Medicinal Lullaby

Chapter 19

“I must say, you’re a natural at this Naruto-chan. Your bond with nature is amazingly strong,” Fukasaku commented with open admiration.

The young man had encountered few problems when it came to connecting himself to the world around him; nature energy seemed to flock towards the aspiring sage the moment he opened himself to it. With a little help from the toad oil, Naruto had managed to grapple some control over the nature chakra much faster than any previous pupil Fukasaku could remember. The boy’s substantial chakra supply, as well as his connection with his chosen element, had become contributing factors that gave Naruto quite an edge over the unique training.

Of course, with all the meditation exercise Naruto had done over the last few years it was not a surprising conclusion. Though, it was always nice to see the fruition of such dedication paying off.

Rubbing his head, Naruto couldn’t look too pleased with himself; despite Fukasaku’s words of encouragement, the old toad had just whacked him over the head with a stick. It was frustrating enough trying to balance three different energies...having a crazy, old toad the size of his foot beating him around with a piece of wood wasn’t helping matters.

Annoyance aside, he had to admit: the toads had a keen eye for good weapons.

“Maybe too strong,” Naruto muttered, digging his fingers into the earth beneath his knees as he gathered his bearings from the blow. The clout to the skull had hurt, yes, but having such potent energy sucked out of his being so readily was what really left Naruto disoriented. It helped steady him if he focused on the cool moisture enveloping his fingertips, moisture that had yet to meet the sun’s rays until that moment.

So far he found that natural energy was rather easy to call upon; it was what happened afterwards that still caught him unawares. Every time he started gathering the third force he found that he couldn’t stop at the proper amount to balance out his physical and spiritual energy, and he had a hunch as to why.

He had spent the last couple of years meditating and practicing what he could of senjutsu without the toad oil to use as a crutch; this had him pulling at the world around him as forcefully as he could to feel a shred of the power he was currently being loaded with—back then he knew no other way. Now he was overcompensating his ‘pull’ out of habit and he didn’t know how to stop the onslaught of such a powerful force mingling with his own being.

And he thought this would be easy...

Naruto sighed and looked over the stratum of snowy peaks that encircled Mount Myouboku. The sight was majestic, yet calming. The mountains were beautiful in that they were still untouched by human settlement. He often found himself wondering how long that would last.

As ridiculous a the very notion was, he still felt guilty for decimating that forest, for taking the lives of hundreds—maybe even thousands—of animals. It lingered within him, categorized under his ever-growing list of failures...taunting him...serving as both an obstacle and catalyst in his training...

Scowling, Naruto rubbed a hand over his face, unknowingly smudging his forehead with dirt.

What the hell was wrong with him these days? It was as though all he could feel was guilt or fear and it was maddening! While his return to Konoha did refresh the pain of having Kensha killed...it also returned to him memories which dated much further back.

When he was a child, just a wee aspiring gennin, he was tough, he was resilient, and he didn’t care who he had to step on to survive in the world. By seven-years-old he had accepted that the world was against him and the only one who could save him was himself. He stopped crying, he stopped waiting and he stopped wishing. He learned that the only way to achieve a dream was with his own two hands and by his own integrity. He couldn’t expect support or effort from anyone else.

Becoming Hokage was a realistic objective to him because it relied on events he could control for the most part. He could train, he could bargain, and he could fight his way to the top. Achieving a family, on the other hand...that was something that was out of his control; that was a dream he thought to be too optimistic and relied too much on chance to even engage.

And yet... it was just that which threw him off his one-way course to becoming Hokage. He achieved that second dream without even meaning to. For once, something fell into his lap—as unready as he was for it, it came to him—and it was something he didn’t have to work at to get. Instead, it was something he had to work at to keep.

He had made peace with the fact that he could never go back to being that self-interested child whose guard kept him from being hurt. He wasn’t surviving for himself anymore. He could not put any other personal aspirations before his daughter’s needs because she was his world now and everything he did was for her. His sense of responsibility grew tenfold over the last few years and he learned firsthand what it felt like to make a decision for someone else; her failures were his failures.

Now he could understand an aspect of Hokageship that couldn’t be explained by a predecessor, it had to be experienced firsthand. The duty of a Hokage to his people would be akin to having an entire village full of Hitomi’s; each decision would impact their lives by even the smallest chain of events.

Give it a few more years and maybe he would be ready for that kind of responsibility—for how he would be content to take on the burden of raising a decent person for a daughter and saving the world from Akatsuki.

But damn—he didn’t expect that opening up a little vulnerability towards his actions would cause him to feel accountable for every little thing his judgment caused!

“Ready to try again?”

