Chapter Two

What was Real

By the time Naruto had arrived back at the Konoha barracks, it was already near midnight. He had run into a couple of old friends on the way, and nearly all of them had been excited to hear of his exploits in the front lines.

Old man Ichiraku Teuchi was still the same, though with fewer and fewer shinobi residing in the village, it was harder to get steady customers at his little stand. Ayame was getting a bit better now, the ramen chef related. None of the old coughing fits kept her in bed longer than an evening, but he kept her at home today all the same. Naruto asked him to send her his regards.

Naruto had finished his eighth bowl of ramen by the time the Konohamaru corps arrived, their jounin-sensei in tow. When asked how he was getting to like babysitting genin, Shiranui Genma flipped off the loudly laughing blond and muttered something about “sticking senbon needles where the sun don’t shine.”

Apparently, Moegi had been the first to make chuunin at the last exam held in Suna. The group had gone to their favorite ramen place to celebrate, and the girl would not stop bragging about her accomplishments.

“Congratulations, Moegi-chan,” Naruto said, slurping down the last of his fifteenth Naruto Special. “Maybe when you get assigned to the front lines we’ll be able to hang out more.”

That shut her up. Naruto had to repress a grin at how pale the thirteen year olds got. Being a ninja was no game, the blond knew. That knowledge was forced into his head every day back in the front lines, and he needed to make sure these shit-green kids knew the difference between a silly test and what was real.

“Being a ninja ain’t a game kids,” the blond said sagely, all mirth gone from his voice. “There will come a time when you’ll be forced to do something in all honesty you’d refuse to do. But by that time you won’t have a choice. Decide now what it is you’re fighting for, and every day you fight keep it in mind and maybe, just maybe, it’ll get easier with time.”

“I know what my dreams are!” Konohamaru boomed, hitting his chest with a closed fist. “I’m going to be strong enough to be the Hokage someday like my grandfather was!” Naruto ruffled the boy’s unruly spikes. “Great,” he said. “Back when I was your age I wanted to be the Hokage too.”

The Sandaime’s grandson was rapt. “That is so cool!” he said, pumping his fist in the air. “Naruto-sempai wants to be the Hokage too!” Genma shook his head.

“The operative term here is ‘wanted.’” The jounin explained. “Naruto-kun wanted to be the Hokage before. Now he doesn’t.” The blond didn’t even look at them as he stared at his empty bowl.

“Huh? Why not?”

“I wanted to stop the war.”

Udon’s face grew dark. Of the three members of the Konohamaru corps, he was the one who lost the most. Both of his parents were killed in the front lines, obliterated by the Ikiryou herself. Naruto took a sip of his tea, placing it gently down on the counter. “I guess I just outgrew that dream,” the blond said, some bitterness spilling over in his voice. “Now I just want to survive the war long enough for me to see my own kids being born. If I ever live long enough for that.”

Genma patted his comrade on the back, a reflex developed every time a friend of his came back from the front lines. He was lucky, truth be told. He got assigned the duties of guarding the Sandaime’s son, and by extension, teach his genin team. In his heart though, Genma thought himself a coward for not dying properly out in the front lines.

Survivor’s guilt was an ugly thing to behold.

“Don’t worry Naruto-sempai!” Konohamaru boomed. “When I become Hokage I’ll make sure no one declares war on us again! We’ll be the strongest village in existence, and all the other countries won’t ever bother us ever!”

“That’s great Konohamaru,” Naruto relented. “Just so long as you remember to work hard everyday and eat all of your vegetables.” The Sandaime’s grandson made a gagging sound as Moegi giggled. Naruto left some Ryo on the table and walked away, continuing to extol the virtues of broccoli and asparagus. Though to anyone who knew him well, Uzumaki Naruto would rather slit his own wrists with a dull kunai than touch anything green and leafy, but let’s digress, shall we?

He hadn’t made it fifty meters when he heard the soft patter of feet behind him. Naruto turned with a kunai hidden in his left sleeve, ready to fling, when he stopped short and found himself with a bespectacled thirteen year old boy.

Udon.

