material for the rest of the class and Sasuke realised Naruto would not know what it was. He took notes extra carefully, for the rest of the day.

The next morning, he found Naruto by the swing alone and pressed the previous days notes into the Uzumaki’s hands. “Copy them, or else you’ll fail the next exam.” he muttered, unsure what had prompted him to give the notes to the other.

Naruto looked at him with surprise and then his eyes glinted. Naruto thanked him and his grin was as blinding, as the sun.

That grin... that grin was familiar to Sasuke. It was as if he’d already seen it a thousand times, but he could not pinpoint when or where.

He noticed that the Academy sabotaged Naruto. (They couldn’t mess up his practical scores in the field, but whenever it was something written, Naruto always scored last, which Sasuke found odd. You couldn’t have good scores on the practicals, if you didn’t know the theory. It was something both his mother and Itachi warned him about several times.)

Then, he noticed that Naruto often sat through the long break without eating. He never had a bento.

So, one night, he asked his parents about Naruto and why people seemed to treat him badly. His parents shared a look –and Sasuke swore, that for the first time, he saw that his father was sad.

“People are prejudiced.“ his father explained. “They don’t like things that are different from normal.”

“Different?“ he asked.

“Naruto-kun is an orphan, Otōto.“ Itachi said softly. “He does not have a Clan or parents. His parents died when he was young.”

Oh. Oh –that was bad. So that was why Naruto never had a bento. Because he didn’t have a mother to prepare one for him. (A different part of his mind would question why others would dislike Naruto for being an orphan. It wasn’t his fault, after all. Sasuke was sure, Naruto would have liked to have a family, too.)

So after dinner, when he climbed into bed and his mother tucked him in, Sasuke asked her, if she could prepare a bento for Naruto, which he could give the blonde. His mother had been surprised –and for a moment, Sasuke saw the same fear in her eyes, he had seen in his sensei’s,– before she smiled and agreed.

The next day, when he gave the second bento to Naruto, the Uzumaki lit up like the sun and hugged him. (That was strange and Sauske needed all his self-control not to shove the whiskered face into the fresh food.)

It was an odd thing between the two of them.

They didn’t speak or spend time with each other, outside of class. But Naruto’s eyes would follow him, as if he was expecting something –he had no idea, what – from him. Sasuke would give Naruto the material they needed for the tests, if the teachers sent him out of class in suspicious circ*mstances. Bringing an extra bento and dropping it at the blonde’s usual eating spot had also become a habit. They never ate together, but Naruto’s grateful grins and nods would be constant.

And whenever they sparred... well, it was strange. Naruto’s written scores were so bad, that they were nearly non-existent, but he was the only one in class, who could challenge Sasuke in a spar. (By kami! The blonde had even corrected him a few times, subtly, which he had only realised after Shisui or Itachi had pointed it out, during their rare times together.)

Other parents and children kept away from Naruto. His parents never told him to stay away from the blonde. In fact, they encouraged him to befriend him (well, his mother did).

So, his days in the Academy had become a content routine, good enough for him to ignore the constant nagging in the back of his mind, that he should know something, should do something, should be with someone else...

Then, out of the blue, his perfect life was shattered to a million, bloody pieces...

Sasuke’s legs shook, as he saw the bodies littering the dark streets of the Uchiha District. The air was heavy with the smell of blood and the red liquid was everywhere. Tainting the walls, the stalls, the ground...

Sasuke shivered. What had happened here, where were...

... his parents!

He broke into a run and sped past the motionless bodies, there was Uncle Kaito... that was Rei-san... He turned his gaze away, afraid of how many other familiar faces he would see. When he finally reached their house, Sasuke almost tore up the tatami door, in desperation.

“Otō-san? Okā-san? Tadaima!” he called, as he walked into the house, without taking off his shoes.

He froze in shock, when he found the lifeless bodies of his parents on the floor of the sitting room, blood pooling beneath both. His parents were dead. The shadows shifted and Sasuke looked up, as his older brother melted out of the darkness.

“Otōto.“ Itachi greeted. His tone was dead... cold. As cold and dead, as the bodies of their parents.

Sasuke’s eyes flickered over his brother. He was dressed in his ANBU armour, his tantō was dripping blood and his eyes... his eyes were like a three-bladed shuriken. Sasuke knew those eyes – Mangekyō Sharingan.

“W- Itachi, what happened?“ he whispered, shock and fear taking hold of his whole body.

“I killed them.” Itachi said in a low tone, “I killed every single one of them.”

No. No. No! That couldn’t be! Why would... Blood rushed in his ears and he fell onto his knees, as he looked up at his bro– at the man, who had once been his brother.

“Why?” he choked out. Itachi’s eyes glowed sinisterly and Sauske could barely keep his gaze away. (In the back of his mind, the lesson of never looking a Dōjutsu-user in the eyes, echoed hollowly.)

Then, Itachi was gone in a burst of speed. Sasuke scrambled to his feet, although he didn’t know where he found the strength to stand. He ran out of the house, out onto the streets, following his brother’s trail. Tears streamed down his face and anger stirred in his heart.

“Itachi!” he shouted angrily. Itachi stopped and looked at him again. Sasuke stopped too and studied him for a moment. “Why? Why would I...“ he choked, the question hanging in the air, unformed. “... me...”

Itachi’s face was blank, but as his eyes were filled with loathing. “You’re weak. A waste of my time.” Sasuke staggered back, the words were like a physical blow. “Hate me. Remember this night and despise me. Then, when you have these eyes... come and fight me. Come and fight and if you fail, I will finish what I’ve started tonight.”

Itachi turned then, suddenly and for a second, Sasuke caught a glimpse of the shuriken-like pattern once more. “Tsukuyomi!“ (Moon Reader)

And then, everything went dark.

When Sasuke gained awareness again, he saw the blood red moon hang over the Uchiha Compound and then, he saw his brother appear behind someone like a shadow...

... and then suddenly, the picture shattered, like glass and he was surrounded by a much calmer environment, although he could not identify what it was. It was as if it changed constantly, even before his mind could make sense of the picture.

“You need not see that. But, at the very least, that man made it easier for me to reach you, Sasuke. Although, modifying Tsukuyomi like this was actually strange, as it plays with the victim’s mind.” a male voice said.

Sasuke’s breath hitched and he whirled around. Just out of his reach stood a stranger he had never seen before, yet there was this feeling... as if he was looking at a distorted reflection of a mirror.

The man had long brown hair cut short on top. Two locks wrapped in bandages framed either side of his face. His eyebrows were cut short. His hair was in a long cylinder and he had blue markings around his eyes, which were turned up at the corners. He wore a high-collared, light-coloured kimono held closed by a dark sash. The collar of the kimono was adorned with magatama. He wore a black full-bodied suit underneath.

But his most prominent features were his eyes. One moment, they were a warm shade of deep brown and the next, they were crimson with three tomoe circling the pupil.

“Sharingan.” he choked out. “Who are you?”

“My name is Ōtsutsuki Indra. I’m the first user of the Sharingan and the progenitor of the Uchiha Clan, as well as the elder son of the Rikudō Sennin.“

Sasuke’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets at that. The son of the Sennin... a man of fables...

“And you, Uchiha Sasuke, are my next incarnation.“ Indra stated, as if he were commenting on the weather.

Sasuke woke to the smell of antiseptic and the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor. He blinked to clear his vision and looked around briefly. He was in a hospital room.

‘Why would I be in...‘ he cut that thought off, when it came back to him, as clearly as day.

Making his way home from the Academy, finding the dead bodies, Itachi massacring the Clan... and Indra.

Sasuke jolted up in bed. Remembering a different life wasn’t fun – it caused a hell of a headache. He groaned softly, rubbing his temple.

Asura.

The name of his brother floated into his mind without his consent and there was a sudden desire in his heart, to seek out the younger and apologise... Sasuke swallowed hard, his eyes flickering to the window.

The Uchiha were dead. His only family left was Asura. (After what happened, that man would never be his brother again.) He clumsily stretched out his senses, searching for the powerful, calming presence of his brother. Yes powerful – powerful in a way only an Ōtsutsuki could be. After a minute, he found it.

His lips turned upward into a tiny, pleased smile and he looked down at the wires connecting him to the device. His eyes narrowed at it and he sent a small pulse of Raiton chakra through it. The monitor immediately turned black. Satisfied with his work, he tore off the wires and hurriedly grabbed the long robe, throwing it over the flimsy pajamas he’d been dressed in.

Without a backwards glance, he leapt out the open window.

He sped through the roofs of the village with chakra enhanced leaps, clinging to Asura’s powerful presence, like a lifeline. He was the only one left.

(He hoped, prayed to any kami that would listen, that Asura would not turn him away. Of course, he would understand, if he did, –he had tried to kill his little brother about thirty times, after all and the times of the many reincarnations, which he didn’t want to remember, weren’t even counted. So he would understand, if Asura didn’t even want him within his sensory range. Still, a desperate part of him hoped that Asura’s caring heart would be open to him, as it was for others, even after all the fighting.)

When he arrived, he jumped down to a back alley and darted closer. He noted with great displeasure, that his brother’s small apartment – which was obviously in a deplorable state,– was at the border of the Akasen.

The nerve of the lot...! But, right now, he was too tired even to be angry and he just wanted to make sure his brother was fine. Knowing that Asura was fine, would be enough, if his brother wanted nothing to do with him. He staggered over to the door and knocked erratically.

After a minute or two –which was like an entire lifetime of waiting for him, – the door opened and Sasuke found himself facing a very familiar classmate.

Sun-kissed, spiky hair, mystical violet eyes and three fox-like whiskers on each cheek. If he weren’t so bloody tired, he would have laughed at the irony of it all. He had formed a bond with the blonde, even before he knew... or perhaps Naruto had known from the start?

Naruto, he wanted to say. To ask the Uzumaki to let him stay for the night and then he would be gone. But as exhaustion took hold of him, darkening the edges of his vision, an entirely different name slipped from his lips.

“Asura...”

Chapter 5: Regrets and Brotherhood

Chapter Text

Naruto had been worried when he heard what had happened to the Uchihas. To think one of their own would turn against them...

Yes, he had never agreed with Indra’s forceful methods of peace and in fact by the end his brother had seemed mad, but he knew one thing for sure. Once, his brother had cared for him and if anyone would have dared harming him then, Indra would have burned the world for him. Just as he knew Indra would have burned the world for his children if it meant their safety or happiness.

In short there was no one who cared more than an Uchiha. (But that care and love was also their downfall. If the one they cared for so deeply was lost to them, taken by death or betrayal... well, that was the reason for the Nikushimi no Noroi.)

The point was that he had been worried for Indra. Yet he hadn’t been close to the Uchiha in the Academy, despite their short bonding periods. So suddenly heading towards the hospital in a mad dash, ditching even the med-nin and instead hopping into the room through the window, was not an opinion. It would have been overly suspicious and suspicion was something he wanted to avoid.

The Hokage already had extra eyes on him, due to being Kurama’s host. Or, more likely because the civilians were violent towards him because of Kurama.

So he had been quite surprised when his morning routine was disturbed, by his sensory tingling. Indra – Sasuke, he would have to call the Uchiha by the name he carried in this life or else he might freak his friend (brother) out – was nearby. In fact he was right...

His thoughts were interrupted by a frantic knock. He froze for a second, processing it. Sasuke was on the other side of the door. The Uchiha had sought him out on his own. Shaking his head to focus, Naruto scrambled to his feet to open the door.

Sasuke looked worn and paler than usual, his bottomless black eyes fretful and pleading at the same time. “Asura...” the Uchiha choked out, before falling.

Naruto reacted on instinct and caught his falling friend. No. Brother. He remembered. And he was here. He was glad that Sasuke’s voice had been so quiet. He didn’t have entire ANBU squads following him now, like he did around the time of his birthday. However, an ANBU would pop up randomly, to make sure he was fine. He wouldn’t have wanted anyone to hear that. It would be a pain to explain why Sasuke called him by a different name. Or why he was in his home in the first place.

By the looks of it, Sasuke had fled the hospital, as soon as he woke up. But, that wasn’t much of a surprise. Indra had hated letting others see him weak and hated being around people who could heal. There was one time he could recall, when Indra had been seriously injured, months before the task their father had sent them on to determine the Heir. It was that one time when Indra had been bedridden and even then, his brother had only allowed him to do the healing. (He’d denied help from even their father and that was something.)

Naruto carefully shifted his Uchiha friend and dragged him over to the crappy bed. Everything was old and used in his home, but the bed was perhaps more comfortable, than the couch. Once he was sure Sasuke was relatively comfortable, he gathered some medical chakra into his hand to check him.

Sadly, his chakra control was near non-existent, compared to the amount of control he had before, so the green chakra flickered out fast. Yet, it was enough for him to know that Sasuke was fine. He was just tired.

Satisfied with his findings, he pulled a blanket over his brother and decided to head out. The forest wasn’t far from here and he was sure he would find a few herbs, which would have a calming effect.

He had a feeling his brother would need them. (And perhaps, he would need them too.)

When Sasuke woke up, he saw a grey ceiling with peeling paint. It wasn’t in the hospital... and then he remembered. He remembered remembering his life and then fleeing to follow Asura’s traces. He sat up and looked around.

The apartment was small and old, the paint peeling from the walls and the door was just barely in place. The couch was faded and torn and even this... he looked down. He lay on Naruto’s (Asura’s?) bed. Honestly, even sleeping on the ground would have been more comfortable.

He felt anger stir in him again. Why was Naruto living alone? Shouldn’t he have a guardian? Besides, he was a Royal Uzumaki. A Clan Heir. He should not be here, living next to whor*s. He should have been on the other side of the village in a comfortable apartment if he found his family compound too big. (Wait, did the Uzumaki even have a Compound here?)

Where was the blonde anyway? The place was filled with his potent chakra, so Sasuke knew he had been here. He might have even disturbed the blonde in some chakra practice. Yet... he wasn’t here now.

“Sasuke?”

He had not jumped even a bit, when he heard his name being called. He shifted his gaze, to see the blonde perched on the narrow windowsill. Naruto had a small bouquet of greens in his hand, which, knowing him, were herbs.

“N-Naruto.“ he greeted with a nod, cursing himself inwardly for the moment of hesitation.

The Uzumaki landed in the house soundlessly, moving over to his kitchen with the soundless grace he’d always possessed. For a second, Sasuke forgot how clumsy he could be sometimes. Now and back then, too.

He silently watched, as Naruto chopped up the herbs and put some into a cup. He grabbed another cup, filled it with water and heated the liquid with a small burst of Katon chakra. Sasuke’s lips twitched upwards at the casual use of their Art. Today shinobi, or at least some of the shinobi with bloody histories, would have looked at the blonde strangely for using chakra for trivial matters, like boiling water for tea.

He poured the heated water on the herbs and covered the cup with a plate, before walking over and placing the cup a foot away, so neither of them would kick it up and spill the liquid.

“I’m sorry.“ Sasuke blurted out. He couldn’t hold it anymore. He had come to apologise, after all. “I’m sorry for saying those things. I’m sorry for not listening to you.“ he looked down. “For being jealous, when we could have shared things, as you suggested we do, after Otō-sama’s death. I would say I’m sorry for trying to kill you at least thirty times, but I don’t have an excuse for that and people don’t brush off an attempt on their life by their own blood. Much less thirty...”

He looked up. For once in forever, he couldn’t read his brother’s expression.

“I... I know I made mistakes. Big ones, that can’t be ignored or brushed aside. Hell, my actions sparked a war, which lasted for ages...“ he gulped, “But... this... this mess, this misery. Maybe I deserved it. Traitors don’t deserve more, than misery, after all. But you and yours never deserved it. You were too good and caring for all that. You should have had happiness and everything good in the world, because you deserved it, you still deserve it and I don’t.”

Sasuke looked away again, unable to stand the sharp violet gaze. Gods, it was even harder to withstand these cutting eyes, than the brown gaze before.

“I forgive you.“ Naruto muttered and suddenly, Sasuke had two arms wrapped around his neck in a tight hug. “You were my first friend in the Academy. The first person to notice me. And you were my brother by blood, before. You still are. My best friend and brother, no matter what time we live in.“ the grip tightened even more. “And this time around, I will keep an even closer eye on you. Zetsu won’t ever touch you again.”

Sasuke’s breath hitched and tears slipped from his eyes. “It’s my fault your parents in this life are dead. If...“

“No.” Naruto said. “That’s Madara alone. And Zetsu. Not you. That cycle ended at the Shūmatsu no Tani. It’s Zetsu, who’s to blame. And Madara. Not you, Indra.“

Sasuke slowly relaxed into the hug and for a moment, he just enjoyed his brother’s closeness. Because no matter their names, no matter what time they lived in, they would always be brothers. Best friends and brothers.

Then, Naruto let go of him and gathered the tea from the floor, offering it to him with a smile. “Drink. It will help you calm down and keep a clear head.“

The Uchiha smiled. His brother was his anchor. His light. He took the cup and sipped at the hot contents. As the heat spread through his body, he could already feel himself relaxing. “Thank you.“

“I know you always liked tea.“

Sasuke chuckled. “Not just for the tea. For saving me from Zetsu. For saving me from myself.“

“You’re welcome, Nī-sama. But that’s what little brothers are for. To knock some sense into their big brothers, when they start acting like the biggest idiotic jerks of the millenia.” Naruto grinned foxily.

Sasuke couldn’t help the amused snort that escaped him. (Trust Asura to make fun of even the most serious situations.)

Oh, by the Shinju, how much he’d missed this! Just being around his brother, calmly, enjoying each other's company, while sipping tea. Seriously, that tea was so good, that Sasuke was sure it should be illegal.

Kakashi was sure that if his hair wasn’t naturally silver then the white, which sneaked its way into it within a week, would have been much more visible.

First, his favourite, most promising subordinate goes rogue after killing his entire Clan in a single night. The only survivor who remained, was said killer’s younger brother, who was currently missing from the hospital.

With the Uchihas dead and the last survivor missing, the entire ANBU was a frantic mess. Kakashi was surprised, when he had been given his mission details for the day. No Uchiha search. No crime scene investigation. Instead, the Hokage had personally asked him to keep an eye on his sensei’s son. Kakashi had no idea why – the villagers were too shocked by the news of the Uchihas, to care about Naruto’s presence,– but he didn’t complain. He could not muster up the courage to approach the child and introduce himself. But at least, he could keep an eye on him. It was the least thing he owed to his sensei and Kushina-san.

And now, now arriving in his lovely charge’s apartment, he found them both here. Naruto and Sasuke, sitting on Naruto’s old bed. Sauske was sipping tea and they were sitting next to each other. Naruto’s head on Sasuke’s shoulder. The oddest, most unexpected scene ever.

He would have thought the two would hate each other. Their personalities and backgrounds were just too different for them to understand the other.

Another blow was when just after settling on his usual spot, the Uchiha’s eyes found him. ‘Is he a Sensor too, like Naruto?‘ he thought. It was possible, but unlikely. The Uchiha had few Sensors in their ranks. Sensory ability was something for which the Senju and Uzumaki had been known for. Although a Sensor or two tended to pop up among the Uchiha too in a few generations.

If Sasuke was one too then they would be a hell of a pair. Two Sensors on the same team... a Tracker specialist would kill for the opportunity to work with two powerful Sensors, like the boys seemed to be. (Because Sasuke had to be gifted with it too, to spot a fully trained ANBU.)

“Otōto.“ Sasuke hissed. “We have an intruder.”

Kakashi blinked in disbelief. Had... had Uchiha Sasuke just called Naruto – the orphan, village pariah– ‘otōto ‘?

Naruto perked up and after a second, his eyes settled on Kakashi’s spot too. Why the hell was he still in the shadows when both kids were aware of his presence? ‘Kids these days.‘ he grunted mentally, ‘No respect for their ANBU betters just doing their assigned duty...‘

Naruto smiled and patted the Uchiha softly. “Relax. That’s Inu-san. He’s nice. One of the few people, who are actually nice to me. Him and his squad often stop by to check on me cause the villagers...“ he shrugged, his face sheepish and sad at the same time, “You know...”

Sasuke grunted something under his breath. As he saw the Uchiha wince, Kakashi decided it was time to reveal himself. The kids knew he was here, anyway. “Uchiha-kun, Naruto-kun.“ he greeted before looking at Sasuke again. “You should still be in the hospital, Uchiha-kun. The med-nin weren’t done with their work, from what I’ve heard.”

Sasuke scowled at him, his eyes narrowing and if looks could kill, Kakashi was sure, he would be six feet under. But then again, he was an Uchiha. Some of the Uchiha looks could kill. He just hoped Sasuke would never gain so much power, to take down S-ranked shinobi with a mere glance. (Oh, if only he knew...)

“I’m not going back.” Sasuke said, his tone sharp and final.

“I’m sorry, but all the ANBU have orders to take you back, if they see you. So, that is what I will do.” he said, walking closer.

Sasuke glared and suddenly a blast of Killing Intent was directed at him from the Uchiha, his charcoal eyes burning red with three tomoe. What the hell had Itachi done to the kid, which gave Sasuke fully developed eyes in a single night?!

“I will not go, you...” he growled, only to be cut off, as Naruto put a hand on his shoulder.

“Nī-sama!“ Naruto hissed. “Relax. And it’s not nice to act to him like that, you know. He’s one of my few favourite people.”

Kakashi smiled under his mask at those words. It was nice to hear that Naruto liked them, because he assumed by ‘few‘ favourite people, the blonde had meant the Hokage and the ANBU, who guarded him in shifts since that near-death beating when he was six.

Sasuke growled, more chakra and Killing Intent radiating from him and Kakashi was actually starting to feel uncomfortable. “His eye...”

‘Ah, so that’s it.‘ Kakashi thought with a sigh. He should have expected something like that, after what had happened to the Uchihas.

Naruto hummed. “I know. But he’s had it even before it. For years at that.“

Sasuke drew up short and looked at Naruto. “Really?“

“Yes.“ the blonde nodded seriously and in that moment, Kakashi saw his sensei, instead of the little blonde. Gods, how much he looked like both of his parents!

Kakashi knew he shouldn’t, but he still spoke. Best get the Uchiha to trust him, at least enough to come back to the hospital willingly. If he knocked Sasuke out, the med-nin would castrate him. “I had a very good Uchiha friend years ago. He died in the war. I lost that eye in a previous mission. He saved my team’s life, but he was dying. He unlocked his Sharingan then. He asked me to take the eye and use it to protect the people I cared about, like he had.“

The two blinked at him, both of their faces shocked. “That...“ Sasuke muttered, “That was nice of him. You must have been close, then.”

“He was my best friend.“ Kakashi answered simply. The silence stretched on for longer than Kakashi would have liked. Just to get away from the awkwardness of it (and the kids’ sharp, searching gaze), Kakashi gestured at the door. “We should leave, Uchiha-san. If I don’t get you back, both the Hokage and the medic-nin will be unhappy. You don’t piss off med-nin...”he shivered at the very idea.

The Uchiha frowned. “I hate hospitals. I hate healers.“ he muttered, his Sharingan taking a complete 180, in agitation. (Healers? Who uses such an old-fashioned word these days?) The Hatake sighed. He was a tough nut to crack, for sure.

“If I go with you?“ Naruto offered. “Surely, it’s just for today, so they can make sure you’re fine.”

The frown didn’t disappear, but Sasuke seemed to consider it, which Kakashi counted as a win. Then, the pair of Sharingan found his gaze again. “Can he come too?”

He nodded slowly. “I’m sure he can stay, as long as he doesn’t hinder the medics in their work.”

Slowly, both boys stood up and walked over to him, Sasuke a bit more cautiously than Naruto. Kakashi was sure he would get an earful from both the Hokage and the Head Medic for bringing Naruto along, but... who cared? At least the boys were willing to cooperate and Naruto’s presence seemed to put Sasuke at ease. It seemed the Uchiha had a friend (a brother?) in Minato-sensei’s son.

That meant more than any medicine a medic could give, right now.

Chapter 6: Academy Days

Chapter Text

Naruto knew, that going back to the Academy would be hard for his friend/brother, so he understood why the Uchiha wasn’t looking forward to it. Sasuke had practically moved into his tiny appartment, refusing to go back to the Compound. Not that Naruto blamed him. There were nights, when Sasuke would wake screaming, his nightmares amix of present and their past life.

So, he had not said anything, when aweek after that dreaded hospital visit, Sasuke just randomly walked into his small home with two bags. One for his clothes and such, the other for various shinobi tools, which they needed for practice.

The remaining week, which the Hokage had allowed both of them to miss out, with the ANBU dropping off afew books they needed to read, the two of them set to rearranging and patching up the tiny place the best they could. It was not comfortable, but it was better, than staying at the deserted Compound or spending the nights in the wild.

However, if there was something for which they kept returning, it was the Uchihas library. The place was filled to the brim with various things, some of which the Uchiha never used more, than the basics. (One such thing was Fūinjutsu. Indra despised Fūinjutsu and not so surprisingly, it was one of the weakest skills of Uchihas in general.)

Naruto on the other hand, benefitted from it. Of course, they had their memories, but Fūinjutsu was aversatile, ever-changing Art, so he needed to catch up. Besides, despite both of them having the theorical knowledge of their previous lives’ jutsu, it didn’t mean they could use them. Their bodies were not the bodies of grown men, after all and neither their reserves, nor their chakra control were up to par.

So for afew more years, there wouldn’t be valley-craving fights, like it had happened in their prime. Of course, this time they wouldn’t try maim each other, but an all-out fight to keep in shape, even for training, would be able to crave avalley, if they ever managed to get their skills and power to the old levels.

What they didn’t expect on their return to the Academy, was the hoard of girls screaming ‘Sasuke-kun‘. They didn’t know, but it was also the day when the Fan Club of Uchiha Sasuke was formed. (Much to the displeasure of said Uchiha.)

Two years later:

Naruto was on the fourth chapter of his book, when he first sensed them approaching. It was avery enjoyable book about Fūinjutsu, which Inu-san had given him, after the ANBU caught him reading some Uchiha scrolls about the Art. It was awell-written, enjoyable read, penned by the Yondaime Hokage.

The man was agenius for sure.

Naruto stole a glance at his brother, who chose a window seat, thus he only had one available space next to him, which Naruto himself occupied. It was Sasuke’s new plan to avoid being near the annoyingly loud girls. The blonde wondered, if it would work. He considered telling Sasuke, that his fan club was coming, but he decided against it. Let the Uchiha meditate, as long as possible. It would help him survive the day.

Having afan club, after all, was an entirely new experience for Sasuke. The first time around he’d been the loner, the untouchable Ōtsutsuki Prodigy. Someone, whom their father’s followers admired, yet dared rarely to approach. Especially after Indra had sent that poor soul running, after he’d been made fun of. That was the day, when Asura realised his brother cared for him, even if he was awkward at showing it.

The girls poured in and when they spotted Sasuke, they immediately hurried over. “Move Naruto, Iwant to sit next to Sasuke-kun!“ the blonde girl – Yamanaka Ino– said.

“No, I’m sitting next to him!“ Sakura said, her green eyes narrowing on Ino, before she glared at him. Naruto didn’t even twitch.

“Sorry Sakura-san, Ino-san. It’s my seat now.“ he gestured at the mostly empty classroom. It was pretty early after all. “Find another seat, please.”

“Move, Naruto-baka!“ Sakura growled, as she moved to push him.

For some reason, she thought she could bully him into doing what she wanted, only because her written scores were better, than his. She seemed to forget, that her physical and survival scores were one of the lowest, while his were among the best. Sasuke had better scores on marksmanship, while his scores were better in survival. Their sparring scores were even and the last two times, they had atie, surprising even the teachers.

However, as she pushed him, Sasuke rose and caught her hand, surprising many in class. He wasn’t one to get involved in his and the girls’ fights over the seat. In fact, he had never touched anyone, other than Naruto, outside aspar.

“Leave.” Sasuke said in aquiet tone.

Both girls drew up short, blinking at him. “Sa-Sasuke-kun?“ Sakura whispered.

Sasuke glared, his Sharingan flashing, which caused both girls to stagger back. As Sakura staggered, Sasuke let her go. “Leave us now. And if you ever try to bully Naruto again, you will regret it.“

The two girls shuffled away, throwing shocked and wary glances at Sasuke, as they took their seats. The few others who were in class, watched in quiet shock.

The boys glared at their respective trees.

They managed to ditch the Academy by Sasuke feigning sickness and Naruto, playing the worried friend/brother card, remained to watch over him.

However, Sasuke wasn’t sick. In fact, he could hardly be any healthier. But after the two of them realised, that the Academy was not going by their standards, they decided to take things into their own hands. But then again, it would be hard to live up to their standards, when they were the first of the three most famous clans of the shinobi world, whose father was called agod on Earth.

So, they decided to train themselves. They did, after all, know all the theory behind things. Chakra control, elemental manipulation and so on. Heck, it had been Indra, who had invented Ninjutsu, although at the time it wasn’t meant for killing.

“Stupid reincarnation.“ Sasuke growled. “All my skills are gone.”

“At least you can walk on that goddamn tree!“ Naruto spat back. “If Ilet out too much chakra, Iget blown down and the bark cracks from my chakra!“ he growled, pointing at the two trees, which his dense, uncontrolled chakra had already ruined.

Sasuke hummed, his eyes darting across the line of ruined trees. “We’re not going home, useless we get somewhere, with this stupid exercise.“

“Agreed, Nī-sama.”

They shared alook before getting arunning start to try and stick to the tree barks.

The next day, Genin Team Four, led by Shiranui Genma, would arrive in their usual training ground to ashocking scene. Several trees barks damaged –two trees even uprooted, – and the ground having cracks and craters, while there were also slashed branches and burned leaves.

In short, the whole place had been totally destroyed.

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, when he saw Naruto’s test sheet. He growled lowly, ready to report to Iruka, that Mizuki had intentionally sabotaged Naruto. (The scarred Chūnin was among the kinder teachers, so to say. He didn’t hinder or sabotage Naruto. He just simply ignored the Uzumaki.)

“Don’t.” Naruto hissed. “Not here, not to him.”

Sasuke scowled. “Otōto! That’s sabotage! It’s unfair and completely unethical of ashinobi. Well, in these circ*mstances, it is unethical. You should teach the next generation well, because they carry your teachings and legacy and...”

“Enough, Onī-sama.” Naruto growled lowly, surprising the Uchiha with the suddenly sharp tone. “Let it be, as it is. You are the top of the class and Iam the one with the lowest scores. The best and the last get placed on the same team, if my assumptions and calculations are correct. We need to be on the same team, or we’ll both go mad from the stupidity and ignorance of the village.”

Sasuke grunted, unhappy that his brother had to play the complete idiot. True, he learned harder, than Sasuke himself and trough different methods – or sometime, he just needed abit more time– but Naruto was not an idiot. In fact, Sasuke would consider the blonde agenius in some fields, that Sasuke himself had some trouble with. (Plus, Naruto had the uncanny ability to come up with plans othe fly, which amazed Sasuke.)

He huffed and nodded. “Very well, Iwill let it be, as you wish.”

Unknown to them, acertain Nara overheard their exchange and he would ponder several things in the future – like, why Naruto was intentionally sabotaged or why did the two speak so carefully, formally even, when around each other.

Although, from than on, Shikamaru would pay more attention to the strange duo and he would notice, that there would be times, when their speech pattern and vocabulary would drastically change, only to be back to normal, more modern speech the next minute.

Naruto sat in ameditative position trying to get afeel of his chakra. The past week he’d been trying to get ahang of shape manipulation. It was one of the things he had been good at, but right now, came to him hard. It was strange, being good at one thing once and the next time, being unable to do even the first step of it.

“Gaah!“ he groaned in annoyance, throwing himself onto the grass. “This just doesn’t work!”

They were in asmall clearning, not far from his appartment. After that one time years ago, when they destroyed the training ground, they agreed to train in more remote places, so there wouldn’t be questions from the higher-ups.

Sasuke opened his eyes and allowed the Sharingan to deactivate. Whenever he let his chakra free, while meditating, his eyes would activate. “What doesn’t work, Otōto?“

Naruto groaned and looked at him. “Shape Manipulation. It’s the main thing you need, to form the Kongō Fūsa (Adamantine Sealing Chains). From what Igathered from Kā-san’s Clan scroll, it would work like that. Shape manipulation and aseal on the user’s body, which would stay till death. Idrew the seal – and no, Nī-sama, Ididn’t mess it up – “he glared pointedly, as the Uchiha opened his mouth to ask, “but it still doesn’t work. Ican’t seem to regulate my chakra enough. Which is strange, because this thing needs much less chakra control, than medical jutsu, for example.”

Sasuke hummed, thoughtful for amoment. His eyes were traling his body and the blonde knew his brother was studying his pathways. “It would surely be better if we had aByakugan-user right now, but Ithink it might have to do something with Kurama’s seal. You did say it was leaking his chakra into your body, no?”

Naruto groaned. “I almost forgot about that. So, Ieither shut off his chakra, or we try doing something with that godforsaken seal?”

Sasuke shrugged. “Whichever you want.”

For amoment, Naruto sat thoughtfully. On one hand, simply shutting off the chakra would be easier, but perhaps having alook at the seal wouldn’t hurt either. Kurama had calmed down in the past few years, so the fox was at least willing to be civil. Oh, they weren’t chatting on daily basis, but he hadn’t tried bisecting Naruto the last time he visited, either.

“Let’s visit him. Throw me in and come with me.“ he said.

Sasuke deadpanned. “The last time Ientered your mindspace, he tried clawing my eyes out.“

Naruto nodded. “True. But he can’t hold grudges forever. Besides, from what I’ve seen, Otō-san bargained with the Shingami to seal him. So if Idie, Kurama gets discorporated too.”

Sasuke snorted, amusem*nt flashing in his eyes. “Your father definitely knew his art.“

Naruto hummed. “They did call him one of the finest shinobi of his time and he was arecognied seal expert. Not many go on tampering with Space-Time jutsu.”

Sasuke huffed. “True. So, ready?“

Naruto groaned. “Bring it on.“ he said, wrapping his chakra around Sasuke and looking into his eyes, letting the Genjutsu wash over him.

For amoment, both of them were falling and then, they arrived. There was amajor improvement to the surroundings this time. In the early days, when Kurama hadn’t even been willing to acknowledge, that they remembered and were trying to come up with away to fix things, the place was adark sever.

Now, it was amassive forest with agreat pond. The golden bars still stood unmoved, but there was light everywhere, almost giving afeeling of freedom. Of course, both Naruto and Sasuke knew, that it wasn’t, but it was the closest the blonde could bring freedom, for their fox brother.

“Kurama-nī-sama.“ the two greeted, as they stopped in front of the great bars.

The Bijū’s burning red eyes opened. He was still displeased with his situation, but he no longer had so much hate in him, as the first time, when Naruto had come before him, after remembering. (His chakra still didn’t have anice feel, but it was no longer suffocatingly dark, either. Plus, since Naruto re-mainfested Mokuton, he had Kurama’s Negative Emotion Detection at his disposal, as another sense.)

“Asura, Indra.“ the fox huffed. Since they had made it up, the fox actually borthed to use their names, instead of simply saying ‘gaki‘ – in the blonde’s case – or ‘traitor‘, in the Uchiha’s. “What brings you here?“

“We hoped you might have an idea what seal was used here. With your chakra leaking in with mine, Ican’t hope to form Kongō Fūsa.“

Their brother growled, anger flashing in his predatory gaze. “And what you hope to do with that accused technique, Asura?“

The blonde rolled his eyes. “By blood, I’m no longer Ōtsutsuki, am I? Got to keep Clan traditions. besides, that jutsu is very useful.”

“Fine.“ he growled. “But don’t you dare to use it against me!“

Naruto matched the searing gaze unwaveringly. “Do not force me to use them against you. Respect me, as Irespect you and this will be easier for both of us. Perhaps, in time, we may even find asolution for you and your siblings to be free again.”

“Very well.“

Naruto smiled. “Thank you.”

“Naruto.“ Sasuke called, pointing at the massive gates. “That ofuda is abarrier. Keeps Kurama from sensing trough you. If we get it off, he’ll at least sense the outside world and perhaps, you can have aproper look at the seal and solve your problem.”

Naruto studied it for asecond and nodded. “Let’s see, then.” he jumped up, reaching to peel it off, but suddenly two arms wrapped around him.

“Oh no, Naru-chan, you don’t.“ amelodious female voice sung.

“Leave it where it is, musuko.“ a deeper voice insisted.

As he was pushed away from the gates, Kurama roared and Sasuke gasped. Naruto pulled away from the grip and he was ready to snap...

... when he realised who stood before him.

One was ablonde man, with blue eyes, dressed in the standard Konoha Jōnin uniform, with awhite haori over it.

The second was abeautiful red-haired woman with violet eyes, dressed in white, short-seeve blouse and agreen dress, with shinobi sandals.

“Naruto...“ Sasuke said, eyes narrowed.

“I can see, Sasuke.“ he said, studying the chakra imprints of his parents curiously. (His father was realy agenius, he had to addmit.)

“And who you might be?“ asked the Yondaime, studying Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded in greeting. “Uchiha Sasuke.“

“Oh, Mikoto-chan’s boy.“ Kushina said with agrin. “Look Minato, my godson’s grown just as well, as our son. And they’re even friends!”

“Godson?“ the boys echoed in shock.

Kushina nodded, her grin widening. “Mikoto was my best friend and ex-teammate, so before you were born, she asked me to be your godmother.“ she took astep closer and gently ruffled Sasuke’s hair, surprising the Uchiha.

“Huh.“ Naruto murmured. “The world’s full of surprises.“

“Tell me about it, Otōto.“ Sasuke agreed, stealing aglance at the blonde. The Uzumaki-Namikaze pair raised their eyebrows at the form of address, but didn’t question it.

“What did you want with the seal, musuko?“ Minato asked. “The Fox is dangerous.“

“He’s just pissed at us.“ the boys said at once. Kushina opened her mouth to ask something, but Sasuke raised ahand, silencing her.

Then, Naruto spoke again. “It’s along story. Involves ablood feud and reincarnation.“ more rised eybrows, “But Ihave aproblem with the seal. Because the furball’s chakra leaks into my system, Ican’t form the Uzumaki Chains.“

Kushina gasped. “You already have the scroll? Sarutobi-sama gave it to you?“

Naruto snorted. “No. Sasuke mentioned you, when he found an old team picture of his mother’s. And Otō-san wasn’t hard to figure out, once you look at apicture. The fox also dropped ahint or two, last year. We added two and two together.“

“The Sandaime doesn’t know, that we are aware of Naruto’s heritage. Or about the furball.“ Sasuke said.

“Well, in that case,“ Minato sighed, “remove the barrier seal. But please be care...“

“I have Mokuton.“ Naruto stated. “It will keep the seal stable. In the worst of cases, Ican subdue the furball with the chains and Mokuton.”

Their eyes went wide. “How?“ his mother asked in shock, “Only Shodaime-sama...“

“Reincarnation.“ Sasuke repeated again. “And the Senju and Uzumaki share the same ancestors. In fact, they are also distantly related to the Uchihas, but that was arelation everyone was contet forgetting about.“

Minato sighed. “I wish we had more time. You made me curious. But the chakra will run out soon. Grow strong, both of you.“ his eyes settled on Naruto, “And don’t forget, Naruto. We love you, no matter what.“

Naruto blinked, as his father hugged him. Soon, asobbing redhead also joined them. “We love you. Forever.“

“And Ilove you too.“ the Mokuton-user murmured.

Kushina reached out and dragged Sasuke into the hug, shocking the Uchiha yet again. The Yondaime grinned at his surprised look. “You’re apart of the family, too, Sasuke. Thank you for being there for him, when we can’t.“

Sasuke stole aglance at his brother. “He was there for me, when no one else was. He believed in me, when others didn’t. It’s the least thing Iowe him.“ he said, bumping Naruto in the shoulder.

They remained like that, hugging and holding one another, until the last traces of the chakra imprints faded.

If Naruto had afew tears running down his face, when they returned to the real world, Sasuke pretended not to see anything and instead, just wordlessly hugged the blonde.

Chapter 7: Legacy of Senju and Uzumaki

Chapter Text

The waiting was the worst part, Naruto decided.

They were already done with two thirds of the Graduation Exam – the written portion and the weapon examination. Although Naruto wished there hadn’t been awritten part, he was still in one piece. His written scorses were surely just the minimal needed for passing. But, at least he had nine out of ten points on weaponry.

With those done, their class was waiting for the third part, which would determine, if they graduate or not. The Ninjutsu portion, which required them to perform Henge, Kawarimi and aBunshin.

“I think, Ihate that my name starts with anU.“ Sasuke murmured next to him. “We should just go by Ōtsutsuki. At least, we would be done by now.“

Naruto huffed. “Yeah. But the thing is, that my name should start with an S. Or at the very least, an N, because we realy don’t know which of them has that blood.“

Sasuke scoffed. “Lucky bastard.“

Naruto rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t start with either, so I’m here too. Besides, if we’re speaking about being lucky, you’ll go sooner, than me.“ he murmured heatedly, not wanting to draw too much attention.

Sasuke hummed. “By the way. Don’t you want to see which of them has it? Imean... you know. Tell the Sandaime. Just the important parts, then ask him nicely which of them was...“

Naruto grunted. “I’ve been toying with the idea for awhile. Iasked Kura, but he has no idea which of them. At this rate, both of them could be half-blood.“

The Uchiha rolled his eyes. “Maybe. But maybe it’s just one. You just don’t know, who and from whom...“ his sentence was cut off, as the door to the room opened and Iruka poked his head out.

The Chūnin’s gaze swept the corridor. “Uchiha Sasuke!“

Sasuke murmured an ‘about time‘, before standing up. Iruka smiled at him and waved him into the examination room. Once Sasuke was inside, the door shut behind Iruka and the remaining students were left in silence. Naruto tapped his feet softly against the floor. Of course, he knew that Sasuke would ace this part too, like the previous ones, but he couldn’t help his nerves. He was anxious to see his friend out of that room with aKonoha hitai-ate.

After afew minutes – which felt like ahundred years to the blonde, – Sasuke walked out of the room, the metal engraved with the Konoha symbold glinting in the light, on his forehead.

“Uzumaki Naruto!“ Iruka called.

The blonde stood and met Sasuke. The Uchiha smirked at him and they bumped fists. “Child’s play. So hurry up, Otōto. I’m hungry and aramen would be nice.“

Agrin stretched across the whiskered face. “I need five minutes.“ he murmured and nodded to Iruka, as he slipped into the room.

He stopped in the middle of the room, across from the desk, where Iruka and Mizuki sat. The scarred man gave him an encouraging smile. Mizuki’s face was blank, but Naruto wasn’t fooled. The man radiated so much hate and malice, that it almost unhinged his Negative Emotion Sense. Sometimes, he wished he could shut it down, but Kurama would not let that happen. Why? Because it annoyed Naruto and the fox’s new entertainment was annoying the hell out of the blonde. Of course, Kurama thought it justified, because it had been his and Indra’s past actions, which had led to the Bijū being sealed.

“Alright Narto. Please perform aKawarimi and switch with that chair.“ he said, pointing at an oddly placed chair.

Naruto nodded and did the task flawlessly, even switching back. Iruka looked pleased.

“A Henge please.“

He did the handsigns and turned into Iruka, careful to miss afew details. Best not have full scores, otherwise that would look suspicious.

“Good.“ the instructor said, marking something on his paper. “A Bunshin, please.“

Naruto paused for asecond and turned it over in his head. Iruka just said he needed aclone, not specifying what type. Catching the loophole, ashadow of agrin crossed is features. He raised his hand in aTiger sign.

He felt his chakra morph into water. “Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu.“

Two perfect water clones appeared flanking him. Iruka and Mizuki both blinked in shock. On the outside, Naruto grinned at the two academy teachers sheepishly. On the inside, however, he was frowning. It was asimple, C-rank technique, yet it took out much more of his reserves, than expected.

‘Note to self. Spend extra time on chakra control.‘ he sulked inwardly.

“W-well done, Naruto.“ Iruka praised him, snapped from his shock, unaware of the blonde’s sulky mood. Once the two older men were calmer, Iruka offered him aheadband. Naruto released his jutsu and the two clones splashed, leaving small puddles of water on the floor.

“Thank you, Iruka-sensei.“ he said with agrin, as his fingers wrapped around the metal plate. Mizuki had afake smile on his face, but in reality he was giving off so much anger, hate and annoyance, that it almost made Naruto puke, mostly because it was directed straight at him.

He practically ran from the room, eager to be away from the white-haired Chūnin, lest he said or did something, which would land him in trouble. (If he landed himself in trouble in the first minutes of his official Genin life, Sasuke would set him on fire.)

He couldn’t get out of the room fast enough.

Naruto sauntered out of the Academy, happy to have aheadband of his own. Many of the adult civilians were shocked to see the headband on him. Some looked angry, others looked fearful. He heard their whispers too, but he chose to ignore it all.

They just simply couldn’t tell the difference between the Jinchūriki and the Bijū. And it seemed, that in the time since his and Indra’s first death by each others’ hands, people had completely misjudged their non-human siblings, calling them monsters. Monsters, who had no compassion, only bloodlust and desire for destruction.

Apart of him was angry, that people thought of the Bijū, as heartless monsters. Another part was sad and guilty – it was after all, partly his and Indra’s fault, that the world had come to be, what it was. Of course, human nature was part of it too – humans didn’t seem to change,– the want for power, to prove others ones superiority... but still. It was partly their fault, partly the fault of the entire human race.

It was sort of disheartening.

“Naruto-kun.”

Naruto perked up at the call of his name and cursed inwardly. He’d been so preocuopied with his thoughts, that he hadn’t even noticed someone coming near him. Turning to face the voice, he saw Mizuki. Now fully alert, Naruto felt the same sickening feeling, like before. It was like someone had poured honey on his back and thousands of ants were crawling trough it. It made him want to shudder.

“Mizuki-sensei?“ he asked surprised, not even having to fake it.

The Chūnin’s face was suspiciously friendly. “I’ve seen your points from the exam... and Iwas wondering, if you were open to amake-up test. For extra points, so it would get you placed on abetter team later.“

Naruto blinked. Contrary to what the Academy believed he was not acomplete idiot. Sometimes he had problems understanding some concepts, but most of the time, his current hardships came from the neglect and sabotage of the teachers. Luckily for him, he had agenius for brother and Sasuke helped him out. (It was nice, that Sasuke took extra time to help fill in the blanks and correct some flaws he picked up, due to the sabotage. He helped more now, than he had before.)

So the point was, that Naruto wasn’t as bad, as he would have been, in adifferent situation, without them remembering their past life. He was in the lower half of the class, yes, but he was not the dead last, as he used to be and that was something. He wasn’t an idiot either. He could see Mizuki was planning something and he wanted to use Naruto for that plan.

‘But, Iwill use him to figure out his intentions instead. If he wants to harm the village, Ican always stop him and he won’t even know what hit him.‘ thought the blonde.

“That’s possible?“ he asked, trying to feign amix of surprise and hope. “I could get more points?“

“Yes.“ Mizuki nodded.

“How?“ he asked, leaning closer. “Do you think Icould even be the new Rookie, with those extra points?“

Naruto could see Mizuki was pleased, that his plan worked, but in fact, it was Naruto, who was playing him. The Uzumaki smirked inwardly. ‘Hook, line and sinker.‘ Pranking and con realy paid off, if one was ashinobi.

“Well, you must not tell anyone about this. This make-up test is rare. The thing you’ll have to do...“

The security of the Hokage Vault was truly crappy. If Mizuki indeed spoke the truth and very important things were kept inside, than Naruto was afraid for the safety of Konoha. If he – atwelve-year-old child– could get into the supposedly most well-protected part of the building. Addmiteddly, he had another life’s experiences, but still. That, at best, put him on the level of ANBU, in case of experiences.

ANBU, whom he had avoided without even being noticed. Seriously! When he had been younger and played pranks, they’d at least noticed him!

Shaking his head, he sped across the rooftops, eager to get to the meeting spot Mizuki had given. Soon, he would see the man’s true colours.

He just hoped his brother wouldn’t be too pissed at him for getting involved in something, that could very well be considered treason.

Naruto knew he shouldn’t have opened the scroll, but he was bored! He wanted to see what techniques had been considered ‘forbidden‘. Mizuki was late and Naruto was sure, that by now, the village had raised an alarm over the scroll’s disappearance.

His eyes stopped on ajutsu called Edo Tensei. Curiously, he read the technique and frowned in disgust. The dead should be left resting. To think someone even considered resurrection in such amanner... his violet gaze flickered to the bottom of the paragraph.

It was signed with adistinct name. Senju Tobirama. If Naruto recalled correctly, he had been the Nidaime Hokage. Urgh! One of his kin had come up with ajutsu like this. And he’d muttered about Indra’s unethicality before? Oh, he’d like to take it back now. It seemed people indeed forgot alot, with time’s passing.

He shook his head and searched the scroll further. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. His eyes skidded trough the lines and he smiled. Now this was auseful jutsu and not all that hard either. It was like other Bunshin, but with some useful differences (and, by the description, it needed abit more chakra, but chakra had never been his problem).

Sensing people just entering his sensory range from two different directions, Naruto hurriedly closed the scroll and waited. Huh, interesting. One was Mizuki, but the other who was rapidly closing in on him from the village’s direction was Iruka of all people. (The man had never been as mean, as other teachers, but he hadn’t showed any affections either, so having him here was asurprise.)

The first one to break trough the foliage was Iruka. His eyes were wide and... worried? “Naruto! You baka! What did you think stealing from Hokage-sama?!”

Naruto rolled his eyes inwardly. ‘Duh, checking out atheory about atraitor. Plus, it was anice lesson for the people up there. It says something about the elite, when atwelve-year-old can slip past them, no?‘

To Iruka, he faked surprise. “Iruka-sensei? Are you here to mark the extra points on my Exam?“

Iruka stopped dead in his tracks and blinked at him with wide, confused eyes. “What are...”

Iruka’s sentence was cut off by Mizuki’s arrival. “Ah, Isee you got the Scroll, Naruto.“ the man grinned hungrily. “Now, give it to me and I’ll mark you the extra points tomorrow.”

“No! Naruto! Don’t give it...” Iruka started, only to be cut off, as Naruto released awave of Killing Intent, surprising both teachers. And, it was directed at Mizuki, who froze for asecond.

“You truly did believe Iwas that much of an idiot?“ the blonde spoke coldly, his eyes glinting as sharply, as steel. “I will not give it to you. Iknow the meaning of the word forbidden.“

Mizuki looked shocked and then he spoke. “Oh, come now, kid! Icould take it from you any day of the week. But, if you give it to me, Iwill tell you why the village hates you so much. Do you know wy they hate you? Why would even your parents abandon you? Even your whor* of amother didn’t want you.“

Naruto raised an eyebrow, but decided to play along. He was sure tha the Hokage would come. Or at the very least, send asquad of ANBU, to take the Scroll safely back to where it belonged under lock and key and the ANBU would surely take the traitor away.

“And why do they hate me?“

“It’s because...”

“No! Mizuki! It’s forbidden to talk about!” Iruka cried desperately.

The other man continoued anyway. “Twelve years ago the Kyūbi attacked the village and the Yondaime defeated it. Sealed it. And you Naruto... you are the Kyūbi.”

Naruto feigned shock for a second, but sadly, he hadn’t considered what Mizuki would do with that second. The man grabbed a fūma shuriken and hurled it towards him. However, before Naruto had a chance to stop it, Iruka cried out and tackled him away... there was a thud and Naruto looked up in shock.

He was on the ground and Iruka crouched over him – the giant throwing star sticking out of his back.

“What?!“ Mizuki called in shock. Naruto stared at the scarred man in surprise. He hadn’t expected Iruka to use his very body, as ashield to save him. (Just like his parents had on the night of his birth. Kurama had shown him the scene once, to try riling him up.)

“Iruka-sensei...“ he gasped.

Iruka grunted, looking at him. “Go, run Naruto. Take the Scroll and run.”

Naruto cautiously scrambled away from the brown-haired man, as Mizuki sneered down at them. “Why would you save the demon Iruka? It killed your parents!“

“Hai.“ Iruka nodded. “The Bakegitsune killed my parents. But Naruto is not the Kyūbi. He’s just the container. He’s achild, ashinobi of the Leaf. So, Iwon’t let you harm him.”

Naruto’s heart clenched. He’d always thought the Iruka disliked him, but now... The man looked at him. “Run, Naruto.”

Naruto glared at Mizuki and slowly stood up. He could feel the Hokage and the ANBU closing in. But Mizuki had made this personal with the comment about his parents, but harming Iruka was way too much.

“You bastard.” he snarled at Mizuki. “You made this thing personal, when you spoke of my parents! You signed your own death warrant, when you hurt Iruka-sensei.”

He felt his chakra rise to the surface and his eyes narrowed on Mizuki. He formed ahalf-Ram for better focus. “Uzumaki Hiden: Kongō Fūsa!“ (Uzumaki Secret Tradition: Adamantine Sealing Chains)

Several of the thick golden chains brust from his back and wrapped around Mizuki. Around his arms, and legs. He yanked the chains and the man fell from the tree he’d been standing on.

That was when the Hokage and the ANBU arrived at the edge of the clearing. Naruto knew they would see this, but who cared? He had to reveal sometime and this was better, than snooping around the Hokage Tower with his brother, to find out which of his parents had Senju blood.

He flared his chakra and formed aSnake seal – which caused the trees around them to bloom... crap, he really needed to work on his chakra control,– before slamming his hand on the ground. “Mokuton: Shinku Ne Keimusho!” (Wood Release: Crimson Root Prison)

The ground rumbled and Mizuki tried jumping away, but Naruto yanked him back onto the ground with the chains. Several roots broke the surrace and formed into aball-like prison around the traitor. Once the roots stopped growing, Naruto smiked and detangled his chains, pulling them back. He smirked at the look on Mizuki’s face and formed another few seals. “Mokuton: Mahi Kafun!“ (Wood Release: Paralitic Pollen)

Bright yellow flowers bloomed on the roots and released small plumes of shimmering pollen. Afew minutes later Mizuki was on the floor, unconscious.

Naruto made another handsign and the roots sank back into the earth. He huffed and turned to his sensei. “Iruka-sensei?“

“I-I’m fine.“ said the shocked teacher, ignoring the shuriken in his back. “How...?“

Naruto gave asheepish smile, before turning to the Hokage. The aged man and his ANBU seemed as speechless, as Iruka. “Your defences on the Tower are ridiculous, jiji.”

That comment seemed to snap the Hokage back to reality. “Now, how about we get Iruka to hospital and smooth this all out? And you can tell me what happened here, Naruto-kun.” he said in ahard tone.

Naruto sat patiently, watching as the medics treated Iruka. The room was abit more crowded, than the two women would have liked, but Naruto refused to leave Iruka and the Hokage wanted to have his own questions. Once they were done, they turned to Naruto.

“Let me have alook, Uzumaki-san.“ the black-haired woman asked kindly. Naruto knew her – she was the Hokage’s personal medic Shimizu Saya.

He shook his head. “I’m fine Shimizu-san, thank you. Iwas abit winded from all the chakra use but...“ he shrugged, “Being aJinchūriki helps with that.“ she looked surprised, that he said that, but nodded anyway and left with her collegue soon after.

“Now...“ the Hokage started, “You could...” he was cut off, as the door to the room opened and avery pissed off Uchiha Sasuke marched in, his Sharingan spinning wildly.

“Uzumaki!“ he hissed.

Naruto looked sheepish. “Eh, heh, Nī-sama...” Sasuke whacked him across the head and Naruto rubbed the sore spot with apout. “Nee, Nī-sama that was uncalled for.”

“Uncalled for?!“ Sasuke hissed. “You said you’ll be back in an hour and you weren’t. The next thing Iknow that my senses go mad with your chakra all over the place! What the hell did you do, anyway?!“

The blonde scratched his cheek. “Might have unlocked Mokuton.”

Sasuke blinked, freezing on the spot for a second. “W-what?“

“You heard me right.“Naruto grinned foxily.

Sasuke scowled and lightly shoved Naruto again. “Baka.“ he glared, eyes narrowed. “You make me worry again and Iwill put atracking seal on you. Get it?“

“But...“

Sasuke growled. “Try that again and Iswear on the Shinju...”

Naruto huffed. “Fine, fine. Next time I’ll tell you, if Iwant to catch atraitor. Better?” he sulked.

Sasuke sighed, giving the blonde a sharp look. “Better.“ he muttered, ruffling Naruto’s hair. Naruto scowled at the Uchiha, but it didn’t deter Sasuke. In fact, he messed up his hair even more, if that was possible. Then, as Sasuke released the blonde, he noticed Iruka too and the bandages around his torso and the traces of blood on the man’s discarded shirt and vest. “Sensei? Are you alright?“

Iruka nodded, throwing the two boys afond look. “Yes, Sauske, thank you for asking. Ishall be healthy in aweek or so again.” Sasuke nodded, pleased with the information. Then the Uchiha grabbed the blonde.

“Come on, baka. Time to go home.”

“Not so fast, boys.“ the Hokage spoke. He’d watched the scene with some interest –after all, an Uchiha had just called an Uzumaki (and very possibly, aSenju) his brother. Of course, he’d heard it from the ANBU, but he hadn’t seen the boys interact so freely before.

“Something’s wrong, Hokage-sama?“ Sasuke asked, throwing ascolding look at the blonde. “What did you do this time?“ he muttered.

“Well, Ithink we should speak about Naruto’s... heritage and condi...“

“As the Fox’s host?“ Sasuke asked, “Or that his parents are Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina?“

Both Iruka’s and the Hokage’s eyes widened, altough for different reasons. “Nī-sama!“ Naruto jabbed the Uchiha in the ribs. “Couldn’t you have been subtler?“

Sasuke shrugged. “There’s nothing to be subtle about. The only thing we don’t know, is which of them is related to the Senju.“

“And how do you know that?“ asked the Hokage.

Naruto groaned and shared alook with his brother. Asilent agreement passed between them. They would tell them half truths. (They would think they’d gone mad, if they brought up the whole transmigration/reincarnation thing.)

The blonde scratched the back of his neck, as he looked at his surrogate grandfather. “Well, you see it happened...“

Chapter 8: Team 13 of Konoha

Chapter Text

Naruto and Sasuke walked side by side towards the Hokage’s office. It had been three days since the incident with Mizuki. They had been summoned to meet with the leader –well, Naruto had been summoned, but the blonde insisted Sasuke to tag along.

“We’re here to see the Hokage.“ Naruto said, looking at the secretary. The woman studied them for asecond before she smiled faintly.

“Go along, Uzumaki-kun. Hokage-sama is free and is expecting you.”

“Thank you, Midori-san.“ Naruto answered with agrin of his own, as they passed her desk and stoppped before the door. Naruto knocked before entering. Sasuke slipped in behind him, as if he were his shadow.

As the door closed behind them, the Hokage looked up. The aged man’s eyes immediately landed on him, before he looked back at Naruto. However, before he could speak, Naruto did.

“Nice day, jiji. Did you want to say something?“

“Yes. But since it concerns your family, Ithought we might have aprivate...“

“Sasuke stays.“ Naruto said, his tone final. It reminded Sasuke of their first life – that tone was like their father’s. “He’s my brother and best friend. Iwould tell him anyway, whatever you have to say. Just spare me the time and let him stay.”

The Hokage seemed thoughtful for amoment before he nodded. “Very well. As you know, Iasked my medics to do ablood test, after what had happened in the forest.“

Naruto hummed. On the outside he was calm and composed, but Sasuke saw it. The barely restained curiosty and excitement glinting in his violet eyes. “Yes. And?“

“Your mother was aRoyal Uzumaki. Apure blood. It’s Minato, who had the Senju blood, it seems. He was, the son of Senju Minami, akunoichi we thought dead. Minami was the daughter of my sensei. Naruto, you are the great-grandson of Senju Tobirama and thus, Hashirama-sama’s great-nephew.”

Sasuke’s eyes widened. He looked at the blonde. Naruto was forzen. The Hokage had made him speechless –a feat not many had managed to accomplish. Not now, nor in their previous life. Naruto had always had asharp tongue and he voiced his thoughts, sometimes even abit carelessly.

After what seemed to be eternity, Naruto got agrip of himself and nodded, looking at the Hokage pictures, that lined the office wall. “Did Otō-san know?“

The Sandaime shook his head. “I doubt it. Both of your parents were orphans of the war. Kushina remembered her parents and her homeland, but Minato knew nothing. He didn’t even know their names. It was Jiraya, my student, who found Minato with ablonde man. We have to assume that man was Minato’s father. With his dying breath, the man asked Jiraya, after he found Jiraya to be ashinobi of Konoha, to bring Minato to the village, to grow in his mother’s home, that was all the man said. Ionly know this because Jiraya told me. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“I see.“ the blonde said. “Thank you for telling me.“

The Sandaime sighed. “Now that you know most of it, Isee no reason to hold anything back. I’m sorry Ihad to lie to you. But they asked me to shield you from their enemies, especially Minato’s and Iknew no other way. The least thing Icould do, was to give your mother’s name.“

Naruto sighed. “I could be angry and Ibelieve we all know Iwould have the right to be angry.“

The Sandaime nodded. For the first time since they entered, Sasuke saw worry and discomfort on the aged shinobi’s features. “Yes, Iknow and...“

Naruto shook his head and the Sandaime fell silent. “I’m not angry. I’m not happy how the village treated me, but the ignorance of others is not your fault.“ he said quietly. “My parents asked you to protect me from their enemies and you did. I’m in Konoha still and alive. So that’s something Ishould be grateful for, Isuppose.“

“Thank you for the understanding, Naruto.“

“However, Ihave arequest.“

“What is it?“ the man asked.

“Let me use my Clan names. Their symbols. I’m ashinobi now. Let the world know who Iam.“

The Sandaime’s eyes were wide. “Naruto, you have to understand, carrying those names, is dangerous. You are one of the two last Senjus and possibly, the last Uzumaki. People might hunt your for your name.”

Sasuke huffed. “Like some people might hunt me, for my name and my Sharingan. It’s the same and you didn’t deny me my heritage, wealth and name.“ his eyes narrowed. “If you deny Naruto’s request, you deny him the things Ihave and that would make you ahypocrite, Hokage-sama.”

The Hokage seemed taken aback by his words, than he gave him asharp look. Sasuke was about to speak again, when Naruto placed ahand on his shoulder. “Sasuke, please. No need to be so harsh.”

Sasuke stole asidelong glance at the blonde. “It’s the truth.“

There was ashort stare down between the two of them, but before either of them could say anyhing more, the Hokage sighed. They looked at the man, as he nodded to Naruto.

“Request granted, Genin Uzumaki.“ for amoment, there was quiet and Sasuke could see the scowl, that made its way to his brother’s face. “My apologies, it should be Senju-Uzumaki now, Isuppose.”

Kakashi liked being an ANBU. The hard, bloody missions helped him forget his failures in life. It helped him forget, that almost every person he truly cared about, was dead. And he liked being an ANBU, because that way, he could be close to Naruto. He could be close to Naruto and keep the promise he’d given himself, after figuring it out, who Naruto’s parents were.

Plus, being around Naruto, was now synonymus to being near Sasuke, which was also good. He had failed to notice the shift in Itachi, which had ended up with the Uchiha killing his Clan. Perhaps, he could keep an eye on Sasuke and prevent the younger from going down adark path. He owed that to Shisui. And Obito, too.

So yes, Kakashi liked being in ANBU. Yet, here he stood, in front of the Sandaime Hokage, in the man’s office. The man himself was gazing calmly at him, smoking his pipe. The Hokage was calmness personified, as if he hadn’t just told Kakashi he was being kicked out of ANBU. Well, the man said retire from ANBU, but that was the same to Kakashi.

“But Hokage-sama....“ Kakashi tried protesting, but the Hokage raised ahand.

“I need you, as aJōnin-sensei.“ the Hokage said, taking adrag of his pipe.

Kakashi couldn’t help, but glare. “So you’re kicking me out of ANBU, your best capitan, so that Ican go and babysit some spoiled brats?“

Amusem*nt flashed in the man’s eyes and Kakashi swore he would burn all of the old geezer’s Icha Icha (it didn’t matter, that he thought of the book, as sacred) and then grab Naruto – and if he grabbed Naruto, Sasuke would surely tag along,– and become aMissing-Nin.

“Spoiled brats?“ the man hummed. “You have interesting concept of spoiled, Kakashi. Your students are orphans, after all. Ithought you’d thank me, if Ilet you tutor Naruto and Sasuke.”

Kakashi froze, needing amoment to make sense of the words. Tutor Naruto and Sasuke.

When he had found out about Naruto, he had tried adopting the little ball of sunshine, and hadn’t stopped trying, until Naruto reached the age of five. Then, being perceptive as he was, Naruto learned that ANBU were often around him, to keep the mean people away. After that particularly bad sixth birthday, the boy became even sharper. He showed signs of his parents skills and inellect and Kakashi noticed sadly, that after that incident, he matured far too fast.

But he knew of the ANBU following him and he cared for them. Sometimes, they would hold short conversations with Naruto and Naruto remembered. He remembered their favourite foods and their birthdays. He was smart enough not to ask for their names, but he asked for their birthdays and he would leave small gifts – some sweets or plants, sometimes particularly nice drawings– as gifts. With those small gestures Naruto had soon become the favourite mission of every single ANBU operative.

And if possible, with those small gestures, Kakashi grew to cherish Naruto even more. The blonde was his little brother, despite Naruto not knowing his name. But now... now he would be able to show himself to Naruto. To walk up to the blonde and hug him without his ANBU gear hiding his identity.

And he could do the same to Sasuke. He could tell the Uchiha about Obito and Shisui and about their dreams and ideals of peace. Perhaps sharing the good memories, would make sure Sasuke never fell into the darkness – the darkness he hadn’t seen in Itachi.

“So, will you take them on?“ the Sandaime asked after along pause.

Kakashi nodded and happily tossed his ANBU mask onto the desk. This was his chance at redemption. “Hai, Hokage-sama.”

The man hummed, obviously noticing his sudden change of mind. “Yamato will be back in aweek from his mission. He will be your partner in teaching Naruto and Sasuke.“

Kakashi nodded. It was easy to work with Yamato and they were even friends, he supposed. “Who’s the third Genin, Hokage-sama?“

The Sandaime looked down at two files, which Kakashi had afeeling were Naruto and Sasuke’s. “No one. You, Yamato and the two Genin will be Team 13.“

Kakashi’s single eye went wide with shock. Team 13 were usually the hopeless losers. The ones, who were even worse, than the dead last of aclass. Team 13 was formed rarely and only when the Genin involved had special abilities or Kekkei Genkai, which the village wanted to exploit.

“But... Hokage-sama...“

“Neither of them are deadlasts, yes. Iknow.“ the man cut him off. “However, they are both alone in away, traumatised by their childhood and bystanders in the society, in away. However, they bonded over that and Idon’t think Ihave to explain to you, how close they are. In fact, perhaps you know more about them, than Ido.“

Indeed he did. He had been shocked all those years ago, when he heard the two refer to one another as brothers, but by now, it was as normal, as the sun rising in the sky. Although, sometimes, their seriousness, formal and almost archaic way of speech did surprise him. Kakashi was sure, that if Naruto’s parents were here, they would have questioned if the blonde was truly their son. Neither of them were the archaic or formal type.

Heh, Kushina-san despised formality, despite being aClan Head herself. Heck, Minato-sensei hated it too and that was saying something, since he’d been the Hokage! How had their kid ended up being so formal and composed, Kakashi would never understand...

He nodded. “Yes, Iknow them. But... what do you hope to achieve by this, Hokage-sama?“

The Sandaime hummed for amoment. “Train them. Train them to be the best. Let them be the best individually. Let them be the best, the strongest tag team the Nations had seen. Train them to be better, than the Sannin. Iknow that between you and Yamato it’s not an impossible request to make.“

If Kakashi weren’t wearing his mask, his jaw would have been on the floor. To be better, than the Sannin...

Holy crap! The Sandaime wanted those two to be better, than the Sannin?! And how the hell were they meant to achive that? Sure, him and Yamato were skilled, but... but teaching...

Apart of Kakashi was curious about the Sandaime’s reasons. Why did the man want those two trained so toughly? He had to have reasons, other, than the fact, that as aJinchūriki, Naruto could be the village’s most dangerous trump card, or that Sasuke, with his powerful Sharingan – because Kakashi had felt the power behind those eyes, – could be the village’s only saving grace, if Naruto ever lost control.

The man had to have reasons. But Kakashi didn’t ask. He didn’t ask, because the Sandaime had just given him (and Yamato) leave to train the boys the way they saw fit. The Sandaime had given them leave to give the boys all the skills and power they saw fit.

And Kakashi would do just that. He would teach those children well and give them the power and skill they would need. Because the world of shinobi was dangerous and bloody. You needed skill and power to survive. And he would make sure those boys survived.

If Kakashi had asay in things (and obviously he did, as their sensei) those two would grow grey and old. Grey and old, like his father, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei and Kushina-san had no chance to be.

“Do you still accept, Kakashi?“ the old man asked, a note of challenge in his tone.

Kakashi sallowed. But the Hokage trusted him. Trusted them to do it. And those were Naruto and Sasuke they were talking about. He owed this to both.

“Hai, Hokage-sama.” he answered seriously, as he bowed.

Being Genin of the village meant getting astep closer to their goal. It meant they didn’t have to hold back so much. It was time to reveal their true colours.

So, they got new clothes as well.

Sasuke grinned, as he looked at Naruto. “You look good, Otōto.“

Naruto wore amesh shirt with black shinobi pants and black open-toed sandals. He had awhite, short-sleeved haori, like the one his father had worn. However, this one had different patterns. It had six black magatama around the collar and red swirl/wave like pattern on the bottom. The right sleeve had the Senju varja on it, while the left had the Uzumaki swirl. Naruto’s forehead protector now had black band and it was tightly secured around his forehead, the two long stands of his blonde hair wrapped in bandages. He had asimple silver pendant hanging from his neck, which formed the Kanji for ‘nine‘. (And Naruto had jabbed him in the ribs to be subtle.) The back of his haori had the moon-and-circle of the Ōtsutsuki Clan in black outline. He also had abrown utility belt, which held his weapons and scrolls.

Naruto hummed and mirrored his grin. “You aren’t bad yourself, Nī-sama.“

Sasuke wore ablack shirt, its sleeves reaching his elbows, both sleeves having small red-white uchiwas sewed into them. Above it, he had a white, high-collared vest with the six magatama around the collar. The back of the vest also dispayed the symbol of the Ōtsutsuki. He had black shinobi pants and dark blue sandals. His forehead protector had the standard dark blue cloth and it hung loosely around his neck. Two stands of his hair, framing his face were wrapped in bandages. He had blue paint under his eyes, the corners turned upwards. He’d also had a tantō hanging from his side, the rest of his weapos and scrolls were secured on the utility belt.

“Hn.“ he grunted, as he nodded towards the window. “I hope we’ll be on the same team, otherwise I’ll become aMissing-nin.“

“Nī-sama!“ Naruto scolded him, with a half-hearted glare. They jumped out to speed trough the rooftops towards the Academy.

As they walked into the classroom side by side, clad in their new attires, Sasuke could feel the curious gazes of all their batchmates. His fangirls shrieked and swooned, but he ignored them. They sat in their usual spots and waited for Iruka to arrive.

After afew minutes, Iruka arrived and asked the class to settle down. Predictably, no one heard him as everyone was chatting with someone, excited about the team placements. Sasuke’s gaze skidded trough the room and he did aquick count of those present. ‘The numbers don’t add up. Odd.‘

“SETTLE DOWN!“ Iruka-sensei roared, using his Big Head Jutsu, obviously at the end of his patience. As the Chūnin moved, Sasuke noted the small stiffness in his movements. So he was still feeling that wound Mizuki gave him. (Sasuke wished he could have broken the bastrd’s nose. Naruto had told him, that Mizuki had badmouthed his parents and that was unforgivable in Sasuke’s eyes. Uzumaki Kushina was, after all, his godmother. And years ago, when they’d met the chakra imprints, the Yondaime had made it clear, that he was part of their family too.)

Silenced and abit cowed, the class quieted down. Iruka nodded, pleased and cleared his troath. “First and foremost, Iwould like to congratulate you for graduating. Secondly, Iwish to tell you, that now you are shinobi of Konoha and once you leave this classroom, you will be considered adults. Act accordingly. Your actions reflect on your team, on your village. And most importantly, your actions may mean the difference between life and death. Iwish you luck on your journey, as shinobi.”

Sasuke saw afew unsure glances between friends, some whispered softly about things he couldn’t catch, but nothing more.

“Now, on to team placements. Iwill name your teammates and your sensei in numerical order.”

Sasuke only half-listened, bored out of his mind. Iruka went from Team One to Team Twelve and by the Rikudō! Neither him nor Naruto had been called out yet and he was begging to get worried, that they indeed will have to become missing-nin, to get somewhere, if they wanted to stop Kaguya and Zetsu...

“Team Thirteen is“ Iruka looked up, placing his paper on the desk, “ Uchiha Sasuke and Senju-Uzumaki Naruto. Boys, your sensei is Hatake Kakashi. Good luck to everyone. Your Jōnin instructors will come soon..”

“Wait asecond!“ Kiba growled, obviously pissed. He pointed at them, “Why are they just two? Every other team has three members!”

Iruka sighed, but gave the Inuzaka apointed look. “Indeed. But this was Hokage-sama’s decision, Kiba. Sasuke and Naruto, as ateam. If you have aproblem, you may raise your concerns to Hokage-sama himself.”

“W-wait, sensei. Did you say Senju?“ Ino asked, looking at them, then back at their teacher. “I thought only Tsunade-sama remained of the Senju Clan?“

Iruka nodded. “Hai. Isaid Senju-Uzumaki Naruto.“

“But if you’re aSenju, Naruto...“ Choji said, looking their way, “why not use the name before?“

Naruto shrugged. “My father was of the Senju and he asked Sandaime-sama to shield me from those, who would seek to destroy what remained of the Clan. Surely, you noticed that the only one, who carries that name is Tsunade of the Sannin. That’s because she’s an accomplished kunoichi and they would not go after her. Hunting down a child is much easier.“

“But if you are aSenju, you aren’t an orphan.“ Shino said, creeping out afew, as they heard him speak. “Tsunade-sama, as your Clan Head, should be your guardian.“

Naruto nodded. “True, Shino. However, Tsunade-hime is unaware of my heritage and Sandaime-sama couldn’t track her, to tell her. He’s still looking for her. She had left the village shortly before I was born.“

Iruka cleared his troath and the class looked at him. “You should go and eat. Any questions you may have to Naruto, may be asked over food or after the team meetings. Iwish you luck. Have agood day.”

“Good day.“ some murmured, as Iruka left.

Sasuke stood from his seat, just as the door shut behind the scarred man and some eyes turned to him. He ignored it, looking at his brother, his hand working on opening the window. “Are you coming, Otōto?“

Naruto flashed him afoxy grin. “Lead the way, Nī-sama.“

And with that, they leapt out of the classroom.

They walked back to the Academy after adelicious few blows of ramen. Sasuke had never been addicted to afood before. Not now, nor in their previous life. But he had to addmit, that the ramen the Ichirakus’ made was addictive. He could understand, why Naruto called it the food of kami. (Not that he would addmit that to anyone, other than the blonde himself.)

Sasuke came to an abrupt halt, as he ran into his brother. Naruto had stopped, staring with wide, disbelieving eyes. Sasuke followed his line of sight and his own weaker sensory tingled at the familiar chakra.

It was aman in his twenties, with distinctive silver, gravity-defying hair. One black eye studied them, the other was covered by the slanted headband. The lower half of his face was covered by dark blue cloth mask and he wore standard Konoha Jōnin uniform.

The man seemed abit surprised, then he waved at them, his eye crincling into an upside down U. Sasuke supposed it meant he was smiling. (Gods, this man was harder to read, than himself and his stoic kin, as Naruto was fond of saying. What he wouldn’t give for his brother’s enhanced sensory now! It was totally unfair, that the Senju-Uzumaki could read people’s emotions. True, his senses were more sensitive to negative emotions, but he could generally tell positive ones as well, as long as the person he was reading was close enough.)

“Hello Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun. Iwas about to pick you up in the classroom, but this is even easier.“

Sasuke allowed atiny upward quirk of his lips. The ANBU – specifically Inu and Tora – had grown on him too. Somewhere along the way, when he realised the two males cared for his baby brother/friend as much, as he did he started considering the two apart of their teeny, tiny family. The fact, that Tora and Inu’s chakra had atouch of Asura’s and his, might have also helped endear them, after he was over his anger.

“Inu-san.“ they greeted him, Naruto waving enthusiastically. Naruto started skipping over to the other and Sasuke shook his head at the antics. Naruto practically attached himself to the Jōnin, muttering about missing him. Not that Sasuke blamed him too much. In the past weeks, neither Tora, nor Inu had been among their watchers.

Naruto’s worry had become so unbearable, that once, Sasuke simply stopped Neko and asked her where the two others were. She’d laughed at their worry and told them they were doing other missions, but would be back soon and then she left, promising to pass their worries and well-wishes to the missing operatives.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and pried his brother off of the silver-haired Sharingan-user and gave the man ahalf-apologetic look. “Excuse my brother. We’ve been abit worried, when you and Tora hadn’t turned up at the appartment for so long.“

“It’s quiet alright.“ the older said, ruffling their hair fondly. Sasuke gave the man asharp look, but his answer was just another weird ‘eye-smile‘. “Now, let us settle on anearby training ground for the introductions, shall we?“

Kakashi had not expected to be in achoke-hold, courtesy of an enthusiastic Naruto, the moment he met his new students. But it was nice to know the blonde cared for him. Kakashi glanced at the Memorial Stone and smiled under his mask.

‘Minato-sensei, Kushina-san, Obito. Can you see us now? Iswear, Iwill take care of them.‘ he woved, as he sat down, his back against atree.

Kakashi studied the two, as they walked next to each other. Naruto was literally radiating excitement and happiness, however, he tried to remain composed and kept up with Sasuke. Sasuke was much calmer, but the earlier quirk of his lips told Kakashi, that the Uchiha was just as pleased to see him, as Naruto. (He briefly wondered, when had he figuratively adopted the two into his tiny family, but he couldn’t pinpoint amoment in time.)

The boys choice of clothing was also asurprise. Naruto’s briefly reminded Kakashi of his sensei, while Sasuke’s was something that perhaps Shisui would have worn. He caught the paterns too. Interesting choice –he wondered what the magatama and the moon-circle sign on their backs was supposed to symbolise. And since when did Sasuke have paint under his eyes?!

The boys settled down and Kakashi cleared his troath. “So, let’s start with introductions. Iknow alot about you two, having practically watched you grow up, but that doesn’t mean Iknow everything. Let’s see if you can say something new.“ he gave them an eye-smile. “But, since Ihaven’t even properly introduced myself, Iwill start.“

The boys glanced at each other an then nodded at him to continue. “So, I’m Hatake Kakashi, former student of the Yondaime Hokage. Formerly an ANBU Captain, now your Jōnin-sensei, if you prove yourself worthy. Ilike salt-broiled saury and eggplant-mixed miso soup, spending time with my nin-dogs and reading. Idislike fried foods or sweets and those, who leave their teammates behind. My dreams for the future? Hmm, it’s to make you two strong and make sure you survive.“

The boys nodded, showing that they’d listened. He’d seen Naruto’s eyes glimmer, when he mentioned his sensei. “Ne, Kakashi-san?“

“Yes, Naruto?“

“If you were taught by Otō-san...“he paused for asecond. “Did you meet my mother too?“

Kakashi blinked. Naruto knew of his parents? The Sandaime hadn’t mentioned that, but now that converation about serious training made more sense. Naruto knew of his heritage and the Sandaime expected it to be known by others, sooner rather than later.

Kakashi chuckled, the many fond memories of the redhead coming back. “I did. Ican tell you about them some other time, if you like. But, how do you know about your heritage?“

The boys shared alook. Sasuke nodded and the blonde turned back to him. “I tried to ruin the seal once.“ Kakashi’s blood ran cold. What had the stupid village done, to nearly break someone like Naruto? “They left chakra imprints in the seal, so we met them, as Imanaged to drag Sasuke into by mind, too.“

“It was then, that Ifound out Naruto’s mother was my godmother.“ Sasuke injected.

Kakashi blinked. “Huh, that’s new. But not all that surprising. Kushina-san had been close to your mother. Actually, your parents had been close. Best friends, even, Icould say.“ The boys smiled and that and Kakashi nodded at Naruto. “But, on with the introductions, please.“

Naruto grinned. “I’m Senju-Uzumaki Naruto. Ilike nature and gardening, spending time with Sasuke, training – Fūinjutsu is my favourite– and ramen. Idon’t like people, who can’t make the difference between Bijū and Jinchūriki, as well as people who judge without knowing all the facts. Oh, and Ireally dislike those, who hurt my precious people. My dream for the future is to become Hokage and bring peace to the world – not necessarily in that order.“

Kakashi hummed. “Good. Sasuke, please.“

“My name is Uchiha Sasuke. Ilike meditating, reading, spending time with Naruto and training – especially Kenjutsu. My favourite foods are ramen and tomatoes. Idislike people, who can’t make the difference between Bijū and Jinchūriki. Ialso dislike sweets, traitors and those, who harm my precious people. My dream is to find acertain man, help Naruto become Hokage and bring peace to the world – not necessarily in that order.”

The scarecrow nodded, studying the two boys. They’d surely grown up in an interesting way. They were so similar, yet different in other things, that they could pass for brothers. But, considering their way of address, it was nothing new. Arandom passer-by, who ignored their different looks, surely would call them brothers.

“Well, thank you for sharing all this. You are free for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, meet me here, at seven in the morning. Iwant to see your skills. Oh and don’t eat breakfast.”

The boys stood up and muttered their parting words, before leaping into the trees and leaving. Kakashi watched the with ever-growing curiousty.

Those two were indeed close. But were they close enough? If the Hokage realy wanted him to make atag team out of these kids, than they had to be closer than average teammates, as they had no third member to fall back on, if everything went south.

They seemed like brothers, but even brothers could fight, like enemies, if they thought something was theirs and the other should not have it. For some reason, Kakashi feared Sasuke might fall into that –to try and turn against Naruto, if he saw abetter opportunity. The way the Uchiha had mentioned finding Itachi – his tone had been cold and cutting,– set Kakashi on the edge.

‘Well, Iwill just have to see how they perform tomorrow.‘ he thought with ashrug.

Chapter 9: Tag Team

Chapter Text

Sasuke was absently walking trough the streets, wondering what to buy, so they could cook. Well, Naruto could – he had to addmit, he had never been agood cook. Well, not before. Now he was abit better, but Naruto could work miracles. (If only the shops sold him normal quality products. Okay, not everyone was that bad, but some shopkeepers did sell him spoiled food.)

To avoid such problems, they’d made aroutine. Sasuke did shopping, Naruto cooked and every other chore they switched about. It was asystem that worked well – plus, if Naruto had agood day, his brother would be extra nice and do some delicious dish with tomatoes.

So, Sasuke was on his way home from shopping, asmall bag in his hand. His gaze absently wandered around, ignoring the civilians, who almost kissed the ground he walked on. He nodded to some of the shinobi whom he knew in passing and hurried towards Naruto’s appartment.

He stopped suddenly, when notincing movement close to an alley. He saw aflash of white again and started walking towards it curiously. When he reached the spot, where he’d seen the flash, he could hear soft whining. He put down his bag and followed the voice, as quietly as he could.

Behind atrashcan he saw asmall puppy curled up, whining softly. He crouched down and reached out. The animal drew back, whining again and Sasuke stopped. “Sh, Ijust want to see you.“ he murmured, trying again. He wished Naruto was here – his Mokuton always did the trick, calming down anything and anyone (human, Bijū or animal). He slowly inched closer and picked up the puppy, studying it.

He had tiny black eyes, with light brown fur and white underbelly and abushy tail. And it seemed the poor thing had also hurt aleg. The more he studied the puppy, the more he felt something familiar...

...oh yes, their dog! Shiro. He remembered Shiro protecting Asura and he had unlocked his Sharingan then...

And this puppy looked just like Shiro had – down to the last fluff of fur.

He slowly stroked the dog’s head, ignoring the filth sticking to his hand in the process. “Hn, your name’s Shiro now. How about coming home with me to my brother?“

The puppy gave asmall bark and Sasuke decided, that no matter what Naruto said, the ball of fluff would stay. But, considering how much this puppy looked like their previous Shiro, he had afeeling Naruto wouldn’t need much convincing.

Satisfied with his findings for the day, Sasuke grabbed the bag from the ground and headed home. He would have to make asmall detour for dog food, but he had afeeling, the extra time would be worht it.

The next morning the boys walked into the training groud with full stomachs. And they were right on time – Sasuke hated being late and so, he dragged his brother out of bed, too. If they relied on Naruto’s sense of ‘five more minutes, we have time‘, they would forever be late everywhere.

(While Naruto used Sensory to get about in the appartment, unwilling to open his eyes just yet, Sasuke had used the time to feed Shiro and play with the energetic ball of fur. Shiro knew how to be nice – Kurama should learn from him, Sasuke decided.)

Naruto’s eyes flickered around the empty training ground. Kakashi was not anywhere visible, but... “Come on, Kakashi-san!“ he called, shifting to look at aparticular tree. “We know you’re already here. Don’t make us wait.“

Amoment later the leaves rustled and their former ANBU guard dropped onto the ground in acrouch. “You’re realy aspecial case Naruto. You know that Iwas masking my chakra, correct?“

Naruto hummed. “Yes, but... I’m special, as you said. Due to my abilities, Ican hold the furball’s chakra and that, which gets past Otō-san’s seal, gets purified, in away. That chakra enhances my senses. Sight, hearing and smell. Plus, that same chakra provides me alink to him. He can sense the negative energies and due to the link, Ican too.“ he grinned. “So... you can try to hide all you want, you won’t be able to run away.“

Kakashi grunted. “Good to know. If you impress me and we’re realy becoming ateam, remind me of the stronger senses. The Hatake Clan worked with dog summons for generations too and we have heightened senses as well. Not as sharp, as an Inuzaka’s, but close. Ican help you train with it.”

The blonde grinned. “Alright. So... what’s it you want us to do?“

Kakashi took the bell out and showed it to the boys. “Get the bell from me. And whichever of you wins gets food and becomes my student.“ he explained, pointing at abento waiting in the base of the tree.

The boys eyes flickered to the bento, but much to Kakashi’s surprise, their stomachs remained silent. “You ate breakfast.“ he observed. They nodded and he glared. “Shinobi Rule One. Always follow orders.“

Sasuke matched his gaze without aflinch. “No. Shinobi Rule One, Look underneath the underneath. Shinobi Rule Two, always follow orders, useless those are to hinder your performance or they are to endanger you or your teammates.“

Kakashi looked at the Uchiha in surprise. Had the kid memorised the rules inside out, or what? Usually, this was something the new Genin didn’t know and fell for. These two hadn’t. They were indeed something else. Perhaps the Hokage had seen it? Had seen that these two could be something, that hadn’t been seen since Hashirama and Madara? (The Shodaime and the Uchiha Patriarch had been the deadliest duo in the village history before Madara defected and the shinobi world hadn’t seen such aduo ever since.)

“Well, whoever gets the bell, becomes aGenin.“ he said, letting the small silver trinket jingle softly.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other, before both of them crossed their arms and shook their heads. “We quit.“ they said in perfect sync. It sent a shiver down Kakashi’s spine.

Then, their words made sense and his eyes went wide. “W-what? You don’t just quit...“

“We do.“ Naruto pouted. “You either take both of us, as your students...“

“...or neither of us.“ Sasuke finished. “We don’t leave each other behind. Friends and brothers, no matter what. So either both of us, or neither of us.“

“But, the village might be upset then.“ Naruto continoued his eyes narrowing and he started leaking some Killing Intent. “Either the Jinchūriki or the last Uchiha refusing to become shinobi. Abig loss to the military of the village. And they would blame you, Hatake-san.“

Kakashi blinked owlishly. Were... were these two treathening him? They had the balls to treathen an ex-ANBU, who could kill them in asingle move?

“Are you treathening me?“ he asked.

“No.“ Sasuke said, “We stated asimple fact.“ then suddenly both boys leapt back, as if there had been asingn he hadn’t seen and did afew handseals. “Kanton: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!“ (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) Sasuke called.

“Fūton: Daitoppa!” (Wind Release: Great Breaktrough) he heard Naruto call.

Suddenly, Sasuke’s moderately-sized fireball become much, much larger, the flames burning white-hot, as the combined thing headed towards him. Kakashi cursed under his breath and dodged. He watched with wide eyes, as the jutsu tore trough the trees, scorching the ground. Holy...! And those had been two C-rank techniques... How much chakra did they put into those?

He didn’t have much time to think on that, because Sasuke descended on him, with Taijutsu. He was good and the fact, that the three tomoe spun in his eyes meant some advantage to him. Sure, Kakashi knew how the Sharingan worked and he could counter it... but if Naruto did asneak attack or something of the sort, he might forget himself... ‘No, don’t think like that. They’re two Genin.‘

Kakashi dodged Sasuke’s next attack and kicked the Uchiha backwards. Sasuke cursed, but kept acool head. Even before Kakashi could think about riling him up, Naruto came at him. The blonde’s Taijutsu was also good, but Kakashi had to pay more attention, as Naruto seemed to be using his own style, instead of using one Kakashi was familiar with.

Kakashi tried sweeping Naruto’s feet from below him, but the blonde jumped over his leg and instead aimed apunch at him with his right hand. Kakashi raised his left and caught it and grunted at the force of the blow – it even sent him skidding back afew inches. Did Naruto use chakra to enhance his blows?

He sensed the danger, rather then saw it. He shoved Naruto away and the Uzumaki staggered back. Kakashi turned and pulled out akunai to deflect the hail of shuriken Sasuke had sent his way. Just as he sent the last projectile off its track, he felt the ground rumble beneath him. He jumped upwards, using asmall burst of chakra, just as golden kunai burst from the ground... no, not kunai. Chains.

His gaze flickered to Naruto who had asmile on his face. “Uzumaki Hiden: Kongō Fūsa!” (Uzumaki Secret Technique: Adamantine Sealing Chains)

sh*t! Freaking Uzumaki... and their freakish chakra and seals! One of the chains caught his leg and yanked him downwards.

“Katon: Karyū Endan!“ (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)

Kakashi cursed whoever had allowed Uchiha Sasuke near anything Katon-related. That was afreaking B-ranked jutsu! B-rank wasn’t for Genin, for kami’s sake! Kakashi went trough aset of seals, glad that Naruto’s chain only caught his leg. Any more hold for that thing and it would have hindered him in moulding chakra.

“Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!“ (Water Release: Water Bullet Technique) he spit out some bullets of water. The two opposing elements collided, cancelling each other out and leaving acloud of steam. He felt the chain untangle and he stumbled to the ground ungracefully.

“Suiton: Mizurappa!“ (Water Release: Wild Water Wave)

“Raiton: Raikyū!“ (Lightning Release: Lightning Ball)

He cursed, as the combined move cut trough the last remants of the steam. Who had taught these kids so many jutsu? And who the hell had allowed them to learn this good teamwork? Kakashi was all for teamwork, but this was ridiculous!

He dodged the electrocuted wave of water and he watched as it left amoderate crater in the ground.

Some shinobi needed months of training –even those, were on the same team – to get so good at combining moves. But, it was as if the boys chakra resonated with each other, working like amagnet and when they wanted it, their moves would merge to create even deadlier combinations.

He shifted his gaze back and found the boys waiting for him to move, both of them having weapons at the ready. Sasuke had two kunai and Naruto was cracking his knuckles, with ash*t eating grin on his face.

They were good, Kakashi had to addmit.

“Try this!“ Naruto cried, and then slammed his fist into the ground. The earth cracked from the force of it (gods, the brat hit like Tsunade-sama!) and then, to his utter bafflement spikes of wood formed around him “Mokuton: Yuki: Ibaranomori!” (Wood Release: Oil Tree: Forest of Thorns)

The thorns rose above his head and met ameter or so above him, cutting the chances of escape. Kakashi growled and started to mould his chakra...

“I would not set that thing on fire, if Iwere you, sensei.“ Sasuke spoke, almost smugly. “As you know, water flows trough small veins in each and every living tree.“

“That one, instead of water, has oil.“ Naruto said with asmirk. “Try burning it to escape and you give yourself apainful death.“

Kakashi glared at the boys and dropped the handsign and released the chakra, which he had planned to turn into flames, to burn the wood away. (At least now, he understood why the Hokage said Tenzo would join, as aco-teacher.)

He glared at the two boys from his spot, not even willing to touch the thorns surrounding him. “You little monsters. Little Chūnin monsters, parading as Genin.“

Sasuke smiked and Naruto laughed, as he formed aSnake seal and spiked his chakra. With agreat rumble, the wooden spikes sunk back into the ground. Making sure there was no wood where it shouldn’t be, Kakashi inched away from where he had been previously trapped.

“So, senei, are you satisfied with our level of teamwork?“ the Uchiha asked, the amused expression never leaving his face.

“Yes.“ Kakashi grunted.

What the hell these two had been doing in the Academy so long? (And how the hell was Naruto in the lower half of the class, preformance-wise?) They should have been out awhile ago and should be Chūnin by now...

He didn’t even want to know, what else the two were capable of, but if Naruto showed up tomorrow, playing with one of his father’s special kunai, Kakashi would have to believe, that the little meneace had broken down the space-time seal and knew how to use that technique...

“Congratulations, Team Thirteen. You didn’t get the bell, but you demonstrated perfect teamwork. You pass. Meet me here every weekday at seven, useless you get different instructions. Starting tomorrow, I’ll take your training into my hands and between the sessions, we will complete missions.“

Their eyes glinted with triumph and excitement and Kakashi could barely stop himself from rubbing his hands together and cackling evilly. ‘Soon, magots. Soon, you will know the horros of D-ranks and it will be my payback for today.‘

Chapter 10: The First Steps

Chapter Text

Sasuke climbed out of bed at the crack of dawn and poked Naruto in the ribs, earning himself an angry grunt, which the Uchiha was sure translated to something like ‘get lost Ineed my beauty sleep‘. The Uchiha sighed and poked the blonde again.

“Out of the bed with you, Otōto. We have training to get trough.“

“An’s not star’ing till se’en.“ the blonde muttered out, this time in amore comprehensive manner, but only sligthly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Kakashi has no idea, who we are. Or were. Whichever, cause it’s hard to make the difference between past and present identity, nowadays.“

“Wha‘ do’s tha‘ h’ve to do wi’h any’ing?“ he shifed in bed and burried himself deeper in blankets.

“What does that have to do with anything?“ Sasuke demanded, annoyed at his brother’s blatant ignorance of their situation. ‘Breath. Calm down.‘ he told himself. ‘It’s too early in the morning to burn down anything.‘

“It means we have afew hundreds of years of mess to clean up! It means there’s amadman to stop, from suceeding with the Shinju’s revival. And... kami forbid, if the bastard suceeds, we will have to fight her! So Ithink we need training, because neither of us are on such level. You can’t use Varuna, because you only have Kurama here, but you can’t even form Sūsenju and Ican’t hope to even summon askeletal Susanno’o, much less the Full Body version. In short, we are like babies against her and Otō-sama and Hamura oji-sama are not here, nor will they be here, to deal with her!“

Naruto huffed and sat up. “So much for sleep... But then again, shinobi sleep in their graves, huh? Wait no, that doesn’t work for us, either!“ he glared at the Uchiha.

Sasuke shrugged. “If we let her win, you won’t have to be worried about another possible reincarnation, because there will not be even aworld for us to reincarnate into and you know it.“

Naruto grunted. “I so hate when you are right, Nī-sama.“ with that, he navigated to the kitchen with half-open eyes, while Sasuke went to wash and dress.

When Kakashi arrived at their newly claimed training ground, his two students were already there. And they weren’t just there, they were already fightning. They were fast for newly graduated Genin – and he could see, as they strategised, trying to outmanouver the other.

Sasuke was nimble, trying to use the Sharingan’s abilities to predict Naruto and plan several steps ahead. His style was wilder, more agressive.

Naruto seemed to come up with things on the fly – but no, there was apattern there. Altough he did try to adapt to Sasuke’s own slight changes and tricks. Naruto’s style was also fast, but it was based more on stamina and defence. It reminded Kakashi more of the Uzumaki style of Taijutsu, rather than Minato-sensei’s fast-paced, plan-three-steps-ahead-in-thee-different-situations kind of strikes.