Blinking back from his thoughts, and realizing that he must have zoned out for quite some time, Naruto nodded. Fukasaku looked a little too eager with that bat in Naruto’s opinion; it was fortunate he had a ludicrously hard head.

“Yeah sure...”

“Naruto-chan,” the elder toad began reproachfully, “This exercise requires your entire focus. I know you’re concerned about Hitomi-chan but you gotta give it your all while you’re here, otherwise you’ll end up like them.”

He gestured to the panorama of giant, stone toads sown about the training ground; a reminder and tribute to all who had failed to learn senjutsu.

Naruto did not want to be added to the creepy toad garden of boulders.

“You’re right, you’re right...I’m sorry.”

He took another deep breath and re-crossed his legs. This time he would get it for sure.

Fukasaku smiled at the compliance. Here before him was a completely different boy from the one who refused his training all those years ago.

“You should relax more often. I’m sure that wherever Hitomi-chan is, she’s doing just fine,” Fukasaku offered his pupil as some peace of mind, “After all, she has Kosuke to protect her.”

0o0o0o

Along the outskirts of Bassai’s forest, a small, violet toad sporting a pair of grey goggles around his neck was traveling amidst the lower branches at breakneck speed. Occasionally he would glance behind him in weary fear, only to redouble his efforts in escaping the terror that followed.

“Foggy! Foggy fog-fog! Come back foggy! I just want ta pway wit-choo!” said terror exclaimed, under the impression that the entire chase was just an amusing game.

“Naruto-aniki better get me some damn good pocky for this,” Kosuke panted as he expertly hopped from tree branch to tree branch. He was a gama-nin for Bunta’s sake! Why was this kid still keeping up with him? “I didn’t sign up for this shit!”

“And Fuzz-wah wants ta pway wit-choo too!”

A thick river of tears flowed down his bumpy cheeks at the reminder of the freaking fisher cat following not too far behind.

“Aniki, please hurry back—I’m too young to croak!”

0o0o0o

Pein stalked toward the inner most chamber of the Akatsuki’s hideout, his cloak billowing around his knees after each deliberate step. Behind him, and surprisingly managing to keep up against his handicaps, was Danzo of Konoha. The elderly man’s root ANBU were trailing him as well, keeping to the shadows and out of sight.

In no time he had bodily pushed his way past the thick door and into the assembly room where he knew his leader to be.

“Ah, Pein, I see you’ve brought us a guest,” Madara commented upon the blusterous entrance. It took him no time to recognize the elderly man who followed his subordinate into the room and he cast a furtive glance at his distant family member. Any moment now the boy would recognize who had just breezed into the room.

“Yes,” Pein answered in his usual bland voice, “We have our first new recruit...and he has been kind enough to bring cannon fodder.”

A few of the root ANBU shifted with unease. They followed Danzo-sama out of loyalty; they had never acknowledged any other superior and, as such, that allegiance was all they knew in the world. It was enough for them to follow the man into the depths of Hell, enough to lay themselves at the mercy of the Akatsuki, all for the sake of putting a capable leader at the head of Konoha. There was no going back at this point, there were no other options—but that didn’t make things any less distressing for them.

The sound of wood clamoring against a stone ground drew all attention to Sasuke—whose chair was now several feet behind him as a result of his abrupt dismount.

“You!” the youngest Uchiha snarled with his Sharingan pin-wheeling portentously at Danzo. Danzo knew in that moment that the boy had learned of the truth behind the Uchiha massacre.

“Sit Sasuke,” Madara commanded in a bored voice.

“That man—!”

“Sit.”

As even and delicate as the voice rung, there was an underlying command that was undisputable—a trait that could only be achieved through decades of issuing orders and expecting immediate obedience.

Eyes focused and unblinking on the cripple, Sasuke lowered himself into the seat that Karin had hurriedly up-righted. While Danzo appeared unfazed by the outburst, even he knew better than to aggravate the already volatile boy. It was his top priority to gain the boy’s forgiveness, and if not that then his cooperation at the very least.

“Sasuke, you will behave yourself and work alongside Danzo-san unless instructed otherwise,” Madara continued. Sasuke remained stubbornly unresponsive. He wasn’t going to take orders from someone who thought Naruto was a “delightful adversary”. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to work alongside the man who ordered for his family to be killed. It was clear that the time for change had arrived.

“You know what he did to our family,” Sasuke hissed, his glare promising nothing but a painful demise for Danzo. He may not have been able to physically attack the bastard, but he could still get his point across without moving from his position by letting his will be known.

Danzo’s eye widened as he was pelted with some of the most potent killing intent he had felt since the Kyuubi attack nearly two decades ago. It was truly an impressive feat when one so young is able to shock a seasoned ninja like himself. Establishing some sort of rapport between him and the boy was now an absolute necessity.