The glasses-wearing genin was breathing quickly, even though he probably sprinted the entire distance to get to the older blond. “Sempai,” he seethed. “I’m going to get strong enough to kill her someday.” Naruto’s eyes narrowed. There was no other person that “her” could have been.

Nii Yugito. Kumogakure no Ikiryou (Hidden Cloud’s Living Ghost).

“Careful of what you say, Udon,” Naruto warned. “Unless you’re willing to back it up with action, I suggest you not even try to attempt to say anything at all.” The boy was adamant. “But I do mean it!” the boy raged. “I’m going to the front lines and I’m going to kill the monster that killed my parents!”

Udon didn’t even see Naruto’s arm move. One moment he was standing, the next he was on the ground with a reddening hand print on his face. The genin touched the spot gingerly and looked at the older ninja. The blond’s face was cold, wiped clean of all the mirth he had before.

“You little idiot,” he spat. “You stupid, little idiot. Don’t you know the entire reason I’m fighting this war is so that little brats like you don’t have to go to the front lines! And now you have the audacity to tell me you want to actually die fighting an opponent you’ll never have a snowball’s chance in hell of even touching! What the fuck is the matter with you!”

The bespectacled genin was shaking where he lay. The raw, unfiltered killing intent flowing outwards from the blond was enough to make anybody piss his pants. Udon soiled his trousers in moments, even as Naruto turned to leave.

“Go home, Udon,” he said. “Don’t even joke about things like that or I’ll kill you myself with a blunt kunai.” The boy got up and scrambled away, tripping over his own shoes as he sprinted to the distance.

“That was a bit harsh.”

Naruto didn’t even need to turn to know that it belonged to Hatake Kakashi. “Fuck off Kakashi,” the blond responded. “I don’t have time for this crap.”

“I’d be careful about what I say and who I say it if I were you,” came the voice of Uchiha Itachi, who chose that moment to reveal himself. “You may not know this yet but Kakashi-sempai here just assumed his position as the Godaime Hokage.”

Naruto did a double take. “YOU!” he pointed, unable to control his surprise. “They made a pervert like you Hokage! What the hell was the council smoking!” Kakashi shrugged. “Guess they figured since I was already here and apparently not suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome that I was the best choice,” he said plainly.

The blond still couldn’t believe it. “And why the hell aren’t you wearing your robes, Hokage-sama?” Naruto inquired, a questioning look in his eyes.

Itachi answered that one. “It’s because Godaime-sama thought that he didn’t look quite as bad-ass in robes than he would have looked in his battle armor,” the Uchiha stated. “Plus it’s after hours. You think the old man slept in those robes?”

The Uchiha had a point, no matter how difficult it was for the blond to admit that out loud. “Fine,” Naruto said, relenting. “What occasion causes this personal visit, Hokage-sama?” Kami-sama help us all, that name felt weird when you attach it to someone like Kakashi.

Eh, Cest la vie.

Itachi was holding a small, lacquered box. Upon the Godaime’s command, he sprung the catch and revealed its contents. Naruto’s eyes opened wide at what he saw contained within. An ANBU mask was nestled in the velvet folds, its features plain as day in the bright streetlights. It was made to look like a fox, grinning and bearing sharp razor-teeth. Adorning both its cheeks are sets of three whiskers, identical to what Naruto had on his face.

“Wh-what--”

“Consider it a personal invitation to ANBU delivered by the Hokage himself,” Kakashi said. “Kami-sama knows you earned it.” Naruto fingered the mask inside the box, memorizing the contours of the high-density ceramic with the tips of his fingers. Wow, he thought. I just got invited in the top shinobi unit Konoha had to offer.

Way cool.

“There’s a catch right?” Itachi raised an eyebrow.

“What are you talking about?”

“You know, the catch,” Naruto explained, phrasing his words almost as if he were saying “the sky is blue.” “There’s always a catch when one of these promotions happen to me. Don’t tell me I need to remind you?”

“Like that one time when I made chuunin and you made me assassinate the commander of Kumo’s primary archer platoon? Or that time when I made jounin and you made me commander of my own squad? Or that time I made tokubetsu jounin and…”

Kakashi waved his hand dismissively. “When you get ahead in the world you’re bound to have a lot more responsibility,” the Godaime said. “You know that. I know that.”