Sasuke smirked and akick hit Naruto in the shoulder. Kakashi winced under his mask, as the blonde went flying. But before the impact, the Uzumaki still managed to shift abit, so he got the least possible damage out of the landing. Kakashi sighed in relief – altough, for amoment, he stopped to think and asked himself, where had one of the Academy’s weakest students learned to fall in such away.

You had to learn to fall, too... every shinobi did, if they wanted to stay on the field for more, than afew years. But that wasn’t atrick the Academy taught overly well. It was something he, as their Jōnin-sensei, should have taught them.

Naruto spit out some blood and wiped his chin, looking at Sasuke, who stood afew feet away, obviously analising the situation. “Nice hit, Nī-sama, but you know what people say to things like this?“

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, his face mostly remaining unchanged, but Kakashi saw, as he instinctively slipped into adefensive stance. “No. What do they say?“

“Payback’s abitch.“ he said and Kakashi saw, as the blonde gathered chakra into his fist, causing asoft glow of blue to appear around it, before he slammed it onto the ground. The hit tore up the ground and some of the uncontrolled chakra lashed out, causing even more damage.

Sasuke went flying and Kakashi cursed, as he too, channeled chakra into his soles and leapt back. So Naruto did truly study Tsunade-sama’s fighting style and he was trying to imitate it. (Imitate the Shodai and Tsunade-sama, to be precise, as he had heard, that the Sannin had changed her gandfather’s fighting style, to fit her better.)

And he was getting with it somewhere, but it was not perfect. Naruto’s chakra control wasn’t as good, as he would need it to be... ‘Note to self, get the advanced chakra control exercises from the ANBU Medics. Raccon owes me one anyway.‘

Sasuke cursed and Kakashi moved. Aquick Shunshin later, he was there to catch his student, but the force of the impact sent both of them tumbling onto the ground. Kakashi groaned, as he sat up. Sasuke was spawled next to him.

“Are you alright, Sasuke?“ he asked, concern sneaking into his voice.

The Uchiha huffed and slowly sat up. “Yes.“ he graoned. “Gods, Naruto needs more chakra control.“

Kakashi was about to voice his agreement, when he noticed how Sasuke looked. He didn’t seem tired, per se, but his clothes were sweaty and pretty battered. The Uchiha stood up and offered ahand to help him up. Kakashi blinked in surprise –he hadn’t expected Sasuke to extend ahelping hand,– and stood with his student’s help.

“Hey, are you two alright?“ Naruto asked, concern flickering trough his violet eyes.

“Yes, we are.“ Kakashi said, noting that Naruto looked just as bad, as Sasuke. Now he was sure it hadn’t just been awarm up spar they’d started ten minutes ago.

“Naruto.“ Kakashi called sternly. He wasn’t amedic, but he knew that enhancing one’s blows with chakra was dangerous, if they didn’t have the necessary chakra control and it was obvious, that Naruto wasn’t there yet.

“Yes, sensei?“ the haunting Uzumaki eyes landed on him. Looking into them Kakashi felt like he was facing agrown man, instead of facing aGenin. (Oh, how he hated the village in this moment! To force boys like Naruto and Sasuke to grow up much faster, than needed.)

“You are forbidden from using that technique.“

Naruto’s eyes went wide. “But...!“

Kakashi raised ahand, silencing the blonde with alook. “If you use chakra enhanced strenght without the proper control, it’s dangerous for you and your sparring partner as well. It’s commendable, that you are trying to honour your Senju heritage by picking up Hashirama-sama’s style...“ – here, the boys looked at each other, Sasuke even snorting abit and Kakashi had afeeling the two were laughing at him in the privacy of their minds,– “but it’s more harm than good, without proper chakra control. Now... I’m not one against you honouring your heritage, so Iwon’t tell you to use adifferent style. Instead, use it less, for now. I’ll be sure to bring afew advanced exercises, that the medics use to practice and keep their control in check. If you master those, your control should be good enough, despite your ridiculously large reserves, to use blows like the last one.“

Naruto grinned and nodded. “I like the idea.“

Kakashi hummed, satisfied that the blonde was willing to listen. He was much more calmer, than Kakashi thought he’d be – he was ahappy spirit, filled with optimism, like his mother, but calm and calculating when need be, just like his father. In short, akind of person whom was ajoy to teach, even if he needed abit more time.

His eye trailed over both of them and he gave Saske asharp look, knowing that Naruto would just brush his questions off. “How long have you been here, before Iarrived?“

Sasuke shared aquick look with the Senju-Uzumaki, before giving asmall shrug. “We started an hour ago.“

Kakashi almost doubled over. If they’d been here at six, they had to wake up... at about five... Kakashi shivered. He hated waking up so early. Of course, there were times when he woke at such time and there were times, when he was already working, when the clock hit five... but that was the life of an ANBU. (Waking up early was the only thing Kakashi had hated about being an ANBU.)

To think Genin would sacrifice sleep – children loved sleeping, from what he knew!– for extra training, was anew concept. Why would they do it? He glanced at both. “Why would you be so determined to train?“

The boys shared another look and Kakashi had afeeling, that they had an entire conversation with that look. An entire conversation, which he wasn’t privy to. He had yet to meet Genin, children, who were this close to one another.

“Being ashinobi is aresponsibility.“ Naruto said, his voice serious. “A responsibility, that cannot be taken lightly.”

“And we need to be skilled,“ Sasuke continued, “powerful and responsible too, if we want our dreams to come true.”

Kakashi stood there, gazing at the boys, needing amoment to process what he’d heard. These two... these two, that stood before him weren’t children and it had been his mistake, to treat them, as such. These two were like grown men, aware of what life had in store for them, good and bad alike.

(Well, it seemed he had gotten lucky. Kurenai, Asuma and the other senseis all bitched about bratty kids, who thought the life of shinobi to be agame, full of glitter and glory. Kids, who needed areality check. At least, Naruto and Sasuke were aware of what was waiting for them outside these gates and were willing to give sweat and blood to survive, once there.)

Kakashi sighed. “It seems, I’d underestimated your drive and willingness to sacrifice things, to be true shinobi. You are the good students the others would kill for. In this case, let me be agood sensei. Yamato and I, will work on atraining schedule for you, which will help you improve your skills and teamwork. We will work to help you two improve the best ways and in the shortest amount of time possible.“

They nodded, excitement and curiousty shining in their eyes. They seemed pleased with his words. “I think we can work with that.“ Sasuke said at last with asmall nod.

Kakashi hummed. “I thought so. But, this means no extra, secret training.“ he said, giving them pointed glares. “I want to know about every kunai you throw, from now on. If I – or Yamato– say that it’s time to take abreak, you take abreak. If we say you run another lap, you run another lap without asking why. Is that clear?“

“Hai, sensei.“ they answered, their lips curling upwards.

They were really the strangest kids he’d ever met... he’d just told them they’d be ran to the ground in the future and they were happy about it.

“Now,“ the dog summoner murmured, “Let’s have alook at any injuries you might have, before we do anything else.”

It was at the end of their first week as Team Thirteen, when Yamato joined them on the training ground, just after the usual midday break.

“Boys, come here for asecond.“ Kakashi called, after he was done with the friendly small talk.

The two closed their bentos and walked over. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, as he saw Yamato and Naruto immedately lit up, like aminiature sun.

Those two were so different. Sasuke was quiet and solitary most of the time, reserved even when showing his brotherly affection to Naruto. Naruto on the other hand, was bright, friendly and exitable, sometimes even clingy. Mostly clingy towards Sasuke, which sometimes seemed to annoy the Uchiha. Yet, for some odd reason, Sasuke never acted on that annoyance outright, only teased Naruto afterwards. Seriously, if Kakashi would have needed to use acomparison, he would have called Sasuke the moon and Naruto the sun. (Always together, unable exist without the other, creating aharmony trough their polar opposition. An odd pair, yes, but he could not see them any other way, just side by side.)

“Boys, this is...“

“Tora.“ Sasuke nodded in greeting, asmall grin on his face. “Pleased to meet you.“

“Tora-san!“ Naruto shouted, hurrying over to hug Yamato.

Yamato blinked in shock, looking down at Naruto, than back at him. Kakashi chuckled. “He did the same to me.“ he admitted quietly.

Yamato smiled and patted Naruto on the head, obviously unsure how to deal with the excitable blonde. After aminute, Naruto released Yamato and took afew steps back to stand next to Sasuke. (Hell! Now that Kakashi looked at them, realy looked –with the pevious comparison in mind,– even their colours were opposites. Naruto’s golden blonde hair was like the sun and his bright violet eyes, with shades of blue, if the light was just right, like the early morning sky, while Sasuke’s dark colours reminded Kakashi of various parts of the night.)

Yamato smiled. “So you remember me.“

Sasuke gave asmall humm. “Naruto’s even better at sensory, than Iam... but you have amemorable signature, you know. Ionly feel that from Naruto.“

Yamato nodded in undertanding. “Hokage-sama told me and no Naruto-kun, I’m not aSenju, unlike you. How I’ve come to have the Mokuton has astory. Astory for another time, if you don’t mind.“

The boys shared alook and then nodded. “We won’t judge, if you decide to share.“ Sasuke muttered, “We all have demons to deal with and regrets to live with. Things we wish hadn’t happened, yet cannot be changed...“

“... things we wish could come undone, yet it will never be.“ Naruto said, as the boys’ gazes met for asecond. “So, we just live with what we have, trying to make the best out of it.“

Not for the first time since the boys had become his students, Kakashi had afeeling, that there was more behind those words, than the story of amassacre survivor and an ostracised Jinchūriki.

As he shared alook with Yamato, Kakashi couldn’t help, but ponder what that story might be.

Chapter 11: First Blood

Chapter Text

Sasuke crouched on the branch, his Sharingan burning, as he waited for their target to arrive.

“This is Inu here.“ the voice came trough the walkie-talkie. “Are you in position?“

“Tora in position.“ asecond voice answered. Even trough the line, Sasuke could tell the man was annoyed. For the past twenty minutes, they tried finish this, but to no avail. This little otherworldly monster dodged even the two Jōnin. How it managed, Sasuke would never understand.

“Asura in position.“ his brother’s voice answered. “Chase the little monster towards me.“

Sasuke snorted abit, before giving his own report. “Indra in position and... Isee the target.“

“Perfect.“ ‘Tora‘ said. “Ready... go!“

Sasuke leapt from his tree with chakra, just as Yamato gave the sign. As the hellcat saw him, it hissed and leapt into another direction. Even before it could escape, Kakashi and Yamato both revealed themselves, blocking another paths of escape. The little beast nimbly evaded them all –ah, this was so emberassing! He’d been called the third strongest person, at the dawn of Ninshū and acat was toying with him!– bolting straight for their fourth member.

Suddenly –and most importantly, before the cat could do anything,– golden chains broke the surface of the ground, binding the little beast in place. It yowled, trying to get away and much to Sasuke’s (and all of the Team’s, in fact) eternal glee, it failed.

Naruto laughed, as he came from his hiding spot. “Trash all you want, little monster. Those chains held the Kyūbi for decades. You will not break them.“

Yamato stopped next to him and looked at Naruto. “So, Naruto. Another practice. Use your Mokuton to calm the cat.“

Naruto muttered something about the cat not deserving such kindness (very uncharacteristic of him, but Sasuke did agree) and sat in front of the cat, out of the reach of its claws. Sasuke wondered, if those sharp things were made of adamantine, for when the monster had caught him in the first few minutes, it surely felt like when Naruto’s chains cut his skin.

Naruto flared his chakra, carefully. Kakashi had kept his promise and he’d brought some advanced control exercises, which Naruto practiced every day for hours, with the help of afew Shadow Clones. Yamato had also helped Naruto get ‘better control‘ of the Mokuton. Honestly, Sasuke thought that most of this mess they were in, training wise, could be avoided, if only the two men knew, who they were... but no. They would be called mad or who knows what else.

When the cat finally calmed down, Naruto grinned.

Team Thirteen stood in the Hokage’s office, having just reported the sucess of their ‘Capture Tora‘ mission and giving the poor cat back to its owner. Naruto, being Naruto had taken pity on the hellish feline and instead of letting the Fire Daimyo’s wife walk out, he stopped the woman and explained to her, how she should handle the cat.

The Daimyo’s wife smiled brightly at the blonde, as she saw her precious Tora calm down and purring in her arms. “Tell me your name, son.“ the woman smiled. “I would definitely have aword with your parents, over how awonderful child they have.“

Naruto smiled sadly. “The name’s Senju-Uzumaki Naruto, ma’am. My parents were Uzumaki Kushina and Senju-Namikaze Minato, but as you know, they are dead.“

The woman seemed taken aback. “Oh, my! Of course Iknow what happened. I’m sorry for bringing it up. And... Ididn’t know the Yondaime had been aSenju.“

Naruto shook his head. “He hadn’t known either, from my undertanding. And you couldn’t have known, who Iwas, so no harm done.“

The woman brought Naruto into an unexpected hug. Aminute later she pulled away. “Well, you did me agreat favour with Tora-chan and we owe alot to your parents. If not for them, Konoha wouldn’t be. Such things are not forgotten in the capital either. Shall you need assistance with something, have the Hokage write me, Naruto-kun.“

Naruto gave the woman acharming smile, as she placed the mission payment right into his hands. He bowed to her. “Arigato, Madame Shijimi.“

As the happy woman left, everyone stated wide-eyed at the blonde. Naruto looked confused at all the disbelieving stares the Hokage, his senseis and the other workers were giving him. “What?“

Sasuke snorted and then actually burst into laughter, surprising many. “Not even you can be that dense, Otōto.“

Naruto scowled and glared. “You’re being mean again, Nī-sama and Idon’t even know what’s your problem!“

Sasuke shook his head, regaining his composure, but amusem*nt shone in his charcoal eyes. “Naive, naive Otōto. Grow up abit, if you ever want to walk in Senju footsteps, ne? That was the Daimyo’s wife and she just gave you afree favour. Guessing by it, that favour goes not only to her, but to the Daimyo himself.“

Naruto looked sheepish, as he scratched the back of his neck, remining many of the older shinobi present of the Yondaime. “Uh, huh hoopsie?“

Sasuke groaned. “How?“ he groaned in exasperation again, looking at the ceiling. “How in the name of the Rikudō can you be my brother?“ (A female ANBU squeeled ‘Naruto-kun is a naive kawaii cinnamon roll‘ from the shadows, earning herself aSharingan glare, from the present Uchiha.)

Many present wondered what had become of the world, if aSenju-Uzumaki and an Uchiha openly called one another brothers (the younger even being formal!), where all the village could hear.

Kakashi turned away, looking at the Hokage, trying to be the saving grace of the team. “Excuse their antics, Hokage-sama. I would be requesting a higher ranked mission, as I believe they are both ready.“

The Hokage seemed thoughtful for amoment, before nodding. “I believe you, Kakashi. Call the client!“ the elderly leader said, raising his voice.

Two minutes later an elderly man walked in with short grey hair, wearing glasses. He wore a sleeveless v-neck shirt with an obi, pants and a pair of sandals. He also had apointed hat and awhite towel around his neck. There was aliquor bottle in his hand. Naruto wrinkled his nose at the penetrating smell of saké coming from the man.

“I’m Tazuna, the master bridge builder from the Land of Waves. Where are the ninja I’ve hired?“

“These shinobi will escort you home, Tazuna-san.“ the Hokage said, pointing at Team Thirteen. Tazun seemed pleased for asecond, but then his dark eyes landed on Naruto and Sasuke.

“Children? Children will be protecting me? That blonde midget...“

“Children, who are capable of maiming you.“ Sasuke growled, his eyes flashing with the Sharingan in a silent treath. “Say a bad word about my brother, drunk and you will regret it.“

“Now, now, Sasuke. No treathening the client, please.“ Yamato said, putting ahand on the Uchiha’s tense shoulder.

Said Uchiha just scowled, as Kakashi gave them the orders to be ready tomorrow morning.

Sasuke’s eyes wandered around the surroundings, searching for any sign of bandits. Just before they’d left the village Naruto told him that he had abad feeling about this mission – he had felt Tazuna’s unstable emotions the day before, however he couldn’t tell if they were because of the man being drunk or becaue he was trying to hide something.

So, now both of them were tense, expecting the unexpected, as ashinobi should. They just barely crossed the tree line, when Naruto signed him – it wasn’t ANBU sign language, that their teachers could read. Instead, it was the old, childish sing language from their first life.

Boar, Naruto signed, eyes flickering to the side.

Sasuke understood. After Shiro’s deah – and the activation of his Sharingan, – boar was their synonym for danger. Sasuke’s own eyes wandered about and he soon spotted the puddle by the side of the road. He sensed the chakra pooled there – illusion.

Still, he walked past, pretending to have not noticed it. There were two ninja hiding under the illusion and their chakra levels were just abit higher, than his. They just barely passed the puddle, when the Genjutsu dispersed and the enemy jumped out.

Chains rattled and they sent the heavy metal flying towards Kakashi. The two Genin didn’t move. Kakashi was gone in awell-timed Kawarimi. “One down.“ the shorter of the two masked shinobi declared. (Well, to be precise, those weren’t masks they wore, but rebreathers.) They wore Kiri headbands.

One of the claws were detached and the second, who still had it on his hand, sent it flying with ayank. Yamato was gone too, but Sasuke wasn’t too worried. “Two down.“ the second declared smugly.

Naruto raised his hand in aRam seal and chakra chains formed around Tazuna, enclosing the bridge builder in aprotective bubble of gold-and-blue. Not having to worry about astray weapon hitting the civilian, Sasuke grabbed akunai and charged it with lightning chakra. As the two assulted them, Sasuke dodged the first strike, using the kunai to snap the chain connecting the two enemy shinobi.

As he hurriedly turned, he saw that Naruto had already engaged the other in afierce clash of Taijutsu.

“You’re mine.“ Sasuke said, Sharingan already burning, as he attacked the taller man. The man slashed at his face and Sasuke dodged, crouching down to sweep the man’s legs from under him. The enemy jumped over it and slashed out with his metal claw. The Uchiha leant back to avoid it and then shifted, slashing out with the chakra-charged kunai.

The weapon hit, right into the Kiri-nin’s shoulder. Blood splashed forth and the dark eyes narrowed, as blood stained the already dark clothing even darker.

“Nī-san!“ someone called, but Sasuke froze, as some of the enemy’s blood landed on his hands. And, as the three tomoe in his eyes spun, for a moment, Sasuke was elsewhere, finghting a different battle.

The terrain around them was nothing but charred ruins by now. All traces of life had long disappeared – the animals had fled during the first few clashes and the more jutsu they aimed at one another, the more they damaged the surrounding flora. Not that Indra cared too much for the flora and fauna of the place. He snarled, as he saw Asura stand up.

The Bij ūs’ chakra had faded awhile ago, only leaving asmall shimmer of gold around the younger’s body. Indra himself was getting more and more tired. The fight had been going on for hours and Asura was still clinging to power, still clinging to consciousness well enough to fend off the strikes meant to kill.

“Time to fininsh this.” he growled, tightening his hold on his katana, as he leapt forwards.

Asura met him and matched him strike for stike. In fact, he was slowly getting the upper hand, as his stikes had more strenght behind them. Metal scraped on metal, as he yanked his blade away, instinctively channeling lightning chakra trough it. Asura’s own weapon glowed green with wind chakra and as the weapons met, he felt more and more resistance.

But then... there was amoment of lapse, amisstep in his bother’s moves and that was all Indra needed. He channeled more of his chakra into the blade, making it crackle with small blue-purple lightning and thurst it forwards. Blood gushed from the wound, taining Asura’s white garments abright crimson. Blood splashed onto his own white kimono and onto his hand.

But, before he could feel triumphant, that he had finally won – that with Asura gone, he could finally have what was meant to be his,– he felt Asura’s body jolt from the force of his lightning and then, pain. Sharp, shredding pain as if something tore at his insides...

He looked down and saw, that with the last ounce of his strenght, Asura drove his wind-coated blade trough his side. Blood pulsed from the wound, with every beat of his heart, tainting his own clothing, just like his brother’s.

Indra tore his gaze from his wound and looked at his brother. Asura’s dark brown eyes were dark and hard, yet still pleading. “Nī-sama ...“ Asura rasped out. “You promised.”

Indra’s eyes went wide and he looked down. His hand was red and sticky with blood, still wrapped around the tsuba of his katana.

Blood. His hands were red with blood. His brother’s blood.

Asura’s blood.

His hands were tainted with his most hated – most beloved brother’s blood.

Kinslayer , a sinister voice sneered in his mind. For a brief moment, panic took hold of him, as the weight of their actions finally hit him, with the force of a Godōdama.

Asura was dying because of him. His brother. They had made up, hadn’t they? They were now together again, side by side, right? And he had killed his brother?!

No, Asura! No, no, no....!

“...ke!“

“Sasuke!“ and then someone slapped him.

Sasuke jolted back to reality, his Sharingan fading and he found himself face to face with Naruto. There was blood on the blonde and Sasuke’s own hands were bloody... no, no! Wide-eyed, he staggered back from Naruto.

“No...“ he rasped, barely able to breath, “I hadn’t... Ididn’t... we promised...“ he choked, shaking.

“Sasuke, look at me.“ Naruto said, his voice steely and gentle at the same time. Slowly, Sasuke looked at the other. Black met violet. “You’re on the border of Nami and Hi no Kuni. With Yamato, Kakashi, Tazuna and me. Can you follow?“

Sasuke tried settling all that he heard. Nami no Kuni. Not the forest on the border of So no Kuni. (Not miles away from where once the Ōtsutsuki Compound stood, which he had burned down...)

“I’m here, Nī-sama. Breath.“

Sasuke took asmall breath and then another. Then another. One. Two. Three... Slowly, he got his bearings and felt Naruto’s warm chakra wrap around him, like ablanket. As he calmed down, all the energy seemed to leave his body and he couldn’t help, but lean into the blonde abit more.

“I’m sorry, Otōto.“ he murmured. “Kinslayer... Inever wanted to be...“

“Hush, now.“ Asura murmured. “I’m here. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t my blood. You stopped an enemy from hurting us. That was not me.“

Sasuke shuddered with relief. He hadn’t broken his promise again.

They had made camp instead of pressing forwards. What little remained of the journey, would be done tomorrow. Sasuke was still shaken and unable to focus, so most of the camp making had been Naruto’s doing – or rather, the work of his clones.

The Senju-Uzumaki refused to leave his best friend and brother alone. Not after such athing. He didn’t know what exactly had Sasuke seen, but it wasn’t needed. He understood, that the situation had for some reason, brought forth the Uchiha’s bloodier memories of their clashes, coupled with his guilt.

Now, with the camp done and food cooking over the fire, the five of them were sitting around the fire. Or more like four of them sitting, with Sasuke sleeping in his bedroll, altough to make sure his brother would not wake screaming, Naruto remained close. Even asleep, Sasuke would feel his presence just enough to keep him calm. For now, that was what mattered.

“What had happened out there?“ Tazuna asked, his eyes flickering to Sasuke.

Naruto huffed. “His family have aspecial ability in their eyes. The Sharingan. If active, the Sharingan gives the user eidetic memory. Sasuke had some unpleasant memories from his past, which wre triggered in the fight. He ended up with apanic attack. The memory was probably from the worst ones, as he hadn’t had such athing in years.“

“Years?“ Kakashi murmured, looking at him with shock. “He has panic attacks and we don’t know about it?“

Naruto grunted, shaking his head. “It only happened thrice, not counting this one. Icould always pull him trough them. He drinks his little tea for afew nights, so Ican sleep too, cause right now, it’s my chakra, that keeps him calm and then we can both rest. He’ll bounce back in aweek.”

“He said something about apromise, hadn’t he?“ Yamato said.

Naruto grunted. “Yes.“

Both of his senseis’ eyes landed on him. “And I think I heard him say something about kinslaying?“

Naruto grit his teeth. (He knew that Sasuke had meant that message to him. That he had never wanted to kill him the first time around.) Of course, Kakashi and Yamato knew nothing of the reincarnation and it wasn’t something he could bring up, as if they were chatting about the weaher.

“Naruto.“ Kakashi called, abit more sternly. “What did Sasuke mean, when...?“

“Enough.“ he growled, narrowing his eyes on the older shinobi. “It’s between me and Sasuke. This happened before and I can deal with it. Just don’t ask him questions tomorrow, because those will bring back the memories. We don’t need him panicking on the field. He will either freeze down and get himself killed or get mad and burn something or someone he shouldn’t.“ he sighed and settled onto his own bedroll, close to the Uchiha. “I will talk with him about it and we will get trough, like always. Together.“

“We’re here to help, Naruto.“ Kakashi said. His tone was calm, matter of fact, but there was also an undertone of pleading. Kakashi was pleading with him to trust them.

But for the first time in many years, Naruto wasn’t sure he could trust his most beloved ANBU.

“We’ll deal with it.“ he said gruffly, before turning his back to the men. “Oyasumi.“

As he closed his eyes, he felt his teachers’ disappointment and it tore him apart, to keep secrets from the unofficial members of his family. But he had no choice.

This was between him and Indra. He had to make Indra trust him again, as much as he had to make the older trust himself again. They could only count on each other, just like when they’d been children, with the Bijū for siblings...

Chapter 12: Nami no Kuni

Chapter Text

The short treck from their camp to the border of Nami, where Tazuna said that someone would pick them up and carry them across, was spent in silence. Sasuke was still abit shaken from yesterday and Naruto wasn’t in achatty mood either, worried about his brother, while also keeping an eye on any possible danger.

Kakashi and Yamato were predictably, both worried about their students, however they didn’t voice it. Naruto’s sharp words from the night before prevented them from saying anything, as they didn’t want to distract – and thus, possibly endager– the two boys.

When they arrived at the shore, an old man was waiting for them with aboat, just as Tazuna had promised. Despite the change in mission parameters – from asimple C-rank to aB-rank (possibly A, as there may be other missing-nin) – they still decided to continue. It had taken alot of convincing on Naruto and Sasuke’s parts (especially Sasuke’s part, as he had been the one to freeze up), but in the end it worked.

Now, as they settled in the small boat, they were all on the edge. After the Demon Brothers had failed, they expeced someone else, but so far nothing had happened. Now, they were almost in Nami and...

... Naruto’s senses tingled. It was hard to see anything from the mist, but his sensory was all he needed. He took out akunai and sent it flying into the bushes. It was awhite rabbit.

“Down!“ Yamato and Kakashi called at once, as the silver-haired man tackled their client to the floor. Naruto watched, as agiant cleaver flew above their heads, to embed in he bark of alarge tree. Then, aman jumped onto the hilt of the giant blade, radiating Killing Intent.

The man was tall and noticeably muscular, with light grayish skin, short spiky black hair, dark brown eyes, and small eyebrows. He was wearing bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face.He wore his Kiri forehead protector sideways on his head. he was shirtless, with his chest only covered by a large belt.

“Momochi Zabuza.“ Kakashi said, as he stood up, “The Kirigakure no Kijin, Missing-nin, hunted for attempting to assassinate the Mizukage.“

Zabuza growled, as his eyes landed on their sensei. “Sharingan no Kakashi. Hand over the old bridge builder and you can walk away from here.“

“That’s not going to happen, Zabuza.“ he jumped from the boat and pulled out two kunai. Zabuza’s chakra spiked again and then he jumped down from the sword and pulled it down. Then he leapt at Kakashi and the two of them clashed.

Naruto grit his teeth – Kakashi didn’t have asword of his own, so he was in abit of atight spot there. Zabuza’s reach was better. Kakashi was faster of course, but they could feel chakra gathering around them. It sent Naruto’s senses into an override.

“What’s this?“ he growled. Zabuza’s Killing Intent was nothing compared to what him and Indra kept throwing at each other the first time round, so it didn’t hinder them. But the mist...

“It’s laced with chakra.“ Sasuke murmured. “I can barely see trough it.“

“Momochi is one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū. He’s a master of the silent killing – he uses the chakra-laced mist to hide and confuse his enemies.”

“The hiding part works.“ Naruto murmured. “If not for my Negative Emotion Sense, my sensory would be useless. But his bloodlust and excitement give him away.”

They stayed close to Tazuna, listening to the clashes of blades. ”We should help him.“ Sasuke said.

“No. Kakashi can deal with him, besides, we don’t know what distraction Zabuza might use to get to Tazuna. He’s here to kill acivilian, remember.“ Yamato said.

Naruto grunted. “We can’t leave... but Ican still help.“he said, moulding his chakra and then forming aBird seal. “Fūton: Daitoppa!“ (Wind Release: Great Breaktrough) he took a deep breath and then exhaled a great gale of wind, which blew away the mist, allowing better sight.

The two fighters looked towards the group and Zabuza glared at them. “Brat! You’ll pay for that!“ he made aseal and two Water Clones appeared next to him.

Even before Yamato could tell them not to go, both boys leapt onto the water to engage the clones, while Kakashi fought the original Zabuza. Naruto grinned, as the Water Clone swung its sword at him. He dodged the swing and shot chakra chains at the clone, to bind it. The chains rattled in protest, as the clone struggled against them. Naruto had ahard time keeping the clone in place, but he was nothing if not stubborn.

He recalled the seal sequence from the scroll Sasuke had read a few days before departure.

Mi. Hitsuji. Saru. I. Tori. Tora. He felt the chakra rise in awarm wave...

“Katon: Kitsunebi.“ (Fire Release: Foxfire) he murmured, as ten white-hot fireballs formed in front of him. He flicked his hand and the ten balls went flying at the Water Clone. In normal circ*mstances, fire was weak against fire... but it was nice to have a chakra like his – denser and more, than others. He just had to put a bit more chakra into his technique, than the clone had.

The clone evapored and as he moved towards Kakashi, he saw Sasuke finish off his own clone. Kakashi was trapped in abig bubble of water. ‘Not good!‘ Naruto thought. He shared alook with Sasuke and they both started running trough some handsigns from their past life.

Jutsu, that supposedly didn’t exist in this time.

Naruto felt, as Sasuke purposefully mixed more of his Yin chakra into the fire. “Katon: Shinku no Honō!” (Fire Release: Crimson Flame) as blood red flames appeared Naruto finished his own set, releasing his compressed chakra.

“Fūton: Renkūdan!“ (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet) as he formed the bullets, each one spred trough the red flames and travelled towards Zabuza and Kakashi, like small firestorms.

Zabuza cursed, as he dodged the volley of balls. One of the balls hit the water prison, evaporating some of the liquid while freeing Kakashi. The boys sped over to their sensei, worried for his wellbeing. “Kaka-sensei?“ Naruto asked, as he nudged the Hatake.

“I’m fine. You were fast.“ he murmured, his Sharingan trailed on Zabuza.

“Meddlesome brats!“ the Kiri-nin growled, as he went trough a set of seals. Kakashi did the same, stepping in front of the boys, while giving them a look. Stay away, his eyes seemed to say.

Sasuke drew farther from their sensei, dragging Naruto with him, much to the displeasure of the blonde. As the long sequence of seals were done, two massive water dragons formed, their eyes flashing with sinister light as both launched at one another.

Naruto stiffened, as he sensed an approaching chakra signature. But even before he could warn his team, amasked shinobi appeared and shot afew senbon at Zabuza. The senbon stuck onto the swordman’s neck and then he fell, dead.

The dark-haired ninja had the symbol of Kiri on the white mask. “Thank you for catching him. I’ve been pursuig him for avery long time.“ the stranger said.

As he grabbed Zabuza, the boys helped Kakashi, as he seemed weak, then, by the time they turned back, the masked nin was already gone. Kakashi staggered and the boys struggled to keep him upright.

“Sensei?“ Sasuke called with araised eyebrow.

“Sharingan’s tiring. Takes atoll, not Uchiha.“ he muttered before passing out. Naruto cursed under his breath, as he looked at Yamato and the still-shaking Tazuna.

After afifiteen minute walk, with apair of Naruto’s clones carrying the unconscious Kakashi, Team Thirteen made it to Tazuna’s house.

“Tsunami, I’m home!“ Tazuna called, as he let the shinobi into the house.

Ayoung woman with black hair rushed to greet the elderly carpenter, hugging him for a moment. “Tō-san! I’m so glad you’re back.“

Tazuna chuckled and nodded. “Yes, it’s thanks to these shinobi.“

As Tazuna mentioned them, the woman turned to them and smiled. “Welcome. My name is Tsunami.“

“Good day, Tsunami-san. My name is Yamato.“ their sensei said. “The unconscious man is my collegue, Hatake Kakashi and the boys are our Genin. Uchiha Sasuke and Senju-Uzumaki Naruto.“

“Uzumaki?“ both civilians asked, looking at Naruto with shock and hope in their eyes.

The blonde hummed with abrief smile. “Aye. Okā-san was from the Main Family of the Uzumaki. She escaped the Fall. My father was aSenju of Konoha.“

“It’s agreat joy to know some have escaped.“ Tsunami said with awide smile, bowing to him. “Well, as the leader of the village, allow me to welcome you to Nami no Kuni, Uzumaki-dono. Thank you and your team for bringing my father home safely.“

Naruto froze for asecond, feeling lost. He stole aquick glance at the conscious members of his team, silently asking for help. Yamato had avaguely amused expression on his face Sasuke... his brother on the other hand, was openly smirking in amusem*nt. Quickly focusing on Tsunami, he returned her bow with abriefer one. “We were just doing our duty, Tsunami-san. However, you must know that this mission has been misranked. Your father asked our Hokage for aC-rank and we came. But with shinobi as opponents, it’s an A-rank now.”

Tsunami pursed her lips, looking apologetically at each of them. “Gomen nasai. However due to the presence of the Gato Corporation our land has slowly been bled dry. We could barely save up this money for aC-rank. If father does not finish the bridge, Nami will never be free from Gato and we will be forced to leave or we will starve.“

“Why not rise against him then?“ Sasuke asked.

Tsunami sighed, shaking her head. “We’ve tried once and we failed. Gato executed my husband, making an example of him. That broke the spirit of our people. Father’s bridge is the last hope... but many are sceptical.“

The members of Team Thirteen glanced at one another and asilent agreement passed between them. They will help these people.

“We’ll aid you, where we can.“ Sasuke said quietly.

“For now, however, our sensei would need aplace to rest.“ Naruto said, pointing at the still motionless Kakashi. Tsunami’s eyes flashed with worry and she nodded, steering them towards asmall room.

The same night the team – minus Kakashi– were having ameal with father and daughter as Tsunami’s son had refused to show himself. Naruto helped Tsunami with cooking, even sharing some of the supplies they’d brought along from Konoha.

“Zabuza is not dead. Hunter-nin are supposed to kill the shinobi they pursued. This masked individual took Zabuza’s body, instead of dealing with it on the spot.“ Yamato said after along strech of silence between two bites. The two boys froze, whirling about the information in their minds.

“It’s hard to kill with senbon.“ Sasuke said slowly, earning an approving nod from Yamato.

“But it can render people unconscious.“ Naruto said, “Like achop to the neck.“

Yamato hummed, pleased. These two were something else, to catch on so fast, without any aid. “Yes. However, his body had been paralised. He needs time to recover from that. Kakashi will also need time, but the recovery from both conditions is about the same time. Kakashi should be mostly fine, by the time Zabuza makes a comeback.“

“How long will it take?“ Sasuke asked curiously.

“If the medical scroll I’ve read was accurate,“ Naruto murmured, athoughtful expression on his face, “it will be about aweek.“

“Indeed, Naruto.“ Yamato said, “In the meanwhile, we’ll guard Tazuna-san, while he works on the bridge and we might as well try to get some training done as well. One of us will stay with Kakashi ad the family, until he wakes, the other two escorts Tazuna. We will be switching, from day to day.“

“Understood sensei.“ the Genin murmured, turning back to their food.

It was Sasuke’s turn to guard the house, when Kakashi woke up, – well, they’d made the agreement the day before and he had volunteered to stay behind. He knew that Yamato and Naruto could handle themselves.

“Morning sleeping beauty.“ the Uchiha greeted, leaning against the room’s wall, fiddling with his clothes, as he watched his sensei stir.

“Sasuke.“ Kakashi rasped, “What happened?“

Sasuke gracefully stepped away from his spot and walked over to the small nightstand in the room, which had acup. He grabbed it and reheated it with some Katon chakra, offering it to Kakashi. “Drink. Naruto made this from some herbs. Good for pain and exhaustion.“

Kakashi blinked and took asip of the tea. (Sasuke still couldn’t for the dear life of him understand how could the man drink and eat with that goddam mask in place! It wasn’t aGenjutsu, otherwise his Sharingan would have detected it. So... how?!)

His eye crinckled into an upside down U. “Hm, this is very good. How does Naruto do it?“

Sasuke shrugged. “It’s an old reciepe, that’s all Iknow.“

(Old being an understatement. He still remembered his time as Indra, when their father made them drink this tea as children, if they exhausted themselves more, than necessary. Most often it happened, when he was younger and unmindful in training or when Asura kept running around the forest for too long. Every time that happened, Asura walked out of his room half-awake, looking like adead risen from the grave, rather than an actual, functioning human being.) He’d never learned how to do the tea, because Asura had, as herbs were one of the few things, that entertained him from ayoung age.

“Hm, shame. Maybe he will tell how to make it?“

“Or we can save you some of the herbs we have in Konoha.“ Sasuke said. “We have this mix dried and ready. Remind me of it and I’ll give you some. If you drink it in abigger dose, than this, it also works as asedative.“

Kakashi nodded and took another sip, obviously enjoying the drink. Not that Sasuke had anything against tea – if fact, he loved tea. Especially his brother’s specially made herbal teas. “Oh, my Iforgot! Zabuza...“

“...is not dead.“ Sasuke finished calmly. “We know. Naruto and Yamato are out guarding Tazuna. Istayed in case you woke up and to make sure the family are safe.“

“Does Yamato have aplan?“ Kakashi murmured.

Sasuke glanced out into the forest, trough the small window the room had. “Well, the plan came this morning - take out Gato before Zabuza returns and then perhaps convince Zabuza to leave, with his meal ticket gone. Gato surely has some money here, taken from the people. Give some to Zabuza and he will be gone. Take the mission pay for Konoha and the rest can go back to the people, to restart their economy.“

The Jōnin blinked owlishly for asecond, his mind still sluggish from exhaustion. “Good plan, Iguess. If he gets his money, I’m sure we can convince Zabuza to leave.”

The team were once more having ameal with the family, discussing the last touches of their plan before setting out in afew hours, – aplan, that may just restore Nami’s peace and order, as it should be.

That is, until the discussion and the quiet meal were disturbed by the loud scraping of wood on wood. Tsunami’s son, Inari, had an angry expression on his face, glaring at the shinobi gathered.

“Why are you even trying?! You’ll just fail anyway! Heroes don’t exist and Gato is too strong for you! He will win anyway, it will get even worse for us and you will just die!“ the child growled.

“Inari!“ Tsunami scolded, her tone horror-filled. It was easy to discern, that she’d never heard such words from her son before.

“Shut it, whelp.“ Sauske snarled unexpectedly, his eyes glinting sharply, as his Sharingan spun. “You think we don’t know the danger? We do. The reason we go? Because what is goin on here is injutstice and injustice has no place in the world. As for dying?“ he snorted. “No. We won’t die from ahands of acoward, like Gato. He’s amealsy civilian and we’re shinobi. Shinobi, who dwell in the shadows, who do, what others have no guts to, or not strong enough to do. And if you think you were the only one to suffer, you’re sorely mistaken. We all have our own demons. Some of us are heroes, literal heroes, keeping entire villages in one piece, just by living and breathing and we get no recognition for it. In fact, we get hated for saving the village. Some of us saved lives and we got ridicule and pity for it. Some of us were trusted with the world and ruined that world, instead of building and protecting and then we’re trying to rebuild from the ruins, we left. People, who we loved and trusted have betrayed us and killed our loved ones.“ he took abreath – here, he stole a meaningfulglance at Naruto,– “Ruins and blood and suffering, that is what life is.“ he stood up, glaring down at Inari, who shrunk under his gaze. “But you stand up, apologise and go on and try to clean the mess you’ve left. Because if you sit here, crying and wallowing in self-pity, you are no better, than the people, who have ruined what you held dear.“ he stopped for abit and continoued in asofter, lower tone, but if possible, his voice sounded ten times as sinister, as before. “ And if you turn to anger and hate, you will just help ruin the world faster and before you notice, the hate ruins you beyond saving and even the people who loved you, will turn their backs, because you did not listen, when they asked you to reconsider. To return to them and forgive.“

He strode out, leaving wide-eyed, gaping people behind. (Gods. That was the longest time ever they had heard Sasuke speak!)

Naruto was the first one to snap out of his shock, after making sense of all, that has been said. He jumped up and leapt after the Uchiha, atouch of panic in his tone, as he called after him. “Nī-sama!”

Kakashi and Yamato sat there, frozen and not for the first time, they wondered what the boys had gone trough, to have such sharp, painful wievs on the world. (They caught the references in the speech too. Naruto’s Jinchūriki status, Itachi –whom Sasuke had loved and trusted– killing the Clan. There was even a reference to Kakashi’s childhood – how could the boys know what happened to his father?– and there were other things. Things, that neither of the Jōnin could make sense of, but obviously had astrong impact on the boys’ lives.)

Naruto only needed afew minutes to find Sasuke. He knew the Uchiha’s chakra signature, like the back of his hand, so even if Sasuke tried hiding he would have found him. Altough, Sasuke wasn’t trying to hide at all – his chakra and emotions were like araging thunderstorm.

Anger, self-loathing, grief, regret, love tainted just by atouch of jelousy, more self-loathing and regret....

Naruto took adeep breath and tried to shut his senses down. Gods, those emotions... the feeling was like being punched by Susanno’o without his own chakra avatar in use. Almost completely overwhelming. He didn’t even try to hide his approach from his brother. It would be no use. The Uchiha would detect him anyway, they were so used to one another’s presence.

He sat next to Sasuke, their shoulders touching and for amoment, they watched the silver crescent of the moon. The crescent, Naruto noted, just like their father had used to compare Indra to. Indra, like the moon and himself, like the sun. Different, but similar, never without one another.

“Nī-sama...“ he muttered softly, almost unwilling to break the silence. But they had to speak about this. It seemed, even after remembering and that talk over tea so many years ago– the day when Saske escaped the hospital,– the sins and missteps of the past haunted his brother and friend relentlessly.

“I tried. I’m still trying.“ Sasuke whispered. His tone was strained and haunted. “I’m trying to be the good one here. Good, like Icould not be for the first time. He discarded me, because Iwasn’t good enough, despite being the older and every drop of hate and anger, which was meant for him... you saw it. You tasted it. You... you shouldn’t have. But everything Ifelt for him then, you got it. And now... now Ifear, that it will start again. That despite everything we’ve gone trough in this life, we would end up the same. Me running and you chasing me and both of us dying with unvoiced apolgies and regrets on our tongues, which would just start this whole reincarnation mess again and we would just have another life of failures to try and set right.... only to fail and be caught in the same destructive loop...“

Naruto’s heart broke. In every single life he had lived, his heart broke. To think that powerful, confident Indra (Sasuke too– but realy, there was no difference between the two; he spoke of the same person with different names, only because they had lived in different eras,) had such insecurities.

The blonde hugged him close, holding him as tightly as he could, to make sure the other will understand, that no matter what, he will not leave.

“It will not happen.“ he whispered. Voice soft, yet steely only he had ever managed. “We know our mistakes now. We won’t make them again. We stand in this together, side by side. And... just let it go. Let the old hurt go. It’s just the two of us now. Otō-sama is no longer here. You have nothing to prove to him anymore and Idon’t have to fear failing him again.“

Sasuke’s black eyes found him, so fast, that Naruto thought it humanly impossible. “You? Failing him?“ disbelief dripped from his tone. “Never. You were the perfect...“

“I wasn’t.“ Naruto murmured. “I promised him we would be together again, on his deathbed. Side by side. Ifailed.”

This time it was Sasuke, who hugged Naruto close. “I tried being the good son. The responsible one, so you would never have to know pain and loneliness. Because those, who stand on the top, are always lonely. He was too, in away – he never found anyone, after Okā-sama died, after you were born.”

Naruto’s heart twisted. (Even in his life as Asura, he had never known his mother. But he had had aloving father and brother – but no one had ever spoken of his mother. No one dared, not even Indra, no matter how small, trivial and happy his broher’s memories were of their mother. Not even her name had been spoken.)

“We tried being good and tried to do the good thing alone, to shield each other.“the blonde murmured, putting some distance between them. “We tried protecting each other alone, without the other’s consent, because we thought it was our responsiblity, as abrother.“

Sasuke hummed and gave atiny nod.

Naruto reached into his hip pouch and took out akunai. The sharp metal glinted in the silvery moonlight. He pressed the blade against his right palm, making asmall cut, drawing blood. His eyes found Sasuke, as he offered the blade. “It was our blood, that started this mess. Let it be our blood, that ends it. None of our children and grandchildren shall ever know the pain, we had.“

Sauske cut his own palm – his left one– in asimilar manner. “It was our pride, love and anger, that started this. Shall our love and care for each other be the end of it.”

They joined hands, looking at one another. “I swear by the Rikudō and by the Shinju never to lay a harming hand on you again. Earth and Moon are our witness, we stand side by side, as brothers again.“ as their voices faded, they smied at each other and hugged one another.

That was the night, when the two truly broke the chain of hatered linking their families. That was the night, when the bloody rivalry of Uchiha and Senju would forever end...

Then they stood up and slowly made their way back to the house.

Later night, Naruto, Sasuke and Yamato made their way over to Gato’s hideout. Kakashi was better, but still not fully recovered, so it was decided, that he should stay behind and if the need arose, deal with any unwanted mess direcly in the village.

Gato’s base of operations was just outside of the village – guarded by asmall army of thugs. The three shinobi stopped in the shadows, obersving the place.

The boys both had their sensory stretched out to the fullest, so they could count the people inside. All of them had low chakra levels, barely more than a civilian. “Three guarding this door. Two behind the building and I can feel about fifteen inside.“ Naruto said.

Yamato raised acurious eyebrow. “How can you tell so accurately, if they have so low levels?“

Naruto grinned confidently. “It’s asecret.“

Sasuke rolled his eyes –those antics of Asura would never change, no matter what time and life they were in,– and made a gesture to go inside, before Yamato could probe further. Their sensei decided to go after Gato himself, while leaving them to deal with the thugs. Once Yamato disappeared in the shadows, they shared a look.

Child’s play.

They walked out of their hiding spot side by side, slowly, letting the men notice them. Both thugs noticed them at the same time.

“Hey, shrimps!“ one of the men, the bulkier of the two called, “This is private property! You should not be here. Scram.”

The boys glanced at each other. “Ne, Nī-sama, did this man just orer us around, as if he were our father?“ Naruto asked.

Sasuke snorted, his eyes narrowing on the man. “You presume much, if you think, you can go ordering us around.“ The brothers pulled out their weapons – Sasuke his sword and Naruto apair of kunai,– and they jumped at the men.

Once the guards were dead, the boys headed inside, their weapons still at the ready. They met one man, just by the door, but before he could draw aweapon or call for help, Naruto silenced him with awind-charged kunai to the troath.

From than on, it was abloodbath – soon joined by Yamato, who had, in the meanwhile killed Gato and collected several documents of interest, as well as anice sum of god, which they would give to Zabuza.

(The next day, Yamato would question the boys’ sanity, for he had seen the way they’d fought and he’d seen how unfazed both were, when life left the men’s eyes.)

When Zabuza returned – predictably with his accomplice, the fake hunter-nin,– Team Thirteen were already waiting. When the thick mist descended, Naruto’s first move was to blow it all away, so they could face th two Missing-nin without hindrance.

Zabuza of course, was not at all happy, that someone ruined his playground. “You brat!“ he growled, pointing his massive sword at Naruto, “You keep messing up my jutsu!”

Naruto shrugged, looking entirely unapologetic. “Sorry.“

Zabuza growled, stalking closer, but before he made it even halfway, Kakashi and Yamato both leapt between the Kiri shinobi and their students. “Your contract is off, Momochi.“ Kakashi said calmly.

Zabuza growled lowly, surprise flickering trough his face. “What are you crowing about, Hatake?“

“We killed Gato.“ Yamato clarified, “His hold on Nami is no more, therefore your contract is void.” understanding dawned on the swordman’s face, but before he could say anything, or physically lash out –and lament the lack of income,– Yamato tossed asmall bag to him, which Zabuza caught instinctively.

“Wha...“

“That’s the money Gato promised you, altough, mind me, he had no intention of paying you. I’ve seen his files.“ Yamato said. “The people of Nami have gotten their money back, which Gato has stolen and they agreed to pay you the sum Gato promised, if you leave them in peace. Don’t kill Tazuna – or anyone, really – and you even get your money.”

For atense moment, Zabuza eyed them and all four of the Konoha shinobi were ready to leap into action, if it was needed. However, after the moment passed, the Demon of the Hidden Mist lowered his blade. “I shall leave the man be, then.”

They all breathed asigh of relief. Soon, they could go home.

Chapter 13: Beasts of Legends

Chapter Text

Kakashi was happy – but most of all, relived– when they finally made it back to the village.

On the entire way from Nami, Naruto used every available moment to dabble with notes of Fūinjutsu. The kid was an Uzumaki –and several of his direct Senju ancestors were renowned masters of the Art, too– but seals were tricky and dangerous. And while Naruto had his parents notes, Kakashi would have been much, much calmer, if there was aproficient teacher guiding the blonde.

He knew this and that – you couldn’t not know seals, when your sensei and almost-aunt were masters of it,– but it was far from enough to guide his student. In fact, Kakashi could safely say that Naruto has already surpassed him, in that field. (Yamato knew even less, than Kakashi did, if it came to the intricate field.)

Where was Jiraya-sama, when he was needed? The man had taught Minato-sensei and on top of it, was Naruto’s godfather. He should be here for the blonde. Of course, Kakashi understood, that as aspymaster, he was busy, but didn’t he have some time for his godson? Like dropping in after twelve years?!

On the other hand, Kakashi wasn’t sure he wanted to be there, when Naruto –and thus, Sasuke– met the Sannin. They would most likely try to gut him and say, that the man had abandonned Naruto hours after he was born. (A part of Kakashi, the evil part, agreed. Jiraya had ran, after he’d seen how much Naruto had looked like both of his parents.)

The point was, that Naruto was very good with seals and on the third day back from Nami, Kakashi had lost the blonde halfway trough an explanation. (Yamato was already brain dead by then, trying to catch up. Sasuke had wisely tuned Naruto out, saying he trusted the blonde without question, if it came to seals.)

And now, now Kakashi was worried.

They’d sent the boys to rest and had given the report to the Hokage about the messy, upgraded, but still-sucessful mission. That had happened yesterday and now Kakashi stood on their usual training ground with no students in sight.

Where were the students he was supposed to teach? Well, maybe at this point, Naruto should teach him, if it came to seals, but shush, no one in the village needed to know that. He wanted some of his pride intact, after all.

Yamato had been called away for other sort of work. With the Chūnin Exams just over the horizon, they needed to be extra caotious with security. So for awhile, he would handle the boys on his own. If only he had boys to handle...

He huffed, trying to recall where he would find the boys. Where could they – oh, yes! The Hokage Monument. Naruto liked sitting on his father’s stone head and watch the village go by with their lives. He quickly turned and headed towards the Monument.

They would either be sitting on Minato-sensei’s head or they would be on the plateu behind the heads. It was the spot where they usually escaped to, to be alone. It was the spot, where not even ANBU had followed them after a while. They just kept an eye out around the area, but no one ever approached them. Whenever they were up there, it was private time and even shinobi respected privacy.

After about twelve minutes, he finally reached the place and in another five minutes, he even made it to the top. He froze in the shadows of the stairs, as he saw how relaxed both of his students were, Naruto leaning on Sasuke’s shoulder. In that moment, they indeed looked like brothers, regardless of the stark contrast in appearance. (It was almost like his eyes were playing tricks on him, as two other peoples shadows seemed to overlap with his students’ forms. Brown-haired people he’d never seen, wearing old, formal white kimonos.)

“Ne, Nī-sama, do you think it would work?“ Naruto asked, his voice alazy, almost sleepy slurr. Even after all this time, it threw him off, how formal the two were with each other, despite the obivous friendship and brotherly affection.

“What would work, Otōto?“ Sasuke asked. His own voice was just abit sharper, more awake.

Still, they were obviously content and unfocused, otherwhise he would have been long detected. Not that Kakashi minded it. Even after years of watching the boys grow up, they were still an unsolved mystery. This was his chance, to find out something more, perhaps?

“Kuchiyose.“ Naruto answered. “We signed our Contracts so long ago. Do you think we could summon them?“

Kakashi blinked owlishly. The boys had Summons of their own? Since when? Besides, it couldn’t be too long ago, since they were barely thirteen (Naruto wasn’t even thirteen). So, obviously the Uzumaki was exagerating.

Sasuke hummed. “From my knowledge, it should still work. Iremember Otō-sama saying to chose partners wisely, because they will stay with us all our lives. And... considering everything, Ithink those contracts should still hold. Because we are still we, even if we aren’t.“

Kakashi’s head spun. Since when would Suske be so formal with dead parents, to still call Fugaku “Otō-sama“? Gods, he’d known the Uchiha were abunch to keep traditions, just like the Hyūga, but this was pushing it.

“Hm, let’s try.“ Naruto murmured and then stood up. Kakashi’s back was ramrod straight, as the boys stood, side by side. They wouldn’t try Kuchiyose, right? Not without aContract... Right?!

Except, they did just that, faster, than Kakashi could trully comprehend. Drawing blood from their hands, running trough the handsigns at aspeed Kakashi never thought he would see Genin perform them – Hitsuji, Inu, Tori, Saru, Hitsuji – and then their palms were on the ground, the jutsu-shiki spreading from beneath their hands. And to his shock, both glowed with the overload of chakra. Naruto’s was gold-green, while Sasuke’s was blue-purple.

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu!“ (Summoning Technique) they announced at the same time and the next minute there were two identical plumes of smoke. When the smoke cleared Kakashi’s jaw dropped.

In front of Sasuke, stood amassive (horse-sized) wolf. It had pitch black fur and orange eyes, like two simmering ambers. It’s massive fangs glinted sharply and Kakashi had no doubt this beast was more dangerous, than any of his dogs ever could be.

Naruto was facing amagnificent white stag, the same size as the wolf – and it had the most beautiful antlers Kakashi has ever seen. Almost like the interlocked branches of an ancient tree, pure ivory in colour, but as the light fell on them, they seemed almost gold. Its hooves were the same.

(How the hell did the boys have such Summons? He had read this and that about some of the Summons and their Realms. The Wolf Contract had been lost ages ago... and he hadn’t even known there was aDeer Contract. He heard rumours, but like every other sane human, he thought it some legend, from the time of the Rikudō Sennin!)

And then, to his shock, both great Summons lowered their heads, after amoment of contemplation, as if they had trouble recognising their summoners. (How ridiculous was that? Summons don’t forget the face of their Summoners. No one had more than one face, in their life, after all.)

“Indra-sama.“ the wolf greeted.

“Asura-sama.“ the deer intoned in asofter tone, careful that it’s –his?– antlers wouldn’t harm his blonde student. Not deer, of course. Stag.

Wait! Why the hell would those Summons call his students by different names?! What in the name of kami was going on?

Naruto smiled and reached out, stroking the stag’s fur. “Shirotsuno. Old friend.“

“A pleasure to see you again, Kagetsume.“ Sasuke said, as he took astep closer. The two summons leaned into the touches of his students, momentary not acknowledging one another. But then, the wolf started growling, as its fiery eyes landed on the stag.

“You...!“ the wolf snarled.

The stag glared back, his hooves clattering on the stone. Kakashi never thought to see such ice-cold, deadly conviction in the eyes of aherbivorous animal, summon or not. “Yes, me...“

“Enough!“ his students said at once, their voices cracking like whips. Kakashi couldn’t help, but shake at the amount of power and authority that single word carried. Both of the great beast looked at their summoners in shock.

“We are not enemies.“ Sasuke said, his tone level. “We started something and now we finished it.“

“We shall never fight again.“ Naruto spoke, his tone ringing with finality, “We stand side by side, as brothers should.“

“As we should always have.“ Sasuke said. “So, I believe, it is time to cease the hostilities between the Wolves of the Obake Mori (Haunted Forest) and the Deer of the Hoshizora Tani (Starry Valley). We work together now. Iknow well, that your Clans have always been at odds as it is the order of nature. But no more open violence. Just keep clear of each other.“

For awhile, the two summons seemed to consier it. Then, both nodded. “It shall be as you wish.“ both said at once.

The boys smiled – well, Naruto grinned more like– and leaned into their summons’ fur again.

And then, suddenly, the wolf twitched. “Indra-sama. Someone’s here.“

Both of his students perked up at those words and Kakashi cursed colorfully in the privacy of his mind. He did aquick Body Flicker, hoping and praying that Naruto hadn’t caught his chakra signature.

Kakashi’s first stop was the Hokage Office. They had ameeting about the upcoming Chūnin Exam anyway. Afterwards, he could ask the Hokage about those summons. (The thought of Sasuke having wolves as partners, still nagged at him. That Contract had once belonged to the Uchiha Clan, if the old scrolls were to be believed, but it had been lost. Lost even before the time of Madara and the Shodai.)

Once he arrived in the office, he settled in acorner, surprising many that he was on time. He was rarely late to things, since he’d taken the boys under his wing, but it was something many of his collegues were unused to. The Hokage seemed vaguely pleased at his appearance, too. He was sure, that they would have aprivate word anyway, considering the unique set-up his team had. After all, himself and Yamato could not join the boys, they woud just be spectators trough the Exam.

The boys could only count on each other, but Kakashi wasn’t too worried. As close as they were, he was sure they would not be seperated so easily.

“As you are all aware,“ the Hokage started after afew minutes, when he was sure all those who were meant to be here, were present, “this year’s Chūnin Exams will start soon and we will be hosting them. First and foremost, Iwould like to say that this means the strenghtening of our security, to ensure the safety of our guests, as well as the order of the village.“

Mutters of agreement and acknowledgement passed trough the room. The Chūnin Exams were always the busiest time of the year.

“Also, Iwould like to know, which teams will be nominated.” the Kage asked, his aged, but still sharp eyes sweeping the room.

Afew senseis, who had their team since last years – like Gai,– nominated their teams, believing them ready. Much to everyone’s surprise –and the disapproval of afew– Kurenai nominated her team, too. Her kids had graduated this year with Sasuke and Naruto, but that wasn’t the only reason her announcement caused astir. Kurenai was one of the newest, most inexperienced Jōnin of the village. Kakashi could tell, that many were questioning her sanity at that bold move.

However, the Hokage waved it off, saying he trusted the team leaders’ judgement of their students, regardless of nominating ateam or not. Asuma also nominated the new Ino-Shika-Chō trio. When the Hokage’s eyes fell on him, Kakashi knew what were the words, that the Hokage was expecting, regardless of the boys being ready or not. (It was agood thing, that they were skilled and learned fast. They were ready.)

“I, Hatake Kakashi, nominate Team Thirteen – consisting of Genins Uchiha Sasuke and Senju-Uzumaki Naruto – for the Chūnin Exams.“ he stated calmly.

“Very well, Kakashi.“ the Hokage nodded, accepting his words. Unsurprisingly, several of his peers looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. Altough Asuma was looking at his father, as if the man had lost his mind in his old age. Luckily, the Sarutobi knew better, than to voice any protests.

Soon after the forms were passed, the meeting was dismissed, altough Kakashi remained, lingering just by the edge. Once even the last of the gathered left, the Hokage looked at him, taking adrag of his pipe.

“How are they fairing?“

Kakashi didn’t even mask the pride in his voice. “Very good, Hokage-sama. However, both of them are naturally talented – once Naruto gets over certain problems– and it is safe to say, that they just need the guiding hand, not actual teaching. Neither from me, nor from Yamato. They teach themselves and each other, most of the time. But there’s been times, when they did turn to us for help, even Sasuke. It seems the arrugance the Academy mentioned is not as bad, as they had made it out to be. And while he had mentioned going after Itachi that first day, he doesn’t even acknowledge that the man is out there somewhere. Keeps saying we are his family – Naruto, Yamato and myself, that is. Both of them consider the team, their family, in fact.“

He paused, letting all of the information sink in. “It’s humbling, in away, because they consider us apart of their extended family, as Sasuke had said, as we are in posession of their Clans’ Kekkei Genkai, regardless of the fact, that neither myself, nor Yamato were born with them.“ Kakashi added at last.

The Hokage seemed thoughtful for amoment and nodded. “It’s indeed nice thing to hear. It bodes well for both of them. Both of them had been alone and it’s calming that they are willing to forge bonds, other than what they share. No matter how few those bonds are.“

Kakashi hummed. “Yes. It seemed that the advice and care we showed them with Yamato... grounded them. It showed them, that they aren’t alone or just the two of them.“ Kakashi chuckled. “It’s cute, how protective they can be sometimes. Even if they know, that Yamato and Ican handle ourselves.“

The Hokage chuckled in amusem*nt. “Well, then, be sure to take care of your new family, Kakashi-kun.“

Kakashi’s eye crinckled into asmile. “I will, Hokage-sama.“ as he moved towards the window, he recalled the main reason he’d wanted to speak with the man. “Hokage-sama?“

The man turned in his seat to look at him again. “Yes, Kakashi?“

“What do you know of Summons? Wolves and Deer, to be precise. The boys hadn’t come to our spot and just before the meeting, Ifound them on the Monument, the plateu, to be precise. They did aSummoning. Ididn’t even know they had signed Contracts and by the way they spoke of it – and by the way the Summons themselves greeted the boys,– they have it for awhile.“

The Hokage studied him for avery long moment, his eyes wide. “Wolves and Deer, you say?“

Kakashi nodded. “The Wolf Clan of Obake Mori and the Deer Clan of Hoshizora Tani. That’s what they said.“

“I’ve only heard of them in legends.“ the aged man admitted. “I thought them to be naught, but legend.“

Kakashi nodded. “Do you by chance remember something of that legend?“

The Hokage’s face fell thoughtful. “Not much. Only that those Clans are among the most ancient ones. If Iremember correctly, those Clans were the first one to make aContract with humans. Precisely, they made Contracts with the two sons of the Rikudō Sennin. The sons, who were the forefathers of the Uchiha and Senju Clans.“

Kakashi’s mind was working overtime, trying to connect the dots. “Have their names been recorded? The sons’?“

The Hokage nodded slowly, almost unsure. “Jiraya mentioned something. Something that the toads spoke of in passing. There are rumours, that the Great Toad Sage had met the Sennin in his youth. I... Ithink, they... yes. The sons were named Asura and Indra.“

Kakashi’s mind came to ascreeching halt. Indra and Asura. Those were the names the two Summons had used, when they addressed his students.

“Why are you asking, Kakashi?“

Kakashi tried feigning nonchallance. He shrugged. “Just curious. My students, do after all, seem to have those ancient Contracts. How they came across it, is amystery Ihave yet to solve.“

The Hokage seemed satisfied with the answer. “Well, maybe you could try asking them. Those are ancient Contracts and had not been in circulation for along time, long enough to fall into legend.“

Kakashi nodded. “I will be sure to mention it to them, once Imeet them for training.“ he murmured. Then he nodded to the Sandaime and leapt out the window.

As he sped trough the rooftops, his mind was still trying to give meaning to all he had heard. ‘Why would the members of two legendary Summon Clans call my cute, little students by the name of their forefathes, who are literal legends?‘

It was amystery he intended to solve, no matter how long it took or how un-nice it was of him, as atrusted sensei, to snoop around his students and pseudo little brothers.

Chapter 14: Kakashi’s Musings

Chapter Text

When Kakashi found his students hours later, they were sitting at Ichiraku Ramen, eating. Well, Sasuke was eating and Naruto was inhaling ramen.

It was such a Kushina-thing to do, that Kakashi’s heart ached. Did the blonde realise just how much he was like his parents? He was painfully similar to them, yet at the same time, he was much more. Something else, too which Kakashi couldn’t name. Calm and composed, when need be, calculating and polite in a way not even Minato-sensei had been. But, if the Nidaime was Naruto’s great-grandfather, than perhaps those were things the blonde had inherited from him? He’d heard that the man had been calculating, pragmatic and polite sometimes so much, that they called him distant and cold. But Naruto also had a warm, bubbly and charming personality, that if the Sandaime was right, was as much Minato-sensei as much it was Shodaime-sama.

And on the top of it all, Naruto was agenius, when it came to seals. (Much like sensei, Tobirama-sama or Mito-hime had been. The Sandaime would not have mentioned them, if it were not true.)

Kakashi chuckled at the thoughts. It seemed as if Naruto had collected the best, most useful traits from all his family, regardless of them being Senju or Uzumaki.

Sasuke... Sasuke was much harder to compare, Kakashi mused. He was not as energetic as Obito or Shisui had been. Rather, he was calm and rational, like Itachi had been, but in aless detached way. And he was just as caring and loving, as Shisui and Mikoto-san had been, even if he showed it rarely or in odd ways. Sometimes stoic and overly wary (borderline cold), as Kakashi remembed Uchiha Fugaku to be... yet it didn’t seem like that, either.

The boys were like their families in alot of ways, but there were things Kakashi could not place for dear life. Like the wisdom they seemed to possess, well beyond their years. Wisdom and sadness and darkness, that didn’t belong in children – yet it was not asort of darkness, that came from their rocky start. No. It wasn’t even darkness – just ashadow. As if they knew more than teens their age should. As if they carried aweight they were afraid to share with anyone else, other than each other – or, as if they couldn’t share that weight with anyone, but each other.

Indra. Asura.

The names slithered into his mind unchecked and Kakashi found his single eye narrowing on his students. What did it mean? What were they hinding? (Because, looking back... it was obvious. Ever since that day, when he found Naruto resting on Sasuke’s shoulder, the Uchiha drinking tea, they were hiding something.)

They trained like no other. They saw the world in adifferent light, than others their age. Heck, they saw the world in adifferent light, than some adults! He had asked Naruto once, what he thought about the Fox sealed inside him and Naruto had answered, that he was sad for it. Sad, because the Fox was angry and bitter and knew not how to care for others anymore. (There’d been atime, when the likes of the Fox were caring?)

But, perhaps it had been his conversation with Sasuke, before the Wave Mission, that had been most eye-opening. Eye-opening to how much the village has misjudged not only his sensei’s son, but also Sasuke.

Kakashi was most surprised to find Sasuke alone. There was no Naruto in sight, when he arrived on the training ground. Instead, Sasuke only had acute puppy with him. The dog barked sharply at his arrival and Sasuke gently patted the animal, with across look on his regal features. (Ah, damn the Uchiha and their near-perfect looks!)

“Good morning, Kakashi-sensei.“ Sasuke greeted, as he poked the puppy again, as the animal growled. “Shiro, enough. He’s afriend.” The puppy made an unhappy sound, before obediently settling next to the Uchiha. When Sasuke was satisfed, their eyes met. “Gomen. He’s abit unsure of new people.“

“Maa, think nothing of it. Ihave dogs too. They’re nin-dogs, true, but some things are the same, regardless of them being Summons or normal dogs.“ he studied the puppy for asecond. Sasuke was calmly stroking its fur, sitting straight and regal, even now, when he was supposedly relaxed.

“True.“

“I didn’t know you had adog.“ Kakashi remarked.

“I found him after moving in with Naruto. Just afew days after Graduation. Naruto adores him too, so we decided to keep him. He’s small yet, so he doesn’t eat all that much.“ he said calmly. His face was calm and unmoving, like a lake, but Kakashi could see he loved the animal. He cared for it in the same odd sort of way he cared for Naruto.

Someone under Inochi, who’d examined Sasuke, had said, that he might be aproblem without proper guidence. But problematic people – problematic shinobi, candidate or active– did not care for animals so openly. In that moment, Sasuke didn’t seem to be problematic at all.

Kakashi sat down on the ground too, not too far from his student. The puppy – Shiro– poked his nose towards him in acurious, cute way. His black eyes watched Kakashi curiously, but he didn’t move from under Sasuke’s hand, stroking the brown fur.

“You know, Sasuke... I’m supposed to have this conversation with both you and Naruto. About your future. It’s abit... more complicated for you two, as you have no families to fall back on.“ he started cautiously.

Sasuke looked at him, his eyes calculating, narrowed just abit. “I have Naruto and he has me. It’s how it had been for along while. We’re fine, altough, Isuppose, Ishould thank you for your concern.“

Kakashi eyed him. There was it again. That overly formal tone, that did not belong into this period. Perhaps into, the Warring Clans Era, but not here, into this more modern society.

The Hatake hummed. “Have you thought of what to do with your life, if you make it to J ōnin? Perhaps join ANBU once Naruto makes Hokage?“

Sasuke seemed thoughtful, than gave atiny snort. “No. Naruto would drag me to the Hokage Monument and drop me from the top, after binding my chakra, if Iever considered ANBU. He wants me as his right hand yes, so he said, but in amore open way.“

“I see... and? What do you think of it?“

Sasuke huffed, obviously annoyed with the probing, but he was far too polite and composed, to tell him to f*ck off. “I think, it’s okay. He’s my best friend. My brother. Iwant to help him build something... new. Better. We promised and Iwant to keep that promise.“ the ‘I want to keep it this time‘, was muttered so softly, that Kakashi almost didn’t hear it. He filed that away for later. Best not push his luck – Sasuke was, after all, willing to open up to him somewhat.

“I see. And what of your brother?“ he asked. Now that Sasuke was more content, he dared risking the question.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow –hell! Even the way he arched an eyebrow and looked at him in awhat-now? look, was noble! This kid could go and parade among the long-robed, parfumed nobles of the Fire Daimyo’s Court and fit right in, if only he changed clothes!

“Shouldn’t you ask Naruto that?“

Kakashi blinked. He opened his mouth and closed it, like afish (he’d never been so grateful for his mask before). “I wasn’t talking about Naruto.“ he said slowly, after gathering his wits again. “I meant Itachi.“

Sasuke’s eyes bled into the Sharingan, faster, than Kakashi blinked. The cold fire in the depth of the Genin’s eyes were almost frightening. “That man is not my brother and if you ever call that kinslayer such, where Ican hear, Iwill crave your Sharingan out. Respecting the wish of adead or not.“ he growled, lacing his words with Killing Intent.

Kakashi’s blood ran cold. Not because of the Killing Intent, no it was just adrop, but because that was an all too real treath...

Sasuke gathered Shiro into his grip and rose. “That man does not exist. Ihave no business with traitors and kinslayers. Let the Konoha Hunters catch him. What he will get from the Hunter-nin and once he is dragged back, tossed in front of the Council, shall be enough. Iwill ask him, why he had done it, tell him that he failed the Uchihas’ policies about family and kin and then he can rot in acell for the rest of his days, for all Icare.“ he turned and started walking away.

Kakashi needed amoment to understand, what had been said. Before he could comment, Sasuke spoke again, without turning. Kakashi could only trace the unfamiliar moon-circle symbol on his vest’s back.

“Countless shinobi of my kin, those who had the Sharingan, fell for it. Fell for what... the Nidaime called so catchily the Nikushimi no Noroi. He is one of them, one of the fallen. Ishall not fall for that Curse. Naruto has shown me, that Ican live without falling for it – and Naruto is more my brother, than he will ever be.”

And then, he leapt into the trees, leaving Kakashi alone on the training ground.

Sasuke was not bent on revenge, like some of the evaluations said. No. He was just anatural loner. In fact, he could care less about what happened to Itachi, apparently. First, he had said he would go after the older, but no. He meant it that he would ask his questions and then leave Itachi. Leave the man to carry the weight of his actions.

And hell... he’d heard about the Uchihas’ Nikushimi no Noroi. It was the ideal completely opposite to Konoha’s Will of Fire, altough Minato-sensei had said the Uchiha had overcome it, since Konoha’s founding... Perhaps they hadn’t?

Perhaps Itachi had fallen for it, like Sasuke had said. And it was Sasuke himself, who was free of it and so, he was willing to look into the future, not pursuing Itachi, as long as he had Naruto by his side.

Sasuke was definitely being more mature about this whole thing, than he had the right to be... (Come on, Kakashi had been in asimilar situation and he had not been half as mature about it, as Sasuke was! If not for Minato-sensei and Kushina-san, he would still be living in the Hatake Compound.)

‘Almost as if he’d lived alife before, along with Naruto. As if they knew all the pain and suffering and joy of life. And trough it all, they’d learnt, that it was best to stick together, no matter what.‘ he mused.

Kakashi scowled at his thoughts. What was he even thinking? What was he thinking – that the boys were some extremely old people in young bodies, who’d lived once? All the better... they were, who? Those Asura and Indra the summons had called them?

No. Totally, utterly R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S. And impossible.

(Even if something like being reborn in adifferent body was possible, how much power would that need? That would take awfully lot and that would mean the boys had enough power, somewhere in them, to match aBijū. To carve avalley, to reshape the land, only because they were having fun.)

The boys were talented, prodigies in their own way, yes. But no man, not even the Shodaime or Madara had such power. That would make them something like half-human-half-god or something. And what?! Their father was, who? The Rikudō Sennin? No. They were misplaced in time then – just by amillenia or so. (Besides, Nartuo looked all too much like his parents, to be anyone else’s son.)

Kakashi shook his head and grunted abit.

He was just overthinking things. He should just be happy, that his brats – students, were smart enough not to die early in their shinobi career.

“Kakashi-sensei?“

Kakashi was broken out of his musings, by Naruto calling out to him. The scarecrow looked at his blonde student and waved nonchallantly. “Hello Naruto, Sasuke. May Ijoin?“

Sasuke nodded and gestured at the empty seat next to him. Kakashi smiled and ordered abeef ramen, after some consideration.

“What brings you here?“ Sasuke asked, as he ordered another bowl of ramen.

Kakashi eyed his studens discreetly, trying to find something – anything–, that would point out that they were impostors – that they weren’t the sons of their families. He found nothig out of place. They looked just as they always had.

“I thought it was time to tell you about the upcoming Chūnin Exams and that the Hokage has high –very high– expectations of you two.“

The boys shared abrief surprised look and then their features were smooth and calm again. (Usually it was off-putting even for some adults to hear such words and they were so calm...)

Naruto raised an eyebrow and gods be good, he managed it in the same noble sort of way Sasuke had! It was almost annoying. “And what would those expectations entail exactly?“

Kakashi almost groaned. Were those two even children? Because, right now, it totally didn’t feel like it. It was as if they were brushing off those standards the Hokage had. As if they’d lived by much higher standards (which was kind of hard to believe, with their families dead).

His head hurt. It hurting very, very badly courtesy of two impossible students of his. ‘These two are even more of a headache now, than as children. I need a raise...‘

Chapter 15: Chūnin Exam Commence!

Chapter Text

The first true sign of the nearing Exam Kakashi has mentioned was the commotion, Sasuke noted. Konoha wasn’t just the first Shinobi Village – it was also one of the biggest, even among the Great Five. So naturally, it was apopulous place, full of life.

However, this sort of commotion, that came with the nearing Chūnin Exams was different. Konoha had afeel to it. Almost like aperson. Warm, welcoming – if with alittle sting. The shadows of distrust and fear lurked in every heart. He’d learnt that fast, being near Naruto. People tried being kinder to the blonde, if only to get some favours out of the Senju-Uzumaki Heir. The point was, that he was used to Konoha’s familiarity.

But now, the familiarity was disrupted by countless foreign faces – all of them shinobi. The familiarty was blown out the window, the moment his sensory brushed with aforeigner’s chakra. And whenever he felt something foreign, he would steal aglance that way and have alook at the headbands.

Takigakure. Sunagakure. Kumogakure... and so on.

Foreign village symbols. Foreign faces. And the more of those foreigners would arrive, the closer the Exams would be.

“We’re close now.“ his brother murmured. Sasuke had no doubt, that Naruto felt this difference even more, than he did. His senses and Sensory were sharper, than Sasuke’s after all.

“Indeed.“ he agreed, as they walked trough the Market District.

The civilians bowed and greeted them exageratedly. ‘Uchiha-sama‘ and ‘Senju-sama‘ echoed around them. Some of the older generations said, that how he and Naruto were side by side, was probably how the Shodai and Madara had been. (It grated at him, that people compared him to Madara – atraitor and madman, who sought the destruction of the world.)

Narto froze suddenly, perking up, watching and listening, like an animal. Then, his violet eyes narrowed. “Shukaku.” he whispered just loud enough for Sasuke to hear.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?“

Naruto stole him aglance. “Shukaku. He’s here. His Jinchūriki is here.” he clarified, his voice still low.

Sasuke hummed. “Lead the way then. Iwant to see who’s the person our brother got stuck with.“

Naruto nodded and leapt onto asturdier stall’s top, before leaping further up onto the roofs. Sasuke followed the whiskered blonde without question. He allowed Naruto to have afew steps on him, so he could properly locate their tanuki brother. This way, if Naruto took asudden turn or stopped without warning, Sasuke wouldn’t run into him.

“There.“ Naruto said, pointing at two Suna shinobi. One was agirl with sandy blonde hair and amassive tessen on her back. The other was aboy with painted face in black, cat-like suit. Now that they were close, Sasuke’s senses prickled with the wild chakra.

It was indeed Shukaku’s, but it felt wilder, than ever. And it wasn’t coming from those two, but they had traces of it around them. So, Shukaku’s host was their third teammate. His eyes narrowed when he saw the clown in the cat suit pick up ayoung kid by the scarf. Sasuke didn’t need his brother’s special emotion sensing to know that the boy was terrified. Sasuke spotted two other kids about the boy’s age, watching from the cover of atree, with terrified faces.

“That’s the Sandaime’s grandson.“ Naruto growled. “Konohamaru.”

And the kid was in trouble. They shared alook and leapt down, facing the two foreigner shinobi. They flared their chakra just abit. It was Naruto, who stepped forwards.

“If Iwere you, cat-boy, Iwould let the child go. The one you’re holding is Sarutobi Konohamaru, the Sandaime Hokage’s grandson.“ Naruto warned.

“Imagine what the Hokage would think, finding foreign shinobi – guests – bullying his beloved grandson.” Sasuke continoued, stepping next to his brother.

The Suna nin dropped Konohamaru, as if he had been burned. The child scrambled to stand and hid behind Naruto’s leg. Sasuke didn’t take offence. Asura’s chakra, even when flared as atreath, had been warmer – the kid probably didn’t know why, but he was gravitating towards what his mind deemed safer. Besides, Naruto knew the kid’s name, so he must have met him sometime.

Naruto glanced down at Konohamaru and then behind them, where the other two kids were. He patted the kid on the head. “Go home, Konohamaru. Now. Take your friends too.”

“S-sure thing, Naruto. Thanks.“ Konohamaru murmured, running. Sasuke didn’t need to take his eyes off of the foreigners to know the kids left, as fast, as possible.

“The little punk...“ the cat-suited one growled, glaring after the children.

“Whatever he’d done,“ Sasuke cut him off coldly, “he is achild and acitizen of Konoha. You are guests here and any sort of violence dealt by foreigner shinobi to native civilians, is an act of war.“

The Suna shinobi’s face darkened. “Who...“

“Shut your mouth Kankuro, before you cause more trouble and embarrasment to the village.“ a new voice growled from a nearby tree. Sasuke turned there, seeing a redhead hanging upside down. Then, he was gone in a swirl of sand and appeared not far from the other two.

He had pale green eyes, short red hair – almost Uzumaki red– and thick rings of black around his eyes. He also had aKanji for ‘love‘ on his forehead. He was the one, exuding Shukaku’s chakra in such sinister waves. (Too much chakra leaking and those dark rings... was Shukaku not sealed properly?)

“G-Gaara...“ the girl murmured, fear flashing in her eyes.

Gaara turned towards them, his eyes flashing with... malice. And maybe just atouch madness. “You... you two are strong.“ he growled, pointing at them, “Mother wants your blood.”

The words were as if his brother used Sūsenju to hit him. That... that kid thought that Shukaku was agirl?! And his mother on top of it? Oh, sweet, saint Rikudō! What had become of the world – and their Bijū siblings– after they had died?

Naruto groaned out loud. “Mother?“ he snorted. “He’s aBijū, for the Shinju’s sake! And you got the gender wrong, kid. They don’t really have one per se, but if they did, Shukaku would be male.”

The other two Suna shinobi looked at Naruto as if he’d lost his mind.

Sasuke flared his chakra abit more. “Don’t you recognise us, Shukaku? Has imprisonment dulled your memory enough to forget your own kin, tanuki?“

There was aspike of chakra and the redhead bent down, obviously fighting the influence of the malicious chakra. They could not speak with Shukaku, but this was all the reaction Sasuke needed. Shukaku recognised them. Plus, this was all the proof they needed, to know that the seal was asham. Abit more pressure and it would break. Not the work of an Uzumaki, for sure.

Gaara finally stood up and looked at them with wide eyes, half crazed, half fearful. “Who are you? Mother wants your blood...“ he pointed at Sasuke. “But also fears both of you.“

“Oh, he has areason to fear us.“ Naruto growled. Gaara’s gaze shifted to Naruto. “The name’s Senju-Uzumaki Naruto.”

“Uchiha Sasuke.” The moment they spoke their names, the Jinchūriki’s teammates paled even more.

“We meet in the Exam, Shukaku.“ Naruto said, his eyes lingering on the redhead. “Try not to cause trouble util then.”

They turned, purposefully exposing their backs to the Suna shinobi. Shukaku could see trough his Jinchūriki’s eyes. He would surely recognise the Ōtsutsuki symbol on their backs. True to their thoughts, they weren’t even on the nearest roof, when Gaara’s – or more like Shukaku’s– Killing Intent hit them.

They braced themselves and ignoring the bloodlust radiating from the tanuki, headed for the Hokage office, in an unspoken agreement. Best warn the Hokage.

Naruto leapt into the Hokage office, only to find, that the window was closed and he was flying towards it with no stopping...‘Oh, sh*t!‘

He formed two chakra chains and sent them ahead. The chains went straight trough, loudly shattering the (innocent) window, anchoring into the office’s sturdy wooden pavement. Oh, he’d have to repair that with Mokuton later. Using the chains, he pulled himself in, shifting his stance to kick in the remains of the window, so the glass would not harm him. He landed in front of the Kage desk in a crouch, chains still attached, while Sasuke stopped in the window, his shoes breaking even more of the small glass parts, that still stuck to the casem*nt.

“Ten points on collateral damage, Otōto.“ he said asmirk appearing on his face.

Naruto scowled. “That freaking window is always open. How in the Rikudō should Ihave known he wil have it shut now?“

“Naruto, Sasuke.“ Kakashi called, giving them awarning look. “What are you two doing here?”

Sasuke shrugged, glancing at their sensei before looking at the Hokage. “Business.“

The Hokage studied them for abrif second. “And what is that?“

Naruto stood, retracking his chakra chains with asoft rattle. “We met Jinchūriki, two of them, to be precise. We came cause of Suna’s, but on the way here, we also saw Taki’s.“

Tense silence appeared, the moment he spoke the dreaded word. The Hokage’s eyes glinted sharply. “The identity of Jinchūriki is avillage secret, Naruto.”

Naruto gave the Hokage a deadpan look. “We feel each other’s presence. Well, more like I felt them. They didn’t know who I was, ‘cause I made sure to let my chakra mask any and all traces of the furball’s own. Taki brought Shichi’s host.“

The Hokage nodded. “I will remember that. And what of Suna?“

“Suna brought Shukaku’s host, the redhead. Gaara. The problem is, that he is unstable. He was radiating so much of the Bijū chakra, that even the fox roared bloody murder.“

“Oh, so did the tanuki.“ Sasuke said, drawing all the eyes to himself. He had an amused look on his face, as their eyes met. Naruto rolled his eyes. “Roared bloody murderer on Senju, Iguess.“

Naruto shrugged. “Not my fault, that the chakra is all the same, Nī-sama. Iwould think Shukaku does not have fond memories of the last person, who posessed Mokuton.“

The Hokage looked at them before nodding. “Instable, you say?“

Naruto shrugged. “I don’t know enough Fūinjutsu to judge...“ that was alie, but the others didn’t need to know that, “but all that chakra leaking was not nice. And the crazed look in the guy’s eyes, when he saw us with Sauske...“he shook his head. “And when the guy revealed himself, he brought all that Killing Intent and... madness... Ican’t even name the proper emotion. It almost shut down my senses. Keep an eye on him.”

The Hokage’s expression darkened, before it was back to normal. “Thank you for the warning, Naruto. We will keep extra eyes on that group. We will also try to locate the Shichibi’s host. Hm, perhaps you could aid the ANBU later?“

Naruto shrugged. “Sure.” he darted towards Sasuke. “Sorry for the broken window. I’ll patch up the pavement later.“ and then he leapt out, followed by Sasuke.

“What sort of little monsters you two have for students, Kakashi, Yamato?“ asked Asuma, looking at his collegues.

Kakashi and Yamato shared alook. “Cute, protective students, who can be destructive trouble magnets, when they want to be.“ they answered in sync.

The next day Naruto and Sasuke found themselves pacing in the Namikaze house. Shiro was laying on his pillow, below the window and watched them.

Afew days before they’d moved into the apartment, that had been Namikaze Minato’s before he married. After the marriage, the couple had lived in the Uzumaki Compound – which had been destroyed, when Kurama had been unleashed. Luckily, the Namikaze house, on the border of the Merchant and Clan districts, was completely intact and the Hokage had given Naruto the keys after some probing.

It was much more comfortable place to live for the two of them, than the tiny, old apartment on the border of the Red Light District. They had added small personal touches to their rooms. Naruto had taken his father’s old room and Sasuke claimed what Kakashi had said, been the guest room.

“Tomorrow’s the first day.“ Naruto murmured. “The written Exam.“ he groaned. “Why does there have to be something written?“

Sasuke stopped and huffed. “That’s our smallest problem right now, Otōto.“

Naruto glared at him heatedly and his eyes seemed to flicker red for asecond, altough Sasuke knew that it may very well have been atrick of the light. Naruto’s dense chakra was like another layer to the Hakke Fūin, impossible for Kurama to penetrate. (Not at half power. After all, half of the fox was sealed within the Yondaime and now, the Shinigami.)

“We’ll keep an eye on Shukaku and Chōmei.“ the blonde murmured. “I’m more worried about the Exam.“

Sasuke couldn’t help the chuckle, that escaped him. “We were once capable of craving valleys and make the Bijū cower, just with a few words and you’re worried about awriting afew words on apiece of paper?” he asked incredulously.

Naruto’s expression darkened. “I can’t help it! I’m bad at writing things. Well, things, that are not seals.“

Sasuke shook his head. “You know enough to scrape past. But, do you want to go over some of the things we might need?“ he asked in asofter tone. It was obvious, that the blonde was on the werge of apanic attack.

Naruto paused and looked at him for along moment. Then, his expression turned sheepish. “Please.”

The next morning, the brothers appeared in front of the Academy, armed to the teeth. Of course, most of their weaponry were hidden beneath their clothes and in easily accessible storage seals on their bodies, that were covered by their clothes.

“Morning boys.“

Naruto grinned at the sight of their senseis. “Kakashi-sensei. Yamato-sensei.“

“Good morning.“ Sasuke greeted, pleased to see the two Jōnin. It helped ease the nerves – especially Naruto’s nerves. (Because no, he, the former prodigy of Ninshū was not on edge. He refused to addmit that he was in fact jumpy, even to his brother.)

“We thought to drop by and wish you luck.“ Yamato said. “But, you won’t really need it. Just give all you have, like you do during training time and you’ll get trough without too much trouble.“

Naruto smiled softly. “Thanks.“

“Now, chop, chop. Go before you’re late.“ Kakashi said making agesture towards the doors. “Go to Room 301. That’s where the written exam will take place.”

Sasuke hummed and nudged his brother/teammate. “Thank you. Come on, Otōto. The sooner we get trough this, the sooner we can focus on other things.“

Naruto nodded and they walked inside, so close, that their shoulders were touching. But, knowing that the other was there helped both of them keep their minds clear and focused. In this life, they were more codepent, than before. (Heck, before, Indra had been such aloner, that Asura barely saw him, despite Asura being Indra’s greatest treasure in life– his most precious person, even after things had gone downhill. Not that Asura felt like aprecious person then, constantly fighting and dodging blows meant to kill.) It wasn’t hard to be, when they had no families of their own and the weight of the past was something no one knew. No one but them (and the Bijū, but only Kurama was here and Kurama was still mostly quiet and brooding).

They were just on the second floor, when they saw agroup of Genin gathered in front of adoor, guarded by two Chūnin. “This is room 301, no? Let us in then!“ one of the girls shouted.

Naruto ans Sasuke shared a look. Wiping away the Genjutsu with their minds was like flicking off an annoying bug. Huh. Room 201. They shared another look and decided to slip past as quietly, as possible. If this bunch couldn’t even detect such alow-level Genjutsu, then perhaps it would be best for them not to participate in the Exam.

They quietly climbed the stairs to the third floor. They barely left the stairs behind, when they ran into three Genin, bearing Konoha headbands. One was abrown-haired girl, the other was aboy wearing green spandex. The last was aHyūga. Hm, they hadn’t encountered anyone from their uncle Hamura’s descendants, since Hinata...

“Hello. Are you new Genin?“ asked the girl with buns. “Hadn’t seen you around much.“

“Yes, we are new.“ Sasuke answered simply.

The girl studied them for asecond. “Oh, I’m Higurashi Tenten by the way. They’re my teammates, Rock Lee and Hyūga Neji.“

“Senju-Uzumaki Naruto.“ the blonde nodded, “and Uchiha Sasuke.”

Tenten’s brown eyes narrowed. “You are Team 13, right? Gai-sensei said there was one selected this year, with only two Genin.”

“Yes, we are.“ Naruto hummed.

“Wait,“ Lee looked at them with wide eyes, “you’ve no third teammate? Why?“

Sasuke shrugged. “The Hokage said so.“

Lee’s eyes shone. “Uchiha Sasuke, you are called agenius of your generation and Iwish to fight you. You’re called the best and Iwish to see my abilities matched against you. Iwish to see your flames of youth!”

Sasuke snorted. “Genius is a relative term. And my answer is no. Not now, before an Exam. Maybe another day, after the Exams. Otōto, we should go before we’re late. Kakashi-sensei said not to be late.“

Naruto tore his gaze from the older Genin and nodded. “Let’s go then, Nī-sama.“ he stole aglance at the others. “Sorry, gotta go. Wish you luck and meet later.”

And with that, they hurried past, leaving three baffled Genin behind. (After all, there was not asingle person in Konoha, who didn’t know the joint history of Uchiha and Senju. And these two, hailing from afforementioned opposing Clans, had just called one another brother.)

Entering the examination room, the two were blasted by awave of Killing Intent, courtesy of afew foreign shinobi –namely, shinobi from the newly formed village in the Land of Sound, Otogakure. Sasuke glared at them, flashing his Sharingan in warning and then proceeded to ignore them.

“Careful, who you treathen.“ someone said from next to them. “Showing your eyes like that, is atreath, after all.“

Sasuke scowled at the silver-haired boy, who spoke. “Of course it is. And you don’t need to concern yourself with what Ido and don’t do.“

The silver-haired Genin raised his hand. “Calm down. Iwas just trying to give good advice. You’re new this year, right? I’ve participated in these Exams before. It’s dangerous to treathen others like that.“

Sasuke growled. “As Isaid, do not concern yourself with what Ido.”

“Sasuke-kun!“ someone shrieked suddenly. Sasuke looked up and adreadful shiver passed him, as he saw the blonde meneace, by the name of Yamanaka Ino. “Sasuke-kun, Ifinally see you again.“ Ino said, as she jumped into his neck, drawing many eyes to them.

Sasuke growled even louder and shoved her off, none to gently. Ino stumbled back, her back colliding with Chōji. “Stay away, fangirl.“ he hissed.

Ino’s eyes widened and she paled. Satisfied with her reaction, the Uchiha turned away.

Sasuke and Naruto watched the fight, which had broken out between afew Sound shinobi and Kiba, after the foreigners attacked Kabuto. Well, attack was astrong word, but they did provoke afight.

But then suddenly, aman walked in and released ablast of Killing Intent. “Settle down, magotts!“ the man roared above the commotion. “Find your seats now, before Ithrow you out even before the Exam starts!”

Everyone gathered did as the man ordered and fell quiet. Satisfised with the results, the man’s Killing Intent disappeared. “Better. My name is Morino Ibiki and Iwill be the proctor of the first Exam, which will entail filling out atest sheet.“

As Ibiki said that, a few Chūnin took the papers from the desk and started distributing them among the seated Geinin, while Ibiki was writing something on the board. “Now, there are some rules for this exam and whomever breaks them, will be immediately disqualified, along with their teammates...“

Chapter 16: The Forest of Death

Chapter Text

“Alright magotts! Time’s up, so put down your pens. Anyone found writing will be disqualified.” the proctor announced after two hours.

Sasuke closed his eyes and allowed his Sharingan to deactivate, as he placed his pen on the desk. As his eyes reverted back to normal, he felt the connection between him and Naruto snap loudly, like achain breaking.

He wondered, how Naruto had managed to do this. Okay, so it wasn’t Naruto alone. Naruto was hopeless, when it came Genjutsu. Always has been. So he was sure, that his brother kept chewing Kurama for the first twenty minutes of the exam to reach out to him. Then, when Kurama reached out to him trough amind link – courtesy of their special chakra, as well as his Sharingan– Naruto linked their minds trough the use of his chains, channeling the smallest amount of Kurama’s chakra.

So whatever he saw with his Sharingan, Kurama also saw it and the fox told Naruto what to write. It was very convenient, that an undercover Chūnin sat right next to him. In short, whatever he coppied from the Chūnin, Naruto could write it too, despite being arow behind him, three seats to his right.

“Turn your sheets.“ Ibiki instructed. Sasuke flipped it, so he now could only see the blank side of the paper. “Now for the tenth and last question of the Exam. Regarding how you answer this last question, you may proceed to the second round or lose all your points and never become Chūnin.”

“What? You can’t be serious!“ someone called from the back row.

Ibiki glared at the Genin and the Killing Intent in the room spiked again, just like when he had entered. “This is my exam, kid. Whatever Isay, will happen. So think carefully and remember, that your choice affects your team. Leave and never become aChūnin or stay and hope you have enough points to proceed.”

Sasuke glanced backwards and their eyes met. Violet and black. No. They won’t leave. Amadman was out there, much more dangerous, than this man – amadman, who wanted to resurrect their power-hungry and possibly mad, non-human grandmother. If the seal broke and Ōtsutsuki Kaguya-hime set her gaze on the world again...

They would take this risk of not having enough points (no matter how unlikely that was), because if they walked away now, they would doom the world to destruction and slavery. He gave atiny nod to his brother and Naruto nodded back. Their gazes shifted ahead again, waiting for the proctor to speak.

Several other Genin however, decided against taking risks. Ibiki nodded and glanced at apaper on his desk. “Numbers 10 and 26 are also disqualified. Along with numbers 11 and 4.”

The two teams left. Ibiki’s gaze swept the room again. “Any others, who wish to leave?“

Three Genin stood up, fear in their eyes. Ibiki hummed. “You’re ateam?“

“Yes.“ the kunoichi standing answered. She wore aTaki headband. Ibiki gestured to the door and the three Genin slipped out with their heads hanging.

Sasuke scowled inwardly. ‘Cowards. Cowards, who’ll never be real shinobi, because cowardience will always lurks in the heart of men and no matter what training they go trough, their very nature will not change.‘

After the door closed, another long minute of silence followed, which unsettled many. As he stole aglance at Naruto, he saw his brother frown. No doubt, the negative emotions in the room were rising with every passing second.

“Congratulations to the remaining Genin, you pass the test.“

“WHAT?!“

Sasuke rubbed his right ear and glared heatedly at the Inuzaka boy. By the Shinju, Kiba was just as loud, as he had been in the Academy. Naruto was also excitable and loud sometimes, but never as loud, as Kiba. How the boy hadn’t gone deaf from his own voice yet? Inuzaka senses were sharper, after all... Looking at Naruto, he saw the Uzumaki rub his own ears, despite being farther from Kiba. But then again, Kurama’s chakra gave the blonde sharper senses, on par with an Inuzaka.