Madara spared Sasuke an exasperated glance that was, as usual, hidden behind his mask, “I know what he did and I know why he did it. I respect his decision. I don’t expect you to, of course, but perhaps one day you will learn to comprehend the true burdens of responsibility.”

His words might have sent Sasuke into a sputtering rage had the young man not already adapted to Madara’s senseless logic.

“I apologize, Uchiha-san, for the choice we made in removing your family,” Danzo spoke up. The top half of his body fell forward in a repentant bow, “It was a decision we made for the greater good of Konoha and it came at the expense of your kin. I do not expect your forgiveness. As for why I'm here, the Jinchuuriki exposed the root division in a most...uncouth way. There was no point in trying to cover my covert actions any further.”

Sasuke’s only response was to augment his killing intent. Every day of this bullshit was driving the Uchiha scion further and further from his original plan to ride with the Akatsuki to complete his revenge...and Danzo’s arrival simply added fuel to the fire.

Now it looked like he would have to take things into his own hands. He had learned all he could from Orochimaru before killing him and it now it appeared as if there was nothing left to gain from Akatsuki. He couldn’t just leave the base, oh no. He would have to stay close to Madara before making his move, use the symbol of the cloaks as a safety net while he planned his own revenge. Killing Danzo would be easy; those ANBU were nothing but pests, easily swatted to the side, and Danzo himself was an old man.

Madara’s single eye was fixed upon the carefully schooled face of his young descendant as he addressed Danzo, “Very well, I can see why you would seek us out for some sort of arrangement. We may indeed share a common enemy. Tell me, what can you tell us about Naruto-kun’s movements at this moment?”

Danzo smiled grimly, “I know that the Hokage is trying to convince the Jinchuuriki to complete sage training at mount Myouboku, but the boy is reluctant to do so.”

“Oh?” Madara sounded genially interested, “And why is that?”

“It appears that Naruto also has a daughter and he is most unwilling to leave her.”

“...h-he what?!” Nearly all the previous anger had been wiped from Sasuke’s face, only to be replaced with blank perplexity. Naruto...that witless idiot who couldn’t even dress himself...he—he had a kid? He was only nineteen and he had a daughter?

There was an odd, sickly feeling that swept over Sasuke as he tried to word his next question, “Who—was Sakura—?”

Danzo already knew of who he was referring to and replied in the negative, “The mother was not a Konoha citizen. I believe she was a civilian from another country who died by Kisame’s hand. This mission the boy had been on in the last few years was a cover for him to hide from Akatsuki while raising his daughter. I suppose he was aiming for a normal life for her...the sentimental fool.”

“Ah, so that’s what happened...” Madara muttered as the pieces started falling together again. It would certainly explain Naruto-kun’s increased aggression towards his organization that was oddly pitted against a reluctance to encounter them. He had been protecting something after all.

Suigetsu snorted loudly and glanced at his reeling teammate, “Looks like that dickhead’s going to beat you in reviving his clan.”

Instead of scolding Suigetsu for his taunting words, Karin perked up.

“Oooh, Sasuke-kun, I can help with th—”

“Shut up!” Sasuke snapped. He was getting a headache from all the clashing information rattling his brain. First Danzo arrives to stir him up and then Naruto has a kid? It didn’t make any sense to him; the memory of his bumbling, hopeless teammate would not be replaced with anything that would relate Naruto to an adult. ‘Naruto’ and ‘father’ were two words that should have nothing to do with one another...

‘This is fun,’ Madara thought absently as he watched Sasuke’s perfected façade of indifference fall apart. He hadn’t seen the boy this boiled over since he first revealed the truth behind the Uchiha massacre. Though tempting as it was to grind his gears a bit more, Madara knew it was best not to push Sasuke too far. The child was undoubtedly unstable and could be quite irrational at times.

“Then it’s obvious we should use the girl as leverage,” Pein stated. Already a delicious array of schemes to torture the Jinchuuriki were playing out in his head. Oh the faces of pain that would bloom when he got his hands on that little girl!

“No. That would be very unwise.”

“What? That’s one big weakness looking us in the face!” Suigetsu shouted, slamming his hands on the table in front of him, “Why shouldn’t we take advantage of it! We could probably get him to agree with anything!”

Madara took a moment to ponder why he even allowed Sasuke to keep his intellectually-deficient friends around.

“Because that would unleash a fury none of us, let alone you, are prepared for,” Madara answered as though he were explaining the necessity of eating, “Pein, you merely threatened to harm his village and he decimated you and Konan. That miscalculation alone cost you your woman. To attack his daughter would be so immensely foolish it would suggest we have no survival instincts whatsoever. There is no doubt in my mind that Naruto-kun has the power to destroy us, even if he is unaware of it himself, and that girl is the only thing keeping him away from us. Dealing with Naruto-kun has become an extremely delicate situation, one that requires more...skilled hands. So, no...we will leave his girl alone.”