Naruto smiled despite himself as he replaced the mask in the box. “You want me to be honest with you?” he said, an odd weariness filling his every word. “I’m tired of all this, Kakashi-sempai.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everything that has to do with this war. I’ve been fighting for five long years, and each one hadn’t been easy.” Naruto looked from Kakashi to Itachi before he continued. “Do you remember what it was like not to have the smell of blood staining your hands? Or having a childhood? Or of even experiencing any happy memories that didn’t end in death and destruction?” The blond shook his head. “Of course you don’t. You’re the same as me, after all.”

“If you need time to think this over--”

“I think not, Kakashi-sempai. Thanks but no thanks.”

Naruto turned on his heel and walked away, losing himself in the darkness of the alleys surrounding him. Itachi watched the boy go, feeling slightly sympathetic at the blond’s plight. “Maybe it was a bit too soon,” the Uchiha conceded. “We could have let him enjoy his two weeks here before we popped the question.”

“It can’t be helped now, Itachi. The cat’s out of the bag. We can only hope that Naruto will come to a decision that would favor the village when the time comes.”

“However unlikely that may be?”

Kakashi’s visible eye narrowed. “Yes,” he whispered. “However unlikely it may be.”

By the time Naruto plopped himself in bed, he was too tired to even change. The blond fell asleep in his clothes, snoring loud enough to wake the dead.

xxxxx

“Rise and shine Hanabi-sama.”

Hyuuga Hanabi opened her eyes tentatively, squinting at the bright morning sunlight pouring into her windows. She saw up immediately after she realized where she was. Her room? What?

The servant in front of her bowed and left a tray of food by her futon. “Hinata-sama asked me to summon her when you woke,” the woman said. “By your leave, Hanabi-sama…”

Hanabi watched the woman leave. She fingered the wrappings wound around her head tentatively and examined the rest of the bandaging covering her. Who had brought her here? And why? The last thing she remembered was being beaten within an inch of her life in the middle of a busy street. No one had even bothered to help her then, and some people were even egging on her assailants.

Her unasked questions were put on hold as her older sister came through the shogi doors. “Hanabi-chan!” Hinata exclaimed. “Thank Kami-sama you’re all right!” The older woman was careful to hug her loosely, though she still elicited a wince from her sister. “Oh no, did I hurt you?”

“No, onee-sama. I’m all right.”

“Good,” Hinata said, breathing a sigh of relief. “When Naruto-san brought you here we weren’t even sure you were going to wake up today. You were so badly injured.” Hanabi blinked at the name her sister mentioned.

“Wait…Naruto-san? As in Uzumaki Naruto the war hero?”

“Why yes, who else could it have been?”

Hanabi was in shock. The only contact she’d ever had with the near-legendary blond shinobi was when she touched that statue of him in the middle of the village square. Uzumaki Naruto was possibly the most famous ninja alive, and back at the academy there were battalions of kunoichi who were a part of his fan club.

And he actually brought her home to be treated?

“What,” Hanabi began, finally regaining enough of herself to form words. “Was he like?” Hinata cut in, grinning like the cat that caught the canary. “My, Hanabi-chan. I didn’t realize you’re slowly going against your statements disparaging those hordes of women who fanatically follow Naruto-san’s career.”

That did it. “Onee-sama!” Hanabi shrieked. “I am not a fan girl, damn it!” Hinata laughed at her sister’s reaction, catching herself as the younger girl shot her a death glare. “All right, Hanabi-chan,” the girl said, raising her hands in surrender. “I’ll tell you everything in a moment.”

The girl could hardly believe her ears as Hinata related the story of how Uzumaki Naruto himself carried her home. Hanabi even laughed when told how Naruto called her “chi-hime.” Her spirits dampened when she realized that the others now knew everything that happened to her that day…

“Onee-sama,” Hanabi breathed. “Does father…?”

“Father knows nothing about this,” Hinata interrupted. “The only other person who knows is Uncle Hizashi and Neji-nii. You know we can trust them.” The younger girl nodded, satisfied. “I don’t think father would take kindly to everything that happened should he have found out.”

“He won’t. Not if we’re careful.”