Now that he thought about it, it all made sense. The test with the disguised participants and even this question. An elborate little scheme to weed out the weak and hopless.

“But how? What was the point of the tenth question?“ Sasuke glanced to his other side and found his pink-haired fangirl leaning forward.

Oh, by...! She had been one of the smartest in class. How could she not figure it out? “It was atest of skill and will.“ he said, drawing many eyes to himself. “Information gathering, since the questions were not meant to be answered by us. Cheat, to gather information. The tenth question was atest of will.“

The proctor’s gaze flickered to him and the man gave anod. “Correct assumption. The test was made to cheat. There were people here, who already knew the answer or had filled out sheets or you were meant to cheat in other ways. Gather information and complete the mission. The last question was indeed atest of will...“

Suddenly, the window shattered and apurple-haired kunoichi flew into the room, dressed in mesh armour and atrench coat. She had alarge banner behind her, which read ‘THE SEXY AND SINGLE MITARASHI ANKO, PROCTOR OF THE SECOND EXAM‘.

“You’re early, Anko.“ Ibiki deadpanned.

Anko’s gaze swept the room critically. “There are much more remaining, than in the previous Exams we held, Ibiki. Are you going soft?”

Ibiki shook his head. “No. They’re just an exceptional bunch, Isuppose.”

Anko turned away from her collegue, to face them. “Alright brats, the second part of the Exam will be in the Forest of Death, under my lead. Find your way there in twenty minutes or you’re out of the game!“

“Did you notice her following us?“ Naruto murmured, as they tried slipping further into the commotion surrounding the Forest of Death.

“Sure did.“ Sasuke murmured. His sensory prickled with the vile chakra of the Kusa kunoichi, who’s started staring at them – at him– after leaving the Academy building. “The chakra feels dark.“

“Vile.“ his brother said. “Makes me want to throw up my food.“ they stuck close together and manouvered around the crowd, closer to the proctor, trying to lose the foreigner.

“Alright brats. First and foremost, fill out the sheets that are being distributed.“ Anko said.

“Why is that necessary?“ Sasuke turned at the familiar voice. It was the Suna kunoichi – the one, who was on the same team as Gaara, Shukaku’s host. And the redhead, as if sensing his gaze, looked at him. Sasuke’s eyes narrowed and he saw that flash in his eyes again.

Amix of madness and fear. (Oh, yes. Shukaku had areason to fear them, especially Asura. He was sure that the blonde would give apiece of his mind to the tanuki about how to and not to handle humans.)

“There will be deaths in this part of the Exam.“ Anko answered. “The sheets are that you acknowledge that and take the risk. So, if anyone dies or ends up crippled for life, Konoha can’t be held responsible.”

Sasuke shared alook with Naruto. Now... that was an interesting approach. An Exam to determine, who were ready to advance on the power ladder and they already spoke of death. But then again, violence was part of human nature, more so for shinobi, than for anyone else.

When the papers reached them, they filled out the form and gave it back. After about twenty minutes, Anko called for their attention again. “Now. Each team will get ascroll. It will be labelled either as Earth or as Heaven. To have achance at passing this part, each team must have one Earth and one Heaven scroll and reach the tower in the middle of the Forest within aweek. This will cut your numbers in half, as you will have to fight each other for asecond scroll. Anyone, who opens the scrolls before reaching the Tower, will be disqualified and sent home in disgrace! Also, those, who lose ateammate, will also be forbidden from proceeding on to the next round.”

“A week in there? And what of our food?“

Naruto rolled his eyes and Sasuke almost snorted in amusem*nt, as the blonde mouthed “A typical Akimichi question“.

“The forest is filled with animals and plants.“ Anko answered. “You can find everything for survival in there. Food included. However, those who are careless, will be food themselves. Food to the Forest.“ alarge, blood-thirsty grin appeared on her face. “Once the gates open, you may begin.“

And then, she was gone in aswirl of leaves.

Afew minutes later, they got their own scroll – Heaven. So they would need to get an Earth scroll before they could make it towards the Tower. Naruto immediately sealed the scroll in astorage seal, so they wouldn’t lose it.

Then, when the gates opened with thunderous rumble, they leapt into the forest. No matter what, they would reach the tower, in posession of both scrolls.

They stopped on ahigh tree branch and watched the other Genin teams pour into the forest, from their carefully concealed spot.

“So any plans, Nī-sama?“ Naruto asked.

“Survive, get ascroll and get to the tower in time.“ the Uchiha answered.

The Jinchūriki deadpanned. “So to-the-point plan. Genius.“

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “I don’t know yet. Maybe try confront ateam and fight to get an Earth scroll? Then, if we have it, we can focus on survival and getting to the tower. But, we also have to count on meeting ateam, who have aHeaven scroll like we do. It would be asetback.“

His brother nodded in agreement. “Let’s head towards the tower. If we meet others, we fight. If we don’t have the scroll, by the time we reach the tower, we can still set atrap for other teams or just simply confront them.“

“Hm, fine. But actually, we could take out anyone, who comes our way. Less people to worry about in the Finals, then.“

Naruto nodded with a grin. “Fine with me.“

They had been heading towards the middle of the forest, when Sasuke detected it. After passing the same tree twice, he noticed it. The small fluctuation of chakra, that usually meantGenjutsu was in effect. He shared alook with Naruto and the blonde gave asmall eye roll, signalling that he had noticed as well. They decided to make another round in the illusion...

Doton: Dochū Eigyo no Jutsu (Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique)

Sasuke flared his chakra, disrupting the illusion, just as Naruto turned to catch the attackers. His brother formed two sealless Shadow Clones, to confront the other two.

The attackers had Ame headbands and wore pale yellow jumpsuits, with rebreathers.

“How did you...?!“ asked the one in the middle, with both of his eyes visible.

“You can’t deceive aSensor.“ Naruto said, jumping at the middle one. Sasuke raised his hand in aTiger seal and let loose afireball, as his brother knocked the other one unconscious. One of two – the one with asingle eye visible,– dodged the fireball and jumped at Sasuke.

Sasuke, having no other choice, took on the Ame Genin in ashort spar, soon overwhelming the other with speed. The fact, that he could read the other’s movements also helped.

In less than five minutes, the three Ame Genin were tightly bound to atree with Naruto’s chakra chains and Sasuke crouched down to search for their scroll. Predictably, the Ame shinobi trashed against their bonds, trying to break the chains – uselessly.

“Found it.“ Sasuke said with asmall grin. As he showed it to Naruto, both of them chuckled. It was just the one they needed.

“Earth.“ Naruto murmured. “Wonderful. We can head for the tower.“

Sasuke nodded and they leapt into the trees again, ignoring the enraged calls of the other team, in favour of getting out of the forest.

Despite their best efforts, they’d spent the night in the wild, after defeating the Ame Genin and taking their scroll. They had managed to catch hare for food and Naruto had identified several plants and berries, which were used as seasoning.

They rose with the sun and quickly cleared the evidence of their overnight stay. Naruto checked his storage seals, where their scrolls had been placed, but when he found them in place, they decided to hurry towards the tower. The sooner they got out of this place, the better.

Naruto had mentioned, that it had the lingering feeling of Mokuton – no doubt, from the Shodai’s time – and despite the chakra remants, it still gave him an uneasy feeling. Sasuke had to agree. Something about the place just made him feel... off. He’d always been alight sleeper, but he had barely had any shut eye last night.

They slowed, when they reached aclearing, thinking for asecond. Should they pass trough fast and reveal their positions – and possily even walk into atrap – or should they go around the clearing to remain hidden?

Their thought process was abruptly halted, when they were hit by apowerful Killing Intent. They both whirled around, taking astep back, their eyes searching the greenery, from where the chakra had hit.

“Kukuku... Ifound you two.“ an unknown voice hissed, “You are talented for someone so young, to keep avoiding me for so long, Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun.“

Atall figure melted out of the shadows – pale-skinned, with yellow, snake like eyes, wearing pale grey garbs and alarge rope tied around his waist. The attire was completed by aKusa headband tied around the man’s forehead. Altough, if not for Naruto’s heightened Sensory, the blonde addmited to himself, he would have easily said, that the stranger was awoman.

Awoman, or a man too tall – his chakra too powerful– to be aGenin. He was at least aJōnin. But what was aforeigner Jōnin doing here, in the middle of their Exam?

Eyes narrowed, the boys took astep back. “Who are you and what do you want?“ Naruto asked.

“What do Iwant?“ the the Kusa shinobi asked. Asmirk stretched across his lips. “I want your furry friend, Naruto-kun. And Iwant the eyes, that hold so much power.“

Then, the man jumped at them and Sasuke attempted to sweep at his legs, but the enemy jumped over it. Meanwhile, Naruto pulled his fist back to punch him. The man caugth it and gave asmall grunt, his eyes narrowed. “Your hit is strong, Igive you that.”

The man kept his fist in his hand and swung his left for ahit. Naruto dodgoed, but the unknown shinobi was fast, so it still scraped past. Then, he felt Sasuke mould his chakra and without aword, flames sped towards them. Naruto tried sweeping off the enemy’s feet under him – this also enabled him to avoid his brother’s flames.

The move hit, but the enemy... burst into mud. Naruto cursed in the privacy of his mind, leapig back, standing back to back with Sasuke. Where was he? Left, right, above or...?

Below.

The snake-like bastard emerged from the ground. Sasuke leapt upwards – no surprise, his brother had always been faster, than him – but Naruto wasn’t fast enough. The Kusa nin dragged him into the ground. Sasuke released another fire jutsu at the enemy, while Naruto did his best to break the earth around him.

Luckily, he managed to form his chakra chains, which were perfect for freeing him from the ground. Now sufficiently pissed at the unknown man, Naruto formed four seals. Half of the water he needed for the jutsu, was created from his chakra and the other half was drawn from the air around him.

He formed agreat wave and sent it towards the snake man, just as Sasuke finished moulding his own chakra, releasing ablast of wind. “Kyōryoku: Fūsui Rappa no Jutsu!” (Cooperation: Wind Water Wild Wave Technique) they called at the same time.

The jutsu caught the enemy, along with afew trees. The trees crashed loudly and the boys watched with some satiafaction. Hah! That unknown shinobi was tough and talented, but they had each other. They could work together and having such opposing abilities, sometimes worked in their favour.

The man stood up, his head bent in an unnatural angle, his face split by alarge grin, which they could saely say, made him look mad. “Kukuku, you are strong and talented, to be able to work together like that, but you’re still just Genin.”

The man created aclone – aShadow Clone, which was aKonoha-only technique!– and ran at them, forcing them to split up. Naruto took on the clone, while Sasuke was left to deal with the original. The blonde grit his teeth in anger, as the clone hit him. The strike was fast and precise, just like Indra’s used to be. He’d seen it of course, but despite their best efforts, they were far from their old skills, hence why they preferred to work together these days.

The strike sent him flying into atree and as he broke atree bark, he felt afew of his bones break.

“Are you going to let him win, Asura?“ Kurama snarled in his mind. “Are you going to be an emberassment to our father?“

Naruto slowly stood up, as the clone darted closer. From the corner of his eye, he could see his brother fighting too – but it was obvious, that the stranger was stronger, than they were at the moment. Whoewer this man was, he was toying with them and it grated at him.

‘Either help me, so he does not win – because he did clearly state he wanted both you and Nī-sama’s Sharingan,– or keep quiet, Kurama. Ineed to focus.‘ he shot back at his non-human sibling. (Because, even if Kurama was upset with them for what had happened in the past, he still considered the fox asibling.)

The eldest of the Bijū grolwed. “Then, just this once, Ishall aid you, so we both survive.”

And then, suddenly, chakra – powerful, malicious and burning like fire– flooded his body. He spiked his own chakra to contain the energy, as ashrud of boiling redness formed around his body. He crouched down, as he felt his senses sharpening even more and he had no doubt, that his eyes now resembled his fox brother’s too.

Asingle tail formed behind him, the chakra like amini, orange shadow of the fox around him.

“Oh, so you’re showing more of your power, aren’t you, Naruto-kun?“

“Who are you?“ he growled, allowing Kurama’s voice to overlap his, as the second tail formed. He leapt at the enemy, closer to his old speed, than ever before. Despite Kurama’s chakra covering him, he was still mostly in control of his body. The chakra agumented his abilities, increesing his speed and stenght – landing him abit closer to what he had once been capable of achieving.

But the clone was still fast. Fast and skilled enough to avoid most of his strikes.... and then the frenzy of his fight was disrupted by aloud, blood-chilling scream.

His eyes snapped over to the scene, where his brother fought. The pale bastard’s neck had enlongened and he’d... bit Sasuke. He could feel the waves of sinister chakra coming from that direction – it was nothing like Kurama’s. Kurama’s was filled with rage and bitterness.

This chakra was malvolent. Mad and sinister in a way he’d neve thought a human’s could be. (Was the stranger even human?)

No. No one hurt his brother and got away with it.

“Nī-sama!“ he roared, his voice more like Kurama’s, than his own and as his chains formed, rapidly shooting towards the clone, awave of Killing Intent and scorching chakra left his body. The chains caught the clone and as the Bijū chakra covered it, the clone dispersed in aplume of smoke.

Athird tail formed behind him, releasing more power and solidifying the chakra even more. He swiped aclawed hand, followed by awave of chakra. It tore up the ground, rocking the forest...

Sarutobi Hiruzen shivered, when he felt the massive wave of Killing Intent coming from the Forest of Death.

He looked out his window and cursed. Only one creature had such powerful and opressive chakra. Naruto was in posession of two of the three known ways to control and contain acreature, like the Kyūbi. Still, right now, the Fox’s chakra filled the air, filling his bones with dread. Something was wrong – very, very wrong.

“ANBU! With me and someone warn Yamato and Kakashi! We may need their help in containing the Bijū!“ he ordered, as he disappeared in aswirl of leaves.

The Hokage prayed to all the gods he could name, that they would make it there in time.

Sasuke could barely breath trough the pain, which seemed to course trough his body, like his own blood. Still, despite the pain, he was aware enough to see his brother – or two of his brothers– fight that thing. He refused to call their enemy human.

He was too snake-like, to be an actual human.

Whoever their enemy was, he was no simple Jōnin. Not if he could handle Naruto, while using Kurama’s chakra, chakra chains and claws flashing everywhere. And jutsu – Naruto’s jutsu were more destructive now, yet the man still seemed to be holding back. He was fighting more seriously now, but he was still holding back and despite that, stalling Naruto.

Sasuke pressed his lips together – they had alot of training to do, if they ever wanted to get back their former power.

Pain radiated from the bite on his shoulder. He dearly wished this batard gone, so Naruto could have alook at whatever this abomination on him was. The chakra radiating from it, filling his body, was sickening. Powerful, but sickening.

Suddenly, seven chakra signatures appeared, cutting trough the pain. He could identify Kakashi, Yamato and the Hokage. The other four were probably asquad of ANBU.

Naruto landed on the ground snarling, the three chakra tails waving around him wildly. The forest around them was completely torn up, due to Kurama’s chakra and the jutsu that had been torn around. He was glad, that despite using their Bijū sibling’s power, Naruto was still aware enough not to go on abloody rampage.

“Oh, it seems we’re having company. It was nice meeting you two.“ the man’s yellow eyes landed on him and Sasuke glared at the stranger with his Sharingan. “I hope you’ll enjoy my little gift, Sasuke-kun.”

“Orochimaru!“ the sharp voice of the Hokage thundered, just as the seven people landed afew feet away.

“Soon we’ll meet again, Sarutobi-sensei and then, the leaves of your beloved tree will burn!“ the man – Orochimaru– hissed.

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, as his mind made sense of what he’d heard, as the black-haired bastard sunk into the grond, even as Naruto leapt at him, Kurama’s chakra lashing out, like massive claws, tearing up even more of the ground.

Orochimaru. Sarutobi-sensei.

By the Jūbi’s tails.... that had been Orochimaru of the Sannin? The most dangerous missing-nin of the villlage?

Okay, so maybe they hadn’t been that bad, if they had stalled the man long enough, for the Hokage to arrive. The bastard was praised agenius, once even nominated for Hokage, before Naruto’s father outshone him. True, it was very likely, that Orochimaru had been toying with them, but still... Naruto hadn’t used Mokuton and he hadn’t shown the true capabilities of his Sharingan, either.

Naruto roared and turned towards them, his eyes not his – rather, the feral red slits of Kurama. Sasuke saw all of those present tense and Kakashi raised his headband to reveal his Sharingan. He felt Yamato mould chakra as well and he saw his hands turn into wood, just as Kakashi’s Sharingan spun and Kurama snarled...

“Not the Sharingan!” he snapped at the Hatake, his own eyes activating. The aduts looked at him, as if he’d gone mad.

He stood up, just as Naruto’s – Kurama’s eyes landed on him. “Indra.” the fox snarled.

Sasuke took astep closer. “Let him go. We both know he’s too tired to supress your chakra, even with his abilities. Let him go, Kyūbi.”

“Why should I?“

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “I may not be an Uzumaki, but that’s the Shiki Fūjin. Acontract with the Shinigami is not something that can be escaped. Not by me. Nor by Asura. Or you. Let my brother go.“

“I could just kill you now.“

Sasuke shook his head, as he took another step closer, ignoring the pain in his body. The f*cker surely hit hard and the seal –whatever it was– wasn’t helping either. “And revenge would not get you anywhere. In fact, you would seal your own fate. We’re here to stop him. If you stop me from helping Otōto, you will end up used, like before. Like in the Valley. Or twelve years ago. Besides, if you tried killing me, you’d be going back on your own word.”

The fox snarled. “Watch your mouth, Tsuki no Uraishi!” (Lunar Diviner)

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He had not heard that moniker in ages. He didn’t even remember, how he came to have it – he remembered though, that it was because of his eyes. Because of the Sharingan’s predictive properties. He remembered, that at the dawn of time, those who knew litte of chakra – and even less about him and his family,– thought he could see the many posibilities the future held. “Or what will you do?”

“You...” the chakra flickered and Naruto’s eyes turned back to their natural violet. Sauske relaxed, as he felt the Mokuton rise to the surface and tamper down the fox’s influence.

“Otōto?“

“You should not rile him up so much, Nī-sama.” Naruto murmured, his voice his own, despite the shrud of orange still covering him.

“He should know better, than to try to break the seal, when you wanted away out of something messy. Besides, Ihave nothing to do with that mess this time.” Sasuke pointed out, as he took another careful step towards him.

“You always have ahand in such things.“ the fox snarled, taking control for another moment. “All your kin are as mad, as you are!”

“My kin are gone now, fox.“ he said coolly. “Only Otōto remains.”

“Enough now, furball.“ Naruto growled, his chakra rising again. “The madman’s gone, so you might as well go back to sleep and stop trying to break the seal, or the Shinju help me...!”

The grass around Naruto grew as his Mokuton acted up again and Sasuke swore he also heard the soft rattle of chains. The last traces of the orange chakra all flickered out and Naruto fell to the ground with agroan. Sasuke staggered over to him and fell next to him.

“Are you alright, Otōto?“ he asked, his dark eyes searching his brother’s gaze, just alittle bit fretful.

Naruto gave abreathless laugh, as he leaned against his side. “I should be asking you that question, Nī-sama. That abomination bit you.”

Sasuke grunted. “Yeah. Some form of Jūinjutsu, so maybe you could have alook at it later? The chakra inside the seal has settled now, but it’s just under my skin. Ihate using power so vile and most of all, Ihate using power, that Ihad not paid aprice for.”

“Naruto? Sasuke?“ Kakashi called, walking closer. His face was still tight with worry, his eye remaining uncovered.

Sasuke rose to his feet slowly, dragging his brother with him. “We’re fine. Mostly.“

Naruto hummed. “Yeah. We have an Exam to finish. No way I’m losing this, after all this mess. We meet later, Kaka-sensei.”

Then, even before any of those present could stop them, they were gone from the clearing with aShunshin. They had the scrolls and now, they would just have to stumble their way trough the forest, despite their exhaustion.

It shouldn’t be too hard...

Chapter 17: Shadows and Seals

Chapter Text

The boys staggered into the Namikaze appartment, relived. They still had time to spare – they’d completed their task and reached the tower in four days. This was the fourth day and they had already been waved off to rest.

Sasuke leaned against the wall next to the door, as Naruto hurried further into the house. “We’ll get that abomination off of you, Nī-sama.” he called.

Sasuke heard as Naruto gathered his belongings and something crashed – “By the Shinju! Freaking...!” – and he huffed, half annoyed, half amused (his brother was still clumsy). He was tired. Whenever he had to use chakra, he also had to combat the malvolent influence of whatever the seal on him was. It was more draining, than he would have liked. But then again, they’d faced aSannin and still made it to the tower with time to spare.

Perhaps once Naruto was done with the removal of his seal, he could sleep.

After about fifteen minutes, Naruto was back. “Sasuke?“ his brother asked, placing ahand on his shoulder.

The Uchiha jolted awake, his eyes narrowing, chakra crackling under his skin. He relaxed, when he realised it was Naruto and grunted. sh*t – this thing was realy draining to resist, if he was falling asleep, while standing!

Naruto’s violet eyes were shining with concern, one of his eyebrows arched. “Are you alright?”

Sasuke shook his head. It was pointless to lie to his brother – Naruto could tell when he was lying, besides, the blonde was also good with medical things. He surely noticed the signs of his creeping exhaustion. “No. It’s tiresome to resist that thing and my head wants to split in half. That presistent whispering, surely the seal’s work, is driving me mad.”

“Whispering, you say?”he grunted annoyed. As he opened the door, Naruto threw ahand around him and helped him out of the house.

“Yes. Why?“

The blonde growled and some Killing Intent leaked from him. “That’s bad. It means he has some form of connection with you. He’s in your head, in away and probably wants to use things against you.”

“Like af*cking Yamanaka.” the Uchiha spat. “No. Even worse. Get that thing off.”

The Uzumaki gave him alook. “I will. Promise. It will take time and since he’s in your head, in asense, you’ll have to fight him off. The seal’s just meant to help.“

“Noted.”

“We’ll need space for this. Can we go to the Uchiha grounds?”

Sasuke nodded. “If it’s space you need...“ he murmured, “Fine. The training grounds should be fine. Come on.” he said, taking the lead, while still somewhat leaning on the blonde.

Naruto drew the symbols across the place – asingle mistake and it will either blow up, or the seal will burn out his brother’s soul. Not anice sort of death. He wasn’t even sure this will work the way he intended it. After all, he had no idea what the seal the Sannin used, was for. It was aseal he’d never seen before, so he was sure it was not among the older Jūinjutsu. It was probably something new or kami forbid, something the snake had invented himself, for the Shinju knows what purpose.

(Of course, while seals were versatile, their use leterally endless, as long as the user had the right knowledge of the subject and enough chakra to power the seal, the basic principales were all the same.) The basic principales his father and uncle had created – the ones he had worked around, mastered and reworked. And it seemed, his kin had done the same after him and Indra had died and now, he had a larger variety of seals to work with, than before.

But sometimes, one must go back to the roots. Having studied the Uzumaki scrolls left by his parents, coupled with his knowledge from atime long past, Naruto was sure he could remove the seal from Sasuke. It might not be easy... but it would work. Failure was not an opinion. He would not let the snake have any hold on his brother.

The ink painted the dusty ground black – the mix of his blood and chakra made the seal even stronger. It was an intircate circle, with six arrow-like additions pointing outwards. The arrows were full of symbols and the myraid of characters swirled into the center, creating asmaller circle.

He grunted when he was done. He could already feel the drain on his reserves. “The seal is done. Take off your shirt and sit in the middle.“ the blonde said, gesturing at it.

Sasuke shed his vest and shirt, dropping on the ground and then he walked into the circle, careful not to ruin the fine patterns his brother had been working on for hours. He settled in kekkufuza in the middle, waiting for Naruto.

Naruto dipped his brush into the mix of ink, blood and liquified chakra. When he was satisfied, he walked over to Sasuke and drew another series of symbols on his skin, most of them centered around the black circle of the unwanted seal.

“Hand on the ground, palm pressed down. Ineed acontct between the seal and the part on your body.“ he instructed.

Sasuke threw him a curiouslook, but did as instructed. Naruto carefully did afew linking Kanji, the writing running down his brother’s arm, to flow onto the groud and into the rest of the seal.

His gaze quickly analised the fine drawing and when he found no mistakes, he jumped out. He grabbed the storage scroll he’d brought and unsealed six candles, placing one in each point of the seal, lighting each one with aspark of chakra. Sasuke watched him work quietly.

“It’s going to hurt.“ Naruto murmured. “I thought you better know.”

Sasuke nodded. “Somehow, I had a feeling you would say something like that. But, it’s okay. If it gets this thing off me, I’ll bear it.”

“A seal you say?“ the Hokage asked, looking at Kakashi and then, at Tenzo. His expression was amix of worry and wariness. (Whatever his former student has cooked up now, Sarutobi knew it didn’t bode well for anyone. And the fact, that the snake summoner has targeted the two most promising Genin, since Kakashi, didn’t help ease his worries either.)

“I believe so.“ the Mokuton-user affirmed. “We’d seen Sasuke trying to cover it up, as they left the tower. It might have to do something with Orochimaru’s presence.“

The Sandaime’s lips twisted. “We best seek the boys then and fast. Orochimaru has always been way too interested in those with special abilities – Sharingan, Mokuton or chakra chains... it mattered not. Ifear what might he have done to Sasuke.“ he said, standing up.

The three shinobi shared alook, before they were gone in swirling wind and leaves.

Naruto sensed, when the Hokage and their senseis arrived and by the way his brother was looking, the three senior shinobi were right behind him. But right now, the blonde could not bring himself to worry about explanations. Surely, the three noticed the complexity of the array, which Sasuke was sitting in the middle of.

But he’ll deal with their questions later, once Sasuke was safe.

He slammed his hand on the ground, right into the smaller shikki at his feet, which was connected to Sasuke’s seal. “Fūinjutsu: Seishin Kōsoku: Jaakuna Jōka!” (Sealing Technique: Spirit Restraints: Evil Prurification)

As he channeled his chakra into the seal, the redish black lines lit up in asoft, orange light and the candles he had placed in each point, blazed brightly. The light from the shikki rapidly crawled trough the symbols and soon, Sasuke’s own body was alight with chakra.

As his brother screamed, Naruto could only flinch pray to the kami, that this would be worth his blood and Sasuke’s pain.

When Sasuke opened his eyes, the burning from his skin was gone, but the electric prickling remained. He didn’t need to wonder much, where he was – for some reason, he had been tossed into his own mindscape. (But then again, Naruto had wanred him he would have to deal with the seal on his own, in away. Perhaps that was what his brother had meant.)

As he looked around he noted with dull satisfaction, that his mind reflected his past life more, than the present. He found himself in afamiliar clearing, trees circling everything, the great mountains in the distance. The night was clear above his head, the silver crescent of the moon shone, like abeacon of hope trough the dark. In front of him stood the old Ōtsutsuki compound. The one, which his Gōka Messh*tsu had sallowed whole, after their father’s death...

“That’s right.” avoice hissed behind him. It was vaguely familiar, but still distorted, so he could not place it, “You killed them. You killed them all.”

He whirled around to face the source of the voice and... he found himself. It was like looking into amirror – not in the way, like all those years ago, after the Massacre... no. This was aliteral mirror – the one, who stood opposite him, was himself. The only differences were, perhaps the cruel yellow eyes and the sneer on the lips.

“Who are you?” Sasuke demanded coldly, even though apart of his mind already knew the answer. (But no... it could not be. He had dealt with those shadows already, had he not?)

“I’m you.“ the reflection spat. “Your dark side. The darkest part of your soul. The part, that wants Asura dead, for taking your birthright. The part, that wants Itachi dead, for the bloodbath all those years ago.”

Kakashi’s single eye was wide, as he darted closer to the massive seal. It was such acomplex thing... He was sure Kushina-san and Minato-sensei would have been proud of Naruto, if they could see, what the Genin has done. (Again... were his students even Genin?! At this point, he might vote for them to be prompted to Jōnin.)

“What are you doing, Naruto-kun?” the Hokage asked.

The blonde Senju-Uzumaki stole them aglance. “Removing that abomination, that the snake has left behind. The f*cker had bitten Nī-sama, when we fought. Idon’t know what Jūinjutsu he twisted into that freakish thing, but it’s not staying.” Naruto frowned. “But it was hard to do. And... by how much chakra Ihave already used, the moment Sasuke wakes up, I’ll be out cold with chakra exhaustion. Perhaps Sasuke too.”

The blonde’s violet eyes landed on him and Kakashi couldn’t help, but recall his earlier musings. Was living two lives possible? Because if it was... that would explain why Naruto and Sasuke were so different from those their age. They were grown men, stuck in the bodies – and with the limits– of young teens. “What is it, Naruto?“ he asked, sensing that the blonde wanted to speak.

“Mind taking us home after this? Please.”

Kakashi hummed. “Not at all. But Minato-sensei’s house...“

“I left the old blood samples in the seal.“ the blonde cut him off. “You can still go in. But... don’t make me regret trusting you, sensei.“

Kakashi felt achill run down his spine, as the blonde’s gaze sharpened at the end of his sentence. Minato-sensei’s dangerous look alright. “I have no intention of breaking your trust, Naruto-kun.“

Sasuke glared at his shade. “I’ve left those things behind, along time ago.”

“Have you?“ it asked. “If you have left it behind, why am Ihere? We’re in your mind and I’m here, Sasuke.”

“You’re here because of that seal. But that seal is abou to be removed. Otōto will deal with it.“

“Will he? Why would he do afavour to the man, who’s killed him? You killed your own father. You killed him.”

The Uchiha grit his teeth and spat at the monster in front of him. “I killed him, once. But we have made up, since. We’re brothers now.”

“Brothers, huh? An Uchiha and aSenju...“ the reflection snorted. “Besides, why would he forgive you the killing of his father? He’s too loyal to family...“

Sasuke smirked at the slip up. “Loyal. That’s what he is – loyal to friends and family. His parents in this life had been dead already – the work of Madara. And Otō-sama was already dead, by the time iincinerated the compound. Idid not kill them.”

“Still!” it snarled, “You are Uchiha and Senju. Always at each other’s throats! Besides, he’d stop you from pursuing your revenge against Itachi...!”

Sasuke snarled, his eyes morphing into the Mangekyō Sharingan – inside his own mind, he had no limits, like in the outside world. Out there, his body was that of atwelve-year-old. In here, he was as much atwelve-year-old, as much aman grown. Equal parts Sasuke and Indra.

“We swore an oath. And Itachi can rot in the deepest, darkest, most painful corner of Mugen Tsukuyomi, for all I care.“ he drew his tantō and the blade lit up with orange light. “Now begone from my mind, snake spawn!”

The sword drew an elegant, deadly arc of orange and even before the shade could react, the steel cut it in half. The moon shone brighter and suddenly, the orange-black lines of the seal appeared on the clearing. Sasuke smiled, as he caught the meaning of afew symbols.

Peace. Protection. Hope. Strenght.

Yes. That was what the snake-eyed bastard didn’t know about him. That he lived for Asura – for their shared dream of safety and peace – and not for revenge.

He smiled softly, as he seathed his weapon again. “Arigato, Asura-chan.” he murmured good-naturedly. Here, the blonde could not hear, so he could not whine about being way too old to be called –chan.

Kakashi saw the seal’s lines dull. As the light dulled, the dark lines turned lighter and lighter, until they were just barely visible on the ground.

“Sasuke.“ Naruto murmured, before he passed out. Amoment of panic took over Kakashi at that – Naruto was aliteral walking chakra batery. How much chakra did that thing take?! His single eye darted over to Sasuke.

As the Uchiha’s eyes opened, he saw the red of his Sharingan. Then, as the Dōjutsu faded, the candles, which had burned brightly until then, were suddenly snuffed out as one, by an invisible hand. Kakashi walked closer – now that the seal had faded, he could actually aproach Sasuke without killing the Uchiha, himself or potentially both of them.

“Arigato, Asura-chan.“ Sasuke breathed, before his own eyes fluttered closed.

Both his students were unconscious, claimed by exhaustion, but Kakashi could not move to help them. He just stood above Sasuke, staring at the Uchiha. His words had been soft, amere breath on the wind, yet Kakashi has heard it.

Sasuke has called Naruto ‘Asura‘... just like the summons had done two weeks ago... Why?!

Chapter 18: Preliminaries

Chapter Text

Yamato darted around the Namikaze house rather aimlessly. After the Hokage had told him what aseemingly impossible feat Naruto had pulled off (not even Jiraya-sama has managed to crack the shikki of the Cursed Seal and Mitarashi Anko had one for years,) he quit ANBU duty for the remaining days of the Exam. The Hokage hadn’t minded all that much and while the Head of the Division was abit upset about having to rewrite shifts, he’d been let off.

So, right now he was in the Namikaze house along with Kakashi. The boys were still out cold with exhaustion, but the Hokage’s personal medic had dropped in and checked them. She confirmed their faster than normal recovery and that most likely, they would be able to participate in the Prelims – probably not fully recovered, but they would be able to participate.

Kakashi had taken up aspot next to their bed. One of the bed in the house was enough for two people and Kakashi had suggested letting them be next to each other.

Meanwhile, Yamato himself took some liberties to explore the house – it was not as big, as the main house of aCompound, but it was enough for the boys. It was clean and well-kept, seals littering most of the place, meant for protection and maintanance. (Those were probably still the Yondaime’s work.)

He would have thought he’d find something childish in the house, considering it had been claimed by two orphan teens. But there was nothing. The kitchen was stocked with healthy food and some sweets. There were plants on the windowsills and from what he knew, those were herbs and spieces.

There were books and scrolls of all sorts and the boys shinobi gear was kept in asmall backroom.

The only thing, that Yamato would have called decorative, other than the plants, was the big scroll hung on the wall. One corner of it had adragon, holding asun between its claws, while acorss from it, was ablack tiger with white stripes, guarding acrescent moon.

The middle of the scroll had the same circle-moon symbol he had seen the boys wearing on their clothes.

– balance of power (use force only when there is absolutely no other choice)

– respect for life in all shapes and sizes (as well as respecting the dead)

– inner understanding and calmness

– negotiation, rather than violence

– importance of connections, family and friendship, fine balance between friendship and leadership

– perceptiveness, determination and believing in the best in the hearts of people, useless proved otherwise

Yamato raised an eyebrow, as he read the six neat lines of Kanji. Those were interesting points they’d written there. But... he could see it in the boys. He could see, that they lived by those points pinned to the wall. Only now, standing in front of the massive scroll, reading it, did he realise just how different those two were.

Half of what was on that scroll, other graduates would not understand. Hell, there were some even some adults, who didn’t get the meaning of balance of power or inner understanding and calmness.

Yamato shook his head, shocked once more at how mature their students were. Half the people he knew weren’t like the boys and those people were twice their age.

He also noticed asmall, home-made shrine. Made completely of wood, littered with seals and the six candles on it burning with unfamiliar, powerful black flame. The flowers on it were fresh. Sakura and chrysanthemum. While he recognised the flowers, he didn’t know their meaning... hm, perhaps he should ask Inochi later? The Yamanaka knew such things, owning aflower shop and all that. There were also seals on the shrine, ones he could read meant for... rememberance? And repentance...

‘Odd.‘ he mused, ‘What is it, that they don’t want to forget so badly? And why would they want to repent...?‘

He remembered what Kakashi had dropped one night, when they sat together in the Croocked Kunai. They were the very last customers to leave the bar and it was in the last hours, when it was mostly empty, that Kakashi shared his thoughts. About what he’d seen the boys Summon and what the Hokage had told him. How he heard Sasuke call the blonde ‘Asura-chan‘.

At first, Yamato thought that his friend was going mad, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. Could.... coult it be possible? Was Kakashi perhaps not as mad, as he thought and the boys were not, who they claimed to be?

The Mokuton-user groaned and rubbed his forehead. These two were aconstant, massive headache. Why had he even agreed with the Hokage, to teach the boys?

He was brought from his musings, when he heard asoft groan from the room. Throwing one last glance at the wall decoration and the shrine, Yamato hurried into the room.

“Morning, sleeping beauty.“ Kakashi greeted Sasuke, lowering his Icha Icha.

The Uchiha growled, glaring at the Hatake. “Call me that just one more time and I’ll fry you alive, commoner.“

Yamato flinched at that. The Uchiha and Senju (as well as the Uzumaki) were kind of considered the Royalty of Konoha, being the three Clans, who founded the village. But with all three Clans mostly gone, the survivors few and scattered, it fell forgotten. The contrast between the Founding Clans ans the others had faded over time and by today, it was non-existent. In fact, perhaps the Hyūga could be called royals now, with their great numbers, political power and their old lineage. But that was something no shinobi dared to voice...

The contrast had faded, so Sasuke using such aword against Kakashi was very harsh. And uncalled for.

“Sasuke.“ Yamato admonished lightly, drawing the black eyes to himself. “That was uncalled for, even if he made ajab.”

Sasuke looked irrate for amoment, before his expression smoothed over and he rubbed his face. “Gomen nasai. I’m not in agood mood.” he said, throwing alook at Kakashi.

Kakashi hummed. “Forgiven. Isuppose, Ishould have stayed quiet or should have expected abad mood, at least. How are you feeling?”

“I hate chakra exhaustion. Isuppose Otōto had drawn in some of my chakra into the thing, to tune it for use.“ he groaned. “The next time Isee that reptile-faced moron, I’m frying him alive.”

“That was Orochimaru you’ve faced.“ Yamato pointed out seriously. “You would just get killed, trying to pay him back.”

“It’s as much skill, as much amiracle, that Naruto managed to get rid of the seal Orochimaru has left you.“ Kakashi pointed out. “There’s someone in the village with asimilar seal for years now and not even Jiraya-sama has managed to remove it. Block it, yes. But not remove it tracelessly, as Naruto has done.”

Sasuke gave asmall chuckle, as he slid from the bed. “Otōto’s like that. Always doing what people deem impossible. He’s always been like that. Belive me, Iknow it.” he muttered, throwing afond look at the still sleeping blonde.

Then, the Uchiha slipped from the room and Yamato could only stare after him. Sometimes, it was realy like there was an unspoken thing between the two Genin – something important, powerful and unspoken. Something him and Kakashi weren’t privy to.

He wished he knew what it was...

The next day, the brothers walked into the arena, where their presence had been requested, side by side. Sasuke was seal-free and both of them were rested. Just as the medic had said, not fully recovered, but well enough to fight and even like this, they were sure, that they could win their matches.

They stood among the other participants, with their senseis facing them with the other present Jōnin. The Hokage stood in his full robes in front of them, his face serious.

“Congratulations to every Genin team, who’s made it so far. However, this year we must hold apreliminary round, to cut your numbers. This is necessary, as important people, nobles and future clients will observe the Finals and we cannot waste time. Therefore, only the best among you shall proceed to the Finals. Iwish you all luck. But this part of the Exam is no less dangerous, than the rest. So Iask you now, step forward if you do not wish to continue.”

There was amoment of silence, before asilver-haired Konoha nin stepped forward. Sasuke and Naruto recognised him from before – Yakushi Kabuto. “I wish to forheit, Hokage-sama.”

The gathered higher-ups gave him alook, before the village leader nodded. “Very well. You may leave, Yakushi-kun.”

As the Hokage stepped back, abrown-haired Jōnin took his place. “Congratulations for making this far. My name is Gekkō Hayate and Iwill be the proctor of this Exam. The matches will be one-on-one, until knockout or forheit. Iwould ask everyone to retreat and watch from the sidelines. Only Uchiha Sasuke and Akado Yoroi are to stay, as theirs is the firs round.”

With the instructions given, the Genin slowly retreated. Naruto stopped for asecond and bumped fists with his brother. “Be quick.”

Sasuke gave asmall snort, his Sharingan flashing. “He won’t know what hit him.”

Sasuke took his spot on Hayate’s left and as the proctor stood between them, it was almost like his childhood.

Indra stood on the water, sun shining and glinting on the mirror-ike surface, his hand raised in ahalf-Ram seal, Asura opposite him. His brother’s brown eyes glinted with determination and Indra couldn’t help the smile, that sneaked its way onto the corner of his lips. Asura was determined to beat him one day and whenever they sparred, he could see that desire in his eyes. This was no different.

Their father’s face was calm, his eyes studying every single twitch, to correct any mistakes they may make.

He stole aglance at their father, along with Asura, before their gazes met again.

“Hajime.” their father called, as if he’d sensed when their eyes had met.

Past and present overlapped, as Hayate leapt from their path. Sasuke leapt forwards, pushing chakra into his feet. Yoroi met him halfway and they started trading blows, each strike faster than the previous one. The other was good, Sasuke had to addmit...

His eyes narrowed, when he felt the other touch his shoulder. He felt that drain... His Sharingan blazed and he saw it – the flow of chakra from his body into his opponent’s.

Yoroi smirked. “So you’ve noticed. Maybe you have some of the skills the village was so fond of saying you posessed.”

Sasuke growled and channeled some lightning chakra trough his feet and kicked Yoroi. The other Genin went flying from the force of the blow, shocked by the lightning.

Meanwhile on the sidelines, the other Genin and their senseis watched in interest. “Huh? That’s not the Uchiha style he’s using.”

Naruto glanced to the side and his eyes fell on the Sandaime’s son, Sarutobi Asuma. “No, it’s not.“ he said, drawing the others’ attention to himself.

“But why wouldn’t he use his clan style?“ Ino asked, as she stole aglance towards the fighters.

Naruto gave asmall snort, as his gaze slipped back towards the arena. “Nī-sama’s many things, but not an idiot. The Uchihas’ style is known among even those, who are not members of the Clan. So, he’s come to the conclusion of using his own style instead – one, that is not known. True, taking into consideration his obvious abilities – like the active Sharingan – there are things, which can be used to calculate his moves, but it’s not as blatantly obvious, as the Interceptor Fist.“

Naruto smirked. “Besides, the big-mouthed bastard forgets Nī-sama’s speciality.”

“His speciality?” asked Kiba in confusion, looking at Naruto, before his eyes were diverted to the stadium.

Sasuke shook his head, as he saw his opponent stand up slowly. “You’re afool, if you believe such blows do me any harm. You may be able to absorb chakra, but that does not guarantee your win.“

Yoroi growled. “Does it not? You’ve no chakra to perform any jutsu.“

Sasuke laughed – the sound was quiet and scratching. Mocking to the last note. “Don’t Ihave? Check again.“ he jumped into the air and formed aHorse seal. “Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku!” (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation) the chakra in his body ignited and he breathed out agreat, dense wave of flames, that lit the arena in an orange glow.

“Whoa! Ididn’t know the bastard could do such jutsu!“ Kiba exclaimed.

Naruto growled, glaring at Kiba. “Watch your mouth, Inuzaka-san. You’re speaking about my brother.“ he warned in acold tone. “And... it’s his favourite move, from all his Katon repertoire.”

“Kakashi!“ Kurenai growled. “That’s aB-rank jutsu, which needs low-Jōnin reserves at least! Why are you teaching such things to Genin!”

“He did not teach Nī-sama anything.“ Naruto cut in again, “That thing was invented by Uchiha Izuna, Madara’s younger brother. Later, after Izuna’s death, the Mekkyaku became Madara’s signature move, which he further developed and wrote down, as years went by. We browsed the library and after he was sure he had enough chakra to safely perform it, Sasuke started learning. As the Heir of the Uchiha Clan, he needs not the consent of anyone, to learn moves from his own library.”

The others stared at him in shock. “You know awfully lot about that thing.“ Shikamaru pointed out.

Naruto laughed. “He’s my brother, Shikamaru. My best friend and brother in everything, but blood. Wait, scratch that. He’s my blood brother now. Of course, Iknow things others don’t.“

“Blood brother?“ Kakashi arched an eyebrow.

Naruto shrugged. “Blood pact. As simple as that.”

“When?“ Yamato asked in surprise.

Naruto chuckled. “In Nami. After the little punk forced him to speak more in one go, than he usually does in aweek.”

Yoroi cursed, barely avoiding the wide wall of flames.

Sasuke landed in the arena gracefully and he did another set of seals. This one was his personal invention, based on Amaterasu. But, unlike Amaterasu, it didn’t need an active Mangekyō to be used. As such, his brother fondly called it the ultimate form of Katon.

“Ninshū: Shiroi Honō.” (Shinobi Creed: White Flames) he murmured, his hand raised in aseal – Tiger. His chakra spiked, the levels rising until the bluish energy actually formed avisible shrud around his body.

Yoroi tensed at the release of such dense energy and Sasuke couldn’t help the smirk, that formed on his lips. ‘Now, you’ll see what I’m capable of. Try stealing this chakra, bastard.‘

Naruto cursed loudly and colorfully, as he saw the chakra shrudding his brother. “Nī-sama! What in the name of the Shinju are you doing?! Do you want to incinerate the entire place?!” he called.

Everyone looked at him, but he ignored it.

“Wait... you know what he’s doing?” asked Asuma. Confusion was written all over his face, along with some shock.

Naruto cursed again, watching his brother’s next move with worry. (Goddamn it! The last time Indra had used those flames with such stenght, it had burned down their Compound. The Mesh*tssu was apowerful move on its own. Coupled with the White Flames, which didn’t tire the body as much, as Amaterasu, it was utter destruction.)

“He’s about to turn this place into apile of ashes.” he murmured darkly, his mind flashing back to the destruction left by the flames.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, as he heard Naruto’s worried – and angry? – call. Instead, he moulded his chakra, ready to finish the match. “Shiroi Hōno: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” (White Flames: Great Fireball Techinque)

The fireball, that formed from his flames was blinding white with traces of blue here and there. It was beautiful. Beautiful and deadly. Then, it sped towards the enemy at great speed. Yoroi just barely had time to dodge, but even then, he wasn’t fast enough. The white flames caught his clohes and burned it away at a fast rate.

Noticing the problem, the Genin threw himself to the floor with a cry to douse the fire.

Meanwhile, the fireball collided with the wall, leaving massive scorch marks and some smaller cracks at the cenre, shocking the spectators.

Even before Yoroi could stand up, Sasuke jumped over, drawing his blade. The tantō glinted sinisterly in the sunlight, as the Uchiha lowered it to his neck. “It’s over.”

Sasuke looked up at Hayate and the Hokage, who shared alook. Then, Hayate nodded to him. “Shōsha, Uchiha Sasuke!”

Amoment after the sentence sounded, Sasuke lowered his sword and turned to leave.

Naruto couldn’t help, but whack Sasuke across the head, as the Uchiha arrived next to him. It had always been Sasuke/Indra, who gave him the ‘be responsible‘ speech and right now, it was the Sharingan-user, who was being irresponsible. It was rather ironic. “You’re reckless again! The Shiroi Honō are not atechnique, that get doused by aMizurappa.”

Sasuke rubbed the spot he’d hit and glared. “I know that.”

Naruto huffed. “Do you want the Hokage to deploy an entire ANBU squad to douse ahalf-burning arena, courtesy of your pyromaniac tendencies?”

Sasuke scowled. “I don’t have pyromaniac tendencies, Otōto.”

“Sure you don’t, Nī-sama. If you don’t have pyromaniac tendencies, than I’m not an Uzumaki. You know well, what had happened the last time, when you used those flames.” the blonde shot back. Sasuke flinched and then glared, his Sharingan spinning into visiblity. Naruto matched his gaze without atwitch. “You can’t intimidate me like that. It hadn’t worked in avery long time.”

“Boys. Boys, enough of the childish squabling.“ Kakashi said firmly. “You’ll deal with it, after the matches. Control yourselves now.”

The two brothers scowled at one another, but remained quiet. The Konoha participants watched them with raised eyebrows, abit shocked –they’d never seen the two act like this before. In fact, the two were prime example of prefect sibling harmony, despite not being actual siblings. (Which was kind of ironic, with Sasuke being an Uchiha and Naruto being aSenju-Uzumaki.) So, seeing them scowl at each other like that, was ashock to their former classmates.

Then came the second round. Shino fought and to the pride of his sensei, the Aburame Heir won against the Oto nin without too much struggle. Kankuro from Suna also won his own match – displaying the usual Suna art of pupetry. Sakura and Ino...

Well, the two girls ended up being the shame of all kunoichi across Konoha – perhaps even across the entire Elemental Nations. Their match ended with a double knockout. The next was another kunoichi pair – Temari and Tenten. They actually showed great skill and strategy, but Temari, due to her use of Tessen and thus, Fūton was at agreat advantage. Despite Tenten’s mastery of her weapons, Temari won, marking the entrance of another Suna shinobi to the Finals.

Shikamaru was paired up with akunoichi from Oto – Tsushi Kin. Atemperamental girl, who’d been outsmarted by the Nara and ended up knocking herself out, due to Shikamaru’s shadow manipulation.

“Next match, Senju-Uzumaki Naruto VS Inuzaka Kiba!” Hayate announced.

Kiba howled loudly, as he jumped down into the arena. Naruto stood in amuch calmer manner and arrived at Hayate’s side in aprecise Shunshin, surprising Kiba.

“I’m going to win this match pretty easily.“ Kiba said confidently.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, as he took his stance. It seemed the Inuzaka had forgotten, that he’d been among the best, when it came to sparring. True, Kiba was also skilled combatant, but for some reason, the blonde doubted the Inuzaka could remain calm enough, trough all their fight, to actually strategise and think. (Oh, he was impulsive too, it was the one thing that his brother kept rubbing under his nose even these days, but Kiba was ten times worse.)

“Hajime!” Hayate called.

Naruto remained unmoving, as Kiba ran at him. He shifted his stance into something more defensive and blocked each of the Inuzaka’s strikes, gently misdirecting afew. The Inuzaka was vicious and relentless, increasing his speed more, as his strikes kept being waved off. Still, Naruto managed to keep up, barely needing to shift now and then, to keep his defences up.

Kiba was fast, but Sasuke was faster – and let’s not talk about Kakashi...

“Huh? Why isn’t he fighting back?“ asked Choji, stopping in munching his chips, his attention fully on the fight.

“Both the Uzumaki and the Senju Clan style of Taijutsu are defensive.“ Sasuke stated simply, observing the proceedings lazily. Kiba was faster, than many their age, but not as fast, so that he’d need his Sharingan to follow. “Also, his own personal style – it’s as much speed as much defense and precision.“ he conviniently didn’t mention, that it had been his brother’s personal style, from which both afforementioned Clans’ styles stemmed. “He has higher chakra levels, than anyone our age, which also grants him great stamina. They can do this as long as Kiba can keep up and Otōto won’t even be winded.” he leaned on the railing.

An amused smile played on his lips, as he watched the Inuzaka try – and fail– penetrating Naruto’s circle of defence.

“So? Is he going to do it?“ Shikamaru asked, looking at him.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “Do what, Nara?”

“Is Naruto going to make this agame of stamina? Because, if you say yes, then Kiba already lost.“

Sasuke hummed. “That really depends on the Inuzaka. If he keeps his big mouth shut and fights, then yes. If he talks more, than he fights, I believe Otōto will lose it. He’s patient – patience personified, if you ask me, – but there’s only so much he can take of Kiba’s barsh nature and rude comments.”

“Oh come on you coward!“ Kiba growled, “Fight back!”

Naruto caught the next punch and roughly pushed Kiba back. The Inuzaka staggered back and flipped to keep his balance. “What did you just call me?” the blonde asked, his voice eerie calm.

Kiba glared harder, not noticing the shift in mood. “I said you’re acoward. How can you be related to the Hokage, if you’re acoward? The Yondaime’s son, acoward! They’re probably....” even before Kiba could finish, Naruto punched the ground, tearing up good chunks of it, sending the other spawling backwards.

Naruto’s eyes narrowed on the other Genin, as he released ablast of Killing Intent. “Do not speak of my father, as if you knew him.”

Sasuke flinched, when he felt the Killing Intent spike from his brother. Several of the Genin around him shivered, looking towards Naruto with fear. “W-What’s t-that f-feeling?“ Ino murmured.

Sasuke scoffed, shaking off the Killing Intent. “Kiba just got aspecial ticket to intense care at the hospital. Bringing up his parents is the one sure way of getting him to go bloody murderous in seconds.”

“But he’s always... so...“ Choji murmured.

“Calm? Happy? Sunny?“ Sasuke supplied. His foremer classmates all nodded. “Yeah, he is. But that does not mean he is without shadows of his own. Ironically, his heritage is one of those shadows and Kiba’s just brought it up in the worst way possible. He’s only going to have afew broken bones, if luckly.”

“If he’s lucky?“ Neiji asked. “Aren’t you exagerating, Uchiha?“

Sasuke snorted. “Are you blind? Have you seen what that strike did to the arena? Senju Tsunade of the Sannin uses similar strikes to kill.”

Several participants around him gasped and Sasuke felt aspart of satisfaction at that. He felt their eyes on him, but he ignored it and turned back to watching the fight – or more like how his brother wiped the floor with their former classmate.

Naruto’s eyes narrowed on Kiba. “What does it do to you, that I’m of the Senju, huh? Or the Uzumaki.”

Kiba growled. “You’re always so aloof. You think we haven’t noticed how you and the bastard Uchiha kept away from the rest of the class, for all those years? You two –the elite! Just because your clans were the founders of the village! Just because three of the four Hokage are your relatives!”

Naruto shook his head. “You misread the signs then, Inuzaka-san. We were just merely aware of what life has in store for us. We were serious about that, because we want to survive. It’s you, who plays with his puppy, not me. Nor Sasuke.”

“Why you...!“ Kiba snarled, leaping at him.

Naruto caught his clawed hand and shifted, shoving Kiba away. The Inuzaka staggered again, but this time, the blonde didn’t give him any chance to gather himself. Instead, he gathered his chakra and striked the other Genin with open, chakra laced palms. Kiba cried out in pain.

Meanwhile, in the stands, two Hyūga forze at the sight of the moves. “That was our Jūken!” Neiji called, his expression stormy, as he glared at Sasuke.

Sasuke shook his head. “You are mistaken. Yes, he has afew strikes similar, but it was his own style. Go, ask the Sandaime –he will be able to tell you, that Shodaime-sama had similar strikes in his Taijutsu. The chakra of Senju and Uzumaki is much denser, than mine or yours. It’s... anatural seal, in away. Their chakra flows differently and if they learn to handle it, they are capable of chakra control mastery, despite their Kage-level reserves. Take the Shodai, for example – dense chakra and great reserves, only matched by Madara and his wife, Uzumaki Mito. Yet, he was still an accomplished medic, with perfect chakra control. Uzumaki Mito herself had similar chakra reserves, yet she used aByakugō– the same seal Senju Tsunade has on her forehead. In fact, Tsunade learned the seal from Mito-hime. That thing is the mark of truly perfect chakra control.”

“Na-Naruto-kun’s chakra c-control is r-really th-that good?“ Hinata asked quietly, “I-I mean we n-need perfect chakra c-control to use our T-taijutsu. A-and Ir-remember him h-having p-problems w-with the leaf e-exercise.”

“He’s really that good.“ Kakashi said, nodding towards the shy Hyūga. “He needed more serious exercises and he has to practice chakra control more, than Sasuke for example, but this is the payment for it. He’s not on medic level, like Tsunade-sama, but compared to how much chakra he has, this amount of control is impressive anyway.”

While Sasuke and Kakashi were clearing up the confusion around Naruto’s Taijutsu and chakra control, the Uzumaki himself was about to finish the match. He had mostly dodged theGatsūga, but it still drew blood, which pissed him off.

Naruto frowned down at the large gash, which was already steaming from the combination of his and Kurama’s chakra, healing at avisibly fast rate. Kiba’s eyes widened, as he saw how fast his wound healed. “What the hell?”

Naruto chuckled. “And that’s why Idon’t have to worry about the hospital, unlike you.” he dida series of handsigns, releasing his chakra.

Water gathered around him, slowly taking shape.

“What the f*ck, Kakashi?!“ Asuma called, his cigarette falling to the floor. “You didn’t say the kid was proficient with Suiton, like the Nidaime!”

“He isn’t.“ Sasuke said dismissively, ahalf-grin on his lips. “He just knows enough, to use some water from the air, like the Hokage had and he has more than enough chakra to spare, to create water out of it. Iprefer Raiton and Katon. He mostly works with Suiton and Doton, ocassionally Fūton.”

Asuma looked at the Uchiha, as if he’d lost his mind. ‘The kid speaks about elemental manipulation on the highest level and he’s commenting on it, as if it were child’s play. What are you two made of, Uchiha Sasuke?‘

Naruto smiled, as he saw the utter shock on Kiba’s face. “Suiton: Konpeki no Kemono: Kōzuki!” (Water Release: Azure Beast: Flood) the great bubble of water took avaguely turtle-like shape and then sped towards Kiba.

The Inuzaka grabbed his nin-dog and jumped, trying to get away from the water... but he wasn’t fast enough. The flood caught him and then, the raging waves crashed against the wall. All the spectators winced, knowing the blow Kiba had taken had been agreat one.

The water splashed against the wall for afew moments, spraying water everywhere before it slowly calmed down, flowing back onto the arena grounds, turning the whole thing into agreat puddle. After afew minutes of silence, Hayate looked at him with asmall frown.

“Shōsha, Senju-Uzumaki Naruto!”

Naruto gave asheepish look to the wet proctor. He’d been unlucky enough to be in the way, as the waves moved around. He raised his hand in aBird seal and released asoft breath of wind to dry the poor, drenched Jōnin.

When he deemed the task done, the blonde turned on his heels and skipped across the water, back to his waiting teammates.

Sasuke crossed his arms, eyes narrowed, as he saw his brother approaching, skipping across the water without acare in the world. “So, come again, who’s careless and destructive?” he admonished lightly.

Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Both of us, Iguess. Gomen, Nī-sama.”

Sauske huffed and ruffled the blonde’s untamed spikes, earning himself atrademark Uzumaki glare. “Not my hair!” he grunted.

Sasuke just huffed, ahalf-smirk forming on his lips. “Whatever, Senju.”

Naruto huffed and glared, but as Kakashi cleared his troath, they quieted their antics. They fell silent just in time to hear Hayate announce the upcoming fight between Hinata and Neiji.

Now, that would be afight to remember for sure...

Chapter 19: The Meaning of Family

Chapter Text

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure was battling the ultimate nemesis of every village leader – paperwork.

He still couldn’t understand, how Minato had any time to spend with Kushina – enough time to even have ason. It seemed, that the more years passed, the more paperwork there was and it was slowly driving him crazy.

The Hokage sighed, looking at the four pictures hung in the office – three of the famed Senjus and one of himself.

“Still battling your eternal enemy, eh sensei?” avoice called from the shadows.

The Hokage shifted and took acalming drag of his pipe. “Jiraiya. Ihaven’t seen you in... more than adecade. You always send the reports, but you never come.”

Atall white-haired man with dark eyes stepped out from the shadows. His attire consisted of a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armour that was visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore hand guards, a black belt, apair of geta and a redhaoriwith two yellow circles on each side.

The Sandaime took another drag of his pipe, as he studied his last loyal student. (Alright, maybe Tsunade was loyal too, but it was questionable. He’d been trying to find her for months, trying to bring her back to Naruto – because Naruto needed someone, who shared his blood, to tell him of his Clans– but it had been for naught so far.)

“Well, keeping Konoha safe from the outside is abusy work, you know.“ the Sannin murmured. “But, Ithought I’ll drop by and visit my godson.”

The Sandaime studied his student for along moment, wondering what he should tell the man about the blonde Jinchūriki. Apart of him wanted to share the many good news, another was sure that it would be awake up call for Jiraiya. The man had ran form Konoha, just like Tsunade after the Fox’s attack. Had he raised and taught cowards, who feared taking responsiblities for their family?

“He should be at the Namikaze appartment, training. The place has big enough backyard, that he does not always seek atraining ground.”

Jiraiya blinked. “The Namikaze house. Naruto lives in Minato’s house?!“ the Gama Sennin glared at him heatedly. “Do you want to make atarget out of him, old man? Don’t you remember what Minato had asked...”

“Don’t bring Minato into this, Jiraiya!“ the Hokage warned. “I had my reasons to reveal his heritage. He’s mature enough to handle it. And if you say Ifailed the boy... perhaps you are right and Ihad. But so had you – his godfather, whose face he does not even know!”

His student flinched, as if he’d stuck him. “Sensei I...”

“Let’s not speak of this, Jiraiya.“ he said. “It’s better for both of us. You will find him at the Namikaze house, but be prepared.”

The Sannin blinked and arched an eyebrow. “Prepared for what?“

The Hokage took adrag of his pipe. “You will not find aclueless child. You’ll find asharp, talented shinobi, who has every chance of outshining his parents in the future.”

Sasuke was sitting calmly in the backyard of the Namikaze house (it was hard to call the place their house, even if it was), meditating and stretching his Sensory. Naruto was inside, preparing their food, as they were done with one half of their training. The rest would come after afew hours long break.

So it was no surprise, that with his senses fully alert, he noticed the powerful chakra signature creeping in. It was as powerful, as he remembered Orochimaru’s, even if without the vile, slippery feeling. This one had afeel of fire to it.

Sharingan active and his tantō crackling with lightning, the Uchiha leapt at the intruder, flaring his chakra in the process to warn his brother. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded coldly, releasing awave of Killing Intent.

The white-haired man stopped, his dark eyes amargin wider, than normal, surprise flickering trough his features. Then, suddenly, the ground around him broke and he was bound by dull golden chains.

“What the...?!” the man called, tugging at the chains.

Sasuke felt Naruto approaching, the blonde releasing his own Killing Intent. “My brother asked you aquestion, stranger.“ he said warningly. “Answer.”

The man looked at Naruto and suddenly, his expression was as if he’d been punched in the gut, Senju style. “Kami-sama above. You’re all Minato. And... and Kushina’s eyes...”

Sasuke growled, now even more wary, that he’d heard his godmother’s name. He brought his sword in front of the man’s face. “What do you want here?” he asked, puncturing each word with Killing Intent.

He saw aflash of respect in the man’s eyes, but he could also tell, that the older was uncomfortable –either from his KI or from the chains... perhaps both. The man tugged at the chains, but when he realised they held firmly, he sighed and stopped his attempts at escape.

“I’m Jiraiya of the Sannin. Sarutobi-sensei said I’ll find you here. I’ve come to speak with you, Naruto.”

Sasuke shared alook with his brother. If the Sandaime had sent him... he could be trusted. Maybe. Slowly, Sasuke allowed his eyes to revert to their natural black, his blade touching the ground and took afew steps back, to stand next to the blonde. Naruto carelessly waved ahand and the chains unwound and disappeared, releasing the Sannin. The man gingerly rubbed his wrist and nodded towards Naruto.

“Strong chains. Iremember, that hers hadn’t been this strong at your age. Kushina would be proud of you.”

Naruto gave aslow nod. “Arigato. Ihope to live up to my heritage.” Naruto’s eyes swept the man over once more, before he nodded towards the backyard. “Come, have aseat and you can tell us then, why you sought me.”

They walked to the porch, where Sasuke sat and Naruto was about to disappear into the house, but then stopped, looking at Jiraiya. “We were about to eat. Would you care to join us?“

The Sannin grinned and nodded. “I’d thank you. Been aday since Iate.”

Jiraiya sat on the grass, across from him. “And what brings an Uchiha to these grounds? Few of your kin liked Minato. Fugaku and Mikoto were their friends, but otherwise, no one liked him all that much.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “I would say they were being baised, but since no one knew about the Yondaime’s lineage, Ithink that can be ruled out. Why they didn’t like him, is no concern to me anymore. Naruto is my teammate and the only one Itrust with my life and that is it.”

The Sannin blinked at him. “Baised...?“

Sasuke snorted. So the man didn’t know – funny, because if what Kakashi-sensei had said, the man had been the Yondaime’s teacher. But perhaps the Sandaime’s assumption had been correct and the famed Kiroii no Senkō never sought his roots and thus never found his blood ties to the founders.

Even before more could be said, Naruto returned, balancing three steaming plates of origiri. Sasuke’s eyes shone at the sight of the delicious food – his little brother was atrue genius, when it came to cooking. He could barely stop himself, from snatching away the plate. (Those old techings of property were hard to forget, when every time he wanted to break arule of property, ringed purple eyes appeared in his mind, glaring disapprovingly.)

Naruto stopped and gave aplate to the Sannin and asecond one to him. Sasuke’s lips twitched upwards at the food, as Naruto sat down next to him, careful not to drop his own plate. Their shoulders touched, but Sasuke didn’t comment. His brother had always been the kind to prefer physical contact – it was his way of showing affection and of making sure, those he cherished were there. It was something he’d developped not long after Shiro died, saving him from that boar.

“What brings one of the famed Sannin to our doorstep?“ his brother asked. Sasuke studied the man carefully, as they munched on their food. (By the way the man was looking at the plate, Naruto’s cooking was among his new favourites.)

Jiraiya sallowed and beamed at Naruto. “Well, can’t Icome visit my godson? Besides, you’re having the Finals in amonth – Iguessed, you might want some tutoring to pick up afew of Minato’s techniques?”

Sasuke forgot how to breath, as the man spoke those words. Godfather. This coward f*cker was Naruto’s godfather? Slowly, very slowly, he put down his delicious origiri and then turned to face the white-haired man, Sharingan spinning.

“Do Iunderstand you correctly? Did you say Naruto was your godson?”

The man nodded jovially. “Yes, he is my godson.”

Sasuke pounced, chakra seeping from every single pore of his body. Dismembering the bastard seemed like anice plan –and when he’d screamed for afew hours, he’d have fun killing him with Amaterasu, so there wouldn’t be remains for the ANBU to find.

He tackled the man to the ground, his fingers crackling with the fine, deadly lightning of Raibari. He stuck afew of the bluish-purple chakra conjurations into the man, causing the Sannin to hiss, but before he could do actual damage, chains wrapped around his limbs, pulling him down.

“Sasuke! You can’t just attack...!” his brother called.

Sasuke used chakra to stick to the ground, stopping Naruto from dragging him further away. The Sannin stood up, studying him with wariness. “Let me go.“ he growled.

“No.” Naruto said, voice steely.

“Let me go Otōto. Dismemberment is the least thing he deserves for abandoning you! If he’s your godafather, he should have cared and not ran, like acoward...! Let me go, he’ll just be short afew fingers...!”

“I will not let you go, while you want to burn him.” Naruto said.

Sasuke scowled at the blonde. “Why are you protecting him? He’d deserve what’s coming for him. Let me...”

“I’m not protecting him, Nī-sama. I’m protecting you. Attacking afellow Konoha shinobi has consequences. We don’t need to deal with those.”

Sasuke glared coldly at the shocked Sannin. “If he’s short afew limbs for abandoning you, Iwill gladly take the consequences.“

Naruto walked up to him and placed ahand on his shoulder. “Don’t. Petty revenge is not worth it.”

The Uchiha scoffed at the Sannin, but slowly eased his body. Naruto smiled and his chains were retracked into his body again. Then, Naruto helped him stand and when he was on his feet he walked over to Jiraiya.

“Naruto... I...”

Even before the Sannin could form his words, Naruto moved. His chakra-coated fist collided with the man’s stomach and the older doubled over with agroan. “That’s for running away and being acoward so much, that Ididn’t even know your name.“ he hit again and the Sannin couched. “And that’s for breaking the Senju-Uzumaki policies of tight-knit family. You are not one by blood, but if they chose you my as my godfather, it’s as good, as being acknowledged as part of the Clans. And you broke the sacred rules of family, Sannin.“

Naruto took afew steps back and glared. “Begone from my property, or Iwill call the ANBU. Do not seek me again, useless you’ve learnt, what it means to be part of afamily.“

“Naruto...“

“My parents are probably turning in thier graves and regret trusting you.“ with those words, Naruto whirled on his heels and stormed inside.

Sasuke’s eyes flashed with the Sharingan, as he glared at the man. “Breaking the trust of an Uzumaki is the worst thing aperson can do. Pray to kami he has more of the Senju mercy in him, rather than the Uzumaki temper. Now leave, before Ialert the ANBU.”

Sasuke found his brother in his room, craddling Shiro and battling his tears. He didn’t need enhanced sensory, to know how the blonde was feeling – it was written across his face, clear as day. Sad, angry and disappointed.

“Otōto?“ he asked quietly.

“I’m adisappointment, am Inot? Like Iused to be. So even those who are supposed to be my last family, have abandonned me. Tsunade does not answer the summons and my godfather only shows his face after more, than adecade.“ he whispere softly.

Sasuke froze, his eyes widening. Those words... those words were of one whose spirit was broken. he could not believe, that this had broken his brother. But perhaps... this had been the last drop in the glass, before it had overflowed?

“A shame on the family so much, that even my last living relatives leave me to my own devices, without even brothering to meet me.”

Sasuke twitched and apart of him wished he had removed at least afew of the Sannin’s fingers. He took adeep breath and tried keeping acalm head. He settled on the bed next to his brother and hugged him. “You are not adisappointment.”

“I am.“ he murmured. “I am and Ihad always been. Perhaps... Otō-sama should have chosen you and then we would not be in this mess today.”

“You are not adisappointment, do you hear me, Ōtsutsuki Asura?“ he hissed softly. “You’re stronger than Iam, in many ways. You suceeded where I’d failed and vice versa. We should have never fought. We stand side by side. So, even if the sorry excuse of aSenju, of whom you have every reason to be ashamed and her no-good teammate leave you behind... even then, we have each other. We’re brothers, remember?“

Naruto smiled and nodded leaning into him. “Yeah. Brothers.”

“And Kakashi and Yamato are still here. You, them and me. The four of us.“

Naruto sniffed, his breathing slowly calming down. “Yeah. The four of us, like afamily. Almost... almost like back then.“

Sasuke hummed, his eyes shifting. “Yes, Otōto. Like back then.” he said softly, his hands drawing small, calming circles on the blonde’s back.

He let his chakra wrap around his brother and the tomoe in his eyes took acomplete turn, as the technique took effect.

Genjutsu: Nemurutsuki (Illusionary Technique: Slumbering Moon)

When he was sure Naruto was sleeping and firmly under the effects of the Genjutsu, Sasuke slipped out of the bed and pulled the covers over the blonde. He petted Shiro and smiled at the dog. “Watch over him for me, will you, Shiro?“

The dog gave asmall bark and settled on the empty spot on the bed, his fur brushing Narto’s face. Reassured that the blonde was now fine, Sasuke disappeared in aswirl of leaves.

Sasuke landed gracefully in the Sandaime’s office, just as he’d calculated. And to his satisfaction, the Sannin was right there. With another precise Shunshin, he was right in front of the man and he kicked him where Naruto had hit before, the hit scored, as the man hadn’t expected it. The Sannin groaned and reached for the sturdy desk, to remain upright.

The Uchiha glared down at the white-haired man, his Sharingan glowing omnimously. “If you make Otōto cry again, Iswear on the Rikudō, I’ll fry you before Itoss you to my summons for dinner.“

“Sasuke-kun, would you please refrain from violence?“ the Hokage asked. “What is the reason for this anyway, if Imay ask?“

“The bastard trespasses to private property, but despite that, Naruto invited him to eat.“ Sasuke growled, “and then he had the balls to say things, that broke my brother and made him cry.“ he spat at Jiraiya. “Some godfather you are, leaving him alone for all his life and then making him cry.”

“I...“

Sasuke growled. “Oh, no. Idon’t give af*ck about what you have to say. Family comes first, no matter what – and you seemed to have forgotten that. Now, my summons will be guaring the house and if just one of them notices you nearby, Iwill gladly tell my senseis what you’ve done. I’m sure Kakakshi-sensei...“ Sasuke smirked when he saw the older man pale at the name, “...will be most delighted to share his thoughts with you, regarding your godfatherly behaviour.”

He took afew steps back and looked at the Hokage. “Sandaime-sama, with all due respect, keep your failure-for-a-godfather away from my brother. Any more emotional trauma and Icannot be sure he will bounce back and actually suceed in containing the Fox.“ his eyes narrowed on the Sannin. “We wouldn’t want Konoha in ruins because of an incompetent, coward godfather, ne?”

The Sandaime nodded grimly. “I will take your request into serious consideration, if you believe it affects Naruto so much.”

Sasuke could barely stop himself from grinning triumphantly, when he saw the white-haired man gape at the Hokage. “Sensei...!”

“Jinchūriki need mental and emotional stability to contain their Bijū. That is afact we know, regardless of which of the Nine are mentioned.“ the older man said, his gaze flickering to his most loyal student. “Sasuke has been living with Naruto for years and Itrust his judgement, when it comes to his own brother, Jiraiya. For now please, stay away from Naruto.”

The Uchiha dipped his head towards the aged leader. “Arigato, Hokage-sama. Now, if you forgive me, Ihave aperturbed brother to return to.“

‘Objective accomplished.‘ Sasuke thought and then he was gone.

Chapter 20: Kurama

Chapter Text

The sun was just barely above the horizon, but the Namikaze appartment was already full of life. Inside the house, two Shadow Clones of Naruto were preparing breakfast.

The brothers were already outside, going trough their warm up spars and target practice, Shiro spawled in the shade of atree, watching them and munching his meat, which Sasuke had given him before they’d started.

Naruto smirked, avoiding his brother’s kick and delivering his own strike. Sasuke tried avoiding the chakra laced punch, but he proved slow and despite his effort, the blow connected – not where the blonde had intended, but since it was laced with chakra, it still sent the Sharingan-user flying backwards.

Sasuke flipped in the air, landing unsteadily, his back pressed against the wooden fence of the house. He winced abit, as he tried moving his right arm. Chakra laced punches and medical knowledge were not agood combination. He could see why the Shodai and Tsunade were hailed for their Taijutsu prowess.

“This round’s mine.“ his brother said with agrin.

Sasuke chuckled and stood up. “Yeah, it is. But Iwon the previous one and the first round had been atie, so we’re equal.” he walked over to the blonde, who immediately noticed how awkwardly he held his shoulder.

“We are.“ Naruto agreed. “Now, let me have alook at that. Can’t have you injured, can we?“

Sasuke didn’t even comment. It was their usual routine – they’d spar and try to break each other’s bones and at the end, Naruto would patch him up. By then, Kurama would be working on Naruto’s own inuries and once Naruto was done with him, he’d direct his chakra so to help their grumpy Bijū brother.

“We should speak with Kurama.“ Sasuke said quietly, mindful of someone being nearby.

The villagers no longer troubled Naruto, but they still had ANBU around, constantly checking in. They were the last of the two founder clans and Konoha would not risk losing them to enemy shinobi. (By now, both him and Naruto greeted the ANBU on personal level. The only thing they didn’t know, were their names, but that was how it’s supposed to be, so they never pried. Knowing Yamato and Kakashi was different.)

Naruto blinked at him, but the green healing chakra didn’t waver. “Huh? Why would you say that?”

Sasuke closed his eyes for amoment. “We’re trying to set things right, aren’t we? We can’t do that, when our siblings hate us. It’s not right. Iknow that once Ihad adifferent wiev of them... but it was not right. We’re family. Iscoffed on the Sannin for not knowing what family is like, leaving you behind... but we did the same. We... we left the nine of them behind, Otōto. They may never forgive my betrayal and Iwould understand – Iwould understand Kurama the most, realy– but they should not leave you.”

Naruto’s hands dropped, done with the healing and he smiled. “Then, come and let’s speak with him.”

Kurama was jolsted to full awareness, when Asura and Indra appeared – or Naruto and Sasuke, as they went by now, not that he could get used to calling the two Ōtsutsuki by such weak, mortal names. Because no matter their faults and the bloodshed they’d left in their wake, Kurama respected power. And his two human brothers had power in spades.

“Kurama nī-sama.“ they greeted, as respectful as ever.

Kurama swissed his tails irrately. Apart of him could believe, that Asura meant the respect in his tone, but Indra? Indra was too detached, too arrogant and cold... too Indra to mean the respect, that seemed to colour his tone. Kurama scoffed mentally. Even now, when he was behind bars – when the two claimed to work on rectifying their mistakes,– Indra was mocking him.

“Asura, Indra.“ he growled. “Why seek me now?“

Asura arched ablonde eyebrow – gods, it was so annoying to see his brother being the tiny clone of the nuisance Senju, who’d imprisonned him that night. Of course, it was only appearance and genetics, but it was bothersome anyway.

“Can’t we come to visit our own brother?“ Asura asked. “Don’t tell me you’ve become arecluse over the decades so much, that even when someone offers company – friendly company– you would rather be alone.”

“It’s hard to read you these days.“ he huffed. “Your ancestors – descendants... whatever, were anything but kind to me. It is due to your latest transmigrants, that I’m sitting behind these bars today, so excuse me, if I’m sceptical of your motives.”

“You can’t tell, you say.“ Indra spoke, his tone just atouch scratching, “But that’s alie, because you were always capable of telling others’ feelings. You just don’t want to see, that we are honest, because it is easier to hate, is it not?”

Kurama growled, inching closer to the bars and releasing ablast of Killing Intent. (To his disappointment, neither of his brothers even seemed to notice his chakra.) “Oh, look who’s speaking, traitor!”

“He has long repented for his mistakes.“ Asura said quietly. “We stand side by side now. Just as Ihad promised Otō-sama on his deathbed. Ipromised him there would be aday, when Indra and Iwould stand side by side, just like when we were children. This is that time.“

Kurama flashed his teeth at the Sharingan-user. “How can you be so sure? What’s the guarantee he will not use his eyes against me, like Madara and the masked f*cker had done?”

Asura huffed. “If you look at the things from that angle, then my chains and Mokuton can also be used against you, as my great uncle and great aunt had done.“ the blonde’s violet eyes – so much like Kushina’s yet so, so different – narrowed on him. “Let us not continou this poisonous cicle, Kurama. This is adifferent life. Let us work together, for the betterment of this world, as Otō-sama would have wanted. Please.”

Kurama almost caved in – Asura was very good, when it came to speaking. He could understand, how Hashirama had gotten so many to fall in step with him. The tree-hugger (literally! seiously, that moron was the embarrasment of the entire Ōtsutsuki line...) had the same uncanny ability to convince others, as Asura.

Perhaps it was the similarity between Hashirama and Asura, why his capture and sealing had hurt so much. The Senju had been like his brother, yet he wasn’t his brother.

But now, his brother –his brothers – stood in front of him, in all their glory. Their appearance was different, but the water of the lake reflected their previous appearance. Familiar brown hair and eyes and the powerful presence. The presence, the power only an Ōtsutsuki could ever hope to possess.

And these two possessed it. They were not Asura and Indra, yet they were Asura and Indra. (Reincarnation was odd like that, especially, if those involved remembered the life they were not supposed to, like now.)

But... could he trust them? Could he trust Indra after all, that had happened?

He looked at them. Asura’s violet eyes were hopeful, pleading. Pleading with him to listen. Kurama’s red eyes shifted and he was met with pitch black gaze (pitch black, like Madara’s had been, before the Sharingan burned in it).

And then, suddenly, the most unexpected thing happened. Indra bowed to him.

(The Tsuki no Uraishi had never been the one to openly show respect to others, only those stronger than him and there had been only two people stronger than Indra. Their father and uncle. Asura didn’t count, as he’d come to his power gradually and by the time the brothers’ power was in the same range, Indra was too far gone to care for anything, but revenge.)

“Gomen nasai, Nī-sama. Iknow that my actions had brought suffering to you and the others. Icannot take those actions back. But Ican make sure things like those won’t happen again.“ he raised his gaze again. “And Ican hope, that in the future, all eleven of us can stand together asfamily. To show the world what was the true legacy Otō-sama had left behind. To show them what peace and coexistance is, untainted by mistrust and hate.”

Kurama stared at Indra in shock. Cold, prideful Indra had bowed to him and apologised. (Was he caught in aGenjutsu again?) And... was that... was that regret, which he was feeling from his older human brother?

“We’re sorry, Kurama.“ Asura whispered softly, his voice thick with tears.

They meant it.

As shocking it was to him, after years of hate and mistreatment... his brothers were right in front of him and they meant their words.

Kurama shifted his position and looked at the two tiny humans in the eyes. So, so tiny compared to him... yet with enough power under the fragile exterior to level mountains and carve valleys. Those were his brothers – fragile yet powerful. More powerful, than the humans of present day could comprehend.

“You are forgiven.“ he said slowly. Indra’s gaze found his, aspark of hope in his bottomless eyes. “You too, Indra. We’re family after all, no?”

Indra’s stance eased and a small smile made its way to his lips (old, stoic Indra, still it seemed), while Asura’s face was split by a grin and suddenly, the seal seemed ten times brighter and warmer. Asura leapt over to him, his little body pressed against his much biger one, in what Kurama guessed was a hug.

Kurama chuckled at the energetic ball of sunshine, that was his youngest brother. Asura hadn’t changed one bit, since that last time. The kitsune shifted his gaze and found Indra lingering in his spot, fondly smiling at the blonde. He huffed and made agesture with one of his tails. Indra seemed shocked –and apart of Kurama thought he might decline and scoff, as he used to– but instead, he calmly walked over and hugged him too.

Well, him and Asura as well, while Asura still kept clinging to his fur. Kurama huffed and curled his body around the two humans. “Arigato, Kurama.” Indra murmured. (Did he hear tears in the Sharingan-user’s voice? No, it was just his imagination. Indra was way too proud to cry and even if he did, he cried where no one could see.)

“It’s good to have you two back.“ he admitted at last.

“It’s good to be back.“ Indra returned, far less hesitant, than Kurama would have thought he’d be.

“Together again.“ Asura murmured. “Like afamily.“

“Yeah, Otōto.”

Kurama chuckled. Let the other eight sue him for it, but it was nice, having his brothers back, cute and innocent again. And it was even nicer, that they were hugging him. Indeed, it was almost like so long ago...

‘Are you watching, Otō-sama ? We’ll take care of each other this time, like you’ve told us to. I promise.‘

Meanwhile, all across Konoha (like Kakashi, Yamato, Jiraiya and several other ANBU) –and even some people outside of the village –a pair of Uchihas and a snake Sannin, to be exact– all had a sudden dreadful shiver. It would be much, much later, that they would figure out the reason for it – no one, who’s ever hurt something (or someone) precious to the infamous Kyūbi, has ever survived to tell the tale.

And the Kyūbi has let go of his hate and promised to his (their) father to take care of his two non-Bijū siblings. And take care of them he would, even if it meant demolishing something with afully charged Bijūdama.

Kurama was not human, but he was an Ōtsutsuki and Ōtsutsuki took care of their family, no matter what.

Chapter 21: Seal and Key

Chapter Text

The blonde frowned, as the jutsu failed yet again.

“Goddamn it! This is my own jutsu! Iknow how to form it, so why in the name of the Rikudō doesn’t it work?!”

“What doesn’t work, Otōto?“ his brother asked, opening his eyes. Naruto felt abit bad for disrupting his meditation, but... but his life depended on this. (Okay, maybe not, because his life normally depended on the amount of ramen he consumed, but this was aclose second.)

“Amenomihashira.“ he grunted. “I can’t form it properly. The outer layer gets created, but then before Icould finish, the chakra flow gets disrupted.“ he grunted. “It’s so annoying!”

Naruto saw his brother wince abit at the technique’s name and he almost felt bad. He remembered, that Amenomihashira had been one of his greatest accomplishments and at one point, when he’d been using their Bijū siblings’ chakra in tandem with his own, the jutsu had crippled Indra’s perfect Susanno’o, which was no small feat.

“You don’t just forget how to perform one of your own creations.“ the Uchiha pointed out. “You should be able to do it.“

Naruto snorted. “Keyword, Nī-sama. Should.“

“I think, Iknow the answer, to why you keep failing, Otōto.“ Kurama’s voice rumbled into their minds. Now that they’d made up, the fox had created apernament mental link between the three of them, using his chakra and the remants of their anceint, Ōtsutsuki chakra. It was convenient, because this way, as long as they were within acertain distance, Sasuke could hear the fox just as clearly, as the Jinchūriki.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. “Now, I’m also intereted in the answer.“

“It’s because my chakra leaks into your body irregularly, tarnishing your chakra control. Your control is very good, but considering the complex nature of Amenomihashira, it’s not enough, because you need truly perfect control for it.“

Naruto groaned. “Oh, f*ck it! How the hell could we deal with this?“

“You either shut me off completely or you change the seal. I’m not saying you release it, because your still-growing body would not be able to withstand the strain, Ōtsutuki descendant and transigrant or not. You just have to change it abit. Say... remove the Shinigami’s hold, because the god himself had left atrace of his power in your body, as per the contract of the Shiki Fūjin. It’s because of that chakra, that mine is so wild. If you changed the seal, the contract would be void and my chakra could flow better. It might even be easier... since Ikind of let go of my grudges and we really work together now.”

The two brothers shared alook. “Sounds like aplan.“ the blonde grinned.

His brother huffed. “You don’t have the key, Asura.“ he deadpanned.

Naruto blinked owlishly. “What?“

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Your seal is possibly the most complex one aJinchūriki ever had on their body –bar the Jūbi’s seal, but that’s acompletely different category, since Otō-sama’s Rinnegan was somehow involved. This means, you can’t just sit down and scrawl something together, to open it. You could do it, but since the Shinigami was involved, messing up the seal could kill you. In short you need the key which your father had written.”

The blonde’s cry of frustration could be heard all across Konoha.

While the boys were preoccupied with training and meditation, Yamato and Kakashi had just finished their well-deserved relaxation and both of them were ready to return to their duties as senseis. After all, there were still the Exam Finals to deal with and while the boys had been good – no screatch that, the boys had preformed fabulously. So, while the boys had performed fabulously, the Finals were an entirely different thing.

More so, since Sasuke would have to face ahalf-mad Jinchūriki. (Having seen Gaara’s condition, both Yamato and Kakashi thanked every single kami they could name, for Naruto’s parents’ knowledge in seals. Having ahalf-mad Kyūbi host, was terrifying even to imagine.)

Their thoughts were interrupted by aloud burp. The two ex-ANBU shared alook and inched closer to the stall, from where the sound had come. There, sitting on astool they found Jiraiya of the Sannin, drinking like there was no tomorrow.

Yamato raised an eyebrow in silent question, as he nodded towards the white-haired man. Wasn’t it Tsunade with drinking problems?

Kakashi nodded. Yes, she was.

Yamato made avague gesture. Then what about him? He seems to have picked up his teammate’s habit.

Kakashi’s eye narrowed, as he threw alook at Jiraiya and then nodded towards the general direaction of the Namikaze estate. Ihave no idea, but the bastard should be with Naruto, as his godfather and not here, drinking right next to abathhouse. He was probably more interested in women, than in his own godson.

Yamato frowned and looked at the Hokage Mountain and then back at his collegue. How could Yondaime-sama trust him to be Naruto’s godfather? He’s astrong shinobi, but seems irresponsible, when it comes to family.

Kakashi rolled his visible eye with abarely noticable frown under his cloth mask. Tell me about it. Iwant to give him apiece of my mind.

With their conversation done – not that anyone, who had seen it, would call the glances and gestures aconversation,– the two men approached the Sannin.

Kakashi cleared his troath and Jiraiya looked up. “Ah...Kaaakashiii! Long time no sseee.” slurred the toad summoner.

“Long time indeed.“ he said omniously.

And then, on arandom impulse – Minato-sensei would not be happy with him, but Kushina would probably cheer him on and he was doing this for Naruto anyway,– he gave astrong right hook to the man. Stong enough to send him flying from his seat. The few, who were present– the owner included,– all looked up in shock at seeing him punch aSannin.

As Jiraiya stood up, Kakashi glared and released awave of Killing Intent. “Where the hell you were all this time?!“ he growled out. “Naruto is your godson, kami damn it! Mianto-sensei trusted you to keep an eye on him! And what do you do? The moment Sandaime-sama brings him back from the sealing site, you run, like acoward!”

The Sannin flinched, suddenly all too sober. “Kakashi... I...“

“I might have joined ANBU after they died,“ the Jōnin continoued, “but at least Ikept my promise to sensei and Kushina-san! Iwas after all, among his guards most of the time. He didn’t know my name and face, but he knew Icared. He knew my chakra – because he’s agoddamn Sensor prodigy– and he knew that whenever Iand my squad were around, he could sleep with both of his eyes closed! When Itook them as my Genin, he almost knocked me off my feet, happy to see me, because he knew Iwas among the few, who cared.”

Jiraiya flinched, looking like ascolded child and Kakashi felt aspark of satisfaction. “He looked so much like the two of them...” the older man murmured.

”And he’s even more like them now!” Kakashi bit back, “And it’s something to be proud of. Not thanks to you, though.” Jiraiya looked as if he’d physically hit him, but the overprotective part of him overruled the rational part, so he didn’t mind.

The bar was so silent, that one would hear even apin drop.

“I’m sorry.“ the Sannin murmured. “Seems like Ifailed you, huh? Heck, Ifailed Minato and Naruto too.“

“Yet, you’re still here, drinking instead of speaking with your godson.“ Yamato pointed out with aglare, his tone cold enough to freeze over afireball.

Jiraiya sighed and rubbed his face. “Sarutobi-sensei told me where Iwould find Naruto. Isought them out and after Itold him who Iwas, he turned his back to me. Than, his brother literally kicked me out of Namikaze property, saying he’d signal the ANBU, if Ididn’t leave.”

Kakashi wasn’t so surprised, when he heard that. Him and Yamato wre both kinda protective of the boys (it was something unspoken in the village) but Sasuke was on acompletely different sort of protective. He could imagine the Uchiha treathening the Sannin, especially if Jiraiya had upset Nartuo and since the man wasn’t for subtlety in things, that didn’t involve shinobi business... well, he’d probably dumped being Naruto’s godfather on the boys and in the process, his students had lost it.

“And now Ican’t even approach him.“ the man huffed.

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow. “How come?”

“Your Uchiha student was in a bad mood, after I left. He sought the Hokage and concinved Sarutobi-sensei, that Naruto’s emotional trumoil places extra, unnecessary strain on the seal. So, I’ve been banned from seeing Naruto for now and on top of that, the Uchiha’s summons – wolves, I think? – circle the estate and I can’t approach because the entire pack would attack me.”

Kakashi and Yamato shared ahalf amused, half surprised look.

“Conidering how protective those two are of each other,“ Yamato said, “this – or something like this–was to be expected from Sasuke. And would the situation be reversed, I’m sure Naruto would act like this, too.”

“More like overprotective, if you ask me.“ the Sannin grunted.

Kakashi hummed. “Yeah, they are.” he turned away, “Come on, Yamato. Better visit the boys now.”

“What?! Kakashi you can’t just leave me here!”

Kakashi looked back at the older man. “I can and Iwill. Considering Sasuke’s request and the Hokage’s approval, Ican leave you here.”

“But...”

Jiraiya was cut off as aloud, frustrated – and familiar– cry echoed trough the village. Every single citizen froze for asecond, seeking the source of the voice. Kakashi and Yamato shared aknowing look. That voice was unmistakable.

“Naruto.“ they said in sync, alight note of panic creeping into their tones.

Sasuke expected many things from their senseis – he did not expect, however, the utter and complete panic on their faces, as they sped into Namikaze territory. His summons must be doing their task well, if Yamato’s backwards glance was any indication.

“What happened?“ Yamato asked.

“Naruto, are you okay?“ that was Kakashi.

Both of them were tense, totally panicked, as they looked at his brother. “We heard your shout.”

Naruto sat up and sighed. “Yes, I’m fine. Well, mostly.“

“Mostly?“ Yamato asked skeptically.

Naruto grunted. “Otō-san’s seal messes up my chakra control. It would need some modifications. If it keeps messing up my control, Ican’t finish the jutsu I’ve been working on.”

“Tha- that’s why you’ve been shouting loud enough for even the Raikage to hear?“ Kakashi asked with asweatdrop.

The Uzumaki huffed. “It’s annoying! You need perfect chakra control for many things, sensei and Ican’t do it, because Otō-san just had to use the one and only seal, which would mess up my control! And Ican’t even hope to modify the thing, because Iwould need the key, since the Shinigami had been called upon. And I’ve no clue where the freaking key is!”

Sasuke saw it. The shock and horror mixing on their senseis faces, as Naruto mentioned modifying he seal. Times like this, he would have liked telling the two men, who they really were. Maybe then, they would worry abit less. (Maybe one of these days they should tell them? Just Kakashi and Yamato, no one else. It would help alot...)

The two Jōnin shared an unsure look. “There may be someone, who knows where the key is and might even help with your problem.“ Yamato said hesitantly.

Naruto couldn’t help, but scowl as his godfather approached, flanked by two of his brother’s summons.

“Naruto.“ the man greeted with anod, his face much more serious, than when they’d met.

“Jiraiya.“ he greeted in ameasured tone. He was still displeased with the Sannin leaving him behind, but he could deal with that later. He needed the man’s cooperation for now.

Sasuke nodded to his summons. “Thank you for your aid. You are dismissed. Take the pack with you, please.”

The two wolves wordlessly bowed to Sasuke and nodded to him, before disappearing in plumes of white smoke. Awhile later, he also heard several other poofs, signalling the entire pack’s departure.

Naruto’s gaze shifted, once the wolves were gone, back to the Sannin. He saw Sasuke glare at the man and Jiraiya flinched, averting his gaze. “I’m sorry.” the Sannin said. “I shouldn’t have left the way Ihad. Ishould have done something...“

“Yes, you should have.“ Naruto cut in. His sharp tone caused the man to hiss. “But it is the past and if Ikeep wondering about what could have been, Iwill drown in bitterness and forget to live the life Ialready have. So, Iwill not wonder, what life would have been, if you weren’t acoward.“ he took adeep breath. “I need the key.”

The Sannin blinked at him. “W-what?”

“I need the key of the Hakke Fūin.“ (Eight Triagrams Seal) he repeated again, tone sharper.

“Look kid...“

Naruto glared. “I’m not akid –and I’m certainly not your kid– Sannin, so do not treat me as such. Irepeat my request again, so you will clearly understand. Ineed the key of the seal Otō-san has created.“

“Naruto it’s...”

“Now, Sannin.“ he said again, eyes narrowing. “If you do not wish to comply with my request, than please leave.”

“Why do you need the key?“ the man asked at last.

Naruto sighed. “Otō-san and Okā-san did afine job with the seal. However, the way it had been designed, makes it impossible for me to refine my chakra control, which means Icannot use certain techniques. Which is, quite frankly, annoying.“ he huffed. “The seal needs certain modifications. If those are done, there will be achace for my control to improve drastically. And while the seal itself would be amargin weaker, it does not mean the fox would find away out of it. My Mokuton and chakra chains create extra layers on the original seal, stopping the Bijū from even communicating with me, useless Iwant to see – or hear– him myself. Admittedly, Ihad slipped in the Forest of Death, but the Mokuton and chakra chains did their work. There isn’t even acrack on the original seal, despite the release of three tails.“

Jiraiya couldn’t help, but gape at the blonde before him. Was... was this Minato and Kushina’s son? This... this composed, powerful –because heck, the kid surely had powerful chakra, along with the Uchiha,– intelligent and aristocratic child was his godson?

The intelligence wasn’t so surprising – Minato was agenius, in his own way. But Naruto... Naruto was nothing like Minato. He was nothing like Kushina, either. Yet, he was like both of them at once. How could that be?

The point was, that the intelligence was expected, in away. The aristocratic behaviour and the commanding presence on the other hand, were new. And gods be good... the kid spoke like someone from the Warring States Era would have! (And Otō-san? Minato was surely crying in the afterlife, if he could hear how their son addressed both him and Kushina. Neither of them were ones for formalities, after all and especially not within family.)

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. “Well, Sannin?“

Jiraiya grunted. He could never deal with the aristocrats – combat? infiltration? assassination? fine, he’ll have it done in no time; politics and dealing with nobility? hell, no! – and kami (as well as Kakashi and Yamato) were his witnesses, that the blonde in front of him was anoble in every way. Hell, if only he changed clothes, Jiraiya was sure the blonde would feel right at home in aDaimyo’s Court.

“Fine, fine.“ he sighed. “We’ll have alook at the seal. I’ll help with your chakra control. And then, if we’re already speaking about control, Imight even teach you ajutsu. One of Minato’s favourites, deal?“

If possible, Naruto quirked that eyebrow even more (it was so freaking annoying! Was the kid from the Warring States Era or something?!). Someone his age had no right to be so composed and aristocratic! He should be abouncy, hyperactive – knowing Kushina– child, disturblingly addicted to ramen and sweets.

“We’ll see what that technique is. Because if you’re saying Hirashin, Iwill decline. That needs asort of finery in Fūinjutsu along with extensive knowledge of space-time theory. Imay know something of seals, but space-time theory and the limitations and dangers of such jutsu, I’m unaware of.”