Pein sneered both at the reminder of his loss and the missed opportunity to assail the demon.

“There will be no more discussion of this,” Madara stated before Pein could voice his displeasure any more, “Pein, take Danzo to his quarters. Suigetsu, Sasuke, Juugo, I’m sending the three of you north to recruit a missing-nin I’ve been hearing much about...the details of which you’ll find in your chambers. I expect him here by the end of the month. Go.”

The three boys left, Juugo silently, Suigetsu loudly, and Sasuke moodily. Danzo and his root agents followed Pein, who retained the same, temperamental walk he entered with.

“What about me?” Karin asked as she watched her teammates go.

“I’ll need you here to monitor those root ANBU. After all, it would be imprudent to trust anyone from Konoha.”

“But...Sasuke-kun’s from Konoha!”

She would never see the slow, ironic smile that turned his scarred lips.

“I know.”

0o0o0o

Naruto thought he had figured out a pretty good plan on how to get through his sage training; one that appeased both Konoha and his instincts. It was a routine that came together rather nicely and Naruto found could fall into the system easily enough. It was victory all around.

So how could he have missed such an obvious snag?

The day had started out splendidly: he left in the morning, worked his butt off, returned in the evening to relive Kosuke (who swore he would never return if Naruto didn’t get rid of the fisher cat) and made it just in time to enjoy the dinner Sakura had prepared for the three of them. Sakura’s cooking skills were a bit subpar but he wasn’t going to complain when his other option was sticking around to eat slugs and other slimy things with Fukasaku and Shima.

Sakura looked a bit worse for wear when he greeted her. It was obvious that keeping up with Hitomi was more stressful than she originally expected, not to mention finding out the little girl spent her free time swinging around in trees with a carnivorous, wild animal had practically given her gray hairs.

His daughter was settled in bed at the moment (her devious plans of getting the pink-lady to let her stay up late were dashed the moment her father returned), which left Naruto and Sakura standing awkwardly in his bedroom.

Hence his current dilemma: where was Sakura going to sleep?

This mission was labeled as “indiscriminant duration” and Sakura came with three weeks’ worth of clothes. Obviously Konoha wasn’t very far away and it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle for her to return every night to sleep in a real bed, but he couldn’t send her back on those days when training ran late. She didn’t know when he was coming back and, while knowing that missions weren’t expected to be altered to convenience a ninja, he didn’t want to make things more difficult for her if he could help it.

There were two beds in the house—the master bed and Hitomi’s—and it looked like he wouldn’t be sleeping in one for as long as he was training at mount Myouboku.

“Well, here’s where you’ll be sleeping,” he said, gesturing to the neatly made bed. He was thankful he had the foresight to tidy up the house before Sakura came. “I’ll be downstairs if you need anything. I should wake up if Hitomi starts crying or something but she might wander in here if she has a bad dream. You can always take her downstairs to me or bring her back to bed. The bathroom is the next door over, as I’m sure you already know...”

His declaration trailed as he noticed Sakura shaking her head and smiling, “Stop it. You can stay in your bed; don’t compromise it for my sake. I mean...you’re the one who’s training hard every day. You shouldn’t be sleeping on a couch.”

“I can’t, in good conscience, let you sleep the couch,” Naruto countered, “You’re the guest here.”

As nice as it was to know that she was thinking of his wellbeing, he was rather bushed after being whacked around by Fukasaku’s scepter for hours on end and didn’t want to waste time arguing when he could be sleeping. He hardly registered Sakura grabbing a hold of his sleeve—a loose, clean shirt he had changed into after Sakura had refused to feed him until he showered. She gave a small tug to get him moving towards the bed.

“I’m not a guest—I’m a ninja on a mission. Besides...I wasn’t suggesting that I sleep on the couch either.”

It took a moment for Naruto to process what she just said, “Huh?”

Sakura chewed her lip—a lamentable attempt to bite back the blush waiting to surface. Her eyes kept flickering between the hand on his sleeve and the king-sized bed.

“Naruto, it’s a big enough bed, I promise I don’t mind,” she said soothingly. She almost sounded...hopeful.

“Okay...what is going on with you?” he asked, taking a step away from both the bed and her. Her hand was dislodged from its hold on him.

Sakura looked more bewildered than rejected.

“W-what?”

Naruto narrowed his eyes in his misgivings, “You would never want to share a bed with me...you wouldn’t even let me sleep near you back when we did missions together.”

Her brow furrowed.

“Naruto...that was a long time ago, I grew up. I was just being a silly girl.”