Hanabi wrapped her arms around her older sister in a silent gesture of thanks. They were locked in that position for a few minutes before the older girl broke contact first. Hinata stood up, extending a hand towards her sister. “Come on, chi-hime,” she said jokingly. “Breakfast is waiting. It is the most important meal of the day, is it not?” Hanabi grabbed her sister’s hand and smiled.

“Hai, onee-sama!”

xxxxx

Naruto sped through the dense foliage immediately surrounding the village for his fifth lap. He had been running full sprint all the way and he hadn’t even been breathing hard, no small thanks to the Kyuubi chakra running through his body. Mornings were always the best time for laps, he realized. The sun wasn’t too hot and there was just the slightest amount of evening chill available to cool off one’s body quickly and easily.

He stopped right in front of the village gate, checking his pulse and breathing as he did so. Sometimes it still amazes him how quickly his heart rate drops to normal, as if his recovery time is nonexistent. The chuunin at the gates saluted him quickly as he passed them by, not even asking him for any identification.

Idiots, Naruto thought to himself. A missing-nin could pull of a henge of me and you bastards would just let him through, wouldn’t you? The blond didn’t even bother to dwell on these thoughts any longer than he had to. He had a lot to accomplish today and little time to do it in.

The first stop he made was at the hospital. A few comrades had been sent here a few months earlier and the blond felt that he needed time to reconnect with a few people before he went on his other errand for the day. It took him another hour to get there, having had to stop at a public bath house for a quick shower to make himself look more presentable.

Naruto’s reception at the hospital lobby was a mix of awe, fear, and from the older generation, outright hostility. Some people still had difficulty separating his identity from that of the demon fox, and several elderly matrons in hospital gowns and wheelchairs had glared when they thought he wasn’t looking. Naruto paid it no mind, having decided long ago that if some people refused to acknowledge the good in him, he had no use for their approval.

He didn’t even stop to ask for their room numbers in the receptionist’s desk, which caused quite a few nurses to frown in disappointment. Naruto’s good humor was back instantly. Too bad fan girls tended to be quite annoying, he realized. Sasuke was the one who taught him that.

Speaking of which.

“Oi, teme,” he called, not even bothering to knock on the door to the private suite the disgruntled Uchiha had all to himself. “You still alive in there?” Sasuke was in his bed, the sudden sound of Naruto’s voice causing his head to snap to attention. “Stop being so loud, you idiot,” he muttered. “It hurts my ears when you do that.”

Glazed onyx eyes stared into space as the blond took a seat in a wooden chair beside Sasuke’s bed. The second heir to the Uchiha had developed very sharp hearing during the years he had been blinded, and even though he wasn’t looking at him directly, Naruto knew his best friend recognized his voice. It was enough, he guessed.

Sasuke was looking a lot better than he did back in Naruto’s last visit. He had filled out somewhat, probably a result on his starting to eat regularly again. His skin was still pale, but then again that was more of an Uchiha thing.

“Any word on the operation yet?”

Sasuke scowled. I guess that’s a no, Naruto surmised. “Well at least you still have your sunny personality,” the blond consoled him. “You’ll always have that.” Naruto took Sasuke’s hand, positioning his fingers away from the IV drip feeding vital nutrients directly to the Uchiha’s bloodstream.

“Father hasn’t visited me in six weeks,” Sasuke said. “When he heard from the medics that even if I recover my sight, that I’ll never be able to use the Sharingan again…he was…angry.” The boy’s fist clenched, gripping the other’s hand tightly. “Ever since mother died…”

“Stop talking about crap like that. You know that’s not true.”

“But it is. He blames me for her death as much as he blames me not being able to use the Sharingan again.”

“Tsunade-sama would be able to--”

“Not this again, Naruto-kun,” Sasuke spat, dropping his friend’s hand. “The Hokage sent dozens of communiqués by now, sent teams of hunter nin to find her. She doesn’t want to be found, Naruto. That’s just the truth of the matter. I’ll just end up being the useless, blind, former Uchiha elite.”