‘Is he even atweleve– thirteen-year-old, recently graduated rookie? Isurely feel like speaking with Sarutobi-sensei instead. But... no. Not even sensei is so... so... composed. During negotiations, yes, but not on adaily basis.‘ the man thought.

The Sannin grunted. “Yes, yes whatever. Now, do you want to have alook at that seal, or not?”

Naruto finished the sealing circle with ahuff and offered the brush to Sasuke. “You know what’s the missing character, right, Nī-sama?”

Sasuke nodded. “Of course. Now sit down. I’ll activate it for you. The others are last chance support, if this fails.“

Naruto frowned. “Don’t say that.“ Sasuke shrugged and activated his Sharingan. Seeing his eyes at the ready, Naruto sat in the middle of the array. (Jiraiya had checked it, jsut to be sure. The man had addmitted, that it would hold, but Naruto could see it. The curiousty – he had never seen this seal and was curious how it worked and from where did he know it.)

Naruto settled and nodded to his brother. “Go along.”

Sasuke drew the last missing symbol and then flared his chakra and slammed his hand on the outer rim of the matrix. “Sharingan Fūin: Gokakukei Shōheki!” (Copy Wheel Eye Seal: Pentagonal Barrier)

Naruto couldn’t help but wince in pain, as the jutsu took effect and he was forcefully pushed into his own mind.

For amoment, the sinking feeling and spinning darkness disoriented him, even making him abit sick. But soon, the feeling was gone and he stood firmly on his own.

As Naruto blinked, he found himself in front of Kurama. The fox stood slowly, watching him with amix of confusion and wariness. “Asura-kun?”

“Relax, Kurama.“ he said. “We’re redoing your seal. This will go and for abit, we’ll be seperate. You’ll land in the outside world, trapped with my body. Nī-sama’s holding that seal. Once I’m done, I’ll bring you back here.”

He channeled some chakra into his hand, making the shikki of the key appear on his arm, his fingers burning with small, bluish-green flames chakra. He slammed his hand on the seal on his stomach and twisted his fingers.

“I see.”

And then there was aflash.

Kurama couldn’t help but snarl, when his eyes fell on the human. The white-haired bastard was all too familiar from Kushina’s memories, as well as the recent drama, surrounding his return to the village. It was that old flashbag’s fault, why Asura had been so upset in the past few days. So when he saw the man, he couldn’t help but snarl and pounce.

Considering how humanity knew him now, as adestructive, malvolent force of nature, it wasn’t even so out of character, he guessed. The annoying, white-haired flashbag, whose name he didn’t even bother remembering took astep back, watching him with worry.

Sadly for Kurama and luckily for the flashbag, Asura’s seal was way too well made to be broken. Besides, Indra was powering the seal, so even if he tried breaking the shikki, his brother would just use his Sharingan to place him to sleep. (As per their agreement, Indra would not attempt such athing, only if Kurama forced him to.)

“Now, now, stay inside.“ Indra admonished.

Kurama snarled, swissing afew of his tails at the white-haired one. “What is that flashbag doing here?!“

“Overseeing the redesign of your seal.“ the older Ōtsutsuki answered.

“Uzumaki are more than enough qualified for such things. Besides, as annoying as it is, Mokuton does have afew tricks too. Not to mention you.” he huffed, pacing the available space of the seal, circling Asura’s unmoving physical body.

Indra rolled his eyes. “I don’t have enough chakra yet, to do what... Madara had done. Hence, why Ineed Otōto’s seal as amedium to keep you here.”

“And he has enough chakra?“

Indra hummed and gave asmall, amused smirk. “I’m not supposed to answer that. Besides, your senses are much better, than ahuman’s. You can tell yourself.“

Kurama stopped to stare down the only Sharingan-user, whose presence he was willing to stand. “Are you mocking me, mortal?”

Indra arched an eyebrow, his smirk still in place. “I don’t know. Am I?”

Kurama wanted to huff and settle next to his brother. Now that Indra was himself again, free from outside influences, his chakra was back to being that warm prickliness he’d always liked. Asura’s was cool and calming, while Indra’s was hot and energising. The seal was warmer, since Asura made efforts, but it was nowhere near as warm as Indra’s chakra. And right now, Kurama could use this temporary change in his size and just curl comfortably in Indra’s lap, while his brother passed his time with reading.

Instead, he growled darkly, as he had to play the cold, grumpy, I-hate-humans demon the world knew him as. It was frustrating. He hoped Asura would be done soon.

“Cat got your tongue, kitsune?“

Kurama’s eyes narrowed and he released some Killing Intent. (He knew that Indra was riling him for the sake of appearances, but mentioning Matatabi really soured his mood.) “Watch your mouth, human!“

“Or what? The shikki holds...“

Kurama couldn’t help it. He raised apaw and bared his claws at his brother’s face... only for the seal to freeze him mid-move, as Indra flared his chakra. Kurama swissed his tails wildly and growled. ‘Damn you Asura! You and your creativity with these freaking seals! Otō-sama should have never taught you those basics!‘

Indra’s red eyes flashed with barely contained laughter, as if he read his thoughts. (Now, wasn’t that strange? Cold, stoic Indra laughing...) Was the world ending...?

Naruto grinned down at the twelve cornered seal, which he’d made on the floor of his mindscape. This should be strong enough to hold Kurama, while giving both him and his fox brother more chance to direct the chakra flow. Sure, this one would drain some of Kurama’s chakra too, but it would be minimal, just to form alink between the two of them.

When he was sure the matrix was flawless, he bit his hand to draw some blood and ran trough the twenty six handseals for the technique.

“Ninshū: Fūinjutsu: Jūni-kaku Saidan!” (Ninja Creed: Sealing Technique: Twelve-cornered Altar)

As the seal lit up in amix of blue and green, the blonde allowed himself to feel triumphant. Then, he raised his free hand in ahalf Ram, to form his chakra chains, which hot upwards, out into the real world to reach for Kurama.

Sasuke perked up, when he saw the chains mainfest from Naruto’s abdomen and wrap around Kurama.

“Seems our time together’s cut short.“ he commented offhandedly.

Kurama glared darkly at the golden chains – no doubt reminded of how Mito-hime and Kushina had dealt with him over the years–, as they dragged him back into Naruto. “Not again!” he whined, very uncharacteristically. (Of course, to anyone else, who didn’t know the nine the way him and Asura did, the whining was more like angry shouts and acall for blood.)

Soon, the seal appeared on his brother’s body, the previous Uzumaki-like swirl chainging completely into two concentric rings, made by six magatama each. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Which seal had his brother used?

Then, as the seal slowly stopped glowing, Sasuke released the containment seal and the moment he took his hand off of the seal, his Sharingan faded. He felt light-headed from all the chakra use. Just afew more minutes of poweing the seal and he would have been out cold with chakra exhaustion again.

“Done.“ Naruto murmured triumphantly, raising the hand which hadn’t been visible, due to his position. “The Key. Secure it.“

“Sure.“ Sasuke murmured, as he watched the blonde pass out again.

Jiraiya studied the Key of Naruto’s new seal with interest. The kid was agenius, even better, than his father. From the patterns, it was clear as day, that the seal his godson had used, was part of the famed Uzumaki seals. Not of the Eight Triagrams style – this was much more advanced, but it was Uzumaki work without question.

Sealing Technique: Twelve-cornered Altar

As Jiraiya studied the scroll, he could not help but wonder, why Minato hadn’t used this seal, instead of the other two. If he had used this, perhaps he would not have needed to split the Fox and both him and Kushina (or at least one of them) would be alive today.

If this thing had been sitting in the Uzumaki library, why hadn’t it been used? Or perhaps it had been in the Senju compound? If so, it was understandable, why hadn’t it been found. While technically Naruto would have no access to Senju grounds with Tsunade alive, the Hokage had given him leave to enter and explore. There was no sign of Tsunade at all for months now and sensei was growing irrate and restless. The old man had even confessed, that if Tsunade would not be found soon, she would be declared aMissing-nin and everything Senju-related, business or valuables within the village would be Naruto’s.

The Sannin shrugged and gently rolled up the paper.

“Are you done?“

The man sighed and looked to his right, where one bored Uchiha Sasuke was leaning against the wall, watching him with sharp eyes. “Yes, Iam.”

The Uchiha stepped away from his spot and stretched out awaiting hand. “Then, hand it over. Naruto asked me to place it safely away and Iintend to do so.”

The Gama Sennin gave him the scroll, but didn’t release it. “Where are you planing tó take it...?” he almost added kid to the end, but from how Naruto reacted... he’d rather not see the Uchiha’s reaction.

“My summons will guard it.“ he answered bluntly.

He studied the Genin for amoment, but then released the scroll. The Uchiha nodded at him, satisfied and then turned on his heels. “You are no guest of ours, please leave. I’m sure Otōto will seek you at alater time, at his convenience.“ then, without waiting for an answer, he strode away.

The Sannin remained sitting in the living room, alone and wondered, what those two were made of.

Chapter 22: Shocking Revelations

Chapter Text

“And this is the Rasengan.“ (Spiralling Sphere) Jiraiya stated, nodding towards the solid ball of chakra in his hand.

After the rocky start, they’d made up and the Sannin started dropping in to help geting ready for the Finals. This was the first jutsu the man had shown him and seeing it brought back several memories. This jutsu – created by his father no less!– seemed to be asimple version of his Amenomihashira, which was funny, because before his seal’s replacement, he’d been working on remastering said jutsu.

“What did you say, how did Yondaime-sama come up with this?“ Sasuke asked, studying the ball.

Jiraiya huffed and allowed the ball to fade. “Minato studied the workings of Bijūdama. But... why are you even here? This was supposed to be alone time for me and my godson. And this jutsu is not for your eyes.“

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed and Naruto huffed, stepping between the two, before they could start arguing. Despite slowly making up, his brother still felt like dismembering the toad summoner. Better not risk another attempt on the Uchiha’s part.

“He’s my brother and this is his home as well.“ Naruto said. “He may stay and watch, if he wishes.“

“Besides, I’m terrible with chakra control and mostly, shape transformation.“ Sasuke pointed out. “This thing is mostly shape manipulation, like the Uzumaki Hiden. Imay understand how it is created, but that does not mean Iwill be able to create it myself. You don’t have to worry about me copying it. And even if Idid copy it, Iwould ask Naruto first if Icould use it, since it’s his father’s jutsu.”

Naruto’s lips twitched upwards in amusem*nt. Never once did Sasuke use the word ‘invention‘, like Jiraiya. Sasuke was having way too much fun with this, the blonde decided. Apart of him wished he could form Amenomihashira and show the Sannin, that he has his own, stronger version.

“Your chakra contol is better now. Since the redesign of my seal, you had an entire army of clones working on your control and it’s been weeks ago.“ Kurama pointed out. “You should be able to do it. Show him.”

Naruto almost rolled his eyes at Kurama. “Do you want him to have acardic arrest, Nī-sama? It will be shocking enough for him, that Ican do this thing without the three steps he’d mentioned, because Iknow the theory and how to manipulate my chakra.”

“Oh, come now Asura! Just alittle fun! Show him you’re even better, than Minato.”

“It’s only because I’ve already lived alife.” the Jinchūriki stated matter of factly.

“So? Are you taking atry, Naruto?“ the man asked, breaking him from his conversation with his eldest brother.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who was nodding and smirking. Oh damn them all! (Maybe he preferred the time, when Indra and the Bijū coudn’t get along?) If he showed his jutsu to their senseis and the Sannin, the Toad Sage could actually end up with acardic arrest... Sasuke raised achallenging eyebrow and Naruto grunted.

But... they’d thrown subtlety out the window anyway, after the Mizuki incident...

He turned back to the Sannin and grinned. “Now, let me show you something. I’ve been working on this for awhile. In fact, this was the jutsu why Isaid, Ineed better control. It’s not completely stable yet, so Ican’t use it in combat, but Ihad the theory of it for ages.“ which isn’t even alie, considering he’d lived his first life at the dawn of chakra, “Iactually found time to work on it after the Second Round.”

Jiraiya studied him curiously and nodded. “Alright. Show me. Then, I’ll teach this one to you and perhaps we can figure out how to stabilise your own little invention, if it’s combat effective.”

Sasuke snorted from his spot under the tree, where he was sitting, stroking Shiro. “It’s combat effective for sure.“ he muttered.

“Nī-sama!“ he said sharply and Sasuke just shrugged. Naruto huffed and glanced at the three senior shinobi.

When he was sure they were paying attention, he gathered his chakra in his hands and cupped them together. Then, as he pulled them apart, the barrier formed with the massive ball of chakra inside it. Then the ball split into five smaller ones, resembling Rasengan... but then the chakra got destabilised and Naruto had to pull his hands away, stopping the chakra flow, to prevent the whole thing from blasting his head off. The blue energy dispersed with abig gust of wind and he sighed.

“I call it Amenomihashira.“ (Pillar of Heaven) he said. “As you can see, I haven’t managed to stabilise it yet. If I had kept up the chakra flow, it would have blown up, so it needs some more work, but...”

There was athud, cutting his sentence off.

Naruto blinked and focused his eyes back on the three teachers. Kakashi and Yamato had saucer-sized eyes and Yamato was gaping (probably Kakashi too, but it wasn’t visible because of his mask) and Jiraiya was passed out, fingers twitching now and then, as if he’d been hit by aRaiton jutsu.

“Oh, sh*t! Did I give him a cardic arrest?!“ he panicked loudly, crouching next to the man with hands glowing green. “Someone get amedic, the Shinju damn it!”

“You’re the medic in the house, Otōto.” Sasuke murmured, none too concerned. Naruto cursed colourfully, while Kurama was laughing his ass off inside the seal.

Jiraiya perched on the windowsill of the Hokage office, looking at his sensei. “Did you know our resident Senju-Uzumaki was agenius? Probably even bigger genius, than his father.”

“Is that so?“ his sensei asked with araised eyebrow.

The Sannin grunted. “I wanted to teach him the Rasengan... but he’s beat me.”

The Hokage raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“He’s been working on ajutsu of his own, before we changed his seal. He showed it to me today. He used only chakra and shape manipulation. He created achakra barrier with abig Rasengan inside it, then, the Rasengan split into five smaller ones. He said that upon contact, the barrier woud blow up first, letting the other part of the technique continoue towards the target. It’s still incomplete, as it got destabilised halfway, but... damn him. Iwanted to teach him something, which was agenius invention of his father’s and he goes and does something ten times better, without knowing what the hell Rasengan looked like.”

His sensei hummed, surprise flickering trough his aged features. “Genius indeed. Have you spoken to him about the Summoning?“

The Sannin sighed. He’d wanted the blonde to be his heir, but it seemed Naruto was already paving his own path in the world, side by side with his Uchiha ‘brother‘. “He has deer summons and the Uchiha has wolves. He declined my offer of working with the toads and then he summoned his familiar. Shirotsuno, Ithink was the name.” he tapped his chin. “I honesty thought those contracts had been lost to time. Iwonder how those two had come to possess them.”

“Perhaps they had an affinity for those Clans and they did aSummoning without contract? If so, that would explain how they signed contracts, that had been lost to humans since before the founding.”

“Maybe.“ the spy agreed. “But those are powerful and ancient Clans. All for tradition and property. Iwonder with what had they impressed the Bosses.”

“Have you tried asking them?”

Jiraiya grunted. “Yes and the two of them were even more cryptic, than the Great Toad Sage, which is afeat in itself.”

Kakashi couldn’t help but wonder once more.

Naruto’s jutsu was surely an impressive one. It was like Minato-sensei’s, yet it seemed to be an improved, more powerful version. And let him not mention the seal the Jinchūriki had redesigned for himself. Sure, probably using some old Uzumaki technique, which had been written down, but still.

Kakashi had been hailed as aprodigy of his generation and he had been good. But not this good.

“Senpai?”

Kakashi glanced at Yamato. “Yes?“

“You know, Ican’t help but think... I’m happy and proud we have such talented students. But, but it’s also strange that they are so good. And mature. And considerate. Composed. Things, that kids their age usually aren’t.”

“You’re not the only one, who keeps wondering and the more time passes, the more Ilean towards my insane theory of reincarantion or whatever.”

Yamato sighed. “And the more time passes, the more Iagree with that theory of yours.”

Sasuke stared at his little brother. “Are you sure? You want us to tell Kakashi and Yamato?“

Naruto hummed. “They surely suspect something by now. We’ve been ateam for months. Idon’t say we include the Hokage and Jiraiya, but... the two... we’ve known them for ages. They’d been even among our ANBU guard. And as careful as we are, they’d surely noticed, that we aren’t like others our age. Let’s face it – we haven’t even met our former classmates, outside of the Exam. From what I’ve heard, the others met up afew times between Graduation and the Exam.”

The Uchiha sighed. “Fine. I’ll bring them here and you get one of the rooms completely private. We don’t need anyone overhearing this.”

Naruto nodded and disappeared into the house. Sasuke took adeep breath and then jumped onto the rooftops, stretching his Sensory, to look for the two Jōnin, who were like older siblings – parental cousins? – by now. With how close they were, Sasuke supposed Naruto’s desire was justified.

Apart of him wanted the two to know, too. So they could discuss things without fear. Besides, the two were talented and experienced shinobi – experienced in this time. He was sure they could benefit from the two being aware of the situation.

He came to asudden halt, when he sensed the two enter his sensing range. Oh, west to him. He changed directions and landed on the street, from where he felt their signatures. Some civilians looked at him startled, but he ignored them.

“Kakashi-sensei! Yamato-sensei!” he called, walking towards the two.

The two older shinobi stopped and turned to look at him. “What brings you here, Sasuke?“ Yamato asked.

‘Now or never.‘ he told himself.

“We’d like to speak with you in private. Do you have time?“

The two shared acurious look before they nodded.

Naruto was done with the privacy seals, by the time Sasuke made it back with their senseis. He’d chosen the empty room, which they didn’t use, as it was the smallest and despite being out of use, comfortably furnished.

When the three sat down, Naruto flared his chakra, activating the seals, momentarily basking the room in blue-yellow glow. Once he was sure the seals were in effect, he sat next to Sasuke, facing the two older shinobi.

“What are those privacy seals for, Naruto?“ Kakashi asked.

“What we’re about to tell you is important and might be, at alater time, potentionally dangerous. Especially if others get wind of this. So we thought this conversation should be shinobi-proof kind of private.“ Naruto answered.

“So we need you to promise – no, to swear– never to tell anyone.“ Sasuke said.

Kakashi and Yamato glanced at each other and then they nodded. “We swear.”

Naruto smiled, feeling their honesty. He nodded to Sasuke, who held up both of his hands. “Well then, take our hands.“ Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s and his free one grabbed Yamato’s Sasuke held Kakashi’s and their senseis also joined hands, creating atiny circle. “I’ll cass aGenjutsu, which will show afew of Naruto’s memories. Let the memories play out and then, you can ask your questions.”

“Alright.“

Sauske activated his Sharingan and then his chakra spiked. “Jikan no Kagami: Kakose.” (Mirror of Time: Past Life)

The chakra dragged them down into Naruto’s mindscape – which, unsurprisingly, was as sunny and warm, as the blonde’s personality–, but they also saw many pictures whirl aorund them, too fast to be clearly seen.

Sasuke’s chakra spiked again, his Sharingan whirling. “Kakose: Ōtsutsuki Asura.” (Past Life: Ōtsutsuki Asura)

Naruto saw surprise flicker trough their senseis’ faces at the name, but before they could even utter aword, the memories started playing.

They saw abig room, made of fine material, but nowhere near as modern, as these days. It was obvous, that the memory was from someone’s perspective.

“Nī-chan! In-a nī-chan! Can we go and play outside?“ achildish voice asked, running closer to asecond figure. It was a boy with the dark brown, spiky hair and dark brown eyes. He wore asimple kimono top with magatama adorning it and black pants.

The older chuckled and nodded. “Yes. We’ll just have to tell Otō-sama. I’m sure Shukaku nī-sama wouldn’t mind coming with us. Don’t you agree, Asu-chan?” he stood from where he’d been sitting, taking his brother’s hand.

The younger pouted. “Don’t call me Asu-chan! I’m too old for that now!”

“Of course you are, Otōto. Of course you are.”

The scene burled before it changed. They saw the same long-haired boy from before, altough he was older now and he was relaxing on the grass, enjoying the sun. The younger crept closer and poured something on his brother’s head, causing the other to jolt up.

“What the...!“ dark brown eyes narrowed. “Asura! What is that?!“ he cried indigniantly, trying to get the white paste out of his long hair.

Asura laughed. “Got you Indra nī-san!”

Indra stood up and poured the remants of the paste over Asura’s head, which caused the picture to go black for abit, before it was back.

“Indra-kun! Asura-kun!” athird, older voice called. Both boys turned towards the voice. It was aman with redish-brown spiky hair, dressed in similar clothes, as Indra. But his most distinctive features were the small horns n his head and the purple eyes, which had concentric rings.

“Otō-sama.” Indra greeted, throwing alook at his brother. The man, now identified as the boys’ father, chuckled. “Get cleaned in the river boys. It’s time for diner.”

“Hai.”

The scene changed once more, this time to aforest.

“Come on, Shiro! Where you’ve gone off to?” Asura called. There was awhine and rustiling leaves and abig boar appered. Asura cried out and staggered back, as amassive boar appeared, setting its gaze on Asura.

The small brown-white dog jumped in front of the frightened boy and then right at the boar. But the puppy was no match for the bigger animal. “Asura!”

Indra appeared from the bushes, just in time to see as the puppy was wounded by the boar. “Shiro!” Indra called in panic, as he jumped next to his brother. He cradded the now unmoving puppy. They saw atear escape Indra’s eye and then as he looked up again at his brother – and then garing at the boar,– his eyes were blood red. Red with atomoe each – an active Sharingan.

The scene whirled and they were in what seemed to be asmall village, altough not much could be seen, as it was burly.

And there were soft sobs and sips heard too – Asura was crying. As the boy stumbled trough the village with tears in his eyes, there were afew people, who looked up, whispering about what might have reduced the sunny son of the great Hagoromo-sama to tears.

He wasn’t even paying attention to where he was going so he collided with someone. “Uh.“ he took astep back. “Gomen na...”

“Otōto?” aconcerned voice called.

Asura wiped his tears away and looked up. It was his brother. With his long hair in acylinder, the top short and two stands wrapped in cloth and dressed in the usual high-collared kimono of their family, he looked regal. Every inch the Heir he was. “Indra nī-sama.” he greeted softly. “Gomen... I...”

“Why are you crying, Asura?” he asked.

“It’s nothing.“ the younger murmured.

Indra’s dark brown eyes narrowed. “You’re an awful liar, Otōto. Besides, we both know what Otō-sama said about lying.“ Indra chastied lightly. “What happened?” Asura didn’t answer and looked away. Indra walked closer. “Asura.” he warned softly.

“He said you don’t care anymore. That you don’t love me. It’s why you’re away so often.”

Indra growled, his Sharingan flaring – this time with all three tomoe in the eyes. “Who dares even suggesting Idon’t love you?”

Asura looked up, gasping in shock. “N-nī-sama?”

Indra messed up his hair and leaned closer. “You’re my greatest treasure, Otōto, no matter how clumsy you are or how mischevious. Now, tell me, who said such things? Tell me so I can tell them what do I think about them spreading such lies. Those who lie, have no place here, under Otō-sama’s protection.”

Asura sniffed, leaning further into Indra’s touch. “Kaji. It was Kaji and his friends.“

Indra’s Sharingan spun, promising vegeance. “Go to my room, Otōto. Ishall be there shortly.”

The scene whirled around, changing.

This time the two sons sat in front of their father, dressed in travelling gear. The Sennin’s eyes settled on his sons, before he addressed the room. “From this day forwards, Asura is the Heir of Ninshū.”

Colors passed again, like aflowing river, changing the scene.

The two sons were facing each other, chakra whirling around them, uprooting nature alll around. “Nī-sama! Why are you doing this?! Please, come back to us!”

“Come back?! To that man?! He’d disregarded me and took my birthright! I’m the older! I should have been the Heir of Ninshū!” Indra delivered ablow, which Asura just barely caught, but there was an explosion of white...

... the white slowly took shape. The shape of flames, radiating immense heat. The great Ōtsutuki compound was now burning with blue-white fire.

“Asura-kun, what is this?!” adeep rumbling voice asked in panic.

Asura’s eyes shifted and fell on his brother. “Shukaku-nī-sama. Warn the others. Indra’s flames are spreading! I need Isobu, Saiken and Gyūky to help me. Now!”

The great tanuki nodded and turned to hurry away. Meanwhile, Asura moulded his chakra, releasing atorrent of water.

... for amoment, the scene was taken completely by the clear blue of water, all sound drowned by the splashing of waves.

When it was clear once more, amassive battlefield could be seen.

The terrain around them was nothing but charred ruins by now. All traces of life had long disappeared – the animals had fled during the first few clashes and the more jutsu they aimed at one another, the more they damaged the surrounding flora. Not that Indra cared too much for the flora and fauna of the place.

Asura groaned, as he stood and pain jolted trough his body. Years now – they’d been fighting with Indra for years now, but the promise he’d made to his father, on his deathbed, still rang clearly in his ears. Indra was his brother. He will not leave his brother to forever be drowned in darkness and hate.

No. He still remembered the loner, but loving Indra, whose greatest treasure was their small family.

True, he had his own family now, aloving wife and children, but Indra... Indra was his brother – his role model, his treasure. He will not leave him behind.

He was tired. They’d been fighting for... he didn’t even know how long. The chakra his Bijū siblings had lent him was now gone, only small sparks of it remaining, covering his body in asheen of gold, helping increase his heeling. But even that was fading fast. He had come to his powers over the years with hard training, but Indra was still powerful and knew most of his moves. Besides, the Sharingan’s predictive abilities were tricky to work around.

“Time to finish this.“ Indra growled, as he leapt forwards.

He gathered his remaining strenght and met his brother in the middle of the field. Indra was fast, but he was tired and much less precise, than before. His own wind chakra made his katana dangerous, forcing Indra to pay more attention. It was easier to defend against these deadly strike and in fact, with how sloppy his brother was getting, he could even get an upper hand...

But his hand slipped and he staggered.

Indra immediately noticed the mistake and his lighting-charged blade pierced his skin. Asura grunted in pain, as the lightning jolted trough his body, burling his vision for asecond. But Indra was close now. He gripped his chakra tighter and thrus his sword forwards. It tore garments and skin alike, blood gushing from the wound. Indra looked down at the wound in shock, before looing back at him.

“Nī-sama.... why?”

“I’m sorry. It was Zetsu. Iknow that now – Ilistened to his sweet whispers of power and look what happened. This... this bloodshed. We cursed our families to war.”

“Indra....”

But the older fell, his body still, eyes closing slowly.

Asura staggered as well, falling next to his brother. “I should have seen it. Ishould have stopped you...”

The pictures froze and disappeared, leaving the four people standing inside Naruto’s mindscape in complete silence. Sasuke blinked, fighting his tears and flared his chakra to force the pictures away brekaing his own jutsu and leaving them in the eerie quiet clearing.

The boys turned to their teachers, waiting for areaction. There was none. The older just stood there, wide-eyed and obviously speechless.

“Do you understand?“ Sasuke whispered. “Do you understand now, who we are?”

“By the Sage’s beard.“ Yamato choked out.

Even when they were back in the real world, everyone inside their own bodies, the two older shinobi were speechless.

“Holy crap and the Sage’s beard.“ Kakashi murmured.

The boys glared at him. “Please refrain from such words, sensei.“ Sasuke said warningly. “That man was once our father once and Idon’t think you’d be happy, if people used your father for swearing. For you, he is alegend in this time, but for us, he was very much real.”

“Ehn, he, gomen.” Kakashi muttered with asheepish chuckle. “Bad habit.”

“So... it’s indeed reincarnation, as we suspected?” Yamato asked.

Naruto hummed. “Yes. So you’ve suspected? Since when?“

“I overheard you speaking with your summons after the Wave mission.“ Kakashi said. “Then Inoticed small things and then Itold Yamato. The more we paid attention to those small things... the more suspicious everything was. But reincarnation is abit far-fetched, even in the world of shinobi, so... Iaddmit, Ikind of thought Iwas going mad or something.”

“Gomen, sensei.“ Naruto chuckled. “Well, now you know you aren’t going mad and that it’s true.”

“Is this was the Kyūbi kept calling you Indra and Asura?“ Yamato asked.

Sasuke hummed. “Yes. The nine Bijū are in fact, our older siblings, as Otō-sama created them before our birth.”

“Nani?!” the two Jōnin shrieked.

“Are you serious?“ Kakashi asked, his single eye wide.

Naruto hummed and nodded. “Dead serious. We’re one big family – the Bijū, Otō-sama, Indra here–“ he jabbed Sasuke, “and myslef. Oh and let’s not forget Hamura oji-sama and his daughters.”

“Are you going to say, that your uncle is another famous person?“ Yamato asked with adeadpan.

“Oji-sama moved away from Earth with the other members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, after order was established in the world. But his daughters had families here. In fact, they formed Great Clans too. The older became the progenitor of the Kaguya Clan and the younger’s descendant’s formed the Hyūga Clan.”

Kakashi and Yamato both groaned. “By the Sage’s beard.“

“Yamato-sensei!” Naruto huffed, eyes narrowing on the other Mokuton-user. Yamato blinked and then smiled sheepishly.

“Gomen, Naruto.”

“So...” Kakashi murmured, “Does this mean we have to call you ‘Indra-sama‘ and ‘Asura-sama‘ and go about bowing, like your summons do?”

Naruto hummed. “Welll...” The two older shared alook, but then Naruto laughed. “Hell, no! You two are like family.”

“Besides,“ Sasuke said, “we’re as much Naruto and Sasuke, as much Asura and Indra. Plus, you two are like family by now, as Naruto said. Our summons call us by those names only because they’d recognised us. We’d signed our Contracts in our previous life and those two Clans are ones for tradition. And we had earned their respect, as much as they had earned ours.”

“So... if Ilooked at aContract, Iwouldn’t find Senju-Uzumaki Naruto on the list, but Ōtsutsuki Asura?“ Yamato asked.

“Prety much.“ the blonde nodded.

“But... why did you reincarnate? And remember?” Kakashi asked.

The two shared a look and then Sasuke sighed. “Well there’s this Uchiha and –well two of them,– who controlled Kyūbi... oh and they have this utterly, and completely mad plan to release our grandmother, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya-hime from her prison in the moon, whom you could call a goddess, with all the power she has. And she kind of wants to destroy the world and then reshape it into her own image, making humanity her slaves...”

Kakashi and Yamato shared alook, asingle thought flashing trough their minds. ‘That’s not in the job description for shinobi, so I need a freaking raise.‘

Chapter 23: Here Are the Finals!

Chapter Text

Two days after the revelation, Team Thirteen made their way into the arena, where the Finals were to be held. The entire place was loud and full of life, even more foreigners and nobles swamming the already packed streets of the village.

As they walked in, the other finalists eyed them with no small amount of wariness. Still, there was one person, whom they sought. Gaara. The redhead’s eyes were shining with the madness induced by Shukaku’s power.

“We have to do something about Shukaku. That’s no way to treat his Jinchūriki.“ Naruto murmured, as they took their places on the sidelines.

“Not everyone are like you boys.“ Kakashi said. “And they are certainly not like you, Naruto. There are three Clans, whose skill and powers allowed them to...“

“...subdue our nine siblings.“ Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Yes. Mine and Otōto’s kin and even among them, only afew were powerful and skilled enough. You need not remind us of that. However, mistreating their hosts in such away is not something our siblings should be doing, either.” he looked at Naruto. “We’ll deal with them later, okay?”

“I welcome all participants to the Final round of the Chūnin Exams...” the Hokage stood, looking down at them from his spot in the private booth.

It was not exactly anice thing to do, but they tuned out the village leader, studying Gaara and wondering how to stop him from losing his head – because awrong move and he would lose his head, releasing Shukaku and the tanuki tampering in the middle of their village was not anice scenario, even to imagine much less live trough...

Luckily – and unknown to anyone, but Kakashi and Yamato– both of them had enough chakra to supress Shukaku, if must. But that was not askill they would reveal any time soon.

With the speech done, abrown-haired Jōnin stepped forwards, munching on asenbon. (Who munched on senbon for fun?!)

“Let the first round begin! I call the two combatants – Hyūga Neji and Senju-Uzumaki Naruto!”

“Remember how Byakugan works?“ Sasuke murmured, as the arena was loud with shocked cries and restless people at hearing the name Senju.

Naruto nodded with asmall roll of his eyes. “Of course, Nī-sama. Unlike you, Iused to fight aginst Mitra-chan. Not to mention we had both seen Hinata fight in the Academy and had been mathced against her, as well. Besides, Iknow how to unlock my tenketsu, if he closes afew.”

He Shunshined down into the arena and stood on Genma’s right, taking his fighting stance. Neji gave him a cold look. (It was almost like Indra’s after Zetsu had taken hold of him, with those dark whispers. It was the same look – only in different eyes. In pale, silvery eyes insted of brown ones.)

“Ready to lose? Fate has already declared me the winner anyway. You may be aSenju, but don’t think Idon’t know you were among the last ones in your class. You just barely passed.”

Naruto met Neji’s gaze without blinking. “Every single person are free to shape their will. They may be loners or ones, who have friends – it’s all based on our own decisions.”

The proctor lowered his hand and glanced at them. “Get ready.”

Neiji took the Jūken stance and Naruto took his own. “Hajime!” Genma called as he leapt back, giving them more space.

The Hyūga was the first one to attack, as he activated his Dōjutsu. Naruto waited and allowed him to strike. As the chakra-laced hands got near, the blonde raised his own hands, reinforcing them with chakra and batting away each strike.

“You’re fast.” Naruto commented with asmile, “But not fast enough.”

Neji growled. “Am I not? We’ll see.” he leapt back and took his Jūken stance. Naruto surprised him by leaping forwards, pulling his fist back. Neji moved to defend, only for the fist to strike the ground and break it under their feet.

Neji flipped mid-air and Naruto jumped onto a piece of earth to reach the older Genin. Neji expected it and stopped his move, trying to strike him. However, Naruto dodged both strikes and flipped the Hyūga over his shoulder.

He landed in a crouch and he sensed Neji approaching and he slammed his hand on the ground. “Doton: Tsushi Nami no Jutsu.” (Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique)

The earth moved under their feet, forcing Neiji to put further distance between them. Naruto stopped for amoment with asmile.

Meanwhile in the stands, everyone was watching curiously. “He managed to counter Neji’s strikes? How?“ Tenten asked.

Sasuke smiled. “That’s the problem with strict clan style. It’s readable to anyone with common sense. No need for any sort of Dōjutsu. And now, there’s adistance between them. Your teammate is aclose-range fighter, like every Hyūga. Otōto on the other hand, prefers long to mid range. It’s over.”

Everyone’s eyes turned back to the fight, curious how Neiji would deal with the situation now.

Naruto raised his hand in aTiger. “Suiton: Teppōdama!“ (Water Release: Gunshot)

The water shot from his mouth, right at Neji, but the Hyūga was also prepared.

“Katon: Ryūka no jutsu!” (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique) Neji called. The two jutsu collided, canceling each other out, leaving thick steam in their wake. Altough, the steam didn’t hinder either of the combatants, so Naruto shot forwards to close in on the older.

Using another chakra enhanced punch, he ruined even more of the arena floor, forcing Neji to jump upwards. Seeing the Hyūga right where he wanted the other to be, he grinned and moulded his chakra for the next move. “Fūton: Kiryū Ranbu!” (Wind Release: Air Current Wild Dance)

The chakra spread to create wild currents of wind, which the blonde used to toss his opponenet to the ground with great force. Even before Neiji had achance to stand up, Naruto used aShunshin to get to him in time and pointed akunai – crackling with small lightning– above the older’s heart.

“I win.” he said with a smile, causing Neji to frown. “Fate predetermines things out of human control – like who our parents are or what Clans are we born into. Or perhaps, if we will wield our clans’ Kekkei Genkai, or not. What we make of what life has given us, is a question of determination, skill and choices. Choices most of all. Even if other state, that you will not achieve something, even then, you can prove them wrong. Even if they limit you, prove them, that despite the limitations, you can forge your own path and gain your own power. But remember to use that power you gain for something good.” he murmured quietly, so only Neji would hear.

“Shōsha, Senju-Uzumaki Naruto!” Genma declared to the deathly quiet arena.

Sasuke smiled, as the blonde finally arrived. “Nice match, Otōto. What did you tell him?“ he asked.

“He was crowing to me about fate.“ Naruto murmured sarcastically.

Sasuke snorted in amusem*nt. “Oh, sweet Shinju. Only if he knew what we have to say about fate.”

Naruto laughed softly, moving closer to stand by him. “Indeed, Nī-sama, indeed.”

“Why, what do you have to say about it?“ asked Yamato, blinking in confusion. Both Chūnin candidates rolled their eyes at that.

“No human, no matter how poweful, should live more than once.“ Naruto murmured. “It’s alaw of nature. We defied those laws by clinging to our beliefs for so long and so strongly. Reincarnation is not normal. We denied our fate by it – or perhaps we are denying our fate now. By remembering and working not to make the same mistakes.”

“So, no matter how impossible it seems, we can take our own fates into our hands.“ Sasuke said.

“Next match, Subakku Kankuro against Aburame Shino!” the proctor announced, breaking the brothers’ train of thought.

Their gazes shifted over to the Suna shinobi, eyes lingering on Gaara for asecond, before it settled on the cat-suited bastard, whom they caught bullying Konohamaru. The Suna nin studied Shino for along moment, before he stepped forward and looked at Genma. “I forheit, proctor.“

The stadium was suddenly loud with disapproving boos and everyone raised an eyebrow at the three Suna siblings. Neither the girl, nor Gaara seemed all too concerned about their brother’s choice. Odd.

“Winner by forheit, Aburame Shino!”

Then, Genma’s gaze swept the place before he spoke again. “Next match, Subakku no Gaara VS Uchiha Sasuke!”

Naruto hummed and gave his brother alook. “Careful with Shukaku. Gaara will be faster, than most.”

Sasuke hummed, as they bumped fists. “Don’t worry, Otōto, Iwill come out of there alive and if we’re lucky Imight even manage to beat some sense into our crazed tanuki brother.”

Gaara appeared down in the arena, his eerie pale green eyes settling on Sasuke right away. Sasuke matched the redhead’s blood-chilling gaze without atwitch. Slowly ablood-thirsty grin formed on the Suna Jinchūriki’s face and he released awave of Killing Intent.

“Here Icome, Shukaku.“ the Sharingan-user murmured.

Chapter 24: Ichihbi no Tanuki & Tsuki no Uraishi

Chapter Text

Sasuke walked slowly to the arena, continously releasing more of his chakra and Killing Intent to match the Suna Jinchūriki. (He could already hear soft thuds here and there and some people muttering about not withstanding the pressure.) The redhead was eyeing him with amix of wariness and bloodlust. The proctor looked actually uneasy, as he stepped between them, ready to start the match.

“You...!” Gaara growled.

Sasuke smirked. “Hello, Ichibi.” as he said those words, the proctor threw an unsure look at Gaara. Gaara’s eyes narrowed and he walked farther from Genma. As Sasuke turned to do the same, he looked at the Jōnin. “Instable seal. Be ready to flee, Shiranui-san.“ he muttered lowly, before taking afew steps away from the man.

The Jōnin threw him ashocked look, before glacing at Gaara again. “Subakku no Gaara VS Uchiha Sasuke.“ he announced again, “Hajime!”

Sasuke sighed and the moment Genma leapt away, he released his chakra, rising his hand to focus chakra. Fighting aBijū – or Jinchūriki (or both at once maybe? Shukaku seemed as mad, as Gaara) was not something he could take lightly. He had his memories and had trained relentlessly with Naruto since the beggining, but they still had limits. Limits there, where in their previous life they didn’t exist. Better finish this fast.

“Ninshū: Shiroi Honō.“ (Ninja Creed: White Flames) he murmured. When he felt the shift in his chakra, he fixed his gaze on the Suna shinobi, jutsu at the ready. “ Shiroi Honō: Gōenka!” (White Flames: Great Flame Flower)

Several great, white-flamed fireballs formed above the Suna nin and then, with awave of the Uciha’s hand, they all dropped down.

Meanwhile the others watched in shock. “Sasuke-kun’s already using those white fireballs?“ Ino asked.

“He’s strong, that Gaara.“ Neiji said, his Byakugan active. “He has high chakra levels. Sasuke is close, but Gaara has even more.”

“Indeed he is.“ Naruto spoke, drawing the others’ attention to himself for a second. “And Nī-sama is very much aware of how dangerous Gaara is. If he holds back, he would end up as badly hurt, as Lee.”

“W-what a-are th-those flam-es?“ Hinata asked quietly. “The ch-chakra... I... I’ve ne-never s-seen such f-fire before.”

Naruto’s gaze shifted back to the arena, as he watched the fireballs detonate all around the Jinchūriki. “The white fire is his signature technique. Something he’d come up with, to counter me.”

The other Genin looked to him. “To counter you?“ Kiba asked.

Naruto chuckled. “Yes. Specifically to counter agroup of my jutsu, which Iaddmit, I’m very fond of.“

He still remembered how much of aheadache it was, when he realised his brother’s white flames could burn away his chakra-laced wood, where normal fire had failed. It did aslower work, than Amaterasu, but it was no less effective and since Indra hadn’t been so limited to using this new form of Katon, as he was with Amaterasu... their fights had escalated into new sort of destructive.

Sasuke watched with some satisfaction, as the flames sallowed Shukaku’s sand – and since these flames used chakra to burn, the sand, which had been laced with his tanuki brother’s chakra would burn as well.

Still, as the white faded, allowing him to see the Suna nin, he noticed with some displeasure, that only apart of the sand had been turned into glass. The crazed grin returned to the redhead’s face and he released another wave of Killing Intent.

“MOTHER WANTS YOUR BLOOD!” Gaara cackled. Throwing his hands forward, he sent agreat wave of sand towards him.

‘Oh, f*ck both of my lives. Ijust pissed him off even more.‘ he thought with afrown, as he pushed chakra into his feet to jump above the sand.

He did afew handseals and released his chakra in along line of purplish lightning. “Raiton: Denki Nagare!“ (Lightning Release: Electrical Flow)

He landed several feet away, watching as his lightning ruined the sand. He smiled, his Sharingan blazing. Earth was weak against Lightning and the kid was using more Earth, than Wind. He drew his tantō and channeled his chakra, until the lightning danced restlessly around the metal. “Raiton: Denatsujin.” (Lightning Release: Voltage Blade)

His advance was unhindered, as the sand was immobilised. Still, Gaara had some left in his container and more sprung forth in deadly whips. He cut trough the ones, that got close, while dodging and dancing around the rest. Trough it all, he was looking for amoment of weakness, just alittle lapse...

“Huh. He’s very graceful for aGenin. Fast and graceful.“ Kurenai commented.

Naruto laughed softly. “He’s always been like that, but don’t tell him that. Graceful is not aword he likes to hear.“

The black-haired Genjutsu mistress looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

Naruto shrugs. “Gracefulness is for women, he said.”

Sasuke cursed, as a tendril of sand caught his leg and pulled the ground from under him. He hit the floor and then Gaara pulled him closer and closer. Oh, sh*t. He’s going to give a piece of his mind to Shukaku for this. As Gaara raised him off the ground with the sand, their eyes met and that mere glance was enough.

Magen: Mōjūdukai no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Beast Tamer Techinique)

He felt his chakra spread out and as Gaara moved, his eyes went wide and he cried out in pain. Sasuke smiled. This will keep Gaara from moving too much, so if he pulled him into the seal, no one will notice from such distance.

His chakra flared as his eyes shifted into their higher level. This will take all his chakra, but Asura wasn’t here now – he was on the field, his brother wasn’t allowed to join. So he had to deal with Shukaku, no matter the cost.

“Mangekyō Sharingan: Bijū Iatsu.“ (Caleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye: Tailed-Beast Coertion) he muttered.

The chakra whirled and he closed his eyes. The downward spiral was more sickening, than some of Naruto’s chakra laced punches and that was saying something, because his brother had enough medical knowledge, to purposefully make his opponents sick. (Because, surprise, surprise, making people sick was much easier, than actually healing them.)

When Sasuke opened his eyes, he found himself in adark, cave-like environment, fillled with wet sand and the walls and ceiling full of cracks all around him. Speak about crappy seal.

“What... where are we?” asked Gaara. Sasuke saw how lost and confused he was. Currently, with his chakra present in the redhead’s system, Shukaku had no influence over him.

“Gaara.“ he called calmly, walking closer. The redhead looked up, studying him.

“W-where are we? And what are you doing here, Uchiha?“

Sasuke sighed. “You have one of the nine Bijū sealed within you. Namely, Shukaku, the Ichibi no Tanki. This is his seal’s representation in your mind and no, for the Shinju’s sake, Shukaku is not your mother, so get that straight. He’s male, by the way.” he said, gesturing at the crappy chains, which held the great tanuki.

Gaara looked at the Bijū. “All that time. Alone... and that blood. So, so much blood and the fear...”

Sasuke moved forwards swiftly and grabbed the redhead’s shoulder, breaking him away from his dark thoughts. “There are others like you. And you are not alone.”

Gaara looked up at him. “Don’t... don’t you fear me? Or hate me? Like others?”

Sasuke snorted. “I’ve no reason to fear you, nor to hate you. And you’ve no reason to strike fear into others’ hearts. Fear and hate are avicious cycle. You just need afriend or two to count on. Just afew and you won’t ever have to fear things – if you find others to be your friends on the way? All the better.”

Gaara gave ahesitant nod. “And mo...Shukaku?“ he glanced into the distance, where the tanuki was trashing against his chains.

Sasuke sighed. “Come. We’ll deal with him. Just let me speak first.”

The redhead nodded and they proceeded to wade trough the wet sand, closer and closer to the tanuki. Gaara watched the great creature with wariness, but Sasuke didn’t even twitch.

“Indra!“ the tanuki roared angrily, yanking at his restraints, glaring at him, releasing awave of Killing Intent. Sasuke released some of his chakra to shield Gaara and matched his youngest Bijū brother’s glare without atwitch.

“Shukaku.“ he nodded in greeting.

The chains creeked loudly, as the tanuki moved. “What are you doing here, Tsuki no Uraishi? Are you here to enslave me, as that nameless spawn of yours had done years ago, to Kurama?”

“Not at all.“ he answered calmly. “I’m here to apologise for what had happened years ago, after Ileft.“ he said in aquiet tone. “It was amistake. But now... now both myself and Asura have anew chance and we would like to set the world straight. We’d like to carry on Otō-sama’s legacy. Protect humanity from the one, who had enslaved Kurama, for we believe he would come back. He will come back for the nine of you and to destroy humanity.”

The tanuki growled. “And why should Icare for the humans, when they don’t care for us? The last one who trully cared, had been Asura, but he’s not....“

“Otōto’s here, watching this match, between me and your Jinchūriki. He’s watching us and waiting, worried he might have to intervene.”

“And why should Ibelieve your words?“ the yellow, beastly eyes narrowed.

Sasuke sighed. “I made mistakes, that cannot be taken back. As had Asura. Iapologise for those mistakes, Nī-sama.“ he dipped his head, “But tell me, will you hold grudged for lifetimes to come? Or would you accept our offer of peace? Can we be afamily once more? Would you help protecting your siblings, or will Asuraand I stand alone against the ones, who want Obā-sama free? And might Iadd, to free her, your chakra is needed. If she were to be freed, the nine of your would cease to exist in this form.”

Shukaku frowned. “Let’s assume Iforgive you for the betrayal...“ he glared down at Gaara, “but why should Iaid humans, who imprisoned me? You made mistakes, but you never spoke of imprisoning me.“

Sasuke winced inwardly. Once, long ago, he had bluntly told Asura that the Bijū were dangerous and their cooperation could only be achived by imprisonment and direct control. But... Shukaku didn’t need to know that now.

“And once more, Iapologise for said mistakes. But revenge is avicious cycle. The humans imprisoned you and you are angry with them. Iunderstand that.“ he sighed. “I know what anger feels like. But you are harming Gaara. As hard, as it may be for you to belive... you are safe here. With Gaara – inside his seal. If you were free, the man who had caught Kurama, would get his hands on you way too easily.”

The tanuki shifted yanking at his chains again. “But this seal! This is worse than any other I’ve had before! It’s so bad, that even if Iwanted to withold my chakra from my host, Icouldn’t. And Ican’t sleep!”

Sasuke grunted. “I can see that. I’m nowhere proficient, if it comes to Fūinjutsu, but even Icould do better.”

“It’s just adamn storage seal! Modified. The useless little humans think me akettle! They don’t understand we have feelings too!”

Sasuke sighed and sat down, gesturing for Gaara to do the same. Hesitantly, the redhead did just that. “Shukaku.” he called sharply.

The tanuki froze in his rant and looked down at them. “Please, calm down. Iwill speak with Asura and he will do something with this seal of yours. If you have to be sealed – and for the time being, for your safety, you must be– then it could at least be comfortable.

The tanuki huffled, curling up. “I just want some sleep.”

Sasuke glanced at Gaara. “I will speak with Otōto. In the meanwhile, could you please be kinder to Gaara?“

“But Indra...!”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, his Sharingan taking asharp turn. “Shukaku.”

The tanuki ducked his head, cowed by the sharp tone, despite Indra being younger, than him. The two humans always had aspecial place in the Bijūs’ hearts and they listened to them, as they listened to their late father.

“Fine. I’ll try to be nice.” he murmured.

Sasuke smiled and stood up, walking closer. He placed ahand on the tanuki, surprising the beast. Then he smiled and leaned his head down too. “Thank you, Nī-sama. It’s reassuring to know you’re not lost to bitterness.”

The tanuki rumbled abit. “And it’s nice to see you back, being as you were... not so cold and angry.”

“It’s nice to be back.” Sasuke addmitted. “I missed you all. Asura the most, but you too.”

Gaara cleared his troath. Sasuke shifted to look at the redhead. The Suna nin looked totally awkward, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else, but there, but there was also curiousty on his face.

“How.... how can you be brothers?“ he asked, making agesture.

Sasuke chuckled. “It’s along story. One day, Shukaku may share it with you. Let it be enough for now, that once, long time ago, my name was Ōtsutsuki Indra.”

Gaara nodded, studying him. “I see. What now?“

Sasuke shook his head. “Nothing. You will remain asleep, as per the workings of the Genjutsu, once I’m out of here. They will take it as aknockout, so Iwill win...“ he shrugged.

“Indra.”

Sasuke glanced back. “Yes, Shukaku?”

“Don’t do it. Right now your chakra prevents it from happening, but whenever Gaara falls asleep, my seal ceases to hold me and I’m free. The humans from his village want to destroy this village – but if your’re here... is this your home?”

Sasuke’s mind whirled with the words. “Yes. It’s where Iand Otōto were born. We were raised here – the village is our kin’s legacy. Senju, Uzumaki and Uchiha alike.”

“My father planned an invasion.“ Gaara said softly. “When you wake... the invasion should be underway, even if Genjutsu distorts time. I– Shukaku...”

“You are the trump card. The ultimate weapon.” he said in adark tone, as it made sense.

“Yes.“ Shukaku nodded. “If he falls asleep and your chakra ceases to hold both of us, Iwill be free. Asura can’t redo my seal, if I’m free... can he?“

Sasuke sighed. “No. He can’t. But you can warn Kurama and trough him, Asura.”

The tanuki blinked. “What?“

Sasuke huffed. “Kurama is sealed in Asura. His father in this life sealed Kurama into him.”

The tanuki roared in frustration, which caused Gaara to flinch. “This is SO UNFAIR! Why does the baka kitsune have all the luck to be with ASURA-KUN when no one else...!”

“Shukaku!“ Sasuke called, releasing awave of chakra to get the tanuki’s attention. “Language.“ he glared. “And you can still reach out to Kurama. Trough your link, you and Gaara can meet us.”

Shukaku blinked and calmed down, at those words. “True.“

Sasuke nodded, satisied with the answer. “Warn Otōto and Kurama, please.“ he commanded, before turning to Gaara.

“The invasion... Ididn’t want... father...“ the redhead choked out, aflash of fear appearing in his eyes.

Sasuke shook his head. “We’ll deal with it. Konoha is strong. But you won’t be part of it. Once my chakra fades, my brother’s will take hold of you. It will prevent you from transforming or utilising chakra in any shape or form.”

Gaara nodded. “Alright. He... he wants to kill the Hokage, to cripple your village from the inside.”

Sasuke nodded. “Noted.“ he gave the redhead alook and then placed ahand on his shoulder. “The Bijū are our siblings and so are their Jinchūriki. You have people here. We can help, if you need it – people, who understand. Who don’t fear the power you have, because we have something similar.”

Gaara offered ahand to be taken. Sasuke took it and shook hands with the redhead. “Thank you...brother.”

Sasuke’s lips twitched into ahalf-smirk. “You’re welcome, Otōto.“ Gaara raised an eybrow and Sasuke’s smirk widened further. “Shukaku may be older, than Iam, but you are younger.”

The last thing Sasuke saw, was asmile on the redhead’s face, before his jutsu slipped.

Once Sasuke woke, Gaara’s body went limp and he felt Shukaku’s chakra spike and the red energy formed around the Genin.

At the same time, feathers started falling from the sky and he saw as several people started falling asleep. There was an explosion from the Kage booth and something crumbling in the distance, almost sounding like thunder.

Sasuke leapt backwards, away from the redhead, his eyes seeking Naruto.

The Invasion Gaara and Shukaku spoke of had began...

Chapter 25: Konoha Crush

Chapter Text

“What is Sasuke doing?“ murmured Kakashi from the stands, as they watched the Uchiha allow himself to be caught by the sand.

“He needs eye contact to get into Gaara’s seal.“ Naruto said, his tone equally quiet. “Shukaku is still our brother. He would try to speak with him first – to him and Gaara– before using force. We don’t harm family. Not when there is apeaceful alternative.”

He knew Sasuke would have harder time convincing Shukaku, due to the betrayal during their previous life (strangely enough, it was Shukaku, who had taken Indra’s betrayal the worst, from all the Nine). But Naruto had faith. His brother could be convincing, if he tried and maybe dealing with this unhinged Shukaku... some of Indra’s forcefulness wouldn’t hurt either.

“And after all that...“ Yamato made agesture at the half-charred arena, “he still has enough chakra to deal with aBijū?”

Naruto shook his head. “Indra’s reserves had matched mine in our prime. But my chakra had always been denser... so with proper control, it always seemed like Ihad more. Plus, my stamina was also greater. He preferred quick, strategically destructive clashes. Ipreferred to drag out mine, to tire my opponent.“

Kakashi quirked his visible eyebrow. “So? Does he have enough chakra or not?“

Naruto sighed. “No. Once the Genjutsu is over, he will be low on chakra, so he won’t be able to fight. But the Genjutsu will still have some power, which should hold Shukaku and Gaara, so he will win with aknockout, Isuppose.”

“Asura-kun.” Kurama called.

“Yes, Nī-sama?“

“I just spoke with Shukaku. Indra managed to bring him and his host to our side, so to say. Suna is planning an invasion and they plan on using Shukaku to crush this place and kill the Hokage. Gaara and Shukaku want no part in it, now that they know the truth and we’d actually made up. The moment Gaara falls asleep Shukaku is free because of the crappy seal. When Indra’s Genjutsu is over, be ready to hold Shukaku. Oh and the invasion. It might be messy. Share your chakra with Indra – he’ll be down. I’ll help you, if needed.”

Naruto nodded, turning to his senseis. “Kashi-sensei, Yamato-sensei... we have alittle– no scratch that, abig problem.”

The two Jōnin looked at him. “And what that would be?” asked Yamato.

Naruto inched closer to the two, lowering his voice even more, than before. “The Bijū have aspecial way of communication, even if sealed. Shukaku just warned us, that Suna planned an Invasion. It may start any moment. They want to crush the village politically and economically, too.”

The two looked at each other. “Oh, sh*t.”

Naruto nodded. “Be ready. Any moment now. We’ll deal with Shukaku. Help where it’s needed.”

The two older shinobi nodded, their eyes steeling over, now fully alert. Naruto walked back to the railing, his eyes narrowed on Sasuke and Gaara, waiting for even the smallest twitch, that would indicate the end of the Genjutsu.

Then, he noticed white feathers fluttering from the sky... and awave of Kurama’s chakra passed the surrounding area, dispelling the illusion. At the same time something rumbled in the distance – like the walls had been taken down – and abig explosion rocked the Kage booth. He hoped the Sandaime was fine... (He may not be overly close with the man, but he had been kind, even when he had been younger and while the secrets of his family had stung, he understood the need for them.)

Then, Sasuke was back and he leapt away from Gaara, as red chakra rapidly shrudded his fellow Jinchūriki. Naruto was already moving, leaping over the rail, as Sasuke’s eyes found him. Halfway there he was already done with the handseals, to contain Shukaku.

“Mokuton: Kemono no Jinja!“ (Wood Release: Shrine of the Beast) He stopped, slamming his palm on the ground.

Acircular platform rose below Gaara, taking the redhead off the ground and then six wooden pillars rose around it, craved with various Kanji. He was on his feet in asecond, landing next to Sasuke with aShunshin. Even before more than aclawed arm of Shukaku’s was visible, chakra chains shot from his back, wrapping around Gaara, stopping the transformation. He flared his chakra and detached the chains from his back, holding the other end, before tossing them into the air. The chains wrapped around the pillars, stopping Gaara from moving and as the Mokuton chakra mixed with the heavy adamantine chakra, Shukaku was forced back into the seal.

Gaara cried out in pain and Naruto winced, but as his chakra took hold, the redhead looked up. His face was tight with pain, but his eyes were determined – determined to withstand the pain and stop the destruction.

When the chakra calmed down, Naruto skipped over to the redhead. “Gaara?“

The Suna nin grunted. “I’m fi-fine.“

Naruto sighed. “Gomen. Ishould have warned, that it may be painful. Name’s Senju-Uzumaki Naruto. Shukau knows me as Asura. I’m his youngest brother and also the Jinchūriki of Kyūbi no Kurama.”

Gaara gave astrained smile. “Nice to meet you.”

Naruto smiled. “Same here. You’ll remain bound here for now. No one will be able to break these and for now, your chakra control is as good as anewborn’s, due to my restraints. Once this mess is over, we’ll fix your seal, okay?”

“Yes. A-arigato.”

He stepped back and grabbed Sasuke. “You need some backup?“ he raised his hand in ahalf Ram. “Ninshū: Chakura Kyōyō: Hojū.” (Ninja Creed: Chakra Sharing: Replenishment) he felt his chakra getting transferred to Sasuke and in turn, Kurama’s chakra filled his body, also sneaking its way into Sasuke’s system. Their oldest brother’s chakra also helped heal any injuries they may have had – well, for Sasuke. Naruto was already healed.

There was aspike of powerful chakra, forcing them to break the connection and Naruto’s breath hitched, as he looked towards the Kage booth. “Nī-sama, did you...?”

“Yes, let’s go!”

They sprang from their spot, chakra crackling under their skin, as they leapt into the ruined Kage booth. They skidded to asudden halt, when they found abarrier seperating them from the Hokage – and in the robes of the Kazekage, they saw afamiliarly sinister face.

Orochimaru of the Sannin.

“This is his work. f*ck it.” Naruto growled.

“Well, he did say the leaves will burn... so he was saying the truth. Criptically, but he did give awarning.“ Sasuke murmured. His Sharingan was spinning wildly, studying the barrier.

“We’ve to knock out the four, who keep it up.”

Naruto nodded, raising his hand in aSnake seal. “Moku Bunshin no Jutsu.” (Wood Clone Technique)

Four wood clones grew out from the ground. Naruto made agesture, wordlessly giving his order to the clones. He watched, as his clones engaged the four shinobi, which forced them to pay more attention to the fights, rather than the barrier...

“Otōto. Look.” Sasuke called.

Naruto’s eyes shifted back to the Hokage. There, behind Orochimaru three coffins rose out of the ground. Three coffins with anumber each.

Ichi. Ni. Yon.

The lids moved and three dead people stepped out from the coffins. People, both of the boys recognised, for their gazes forever watched the village. People, who were Naruto’s family.

Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama and Senju-Namikaze Minato.

“Bastard.” Naruto growled, his anger flaring along with Kurama’s chakra.

With the four, who were tasked with keeping the barrier up, occupied it wasn’t so hard for Naruto to break it. Letting some of Kurama’s chakra out was all they needed to break the barrier. The brothers shared alook and both of them went trough aset of seals.

“Katon: Hōsenka!“ (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower) Sasuke spit out several fireballs and Naruto soon followed with his own backup.

“Fūton: Renkūdan!” (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet)

As the high-pressured wind reached the already powerful fireballs, it further increased their potency, colouring the usually orange fire whiteish, as they sped towards the Hokages. The three resurrected men dodged without too much problem, but it put extra distance between them and the Sandaime.

The many eyes fell on the boys, as they arrived next to the Sandame. “Naruto, Sasuke... you shouldn’t...” the Sandaime called in shock.

The boys glared at Orochimaru , before their eyes settled on the three Hokage. “Not achance of us leaving.“ Naruto said sharply. “The snake-faced bastard made this personal, when he had the balls to summon my family to fight against Konoha.”

“Deal with the f*cker, Sandaime-sama.“ Sasuke said. “We’ll deal with the Senjus.”

“That...”

“NOW!” Naruto growled, letting some of Kurama’s chakra out again. As he did so, his violet eyes turned to slits, altough they kept their natural colour. His whiskers also turned more promient.

“Is that the Kyūbi...?“ asked the Nidaime, his dark red eyes narrowing.

“Naruto.“ the older blonde’s blue eyes flickered to Sasuke, too. “Sasuke? Uchiha Sasuke?”

Naruto nodded towards the older blonde. “Otō-san. Nice to meet you.”

Sasuke’s lips curled into ahalf-smirk, his Sharingan spinning, as he nodded. “Minato-sama.”

Minato winced. “Naa, too much formality. Drop that. My wife was your godmother, which makes you my family too.”

Sasuke shrugged. “Old habits die hard.“ he said, taking his fighting stance. Naruto mirrored him. All three of the reanimated Kage raised an eyebrow at the same stance. (And at astance, that they did not recognise.)

Naruto looked at the Nidaime. “And yes, to answer your earlier question, Nidaime-sama, the fox. After your sister-in-law, it was my mother. And now, me.”

“Naruto about that...”

“Nah, think nothing of it, Otō-san. He’s not that bad.” he said with a shrug and a grin.

“What’s all that chat over there?!“ Orochimaru called in annoyance, still preoccupied with fighting the Sandaime. “Attack!”

The three Senju moved at once, as if dragged on strings. “Naruto, he’s controlling us!” Minato said in panic.

The boys jumped, to avoid the first attack and the three Hokage turned to face them again.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto. “Otōto, take Shodaime-sama. I’ll deal with your father and Nidaime-sama.”

“Okay.“ the blonde grinned and both of them leapt at the men.

Naruto pressed his lips together, as he deflected the Shodaime’s strike. The brown-haired Senju was studying him immensely.

“Who are you, young one? That chakra...”

Naruto ducked under the high kick and aimed apunch to the man’s face, only for Hashirama to catch it. “Name’s Senju-Uzumaki Naruto. My father’s Namikaze Minato, born Senju Minato, ex-Yondaime Hokage and unsuspecting grandson of your brother’s. My mother was Uzumaki Kushina, second Jinchūriki of the Fox and great-niece of Uzumaki Mito.”

Hashirama blinked in shock. “Tobi had achild? And then agrandson? Huh, Iwould have never thought...”

Naruto grinned. “Yeah. Isurprised Sandaime-sama, too.”

“Why?“ Hashirama asked, quirking an eyebrow.

The blonde smirked, as his chakra flared and he formed a Snake seal. “Mokuton: Ne no Yokusei!” (Wood Release: Root Restraints) several thick roots broke from the ground, grabbing for the Shodaime.

The founder’s brown eyes went wide for asecond, but he reacted fast. “Mokuton: Sashi Toge!” (Wood Release: Piercing Thorns)

The thorns pierced the blonde’s roots, stopping their advance. Frowning slightly, Naruto decided to change tactics and attak from the air, using the wood they’d grown, as a starting point. Running up a pair of roots and thorns, he leapt at the older shinobi, but Hashirama was expecting it and prepared a chakra enhanced punch. Naruto grabbed the offending right fist and tried sweeping the floor from under Hashirama. Hashirama jumped and kicked him back, which caused the blonde to curse. He just barely stopped himself from falling, when the Kage was already in front of him, preparing another attack.

As Naruto saw the water jutsu speed towards him, he cursed mentally. ‘Uzumaki Hiden: Kongō Fūsa.‘ (Uzumaki Secret Tradition: Adamantine Sealing Chains) he thought. Several golden chains appeared, forming a cocoon around his body. When the pressure was gone, he unbound the coccoon and did a few seals.

“Suiton: Suiryū!” (Water Release: Water Dragon) amassive yellow-eyed dragon from Hashirama’s leftover water and sped towards the oldest Senju.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was dealing with the two Hirashin-users of the family. Luckily for him, neither had chosen to use the jutsu and he was careful to keep the two at acertain distance. Applying the shikki somewhere, needed physical contact, so Taijutsu was out of question. Kami knew both were skilled enough to mark him during ashort bout of Taijutsu. And if they marked him, he was as good as dead, Ōtsutsuki incarnate or not.

“Suiton: Suiryū!” (Water Release: Water Dragon) the Nidaime called, unintentionally mirroring Naruto.

“Fūton: Daitoppa!” ( Wind Release: Great Breaktrough)

Sasuke cursed as the Yondaime’s wind enhanced the vicious dragon. Senju Tobirama was alethal force on his own, if it came to handling his element. The Yondaime adding more force to those attacks didn’t help one bit.

He flared his chakra and formed aHorse. “Ninshū: Shiroi Honō: Gōka Mekkyaku!” (Ninja Creed: White Flames: Great Fire Annihilation)

His fire clashed with the water dragon causing agreat explosion of chakra and wind, leaving traces of mist all around them. His Sharingan spun wildly, as he sought the two. “Shiroi Honō: Honō no Hebi!” (White Flames: Flame Serpent)

The flames curled around his body before they shot forwards with agreat hiss, resembling asnake’s. The two Senju just barely dodged. “Impressive flames, Sasuke-kun.” the Yondaime praised. “Never seen anything like it before.”

Sasuke hummed. “Personal invention.” he answered, as both Kage closed in on him, no doubt, to mark him.

Sasuke cursed and covered his skin in athin layer of chakra like his brother had shown him. Neither used chakra-enhanced strenght, like his brother or the Shodai, but they were fast and precise. His Sharingan could follow their moves, but he had no guarantee, that his body will be able to keep up.

Better safe, than sorry.

As the two teamed up on him, he cursed again, dodging most of their strikes and deflecting the ones he could. ‘By the kami... hurry up, Naruto! Iwon’t be able to keep this up forever.‘

Naruto spit out some blood. Hashirama was aheavy hitter for sure. This last strike had broken two bones and he was lucky the bones hadn’t punctured his lung. Kurama was alreday working on healing it and he added some of his own chakra into the mix.

“You’re impressive for someone so young. Your style is unfamiliar, but Ican see the pattern of both mine and the Uzumaki style in it.” the Hokage commented, as he darted closer.

Naruto looked up, wiping his chin. His right hand was already burning with chakra for the next move. He would just need the Hokage to get closer. “Ah, arigato. It’s my personal style.”

Naruto’s senses tingled, as he felt the other mould his chakra. Roots broke from the ground, trying to catch him and he cursed himself for giving Hashirama ideas. He formed aWood Clone behind the older, which threw thorns at the Senju, as if they were senbon. Hashirama, predictably, sensed the attack and moved to the side...

...and with aBijū chakra enhanced Shunshin, he landed next to the Kage. He grabbed the older and even formed achain from his hand to sneak it upwards the older’s armour. Hashirama leapt back, trying to break free, which caused Naruto to stumble because of the sudden movement.

However, the kami smiled down on him, as he still managed to slam his palm on the man’s armoured abdomen. “Keiyaku Fūin.” (Contract Seal) the circular pattern spread from his palm onto the red armour and glowed blue for asecond.

Hashirama froze and then looked down at him. Naruto breathed asigh of relief. “So... are you free, Shodaime-sama?“

The Shodai nodded. “So it seems. Ipressive skills, Naruto-kun. Let’s go and help your Uchiha friend. Tobirama’s masterful in countering most Uchiha moves...”

Naruto chuckled as he retracked his chain. “And Nī-sama’s smart enough to find away around most tricks.“ he said, as they sought the other three combatants. Hashirama raised an eyebrow at him and Naruto shrugged. “Explain later.”

Naruto and aShadow Clone he’d created, were already preparing two other seals to free the other resurrected individuals from the snake’s control, when Sasuke cried out. “Shinju f*cking damn it, Otōto! Hurry up you clumsy...!” his curses were cut short, as he was forced to dodge another wave of water.

“I’ll hold Tobi. Get close.“ the Shodaime instructed. Naruto nodded.

The moment wood sprang from the ground all around the Suiton master, Naruto charged. Tobirama dodged several of the roots, but while he was occupied, Naruto could get close...

“Suiton: Suidanha!” (Water Release: Water Severing Wave) the Nidaime called. The water cut trough the wood, like hot knife trough butter and it continoued towards him. Naruto did aquick Replacement, switching places with apiece of wood and then he was right in front of the silver-haired man

“Keiyaku Fūin.” he murmured, as he slammed his hand on the man’s shoulder. Tobirama grabbed him forcefully, to shove him off and then he stopped in the movement. Naruto looked up, hard violet meeting sharp red. “Nidaime-sama?”

The Nidai nodded and released him. “Arigato.”

Naruto grinned. “Let’s catch Otō-san. Sasuke is nowhere near good enough with seals, to use them in combat.”

However, while in atight spot, Sasuke had his own tricks. He didn’t dabble in Fūinjutsu, but his Sharingan was perfect for controlling things – or in this case, to overpower an already existing control. Now that he could get closer without the water bisecting him, he had better chances.

Yet, the Yondaime was no fool and wisely avoided eye-contact.

Still, as he caught ajab, he added some chakra to his grip and forced the blonde’s hand backwards in an awkward angle and Minato glared at him...

Genjutsu: Kamigami no Ishi (Illusionary Technique: Will of the Gods)

For amoment, he saw his Sharingan reflected in the blue gaze and he saw the chakra strings getting destroyed, which meshed him, before it was gone. ‘You’re free now. Act as you would have done in life, in the defence of those you care about.‘ Sasuke thought.

As they landed awkwardly, Minato shifted trough the fall, so Sasuke landed with the least possible damage.

“Nī-sama! Otō-san!”

Sasuke huffed as he stood, pulling the Yondaime with him. Minato smiled at him. “Arigato, Sasuke.”

His lips twitched upwards. “Think nothing of it.” his eyes shifted to the three approaching Senju. “We’re fine, Otōto.”

Naruto breathed asigh of relief. “Thank the Rikudō. So, helping the Sandaime?”

Sasuke smirked. “I wondered when you’ll ask.“

As they turned, all of them froze in shock. For behind the Sandaime appeared the ethereal form of the Shinigami and as the god reached trough the man’s body, afamiliar whirl-like seal formed. “No!” the four onlookers called, but it was already too late.

The technique was cast, they could not interfere.

The Shinigami moved swiftly and cut off the Snake Sannin’s arms, which caused the man to cry out in rage and shock. The Sandaime staggered back and fell, his body literally smoking with the energy of the Shinigami.

“You f*cker!” Naruto roared, chakra bursting from his body in adestructive wave, shocking all, but Sasuke. “First you have the balls to mark my brother and then you kill the Hokage!”

Sasuke saw red, too. They were never overly close to the Hokage, but the man had been supportive enough of both of them, in their childhood, trough his own detached way. Besides, the Sandaime had been Orochimaru’s teacher – the bond of teacher and student was sacred. Or at least, should have been.

Not to mention the bastard thought he could get away with marking him – Ōtsutsuki Indra! – with some unholy seal, just to steal his eyes.

His and his brother’s hands moved at once.

“Ninshū: Shiroi Honō: Jigoku Nami!” (Shinobi Creed: White Flames: Hell(fire) Wave)

“Ninshū: Fūton: Tengu no Hane!” (Shinobi Creed: Wind Release: Wings of the Tengu) Naruto announced at the same time.

Fire and wind mixed into atorrent of white, blue and green, speeding towards the Sannin. It caught him and he roared in pain. Sasuke couldn’t help but feel triumphant. There.

That was their revenge for the Sandaime. The next one will be for what the snake summoner dared to attempt with him.

They saw the body in a charred and melted pile.... only for it to move and crack. Orochimaru shed his skin like the snake he was and most of the damage caued by their joint jutsu was gone. Not completely, and his arms were still missing, but he was alive.

Afeat no one could have claimed in the past, hit by those moves seperately, much less when combined...

The snake glared at them, releasing his Killing Intent and had they been lesser people, Sasuke was sure they would have gotten aheart attack. “You’ll pay for that.” he hissed.

Sasuke jumped forward, drawing his tantō to behead the bastard, but despite his injured state, the man was faster. He avoided the strike and kicked him away, before sinking into the ground, effectively escaping.

Sasuke flipped in the air and landed awkwardly, skidding backwards. He cursed, sure that the kick had at least bruised his ribs. As he stood, he felt ajolt of pain trough his ankle, too.

“How the hell had he survived that?!” Naruto cried outraged. “Those techniques are lethal on their own, much less together!”

“It’s that skin-shedding technique.“ the Yondaime spoke and both of them looked at the man. “Orochimaru’s always been fixated on obtaining immortality. He did human experiments, hence why he’s aMissing-nin now. He hadn’t obtained immortality, thank the kami, but that jutsu of his does negate most damage done to his body. He takes other people’s bodies to slow his aging and to obtain others’ Kekkei Genkai or their Hiden.”

“Oh, so the sick f*cker thinks he’s above the humans and can cross the laws of kami, ne?” Naruto hissed, his eyes flashing blood red for asecond, which caused the three resurrected Hokage to tense.

“Relax Otōto.“ Sasuke said, as he straightened up with a wince. “We have an Invasion to deal with and a Bijū to seal properly.”

“Invasion?“ Tobirama and Minato asked at once.

“Bijū?“ echoed Hashirama, all their gazed wary and worried.

Naruto sighed. “Explain later. We have avillage to save.”

Chapter 26: The Ōtsutsuki Brothers (part 1)

Chapter Text

Minato couldn’t help but stare at the two boys — one of them his son. (The other, the other his wife’s godson, a boy whom he was sure he would have cared for, as he did for Naruto, were he alive. Fugaku and Mikoto had always been close to them and Itachi was like an angel, as a child. Smart and well-mannered, whose love for the family could not be questioned, despite his young age.) They’d just done the impossible. Impossible for Genin, that is.

Himself and his predecessors had been freed from the control of Orochimaru, who’d resurrected them. The boys had freed them. And they had wounded Orochimaru — true, the Sannin was missing his arms, courtesy of the Sandaime and the Shinigami... but still.

They were tired and wounded — because he refused to believe, that Naruto was in top shape, Uzumaki Jinchūriki or not, – but they were still speaking about going on.

Minato gave Sasuke a pointed look. “You surely have a few broken bones. My hits are not chakra-enhanced, but it’s not always needed to break bones. And Orochimaru too. And I refuse to believe Naruto is unscratched, Jinchūriki status and Uzumaki vitality be damned.” he then glared sternly at his son. “You’re not fighting.”

Naruto chuckled, as he grabbed Sasuke’s hand and his chakra flared. “You’re a few years late to ordering us about, Otō-san.”

Minato winced. For him, the family was about care and love and compassion. The cold formality was for the Hyūgas and occasionally, the Uchihas. Did Naruto hold a grudge for that night, despite his words? Was that why he was being formal? Alright, there was no bite in his tone, but still...

His son’s chakra flared, creating a visible shroud around his body — holy...! Naruto was half-Uzumaki, and he had the Fox, but this... this was abnormal. Kushina’s chakra had been powerful too, but not this powerful.

It felt powerful. Full of life. Old... no, not old. It felt ancient.

Next to him, his fellow Hokage also gasped, so he was sure they felt the same thing, as him. Then, the blue of his son’s chakra was tinted with green — with the bright, fresh green of grass and the deep, sheltering shades of forests. The chakra spread to Sasuke too and the Uchiha visibly relaxed, inching closer to Naruto. Naruto’s next words –soft, like whips of spring wind– would have stopped his heart, if it were still beating.

“Mokuton: Shizen no Hōyō: f*ckugō Iyashi.” (Wood Release: Nature’s Embrace: Combined Healing)

He could feel as Naruto drew in Nature Energy, as his chakra blazed. He almost barked at his son, that Nature Chakra turns one to stone if the body is unused to handling it, but the sudden, unexpected touch stopped him. It was the Shodai.

“Mokuton grants the user some balance with nature. Even if he hasn’t learned any form of Senjutsu, he can handle the minimal amount of Nature Energy, trough utilizing Mokuton. And to me, it seems your son is very much aware of that fact.”

Minato breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank the gods.” his eyes landed on the boys again, just as the process was done. Sasuke seemed to be in a bit better shape, although he was still battered. (How the hell did Naruto manifest Mokuton?! Kushina was a pure-blood Uzumaki!) sh*t... had he been experimented on, too?)

“You’re a genius, Otōto,” Sasuke muttered, throwing a grateful look at Naruto.

Naruto scratched his cheek in a manner, that reminded Minato of himself. “Eh, nope, Nī-sama. That was you –you were called that, not me. I was the clumsy prankster remember? Who’s always been made fun of — like with Kaji and...”

Sasuke’s Sharingan took a sharp turn, as he frowned. “And I was clear to him, what I thought about people, who talk down on my family.”

Minato blinked. Since when were the boys so close, calling each other ‘brother?‘ — not that he minded it. It was nice to know Naruto had someone so close to him. (Someone to see as a family when himself and Kushina were not here.) But why the heck was he so formal? Hell, he was formal with him –which Minato promised himself he’ll deal with before he had to leave this world, – but with Sasuke... even more so.

And the Uchiha shrugged it off as if it was normal... as if it had always been how Naruto addressed him. Kind of odd.

Naruto groaned. All this chakra-usage was pushing his limits. He could feel his insides aching. And they still had to deal with the invading forces. (He was so going to sleep for aweek after this!)

“What the hell?!”

The sudden exclamination of the Shodaime – who, by the way was his... his great-uncle or what? – forced his attention away from planning for the worst case scenario. Naruto staggered from the shock he was feeling from the Shodai.

“Why is there aredhead bound with Mokuton and Uzumaki chains?“ Tobirama asked.

“Oh, yeah. We need to fix his seal.“ Narto said with asheepish chuckle. “He holds Ichibi no Shukaku, but Suna are sh*tty with Fūinjutsu. The thing barely holds. Can you please help? Sasuke’s hopeless, if it comes to complex seals and Ican’t supress Shukaku and simulateously work on the seal, into which he should be transported.”

The three Hokage shared alook and then they nodded. “Let’s go.” his father said. “And once this mess is over, son, mind sharing how the hell you have Mokuton?”

Naruto chuckled. “Of course. Of course, Iwill tell.”

When they arrived, Gaara looked up. “Naruto?“

Naruto smiled sheepishly and grabbed the redhead. “Sorry for leaving you hanging here. Literally. But now we can fix your seal and both you and Shukaku can sleep as well as achild, tonight. How does that sound?”

Gaara’s green eyes went wide. “I... I’ll be able to sleep?”

Naruto hummed. “Yeah.“ he gestured at the three Hokage behind him. “I’m sure you recognise the three people behind me, don’t you?”

Gaara looked up and his eyes went even wider. “H-how?”

Naruto hummed. “A Kinjutsu, which if you ask me, shouldn’t even exist.“ he glared pointedly at the Nidaime – the silver-haired Senju may have been Hokage in his life, but Naruto had been something else, something, someone equally as respected and much more dangerous. “Now, I will release your bonds. Shodiame-sama will be helping me and we’ll hold Shukaku. In the meanwhile...“ he gestured at the two Hirashin users of his family, “They will cook up a seal to use. Both of them masters of their Art. Otō-san sealed the furball, so no need to worry. Once the seal is done, we’ll release you. Then, we’ll see what can we do about the mess in the village and maybe you may even get home.”

Gaara nodded. “Okay.”

Naruto looked at the Shodaime. “The moment Ibreak the chains, the hold of my Mokuton will break too, so...”

The man nodded. “Do it, Naruto-kun.”

Without wasting more time, the blonde grabbed one of the chains wrapped around Gaara, attached to apole and sent awave of his chakra into it. The chains shattered into countless tiny parts before disappearing.

Then, as he helped Gaara lay down, the Shodai’s chakra wrapped around the shrine he made, pressing down on everything. Inside the seal, he could feel Shukaku trashing somewhat, trying to resist, but to no avail.

The Shodaime looked up. “Done. Best fix the seal now.”

Gaara’s eyes flashed with fear and uncertanity, as his father and great-grandfather approached. Naruto shifted to give the two Seal Masters more space to work. He took off his utility belt, revealing the sealing equipment the men would need.

Both looked at him with a bit of surprise, before they grabbed at the suplies discussing seals in a quiet tone, to disturb the Shodai, the least possible, while he dealt with the upset Shukaku.

“I don’t think this is agood idea.” Gaara murmured.

Naruto shook his head. “Nonsense. Indra promised we’ll fix the seal, did he not?“ he asked in aquiet tone.

Gaara hummed. “He did.”

“Good. Ōtsutsuki never go back on their word. We’ll fix it up and then, when things get better, you can go about with your life and prove the people around you, that they have nothing to fear from you. It’s not going to be easy –far from it,– but we’ll do our best to help.” he grabbed hold of Gaara and wrapped a little chakra around the redhead, to calm him down, careful not to disturb either of his working family members.

Kakashi kicked another Sound shinobi in the face, sticking the bastard to the nearest building’s wall with enough force for the hard material to crack and leave a human-shaped indent. They were winning, which was a good thing. It seemed the Sound-Sand forces were slowly retreating. Yet, it brought him no joy. He had not seen the boys ever since Naruto had given the warning (he hadn’t seen Yamato either) and that made him uneasy.

They may have been the reincarnated grandsons of afreaking chakra goddess, but Kakashi didn’t care. They were his students, his pseudo-little brothers (Team 13 was the oddest family of misfits) and he was worried.

They were not where he could see and thus make sure they were safe and happy.

And these freaking invaders, who ruined his perfectly sunny day, were keeping him from finding the boys. But no longer. Time to knock things up anotch – and so, he pushed up his headband, revealing Obito’s last gift before his death. The Sharingan.

Kankuro cursed colourfully, as he stumbled and fell... stupid Konoha and its trees...!

“Kankuro!” Temari cried. His sister stopped and leapt after him, but he fell. He grunted, as he crashed hard against the forest floor and cursed the entire freaking Finals. Nothing had gone the way he’d wanted and not after their plan had been put into motion.

Shukaku was nowhere to be seen and they’d fought Konoha shinobi, before they were forced to flee. Gaara was nowhere to be found... “I’m fine, Temari.” he said with a huff, standing up.

Temari gave him a part scratching, part worried look, but before she could speak, they heard the rustle of leaves. Someone was here. They froze and slowly turned around to face whoever had chased after them.

It was the Senju-Uzumaki spawn.

sh*t.

Even from here, Kankuro could feel the blonde’s power. The chakra felt something akin to Gaara’s... the haunting violet eyes – Kankuro was sure, that that colour can’t be natural– narrowed on them.

“Are you Kankuro and Temari Subakku?“ he asked in a cold, warning tone. Something about the Senju’s voice made Kankuro very, very uncomfortable.

“Y-yes.” Temari answered, trying to cover her wavering tone with a scorching glare.

“Come with me. If you resist, you shall never see your brother again.”

Kankuro swallowed hard and shared an unsure look with his sister. They were in deep, deep sh*t.

Hours. It had taken hours to get rid of every last lingering enemy shinobi, however their presence, Minato decided, was like adouble-edged blade.

Seeing him and the Senju brothers side by side had boosted Konoha morale and had also greatly disheartened the enemy. (But then again, both the Nidaime and himself were S-rank, flee on sight shinobi. The Shodaime himself was acompletely different level and Minato admitted, that when the founder had released his chakra he had needed amoment to get his bearings. The chakra was hauntingly similar to Naruto’s, yet Naruto’s felt... Not as powerful, probably because he was still growing and maturing, but older. With asort of undertone, which Minato could not identify.)

And now, with every last ones of their enemy gone, the Council had gathered and he stood in the middle of the room, along with his fellow Hokage and the people were staring at them, as if they were ghosts. Yes, they were technically dead, but not ghosts, so he absolutely could not understand the reactions.

And the fact, that he’d dumped on the council, that the Sandaime was dead, didn’t help much either.

“And what of Suna’s Jinchūriki?“ asked Koharu, her tone hard and suspicious.

“No need to be so cutting, Koharu.“ the Nidaime warned, his tone scolding. “Young Naruto and my brother have contained the Ichibi, while myself and Namikaze-san had fixed the poor boy’s seal.”

“Naruto... containing aBijū?“

Minato turned at that voice. It was one he was familliar with. As achild, he had been on the same team as Hizashi, but he was also relatively close to the Hyūga Head.

“Yes. Naruto is in posession of the Mokuton, which he’d demonstrated, while helping Sarutobi-sama. Him and Sasuke had joined, to stall us, while Sabutobi-sama dealt with Orichimaru. It was Naruto’s quick thinking –and some of his Fūinjutsu,– which allowed the three of us to join Konoha’s side.”

The Council room was deathly quiet.

“And where is Suna’s Jinchūriki now?“ asked Homura.

“Gaara is currently with Otōto, trying to deal with the stress of anearly broken seal and are-sealing.“ anew, younger voice called.

Several eyes turned towards the door, where atired and battered Uchiha Sasuke stood. Still, despite the state he was in –and no doubt, despite the injuries he’d sustained– his almost-son (could he call Sasuke that?) was strangely regal.

He had not adrop of Fugaku’s distant coldness and every bit of Mikoto’s deadly gracefulness. Regality and power shrudded him, akind which Minato had never encountered before.

“Genin have no place in the Council.” Tsume pointed out sharply. Sasuke matched her gaze without atwitch.

“Try matching me in speed, Tsume.“ Mianto challenged (he noticed how the Uchiha seat was empty – where was Fugaku? Or Mikoto?). The Inuzaka Matriarch looked at him in surprise. “Because Sasuke here, did just that. Stalled me and Nidaime-sama, while Naruto was fighting Shodaime-sama. Ithink that gives him some leeway about age, or current lack of promotion.”

The people present looked at Sauske with wide eyes and he heard some whispers of prodigy from the civilan side.

Sasuke scowled. “And you almost blinded me once and had it not been for Naruto and Shodaime-sama interfering, I’m sure Iwould have lost my head to that freaking Suiton jutsu. And you two totally broke at least four bones, which is goddam painful by the way and Ireally should be with Naruto, so he could fix me up, but...” he sighed, “Gaara’s seal needs some checking and Otōto’s totally spent too. I’m sure that it’s just Bijū chakra and stubbornness keeps him awake. He wants to speak with you, by the way.”

“Bijū chakra?“ Minato asked, eyes narrowing.

Saske waved. “Relax. He can handle about... say... four tails worth of it. Five at worst and his seal would remain completely stable. Right now... well at least when I left him and Gaara alone, he was poking into one tail.”

“You’re awfully precise with the counting.“ the Nidaime spoke.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Could you please try not killing me with a glare, Nidaime-sama? I know you don’t have fond memories of my kin, but I am not like them and Naruto’s my blood brother by now. No secrets. Besides, I helped him, when he redisigned his Shiki Fūjin. Jiraiya of the Sannin and later the Sandiame too, checked the seal he had made and they deemed it completely fail safe.”

Minato choked in shock, eyes widening. “Naruto did WHAT?!“

Sasuke shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong, you and your wife did agood job, but the seal kept messing up his chakra control. It annoyed the hell out of him and he kept whining. So Itossed up the idea of changing the seal and it worked. It’s... you know, he may be my brother, but his whining is really annoying, especially about chakra control. And medical jutsu.”

Naruto had changed the seal just like that, because it messed up his chakra control. If he weren’t Edo Tensei, Minato would have fainted. (Luckily, the Senju brothers seemed as gobsmacked, as Minato felt. So they agreed with him. AGenin changing about an S-rank seal, labelled Kinjutsu even by the Uzumaki, was not normal. Good at least he was not losing his mind in death...)

“So... it’s kind of important.“ Sasuke said slowly, concealing his pain masterfully, for someone so young. “Could you three please come. Kami knows I’m not in agood mood and Naruto even less. We don’t need him blowing up the Hokage Monument with the Fox’s chakra.”

Minato couldn’t help but groan. ‘This is your fault, Kushina! He’s got all that temper and pulling out the impossible from you and your Uzumaki ancestors.‘

Hashirama studied the young Uchiha, as he led them trough the village, towards the Mountain. Sasuke... was, in certain ways, like Madara. (He surely had astriking resemblance to Izuna. So much, that it was almost frightening.) Yet, the Genin wasn’t like Madara at all.

His chakra was warm and prickling – natures of Lightning and Fire mixing, unlike Madara’s Fire and Wind. And it was alot calmer. Holding none of the raging grief Madara’s had, after Izuna’s loss. There was some grief, anger and confusion there, but only asilver. So little, that Hashirama could just barely feel it. (Mito had always been better at detecting emotions, than him.) Most of the boy’s chakra was calm, controlled chaos. Sheer power of akind achild his age should not possess. Of course, his chakra levels were low, but the feeling of power remained lingering...

He was composed, much more, than aany other young lad his age. It was as if he was mentally older, than physically. (That thought weighted him down. They’d founded Konoha, so children would not have to grow up before their time, yet... yet...)

As they reached the stairs, Sasuke stopped and leaned against the wall to catch his breath. The medic in Hashirama panicked. “You should visit the Hospital.”

Sasuke’s gaze found him fast and in asecond he was faced with apiercing Sharingan glare. (And Hashirama felt it. The power lurking behind those eyes, so much like Madara’s, still nothing like his rival’s. An odd, inexplainable combination.)

“No. The only one Itrust with handling my injuries is Naruto. Luckily for me, thanks to his Senju-Uzumaki vitality and the Fox, he’s much faster at healing. He should be back to normal in two days. My injuries can wait till then.“

Hashirama frowned disapprovingly (such injuries should be immediately treated), but the Uchiha masterfully ignored it and started the treck up the stairs. He sighed softly and glanced at his fellow Kage. Tobi just rolled his eyes and Minato looked apologetic on his almost-son’s behalf. It was odd to think, that an Uzumaki would be an Uchiha’s godmother, but... at least his and Madara’s efforts at creating peace hadn’t been completely pointless.

After afew minutes, they arrived. The Suna Jichūriki – Gaara, if he remembered correctly, – was sleeping afew feet away, craddled like achild in sand and wood. Both of which had faint traces of chakra – the sand having the redhead’s and someone else’s signature, while the wood carried Naruto’s.

Naruto smiled, his face strained and tired as he looked at them. “Nice to know you all made it.”

Sasuke glanced at Gaara. “How’s Gaara? And Shukaku?“

Hashirama blinked. Why would the Uchiha inquire after the wellbeing of aBijū?

“Both of them sleeping like babies, as you can see for yourself, Nī-sama. Shukaku made afuss because of him...“ Naruto made apointed gesture at him and Hashirama tried not to take offence, “but it’s fine now. My clone caught up with Gaara‘s siblings and they’d been brought back. Right now they are being handled by T&I...“

“But they may be able to return to Rasa, once this mess is over.“ Minato said. “Or to their village, that is.“ he said in aquieter tone. “If Orochimaru impersonated Rasa, which seems to be the case, he might be dead.”

Both of the boys winced abit, before Sasuke sat and gestured for them to do the same. “I bet you have amountain’s worth of questions.” the young Jichūriki said softly.

“Well, yes.“ Minato said. “Like... how do you have Mokuton?!”

Hashirama blinked. That was something he was curious about, too. So far, only he had ever possessed the ability in his Clan.

“I have Senju genes, but that is only half-truth, Isuppose.” Naruto said calmly.

“Senju? Naru-chan, your mother was aRoyal Uzumaki! The Heiress of Uzu, no less.” Minato said, disbelief colouring his tone. (Well, at least, that explained the blonde’s use of those chains...)

“We know.“ Naruto said, his lips curling upward into afoxy grin. “It’s you, who has the Senju blood, Otō-san. Namely, from the test that had been ran after my Mokuton awakened, it was found that your mother was one Senju Minami. Senju Minami, who was the sole daughter of one Senju Tobirama.”

Tobi had adaughter. Tobi had been with awoman – Tobi had married. Hashirama choked.

Minato’s eyes went very, very wide, as Naruto said, that he had the Senju blood.

Son of Senju Minami and grandson of Senju To...bi...ra...ma....

His mind came to screeching halt and he slowly looked at the silver-haired Kage on his left. The Kage, whose Hirashin he had recreated.

Grandson of Senju Tobirama.

Minato looked back at Narto, who’s face was utter calmness. His little whirlpool prince (blame Kushina for that nickname, but then again, Naruto would have been aPrince in everything but title, if only Uzu still stood,) was speaking about this, as if he were commenting on the weather.

He couldn’t help it. He gaped.

Tobirama’s mind froze at the name. Minami. His sweet, yet wild daughter had survived – lived alife long enough to have ason of her own. His line continoued. His blood lived on.

And his grandson had become the Yondaime Hokage, with an S-rank. (He had asked Koharu in passing with what had Minato earned the hat. Koharu’s short explanation had left him suitably impressed.)

And this self-sacrificing genius, who’d recreated his Hirashin from scratch was his own grandson. Agrandson he was very, very proud of and he was sure his daughter would be as well, were she alive to see him.

On the top of it all, his half-Uzumaki great-grandson had the Mokuton. His line had carried the Mokuton!

Tobirama couldn’t help the prankster grin that stretched across his face, as he looked at his older brother. Hashirama so owed him!

“You owe me one, Aniki.“ he said.

Hashirama’s sulky face was the (almost) best part of his day.

The various expressions and emotions, that went through his family’s faces and the ones he could feel from them, were almost frightening. Come on, not even he was – nor had been – this expressive! No. He refused to believe he had been like that.

Still, as he looked at Sasuke, his brother’s face said something completely different. As their gazes met, he knew it.

You can’t even deny they’re your blood. The deep black eyes seemed to say and Naruto huffed, scowling abit. The amusem*nt, which flashed trough Sasuke’s annoyingly regal (damn the too good genes!) features only made him even sulkier.

After afew more moments of total disbelief, all three former Hokage calmed down somewhat, their gazes settling on him and Sasuke once more. “Any more shocking revelations boys?“ his father asked, as he rubbed his face.

Sasuke cracked agrin. “But... we’re just getting started.” he said. Naruto almost rolled his eyes at the glee rolling off of his brother.

“What else do you have to say, young Uchiha?“ the Shodaime asked, his brown gaze settling on Sasuke.

Sasuke hummed. “I bet you all heard about the Rikudō Sennin and how he brought peace and shared chakra with the world.“ when the three nodded, Sasuke continoued. “I assume you are also aware of stories, that state that the Senju, Uzumaki and Uchiha are all the Sennin’s descendants.”

“Yes.” his great-grandfather said, quirking an eyebrow at Sasuke. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

Naruto couldn’t help the snicker, that escaped him. His father’s disapproving look reminded him of another life... when another man, with ringed purple eyes glared at him, when he did something inappropriate...

The thought made him hold back the laughter very fast. The anger of Senju-Namikaze Minato he could stand, but thinking about the disapproval of acertain Sennin was acompletely different matter altogether.

“After peace was established and the teachings of Ninshū created, the Sennin had two sons of his blood.“ Naruto said, trying to banish his previous thoughts. “The older inherited his Yin chakra and eyes – thus the Sharingan was born. The younger inherited his Yang chakra and body – the strong chakra and vitality. Acarefree perfect childhood, loving father and brother. Realy, nothing missing. Save for the fact, that afforementioned older son – Indra – was aprodigy even by the high standards of the Ōtsutsuki Clan and the Sennin.“ he sallowed, the old memories still burning with phantom pain, despite all that had happened between then and now, “ the younger, – Asura – was aprankster, no good...”