“Yeah but this...this...has nothing to do with growing up. It has to do with you—you—you’re...”

He struggled to find the right word, wanting to avoid another disagreement between them as well as any physical violence on her part.

“I’m what?”

“You’re not someone who would share a bed with just anybody.”

“You’re not anybody,” she pointed out, “You’re my teammate”

“No—we were teammates before when you wanted your distance. We haven’t been teammates in years.”

Sakura’s face flinched from the psychological blow.

“I...I never wanted distance from you Naruto—you had to have known that. I may not have made it obvious or anything but...but I liked having you around.”

“I knew,” he assured her, “...you were one of my best friends...”

“Were...?”

It seemed that no matter what Naruto did he couldn’t communicate fittingly. He ran a hand through his hair.

“I’m sorry, I know how insensitive I must sound right now...I’m just trying to make you understand that it was so long ago—or it seems so, to me anyway. I’m—we’re—different people now. Really, what do we know about each other? I have no idea what you’ve been up to these last couple years...and you don’t know what I’ve been through—”

“What do you think I’ve been trying to do all this time?!” Sakura nearly wailed. Her eyes widened immediately after and she shot a frightened look at the closed door across the hall. Silence rung true for a few seconds as they waited for any sign of Hitomi stirring. None came.

“What do you think I’ve been trying to do?” she repeated in a much softer voice. She sounded defeated to his ears and Naruto was given the impression that he was somehow hurting her, “I want to know what happened to you since you left. I’ve been trying to talk to you, to get close to you again, but you only seem to have time for me when it’s absolutely necessary. I never wanted you to go in the first place! You left me, remember? You didn’t let me in, you didn’t tell me about Hitomi, you didn’t trust me to help you and you still don’t! What do I have to do to prove myself to you? Why won’t you let me in?”

She nearly started shouting again by the end of her desperate plea; her distress was palpable enough to pass on to Naruto.

“I-I’m sorry,” he muttered, “I didn’t realize...I had no idea that it’d matter that much to you. I’m just trying to keep things as...as uncomplicated as I can.”

“Uncomplicated!” she hissed. Naruto prayed to God that the watery shimmer her eyes had just taken on was an affect of the room’s lighting and nothing more. “Am I too complicated to be a part of your life? Is that it?”

Naruto scrunched his eyes.

“No! I have no problem with you being a part of my life but why are you suddenly so...so...ugh. You never wanted to be this involved before! I know we were close but you were always studying with Tsunade and I was always training and...and now you’re going out of your way to be with me, you want to share a bed...I just—I just don’t understand.”

He was confused, she was confused, and they were arguing...again. Man, all this over where he would sleep? He could have gone to bed ten minutes ago if he didn’t have to blow things out of proportion. But Sakura’s sudden willingness to be so close to him had...well, it scared him. He didn’t like feeling this mistrustful of her but he couldn’t see any foundation for her forwardness and that had sent off the warning bells.

“Is it because of Hitomi?” he asked softly, “Is that why you’ve been so interested in my life all of a sudden?”

Sakura felt like she had been emotionally beaten around by his words that evening. It was bad enough when she found out he thought she was still interested in Sasuke—that she still harbored an obsession for the man. Now he was all but telling her that any concern she showed for him would warrant his suspicion, anything she instigated between them would be met with mistrust. How little was his faith in her?

“No,” she responded immediately, “Well...yes and no. Naruto, the real reason I want to be with you—er, here, I mean—it’s because I...I care about you. A lot.”

She was putting herself out on the line, and maybe it was too soon, but it was clear that she would never get closer to Naruto without forcing herself on him.

Naruto turned his head from those pleading, pastel eyes and Sakura felt like she had been punched in the chest.

“I care too, Sakura,” he said after a long moment of staring at one of the bedposts, “You know I care about you; I didn’t intend to sound so mean about all that. But right now I can’t...be with you.”

“Is it because of the way I treated you when we were younger? Do you think I’d choose Sasuke over you or something?” she asked, sounding almost disbelieving. She was twelve! She knew she was a bit shallow and her motivations for being a kunoichi were a bit...lacking...but that was seven years ago! Then again, with what she had been hearing from Naruto as of late, maybe he did believe that.

The blonde snorted, “No, no. I don’t even care about that. I just...I just don’t want to do anything to upset Hitomi. You may not have realized it but I could tell being in Konoha was distressing for her. I spent more time away from her, there were more things that needed my attention and...I think she was feeling like she couldn’t trust that I would be there for her. She’s still young; it’s bad enough I’m going to be spending so much time training...the last thing she wants is me paying attention to another woman.”