“Asshole,” Naruto said. “Do you think she’d appreciate you thinking like that? What would she say if she heard what you were telling me now?” The Uchiha looked abashed at that. “She’s watching over us both, Sasuke-kun,” the blond said, glancing out at the window and the falling cherry blossoms in the boulevard facing Sasuke’s window. “She wouldn’t have wanted you to give up hope this easily.”

“…I guess you’re right.”

“Damn straight. Listen, let me tell you what’s going on with me to cheer you up.”

Naruto related all the things that had happened to him during the past six months he’d been in the front lines, with Sasuke listening closely. He’d interrupt a couple of times to clarify a couple of things, but other than that he was rapt. The blond stopped right at the events of the other day, the meeting with Hanabi.

Sasuke’s fingers drummed against the metal bars of his hospital bed. “A Hyuuga you say?” he asked. “Sometimes I can’t help but pity what their clan has become. Not too long ago they were on the same level as us Uchiha. Oniisan used to tell me about their glory days back before he started serving on the council.”

Naruto let out a barking sort of laugh. “Still can’t believe they made old pervert the Hokage though,” he said. “I don’t know what will become of this, but at least I have someone I can trust up there.”

“He is a decent shinobi,” Sasuke conceded. “Despite his rather poor tastes in reading material. Another thing Naruto. What are your plans regarding this, Hanabi, you mentioned.”

Naruto scratched his head, his face scrunched up in such a state of concentration that had Sasuke been able to see, the Uchiha would have slapped him upside the head with a rolled up newspaper. Which he did anyway.

Thwack.

“Teme!” Naruto squealed. “The hell did you do that for!” The Uchiha sighed, putting away the copy of The Daily Leaf in his bedside dresser. “I know you too well, Naruto-kun. Keep screwing up your face like that and it’ll freeze that way.”

“Fine. Truth be told I don’t really know,” Naruto admitted. “I figure I’ll just keep visiting her from time to time until I get sent back to the front lines I guess.” Sasuke nodded. “Good. But I’d watch myself around the Hyuuga. They have a hard time trusting outsiders and they may want for you to earn their respect.”

Naruto snorted. “That’s a hell of a lot better than being worshipped by those mindless villagers,” he said, shaking his head. “I’d rather face the Hyuuga than the fan girls any day.” Sasuke laughed, lighting his pale and haggard face. “I thought you might,” he said, cutting his laughter short with a slight fit of coughing. Naruto helped him back to his pillows and reclined the Uchiha back on his bed.

“A warning though Naruto-kun,” Sasuke said when he finally recovered. “Of all the bloodline clans the Hyuuga are the best at reading people. They will be poking and prodding you until they assess all of your weaknesses. I wouldn’t even put it past them to use those things against you.”

“Some friend you are,” the blond muttered. “I thought you’d encourage me for even trying.” The copy of The Daily Leaf rolled in Sasuke’s fist and swung up and over, slamming into the top of the blond’s head.

“Itai!”

“Be serious moron. The Hyuuga are no joking matter.”

Naruto swatted away the newspaper from his friend’s hand and glared. Sasuke did have a point though, he admitted to himself. If anything the Hyuuga would have difficulty trusting a person like him, seeing as he had no reason to help the young heiress other than if he had an ulterior motive.

Kami-sama, he realized. The war was warping more minds than even he could realize.

Naruto spent another tow hours in Sasuke’s suite before the nurse came in. Grinning, the blond had told the waitress (who looked rather attractive) to be careful when she gave Sasuke his sponge bath, as he’s ticklish in several places that he’ll leave to her imagination. The look on Sasuke’s face and the brilliant red blush on the nurse was priceless.

“I’m going to get you for that Naruto!” Sasuke yelled as he hurled the vase at the rapidly retreating blonde. “I don’t care how long but I will!” Naruto was still laughing as he exited the hospital, making a mental note to visit old man Yamanaka for some flowers for little Chi-Hime. He’d visit her this afternoon, he said to himself just as his stomach growled.

But maybe after some ramen.

xxxxxx

A/N: Okay so that’s what happened to Sasuke. Let’s hope I can profile what else happened to the people known as the Rookie Nine. As for the next chapter? Thankfully there won’t be any LeeNaru fluff (or GaiNaru for that matter) so you can put those barf bags away.