”But ahard worker.“ Sasuke suddenly cut him off, his gaze searing, even with his Sharingan being dormant, “Indra was the responsible one. Whose greatest tresure was family – his younger brother, in fact. But despite that, he was aloner, who spent his time honing his skills in Ninshū. He was always too busy trying to be the perfect son, to actually stop and think about the meaning of those teachings. Nearing the end of his life, the Sennin had set atask for his sons to complete. Indra had made it back first, but he had left and arrived alone. Asura brought followers, friends, whom he taught how to handle their problems by themselves, yet together. And so, seeing the results, the Sennin had named Asura his Heir, despite being younger.”

Naruto’s breath hitched and he contioued. “Indra had retreated on his own and grew more distant. Jelousy and anger drove awedge between the brothers. That anger and jelousy had turned to hate, which then consumed Indra.”

“The brothers fought.“ Sasuke whispered, “One with the intent to kill, the other with the intent to reunite the fractured family. As time passed, both of their prowess grew. Indra gained ahigher level of the Sharingan, unlocking powers not seen before, while Asura gained ability to get in tune with nature and thus, unlocked Mokuton. It also allowed him to harness Senjutsu more easily.”

“Indra fought on his own and Asura fought side by side with their oldest siblings – the nine Bijū. The more time passed, the more skeptical the Bijū grew, that Indra would return to them. Eventually, both settled and had their own families.”

“But they fell at each others’ hand on the battlefield. Sons and daughters swore vegeance for their fallen fathers. Then fallen brothers, children, parents... avicious, never ending cycle.“ Sasuke took adeep breath. “Indra’s descendants became the Uchiha, wielding his eyes, altough nowhere near as powerful, as his. Asura’s descendants became the Senju and later, trough distant relation, the Uzumaki Clan.”

“But it was not over.“ Naruto said softly. “The chakra of Ōtsutsuki was something else... and both sons’ clung to their belief strongly. So strongly in fact, that they defied the laws of kami, just to prove their point. So as time went by, they were reborn again and again within thier own families, fueling the bloody war, which by the time, had lost it’s meaning.”

“With each reincarnation, they grew stronger and stronger and more aware.” Sasuke sighed, “But something happened. The one, who had manipulated Indra so long ago, the one who had played with his feelings of anger and betrayal masterfully enough to turn him against the person he treasured the most...“ he took adeep breath, “...he was not of this world, not ahuman. So he lived, drifting trough time and waited and watched as the sons’ transmigrants tried gouging each others eyes out. He watched the latest fight between the transmigrants and after Asura’s transmigrant won, this... evil helped him recuperate from that fight, for Indra’s incarnate, even without manipulation, clung to his beliefs too strongly, to simply die. This shade convinced the most recent incarnate of Indra of something horrible. It made the man believe, that those plans, set to destroy the world were not destruction, but the only way to attain peace.”

“And so, the Kyūbi’s attack happened twelve years ago, orchestered by the man, that old Uchiha, who had once held Indra’s chakra. That Uchiha decieved another – it was that younger, unknown Uchiha, who boldly claimed to be Madara, who had set the Kyūbi free.”

“But the cycle contioues, yet it is also broken.“ Sasuke said. “For the selfless sacrifice of loving parents, had saved achild. The child with the blood of Uzumaki and Senju in his veins. Achild, who was as much the boy his mother birthed, the last of the Clans’ Main Family, as much he was the very first.”

There was amoment of silence and their eyes met.

“As much Asura, as much Naruto.” Sasuke murmured.

“And as much Indra, as much Sasuke.“ Naruto replied.

They both sighed, tired and their emotions turbulent. The memories, despite them haivng made peace along ago, were still painful.

After amoment of silence, both looked up at the three Hokage, who were sitting there motionless.

And as the words made sense, all their eyes went wide, shock and disbelief written across their visage.

Chapter 27: The Ōtsutsuki Brothers (part 2)

Chapter Text

Minato stared.

For amoment his brain stopped working, trying to process all that had been revealed. His mind was anumb emptiness for asecond. Impossible – yet, it was somehow still possible.

Naruto was his son. Yet, Naruto was also someone else’s son. And Sasuke too – Mikoto’s and Fugaku’s son. Yet, also someone else’s son at the same time. And being that someone else’s son, made them brothers, too. Real brothers – brothers by blood, sharing the same parents, not just brothers by oath, as he suspected them to be now.

And that someone else was the Rikudō Sennin himself! (He had thought the man had just been alegend and here he sat, on the plateu behind the Monument, with his son and almost-son, who were the reincarnations of said legend’s sons.)

Indra and Asura Ōtsutsuki. Those were the names they’d carried in their first life (first life! Huh, how strange did that sound?).

Progenitors of the Uchiha and the Senju/Uzumaki Clans respectively. Naruto was his son but he was also his ancestor?! Just how much more messed up could this be?

Kami-sama above...

He was almost scared to voice his question. But, he had to know. “W-which names do you use, then?“

Sasuke arched an eyebrow in a regal fashion. “Sasuke and Naruto, of course. Those were the names we were given, no? Yes, we remember adifferent life, every part of it – the happy, the sad, the bloody parts. But we live in the present, not the past, Hokage-sama.”

“The past should stay where it is.“ Naruto said. “There has been enough blood shed between the families for the mistakes we had made and continoued making, in fact. For after that first time, there have been countless other lives – lives, reincarnation, transmigration. Whichever suits your tastes. There’s always been one of our blood, who carried aspark of our chakra, all our beliefs. And because then we –and those who had been chosen, – could never agree, the war turned bloodier and bloodier.”

“Who... were those people?“ Hashirama asked carefully. “Those like you, Imean.”

Sasuke’s black eyes flashed with amusem*nt. “Hundreds of years had passed. Countless of those names are now meaningless. While those shinobi had been legends of their own, who have reshaped the world with their power and beliefs, as myself and my brother had... time dulls truths. Truths are lost and ignored – why, do you think no Senju or Uchiha ever remembered, that they had once been cousins? Or why no Uzumaki or Senju remember, that they had once been siblings?”

“But...“ Naruto hummed, “I think, one pair of names would stand out for you. Apair, who were like us – powerful, their beliefs shaping and changing the world into what it is today. Apair, who while achieved more than most, was seperated by the very same thing, that had brought them together in the first place. Their beliefs and adream of apeaceful world.”

“And who were those two?“ his grandfather asked. (That was another thing. Getting used to the fact, that he had afamily –a Clan!– and that legendary shinobi, like Tobirama and Hashirama were his family.)

Minato looked at the boys with a raised eyebrow. Both of them seemed vaguely amused. “Asura’s chakra had been attached to Senju Hashirama.“ Sasuke said.

There was aheartbeat of silence.

“NANI??!!“ the Shodaime exclaimed, his eyes wide. (Minato was sure the entire village heard that and now everyone was wondering, just what the hell was going on up here...)

Naruto chuckled. “Take aguess who carried Indra’s will at the time.”

“Madara.“ his grandfather said, his tone calm, matter-of-fact. “It was Uchiha Madara.“

Naruto nodded approvingly towards the Nidai. “Correct.”

“You mean... we... Madara and I...“ Hashirama made afew clumsy hand gestures, “All this... was your work?”

Naruto shook his head with asmall snort. “No. You’re still you. What you’ve achieved side by side, is all your and Madara’s work, not mine or my brother’s. What you did is history for us, as it is for everyone from this time. Actually, everyone lived their lives normally and did things, as they would have happened anyway, reincarnation or not. This... it just drew those two indiciduals closer to one another. Creating asort of odd link, other than the bloodshed, between the Senju and Uchiha.”

Minato sighed rubbing his face. “I’m kind of lost.” he admitted. He may have been called a genius, but this was a bit too much to wrap his mind around... He hadn’t even dealt with the fact, that his son had lived once before this and now they were adding more information to the pile.

“Asura was Hashirama.“ Sasuke said calmly. “But Hashirama was never Asura. Asura is Naruto, but at the same time, Naruto is Asura. It’s the same with me. Does that make sense?”

“It does.” Tobirama said slowly. “In an odd way, but it does make sense.”

Minato groaned, running a hand trough his hair. His head hurt. All the kami above, his son and Sasuke were harder to deal with, than Kushina and his former Genin team combined...

Maybe there was something good about dying when he did? If he were alive, than half his hair would be missing by now and the remaining half would have turned grey with stress.

Sasuke watched the three Senjus with barely contained amusem*nt. Their expressions were so much like his brother’s that he needed all his self control not to break down laughing. Still, he couldn’t help the amused smirk, that made itself known.

“What’s so funny?“ the Yondaime asked.

Sasuke shook his head. “Nothing.“ he stood up as he felt Gaara’s chakra shift. “It’s just that you three are so much like Asura and Naruto at once, that it’s... entertaining. At the same time, you are so different, than him, that Ican barely believe you’re his family.”

“Oi, Nī-sama!” Naruto huffed.

He looked at the blonde and rolled his eyes, turning towards Gaara, who was now on his feet, studing them curiously, yet still unsure. Probably because of the Hokages’ presence. “So? How are you feeling?”

Gaara smiled. “Better. Much better. My chakra is off... but...”

“It’s going to be off, for abit.“ Naruto said apologetically. “The different seal needs more of your chakra to hold and it allows less of Shukaku’s own chakra to mix with yours. In short, your chakra control is sh*t. So you’ll have to re-learn that.”

Gaara looked suitably horrified at that. “W-what?”

Sasuke patted his shoulder. “It’s aheadache Otōto’s gone trough as well, considering we had to change the fox’s seal, too. You’ll manage.”

Gaara gave asmall scowl. “Says the one who’s lived twice and literally invented Ninjutsu.”

Sasuke grimaced at that. “I see Shukaku told you afew things. My invention of Ninjutsu is not something I’m proud of. Considering how much we –and later everyone – twisted Ninshū for their own means, Idon’t think it’s something to be proud of.”

“You invented Ninjutsu?“ the Nidaime asked with araised eyebrow.

Sasuke nodded. “Yeah. And Asura was the one to lay the foundations of chakra healing.”

“Any more mindblowing information?“

Sasuke shook his head. “That’s all, Isuppose, Minato-sama. Did we miss something, Otōto?”

“I don’t think so. Now, how about you two sitting down?“

“Well,“ Minato stood up. “I think we’ll be leaving you three to speak for abit. We’ll have to check the village anyway. Since there is no official Hokage, it’s either the Council grabbing for more power, or the village will end up like headless chickens. So we’ll step up, temporarly. And then we’ll have to find someone, to become the Godaime.”

“What happened to the Senju?“ Tobirama asked, looking at Naruto.

Naruto shrugged. “Hadn’t asked the Sandaime. Hadn’t been that close and after Graduation we became kind of busy. Iknow that the only other Senju left is Tsunade, but she hadn’t set foot in the village, since Otō-san and Okā-san died in the sealing.”

Suddenly, both of the Senju brothers looked thunderous. “Tsunade left family behind? An orphan at that?!” the Shodai asked. “W-what had become of my sweet girl? Abandoning family...”

The Nidai glared at his brother. “See? Itold you, that spoiling the girl will come and bite you back someday. And all that spoiling... you and Mito coddled her and now she turned her back to the village. Her family.”

Naruto frowned. “Yeah. Ihave some issues with the people left of my family. My godfather’s just turned up amonth ago and sauntered into Namikaze property, as if he’d owned the place and when he dumped in on my head, that he was in fact, my godfather, he expected me to welcome him with ahug and apat on the back.”

“You hadn’t known, that Jiraiya-sensei was your godfather?“

Naruto looked at his father and shook his head. “No. Ionly had Sasuke for avery long time. Oh and the ANBU, who guarded us. Kakashi and Yamato among them, who are now our senseis. So the four of us are... alittle misfit family. And add the grumpy fox too. He’s actually helpful, after he got over Indra’s betrayal. We needed to have along chat with him... but it’s worth it. One more sibling along for the ride.” he grinned.

“S-sibling?“ the Shodaime asked.

Sasuke hummed. “Of course. The Bijū are our older siblings...“ he looked at Gaara, “which kind of makes the other eight Jinchūriki our family, too. Oh and the Kaguya of Kiri and the Hyūga too. Hamura oji-sama’s daughters, after all, were the progenitors of those Clans.”

“I need adrink.“ the Shodai murmured.

“For once, Iagree with you, anija.”

The Yondaime seemed the worst off and were he alive, Sasuke would have said to visit ahospital. “I need more than one drink. And afew blows of ramen.”

“Lead the way.“ the Mokuton-user murmured.

Sasuke doubted that dead – resurrected– people could get drunk, but he decided not to mention it. The three seemed to be in abad shape anyway.

Once the three Senju were gone, Gaara looked at them abit uncertainly. “What you just said... did you mean it? A...about family.”

Naruto smiled brightly, his grin rivaling the sun. “Of course he meant it! The Bijū are or siblings! So their Jinchūriki are also our family.” he said, reaching forwards to hug Gaara. Gaara’s eyes went wide.

“I... Inever really had afamily, despite having afather and siblings. My father... just wanted aweapon and my siblings fear me, like everyone else in Suna.” he muttered.

Sasuke frowned at that. Asura had been his greatest treasure in his first life and even now – now Naruto was no less important. Despite everything that happened, they were still brothers. There was no greater treasure in the world, than asibling. So it was hard for him to comprehend, how Gaara’s own siblings could fear him so much to alienate him.

He patted the redhead on the shoulder to comfort him, but Naruto had different ideas. The blonde pulled at his garments and he lost his balance despite sitting down and they ended up on the grass, like aball of tangled limbs.

Naruto laughed. “Uh, big.... family hug?” he asked sheepishly.

Sasuke glared and for amoment, the thought of strangling him appeared in his mind. But then, Gaara chuckled. Sasuke shifted his gaze and for asecond, he saw the loneliness in his eyes. The same loneliness he’d seen in Naruto during the early days of the Academy.

Shukaku was their sibling. And now, so was Gaara. His lips twitched upwards, as he brought both of them into ashort hug. “Yeah, family. And Ōtsutsuki never leave their own behind.”

“Family...“ Gaara muttered, “Thank you. Thank you both.”

If the redhead’s grip was abit stronger, than it was comfortable, neither him nor Naruto voiced it.

Now that the questioning of his siblings was over, he could see them again and – thanks to the word of the Shodaime,– all three of them could go home. Gaara was glad that he could go back to Suna, but at the same time, he was afraid of leaving.

Days had passed and even those short few days were... interesting. And atime he would forever cherish. Naruto and Sasuke – or, maybe Asura and Indra?, he still couldn’t decide wich names would be more appropriate to use, – had showed him what it was like to have people, who didn’t fear him. They also spent time with the Bijū, which helped him build the sart of something nice with Shukaku. He’s also learned, that Kurama was the Kyūbi’s proper name. (Naruto had mentioned it once during the mess, but then, it had not made much sense.)

He stopped before the door, which seperated him from Temari and Kankuro. He was abit unsure – his relationship with them had never been the best. And now... now he feared what they would think of him.

“They’re your siblings.“ Sasuke said. “And no matter what happens, your siblings always stand by you. No matter how cold and distant you were with them, or how much of an idiot. Whichever the case.”

Gaara took adeep breath and stole aglance at the Uchiha. “Are you sure?”

Sauske gave asmall snort. “I think, Iwould know it better, than most.”

Gaara hummed. “True, Isuppose.“ he muttered.

It was strange to think, that two who were around his age, were also technically older, than him. Much, much older. But... the wisdom and power, which came with that age suited both Naruto and Sasuke strangely well.

He carefully wrapped his sand around the knob for practice and opened the door. Oh, it’ll be annyoing to train his chakra control again, but at least, he could now sleep at night, like every other normal peron. He stepped in and the two followed quietly behind him, lingering near the door to give him and his siblings space, yet still be near, just as he’d asked them.

Neither Temari, nor Kankuro looked up, their gazes resolutely on the ground. “Nē-san. Nī-san.” he called softly, uncertainly. He couldn’t even recall the last time he’d addressed them as such.

Both of their gazes shot up to meet his, shock (and was that relief?) written across their features.

“Gaara...” Temari called cautiously. He stepped closer and tried to ignore the way his brother tensed at his approach.

“Let’s go home.”

Temari blinked at him, her green eyes widening abit. “We can go? Just like that?”

“Hai.“ he nodded.

“I brought you back, so Gaara would not have to be alone on the way home.“ Naruto spoke suddenly, drawing his siblings’ attention to him. “Now that it’s proved that Orochimaru had ahand in this, you may go home freely. Altough there will be some sanctions on Suna from Hi no Kuni, for the damage inflicted during the fighting.”

“And what are those sanctions?“ Kankuro asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing on the blonde.

Gaara frowned abit. The two Konoha shinobi were as much his family now, as Kankuro and Temari. “Kankuro. Could you please be nice? It’s thanks to those two, that we can go home. And that Ican live anormal life, starting today.”

Both of his sibligns looked at him in shock. “W-what?“ Temari asked.

“Naruto and his family fixed Shukaku’s seal, so it’s better now. I’m even able to sleep.“ he smiled.

“What did you...?”

“Nothing, Temari-san.” Sasuke spoke. “We just helped someone in need. That thing was so crappy, that even Icould do better and I’m half as good as Naruto, when it comes to seals and let’s not mention the other members of his family, currently roaming our streets. He’s able to sleep, like everyone and regulate when he needs the Bijū’s chakra. How much he learns to handle in the future, is up to how well he and Shukaku can work together.”

Gaara smiled at the two. “Thank you for the help.”

Naruto grinned and walked closer. “Think nothing of it. We’re brothers, remember?“

“Yeah.“ he nodded.

Naruto reached into an inside pocket of his haori and offered something. Gaara blinked and took it. It was asmall circular wooden charm with the Kanji for trace on one side, while the other had aKanji for support.

“Carry this with you. If you need us to find you, because you need help, push some chakra into this, so that the trace Kanji will glow. If you’re in bigger trouble, than you think Icould handle without my own Bijū’s aid, then push more chakra into it and both of the Kanji will glow. We’ll be able to find you and we’ll know it’s also big trouble.”

He took the charm and secured it around his neck. “Arigato, Naruto.” he muttered. It was still hard to believe, that those two were now also his family. His friends and his family – hard to believe, that no matter what, he could count on these two amazing people backing him.

“Think nothing of it.“ the blonde smiled. “If you feel like chatting, ask Shukaku to establish alink between him and the fox. We can speak there. But, since the distance is bigger and since you will be inside your seal, perhaps it would be best at night. If you’re troubled,...” he glanced at Sasuke, “...we don’t mind losing afew hours of sleep.”

Sasuke smirked. “Just don’t do it more than twice aweek, or Iwill never be able to drag him out of bed and we need to train.”

“Oi, Nī-sama... are you saying I’m lazy?!” Naruto cried indigniantly, giving the older amock glare. “I’ll let you know I’m not. Ijust like how warm and comfortable my bed is!”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Whatever makes you sleep at night, Otōto.”

“They didn’t change one bit, from when we were younger.“ Shukaku said amusedly. “Save for perhaps Indra actually spending time with Asura-kun. And generally making an effort for us to be afamily.”

Gaara hummed amusedly at the tanuki. ‘If Ididn’t know how powerful and serious they were most of the time, Iwould say they weren’t even the Sennin’s sons.‘

“They are not his sons.“ Shukaku said. “Yet at the same time, they are very much his sons.”

Gaara cleared his troath to get their attention. He hoped, that one day, he would be this close to Temari and Kankuro. That one day, despite what happened in the past, they could be a real family.

Both of them looked at him, their faces smoothing into pleasant calmness. Sasuke nodded towards the door, as he pushed himself away from the wall. “Come on. We’ll escort you three out. The village leadership’s terms on peace with Suna may make it to you in amonth or so.”

Gaara nodded. “We’ll be sure to tell that to our Council.”

Chapter 28: Interlude I: Odd Family

Chapter Text

It was on the urging of Ino, that Sarutobi Asuma wandered into Training Ground Four– followed by his Genin–, which Team Thirteen had claimed for themselves. Considering how close the place was to the Senju Compound, it made sense, that Kakashi had chosen this place – or at least, would have made sense. However, Naruto didn’t live in the Senju Compound, so it was pointless. Asuma was left wondeirng why Kakashi had chosen the place.

Not that it mattered much. Training Ground Four was where Team Thirteen could always be found and today was no different. The team was there, like always, well three of them. Yamato was missing, but Asuma was sure it was because they had their hands full with straightening out the village. It was lucky, that in the end, Orochimaru’s plan to use the three Hokage had failed. And now, even if temporarly the three legendary shinobi were in the village to whip it into shape.

It eased Asuma’s mind somewhat – the village without aKage was dangerous, politically. Of course, they would need an actual Godaime soon, but with the three dead legends back form behind the gates of Death, could also be asolution.

Nidaime-sama and Yondaime-sama were busing themselves with setting the village straight, altough he hadn’t seen the Shodai anywhere. He wondered where the true Kami no Shinobi had gone off to. Another part of him was curious, why the Yondaime wasn’t with Naruto.

“Ah, hello Asuma.“

Asuma nodded. “Kakashi.”

“Sasuke-kun...!” Ino called, her voice unnaturally shrill, immediately jumping on the Uchiha.

The Uchiha dodged Ino expertly and stood to his full height. As he stood, the first thing that flashed into Asuma’s mind, when he saw the Uchiha was regal. “Do not do that again, Ino-san. You try something like that again, Iwill be forced to use force to make sure you keep arespectable distance.”

Ino drew up short at that and Asuma saw her eyes widen. However, before she could say something, they were disturbed by aloud crack. Sasuke immediately changed positions, standing next to Kakashi.

Then, Naruto burst forth from the trees, followed by... the Shodaime.

“Mokuton: Mokusatsu Shibari no Jutsu!“ (Wood Release: Smothering Binding Technique) the Shodaime called, as his hands transformed into wood, shooting towards Naruto.

Naruto jumped upwards and flared his chakra. “Mokuton: Sen’nohana Ha!” (Wood Release: Thousand Flower Blades)

The countless tiny – orange – flowers that formed around Naruto all shot towards the Hokage. The man avoided by using Doton to hide under the ground. Naruto landed on the ground with asigh, but Asuma could see he was not calm. Hashirama burst from the earth and Naruto leapt away doing aset of seals. “Mokuton: Ibara no Arare!” (Wood Release: Hail of Thorns)

The Shodaime stopped and his chakra flared in response. “Mokuton: Mokujōheki!” (Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall)

The wall of wood rose before the man, arching slightly over him, to stop the great thorns. Even before the man could step away from the safety of his creation, Naruto appeared next to him with aShunshin and swung. The Hokage dodged the punch – which, Asuma decided might have been the sensible idea. The chakra-enhanced blow cracked the wood, after all. ‘Oh, the kid certainly knows how to pack apunch.‘

The Hokage smiled and retailiated with aseries of fast strikes – and from what Asuma knew, he was aiming his open-palmed attacks at medically important points. Naruto dodged two of the rapid attacks, but the third one hit him and he staggered back with agrunt and then in his attempt to backtrack, he lost his balance, falling on his back.

The Shodaime stopped above the blonde, both of his hands in an open palmed position, similar to how aHyūga held them.

The blonde groaned. “Damn you, Oji-san. That’s awin for ya.”

The Shodaime chuckled and helped up the blonde. “But you’re fast, Naruto-kun. Creative and skilled, when using your abilities, as well as your surroundings. Considering that your body is still developing, all your skills are top notch.”

The blonde dipped his head modestly. “Arigato. Hm, Iwas hoping you’d teach me some extra chakra control and Medical Jutsu.“

As the two walked towards them, Asuma watched. He’d heard that Naruto was the Shodai’s great-grandnephew, but it was just afact on paper. Something he knew and accepted as part of life. Now, now that the man was here, even if for abit, obviously training the blonde... it was different.

“Gladly.“

As the two combatants’ gazes shifted, Asuma bowed, followed by his students. “Shodaime-sama.”

The man nodded with asmile. “Good day.”

“My turn.” Sasuke spoke suddenly, calmness personified. “That is, if you don’t mind.”

The Hokage grinned. (The grin vaguely reminded Asuma of Naruto himself.) “Not at all. Iheard from Tobi and Minato, that you have some special fire. Iwould like to see it, if you don’t mind, Sauske.”

The Uchiha grinned. “Those flames were made to counter Mokuton, with the least possible chakra consumption from the user, so careful what you wish for, Hokage-sama.”

Asuma gaped and his cigarette fell. That... that was awarning. AGenin was warning aHokage. And he didn’t sound arrogant or overconfident at all...

“Well, all the more reason for me to see them.“ the Hokage took his stane. Asuma saw as Sasuke’s eyes bled into the Sharingan and then the Uchiha took that unfamiliar stance he had been using all trough the Chūnin Exams.

And then, hell broke loose.

Sauske cursed, as the Shodai’s blow sent him flying.

If there was something, which he had learned over time, it was that no Senju should be engaged in Taijutsu, useless the individual wanted to collect several broken bones.

His brother had learned chakra-enhanced strenght slower, than he had in the past, but in the end, said skill had become the base of his personal style. Now it seemed, it was acommon occurance for Senju (or occassionally Uzumaki) to learn it, after they mastered chakra control. The Shodai was no different.

And gods be good, the man surely hit just as hard as Asura had. His back hit atree and every last whisp of oxygen left his system. Someone shrieked in the distance, but he could care less. He just wanted to breath properly again.

After afew hard moments, it was easier, but his back still ached.

“Oh, gomen Sasuke.“ the Shodai said, as the man stopped above him. “It seems Ihad miscalculated very badly... Let me...”

“You did not miscalculate.“ Sasuke murmured. He didn’t even protest, as green medical chakra covered the man’s hand. “I was slow. Since Iknow how you fight... like Naruto... Iusually use chakra to reinforce my body, just before the blow connetcs. As it is, Iam not as fast, as Ihad once been. That’s why both of us need training.”

“And we’ll help the most we can.“ the Shodaime assured him. “We will not let the world be destroyed. Short as it may be, this is our chance to aid you and we will.”

Once the medical chakra faded, Hashirama helped him stand and Sasuke didn’t even protest.

“Nī-sama! Are you...?”

Sasuke huffed, looking at the blonde, who was approaching with Kakashi and Team Ten in tow. “Relax Otōto, it’s just anotch worse than your own punches. Besides, he’s healed the worst of it. But... Ineed abreak.“ he sighed. “I don’t have your inhuman stamina and reserves.”

“The difference is not that bad between the two of you.“ the Shodaime said.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “You’re trying to convince the wrong person. Iknow that the stronger body and denser chakra he has gives him enough energy to run... say five laps, if with all Ihave, Irun four. Consiering his condition and the fact that his mother had shared said condition, that gives him stamina to run two more figurative laps.”

The Shodai scratched the back of his neck. “Gomen. Iseem to have forgotten you’re much more aware, than others.“

Sasuke almost rolled his eyes at the veiled message. Iforgot about the reincarnation.

“No matter.”

“So, mind teaching me some of the Medical Arts?” his brother asked, his violet eyes shining with excitement.

“Of course not, Naruto-kun. Come on.”

Sasuke was just about done with his break, when he felt his sensory tingle. As he looked up he saw the Nidai and Naruto’s father. He nodded towards them in greeting.

The blonde raised an eyebrow. “Relaxing already?“

Sasuke shrugged. “I don’t have that inhuman stamina that Uzumaki and Senju possess. My chakra is different. Besides, there’s as much value in training, as in resting.”

“Well said.“ the Nidaime nodded sagely. “Where is Hashirama?“

“He’s off teaching Otōto medical jutsu as abreak.“

“Naruto? As amedic?“ Minato murmured. “Odd to think about it, even if Iknow what Ido now.“

Sasuke hummed. “It comes in handy.”

“I would think so.“

Sasuke studied the two Senju for amoment and somehting popped into his mind. “Would you two mind teaching me some Fūinjutsu? Iknow the absolute, daily basics, but not more. Which is abit bothersome, considering my brother’s half-Uzumaki. I’d never be able to beat him, when it comes to that field. The Shinju knows he’s the most creative person on the planet, but it would be nice not to die from seals, if he’s not there to pull me out of atight spot.”

Grandson and grandfather shared alook, before the Nidaime’s dark red eyes settled on him. “To start off, how much do you already know?”

“Well...”

“Ne, Otō-san...“ Naruto called, as they approached. He noticed Kakashi speaking with Asuma, while the Sarutobi’s strudents were working on chakra control and some theory, if the scrolls in front of them were any indication.

He was walking calmly next to the Shodai, completely spent. Who knew medical training could be so tiresome? Sasuke was sitting on the grass, flanked by his father and great-grandfather. Judging from the scrolls and brushes all around them, the two former Kage were teaching his brother seals – huh, odd. He would have never thought Sasuke woud learn more, than the absoute necessary.

Everyone froze in what they were doing, looking at him – Team Ten and Kakashi included.

The three other members of his family all looked up from the scrolls, Sasuke’s hand freezing mid-stroke. “Nī-sama? Are you... is that asealing brush in your hand?”

Sasuke shrugged. “Got to learn someting more of it, than the basics. This seemed the good time for it. Ineeded abreak from physical training, but that does not mean Icannot pay attention to detail. Besides, it would have been foolish of me to pass up the opportunity to learn it, when Ihave the two best masers of said Art right here. No?”

Naruto hummed. “Yeah. Of course. Hope you’re having fun.” he grinned.

Sasuke scowled back. “Oh, wipe that look off your face Otōto. You know this sort of thing was always hard for me.”

“Well, at least something. Becuase you were always the proper perfect one.” he grunted back.

“I just had enough...”

“Boys.“ his father called, tone lightly reprimanding. “No need for that. What is it you wanted, Naru-kun?”

Naruto hummed. “Well, you see Otō-san...“

“Naruto.“ his father cut him off again, arather sulky look on his face. Well, sulky if you asked Naruto. The younger blonde was sure, that his father would deny ever making such achildish face.

Naruto blinked, looking at his father in confusion. “What?”

Kakashi snickered off to the side. “He hates formality, Naruto. Don’t you, Hokage-sama?”

His father looked at his former student and rolled his eyes. “Oh, quiet now, Kakashi. Imay technically be dead, but Ican still hand your ass to you in aspar. Obito’s Sharingan in use or not.“

Naruto glanced to the side and saw Kakashi’s lone eye widened abit, before he threw up his hands in surrender and took afew steps back. “Gomen, sensei.” he said, his eye crinckling into an upside-down U, with the most innocent look on his features possible with so much of his face covered.

Naruto heard Sasuke mutter a ‘coward‘ from where his brother sat next to the Nidaime.

“Did you say something, Sasuke?“ his father asked. Naruto threw a worried look at his brother. Sasuke, ever-composed as he was, matched the blue eyes.

“Nothing, Minato-sama.” he answered simply. Naruto saw his father twitch. Then he turned away from Sauske with ahuff.

“Alright son. What is it you were trying to say?”

Naruto took adeep breath. “Well, you see Otō-san...“ his father’s eyes narrowed and awave of Killing Intent spread trough the area.

“Naruto. Sasuke.“ Kakashi called.

Both of them looked up. “Hai, Kashi-sensei?“

“Run. Fast.”

Naruto didn’t ask questions. He did, as Kakashi told him to, Sasuke hot on his heels. Sadly for them, Minato was one of the two people, who were called the fastest shinobi, while they were alive.

Naruto and Sasuke had the weirdest family she’d ever seen, Ino decided.

She’d been observing the boys for awhile now and since the three dead Hokage were back, she saw acompletely new side of her two former classmates.

No, their family wasn’t odd, because they were dead. It was something else...

Like how the two of them, not related by blood, treated and loved each other, like siblings. Hell, she had twin cousins on her father’s side, both of them boys and they were not even quarter as good at being siblings, as Sauske and Naruto.

They were always together, helping and supporting the other, no matter what. Their love for each other, as well as their friendship was clear to see for anyone, who stopped just for amoment. Bright, sunny Naruto and quiet, antisocal Sasuke –they made the oddest pair. Apair, who worked flawlessly together. They teased each other, hugged each other, laughed and cried with each other. (They never argued, like others in afamily. Sure, there were times, when they didn’t agree, but after ashort scowling match, they would always discuss it sensibly, like grown-ups. It was kind of strange, how... mature they were.)

Still, despite it all, they were formal with one another, to such alevel, that stangers would think it abnormal. Actually, it wasn’t normal, but it still fit with their personalities in an odd way.

She also noticed how formal they were with the three Hokage. At first, she thought it was because the three were Hokage, but then she had to reconsider. One morning she caught them – well, Naruto, Sasuke and Yondaime-sama – eating at Ichiraku Ramen.

“Minato-sama...” Sasuke called. She was close, but she tried beng sneaky – it would be apain to explain, why she was listening in on aprivate conversation.

“Sasuke-kun, for the hundredth time. Kushina was your godmother. You’re practically my family, Senju and Uchiha blood aside. Or because of it –whatever. You understand what Imean, right?“

She heard Sasuke snort. “Of course.”

“Well, point is, no need to be formal.“ she heard Yondaime-sama say. Her eyes were wide. She’d asked her father about Naruto’s mother. Both of her parents spoke highly of the Princess of Uzu. AHeiress and Clan Head in her own right, one of the deadliest Kunoichi of Konoha. S-ranked, just like her husband. (Naruto’s family was full of deadly people. Those she knew of were all Kage-level shinobi.)

That deadly kunoichi was Sasuke’s godmother?

“Habit.“ Sasuke muttered. “You know, when eyes like my father’s follow you everywhere, you learn to be proper. It reflects on the Clan. And it was different then...”

“I see.”

Ino’s eyes were wide. She thought Sasuke didn’t like speaking about his parents? So why was he mentioning his father now? And... his father had told her, that some Clans were strickter with traditions, of course. But she thought the Hyūga were the only ones like that, so strict, in Konoha.

Sasuke-kun’s family had been like that too? So strict and cold? No wonder he was the way he was. No wonder he was so close to Naruto – maybe it was Naruto, who showed him, that he could let go of those traditions, while still remembering his family?

‘Poor Sasuke-kun. Hope Naruto will make sure he’s okay in the future, too.‘ she thought.

“Is that why Naruto’s like that too?“ the Yondaime asked. “So formal.”

Sasuke hummed. “Partially. It reflects on the people he gets associated with. But, it’s more respect, from him. Actual respect. And you know, from me too. Old habits are hard to kill, but...”

Ino blinked. She thought Naruto had lived alone. Had he been taken in by the Uchiha’s for ashort while before they all died? Naruto had certainly made an effort during the Academy to spend time with Sasuke, even if Sasuke had seemed unsure at first. (However, it hadn’t escaped her, that the boys had become much, much closer after the Massacre.)

“You would try to hold those habits back, if you thought differently of the people you’re speaking to.“ the Yondaime said.

“Yes. Istill remember that one time... there was this kid, who’d picked on Otōto...”

Ino shook her head and slipped away. Naruto and Sasuke were the odd ones she would never undserstand. They loved each other like siblings, yet were formal... archaic... aristocratic.

If she didn’t know any better, she would have said their minds had made astop at the Warring Clans Era, or something, before they were born.

“You know, you’re the oddest family ever.“ Kurama commented, as Naruto was spawled on the ground, trying to catch his breath from training.

Gods knew his great-grandfather was aslave-driver. Asort that probably hadn’t been since, in Konoha. He was completely spent – his limbs felt like rocks,– which was something, considering all his usual energy and physical endurance.

‘Why would you say that?‘

“Well, Tenzo, Kakashi, three dead Hokage, who are temporary here to train you... just plain wierd. Even for me.”

Naruto snorted. ‘Oh, quiet now, Kurama. Besides, you’re also part of this weird family, so don’t leave it from the list either.‘

“Are you ready for another spar, Naruto?“

Naruto groaned as he sat up to face his father. Gods damn him, his father was fast and precise. It was like fighting Indra all over again, save for perhaps his father being even faster and not having aSharingan to pull nasty tricks with.

“You’re aslave-driver, just like Tobirama oji-san.”

His father rolled his eyes. “Well excuse me, Naruto, but it’s not me who has achakra goddess for grandmother, who by the way, wants to take over the world.” his father snarked.

Naruto growled. “You know, sometimes Iregret we ever told you all of that.”

Even before his father had achance to respond, he leapt forwards, wooden staves forming in his hand, ready to deliver deadly blows...

Senju Hashirama was an odd man, Sasuke decided. Even more odd, than his brother, which was afeat, considering Asura’s nature and his quirks.

But despite his odd nature, the man was avery good sparring partner and teacher and somewhere along the way – the more time he spent around the three resurrected Senju, the more he felt like he had afamily again.

After the initial shock of their revelations passed, the three Hokage had decided to stick around abit longer, to help deal with the mess inside the village, while helping them train. Sasuke would have thought, that Hashirama would break down, when they revealed that one of the mad Uchihas, who wanted to rule the world with the help of their non-human grandmother, was Madara.

Madara had after all, been the Shodai’s friend.

The man hadn’t been happy of what had become of his former friend, but it had the opposite result. Hours after that heavy conversation, the Mokuton-user sought him out and told him, that the three of them had decided to stay abit, to help him and Naruto train.

Between the mad training supervised by the three Hokage and their senseis, Sasuke could not focus on anything else, but the now.

He got to spend some time with the Yondaime, who, by now was like an uncle/father. Even the Nidai had eased up and it was nice. It was like he had his family back, together as a whole.

Yamato and Kakashi were the slightly unhinged, lazy and completely unnecessarily overprotective cousins. The Yondiame had become asort-of father to him, too. There was Naruto of course, his energetic, toruble-magnet baby brother. The Shodai was the overly cheerful, idiotic uncle with random bouts of wisdom, which Sasuke thought rivalled his father from his first life. The Nidai was the slightly detached, serious uncle, who was agood listener and had an unexpected penchant for pranking.

(No, that paint incident, which involved the Nidai, his brother and his freshly washed clothes, will never be spoken of again.) Anyone, who so much as mentioned the words ‘Nidaime‘ and ‘paint‘ in the same sentence near him, he would burn with Amaterasu without an ounce of remorse.

So yes. Life was nice, even if it only lasted for abit.

They were an odd family, misfits and bloodied warriors, borken by the cruelty of war, weightened by mistakes... but they understood each other. They had forgiven past grievances and were working towards something better.

For the first time in ages, Sasuke thought the people, that surrounded him reminded him of the warm comfort, which the Ōtsutsuki had been, while him and Asura were growing up.

Chapter 29: Truth’s Price

Chapter Text

Going to back to his old house, after having abandoned it so long ago was strange. But for some reason, the three Kage wanted to see it. So Sasuke didn’t protest too much. He had little attachment to the place by now and even if he happened to have anightmare tonight, his brother would not say aword. (Altough, he honestly hoped he wouldn’t have nightmares. After the Wave incident, he had finally gotten rid of the last of the shadows, that haunted him. He didn’t need them coming back.)

As they entered the house, he waved at the three men. “Feel free to have alook around. The little Ihad needed from his has long since been moved to the Namikaze house.”

“Thank you, Sasuke.” the Yondaime said quietly, as the three Senju walked deeper into the building.

Ahand touched his shoulder and he looked at Naruto, who was looking at him with worry. “Are you alright, Nī-sama? Or should we wait outside?”

Sasuke took adeep breath, tampering down the dark, bloody memories. Apart of him detested that night – another part was grateful, that Itachi had caught him in the Genjutsu. He wondered, if the bloody cycle of war between Senju and Uchiha would have been broken, if him and Naruto didn’t remember. Somehow, he doubted it... and that would have inevitably doomed the world to destruction and slavery.

“No, Otōto. I’m fine. In fact, Iwant to check around too.”

Naruto arched an eyebrow. “What are you hoping to find?”

Sasuke shook his head. “I don’t know. Just... let’s look around.”

He had expected many things – really he would have expected to find anything, but this. Here he sat, in the middle of the spartan room (more neat and spartan, than the rest of the house, that is). Here he sat, on the cold floor of the room, which had once belonged to Itachi, with a part of the floor missing, asmall leather-bound book in his lap, open at the last two pages, that still had an entry.

It was Itachi’s journal. (A journal he had never known even existed. One, which would not have been found, if Naruto wasn’t so hoplessly clumsy, to kiss the floor just because that floorboard had been loose.)

And the last two pages, splattered with dried blood, made his own blood freeze in shock, while it also sent howling rage trough him. Itachi’s usually neat, perfect letters were unsteady and hurried.

Danzo wants me to kill the Clan, so Sasuke can live... but Danzo killed Shisui. Ican’t trust him, but Ican’t risk Sasuke’s safety either. And the masked man... Oh, kami forgive me for the coming nights. This is as much for Konoha, as much it’s for Sasuke.

Itachi... Itachi had been forced into killing the Clan? Itachi... Itachi hadn’t fallen to the Curse. No, quite the opposite. Itachi...

Naruto gripped his arm in reassurance, the dense, warm chakra wrapping him in aprotective blanket, as if his brother hoped to ward off his rage and grief. He wanted to cry and howl and burn something, but he just squeezed his eyes shut and clung to Naruto’s comforting presence. (He had lost it once and it had led to ages-long bloody war. He would not lose it again...)

“Sasuke? Naruto?”

The careful call of the Yondaime jolted him from his thoughts. Sasuke needed amoment to gather himself and close the journal. Then, he stood up, clinging to Naruto for support, because if Naruto left him now... ‘No. Don’t think about that. He’s not going anywhere.‘

He looked at the older blonde. “What is it?” he asked, doing his best to remain composed. Minato looked at him sorrowfully, as he made agesture towards the sitting room.

“May we have aword? I...It’s important.”

He nodded and walked towards the sitting room, the Hokage following behind him. Naruto’s grip didn’t falter for asecond, his chakra aconstant presence, filling his senses. For once, Sasuke was grateful – the overwhelming presence of his friend’s/brother’s chakra was the only thing, that kept him grounded at the moment.

The writing still floated meneacingly in front of his mind’s eye. Danzo wants me to kill the Clan, so Sasuke can live...

He sat down, Naruto next to him. Minato walked to sit opposite them. The Shodaime sat in the middle, flanked by his brother and grand-nephew. He held asmall stack of papers.

“Sasuke... what we have to say will be hard...“ the Mokuton-user started softly. “We found these... Ihave afeeling it might have been left there intentionally for you to find someday...“ he slid the papers over.

Sasuke took the sheets and read them. His eyes went wide. He tore at the page, wanting to see more. No. This had to be some joke.

His Clan had wanted to take over the village and cause acivil war...

Another page tossed to the side. The document went into more detail about how the Clan would have taken over, using the Kyūbi Jinchūriki to secure their power...

Sasuke tossed the pile down and wretched himself out of his brother’s grip, bolting for the bathroom. He was sick. His Clan would have ruined the village that had been built, using his siblings, just like Madara and the nameless masked moron... (He had honestly hoped, that only Madara and the masked bastard were so sick to attempt utter and complete domination... but no. All his kin had been like that.)

By the time Naruto arrived, he was merely dry-having, his head still spinning. Carefully, Naruto’s arms wrapped around him and he felt the soothing warmth of medical chakra seep into his body. “Nī-sama?” the blonde whispered.

“What have we done?“ he choked out. “We doomed the world, Otōto. Idoomed my kin to fall, for they carried and nurtured the hate, that Ihad once felt for you and Otō-sama. Now... now those lunatics are out there somewhere, planning to rule the world with the power of our siblings.”

“We’ll stop them. We know what not to do now and we’ll do better this time around.”

Sasuke sallowed and his mind flashed back to Itachi. Itachi, whom he hated and pitied in equal measure for falling to the Curse... ‘But he hadn’t fallen. They ordered him to kill the Clan. He chose me over the Clan...‘

That realisation was heavier, than most of the things he carried with him since his past life.

Naruto gently tugged at his sleeve and led him back into the sitting room, where the other Senju were waiting.

“They ordered him to do it.” he murmured, numb yet angry at the same time.

“Who ordered what?” the Shodai asked.

“Itachi was ordered to kill them to prevent the mess, which you found outlined on the documents.“ he clarified. “A man named Danzo killed my cousin, Shisui – he had the Mangekyō. Then he blackmailed Itachi. Kill the Clan or Danzo would have killed me, Ipersume. Itachi wrote, that he does what he did, so Ican live...”

An hour later four Senju and an Uchiha were on the war path, striding towards the Council Chambers, chakra and Killing Intent radiating from all of them to such extent, that the civilians, whom they passed fell to their knees.

When they reached their destination, Naruto released ablast offf wind chakra, which opened the doors so forcefully, that the heavy, Mokuton-created wood almost came off its hinges. As they strode in, the council looked up.

“Hokage-sama...?” one of the civilians asked.

“Civilians out.“ Minato snarled. “This is purely Clan business. And close the doors behind yourselves.”

Feeling the anger and bloodlust radiating from the group, all the present civilians quickly scattered, closing the doors.

“What is the meaning of this, Hokge-sama?“ Aburame Shibi asked.

Five deadly stares settled on a certain bandaged war-hawk. “Shimura Danzo, you are charged with treason and the orchestering of genocide.“ Minato said coldly.

Danzo’s visible eye settled on the older blonde. “I have no idea on what grounds are you accusing me...”

“On the grounds of ajournal entry, written and dated by Uchiha Itachi.” Sasuke hissed. “You blackmailed him. Kill the Clan or you will hurt me. Itachi chose me over the Clan. The Clan may have betrayed the village, but you killed my cousin for his eye and you blackmailed Itachi.”

“And... what is that?” Tobirama asked coldly. Even before anyone could wonder why the silver-haired Kage asked that, awhip of water materialised, dragging the man from his seat and cutting the bandaged covering his arm. Under the bandages, they found countless Sharingan eyes peering out at the world.

Sasuke wasn’t even surprised, when suddenly, the room was full of powerful Killing Intent, as Kurama’s chakra covered Naruto in seconds. The Clan Heads seemed to have problem withstanding his Bijū brother’s chakra presence, but it was no surprise.

The Shodaime immediately formed aSnake sign... “Hold your chakra, Senju.“ Kurama snarled. “I have no business with your village.” (He also noticed Jiraiya, moving to amore visible spot, but as Kurama spoke, he stopped.)

Sasuke gave alook to the Shodaime and the man stopped, eyeing the Kurama-controlled Naruto warily. Every single person’s eyes in the room went wide, as they heard those words.

“However...“ the fox snarled, his eyes settling on Danzo. “I have business with you, detestable meatbag.” he darted closer and Danzo froze. “You know, Inever liked the Uchihas – too arrogant, that lot. And Icame to detest them after Madara thought Iwas his personal pet, dancing how he pulled the strings...“ he growled, “and let’s not mention the f*cker, who’d wretched me from Kushina... but there’s one, just one Sharingan-wielder on this sorry planet, that absolutely did not deserve my creator’s sacrifice, whom Ido not hate. And you just happened to treathen that one – the one Icare about.”

Even more eyes went wide (mostly among the Clan Heads), at those words.

“You treathened my Otōto.“ Kurama snarled again, his chakra lashing out and Sasuke had backpedal and to push back the Kage, so all of them would avoid the chakra. That energy, as it was at the moment, could melt flesh from bone or perhaps even cancel Edo Tensei, which didn’t seem such agood thing at the moment. (Naruto would be upset, that the thing had been canceled, while he sat back inside his own mind, to allow Kurama some freedom.)

“And for that, you will pay. For no one treathens my younger siblings and walks away.” and then he pounced.

Sasuke saw the man uncover his face – and there was his cousin’s Mangekyō, in his eye socket. But Kurama was faster.

Aclawed hand (paw?) slashed across the bastard’s face, the red chakra burning the wound, as blood splashed around. Danzo cried out, but it was quickly silenced by another swipe across the man’s troath, as the vocal cords were damaged. Kurama channeled some more of his chakra and brought down his hand/paw on the man, breaking bone, as well as the floor below. The Elder’s mouth opened in asoundless scream and Kurama snarled again.

“May the Shinigami torment you forever.“ he spat, as his chakra covered Danzo’s body. It did aquick work – four tails woth of chakra was more enough to burn away abody, especially one with no previous exposure to such chakra.

Kurama backed away, four chakra tails waving in the air, the room full with the smell of blood and burning flesh, as well as Killing Intent. Sasuke’s eyes didn’t even twitch. The bastard deserved that. For the innocent of his Clan – because the children were not yet tainted by the Curse, nor the few civilians, who never had the Sharingan – and for Itachi. He’d killed his kin and treathened Itachi.

For avery, very long moment, there was silence as everyone stared at Kurama, waiting for him to attack once more. “I know you like to finish your own business Indra, but Ipromised you and Asura something that day. Or more like I’ve promised it to Otō-sama, he may or may not have heard that, but it’s beside the point.”

Sasuke hummed. “It’s... quite alright. Iwould have done the same, if Otōto was in asimilar situation, altough, he’s not... the vengeful sort. Never been.“ he muttered, his voice cracking at the end.

“No, he’s not.“ Kurama agreed, now somewhat calmer, altough Sasuke knew he would not calm down completely today. Maybe tomorrow, but certainly not today.

Sasuke sighed and allowed his eyes to morph into their higher level. He couldn’t form Sussano’o just yet, but he could summon the armour and fit it to his need. The less of the armour was present, the more he could control it, besides, he’d been practicing some Shape Manipulation, which also further enabled him to handle it. Sure, to completely shrink his chakra avatar and make actual, human-sized armour out of it, that perfectly covered his body, he would need his father’s special chakra... but it didn’t matter.

He stroked Kurama’s ear, which appeared in the shape of half transparent chakra, before he actually reached to touch Naruto’s body. “Thank you.“ he muttered softly. “Now, could you let Otōto have his body back, please?”

Kurama huffed. “And here Ithought Icould stretch my limbs. It’s better since you two had redone the seal, but it’s sooo boring.”

Sasuke chuckled. “Oh, what’s next? Snowing in the middle of summer? You actually whined. I’m sure Asura wouldn’t mind letting you out in the Forest of Death, now and then, as long as you don’t ruin everything. Becuase then we would have to fix it and it’s annoying to do all the time.”

Kurama snarled. “All proper and serious even after all this time? Now, Iknow why Ileft you to your devices, as akit.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Someone has to be the responsible one, between your penchant for destruction and Otōto’s pranks.”

”Hey, Ihadn’t destroyed anything since Senju stuck me in the seal again. Besides, as annoying as Kushina was...“

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “Careful fox. You’re talking about my godmother.”

“She was annoying.“ he huffed. “But, better than Mito, so Isuppse... it was an improvement.”

“Yeah, yeah. You would have liked to tamper on Madara’s body and probably wouldn’t have minded sallowing Shodaime-sama whole either. Iget it. But, they’re still family so no more of that. Oh, and Iwant my brother back. I’m sure if you make him wait any more, he’s going to get whiny and just tamper down your chakra with Mokuton.”

The fox huffed. “Why did the source of all chakra have to be atree? And why did Asura figure it out what that chakra can do?”

Before Sauske could answer, Kurama’s – Naruto’s– eyes closed. The chakra slowly retreated and as Naruto opened his eyes again, they were the usual violet. He stood up and looked at the mess Kurama had left.

“Ouch. Speak about being pissed off kitsune...”

Sasuke hummed. “Yeah.”

Naruto frowned. “Oh the Shinju damn it... now all my clothes are ruined. Aww.“ he groaned. “He should have been cleaner. The next time he makes amess, I’m totally not letting him stretch his legs.”

Sasuke hummed. “And you would just have listened to him annyoing you out of your own mind, if you didn’t let him out now, Otōto. You know what he’s like.“

Naruto laughed softly. “I know better, than anyone here, trust me.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Off with you. You’re not getting dinner, if you make abloody mess of the kitchen.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Last time Ichecked, Nī-sama, it’s my kitchen, because you can’t cook sh*t. So you don’t get asay in it.” and then he was gone in aswirl of leaves.

Sasuke huffed and looked at the three Senju. “Did Iever say Ihated that he has aquick tongue?”

“No.“ Hashirama said. “But... if it makes you feel better, Ithink that’s atypical Uzumaki trait, like the red hair. Or, maybe even more of atypical trait, than the red hair.”

Sasuke snorted. “Why I’m not surprised about that?”

“Maybe because you know him so well.“ his almost father said. “Now, how about you follow his example and go home, Sasuke? We’ll deal with this and stop at home once we’re done.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed on the two remaining Elders, who tensed in response, at the feeling of his Killing Intent. (Good let them be wary, because he would watch them. Let them remember, that even if the Hokage were gone, they could not do as they pleased. Not anymore, useless they wanted to die as peainfuly, as the warmongering worm on the floor.) “Ah, but I still have a few questions...”

“And we’ll provide you with the answers.“ Tobirama countered in ameasured tone. “Do not stir more of the water, young one. We will give you what you wish to know, if you let us work.”

Sasuke sighed, nodding towards the Suiton-master. “Very well.”

And then, he was gone in his own personalised Shunshin – atorrent of white-blue fire.

Jiraiya’s mind still swirled with the scene, that had played out in the Council Chambers. He would have never thought, that Minato – or the Senju brothers– would let the Fox do what it did. (He had never liked Danzo, but that had been brutal. And why had the Fox called the Uchiha brat Indra? The name was familiar from somewhere, but he could not remember where he had heard it before...) Because it was obvious, from the way Naruto had looked at the scene, that he had completely retreated into his mind, unaware of the outside world.

He shook his head with asigh. It’s not like he could do anything about it.

“Jiraiya-sensei.”

Jiraiya froze at that. He hadn’t been called sensei in more, than adecade. There was only one person in the village, who’d called him that – his two other students had died in the war and only Minato had made it. He turned slowly, to face Minato. It was so strange, seeing him again... if not for the obvious, tell-tale signs of Edo Tensei, he would have said that his student was still as young and full or energy, as the last day he’d seen him, afew days before Naruto’s birth.

He was happy to see Minato again, yet he could not help the scratching look, that crossed his aged features. “What were you thinking Minato? You should have stopped the kid from losing control...!”

Minato glared. His glare was so icy, that it made him take astep back.

“He had not lost control. He knew what he was doing and Danzo had deserved it. As much as Irespected Hiruzen, he was getting lax in his office and obviously had made the wrong decisions regarding Uchiha Itachi and the Clan, as awhole.” he hissed in alow tone.

The Sannin’s eyes went wide. That was an S-class secret, of which only the Hokage, the Elders and himself knew. Had one of the two spilled the beans to the three resurrected men? Probably – not that Jiraiya blamed them too much. After that scene in the Council Room...

Jiraiya sighed. “It was atotal mess, Minato and Fugaku would not listen. Or rather, his clan council would not...”

“I don’t need to know more, than Ialready do. Genocide is genocide, no matter the reason. You could have at least let the children and the civilians live. But no...“ he sighed. “Where is Itachi, Jiraiya?”

“Minato...”

“Where is the boy?”

Jiraiya winced. His former student wasn’t in agood mood. “There’s this group.“ he said quietly, “Akatsuki. Abunch of S-class Missing-nin from all across the Nations. They’re led by amasked Sharingan-user, who’d helped Itachi kill the Uchihas. Itachi suspects he’s the one behind the Fox’s attack thirteen years ago. He calls himself Tobi. We sent Itachi to join undercover, so he could feed us info about them.”

Minato’s eyes went wide for asecond, as if he came to arealisation, before the expression was gone. “Do you know something, Minato? Maybe something you had no chance to share that night?“ he asked. Any morsel on the masked bastard could help...

Minato shook his head. “When Iasked him, he said his name was Uchiha Madara. But... I’d bet all my savings, that both Tobi and Uchiha Madara are just false names. The guy is someone else – powerful and dangerous yes... but not Madara. Imentioned my fight with him to the Shodai. He said Madara’s Mangekyō didn’t possess Space-Time jutsu. So, it was someone else. Someone, who has enough skill and power to get away with calling himself the Ghost of the Uchiha.”

The toad summoner grunted. They weren’t any closer. Yet... yet the guy was dangerous. More than simply dangerous, if he could control the Fox even with one eye.

“I’ll remember that.” he said. Then he looked at his student. Minato’s eyes were still as cold, as before.

“You know why I’m here.” it was not aquestion. The Sannin couldn’t help, but wince.

“Minato look...”

“You’re his godfather, damn it!“ he growled. “I trusted you!”

The Sannin sighed. “I know and I’m sorry. Just let me expl...“

“No.” Minato cut him off in ameasured tone. “I know enough from Kakashi and Naruto. Ialso you know made up with Naruto, but that’s only because his heart is one of mercy.”

“I know.” he muttered, looking away for amoment.

“I will not say any more on the subject Jiraiya. We all make our own decisions. But if you ever make him cry again, the way Iheard from Sasuke, that you had, Ipromise you. Ipromise you that Iwill find away back from death without Edo Tensei and then, I’ll drag you with me.”

Than, his student was gone in aflash of yellow and Jiraiya was left alone, to reflect on the mistakes he’d made. (If he ever wanted Naruto to trust him, even abit, he had alot of making up to do...)

Chapter 30: The Slug Princess (+ omake for Ch 28)

Chapter Text

Orochimaru winced, as Kabuto changed the bandages on his wounds. The Uchiha and Minato’s spawn were strong – almost too strong for two Genin. Or Chūnin.

He looked down at the wound. It was healing very slowly – slower, than before. “Is this body already at it’s limits?“ he hissed in annoyance.

Kabuto sighed, as he secured the medical cloth. “So it would seem, Orochimaru-sama. Should Iprepare another one soon?”

The Sannin grunted. “What of our little Uchiha? Would he be coming to us?“

Kabuto stopped and looked up at him, with asmall shake of his head. “It would seem, that the Cursed Seal has somehow been removed from his body, if what my spies told me is correct. Considering we hadn’t seeen him activating it during his Exam, nor during the invasion, Imust persume it is the truth.

The Snake Sannin froze, rage and disbelief rising to the heights of the Hokage Monument. “WHAT?!” he snarled, Killing Intent radiating from him. “How had he managed to get rid of it?! Not even Jiraiya has figured out its workings yet!”

“It appears one Senju-Uzumaki Naruto is more shrewed, than your former teammate, my lord.” Kabuto answered.

“Damn your spawn, Namikaze!” the resounding scream of frustration could be heard for miles.

Naruto sighed, as he watched the three Edo Tensei Kage stop in their respective sealing circles, each creatively marked with aKanji – wood, water, flash.

“Oh, before Iforget!” the Shodai called, offering two scrolls to Naruto. “Naruto-kun.”

Naruto stepped closer to the founder and took them. “What are these?”

“Well, Jiraiya-san here said you want Tsunade to be the next Hokage. The small scroll is our message for her.“ he explained.

Naruto hummed and passed the small scroll to Sasuke, who immediately tucked it away. “And the bigger one?”

The Shodai’s brown eyes met him. “All my Mokuton techniques. You’re a Senju and in possession of the ability. Many may be familiar, but there were several, that I had invented. Study them and use them in the village’s defence.”

The blonde grinned. “Arigato. Iwill be sure to do so.”

He took astep back to stand next to Sasuke again. It was asmall affiar – letting the three Kage go. Just Sasuke, Kakashi, Yamato, Jiraiya and himself. No one else was present, altough the council knew, that today was the day.

“Good luck in the future, boys.” his father said, looking both at him and Sasuke with asmile. “And take care.”

Sauske hummed, standing little ways away, next to Kakashi. “We will. It was an honour.”

Naruto saw it. His brother had always been amaster at hiding his thoughts and emotions, but as time went by, he had learned to read him, like an open book. Living extra llives also helped. The thing was, that on the outside, Sasuke seemed calm and just atiny bit detached. However, in fact, the Uchiha was just as sad to see the three men go, as he was. These past weeks realy made both of them feel safe and comfortable again. Having afull family.

But they had died once – even the fact that they were here, was partially against the laws of nature and Ninshū. The three of them staying, or getting fully resurrected (not that they could do it, as neither of them had Rin’negan) would have been even more upsetting for the balance. It could not be.

He nodded to the Nidaime too (he’ll miss his new, favourite pranking partner) and walked over to his father. He carefully crossed into the seal and hugged the older blonde close. “Aish*teru, Otō-san.”

His father hugged him back, just as tightly. “Naru-chan, what did Itell you about that?“

Naruto chuckled and burried his head even more into the white haori. “That’s not ahabit you gonna break. It’s too old for that.”

His father snickered and hummed. “Aish*teru, Naruto. And take care of each other, the four of you, hm? Keep an eye on Kakashi and Tenzo, okay? If they’re anything like they used to be as children, they’ll need their backs covered by you and Sasuke.“

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, sensei.“ Kakashi murmured from next to Tenzo and Jiraiya.

“Don’t worry.“ Sasuke said – and while Naruto couldn’t see him now, he could hear the smirk his brother wore – “We’ll be extra careful, when babysitting our precious Jōnin-senseis.”

Naruto snickered (and even Jiraiya choked on his laugher) at the choice of words and carefully backed out of the shikki of the release jutsu. He crouched down abit farther from the others and he coaxed his chakra into the surface, to channel into the connecting seal, which would power the other three and release the trapped souls.

“Protect the village... and the world with it.“ the Shodaime said.

Sasuke stepped next to him, placing ahand on his shoulder. Naruto smiled. Starting this lifetime, they would forever be aunited front.

“Till our last breath.“ his brother said seriously. Naruto nodded and then placed his hand where needed, channeling chakra. The various Kanji lit up, one by one with blue light and as the light reached the seperate sealing circles, it turned from blue to white, disintegrating the bodies.

There was ashockwave of chakra, which caused ablast of wind, but it was soon gone. As Naruto looked down, he found the array gone – just like his family. He sighed.

Sasuke squeezed his shoulder in silent comfort and then offered ahand to help him stand. As he stood, Naruto turned towards the remaining three shinobi, whose eyes trailed him and the spot, where the Hokage had been in equal parts.

“What now?” he asked.

After aheartbeat of silence it was Jiraiya, who answered. “Now we bring back Tsunade.”

“Are you sure you can’t come, Kakashi? Yamato?“ Sasuke asked, throwing ahopeful glance at the two, who made up his surrogate family.

Kakashi shook his head. “No. The village needs everyone here. Had Naruto been any quieter about his protests, you would be staying too, you know.”

Sasuke hummed, remembering that conversation well. Naruto had been summoned to the Hokage Office and Sasuke had gone with him, as always. The two remaining Elders and Jiraiya had been there. The Toad Sannin has expressed his desire to take Naruto out of the village, to find Tsunade – he wanted to spend some time with his godson and he believed that the presence of another Senju may be good enough to persuade Tsunade to return. When they’d been told Sasuke would stay behind, Naruto refused even to move from his spot, useless the decision was changed.

Jirayia could only stand the scowl and the look Naruto was giving him for about ten minutes, before he caved in and changed his wording. (Sasuke remembered hearing the Sannin mutter about the blonde learning too much from the Nidaime in the past weeks.) The Elders hadn’t been overly happy either, saying that every able-bodied shinobi was needed right now to help recuperate. But as Naruto’s eyes changed from violet to fox-like red, both retired shinobi gave in.

“I know. Being the Jinchūriki of Kurama also helps.” he muttered quietly.

Kakashi and Yamato chuckled at that

“Hey, Uchiha! Are you coming?“ the Sannin called. Sasuke took adeep breath to remain calm and nodded to his senseis, before turning around and heading for the gate. “Hurry up kid, Tsunade’s not going to stay in one place!”

Sasuke groaned. ‘This is going to be along trip...‘

“Tanzaku Gai?“ Naruto asked, as they crossed into the town – he knew for afact, that the place was apleasure town. Bath houses, restaurants, taverns, casinos... and one could not forget the shadier part of town either. The Red Light District.

Jiraiya hummed. “Yes. Tsunade likes her fun.”

Naruto’s violet eyes narrowed on the man. “What fun are you referring to?”

Jiraiya was quiet for asecond. “You know... drinking. Gambling.”

“Is she any good at least?” Sasuke asked, wrinkling his nose.

“She has the worst luck in all of the Elemental Nations.” murmured the white-haired man, with asmall frown.

Naruto growled. “Well, that explains why the Senju account has zeros. Let me guess.... if she had access to the Uzumaki one, it would be empty too, right?”

The spymaster sighed and frowned. “Yes. Luckily Mito-sama noticed Tsunade’s tendencies and after Kushina came to the village, she wrote off the account to Kushina’s name, so Tsunade had no access to that fortune. Kushina herself had only been informed of her money after she made Jōnin... but aconversation with Sarutobi-sensei... and knowing Tsunade... she was happy. Happy that the Uzumaki hadn’t gone bankrupt, while she grew up.”

Naruto groaned. “Shinju have mercy.”

As they passed the buildings their eyes wandered around. “This place is big.” his brother growled, “How are we going to find her?”

“Well, you usually follow the commotion and the loud swearing.” said the Sannin.

Naruto scoffed. “I can locate her. What’s her chakra nature?”

Jiraiya blinked at him. “Earth. She has about as much chakra, as me. Maybe even abit more, considering her Senju-Uzumaki lineage.”

Naruto closed his eyes and spread his Sensory to the fullest. Many, many signatures assulted his senses then, so strongly that he took ashuddering breath. But most were civilian sized or asize, that was most common for average Chūnin and Jōnin. Sasuke and Jiraiya stood out the most, their closeness and the strenght of their chakra almost blinding, in afigurative sense...

...until he felt that chakra. Powerful like Jiraiya’s, but much firmer. Earth nature for sure, calm and controlled to the last drop. There was electicity too, energising – vitalising. Somehow, somehow those two opposing natures were present in the chakra and coexisted, insted of cancelling one other out – amiracle and afeat of chakra control. It also had the faintest trace of the typical Uzumaki adamantine chakra. But nowhere near enough for the individual to form the chains. Ah, and it had that warm, serene feel, that was the general undertone for all healers.

Right next to the Senju/Uzumaki chakra he felt another one. Another medic, but this one not so perfectly controlled. This signature was weaker and had afaint warm feeling to it.

He opened his eyes and looked at Jiraiya. “I think, Ifound her. Larger than yours, well-controlled and amedic for sure.”

“How can you tell?” asked the Sannin, eyebrow arching.

Naruto hummed. “Medics have acertain... serenity to their chakra, in asense. Come on, let’s not waste time.”

He nodded to the man and started walking. Sasuke followed him without even uttering asound. His brother knew well, how accurate his Sensory could be, if he knew what to look for – and he certainly had enough general information on the Sannin, to find her.

“It’s impossible to track someone so precisely.” Jiraiya murmured behind them. Naruto chose to ignore the comment. The Sannin was unaware of who he had been in adifferent life – of what he was trully capabe of even now, despite still not having back all the power he possessed in his prime. (He hoped they would still have afew years before having to stop the lunatics... right now, they couldn’t fight off two mad Uchiha’s and their grandmother.)

“Not impossible.“ Sasuke said and Naruto saw as he threw alook at his godfather. “It may be impossible for an average Sensor... but not Naruto. He’s different.”

They walked towards the chakra, which he clung onto, until they reached one of the tallest buildings in town. Not so surprisingly, it was acasino. He shared alook with Sasuke and then he sighed. “Here goes nothing.” he murmured softly

They stepped in and despite the crowd, it didn’t take long for Naruto to spot her. Now that they wre closer, her chakra felt even more powerful. He walked over to her, shoulder to shoulder with Sasuke and they stopped next to her table. Ablack-haired young woman sat next to her, holding apet pig. (Who had pig for apet? Why not acat or adog... or hell, some sort of bird? Why apig?!)

She had long blonde hair, held in two pigtails, brown eyes, which Naruto was sure she’d inerited from Hashirama, as they were almost the same and rather large... womanly assests. She wore agrey blouse and green haori. The purple rhombus of the Byakugō was also adead giveaway.

“Are you the Slug Princess, Tsunade of the Senju?” Naruto asked.

The woman’s brown eyes snapped up to them, her gaze slightly narrowed. Naruto could feel suspicion and curiousty from both her and the black-haired woman. “Who wants to know?“ she asked.

Sasuke was the one to answer, his tone just abit scratching. “Uchiha Sasuke and Senju-Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha.”

The effect was instantenous. Her brown eyes narrowed even more, anger darkening her youthful features, altough Naruto suspected that was the work of aGenjutsu. He felt athin layer of chakra cover her, from head to toe, like asecond, insivisble skin.

“Who are you? You dare using my family’s name! Who are you to dare using my family’s name!”she roared, jumping forward. Naruto channelled chakra into his feet to get away. He landed pressed against one of the tables, but he wasn’t overly worried.

As she swung her fist, he raised his own hand and enchanced it with chakra the same way she did and caught her punch without ablink. She froze for asecond and he shoved her away, glaring. “Is it how you greet all your allies, Namekuji-hime?”

“We’re not allies as Idon’t even know who you are!” she growled back.

Naruto’s violet eyes narrowed on her. “Senju-Uzumaki Naruto. Son of Senju-Namikaze Minato, Kiroii no Senkō and Konoha’s Yodaime and Uzumaki Kushina-hime, Heiress of the Uzumaki and chosen of Uzumaki Mito, known as the Akai Shi.” he hissed in alow tone.

“No.” she shook her head. “Impossible. Iwas... the child’s dead. Iwas told their child had died.”

Naruto’s eyes went wide. So... was she calling him aliar? “You abandon family and then you call me aliar?” he growled back to her.

“Their son is dead. Died from the sealing.” she repeated, angry and desperate at the same time. Naruto felt it. All her feelings – anger, desperation, grief... oh so much grief. He took adeep breath and drew back, before her emotions overwhelmed him.

He shared a look with Sasuke, who was now leaning against the table where the black-haired girl still stood, studying them both. His brother’s face was covered by unreadable calmness, but he gave a tiny nod. “Show her, Otōto.”

“Count the seconds how long it takes her to process it, Nī-sama.“ he countered, only half-joking.

Tsunade’s eyes –as well as the other girl’s– eyes flickered to Sasuke for amoment with araised eyebrow, but before she could say aword, Naruto flared his chakra. The action caused her to look back at him and once her whole attention was focused, Naruto released even more of his chakra. Letting everything seep into it. She wasn’t aSensor, but there were certain things, that if powerful enough, could be picked up by non-sensors, from aclose range.

First, he allowed Kurama’s chakra to the surface, giving his body asoft, orange glow and as the malice rolled off of him, everyone in the room staggered to their feet at ran. Her eyes widened. Then, he allowed his own chakra to rise like water from awell, pushing Kurama’s chakra down. It rose and rose further and further until Sasuke smirked and that action alone was enough confirmation for the blonde to know, that it was now visible. Tsunade’s eyes were even wider and he took another breath, coaxing abit more of his power to the surface. She staggered back, looking at him in shock.

“I believe you!” she said at last.

Tsunade did not want to believe what she heard from the blonde. No – it was impossible. Only because he had blonde hair, like Minato and violet eyes, that were entirely too much like her former student (and cousin) it didn’t mean what he said, was true. The ANBU agent that had found her after the Fox’s attack had said, that Kushina and her child, the child they chose to be the next vessel, had died not long after her sensei had made it back to the village, with said child and the bodies of the parents.

The blonde and the Uchiha (she could believe that; the black hair and eyes and the symbol on his clothes were unmistakable) shared alook. “Show her, Otōto.” the Uchiha said.

The blonde’s serious face didn’t change. “Count the seconds how long it takes her to process it, Nī-sama.“

Tsunade blinked. That was entirely unexpected – Uchiha didn’t get close to anyone outside of their Clan. And certainly not so close, to call someone their brother...

Her thought process was cut off, as the blonde’s chakra flared. She looked back and she saw an orange glow around him and the room was filled with the searing chakra of the Kyūbi from almost thirteen years ago. With the searing chakra also came awave of Killing Intent, which sent everyone in te bar running, until only the blonde, the Uchiha, Shizune and herself remained.

And then, chakra rose – this time, it seemed to be the boy’s own, as it pushed the Fox’s back down. It reminded her of both Minato and Kushina at once – dense, yet well controlled. But, as it rose, she felt something else. Apresence, apower she had not felt since she was achild. The kid kept dragging more and more chakra forward, such quanities, that the energy actually formed avisible, blazing outline around him – the usual light blue tainted by soft green... and there was it again. She’d only ever felt that around her grandfather, when he allowed his chakra free. But his chakra had been unique even by Senju/Uzumaki standards, as he had the Mokuton. An ability that had not been seen before, nor after...

‘Could it be...?‘ she thought, watching the boy wide-eyed. He was thirteen at best and he already had Kage level reserves... and she wasn’t afool. Despite how great his chaka reserves were, despite how dense... he had almost perfect control. Gods be good... that kid could be agreater medic, than she was, if only taught...

The blonde looked at him, his violet eyes burning into her very soul. Minato’s hair and face... Kushina’s eyes, the gaze holding the sharp edge, like her great-uncle’s... while his chakra felt like Kushina’s and her grandfather’s at once.

He wasn’t lying.

“I believe you!” she said sharply, the words tumbling out of her mouth clumsily. “I-I believe you...” she whispered.

Slowly, the blonde drew his chakra back and she gasped at the sudden absence of the powerful energy. Blinking to clear her clouded thoughts, she looked to the side. Shizune was wide-eyed, clutching Tonton for dear life, paler than normal.

The Uchiha was calmness personified, the small smirk that played on his lips was one of amusem*nt, as if he knew this might happen.

“What the f*ck kid?!“ afamiliar voice called. Tsunade’s gaze slid behind the boy –Naruto, Naruto was his name,– and she saw her teammate. What was Jiraiya doing here? “Do you want to call an entire army? How much chakra was that?”

Naruto shrugged. “She had the nerve to call me aliar.” Naruto threw her alook, his violet eyes narrowing. Oh, that look was Tobirama oji-san just fine....

Jiraiya growled. “That does not mean you send an entire casino running and then release enough chakra so that even Konoha’s Sensor Teams can feel it! And the Fox’s chakra, on top of that!”

“Oh, quiet now, Sannin. This would not have happened, if she calmly listened to Otōto’s explanation and then actually stopped to think about it!“ the Uchiha growled. “But she accused him of lying and then attacked him. Call it self-defence, for it was. Be grateful no jutsu had been thrown around.”

She blinked – had... had those two really called one another brother? An Uchiha and an Uzumaki... was the world coming to an end? (Or Senju? Was Naruto – Minato, as well– really one of her own?)

She shook her head and stood up, trying to gather her thoughts. As she did so, her brown eyes landed on the blonde, who’s chakra was so eerily similar to her grandfather’s. “You better explain and do it fast.”

To her surprise, the blonde matched her gaze without a twitch. He wasn’t intimidated at all. “You know, trying to intimidate me won’t work. The past week I stared down Otō-san, Tobirama Jiji and Hashirama Oji-san. Your chakra presence is nothing, compared to theirs.”

Her eyes went wide. “W-what did you just say?”

The blonde smirked at her, as if he’d just hit the jackpot of his life. “Sit down Oba-san and we will explain.”

~ OMAKE~

Senju Tobirama and the Uchiha Paint War

Tobirama could not help it. He just had to do it.

He had afeeling his grandson may not like this, considering the Uchiha boy was almost like asecond son to him, but Tobirama could not help it. Now that he knew from where the two clans’ feud stemmed, his wiev was abit different, specifically, with the Uchiha in the village being very much aware of the Curse and actively working to avoid it.

It was commendable. And the boy was strong for his age and he could tell, that both of the reincarnates may just exceed the power-limits of their previous life. If so, those two would be literal gods in human bodies, more than Hashirama and Madara ever were.

However, even this revelation and his newfound respect for the Izuna-lookalike was not enough to stop him. Years and years of habit was not going to be broken in afew days.

So, he made his way to the nearest shop and using some of the money from the Uzumaki account (he could not believe it, that the Senju, one of the wealthiest and oldest Clan, were totally broke because of his grandniece’s bad habits, he was so going to strangle Hashirama!). Of course, with the money being in Naruto’s hand, he had to ask his great-grandson, but luckily, the blonde had agreed easily enough.

He grabbed the paint needed and carried it to the counter. The man blinked at him, before snapping out of his shock as realisation dawned on his face. He quickly bowed and then set to work. Tobirama gave him the needed money and started his treck back to the Namikaze house. Considering that they would not be around for too long, he had found it pointless to place aHirashin mark in the house – but perhaps he could use the one his grandson had left?

He closed his eyes and focused his Sensory in the general area of the residence... and there. The marker stood out, like abonfire in the dark of night. He focused on it even more and then flared his chakra. The sheer speed of the technique was exhaliriating. He had almost forogtten, how much he liked his jutsu, despite using it only in dire situations and sometimes, so he got tactical advantage.

The next minute, he found himself inside the house, right in the room, where his great-grandson was sitting kekkufuza, obviously meditating. However, as he landed in the room, his violet eyes opened and he quirked an eyebrow. “Ojī-san?“

Tobirama held up the two containers of paint and some extra meterials he’d gotten. “How about aprank, Naruto-kun? Namely, Iwould introduce you my personal paint war tactics...”

The sharp glint in the violet eyes was all the answer Tobirama needed.

~.~.~.~ scene break ~.~.~.~

Naruto was agenius, Tobirama had to addmit. Atrue Uzumaki genius, he thought, as he poured the paint into the seals and the small, intricate patterns sallowed it all up without missing adrop.

“And I’ll toss this into the water.“ Naruto said, holding up the tiny package of glitter.

“Won’t he notice?”

Naruto waved ahand. “Nah, he’s usually half-asleep whenever he deals with clothes.”

When Tobirama was done filling the seals with paint, he checked the trigger mechainsm of the seals one last time. When he was satisfied, he gave the tags to the blonde with agrin. “Here they are. Do you know when can we expect aresult?”

The Jinchūriki snickered. “In an hour, maybe two.”

Tobirama hummed. It wasn’t that long – and he was apatient man anyway. And this, this would be worth it.

~.~.~.~ scene break ~.~.~.~

Sasuke sighed as he carried the basket of freshly cleaned clothes out. The line was hung between the two great trees at the back of the yard, where the sun often shined. The clothes got dried easily. Sometimes, like now, all their training clothes and gear would get piled up so badly, that he had to seperate the things in two different groups to wash.

He’d already washed Naruto’s yesterday and finally he had the time to do his own. (Seriously, sometimes he wished to tell his brother, that he should wash his own clothes, but whenever that came to mind, he resolutely focused on something else. His brother’s cooking was heavenly and if extra laundry was the price for that food, so be it.The times when the Ōtsutsuki were considered the unpararelled royalty of the shinobi world – heck, both their grandmother and father were regarded as gods!–, which was just taking form, were long gone. Doing housework wasn’t beneath him.)

He placed down the basket next to him and methodically, one by one, he hung his clothes, careful to leave the least possible wrinkles. He refused to wear wrinkly clothes, which looked like they had been chewn over by Kashi-sensei’s dog summons. He still had style and certain expectations, thank you very much. He may no longer be an Ōtsutsuki in name, only in soul, but he had his standards and only because afew thousands of years had passed, he would not be giving those standards up.

When he was done, he gave asmall sigh and looked at the clothes satisfied. Smelling clean and fresh, completely spotless...

... only it was’t.

He saw the tiny glop of pink on his white vest and his eyes narrowed. He took astep back to allow more light onto the clothes...

...and as the light hit them, he saw the barely visible outline of seals, which slowly disappeared from the fabric. And as the seals disappeared, their contents were were released – right onto his clothes. He watched with no small amount of horror as the tiny spots of pink grew and grew and spread, on black, grey and ... oh, kami have mercy! Not on the white!

The process didn’t take more, than a minute, maybe two. The seals had released all the pain inside, colouring all his freshly washed clothing to various shades of pink, from neon pink to soft sakura pink and then almost red. And the glitter all over EVERYTHING... oh, all the gods above! THAT EVIL GLITTER!

Horrifying. Horrifynig sight – if he didn’t already have aMangekyō Sharingan, he was sure the sight before him would have been enough to trigger it’s activation.

He heard snickering from behind his back and it soon turned into loud, echoing belly laughter. Slowly, very slowly – Sasuke turned around and found Naruto and the Nidaime. Both of them were laughing so hard, that tears were streaming down their faces, needing the support of the house’s wall to stay upwards.

“You’re agenius, Naruto-kun. Those seals... My blood indeed.“ the Nidai said, not even trying to keep up his usually stoic appearance. His dark red eyes were glinting with unrestained amusem*nt.

“The pink paint was your idea, Oji-san.” Naruto breathed between laughs.

Sasuke saw red. He snarled.

“Get over here Senju! So Ican paint your heads pink too!” he roared angrily, as ablast of chakra left his body, Sharingan whirling into action.

“Uh oh, we better go. Fast!” Naruto said. Sasuke lept forwards, pushing chakra into his feet and cracking the ground in the process. He’s going to get them for that...

Sadly, the Nidaime was even faster, than he was. The Suiton master wrapped a protective arm around Naruto and then, they were gone in a flash. (Oh, how much he detested the Hirashin!)

He growled, skidding to a halt next to the house. He huffed and looked sorrowfully at the now desecrated, pink/red pieces of clothing. He would have to...

... abird cried above and Sasuke watched in frozen horror, as the whiteish-black animal waste landed on his kimono. The most comfortable, homey kimono he owned. (The one, which was now neon pink.)

Oh, forget washing. He’ll just burn every single one.

“DAMN YOU, SENJU!!“ he roared in frustration, uncaring of the fact that quite possibly the entire village heard him.

Chapter 31: Heirs of the Will of Fire

Chapter Text

(...) 'Cause one voice is enough,
To make sleeping giants wake up.
To make armies put their hands up.
And watch whole nations stand up.

It's one belief, one spark,
One faith and one restart. (...)

– Untravelled Road BY Thousand Foot Krutch

Naruto sighed, slipping into a seat opposite from the female Sannin. Sasuke sat next to him and Jiraiya lingered behind them, like some form of protector – not that they needed protecting. They could do it for themselves and each other. In the worst of cases, Naruto would let Kurama do the protecting...

“So, care to explain?“

Naruto hummed. “A traitor tried rigging my Graduation months ago and he told me to steal the Forbidden Scroll. Iknew the Sandaime would be watching, so Ithought it would be anice way to reveal him. One of my senseis from the Academy, the one who had been nice, or at least professional over the years and hadn’t tried sabotaging me for the Fox... he got involved. Found me outside and protected me – got anasty wound on his back. Ilost my cool and then... the next thing Iknow the trees around me are blooming from my chakra.“ her eyes went wide in shock, but he continoued. “I restained him with roots and gave the scroll back to Sandaime-sama. During the checkup that night Itold the Hokage that Iknew, who my parents were, we only didn’t know which of them had Senju blood. After atest, he told us it was Otō-san and that he was the grandson of acertain Suiton master. And... here we are. Our recent Chūnin Exam Finals went down the drain when your snake-faced former teammate orchestered an invasion with Suna. Sasuke and Istopped the Ichibi Jinchūriki, Gaara from losing it and went to help the Sandaime. He fought the snake and we dealt with the family. Orochi-teme resturrected the three of them to ensure Konoha’s destruction. We broke his control over them, so they helped protect the village. They spent the past week or so in Konoha, helping me and Sasuke train. And now that they’re gone, here we are.”

Her eyes were wide – very, very wide in Naruto’s opinion. The disbelief, that was coming from her was so strong, that Naruto thought she would call bullsh*t on his words.

But then, she just scowled and shook her head. “And what do Ihave to do with this?”

“We need anew Kage, of course.“ Sasuke said calmly. “The Elders want you to take the mantle of Godaime, seeing that so far, the past three Senju who’d led the village ensured its survival and despite certain dire circ*mstances during their reign, they also brought relative prosperity.”

Tsunade scowled and glared at them. “And everyone, whom Iloved and had touched that accursed hat – or even thought about taking it, – had died. Iwill not take it.”

Sasuke scowled. “The stability of the village hangs on this – we need aleader. Who better, than aSenju, related to three past Kages and student of the one, who wasn’t aSenju?”

“And what would you know about that, kid? You an Uchiha... no members of your family ever trully sacrficing anything for Konoha. The last one, who was Kage level, had in fact tried to destroy it...“ her words were cut off by powerful Killing Intent radiating from both of them.

“There were those, who had not fallen.“ Sasuke hissed, his eyes flashing with the Sharingan. “A few, but there were members of my Clan, who had not given in to the Curse of Hatered. Some, who’d overcome it and those, those people were the greatest. Uchiha f*cking Madara can’t hold acandle to them – aselfish madman, who tried to destroy what he’d created, will never be like the few, who understood, that the Sharingan does not make us invincible. And that there is more to the world, than the Clan or some sort of revenge for petty things.”

“And you...“ Naruto growled, “if Idid not know any better, Iwould say it was you, who had fallen to that infamous Curse. Senju and Uzumaki stick together – we protect our own trough thick and thin, We fight for what we believe in. For what is right. Because if we don’t, then who will? The past Kage of the village stood tall and proud, protecting what they believed in. Protecting their dream of asafer future. Protecting their comardes and friends, – no, their family. For the village is afamily and as long as one has breath in their body, we protect one another. That is what Hashirama oji-san called so catchily, the Hi no Ishi.”

“I lamented the fall of my kin.“ Sasuke muttered. “I thought no one ever will be so bitter... such acoward, to turn their back to the village, to turn twist the ideals of peace, that were rooted in the days of the Rikudō Sennin, as the Uchiha had. But it seems, the world we and the Hokage had dreamt of, is indeed out of reach, if aSenju like you would rather be acoward and embrace the Curse, instead of fighting and taking responsibility.”

Sasuke glared at her one last time and stood up. “Come now, Otōto. Obviously the faith her family has placed in her was in vain. If my kin were drowned in shame for what had been going on for so long... then she is the only – and greatest– stain on the unbreakable will of your own Clans. Uchiha, Senju, Uzumaki. We don’t leave our own behind. She did just that, she’s not worth your time and certainly not your tears.“

Naruto’s breath hitched, as he remembered crying after Jiraiya appeared. He remembered wondering, if there was anyone out here, who cared... He scowled at her and then slammed the scroll Hashirama had given him on the table.

“My question is, Tsunade-hime... what are you? ASenju-Uzumaki, who stands up for her blood and for what is right or are you perhaps aweak-willed, nameless civilian, who leaves others behind to save her own skin?“ he stood up. “Think about it, Oba-san. Think and decide. Don’t think you’re the only one who’s lost loved ones – we all know what it’s like to lose people. People you love more, than the world. People, for whom you would burn the world, if it meant their happiness.“ he said, gesturing at Sasuke, Jiraiya and himself.

“We all know what it’s like to be alone.“ Sasuke said, his tone cracking a bit. “To blame yourself – or perhaps, blame someone, because blaming someone is always easier,– for what happened and dwell on what-ifs. But the past cannot be changed. The hurt, the blood and the shadows will always linger. The question is... are you strong enough to stand up, say sorry and start anew?”

“Are you strong enough, that in starting anew, you’ll do your best to honor their legacy and memory?” he asked alast.

He waited a little, but the woman didn’t answer. He sighed. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen. All of them who remain, a shame on the Rikudō and on the Sennin’s dream of peace. We, who were trusted the world – we are the ones to tear it apart. But how can we hold it together, when our families are traitors and cowards or had been spat on in death?”

Shaking his head, the blonde headed towards the door, Sasuke shuffling next to him quietly. Despite what they’d heard from the Hokages about Tsunade, they’d hoped she’d changed, just bit towards the better. That she would be responsible and worthy enough to take up the hat and govern the village, until Naruto himself was old enough to take over. (Because, lunatic Uchihas and vengeful, non-human grandmothers aside, the blonde did want to be Hokage.)

Alas, the love of the Senju and the fierceness of the Uzumaki had long died out from her. She didn’t even have aspark of the Hi no Ishi, much less aburning inferno bright and powerful enough to protect and guide Konoha.

Jiraiya sat by the table of the hotel they decided to spend the night in. They were having dinner – well, the boys were eating. He was too busy thinking about what they said to Tsunade, to actually eat. The food was good, but his thoughts were all over the place, so he couldn’t focus.

Just... just what were those two made of? They surely didn’t act, like children – or even young shinobi– their age. Calm, reasonable, noble, focused... and wise. Wise beyond their years, as if they were speaking from their own experiences. Of course, he knew both boys had aless than ideal start... but that didn’t explain their mindset. (In fact, it was the way they’d started off, that made it even more astounishing. They had not been crushed and consumed by the loneliness and darkness, that lingered around them. In fact, perhaps, whenever one of them was starting to fall, the other would pull them out and they would be all the stronger for it.)

They were, Jiraiya thought softly, the students his sensei would have deserved. Orochimaru has gone mad with his pursuit of power and immortality. And Tsunade and himself were far from reasonable or responsible after the Kyūbi attack. These two on the other hand...

“We should train abit, tomorrow.“ he said at last, to break the thick silence, that has settled around them.

The boys looked at him with raised eyebrows. “You gave Tsunade things to think about. She would either think them trough and come to us... or she would just run. You two did more, than Icould have. From now on, it’s her decsion and regardless of her choice, you won’t be at fault.”

Naruto gave asmall scowl. “Not that we’d take the responsiblity and consequences of acoward’s choices.”

“He’s right.“ Sasuke said, his face calmer, but Jiraiya could see the underlying steel. “If she says no, she will be aMissing-nin and we all know it. We didn’t tell that to her, but she’s smart enough to know it.”

The Sannin barely supressed atired sigh. When had these two grown up enough to put even him or Tsunade to shame, when it came to responsibilities and mindset? He felt like instead of teaching them – he couldn’t just teach Naruto, the Uchiha would know anyway, so he was kind of involuntarily teaching both, not that there was much to teach – they were teaching him.

Teaching him about aside of the shinobi life, about the world, which he had not known before. And maybe... just maybe, he would listen. After all, they didn’t say anything idiotic, since he’d met them. He just hoped Tsunade would make the right choice as well.

‘Minato, it seems your son lives up to those high standars set in front of him, even exceeds them. And Sasuke... he’s right there with Naruto every step of the way. He’s broken his curse and now they walk side by side. It seems you and the Senju brothers have left the village in the best of hands. Kushina would be proud of them both, that’s for sure.‘ he thought.

“Hello, Tsssunade. Long time no sssee.”

Tsunade froze at the words hissed behind her back. There was only one person...She turned to face her former teammate, with aglare. She was in no mood to deal with him – not after what the blonde and the Uchiha rubbed in her face. (She hadn’t left her family. They had left her, they died while she was alive – she had been left behind, right?)

“What do you want Orochimaru?“ she demanded coldly.

“Well, you ssee... Ihad anasty battle and Ineed sssome healing. Who better, than the bessst medic – my old teammate?”

As he darted closer, she noticed, that his arms were missing. Whatever Sabutobi-sensei had done, had been ablow to him. “And why would Ihelp atwisted soul, like you?“ she asked.

His yellow eyes flashed. “Because Ican give you back, what you’ve losst, Tsunade. Ican bring back your family, ssso you won’t be alone.”

Her eyes narrowed, recalling what Naruto had said about Orochimaru using her uncle’s twisted jutsu to bring back the dead... to use them, those who built the village, to destroy it. It left abitter taste in her mouth. But fighting Orochimaru wasn’t agood idea – not here, in town. She may have strayed from the path her family had hoped she would follow, but she was still amedic. Preserving innocent lives was still apriority and she could very well avoid fighting him now and possibly ruining the place.

“Well? What do you ssay?”

“I could see Dan again?“ she asked in aquiet tone. It had been so long ago... so long, that she almost forgot what it was like, to have him by her side. To be wrapped in his embrace.

Orochimaru smiled (altough she could see it was far from genuine,) and nodded. “If that is your wish, yess.”

We fight for what we believe in. For what isright. Because ifwedon’t, then who will? The past Kage of the village stood tall and proud, protecting what they believed in.

Naruto’s words echoed in her head and they cut like her uncle’s Raijin no Ken. Precise and shockingly painful.

“Give me aday to think on it.”

Orochimaru frowned a bit, but then nodded. “Be by the forest tomorrow midday... and remember. The reward for helping me isss being reunited with your family.”

She watched him go, rooted to her spot – angered, upset and numb all the same. What was she to do now? Jiraiya would come hounding her soon too. Perhaps she could leave beforehand?

“Tsunade-sama...“ Shizune called, her voice qivering abit. She threw one last dark glace at the spot, where the snake summoner stood, just minutes ago.

“Pack everything, Shizune. We’re leaving this place as soon, as possible.“ she said, heading towards the casino, where their room was. Still, as she stode away, more angry and saddened than anything – angry at Orochimaru, at Jiraiya, at her family...– the words came back again. Sharp and powerful, in away she only ever remembered her grandfather’s words to be.

We fight for what we believe in. For what isright. Because ifwedon’t, then who will? The past Kage of the village stood tall and proud, protecting what they believed in.

When Naruto woke, Sauske was already getting dressed. (Unlike at home, he couldn’t sleep here. The knowledge, that they were out of Konoha, set him on edge, making his mind more awake, despite the early hour.)

They’d decided to share aroom, as it was amore coin friendly solution. Not that either of them were short on money, with Sasuke having all the Uchiha fortune and him, the Uzumaki account, as well as his father’s seperate one. But still – best think over about what needed to be paid and what could be used to cut their expenses.

“Morning, Otōto. Shall we go down and eat something?“

He flashed his brother agrin. “Sure, Nī-sama. Just give me aminute.”

He climbed from under his covers too and hurriedly dressed, checking twice to have his utility belt and weapons. Satisfied, they stepped out onto the corridor. Naruto knocked on the door next to theirs, knowing that it had been Jiraiya’s. When he opened the door, they found agirl few years older then them, already cleaning.

“Good morning.“ Naruto greeted, gaining her attention.

The girl stopped in her chore and looked up. “Good morning. How may I help?”

“This room was rented by atall man with dark eyes and long, white hair. He’s our companion. Do you know where he may be?” Sasuke asked.

She nodded. “Yes. I’ve seen him leave afew hours ago. He seemed to be in ahurry.”

Naruto’s eyebrows knitted together. “Did you, by chance, see where he went? Or did he perhaps mention something?”

“He was hurrying towards the Red Lotus Bathhouse, I think... You leave the building and take a turn to the left and then, when you reach the crossroad, you take a right turn. That road will take you to the Bathhouses. The one you’re looking for is the biggest one in town.“

Naruto shared an irrate look with Sasuke. “Speak about the man being apervert.“ Kurama rumbled into their minds, “To me it seems, he’s even more perverted, than he was, when Kushina and Minato were alive.”

Naruto smiled at the girl and nodded. “Thank you for the information. Have anice day.”

They left the place in ahurry, following the girl’s instructions, while Naruto’s senses were spread wide, trying to spot anything familiar. Halfway there, Naruto stopped, freezing on the spot like ahound, which caught the scent.

“Sasuke. The snake’s in town. And my gambling addict of an aunt seems to be there, as well.”

“To hell with that pervert. The other two are more important right now.” his brother said, his Sharingan spinning to life in an instant.

“Agreed.” he said as they sped off towards the signatures.

As it appeared, the Sannin had been faster, than they were, Naruto noted, as they skidded to ahalt on the edge of the clearing. Orochimaru and Kabuto were already fighting Jiraiya and Tsunade, while Shizune lingered to the side, watching in worry. Without aword, the two Genin hurried over to the medic apprentince.

“Shizune-san, what’s going on?“ Naruto asked urgently, half his gaze on the earth-shattering fight.

“Orochimaru approached us after you left and Tsunade-sama wanted to leave, before either of you caught up. Orochimaru expected it and intercepted us and Ithink Jiraiya-sama had seen us or Orchimaru, so he followed.”

Sasuke cursed colorfully and then, they turned to watch the fight. Even they understood, that this was as much between enemies, as much it was between former teammates. And everything looked just fine, until Tsunade got wounded, colouring Kabuto’s kunai red.

“Oh, no!” Shizune gasped in worry, her black eyes widening.

“What now?“ Sasuke asked, muscles tense.

“Tsunade-sama... she has hemophobia.“ Shizune answered.

Naruto groaned. “Are you serious?! She’s aShinju f*cking medic!” Shizune nodded, her eyes flashing at his sharp tone. “Oh, Otō-sama give me strenght not to strangle my own kin...” he murmured.

He shared alook with Sasuke and both of them leapt into the fight. Naruto was just fast enough to catch Kabuto’s fist flying towards the frozen Tsuande. His violet eyes narrowed on the silver-haired traitor.

“Take your filthy hands off of my family, f*cker.” he snarled.