Her confession was not as dramatic as the one she gave Sasuke, and Naruto’s reasons were far more respectable, but once again she found herself rejected. She really shouldn’t have been surprised; she had known Naruto wouldn’t return any advances made on her part, no matter how subtle. He had been dropping hints over the last several days that he wasn’t willing to compromise the relationship he had with Hitomi.

“Heh...looks like the roles have reversed,” Sakura laughed softly to herself, but there was no humor in her tone. Deep down she knew she had just been forced to acknowledge that she had lost something, “Just tell me this...do you have any of the feelings you used to have for me? Even if it was just a silly little crush?”

“I don’t know, Sakura,” Naruto sighed and rubbed his forehead tiredly. Now he felt tired and guilty, “I didn’t want to think about it—I still don’t want to. The last thing I need is to open up a can of worms by chasing after someone romantically. I’m sorry...I have enough on my plate. Maybe when Hitomi’s older or maybe when the Akatsuki are through, but now...”

“I understand,” how was it that Naruto could make her feel so immature? Here he was tying to give his daughter a normal life and she’s moving onto him? All for the sake of feelings she wasn’t sure she was even interpreting correctly? “She’s really lucky to have you for a dad.”

“Thanks. Look, I know I’ve been saying it all night but, I’m sorry. Just...please, let me enjoy this now. I’m pretty sure I only have a few more years of her wanting to be around me before she’ll realize how uncool it is to hang out with her dad.”

Despite her bruised pride Sakura let loose a little giggle.

“I don’t know. I think you’ll be garnering her friends’ attention instead when that happens.”

Naruto had a brief, horrifying insight of a teenaged Leela coming onto him in the years to come. Granted, the girl could hardly string two sentences together in front of him for being so shy, but it was a horrifying prospect nonetheless.

Without warning, Sakura grabbed a hold of his sleeve again and began to usher him towards the bed.

“Now, back to how this started, we are sharing the bed—there is nothing sexual about it Naruto!” she emphasized strongly before he could protest, “You are dead on your feet and you have training tomorrow and you need a good night’s rest. Regardless of how you feel about me, next to Ino, you are still my best friend. No one understands team seven quite like we do. I want to start over.”

Sakura pulled back the covers on one side and firmly pushed her unwilling captive on the mattress.

“This really isn’t—”

“Go to sleep. We’re both adults here, Naruto, and it’s a big bed.”

“Fine but—hey, what are you doing?”

She had pulled the covers up to his chin and had begun patting down around his chest.

“I’m tucking you in, what does it look like I’m doing?”

“...are you kidding me?”

0o0o0o

Danzo stood in the sparse confinements of his new quarters, both hands resting on his staff as he sized up the two men in front of him. When he originally came to Pein he was under the impression that his plan to reform Konoha would come into fruition within a few months’ time. But after meeting Madara—the most formidable man he had come across in a long while and the true leader of the Akatsuki—such a timeframe didn’t seem all that reasonable. The plan to wait, recruit and adjust the Akatsuki’s methods left Danzo merely surprised, disappointed and somewhat curious. But Pein...as well as Sasuke...they were far more frustrated with their leader’s decisions.

“So...am I correct in assuming the pair of you are likely to take matters into your own hands?”

Sasuke, once again, did not reply. He looked quite waspish standing stiffly against the wall closest to the door, arms crossed and face stony. Pein gave the petulant child an annoyed look before explaining.

“Madara-sama has been acting odd as of late. He has taken a shining to that Jinchuuriki and his decisions are reflecting it.”

More specifically, it was ever since the demon figured out how to use their rings that Madara had begun his odd sort of attachment. Defeating his bodies and killing Konan only seemed to fuel the admiration—which is what Pein hated more than anything.

“Perhaps you should listen to Madara-sama?” Danzo suggested, “He is old, yes, but he is wise. I’m sure he knows what he is doing. Perhaps a little faith may be in order from his subordinates?”

Pein merely sneered at the old fool for having the gall to talk down to him.

“And what do you propose? We follow Madara-sama’s plan to simply recruit and allow the boy time to prepare? Do not speak of things you do not understand. You came here to become Hokage, which will never happen if you follow his pace. Konoha’s destruction is inevitable. I however, will allow you the time to prepare a defense by saving the Leaf for last.”

Danzo didn’t think saying “thank you” would have been appropriate, so he settled for a grudging nod. He knew making a deal with the devil would have repercussions, he could only hope the benefits would outweigh them in the end.

“I can assure you that the boy won’t be getting much stronger,” Danzo supplied to settle the irate man, “I know for a fact that Naruto’s body isn’t likely able to hold any more power within it. According to Tsunade’s research, his chakra coils are being stretched too much, there’s too much chakra compacted in his body that could cause a backlash if pushed too far. That puts a huge limit on how much training he can accomplish and gives you an extension for whatever personal plans you have.”

Pein gave the shorter man an appraising look before accepting the appreciated information with a nod. That particular impediment would certainly prove beneficial to them, he was sure.

“Now, you say you can get me the boy?”

“It will take quite a bit of...convincing,” Danzo started out slowly, “but I believe I know just who has the power to deliver him. How long do you need?”

Pein glanced at the stoic Uchiha brooding against the wall.

“I am not so sure that Madara-sama is interested in the Kyuubi any longer. The original press for time was due to the brat absorbing the bijuu. Now I fear it would be too late at any rate. However, Madara did speculate that the boy could be treated as a demon himself. I am currently researching on methods of extracting the Jinchuuriki’s chakra alone to seal into the statue. This gives you a few months to hold up your end of the bargain. We work on my schedule, do I make myself clear? In the mean time, we will appear to follow Madara-sama’s plans.”

“It’s still too slow.”

Both men turned to the third member of their party, who had pushed himself away from the shadows of the wall and stepped into the dim light.

“Naruto works fast,” Sasuke continued, for once speaking directly to Danzo, “Waiting any longer could mean trouble for us.”

“Works fast?” Danzo murmured. Sasuke spared him a dark look.

“Madara isn’t going to start thinking of him as an enemy again. I know Naruto; he’s got his claws in Madara already, whether he realizes it or not. Give it enough time and he could probably have our entire organization following him.”

“An exaggeration,” Pain stated, “But I’ve already discerned Madara as a lost cause; otherwise we wouldn’t have to resort to our own tactics, as we are now. We shall speak of this further at another time. For now, Danzo, you will work on whatever connections you say you have to bring me the Jinchuuriki. And Sasuke, you have a mission to complete for Madara-sama, don’t you?”

Sasuke’s lip curled at Pein’s dismissal and sneered as the man passed him.

“Oh,” Pein paused at the door and threw a stiff look over his shoulder at Danzo, “Get me that weapon of his as well.”

Neither Danzo nor Sasuke understood what that sentence meant, but they were sure they would find out soon enough.

Not trusting himself to be in the same room as the true murderer of his family, Sasuke made to leave as well, only to be halted by his name.

“Sasuke, I understand how difficult it must be to work alongside of me—”

“I’m not,” Sasuke whirled around but stayed within the threshold of the doorframe, “You are working with Pein. I am simply using you as a stepping stone to get Naruto out of the way so that I can crush Konoha. I don’t give a damn about whatever Pein promised you, I will raze Konoha to the ground regardless of who the Hokage is at the time. If it is you, then all the better.”

“Oh Sasuke, you don’t really want to do that. Your hatred is for me and my colleagues, not Konoha.”

“Believe me, I do,” Sasuke assured him, “One of my reasons for attacking Konoha is standing right in front of me. In fact, I may simply destroy Konoha just to spite you; we’ll see how you take to having everything you care about taken from you in a single night.”

Danzo allowed a grim smile to befall his lips, “So vindictive. Madara was right...you still don’t understand.”

Fed up with the old coot, Sasuke turned to leave again.

“What will you do once you kill me and the others?”

Sasuke stopped.

“What will you do after Konoha is gone?” Danzo continued his barb, “You clearly can’t live without a hit list of some sort. You are, after all, an avenger.

Sasuke turned to face him once more, his expression unreadable. Smirking, Danzo persisted.

“Who would you label as your next target once you’ve killed off your current list? Let’s not kid ourselves here; being a father isn’t your strong suit, sitting around raising kids could never keep you satisfied. With or without knowing it, you have fallen into the same pattern that got your family killed in the first place. The desires of the demon who granted you that eye are manifesting. Greed, bloodlust, power...”

Sasuke opened his mouth to dispute the assumption that his motivations were demonic in nature but Danzo was quick to continue talking.

“As harsh as it was, Itachi’s “motivation” to inspire you to thrive has made you the strongest you can possibly be. Don’t let anyone tell you any differently. If you really want to keep the cycle going, you could always kill Naruto in front of his daughter. Test how strong her will to avenge is...”

Sasuke was walking away now, not wanting to hear another word from the silver tongue of that decrepit old bastard. His second dream was to restart his clan, it always had been and he did nothing to keep it a secret. It was something he felt he couldn’t start until he killed everyone that was a threat to it. But what if Danzo was right? Would he continue to find a threat wherever he turned, simply because he was looking for one? Would he always be hunting for blood? And whenever he thought of restarting his clan it was simply increasing its number, not being a father per say. He had no intention of bonding with children; he just wanted the sharingan to flourish once again.

No matter. If Naruto already had his legacy in the making then far be it from him to hold back on his. He could never let Naruto beat him in anything.

Now...where was Karin?