“Shiroi Honō: Yamakaji!” (White Flames: Wildfire) Sasuke called, breathing out astream of white fire. Knowing the strenght of the flames, he brached himself... but his brother had perfect aim. The flames ghosted past him and Tsunade, the heat searing.

“W-what are you doing here?“ Tsunade asked in shock. “Leave you two or they’ll take you to splinters.”

Naruto snorted, throwing her alook. “No, they won’t. Now? Will you stand up and fight? Or will you let them win? Let your fears win?”

The rest he wanted to say was cut off, as he saw Kabuto form chakra scalpels around his hands. One even scraped Sasuke, drawing blood. Naruto leapt forwards and luckily for him, the silver-haired man was right on the ground. “I told you to leave my family alone!” he roared, slamming his fist onto the ground, sending the other flying, as the earth ruptured under the blow.

Kabuto cursed and performed aKawarimi, however, sadly for him Sasuke was already waiting for him with his tantō drawn. Kabuto blocked the weapon with his own, clashing afew times with Sasuke, forcing the Uchiha back. Naruto’s eyes narrowed and chakra chains shot from his back to bind the silver haired man, but Kabuto managed to evade them and started retreating.

Naruto paused, noticing the lull in the fight, as Orochimaru and his disciple put some extra distance between them. Tsunade was still in shock, unmoved from her spot.

“How about we finish thisss fast?“ Orochimaru hissed, running trough handsigns at ablinding speed. Still, Sasuke managed to cathch them and soon, all four of them were going trough the same signs. Even their hands touched the ground together.

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Manda!”

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Gambabunta!” the two former teammates cried together.

“Kuchiyose: Ginhidzume!“ Naruto called.

“Kuchiyose: Kibagatatsuki!” Sasuke cried.

The four plumes of smoke were so great, that they covered the entire clearing for amoment before it cleared to reveal four gargantuan creatures. An orange toad, apurple snake, agrey-and-cream stag and awhite-and-blue wolf with great fangs.

“What the f*ck?!” Orochimaru called, looking at the two summons he had never seen before. “What are you two?! Freaks of nature?!”

Naruto smiled, knowing what would come. ‘Three, two...‘ he counted gleefully.

“What did you just say you mortal scum?” thundered Kibagatatsuki. “What did you dare calling my Summoner and his brother?!”

Naruto laughed, bowing his head to the great wolf. “A pleasure to see you once more, Kibagatatsuki-sama. This time in more favourable circ*mstances.”

The wolf nodded back and then Naruto flared his chakra, his hands flashing trough two handsigns in ablink. “Mokuton: Mokusei-jū no Yoroi.” (Wood Release: Wooden Beast Armour)

Wood grew from the ground, shocking the three Sannin (Tsunade the most, as she had never again expected to see the ability). And then it wrapped around Ginhidzume, forming aperfect armour. “And now, you’re going down, freak!” Naruto called, as his summon leapt forth to tackle Manda.

The two rolled and struggled for amoment, the snake having hard time in grabbing hold of the stag, due to his sharp antlers and the sturdy armour wasn’t helping much either. Seeing that blinting his opponent was no use, Manda tried wrapping around the stag, only for Kibagatatsuki to catch his tail and fling him at Gambabunta. Gambabunta leapt onto the snake, almost crushing him, but still, Manda burried himself in the ground, disappearing from sight.

Not wanting to give the enemy any advantage at all, Ginhidzume stomped the ground and scarred it with his antlers, the released chakra breaking the ground, revealing the snake. Summon and summoner leapt right towards Sasuke. However Jiraiya and Gambabunta interfered.

“Katon: Gamayu Endan!” (Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet)

Orochimaru escaped with aKawarimi. However, the flames caught Manda and then the four watched with some satisfacion at the great snake shed its skin to escape. Then, before anyone had the chance to properly recover, Tsunade leapt right at Orochimaru, punching him in the face. Naruto looked down at his summon.

“Ginhidzume-sama, would you mind lending me some chakra? I’m afraid, even with Kurama here I’m not astrong, as Iused to be.”

“Not at all, Asura-sama.” the stag answered calmly and Naruto’s breath hitched, as he felt the link forming between them

Naruto shared alook with Sasuke, as he felt his Summon’s chakra connect with his own. By the looks of it his brother was borrowing some chakra from his own partner, not that it was asurprise. He waited for Sasuke to go trough his handsigns. They released the techniques together, aimed towards Manda and Orochimaru. (Tsunade could see him, so he hoped the medic would have the presence of mind to get away, when the move was close.)

“Kyōryoku: Shakuton: Asahi!” (Cooperation: Scorch Release: Rising Sun) they annoiunced together.

The usually red-orange flames were coloured into bluish-red. The wide stream hit Manda and the snake hissed before disappearing in aplume of smoke. Then, they saw as Tsunade puched Orochimaru in the face, sending the black-hired man flying.

Naruto groaned, looking at his summon, as he dropped the wood encasing the magnificent stag. “Arigato. You may return home, Ginhidzume-sama.”

The animal looked at him with acrytical eye, probably studying him. “Stay out of trouble for now, young one. You are quiet exhausted.“

Naruto hummed, as he jumped down from his head. “Will do.” then, the stag was gone and Naruto breathed asigh of relief. Further away, Tsunade and Jiraiya were still struggling with Orochimaru. Naruto staggered over to Sasuke and they watched the fight from asafe distance, trying to catch their breath.

After aparticularly nasty punch to the face, the Snake Sannin let loose astream of curses at his former teammates, before disappearing with his companion in tow.

“Now, one problem less... at least, for now.” Sasuke grunted. Naruto threw his hand around him to support his brother and Sasuke did the same.

“Yeah, for now.“ he agreed, as they walked over to the two remaining Sannin and Shizune.

Tsunade looked at them – at him – in shock. “Wh-why didn’t you stay away? You could have died! Reckless brats!”

Naruto shared alook with Sasuke and then they smiled. “Why? Easy, Senju.“ Sasuke said, his tone lilting sharply as he spoke the Clan name, which caused her to narrow her eyes. “A wise man once said, that those of Konoha – civilian, shinobi, children, adults and old – are all afamily and family protect one another. And that together we could do alot of things, as long as that family could count on the support of others.”

“And...“ Naruto’s eyes narrowed on her, “you may not wiev them as your family, but no one can escape their ancestry. You are part of that family, like it or not – the Senju were one of the pillars of that society. Pillars of that family, who support one another, trough thick and thin. While I’m not happy you’re spitting on Jiji’s and Oji-san’s legacy... Ican understand, that grief, disappointment and anger can drive even the strongest to the breaking point.”

“You just have to decide wanting to get away from that fracture in your life – the dark. It’s aquestion of decision and as long as you believe – as long as you have even one person beliving in you – then... you can do it. To start again and do it better.”

Tsunade looked at them with wide eyes, her mouth parted in shock. She looked as if she saw aghost. After along moment, she walked closer, studying them immensely. “You know... you two are like them. Just as they were, when Iwas akid.” she said, her voice amix of nostalgia, shock and grief.

“Like who?” Naruto asked, arching an eyebrow, fighting to stay conscious.

“Like Hashirama-jiji and Madara.” she whispered.

Sasuke snorted. “I’m nothing like the madman, who enslaved afree being, just to use it, as aweapon.”

Tsunade shook her head, understanding the veiled message. “There was atime, when Madara was not mad or hateful. There was atime, when he wasn’t so bitter. There was atime, when... Iremember that Obā-san said, that sometimes, it was like they were more brothers, than Jiji and Oji-san. You two are like that. It’s like seeing them again, before Madara was consumed by the Curse... altough my memories of that time are brief.”

Naruto hummed. “We’re trying to do better, than they had, Oba-san. We’re trying to avoid the mistakes they’d made.“

“And you’re ding it just right. The Will of Fire is strong in you two. They... they made the right decision, trusting you. And...“ she reached to her neck and untied her necklace and Shizune gasped. “I trust you two, as well. You... you reminded me, what it means to hold the Will of Fire and Itrust you, like they had.“ she slipped her hands around Naruto’s neck and tied it. As she pulled her hands away, the bluish-green crystal fell onto the blonde’s chest.

Naruto’s eyes went wide, as he felt the crystal’s power. ‘That... that’s achakra amplifying crystal! Ithought all of these had been gone for ages?‘ His gaze snapped to Tsunade in shock. “W-what...?“

“That was Hashirama-jiji’s. It helped protect him and our family, or so, he claimed. Now... now Igive it to you, Naruto. You have his spirit, you know. That fire. Not only his Mokuton, but his fire, too. May it guide and protect you in the future, as it had protected him.”

Naruto grinned at her. “Arigato, Oba-san.” he murmured. However, before anything else could be said, Sasuke passed out, causing the blonde to panic.

“Nī-sama!“ he flailed for amoment and then knelt down, moulding his chakra to help his brother... only for all the chakra usage and exhaustion to catch up to him as well. The green medical chakra faded from his hands and he passed out cold, right next to Sasuke.

Chapter 32: Promotions

Chapter Text

Sasuke woke with amassive headache. His body felt like stone and even breathing seemed to be exhausting. Despite just waking up, his eyelids were already dropping and he was fighting sleep again...

“Ah, no. You don’t sleep just yet. Eat, if you’re awake anyway.“ acalm, kind yet stern female voice instructed and he felt ahand wrapping around his body. He tensed, his chakra surging forwards in aprotective wave, despite his exhaustion... “Uchiha-san, please. Ijust wish to help.”

Sasuke blinked and tried focusing. It was ayoung, black-haired woman, with black eyes. If Sasuke didn’t know any better, he would have said she was an Uchiha – her colouring passed for one. Then, as she helped him sit up, his back pressed against the wall, with apillow in-between, he recognised her.

Shizune. Senju Tsunade’s student.

“Here, eat.“ she said, offering asmall blow of rice. Sasuke took it without question and started nibling at the food. He knew that if this was achakra exhaustion – and oh, it was, how embarrassing! – than he would need to recover his strengt. Which meant proper meals, enough water and alot of sleep. And no training for afew days, for sure.

“Where are we?“ he asked, after sallowing some of the food. Even his voice sounded strained and tired. (Why? Why was he as defenceless, as an Academy student, compared to what he had been capable of? Carwing valleys... using Susanno’o for days and now... now asingle jutsu and Summoning his Boss partner had been enough to deplet his chakra, so that he needed the wolf’s help to pull off that collaboration.)

True, despite their injuries being healed, neither him nor Naruto have taken areal break between the Invasion and this trip. After all, they had trained pretty hard with the Hokage around and they may or may not have played down their injuries and exhaustion in front of Hashirama, so the older Senju wouldn’t notice...

‘It was astupid idea.‘ he decided at last, with amental sigh. ‘We should just have addmitted how strained our bodies were, instead of playing it down.‘

“Still in Tanzaku Gai.“ she said. “We decided to let you two recover somewhat, before heading back to the village.”

“Otōto?“ he asked, his eyes flickering to the motionless form of his brother.

“He’s fine, just tired like you. He woke and ate hours ago, but it’s expected. He heals faster, than normal people.”

Sasuke grunted. “Stupid Senju-Uzumaki vitality. Stupid nine-tailed furbutt.“ he muttered under his breath. “Unfair.”

Shizune snickered softly, but she didn’t comment, so he finished his food in sillence and as fast, as it was possible, while still keeping his good manners. When he was done, he gave the bowl back to the woman and slipped under the covers again. “Next time you wake up, maybe we can set off for Konoha.” she remarked quietly.

The comment eased his mind and he slipped into adreamless slumber, the warm food settling comfortably in his stomach.

The journey back to the village was spent in tense silence. Naruto hated it, but he didn’t feel like breaking it either. Tsunade’s burning gaze was heavy, it was as if the Sannin wanted to say something, yet held it back. Naruto had avery good idea, what she wanted to say – she wanted to ask how it was, that he had the Mokuton again, when she (or her father), who was the man’s direct descendant didn’t. She probably also wanted to ask about his fighting style, so much like her own, yet different. She probably – also wanted to ask about the summons, like everyone. Jiraiya had tried asking them about the contracts too, several times in fact, but they had purposefully left the man in the dark.

Kakashi and Yamato knowing –finding out–, was inevitable. They were ateam. Telling the Sannin could be easily and comfortably avoided.

On the outside, it was tense silence. On the inside, the three brothers were having aconversation and the boys were trying hard to keep it to themselves.

“Her face... her face was priceless, when she was looking at you! After the Summoning and the armour...!”

‘Kurama! Be nice.‘ Naruto chided lightly.

‘But Otōto... you have to addmit, her face had been priceless.‘ Sasuke said. His voice in his mind was weak, amere whisper. It would have been easier to keep alink, if his brother had his Sharingan active, but that was not to be.

Unlike in their previous life, Sasuke no longer felt the need to set himself apart from others. And he had come to despise how much his Clan had depended on the Sharingan after reading certain documents and hearing the accounts of the Kage, before Edo Tensei had been released.

Naruto rolled his eyes and gave apointed look to the Uchiha, which earned an eye-roll. “Are you two having fun?“ Jiraiya asked, his eyes skipping between them. “Those looks... like alovesick couple.”

Naruto choked. “NANI! He’s my brother!”

“Don’t be disgusting! He’s male and my brother!” Sasuke said, their glares directed at the spymaster.

“Oh, hey, okay. Clam down, Iwas just joking.” Jiraiya apologised. The Sannin muttered something about them not getting ajoke, but Naruto couldn’t catch the whole thing.

Sasuke on the other hand, probably caught it and scowled. “Obviously, you don’t get what it’s like to know someone so well, that you don’t need words to speak.” he pointed out. (Okay, that was not true. They still needed words, for complex conversations, but most of the time, ahandsign, alook or agesture was enough to know what the other wanted.)

“Well, just to let you...”

“It’s Konoha!” Shizune cut them off way too cheerfully, making agesture ahead. “We’re here!”

Naruto and Sasuke stood side by side, on the stone face of the Yondaime, listening to the muted cheers of the crowd, as everyone celebrated the newly crowned Hokage.

“Long may she reign.“ Naruto said, his words carried by the gentle, warm breeze.

Sasuke hummed. “What do you think... how long it will take her to reach the point, where she wants to strangle the old coots? Danzo may be out of the way... but Ican’t say that Itrust the other two, either.“

“We have no evidence against them and don’t forget it, Nī-sama. We’re no longer the sons of the Sennin, for whom people look for guidence. We’re just young, clueless children. Talented ones and the last of the founding Clans... but still just that. Children.”

Sasuke scowled. “Children, who have more common sense, than half of the village’s shinobi.”

“That matters not and you know it.” he grunted. “We should try tracking Zetsu. This mess is his work and if we want to stop this, we’ll have to get rid of Zetsu too. Perhaps getting rid of him first, would be the best choice.”

Sasuke sighed. “He’s been hiding for so long, stalling. He’s elusive. He may not know we remember... but...”

Naruto pouted. “True. So what then? Should we try reaching out to the Kaguya and the Hyūga? They carry apart of the Ōtsutsukis’ legacy as well. And... frankly, my encounters with them had made alasting impression, in abad sense. Their so-called prodigy is cold, full of bitterness and hate and their Heiress is so shy. Idon’t have anything against Hinata, but if that bunch is just abit as we used to be, than they will walk over her, even before she becomes aHead.”

Sasuke hummed, sighing. “And the Kaguya? From what Iknow, most of them are gone... those who remain are regarded as bloodthirsty savages. They seem to have lost access to their Kekkei Genkai as well.”

Naruto blinked, arching an eyebrow. “W-what? But Hamura oji-sama’s blood... it had been so strong! How...?“

Sasuke shook his head. “I don’t know. However...“ the Uchiha’s sentence was cut off, as a cat-masked ANBU appeared behind them. Both Genin shifted slowly, studying the operative with sharp eyes.

“Neko-san.” Naruto greeted.

“Uchiha-san, Senju-san, Hokage-sama wishes to see you.” she stated. The boys shared abrief look, before nodding.

When they made it to the Hokage’s office, they noted with some surprise, that the rest of their peers were present as well.

Tsunade sat behind the massive table, the Hokage’s hat in front of her, afaint smile on her face. Nara Shikaku and the two Elders stood behind her, with Jiraiya lingering off to the side. Once they stopped, eyeing Tsunade, the medic spoke.

“After careful consideration, based on the accounts of your preformance during the Exams and the Invasion...” she reached for something, which was off her table, “we made our decisions. You’ve all shown skills and mindset worthy of Konoha shinobi.“

As she pulled out avest, she looked at Shikamaru. “Shikamaru, you’re an excellent tactican, despite your age. While you have given up your match, your preformance helped along your team and also helped them perform better and stay safe in the Invasion. For that, you are prompted to Chūnin.”

She tossed him the vest and he caught it. “Mendokuse.“ he murmured with anod, causing Ino to glare. “Thank you, Hokage-sama.”

One by one, Tsunade listed all the positive qualities of each person present, pointing out flaws, that should be worked on in the future, to help them improve. And as she listed the names, Chūnin vests were distributed among each of them. The pleased expressions and the congratulations passed between them all, in good spirits.

Once the group quieted down, they all realised, that Tsunade hadn’t called out Naruto and Sauske. Everyone’s eyes settled on the boys, ocassionally flickering to the Hokage, waiting for her to speak. After along moment of silence, she did.

“Uchiha Sasuke and Senju-Uzumaki Naruto.” both stood straighter at their names being spoken, studying the Hokage curiously, “According to the accounts, the two of you have stalled the three resurrected Hokage, which allowed Sarutobi-sensei to deal great wounds to Orochimaru. You two hadn’t only stalled them, but freed them from Orochimaru’s control, to aid the village. You kept an instable Jinchūriki in check, until his seal could be redone and so stopped Shukaku from laying waste to the village. And lastly, your timely appearance outside Tanzaku Gai had saved my life. Once more, you demonstrated teamwork beyond that of teams so recently formed. You showed tactical manouvers, raw power, teamwork of the highest calibre and a mature mindset, that makes people wonder. I dare say, others could – and can – learn from you. Not only your peers, but those older than you, by decades. ”

The boys shared abrief look and smiled slightly. “Arigato, Hokage-sama.”

Tsunade smiled and tossed two green vests at them, which they caught on instinct. “Naruto, Sasuke, for your outstanding performance and for the Will of Fire, that burns so brightly in you, as my grandfather would have said, hereby you are Tokubetsu Jōnin of Konohagakure.”

Chapter 33: Discussions and Missions

Chapter Text

As the cheers quieted down, Naruto looked at the group with asmile. “Hey, guys. What about some food at the Akimichis’ Barbecue place? You’re all my guests.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “You wanted to say our guests, Otōto. Considering the minus on the Senju account, you only have the Uzumaki one. True, the fortune of an entire Clan, which has been growing over the years, but still.”

Naruto huffed. “Whatever.“ he looked back at the others. “So?” All the Chūnin shared looks and then they agreed, Lee and Kiba being the loudest.

“Far from wanting to break your moment,“ Tsunade spoke up again, drawing many eyes to her. “But Iwould like to speak with my newest Tokujō. They will join you shortly.”

After several nods, the group left, only leaving the brothers and the two Sannin in the office. “What is it you wanted to speak to us about, Hokage-sama?“ Naruto asked.

Tsunade seemed thoughtful for amoment. “Usually this... is not done. But Iwould like you two to join us our most recent investigation, as it concerns you both, Ibelieve.”

“What investigation?”

“Danzo’s death means we can put an end to his shady operations and disband his little organization, which we know as ROOT. Sarutobi-sensei had ordered it disbanded awhile after the Kyūbi attack, but it was obviously not done. The ROOT Headquarters had been found underground. Now, the two of you are involved, not only because of the discovery regarding the Uchihas...“ here she threw alook at Jiraiya, “... but also because of the Kyūbi.”

Naruto frowned. “What does my Jinchūriki status have to do with this?”

“He wanted to make you his personal little weapon.“ Jiraiya said darky. “Myself and Sarutobi-sensei struggled for years to keep his hands off of you. To give you anormal childhood. Ithink he would have tried getting his hands on Sasuke too, for his Sharingan, but he dropped dead sooner.”

“Good riddance.“ Sasuke hissed. “If he wasn’t already gutted, Iwould gut him now.”

Tsunade didn’t say anything, only continoued after amoment. “There’ll be several ANBU squads tonight. Jiraiya will also join and since it’s an operation inside the village, we thought it would be good for you to learn some more professinalism and inteligence gathering. Yamato and Kakshi will be considered active ANBU operatives for this occasion and the four of you will be ateam.”

They shared alook and nodded. “Understood, Hokage-sama.”

“It’ll be marked in your files as anA-rank mission and you will get payment for it accordingly. Yamato and Kakashi will seek you out afew hours before the mission. And do not mention this to your peers.”

“Understood.”

Tsunade nodded. “Dismissed. Go, have some fun with your friends. Kami knows you two are way too mature and serious. Enjoy life while you can.”

Jiraiya watched the duo leave with athoughtful look. Once he was sure they were gone, the Gama Sennin turned back to his teammate. “Are you sure this was agood idea? The promotion and involving them?“

Tsunade nodded. “They are far more talented, than the rest of the group, but Ialso understand Homura and Koharu’s reluctance to make those two full-fledged Jōnin. Climbing the ranks too fast might break them, no matter how strong they seem right now. Climbing fast has almost broken Kakashi, coupled with the loss of his team... and while Itachi is still loyal, you’re not making me eat the bullsh*t, that he is completely healthy, mentally speaking.”

Jiraiya sighed. “I would think he’s burdened too. Fugaku was an ass – always been. It’s akind of surprise, that Itachi turned out the way he is, with that man for father.”

Tsunade grunted and then looked at him with araised eyebrow. “Speaking of Itachi... do we have news about Akatsuki?”

Jiraiya grunted in irritation. “No. It seems, that for some reason, Akatsuki has been more careful. From what Itachi told me last time we met, they’re gathering funds to launch something bigger – something, that may lead to them hunting the Jinchūriki. Perhaps sooner, than we first anticipated.”

“Which brings us to Naruto.“ Tsunade murmured, taking aswing of her saké. Jiraiya noted, that ever since that fight with Orochimaru, he saw his teammate drink less. She still drank, but the amont had been decreased greatly. It was surprising to see her turn around, in such ashort time.

‘Naruto’s realy good with words. He knows how to convince people. And while the Uchiha speaks less, his words are no less dangeorus. In fact, his words had seemed to give more weight to Naruto’s little lesson. Those two together... they could take the world and rule it, as long as they’re side by side.‘ Jiraiya thought. That realisation was mind-blowing, even for him. Those two worked together like no other. They covered each others’ weaknesses and their strenghts seemed to support one another.

“Yes.“ Jiraiya agreed. “I would say Iwant to train him... to take him away from here, to help him prepare for Akatsuki...”

Tsunade shook her head. “I don’t know them well just yet, but Idon’t think they would agree to being seperately for more, than aweek. Neither Sasuke, nor Naruto. In fact, in the light of the past, I’d say that Naruto is Sasuke’s anchor to Konoha. If not for Naruto, we may have aSharingan-wielding criminal, running wild.”

Jiraiya huffed. “Probably. And Idon’t seem to be able to teach them seperately – whatever I’ve shown Naruto so far, Sasuke had also seen it. True, he uses little of what I’ve shown, but... and then there’s Naruto. He seems to be determined to pursue amedical profession. To be aforntline medic, like you. Fighting and healing all at once.”

Tsunade’s hand froze mid-swing and she slowly placed the alcohol bottle on the desk. “W-what? Him? Amedic? He’s the freaking Kyūbi Jinchūriki! He’s not going to have enough control... not with his half-Uzumaki heritage...”

“Tsunade.“ Jiraiya cut her off, “He’s using chakra-enhanced strenght regularly. And when the Hokage were back, Hashirama-sama started teaching him.”

Tsunade stared and then drank all her remaining saké in one go. “What are those two? Some freaks of nature? If it’s true, than Icould go and teach him the Byakugō.”

Jiraiya paled. “To give even more chakra and control to aliteral, walking jaggernaut?! Kami-sama protect us then...”

Tsunade sighed. “He has the Mokuton. It has special healing properties. If Iteach him properly, he could be just as good, as jiji had once been. Aworld renowned medic.”

“But Istill want to teach the kid Fūinjutsu – he has even more potential, than Minato.“ he grunted with his arms crossed. “But if we’re speaking about Naruto, we can’t ignore the Uchiha either. As long as they’re on the same level and so close, he’s not aflight risk.”

Tsunade folded her hands and rested her chin on them. “You could teach him some more Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. Kakashi can refine his Genjutsu knowledge, too. Yamato can still help Naruto with Mokuton and Iwill teach him medical ninjutsu and maybe add some more to his Taijutsu knowledge, if he really wants to walk in Senju footsteps.”

Jiraiya leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “And you teach the Uchiha chakra control. He doesn’t have as much chakra as Naruto, nor can Isee him as amedic, but he has alot of chakra for his age. And it’s surprisingly potent, for an Uchiha – better chakra control would be benefical for his techniques. And he’s also good with Kenjutsu. Perhaps we could rope Yugao or Hayate into teaching him?”

Tsunade nodded. “Possible. Sarutobi-sensei had high expectations of those two and it seems, they could live up to said expectations, even exceed them, as long as we give them the means to improve. Perhaps they’ll make it onto Jōnin in ayear. From what I’ve seen, their teamwork is hellish. Inever thought I’d say something like this, but they easily beat the Ino-Shika-Chō, in teamwork.”

“Yes. But what about the missions? They would need real-life experiece, too. They’re once in alifetime pair, Igive you that, but their hands are not yet bloody. Not really.”

Tsunade shrugged. “Perhaps you could take them on shorter trips? Afield promotion, instead of Exam? But then again, Jōnin Exams are always within the village and that might be good to. To show others, that despite their young age, they’re worthy.”

Jiraiya shrugged. “No idea... Kami, my Genin team was much easier to deal with. Why can’t Naruto be like Minato?”

Tsunade snorted. “He’s very much like Minato, Jiraiya. Any more like his father and the kid would be his father reborn. Which he is obviously not, altough his skills are growing fast...” she huffed. “If we manage to get trough with this... we’ll be creating monsters. Monsters on the level of Madara and Jiji.“ she murmured.

Jiraiya nodded, having the same thoughts. But then, his mind flashed to the conversation he had with the Great Toad Sage just afew weeks ago. Ablood chilling conversation about darkness and about achild of Prohecy, who either saved or destroyed the world. Perhaps he had been wrong – it had never been Nagato, nor Minato. It was Naruto.

Darkness covering the world, ared moon – like asinister god watching,– hanging in the sky, blood flowing in rivers... the Great Sage had said.

“Yes and it’s terrifiying amount of power... but I have a vague bad feeling, that if we want those two to survive, they will have to be like Madara and your grandfather, in terms of power.” he muttered, barely supressing a cold shiver.

The newest Chūnin/Tokubetsu Jōnin of the village were all sitting at the Akimichis’ restaurant, eating.

“Oh, look here are our fromer students.“ anew voice spoke. Everyone stopped for asecond, to see their senseis approaching. Kurenai was smiling, Gai had ahuge, blinding grin on his face and Asuma’s calm expression was radiating pride.

“Sensei!” several of the former Genin called cheerfully. The adults grabbed afew chairs and completed the crowded circle.

“So, how does it feel to be Chūnin?“ Kurenai asked.

“It’s wonderful!“ Kiba said enthusiastically. “One step closer to being famous! Whoo!” Akamaru barked in agreement and the Jōnin all chuckled at the usual Inuzaka antics.

“And you, boys?“ asked Asuma, turning to Naruto and Sasuke. “I heard you impressed Godaime-sama and the Elders. Tokujō on the spot...“ he hummed, “You’re quick to climb the ranks, like Kakashi had been.”

Sasuke shrugged. “We were just doing, what had to be done, plain and simple.”

“But it also helps, that we have wonderful senseis.“ Naruto added with acheerful grin.

“Maa, that’s sweet of you to say, Naruto.“ came alazy drawl. Kakashi walked over to them, his stance relaxed. “But really, you two would have been perfectly capable of the things you’ve done, even without us.”

Sasuke nodded. “Maybe. But teamwork’s essential, no? We stick together.“

Kakashi nodded. “That we do, Sasuke.“

“It’s so unfair you two are already Jōnin.“ murmured Kiba, scowling at them. Naruto scowled too, as he felt the jealousy rolling off of the feral boy.

“We worked for our promotion – besides, we’re not entirely Jōnin yet.“ he pointed out. “Train and work hard, Kiba and you will have your own accomplishments. Jealousy just tampers your improvement. Instead, sallow your pride and work with your team, together, not just on Clan techniques. I’m not saying you leave your family, no – family is more important, than anything... just be open to change. Ask others to help you and if you ask nicely, I’m sure they won’t say no. It’s just patience and alot of work.”

Everyone blinked at those words owlishly, trying to process their meaning.

Kakashi hummed. “As enlightening it is to listen to your words of wisdom Naruto, we have work to do.”

Both boys’ eyes snapped to him, turning sharp and focused in ablink. “It’s time?“ Sasuke asked, rising from his seat slowly.

Kakashi hummed. “I thought, I’d go over the detalis before we start, as you’ve never been to a mission like this. So... finish your meals, say goodbye and meet me on Namikaze grounds in twenty minutes.”

Naruto nodded. “We’ll be there.” Kakashi gave them an eye smile – stole some of Naruto’s food, earning himself an outburst from the blonde, – before disappearing. Naruto scowled at the spot where his sensei had been. “That was my food.“ he murmured sulkily.

The others around him chuckled at his misfortune.

Sasuke scoffed, Sharingan narrowing on the offending pieces of clothing. ‘Stupid ANBU armour. How the hell are we supposed to...‘

“Need some help?“ came the calm, yet amused voice of Yamato from the door.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes at the older Mokuton-user. “Why the hell do we need this anyway? We’re not ANBU.”

Yamato walked up to him, showing how to hold the armour, to slip into it. “You’re not ANBU, true... but we don’t know what may be down there. Tsunade-sama may have classified this an A-rank. Both myself and Kakashi would feel better if you were dressed in this. You don’t get masks, but we did get permission to borrow these.”

The Uchiha grunted. Even after so long, it was a bit surreal how protective the two Jōnin could be and that hadn’t changed one bit, even after they told the two who they’d been once. “You two forget what we were once capable of.“ he murmured, as Yamato secured his armour.

“Once.“ the brown-haired man said. “You can’t do it now – not yet. Until Idon’t see that famous Perfect Susanno’o of yours, the one which was the originator to all of them or Naruto’s... own avatar, we get to be protective.”

“Sūsenju. Or Varuna.” Sasuke supplied calmly, as he picked up his tantō, securing it on his back, as per ANBU protocol.

“I’m sorry?” Yamato asked, blinking at him.

“Otōto’s avatar. Sūsenju, if he uses Mokuton. Varuna, if he uses the nine Bijū’s chakra. Just so we’re clear.”

Yamato hummed. “Whatever you say, Ibelieve you. The point is, until Isee either of those legendary avatars, you’re putting up with our fussing and that’s it.”

Sasuke sighed, glancing at the ceiling. “Otō-sama give me strenght...“ he murmured under his breath, Sharingan skidding about the room, as if he wished hard enough, the legendary man would appear. He had no such luck.

Seriously, ever since they told Kakashi and Yamato, he was cursing more, than he had done in his previous life and up till the Exam, combined.

It was strange, Naruto thought. It was strange how tightly the armour fit, seemingly restrincting his movement, yet still allowing him to move, just as well as before. Tonight was dark, the crescent moon hiding behind the clouds. Still, for amoment, sometimes, he would catch the silvery celestial body and it would bring up memories. Memories of his childhood, when they trained with Indra and their father so fondly compared them to the sun and the moon...

“Are you ready?“ Kakashi asked in aquiet tone, glancing at him and Sasuke.

Naruto nodded and then, in aburst of speed, they were gone from the rooftop. They sped trough the village, towards the empty, abandoned outskirts. Once they reached just the ‘border ‘ of it. Nearuto could sense the other ANBU teams approaching and he pointedly looked in their direction and nodding towards them. It seemed the three teams were suitably impressed with him, if the surprise and shock that sparked among the calmness, was anything to go by.

“What sort of little monsters do you have for students, sempai?“ abear masked man asked, looking at Kakashi.

Kakashi chuckled, looking at the operative and then at him. “The sort of monsters, who can level entire villages, without Bijū involvement.”

Naruto snorted softly. “Not yet... but if Iuse Jukai Kōtan, I’m sure at least half the village would be covered, which would then give us chance to try and destroy the rest. Nī-sama could always burn down the rest of the place with Shiroi Honō.” he grinned foxily.

“Otōto.“ Sasuke hissed, softly, his Sharingan flashing disapproingly. “Let’s not discuss the destruction of the village, hmm? How about we deal with this? I’d gladly sleep tonight, if possible.”

“Well said, Uchiha-san.“ aBird masked ANBU murmured. “You know the plan. Get in, kill anyone who’s resistance is danger to your lives and then we can start collecting the documents. Don’t kill those, who have been safely restrained.”

“Hai.“ came the group’s answer, as they moved forward.

As they descended into the underground facility, Naruto’s senses heightened. Channeling abit of Kurama’s chakra helped his eyes adjust to the darkness, too. They were barely inside, when he sensed three people approaching. The three cloacked operatives dropped from the ceiling, radiating Killing Intent.

“Leave now, intruders.”

Naruto’s lips curled upwards. “Sorry, not gonna happen.“ he said.

He jumped at the men, chakra chains materialising from his back with soft rattle, wrapping around two of the ANBU, while Sasuke intercepted the third one. For awhile, the operiatives tried struggling their golden bonds, but as Naruto anchored the chains to the wall, their movements slowed. Satisfied, he formed even more of the chains, to wrap the two completely, not even giving them an inch to move. Once he was done, he turned to Sasuke, just in time to see the Uchiha drive his lightning-enhanced blade trough the operative’s heart.

Once the individual dropped down, Sasuke sighed. “Wish Ihad your chains. But... maybe I’ll try ababy version of Tsukuyomi. That should do well to knock them out.“ he said thoughtfully.

Naruto shrugged. “Sure.“

The deeper they went, the more operatives they found and soon enough, they caught glimpse of Kakashi and Yamato as well, along with the three other ANBU squards Tsunade had assigned.

It took them the better part of the night, but in the end, the mission was sucessful. Most ROOT members were alive and bound – some around Sasuke and Naruto’s age, but others even younger. Adozen or so of them dead, but compared to how many have been bound, the number was rather small.

By the time they collected the bound people, as well as the bodies, it was almost dawn. With the operatives no longer adanger, they could start investigating. Jiraiya called in some members of the T&I to take the people away.

Naruto just barely got his breath back after the fight – the last two he’d faced had been skilled and rather determined to kill him, so he had to use Mokuton to surprise them. When Yamato waved them over. “Sasuke, Naruto.“

Hearing the call, the blonde shuffled to his teacher and looked at astack of papers on the desk. “Now, we’ll have alot of things to look trough. I’ll show you what to look for and then, we’ll later go over how to write aproper mission report.”

Nodding in understanding, they set out to work.

Naruto froze, when he saw the old folder, on the very bottom of the pile he’d been going trough. The writing on it, for some reason, turned his blood into ice. Operation Uzu – Elimination/Harvest.

Cautiously, Naruto pulled out the thick folder and flipped it open to see the documents inside. All of them had decades old dates. Dates, which corresponded with his history knowledge and his mother’s brief mentions of the catastrophe.

The days of the Second Shinobi War, specifically the destruction of Uzushiogakure.

And the files were full of revolting information. How Danzo sabotaged the Konoha troops sent to aid Uzu. How he boosted Kumo/Kiri/Iwa troops with supplies and information to help the village’s fall. it also mentioned, that several of Danzo’s men had been sent to collect the bodies of dead Uzumaki to study them and how some of the dying had been nursed back to health, so that Danzo could keep them here and harvest their abilities...

... only for each and every attempt to fail and the subjects to die in pain, either shortly after or months of suffering later.

Attempted to awaken and harvest Rin’negan, the legendary eyes of the Sennin, but none seemed sucessful yet. Used some Uchiha blood, the samples stolen from the hospital, but each child and young adult died without achieving the eyes.

Naruto slapped the folder closed and backed away, battling his nausea. ‘Sick f*cker! You did well in killing him, Nī-sama. He eliminated the Uzumaki... now the Uchiha... would the Hyūga have been the next, once their usefulness was over?‘

“I don’t know.“ Kurama answered. “But... in light of this all, I may have been gentle with him and he would have deserved something much, much worse.”

Meanwhile, a few shelves away, Sasuke was reading a different mission forlder. One, which contained information about the Kaguya Clan of Kirigakure.

None of the Kaguya seem to be in posession of the Clan’s Kekkei Genkai, as the clan members themselves fear it and kill all children capable of utilising the ability. We had retrived afew bodies and the bodies had since been studied, but to no avail. The children we tried injecting with Kaguya blood to awaken the ability had all died of abone disase... Orochimaru himself is looking for possible solutions. Perhaps someone, who has the strong body and life force of Senju and Uzumaki, would be able to combat the disase and awaken...

Sasuke stopped reading, repulsed.

To think a Clan would turn on themselves in such a way. Was that, which bothered him so much? Or was it Danzo’s meddling? Taking a deep breath to control his emitons, he neatly stacked the papers and did his best to work precisely and fast. However, he didn’t have his Sharingan active, just for once – all this disgusting information would burn itself into his mind anyway, no need to make sure it won’t ever dull.

He knew enough about the man, to form his opinion – asick megalomaniac, who had died way too mercifully. Kurama shouldn’t have been so gentle. He briefly wondered what Naruto had found... but wait. Perhaps he didn’t want to know any more of the shady underground work of this worm.

‘He worked in the dark, underground.‘ Sasuke mused disdainfully. ‘Not even ashinobi, but aworm. Aworm of the worst kind.‘

As he categorised the stacks of papers, for the first time in his life, he wished he had some sort of alcohol. (Perhaps he could steal abottle of Tsunade’s saké, when they went to report? Surely, she wouldn’t notice one bottle missing...)

Chapter 34: Cousins

Chapter Text

Naruto stood in front of his father, his gaze unwavering. Minato’s face was one of shock.

“You want what?“ his father asked.

Naruto sighed. “You split the Fox in half. Iknow you were worried Iwouldn’t be able to withstand all that power – you couldn’t know who Ihad once been, so it’s okay to be worried. But now, Ineed it. Ineed that chakra back, Otō-san. Once I’ve worked with the Bijū. They were – they are my siblings. While Iworked with them before, it would certainly be easiser to have the whole of the Fox. Now that I’m older and my body has grown used to the power presence, it won’t be aproblem. Having all of him sealed in me.”

His father frowned. “I wouldn’t want you to be even more of atarget, musuko. At least like this, that masked man can’t complete his plan. Not without having all of the Fox.”

“And we can’t hope to defeat him without the Bijū, either.“ Sasuke spoke up from next to the tree, where he sat in kekkufuza. “Besides, the man could summon you trough Edo Tensei, like the snake-face. He would extract the half of the Kyūbi you have without question and we would be at asetback.”

“We’re working on saving the world, Otō-san.“ Naruto said again, this time more firmly. “And we need all of our siblings’ help for that – their full-power help.”

His father nodded at last. “Very well, musuko. Itrust you.” Naruto smiled and hugged Minato. His father hugged him back, just as firmly. “And... reincarnation or not, you’re always going to be our little ball of sunshine. Mine and your mother’s too.”

Naruto chuckled. “I wouldn’t want that to change.“ He pulled away, moulding his chakra. “Now, if you help with this, the transfer would be easier. We need atwin shikki for this to work.“

“You mean two seals of the same kind?“ his father asked.

Naruto shook his head. “No. Two similar seals, but not identical. The base theory of such aseal is that the content of the seal – in this case your half of Kurama, – will be considered the difference and, to maintain balance, my half of the seal will absorb chakra from you, trough the link.“ he answered, crouching down to draw asimple chart into the dirt. “This will create the balance, but at the end of the process, you won’t be aJinchūriki. And it’s practical, since it can be applied over an already existing seal –and the two seals, which are being connected can be different – so it is much faster, if we break your seal to extract Kurama and then reseal his other half into me. And since we aren’t modifying the existing seal, merely use it as asort of transportation method, like how Hirashin works, taking you from one spot to another, it won’t mess up my chakra control, because the Fox will be able to regulate how much chakra Ican access at atime and gradually make my body get used to the bigger amount without me having to start chakra control from scratch. You follow?”

His family members leaned over his shoulder, to look at the small drawing he’d made, complete with afew seal symbols and achibi Kurama for better understanding.

“This...” Hashirama murmured, his eyes widening.

“... is genius.” Tobirama said and Naruto scratched his cheek with asmall shrug of his shoulders.

“It’s not that difficult actually. Ibased this seal on Ninshū...“ he murmured shyly, “...rather, on its theory –how it was meant to connect, trough chakra.”

“Naruto.”

Naruto jolted out of his memories at hearing his name. It was Sasuke. “Nī-sama?”

Sasuke made agesture. “Kakashi agreed to afight between us and Gai’s team. Well, promised to ask that is, as we have the right to turn it down. He’s really just our captain on missions now.”

Naruto hummed. “Yeah, yeah. What about it?”

“We could beat some sense into Neji. Iwon’t stand for one of our kin, no matter how distant that connection is, acting like that.”

The blonde hummed, as he stood up. “Well said. Being the lonely genius, perhaps you can even reach out to him?”

Sasuke snorted. “You’re the one who’s proficient in Talk-no-Jutsu, not me.” he murmured.

Naruto snorted and gave him alook.

Sasuke’s eyes morphed into the Sharingan, as he took his fighting stance, Neji standing opposite him. Lee had wanted to fight him, but Sasuke made his intentions of matching Sharingan against Byakugan very clear. But, Lee would have fun with Naruto too, Sasuke was sure of that.

His brother’s speed and heavy hits were close to the style of Taijutsu Lee and Gai were fond of. (So, switching pairs also ensured he won’t have broken bones. Unlike Nauto, he couldn’t heal himself nor did he have one of their Bijū siblings sealed in his gut.)

“Remember to fight fairly!” Kakashi called sternly. Sasuke nodded towards his teacher and turned his gaze back to Neji. The older’s own Dōjutsu was also active. “Hajime!”

Sasuke took adeep breath and let Neji make the starting strike. ‘Just remember how Mitra fought.‘ he told himself, calmly analysing the situation as he deflected afew of the Hyūga’s strikes. ‘There are 365 tenketsu and he can see their precise location. The moment I break his hit sequence, I have the upper hand...‘ he thought.

Mitra’s pale eyes narrowed on him, her Byakugan already ablaze, as she took her stance. Her black hair was secured in atight braid, brushing her mid-back. Hers was the exact stance his uncle used. But then again, it would make sense, as she had her father’s eyes – the Byakugan’s abilities of near 360 degree x-ray vision were something to be vary of.

Her face was emotionless, her pale eyes like empty pearls – Shinju... and Asura had called him emotionally stunted. No. He was just fine emotionally thank you. He just didn’t carry said emotions on his sleeve, like his little brother. Mitra... Mitra on the other hand, was emotionally problematic. How their uncle hadn’t noticed it, he would never understand.

“Ready, Indra?“ she asked, tone flat.

He smirked at her. “Come, catch me, cousin.”

She scoffed and leapt forwards, strikes fast and precise, but it was useless. She was talented, but he wasn’t the Prodigy of Ninshū for nothing. Besides, he already knew how his uncle fought. He deflected several of her strikes and even the few that were too fast for his hands to catch, hit him prepared. It was just aquestion of timing and chakra control.

Mitra wasn’t the only one with near-perfect control in the family. And unlike her, he wasn’t limited to close-range. He caught her wrist, making her eyes widen and kicked her in the abdomen, hard. Then, he ran trough aset of seals, that had long since become his favourite...

He caught Neji’s open-palm strike in the last minute, just inches away from its target, shocking the Hyūga. “How?” he whispered.

Sasuke grinned. ”You’re good. But Ideveloped my fighting style around amore skilled Byakugan-user.” he answered matter of factly in alow tone, so the rest of Team Three would not hear. He kicked the Chūnin in the abdomen and Neji went flying back afew feet. Sasuke stopped where he was, easing his stance.

Neji stood slowly, glaring heatedly and had Sasuke been anyone else, he would have cowered. “What did you just...” he gasped out, “did you call that shame of aHeiress we have, abetter fighter, than Iam?” he asked, tone heated and dangerous.

Sasuke snorted mentally. ‘No. Iwas talking about Mitra.‘ he thought seriously, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

“Shame of aHeiress?“ he arched an eyebrow. “She has agood heart, which few can say about themselves, in this misguided world. Kindness is not weakness, I’ve learned that myself.” he said, darting closer.

“She’s afailure.” Neji hissed, as he moved again. Sasuke deflected his strikes again, holding back awince now and then, as afew hit. He was sure he was going to have bruises after this, as well as some internal bleeding... but then again, he could be Naruto’s practice for his medical training.

“She’s your family.“ Sasuke pressed, as he increased his speed ever so slightly, to make it harder for Neji to reach him. The more they dragged this out, the likelier it was he could drive it trough the Hyūga’s tough skull, that no matter what were the circ*mstances, family was family, for few crimes were truly unforgivable.

“And what do you know of that, Uchiha?“ Neji spat back. “Your Clan are gone. The one you call your family loves you more, than my kin ever cared for me.”

No. That was not true. Mitra had always been prideful, maybe even more than him... but she loved her own. She had loved her sister dearly and her children even more. He could no longer recall the names of his nieces and nephews, but he still remembered how Asura told him, that the four ofthem could be family again –that he would have aloving wife and children and curious nieces and nephews all around him.

“I doubt your kin would discard you so carelessly.” he said. “Trust me, Iknow how much aClan care for their own.“

He knew how much Mitra had loved her husband and children. She’d never been the prankster kind, like Asura, but there was a subdued kindness to her. She was a lot like her father. Her sister – Sarvastra – had been more like their mother (and a bit like Asura, in terms of learing and pranks) in nature.

“You know nothing. Your Clan never treated you, like acaged animal. I’m aservant to my own uncle.”

Sasuke growled, his Sharingan morphing into its higher state, making Neji’s eyes widen. He kicked the older hard – with achakra infused blow – and as the older spawled on the ground. He landed next to him, kneeling on Neji’s chest, careful to keep his own weight.

“I know everything.“ he countered, as his Sharingan took hold, transfering just enough knowledge for Neji to grasp he wasn’t what he looked like and that he had the means and the power to help.

Neji’s breath hitched, as the Genjutsu ended and he found himself staring up into dark brown – no, pitch black eyes.

Indra. Sasuke.

This... Sasuke wasn’t all he seemed. He was as much Sasuke, as much Indra. Son of the Sennin, progenitor of the Uchiha. Brother to Asura, who was progenitor of Senju and Uzumaki. Brother of the nine Bijū. Nephew of Ōtsutsuki Hamura, cousin to Sarvastra and Mitra, progenitors of Kaguya and Hyūga respectively.

“You can’t be...“ he whispered in shock.

“I am. I’m Indra.” he said firmly, tone low. “ And Iknow mine own cousins. Mitra would never abide by the suffering of her own.“ as Neji stopped struggling, he slowly loosened his hold. “I don’t know your story, but you can share. Ihave afair share of my own demons. Asura... Naruto and I – we can help. If you let us.“

“You... you can’t.“ Neji whispered. “A caged bird is only free in death.”

Sasuke shook his head. “A caged bird adapts and grows strong from capture. Learns to open the locks of its cage with abeak. But... even if you cannot do it... let us do it. The time, when we shared ablood, yours and mine, is long gone. But Ihave not forgotten. We’re family.”

Neji bit his lips. He wanted to belive... he so desperately wanted to believe, that he could be free again... but the Clan would never let it. Even if Sasuke – Indra was indeed who he claimed to be, even then, the Clan would deny them the freedom.

“They would never let you.”

Sasuke stood slowly, dragging him up as well. Neji ignored the dust that was now covering him and he was too shocked to be upset about losing. (Heck... considering who Sasuke was, he was probably lucky to be alive!)

“Between myself and Otōto, they won’t have achoice. We can be rather persuasive.“ Sasuke said, as his Sharingan spun lazily, nodding towards Naruto. “But first, you have acousin to apologise to. Time to make it up to her and present aunited front.”

Neji thought for amoment, before nodding. Best not piss off the Sharingan-user. He liked his head on his shoulders, thank you very much.

As they left Kakashi and Gai behind, excusing themselves with a surprisingly plausile lie (who knew Naruto was so good at deception?), Neji let his thoughts wander. He recalled the first days of meeting the odd pair, Uchiha and Senju, the unlikeliest duo, considering the Clans histories.

Naruto’s and Sasuke’s presence had, from the first day of their meeting felt overwhelming – it wasn’t the controlled, subdued power of an experienced shinobi, that much Neji understood. Their power felt nothing like Gai’s, his uncle’s or Kakashi-san’s. No, it had always felt something more – something he felt clearly, despite not being a Sensor type. It was a feeling, which offered comfort and warned him of danger at the same time.

He’d never understood how ones younger than him, could have such overwhelming presence. He addmitted, he’d tried riling up Naruto, hoping he would lose focus, but it hadn’t worked. Back then, he didn’t understand why – now he knew.

He stopped on the edge of the training ground, where Team 8 were having their training. Naruto and Sasuke had come with him, for which he was grateful. If not for the calming presence of the blonde Senju-Uzumaki (Ōtsutsuki?) he would have long abandoned the idea.

“Go.” Naruto said with an encouraging smile. “Just... say sorry. Explain why things had been hard for you. She’s your family. She’ll understand.”

“She’s barely spoken to me since...” Neji frowned, looking away.

“You carry adifferent name now, as do we.“ Sasuke said, pointing at Naruto and then himself. “But there is something that still remains, from the days of Ninshū. The family. Ōtsutsuki valued – still value – family above all. That is as much our strenght, as it is our weakness, no matter which of the five offshoot Clans you mention. Don’t let it be your weakness. Don’t follow my path – Iand mine paid aprice for it. Make family your strenght.”

Neji nodded at the two gratefully and stalked towards the training Team 8. They were having aTaijutsu spar and as he got closer, Neji noticed the slight mistakes in his cousin’s stance. Mistakes, that messed up her balance and gave her Inuzaka teammate achance to knock her off balance, sending her flying.

Neji’s eyes widened, as he noticed the angle she would crash – he pushed chakra into his feet to enchance his speed and jumped, just barely catching Hinata and landing with aroll. He grunted abit at the dull pain, but it was nothing compared to what Hinata would have felt, had he let her fall...

He stopped the roll and slowly sat up. Hinata’s eyes were wide with shock. She looked abit winded. “N-Neji nī-s-san?”

Neji took adeep breath, stealing aglance at the brothers lingering on the other edge of the clearing. Both nodded to him and he looked back at his cousin. “Could we speak for amoment, Hinata-sama?”

The brothers let the two Hyūga have their moment. It was Neji, who needed to come to terms with his life and when that happened, when the cousins stood united, maybe then things would be better. After about agood hour, Neji and Hinata both approached, the shy Heiress having asmile on her face.

“A-Arigato, Na-Naruto-kun, S-Sasuke-kun, for b-bringing N-Neji-nī back. I- Imean t-that...”

“We know what you mean, Hinata.” Naruto said in acalm manner waving her off. “Now that you two made up... would you agree to amatch? The two of you, against us.”

Hinata’s eyes went wide. “W-what? B-but I-I c-could never h-hope to b-beat you... ma-maybe N-Neji...“

Neji snorted abit, shaking his head. “Not in this lifetime. You’re forgeting Naruto-san beat me during the Exams and Sasuke-san just turned my own moves against me, before we came here.”

Sasuke hummed. “I may have done so, but you left me with afew painful bruises, aching chakra coils and maybe abit of internal bleeding.”

Naruto’s eyes narrowed. “He what? Sit down!”

Sasuke shook his head. “It’s nothing life-treathening, Otōto, otherwise...”

“Sit down, Nī-sama.” he said firmly, his eyes narrowing. “And stay still.” Sasuke sighed and did, as the blonde ordered, drawing soft chuckles from the two Hyūga. As Naruto’s hands began to glow green, Sasuke gestured for the cousins to sit.

When both were seated, his eyes shifted between them. “Hm... how about we train together? You two are pretty good.”

“What?“ Neji asked, eyes wide. “But why would you...?”

“Because that’s what friends do.“ Sasuke said, placing extra emphasis on the ‘friends‘ word. Neji’s eyes widened even more, as he caught the hidden message.

Hinata, meanwhile was trying not to faint at the thought of the infamous duo wanting to be around her. She’d always admired their strenght, Naruto the most. Unlike the rest of their classmates, she knew that the village hadn’t always been nice to him, but despite everything, he had kept smiling and remained positive. (However, she’d noticed things improving, after he was reavealed as someone related to three – now four– of the vilage’s Hokage.)

“So?“ Naruto asked, quirking an eyebrow. “What do you say?”

The cousins shared alook, thinking for amoment. “Alright.“ they said at the same time.

Naruto grinned, like the sun. “Wonderful. We can find time, that doesn’t interfere with your training or family life. We can adjust our schedules according to necessity.”

Two tired, but pleased Tokubetsu Jōnin sped towards the Hokage tower, befitting their rank. After Naruto had healed Sasuke and also patched up the one big wound on Neji, caused by Sasuke’s kick, the four had gone out to eat. Their bonding time was cut short, when Namiashi Raido – aman, whom Naruto knew had been one of his father’s guards, – told them, that Tsunade had summoned them for something. However, Raido hadn’t specified why, so they were abit worried, hence their breakneck speed.

Luckily, Tsunade left the window open, unlike the Sandaime that one time, so they could jump into the office, without having to ruin anything. They turned to Tsunade with adip of their heads. “Hokage-sama.”

“Naruto, Sasuke.“ she greeted, apleased expression on her face. “I hope my summon hadn’t interrupted anything important.”

The boys shared alook. “The village comes first.” Sasuke said in ameasured tone, unwilling to addmit, that he may have enjoyed his time time with the Hyūgas.

Tsunade hummed. “I’m glad you think so, however, Ireally hope Ididn’t disturb anything, as this summon has less to do with the village and more with your future.”

“Our future?“ Naruto echoed, abit confused. (They had aparticular picture of their future, which involved getting strong enough to stop apair of mad Uchihas – and also their grandmother, if push came to shove – and not dying in the process...)

“We hoped to train you.” Jiraiya suddenly spoke, revealing himself. Naruto twitched, abit annoyed, that in his hurry, he had forgotten to be aware, as it was demanded of every shinobi. “There... seem to be some trouble brewing in the form of agroup, who want the Bijū. And we want you to be able to protect yourselves and each other, considering you’re almost never seperate.”

The two shared alook. “Is that mad freak already moving? It’s sooner, than you said he might.” Kurama growled into their minds.

‘If he is,‘ Sasuke said, eyes narrowing abit, ‘that would mean, that we will have to kick up our training by anotch. Or... by several notches.‘

‘Screw it all.‘ Naruto cursed, before looking back at the two Sannin. “And what does this mean for us?”

Tsunade sighed. “We’ll help you two train – in fact, we were thinking about asort of shared apprentinceship. Well, something like it. Jiraiya would help you with Taijutsu, Fūinjutsu and perhaps, if either of you are interested, Senjutsu. Naruto, Iheard that you would pursue medicine, so Iwill teach that to you, along with the Senju Taijutsu as well, as my personal style. Sasuke, while you may never be amedic, Iwill help with your chakra control as well. Kakashi will help with your Nin- and Genjutsu skills and Naruto... if you still need assistance, Yamato will help with Mokuton.”

“Between all of this, we would go to the field – the three of us, to help you with experience, tracking and information gathering. If you perform well, we might consider a field promotion in the future, instead of you taking the Jōnin Exam.” Jiraiya injected.

They shared alook. It sounded fine – and effective. Plus, they would never trully be seperate, save for perhaps afew days, which was also abonus. Sticking together was essential – they couldn’t let Zetsu create awedge between them. Never again.

“So?“ Jiraiya asked, crossing his arms. “Do you two accept?“

The boys smirked, their voices coming in perfect sync. “When do we start?”

They were sure, that their days would be busy from now on, but there was no vicotry without sweat and blood. And if all this work would eventually stop the Jūbi’s reformation... well, all the better. That was why they’d been training so hard all this time. The Sannin offering to help, was just an added bonus.

Maybe, just maybe humanity won’t be turned into mindless slaves under their crazy goddesss of agrandmother.

Chapter 35: Training Daze

Chapter Text

Tsunade handed three scrolls to Sasuke. “Here. Considering, that Naruto has been dabbling with medicine, you might know these chakra control exercises, but still. Memorise them and practice them for the next five days. When the time limit is up, you come and show me the progress. Depending on said progress, we will consider how to move forward. And careful with chakra exhaustion.”

Sasuke took the scrolls and nodded. “Understood, Hokage-sama.”

Tsunade’s brown gaze bore into his black for amoment. “Sensei, from now on for both of you.” she corrected. “Is the task clear?“

Sasuke tilted his head to the side in surprise, but hummed. “Clear as crystal, Tsunade-sensei.”

Satisfied, the woman handed astack of books to Naruto. “I know you’re going to use Kage Bunshin anyway, so no complaining.“ she said, even before Naruto could open his mouth to speak, “read all of these at your own peace, from cover to back. I’m going to be quizing you on the topics –these things are essential, if you want to be amedic. In the meanwhile, Isuggest more chakra control for you as well. You can’t have your chakra acting out of control, as it may be dangerous for your future patients and your Jinchūriki status is no excuse.”

Naruto nodded, his violet eyes glinting with steel. “Understood, Tsunade-sensei.”

Tsunade smiled. “Oh and in-between the theory and chakra control, Kakashi will be supervising your physical training. You follow his instructions, as you did before, regardless of your new rank.” she stated calmly, altough both boys understood, that it was apolitely wrapped order.

“Of course.”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Sasuke. This was supposed to be their Genjutsu session – well, it was. But he was supposed to teach Sasuke, not the other way around.

“What do you mean?” he asked the Uchiha.

Sasuke sighed. “I mean, that you are not an Uchiha. Despite your moniker, no one ever taught you how to properly use the Sharingan. Now, usually Iwould not do this, as you are not kin by blood...“ he shrugged, “but you have the Sharingan and the Uchiha are almost gone. Now, Ipersume you know the basic abilities of the Sharingan, naturally.”

Kakashi nodded. “Yes, but Ican only use it for ashort time. My body wasn’t built to sustain the eye.”

Sasuke hummed. “Naturally. Now, Uchiha don’t have the unearthly stamina of Senju or Uzumaki, but we did have stronger bodies – actually, all Ōtsutsuki desecendants are on the sturdier side, so to say. Now... your body wasn’t built to sustain it, yes. But, Ihave afew tricks.“ he smirked.

“Tricks?“

Sasuke shrugged. “I wasn’t always capable of leveling mountains in the past, sensei. Ihad been achild, too. Ilearned atrick or two, how to use my chakra to fight the chakra depletion, that came with the Sharingan. As Igrew older, it was such aminor drain, that Ijust simply didn’t bother deactivating it anymore. So, I’ll show you afew tricks and you teach me Raikiri.”

Kakashi’s eye narrowed. “Sasuke...”

Sauske rolled his eyes. “I’m being completely fair and ethical here. I’m asking you to teach it, not asking for permission to use it. Ididn’t copy.”

The silver-haired man nodded with a small sigh. “Fair enough. But we start with Chidori, as that’s the first step.”

Sasuke grinned. “So, about the chakra. You have Raiton like Ido, so...”

Kakashi pouted under his mask. ‘Uchiha progenitor and Sage’s son or not, this is emberassing! So, so emberassing! I’m being lectured by my own student. Yamato, save me!‘

Jiraiya hummed, as he looked at the precise writing of the blonde. “Perfect.“ he nodded, satisfied.

Naruto sighed abit, letting the brush drop back into the small pot of ink. Who knew Jiraiya was so demanding and such aperfectionist, when he was actually serious about training? Of course, Naruto had his own standandard, but Jiraiya was even worse.

Seriously, the Gama Sannin could go an shake hands with his brother, if it came to perfectionism. (Did perhaps Jiraiya had some great-great-great-grandsomeone in his family, who had been an Uchiha?)

“Thank the Shinju.“ the blonde muttered, his hand cramped. He shifted and looked at the man.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at his words, but he didn’t say anything. “Now, Iknow, that you have Water and Earth for affnity...”

“Actually,“ Naruto cut in calmly, “It’s Water, Wind and Earth. And Sasuke has Lighting, Fire and Earth. For me Water and Earth are equal, Wind is abit weaker. Sasuke’s Fire and Lightning are equal, coupled with abit weaker Earth. But we are both working with all five elements. Or at least, trying to.”

The spymaster blinked and then nodded. “Well, okay. Ican teach you about Suiton, altough if the account Iheard was correct, you’re capable of using Suiton, like Tobirama-sama?”

Naruto shook his head. “Not yet. Iwould need the perfect control of amedic for that, due to my larger reserves, so further honing the ability of using moisture as asource, has to wait abit, Ithink.”

Jiraiya sighed. “Fine. But Ican help you with some Water jutsu. And if you really want to tamper with all five elements, we can start on the basic exercises for Lightning and Fire, too.”

Naruto stood along with the man and nodded. Now that he was calmer and more composed, it was actually nice being around him. And it seemed, that his words about family had hit right home with the Sannin, which was also abonus.

“Sounds nice.“ he put his hand in across sign, creating ten Shadow Clones. He sent five to do chakra control, while he waved the five over to Jiraiya. “You can explain to the clones. Please. I’d go trough the usual warm up before aspar... because Ihave afeeling you want to see, what Ican do.”

The man blinked owlishly. “Well... yeah. Alright. I-It would work too, Isuppose.” he muttered, shocked.

What was up with those two? Both Naruto and Sasuke trained so seriously... he’d never seen anyone so driven and focused in times of peace. Those, who had grown up surrounded by war... it was one thing. But these two lived in atime of peace and they were preparing for war.

Alright, he knew better, than most among the higher-ups, how dangerous Akatsuki could prove in the future... but that didn’t mean an outright war coming. Did it?

“Team Thirteen, you have aB-rankmission.“ Tsunade said, looking at the two young men. Kakashi and Yamato stood calmly behind the Tokujō.

“And it is?“ the Copy Nin asked calmly.

Tsunade handed them afolder, which Sasuke took. “Eliminate the slave traders spotted near the Land of Sound. Free their victims and escort them home.”

The Hokage noticed how sharply her part-time students’ gazes flashed. The eyes of men, who didn’t tolerate injustice. “Consider it done.”

And she did just that – considered the mission done the moment they left the office. ‘Now, back to paperwork. Kami-sama knows it piles up even more, when Ileave to help those two train.‘ she glared at her distant cousin’s portrait. ‘How the hell had you had any time for Kushina, Minato? What was your secret to finishing all that paperwork so fast? Somehow Idoubt it has anything to do with the Hirashin... or Tobirama oji-san would have never spent amoment in this damnable office.‘

Naruto groaned, falling into his bed, like a log. Tsunade oba-san was a slave-driver. And her punches hurt like hell – Hashirama’s granddaughter, without a doubt. Was this how Sasuke felt, when he used chakra-enchanced strenght in their spars? If so, he promised to use them less – or at least, pull some of the punches. If not for Kurama’s healing abilities, he wouldn’t have even stood up from the spot on the training ground, where he’d fallen.

‘You’re alife-saver, Nī-sama.‘ he said trough their link.

The fox cackled evilly. “And your day’s not done yet. You promised to meet the two Hyūga today.”

“Shinju damn it...” he muttered. After amoment, he sat up with asigh. “Nī-sama? Are you alive?” he drawled.

“Maybe.” his brother answered, his voice quiet. “Who knew Kakashi could be that fast? He surely picked up something from your father. Or he uses lightning to enhance his speed. And he’s getting way too creative with Genjutsu. Ishould have never shown him that chakra trick.“ he muttered.

Naruto hummed. “Well, come on. We promised training to Hinata and Neji and Ikeep my promises.”

“Why us?“ Sasuke asked dramatically, as he wretched himself from the comforts of the couch. Naruto chuckled at that and after activating the security seals, they headed towards Training Ground Two – the spot they’d agreed to meet at.

When they arrived, Neji and Hinata were already there, conversing quietly. The sight caused both of them to smile abit. Ever since that beatdown Neji had gotten aweek ago, he was actually making an effort to bond with Hinata. Hinata, being the kind soul she was, had forgiven him fast and was just glad to have him back to his old, kinder self.

“Gomen.“ Naruto called sheepishly, as they approached. “We didn’t mean to be late. It’s just... Tsunade-sensei and Kashi-sensei can be slave-drivers, when they want to be. It’s achallenge sometimes, keeping up with them.”

“Ho-Hokage-sama is training y-you?“ Hinata asked, her eyes wide.

Naruto hummed. “She’s helping me learn medical Ninjutsu and she thought it high-time for me to learn the proper Senju Taijutsu, so... yes.”

“Oh, Isee.”

“So,“ Sasuke spoke, “we thought about helping you with elemental manipulaton. Clues to your affinities?“

“Fire.“ Neji stated.

Sasuke smirked. “You’re coming with me, then. I’m sure we can work out afew tricks, that you can incorporate into your Gentle Fist as well. If you have chakra manipulation done, the sky is the limit.”

The two left and Naruto was left on his own, with Hinata. “Do you know your affinity, Hinata?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No N-Naruto-kun. Id-don’t know it y-yet.” she said softly, poking her fingers together.

Naruto took adeep breath. ‘Okay... that’s how far my patience runs. No cousin of mine will be ameek civilian.‘

“Hinata.“ he called, as he sat down. She looked up at him.

“H-hai?“

“Do you want to be akunoichi? Akunoichi, who can stand her ground and in the future, aClan Head, whom her kin loves and respects?” he asked seriously.

Her eyes widened a bit at the questions, but she nodded without much hesitation. “Yes. I-I’ve long dreamt of uniting my Clan.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow. “Unite?”

She shook her head. “They’re all my family and Ihate we’re so divided. We should be equals, because you can’t create aline, who you love more.”

Naruto smiled brightly. ‘Mitra’s words alright.‘ “Exacly.“ he told her with anod. “An admirable dream.” her eyes went wide at that, “That’s why you have to be strong. Not only as akunoichi, but as aperson. Don’t second-guess yourself, because if you second-guess yourself, so will others and that may undermine your credibility, both as ashinobi and as aleader. You understand?”

She nodded. “Hai.”

The blonde smiled and took apiece of paper from his pocket. “Push your chakra into this and we’ll see what’s your affinity.” she took it from him and pushed her chakra into it, causing the paper to crumble.

“Hm, Earth. Typically Hyūga.“ he nodded. “So the thing you have to know about Earth as an element – it’s firm and stable. Adefensive element and sometimes, who link emotions to the five base elements, say that it’s for resolve. Because you decide something and no matter, what you stand by it and go trough with it.”

She nodded. “I see.”

Naruto smiled. “So. To get abetter grasp, you’ll have to understand your own emotions first. Think of your dream and why you want it to come true. Then, grab for it. Decide if you want it or not. if yes, then hold onto it and no matter what, don’t let go.”

“Fire is an offensive element, which reflects strong emotions. In fact, your emotions change how your chakra reacts, so it also affects your jutsu.“ Sasuke said, “So... my advice is, never – ever – think of negativity, when working with fire or your own jutsu may backfire.”

Neji nodded. “I see.”

“Best is to keep aclear mind, but there are times when you can’t do that, so focus instead on the positive side of your objective. Protecting the people, who matter or making it home, because there’s someone, who’s waiting and they would be devastated, if you died.”

Sasuke hummed and did afew rapid signs. “Katon: Moeru Hari.” (Fire Release: Burning Needes)

Flames formed in his hands, that sneaked up onto his fingers, creating tiny needles on each end. Neji’s eyes widened. “It... this is similar to how we use Jūken!”

Sasuke nodded. “Yeah. Icreated this one based on Mitra’s fighting style. Now, since you have even better control of your chakra than Ido, you may limit the flames, but still make your chakra searing hot, which would be extra damage to your enemy, as the fire chakra would literally burn his coils. But, this is crippling... so use it in life-on-the-line situations.”

“Understood.” the Hyūga nodded, his face serious.

Sasuke hummed. “The seals for the jutsu are Tiger, Bird, Dog, Tiger. You won’t have achance to use the seals every time before you may be engaged, so Iwant you to master this. Make the jutsu asecond-nature and if that works, you can modify it to your needs and liking.”

Neji blinked at him. “Mo-modify it? But you just said you created it...”

Sasuke nodded. “Yes and I’m giving you permission to use it. Altough, don’t be surprised, if next time we spar, I’m using this against you or Hinata.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Sasuke – Indra?“ he asked with araised eyebrow.

The Uchiha waved him off. “Sasuke. Wouldn’t want to raise suspicion, right? Besides, there’s af*cker from long ago, who knows that name. He would figure out who we are and that’s dangerous.“ he said quietly.

“No human lives that long.“ Neji pointed out with disbelief. “Even you... you just remember. It’s not the same.”

Sasuke sighed. “The one I’m talking about is not exactly human, so yes, he – it?– lives that long.”

“Not human? Than what else could it possibly be?”

Sasuke snorted in amusem*nt. “You sound way too shocked. Our grandmother was not of this world – she was, what you would call and alien, I suppose. A foreigner to the world of humans. While our grandfater was human, our father and uncle retained none of the typical human traits. Myself, Asura and our cousins were the first Ōtsutsuki to look entirely human.”

Neji groaned. “Holy mother of chakra.”

“Hey. That’s my grandmother you’re badmouthing, Hyūga.“ he warned with asharp look. “And while her love for humanity disappeared over the years, its thanks to her and our father, that this world knows what chakra is. So no badmouthing her.”

“My apologies.”

Sasuke nodded, looking at Neji’s hands. “So. Let me see that jutsu. And if you get that done, I’ll show you atrick to keep your chakra in balance.”

Narto smiled as Hinata suceeded with the exercise. “Well done, Hinata. Now, come on, let’s spar.“

Hinata smiled and stood up. She took her stance and Naruto did the same. “And remember. Now, I’m not afellow Konoha shinobi. I’m not someone you know. I’m an enemy. I’m here to harm your sister and Neji. Fight as if their lives depended on it. Don’t pull your strikes.”

She nodded, her eyes steeling over. “H-hai.“ she still seemed abit unsure, but his words seemed to be having an effect, so that was good.

Then, without awarning, he, punched the ground, breaking it up and forcing her to leap away. Using the cover of the dust, he Shunshined next to her – but it seemed, he moment his punch had connected, she’d activated her Byakugan,– so she was waiting prepared.

He attacked, but she evaded swiftly, using her smaller body to duck under his attack, before trying to deliver her own strikes.

Naruto blinked at Jiraiya, scandalised even at the very idea. “You want me to what?”

The Sannin sighed. “Come on Naruto. You’ve kept putting this off, ever since we started training. You have to learn it sometime.”

Naruto shook his head. If he used Kurama’s chakra, it would just give Madara and his subordinates achance to steal his oldest brother’s power easier. His new seal was tighter, than the one his father had used, yet it still allowed Kurama to sense the outside world. Kurama was safe in there and that was all, that mattered.

He shook his head. “I will not use the Fox’s chakra.” he stated calmly.

Jiraiya groaned. “Naruto, please. You have to understand, that we have no ways of combating Jinchūriki – only someone with aBijū of their own can do that. Kumo and Iwa train their Jinchūriki, as the village’s most dangerous, last resort weapons. Kiri had done something similar, before the Bloodnine Wars created the bloody mess, which the village is, at the moment.”

Naruto frowned. “My Mokuton is powerful enough to restain them. No need to fight them.“

‘I will not fight my own siblings, Sannin. No matter what you say, I’m still an Ōtsutsuki at heart and family comes first. Family and peace. Your suggestion indicates, that you want me as atrump card, too. Well, the village wants me as such, that is.‘ he thought.

Jiraiya frowned. “Look kid... Iget it. You’re abloody pacifist – even more than the Shodai and Minato were, combined, which is afeat. Iunderstand that too, that you freaking see that Fox in you as aliving...”

“He is aliving creature with feelings of his own.” Naruto cut in sharply.

Jiraiya grunted. “Okay, yes. But that feeling creature will be discorporated if you die. Or if you’re captured by Akatsuki, something worse may happen. Use the power you have, because you know what for do you need it. To protect what you believe right. Akatsuki will use that power to destroy. So, which one?”

Naruto scowled. “I...”

“The pervert is correct for once, Asura-kun.“ Kurama said. “You’ve used my chakra before. Iknow, that Ican trust you, as my brother. Irather have you borrowing some of my chakra – or Indra, if needed– than anyone else. Iunderstand now, that what you two are doing is as much for the safety of the world Otō-sama loved so much, as it is for our safety. Idon’t need protecting, little one. I’m strong enough to do it for myself.”

‘But the Uchihas are powerful enough to contol you. You can’t resist the Sharingan forever and you know it.‘ Naruto pointed out matter-of-factly.

“Alone? No. Together. If we work together, yes. This seal you made protects me and if continoued survival means you using my chakra... it’s alright. Take what you need. We’re siblings. We help each other. And Iwant to help protect this world too –the humans hadn’t been nice to me, after you were gone... but Ot ō-sama loved this world. And we ought to honour his wishes.”

‘Yes, we ought to.‘ he agreed softly.

He huffed and nodded to the Sannin, his hand rising into aSnake seal. Then he crouched down and slammed his hand on the ground. “Mokton: Kemono no Jinja!” (Wood Release: Shrine of the Beast)

Acircular platform with six wooden poles rose from the ground, the poles having carvings of what seemed to be unfinished seals all around.

Jiraiya blinked. “What’s this for?”

Naruto shrugged and walked over, sitting in the middle of his new wooden creation. “Just to be safe. Iwouldn’t want to lose my head.”

He sighed and closed his eyes. After amoment, he cracked his right eye open to peer at the seal master. “Get acontainment seal ready, for the worst of cases. Just to be safe. I’m not sure how much my body can take, before shutting down.”

The man peered at him with narrowed eyes, suspicion rearing its head amongst his emotions. Naruto sighed and closed his eyes instead of engaging the man in apointless conversation. He would not explain anything to Jiraiya – he wasn’t sure the man could take the information in aserious manner.

Besides, the less people knew, the better. Maybe... maybe there were too many, who knew the truth of him and Sasuke already. He couldn’t risk making apossible target out of someone, who could go on with life, without knowing the truths of Ninshū.

He closed his eyes and dived head-first into his subconscious. The calm, bright clearing that was anice change, compared to Konoha’s loud, busy streets. Kurama was sitting up, already waiting for him. Naruto walked up to the fox and smiled, dipping his head. “Nī-sama.”

“Asura-kun.” Kurama greeted, his tone more pleasant, now that he was here, visiting.

“How much do you think Ican handle now?” Naruto mused out loud. “Six?”

Kurama nodded. “Possible. Altough, your body is still developing, so Iwouldn’t push it. However, if there is atrue need for it, I’m sure we could work in tandem, like before. Of course, you won’t be able to form Varuna just yet – not without the others giving you some of their chakra–, but...”

“It’s fine.“ he waved him off. “I just would like to know how much Ican handle at the moment.”

Kurama nodded. “Very well, Otōto.“ he said, offering afisted paw.

Naruto grinned brightly and bumped his own fist to the soft, fur-like chakra. The chakra, that suddenly filled his system was wild and sharp like wind and as searing, as the hottest of fires. It basked his body in an orange-red light, the cloack forming slowly, taking shape heartbeat by heartbeat.

When he opened his eyes, returning to the real world, Kurama’s chakra blazing around him and sharpening his senses ten times to their usual level, he saw Jiraiya.

The man was as unmoving as arock, every muscle in his body ready to spring from his spot, his dark eyes narrowed, searching for the smallest sign of lost control. As their eyes met, he saw the frown, worried and vary all at once. So, his eyes were red.

“Three tails is okay.“ Kurama murmured. “Try pulling out more, but careful or it might burn you.”

Nodding mentally, Naruto carefully tugged at the link they shared let more of the foreign chakra flood his bloody.

Jiraiya watched, his whole body tense, as Naruto took ameditative pose, probably already sinking into his seal. For several minutes nothing happened and he thought the kid might fail – Kushina herself admitted, that using the Fox’s chakra wasn’t easy, despite the fact, that she had her chains, which helped restrain it and thus, give her abetter chance of remaining aware of her surroundings, while undergoing the usual Jinchūriki transformation.

However, much to his shock, just when he was about to call out to Naruto to stop, chakra rose – no, it burst out of his body, like afountain. The next minute, his body was covered by boling, seemingly living shroud of orange-red chakra, three tails waving behind him.

‘What the hell?! Three at once? On the first try! Is it because of his Mokuton?‘ Jiraiya thought in shock. The six whiskers were darker, more easy to see, his teeth sharpening into fangs, which peered out from his mouth...Then, Naruto opened his eyes to reveal bright red slits and he tensed for asecond, fearing the worst.

But there was nothing. There was no beastly bloodlust in the gaze. Those were the Fox’s eyes yes, but it was Naruto, who was looking at him. ‘Amazing! He can really control it!‘

There was fluctuation in the chakra and Jiraiya was snapped from his musings. His eyes went wide, as he saw more tails forming. One. Two Three more, until atotal six were visible behind the blonde. Half his body was covered in solid, blackish red chakra, resembling agrotesque shadow of the Kyūbi, while the other half of his body was still visible under the orange chakra.

He noticed another stub growing – aseventh chakra tail forming and then Naruto groaned and faster, than Jiraiya could react, the carvings on the wood surrounding Naruto glowed and vines grew from the platform to warp around his legs and arms. The chakra sizzled, like boiling water and then it gradually disappeared.

Naruto groaned again, falling on his back. “sh*t. That’s just six tails. My body can’t take the seventh.” he sounded disappointed.

Jiraiya couldn’t understand why. “By the Sage’s beard! That was amazing, kid! Idon’t know what’s your problem. You performed much better, than Ithought, considering other Jinchūriki need months to reach this level.”

Naruto glared at him, his eyes still slit, although violet. Probably the leftover chakra. “Could you please refrain from cursing?“

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. Kami knows the blonde was growing to be too much like Tsunade.

Sasuke wrinkled his nose, as it failed again. Having been the Prodigy of Ninshū, he was rather unused to failure. True, ever since they remembered it was different. He failed more often as he had to re-learn everything he’d once known and used. Still, failing such asimple chakra control exercise was not something he was too happy about. Compared to the amount of control he had had over his chakra before, he was still lacking.

“Not bad.“ Tsunade spoke, asurprised and pleased expression on her face. “You may never be amedic, as your chakra is too volatile for that... but despite that, your control has places to grow and Iaddmit, you’re progressing faster, than Ithought you would.”

Sasuke nodded, not showing his irritation at the failure. “Thank you, sensei.” he said calmly.

“Hm, have you thought about using poisons?“ she asked.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”

“You don’t wish to pursue amedical carreer, which Iunderstand. But we’re shinobi. Supposed assassins. Poison is agood way and your Sharingan gives you quick reaction time and higher accuracy, than most –bar the Hyūga. Using and knowing your poisons may be benefical. And knowing how to counter them. Naruto may be the medic, but he may not always be there with you or your comarde.”

Sasuke fell thoughtful – poison was asubtle, underhanded weapon. The weapon of aliar... but the world was no longer as straight and simple, as it had been, at the Dawn of Chakra. Besides, if Tsunade taught him about poisons, he would know the antitodes too, which could come in handy, if Naruto wasn’t around. Besides, he knew his plants well enough. (You couldn’t not know plants, when gardening was your brother’s hobby and let’s not mention said brother’s ability to grow plants...)

“Poisons... sounds interesting enough.” he commented, with an upward quirk of his lips.

Tsunade’s eyes glinted. “Wonderful. So finish another round of the chakra control exercise and while you rest, Shizune will help you with poisons. Unfortunately, Ihave to leave to do paperwork, but tomorrow I’m quizing you on the poisons and the symphtomps. As well as their antitodes.”

“How I’m supposed to remember all that for tomorrow?“ he bit out, half annoyed, half disbelieving. Gods above, as much as he respected the woman as ashinobi... she was annoying. More annoying, than his brother.

Tsunade quirked an eyebrow, which was abit too close to Asura’s, for his liking. “You have eidetic memory, don’t you?“

Sasuke growled. ‘I so didn’t sign up for this!‘

He resisted the urge to send several Raibari after the Senju, when he noticed the smugness flash in her eyes, as she darted back into the office. He resisted it – but just barely.

Naruto shook his head at Yamato. “No, no. You get to be in tune with nature. Iknow you aren’t aSenju and that Mokuton was never supposed to be yours... but use it, if you have it.“ he sighed and sat opposite from Yamato.

The man was, theorically teaching him Mokuton jutsu – that was that Tsunade and Jiraiya believed. But in fact, he was teaching the former ANBU how to handle his abilities with more deadliness and precision.

“Nature has an energy of its own. Mokuton connects us to that energy more, than any sort of Senjutsu can. That and there’s apart in our chakra, that enables creation. It’s these two things, that make up the Kekkei Genkai itself, so you need to calm down and try feeling nature around you. You understand what I’m getting at?”

Yamato seemed toughtful for amoment, before nodding. “I think so.” he nodded hesitantly.

Naruto smiled and extended ahand. “Give me your hand. You may have an easier time trying to pull my chakra into the mix, as it is more potent. It may help you with the feeling as well. Once you have that, your chakra will remember it. Chakra remembers and it will leave avague feeling, the shadow od amemory. Using that shadow, you may have easier time using the technique, until you pratice it enough to actually know it.”

”I see. It sounds interesting.” Yamato took his hand and Naruto smiled, allowing his chakra to slowly tickle trough their link.

“Chakra is connection. It’s understanding – understanding yourself, others and the world around you. And when you understand, you can connect. Those connections make it possible to reach wonderous things, as apart of our power comes from our souls and minds.” the blone murmured.

He sat there and allowed Yamato to take his time. They’d been going trough this for the past two days and now... now he was sure the former ANBU finally caught the concept. The concept of Ninshū, as much as the concept of the jutsu they were working on.

He felt Yamato mould his chakra and he did afew one-handed signs, before placing his hand on the ground and channeling his chakra into it. “Mokuton: Shokuchūshokubutsu.” (Wood Release: Carnivorous Plant)

The ground between them cracked and avenus flytrap grew from the soil, alively green with accents of redish-pink and it was as big as an average eight-year-old child. It was dangerously beautiful, as it opened its maw, ready to strike.

Naruto grinned. “See? Told you it will work. Now we’ll just have to refine it, so you can use it alone and possibly on abigger target.”

Yamato smiled and squeezed his hand.

Neji cursed colorfully in the privacy of his mind, as Naruto’s blow sent him flying. The blonde’s hits broke bone and he was sure he’d need medical attention, once this session was over. (Good thing Naruto could heal or both him and Hinata would have spent half their days under the hands of Tsunade-sama and that would have raised questions. Even more questions, than their random disappearances these days...)

He shifted, trying to land in away, that would cause less problems. However, he wasn’t lucky and as he rolled, he felt the ground srape even the metal of his headband. He felt the skin break and blood bubble up. ‘Damn it! It hurts like hell.‘ he groaned mentally.

“Neji-nī!” Hinata squeeked from the sidelines. Ever since they came here to train with Naruto and Sasuke he saw the change in her.

She was improving in her Jūken and from time to time Sasuke and Naruto showed them anew kata or combo – ones that neither of them knew, yet he was sure were part of the Jūken. Perhaps time had cut the number of kata, that had been recorded and what the two were showing them, were among the original ones, used by Hamura and Mitra Ōtsutsuki?

She was improving as afighter and with her skill, so grew her confidence. Notch by notch, but it was growing. She was stuttering less and less and she was now speaking louder. Well, around them, that is –for now, back at the Compound, she was still feeling insecure, so she often reverted back to her shy self, but she was speaking up more and more and Neji knew that the Clan, especially her father, were picking up the subtle changes.

Neji groaned, as he felt the pain shoot trough his body, like asharp blade, as he shifted. Soon, he felt, rather than saw, as the three appeared around him. He saw Hinata’s wide, worried eyes as well as Sasuke’s much subtler, concerned frowned. (It was odd. Ever since he knew, who the two were, it was easier to understand them and it helped connecting. The more time they spent together, the more he felt, that the two were his – their– friends. Hinata... Hinata was becoming more and more like asister.)

Naruto cursed under his breath – something about the moon – and he felt the warm chakra enter his body. Immediately, the sharp pain started to dull and it was easier to breath. Naruto reached for his headband. “We must check that head wound...” despite his pain, Neji’s hand shot to catch the blonde’s wrist. He didn’t want Naruto to see it. “Don’t.”

Naruto scowled at him and twisted his wrist out of his loose hold. “Don’t be ridiculous, Neji. Ican heal you and you know it.”

He didn’t have the energy to tell the blonde, that it wasn’t his healing abilities, that he doubted. Naruto removed his hitai ite and used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away the blood. Naruto went stiff and Neji felt shame creeping up on his spine.

“What is that on your forehead?“ the blonde asked, his voice calm and cool, but Neji sensed it. Such atone from the usually jovial Senju meant danger.

“It’s the Caged Bird Seal.“ he whispered softly.

“Explain.” Sasuke barked, his voice cracking like thunder and as Neji slowly sat up, leaning on Naruto, he knew they had no chance, but to tell the truth.

Chapter 36: Birds and Fish

Chapter Text

After Neji and Hinata were done explaining the purpose and the brief history of the Seal, Sasuke felt like marching over to the supposedly all-seeing bastards and torching afew (or alot) of them. And this was him. He usually didn’t get worked up – that was what his brother was here for. Naruto got emotional enough for the both of them. He needed all his famous Ōtsutsuki/Uchiha stoicism not to turn on his heels and march into Hyūga grounds with blazing Mangekyō.

Naruto... well, Naruto was having avery, very hard time not letting all his chakra out and Sasuke could hear Kurama’s curses too. Their Bijū brother was inventing very colourful words about certain humans and how said humans had the balls to twist their father’s Ninshū.

After asolid five minutes of cursing (he definitely cursed like asailor, or like someone, who’d once lived near the Red Light District), Naruto took adeep breath and his eyes fluttered closed. Sasuke looked at the two Hyūga, who were both red in the face after hearing his brother’s choice of words, directed at certain members of their Clan.

Naruto helped Neji up and he nodded to Hinata as well. “You two are coming.” was all he said, his tone clipped.

Sasuke wasn’t even surprised, when Naruto gave him instructions how to check Neji’s wound and how to apply abit of chakra to help along the healing, before disappearing into the library. Namely, into the biggest untouched-in-generations library of the village, as they were sitting in the living room of the empty Main House of the Senju District. The place, where three out of five Hokage had dwellt, in their own times.

“Why are we here?“ Hinata asked softly, as she watched him treat Neji. “I thought this place wasn’t used anymore?”

“It’s not.“ Sasuke said. “Tsunade lives in the Hokage Residence and we live in the appartment, that Naruto’s father had owned while alive. But many of the Senjus’ documents are here for safekeeping. Even documents and jutsu from the Uzumaki Clan, either brought here by Mito-hime or by my godmother, when she fled Uzu’s fall.”

Neji raised an eyebrow at him. “Naruto’s mother was your godmother?”

Sasuke hummed, amused at the shocked expression on the older boy’s face. “Aye, she was.”

When he was done with the wound’s cleaning and healing, Neji put his headband back. For several minutes, there was aheavy, awkwards silence between them and Sasuke wished his brother would hurry up, because...

“I got it!” came the echoing call from somewhere on the other side of the sizeable house.

Sasuke huffed, shaking his head, as he heard Naruto running back to them. He had avictorious grin on his face, altough his violet eyes were calling for blood. “I got it!” he said triumphantly, waving an elborate swirl patterned scroll container.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. “What is that?”

Naruto tossed it at him and he caught it in the air, as Naruto glided over to Neji, saying he wanted to have alook at his wounds. Sasuke wasn’t offened at all – he was crap, when it came to healing. While his brother fussed around the Hyūga, Sasuke gently peeled the document out of its holder and rolled it out.

A Blood Contract between the Uzumaki Clan of Uzushiogakure and the Hyūga Clan of Konohagakure

Sasuke blinked at the title and carefully rolled out the obviously ancient document. As he read it, his eyes went wide. The Caged Bird Seal was an Uzumaki creation? Specifically requested by the Hyūga and here, in this scroll everything about the seal was written down, to the last dot. The application and its removal as well as the conditions of its use.

And by the looks of it, enslavement wasn’t on the list of approved usage. Sasuke wanted to know when had Naruto found this and where, but it didn’t matter much. Not now. What mattered, that with this, they could place the Hyūga in achoke hold, useless they wanted to face serious reprecussions.

Sasuke’s eyes snapped up from the scroll, as he heard apainful hiss.

Naruto checked Neji’s wound and then sighed, satisfied. “Nothing serious. Just don’t train tomorrow. Take it easy.”

“Alright.”

“Now, Ineed you to stay still. As motionless, as you can be. Iwill apply some chakra to your seal and no, Iwon’t activate it, Igive you my word. It will just be to show the whole thing – to show it’s hidden shikki.” he explained calmly. Neji looked unsure for amoment and Naruto felt bad. No doubt, because each time chakra was put into the seal, he had felt immense pain. “I swear on the kami, it won’t hurt. It will sting, but it will be afleeting thing.”

“I think we can trust him Neji-nī. Let him.“ Hinata siad quietly. Neji gave her along look, before the pale eyes turned to him, boring into his own violet.

“Do it.”

Naruto gave him and encouraging smile. “Close your eyes, please.” as Neji did so, Naruto placed ahand on Neji’s forehead and pushed some chakra into the seal.

The black lines lit up and Neji hissed in pain. Naruto immediately felt bad, but it was soon gone, as it was replaced by afeeling of vicotry as the complete array appeared, the intricate symbols spereading across his face.

Naruto didn’t take his eyes off off the many symbols, as he reached towards Sasuke. “Nī-sama, the scroll, if you would.” Sasuke placed it into his hand and Naruto looked down at the very bottom of the paper, where the prototype of the seal was drawn.

His eyes narrowed and then he looked back at Neji’s face. It was different. But... “Nī-sama, come, have alook. Your Sharingan is perfect for this sort of thing. Is there adifference between the two seals? Ithink so, but perhaps it’s just the smuggled ink...”

Sasuke slipped from his seat and studied the scroll for abit, before looking at the seal on Neji’s face. “It is different. And it’s not just asymbol or two, like an adjustment over time. There’s an entire layer on it, that is not on the scroll. You’re the Fūinjutsu expert, but that top layer seems to be anewer addition, rather clumsy, compared to the rest.”

Naruto snarled. “I’m so gutting someone today.” He took adeep breath, as he felt Kurama’s own chakra rising at his volatile emotions. He applied abrust of chakra and the symbols disappeared from Neji’s face. “Arigato, Neji. You can readjust your headband now.”

Naruto rolled up the scroll he was holding and slowly stood up. As he looked at his brother he saw the Sharingan flash sinisterly. “How about we visit our most beloved cousins, Otōto?”

Hyūga Hiashi was acalm man, who knew the value of hiding ones emotions. However, he couldn’t help, but look surprised, when one of the guards from the gate appeared in his study and told him, that Uchiha Sasuke and Senju-Uzumaki Naruto were here and that they wanted to speak with him without delay.

Hiashi briefly wondered what his former classmates’ sons wanted from him. True, with their promotion – Tokubetsu Jōnin on the spot, wasn’t that asurprise? – they were both considered adults and thus, Heads of their respective Clans. (Well at least Naruto was Head of the Uzumaki, as technically, with Tsunade alive, he was only theHeir of the Senju.) But the two were Clan Heads anyway, the youngest in Konoha’s history so far.

“I will see them.” he said. The guard was gone in aShunshin and Hiashi took his time to arrange his paperwork, knowing that probably, he wouldn’t be doing anything else today.

After several minutes, the two Tokubetsu Jōnin walked in, flanked by his elder daughter and nephew. Huh, what asurprise –from what he’d gathered, the two boys were rather detached from those their age and only associated with each other and their former senseis.

Neji seemed winded as did Hinata. Had they been training? But why outside the Compound then? “Hyūga-dono.” the boys’ voices were oddly frosty. Frosty even for ason of Uchiha Fugaku and that was a truefeat.

“Uzumaki-dono, Uchiha-dono. What brings you here?”

Naruto held up ascroll. “Clan business of the most serious nature.” his voice was almost terrifyingly like Minato’s had been, when he had been angry. What could have possibly pissed off these two? He didn’t remember doing anything and while the Elders had been loud about the boys’ promotion and the possibility of their political power expanding, he’d brushed it aside.

The two were shinobi – promising shinobi of the future, not budding politicans. And while he’d heard from Hinata, that Naruto’s dream was to be Hokage, he doubted that dream would come true. Despite the reveal of his heritage and his Mokuton, some still saw the blonde as the Kyūbi itself, rather than just the container. Hiashi was sure those people would do everything in their power to undermine the blonde’s future political advances.

He waved the two to sit and looked at his daughter and nephew. “You may leave.”

“Neji stays.“ the Uchiha stated, his tone commanding and regal. Now that he thought about it, both of them were way too composed and regal for their age.

Hiashi’s eyes narrowed abit, but the Uchiha matched his gaze without atwitch and Hiashi had to supress adreadful shiver, as he was met with the boy’s Sharingan. There was power behind those eyes – power, that he had never felt from other Uchiha, in all his life.

He nodded to his nephew and he watched Hinata slip out, after giving asmile to Neji. These past weeks it seemed Neji had been less distant with her and they spent much more time together. What may have brought this change? The door closed and Neji remained lingering by the door.

“Why is it you asked for this meeting?“ he asked.

“Tell me, Hyūga-dono, do you know what are the consequences of breaking aBlood Contract?“ Naruto asked, as he moved his hand, revealing afancy, old scroll container. What was in that?

Hiashi moved his gaze from the red container and looked the blonde in the eyes. (Kami, his violet eyes were just as deadly and fiery as Kushina’s had been. He surely had that deadly Uzumaki temper burried in him somewhere.) “That usually depends on the contents of the Contract... but means severe loss of political power as well as adamaged image and prejudice for the one, who broke contract.” he said calmly.

Well at least, he appreared calmly. On the inside, he was getting more and more nervous. What was this all about and why were they so interested in aBlood Contract?

“If you know the consequences, then why break one?“ the Uchiha asked.

Hiashi’s pale eyes narrowed. “Careful what you say under my roof, Uchiha. Ibroke no contract – Ididn’t even make one.”

“You didn’t.“ Naruto nodded, “But one of your predecessors did and you broke that contract, Shinju only knows when. Time to pay the price for that. Abusing other Clans’ techinques, that were created on request and improved in the sign of good faith, is avery, very bad idea.“ he said coldly, sliding over the scroll case, Killing Intent leaking from him.

Now Hiashi was on edge. They march in here and accuse him of breaking acontract he hadn’t made and now they were treathening him? This was pushing it, descendants of the Founders or not.

Still, he took the scroll that was being offered and took it from the case. He hesitated only for amoment, as he saw the boys’ eyes flash. Then, he slowly unrolled it and started reading. His blood froze, as he realised what it was.

ABlood Contract between his Clan and the Uzumaki. About the Caged Bird Seal.

Hiashi couldn’t help, but curse in the privacy of his mind – the kid had redone Minato’s seal with only supervision from Jiraiya. Which meant, the boy was at least Uzumaki-level proficient in Fūinjutsu. His eyes flickered to Neji, who was still waiting patiently, his eyes ocassionally flickering to the Uchiha in shock.

Hiashi sallowed hard, as he read the scroll. ‘Damn those megalomaniac Elders. If Naruto takes this to the Hokage, she will support him, as family. And politically too, as Iknow many despise the use of the seal within the village. They’ll surely have the Shinobi Council’s support and that would be devastatig for the Clan. Even if the Elders insist on leaving Konoha... no, that’s not an opinion. Despite everything, Konoha is the safest place for us all. The other Great Villages had been trying to get both the Byakugan and the Sharingan since the Founding.‘

“What are your terms, Uzumaki-dono?“ he asked, dreading the answer. He knew that the next words would be the deciding factor.

“Remove this seal.” he stated, tone clipped and leaving no room for argument.