0o0o0o

Air was rolling over Naruto’s skin like the soft caresses of a phantom lover, comforting and invigorating all at once. The cool, pacifying sensation brought his mind and body into a further state of meditation as honed senses detected the manner in which the refreshing breeze cocooned over his body. It both protected and exposed him, revealing to him all the secrets of nature. It was like he was on hypersensitivity; it was fantastic—

“Very good Naruto-chan!”

Fukasaku’s voice, while several yards away, sounded particularly loud in his ear as the wind which so entranced him carried the message brushing by his cheek.

Naruto resisted scrunching up his face. Sitting still was much, much harder than he originally gave it credit for. It was only in the last several minutes that he managed it...fifty feet in the air balancing on a stone spike with only a thin, square platform protecting his tush from an otherwise painful impalement.

Despite his best efforts to maintain control, Naruto’s ears twitched back at the unintentional attack.

And down he fell.

“Uggmph!”

A dust cloud billowed up and around his body as he wearily pulled himself from the Naruto-shaped imprint in the ground.

Seconds later, Fukasaku’s head popped into view, “Whoops!”

Naruto curled his lip at the obvious needling.

“You’re lucky that didn’t even—Hey! That didn’t hurt!”

He shot the rest of the way into a seated position; his hands ran along his body checking for the any hint of tenderness. He found none.

“When you’re in sage mode yer body is that much more resistant to outside attacks—it’s “activated”. Couple that with yer natural healing gift from the Kyuubi and you’re near indestructible!”

“Oh yea?” Naruto grinned and flexed a muscle, newly amber eyes closing as he patted a bicep for show.

“Hmm,” Fukasaku released the noncommittal noise while observing the young man before him. It was more than just the natural energy that empowered Naruto...never in all his years did the elder toad think he would encounter such a promising sage. It had been less than a week into the training and Naruto was already harnessing natural energy without the use of toad oil. Not only that, the black curls of sage chakra that surrounded the boy were far more uniform and dense than Fukasaku had seen with any other sage; there was no doubt in his mind that sitting just before him was the prophesized child.

“However, you’re still too easily distracted by ya surroundin’s,” the toad lightly admonished, “Someone speaking in the vicinity shouldn’t startle ya out of yer meditation like that.”

The blonde rubbed the back of his head in true bashful fashion.

“Actually, that was my own fault. You see...I could sense nature easily enough, but I think my affinity to wind keeps...I dunno how to explain it...but it’s like I keep getting pulled into the wind. Uh...does that make any sense?”

“I suppose so,” Fukasaku said slowly as he mulled over the new information. Getting carried away with one specific element wasn’t unheard of, but it could also be offsetting to the balance of sage mode if a sage were to pay attention to one element over the others.

“I suggest you work on sorting through that,” the toad offered after a brief moment of reflection. “Elementals haven’t been seen in decades...maybe even centuries. It would be interestin’ ta see how far you can connect yourself ta wind; perhaps you may even become a true wind master. But in the mean time, it would be best if ya focused on the task at hand and held off the urges to explore whatever influences the wind throws at you.”

Naruto nodded with complete agreement, “Yeah, I do have quite a few asses to kick before I can get into any hobbies.”

Fukasaku smiled. Leave it to Naruto to view the revival of an ancient practice as a “hobby”.

“How about we call it a day,” he proposed, “It’s clear that you have mastered gatherin’ sage chakra.”

The humanoid shrugged and stood up, “All right by me. What comes next?”

Fukasaku sported a gummy smile.

“Tomorrow, I’m goin’ ta show you how ta use sage mode in battle.”

0o0o0o

OH EM GEE!!!! My poor laptop is DED T_T

I’m sure those of you who followed Troika were aware of the last time my laptop died (right before my first and only lemon -_-). Yeah...I was not willing to pump out another couple grand to retrieve data again. Especially not after Paris. So, all in all, my laptop died and the update was delayed a whole week and a half!

Solution: I am getting a macbook! And its aluminum and recyclable! Go green! XD

The Akatsuki is not run by idiots; they are not going to kidnap Hitomi. To all those people who predicted they would—Sorry, but it’s quite an illogical notion if you think about it. And speaking of Akatsuki...why do I always put them at a table of sorts? It’s like they’re the Knights of the Round Table. And Madara is King Arthur...such a noble fellow XP

Please thank strider714 for editing this monster as well as MegaB who has the sharpest eyes I've ever heard of and has been pointing out errors in the last few chapters.

Thank you all for your support, silent or not. Oooo! But I am SO CLOSE to beating TP in reviews! This fic is almost my most reviewed story so...feel free to help kick that ridiculous triple x-over’s ass :3

Next chap: a small insight into the method behind Madara’s madness and some highlights on the Uzumaki demonic abilities.