Hiashi’s eyes narrowed. “The safety and the secrets of the Byakugan are at stake...”

“And shouldn’t all of you have aSeal then?“ the Uchiha asked, eyes narrowed. “Don’t think we don’t know – or remember– that one time, when Kumo tried kidnapping Hinata. She is without aseal and had Kumo suceeded, your Seal is useless.”

Hiashi winced inwardly at how true Sasuke’s words were. He remembered fearing for his daughter as afather and fearing for his Clan’s secrets and future, as aClan Head.

Naruto growled, his eyes narrowing into fox-like slits and Hiashi was afraid he might lose it... but instead he was blasted with powerful Killing Intent. Thick and opressive he wouldn’t have thought he’d feel from aboy like the blonde, no matter how talented. And he knew it wasn’t his tenant’s KI, as he remembered how it had felt...

“That seal is unethical. Iunderstand, that you wish to protect your Kekkei Genkai and Clan by using it. But what family considers their cousins or uncles their servants?“ he growled. “Besides, if you or Hinata or Hanabi were taken, any f*cker could get the Byakugan, seal or no.”

“Would you want one of your daghters branded, like apiece of kettle?“ the Uchiha asked. “And choose, then. Which of them? Hinata, because she is akind heart and your Elders don’t approve of her caring nature and revolutionary ways? Or should it be Hanabi, once Hinata is the Head, only because she is younger?”

Hiashi almost looked away. Hizashi had been branded only because he was hours younger – and after his twin’s death, Neji had changed. The Elders had approved of the change in the boy, but Hiashi wasn’t happy. Neji had been as kind as his father, aboy who was joy to be around. And then, after the mess with Kumo, everything had changed.

Only because Hizashi had chosen to sacrifice himself. So he could be safe. He remembered promising his brother to take care of Neji... but he hadn’t. Not realy. The boy had changed and he’d been sinking deeper and deeper into asort of darkness Hiashi believed only the Uchiha had had in them. (Who hadn’t heard the rumours of the Uchihas’ Curse?) And it was a terrifying thing to watch. Only for his nephew to change after the Chūnin Exams.

After he’d faced Senju Naruto. After he’d had an encounter with Uchiha Sasuke, if what he’d heard from Gai was true. These two had changed Neji – they brought him back to what he had been, as achild. And now, his nephew was making an effort to be kinder and more considerate to the other Branch members. He was spendnig more time with Hinata and from what he understood, they were training together. And she was improving – he wasn’t blind. Step by step, Hinata was improving and gaining confidence. Turning into akunoichi, whom the Elders would approve of.

Because Neji was helping her.

Because these boys had helped Neji... and now, they were helping Hinata. (And he wasn’t afool. He’d heard Hinata say, that if she were made Head, she’d abolish the Seal, so neither Neji nor Hanabi would ever have to fear.) Thinking of his daughters was also painful – ever since Hinata started improving and gaining confidence, Hanabi was growing more and more distant. More and more deseperate with every spar.

Was it worth? Alifetime of tradition he himself despised, for it had put awedge between him and Hiazashi... was that tradition worth ablood feud? Worth ridicule? Worth tearing apart his own family even more? He was no fool. Both of his daughters feared being Sealed...for one reason or another. That fear was driving them apart, that Seal was driving them apart, as it had driven him and Hizashi apart.

His eyes flickered to Neji and... that look in his eyes almost broke him. Neji was looking at these boys with hope. As if they were more, than what one could understand.

“Well, Hyūga-dono?“ Naruto asked, rising an eyebrow. “Will you let me remove those seals? Or is your tradition worth ablood feud? No village will take in aClan, that has an ongoing blood feud, even if you leave. Your Clan will fall apart physically as fallen apart they are mentally. No family survives being devided.”

“And one day...“ the Uchiha said, tone low, “the kicked dogs will have enough and bite back. One day, maybe not under your rule of your one of your daughter’s... but one day, the Branch House will have enough and not heeding the pain, they will attack. They will retailiate. But tell me, what becomes of afamily, if the parents teach their children to hate? It’s not love and unity you are showing those within your Clan. It’s hate and fear. Hate, prejudice and fear brought the fall of my kin. Do you want it to happen to you as well? Hyūga Clan Downfall... catchy name, no? Sound catchier, than Uchiha, even.”

Hiashi could not sit here and listen. Not anymore. He would not let the same thing happen to his Clan, that had happened to the Uchiha. They were one of the five Ancient Clans – along with Uzumaki, Senju, Uchiha and Kaguya– if the legends were true. Four of the five were almost extinct and only the Hyūga remained united. But for how long?

The Uchiha had been numerous and united adecade ago and it only took a single spark...

They were afamily and it was time to act like one. The Elders will chew him for this, but fine. He’ll deal with them –for his Clan. For every single member of his family. He had let the Elders get away with too many things, for too long. (It was time to make his wife’s dream come true. The dream of aunited family, which Hinata had seemingly inherited, if what he’d caught from her and Neji’s conversation awhile ago, was true.)

Time to act, like the Clan Head he was.

He looked down at the scroll. The scroll, which had the real Caged Bird Seal. The one, which was meant to protect, not divide.

He offered the scroll back to the blonde. “How much time would it take to remove the current seals and redo this, original one, for all of us?”

The pleased expression on the boys’ faces was odd to see. As if they had been struggling for something, that was personal for them as much, as it was personal for him. Still, the hardest... it was Neji, whose look was the hardest to stand.

Shock, hope, disbelief even more hope... and was that a spark of affection? Was he seeing the true Neji again, after all this time?

Yes, he decided. Let his father and the other Elders scream as much, as they wanted. He would not stand by and watch his Clan – his family – be destroyed from the inside because of abunch of megalomaniac, tradition-loving old geezers. When Hizashi had died, he had sworn never to be aHead and afather, like their own had been. Up till now, he had failed that promise.

But now, it was time to start fulfilling it. Time to be aHead and afather his family deserved.

Neji couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face, as he escorted the brothers out, to the edge of the Clan District. Naruto was smiling at him. “Soon, Neji. Soon you’ll be free. Ithink it would take afew days for your uncle to make the old coots understand, that it’s time to change... but by the end, he seemed as determined to bring change, as Hinata.”

‘Free as abird. Trully free, not confined into aglided cage.‘ he thought, hope blazing in his heart.

He stopped at the very edge of the district, his feet brushing the invisible line, which marked Hyūga property. The two had passed and were now technically outside, so he could leave, but...

“Thank you for helping.“ he said quietly.

Naruto smiled, waving a hand. “Think nothing of it. It was the right thing to do.”

“We’re all family, after all.” Sasuke pointed out. “Even if no one in your Clan knows it. Uchiha, Uzumaki, Senju, Hyūga, Kaguya – we had once been siblings and cousins, who carried the same name. We’re family and family sticks together.”

He smiled at them and bowed. “Arigato, Asura-sama, Indra-sama.” he said quietly

“Maa, we’re family.” Naruto said with an eyeroll, bringing him into aspontaneous, short hug. “Don’t give us that.”

Amoment later he was free and abit... shocked. Sasuke’s black eyes were glinting, amued at his shock as much, as he was amused at the blonde’s actions. “Greet Hinata for us, will you?“ the Uchiha asked.

Neji nodded. “Of course.”

“We’ll be back in afew days then, to help remove the Seal.“ Naruto said with awave, as both of them disappeared in swirling leaves, flames and water mixing with the wind.

Neji walked back to the Compoud with asmile – areal one, which he hadn’t had since before his father’s death, – on his face.

Soon, they’ll be free.

Satisfied with the results of their work, the brothers were heading to Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate – this was aday worth celebrating. Mitra’s family would soon be free and united, as she would have liked to see them, no matter what. And perhaps trough this small act of justice, they could give weight to the teachings of Ninshū within the Clan, even if the Hyūga wouldn’t have aname for what it was.

The quest for ramen was halted, when Naruto froze in mid-step, his eyes darting around, specifically towards the Hokage Mountain.

“Otōto?”

Naruto’s eyes narrowed on the plateu, which he couldn’t see from here, then his eyes darted to Sasuke. “Two large chakra signatures incoming. One of them full of bloodlust, with stong affinity for Suiton... the other...“ he trailed off.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “What of the other?”

Naruto breathed out. “The second one is an Uchiha.”

Naruto saw his brother’s eyes widen, before they narrowed. There were no words needed. Ramen forgotten, they made their way towards the Hokage Monument. Whichever of the Uchiha candidates had trespassed the village border without raising an alarm... it didn’t matter which one. They could be dangerous.

With aseries of Shunshin, the two found themselves on the plateu, facing atall man with blue-gray skin and small, shark-like eyes. Naruto noted, winkling his nose, that the guy wearing aslashed Kiri headband even smelled like ashark. The long, black cloak with red-white clouds was also rather distinctive.

“Well, well, well...” the newcommer grinned, showing arow of pointed teeth. “Look what we have here, partner. The Kyūbi Jinchūriki walks right into our arms. Willingly. Isn’t that nice?”

Naruto frowned. He recognised the f*cker from the Bingo Books. Hoshigaki Kisame, former of Kiri’s famed Seven, now one of their most dangerous Missing-nin. “What do you want here, fish-face?” he demanded, violet eyes narrowed.

“Sharp tongue, ne?“ Kisame asked. “You’re not gonna be asmart mouth, once we finish with you, Fox. Will he, Itachi?”

Another figure appeared from behind Kisame, almost as if he’d materialised from thin air. He wore the same dark garbs, as the swordman, however, he had aslashed Konoha headband, three-tomoe Sharingan burning in his eyes.

“Itachi.” Sasuke spoke, his tone lilting. Hope, shock, disbelief radiated off of him so strongly, that it was almost enough to distract Naruto. Almost.

The second (undercover) Missin-nin looked at Sasuke. Naruto could feel the myraid of emotions from the man just as strongly, as he felt them from Sasuke, altough his face was blank. Shock, joy, hope, love, regret...

“Long time no see, Otōto.”

Chapter 37: Itachi and ... Indra?

Chapter Text

Itachi had imagined many times, what his encounter with Sasuke would be like. He had never imagined, that he would see Sasuke right next to Uzumaki (Senju?) Naruto. It’s not that he was baised or prejudiced against the blonde for his heritage or for the Bijū he held... Quite the oppoiste. He understood, that if it hadn’t been for the Yondaime’s and Naruto’s sacrifice, there wouldn’t even be Konoha today.

However, he also knew, that not everyone understood that. Fear, hate and prejudice was part of human nature, as sad as it sounded, almost on agenetical level. So... Sasuke either didn’t know what Naruto was or he had overcome the prejudice and had formed afriendship with the blonde anyway. Itachi liked the second option more, but considering the Sandaime’s laws regarding Naruto’s status, the first option was more likely.

“Come with us peacefully, Naruto-kun and no harm will come to the village.” Itachi said, keeping up his act. In fact, he would have liked to tell the blonde to run and alert the Hokage, but Kisame was right here.

Sasuke and Naruto shared alook and both of them snorted. They shared another look asilent conversation passing between them.

“You want the Kyūbi, fish-face?“ Naruto asked, looking at Kisame. “Come and get it!”

Itachi’s lips twitched at the creative (and fitting) nickname. How hadn’t he thought of it before?

“What did you just call me, little fox punk?“ Kisame growled, reaching for Samehada.

“You aren’t just ugly, reeking fish but also deaf? Oh, by the Rikudō...” Kisame roared and charged at the blonde, who dodged swiftly. Itachi debated interfering, but then Sasuke was right in front of him and he had to catch apunch.

Oh, his little brother had come along way. That punch was pretty strong. Had Sasuke used chakra to sternghten it? He moved to kick Sasuke, but to his shock, Sasuke caught it, his eyes glinting with amusem*nt. “Are you getting weak in your old age, Itachi? Naruto uses chakra-enhanced strenght regularly. This is nothing.”

Itachi twiched inwardly. ‘Old age, heh? It seems you’ve picked up some of Naruto’s cheekiness, hadn’t you, Sasuke-kun?‘

Sasuke’s eyes morphed into the Sharingan and it showed three tomoe... Itachi was proud and sad all at once. What might have caused the activation of his eyes? He wished he could have been there, to comfort Sasuke afterwards, as activating the Sharingan usually meant atraumatic experience.

Sasuke didn’t say anything, merely attacked again and soon, they were locked in afast-paced Taijutsu match. Oh, Sasuke was faster, than he had expected and... what was the style he was using? It was unfamiliar. It had avague resemblance to the Uchiha Interceptor Fist, but nothing more. Had Sasuke made his own style?

Then, Sasuke suddenly drew atantō and Itachi had to duck under the first swipe... altough it caught his ponytail. His eyes narrowed on Sasuke. ‘That was my hair, Sasuke.‘ he thought irrately. Okay, so no wasting more time – or hair. He would have to help Kisame, as it seemed the blone was expert at evading Kisame, while delivering strong strikes, if the swordman’s cursing was any indication.

His eyes morphed into their higher level. ‘Forgive me, Otōto.‘ he thought, as his chakra spiked.

“Tsukuyomi!” (Moon Reader)

The chakra rippled outwards, transporting them into the red-black world of Tsukuyomi, Sasuke pinned to amassive cross.

“Welcome to the world of Tsukiyomi, Sasuke.” he said. Sasuke looked around with acritical eye and then scowled. Then, as their eyes met, Itachi’s eyes went wide. He saw the three-tomoe pattern spin wildly and then it changed into asix-pointed, star-like design.

‘How? Since when does he...?‘ he thought in shock.

Then, Sasuke spoke words he thought never to hear. (From what he knew, each Mangekyō-user had special, unique abilities, so this was another shock.)

“Kongen: Tsukuyomi!” (Origin: Moon Reader) Sasuke called, his voice hard, filled with so much power, that it sent ashiver down Itachi’s spine. Then, to his surprise, the Genjutsu world rippled like water and changed.

The red-white set up was gone, replaced by a calm night, a crescent moon handing above their heads, giving off a soft, reddish-purple light. Itachi found himself stuck in a circle made up of six magatama, pure white fire floating above each symbol. As the flames fickered and pulsed, sometimes they would touch to create a complete circle. He didn’t know what this was, but he had a vague feeling, that the flames were not part of the Tsukuyomi world. Everything around them was made of water, as if they were on a surface on a massive lake.

And there, on the water, he saw it – the water didn’t refect Sasuke. No, he saw acompletely different person. Long, dark brown hair in acylinder dressed white kimono with black sash – the kind of archaic clothing that was rarely even mentioned in some written acounts from the warring states. It was something like the Uchiha of old might have worn, yet it wasn’t...

“Oh, Iforgot.” Sasuke said softly. “The water shows my reflection, does it not?”

Itachi’s eyes snapped up. His reflection? That wasn’t Sasuke there! “What...?”

Sasuke shook his head, his eyes full of sadness and love at once. “Baka, baka Nī-san. All these years Ithought you’d fallen for the Curse, you know?”

Itachi’s eyes went even wider. Sasuke knew about their Clan’s Curse? Wait... if he knew about it... did it mean he’d overcome it? Was this the end of the Uchihas’ bloody history? (Usually, after all, knowing meant overcoming it.)

“For years, Ipitied you for it. For years, Iblamed myself for it. It was after all, my fault, that the Clan has come to what it had been recently.“ Sasuke sighed. “I should have listened to Asura, you know?”

Itachi stood stiffly, confused. The flames’ heat was searing (it might have been real or it might have been the work of the Genjutsu, but it didn’t matter), so he didn’t even dare moving an inch. Sasuke’s fault? How the hell could the Curse of their Clan be his cute baby brother’s fault? And who was Asura? And why was the Genjutsu showing adifferent person, as if said different person were Sasuke’s shadow/reflection?

His brother had brushed it aside, as if he had been just ait surprised at seeing the effect of the Genjutsu and not the reflection itself. Had Sasuke seen that strange teen (man?) before?

“But... my past mistakes cannot be erased. However, we can work on making a better future and... I’m glad to call you my brother, you know? Few have ever overcome that Curse and if not for Otōto, I would be caught in it, still.”

Itachi blinked. Otōto? Sasuke... who was Sasuke calling his brother? (And in such away... he could hear the brotherly affection in the word, as clear as day. He had said the same word many times in such away, before everything had become very messy and heavy.)

And what did Sasuke mean by being caught in the Curse still? He was acalm person, but the questions were piling up so fast and suddenly, that he thought he might snap, if Sasuke didn’t give him astraight answer soon.

Sasuke glided into his circle of restraints, not at all bothered – of course, it was kind of expected, as this world was entirely of Sasuke’s design, so he did things the way he pleased. Then suddenly, his baby brother’s arms wrapped around him... in ahug.

Sasuke was hugging him. (Was this also the work of the Genjutsu? If yes, Itachi would ashamedly addmit, that it was working. Ever since that night, he wanted nothing more, than to hold Sasuke, to hug him and explain the whole mess...)

“I missed you, Ita-nī.” Sasuke murmured, using his old childish way of address. Even his voice sounded childish for amoment, far cry from the hard seriousness, when the Genjutsu had been flipped. Uh... Sasuke should be hating him. He should want him dead... he should want to burn him and not hug him!

‘What in the name of kami is going on here?!‘

Sasuke looked up at him, as if he’d heard his thoughts... Wait asecond... WAS THAT PAINT UNDER HIS BROTHER’S EYES?!

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. It’s paint, yes. I had it for years. Longer than you were alive in fact, so you’re not going to talk me down about using it. Ilike it how it is and there it will stay.”

Itachi was starting to seriously worry. How could Sasuke have that paint for longer, than his lifespan, when he was older and not Sasuke?

“Oh, by the Shinju!” Sasuke growled, pulling away. “No, Ididn’t lose it. Ihad enough madness in one life to last till the end of times, thank you. And Iwill explain later. Ithink. Let it be enough, that Iknow about the coup...”

Itachi went stiff, eyes widening again. (This meeting was full of surprises. More surprises, than his brain could take in one go. There wouldn’t be any more, right? Right?!) “What?” he managed to choke out.

“I found the documents with Naruto. It was akind of mess, after the Oto-Suna Invasion. The point is, that the Shinobi Council also knows. So you’re free to come back. Like now. No Akatsuki.”

Itachi’s breath hitched. Come back... He could be here again? In Konoha? With Sasuke? But no – he had duty to the village. He had amission to finish. “I’ve no idea what are you...”

“Jiraiya and the Hokage told us you’re infiltrating Akatsuki.“ Sasuke cut him off, even before he had the chance to form alie. “Jiraiya wasn’t happy, but the decision’s been made. Tsunade-sensei wants you back in the village. Here. It was just that... they couldn’t reach you to call you back. Or find asafe way of pulling you out. Here is the chance. Let us catch you. Let the fish-face go and tell the bastards you’ve been caught. And you’re free to come back. No reprecussions.”

Itachi blinked owlishly. “Did you just say Tsunade-sensei, Sasuke? As in Senju Tsunade, current and Godaime Hokage of Konoha?”

Sasuke growled throwing his hands into the air with a growl. “Are you sure you’re an Uchiha?! You’re surely as dense, as Otōto. I can’t belive one of my own could be such a... baka! You sound more like a Senju or an Uzumaki.” he huffed and then took a deep breath. His posture changed and his face was one of calmness again. “Yes. Isaid that. You’re home and if Otōto and Ihave anything to say about this, you’re staying. Is that fine with you?“

There was aheartbeat of silence.

“Will you stay, Itachi-nī?” his voice was much calmer now, hopeful. Almost childish.

Itachi didn’t need to think much. He could stay – with Sasuke. He could stay and makue sure his brother was safe and fine. And... maybe he could pry out afew straight answers from Sasuke in the process.

“Hai.“ he said softly. “I will stay.”

The white, searing flames around him dimmed and Sasuke’s Mangekyō spun so fast, that he couldn’t even see the pattern.

As the effects of his Tsukuyomi faded, both of them were transported back to the real world. Sasuke blinked, but it was clear, that his brother was very confused and disoriented. Feeling a bit bad, Sasuke punched him in the gut and swept his feet from under Itachi, causing his brother to fall with a groan.

“Tell your partner to flee.” he hissed softly.

Suddenly, golden chains materialised from the ground, binding Itachi, confusing him even more.

“What the f*ck Itachi, come and help me!!” the shark-faced bastard called. Itachi looked up, just as Sasuke pointed his tantō at his heart.

Sasuke looked up and noticed Asuma, Kakashi and Yamato there, fighting alongside Naruto. But his brother was drawing further away from the fight, his hand in ahalf-Ram to keep his Kongō Fūsa in perfect shape. Ah, so Naruto was wary Itachi may find away out... no matter how unlikely.

“Leave Kisame!” Itachi said, anote of desperation creeping into his emotionlesness. (Speak about his brother being asplendid actor.) “I’ll find my way out! Leave! We cannot fail!”

Kisame swung his sword – did that thing have scales?– and put extra distance between himself and the three Jōnin, the swung catching Yamato and causing him to stagger back. Kisame threw one last look at them, then he glared at Naruto.

“We’ll be back for you, Fox!”

“Come and get me, if you can, sushi-brained bastard!” Naruto hissed, slamming his Mokuton-made bō onto the rock, which caused atremor. Kisame cursed and then disappeared in awater Shunshin.

The four of them seemed winded. Rather unusual –and, when had the three Jōnin joined them?

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the four. “Are you alright?”

Asuma blinked at him. “Are you asking us? When you faced him?” he asked, making agesture at Itachi.

Sasuke shrugged. “The good thing about Genjutsu, Sarutobi-san, that if you have enough skill and the means, all Genjutsu can be turned around and the victim becomes the preparator. He underestimated my abilities and the Uzumaki chains... had held the Fox of decades and still hold him... so...” he glanced at Itachi, “he’s not going anywhere we don’t want him to go.”

Asuma snorted again. “You two are dangerous little meneaces, you know? Kids your age shouldn’t have so much skill and power.”

“We aren’t simple kids, Sarutobi-san.“ Naruto shot back, “Your students may be lazy or fangirlish... but we know what we want in life. And we know what we have to do, to get there. And we’re going to get there, sooner or later, but we’re going to get there.”

Sasuke smiled at the words. “Well said, Otōto.”

After ahours long session in the T&I, telling everything to the Hokage and Jiraiya he had gathered so far, they had let him walk free. Tsunade-sama had promised, that the mess around the Massacre will be cleared with the civilans as well, as it had been with the shinobi. Altough, for the sake of appearances, he would get seal restraints on his chakra for afew weeks and then, if he wished, he could be fully reinstated as ashinobi of Konoha...

“...or you could retire to lead acalmer life.“ the Hokage offered, her tone softer. “You’ve done more, than many shinobi, troughout their whole career. The decision is yours.”

Itachi gave anod. “Thank you, Hokage-sama. Iwill think on it.”

Than, to Itachi’s surprise, it was Naruto who walked trough the only door of the room. The blonde Jinchūriki’s face was completely calm and collected. “May Iescort him, Hokage-sama?”

“You may, Naurto. Oh, the seal.” the Hokage said.

Naruto glanced at him, his violet eyes sharp. Than, the blonde bit his own finger to draw blood and grabbed his hand, turning it. Itachi watched in quiet fascination, as Naruto pressed his bleeding finger onto his wrist and channeled his chakra.

His breath hitched in shock – for someone so young, Naruto surely had strong chakra. He had met Uzumaki Kushina afew times... but he didn’t remember the excitable redhead having such potent chakra – not even she had such chakra, despite her lineage.

“Uzumaki Fūin Shiki: Heikai Fūin.” (Uzumaki Sealing Style: Closing Seal) Naruto said.

The blood formed into asmall circular seal, as the chakra sunk into his system, clasping down on his entire body, so hard that it drove the breath out of his lungs. (Which was bad, considering his illness. He had hard time breathing anyway, but this was very, very bad...) He couldn’t help the wince, that deformed his features for asecond.

Naruto looked at him. “Gomen, Uchiha-san. Ikeep forgetting, that unlike me, not everyone is used to seals usually present on their body, nor they are used to my heavy chakra.”

‘Heavy is the understatement of the century.‘ Itachi thought. Instead, he shook his head and stood up slowly. “No harm done, Naruto-kun.”

Naruto turned to Tsunade and the Hokage nodded. “Both of you may go. Naruto... you and Sasuke report for training the day after tomorrow. And don’t be late.”

The blonde nodded. “Hai, sensei.”

Itachi blinked at that. Did Tsunade train both his little brother and Naruto? (If yes, that would explain the sloppier version the chakra-enhanced strength he’d noticed Sasuke use...) Naruto grabbed his arm and then they were both gone.

They landed in front of anice little house, right on the border of the Merchant and the Clan district. Naruto bit his hand again (the wound from before was gone without atrace...hm, interesting), drawing blood. He swiped the blood finger over the gate and channeled some chakra. Kanji lit up around the centre and then the gate clicked open. Naruto pushed it wide and gestured for him to walk in.

“Welcome to the Namikaze Estate. Your new home, for the time of your probation.” he said, making air quotes. “Make yourself at home, Itachi-san.”

Itachi walked in tentatively and then allowed the whiskered blonde to lead. “Itachi will do just fine, Naruto-kun.” he said, “No need to be so formal. Ishould thank you, Isuppose. From what I’ve observed you and Sasuke are close.”

Naruto chuckled and nodded. “You could say that, Isuppose.”

“It... from my understanding your presence had helped him overcome the trauma of that night and... Iowe you for that. Thank you for being there for him, when Icouldn’t.” he said quietly.

Naruto waved him off with a smile, as he opened the door. “Nonsense, Itachi. He’s important to me. Of course I’d keep an eye on him, no matter what.”

They took off their shoes and Naruto led him into the kitchen. “Nī-sama! We’re home!” Naruto called.

Itachi blinked at that. Nī-sama? Did Naruto mean Sasuke by that? Naruto gestured for him to sit down and Itachi did just that. There was no answer from Sasuke whatsoever.

“Nī-sama!” Naruto called again, this time his voice sharper. “I brought Itachi home!”

The words worked almost like magic – awhirl of fire appeared in the room, to reveal Sasuke. “Sorry Otōto. Iwas just speaking with Neji. It seems the words we exchanged with the Hyūga are working. Hinata and Hiashi seem to be determined not to be caught in ablood feud.”

Naruto grinned. “Oh, does that mean Ican saunter over to start removing that stupid seal from the Branch Family?”

Sasuke hummed. “Not yet, but close. But don’t think, I’m letting you go alone. I’m going to go with you – the last thing we need is for the old geezers to try something nasty. But just let them... I’d gladly introduce them to Amaterasu.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “I can protect myself, Nī-sama.”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “Boar in the forest.” Sasuke said seriously, which caused the blonde to groan and suddenly, there was adark raincloud above his head.

“Am Inever going to live that down?” he murmured.

Sasuke huffed, walking closer. “No, Otōto. But Isuppose, Ishould kinda thank you and Shiro. If not for that boar, Iwouldn’t have had my Sharingan so early.”

Itachi felt abit left out. The two obviously acted like brothers, were brothers in everything but blood... but what was going on with the Hyūga? And what boar in what forest? When?

“But Indra...” Naruto whined softly.

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not going alone to the Hyūga grounds. Itrust Neji of course, but useless the Seal is removed, he can’t really stand up to help you.”

Naruto’s eyes narrowed. “But Ican...”

Sasuke’s eyes flashed with the Sharingan. ”No, Otōto.”

Naruto grunted. “Fine, Nī-sama.“ he turned away, grabbing some pots and pans and then walking to the fridge. “What do you two want to eat?”

Itachi blinked at the sudden change in topic. What the hell was going on here? Sasuke stole him a glance and then smiled. “Onigiri, please.” Oh... so Sasuke remembered it was his favourite? It’s nice... and he hadn’t eaten onigiri in ages. Konan’s cooking wasn’t exactly safe to eat and he refused to even acknowledge that one time, when Deidara...

‘No, stop.‘ he thought,‘Don’t think about that. Or any of them ever again.‘

Naruto stopped and looked up. “Huh?“ then, his violet eyes settled on him and Itachi felt abit uncomfortable, almost like an open book, the thoughts about the other Akatsuki members fleeing in asecond.

The blonde smiled. “Ah, so it’s afavourite? Well, then origiri it shall be. Any special wishes, Itachi?”

Itachi hummed. “Well... Ilike it with seaweed.“ he said. Naruto hummed, looking at Sasuke, who chuckled.

“Fine, fine. You do the cooking, Iget the seaweed.”

And then Sasuke was gone in afiery Shunshin without aword. Itachi sat there by the table, watching as Naruto cooked the rice for their food and pondered the mystery, that his little brother and the Uzumaki made up.

The oddest pair ever and not just because of the different Clans. For one... how did Sasuke have the Mangakyō? Secondly... why had Naruto called his baby brother Indra?

“Naruto...”

The blonde glanced at him, not stopping in preparing their food. “Hai?”

“I think... Iheard you say Indra and... if I’m not mistaken, you meant my little brother.“

This time, the Uzumaki did stop and turned to him for amoment, studying him with sharp, wise violet eyes. Sharper and wiser eyes, than ateen his age had the right to have. “Observant.“ he murmured, turning back to his task. “Yes, Icalled him that.”

“Why?“

Naruto hummed. “Cause that’s his name.”

Itachi hummed too. “No. His name is Sasuke. He’s my brother, you know.”

Naruto huffed. “He’s as much Sasuke as much Indra. And he was my brother first, Itachi-san, so Iget to call him whichever name Ifeel like.”

Itachi’s lips parted ever so slightly to speak, but he held back instead. What the hell had been going on in Konoha, while he’d been gone?!

And what was this identity mess Naruto and Sauske were struggling with?! Kami help him, these two were worse than Sasori and Deidara, when they argued about art...

Chapter 38: We, Who Are Kin

Chapter Text

Hiashi frowned. Since early morning, he’d been in the Hyūga library trying to find acopy of the document Naruto had shown him. It was avalid contract, so there had to be acopy in here as well. Hinata and Neji had come with him, when they heard what he was looking for. It’s not that he questioned the validity of the document – far from it – but he knew, that several of the Elders would try to undermine this effort to unite the family.

Despite his promise to Hizashi and his wife, he’d never acted on it, afraid the Elders might try tearing his family apart even more. Sadly, the one who was the staunchest supporter of that abomination for aseal was his own father. The thought still made him frown. (And the old coot wondered, why Hinata avoided him so much...)

He sighed in frustration and carefully rearranged the many scrolls, just as they’d been. He threw alook at his daughter from across the room, countless documents spread in front of her. As she caught his gaze, she shook her head in denial and started to rearrange the pile.

‘Damn the long history of our Clan.‘ he thought, as he felt aheadache forming, ‘We’ll never find that damnable contract.‘

“Hiashi-sama.“ Neji called, hurrying towards him, holding ascroll continer not unlike the one Naruto had shown him. ”I found it.” his face was calm, but Hiashi caught the little excitement underlining his tone. It warmed his heart to hear it – Neji was so much like his brother...

He smiled abit and patted his nephew’s shoulder, taking the scroll. “Wonderful. And... Ithink, it’s time we acted afamily, Neji.” he said in alower tone, “Call me uncle.”

Surprise flickered trough Neji’s features, but the smile, that formed on his face was enough of an answer. Hiashi twisted the contract in his hand, looking at his daughter, who had also approached, hearing Neji’s words.

“I’ll deal with the Elders and gather the Clan. Would you two please bring the infamous duo?”

Neji smirked and Hinata smiled widely. “Of course, Otō-san.”

Itachi opened the door of the Namikaze house, as the bell rang. Two Hyūga stood in the door, about the same age, as his little brother and Naruto. The girl just looked confused, as she noticed him and the boy immediately siffened, covering her and taking acautious step back. No doubt he had recognised him.

“Who’s it, Itachi?” Naruto called.

Itachi took astep back, turning towards the blonde. “Two friends of yours, Iwould guess, Naruto-kun. Hyūga.”

Naruto perked up and darted forwards, peeking out. “Ah, Neji, Hinata. Nice to see you. How’s it going?”

“Not to be rude or ajinx...“ Neji murmured, pointing at him, “But that’s Uchiha Itachi right, Naruto? S-rank Missing-nin... famed for killing his Clan.”

Itachi winced inwardly at the words. Will that be how the world remembered him? Clan-killer Itachi?

Naruto hummed. “Yes. And there are several things the village doesn’t know about the Uchiha Incident and Iwould guess our age group knows even less. Iand Sasuke know what we do, cause we came across things, after the Invasion. The point is, that Itachi’s under house arrest, until everything gets cleared up. And nope, he can’t use chakra – one of my seals is blocking him, so you won’t get fried, like Nī-sama tried to do the last time we trained together.”

The girl – Hinata– relaxed with asmall huff. “That’s nice to hear. Sasuke-kun’s fire is... not nice.”

Naruto chuckled. “Trust me, Iknow. So? What brings you here?”

Itachi saw the massive grins, that formed on the two Hyūgas faces – rather uncharacteristic, knowing how stoic and arrogant that bunch could be. Frighteningly similar to how the Uchiha had been, so seeing the light expressions on their faces was odd. (What was next? Would there be snow in the village right now, in the middle of the summer? At this point, he wouldn’t be more confused or concerned...)

“Otō-san found the copy of the Contract.“ Hinata said. “He’s speaking with the Elders now.”

“He requested your and Sasuke’s presence to do your part, as you promised. He asked us to escort you there.”

Itachi blinked in confusion. What contract? And what did Naruto and Sasuke have to do with it? And how did the Hyūga Council get involved in this?

Naruto grinned and even the sun seemed brighter, all of sudden. “Nī-sama should be back in a few minutes and we can go.”

Itachi rubbed his temples. When the two were back from the Hyūgas from whatever they would be doing there, Itachi swore to get his answers, even if he had to blackmail the two with their favourite foods. (It would cost half the money he earned from the Akatsuki mission, but he’d rather be broke, than going insane with all the questions floating about in his head.)

Hiashi matched the angry, disbelieving glares of the Elders without atwitch. As expected, no one was happy about the redesigning of the Seal.

His father scowled at him. “You would condemn us to chaos, Hiashi?“ his father asked darkly. “The moment the Branch House is free, they will revolt and the Clan will fall apart!”

His eyes narrowed. “And they have areason to revolt, father. Enough is enough. Istood by and allowed you to brand Hizashi, like apiece of kettle.” he shook his head. “I will not allow you to tear my daughters apart, as you did with me and my brother.”

“You would break hundreds of years of tradition, for your weak daughter?“ an elderly woman demanded. Hiashi did not even bother remembering her name.

Hiashi’s eyes narrowed on her and he released awave of Killing Intent. “Hinata has my wife’s love for family. Compassion is not weakness. Strenght lies in unity – time for the Clan to unite. Besides, Senju-Uzumak Naruto holds acopy of the Blood Contract made between our ancestors and his. He is very much aware of the seal having been twisted. No one in Konoha likes our use of the Seal. If he takes the Contract before the Shinobi Council and the Hokage, they will support him. It will mean aBlood Feud between the Hyūga and the Uzumaki. Considering the closeness, the Senju and the Uchiha may be dragged into it as well. We will be banished from here. No village takes in aClan, that has an ongoing Blood Feud with another – much less three Clans. Those three Clans may be reduced to one and two members, but if they join forces, it will mean the Hyūga Clan against the entire village – because make no mistake, Konoha will follow them. They are talented and the descendants of the Founders. Their words will be heard.” he said in asteely tone.

The Elders sat there, frozen, looking at him in disbelief and anger.

“The Seals will be redone today. No questions.” Hiashi declared strongly, his Killng Intent spiking in silent warning. “Anyone who disagrees, will answer to me and soon... the Clan. One person is nothing against an entire Clan, who were promised freedom, after such long days of slavery.”

Naruto walked into the Main House of the Hyūga District, looking as confident, as ever, even though he didn’t feel confient at all. He had massive reserves, but removing so many seals and redoing even more, would be achallenge, even for him.

“I’ll push abit more chakra trough to get purified.“ Kurama offered quietly. “Combined with your big reserves, it should be enough, altough you may find yourself knocked out at the very end.”

Naruto smiled inwardly. ‘Arigato, Nī-sama.‘

“And Ican share my chakra too.” Sasuke said quietly. “I can’t hope to deal with such complex Fūinjutsu, but Ican share my chakra with you.”

Naruto hummed and they stepped into the room, which had been chosen as the place of gathering. There, at the end of the room, were two seats prepared, the symbols of the Uchiha hanging above one, while the other had the Uzumaki spiral placed in the middle of the Senju varja. But, to their shock, above those, hung abigger symbol, as if encommpassing the three known Clan symbols. Ablack crescent moon with acircle on white.

The Ōtsutsuki banner, which they hadn’t seen anywhere since remembering, save for on their own posessions. Naruto threw alook at Neji, as he pointed at the symbol. “What’s that doing up there?”

Amusem*nt flashed trough the Chūnin’s pale eyes. “Hiashi oji-san asked about the symbols you carried on your backs. Itold them it was your personal invention, to show your brotherly bond. That the circle was to symbolise the spiral, while the crescent moon could be passed off as the red half of the uchiwa, just with switched position.”

Naruto couldn’t help the laughter, that escaped him and Sasuke was chuckling too. “Shrewed Hyūga. Shrewed. Areal shinobi.”

Neji grinned back. “Why thank you.” he made agesture. “Take aseat. There are many of my relatives, who have the seal, so I’d think it will take awhile.”

Naruto shared alook with his brother and then shrugged. They walked over to the designed spots and sat down. Then, the tatami doors slipped open and they watched the entire Hyūga Clan pour in, like awave, whispering and murmuring, throwing them strange looks. Once everyone arrived, the crowd quieted down somewhat, but only partially. Naruto could feel their curiousty and confusion. If he had to guess, Hiashi hadn’t exactly been open about what the ocassion was.

Then, afew minutes later, Hiashi himself walked in, Hanabi by his side, followed by the sour looking Elders. As the Head walked in, the crowds murmured and bowed deeply to their Clan Head only for Hiashi to stop afew feet away from where he and Sasuke sat, turning towards the Branch House.

“We gathered here today for achange. Today will be anew start for the Hyūga Clan. Time for us to stand united, as afamily.” his gaze flickered across the man Branch members, who were now all looking interested. “From this day forth, we are one, without differences. The Branch House will no longer exist – you will no longer have to fear pain and punishment, for speaking up. No child will have to fear the Seal, not siblings of the Main house, nor the Branch members.“ he glanced at his daughters and Hanabi’s eyes went wide, “From this day forward, the Caged Bird Seal will not exist. Instead...“ he threw ameaningful look at the Elders, “all of us will have aseal meant to protect our eyes. Aseal meant to protect our family and secrets. To show unity and not division. From this day forth, we will all have the White Bird Seal, for our protection.”

There was along moment of silence and then someone at the back cried out. “We’re free! Long live Hiashi-sama!”

Acheerful chant went up in the room, praising Hiashi. Naruto smiled, as the shock and disbelief in the room was replaced by pure elation of the crowd. Hiashi then turned around and walked up to them. Looking him in the eyes. Naruto matched the pale gaze with asmile on his face.

This was the family Mitra would have wanted – this was the leader the Clan needed.

The Hyūga Head knelt in front of him, his face unmoving, but Naruto could sense his lighter emotions. He was as relived, as the rest of his Clan. (Well, bar afew Elders, but he had afeeling Hiashi would deal with them gradually.) “Woud you, Senju-dono?”

Naruto grinned, biting his finger to draw blood. “Gladly, Hyūga-dono.” he pressed his bloody finger on the man’s forehead and carefully drew the array. Once he was done, he flared his chakra. “Uzumaki Fūin Shiki: Howaito Tori Fūin: Kasei-ka!” (Uzumaki Sealing Style: White Bird Seal: Activate)

The seal formed on the man’s forehead in acircular pattern, resembling asun. It glowed white-gold with the chakra and Hiashi winced abit. Once it was done, Naruto nodded. “It will fade in afew hours. While it’s active, it does not show in the same way the other seal, so no need to consciously cover it. However, it will become visible, upon acertain amount of chakra being put into it. In fact, the smallest amount is enough. It can seal your eyes on the wearer’s own will, so if you feel yourself in such asituation, asmall spike of chakra and your Byakugan is inacessible to the enemy. If you happen to survive said encounter and your seal is active, it will revert back to the basic state within twelve hours, as long as the individual has asteady chakra circulation and heartbeat.”

Hiashi nodded and Naruto saw the flash in his eyes – he’d managed to impress the stoic man. “Finely done.”

Naruto dipped his head. “Praise the father of Uzumaki Mito-hime, Uzumaki Ashina. Iused his notes and the one I’ve shown you, to create and improve this one.”

Hiashi nodded, walking over to Hinata. Hinata was the next one to step closer, adetermined look on her face, but Naruto waved her off. “Wait asecond, Hinata. Iwould first remove the current seals, because it might put some strain on your clansmens bodies. While they recover, Ican do yours.”

Hinata nodded with asmile. “It’s fine. Do it, Naruto-kun.”

Naruto sighed, looking at Neji. “Would you, please? Ihave afeeling no one would dare moving just yet despite the demonstration. And if this works the way Ithink it will, Ican connect everyone and release the other seals in one go.”

Neji hummed, taking off his headband to reveal the Caged Bird Seal. He carefully walked over and knelt in Hiashi’s spot. “Do it, Naruto.”

The blonde placed his hand on the seal. “Fair warning. It may hurt. But, Sasuke will be able to dull the pain with alittle medical chakra. Then you take abreak to give your body time to recuperate and I’ll remove the other seals. Once everyone is seal free, you come back after the others’ seals are done.”

“Alright.”

Naruto groaned, feeling light-headed from all the chakra use. After hours of work, finally all the Branch members were free of the twisted seals and he could start on working the new one. Despite the pain, that the removal caused, every single Hyūga was smiling – some even grinning– as they stood from opposite him.

Sasuke gripped his hand, rising his hand in ahalf-Ram. “Ninshū: Chakura Kyōyō: Hojū.”(Ninja Creed: Chakra Sharing: Replenishment)

Naruto’s breath hitched, as he felt the warm, electroluced chakra flood his system, mixing with Kurama’s, replenishing his reserves and dulling the ache in his body. He heard gasps as the chakra formed avisible flame around them – no doubt, many hadn’t expected their chakras to be so powerful. After afew moments, he let go of Sasuke’s hand.

“You’re alife-saver, Nī-sama.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Someone has to make sure you don’t pass out. Iused far less chakra, than you, so Icould share abit.”

“Perhaps we could take abreak?“ Hinata offered. “I doubt you two had aproper breakfast, with how soon we appeared at your door. Maybe some food would help?”

Naruto beamed. “You are agenius, Hinata. Definitely would help the dizziness.”

Naruto ignored the shocked looks the former Branch members gave him, as he settled among them. He’d told Hiashi, that some trust from the Clan might help along the process and that he’d eat among them, while Sasuke would answers any and all questions him and the Elders might have about the new seal.

Luckily for him, the Head had agreed and he saw aflash of respect in the man’s eyes at that. So here he was, his eyes set on an empty spot next to amother and son, if their similar chakras were any clue. “May Ihave aseat?” he asked the mother.

The woman’s pale eyes went wide and then she bowed. “Of course, Senju-sama.”

Naruto settled and waved her off. “Naruto will do...“ he raised an eyebrow at her.

She dipped her head again. “Hiyori.”

Naruto hummed. “Hiyori-san.”

“Are you ashinobi, like Neji-nī?“ the small boy next to Hiyori asked, an excited gleam in his pale eyes. His eyes had the same lavander tint, as Hinata’s – it made him look cute.

“Hikaru.” his mother chestied him with alook.

Naruto grinned. “No harm in curiousty, Hiyori-san. In fact, if your son wants to be a shinobi sometimed, asking the right questions may save his and his comardes’ lives.” he took a bite of his food and nodded to the boy. “Aye, Hikaru-kun. Both me and my brother are shinobi, like Neji and Hinata.”

Hikaru blinked. “Huh? He’s your brother? But... you look so different! Even your chakra feels different.”

Naruto drew up short, eyes widening abit in surprise. “You can feel what my chakra is like?”

Hikaru nodded. “Warm. Sunny – it’s like in aclearing in spring.”

“And Sasuke’s?” he probed gently.

The little boy turned towards Sasuke, his eyes narrowed for abit, before he looked back. “Warm. And prickly... but in anice way. Like athunderstorm in summer. Different from yours, but still similar.”

Naruto smiled, ruffling the small boy’s black hair. “Hiyori-san, you have abudding Sensor here. And to answer your question... we have different parents. We have different Clans and parents... but at the same time, we’re brothers. Because we promised to be brothers, to take care of each other. To protect each other, no matter what. He’s my precious person, you know. And you always protect your precious people.”

The wide-eyed look of the boy told the blonde, that he had found another follower. Another child, who’ll remember the words and protect his precious people. It warmed his heart.

Sasuke watched, as his brother’s chakra blazed in ablue-green flame, running along the many golden chains, that were wrapped around the former Branch members. Each of them had the starting Kanji of the seal drawn on their foreheads with blood and now Naruto was intending to speed up the sealing process. Naruto himself was sitting in acomplex seal circle, drawn with chakra infused ink, countless chains reaching out from his back to the many men, women and children.

The Elders were frowning at their new seals, but Sasuke chose to ignore them. He was sure, that the newly reformed family quartett – Hiashi, Hinata, Neji and even young Hanabi (who seemed to have gained anew admiration for Naruto) – were going to keep the few displeased in line.

Naruto did afew seals, as his chakra blazed even more, cracking the wooden floor beneath them, which caused everyone to go wide-eyed and gasping. “Uzumaki Fūin Shiki:Zōshoku: Howaito Tori Fūin!” (Uzumaki Sealing Style: Multiplcation: White Bird Seal)

Sasuke watched as the single Kanji all formed into the seals, as the chakra took effect. After a few minutes, Naruto opened his eyes and they seemed to be glowing with chakra, making his violet eyes eerily light in colour. “Kasei-ka!” (Activate)

The seals on the foreheads glowed golden for amoment and then suddenly, the Chakra Chains shattered loudly, the broken pieces glinting before disappearing, some not even reaching the floor. Naruto groaned and fell and Sasuke leapt from his seat, chakra cracking under his feet, as he propelled himself forwards.

“Otōto!” he called, just barely catching the blonde. Naruto gave atired chuckle, his eyes fluttering closed.

“Done. They’re free and safe.“ he muttered.

Sasuke hummed. “Yeah, they are.“

As Naruto’s head lolled to the side, Sasuke sighed. The previously deathly quiet room went up in worried shush and calls. Sasuke sighed, looking at the Hyūga. “Just chakra exhaustion.“ he said. “A more severe case, Isuppose, but nothing he won’t pull trough.”

“Still.“ Hiashi spoke suddenly, stepping forwards, “one of our medics should check him.”

Sasuke nodded. “I’d be grateful.”

Ayoung woman, around Kakashi’s age darted forwards, her light-brown hair braided to the left. “May I?” she asked, glancing tentatively at him and then her Clan Head.

Hiashi nodded. “Please, Hanami.”

She hurried over and her hands glowed with the familiar green chakra, her Byakugan active. For several minutes, her hands kept romaing his body and then she pulled back. “I helped along the healing of his strained circulatory system. As long as he doesn’t do anything more than acivilian for afew days, he should be fine. Just make sure he eats and drinks enough.”

Sasuke nodded and gently picked the blonde up. “Arigato gozaimasu, Hanami-san.“ he looked at Hiashi. “If you excuse me, Hyūga-dono, Iwould like to get my brother home. I’m sure he’d appreciate waking up in his own bed.”

Hiashi nodded. “By all means.”

Sasuke stole aglance at the still shocked Clan before he allowed his Shunshin to carry both of them away.

Itachi was a bit worried, than after hours long absence Sasuke landed in the living room, carrying a passed out, pale Naruto, a thin layer of sweat glimmering on the whiskered face. A spark of worry reared its head in his mind – the blonde was important to Sasuke and how could he forget how close his parents had been to Naruto’s? Kushina-san was even Sasuke’s godmother.

“Holy...“ he stood up, his book abandoned. “What happened Sasuke? And... you should go to the hospital...”

Sasuke shook his head. “He’s just exhausted. Sleeping and proper nourishment shall do the trick, as long as we pay attention. He won’t be using chakra for afew days.” than, Sasuke walked towards the rooms and Itachi remained there, standing in confusion and shock.

One – aliteraly chakra powerhouse coming back passed out from chakra exhaustion after both boys had been absent for hours, persumably with the Hyūgas. Two – Sasuke himself seemed abit winded, but also pleased.

‘Enough is enough.‘ he decided at last, ‘I want to know what’s going on here.‘

Tsunade stared at Hiashi. She could do nothing, but stare.

“Would you please repeat that, Hiashi-san?“ she asked, as the entire shinobi council sat silently, staring wide-eyed at the Hyūga leader.

“Thank you for allowing Naruto acess to your old home, Hokage-sama and thus, to the techniques cerfully confined by your family. Naruto has removed and redone our Seals and now the Hyūga stand united and safer, than ever. Altough he had been carried off by his brother passed out... Ido hope he will be fine. Would you be so kind to inform us of his condition, at alater date?”

Tsunade took adeep breath. “Are you saying... that Naruto has removed every single Caged Bird Seal from your Clan members?”

Hiash nodded, his eyes gleaming pleased, as he stood up and handed her astack of papers. “Every single one of them.”

“And the pup did another seal, for all of you to protect all your eyes equally?“ Tsume asked, her eyes wide. The Patriarch nodded to his former teammate.

“Indeed.” Tsunade watched as Hiashi flared his chakra and aseal appeared on his forehead, resembling awhite, simple sun, two of its ‘rays‘ running down of the man’s face, to stop an inch or so below his eyes.

Tsunade groaned, as she looked at the stack of paperwork this meant for her. This may have been the right thing to do... but couldn’t Kushina’s meddlesome brat of a son change the world in a way, that meant less paperwork for her?

With another groan and uncaring of what those gathered thought of her, Tsunade reached for the bottle of saké hidden in the lowest shelf of the desk. She popped it open and without getting acup, she took afew huge glups.

She was so going to skin Naruto and Sasuke. They were so going to pay for the extra paperwork they just gave her! She looked at the papers and the single bottle she was holding.

‘I need more alcohol, if Iwant to survive this.‘ she decided.

Chapter 39: Brotherhood

Chapter Text

Naruto blinked rapidly, as he found himself in the bright, sunlit clearing of his mindscape — which then continoued on and turned into avast desert, the sun’s heat searing on his skin. Shukaku lay curled in the sand, studying him with apleased expression, while Gaara stood afew feet from him, just where the sand and grass mixed, creating an odd sort of border between their two minds.

He grinned at the sight of his two brothers. “Shukaku nī-sama, Gaara. Nice to see you again.” he greeted as he walked up to the redhead and gave him aquick hug.

“Asura-kun.“ greeted the tanuki.

Gaara smiled and returned the hug fiercely. “I’m glad to see you as well.“ the redhead dipped his head towards Kurama. “A pleasure to see you again.”

Kurama gave ahuff of acknowledgement and Naruto sat kekkufuza. Gaara also sat down, while Shukaku and Kurama just observed quietly, enjoying the peace, that surrounded them.

“How are things going in Suna?” Naruto asked.

Gaara sighed. “A bit of amess, since we don’t have aKazekage. Right now awar council leads the village, but I’m unsure how long that will work.”

Naruto nodded. “Hope you’ll figure it out soon. How are the people treating you?”

“Everyone heard of the redone seal and they noticed, that Isleep and eat just as they do. The fact that Temari and Kankuro are trying to make an effort for us to feel like afamily again also helps. Most of the people are wary, but there are afew, who are actually willing to tentatively speak with me. And since Ibeat Baki-sensei and Temari in spars, fairly without drawing blood... well, Ithink it was another good thing. Since we’re without aleader, I’ve been trying to help the village more and with Temari and Kankuro right there with me... Ithink it’s working.”

The blonde beamed. “That’s wonderful! Would you want me to help you use Shukaku’s chakra abit more? You can use it, even without full transformation.“ he paused, looking at the sand demon. “That is, if you don’t mind, Nī-sama.”

Shukaku hummed. “Not at all. Teach him some of your Fūin- and Jūinjutsu as well, so he can use mine too. Maybe even combine them—gods know Suna is in need of afew, who can deal with that Art. And if Ihave to trust someone else with seals, who isn’t you, let it be my Jinchūriki. Oh and he has Jinton and not only because Ihave it. It runs in his family. I’m sure you can teach him more about it in away Ican’t. You humans use it differently, than Ido.”

Naruto nodded, turning to the redhead. “So? What do you say? Would you like me to teach you?”

Gaara smiled widely. “I’d be honoured.”

Naruto hummed. “So... where to start... Oh, yes. Fūin- and Jūinjutsu.” he snapped his fingers and paper and ink appeared out of nowhere, causing Gaara to raise an eyebrow. Naruto laughed. “This is amindspace, so you can manipulate it, to an extent. What you want here to exist, will exist in away. Also, time goes differently here, than in the real world, so it’s also benefical for certain forms of training. Like reaching inner balance or honing theorical knowledge, so when you use it in the real world, it becomes asort of instinct. Of course, this does not mean you can neglect training outside of your mind, but as aJinchūriki, you have abit of advance, over normal shinobi.”

“I see.“ Gaara answered, his face turning serious. “It’s useful. Does this mean Icould train with Shukaku, without endangering the village?”

Naruto nodded. “To an extent. But the moment you start consciously drawing his chakra from his seal, it will encase your body and show effects in the real world as well.”

“So we have to train outside the village.” Gaara noted, tone serious.

Naruto nodded. “Yes. So... back to seals. It’s quiet simple, once you understand the basics, as it is the basics you twist more and more, the more complex seal you want. Now, Shukaku has agreat knowledge of them as well, so he may also be able to help you, if you think you lose me somewhere during an explanation... as Iunderstand, that Ihave an unnaturally good understanding of them.”

He grabbed the brush. “So, the first step is improving your calligraphy and chakra control. You will have to work on your control alone, but the rest we can help with. So, show me how well you can wite these...” he said, drawing afew Kanji on the paper. Once he was done, he offered the brush.

Gaara took it and copied the Kanji and Naruto grinned. “Not bad. In fact, your writing is better, than Sasuke’s. Don’t tell him, but his handwriting is chicken scratch.” he muttered.

The words drew around of laughter from the redhead and the two Bijū — the great beings amused more, than Gaara, as they had always known Indra as aperfectionist. So hearing that he was bad — downright terrible at something,— was overly hilarious for them.

Once Gaara was done, he pulled away the brush, looking at Naruto expectantly. The blonde ruffled his fellow Jinchūriki’s hair. “Nice, Otōto. A bit of practice in the waking world and I think I’ll be able to teach you a lot of things, that aren’t Uzumaki-only kind of seals. You have big reserves, but still not as big as my natural source and I’m abit unsure how those seals would react to Shukaku’s special kind of chakra.”

Gaara hummed. “Even if you teach me one fifth of what you know, I’m confident Imight just be considered aseal master in the village. Suna excells in Wind-based jutsu and puppetry, but seals... it’s acomplex Art that few know. There’s Chiyo-oba-sama, but at this point, I’m sure you know much more, than she does.”

Naruto nodded. “Well, remind the world then, that you were taught by an Uzumaki.“ he grinned. “So back to the topic...“ he gestured at the seal. “There are several seals in the world, but perhaps for you, the first sort I’m telling about is the even and uneven numbered ones and how they are connected to Shukaku’s own special Jūinjutsu...”

The next day, when Temari walked into her little brother’s room, she found him practicing calligraphy and aset of odd symbols she’d never seen before. She stood above his shoulder for agood five minutes — she’d never seen Gaara so calm and focused before,— before she spoke up.

“What are you doing Gaara?“ she asked.

Gaara froze mid-stroke and threw her an irrate look, before placing the brush back in the pot of ink. “Practicing callygraphy, Nē-san.”

Temari huffed, rolling her eyes. “I can see that. But what for?”

“I want to learn Fūinjutsu. It coresponds with one of Shukaku’s abilites and Iwant to use those abilities perfectly, so Ican help and protect you.”

Temari felt abit bad for crushing his dream, while also touched, that he wanted to protect them. “Eeh, not to crush your hopes, Otōto, but the only one who can use Fūinjutsu in the village is Chiyo-oba-sama and Idoubt she knows enough of Shukaku’s abilities, to teach you in such amanner.”

Gaara shook his head. “I never said Ineed her help.”

“Then how are you hoping to learn, Gaara?”

Gaara corssed his arms, managing to look bored and serious at once. “You’re forgetting about acertain Kyūbi Jinchūriki. He’s aSenju and an Uzumaki. Both Clans were known for their knowledge in Fūinjutsu. In fact, if you remember our history lesson, the Uzumaki and their village, Uzushio were destroyed by Kumo, Iwa and Kiri. They were so well-versed in seals and Kenjutsu, that it took the three enemy villages several weeks to entirely crush the village. An Uzumaki Seal Master was capable of taking out half-a-platoon of shinobi on their own.”

Temari’s eyes went wide and she paled. sh*t... how could she have forgotten that tidbit of history? Now she knew from where the whiskered blonde’s name was so familiar! Suddenly she was so very, very glad, that the blonde and the Uchiha were their allies.

“Uh, but he’s miles from here, Gaara. Okay, maybe he is acertified Seal Master, but how can he teach you anything?”

Gaara grinned mischeviously, the expression odd on his previously serious and blood-thirsty face. “He’s aJinchūriki like me. Our Bijū can form aconnection, which we can use to meet. Imet him last night and he started teaching me about seals. And since time goes differently in there, than out here, Ithink, Imanaged to pick up fairly much of the theory he’d been explaining.”

Temari paled even more. An Uzumaki teaching her little brother about seals, only cause he was being nice, as Jinchūriki to Jinchūriki. And Shukaku was known for his special Curse marks as well...

‘Note to self. Don’t ever piss off Gaara in the future.‘ she thought, sweat forming on her forehead.

It was odd, Itachi decided. No. It was downright creepy.

He had gone out to buy afew things to the market, Naruto’s special tracking-restrinction seal making sure he would not leave acertain radius of the Namikaze residence. (It was the only way he was allowed to leave the house and even then, there was asquad of ANBU nearby, watching his every move, like hawks.) Despite most of the Uchiha mess being known, some of the village were still unsure of his loyalty, so he had to endure the probation.

He had come out early, to avoid most of the people and their whispers and stares. But he had run into several Hyūga. And all of them were smiling and chatting airily as if there was nothing wrong with the world. He had seen Hyūga smiling and heard them laughing. He didn’t even need the Sharingan, for the strange/traumatising experience to be burned into his mind forever, with no hope of forgetting it. Damn the Uchiha genetics and the naturally eidetic memory.

(He would have liked to have a few words with the first wielder of the Sharingan, whoever it was. Seriously, said person was the progenitor of an entire Clan, which means, they should have had some control over their power. (Persumably, great power.) Could this person not have done something with the memorising abilities? Like turning them off completely, when the Sharingan was inactive.)

The most shocking thing was, when he was done with the shopping, paper bags in hand, he ran into afew Academy students — maybe ayear or so from Graduation. Well, two students — agirl and aboy, both of them Hyūga, their eyes dead giveaway of their heritage. The girl was the one to approach him first, the boy following her more cautiously.

“Are you related to Sasuke-sama?“ the boy asked seriously.

Itachi blinked. Sasuke-sama? Did the kid just address his little brother with... Itachi took adeep breath. No, he’s not going to lose it in the middle of the street. People still feared him, he didn’t need the village to think he was raving mad. (Because he wasn’t. He was ill, but he wasn’t mad.)

“Yes, he’s my brother.” he said.

The girl scowled at the boy. “Don’t be ridiculous, Hideaki! You heard them at the compound! Sasuke-sama was Naruto-sama’s brother!”

“But he looks just like him!” the boy shot back, making an angry gesture.

“Actually...“ Itachi cut them off, feeling awkward, as he noticed aterrified Hyūga woman watching from asafe distance. “Sasuke is my Otōto. We’re both Uchihas. Naruto and Sasuke are brothers, because they have sworn it. They have different parents. But they grew up together, so they are also kind of like brothers.” he explained as simply, as possible.

“See, Hatsuyo?“ Hideaki shot back at the girl. “It told you they are related.” the girl pouted and crossed her arms. The boy scowled at her, before offering asmall basket. “Would you please take this to Sasuke-sama and Naruto-sama? We’d like to thank them for helping us!” the boy said cheerfully.

Itachi noted distantly, that Hideaki had the same sunny disposition as Naruto, if only with the childish innocence still mostly present.

Feeling even more awkward now, very aware of the poor woman’s terrified gaze on him, he took the basket from the boy and nodded. “I will give it to them, when Imake it home.”

The girl’s eyes went wide. “You live with them?”

‘Oho, childish hero worship.‘ the Uchiha prodigy noted amusedly. ‘This will be fun to watch in the future.‘

He nodded calmly. “Yes. In the Namikaze house.”

“But wait,“ Hideaki murmured, “if Sasuke-sama and Naruto-sama are brothers... and you’re Sasuke-sama’s brother, does that mean you’re also Naruto-sama’s brother?”

Itachi blinked at the unexpected question, chewing it over in his mind. Could he call the blonde his brother? Well, their parents had been very close and Sasuke did treat the blonde, as abrother, without thinking. So, in an odd sort of way... perhaps it made Naruto his brother too? The blonde was certainly making an effort to make him feel at home and at ease.

“Well, Ithink so.” he said, abit unsure.

“Sugoi!” the children squeeled.

“I would want brothers like them too.” the girl said.

The woman gathered her courage and marched over, grabbing the children. She bowed her head to hide the fear in her eyes, but Itachi saw it anyway. “Now, now. Don’t keep up Uchiha-san. Ithink he’s quite in the hurry.”

Itachi shook his head. “No harm done, Hyūga-san. Have anice day.”

The children waved at him excitedly, as the woman steered them towards the Clan District. Itachi huffed. This was so, so awkward.

And... even if the village labelled him aMissing-nin for it again, he’s going to keep the fangirls/fanboys from his little brother. And Naruto too. He was the eldest of the three and he was responsible for them. He refused to let the two boys know the horros of afanclub.

Coughing.

Naruto’s eyes narrowed, as the dry, bone-rattlinlg sound filled the house again. He’s heard it a few times, since the older Uchiha moved in, but this was the worst fit so far. It stirred the medic side of him and worry filled his heart.

He carefully climbed out of bed and darted into the kitchen. Sasuke was out, training with Kakashi, altough he promised to finish sooner, than normal. He leaned against the wall, just as Itachi stood to his full height again, having bent forward from the force of his coughs.

“Are you alright, Itachi?” he asked calmly. The Uchiha turned to look at him. Since he had been ordered to rest, Itachi has been doing the coocking for them, as neither of them wanted to risk Sasuke accidentally burning down the kitchen.

The older shinobi gave a strained smile. “I am. Nothing to worry about.”

“You should go and see Tsunade-sensei.”

“It will pass, Naruto-kun.” Itachi insisted.

The blonde scowled, eyes narrowed. “I’ve dealt with Sasuke for ages, so I know that tone. Besides, you never, ever try lying to an empathic sensor. ”

Itachi’s eyes went wide. “I...”

Naruto waved him off with an annoyed look. “I’m starting to think, that downplaying your medical condition is the real curse you Uchihas struggle with and not the Nikushimi no Noroi. Sasuke still tries to do it every single time, even though he knows that as a medic, I will notice and if he tries lying I will sense it.”

Itachi grimaced. “Gomen. I just...”

Naruto cut him off with a sharp look. “We’ll speak about it, when Nī-sama gets back.”

The Uchiha hummed, a resigned look on his face. But then, suddenly his eyes glinted. “Actually, I’d like to speak about something too.”

Naruto arched an eyebrow. “Which is?” He had a vague idea, but he wanted to hear it from Itachi. Surely, the genius he was, he noticed how different they were from others their age.

“There were things, that I’ve noticed this past few days and...”

“I would think it has something to do with our behaviour.” he stated.

“Yes, partially. And with how Sasuke managed to turn Tsukuyomi against me.” he murmured and Naruto felt his disbelief spike up.

The blonde chuckled. “It’s connected to what we want to tell you. But in exchange, you tell me about your little problem.”

Itachi sighed. “Very well.”

Sasuke made it home barely half an hour later, more annoyed, than anything. Naruto didn’t even bother asking, knowing his brother would tell anyway.

As it turned out, it was just Kakashi whining about his book, which Sasuke had managed to turn into a pile of ashes, while demonstrating the workings of a Raiton jutsu. Typical Kakashi...

“So he’s noticed...” Sasuke muttered, as Naruto recounted his exchange with Itachi. “I wanted to tell him anyway. We told Kakashi and Yamato, after all.” he shrugged.

Naruto hummed and nodded. “You think we can tell him?”

Sasuke nodded, his black eyes glinting. “Hai.”

Ten minutes later the two found Itachi in his new room, reading. It was Sasuke, who spoke first.

“Nī-san, do you have a moment?”

Itachi looked up and smiled. “Of course, Otōto.”

They walked in and Itachi set his book aside. The boys sat on the rug, facing the older shinobi.

“First we’d ask you to keep what we will tell you, a secret. Kakashi and Yamato know, so you can discuss it with them. Oh and Hyūga Neji. The three Hokage also know –knew?– as we told them before Edo Tensei was cancelled. But no one else, because it’s dangerous information, which may endanger the very existance of this world.” Sasuke explained, tone serious.

Itachi’s face was serious, as he nodded, altough his eyes flashed with some worry. “I understand.”

“Good.” Naruto nodded with a smile. “Quick question before we start. Who was the Rikudō Sennin?”

Itachi gave him an odd look, but answered anyway. “A man of legends, who brought peace and introduced Ninjutsu to the world. Rumour has it that the Uchiha and the Senju are his descendants.”

“Yes and no.” Sasuke said with a sigh, “He introduced chakra and spread a religion based on understanding, teamwork and love. Ninshū.”

“And you were just a bit off-the-mark with descent.” Naruto murmured, “His sons were the progenitors of three of the Five Great Clans. The older was the forefather of the Uchiha, while the younger’s descendants were the Senju and at a later time, the Uzumaki. It was also the sons’ feud, that caused the hundreds of years of bloody rivalry between the Clans. But this is the simple version. The real story includes manipulation and reincarnation...”

Itachi stared, eyes wide.

His baby brother wasn’t his baby brother. (His entire world shattered.)

His baby brother was Ōtsutsuki Indra, first user of the Sharingan. (Suddenly, his not-so-nice thoughts from the morning about the Sharingan came back, but all the complaints died on his tongue. For one, he didn't want to upset his otōto and secondly, he did not feel like pissing off the Sennin’s (former?) sons, when they sat across from him.)

And Naruto... The blonde was Sasuke’s brother. Well, at least now he knew why the boys were so close. Hundreds of years...

He stood up slowly, careful not to topple over his book.

“ ’tachi?” Sasuke asked, rising an eyebrow.

“If you excuse me, I need a moment.” he murmured.

’I need a drink.’ he thought. Even before the boys could say a word, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves. He hoped –prayed– that there was a bar within the vicinity of his seal.

It was after two saké and a lenghty conversation with Yamato and Kakashi– who apperently also knew of this reincarnation mess,– that he returned to the Namikaze residence.

Naruto was spawled on the couch, snoring softly, his limbs in such awkward angles, that even looking at the blonde caused phantom pain in his limbs.

“Like a cat.” Sasuke said, chuckling fondly, as he shook his head. “He’s capable of sleeping anywhere, at any time of the day. Always hyperactive... well, in a way and when exhaustion hits him, he sleeps like a rock. I think he picked up Shukaku’s sleeping habits between my distance time and his naming as the Heir of Ninshū.”

Itachi hummed, glancing at Sasuke – or did he prefer Indra now? He did after all, speak of the Dawn of Chakra, as it had been yesterday. Sasuke looked at him with a soft look, as if he read his mind.

“I’m still me, Onī-san.” he whispered. “I’m still the boy you poked in the forehead and told to play with later. However, I am no longer unaware of what life is– that nothing ever goes to plan. I am, in a way, a grown, battle-hardened man, who knows pain, love and betrayal. Someone, who has many, many things to regret. But I also learned to let go of the past –just like Otōto. We learned to work together after so long. We learned, that we don’t have to tackle our –and the world’s– problems alone. We learned, that together, we can do, what Otō-sama and Oji-sama had done. So, I’m still Sasuke. But I am also Indra. A boy and man, who has seen a different world. A different time. I would say you don’t have to think differently of me, but I know you would never be able to do that. So instead, I say this – never forget we are kin. That we are brothers. And never forget, that I know, what it’s like to have a little brother.” he gestured at Naruto, “I know what it feels like– taking on the world, maybe even burning the world–, if it means, that people who mean the most are safe and happy.”

Itachi smiled, touched. This was Sasuke. This was Indra. His baby brother, who was so much more, than Itachi could have ever imagined him to be. He stepped closer and hugged Sasuke. Sasuke returned the hug just as strongly, without hesitation.

“Uchiha progenitor or no, you’re still my precious Otōto.”

“Technically, I’m older, than you.” Sasuke said, a smirk forming on his lips.

Itachi’s eyes narrowed and he whacked his brother in the back of the head lightly. “You picked up too much of Naruto’s cheekiness.”

“I’ve no idea, what you’re talking about, Onī-san.” Sasuke answered, his tone aperfect mix of calmness and conviction, smirk still in place. But Itachi knew better – Sasuke knew what he was talking about he just didn’t want to addmit. So, in amoment of childish brotherly revenge, he moved forwards, tacking Sasuke to the ground, which caused him to cry out indigniantly.

Itachi laughed, as the previous smirk turned into achildish pout, as they rolled on the floor of the appartment. (He almost didn’t even remember what was it like to be acarefree child. Being aprodigy, with ademanding father as his, he hadn’t really had the time or the chance to be aproper child, who played with friends or asked for abedtime story from his mother.) That was the one thing he regretted the most.

No. What he regretted the most, was that he had taken the same chance from Sasuke — the enire Clan had taken that chance from him, when they’d planned the coup. But... apart of him, which wished for apeaceful world, felt abit more at ease. Kami knew what would have happened, if he hadn’t tried using Tsukuyomi on Sasuke. Perhaps then, Sasuke would have never remembered and now, his little brother and Naruto would be much less prepared for Akatsuki and the destruction those madmen were planning.

His laughter and good mood died the moment the breath stuck in his troath, causing another coughing fit. Sasuke froze and sat up, trying to help him, but even moving hurt. He couldn’t even breath, it was like someone had rammed akunai between his ribs... oh, no, no... not now!

“Asura, wake up!” Sasuke called, his voice like rumbling thunder, stern and desperate at the same time.

Itachi tried forming words, but they died in his troath, worsening his fit even more. He tried breathing trough his nose, but it didn’t seem to be working. It was like there was not enough oxygen, no matter what he did. Slowly even his senses were getting muddled from the lack of air.

And then, he sensed someone next to him — most likely Naruto. He felt hands on his body. One on his upper back and another on his ribs. As the powerful, soothing chakra entered his body, it helped his breath escape and it eased the intense, burning pain. It took several minutes, but then the pain in his lungs faded and air filled his whole being again.

Naruto’s chakra was like acalm current, carrying all the oxygen his body needed. As the pain faded, he was overtaken by tiredness. Naruto shifted just abit and soon, Itachi realised that the two younger shinobi were the ones, who kept him in ahalf-laying position. Slowly, Naruto was drawing his chakra back, drop by drop. As it left, Itachi felt his body become heavier. He needed amoment to realise, that Naruto had sedated him, but it was too late.

The calming chakra took effect, drawing him into darkness.

Sasuke tapped his feet softly against the floor of Itachi’s room in anervous rythm. He watched Naruto’s hands glow green with medical chakra, as he analised the situation. Of course, he’d noticed Itachi couhing, since he was back, but he had honestly thought it was just abad cold or something.

But no. This was serious. Much, much more serious — his brother had almost choked to death.

After another few moments, Naruto’s hands stopped glowing and he sighed. Sasuke’s eyes snapped up, his Sharingan whirling agitatedly. This was the problem with his Kekkei Genkai — it was so tied with his strong emotions, that whenever he was over acertain invisible line, his eyes would just activte. “Well?“ he whispered, almost fearing the answer, “What’s wrong with him?”

Naruto scowled at him, rolling his eyes. “I’m starting to think it wasn’t only the Curse, that stuck with the Uchihas, but your special sort of idiocy as well.“ he growled.

Sasuke wrinkled his nose, but he had no comeback to that. He had after all, always hated, when people saw him sick or otherwise weak. He remembered, that he hadn’t even allowed his wife to see him like that, years after their father’s death. (Heck, he hadn’t allowed their father to see him like that, even when younger.) “What’s wrong with him?”

“He might have caught acold sometime and it hadn’t been properly cured. Then, all that fire jutsu he uses hurt him even more. The superheated chakra, the whisps of smoke he breathed in after each one... worse and worse each time. And then another cold, even harder for him to get out of it... even more smoke... it weakened the chakra circulation in his lungs, that is meant to clean that part of the body from toxic fumes, caused by smoke or gas-based poison.“ Naruto shook his head. “A never ending cycle. It weakened his lungs so much, that I’m even surprised he lasted this long. If he were any more careless — ayear or so and he would have gradually weakened from the low oxygen level in his blood and then his lungs would just have stopped working.”

Sasuke blinked, making sense of what Naruto was trying to say. “Are...are you saying he would have died frombadly treated cold and smoke in his lungs?”

Naruto nodded, his face serious. “Ahm, yes, basicly.”

Sasuke groaned, hitting his head against the wall. “Baka. Baka. Baka Itachi. Bakatachi.” Sasuke huffed, rubbing his forehead. “Can you heal him?”

“I’ve heard of such thing happening, but hadn’t encountered it before. So, I’ll go and speak with Oba-san about it. I’ll leave afew herbs here, that you should smoke, when he wakes up. They’ll help his breathing and will start cleaning his lungs abit.”

Sasuke nodded. “Okay.”

“Oh and it seems his illess was affecting him wholly, which means, that as aside effect of his current condition, he’s malnourished. Just abit. Make sure he eats something, while I’m away.”

Sasuke twitched. His brother hadn’t been taking care of himself at all.

“Bakatachi.” he grunted irrately. (He was starting to think that maybe, just maybe Itachi was born into the wrong Clan. He cartainly would have passed for the stupidest Senju/Uzumaki, if the Clans were still thrieving. Not even Naruto was this stupid, on the worst of his days.)

Tsunade blinked at him, slowly placing her saké on her desk. “Uchiha Itachi is what?”

Naruto hummed. “You heard me, Oba-san. Ihelped him out of the last fit and while unconscious, Ichecked his condition. Ileft ahandful of herbs for Sasuke to smoke when he wakes up. They’ll ease his breathing, altough Idon’t really know how else should we deal with this, considering his current state of malnourishment.”

His aunt groaned, her forehead hitting the sturdy oak desk with a loud thud. “For a supposed prodigy, he is really stupid.“

“Yeah. Nī-sama said the same thing.”

“Well, I’ll trust your diagnosis Naruto. Make sure he gains some weight and keep an eye on him for those coughing fits. We’ll give him a week or so to gain some strenght and then I’ll visit and see what’ll we do from there. From what you say, with some extra effort, he is still completely curable. There might be some life-long consequences, but he will live.”

The blonde smiled. “Wonderful.”

As he turned away from the Kage desk, he heard his aunt take another sip of her drink, muttering about not getting enough payment for all the extra work she had to do because of idiots.

Sasuke breathed asigh of relief, when Itachi woke up.

“S-Sasuke.” he murmured.

Sasuke shook his head, his Sharingan flashing in agitation. “Bakatachi. What were you thinking, not seeing aproper medic? Or not taking care of yourself at all?“ he gently shoved aplate of warm food into his brother’s lap, as Itachi sat up.

“Sasuke...”

“Don’t say anything. Otōto was the one, who laid down the bacis of chakra-based medicine. He learned from Hashirama-sama, while the Hokage were here and now he’s studying under Tsunade. And do you know what he said?“ his eyes narrowed. “That all this mess could have been avoided, if you went to see amedic and it could have been just acivilian, not even ashinobi.” he gestured at the food. “Better eat that to the last morsel. Malnourished... how the hell do you fight like that?”

Itachi opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and turned to his food instead. Satisfied with the scene, Sasuke slipped out of the room, to grab the herbs Naruto has left and when he returned, he ignited them just with atiny bit of Katon chakra, releasing along line of pleasant smelling smoke. He placed the small bowl on the windowsill and glanced at Itachi, who was still eating.

“You don’t get to scare me like that again, or the Shinju help me, there won’t aShunshin fast enough to save you from what you’ll get in return.“ he murmured headtedly.

“It’s nothing serious....”

Sasuke snorted. “You’re trying to deceive the wrong person, Onī-san. I’ve seen, that you have almost choked out there. If not for Naruto...“ he shook his head.

Itachi gave him atiny, apologetic smile. “Gomen, Sasuke-chan.”

Sasuke growled abit. “I’m just abit too old, to be called that, Itachi. And Istill have my dignity, so my brother or not, you don’t get to use that.”

“Sasuke-kun, then.“ his brother corrected, between two bites.

Sasuke huffed. “A notch better, Isuppose.”

Once Itachi was done with his food, Sasuke took the empty plate and hugged his brother for amoment, burrying his face in the crook of Itachi’s neck. Itachi hugged him back and then amoment later Sasuke stepped away. “Now, best for you to rest. You need anything, just call.”

“Sasuke, Ican...”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “You’re sick and Irefuse to have you wandering around. You’ll just stay in here, safe. But, for the rest of today, you’re bedbound and Iknow enough about these sort of things, to know you need sleep. So, chop, chop...“ he made an offhanded gesture at the covers, “before Iput you under aGenjutsu.”

“You wouldn’t.“ Itachi said simply.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow, his eyes morphing into the Mangekyō. “You want to bet, ’tachi?“

Itachi’s right eye twitched, but then he sighed in resignation and sunk under his covers. “No respect for your elders at all, hm?“ he murmured under his breath, “Is that something you picked from Naruto-kun, too?“

Sasuke smirked. “No. It’s just that I’m older, than you.”

The half sulky, half irrate expression, that crossed Itachi’s face was the best one he’d seen all his life. He couldn’t help the deep, troathy laughter that escaped him, as he wandered into the kitchen to clean up, while his brother rested.

Worry aside, it was nice to have Itachi back.

Chapter 40: The Snake’s Lair

Chapter Text

Naruto was the biggest enigma of the world, Tsunade decided.

There were times, when he was so focused and serious, that she questioned his age — he acted more like athirty-something war-veteran and not aboy, who had, afew months ago, still sat behind Academy doors. There were times, when he was abouncing ball of energy, which would have made her think he was strugling with serious ADHD. And there were times like this.

Naruto had come to her early in the morning for training, but she was so swammed with paperwork, that she could not hope to spare the poor blonde some of her time. Not yet — maybe tomorrow. But Naruto had been presistent, so she had come up with another idea. She’d explained the workings of her Byakugō Seal and gave Naruto a scroll on it. Everything a user of the jutsu had to know about the Seal, was in the scroll. So she had given it to him and told him to read it there and backwards. He had to know the last Kanji on the scroll to the dot, if he ever wanted a seal, like hers.

He had finished reading along while ago and had settled in ameditative position, after drawing the rather simple shikki on himself, to gather his chakra. She knew that he had enough chakra to form it right now, but she doubted he had good enough control. His control was impressive, considering the Kage-level reserves, but he might just need abit more time, to form the Seal.

But it didn’t seem to deter him from trying.

So he sat there, under the massive plants in the office — the plants her grandfather had grown and nurtured with his Mokuton. He sat there, meditating and trying to form his own Seal. (If he would manage it, as aJinchūriki, she’ll eat that damn Hokage hat. Because... while she wanted him to be amedic and as the last of her kin, wanted him to be safe, the large part of her still said, that he will never achieve aByakugō. Her grandmother already had her Seal for years, when she sealed the Fox within herself.)

Ninja came and went, asking for missions and reporting completed ones and Naruto had never once twitched from his position. He sat there like astatue.

It was Team Eight, who came in next, reporting amission sucess, Kiba being his usual exuberant self. Not even the loud nature of the Inuzaka bothered Naruto. “Huh, what is Naruto doing here like that?” the dog-tamer asked, gesturing at Naruto.

Tsunade hummed. “Meditating. It’s part of his training, as amedic needs perfect chakra control and inner balance, to always keep aclear mind.“ she explained.

Hinata glanced around the noisy office, then her pale eyes settled on Naruto again. “But you need acalm environment to meditate. How can he meditate in such anoise?”

Tsunade shook her head. “I honestly have no idea. Ikeep wondering myself. But he’d been like that for hours now, so whatever he’s doing, he’s doing it fine, Iwould say.”

Kurenai also turned to her to speak, but all their eyes snapped back to Naruto very fast, as chakra spiked in the office, strong enough to cause the ANBU squad guarding her to reveal themselves, forming a loose circle around her desk. The chakra turned into a visible flame of blue and green, tinted with the tiniest amount of gold around Naruto, ruffling his hair and causing a gentle breeze to blow in the office. The plants behind him burst into life, various colourful flowers on them.

Then, slowly, it was fading, the chakra turning denser, more concentrated with every passing second. Her eyes went wide, as she saw the faint, bluish outline of the Byakugō forming in the middle of his forehead...

... and there was atiny slip.

The ground and the pots all cracked and Naruto opened his eyes with afrustrated growl. “Shinju f*cking damn it!” he snarled and for amoment, she saw his eyes turning to slits, before they were human again. “I almost had it!”

Her jaw dropped. He... she’d seen it... he had... ‘What’s the kid made of?!!‘ she thought in disbelief.

“Na...Naruto...“ she called, blindly reaching for her emergency stack of saké.

Naruto huffed and looked up. “Yes, sensei?” she made agesture and Naruto looked around, smiling sheepishly. “Gomen. I’ll fix the office when you retire for the day.”

She took a big glup of the alcohol. “Naruto... I honestly didn’t think you’ll ever be able to form a Byakugō. Not with you... sharing Kushina’s condition.”

Naruto’s eyebrows knotted together in confusion. “But Mito oba-san had one, too. She taught you and she was like me and Okā-san. Why wouldn’t Ibe able to do it?”

Tsunade huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “No. You don’t understand, Naruto. With your condtion, Mokuton or no, it should be impossible to form aByakugō, no matter how much you train. I... just wanted to see how determined you were in becoming amedic. The Seal was the last thing Imentioned and this is why. But... but I’ve seen it.“ she muttered in disbelief. “I’ve seen the outline, before you lost your grip. I... Idon’t know what sort of medical miracle you are or what sort of prodigy... but despite everything, you can do it. It just... needs more time.” she took adeep breath. “So, don’t give up. Refine your medical knowledge and your control. Meditate. It’ll work out eventually. Just don’t push it.”

Naruto grinned widely. “So, despite being like Okā-san and Oba-san, Ican have aSeal?”

She nodded numbly. “Hai. Just give it some time. Now... how about you go home and rest? Come back before sundown to fix the mess and that’s it. We’re done for today.”

He nodded, standing up slowly. “Alright. Will you be coming to check on Itachi?”

“Shizune’s there. Isent her, when you arrived.”

As he leapt out of the office via window, Tsunade tooked at the stone face of her second-cousin. “What’s your son made of, Minato?“ she muttered.

Predictably, the stone face didn’t answer.

“Your mission will be to try tracking Orochimaru.“ Tsunade said, offering a small scroll to Sasuke. Sasuke took it without question. “Jiraiya and Kakashi will be going with you.”

Sasuke nodded. “What of Itachi?“ he asked with a hint of worry in his tone. He had no intention to leave his brother behind, in his current condition.

“Tenzo will stay with him and we’ll keep an eye on him with Shizune. If he’s strong enough, we might already start his treatment.“ the Hokage said, her brown eyes softening. “Don’t worry, Sasuke. Afew weeks and your brother may even return to shinobi duty, if he wants to. We’ll just have to make sure that he ueses the least possible Katon jutsu, his affinity or not.”

Sasuke sighed in relief. “Arigato, sensei.”

“Off with you three.“ she made an impatient gesture. “And be careful.”

“We’re always careful, Oba-san.” Naruto said, as he hugged the woman in passing. She gave his brother a look, but hugged him back, before gently shoving Naruto towards the door.

With one last backwards glance at the Hokage, they left. They had atraitor to find.

After several days of travel, they reached the Valley of the End, which served as the border between Fire and Sound.

“The greatest traitor and madman of history.” muttered Sasuke darkly, as his Sharingan settled on Madara’s statue.

“He was atraitor.“ Jiraiya agreed, “But why would you say, madman? He was still aHead of your Clan at one point.”

Sasuke scowled. “And my Clan were just as blind — most of them, that is— as Madara had been. Hatered is no answer to things. It just brings more bloodshed and pain. Besides, don’t tell me that aman, who uses his Sharingan — no matter how powerful that Sharingan is— to ensalve the strongest of the Bijū is sane. Humans always avoided the Nine before Madara had the f*cking brilliant idea, to use the Fox, as apuppet. And now? Look at how things turned out. The f*cker just gave ideas to others and aMadara-wannabe killed our Yondaime and his wife, essetially leaving Naruto an orphan and me, without aguardian. Because if they had lived, I’m sure they would have taken me in, considering who’s my godmother.”

“Fair point.“ Kakashi said softly. “And Kami knows, perhaps Minato-sensei could have stopped Danzo’s meddling and could have beaten some sense into your Clan.”

Sasuke snorted derisively. “Not everyone. But perhaps, at least some of my Clan would still be alive, if that was the case. But it’s pointless to speak of things we can’t change. Let’s go before Iget the urge to smash in the f*cker’s stone face, my ancestor or not.“ he leapt in the direction of Sound.

“What’s with him?“ Jiraiya asked. “Madara’s not awell-liked one, Iget it, but...”

Sasuke didn’t hear the rest of what Jiraiya said, but it didn’t matter. Naruto was soon next to him, as they sped towards the general diraction, where the Toad Sannin suspected his former teammate’s hideout to be. That is, until Naruto came to asreeching halt, so that his feet left the ground torn up.

Kakashi and Jiraiya stopped too, the white-haired man obviously unhappy at the sudden change of peace, but before he could speak, Sasuke waved him off. Naruto had sensed something.

“Large, dense reserves of chakra a bit to the west.“ Naruto said. “It... it’s adamantine chakra.” he whispered in shock. As his eyes flew open, they wre wide.

Sasuke’s eyes went wide too. “An Uzumaki?” he whispered, quite shocked. He never thought he would hear such words from his brother or that he would associate the Seal Master Clan to anyone, but Naruto. The Uzumaki were all but extinct, save for Naruto and distantly, Tsunade. Or maybe not. Maybe there was still one of their kin out there? One, whom Naruto could share a name with? Perhaps they could save the legacy of the Ōtsutsuki?

Naruto nodded. “For sure.”

Kakashi and Jiraiya shared a look, both of them surprised, just as Sasuke was. It was after a long moment of silence, that the Sannin nodded. “Lead us, Naruto.”

Uzumaki Karin was having avery, very bad day. First, she had to endure the arguments of Suigetsu and Jūgoand then some of Orochimaru’s prisoners escaped and she was sent along with Jūgoto capture them. And somehow — she still didn’t know how— she managed to lose them. Not only the prisoners, but Jūgo as well. Just how far all of them were, to be out of her Sensory range?

She scowled in annoyance... but deep within, fear sparked in her heart. Orochimaru didn’t tolerate failure. She had grown somewhat close to Kimimaro ad trough the sickly, Kaguya she formed asort of bond with Jugō as well, altough he still wasn’t comfortable around her, fearing he would lose control of his abilities.

The three of them had the oddest of friendship, if she could even call it that. First, coming with Orochimaru, after her mother’s death, had seemed agood idea. Now it was anything but. Of course, if not for that decision, he would have never met Jūgo and Kimimaro. He was glad he’d met them... but being around the Snake summoner was anything but nice. But they didn’t realy have other chance.

But now, they were failing their mission and that made her even more afraid.

She froze when she felt four chakra signatures approach. One was high-Jōnin level, the second was close to Orochimaru’s. The third was somewhere between the first two and was surprisingly potent and old. No, it felt ancient. The fourth one was so... so massive, that she could barely believe it was human. It was dense and massive and had the same ancient feeling, as the third one.

And they were speeding towards her. Her breath hitched.

She couldn’t hope to take out four shinobi of such level! Not alone. Where was Jugō, when she needed him most? Altough, she doubted they would make it out, even if he was here. Moments later, four people leapt from the treetops, stopping a few feet from her. She took a step back, ready to run, altough considering how fast they’d reached her, she doubted she could escape them.

The first was atall man with white hair. One, whom she recognised from Orochimaru’s brief descriptions — Jiraiya, the Gama Sennin, Orochimaru’s former teammate. The second was ayounger man with gravity-defying, silver hair, only asingle black eyes visible, his other eyes covered by aslanted Konoha headband, the lower half of his face covered by dark blue mask. He wore aJōnin jacket. The third one, with the prickling, ancient chakra was aboy her age. He was... simply put, handsome. Black hair tinted with dark blue, pale skin, aristocratic features. (Was that paint under his eyes?) His eyes were bloody red, three tomoe circling the pupils. She’d heard of him too — Uchiha Sasuke, someone Orochimaru wanted badly for his eyes and his skills. His chakra was warm and prickling at once, but there was alurking something... like asubtle warning not to approach.

But it was the fourth individual, who caught her attention the most. His chakra was massive — he had more, than she thought ahuman could have,— and it felt calm and sunny. Warm and serene, like nature. But he also had astrong undertone — one she was very, very familiar with, for her mother had had the same chakra. It was the dense adamantine chakra, unique to the members of the Uzumaki Clan. But... he was blonde... Uzumaki usually had red hair. Perhaps he was ahalf-blood and taken after his non-Uzumaki parent? (His eyes however, were an Uzumaki shade. Blue, purple, violet, red and brown or such variations were the most common, she remembered her mother say. Brown, black, violet and their variations popped up most often in the Main Family of their Clan and those closely related.)

But if ahalf-blood, how the hell did he have such powerful chakra?!

She took astep back. The blonde took astep forwards, raising his hands in agesture of surrender. “What are you doing out here alone, Uzumaki-san?”

Her eyes went wide. How did the blonde...?

“I’m aSensor.“ he said, tone soft. “Only Uzumaki have that sort of chakra — it’s unique to the Clan. Enables us to perform several Clan-specific jutsu. Kongō Fūsa, most notably. And from your expression, you’re aSensor yourself. You can feel our chakra, can’t you? You felt our approach.“

“What do you want?“ she whispered. The blonde’s chakra was nice and calming, but that didn’t mean she trusted them.

“We’re looking for someone... and considering that you smell of snakes, you can tell us, where we will find him.”

Her breath hitched. They were here because of Orochimaru. She should have known. They were Konoha shinobi and she’d heard of the Missing-nin’s failed attempt at Invasion amonth or so ago. “I don’t know...”

“Don’t try lying to me, Uzumaki-san.“ the blonde warned, “I can tell, if you do. Now, we’re kin and Irefuse to harm my own blood, but Ican bind you and my teammate can still get the information we want. Or, you can sit down and introduce yourself. And tell us where to find the slippery bastard.”

Karin shivered, as he heard the cold tone. It was such acontrast from his previous words... She was happy to find another of her own. She thought she’d never see an Uzumaki again. That she was doomed to trying to survive Orochimaru or if she somehow made it out of his influence, then doomed to hiding...

She’d wanted to leave for along time. Perhaps this was achance?

She sallowed hard and sat down, studying the blonde. “I...If Itell you what you want to know, can Igo with you? Idon’t think I’d survive any more of his sick tendencies.” she shivered.

The blonde glanced at his teammates. The one she knew was Jiraiya nodded. “A reasonable request, Ibelieve. Anyone, who isn’t brain-dead, would want to be away from Orochimaru. He had the tendency to pick up young shinobi and kids, with bad life. The ones, who had special abilities. As an Uzumaki, even without aKekkei Genkai, she qualifies, as special. Gods know he had always been too interested in your mother.”

The blonde scowled. “I’m so happy she and Otō-san had gained reputation, that made even him wary. But perhaps Okā-san should have made target practice out of the snake for her chains.”

Jiraiya chuckled. “Trust me, she did. And your father too. Orochimaru cursed them both for it.”

The blonde hummed, obviously satisfied. her eses widened abit, hearing that. She briefly wondered, how strong this mystery Uzumaki’s parents were, to make someone like Orochimaru wary. The blonde sat down as well, where he stood and the Uchiha next to him — close, as if they were best firnds, or brothers. People, who’d gotten used to the other along ago and drew comfort from the familiar presence. The Sannin and the Jōnin sat just abit farther, flanking the boys.

“My name is Naruto. Senju-Uzumaki Naruto.“ the blonde said, grinning abit, “This is my brother, Uchiha Sasuke. Silver over there is our sensei, Hatake Kakahi. And I’m sure you recognised Jiraiya.”

Her head spun. Senju-Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were the names, that Orochimaru kept cursing, very colourfully and creatively, after the failed Invaison. These boys — probably very close to her own age— were talented enough to stop the Sanke Sannin’s plans?

Not to mention Hatake Kakashi was another name in Bingo Books, Nation wide... nicknamed Sharingan Kakashi, for posessing the Uchiha Kekkei Genkai in one eye (most likely the covered one) and rumoured to have copied athousand jutsu.

She gluped, stealing the two awary, yetcurious glance. The Senju-Uchiha rivalry was so known, that there was not aperson in the Nations, who didn’t know about it. Yet... yet Naruto called Sasuke his brother. Odd.

“My name is Uzumaki Karin.” she murmured. This was her chance to get away... and perhaps she could bring Jūgo and Kimimaro along.

With Karin leading them, it didn’t take long to reach Orochimaru’s hideout. There were no visible guards, nor could he feel anyone hiding outside. Getting inside was also surprisingly easy, as Karin knew the way, so they didn’t set off the security system, which from his brief obsevation, consisted of afew mid-class seals, which were positioned in shrewedly. Naruto however, was anything but calm. According to Karin the Sannin was here somewhere — thus, he kept his senses stretched to the fullest, trying to pinpoint...

He froze.

That chakra was familiar. And on adifferent part of the place he could sense Orochimaru as welll. “Orochi-teme is in the southest from here.“ he said, poiting to aparticular tunnel, “There.” he said, nodding for Kakashi and Jiraiya.

“And what will you two be doing?“ asked Jiraiya.

“We’ll find Karin’s freinds.” Sasuke stated simply.

The Sannin shook his head. “I don’t think...“

“Jiraiya.” Kakashi spoke. “They can take care of themselves. Let’s deal with the traitor.” he said, slowly rising his headband, to reveal his closed eye.

The Sannin‘s eyebrow sneaked upwards on his forehead. “You’d let them go alone, in an unknown territory?”

Kakashi hummed. “They aren’t Genin or wet-behind the ears Chūnin.“

Jiraiya snorted. “No, they aren’t. Instead, they’re wet-behind the ears Jōnin. As if it would make so much difference. Look, Igive you that — they’re talented. Prodigies of the srot I’ve never seen. Not in you, hell not in Minato, but that doesn’t mean they can go alone.”

“They can.” Kakashi said firmly. “I trust them to make it. Let’s go.”

The Sannin sighed. “Kami help me. You are all impossible.“ the man grunted, as he walked down the corridor Naruto pointed out. Kakashi gave them anod and followed after the man with slightly hurried steps.

With the two senior shinobi gone, Naruto stretched his senses again. He spotted the other familiar chakra signature not too far away. He pointed to another tunnel. “Nī-sama, down that one is one. It feels... off, but it’s definitely familiar. It feels like Oji-sama and Sarvastra.”

Sasuke hummed, as his Sharingan spun. “So Iget to meet our Kaguya cousin. Fine.“ he looked at Karin. “May Iask his name?”

Karin blinked at Sasuke oddly, probably thrown-off by his wording. Naruto could feel she was pretty confused. “Kimimaro. Kaguya Kimimaro.”

“Thank you.“ then, his hand on his tantō, Sasuke disappeared down the corridor. Naruto sighed, looking at his fellow Uzumaki.

“Lead the way. Idon’t know your friend’s chakra signature.”

She frowned. “Perhaps you know Kimimaro?“

He shook his head. “No. But my cousin was aKaguya. Those who belong to aClan, have similar sigantures, which you know. That’s why Icoud pinpoint him.”

“But... You said you were an Uzumaki and Senju. How can you have aKaguya cousin? From what Kimimaro said, many of them were gone and those, who remain...”

Naruto shook his head. “It’s along story, Karin-san. Just lead the way.”

Karin eyed him for amoment before she grunted and nodded. “Karin will do. Drop, san.“ she muttered, as she hurried straight down the corridor.

Naruto followed her without aword.

Sasuke, using his own Sensory, found the door, which he needed. Cautiously, he reached out, trying to open it, only to find it locked. Scoffing, he kicked it in, using some chakra. When he stepped in, he found rather simple living quarters and aboy perhaps ayear older, than himself.

He had snow-white hair, just as Sasuke remembered his uncle and Sarvastra having. It was odd — seeing the trait remain so strong in abloodline, after hundreds of years. The boy had pale skin and startlingly vivid green eyes. Two red dots were painted above his eyebrows and there was red paint under his eyes.

“Who are you and what do you want?“ Kimimaro demanded, taking his fighting stance. Astance Sasuke was familiar with from the many times he had wiped the floor with Sarvastra. Ouch, in hindsight, he hadn’t been nice to his cousin.

“Someone, who can take you away from here.” he stated simply.

Kimimaro’s eyes narrowed. “And why would Iwant to leave?“

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me, it’s nice being around Orochimaru. One doesn’t have to be aSensor, to feel how vile the snake’s chakra is. Don’t tell me you want to stay with aman like him, when Karin and Jūgo are leaving.”

The green eyes flashed, but at the mention of the familiar names, the other eased, just alittle bit. “And why would Ibe interested in going with them?”

“You’re ill. Karin told us — and let me tell you, the snake’s going to throw you away. Ill as you are, you’re not useful to him. Besides, why would you give up your body, your life, when you can have your own?“

Kimimaro snorted. “You’re wrong. He was the one kind to me. He gave me ahome. Apurpose.”

“A lame purpose,“ Sasuke pointed out, “which takes away your chance to live. You’ve been told all this time what to do, no?“ he quirked an eyebrow and the Kaguya twitched. “Choose your own path. Chose your own fate, your own life. It’s never late to change. Death or being used as someone else’s pawn. Or, you can come with me. We’ll find my brother and your friends and leave Orochimaru behind. Maybe we can even find away to cure you.”

“And why would Itrust you? You don’t know what it’s like to be hated...”

“My brother does, trust me and trough him, so do I. And Iknow what it’s like to hate. What it’s like, when something is taken from you. Don’t let yourself drown in darkness. There’s still kin for you — you just have to be abit more open-minded.”

“All the Kaguya are gone.” he growled. “I’m the last one.”

Sasuke took astep closer. “Have you not heard the stories? That the Rikudō Sennin and his brother were the ones to bring peace — their children were our ancestors. The Sennin’s sons to Uchiha, Senju and Uzumaki. His brother’s children progenitors of the Hyūga and Kaguya.”

“You don’t know what it’s like when you’re the last...“

“The Uchiha were massacred when Iwas eight.“ Sasuke said. “The path Itreaded from the Academy to my house was painted with blood. Only me and my older brother remain. And... for years, Ithought, Iwas the last Uchiha.“ Okay no. That was alie — he’d known about Madara and the masked bastard, but those two would never be his family. They may have had his eyes, his blood, but they would never be his family. “So Iknow, what it’s like to be the last. And up till half an hour ago, my friend thought he was the last Uzumaki alive on the continent. We know that pain.”

Kimimaro’s green eyes were boring into his black ones, but Sasuke didn’t twitch. “Karin wants to flee this place. She hates it here — she found kin and we take in our own. Come with me....” he held out ahand.

“How can Iknow you speak the truth?” the white-hared shinobi asked. “For years, Iwas hated for my abilities. Used. Orochimaru...”

“Is using you.“ Sasuke finished, abit more forcefully this time. “The Five Ancient Clans should stand together, for we are kin, no matter how meager the link is today. Family does not always have to mean blood, Kimimaro-san.”

Kimimaro frowned. “My illness...”

“We’ll figure something out.” he said. “Have you heard of Senju Tsunade? Like... ever?”

Kimimaro gave asmall nod. “Some things. She’s agood medic.“

“The world’s best. “ he said. It was true, she was perhaps only second to Naruto.... but Naruto knew the old ways. Tsunade worked with the modern aspects of medicine. So, he couldn’t really tell, which of them was better. “I’m sure she’ll help you. Don’t throw your life away. Live it.”

Kimimaro didn’t move and Sasuke was staring to think, that perhaps he should have gone with the Uzumaki girl. His brother had always been better at convincing people. He was the antisocial out of the two of them and while things had gotten better this time around, no one could beat Asura in what he jokingly (and fondly) dubbed Talk-no-Jutsu.

After what seemed like eternity, the Kaguya (oh, it as so odd to think, that an entire Clan bore his grandmother’s name!) stepped closer and took the offered hand. Sasuke smirked. “Welcome to the family, Kimimaro.”

He dropped the hand and made agesture for the door and Kimimaro nodded. They just barely stepped out onto the corridor, when agreat explosion went off, shaking the entire place. Cursing very, very colourfully — he was sure his father would have whacked him over the head with his shakujō for it,— he grabbed the Kaguya and allowed his chakra to wrap around the other and then aShunshin took them both away.

The group of seven watched the smoking, smouldering ruins of what was once Orochimaru’s hideout, even the ground slowly coming to it’s seams, falling inwards.

“What the hell?“ Jūgo choked. “What did that?”

Naruto grinned flashing apeace sign. “Me and an Uzumaki Seal. Level Six, to be precise.”

The orange-haired shinobi quirked an eyebrow. “How many levels are there in seals, for you Uzumakis?“

“There are six, if Iremember correctly.“ Karin said. “One for each of the ‘ranks‘, so to say. Level One- Academy student, Level Two- Genin, Level Three- Chūnin, Level Four- Jōnin, Level Five- ANBU and lastly, Level Six- Kage.”

“And you did aKage level seal.“ he said, pointing at him.

Naruto hummed. “Yes. May Iadd, that the levels mostly mean how much chakra the seal consumes, but it also reflects their difficulty.”

“What are you?“ Jugō asked.

Sasuke snorted amused. “A walking jaggernaut, who’s acreative prankster and uses said creativity in Fūinjutsu. Oh, might Iadd, that he has as much chakra as aBijū, but is still somehow managing to learn Medical Ninjutsu.“

“As if you didn’t already have mid-ANBU level chakra reserves, Nī-sama.” the blonde countered with ascoff. Sasuke shrugged.

“Chakra-wise you take the trophy, Otōto. Now how about we go home? Iwant to see my brother.”

“I thought he was your brother? As odd as it is, cause you look nothing alike.“ Jugō said, his gaze flicking between the two of them.

“He is my brother.“ Sasuke said. “But Ialso have an Anija.” was all he said, before turning towards the general direction of Konoha.

As Naruto glanced at the three new shinobi, who were their companions, he just knew, that they were going to get an earful from Tsunade, for all the paperwork they were causing her. (Because bringing three random shinobi —especially ones, who’d been around Orochimaru— would mean extra paperwork for her.)

‘I just hope she doesn’t plan any sort of revenge on me and Sasuke, by... trying to turn our insides to pulp, or by breaking every single bone we have.‘ thought the blonde, as he leapt from branch to branch.

Chapter 41: The Progenitors

Chapter Text

Nara Shikamaru was one of the most inteligent — if not the most inteligent— shinobi of his generation. Of course, the members of the Nara Clan were known for their inteligence as much, as they were known for their shadow techniques, so it was not asurprise. He may have been lazy, but he knew what he had to know and not even Iruka-sensei could do much about it. It was just... that the Academy had been boring for him and he wasn’t saying it to disrespect his sensei. It’s just, that he knew most of the things taught because he had read about them, or because his Clan members had shared their knowledge.

Life had become interesting, after he met one Uzumaki Naruto — or rather, after Naruto and Sasuke had formed abond in the Academy.

Naruto was the sort of strange person he had never met before. He was made of such contradictions, that Shikamaru was surprised one of the many kami hadn’t come down to grab the blone and drag him back to some sort of ‘pre-life‘, which the monks claimed existed for asoul, before they were born as people.

Naruto had been cheerful and energetic even in the Academy, but despite his sunny personality, very few people wanted to be friend with him. When Shikamaru had first approached the blonde and spent afew hours with him, he wondered why. Naruto was kind and polite and apleasantly odd mix of calm and energetic. Positivity radiated from him in away, that almost worked like amagnet. Shikamaru had also noticed, that Naruto was talented in adifferent way, than most people he’d met. Sometimes, he had problems with certain Academy materials... other times he would give perfect answers. (Only for the senseis to completely ignore the blonde.)

And the way he fought... it was nothing Shikamaru had ever seen. It was not aClan style, which he had heard or read about. It seemed, that the blonde had come up with his own style, but it was way too well developed for that. It seemed as if the style had been created long before Naruto even attended the Academy, which was ridiculous, because Naruto didn’t even have parents to help him with basic things...

Shikamaru had also noticed the odd mix of longing, sadness and regret, whenever the blonde’s mistifying violet eyes landed on Uchiha Sasuke. As if he wanted to say something to the other, but didn’t know how (which was odd, because Naruto never seemed to be short for words). Slowly though, Sasuke had approached the whiskered boy too and they had spent abit mre time together. Shikamaru watched, as the oddest sort of camardire formed between the two polar opposites. (Hell, Naruto had corrected afew of Sasuke’s flaws, during Taijutsu spars!)

And then... after the Massacre, things seemed to take acomplete turnaround. Sasuke and Naruto had walked onto Academy grounds side by side, shoulders almost touching, after missing out for weeks. Shikamaru had noticed Sasuke’s eyes too — the black gaze hardened and there was aglint in it. Aglint, that he would have called knowledge, in other circ*mstances. He saw the raw pain in the Uchiha’s eyes, but he chalked it up to what had happened to his Clan.

Only to notice, that those sad, regretful looks to be thrown towards Naruto, when the blonde wasn’t paying attention. And then, as years passed, he noticed. he noticed, that with each passing minute, the boys odd bond to grow stronger and stronger. He’d noticed, that when they thought no one heard, they called one another brother. In an odd way too — their speech patterns had changed from before and whenever he heard Naruto refer to Sasuke... he called the Uchiha ‘Nī-sama‘. Naruto had always been polite, but this seemed abit much.

Sasuke had taken it as normal. One afternoon, when they wer walking home and Shikamaru was still waiting for his father, he’d noticed Sasuke hug Naruto. The Uchiha treated Naruto as his younger brother — abrother younger then him by years and not by afew months. They were competitive and protective of each other, as real brothers. He had never seen them apart, for more, than afew hours.

Speak about being joint at the hip.

And when they were sorted to Genin teams and the two had gone on without athird teammate, the mystery grew even more. All childishness had been shed from their personalities, replaced by focus and such composure, that his father compared the boys to the most dangerous of shogun across the Nations. There were afew times the Genin teams had met and those times Shikamaru could only admire the mystery they were turning into, day by day. Whenever they crossed paths, each time the strenght and the determination shrudding the boys seemed to grow stronger and stronger — Shikamaru wondered, when it might turn visible around them.

Not to mention, that their brotherly interactions turned even more blatant. They no longer hid, just how close they were. The mystery multiplied, when he had heard Naruto was a Senju by blood. Senju and Uchiha were always at each other’s troaths and from Sasuke’s personality, Shikamaru would have guessed, the Uchiha would change. He hadn’t — he treated Naruto like a brother anyway. In fact, he had caugth the two once, training, Naruto using his Mokuton and Sasuke was prompting discussion, to help Naruto figure out the workings of his Kekkei Genkai. Anew level of odd, even from the two.

And then the boys had cut trough the Chūnin Exams (and he’d even heard from his father, that they had stalled Orochimaru of the Sannin!) with the second shortest time. It was after that conversation, that Shiamaru realised, that there wasn’t arift between the boys’ and the others, himself included, from the Academy, in terms of skill. It wasn’t arift —it was afreaking canyon.

After he’d heard from Hinata, that the boys had helped abolish the Caged Bird Seal of her Clan, Shikamaru couldn’t take it anymore.

“Tō-san.” he called, as he walked into the kitchen, to get himself something to drink. His father was reading anewspaper, but he looked up at the call.

“Hello, son. What is it?”

Shikamaru placed the juice on the counter and grabbed the glass. “Have you noticed how Naruto and Sasuke are like?”

His father hummed. “Their skills? Hard not to notice, son. The ANBU speak of the two on aregular basis — they say the boys are prodigies, that put the likes of Uchiha Itachi and Hatake Kakashi to shame.”

He sighed. “I didn’t just mean their skills.“ Shikamaru said, as he slid into aseat opposite from his father. “I meant them as awhole. As people. They... act like adults. Well, technically, as shinobi of the village, we are all adults, but...”

“You mean their mindset?” his father supplied.

Shikamaru nodded. “Yes. Sometimes... it’s hard to keep in mind they’re the same age, as me. Not to mention, that Naruto is aball of sunshine one moment, the next his eyes look like the eyes of someone, who holds responsibility for... an entire Clan, if you understand what Imean.”

“I understand.“ his father said quietly. “I would say Minato was like that too... but no. Even when we were young, Minato was well-mannered, aprodigy and always had an easy smile. And Kushina had always been energetic, once she got over her insecurities. Ican see those things in Naruto too, but he has alot more, than his parents. And Sasuke... he’s startlingly like Mikoto used to be, yet still glaringly different. And... Ihonestly thought he might grow arrogant, like Fugaku had been at times, but he’s not like that. In fact, he doesn’t seem to hold any glaringly negative traits of the Uchiha.”

Shikamaru nodded. “I noticed. They’re always calm and well-mannered, which is another mystery, since Naruto hadn’t even had aguardian for along while, from what Iunderstood from their consversations. Sasuke’s abit detached, but he doesn’t push people away. He’s just not as good with people, as Naruto. Ihonestly don’t unerstand how are they doing it and it had been bugging me ever since the Academy. Itried watching and listening to them, but nothing — all Igot, that they’re speaking twice as archaically as Sandaime-sama ever had. The more Itry to figure them out, the more my head hurts.”

“Have you tried asking them?”

Shikamaru shook his head negatively. “No.”

His father arched an eyebrow. “Questions are keys to knowledge, Shikamaru. If you ask the righ ones, you gain knowledge and you may even save lives, as ashinobi.”

“Yes Iknow.“ he sighed. “But honestly... Ihave aproblem withstanding their chakra presence and they aren’t even enemies. It’s just that... Sasuke sets me on edge. He always manages to do that, whenever Ilinger too long around them.”

“He doesn’t trust you?”

Shikamaru shook his head again. ”I don’t think that’s the problem. He trust me, as afellow Konoha shinobi, but... It’s like they have things to hide and he’s wary I’m inteligent enough to figure out their secrets. So even if Iwould try having aconversation with Naruto... Sasuke takes my mind off of it. Idon’t know if he does it purposefully or subconsciously, but it works.” he grunted in irritation, “Works abit too well, if you ask me.”

His father cuckled. “This sound abit like some of the mind games aYamanaka might play and the kami know the Uchiha have similar enough abilites, due to their Sharingan. They learn to use their abilites for interrogation and intimidation, like Yamanaka. Of course, those tricks can be countered.”

Shikamaru gave his father adeadpan look. “Maybe, but Icertainly don’t know how to counter them yet.”

Asmile played in the corner of his father’s lips, as he slowly stood up. “Then come. I’ll demonstrate.”

As the doorbell rang, Itachi sighed — it was probably Shizune again with his medicine. It had ran out last night and Naruto had surely warned the hospital about it. Gods knew the two Senju and Shizune fussed around him enough. (And Sasuke was encouraging them, which made it even worse.) Of course, he was, by now, almost completely healed so Tsunade had even allowed him to start training again. Which Sasuke had forbidden, saying he would not have him use chakra, until acomplete recovery.

Itachi had twitched at that. If this is what Sasuke had felt like as achild, when Itachi had forbidden him something for his own good... well, damn him, but he was going to stop being agood brother, starting yesterday because it was goddamn annoying. (No. He can’t do that. He had promised his mother to always protect Sasuke, when his baby brother had been born and Itachi coudn’t just stop being agood brother.)

He sighed again and opened the door... and blinked. And blinked again. Four unexpected guests stood in the door. The Hokage, Hyūga Hiashi, Nara Shikaku and if he guessed correctly, the Nara Heir, Shikamaru.

“Good day everyone. Isuppose you all want to speak with Naruto and Sasuke, for various reasons, correct?“

“Hai.“ came the eerily synced answer. Itachi shivered abit and then sighed, opening the door wider and stepped aside. “Come in, then.”

The four people walked in and Itachi closed the door. “Boys you have...!“ he called, only for two Shunshin — one made of white fire the other made of water— to appear in front of him. (Seriously, were the boys getting lazy, using Shunshin everywhere? He didn’t want to know, what life would be like, when Naruto learned the Hirashin.)

“We sensed them, Onī-san...“ Naruto said with a pointed grin, “but thanks for the effort.”

Itachi rolled his eyes. Sometime after the revelation of their past lives, he’d gotten closer to the blonde too and as such, Naruto started calling him brother. Not that Itachi minded. It was really like he had two little brothers (who were sometimes way too wise and he was the one, who felt like the baby, compared to them, but shhh, the boys need not know that).

“Hokage-sama, Hyūga-dono, Nara-dono... Shikamaru.“ Sasuke greeted, his gaze sliding over each person. “Have aseat and then maybe we can discuss the reason for the unexpected visit.”

Sasuke gracefully glided towards the living room and Itachi sighed. He’ll get the drinks — this was most likely village business anyway, to which he wasn’t privy yet, due to probation. Altough it was coming to an end, but it was not yet over, so...

Afew minutes later, the group were going over the usual, necessery formalities, sipping their drinks. Once that was done, Itachi turned to leave, only for Shikaku to call out. “Perhaps you could stay, Itachi-san? Considering you’ve been staying here for awhile, you could help us out.”

Itachi blinked in shock, but when Tsunade and abit more reluctantly Hiashi nodded as well, Itachi shrugged and settled on Sasuke’s other side.

“Okay...“ Naruto murmured, “Let’s go about it in order. Sensei? What brings you here?”

Tsunade’s eyes flashed with irritation. “You know Naruto, as admirable your approach to life is, you really should stop. You brought home three shinobi, who were under Orochimaru and that means adozen wheelbarrows of paperwork for me and...”

“With due respect, sensei.“ Sasuke cut her off sharply, “Two of the three are literally our kin, so no. We’re not leaving people in need behind.”

Sasuke felt the sharp eyes. The moment he said, that two of the three people brought from Orochimaru were their kin... he doomed himself, he just knew it. He sighed, looking at his brother with araised eyebrow.

He was sure Hiashi had noticed as well. And what other reason would the Nara have, to be here? They’d steered clear of Shikamaru for this very reason. He was too observant and inteligent. He would have noticed — aparently, he did notice. And his father knew it too, now.

“You have questions, don’t you?“ Naruto asked at last. His brother had never been the one to beat around the bush, especially not when the reason was so easy to see. All four people nodded. “Well, we have avery good idea about what... so we’ll explain. Just don’t freak out... much.”

The four people shared looks and Naruto offered his hand to his brother. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “I think, Ican handle aTsukuyomi on my own, Otōto.”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Yeah, with only Itachi. Or maybe another one. Not four people... five actually, one of them aSannina and two Clan Heads with high-Jōnin reserves. Plus an ex-ANBU Captain.” he said, gesturing at Itachi.

Sasuke sighed and took the offered hand. “Damn it all. Iwant my old skills back.“ he murmured, as Naruto opened the link between them, the dense chakra flowing into his system. His breath hitched at the sheer potency, but after amoment, he adjusted to it and looked at the others. “Link your hands. It’s easier that way.“ he said, grbbing Itachi with his free hand, while the other one, linked with Naruto’s hand, formed aRam seal.

They all shared looks, but did as instructed and when Shikamaru grabbed Naruto’s hand, the cicrle was complete. Sasuke mixed his charka with Naruto’s and allowed it to ripple out, as his eyes morhphed into the Mangekyō. Tsunade’s eyes went wide at the pattern — no doubt, she knew about the higher level. “Kongen: Tsukuyomi!” (Origin: Moon Reader) he called and he felt bloody tears slip from his eyes at the strain. Hiashi gasped abit, but Sasuke ignored it.

The next moment, they stood in his personal little world, this time apart. Itachi and the other four stood opposite from them, while him and Naruto stood side by side, as always. This time, the crescent moon above their head was more pink-silver and not the bloody red Itachi had seen the first time around, showing that he wasn’t using the technique, as away of combat.

“Welcome to Tsukuyomi.“ Sasuke greeted calmly. “This is my personal little world, alink to our minds — mine and Naruto’s to be precise,— the ultimate Genjutsu of the Sharingan. The reason we’re here, is because it is easier to show things, rather then tell them.”

“This... how many people can you trap in something like this?“ Shikamaru asked curiously.

Sasuke shrugged. “Two other people, plus myself. Usually. However, Naruto’s chakra is denser, than mine, so since he had shared his chakra with me before Icast the technique, Iwas able to bring all of us. Icould have, perhaps brought another person, but the more people, the more it strains my body.”

“Is that why your eyes bled, before the Genjutsu took effect?“Hiashi asked. “Due to the strain?”

Sasuke nodded. “Yes. Sadly, this strain also means, that frequent use of the Mangakyō comes at acost, simply because the body, the eyes are not meant to channel such amount of power. However, that was something the Uchiha kept quiet, for aDōjutsu-user without their eyes is nothing.”

“Do you mean to say it causes blindness?“ Shikamaru asked.

Sasuke hummed. “Yeah. Of course there are ways to counter said blindness... which reminds me, Otōto...”

Naruto hummed. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll do it. But I’ll need Oba-san’s help for that. It’s not that I’m worried about your state of health... but Iknow you would never let Itachi go blind. He’s bad off anyway, in terms of sight already.”

They were cut off, as someone cleared their troath. Sasuke looked at the others and noticed, that the Nara head was looking at their feet. “Boys... why does the water reflect different people where you stand, when we just see our own reflections?”

Sasuke looked down and amatching pair of Sharingan looked back at him, from aface he had almost forgotten. Aface looked back at him from atime, which was legend to these people. It’s not that he missed that face... it was all the same. This life or that... but he did miss the hair. He missed his long hair. ‘Hm, Iwonder if there are ways to speed up hair growth with chakra...‘

“Why would you want to grow out your hair with chakra?“ Tsunade spoke and as Sasuke looked up, snapped from his musings, he saw the odd look on the woman’s face.

Sasuke shrugged. “When you’re used to having long hair all your life, it’s odd not having the same long hair in the next life.”

All eyebrows went up in dubous manners and Sasuke sighed, sitting down. Naruto did the same.

“So.“ Naruto spoke after amoment. “There is this thing called reincarnation.... and the funny thing is, it happened to us. Me and Sasuke... we already lived alife long time ago. Usually, even if there are afew people, who live past lives, they never remember, as it is against the balance of nature. We were not meant to remember either — but our reincarnation wasn’t asimple one. Reincarnation, in the basic sense is the rebirth of the soul in adifferent body. However, this time powerful chakras were attached to the souls, that transmigrated trough time. Said souls had been at war for avery, very long time and Ithink this life was meant to be the end of it, but certain circ*mstances changed, which caused the reincarnating individuals to seek us out in our own minds. So... they became us and in return, we became them, if that makes sense. So, while physicially we are fourteen, our souls and minds are much, much older.”

The others’ eyes went wide at that. “That’s why you never really acted like others our age.“ Shikamaru said.

Sasuke nodded. “Yes. We may have been children, but it’s hard to act like achild, when you remember being grown up and remember carrying the weight of the world or at least thinking you carried it...“ he trailed off, shaking his head. “You get the point.”

“And those reflections.“ the Hyūga head spoke, nodding at the water. “The water reflects how you looked in the past, does it not?”

Naruto hummed. “Yes, it does. It shows our physical appearance. And it shows it because we feel closer to those lives, than to this one. After all, Sasuke and Naruto just lived five or six years, in away. We remembered around those ages and afterwards, the lives, the experiences... everything gets mixed, if that makes sense.”

“That’s why you were so good at everything.“ Tsunade said at last, “Because you’ve already learned them once.”

Sasuke shared an amused look with his brother and snorted. “We didn’t just learn those things, Shishou. We created them.” he said softly, “Back in the past, when most of the people didn’t even know what chakra was, we were the second generation on the Earth, to be born with chakra. The people of that time admired us and despite our young age, turned to us for guidence, for we knew the most of those teachings, aside from our own father.”

“We were the ones, whose differing wievs brought the bloody feud of Uchiha and Senju.“ Naruto murmured, “Our children and grandchildren took up those names, to distigunish themselves — Uchiha, Senju, Uzumaki.“ he glanced at him and Sasuke smiled abit. “Indra nī-sama’s kin became the Uchiha.”

Sasuke looked back at the audience, his Sharingan landing on Tsunade. “And Asura’s descendants became the Senju and later, the Uzumaki. And as time went by, our names faded from the minds of men and even our father, whom they hailed agod in human form, fell to be naught, but alegend. People nowdays don’t even remember his name, only that he was — he is— the Rikudō Sennin.”

At those words, all those who sat across from them went rigid. “W-what?!“ Tsunade choked out, “D-did you just say the Rikudō Sennin was your father?”

Naruto hummed nonchallantly. “Yes. Actually, he is still our father, just as Namikaze Minato is my father and Uchiha Fugaku is Sasuke’s. It’s abit complicated. We’re both people at once. Naruto and Asura.”

Sasuke shrugged. “And Sasuke and Indra.”

Tsunade groaned. “I need asaké.“ she muttered under her breath.

“What’s this noise here?“ Kurama’s voice rumbled from behind. “I can’t sleep.” Sasuke shifted to see his eldest brother approach and rolled his eyes. It was so typically Kurama thing to say...

Shikamaru made astartled noise and as Sasuke turned back, he saw all adults scrambling to their feet, eyes wide, taking their fighting stances, scrambling for weapons, only to realise they had none...

“I thought the Kyūbi was killed by the Yondaime?“ Shikamaru asked, anote of hysteria in his tone. Sasuke sighed softly, as Naruto shook his head.

“Bijū are sentinent forms of chakra, thus immortal. They cannot be killed, only discorporated. But that would have pissed him off more.“ he said, gesturing at Kurama. “So they are sealed, usually. Actually, it was Hashirama and his wife, who started that trend, so to say.”

“And what adetestable trend it is.“ Kurama growled.

Sasuke gave him apointed look. “You’re safe here, Nī-sama and that’s what matters.”

Naruto hummed, looking at Shikamaru. “The second after Mito oba-san, to hold the Fox was my mother. Sadly, female Jinchūriki’s seals — the term for people, who have aBijū sealed in them,— weakens during birth. Amasked Sharingan-user was aware of that fact and broke into the safe house, where Okā-san was being kept and wretched him...“ he made agesture at Kurama,“from the seal, forcing Okā-san and Otō-san to fight him. Since Bijū cannot be killed and probably knowing the man, who did it will be back, Otō-san sealed him in me.” he sighed.

Everyone was quiet for amoment.

“That’s why people looked so badly at you all those years.“ Shikamaru concluded. “They feared the Fox and they thought you...”

“Yeah.” he sighed.

“Sarutobi-sensei placed alaw to forbid people from speaking about Naruto’s status afew months after the attack, when afew had tried killing him in his crib.“ Tsunade said, glancing at Shikamaru. “It meant, that your parents could not tell you about why Naruto was different, however, it doesn’t mean they hadn’t warned their children away.”

“Oh.“ Shikamaru muttered. Then, he looked at his father. “You never told me to...”

Shikaku shook his head. “No. The Fox and Naruto are different. They just share the same body. Its’s the way with scrolls and kunai. Akunai will not become ascroll only because you seal it into one. Besides, Itrust Minato —there was no better Fūinjutsu master, than him. Rivalled by Kushina, but they both had ahand in the sealing. Why should Idoubt the work of two Seal Masters? One of them an Uzumaki on top of it.”

Shikamaru looked at Sasuke. “Form what you said... you became friends with Naruto before you remembered your past life.”

Sasuke shrugged. “Itachi messed up Tsukuyomi, which caused me to remember. And yes, Iwas friends with him, simply because. Itachi and mother told me to be friends with him and my father was... well he never cared for me too much. So, we became sort of friends, yes. Ifigured out what he was after Iremembered, simply because it was odd, to feel two of my siblings’ chakra signarutes from one person.”

“Sib-sibling?“ Hiashi asked glancing cautiously at Kurama.

Sasuke hummed. “Of course. The Bijū were created by Otō-sama before we were born. We were raised side by side, as siblings. And no, they are not as maiicious and destructive as people today make them out to be. They just want peace, like we all do.”

“Then what happened...?“ Shikaku asked, glancing at Kurama.

Kurama huffed. “I was napping in the forest, when Madara turned up with blazing Sharingan. It didn’t help, that his chakra felt so close to Indra’s. My last memories of Indra weren’t exactly fond ones. The next thing Iknow, that I’m behind bars and Mito stands in front of me, telling me she will drag me with her to death, if must. Apparently, Madara had enough power to control me and Hashirama restained me. Then Iget stuck with Kushina, who’s just anotch better, than Mito’s cold indifference, really. Then Iremember Minato bouncing about the room, like akid, that he’s going to be afather and Kushina going to labour hours later. Iaddmit, Ihad tried breaking the seal meanwhile, but Minato certainly knew how to hold it. Then the masked bastard with aSharingan appeared. He bound Kushina and extracted me. The next thing Iremember —again — is the pain, as the Shinigami split me in half. Then, Iremembered trying to bisect Naruto, but Kushina and Mianto were faster and goddamn stubborn. Then, I’m stuck behind bars again, half as powerful as Iused to be.”

There was another silence. “So you say it was the work of aSharingan-user?“ Hiashi asked.

Kurama huffed. “Yes. Not as powerful, as Madara and certainly can’t hold acandle to Indra in his prime...”

Sasuke smirked at that. “Why thank you, Nī-sama.”

Kurama rolled his eyes again and tried flipping him off balance, but it failed, when the water shot p to wrap around his claw. His brother huffed again and settled. “The point is, that the f*cker isn’t like those two. But powerful —and fast, because Iremember, vaguely, that he gave arun to Minato.”

Tsunade groaned. “Alright, alright. Ineed abreak. Now. We can discuss stupid, Bijū-controlling Uchihas afterwards.”

“I agree.“ Hiashi murmured.

“Sounds reasonable.“ Shikaku added.

Shikamaru just sighed, as he looked at them. “Why are you two so.... so.... mendokuse?“

Sasuke snorted. “I would say it’s just Otōto... but it’s not and... it’s just how we are, Nara. Better get used to it, cause we’re not going to change. We hadn’t changed over amillenia, so we’re not going to start fundamentally changing tomorrow, either.”

Shikamaru sighed again. “Mendokuse.”

Sasuke laughed, as his Sharingan spun again, dispelling the illusion.

Everyone blinked, to adjust to the new surroundings and Naruto just wanted to spawl on the ground and drool — having so many people in his mind, sort of his mind, was bad. Tiresome. But he was an Ōtsutsuki and he was going to keep up appearances, because their behaviour reflected on alot of things now and that was important.

“Any questions?“ Naruto asked, looking at the people in the room.

Hiashi nodded. “I have one. It’s obvious that... it’s because of your situation, that you care so much for alot of things, but how does that involve my Clan?”

Naruto smiled. “That’s because of our uncle. Otō-sama and Oji-sama were twins and they remained close for all their life. Oji-sama’s daughters became the progenitors of the Hyūga and the Kaguya. To be precise, his older daughter, Sarvastra was the one, who inherited his structure and thus, what is today known, as the Shinkotsumiyaku. His younger, Mitra inherited his Byakugan. That’s why, Hiashi-dono.”

“Once, long ago,“ Sasuke said, “the Five Great Clans all carried the Ōtsutsuki name — or said Clans’ ancestors, that is. It makes us family, no matter how distant and Ōtsutsuki never leave their kin behind. Even if we want to claw each others’ eyes out sometimes...“ he glanced at Naruto, “we eventually find our way back. And there is no mistake, that cannot be rectified with abit of talking, diplomacy and ahealthy dose of forgiveness.”

“That’s why you brought Karin and Kimimaro.“ Tsunade said, her eyes glinting with understanding.

Naruto smiled softly. “Yes, Oba-san. That’s why. They are family too and there is nothing more important, than family. If families fight between themselves, then the world is truly heading to adark age. True, Nī-sama and I... we did that once, but not again. We set the world on adarker path, because we, the Sennin’s sons, set anot so nice example...“he huffed, “time to set things right. That’s why we helped the Hyūga too.”

Sasuke glanced at Hiashi. “Mitra would have hated seeing her own blood divided by aseal like that. So, my apologies, if we seemed forceful in the beggining, but it was...”

“It was the right thing to do.“ Hiashi finished. “And these weeks have truly changed life within the Clan — changed it for the better and I’m grateful for that.”

Naruto beamed. “That’s wonderful thing to hear. Which reminds me, why have you visited, Hiashi-dono?”

“I just wished to make sure you recovered properly. Several people asked about your well-being, since then.”

Naruto smiled. “Ah, I’m hale and healthy, as you can see.”

“Also... Iwould like to ask afavour. It’s probably asmall thing, compared to the grand scheme of things...“ he made agesture, “considering your identities...“

Naruto waved him off. “Nonsense. We’ll always find time for family. So, what is it you wanted to ask?”

“There’s ayoungling in the Clan, who shows great promise as aSensor. However, it’s arare ablity within the Clan and I’m unsure how well we could train him. You on the other hand, are aknown Sensor, the best in the village in generations...”

Naruto grinned. “Are you speaking of Hikaru-kun?”

The Hyūga Head blinked at him in surprise. “Yes.”

“I’ve met him, while we were dealing with your seals. And my answer is yes. I’ll be sure to queeze abit of time for him, between training and missions. And I’ll write ascroll with exercises meant for Sensory training. We told Neji about the reincarnation as well. Iwill give the scroll to him and Neji can overlook Hikaru’s training, if I’m busy.”

“That’s good. Thank you... wait, why does my nephew know your... identities?“

“Frankly?“ Sasuke asked, “Neji was twice as arrogant as Iused to be and Iwas called aprodigy by Ōtsutsuki standards and the way he badmouthed his own family reminded me of how Itreated mine own, after Asura was named the Heir of Ninshū. Icould not bare to watch one of Mitra’s blood making the mistakes Ihad, once. So when Kakashi took us to spar with Gai’s team, Iused Tsukuyomi to reveal this to him. It wasn’t exactly planned... but it’s nice to see Imanaged to beat some sense into him.”

Hiashi winced abit at those words, but he also sighed. “I see. Well, thank you. It’s arelief to see him as himself again.”

“Think nothing of it.”

Naruto smiled patting his brother on the shoulder. “See? Told you you can deal with Neji.”

Sasuke hummed. “Yes, but you could have dealt with him without revealing our past, Otōto.”

Naruto waved him off. “We benefitted from his knowledge, no? Hinata’s growing to be akunoich even Mitra would be proud of...“ he grinned, “and Ican just imagine Oji-sama patting her on the head for being the way she is. And she’d just smile and thank him and look cute and that would just make him love her more.”

Sasuke snickered, as the mental image of their uncle patting Hinata on the head appeared. “Yeah. Certainly true. And he’d manage to spoil Neji for his mastery over Jūken, while somehow still making it look fair and that no, he’s totally not spoiling one of his favourite descendants.”

Naruto laughed loudly at that, as the mental image appeared for him too. Inside the seal, Kurama was rolling on the floor. “Tr-so true, Nī-sama. So true! And then imagine Otō-sama scowling at him for spoiling someone and then they’d end up arguing about what is spoiling and what is not and how that does or does not fit with Ninshū...”

“They never argued, Otōto, it’d just be acompletely civilised debate of grown-ups.” he added, laughing.

Naruto laughed even louder, cluthing his sides and soon, somehow everyone present ended up laughing with them.

Naruto didn’t mind it at all — they were family, after all. As his great-granduncle had said, the entire village was one big family...

Itachi sat outside, in the backyard of the Namikaze Compund with Sasuke right there. Naruto had gone off to the Hyūga compound to help Neji and Hikaru and he stayed home with Itachi. Due to the treatment Naruto and Tsunade were giving him, Itachi’s health was improving by leaps and bounds and that eased Sasuke’s worries greatly. However, Naruto’s earlier warning about Itachi’s use of Katon still rang in both of their ears.

“So, as it was said, you can’t use Katon as often, as you’d like.”

Itachi sighed abit. “I heard that. Well, that leaves Fūton and Suiton then.”

Sasuke blinked, abit surprised. “Those are the two elements you can handle besides fire?”

Itachi nodded. “Yes, those come easy, in away. Raiton and Doton take too much chakra and concentration.”

“Well, you’ll train wih Otōto then. Those are his elements. I’m sure if you ask him nicely, he’ll even teach you afew modified versions of his own inventions. But... today Iwant to show you afew Genjutsu. They require an active Mangakyō, altough you only use the standard Sharingan for them.”

Itachi quirked an eyebrow. “Then why do Ineed the Mangekyō?”

“A standard Sharingan, that has the second level is stronger, than astandard one without it.“ he said.

“Ah, Isee. So it’s the power, that comes from the upgrade, is what is used and not the upgraded version itself.” he said.

Sasuke’s lips twitched upwards. “Indded. You’re quick to catch up. So, first and foremost, you’ll have to understand your own limitations. You’ll have to see how much chaka you need to activate Mangekyō and when you have the exact amount, use about five percent less. That gives aboost to your Sharingan, without activating the second level.”

Hm, Itachi smiled. A simple enough concept, rooted in chakra theory itself. And it was just the question of chakra control, really, once one caught the amount of chakra needed. So Itachi took a deep breath and moulded his charka...

The warm energy sped trough his body... and he felt the shift... “Too much.” Sasuke murmured. Itachi sighed —he’d felt it too. He let his eyes revert to their first stage, before trying again, this time with abit less chakra.

“Mangekyō again.” Sasuke said.

Itachi almost pouted. ‘I might just have to ask Naruto-kun for some of his chakra control exercises, if Iwant to pull this off. Damn it, Sasuke made the theory sound so easy...‘

Chapter 42: Chōmei and Fū

Chapter Text

“You have amission, Team Thirteen. This time it’s adiplomatic one.“ Tsunade explained, “You’ll have to escort Shibuki back to his village.”

“Uh, how does that count as adiploatic, mission Oba-san?“ Naruto asked, abit confused.

“Shibuki is the head of his village and we also need atreaty signed with them, so that’s how. And you’re his escorts. We signed afew official papers and he asked for an escort back home.” she explained patiently. Then, she lowered her voice, “Also, Taki is the only small village, that has aBijū. Find their Jinchūriki and speak with them, if you think it might help your cause.“

Naruto grinned widely. “Wonderful. Consider it done, Oba-san.”

Tsunade nodded and signalled to her secretary. Afew minutes later ayoung man walked in, dressed rather casually. He had round face black eyes and long, dark brown hair. “Shibuki-san, Team Thirteen will be your escorts to Taki.”

Shibuki looked at them in surprise. “Them? They’re no older, than our most recet Chūnin.”

“They are young yes,“ the Hokage said, “but as Tokubetsu Jōnin, they’re among the best of the village. And the escort squad is made of fourt people, as you are aware.“ she said, gesturing at Yamato and Kakashi.

Shibuki’s eyes landed on Kakashi and surprise flickered trough his features, before he nodded to the Hokage. “I see. Forgive my wording, Hokage-sama. Iwas merely surprised.”

The journey to Taki was spent mostly in silence, altough they kept up friendly chatter long enough to ease the tension — during said chat, they found out, that Shibuki had inherited his position as village leader from his father, who had died not long before. They also knew that Shibuki was aChūnin, who preferred using Suiton and Kenjutsu, if it came to fighting.

Getting into the village was tricky, as the leader didn’t want the way to be known, their eyes had been bound. On instinct, Naruto’s senses immediately sharpened, his Sensory stretching to its fullest. With all his skills combined, it was like he could see clearly, but he wisely kept his mouth shut. Shibuki would not need to know, that Naruto could find his way back here anytime he wanted, needing only alittle effort. However, the others weren’t so comfortable with the loss of their sight, so Sasuke stuck to his side even more, than usual. Not that Naruto said anything. They could communicate without words, so he could giude his brother without any problems. Which, Naruto decided, was agood thing, as Sasuke wasn’t keen on trusting the Taki shinobi, who came from the village on Shibuki’s request, to be their escorts.

When they arrived, the people greeted Shibuki with high spirits, which eased the team’s mind. When they reached the man’s residence, he bid them to rest and enjoy Taki’s scenery and told them that the official business will be done tomorrow. Sensing an opportunity to look for Chōmei, the boys quickly excused themselves.

As they wandered the village, the people greeted them with cautious smiles. “Can you look for Nē-sama?“ Sasuke whispered, as his eyes landed on astand, that sold fruits and vegetables.

Naruto chuckled. “Sure, in the meanwhile, buy something, hm?“

Sasuke nodded. “What’s it you’d like?“

Naruto stole aglance at the stall, toughtful for amoment. “Kinkan.”

Sasuke hummed and headed towards the stall. Naruto turned away and closed his eyes for asecond, stretching his senses wide. Taki was somewhat smaller, so it had less people, but it was also, in away, closer to nature, which made Naruto’s chakra sing with delight. It calmed him and he drew in abit more of the Nature Chakra, than normal...

“Careful, Asura. Your body hadn’t learned to handle it in this time.“ Kurama chided softly. Naruto huffed and released the energies. Amoment later, he stretched his senses again, looking for Chōmei. It didn’t take long to find her, as her and her Jinchūriki’s combined signature were, by far the largest in the village. It was like abonefire in the night.

“Here’s your food, Asura.“ Sasuke murmured, slipping abit. He took the fruits.

Naruto just rolled his eyes at the little slip up from his brother, knowing that memories were always strongest, when he let his chakra free like that. Their memories were now part of their daily life, but certain things reared their head particularly strongly in certain situatons and more often than not, those happened, when he flared his chakra. Indra’s memories were heavily tied to his healing and Mokuton.

“Found her. Let’s go.” he said, as he sallowed his bite.

Sasuke smiled. “Wonderful.”

They sped trough the lively village — perhaps they were getting ready for some festival? And by the time they reached the tree, where their target was perched at, their treats were gone. They approached slowly, but taking care to cause some noise to alert the kunoichi of their approach. Her gaze snapped to them fast and she took afighting stance.

“Who are you and what are you doing in our village?” she demanded, tone wary.

“Calm your Jinchūriki, Chōmei.“ Sasuke spoke. “We are not here to cause you harm. I don’t feel like fighting one of my own.”

Fū froze in shock, when the foreigner spoke her Bijū’s name — she thought people didn’t know the Bijūs names anymore. And here were these Konoha shinobi — Uchiha Sasuke and Senju Naruto, if her memory served her right,— and they spoke Chōmei’s name, as if it was the most normal occurance on the planet.

Besides... why would the Uchiha call her one of his kin? Was he aJinchūriki, like her? “No, little one.“ Chōmei said softly. “He is not, but the blonde is. The blonde holds my oldest brother. Altough Ido wonder, how they know my name. Their chakra feels familiar, but...”

Those words froze the blood in her veins. The blonde had the Kyūbi? How... how had she not noticed, when she’d been in Konoha? She’d seen them in the fights and had even met the blonde once in passing. She took astep back. She was confident in her abilities, but if the blonde knew how to handle his Bijū’s power, she was done for.

“Unlikely. My brother hates humans. He’ll never work with his host willingly.” Chōmei added, as she sensed her thoughts. Those words didn’t offer any reassurance. She took astep back.

“We’re not here to harm you, Fū-san.“ Naruto said softly. “I was just surprised to sense you so far from the festival preparations. Iwas worried you might be harmed.”

Those words were asurprise. No one had cared for her — people feared and hated her. The only one, who cared, was Shibuki. “I’m fine.“ she answered, tone wary and clipped. She’d heard they were Jōnin. Had they been undercover Jōnin as well, during the Exams, like her own teammates? If so, not even her skills could save her and Chōmei was outclassed by the Fox.

The blonde’s violet eyes searched her own orange gaze. “We’re not here to harm you. What can Ido to make you believe we hold no ill-intention?”

“You could tell me how you found me and what do you want.“she said, tone braver and sharper, than she felt.

“I’m aSensor,“ the blonde supplied with achuckle, “and Chōmei’s chakra makes you stand out like asore thumb, Fū-san. It didn’t take much effort to track you.”

“And Ialready told you.“ the Uchiha suplied calmly, his eyes morphing into the Sharingan, which set her even more on edge. “We’re not here to fight our own kin. Or have you already forgotten us, Chōmei nē-sama?”

Fū drew up short at those words. ‘What...what is he talking about Chōmei? Why did he...?‘

“Those eyes... that chakra...“ Chōmei whispered in shock, which just served to confuse her more. Something was going on here, but she didn’t know what. She could flee, but she wouldn’t get anywhere with it — the blonde would just find her again.

Suddenly, Chōmei’s chakra turned agitated and it made her uncomfortable. But it was obvious, that the presence of these two unsettled her Bijū — and anyone who unsettled aBijū, was extremely dangerous.

“Indra.... Asura.“ Chōmei whispered at last, almost disbelievingly.

Fū wrinkled her nose in confusion. ‘Who?‘

“My brothers.“ Chōmei said, “Brothers Ithought Iwill never see again.”

‘But... but they are human!‘ she said in confusion, ‘How can they be your brothers then?‘

“It is along story, butterfly. Let them in here for abit. Iwant to speak with Asura-kun.”

She blinked in shock and then looked at the two. “I... Idon’t know who you are... but she seems to know you. She wants to speak with the one she called Asura.”

The blonde —Naruto, she guessed— smiled. “That would be me. We will all be going inside your seal, if you don’t mind and then, we can have aproper conversation, without others overhearing us. Is that acceptabe, Fū-san?”

She gave asmall, unsure nod, as the blonde gently grabbed her hand. The boys joined their hands to form aRam seal and then the Uchiha’s Sharingan spun.

When Fū opened her eyes again, she was in her mind — specifically inside Chōmei’s seal. The two foreigners stood on her right and only now did she notice the insane amount of power they exuded. And not just the blonde —no, the Uchiha too. In fact, she could barely feel Bijū chakra from the violet-eyed boy.

Once she gathered her thoughts, the two turned to her and smiled. “A pleasure to meet you, Shichi. I’m Senju-Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi. And I’m the one your partner calls Asura.” the blonde said.

“My name is Fū.“ she said, offering her hand to be shaken. To her utter shock, the blonde took her hand and kissed it, just abrief ghost of his lips over her skin, before he stood upright again. Her eyes went wide and she blushed. Eep! Who kissed women’s hands these days? Where were they at aDaimyo’s Court or perhaps in the Warring States Era?

She looked at the black-haired boy, quirking an eyebrow at the sight of the paint under his eyes. Why would somone do that. “Nice to meet you, I’m Fū.“

“A pleasure. I’m Uchiha Sasuke, altough Chōmei called me Indra, Iwould think.“ he said, and he too, just like the blonde kissed her hand, as she offered it to be shaken. Her face heated up again. Eheheh, two handsome boys and both of them with such good manners... (Not to mention good Clans. Senju and Uchiha, founders of Konoha.)

They walked deeper into her seal, until they were met with the chained up form of Chōmei. She stopped agood seven to eight feet away from her partner, but to her surprise, the boys continoued on, unbothered by the great beetle’s presence. And, to her further shock, they bowed to her.

“Nē-sama.” they greeted, tones equally measured. Her eyes went wide. Why... why would humans, people call aBijū their sister? And in such areverent, archaic manner?

“Indra. Asura.“ Chōmei returned and Fū wondered if there was perhaps some meaning behind those names her partner called these boys by? “What brings you here? Ithought, Iwill never see you again.“

“And we designed things otherwise, Nē-sama.“ Sasuke —Indra?— answered.

Chōmei’s gaze seemed searing in away Fū had never felt it before, as they landed on the Uchiha. “Interesting to see you here, Indra. More than ten minutes have passed and you haven’t tried beheading Asura-kun, nor did Iget adegrading comment, that I’m where Ishould be— in chains.”

Fū flinched abit. Chōmei was usually kind, yet now her tone was strangely cutting. Sasuke bowed again, this time deeper. “Gomen nasai, Nē-sama. Iam aware, that my words had destroyed as much, as my actions. Icannot take those back, only hope you find it in yourself to forgive me sometime. But I’ve changed — this time Iwish to stand side by side with Asura. We’re together in this mess, this time. It’s time for us to join forces and guide humanity towards apeaceful future, as Otō-sama would have wanted.”

Chōmei was silent for along moment, almost as if she was judging, if the Uchiha spoke true or not. Then, after what seemed to be eternity, she shifted in her chains, to land on the water of the mindscape. “I believe you, Indra.“ she said after along pause. “It’s reasuring to have you back. And it’s nice to see Asura-kun as well.”

“Iam glad to be back.” the Uchiha said, his tone softer, for amoment.

And then, both boys stepped closer and hugged Chōmei. She rubbed her eyes, just to be sure. Since when did people go about hugging Bijū?

After amoment, they broke away and Fū was brought back from her wandering mind by Chōmei. “How about you two tell poor Fū-chan what’s going on here? Poor butterfly is confused.” her partner prompted.

Both boys smirked and sat down, motioning for her to walk closer and sit with them. Curiously, she skipped over and sat down. “So... what’s going on here?“

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at her. “Tell me, Fū, what you’ve heard of the Rikudō Sennin?”

Naruto sighed. After they finished telling their story —which, undertstandably caused her to freak out abit,— they asked her to tell hers. So she told them how she became aJinchūriki, as ababy and how the village feared and hated for it. How she’d met Shibuki and how he had become the only precious person in her life. She told them how she hated her village, while still loving it — an odd feeling she couldn’t untangle.

“Even with Shibuki and Chōmei, I’m alone.“ she whispered looking down at the three branch. “I just wanted friends, afamily — as an orphan, really, the only thing... but they fear and hate me and I’m alone...”

“You’re not alone.” Naruto said firmly, reaching out to grasp her hand. “We’re here now. The Bijū are our siblings. We don’t hate or fear them. They’re our family and that makes you our family, if you want to be.”

Fū looked up at them in shock, afew tears escaping her vivid orange eyes — the warm colour reminded Naruto of Sasuke’s flames and the safety and warmess they provided. Fū had asimilar bouncy, warm personality. How couldn’t people see that?

“What?“ she whispered.

Sasuke chuckled. “You heard Otōto. The Nine are our siblings. And that makes you our Imōto, you know.”

Her breath hitched. “Y-you’re serious?“

Sasuke hummed, as he reached out to her. Naruto could see he was abit awkward, but he gave his brother bonus points for trying in away he hadn’t bothered to try in their past life. “Hai. We’re one big family, who sometimes get messy, when we don’t agree on something. But we’re family anyway and Ōtsutsuki never leave one of their own behind, no matter what.”

That caused Fū to laugh and Naruto flashed his brother aproud grin, but before he could do anything more, Fū tackled them in ahug, laughing and crying at the same time. Sadly as she did so, they lost their balance and went falling from the tree, which caused Fū to scream...

Naruto grabbed them both, as fast as he could and chakra chains shot from his back, attaching to the tree’s branches, halting their deathly fall. Slowly, the chains lowered them to the ground and then Naruto retracked them into his back with asigh. (Whichever Uzumaki had come up with this jutsu, he would be sure to find them in the afterlife sometime and thank them for being agenius on par with Indra.)

Fū laughed again and the amount of happiness and relief radiating from her could have lit up the entirety of Konoha, Naruto decided. They laughed with her, the good mood contagious —besides, yet another of their sibligns was on board. They were getting to be afamily again, plus also getting new siblings. That was an ocassion to celebrate, he supposed. Around them, the people stopped, staring in shock, but Naruto was way to used to stares and whispers to care.

“So, mind showing us some local speciality, food-wise, Imōto?“ he asked her, violet eyes still glinting. “I could eat an entire ox.”

She snorted and stood up, offering her hands to help them up. They both took it and stood carefully. “Sure, Onī-san.” she grinned.

At the word, Naruto couldn’t help, but share ahappy, triumphant look with Sasuke. Another official member to their already growing family.

Shibuki couldn’t help but feel abit uneasy. He had yet to see Fū today and the celebrations were nearing. Fū hated the celebrations, because it made her feel even more secluded, more an outcast in the village and Shibuki could do nothing. He tried making his little cousin feel loved and safe, but he could only do so much — Fū would need friends, but no one in Taki was willing to be her friend. they feared and hated the Shichibi too much for that.

The Konoha nin noticed his disterss and offered to help locate his wayward cousin. He was too worried for Fū, to worry about the two Jōnin perhaps figuring out, that his energetic cousin was aJinchūriki. He’ll worry about that, when Fū was found. So, he described the girl to the two men and they went out into the village, looking for her. Kakakshi had tried asking one of the villagers, but the woman had rudely dismissed him, which caused Shibuki to flinch.

“Fū is not exactly well-liked in the village, Kakashi-san.“ he said carefully. “The best is if you don’t even speak her name.”

The Copy-nin’s visible eyes turned thoughtful for amoment, but he didn’t say anything. The lively crowd parted for them as they passed and Shibuki’s worry grew even more. And then he heard acry and looked upwards, to see Fū falling from the tall tree ahead of them, along with the two Konoha-nin, who made up the other half of his escort. Before he could freak out, that his cousin would get hurt or that she’ll show off her wings, thick golden chains materialised from the blonde’s back, shooting upwards to wrap around the tree’s branches, halting their fall. Then, the blonde slowly loweed Fū and his teammate to the ground, so that he was below both of them. As they landed, Shibuki released the breath he’d been holding.

And then, to his shock, Fū started laughing — afree, joyful sound, the kind he heard so rarely from her. She had an upbeat, curious personality, but he heard her laughing like this so rarely... and then the boys joined in with her, obviously sharing her good mood and Shibuki’s first thought was, that Fū had finally found friends. The crowd froze, staring at his sweet cousin with wide eyes and Shibuki almost snapped at them, that Fū was like any other person, but the unexpected voice of the blonde stopped him.

“So, mind showing us some local speciality, food-wise, Imōto? I could eat an entire ox.”

Shibuki blinked in shock. Did... did aforeigner just call his cousin their little sister?

Fū snorted and offered her hands, to help up both boys. “Sure, Onī-san.”

Shibuki’s jaw dropped. And Fū was returning the favour, in calling the boys her brothers. What was going on here?

“Boys?“ Kakashi-san spoke, and even Shibuki could hear the rest of his unasked question. The Uchiha grinned —that lot were known not only for their fire jutsu, but for their stoicism too, so seeing the kid grin was ashock— or was it asmirk? He couldn’t decide, but his face was one of satisfaction for sure.

“She’s...“ Sauske made agesture, “You know. She’s Seven.” he said, as if it explained everything. The words froze the blood in Shibuki’s veins. How had they...?

The Copy-nin hummed, remaining calm. “Ah, Isee. Family time, Iguess?“

Shibuki blinked at the silver-haired man. What time? He looked back at Fū. He saw some tear tracks on her face, but she was radiating happiness...

“You bet.“ the blonde — aSenju, if he remembered correctly,— said. “Got some catching up to do, so we’ll be with Imōto. Flare your chakra in the usual pattern, if we’re leaving.“ he said. “C’mon, I’m dying of hunger here.” he said, walking away.

Fū chuckled at the boys. “Uh, boys, this way please. Ithink you’d enjoy the stand Iwant to show you, if you want to taste some Taki specialities.” she grinned brightly, tugging at the Uchiha’s arm carefully, almost afraid he might snap.

The black-haired boy hummed and grabbed the blonde by the collar. “Lead the way then, Imōto.”

As Fū left with the two foreigners, Shibuki could do nothing, but stare. Once they were gone, sallowed by the crowd, Shibuki looked at the two Jōnin next to him.

Yamato shrugged. “It’s how they are — they just manage to make afamily member out of any Jinchūriki they come across.”

They knew what Fū was. Shibuki almost fainted.

Chapter 43: Bonds and Lessons

Chapter Text

Sasuke wandered into Hatake grounds with two scrolls in hand. Since him and Naruto were technically ‘responsible‘ for Itachi, Tsunade hadn’t allowed them to invite Karin and Kimimaro to stay at the Namikaze residence. Before Naruto could complain, that the two were family Kakashi had stepped in and offered to keep an eye on the two, while they were under probation. That placated his fiery brother and so, the two newest members of their rapidly growing family were now staying with Kakashi.

Which brought him to the Hatake residece — Naruto was busy in the hospital, but Sasuke had time. He supposed it would help Karin, Jūgo and Kimimaro adjust if they saw afamiliar face. He was certainly one of said familiar faces, consiering it had taken afew days to get back to Konoha and they had used the time to try bonding with the three.

Said bonding time had also allowed them some insight into their new family members’ abilities, which was agood thing. There was awar creeping up on them and now that there were other family members here... Sasuke refused to let go of them. Life had taken much from him — an entire Clan. Despite said Clan’s numerous faults, they were his family and family came before everything else. Now, now he was finding more family and he would be damned before he let his family get dragged into awar, completely clueless of their full potential.

Asura was the one who’d refined Fūinjutsu and both of them had dealt with Sarvastra for years, before that day. They could help Karin and Kimimaro. (With how much had been lost, he was sure, that he could even tell certain moves to Kimimaro, which Sarvastra had been fond of — most of the base knowledge had been lost anyway and with how much the Kaguya Clan had degraded, he was sure the amount of lost knowledge equalled that of the Uzumakis, considering, that the only alive, trained Uzumaki was Naruto.)

And he was sure, that eventually, they’ll find away to help Jūgo as well — he knew the basics about Nature Energy, altough he needed amedium to gather and store the energy. He just could never manage that one... his brother on the other hand, had become afully trained Sage. Not in this life, but before. Regardless, they had the knowledge and experience. So, even if in small steps, they could help the three.

And that was what had brought him here today.

“Sasuke.“ came asurprised greeting, “Unexpected visit. Kakashi-san didn’t mention you’ll be coming over.”

Sasuke hummed, his lips curling upwards just abit at the sight of his distant cousin. Kimimaro’s calm composure reminded him of his uncle Hamura. Fond, fond childhood memories...

“Good day, Kimimaro. He didn’t say, because Ididn’t tell him. Icame to visit you three. Just dropping in to see how you three are fairing.“ he said, as they slowly walked to the backyard. He supposed that’s where they were.

Kimimaro smiled. “It’s fine, actually. We’re starting to get used to being away from there and... being around each other, for real. Without unnerving, demanding eyes following every twitch. It’s less stressful, so...”

“That’s good to hear.” he said. And indeed it was. He wished the snake was dead, but Jiraiya had said, that his traitorous teammate had slipped away at the last moment, before the exploding seals had gone off...

As they reached the backyard, he found Jūgo sitting in the shade of the tree, meditating, while there were positively delicious smells wafting from the kitchen. Kakashi was just anotch better at cooking, than himself, so he guessed it was probably Karin’s doing, as he couldn’t spy the vibrant Uzumaki-red hair anywhere.

“Karin! Kakashi-san! We have avisitor!” Kimimaro called towards the house.

Afew minutes later both of them poked their heads out and Karin waved at him shyly. “Hello, Sasuke-kun.”

He nodded to her in greeting. “What brings you here, Sasuke?“ Kakashi asked.

Sasuke chose to ignore the flour on his arpon and in his hair — so whatever Karin had been doing in the kitchen, she’d managed to drag the dog-summoner into it as well. “I just wanted to see how our new family members were doing. And...“ he showed the two scrolls to Karin, “Naruto sends these.”

Karin blinked at him with wide, red eyes and darted closer. “What are these?”

“History of the Uzumaki Clan and ageneral overwiev of their expertise. Basics of Ken- and Fūinjutsu, but there are things about medicine as well. He thought you might be interested, as you had mentioned, that you never knew much about the Clan, as it had been painful for your mother to speak of them.”

Her eyes shone and as he offered the scrolls, she snatched them away.

“He also said, that if there’s anything of interest to you, he’ll gladly help. Now, Kenjutsu is not something he uses too often, but if you ever feel like picking up ablade, instead of using Taijutsu, Kakashi and Ican help.“ he said, gesturing at the silver-haired Jōnin.

Karin grinned widely, bouncing in her spot, as Kakashi gave him alook. How did Iget dragged into Uzumaki affairs? his eye seemed to ask. Sasuke just shrugged.

“He’ll realy let me have alook at these?“ she asked, nodding to the scrolls.

Sasuke hummed. “You’re not an Uzumaki, if you can’t handle at least two of those aspects at least on Chūnin level. Your heritage is something to be proud of — Uzumaki after all, were one of the Five Great Clans, the five oldest of all others. Isuppose he’d like you to feel like an Uzumaki. For the two of you to have something to share, other than aname.”

She beamed and then glanced fondly at the scrolls. “It’s nice. My mom had just taught me the basics of healing and seals... she died before we...“ she shook her head.

Sasuke hummed. “Think nothing of that. That’s why Naruto sent the scrolls. And if you want to tamper in those fields Naruto can help you. And I’m sure Tsunade-sensei wouldn’t mind helping with small things either, considering that her own grandmother was apureblood Uzumaki. And if you do happen to have an interest in Kenjutsu, Kakashi and Ican fill the gaps, where Naruto lacks abit.”

Her grin widened even more. “Thank you.”

Sasuke glanced at Kimimaro. “Shizune and Tsunade-sensei are looking into your disase and if we’re lucky, we may have results in aweek or two. I’m sure they’ll find atreatment for you. If you need asparring partner, I’d be glad to help.“

Kimimaro smiled. “Thank you... you don’t know how much those words mean to me.”

Sasuke shook his head. “Think nothing of it. Gods know, perhaps you can even refine your abilities and you can be aTaijutsu master, in afew years.”

Kimimaro’s green eyes glinted. “That sounds nice. But after seeing all you two had done on the way back, Ithink, I’d like to pick up some Elemental Manipulation as well. I’ve only refined my Shinkotsumyaku under Orochimaru. Iknow next to nothing about the elements — or my own affinity.”

He arched an eyebrow at that abit shocked. “I’m sure we can help that too.”

“Indeed.“ Kakashi added, “And based on what your element is, we can help you develop your abilities. Naruto’s amaster of Water and Earth, but Yamato’s no slouch either. Sasuke and Ican help with Lightning and Fire and if you happen to have Wind... well, there’s always Asuma, altough Sasuke and Naruto both know afair share of said element, too.”

Sasuke hummed and then he threw alook at Jūgo. The orange-haired shinobi hadn’t stood from where he was sitting, but Sasuke could tell he’d been listening aptly. “Same goes for you, you know? Naruto promised to have aword with Jiraiya... they’ll figure something out about your ability, so the Natural Energy can actually help and not hinder you. You would have to worry less about rampages.”

“That would be nice.“ Jūgo admitted. “That’s why I’d gone to Orochimaru in the first place. Ifeared Imight harm someone, if Ilose control...”

“We’ll help. Oh, before Ileave, remind me to show you ameditation trick. Iused to have... emotional problems. Said trick had helped alot and in fact, had in the long run, helped refine my chakra control. It may be the first step for you as well.”

“It sound interesting.” he said, “I’ll be sure to take you up on the offer.”

“It’s nice that you came over to visit and offer help.“ Karin said, as she made agesture towards the kitchen, “Perhaps you could stay longer and we can continoue this with aplate of fresh ginger snaps?”

Ginger snaps? He wasn’t afan of sweets, but this sounded promising. “I’ll graciously accept your offer, Uzumaki-san.” he said with aquirk of his lips, which caused Karin to roll her eyes.

“Maybe Naruto would like some, too?“ she called back over her shoulder, as she walked inside. Slowly, all of them followed.

“Where’s he anyway?“ Jūgo asked with araised eyebrow.

“He has along shift at the hospital today, so he’ll make it home at night. It’s abusy work.“ he said, as he took abite of Karin’s cookies. Hm... he wasn’t one for sweets, but this was just fine. In fact, it combined the spiciness of ginger with just the right amount of sweetness...

“Oh, poor him.“ Karin said, as she grabbed abig napkin. “Perhaps I’ll take afew of these to him? It might boost his moood.”

Sasuke gave asmall snort. “It certainly will. He has sweet tooth and while Idon’t like sweets, Ihave to addmit these are rather tasty.”

Karin grinned at him wryly. “Why thank you.”

Naruto looked at the little, crying girl, as she held her swollen — and obviously broken— arm. It had to have been avery bad fall, indeed. He approached her, very aware of the wary look the girl’s grandfather was giving him.

“May Ihave alook, Matsuri-chan? Can you take your other hand away?“ he asked softly. “I promise it won’t hurt.”

The girl — Matsuri— looked at him with wide, tearful green eyes and then she slowly took her hand away. Naruto smiled, finally having space to work. The girl had been crying ever since they’d come in and her sobs had just turned more painful, as her grandfather mentioned her fall. His hands lit up with the dense, green healing chakra and he carefully placed his palms on the injured limb. He’d felt the fracture in the bone already, so even without having aByakugan, he had avery good idea, what it was like.

So, he carefully allowed his chakra to wrap around the damaged bone and pull it back into its normal place, while the other half of said chakra accelerated her own natural healing, using his energy. Altough even with using his energy, it would leave her abit sleepy, as the body always fought inwading, foreign chakra, regardless of intentions. Ten minutes later the bone was completely healed and he’d even dared leaving ahairsbredth of his chakra wrapped around the bone, which her body would absorb with time and strenghten the structure, so it might not break so easily again.

He smiled, taking his hand away. “There you go, Matsuri-chan. All hale and healthy.”

She beamed at him, her sleepiness gone for abit. “It doesn’t hurt anymore...“ she whispered in shock before looking back at him. “Arigato, Naruto-san!”

He chuckled, mussing her black locks abit. “You’re welcome and... Ihave agift for you. Justt cause you were agood and brave girl.”

She blinked at him, child-like curiousty mixing with confusion. “A gift?”

He nodded. “What’s your favourite colour?”

“That’s easy.“she chippered happily. “Red.”

Naruto laughed and cupped his hands together, flaring his chakra abit, so it became visible around his hand, for the girl to see. When he opened them, there was abig red flower in his hand. “Whoah!” she gasped, her eyes sparkling. “So pretty.”

Naruto chuckled and gently tucked the red flower behind her ear. “And it’s yours.”

“Chatra can do that? Iwanna learn it too!“ she said excitedly, as she skipped over to her grandfather. “Did you see that Ojī-chan? Iwant to learn how to grow pretty flowers with chatra!”

Naruto laughed at the girl. “The correct word is chakra, Matsuri-chan.” he corrected, as he sat behind the desk, to write on her file. “And I’m afraid you can’t grow flowers with it.”

Her eyes snapped to him. “What? But you just did it!” she protested, disbelief and childish denial in her tone.

Naruto hummed. “I did... but, it’s... some shinobi, who learn to use chakra, come from old families. Those families have some abilities, special to them.” he explained simply. Matsuri tilted her head to the side, thinking.

“Like how Hayato has white eyes? I’ve seen his mom have the same eyes, too.”

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. “I guess your friend’s name is Hyūga Hayato?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Imet him afew times at the park and we’ve been playing together since then.”

“Well yes. You see, Hayato has aspecial ability like that — or will have, when he grows older. It’s in his family. My ability is called Mokuton, Matsuri-chan. It allows me to grow and control plants. It’s in my blood, my family. So it’s not an ability, that can be taught. You have to be born with it.”

She pouted. “Sad.” but then she perked up again, “But... could Ilearn too? Imean, to use chat— chakra. To turn it green and heal, like you.”

Naruto nodded. “That can be learned, yes. But you’ll have to join the Shinobi Academy next year. And medics, like me and Oba-san have to learn alot. And you can’t give up.”

Her green eyes glinted sharply. “I wanna heal too. You think, Icould do it?”

Naruto smiled. “With alot of practice. Ineeded alot of practice. And you’ll have to be patient. Healing can’t be learned in afew days.”

She nodded furiously and turned to her grandfather. “Hear that, Ojī-chan? Iwanna be ashiobi too! Iwant to learn to heal, like Naruto!”

Naruto almost felt bad for answering the energetic girl’s questions, because now she wanted to be amedic and Naruto was sure she’ll harass the poor elderly man about everything related to healing and perhaps shinobi in general.

The man sighed. “The word is shinobi, Matsuri. And... we’ll speak about it later.”

Matsuri whooped happily and she waved at him. “Arigato, Naruto-san!“ and then she sped out onto the corridors. Her grandfather stopped in the door for asecond, acontemplating look in his eyes. It seemed his display forced the man to think — and perhaps see past the hatered he felt for Kurama. It was another small step in the right direction and it lifted his spirit, just abit.

Then, the elderly man dipped his head. “Arigato, Senju-sama.”

Naruto waved him off carelessly. “I’m amedic. That’s what we do.”

As they were gone, he turned to the paperwork, that came with being amedic — of course, Shizune or Tsunade would check everything over, just to be sure he wrote everything correctly, but he didn’t mind. He was here to help and to learn. He knew alot of things, but medicine was an ever-changing Art and Tsunade could teach him alot about the more modern aspects. Just as he’ll take time to teach her something of the old school, the moment she was done with that mountain of paperwork...

“Busy, are you?“ anew, unexpected voice called.

Naruto’s head snapped up as he saw Karin — the redhead was holding something wrapped in her hands.

Looking at her fiery hair, he was reminded briefly of his father. Once, in another lifetime, the Sennin had similar hair, altough his had been more red-brown. The brown hair him and Indra had inherited had come from their mother, or so he’d been told. He didn’t remember any of his children having red hair either — Kana’s hair had been black, too. So it was odd, that the trait had popped up in the line anyway and had stuck around so strongly, that it had become acharacteristic trait of his kin, as much as the Hyūgas eyes.

He smiled widely, as he saw her. Her dense chakra, similar to his brought asense of peace. His kin were not completely gone, altough not for the lack of trying, on Kumo and Iwa’s part.

“Just the usual for amedic in aGreat Village.“ he said with agrin, “What brings you here? Are you perhaps in need of healing?”

She walked into the room and shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Sasuke just stopped by and spoke with us. I’ve scanned the scrolls.“ she said quietly, “It means alot. I... some of those — at the very bottom, the most complex ones— are of the Main Family’s jutsu and you still chose to let me have them. Thank you.”

“We’re Uzumaki, Karin. Possibly, the last ones. Idon’t think, Ihave areason to distigunish Main and Branch anymore. It’s just you and me. And Oba-san, but honestly, she’s more Senju, only quarter Uzumaki. Of course, it doesn’t make her any less part of the Clan, but she’s aSenju first and foremost.”

“Still.“ she said, “And I’d like to take up on your offer of teaching. Iwould like to learn some Fūinjutsu and from what I’ve heard, you’re already borderline master. And Iwouldn’t mind some medic training either, if it’s not aburden.”

He blinked. “Of course it’s not. We can speak with Shizune — she may have abit more time, than me. She can help with your medic training and I’ll help with Fūinjutsu, okay?”

She beamed. “Thank you.“ she raised her hand, showing the small package. “Heard you’ll be here for abit, so Ibrought food.” she placed it on his desk and he unwrapped it curiously.

He smiled widely. “Ginger snaps! Oh, Idon’t even know when Iate last. Thank you.” he grabbed one and devoured it in two bites, not even noticing how hungry he was, until food was right in front of him. Today had been busy and he’d skipped the usual midday break...

He didn’t know what prompted him to do it, but he wiped off the crumbs and stood up, leaning over the desk, pecking her forehead. “They’re delicious. Thank you, Karin-chan.”

She blushed, looking away for abit. “Y-you’re welcome, Naruto-kun.”

“Hm, they’ll help me survive...“ the urgent knock cut him off. He shifted, just as one of the medics poked their head in.

“There’s an urgent matter, Senju-sama and Shizune-san asked for your aid right away.”

“I told you not to call me that, Masato-san.“he reprimanded gently, “I’ll be right there.” he said. Masato nodded and slipped out, hurrying away.

He looked at the redhead with asmall smile. “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to go. Thank you for the food, it’s delicious. I’ll drop by at Kashi’s, when Ican and we can start training, if you like.”

She nodded. “It would be nice.”

He hummed in agreement and hurried out of the room — altough, not before snatching away another of the delicious cookies. Gods know this urgent matter sounded like he’d need all the energy he could get...

“No, no and no.“ Sasuke sighed. “That’s not how you do it, Onī-san.”

Itachi peered at him, obviously not understanding the problem. Now that he had some free time, he decided to help Itachi abit more. Altough fighting could not be avoided in this world, they could at least prompt the other parts of Ninshū’s teachings, like understanding and harmony with nature. Chakra was supposed to help create that harmony between man and nature, hence the more destructive nature of their moves.

“Then how?“ Itachi asked, quirking an eyebrow. “It did just what yours had, Sasuke. Destroyed the boulder.”

Sasuke took adeep breath, conted to six and slowly released the breath. It seemed the concept of shaping nature, shaping the world around them, with the help of chakra, had been lost.

“Yes, it did just that. However, it cost you far more chakra, than necessary. Wind is your secondary affinity, so to say and even Ican do that move with less chakra cost. Do you know why?”

“You’ve better chakra control.“was the simple, automatic answer. Sasuke shook his head.

“No. My chakra control is abit better than yours, but nowhere as good, as sensei’s or Otōto’s. That’s just... not gonna happen. Senju and Uzumaki are more in tune with nature — they have asort of bond with nature, especially Sages, like Otōto and Hashirama-sama — and with their body, hence the better control. And mental stability also helps, Iguess.“ he added as an afterthought. “The point is, that my control is not much better, than yours, yet Ican reduce the chakra cost to half of what you used now, despite the fact, that Ihave no affinity for Wind. It’s my weakest element, as Lightning is my dominant one.”

Asecond eyebrow joined its twin high on Itachi’s forehead and if Sasuke didn’t know better, he would have said Itachi was ready to pout.

“So, the concept is directing the element you are using with your chakra. Obviously, lightning and fire are energy in different forms, so they must, in asense be created from the chakra used for the technique — useless you’re in amiddle of athunderstorm, which would provide apossible source for both elements, but that is beside the point.”

“And?“

Sasuke made acareless gesture. “Three out of the five elements are literally endlessly accessible, for defence and offence. Wind, Earth and Water. Water is present in the ground, the plants, the air. Using the moisture from the air is what made Tobirama-sama famous, because he got the concept I’m trying to tell you. He created abalance between himself and the element he used — so he was using Ninshū, Isuppose, without his knowledge.”

Itachi nodded. “I get it. So abalance between the user and nature, which you establish trough chakra.”

Sasuke grinned. “Exactly. Now, if you establish that balance, you can use less chakra, because you are just directing the pre-existing element, to do your bidding.”

“Okay. Seems simple enough.”

“Glad to hear.“ he made agesture at another boulder. “Then get on with it, Onī-san. Let me see that jutsu.”

Itachi’s gaze settled on his target and then his hands flashed trough the seals — Inu, Tori, Hitsuji, Tori. “Fūton: Kaze Tantetsu: Shiroi Karasu.”(Wind Release: Wind Forge: White Crow)

The wind picked up around them and then it seemed to gather and condense into a faintly visible shape, that bore some reseblance to a bird. Then, as Itachi thrus his hand forth, the bird shot at the boulder. It exploded, causing the energy to burst outwards and create more wind, which tore at their clothes. A few moments later it was gone, yet the boulder was barely cracked.

“But... it worked.“ Itachi said with disbelief, “Well, it should have.“ he added in aquieter tone, ahalf-confused, half-thoughtful expression on his face.

Sasuke sat down where he was in proper kekkufuza and glanced up at his brother. “You don’t control nature. No human can do it — you don’t have that sort of power. Members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan came to the closest to achieving control over naure... but most of them are not exactly human. And... that sort of power always had aprice. Aterrible, terrible price.“

“Your point, Otōto?“

“You let your chakra flow out. Let it flow with the water. Let it seep into the earth. Let it mingle with the wind and when it’s out, use the chakra to change the course of the element. Stay in harmony and ask it to do the task for you. Don’t demand it, because it will never work. In aless severe case like now, it just won’t do what it was supposed to. In aworse case, the energy you expelled will burst and the element it was mixed with might injure or kill you.”

Itachi gave asmall sigh and gathered his chakra again.

“Listen to the wind. Try the first step of meditation, before performing the technique.“ he offered.

Really, Kaze Tantetsu was the very base of Wind manipulation — the core of it. Once Itachi mastered this, with some work, he could be atrue master of the element. Of course, his brother didn’t know that. Call him amother hen, but he’s not going to let Itachi rely on Fire. Not when he had health problems — of course, said problem could be dealt with and was mostly dealt with already. However, the more Katon Itachi used, the likelier it was the problem will rear its head again and this time, perhaps not even the combined efforts of Tsunade and Naruto could save him.

Hence why he wanted Itachi to use Wind. Even if Itachi used weaker Katon techniques — which put less strain on his body,— the Wind could accelerate their power and also keep Itachi’s lungs clean of any lingering smoke , killing two birds with one stone.

He felt Itachi’s chakra shift and with it, so did the wind. His brother performed the four seals and he saw the wind get condensed. “Fūton: Kaze Tantetsu: Shiroi Karasu.”(Wind Release: Wind Forge: White Crow)

The bird formed again and it sped towards the next target, its speed greater, than before. There was ablast and Sasuke actually had to use chakra, to stay seated where he was, as the wind lashed out. When it was gone, the bulder was in pieces, just like it was supposed to be. Like he’d seen Asura doing it afew times, when he’d dodged said attack, during his I-want-to-rule-the-world spree.

Itachi was gaping at the destruction and Sasuke grinned. “And that’s how you do level one Kaze Tantetsu. Well done, Onī-san. It seems you’re getting the hang of what Ninshū means.”

Itachi looked at him, the shock not exactly concealed from his features. “Level one?“ he asked. “How many levels are there?”

Sasuke smirked. “Three. And alevel three technique from Asura was enough to destabilize my Complete Body Susano’o during flight.”

Itachi’s eyes went wide and he went several shades paler. “Sage have mercy.” he murmured.

Sasuke snickered. Naive, naive Itachi — his father was not here now, hence why he and Asura had to deal with the mess the world had turned out to be...

Chapter 44: Konoha 15

Chapter Text

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”

— Satoro Ryūnosuke

Naruto sat on the plateu behind the Hokage Monument, meditating. The past few days had been so hectic, that he hadn’t even had the chance to try forming his Byakugō. He had left afew Shadow Clones behind in his home to practice further chakra control, which would make his life easier. (Uh, he’d forgotten to tell Tobirama-jiji just how genius it was of him to create those clones. Sad...)

The calmer he became the easier it was to sense the flow of his own chakra and as he sunk into his mindscape, he felt Kurama’s presence too, sharper than before. He gently tugged the chakra closer, closer... into the seal, closer... slowly... (He’s not going to let this stupid Seal mess with him more, than it already had. He was amaster of chakra control, the first user of Mokuton and the one to lay down the basics of chakra healing. Asimple Seal meant for medical/storage purpose will not mess with him!)

...and then he felt it.

The chakra he had gathered and gently directed, had finally stuck and stayed. It left him breathless for asecond, as half of his reserves had suddenly been absorbed into the seal. It was so sudden, that it forced him out of his own mind, back into the real world and as his eyes snapped open, he felt alittle disoriented.

He huffed, just focusing on his breathing for asecond, before he raised his hand and gathered alittle water from the air. He formed little circle out of it, stilling the movement as if frozen over — ahurried, makeshift mirror. Just to be sure...

He grinned. There in the middle of his forehead, was asmall, familiar shape — afamiliar, purple rhombus. His Byakugō was finally complete. Satisfied, he let the water dissolve back into the air and he lay on the soft grass, just enjoying the sunlight. He would need afew hours, until his chakra reserves were back to being their usual — oh wait! Yes! Now that he finally had aByakugō, he could have asmall amount of constant drain on his reserves, which would help him, if he ever needed to release the Seal for som reason, not to mention, that the constant drain even with the daily activities would help his reserves expand.

Kurama snickered in his mind. “You already have ridiculously large reserves, despite no longer having Ōtsutsuki blood and on top of that,ridiculously good control, that not even my chakra can upset. If you add only two percent of your chakra to the Byakugō every day, even that will boost the rate your coils expand. Indra’s going to be whining so much! Not to mention the added boost, if you ever release the Seal! He still keeps muttering about not having as much chakra, as he used to have this time around... you know. Before your reincarnation.”

Naruto chuckled. ‘Yes and Ifeel abit bad. Perhaps asimple Chakra Storage Seal may be of use to him? That doesn’t need such high level of control and it would close off some of his chakra for desperate times and help his reserves expand in asimilar manner. The Yin Seal is special, since it’s meant to be the peak of chakra control and Medical Ninjutsu. Hashirama oji-san never used it, but combining the Mokuton and the extra amount of control, which comes with the Seal, means Icould, theorically, put his medical accomplishments to shame.‘

His brother hummed. “That might be asolution. Besides, creating aChakra Storage Seal is really just ten minutes. Along meditative session and he has it filled too... So it might work. As for Hashirama... Ithink you already put him to shame, Asura-kun.”

Naruto gave asmall snort at that, but before he could answer, his Sensory tingled. He sat up and shifted, just as there was aswirl of leaves. The wind died and revealed Neji.

“Hello, cousin.“ he said pleasntly with awave. “What brings you here?”

“Good day Naruto. We... what is that on your forehead?“ the Hyūga asked, blinking owlishly.

Naruto laughed abit, as he stood up. “That, my dear friend, is a complete Byakugō no In. Used by Uzumaki Mito-hime and one esteemed Godaime Hokage.”

“She taught that to you? Wait... no don’t answer. Of course, she did.“ Neji rolled his eyes. “How much chakra is in that?”

Naruto shrugged. “Considering Ijust formed it afew minutes ago, about half of my chakra reserves. It will get gradually more, as time passes, as you can’t unlearn chakra control, if you get what I mean.”

Neji just shook his head. “I get that you and Sasuke are abit different... but it’s your progress is really adouble-edged blade for the rest of us. Half disheartening, half motivating.”

Naruto chuckled. “You know, you guys just have to ask and we’ll help. By the way, how’s your and Hinata’s training going?“

Neji grinned. Naruto was glad to see, that since the beatdown he’d gotten from him and Sasuke, he’d opened up. Since the Caged Bird Seal was gone... well, it was like this Neji and the one before were to completely different people. “Good, very good. In fact, the Elders actually noticed how well we work together. And Imight have given Hiashi oji-san some extra pain, when Idemonstrated the Elemental Chakra enhanced Jūken Sasuke helped me learn.”

Naruto laughed. “Good to hear. How about Hinata?“

“She’s good too. Some of the Elders are now wary in fact, when they see her angry. They say she’s like her mother used to be. It’s kind of entertaining.”

“Hmm, that means we’ll have to keep an eye on her. Sounds very much like she’s got Mitra’s temper. So, what brings you here?“

“We had adiscussion last night with the other Chūnin and our senseis and we thought it would be fun to hold atraining picknick. The Akimichis are the ones, who offered to supply the food and drink. You are much better, than us... but you’re still friends and former classmates. Maybe you and Sasuke can drop by? The others are already there.”

Naruto hummed. “Sure. In fact, Ithink it’s asplendid idea. We can all help you learn new things. Shika and his father now know about us, along with Oba-san. Shika won’t have aproblem coming over and asking something, if he needs help or something interests him. The others however... well, Kiba may be atouch too proud to ask for help and Chōji may be abit unsure.”

“Maybe that’s cause you keep your distance? Don’t get me wrong, Iunderstand why, but it makes them abit unsure around you. Of course they’re going to keep distance. But maybe Hinata, Shikamaru and Ican help dissolving that?” Neji offered. “If they see us going over to you for help, they might reconsider and do the same.”

Naruto grinned. “Good idea. Plus, we can introduce Kimimaro, Karin ad Jūgo. Oba-san said their probation is kind of over.”

Neji arched an eyebrow. “Come agian?”

“Oh, Kimimaro is Kaguya and Karin is an Uzumaki survivor. Karin, Kimimaro and Jūgo were kind of lured in by Orochimaru and he wanted to use them for his own ends, because of their special abilities. We saved them and Oba-san allowed them to become shinobi of Konoha. After probation period of course, but...“ he shrugged.

Neji just grunted. “I’m not even asking how you came across Orochimaru...”

“Must we go?“ Sasuke asked with asmall pout. (Altough, he would never addmit to anyone, not even Itachi, that he was pouting at his younger brother. Nope, proud, noble Ōtsutsuki Indra, first-ever user of the Sharingan and Prodigy of Ninshū never pouted.)

“Come now, Nī-sama. It’ll be fun. Besides, we kept so much distance from everyone, that it feels like we’re pretenders. Ninshū is all about bonds and connecting and we barely have bonds with our own generation.”

Sasuke sighed in defeat. “But... despite everything, I’m still not asocial person and there are going to be so many...“ (No he was not whining! This was acrisis. He had never been good with people. Talk no Jutsu sprinkled with some compassion and bonding was his brother’s speciality. And now, Naruto wanted him to attend agathering of more than five people...)

Naruto chuckled and he gently grabbed his shoulder. “Come on. Everything’s going to be okay. Just, try to be ahairsberth more talkative, than usual. And knock down that usual nobility of yours anotch. All that composure may make it look, you think them beneath you.”

Sasuke huffed, looking away for amoment. “I’m not like that anymore.”

Naruto smiled, hugging him. “I know Nī-sama. But they don’t and we did keep adistance all this time, which might have projected the wrong image. They might think the difference in rank another wedge.”

Sasuke hummed and hugged him back, as he glanced at him. “I’ll try. For you. For us.”

The sunny grin his brother gave him lit up the room and made him feel just a bit better.

Naruto was shocked to find, that their peers weren’t the only ones present on the training ground, where Neji had told him the gathering would be. No — their parents were also there. He even spotted Kiba’s sister. Sasuke went rigid next to him, just for asecond. Naruto could feel the discomfort radiating off of him more, than ever. He had braced himself at seeing their former classmates and the teams’ senseis. Their families tagging along hadn’t been in the picture and now he was feeling abit, like afish out of water. Feeling treathened, in asubtle way, which was never good.

Of course, all his internal dilemma was invisible to the outside. Perfectly composed, atouch aloof — he still couldn’t understand how Indra managed that. Back then and now too. It was the one thing, that hadn’t dulled over the thousands of years. (Speak about his brother being the epitome of shinobi. Composed and hiding his emotions to the extreme, that nearly no one could tell, what he really felt.)

Karin, Kimimaro and Jūgo were afew steps to their right, conversing quietly, but Naruto felt some curiosuty and excitement from them at the protest of meeting others from Konoha. Yet, the positive feelings coming from the three were still not enough to drown out Sasuke’s nervous discomfort.

‘Kurama, can’t you turn it off? It’s making me edgy.‘ he grunted mentally.

His eldest brother huffed. “You know it doesn’t work like that, Otōto. Besides, your own Sesnory is growing stronger and wider in range, the more you train, which just accelerates the abilities you gain from me.”

‘Damn my life.‘ He wrinkled his nose abit, but braced himself, as the trianing grounds came into wiev. His shoulder brushed Sasuke’s in silent reasurance and the negativity rolling off of him seemed to lessen, just abit.

As they arrived, they greeted the others with smiles and after afwe words, Chōji pointed out the food stall, so they wandered over, while Neji and Hinata darted over to the three newcomers, to get to know them. They picked out some food and nibbled at it quietly.

The adults were conversing too and their peers as well, but the atmosphere still felt tense. Naruto frowned inwardly — it seemed, this was even more awkwards, than those short meetings at the Akimichi’s Barbecue. He doubted this was the idea, when the picknick had been mentioned...

That is, until Hinata darted over to them with asmall smile, which gained the attention of her teammates. “Naruto, Sasuke. Good to see you.”

“Same, Hinata.“ they greeted at once.

“Care for aspar, Naruto-kun?“ she asked, motioning at the largely unoccupied part of the training ground.

Naruto grinned. Now, this may just be the push the others would need. “Of course.” he sallowed the last of his food and they walked to the free space.

Hinata took her Jūken stance and Naruto took his personal one. “Remember, that we have to contain the moves’ range, since there’s so many of us.”

Hinata smiled and rolled her eyes abit. “I know.”

Their eyes flickered over to Hiashi, who was watching with interest. He knew Neji and Hinata had been training with them, but he hadn’t seen either of them face off against one another, since then. “Hajime!” the Hyūga Head called, knowing they were waiting for asign.

They jumped at the same time, immediately echanging blows. As expected, Hinata went for vital spots (a display, that shocked Kurenai) knowing he would survive anyway. He redireced several of her hits and the ones that hit were mostly useless. The good thing about his boosted chakra control meant, that he could cover his body with athin sheen of chakra, that stopped Hinata’s hits from having effect and since said chakra was the Adamantine version, which helped create his chains, it was really just tiring Hinata out...

However, she knew him all too well, so she was prepared. The moment there was abit bigger distance between them, her hands flew into Seals. “Doton: Ganchūsō.” (Earth Release: Stone Column Spears) she called.

Naruto leapt back and used some more chakra, to propel himself upwards into the air, as he went trough his own seals — which were really just two. “Fūton: Kaze Tantetsu: Suzaku no Seishin!” (Wind Release: Wind Forge: Spirit of the Vermilion Bird)

The wind gained shape and formed amassive bird with glowing golden eyes, before diving right at the spears. Wind was naturally weak against Earth — well, in any other situation. Hinata was using her chakra to create and make the spears grow. His wind on the other hand, was the pure force of nature, merely directed by his chakra. Chakra, that was naturally dense, which added extra force to the already deadly technique.

There was ablast as his move hit and he landed afew feet away, feeling the tremor. The moment it was gone, Hinata appeared in front of him with aprecise and rather fast Shunshin. She delivered afew vicious strikes, which he expertly dodged and redirected, saving himself from the damage. And then, when she aimed for his troath, he caught her open palm and smiled.

Her eyes went wide, as he used some chakra enhanced strenght to shove her away. It sent her flying backwards and she fell on her back. Knowing the blow won him amoment, he Shinshined to her side and positioned his hands— one open palm the other with three fingers pointing out— over two vital spots.

“Wonderful, Hinata. You’re faster than the last time, but Istill win.” he grinned.

She chuckled. “Seems so, Naruto.“

He eased his stance and helped her stand up. “You lost your balance for amoment, when you formed your spears. Feet firmly on the ground. The chakra you channel to create them can also be used to anchor you and give you better footing, if you use the jutsu in close range. Even if your opponent avoids it — if they don’t go upwards, like Idid— then you can use the momentum for aShunshin and get close again and use Taijutsu to finish them off.“

She smiled and nodded. “I’ll remember that.”

Several people blinked at him (even adults), surprised that he had even given her advice.

“You two...“ Shikamaru siad, gesturing at him and Sasuke with asigh, “are...”

“Mendokuse.” Naruto and Sasuke said at once, grinning.

“Yes, yes.“ Sasuke said, his Sharingan flashing for amoment, “You said that afew times, Shikamaru. We know.”

Shikamaru huffed. “Instead of being asmart ass, Uchiha, mind showing me that trick you did last time we sparred?“

Sasuke hummed. “It was Genjutsu, altough it doesn’t require aSharingan and... considering you’re already familiar with Inton... Otōto, how much chakra does he have?”

Naruto looked at Shikamaru, stretching his senses. “About quarter of what you have, so Ithink he’d be able to pull out that trick twice in asequence, before being down.”

Sasuke grinned. “Good. So, you want to see, Nara?”

Shikamaru nodded, sauntering over to Sasuke. Since they weren’t so far away, even Naruto could hear, as Sasuke explained. “So, it uses Inton — since you Nara are fairly proficient with that, it shouldn’t be so hard. The trick is... well, since you don’t have aSharingan, it works abit differently. So, the chakra you would usually use for aKagemane gets spread out...”

Naruto turned away, shaking his head. Genjutsu was something his brother was good with. Best tune him out, before he lost the explanation and his brain started flowing out of his head trough his ears. (And Sasuke said he was bad, when it came to Fūinjutsu!)

“Aren’t you going to say something, that your kid’s being lectured by the Uchiha, how to use Inton, Shikaku?“ anew voice called. Naruto saw the Inuzaka Matriarch approach with her daughter.

Naruto stole aglance at Shikamaru’s father. The man was completely calm. “Should I? The Uchiha are masters of Inton in their own way, Tsume. And it’s obvious Shikamaru can learn from Sasuke and he did just offer an explanation —regarding whatever jutsu Shikamaru mentioned,— in away, that does not require aDōjutsu.“ he shrugged and then looked at Naruto. “By the way, what the jutsu is?”

Naruto shrugged. “I don’t know all my brother’s tricks, Shikaku-sama. Genjutsu has always been his forte. Ilearned to counter his tricks, not use them. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind sharing it with you either, if he offered to show Shika. Or, Shika can show it to you, once he got it, but I’d bet Nī-sama wouldn’t let Shikamaru teach anyone, useless he mastered it and mind me, he’s afreaking perfectionist, so it might take afew days.”

“I see.”

“His own jutsu, you say?“ Hana spoke and Naruto glanced at the Inuzaka Heiress, nodding. “It’s not everyday, that shinobi so young make their own jutsus.”

Naruto smiled. “It’s just question of creativity and determination. And... chakra theory. Lot of chakra theory and control, but since Tsunade oba-san is afreaking slave-driver— don’t tell her Isaid that—, when it comes to our chakra control, it wasn’t hard. I’ve never heard Nī-sama curse so much, than during those days, when she was teaching him chakra control.“ he grinned foxily, “But it paid off. Besides, there’s no reward without hard work, right?”

“Speaking about chakra control...“ Shikaku cut in, “Is that aByakugō on your forehead, Naruto?”

“Aye, it is. Ijust managed to form it shortly before Neji dropped by and told me about this meeting. Cost me several tries, but now Ican proceed with more serious medic training.”

“Impressive.“ Tsume said. “It needs not only control, but acertain level of chakra...”

Naruto shrugged. “I’ve more than enough to spare. I’m half down, chakra wise, since Iformed it all at once, unlike others, who usually do it gradually... but meh. It’s an upside of my heritage, Iwould say.”

“What sort of little monster you are with so much chakra?!“ Hana asked with wide eyes.

Naruto shrugged. “Someone who’s half Senju, half Uzumaki and has Nine for backup.“ he said. “Altough Iuse that chakra as sparesly, as possible. Iprefer to fight my battles with my own power.”

Hana’s eyes widened even more, as he mentioned Kurama, but before he could say anything, Shino approached. “Naruto-san.”

Naruto smiled at the Aburame. “Shino.”

“I was wondering, if you would care to spar.“

He grinned. “Sure, but Iwarn you. Don’t even try using your kikaichu. At the moment, there’s some Nature Chakra in my system, which my body drew in since my own chakra is abit depleted. Nature Chakra, if uncontrolled, turns the user or those that come in contact with it, into stone. I’d hate to turn your hive to stone. That’s not something that can be reserved... in case of bugs, Isuppose.”

Shino eyed him for amoment and then nodded. “Thank you for the warning. I’ll keep that in mind.“

“Hm, it’s only fair.“

“I heard you use weapons, Iwas wondering if you could show me atrick, or two.“ the Aburame asked, as they took their stances.

”Hm, nope. Nī-sama is the weapon specialist. But Ican show you atrick, that you can use with throwing weapos, since your Clan are mostly mid- to long-range fighters, because of your kikaichu.”

Shino smiled abit. “I’d appreciate it.”

With the spars done, they were taking abreak and eating and just exchanging aword or two. There was finally some lull in all the activity, that had been going on. He noticed Neji frowning, nursing small bleeding wounds, that seemed to have been left by senbon and he saw several bruises on the poor Hyūga’s hands.

“What in the name of the Shinju happened to you?“ he asked, his food abandonned, as he approached the older boy.

Despite the lull, there was one fight still going on, rather fiercely — the long-promised one between Lee and Sasuke. The spandex-wearing Chūnin seemed to be able to keep up with his brother’s speed and precise blows, which was admirable. Indra had always been the fastest, out of the four of them (much to the chargin of their cousins).